Remember when we were sitting here, or maybe it was over there, not so long ago, talking about -- believe it or not, considering all my hang-ups -- urinals?

Well I do.

And I'm sure Inga Saffron does also, peeing -- whoops! -- seeing as she returned to the subject in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, with "Phila. No-flush Standoff Unclogged, With a Catch."

The upshot, or maybe I should say the downshot, of that piece, was that, yes, the Comcast Tower, or the Comcast Center (it's the really big one in that photograph), as I think we're now supposed to be calling the building, under construction in Center City, will, in the end or as it turns out, incorporate no-flush urinals, putting the cable giant's headquarters at the head of the line for designation as the nation's tallest "green" building.

However, this being Philadelphia, a union town, and I don't think that's a bad thing, the urinals will be installed with enough extra plumbing and work rules to make even the great-grandchildren of every pipe-fitter carrying a wrench hereabouts optimistic enough to cast aside whatever tuition-savings plan may already have been in the, um, works.

God, I love this town!

[Post-publication addendum (April 6): Update: The Plumbers Advisory Board yesterday voted to approve the developer's plan to install the waterless units.]

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