School is out; hopscotch is in.

School is out and when it will go back in is anyone's guess. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in London and around the world. This is the biggest hopscotch grid I have ever encountered. But my guess is it is only used by two kids, a brother and sister, living nearby.

Self-isolation is the rule and family units may mix but everyone else is shunned. I'm sure this hopscotch grid would attract lots of children normally but today it attracts next to no one.

Go for a walk and as folk find themselves appearing to be about to come face to face with other walkers, everyone leaves the sidewalk to walk on the grass on either side of the concrete. Oddly enough, people seem to be smiling at strangers more and hellos are passed between strollers regularly. I don't think openly shunning others is a comfortable reaction for most of us but the coronavirus is not about feeling comfortable.

Walkways between homes can lead to a distant street

 

The concrete sidewalk visible in the lower left corner leads to a cascading sidewalk of dozens of steps leading down a long, steep hill to a street well below. These walkways make getting around the neighbourhood on foot much easier. No need to take the long route that cars must follow.

There are a number of homes in the neighbourhood in this style -- large chimney at front. I've always wondered what the livingroom looks like -- assuming the fireplace is in the downstairs livingroom.

Parks are posted

I walked by the neighbourhood park and noticed that it was now posted. Closed until further notice because of COVID-19. How many children would have contacted the coronavirus from the playground equipment. Any? And if one or two had, would they have become sick? Is this really protecting children? (I'm just asking.)

I worked for years at two newspapers and a television station. Once a story like this one gets good, strong legs, one doesn't ask questions. I wondered out loud about the legitimacy of the liberation therapy cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). I was verbally attacked. (People died after having stents put into the veins in their necks, a dangerous, off-label use.) -- I hesitate to ask any pointed questions about the COVID-19 response. I don't need to endure the attacks.

Sweden has taken a different tack and tack is a perfect word. The goals are the same worldwide but the direction taken can be a bit different. Personally, as a 70 something who is a prime candidate for a full-tilt bout with the virus if encountered, I find myself siding with the Swedes.

Protect the aged and those at great risk for whatever reason. This will keep the deaths down and keep hospital rooms available for those who need them. It will also free up much needed equipment like ventilators. And this, of course, will also work to minimize deaths. At least, that is the Swedish approach.

They are also advocating social distancing and other emergency measures. The Swedes are claiming their approach is science-based and not politically-driven. Time will tell.

Social distancing keeps cousin at home

 

Isla and Fiona have been looking forward to the annual week-long visit ot their cousin Victoria. But this year, thanks to COVID-19, there will be no visit. Like so many kids around he province, my granddaughters are trapped spending days with one set of grandparents. Their other grandparents just returned to Canada from a vaction and so are under self-quarantine for 14 days.

The two little girls could not stop thinking about their missing cousin. And so, the other day they talked grandma into making some gluten-free scones in preparation of her visit after the end of the virus-inspired social distancing. Victoria must have gluten-free.

London Gallery once sold interesting art

My wife and I got this piece at the London Art Gallery from a little store run by volunteers. It was a cool store and note I use the past tense.

The volunteers and the administration at the gallery got into an argument and the outcome was the disbanding of the volunteer group and the closing of the shop.

A new shop now occupies the space. It is run by the art gallery administration. The stuff is nowhere near as interesting as the stuff gathered for sale by the volunteers and the new stuff costs a lot more.

We no longer shop at the gallery. A loss for us and for the city.

Shoppers must line up to enter Costco

Shopping at Costco has an extra wrinkle. Shoppers must line up in two well separated rows before being allowed into Costco to shop. And the shoppers must keep about six feet between each other. And carts are all wiped down before putting back into rotation. Only a set number of customers are allowed into the store at one time. A fellow holding a counter keeps track of the number of shoppers entering and exiting the store.
It was very efficient. It didn't take long to gain admittance. The next time I go will be Tuesday morning before nine a.m. Between eight and nine only seniors are allowed into the store to shop. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to buy some toilet paper. It was all gone today.

Neighbourhood play equipment now off limits

At this time of year, the neighbourhood play equipment is usually teeming with kids. Not this year.

Coronavirus fears are forcing the kids to keep their distance. Bare metal may become contaminated and this would contaminate the children. The kids might touch their faces and beome infected or they might just bring the virus home on their hands.

Playgrounds are still open but the equipment is off limits. There are no children in the park the serves my neighbourhood. The equipment, the swings, the monkey bar and the other stuff, is the whole reason kids go to the park.

Everyone is wondering how long this will continue.

Interaction without interaction

School has been canceled to slow the transmission of COVID-19. The goal is to keep the kids apart. No interaction, no transmission. Our ten-year-old granddaughter showed me how to interact without physically interacting. She plays a computer game called Animal Jam with other children. She found her cousin was online this morning. Lot's of giggles as two little girls played together but were miles apart.

Children can win trophies for answering questions about animals based on online booklets. Read a page, click on the image and the "page" turns. Finish the booklet, answer the questions and if one gets them all correct, the player wins a trophy.

I wish I knew more but I don't. It seems like innocent fun. One mother spent some time checking it out and it passed her inspection. Me? I do try to keep an eye.

Deer hunting during school suspension

School is suspended during this COVID-19 pandemic and grandparents are taking in grandchildren. It is difficult to break the links to society when one has to babysit. Both our daughters are still working and there is no sign this will stop.

Our granddaughter had a list of things to do today. Near the top of her list was deer hunting. The last time we visited Woodland Cemetery we didn't see even one deer. My wife and I thought possibly the deer had been removed to prevent more damage to the trees and other growth come spring.

But, we were wrong. We counted more than two dozen deer in the cemetery today. We didn't bring anything to feed the deer as the cemetery has posted a sign saying that this is not a good idea. Vistors to the cemetery are requested to refrain from feeding the deer.

As I said is a prior post, Woodland Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery owned and operated by St. Paul Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral in the downtown core of London. Founded in 1879 on the banks of the Thames River, today the grounds have expanded to almost 100 acres and hold more than 50,000 burials.

It took three families to make this dinner.

It looks like a simple bowl of rotini. Rotini, yes. Simple, no. Pasta is sold-out in every store in the neighbourhood. The shelves are totally bare. Hoarders have bought it all. And vegetables are getting  hard to find as well.

But friendly, supportive neighbours are abundant. The ingredients for tonight's dinner would have been difficult to find at a store but our neighbourhood has pulled together.

I'm proud of them. Good people.

Who needs to hoard when you have Costco?

My toothpaste tube was empty. I had to go to the closet for another. I got down my unopened package from Costco. It had five family size tubes of toothpaste in one package. My granddaughter thought I looked like a hoarder. I'm not. I'm just a Costco member. Now, did I tell you about our toilet paper?

A project to fight social distancing boredom

With three little granddaughters to care for everyday, their parents are all still working, my wife and I are not just fighting the threat presented by coronavirus, we are also fighting the threat of boredom. And with three little girls, 6, 8 and 10, we take both threats seriously.

The photo shows something called Cake Pops. Make a chocolate cake, break the cake into small crumbs and then mix the crumbs with chocolate icing. Roll the mixture into balls and place in the fridge overnight. Thanks to the icing and the cold, the balls hold their shapes quite nicely.

Have the kids slide the chocolate balls onto rolled-paper, lollipop sticks and decorate. They will enjoy doing it and, if done right, it will kill a lot of time. Remember, the kids had to make the balls the first day and then finish the project the second day. That's a fine, time-consuming activity.

Cheers! Stay healthy!

With schools closed, grandparents have kids

Spring-break plus the coronavirus closures means that many grandparents in Ontario are taking care of grandchildren. The kids are getting antsy and spring-break had just started. There is nowhere to go. Essentially, everything is closed.

Oh well, there is still the backyard for entertainment. Hiding behind a chair back and watching the rabbits is always a fun way to spend a little time.

Some folk do not spread COVID-19; no contact with others.

COVID-19 is quickly turning London, Ontario, into a bit of a ghost town. Cinemas have closed as have libraries. Many shops tried operating at reduced hours but found their customers were operating on reduced hours around the clock. The shops have now closed.

But, some people have jobs that do not spread the COVID-19 virus. This city worker works most of the day almost alone. Well, at least at quite distance from other people. But, eventually the city's outside workers will be told to stay home. All workers. There will be almost no exceptions.

Coronavirus forces ski hill to close for season

I have never seen anything like the reaction by government, business and the general population to  the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Tomorrow is the start of springbreak. It is usually one of the biggest, most profitable weeks of the season for the local ski hill. Not this year. One day before the beginning of spring break the ski closed for the season. Why? COVID-19.

The virus is still a question mark. People are concerned and responding with caution.

And speaking of springbreak. It has been lengthened by an additional two weeks by order  of the provincial government.

String, the curse of the kites.

 

No breeze; no worry. Throw the kite in the air and start running. The kite will soar. Of course, it will come down as soon as one stops running. That's the theory. Now, about this string . . . 

Signs of spring

Forget the first robin as the first sign of spring. Try the appearance of bikes and scooters replacing snow shovels and snow blowers. Tonight I took two of my granddaughters to the park. It was cold, it was windy but to them it was spring. Why? No snow.

New Ont. licence plate an urban fiasco

Shot in a dark corner of a parking lot.

The CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reports "Ontario's new licence plates (are) 'virtually unreadable' at night. . . . A lot of folks agree. I know. Many of my friends have complained about the new provincial plates.

And yet, when I went out to take pictures of the "unreadable" plates, all my images were rather clear. Flash, dark parking lot at night, bright parking lot at night: all pictures in all situations were legible.

I've worked at two newspapers and once was the organizer of an annual photojournalism seminar. I know all too well how newspapers love a good story. I wondered how many journalists  actually went out and inspected the plates in use.

I also wondered how many journalists contacted folk in other regions who have also had to deal with problem plates. And plates can be a problem and not just in Ontario.

The same plate shot with an on-camera flash.

Modern reflective materials can, in the right situation, reflect too much light. The strong resulting glare can obliterate the lettering on a licence plate.

I'm sure the plates have problems and I'm sure 3M is working on a solution. As much as I detest the present provincial government, I don't think they can be faulted.

The Globe and Mail reported, "OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said that the OPP tested the new plates in three different lighting conditions with automated licence plate readers, which are used in Amber Alert child abduction cases. The provincial police force publicly declared last month that there were no visibility problems with the new blue-on-blue plates.

There's a story here but it is not the neat, clean one being reported in some newspapers and on television. As much as I dislike the Premier Doug Ford government, I think we can cut him some slack with this brouhaha. 

The last plates were not all the great either. You do recall the peeling paint issue, right? 


________________________________________________________________
1. Found on the Net: In some states, defective manufacturing of plates has been a problem. New York’s governor last year ordered that state’s DMV to replace peeling laminate on some older plates for free, when it became apparent that defective materials or workmanship was causing a rash of delaminations. A few years ago, Illinois recalled 1.1 million license plates because their reflective coating was bubbling and peeling.

2. One interesting claim I came across, but have been unable to substantiate, is that the new, flat licence plates are more environmentally friendly. The process requires the use of fewer nasty chemicals. Unfortunately, flat surfaces are more prone to glare, one of the problems that have done in the new Ontario plates.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/back-seat-driver/article28724602.html#storylink=cp

Making good licence plates is tough

In the Canadian province of Ontario the present, and very unpopular, provincial government is recalling its recently redesigned licence plate and it is not the one shown. The one shown is the licence plate that the new design replaced. The paint often peeled from the old plate leaving it difficult to read.

The new plate is difficult to read too but especially at night. The reflective glare from the new plate can be so severe under certain circumstances that the reflected light renders the new plate totally unreadable. I'd run a picture except that in each picture I shot the plate was quite legible.

I'll keep trying.

Elvis is timeless

Elvis is timeless. Born in 1935, he was one of the first southern rock and roll artists, he died in 1977. He was only 42. He has now been dead almost the same length of time that he was alive. Yet even my oh-so-young granddaughters recognize a statue or picture of Elvis.

It's hard to find a young person who would recognize Marc Bolan of T. Rex who died in the same year. Or a young person who could identify Ronnie Van Zant of ‎Lynyrd Skynyrd fame who died when the group's plane crashed. But Elvis is recognizable worldwide.

The music of T. Rex and especially that of Lynyrd Skynyrd carries on. Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama still gets lots of airplay. But most of the Elvis Presley songbook is forgotten. Presley was reduced to playing his oldies but goodies while he was still alive. There were never many requests for the songs featured in his movies. songs like "Queenie Wahine's Papaya."

No, it is Elvis himself who carries on. Elvis was truly memorable. He had a remarkable presence.

Angel's Diner in Guelph

My wife and I had to travel an hour east of London to Guelph. While there we stopped for lunch at Angel's Diner. It's a restaurant that brings back memories of the '50s and an era before the advent of the chain restaurants.

It may invoke those memories but in truth Angel's is a small, southwestern Ontario chain. I didn't know this until I got home and went online for more info on the place. I was surprised. I'll have to surprise my wife and take her to Angel's Diner in London.

Wheel rims: creativity on display

When I was a boy, rims similar to this were called mags and often made in the Detroit area where I lived.

Mags are light weight, strong, spoked wheels made from a magnesium alloy. They were expensive and high maintenance.

An aftermarket item, young men quickly discovered that new rims and tires were a quick way to modify a car. To save money, the new rims were often cast rather than forged.

Today, snow tires are the only tires regularly mounted on traditional steel rims. Disgustingly plebian, all too often these winter-use rims are left naked, no wheel covers.

As spring arrives, pay attention and you will notice literally dozens and dozens of different alloy wheel rim designs being remounted for warm weather use. I'm absolutely amazed at the number of different designs. New cars come with alloy wheels and ever make, every model, carries its own unique design.

I believe coming up with a new look is getting tough. The other day I saw an expensive SUV with horrible looking alloy rims. In a word, they were "ugly." But I digress. The point of this post is that the great creativity of the human race is on display in the myriad number of alloy rim designs with each striving to be unique.

Boler Bears at the Byron ski hill

 

Two Boler Bears made an appearance Saturday at the Byron neighbourhood ski hill much to the delight of the young children at the hill with their parents.

Homework posted online

There's a debate surrounding the idea of using home computers for teaching young students in Ontario. Those favouring computers may be winning. My ten-year-old granddaughter does math homework that is posted online.

With teachers throughout the province presently engaging in rotating strikes, the online course material is drawing even more attention than usual. Some of the teachers clearly feel threatened by the growing practice.

Dreamland: A Virtual Reality Arena

The large photo of young woman boxer overlaid with geometric shapes piqued my interest. What exactly was in the building behind the poster? A sign, it looked like it could be the name of the business, said Dreamland VR.

VR? Virtual reality? What exactly is virtual reality boxing? There was nothing on the exterior of the building that made it any clearer. Clearly, I was attempting to venture into a world totally unfamiliar to an old geezer like me.


When I got home, I hit the Web. I found the Dreamland VR site. There I read the boast that it was a 2400 sq. ft., 8 player, wireless arena, the largest in Canada offering full body tracking and 4D effects. The boast was lost on me. I was no closer to understanding what went on behind the Dreamland VR walls.



In just a few days it is spring break. I'm going to have three granddaughters to entertain plus a great niece. I have some stuff planned. Traditional stuff that we have done in the past and I know the little girls are looking forward to doing again. But this VR place has me curious. I'm going back to learn more first hand. If I take the little girls, I  may have more to say about London's state-of-art VR arena.

Caution: Rudolph Crossing

I call it the Rudolph crossing. Someone stuck a red dot on the end of the deer's nose on the yellow warning sign warning motorists that deer may be encountered crossing the road in this area.

The kids think the sign is funny. I think it is visually witty. And the traffic department doesn't seem to care as the red sticker had been stuck to the sign for ages.

Has the fox returned?

I took this photo some time ago. It's a fox strolling through our backyard.

The other day, during a snowfall, we spotted mysterious tracks below our kitchen window. The tracks were quickly buried by fast falling snow. We wondered if the fox was back.

There are usually mouse tracks in our snow but there are none right now. Foxes love mice. Mice aren't so fond of foxes.

We don't all seem to be on the same page.

I admit I don't keep up with what is available when it comes to cell phones. I'm still using a simple flip phone which costs me only $100 annually. And so, I was surprised to see the large Huawei sign in the Bell store.

As most Canadians know, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, 47, is detained under house arrest in Vancouver on Canada's west coast. Meng is the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd’s billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei. Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport back in December on a U.S. warrant and is fighting extradition.

While the Trump government has Meng firmly in its sights, Canadians are buying Huawei products and both Great Britain and Germany have announced that Huawei will be allowed to be involved in the introduction of 5G technology.

5G will be part of the urban fabric around the world in the coming years. It is looking as if, despite the best efforts of the U.S., Huawei will play a big role in the worldwide roll out of the new technology.

I asked the staff at the Bell store about Huawei and was told the Huawei phones and pads are among the best that Bell stores carry.

Post a municipal building day

I've always just called this the fire hall. But in researching this municipal building I learned it is also known as the Byron Emergency Operations Centre. Apparently, the City of London Security and Emergency Management Division hosts an annual Emergency Management Open House at the centre.

I simple must find out when the open house is being held this year. I'd enjoy touring the place and I know my granddaughters would love seeing how   firemen live and they do live in the fire station. Being a working firefighter, as opposed to a volunteer firefighter, is a job unlike all others.

The newspaper where I worked used to have a food column where the writer traveled about the city visiting forgotten kitchens. One night we visited a fire hall and documented the firefighters preparing a dinner together. Everything firefighters do is aimed at team building and that includes making meals.

Firefighters are famous for their talents and for their incredible strength. It may surprise you but the men firefighters are often excellent and very imaginative cooks. All the firefighters take turns as head chef and no one wants to bore the team with a "what-again!" dinner. And the women firefighters never call a man for help when a bottle cap is jammed on tight. The ladies are firefighter-strong, as they must be, and they easily twist off tops that most men would find a challenge.