There are a lot of activities. like this now suspended karate class, that have either been cancelled or severely curtailed thanks to COVID-19. And sadly, it may get worse before it gets better.
The Province of Ontario has unveiled a new COVID-19 modelling that indicates the province could face 6,500 new cases daily by the middle of December if no new measures are taken. A vaccine cannot come soon enough.
It looks quiet, safe, inviting, a good place to stroll with your significant other. Well, it is and it isn't. Do you see the patched sidewalk concrete? The patches are there because the sidewalk heaves in the spring as the spring thaw arrives. And the heaved sidewalk can catch a foot, causing the walker to fall, and to fall hard on solid concrete.
The city knows of the danger and regularly grinds down the ridges. But each winter the sidewalk heaves again. Eventually the city rips out the damaged concrete and replaces it with a new, fresh, smooth sidewalk. Tripping threat eliminated, at least temporarily.
One is left to wonder why, in a city with relatively mild winters, this problem is so common. Does the city put in sidewalks on the cheap, scrimping on the a deep, solid foundation on which the concrete surface sits?
Newspaper photographers are rather amazing. They shoot fashion, food and sports, or course, but their core calling is shooting news. They document life. It is important to note, they make artsy decisions with every photo they take and sometimes, especially with news moments, these decisions must be made in an instant. As can be seen from this image by Mike Hensen of The London Free Press, the seasoned news shooter found the angle to tell the story. This is not always an easy feat.
Hensen's photo shows CC-130J Hercules from RCAF Trenton performing flyover at the London, Ontario, Remembrance Day ceremony at the downtown cenotaph. See how Mike Hensen tweeted this image and another on Twitter.
When one is outside, one doesn't have to wear a mask. Despite this many Canadians can be spotted outside wearing a face mask. No explanation.
This toilet was the surreal image greeting drivers as they reached the top of a steep hill in west London using its tightly looped roadway. I got this from my files to share today.
Before the arrival of COVID-19, all my granddaughters did not have iPads, or what they like to call iPads. In truth, they have less expensive tablets made by Apple competitors. But whether iPads or tablets, these portable computers are now everywhere.
Find a kid and you may well find a tablet. The big force pushing tablets into our children's lives has not been games but school. With the arrival of COVID-19, the importance of computer learning has soared. All my granddaughters do a massive amount of their school work on their tablets. This is true both in school and at home.
But when school work is done and it is time to play, the versatility of these things becomes very evident. These tablets are also good for playing computer games, chatting and sharing pictures with distant friends and relatives and even for taking pictures.
Computer tablets are a good example of a product we didn't miss when it didn't exist but now many of us cannot live without them.
Imagine my surprise when two of these big beasts came up up the hill topped by a lookout over the city. Clearly, these machines are powerful. And the two riders appreciate that power and take their sturdy machines everywhere. Municipalities can prohibit the use of e-bikes on paths, trails and other property under city control but in London there are few restrictions.
There are a few rules: riders must be sixteen and must wear a proper motorcycle helmet. And there are rules determining what is and what is not an e-bike. For instance, an e-bike cannot weight more than 120 kg, nor exceed a speed of 32km/h.
The rules certainly leaves lots of room for fun.
