Marilyn's Photos - Oct 4 2025 - Those Speed Cameras

 

There's something everyone wants to "weigh in" on.  Those municipal traffic speed cameras.  Ours has gone bye-bye quite a number of times - clearly more against it in Grimsby.  Twenty-two municipal leaders have requested the province "fully reimburse all municipalities for the costs" of cancelling the Automated Speed Enforcement program. Our cameras are in school zones.  Well, the camera pole is still there.  Now what's there are those centre of the road markers to slow people dow and raised cross-walk with zebra stripes.  That works.   This is one of those crazy Premier moments.  When Doug Ford goes "Trump" and calls the tool as a tax grab, and decides, King-like, to ban the use of them.  The CBC article says it was his government who passed regulations in 2019 allowing the programs.  I wonder how self-driving cars will work and whether the owner can get the self-driving car to do these crazy things we do now. Will there be add-ons for self-driving cars so the driver can go through stop signs, speed through red lights and rush through school zones, just like they do today? Maybe a black-market add-on I used a Topaz filter to get the speed effects on Gerry's car.  He can speed through our neighbourhood, but don't stop and park.  It is no parking on our streets now that the hospital( two streets over) is being rebuilt.

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Marilyn's Photos - Oct 3 2025 - Live LIke Kings

 

If we lived like Kings then what? Well, on the toilet theme of the last few days, we would have a Groom of the Stool,  a high-ranking servant by our side.   In our age - a robot -  will attend to our private needs.   Monitoring the king's health was the key aspect of the job. This was done before our familiar flush toilet.  The first flush toilet was invented in 1596 for Queen Elizabeth I.  It turned out to be very loud and frightening.  It wasn't until the late 1800s that they were in regular use by kings and queens.  And of course, it is Queen Victoria who brought the separate room of the bathroom to the royal palace. So we might consider that we already live like kings and queens in this small but critical area of daily living.  And what pops up on the subject of toilets?  Prince William spent three months scrubbing toilets in Chile during his gap year.  He was working as part of a UK-based company called Raleigh International, which coordinates community and environmental projects in South America. Isn't this a weird little factoid. But it isn't unusual it shows up.  Those Royals keep showing up time and time again in the news and in Pinterest feeds.  It must be that North America is fixated on them, as I don't do any searches to get myself this barrage of pictures and stories.   Here's something - Queen Anne's Lace - "gets its name from legends associating the flowers's appearance with Queen Anne of England who was known for her lace-making skills.  Common stories claim the plant's delicate, lace-like bloom and its often dark-red center, a single drop of blood, was a drop of blood shed by the Queen herself while sewing lace."

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Marilyn's Photos - Oct 2 2025 - A Toilet is cleaner than this things

 

How do we know that a toilet is cleaner than these things? "A kitchen sponge, kitchen sink, pet food bowls, computer keyboards, carpets, cutting boards, and even cell phones are often dirtier than a toilet seat, as they are breeding grounds for bacteria that are rarely cleaned as aggressively as toilets." That's the summary of a study done comparing various common surfaces for bacteria levels.  Chlorox sponsored the study.  I particularly wondered what it meant  to "clean their toilet aggressively." How would we clean our desk more aggressively.  I imagine scenarios of getting out a toilet brush and scrubbing the desk with it.  We are meant to be alarmed when finding out that a standard desk is 400 times germier than a toilet seat. I guess the "so what" implication occurs with the scenario of eating at your desk.  That is a scenario for "Norovirus: A highly contagious virus that spreads easily through contaminated food, water, or surfaces and is a common cause of gastroenteritis."  But then don't you have to put your hands on the surfaces like the keyboard and desk and then put them in your mouth?  Do you usually put your hands in your mouth to eat?  I don't know.   I guess it depends on table manners and what foods people are eating.   I don't see the likely scenarios of the other two bacteria that could be involved: Staphylococcus aureus: A common bacterium that can lead to skin infections, sinusitis, and, in severe cases, life-threatening conditions like sepsis or meningitis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Found on surfaces like keyboards, this can cause pneumonia, especially in people with weakened immune systems. These two seem extremely rare to me, more like thoughts and ideas to ponder. We do have a societal toilet fixation, though.  I consider the presence of so many toilet hacks to be the sign for this: "using common household items like vinegar, baking soda, and cola to clean and deodorize the bowl and tank, applying baby oil to shine fixtures, or preventing rust with fingernail polish on toilet screws. Other hacks involve using Kool-Aid for cleaning the tank, placing a container in the tank to conserve water, and using shaving cream to eliminate odors at the base of the toilet." And all Chlorox probably wanted from their study was for us to buy more wipes for our desk rather than have people try all kinds of things to clean their toilets. This picture of a garden bench at Winterthur came up from a search of my computer for "toilet" - is it the handkerchief petals of the Dove Tree on the ground that caused the system to think this might be toilet tissue? There's AI lurking in there, I'm sure of it.

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Marilyn's PHotos - Oct 1 2025 - Using this on the toilet

 

This question comes from the New York Times this morning: "Does using your phone on the toilet cause hemorrhoids?" Coming from the New York Times, I can assume it isn't click-bait material.  That's why I want to know the source - who says smartphones cause hemorrhoids?  There's a new study with this finding: "A 2025 study from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center published in PLOS One found a correlation between using a smartphone on the toilet and a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids, according to multiple sources including Healthline and Prevention. While the study doesn't prove causation, researchers, including gastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasricha, suggest the association stems from extended toilet time, which puts pressure on the rectal tissues." So that's the New York Times version of the question.   Here's the CNN headline: Using the phone while you poop greatly raises hemorrhoid ... Here's the Guardian headlines: Set a two TikTok toilet limit to reduce haemorrhoid risk ... Toilet scrolling: how bathroom phone use plays havoc with ...A Youtube headline from Straight Arrow News: Get off the throne: Study claims smartphones could increase ... NBC News: Smartphone overuse linked to a new pain in the butt Yahoo: If you're reading this while on the toilet, here's why that ... Times of India Take your phone to the toilet everytime? Beware, it can ... And the CBC? New study shows smartphone use in bathrooms could lead ... What are the guidelines on writing headlines?  We know there are stringent approaches in the industry.  Here they are:  Eliminate unnecessary words (e.g., a, an, the).  Omit forms of the verb ‘to be’ (e.g., is, are, was, were).  Use numerals.  Abbreviate days of the week and months.  Use present tense verbs (i.e., historical present tense).  Use strong verbs but avoid commanding verbs.  Follow a subject/verb-object structure.  Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns.  Don't use a period at the end.  Use single quotes to quote material.  Use a comma as a substitute for "and."  Use specific details if they are available.  Use only widely known acronyms and abbreviations.  Use names only when they're prominent and use only notable nicknames. Here's a sense of humour at the CP24 news station headquarters.

Marilyn's Photos - Sep 30 2025 - Truth and Reconciliation Day

 

Today is National Truth and Reconciliation Day.  It was started in 2013 and became a statutory holiday in 2021. We are one of 40 nations who have had reconciliation commissions.  South Africa observes the Day of Reconciliation on December 16th - originally the day  commemorating the victory over the Zulus in 1838.   Argentina had the National Commission of the Disappearance of Persons and observes March 24th as the National Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.   Sierra Leone, South Korea, and Chile have formed truth and reconciliation commissions to investigate past injustices and make them part of the public record. In total there are 40 countries that have established truth commissions. There are 195 countries in the world.  Mind the gap, so to speak. How many reconciliation commissions do some countries need? One for the indigenous population and one for the Black population if you look at U.S. history.  They had a commission for those interred during the second world war - that happened in 1988 and by 1992 the U.S. government had disbursed over $1.6 billion to almost 83,000 Japanese Americans. Canada had one of those as well.  In Canada, reparations to First Nations and Indigenous peoples is part of the process - both individual compensation and Treaty settlements.  Can you imagine what the compensation will be for treaty annuities dating back to the 1800s that are owing?  What about land "confiscated" and no treaty is in place?  Modern treaties, self-government arrangements, resource and land management rights - there are still so many things to work out.  So much has changed in 50 years.  Back then our education in our primary and secondary school system was from the colonialist's perspective.  Today there is a mandatory Indigenous-focused curriculum for primary and secondary school grades. In our adult world, it is CBC radio and television that give an Indigenous perspective.  My favourite radio show is Rosanna Deerchild's "Unreserved."  Here's part of her introduction to the weekly series: "We are based in what is now known as Canada. Rosanna hails from O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation at South Indian Lake in northern Manitoba, and now lives and works in Winnipeg (Treaty 1)." Can you imagine how much unlearning potential there is in that phrase -  "what is now known as Canada."  If we just started with learning and unlearning place names, we could become fluent in a number of Indigenous languages.  I vote we start with Lake Louise "Ho-run-num-nay. (or Horâ Juthin Îmne), which translates to "Lake of the Little Fishes" in the Stoney Nakoda language. The name reflects the small size of the fish in the cold glacial waters of the lake."   We move on to our picture today. This is what a September garden can look like - annuals are at their peak in September  with lots of vibrant colours on mature plants.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 29 2025 - A Good Signature

 

We never got direction or advice on our signatures in school.  We learned how to spell then write our names very early on.  I expect many notable people have created their signatures, but for most of us, it just happened. Today is different.  There are young people who can't read or write cursively so can't really "sign" their name. A printed name or a big "X" does not make it for most legal documents and transactions. That's why there is now advice on creating a signature.  Here's the sort of advice I came upon: A good signature gives you brand and identity awareness.  Decide what you want your signature to convey and to reflect you as a person. Consider making it clear and unique so as not to be easy to forge.   Determine what parts of your name you want to include Consider which parts of your name you want to emphasize. For example, while some people sign their full name, others only sign with their first name or their initials. If you are known by your first name, consider only using that name. If you are a teacher who goes by their last name, consider signing using only your surname. Experiment with different styles Once you have an idea of how you want your signature to look, start experimenting. Rewrite your signature multiple times to discover new possibilities and ideas. Playing with different styles can help you determine the direction you want to go in. If you are updating your old signature, consider what you like about your current style and identify what needs work. Think outside of the box It is important to create a signature that is uniquely yours. Since it is not like your everyday writing, you do not need a legible signature—especially if your signature can make up for it in distinctiveness. Use your creative skills to come up with fun ways to make your signature stand out.Try making a letter larger to make it stand out or making a letter smaller for it to blend in with the rest of your signature. For example, consider emphasizing the first letter of your name and making the rest of your letters small. You can also have fun with certain elements of your name or underline your signature if you want to add emphasis. Add flourishes, loops, zigzags, and other designs as you see fit. Aren't you now interested in what signatures look like?  Take a browse through historical figures and celebrities HERE. The most expensive signature sold at auction is George Washington's personal copy of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights - $9.8 million in 2012. Second most valuable is William Shakespeare, with only six known signatures to exist.  All of them incomplete - and so another one of the Shakespeare mysteries. Here they are.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 28 2025 - Attack Squirrel

 

Squirrels seem to attract love it or hate it responses.  We don't worry about squirrel attacks.  Think bear attacks and a different concern arises.  So the poster below and story are a bit of a surprise  This happened in California.  Things happen in California don't they?  Here's the AP article.   It turns out that squirrels are well known for causing power outages in the U.S.  They are responsible for 15,000 of animal related outages across five states. They are considered the number one threat to the U.S. electrical grid.  Toronto Hydro reported squirrels caused 80 outages in the city in 2023.  A notable one occurred in the winter in the Financial district.  They call it "wildlife interference."  A perfect phrase. I have found a Sunday Squirrel Joke! The churches in town were all suffering from a squirrel problem. The Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they concluded that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and they certainly should not interfere with God’s will.   At the Baptist church, the squirrels had taken an interest in the baptistry. The deacons met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistry and let the squirrels drown themselves. The squirrels really liked the slide and, unfortunately, all knew how to swim, so there were twice as many squirrels the following week.   The Lutheran church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free behind the Baptist church. Two weeks later, the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the waterslide.   The Episcopalians tried a much more unique path by setting out bowls of whiskey around their church in an effort to kill the squirrels with alcohol poisoning. They sadly learned how much vandalism a band of drunk squirrels can do. The Catholic church came up with a more creative strategy—they baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church, so that now they only ever see them at Christmas and Easter. The squirrel problem at the Jewish synagogue lasted about a half hour. They grabbed the first squirrel they saw and circumcised it. They haven’t seen another squirrel since. My "mighty squirrel" picture was taken at Hamilton Gage Park - quite the noble stance.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 27 2025 - Op-en House Today

 

It is very easy to choose between a garbage open house and a model train layout open house tour.   The City of Hamilton is holding a free  Waste Facility Open House & Facility Tour on Saturday, September 27, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Resource Recovery Centre (1579 Burlington St E, Hamilton). Attendees can take a free 45-minute walking tour to see how waste is managed in Hamilton, and there is also an opportunity to drop off clean, dry clothing and textiles for donation.  Then there is the 23rd Annual Hamilton & District Layout Tour in the Hamilton and Niagara area with 23 home and club layouts to visit between 9:00 and 5:00.   Gerry has been getting ready - his layout is on the tour,  I expect lots of people through today.  It won't be very difficult to decide which open house is more fun. Here are two  scene on his layout from a few years ago.  There is a lot of work done since then.

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Mairlyn's Photos - Sep 26 2025 - Chrysanthemums

 

When I look out my office window there is a pot of Chrysanthemums next door beside the walkway.  I put them there to have an enjoyablel floral display.  That rounded head of flowers isn't trained or manipulated to have the tight pack of buds.  I am told that the depth of planting is what makes these ball of flower displays.  When I look up how to pot them for the commercial trade, the only instructions involve pinching - taking out the shoots so the plants stay compact.  I think that's the advice of the past and the commercial growers may be keeping things to themselves. And there is no information on the size of the commercial chrysanthemum market in Niagara. You can drive around and see fields and fields of chrysanthemums in pots with the little drip lines between them.  They have tarps down so no weeds come up.  It probably is strange to see for the first time.  Similar to when we had the tour of the Gerbera greenhouse and it was so large that the central aisle ended in a vanishing point.  So many developments in the last 20 to 25 years.  In comparison to the origins of cultivation in China, a long time has passed. Chrysanthemums were first cultivated around 1500 BCE for herbal and medicinal properties. they got to Japan in the 8th century and to Europe in the late 17th century.  That was when they came to North America as well. So we are about to be indulged with Chrysanthemum Shows - Hamilton, Niagara Falls and Toronto public gardens will have beautiful displays. Here are two different years of past Niagara Falls display below. And the greenhouses are already growing the next big seasonal "crop" - Poinsettias.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 25 2025 - Soft and Fluffy

 

Do you look up at clouds as see fluffy, airy things that seem impossibly fragile?  Can this be the case? - that a cloud weights around a million tonnes.  It typically has a volume of around 1km3 and a density of around 1.003kg per m3 – that's a density that’s around 0.4 per cent lower than the air surrounding it. In the same vein of light and fluffy and seemingly "nothing", there are no zero calorie foods.  Even celery, lettuce and watercress. They are a bit crunchy though -  other fluffy foods are divine - like buttermilk pancakes and angel food cake.  And what about fluffy fat?  This is the soft, jiggly fat on stomachs, hips, thighs, and backs of arms.  That's quite a few places, isn't it?  Also called subcutaneous fat, it accumulates between the skin and muscle, making it easy to see. Of coure it turns out to be harder and longer to lose - just so much of it.  Anothe fluffy thing is fluffy poop.  Today's topic is supposed to be fun and not icky and yucky, so go look that up for yourself. And of course, there are undeniable soft/fluffy things like kittens. While Sophie has a vast amount of fur that looks amazingly fluffy, she isn't quite as soft and fluffy as when she was a kitten. Her fur is still like silk and hangs in the air like little clouds.  There could be a biggest cat fur cloud in the Guinness Book of Records. There are many soft and fluffy things.  All these soft and fluffy things trigger a comfort response in us:  they lower cortisol, the stress hormone, they create a sense of predictability and ritual, they help regulate emotions through tactile stimulation, and they can create and recall memories, nostalgia and identity.   One article's conclusion says it all:  In a fast-paced world where we’re often told to “toughen up” or push through discomfort, comfort objects offer us something gentler: presence, safety, and emotional warmth.  So a direct link to that little plush toy Labubu - no wonder it is causing a frenzy.   Look at these clouds - this is the season for them - they look like huge swaths of whipped cream across the sky.  Two soft and fluffy things in one.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 24 2025 - Golddenrod Lies

 

Goldenrod is in full bloom.  It is a wonderful golden yellow that goes well with Maples, Locusts and other yellow fall foliage.  Our current culture thinks Goldenrod is bad and responsible for allergies.  Somehow it got confused with Ragweed and seems to carry this burden.  That's likely because people today aren't able to identify plants very well.  Goldenrod has been in use for more than 700 years in European herbal medicine along with Indigenous traditions in North America.    Whata else might it be famous for?  Can Goldenrod produce rubber?  It was used by Thomas Edison to create tires for his Model T.  That wouldn't surprise me as he tested over 17,000 plants.  One article says he created a 12-foot-tall Goldenrod plant that was up to12 percent rubber. A set of tires was made from golderod rubber and they were put on the Model T.  While four of them wore out, the fifth, the spare, still exists.  It sits in the preserved estate of Edison, along with his lightbulbs that still work after more than 100 years and the various experimental equipment.  That's at the Fort Myers Florida estate.  Here it is with a little Aster flower. One of our North American natives, it is a significant plant for pollinators and insects.

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Mairlyn's Photos - Now the Ugliest Cat

 

Aren't we back to California to find out the ugliest cat?  What is it about California?  It has a population comparable to Canada, so there's a lot of California to experience.  Past winners and notable contestants Ugly Bat Boy (Uggs): For years, Ugly Bat Boy was widely considered the world's ugliest cat and maintained his fame even after his death. He was a hairless, corpulent cat with wrinkled skin and a ruff of fur around his neck. Winston Smushface: This flat-faced Persian cat gained internet fame due to his unique appearance. His owner created an Instagram account for him after taking many funny photos, and he later appeared in brand advertisements. Stinker: In a 2024 calendar contest hosted by Abandoned Pet Rescue, a cat named Stinker was chosen as a winning "ugly" pet. Johnny: In 2024, a TikTok video gained attention for featuring a cat named Johnny, who was dubbed the "ugliest cat in the world" by some viewers.  This is Johnny below.  After that, not sure what that is - supposedly the ugliest pet in the world. When I put it through Hive AI detection it says almost 60% generated content.  Probably the ugly pet.

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 22 2025 - Ugliest Dog Contest

 

What would make a dog ugly?  I think it is the same thing that makes a cat ugly.  And the same thing that makes us humans less attractive than either dogs or cats.  No fur, no hair.  The ugliest dog contest has a winner and it is a hairless bulldog with the cute name of Petunia.  That's all that is cute about this dog.  But actually it isn't as unpleasant as some of the other dogs.  They seem to have conditions like tongues that don't retract, and eyes that don't quite open. This is a California contest, so likely more of a publicity stunt than a real contest - it did take home the title of "World's Ugliest Dog." There are dog breeds that are considered ugly.  Check them out HERE. There seems to be a combination of cute dog breeds mixed in with the ugly ones. I have never seen a Bedlington Terrier and think it would qualify as the weirdest, along with the Shar-Pei - the one with all the wrinkles.

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