December 13, 2025

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JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

American: “No way that’s a Robin!”

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
2 months ago

Hey, we’re not all that dumb.

I do know our North American robin…. same one you have up there in the frozen North, isn’t it?

But I also know there are other robins…. like I recognize that European robin, in the picture, and another north American Robin with green arms and legs and a red vest, and an English Robin with a blond bowl cut and a teddy bear.

Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Or this one:

Robin-Hound-7-21-2016-575x894px-SIGNED-copy
Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  JP Steve
2 months ago

You’re right! I know Robin! That’s a bird!

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

European robin is a sparrow and the north American robin is a thrush.

Tigressy
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Reply to  happyhappyhappy
2 months ago

Sperlingsvogel.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Searching for this image, most copies I found were labeled 1860 for the top photo, and 2024 for the bottom one.

The old brick and stone building, known as Queen Mary’s Bathhouse, in Edinburgh, Scotland, was built around 1560, on the grounds of Holyrood Palace, at the end of the royal mile.

Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have bathed there, though it’s not known for sure.

Some sites say the bath was on the lower floor, others that the water was heated below, and the bath above. I’m guessing it was probably a chilly adventure either way, in winter… Scotland is cold!

It looks like the building has been cut shorter, but most old descriptions call it two story. They say the taller part is actually a separate building, behind it… another outbuilding of some sort for the castle. Nobody from 500 years ago is still around to tell us exactly what.

The bathhouse itself is preserved but apparently unused. A few commenters say they’ve been inside, but not whether it was a tour, or you can just walk in.

All those other 16th century “eyesores” in the top photo have been replaced, as you can see, with those lovely apartment blocks… so in keeping with the historical nature of the area.

Anybody know what the zigzag road markings mean, or why there’s a car on the sidewalk?

Maybe following zigzag lines and driving on the wrong side of the road make the Scots so dizzy they just end up there?

Last edited 2 months ago by SusanSunshine
More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

The zigzag lines indicate a ‘No Stopping, or Parking’ zone. They are normally found either side of Zebra, or Pelican, crossings to give sightlines for drivers to any persons who might be either waiting, or starting, to cross. We don’t allow vehicles to be parked close to such places. Double yellow lines can’t be used as they indicate, ‘No Parking, or Waiting’, it is still permissible for vehicles, such as Taxi’s, to stop momentarily to pick up, or drop off, passengers. They cannot do such things on zigzag lines.

They can also be found in front of school entrances, often in yellow.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

Thanks.

We have red curbs in similar places, to keep people from parking too close to crosswalks, fire hydrants, and urban corners.

We’re getting a new law in California starting in January saying drivers have to stop a certain distance before a crosswalk, to improve visibility for pedestrians… I think 15 feet. Maybe.

But they’re not going to mark it, which lead to all sorts of fun and games if you’re actually pulled over.

It’s like the law saying you can only drive so many feet in a turn lane… Nobody remembers how many, and nobody can accurately judge 50 feet or 200 feet or whatever it is anyway.

crazeekatlady
crazeekatlady
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

In DC they stop in the middle of the crosswalk, if they even deem to stop. And park directly in front of fire hydrants, and sometimes double park.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  crazeekatlady
2 months ago

Wow, they’re very quick to ticket and tow around here.

Of course, one difference is that DC is way bigger and more urban than my smallish city of 160,000 people.

I see people double park for moments, mostly to wait for someone or talk through the open window…. but never long enough to get out of the car, and, say,.run into a store.

Arfside
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Probably a lot of drivers with diplomatic immunity in DC.

crazeekatlady
crazeekatlady
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

Unfortunately that would not stop drivers in the US.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  crazeekatlady
2 months ago

Doesn’t totally stop it here either, but it works 99.9% of the time.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

The car parked half on the path, and half on the road is unloading shopping by the looks of it. The hatchback is open and a person is carrying bags to the pile by the tree. I would guess it’s a resident of one of the flats (Apartments) at the front, as the parking would generally be somewhere at the back, probably in ‘en-bloc’ garages (Yes, we intersperse French words to make mundane things sound classier here in the UK. I live in a ‘Cul-de-Sac’ in other words, a ‘No-Through-Road’) and it’s probably a longer walk carrying bags.

I would guess the reason they parked half on the pavement (Sidewalk) is so they don’t block the carriageway and force vehicles into the opposite lane.
Parking on the pavement (Sidewalk) is technically illegal, but everybody does it from time to time depending upon circumstance.

The single ‘Yellow Line’ indicates restricted stopping/parking. Generally there will be a small yellow sign on a pole or lamp column which will give the restriction times (Generally Mon-Sat 06:00-2200, or similar).

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

The word cul-de-sac is very well known here too…. There’s even a comic called that.

Suburban developers love to make cul-de-sacs… I think they’re taught in urban planning courses that it fosters a neighborhood feeling.

Here a no parking zone, once again, usually a curb color, not a line in the street, means no parking.

Red is most official… Fire hydrant, too close to the corner, etc. Instant ticket or tow if you’re caught. Same with bus zones, which are marked.

Yellow, white, green and blue curbs have different meanings. Yellow is, like yours, usually a time limit. Often not certain hours, but how long… Could be 15 minutes, could be two hours. White might be a loading zone, and you often need a commercial plate.

They’re all painted by the city, the county, the police… not the property owner… And strictly enforced.

I see a yellow sign in the picture, but maybe it’s for something else.

Last edited 2 months ago by SusanSunshine
More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Similar things for similar effects, and it’s the local Councils that have responsibility for the zoning and lining over here (Except for Trunk roads and Motorways).

Yes, the yellow sign in the picture is probably a restricted access sign (Either width, height, or weight, for a/the road further up. The parking restrictions sign is much smaller, probably around the size of an A4 sheet of paper, and generally is angled to be parallel with the road.

Unless the parking restriction forbids it, it is permissible to stop on a single yellow line to load/unload.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Pussycats!!

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

I know it.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Psst… you forgot to take off your glasses…

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  JP Steve
2 months ago

Oh!

Gosh.

I guess you must know who he is.

I can’t tell in those glasses.

Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Well, Hi there!!

TCM541
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Mom got hit by a train once. Foggy morning…and we have really bad foggy days here. The back of her VW van got clipped – spun her around a couple of times…she was pretty shook up but no real injuries. Let’s see – that would have been the late 60s or early 70s. That intersection now has lights and barriers, but back then it was poorly marked.

Last edited 2 months ago by DancingBuffalo
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Gulp.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Australian truck and train.

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Who is that person?

happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Now those are trees.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

No I don’t.

If I did, I’d probably try to forget.

Okay, I mean yes, I remember 1978, and I’m sure it had a winter… But none of that white stuff you see in this picture.

I’ve never driven in it or had a car stuck in it, or had to stay home because I didn’t want to drive in it. Lucky me!

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

The Blizzard of ’78 is legendary throughout New England.
And I wasn’t here then. I was in Albany, NY, which might have even been worse than Boston.

TCM541
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
2 months ago

I was in Anchorage, Alaska, that year. It was a nice year, really. We’d packed up all our snow for a trip east.

crazeekatlady
crazeekatlady
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Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
2 months ago

Blizzard of ’77 in Buffalo was worse.

crazeekatlady
crazeekatlady
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

I survived the Blizzard of 1977 in Buffalo NY. I got frostbite on hands and feet. I had to walk 1/2 mile or less from where the car got stuck on a snow drift and died to my parents house in wet clothes, no boots, mittens or hat. I am NOT a fan of snow.

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Oh, looke dat!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

I can see them all upside down or all right side up. It’s hard to switch but I can do it if I concentrate, and then it’s just as hard to switch back.

But the shadows fall the same on them all. One would catch the light on the other edge, if it were turned the opposite way to the rest

I see one that looks like

…. okay let me spoiler-box this…
it should be the lid to a clamshell container, because it’s embossed with an oval, which shouldn’t be in the bottom .. the one at upper right… and if they’re all upside down, or convex, there would be a right side up dish underneath it that we can’t see.

But when all the dishes look right-side up, ie concave, that lid looks instead like a visible concave dish too.

baconboycamper
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

And it doesn’t matter which plate it is which makes your brain flip them over — any plate will do it.
Sargent Schultz was correct… “Velly innterestinkk”

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  baconboycamper
2 months ago

Yes .. it’s usually the small bowls, or especially the little square at the center bottom, that are easiest to start with if I’m trying to do it. It can happen on its own from any of them.

Last edited 2 months ago by SusanSunshine
JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Just down the street from me! There’s a memorial there now!

comment image

JP Steve
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

O…kay…

Last edited 2 months ago by JP Steve
Arfside
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Sounds like Monty Python in the spam sketch.

Well, it hasn’t got MUCH milk in it!

But I don’t want ANY milk!

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

Well, as you can see, “Glenview Farms” means it comes from a farm.
Not a dairy.

So it’s not dairy milk, it’s farm milk. Non-dairy.
Gosh, people just can’t read

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Thank you for that straightforward explanation.
Warmest regards,
The team at GFNDMP
..
PS: The check is in the mail.

Liverlips McCracken
Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

And UHT stands for … … … … … … … Ultra High Test?

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  Liverlips McCracken
2 months ago

Close, Ultra high Temperature. It’s a way of sterilising milk, but changes it’s flavour somewhat.

SusanSunshine
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Reply to  nighthawks
2 months ago

I imagine you all know, but just in case somebody doesn’t, it’s the Hindenburg, crashing.

Part of Nighthawks continuing series of disaster pictures, to brighten the holiday season.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, etc

happyhappyhappy
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2 months ago

Pi.

dbf2355f2ca3aa1fe867857d80281859067e27d213f0ce1ec958b14a2a08c2d2
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  happyhappyhappy
2 months ago

Yup.

SusanSunshine
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2 months ago

Aha! Right before our eyes…. The scene with our talented basset dancer changes!

Not a lot… It’s still the Nutbiscuit. But there are nine somewhat subtle differences in the scene.

Did you spot them, or were you too busy watching this amazing performer?

I’m sure that if you can take your eyes off his dazzling paw-work, you’ll find them all.

Then you can compare with what I found…

Right here!

comment image

More_Cats_Than_Sense
Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

I got them, and quite quickly. I did think it was going to be tricky as it’s a very ‘busy’ image to pick out differences, but ended up (For me, This Time!) to be easy.

Liverlips McCracken
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Hallelujah!

Tigressy
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Got them!

More_Cats_Than_Sense
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2 months ago

Edward Hopper – Gas, 1940.

Edward-Hopper-Gas-1940
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

I think he forgot his car.

Arfside
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Reply to  SusanSunshine
2 months ago

Probably just restocking the oil cans. Especially with cars back then, they used to go through more oil.

More_Cats_Than_Sense
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2 months ago

.

91a5v7p1
happyhappyhappy
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

Well hello there! 😀
I love watching kids. They could give Tigger a run for his money in the bouncy department.

Last edited 2 months ago by happyhappyhappy
Tigressy
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Reply to  happyhappyhappy
2 months ago

I remember visiting the local zoo (Tierpark Hellabrunn, Munich) decades ago with nephew and niece from my sister’s side.
At the petting part was a pretty rowdy male kid who made me stumble over…
I had oats, he wanted more. Laughing too hard to be mad.

Last edited 2 months ago by Tigressy
SusanSunshine
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

Our county fair has a petting zoo every year… usually a combination of normally wild and domestic animals, in a temporary enclosure.

They don’t allow you to feed them anything other than what they sell specifically for that purpose… a mixture of nuts and feed pellets. It usually comes in a twisted paper cone, with no ink, in case somebody bites it.

That somebody will usually be a goat. They have kids in there, and also some adult miniatures. Most of the other animals wait patiently to be fed, even the pigs…. But the goats obviously know that they can get a cascade of treats by biting a cone.

I usually wear skirts. I learned to only go into the enclosure on days I’m wearing jeans. Goats also enjoy a nice lunch of cotton material. It’s amazing how many feet of skirt they can get into one mouthful, before you realize.

crazeekatlady
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Reply to  More_Cats_Than_Sense
2 months ago

Now I want a goat and a capybara for christmas.

JP Steve
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Reply to  crazeekatlady
2 months ago

Not a hippopotamus?

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