The Occurrence

 Something occurred in my tiny village recently that many people have not discovered yet. I only found out about it because of a message I got from a long-time cyber buddy who lives in Bancroft. 

Those who live here are aware of a construction project on the north side of the river that has been underway for several years now. While a couple of units have occupants the rest of the building remained empty and even had a broken window. The west end of the building now contains a puzzle factory and shop.

When I found out about this, I went to explore the shop. The puzzles are bright and beautiful, and the owner is delightful.

Brigitte Gall and Michael J Bainsbridge got this idea to create puzzles in 2018 while living through a cold snap in Haliburton. Michael is an award-winning mineral photographer so they picked out some of his photos and had their new business up and running just before the pandemic hit.  I'd call that perfect timing. He now works at the Museum of Nature so they moved in this direction and settled in Kemptville. While looking for a suitable place to set up the factory and shop they found this spot in Merrickville  at 105 West Broadway Street. 

I was lucky enough to be shown how the puzzles were made and packaged up, as they do everything right there on the premises.  The pictures, glued to their backing, are placed on a sturdy foam rubber and run through a press that exerts 7000 pounds of pressure. This compresses the foam, allowing precision steel blades to cut the picture into puzzle pieces. It only takes seconds. The pieces are then manually scooped up, bagged, and boxed. Only high-quality materials are used and a total of 150 puzzles can be produced in a day. 

The company states its goal is to appeal to fellow science nerds and like-minded art geeks. They not only have puzzles made from photos taken by Michael, but they also have some fascinating ones representing various towns. Multimedia artist, Alice Hinther has produced pieces containing a conglomeration of recognizable buildings. There are puzzles representing Perth and Westport, for instance.  Rumour has it there will be one of Merrickville soon too.

And just in case you would like to make a puzzle out of art of your own, they do that too.

The new business is called The Occurrence and they are having their grand opening on July 27. Go check it out!

Not All Changes Are Good

 What's going on with the Fast Food industry?

First, Tim Hortons got sold and the first thing that happened was that nothing was the same but the name.  And just like that, many people started going elsewhere for their coffee and treats.  Why the new owners killed something so iconic is beyond me.

McDonald's suddenly had McCafe, which turned out to be cheaper than going to Tim Hortons. And since my Dutchies disappeared and tea in pots got replaced with swill called Steeped Tea, we moved ourselves to McDonald's. The muffins there were great.

Then our favourite lunch spot, Wendy's in Brockville, closed down and built themselves a new, much smaller venue. The food was still good, but suddenly the ambiance was gone and, if we were able to get a seat at all, there was no privacy to discuss things. 

Most of the newly built fast food places, no matter which franchise, have opted for one or two unisex toilets instead of the usual separate rooms with multi stalls. This creates lineups and gives women a better idea why men's rooms used to have urinals. Now we have to be more wary of splattered seats and floors. 

Recently our local McDonald's closed for renovations. When it reopened it was a shock to my system the first time I walked through the door. It was totally unrecognizable. Then we discovered another McDonald's in Stittsville that was a carbon copy. The order desks are not visible from the entrance. There is nobody at the cash and it takes time before we are even noticed. (Normally it's faster to tell someone what you want at the counter than to stand at the machine and poke numerous buttons).  The new furnishings can only be described as utilitarian and I have no faith in them holding up for very long. The tables are not spaced for privacy anymore so I figure maybe five could be used at a time without practically sitting with strangers. The TV's are gone but suddenly there is loud music being piped through speakers. That makes it difficult for people with hearing problems to carry on a conversation, and I'm sure people with sensitivities to sound would just not be able to stay at all.

Ah, maybe that's what all this is about in Wendy's and McDonald's. Maybe they just want drive through and pick up orders instead of people actually meeting up for lunch or snacks inside their establishments. They won't have to clean tables or sweep floors as often, so the staff can be busy making food.

I see Tim Hortons is, at least temporarily, bringing back the Dutchies, SourCream Blueberry Fritters, Walnut  Crunch and Cinnamon Twists again this summer. I have also discovered it is now possible to get my tea in a pot if I ask for it.  I guess it's time to switch back.