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MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber, Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo, NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, and State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal commemorate Disability Pride Month at 66 St-Lincoln Center on Tuesday, Jul 18, 2023 by announcing the rollout of accessibility features at stations around the west side.
(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)
Taken for the 2nd Lowepro photo competition with the theme 'Accessibility'.
Information, love it, the abililty to access a whole world of information no matter where I am is a absolutely fantastic.
Shot entirely with info accessed from the Iphone, found a location via google maps, worked out the sunset times for the best light, checked the weather then ignored it and went out in the rain anyway.
Strobist Info: Setting sun back camera right, shoot through umbrella held directly above phone just out of shot.
This solution to carrying wheelchair-bound passengers doesn't seem to have found much favour since it was introduced - I think this is the only example I have photographed so far that was not specifically for use on express services. BL Travel of Hemsworth have this one on a VDL SB4000 chassis, seen at Haydock Park.
Mike Brown, MD of Rail and Underground, and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson demonstrate wheelchair access on the Tube at an accessibility event
In 2008 I participated in an Accessibility Interactive Rally (AIR) during SXSW in Austin, TX. The competition challenged web dev teams to build highly accessible web sites for assigned clients.
It sits out in the middle of nowhere, abandoned now and surrounded by farmland. It is accessible by an infrequently used dirt road, and if you weren't looking for it, you'd never find the Bradley School, home to area students from 1940 - the early 1990s. This is where the younger Neill kids went to school, and in a small community such as Bradley, it is where many of the town's social functions took place for decades.
The one-story structure was built by the WPA in 1940 after the previous two-story structure was condemned, and Josephine Neill's much younger brother, Sam (born 1922), was likely in the first graduating class at the new school.
After graduation, Sam left tiny Bradley and the family farm to attend college at Southwest Tech in Weatherford, OK. It is doubtful that he graduated before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps to become a pilot, but that was no matter -- duty called, and Sam wanted to fly.
During the time that Sam was in flight school nearby, his older sister (by two years), Ernestine, recalled Sam taking out his plane and buzzing the family farm two miles from the school, to the delight of his widowed mother, adoring sisters, and other onlookers.
Yes, Sam was quite a character, full of fun and spirit, and being the youngest of seven children, he was likely a bit spoiled, too. But, that didn't mean that he wasn't a hard worker; in fact, he excelled in pilot training and received his wings on July 29, 1943, two days before his 21st birthday.
To celebrate, Sam married his girlfriend, Jerry, on the same day, in Frederick, OK, and I can imagine that the whole family showed up for the graduation and wedding with great excitement. Sam's mom, Lena, probably shed a few happy tears as she welcomed a new daughter into the family. I imagine that she also spent a moment missing her husband, James "Ott", who died when Sam was only four. He would have been so proud of his youngest child and very pleased to see all of the family together under such happy circumstances.
Ott's oldest child, Josephine, would have been there with her husband, Buford. Also in attendence would be Ruben and Frankie, who, although they weren't blood relatives to the Neills, had lived with the family for so long that everyone considered them their own. Of course, older sister Carrie and her husband would make the trek from OKC to Frederick for the special day, and Ernestine, Sam's senior by a mere two years and his favorite childhood playmate, wouldn't for anything miss seeing her baby brother earn his wings and get married.
Big brother, J.O., was likely the only member of the family to not make the festivities. A Marine, he was aboard the U.S.S. New Orleans in the Pacific theater on this special day, but he surely sent his well wishes.
Soon after graduating, Sam became a pilot flying Marauders in the 597th Bomber Squadron, 397th Bomber Group. The group remained stateside until 1944, when it was called overseas. Sam left his young bride, large family, and the flat, hot plains of Oklahoma for the cooler coastal climate of Rivenhall, England, where his group was stationed in April of 1944.
In the months to come, Sam must have flown several dangerous bombing missions before and during the long and bloody D-Day invasion, likely receiving flak from Nazi anti-aircraft guns strategically placed along the beaches of France and even inland. He probably felt very lucky every time he returned, exhausted but safe, to Rivenhall. Unfortunately, his luck didn't last long.
During a mission to bomb bridges in western Paris on June 24, 1944, a month shy of his 22nd birthday, Sam's plane went down. The July 11th issue of the Daily Oklahoman reported that Sam was missing over France, the 1,082nd Oklahoman listed to date as missing since the beginning of the war. (The same issue listed Okahoman casualties to that point as 1,205 killed in action, 1,082 missing in action, 642 prisoners, and 1,728 wounded).
Soon after, Sam's status was changed to FOD (finding of death), and a marker was placed in his name at Epinal Cemetery in France.
Back in Bradley, the small town mourned. Everyone was so distraught at losing one of their own that a memorial for the young pilot was organized to say goodbye to Sammy, as everyone at home knew him.
As Dr. Jerry G. Nye, who was in the 4th grade at Bradley School at the time, recalled in a 2007 Lindsay News article about Pearl Harbor, "When Lt. Sammy Neill, the brother of J.O. Neill, was killed when the B-26 bomber he was piloting was shot down in Europe, a memorial service was held in the Bradley School gym. We were too young to attend, but we realized the tragedy of war when a young man we knew paid the ultimate price."
After the war, Sams' mother, Lena, and his sister, Carrie, made the sad trip to a tired and battered but very grateful France to find him and say a final goodbye to the baby of the family.
As for the Bradley School, it remained open for decades and served in various capacities until the area's population dwindled so much that the district was combined with nearby Alex, and the school closed in the early 90's. Like Sammy, who rests so far from home and family, it now sits alone and half forgotten in the quiet farm fields in the middle of nowhere.
Since 1985 Accessible Journeys has created exciting wheelchair accessible vacation to Australia for travelers with wheels, their family and their friends.
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
Touchdown brings me ‘round again to find…solid ground. Though I sometimes do feel like a rocket man. Including layovers, this trip to Vietnam consisted of 8 separate flights. The third one brought me to tiny Phu Quoc Island, a tropical island 40 kilometers west of the southern tip of Vietnam (and less than 5 kilometers from Cambodia on the mainland). The island, then, is actually west of the southern tip of Vietnam, and less than an hour flight from Saigon. The flight goes something like this: “Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated as it’s time for take…and now we’re landing.”
There are actually two tropical islands off the southern coast of Vietnam that I would have liked visiting, Phu Quoc being the more appealing of the two. (The other, for those curious, are the Con Dao Islands which actually are south of the mainland…but there doesn’t seem to be daily flights to/from there, which took it out of this trip’s consideration.)
Compared with Thailand, you would probably never think of coming to Vietnam for a tropical island experience – mainly because it’s not developed – and you’d be correct. I can easily name a handful of islands in Thailand (or Malaysia) that I would prefer to visit from an island standpoint.
However, that’s not to say that I was disappointed by Phu Quoc. On the contrary, I love the island. I found myself thinking, many times, “If I were an investor interested in developing a tourist resort, this would almost be at the top of my list.” (So, any investors reading this…feel free to take a slightly closer look at this island.)
It’s an easily accessible island with many daily flights to Saigon, and also flights to Hanoi. It claims to be an international airport, so I assume there are flights from Cambodia, as well, though I can’t say for certain. I can only say…it’s easy to get here.
Once you get here, you’ll find Vietnam’s largest island (though not large in comparison with many others). It’s 50 kilometers from north to south and 25 kilometers at its widest. It’s triangular in shape and, poetically speaking, can be said to look like a tear drop. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, the island also includes smaller neighboring islands as well.
Phu Quoc has slightly over 100,000 full-time residents, mostly living in Duong Dong, the island’s main town on the midpoint of the west coast of the island. Other than tourism, the economy here is driven, obviously, by the sea. Fishing, seafood, and so on are the staple here. Phu Quoc is the producer of the most famous fish sauce coming out of Vietnam. (Phu Quoc’s fish sauce can be found on grocery store shelves around the world.)
It’s also an island of hills. Our tour guide claimed that Phu Quoc has 99 mountains and, while I can’t (or won’t) dispute that, it struck me as a curious claim. There are hilly parts, though, and they include two waterfalls, one of which we visited on a day trip.
I mention that Phu Quoc struck me as being somewhat underdeveloped. I’ll elaborate by saying that they have a solid foundation – lots of restaurants (catered to foreigners; western food, pizza joints, etc., in addition to local/Vietnamese cuisine) – and hotels ranging from budget to top end. The basic utilities on the island (electricity, internet, etc.) are also completely stable and reliable. Where they could develop more is in the following: infrastructure and the actual amenities of tourism.
The roads weren’t shoddy, by many standards, though there’s still a lot of room for development. Once this is improved, it’ll make getting around more comfortable for anyone who wants to be completely insulated from “natural.”
The other thing that struck us as a little odd is that there doesn’t seem to be much going on at night (unless you’re a fisherman). It’s still a very quiet island and there weren’t many options for bars, clubs, live music, for example. (This is a huge difference between here and, say, Koh Chang in Thailand; the only other nearby island I have for comparison.) There aren’t convenience stores here that are open 24 hours a day and they don’t have much to offer after dark…besides the Night Market. Perhaps that’s the way they want to keep it, but there’s certainly potential here.
During the daytime, though, there’s plenty for tourists. As a photographer not equipped with waterproof gear, I was much more limited, but for the typical tourist you have options of fishing, diving, snorkeling, and swimming. The beaches were, in my opinion, a little dirty, but there are others on the island that are better, I think. (All in all, it would be nice to see things cleaned up a bit…)
In addition to water pursuits, there’s Phu Quoc National Park (that we didn’t visit; apparently better other times of the year) and – though the crux of the economy is tied to the sea – there are also other aspects of the economy that they represent well: pearl farms, pepper farms, cashew plantations, fish sauce factories, and local wine (wine aficionados, don’t get your hopes up).
For the land-loving folks, this is far from a crowded island. There are a number of beaches, the national park in the northern part of the island, and a few small waterfalls (one a classic, the other more of a rapids where you can swim). In short, there’s not a lack of things to do during the day.
With the long-winded generalities about the island out of the way, time to carry on with our experience. We took an early flight out of Saigon, around 9 or 10 o’clock. Flying into the airport, in the heart of the island (on the south side), my first impressions were “green” and “hilly.”
Naturally, it’s a small airport – everything here is small – which made it easy to get our things and be on our way to the hotel. I paid about $5 for the ride into Duong Dong. Our hotel, the Sea Breeze, had very friendly staff. (I can actually say that about every hotel we stayed at, with the New Moon in Danang being the least friendly…and they weren’t bad by any means at all.)
Anyway, the Sea Breeze was a fine place to sleep, though the Cat Huy was slightly nicer. But, for three nights, this hotel was perfect. Comfortable bed…and they did same day laundry service. I don’t remember the cost, but it was probably between $20-30 USD/night.
The hotel wasn’t one that had a restaurant or breakfast included (Saigon, Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi all did), but there was a restaurant attached and a few feet away. I had breakfast there two of the three mornings and, while not the best western breakfast I’ve had, the staff were exceptionally friendly. I think that’s a Vietnamese quality…be really cordial to folks.
We had most of Friday on the island, plus the entire weekend, with a Monday morning flight to Danang (via Saigon) around 10:00 in the morning. Friday, then, was a completely unplanned day. So we spent Friday toddling around Duong Dong.
The first place we went (besides the hotel, obviously), was to find something to eat. We ended up going with was a decidedly non-Vietnamese restaurant named Buddy’s, walking there via the Night Market street. For me, I loved ‘em because they had milkshakes with real ice cream. Didn’t matter what else they had. That was enough to get me to go back 2-3 times.
After lunch and sitting around Buddy’s for a while, we walked across the street and followed the river out to its mouth in the Gulf of Thailand. (The river is why the main town was built at this spot.)
At the river’s head is a curiously named spot called Dinh Cau Castle. There is nothing about this place that shouts out “castle” if you were to just chance upon it. It’s actually a combination lighthouse-temple. The temple aspect is just a small room with a statue dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. The lighthouse, obviously, has its practical purposes. It’s more a light station, though; there’s no house for a keeper.
However, this was a very enjoyable spot (much nicer than the Thien Hau “Pagoda” in Saigon) and would end up being the spot where we watched the sunset on Friday and Saturday. The lighthouse-station-temple was built in 1937. There are a few tables benches on an upper platform to sit and enjoy the view of the sea (or the river mouth with its fishing fleet behind you) and there’s also a jetty going out into the sea that gives some nice perspectives. I can only say that I was surprisingly pleased with both Friday and Saturday’s sunsets.
Staying at Dinh Cau well past sunset, we strolled back towards the Sea Breeze via the Night Market, which is rather clean as far as Asian markets go. (I mention this to contrast it with Phu Quoc’s Day Market, mentioned below.)
Before getting back to the hotel, we stopped at the recently (2015) established Crab House (Nha Ghe Phu Quoc) on the main road at the south end of the market. The owner was – as all seem to be – very friendly and talkative. I was curious to know why the interior had banners from a handful of SEC schools (US folks will know what this is) along with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Turns out, the guy used to live in Muskegon, Michigan, which isn’t terribly far from where I was born (and a town I’ll be passing near in about 3-4 weeks’ time).
Junebug & I split the Crab House battered garlic pepper fries (65,000 VND); miniature crab cakes with sweet mango coulis (175,000 VND); and com ghe: hot, steamy jasmine rice with fresh, sweet crab meat, julienne cucumber, and nuoc mam cay (Phu Quoc fish sauce) for 175,000 VND. Add in two cans of Sprite at 20,000 VND a pop and that’s a happy stomach. (The exchange rate, while we were there, was around 21,000-22,000 VND to the US dollar, so we’re looking at…$20-25 for a fresh seafood dinner for two.) With a thoroughly happy stomach, it was time to call it a night, even though it was barely 8:00.
Saturday brought with it another day trip with a small group. This was similar to the Saigon trip with Bao in terms of time and what we did, though I think Bao was a better guide than the girl here. She seemed disinterested half the time, though was never rude or mean, per se. Anyway, at $11/person, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the day.
Since the one part of this tour I was looking forward to most was a waterfall, I was grateful that it was overcast almost the entire day. For parts of it, rain was pretty heavy. (It even made me mildly – albeit very mildly concerned about the flight out on Monday as it was the first of two for the day.)
First up, though, was a pearl farm where I found it interesting to see them pulling pearls out of oysters. That thrill lasted for about a minute or two. However, we were scheduled to be here for close to an hour. (They were hoping that people would buy pearl jewelry.) Given that we were in a fairly heavy rain, I was surprised that there were so many people here. It made me think the entire day would be like this with overcrowded spots. (Forunately, that didn’t come to pass.)
With no interest in buying jewelry, I spent the hour on the back patio looking out at the very rough and stormy sea, and a few of these shots are from there. Finally ready to go, we were waiting on two Vietnamese women from the group (a recurring theme for the day) before we headed off to the next stop: a pepper farm.
To call it a pepper farm would be to stretch one’s imagination to its utmost. It was about 5 rows of pepper trees with each row being no more than 10 meters long. (I’d like to hope this is just the “sample” section they show us dopey tourists.) Much more attractive was the attached shop where they hoped you’d buy pepper. This time around, I pulled out my wallet. There’s one of us born every minute, you know. I bought four separate jars of pepper, one of which wasn’t a powder (and was subsequently confiscated in Guangzhou as I rarely check luggage and this trip was no exception). At about a dollar a jar, it wasn’t a bad deal.
From the pepper farm we were off to the wine shop. This tour was beginning to feel like just going from one spot to another to buy local goods. This wasn’t grape wine, but was a berry wine and was, for the most part very sweet. Don’t think port or sherry, though. It wasn’t quite that sweet, but it was close. Certainly not bad, but also something I could’ve done without. However, they seemed proud of their wine, and I don’t blame them. (It’s better than most of what I had in Korea.) Once again being held up by the Vietnamese ladies, we finally all settled back into the van and went off to Suoi Tranh.
The waterfall was actually much nicer than I expected. Apparently, half the year, it’s dry, so it worked out well that we came at the end of the rainy season. The fall is a classic cascade in a very nice, wooded setting. (Even if it were sunny, it probably would’ve photographed rather well because it had enough cover to give it shade.) We were given 45 minutes to walk the 600 meters up to the falls and back, which meant a bit of a rush for me, but…fortunately, the Vietnamese ladies were even slower than I was.
The creek leading up to the falls had some nice rapids, too, but it also had some unfortunate eyesores: a manmade fall at the entrance (why would you need that when you have the real thing a few minutes away?) and, worse, some fake animal statuary. Count my lucky stars, but these all disappeared after the first 100-200 meters, and you were left with a tasteful and well-made natural path leading up to the falls.
After this – it was around 12:00 or 12:30 by this point – we hopped in the van and headed to Sao Beach at the southern tip of the island. To get here required driving down a very bumpy road for a few minutes at the end. (As I said…they can still do a little infrastructure work here unless one of the unstated tourist goals is to make people feel like they’re bouncing around in a bag of popcorn.)
The beach was…pleasant, I guess I can say. It wasn’t a large beach. In length, it covered a small cove, so it had a nice setting. It also isn’t a wide beach; only about 30 meters from the restaurant to the water, and maybe even less than 20 meters. I saw a little too much trash around which disheartened me, though we aren’t talking dirty to levels that I’m accustomed to seeing in China. I didn’t go swimming, and the lunch at the restaurant here – though Vietnamese – was among the most unimpressive meals we had in the entire two weeks here. The best part of the time at the beach is that the weather cleared up from overcast and rainy to mostly cloudy. So it wasn’t crowded here, nor was it raining.
We left the beach at 2:00 and drove to a nearby fish sauce factory. This was a lot like the pearl farm, pepper farm, and wine shop. “We make this here. Please buy it.” Of the four of these places, the pearl farm is the only one who actually had some kind of “demonstration,” and that lasted about a minute.
If it seems I’m being critical of the roped in commercialism of these types of tours, perhaps I am a little jaded. The spots in and of themselves are actually quite interesting and I just accept this as an unnecessary evil. They need to survive somehow, and for that, I guess I’m grateful that they do this. Back to the actual tour, the fish sauce factory was quick and interesting. (Though I don’t like seafood that much, I do like fish sauce to add flavor.)
The last “scheduled” stop was Nha Tu Phu Quoc – Coconut Tree Prison – right across the street. This isn’t a place that I would otherwise go out of my way to visit, though in conjunction with the beach and the fish sauce factory, it was perfect. (Individually, none of the three spots amazed me, but as a whole, they were quite pleasing.)
The prison was built by the French in the 1940s and this was one of the ARVN’s POW camps during the Vietnam War. Apparently, prisoner treatment here was quite inhumane, as detailed by the signs around the barracks. The recreations of people, though, aren’t the most lifelike I’ve ever seen and seem kind of cheap. There aren’t any period photographs, so there’s a little “oomph” missing here, but it’s still a good effort all around.
Our last stop before being dropped off back in Duong Dong was at Ham Ninh, a small fishing village on the east coast of the island (almost directly across the island from Duong Dong. We didn’t do anything here except have 15-20 minutes to walk to the end of the pier and come back. As uneventful as that may sound, I enjoyed it a lot because the surrounding scenery and seeing the fishing fleet up close (along with a lot of small floating restaurants) made it unique and worthwhile to me.
When we got dropped off, we went right back to Buddy’s and repeated the same thing from Friday night (minus eating at the Crab House). I can’t recall what we ate for dinner on Saturday night and perhaps we didn’t. Lunch at Buddy’s was late enough that I doubt we were terribly hungry by evening except for some snacks.
The only difference between Friday & Saturday was my positioning to photograph the sunset. Friday night was from up near the lighthouse, and Saturday was a little ways out on the jetty. Skies were equally moody both nights.
I’m easy like Sunday morning. No rush to wake up since there was absolutely nothing whatsoever on the agenda. Brunch, around 9:00 or 10:00, after stopping by the post office to send off some postcards, was at Buddy’s. From there, we crossed the river to the day market and spent about an hour or so wandering up and down the street photographing a variety of things.
Going back to the west side of the river, we spent a little while at Dinh Cau, but decided not to watch the sunset there for the third night in a row. We had a late (and small) lunch of a wood-fired pizza, which was surprisingly delicious – so much so that I considered going back for dinner.
Instead, we went to one of the few access points for Long Beach (the beach nearest the hotel) to watch the least spectacular of the three sunsets in my opinion. Sunday night’s was cloudier than Friday and Saturday’s. However, there are still some interesting pictures. It’s just the most muted of the three, by far, and there’s simply less to work with.
After sundown, we walked the few hundred meters north up the main road, passing the Sea Breeze, and stopped at a local restaurant. (I suggested it not because it was local, but because they proudly talked of the ice cream that they have.) The food was not terribly great. I had fish and chips that didn’t have enough tartar and was a bit bland. I also ordered some smoked cheese that, when they brought it, they didn’t say what it was and, since it looked more like noodles than cheese, didn’t eat it. The ice cream, however, was sorbet, and it was wonderful.
All in all, Phu Quoc was about as good as I wished it would be, and I was lucky enough to have three reasonably good sunsets and decent weather for the weekend. Also, the waterfall was actually nicer than I had expected, we ate well (for the most part), and it was a relaxing weekend. Not a bad way to spend life.
After breakfast Monday morning, we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport at 9:00 for the first of two flights on the day.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.
These are images from the reopening of Damen at the Illinois Medical District station on the Blue Line, part of a $23 million renovation that is improving accessibility and modernizing the station so that it can better serve the medical district.
Before photo, left, September 22, 2012. This path was once the driveway to the Kolb Studio Garage. After the renovation, the Canyon Rim Trail has been routed through here, providing an a new accessible path from the shuttle bus stop to Kolb Studio. After photo, right, May 08, 2013.
This renovation encompasses a 3.5 acre area at and surrounding the Bright Angel Trailhead and is focused on creating an accessible and comfortable area for visitors that complements existing historic buildings including the Bright Angel Lodge and Rim Cabins designed by Grand Canyon architect Mary E. J. Colter. Having not had much significant development in the past 100 years, many people have had a hard time finding the trailhead and there was no convenient or comfortable place for people to sit to either enjoy the view or prepare for hikes. The renovation will greatly improve conditions at and around the trailhead, providing a much better experience for park visitors. Left: NPS photo by Mundus Bishop, right: NPS photo by Michael Quinn
Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style
Go to Disney store. Ask for elevator. "Over there, may I help you?" No, we'll look around the first floor first. Okay, we're ready to move up, where was the elevator? "Over there, may I help you?" Wait...WHAT. She meant may I help you carry the wheelchair up a flight of stairs to the elevator?!
The Fletcher Block Building (or Fletcher Building) was located on the northwest corner of Main & Second Street and was built for William Fletcher who also had is business office here. This building was built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906) c. 1887. The first year that the Fletcher block appeared in the City Directory was 1888. William Fletcher moved to Wichita from Illinois and is described as a "Capitalist" and a "Speculator". At the time this building was built Mr. Fletcher lived just a block south of Mr. Sternberg on the then very exclusive north Waco Avenue residential district. Mr. Sternberg's residence was at 1065 N. Waco Avenue. Mr. Fletcher's residence was at 933 N. Waco Avenue. At the time, Waco Avenue was an elite cul-de-sac, accessible only from the east. South of this area, the Arkansas river's path swung further to the east than it does today, cutting off Waco Avenue from going all the way through to downtown as it does today. No known photos of the Fletcher residence exist, but it's not unlikely that Sternberg designed and built Mr. Fletcher's personal residence in addition to building the Fletcher Building (which Sternberg is confirmed to have done). Sternberg is known to have designed & built Finlay Ross's residence at 821 N. Waco Avenue. Fletcher's home would have been in between the two. Early fire insurance maps for 933 N. Waco indicate there was a large home at this address, but other than identifying the perimeter of the structure those maps don't say anything else about it. Any additional information about the William Fletcher residence at 933 North Waco Avenue in Wichita, KS is welcome.
The Fletcher Block Building was a first-class office building equiped with steam heat, an electric elevator, stained glass windows and stained glass skylights and other upscale appointments. This building no longer exists. The term "block" is never used today, but was a common term in the late 1800s. It was somewhat of a generic term for any large commercial building that covered all or most of a block or even part of a block as long as it was fairly square or rectangular in shape. The Fletcher Block was a well-known building throughout Wichita. City directories sometimes omitted an address all together and simply referenced an office location as "Fletcher Block". It contained offices of professionals such as doctors and real estate brokers. Sternberg was the most prolific builder in the area and erected more of the commercial block-style buildings than any other builder in the late 1800s. Some of the other block-style buildings he erected include: the Eads Block Building, Smyth & Sons Block Building, the Union Block Building (corner of Douglas and Water), the Temple Block Building, the Bitting Block Building (also called simply, the Bitting Building at the corner of Market and Douglas), the Roys Block at the corner of Lawrence and Douglas, the Market Street Block (erected in August 1887), the Naftzger Building (a block-style building three stories high at the corner of St. Francis and Douglas), the Gettos Block Building, the Porter Building (a four-story brick at 211 – 213 E. Douglas), Ferrell’s Brick Block (opposite the old Post Office) and many others. Sternberg employed a crew that at times reached 40 men. As population in Wichita has grown about 10-fold since then, that translates into a construction firm with roughly 400 workers by today's standards. William Sternberg was a significant employer in Wichita, all at a time before electric tools and cars.
Bricks for buildings like these were made locally at any number of brick manufacturers.
In the 1800s, bricks were made by hand in a slow, laborious process. In 1879, the steam shovel was invented which speeded up the first step: just the getting the clay to begin with. Clay was often stored over the Winter because the freezing made working the clay easier in the Spring and the cold helped remove unwanted oxides. Clay was then ground into powder and screened to remove rocks. The dry clay was then mixed with water and then kneaded (“pugged” in a “pug mill” whereby a horse drawn cart worked the clay mixture by walking round-and-round the pug) to mix all the elements together in a uniform mixture. Wooden brick molds, usually made from beech wood (because beech wood didn’t stick to the clay mixture), were “sanded” (moistened and covered with sand) and filled with the clay mixture. These wood molds were then turned over and the “sand-struck bricks” slid out of the wooden brick molds and cured for a few days before being fired. Kilns were not massive ovens as they are today but usually dug-outs or pits in the ground and temperatures reached about 1800 degrees F, but the heat was not uniform throughout the firing pit. Bricks closer to the center (closer to the fire) ended up being "over-fired" and were called “clinkers” because they were noticeably cracked and/or warped. They broke easily and were mostly used for decorative purposes (garden borders, decorative walls and walkways, etc). Some bricks (those furthest from the fire) were typically under cooked (under-fired) and this resulted in a brick being more porous, having a lighter density and a significantly lighter color (more salmon colored than red). Other bricks toward the middle of the fire hole / pit received a more even temperature and became quite dense and hard with a good uniform shape. The sand from these middle-range of good quality bricks would fall off the bricks during the firing process and vaporize and would then float back up with the heat and coat the outside of the bricks creating a slight gloss or sheen on the outside of the brick. Because bricks were stacked there wasn’t always a glass sheen on all sides of the bricks. These better bricks (middle of the firing pit) were chosen for use on the exterior walls of a building or outside of a chimney column. Sand from the under-fired bricks (those further from the center fire) simply fell off into the pits and didn't vaporize resulting in bricks with a dull, rougher texture on the outside. These slightly under-fired porous bricks were often used for interior walls and chimney flues because the they contained more air within them and they insulated better.
Bricks were in extremely high demand in early Wichita (1870s – 1890s). By some accounts Wichita was growing faster in the 1880s than any other city in the country (according to the value of real estate transactions). In second and third place behind Wichita's growth were: (1) New York City and (2) Kansas City. Bricks were used not only for buildings but for street paving and construction of drains and sewers. Several brick factories (collectively producing well over a million bricks per day) sprung up in early Wichita and elsewhere in south central Kansas (notably Pittsburg and Coffeyville). Each brick factory imprinted their name and/or logo on their bricks and bricks from early south central Kansas ended up all over the world! Some of those bricks are now quite collectable. A popular and very collectable brick today is the "Don't Spit on Sidewalk" brick which originated in Topeka and which according to legend kicked off a health campaign that eventually swept the country to combat tuberculosis. The word “spit” was a fairly rough word at the time and more refined persons preferred the word, “expectorant” or “expectoration”, so “Don’t Spit on the Sidewalk” was a fairly “in-your-face” campaign that was intended to put a stop the practice of spitting once and for all! It was believed at the time that spitting on the floor in public places or on the sidewalk was a major source of the spread of tuberculosis (indeed direct contact with saliva can spread tuberculosis), however, it was later found that a more significant route of transmission was the practice of drinking water from water buckets at train stations or other community water bins. Trains (remember no air conditioning back then) stopped every several miles and thirsty travelers would go to the water bucket, pick up the drinking cup or dipper, dip it in the water bin, take a drink and lay the cup or dipper back down for the next drinker. The public then was not generally aware that disease could be spread in this way. Paper plates were invented in 1904 and paper cups soon followed in 1908. It should be noted that the first paper cups were not originally called "paper cups" but rather, “health cups” and the first company to manufacture these “health cups” was none other than the Dixie Cup Company. So the bricks were undoubtedly locally made. The limestone was probably quarried locally (Arkansas City) and brought to Wichita by train. Once in Wichita it was carried to the job site by mule.
Examples of all these various types of bricks (clinkers, porous, durable and durable with glass sheen) are available for public demonstration at the Historic Sternberg Mansion and can be seen and felt and weighed which helps visually clarify the process by which bricks in Wichita were made.
This photo is courtesy of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum (www.WichitaHistory.org).
Scott Trimble, Wheelchair Accessible, 2006
In background: The Warp & the Weft,2006
Based on Guelph University's work on Universal Instructional design: 7 Tips.
My first doodle using Adobe Illustrator and Wacom Cintiq tablet.
Can you imagine how ridiculous is was for Stop & Shop to have installed the toilet paper in such a problematic location in its accessible bathroom stall? Sheesh.
The poster is awesome.
During the rainy season of winter and early spring, Wolf Creek Falls puts on a massive display of the strength and power of water. Spring brings lush vegetation and vibrant colors for photographers. Spring and early fall days, especially with a light overcast, are considered the best weather conditions for taking memorable photos. The reduced water flows in the summer months reveal the delicate and complex channels and pathways that water has carved into the bedrock cliffs underneath Wolf Creek Falls.
Across from the parking area for this trail, you will find a small picnic area and vault toilet. Trail length: 1.2 miles. The trail is not accessible to people who use wheelchairs due to the 13% grade on the first footbridge.
For more information:
Roseburg District Office
777 NW Garden Valley Blvd.
Roseburg, OR 97471
(541)440-4930
BLM_OR_RB_Mail@blm.gov
The Chilliwack River, located in British Columbia, is a scenic and dynamic waterway that flows through the Fraser Valley, just east of Vancouver. Here are some key highlights:
🌊 Overview
Location: Near the city of Chilliwack, close to Vedder Crossing and the Soowahlie Indian Reserve.
Length: The river originates from Chilliwack Lake and flows westward, eventually joining the Vedder River.
Elevation: Around 55 meters (180 feet) above sea level.
🎣 Recreation
Fishing: It's one of the most popular fishing rivers in BC, known for salmon and steelhead. The Chilliwack Salmon Hatchery supports a productive fishery, especially in the fall when thousands of anglers visit
.
Species: Chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon, as well as steelhead and cutthroat trout.
Best Seasons: September to November for salmon; December to May for steelhead.
🚣♂️ Adventure
Whitewater Paddling: The Chilliwack Canyon section offers Class III/IV rapids, making it a favorite for kayakers and rafters looking for a thrilling ride.
🚗 Access
Easily accessible via Highway 1 from Vancouver. Key access points include Vedder Road, Lickman Road, and Chilliwack Lake Road.
Thank you for your visit and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!
~Sonja
Select from photos in this album to create a slide show to convince local businesses that serving people with disabilities is profitable.
For the latest research on what works in Inclusive Tourism point them to, "Best Practice in Accessible Tourism: Inclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism"
buhalis.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-book-best-practice-in-ac...
One of the most frequent questions asked by advocates and industry alike is “what is the value of the inclusive tourism market?”. There are surprisingly few studies that have examined this question. Below is an updated extract from an article that presents a summary economic estimate studies (Darcy & Dickson, 2009).
accessibletourismresearch.blogspot.com/2010/01/economic-c...
These are images from the reopening of Damen at the Illinois Medical District station on the Blue Line, part of a $23 million renovation that is improving accessibility and modernizing the station so that it can better serve the medical district.
Mr Malcolm Johnson, Director, TSB, ITU, speak sot a delegate at the ITU-T Study Group 16 Focus Group on Audio Visual Accessibility (FG-AVA), is organizing a two-day workshop on ' Making Media Accessible to all: the options and the economics' to be held at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
© ITU/E.S Lee
A small breakaway group from the aforementioned rail tour made a mad dash to the Highland depot at Inverness while we had the chance, only to find nearly all the fleet hemmed in for decent photos, or parked up with front panels missing - it was a Sunday, though. A nice exception was thid former Fife Bristol FS trainer, which was just about accessible.
Wheelchair Accessible
Roaches Line RV Park & Cottages
are located at the beginning of the Baccalieu Trail on the scenic Avalon Peninsula, just 45km from St. John's and within 15 minutes of Bay Roberts, Brigus, and Cupids, Newfoundland and Labrador
Hillside Cottages
Newfoundland and Labrador
Lack of elevators and broken escalators are common accessibility problems at most of TTC subway stations. Here is a perfect example of broken escalator at the back entrance of Yonge and Bloor Station. This poor couple had to carry the baby stroller down the stairs to get to the train platform. Imagine a single parent trying to do this?
Blog Post: makaylalewis.co.uk/2015/05/26/sketchnotes-global-accessib...
Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2015 Flickr Album: www.flickr.com/photos/makaylalewis/sets/72157653063698500
Sketchnotes Album: www.flickr.com/photos/makaylalewis/sets/72157633090981769
#TodaysDoodle (No. 210)
©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
These photographs are presented here for viewing purposes ONLY. They are NOT royalty free images and may not be used for commercial or private use. Any such use of these images is strictly prohibited. Specifically, these images may not be copied, manipulated, be reproduced by any other means nor sold without prior written consent by the author.
Rennies trio of Plaxton bodied B7R coaches all came from Stagecoach Western. Despite one being converted to 64 seats, all retain their wheelchair lifts, but only one 53276 (KX56JZO) advertised the fact it is an accessible vehicle.
Having a solid set of proper accessibility features on a phone is incredibly important for the small set of people who need them, and Samsung has done a good job of keeping its recent phones accessible for all. The new version of TouchWiz introduced on the Galaxy S5 brought new options and...
mobiapps.club/accessibility-features-on-the-samsung-galax...
This is the wheelchair accessible kitchen in the wheelchair accessible house for rent in Baltimore, MD.
Seen at a 1995 Lincoln Towncar Royale Limousine.
Also from full-size luxury US-cars other than Cadillac were made stretched limousines. I don't know if this Lincoln is converted by Superior too.
This is a Town Car from the second generation, designed by Gale Halderman and Jack Telnack (from Ford Group Design), 1986.
4.6L 8 cylinder engine.
2460 kg.
Production Town Car 2nd generation: 7/1989-9/1997.
Original first reg. number: Febr. 28, 1995.
New Dutch reg. number: Nov. 25, 1998.
Amstelveen, Bella Donna, March 6, 2019.
© 2019 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved
This bathing area was all but deserted on a cold April day in Flanders.
But, as it was Flanders, it reminded me of a Remembrance wreath, and I thought of the poem:
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below."
We will Remember them.
For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/not-quite-summer-over...
Children with additional support needs will have improved access to nursery education thanks to £2 million announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today.
The money will fund specialist training and equipment to ensure all nurseries offering the free early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement are equipped to care for children with additional support needs
The First Minister and Mark McDonald, Minister for Childcare and Early Years announced the funding while visiting Smile Childcare Early Years Centre in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh.