McHenry County Blog

At the Belvidere rest stop on the Illinois Tollway, I found this urinal.

The urinal wasn’t of interest, except its being closed did cause longer waits on the 4th of July. The place was packed.

What caught my attention was the sign sitting inside the urinal:


Considering that the floors under most urinals are wet, I wondered why the sign was only posted in one.

Labels: Belvidere, Illinois Tollway, Message of the Day, Rest Stop, Sign, Urinals

No, you do not have permission to relieve yourself on Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley just because he passed his 75% sales tax increase.

I know you want a larger litter box, Keely, but you are not going to get our new tub liner (for which we shall not pay Crystal Lake sales tax).

It looks as if Keely is standing up and doing, well, you know what.

It reminds me of visiting Washington, D.C., as a kid. I think that was when we saw President Truman crossing Pennsylvania Avenue from Blair House, where he was living while the White House was being renovated. We were standing right in front of what is not called the Old Executive Office Building, where I ended up working as a budget examiner right out of the University of Michigan's public administration grad school for the U.S. Bureau of the Budget.

For some reason my little sister Janet (two years younger than I; I couldn't have been more than 6) went into a Men's Room with us.

She saw urinals covering the side of a wall.

“Daddy, why are the bathtubs standing up?” she asked.

Seeing Keely exploring the tub liner brought back that exquisite memory.

Labels: 75% Sales Tax Hike, Aaron Shepley, Harry Truman, Keely, Urinals

Who would have thought McHenry County Blog would write twice about urinals within a week?

Last week I touched on how McHenry County Board members were poised to relieve themselves in public on me for taking flash pictures of them the day they considered the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.

What a coincidence, the main part of the meeting last week was about a $700,000 increase in the cost of a new Animal Control Facility. And how was it to be financed, according to the Animal Control folks?

With the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax.

The other part of the meeting was about new camera rules. To the back of the room and no flashes. You’ll have to read this article to find out the results.

But, back to now.

Sunday the Chicago Sun-Times put a urinal on its front page.

I know most of you won’t believe that, so I’ve posted a copy of it here.

A 13-person contingent, a bunny and a cat, drove down to Springfield for the Old Capitol Art Fair this weekend and on the way home some of us stopped at the Belvidere Oasis on the Tollway to, well, relieve ourselves.

Here’s what the urinals look like.

My, my.

They look a lot like the ones being installed for legislators, except the automatic flusher laser is on the wall above the urinal, instead of part of the urinal itself.

You can enlarge the images, including that of Keely cat being quite bored by the almost four-hour trip home from Springfield, by clicking on them. Keely had to hold it until he got home, but we did let him use his litter box in the Burger King parking lot across from Cozy Dog after we discovered out first choice for eating was closed.

Labels: Animal Control, Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois State Senate, McHenry County Board, McHenry County Republican Cat Tax, Urinals

These are not ordinary urinals.

They are urinals with a view.

First, the ones you might have seen in Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times in Zay N. Smith’s

QT ON THE BLOGS.

They are at the headquarters (pun probably intended) of Frankfurt’s Commerzbank.

Smith starts his cut line with “Loo with a view.”

Second up are urinals closer to home.

About half of the patrons of Port Edward know what’s below this and another porthole on the north side of the building right off the parking spaces near the river.

Port Edward is the excellent restaurant at the intersection of Algonquin Road (Route 62) and Harrison Street, just west of the Fox River.

And why are there relieved men’s faces looking out across the parking lot at the Fox River?

Think any women ever wonder why?

It's the pause that refreshes.

In perhaps related news, McHenry County Board members are poised to relieve themselves on me in public at their board meeting tonight at 7 by banning flash photography and all cameras to the back two corners of the room where no decent pictures can be taken without a $3-5,000 camera with a huge lens. (Come to Woodstock at 6 if you want to hear how much overbudget the new Crystal Lake Animal Control Facility is.)

See "Skinner's a Pain, But Come On."

Labels: Commerzbank, McHenry County Board, Port Edward, Urinals, Zay N. Smith