Learning Lavatories

Lavatory, not to be confused with laboratory, is a professional term used for bathrooms also known as restrooms. Although, I think the nuns used lavatory when I was in grade school. Nuns were most often always very proper while in school. The Madison Public Market (MPM), which has been in the works for a long time, is finally set to open this summer, perhaps sometime in July. The MPM is located in a former city of Madison public works garage, and is located at the intersections of First and Johnson Streets. The facility has two levels, each contain restrooms, oops, lavatories. The restroom art work was sponsored by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District. The lavatories are unique, and provoke thought and provide information. And, perhaps spur persons to be more conscious of what they do. If you have to do #2, some of the restroom walls will provide sufficient reading material.

Pac-man, good bacteria eating the bad

The restrooms are each an individual space. Each room contains a toilet and a sink. But, the most unique aspect is that they are completed with a unique design to instill certain values of conservation, how the sanitary sewer system and treatment plant generally function, and quite frankly, to learn that only certain things go down the drain, hence the learning part of the name. Yet, some are also fun, such as a Pac-man feature of microbes that eats bad bugs. When they were information the commission about this, I wondered if kids today even know what Pac-man is, or looks like. Pac-man dates from the earliest computer games.

The fist floor series of restrooms are titled "Where Will You Go?" and takes market patrons though the waste collection, treatment and return processes of the MMSD system. The second level focus for the restrooms is on the user. Titled "Can" it focuses on what the user can do regarding the use of water and to enable to the collection and treatment systems to function more optimally. Each restroom has a different design motif. These motifs include "disposing of wipes in the trash, putting grease in the garbage, keeping leaves out of the lakes and gutters, and taking paint and household chemicals to Clean Sweep, to protect the wastewater system and our local watershed." (MMSD website)

Each floor has seven individual restrooms. The "Where Will You Go" has the following theme, each for one restroom: Bubble Party, where aeration tanks keep the microbes working; Biodigester Quest which illustrates how tiny bacteria, using Pac-Man, in digesters create nutrient rich fertilizer; Bright Future, UV disinfection (MMSD was one of the pioneers of this system); Incredible Journey--after treatment the wastewater is released back to nature. In the case of MMSD to Badfish Creek and then to the Rock River and Mississippi River. Fun fact: the journey from MMSD to the Gulf of Mexico takes about 40 days. Next comes A Conduit Attitude--the varied sizes of pipes that carry wastewater to the treatment plant. Wild Ride--the length of MMSD owned pipes would stretch from the Madison Public Market to Milwaukee and back. Finally, So Much Water, MMSD treats, on average, 40 million gallons of waste water a day. That is enough wastewater to fill 60 Olympic sized swimming pools. 

The thing is, the average daily volume has been about 40 mg/day for decades. I recall it being about that number when I joined the MMSD commission in 1992. This, even though the population of the service area has grown significantly in the past three decades. This shows how low flow devices have helped save water. Small achievements make a difference. The district recognizes that this current level will, perhaps in the not to distant future, give way to higher average daily flows. Personal responsibility can play a large part. 

This takes us to the second level bathrooms, where the flow of the theme continues, but with an emphasis on personal responsibility. On the second level the patron sees "Welcome to the Can." The seven individual restrooms take the initiative of "You can..... 1. You can rake leaves to save the lakes. My wife and I regularly pick up the leaves in front of our house, as the street sweeper does not come down as often as it perhaps should. 2. You can keep it fresh by limiting use of salt and making sure you water softener properly works. I last placed salt in our softener on June 5, 2025, 120 pounds worth and should likely make that date again. 3. You can use your voice, advocate for waterways, not unlike what I am doing with this blog post. 4. You can reduce water use--we have rain barrels, low flow devices, and we save water from the tap as we wait for warm water; these all have helped reduce our water use. 5. You ca dispose properly--unused medications and other items, to drop off sites, or what is able to clean sweep.  6. You can be a champion flusher--only flush poop, pee, puke and toilet paper. Items called flushable wipes are not. 7. One final restroom is for those thinking of careers, and encourages them to think of a job is water resources. 

A Can do attitude helps the lakes

The MPM is a wise user of water. Although, with individual bathrooms, there are no urinals, the market does have storage tanks that gather roof water and use that for toilets. The below photo shows the storm drain which leads to the storage tanks (blue pipes), the dark purple piping is the non-potable water, ie stored storm water, that goes to the toilets. The white piping is domestic cold water, or potable water.

Pipe system at MPM

Personal responsibility can make a difference. Each small act helps. In his recent encyclical Magnificat Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV quotes Gandalf in Lord of the Rings saying this: "The twentieth-century Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien, in the words of a protagonist in one of his novels, described our responsibility in this way: 'It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.'” Pope Francis added to this "The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization." (see paragraph 213).  The learning lavatories at the MPM are intended to help bring about a large number of small success stories. We all have contributions we can make in the never ending achievement for clean water. Clean water is important for a clean earth to till. 

Images by author at Madison Public Market, 14 May 2026

The Gravely Mower

Do you ever have a day when you should just not do anything? I had such a day last week Friday. From not fully sealing the container of berries I put on my oatmeal and then getting berry juice over the floor, wall and fridge as I flung it around to put in the fridge, to mower  issues. The biggest issue is with a brand new Gravely zero-turn mower, most specifically its Kawasaki engine. 

I mow property my sister owns, and it has been a trail this spring. Nothing ever seems to go easily and that was exacerbated on Friday. First, will be the Gravely, which issues should give pause to anyone looking to purchase such a piece of equipment with a Kawasaki engine. Next, will be other issues that arose.

How I wish it would be this easy. 

My sister brought down to Sun Prairie from La Crosse a new Gravely a few weeks ago. One garden tractor mower (2004 Legacy Simplicity) was in need of repair to the mower deck (sourcing a discontinued part 5" long spindle for the blades which got bent was difficult but my sister found one in Ohio), another 2019 Legacy had a broken wire that led to the mower height not being adjustable. I thought I would try to mow with the brand new Gravely mower.  Well, just under two weeks ago it took a bit to get started. My sister had to use starting fluid to get it started, which should have been her first clue as to what a piece of S#@t the Kawasaki engine on the machine is. I mean a brand new engine and machine and you have to use starting fluid? Well, after trying, and trying, and then having to wait several minutes for it to sound decent I started mowing. I was able to mow about 1 hour and 30 min until the machine stopped, for no reason at all. I could not get it restarted, so for the last few minutes I pulled out the 2019 Simplicity Legacy tractor that had the issue with the broken wire (I did not know the wire was broken two weeks ago, but my electrician brother in  law noticed it later that day). I finished mowing with the 2019 Simplicity, and then was able to get the Gravely started and promptly put it away.

I thought, perhaps it was getting some use and would finally work. Wow, was I wrong!  This past Friday I tried to start it, as my wife used the 2019 Simplicity and I would use the Gravely. Well, it took a long time to get it started and keep running. It would start and quit, start and quit and repeat several times. It is a brand new machine with just over 2 some hours of operation time. When the engine sounded like it was finally running well,  after several tries and carefully moving the choke in very gradually, I turned on the mower only to find the engine bogged down and quit. Several minutes later I let it run losing precious minutes mowing due to the Japanese engine. My wife in the meantime is easily mowing with the 2019 Simplicity and its Briggs and Stratton engine which has electronic choke so need to worry about a choke. I finally get the mower running and within 10 minutes it stops. I get off figure I should check the oil because who knows how much oil a the Japanese engine might use with only 2 hours on it, and find the oil fine. After about 15 minutes it starts and I start to mow again, and within about 35 minutes it stopped. It would not start after sitting 15 minutes, and later 45 minutes. I finally got it going and when putting it away, it, of course stopped again. Once again I had to wait to move it the 30 feet into the garage.

The Gravely and its Japanese engine are supposed to be good equipment. I will believe it when I see that it can promptly start, engage mower shortly after starting without the engine stopping and mow five acres without stopping, It could not run for a few minutes even to put it away. I have filled it with 91 octane premium gas, and the last fill was with gas only a week old. Perhaps this shows how tender Japanese made products really are. 

From Gravely website
False advertising? Maybe if you can get the engine running

I am sure my when my sister bought it she thought it would ease the pain of mowing but it only has made it worse. Any savings she had when she bought it last year, she got a deal when a friend also bought a Gravely, has now quickly disappeared. I told her not to buy it as it would be just another machine to maintain. Perhaps I need to rig something up so I can put a blast of starter fluid in the Japanese engine every five minutes to keep it running, although I am not sure that would work. A brand new machine and engine should work, and this one does not. I am thinking it is a LEMON!!  If this was an American badged engine, people would forever complain, and not buy it again. Well, I told my brother in law not to buy a Gravely because its Japanese engine cannot be counted on. 

As my wife finished mowing with the 2019 Simplicity and I fumed using a variety of cuss words over a piece of crap red colored Gravely mower that cannot be relied on to get started, or stay running, my brother in law and sister arrived. He then spent three hours trying to fix the wire, without taking the deck off the 2019 Simplicity as that is quite a chore. Hey, at least it works. He eventually got the mower deck fixed after using a wago connector from the wires on a trailer. This trailer was needed for yet another chore. The connector was borrowed after completing the chore of getting the mower deck for the 2003 Simplicity. This leads to the story of the trailer and wago connector.

In between attempts to fix the wire, I decided to go get the mower deck for the 2003 Simplicity that was being repaired. I went to hook it to my Jeep, but it did not fit the ball. That trailer uses a 1-7/8" ball, and the one on my Jeep is a 2". My brother in law said to use his Chevrolet truck, but he had 2". But, he was prepared as he had a second receiver with three different sized balls. So, we take off his 2", put on the multi-ball receiver hitch with the 1 7/8" ball for the trailer, only to find wire harness plug would not reach the trucks four pin connector. I then took my hitch tightener and receiver hitch with the two inch ball out and put on my relative's multi-ball receiver hitch. Well, the connector still did not reach on my Jeep. My brother in law then rigged up extensions on the trailer to allow it to work and off we finally went to get the repaired mower deck from Prairie Power. We also stopped at Menards to get some wago connectors, but the type Menards carried did not work to repair the broken wire on the 2019 mower deck, so a variety of other methods were attempted. Then my brother in law borrowed the wago from the trailer and it was done within a few minutes, showing that the right connector is important. I did not know there were different types of wago connectors, but leave it to Menards to sell insufficient electrical connectors. Maybe Menards should team with Kawasaki. 

It is not much good when a brand new mower fails to work and that Gravely, with its Kawasaki engine fits the bill of a unit simply taking up space and not available for its intended purpose. Perhaps it only requires a quick fix, but as the situation has devolved over two weeks, that seems unlikely. Luckily there are two Simplicity tractors available for use. The thing is, would it have been better to go with an electric mower where one no longer needs to worry the likely issues related to a Kawasaki internal combustion engine that does not work? There are manufacturers who make a 60" zero turn mowers that run on battery power. Get extra batteries and more than likely be able to fully cover the acreage mowed.

Gravely is made by Ariens, and I own an Ariens snowblower with an Ariens engine. Too bad they cannot develop their own engine for the Gravely. Maybe Kawasaki was the low bid to supply engines. If so, it shows.

In the end, a zero turn machine that was supposed to make mowing easier, and perhaps quicker, is in fact a piece of equipment that has led to a great number of swear words used due to the inability of the Kawasaki engine being unable to start timely, run timely, and not even mow without stopping.  In other words, it is not performing its due function. At least something went well that day, we de-winterized our small camper, and had no issues. But the Gravely and the other mower issues, offset the good occurrence. With the Gravely raising blood pressure, the Gravely may be wanting to send me to an early grave.

13 May

Two events sixty-four years apart occurred on 13 May. While these events are separated by three generations, they are interconnected due to the person involved in the latter. It was a Sunday in 1917 when three children were shepherding in the hills of Fatima, Portugal when one of the three, a ten year old girl, saw a shining figure in an oak tree, which she claimed was the Virgin Mary. The apparition on that date told the children to come to this area on the 13th day of each of the next five months; hence making six total appearances. 

Fatima, 13 Oct 1917
Univ of Dayton

The children received, so it is said, three statements, two of which were made public many years ago. The two initially made public were (1) a vision of hell, and (2) that WWI would soon end, but it would be followed by a worse war (WWII) if humanity did not stop offending God. The third secret was kept hidden from most all eyes (only popes and close associates saw it) until 2000, and predicted the martyrdom of a "bishop dressed in white" (the pope), and is often connected to the assassination attempt on John Paul II which occurred on 13 May 1981. This is the second historical event on this rather odd day. I refer to it as odd since one event was supernatural and spectacular, an apparition, and the other sinister and calculated--attempt at killing a person. There exist few diametrically opposed occurrences than an apparition of the Virgin Mary and an attempt at murder. On the other hand, would she have appeared on Friday the thirteenth? 

Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, abt age 10
Google images

John Paul II was shot twice two into his body and an additional two deflected shots that hit other persons. One bullet hit him within an inch or so of his heart and aorta. Picking up on the extremes of this day, John Paul believed that "one hand fired the bullet, another guided it." The bullet removed from his body rests inside the crown of the main statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima; it was placed there in 1982. Information found in the former East Germany laid the planning of the attempt on JPII's life with the Soviet Union, which of course Russia denied. 

13 May 1981, JPII one moment after being shot
Vatican News Service

There was no denying that some celestial event occurred on 13 Oct 1917 on the sixth and final appearance of the Virgin Mary to the three children. A large crowd, said to number over 50,000 persons by an anti-religious Portuguese news reporter who was in the crowd. It is termed the miracle of the sun. In 1992, the BBC, in an interview with Rosa, who was at that October 1917 event, quotes one woman as saying:  "All I saw was the planets in the sky in many colours. It was a miracle." Going on the person said-- "Then there seemed to be a shower of flowers falling from the sky. It was like a snowfall. And then the Sun started spinning faster and faster like a wheel of fire. It lasted for about half a minute. By the end, it was going very fast." In a 11 May 2026 article on Fatima, the BBC further provided this which included another quote from Rosa who witnessed the "miracle of the Sun":

Whether it was a miracle or a mass hallucination – or a meteorological event – is debated. But it seemed to have had a profound effect on some of the people who were present. "Everyone knows I already had faith. But after that, I began to believe even more strongly," Rosa told the BBC in 1992. "I wasn't afraid, but many people, when they saw the Sun spinning like that, they were afraid. When something like that happens, you have to believe and have faith."

Couple Moments after being shot
Vintag.es

If it was not a miracle it certainly was very coincidental with date and time, and perhaps location. I am not sure if others in the region reported the same type of event. if limited to small area that says something, too.

Two of the three children died a few years later during the flu epidemic. Lucia, who first saw the Virgin Mary died in 2005 at the age of 97. She became a discalced Carmelite sister. If Trump thinks Pope Leo is political it makes me wonder what he thinks of the political nature of Fatima appearance and its call for the conversion of Russia. The appearance became to be coveted in political terms in the 1920's, and hit its zenith during the pontificate of John Paul II. The political nature of John Paul II cannot be denied: he favored the Solidarity labor rights movement in Poland, and helped the west in order to bring down the Soviet Union. These two events of 13 May are intertwined and show a connection between faith and politics that has occurred in the past. 

As an aside, some Protestant ministers have said that Donald Trump understands the bible better than Pope Leo. That is not only an insult to the pope, but also to his teachers. One of his teachers was Sr Dianne Bergant, now of Fond du Lac, who taught Robert Prevost as part of Master's of Divinity studies at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Her specialty was the bible. I suspect the pope respects the words in Romans, referenced by the minister, but the Leo has been clear saying he is following the Gospel. Blessed are the Peace Makers. 

The Severe Penalty

The most severe penalty known to humans is the death penalty. Recently the wife and I were watching a show on Netflix that takes place in California called The Closer, in which a person said he would confess, but wanted the death penalty off the table. The series stars a female deputy police chief in LA. I am not sure what season, much less episode we are in, but the series seems to have started over twenty years ago in 2005. I knew it was dated by the vehicles used in the episodes. The series predates the 2019 executive order of Governor Gavin Newsom in which he placed a moratorium on the death penalty for California.

On April 24, the Department of Justice announced it will allow firing squads as a method of execution. In a situation of reality is stranger than fiction, on that same day Pope Leo XIV appeared via video to a Chicago conference which was regarding the 25th anniversary of Illinois ending its death penalty; legislation was signed by then Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, on March 9, 2011. 

Pope Leo Video appearance at DePaul Univ
ABC 7

As with the "Just War" theory in the prior blog post, the Pope was not creating new church teaching but was reiterating teaching in the Catholic Catechism. The Catechism was amended by Pope Francis in August 2018 to put church teaching firmly against the use of the death penalty. Hence, now the Catechism reads: 

         The death penalty

2267. Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”,[1] and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.

Previously, the Catechism had left a small window open where the 1992 edition allowed it in rare circumstances, but noted such “cas­es in which the exe­cu­tion of the offend­er is an absolute neces­si­ty are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.” St. John Paul II while under his pontificate crafted the above language which left a bit if wiggle room, he personally spoke against the death penalty and often pleaded to the proper authority for clemency of those sentenced to death. In a 1995 encyclical he argued that punishment should be focused on rehabilitation and not on revenge. The more traditional-oriented Benedict often preached the same message. Hence, Francis' movement was consistent with the recent  magisterial teachings of the church.

With Pope Leo's comments upholding the Church's current thought, I was amazed to see varied far right Catholic websites popping on my Facebook page (probably since I had read a few articles on this conference and the algorithm provided them to me) quoting the 1992 edition of the Catechism and saying Pope Leo did not know what he was talking about. We today have a new set of Cafeteria Catholics, who may be against abortion, but do not favor the church teaching on the death penalty being inadmissible. Many years ago, in the 1980's, Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago promoted what he called the Seamless Garment Theory. This is  a holistic and moral approach for all aspects of life from conception to natural death. The theory, first noted by Eileen Egan in 1971, but further developed and popularized by Bernardin, is inspired by the fourth Gospel, John 19:23, where Jesus' tunic was woven in one piece and not torn, which symbolized a unified approach to life. Both ends of the political spectrum tend to run counter to the Seamless Garment theory. Some conservatives support the death penalty and question the just war theory, and some liberals support euthanasia and abortion. Hence, there exist cafeteria Catholics on both ends of the US political spectrum.

I think the far right Catholics purposefully failed to quote the revised Catechism, not because they did not know about the change, but that they do not believe Francis was a legitimate heir to the throne of Peter. One can see it in other writings were they go to pains not to name him, almost as if he is Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as "He who should not be named", or Lord Voldemort of the Harry Potter series. Hence, they can no longer complain about liberal cafeteria Catholics as they now are part of the salad/pasta/potato bar crowd too. In fact, they may be worse, as in not recognizing Pope Francis they are essentially modern day sedevacantists. 

The reason for the Church positions from abortion to natural death relates to the dignity of the human person, and that even the most heinous act cannot take away the dignity of a human. The death penalty also cuts short the ability of a person to convert and repent, in other words to ask forgiveness and mercy. Further, current penal systems are such that the common good is not put at risk. There are also other practical considerations, such as wrongful convictions. 

At least the US is not in competition, yet, with China on this matter.  A couple years ago Amnesty International reported that China executes more individuals a year than all other 54 countries combined. This includes Iran where the executions were in the hundreds, although today may be higher.

In my mind, Cardinal Bernardin had it correct in promoting the seamless garment theory. We see it in our society today, from both the right and the left, where personal beliefs are voiced and supported above the common good. Putting a person to death is the most severe penalty, and is one whose time has come to completely end.