Odd Signs & Symbols

There are so many different kinds of "signs and symbols." I have dozens of other photos of things I've seen that I have yet to write about.  Sometimes it's something huge and obvious, other times it's just some tiny detail I spot that seems out of whack. Here is a boring old electrical box in the parking lot next to where I work.  Wow.  Exciting.   Except that I caught a buzzing sound, and something bounced off my arm.  Bees. A colony of bees had turned this box into a super secure hive.  I'm sure the workers who maintain these things see this all the time.  I just found it fascinating.  They found a way inside at one of the seams, and made it their own.  Buzzing toward the hive ... Now, my Mom would always tell me I am allergic to bees.  Supposedly, when I was about 8 years old, we were visiting Uncle Bob in upstate New York, and I got stung.  I don't remember anything about it.  And I have managed to go 50 years without ge...

About 9 months ago, the city started installing this traffic light on my way to work.  It was finally turned on about 2 weeks ago.  But now I have to wonder ... why on earth is there a left turn?  It could only possibly go to this one driveway, since they disallowed U-turns.  This used to be an important spot for U-turns, since there is a median in the road, and you had to go to the end and turn around, but this?   Without the U-turn, this is just a colossal waste of money.  Tell me they didn't put a left turn signal here just because a left turn signal was needed going to other direction.  They can't just install the lights that are needed? Even worse, there is almost no traffic at this light.  So no need for any signal at all.  The 3-way stop worked fine for decades.  I get that they spent 10 years building a big housing project where the old Country Club used to be, but there is still minimal traffic at this intersection, and non...

We saw this "sign" last weekend.  It was on the sidewalk by a sandwich shop we like to go to.  It has not words, but the overall pattern of weird symbols looked vaguely familiar.  What was the point of this? Well, upon closer inspection, this is the main board of an old pinball machine, and yes, there is a small pinball club right there behind it.  So, while it would make more sense to have a big obvious sign for the place, especially one that says when they're actually open, maybe that would attract too much attention.  Anyone who knows these games would know what that weird board was. I did once talk to the guy who runs the place.  It's not technically members-only, but it's only open one or two weekend days each week.  He said to check some pinball index website for the actual days.  I forgot the name of the site within minutes, so that did not help.  Thinking about it now, 9-12 months later ... was it pinballmap.com?  They are not sh...

Here was an unsettling set of signs that appeared in the mailbox stack at our apartment complex back in February.  It reports that some of the boxes have been compromised.  Not my box, but the group just to the left.  Some interesting info about how this ends up playing out.  Until the boxes are repaired, you have to go to the PO to get your mail.  What a pain. I blurred out the address, but included the full letter from the postmaster.  The way they talk about the amount of vandalism is alarming.  Can't people just mind their own business and stop looking for freebies but taking from someone else?  I guess not. It took 2-1/2 months for the situation to resolve and for the signs to disappear.  But are we any safer?

On a weekend trip to Del Mar (CA), we saw this strange pair of signs sharing a window.  The top one is an inspection that says, "This certificate does not imply that this facility meets design requirements ..."  Um, why post it if it doesn't mean anything?  Maybe it does mean something, but they don't want to tell us what that is. Joking aside, let's dive into the civil code referenced by the blue sign .  It says, " Every CASp who completes an inspection of a place of public accommodation shall, upon a determination that the site meets applicable standards [...],  provide the building owner or tenant requesting the inspection with a numbered disability access inspection certificate indicating that the site has undergone inspection by a certified access specialist. " So they must legally issue a certificate that "does not imply that this facility meets design requirements".  Am I reading that correctly?  I hope not, but those are the words ...

Another gem from the Deer Park Auto Museum, here is a sleek black box over in the radio collection.  It says "Thorola" and that's it.  There was a horn next to it, an old-time type of speaker. This piece is a work of art, as well as being a radio.  After a bunch of searches online, I was able to find this detailed description of the device, dating to 1924.  It makes sense that the lid would open up and have technical specs and instructions inside.  Why not?  And of course it's just a jumble of coils and wires inside, because it was a different world. Sometimes these extreme retro items have a way of looking futuristic.  Not that we'll be going back to gauges and gears any time soon, but I could see this turning up in an Indiana Jones or Rocketman adventure in my head as I try to sleep tonight.