Odd Signs & Symbols

Here's a sign near work which says not to drink the recycled, non-potable water being used for irrigation: Maybe the fact that the water corroded this sign so badly should be a warning of its own.  What's going on here?  Is the water really that potent, or was the sign just made from poor materials? Here's another sign nearby which stays far enough from the water it's warning about:  

Sunlight will slowly damage any paint or materials it shines down upon.  It's not unusual for a bright red paint job to be bleached down to a pale shadow of itself after just a few years.  Here are some otherwise sturdy signs that have been sunblasted and are now just blank or near-blank decorations. It makes me wonder how many years have passed since this thing was checked out by a maintenance crew.  Wouldn't they report that the signs were no longer readable? July 2023 update: fixed it.

Moonlight Beach in Encinitas CA used to be one of my favorite beaches to go to.  Not that it means much when I only go to beaches about twice a year.  Now, we're told it is most enjoyable if we follow a few simple rules: I'm not sure if 8 or 10 panels of small print counts as "a few" rules.  Oh look, some of the panels pack more than one rule in there -- no alcohol OR glass containers.  It used to be, the beaches were just covered in cigarette butts from people with foul habits who just throw their crap on the ground when finished, and yes, broken glass and barefoot walks don't mix, so I'm glad we have progressed beyond that. I remember some business gatherings on local beaches 10-20 years ago where the "fun police" showed up every time and started pawing through people's bags looking for things to complain about.  The number one reason I don't go to the beaches is parking, but number two is being subjected to the authorities.  I...

At the hotel a few weekends ago, we took a break to sit beside the pool for a while.  Outside the gate there were the usual little warning signs -- no pets, swim at your own risk ...   ... but inside there was a whole wall of warnings and alarms. I understand that drowning is an actual, serious hazard.  But look at the lengths that establishments have to go through to limit their accidents and liabilities.  No glassware, no diving, no lifeguard, no alcohol, no diarrhea (not kidding), call 911 if needed.  There was a small section on how to do CPR, then the whole right-hans panel explaining how to do CPR in more detail.   Bathe first.  Try not to get hypothermia or the other conditions listed.  I don't know why humans feel like they should be going in the water anyway.  You can't breathe water, and breathing is more important than recreation.  I almost never get in a pool.  First there's the shock to the heart when the c...

This also came from a gas station.  Right above the pump there was this sign containing a huge list of patents which may or may not apply to machine in front of you.     At the bottom of that sign is an FCC note about handling interference, then some warnings about trying to hack their software.  Okay, about 7 years ago there was a news story about a gas station in Escondido whose pumps weren't pumping as much gas at they claimed to be pumping, so that's apparently a thing. Still, wouldn't it be cheaper to make a smaller sign with just the correct information?   Above the sign full of patents is a sticker for Leperkhanz, which is funny to me because around 2007 (back when I was still married), a band moved into the house on the corner with a big green rock-n-roll tour bus, and they introduced themselves to all the neighbors so fewer neighbors would complain about any parkng issues or noise.  I think they said their tour bus used to be owne...

This is just a quick gag from a stop at a gas station.  Standing there waiting for the dollars to be sucked up, looking around, it seems like there is always some little detail to find.     No matter how many signs say there is sanitizer here, there really isn't.  So we can only imagine that the button to push for service was installed just to receive complaints about the lack of sanitizer.  If the intercom even works at all ...

I have been enjoying this series of posts about the odd symbols that surround us.  I was at my desk at work, pondering a huge SQL query, and looked over to see the box I unpacked my laptop dock from about six months ago.  I really should throw that in recycling. That's when I saw the whole list of icons and symbols printed on it. The second row gives a great overview of how recycling logos are drawn for different cultures around the world.  To be more accurate, I doubt it's a "cultural" thing.  It's more likely to be different systems of labelling mandated by different industry councils or trade associations. The first row has just 4 icons, which I'm pretty sure mean 1) this side up 2) fragile 3) don't stack more than 8 high 4) keep dry It's always an open question about whether a certain icon is intuitive or not.  I think these all do their jobs with no language needed at all.     Of course there's a big long barcode, because the box is a product....