Do birds know when they’re making humans look silly?
Seagull blithely ignoring the wishes of local human rule makers. (Who took this photo?)
Signs of life: Not even seagulls respect the law
October 5, 2023
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History, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life, Wildlife | Tagged: Humor, Signs of Life, Wildlife | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Curvy roads, cows and snakes
July 31, 2021Beleaguered sign makers will tell you, sometimes it’s damnably difficult to make signs make sense to motorists who speed by faster than they should — and sometimes, the story is just too difficult for pictures.
Take this one, posted on Twitter by @Weasel3071:
What does this sign mean? Sign near Bolinas, wherever than is. On Twitter from @Weasel3071.
@Weasel3071 asked reasonably, “What is happening here?”
What do you think, Dear Reader?
Responses cover a lot of territory, and of course the flying cows of “Tornado” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” got mentions.
One response appears to come from an actual sign maker, who expresses sign maker frustration.
Other responses hint that some people may be modifying actual cow warning signs, in New Mexico or Nevada.
Not just once, but twice — so you know it must be true.
https://twitter.com/ValkXoe/status/1421302186978512900
What say you, dear reader? Falling cows? Snake eating a cow?
And, shouldn’t it be “.1 mile” instead of “miles?”
Tip of the old scrub brush to @Weasel3071.
2 Comments | Communication, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life, Travel | Tagged: Communication, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Sign of the times: Bodega’s had enough of that COVID-19 stuff
October 5, 2020Everybody is weary of the COVID-19 shutdown. Some show their weariness by refusing to mask up, daring other people to call them out and daring the virus to put them down. Others show weariness in their no-nonsense ways of working to keep the virus at bay.
From an anonymous bodega in New York City (I think). Here with some risk of losing our “family-friendly” rating.
You have been warned!
Tip of the old scrub brush to jeffb on Twitter.
2 Comments | Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Bodega, COVID-19, New York City, Signs, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life in an age of COVID-19 and revolution
July 8, 2020Sign posted outside of an American bar, I presume.
No indication of any complaints from any customers. (Comment said the sign was found in Beech Grove, Indiana.)
Tip of the old scrub brush to Melissa Howell and @TeacherGoals.
2 Comments | History, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Traffic trouble with squirrels
July 15, 2019
Why are they even allowed to drive at all?
Tip of the old scrub brush to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff (Texas).
3 Comments | History, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Private sign
April 9, 2017
“Private Sign, Do Not Read,” from Todd Wilbur’s Facebook feed.
If you can read this sign, you’ve already violated the poster’s admonition.
Todd Wilbur, on Facebook, said this sign is on his California property.
4 Comments | Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of Life: Decks, not walls!
March 5, 2017Wisdom in signs.
Churches say, ‘Don’t build a wall, make the table larger.’
This company puts it in terms more people will comprehend.
A sign of better things to come? Image found on Facebook, tracing back to a Willamette Week Instagram account; where is this company and this sign?
“Forget the Wall! Build a deck, invite everyone over.” A battle cry for our times.
I wonder where this photo was taken? It says “Milwaukee Lumber,” but I traced it back to an Oregon newspaper, Willamette Week.
Better question: Where are the decks?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kathryn Knowles.
Leave a Comment » | Humor, Immigration, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, Immigration, Politics, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Sea monster in the neighborhood
March 2, 2017Jamelle Bouie is just shooting stuff around the neighborhood. Love this one.
Jamelle Bouie found this in the neighborhood. No, I’m not sure which neighborhood, but clearly it’s got some great neighbors. Details: Camera: Leica M5 with Canon LTM 35mm f/2 lens. Fuji Provia 100f. Copyright by Bouie, hope he doesn’t mind my using it here.
A more interesting neighborhood, perhaps, than most of us have. Or maybe not.
What’s in your neighborhood? Have you recorded it on film (or electrons), just for history’s sake? Why not?
Leave a Comment » | Humor, photography, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, photography, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Eagles on Highway
July 30, 2015One of our local pharmacists travels on vacations, and takes photos. Pharmacies being what they are, people wait in line with nothing to do but count ticks on the clock. No one takes a book to the pharmacy to wait.
But the guy, Mark de Zeeuw, has a good sense of customer service. He got one of those photo frames that had a video display to show photos. Over time, it morphed to an extra computer screen, and probably an old computer (don’t know for sure).
At the Tom Thumb supermarket in Duncanville, Texas, customers get to see photos of the pharmacist’s travels. A lover of travel and photography, and a too-frequent customer at the pharmacy, I think I may have seen every photo on that harddrive. Many of them are very good. He travels to Alaska and across the American west, and he’s got at least one telephoto that works well on wildlife — this I know from watching the photos. I’ve never discussed it with the guy (who is always busy working on prescriptions, or fighting with insurance companies over the phone; Tom Thumb’s being a large company, there may be other pharmacists on duty at the time).
Okay, I’m shy. I’ve wanted to ask him for copies of several of the photos to share, one in particular. It’s a nice shot of the yellow warning/information signs you see at the side of a highway. With a bright blue sky in back, and obviously a lot of unpopulated territory, it says “Eagles On Highway.” I broke the shyness enough to learn it was a photo from eastern Utah.
Surely someone else noticed the sign?
Yep! Wonders of Google, Bing and flickr:Â Here’s a shot I found at Wanderlust Cafe:
“Eagles on Hwy.” Sign on eastbound Interstate 70, near the Moab turnoff in Utah. Photo by Lou Ann Granger, via Wanderlust Cafe
Out on Interstate 70, the rabbits and occasional ground squirrel, lizard or coyote fall victim to speeding cars in the night. In the daylight, carrion eaters — including eagles — clean up the road. Alas, eagles have not been bred to recognize those vehicles, tiny in the distance, rush at them at 70 miles per hour. Worse, it’s a violation of federal law and regulations to kill the eagles (few are ever cited for accidents).
Local authorities put up signs warning drivers of this odd hazard: “Eagles on Highway.” Drivers are supposed to slow down, be wary, and avoid hitting the eagles.
Others grew curious about the signs, too. The Deseret News in Salt Lake City explained back in 1990 that six of the signs were put up, in hopes of reducing kills of immature golden eagles.
They have to rank as the most unusual highway signs anywhere in the state. But preliminary indications are the six “Eagles on Highway” warning signs in central Utah are doing the job.
Not a single golden eagle was struck by a car during the 1989-90 winter season.In the two years previous, 30 golden eagles were killed and another 11 crippled by automobiles on a stretch of I-70 between the Colorado border and the San Rafael Swell.
“We don’t know whether it’s because the mild winter has spread the birds around more or whether it’s because the prairie dog population is down and the birds have moved elsewhere, or what,” said Miles Moretti, regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Resources.
“What we do know is we’ve received a lot of comments from people seeing signs and watching the birds and being aware of the problem. From a public awareness standpoint the program is a success.”
I wonder if we can track down someone in authority with numbers to show the signs are working after 25 years. And maybe I can get a copy of pharmacist de Zeeuw’s photo here — his is better, I think.
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Leave a Comment » | Geography - Physical, Signs, Signs of Life, Travel, Utah, Wildlife | Tagged: geography, Signs, Signs of Life, Travel, Utah, Wildlife | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: Be not like the snail, but vote for a clean environment
June 7, 2015From a Tweet by @Tom_Peters:
Uncaptioned photo from the Twitter feed of business excellence chronicler Tom Peters, @Tom_Peters
Sign on a litter receptacle:
Resemble not the slimy snail, who with his filth proclaims his trail.
Post your vote here for a cleaner England.
It’s not particularly flattering to the snail, and probably a bit off on the actual biology of snail trails. I particularly like the emphasis on “voting” with action. Reality is that we change the planet, for the better or for worse, with many small, individual acts every day, each one a vote on the future.
Anyone know where this can is? Are there many like it in England?
1 Comment | Democracy, Environmental protection, Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Democracy, Environmental protection, Humor, Signs of Life | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
No shortcuts on the road to success; but watch out for low bridges
May 19, 2015
Meeting of trailer and railroad viaduct. Photo credit, and location, unknown; here from Part380.com
Many already caught the irony.
I wonder:
- Was the truck driver using GPS to plan the route? Which system, so we can avoid it?
- Stories in the past couple of days say robots should be doing all kinds of jobs, including driving cars and big trucks. Can a robot do this?
Not to embarrass, but just for the record, does anyone know when and where this picture was taken?
Update:Â Smart and alert commenters (see below) tell us this is in Mamaroneck, New York, at the intersection of Mamaroneck Ave and Halstead Ave, where Mt. Pleasant Ave comes in. Look at the bridge of the Metro North trains, and it appears that bridge gets hit a lot.
Bridge of Metro North in Mamaroneck, New York, at the intersection of Mamaroneck and Halstead Avenues, where Mt. Pleasant Ave joins. Google View image.
9 Comments | Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Humor, Road to Success, Shaffer Trucking, Shortcuts, Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of life: This is the Moon?
May 6, 2015Saw this first on Twitter; found it on Pinterest with a claim it’s from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Either way, it’s a very patient photographer, or one who really knows how to take advantage of serendipitous coincidence. Anyone know?
“Seems legit,” said @OMGFunniest_. Chere Brown on Pinterest said, “Well-played, Albuquerque.”
Albuquerque does have a Moon Street, in the 87111 Zipcode. Can any of our Albuquerque readers verify?
4 Comments | Humor, Signs | Tagged: Albuquerque New Mexico, Humor, Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Signs of desperate times: What baby needs
April 11, 2015Wonderful little find on Twitter:
To which @FionaCuffed added, “Baby sure does!”
Baby needs differ from place to place.
I wonder where that store is, and I wonder if managers ever look at their own signs?
And if they do, do they chuckle?
(That could be a start of a poem, or maybe a short poem all itself:Â “baby needs//beers & wines”)
3 Comments | Humor, Signs, Signs of Life | Tagged: Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This bus has no wi-fi — you don’t want to ride it
February 8, 2015
The 404 Bus – Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has no wi-fi
Just as many commercial buildings do not have a 13th floor (though others do), sometimes in other businesses, there are other numbers that should, perhaps, be avoided.
404 is one of those to-be-avoided numbers.
Is it possible that passengers who board this bus never get off?
2 Comments | Humor, Signs | Tagged: 404, Humor, Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Coffee City? Population seems awfully low
February 6, 2015
Coffee City, Texas
Our friend Jim Stanley posted this on Facebook.
Population count seems too low, doesn’t it? Must be a pretty tight filter.
Caption these yourself. From the City of Coffee City website.
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2 Comments | Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Humor, Signs, Texas | Tagged: geography, Humor, Signs, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 