Signs covered in Vines

I bet you can't guess what sign this is for.  It is almost totally covered in vines.  Imagine trying to read it while driving.

Here's the same sign with a bit of road for context, does that help you figure it out?  Notice how the vines are covering the whole area, not just the sign.

Here is another sign nearby the first.  This one is a bit easier since you can read the word Lane, but which lane is it?

Need a hint?  The vines covering the signs are porcelain berry, an invasive  deciduous, woody, perennial climbing vine with flowers and tendrils that is often confused with plants from the grape species.  It has taken over this section of River Road in Bethesda, MD.

This sign isn't covered in vines, but it is a well-weathered Ride-On bus stop sign just around the corner on Wilson Lane, MD-188. (Does that give away the answer to what the above signs say?)

Don't even ask... Go Away

You gotta love a sign which says "Don't Even Ask... Go Away". This one is on the Barking Dog's delivery entrance on Elm Street in Bethesda, MD. The full sign reads: No Deliveries between 11:AM - 2:00 PM Monday - Friday "Don't even ask... Go Away"

Unattended Playground Children

There is an inherent problem with putting everything in all caps and not having punctuation. I had to read this sign more than once to figure out what it really meant. I mean, if the "UNATTENDED PLAYGROUND CHILDREN" are "ACCOMPANIED BY PARENT" then they aren't really unattended are they? If, on the other hand, they had put a period after the word playground and done some decent capitalization, and maybe a bit better grammar then I would have read "Unattended Playground. Children must be accompanied by a parent." Much better isn't it.

Now, moving on to the second sign, according to it, children only have to be accompanied by an adult, it doesn't have to be a parent. Of course anyone over 18 is free to play on it without a child (which is refreshing, I've seen more and more places requiring you bring a child to kid-focused activities.) Still ALL CAPS but at least it has punctuation.

But still, something isn't quite right. Hmm, let me think. Oh yes. There isn't a playground anywhere around this sign. I assume at some point in the past there was, but now it is the patio seating for the Daily Grill at the Bethesda Hyatt. At least they did a good job attaching the sign.

In case it is hard to read the second sign, it says "Attention. This play area and equipment are unattended and are for the sole use of registered guests of the hotel. No person under the age of 18 is permitted access without being accompanied by an adult. All persons using this equipment do so at their own risk. Thank you, The management."

[where: Bethesda, MD]

Save the Trail (by littering)

On March 7th, the Save The Trail petition sponsored a 10k run and Guided Walk. As part of the walk, they put purple ribbons on trees along the Georgetown Branch Trail that will/would be cut down when/if the purple line gets built. I'm all for people protesting both for and against the purple line (save the trail is against it) and the ribbons can make the impact more apparent, but, they really should have taken down the ribbons when they were done. I went for a walk on the trail today and many of them are still up. It has been over a week, at this point, it is littering, no different than the various bits of trash and fast food containers you see on the trail. So you people, show your appreciation for the trail and clean up after yourselves.


[where: Bethesda, MD]
[where: Chevy Chase, MD]

50 cent words

In general, I am in favor of using appropriate words and not dumbing things down to a 4th grade reading level. Treat people like humans, not like idiots. I'm not sure I would use bus stop signs in this way though. I saw this metrobus stop by the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, MD. I have to admit, I wasn't 100% sure if alighting meant getting on or getting off, and that is a critical distinction in this case. I'm sure I would have figured it out the first time a bus passed me by.

The larger question is what would be a better word or phrase? It has to be short, unambiguous, accurate, and (at least mostly) correct english. "Getting off only" would be humourous, "This stop is for people to get off the bus and not for picking up people" is a bit long. Maybe "Dropoff only" or "No pickups"?

[where: Silver Spring, MD]

Ads everywhere, even in the elevators

There are ads everywhere these days. I ran across this one in the elevator. The insidious thing about it is that it is the elevator inspection certificate issued by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The upper left corner has a "did you know" section that talks about how much money the home improvement commission recovered for shoddy work. If the state makes you put up a sign, it should have an ad on it. (I was going to put the text of the ad in, but then decided if I were complaining about the ad, it wasn't a good idea to more widely distribute it. Enlarge the image if you want to see it.) I also like how the certificate number is missing.

Even the sign makers don't always get it right.

Here's an easy to miss sign error. I didn't notice it until after I took the photo. This is the corner of Old Georgetown Road (MD-187) and Wisconsin Avenue (MD-355) in Bethesda, Maryland. It is the southern end of Old Georgetown Rd. Old Georgetown gets the big sign which is understandable since you can turn left from Route 355 onto it and East-West Highway (MD-410) is one way the other direction.

So what's the screw-up? The block numbering on the Old Georgetown sign. It says that the 7500 block is to the right, but it isn't Old Georgetown Road on the right. Worse yet, the 7500 block is on the left, not the 7600 block. The Clark Construction building is 7500 Old Georgetown Rd and it is to the left.

[where: Bethesda, MD]

Hmm, what to eat

Whoever got this license plate had a great sense of humor.



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Sign overload

I took this picture a couple of months ago. It looks like one of the signs is missing, I gues it didn't apply. The remaining eight Signs on the sign are: "Danger Hard Hat Area", "Danger Overhead Lines", "Restricted area no atmittance", "Fall protection required", "No tresspassing or loitering on this property", "Designated Drug Free Work place", "No drugs or alcoholic beverages allowwed", "Fire extinguisher located inside trailer"

[where: Bethesda, MD]

Can I leave Pallets there?

I noticed this sign on the loading dock of 3 Bethesda Metro Center Plaza. "Notice. No Trash, No Pallats. Violators will be charged" Is it ok if I leave pallets there? Does anyone proofread signs anymore? How long has it been there? If managment notices, will they replace the sign or just leave it?

Here's another sign on on the same loading dock. It starts "NO PARKING IN LOADIING DOCK. For Unloading Only". What's this, A loading dock where you can't load? Why don't they just call it an unloading dock. And, what if you need to load something, where do you do that? To be fair, there is yet another sign on the loading dock that says you can use it for both loading and unloading.

[where: 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, MD]

The fine print gives

So often you see a great offer, but when you look at the fine print you find lots of restrictions. It happens so often that I was suprised to see the opposite happen. The big print gives you restrictions, the fine print takes some of those restrictions away. I have seen this brand of gas station run this promotion a couple of times.

In big print it says "Free Cinnamon Bun with Purchase of 20oz Coffee" The small print elaborates on that, letting you know that instead of a cinnamon bun you can also have a sour cream donut or glazed donut, and you don't have to buy a coffee, you can get any 20oz hot beverage. Kudos to Exxon for doing this.