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Previous: Hidden walk sign | Main | Next: National City ATM
October 6, 2005 12:01 AM
Broken: Monterey parking curb-sign
James writes:
I saw this very close to the Monterey Acquarium in Monterey, CA when I was going back to the parking garage. I thought the time limit was rather strict. "Thou shalt not stay for 23 minutes, thou shalt not stay for 25 minutes, but 24 minutes only".
[Maybe not broken, exactly, but it's strangely specific. -mh]
oh hell, were scraping the bottom of the barrel here. What this is broken because it is too specific? How is 24 miniutes any more specific then 30 or 60 or 15?
What if it's not for parking at all but is instead a message to another agency 24" minimum pipe below, 24 hours minimum for something. Without seeing signage, I would never assume that this letters scrwaled on a curb meant something to me, unless of course green curbing with white letters is a specific way that CA designates parking areas.
You crazy guys on the left coast.... boy I wish I was there.
Some people believe that using non-conventional numbers make them easier to remember. That's why some private areas have oddball speed limits like "13 MPH or 21 MPH". That doesn't make them broken, just a little wacky.
"How is 24 miniutes any more specific then 30 or 60 or 15?"
You look at your watch. It is 4:17. When will your parking limit expire if it's 24 minutes?Quick now, you're trying to juggle a bunch of bananas and a french loaf.
When will it expire if it's 30 minutes?
Well, it's 24 so that if you stay 25 minutes they can ticket you. It's like saying >=25 instead of >25. That's all. I've been there and seen it, and I figured it out pretty quick. It is, however, definitely a sign that 'you're not in Kansas anymore'.
It's broken because it's not a nice round number. "...And twenty-four is the number to which thou shalt count."
Many meters break up the hour into 12 minute-increments, such as 10 cents every 12 minutes, or 50 cents an hour. I assume this relates to an unseen meter.
Odds are it's geared to the time on the meters. I live in Long Beach, and we have 24 min. markings on the curbs as well. That's because that's what the meters go to. I'm guessing if the image was taken with a wider angle, you'd see a meter nearby.
I just wonder why the picture is upside down. Other than that, yeah, that sucks. Broken? Probably not. Weird as hell? Sure!
Wad this painted upside down, or is the picture flipped? If it were painted upside down, it would have been because the painter was on the sidewalk, facing the street while painting it on. Hence the upside-down-ness.
the whole way we count time is broken. 100mil=1sec 60sec=1min 60min=1hour 24hrs=1day 7days=1week ~4weeks=month ~30days=month 12months=year 52weeks=year 365.3days=year, ect., same goes w/ things like AM-PM, and metric-english measurements. I understand that some of these numbers depend on the earths rotation, but we could at least divide stuff up into a metric system style.
Parking limit: 17 millidays
...perhaps a little hard to comprehend, but hey, revenue from fines would skyrocket!
Gee, DaveC. Had I knoe=wn it's hard for you to add numbers that don't have a "0" at the end I would have reserved my guess. I'd say you need to learn to carry things in a bag or box so you can count your fingers!
I like that it's upside-down when viewed from the curb. When you are in your car, you can't see it unless you stick your head out the window. But when you get out and put money into the parking meter, it's written upside down.
Reminds me of those "Lane Fire" and "Peds to Yield" signs in the US.
If any of you folks had valid Califonia Drivers Licence (and knew the basic laws) then you would know that a green painted curb means it has a time limit on the parking next to it. The default is 20 minutes. Anything other than 20 min. must be painted on the green curb.
The picture is upside down because it was obviously taken from the sidewalk. Not from the street where some Idiot in a SUV could: A)not be able to see the curb but B)probably not see the person taking a picture in the street (or more likely, Not care! ("I gotta SUV - Outta my way! Turn signals optional!). A person not driving a smog producing bohemoth would be able to read the print upside right as they pulled next to the curb.
DER!!
Tony A, the point that Dave C was trying to make is that calculations involving simple fractions of the hour such as 1/2 or 1/4 are much simpler and faster than adding two numbers like 17 and 24. Of course anyone can do that, but I think you can admit it takes more mental effort, even if only a minor additional amount. So why waste everyone's fractional time with more difficult numbers? It's all about efficiency.
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Previous: Hidden walk sign | Main | Next: National City ATM
see, it was 24 hours till the painting guy's birthday, and he was turning 48, which is twice 24, and the serving size on his chip bag was 24 chips, and he spent 24 days in jail for marijuana possesion when he was 24...
Posted by: gmangw at October 6, 2005 12:23 AM