Writing on the Roadway

[ChoralScholar]

Have you ever noticed, that when there is lettering on the roadway, like STOP AHEAD, or PED XING, or SCHOOL XING, that it's always written from bottom to top?  I've always found that weird.  Just because words are on the road, doesn't mean I read them in reverse order.

"What does AHEAD STOP mean?!?"

Anyway, that's my goofy observation for the night.

[NE2]

http://xkcd.com/781/

[Brandon]

Have you ever noticed, that when there is lettering on the roadway, like STOP AHEAD, or PED XING, or SCHOOL XING, that it's always written from bottom to top?  I've always found that weird.  Just because words are on the road, doesn't mean I read them in reverse order.

"What does AHEAD STOP mean?!?"

Anyway, that's my goofy observation for the night.

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.  Even though, from the air they would appear to read AHEAD STOP, as one drives, STOP appears first, then AHEAD, forming STOP AHEAD.

[briantroutman]

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.

I've always accepted that as being the rationale, but it ignores the fact that I can see and comprehend both lines at the same time. If the lines of text were spaced out Burma-Shave style, with at least a few hundred feet between them, then the reverse order would be necessary.

[roadman65]

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.

I've always accepted that as being the rationale, but it ignores the fact that I can see and comprehend both lines at the same time. If the lines of text were spaced out Burma-Shave style, with at least a few hundred feet between them, then the reverse order would be necessary.

Remember we live in an unfair society where might is right!  If things are for our benefit, then we need to question it?  Hey, I am still trying to figure out why it is totally acceptable to call a person on the telephone, and actually considered it to be the norm to put a person on hold!  For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, if you ever miss a payment on a credit card and the creditor wants to know why you are late, instead of a human being calling you an automatic dialer will call you instead and have you wait until one of their  human operators is available to speak with you.

Anyway, I have given up on trying to figure out why certain things that do not make sense are totally acceptable as it the normal thing quite some time.

[agentsteel53]

I once almost got in an accident when I read something as BUS TO YIELD.

no, it is not.

[agentsteel53]

Hey, I am still trying to figure out why it is totally acceptable to call a person on the telephone, and actually considered it to be the norm to put a person on hold!  For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, if you ever miss a payment on a credit card and the creditor wants to know why you are late, instead of a human being calling you an automatic dialer will call you instead and have you wait until one of their  human operators is available to speak with you.

dude, pay your bills.

[jeffandnicole]

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.

I've always accepted that as being the rationale, but it ignores the fact that I can see and comprehend both lines at the same time. If the lines of text were spaced out Burma-Shave style, with at least a few hundred feet between them, then the reverse order would be necessary.

Remember we live in an unfair society where might is right!  If things are for our benefit, then we need to question it?  Hey, I am still trying to figure out why it is totally acceptable to call a person on the telephone, and actually considered it to be the norm to put a person on hold!  For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, if you ever miss a payment on a credit card and the creditor wants to know why you are late, instead of a human being calling you an automatic dialer will call you instead and have you wait until one of their  human operators is available to speak with you.

You actually wait to speak with someone? 

[kkt]

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.

I've always accepted that as being the rationale, but it ignores the fact that I can see and comprehend both lines at the same time. If the lines of text were spaced out Burma-Shave style, with at least a few hundred feet between them, then the reverse order would be necessary.

Remember we live in an unfair society where might is right!  If things are for our benefit, then we need to question it?  Hey, I am still trying to figure out why it is totally acceptable to call a person on the telephone, and actually considered it to be the norm to put a person on hold!  For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, if you ever miss a payment on a credit card and the creditor wants to know why you are late, instead of a human being calling you an automatic dialer will call you instead and have you wait until one of their  human operators is available to speak with you.

You actually wait to speak with someone? 

What really sucks is if the debtor no longer lives there, but the recording demands you press a button acknowledging that you are the debtor before it will connect you with a live human.  Calls can continue for months, all automatically, with no legal way out.

[agentsteel53]

What really sucks is if the debtor no longer lives there, but the recording demands you press a button acknowledging that you are the debtor before it will connect you with a live human.  Calls can continue for months, all automatically, with no legal way out.

I'm astonished that phones do not yet have the universal feature of "block this number from ever successfully connecting to my phone again".  I went through an interval where the exact same number from Georgia called me about 6 times a day, spamming for some prosperity gospel.  I changed my number for unrelated reasons and Je$u$ hasn't called yet, but if he finds me again, I would love to have an easy "stop this harassment" feature.

[1995hoo]

What really sucks is if the debtor no longer lives there, but the recording demands you press a button acknowledging that you are the debtor before it will connect you with a live human.  Calls can continue for months, all automatically, with no legal way out.

I'm astonished that phones do not yet have the universal feature of "block this number from ever successfully connecting to my phone again".  I went through an interval where the exact same number from Georgia called me about 6 times a day, spamming for some prosperity gospel.  I changed my number for unrelated reasons and Je$u$ hasn't called yet, but if he finds me again, I would love to have an easy "stop this harassment" feature.

I've been thinking about buying a Digitone Call Blocker for precisely that reason. Verizon lets me block up to ten numbers using their website, but there are more than ten numbers I'd like to block. We also have a Bang & Olufsen answering machine that lets me block up to ten numbers (it plays a busy signal when they call), but again that's only a total of 20 and there are more than that from whom we get annoying hang-up robocalls.

On my mobile phone I created a contact called "Spam Caller" to which I assigned a silent ringtone and turned off vibration. Any junk caller gets added to the "Spam Caller" listing so that I won't notice if the number calls again.

[agentsteel53]

On my mobile phone I created a contact called "Spam Caller" to which I assigned a silent ringtone and turned off vibration. Any junk caller gets added to the "Spam Caller" listing so that I won't notice if the number calls again.

the worst is when I'm in the middle of using my phone for something else (it being "smart" and all) and a phone call pops up.  especially when it is a valid phone call, not a spammer.  I wish there were a button for "ignore, but keep ringing on the other end so that the other party doesn't think I am purposely ignoring him".  the other party isn't an asshole; he just caught me at a wrong time!

[Compulov]

Getting back on topic... I'm surprised this is still done. I thought the general move over the last 10-20 years has been towards symbols instead of words. So, perhaps we should start seeing something like a big white (or red, even, since they could color it) octogon with an arrow beyond it. That would both be instantly obvious to anyone who doesn't speak English, and get rid of the ambiguity of words out of order (since I don't think it matters which order you have the stop icon and arrow, the meaning ought to be obvious, right?).
Sort of sideways topic, are more states going to start stamping route numbers/shields in the lanes as you approach an interchange? I noticed this on I-17 south approaching the Loop 101 a couple of weeks ago and thought it did a better job than even overheads with arrows to determine exactly what lane I needed to be in, especially when there's more than one exit lane for an interchange.

[roadman65]

Hey, I am still trying to figure out why it is totally acceptable to call a person on the telephone, and actually considered it to be the norm to put a person on hold!  For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, if you ever miss a payment on a credit card and the creditor wants to know why you are late, instead of a human being calling you an automatic dialer will call you instead and have you wait until one of their  human operators is available to speak with you.

dude, pay your bills.

I do pay my bills FYI.

Back on topic, I was visiting someone in the hospital and to keep speed control the hospital has posted many four way stop signs.  Prior to each one on the pavement is:
                                                                                    AHEAD
                                                                                     STOP
Although common sense tells you about that it really is STOP AHEAD as the STOP is first as you drive forward to the AHEAD, still I know what Brian means as you do see both words at the same moment, so you have to take a split second more to reverse it to yourself.  Nonetheless, maybe if the words are close together they should be in normal form.  However, I am not going to demand that the road agencies change the thing as one second more for your brain to do a comprehension task is not that big deal, but his point is good one though.

[theline]

It's Yoda Speak: http://www.yodaspeak.co.uk/index.php

[ChoralScholar]

Have you ever noticed, that when there is lettering on the roadway, like STOP AHEAD, or PED XING, or SCHOOL XING, that it's always written from bottom to top?  I've always found that weird.  Just because words are on the road, doesn't mean I read them in reverse order.

"What does AHEAD STOP mean?!?"

Anyway, that's my goofy observation for the night.

They're in that order as one would read them as he/she drives down the street.  Even though, from the air they would appear to read AHEAD STOP, as one drives, STOP appears first, then AHEAD, forming STOP AHEAD.

Should have used the sarcasm smiley.  Of course I understand why they do it - I was just making an observation.

[ilvny]

I used to wonder the same thing about those words.  On my own, I figured it was because drivers will see stop before ahead even though it says "Ahead Stop."

[formulanone]

You actually wait to speak with someone? 

If I'm on the clock/client's time, and wish to get a "technical" break...yes.

[roadman65]

You actually wait to speak with someone? 

If I'm on the clock/client's time, and wish to get a "technical" break...yes.

Usually not, but when I am mad at someone disturbing me like waking me up out of bed just to hear a stupid automatic dialer make you come to the phone when no one is on the other end, I will hold on, especially when its those damned ambulance companies calling when your insurance stalls in paying their "extortion" as those guys cannot wait to get the money that they are so not entitled to.

Bottom line, it makes no sense at all to call someone and not to have somebody there to speak to them.  It is downright rude!  Plus, a dialer can dial a 10 digit number in less than two seconds, so when an operator becomes free, it is not that difficult or time consuming to have that done in the two seconds.  Plus it is so unproffesional especially in business.  Remember, business embraces proffesionalism as number one over merit and sometimes truth and even logic.

[national highway 1]

Have you ever noticed, that when there is lettering on the roadway, like STOP AHEAD, or PED XING, or SCHOOL XING, that it's always written from bottom to top?  I've always found that weird.  Just because words are on the road, doesn't mean I read them in reverse order.

"What does AHEAD STOP mean?!?"

Anyway, that's my goofy observation for the night.

In Canberra, and the Australian Capital Territory, there have been several instances where 'FORM ONE LANE' is painted as
LANE
ONE
FORM

[Mamba205]

On the Great River Road near Grafton, Illinois, the shoulder says "ONLY BIKE."

[jp the roadgeek]

There used to be a deaf children sign in my town where the "Slow" was put in the middle of the sign a la an old sign that would say Speed 50 Limit.  When read top to bottom, the sign would say "Deaf Slow Children"

[roadman65]

I noticed that all RR Crossings have them a certain number of feet prior to the grade crossing itself.  Obviously that is in the MUTCD,  but is the distance mandatory?  I saw a repaving job recently and the new striping moved the writing a few feet in another direction, so it made me wonder if what so, and if so did the MUTCD change the requirements recently.

[Brandon]

I noticed that all RR Crossings have them a certain number of feet prior to the grade crossing itself.  Obviously that is in the MUTCD,  but is the distance mandatory?  I saw a repaving job recently and the new striping moved the writing a few feet in another direction, so it made me wonder if what so, and if so did the MUTCD change the requirements recently.

I've never seen the distance to the RR crossing given on a sign or paint.  I've seen the distance between the RR crossing and the intersection after the RR crossing given on a sign.  Illinois started posting these after the Fox River Grove Grade Crossing Accident.

[kphoger]

Getting back off topic  again....

When I get calls from evil spam credit card burn kill rip their flesh lower my interest rate scammers, I do one of the following:

(1) Answer the phone, press 1 to talk to a rep, put it on speaker, set it down, and go on about my business (it doesn't take them very long to give up and hang up);

(2) Answer the phone, press 1 to talk to a rep, put it on speaker, and bang it the microphone end on the desk;

(3) Answer the phone, press 1 to talk to a rep, and speak gibberish loudly into the phone (one time, the rep started speaking gibberish back to me.... now that cracked me up!);

(4) Answer the phone, press 1 to talk to a rep, and mumble gibberish very quietly into the phone.

As you can see, I prefer to waste their time, rather than ignoring the call.  It makes them less likely to call me back again.