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Tag Archives: sign
Waiting for 10 minutes
The good thing about the stop/go system is that it forces us to pause in the midst of our rush to get somewhere. The bad thing about it is that 10 minutes can make all the difference when you're late for an important meeting. (Which we fortunately were not.)
Take a moment to pause your day... visit donothingfor2minutes.com. :)
Emily the Strange
While many people find folk who wear punk- or goth-style clothes strange and even weird, for some reason I find that I more often really them. Most often I find their eccentric demeanor (which in my experience completely contradicts who they really are) strangely attractive.
Perhaps it's exactly that contrast and their different experience of life that I enjoy. Now isn't that strange?
No entry, crew only
I often wonder to myself why signs like this one (especially in shops and restaurants) seem so aggressive. They have signs to welcome us and make us feel as though we, their clients, are super-important to them. In their marketing messages they even call us "valued clients". However, in their store or restaurant their signs are devised to be aggressive and intolerant. What's with that?
How about "No need to peek, there's nothing but very busy elves behind this door. Ring this buzzer or call 0800 555 1234 if you need a human's help."? Doesn't that sound a little more friendly, and a little more useful?
How to exit an underground parking garage
While I greatly appreciate underground parking, the thing that I find almost unbearable is the rush to get out from undercover parking after an event. When going to see shows at the CTICC and Waterfront it's almost mandatory to park in such an undercover parking lot. While the exits manage regular traffic perfectly adequately, if everyone leaves the venue at once it can easily take between 1 and 2 hours to get through the boom gates.
Perhaps it's obvious to you, but the experience that I've had has taught me to:
- preempt where traffic exiting the garage will be congested
- park as close to the garage exit as possible, even if it entails walking a few hundred meters more
- reverse into the parking bay so that you can make a quick and easy exit
- consider finding a coffee shop and relax while everyone else fights to leave :)
Cul de sac – you ain’t going nowhere
In South Africa, we normally have these words painted on the entrance to a dead-end road, as well as a small rectangular green sign displaying a T-symbol where the vertical bar of the T is white and the horizontal is red. I guess what they're trying to say is, "slow down lest you come to a sudden and unexpected stop" - and "no, this isn't a shortcut". :)
Sunglasses, an African imperative
Most people are wise enough to buy sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection - I've even gone to the point of only buying only glasses with polarised lenses because (besides for reducing the brightness) they help reduce the glare from the road, water, or beach sand.
As someone I knew once said, you only have two eyes, so buy proper sunglasses. I don't know about you, but I reckon that's a pretty fair statement.
The herb garden
With the number of small housing and apartment complexes having increased dramatically over the past few years several people that I've met have started either a small herb garden or a tiny vegetable patch in their little back yards. Kerry-Anne and I've tried to do this several times but we never seem to keep a handle on it and the poor patch of plants invariably either overrun (in the case of the hardy plants) or fizzle away into dried up stalks.
Do you have a veggie or herb garden at home, and if not, are you considering starting one?
DSK Basar – An Oktoberfest in November
Did you end up at the DSK Basar? What did you think?
Reserved for wheelchairs
You may wonder why Cape Town Daily Photo is nearly a week behind on it's... well... daily photos. Kerry-Anne recently underwent a hip arthroscopy and has been slowly recovering the use of her left hip joint. So, you can imagine that we haven't been getting around quite as much as we'd otherwise like to have been; and your's truly has been playing the role of the devoted husband, providing for her every whim instead of keeping the daily photos coming. :)
In case you're concerned, the operation went pretty smoothly and I'm pleased to report that she's nicely on the mend and will soon be hopping, running and skipping.
If you're in the Northern Suburbs and on the hunt for a skilled orthopedic surgeon who specialises in hip joints, leave a comment here and I'll send you the doctors details - we'd certainly recommend his services.
Free parking in Cape Town – really?
The number of professionally printed signs hosting incorrectly spelled words, or ambiguous writing, is simply astounding. My spelling isn't very good - but this is why I use a spell checker. So the question is; is there an excuse for sign-writers? Signs are short and professional sign-writers should surely notice incorrectly spelled words or sentences that clearly don't mean what was intended.
In this case, I wonder why the commissioner of this sign, or owner of the property, or in fact, anyone involved hasn't notice the clear problem here. This sign has been up for years. How strange...
Yeast pitching agitator?
After visiting the main control room at SAB we headed down to a huge room with a maize of impeccably clean stainless steel pipes that seemed to head in every which way. While the rest of my group was lectured on the process followed in this room, I took the opportunity to capture a few pictures that I'll be sharing with you. This brings me to today's photo - a series of important-looking red buttons that appear to control something called a Yeast Pitching Agitator.
I know precious little about brewing beer (yes, perhaps I should have paid closer attention) but from the little bit of reading that I did it seems as though "pitching the yeast" refers to the process of adding the yeast to the raw and bubble-less beer (known as "wort"). As for the agitator - it appears as though its role in the process is to activate the yeast in the wort by means of physically stirring the mixture.
Do you know how agitators in breweries work? If you do, please leave a comment to explain it more completely! :)
Don’t worry mum, it’s only a little yeast
During my last couple of day's of vacation (of which today is the last) I took a tour of a certain establishment. Based on this photo where in the world do you think I found myself?
Paid parking in the Cape Town CBD
A few years back this all changed - I suspect because, at night, people started stealing these little treasure chests on poles. Today we have officials wearing bright yellow and green bibs manning (almost) each street in the CBD. When you park, they ask you how long you expect to be staying and bill you on the spot for the amount of time that you estimate. On your return, if you'd overstayed your quoted time you pay up the difference, or get a refund if you were under time.
I normally quote the shortest time that I think I may need, take my receipt, and pay the difference upon my return. Most often I overpay and leave the difference to the official - who normally gladly accepts the difference with a smile. :)
Where in the world were we?
If you've been to London or Paris, or if you've been here you may recognise the sign. Where was this photo taken?
Public prosecutors
You may have heard about people such as the "National Director of Public Prosecutions" in the much publicised cases against various politicians and high-powered businessmen. The National Director is the top prosecutor in our judicial system supported by a hierarchy comprising the Deputy National Director, Directors, Deputy Directors and finally the Public Prosecutors mentioned in this photo.
Given who these people are I'd say that it's better than one takes heed of the sign and doesn't park on this side of the road. :)
Danger, Xhosa and Wikipedia
Even though it's commonly spoken in our Western and Eastern Cape provinces, when considered in a global context, Xhosa is a relatively small language. What I was happy to find out is that there's a Xhosa edition of Wikipedia available! While it is a relatively small edition, with only 115 articles at the time of writing this post, it was once explained to me that it's a major step towards documenting what the Xhosa elders have through the centuries passed on to their children by word of mouth only.
I found this interesting and alternative usage of an abbreviated form of the word, and although I doubt it's legitimacy I found the dialogue at the bottom of the text terribly entertaining. :)
A city center photo walk
Naturally you'd need to be familiar with Cape Town to answer this question... but given this sign and that I was somewhere in the city center - and given my previous photo - where do you think I visited to buy a refreshingly different take-away lunch?
Kiss-and-ride
I imagine that, at the time, the sign writer must have decided to go with a softer approach. I'm sure they must have visualised people dropping off loved ones and kissing them goodbye - and I'm guessing that was how the softer "Kiss-and-ride" phrase was born.
Why they never settled for "Drop-n-go" I'm not sure. :)
The building industry
Speaking of builders though - I don't know what it's like in other countries, but I've honestly only once heard of someone who's been happy with their builders. I've heard many terrible stories of poor workmanship, slow delivery and breaking of promises - all of which I experienced in my only building projects!
Have I and all the people I've spoken with about renovation and building projects just had bad luck or do you think it just seems this way because we only talk about these things when we have a bad experience?
Old signs: Nestlé Cocoa
Cocoa contains a substance called epicatechin, which appears to have huge health benefits for humans. Unfortunately cocoa (and chocolate) contain other substances called xanthines that are deadly to dogs and cats. Isn't it strange that a food that's perfectly good for humans is deadly to their most loved pets?
Old signs: Simba chips
Many years ago, when in primary school, our teacher took us on an outing to the Simba factory. It was fascinating to watch how potatos got skinned, chopped up, and dumped into huge baths of oil. I however remember at the time being mildly disenchanted by the thought that the chips that I loved weren't lovely made by friendly ladies in nice kitchens, but by machines in dirty-looking factories. :(
Old signs: Coca-Cola #2
Seriously though, I wouldn't go around encouraging that you drink the stuff - I guess we all know that it's not the healthiness thing to be drinking. I normally don't order Coke, but every so often I find that I do crave it - do you think that perhaps they plant subliminal messages or do you think the drink is just awfully addictive? *Sigh* The human condition...
Old signs: Coca-Cola #1
Well-hidden entrances
These signs still baffle me a bit, to be honest, although for a slightly different reason. I presume their purpose is to warn us that people might unexpectedly be turning out of these concealed driveways - but surely it's the responsibility of the motorist doing the turning to make sure that the road is clear before they pull out into it?
University of Cape Town – the Groote Schuur Campus
On 7 October 1983, the University of Cape Town's Groote Schuur (translated as "big barn") Campus was declared a national monument.
Originally, in 1829, South African College (later renamed to University of Cape Town) trained students in a building in Long Street. In 1841 they moved to Government Avenue, before finally taking occupation of the Groote Schuur campus in 1928.
Today, the buildings remind me of those old English school buildings that you'd expect to find Harry Potter frequenting. The campus is definitely worth a visit, so if you have some time on your hands to walk around and observe students in their natural habitat, make a turn past the Groote Schuur Campus - here's a map to this exact spot. :)
Clifford, Frank, and Table Mountain
Besides the proximity of Table Mountain being fantastic, this area of Cape Town, Vredehoek, has gorgeous views of the city, harbour, and Table Bay. As I'm sure you can imagine, this particular spot in Cape Town is highly sought after, making it impossible for most to afford a home here.
However, there's another price to pay for living in this area - and that would be the wind. When it's a beautiful day, it's awesome, but around this time of the year every now and again the wind howls like a troupe of irate banshees, leaving the only means to a peaceful night's sleep a comfy pair of earplugs! :)
Jack Black Premium Beer – a Cape Town favourite
I first tasted Jack Black one evening, about a year ago, at a bar in Observatory. The only reason I did so was because a friend mentioned that it was brewed locally at a small distillery - hence the word "Premium" in the title. I have to say that it's a great beer - not that I'm a connoisseur or anything, but it's really easy-drinking, which I guess could be a problem. :)
If you read their "Find Us" page you'll discover that this beer is only available at restaurants and stores in Cape Town and the surrounding areas of the Western Cape (or online at Diletto, for delivery anywhere in South Africa). Yet another thing to try when you visit Cape Town. ;-) You can read the story that inspired the name of the beer on the Jack Black website.
Method Man
Clearly I don't know very much about hip hop music. This storefront had me confused, as I had never heard of a shop or brand of clothing called "Methodman". After googling a little I discovered that it was no wonder I was confused - apparently Method Man is the stage name for an American hip hop artist.
Cape Town has had a large hip hop following for many years, but it seems that over the last few years there has been a huge increase in the general popularity of the genre. A fact that might surprise some of our friends: when Kerry-Anne's niece and nephew visited us last year, we listened to so much hip hop in the car that we developed quite an appreciation for it - to the extent that I now own a Flo Rida CD!
Spot the typo
Exactly how is it that sign-writers manage to miss such obvious errors? And perhaps even more oddly, how is it that their clients fail to spot these errors? Of course, on the other hand, maybe Kappa Painters & Carpenters were just using this as a clever marketing ploy to get naive blog owners to market their business on the internet. :)
In any event... I'm not sure that I'd trust their attention to detail!