FOWC with Fandango — Humdrum
All photography Garry Armstrong
Today is another doctor visit, the follow-up to the follow-up of the tests which were the follow-up to the original meeting — and all the other tests. None of which have provided any significant information. But she is the best-looking neurologist Garry has ever met and he would be terribly disappointed to miss this appointment.
Main Street, Uxbridge
The Uxbridge crossroad where Route 16 dis-angularly crosses Main Street. Note the single traffic light.
You know how the doctors on television shows have these smashingly gorgeous physicians? She is one of them. Ready for television now — without extra makeup.
It’s probably worth the $40 copay to watch Garry enjoy the view.
Our brand spanking new crossing sign! Isn’t this exciting? It’s educational. Of course, if you stop to read it, you’ll miss your crossing. Not to worry. There’s not very much traffic anyway.
But this isn’t about our humdrum doctor’s visit. No, this is about the overwrought traffic sign we have in the middle of Uxbridge.
Downtown – the center of the excitement!
Route 16 heading for Main Stree, past the dam and the cemetery.
Remember that we are a one road town. Two lanes, one in each direction. There is a crossroad, though the two ends of it are about a block apart. I’m sure someone knows why, but I am not one of them.
Recently, the decision was made that what we really need to spruce up little old Uxbridge was an especially complicated pedestrian crossing sign. It’s so long, I doubt anyone has read it except us because Garry took a picture of it. This morning, looking at the picture of it again, I wondered where the town got it and how much it cost.
So if you need one of your own, this is where you can buy it. It’s less than $20, plus shipping and you have to find somewhere to nail it up. I notice this is considered an “educational” traffic sign. Will it improve our children’s reading scores?
It took me four different traffic sign companies before I found it, but I did. I am relentless in the pursuit of trivia. If that isn’t humdrum, I just don’t know what is.
It was not even expensive, so I still don’t know what they do with our tax money, other than repaving the same section of Main Street every year for the past 19 years. Maybe it’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with the town water.
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Categories: #FOWC, Blackstone Valley, Daily Prompt, Dams and Waterfalls, Fandango's One Word Challenge, Photography, Roads, Uxbridge
I would never have guessed it was legal for civilians to buy traffic signs. Those timed crosswalks have been common for a while in the big cities… but in a sleepy little town, just cross wherever! Jeez!
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Someone in our grand council of wizard that run the joint must have decided we need an important sign. Why? It was ONLY $18.50 and maybe we’d look more important? Or something?
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It seems Uxbridge is, what my German born, South African raised, English (twice married & divorced and still living in UK) friend said: A one horse town…. I laughed when I read that the passing horses are difficult to park 😉 Makes me always think that Lucky LUke should be riding into town at any moment.
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He used to drive the carriage into town and there was always some empty lot he could leave them for a while. But not for long. But they were such glorious horses!
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I’ve probably asked before but what’s the population of Uxbridge? Geeveston’s main street is too small for any kind of traffic crossing devices. Now I think if about it I’m not even sure if Huonville has traffic lights, intersections in Tasmanian country towns often just have a roundabout.
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If it weren’t that Route 16 — which is an old postal road to Boston from the country (a 2 lane road, but there are a lot of places that you can ONLY get to via Rt. 16 — crosses through Uxbridge (I think it crosses through ALL the towns in the Valley and pretty much every small town all way the past Boston to the coast), we wouldn’t need a light. We do have a stop sign in front of the senior center because we are slow walkers and you have to remind people to slow down. In the Village, maybe 5,000 people but there are more out in the country like us. But we are several miles outside the village.
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I guess Route 16 is somewhat like the Huon Highway which runs from Kingston to Dover.Highway doesn’t really describe it well, it’s one lane in each direction except for some passing lanes and the further south you go the narrower it gets. It has been improved quite a lot in the past few years, It’s not lit but we do have cats eyes now and the verges are wider. Most of the towns are a lot smaller than Uxbridge though. About 1300 in Geeveston and 2,700 in Huonville, Including Franklin, Port Huon, Castle Forbes Bay and Dover which are all smaller probably about 6,000 in all the Huon Valley towns together.
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That sign was designed by an amateur. I’m impressed with Fandango’s sign.
Leslie
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You can get some pretty funny signs. The place I showed has a good selection.
https://www.roadtrafficsigns.com/funny-traffic-signs
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🙂
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We had this crosswalk that I used pretty well every day. I’d push the button – wait for it to say I could cross – then off I’d go. BUT … I never got half way across before it changed. I almost had to run to make it. I was glad I was young in those days because I could never envision how any elderly person – or little kid – would make it across there alive. One day I got so furious at this that I booted the button – which flew off and landed on the ground.
Shortly after they fixed it and extended the time. I take credit for that.
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Good for you. I can’t remember how many time when I was young and I was pushing a carriage and hauling groceries, the lights gave me 30 seconds and then changed. Fortunately, it’s illegal to hit people with your car EVEN if the light is against you.
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Hmmm … I’ll try to remember that. LoL!
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There are sign companies that will create official looking, custom road signs for anyone. I once had a sign made and posted it next to my driveway. It said, “If you block my driveway, I’ll smash your fucking windshield.” Someone stole the sign, though.
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Oh, yeah, I found some hilarious signs, too. But this one is actually a standard sign. It just took me a while to find it. What’s so silly is that we need that sign like a hole in our heads.
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Does anyone ever ride a horse into town, or would that cause too much of a ruckus?
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Oh, they do. It’s hard to park them, though. But yeah, there are a LOT of horse raising farms in the area. More every year as the dairy farmers are getting tired. We have a really great riding trail that used to be a railroad trunk line just across the road from us, but you have to ride along the road to get to the trunkline. Remarkably, other than on highways, it’s still perfectly legal to ride your horse into town. I wonder if you have to clean up after them like for a dog? That could be awkward.
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You’d have to carry a slew of paper bags and a bucket.
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Patricia, I don’t recall a horse rider in our little town. It would be fun. I’d love to be the pale rider with my theme music in the background. Don’t think the locals would bat an eyelash.
One of my long, languishing fantasies is to do a “Shane” like arrival into our little town — with Ricky Nelson’s plaintive “Lonesome Town” playing softly in the background. Start on a long shot, dissolve slowly into a compressed medium shot with dust a-swirling. One take!
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I’d like to do a parade-like entrance, with the horse prancing and dancing down the street to the tune of “You Oughta Be in Pictures. “
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Doesn’t anyone have a herd of cows or even chickens that might want to cross the road (to get to the other side of course). That would bring some excitement. Or go for a walk with your canine trio and let them off the line – at last some excitement.
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While perusing the traffic sign companies, you can get them for any kind of animal including a Yeti. There’s one with a bear on top of the car that says “Warning, bears spotted in area,” and of course a wide variety of farm animals, dogs, cats, turtles, moose (elk to you), deer, tractors, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, old people, young people — a lot of people — and signs you can have made up to fit your sense of humor. They are also pretty cheap, so it might make a great Christmas present.
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Pat, if we walk the 3 dogs, we gotta warn the Police because Duke will be with us. I’m not sure the lawmen are okay with the Duke walking in broad daylight with so many distractions. It could be breaking news….
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