Vanity Plates III: The Stupidity

Another reason not to have vanity plates - if you break the law, bystanders will find it easier to remember your tags.
This woman was feeding the pigeons - not just throwing bread, but spreading pounds of different kinds of seed on the sidewalk. This is not only against the law in Chicago, it makes for a serious nuisance because of how the birds gather and shit on tourist friendly areas (in this case the railings along the Wacker river walk), and attracts other pests like rats. Feeding the pigeons is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Vanity Plates II: The Irony

As I wrote before I never quite got the desire for vanity plates. And I'm even more puzzled when it sets the car owner up for a bit of irony.

"Size Matters:"

"Size Matters" on a smaller Lexus SUV, parked next to a monster Humvee:

Dead traffic lights II

As I noted before there is a traffic light pole I pass daily that lives a precarious existence - they got it again:


This one happened during the evening rush hour, the three cars parked on the far side of the street were all involved somehow. I missed the actual crash and only witnessed the aftermath - I'd love to know what actually happened.

100,000

Of course, just a month after my 10-year old Honda Civic reached 100,000 miles (a badge of honor in my family) a woman decides not to stop at a light everyone else is stopped at and totals my car (Honda's tend to fold like accordions when hit).

The good news is that it's been replaced by a newer Honda Accord, the bad news is I really don't like stopping at stop lights when people are coming up behind me. With a little luck and some diligence by other drivers I might get this one to 100,000 too.

Dead traffic lights

I walk to work in the south loop area of downtown. I have to cross one particularly busy and dangerous street which involves traffic from four directions, turns with out turn arrow lights, and traffic coming off one of Chicago's busies highways merging with street traffic (often at very high speeds). This makes for some excitement. Also adding to the fun is a fire station less than a block away, if I don't get killed first I'm sure I'm going to witness an ambulance t-boning a bus at some point (I did witness a near miss already).

There is a poor hapless traffic light pole in the middle of this mess that gets taken out on a regular basis. I've decided to document it's violent life:


At one point I thought of the island the light pole stands on as a safe haven to stand on if I didn't make it all the way across the street in one light (which if you don't time it just right will happen, it's six lanes that need to be crossed) - now I know better, the light would have no chance in saving me from an oncoming speeding vehicle.

Vanity License Plates

I think of vanity license plates a little like tattoos – it’s almost impossible to find a single idea that is so important and timeless it won’t look a bit silly after some time.

Bragging about your job on Wall Street is a little foolish when the market tanks (especially if it’s attached to your sweet ride [it’s a Maserati] – it’ll make me [for one] wonder if you’ve made your latest payment).

I saw this one (on the bottom) shortly after noticing the Maserati – the only interpretation I can get from it is “GM stocks” –it’s on a GM car. But considering the shape the car industry is in, it’s not a great thing to brag about right now (I hope his pension isn't at risk).

Reason #1 for why I carry a camera!

Sometimes you see something in passing that you just can't help but document.

I don't mean to make light of someone's misfortune, but this image is too classic not to have taken it. How often do you see Rolls Royces broken down in Taco Bell parking lots? You would think Rolls came with their own on-call repair guy, and that their owners could do better than Taco Bell.