Friday, June 15, 2012
Perplexed by sign
I was in Washington, DC yesterday. Earlier this year, I was appointed to the National Institute of Justice's Scientific Review Panel, and we had our first meeting Wednesday and Thursday. I was on my way to the Metro to catch a train to the airport when I spotted this sign and couldn't resist the photo opportunity. Can someone please explain this to me?
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24 comments:
What Do I Win?
"Slugging" is an informal carpooling system that has manifested itself in DC over the last decade. Drivers pick up 'sluggers' and are paid a bit by them to go to common destinations such as the Pentagon. Things must have progressed by now to the point where the city is putting up signs to mark sluggers' rally points...
I think it's referring to a carpooling pickup area although its a fairly unflattering name for them. Much like 'scab' for temporary workers..
A slug is what we call the warm bodies we pick up at commuter lots so we can use the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes. There are unwritten rules of etiquette explained at http://www. slug-lines.com/slugging/etiquette.asp The Hubster picked up slugs daily when he ran the I-95 commute.
"Slugging is a term used to describe a unique form of commuting from Northern Virginia to Washington, DC by using instant carpooling, or slug-lines. Slugging is an organized system where people commuting into the city stop to pickup other passengers (even though they are complete strangers!). There are set rules and specific pickup and drop-off locations to make this a win/win solution for a lot of commuting issues."
http://dc.about.com/od/transportation/a/Slugging.htm
Whew, now I get it. I was picturing those slimy creatures. This is the kind of think that happens when a country bumpkin visits the big city.
That's exactly what I was thinking, Tom. Those icky little pests have been destroying my flower beds, for the past 2 weeks. At night, when they're active, I've been taking the salt shaker to them. They're just nasty.
Slug is term used to describe a round bullet larger than buckshot. The sign is a historical marker directing citizens to the gunsmith's shop where they could pick up ammunition for the coming revolution.
LOL @ Steve. Thanks for the morning chuckle!
I was looking at the sign above it. What box shouldn't be blocked? The box that houses the slugs?
This was all I could think of.
After seeing the picture linked to by anonymous at 5:33, I have to wonder if those waiting for rides ever get into a slugfest over who gets to go next. Maybe that's how it actually got the name.
9:49,
In Lincoln on football Saturdays,a sizeable detail of police officers is required to prevent slugs from blocking the box along 9th and 10th Street. A sign would be insufficient.
By the way, a note for photography buffs: with the 4.01 iOS update, Apple added HDR (high dynamic range) to the iPhone camera app. If you click the options button at the top edge of the camera view frame, and turn HDR on, here's what happens: The camera shoots three images, at different exposures, then combines the images. Without HDR, the sky and clouds in this photo would have been blown out. By combining multiple exposures, you have both nice saturation and drama in the sky, and still pick up some details in the shadow areas such as the umbrellas at the sidewalk cafe across the street.
That's some pretty fancy stuff for a handheld phone camera. It is, however, still a multiple exposure, so you'll get some blur if the camera moves, or if a subject is moving. Check out the pedestrian in red pants crossing 14th St NW, and the no left turn sign at the right edge.
Maybe "Slug Pickup" points near Lincoln's watering holes could reduce the number of DUI's?
Gun Nut
The "don't block the box" is something with which Lincoln drivers have no familiarity. Don't enter an intersection you can't immediately leave, so when the light changes you're not an impediment to traffic. In lincoln it's the next best thing to running a red light.
I think they already do that Gun Nut. Problem is, the driver is usually the drunkest one.
Hope the time in DC was worth it, Tom. I was on an NIJ SRP on Wednesday (I did look around for you) and we had some pretty awful applications to review...
Good thing that you didn't go to Seattle Tom, I'm sure that the transit system signs there would have offended your waspish sensibility.
What do they call it? SLUT is what they call it.
Hmmm...OK, I got lost...Anonymous 7:26 AM, I guess you'll have to spell that comment out for me...I don't get it! Thanks.
7:57,
Me either, so I looked it up: Seattle Lake Union Trolley--a streetcar line in Seattle's developing mass transit network.
OMG! Thanks for clarifying that, Tom. But still, it seems like they could have put a few different words together so it didn't have an acronym like THAT! LOL!
12:40,
It's actually "streetcar", but "trolley" seems to be the term preferred by the public...
So whihc panel were you on. Technology?
Mark,
No, Justice Systems Research, actually.
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