Tue 7 Apr 2009
A tailgate gallery of bumper-sticker humor; Point Reyes weather both Arctic & tropical
Posted by DavidMitchell under History, Marin County, Point Reyes Station, West Marin nature
Comments Off on A tailgate gallery of bumper-sticker humor; Point Reyes weather both Arctic & tropical
In San Anselmo last Thursday, an SUV parked near my car caught my attention because its tailgate was plastered with bumper-stickers, some of which had a Stinson Beach or other West Marin theme.
When the driver returned to the vehicle, I asked if he was from Stinson Beach. No, he replied before driving off, the car belongs to his sister, and she often goes to Stinson to walk her dog. As the SUV disappeared, I wondered about “Save a Cow, Eat a Vegetarian.” It’s obviously a jab at political correctness, but what exactly does it imply? That bovine and hominid vegetarians compete for ruffage?
Most of us have seen bumper-stickers that boast, “My Child is an Honor Student at St. Swivens High [or whatever] School,” and it was this sassy spoof that prompted me to start snapping pictures of the tailgate’s humor.
Here’s a poke at the kind of personal ads that show up locally in The Bay Guardian or on Craigslist.
In the unlikely event that some drivers actually find their inamoratas through ads on bumper-stickers, the SUV also offers this caution.
And should any reader in Stinson Beach spot this red Nissan Xterra, please ask the driver to explain the cow-and-vegetarian joke — and then forward her answer to this blog.
Before signing off, I have one last question. What are we to make of the weather boxes that are now offered on Google homepages? Shingles can be blowing off roofs around here, and Google will report a windspeed of 3 mph for Point Reyes Station. Usually, Google’s current temperature bears a closer resemblance to reality than its windspeed, but recently even its current-temperature reports for Point Reyes Station have been goofy.
Skies were mostly overcast at noon Tuesday with a light drizzle, but the air was neither still nor 51 degrees below freezing. With all its technical expertise, you’d think Google would realize its system was crashing when it reported Arctic air in Point Reyes Station.
Just to see if the goofy temperature Google had listed around noon Tuesday was merely a brief aberration, I checked again at 2:22 a.m. Wednesday. By now the air outside had warmed up some, according to Google, but our springtime night was still 12 degrees below freezing. Meanwhile, my own outdoor thermometer showed an air temperature of just over 50 degrees.
By 2 p.m. Wednesday, my thermometer indicated the air outdoors had risen to 60 degrees, so I checked what Google was reporting and this time found Point Reyes Station sounding like a town in the tropics. If I were to believe Google, the temperature here had soared by 113 degrees in 26 hours. What is going on?
Addendum: By Friday, Google was reporting that in Point Reyes Station’s zip code, current temperature “information is temporarily unavailable.” I’d like to think that this blog had something to do with that, but I doubt it.
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