Walking with Olga back from Wormwood Scrubs on Sunday, I passed these vivid posters. This is the "Screaming Hand," a well-known trademark for Santa Cruz skateboards. Kind of an interesting image to find in northwest London, but I guess skate culture is everywhere.
Here's the story of the creation of the hand, by artist Jim Phillips, in 1985. I was once in Santa Cruz myself, way back in 1991 (when the hand was only six years old!). Unfortunately I don't remember much about it. I drove through with a friend from San Francisco on the way to Big Sur. Here's what I wrote in my journal afterwards: "The drive to Santa Cruz was hell. All kinds of traffic and road blockage -- it was really irritating and my temper was short. But after Santa Cruz things opened up as we drove south through Monterey and Carmel, past vegetable fields, pastures on the coast and stylish beach homes."
That's my sole exposure to Santa Cruz -- traffic. I have even less experience with skateboarding.
Speaking of obscure sports references, take a look again at yesterday's post. Do you see on the ceramics shop window the creature at lower left saying "COYS"? I wondered what on Earth that meant. Well, through the magic of Google, I learned that it's a football (soccer) reference that means "Come on You Spurs!" It's a reference to the Tottenham Hotspur football club. Apparently our ceramics dealers are fans.
Today and tomorrow are going to be fairly low-key days at work. The teachers are all having parent-teacher conferences, which used to happen in massive face-to-face gatherings in the school gym but are now held entirely on Zoom, much to everyone's satisfaction. There are no kids around, so for me it's time to work on catch-up projects in the library. I think I'll just do some shelf organizing and weeding.
Remember how I said Dave got his Covid booster shot not too long ago? Well, after the fact, he got a very peculiar letter from the NHS saying he needed a third shot -- and that it should not be considered a booster but part of his original set of vaccinations. (This is because his Crohn's medication leaves him somewhat immunocompromised.) He was told if he'd already had a third shot, he could ignore the letter. And if he'd already had a booster, he could likewise ignore it. So we ignored it, but he's still scratching his head about whether the shot he got counts as a booster or not, and what the difference might be, if any. Mystifying!
Big Sur firstly took me to something to do with the Apple Mac operating system, before the appropriate answer came up.
ReplyDeleteDave's third shot would surely be the same, whatever the name.
Yeah, Apple has appropriated a lot of California names for their software!
DeleteI used to find that schools functioned much more efficiently when there were no pupils there. They do tend to cause unnecessary distraction from one's work.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. We often say school would be great if it weren't for the kids.
DeleteLived in Monterey in the early 70s. The mention of Big Sur brought back a few memories.
ReplyDeleteZoom conference are a great idea - could increase the number of parents (no travel involved) and also make it easier for the teacher to move on to the next party.
Bingo! It benefits everyone. Parents can Zoom in from wherever they are in the world -- office, on a trip, whatever -- and teachers can disconnect them when needed!
DeleteOh, bureaucracy! I’d be scratching my head, too. And just try explaining the lack of clariy to one of the bureaucrats.
ReplyDeleteI love your walks around the city and the wonderful things you notice that others would pass right by.
We had the opportunity to move to Santa Cruze from Santa Barbara around 2005. So glad it didn’t work out. We also experienced some unpleasant traffic when we drove in and out (if Route 1 is backed up or blocked, you’re out of luck). Plus, although it was a cool and funky town, there wasn’t enough to keep us occupied there.
Route 1 is probably the road we were on, though I don't remember for sure.
DeleteCall me simple but calling your local surgery/GP for clarification will save both you and Dave a lot of head scratching.
ReplyDeleteU
Well, the letter says to ignore it if he's had a third shot under any circumstances, so that's what we're doing -- whether they regard it as a booster or not seems immaterial. It's just weird that they then make a distinction.
DeleteEverything about this pandemic is so confusing. I agree with some of the others here, he should probably check with his doctor to makes sure. The virus is heaving on my mind after a three days in NY City. New Yorkers are much better about wearing masks than the people in Arizona but everywhere is so crowded that it makes me worry. They certainly are very good about checking ID's and vaccination cards.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the urban congestion of New York (or many cities) would be worrisome in the pandemic, I'm sure. At least in Phoenix a lot of people are in their cars when they're out and about, right?
DeleteI love the street art, and the Screaming Hand is very cool.
ReplyDeleteI'd check about that third shot because that letter seems confused.
Well, we're confident that ignoring it is OK, given what it says. But yes, it IS confused.
DeleteI had a chuckle about COYs. Out here in the Idaho wild west it's shorthand for (bear) "cubs of the year" - to distinguish them from yearling bear cubs. Cubs stay with their mamas for two years before striking out on their own.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise (on Mike's computer)
Huh! Who knew?! I'm pretty sure that's not what that window means, though. LOL
DeleteI think that part of the problem with boosters, etc. is that NO ONE is quite sure about the proper way to proceed after the first two shots unless of course you got the J&J in which case there was only one. Seems to me that recommendations change almost daily.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your student-free day!
Yeah, the recommendations do seem to shift, depending on age and infirmity and that kind of thing. I heard I'm supposed to be offered one at some point, but I'm just waiting for the call. I think it will be six months after my second shot, which means December.
DeleteAh the traffic of Santa Cruz. I remember it well. I lived in Santa Cruz 1988-2004. It's a beautiful little city, but the traffic was horrible back then, and it still is. My twin brother still lives there... traffic hell!
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth a call to the sender of that letter to figure out what Dave is expected to do, now that he's already gotten his booster shot.
I remembered reading on your blog that you lived there. I have a vague memory of it being a cute place aside from the road construction!
DeleteThanks for the links about The Screaming Hand. One of my kids was into skateboarding and I use to be knowledgeable about many of the companies and logos. This one is new to me.
ReplyDeleteWeeding at work and at home? Haha.
I bet your kid would know the Screaming Hand! I've seen it on t-shirts and things but I never really knew what it was.
DeleteIt is a shame really. California is such a beautiful state but hard to notice due to all my attention being on the traffic around me.
ReplyDeleteGot my booster and flu shot on Tuesday. All in all, not as bas as the previous times but yesterday wasn't very productive just the same. Aches and chills for 12 hours. Glad to get it behind me and move onward.
Dave had aches and chills too, after he got both shots in the same day. I might try to space them out!
DeleteDid Dave get Pfizer? I hadn't heard of a booster for any of the other shots. (but that's here and they're in the process of being approved) I've enjoyed my visits to California which were mostly Santa Monica when my daughter lived there. The traffic and prices are atrocious.
ReplyDeleteYes, he got Pfizer for both his original vaccine and his booster.
DeleteThe hand gives the phrase "talk to the hand" new meaning. How well I remember parent teacher conferences, the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I remember them too, as a student! I always enjoyed having my parents meet my teachers, but that's because I wasn't a very troublesome kid. :)
DeleteTraffic almost anywhere around SF is now just a fact of life. Overcrowded.
ReplyDeleteAround almost any urban area, in fact! London has "congestion pricing," which means drivers get charged a fee if they bring their cars into the City or Westminster. Keeps down some of that traffic.
Delete