Here's my latest civic conundrum. Some months ago, we had some roadwork done on our street, and this sign was erected in the middle of the pavement to redirect the traffic. Then the project ended, the equipment was packed up and everyone left -- and the sign got left behind! It's now sitting on this corner and has been for weeks and weeks. I tried reporting it as rubbish, because I have an app for that and I know how to do it, but Veolia (the company with the contract to collect rubbish in this area) wouldn't take it, unsurprisingly. So now who do I call?
And once again, I wonder, don't any of my neighbors see this? Doesn't it bother them too, or is it just me?
This is where Twitter (or X, if I must call it that) would come in handy. I could just throw this picture out there and tag the local council and maybe it would get some attention. But I'm not a Twitterer and I don't think I'm going to start now.
In other news, I went to the doctor yesterday evening to have him look at my black spot. It hasn't grown any, but I don't think it's any smaller, either. He agreed it doesn't look dangerous, but he also said he couldn't be 100 percent sure, so he referred me to the dermatology department at the hospital. They're supposed to contact me for an appointment within two weeks.
I wouldn't be too concerned -- and I guess I'm not, really -- but I did spend an awful lot of time in the sun as a child. The doctor asked me if I'd had a lot of sunburns.
"What's 'a lot'?" I said. I grew up in Florida and I certainly got sunburned now and then. But I only remember painful burns a handful of times, and I wasn't a very outdoorsy kid in general. I never got sunburned badly enough to blister my skin. I do remember my parents putting suntan lotion on me, so I had some protection, but I'm not sure it was really sunblock in the modern sense.
So who knows. It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry.
31 comments:
Ring the appropriate Local Authority Highways Dept to report the sign if it bothers you. It is their sign.
Definitely better safe than sorry.
Pick up the rubbish and drop it off at the local council depot, right on their doorstep.
I do like the position of the sign with what ends up looking like a ladder. Diversion Ends. Climb over the wall.
I had more sunburns than I could possibly count. Sunscreen? What was that? Always good to have those things checked just so you can relax.
Surprising that no one has nicked it for decorating a student flat!
Wouldn't the sign be the responsibility of your local council? I only use Twitter to complain about such things, plus Snap, Send Solve, plus emails, plus online complaint forms.
I hope not a problem for you but the Florida sun would be strong and harsh. You can only follow medical advice. (Says he is seeing a skin specialist doctor next week for a sore on my scalp that won't heal.)
Of course, in "Treasure Island", pirates are presented with a "black spot" to officially pronounce a verdict of guilt or judgment. Are you perchance a pirate? In Sheffield it is easy to contact the council regarding the first issue you mentioned and surprisingly things usually get done quite quickly.
Steve, I’m just like you about things like the construction sign issue. Sometimes I think why can’t I just be oblivious like most everyone else. But then again some of have to be the “keepers of the world”, right? (Proudly, I’m also a “curtain twitcher” in our neighborhood.) 😀
How funny. Our waste management company is Veolia too! Who did the repair work? I would call them and let them know there is a sign left behind.
Better to be safe than sorry about your skin.
As for the rubbish I imagine the neighbors all think "someone else" will take care of it.
Veolia is our sewer service. Is there no end to their tentacles?
My dermatologist, first visit for a baseline exam commented I was the only patient she'd had in years who had zero skin damage, where had I grown up? UK? That explained it! I've managed it since, sigh.
If it were my street, I would call the city Road Works department. I don't know what they call such departments in England.
I doubt I'd give that sign a second thought. I mean- I'd notice it every day when I saw it but I'd figure it wasn't my responsibility. You are a better citizen than I am for sure.
You're also a more responsible human being all the way around. I'd just let that spot go for the rest of my life unless it started doing something really weird.
I imagine everyone is thinking that someone else will take care of the sign. When I as in college, I would have taken it and hung it on my dorm room wall. I think it is good that you are getting the thing on your thumb checked out. If anything, it will give you peace of mind.
I saw a dermatologist for the first time last week and I have a few spots that must be frozen off my face. Doesn't that sound fun? Ugh!
We didn't have sun screen when I was a kid so...
You worry too much about that sign but you are a conscientious citizen!
Ooo - that WOULD be a good sign for a dorm wall! Actually I think it's perfect for your desk at work ;)
That sign would be great on a wall to remind you to keep to task! (But who has a wall that big?)
Glad you are getting checked out. If it's bad, it's early and that's a good thing. And if it's fine, easy! As one who grew up in the sunscreenless world of baby oil and lots of sun, you can't be too careful. My skin cancer landed on the lip and they said it was due to sun exposure. So, yes -- good to be check out!
That sign would bug me too! It seems strange that it was left behind.
I have an appointment with the dermatologist tomorrow for my 6 month check up. I get checked often because of my fair skin. It seems like they always find something to remove.
Everybody still calls Twitter Twitter. Your journalist origins are showing. That's not a bad thing.
Can you contact the local council to have the sign removed?
I just read you previous blog post and read the article in the New Yorker about Zac Brettler. A very sad but amazingly well written article, reminded me that there are still good journalists out there.
That is a very large sign and it seems to be forgotten by road workers. Can you reach out to public works/road maintenance and alert them about the sign? When something does not heal, seeing a doc is wise. A dermatologist should have an answer for you regarding the spot on your hand.
Seriously, in my youth, someone would have nicked that sign to put it up in some student digs or squatted housing or in a club. Not me, of course.
Hope that black spot comes off easily and no aftereffects.
It can't hurt to have a dermatologist look at the spot. I had a number of burns, including blistering, when I was a kid. I see a dermatology Nurse Practitioner twice a year for peace of mind ever since I had a place that turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma.
I forgot to add that Zac sounded like a sociopath and it's not hard to convince someone to kill themselves. You threaten to kill their family, if they don't kill themselves. That poor family will never know what really happened.
Make sure you have that spot looked at, my folks had waterfront and I grew up on the water, was out there all the time, no sunscreen then. All that is finally catching up to me, I have had multiple skin cancers ranging from actinic keratosis that can be frozen with liquid nitrogen to squamous cell cancers that must be removed by Mohs procedures. I see dermatologists twice a year to stayahead of them. Sun damage is cumulative.
I did get some sunburns in my childhood and my dad's struggles with skin cancer in later life scare me. It's great that you're getting it checked out.
It's a nice sign. Lovely yellow. A perfect garden ornament. The sandbag could be useful, too.
Skin cancer seems to be variable. I don't know much about it but as a farm kid I was out doors much of the time. So I worry.
I understand how you feel about the sign. You'd think everyone in the area would notice it, but I often find that other people claim to be totally unaware of sights, sounds, and odors that I find irritating or objectionable or simply visible. I hope your black spot is nothing. Maybe it will go away on its own.
Love,
Janie
Veolia recently bought Boise's water management operations, so its tentacles are indeed wide-ranging. Unfortunately they were also the water company for Flint Michigan's debacle - really confidence-inspiring, eh?!
Yes - get that spot checked, because it's better to be sure. I'm betting on blood blister.
Chris from Boise
Rachel: Thanks -- that sounds like a good place to start! As you'll see in the subsequent post, I reported it to them online.
River: It includes a sandbag! I think they have to collect it. I don't want another IKEA adventure.
Mitchell: Yeah, nobody thought of sunscreen back then. Suntan oil, but not sunscreen.
Sue: I guess we don't have any young people in our neighborhood!
Andrew: Yeah, the sun was VERY strong in Florida. I never get sunburned here in the UK, even when I'm walking around without sunscreen.
YP: Oh, I hadn't even thought about that kind of "black spot" but I do remember that from the book. Contacting our council is never easy, I've found.
Don: I think there's a lot of truth to that. I figure I'm not raising a family so the world is my responsibility!
Debby: I had no idea Veolia was in the states too. I thought it was a European thing.
Bob: They probably don't give it a second thought. A lot of people have an amazing ability to block things out.
Boud: Yeah, I definitely have skin damage. So far not cancerous, but that could always change!
Ed: I didn't either but Rachel clarified it above!
Ms Moon: I think merely the fact that it's hung on this long is "really weird," but maybe I'm being paranoid!
Michael: I never had a sign on my wall. Instead I had a gigantic poster of Marilyn Monroe. SO gay!
Ellen D: Oh, I've had the freezing thing done too! So far on my head, but not on my face.
Bug: Ha! "Divert" yourself away from my desk! LOL
Jeanie: That's how I feel. There's really no reason NOT to get checked.
Sharon: I've found it really difficult to get a dermatology appointment here, especially for anything other than a specific purpose. (No routine checkups, in other words.)
Lynn Marie: Once a journalist, always a journalist!
Pixie: Wasn't it good? That article blew me away. I read a book by the same author about Northern Ireland ("Say Nothing") that was also fantastic. I agree that Zac sounded potentially sociopathic.
Susan: I did reach out online and hopefully someone is coming to collect it!
Sabine: I'm kind of surprised no one has missed it. You'd think they'd do an equipment inventory at the end of a job.
Kelly: I had one of those too -- it wasn't quite basal cell but it was a precursor or an ambiguous biopsy, so they treated it as such.
Jim: I grew up on a lake, so I know what you mean. While I wasn't super-outdoorsy I did swim and boat and do stuff on the water now and then.
Margaret: If only we'd all known how damaging those sunburns would be long-term!
Tasker: Ha! Not in my garden. :)
Red: But you were far enough north that maybe the intensity of the sun wasn't as severe?
Janie: A lot of people have really good filters. I can filter sounds quite well, but visually I notice everything and after a while it makes me NUTS.
Chris: Wow on both counts! I can't believe those tentacles reach all the way to Boise, and I didn't know about the Flint connection!
I grew up in North Dakota but I got sunburned fairly regularly every summer. I've had non-malignant skin cancers removed from the back of one arm, my nose, the top of one ear and I think a couple of spots on my face. All within the past 10 years so it can come on to you. Might have the dermatologist check your entire body for signs.
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