The "Who Knew?" News

This week as I was looking around for odd news stories, it has become obvious that nothing is shocking any more.  The odd, random or "couldn't happen" type of news stories are now commonplace.  There is, of course the possibility that I have become terribly jaded and nothing shocks ME any more.  I prefer to think that odd is "in" and everything is caught on camera now which makes nearly every silly move reportable by the media.

So today, I picked out a few news items that I selected just for their educational value.  These are less about stupid crime and more about things that I wasn't aware of...up until today.


Sign of the Times

I didn't realize that there were no street signs in San Jose, Costa Rica.  This hasn't been a huge problem for me as I have never traveled to Costa Rica but my son has several times and never mentioned being lost.

Still for the people that are currently in San Jose that have been wandering aimlessly for extended periods of time... there is Good News!

San Jose municipal workers announced last Thursday that they will be installing 22,000 street signs on the street corners in their city.  The city of 1.4 million have long relied on a very informal system that has been tolerated by the locals but causing problems for visitors and the post office.

The current system of asking for directions and using land marks to describe how to get somewhere has worn out it's welcome.

"My current home address is 200 meters north of the Pizza Hut then 400 meters west, but in a few months, I will be able to give a proper street name and a number," San Jose Mayor Johnny Araya said during a ceremony where the first street sign was placed.

Other popular landmarks residents use to describe how to get somewhere include the McDonald's restaurant chain, former President and Nobel Prize-winner Oscar Arias' house, a famous fig tree that has long since died and the site of an old cattle shed turned gas station.

Many streets will be named after illustrious political and intellectual figures from Costa Rican history.

Araya hopes the plan will reduce economic losses caused by undelivered, returned or re-sent mail, estimated at $720 million a year by the Inter-American Development Bank in 2008.

Almost one-quarter of the country's mail never reaches its destination, a spokesman for the Costa Rican post office said.

Postal codes were introduced in 2007 to help matters, but no one uses them because they do not know how to find them.

Costa Rica embarked on a street-naming crusade about 30 years ago, but the signposts were never installed. This time, funding from two different banks made the $1 million project possible.

Once the signage is up, Araya intends to undertake a campaign to encourage use of the new system, which is expected to encounter some resistance.

"I don't think it's going to work", 29-year-old taxi driver Manuel Perez said. "If a tourist tells me to take him to a hotel in whatever street, I'm going to say 'you're speaking to me in Chinese,' because I don't know where that is. I need a landmark."

As someone who is "directionally challenged", I can't imagine trying to find my way around a city of 1.4 million people without streets having names.  I guess it wouldn't help to ask a postman for directions. 

Information When You Need It

Clearly, I am getting old.  Old enough that I didn't know that there were vending machines for pregnancy tests.   In all fairness, to my unawareness...it's been a "little" while since I was worried about drinking and pregnancy. (well to clarify...it's been awhile since I worried about ME drinking and getting pregnant)  But for those of you out there that do worry, help may be as close as the restroom at your favorite bar.   

The first pregnancy test vending machine has been installed in Pub 500, a Mankato, Minnesota bar located south of Minneapolis.  Before ordering up your adult beverage you can go to the ladies room and get a test kit for $3.00.  Healthy Brains for Children, a local nonprofit, created the machine in an effort to reduce alcohol related birth defects. The owner of the bar is on board with the groups efforts and doesn't make any profit off of the machine.  

See me not making any jokes here!   I just found this interesting in a weird sort of way that you would take your pregnancy test at the local pub.  How handy is that! You can celebrate or NOT by just leaving the room and walking over to the bar. 

 Another kind of Sign

We have all heard the stories about there are more rats than people in New York City?  You haven't heard that??? Really.  OK, let's catch you up to speed.  I have attached a link that you can click on if you are really into knowing how prolific these little buggers are. 

Rats Love New York City But That Doesn't Mean They Are Welcome

No one really knows how many there are but various studies indicate that there are somewhere between one rat per person up to about 12 rats per person in the city.  Last January the transit workers, who were fed up with the number of rats in their work place, ran a contest called Rate My Rat   where contestants could take a picture of the nastiest rats and upload them to a website.  The winners could win a month long transit pass.  

Now that you are caught up to the fact that NYC has rats, there is a new effort to rein in the herd.

One Manhattan resident has had enough of rats taking over his neighborhood.  Joseph Bolanos, president of the West 76th street Block Association decided to call attention to the problem. He has been installing signs.

 The move may be a bit flippant, but Bolanos said he thinks the signs could bring attention to the issue plaguing his streets.

 Mr. Bolanos is not alone. After receiving hundreds of complaints in recent days the Borough's President Scot Stringer and a city councilman, Gale Brewer created the Rat Academy.   Speaking at the Rat Academy, a seminar that was designed to educate residents  on ways to reduce the rat population, Manhattan's Borough President  Stringer said " The rats on my block, they don't scurry anymore, they walk right up to me and say "Good Morning, Mr. Borough President." (talk about politically correct rats)

 

 Very creative way to market your rat problem.  I love that the rats are evolving so well that they now say "good morning".  Very cool to have such polite rodents.