Hang on to your ass when some "Official" in your state's DOT travels to Europe and sees International, as in European signage, and then knows it is easy to follow and comes home with those thoughts in mind.
I worked and retired from Colorado Dept. of Highways and at a big District meeting with all of the troops present, the "Officials" announced that they were going to do a test run of that signage for several miles somewhere down by Pueblo and they were just certain that it would work just great for everyone.
In my 72 years I have been all over the world and knew what that signage would consist of and what we have now and knew it would be a major undertaking and a lot of money involved.
Looking at and listening to these "Engineers" from the Brain Dept. at that meeting I knew it was doomed from the start and I was laughing uncontrolablly and upset the whole meeting.
When I got myself under control I got out of my seat and walked to the front of the meeting and told the 3 of them that they had no idea at all as to how much that would cost nor how many signs would be required for that, and signs are not cheap.
I took 3 $100 bills out of my wallet and told the 3 of them that I bet $100 to each that this shit would never work out and handed the 3 bills to the secratary keeping the notes and had her put them in envelopes with the names written on each of them as they accepted the bet, to be put in the safe and held for a year later.
She didn't like it but was from my home office and did it. After the meeting my foreman got on my ass like dirty underwear that I had "embarassed him" with my conduct. My answer to him was,"No, you embarassed ME that you would fall into such a stupid stunt."
A year passed, and at the next Annual Big Meeting during the Q&A period I brought up International signage and how did that work out? Crickets.
The same Brain Dept. people I had made the bets with were not there, but my foreman was, and I again walked forward and told him to pay up as he was "embarrassing me" with his conduct.
The secratary had the envelopes in hand, as she hated him as much as I did, and called out the other 2 names with no answers.
He didn't have the money on hand, but, he did pay later and he never fucked with me again.
In this case, seniority, being vested, and a person who worked hard and had Zero fucks to give and wanted to just keep those trucks running won and I never backed down and could always remember what had been said and done.
Goddamn, I am glad I am out of there, but fear for the people that replaced me upon my retirement, and it is 2 instead of 1 and I had asked for help for years but never got it as I was able to do the job by myself. I would have loved having a helper that I could have shown how things were done.
So, today, in my shop, as I left it, there are 2, where I was 1, by myself. 1 does the computer and 1 does the fixing and neither one of them can weld so a lot of things are "farmed out" to other shops. I never "farmed" out anything other than engine repacemant and that went to the Shop in Brush where I would take part and we worked together as a team, as I now know what that is, as I had no overhead hoist. Neither can do a simple brake job and know to replace the seals in the hubs when you do a job like that, but my old tools and seal drivers are there in that shop. They have no idea as to what they are nor how to use them.
Neither has any idea as to what the anchor points are in the floor as to straightening a frame or how to bend shit back into place.
I guess this is progress such as I never saw coming. Rant over. FM