Another Piece Of Ojai Gone
The malfunctioning temperature sign outside the Ojai branch of Washington Mutual reached a sizzling 123 degrees Oct. 3, 2008. The actual air temperature was about 93 degrees at the time. Some have complained about its removal, while others say the time and temperature were never right.
Chase removes longstanding time-temperature display
By Sondra Murphy
A throng of people gets off a bus and each seems to immediately place a cell phone to his ear. The dashboards of late-model automobiles look like the spaceship controls in a typical science fiction movie and many now talk to drivers.
In an era where most people have a plethora of information at their fingertips via satellite transmission to personal electronic gadgetry, few could anticipate the removal of a bank sign displaying dot matrix time and temperature would be considered a drastic loss to the community.
And yet the OVN has heard several complaints since last month, when the Chase Bank branch on Maricopa Highway replaced the old, glowing Washington Mutual sign with one that simply identifies the new company.
According to assistant city manager Steve McClary, the city’s sign ordinance prompted Chase to opt for a simpler design. “Because of some other requirements that the city was placing on the sign, it was my understanding they chose not to replace the sign,” said McClary.
“The bank asked if they could remove the sign and we said, ‘Yes,’” said Shari Herbruck, city planning and building technician. “Our code doesn’t allow interior-lit signs because it’s in violation of the city sign ordinance.” Herbruck said Chase received approval for the change Oct. 15 and the previous sign had required conditional use permit approval by the Ojai Planning Commission to allow for the luminous display.
“We were able to obtain a permit for only one sign and the sign up there was not operating properly,” said Gary Kishner, a Chase Bank spokesperson. “So we just replaced it with our standard signage.”
Perhaps the change will motivate us to dust off our owner’s manuals and figure out how to read our vehicle’s digital time display while the radio is playing. Local automotive shops might even earn some extra revenue by stocking temperature sensor devices for those vehicles currently without them.
Who cares?
anonymous
9 Feb 10 at 8:28 pm
You know what, I care. There isn’t a lot you can do but I can definetly commiserate with those who will miss the sign.
Just a resident
9 Feb 10 at 9:32 pm
I think, I too will miss the clock/temp sign, too bad they couldn’t just replace the WaMu part of the sign with Case. I guess that would have been too easy. I think the old sign looked better than the new Chase sign.
anonymous
9 Feb 10 at 11:43 pm
“Perhaps the change will motivate us to dust off our owner’s manuals and figure out how to read our vehicle’s digital time display while the radio is playing. Local automotive shops might even earn some extra revenue by stocking temperature sensor devices for those vehicles currently without them.”
Look at that, the banks just keep on giving, next they are going to say jobs were created by this.
Well “reading” the radio is just one more thing to distract you away from the road.
Radio clocks are not(in my experience anyway) very reliable.(that and the numbers all but disappear in direct sunlight)
In this economy running out to buy a sensor exclusively for temperature purposes(when one was already there) is waste,
besides how long until reading the temp while driving becomes illegal??The radio basically is.
Sounds like the sign police are getting restless
Just the facts maam!!!
Joe Friday
10 Feb 10 at 2:19 am
who cares about ojai anyway they did it to thir self you get told what you will do on your own land
Anonymous
10 Feb 10 at 7:39 am
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be…
Anonymous
10 Feb 10 at 9:07 am
I don’t have digital temperature guage or a clock in my ’95 Toyota, nor do I own a cell phone, so I WILL miss the digital read-out at Chase. However, I will not be running to my local mechanic for a temp sensor. I agree with Joe Friday on this – it is a waste of money. I certainly can’t afford one in this economy. Better off investing in an inexpensive watch!
Chris
10 Feb 10 at 9:28 am
I will miss the Temp/Clock. I’ve lived in the Oaks for 30 years. “OH YEAH, That’s Meiners Oaks.” .I look for it every time I pass by on my way to Vons or Coast to Coast or going down town.
How many years has that sign been there?
If the people in Ojai pasted this sign on their way in and out of town and to the store and not Meiners Oaks people, they would be screaming bloody murder.
Hey, How about stop wasting money on repairs and upkeep on that stupid Clock Tower on the Post Office!
PETE
10 Feb 10 at 10:18 am
It’s about conformity, control and dictatorship. It’s all about what a certain “click” expects Ojai to conform to. It’s not about what is best for the community or preservation. “They” have very specific, limited taste in decor, architecture and landscaping we are forced to ‘Live with it’.
whatever
10 Feb 10 at 12:15 pm
new yorker,
Any comment on this one! You seem to blather your mouth about every other topic.
Quite frankly, I enjoyed the old clock, but I am glad to see it gone. The stupid thing never worked.
Anon.5
10 Feb 10 at 12:28 pm
Clock, Schmok, who cares. Too bad we can’t get rid of the people that won’t let Vons remodel. What a trash dump! It would be nice to get a clean store staffed with people that like to work and serve the customer.
Anonymous II
10 Feb 10 at 12:41 pm
The temperature “at the bank” was always an important matter to NHS athletes going home after summer/fall evening practice–because the temp often was 100 or more!
Ohismith
10 Feb 10 at 1:56 pm
i am retarded. how will i know if it is hot or not without the thermometer.??
new yorker
10 Feb 10 at 4:53 pm
Hey wouldn’t it be cool if someone bought it and turned it into a wrist watch for the giant Santa they moved from ‘Santa Claus Lane’ to Oxnard?
Smart idea Ojai Chick
10 Feb 10 at 5:10 pm
Vons has been in the first stages of remodel for about a week now.
whatever
10 Feb 10 at 5:46 pm
Oh please. It was a corporate eyesore admired only by blue collar fools and it was consistently inaccurate. If only Vons could be PLEASE be replaced by a more expensive, upscale market (Trader Joes, Wild Oats etc.) then the toothless Ojai working class will leave and return to their Ventura and “pain lovin’” truck owning neighborhoods.
Oh Please
10 Feb 10 at 8:19 pm
Vons should be torn down. People who shop at Vons belong in Oxnard.
Send em home
10 Feb 10 at 8:25 pm
The new Chase sign is butt-ugly. Hideous colors. I know, they are Chase colors, Cannot believe the city approved it. The digital sign was less conspicuous, but the temp was not accurate. Seems like it took them forever to update the time after a time change.
Who is the doofus that does not know about the Vons remodel currently underway? And yep, the owner of that whole shopping center should be kind and doze the whole ghetto mess. The roof covering the sidewalk in front of all the stores has leaked for years. I’d be embarrassed to own it.
Kevin
10 Feb 10 at 10:13 pm
Hey, I’m working class and I have teeth, see! v-v
Smart idea Ojai Chick
11 Feb 10 at 12:00 am
Does everyone forget what a stink was made when the temp. sign first went in? LA had come to Ojai!
anonymous
11 Feb 10 at 9:18 am
I must apologize for constantly sounding like a person that has no brain. My left-wing-no-brain-rambling rants have finally gotten to me. I just don’t understand myself nor do I think that my therapist has done me any good. I really should stop paying her all that trust fund money that I’ve inherited so that I could get over my severe Oedipus complex. The Tourette syndrome hasn’t even been addressed as of yet. Forgive me New Yorker for continually belittling you. You are indeed my hero with your continued enlightenments. The comment that I posted above at 4:53pm 2/10 were wrong of me. I blame my lies and nonsense on my mother. You’re right, New Yorker – many months ago you posted something that seriously made me look like the total loser that I am and I have been out to get you ever since. No more. I’m seeking a new therapist. I will be back when I grow up.
anon.5
11 Feb 10 at 11:56 am
N.Y.,
I see they’re letting you use computers again at the library. Isn’t it funny how you became so upset that I hijacked your name and now you are trying to do the same thing. While you are on your greek play kick, does the name Hypokrites ring a bell?
Since you are no longer on suicide watch, I encourage you to refer back to our first exchange. I’ve even attached the link for your convenience: http://ovnblog.com/?p=1483. Go ahead, read it, but be sure the ward is there to keep you from doing anything irrational.
By the way, how’s the weather now that you do not have a broken thermometer to tell you the temperature? I always found it amusing to see you bundled up in summer when the gauge malfunctioned.
Anon.5
Anon.5
11 Feb 10 at 1:10 pm
Oh Please – what, could you not afford Santa Barbara? Bitter because your income doesn’t support your bourgeois proclivities? Perhaps you’d have the funds if you didn’t squander them at Ojai Coffee Roasting so other posers will see you reading The New York Times (yuk yuk)…Loser.
local
11 Feb 10 at 1:18 pm
A-5 Thank you so much for refreshing my memory. Since I actually have a life, I would have never had the time to do this myself! I can now understand your angst and turmoil. Unfortunately due to the lack of ingenuity and independence of others such as yourself, some of us find ourselves having to fight fire with fire. Sad but true.
And, btw, the weather here on the 25th floor is spectacular today. No thermometer necessary.
Original NY'er
11 Feb 10 at 1:47 pm
Whatever,
Will they bring in better help?…. And thats not the remodel I was talking about…. there was a better plan for a bigger store…. blow out pharmacy/nick-nack junk store and put in a real large market like Ventura/less the river bottom people. The best part of the shopping center is the new parking lot. Everthing above the ground should be ripped down and built new. It is a dump!
Anonymous II
11 Feb 10 at 2:41 pm
The sign was tacky. And folks who shop at Vons typically represent the less health conscious members of our community. But Vons is not really in Ojai. It’s at the edge of the flyover territory that real Ojai residents pass through on their way in and out of town.
The sign sucked
11 Feb 10 at 2:54 pm
I like the folks that work there. They are pleasant to me, maybe it’s YOU.
Nobody is MAKING you shop at Vons, it’s a free country please feel free to go anywhere you want to shop. Remodel and expand your home and put a Starbucks in it if you want, who cares. Jeez, I knew the same people wanting the Vons remodel were going to be the complainers of it not going their way!
whatever
11 Feb 10 at 3:19 pm
get it
rooroo
11 Feb 10 at 4:41 pm
the temp is wrong the time is wrong ovn web
rooroo
11 Feb 10 at 4:43 pm
That “flyover territory” is right where most residents went to high school. The Y is a key part of Ojai. Nobody from Ojai wants a massive supermarket with a bunch of yuppie amenities and a pharmacy that’d squash Rexall. Or a bikram yoga center where Ben Franklin is. If that’s what you want, stay in Ventura or West LA. Or save up for Santa Barbara. Or at least purge yourself of your pious elitism with a visit to a colonic center before coming up for the weekend…
local
11 Feb 10 at 5:03 pm
Is the rumor true that is is going to be replaced but it will also have a digital screen like the one’s in L.A. advertising Mc Maggot’s and New Jersey Mikes and the new Crispy Cream Do Not shop that’s suppose to come to town? MMMMMMM Do Not’s Yummy Colon cancer and Diabetes…
O Tay
11 Feb 10 at 6:40 pm
Vons is an outlet for cancer causing foods and people who shop there should wake up. Watch this link you losers! You’re number 37!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4
lol!!!!!!!!
Losers
11 Feb 10 at 11:15 pm
Losers we all know your real name (deleted)
Smart idea Ojai Chick
12 Feb 10 at 8:52 am
Why is it that almost any “issue” (and is this really an argument-worthy issue?) in Ojai degenerates into a snarky class war in which self-styled aristocrats who live within Ojai’s city limits make reprehensible asses of themselves? Congratulations to all who do indeed live in Ojai rather than the much-scorned hamlets of Oak View or Meiners Oaks (I won’t dare include Casitas Springs). Wealth-consciousness and smug “spirituality” always seem to trump genuine kindheartedness toward neighbors, a reasonably tempered sense of one’s own worth, and pride in actual accomplishments (if any) in Ojai. Don’t you think it’s a bit silly to be proud of yourselves, or think you’re inherently better than other people, just because you have the “cool” zip code and you shop at more expensive grocery stores?
Jen
15 Feb 10 at 1:04 pm
Way to go Jen. I agree.
anon.
15 Feb 10 at 5:32 pm
Jen, you do realize all the snarky comments are made from one blogger who says the same things over and over and over again?
No snark zone
15 Feb 10 at 9:55 pm
new yorker is an elitist. She Should be tarred and feathered.
Anon.5
16 Feb 10 at 1:07 pm
BWAHHHH HAHHHHHH!
New Yorker
16 Feb 10 at 9:15 pm
I don’t get it. Do people in this area need to be told the time and how hot or cold it is? Don’t they have wristwatches? Do they need an ugly digital sign to tell them how to think? Hilarious.
anon.9
16 Feb 10 at 9:22 pm