No...

...not the "AC Service" (although our weather since March would certainly warrant consideration!), not the "Tune-Ups", not the "Trans Service", or even what is left of the notice that the business is (was) "Family Owned".

No to all of that!

The "sign" is the orange, spray-painted "1.A.".

All right!!!

If you will recall...

...spray-painted numbers on derelict buildings indicates that their days are, well, numbered! Killer cranes are in their future!!!

If one steps back a bit, the building classified as "1.A." (which is sure to bring shivers to many a male my age...aka Vietnam War draft age)...

...is the old Ford automobile dealership located at the corner of 2nd and Commercial:

Well, that "sign" piqued my curious cat nature.

I ventured around the corner and saw more signs:

WOW!

Basically the entire city block between 2nd and 3rd Streets and Washington Avenue and Commercial...the southern entrance to the City of Cairo!

As I headed north toward the cat cave, I happened to glance to my left and saw another sign:

This sign is at the base of the remains of the old Roslyn Hotel which first burned and then was "eaten away" by the "brick people" (who didn't bother to clean up after themselves, leaving an eye sore on the main drag.)

Well...

...when I saw a "3.A.", being a calculating cat, I deduced that there was most likely a "2" somewhere near (which begs the question: "2.B. or not 2.B.?") And, if there is a "3.A.", my English teacher back in the day told me that there would have to be a "3.B" (and maybe a C and a D etc. Can't have just an "A".)

So my journey of anticipation began...

...what further signs of much-needed demolition of derelict buildings would I find, lurking amongst the weeds?

However...

My bubbling enthusiasm was soon jarred, for a several reasons:

• The umpteenth pothole hit while looking left and right instead of focusing on the pavement immediately in front of me. (The mean streets of Cairo are certainly hazardous to your car's health. The good news is that my tires are not flat...yet.)

• The inability to find any rhyme or reason to the location of the properties. They were literally here, there, and everywhere. (I soon realized that I would not be able to remember the locations of the properties that I did find...and was unable to locate many missing properties (their existence indicated by gaps in the numbers.)

• By far the most dampening factor in curbing my enthusiasm was the sight of so many abandoned and crumbling buildings, covered or surrounded by massive growths of untamed vegetation.

But...

Even more depressing were the properties that were not numbered...many in worse shape that their numbered neighbors. (I will assume that this discrepancy in logic is due to title issues and whether the city has legal claim to the properties. Tear down an abandoned building that does not belong to you, expect somebody to sue you for a gazillion dollars.)

So...

Normally a purrsistent cat, I finally admitted defeat and returned to the coolness of the cat cave.

Upon arrival, I received an e-mail from a more literate cat than myself...

...who inquired as to whether I had seen the big ad in The Cairo Citizen, soliciting bids to demolish various properties in the city?

I had, in fact, purrused the paper prior to my outing, so I had no excuse.

But, it did not curb my curt reply:

"Hell no...I've been too busy riding around town looking for properties marked for demolition!"

Yes, I was a pissy cat...

I will conclude this post was two links: