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Urban Signifiers

Walks in foreign cities guarantee foreign sights, including the odd wall plaque such as this one. If you live there, it's just part of the background that goes unnoticed.

 

Unnoticed, that is, unless this plaque has to do with your line of work, in which case it speaks loud and clear.

 

"Kaapeli" means "cable" in Finnish. Somewhere in that word is the Latin capillus, or "hair," which is made up of caput (“head”) and pilus (“hair”).

 

The arrows on the plaque show how far away and/or down the cables are, presumably so one can find them or avoid them.

 

I wasn't able to decipher the initials, but I think they identify a utility. The "H" probably represents Helsinki.

 

Helsinki, Finland.

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Uploaded on March 10, 2018
Taken on August 29, 2017