Prince & Stone

I went out of my way today and these are the results:

One thing Tucson has, in abundance, are these payday loan places. This one is unique in the number of glowing neon and LED signs in its windows, really obnoxious if you ask me.

The thing that caught me about about this Dairy Queen was the glowing star on top. This Dairy Queen was built in 1952 and it's still owned by its original family. The star on top is based on an old electro-mechanical system that controls the lights to light up in around the star in series, like the Lucky Wishbone sign on Broadway. Unfortunately only the inner lights work because the system has broken down and replacements parts are no longer available. I'm lucky I got this sign now too because city ordinance forbids it because it's "distracting to traffic". The only reason it's up now is because it was put up before that ordinance was passed. Once it goes down: it can't go back up. So its days are numbered.
Although one thing I wonder: why do they let the payday loans place have so many neon lights and they don't want Dairy Queen to have its glowing star?