Can you spare a buck, I mean pancake?

On the Wilshire offramp of the Harbor Freeway, David Chan of L.A. saw a panhandler holding up a sign that said: “Having visions of an IHOP pancake.”

At least it wasn’t a demand for a lot of dough. Or batter, I guess I should say.

You thought your pool had tough rules

On a visit to Israel, John Gutierrez of Northridge observed that swimmers face numerous restrictions if they wish to take a dip in the Dead Sea because of its especially high salt content (see photo).

Recalling the beautiful Isle of … what?

In West Los Angeles, Robert Berger spotted an apartment building whose sign appeared to contain an unfortunate transposition of letters (see photo).

No wonder the economy’s a shambles

Alan Prochaska discovered that the White House sends its laundry all the way out here to a shop in Pasadena (see photo).

Language, please!

Judy Hoffmann of Westlake Village received an e-mail from a life insurance company that could have been a bit more sensitive in its use of language (see accompanying). Couldn’t the company have said that its offer would die “of old age” rather than “expire”?

Goofy stuff

L.A.-based Snopes.com, the debunker of urban legends, cites a rumor in its “What’s New” section about e-mails asserting that Walt Disney’s will “specified that a substantial bequest go to the first man to become pregnant or bear a child.” Size of the alleged bequest varies from $10 million to possession of the “entire Disney corporation.” Sorry, guys, his will had no such provision.

Snopes also knocks down an older but still-circulating tall tale that when Disney died in 1966 his body was stored in a deep freeze somewhere, “awaiting the day when science can repair the damage to his body” and bring him back to life. The most frequently mentioned site for his temporary resting place is “directly under Disney’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ attraction.” Snopes notes that Disney’s death certificate said he was cremated. He’s buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale.

miscelLAny:

Sure it’s a good time to economize. But Tom Greene of L.A. really wasn’t tempted by a discount offer on Amazon.com for “used” brush heads for his electric toothbrush.

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.