“It says something about our priorities in...

“It says something about our priorities in L.A.,” Dorothy Ingebretsen of Culver City said with a laugh.

While working as a librarian at UCLA, she learned that a non-faculty employee who retires after 10 years is entitled to full health and medical benefits.

But . . . an employee must work 20 years to become eligible for a much bigger prize in this car-clogged metropolis: The right to buy a campus parking pass.

Menu Item of the Week: At Orleans restaurant in West L.A.--”Cajun popcorn.” It consists of chunks of meat fried in batter. Choice of crab or alligator.

Our innocent reference to “the Oingo Boingo song ‘Pico and Sepulveda’ ” the other day created the biggest traffic jam of readers’ calls since we blew the lyrics to the 1940s classic, “When Veronica Plays the Harmonica on the Pier at Santa Monica.” (Or whatever the title was.)

While “Pico” is included in a Boingo tape (which was all we meant to say), numerous people, including the distinguished radio authority, Dr. Demento, informed us that it was written by Eddie Maxwell and Jule Stein in 1947.

“Pico’s” definitive recording was made that year, the good doctor says, by “a pseudonymous contingent from the famous Freddy Martin band.” The group went by the name “Felix Figueroa and His Orchestra.”

Don’t know if you’re aware, but a 2.7-magnitude earthquake struck north of Pomona over the weekend, causing no injuries or damage. So far no one claims to have predicted it.

Ron Burton of Sunland received a dreaded “recall” letter from his auto dealer. It instructed him that he could remedy the problem himself or have an “authorized Volkswagen dealer” do it. The work amounted to replacing an incorrect label on the underside of his hood with the correct one. In his best Mr. Goodwrench manner, Burton said: “I felt I could handle it myself.”

Elvis Head Update:

L.A. radio personality Magic Matt Alan of KIIS-FM claims to have made the largest bid for the floral skull of the singer, last seen when it appeared in the 1990 Rose Parade.

While two L.A. sculptors previously said they offered $75 to the owner, a Jackson, Miss., scrap yard, Alan is willing to part with “$500 and 100 pounds of extra crispy chicken straight from the Colonel.” Not Col. Parker, we assume.

Jerry Martz of Hollywood shot the accompanying photo in San Clemente--one that might make an unsuspecting tourist conclude that an earthquake had moved L.A. south of San Diego. All we know is that Pico and Sepulveda are to the north.

miscelLAny:

The oldest continuously operated restaurant in L.A. is Cole’s P.E. Buffet, which opened in 1908 at 118 E. 6th St.