An International Incident Avoided

Don’t stop the music! I joked the other day that a sign snapped in China by Jack Rozint of Laguna Beach meant that trumpet playing in automobiles is forbidden there (see photo). Well, the Chinese consulate in L.A. was not amused.

A representative wrote, “The sign means ‘DO NOT HONK.’ It usually appears in a residential area to keep it peaceful and undisturbed. People in China all know about it.”

OK, fine. Let’s not have any confusion on that point. The last thing Only in L.A. wants to do is cause an international incident.

SPEAKING OF THAT INFERNAL DEVICE: My vote for most obnoxious new high-tech gizmo is the car alarm system that signals it has been activated with a honk of the horn, usually just as I am passing by the car, causing me to spill my coffee all over myself.

FROM HONKERS TO QUACKERS: Visiting Nantucket Island, Esther Tazartes of West Hills came upon a set of dueling signs (see photos).

WAY TOO PUMPED UP: Dan Sarokin of North Hollywood noticed a car leaving a gas station with a special accessory attached to the gas tank. “Luckily,” he added, “I had a camera sitting on the front seat” (see photo). I want to thank Sarokin for setting a good example for column readers. You should all have cameras sitting on your front seats. I do, by the way, perform spot checks throughout the city to make sure you are in compliance.

MORE TALES FROM SELF-SERVE ISLAND: I’ve never forgotten to extricate the gasoline hose. But several months ago I did walk up to the cashier at a gas station, pay for $15 worth of gasoline in advance, return to my car and then drive away--without ever pumping the gas. Nothing like spotting your fuel gauge on bone-dry in the middle of freeway rush hour.

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READERS’ ATTACK: I mentioned that a newcomer to L.A. asked what a “Cig/Sig Alert” was (he was uncertain of the spelling).

Like a good guy, I responded that SigAlerts are unscheduled traffic stoppages of 30 minutes, only to have several readers chide me for not pointing out that “Sig” is derived from (pick one) (1) a man named Sigismund, (2) a man named Sigmund (3) the word “signal.”

Rick Rofman of Van Nuys, meanwhile, added, “In my hometown, our local druggist was named Siggy. In Frederick Forsythe’s novel, ‘The Odessa File,’ the love interest is named Ciggie.”

OK, I’ll interrupt the column to write, as I have before, that it was named after former radio exec Loyd Sigmon, who helped set up the system.

Good news! Just got the word that the column stoppage is over. You may resume reading at your normal speed.

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miscelLAny:

It was the oddest thing. Margaret Carmine writes that on Sept. 14, she saw an MTA bus in downtown L.A. with an electronic destination sign that read, “HOLIDAY TOMORROW.”

Now, Friday, Sept. 15, wasn’t a holiday on any calendar. However, it was the day that drivers had threatened to go on strike, an action that they subsequently postponed, but only for 24 hours.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.