Tapping All New Energy Sources
If I didn’t know the Edison ad in the Anaheim Angels’ new media guide was printed months ago I would think that the utility’s message was, well, unfeeling (see photo).
LANDMARK INVENTIONS: The other day, while I was trying to feel the energy before the lights went out, I got to thinking about the gasoline shortage of the early 1970s--and the Day-O-Matic X-1 Electronic Brain (see accompanying).
Drivers were so panicky back then that lines at gas stations sometimes extended around the block. Gasoline sales had to be restricted to an odd-even formula: If your license plate number ended in an odd number, you could buy only on odd days of the month; even numbers bought on even days.
Which is how the Day-O-Matic X-1 came into being.
The battery-operated gizmo allowed you to punch in the date to determine whether it was an odd or even day.
I’ll never forget the thrill when co-designer Jim Rawitsch gave me a personal demonstration, inputting “July 4.” The “even” window lit up.
One or two critics dismissed the $14.98 Day-O-Matic X-1 as a “computerized pet rock.”
In reply, Rawitsch mentioned a newspaper story about a motorist who had been denied gas in Washington, D.C., on an odd-numbered day though his license plate ended with a 1.
The attendant had claimed that 1 was an even number.
MORE MEMORIES OF THE DAY-O-MATIC: Like all products, the electronic brain carried a warning: “Not to be used internally.”
PRISONER OF THE “SEND” BUTTON: Dean Gautschy of Chatsworth came upon a type of “therapy” that he figures is for people “who are addicted to e-mail” (see accompanying).
ANNALS OF CRIME: The latest from the police log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise:
* March 26, 3:56 a.m. “A resident complained that a neighbor was jumping rope frequently, creating a disturbance.” (Jump-roping at 3:56 in the morning?)
* March 26, 3:46 p.m.: “Five teenage girls reportedly picked a resident’s oranges and ate them in the alley, leaving the peelings.”
* March 26, 4 p.m.: “A resident reported there were people in his closet who don’t answer when he talks to them.” Maybe he should try e-mailing them.
WHY IT’S CALLED THE MAYOR’S RACE: “Melrose” Larry Green acquired his nickname when he began staking out Melrose Avenue during the morning rush hour, greeting motorists with posters that carried various messages.
Later he became a character on Howard Stern’s radio show and a gadfly at news conferences. So it’s only logical that he now is running for mayor.
The other day, after a Dodger game, I saw him waving a campaign poster at motorists on Sunset Boulevard. Perhaps he should stick to Melrose. A passerby--I don’t think it was one of the other mayoral candidates--grabbed his placard and raced down the street.
Green cursed and gave chase, recovering the poster a few blocks away, where it had been dropped.
You have to say this about Melrose Larry: He really is running for mayor.
miscelLAny:
John Schiermeier points out that the Apple Pro Mouse comes with this warning: “Apple does not recommend allowing an elephant to operate a Mac in any environment.”
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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.
