Buyer Beware, and We’re Not Kidding
It’s comforting to know that real estate agents are required to be more candid about the properties they represent these days. Daniel Walsh of Newport Beach saw an Internet listing of a duplex that revealed that the other inhabitant possessed two cats and “a Scottish terrorist.”
SPEAKING OF WARNINGS: Jeff Weisend of Torrance noticed an ad for a house with an outdoor kitchen (see accompanying).
ON THE ROAD: In Pioche, Nev., Pete Kohl of Hemet came upon the office of a dentist who hasn’t taken on any new patients for a while (see photo).
PERHAPS I SHOULD ADD: Pioche is a ghost town.
WHO SAYS L.A. DOESN’T HAVE AN NFL TEAM? David Story of Santa Monica found a listing for a familiar-sounding team in GTE’s 2000-2001 directory for the Westside (see excerpt).
I phoned the number (omitted here) and a person answered with a simple “Hello.” When I told her of the listing, she said it was a mistake and that it should read “St. Louis Rams.” (So that’s where they went!)
I inquired about buying tickets from her ticket office but she said I’d have to phone back East.
Far be it for me to nip at her heels like a Scottish terrorist, but I had to ask what the office was there for. She responded, “Why do you care about that?” and hung up before I could tell her it’s because I still care about the Rams.
STUPID DRIVER TRICKS: On the Ventura Freeway one morning, Jan Burns of Malibu saw a driver washing her hair.
“She had a big towel around her neck,” Burns said. “She was steering the car with one hand and vigorously scrubbing the other hand through thick foamy white stuff. I assume it was shampoo but I don’t have the whole story because I didn’t see her rinse.”
FOUR JOKERS: Jonathan Fink was driving back to L.A. from Palm Springs when, “in heavy traffic, I happened to glance over into the next lane and saw all four occupants of a Cadillac convertible (top down) playing cards, including the driver.”
Added Fink: “I did not notice whether the car had dealer plates.”
A ROLE HE WASN’T TYPE-CAST FOR: After the https://www.laradio.com Internet site mentioned the 1959 shooting death of George Reeves (TV’s “Superman”), Jerry Clark recalled:
“I was a cub reporter on the old Los Angeles Mirror, sitting at the next desk to a veteran rewrite man who was assigned to write the story. As we were nearing deadline, the city editor--who had been yelling at him to turn in the story for the last 15 minutes--calmly walked over and asked if there was a problem. The rewrite man looked up at his boss and said, ‘I just don’t know how to tell the readers how Superman could commit suicide.’ ”
miscelLAny:
KFWB radio broadcast a blurb about a New York Jets player who said he was so inspired at hearing comments from his new coach over the radio that he wanted to pull over to the side of the road, put on his helmet and start hitting things.
Commented sportscaster Bret Lewis: “That’s a feeling that we who drive in Southern California get every day.”
At least those of us who’ve rinsed out the shampoo.
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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.
