Freezer Worker Gets a Bum Rap

A Los Alamitos resident reported that a worker at a nearby company had “mooned” several passersby. But police determined that the accusation was unfounded. The Seal Beach Sun explained that the man was assigned to “the freezer area of a distribution center” where the workers “routinely dress up and down during breaks.”

AT LEAST I THINK IT WAS A MISTAKE: Fred Huber of Laguna Niguel spotted this typo in a police log item of another local newspaper: “Deputies found two male juveniles smiling marijuana. . . .”

UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT: John Shaffer Dibelka of San Dimas saw a digital camera ad that was accompanied by an offer of free film developing--strange, since digital cameras don’t use film (see accompanying).

UNREAL ESTATE: It’s hard to beat the price of the house that Dorothy Brenot of Palm Desert noticed for sale (see accompanying). But she wonders how many people would want to have the Palm Springs tram in their backyard.

SPEAKING OF LIFTS: Harry Schauwecker came upon a hospital’s claim that its cosmetic surgery was not scary (see accompanying). Easy for the hospital to say.

STUPID DRIVER TRICKS: Matt Jetzt of Freehold, N.J., was traveling from L.A. to San Diego on the Santa Ana Freeway when he noticed “a Toyota doing just under the limit and swerving a bit. I said to my driver, ‘This guy must be drunk. Stay clear.’ As we passed, I saw that the guy was eating chips and salsa, holding the jar in his left hand and dunking with his right. I guess he was steering with his knees--at 55 mph. Is a snack worth dying for?”

ATTENTION, RIPLEY’S: Bill Warren of L.A. claims “nothing can top the encounter I had. It began on the freeway and was so strange I followed the other vehicle off the freeway. I realize many out there won’t believe me, but the vehicle I saw was an SUV whose driver SIGNALED. He signaled to change lanes, signaled to exit the freeway, signaled at each turn on the streets.”

Added Warren: “Some time I’ll tell you of having seen a Mercedes-Benz in a parking lot--taking up ONLY ONE SPACE.”

PLATE MOVEMENT: The knx1070.com Web site offers these stories behind some offbeat vanity license plates:

* FRMMYX: Owned by Rick Thornton of Westlake Village (“My ex-wife was so glad to get rid of me that she bought me a new car.”)

* REBOOT: Robbie Howerton of Helena, Ala. (“I am a systems integrator. People call me all the time and give a long description of a PC problem. Nine times out of 10 the answer is to ‘reboot’ the computer.”)

* IMSORY: Soraya Almora, Van Nuys (“My friends and family call me ‘Sory.’ People who see my plate always ask, ‘Why are you sorry?’ ”)

miscelLAny:

A reader saw a license plate that said NOTDUM and swears that the car was being driven by a young blond woman.

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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.