$3,250 for an Aspirin? Now That’s Astronomic

Medical care, as we all know, is getting more and more expensive. But $3,250 for a single aspirin?

That’s the price that an unidentified bidder paid for a tablet at the Space Memorabilia Auction at Aurora Galleries in Ventura County over the weekend. And he didn’t even have a headache.

Of course, the pill was accompanied by this letter from astronaut Michael Collins:

“This aspirin tablet came from the medical kit aboard Apollo 11. I kept it in my desk for 30 years thereafter, but never got a headache bad enough to use it.”

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L.A. International Hareport: Crows, as you’ve probably read, have been giving LAX officials plenty of headaches, causing two of the three power outages there this month. I’ve said it before -- crows are taking over the world. I’m just relieved they haven’t yet figured out how to get inside the air traffic control center and peck out orders to pilots.

Half a century ago, as a shot by The Times’ Art Rogers showed, the airport underwent a different type of onslaught -- by jackrabbits, a vestige of the area’s rural past (see photo).

Like L.A.’s freeway chickens, the airport rabbits are just a memory now.

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Child care? “OK, I know some college students are immature,” wrote Sara Meric of Santa Monica, “but advertising for a nanny?” (see accompanying). Perhaps it’s a child genius.

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For MTA holy rollers? Mary Ann Parada observed that the newsletter of St. Ignatius of Loyola School inadvertently turned a Metro Rail station over to a higher authority (see accompanying).

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Speaking of religion: Hilda Holinstat of Covina noticed a menu offering of a holy fish (see accompanying).

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Mondegreen of the Day: Cal Bellwood of Seal Beach recalled the day his 6-year-old niece told him she was going to write a story. After about 15 minutes, he noticed her with pencil in hand, puzzled look on face, staring at a blank piece of paper. “Uncle, how do you spell ‘sipona’?” she asked.

Bellwood told her he wasn’t familiar with the word and asked her how it was used.

“Oh, come on,” she responded impatiently, “you know how all stories start, ‘One sipona time .... ‘ “

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miscelLAny: In our search for the highest-priced gasoline in the area, we bring you this from Mark Willes (no relation to the former Times Mirror Co. chief executive):

“The little Canyon Service in Santa Monica Canyon was getting almost $5 per gallon the last time I was there for their TRICK racing fuel, an ultra-high-octane leaded fuel. “You have probably seen this little station many times in print ads, TV and the movies. I remember when they shot ‘Lawn Mower Man II’ there, a true classic.” By the way, if you do want the $5-per-gallon gas, Willes added, “They do pump it for you.”

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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.