A Parking Lot That Goes Beyond Time and Space

You think gasoline prices are bad? A visitor from San Francisco was stunned to see how much his parking fee was at a lot in Pasadena (see photo). But wait a minute. Sure, $8 million sounds a bit high, even for all-day parking, but maybe he had free in/out privileges?

Walking can be dicey around here too: Ena Dubnoff of car-snarled Santa Monica chanced upon a frank explanation of pedestrian symbols on traffic lights (see photo).

Pedestrian warning (cont.): While the just-mentioned guide is performing a public service, it appears to be the work of a vigilante artist, not the city.

Holy Toledo! John Kelton noticed that a Fullerton church seemed to be planning a surprising activity (see accompanying).

Word imperfect: In Westchester, Jennifer Graff saw a sign that would make an English teacher ill (see photo).

Stupid criminal tricks: Writer David Allen points out that in my recent exploration of this genre, I overlooked a bungled burglary in Victorville.

What happened was that the intruder “tried to shoot out the lock on the door” of a closed electronics store, the Victorville Daily Press reported. “Instead, the bullet ricocheted off the metal lock and struck the man in the chest.”

Co-owner Cary Walker told the newspaper: “It’s a wonder he didn’t end up dead. It could’ve gone right through him. I guess they’ve been watching too much television because it just doesn’t work like that.... It hit him so hard it knocked the air out of him and he threw up on the spot.”

The man escaped. I checked with a spokeswoman for Victorville police, who said the self-shooter is still at large. Maybe he’s sick of burglarizing.

miscelLAny: Who’s in charge here? The KCAL Channel 9 news aired a tease the other night about a milestone for slugger Barry Bonds (namely, his 714th home run). So what did the tape that accompanied the tease show?

Bonds getting hit by a pitch.

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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.