Dispatcher Gets a Lesson in NUNsense
After responding to an emergency, an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy messaged his dispatcher that a woman was “having a baby (NUN).” The incredulous dispatcher asked: “She’s a nun?” It turns out that NUN means there was no emergency. It stands for No [sheriff’s] Unit Needed.
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How’s that again? Some other messages received by dispatchers from deputies on emergency calls, as logged by the Star News, a sheriff’s publication:
* Caller upset because his neighbor “was washing his duck.”
* “There is an opossum in the restaurant running from the kitchen. Patrons are leaving without paying.”
* “Fifty goats running around [the caller’s] yard. Goats eating roses. Informant doesn’t know what to do and fears the roses will be destroyed beyond recognition.”
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You thought Homeland Security was vigilant: One wonders whether a Kearney, Neb., hotel found by Don Goetzinger has cameras in each room to make sure guests prepare adequately before using the pool (see photo).
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Such a deal: “I’m happy to share the wealth with you,” wrote Claire Dine of North Hollywood, generously sending me the coupon she received (see accompanying). (I’ll have to check with my bosses to see if I can accept it.) Ray Uhler, Elizabeth Milne and several other readers also gave me their 2 cents worth on this shopping bonus.
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Question of the day: Mike Kirwan of Venice saw a job opening for security guards that raised the question: Is a flaky person conscious of being flaky? (see accompanying).
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Noel kidding: My colleague Larry Harnisch noticed that an apartment complex apparently prefers to interview prospective canine inhabitants in a Christmas setting (see accompanying).
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Blue Line specials: Mention was made here about a panhandler on a Blue Line car who stood up and told the passengers his story, first in English, then in Spanish (he was from out of state, was out of work, etc.).
Crystina Daniel of Torrance, a Blue Line regular, thinks she’s seen the same guy, adding he sometimes varies his story by using a stolen-luggage angle.
The most striking character that Daniel has observed, however, is an older man who walks with a cane, says he uses no alcohol or drugs (with the exception of a bit of pot), and “usually will pop out his glass eyeball and hold it up as he walks through the train.”
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miscelLAny: Let me see if I can get this straight. “Friday Night Lights,” the NBC show about a high school football team, airs on Tuesday nights. The latest episode chronicled the team’s day-by-day doings through Thursday, the day before the game. Guess I’ll have to tune in next Tuesday to find out what happened Friday.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.