Cellphone suggestion is far from a slam dunk

I mentioned the growing problem of “Wet Phone Disease,” caused by dropping a cellphone into a liquid, such as water or, in at least one case, a cappuccino.

This brought a note from Randall Gellens of San Diego about some unusual field research in this area.

“About eight years ago I worked in the handset division of Qualcomm,” Gellens wrote. “The head of handset testing posted a report from a customer who had dropped his cellphone in the toilet. The customer retrieved it, allowed it to thoroughly dry, and reported that it not only worked, but had improved voice quality.”

Added Gellens: “The customer suggested we incorporate this into the manufacturing process to improve quality.”

Carrying an “exact change” policy too far: As for one bill he received, Barry Stone of Culver City said, “We sent them $10, and they never gave us credit for the overpayment” (see accompanying).

Sobering thought: In Lake Elsinore, Barry Nackos of L.A. found a bar whose name might discourage some patrons from having “one for the road” (see photo).

Before Reggie . . . : Escapes, such as Reggie the alligator’s brief waddle for freedom this week, are occasional occurrences at the L.A. Zoo. Perhaps the greatest mass break-out was the work of 11 Persian goats that bounded away a quarter century ago. There was no sign of them for four years.

Then a goat of the same breed was captured in the L.A. River. But it turned out to be less than 2 years old -- too young to have been one of the escapees. Experts theorized that it was an offspring. The original 11 were never seen again, however.

Sights of the city: Over the years, I’ve seen some interesting spectacles on downtown L.A. sidewalks -- a religious zealot shouting verses from a Bible while balancing a plastic cup on his head, a self-proclaimed “Dancing Candidate” whirling about while waving her placard, and so on. But on Wednesday, I saw something new.

In the 90-plus-degrees heat, a fully dressed street person soaped himself down on the corner of 1st and Broadway and then proceeded to dump a large container of water over his head.

You know, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Which reminds me: The 2008 edition of the Guinness Book of Records notes that 1,173 participants, all armed, took aim at each other on April 28, 2005, at Loyola Marymount University and staged history’s largest squirt-gun fight.

Ah, to have been caught in such a cross-fire on Thursday.

miscelLAny: I heard a radio ad that said UCLA’s doctors were on the “cutting edge” of medicine. Scalpel, nurse!

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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.