A stamp series only a bureaucrat could love

John Hendry of Van Nuys notes that the U.S. Postal Service will soon be issuing a “Jury Duty” stamp (see accompanying) and wonders if this will be the start of a series on government operations.

“What’s next?” he said. “A ‘Standing in Line at the Post Office’ stamp?”

Air-conditioning is free: Dee Anne Reagan of Norwalk spotted a development where prices are unlikely to go through the roof any time soon (see photo).

Hot property, to say the least! In otherwise respectable Alhambra, a reader found a lawn with unusual powers (see accompanying).

Dueling dollars: On Santa Monica Boulevard, Zach Seemayer saw a store attempting to appeal to three distinct levels of customers: the $1, the 99-cent and the 98-cent crowd (see photo).

Low finance (cont.): About two dozen readers wrote to tell me about one spelling-challenged ad (see accompanying). “I think I know why they can offer the reference books for such a low price,” commented Beverly Delott of Pacific Palisades.

Ray Bay: Can you dance the Stingray Shuffle? You should learn, if you’re going to go swimming at Seal Beach.

The Sun newspaper says that about 2,600 stingray injuries were recorded by lifeguards between 1997 and 2005 (though only about 2% required hospital treatment).

The area has one of the densest populations of the creatures in the world, due to “warm water from nearby power plants, fine sediments and calm conditions,” the newspaper said.

Chris Lowe, a marine biology professor at Cal State Long Beach, says bathers can cut down on the chances of being stung by shuffling their feet to scare away stingrays beneath the sand. About 97% of sting- ray injuries are to the feet of victims.

The Stingray Shuffle sounds a bit like the Mashed Potato dance of the 1960s (I’m dating myself here). Whatever, perhaps the lifeguards should play loud music to put the bathers in the mood to cavort.

Cellphone betrays owner! At least that’s one way you could look at it. The constantly ringing cell of a man sleeping on a sidewalk alerted Carpinteria police, who arrested him on suspicion of drunkenness, the Coastal View News reported.

miscelLAny: The Van Nuys Neighborhood Council plans to receive training from the LAPD in the use of radar guns to trap speeding motorists. A council memo says that each gun will require a crew of four. One person will hold the gun “and make note of the vehicle’s speed, a second person will call out the license plate on the vehicle, a third person will make note of the description of the vehicle and the fourth will document all the information. . . “ If I didn’t know this was a volunteer effort, I would swear it was a government project.

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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.