Maybe a quick snooze wasn’t exactly the cleverest idea

It just wasn’t a good night for two Arcadia burglary suspects. First, residents spotted them “breaking into parked vehicles” around 4 a.m. and phoned police. Then, when the two masterminds fled, they ran into the street right “in front of one of the patrol units,” said the Mountain Views-Observer of Sierra Madre.

One suspect was scooped up, while the other got away, temporarily.

About 6:30 a.m., the newspaper said, “a resident heard snoring outside, and the suspect was found sleeping on top of a garage.”

The long arm of the law shook him awake and told him it was time to go to jail.

Thanks for the warning: “We just got back from a great drive through Germany and tried to hit as many towns as we could,” wrote Susan Jagosz of Huntington Beach.

But she came within one kilometer of a destination that “kind of scared me,” she added (see photo).

Bold journeys (cont.): For off-season travelers interested in similarly intriguing signs, here are a few others from readers (see photos).

* A reminder in Italy to stay good-humored (from Judy Armstrong).

* A prohibition in France against certain group activities (from Alyson Ross).

* A less-than-appetizing stop in England (from Bruce Thompson).

* And, finally, a Mongolian airport sign that really doesn’t translate well (from Marna Geisler).

The power of the printed word: A man phoned police to say that “his wife hit him with a book and called him a ‘doofus’ for getting the wrong items at the grocery store,” according to the crime log of the Los Alamitos News-Enterprise. When officers arrived, however, the hubby “decided he did not want to file a report.”

Guess she only smacked him with a paperback, not a hard-cover.

The cutting edge: Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich isn’t outspending his opponents when it comes to campaign ads, or haircuts.

Several weeks ago, you’ll recall, one of his rivals, former Sen. John Edwards, sat for a $400 trim at Torrenueva Hair Designs in Beverly Hills.

Kucinich, in contrast to the photogenic Edwards, got a mere $30 cut from Joe Almaraz, proprietor of the Palisades Barber Shop.

Almaraz told the Palisadian-Post that Kucinich’s wife had requested a cut for her hubby that would make him look “more presidential” for a forum of the candidates.

Kucinich, Almaraz said, “is a very pleasant man with very beautiful but flat hair. I suggested cutting it short enough to maybe even spike it. I wanted to make it fluffy and not so flat.”

The liberal Kucinich is conservative in the area of haircuts, though. No spikes.

Said Almaraz: “I cut it short.”

miscelLAny: John Sommer noticed that a box of Kleenex carried a warning that said, “Intended for professional use only.” Said Sommer: “Maybe that’s why my baby doesn’t like her nose wiped: I’m not a professional.”

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.