Trucker Didn’t Need To Say a Lot

The handicapped parking scandal involving UCLA football players reminded Peter Lee of the L.A. County Building and Safety Department of a case with a different twist.

A truck driver left his rig in a disabled parking space in Pasadena and was cited. Fighting the ticket in court, he admitted he had no special parking permit.

But . . . he pointed out that no one was using the parking area. In fact, the lot was on the property of a new building that had not yet been certified for occupancy. The truck driver knew all this because he was the contractor whose company had built the building and the lot--and had just put up the disabled parking sign.

Ticket dismissed.

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TODAY’S TIP: Herb Citrin, whose pioneer Valet Parking Service started docking cars in 1946, was asked about famous tippers by the L.A. Business Journal.

Citrin recalled the time Frank Sinatra walked up to the lead parking attendant at a hotel and asked, “What was the biggest tip you ever got?”

“One hundred dollars, Mr. Sinatra,” the attendant said.

Sinatra gave him $200. Then the singer asked the attendant, “Who gave you the $100 tip?”

“It was you, Mr. Sinatra.”

Citrin’s pick as the most infamous tipper was singer Rudy Vallee. “He was a 10-cent tipper no matter what you did for him,” Citrin said. “I’ve parked a couple million cars in my day, and that man had a lot [of money] and he was a 10-cent tipper.”

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NOT THE DO-IT-YOURSELF TYPE: Reading about Citrin’s business, I couldn’t help thinking of the scene in the movie “Clueless,” where Beverly Hills teenager Alicia Silverstone remarks that there’s no reason to learn how to park a car. “What’s the point?” she asks. “Everywhere you go has valet.”

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THE PROBLEM SEEMS PERMANENT: Michael Walsh contributed a “Temporaril” road closing to our collection of heroic attempts to spell a certain T-word. (I would donate these treasures to the Temporary Contemporary Museum if it hadn’t changed its name.)

The way to avoid this spelling pitfall, of course, would be to avoid using the word in the sign at all. You’ll notice that the savvy makers of one bridge work notice took this route, thereby ensuring that their spelling, if not their dates, was perfect (see photos).

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WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT: Sarah Meadow saw this sign at a hotel under construction in Hollywood: “Temporary Hotel Guest Parking.” Meadow couldn’t determine where the permanent guests park.

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DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPT.: Lee Watters came upon a flier on a tree in Marina del Rey that offered “Housekeeping--In Your Home.”

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HOW CHARMIN: As for that toilet paper spill on the Golden State Freeway, Paul Ecker of Diamond Bar wrote: “I heard they were dumped in the carpool lane because they were two-ply rolls.”

miscelLAny:

In the board game Millenniumopoly, players land not on streets but on famous people, places and events of the last 1,000 years. Hollywood’s contributions have not been overlooked. A “Chance” card, noting that TV broadcast began more than 70 years ago, adds, “There’s still nothing on. Advance to Gutenberg Bible to get a book.”

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.