DAVE Z IS BACK!! I swore I heard a meadowlark in the Chase Bank parking lot, but it was the Harley-riding, Pacific Beach mail carrier whistling on the job. The last time I saw him he was in obvious pain, walking with a cane, recovering from knee-replacement surgery. “If I’d known how bad it would be, I’m not sure I would have done it,” he said at the time. Guess it worked out OK, ’cause he’s on the job, sporting a zipper on his knee and the old broad smile. IT’S NOT SAFE on the streets OR the sidewalks. I was sitting at the light on Garnet Avenue, ready to head south on Fanuel Street when an eastbound Cadillac made a screeching u-turn in the middle of the intersection. Dang! Out of the corner of my eye, I heard and saw simultaneously, a palm frond tear away and cascade to the sidewalk. My congratulations to the guy to lept out of the way. BUT YOUR HONOR!! I’m having a recurring nightmare — or daymare, if there is such a thing — involving a well-endowed lady who walks down Fanuel most mornings as I’m heading for Starbucks. At least once a week she wears a sweatshirt that says “JUST DO IT!!” At the very least, it seems to me, she’s an attractive nuisance. At least that’s my defense when the case goes to court. SPEAKING OF THE OCEAN BOULEVARD REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT, which I mentioned in my last column, Ray Steinwehe wants to know about the concrete benches just north of Crystal Pier. They seem to have been dedicated as memorials to different individuals. Ray is particularly curious about the bench dedicated to Smitty. Ray is of the opinion that Smitty might have been a homeless person who hung out in the area. I’m not sure about Smitty, but the legendary Shorty met his maker not far from there — in the Food Basket parking lot, if I recall correctly. Wouldn’t that be something if Shorty had a memorial bench? GOT AN E-MAIL FROM JERRY, who didn’t give his last name, hoping I had a photo of a billboard rumored to exist in the mid-1980s. Jerry heard it was on Garnet and said something along the lines of “SIX BLOCKS, FORTY BARS – WELCOME TO HEAVEN!!” I don’t have a photo and suspect the billboard is a Fig Newton of Jerry’s imagination — or at least the imagination of his friends. Or I could be wrong. Maybe they ought to put it up again. I don’t think anyone would mind. ARTISTIC LICENSE: I laughed out loud at the Mini Cooper with the “MNE HAHA” plates. — John Fry may be reached at (858) 272-6655 or by e-mail at [email protected].








