More from those friendly East-West skies:Air L.A.,...

More from those friendly East-West skies:

Air L.A., a local commuter airline, received a job application the other day from Aleksandr Alekseyevich Kaminin of Moscow.

Kaminin, 39, said he’s a qualified airline pilot and added that “my health is good absolutely.”

“I guess the world is changing,” said Air L.A. Vice President Bill Wolf, noting that Kaminin was his first Soviet job applicant.

Wolf said that he “certainly seems qualified--but I can’t pay his way here for an interview.”

Kaminin attached a postscript to his letter:

“Please use telex for communication since our post-office is not reliable.”

The world may be changing, but lawyers don’t seem to be getting any more popular.

Now some Florida attorneys and judges are griping about so-called “S.O.B. litigators” who display the same hard-ball tactics used by characters in the TV show “L.A. Law.”

Robert E. Beach, a federal judge, said the nastiest lawyers seem to come out of the courthouse woodwork “the morning after ‘L.A. Law.”’

Clarence Booth has a different complaint about his lawyer. He can’t find him.

Booth, a computer software designer, hired an attorney to handle his back-injury claim before moving from L.A. to Boston. He said he has since telephoned his lawyer more than 15 times without getting a reply.

Booth complained to the L.A. County Bar Assn. and was told that someone would get back to him in about six weeks.

“When I asked why I’d have to wait so long,” Booth said, “I was told that it’s because there are so many other complaints against lawyers.”

You may recall a recent Times article on the LAPD’s Immediate Booking and Release Systems (IBARS), a program whereby officers book traffic violators at the scene. It’s interesting to note that the mobile unit isn’t a new concept, as the accompanying photo shows. Inglewood used one for several months in 1926. It was probably such a good idea that it was discontinued.

Some personnel at St. Mary Medical Center will wear eyeglasses that impair their vision today. Others will attempt to purchase items from a vending machine while wearing gardening gloves. And others will be asked to order food in a cafeteria line while sitting in a wheelchair.

It’s all part of the Long Beach hospital’s “Senior for a Day” program. Its purpose is “to point out some of the difficulties older adults face,” said Dr. Timm Holt, a geriatrician. “It’s important that we recognize and be sensitive to their special needs.”

Warren Meyer calls himself the “Junk-Mail King.” He says he wants to give something back to the community. So, his L.A.-based Meyer & Son Mailhouse is offering to handle any charity’s bulk-mail chores for free during the month of August. “He’s giving the only way he knows how,” explained publicist Mike Venema. “By junk mail.”

Walter Fluent forwarded a for-sale ad (see photo) from a local paper for a Glendale house whose accoutrements include “lust” gardens.

In Glendale?

miscelLAny:

Philippe’s, the downtown cafe, has refused to serve ketchup since going into business 82 years ago. Management still maintains that one simply shouldn’t spread the red stuff on French dip sandwiches.