Candidate Confusion: Same Name, Wrong Profession

Mary Carey, a Contra Costa County public defender, is not running for governor. But she has been confused at times with one candidate: Mary Carey, the porn actress.

Public defender Carey, who grew up in L.A., briefly considered switching to her husband’s last name, Cook.

Then she found out that the porn actress appears on the ballot with both her professional and legal names -- as Mary “Mary Carey” Cook.

The public defender’s friends have started calling her “Gov.”

Your tax dollars at work: When his Newhall physical therapist said his insurance refund check “was ‘in the mail,’ he wasn’t kidding,” said Tim McNamara of Malibu. “In fact the check enjoyed being in the mail so much it took a side trip to Southeast Asia” (see accompanying).

Yes, that’s Newhall, Calif., USA.

Spelling overboard! Bill Gilfillan of Lake Forest saw an offer that prompted him to observe: “Didn’t know you could go mining from a boat!” (See accompanying.)

Wonder how they feel about windows? Patricia Scofield of Fullerton chanced upon a cleaning service that evidently has the same down-in-the-mouth attitude toward vacuuming as I do (see accompanying).

On second thought: Or is the vacuum attached to one of those motorized bicycles?

A cruiser who must have impressed the girls: Rosemarie LeForte of Huntington Beach noticed this police log entry in the town’s Independent: “A male with a shaved head was on a tricycle with a boom box on the back of it.”

Philosophical stop: Rob Sanders snapped a shot of an Oceanside intersection that warns of life’s changing fortunes (see photo).

Stupid criminal tricks: The Beach Reporter’s police log chronicled the theft of a motorcycle by a chap who “appeared as if he was not experienced at driving a motorcycle.”

He was observed riding into a parking lot whereupon “the motorcycle fell and landed on the thief’s leg.... The man was last seen walking southbound on The Strand carrying a bag of stuffed animals.”’

miscelLAny: If he doesn’t become a star in the major leagues, one Anaheim Angels pitcher “has a future in airport security,” pointed out Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury News. The pitcher’s name: Chris Bootcheck.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083.