VA Valet Parking Services?

Yep, soon veterans headed to the Veterans Affairs Department hospital in Loma Linda, Calif., which is down Interstate 10 in Palm Springs will be served with the same kind of highfalutin parking service experienced by the pampered set at upscale restaurants.

Hospital officials say they plan to issue a request for proposals next week for valet parking services they need to alleviate its parking problems.

The contract will go to a 100 percent service-disabled veteran-owned small business, officials said. (I'll read the RFP carefully to see if tipping is optional.)

I sure hope whoever wins the contract will not hire the kind of surfer upstart I encountered at Keo's Thai Cuisine in Waikiki. They guy thought I should grace his palm with a sawbuck for the one minute it took to move my rental car from the front of the restaurant to an illegal parking space across the street.