Spiritual advisor forgets where he parked

Riders on the 6:20 a.m. crossing from Bremerton to Seattle on Friday morning rallied to help religious royalty in the person of Grand Maja Malik "Sky-Hook" Punjabi, lead teacher at the Temple of The Questionable Miracle in Bothell. Punjabi, who was headed back to Seattle after a long week of telling fortunes at the Gig Harbor Border's Bookstore, was unable to remember where he parked his car.

The Maja, whose legal name is Archie Gruber, could not recall where he'd left his 1986 Subaru wagon before departing for Gig Harbor on the ferry a week ago.

"Most depressing," said Punjabi, clearly perplexed at his inability to remember which Shur-Park-Lot he'd chosen. "This inability must be the result of either spiritual interference with my message, or else possibly low blood sugar. Regardless, I will remain on the boat until my mind clears."

One of Punjabi's most ardent followers, Joan Aldicott, pictured above with Punjabi during the morning crossing, reassured the half-dozen or so BFFs who stopped by the Maja's booth for blessings or to pander for coffee money. "I've never seen him so low energy," she said. "I'm going to get him a churro from the snack bar to see if that helps."

According to Washington State Ferry spokeswoman Barbara Stein, Punjabi was welcome to stay on the ferry throughout the day as long as he paid the fare and disembarked after each crossing. "We welcome all faiths here at the ferry," she explained, "plus last month he couldn't find his keys and had to walk home, so I got some sympathy for him."