A bunch of crap

Sometimes my sense of humor is in the toilet... (You realize I meant that literally right?) Tonight it's triple strength. I'm sorry ahead of time.

A North Carolina woman had a very bad day on Friday. She had $400 in cash that she planned on depositing in the bank but it was instead deposited in her dog. That's right, her greater Swiss mountain dog ate it. He was adding some ruff-age to his diet...

It worked too because when the woman took her dog for a walk, the money um, showed back up. She gathered up the pieces of three $100 and five $20 bills and washed them off with the garden hose. She's hoping to get enough pieces back to turn it in to the bank and get her money replaced. Surely they have some kind of recycling program at the bank...

Oh yes, and according to the story I read "A professor at the North Carolina State University Veterinary School said the money shouldn't hurt the dog." I know that's what I'd be worried about.

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Let's move this conversation inside. Ok, sort of inside...Port-a-Potty kind of inside. I'll even provide you with some music. Do you like Bob Dylan?

Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you that people in Malibu are complaining about Bob Dylan's Port-a-Potty(s). Specifically they're complaining about their smell. Yep, Bob Dylan is stinkin' up the joint! We may not want to go to his place after all...

His neighbors, Cindy and David Emminger, said that the toilet fumes are being carried by breezes from the Pacific Ocean and making their family ill. David Emminger said "Mr. Civil Rights is killing our civil rights!"

Wow. Bummer. Totally dude.

Ok, now that the hippie is out of my system, I'm thinking we should hook Bob Dylan up with Clorox. They're having quite the Port-a-Potty issue themselves right now.

Just down the road in San Franscico, somebody has torched more than two dozen construction site toilets and caused an estimated $50,000 in property damage. Clorox isn't having it. They want it to stop.

They want it to stop so badly that they're willing to pay. It's true. They're offering $5000 PLUS (and this is the best part if you ask me but I'm a clean freak) a year's supply of toilet cleaning products for tips leading to the arrest of "San Francisco's notorious portable potty pyromaniac". (I totally admit I was rolling on the floor at that nickname. If you really think about it, that's a lot of pee's...)

Ahem, sorry.

*All puns in this story were completely intentional :D

Because I HAVE to just move on

Since Saturday afternoon Tim and the other homeless men that are living under a bridge not far from my home have been all that's been on my mind. It's consumed my thoughts and dominated several conversations that MY Tim and I have had. I've tried to see all sides of it and give it a fair shot but I just can't come to any real conclusions. I guess my final thought is I hope Sean and his website help these men but I think they did it in the absolute worst taste they could have. End of discussion for me. I just can't think about it anymore right now. It's too much for my heart. I want to believe everything but...

That's where I'm stopping. If I continue it will make me crazy. So with that in mind, I forced myself to read about OTHER things tonight. Thankfully I found a story that made me smile and think Ok, I am right...People are good.

A California woman recently lost her job. I know how she feels. We had quite the time after Hurricane Ike and were out of jobs too. It's a terrible feeling. You horde everything you have just so you'll still have it. (That makes me think about Tim under I-10 again. So sad.) Anyway, I imagine that's what the lady was thinking when she put all her money into a bank bag and then the bag into her purse. The bag contained $4,000 in cash and more than $20,000 in checks. It fell out of her purse in a Kmart parking lot.

You know she had to be panicking. I would be panicking for sure. Lucky for her a good Samaritan was the one that found the bag. He turned it in to police, they tracked her down and returned her money.

First bravo to the man that found a bag full of money in a parking lot and turned it in instead of taking it for himself like it would have been very easy for him to do. Second I am so relieved for the lady. It really makes me happy that she got her money back. Her life would have gone in a bad direction if it hadn't been returned to her no doubt. (And that yet again makes me think of Tim.)

So now that I have a good story in my mind (plus some thoughts that I WILL deal with in my own time) and a happy feeling in my heart I think I can finish my evening. I hope everyone has a good evening.

You can trust a judge....right?

While my kids were growing up and figuring out how things worked in this world and in my home, they did things that were sometimes not so smart. Some of those things were even bad enough that they could have been in serious trouble if anyone had caught them. I’m not proud of them for those things but I still love them. It wouldn’t matter what they did; they’re my kids and I would never stop loving them because they had a lapse of judgment.

It happens to the best of people. Kids mess up. Teenagers mess up. Even young adults mess up. That’s how they learn.

I have a good friend in Oklahoma that is the perfect example. Her son was in his 20’s and got involved in some illegal activities and then got caught. The police had him nailed. There were video tapes of his illegal activities. He had no way out. His phone call was to his mother. She bailed him out and they went home.

When it came time to go to court, my friend drove her son to the courthouse. As they were walking up the stairs she stopped him. She said “Son, I love you. I don’t want to lose you. If you want to run, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. If you want to go inside, I’ll stand by you no matter what.”

He told her he was guilty and he had to do what was right. They went inside together. My friend cried when her son put in his guilty plea. And she cried when the judge sentenced her son to 8 years in prison. Her son didn’t cry. He knew he was wrong.

She went to visit him every weekend for the entire 8 years that he was in prison. She told me it was the best thing that ever happened to her son. He was headed down a bad path and being caught and having to go to prison had turned him around. I saw him the day he got out. He looked liked a totally different man. A better man.

In my friends case what the judge (and my friend’s son) did was the right thing. He heard the case. He heard the charges. He gave a fair judgment. That’s the way it should be. If my friend’s son had been innocent and sent to prison anyway, that would have been wrong. But a judge wouldn’t do that would they? After the story I just read I’m sad to say a judge would do that. Two judges as a matter of fact.

Judge Mark Ciavarella and Judge Michael Conahan both of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, have entered plea agreements of their own. They admitted to accepting more than $2.6 million dollars combined from a private youth detention center to sentence children to longer terms so that the center would receive more government money.

Teenagers who were sent before those judges for relatively minor offenses were sentenced to much longer times than necessary at the youth detention center. A 17 year old boy was sentenced to 3 months just because he was with another teenager that shoplifted. He didn’t shoplift; his friend did. He just happened to be with him.

Somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 juveniles received harsher sentences than was warranted for their crimes. That’s a lot. It’s an unbelievable amount to me. I feel so bad for not only the teenagers but for their families that had to be without them for no reason.

The judges have been relieved of their duty and charges were filed against them on January 26. I hope the judge that resides over their trials throws the book at them. I just can’t believe people that are supposed to uphold our laws decided to take advantage of our youth that way. It’s just a disgrace.

How much can YOU spare?

Have you ever gotten one of those emails that starts out Dearest One? The ones I mean always come from Zimbabwe or some other far off land. At least they’re far away from where I live.

They either go two ways these emails. They say you have won such and such an amount and just give us your information and we’ll be happy to deposit this money in your account. Oh, by the way, just one small thing. We need you to pay a fee in order for us to send you the money. That’s not a problem right? Or they say we desperately need your help and can’t you just send something? My father was unjustly… My brother is being held unjustly… (Just fill in the blank with some horrible country/government/prison/accusation and we’re in business.) Those second emails always like to invoke the name of God in some way. We’ll be praying for you. God bless you. God loves you. Well thank you.

I know God loves me. I appreciate you asking Him to bless me. I even thank you for praying for me even though I’m not real sure what someone I’ve never talked to would pray for on my behalf. It’s still a nice thought. Oh, I’m sorry, what? You want me to give you money? I forgot that part…

This morning I was reading a story from the odd news section that I have on my homepage and it made me think of those emails I receive by the boxful every day (I’m glad they aren’t actual letters and are just on my computer. I think my mail lady would refuse to come to my house if they were real letters. I get that many). A man in Beijing has been arrested for swindling an American out of $109,700.

Now the story doesn’t say that he used emails to bilk this caring, kind person out of what was probably their life savings. But it reads exactly like many of the emails I’ve received in the past.

He told his victim (that’s the only way I can seem to see this poor person that lost so much) that during the Nationalists’ rule of China he was a provincial governor. He went on to say that he had government connections and that those connections could help to unfreeze assets that were being held in the United States. He just needed a little help. Money. Big surprise there huh?

Obviously they sent the money otherwise this story would never have been written. I don’t understand how they thought it was a real thing. A little research could have given them all the answers (like the fact that the Nationalists’ rule of China ended in 1949 when the Communists took over power). If we were talking about my money I would know every detail of every step. I’m stingy like that. I just don’t like to part with my money.

In a sad twist (at least sad to me) the man that did the scamming is 99 years old. 99! What in the world would a 99 year old need with that much money? I know people live past that age but come on, it’s more likely that he won’t be around too much longer than it is that he’d be living the high life on other people’s money. Can you see a 99 year old out on the town partying it up? I certainly can’t.

The Chinese courts did take his age into consideration. He was released on bail and allowed to go home. The interview by officials was done at his house rather than making him go to court. They will have a trial though and if this man is found guilty he could face 10 years in prison. That would be a terrible way to end your life. I find myself feeling sorry for him a little. But then I remember what he did and my heart goes out to the person that lost their money. I think it’s just a lose-lose situation and I feel sorry for everyone involved.

Who’s in charge here?

Since the beginning of the present salmonella outbreak, I’ve been bringing you news on it. I’ve provided you with links to information on the outbreak. I’ve provided you with lists of recalled products. I’ve done this for two reasons. One, it’s important. And two, I’m mad.

My anger has tripled this morning. Maybe even quadrupled. I’m pretty mad. If you were someone that saw me in person, you would probably turn around and move away from me as fast as possible once you saw the look on my face. I’m truly that angry today.

Reading my morning news stories I came across yet another story on the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA). Imagine that. The story said that federal health officials have now officially opened a criminal investigation of the plant. Yesterday. Well, it’s about time.

I’m not just mad at the PCA. I’m also mad at the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). It has now been revealed that the FDA hasn’t been to the Blakely Georgia plant since 2001. Yes, I am aware that it’s presently 2009. Maybe now you see what my anger is based on.

To make matters worse, the FDA did not go into the plant because of the salmonella. They went because a shipment of peanuts that originated at the PCA plant were stopped and refused at the Canadian border because it contained metal shavings. That’s when they thought they might need to go into the plant. Don’t worry that it’s been 8 years since any federal inspectors were in the plant. The PCA had their own inspectors, they should be fine. No need to worry about them. Yeah, right.

Then when the FDA finally did go into the plant they didn’t check for anything except metal. No check for salmonella. Why would they worry about that? It’s not like there was JUST ANOTHER CASE OF PEANUT BUTTER SALMONELLA POISONING A COUPLE YEARS AGO. That doesn’t matter.

My main problem is why did the FDA allow a company that sold food products for the general public’s consumption to use their own inspectors? Why didn’t they insist on making regular inspections? I worked in restaurants for 25 years and I can’t tell you how many health inspectors I saw. They popped in unannounced and checked everything under the roof at least once every month. All those individual restaurants were feeding was whatever town I happened to be living in at the time. We weren’t shipping food out all over the country. But we had to meet certain standards and if we didn’t we were closed immediately and not allowed to reopen until the problem was fixed. How was this plant that now has over 430 products on the recall list allowed to continue producing those products and worse yet, shipping them out for us to eat? For us to feed to our children.

According to PCA company documents the original lab they hired to test their products found at least 12 cases of salmonella in the plant. PCA then turned around and hired another company that tested the products and found no salmonella so they shipped the products out. I’m sorry but that’s just crap. If the first test was positive, in my mind there is no need for a second test. And by using a different company to ensure a different result makes me think they were acting in a criminal manner.

In a PCA media statement they said “It is because of our commitment to our customers and consumers that PCA has taken extraordinary measures to identify and recall all products that have been identified as presenting a potential risk.”

I think the only thing PCA is committed to is making money. They haven’t taken any extraordinary measures. The only reason they are doing anything now is because people have died. They blatantly sent out products that they had been told were a danger to people. They chose to ignore basic food handling procedures. They didn’t even bother to clean their plant. When FDA inspectors recently visited the plant they found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and “numerous other sanitation problems.” Commitment to our customers. What a joke.

My hope is PCA will now go out of business. I want them to never again produce anything for us to eat. I also hope the people that worked at that plant are thoroughly educated in food safety and any of them that made the decisions as to whether or not sell those contaminated products should receive jail time. What they did was criminal; they should be treated as such.

To catch a thief... in aisle 3?

You just finished shopping at your local Walmart. Your items are on the conveyor belt heading toward the cashier. Seven pairs of jeans, four pair of slacks, a pair of scrubs, a bra, a sweat suit, a picture frame, laundry detergent, diapers, pizza, coffee, four 12-packs of drinks, canned vegies, air freshener, nachos, noodles, some frozen stuff, chips, ground beef, and a baby crib…total? $5.25. What?!

Yep. A 20 year old Natchez Mississippi Walmart employee was arrested for attempting to sell her friend $547.50 worth of merchandise for five bucks. The story in the Mississippi newspaper doesn’t say HOW they were busted for rolling back prices on their own, just that the 22 year old woman never left the store with the products.

What were they thinking? Oh wait, I know, they were thinking they could get away with it. I bet that kind of thing happens all the time but no one notices. With all the beeping going on from other registers around them I imagine it’d be easy to do. And unless you are involved in security for the store, you more than likely wouldn’t be watching the screen to see what was being rung up. Plus those people that stand at the exit doors and check peoples receipts only do that if something is out of a bag. That’d be easy to prevent too.

I’m not trying to encourage people to steal by explaining how easy it would be. I’m actually very disgusted by these people that think it’s ok to steal. They try to argue that it’s a big store (Walmart) so they can afford the loss but I believe even if they could afford the loss, we’re the ones that pay for it in increased prices so they didn‘t hurt that big store. They hurt me.

Everyone I know has worked hard their whole lives and paid for everything they own. I have no patience for people that won’t earn their own keep. And even less patience for those that want to take out of my pocket.

So needless to say, I’m happy these women were caught and arrested. I hope they at least get a hefty fine. And as far as the cashier goes, I hope it’s noted on her work record so that she doesn’t get the opportunity to raise prices in another store that I shop at.

And the winner is...

Some of my favorite news stories involve people that aren’t all together there. You know what I mean, they’re a few crackers short of a box, their elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor, they’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.

These criminals tickle me. Not that I like the fact that they are criminals. I don’t like criminals. But I do think the stories written about them are too funny and in most cases they get caught because of their less than genius actions.

I like to give them awards. They are ‘boobie awards’ in my mind. These people do things or say things that 99.9% of the general population believes to be unintelligent.

Usually I’m the only one that is aware this award was given. I don’t normally talk about them. They are silent awards. Just for me. I assume most people agree with me and that makes it unnecessary to announce them.

But this week I just couldn’t keep the winner to myself. I found this particular criminal SO unbelievably deserving of the award that I felt the need to announce it. So without further ado, the winner of this weeks ‘boobie award’ goes to…

Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights, Ohio

Feliks decided to rob a bank. He prepared himself by donning a ski mask and grabbing his toy gun. He then went into the crowded bank and patiently waited in line amongst the other bank customers for his turn while wearing the mask. When he reached the teller she told him to remove the mask, he said no and showed her his toy gun. He took some money and left only to be caught a few minutes later thus securing his place as my ‘boobie award‘ recipient of the week.

As an added note, Feliks also wins my prize for the weirdest original spelling of their name. I think he even beat Meyghan.

Locked away all these years

In 1937 a British aristocrat named Earl Howe bought a car. He drove it for eight years then sold it. It changed hands several times before it ended up being purchased by Harold Carr in 1955. It was a Type 57S Atalante. If you don’t know this car I’m not too surprised. It’s very rare. There were only 17 of these cars made, EVER.

Recently Harold passed away. As his nephew went through the belongings left behind by his uncle, he found the gem locked up in the garage. It had been there untouched for 50 years.

The original and rare Bugatti was one of the first supercars ever built. It could reach an amazing 130 mph compared to other cars of it’s time that could only reach 50 mph.

Still containing all it’s original parts, auctioneers expect it to bring in a whopping 8.7 million dollars once it’s put on the block next month in Paris.

His nephew, who wishes to remain anonymous, was quoted in the London Evening Chronicle as saying “We just can’t believe it. Of course we’re delighted and we’re going to make sure the money is shared out among the family. It’s a wonderful thing to leave.”

I agree completely. I’m sorry for the families loss of course, but after the initial pain fades away I’m sure they’ll appreciate the great gift their uncle left them.

Kudos Doc Watson!

As usual this morning I was reading through the headlines on my second best friend, my computer. Most of the time I experience a wide range of emotions while reading the stories. Everything from laugh out loud to oh my goodness that makes me mad.

Less often a story will touch me. This morning however, I read one of those stories. I sat here with tears running down my face and a huge smile at the same time. My first best friend (my husband) came in from his shower and immediately thought something was wrong with me. I assured him it wasn’t and read him the story.

I’ve lived many places in my lifetime but no matter where I’ve lived, I’ve always claimed Texas as home. I love Texas. I love most of the people in it. My guess is if it was a smaller state I probably wouldn’t feel that way. Less people = less chance for good.

The story I read was about a doctor in Yoakum Texas. Yoakum is a small town outside of San Antonio. This man, lovingly known as Doc Watson, has been the town doctor for 50 years. And he still makes house calls.

That doesn’t happen very often these days. Most doctors are more worried about the money they make and not so much about their patients. That’s sad but true. But Doc Watson isn’t one of those doctors. He’s even been known to accept baked goods and home grown vegetables as payment to the dismay of his daughter. He was quoted in the story as saying “These people have paid me with what they could. As far as I’m concerned, they’re paid in full.” How refreshing is that?

He began his career after graduating from the Baylor College of Medicine in 1958. Back then he charged $3.00 for an office visit and $5.00 for a house call. Some of his patients have been lifelong.

One of those patients is 80 year old Lou Olsovsky. As Doc Watson examined Lou he gently asks about his wife who passed away four years previously. When the doctor asked if he was ready to go meet his wife, he was told “I was supposed to go first, but she wouldn’t let me.” Lou still wears his wedding ring. That just broke my heart. It was what made me cry.

It makes me happy that there are still men like that in this world. Sometimes I wonder about our planet and the way it seems to be going downhill. Then I read something like this story and it gives me hope.

I’d like to tip my hat to Doc Watson. I hope he has many more years taking care of his town. According to him he has no plans to quit anytime soon. He said “When I can’t do crossword puzzles anymore, I’ll know it’s time to quit. But as long as I’m reasonably healthy, and have a little sense, I’ll keep doing it.”

Click here to read the original story

Where are my crackers...

Yesterday I did my grocery shopping as I mentioned on my Happy At Home site. Then this morning, browsing through the headlines as usual, I came across this story from Irvine, California.

It seems a family did a little shopping in their local grocery store where they bought a box of crackers. Upon returning home they discovered an envelope in the box of crackers. Inside the envelope were one hundred crisp $100 bills.

Now I can imagine the shock on the mothers face when her daughter brought her the envelope filled with money. And I can also imagine the thoughts that would be in my head. Maybe the store was giving away a prize. Maybe it’s my lucky day. Maybe somebody was hiding the money for someone else…

It turns out an elderly Lake Forest lady had decided the box of crackers was a safer place for her money than the bank. She then inadvertently returned the wrong box of crackers to her grocery store in Tustin. Frantic she went back to the store but her crackers were gone.

Then in an odd and a little disturbing twist, the crackers were put back out for sale in the Irvine store where the unsuspecting family bought the woman’s life savings.

I can’t begin to imagine how a store would resell a returned food item but thankfully this time they did. And luckily an honest person found the money and it was returned to the rightful owner.

While I believe it’s appropriate to return items to the people they belong to, I also believe the family that turned the money in should have received something for their good deed. Sadly all they received was a new box of crackers. Now that would be my luck.