This Grafton IL resident is mowing what grass he can as the Illinois River was rising after recent rains. This isn’t too far from my area.
News
Driver follow GPS directions into river
A Norfolk taxi driver ended up stranded after he followed his sat-nav system’s directions – into a river.
The mini-bus driver was on his way to collect a fare in Castle Acre, near King’s Lynn, when he took a wrong turn into the River Nar.
Fortunately he had no passengers aboard – but he did have the embarrassment of having to ring his bosses for help, reports Lynn News.
Streamline Taxis owners Keith Jarvis and Pat Bowles took along a towrope, expecting to find the eight-seater minibus just off the ford.
But Mr Jarvis said: “It took ages to find him and we couldn’t believe it when we saw where he was – it was several hundred yards along the river!
“The vehicle still had its engine running and headlights on, and he was sitting in it with his trousers rolled up round his knees. I shone a torch in the river and there were fish swimming around the headlights.”
Pat Bowles added: “Normal people would stop and back out but because his sat-nav told him to keep going that’s what he did.
“I don’t think he did think until he couldn’t go any further.”
Ms Bowles said it had given the driver’s colleagues plenty of amusement: “He’s had taxi drivers going into the office with snorkels on.
“We’ve also had phones calls, texts coming through asking if they can book river trips.”
Best comeback line ever…
General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently. You’ll love his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!
This is one of the best comeback lines of all time.
It is a portion of an ABC interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military headquarters.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?
GENERAL COSGROVE:
We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?
GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
But you’re equipping them to become violent killers.
GENERAL COSGROVE:
Well, Ma’am, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?
The radio went silent and the interview ended.
Thanks Joe P
Another beautiful day in Florida…
Florida woman finds 8-foot alligator in her kitchen
PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — An Eastlake Woodlands woman made a beeline for the door when she saw what was next to her refrigerator Monday night.
According to deputies, 69-year-old Sandra Frosti heard a noise coming from her kitchen. When she went to check what it was, she saw the head of a large alligator.
Frosti called 911, “There’s an alligator in my kitchen!” she explained. The emergency operator reportedly suggested it might be an Iguana. Frosti suggested otherwise and left the house.
Deputies showed up at the home a short time later and then called a trapper.
Deputies believe the 8-foot 8-inch gator was after the family cat. It apparently broke through the back porch screen door, entered the home through an open sliding glass door, and then made its way in through the living room, down the hall, and into the kitchen.
The gator was slightly injured as it was being trapped, when a plate was knocked to the ground cutting the alligator.
5.4 Earthquake rattles St. Louis
… and wakes me up!
I woke up to the sound of things shaking in my bedroom. Then I could feel the house shake. The clock said 4:39. I got up, looked outside but couldn’t see anything. I walked into my office and could hear things rattling around on my desk. This went on for a couple of minutes before it subsided. I knew immediately that it was a quake. It subsided after that.
I turned on the TV and for about 15 minutes there were no news bulletins or anything about the incident. Then we got the info:
A 5.4 earthquake centered in West Salem, IL shook the St. Louis metro area early Friday morning. The quake happened at 4:37 a.m. The epicenter is 127 miles from St. Louis.
Reports of feeling the quake are coming far east Illinois and far west and southern Missouri.
More on earthquakes from Wikipedia
Update:
Now, they’re saying it was a 5.2 earthquake. No real structural damge around here. There was onh bridge overpass on Kingshighway that was closed for an hour or so becuase some debris fell from it. It’s a very old bridge anyway… but they determined that it was still structurally sound and they reopened it. I did hear on the radio that a higheway in Indiana (near the epicenter) had cracked from the quake.
There was an aftershock around 10 am, but I didn’t feel it at work, though I talked to people who did. They expect a few more of lesser and lesser magnitudes.
Update 2:
Cheryl B sends along a link to the U.S. Geological Service Earthquake Hazards page. It’s loads of nerdy fun. You can check out your local quake, get all the info on it and aftershocks. It’s also nerdy fun to do the “Did you feel it?” and look at the map to see where it was felt, and how intensely.
It shows there have been several aftershocks from this earthquake. Interesting stuff.
They dug up the Sox jersey planted in Yankee Stadium…
Frank Gramarossa, project executive for the new Yankee Stadium, removes a Boston Red Sox jersey with the name of player David Ortiz from the ground at the new Yankee Stadium in New York, Sunday, April 13, 2008. The New York Yankees have ended a construction worker’s attempt to jinx their new stadium with a buried Red Sox jersey. Team officials watched Sunday as construction workers removed the jersey from two feet of concrete in a service corridor of the stadium that is under construction.