This is a list of weird, wacky, and other unusual stories that we found around the web. It is for July, 2022.
If the news is stressing you out, why not read some news to help you deal with the stress of reading the news?
One Truck, One Pond, Numerous People Riding On Top
What’s the worst that could possibly happen?
Just admit it. You were rooting for the truck to tip over the whole time you were watching that.
HOW DID YOU CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY?
Apparently, there is an International Caps Lock day:
Go on. Type freely and without worry. Take the easy route. It’s INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY! No one will be able to tell if you’re shouting, celebrating or if you always type in all caps.
It seems the world needs to use the caps lock so much, we recognize this day twice a year; October 22nd and June 28th.
International Caps Lock Day pokes fun at the typographical way some Westerners use the caps lock. The founder of the October 22nd date, Derek Arnold, a software developer from Iowa, was quoted as saying, “…the majority of the world’s population writes in scripts which have no concept of letter casing.”
That may be so, but the majority of the scripts in the world do have letter casing. And the rules applied to them vary depending on the language and the script. Whether a language uses Greek, Latin, Arminian, Coptic or several others, a bicameral script forms the typographical word. Even Eastern languages switch between forms and have developed uppercase letters as a way to identify works written in katakana.
BOY, THIS SURE MAKES TYPING IN UPPER CASE SO MUCH EASIER!
Bomb Squad Called to Explosion Museum
Well… I guess it delivers what it promises:
Gosport police reported that ‘four or five shells’ had been discovered at the Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower earlier this evening.
Residents had been warned to stay clear of the site, on Priddys Hard, and Heritage Way, which leads to the museum.
Officers have reopened Millennium Bridge and now declared the area safe after an inspection by a bomb disposal team.
Trying to go out with a bang, are we?
Is it Bad When the Surgeon Removes the Wrong Organ?
A healthy spleen, a diseased kidney, they all look the same, right? Whaddaya mean lawsuit?
A Fresno woman is seeking monetary damages after a doctor removed her spleen instead of a diseased kidney, a mistake that left a pathologist “astonished,” according to a lawsuit.
The woman, Sarajane Parfitt, must undergo another operation to take out the kidney, and the removal of the spleen leaves her vulnerable to serious infections, according to medical experts. The lawsuit, filed in Fresno County Superior Court in June, contends the mistake has caused Parfitt “severe emotional distress.”
Paul Pimentel, Parfitt’s attorney, called the surgical error “insane…I’ve never heard of this in this community.”
Named in the lawsuit are Dr. Narayana Ambati, Community Regional Medical Center and Urology Associates of Central California. Also mentioned is another doctor identified as Shahin Chandrasoma of Pasadena.
Apparently, paying attention to the surgery your operating is important?
Gorilla’s in Space
Can’t top the original description:
Astronaut Mark Kelly once smuggled a full gorilla suit aboard the International Space Station. He didn’t tell anyone about it. One day, without anyone knowing, he put it on.
Something tells me that the other astronauts day got a little more interesting.
Police Were Less Than Amused By the Partiers on the Roof of a 60’s Style Bus
There are a number of party buses out there. However, police prefer passengers to remain on the inside of the bus, not on the roof while it’s moving:
Police couldn’t believe their eyes. Cruising along westbound Route 4 in Paramus was a converted school bus with several people riding on the roof.
Draped in flowers and sashes, the ramshackle Sixties time machine had makeshift scaffolding, a ladder in back, and a traffic cone wrapped in colorful fabric in front to resemble a unicorn’s horn.
The side was painted in rainbow stripes, the front fender in pink.
Atop the party bus was an easy chair, a cooler and a clutch of riders.
The customers might’ve considered it groovy, but the fuzz didn’t dig it at all.
Turns out the group was headed from Brooklyn to the Mountain Creek Waterpark in Sussex County, Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler said.
That’s roughly a 2½-hour ride, minimum.
It’s all fun and games until the bus passes under a low hanging street sign. *bonk*
It’s So Hot in Texas, the Squirrels are Splooting
It’s apparently not just your imagination. It really is hot in some places in the US:
DALLAS — It’s hot, y’all. And there really isn’t any way of escaping it, even with a little rain across North Texas on Thursday.
So perhaps we should take a page from our furry friends.
No, not your dog.
We’re talking about squirrels.
Accustomed to the elements, squirrels are resorting their tried-and-true method for staying cool: Splooting.
So… I learned a new word today.
The Car Stereo System Was Considered a Tad Excessive
The police took exception to a car stereo system being, uh, that ridiculous:
SILVER SPRING, Md. — A man at a park in Silver Spring had to stop the music before it began thanks to Park Police in Montgomery County.
Maryland-National Capital Park Police posted photos of a white van with a huge speaker system set up in the parking lot of Sligo Dennis Park on Wednesday evening. From the picture, you can see stacks of speakers outside the van as well as in the back trunk. According to a tweet from Park Police, an officer addressed the owner of the vehicle before it “had a chance to become a nuisance to park patrons and residents.”
Look, we’re no experts, but it looks like if this guy turned on those speakers it would have caused a little more than a nuisance.
I’m actually surprised the car could withstand that kind of weight unless a separate vehicle hauled some of that into the park.
If You’re Going to Crash Your Plane into Water, It Might As Well Be Next to a Lifeguard Competition
Well, that was fortunate:
It’s not often you can say that a person who was involved in a plane crash may have gotten lucky, but that appears to be the case for the pilot in Friday’s banner plane crash in Huntington Beach.
The plane went down around 1:30 p.m. near Beach Boulevard. Video of the crash showed the banner plane losing altitude before it splashed onto its belly just off shore.
That’s when multiple lifeguards sprang into action.
As it turns out, the plane went down not far from a statewide lifeguard competition taking place at the beach.
Officials from the California Surf Lifesaving Association confirmed that the plane crashed right in front of dozens of lifeguards competing in the Junior Lifeguard Championships.
I wonder if anyone got extra competition points for that.
Have You Seen Road Lines Painted Like This Before?
The road lines painted were not quite straight:
HOLLISTER, Calif. — A newly repaved and stripped street in Hollister is causing confusion for drivers and community members.
The lanes along Ladd Lane were incorrectly drawn.
“I saw it later in the afternoon on my way home from work, and I thought, Woah, this is the strangest thing I’ve seen,” said Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez.
The city redesigned Ladd Lane to add a bike lane and central circles on the road. Their goal was to add those obstructions to slow traffic and prevent people from using the street as a drag racing strip.
The lanes were supposed to be slightly curved but ended up looking zig-zag-like and not straight.
First time I’ve ever heard of lane line drawing vehicles weaving in and out erratically.
When Running a Sleeper Train, it Usually Helps that the Train Actually Goes Somewhere
Apparently, that overnight rest on the sleeper train was unusually peaceful:
A passenger on an overnight rail service from Scotland to London said he was left speechless after waking to find the train had not even left Glasgow, where he boarded.
Jim Metcalfe, who has been using the Caledonian Sleeper service for 15 years, posted on social media about the “bizarre” experience on Wednesday (20 July) morning.
“In 15 years of using this train, and through many bizarre twists and turns, this has to be strangest yet,” he tweeted. “Wake up, and the train never left Glasgow. It was just sat here all night, and now we have been thrown off it at 5.30am in the wrong city.”
The sleeper service runs two routes connecting London with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen and Fort William. It is one of only two sleeper operators remaining in the UK.
The charity chief executive, who lives in East Renfrewshire, added: “Cal Sleeper tweeted that the service was on last night, let people board, and just left us sitting here all night. They let everyone get in and go to sleep, and just left us here.
“I’m travelling for work. It’s hard to even know what to say …”
It followed days of severe rail disruption earlier this week as engineers worked to repair the effects of an unprecedented heatwave.
Kathryn Darbandi, Serco’s managing director for Caledonian Sleeper, said: “We apologise to guests affected by the cancellation of our overnight services between Scotland and London.
So, basically, it was a glorified hotel that time?
Advice: If You are Police Releasing a Photo of a Suspect You Want to Find, Make Sure it’s of the Actual Suspect and Not a Stock Photo
Stock photo’s are great for many things. In place of an actual photo of the suspect is not one of them:
As Mounties in British Columbia continue their search for an escaped murder suspect, they are clarifying that images released of two alleged accomplices were actually stock photos.
The search for Rabih “Robby” Alkhalil began Thursday evening when he escaped from the North Fraser Pretrial centre in Coquitlam, B.C. in a white Econoline van with two people police described as either “posing or employed as contractors.”
The following day, police released two black-and-white photos of the two men with accompanying descriptions.
“Time is of the essence and we need your help to get Alkhalil’s face in every airport, train station, taxi, rental car or anywhere else that he may be hiding,” wrote Const. Deanna Law in a statement.
“We are also hoping someone will recognize the photographs of two suspects who helped Alkhalil escape from jail. All three men are facing serious charges. If you see them, call 911 immediately.”
‘THOSE PHOTOS ARE NOT THEM’
On Saturday, another statement was issued confirming the photos were not, in fact, those of the suspects.
“Investigators can now confirm that previously-released images of Alkhalil’s suspect/associates are stock images that do not represent the suspects themselves,” Law wrote.
Yeah, probably not exactly helpful in the investigation.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
