Do I look like I need a job?

An interesting thing happened on my way back to Dallas from Ft. Lauderdale.

While at the airport, I thought I would get something to drink from the restaurant/cafeteria. I got a bottle of coke and went to the cashier. Someone else went to the counter about the same instance to buy some coffee. She looked at me and asked me if I was going to Chicago. I told her that I am from Illinois but I am going to Dallas. Then she either asked "Would you like a job?" or "Are you looking for a job?" I think it was the former rather than the latter, but I don't remember exactly. And then she added "We're hiring." I am not really looking for a job, but it's always good to have opportunities available. Anyway, I gave her my number, and she said she would call. (She hasn't yet.) But I don't even know what kind of job it is for... Perhaps she works for a clown agency and they are looking for clowns...? Actually, she dressed very sharply. In fact, she reminded me of Eva Mendes. Maybe it was Eva Mendes and they are looking for new actors! I heard short actors are needed! That is, they are in short supply... Or was that in short demand? Too bad Eva is not as cute as Kyokorin, though!

And speaking of brushes with celebrities... On the flight back from Zurich to Dallas on December 22, I was fortunate enough to be able to get an upgrade to business class. On the flight, I didn't talk much to the guy next to me on the flight, but when we were landing, then we started to talk a little bit. He asked me if I got a look at the guy two rows up... He said that he thought he looked like Jack Nicholson. Since we were landing, I couldn't get up from my seat, but when we arrived at the gate, the guy was wearing black and wearing a black knit cap. He turned around when he got up from his seat and I must say, he looked a bit like Jack Nicholson. He looked a bit older, but on the other hand, don't we all... Anyway, when we deplaned, he was able to get off the plane before me, but while walking to immigration, I took the stairs up which is actually faster than the escalators when you take two steps at a time, so I was able to get near the front of the crowd which deplaned. However, I saw no sign of our Jack look-a-like. When we got to immigration, I did not see any sign of him. And in baggage claim as well, I did not see him. I then ran into the guy who was next to me on the plane, and he said he noticed they wheeled him off in a wheelchair. On the plane, he did not look like a guy who would need a wheelchair. Anyway, seems pretty suspicious to me. If only I had my camera with me... See! I need a new phone which has a camera on it. (Well, actually I already do, but I need a better one!)

A "feel good" story... (?)

From Reuters:
When good things happen to good cows..
Jan 11, 9:38 AM (ET)

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A cow that escaped last week from a Montana slaughterhouse, leading workers and police on a six-hour chase, will be spared following a wave of popular support, officials said on Tuesday.

Del Morris, manager of Mickey's Packing Plant in Great Falls, said he decided to let the cow live the instant he saw it cross the Missouri River through Great Falls.

Town residents will now decide through a telephone poll whether the cow will remain a resident of Montana, where it will live out its life on pastureland surrounding the packing plant, or be shipped to an animal sanctuary in Seattle.

Morris said the heifer he calls Molly and her escape effort attained celebrity status with television and news organizations requesting interviews and calls pouring in from across the country and overseas.

"I've been around cattle all my life and it's just totally amazing," Morris said, adding that it is a rare cow that escapes slaughter. "I watched her do things that are just not possible for a cow."

Yeah, like when she hotwired that BMW and drove 6 miles before losing control and running the car into a ditch...

Crime doesn't pay (Hint: Don't use your real phone# or name when committing a robbery)

From Yahoo News:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man apparently looking for free lunch was arrested for allegedly assaulting a pizza delivery man.

Police say Virgil Dennis ordered three pies from Pizza Hut at lunchtime Tuesday and gave the address of a vacant apartment downstairs from his own. When the driver arrived, authorities say 22-year-old Dennis pressed a knife against the delivery man's neck and demanded the pizzas.

The crime was reported and police traced the number Dennis provided Pizza Hut to an apartment two floors up from the one where the pies were delivered. When officers arrived there, they said a young man and woman opened the door, holding a small girl who was eating a slice of pizza.

"That was our first clue," said Officer George Springer.

Officers said they found Dennis hiding in the bathroom. While police waited for an officer to return with the delivery driver to identify his assailant, Dennis bolted from the apartment barefoot, handcuffs still dangling on one wrist.

"This guy jumps across about six different balconies, and scales down to the second floor," said Officer Darin Snapp.

After a brief struggle in the parking lot, police got him under control, and the driver identified Dennis as the thief.

Jackson County prosecutors charged Dennis with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. Police returned the uneaten slices to Pizza Hut.

Crime doesn't pay (Hint: Don't rob when you're hungry.)

From Yahoo News:
ANDERSON, S.C. - Apparently, you can build up quite an appetite breaking-and-entering. James Michael Fowler, 26, was arrested for burglary Tuesday after a neighbor watching the house found a pan of cocktail franks cooking on the stove and some freshly made orange juice nearby.

Anderson Police Lt. Layton Creamer says when the neighbor went to check on the home, she saw the food cooking and a black stocking cap on the kitchen counter.

Creamer said it looked like Fowler broke into the two-story house through a first-floor window.

Officers didn't find Fowler at first. But when authorities returned to collect evidence, the neighbor noticed the key to the patio door wasn't in the lock, Creamer said.

That's when police saw Fowler lying, coiled up on the deck floor, Creamer said.

After authorities surrounded the house, they arrest Fowler as he tried to get back in through the deck door.

"He heard us and was trying to make his escape," Creamer said.

Crime doesn't pay (Hint: Do not hide in a tiger cage at the zoo)

From Reuters:
Animals know stupid when they see it
Jan 3, 12:38 PM (ET)
By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African mugger fleeing the scene of his crime hides in a tiger enclosure.

... There was the South African robber who made the mistake last month of taking refuge in an enclosure which turned out to be home to a pair of unimpressed tigers.

He had fled into a nearby zoo after security guards heard the screams of a couple he had just mugged in Bloemfontein, about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

Not surprisingly, he was mauled to death by the big cats.

The mugger was not the first South African criminal to err in hiding among zoo animals.

Max, a 200 kg (440 lb) gorilla, won fame in 1997 after being wounded by a terrified gunman who jumped a moat into his space in Johannesburg's zoo while fleeing police.

Max pinned the fugitive against the wall of his enclosure and guarded him even after being shot until police arrived, making him an instant folk hero in crime-ridden South Africa.

Crime doesn't pay (part two)

From Reuters:
Maybe you shouldn't answer a stolen phone..
Jan 3, 12:39 PM (ET)

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police caught a burglar after he answered a phone he had just stolen and did not hang up, letting them eavesdrop on his getaway ride in a taxi.

The man broke into a house in Overtornea in the far north of Sweden, stealing a mobile phone and other possessions.

The police rang the stolen phone and heard him swearing about the late arrival of a taxi which he had ordered to take him to neighboring Kalix, 37 miles away.

"The thief answered the phone but then just put it away without turning it off," said Overtornea policeman Kurt Paavola.

The police tracked down the taxi and arrested the man late Monday.