About those chain e-mails …

An article appearing in the St. Petersburg Times urges peolpe to stop passing on chain e-mails until they at leat try to check them out first.

The writer says, “Please. For the love of humanity. Just stop. Or at the very least, please stop sending them to me.”

He goes on to list some of them that irritate him:

1. Your cell phone is extremely unlikely to blow up your gas tank. [this may have had some validity in the early years of cell phones but static sparks from sliding out of your car seat at a gas station was always a much greater risk].

2. Starbucks (or Target, or insert name of retailer here) does not hate veterans.

3. A dying 7-year-old girl did not write a moving poem that will raise money for cancer.

4. The United States is not merging with Canada and Mexico in 2010.

5. There is no "Life is Beautiful" computer virus.

The writer goes on to explain how e-mail claims can be checked:

Type the words "Internet hoax" into an Internet search.

You'll find several sites that specialize in tracking down the truth or falsity of rumors. His favorite is snopes.com.

In turn, those sites usually have their own search function. (Don't be fooled, by the way, by e-mails that claim to have been "checked out." Do it yourself anyway.)

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Hillary skipped out on New Hampshire rent

The Hillary Clinton campaign rented a building in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The landlord, Dr. Terry Bennett, said it was a 3,000-square-foot building with office space, a kitchen, bathroom and a 1,800-foot warehouse. They used the property as a campaign center and dormitory.

When they were done, they left the place trashed and skipped without paying rent.

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Leroy Van Dyke video - The Auctioneer

Click here for a YouTube video of The Auctioneer sung by trained auctioneer and country music artist, Leroy Van Dyke.

It’s always fun to hear the rhythmic chant of a good auctioneer.

Racers from erasers

These cool e-racers are made from Pink Pearl trapezoidal erasers.

They are probably fairly easy to make and can be made to look really cool.

Draw on them with a pen as on the right or carve them as shown on the left.

A great rainy-day project for kids.

Move over Rubik’s. Make way for Idiot's cube

This is a spoof on Rubik’s Cube, the classic puzzle that has been driving us nuts for the last thirty years.

The Idiot's Cube is the perfect gag gift and you can get one of your very own for thirteen bucks.

It’s a puzzle that absolutely any one can solve. No matter which way you turn it, the puzzle is solved. Keep turning as much as you want and it remains solved.

A great item for the puzzle hater on your gift list.

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A house to die for

So desperate to sell house they offer full refund when they die

A Pittsburgh area couple seem dead serious (pun intended) about selling their house.

It's the deal of a lifetime. Bob and Ricki Husick of Pittsburgh are offering anyone who buys their home a full refund when they die.

The Husicks have been trying to sell their suburban home for almost a year, but have failed to do so in the current shaky market.

Some area homeowners have lowered prices, offered free trips and tried a variety of other gimmicks, but the Husicks came up with their own unique incentive.

The couple have no heirs and built the house in 1993. They want $399,900 for the four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home, which is located about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Under the Husicks' offer, the buyer would get the sale price back when they die.

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Icy curbs do not forgive

Some people will use any excuse to re-use old blog postings.

Manure reduces development of lung cancer

Scientists have discovered that working with manure drastically reduces the risk of developing lung cancer.

Dairy farmers are five times less likely than the general populace to develop the disease, New Scientist magazine reports.

The study found farmers typically breathed in dust that consisted largely of dried manure, and all the bacteria that grew in it.

New Scientist said adults who had a greater exposure to germs than usual might build up a better resistance to bugs, including cancer.

What about politicians? They should never need to worry about lung cancer.

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ICE your cell phone for safety

If you have read this on this blog before it’s because I think this is imortant enough to post here every so often.

The American College of Emergency Physicians wants you to add a listing in your cell phone directory.

By entering the acronym ICE (In Case of Emergency) – into your cell phone book, users can list the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency.

Will this ensure that all emergency personnel will look in your cell phone for your ICE listing in an emergency?

The answer is no, not every time.

Put ICE in your phone anyway. What if doctors, firefighters, police or paramedics looked in your cell phone for an emergency contact (ICE) listing and it wasn’t there?

Be safe and ICE your phone!

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