That's What Drugs Will Do

Here are some things that have happened around the area where I live:

1.  A guy who has been accused of making meth was found hiding under his house.  He had a trap door in a bedroom, so when the police came knocking, he went through the door and hid under the house.  Yep, they caught him.  Looks like he left his friend to fend for herself; she was being held with some meth-related charges.

2.  Two former workers at a Tiger Sanctuary decided to "get to drinking" (that's what the paper said...no lie!), then run naked (or would that be "nekked" since they were up to something?) through their former workplace.  They also vandalized the on-site trailer they lived in.

3.  (This doesn't have anything to do with drugs, but they do have drugs in a hospital, so maybe it does!)  Bedbugs were found in a chair in a local hospital.  None were found in the bed, but they fumigated several rooms, then were given an "all clear".

4.  A woman called 911 and reported herself as driving under the influence.  She called and said that she had too much to drink and shouldn't be driving, and apologized for getting behind the wheel.  The local police used the GPS on her phone to determine her location, and an officer who was in the area found her, ran her plates to make sure it was her, and pulled her over.  The lady said she had only had one beer, and while the officer was informing her of her rights, she was making all kinds of noise so he couldn't get through the implied consent.  The unruly behavior continued and she was put in a restraint cell.

And finally:

5.   In a Nashville area high school, ten high school boys were caught smoking pot in the locker room. Before a game.  They were expelled.  One of the comments:  The team's fight song was changed to "Puff The Magic Dragon."  (The team lost the game 38-0.)

In the words of Ron White:  "You can't fix stupid." 

Sidenote:  Last night, the high school football players for the small school in the small town wore pink socks during the game for Breast Cancer Awareness.  The mother of one of the boys that MS graduated with lost her battle a couple of weeks ago.  Nothing was mentioned in the paper about the pink socks.  Now, if one of these boys had gotten in trouble it would've been front page news.  Sad...

In the News

I did this a while ago, and thought it was time for another installment of things that had happened in my neck of the woods that were newsworthy.  Or somebody thought they were, anyway!


1.  A couple of weeks ago, in a small town about an hour, hour & a half away from here, 6 women held a man captive in a thrift store (until the police could arrive).  Why?  He had been watching women try on clothes through a peep hole!  Way to go, women!


2.  Remember the bear story:  a bear was euthanized because he bit a tourist who had gotten too close to him.  The tourist was trying to get a picture of the bear, and the bear ended up biting him on the foot.  Well, Mr. Tourist was back in the news last week: he was being cited for "disturbing a wild animal".  What did the tourist have to say about the bear dying?  He said it was unfortunate, but apparently it wasn't his fault.  You see, he blamed  people that  may or may not have fed the bear in the past for "taming" the bear.  He apparently wants to be some kind of hero, because he said he was glad  it was him  instead of a kid.  The bite didn't even draw blood, but I guess a bite is a bite.  Here's the kicker:  The tourist had just received his degree...in Environmental Studies  Hmmmm...


3.  In another town about an hour away from here, a man robbed a bank, then proceeded to crash into 3 police cruisers, tossing the evidence out in the road as he crashed.  He flipped his truck a few times after  he decided to cross the median to go the wrong way down the interstate.  His name?  He told them it was "John Doe". No police officers were injured, but "John" will be going to jail...after he gets out of the hospital!


4.  In the big city close by, the city council  put off voting on city residents having chickens used for laying eggs.  There will be a limit to how many they can have (6), and the residents have  to keep the coops clean and smell-free.  Okay, let me say this:  How in the world do you keep a chicken coop from  smelling?  The council did approve goats in a couple of parks.  They will be used for eating the kudzu that apparently are taking over the parks.


5.  I don't get the newspaper delivered to the house;  I check online for the news.  The picture that was on the online front page edition of the newspaper showed 2 local girls in front of a movie poster.  Guess what the movie was?  (I'm sure most of you guessed correctly!)  Eclipse.  One middle schooler (who was wearing a shirt with "Wolf Girl" on it) was quoted as saying, " He's awesome, because he's a real man — he don't sparkle".  Really, newspaper?  Could you have not used quotes and paraphrased what the girl said...with correct grammar?

So, has there been anything outside of the ordinary in your newspaper lately?

THE LAST MONDAY!

Look at my ticker right above this post.  Do you realize what it says?  THIS IS THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!  This year has flown by, but I'm ready to get some R&R for a few weeks!

I do have to clarify something that I put in my previous post:  MS pointed out that his class had actually lost 4 games; I forgot that when they were freshman they lost to a team in the nearby Big City.  (I thought that happened the year before.)  I did get the undefeated part right, though!

Here are a couple of interesting items in the news in my area this past week:
1)  A black bear was seen Thursday morning on the campus of a high school in the school system where I work.  Seems the bear went up into a tree on an adjacent property, and the wildlife officer deemed it harmless because it went up and had a snack.  Plus, it wasn't on school property, so it wasn't a threat to the students.  Thursday afternoon (after Sheriff's deputies watched it all day) she climbed down and then climbed into another tree.  They apparently decided to leave her after school, hoping she'd go back into the woods when it got cooler.  Guess she went on her way:  there wasn't anything in the paper about her as a follow-up.

2)  In Sunday's paper, there was an article about a man getting bit by a bear because he got too close to it while trying to take a picture of it.  The paper reported that he got within inches of her.  Seriously?  Are you kidding me?  This guy gets the idiot of the week year award.  I have to tell ya, when we go up to the mountains, go around "Loop Road" and see a bear, everybody has stopped, and some idiots people go traipsing across the field with their cameras to get a picture of it.   People:  When you go to the mountains and you see a bear, watch from a distance.  They are not pets.    They. Are. Wild. Animals.  Wild, not tame: not there for you to walk up to, not in a cage, not at the zoo, and definitely not at a petting zoo. 

3) The big city near my small town apparently compiles an annual list of 15 buildings for an endangered historic preservation list.  On the "Fragile 15" (No, I'm going to go through all of them...just a couple that sparked my interest!):
  a)  A building on the university campus:  The owner (an architect)  designed it for a childhood friend, who was the heir to Coca Cola.  The building was willed to the university with the stipulation that it was not to be sold or subdivided, and has to be used for certain purposes.  It's been vacant since 1983.  The historic organization offered to put in up to $200,000 to repair the building and keep it from deteriorating further, but the university said no, they would take up private donations instead.  Hmm...wonder how I can get my house on that list?  Wonder if having a bomb shelter in the basement would help?  (I'll have to tell my house story in another post!)
  b)  A building (or maybe it's all of the buildings...the story wasn't real specific) that was on an African-American college in the big city:  The building was designed by the students, and built with bricks that the students made on site.  Very cool.
When we went to Copenhagen last summer, it was amazing to see all of these buildings that had been there forever.  I think we, as Americans, should take a clue from them.  They will update the inside of the buildings, leaving the historical integrity of the facade.  Or, they find ways to integrate the old and the modern.  For example:  Here is a building that was used for making torpedoes during WWII; it's now an apartment building:

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best example because that building hadn't been there forever, but you get my point!  My main point is that, in the U.S., our thinking is to tear it down and rebuild it, but in other countries, it is more important to keep the historical aspects of a building and modernize the inside.  Like this apartment building:

 

Husband & I went out last night for our anniversary dinner.  It's not until Tuesday (Gee, wonder what Tuesday's post will be about?), but with soccer and the band banquet, we decided to go out then.  We're so cheap:  we used a 2 complimentary dinner coupon I got for Christmas from Ms. Principal!  Can't beat it:  2 starters, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts for free, plus the waiter gets a very large tip!  Winners all around!  Oh, and the food was most excellent!

Hope everyone has an Extraordinary Monday!