WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2007(AP)
A construction worker who fell about 40 feet down an elevator shaft is nearly unhurt, with no serious injuries. District of Columbia Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter said the man, who's about 25 years old, was working on a house under construction in Southeast Washington Friday morning.The worker, who Etter says weighs more than 300 pounds, was standing on a plywood platform in the elevator shaft at the top level of the house.The board couldn't support his weight and the man fell 40 feet down the shaft before he crashed into the basement. He broke two more platforms on his way down.The worker wasn't wearing safety equipment, Etter said."It is unbelievable that the guy first of all survived, and secondly survived with what appear to be minor injuries," Etter said.He said it took a concerted effort on behalf of the fire department to secure the man and get him out of the basement. Etter said he suspects the man was OK because the platforms may have broken his fall.
The man has not been identified, and Etter said the hospital was probably not going to admit him
I think weaight watchers may be in order
OBERLIN, Kan., Dec. 14, 2007(AP)
A postcard featuring a color drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed in 1914, but its journey was slower than Christmas. It just arrived in northwest Kansas.
The Christmas card was dated Dec. 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from her cousins in Alma, Neb.It's a mystery where it spent most of the last century, Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said. "It's surprising that it never got thrown away," he said. "How someone found it, I don't know."
Ethel Martin is deceased, but Schultz said the post office wanted to get the card to a relative.
That's how the 93-year-old relic ended up with Bernice Martin, Ethel's sister-in-law. She said she believed the card had been found somewhere in Illinois.
"That's all we know," she said. "But it is kind of curious. We'd like to know how it got down there."
The card was placed inside another envelope with modern postage for the trip to Oberlin _ the one-cent postage of the early 20th century wouldn't have covered it, Martin said."We don't know much about it," she said. "But wherever they kept it, it was in perfect shape."
Owe our postal servise
BURLINGTON, Maine, Dec. 14, 2007(AP)
A fire chief in Penobscot County has been charged with being drunk behind the wheel while driving a fire truck with its lights on and its sirens going.
Russell Banks of Burlington was arrested around midnight Saturday after a resident complained that Banks was racing a fire tanker by his home even though there was no fire in the area.
Banks, 34, is chief of the Triangle Fire Department, a volunteer association that provides service for Burlington, Lowell and Grand Falls Township.
When a Penobscot County sheriff's deputy responded, he located the truck and noticed that Banks smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. A blood alcohol test showed Banks was at twice the legal limit.Deputy Chief Troy Morton said the resident told police that Banks was blasting his siren in retaliation for a neighborhood dispute.
And of corse cant leave out the fire deparment
By Claire Sibonney Fri Dec 14, 11:43 AM ET TORONTO (Reuters) -
A Canadian oil-field worker, stunned to get a C$85,000 ($83,700) cell phone bill, has had the charges reduced to C$3,400, but is still fighting themPiotr Staniaszek, a 22-year-old oil and gas well tester in rural northwest Alberta, became a figure of international media attention this week when his father went to the press to complain about the size of his son's bill.Staniaszek's father, also named Piotr Staniaszek, said his son thought he could use his new phone as a modem for his computer as part of his C$10 unlimited browser plan from Bell Mobility, a division of Bell Canada.He downloaded movies and other high-resolution files unaware of the charges they would incur."He's working in the field sometimes, alone, in the shack. What to do? Drink vodka or go on the Internet?" Staniaszek senior told Reuters on Thursday from Calgary, Alberta."Now it's $85,000 and nobody told him," he said.According to his invoice, the son rang up C$60,000 in charges in November, and they have since climbed to C$85,000.Staniaszek senior said Bell has agreed to reduce the charges to C$3,400 for "goodwill.""It's still high...Who can afford it?" he said, adding his son can barely make payments on a new truck he bought for work, and will continue to fight the charges.A Bell spokesman said the plan is not intended for downloading files to a computer, and that's clear in his contract.
Staniaszek said his son did not want to talk to the press after the interest his story has received and that he is afraid to use his cell phone and incur more long-distance charges.
Had to go to Canadia for this poor soul
Just showes ya the fine print is a bitch
