Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Carjacked tyke knocks on woman's door at 2 a.m. - Yahoo! News

He's standing next to his car while the keys and the toddler are inside.  That should amaze me but it doesn't.  I've seen lots of people do it.  Once a lady wanted a soda so badly that she pulled up to the curb in her van and left it running with the driver's door open and her kids inside. She dashed over to the vending machine to get a soda.  I walked past the van, glanced inside at the kids as I passed it, and then over at the woman (I was between her and the van) and went on walking by. 
Did I look that trustworthy?  Was she that sure I wasn't having a bad day? 
Or was she really that stupid? 
Or maybe she was having a really bad day and wished her kids would get carjacked so she could get national media attention and her insurance would buy her a new van. 
 

http://news.yahoo.com/carjacked-tyke-knocks-womans-door-2-m-151702257.html

Carjacked tyke knocks on woman's door at 2 a.m.

DENVER (AP) — A 3-year-old is back with his parents after he knocked on a stranger's door in the middle of the night following the hijacking of his father's car at a Colorado Springs, Colo., convenience store with him in the back seat.

"Help me, I'm cold," the toddler told Traci Gilbert, who answered the door.

She said she heard her doorbell ring about 2:15 a.m. Sunday and got up to check. Gilbert looked through the peephole and didn't see anyone, so she opened her door. Outside, she found the 3-year-old covered in snow and sleet, wearing nighttime diapers and a thin jacket.

"He wasn't crying. He never shed a single tear the whole time. That boy is a hero to me," Gilbert said.

Gilbert said Monday she is still amazed that the toddler made it up 14 slick steps to her front door on the second floor of a duplex, carrying a plastic bag that held a container of soy milk, a Sippy cup, two diapers, wipes and pajama bottoms.

She believes the car thief picked her home because it was near the store where the car was stolen. The temperature was in the 30s and the weather was alternating between sleet and snow.

"He didn't even wait until the child was safe inside," Gilbert said, her voice shaking with anger.

The father, Anthony Pettiford, said Monday he was headed home from a family gathering when he stopped to buy some gum. He was chatting with friends next to his car when someone jumped in the driver's seat and took off. Pettiford chased the car down the street while his friends chased the vehicle for about 10 blocks before losing it. The friends said the car thief must have turned back to drop the boy off three blocks from the store, then left the child to fend for himself.

Pettiford said he believes his son, whose name has not been released, was trying to return to the convenience store to find him when he showed up on the woman's doorstep.

"He knew what to do. He's a champ," Pettiford said.

Gilbert, a 53-year-old nurse at Memorial Hospital, said at first she was afraid that the boy's father had put him out in the cold because of a domestic argument or he had run away from home, but when she asked, the boy told her his parents were "happy."

Gilbert's adult son took the boy in his car to find his father. Gilbert's son waved down an officer searching for the boy and he was reunited with his father.

Barbara Miller, spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs Police Department, said Monday it is unlikely Pettiford will face charges because he was standing next to his vehicle when the child was abducted. The suspect and the car, a white 1995 Chrysler New Yorker, are still missing.



Thursday, March 8, 2012

Lottery winner on food stamps: ‘I thought maybe it was okay because I’m not working’ - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/lottery-winner-food-stamps-thought-maybe-okay-because-161650898.html

Lottery winner on food stamps: 'I thought maybe it was okay because I'm not working'



While most people have played the "if I had a million dollars I would ____ " thought game, few fill that blank in with "stay on public assistance."

Amanda Clayton, a 24-year-old from Lincoln Park, Michigan, is one of the few who does, and she is getting away with it. Clayton won $1 million from the Michigan State Lottery this fall, but she is still collecting and using $200 a month in food assistance from the taxpayers with her Michigan Bridge Card.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was okay because I'm not working," the lottery winner who just purchased a new house and car told Local 4 in Detroit. The station even filmed her shamelessly purchasing goods.

When Local 4 asked if she felt she had a right to the money, Clayton responded, "I mean I kinda do."

Clayton justified the sentiment by explaining that after taking her winnings in a lump sum and having to pay taxes, the total amount was just over half of the initial winnings.

"I feel that it's okay because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay," she said. "I have two houses."

A bill to prevent this type of behavior, sponsored by state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has passed the state House, as has a companion bill in the state Senate.

"Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches," said Zorn, who has sponsored a bill requiring the state to cross-check the names of lottery winners of prizes over $1,000 with names of individuals on the dole.

Until Clayton is cut off, however, she says she intends to continue to use her benefits.




Parents Forget Child, 3, at Chuck E Cheese, Find Out on Evening News - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/parents-forget-child-3-chuck-e-cheese-evening-164538922--abc-news.html

Parents Forget Child, 3, at Chuck E Cheese, Find Out on Evening News

Parents of a 3-year-old girl had some explaining to do after they forgot their daughter at a Chuck E Cheese and did not realize it until they saw her picture on the evening news.

The girl, named Harmony, was left behind at the theme restaurant in Bel Air, Md., after she attended a large party with her parents. According to a report from the Harford County Sheriff's Office,  both of Harmony's parents, who share custody, assumed the girl had gone home with other relatives.

A restaurant manager alerted sheriff's deputies around 8 p.m.  that the girl had been left alone  after Harmony approached a staff member to say  she was thirsty.

Unable to locate the 3-year-old girl's parents, the deputies asked local news media to put Harmony's picture on the evening news.

Shortly after Harmony's picture showed up on the 11 p.m. newscast, multiple phone calls came into the Sheriff's Office, including calls from the girl's  parents. After police determined that Harmony's abandonment was inadvertent, Child Protective Services released her to her mother, and no charges are expected to be filed.

Calls to the Harford County Sheriff's Office from ABC News were not immediately returned.



Friday, March 2, 2012

Princess Kelly: A Real American Princess in Germany

from here: 
http://royalcorrespondent.com/2010/12/08/a-real-american-princess-in-germany-hh-the-hereditary-princess-kelly-of-saxe-coburg-gotha/

A Real American Princess in Germany: Her Highness Princess Kelly, The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha

 

A week or so ago I posted an article about Carina Axelsson, the American woman living in Bad Berleburg castle who is not actually a real Princess, but is a permanent girlfriend to His Highness Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittengenstein-Berleburg.  Since then I have received a couple of emails wondering if there were any American women who have married into royal or princely houses.

So to answer the curious question:  Yes.  Yes, there is.  Recently, in fact.

In May 2009, Miss Kelly Rondestvedt married one of the most eligible bachelor’s in the world.  His name:  His Highness Prince Hubertus, The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha.  Now, you may have heard of the House of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha before; however, if you have not here are several important facts you should know.

First, Her Majesty Queen Victoria of Great Britain married His Highness Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha.  They produced a lot of children.  As a result, many of them married into all the important royal as well as princely houses in Europe.  Second,  during World War I there was an immense despise for everything German and the British royal family is, after-all, completely German bloodline-wise. As a result, Lord Stamfordom convinced His Majesty King George V of Great Britain (Queen Victoria’s son) to change the family name from the House of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha to the House of Windsor.  If Lord Stamfordom had not recommended this change to the King the British royal family’s name, today, would be the House of  Saxe-Coburg und Gotha.

Other royal houses tied to the House of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha include the Belgian and Bulgarian royal families and the House of Braganza (Portugal).   His Majesty King Carl Gustaf of Sweden is also related to the house via his mother, Her Highness Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha who became Queen of Sweden when she married HRH Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden.

Over all the House of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha is extremely important… historically.

Now, back to the American Princess.

Miss Kelly Rondestvedt hails from San Diego, CA and by all accounts she is an incredibly intelligent woman who obtained her Bachelor of Arts as well as an MBA from UCLA.  In 2002, she moved to New York City where she took up a job as an investment banker.  In the Fall of 2008, Kelly and Prince Hubertus spoke with iTV Coburg months before their wedding. During the interview, Miss Rondestvedt explained how she met the handsome German Prince, “I was at a restaurant with my girlfriends, and I saw Hubertus from across the room and thought he was so handsome…”  Sparks flew and eventually the couple began to date.

A year (or so) later His Highness Prince Hubertus proposed to Kelly at his family’s palace, Schloss Callenberg,  in Coburg, Germany.

The couple first had a civil ceremony on May 21, 2009.  Days later on May 23, 2009 the couple had their religious ceremony at the St. Moritz Church in Coburg, Germany.  It was a beautiful day, as seen by the photos as well as video, and many princely families from Germany attended.  TM King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden and HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium also attended the ceremony.

Today, Their Highnesses live in New York City where His Highness Prince Hubertus works for a German bank and Her Highness Princess Kelly still works as an investment banker.  However, the couple mentioned that they would eventually move back to Schloss Callenberg in Coburg, Germany in the future.

On June 19, 2010, Their Highnesses attended the royal wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden to Mr. Daniel Westling.  It was during this occasion that we finally had a chance to see the Princess in the Saxe-Coburg und Gotha in HH Victoria Adelheid’s Button Tiara (which hasn’t seen the light of day since… I don’t know… forever.)   Also, there is a good chance that we will see the couple at the upcoming wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales to Miss Catherine Middleton this April 29, 2011.

Hopefully, there will be more news about the couple in the future.  So stay tuned.    :)


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Symmetric mileage

I happened to look at the odometer when it was almost 242424.2, and I watched it carefully, but it passed that excellent number while I was going around a curve on an offramp, and I simply couldn't, though I wilted with disappointment. 

odometer-van-242424-5

Generic custom license plate!

I love this.  They went to the trouble and expense of getting a personalized plate only to sarcastically non-personalize...

LICPLTE

Here's the shoes I'd wear

Oh yeah.  If I was going to wear ridiculous showy shoes that would make me tower over everybody else, it would be these! 

shoes-I-like