Aug 18 2008
Archive for the 'strange' Category
Aug 11 2008
Ohio church: No kissing, tickling allowed
[Yahoo]
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has issued a detailed list of inappropriate behaviors for priests, saying they should not kiss, tickle or wrestle children.
Read more here.
[From me]
They really have to make a rule like this in writing? Dude, I don’t kiss anyone besides my wife and family.
What do you think?
Jul 31 2008
Public School to charge for use of lockers!
The sturdy steel bastions where high schoolers shove their books, papers - and sometimes their classmates - will now come at a price for some local students.
Choctawhatchee High School will begin charging students $5 to use a locker next year.
With budget cuts, “it is strictly being done to help take care of the maintenance of the lockers,” said Choctaw Principal Cindy Massarelli-Gates.
Local high schools spend between $2,000 and $5,000 every summer repairing lockers and changing combinations, she said.
Massarelli-Gates doesn’t expect the fee will “be a big shock” for parents, particularly because Crestview and Niceville high schools have been charging a similar fee for the past few years.
“The cost of keeping up a locker is a lot,” Massarelli-Gates said. “That cost has just continued to go up. As our budget has tightened, we’ve had to look at some ways to tighten some things.”
In addition to rising costs, schools are facing declining enrollment. Schools are funded by the state primarily on the number of full-time students.
Read more here.
[From me]
What’s next? Charging for use of the restroom? How about having a toll booth set up in the hallway for access to go to class? They could even have a cover charge for the lunchroom. What other ways could they make money?
What do you think?
Jul 27 2008
One man’s trash is another’s treasure–but….?
Trash picking, Dumpster diving, recycling - whatever you call it, getting free stuff from the dump isn’t new. For decades, many towns have given residents a place to set aside used bikes, unwanted furniture and other still-useable items for other people to take. Usually, the set-aside areas were small and the items limited.
But in recent years, as dump areas (now solid waste facilities and transfer stations) look to cut the cost of trash disposal, lower their impact on the environment and help out residents, those set-aside areas have exploded into full-sized, free-for-the-taking swap shops offering everything from tableware to kitchen sinks in which to wash them.
Donors say swap shops help them cut down on clutter and give new life to stuff they don’t want. Shoppers say it helps them get items they couldn’t otherwise afford.
Read more here.
[From me]
My birthday is soon…don’t get any ideas! :)
Jun 28 2008
Amish feel gas price sting too–Really!
The last people on Earth untouched by the scourge of high gas prices. That horse-drawn lifestyle must make for easy living in times such as these.
Nonsense.
The idea that the Amish don’t notice the price at the pump is a fable for tourists and Sunday drivers.
Just ask the Amish.
“It’s getting high,” one Amish farmer said as he took a break from working in an alfalfa field in Lower Chanceford Township. The farmer would not give his name.
“I hope the price comes down soon,” he said.
The price of gas? From a bearded man sitting on a tractor pulled by two horses?
As the man spoke, the sputtering hum of a gas engine sounded in the field behind him. Another farmer led a team of horses.
They dragged a tractor with a gas-powered engine that mowed a 4-foot-wide stretch of alfalfa.
The Amish can operate gas engines, so long as they don’t propel a vehicle, the farmer by the road said.
That $3.97-a-gallon gas costs him the same as you.
Read about it here.
[From me]
I didn’t realize they could use any engines. What is the difference between having an engine power a vehicle vs. farm machinery? I wonder if they can use a generator to power their Alpine stereos on their horse and buggies?
What do you think?
