Lost man drives nine hours to get newspaper

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An elderly man who went out to fetch a morning newspaper ended up driving nearly 400 miles after getting lost and taking a wrong turn onto a major Australian highway, police said on Wednesday. The man, 81-year-old Eric Steward, eventually stopped and asked for directions after driving for nine hours, from the New South Wales country town of Yass to Geelong in the southern Victoria state.

Steward, who did not know where he was, eventually approached a policeman at a petrol station and asked for help late Wednesday.

"This little old man came up to me saying he was lost. He handed me his mobile and asked if I could speak to his wife," said Victorian Police Senior Constable Clayton Smith.

Steward, who was reunited with his family on Wednesday, said he took the wrong turn and just kept on going.

"I just went out on the road to have a drive, a nice peaceful drive," he told reporters, adding he did not need a satellite navigation device as he'd only been lost once.

(Reporting @ Reuters.com by James Grubel, editing by Miral Fahmy)

Is The World Getting Odder?

Author: Knight Pierce Hirst

Oddity #1: As of 2009 there are more new fragrances released yearly than there were in the 1970's and 1980's combined - at least 500 a year. In 2008 celebrity scents made up 10% of fragrance sales - more than 3 million bottles. It seems perfume is the best way to sell celebrity. The perfume houses don't pay for what's in the bottles. Fragrance manufacturers develop scents for free and share the profits with the perfume houses. Also, having celebrities' names on the bottles saves millions of advertising dollars. Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, 50 Cent - celebrities are profitably "scentimental".

Oddity #2: In 2009 the ball was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The curator explained that the Ball had just gotten in because the Toy Hall of Fame didn't come into existence until 1998 and because only 2 or 3 toys are inducted a year. Both the Atari 2600 Game System and the Nintendo Game Boy were already in. So were the Cardboard Box and the Stick. Obviously, those who decide which toys are inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame hadn't been keeping their eyes on the ball.

Oddity #3: On November 1, 2009 family and friends identified the body of 59-year-old Ademir Jorge Goncalves, a bricklayer in southern Brazil, who had died in a car crash. The funeral took place the following day, the Day of the Dead, a holiday when Latin Americans pray for family and friends who have died and remember them with gifts. When Goncalves attended his own funeral, shocked relatives tried to jump out of windows in the funeral home. Although Goncalves wasn't dead, he'd been dead the night before - dead drunk in a bar near the crash site.

Oddity #4: On November 11, 2009 Forbes magazine ranked Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman 41st on its list of the world's most powerful people. That ranking put him ahead of Russian President Medvedev (43), Oprah Winfrey (45), Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu (46) and U.S. Chief Justice Roberts (49). Guzman isn't a world leader, a religious leader or a humanitarian. He's a reputed, Mexican drug lord, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, with a $5 million reward on his head. Over the past 8 years Guzman has shipped between $6 billion and $19 billion in cocaine to the U.S. The world's 41st most powerful person is a drug dealer addicted to power.

About the Author:

Knight Pierce Hirst has written for television, newspapers and greeting cards. Now she writes a 400-word blog three times a week. KNIGHT WATCH, a second look at what makes life interesting, takes only seconds to read at http://knightwatch.typepad.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Is The World Getting Odder?

Medical Monday

I have decided to follow the examples of many other bloggers and devote Monday to a theme based day. Most of the other authors have "Music Monday", but you know that I am always a nonconformist. So here we have it, the post fist post of "Medical Monday", a day dedicated to weird or interesting medical facts, figures, and phenomena...

Weird Phobias

Author: Jodie A Harris

Have you ever heard the word ablutophobia? What about agyrophobia? Weird huh? Well, these words are as odd as what they represent; they mean fear of washing and bathing and fear of streets or crossing the streets.

Phobias play a decisive role in people’s behavior, even preventing them to achieve their goals in the most severe cases.
The definition of weird phobia is:

Strong fear or dislike: an irrational or very powerful fear and dislike of something such as spiders or confined spaces.

Now that we know what a phobia is, let’s go over some of the weirdest phobias:

Amychophobia- Fear of scratches or being scratched. Well, believe it or not, the fear of being scratched can become a phobia form some people.

Agrizoophobia- Fear of wild animals. Please do not take this people in your Sunday trip to the museum! Chances are, you will have to either leave the person the entire day in the car, or return home.

Bibliophobia- Fear of books. I wonder how this people graduate from High School or College?

Cacophobia- Fear of ugliness. Every plastic surgeon’s dream phobia that keeps the business running!

Chionophobia- Fear of snow. You should consider moving to Florida if you have such fear.

Coimetrophobia- Fear of cemeteries. Why fearing the place that you will end up at anyway?

Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of going to school. Well, we all have claimed this at some point!

Ergophobia- Fear of work. I have met some of those…

Geliophobia- Fear of laughter. Who can fear this?

Gnosiophobia- Fear of knowledge. You better think twice before skipping that math homework.

Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down. Definitely one of the weirdest!

Although some of the phobias above may be considered stupid or funny, this may become a medical condition that requires treatment when it reaches high levels. I will leave some more for you to research, it is surprising how everyday tasks or elements can represent a challenge for some people.

So, here they are: Melophobia, Nomatophobia, Oneirogmophobia, Pediophobia, Rhytiphobia.

So if you want more information about this topic please visit our site: http://www.weird-phobias.com/

About the Author:

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Weird Phobias