Watercooler Stories

N.Y. sanitation workers may get own museum

NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The sanitation workers who remove garbage for New York residents may soon be honored with a museum dedicated to their efforts.

Two New York University professors have already created an exhibit that extols the everyday accomplishments of the city's sanitation workers, and if the educators get their way a museum will soon follow, The New York Post said Sunday.

"If you look at the role of the department in the city's history, it helped turn it into the global capital it is today," said anthropology professor Robin Nagle. "If we couldn't keep our streets clean, we wouldn't be the shining urban center that we have become."

Nagle said he and fellow professor Haidy Geismar plan to use their exhibit to push for an official Department of Sanitation museum.

"The exhibit is the seed from which the larger museum will grow," he told the Post.

N.Y. bar to reward its heavy drinkers

NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A bar in New York has decided to reward its heavier drinkers by passing out prizes ranging from a novelty beer to round-trip airfare to California.

Regulars of the Pacific Standard bar say the prospect of winning prizes simply by drinking has its allure, at least more than your usual supermarket rewards program, The New York Daily News reported.

"There's more chance I'd use this rewards card than a supermarket loyalty card," regular Colin Cheney said.

John Rauschenberg, a co-owner of the bar, said regulars will be able to save up points through purchases and cash those points in for a variety of prizes.

"It's the stuff that's going to embarrass us that I expect people will be cashing in their points for," Rauschenberg told the newspaper. "I don't expect to see anybody saving up the 7,000 points needed to fly to California, but I might be wrong."

The bar owner said the sales campaign was created to help the bar stand out from its competitors and was not aimed at promoting heavier drinking.

$18,000 belt will tighten pants, wallet

NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Not only will the newest belt being sold by a New York company keep your pants tight, but its $18,000 price tag will put a strong grip on your wallet, as well.

The key to the big-bucks leather belt being offered by the men's accessories company Kale Miles is its platinum buckle, The New York Post said.

With an ounce of platinum currently valued at nearly $1,560, the 7- to 8-ounce buckle easily prices the belt out of most people's range.

But for those interested in looking good no matter the cost, obtaining one of the custom-made belts is pretty simple.

The Post said potential customers just need to inform the company of their waist size and production begins in Maine, where workers spend a week producing the lavish belt using leather from a special breed of cow and, of course, the costly but likely stylish belt buckle.

Injured during escape, he sues the jail

DENVER, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A former Pueblo County (Colo.) Jail prisoner is suing the county for injuries he sustained during an attempted escape.

Scott Anthony Gomez Jr., who had already escaped from the jail once, but was apprehended after two days at large, was seriously injured on his second attempt, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Gomez was using bed sheets to rappel down an 85-foot building in 2006 when he fell 40 feet to the ground.

After corrections officials asked a court to order Gomez to repay $64,000 in medical expenses, Gomez filed suit, alleging authorities made it too easy to break out.

"Defendants … did next to nothing to ensure that the jail was secure and the plaintiff could not escape," the federal lawsuit says.

Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor, who took office the day before Gomez was injured, said the lawsuit "doesn't pass the straight-face test."

"He is the criminal here, not the sheriff," said the sheriff.

Gomez was in jail for violating parole in a 2004 weapons case. He claims in the suit that jail guards abused him -- and that after his first escape, he told authorities "there were many ways" to escape from the jail.