Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Mom's postcards on the way 26 years late

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 29 (UPI) -- An Anchorage, Alaska, woman who received a couple's postcards to their son 26 years after they were sent said they've been forwarded to the intended recipient.

Teresa Childs said she was contacted by James Jigliotti, 54, shortly after media reports of the postcards, which Olga Jigliotti mailed to her then 29-year-old son's Anchorage address while she and her husband, John, visited Italy, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

James Jigliotti, now of Atlanta, said he is more likely to treasure the items now than when he was supposed to receive them in March 1982. Olga Jigliotti died March 22, 2007, and John Jigliotti died March 23, 2008.

"You can never have enough of that stuff," James Jigliotti said Sunday. "It trickles away, more or less."

Computer down, some get free hotel rooms

OSLO, Norway, July 29 (UPI) -- An Oslo, Norway, hotel chain with locations stretching across Scandinavia said some guests received free rooms and services due to a computer error.

Choice Hotels said 130 of its Clarion, Quality and Comfort hotels were affected by the computer crash, causing at least one hotel to give guests free stays and others to give free meals and services, Aftenposten reported Monday.

"This can be expensive," Choice Hotels owner Petter Stordalen said of the error.

However, Managing Director Torgeir Silseth downplayed the extent of the trouble caused by the crash.

"It's not my impression that there were major problems because of the system trouble," Silseth said.

Man, 80, reprimanded for escalator run

FARNHAM, England, July 29 (UPI) -- An 80-year-old former Olympic hurdler said a Farnham, England, store has threatened to ban him if he is caught running up a down escalator again.

Peter Hildreth, who represented Britain at the Olympics in 1952, 1956 and 1960, said he used to train for his sport by running up the wrong escalators, and decided to try out his old training regime as his 80th birthday approached, The Daily Mail reported.

"I started doing it last month because I was turning 80. People did not see me do it to start with, I must have done it three or four times," he said.

Hildreth said he was finally caught by the head of the women's underwear department at the top of the escalator and was given a stern talking-to by store manager Graham Duerden, who said the elderly man was violating health and safety rules and setting a bad example for young people.

The former athlete said he has had his fill of his old pastime.

"I am not going to do it anymore," Hildreth said. "My wife will be annoyed about me doing it, she does not know until now."

No minimum bids for Seattle toilets

SEATTLE, July 29 (UPI) -- Seattle officials said eBay auctions for five self-cleaning public toilets failed to generate the minimum bids of $89,000 needed to win the commodes.

Seattle Public Utilities spokesman Andy Ryan said the city will keep trying to sell the German-made public toilets on eBay despite the failure of auctions that closed Saturday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

"Keep watching online," he said.

He said the latest eBay attempts will close for bidding Aug. 1.

Ryan said the city has spent about $5 million on maintenance of the toilets since they were acquired in 2004.