Watercooler Stories

Sleeping teen found in trashed house

GOLDSBORO, N.C., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A Goldsboro, N.C., couple said they returned home after a long business trip to find their house trashed, items missing and a teenager sleeping in their bed.

Wayne County deputies said the sleeping teenager, Aaron Scott Everett, 16, was charged with felony breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen property and they expect more arrests as the investigation continues, WRAL, Raleigh, N.C., reported Wednesday.

Ron and Barbara Watson said they found broken bottles, matches, guns, ammunition and human feces strewn about their home.

"These kids made it a crack house; they made it a party house," Ron Watson said. "What appeared to be crack bottles were laying all over the house, so they were doing some kind of drugs here."

"There were hundreds of chicken bones all over the house. Both the toilets were stopped up with chicken bones," he said. "They must have had a smoke fire in here or a grease fire, because there was soot all over the place."

Watson estimated the total cost in damage and stolen goods -- including a TV, computers and jewelry -- to be more than $30,000.

Elderly pen pals marry in nursing home

WINDSOR, Conn., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A pair of pen pals aged 85 and 96 have wed in a Windsor, Conn., nursing home after seven months of correspondence through the mail, the couple said.

Australia native Thelma Symonds, 85, said she moved to the Kimberley Hall nursing home in Windsor after her husband of 60 years died, WFSB-TV, Hartford, Conn., reported Wednesday.

Symonds said she met her future hubby, Chauncey Christofferson, 96, after he responded to an article she had written in a military magazine about her late husband. The two corresponded for seven months before Christofferson made the trek to meet his future bride in person.

"We actually fell in love the old-fashioned way," Christofferson said. "(We wrote) for seven months until I finally came to meet her. I knew who to look for, her room number. I walked right into her room, unannounced."

The pair said they decided to get married last year. The ceremony was held at the nursing home Tuesday before an assembled crowd of family and friends.

"I don't feel nervous at all," Symonds said before the ceremony. "I just feel plain excited. We've talked about it a lot, but never quite got around to doing it."

TV interview interrupted by snake

DELAND, Fla., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A Volusia County, Fla., woman said a snake that apparently floated in with floodwaters from Tropical Storm Fay nearby bit her during a TV interview.

Lori Hark said she was speaking with WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., inside her flooded home when she and the news crew suddenly found themselves fleeing from a snake in the hallway, WKMG-TV reported Wednesday.

"A snake about (4 feet long) just skidded right in front of me and I screamed," Hark said. "It went straight up about two feet. So, yeah, pretty much everything in there is going to stay."

Hark said floodwaters have continued to rise in her neighborhood while floods in other areas have subsided.

"Our furniture is destroyed," Hark said. "We have leather furniture so it just soaked the water all night long. The television and radio (were put up) but you can't stop the water from coming up."

Some homeowners said the water level inside their houses had reached 2 inches Tuesday.

Italian priest cancels nun beauty contest

MONDRAGONE, Italy, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A Mondragone, Italy, priest said he has canceled plans for a nun beauty contest after religious leaders objected to his idea.

Father Antonio Rungi said the contest, which he described as an attempt to dispel the stereotype of all nuns being old and unpleasant looking, will not appear on his blog as planned next month due to objections from local Catholic leaders, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

"My superiors were not happy," Rungi said of the church's reaction to his plan to post pictures and descriptions of each contestant on his blog.

"The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either," he said.

"It was interpreted as more of a physical thing," he said. "Now, no one is saying that nuns can't be beautiful, but I was thinking about something more complete."

Rungi said the contest was also aimed at highlighting the good works done by the contestants, especially in education and health care, to give a more complete picture of a nun's inner beauty.

"We have to draw more attention to the world of nuns, who are often not sufficiently appreciated by society," Rungi wrote in his blog. "Nuns are -- above all -- women, and beauty is a gift from God."