Watercooler Stories

Worker suspended for not greeting mayor

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Florida beach maintenance worker says she was suspended for two days without pay for failing to speak to the city's mayor when she visited her work area.

Cassandra Moye, 44, a five-year maintenance worker with the Deerfield Beach Parks and Recreation Department charged with keeping the city's beach areas clean, said she was suspended and threatened with termination for failing to greet Mayor Peggy Nolan, the South Florida Times, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reported.

"I didn't speak to the mayor and so my supervisor suspended me for two days," Moye said.

"The disrespectful attitude you displayed to the mayor was unacceptable," George Edmunds, the city's acting director of parks and recreation, wrote in a suspension memo issued Monday to Moye.

"The mayor indicated that this was not the first time that you had not acknowledged her when you came into contact," Edmonds wrote. "This type of behavior will not be tolerated and is detrimental to the department. Your actions have caused irrevocable damage to the welfare of the department and your fellow workers."

Moye said she was not given a hearing, union representation or an opportunity to explain her side of the story. Officials with her union, local 1010 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said they plan to file grievances.

Man nears 50 jobs in 50 states goal

BROCKTON, Calif., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A California man on a mission to work a different job in each of the 50 states said he has reached the 45-state marker in Massachusetts as a first base coach.

Daniel Seddiqui, 27, who set off on his 50-state quest after graduating with a degree in economics and failing to gain a job from 40 interviews, said he is working this week as first base coach for the Brockton Rox baseball team and next week he'll be working for the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, WCVB-TV, Boston, reported.

"I just left my driveway with no money. I was negative $65,000 from school loans and I bought my car right before I left. And, just made it all work. I had no other options," Seddiqui said. "I've probably made from $50,000 to $60,000 this year. And I have saved all of it. Three thousand dollars in one week when I was in Minnesota medical device manufacturing. And the lowest is probably $100, but I was working with Amish people building furniture."

Web site tells moviegoers when to pee

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A California movie buff's Web site purports to list the least-interesting chunks of currently playing films so audience members know the best time to go pee.

Dan Florio's Web site, Runpee.com, which is also available as an iPhone application, suggests viewers of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" take a bathroom break 33 minutes in, when "Dumbledore says, 'Off to bed, pip-pip,'" or at the 1 hour, 37 minute mark, when "Harry invites Professor Slughorn to go and see Hagrid with him," the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The Web site further helps moviegoers by allowing them to then view a synopsis of the scene they missed while hitting the head.

Runpee.com offers similar services for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Funny People," "Bruno" and several other movies currently playing in theaters.

Man struck by airplane piece

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Michigan man said he was struck on the shoulder by a piece of an airplane while he was talking to his wife in front of his home.

Wissam Beydoun, 41, of Dearborn, said he initially thought his wife had thrown something at him when he felt the impact on his shoulder, which he said left only a bump, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"Then I thought it was part of a chimney lining covering, so I started looking at my roof, my neighbor's roof," he said. "Before I looked at the piece, I was going to throw it out."

Beydoun said he examined the piece and found "Aircraft weight on wheels inflation chart" printed near a serial number on the aluminum scrap. He said he reported his find to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"My main concern is to pinpoint this airplane, because it poses a danger if it's getting ready to fly," he said. "From what this part indicates, it has to do with a cover of the wheel mechanism, you know, how the wheels drop down."