Watercooler Stories

Man OK after accidental ejection

LANGEBAANWEG, South Africa, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- South African military officials said a civilian joyriding with an air force pilot friend was not injured when he was accidentally ejected from the aircraft.

An air force spokesman confirmed the civilian inadvertently grabbed the eject lever while riding in a Pilatus PC-7 Mk II with a member of the Silver Falcons air force air display team, the Daily Mail of Britain reported.

The passenger was blasted 320 feet over the plane by a rocket powered chair and floated to the ground with an automatic parachute near Langebaanweg airfield, about 80 miles north of Cape Town.

"The passenger was recovered unharmed, and returned to Langebaanweg. The aircraft landed safely," the spokesman said.

He said civilians are not usually allowed in the planes and an investigation has been opened.

Coffins shaped like phones, bottles

LONDON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A British company specializing in custom coffins said orders have been pouring in for caskets shaped like beer bottles, cell phones and other objects.

David Crampton, managing director of Crazy Coffins, said the caskets, which cost between $3,280 and $9,840, inject a little light into the darkness of a funeral, The Sun reported.

"We give families the option to try and make a difficult event more cheerful," he said. "It isn't for everybody but it's something people can choose if they want to do things differently and try and make a few people smile on the day."

Crampton said many of his clients are people preparing for their own deaths.

"One customer spent most of his holidays on the Orient Express with his wife. He decided when he dies he wants to be buried in a replica of the coach he always used," he said. "He has visited the crematorium to check it will fit and paid in full for it."

Woman sues police show over arrest tape

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- An Illinois woman whose pajama pants came down during her arrest is suing the cable TV network that recorded the incident for a program.

Chelsea Frederick of Naperville and her sister, Ferrara Daum, who was also at the scene of the arrest last year, said in their federal lawsuit that the Biography Channel, A&E Television Networks LLC, producers Greif Co. and the city of Naperville violated their privacy by airing the segment on series "Female Forces" in November 2008, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The suit says the tape of the arrest focuses on the "indecently exposed skin above the waistband of (Frederick's) pajamas." It states Frederick was asked to sign a release for use of her identity while in a holding cell but refused. Daum was never asked to sign a release, the suit says.

Missing ring lost during trick-or-treat

TERRANCE PARK, Ohio, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- An Ohio woman who may have accidentally tossed her wedding ring into a Halloween bag says she hopes a parent finds the ring and returns it to her.

Elizabeth Olson, of Terrance Park, Ohio, near Cincinnati suspects the vintage three-diamond ring slipped off her finger as she handed out sweets to trick-or-treaters at her door Saturday night.

"I had it enlarged, and then when it got cold you know your fingers get smaller, and I noticed it was spinning around more than it had been before, but I didn't realize that it would slip off," Olson told WXIX-TV, Cincinnati.

She says she hopes a parent may have found the ring while inspecting their child's trick-or-treat goodies.

"I just hope that it finds its way back," she said.