Watercooler Stories

Church raises $2.4 million in 3 days

A California megachurch that pleaded for "radical giving" to make up for low Christmas donations raised $2.4 million in three days, its pastor said.

Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest called the generosity a "miracle" while he preached Saturday at the vast church, attended by about 20,000 people a week, the Orange County Register reported.

On Wednesday, Warren posted an appeal on the church's Web site for donations to compensate for a $900,000 collections shortfall.

"I don't think any church has gotten a cash offering like that off a letter," Warren said.

"We're starting the new decade with a surplus. It came from thousands of ordinary people. There was not one big fat cat."

People rushed to the church to make their contributions, which resulted in the enormous sum -- and that excluded mailed-in donations, Warren said.

The money will be used in the church's ministries, including helping orphans, feeding more than 200,000 families and supporting small group ministries and Bible studies.

Warren said media criticism of the fundraising in recent days suggests some people do not know how a church operates.

"I knew critics and pundits would misunderstand this. We have never asked outsiders to give to the church," Warren said.

Woman loses everything in foreclosure flub

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A Las Vegas woman says she needs more than an apology and $5,000 from a real estate company that carted away all her belongings in a mistaken foreclosure.

Nilly Mauck, 31, says she returned to her condominium from a Colorado ski trip to find that in addition to her couch, bed, dining room set and computer missing, irreplaceable documents such as her father's military records, family photographs and her own immigration, medical and financial records had been hauled away, the Las Vegas Sun reported Saturday.

The real estate company, the Brenkus Team of Henderson, Nev., had admitted it meant to foreclose on a neighboring condo and initially offered Mauck $5,000, but she told the Sun that only added insult to injury.

"They came into my home and violated my dignity," she said, indicating she is instead seeking $200,000 and asserting it is "the memories that were taken" that upsets her most.

"There is no question that Ms. Mauck is entitled to fair compensation," said the firm's attorney, Albert Marquis. "But we think that her demand for $200,000 is greatly exaggerated."

The Sun said Brenkus has offered her $20,000.

Missing cat back with owner years later

OLDSMAR, Fla., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A Florida woman said her decision to remain hopeful for the return of her missing cat after two years was rewarded when she was reunited with the feline.

Deitra Jones of Oldsmar, Fla., said while her Himalayan named Fluff disappeared during the holiday season two years ago, she never gave up hope that one day she and her furry pet would be back together, WFTS-TV, Tampa, Fla., reported Saturday.

Jones admitted she was so desperate to find her beloved pet, she even contacted a pet psychic for help.

A supervisor at Hillsborough County Animal Services said a woman turned Fluff in recently, claiming she had had the cat for only the last few weeks and was unable to care for it.

Animal services supervisor Melvin Dean said a microchip implanted in Fluff provided information regarding the cat's true owner and the long-awaited reunion between human and feline took place.

"I have been here for 17 years. This chip literally has brought dozens of pets and their owners back together. There have been a lot of happy reunions that I have seen," Dean told WFTS.

Woman's 2009 online love search fails

SOMERSET, N.J., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A 43-year-old New Jersey woman says after failing to find love in 2009 through her Web site, 52weeks2findhim.com, she is taking a romantic break in 2010.

Neenah Pickett of Somerset, N.J., said her yearlong experiment did help her easily set a personal record for numbers of dates in a year, but unfortunately none of those romantic outings resulted in true love, the New York Daily News said Sunday.

"I've had more dates this year than I've had in my entire life combined," the media consultant said. "I realize now that it does help to be proactive, but you can't ever let it steal your joy or steal your peace."

While Pickett is taking time off from pursuing her Prince Charming for 52 weeks, she admits she would not ignore a possible suitor if approached.

"I don't feel that I should put finding love aside. I feel I should still be hopeful of finding it," she told the Daily News. "If I end up going back out there in 2011, I think I'll be wiser for taking that time off."