Watercooler Stories

Poll: Britons sleeping with dirty sheets

LONDON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A British company said its survey suggests more than half a million people in the country only wash their bed sheets an average three times per year.

Insurance company Sheilas' Wheels said its poll found London residents were the guiltiest of washing their linens only thrice yearly, with nearly a quarter admitting to the practice, the Daily Mail reported.

The company said 8 percent of Northern Ireland respondents admitted the same unhygienic practice, while one in six said they wash their sheets once a month.

"With the cold weather making our beds more irresistible than ever, Brits are currently spending more than 49 hours a week sleeping in," Sheilas' Wheels spokeswoman Jacky Brown said. "The bed is one of the most used and expensive items in the home. So it's astonishing that more people aren't keeping it clean, with many beds being used as an alternative to the kitchen table for a place to breakfast or snack."

Company puts ads on cars

GOODYEAR, Ariz., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- An Arizona advertising company said it has deployed the first batch in a fleet of advertisements attached to the sides of commuter cars.

AllTran Media, based in Goodyear, Ariz., and founded in 2007, pays the commuters $100 per month to drive around with advertisements -- including displays for Krispy Kreme doughnuts -- while a GPS device tracks their movements, The Arizona Republic reported.

"A lot of people come up to me, and they laugh and say, 'Why would you put that stuff on your car?'" said Peoria, Ariz., resident Michael Sandler, whose Saturn Ion is adorned with a Krispy Kreme ad. "But basically you're putting stickers on your car. I'm real satisfied."

Company founders Neil Turner and Alex Goss said they were inspired by advertisements on taxi cabs.

"Taxis are sort of relegated to downtown areas, and billboards are stuck on highways," Turner said. "We feel like we offer advertisers a way to target ZIP codes, target the customers they want."

The founders said they plan to expand the company to New Orleans and beyond in the near future.

Passengers: Delta luggage soaked in fuel

DENVER, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Passengers on a Delta Airlines flight from Puerto Rico to Denver said they arrived in Colorado to find their bags had been soaked in jet fuel.

Kathy Shoemaker and other passengers on the Sunday flight from Puerto Rico to Denver International Airport said they were told by Delta representatives to wash everything in their luggage and submit reimbursement forms for ruined items within 24 hours, KUSA-TV, Denver, reported.

"I'm not sure what to do with baggage that smells like jet fuel, because to me that seems like a hazard and I should just dump it in my trash can. I don't really know how to handle it," Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker said the Delta workers told them the bags were likely sprayed by jet fuel on the tarmac in Puerto Rico.

"I don't think anyone wants luggage that's been soaked in fuel in the luggage compartment of their flight," she said. "I don't ever want to think that would ever happen again 'cause it seems to me there was enough luggage that was soaked that any kind of spark would have blown up our plane."

KUSA said its calls to Delta representatives for comment went unreturned.

Rare instrument lost and found in cab

NEW YORK, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A New York indie rocker said she is "thrilled" the rare instrument she left in a taxicab will be returned, but she wants to know why it wasn't home sooner.

Basya Schechter, lead singer of Pharaoh's Daughter, said she forgot her oud, a guitar-like instrument originating from the Middle East, in the trunk of a taxi early Saturday morning and spent the subsequent two days visiting the local police precinct and calling the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission for help locating her lost "muse," the New York Daily News reported.

The Daily News said it contacted the commission Monday and received word three hours later the instrument had been found, still in the possession of the taxi driver.

Schechter said she is "thrilled" to be getting the instrument back, but she wants to know why the driver did not follow the established protocols for returning forgotten items. Officials said items left in cabs are supposed to be dropped off at one of two designated precinct houses.

"Protocol is they are supposed to take it to a precinct," said Schechter. "Why didn't he?"