Watercooler Stories

Couple buys house to help neighbor stay

INDIANAPOLIS, March 22 (UPI) -- An Indiana couple has purchased a neighbor's home in a tax auction -- because they say they want to help him stay in the house.

Debbie and Clint Harrell's winning $4,272 bid at a Marion County tax sale meant neighbor Mark Reeves would not have to move out of the house, put up for sale when his landlord stopped paying property taxes on it, The Indianapolis Star reported.

The Harrells decided to help Reeves despite their own financial worries. Clint Harrell lost his job at a steel company in November, and Debbie Harrell, 57, is on disability, the newspaper said.

Debbie Harrell says Reeves called her in tears after the auction.

"My friends that I've known for over 30 years -- they knew my problem and they never even offered to help me," Reeves said. "It's hard for me to (understand) that there are people out there like the Harrells. They're not in much better shape than I am."

The Harrells say they will help Reeves set up an account so he can pay property taxes. They don't plan to charge him rent, they say.

"I'm just glad that Mark's not going to have to live in his van," Debbie Harrell said. "The house is a pretty run-down shack, but it's home to him."

Man uses sex change to avoid mounting debt

WOLVERHAMPTON, England, March 22 (UPI) -- Actress Sarah Thom said she learned of a man in the West Midlands, England, who underwent a sex change to hide from debt collectors.

Speaking with Wolverhampton Credit Union workers in preparation for a role in a touring play, Thom said she was told the unidentified man went through with the medical procedure in the face of his mounting debt, The Daily Telegraph said.

Thom said unfortunately for the man, the procedure did not stop his creditors in their pursuit of his debts, thought to have reached as much as $75,000.

The actress said learning about the extreme cases of debt from the credit union workers was an eye-opener.

"The thing I picked up was the humor people have at the point of tragedy," Thom told the Telegraph.

Woman mistakenly declared dead

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., March 22 (UPI) -- An 85-year-old California woman mistakenly declared dead by the government said the error cost her thousands of dollars.

Doris Temple, 85, said she and her son have been struggling for weeks to repair the damage done to her life by the January mistake, which resulted in the loss of her health insurance as well as benefits from Social Security and private pension and insurance plans, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"It's hard to bring someone back from the dead," said Temple's son, Robert.

However, the mother and son said they have spent the past weeks doing just that and the Social Security Administration reversed the January error that had her dying Dec. 15, the same day her husband died of heart problems.

Robert Temple said he has also reactivated his mother's Senior Health Insurance Co. plan and the benefits from her late husband's IBM pension. He said full benefits should be restored by next month and will include retroactive payments.

Ostrich eggs are for breakfast in England

LONDON, March 22 (UPI) -- An English supermarket chain says the new thing on breakfast tables of those who can afford them are Ostrich eggs selling at about $29.

One eggs-tra sized Ostrich ovum, which can be bought at Britain's Waitrose supermarkets starting next week, is 24 times bigger than a hen's egg, The Daily Mail reported.

They're said to be able to feed 15 adults -- assuming they're willing to wait the hour and a half it takes to hard boil one. Aficionados of the soft-boil only have to wait 50 minutes.

Diners daintily tapping the egg with a spoon will most likely not be able to crack the shell and are advised to use a roasting spike ... or a drill, the Mail said.

South African Black Ostriches at Cornwall's Clarence Court farms lay their eggs four to five hours before dusk, replicating behavior in the wild.

The anticipated 2010 demand for Ostrich eggs follows a 573 percent hike of their 2008-2009 sales.