Watercooler Stories

Cop: Grandma in DUI offered sandwich

OCALA, Fla., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A police officer in Florida says a grandmother tried to avoid a drunken driving arrest by offering to make him a grilled cheese sandwich.

If Elsie Wright O'Conner, 65, tried the ploy, it did not work. She was arrested Thursday night and charged with driving under the influence, the Ocala Star-Banner reports.

In his report, Marion County Deputy Calvin Batts said he responded to a call about an erratic driver and pulled O'Conner over. He said he smelled alcohol on her breath and found two Skyy vodka bottles in her Cadillac sport utility vehicle, one empty and one half-full.

O'Conner failed a field sobriety test, Batts said. At the county jail, her blood-alcohol level tested at more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.

"Come on now, I'm a grandma, can't you do something for me since I'm not that bad," Batts said O'Conner told him. "I could have brought you back to my house and made you a grilled cheese sandwich."

Explosive climate film bombs with viewers

LONDON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- British environmentalists have withdrawn a video in which a teacher blows up children who refuse to reduce their carbon footprint.

The group 10:10 said the film, starring Gillian Anderson, was intended to "bring this critical issue back into the headlines whilst making people laugh," the BBC reported.

In the short video, posted on the group's site and later on YouTube, a teacher invites her class to join an environmental campaign. Two children who dissent are asked why.

The teacher tells them: "Fine, it's absolutely fine. It's your own choice."

Then she presses a button and the children explode.

Similar scenes take place in an office where four workers are blown up and a soccer training session where a coach disappears in an explosion.

At the end, Anderson meets the same fate after saying she thought acting and doing the voiceover was enough of a contribution.

Lizze Gillett of 10:10 told the BBC: "As you can see from various comments and social media sites, some people thought it was funny and a good tool to get people talking about climate change but others strongly disliked the mini-movie. We decided to take it off our Web site to avoid upsetting people."

Florida strip club raided for nude dancing

COCOA, Fla., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A Florida strip club has been raided by police who charged seven women with dancing completely naked and soliciting sex from customers in the parking lot.

Ray Baycora, 52, manager of the Playmates club in Cocoa, also was charged with letting the women engage in illicit acts, the Orlando Sentinel reported. City codes prohibit full nudity.

The women booked into the Brevard County Jail were Mandie Marie Lasco, 21; Crystal Marie Renfroe, 25; Debby Lynn Amirault, 26; Crystal M. Vera, 29; Norma Mae Petro, 38; Lynda Sue Gleim, 41; and Donna Lee Tanner, 44.

Thursday's arrests came after a two-month investigation of complaints from neighbors about prostitution.

Three of the women arrested had solicited several undercover agents for sex, Officer Barbara Matthews said.

Playmates reopened Friday after police shut it down Thursday night.

When the club was located on unincorporated county land, it could stay open until 2 a.m., and dancers could be naked. But after the land was annexed by Cocoa in 2003, city ordinances made dancers wear opaque coverings and the business had to close at 11 p.m.

China leads world in toilet sales

BEIJING, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- China's housing boom has created the world's most competitive market for porcelain toilet products, where fancy models can cost $6,000, company officials said.

China is the world's largest loo market, and nearly 19 million toilets are sold there every year, The Los Angeles Times reported.

"Today, Chinese people like to focus on the kitchen and the bathroom in their new apartments," said Dong Yu, who along with his wife were shopping for toilet fixtures. "It's a big difference from when I was a kid. We had to share public bathrooms, which only had squat toilets."

The toilet Dong and his wife liked costs $400 and is made by Japan's Toto Ltd. While some Western-style porcelain commodes sell for around $20, high-tech models with seat warmers and automatic bidets can cost up to $6,000, the newspaper said.

"As far as toilets go, we think this is top of the line," said Banse Katsuya, project sales manager for Toto China. He was describing a $5,900 Neorest series bowl in the company's flagship store in Beijing.

It featured buttons labeled "rear cleansing" and "front cleansing" for its bidet functions, and the Space Age device has a heated seat and a water saving -- but powerful -- hands-free sensor flush.

"China is the most competitive market in the world," said Larry Yuen, president of Kohler Asia, which has 11 factories in China. "There are brands from Japan, Europe and America all fighting for market share."