Watercooler Stories

Fla. girl, 15, to start at MIT

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla., April 17 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old Floridian will start her freshman year at MIT, thanks to perfect SAT scores in math and physics, and a lifetime of academic achievement.

For Jennifer Tilton, Suncoast Community High School's current valedictorian, it's always come naturally.

She started kindergarten when she was 4 and skipped first and fifth grades. She started high school when she was just 11, taking advanced calculus, The Palm Beach Post reported Saturday

"I found my talent," Tilton told the paper. "It happens to be schoolwork. ... I feel like I fit in with the people around me. But being a 15-year-old senior is also part of my identity, and I'm OK with that."

Her mother, Natalie Glover, is a software engineer who also skipped grades and recalls feeling awkward.

"I swore I'd never have my kids do it," she said. "I was two years ahead, and I really felt awkward, like I didn't fit in. And I also started working so early. I've been working so long now."

Topless pools topping Vegas attractions

LAS VEGAS, April 16 (UPI) -- Topless swimming holes continue to be popular on and off the Las Vegas Strip.

With "Beer Goggle Monday" and "Wasted Wednesday" events planned, Naked Pool opens Saturday at the Artisan Boutique Hotel, with admissions around $10.

That's far cheaper than some of the similar hotel pools allowing women to go topless with men present, dotting the strip's better-known venues, USA Today reported Friday.

Women are often allowed free admission.

None of the swimming holes allow full nudity, including at Naked's sister pool "Gossip" at the Rumor Boutique Hotel.

"While at the mega-resorts you are stuffed into the pool crammed with bodies, our pool parties will offer a completely different feel and vibe," Michael Crandall, director of business affairs for The Siegel Group, which owns the resorts, told the paper.

Soldier wins lottery, heads to Afghanistan

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga., April 16 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army sergeant says he'll use the Georgia Lottery jackpot he won to take a vacation, just as soon as he gets back from Afghanistan.

Master Sgt. Gregg Curry won $250,000 this week, but he won't have much time to enjoy it since he flies back to Afghanistan Monday for the remaining five months of his tour.

Curry, 47, was in Fayetteville for two weeks after spending seven months at Bagram Airfield. He told lottery officials he and his wife, Mary, planned to take a trip after he returns.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Saturday Fayetteville was good to another player who wasn't even planning to play, but something told him to give it a shot.

Gerald DiFatta, 65, of Monroe, heard the sirens of the Quik Pik this week as he drove past a convenience store in Fayetteville three days after he bought a $3 winner on his birthday.

"I almost didn't play," DiFatta told lottery officials. "I went past the store and turned around to get a ticket."

It turned out to be a good move because that ticket was good for $264,955.

Lady Liberty stamp depicts replica

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service said a Statue of Liberty-themed stamp accidentally depicts a Las Vegas replica instead of the original.

Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts said a savvy stamp collector noticed the differences between the original and the 14-year-old replica outside of the New York-New York casino and identified the statue pictured on the Lady Liberty "forever" stamp as the replica, The New York Times reported Friday.

"We still love the stamp design and would have selected this photograph anyway," Betts said. He said the Postal Service is "re-examining our processes to prevent this situation from happening in the future."

In addition to being half the size of the original statue, the replica differs, including hair style and eyes.