Watercooler Stories

Tree house threatened by zoning board

FALLS CHURCH, Va., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A Virginia man says zoning rules might force him to destroy the $1,400 tree house he built for his sons.

Mark Grapin, of Falls Church, says he called Fairfax County to get the OK before building, but the zoning board later said he needed a zoning variance for the tree house. The tree house was technically seen as an addition to the main house.

Grapin spent more than $1,800 on the proper forms and a hearing, but his request was denied because his home sits on a corner lot, meaning his side lot is actually a front lot, WTOP.com, Washington reported Monday.

Grapin says he has an appeal scheduled for Nov. 30, but worries he may have to tear down the tree house.

"I don't have the heart for it," he said. "I'm gonna go pay some day laborers and hide in the house while they take a saw to it."

Doctor apologizes for $73,000 ring lawsuit

HOUSTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A well-known Houston doctor said he was dropping a lawsuit seeking a $73,000 engagement ring from his ex-fiancee and he will pay her legal fees.

Tony Buzbee, an attorney for Nichole Johnson, released a statement from the woman's ex-fiance, Dr. Craig Fischer, chief of digestive surgical oncology and associate professor of surgery at Methodist Hospital, apologizing for the lawsuit, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday.

"I apologize for filing a lawsuit against Nichole Johnson," the statement reads. "It was a big mistake on my part. I was wrong and should have never done it. I am immediately dropping the case and will pay Nichole $100,000 as attorney's fees. I also want to thank Nichole's attorneys for helping me understand the mistake I made. Again, I am sorry. I will have no further comment."

Buzbee, who previously said he would be turning the ring over to Fischer, said his client had previously attempted to return the piece of jewelry.

'Innuendo' Granny sexes up molasses

SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- With numerous nudges, winks and sexual double-entendres, a grandmotherly woman is making videos extolling a Canadian brand of molasses.

The character called Grandma Fancy is the pitch woman for the 125-year-old Crosby's Fancy Molasses in St. John, New Brunswick, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

In one video, nearly every statement the white-haired, bespectacled character makes as she crafts sticky buns is laced with innuendos, including one in which she says "no wonder all the men in town wants to get into my pantry."

"Now roll it up into a jelly-roll style into a nice, thick package. Look, I can barely get my hands around it!" she says at another point in the video.

Before baking, she says to turn slices of the jelly roll loaf upside down into a molasses sauce.

"Face down and sticky," she says with a wink.

Crosby's Chief Executive Officer Lorne Goodman told the CBC the M5 marketing group devised the campaign and more videos had been made for gradual release on the company site and YouTube.

Baby born at roadside

BOSTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Emergency responders in Boston said they delivered a baby at the side of a road when her parents were unable to make it to the hospital in time.

Jennifer Mehigan, spokeswoman for Boston Emergency Medical Services, said the parents were on their way to a hospital Monday when they realized they likely would not make it in time for the birth, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday.

A training ambulance crew consisting of two recruits and one field training officer responded to the couple's 911 call and met them on Interstate 93 at Morrissey Boulevard.

Field Training Officer Miguel Diaz said the woman gave birth at the roadside moments after being loaded into the ambulance.

The mother and child were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mehigan said they were doing well.