C’est Rire category archive

Delaware is auctioning off surplus vehicles.

No used car dealer doubletalk here:

The only description of the condition of Lot 459 — and of all the other surplus vehicles being sold — is “runs.”

(Check the article for a link to the online auction.)

Or is it, “Go with what brung ya?”

A Spring City woman has been charged with stealing almost $101,000 from a Norristown law firm, where she worked as a paralegal, to pay restitution for stealing from a New York law firm.

Because a 15-minute job always takes two hours and three trips to the hardware store.

But I’ve never had one like this:

When the toilet in Carol Taddei’s master bathroom began to break down a few months ago, she decided it would be cheaper to buy a new one than pay for repairs. Ever frugal in this dismal economy, Ms. Taddei, a retired paralegal, then took her economizing a step further, figuring she could save even more by installing the new toilet herself.

Initially, things looked good with the flushing and the swishing. That is, until the ceiling collapsed in the room below the new (leaky) toilet. Rushing to get supplies for a repair, Ms. Taddei clipped a pole in her garage. It ripped the bumper off her car, and later, several shelves holding flower pots and garden tools collapsed over her head.

And, yes, I have pulled toilets before.

Now I know.

Video disabled because I can’t figure out how to keep it from playing automatically.

View it here.

I mentioned this brouhardy-har-har (that’s a big brou-ha-ha) the other day.

Barbara Ellen lifts and separates the issues here.

Tips for the rest of us.

I have to run right out and get a telescope (wonder whether two pairs of binoculars count?), a safe, and a spice rack (my spices are stuck on sconces in the kitchen where I can reach them easily).

Balmy weather. And just plain balmy:

A man took off his clothes Friday morning and lay in the lush, sun-bathed grassy median in front of the Circuit Court.

Cars whizzed by on St. Paul’s Boulevard as the man raised his shorts aloft on a stick.

(snip)

Court staff pressed against the narrow windows that line the side of the building facing the street as sheriff’s deputies and police surrounded the man. Officers eventually covered him with a leopard-print blanket and took him away.

“At least he didn’t have a hula hoop,” said Clerk of Court George Schaefer.

Via Oliver Willis.

You won’t see this on Court TruTV.

Via The Coyote’s Byte:

So, they filled up at an Exxon.

The gas came from Valero’s refinery.

And you thought that brands meant something.

Chicken cutlets. Oh, my.

Addendum:

Apparently, I am informed that chicken cutlets is slang for silicone inserts.

My comment stands. AFAIC, this is an area where there is really no way to improve on what God has provided.

Some oddities from my travels.

(Why do scenes of Star Wars battles deter me from using this facility?)

Read more »

This was just about the time I was driving through Georgetown.

No, not that Georgetown. The not-rich Georgetown in Delaware:

Georgetown police have charged a 13-year-old boy with possession of a destructive device after authorities found a possible explosive device at his home.

(snip)

Officers found the device, evacuated homes in the 800 block of East Market Street (U.S. 9/Del. 404) about 3 p.m. and recovered the device with a robot. Georgetown police, state police and state fire marshals were on the scene.

Ah, that fabled British reserve.

Will Bunch turns one well: “wanker-banker.”

Pass the mayonnaise jar:

A judge has overturned the money laundering convictions of two people accused of running a moonshine operation in Pittsylvania County.

Citiing a U.S. Supreme Court decision, U.S. District Judge James Turk ruled Monday that revenue from an illegal operation that’s used to support the activity can’t be considered proceeds for the purpose of money laundering.

Scientific Blogging runs down the techniques. Follow the link for a full description, with examples:

Cold reading is a set of techniques used by mentalists, magicians, “psychics”, and “mediums” to create the appearance that they know more about their subjects than they could through natural means. Bertoldi (a medium who appeared on CBS’s The Early Show–ed.) demonstrated a simple set of the classic techniques in a rather ham-handed fashion.

Shotgunning: The reader throws out general guesses in the hopes of getting an initial hit and additionalinformation from a compliant subject.

Barnum Statement: Also known as the Forer effect and named after showman PT Barnum, the reader makes statements that appear to be specific to the subject, but that are actually applicable to large proportions of the population. The technique of warm reading involves using additional information to make the statements appear more specific.

Rainbow Ruse: The reader follows a specific sounding attribution about a personality trait or emotion with an attribution of the opposite trait or emotion.

This is truly unusual. I wonder whether they are doing it to save money in these troubled times ™.

Two full juries, plus alternates, have been seated to hear the case against two men accused in the December 2007 slaying of a 35-year-old Belvedere man.

One jury will be considering the first-degree murder, kidnapping and lesser charges against 23-year-old Tyrone “Ty” Anderson and the other will consider second-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges against 22-year-old Isaiah “Freaky” Cleveland.

(snip)

There are two juries, Judge William C. Carpenter Jr. explained in his opening remarks, because some evidence that is to be presented will be admissible against only one of the defendants.

The jury for the other defendant will be excused when that evidence is presented.

I don’t know anything about the case, but I predict that the prosecution had better be really careful, or the appeals lawyers will have a field day.