Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Quality News for you

I found these news reports that will numb your brains a little:

PALMDALE, Calif. - Four burgers at his neighborhood Burger King cost George Beane a whopping $4,334.33.

Beane ordered two Whopper Jr.s and two Rodeo cheeseburgers when he pulled up to the drive-through window last Tuesday. The cashier, however, forgot that she'd entered the $4.33 charge on his debit card and punched in the numbers again without erasing the original ones — thus creating a four-figure bill.

The electronic charge went through to George and Pat Beane's Bank of America checking account and left the couple penniless. Their mortgage payment was due and they worried checks they had written would bounce, Pat Beane said.

"We were thinking, 'No, not now!'" she said of the overcharge.

Terri Woody, the restaurant manager, said Burger King officials tried to get the charge refunded. But the bank said the funds were on a three-day hold and could not be released, Pat Beane said.

The hold is designed to prevent customers from spending money that no longer is available in their accounts and to let the bank confirm a transaction is legitimate before transferring funds, said Bank of America supervisor Joel Solorio.

Burger King did not charge the Beanes for their meal, and the couple got their $4,334.33 back on Friday.

"For those three days, those were the most expensive value burgers in history," Pat Beane said.


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FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Residents of the neighborhood of Sunset Circle say they have been terrorized by a crazy cat named Lewis. Lewis for his part has been uniquely cited, personally issued a restraining order by the town's animal control officer.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot, each with a long claw," Janet Kettman, a neighbor said Monday. "They are formidable weapons."

The neighbors said those weapons, along with catlike stealth, have allowed Lewis to attack at least a half dozen people and ambush the Avon lady as she was getting out of her car.

Some of those who were bitten and scratched ended up seeking treatment at area hospitals.

Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira placed a restraining order on him. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in Fairfield.

In effect, Lewis is under house arrest, forbidden to leave his home.

Solveira also arrested the cat's owner, Ruth Cisero, charging her with failing to comply with the restraining order and reckless endangerment.

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BERLIN (Reuters) - German police discovered a truant teen-ager at home in bed with her boyfriend after a neighbor spotted a man climbing into her window and reported a burglary, authorities said Wednesday.

Thinking he had witnessed a break-in, the neighbor called police, who sped toward the would-be crime scene with their siren blaring.

When officers arrived, the girl's mother told them the room belonged to her 15-year-old daughter who was at school.

Further investigation revealed the mother was wrong.

"She wasn't looking at school books, she was in bed with her boyfriend and was presumably learning something else," Frankfurt police said in a statement.

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LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Even in this over-the-top town famed for all-you-can-eat spreads, nobody had ever seen one quite like this: Forty soups, 100 salads and 150 desserts perched upon a 500-foot (152-meter) maze of tables.

It was enough -- 510 different dishes in all -- to qualify on Tuesday for a Guinness record for the World's Largest Buffet.

"I'm interested in trying some of the desserts now," said tired and hungry Guinness official Nadine Causey, who flew in from London to certify that Las Vegas Hilton Executive Chef George Bargisen had assembled at least 500 unique offerings to create the new record buffet.

Bargisen spent 24 hours straight overseeing the mammoth spread, which included dishes from a dozen ethnic cuisines and offered everything from salmon Wellington to fried alligator, and from pumpkin pie to baklava and pistachio truffles.

"I was in town anyway and thought it might be fun to come by," said tourist Marianne Ruiz, 56, of Seattle, as she headed to her table with a plate overflowing with lyonnaise potatoes, curried chicken, a pile of Waldorf salad, a bowl of gazpacho soup and a slice of apple pie.

Proceeds from the $7.50 a head buffet were donated to hunger relief charity America's Second Harvest.

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CANBERRA (Reuters) - A drunk driver just 100 yards from Australia's iconic giant monolith once known as Ayers Rock stopped police to ask the way to the 1,100-foot-high rock.


The headlights of the man's car were actually shining on Uluru, which has a 5.8-mile circumference, Northern Territory police said.

The 44-year-old man, whose car was also towing an aluminum boat, has been charged with drunk driving and unlicensed driving.

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