CAT | A Very Bad Day
SAN DIEGO, California-
The day a high school student gets accepted to a prestigious college is likely the biggest day in the entire life of that young person. I remember waiting anxiously for my acceptance letter to arrive from my Alma Mater. Although, when I was waiting to get accepted I was waiting for a snail-mail letter (this was a few years ago;). Nowadays, it’s much easier and far cheaper for schools to send out that desired letter via email.
So imagine the sure delight 46,377 ‘to-be’ UC San Diego students felt when they received that anticipated letter in their inbox. I’m sure the text messages and phone calls that followed went something like this…….“Yeah Baby, I Got Accepted to UC San Diego!!!” And who knows how much money and time was spent by proud parents and family members on gifts and dinner tabs right after the huge announcement. After all, getting into such a well respected university is no simple task, and not everyone gets in.
Houston, we have a problem. And it’s a BIG one. The 46,377 acceptance letters sent out actually went out to EVERYONE who had applied to UCSD. In reality, only 17,488 of those receiving acceptance letters were actually accepted to the university. The other 28,889 were supposed to have received rejection letters. Oh, I’m sure that went over really well. I guess I could say I would understand how that could accidentally happen to 10 to 20 applicants, ‘accidentally’. But screwing up that bad and breaking the hearts of nearly 29,000 young adults? That’s a little much.
There was no saying whether it was human error or computer error that caused the problem. But I would argue that if it WAS written off as computer error, it’s the same as human error. After all, computers don’t make other computers (at least not yet), humans make computers and the programs that run on them. So UCSD administration, ‘You have some ‘splainin to do!’
Do I smell a lawsuit?
The moral of the story: No matter how high tech your system is mistakes can and will happen. It’s always better to double check it.
© 2010 StrangeRush.com
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SAN JOSE, California-
We’ve all seen it happen. It usually occurs around the holiday season when everyone in the office is bringing wonderful food to share with coworkers. When the feasts are all said and done the excess food is put into Tupperware, sealed in Ziplocs, and folded up into tinfoil, and piled high and deep into the bowels of the company refrigerators for future consumption. And for the first few days the leftovers are succulent memories of wonderful gatherings with friends and coworkers. But as time goes on leftovers in the work place environment seem to get pushed further and further to the back of the refrigerator where water cooler talk distracts people just enough that it gets forgotten, or everyone always waiting for someone else to take care of it. When this happens, wonderful holiday creations, over weeks, and sometimes months, turn into horrific science projects that no one dares mess with.
When these same meals are made at home, most leftovers are usually eaten or tossed out in a timely manner. Something like this scenario happened in the AT&T building in downtown San Jose, CA. But it didn’t happen during the holiday season, but rather in May, and the story is a little better than just extremely old and rotten leftovers.
As the story goes a worker in the building became fed up with the old food in a refrigerator and she decided to clean it. She took the rotten food and moved it into a conference room. It was later discovered that the old meals were in a refrigerator that had been unplugged, and because of it everything had become a moldy mess. She took two types of cleaners and did her best to clean up the mess. The combination of the moldy, rotten food and the cleaners, created such a noxious smell that someone called 911 and a Hazmat (hazardous materials) team was sent to the location. Seven workers had to be taken to the hospital, and 28 others had to be treated for vomiting and nausea at the scene.
It was also reported that Ms. Clean herself was unaffected by the scent cocktail because she had allergies and was unable to smell anything. So does that mean the reason everyone went to the hospital and needed treatment was only in their own heads, created by a sort of mass panic started by one or two sensitive people? After all, if it was a real illness caused by the combination of moldy food and cleaners, wouldn’t it affect someone whether they could smell it or not? I could be wrong, it’s just a passing thought.
The Moral of the story: Isn’t it obvious? Whether it makes you or others sick or not, ALWAYS TAKE HOME OR THROW OUT YOUR LEFTOVERS.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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BAGHDAD, Iraq-
In soccer, AKA European football, the term, “the Equalizer” is used when one team scores a goal that brings the match to a tie. In nearly all cases an equalizer is considered to be a very dramatic event because it wipes the slate clean, and brings the teams back to an even state, where it’s anyone’s match to win. In some cases an equalizer can bring a severe underdog back to life by giving them hope that they can win, or at least leave with a tie, and a tie is a huge moral victory for a team that is considered the underdog.
One Saturday afternoon in Baghdad, two local teams were playing a match when one of the players on the losing team, Haider Kadhim, was about to score. He had broken free in front of the opposing team’s goal and had the equalizer in his sights. Scoring the equalizing goal is a dream of every young soccer player, and Kadhim was about to live out his dream in front of thousands of spectators. All he had to do was get by the opposing goalie, which would not be difficult, and he would have his equalizer.
Kadhim’s dream was about to become a reality, until one of the fans from the opposing team changed the course of Kadhim’s destiny. A man sitting in the stands pulled out a pistol and shot Kadhim dead in his tracks, before the goal was scored. Hitting a moving player as he moves about on on a soccer field, he sounds like a crack shot to me.
The Moral of the story: When is Baghdad never try to score a goal when all the opponents fans are packing.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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AHMADABAD, India-
This story is pretty darn crazy and shocking. It was supposed to be just another train ride for a young Indian woman named Bhuri, who was on an overnight excursion with family members. Bhuri hadn’t expected so much excitement would follow her on her travels. Late in the evening, nearing the midnight hour, Bhuri excused herself to the restroom. Two stops later family members began to worry because she had not returned, so they went to check on her. They knocked on the restroom door and Bhuri opened it covered in blood. Evidently, she had sat on the toilet and had given birth 10 weeks premature to a baby girl, who then fell into the toilet. This sounds really bad and you’d expect her to quickly pull the newborn out and seek immediate assistance.
Well, in India, it’s not quite that simple. Because in India, toilets in trains are typically open holes to the tracks below, and on this particular train this was, in fact, the case. After the delivery into the toilet, Bhuri immediately passed out and was not revived until she heard the knocks on the door.
This is where the sad part of the story typically starts, and the type of story I try to shy away from. But on this particular night this newborn baby girl’s guardian angels seemed to have been working overtime. After two hours on the tracks, she was found, alive and in decent shape.
The moral of the story: NEVER EVER walk on train tracks in India.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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STATEN ISLAND, NY-
I send text messages. So do all my friends, family members, and co-workers. Heck, just a couple of months ago my mom came out of the dark ages and finally joined the party. It seems like nearly everyone sends text messages these days. Shoot, I admit that I even text when I probably shouldn’t be, but don’t we all? For those few out there who don’t know what a text message is let me briefly explain: A text message is a short written message typed out using the key pad that is typically sent from one cellular phone to another, making brief conversations extremely convenient and even fun.
Some people text 5-10 times a day, while others text hundreds of times a day (I believe I’m in the 25-50 range). There have even been stories of select people (nearly always teenagers) who text thousands of times a day…….yes, I did say thousands). In one case there were a couple of close friends who each sent over 200,000 texts in one month (Of course, I’ll have a future post on that story).
However, this is not a story about a teenager who sent an outrageous number of text messages. This is a story about a poor young lady who was so in sync with her cell phone that it nearly killed her. How could a cell phone and text messaging nearly kill someone you ask?
Imagine you’re walking down the street, minding your own business while carrying on a rapid fire texting conversation with your close buddy. You are so good at texting and so is your friend that the conversation moves at a pace not much different than a real phone conversation. You and your phone are one.
The next thing you know the Earth opens up swallows you whole and you are in near darkness bathing in the smelliest, nastiest bath tub you could ever imagine. This is exactly what happened to Alexa Longueira, a high school sophomore, as she was walking along Victory Boulevard near Travis Avenue on Staten Island.
Alexa later came to find out that two workers with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection inadvertently failed to close the lid on a manhole as they prepared to flush the sewer, also forgetting to secure the area. Alexa, blinded by her phone, was oblivious to her surroundings and plunged down the manhole to near disaster. Luckily, for Alexa, she appeared to only suffer deep cuts and bruises, but was going to have an MRI to make sure she did not suffer any spinal injury.
The moral of the story: Never drink and drive and NEVER text and walk.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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CAMDEN, N.J. –
This story almost sounds like it came out of a B-rate horror flick. It’s a sad story, but absolutely true. On a Wednesday morning a 29 year old temporary worker in a New Jersey chocolate processing plant was working in an area where he was mixing and melting raw chocolate when a blade used for the mixing hit him and knocked him into the 8-foot-deep vat. Co-workers turned off the machine and tried in vain to pull the man out of the chocolate, but were unsuccessful.
The moral of the story: Just a sad story.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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19
I’m Sorry To Inform You That Your Husband Has Passed Away
0 Comments | Posted by Ryan in A Very Bad Day
CARACAS, Venezuela-
It sounds like a script right out of a horror flick. Imagine the misery Mrs. Camejo of Caracas, Venezuela felt as she drove to the morgue to identify her dead husband’s body. 33 year-old Carlos had been killed in a highway traffic accident.
The morticians had just begun the autopsy and were cutting into Carlos’ face when they noticed something was very wrong. His corpse was bleeding and corpses aren’t supposed to bleed. They quickly stitched up his face. Soon Carlos woke up because he said, “The pain was unbearable.”
When his grieving wife showed up at the morgue, she found out that her husband had been moved into the corridor and was still alive.
The Moral of the story: If there’s still a pulse, odds are he’s still alive.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa -
If I could only pick one sport to watch the rest of my life it would be baseball. I love baseball and I know there are a lot of you out there who feel the same as I do. So, I really think you will appreciate this quick little baseball clip like I did.
In Iowa there was a high school baseball game between Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington. One of the umpires at this Thursday afternoon game was Don Briggs and Don was not in the mood to take any crap from anyone. Typically, Don would toss a mouthy coach or a disobedient player or two. But not on this wonderful day for Iowa baseball. On this day Don started tossing unruly fans…….not one or two or even 10 of them. Don tossed more than 100 fans from the game……each and every person watching the game in the stands was sent to the showers early.
Don went on record and said he had no beefs with any of the players. It was everyone watching the game who was behaving insubordinately.
The moral of the story: Don’t mess with Don Briggs.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
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QUEENS, NY -
At about 6:15am Gustavo Acosta was driving his Ford Expedition in Queens, New York. Acosta accidentally hit a pedestrian and immediately called 911. Police arrived on the scene but there was no injured pedestrian, nor any signs anyone had been hit.
Lituma Sanchez had been driving his Chevy van about two cars behind Acosta and saw other cars swerving and assumed they were doing so to miss a pothole in the road, so he too swerved. Sanchez unknowingly drove over the pedestrian Acosta had hit, as he lay face up in the road, and somehow the man became hooked onto the undercarriage of the van. It is not known if the victim was alive at that point.
As Sanchez drove his merry way, something didn’t seem right so he made two subsequent stops to check his vehicle, but neither time did he check under the van, so he did not notice the man. Over the next hour Sanchez managed to drive 19.8 miles through some very busy New York streets, all the while the victim managed to remain hooked under the car, and continued to sustain further physical damage.
Eventually, a pedestrian flagged Sanchez down and he finally found the body and called 911. Police had to lift the car off the ground to free the corpse. It was a horrific scene. Although the body was mostly intact, the victim’s heels and scalp had been warn through and other areas had been severely damaged as well. And you thought you had a rough day!
The moral of the story: ALWAYS look both ways before crossing the street.
© 2009 StrangeRush.com
