Car plunges down elevator shaft

Two workers were hurt when a car plunged down an elevator shaft in a Manhattan parking garage Tuesday morning, the fire department said. 

A parking attendant was driving the vehicle into the elevator on the fifth floor of the garage on 76th Street and First Avenue just before 10 a.m., but when he pulled in, the elevator car wasn't there.

The vehicle plunged five stories down the shaft, injuring another worker on the lower floor, people familiar with the situation tell NBC 4 New York. 

The parking attendant who had been driving the vehicle was extricated by firefighters. He and the other injured worker were taken to the hospital in stable condition.

The parking garage serves nearby businesses and Hertz, a dentist who works nearby told NBC 4 New York. He said he doesn't recall the car elevator having any other issues apart from when it temporarily stopped working during a power outage that affected the building last winter.

Miffed cabbies in London

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of London taxi drivers have blocked a major intersection in the heart of the city to protest their exclusion from the road lanes dedicated to Olympic traffic.

Drivers in black London cabs blared their horns as they jammed Parliament Square on Tuesday, sending lines of traffic snaking back along surrounding streets.

The cabbies are miffed that they are not allowed into the "Games Lanes" reserved for Olympic athletes, officials and VIPs. The first lane already opened near Heathrow Airport and the rest start two days before the games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 12.

Jonathan Myers of the United Cabbies union says it's "unacceptable" that cabs were not allowed, adding that "this is a working city and we need to get around and do our job."

Kitty Wells

Singer Kitty Wells, whose hits such as "Making Believe" and "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" made her the first female superstar of country music, died Monday. She was 92.

The singer's family said she died peacefully at home after complications from a stroke.

Her solo recording career lasted from 1952 to the late 1970s and she made concert tours from the late 1930s until 2000. That year, she announced she was quitting the road, although she performed occasionally in Nashville and elsewhere afterward.

Her "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" in 1952 was the first No. 1 hit by a woman soloist on the country music charts and dashed the notion that women couldn't be headliners. Billboard magazine had been charting country singles for about eight years at that time.

She recorded approximately 50 albums, had 25 Top 10 country hits and went around the world several times. From 1953 to 1968, various polls listed Wells as the No. 1 female country singer.

Old joke, but one of my memories,

 "If Kitty Wells married Conway Twitty, her name would be Kitty Twitty."

Skateboarding drug dealer in Ohio

LEBANON, OHIO — The clean-cut 17-year-old who loved skateboarding and played roller hockey much of his life didn’t look the part.

But Warren County law enforcement officials say the Mason High School student headed up a $3 million drug ring and was suspected of selling about $20,000 in marijuana per month. “He looks like somebody who would be in your church youth group,” said David Fornshell, Warren County Prosecutor.

The former honor roll student allegedly had six current and former Mason High School students working under him to be a significant source of marijuana for students in Mason and Kings school districts, authorities said. But he was smart enough not to deal on school grounds. And he apparently was savvy enough to keep his business dealings from his mother, even though police said they found a wad of cash – $6,000 – in the teen’s bedroom on Friday.

Mom’s story, according to police: She didn’t know. “She’s a single mom. If we can prove mom was involved in this, we would have charged her. Obviously, we can’t or we would have,” said Warren County Drug Task Force Commander John Burke. “We never bought marijuana with her present. We never had any conversation with her to indicate that she knew.”

Seven adults were indicted in the case on Friday. Burke said they are still considering charges against the six underlings who allegedly were dealing drugs for the boy to local high school students.

Drug agents say they found more than $6,000 in cash in the teen’s bedroom on Friday, following the indictments of seven adults who were involved in the drug gang.

A sweet lesson on patience.

A NYC Taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.Let's go now'. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

On Your Mark: Athletes Pour Into Heathrow

By DANICA KIRKA and RAPHAEL SATTER Associated Press
LONDON July 16, 2012 (AP)

The opening ceremony is still 11 days away, but for athletes and Londoners, the Olympics started Monday.

Thousands of competitors descended upon the Athletes Village and training camps, Heathrow Airport experienced its busiest day ever, London drivers grappled with the city's first "Games Lane" for Olympic vehicles and preparations shifted into the highest gear.

Smart-looking sailors guarded the gates to Olympic Park, looking so cheerful that visitors would never guess they had been pulled off leave only a few days ago to fill a security gap when contractor G4S admitted it couldn't provide enough guards. As well as 3,500 extra troops, the Olympic security coordinator has dispatched police officers to venues left open when G4S contractors failed to show up for work.

As the Olympic flame made its way to the seaside city of Brighton, organizers revealed dramatic plans for its arrival in London at the end of the week. Someone knows how to make an entrance: a Royal Marine will abseil the flame from a helicopter into the Tower of London, fusing the flame into the very walls of the London landmark.

Weiner, keeping his plans "zipped" up

When it comes to former Representative Anthony D. Weiner’s political future, there are a few indisputable facts.

He has roughly $4.5 million in the bank for a political candidacy and a deadline to use it next year or miss out on getting up to $1.5 million in public matching funds.

He wants to return to politics, according to friends and former staff members.

And, as much as he might desire to run for office, he faces a major challenge in overcoming the scandal over the lewd online behavior that spurred him to resign his House seat last year.

Beyond that, there are mostly questions, the biggest of them being when Mr. Weiner may attempt a comeback. On Sunday, he declined to comment when asked directly about his immediate political ambitions.

An article in The New York Post, taking note of expenditures reported in a recent campaign filing and his deadline for receiving matching funds, suggested that Mr. Weiner was considering running for public advocate or even mayor next year.

His refusal to address his political future only stirred further speculation.

Kidd Arrested for DUI

Basketball star Jason Kidd was arrested for driving drunk on Long Island early Sunday when he crashed his luxury SUV into a telephone pole after partying at a club, police and sources said.

Kidd, who just signed a three-year, $9.5 million deal to be point guard for the Knicks last week, crashed his 2010 Cadillac Escalade on Cobb Rd. near his home in exclusive Water Mill just before 2 a.m., cops said.

A photograph published by TMZ shows Kidd, 39, bent over, being held up by another man, as he left East Hampton night club SL East at 1 a.m. The website reports he was too drunk to stand and was carried out by friends after breaking a light fixture he was trying to hang from.

Celeste Holm, Witty Character Actress, Is Dead at 95

By ANITA GATES

Celeste Holm, the New York-born actress who made an indelible Broadway impression as an amorous country girl in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!,” earned an Academy Award as the knowing voice of tolerance in “Gentleman’s Agreement” and went on to a six-decade screen and stage career, frequently cast as the wistful or brittle sophisticate, died early Sunday at her apartment in Manhattan. She was 95.

Her death was announced by Amy Phillips, a great-niece. Ms. Holm had a heart attack at Roosevelt Hospital in New York last week while being treated there for dehydration, but she was taken home on Friday.

Ms. Holm was 25 and had already appeared in at a number of Broadway productions, including William Saroyan’s “Time of Your Life,” when she was cast as Ado Annie in “Oklahoma!,” the period musical that reinvented the form. Her character’s shining moment was the twangy lament “I Cain’t Say No,” about Annie’s inability to resist men’s romantic advances. The role made her a star, and she played the lead in the musical comedy “Bloomer Girl” the next year.

Monica, Monica

Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armored cars carrying Clinton's delegation in the port city of Alexandria.


A senior state department official said that neither Clinton nor her vehicle, which were around the corner from the incident, were struck by any of the projectiles. Protesters chanted: "Monica, Monica", a reference to Former President Bill Clinton's extra-marital affair. Some chanted: "leave, Clinton", Egyptian security officials said. 


It was not clear who the protesters were or what political affiliations they had. Protesters outside Clinton's hotel on Saturday night chanted anti-Islamist slogans, accusing the United States of backing the Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power. The assault on her motorcade came on a day Clinton spoke at the newly re-opened US consulate in Alexandria, addressing accusations the United States, which had long supported former President Hosni Mubarak, of backing one faction or another in Egypt following his ouster last year.

I've seen that ad on TV where you can order pills that help memory loss.

I keep forgetting to order them.

Then, one evening I decided to order them;

I forgot the address.

Then, I  Goggled them, and got the address.

Got the address, and forgot where I put the envelope.

They probably wouldn't work, anyway.

Soyuz rocket launches on mission to space station

(AP) BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - A Russian Soyuz craft launched into the morning skies over Kazakhstan on Sunday, carrying three astronauts on their way to the international space station where they will quickly start preparing for a frenzy of incoming traffic.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and Japan's Akihito Hoshide are set to travel two days before reaching their three colleagues already at the permanent space outpost.

Families and colleagues watched the launch from an observation platform in the Russian-leased cosmodrome in the dry southern steppes of this sprawling Central Asian nation.

The Soyuz jettisoned three rocket booster stages as it was propelled into orbit, which takes just over nine minutes.

At that stage, a doll given to Malenchenko as a mascot by his daughter and suspended over the three astronauts floated out of view on television footage, indicating the craft had escaped the earth's gravitational pull.

Tress and Jopa - Too much "juice"

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It was a throwaway line, intended to lighten the mood after an ominous revelation by one of the most decorated college football programs in the land.

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee had just heard his head football coach, Jim Tressel, concede that he had reason to believe several star players were taking money and free tattoos from a suspected drug dealer and yet he had told no one. Tressel started most of those players throughout the 2010 season and a bowl game anyway, failing to alert anyone in authority — a clear violation of NCAA rules and his own contract.

Gee, an endowment rainmaker wearing his trademark bow tie, jumped in to defend Tressel and then, asked if he had considered firing his coach, uttered an off-hand crack.

"Let me just be very clear," Gee said with a grin, "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."

The joke fell flat, but echoed around the country. It confirmed what many already believed about the balance of power in college sports today: some football teams run universities, not the other way around.

Here they go, coming out ...............

Some asked some questions about a post I recently did, here are some answers.


the 4 -10
the 5 - 9
the 6 -8
are all the same odds. a 10 on top, a 4 on the bottom, same with the other numbers.
11 on top -3 on the bottom
12 on top -  2 on the bottom
7 on top   - 7 on the bottom  5-2  4-3   6-1

21 spots on a die
8 corners on a die
12 edges on a die

ODDS
4-10 2 to 1
5-9   3 to 2
6-8   6 to 5

The prop bets in the middle are ONE role except the hard ways they stay up till a hard winner, come down on a soft winner or a seven.

There is a winner every roll of the dice, somewhere. We were never allowed to say LOSER, some of the shows I see on TV, dealers say LOSER, not sure if that is allowed now, or just done for TV. My first night as a dealer trainee I said the word LOSER, chastised from many, never used the word while dealing, again. Actually, my first night, I wore white sweat socks. they were not white by morning, many cleaned their shoes on them, did various things to them to remind me to never say loser. Lessons learned.. Never wore white socks again and never said loser. Winner, winner, chicken for dinner.

Problems seen to never end ...

TOKYO: About 400,000 people were ordered or advised to leave their homes in southwest Japan Saturday as heavy rain pounded the area for a third day leaving 29 dead or missing, officials and media said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more landslides and floods on the main southern island of Kyushu as rainfall of up to 11 centimetres (4.3 inches) per hour was recorded on Saturday. Evacuation orders were issued to about 260,000 people in the north of the island where more rivers burst their banks, Kyushu’s local media reported. They were told to go to designated shelters such as schools and other public facilities.

Nearly 140,000 other people were advised to leave their homes to avoid possible disaster, according to officials contacted by AFP in the four affected prefectures in Kyushu. Television footage showed torrents of muddy, debris-strewn water and flooded houses following what officials described as “unprecedented” downpours from a seasonal rain front.

Along the Yamakuni river in Oita prefecture, water levels were seen reaching the roof of a riverside drive-in restaurant before subsiding later. In Fukuoka prefecture alone, 78,600 people were ordered to evacuate their homes as rivers overflowed in dozens of places and 181 landslides occurred, an official said.

Joepa still standing .... for how long?

The statue of Joe Paterno outside Penn State's Beaver Stadium will remain standing, at least for now, ESPN.com reported.

After having discussions, members of Penn State's Board of Trustees decided to leave it up for the time being, according to the report, which relies on unnamed sources.

The trustees did not want to affend Penn State students and alumni who still love Paterno despite the Louis Freeh report that concluded Paterno was involved in a coverup in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse case.

They also want to avoid making a rash decision in the heat of the moment. There has been considerable debate in the media about whether the statue should be taken down.

"You can't let people stampede you into making a rash decision," said one trustee, according to the ESPN report. "The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn't represent the bad that he did." 

62,000 pennies used to pay off mortgage

A Massachusetts penny-pincher makes his last mortgage payment with pennies.


What started out as a joke 35 years ago ended with a Massachusetts man paying off his mortgage using 62,000 pennies. "I've never saved anything other than pennies. And it started out as a whim. You know, a penny for the mortgage," Thomas Daigle told NBC affiliate WHDH-TV of Boston.

Daigle, from Milford, Mass., recalled how, after signing the mortgage papers 35 years ago, he found a penny on the ground. He and his wife then joked about collecting pennies to pay off the loan -- and the rest is history.

Over the next 35 years, Daigle would roll pennies, 50 cents at a time. His bank found out the hard way just how much work that was -- it reportedly took tellers two days to unroll the penny cases.

My trip to the grocery

There was a bit of confusion at the grocery store this morning.  When the elderly woman in font of me was ready to pay for her groceries, the cashier told her, "Strip down, facing me.."

I made a mental note to complain to my Congressman about Homeland Security running amok, but then the woman did just as she was instructed.

When the hysterical shrieking and alarms finally subsided, she found out that she was referring to her credit card.

They need to make their instructions to seniors a little clearer!

Just checking .............

FIVE on the top ....... what's number is on the bottom?
How many SPOTS on a pair of dice?
How many sides on a die?
How many corners on a pair of dice?
How many edges on a die?
Many people "shoot craps," but no one knows how to cook them.

US Olympic uniforms MADE IN CHINA

The US-China Olympic rivalry heated up in an unfashionable way Thursday when a top US lawmaker suggested burning the US team's outfits for the opening ceremony because they were made in China.

"I'm so upset. I think the Olympic Committee should be ashamed of themselves," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters when asked about an ABC News report on the origin of the Ralph Lauren-designed uniforms.

"I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them," an outraged Reid added.

"If they have to wear nothing but a symbol that says USA on it, painted by hand, that is what they should wear."

It was the strongest of reactions about the outfits heard on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers who often bicker over ways to keep US jobs, including in the textile industry, from heading overseas to low-wage economies like China and India.

A Congress that has rarely been so divided, was for once in this bitter election year, united in its condemnation of the Olympic Committee.

"You'd think they'd know better," Republican House Speaker John Boehner said of the fashion kerfuffle during a press briefing.