Texans denied entry into Ireland

This story is an example of a traveler’s nightmare as well as what it’s like to win the lottery–an is the glass half empty or half full sort of tale.

Three strapping young men, high school graduates from Plano, Texas landed in Dublin, Ireland ready to embark on a back-packing trip around Europe. They were eager. Excited. If you’ve done a similar trip, you know the feeling. Then they were asked two magic questions by immigration that they didn’t know the answer to.

“Where are you staying?” and “How much money do you have?” They needed a bank statement to prove they were solvent. They came up with goose eggs on both accounts.

They didn’t have a place to stay yet, therefore, no address. Evidently, they didn’t have proof of enough funds either so there they were. Instead of following where their adventurous selves felt like going, they were sent back to New York City.

Hearing of their plight, and that shame had befallen Ireland that prides itself on being friendly, an upscale hotel group d4hotels.ie has offered the trio an all expenses paid trip back to Ireland. They’ve also been offered free cell phone service for a week and probably free pints of Guinness.

The three have accepted the offer, but feel nervous about the black mark on their passports. Hopefully, their best dreams are coming true and that Plano will be left behind for awhile. Let’s see if any other countries want to show how friendly they are.

Six weird plane emergency landing stories

One couldn’t argue that the US Airways emergency crash landing on the Hudson River due to birds flying into the engines is probably one of the most spectacular emergency landing stories.

There are, however, other stories that give one pause. They are not as splashy, but they sure are interesting, odd, and even downright weird. I went on an emergency landing hunt and this is what I found so far.

1. Back in December 2006, one American Airlines pilot had to divert a plane because of flatulence. One passenger who was passing gas, not the crop dusting, odorless kind that flight attendants sometimes do (ask Heather), but that foul kind you can’t quite get away from. The passenger who was passing gas lit matches to cover up the smell. When other passengers complained of a burnt sulfur smell, the pilot diverted the plane to Nashville where all passengers and all luggage was searched until the unnamed woman fessed-up. [Dallas/Ft. Worth Local News]

What about the plane VS the cow?

2. In August 2008, a Ryanair plane going from Budapest to Dublin had to land in Frankfurt after a man’s neck started to swell from an allergic reaction. Nope, it wasn’t peanuts. Turns out that a passenger had put a jar of mushrooms in the over head bin. The mushrooms leaked and got into the plane’s air conditioner system, thus out into the cabin which caused the medical woe. [UPI.com]

3. In December 2008, a Cirrus plane landed on the northbound lane of Highway 61 after there was engine trouble. The pilot and his passenger were able to push the plane to the side of the road out of the way until it was loaded onto a flatbed truck and removed. Can you imagine what it would have been like driving down the highway minding your own business when that baby came closer and closer to where you were driving? [10/13 ABC]

4. This odd story didn’t cause the emergency landing, but it is something that happened as a result. In December 2008, a World War II-era Tiger Moth in Britain hit a cow when it was making an emergency landing because of engine trouble. The cow had wandered out onto the runway. The cow was knocked down, but OK. My uncle hit a cow with his car. It wasn’t pleasant. Last summer while driving through North Dakota, we hit a few pheasants with our car. That wasn’t pleasant either. [UPI.com]

5. Here’s what one hopes would never, ever, ever, happen when flying. The plane door flies off. That’s what happened in March of 2008 when the door fell off a Bombardier Challenger CL-60 in Grand Junction, Colorado. No one was hurt, and the pilot was able to land the plane safely. A bit windy and startling, I would guess. I was riding in the passenger seat of a car once when the hood flew up and cracked the windshield. That was startling. [KOAA.com]

6. Here is a joke about an incident that almost ended up in an emergency landing. The story is thought to be true and was posted in The Australian. One plane almost made an emergency landing due to extreme vibrations. When the pilot put on the fasten the seat belt sign, the vibrations stopped. A person came out of the bathroom and said that he had been jogging in place. The story sounds a bit bogus to me, but I’ll believe about anything. [ahajokes.com]

Man sues strip club for getting whacked in the face with a boot

What is it about Ohio? During Jay Leno’s monologue last night, he quipped about a man who is suing a strip club in Akron for getting hit in the face with a stripper’s boot when it flew off her foot during a high kick.

That’s more weird than the story I heard on Saturday Night Live last September about Sarah Palin’s face being mowed into a corn maze in northern Ohio.

Here’s what happened in Akron, according to this report on Ohio.com. When the man’s cousin from out of town came for a visit, the bright idea of heading to a strip club for a good time came up. So off they went, perching themselves on chairs close to the stage.

Unfortunately, when “Tiara” did her high kick, her boot flew off, smacking Yusuf Evans in the nose, bending it a manner that it shouldn’t have been bent. Because the boot was a platform-style boot, it did extra damage. Now Evans says he has a hard time breathing out of one nostril. It gets clogged, you see. He’s asking for more than $25,000 compensation for his woes.

To avoid getting hit in the face with a stripper’s boot, here are three suggestions for what to see in Akron if one has an out of town guest. You can see a stripper club anywhere, but these three places are one-of-a-kind.

  • At Harry London Quality Chocolates you can tour the factory and sample chocolates. That might satisfy another type of craving since there are 500 different varieties.
  • Learn about another type of rubber at the Goodyear World of Rubber Museum. Akron is the “Rubber Capital of the World,” after all.
  • Dr. Bob’s Home–Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholic’s Anonymous. His home is now a museum. Some people who go here say they feel calm.

Art car in Texas under fire. Is it art or junk?

The issue of old cars becoming art is not a new one. A few years back, driving along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, I looked out for the 10 Cadillacs half-buried, nose first in a row off the highway. I saw them as funky and fun. The piece was titled Cadillac Ranch.

If you’ve ever driven through this part of Texas, you may understand how anything that breaks up the flat scenery is welcome. At least, that’s my opinion. Some have felt over the years that those cars are nothing but junk–an eyesore. Evidently, they’ve become more junky since I saw them. (see article)

There is another art car issue in Texas. This one is very recent. Another car, this one painted by Austin-based artists as a protest to pollution, is involved in a tug of war between the artists and those who say that a car that won’t run is junk. Those people want the car moved. The car, now a cactus planter, is art, the artists say and they want it to stay where it is on I-35 outside Planet K in San Marcos.

According to this article in the Austin News, a judge is to decide if the car should stay or go. Perhaps, the artists need to come up with a spiffy name and attractive signage similar to what one might see in a world class museum. It worked for Wilbur, the pig in Charlotte’s Web. He was saved from the chopping block by Charlotte’s web- weaving handiwork. “Super Pig” could be translated to “Super Car.” PR can work wonders. Even a weird funky item is enough to draw tourists into an area.

I have looked to see if I can find out the ruling, but came up with nothing.

Update on miracle baby who took a train toilet tumble

A week has passed since I posted about the baby who was born prematurely while her mother was using the toilet on a train in India. As with many global stories, unless there’s some big breaking news, we rarely hear what happened next. It’s like traveling on a highway, seeing a big wreck on the other side of the meridian, but never really finding out what happened. We think about the wreck for a few miles or so, perhaps tell someone what we saw after we arrive at our destination, if we remember, but often our attention has already turned to the latest thing to pass in front of us.

After doing a quick Web search to look for information about the baby’s well-being and ending up with my own post, I headed toThe Times of India for news. The latest update I found is from March 1. The baby–a girl, either to be named Jodhaa or Karishma, had just begun to drink her mother’s breast milk through a tube. She’s also on extensive antibiotics in order to combat any infection from the umbilical cord being ripped off (and I expect spending the first seconds of life in a toilet). The umbilical cord was found by her where she lay at the side of the tracks. The doctors think that she must have not been born head first but landed on her hip since there is some internal injury there, but it doesn’t seem serious. Wow!

The hospital is not charging for the baby’s care since the family doesn’t have any money and the station master who found her spent his day off from work going to Ahmedabad to see her. (see article)

These are the details that make me start singing Louis Armstrong’s tune, “I see trees of green, red roses too….and I think to myself, what a wonderful world.” There is a line about babies. (Click here for the song)