Thursday, April 03, 2008

A tale of two stories

Some days, we just can't decide which news story to go with. We often refer to those days as "Friday", but since we have our awards set up for that day, it's not as big of a deal. It certainly gives us a little breathing room.

And then there's days like today, which, try as we might, we can't call "Friday". Days where there are at least two stories that catch our interests. Sure, we can try and eliminate one of the choices, but, in some cases, we just can't pick. Especially when the stories are so drastically different. In the first, we learn what not to do in case of foreclosure, and, in the second, we get to learn about the best job in the world (or, at least one that ranks pretty highly).

As we mentioned, the first story talks about someone who was about to have their house foreclosed on. While there are a number of different routes that one can take when faced with that type of situation (we suggest looking into long-term motel room rentals), there are certain things that definitely should be avoided. For example, we don't really think that mailing the bank mercury would be a good plan. We're also fairly certain that deciding to create a code using ants would be less than productive.

Oh, yeah. And don't burn the place to the ground, either.

Part of the kicker to this is that the woman accused of lighting her own house on fire (with the help of some chemical accelerants) claims that she didn't know about the foreclosure proceedings. She also claims to have not set the fire, and is possibly sure that "American Idol" is a boon to the entertainment industry. If she's being honest (at least about the foreclosure), she's a little out of touch. If she's not, she could have come up with a better excuse than not knowing. Heck, she could embark on a campaign to find the real arsonists.

This whole thing could have possibly been avoided with a better job. And when it comes to good jobs, there are few that can pass up one found in the village of Winsor, Hampshire, UK. After all, how often do you see a posting offer 7 pounds/hour to drink beer and chat with an older man twice a week? Well, how often do you see something like that outside of a red light district?

The story behind the job posting is a bit of a sad one. An 88-year-old widower, with the assistance of his son, is looking for a drinking companion, someone to spend a few hours with per week chatting over a pint. The man lives in a retirement community with only one other male resident, and he feels that sitting at the pub over drinks with a woman might be a bit awkward. The interesting thing will not be whether the position gets filled, but who it gets filled by. Obviously, someone closer to the pensioners age would be ideal, as the two would have more in common, and thus, more to talk about. A younger drinker with an interest in learning and listening from the older generation could also make an ideal partner.

And no, we're not certain how many times Shane McGowan applied.

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