Cyclist goes around the world on penny farthing

A cyclist has completed a 22,000-mile cycling trip around the world on a penny farthing. Joff Summerfield pedaled his handmade replica of a Victorian bicycle into Greenwich Market, south-east London, where his journey began two-and-a-half years ago.Mr Summerfield, 40, visited 23 countries in four continents after setting off from 0 degrees latitude at the Greenwich Observatory. He averaged 11mph and covered up to 40 miles a day as he cycled across Europe into Turkey before riding through Australia and New Zealand.
In Australia, he raced in the Penny Farthing World Championships and came second in one of the 'novice' categories. From China - where he cycled without the correct permits - managed to sneak across the border into Tibet he despite his bike's giant front wheel that is 1.2 meters in diameter.
He then took in India and Nepal, where he crossed the Himalayas at 17,000ft (5,200m) and made it to Everest base camp.Mr Summerfield, who was forced to abort two previous attempts through injury, next rode through south-east Asia, the USA and Canada before heading for home. En route, he took in landmarks including India's Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex and the Grand Canyon in the USA.
He believes he is the first man to complete the circumnavigation on a penny farthing since Thomas Stevens, who was British, in 1887.

In the News

Charity worker finds $7,500 among donated shoes
This stacks up among the better finds at a Goodwill store: $7,500 in cash stuffed in a shoebox. A recent Bulgarian immigrant found the money during her first day on the job last week at a Goodwill near St. Louis in Glen Carbon, Ill.
Teodora Petrova didn't hesitate after finding the cash with a pair of donated shoes - she turned the money over to a manager who told executives for the nonprofit charity.
The president and chief executive of the area's Goodwill organization says it's eager to find the owner of the money. The charity figures it may have been left with the shoes accidentally.
If the owner isn't found, Goodwill says the money will go toward the charity's job-placement efforts.
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Parrot credited with choking tot rescue
DENVER, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Denver area babysitter said her pet parrot may have saved the life of a 2-year-old girl by raising a ruckus when the toddler started choking.
The babysitter, who gave her name as Meagan, said she was using the bathroom in her home while babysitting for the 2-year-old, Hannah, when she heard her parrot, Willie, screaming wildly,
"Willie started screaming like I'd never heard him scream before and he started flapping his wings," Meagan said. "Then he started saying 'mama baby' over and over and over again until I came out and looked at Hannah and Hannah's face was turning blue because she was choking on her pop tart."
Meagan said she performed the Heimlich maneuver and stopped the young child's choking.
"If (Willie) wouldn't have warned me, I probably wouldn't have come out of the bathroom in time because she was already turning blue, her lips were blue and everything," Meagan said.
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Weight violation prompts elevator rescue
Seven people had to be rescued from a stalled elevator in New Bedford, Mass., City Hall after the vehicle's weight restriction was surpassed, an official says.
John Perry -- the New Bedford Department of Public Facilities superintendent of facilities, maintenance and construction -- said the elevator had an approximate weight capacity of 1,700 pounds, and the weight of 10 people was just too much for the elevator car to handle last week.
Perry said riders packed into the elevator despite the weight limit warning and stalled the transport for two hours Thursday.
"Some people just don't want to listen to the elevator operator," Perry said.
Three of the trapped riders chose to leave the stalled elevator using a ladder but the remaining seven had to wait in the elevator car until rescuers could free them.
Officials would be more stringent regarding the use of the elevator, which was manufactured in 1912 and is the nation's oldest continually operating elevator.
"We will be kicking people off from now on," the superintendent said.
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Feinstein Urges Web Sites Not to Sell Scalped Inauguration Tickets
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony, is asking Web sites like eBay not to sell scalped inauguration tickets -- which could be sold for up to $40,000 online.
WASHINGTON -- The senator overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony said Monday she's writing to Internet sites like eBay asking them not to sell scalped inauguration tickets.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also said she's crafting a bill that would make a federal crime of selling tickets to the historic event Jan. 20.
Feinstein, who chairs the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said she foresees overwhelming demand for the 240,000 available tickets and has heard reports they may be sold for as much as $40,000 online.
The tickets are supposed to be free to the public and distributed through congressional offices.Lawmakers' offices won't get the tickets until shortly before the inauguration, to try to prevent scalping. In-person pickup will be required.

Nice Try

Chopper shocks shoppers

Romanian shoppers were shocked when a helicopter landed between cars in a supermarket car parking area.
The light helicopter dropped off two men who went into the Real supermarket in Bacau and came back an hour later to pick them up again.
Eyewitness Georgeta Stoica, said: "That thing just landed there, no security or protection, nothing.
"It was really windy outside and the helicopter could have easily hit the electric poles or wires. Who knows what could have happened?"
Radu Bondar, the head of the airport in Bacau said the landing was legal only if the pilot had the permission of the supermarket.
But Romanian civil aviation laws say light helicopters are not allowed to land in populated areas without precaution measures.
Adrian Enescu, who works near the supermarket, said: "It's the third time I've seen people coming shopping in their helicopters. I heard they are important persons but I think they're a little snobbish too."
The incident was filmed by an amateur cameraman who sent the film to a local television station.

In the News

Marines to the Rescue at California Motel Fire
Six off-duty Marines who raced through a burning motel warning sleeping guests that it was on fire were hailed as lifesaving heroes.
Everyone escaped the Americas Best Value Inn motel, in Lake Forest California, including one elderly man who required oxygen after he was carried to safety by one of the Marines. The cause of the fire, which ignited shortly before 8 a.m., was under investigation.
Marine Pvt. Colton Oliver said he and two colleagues were walking along a second-floor landing about 8 a.m. when they saw flames and smoke. They rousted their fellow Marines and all six began knocking on doors and windows of rooms, urging people to leave.
"Everybody was out by the time the firefighters got here," Oliver said. "It's what we're trained to do."
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More cockroaches expected in Florida
Florida researchers say a hissing cockroach that grows as big as 5 inches inadvertently could be released in the state and, if so, would thrive.
The Madagascar hissing cockroach is one of four species of roach readily available on the Internet to lizard owners who purchase them illegally, said Phil Hoehler, an entomologist with the University of Florida.
Roaches are a good replacement for crickets as reptile food because they are less expensive and don't smell as bad as crickets.
The Turkestan cockroach, lobster roach and the orange spotted roach also are potential invaders, though they have yet to be spotted, Koehler warned pest-control operators in a recent magazine article.
"This is not good news for anybody," said Hoehler, noting where there are cockroaches, there will be escapes and Florida has the perfect climate for them.

Homework

Teacher: "James where is your homework?"

James: "I ate it"

Teacher: "Why?"

James: "Because you said it was a piece of cake!"

Pygmy Hippo Monifa is a Lucky Baby

LUCKY by name, lucky by nature - that's the case for Taronga Zoo's newest nursery edition, Monifa the pygmy hippo.
Born three weeks ago and unable to stand or feed herself, the piglet-sized hippo would have died within days, but for the intervention of dedicated zoo staff.
Hippo keepers Renae Zammit and Tracy Roberts have been living round-the clock with the 3.8kg infant.
The pair spent a fortnight sleeping with and hand-feeding Monifa - who's name means "I am lucky" in Nigerian.
The infant has now moved into her own pen and is ready to follow the footsteps of her father Timmy, the last pygmy hippo born at Taronga 23 years ago.
Born during the early hours of October 15, Monifa initially had to be patiently coerced into even trying to feed from a syringe. Ms Zammit and Ms Roberts spent alternate days working around the clock to keep her alive.
She has now doubled in weight and is drinking from a bowl, content to suckle the thumb of her keepers.
A delighted Ms Zammit said Monifa was already showing signs of playfulness.
"She's such an inquisitive little thing and loves bath time, she even turns somersaults in the water," she said.
The species grows to about 1m in height - almost half the size of other hippos.
There's a photo gallery here.
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Zoo Shows Off Pygmy Hippo
Australia's Taronga Zoo in Sydney recently showed off its latest addition, a baby pygmy hippo. Monifa, who is only three weeks old, is currently the size of a puppy.

There are less than 3,000 pygmy hippos remaining in the world.

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So Cute

In the News

Cash Hidden in House Walls Becomes a Nightmare
A contractor who found $182,000 in Depression-era currency hidden in a bathroom wall has ended up with only a few thousand dollars, but he feels some vindication.
The windfall discovery amounted to little more than grief for contractor Bob Kitts, who couldn't agree on how to split the money with homeowner Amanda Reece.
It didn't help Reece much, either. She testified in a deposition that she was considering bankruptcy and that a bank recently foreclosed on one of her properties.
And 21 descendants of Patrick Dunne — the wealthy businessman who stashed the money that was minted in a time of bank collapses and joblessness — will each get a mere fraction of the find.
Picture and More
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Coin Toss Decides Minnesota Mayor's Race
GOODRIDGE, Minn. — A coin toss has determined the winner of the mayor's race in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Goodridge.
Incumbent Bob Homme and former Mayor Dave Brown each got 22 votes. Instead of finding the ballots and recounting the 44 votes, they agreed to decide the winner with a coin toss.
It already was a strange race in Goodridge - population 98 - with no one filing to run for mayor. Brown and Homme were both write-ins.
To break the tie, each tossed his own coin. If it was even, meaning two heads or two tails, Homme would win the two-year term. If it was odd, meaning a head and a tail, Brown would win. It was a head and a tail. Brown won.
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Honeymoon Couple Worst Nightmare
A newlywed couple ended up stuck half-way up a mountain when their sat-nav went wrong on their honeymoon.
Oliver Kohl, 24, and bride Angela, 23, were heading to a luxury hotel in the remote village of Willingen, Germany, after their wedding in Hamm, near Dortmund.
But they got lost as their sat-nav guided them along a bumpy, unpaved forest road toward a tall mountain.
Oliver said: "At one point there was a gate I had to open, and then eventually the road became a muddy swamp and we got stuck fast."
The pair tried for hours to get their car out before having to call cops who sent out a rescue team to get them off the side of the 2,755ft mountain.
The pair were eventually taken to their honeymoon hotel.
A police spokesman said: "It's a wedding night they will never forget."
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Kenyan moms name babies after Obama
Mothers in Kenya have marked Barack Obama's US election win by naming their babies after him.
More than half of the babies born in a Kisumu Hospital the day after the election were named either Barack or Michelle Obama.
Kisumu is close to the village where Mr Obama's father was born and raised and Mr Obama is a local hero.
The region erupted in celebration after he won the race for the White House, reports the BBC.
Of the 15 babies born in the New Nyanza Provincial Hospital in Kisumu, five boys were named Barack Obama and three girls were called Michelle.
One mom, Pamela Adhiambo, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and named them Barack and Michelle Obama.
"I made up my mind to name them long before the elections, and even if Obama had not won, I would still have done the same," she said.
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Car impounded after dog drives away from car wash
A dog waiting in a car while at a car wash slipped the vehicle into gear and drove in a loop before the car came to a stop. Pryor police officer Brent Crittenden said the dog's owner was washing the vehicle when the 70-pound pit bull jumped on the dash and somehow shifted the car into reverse.
The car backed out of the car wash bay, continued onto a highway and then looped around before coming to a stop at an automated car wash lane.
Crittenden said the vehicle was impounded because its owner was unable to provide proof of insurance.
Because the dog was registered with the city, Crittenden said the owner was allowed to walk the pooch home.
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Sisters who could possible die by a loud noise

Evie and Chloe Church have a rare illness which can cause them to die if they hear a loud noise or experience sudden shock.
Every morning the sisters, aged nine and 11, have to be woken from their sleep with the greatest of care.
The girls have the rare medical condition Long QT Syndrome, which causes an abnormality of the heart's electrical system.
As a result of their illness, any sudden rush of adrenaline or a sharp rise in blood pressure could prove fatal.
Even any type of exercise - especially swimming - could be fatal.
Samantha Church, the girls' mother, said: "Sometimes it just feels like I'm living with a time bomb, terrified it today will be the day it goes off.
"It breaks my heart not knowing if they are going to be here tomorrow or in five years time."
Long QT Syndrome affects one in 7,000, and is usually genetic.
Mrs Church, 41, said: "My mother-in-law had the condition and had to have a defibrillator fitted.
"We had the girls checked from an early age but initial tests proved inconclusive."
It was doctors at Swansea's Singleton Hospital who picked up the little-known condition during an ECG scan of the youngest daughter, Evie, in July this year.
Mrs Church said: "Chloe and Evie have to be woken up really carefully in the morning and have to skip PE lessons at school.
"They exercise using the Nintendo Wii, but have to be strictly supervised.
"They're both on beta blockers for life. It's been incredibly tough for them, but they've coped remarkably well."
Luckily for the girls, they are fairly safe from harm as long as they can prepare for loud noises.
It meant they could go with their friends to a fireworks party this week and enjoy the bangs like any other child.
"I want Chloe and Evie to try and have as normal a life as possible – I can't wrap them up in cotton wool," added Mrs Church.

I.C.E. on Your Cell Phone

Apparently this is a standard procedure all paramedics follow at the scene of an accident when they come across your cell phone.

ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person "in case of an emergency"? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign
The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell(mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' (In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE.'
For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!
Please forward this. It won't take too many 'forwards' before everybody will know about this . It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest . ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.