Truly Odd Planet » Acts of kindless

Golden Plunger award for Man who cleaned public restroom

Chris — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:00:15 +0000

A Michigan man, Steve Oswald, won’t be getting back the $156.94 that he charged the city for cleaning a public bathroom, but he did get the attention of city officials.

Oswald, 45, has said that he didn’t expect to be reimbursed after billing the west Michigan tourist town of Grand Rapids for the work that he did to clean up a disgusting public washroom. He does appreciate the award that city officials bestowed on him for his work though! He was given a toilet plunger – “The Golden Plunger Award” – that was spray painted gold and set in an oak stand.

The city has now replaced some of the fixtures in the bathroom and they will hire a cleaning company to keep it tidy from now on.

Mayor Tony Vettori was quoted by The Grand Rapids Press as saying he was glad Oswald “lifted the lid on this problem.”

Kids cat needs an operation and strangers offer to help

Chris — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:14:27 +0000

In June strangers from all over were happy to offer their help to an Ogden Utah cat named Patches who needed an expensive operation. When Patches was a kitten she suffered a spinal cord injury that left her rear right leg paralyzed.

The disability could lead to the premature death of Patches.

So … Aspen Granath, 10, and her younger brother Skylar, 8, opened a lemonade stand to raise funds for the surgery to help Patches. The operation is said to cost more than $500.

“Although only one of her legs is paralyzed, it drags along behind her and trips up her good leg,” Aspen’s father, Blue Granath, told the Standard-Examiner in a story. “Now when she walks, she just uses her front legs and drags the back part of her body behind her. It’s really sad.”

An Ogden newspaper published a story about the cat and this lead to offers of donations and assistance from readers around the country. People in North Carolina, New York, Texas, California and Arizona have contacted the newspaper.

Pet lover Theresa Pilarczyk offered to pay for the cats surgery saying “I’ve always had a soft spot for stories about children and animals”.

The kindness of strangers – gotta love it. Hopefully the cat has had it’s surgery by now.

Iguana Slumber

Chris — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:08:45 +0000

During a recent cold snap in Florida residents of the state were somewhat startled to see the feral iguana population fall into a hibernation like state. Iguanas, not being warm blooded creatures, need heat to keep them alive and moving in their usual manner. When it becomes too cool for them they slow down too as they are unable to function.

Kind hearted Floridians decided to take these iguanas indoors to warm them up. Naturally this turned out to be a mistake because as soon as the iguanas warmed up they became active again and went back to their wild nature.

One elderly woman who’d dragged a five foot iguana indoors couldn’t understand why the iguana seemed to be coming after her once it got warm. Perhaps she expected the iguana to wag it’s tail and be grateful like a cat or dog that had been rescued from the cold might have been in the same situation.

I actually had an iguana for 11 years and he was a rescue. I can attest to the fact that they slow down when cool! I’m sure that those who took in cold iguanas probably saved a few reptilian lives even though to them once the igs warmed it they probably felt as if they’d taken in a wild raccoon or something similar!