When I read that three 911 calls were made because a McDonald’s was out of chicken McNuggets, I couldn’t resist telling you about it.
A lady in Fort Pierce, Florida was very upset after being charged for a 10-piece chicken McNuggets meal that she didn’t receive. The restaurant refused to give her a refund and asked her to pick something else instead.
Well, I can certainly understand this person getting upset for being charged for in item that the restaurant didn’t have, but the incident is clearly a misuse of 911 resources. And she called three times, insisting it was …read more

Avoid bed bugs and other nasties by taking a look at Trip Advisor’s 2009 Dirtiest Hotels!
The ratings are based on reader reviews from people just like you. I’ve been a Trip Advisor member for years, and it has led me to some great restaurants and hotels. The site is free to use, so no worries.
I really believe that a dirty hotel with a crappy bed can affect your health, at least mentally. I once had to check out of a Baltimore, MD hotel early because I could feel the bed springs and there was flooding in the hallway. I’ll have …read more

Perhaps so! According to a new study by Durham University, people with a higher caffeine intake are more likely to report seeing or hearing things that aren’t there.
Should you worry about hallucinations?
Well, I hope you’re not hearing voices or seeing things! But if you are, and you have more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day, caffeine could be to blame.
The study reports that high caffeine users (7 or more cups a day), were three times more likely to hear voices than low caffeine users (less than the equivalent of one cup of instant coffee …read more

Lady in red. . .
Ok, maybe there’s a reason a song was written about this “lady in red.”
According to a recent study by a professor at the University of Rochester in New York, men rate women wearing red as more sexy than women wearing other colors, like blue.
So, do you wear red when you want to be perceived as more sexy?
Image via stock.xchng.

Have you ever judged someone’s warmth as a person by the beverage you’re drinking at the time? Seems weird…
But according to a recent study by Yale researchers, our perception of a person’s character may be influenced by the cup of joe we’re holding at the time.
The study, published in the October issue of Science, says that people judge others to be more caring if they had just held a warm cup of coffee. Likewise, people were judged to be less caring when a cold beverage was held.
A second study by the researchers showed you may be more likely to donate …read more

(www.livelywomen.com) — Reuters reported yesterday that policewomen in Germany are being issued special bras to go with their bulletproof vests.
“There was a slight safety risk for women wearing normal bras with metal parts underneath a bullet-proof vest,” a police spokesman in the northern city of Hanover said.
“If the vest is hit by a projectile, this can have an impact on the metal bit in the bra underneath and cause injuries.” (source)
The thing about bulletproof vests is that you will still feel the impact of the bullet — it just shouldn’t enter your body. So if you’re wearing an underwire bra …read more

There’s a great post over at Wired Science that issues a call for funny stories about germophobia. Germophobia, or fear of germs, is running rampant these days in the face of new superbugs and easily spread illnesses like SARS. Simply put, people are freaking out. We’re obsessed not only with germs, but also the wide array of antibacterial cleaning and personal care products that are filling the shelves of major retailers. While it’s definitely smart to be aware of situations that could put you at risk of contracting a serious illness, there’s such a thing as overkill.
For example…

A woman who …read more

A baby girl was born in Northern India with a rare condition called craniofacial duplication, which means that she has two faces on her head. According to doctors, her two sets of eyes, two noses, and two mouths appear to be fully functional. However, CNN reports, her parents have refused to let the baby undergo CT (computed tomography) scans to see if her brain is affected by the disorder.
Typically, children with craniofacial duplication face serious health complications.
Community members believe the child is the reincarnation of Hindu goddess Durga, who has three eyes and multiple arms, and the village chief wants …read more

Reading about Isabelle Dinoire and her face transplant really shook me up, apparently, because I can’t get it out of my mind. Here is the scenario I keep envisioning:
Dinoire is walking down the streets of Paris and suddenly a stranger comes running up to her.
Stranger: Sophie, how are you? It’s moi, Suzette from university!
Dinoire: I’m not Sophie, je suis Isabelle, and I’ve never seen you before in my life.
Stranger: I know it’s vous! You haven’t aged a day in 20 years!
Dinoire: I think you’ve mistaken me for la femme whose face I’m wearing. She’s dead.
Um, awkward much?
Contents © Copyright 2007 …read more

French woman Isabelle Dinoire, who was the first person to undergo a face transplant, has recovered pretty much completely from her surgery. When she was 38, her dog ate off most of her face for undetermined reasons (I heard that she passed out drunk and her dog thought she was, but I can’t find a source for that. If you have one, leave a comment with a link please!).
As with any transplant, Dinoire still has to take immunosupressants to keep her body from rejecting the foreign tissue. (Can you imagine your body rejecting your face? ICK!) She’s had rejection problems, …read more