One-in-a-million connection
A reader writes: "I was staying with family down in Cornwall. Cadgwith to be exact. Every day I would walk for miles along the cliffs and countryside beside the coast. On this particular day I got a bit lost and my cellphone was flat. I wandered out onto a road and a woman driving down the hill stopped and said: "You look a bit lost can I help you?" I explained I was trying to find my way back to Cadgwith. "Oh, my dear you're a long way from there, jump in and I will drive you home." We got talking. "Do I detect a Kiwi accent?" "Yes, I'm from NZ." "I was there last week staying in Gisborne with my daughter while she had her baby." I said "My sister lives in Gisborne, she's a midwife there. "She asked me her name and she suddenly hit the brakes. To our utter shock, we discovered my sister had delivered her granddaughter. We both had tears in our eyes at this one-in-a-million connection on the other side of the world."
Is this your wedding ring?
Slap it on the plastic
Walter Cavanagh's hobby is collecting active credit cards issued in his name. Cavanagh's collection consists entirely of cards that he could use to buy something. By the mid-1970s, when the media first got wind of him (and dubbed him "Mr Plastic Fantastic"), he had already acquired 788 cards, giving him available credit of $750,000. By 2016, in the most recent update about him that I could find, his collection was up to 1497 cards, giving him available credit of $1.7 million. However, he never taps into this credit. He uses only one card, and he always pays off the balance in full each month.
Underwhelming gifts
A reader writes: "Several years ago after six years at a radio station group, my leaving gift consisted of a song sung live by the creative department, mostly referring to my large breasts, and a $70 book voucher. Given that I was a reasonably popular employee, and that quite a few would have contributed as well as the employer, I was a bit underwhelmed. I kept the voucher until December, reasoning that it would go towards a book or two for the children's Christmas gifts. When I went to present the voucher, I found that it was $700, not $70. Oops. I bought beautiful books for all the family. They said they were the most beautiful books they had ever had."