KEY POINTS:
How many lightbulbs does it take to create a US$2000 bill? One. Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, broke an energy-efficient lightbulb while installing it in her daughter's bedroom. It dropped and shattered on the carpeted floor. Aware that the compact fluorescent bulb contained mercury, she rang the shop where she bought the bulb and staff advised her to call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Department of Environmental Protection. It sent a specialist to Bridges' house who found mercury levels more than six times the state's "safe" level. He recommended an environmental clean-up firm, who gave her a US$2000 ($2700) clean-up estimate. The room was then sealed off with plastic. Bridges' insurance firm wouldn't cover the clean-up costs because mercury is a pollutant. (Source: Canada.com)
* * *
Petty criminals doing time in California can now pay for better accommodation. Prisoners in a dozen city jails can apply for pay-to-stay upgrades, a four-walled alternative with privacy from other inmates. The upgraded cell costs US$82 a day and guests are allowed to bring an iPod or computer. They operate like VIP areas in nightclubs - you have to be in the know to even apply for entry - and jail administrators operate like bouncers, rejecting anyone they don't want. (Source: New York Times)
* * *
Karin wades into the inter-generational home ownership debate. "I find it ironic your baby-boomer readers are advising that the secret of home ownership is living on mince and sausages. This is interesting considering the level of heart disease and bowel cancer in this country - which working Generation Xers have to pay for through taxes. I would suggest replacing the cheap meat with lentils, beans and other budget vegetarian treats."
* * *
Sue Austen is trying to locate a family on behalf of her elderly grandmother. "In 1945, my grandmother, a young arrival from Britain, had a newborn baby she could not feed. Her milk had dried up, and efforts to give the baby (my mother) supplementary feed hadn't worked and the baby was close to death. Far from her family, in a foreign country, my grandmother was beside herself. She went to an acquaintance, Laura Butler, who was amazingly kind and helpful. Laura found a Plunket nurse who made up a cornflour mix that started the baby back on the road to health. My grandmother has always talked about how wonderful Laura was to her, and now, in her 90s, wants to find her or, if Laura is no longer with us, her descendants, to say a "thank-you" in person. Laura had five or six children and lived in the Far North, somewhere near Rawene Hospital in Hokianga. The family were farmers. It would make an old lady very happy if they could be traced."
