Inspiration

When a customer left his cell phone in my store, I scrolled through his saved numbers, stopped at "Mom" and pushed send. His mother answered, and I told her what happened.

"Don't worry," she said, "I'll take care of it."

A few minutes later, the cell phone rang. It was "Mom."

"Martin," she said, "you left your cell phone at the convenience store."

Police in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, sick and tired of cell phone thefts, have launched a new weapon against the culprits.

As soon as thefts are reported, stolen phones are sent a Short Message System text message every three minutes noting "This device is stolen. Purchase or sale is an offense," and signing the note "the police."

A police spokesman admitted "the idea is to drive the thieves mad" and make the phones virtually unusable.

It's forty below zero one winter night in Alaska. Pat is drinking at his local saloon and the bartender says to him, "You owe me quite a bit on your tab."

"Sorry," says Pat, "I'm flat broke this week."

"That's okay," says the bartender. "I'll just write your name and the amount you owe me right here on the wall."

"But," says Pat, "I don't want any of my friends to see that."

"They won't," says the bartender. "I'll just hang your parka over it until it's paid."

"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson