It’s been awhile since I’ve done a compilation of the weird, humorous and oddball news items that cross our path, but my revisit is prompted by KFC’s announcement it would fund $3,000 of pothole repairs as long as it could chalk its logo on each pothole. Plus, I figure we could all use some “news” these days that makes us chuckle.
(By the way, all of these were detailed on our own constructionpundit.www.equipmentworld.com blog in the past six months.)
Delving further into the KFC publicity stunt (March 27th on the blog), the company proclaimed that “for more than half a century, KFC has filled up its fans … (and) today … KFC is becoming the first-ever corporate sponsor of freshly filled-up potholes in up to five major cities.” The chalked KFC logo supposedly washes away with the next rain shower. No comments were made about potential grease spots.
In this new age of swap and barter, a New York City funeral director has a deal for you (March 12 on the blog). In a Craigslist offering, funeral director Peter Dohanich says in exchange for putting in a new patio on his house, he’ll give a contractor a free funeral, reports Web Producer. You might want to check if the casket is extra.
All this bleak economic talk getting you down? Then .www.recessionblocker.com (February 24) may be just the ticket. Use this website to enter several favorite news sites, and watch those pesky gloomy words – like “down” and “recession” and “failure” – magically get blacked out. Be aware, however, the mind is quite capable of filling in all those blacked-out words with even darker phrases …
One Reno, Nevada, company, reports Fortune Small Business, has the economy all wrapped up – literally (February 24). Fast Wrap, a company that seals buildings in protective plastic, is finding a boomlet in wrapping up construction projects that have stalled. At $1 per square foot, Fast Wrap will enclose practically anything – including one client’s 11 spare pickup trucks that he didn’t want to store inside.
Out in Iowa, they really know how to spice things up, according to the Des Moines Register (December 29th). An Ankeny, Iowa, firm that produces kitchen spices found itself with tons of unneeded garlic salt, so they did the civic minded thing and donated it to the city. The fragrant de-icer was mixed in with the city’s regular salt supply and used during a snow storm, saving the city $1,400.
Finally, you have to admire the moxie of local business owners and residents on Hawaii’s Kauai island, according to CNN (April 9th on the blog). Told that it would take the state at least a year to fix a flood-destroyed access road into Polihale State Park, surfers and kayak-outfitters decided their economic survival depended on a do-it-yourself approach. Gathering volunteer labor and donated machinery, they fixed the road – including a bridge – in eight days. Talk about shovel ready.
