My Hamster Wheel

Minus the cheese.

I have been in meetings since 8:30 this morning, and I'm only running on two cups of unleaded coffee. So please excuse this uncreative post. Instead I leave you with two of the most bizarre news articles I've ever read. I won't lie. They made me laugh. See if you too don't find them disturbingly funny.

Missing Woman Found Dead Behind Bookcase
Quite possibly the most pathetic sad strange way a person could die.

A woman's body was found wedged upside-down behind a bookcase in the home she shared with relatives who had spent nearly two weeks looking for her. A spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Mariesa Weber's death was not suspicious. Family members said they believe she fell over as she tried to adjust the plug of a television behind the bookshelf.

Weber, 38, returned home Oct. 28 and greeted her mother, then wasn't seen again. Her family thought she had been kidnapped and contacted authorities. Family members scoured her room for clues but found nothing, though they did notice a strange smell. On Nov. 9, Weber's sister went into her bedroom and looked behind a bookcase, where she saw the woman's foot. Using a flashlight the family saw Weber was wedged upside-down behind the unit."I'm sleeping in the same house as her for 11 days, looking for her," her mother, Connie Weber, told the St. Petersburg Times. "And she's right in the bedroom."

Both Weber and her sister had previously adjusted the television plug by standing on a bureau next to the shelf and leaning over the top. Her family believes Weber, who was 5'3" and barely 100 pounds, may have fallen head first into the space. "She's a little thing," her mother said. "And the bookcase is 6 feet tall and solid. And she couldn't get out." The sheriff's office said Weber appeared to have died because she was unable to breathe in the position she was in.

Man Baker Acted After Trying To Rob Bank
This happened in my parents' town. And no, it's not Hoop.

A 31-year-old ------- man who was first thought to be robbing a local bank was determined to require mental health care. On Nov. 16, the 911 caller stated a man wearing a Speedo- style bathing suit was present at the Compass Bank, where he advised the tellers he was there to rob the bank, according to Deputy A.F. Harris. The man was given a credit application instead of money and he left on a blue/purple motor scooter. Several minutes later, he returned with the credit application. He was met in the parking lot by Deputy Harris. The suspect again said he was there to rob the bank. After a confusing interview, the suspect was taken into custody and it was decided to Baker Act him, Deputy Harris said.