oddly enough

oddly enough

Ad executive sends cards from grave

PITTSBURGH

The holiday cards from Bob McCully were truly a special delivery — from beyond the grave.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, about 400 people recently received macabre but humorous greetings from McCully, who died in August at 88.

The front of the card shows the former Pittsburgh advertising executive talking on the phone in an office. It says: “Hello, please don’t call. I recently moved to a quiet neighborhood ...”

Inside, the card says: “My new place doesn’t have a phone and our gates close after dark.” Pictures show the gates at Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville and McCully’s tombstone.

Longtime friend David Newell describes the greeting as eerie but also laugh-out-loud funny. McCully was known for his funny Christmas cards.

Friends say a relative helped produce this year’s card.

Soda/candy-powered car travels 239 feet

BUCKFIELD, Maine

The Maine guys known for creating colorful geysers from Diet Coke and Mentos candies say they’ve set a distance record for a vehicle with soda-and- candy-powered propulsion.

Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz created a single-seat rocket car powered by 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 Mentos. They say the Mark II traveled 239 feet, improving upon last year’s 220 feet with only half the fuel. They posted video of a 209-foot attempt online.

Voltz said Thursday they incorporated a simple piston-and-cylinder mechanism to get the vehicle moving. He says it’s powerful enough that people shouldn’t try the experiment at home.

Pa. man fakes mom’s obit to get time off

BROOKVILLE, Pa.

Authorities in northwestern Pennsylvania say a man published an obituary for his living mother in a ploy to get paid bereavement time off from work.

Relatives called The Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper in Brookville after the obit appeared to report the woman was actually alive and well. The woman herself then visited the paper.

Brookville police charged 45-year-old Scott Bennett with disorderly conduct on Tuesday.

Democrat editor Randy Bartley says he accepted the obituary in good faith after being unable to confirm the funeral arrangements at press time. He told The Derrick newspaper Friday that the woman was very understanding.

Police Chief Ken Dworek says Bennett wrote up the memorial notice because he didn’t want to get fired for taking time off.

The Associated Press could not reach Bennett.

Associated Press