Just when you think it’s safe to rent a hotel room in the American heartland . . .
What do you do, if your hotel room toilet is clogged? Most likely, you call the hotel front desk, and the hotel staff calls a plumber (or their own maintenance department).
The plumber knocks on your door and tries to fix the errant commode with a plunger. When that doesn’t work, he pulls out – you guessed it – a snake.
But what happens, if the toilet clogger actually is a snake?
Apparently, a female guest in a Hampton Inn in La Vista, Nebraska, discovered a three-foot python in the toilet of her room about a week ago.
Perhaps the surprising serpent was a lost pet, although that particular hotel has a no-pets policy. Maybe the snake had been flushed somehow.
Oddly, the Nebraska snake was not the first python to appear in a potty.
In 2007, a woman in Brooklyn, New York, discovered a seven-foot python in the toilet of her apartment. And in 2009, an Australian man a ten-foot python in his personal home privy.
To soften the blow for those who are sending significant checks with tax returns, several vendors are offering special discounts and deals.
Boston Market – free meal with coupon and purchase of one meal
Chick-fil-A – free mini-biscuits (from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.)
Cinnabon – two free cupcake bites (from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.)
P.F. Chang’s - $15% off all food purchases (alcoholic beverages not included). Offer includes both dine-in and take-out.
Dairy Queen – free Mini Blizzard samples with visit to Blizzardmobile outside IRS office in Washington, D.C. (noon to 1:00 p.m.).
Dunkin’ Donuts – free donut with coffee purchase.
HydroMassage – free massages through April 18th (availability varies).
IHOP – one free kids’ meal (age 12 and under) per adult meal purchase (from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
MaggieMoo’s – free slice of ice cream pizza (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
McCormick & Schmick’s – dinner and drink for $10.40. Bar guests receive $10.40 gift certificates (for following visits). Tax preparers receive free dessert (with any entrée purchase) and $10.40 gift certificates (for following visits).
McDonald’s - free Southern-style chicken biscuit (or chicken sandwich). Buy a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder (with cheese), and get another for a penny (all day on April 15th).
Office Max – free copies of tax returns
Papa John’s – buy a large pizza (with up to three toppings) for $10.40 with secret promo code (code: 1040). Offer lasts till midnight on April 15th.
Staples – free copies of tax returns
Starbucks – free coffee to customers bringing their own reusable travel mugs
Subway – free cookies with lunch purchase
Tacos del Mar – free taco (with website registration)
TGI Fridays - $5 gift card with $15 - $20 purchase (or $10 gift card with $25+ purchase).
Whole Foods Market – no sales tax in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee
(Offers may vary with participating locations.)
Do you know of any other 2010 Tax Day freebies? Share in a comment!
Mark Your Calendars for the 2008 Midwest Horse Fair®
Mark Your Calendars for the 2008 Midwest Horse Fair®
Top 50 Stressful Universities in the U.S.
Sure, college can be stressful. Just ask any college or university students – the night before a big exam.
Too much caffeine ... too little sleep. Too many books ... too many overtired brain cells. What's a collegian to do?
The Daily Beast examined the top 50 American universities, based on rankings from U.S. News & World Report, and evaluated these schools for stressfulness.
They used these issues to create a list of the most stressful colleges and universities in the United States:
Tuition cost
Room and board expenses
Academics
Acceptance rates
Graduate engineering program standards
Crime on campus
Here’s the list of the most stressful universities in the U.S., as rated by The Daily Beast.
1) Stanford University
2) Columbia University
3) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4) University of Pennsylvania
5) Harvard University
6) Princeton University
7) Vanderbilt University
8) Carnegie Mellon University
9) California Institute of Technology
10) Northwestern University
11) University of Chicago
12) Yale University
13) Washington University in St. Louis
14) Dartmouth University
15) Johns Hopkins University
16) Duke University
17) Cornell University
18) University of Southern California
19) Georgetown University
20) Brown University
21) Tufts University
22) Rice University
23) University of California, Berkeley
24) New York University
25) Boston College
26) Emory University
27) Notre Dame University
28) Wake Forest University
29) University of Rochester
30) University of California, Los Angeles
31) Brandeis University
32) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
33) Lehigh University
34) Tulane University
35) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
36) University of Virginia
37) University of California, San Diego
38) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
39) Case Western Reserve University
40) Georgia Institute of Technology
41) University of California, Santa Barbara
42) University of California, Davis
43) University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
44) College of William and Mary
45) University of Wisconsin, Madison
46) Pennsylvania State University
47) University of Texas at Austin
48) University of Washington
49) University of California, Irvine
50) University of Florida
Do you agree or disagree with these rankings? Where does your own alma mater rate – for stressfulness?
