Oddities and Humor

Real Life Peter Griffin

Indian official sacked for pulling 24-year sickie

An Indian public official has been sacked for taking leave 24 years ago and never returning to his desk in the country's notoriously work-shy bureaucracy, the urban development ministry said Thursday.

Assistant executive engineer A.K Verma went on leave in 1990 after joining India's central public works department (CPWD) a decade earlier.

Verma defied bosses' orders to return to work after his requests for additional leave were denied, but it took until 2007 for formal dismissal charges to be brought against him, the ministry said in a statement.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu ordered his dismissal in order to "streamline the functioning of CPWD and to ensure accountability," it said.

India's civil servants have long been notorious for arriving late, taking long lunches or spending parts of their day on the golf course.

A 2012 survey by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk consultancy rated India's bureaucracy as the worst among major Asian countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he was shocked by what he saw in the corridors of power after moving to New Delhi following his landslide election victory in May last year.

During his first few months in office, Modi developed a reputation for paying unannounced visits to government offices.

Fear of being caught playing truant triggered a rise in attendance levels among civil servants and Delhi's main golf course has reportedly been largely deserted on week days.

Damn. If I could get away with taking 24 years of sick leave before being sacked, that would take me all the way to retirement. Wonder if I should give it a go?

I'm still laughing at this one.

Here's one: Type "askew" in the Google seach engine and see what happens...

Here is a partial result.

elgooG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElgooG
Wikipedia
elgooG (Google spelled backwards) is the literal mirror image of the Google search engine; not only is all of its content a reversal of Google, the search terms ...
elgooG - All Too Flat
www.alltooflat.com/geeky/elgoog/
ni ngiS | emoH dezilanosreP | erom spaM sweN oediV segamI. We're sorry! Elgoog, the Google Mirror, is currenly undergoing a server upgrade. All About ...
elgooG - Google Upside Down
elgoog.info/
An upside down version of Google.Google Backwards, Google Reverse.
Google Mirror - I'm elgooG - "Awesome" - Must Watch ...
Video for elgoog► 4:03► 4:03
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2PZlMKAfY
Jul 16, 2014 - Uploaded by Google Doodle Collection #singhaljoney
For more Information : http://elgoog.im/ Do you like Doodle? Write down your personal best time in the ...
moc.elgooG | Future Archaeology

I didn't click to follow up any of it.

Edgar, when you types the word "askew" in Google, and hit enter, the results did not come back slightly tilted to the right? That's what happened to me.

Good one FBM.

No. I got an actual search.

I got the "askew" citation in askew form also, Chai.

Pretty neat.

Wonder if Google does something like that for other words.

Reminds me of page 510 of Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary.

Look at the words at the top of the page...and then try to find the entry to which the one on the right refers.

Here's an on line copy in case you do not have one:


https://archive.org/details/webstersseventhn00unse

Wups. Almost fell for it.

I got the askew page that time. Might have the first time and looked at it cock-eyed, since I had not been up long.

A robotic steampunk miracle - this elephant is made from 45 tons of recycled materials, measuring 12 meters high and 8 meters wide. It can carry up to 49 passengers.

Whoa - just tried it - made me feel quite dizzy!!!

Is that in France, Edgar?

I'm trying to think where I saw loads of stuff like that a few years ago.

Aquitaine I think. Poitiers?

Anyway, they're fantastic, and I love that heffalump.

I clicked on it on the other site and it did not really say, that I could easily determine.

Found it!

It was Nantes. Near Poitiers.

They were all in the town square, and were probably there to promote the theme park.....

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/16/travel/machine-theme-park-france/

Dog eats $23,000 in wedding rings
Veterinarian finds other items in pet's stomach as well
http://www.click2houston.com/news/dog-eats-23000-in-wedding-rings/30611248