Smile on the Dial

Recently there seems to be all this news about your average citizen preventing crimes - what's up with that? However it does make for some hugely entertaining reading! I wouldn't recommend some of these guys' methods, though.

Martin Richardson was at his local bookies in Leeds when someone tried to make off with the cash. Martin did what any man who knows judo would do, as you can see here. Earlier in the month in Adelaide, Australia, Michael Baulderstone was dressed as Spiderman to celebrate International Free Comic Day (who knew?) and spotted a man 'behaving suspiciously'. Michael confronted the man and found stolen goods on him. You would think that the Jedi Knights present would have first picked up some bad vibes or something . . . Then there's my all-time favourite: actual ninjas who stop an mugging. I have to share this story with everyone I meet now - you couldn't make it up! And in the US, a massive painting that was stolen from a hotel in broad daylight nearly two weeks ago was anonymously brought back. Both times were caught on CCTV but police are still mystified by the theft, and even more so by its return!

Last week I blogged about Jessica Watson sailing around the world - this time it's an even younger teen breaking the record by becoming the youngest person to climb Mount Everest at 13 years old. Jordan Romero (who's actually from the same area where I grew up) made it up the mountain on Saturday. He has now has climbed six of the seven highest peaks on seven continents, known as the Seven Summits - how cool is that! I'm not a fan of people breaking records for their own sake, but this young guy has a reason and a vision to climb, and that's inspiring!

Speaking of inspiring, this American woman found out she had a cancerous tumor while completing her doctoral studies. She earned her degree and beat cancer at the same time. Her attitude towards life is striking: she says, "I really do understand that we're not promised tomorrow, so I try to make the most of every day."

British journalist Vanessa Able clocked up 10,000 km on a road trip through India in a tiny car called the Nano. She Facebooked her blog, called the Nano Diaries, describing how for three months she and her yellow car have "laughed, cried, honked our horn and sworn at negligent truckies; we have gotten lost, found the dead ends of motorways, been attacked (i.e. drooled on) by an elephant and on several occasions very nearly run out of petrol; we have seen farmers, road workers, naked guys, jetset tourists, soldiers, spiritual leaders and literally hundreds of pump attendants quizzical at the car’s secret front-mounted petrol cap; been sworn at, gestured at, stared at, gawped at, pointed at and smiled at."

If you're looking for a new job just in time for the summer, how about becoming employed as a honeymoon tester? Requirements include 6 months of trying out dream locations to see if their hospitality, customer service, amenities and services are up to standard for a typical honeymooning couple. Other dream jobs mentioned are living on a tropical island to promote tourism, visiting every theme park in Florida, and promoting a wine country lifestyle through social media.

In other work/life balance news, CNN claims that quite possibly they've found the 10 best cities in the world. Is your city one of them? What do you think are the 10 best cities in the world?