Leonard McCracken worked for a steel company until he retired in 1969. He's now 107 and has been living on savings, Social Security, and an annuity payment ever since. Bankrate.com's Jennie L. Phipps asked McCracken to share his wisdom about managing personal finances that permitted him to remain retired for 41 years. Among his suggestions was to always get a job, even if it's for much lower pay than you're used to:

McCracken was unemployed about 45 years ago after his previous employer went bankrupt. He had to take a job driving a truck that paid $5 per day. It was a low point in his life, but between that and a commission sales job that he took at night, he and his family muddled through until he got back on his feet.

Link via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: Bankrate

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Winters are quite cold in Yellowknife, the capital town of Canada's Northwest Territories. YouTube user samantha683 instantly froze boiling water by tossing it into the -30° C air.

via Gizmodo

Starbucks is now offering the trenta size, which is just one ounce short of a full quart. Sadly, it will not be available for straight coffee -- just icy drinks. In this infographic, Andrew Barr of Canada's National Post points out that this size is larger than the average adult stomach capacity.

Link -- Thanks, Jeremy! | Image: National Post, used with permission.

From a distance, Yang Yongliang's sculpture looks like a large, upside down cigarette. But a close inspection shows that the ashen tip depicts a city. As you can see in the other photos at the link, below the cigarette is a pile of ash in a field of wildflowers.

Link via Dude Craft | Photo: Yang Yongliang

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Animaniacs was canceled in 1998, but the show retains a strong fanbase. There's a Facebook group devoted to encouraging Warner Bros. to reviving the comedy cartoon. It produced this version of the opening sequence in a South Park style.

Link via Geekosystem

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This video shows a man balancing stacks of oranges on the forepaws of his cats. Question: how does one learn that one's cats have this talent?

via The Presurfer

Boston's emergency medical services department unveiled a new ambulance designed to help transport obese patients without injuring EMTs:

Boston emergency services debuted a specialized ambulance designed to carry obese patients on Tuesday, and the retrofitted vehicle was promptly needed on two calls, authorities said.

The ambulance is equipped with a special stretcher that can hold 850 pounds and a hydraulic lift with a 1,000 pound capacity, said Captain Jose Archila of Boston's Emergency Medical Services fleet.

The ambulance is likely to be needed two to four times a week, he said.

"We have seen a huge increase in the last six months," said Archila about the number of calls by obese patients.[...]

Back injuries among crews are common due to strain from lifting extremely heavy patients, he said. The ambulance makes the patients more comfortable as well.

In appearance, the ambulance looks like any other. The hydraulic lift is folded and stowed underneath the bed, and a gas tank was repositioned to accommodate it, Archila said.

Link via Super Punch | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user sonyone703 used under Creative Commons license

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire
The ring of fire

Japan's Hinode x-ray telescope satellite captured this image of a January 4 eclipse. This satellite is primarily tasked with examining the Sun's magnetic fields.

Link via reddit

In 2007, we posted that Sim Jae-Duck of South Korea completed work on his toilet-shaped house. He's a leader in the toilet manufacturing industry, and so wanted to have a home that reflected his passions. Now he's turned his domicile into a museum open to the public. At the link, you can view several pictures from the grand opening back in December.

Link via Gizmodo | Photo: Getty

Sarah Louise Burns makes crocheted human organs, including thyroid glands, brains, smoker's lungs, and pancreata. Valentine's Day is coming up soon, so be sure to select a traditional gift like a beautiful urinary tract.

Link via Geek Crafts | Crafter's Website

Various sources around the Internet indicate that this awesome unit patch worn by some USAF ballistic missile crews is completely real. Comfort, as well as anything that relieves boredom, is highly prized. That's why many airmen wear Snuggies while manning the missile platforms. John Noonan, a former captain in the Air Force, writes:

In a favorite missileer uniform patch (right), the Grim Reaper sits at an ICBM console, dressed in bunny slippers. In the real world, death wears a campus T-shirt, JCrew bottoms and the ubiquitous Snuggie. The silly blanket-robe hybrid is suited to the missile force, keeping an officer toasty while allowing him to interact with the weapons console unobstructed.

Missileers learn that on alert, comfort is as important as humor. One enterprising fellow liked to string a hammock between the two command chairs and stretch out for his long shifts at the console. Videogame systems are forbidden, a rule that was mocked until it got out that wireless Nintendo Wii controllers could cause the system to detect a false electromagnetic pulse attack and shut down.

Link via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: US Department of Defense

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Spock does not often get emotional, but he does get curious about the world around him. Here's a compilation of his signature line by YouTube user FiveStarTrekker. The ending is especially well-chosen.

via GeekStir

The Alliance Recycling Center in West Oakland, California is a business that recycles various kinds of materials, including glass, metal, plastic, and paper. The front of the shop features many sculptures made from scrap metal, such as the above C-3PO model.

Link via Geekosystem | Photo: Oaktown Art

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This security camera footage from a mall shows a woman paying too much attention to her text messages and not enough to the demanding task of avoiding large objects while walking. She ends up getting soaked.

via Super Punch

Previously
The Danger of Texting and Walking: Teenager Fell Into a Manhole

Laura Bell of Roscommon, Michigan, collected laundry dryer lint and used it to make an enormous version of Leonardo DaVinci's The Last Supper:

Bell says she needed about 800 hours to do enough laundry to get the lint, and 200 hours to recreate the mural. She bought towels of the colors she wanted and laundered them separately to get the right shades of lint.

The 14-foot wide painting was just bought by the Ripley's Believe It or Not company.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gJDesFODdQQPxgMJPvZTWjP1Ft-g?docId=c20a13de89694d13886de63075002d77 via Theresa Coleman's Facebook page | Photo: Ripley's