(This is supposedly a true account recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida)

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.

She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, “I have a gun, and I know how to use it!  Get out of the car!”

The four men didn’t wait for a second threat.  They got out and ran like mad.

The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver’s seat.  She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. 

She tried and tried, and then she realized why.  It was for the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat. 

A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down.

She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.

The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop laughing.

He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.

No charges were filed.

The moral of the story?  If you’re going to have a senior moment… make it memorable.

My car’s instruction manual says to roll down the windows to let out all the hot air before turning on A/C.

Please do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car.

Open the windows after you enter your car and then turn ON the AC after a couple of minutes.

Here’s why: According to research, the car dashboard, seats and air freshener emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen ). Take time to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car.

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. Can also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft.
A car parked indoors with windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.
If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level.People who get into the car, keeping windows closed will inevitably inhale, in quick succession, excessive amounts of the toxin.Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver. What’s worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

So friends, please open the windows and door of your car – give time for interior to air out – dispel the deadly stuff – before you enter.

Cynthia from Tampa Bay, FL

The Bus has a way of showing up when you are at your lowest. You will hit a certain point, feel a disconcerting crumple in an inner place you thought solid, like a hand crushing an origami box. Just then you look up to see The Bus a block away. You always need to run for it, but just a little bit. Just enough to show you need it. It will wait.

There is an automated voice. It does not say Route forty, service to Second and Lombard. The Bus does not deal in those specifics. It says only Service from and the name of the intersection you are standing at. The doors clunk open, you get on board, the doors hiss shut, and the bus moves on. The driver does not ask where you want to go, but many passengers tell him anyway: Just drive. You pay fare if you can, but if you can’t, the driver will nod, with eyes covered by his blue hat, and you will nod and you will head to your seat.

The shifty and the shameful and the shameless ride Philadelphia’s buses. But most of them are trying to get somewhere. They want to see someone, or acquire something, or get to a place by a time. The Wandering Bus is not for them. Its riders are the people who need to leave wherever they are at that moment. Just leave. The bus goes everywhere. It has been seen in West Powelton, and Grad Hospital, and Center City. It drives down Passyunk, and Haverford, and Dauphin. Most people don’t notice The Bus because it isn’t the one they’re looking for. If your heart is bright and your spirit buoyant, it is likely that you have never seen The Bus.

The Wandering Bus serves a wider clientele than you might think. The failing businessman, the addict’s sister, the questioning Reverend have all ridden on The Bus. Even a mayor and a police chief and a manager of the Phillies. There is no conversation on The Bus. What’s more, when you get off, you cannot recall who was on The Bus with you, or how crowded it was. You remember only that you sat by the window and watched the city slide through your translucent reflection. At some point, you were moved to pull the cord and disembark. One night, your feet hit the pavement, the bus pulled away, and you found yourself near to where you needed to be.

Folks say that some people have ridden The Bus for years on end. Others predict that The Bus will one day leave the city, taking its passengers with it. A woman who knew many things said there was a Wandering Bus in every city she had ever visited. There are even a few who claim that if you ride The Bus long enough, you will one day be dropped off back before your troubles began. But those people are never on The Bus when they say it.

Devin from Fontana, CA

*Though Devin submitted this urban legend to the site, it does seem to be copied directly from this site: http://nmirra.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/philly-urban-legends-the-wandering-bus/ So we’d just like to give this person credit for a pretty great story. That is all…

David from Dawson Creek BC Canada

The road is named, "Shades of Death Road" and is located towards Great Meadows by Jenny Jump State Park and Ghost Lake (A highly haunted area). I’ve heard that every section of the road that contains a reflective guardrail is where someone has died.

Another Version

There is a "Shades of Death Road" in Hanover Township, PA.

When you go down the road it actually inclines downward and the trees develop a natural canopy so that it’s almost dark as night during the middle of the day.

The story goes that this miserable young guy lost his girl, his job, his dog, his keys etc. so he hung himself at the lowest point of the road from one of the trees that formed the canopy. He wasn’t found for days.

Now his spirit haunts the area and if you’re driving at night make sure you don’t stop or someone or something will start chasing you. I have heard extreme cases of cars not starting in the basin, or people getting out of their car and hearing footsteps or unexplained breathing. In the 80′s and early 90′s rumors flew about devil worshipping going on there.

I know that I will NOT go down that road for anything. I don’t care how many people are with me or what time of day it is….you definitely feel something when you’re there.

Natalie Stadelman from Pittsburgh, PA

A man and his wife went out for the night with some friends who picked them up at their house. They left their new Mercedes Benz parked outside. When they came home they realized that their new car had disappeared.

They called the police to report the theft and searched fruitlessly for the rest of the night. Devastated by their loss, they went home and went to sleep.

The next morning, they woke up to see their car parked outside their home, just the way they left it the night before. A note was on the windshield explaining that a man and his wife needed it so they could drive to the local hospital. The grateful and influential man left tickets for the couple to go to a movie premier in the city the next night.

The couple was thrilled to have their car back and excited to go to the premier. They dressed up and attend the movie the next night. When they got home from the event they found that their home had been robbed and all of their belongings were gone. All they had left was the car they thought they lost the night before. The shocked couple searched the house and found a note saying: HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE MOVIE!

Bobby Lee from WV and
Ashley from FL

Photo credit:

Posted via email from Urban Legends Online

One dark and stormy night a woman was listening to her extensive Cliff Richard CD collection when she heard a strange sound. It sent a chill down her spine as she heard a low humming and buzzing noise emanating from under her bed.

She bent down nervously and noticed, to her utter horror, that her Walkman had mysteriously turned itself on and was playing an ominous tune………..backwards.

She quickly snatched the tape player from under her bed and as she did so, she very faintly heard the following words: "Hhhhheeeeeelp meeeeeeee!" In terror she ripped the batteries out of the machine, but it carried on with its haunting plea.

Petrified, she ran to her neighbor’s house and was relieved to find her awake. The neighbor managed to calm her down with some kind words and a stiff drink. She explained to the neighbor the disturbing night’s events, and then they both plucked up the courage to go back to her house to find out what on earth was happening.

Upon their return, the Walkman had stopped, but the words "Help Me!" were written on the floor.

The next day the newspaper headline screamed "Sir Cliff Killed in Car Crash!" He was reportedly heard screaming "help me" by witnesses as his car skated over the icy cliff……How scary is that?

Mary Roberts from Teddington

Posted via email from Urban Legends Online

Most researchers agree that the most accurate version of the story concerns a young girl who was killed while hitchhiking down Archer Avenue in the early 1930’s. Apparently, she had spent the evening dancing with a boyfriend at the O Henry Ballroom. At some point, they got into an argument and Mary (as she has come to be called) stormed out of the place. Even though it was a cold winter’s night, she thought, she would rather face a cold walk home than another minute with her boorish lover.

She left the ballroom and started walking up Archer Avenue. She had not gotten very far when she was struck and killed by a passing automobile. The driver fled the scene and Mary was left there to die.

Her grieving parents buried her in Resurrection Cemetery, wearing a white dress and her dancing shoes. Since that time, her spirit has been seen along Archer Avenue, perhaps trying to return to her grave after one last night among the living.


Chi from Chicago, IL

The photo credit for the picture at the top of the post: GlamourandGothics.com

A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal . The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15 years.; the owner and wife both had died, and there were no heirs.

 The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers, but the large barn had steel doors, and they had been welded shut. Nobody wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it wasn’t complimentary to the property anyway……so, nobody made an offer on the place.

The New York guy bought it at just over half of the property’s worth, moved in, and set about to tear in to the barn…….curiosity was killing him.

So, he and his wife bought a generator, and some tools. The doors were welded shut, but an angle grinder took care of that.

What was in the barn?

Fiat Cabriolet (1200 or 1500), Ford Cortina MKII, Mercedes Benz 180/190.

Aston Martin?

Opel GT, Lotus Elan FHC, Lotus Super Seven Series IV, Lotus Elan DHC.

Porsche 356, Austin Healey Sprite MkII, Volvo PV 544, Ford Y?

Giulietta Sprint, Giulia Sprint Speciale (SS), Nash Metropolitan.

Alfa Giulietta, Lotus Europa, another Lotus Elan FHC, Matra Djet?

Lancia Flaminia Coupé.

Abarth 1300 Scorpione.

American (inspired) design.

Interior of Alfa Romeo.

Lancia Flaminia Coupé, Peugeot 504 cabriolet & 404 cabriolet.

Mini, Alfa 1900 Super Sprint, Balilla.

Fiat Topolino II, Triumph TR4, Peugeot 202.

BMW V8, Formula racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30.

BMW V8, Formula racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30.

Bloody WICKED

ALL UP VALUED AT $35 MILLION NZ DOLLARS.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY THE MAN AND HIS WIFE HAD FULL CLAIM TO THE LOT. THEY HAD A GREAT RETIREMENT.

Joe from Brick, NJ

I know it sounds cool, but this one is definitely fiction. This is what UrbanLegendsOnline.com found…

Portuguese Barn Houses 180 Cars, All Covered with Decades of Dust

Huge collections like the one in Portugal don’t just happen. Cars are accumulated by someone with a purpose.

Story on SportsCarMarket.com
By Tom Cotter

One day this January, I received at least ten forwarded email attachments to a web site that featured photos of an eclectic collection of old cars in a decaying building. For the next week it seemed the web was literally blanketed with these images, each giving a similar story:

“Imagine moving into an old farmhouse in the Portuguese countryside, and, while walking around “the lower 40” of your new investment, you come across an old building. Curious as to what may be inside, you pry open the rusted door and for the first time in decades, one of the largest hordes of old cars ever discovered is exposed to sunlight.”

I didn’t believe that story for a moment.

Huge collections of cars don’t just happen. Cars are accumulated—sometimes lovingly, sometimes not—by someone with a purpose. I was sure this collection was not assembled by accident; nobody would simply sell an old farm and fail to mention to the new owners the stash of old cars in the barn.

I decided to investigate. I searched the web and ultimately came to an English language dead end at the Mazda Miata Club Norway web site. But I kept going, sending emails in English and hoping that some kind recipient would take a few moments to answer some questions. All indications were that the cars were hidden somewhere in Portugal, so that’s where I focused my investigation.

Through a Cobra buddy, Don Silawski of Washington, DC, I contracted with a Portuguese translator, Clara Dixon. Clara would be my tour guide and try to unearth some of the naked truth regarding this huge stash. Clara also checked the Internet for news stories that may have been written in Portuguese newspapers about the cars. I was beginning to feel like a CIA sleuth…

I must admit that for me, a lifelong barn-finder, a collection this large would be the discovery of a lifetime. My 15-year-old son, Brian, even tried to convince me to hop a flight to Portugal to see if I could actually find the collection myself.

I was eventually able to contact the photographer who was contracted by the cars’ owner to shoot the photographs that would ultimately appear on millions of car-guy computer monitors beginning on January 20.

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Manuel Menezes Morais shot the photos, but he was sworn to secrecy about the cars’ location and the owner’s name. However, he was able to obtain permission from the elusive owner to give me the following information:

The owner of the cars was a car dealer in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to save the more interesting cars that came through his doors. When the barn was full, he padlocked and “soldered” the doors shut. (Perhaps welding was too permanent.)

Web sites varied on the number of cars: 58, 100, and 180 were speculated. According to Morais, there are 180 cars in the barn.

And, aw shucks, none of the cars is for sale.

Clara was able to determine that the cars are located somewhere in the area of Sintra, near Lisbon. I asked Morais if he could ask the owner if he had a favorite car. “He has lots of good cars in very good condition,” he says, “but he loves the Lancia Aurelia B24. He has two.”

I would ask that a European-based SCM subscriber pick this story up and help fill in the blanks. And let me know what you find (tomgcotter@roadrunner.com). I’d like to include the true story in a future In the Barn book, as well as in SCM.

TOM COTTER is a contributing editor to Road & Track. The sequel to Cotter’s book Cobra in the Barn, to be called The Hemi in the Barn, will be published by Motorbooks this fall.

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Posted via email from Urban Legends Online

Beautiful Hitchhiker

A man was driving home from a country-club dance late one Saturday night. Out of the corner of his eye appeared a lovely young girl, dressed in the sheerest of evening gowns, beckoning him for a lift. He jammed on his brakes, and motioned her to climb into the back seat of his sedan. "All cluttered up with golf clubs and bags up here in front," he explained. "But what on earth is a youngster like you doing out here all alone at this time of night?"

"It’s too long a story to tell you now," said the girl. Her voice was sweet and somewhat shrill — like the tinkling of sleigh bells. "Please, please take me home. My car broke down a few miles back and I have been trying to get help for the longest time. I live up the road about 5 miles. I do hope it’s not too far out of your way."

He drove rapidly to her destination, and as he pulled up before the house, he said, "Here we are," and turned around. The back seat was empty.

"What the devil?" he muttered to himself. The girl couldn’t possibly have fallen from the car. Nor could she simply have vanished. He rang insistently on the house bell, confused as he had never been before. At long last the door opened. A gray-haired, very tired-looking man peered out at him. "I can’t tell you what an amazing thing has happened," began the doctor. "A young girl gave me this address a while back. I drove her here and . . ."

"Yes, yes, I know," said the man wearily. "This has happened several other Saturday evenings in the past month. That young girl, sir, was my daughter. She was killed in a car accident in the spot where you picked her up two years ago.

Variations:

·         Sometimes the ghost leaves a book or scarf in the car, which the bereaved parents then identify as belonging to their lost daughter. Sometimes the driver spies the hitchhiker’s photograph on the family piano, wearing the party dress in which she died (and which she was wearing when he picked her up).

·         In versions where the hitchhiker disappears when the vehicle drives past a graveyard, the driver discovers the coat he lent his passenger draped over the tombstone of a girl who’d died in a car accident a few years earlier.

·         One submission described what happens the next day:

After he got home he remembered that Lavender had borrowed his coat. The next day he went to her house and knocked on the door. An old woman answered and he asked her if Lavender Blue was at home. He went on to explain that she had borrowed his coat and he came to get it back and to talk to her if she was there.

The woman had a sad look and asked him if this was some kind of joke. He insisted that it was no joke. She informed him that Lavender Blue had died 5 years before after she had been out on a date. Her date left her in the middle of no-where and she was hit by a truck while walking home on a dark road.

Tom looked so confused when she told him this story that she told him that she would show him Lavender’s grave, as she was buried in their back yard. They walked around the house and in the back corner of the large property there was a small cemetery and in the center was Lavender’s tombstone. Both the woman and Tom were surprised to find Tom’s coat folded neatly laying on the grave.

Carly from Suffern, NJ
Miguel Hurtado from Houston TX
Taylor from Orlando FL
Maddie Williams from Plano TX

Photo credit:

Posted via email from Urban Legends Online