They are sure enjoying retirement in Florida!
All articles in category: "50's,Batman,Florida,silly"
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Say “Hi” to Batman and Robin!
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Florida Sushi
Giddy-up!
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Waitress says Hooters restaurant – promised her a Toyota, gave her a toy Yoda
PANAMA CITY — A former Hooters waitress has sued the restaurant where she worked, saying she was promised a new Toyota for winning a beer sales contest. Instead, she said, she won a new toy Yoda — the little green guy from the “Star Wars” movies.
Jodee Berry, 26, won a contest to see who could sell the most beer in April at the Hooters in Panama City Beach. She said the top-selling waitresses from each Hooters restaurant in the area were entered into a drawing and her name was picked. She believed she’d won a new car.
She was blindfolded and led to the restaurant parking lot, but when her blindfold was removed she found she was the winner not of a Toyota, but a toy Yoda doll. Inside the restaurant, the manager was laughing, Berry said. She wasn’t. “A corporation can’t lead their employees on like that,” Berry said. “It’s not good business ethics. They can’t do that to people.” Berry quit the restaurant a week later.
She sued Gulf Coast Wings, Inc., owners of the restaurant, alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. Her lawyer, Stephen West of Pensacola, said he was also looking at false advertising statutes. She’s seeking as compensation the cost of a new Toyota. Stuart Houston, a spokesman for the company, said it hadn’t been served with the lawsuit and he could not comment. Berry said restaurant manager Jared Blair told his waitresses he didn’t know what kind of Toyota it would be — a car, truck or van — but told them the winner would be responsible for the tax on the vehicle.
Oh, what a feeling. Toy Yoda!
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Tanzania Loses Name to Tanning Salon Chain
TALLAHASSEE, FL—The country formerly known as the United Republic of Tanzania has lost the use of its name to Tampa-based Tanzania Tanning Salons, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday.
“Any use of my country’s name constitutes infringement on the plaintiff’s trademark,” said Benjamin Mkapa, president of the currently unnamed republic. “We’ve lost our national identity. This is a very sad day for the people once known as Tanzanians.” The United Republic of Tanzania, formed in 1964 from the union of African nations Tanganyika and Zanzibar, predates the tanning-salon chain, which opened its first store in Tampa in 1982. Nevertheless, after fewer than two weeks in court, the State of Florida granted legal rights to the name to Tanzania Salons founder and CEO Jerry Yeltzer.
“It was easy to establish that my client’s company had a greater vested interest in the Tanzania brand name,” said Yeltzer’s lawyer, Ben Knowles. “Tanzania, the salon chain, is a rapidly growing business, adding nearly 50 locations each year. Tanzania, the African nation, is lanquishing under a debt of $7 billion.” Yeltzer said he didn’t realize that the African country existed until July 2001, when a routine Internet search brought the nation to his attention. Yeltzer said he created the name for Tanzania Salons by merging the words “tan” and “zany” to suggest a lighthearted, fun approach to indoor-tanning retail.
Although Yeltzer refused to disclose the amount of money he spent to bring the trademark-infringement suit against the country, he said it was “sizable.” His team of lawyers delivered the first cease-and-desist order to the nation of Tanzania in August 2001, but received no response from Mkapa until January 2003, when the letters were finally translated into Swahili. “Had Mkapa changed the name when we asked, he could have saved his country all those legal fees,” Yeltzer said. “Our lawyers know what they’re doing. They’re not afraid to take on a midsized African country.”m”We are the third-largest tanning-salon chain in Florida,” Yeltzer added.
Mkapa said he plans to raise funds to appeal the decision and blames poor preparation for his country’s loss. “We’re in the right, but we simply didn’t have the resources to assemble our case,” Mkapa said. “Our government is dealing with an AIDS epidemic affecting an estimated 800,000 people and food shortages caused by this season’s erratic rainfall. Also, I must admit, we didn’t realize we might actually lose our name to a chain of tanning salons in Florida.” “We’re one of the poorest nations in the world,” Mkapa said. “Changing all of our signs and official stationery is going to be expensive.”
The former Tanzania will hold a referendum next week to vote on a new name for the country. “We’re considering a number of words in Swahili,” Mkapa said. “So far, the people’s top choices are Karibu, Rafiki, and Triscuit.”
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Man Loses Prosthetic Leg On Roller Coaster
Workers at Univeral Orlando Theme Park are searching for a lost leg that came loose and fell off during a roller coaster ride, according to Local 6 News. An official at Universal said that Hawley Webb of New Port Ritchie, Fla., was on Dueling Dragons when his prosthetic leg somehow fell off. Officials believe that the leg fell into a pond located under the coaster. The theme park has sent dive teams into the pond but the leg has not been found. Universal said it will replace the leg if divers cannot find it.
