A man from West Sacramento, California went fishing in the wilderness and got lost. He spent a terrifying and grueling days alone wondering if he would make it alive and ever see his wife again.

Mike Vilhauer went fishing on Aug. 6. Since his luck was running low, he decided to try changing the bait he was using and set out to catch some grasshoppers. He had no GPS instrumentation and only had a topographical map to work with. Ultimately he discovered he was lost in the wilderness.

The 58-year-old man could not reach police or anyone else by cell phone as the signal was too weak. Though he repeatedly tried to find his way back, all of his attempts were unsuccessful. He resorted to drinking water from puddles and a few streambeds he stumbled upon. Willow branches and pine needles were used to build a makeshift shelter to help him stay warm.

Five days into his ordeal, Mike’s certainty that he would survive was beginning to wane. Unwilling to give up, he kept doing his best to stay alive. He could hear the search helicopters in the area. Using pine needles, he quickly cobbled together an 8-foot tall message that read “HELP” on the ground.

When Vilhauer appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, he thanked the rescue workers for all their efforts. He talked about how he began to lose hope toward the end and even wrote his wife a goodbye note on a piece of driftwood.
In spite of the difficulties he faced, Vilhauer says he would return to the area in the future. This time, he joked, he would bring a marching band. Perhaps so the rescue workers could hear him if he got lost again.

A Calabasas, Calif. High school demonstrated its zero tolerance for bullying when it allowed a same-sex couple to be nominated for Homecoming royalty and then crowned the girls both queen earlier this month. Greta Melendez, 17 and Lily Cohen were crowned during the halftime period of the school’s homecoming football game.

Melendez came out as openly gay as a freshman. She was relentlessly bullied. Friends abandoned her. Classroom would go silent when she walked in. Students made hand gestures at her and took her picture. She even had water thrown on her. She never dreamed a day like this could come.

A few weeks ago during an honors physiology class both girls take, they were stunned to learn they had been nominated as a couple – the first in their school’s history. That shock was multiplied exponentially when they won.

Though the years following her coming out were tough, Melendez says things have changed. While she still experiences some bullying, it has dropped off greatly and she longer lets it bother her. She uses it to drive her ambition to help other who have not yet found self-acceptance and peace.

Two weeks prior to homecoming, the school conducted classroom conversations about harassment. The small-group discussions were shown a video featuring Melendez discussing her own experiences

Of the victory, the teen who is president of her school’s Gay and Straight Alliance Club and vice president of the peer support group, says it was the most amazing moment of their lives. She was stunned to see the crowd stand up and cheer for them.

Her father, John Melendez views the victory as something other kids can look to and see as inspiration to feel more accepted, too. Greta says seeing the attitudes of the people at her school do a complete reversal was the most remarkable thing she has ever witnessed.

William Blumberg recently donned a brown and gold plaid bow tie as he entered the 261^st day of his year long quest. His mission? To wear a bow tie every day for one year. Why? Blumberg wants to raise awareness about the overly casual SoCal look that permeates society.

The Irvine, CA native laments that people show up at weddings and funerals in shorts. While there is definitely a right time for shorts, those occasions are not on the list.

Does he feel nerdy or geeky wearing bow ties? No, he claims he likes to be formal but with flair. He enjoys being interesting and having a little fun while doing it. He also doesn’t mind the attention he gets from the ladies.

The 48-year-old divorcee says women are tickled when he tells them he ties the ties himself. They giggle, untie them and watch him tie them again.

The bow tie has been around for longer than most people know and has undergone a sort of fashion renaissance of late, with big name celebrities like Kanye West, LaDainian Tomlinson and David Beckham sporting them.

Blumberg says bow ties aren’t just for science professors anymore. Robert Mandelbaum, owner of BuyYourTies.com where Blumberg shops for his ties, says his company is one of the largest e-commerce sites for neckwear and formal accessories for men.

The two met when Blumberg walked into Mandelbaum’s shop, on a scorching, hot day wearing a vest and a bow tie. Blumberg told the shopkeeper about his yearlong mission and that he was in need of a few more ties. Ever the smart businessman, Mandelbaum seized the marketing opportunity and set his new customer up with a couple of dozen ties. IN exchange, Blumberg blogs about his experiences and markets the shop when he writes.

Though he wore conventional neckties when he worked in retail – and despised it, he got hooked on bow ties when he donned his first one for his college graduation. All his ties have to be tied – no clip-ons allowed. And he can do it without looking in a mirror.

Blumberg has worn his bow ties to all sorts of places in the past year including Disneyland, a concert and a goat farm. How can he do that? He is very comfortable with who he is, something we should all be so lucky to say.

This week the state of California approved a new bill which will likely become a law that strives to achieve something that no other laws have done. The bill is the first of its kind in that it allows companies to be socially responsible regardless of what shareholders say or vote on. Previously shareholders controlled and could influence nearly any major corporation’s decision and legally the company was obligated to follow that vote but this new law will change all of that.

The so called social responsibility law is exactly what it sounds like; it is giving the power to companies to become socially responsible regardless of shareholder opinions. The idea is that it will convince companies to act in manners that benefit or help society and the environment even if it might mean slight losses for the company’s profit margin. Obviously this was often avoided before because shareholders cared much more about making money but now that they have been removed from the picture legally it is entirely up to the company itself.

No word on when exactly the law will be officially instated or completed but many are hopeful that it will in fact make a difference in terms of social responsibility. As always only time will tell if other states are going to follow suit but for now it is simply good to see that one major state in the United States has stepped up to the plate to allow socially responsible companies to prosper.

Crime doesn’t pay as well know but try telling that to Klepto the Cat, alias Dusty, alias Baby Face Whiskers, a 5-year old cat from San Mateo, California. Brazen and prolific, Dusty steals under cover of night and will pilfer absolutely anything that isn’t nailed down in his hometown near San Francisco.

Threats of jail time or prosecution don’t help, as Dusty could not care less who sees him, tells on him and/or who has the unmitigated gall to question what he is doing. He has taken about 600 items over the course of his notorious career as a night marauder including: rubber gloves, towels, shoes and toys. His real penchant, however, is for stealing bathing suits hanging from neighbors’ clotheslines.

His owner, Jean Chou, told the press that since she adopted him from the Humane Society three years ago, Dusty has lived a life of crime and his antics have transformed him into a local celebrity. One neighbor claimed that Dusty on one of his midnight raids stole her bikini top and bottom in two trips. The fashion-conscious cat obviously wanted the complete ensemble for his collection!

The neighbor didn’t have to go to the lost and found or to the police; she went directly to Dusty’s house (didn’t pass go or collect $200) and retrieved her items.

The string of robberies are bold and devious and were actually captured on the video, which is featured below.

Considering the heavy and painful stuff we see and hear in the news everyday, the charming story of Dusty’s escapades warm the heart and bring a smile to even the most callous of lips.

The irony escapes no one, not even the police, that the cat burglar in this case is actually a cat!

 

http://youtu.be/fDX7tevXO1E

Photo Source::

http://wyrk.com/tags/dusty-the-cat-burglar/