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The skinny

By Times Wires
Published September 27, 2007

Decent on descent

Climbers should be clothed, officials say

The authorities in Nepal have a request: If you want to climb Mount Everest, keep your pants on. You know, literally. Apparently, some people are climbing the highest peak, where it can reportedly get quite cold, just to get naked. A Nepali climber went up the 29,035-foot mountain last year and disrobed, calling it the world's highest display of nudity. That's just the kind of thing that the authorities are hoping to curtail. Everest was first scaled in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, who were reportedly totally clothed the whole time.

In the books

Library accepts no overdue excuses

At the Westchester County library in Harrison, N.Y., if the book is late, there is a fine, and there are really no exceptions. This became painfully clear when Ethel Schaper checked out The Price of Silence. Sadly, Schaper died before she had a chance to return the book. When her daughter, Elizabeth, found the book, she returned it. The man at the counter informed her it was overdue, and the fine was 50 cents. "I told him that maybe he didn't hear me right, that my mother had just died, otherwise I'm sure that she would have returned it on time," Schaper said. "His only reply was, 'That will be 50 cents.'" Another library employee later called to apologize and offer her her money back. "This has rocked me to my core," Schaper said.

Free with purchase

He bid on smoker, got a bonus leg

Barbecue is a big deal in North Carolina, but even there it was kind of weird when a man who bought a smoker at auction found a human leg inside. The smoker was part of a auction of abandoned items in Maiden, N.C., and the new owner was quite surprised to find it there. Investigators tracked down the previous owner, who said her son lost his leg in a plane crash. Well, he didn't lose it; he wrapped it up and put it in the smoker after it had to be amputated. The son plans to reclaim it.

Update

L.A. road house

A house that got stuck beside Los Angeles' busy Highway 101 for 10 days has finally been hauled away. The single-story home ended up there on Sept. 15, when it clipped an overpass while being moved from Santa Monica to Santa Clarita. Kimberly Bigman, one of the house's owners, said she expected the moving bill to be more than $20,000.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 00:13:04]