"Dads", balloons, clues and bombs

• 33 year old Daniel Everett (above) was arrested while trying to meet a 14 year old girl (really an undercover agent) with whom he had been having sexually explicit chats on line under the screen name "danmichelle2004." The irony? At the attempted meeting he was wearing the above "World's Greatest Dad" t-shirt. Source. Source.

• 28 year old Lefkos Hajji of London wanted to propose to his girlfriend Leanne in a memorable way. He hid a $12,000 ring inside an helium balloon, planning to give Leanne a pin to pop the balloon when he "popped the question." Unfortunately, after leaving the store, wind tore the balloon out of his hands and he spent the next two hours chasing the balloon in his car. He was unable to get the ring back. After he told his girlfriend, she refused to speak to him until he had bought her a new ring. Source.

• On a more positive note for unusual marriage proposals, Aric Egmont successfully proposed to Jennie Bass through a Boston Globe Sunday crossword. Because both Aric and Jennie were big crossword puzzle enthusiasts, Aric convinced the Boston Globe to design and publish a special puzzle. The clue for number 111 across was, "Generic Proposal." (Jen+Aric=Generic). Aric remembers, "“We get to the ‘Will you marry me?’ clue, and I said, ‘Will you marry me, Jenny?’ I got up, got the ring, and got down on one knee and she screamed, and hugged me. It took her a minute to say yes.” Source.

• In December 2003, the Oliveras family was fed up with a cockroach and rat infestation. In an attempt to solve the problem, they set up 19 "bug bombs" inside their 470-square-foot rental house. As the family walked to their car, a pilot light on a wall heater set off the bug bombs, exploding the house and causing $150,000 worth of damages. One bug bomb is more than enough for a 500-square-foot house. In 2001 an apartment was blown up by 18 bug bombs. As the newspaper noted, however, "several cockroaches survived the blast." Source.