QUIRKY WORLD ... Customers peed off with water supply worker

USA: A water manager is facing discipline after he was caught urinating in an empty reservoir that supplies drinking water for the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco public utilities commission spokesman Tyrone Jue said that the agency confirmed anonymous complaints that maintenance planner Martin Sanchez had urinated in the 674-million-gallon reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills early last month.

The reservoir had been drained for maintenance, and officials say public health wasn’t in danger.

Sanchez, who earns $111,000 (€97,000) annually, was in line for a promotion before the incident. He now faces a maximum penalty of a week-long suspension without pay.

A message left with Jue seeking comment from Sanchez wasn’t immediately returned. San Francisco’s water comes mostly from Sierra Nevada runoff.

Last year, a 19-year-old Portland, Oregon, boy was cited for public urination and trespassing after he was accused of urinating in a 35-million-gallon city reservoir.

After learning of the incident, Portland officials began dumping water into the sewer system, but the process was slowed by heavy rains. As a result, they

diverted the water to an empty reservoir and used the supply for non-drinking purposes.

Ghastly guests

ROMANIA: The Romanian foreign ministry has summoned a diplomat to Bucharest after its embassy in Paris sent out invitations to a reception that contained rude remarks about the guests. The embassy had emailed invitations to a reception to mark a visit by President Klaus Iohannis, but inadvertently attached a spreadsheet that described some of the guests as “undesirable” and another as “ghastly”.

Last week the ministry said the embassy had apologised, saying the annotations were personal remarks, but the furore did not go away.

In a second statement on Monday, the ministry said one diplomat had been summoned to Bucharest and another had been given a warning.

Ambassador to France Bogdan Mazuru wrote a letter of apology to the Romanian writer who exposed the gaffe but did not personally have a rude description.

SIlver hoard

ENGLAND: A metal detector enthusiast who discovered one of the largest Anglo-Saxon coin hoards ever found in Britain described it as “pure fate” as the treasure went on display at the British Museum.

Paul Coleman from Southampton found more than 5,200 silver coins from the 11th century in the village of Lenborough, Buckinghamshire, during a dig on December 21.

He said that finding treasure for the first time in 40 years as a metal detector fan felt “like winning the pools” as the coins were put on show at the museum in Bloomsbury, London.

Counting sheep

ENGLAND: Passengers might think they have the wool pulled over their eyes by train companies when accounting for delays.

But in the case of those travelling on a Virgin Trains service on the West Coast line, the train really was being held up by sheep on the track. The incident, near Crewe in Cheshire during the morning rush-hour, led to a rush of puns on Twitter.

Phil Morrison wrote: “Sheep on the line. It’s baaaad, but the Virgin Train Border Collie is on the way.” Ian Briscoe, referring to comments by the train manager, tweeted: “Sorry for slow running — Little Bo Peep lost her sheep and we’ve found them.”

Gypsy rival

ENGLAND: A Romany Gypsy family face having to exhume the body of a recently-buried relative because of a row over grave plots at Burbage Cemetery, the Hinkley Times reports.

Shadrack Smith was buried at the Lychgate Lane cemetery after a traditional Romany funeral. His family brought three plots they picked which faced his home at Aston Firs — a tradition in Romany culture.

But since they purchased the plots, the family of a Muslim man, who was already buried on the site, have objected to 89-year-old Mr Smith being buried next to him, despite the cemetery being billed as open to all faiths and denominations.

Bonus payment

USA: A would-be cheque fraudster got an unexpected bonus at a bank — $500 in cash left by the previous customer.

Randy Gillen Jr hoped to cash a bogus $1,900 cheque at a drive-through window at CNB Bank in Pennsylvania, police said. The 28-year-old apparently drove away after grabbing the money left behind in the carrier tube by the previous customer.

Detectives said Gillen later tried to pass the bad cheque at another bank, but was rebuffed before police found him hiding in his girlfriend’s wardrobe.