Good week, Bad week

Good week for:

Smelling like a Lithuanian, after Lithuania’s foreign ministry launched the first national perfume. “Lithuania” has scents of moss and wildflowers, conveying the country’s ambience, its designer says, as well as “the smell of wood fires that can be associated with pagan rituals.”

Striking gold, after a geologist announced he would auction off a 6-pound, 4-ounce chunk of gold found by a California prospector. The massive nugget may be worth up to $400,000.

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Independence, after motorists on I-95 in Connecticut spotted a senior citizen wearing sunglasses cruising along the shoulder lane in an electric wheelchair. He had exited the interstate by the time police arrived.

Bad week for:

Butt dialing, after Toronto police said they respond to 300 calls per day dialed by people who accidentally sit on their phones. “Butt dials” account for about 10 percent of the city’s 911 calls.

Do-it-yourself ceremonies, after two Republican House members, Pete Sessions of Texas and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, missed the swearing-in ceremony, and decided to take their oaths while watching the ceremony on TV. The first six votes they cast were subsequently nullified.

Andre Hall, after the Pittsburgh man’s house was mistakenly demolished by a city contractor. “I leave for the holidays, come back and see a backhoe sitting on my house,” Hall said. “This is not the way I thought I would start off my new year.”