12 votes

Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

Posted by mycketforvirrad (edited )
Tags: ask.discussion, recurring.weekly, offbeat fridays, offbeat

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like gratitude, three cheers and infotainment. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was befuddled.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

11 comments

  1. [5]
    Raspcoffee
    Link
    A cat survived a trip from the Netherlands to Curacao in a sea container. The usual Google Translate: Honestly amazing the cat survived that trip. Curacao is north of Venezuela.

    A cat survived a trip from the Netherlands to Curacao in a sea container.

    The usual Google Translate:

    Earlier this month, a cat was found in a sea container in Willemstad. According to the Kitten Rescue Curaçao Foundation, the animal ended up in the container in Moerdijk. The cat had been without food or water for four weeks, but is doing well under the circumstances.

    According to the Kitten Rescue Curaçao Foundation, the cat ended up in the sea container in Moerdijk, Brabant, on January 11. The animal then made the three-week crossing to Curaçao.

    The cat was discovered by employees of a transport company, who then called Kitten Rescue. At the time of unloading, the container had already been in the full sun on the premises for a week.

    "It is unbelievable, but the cat survived a four-week journey in the container, without food or water and in pitch darkness," the foundation wrote in a press release.

    Volunteers initially had great difficulty catching the animal. The cat was very scared and hid in the back of the container. Eventually, after an hour, the animal was lured into a cage with food.

    The cat is now staying at the shelter of Kitten Rescue. There, the animal was examined and checked. "The cat is thin but otherwise doing quite well," reports the foundation, which has no idea who the animal belongs to. The cat did not have a chip under its fur. If no one comes forward for the animal, the cat will be put up for adoption.

    Honestly amazing the cat survived that trip. Curacao is north of Venezuela.

    10 votes
    1. [3]
      fefellama
      Link Parent
      Goddamn that's crazy it survived so long without either. And inside a hot shipping container too, how the hell did that cat not die of dehydration?

      The cat had been without food or water for four weeks,

      Goddamn that's crazy it survived so long without either. And inside a hot shipping container too, how the hell did that cat not die of dehydration?

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        Raspcoffee
        Link Parent
        If I had to make a guess there must have been some water source due to condensation or something like that. Which is not a lot of water but might be enough for a cat. Still crazy as hell though.

        If I had to make a guess there must have been some water source due to condensation or something like that. Which is not a lot of water but might be enough for a cat.

        Still crazy as hell though.

        4 votes
        1. snake_case
          Link Parent
          I think its more likely the cat survived off of moisture from eating bugs or maybe a rat or two.

          I think its more likely the cat survived off of moisture from eating bugs or maybe a rat or two.

          2 votes
    2. jredd23
      Link Parent
      Cats enjoy boxes, so this is just another big box that happens to be moving; if cats fits, it sits.

      Cats enjoy boxes, so this is just another big box that happens to be moving; if cats fits, it sits.

      4 votes
  2. [4]
    mycketforvirrad
    Link
    Man wants to buy rubbish tip where he lost Bitcoin fortune BBC News – David Grundy – 10th February 2025

    Man wants to buy rubbish tip where he lost Bitcoin fortune

    A computer engineer who lost £620m-worth of Bitcoin wants to buy the tip where he believes it was buried.

    James Howells, from Newport, claimed his ex-girlfriend mistakenly chucked out a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins in 2013.

    He tried to sue the city council to get access to the site on Newport's Docks Way, or get £495m in compensation, but his case was dismissed by a judge.

    BBC News – David Grundy – 10th February 2025

    8 votes
    1. chocobean
      Link Parent
      Holup he was trying to get council to pay him for his trash? Oh he was suing for access, offering 10% reward. But what kind of access and for how long, and how was the council going to be...

      Holup he was trying to get council to pay him for his trash?

      He had repeatedly asked permission from the council for access to the site, and had offered it a share of the missing Bitcoin if it was successfully recovered. (From link within link)

      Oh he was suing for access, offering 10% reward.

      But what kind of access and for how long, and how was the council going to be compensated with maybe money and where are council garbage going to go in the mean time? And what happens if him and his workers injure themselves at a decade old landfill tip and he sues for disability?

      Anyway he already had access 10 years ago (from older link:

      Mr Howells checked all of his back up files but could not locate the coins so went to the landfill site in south Wales.

      "When I went to the tip the manager took me up to the current landfill site and when I saw it - it's about the size of a football field - my first thought was 'no chance'," he said.

      I do wish him luck though, it's hard knowing you threw out nearly a billion dollars

      5 votes
    2. [2]
      jredd23
      Link Parent
      Titles nowadays, because what does Has to do with him having which is not what actually happened because Which is more of interest, IMO. Most likely the story is; this sorry slob of a guy, got his...

      Titles nowadays, because what does

      A computer engineer....

      Has to do with him having

      lost...

      which is not what actually happened because

      his ex-girlfriend mistakenly chucked out a hard drive...

      Which is more of interest, IMO. Most likely the story is; this sorry slob of a guy, got his ex-gf heated. Ex gf decided to throw this sorry a(* of a computer engineer to the street along with his hard drive.

      1 vote
      1. AugustusFerdinand
        Link Parent
        Are you basing this off literally anything other than your own prejudices or just pulling it out of your ass?

        Most likely the story is; this sorry slob of a guy, got his ex-gf heated. Ex gf decided to throw this sorry a(* of a computer engineer to the street along with his hard drive.

        Are you basing this off literally anything other than your own prejudices or just pulling it out of your ass?

        8 votes
  3. [2]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    I'm ready for this week's (*❛‿❛) I got a link lined up

    I'm ready for this week's (⁠*⁠❛⁠‿⁠❛⁠)

    I got a link lined up

    2 votes
    1. mycketforvirrad
      Link Parent
      Well aren't we the keenest of beans! Just for you, I've posted it mega early, right before I head off to the office...

      Well aren't we the keenest of beans! Just for you, I've posted it mega early, right before I head off to the office...

      2 votes