Ching Ching For Window Washer Xiong Of ChongQing

Xiong, a migrant worker, lost 6,000 yuan when cleaning glasses of a high building in Fuzhou of Fujian province. She put all the 6.000 in a money bag, tied to her waist, but the bag loosened and the money fell from the 8th floor. Xiong just got back 300 yuan and all the other 5,700 were picked by passers-by on the street. After Xiong's story hit the internet and reported by media, she has received a total of 15,000 yuan in donations.

Migrant worker loses 6,000 yuan, receives 15,000 more in donations from strangers: A migrant worker who lost 6,000 yuan while cleaning the window glass of a high building in Fuzhou, Fujian Province has received around 15,000 yuan in donations after her story hit the internet and was reported by the media. The 40-year-old woman, surnamed named Xiong, put 6,000 yuan in a bag and tied it to her waist as she was hoisted up to clean the high-rise building's windows. The bag loosened and the money fell from the 8th floor, scattering all over the streets. As to expect when it's literally raining money, most of the cash was scooped up by passersby, and Xiong was only able to recover 300 yuan. Xiong, whose story circulated the web, was brought to tears by the generosity of those who pitched in.

Window washer’s savings more than doubled by returned money, donations: Money that fluttered to the ground from a bag that a window washer dropped while working on a high rise — the savings of a migrant couple for their son’s tuition — was not only returned to her but more than doubled by donations from generous citizens after her plight was reported. The migrant woman, surnamed Xiong, kept 6,000 yuan (US$982) in notes in a small cloth bag with her. While she was working on Wednesday, the hand-made purse slipped and the notes fell to the ground from the 8th floor.

Xiong, 44, a native of Chongqing in southwest China, works in Fuzhou in east China’s Fujian Province with her husband. She planned to pay for her son’s tuition with the money that the couple earned this year, so she carried it with her for safekeeping. Xiong had recovered only 300 yuan by Wednesday night, while the rest of the notes were picked up by passers-by, state television broadcaster CCTV reported. By yesterday, however, after the television report, Xiong had received a total of more than 15,000 yuan, including money returned by some of the passers-by and donations.

Wind takes RMB6,000 from Fuzhou woman; goodwill returns 15,000: Xiong Faming was at a loss when the wind snatched away most of the 6,000 yuan (US$990) in her unzipped waist bag and scattered it out from the 8th floor of a building. Rushing down from the ledge where she had been cleaning glass, she only recovered 300 yuan (US$49) after a futile search. Fortunately, the residents of Fuzhou, hearing of her plight, have done something extraordinary, reports the Chongqing Morning Post.

Xiong and her husband, both from Chongqing, had scraped together 6,000 yuan after a year of work. Xiong is hired for cleaning jobs and her husband takes what he can find, mostly manual labor. On a good month, he can make around 3,000 and 4,000 yuan (US$400-$600). Some months he makes nothing. They had planned to take the money back to Chongqing for the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins in late January. Xiong had the money stored in the bag she fastens to her waist when cleaning windows in the city, a bag that had opened and emptied unbeknown to her. By the time she looked back, it had already disappeared. All she could do was cry.

They routinely send back 1,500 yuan (US$250) a month back to their hometown in Chongqing, where they have a daughter in high school and a son in primary school. For them, the lost money is a fortune. Miraculously, Xiong "doesn't hate at all the people who picked up the lost money." She said, "I can only blame myself." Xiong reported the incident to the Fuzhou police department, and police called on local residents via the city newspaper to to return the money they picked up to her. They left Xiong's bank account number. That same day, Xiong's account received more than 7,000 yuan (US$1,150) in donations. The company which had hired Xiong for cleaning the glass sent her 6,000 yuan (US$990) and wished her well. "Enough, enough, thank you so much," Xiong said. "I'll remember everyone who has helped me."

Luck? That's not luck, - this is Luck..

Cleaners working on an aircraft in eastern India have found 24 gold bars worth more than £890,000 hidden in a toilet compartment - the latest in a series of smuggling attempts uncovered at the country's airports. The cleaners had boarded the Jet Airways plane at Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) airport after it had travelled from the eastern city of Patna. It had earlier been flying on international routes that included the Middle East.

Gold bars worth $1.1m found in plane toilet in India: A stash of 24 gold bars worth more than $1.1m has been discovered in the toilet compartment of a commercial plane in eastern India. Cleaners found the haul in two bags on board a Jet Airways flight at Kolkata airport, officials said. India is one of the world's main gold consumers and imports are seen as a major contributor to the country's account deficit. It recently raised duty on imports of gold jewellery to 15% from 10%. It was the third increase this year as the government attempts to curb demand for the precious metal, which many Indians traditionally hoard in the belief it will bring financial security.

The plane on which the 1kg (2.2lb) gold bars were found on Tuesday had reportedly come from Bangkok, local media reported, before making stops in India. "The cleaning staff of the airport were going though their routine duties and found two bags in the toilets of the plane," airport director BP Mishra told AFP news agency. He was quoted as saying that no arrest had been made in connection with the find, though OneIndia News said a suspect was being questioned. The gold has been valued at between 70m and 90m rupees (up to $1.4m or £890,000).

The Duck Man of Dazzle Window Cleaning

Bill Volkart, the Duck Man of Clermont County, had a stroke and died in 2005. “I was dead for two minutes,” Volkart, 58, said earlier this week. “I don’t know exactly how they brought me back. I got resuscitated, but I wasn’t in the emergency room. I was in heaven.” After getting home from the hospital, paralyzed on his left side for months, he had an epiphany. “I became convinced I was sent back for a purpose,” Volkart said. “My whole life changed.”

He had no insurance to pay for physical therapy, but Volkart regained his health by caring for seven wild ducks that had taken up residence near the half-acre pond in his yard five months earlier. His rehabilitation included “coming out here at dawn and late evenings to feed them, carrying 50-pound bags of duck food,” Volkart said. Now, he and his wife, Gigi, 71, operate the Mount Holly Duck Sanctuary from their stone house and surrounding five acres at 2278 Berry Road, near the intersection with Ohio 222. It is the only duck sanctuary in Southern Ohio that Bill Volkart knows of, and possibly one of only three in the state.



About 50 ducks and a goose named Howard depend on the Volkarts for food and shelter, which includes a heated duck coop that Bill built. Breeds include pekin, Muscovy, mallard, rouen and blue Swede. It’s possible that some of the ducks could live in the wild without the sanctuary, but would Bill Volkart survive without them? “I fell in love with all these animals,” he said. “I believe they are the reason I’m alive. They motivated me to be more than I was.”
He operates the Dazzle Service window-cleaning company, but “everybody in the area calls him the Duck Man,” Gigi Volkart said. Some ducks are popular as Easter presents for children but grow to be too much trouble to keep, Bill Volkart said. “Taking care of ducks is a totally different experience than taking care of most anything else,” he said. “They have special food requirements and (need) particular medical care.”



One room of the couple’s modest house has been dubbed the animal hospital. Classical music plays on a radio to soothe ruffled feathers. Dewey, who has deformed feet because of an improper temperature setting on a school incubator project gone awry, lives there in a box. Another box holds a duck recuperating from an attack by a raccoon. “We go through hundreds of cans of air freshener,” Gigi Volkart said as she sprayed the room. “It’s a lot of work.” The sanctuary has all the water fowl it can handle.
“We need donations more than ducks,” Bill Volkart said. “The flock eats upwards of 100 pounds of duck food a week, which costs about $30.” During a township-wide yard sale in daylight hours this weekend, “we are hoping to raise much-needed funds to be able to continue to feed the many ducks brought to and born at the sanctuary,” Gigi Volkart said. The sanctuary will participate in the sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Those interested should call ahead, 513-734-7791.



The couple will try to sell everything from old tools and fishing gear to a stamp collection and copies of the 32-page children’s book written by Bill Volkart, “Meep Finds His Way.” Autographed copies will be sold for $10, which is $5 less than it costs on the Web site . Illustrated by Maureen Heidtmann, a children’s librarian in Connecticut, the book is about a blind duckling who is adopted by a loving woman. People can adopt a duck from the sanctuary, but Bill Volkart must be sure the bird is going to a good home, rather than a restaurant. “I don’t let just anybody who shows up here take one,” Bill Volkart said. “No, you’re not going to make soup out of my ducks.”

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