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DAYS
    In 2003 officials at the Otopeni Airport in Bucharest opened the animal-transport area of a plane that had just arrived from Frankfurt, Germany. Inside, they discovered a dog that had apparently died during the journey. Certain the owner would sue, officials scoured local animal shelters until they found a dog that looked exactly like the dead one. When the dead dog’s owner was given the live dog, she was stunned—her dog was already dead when she’d put it on the plane. She’d wanted to bury it in Romania. Happy ending: The woman adopted the new dog.
THEIR PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED
    In March 2002, a fire broke out on the roof of a monastery in Parepa. The monks residing there evacuated the building while the fire burned for about 10 minutes. When the monks no longer saw flames on the roof, they went up to assess the damage…and found no trace of fire.
A ROPE OF SAND
    Victor Dodoi of Botosani tried to commit suicide by hanging himself. He put a noose around his neck and tied the other end of the rope to a light fixture in his living room. Under the weight of Dodoi’s body, the light broke off and sent him crashing to the floor, alive. Dodoi is reportedly suing the rope manufacturer for making faulty merchandise.
OH, DEER
    Romanian Gheorghe Paschu, 72, estimates he’s been hit by cars more than 40 times—on purpose. Despite suffering multiple concussions and countless broken bones, Paschu says he just can’t help himself. “I just can’t resist jumping out into the middle of the road when I see a car coming,” he said. Apparently he was tellingthe truth—Paschu continued his “hobby” even after insurance companies refused to pay for his crash-related medical bills.
    There are rocks on Mars named Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear, and Gumby.
DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT YOUR HOME
    Gheorghe Lascarache of Roman City went to a neighboring town one day in 2003 to look for work. When he came home later that day, his house was gone. While he was out, four thieves had stolen his house, brick by brick. (Police discovered the plot when one of the thieves was caught selling a quarter of the bricks for $2,000.)
FROGS VS. HITLER
    A Romanian TV station that runs Discovery Channel shows was inundated by complaints from viewers in 2004 when it ran six documentaries (including films about World War II, ancient Egypt, and submarines) that were all broadcast with the same subtitles…from a show about frogs.
THUS PROVING THE FORTUNE-TELLER CORRECT
    In 2002 a fortune-teller told 51-year-old Mircea Teodarescu that either he or his son would die before the week was over. Unwilling to leave it to chance, Teodarescu went home and slit his own throat, fulfilling the prophecy and allowing his son to live.
WITCHY WOMAN
    Basile Birsan, 72, of Roznov hired a witch in 2003 through a newspaper classified ad. Birsan paid her $400 to cure his sick wife and get his 40-year-old son to marry. After a few months, the witch’s spells had failed to make any difference on Birsan’s wife or son, so he called the police. To avoid arrest, the “witch” agreed to a full refund.
DON’T BANK ON IT
    Late one night in 2006, a trio of criminals broke into the Nova Bank in Constanta by forcing the main doors open. They got away with…nothing. The robbers didn’t know that the bank had been closed and moved to a new location. Angry that there was no money to steal, the criminals wanted to at least take something for their trouble, but tried—unsuccessfully—to steal the heating pipes off the wall.
    Mallard ducks have 360-degree vision.
NO, THAT WASN’T ME
    While she was really at the Mamaia Beach on the Black Sea, Lucica Dragomirescu phoned her husband Victor and told him she was sick and couldn’t leave her bed. Victor told Lucica that he was stuck at his parents’ house doing renovations, but he was lying, too—he was also at Mamaia Beach. The Dragomirescus both hung up, then looked up…and saw each other on the beach. The couple later divorced.
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