Rob's Screwy News - Thursday 3-29

Mar 29th, 2012

The Mega Millions jackpot tomorrow night is up to an all-time record of $476 MILLION, and could push to $500 MILLION because of extra sales.  If you're the only jackpot winner, even after taxes, you'll be richer than a ton of famous people, including Mitt Romney, LeBron James, Lady Gaga, and Will Smith.

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Speaking of Lottery winners:

There's a quote in this story where Emily Leach of San Francisco says, "I feel like I'm going to come off as a huge, huge [witch]."  And she is right.  She is.

--Three months ago, Emily bought a $1 MILLION winning lottery ticket from a store called Liquor & Tobacco in Mountain View, California.  Last weekend, she bought a scratcher . . . and won AGAIN.  This time, it was $260,000.

--As she left the store, she was feeling generous, so she handed a homeless guy outside a $100 bill and a few lottery tickets.  She didn't realize she'd accidentally given him her WINNING $260,000 ticket.

--And now, she WANTS IT BACK.

--She says the homeless guy, quote, "knows it's my ticket."  The California Lottery Commission is investigating her claim . . . but they say security footage makes it seem like she gave away the ticket willingly.

--Emily's odds of winning these two jackpots within three months are around one in 4.7 billion.

(ABC News)

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Monster.com and Yahoo surveyed managers to find the phrases that annoy them the most.  Here are nine things you should NEVER say to your boss:

#1.)  "I need a raise":  Your company doesn't care what you need.  Make a case for why you DESERVE a raise based on what you've done for them.

#2.)  "That's just not possible":  Those motivational posters hanging on the walls?  Your boss actually believes them.  So be positive and talk about what IS possible.

#3.)  "I can't stand working with . . .":  Griping about coworkers makes you look worse than them.

#4.)  "I'm hung over":  Your boss isn't your friend.  Be professional.

#5.)  "I e-mailed you about that last week":  It's your job to keep tabs on important issues and follow up.  So leaving one message isn't necessarily good enough.

#6.)  "It's not my fault":  Fixing the problem should be more important than worrying about blame.  Focus on how to make it right.

#7.)  "I don't know":  Try "I'll find out," instead.

#8.)  "But we've always done it this way":  You need to show you're open to new ideas instead of sounding negative.

#9.)  "Let me set you up with . . .":  No matter how perfect you think your single friend is for your boss, only trouble can come from playing matchmaker.

(Monster.com)

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You might want to make sure your kids NEVER find out about this study. 

--Researchers at Sydney University in Australia found that doing homework actually doesn't help young students do any better in school. 

--They found that doing homework was NO help to elementary school students, and it only had a slight benefit for kids in junior high.  It wasn't until the last two years of high school that homework really seemed to help students do better.

--In fact, in countries where kids spend MORE time doing homework, standardized test scores were LOWER.

--According to the researchers, the real reason kids are assigned homework is to keep their parents happy.  Dr. Richard Walker, who ran the study, said homework is basically, quote, "an add-on, because parents want it."  

(Gawker)