Everyone can relax, the Space Station toilet fixed. The issue which thank goodness was only with liquids required the astronauts to flush the toilet manually with extra water. I guess when you are that far in space, a call to Roto-Rooter isn’t going to get you much. The problem resulted from a broken toilet pump. Backup pumps in the same lot that were on the station also failed meaning that it was possible the issue was a production problem.

To cure the plumbing issue, NASA sent up a new toilet pump with the recent launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery that was not part of the previous lots. Oleg Kononenko, a russian cosmonaut, successfully avoided plumber butt while installing the new pump.

I imagine they had all been “holding it” for hours while the pump was being fixed and started lining up to use the toilet like the ladies restroom line at a Jimmy Buffet concert.

One thing NASA does not disclose is the cost of the pump. I’m sure it was probably around $10,000 and when you factor in how much it cost to launch in space and the time it took to install you are looking at around $30,000. It makes by hole in the back yard with a wood seat on it look pretty primitive.

It was just released this morning that the jobless rate jumped to 5.5 percent and payrolls are down by 49,000 jobs. Does this signify a stronger push toward a recession? In my own personal experience I have seen my

Western Iowa - Four boy scouts were killed by a large tornado that ravaged their camp earlier today. As the tornado approached scouts were forced to take shelter under picnic benches. Four were trapped under a fallen chimney from a