He Wants to Be the First to Plumb Mysteries of Space

--Just about every spaceflight seems to have had a first aboard: first monkey, first man, first woman, first doctor, first senator, first ant farm, first restroom mishap. Richard Fagiano of Tarpon Springs, Fla., wants to be the first plumber in space. He says that if the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will grant his wish, he will save shuttle crews from any more bathroom misadventures. “You don’t call an aerospace engineer to fix your toilet, so it just seemed to me to make sense you’d call a plumber when you have toilet problems up in space,” he wrote NASA. “Even if you couldn’t fix things in space, a plumber could gather the knowledge to alleviate future problems from occurring.” Fagiano, who is also a licensed pilot, concedes that his chances of being picked for a shuttle crew are virtually non-existent, but he said he is willing to take the time to go through flight training in order to experience working with plumbing in weightlessness if it means joining a shuttle mission.

--The bride wore buckskins and the aisle she walked down ran between two tepees. Other than that, the wedding in Grand Island, Neb., of Joette Strinz and Jim Colbourn was modern, although older traditions also prevailed. On hand for the ceremony were all the couple’s friends, members of the Nebraska Muzzle Loaders Rifle Assn. Guests and the bridal party were dressed as mountain men, fur trappers and other folkloric figures. Muzzle loaders--including the bride and groom--meet each week to test their skills with rifles, knives and tomahawks.

--Their collection of historical items may not rival the Smithsonian’s yet, but Joseph and Manuel Nevera are only 11 and 9 years old. The boys opened their own museum on their parents’ farm near Hazelton, W. Va., at $1 a head, with the first weekend’s take going to an anti-drugs program. “It all started three years ago with one hubcap,” said their father, Joseph Nevera Sr. “Now they have over 2,000 items.” One of the major exhibits in their wide-ranging collection is an 1880-vintage stagecoach. The eclectic display also includes mining tools and lights, coal company scrip, steel traps, bottles, beer cans, marbles, tools, horseshoes, police badges, comic books, baseball cards, railroad lights, stoves and license plates. The father said Joseph and Manuel gathered all the exhibits themselves.