Another reason to be a plumber
A routine renovation job in Belgium took an unexpected turn on Tuesday after plumbers found a gold hoard worth over $10 million while installing a sewer system. “Our first reaction was actually disbelief,” an 18-year-old student worker named Kobe told local media outlet VRT while recalling the unexpected haul. “Of course, we hadn’t expected to find gold.” “After 33 years in construction, it is the first time I have experienced something like this,” said site manager Mario while recalling the haul. His crew had been tasked with overhauling a building in the Flemish community of Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, around a 40-minute drive from Brussels. The workers were reportedly removing the foundation so they could lay a sewer pipe when they “suddenly saw something lying there,” Kobe recounted. Initially believing it was a cache of 1-Euro coins, the crew quickly realized that was not the case after spotting a gold bar.
“I went to look and took the gold in my hands,” recalled site manager Mario. “We kept digging up new coins and bars as well. Only then did it really sink in what we had found. That was a crazy feeling.” All told, the stash of ingots and bullion amounted to around 9 million Euros or around $10.4 million USD. Unfortunately for them, this was not a case of finders keepers — the crew was forced to hand over the precious metals to the police, who explained to them that pocketing it was forbidden. “There are so many coins and bars — it would be almost impossible,” said the plumbing manager. “Besides, that would be theft.”
The loot is currently in the hands of CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, an organization that provides welfare support to the residents of Dendermonde. They hope to use the riches to support their charity work. Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped dozens of people from flocking to the site in search of loot. Dendermonde police even warned “gold diggers” to stay away as there is “nothing left to see and it is also dangerous, because the building is being completely demolished.” It’s yet unclear to whom the hoard belongs, although historian and former mayor of Dendermonde Piet Buyse speculated that it’s the property of local brewer family. Under Belgian law, the rightful owner has five years to lay claim to the fortune. If they don’t, the forgotten gold can be divided between the finder and property owner provided it’s not associated with a crime. Kobe, for one, is holding out hope that his role in the discovery will be rewarded. “Of course, we do hope we’ll get a ‘finder’s fee,’” he said. “That would be nice.”
Plumbing Gold
I asked a plumber what time it was.
He told me it was between 8 AM and 4 PM.
A plumber went to the doctor. He said “Doctor, every time I try to sleep I close my eyes and see visions of PVC, copper, steel and corncobs. Am I going mad?!”
The doctor replied “Relax. You’re just having pipe dreams.”
I kept telling them I wasn’t a plumber, but they still offered me the job.
It took a while..to let that sink in.
What do plumbers and economists have in common?
They both deal with gross domestic products.
August 17th Birthdays
1995 -Tarissa Farmiga, 1971 – Tammy Townsend, 1995 – Gracy Gold, 1994 – Phoebe Bridgers
1786 – Davy Crockett, 1992 – Austin Butler, 1960 – Sean Penn, 1944 – Larry Ellison