Daily Dirt: The nomophobes walk among us

Daily Dirt for Sept. 11, 2021

Maybe one day I will try to sell Illinois. You’ll soon understand my thought process as you peruse Vol. 64 of the Daily Dirt.

1. Have you ever felt your heart race when you fear you have lost your trusty cell phone? You may be a nomophobe. Those with nomophobia — an abbreviation of “no-mobile-phone” phobia — have a fear of not having their phone on them. They get equally freaked out when their battery dies or when no network coverage is available. A study by the United Kingdom firm YouGov found 34 percent of men and 52 percent of women currently deal with some form of the condition. Are you one of those?

2. A cornflake in the shape of the state of Illinois once sold for $1,350 on eBay. Monty Kerr, the owner of a trivia website who resides in Austin, Texas, was the buyer. He said he bought it for display in his traveling museum. 

3. Speaking of eBay — and nonsensical stuff — how about this one? In 2006, a man from Brisbane, Australia, tried to sell New Zealand. That’s right, the country. The listing received 6,000 inquiries and 22 actual bids. Eventually, eBay pulled the listing from its site (after the bids had reached $3,000), noting, “Clearly, New Zealand is not for sale.”  

Steve Fact O’ the Day
The first football game I can remember watching on television was Ohio State’s 50-20 victory over Michigan in November 1961.

Steve has eaten cornflakes in the shape of many states on multiple occasions. Ohio was his favorite.