Etc...

It would have melted, officer

Because he wanted to honor a promise to buy ice cream for his children, Miroslav Tucek soon will be $555 lighter in the wallet, according to reports from the Czech Republic. Wow, sounds as though he has a huge family with equally huge appetites. Not at all, as it turns out. The expense isn't the result of the tab for the sweet treat. Instead, it's because of the way he chose to fetch it. Tucek, you see, lives in Hradec Králové, a tourist destination of about 100,000 people 63 miles east of Prague. But it's much more than that. The city dates back to medieval times, was once the home of royalty, and is full of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural treasures. In fact, it's in the Czech Historical Landmark Reservation registry. So what does all this have to do with Tucek? Well, his car had broken down, and the ice cream shop was too far from home to walk there and back in the summer heat. So he went in an armored personnel carrier. Now, the 12-ton war machine is legally his; he'd bought it – used – from the Army. But due to those antiquities, Hradec Králové bans all vehicles except cars and light trucks from the city center. The $555 is the amount he was fined after police stopped him.