Rip Van Winkle: "I can't sleep"

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A man in U.S. Oregon
State said people usually think he is joking when he introduces himself as Rip
Van Winkle.

Yet his birth certificate is really that name. He
said his father and grandfather were nicknamed Rip, and his dad made things
official for him.

"I went to the doctor's office," said the 37-year-old
man, "my name is Rip Van Winkle, and I can't sleep."

The contractor owns and operates Rip Van Winkle
Residential Contract and Repair. He is proud of his name.

"It's cool, because you get a chance to be yourself,"
he said. "How many Rip Van Winkles do you meet?"

Rip Van Winkle is the name of the title character in an American story
by Washington Irving about a man who sleeps twenty year and is oblivious to social
changes.

(Agencies)