Sideswipe: August 24: Embarrassing apple pie injury

"As I was taking an apple pie out of the oven, it slipped out of the dish onto my foot." Photo / Supplied

Embarrassing injuries

"As I was taking an apple pie out of the oven, it slipped out of the dish onto my foot," writes a reader. "I reacted by leaping about only to slip on the hot apple. I ended up with a burnt foot and a very bruised bum."

Strange Facts

1. VHEMT (Voluntary Human Extinction Movement) is an environmental movement that calls for all people to not reproduce. They support human extinction primarily to prevent environmental degradation.
2. If you have a knife with rust spots, insert it into the potato and let it sit for a while and it'll get rid of the rust. Potatoes naturally contain oxalic acid, which dissolves rust and is used in household cleaning products. To attack larger rusted surfaces with a potato, cut it in half, sprinkle baking powder on it or dip it in dish soap, and get to scrubbing.
3. Phossy Jaw was a disease that affected matchstick manufacturing workers in the late 19th and early 20th century. The vapor effused from white phosphorus would destroy the jaw bone, which generally led to jaw bone necrosis and eventual death by organ failure.

Getting rid of pigeons (and their poo) No. 1

The pigeon whisperer writes: "My palm became a home to a pair. Coo-cooing and leaving their calling cards. I bought an air rifle to try and dissuade their comfy home but they were smarter than me and seemed to know how to avoid becoming a target. But now I have a little peace ... I set up on one of those garden water timers to a high pressure hose on a long stick. I then set the timer for every six hours for say six to ten minutes a blast ... that blast of water was very unsettling and probably uncomfortable, especially in the middle of the night, for the avian terrorists. My pigeons flew off fast at the disturbance and overtime set up home elsewhere. Try this for a few days, maybe even a few weeks see if that works."

Photo / Supplied

Getting rid of pigeons (and their poo) No. 2

Cal writes: "My wife is Lithuanian and she comes from its capital, Vilnius. They too had a pigeon problem in the historic city centre. The solution was a 'loop audio of an eagle's screech' that would play on loud speaker every 10 minutes or so from the city's magnificent national museum. The pigeons scarpered, and I haven't seen a pigeon in the city centre in my three visits since.

"The only pigeons I did see were outside earshot of the loud speaker. I imagine the same thing would work here. And if not an eagle's screech, a hawk's would work, and perhaps even a magpie's. Just get one of those Bluetooth boom boxes (loud enough to clearly hear up 20m), YouTube an Eagle/Hawk/Magpie, play loud and clear every now and then. The pigeons will remember this is not a place to loiter.
Problem solved."