Sideswipe: December 18: Kiwi-as signs

Kiwi-as signs. A new road sign in Cooks Beach, Coromandel, advises motorists to ease back on the speed. Not sure if it's council approved!

French do Trump's share

When Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord, France's President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to offer research dollars to American scientists worried about the political climate as well as global warming. But what looked like a troll of the US president has become legit. Now the French Government is unveiling a list of 18 "laureates" – 13 of them working in the US – who have won a "Make Our Planet Great Again" competition for research grants awarded for as long as five years. (Washington Post)

Living and learning

What's something you never understood until it happened to you?

1. "I had a family nickname growing up that I was embarrassed about. Just before I left for the army, I jokingly told my dad that I looked forward to being called by my actual name. He told me that one day, when you hear someone call you by your nickname, it will fill you with warmth and joy, instead of embarrassment. He was so right."

2. Getting fired. "Always thought it would be liberating and better than quitting. Boy, was I wrong. Being fired was one of the worst feelings I have experienced in my life. It is amazing how much of your identity is tied to your work ... the rejection from your boss, almost like a break-up. If you are in a career and get fired, you then start re-evaluating everything you have ever done. It can be devastating. People tend to think there is a good reason for people to get fired. Nope. The most common reason people get fired is: 'because someone that matters didn't like you'."

3. That there are people who, for a good time, go for a night on the town to find someone to beat up. "They're not trying to find someone who also wants to fight, they're not looking for someone who provokes them, it doesn't matter what you say or do or what you look like, these people just want to punch another person. It's still hard to believe they exist."

4. How divorce affects you long-term. "When my parents got divorced it felt like someone died. Like my family died and all I could think about were all the things we'd never do again." But not divorcing can also suck ... "My parents don't despise each other but they pretty clearly don't love or even really like each other. They've been in it 'for the kids' for as long as I can remember ... At this point they've just learned to live with each other. Just constantly waiting for the next fight, with periods of long silence in between, it drains everyone." (Via AskReddit.com)

Now available: A new hybrid baked-goods treat.