Smoke alarm
A reader writes: "I heard the Fire Service were called out to George FM last week only to find three DJs vaping, and I thought I can see how that would happen; more than a handful of vapers can look like a bonfire, and I wondered if it was a problem." Peter Gallagher, national adviser for fire risk management, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, responds; "We have heard anecdotally about vaping setting off fire alarms in commercial buildings, which may have more sensitive detection technology." He suggests people should not vape inside commercial buildings. "False alarms are dangerous because they cause complacency and can lead to people not reacting quickly to get out of the building when they hear an alarm go off. False alarms also take firefighters away from our core fire and emergency activities."
The fibs we tell kids
1. Alison writes: "One day our then 3-year-old son asked his dad where he was going (to work) so he jokingly replied 'to the moon'. Our son looked at him with such adoration we gave a few more details thinking he would catch on - which he didn't - so during the day Mark hunted down some metallic rocks (moon rocks) to prove he had actually been. Those rocks took pride of place in our son's room for quite a while, we even heard him telling his little brother the story of their astronaut father."
2. "My sister is about 11 years older than me, and one day, many years ago, she asked me where eggs come from. 'From chickens, of course!' She burst into laughter and tells me they grow on trees. Protesting as strongly as a 4-year-old can, I was left speechless when she pulled out the dictionary and showed me the word eggplant. I never believed her, but at the time I had no recourse either."
