The Ukrainian postal service has released a stamp featuring artwork by Banksy (with permission) to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. The artist painted the image on a wall in the town of Borodianka in November 2022. The image shows a young judoka representing Ukraine throwing Russian PresidentVladimir Putin, who is known to be a black belt in judo.
Bill shock
A reader writes: “Hired a reputable firm of electricians to put in a power point. The bill included a “sundries” charge of $110, which added about 50 per cent to the bill for parts, labour and travel. When I questioned it, I was told it covered “health and safety equipment, and training; consumables; administration costs; testing, certification, and upkeep of testing equipment; and tools and their upkeep”. The same firm had charged $20 for “consumables, admin, testing and certification” a year earlier. The industry association, Master Electricians, refused to help or even comment. My question is: what kind of rort is this? These charges are what I call overheads. When I asked the company whether they claimed such expenses in their company tax, they went very silent. By my calculation, one of this firm’s sparkies, working a 40-hour week, generates just under $3000 in sundries charges. Has anyone else experienced this?”
In the new Dutch reality series called The New Vermeer, “two professional painters and dozens of amateur artists compete to reinvent the lost works of the 17th-century master Johannes Vermeer”.
Do your body a favour
Following the hiccup remedy, here are more hacks for your body.
1. If you enter a room and forget what you have to do, move your eyes sideways, it helps jog your memory.
2. Clench your left fist to subdue your gag reflex. Helps me with brushing my tongue and others with other things.
3. Your legs will move as fast as your arms. If you’re walking and want to speed up, start swinging your arms just a little faster. Your legs will start moving faster without you telling them to. If you’re tired and feel like you can’t go faster, try the arm trick and be amazed.
4. If you don’t have your glasses and need to read or see something far away, make an “OK” sign with your hand but with the hole made with your thumb and forefinger as small as possible. If you look through the tiny hole, you’ll be able to see much clearer.
