Sideswipe: October 6: Unnecessary signs

Office perks that weren't really

1. "At a workplace I spent almost a decade at, I had my annual review at my sixth year. My job had gotten increasingly difficult ("more responsibility!") with no commensurate increase in pay. My boss asked what I would appreciate; I mentioned that I had stuck around through a very challenging stretch that had seen everyone I started with leave. I said I might like a little recognition. A month later I got a certificate to mark my fifth year (14 months overdue). They spelled my name wrong."

2. "Back in the Before Times, my office installed a fizzy water machine, which was actually really popular! In fact, it was so popular that they got mad about how often they were having to replace the CO2 cartridges, and gave us all tiny company-branded plastic cups to passive-aggressively demonstrate what they thought a proper serving of fizzy water was." (Via Metafilter.com)

Tanks very much

Soviet-era T-72 tank.

A Czech crowdfunding campaign has successfully raised more than NZ$3.3 million to buy a modernised tank for the Ukrainian army. Dubbed "a gift for Putin", the campaign received donations from 11,288 individuals, and organisers say it is the first purchase of its kind. The modernised Soviet-era T-72 tank, named Tomas, will be sent to Ukraine. The fund was backed by the Czech Defence Ministry and Ukraine's embassy in Prague. In a message posted to Twitter, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova joked that contributors had bought Russian President Vladimir Putin - who will mark his 70th birthday on October 7 - "a proper present".

Taking the piss?

Londoners are completely baffled as "cans of urine" are being sold for £500 outside the Tate Modern. British artist Gavin Turk is behind the canned urine. He began selling aluminium cans of his own urine in 2021 for £333, the cost of the equivalent weight in silver. A picture of a fridge of canned urine was posted to Reddit, with the caption: "You can now buy a can of urine for £500 next to the Tate Modern." Londoners found the sale hilarious and confusing. One wrote: "It's all fun and games until a confused tourist buys one and starts drinking it." Another said: "That just about sums up modern art", while one asked: "Do you drink it, what do you do with it?" And many people made the joke: "£500! That's just taking the p***." Others couldn't believe that cans of urine were on sale, being convinced that "it's a joke".