Ducks all in a row
Rubber duck road markings spotted in Glendowie
No yellow lines but a line of rubber duckies in the middle of this residential street.
Sideswipe: September 27: Residential ducks all in a row
Photo / Supplied
Opinion by Ana SamwaysLearn more
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The average adult makes 35,000 decisions every day, so if the mere sight of a question mark is making your head spin, you're not alone. Decision fatigue — the inability to make decisions after making multiple choices in a short time — is very real in a pandemic world. Typical indicators include feeling paralysed when asked to make a simple choice; feeling consistently overwhelmed by choices, especially towards the end of the day; feeling less emotionally balanced; being reactive rather than proactive; and making impulse purchases you regret the next day.
Psychologist Lee Chambers believes the blurred boundaries of normality and restrictions are causing "micro stresses" among us. "From deciding what to wear and which activities to start again to even simply how to greet other people, people are finding themselves overwhelmed trying to build a new post-lockdown routine," he explains. "There are also the expectations of others now that we are venturing outside our domestic environment more often – some are struggling to say 'no' while others are struggling to find their own pace."
Really crushed tomatoes
Teachers don't hold back
"Another scathing comment that is right up there - Brother Stephen from my 4th Form at Sacred Heart College in 1953," writes a reader from Mangonui: "While correcting this homework, I feel like a dog baying at the moon". And Pip Williams well remembers her Latin teacher's words to anyone who didn't do their homework to her exacting standards. in her strong Scottish accent she would berate the unfortunate: "Lady fairr in the cornerr- you will leairrn these vearribs! Orr do ye want ter spend yer career behaind the coonter at Woolwairth's ?"- all the while whacking the unfortunate pupil on the head with an exercise book.
A reader who was a student in the early 1960s had recently purchased a portable typewriter. It was his pride and joy. "I was suitably deflated when an assignment was returned with the comment, 'This assignment is not the place to practice your typing skills'." Many years ago as a teenager studying music Miranda Wagg of Freemans Bay was struggling to get my head around a theory lesson. "After several explanations when I still hadn't got it my teacher looked at me wryly and said, 'so you are just a pretty face then'."
Nod to old-school media
Retro sneakers detailing inspired by classic VHS sleeves.
