Sideswipe

Orgasmic veges: Who said shopping was boring? (Best bought in multiples)

Further revenue-gathering tricks: A woman was issued a ticket at Auckland Airport last week for parking in the pick up, drop off area. She duly paid the $40 fine because not only had she infringed, she had made the terrible mistake of sitting in the driver's seat resting her eyes. Would it have hurt the parking plonker to have knocked on the window and given her a hurry up?

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Buyer beware: You would assume that making a booking/reservation and receiving confirmation for an Air New Zealand flight would mean exactly that. My partner went on a flight recently when only two of his group of four were able to catch a flight to Christchurch on pre-booked flights. A customer services woman explained that, as a matter of policy, they overbook every flight to compensate for cancellations. She apologised for her company's "despicable" policy and said they frequently deal with disgruntled customers. Perhaps the reason they were shunted off the flight was because both the NZ and Australian cricket teams filled most of the plane. It would have been unreasonable to expect two of their players to wait...

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Melanie Llewelyn just received an enrolment form from the Electoral Enrolment Office for her son Jamie. I think he probably has plenty of time before he needs to think about enrolling. He will be 5 months old next week.

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A reader writes: "Shopping at Glen Innes, my 82-year-old husband, Keith, decided to withdraw $100 from the ASB Bank cash machine. Being a little slow, and with a tremor in his hands, he was a perfect target for whoever snatched the money and ran away. The bank advised Keith to report the theft to the police, which we did without hope of recovery. The next day the bank told Keith they had reimbursed the money. Someone from the bank had gone to the police station to find out the victim's name and the bank deposited the $100 into our account! We sing the praises of ASB."