Sideswipe: A parking lot is not a happy one

"My blood pressure was fine until I had to deal with the 'enforcement' arm of Tournament Parking," declares Jane Edgar. "I received a ticket for parking over two spaces in this derelict, potholed, building site in Parnell. I was second to park early in the morning, and as there are no marked bays and no man in a white coat (although I may need one soon) I parked where I could see my car from work. When I queried their rule that you can't occupy more than one bay, pointing out there weren't any, I was told: 'You can't just park anywhere you feel like.' I feel so averse to the word tournament now I will have to give up golf."

The girls who squealed wolf

A mother of boys from Mt Albert wants to know what's with girls and screaming? "Is it just me or are girls getting more prone to the extended squeal? Not just a short sharp squeal like a pig, but an 'OMG-I-have-just-won-Idol' high-pitched scream which goes on, and on, and on. Three times in recent weeks I've been alarmed enough by a gaggle of girls squealing that I have thought they were being attacked - once a bunch wearing tiaras were in the echoing alleyway out the back of St Lukes, whinnying and carrying on, once at a high school event after some success (what's wrong with a rousing round of applause) and once in my own house as three pre-teens on bikes whizzed past. Stop at once."

Million-dollar madness

The worst promotion of the year must go to the Mad Butcher, according to David Brown. "Signs inside and outside stores promise the chance to win $1 million. Then you get to the counter and find out one person is drawn from all entries (across all Mad Butcher stores?) and handed 14 Lotto tickets - a 1 in 4 million chance of winning the first division. What if the person drawn wins first division and only gets a $250,000 share? Would the Mad Butcher top it up to $1,000,000? I think not. Come on, Mad Butcher, times are hard, but don't mislead your customers, or give false hope to those who are struggling in the areas you have stores."

Charging up the battery

Murray drives an "ageing" MR2 (1990), but loves it to bits - literally. "I had reason to look at costing a replacement gear stick knob, steering wheel and battery for my car. The local Toyota agent quoted me $285 for the knob, approx $4000 for the steering wheel and $4000 for an original model battery ... needless to say, a trip to Repco had the car fitted with aftermarket parts for under $200."

What's sauce for the goose ...

A road user writes: "It is quite possible (and legal, I believe) to get on to the city-bound motorway via going west on Great North Rd by doing a u-turn in Waterview at the west-bound on ramp. I used to drive further on and turn around to get on there or just get on at Western Springs (I live in Mt Albert) until I saw a non-lights-flashing cop do the u-turn and figured it must be okay. Done it most days ever since."

Today's Webpick: TV3 is getting some flak from the gamer community over a promotion which is almost exactly the same as a PlayStation campaign airing in the US. What do you think, homage or copycat? Go here.