Sideswipe: A worn-out welcome

The Titirangi roundabout is maybe a little too welcoming, says Paul.

Mark Savage from Olympia, West Australia, visits relatives in Napier each year and rents a car to get around. "We decided it was time for some music and tried to insert a CD, but there was one in the player. My wife, Karen, pressed the play button and Jimmy Buffett's Fruitcakes hit us as a blast from the past. On our trip to Napier in February 2007, our first CD - Fruitcakes - got stuck. We stopped at a car audio place but the repairman said he'd have to take the whole thing apart. We decided against it. When we returned the car this time the car rental people checked their records, and it was the same car. We hope they will send our CD back, but we have a feeling our white Touring Station Wagon Toyota Capella will go on playing Jimmy Buffet all the way to the wrecking yard. What are the chances, with a fleet of 600 vehicles in one company, to get the same car?"

* * *

A study of older twins published this month in the British Medical Journal reports the younger a person looks the longer they are likely to live, despite chronological years. "Perceived age was significantly associated with survival, even after adjustment for chronological age, sex, and rearing environment. The likelihood that the older looking twin of the pair died first increased with increasing discordance in perceived age within the twin pair - that is, the bigger the difference in perceived age within the pair, the more likely that the older looking twin died first." Various factors may be instrumental in this relationship, including smoking status, body mass index, and sun exposure.

* * *
When a bingo caller shouts out "two fat ladies", the players know the number 88 has been pulled out. When they hear "legs 11" they know they can mark off number 11 on their card. But at one Suffolk bingo hall, those phrases have been banned - because council officials fear they might offend. Bingo caller John Sayers says: "There is a chance if you said "two fat ladies" and you look across the hall and saw two fat ladies they could take it personally."

* * *

Wendy writes: "Our youngest child has finished school and has a selection of text books, study guides and dictionaries. I wondered if any organisation collects these for distribution to less fortunate countries?"

* * *

View today's Herald cartoon