Sideswipe: Easy to c

Jamie McGregor was amped about camping at Hahei Beach in the Coromandel until he saw this sign.

Better not to ask

Another sublime teaching moment, offers Peter. "In the PC educational environment of the 21st century, classroom teachers are required to get their students to do formal evaluations of their teaching. Upon handing out the forms, young Vinnie promptly raised his hand and inquired with a straight face, 'Sir, how do I spell bastard?' And, the young maths teacher down the corridor got this delightful response: 'Sir, you are fighting a losing battle with grace and decorum."'

Pick a child

A grandfather who agreed to pick up his 3-year-old from a daycare centre in Orebro in central Sweden took the wrong child. When he realised his mistake, he immediately returned the child. The daycare centre is now looking into its procedures.

Biscuit's popularity crumbles

Sandie from Milford says Griffin's Malt biscuits have been a family favourite for 30 years. "The little oblong-shaped biscuits sandwiched together with butter are still loved by my grandchildren. So, why did they change the shape to round ones, which are so thin that every time I buy them almost half the packet is broken? I know that the little plastic containers are not good for the environment, but they at least protected the biscuits."

Welfare a lottery for animals

A reader writes: "Wilson, the heroic little dog with a heart of gold has made a big splash across our screens in the latest NZ Lotteries Commission advertising campaign. The making of this cute ad also inspired the people at Lotto to find out how many winners had pets (51 per cent of big winners had at least one pet, while 32 per cent had more than one). Is it just me that finds it a little ironic that animal welfare is excluded across the board from Lottery funding?"


How to upset the in-laws

Reading about the Mimi champagne [mimi meaning urine in Samoan, Tongan and te reo] yesterday reminded Alex of a similar faux pas. "A couple of months ago I took with me to Chile a bottle of wine, a syrah from Te Mata Estate. At the dinner table I presented it to my father-in-law. It was met with shock and horror, before I realised Te Mata was boldly displayed on the label, and 'te mata' in Spanish basically means, 'I want to kill you'. It took a while to explain that I didn't plan on killing my father-in-law with poisoned wine."

Today's Webpick:Epic bike jump...er, goes a little wrong. Go here and scroll down.



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