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Home / New Zealand

<i>Sideswipe:</i> Friday

Ana Samways
By Ana Samways
Sideswipe - ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz·
25 Oct, 2007 04:00 PM2 mins to read

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This pigeon seems to be learning a sobering lesson after spotting some of his unfortunate cousins on a rotisserie.

This pigeon seems to be learning a sobering lesson after spotting some of his unfortunate cousins on a rotisserie.

Ana Samways
Opinion by Ana SamwaysLearn more

KEY POINTS:

Lesley writes: Apparently Erin Brockovich feels the same way I do about annoying sales staff hanging around while you're trying to browse. I spent some time in Noel Leemings over the weekend, just having a look around while my husband bought an electric shaver. I couldn't help overhearing one of the new Noel Leemings endorsements by Brockovich as it played on a store TV. In it she stated (and I paraphrase) how much she hated the buzzards that come swarming around when she is trying to browse in a store and how she likes to be given space to shop. I'd like to note that, in the 15 minutes I was in the store, I was approached by no less than five separate staff all asking if I needed help. Either I appeared to be in a perpetual state of confusion and in dire need of expert guidance, or Noel Leemings staff should listen to their new spokesperson and back off a bit.

* * *

Motorists are expected to go potty for the latest invention in Japan - a new portable toilet for cars. Japan's Kaneko Sangyo, a manufacturer of plastic car accessories, has drawn back the curtain on its new portable toilet for cars.

The toilet comes with a curtain large enough to conceal users and a plastic bag to collect waste.

"The commode will come in handy during major disasters such as earthquakes or when you are caught in a traffic jam," a company official told reporters, according to Kyodo News.

Drivers stranded by tectonic movements or stuck in traffic simply assemble the cardboard toilet bowl, fit a water-absorbent sheet inside and draw round the curtain, the company said.

But prospective customers will have to hang on until November 15, when the firm begins selling the new product online.

* * *

Grant writes: Just a pointer to the bus driver of the 305 Stagecoach bus to Onehunga at 4.45 in Newmarket on Tuesday: "When you're driving a crowded, peak hour bus down Broadway, and texting on your cellphone, it makes it very easy to miss someone waving frantically at the bus stop (me!), who has waited 10 minutes, and now has to wait another 15 minutes for the next bus. Oh, and it may be a tad dangerous for your 35 passengers. Duh."

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