Sideswipe: In perspective

Photo / Supplied

"Where do I put it then?" asks Murray who snapped this picture.

BP management tool?

The rare 1970s set 'BP Offshore Oil Strike' promises all the"thrills of drilling" in the North Sea - the first person to make £120 million ($262 million) wins. But players are also warned of potential oil spills caused by rig damage in hazard cards. One reads, "Blow-Out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay £1,000,000". The mint condition set was donated to The House on the Hill Toy Museum in Essex, last week. (Source: SWNS.com)

Countdown pettiness

"What do you think of this example of being petty?" asks Glenn. "I wanted to purchase a $2 Snap scratch ticket from Countdown at Mt Wellington. The operator apologised and said Countdown had forbidden them to do so because the artwork on the ticket features a picture of the Four Square Man. How insecure is that? I wonder what would happen if I bought a few of the tickets from another outlet ... and pinned them to my shoulders . and walked down Countdown's aisles? Do you think I would be asked to leave?

Our odd ways

More Strange Habits and Quirks

* I have rotation policy with dishes and cutlery. I put newly cleaned items at the bottom of the pile or back of the shelf, so the same ones aren't used all the time. Otherwise, why not only keep the number of plates and glasses and forks you need and wash them each time?
* My other half likes to use matching coloured pegs but worse, he searches through the peg basket until he can match the peg colour to the item being pegged. This can take quite a long time. I remarked one day that the process was quite time-consuming and was advised it was merely to make a boring job a bit more interesting.
* I never click on the first two search results Google spits up.
* My brother stands by the toaster and intercepts the toast as it is popping, to quickly apply the butter. He cannot stand buttering cold toast.
* I can't sleep until all the doors, drawers and windows are closed, including wardrobe and bathroom and kitchen cupboards.
* The volume on my sound (at home, computer or in the car) must be divisible by 2 or 5. I now have my fiancee conditioned that she will ensure this is the case if she changes the volume in my presence.

In praise of shuttle driver

For Ross and Pip Baker's trip to Britain they arranged for the North Shore Shuttle Service to pick them up to take them to Auckland Airport. "The van arrived on time and took us to the international terminal and the driver helped us unload before driving off. When I reached into my pocket for my wallet, it was gone. The wallet held all my money - hundreds of NZ dollars and pounds - plus credit cards. If I phoned the bank and cancelled the credit cards my wife's card would be cancelled, too. So we flew away worrying about all the options. About 14 hours later we booked into a hotel in Hong Kong for a stopover. At reception was an email saying the wallet had been found in the van and the driver had deposited it in his home safe for me to collect on our return. When we returned a month later we contacted him and it was delivered back to us. Where else on earth would that happen? This operator deserves full credit."