Sideswipe: Key 'defriends' Facebook critic

Alesyia is hurt at being "de-friended" on Facebook by Prime Minister John Key: "I'd been one of around 5000 'friends' of John Key's for quite some time, and on Wednesday, for the first time, I posted a message on his wall. My polite but forthright paragraph voiced my concerns over his intention to support commercial whaling and suggested that he pay attention to the opinions of the people he was elected to represent. Within hours, my message had been deleted and I had been 'de-friended'. Although I can see the funny side, I do find it a disturbing that Mr Key deals with dissenting views in such a petulant manner. I guess I won't be getting a Christmas card this year."

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A reader writes: "Today I phoned Air NZ to check our family's air points/dollar balance and transfer the points of one of my three sons to another son. As the customer service person was doing the transfer, I mentioned that this son [aged 15] had died three weeks prior. 'Oh!' she said. 'I can't transfer his points now if he is deceased. It is company policy to close deceased's accounts.' What difference would it have made if his younger brother had received the air-point dollars. After all, I had paid for all these flights. Silly me for being honest. Miserable bastards!"

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Why it pays to get four quotes for a hedge cut in West Auckland. Judy says: "Quote one = $1000, quote two = $358, quote three = $550 and quote four = $275 ... and you get a top job by Top Trim of Glen Eden, and worth every dollar."

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In response to Gary Miller suggestion that the traffic-barrier arm being on the right hand side of the road at the Bella Vista Apartments at Te Atatu Peninsula 'makes no sense', Chris Jones, director of Bella Vista Custodians, developer of the complex, writes:

"The next-door building is commercial and serviced by tall heavy vehicles. The arm deters those vehicles, preventing unnecessary pressure on the roof of the basement car park and allowing cars clearer access to the parking in front of the Bella Vista shops."

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Ron Hoares of Birkenhead reckons the only people likely to read WAY GIVE as GIVE WAY are those who move their lips while doing so. "If the words can be taken in at a single glance, most of us will read them as a phrase, not word by word. It really is time for New Zealand to get over this daft practice and UP GROW."