KEY POINTS:
A warning for the festive season. (Source: arbroath.blogspot.com)
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And your name is? Finnish tourist Piia Makila is looking for someone she had sex with in Dunedin on August 29 while travelling around New Zealand. "Evidently that broken condom we had had some consequences and now the baby is on the way," she writes. "I have made these kind of 'advertisements' all over Dunedin. I find this very important and at least I had tried to find the father. I'm sure the kid is asking me later if I even tried to find him. I don't want any money but it would be great to know your name or if there is anything I should know about your family (like mental illness or diseases that I may now carry). It would also be great to know your blood type if something happens when I am giving birth."
Piia goes into some detail about that fateful night in Dunedin: "I remember what your room looked like and that you had a tiny kitten and a fire place (room was not big but there was a big bed ... hah ... and at least a table and a couch). You are 29 years old (I am 28) and I remember looking at you and thinking that great, you are not losing your hair and you had quite a nice body and kind-looking face. You were about my height, 175cm. You also came from England (or Ireland) and you escorted me the following morning into the city and we hold hands. You were about to study there in Dunedin (maybe something to do with art). We met in a bar called Di Lusso and after a little talk went to your place (downstairs in a white wooden house, maybe) with a taxi and had some more beer on the way there. I wasn't too pleased about the broken condom either so I told something how I felt about having babies and getting HIV right after I found about it (don't worry, I am clean but also most definitely pregnant). At that time I was living in Queenstown and we (I was partying with my friend) left back that morning."
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Ann and Mike Collard were ordered to trim trees on their property by the Glendale, California, Fire Department. They were instructed to maintain 1.5m of vertical clearance between tree limbs and the roof of their house so hired a tree trimmer and paid him $3000 to ensure they met the rules. Meanwhile, the city arborist drove past, noticed the tree trimmer and ordered him to stop. Apparently, in meeting fire department regulations, the Collards had violated a city ordinance protecting indigenous trees and, after reviewing the case, the city fined them $347,600. Once the story hit local media, however, city council members said that when they increased fines for violating the tree ordinance recently they never expected anyone to, well, actually receive large fines. They've put collection of the fine on hold. (Source: Reason.com)
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If Yellow.co.nz thinks the inner Waitemata Harbour in Auckland is the Tasman Sea, what hope will we have when its service comes from Southeast Asia, David Francis wonders.
