KEY POINTS:
What is a children's playground for, wonders Jon Edmonds: "I'm intrigued that McDonald's in Quay St provides a playground and ladders, yet there are signs warning 'No Climbing' ... I feel sorry for the children."
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Unlucky London suitor Lefkos Hajji watched a small fortune and plans to ask for his beloved's hand in marriage vanish into thin air.
The 28-year-old floor-fitter lost a $15,000 engagement ring - and possibly the affections of his girlfriend - when the helium balloon in which he had concealed the ring was whipped from his hands by a gust of wind outside a shop.
"I just watched as it went further and further into the air," he told the Sun newspaper. "I felt like such a plonker. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me."
Hajji, who had intended to get his 26-year-old girlfriend Leanne to pop the balloon to find the ring, spent two hours in his car giving chase without success.
"I thought I would give Leanne a pin so I could literally pop the question," he said. "But I had to tell her the story. She went absolutely mad. Now she is refusing to speak to me until I get her a new ring."
He is hoping the ring will still turn up. "It would be amazing if someone found it."
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Cruelty to children? A couple have given their children unusual names based on characters from Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology.
Tony and Elaine Romaeo, of Leckwith Mews, Canton, Cardiff, named their first child Romeo Casanova Valentino, after the world's most famous lovers.
The 12-year-old boy has since been joined by sisters Venus Valentine, 11, Angel Aphrodite, 10, Isis Ise, 3, and brother Achilles Spartacus Mars, 2.
The family are expecting a sixth child next month, a boy they are planning to name Caesar Augustus Constantine, after a trio of Roman Emperors.
Mrs Romaeo said the children's names were inspired by her long-standing interest in history.
"I really like history, and the great things that have happened, like major events and inventions, all come from the Romans, Greeks or Egyptians.
"Everyone used to joke and ask, 'What are you going to name the next one? But after Victoria Beckham named her son Romeo too, people don't find the names too different.
"And the children love their names because none of their friends at school have the same names."
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A reader writes: "On Thursday morning (March 13), my 2-year-old granddaughter climbed a fence and ran towards the Te Atatu South Road. Luckily a kind man stopped his car and grabbed her and took her back to the house. He was very shaken and he almost certainly saved her life. I would like to meet him to thank him in person. Please could he contact Sideswipe with contact details."
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Les Elmer sent in a picture of bread he bought in L'Escala in Catalunya, Spain, in January. "My blonde wife and three blonde daughters weren't too sure about buying Bimbo-brand bread, especially with a tagline of Silueta de Horno (Horny Silhouette?). Its final encouragement in small print of being Pan de Molde Integral (comprehensively Mouldy Bread) didn't help, but it actually tasted reasonably OK."
