KEY POINTS:
A reader writes: "Does anyone else find it suspicious that Paul Holmes took time out this morning to have another go at the Erin Brockovich ads for Noel Leeming before giving rival Harvey Norman a glowing review for their in-store service? The reason became clear moments later when he launched into a paid endorsement for Harvey Norman."
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Ann from Rotorua writes: "Mum [in Rotorua] was confirming a quote for carpet laying at the beach house. The carpet layer had provided an estimate, off the plan. When mum okayed that, they went over to Ohope Beach with the key, to measure it for a precise quote. 'It's all ready to go' he said. 'Are you going to move the clothes and knick-knacks out of the lounge?' Mum explained that the lounge was empty as it was a beach house and nobody lived here permanently. He then asked, 'It's five bedrooms isn't it?' Mum replied, 'No - only three bedrooms.' Turns out mum's key fitted the neighbour's upstairs door and the floor area was exactly the same measure."
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Bill Monroe lost by one vote in his bid to return to his city council in Winchester, Indiana. And then he found out his wife didn't vote. If Kathie Monroe had voted, her husband, a veteran politician, would have tied with his opponent and the rest of the council would have decided between Monroe and a newcomer to local body politics.
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Sometimes there is no racial prejudice behind a rejection ... a London hairdresser is being sued by a Muslim teenager who claims she was knocked back for a job because she wore a headscarf. Bushra Noah, 19, is suing Sarah Desrosiers for religious discrimination in a case estimated to be worth at least $30,000. Desrosiers has rejected the allegation and says she turned down Noah's job application because it was an "absolutely basic" requirement that customers could see their stylist's hair. "The essence of my line of work is the display of hair," she told the Daily Telegraph.
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The final instalment of strangely appropriate names: "My old boss told me that there used to be an accounting practice in New Zealand by the name of Gilfillan Gentles Pickles Perkins & Co," says Annette Wakelin. "It always made me laugh to think of the receptionist having to repeat that every time they answered the phone." Barrie Graham recalls his mother laughing about a firm of insurance brokers in South London by the name of Hunt, Lunt and Cunningham, and Barb claims that some years ago in Whangamata, among the plumbers in business were Bob Pipe and Norm Bath. Providing the company's address as proof, a reader named Kyle remembers a driving school in Richmond, British Columbia, called Fu King Driving School.
