KEY POINTS:
Desperate and dateless and can't bear the thought of another night sleeping alone? Here's the perfect answer for lonely types.
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Michael from Northcote writes: "I'm not into numerology so someone else will have to work out if there is anything more than elegance in the fact that Ed Hillary, with ll in the middle of his name, died on the 11th, at the age of 88, 55 years after he became a hero aged 33. Add his age when we were introduced to him, to his age when we said goodbye and we get 33 + 88 = 121 which is 11 x 11. Clearly the state funeral had to be scheduled on the 22nd at 11am. Also on the subject of Sir Edmund, Ray remembers: "A life-sized statue of Sir Ed Hillary was erected in Hillary Square in Orewa in the early 1980s and someone asked via the local Rodney newspaper why Sir Ed was facing the nearby dairy. Council workers were then dispatched to lift the statue and reposition Sir Ed to face out to sea instead."
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Hungry Danielle writes: "While searching yellow.co.nz for restaurants in the Mission Bay vicinity, I was recommended to try McHughs (Cheltenham) The Esplanade Hotel (Devonport), and Portofino (Devonport). I know they are technically within the 4km radius but I suspect a quick check on YellowMaps would show a slightly longer drive. Also stretching it a bit, a similar search for Remuera restaurants yielded one in Kumeu and Bracu in the Bombay Hills - are the owners hoping no one would really notice the extra 45-minute drive?"
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An amateur drama group in England has had to alert police to toy weapons being used in a pantomime because of health and safety rules. The Carnon Downs Drama Group in Cornwall has had to promise to keep the six wooden swords, two plastic spears and a toy gun locked up in a secure room while they are not in use for the production of Robinson Crusoe. One member of the group has been identified to local police as the person chosen to accompany the "weapons" whenever they are moved. Co-director Elaine Gummow described the situation as "absurd" but said it was a sign of the times. (Source: AAP)
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Greg from Stanley Pt writes: "I thought you might be interested to hear about my visit to the Warehouse at Milford yesterday. I was standing at the counter with my 4-year-old daughter paying for a couple of DVDs (My Little Pony etc) in the music/DVD section and blasting out from multiple speakers so loud that both I and the girl serving me had to raise our voices to be heard were the lyrics 'f*** me like you hate me' repeated over and over. I wonder what Mr Tindall listens to at home on a Sunday morning?"
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Rachel adds: "This excerpt from an email sent by the warehouse manager to all NZ staff at Wesfarmers had us wondering what work benefits we were missing out on: 'There are still unauthorised visits to the warehouse happening. I am not unreasonable and I know that there are situations where you MAY need to visit, but some of you have slipped back into your habit of 'popping down' for a root, or, I suspect, just to get away from the desk.' He goes on: 'I cannot put up with this, especially as some of you don't even observe the Hi-Viz or safety footwear rules."'
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The luck keeps rolling for a convicted US bank robber who won a US$1 million ($1.32 million) lottery prize: though Timothy Elliott, 55, violated his probation by buying the ticket, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Richard Connon approved the probation department's agreement that he can keep the winnings. The only change is that he must now pay a monthly US$65 probation supervisory fee, previously waived because he was indigent. In October 2006, Elliott pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery of a Massachusetts bank and was placed on five years' probation. The terms required him to not "gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted".
