A billboard in Kingsland, Auckland, for McKenna whiskey takes the British cliched idea of drunken nosh and unfairly slags off two fine local kebab shops.
* * *
A Buckinghamshire man diagnosed with terminal cancer is to collect a second winning payout of £5000 ($12,619) after betting he would stay alive. Jon Matthews, 59, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos, in 2006 and told he had months to live. He placed two bets, each with a £100 stake at odds of 50/1, that he would be alive in June 2008 and in June 2009. A third wager will earn him a further £10,000 if he lives until June 1 next year.
"I think I'm the first person in the world to bet on my own life. When I was diagnosed, I was told mesothelioma was a death sentence. I wasn't that fussed because everyone has to die some time. But the interesting thing for me was how long it would take - would it take weeks or years?"
* * *
A reader writes:
"Does anyone else use Telecom's call minder to offer callers the option of transferring to their mobile?" asks a reader. "If so, it pays to check the call charges. I have been charged twice for every call transferred for the past six months. The two calls show up on my bill under both MT and V6 code charges. They are always at either the exact same time or one minute apart, and always for the same length of time. It would be interesting to hear if others find the same if they check back over their bills. Businesses who use this option may find hundreds of dollars of extra charges. I have of course spent HOURS on the phone to Telecom to sort it out but each time the operator tries to convince me that the charges are legitimate ... However, it seems a bit too far fetched to me that, whenever someone gets our answerphone and pushes 0 to go to the mobile, every time, at that exact same time, someone in our house (even when we aren't home) calls our own mobile AND talks to my wife or leaves a message for the exact same length of time, like six minutes and 32 seconds!"
* * *
Andrew Stevenson writes:
"To the driver of the Chrysler 317 GTS who overtook me around 25km out of Paeroa on Thursday morning and then drove at speeds easily upwards of 160km/h along the (narrow and winding) Old Tauranga Rd for about 10km before getting stuck behind a truck in the Karangahake Gorge: I hope you noticed in your rear view mirror that I was still immediately behind you when you arrived in Paeroa. I'm not sure what you're compensating for, but you risked your life, the lives of others, and the loss of your licence just to arrive in Paeroa three seconds before me. I hope when the new car-crushing law comes in that they don't just pick on spotty teens."
* * *
View today's Herald cartoon
* * *
Today's Webpick: This is the best literal music video so far — Bonnie Tyler’s classic 80s power ballad, Total Eclipse of the Heart. Watch it here. Plus, hundreds of guitarists gathered to strum along to the Exponents’ “Why Does Love Do This To Me?” in Auckland for the NZ Music Month Guitar Record Challenge. Watch it here
Follow Ana Samways on Twitter here.
