KEY POINTS:
The owners of this business clearly run a tight ship.
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Leo Gordon of Taumarunui writes: "By last Christmas a young farming family had established a two-year family tradition. The mother and daughter (then aged 4) cleaned the lounge and put up the decorations while the father and 2-year-old son were sent to the farm's plantation with a chainsaw to cut the best Christmas tree they could find. When they got home, after 10 minutes pulling and shoving, they managed to get the tree into the lounge and upright.
However, the top metre of the tree was curved against the ceiling like a toucan's beak. The father asked 'Do we trim the top, or the bottom?' 'Bottom' was the reply. The father fetched the chainsaw and started it up. The cat and dog shot outside, the two children burst into tears, but father completed the trim in situ. What the mother said has not been recorded, but this year she has bought an artificial tree."
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A contract worker for a Nevada sheriff's department is accused of driving drunk to a jail to test a suspect's blood alcohol content. Kathleen Cherry, 53, told a Carson City sheriff's deputy who smelled alcohol on her breath that she had had one margarita before driving, the Nevada Appeal newspaper reported. She is accused of failing field sobriety tests and registering a blood alcohol content over the state's legal limit of 0.08 per cent. Cherry is trained to draw blood for lab tests. She was booked on a misdemeanour drunken driving charge, and her bail was set at more than US$1000 ($1870).
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From Matamata, J Whyte writes: "A Bond and Bond ad on Monday, December 1, urged us to celebrate the birth of Jesus with some new gear, saying 'it's what he'd want'. Wrong. The birth of Jesus Christ the Son of God should not be exploited like this. Would the admen be allowed to get away with using words like Allah's birth for commercial gain? Admen for this firm, please explain and apologise."
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Twenty other like-minded Triumph riders and I set out from Auckland for a relaxed ride to Whangamata for lunch," writes Dave. "On SH25A in the morning and again on SH25 in the afternoon we were stopped at police checkpoints and pulled off the road to be breathalysed and have our driving licences, registrations and warrants checked. We were also lectured on road safety by the ACC, and advised that we should all be wearing reflective vests while riding. Apparently twin headlights that cannot be switched off are not visible enough on their own. Ironic then that the only near miss on the whole trip came on Whitford Rd coming back into Auckland when I was almost sideswiped by a police highway patrol car - the driver not checking the lane was clear before pulling out to overtake. (A prolonged blast on twin air horns and a grab of the brakes averted tragedy.) Perhaps the police force's time and resources could have been better spent training their own members to drive better. To be fair though, she did stop to apologise."
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Today's Webpick: A legit dont drink and drive message from the Auckland City Council? Or a clever viral for something completely unrelated? Either way Space Wasted, Bro is damn funny. Watch the clip here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
