Sideswipe: The haircut umbrella

Strange products: the haircut umbrella "catches the annoying hair clippings that would normally fall into your clothes and on to the floor and eliminates the need for sweeping and vacuuming". Humiliating your child is just a bonus.

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Tea drinking has been banned in the gardens of a historic park in England because the sound of people slurping their cuppas disturbed the tranquillity. Experts from a Northampton Borough Council committee say the walled garden at the back of the 12th century Delapre Abbey can no longer be used as a seating area because tea drinkers are disturbing the peace.

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Suburb anxiety: A reader writes: "My family were living in Remuera when I was a teenager. When I went to university, my own mother used to make me park my Escort 200m down the road because she was embarrassed to have it sitting outside our house in Upland Rd."

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A Meadowbank resident writes: "My neighbour wrote a letter complaining that my letterbox (a standard, two-colour, metal one on sale at most hardware shops) was lowering the tone of the neighbourhood, causing property values to drop and belonged on a farm. She said it made her sick every time she looked out her windows. She then circulated the letter to my neighbours."

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Robyn Yousef thought it was romantic as well as environmentally aware to recycle a 1994 Valentine's Day card to her husband of 36 years. He was touched, but she wasn't when she received his bouquet - also recycled and complete with the $2.99 price tag.

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The Sideswipe item about the 35-year-old washing machine reminded Nathan of the second-hand machine he bought a few years ago. "It cost $50 and was a Fisher & Paykel built in 1975 and still going strong. Incredibly, it also came with the original instruction manual, which I duly read while installing it. I followed the instructions but laughed out loud when I reached the final step: 10. Now demonstrate the operation of the washing machine to the housewife."

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A reader who lives near the Auckland Domain writes: "To the person who persists in playing bagpipes in the Domain until 11.30pm at least three times a week - go squeeze your bags in your own backyard or, better still, go to Scotland."

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See today's Herald cartoon