KEY POINTS:
A number of readers have emailed to say they spotted a pair of gorillas in boats next to the motorway. "It was early and I'm not sure if I was still asleep. Is Peter Jackson making a new film?" asked one confused commuter. Another wondered if the gorillas had managed to escape from the zoo. Anyone know the real story?
* * *
Barry had the strangest experience at Foodtown St Lukes on Saturday afternoon. "Having very much humiliated myself by slipping and falling to the floor of their drinks aisle because of a spillage, I picked myself up and hobbled over to a customer service manager to let her know there was a spill. Her response was to promptly suggest that I get a mop to clean it up!"
* * *
Lost in transition: While visiting Cape Town a reader bought nine bottles of very good red wine which he carefully packed and addressed for the trip home via Johannesburg, Perth and Sydney. He writes: "On arrival at Perth there was no wine to be seen ... Filled out the insurance claim and forgot all about it. Two weeks later got a call from NZI to tell me my claim had been approved. Ten minutes later got a call from Air NZ to tell me there was a carton of wine with my name and address on it ... I leaped into my car and drove to the airport. The airport chappie said it looked as if it'd been opened ... but the bottles were all there and were all intact ... Then I noticed a piece of folded white paper tucked between two bottles. Another traveller had written: 'On [such and such a date] I flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg and the airline lost my carton of wine. Ten days later they found it and sent it to me. When I opened it I realised it was not my carton of wine so I have repacked it and sent it on to you. I trust you enjoyed your stay in South Africa and I'm sure you will enjoy your wine.' Kinda restores your faith in humanity, don't it?"
* * *
A ripper of a local blog, whaleoil.co.nz, has outlined a few calculations from Dick Hubbard's School of Mathematics:
Explain the following problems:
a) 32,000,000 = $500,000,000
b) vibe + guess = $500,000,000
c) 10,000,000 x visit = $500,000,000
Show your working and note the values of vibe, visit and guess. Time to complete - three years.
* * *
Josie Medlock, 59, imprisoned two home improvement contract workers and two supervisors in her home in East Dene, England, in December and refused to let them out until they promised to finish her kitchen remodelling by Christmas. A local government mediator worked out a compromise, according to the London Sun.
* * *
Two packages containing human body parts - including a liver and part of a head - were delivered to a family home instead of a lab. Officials say more than two dozen similar packages could be dispersed across the United States. The body parts, sent from China, were mistakenly dropped off at Franck and Ludivine Larmande's home by a driver who thought the bubble-wrapped items were pieces of a table. "My husband started to unwrap one and said, 'This is strange, it looks like a liver,"' Mrs Larmande told the Grand Rapids Press. "He started the second one, but stopped as soon as we saw the ear." The body parts - which are preserved - were for medical research. (Source: AP)
