A law breaker writes: "Last week I received an infringement notice to say I had parked on a broken yellow line marked on a road. The notice states the start time at 14:55:52 and the end time at 14:56:11. I was picking up my son from Auckland Grammar to take him to a doctor's appointment. I pulled over on Mountain Rd, picked him up and drove off. Okay, so that was all of 19 seconds and I have been fined $60! What is the definition of the word 'parked'? Anyone got any good tips on how to fight this?"
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After three years of research, an Austrian scientist has solved the mystery of belly button fluff. Georg Steinhauser has discovered a type of body hair that traps stray pieces of lint and draws them into the navel. Analysis revealed the pieces of fluff were not made up of only cotton from clothing, but wrapped up in the lint were also flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust. Writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, he said the scaly structure of the hair enhances the "abrasion of minuscule fibres from the shirt" and directs the lint towards the belly button. Dr Steinhauser established that shaving your belly will result in a fluff-free navel, as will wearing old clothes. (Source: The Telegraph.co.uk)
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Odd names: "I went to school in the UK with a boy whose name was Ewen Mee," writes James. "And there is a friend in NZ who married to become Sandy Beach."
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A reader writes: "I'll put my hand up to represent the petrol companies ... unofficially - this is payback for all those life-enhancing $6-an-hour Sunday morning shifts. The reason there is no Eftpos at pump facilities any more is that they don't get people into the store and buying $2 cans of Coke or bags of chips. The margins on fuel are so low these days that petrol stations depend heavily on shop sales, which is why a chocolate bar or a bottle of water is bought for around 50c and sold for $2.50. This is why we've seen them become cafes and hangout spots - to lever money out of people's pockets."
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See today's cartoon
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Today's Webpick: Trying to be balanced, this PSA inadvertently does a nice job of endorsing cocaine? View here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
