Sideswipe: We water - rain or shine

After walking to work in the pouring rain yesterday, Tim looked out the office window to see that the weather had cleared. "Yet here is one of Auckland City's workers watering the garden beds on Carlton Gore Rd, right by the entrance to The Domain. Note the rain puddles in the background."

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A readerwrites: "My sister was at the gym on Friday when staff approached her with the disturbing news that a man had been seen rifling through her handbag. In her bag, she had two iPods, €100 (she lives in Europe) and 1000 rupees (from a recent trip to Sri Lanka). She was relieved to find that the iPods and €100 remained safely in her bag. The thief no doubt thought he had hit the jackpot when he took the 1000-rupee note. What disappointment when he discovers that it's worth only about $10."

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You might share our astonishment with this job listed on Seek, writes a reader. "My wife worked as a health care assistant for $13 an hour, just cents above the minimum wage. Apparently she was overpaid. A vacancy is advertised for caregivers at Selwyn Care, who offer 'an excellent rate of pay' of $0 to $10 an hour. We wonder what the age and qualification of the applicants will be."

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Iain Breadmore questions a TV ad for a leading glass repair company which shows how you can crack a car windscreen using the air conditioning in your car and a simple chip in the screen. "My knowledge of physics and cars makes me seriously question whether this is possible. Can anyone testify that this has happened to them? It obviously is an everyday occurrence for them to make a specific advert about it. What temperature was the screen at before he put the AC on? Most cars' AC goes down to only 16c, not really cold enough to induce cracking of laminated glass."

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Peter Mumby writes: "Because of complaints from Christmas shoppers, the handcream hawkers have resorted to more innovative ways to entice potential buyers. I was at Westfield in Pakuranga when I was approached by a young woman brandishing a tray with what looked like yoghurt in small plastic cups. When I went to sample the 'food', I realised to my amazement it was handcream."

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Student at Stevenson High in Illinois say not only did school administrators force them to remove articles from the school newspaper dealing with smoking, drinking and teen pregnancy, they forced the kids to write other articles or get a fail grade. Students on the newspaper say they were given just two hours to write and put together a new issue of the paper. (Source: Reason.com)

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View today's Herald cartoon

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Today's Webpick: Although bottled water is a total rip off, this French ad for the stuff is amusing…. Go here.

To say thanks and Merry Christmas to Sideswipe and Spare Room readers, I have put together The Best Christmas Hamper Ever. It's worth over $2500 and will make Christmas very merry. Go here to enter.