KEY POINTS:
A reader sent in the picture of a truck - click on view images - that was parked nearby in Papakura: "We thought that a security business in South Auckland would have been a booming trade," says our correspondent. "Obviously not if the firm has to expand into Pet Cremation. Does this mean that when a cat of someone in the office dies, they just put her in the Secure Document Removal bin down the back of the office, and she'll come back a couple of days later in a nice wooden box?"
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Following the Stagecoach bus driver seen taking a public leak in Mount Eden, a reader on the North Shore says he's not alone. "I observed during the week a young well-built roading contractor working on the upgrade of Esmonde Rd, stopping at Frank Sargeson's for a "pit stop". Strange, as it seems that Transit and associated contractors (like Stagecoach) are exempted from providing facilities for their staff's needs. I understand that Frank was quite an eccentric character and may even have encouraged such activities, but I'm not sure such behaviour would be condoned by the current Frank Sargeson Trust."
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Top 10 Scams of 2006 on ConsumerAffairs.com include this despicable hustle called the Grandparents Scam: "This is a particularly vile scam aimed at senior citizens, perhaps the most vulnerable scam victims. An elderly person is targeted by the scammer who calls and says something like, 'It's me, grandpa.' The elderly person will respond, thinking it's one of their grandchildren. The scammer then tells a tale of woe, saying they are in trouble and need some money, 'and please don't tell mum'. The grandparent obligingly sends a few hundred dollars, thinking they're helping a grandchild. Investigators say it works more than you might think."
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Telephone companies in South Korea are becoming gentler and kinder to customers. The Korea Times reports bills will now have "a colorful and cheerful tone". One telco is calling its telephone bill "Wonderful Letter", and is planning to receive essays, photos and cartoons from subscribers, and to publish them on the bill twice a year.
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A few readers have suggested - quite rightly - that Sideswipe missed the joke: "Do you not think that 'Open 8 Days' is simply a piece of humorous hyperbole?"
