Neon pink slugs are sliding around an extinct volcano in Australia. Found in New South Wales, these slugs grow up to 20cm in length and are confined to one remote volcanic area near Mt Kabutar. Park ranger Michael Murphy says, "There's one idea that the pink colour camouflages them againstthe colour of fallen snow gum leaves on the forest floor, but then again they spend a lot of their time way up in the canopy nowhere near the floor ... so it might just be that if you're a giant slug way up on an isolated mountain top, you can be whatever colour you like." (Source: Business Insider)
Road rage starts young in Auckland
Alan writes: "At an intersection I wait on the green light for the usual three or four red light runners to go through before proceeding on to the motorway on-ramp. At this point one of the red light runners (a middle-aged woman) decides without signalling to veer into my lane. I sound my horn in a friendly manner to claim my rightful place on the road. This results in an extended one finger wave and mouthings from a face purple with rage. This is nothing unusual in Auckland; I proceed on to the on-ramp. About 200m on to the motorway the red light runner appears in my mirror weaving through the traffic at speed. When level with me, the back passenger window is lowered to reveal a girl about 6-7 years old leaning over to give me a very convincing impression of the finger."
Born to run, and run, and run
On the subject of long-lasting appliances ... "Many years ago, back in the early 1970s, my newly married sister and her husband bought a large secondhand F&P refrigerator, about 10 years old, for $10," writes Eric West. "When they moved to Australia I house-sat for them and eventually bought the house, including the fridge. It moved with us to our new house some years later and served us for another 10 years until we again moved to a new house, where it would not fit. We then gave it to our daughter who had it in her garage, storing the beer and wild pig, until they bought a forestry block, with a small bach, deep in the Ureweras. There the fridge remains, in splendid isolation and still chugging away on a generator, at least 50 years after it was first turned on. In that time it has had one set of door seals! They don't make them like that any more."
Sideswipe's favourite community do-gooders, Whaea Power, who work alongside Women's Refuge, are looking to help a recently resettled family who have left an abusive relationship and the care of a refuge to begin their new, safe lives. One woman desperately needs a washing machine. If you have a spare one in good working order, email Sideswipe and we'll arrange to have it picked up.
