Sideswipe: July 25: Can we fix it?

Can we fix it? No. Apparently we can't. Spotted at Chipmunks, Albany, by Dave.

Tips on a dry run

Will you stay drier if you run through the rain rather than walk? Alessandro De Angelis, a physicist at the University of Udine, Italy, calculated some years ago that "a sprinter racing along at 36km/h does get less wet, but only 10 per cent less wet, than a hasty stroller". Now, physicist Franco Bocci has put forth new ideas in the all-important question of how best to keep dry when travelling through the rain. He says if you run, you are out in the rain for less time, yet you run into more drops. In most cases, the answer depends on the shape and orientation of the moving body and on wind direction and intensity. (Source: The Presurfer)

Eye in the sky

"When I got my motorcycle licence in 1967," says Mike Vinsen, "the officer supervising the practical test told me to ride around the carpark while he watched from an upstairs window. I passed the test and am still riding bikes 45 years later!"

Licence to thrill

"When I went for my test in approx 1950 in Wellington the traffic officer directed me to drive to Newtown where we stopped while he visited his girlfriend, who had a dress shop in Adelaide Rd," writes Dudley Butler. "After waiting quite some time in the car for him he came back and told me to drive back to the traffic office which involved doing a u-turn in front of an approaching tram. We hadn't gone through the usual traffic test route but I didn't get the licence. I wonder why?"

Confident behind wheel

Craig Jordan writes: "Three months after my 15th birthday I sat and passed my tests and drove home fully qualified. I was instructed to do a parallel park. BUMP! Oops. I nudged the car behind me and the officer hoped out and inspected. No damage, phew! Next was the hill start, which I managed but when I pulled out after that I didn't indicate. Bugger. The tester tells me to pull over into a side street. Done. 'Now reverse back out on to the street we just came from,' he tells me. No problem. Manoeuvre complete. Unfortunately I'd driven on to the wrong side of the road. By now I was ready to walk home. But back to the station he's issuing my licence and he says, 'well you are obviously confident behind the wheel, a little more practice and you'll be fine'. Now as my eldest nears 15 years old, I reckon the current system is just fine."