Sideswipe: July 30: Tanked on vodka

The recycling of vodka bottles for scooter petrol in Bali

Cat hitches a ride

Karen Stewart writes: "Heading out to our weekly quiz night on Monday, I was humming along to a song on the radio when my husband asked if the meowing was coming from the song? We turned the radio off but the meowing continued, definitely not from inside the car. We stopped and I checked the right front wheel area. The meows were getting louder and more distinctive. We lifted the bonnet and - lo and behold - our 6kg cat Shadow was lying on top of the engine, none the worse for his ordeal. We think we now know how he was found 10km away on the other side of Whitford when he was lost for nine months a few years ago."

Poodle care 101

While staying with friends in Port Douglas, Northern Queensland, last week, Alf Hoyle of Rotorua heard how the next door neighbour was entrusted with looking after a friend's prize-winning poodle and how she was worried about it getting on with her cat. The poodle duly arrived with instructions as to its care. Shortly after the owner left, the poodle escaped through the cat door and stopped at the end of the section for a drink in the local pond. Suddenly there was a splash and the poodle disappeared to be replaced with a very contented looking crocodile.

Contract commitments a red flag raiser

A reader writes: "Any attempt by a company to tie you to a contract should raise red flags. If a company can satisfactorily give good customer service for a reasonable price, then customers are not going to change providers. If a company makes you sign a contract to stay with them for longer than a month, you have to ask why are they so worried about you leaving them in the next 18 months? Are they really that terrible with support and pricing? The answer most definitely is yes."

Secret to gore-geous roses

Writes a reader: "Regarding the man with hemochromatosis, whose own high-iron blood made his roses flourish: My mother's midwife used to take the placenta home after a home birth and use it on her roses. She had the best roses in town, my mother recalls. Not sure a midwife would get away with that nowadays."

Slightly ironic sign at Te Papa

Zips with an appetite for merino

"I was was always finding mysterious small holes in T-shirts and merino tops," writes Sue. "Then I realised they were made from being snagged in zips."

Cloudy thinking

Adele should not be too concerned about the waste of water, says Mick Kelly. "We are just making use of it on the way past. It will eventually (after treatment) find its way to the sea, where it will evaporate, form clouds and come down again as beautiful pure rain, some of which will be stored for use."

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz