Sideswipe: June 4: Quick courier delivery

This courier was spotted on Karangahape Road. Photo / Supplied

"This courier wouldn't let something as minor as the law get in the way of a quick delivery," says Warren. He snapped this on Karangahape Rd.

Stolen ashes Part I

Tony writes: "On Thursday night I met two friends to toast the passing of one of the friends' mother. Doreen's place was somewhere we went during high school days growing up in Rotorua. She had died when I was out of New Zealand. She had been cremated and her son, Grant, had driven up from Galatea where he is a sharemilker, to pick up the ashes and take them back to his farm where he intended to spread them. Doreen had always liked the farm. We met at a pub on Dominion Rd and at 11.30pm we left to find the side window on Grant's truck smashed and Doreen taken. Grant was philosophical ... we spent the morning looking around the area (corner of Bellwood Ave and Dominion Rd) hoping that the ratbag who took her would have left her somewhere, but no luck. In a black way none of us - Grant included - could fail to see the funny side. Go for it, Doreen, on your last adventure."

Stolen ashes Part II

Doreen was found in Central Ave, Kingsland, on Friday. The finders contacted the police who contacted Grant in Galatea. Tony says: "We picked her up last night and she appears to be none the worse for wear and tear from her night out. She possibly will make it to the farm now - unless she decides on another adventure."

Skirting the law

A man turned away from court for wearing shorts returned wearing a blouse and skirt. David Jeffries-Tipton had been told he was not dressed appropriately when he arrived at Cannock Magistrates Court in Staffordshire, England, so went and bought a a red floral skirt and light-coloured silk blouse and had his case heard. The 47-year-old was charged with criminal damage to a dog basket and a flat-screen TV after going to see his ex-girlfriend. He was acquitted on the TV charge but admitted damaging the dog basket, so will appear again at the end of the month.

Heading for a fall

Geoff Edwards in Whangarei writes: "At a school in London in 1953, as a 13-year-old, teachers were strict and one would get a cane whack on the left hand for behaving badly. John Smith often got a whack. One day in a science lesson on gravity John kept dropping things on the floor, laughing, and blaming gravity. The teacher, who was also our sports teacher, opened the window, grabbed Smith from his seat and dangled him head-first out of the second storey window, holding him by the ankles. Then he shouted, 'Now, Smith, do you understand the GRAVITY of the situation?"'