Felines at the palace
Officials at Beijing's Forbidden City have a policy of keeping about 200 cats at the imperial palace complex to keep rats and vermin away from the cultural relics. The city's residents aren't too fussed with all the strays but the museum curators say they vaccinate the cats, give them vitamins and let them stay inside in cold weather. "They are a powerful deterrent to museum rats and we have not found a single piece of cultural relics damaged by cat claws," says museum official Ma Guoqing who adds the cats could "pose a threat to visitors, and their excrement is definitely an eyesore". (Source: BBC.co.uk)
Excuse from on high
An alcohol-inspired Troy Prockett, 37, was arrested after his car spun out of control on a motorway and he fled on foot, pursued by police who followed him to a tree, which he had climbed. Playing innocent, Prockett asked if the troopers had yet "caught the guy who was driving". When police pointed out there was only one set of footprints leading to the tree, Prockett explained that was because the real driver was carrying him piggyback.
Message for parkers in white triangle
White lines update: Tracey writes: "The triangle is in lieu of broken yellow lines I requested last year due to issues with vehicles obstructing my driveway. Auckland Transport sent engineers out and found the space was too short to accommodate legal parking. Rather than installing the yellow lines they felt the most appropriate action was to install a white triangle marking between the two vehicle entrances to indicate to motorists that there is insufficient space in which to park. Two wheelers are still able to utilise these spaces without obstructing a vehicle access way. So far, the white triangle has had a 99 per cent success rate ... I'm sure we'll see more popping up around soon."
