Sideswipe: Sign of incompetence

Photo / Supplied

This road sign is in Mercari Way, Albany, says Don Donavan. "Good job it's winter because there's no way you could read it with the leaves on the tree. I wonder what idiot decided it should be planted there - and what it cost ratepayers?"

All at sea

Another Don writes: "An interesting commentary on the younger generation at their Hawke Keas (6-8-year-old Junior Sea Scouts) meeting this week. Tasked with building a boat, two of the boys and one of the girls came up with what I (from an older generation) took to be dredges with bucket arm scoops. But no, they explained their creation as a rubbish collection barge for collecting rubbish out of the water and removal."

Animal rescues not cheep

British fire services have spent at least 3.5 million ($7.03 million) rescuing animals in the past three years including a snail, a cow and a lost duckling. Some rescues were complex, especially those involving large animals, such as horses stuck in ditches. A crew of nine with ladders and nets rescued a cat that had been stuck 18m up a tree for three days. A Welsh crew removed a snail stuck halfway up a wall after being called out by a distressed elderly
lady. (Source: News of the Weird.com)

No eyes on the road

"Travelled beside a dark blue Ford Falcon yesterday morning, leading up to the Auckland Harbour Bridge with the driver putting eye drops in each eye," writes an incredulous Lynette. "I moved several lanes away for my own safety."

Shoppers driven by alphabet

The closer a person's surname is to the end of the alphabet, the faster that person tends to make purchase decisions. According to the Chicago Tribune: "The last-name effect is a continuum, researchers found. So a Rodriguez will buy quicker than a Garcia." (via Word Spy)

Standing room only ...

Our new Christchurch premises are in the admin block of an old factory, says a reader. "And while the ladies' facilities are limited there's a surplus of men's ..."

Unproductive home repairs

Tony writes: "My wife took a whole morning off for a repair man, so our 'new' oven could be fixed. He finally turned up late morning, looked at the oven and said: 'I'll order a part, it'll take two weeks.' Now she has to take another morning off to get the oven repaired! The company cannot indicate an approximate appointment time. I thought we were supposed to be more productive so the country can get back on its feet?"

Static electricity 101

Judgmental replies are less than cool, says this reader. "Perhaps, before voicing opinions on someone's intelligence level, Al should jump on a trampoline 20 times in bare feet and then touch a piece of metal. That way he would understand the concept of static electricity (or in this instance the transfer of electrons between a person's feet and the ground) and we wouldn't have to read silly replies."