Sideswipe: Spot the difference

Philip Hurring chuckled at this blooper on Auckland's Dominion Rd.

Good idea, bad delivery

Susie said she searched Westmere on yellowlocal.co.nz for doctors, health, events, butchers, babysitters, schools, cafes, bars and hairdressers. "For all but two I got, 'We're sorry there are no results for butchers, health, doctors, events, cafes'. Bars took me to two in the Manawatu, and hairdressers, 'There are 1 results for hairdressers in Westmere', but it was a link to Auckland community centres. Oh dear ... "

It's enough to infuriate you !!!!!

An exasperated Gary says: "On Wednesday, a dozen of us were waiting at the bus stop opposite Orewa depot at 6.55am, when the Adshell van turned up and the driver ushered us all out of the shelter so he could spray water everywhere. He then moved to the New World stop and repeated the same insane performance. All the outbound stops were empty but he chose to do all the inbound stops!? I was told this stupid dance was performed often all over the North Shore at the same stupid times!" [Please note, a considerable number of exclamation marks were edited out of this story].

Turfed out after Putin visit

When Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced he was visiting Pskov city, officials spared no expense installing new bins and freshly painting lamp-posts and laying new lawns. But a local resident's video shows the turf was removed when he left, leaving only bare mud behind. The turf has now been dubbed the 'Potemkin lawn' - a play on the Russian trend of 'Potemkin villages', named after the 18th century general Prince Grigory Potemkin, who is said to have had whole villages built to impress Catherine the Great when she visited newly conquered Crimea in 1787.

Not that old chestnut ...

Marjorie knows a scam when she sees one: "To the mournful-looking overweight gentleman who was flagging down traffic beside a white car in the St Lukes carpark on Tuesday - that was the second time you have told us your well-rehearsed story: 'Please help us out with some cash. We have run out of petrol, have a credit card stuck in a cash machine at Westpac bank and need to get to Helensville in an hour's time. Can you give us $4?"'

Fungi lurking in dishwashers

Scientists studied 189 dishwashers in 101 homes around the world and found 62 per cent contained fungi on the door seal. More than half included black yeasts Exophiala dermatitidis and E. phaeomuriformis, which are known to be dangerous to human health. Researcher Nina Gunde-Cimerman told the Daily Telegraph: "We tested the dishes after they had been cleaned and they were full of this black yeast, so too the cutlery you put in your mouth. We just don't know how serious this could be." Be afraid, people.