Sideswipe: Take the hard road

They're out to get you, whatever you drive. Photo / Supplied

The Kiwi No-8-wire approach to life

A reader from Whakatane writes: "My friend's 83-year-old sister had to evacuate from Christchurch after the earthquake and is now staying at my friend's dairy farm, 25km out of Whakatane. After a few weeks, boredom was setting in and she decided to knit some woollen slippers. Wool was found but alas, no knitting needles. No sweat, said the brother-in law, who then disappeared to his workshop and returned some time later with a pair of knitting needles fashioned from number 8 wire. The 83-year old is so happy with them that she turned down my offer to bring her a pair of real needles."

Should young teens be sold flasks?

"I'm not a prude by any stretch," says Emma, "but on a recent visit to Westfield St Lukes, I was rather surprised and unimpressed to see hip flasks in various funky designs for sale. Bearing in mind the key demographic of the store involved is aged 13 to 16, a group of us did think it was a tad irresponsible ... Don't we have a teen binge-drinking problem?"

Taking the danger out of golf

A reader writes: "I play golf at Titirangi Golf Course and a wee while ago, a player slipped while walking down a bank to the green on the 4th hole and was injured (not life-threatening). The incident came to Occupational Safety and Health's attention, and now the area we used to walk down from tee to green has been deemed too dangerous and can no longer be used. We now have to walk down a pathway that is roped off, just in case we get the urge to wander ... There are many areas on our golf course that are steep. Do we rope them all off and hope all our shots fly straight and true down the fairway to the green? I wish! What about the danger of being hit by a golf ball? Do we all wear hard hats and a suit of armour?"

Laptop in the bushes

Message: "To the motorcyclist who exited the motorway at Onewa Rd about 10.30pm on Sunday: Your laptop is in the bushes about 500m before the off-ramp. It came off the back of your bike during your passing manoeuvre and you were too far gone for us to catch you and let you know. Perhaps secure it slightly better in future!"

Short-cut to a job

A reader writes: "I had a job which required employing new staff. One CV I received was completely written in text language. I phoned the writer and explained the need to communicate in written English if his application was to be taken seriously, but the lad was 18 and didn't see why he had to write properly!"