Sideswipe
Leaf me alone
“Running up our local bush track today (Camp Sladdin Nature Reserve, Clevedon) there were two council workers with leaf blowers, blowing leaves off the bush track!” writes Conrad Surynt. “Apparently this is what they do on a regular basis. Benefits? Can’t think of any. But the disadvantages of destroying the peace and tranquillity, waste of fossil fuels, waste of labour hours, are obvious . . . must also be soul destroying for the hardworking folk I am sure are aware the job is futile.”
Memorable pet names
1. “I met someone who had named their cat Ghost. He had been a stray, and had turned up in their backyard just as they were ceremonially burying their much-loved old cat who had just died.”
2. “I used to have a timid cat called Squad Car — because he was this black and white thing that flashed by.”
3. “My wife and I run a sushi shop so when we got two cats — one being a ginger cat — it was obvious that we call one Ginger, and the other Wasabi.”
4. “Neighbour’s black cat is named Barry. I just shake my head whenever he gets called.”
5. “Our grandma had a cat called Get Out . . . one very confused cat.”
A rare drop of Aussie red
“My most precious bottle is a 1971 Australian Cabernet/Shiraz selected by H.G. Brown & Sons to commemorate the opening of Sydney Opera House by the Queen on October 20, 1973,” writes David Shaw. “One of only 24000 bottles, it is possibly the only one in New Zealand.”
Not so fishy pricing
“I can explain the fishy pricing,” writes Stephen. “Mike wasn’t comparing snapples with snapples. The A$18.99 snapper showing in the Aust photo is whole while $36.99 in Te Puke would be for fillets. At 33 per cent recovery from whole to fillets skinned and boned this makes the Aussie fillet price equivalent to just under $60/kg.”