Blind spot for poor parking
Sideswipe readers will be pleased to know that if they need to park in one of those streets with pesky parking restrictions, dotted yellow lines or near an exorbitant Wilson carpark, there are safe alternatives, writes Andrew Simmons. "Parking like this is apparently perfectly okay these days as long as you don't block the footpath. Faced with situations like this, parking wardens will simply shrug and say they've been told to ignore it, never mind the damage to the berm or possible visibility issues." Click here for picture.
Ours is not to question why
"In the good old days when a leg of lamb was affordable, many a Sunday we enjoyed roast lamb as did most Kiwi families," writes a reader. "I well remember dear mother always cutting around four inches from the hoof and bending the leg piece back at right angles. I on one occasion asked mum why she did this, having seen her do it many times over the years. She explained that grandma did it that way and having learnt all her cooking from her mother, she has always done exactly the same. On my next visit to see nana, I asked why she always cut the leg of the roast lamb before placing it in the oven and she replied, "I only had a small roasting dish and had to cut the leg to fit the lamb in."
Patient or lazy?
"I collect my daughter at 2.30pm from a kindy right next to a school," writes a mother. "Due to problems with my pregnancy I can't walk far, so have started turning up early so I can get a park close by. I noticed another parent that turns up about 2pm so they can get the closest park to the school! They then proceed to sit in the car doing nothing until the kids come out of school after 3pm. Have some people really got so little to do they can waste five hours a week sitting in the car doing nothing? Just so the kids don't have to walk more than a few metres? I also happened to notice one day that the said parent lives about 10 minutes' walk away from the school."
* Maybe the parent has problems, say in her pregnancy, and can't walk far ... just an idea.