Reporter’s diary

Press, 3 June 1981, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

The Election ... DEPRESSING news for aspiring politicians'* and imcumbent politicians alike: a slogan has appeared on the Wilsons Road overbridge near the Christchurch gas works which says “don’t vote — it only encourages them.” j- * . . on the trail ON ANOTHER . electoral note, politicians should be warned that the Christchurch branch of the Women s Electoral Lobby is being revived after lying dormant since the last election. “We'll be giving the politicians a hard time? We’ll be following them; around and getting state-; ments from them on their policies concerning women’s-, issues,” said a spokeswoman.,; Family stamp A READER claims to be especially impressed with; the design of the 20-cent-stamp in the series of the. New Zealand family which is* appearing on- letters. She. says that within the .small space of a postage stamp design the whole New Zea-

land way. of . life Ts. portrayed: the ' man ,-is ‘Shitting ,the woman, the woman (who appears to be slightly tipsy) is hitting one of the-children, two of the children are fighting, and the third child is kicking the dbg. As an indication of oiir peculiar sense of humour, the stamp is called “The Family at Play.” Falls and rises A MINOR punter. on the stock exchange opened his mail last week to find a contract note from his broker stating that he owed •' the tidy, sum of $20,636.25 for shares purchased on his .behalf. Aghast, the poor investor made some investi- ! gations of his own and found that there had been a computer error. The amount he owed was actually $370.60. Locked in A PRISON officer went mising from the precinct of the High Court in Christchurch recently. He was later found incarcerated in the prison van. Apparently he had climbed inside to get some--thing that had been left there

and the door had slammed firmly behind, locking him in. A fellow officer released him. Poor show IT IS the International Year for the Disabled, but no quantity of platitudes and television commercials will help the disabled unless people care. An unfortunate incident shocked a reader last week when a woman, who has artificial, hips because of arthritis, fell on the footpath in Colombo Street. She was : unable to get up without help, but no-one bothered to stop and ask if she needed help. Eventually she struggled back to her feet assisted by her small daughter. Losing weight YOU NO longer have to adhere to spartan diets to lose weight, it seems. Weight Watchers International has re-evaluated its food programme for its members and to be “more compatible with today’s lifestyles” now allows such goodies as peanut butter, popcorn, wine, beer, raisins and honey.’

New throw-away THE LATEST in 'throwaways has come to our notice. It is a mouse trap of Australian design, made, of cardboard. You simply set your bait and when the mouse is caught by a hinged lid which wallops it on the back of the neck, you pick up the trap with the dead mouse in it and throw it away. The traps come in ...convenient five-packs and are said to be safe for pets and children. Character guide AFTER YEARS of study, a Californian professor of psychology has come up with some guide lines . for character-analysing people who wear spectacles. If they clean them on their, clothes they are likely to be gogetters. If they clean them on handkerchiefs they are well-poised with confidence to take things; as they come, while if they wipe them with their fingers they are probably workaholics. But if you want to find a reliable work