Reporter’s diary

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Gloria in eggshellsis THIS TALE of woe should please motorists whose cars are referred to as having the bodywork of an eggshell. A Christchurch man has had an enduring, passionate devotion to Rovers, not the least because they are solidly built, and in an altercation with another vehicle, they are sure to come off best. This week, he and his majestic Rover SDI were purring along Papanui Road when the car behind ran into the back, pushing him into the car in front, telescoping four cars in all. Our hero nearly sobbed when he saw his precious car. It was a mess at the back. But then, what else could have done that to a Rover — but another Rover? It was almost like a case of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object. German letters RELUCTANTLY, the words behind the abbreviation M.A.N. on the new Christchurch bus have been explained. The letters stand for: Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nuremburg. The last two are German cities, and the first word means, literally, machine factory. It is easy to understand why Christchurch Transport Board authorities did not immediately roll that lot off their tongues every time they discussed the West German automotive company which built the chassis and engine of the new big red. Empire exhibition INCA TREASURES on display at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery are expected to attract such interset that the gallery will extend the opening hours. Instead of closing at 4.30 p.m. as usual, the night entrance door will remain open until 8 p.m. every Thursday and Friday that the exhibition is on. The entrance is reached by an alleyway between the museum and Christ’s College. Mixed blessing OVERHEARD IN a Christchurch mall recently: First person: “Oh look — Wilbur Smith’s new book is out. I love Wilbur

Smith.” Pause. Second person: “I like Bruce Springsteen better.” Back to earth THIS MUST be the season for migratory flying objects. A hot-air balloon, made from pale-pink and blue tissue paper, finished a flight in the top of an oak tree in Opawa recently. When fully inflated the balloon has a circumference of about 2.4 m, and expert construction enabled it to sur-

vive a severe buffeting in a nor’west wind on the day it was toppled. The family who found the balloon would like to return it to its owners, and to find out how far it travelled. They can be contacted through us. Birthday blues FIVE MINUTES into his nineteenth birthday, a colleague’s car’s gearbox packed up on his way home after working a late shift. He finally coaxed

the car home and caught a few hours sleep, before waking to open his one and only present for the day: a pair of under have-alway-wanted-one-of-these”) pants. Birthday or no birthday, it was a hard day at work, where he still was when he got a phone call telling him he had been burgled and $l5OO worth of goods had been taken. A small consolation was that his one birthday present was untouched. —Jenny Clark