Reporter’s diary

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Datelines

COLONEL GADAFFTs vendetta against the West has taken a new twist says “The Times.” The names of our Western calendar months sound much the same in Arabic as they do in English, and it is speculated that it was the Colonel’s post-bomb-ing sensibilities which have made him change them. Now January is

“Eye of the fire”; April becomes “Birds”; July “Nasser”; October “Dates” (because that is when they are harvested); and November, “Ploughing”. Now there’s a thought. Perhaps we should remove all words which have a French influence? Timely error AN ASHBURTON woman feels jinxed by repairmen of one sort or another. When her stove went on strike recently, the fix-it man assumed she had set the automatic timer by mistake, and he fiddled with the clock on the stove to prove his point No, she cried: she knew how timers worked and that was not the source of the problem. Eventually the fault was traced to a fuse, so that was . duly replaced. When the bill arrived it was neatly itemised, with the $lO labour charge for “resetting the clock.” The bill omitted to mention that it was the repairman who had changed the perfectly correct clock in the first place. Looking back, the woman now realises her folly. It was, after all, Friday the Thirteenth.

Breaking even

IT WAS THE same Ashburton woman who locked herself out of her car while, she was helping with the catering for a social event. She went to a nearby garage for help and the attendant assured her it would be no trouble at all, and he would send her an account later. Our unsuspecting woman had to return to the hall, leaving the knight errant to retrieve the keys by himself. She got the keys back all right, but at the cost of a broken small window on the driver’s side. Not content with literally smashing his way into the car, he was as good as his word, and did send his bill. This was all a bit much for the woman who refused to pay. Her “rescuer” apologised profusely — and promptly sent her a reminder notice. Knewsagents A CORRESPONDENT has reminded us that earlier in the year it was reported that the French couple Mafart and Prieur had taken six-months subscription to the “Listener.” • This boringly

trivial matter went mainly unnoticed, except for the fact that most people take out a 12-month subscription. In light of their early school outing to Hao, we can not help wonder if they knew something that we (or the Prime Minister) did not.

Modern problem

ASKED WHAT he was doing in a bar and not at work, a Christchurch man said he had found that his entitlement to sick leave — an accumulated 18 days — would run out at the end of August Determined to do his best, he has started taking two days off a week. Simple arithmetic says he will not be able to use up all the days in the time, unless he extends his bouts of "sickness.” The catch is, as he says, to take three or more days off at a time would require a doctor’s certificate, "and one of those could cost me $20.” Short term “THE REAL Ronald Reagan,” was the title of a talk advertised at a club in Sussex, England. Someone added to the poster: “Beware of limitations.”

Very software GUNS, handcuffs, and teddy bears are now part of the standard equipment for the tough cops on the beat in Boulder, Colorado, and Morgan Hill, California. Not that the law enforcers need comfort from monsters or muggers, but the bears are useful for comforting and relaxing frightened children who may be potential witnesses to crimes. Atari, the computer company, has donated 50 bears to the police and a similar number has been presented by Burger King, reports the “Financial Times.”

— Jenny Clark