Reporter’s diary

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Awareness Week

THE prize for the meanest theft of the week goes to the person or persons (if that term is warranted) who burgled the offices of Barnardo’s child care and family support organisation, early yesterday morning. Taken were heaters, calculators, stamps and biscuits, but no cash — there was none there. Water was splashed over papers and books. Also missing are 150 balloons, printed with the Barnardo name, which were to have been used in children’s parties and other promotions for Barnardo’s Awareness Week. Barnado’s staff dressed as clowns are to be out and about at Brighton Mall today, giving away what few balloons remain.

Out, damned spot PAPANUI High School is putting the final touches to its production of “Macbeth.” The witches are bubbling with enthusiasm while Lady Macbeth can walk through the part in her sleep. “Macbeth” has a three-day season, from August 12 to 14 — dates that coincide with the final three days of the General Election campaign. “Macbeth” is an

appropriate choice for election time. “And to be king stands not within the prospect of belief,” sums up popular reaction to some candidates, while passing references to "vaunting ambition,” “he wants the natural touch,” and hand washing are also relevant. The sufferers of election overkill — the result of too many hours of television and news media coverage — will probably sympathise with the complaint . . . “What bloody man is that?” Honours

WHEN the next Honours List is being considered, we would like to suggest the name of the Lyttelton Borough Council workman seen this week patiently and thoroughly clearing gutters of rubbish in weather that gave the local seagulls hypothermia. Neither rain, Antarctic wind nor frigid water kept this man from his appointed rounds with a large spade and a good deal of endurance. A definite candidate for public recognition and thanks. Legal brief BREVITY can sometimes be the soul of law

— as was demonstrated this week by the following note emerging from Christchurch’s halls of justice. “Mr Justice Tipping presided in the Number Two High Court yesterday. All other details were suppressed.” Up and down CONFINED to bed by a marauding squadron of flu germs, a local model plane and aviation enthusiast became aware that his Redcliffs home lies directly under the flight path of R.N.Z.A.F. training flights. The buzz of trainers became too much to resist. Lurching out of bed, and ignoring an equally loud buzzing noise in his head, our friend tottered to the kitchen window to observe the airborne spectacle. Leaning over the sink, he soon became absorbed in the manoeuvres overhead. He was found an hour later — sound asleep bent double over the taps.

Knowing one’s place A reader confesses to being somewhat confused. He is listed in the electoral rolls as residing in Richmond. He insists that

he lives in Shirley. “How can I possibly live in Richmond when I am within a stone’s throw of the Shirley Post Office, my gateway is directly opposite the Shirley Intermediate School, and the Shirley Boys’ High School is nearer to Richmond that my residence?” he wrote this week. “Each time the enrolment card arrives, I diligently print Shirley on the address but back comes the confirmation card, wrongly filled in.” A Christchurch electoral office spokesman, Theo Bunker, was sympathetic. It seems that uniformity is the reason behind the changes. The rolls follow the names of suburbs used by New Zealand Post and the local authorities. “There has to be uniformity in the rolls — we couldn’t have one half in the street in Richmond and the other in Shirley. The names of suburbs are standardised and the computer programmed accordingly.” Mr Bunker has also been relocated. He lives in Bishopdale, - which according to the rolls, the computer and the local authority is actually Harewood. “I can appreciate your reader’s feelings,” he said.