Reporters diary

Press, 30 November 1987, Page 2

Reporters diary

Star turn MORTGAGES are all very serious stuff. To lighten matters the “New Zealand Property” magazine runs a property mortgage lending survey which has a graded system of stars to illustrate the flow of funds. They range from one-star evaluation of “Tight as a drum, don’t bother knocking” through "Come on in, we’ve got the dough,” to a few five-

star "For goodness sake take the stuff off our hands.” The ultimate rating of five-stars in the September survey went to Trust Bank Waikato. Odds on ANOTHER gem of trivia, this time from “A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English” (1967 reprinting), edited by Eric Partridge: A derisive Australian term “Phar Lap” indicates that a person is slow in movement An odd association considering the speed of the horse that the expression refers to. Odder still that it is an expression barely heard in this country. Record heat... YOU wouldn’t know it, but summer is coming. With it comes that death-trap for

animals — the car. Dog owners who think their pooch might fancy a drive into town during a nor*wester should think again: On a 30 deg. day, the temperature inside a car in the shade, even with windows slightly open, will reach 39 deg. in 10 minutes. In 30 minutes, it will go up to 49 deg., or even higher on a hotter day.

... none too hot... HOT cars are equally disastrous for records. Leaving records out of direct sun but still in a hot car or its boot can still create a very pretty ruffled effect round the edge. Unplayable, but pretty. Which is all very well except if the record belongs to the record-lend-

ing section of the Canterbury Public Library. Each year staff display a dramatic example of what happens to over-hot records — and still every year records are returned, damaged beyond repair, because the borrowers have been careless. Even the heat of the hand, when carrying a disc for any length of time, is sufficent to buckle the vinyl. Which is why the library discs are dispensed in a cardboard carry-case with handles at the top.

... for records COMPACT discs are equally vulnerable to heat and mishandling. Head of the arts and music section at the Canterbury Public Library, Mr Roger Flury, said C.D.S needed to be

treated with care. They will not be worn with ordinary playing, but, contrary to some early claims, they cannot be used as ploughing discs, dinner plates, frisbees, or for pot-scrubbing practice. Out of 700 to 800 compact discs lent by the library, four or five in the first year of use have been withdrawn because of damage. Going rates THE Akaroa County Council agreed to write off rates owed by a property owner. Later at the same meeting on Friday the council heard that the owner was selling his property for an “outrageous” $300,000. It’s called getting out while the going is g00d... — Jenny Feltham