Reporter’s diary

Press, 23 May 1988, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Bad timing SHRUBBERY, vandals, and passing cyclists had damaged a Christchurch man’s aged Mini so much that he had to part with it for major surgery at the panel-beaters and spray painters. On its return, he took it for a test drive along Papanui Road. Only minutes after slipping comfortably back into the driver’s seat, he had to brake suddenly. The car behind did not stop quite so well and cannoned into the Mini, pushing it straight into the tow bar of the car in front. The owner is back to biking and the Mini has returned to familiar panel-beating territory. Far-sighted CURTAINLESS ceramic windows that change from opague to clear may one day be a feature of homes. Dr Silvia Alexan-

dra/a Technologies Australia researcher, told a conference in Sydney that it was now possible to make a ceramic that could change from clear to opaque by application of an electric current. The technology' was now used in welding goggles. The effect occurred because the molecular lattice making up the material included two alternative stable locations for the central molecule. When electricity was applied, the molecule moved from one stable location to the other — producing the “magic” results. Ceramic tile bathrooms might have to go, of course. Correction

HARRY Vale, mentioned in an item in this column recently, was incorrectly reported to be the son of Harry Vale who pioneered fire sprinkler systems and automatic stokers. It was Mr Vale who has just died, aged

100, Who deserves the credit, and not his father.

Costly jaunt THE longest and presumably most expensive taxi ride in history — from London to Sydney in a black London cab — has been launched by an Irishman in a bid to raise $1 million for charity. The Press Association reports that an investment broker, Edward Kelly, said that the 18,700 km journey through Europe to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, South-East Asia and Australia, will leave Buckingham Palace on August 20. Kelly, along with his partner, Dr John Morgan, and cabbies from London and Sydney, hope to arrive in front of the Sydney Opera Housae on October 27. Kelly and Morgan are still looking for a major sponsor for the event — which is just about as difficult as finding a taxi.

Alcohol consumption STAGGERING news from a discussion kit prepared by the Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council: every New Zealander on average drinks 220 bottles of beer, 26 bottles of wine, and eight standard bottles of spirits a year — enough to fill Lake Tekapo. Come on, own up: who’s been drinking my beer? Tried to hide a down NEARLY a tonne of goose feathers were recovered when French police captured the duvet gang near Le Mans. Since last autumn the gang has burgled scores of country cottages round Le Mans, south-west of Paris, where owners had locked up standard valuables but left their quilts unpro-

tected. Three people were arrested after the police raided a caravan camp and found 800 kg of feathers, worth about $260,000. Wishful thinking THANKS to the "Irish Times” for reporting a remark, doing the rounds in theological circles in Brazil: “At the next Vatican Council, bishops will be allowed to bring their mistresses. At the one after they will bring their wives. And at the one after that they will be able to bring their husbands.” Break-up service? THE “Daily Telegraph” reports on the board at a karate club in Cornwall: “The car park is for members only. All other cars will be broken in half.” —Jenny Setchell.