Reporter’s diary

Press, 6 October 1989, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Spayed stray? WHEN Paul Soper rang to arrange for the vet to make the unkindest cut of all on his kitten called Rocky, the moggy must have been listening. The 10-month-old black and white cat vanished. Advertising and searching revealed nothing. After several weeks with no word or sighting, Paul got a call from someone in Bishopdale who thought they had found him. Paul went to check. “I thought yes, that’s Rocky — a bit thin, but same cat,” said Mr Soper. He took the cat home, and the next morning dropped Rocky at the vet’s for the operation. The vet soon called back to tell him that this “kitten” had already been spayed and was about two years old. “It seems I’d got the wrong damn cat They’d already laid him out, so it cost me 24 bucks for a strange cat to have a “wee sleep at the vet’s," said Mr Soper. The wrong cat — now also called Rocky — has installed itself at the Soper’s house, behaving just like Rocky I. “We’ll give him a good home," said Mr Soper. “We just hope our original

cat is being well looked after, too.” Steady, now CANCEL that emergency plan for a trip to the leaning tower of Pisa — its rate of tilt is slowing. One of the custodians of the 800-year-old tower, an applied mathematics professor, Gero Geri, said that the annual rate of tilt had slowed to o.Bmm this year, compared with 1.29 mm in 1988. “The measurements are reassuring and indicate that we are a long way from an emergency,” said Professor Geri of Pisa University. In September, Italy’s Public Works Minister said the 1988 figures had caused great concern and ways had to be found urgently to shore up the tower’s foundation. The top of the 55m tower leans about 5.25 m from the vertical. Life in the... CANDIDATES for the Christchurch City Council must automatically be famous people — especially if they have their name and photo on top of their car. Just ask Carl Horn, a Labour candidate

for the Ferrymead ward. Two young people clutching tape recorders asked Mr Horn, “Excuse me, are you a famous person?” Taken aback, he hesitated to stake such a claim. “But you must be, there’s your name and your picture.” When Mr Horn learned that the two were members of a youth group collecting assorted noises — which included the voices of a famous person — for a contest, he obliged with a statement. ... political arena AS a candidate in the Heathcote ward, Richard Budd says that a lot of people have said they didn’t know that Zola Budd’s brother was running for council. His stock reply has been that he’s no relation “but some people say my mouth is just as fast.”

Terms of attachment EXPRESSING relationships can be a messy business. For example, take this sign posted in Germany’s Black Forest:

“It is strictly forbidden on our Black Forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.” Does that mean they would book unmarried couples for loitering within tent? Met my posselque? EFFORTS to find a more elegant expression to replace “de facto” have ranged from the ridiculous to the hurtful. An American Presbyterian minister on exchange >in New Zealand believes his imported word “posselque” could be the answer. It means “People of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters” — and at least it’s a good conversation starter. Fill 'em up! AMBERLEY boasts a service station that is more than just a petrol filling station. A sign outside the garage succinctly puts it “Tank and tummy.” ' —Jenny Setchell