“A Chinese woman has recently become the first person prosecuted in Japan for riding a three-wheeled electric suitcase through the streets of Osaka, as they are banned from use on roads and pavements,” observes Clive Waterman of North Narrabeen. “The cases can travel at top speeds of 13 km/h, and can go for 10 km before the need to recharge. These suitcases are very popular in Asia, so how long before we see them whizzing around Sydney Airport, given how far away some of the boarding gates are from check – in?”
“Helen Pitt (C8) is mistaken regarding the meaning of SMH,” alleges Susan Bradley of Eltham (Vic). “If you ask anyone under 30, it means ‘Shaking My Head’.”
“In last Saturday’s Postscript, the Letters Editor, after a gripe by a reader, challenged scribes to send shorter and more witty missives,” notes Edward Loong of Milsons Point. “Now, if only C8 followed suit. In fact, in the ‘good old days’ dating back to about 1988, during the time of its long-term editor, George Richards, C8 routinely comprised mostly pithy and witty one-liners. Not that I’m bragging, but a few were mine.” Is it just me or is this item slightly protracted?
“If I were Allan Thomas (C8), living ‘in an old house’, and knowing that the diet of echidnas is mainly termites, I’d be organising an urgent pest inspection,” suggests Paul Barber of Windsor.
“One night a few weeks ago, I was reading my phone in the dark (as you do),” writes Colleen Starkey of Mount Colah. “Suddenly, my left eye went cloudy. What new hell is this? After a few moments that eye cleared up and my right eye went cloudy. I suddenly realised a daddy long-legs spider was taking a shortcut across my glasses. I gave him his marching orders and we both survived the ordeal. My cardiologist will be pleased.”
Helen Flanagan of Mudgee says that “after consultation with the brains trust on sausages (my daughter), a possible explanation for bamboo fibre (C8) is to soak up fluid when cooking which expands the sausage and helps the emulsion stability. Also, bamboo fibre filler can be considered ‘au naturel’. Extracted in laboratories from natural bamboo, it is an acceptable filler. Keep eating your sausages, Denis, unperturbed.” Andrew Cohen of Glebe adds that “Coles also carry a canned food item with a large warning on the label: ‘Bamboo Shoots’.”
Column8@smh.com.au
No attachments, please. Include
name, suburb and daytime phone