Sideswipe: September 22: How to troll your other half

Dopey dad.

A reader writes: "[My partner was] keen as a labrador to help with the party preparation for our daughter's 8-year-old birthday. [Actually, scratch that. He was more like a reluctant teenager.] Anyway, I asked and he eventually went to the $2 Shop to find prizes for the various party games I had planned. 'Get something small and girly,' I said. This is what he came home with ... *facepalm*"

Batchers  best  at battling email zombies

"There are two types of emailers: reactors, who rely on notifications and near-constant monitoring of their inboxes to nibble away at their email throughout the day, and batchers, who set aside specific chunks of time to power through their email, so they can ignore it the rest of the day. Not surprisingly, batchers are significantly more productive when it comes to getting s*** done, and according to recent research, they're also less stressed and more happy." (Via Don't Let Email Zombies Eat Up Your Day, by Jocelyne K. Glei)

'Missing' teen had the hump

Police in Queensland published a Facebook post appealing for information about a missing teenager. The post included a photograph of Erian Thompson with the caption: "Can you help us find a 17-year-old girl missing from Carindale?". It was shared more than 800 times and received plenty of sad and shocked reactions. That was until Erian commented on the post to say: "Guys I'm fine. I'm not missing. This is an over-reaction to a fight I had with my sister. I'm legit, just sitting in my bedroom." (Source: indy100.co.uk)

Ladies. Thinking of getting on a bike? This may help you.


Nerd alert

"Trekkers know all about NZ's 'fame' as a penal colony in the Star Trek universe," writes Paul. "New Zealand was also mentioned in the next Trek series, ST Voyager, as the place one of the main characters [Tom Paris] was sent as punishment. See the following quote from the official Star Trek website: "After leaving Starfleet, [Paris] turned to the Maquis for fulfilment as a fighter pilot, but was captured by Starfleet on his first mission and this time was sentenced to the Federation Penal Settlement near Auckland, New Zealand, wearing an alarm anklet. Paris was given a reprieve of sorts in early 2371, when he was temporarily released from the rehab colony and given a second chance by Captain Janeway."

Talk about sideswipe ...

"On Sunday I hit the wing mirror of a vehicle in the Westmere area. It was one of a long line of parked cars and I was in very heavy traffic so couldn't stop. Please email me snape.double@gmail.com if this was you."

Photo session with boyfriend. Guess which pose I let him choose?


Diversion: How OCD are you?

Picture this: Teenager dresses like his mother and takes her driver's licence to buy alcohol. The family likeness worked a treat.

Good read: Confessions of a gun range worker is an eye opening read, especially for those of us who live in a country which doesn't have a gun culture... "I've seen a lot. I've witnessed multiple suicides. Three rampage shooters practiced at the Orange County range. The general vibe at the ranges has gotten much more extreme and paranoid. I don't think this is unique to where I worked. The gun industry is really changing for the worse." Read more at Mother Jones.

Video: Find true love...

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Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz