Sideswipe: December 17: Lime Scooters a pain

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"I can't wait to see the the end of Lime Scooters," writes Tony. "Every morning 'juicers' clog up pavements and pedestrian walkways in Mt Eden Village placing scooters directly across pedestrian pathways. No consideration is given to the many people who come here every day. Worse still are the people riding them, weaving their way through and past people like they're at a Speedway. The sooner they're gotten rid of the better."

Family things that make us smile

Writer Rachel Griffin asked her Twitter followers to tell her something random about a person they love that makes them smile every time they think of it.

1. "For a long time, I didn't understand why our microwave was always stopped two seconds before the end. Then I learned that my husband didn't want his heating up his breakfast to wake me up so he'd stop it just before it dinged. He's a keeper."

2. "Mine is when my mum died five years ago. I woke up in the middle of the night to find my son, aged 8, sitting on my bed watching me. I asked if he was okay and he said, 'I'm staying awake in case you wake up really sad and need an emergency hug from me'."

3. "My mum gets the names of common brands mixed up - she refers to Mozilla Firefox as Mozzarella Firefox."

4. "How my husband and my sister can't sit beside each other at family dinners because they giggle so much at their own jokes that they cry-laugh. He's 62 and she's 60. They make me laugh and I don't get the joke."

5. "My dad called me from the top of the Eiffel Tower when he and my mum went to Paris. He said it was so I could be there with them. I smile every time I see a photo of the tower now because of that moment."

6. "Whenever my husband is doing something mischievous, he whistles. He doesn't realise he's doing it. He never gets away with anything!"

7. "My wife cries over things I'll never understand. Watching the first few minutes of Good Will Hunting, I hear her sniffle, ask her what's wrong, tears running down her face, 'he's just so good at math'."

Excuse me?

My husband sent me this while I was on the toilet.

Poultry takeover

This from Live Science: "When geologists dig through the earth, they use specific "index fossils" to figure out what geological epoch a particular bit of dirt came from. There are 21 billion domesticated chickens worldwide, and future dirt diggers will likely use their bones as a signal that modern humans were nearby."

Video Pick

A bit of Christmas spirit from British comedy Gavin and Stacy with the oh-so talented James Cordon…It's well lush it is...

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