1. One of the last effects to wear off after a trip to space is psychological. Several astronauts returning from the ISS have reported that months afterwards, they still occasionally let go of an object in mid-air, and are surprised when it drops to the floor ratherthan floats. 2. Genuine Crayola colour names include Drunk-tank, Puke, and Goose Turd Green. 3. "Collywobbles" means sickness or stomach pain from anxiety. 4. The Lithuanian phrase for "Jack of All Trades" is "Barbie Nine Jobs". 5. In 2016, Microsoft set up a Twitter chatbot that could learn to converse based on what people told it. It was using swear words by the next morning.
Sidestep some Westie road rage
"So I got an abrupt lesson in manners last week," a reader says. "I was coming home and slowed to the speed limit for a speed camera ... it seems some guy behind me in the white ute was not impressed and began tailgating and high beaming. I was annoyed ... and made a bad call and expressed myself with an impolite finger gesture. Well, then it all kicked off. He got right on my bumper. I responded to this by taking a leisurely pace of about 25km/h till he backed off. Okay, go home now ... nope, this nut job is following me. Now, I'm 6 foot 4 (1.98m) and not small with it — things could go really south here. What do I do? Well, I cut a pretty strange loopy trail and public enemy number one is right behind me, all the way until I pull up in front of the New Lynn cop shop and leave him room to park. (I won't bore you with infantile schoolyard posturing and insults but it got a bit quieter after I produced the mag light and told him to go home. The moral of this story is threefold — keep your opinions of other drivers' inadequacies below the dash, have a plan and a Police-issue 45cm aluminium torch in the car isn't a bad idea either."
Paul Conder writes: "Our family had fun naming our cats after famous composers with dog related names: Bach and Offenbach. We always thought Debussy would make a great name for a feline too."
Last word
Thinking about the time that I said that I was distantly related to Marie Curie and a guy explained "It's pronounced Mariah Carey" ... tweets Eileen Mary O'Connell @i_Lean.
