Sideswipe: Life on the dole

Snapped on the Southern Motorway coming into Auckland on Friday. "Guess life on the dole is not as bad for some," says Paul.

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Motorists reported an escaped gorilla running along a busy road, only to discover it was a charity jogger called Rory Coleman wearing an ape costume. Officers raced to the A6 near Leicester expecting to find a primate dodging traffic but found Mr Coleman, 45, jogging in fancy dress. He said: "I think they twigged it wasn't an actual gorilla when they saw I was wearing trainers and had a rucksack on my back. I wasn't very far from Twycross Zoo, which has a large collection of primates, so maybe motorists thought one of them had made a run for it. (source: telegraph.co.uk)

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Northumbrian police have begun an investigation into reports an officer was seen eating a sausage roll at the wheel of a patrol car. The complainant allegedly saw a police officer sharing the food with a colleague who was driving over speed bumps. In 2005 police issued a fine to a woman holding an apple while driving. (source: bbc.co.uk)A

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A reader writes: "Trevor Pretty doesn't know the half of it. I'm a city apartment dweller who is meant to be doing without a car. Unfortunately, this requires a curfew if you're trying to socialise outside the CBD. My plan to catch the train to the Glen Eden playhouse was foiled by discovering I would have to leave the play 20 minutes after it started to make the last train home at 8.29pm. A friend wanting to see a play in town would also be out of luck - last train heading west leaves at 9.30pm. This is why people are bringing their cars into town rather than using public transport."

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Trevor Pretty's calculation comparing his car to public transport included a mistake: "The running costs of a diesel Octavia are $1410. I gave the price to run a petrol one ($2220)."

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But even with Trevor's revised costs Gary doesn't buy it: "'Trevor's car is cheaper' crack is really lame. Cars cost in maintenance, depreciation, usually borrowing costs (interest), rego/warrant, insurance, parking, opportunity costs (you can't use the purchase money elsewhere) as well as petrol. I take the Western Train into the city and feel sorry for all the people stuck unmoving on the Western motorway as we whiz past. Sure public transport can breakdown at times (cars never breakdown on motorways eh?), and it's not door-to-door, but it is a lot less expensive than cars."

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A reader writes: "Your reader with a son about to pursue a post-graduate degree at Cambridge University might be interested to know that Lord Rutherford was awarded his Nobel Prize in chemistry, not Nuclear Physics, for his work on the structure of the atom at Manchester University, where he was the Professor of Physics."

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See today's Herald cartoon

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Today's Webpick: Celebrity Twits: Ordinary people reading out celebrity tweets for comic effect. Go here.

Follow Ana Samways on Twitter here.