Sideswipe: June 29: A real petrol head

Fill 'er up, spotted in Birkenhead

Far-right too far out

Job interview gone wrong: "Being a hippie, greenie type in my youth, I did loads of volunteer work, which included several months working with the British National Trust restoring a riverbank and clearing bramble from an ancient woodland. When a job came up with my local National Park Service, my CV hit their desks before the ink on the advert had dried! I was so keen, because it truly was the job of a lifetime. Sadly, I blew the interview due to nerves. I was so nervous, in fact, that I stumbled over my words and came across as a barely coherent and sulky teenager. The final nail was hammered into my coffin of interview failure when I got confused with my national bodies and claimed to have done extensive voluntary work with the National Front! The interviewers' eyebrows shot up and I was quickly escorted from the room! Seems they didn't want a fascist working for them." (Source: b3ta.com)

Rates cycle of despair

Under-utilised bike parking in Birkenhead

"As an Auckland ratepayer who has already been paying 'capped' 10 per cent increases in rates, I was ecstatic to hear that Auckland Council has voted in a budget that will set these increases for many years to come," writes Martin Payne. "This is because I know that they are investing our money in worthwhile public transport initiatives like the Bike Park at Birkenhead Wharf, which has been a roaring success. Photo (above right) taken at 8am Wednesday."

Leaning tower of pizza?

Our supermarket has reached new heights of ridiculousness," writes Fiona. "They are always quick to stock the shelves in the evening, so shoppers have to push aside boxes to find stuff. Just before 7pm my 5-year-old and I had to navigate around this lopsided pallet to access baking goods."

No trolleys past this point

Strange Books: This children's picture book about an alcoholic caterpillar who dies instead of changing into a butterfly was found in a small town in a small town public library in the US. Read The Brown Bottle here.

Picture this: Illustrations of common English expressions...

Graphic: What's Really Warming the World? An amazing animated graph showing the statistical information for contributing factors to climate change alongside the warming of the ocean. They lines are mostly flat, except when compared to greenhouse gas emissions...

Video: Meet Blossom, the tallest cow ever...

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