Brutal bowling
Back in 1930, George Kinder of Milwaukee set a record for endurance bowling. He bowled for 50 hours and 20 minutes, rolling 362 games. He had to quit because "his thumb was badly split, blistered and torn, and he couldn't grasp the ball". Forty-one years later, Richard Dewey of Kansas City set a new endurance record. He bowled for 98h 45m, rolling 1220 games. But Dewey also had to quit because of injuries: "During his four days on the lanes, Dewey suffered a sprained right arm, severe blisters and swollen fingers. To overcome the problem of the sprained arm, he alternated arms, throwing left, then right-handed. To take the pressure off swollen and blistered fingers, his eight-pound bowling ball was drilled out every 20 hours. But after he was unable to stop the bleeding from his fingers, officials said enough was enough." (Via Weird Universe)
This column has power to move poles - if not polls
Malcolm Bell of Forrest Hill writes: "On Wednesday morning Sideswipe included my account of the abandoned power pole at the end of our driveway. At 1.30pm on Wednesday a truck pulled up next to the offending pole and a work crew began to remove it. The whole job took about 15 minutes. It shows that someone at Vector reads Sideswipe."
The Leaning Tower of Vector
Now that the integrity of our infrastructure is such a hot topic thanks to the rupturing oil pipeline, Ralph Martin of Kaukapakapa has alerted us to this pole in need, which can be clearly seen travelling along SH16. He says he contacted Vector and received a reply in June 2016 saying that a case number was allocated. "Maybe Sideswipe can give it a hurry up?"
Got a Sideswipe?Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz