When Christmas bowls you over
“A few years ago, we borrowed a friend’s antique punch set for our Christmas dinner,” recalls Stewart Martin of Mangerton. “We later discovered that two glass tumblers were missing, along with their hooks. In embarrassment and confusion we looked for replacements. An antique dealer had the exact same one, but the whole set was for $300. We bought the set and later confessed to our friend. His response was: ‘They were missing in the first place.'”
Another marking room (C8) story from Frans Boot of Gregory Hills: “The School Certificate science test contained ten questions requiring a one-word answer. One year, one of the required answers was the word ‘ureter’ (as opposed to ‘urethra’). It seemed like a good idea for a simple question at the time, until the tokens were met with countless workable, near-correct spellings sent in by students hedging their bets: ureter, ureter and produce. Groans of disappointed pointers.” it was a lot!
It’s time to sack students, sometimes the fault lies with the management, as Seaforth’s Roger Bowie explains: “A misprint has been discovered in an Ancient History essay HSC exam paper reading ‘Explain the cause and effect of the Second Pubic War’. It seems Western civilization still hasn’t figured it out.”
Warwick Sherman, of Huntleys Point, was boating in the harbor recently when he said, “we encountered engine problems while anchoring next to other boats. As two men swam to our boat, two other men came to help in a dingy boat and managed to tie a line from their boat to ours. It could have been bad if these guys hadn’t helped. There are a lot of good people out there, especially in the boating community. If they read this, thank you so much!”
Alison Wilson of Winston Hills thinks there is an NRMA Pilot site on Parramatta Road, almost opposite Ashfield Park, while Rob Woof of Hurstville South says “last time I looked (fairly recently) the NRMA Pilot sign was still in place at Banksia (near Rockdale) next to the Princes Highway.” This brings us to Bali’s Warren Menteith, who remembers one near the weighbridge at the start/end of the northern motorway at Berowra. He also remembers “the question my mother asked when she went to Sydney: ‘But how do I find him?'”
As Christmas approaches, Granny hopes all our wonderful readers have a safe and happy December 25th. Merry Christmas and now start impressing your resting Grinch face. Cheers!
Column8@smh.com.au
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