No ticking

The Mick/Dick the Tick saga continues (C8). Martin Mansfield of Baulkham Hills shares information from his in-laws, John Pope and Marion Barrett, who “recall that their late father, Dr, was in the late 1940s or early 1950s when the family lived in Macksville on the north mid-coast. So it doesn’t seem to be an urban myth, at least for once.”

Around 1970 Susan Haylock of Mosman had a friend in the RAAF who drove around in an old Morris Minor with some of his fellow trainees. “They had made a giant key shape that they kept in the car so that at every red light (C8) one of them got out, pretended to stick it in the side of the car and start winding it up. When the light changed, they jumped in the car and quickly drove away. I hope they didn’t use the same key on the Macchi jets they learned on!”

Enfield’s Richard Keyes recalls that in the 1960s, whenever my passenger “needed to make a right turn onto Military Road off a Mosman side street, which was almost impossible at rush hour due to heavy traffic, he got out of the car and… walked up to the pedestrian crossing. Traffic had to stop as he crossed, allowing me to get onto Military Road, where he would then get back in the car and drive off. Has worked every time.”

Northmead’s George Zivkovic recently noted an “interesting mixed metaphor from Richard Marles saying that Russia doesn’t obey traffic rules”. At least he avoided talking about the elephant in the glass house (China).”

India’s popular NOTA voting option (C8) reminded Jennifer Nicholls of Armadale (Vic) of the success of our local version in last year’s federal election: “TEAL (This Electorate Avoids Labels)”.

Tongue twister (C8) fanatic David Grant from Ballina lives in the hope that “a politician in a hard hat and a fluorescent vest will make a political announcement to a gathering of pheasant pickers and make a hash out of it”.

If Saturday is the death anniversary at SMH (C8), then Brian Kidd of Mount Waverley (Vic) says “Wednesday has a gallant second”. Carole Sydenham also noted that “deaths are more common among people whose surnames begin with letters in the first half of the alphabet.”

Column8@smh.com.au

No attachments please.

Include name, location and daytime phone.