“It’s not as early as Barry Garment’s 1926 Chevy (C8), but I took my 1948 series FX Holden out for a drive on Monday morning,” writes Tim Crawshaw of Kenthurst. “It came out of the Pagewood GMH factory when Holdens were actually made in Sydney. Pull the choke to get it started, ease it back as the engine smooths, ‘three on the tree’ gearshift, synchromesh only top to second, and double shuffle to first, no turn indicators, yes vacuum wipers that slow to a crawl when accelerating, high beam dip switch on the floor, a single taillight and a divided windscreen for reduced vision. A step back in time to drive, and it’s a traffic stopper!”
“Education is everything,” declares Carolyn Lockett of Coffs Harbour. “Sent a text to our 19-year-old grandson who was travelling up the coast, encouraging him to call and see us, but inadvertently wrote ‘pop past’ instead of ‘pop in’. Pop in he did, thinking that Pop had passed!”
Granny and others in editorial, were pretty impressed with Peter Bridgwood’s new year formula (C8) but Peter Miniutti of Ashbury is difficult to impress: “Peter’s analysis of the mathematical significance of 2025 seems as easy as pi.”
“I also carried out some complex number crunching and found that the year 2025 has 365 days,” adds noted statistician Jack Dikian of Mosman.
Feelgood stuff from our friend Joan Brown of Orange: “There’s nothing like communal living to appreciate the small niceties of other residents. Recently, I was having trouble undoing my clothing protector, attached at the back of my neck with a really tight press-stud. Two other residents came over to offer assistance, and by the combined effort we got it undone. Nothing unusual about that, except that the ladies are both centenarians, one is 103 and the other is 100.”
“To answer Bob Doepel and Dennis Murphy’s use of a big word rather than a small one (C8), only someone sesquipedalian would know,” advises Glenn Drew of Wollongong.
The boomerang gift (C8) received by “Anonymous” got David Morrison of Springwood thinking: “The re-giving of what was given might be a given for someone in a state of pecuniary embarrassment and one could offer to pay for the gift that one has once oneself given. That might, of course, seem like forcing the other person to eat crow, which, in British currency, would simply be quid pro crow.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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