Unexpected cheer-up from Deep Freeze days

It started off looking like one of those days.

I was duty night editor on Waitangi Day, then somehow stumbled downhill yesterday morning and managed to find my way into work while still half asleep.

The first thing I saw in the office was a note on my desk from an eagle-eyed colleague, pointing out I had incorrectly spelled the name of one of our valued sunflower contributors. To my intense chagrin, the caption read ''Kaitlin McMullan'' when it should have been Kaitrin. What was even more annoying, and embarrassing, is that I knew it was Kaitrin, as I had been trying to call her to clarify some other details.

My apologies, Kaitrin. Getting a name wrong is the most basic and disrespectful error a journalist can make. Former ODT chief of staff Clarke Isaacs would have absolutely chewed me up if I'd made that mistake as a reporter. Now I'm older and wiser, and more senior, I don't need Clarke to do that. I shut the door and tore a strip off myself.

Hot on the heels of that debacle, another colleague popped in here to cheerfully inform me I'd been ''spammed'' in my use of the long story about ''not doing the 'green thing' in our day''. It was all over Facebook, he told me. And there I was thinking it was something original to share with you. Clanger number two.

But wait. A white knight came charging to the rescue of my battered self-esteem, in the form of a visitor from the United States. Former Operation Deep Freeze crewman Bill Simms, of Philadelphia, dropped into the office to say he was looking forward to the lunch in Dunedin this weekend for those connected to the ships involved in Deep Freeze all those years ago, a lunch being organised by US expat Kevin Burke.

We passed a pleasant 20 minutes talking about such varied topics as Christchurch airport, Starlifters and Hercules, the freezing temperature of seawater, the 60-degree South parallel where Mr Simms' ship was stationed as a floating navigation aid for planes en route to the Antarctic in the summer of 1967-68, the use of sonar, and the Appalachian Mountains.

And suddenly, my day seemed much brighter and back on track. Thanks Bill.

The sound of water

This is going to seem very strange indeed, but has anyone else noticed the difference in sound between running cold water and running hot water? I'm convinced I can detect it, at least in our none-too-salubrious newsroom kitchen, which I euphemistically refer to as the North Wing Cafe.

Would it be something to do with the number of bubbles in the water? Hard to describe in words, but somehow the hot water sounds a bit more lively. Anyone out there with any thoughts on this?

Larnach Rd bus stop

The saga of the end of the No19 bus loop on Larnach Rd continues. I had a phone call from a '''former' bus user in Waverley'', who specifically wanted me to ask Otago Regional Council support services manager Gerard Collings: ''Why is that location on Larnach Rd the end of the loop?''.

She also wanted to pass on that ''other people have given up using the bus because of the [hour-long off-peak] wait''.

Mr Collings replied promptly: ''The reason why that stop was chosen is it is the first uphill stop on that leg. The other possible location is the last downhill stop, and while this would also achieve the desired outcome, the sight visibility at that location is less desirable.''

He said having a half-hourly, rather than hourly, off-peak service would be considered in the next funding round. That sounds like good news.

Have you done your homework?

Concerns about homework for primary school pupils do not appear to be widespread, if the reaction so far is anything to go by.

Elliott Carroll emailed that he was somewhat troubled at the comments of a mother, Kelly, who thinks homework should be done away with for those of primary-school age.

He believes that, by allowing her 5-year-old not to do the homework, her child may grow up thinking it is OK to ''defy reasonable authority''.

''The challenge I would put to Kelly is to go down to the school and debate her case with the classroom teacher - it might just surprise her how amenable to parental input teachers can be.''

Are there any other views out there? You're awfully quiet. Do you know, I don't think you are doing your homework ...