A colleague was walking the streets of Cooks Hill when he came across a "private property" sign at the back of Newcastle Fire Station.
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"Since when is government land private property?" he said, in a text message.
Another colleague in the message group quipped: "Light a fire under that one and write a sizzling article".
Topics loves a good dad joke, so that one gave us a chuckle.
Anyhow, where there's smoke there's fire, so maybe there's something to this. Has the NSW government privatised the fire service without telling us?
If this is true, the government is playing with fire.
Radioactive Joke
Speaking of the fire service, did you catch the story in the Herald last week about HAZMAT crews being called in to help deal with a "radioactive device from a burnt out vehicle found at Merewether Golf Course".
Matty Smith quipped on the Herald's Facebook page: "Hopefully Fire and Rescue NSW can turn this potential Chernobyl into a mere Three Mile Island".
It should be noted that there was "no ongoing threat to the public" from the radioactive device or Matty's joke.
Smell You Later
What is the best way to sign off on a work email? This question popped up from a Melbourne academic on Twitter.
"How do folks sign off a work email to uni colleagues these days? I've tended to use 'best wishes', but I've heard this isn't well-received nowadays. Any suggestions?"
Replies to the tweet involved people questioning who could possibly find the phrase "best wishes" offensive or problematic.
"I've heard it can be interpreted as sarcastic or lazy!" the professor replied.
One reply said: "Well it's probably lazy... but who has time to craft an original haiku for each of the 18 emails we send every day. It could be a full-time job!"
Another tweet said: "Absolutely hate 'best' or 'best wishes' - it's passive aggressive and I was bullied badly by someone who did it all the time."
Another person tweeted: "Anyone getting offended by best wishes, or any other email sign off, probably needs to have a day off for themselves. Anyway, I like when colleagues use the Irish 'le meas' meaning 'with respect'."
Other suggestions for email sign-offs were "speak soon", "all the best" and the old favourite "kind regards".
We usually go with "cheers", which is very British but not as much as "cheerio".
Perhaps "toodles" or "toodeloo" would work, but they are a bit posh.
Novocastrians, of course, love to say "ooroo", but would that suit a work email?
We could always go continental and use "adios", "au revoir", "arrivederci" or "auf wiedersehen".
"See you later alligator" or "smell you later" are probably a bit unprofessional, but they would add a touch of comedy to the seriousness of the workplace.
Sadly, "take it easy" and "peace" would probably be perceived as "a bit too hippy".
The phrase "see you in hell" would, of course, only work for arch enemies.
"Aloha" is pretty cool, but we'd probably be accused of cultural misappropriation.
Mind you, we did return from South Africa one time with a three-move handshake in our locker.
Guess we'll be sticking with "cheers". And, for the record, "best wishes" is fine by us.
