On the dot

It is good to note that the Air Malta website satisfies all the 14 criteria laid down by the European Commission with regard to information and protection given to potential and actual clients and there being no subliminal advertising. It is amazing to note that although this report took 18 months to compile, no one deigned comment that there is no button to click for a Maltese version. The fact that most of us are bi-lingual is neither here nor there.

Addresses

A private investment scheme agency called a household and asked to speak to someone specific. When this person asked from where the phone number had been procured, the reply was "the telephone directory". When it was pointed out that this could not be the case, the caller said: "I meant the electoral register." When even this was indicated as impossible, the caller said: "I guess you are not interested, then!" and cut off. Worrying, indeed!

Waiting

Despite several complaints through this column and by the public, charges are still being levied for the use of tiny, cramped nooks masquerading as waiting rooms in pharmacies and clinics. This is totally unfair considering that not even free water is made available to patrons. Ought we to be thankful that they actually allow us to use the restrooms without further charges?

Equine-amity!

It is still a common practice to take horses for so-called "training" by having someone on the passenger seat of a car hold the bridle while the driver goes around the same few streets, again and again. Housing estates, of course, are excellent for this. However, the clopping of hooves and whine of engines, at 5 a.m., evsvery day, tend to annoy residents.

Electricity

On May 19, the festoons of lights strung across Our Lady of Sorrows Street and adjacent streets, in Pietà, were on throughout the morning. Since it was a very hot, sunny day, they were certainly not needed. What a waste!

Palms

Why is it that palms stricken by the weevil have not been removed? By now, the residents and establishments on whose grounds they stand surely know that covering the trunks with plastic after the fronds are shorn off will not cure the malignancy. One of these palms stands at the entrance to the old PBS buildings, where works are under way. Would it not be better to remove it, lest the constant vibrations cause it to collapse and help any pests still extant to move into new plants?

Strip(p)ed

The white stripes of the zebra crossing in the Rabat main road, just before the left turning to the Seminary, have all but disappeared. Drivers who do not know of its theoretical existence are likely to speed by, despite the fact that pedestrians would already have begun crossing it. To add insult to injury, sometimes the former insult the latter for not watching where they are going.

Flowered

The oleander bushes at the corner of Canon Road, just before the street branches towards Qormi and Ħamrun, are so overgrown that their branches touch the road. This means that drivers coming downhill take the turn widely to avoid crashing into them. Drivers coming uphill may not realise this immediately and this corner has been the scene of many near and real accidents.

Coined

Customers at the major banks are sometimes asked by staff whether they have ATM or online banking facilities. These alternatives are pointed out as being better than queuing. The same may be said for the frequent telephone calls to private residences, wherein it is suggested that clients make an appointment at their branch to review their options for different investments and savings methods. Sometimes, this borders on an invasion of privacy.

Rubbish!

How does one unlock the seized mechanism of a garbage truck? Seeing that the job must be done, and the skips emptied, before nightfall, and the mechanic might not be available anyway, another solution must be found. This consists of backing the truck into a retaining wall, several times, until the distinctive clunk says that all is in order.

Pavements

What, exactly, is the legislation obtaining with regard to the stretch of pavement in front of one's home? Some people appear to think it is an extension of the house and put potted plants or troughs for bushes or even alter the surface level to make it easier for cars to negotiate. This means that everyone else has to bear the consequences.

Sheltered

There remain selfish members of the public who have given themselves squatters' rights over public buildings, such as the wartime shelters around the coast of the Valletta peninsula. These are being used as kennels for dogs that lead very restricted lives. Anyone who boasts that dogs are "a part of the family" would surely not leave them alone in a dank, dark environment, especially during bad weather and very hot days.

Voracious

For Mother's Day, the Gozitan wardens worked up quite an appetite for... fines. During lunchtime, it would seem they swooped on Marsalforn in a flurry of enthusiasm directed, as it appeared, only towards cars bearing a Maltese registration. Is this the way to treat guests boosting the Gozitan economy?

Charged

The girl who collected over 6,000 batteries in her environment-protecting initiative ought to make all of us think. Why does the government not declare all sales of rechargeable battery chargers VAT-free? That would boost sales and, thus, all those thousands who throw normal-type used batteries into the waste stream would be encouraged to change to such rechargeable batteries use.