On the dot...

People going up or down a flight of steps are not normally in the habit of looking downward. The broken step, mid-flight to the outpatients' pharmacy at St Luke's Hospital has a broken edge and, as a result, many people trip up, only just managing to keep their balance because the treads are relatively shallow.

Out of steam

Places that used to collect used batteries, in the Attard area, are no longer doing so. They cite the fact that when they asked for new bins to replace the full ones handed in, they were not given any. If they accept spent batteries from customers they end up throwing them out with the rest of the garbage; this makes no sense at all.

Flight of fancy

Two British expatriates now residing in Malta were touched at the excellent service recently accorded them at the Malta International Airport after a brief holiday in their country of birth. They felt, they said, as if they had suddenly been accorded VIP status.

Block votes

There is a new twist to the timeshare tout hazard. A car blocks your path and one of the passengers accosts you while the driver stays behind the wheel to whisk you away to the place where you will be cajoled into signing on the bottom line. Some foreign-looking members of the police force or personnel from the criminal investigation department really ought to play the bait at Bugibba.

Christmas bleating

The motto better late than never really doesn't hold where Christmas greetings are involved. A card posted in Australia on December 6 of last year arrived at its local destination on February 24, nearly three months late. It had the addressee's name, address and postcode clearly written in block letters on the envelope. There was no visible local postmark, anywhere.

Club culture

Kikkra Kulturali, the initiative of Grace Pace of Zabbar civil council, was set up over five years ago with a view to imbuing the public with a love of culture and literature as well as serving as a platform for those who wanted to share their literary works with an audience. This project, way beyond the usual chart over a cup of coffee, as indicated by its name, is well worth emulating in those communities where fund-raising activities appear to consist solely of tombola-spiced coffee mornings.

Mapped out

The initiative of the Labour Party to reintroduce the Cottonera as a tourist area must be lauded. However, one would have thought that the map printed to promote this idea would also be in Maltese, albeit in a much smaller print run than the English one.

Loyal charter

In Triq Dun Karm Psaila, adjacent to the Birkirkara by-pass, is an unbuilt plot. Access to it is barred by one sole stand of rusty wire, rendered invisible in the dark, from which hangs a part of a green jerry can. This means that entry is unrestricted to anyone without having to be armed with a wire-cutter.

Cutting corners

In St Luke's Road, Guardamangia, at the corner adjacent to Il-Kantuniera, is a building site that will, one hopes, soon be able to take occupants. Meanwhile, the stretch of pavement immediately in front of it appears to be under construction, awaiting the completion of what could be a basement. It is covered by a flimsy sheet of ply-board, simply placed there and not held down, that does not seem able to take much weight.

Switching roles

People who leave electrical appliances such as washing machines, cookers and stereos on when there is nobody in the house have only themselves to blame if they short-circuit. Leaving computers on to download data is similarly open to discussion. However, refrigerators and freezers cannot possibly be switched on and off each time one leaves the house. So whose fault is it, if there is an unannounced power cut that damages this type of equipment, since there would be no one to cut off supply just in case there is a power surge?

For granted

Certain communities still insist on organising activities where one pays to be able to go to work, or to school, in casual clothes. This is all well and good but organising an activity such as the equivalent of a garage sale would no doubt generate more income if the public were to be involved and it would also indicate more involvement, besides being kinder to the environment because of the recycling of objects involved.