• Students at Mcast – Paola and Mosta – sometimes find that their lecture has been cancelled. Seeing that many of them have to catch two buses to get to school, entailing at least an hour’s travel, could there not be an e-mail or mobile phone message system to inform them that they should turn up in time for their subsequent lectures only?

Arid

• On October 12, bus number 15 did not turn up at the Pietà bus stop for at least 20 minutes. The X4 bus to Ħal Far was filthy and the air-conditioner leaked water. Was there not a statement that buses would be cleaned each morning, before the first trip of the day, when the service was inaugurated?

Additional

• On bendy buses there is often a smell of kerosene and the floor inside the rubber joints is often slippery. Could it be that some kind of fuel is being used for lubrication?

Assortment

• Could the competent authority kindly and dutifully inform the public when and how they are to properly and safely dispose of any expired medicinal products? As it is, people tend to flush them down toilets or put them out with the rubbish; this eventually polluting the aquifer and the environment.

Address

• Wileġ bus stop in Buġibba is probably the most used one of all in the area by people wishing to travel to Valletta or catch another bus at intersections. However, it is open to the elements and the people waiting in long queues end up soaking wet from sweat or rain before they even begin their day.

Appointments

• Cryptic e-mails designed to get recipients to click on the scam-mail links are always popping up. The latest spate of them indicates that documents (Warehouse, EPLI policy, Package and Umbrella, Schedules) cannot be accessed. Hints of lucrative business deals further pique people’s curiosity.

Access

• On various days but mostly in winter, Gozo Channel boats moor at the south quay, by the hotel at Ċirkewwa. A subway between the terminal and the south quay for pedestrian passengers has become a necessity. People would be protected from the weather and avoid crossing the heavily used roads.

Attacks

• Exhaust from a number of extractor fans and hot air from air-conditioning units are directed towards passers-by on the Qawra promen-ade in front of Dolmen Hotel, near Amazonia. These fans should either be removed and placed elsewhere or, at least, directed towards the sea rather than on pedestrians who enjoy their walks on the promen-ade. It is not fair that people have to cross the road to avoid the outflow of hot air and water droplets.

Accumulation

• Each time there is heavy rain, rubble walls that are not as sturdily built as they could be collapse. Sometimes they are fixed immediately, but sometimes more damage is allowed to accumulate before anything is done about it. This is a blot on the heritage but also a danger to pedestrians and traffic.

Appreciation

• Ostensibly free gifts sometimes have long strings attached. So far, the following scam has not made it to Malta but one may as well be prepared. Flowers and wine are delivered, for no reason at all. The inclusion of alcohol in the gift is said to warrant a credit card receipt for a negligible amount as proof of delivery and consignment note. This is processed on a mobile card-swipe machine with a tiny screen and keypad for the card’s PIN. Cash payments are not allowed. The accounts attached to the cards are subsequently, and swiftly, milked.

Action

• At least two more houses in Paceville have been broken into and ransacked. More CCTV cameras are needed in order to protect residential areas. Beat policemen and wardens would do well to devote some time to other things besides traffic management and patrolling the entertainment-related areas.

Attention

• On many mornings the street lights from Attard to Rabat are left on. This does not happen only when there is a power failure. The reason, therefore, must be something other than timers going awry.

Absurd

• A placard outside a garage and vulcaniser outlet advertises “free punctures when you buy a set of tyres”. Is it possible that not one of the clients has pointed out that they would not want to avail themselves of the special offer?

Aide

• This column had pointed out that the women’s toilet on the stairway at the Portes des Bombes public transport junction was damaged. Now, the problem has taken a turn for the worse. The public conven-ience is being kept closed, to the chagrin of those who need to use it before a long bus journey.

Alternatives

• Is it possible that appointments for hearing assessment tests have to be made after a wait of several months? Is it that most of the population of Malta is scheduled to do them and there is therefore a long waiting list, or is it just that there is no qualified personnel to undertake them? One would think that if the condition is progressive, the patient’s hearing loss is going to get much worse before the test is done.

Annoying

• The ban on smoking in enclosed spaces has had many weird results. Workers are often seen chatting at the doors of offices with a mug of coffee and a cigarette in their hand; presumably non-smokers drink their beverages at their desks. Some smokers have the annoying habit of standing at the doors of restaurants, such that diners are treated to a taste of their filthy habit anyway.

Animals

• Each time the animal circus comes to town, petitions are signed and public protests held to raise awareness about this particular barbaric form of entertainment. It is worth noting that the people who contract these outfits never think of asking artistic troupes that rely on their own talents, such as Cirque du Soleil, to come over – perhaps because the outlay would be far greater and the profits much less.