• Promoted as being creamy and nutritious, a snack comes complete with sweets that may be added to it, thus foiling and cancelling the latter claim. It may, of course, be argued that clients may opt not to add the candies to the main product but that is not the case at all.

Meander

• There had been an all-pervading smell of drainage in the general area of the football club all the way to the sub-post office in Valley Road, Birkirkara, for quite a long time. This was prior to the downpour over the past days, so one should not blame the “recent rains”.

Milked

• The latest report on the allocation of posts and recruitment of staff at the University leaves a lot to be desired in terms of transparency and accountability. Although the process may be fair and just, it is not seen to be so. Even secondary school students have the option to ask to see their examination papers when they think they have been short-changed in marks. After all, “suitability” is a relative criterion.

Methods

• Contamination with head lice has become a serious issue in certain schools and even at the University. Unfortunately, pediculicides or prescription medication are being touted as if there were no tomorrow, without the rider that excessive use may be worse than the original problem. Moreover, the use of certain hair products may cause reactions, especially when the skin has been scratched raw. Insecticides and pesticides must never be used.

Markets

• A caller asked to speak to “the young lady of the household” as part of a telephone survey. When asked how he knew there was such a person in the family unit, the caller replied that he did not know and that he had just been given a list of numbers to call. This is not ethical and the request was therefore denied.

More

• On Monday, November 12, several street lights were left on in Valletta throughout the morning. This column has often suggested a daily check of switchboards, if they exist, or some other kind of physical checks to ascertain that nothing is wrong with the timers.

Miserly

• Lotto receivers always seek out new ways to drum up business. One of those at Żabbar, however, did this in a contemptible manner. She actually wrote out the numbers associated with specific accidents, and mentioned the names connected with them, in order to encourage people to gamble on them.

Money

• Go sent customers an SMS telling them they would be eligible for a lottery should they pay €1.20 to enter. Anyone who failed to respond was sent an additional message later about how Go “could not believe” they had not chosen to participate. However, replying would have set off a relay of questions, each at a further cost. This is nothing but a scam.

Mentions

• Why is it that radio and TV personalities insist on spelling Maltese in English? These days, it is not only numbers that are said in English but also letters of words that are spelled out. It seems that many do not realise that the digit for “nothing” is a zero and not the letter “O”.

Merry

• Story-telling sessions are in full flow at the Central Public Library in Floriana on Friday afternoons. This is a wonderful way to get children engrossed in books that do not simply appear on a monitor but ones that come alive through readings and associated activities.

Moving

• The power of the waves smashing against the shore is a wonderful thing to see. However, it could also be potentially fatal. Perhaps it is time to put up notices at popular beaches about this sort of activity to the effect that anyone failing to observe safety precautions would be liable to a hefty fine. This would, perhaps, save lives.

Measurements

• This column has long been insisting that billboards are dangerous not only because they distract motorists but also because they have been known to topple over, albeit rarely. The recent collapse of a traffic lights pole is a related occurrence. How often are bases of poles, including those at bus stops, checked for metal fatigue?

Mentality

• We are told that 34.8 per cent of drivers booked for contraventions contested the fine imposed and 9.4 per cent were successful. This could mean that some fines are meted out in a slapdash manner. Moreover, there is consensus that some people prefer to pay a fine, even when they know it is not deserved, rather than taking a day off to contest it. Surely, something, somewhere, is wrong in this system.

Moments

• Much has been said about changing the hours of work in the public service, so that working hours are the same throughout the year rather than there being the so-called “half days” in summer and “full days” in winter. Is it possible that no one has thought of running a referendum-type of questionnaire for the employees of the public service themselves rather than the bureaucrats and the opinion-makers and the public?

Mastery

• Well done to Matthew Farrugia, who has achieved first pacing in the Wreck: Underwater Photography category of the International Underwater Photography Grand Prix, World ShootOut with The Mystical Rożi. Mr Farrugia triumphed over 275 other photographers from 22 countries.

Misleading

• Despite the fact that the public is being educated about disability issues, there are some grey areas where nothing is done about diversity issues, probably because of the fear that one would be accused of political incorrectness. This in­cludes asking people not to stare at those with physical disabilities and pointing out that a building, even if it has a ramp, is not accessible to people with motor difficulties. Something must be done about this, too.