World Of Work: International News Briefs

A FAIR EXCHANGE A lifetime supply of beer is being offered in New Zealand for the return of a stolen laptop. The laptop, containing designs, creative work, contact details and financial information, was stolen from Rotorua’s Croucher Brewing Company this week. The “lifetime supply” would equal about a carton of 12 of their boutique beers each month. SOURCE: SUNDAY TELEGRAPH EMPLOYEES STAND ‘IN’ THEIR PRODUCT The Audrey Underwear company in Taizhong city named November 21 Camisole Day to celebrate record sales. All 500 women working in the firm’s headquarters were encouraged to wear only camisoles and knickers – much to the excitement of their male colleagues. “We have been waiting for this day all month. Today, we are super high, and don’t know where to put our eyes,” salesman Cai Mingda told Straits News. More than 90% of female workers reportedly went along with the spirit of the day and worked in their underwear. Zhang Yufeng, 32, a mother of two, admitted: “I have been on a strict diet to get ready for the day. When I was trying on my outfit at home, my husband told me I should dress like this every day. ”And Liao Wenshen, 30, added: “The men were red-faced all day, and were becoming so polite to us. It’s so funny!” Huang Bihui, PR manager of the company, explained: “We introduced eight new camisoles into market and sold more than 20,000 in less than two months so we named the 21st as Camisole Day.” Employment lawyers said there was nothing illegal in the move so long as it was voluntary but it had its critics. Wu Juanyu complained: “Some women may feel forced to join in because of peer pressure and job competition. I don’t know if the company is selling underwear or women’s bodies.” SOURCE: REUTERS IT’S A FATWORLD, AFTERALL Disneyland will close the popular It’s A Small World attraction for renovations next year, in part to deal with the problem of bottoming-out boats from overweight patrons. Disneyland denies that the plans to close the 41-year-old water ride in January for a facelift has to do with the growing waist-lines of its patrons. Heavy loads have been causing the boats to stall in two different spots, said Al Lutz, a long-time Disney watcher, whose website MiceAge.com first reported the refurbishment plans. Lutz said he’d been on the ride when several guests were asked to get off to lighten the load. “They’ve even built a platform (there) ... because they’ve had so many problems,” he said. But Disneyland, which will deepen the water by 2.5cm and build lighter boats, said overweight tourists are not to blame. The boats get stuck because “layers and layers” of fibreglass have built up, where maintenance teams have re-patched problem areas, a spokesman said. Disneyland has recently redesigned costumes in larger sizes to accommodate patrons’ wider waistlines. SOURCE: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL FRIED OR SCRAMBLED? They claim the 4ft 10ins robot, which has soft hands and fingers, can become even more like its human inventors. The Japanese humanoid – called Twendy-One – has enough strength to support humans as they sit up and stand, and can make supple movements that respond to human touch. It can pick up a loaf of bread without crushing it, serve toast, help lift people out of bed and even lend a hand with the housework. Twendy-One is designed to help around the house in a country with an ageing population. Scientists aim to have the robot on sale by 2015. SOURCE: REUTERS SCISSORHANDS Wang Zedong, 41, of Jiujiang city, Jiangxi province, demonstrated his stunt in a television studio with hundreds of people, and Guinness officials, in the audience. In less than three minutes, Wang cut the model’s hair, reports Zhejiang Online. Wang says he started practising this stunt to try to cope with the number of customers coming to his barber’s shop. “At first, many customers had to wait more than an hour in my shop, so I had to find a way of cutting hair more efficiently,” he said. Instead of recruiting more staff, Wang trained himself to cut hair with more than one pair of scissors. He says he can actually now cut hair with as many as 18 pairs of scissors simultaneously, and with his eyes covered. SOURCE: ANNANOVA BEST JOB IN THE WORLD? A worker with a large British Grocery Chain says she has the best job in the world — as the store’s chief lager taster. Helen Moores has tasted more than 1,000 lagers since she started the job two years ago. Helen has visited more than 30 countries researching her role. “I certainly do enjoy my work — even though I sometimes have to start tasting lagers at 9:30 in the morning. The secret with the early morning tastings is to make sure you haven’t had too much the night before. “Wine tasters swill the liquid round their mouths and then spit it out. But with beer you only get the full flavour if you take a good swig and swallow it. Sometimes I sample more than 20 beers in a session — so I have to watch it.” Helen admitted her boyfriend is very jealous of her job. SOURCE: ANNANOVA BUS SERVICE IN THE KNICKER TIME A Knicker-starved Kiwi town is getting a special bus service — so female residents can finally buy new underwear. The small township of Inglewood in Taranaki, on New Zealand’s North Island, made headlines last October when a local clothing shop stopped selling women’s underwear — leaving the town knicker-less. But Taranaki Regional Council operations director Rob Phillips said a weekly “knicker-run” bus service from Inglewood to New Plymouth would hit the road shortly. The council and Land Transport New Zealand are subsidizing the trips for a 12-month trial to ensure people were really serious about buying new knickers. The service answers the prayers of the Reverend Gary Husband, dubbed the “Knicker-Vicar of Inglewood.” He decided to tackle the underwear problem last year when it was brought to his attention by female parishioners. He set up a monthly “knicker run” using volunteer vans and cars, but said at the time hehoped for a subsidized bus service. SOURCE: THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

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