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There’s been a rare Zam-Buk (C8) spotting in Sydney's north-west. Linda Meintjes of Glenhaven reports: “The much lauded ointment is available at the shop 'Biltong and Boerewors' in Rouse Hill, either in-store or online.” This is getting balmy.

James Laukka of Epping says: "Judy Howarth’s (C8) recollection of hand-turning signals invokes childhood memories of the trucks we drove when living on our farm in Narromine in the 1950s and '60s. Because the human equivalent wasn’t long enough, trucks had a steel arm attached to the driver’s side door with a metal hand attached to the end. When executing a right hand turn (with window open), you simply pulled down the handle and the arm extended out. Furthermore, there was a special lever at the end the steel arm and when pulled, said metal hand would move from the horizontal to the vertical, indicating the driver’s intention to stop. A very tactile and hands-on driving experience.”

Jonty Grinter of Katoomba has much simpler technique: "In Malta in the '60s, if a driver wanted to turn left they were required to stick their hand out of the window and point left across the top of the roof."

Judy also triggered a few reminiscences regarding an Australian motoring icon. John Dawson of Wattle Grove recalls: "My stolen FJ Holden had bare contacts behind the ignition switch. After its recovery, I continued to use the tiny ball of aluminium foil (from a cigarette packet) used by the joyrider to start it. Why risk locking yourself out, when you can put your keys back in your pocket instead of leaving them in the ignition?"

They have a point this side of the border, according to Harold Ball of Blackheath: “All that donated hay from Victoria is being sent back, because a farmer in New South Wales found a needle in a haystack.”

Moving on to our family centenarians (C8). Peter C. Reid of Woollahra writes: “My maternal grandmother died peacefully in her sleep at 101 at Randwick and her daughter is already out-lasting her at 103 in Potts Point. It is most unlikely, however, that I shall be following either in the Centenary Stakes.” John Hinde of Millers Point adds: “Wonderful to hear of so many mother-daughter combinations living double centuries. What an effort then by Methuselah, who is said to have lived to 969. Methinks a little exaggeration. Perhaps someone shifted the decimal point.”

Column8@smh.com.au