Newspaper subscriptions in red-brick blocks of flats; the joys and sorrows.

I live at the top of a 3 story block of flats, and took up a weekend SMH subscription on special. I sometimes found that it was missing when I went down to get it, but would reappear later in the day neatly placed on the table just inside the building door. Which was kind of considerate, but kind of annoying to have made the trip down 6 flights of stairs for nothing. I wrote a note one Friday asking politely if people would please not 'borrow' my newspapers, and happily the borrowing stopped and there is now another weekend newspaper being delivered to the building.

However, now I always have to open my own newspapers—they have that pink glad-wrap around them and you can't find the end and then you can't unpeel it cleanly because it is stretchy and shredded. It was almost worth the inconvenience of having the newspaper borrowed just to have someone else unwrap it for me.

A bitter-sweet victory.