Pen mightier than the sword: Word in the Streets

You have probably heard the expression, "The pen's mightier than the sword!"

Would you believe, I wrote the piece for the July 25 edition of the News, Brial Road was patched the very next day, July 26.

I still urge people to have a look at Brial Road and come up with one in worse condition.

READ MORE: Worthwhile endeavours: Word in the Streets

With such prompt action, I gained an inflated opinion of the power of my words, but have subsequently discovered it was about to be patched anyway.

I have gone from this inflated opinion of my writing ability to accepting coincidence can quickly render one to normality.

If you travel on a poor road or endure problems with services, council does have complaint forms, phones, e-mail, don't ponder on them, let council know.

WITS

A report in last week's News queried the value of Council 355 committees.

According to Councillor Flanery their value needs to be assessed, and Councillor Wallace requested a report on 355 committees, querying their usefulness and suggesting they should be disbanded.

These committees provide community members with the opportunity to be part of the decision making, to have input into community activities and developments.

Boorowa has at least three of these committees operating to Council requirements.

READ MORE: We must save the rain: Word in the Streets

I am closest to the Australia Day Committee then there is the Community Garden Committee and, I think, the Showground Committee.

If Councillors Flanery and Wallace have their say, repercussions in Boorowa would be huge.

Councillors should be supporting these 355 Committees, praising their good work and if any committee is not coming up to expectations provide encouragement and help ... not cull them.

WITS

I was sitting in a bus behind a mother and her son.

Her boy kept looking around and pulling funny faces at me.

After a few minutes I got tired of his antics, so I said, "When I was young, my mother told me that if I made an ugly face and the wind changed, I'd stay that way."

The cheeky little blighter replied, "Well you can't say you weren't warned."

WITS

Some 25 or 30 years ago at a time when workers and their unions were pushing for higher and higher wages, I made the statement everything in Australia should drop 25 per cent (wages, goods, services across the board) or we will price ourselves out of existence.

Here today we see more and more companies taking their operations off shore.

The Huggies Nappy Company closed its doors last week putting 220 people out of work.

Car manufacturing - gone.

Most of our call centres operate off shore.

Some of our iconic brands - gone.

I'm probably the world's worst economist, though somehow I did pass Leaving Certificate Economics.

The way companies are moving their operations off shore has to be a worry.

My words of twenty five or so years ago now seem quite prophetic.

I don't know what can be done to stop this trend, but if we lost all our manufacturing industries, the outlook would be bleak.

WITS

Paddy asks, "Mick, how did you get on at the faith healer meeting last night?"

Mick replies, "He was absolute rubbish. Even the fella in the wheelchair got up and walked out!" You've got to have faith."