Shaggy Dog Comments...

Why is it that teachers join their students in having two weeks school holidays, then have Monday off as a 'pupil free day'? What were the other days?

While The Echo has had some appalling typos from time to time, we found the following email, currently doing the rounds, offered some hope:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe and the biran fguiers it out aynawy.

At Tuesday's Lismore Council meeting, Cr Frank Swientek had a Kath & Kim moment while debating the merits of permanent water restrictions, declaring that residents shouldn't have to put up with "snoopervision" from neighbours. Interestingly, for a bloke who was proposing residents store water in their recycling bin during the drought, Cr Swientek declared that 'demand management' had a limited impact on water consumption, arguing that people should be able to use as much as they like, so long as they pay for it.

Cr Swientek was also concerned about Council's financial support for Rex Airlines, and tried a spot of soothsaying over the troubled state of the airline industry. Cr Ros Irwin couldn't resist reminding Frank of his previous Doomsday warnings over Rous Water's Perradenya estate at Caniaba. After a sluggish start, the first two stages are now sold and real estate agent Paul Deegan predicts that the next 19 lots in stage 3 will be sold out 'within a month' of coming on the market. Perhaps the Cr Frank 'kiss of death' is just the boost Rex needs.

Speaking of the Council meeting, a big thanks to the Tullera Hall committee, who put on a lovely spread for the supper break during Tuesday's gathering at the country hall. We journos reckon the scones and jam deserved a prize medal.

While we recall seeing Californian cherries in the supermarket for $10 a kilo during winter (!), a Sydney greengrocer paid a record $41,000 for a box of the season's first cherries at Flemington market. The fruit came from Stanthorpe, just across the border in Queensland. The money went to the children's charity Variety. Australian cherries should be available by the end of the month for considerably less.

Shaggy's gone to Tassie droving, and we don't know where he is (with apologies to Banjo). He'll return in a fortnight.

There's an old saying 'Beware the $3 bill', but it seems a checkout chick in North Carolina isn't aware there's no such thing as a $200 bill. US Police are seeking the chap who used the fake note to buy $150 worth of groceries – scoring $50 change in the process. One side featured a picture of president George W Bush and was 'signed' by Ronald Reagan as 'Political Mentor'. The reverse side had a picture of the White House with the front lawn covered in signs saying 'We like broccoli', 'No more schools' and 'We like ice cream'.

Perhaps the Prime Minister could use a couple of these notes to pay the $2 million cost to taxpayers of recalling Parliament to hear Dubya speak when he visits next week. Just for turning up, the pollies will score around $150 each in travel and meal entitlements, on top of their usual pay. Dude – where's my country?