THE GOOD ENOUGH Parent PRIORITIES

with EMILY THOMPSON

After experiencing something truly traumatic this week I’ve had to reassess my priorities.

You see, the electrical wiring in my car needs replacing, but there is none in Australia to replace it with, so I was left to choose between airbags, air conditioner and my beloved car horn.

I don’t know if you’ve ever driven down Peisley Street at 8.50am, but doing this without the ability to honk at other drivers has left me seriously considering whether or not I actually need airbags. The good news is that in 2-3 weeks I won’t need an aircon, being autumn in Orange. Still, I chose safety.

Spurred by my very adult-centric life improvement, I decide to embark on more self-development. Unfortunately, I make the mistake of asking Miss Eight and Miss 14 how they think I can do better in life. Like all parents of teens and tweens I’ve realised the best time to talk to them is when I’m holding them captive. I.e. in the car during the morning school run.

“Stop speeding up at orange lights mum. At school they taught us that orange means ‘slow down and prepare to stop’. But you hit the accelerator like a race car driver,” Miss Eight says, as I speed up ever so slightly to make it through the Sale/Summer Street intersection on our time-honoured Tuesday morning “there’s no bread and the canteen’s closed so let’s grab cheese and bacon rolls from the Summer Centre bakery on the way to school’ run. I mean yes, but we DO have airbags…

“I have a list,” Miss 14 says from the passenger seat next to me as she opens “notes” on her phone. There actually is a list! I pause briefly to admire her organisation.

“First, stop telling me you have an important reason for driving me to school instead of letting me walk with my friends, when that reason is simply that you want me to run in and grab you a mocha from Bill’s Beans,” Miss 14 reads.

I sip the co ee that the lovely Carter handed her six minutes ago and avoid eye contact as she continues. “You’ve been talking about buying a new car for six months, but the only two cars you have looked at were a hotdog van and a prison transport vehicle that you said was ‘perfect’ for doing the school run. Be sensible for once!”

I ignore this, knowing she only wants me to get a new car so she gets my old one when she starts driving. I still kinda want the prison one. I mean, imagine road trips with children separated into individual cells!

“Lastly,” she interrupts, “You’ve been really busy with work lately. I don’t remember the last time I saw you play computer games, read a book or go out with your friends. You need to chill out too, Mum.”

This hits home for me. I’ve always made sure the girls see me enjoying myself, as I never want them to think that being a wife and mother means losing yourself. But I realise that for the last few weeks, I have in fact lost myself and prioritised work and my family’s needs over my own.

“Also, stop singing in the car!” pipes up Miss Eight, keen to jump in on the critiquing.

I turn up Kate Bush and sing along at the top of my lungs all the way to school. After drop-o , I arrange for Hubby to work from home tomorrow and plan to take the afternoon o to read. Perfect.

CBC BANK EMPLOYEES 60-YEAR REUNION

Photos by EDITHMAY GOWING what it is).

Twelve of the former employees of the Orange Branch of the Commercial Banking Company (CBC) enjoyed a social get together at Duntryleague on Saturday, March 4.

Each held a variety of roles within the branch in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The day was about continuing their social activities from when they worked together. Some of the ladies had travelled from as far as Dubbo, Sydney and Port Macquarie to enjoy the time with their former workmates.

As they watch, an elderly lady walks into the strange silver doors and the doors close. The father and son watch as the numbers go up, and then back down. When the doors open, a beautiful young woman walks out. The father leans over and whispers to the son, “Son, go get your mother!”

Which idiot?

A proud and confident genius makes a bet with an idiot. The genius says, “Hey idiot, every question I ask you that you don’t know the answer, you have to give me $5. And if you ask me a question and I can’t answer yours will give you $5,000.” The idiot says, “Okay.” The genius then asks,

“How many continents are there in the world?” The idiot doesn’t know and hands over the $5. The idiot says, “Now it’s my turn to ask: what animal stands with two legs but sleeps with three?” The genius tries and searches very hard for the answer but gives up and hands over the $5000. The genius says, “Dang it, lost. By the way, what was the answer to your question?” The idiot hands over $5.

New broom

A company in need of a shakeup, hires a new hard-nosed CEO to get the place back into ship-shape fashion. The new boss is determined to rid the company of all deadwood and no-hopers. On his first tour of the facilities, he notices a young man leaning on a wall wearing casual clothes, chewing gum, and texting with his mobile phone. The “new broom” sees his chance, to show everyone that he means business!

He walks up to the nonchalant-looking teenager, and asks: “And how much money, do you make in a month, young man?”

Undaunted, the young man looks at him and smiles, replying: “Ohh, I make about $2000, give or take...Why?”

The new CEO then very deliberately gets his chequebook out of his pocket, writes a personal cheque for $2000, and hands it to the lad who gives him a quizzical look. The new chief then says loudly and with feeling: “Well, here’s a month’s pay, you can cash it at any bank, now get out of here now, and don’t come back!” The young man leaves with the cheque, shaking his head.

Feeling pretty good about how his first firing went, the CEO looks around the room at the staff and says: “He’s no great loss, didn’t look like he ever did a day’s work here!”

With a sheepish grin, one of the workers smiles and answers: “You’re

& Planetarium

√ 24 hour rescue helicopter service for Orange and region

√ $14 million for highway upgrades between Lithgow and Orange

√ Bat/hail netting funding for local orchardists

√ $1.2 million for CCTV in Orange, Bathurst and Wellington

√ 47 mobile phone towers and base stations across Calare

ORANGE RUNNING FESTIVAL A RUN AWAY SUCCESS!

The Orange Running Festival was held on the weekend, featuring distances from 1 mile to a full marathon. Despite the stormy weather, the event drew a massive crowd!

I’m here to tell you, I’m not a runner but I did compete in the Community Mile and had a great time! The previous federal government supported the event with a $35,000 grant.

A big thank you to Anthony Daintith and all the Festival organisers, volunteers and sponsors for delivering such an outstanding event! I’ll definitely be back next year!

PS - A shout out to Parrot Distilling Co for assisting with my post

Yellow Brick Road

Congratulations Harrison Bird and the team at Yellow Brick Road, Orange!

Last Friday, principal mortgage broker Harrison cut the yellow ribbon on his new franchise - the newest Yellow Brick Road branch in Australia!

It’s always good to see storefronts filled, and meet folks who are passionate about what they do.

It was also great to welcome Founder of Yellow Brick Road, Mark Bouris, to town.

Wishing the new team all the best!

Flood Mitigation Urgently Needed

As the recovery from the recent storms and floods continues, people across the region are asking “How do we stop this happening again?”

Molong has had three major flooding events in the past 12 months. It can’t go on like this.

The toll on residents’ health and finances is simply too high.

One thing that the NSW Government can do is get the Molong Creek rail bridge raised or moved. This may not prevent future flooding but it would certainly greatly lessen the impacts.

It’s no good for government to simply feel the community’s pain and move on. This issue must be addressed. The future of Molong depends on it.

I would encourage all candidates at the upcoming NSW election to commit to resolving the issue with the bridge and also carrying out other necessary mitigation work along the creek.

Another thing that the NSW Government could do is commit to removing the traffic islands in Hill Street (along the highway opposite the REC Ground) and levelling the gradient of the road.

As things stand, the highway is built up higher than the gutters. This combined with traffic islands is creating a mini dam which is making any flooding much worse.

Currently the water is running down Hill Street and coming in from Gidley Street well before any water from the creek gets there. You can still see the dirt and gravel that recently washed into the islands. Phil Davis (pictured) and other local residents have had enough. They need action.

Some relatively simple road works and the removal of the traffic islands would greatly alleviate the situation. An insurance assessor has already looked at the road and said the level is too high.

I have raised this issue with the Premier and NSW Minister for Regional Transport Sam Farraway but haven’t had a response. It’s time to get cracking on solutions rather than hoping the next storm won’t be as bad as the last one.

My Two Cents

One of the important things about being an independent is not being told how to vote by a political party.

There is a growing expectation in the community that MPs will say what they actually think and not just follow a party line because it’s good for their career prospects. There just isn’t enough of it in politics.

Giving up my numerous shadow ministries meant taking a significant pay cut but I’m now free to turn an independent eye to any issue before parliament or our area.

Here are a few issues on the agenda this week: and

• I won’t be supporting the government’s proposed tax increases on superannuation. If they were planning to move the super goal posts it should have been stated before the election.

• I do support the federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund because it will benefit the regions.

• I don’t think the NSW Nationals/NSW Government should have promised (and advertised) to make NSW mobile blackspot free at the last state election. There are still plenty of mobile phone blackspots around and this was a promise that was highly unlikely to ever be fulfilled. You don’t hear much about that promise these days. No wonder people get cynical about the major parties.

• The level of both state and federal road funding is clearly not where it should be. Recent state funding announcements will only have a minimal impact. The backpedalling on the Great Western Highway by the federal government is also very concerning. The $2 billion that the previous federal government and I secured for the project needs to be released and rolled out.

MESA