Sean McMullen..... now go away....

@Aliantha..... is the Oz system reaaly a bad as that? (that wasn't a typo... I type with a manc accent). It's getting that way here in the UK, where the criteria for excellence is how many tick-boxes you ticked rather than how many kids you inspired.

I gave you one Buster. ;)

Jay, I think there are a lot of problems with the bureauracracy involved in the education system these days. It's really quite ridiculas.

Oh dear. I don't know if I can handle that much irony right after waking up...

Glad I'm not a spelling nazi.

But maybe your high school English teacher wishes you were?

Actually I did very well in English in school. I guess I just have never made the mistake of thinking I'm perfect...in anything. :)

I gave up at page 487, but I'm damn glad I wasn't in that goat roping.

busterby asked if anyone knew about a writer who wrote about the 'early days' in Australia . The early days in Australia were about 40,000 years ago , but the Aborigines did not write in our modern sense .
I therefore take it that busterby means to refer to the early COLONIAL days in Australia . If so , you should read Henry Lawson . 'The Drover's Wife' is perhaps his best short story , and is seen as an Aussie classic . There is a snake in the house , and the husband ( the drover ) is absent . The drover's wife is sunburnt and hardy , and there are children in the house . The snake scene is described in the present tense . The writing may be clumsy sometimes, but it rings true and clear . It is the beginning of white Australian literature .

P.S. sorry about the 'y' , busterb . 'Busterb' should rhyme with 'do not disturb' . No why (?) .

No Idea?

Perhaps you should be grateful for the information I gave you ?

Well thanks and I have it saved to lookup. BUT rhyme ??