The first was quite vicious and the offending large dog (also on a lead) broke away from its owner and set upon our dog. The outcome was trauma on our part and a vet visit which to the other owner’s credit, he paid for.

The second incident was a stray dog near home that again set upon our dog (on the lead).  A lady walking at the time (not the owner) was actually trying to call the Council’s ranger when this all happened.

Two things come to mind. We just wonder what a young Mum with stroller, baby and dog  (or a younger person) would have done in these circumstances. Both incidents were pretty traumatic and it is not easy separating dogs in these situations. Dog owners really need to think hard about the responsibilities of owning and controlling dogs. Some may just not be suitable for suburbia.

The second point is that we want to thank a number of people who came to my wife’s assistance after a fall (in trying to separate the dogs)  last Wednesday night off Yarralumla Drive, Wodonga. You were all so great and we cannot  thank you enough.

We have new basketball rings, nets, backboards and steel posts at the Lauren Jackson Stadium. But what happened to the old basketball systems that where replaced?

A little birdie told me that they ended up in a skip at the back of the Lauren Jackson Stadium waiting patiently to be carried away to the new and improved recycling depot of Albury.

I was always taught that you should look out for your neighbours. How about recycling with your neighbours Albury City Council?

The PCYC club is located only 50 metres away from the Lauren Jackson Stadium and needs to have its basketball systems improved. The PCYC are not after a flashy system that emulates an American college stadium.

Another little birdie told me that the stadium was offered an amount to purchase some of the equipment, only to decline. One flavour of the Albury City Council is targeting the world of recycling. Yet, the council were given options of recycling to choose from and they ignored the most moralistic and ethical one.

All this debate about Australia Day and what it means to Aboriginals and not a mention of some important facts.

Firstly, it was the British who landed on our shores and in those days the British were a very strict and harsh race, especially the judiciary system.

The convicts, who arrived on that day, mainly for minor offences, were flogged, tortured and worked relentlessly under the harshest conditions possible. It wasn't just the Aboriginals who suffered.

If white Australians called for a change of date due to the suffering of the first arrivals, we would most probably be told to “get over it” and celebrate what we have today and not whine about what happened in the birth of our nation under British rule.

We need to stop living in the past and be grateful for what we have today.

It's not perfect, but Australia is the best country in the world and that's worth celebrating without all this carry on.