It's a classic suburban tale. Dog chases cat up telegraph pole, cat touches electrical wires, cat gets ...
Hang on, wait a minute.
This story has a happy ending. It actually went like this: Dog chases cat up telegraph pole, cat almost touches electrical wires, cat gets saved by Ausgrid crew. Phew!
The cat's name is Sniper. Ausgrid workers were happy to have saved one of Sniper's "nine lives" on the pole in Church Street in Cessnock.
Which does make us wonder: where did that "cats have nine lives" saying come from?
Apparently it goes back to the time of Shakespeare.
A scene in Romeo and Juliet goes like this:
Tybalt: "What wouldst thou have with me?"
Mercutio: "Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives."
Cats have long been associated with negative superstitions. Who doesn't get a ridiculous eerie chill when a black cat crosses their path?
As for Sniper, he was purring like an ... errr ... cat when Ausgrid technicians Chad Jones and Michael Schoonhoven rescued him.
"When we arrived, Sniper was sitting between two of the power lines in a space just barely big enough for him to sit, with his fur brushing the wires," Michael said.
"Thankfully the fur stopped him coming in contact with the live wires, which would have definitely ended in tragedy."
The Ausgrid crew used an elevated work platform to save Sniper.
"I was concerned he may get scared and try to run or jump, but he put his paws out towards me as if to say, 'Grab me now'," Michael said.
He added that Sniper "almost jumped into my arms as everyone clapped and cheered below".
"Going up, I was expecting to get some claws in the face but instead I got a cuddle and some purring. The cat was very happy."
Boating Life
Our piece on Tuesday on the boating life attracted the attention of Elermore Vale's Tony Davis.
Tony knows about boating life in more ways than one.
He had good experiences on a yacht named Janole out of Toronto Yacht Club.
"The owner, Don, was a mate of mine and bought Janole with little or no experience in sailing," Tony said.
He had a keen crew of three, including Tony, also with little experience. They took part in races from Toronto to Rathmines.
One particular evening, they moored Janole at the big jetty at Rathmines.
They were preparing for a barbecue with family and friends.
"Hearing a noise, I looked up and saw a young girl [she was eight] disappear off the edge of the jetty and fall into the water between the jetty and one of the boats," Tony said.
"No one else had seen anything. She was in trouble in the water but conscious.
"I attracted her attention, lay down on the jetty and reached for her hand. I managed to grab it and lifted her out of the water."
The mum arrived soon after and soothed the crying girl.
"Unfortunately she had struck her face on the way down and would need some serious dental care. Mum took her straight to hospital. She recovered well," Tony said.
Many years later at a party in Fennell Bay, the girl's mum sought Tony out and thanked him.
"She assured me that her daughter would have drowned otherwise."
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