Retiring in 1992 after 32 years with the company, Mr Cottrell said his proudest achievement was the simple fact Email was still around.

He said bigger name companies had crashed but Email had become strong and management had got it there in an honourable fashion and had never done anything shonky.

Email in its time employed up to 1500 people and was considered one of the most progressive manufacturing plants in the world, producing the best frost-free refrigerators on the market, gas and electric ranges, desk fans, heaters and dishwashers and couldn’t make enough lightweight room air conditioners to meet sales demand.

So it’s a crying shame this Swedish Electrolux mob sitting in their boardroom in Stockholm has shut down such a successful Orange icon and put hundreds of loyal people out of work.

Buyers should give their Thai fridges the flick.

CAN you remember back in 1987 when petrol was 49c a litre, beer 90 cents a middy and a new VL Commodore sold for $13,830.

Petrol is now around $1.14 a litre, a middy $4.50 and a new SV6 manual Commodore $37,290, all fairly hefty increases.

But next time you complain about the high cost of food, you’d be surprised prices haven’t gone up as much in the past 29 years as you might think.

A check on a range of 12 items in the same Orange supermarket showed meat had the biggest increase with T-bone steak selling for $7.59 a kilo in 1987 and is now $25.99kg, or $21kg on special.

Rump steak was $6.99kg in 1987 and this week $20kg.

Pork sausages were $2.89kg while now you can pick up a smaller 450g packet for $7.50.

A leg of lamb cost $4.69kg in 1987 and this week was $13.99kg.

And you can see why fruit and vegetable growers aren’t driving around in a Mercedes-Benz or BMW either with only small increases in their products, particularly carrots, that were $1.29kg in 1987 and $2.40kg this week, only $1.11 more than they were 29 years ago.

There was only a 49c increase in the price of onions, from 99c a kilo in 1987 to $1.48 this week. Tomatoes went from $2.39kg to $5.90kg and potatoes $1.19kg to $3.98kg for a washed pre-pack.

Bananas are also going nowhere, selling for $1.79kg 29 years ago and this week $2.50kg, up only 71c.

A tin of SPC peaches went up from $1.33 to $3.50, Fountain tomato sauce $1.39 to $1.50 on special and a 125g packet of Twinings tea from $1.43 to $6.99.

 The same 12 items that cost $33.96 in 1987 will now set you back $95.73, an increase of $61.77, but the four meat items make up $67.48, leaving an increase of only $28.25 for the remaining eight items.

So we’re doing really well at the check-out.

IT was interesting to see the huge number of comments setting the Central Western Daily Facebook page on fire over the par last week on trams in Summer Street.

Obviously it was a tongue-in-cheek solution to get the parked cars out of the street so workers didn’t cop a parking bluey from the council’s new number plate recognition thing that’s terrorising the area and, like most pieces in this column, was meant to be taken with a grain of salt.

But most of the cyber junkies actually thought it was fair dinkum.

They posted comments like: “Not sure what Denis is smoking but I want some…”

And: “This is old news; the Orange Regional Better Inter-urban Tramway Access Line (ORBITAL) is already operating, albeit on a limited line adjacent to Emu Swamp Road, about 1km from the Icely Rd turnoff.”

The comment the council would have to run some chook raffles to raise the funds brought this response: “Sure, let’s give the council something else to run badly. After all they won’t take up much room on the road surely?”

Then this: “Seriously. How about you fix the rough roads in town. Remove some of the traffic lights. The congestion is not bad in Orange. Plenty of parking. People just might have to walk a block or two. OMG! What another waste of money.”

One from Millthorpe: “What congestion? You can fire a gun down Summer Street if it's not knock-off or start work time. Spend the money on decent car parking facilities or a public bus service for outlying communities!”

And, ouch, this one: “I'm not much of a fan of so called journalism with an element of sarcasm.”

Well, tough luck, old matey. What you read is what you get.

HOW would you like your eggs for breakfast this morning? Scrambled, fried, boiled or free-range?

Farmers say their free range hens couldn't be more contented happily clucking and scratching around in lush green paddocks, getting plenty of fresh air and sunshine in a natural environment and sleeping in comfortable houses at night.

Battery hens, on the other hand, live in cramped cages in huge sheds and are kept awake by lights up to 18 hours a day to ensure maximum production.

But the new national standard for free-range egg production adopted a week or so ago will only require hens to have “meaningful and regular” access outside where density must be no more than one hen a square metre, or 10,000 a hectare.

That can hardly be recognised as free range. How much clucking around can a hen do in an area not much bigger than a door mat?

But that’s enough to certify them as free range and producers can charge you more than double the price for their eggs at around $6.50 even though the Egg Corporation says there’s no research to show they’re more nutritious than cage or barn laid eggs.