continues.

And Government has urged residents to take stock of their water reserves early in order to "avoid a nasty shock'' of not having enough in their tanks to get them comfortably through the holidays.

Bermuda Weather Service figures show the rainfall for 1999 so far to be lagging behind the average amount by almost ten inches.

And, while this figure is not completely unprecedented, the precipitation figures for this month so far has proven to be "well down'', according to BWS Forecaster David Buxton.

"We've had virtually nothing in terms of rainfall this month,'' he said. "As it stands we've had 0.46 inches so far, while the average figure for December is 4.58 inches.

"It's very unlikely that we'll be able to make these figures up by the New Year.'' Figures for the last 50 years show only three Decembers to have been below the two inches mark, in 1949, 1967 and 1982.

Government's hydrogeologist Mark Rowe confirmed that "there has been a lot more activity from water truckers'' this month.

But he said: "This isn't something to really worry about yet. It's something that happens several times a year.'' "However,'' Mr. Rowe added, "I would ask people to check their tanks now in preparation for the event of this dry spell continuing.

"If it's still dry next week, then there will be an accelerated demand for water and it's best for people to place their order early in order to avoid a nasty shock for Christmas.'' TEACHER TOOK ADVANTAGE OF `PENSION' PAYMENTS BY STEPHEN BREEN CTS GVT Teacher took advantage of `pension' payments By Stephen Breen A retired US teacher, who was overpaid $800,000 in pension payments, spent thousands on regular trips with her husband to Bermuda and the Far East.

Joan Phillips, 74, was paid $754 a month by the Massachusetts Teachers Retirement Board in 1980. But in September 1990 the payments jumped to $1,407.

By October that year they were $8,400 a month.

Mrs. Phillips' lawyer Christopher Uhl said his client and her husband Earle went on regular trips to the Island and to the Far East, but they always counted the pennies.

The State of Massachusetts has gone to Suffolk Superior Court to try to reclaim the money, but Mrs. Phillips claims most of it has been spent on travel.

Mr. Uhl said the couple took cheap flights and ate "early bird'' dinners because the restaurants were too expensive.

"They did not drink. They did not eat at expensive restaurants. ..they did not buy $400 bottles of wine,'' he said.

"What they would do is go to lunch and early bird specials because the dinners were too expensive.'' Prosecutors are still trying to work out how Mrs. Phillips came to receive the overpayments.

An administrator has been appointed to manage the return of the money. Mrs.

Phillips handed over a cheque last week for $72,000 which she claimed was all that was left of the pension money.

WEATHER WEA