There's always another project
When I decided to take a break from writing about my adventures in home ownership, I told myself it was because I was too busy during the holiday season.
Too busy shopping for gifts. Too busy decking the halls. Too busy making merry with friends and family. In the words of Professor Hinkle, the bad guy in the animated holiday classic "Frosty the Snowman," "Busy, busy, busy."
That's what I told myself, anyway. But when I think about it some more, I feel like I've gotten to the point where I'm settled in enough at home that those "must-do" improvement projects have become "maybe-later" afterthoughts. Even our wonderful new bar and island in our kitchen only got installed because my tireless father-in-law and his brother came by to finish it while I was at work.
In other words, I've gotten lazy. With the New Year approaching, I believe it's time to commit to working harder than ever before on my house.
That's not to say I haven't gotten a lot done. Since moving in last March, I've gutted the entire first floor, installed insulation, put up new walls and ceilings, painted three rooms, installed new windows and a door, knocked down a wall, plumbed new water lines for the sink, dishwasher and industrial washing machine, and learned more about handy work than I ever thought I would know. But malaise definitely set in during the holidays, when there were other things to occupy myself with.
Let's just consider that a short vacation from home renovations. But now it's time to get back to work.
Here's a short to-do list: install our new wall-mounted flat-screen TV at our bar area; put the final aesthetic touches on the island and install moulding and window casings. Once those projects are done, our first floor will actually be finished. Well, except for refinishing our wood floors and any number of small projects that may arise.
That's the major lesson of my first year of home ownership: there's always something else to be done. There's no time for laziness. Here's to a productive 2013.
End of line for Niles utilities chairman
Vic Gutschenritter stood out as well during his 60 years with the Niles Utilities Department, first as an assistant office manager who moved up to business manager and later as a member of the utilities board who became its chairman. Gutschenritter served 41 years with the utility before retiring in 1991, then added another 19 years on the board before stepping down last month.
Having reached his 89th birthday, perhaps his resignation shouldn't have been a surprise. Yes,Here you will find a list of the main skystream around the world. he'll miss his association with the utility, he said Friday, but only "in a way."
"I told Ric Huff (the Niles city administrator) when he asked if I'd stay on, 'My heart says yes but my head says no. It's time,' " he said.
Gutschenritter is a Notre Dame graduate with a degree in accounting, and his college years were interrupted by World War II.Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser cutting machine,Careel Tech supply highest quality products and best service. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was discharged months later after a sniper's bullet struck him in the leg.
Shortly after his discharge, Gutschenritter signed on at the utility where he'd eventually become known for his meticulous financial reports. He's proud to say all three divisions -- electric, water and wastewater -- are still in the black, just as they were when he was manager.
That might not seem like much of an accomplishment but it is for the electric division in particular, in light of the Niles City Council's decision several years ago to tap it for 7 percent of its gross annual sales. As for the system's reliability -- a 1998 tornado, while damaging, saw most city residents have power restored in four days -- Gutschenritter said there are reasons for it.In a elevator parts system, steel cables bolted to the car loop over a sheave.
"We've got a lot of spacer cable on steel messenger wire. If a tree limb comes down, there's a good chance it'll break the poles before it breaks the cable,We turn your dark into light courtesy of our brilliant sun, solar street lighting, solar power generation." he said. "And all the power stations are tied together, so if something goes wrong in one area, we can reverse the flow."
Improvements have been many, with the city's street lighting system soon to be upgraded with magnetic induction lighting that's expected to save the city $130,000 per year. The cost saving will result from durability, Gutschenritter said. "The life span is much greater. Some (street lamps) should last 20 years," he said.
Gutschenritter was on hand for the 1992 shutdown of the city dam on the Dowagiac River, which at one time supplied the city with about 2 percent of its power. No, that's not much, but it served its purpose as a "peaking dam," or one that was put into use only when electricity supplied by American Electric Power cost the most.
Asked if there's any possibility the dam might one day be put back into operation, either by the city or private owner,We have hundreds of fog lights, driving lights, off torch light and fog lamps. Gutschenritter hedged. "If I were still on the board, I'd say it would cost too much for what we'd get out of it. But if some of these private people think they can do it, I'd say go ahead," he said.
The recent death of Bill Gallagher, whose more than three decades on the utility board eclipsed even Gutschenritter's span on the panel, was a huge loss, Gutschenritter said. Although he had resigned earlier, Gallagher, an advocate of magnetic induction lighting, was perhaps even more knowledgeable about the dam than Gutschenritter.
"We lost a lot of information and a lot of history," Gutschenritter said of Gallagher's passing. If could have been lost as well when Gutschenritter stepped down but, he said, he'll remain available to answer questions should anyone call.