Letters to the Editor 03-02-2005
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Spring Is Coming - Evils Of Smoking
Spring Is Coming
Editor, Times-Union:As the old adage goes: "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
Spring, to me, always means budding trees, fresh green grass, flowers of every color, and a comforting, warm breeze flowing in from the south. When spring comes, mortals emit a deep sigh of relief at the realization that winter with its deep snows, icy streets and highways, and cold, bitter winds, it over for a period of several months.
Soon, it will be time to get out the plow and harrow to till the earth for spring planting. I can remember decades ago when tractors were none too plentiful, farmers trudged back and forth on foot across the fields for hours in the hot sun, steering a plow pulled by a team of horses. There were not only fields to be plowed, but also a truck patch. In the past, folks who lived wither in the country or in town, usually had a big truck patch in which they planted every type of vegetable under the sun. The first vegetables to be planted were leaf lettuce, icicle radishes and green onions. I remember the year my dad planted vegetables in an abandoned hog lot, and one can just imagine what powerful fertilization vegetables could attain from that source, such as potatoes and beets that grew to be the size of a small cantaloupe, and carrots with the dimensions of a miniature baseball bat.
Who can bring up the subject of spring without thoughts of housecleaning activities? I can recall that I always hated the task of cleaning wallpaper, which when coal stoves were in use, accumulated plenty of dirt and grime. I used a pink, putty-like substance that was applied to the wallpaper. It removed the dirt and coal smoke, but one had to constantly knead the cleaner, or it would leave dark streaks on the walls. Then, there were carpets and rugs to be cleaned. One year, I helped my grandmother clean house, and I will never forget the method she concocted for me to clean her carpet. First, I had to drain sauerkraut, then by the handfuls I spread it over the carpet, after which I took the broom and started to sweep until the sauerkraut rolled up into little wads that turned as black as the kitchen range. When I finished, I had a spanking clean carpet. (I was wondering, just for the h--- of it, why don't you modern day housewives try the sauerkraut method for cleaning your rugs? You might get a big kick from the results!)
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
!e4nd
Red Light Cameras
Editor, Times-Union:
Was it a twist of fate that saw Senate Bill 0570 technically defeated (25-23) on the Indiana Senate floor one day, only to be passed by that same group of legislators on a vote of 31-17 less than 24 hours later? No, it was because of the hard work of first-time Senator, Ryan Mishler who was determined to not view the very first bill he has authored as an Indiana Senator defeated. He just wouldn't accept defeat of legislation whose safety value he believes in.
In way of explanation, the bill was "technically" defeated on February 28th because it takes 26 nay votes to defeat a bill in the Senate. The vote was one vote short of that. This was discouraging, to be sure, since sister bills have passed through the Senate with comparatively higher yes votes in past sessions. Determined not to give up, Senator Mishler, and such stalwarts as Senator Tom Wyss spent Tuesday stating the merits of Senate Bill 0570 to those Senators that had voted against the bill, and finding that one individual who had voted against it to request to the Senate that the bill be "reconsidered". Of course this was on the very last day that Senate bills could be voted on in their house of origin. It was enough. Late yesterday the yes votes from the original vote were steady and six nay votes swung to favorable.
Folks, this is politics at work!
We know debate in the House will be difficult, with opponents such as members of the National Motorists' Association doing their very best to defeat this traffic safety measure. Please contact your IN Representative at this time to urge support of this bill, which is scheduled to be sponsored by Representative Dave Wolkins, Warsaw.
Sen. Thomas Wyss, Sen. Ryan Mishler and all who helped get this legislation to the House are to be commended for their efforts in this quest for safer Indiana highways.
For now, again a thank you to those Senators with the foresight to see the value of this legislation.
Ann Sweet
Warsaw
National Survivor Spokesperson
National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running
Evils Of Smoking
Editor, Times-Union:Seventeen years ago, on Feb. 12, my husband died of cancer from smoking.
The last month of his lie I sat in his hospital room watching him breathe in, breathe out. I spent each day and part of the night in his room. When I wasn't there, I was at the nurses' dorm at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. My sister, who lives in Rumney, New Hampshire, and is a retired registered nurse, told me to call her collect each night when I got to the dorm.
I remember the night I told her that Bill kept kicking the covers off and how one night I noticed that his feet were like ice, the next night it was a little higher up and that it seemed like he was dying inch by inch. She said, "Helen, he is."
I have constant extreme lower back and leg pain and cannot stand in one spot very long. They brought in an over-stuffed chair for me to rest in between standing.
At 3 a.m. they called me to come to the hospital. At that time, Fort Wayne was having 17 inches of snow and a young man, who was studying to become a registered nurse, took some of the other students and myself to the hospital in his Jeep.
I would stand a while and sit a while. The last blood pressure they got was 60/40.
As he took his last breath, only his face, neck and shoulders were warm.
At 6:13 a.m., he was gone.
His love for the drug nicotine was greater than his love for his wife, daughter and three grandchildren.
I will be 85 in May and when we were young, we didn't know the dangers of tobacco. It was considered chic, debonair, the thing to do. And cigarettes were 15 cents a pack, two for 25 cents and a carton was $1.50.
I haven't smoked for more than 50 years and I was never a heavy smoker.
When the American Table re-opened after their fire and went smoke-free, we thought Thank God. The food, preparation and especially the people are tops. Now Wongs, Long John Silvers, Wendy's and the Pizza Hut in the K-Mart plaza are smoke-free.
When I see people take their children or grandchildren in the smoking area of a restaurant, I cringe. It is a well-known fact that tobacco has 400 percent more carbon monoxide of a car, and I don't believe there is anyone who would put a group of people in a room and run the exhaust of a car into it. These people are not only killing off themselves but our young ones, too.
We are fortunate to have so many top restaurants, to have smoking ruin them.
So if you smoke knowing what we know today, if you can't go without a cigarette for two or three hours to make eating out enjoyable for everyone, you are not only foolish and selfish but a drug addict.
Your drug is nicotine.
Helen B. Wise
Claypool
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- Spring Is Coming - Evils Of Smoking
Spring Is Coming
Editor, Times-Union:As the old adage goes: "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
Spring, to me, always means budding trees, fresh green grass, flowers of every color, and a comforting, warm breeze flowing in from the south. When spring comes, mortals emit a deep sigh of relief at the realization that winter with its deep snows, icy streets and highways, and cold, bitter winds, it over for a period of several months.
Soon, it will be time to get out the plow and harrow to till the earth for spring planting. I can remember decades ago when tractors were none too plentiful, farmers trudged back and forth on foot across the fields for hours in the hot sun, steering a plow pulled by a team of horses. There were not only fields to be plowed, but also a truck patch. In the past, folks who lived wither in the country or in town, usually had a big truck patch in which they planted every type of vegetable under the sun. The first vegetables to be planted were leaf lettuce, icicle radishes and green onions. I remember the year my dad planted vegetables in an abandoned hog lot, and one can just imagine what powerful fertilization vegetables could attain from that source, such as potatoes and beets that grew to be the size of a small cantaloupe, and carrots with the dimensions of a miniature baseball bat.
Who can bring up the subject of spring without thoughts of housecleaning activities? I can recall that I always hated the task of cleaning wallpaper, which when coal stoves were in use, accumulated plenty of dirt and grime. I used a pink, putty-like substance that was applied to the wallpaper. It removed the dirt and coal smoke, but one had to constantly knead the cleaner, or it would leave dark streaks on the walls. Then, there were carpets and rugs to be cleaned. One year, I helped my grandmother clean house, and I will never forget the method she concocted for me to clean her carpet. First, I had to drain sauerkraut, then by the handfuls I spread it over the carpet, after which I took the broom and started to sweep until the sauerkraut rolled up into little wads that turned as black as the kitchen range. When I finished, I had a spanking clean carpet. (I was wondering, just for the h--- of it, why don't you modern day housewives try the sauerkraut method for cleaning your rugs? You might get a big kick from the results!)
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
!e4nd
Red Light Cameras
Editor, Times-Union:
Was it a twist of fate that saw Senate Bill 0570 technically defeated (25-23) on the Indiana Senate floor one day, only to be passed by that same group of legislators on a vote of 31-17 less than 24 hours later? No, it was because of the hard work of first-time Senator, Ryan Mishler who was determined to not view the very first bill he has authored as an Indiana Senator defeated. He just wouldn't accept defeat of legislation whose safety value he believes in.
In way of explanation, the bill was "technically" defeated on February 28th because it takes 26 nay votes to defeat a bill in the Senate. The vote was one vote short of that. This was discouraging, to be sure, since sister bills have passed through the Senate with comparatively higher yes votes in past sessions. Determined not to give up, Senator Mishler, and such stalwarts as Senator Tom Wyss spent Tuesday stating the merits of Senate Bill 0570 to those Senators that had voted against the bill, and finding that one individual who had voted against it to request to the Senate that the bill be "reconsidered". Of course this was on the very last day that Senate bills could be voted on in their house of origin. It was enough. Late yesterday the yes votes from the original vote were steady and six nay votes swung to favorable.
Folks, this is politics at work!
We know debate in the House will be difficult, with opponents such as members of the National Motorists' Association doing their very best to defeat this traffic safety measure. Please contact your IN Representative at this time to urge support of this bill, which is scheduled to be sponsored by Representative Dave Wolkins, Warsaw.
Sen. Thomas Wyss, Sen. Ryan Mishler and all who helped get this legislation to the House are to be commended for their efforts in this quest for safer Indiana highways.
For now, again a thank you to those Senators with the foresight to see the value of this legislation.
Ann Sweet
Warsaw
National Survivor Spokesperson
National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running
Evils Of Smoking
Editor, Times-Union:Seventeen years ago, on Feb. 12, my husband died of cancer from smoking.
The last month of his lie I sat in his hospital room watching him breathe in, breathe out. I spent each day and part of the night in his room. When I wasn't there, I was at the nurses' dorm at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. My sister, who lives in Rumney, New Hampshire, and is a retired registered nurse, told me to call her collect each night when I got to the dorm.
I remember the night I told her that Bill kept kicking the covers off and how one night I noticed that his feet were like ice, the next night it was a little higher up and that it seemed like he was dying inch by inch. She said, "Helen, he is."
I have constant extreme lower back and leg pain and cannot stand in one spot very long. They brought in an over-stuffed chair for me to rest in between standing.
At 3 a.m. they called me to come to the hospital. At that time, Fort Wayne was having 17 inches of snow and a young man, who was studying to become a registered nurse, took some of the other students and myself to the hospital in his Jeep.
I would stand a while and sit a while. The last blood pressure they got was 60/40.
As he took his last breath, only his face, neck and shoulders were warm.
At 6:13 a.m., he was gone.
His love for the drug nicotine was greater than his love for his wife, daughter and three grandchildren.
I will be 85 in May and when we were young, we didn't know the dangers of tobacco. It was considered chic, debonair, the thing to do. And cigarettes were 15 cents a pack, two for 25 cents and a carton was $1.50.
I haven't smoked for more than 50 years and I was never a heavy smoker.
When the American Table re-opened after their fire and went smoke-free, we thought Thank God. The food, preparation and especially the people are tops. Now Wongs, Long John Silvers, Wendy's and the Pizza Hut in the K-Mart plaza are smoke-free.
When I see people take their children or grandchildren in the smoking area of a restaurant, I cringe. It is a well-known fact that tobacco has 400 percent more carbon monoxide of a car, and I don't believe there is anyone who would put a group of people in a room and run the exhaust of a car into it. These people are not only killing off themselves but our young ones, too.
We are fortunate to have so many top restaurants, to have smoking ruin them.
So if you smoke knowing what we know today, if you can't go without a cigarette for two or three hours to make eating out enjoyable for everyone, you are not only foolish and selfish but a drug addict.
Your drug is nicotine.
Helen B. Wise
Claypool
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