Fire Engine Shuffle.

The City Council Public Safety Committee met in a special session last week to address the conversion of fire engine E-612 which was involved in an accident on November 7, 2011. The truck was scheduled to be converted to a dedicated tanker next year and a new fire engine purchased.

Fire Chief Chris Thompson proposed to go ahead with the conversion now and apply insurance money toward that end. He also requested that the department be given permission to begin the process of determining the specifications for a new fire engine. He estimated the time to spec and build a new fire engine is between four and six months which would result in a July 2012 delivery date.

The Chief also requested permission to submit a grant application to the Steadley Trust Board in the amount of $100,000 to be used toward the conversion of E-612 to a dedicated tanker.

The Committee voted to submit the requests to the full Council for their approval.

Jasper County Jail Count

? December 9, 2011

Total Including Placed out of County

I’ve heard talk about it, but I’ve never recognized if I was in a state of post Christmas blues.

Now there is the possibility that I live in a constant state of the ailment and just don’t notice the difference. I’m more likely to think it’s more a matter of expectations.

A friend a mine, as a child at his grandmother’s for Christmas, opened his gift and found a pair of socks.

"Dang," he said as he threw them on the floor, "I’d rather had the money."

Most likely the grandmother felt a little twinge of the blues right away, not waitin’ for the "post" to set in.

I suppose it takes a little more maturity to really appreciate a good pair a socks for Christmas.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Weekly Column

THIS IS A HAMMER

By Samantha Mazzotta

Finding AAAA Batteries

Q: As you know, you are not supposed to drive and use a cell phone at the same time. I did the responsible thing and purchased a Bluetooth headset. Now the battery has died, and I can’t find a replacement at any local retail stores (Home Depot, CVS, Wal-Mart). Where in my region can I purchase AAAA batteries? --- Erik in Coventry

A: A store specializing in electronics would be your best bet (Circuit City, Best Buy, MicroCenter). You also can order them over the Internet -- try the Web sites of any one of these major electronics retailers or Amazon.com, which sells many items besides books.

***

Q: In response to your column about a visiting mother-in-law who complained she was cold all the time, your answer didn’t cover one possibility. In a lot of houses with one central heating system, the doors to all rooms should be left open all the time so that return air circulates evenly throughout the house and all rooms stay the same temperature.

If one person closes their door at night for privacy reasons, that door seals off air circulation so no warm air can enter from the register. A crack under the door would let that warm air in, but if there is no such opening, air cannot circulate into that room, and it gets cold. The next day when the door is open again, no problem can be found because air is circulating through the open door. -- Jack H., Salem, Mo.

A: That’s definitely a possibility. Having grown up in the South, where central heat was often jury-rigged into older homes -- so not every room had a register -- it was not uncommon for closed-off rooms to get chilly. Thanks for your suggestion. Perhaps the mother-in-law could leave her bedroom door open just a bit to let air circulate.

HOME TIP: Not sure whether a furnace’s air filter needs changing? Hold the filter up to a light -- if the filter blocks most of the light, replace it.

HOME TIP: Moss growth on cedar shakes and shingles can be reduced by nailing copper or zinc strips along the ridge cap of the roof or above the shakes; rain runoff from these strips will retard fungal growth.