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Do You Measure Up?

M

If you are really on top of things,
easure twice; cut once.”
you will act when you see the whites
That’s great advice if you
of their eyes. Which would be closer:
are dealing with precision.
a hair’s breadth or a cat’s whisker?
However, there are many of us who
We are all interested in
wish to express a distance
having things done quickly.
or time or weight, etc., and
(And what do we do with the
decide to be more colorful
time “saved?” Find more ways
with our language choice.
to save time — but that is
How many of the following
another column.) Something
are favorites of yours?
done very quickly may be
When dealing with dis-
accomplished in the blink of
tance, one might observe
an eye. This, I believe, is a bit
that something is only a
Sy Manello
more rapid than two shakes of
stone’s throw away. It doesn’t Editorial Assistant
a lamb’s tail. Oral quickness is
matter that some stones may
measured by being faster than
be thrown further than oth-
you can say Jack Robinson.
ers; the idea is that the object
If you feel that there is a long
is not far. Even closer items
may be within spitting distance. That
wait involved, it may be until the cows
measure is much closer than some-
come home.
thing that is as far as the crow flies.
Ever feel closed in or in some way
hampered by the room you lack to
The closest might be only a heartbeat
operate efficiently? It may be that
away.

there is not even room to swing a cat.
This is not the case, of course, with
something that is as big as a house. (It
does not seem to matter if it is a man-
sion or a bungalow that we mean; the
picture is there.)
How much are you dealing with?
Do not worry about ounces or pounds
or even tons. Let it be known that it
is more than you can shake a stick
at. (What that activity has to do with
amount still puzzles me since we rarely
use a threatening gesture toward inani-
mate things.)
We measure trust by the distance
one can toss someone: (“no farther
than I can throw him”). No doubt the
person in question is one you would
not touch with a 10-foot pole.
Well, I am sure you can search from
here to the ends of the Earth for more
such colorful expressions; these are
only a drop in the bucket. •

letters

Water Rights Require
Wider Action

If Lori Lutz wants to make water a
right, she has to explain how to pay
for it (“Without Water There Is No
Life, Dec. 7, page 5). I have no quib-
bles with the moral argument, but to
become a reality, it must become a
legal argument.
During my 41-year tenure with
Detroit Water and Sewerage
Department (DWSD) that ended in
2010, there was considerable thought
given to ways to address the prob-
lem of those who cannot pay, but
the department always found itself
hamstrung by both legal and financial
constraints. With adequate research,
you will find that there is no solution
that can be effected as a water author-
ity action. It will require wider action
including legislation from Lansing.
One tangential issue that I can’t
let pass is the comment regarding
aging infrastructure. Although all the
facts presented are true, the federal
receivership of the Detroit system,
the sewer collapses at 15 Mile and
Hayes (there were three so far due to
incompetence and negligence), even
the disaster in Flint and probably
other events that don’t come to mind
at the moment are not the results
of aging infrastructure. The water
main on 14 Mile that failed has only
reached half its design life. The sewer
that collapsed is one of the newest in

the entire system. The older facilities,
like the 1932 Springwells plant, were
built so well that it didn’t fail when a
14-inch I-beam supporting an 84-inch
pipe rusted away completely leaving
only a brown stain on the floor. We
caught a leaking pipe that washed
away the foundation of the pumping
station in the nick of time to prevent
a collapse. Failures of the newer sys-
tems cause major problems because
the designs are compromised to cut
costs to cover for the cost of their bad
business practices.
Prior to 1975, Detroit was a world-
renowned leader in the water indus-
try. What sent it into a death spiral
was a change in management with
a new charter that exposed it to
exploitation for political patronage.
When the politicians began making
engineering decisions, they killed the
goose that laid the golden eggs and, in
an act of reverse alchemy, they turned
gold into lead in Flint.
As for the Great Lakes Water
Authority, it is a clone of DWSD
with county politicians replacing
Detroit politicians, a shift change for
the clown car. I’ve met with several
reporters, but the story is too long
and complicated for them. I spent
two days testifying to the Detroit City
Council, submitting nearly 40 pages
of notes, which were totally ignored.
I, therefore, keep several jugs of water
on hand, which came in handy when
that main broke. The director told the

Detroit News they follow best prac-
tices, but that’s not possible. They
don’t have the staff to do what we did
before 1975 when we had the lowest
rates and the highest quality in the
nation.

Dennis L. Green, PE
Retired DWSD Head Water Systems Engineer
Farmington Hills

Yiddish Limerick

WINTER

Vinter iz doe
Indroisn is snow.
Ich zog: oy vay iz mir
Farmach yeder tir,
Oy, where can I go?

Vinter iz doe: winter is here
Indroisn: outside
Ich zog: I say
Oy vay iz mir: woe to me
Farmach yeder tir: close every door

By Rachel Kapen

New FedEd
Classes Explore
Afterlife, Medical
Ethics, More

The Jewish Community Center’s
FedEd is set to expand its winter-
spring program with five new teach-
ers and five new classes.
Cantor Neil Michaels of Temple
Israel will present “Finding
Sacredness in Secular Song,” focus-
ing on ways non-liturgical music can
inspire spiritual yearnings. Class will
be held at noon on three Tuesdays
beginning Jan. 9.
Jill Gutmann will teach a four-week
course on “Medical Ethics of Judaism:
The Creation of Life.” Classes, held
Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. begin-
ning April 11, will consider Judaism’s
perspective on in-vitro fertilization,
genetic testing, abortion and surro-
gacy.
“We’re Not in Shushan Anymore:
How the Rabbis Rewrote the Story of
Esther” will be taught by Rabbi Rob
Dobrusin of Beth Israel Congregation
in Ann Arbor and will be held at 10
a. m. Thursday April 26, May 3 and
10. This class will explore the Book
of Esther and ways the rabbis trans-
formed the story from one where God
isn’t even mentioned to an account
emphasizing spirituality and the
wrongs of idolatry.
A lunch-and-learn series featuring
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, senior director
of the Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy
Network, will consider “The Jewish
Belief in the Afterlife.” This class will
be held at noon on Thursdays for five
weeks in May.
Oakland University’s Dr. Michael
Pytlik, director of Judaic Studies,
will teach “Unearthing the Bible:
The Archaeology of Palestine/Israel,”
focusing on the problems and oppor-
tunities of using ancient written
sources for archaeological research.
Class will be at 1 p.m. for four
Wednesdays beginning May 9.
In conjunction with Congregation
Shir Tikvah, FedEd also presents
“Our Jewish Holidays — the Rest of
the Story!” with Rabbi Joseph Klein
at 7 p.m. for four weeks beginning
Feb. 26, exploring the stories behind
Purim, Passover and Shavuot; and “A
Crash Course in Israel” with Professor
Howard Lupovitch, held at 7 p.m.
Mondays for four weeks, starting
April 30.
For pricing details and to register
for any of these classes, go to Feded.
online or call (248) 205-2557. •

jn

December 21 • 2017

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