European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday september 25, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 11 letters a readers chime in on Telephone Systermann Landers dear Ann Landers i would like to share a bit of personal experience with a Corpus Christi a who was angered by the Way her fathers new wife controls his personal affairs do yourself a favor and get Over it my parents divorced after 43 years of a not so wonderful marriage. Everyone in the family knew their relationship was awful but it did no to prepare us for the venom that erupted during the divorce proceedings or the Battles that took place Over the property settlement. Though my parents live in a state where the Normal division is 50-50, my Mother chose to fight to make sure a that woman a my fathers mistress a did no to get any of it. After almost three years in the courts they blew a ridiculous amount of Money on lawyers and inflicted wounds that will never heal. What a tragedy to have wasted All that time and Energy on Petty things that happened almost 50 years ago. My father is retired now. He and his Girlfriend live fairly Well on a disability Check social Security and a modest sum he inherited from his father. My Mother has less though she did put some Money in the Bank recently from the Sale of her parents Home. What they have is theirs and As i have told them both in very Plain language they can do with it what they want. They can Burn it sell it or give it away. I done to want anything. It does no to bother me one Iota that pops bought his Girlfriend a new House with what could have been my inheritance. Granted it is not always easy to keep my Mouth shut. As with alcoholism or drug abuse staying uninvolved in a dysfunctional family is an ongoing Battle. I realize however that for the Sake of my own peace of mind i must do it. So Corpus Christi let go of your anger and get on with your life. Your father is doing just that and he is doing it with his Money not yours. Doing Fine in . Dear . You sound like my kind of girl a terrific role Model for people in your spot. Thanks for an excellent letter. Dear Ann Landers you recently provided advice about the use of electrical products near water. At the consumer product safety commission we know that electricity and water done to mix. At least 17 people a year mostly Young children Are electrocuted when a hair dryer Falls into a Bathtub. In addition to your suggestion to disconnect appliances in the bathroom an inexpensive device designed to prevent these deaths is now available. It is called a Goci ground fault circuit interrupter and can be purchased from hardware and electrical Supply stores. The Goci comes either As a portable adapter for plugging into an outlet or As a replacement for the outlet. It will protect against electrocution from any electrical appliance and should be used in kitchens garages and outdoor receptacles As Well As in bathrooms. Thank you Ann Landers for providing a valuable Public service and helping reduce preventable electrocution deaths. Jacqueline Jones Smith chairman . Consumer product safety commission Washington . Dear Jacqueline Jones Smith thanks for the information. My readers should be aware that this lifesaving Gadget can be purchased for As Little As $15 in most stores. C creators Syndicate i recently read an article written by a fellow who was totally displeased with the european Telephone system ets. I sympathize with his problem. The Frankfurt area is a bottleneck for trunk circuits. Nevertheless the Telephone system is much better than i found it in 1978. Obviously the writer never had to Deal with overcrowded unreliable of dial circuits and or the Auto on systems. Yes there Are problems but my question is what is the ets user doing to help himself does the user use the Call Transfer feature to route wrong numbers to the Correct number this feature can be invaluable to someone calling in Long distance Only to get the incorrect person. If you have succeeded in being connected to your destination do you ask to be transferred to other numbers rather than hanging up and trying to get through the crowd again does your Section have All its numbers programmed into a Hunt group this feature of ets will automatically Transfer Calls to free lines enabling you to serve More people rather than tying up the lines with people trying to get through to you. Establishment of a Nunt group is your responsibility any office with two or More lines will Benefit from this feature. Above All do you practice Abc accuracy Brevity and clarity while on the phone in you have further questions about ets features Contact your communications Squadron or signal corps personnel. They can even Tell you the Best time to Call by using the traffic study features of ets. A tech. Sgt. Dudley d. Allen Span Dahlem a West Germany there Are a few Points raised in the letter and the reply that cry out for further comment first i done to know the writers pay Grade or Job but if he is spending 45 minutes trying to get through to Darmstadt on ets something is drastically wrong a not with ets but with his resourcefulness and initiative. I  stand for an employee of mine using 45 minutes to make a phone Call. What a waste of time and Money especially when Germany definitely not a Low tech third world country has a Superb telecoms uni i was interested in the article on plans for a full length film on father Damien and his work at the Leper Colony at Kalaupapa on the Island of Molokai in Hawaii. The article was mistaken on one minor Point its statement that father Damien died of leprosy. While he contracted leprosy he died of tuberculosis. Incidentally the patients at Kalaupapa prefer a a Hansen a disease rather than  father Damien truly burned himself out in service to the patients at the Colony and this probably weakened his body making him susceptible to Hansen a disease and tuberculosis. He was a master craftsman and built St. Philomena a Church in 30 Days working at night after spending the Day working with the patients. He was also a master woodcarver and his hand carved altar is still in the Church. The article made me remember a trip i made to Kalaupapa about three years ago. Kalaupapa Peninsula is surrounded by Ocean on three sides and the worlds tallest sea Cliffs a about 1,600 feet High a on the other Side. Cations system run by the bund Spost. After a second unsuccessful try on ets he should have gone to the nearest German phone a i am sure there is at least one in his building or compound a and made the Call from there. Perhaps he Woula have had to leave his desk but the result would have been a savings in time and Money. During three years As a Squadron commander in Frankfurt one of my rules was try ets first but if you done to get through in two tries use a German phone. It saved time Money and frustration. The monetary savings Wasny to immediately apparent upon looking at our German phone Bill but when compared to the Man hours saved we came out ahead second i Guestion Why the . Government should spend $3 million installing added ets trunks when Germany already has a Superior communications infrastructure in place. The German armed forces get along quite Well using Bunde Spost lines and i have never really understood Why the . Forces needed to install a at huge costs a its own phone system parallel to the German system. Third i done to have any inside information but i question the Wisdom of spending Money putting added trunks into Stuttgart and especially Frankfurt. By the time they get on line the requirement for them is liable to be much reduced. We won the cold War with the communications already in place. Now is a strange time to Start beefing them up. Having lived in Germany eight years i can remember the pre ets Days. What we have now is definitely Superior. But i question whether we really needed it in the first place especially since Germany is interlaced with a Superb state of the Art telecommunications system. We could Bave even fought a War with it. Up until the Day before he killed himself Hitler was Able to talk to All of his Field commanders even with the red army surrounding Berlin. There Are a lot of reasons Germany lost Wii but weaknesses in their phone system Isnit one of them. A it. Col Gary l. Dikkers Sembach a West Germany the usual Way of reaching the Peninsula is by hiking or Riding a mule Down the Cliffs. I chose to join a party Riding mules and was assigned an animal named  when a Gap opened Between me and the mule in front of me i jabbed my mount in the Side and said a get up  old Friendly closed the Gap then seemed to get the idea a a in la show this smart  he closed the Gap then kept going. While i was pulling on the reins saying a whoa Friendly a he passed the other mule on the outboard Side about 1,300 feet up the Side of the Cliff. Incidentally the patients at Kalaupapa arc no longer the exiles they used to be. They leave at their pleasure some going to Las vegas to Gamble but come Back to Kalaupapa because that a Home. Done to be too concerned about the error on the cause of father Damien a death. The same mistake is on the plaque on his statue at the capital in Honolulu. A Gene Phillips Frankfurt West Germany a writer corrects error on father Damien european edition circulation 170,000 col Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in chief it. Col Gayle w. Fix Usa Deputy commander editor in chief Marie Kominicki Bob Wicker Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager thl8 newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of. Or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication. 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