Engineering Discussion.

The Public Works Committee meet Tuesday evening for their regular meeting. The meeting included discussion on a plan of action for the engineering department due to the recent resignation of Director of Engineering Joe Butler.

After discussion with Kevin Sprenkel, an engineer from Sprenkel and Associates, a decision was made not to hire a professional engineer and to continue with outside engineering services. According to Sprenkel if Carthage was going to hire a professional engineer they would have to also hire an entire staff to keep up with the demands of the city.

After looking at comparison the Committee decided hiring a professional engineer would not be cost effective for Carthage.

Committee Chair Bill Fortune made the comment that even though the city is not changing their engineering department, it was a good idea to review options as the Committee has done.

According to the job description the city is looking for someone with a college education with completed courses in engineering and urban planing with five years experience in the fields of engineering, land surveying, building construction and prior municipal experience. A qualified person for the job will also have to have the ability to deal effectively with builders, engineers, architects, and the general public, as well as the ability to read and interrupt maps and blueprints.

The complete job description is available at the City Administrators office.

NASCAR to the Max

The 2003 NASCAR season marks its unofficial beginning this weekend with the Silver Anniversary of the Budweiser Shootout at the Daytona International Speedway. The Shootout is a non-points paying event designed for drivers who won a pole position (fastest qualifier) during the last season and drivers who are previous winners of the Shootout. This year will also mark a couple of firsts for the event; the first time it is being run on a Saturday and the first time it will be run at night.

By NASCAR standards the race is considered a sprint with the featured distance being only 70 laps or 175 miles around the 2.5-mile high-banked tri-oval. In an effort to reduce the number of cars continuously running in the lead pack, NASCAR reduced the size of the fuel tanks allowed at Daytona and Talladega which will require more pit stops and more strategic decisions. With the new small tanks, two pit stops will likely be required with the possibility of three if a team isn’t maximizing it’s fuel economy.

Fifteen different drivers won poles last year and will be joined by four previous winners of the Shootout who did not win poles last year bringing the field size to 19. Drafting, the practice of two or more cars running in a single file line thereby allowing all cars to go faster, is at a premium at Daytona. In a normal race teammates will often times team up to form their own draft and challenge for the lead. With only 19 entries there are only a few multi-car teams represented, making them the favorites. Tony Stewart has won the two previous Shootouts but won’t have the benefit this year of a teammate. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will both be likely candidates for the win with Gordon being a partial owner of Johnson’s team. No matter what alliances are made, whether between teammates or similarly performing cars, they will go by the wayside with about five laps remaining when it becomes every man for himself literally making it anyone’s race.

I played tourist last weekend. You know, drive around in an out-of-state community, lookin’ here and there. Slowin’ down to nearly a stop ta look at some interest or another. I’m sure all the locals got a real kick out of it.

Sometimes I wonder if folks such as myself take advantage of the "tourist" badge to do things they wouldn’t think of in their won community. Parkin’ on the wrong side of the street, stoppin’ in the middle of an intersection to read the street signs, that sorta thing.

I suppose that’s part a the fun in bein’ a tourist. Ya know that if ya tic someone off, you’ll never see ‘em again anyway. I did try ta pull over if I saw a big line a traffic behind my creepin’ auto. They all made real friendly gestures as they passed me by.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Jake Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Suppy

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom & Ray:

I have a 1982 Mazda B2000 pickup truck, which has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. It is all beat up, and it’s now primarily used for trips to the dump and miscellaneous hauling. It has almost 100,000 miles, but it only gets driven about 2,000-3,000 miles a year now. The steering has been groaning lately, and my mechanic says the ball-joint boots cannot hold the lubricant. He said the ball joints and associated tie rods should be replaced. He said the cost of this repair is likely to be far more than the truck is worth. He also said that for as little as I drive it, I could probably get by without making the repair; it would just be noisy and sticky to steer. But I found that if I drown the ball joints in WD-40, the groaning goes away and steering is easier for months at a time. Is this safe? Can I just continue to use the WD-40 as the ball-joint lubricant indefinately? — Richard.

RAY: I wouldn’t, Richard. Our general rule is: You don’t mess with ball joints.

TOM: The lubricant that belongs in there is a very heavy-duty, high temperature grease. And you’re replacing it with a household spray that isn’t really even a lubricant. It obviously has lubricating properties, but WD-40 is really a desiccant, or water remover.

RAY: And, given the stakes—if a ball joint breaks, a wheel falls off—it’s not something you want to mess around with.

TOM: I’d go ahead and change the ball joint, Richard. It’s probably only one of them that’s bad. And they only cost 100 bucks. C’mon. You’ve had this truck since 1982, it hasn’t given you a lick of trouble, it’s the best vehicle you’ve ever owned, and you won’t drop 100 bucks to keep it running?