Tree-cutting angst

I can understand the frustration that Woodway residents have with Oncor Electric Delivery regarding the cutting of area trees.

I have a small, one-third acre lot in Woodway that is a part of my home. It is almost completely surrounded by telephone or power poles. There are seven poles, 13 guy wires and 11 anchors. There are three anchors that are not even being used for anything except for me to trip over. The equipment unsafely just sticks up out of the ground with no wires attached.

Oncor never asks me about coming to cut my trees. They just do it. I return home to find tree limbs cut, pieces of cables, wires, tools, and other odds and ends scattered around the lot. This makes it rather hazardous to mow.

I have had the lot for sale for years, but no one wants to buy something surrounded by poles and guy wires. I have tried unsuccessfully to get Oncor to move the poles and wires to make my lot a little more open.

I hope the Keep Woodway Green organization has better luck getting something done than I have.

Dean Hill

Woodway

Speech like bad tonic

President Obama’s State of the Union speech last week reminded me of a company I once knew that sold “hair restorer.”

I was young, fresh out of the Army, newly married and starting my first real job as a typewriter mechanic.

One customer’s entire business consisted of a room full of typewriters, a barrel of detergent, a batch of small bottles with labels and about 20 people.

One person filled bottles and shipped them. One opened mail, collected money and directed the sending of letters to dissatisfied customers. The rest used typewriters to produce “form letters” that appeared to be individually typed.

Each customer received a letter with detailed instructions for use of the restorer. If they complained that it didn’t work, they were sent a second letter urging them to follow the instructions closely, to give the process a little more time and to buy two more bottles.

I never found out if anyone ever received a third letter.

It sounds to me like the president is asking me to follow his instructions, be patient and buy a few more bottles of his “restorer.”

Clark Griffin

Rosenthal

Guns, crime rate

I read the Trib’s Jan. 31 article about the drop in the crime rate in Waco and did not see any mention of the rising number of citizens who have a concealed carry license and the rise in sales of weapons and ammunition to people who just want to protect their homes and family.

I think this had an effect on the drop in crime rates.

Jerry Bass

Mart

Spanish radio station

Regarding the Trib’s Jan. 26 story about two Hispanic radio stations being bought and subsequent concern about Spanish-language programing being reduced for our area: There still is one other Waco Spanish radio station, which is on the air continually. Radio Amistad KWRA 97.7 FM offers quality programing and great, positive and encouraging music of various styles.

Tom Gutiérrez

Hewitt