Whistle While ...

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Wednesday - June 17, 2009

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Have you ever seen one of those courtroom drama shows where evidence is introduced and the judge throws it out? The judge then turns to the jury and tells them to forget what they heard and not to use it in their decision. Seems to me that it is the only thing you’ll be thinking about once you’re told that.

The other week I was merrily doing my job in my office, which is located on the second floor of our production plant in Kaneohe. My office happens to be right next to the pressroom where I can look out my window and see the newspaper being printed. Just like the movies.

Anyway, MidWeek‘s effervescent managing editor, Yu Shing Ting, came in to ask me a question. In mid-sentence she nearly yelled, “Oh, my God, Ron, how can you work with that piercing noise?” She then covered both her ears with her hands and looked around my office for the source.

I looked up from my desk and said, “What noise?” She asked if I was serious and then described the sound as a piercing whistle. I guess I was so used to hearing it, and with the presses running, I really can’t hear much else. I sat up like a prairie dog and my ears went like radar. Suddenly the noise became very apparent - like a combination of nails scratching a chalkboard and a dog whistle that humans can hear. I went around my office turning off all my electronic devices, but the noise continued. For the rest of the day I could not concentrate on anything, and felt if I were going out of my mind. Finally, I went out to the pressroom where the noise seemed more pronounced. I approached our two press maintenance guys and went into a five-minute diatribe on the noise problem.

When I was done, they looked at me, then took their hearing protection out of their ears and said, “What did you say?” That explained why no one out there was aware of the problem - they couldn’t hear it! They promised to investigate it and suspected it was a bad seal on the air compressor.

I endured the whistling noise through the end of the day, when suddenly it stopped. Sure enough, the guys had fixed the problem. That night at home, lying in bed, I suddenly started hearing that whistling noise again. I was in the freaking Twilight Zone!

My wife just looked at me and said, “Go jiggle the toilet handle, silly!” Yup, the toilet was running.

I wonder if those press guys make house calls?

Ron’s WEBSITE of the weekwww.boardofwatersupply.com