Kudos to The City of Gustine – with a little help,  actually a whole lot of help from the USDA – the downtown city hall project will now become a reality as well as improvements to the water system.

Congressman Dennis Cardoza was in town last week to make the announcement to city officials.

This is no small fete as so many communities are vying for the same federal stimulus dollars. It takes someone being in the right place at the right time and making sure that federal officials – like Cardoza – are made aware of the need back home in their own districts.

Cardoza has developed a lot of clout on Capitol Hill and is experienced enough to know how to get the money – it just has to be a project that he (and his staff) believe in. With visits like “One Voice” made by city officials, the message gets across loud and clear as to what projects are indeed worthwhile.

Congratulations to former city manager, Margaret Silveira and councilman Joe Oliveira for making the pitch about the new city hall and the need for upgrading the water system. Your voice was certainly heard!

Of course, the stimulus money is really our money and I just hate the fact that our country’s indebtedness keeps growing larger and larger – but….if someone is going to get the money, it might as well be our cities!

Gustine’s downtown is in much need of a revitalization and a new city hall will be one of the best things that could possibly happen. Having city hall downtown, like the post office, brings people to the main street and people on the main street means foot traffic that normally would not be there. It’s important for the survival of what businesses are open in Gustine’s downtown to have a reason for people to be there. The post office, banks and city hall are all key in keeping people in the city’s core…so a brand new city hall with lots of activities will be a great welcome.

Newman is also seeing some revitalization come their way as the downtown plaza project has made it through the bidding process. The plaza will hopefully add some “much needed” esthetics to the parking lot and create an inviting atmosphere to those who simply drive through Newman but never stop. When it’s all said and done the plaza could be a real boost to Newman’s merchants. We have heard many merchants express their concerns over street closures during construction – we are assured by city officials that closures will be kept to a minimum and the benefits will far outweigh the inconveniences. Call me crazy….but….unfortunately I still have vivid memories of an inept contractor for the street project who made many promises and failed to deliver…I get water in my building every rainy season to prove it!! This project is quite a bit different than that one, still, there will be many unforeseen circumstances – city officials just need to prepare for the worst and celebrate when they don’t happen. The winning bidder – Perma Green – is no stranger to Newman projects and I’m sure they will want to do a good job for the community, if so it will be a win-win situation for all!!

Computers….they come in all shapes and sizes these days and just about everyone has one…there are still a few holding out on technology, not many though. Those of us who have them, pretty much believe that we can’t live without all of the technology and information they provide and work that they do for us on a day to day basis. The true question is though…how many of us backup our information on a regular basis…just in case?? If you are a business owner and use your computer for bookkeeping purposes or if you are a student who uses your computer for schoolwork or simply a music lover who uses ITunes…let me give you some great advice…backup your files. All it takes is one day of turning on your machine and nothing happening or sending your computer off for repairs for one thing totally irrelevant and it coming back with a totally blank hard drive. Thank goodness it didn’t happen to me but it has happened to two good friends and I can tell you….devastation sets in rather quickly.

I can remember the days with a new computer was in the price range of $5,000 or more and we had to back up files on floppy disks the size of 45’s (you know those things that music used to be played on – 45 vinyl records??)

Now, portable storage units with more capacity than actual hard drives are extremely inexpensive and let me tell you worth their weight in gold, of course, they no way resemble 45’s either!

We have systems in place in our office to have most of our files backed up to a server on a regular basis and being the “anal annie” that I am there are also additional external drives that get backups as well - one can never be too sure and you can never have too many backups.  

Both of the outcomes of my friends computer issues are totally different – one good, the other not good at all and is a reminder that you can’t replace what’s on your computer after it’s gone so please make a backup copy of your files – you’ll be glad that you did and so will I!!