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Hotline giving precise
time again

Question: Why did Hawaiian Telcom change the time of day (983-3211)? Verizon gave the time in hour:minutes:seconds. Now it's only hour:minutes. We need the time of day with seconds to set a digital watch. Is there another number we can call to get the time of day in hours:minutes:seconds?

Answer: It turns out Hawaiian Telcom wasn't the Grinch who stole time.

We were told the seconds feature was just temporarily lost because of changes being made to the system. When we called 983-3211 on Friday, the recording was giving the time down to the second. You can also call 643-TIME (8463) toll-free within Hawaii for the same information.

Hawaiian Telcom is installing a new state-of-the-art "Time of Day" announcement machine, which will mean "enhancements such as weather reports and current temperature," said spokeswoman Ann Nishida. Installation has required modifications to the current system.

"To avoid taking down the system completely, the seconds feature became temporarily unavailable as we work to set up the new one," Nishida said.

Q: We've been having a problem with our trash pickup in Palolo. Our trash pickup days are Mondays and Thursdays and, for whatever reason, the trash person always misses either a block or a row of homes. One Monday, the driver missed homes on four streets. We called the refuse division at about noon and were told that the truck was full and the driver would return later that day, but he never did. We called again that evening and left a message. Tuesday morning, someone called back and said the supervisor would be notified. Still no pickup. In past incidents in which the trash was not picked up, the driver at least picked it up the following day. What is the proper procedure for reporting missed pickups, and why the run-around and delay?

A: You did the right thing by calling the Honolulu refuse station.

Next time, if you don't get a satisfactory response, ask to speak to Charles Kowalski, the superintendent, said refuse collection administrator David Shiraishi.

There were problems with missed pickups at the time your complaint came in because "we were short-handed with our supervision for the automated operations in the Honolulu District," he said. Since then, he said, another supervisor has been reassigned "to enable us to look into and answer complaints."

Mahalo

To three people who came to my aid after my motorcycle smashed the platform on a turn signal at the entrance to Ala Moana Park near Ward Center recently. The impact caused me to fall. A lady gave me her water bottle, a man in a red car stopped and helped me raise the motorcycle and a Ward security officer was nice to also offer help. I was in a panic and forgot to thank them for their courtesies and concern. To all of them, my sincerest thanks and may God be with you always. My injuries were minor. -- Alwin Shinkawa

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