WINTER 2010
Volume 3 • Issue 5
Availability of High Speed Internet Provides Opportunities
Telecommuting is changing the way we work. By definition, telecommuting employees use
telecommunication services to stay in contact with other business locations instead of traveling to the office everyday. According to Mr. Ted Schadler, an information technology analyst with 21 years of experience in the software industry, telecommuting will rise from its
current level of 34 million telecommuters to an estimated 63 million U.S. workers by 2016.
The availability of broadband services in rural areas will fuel this trend. There’s even a new
name to describe the movement – telework. Thanks to telework, a host of technologies
already being used today will likely see a boom in the next five to ten years.
Employees who telecommute largely report that they are happier with their jobs and more
satisfied with their personal lives. A survey by the Information Technology Association of
America even found that 36 percent of respondents would choose telecommuting over a
pay raise.
Employers in turn benefit from reduced real estate costs, absenteeism, and employee
turnover costs, along with increased productivity and morale. In addition, many find that
telecommuting seems to encourage certain entrepreneurial qualities in their employees,
including drive, self-discipline, self-reliance and improved judgment.
There are benefits to the community as well: reduced fossil fuel consumption and
traffic congestion which lead to cleaner air and safer neighborhoods. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency, if an additional 10 percent of the nation's workforce
would telecommute just one day a week, Americans would avoid the frustration of driving
24.4 million miles, breathe air with 13,000 tons less air pollution and conserve more than
1.2 million gallons of fuel each week.
Telecommuting isn’t for everybody, nor will all companies allow it. Technology consultant
Daniel Burrus says, “Separating home from work is difficult. Some people have the ability
to do that and some don’t. And some people just need to be around people, not just video
conferencing.”
Scholarship Applications due February 15th
High school seniors, who are also the children of LaValle Telephone
Cooperative members, have several scholarship opportunities available
through the cooperative. The Wisconsin State Telecommunications
Foundation offers thirty scholarships, each in the amount of $1,500,
and the Foundation for Rural Service national program awards thirty
scholarships, each in the amount of $2,500. We’ve had students chosen
from this area, so applying may be worth the effort! In addition, our
local cooperative awards its own scholarships. Students may obtain
information from their school guidance counselor. Applications must
be in the LTC office by February 15, 2010. If you have further questions,
contact the school guidance counselor or the LaValle Telephone office.
The good news is, for subscribers with a computer and a high speed Internet connection
from LaValle Telephone Cooperative, they have the technology that could allow them
to telecommute.
Becky Walker, a LaValle
Telephone customer and
telecommuter has been
using LaValle Telephone
telecommunications services
for two years. As Conference
& CEU Manager at a Madison
publishing company providing
resources for athletic, fitness
& recreational professionals,
Becky is able to work from her
home office 2-3 days a week due to her High Speed Internet connection with LaValle
Telephone. As Becky came to us from Florida, not having to drive those winter roads
to Madison every day is a bonus to her.
Kola Luetkens is another kind
of internet user. As a LaValle
Telephone customer with all three
services, Kola uses her High
Speed Internet to compliment
her daily activities. Whether it be
playing cards with her group of
friends online or using the internet
to look up information about her
hobbies such as the latest
patterns and tips on quilting.
Protecting Your Privacy and Security
on Facebook
Have you been invited to "become a friend" on Facebook? If you haven’t yet
joined the social networking landscape, you may want to give it more thought.
Social networking sites can be a beneficial way to communicate with current
friends, reconnect with old friends, stay in touch with family members, and
meet new people. The list of social networking sites is long, but one of the
most popular is: Facebook. The fastest growing social networking site in the
world gains a million new users weekly and has more than 300 million in
all. You can share information both on your own Facebook page and friends’
pages. Leave private messages, or post public messages in a space called
the “Wall.” Activity on your page is reported to friends on their pages and
vice versa. Private messages and comments are reported to you via regular
e-mail, so you know when to check your Facebook page. See other side for
information on how to set up your Facebook account.
RESIDENTIAL & BUSINESS • LOCAL • LONG DISTANCE • HIGH-SPEED INTERNET • DIGITAL TV • WWW.LTC.COOP
Not just people in the work force benefit from having High Speed Internet.
Tell us how the technology has made a difference in YOUR life.
Three lucky customers will be randomly drawn from
entries received to win a $25 bill credit.
High Speed Internet brings the world of hobbies and games right into your home. No more leaving the house for a club meeting on cold winter days or waiting for everyone to be available for a
game of cards. Order everything from medications to cleaning supplies delivered right to your
door. The activities and benefits are endless for the seriously committed or the merely interested.
We want to learn how you use the internet for your favorite (legal and ethical) online activities.
Answers will be printed (with or without your name) in our next newsletter.
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Telephone number: ___________________________________________________
____ LaValle Telephone has my permission to use my name and website/hobby information in
the newsletter.
____ LaValle Telephone has my permission to use my website/hobby information in the newsletter, but DO NOT include my name.
Is Facebook for You?
You won’t know until you try.
How to Create a Facebook Account and Profile:
1. Visit www.facebook.com and create a personal account
by filling in the required fields as well as entering the
encrypted password provided by Facebook.
2. After you’ve entered this information, Facebook will send
you a confirmation e-mail. Click on the link within the
e-mail to begin personalizing your new Facebook account.
3. Facebook will take you through a series of steps in which
you can add as much or as little personal information as
you want. This information includes the names of the
high school and college you graduated from, your current
company/employer, city/town and regional network that
you identify with the most.
4. Once you’ve completed these initial steps, you can access
Facebook and find your friends and family online.
My online hobby is: ___________________________________________________
Announcing New Local
Channels 11 & 12
Send us this entry form with your bill payment or email your name, telephone number and online
favorites to [email protected]. Entry forms must be received by January 18th to be included in the
drawing for the bill credit.
Featuring more area news, events, & sports
with live broadcastings from Reedsburg.
My favorite website is: _________________________________________________
Shields Transfer Line and Truck and Equipment
Some Things are Worth Fixing
It doesn’t take you very long to realize Steve Shields enjoys taking a beat up, old truck and turning it into
something useful. These days that might be an old Kenworth or Peterbuilt and chances are it will end
up as a recovery vehicle. A recovery vehicle is what some of us used to call wreckers, but the terms
are interchangeable.
Steve and his employees just completed two-year’s worth of part-time work on a 1979 Peterbuilt tractor
that has become a 33-foot long mega wrecker. Other than the cab and the Holmes 750 mast and boom he
and crew fabricated the entire thing in house. It sports a 425 Hp Caterpillar diesel engine and a homemade
under-reach capable of picking up a fully-loaded, quad axle milk truck. It doesn’t look much like a 30 year
old semi and it certainly doesn’t look homemade. A new one would fetch $400,000 but Shields has only a
fraction of that invested.
Another interesting project involves a 1966 Kenworth Military Rotating Wrecker. Shields adapted the
hydraulic levers to be solenoid-controlled by air cylinders so the turret can be operated remotely. He
sourced some used but nice aluminum wheels to give it a little pizzazz. The mechanical work is completed
but the body needs some TLC. It remains a work in progress.
So how does someone come by the notion that some things are worth fixing up and not just tossing them
into the scrap heap. For Shields the journey started after graduating from Weston Schools in 1968.
He attended MATC to learn how diesel engines worked and how to repair them. After a
short stint at Oscar Meyer he decided to go into the livestock trucking business. It was
1973. Since then Shields Transfer Line and Truck and Equipment has gotten into
excavating, vehicle recovery and truck building. The excavating business started about
1983 with the purchase of a backhoe, dump truck and bulldozer. He has two full-time
employees that have been with him 20 and 16 years respectively.
(The CW Network previously on Channel 11
moved to channel 9)
the assembly area. The hulking steel skeletons of two
giant trucks sit silently waiting for the next hole to be
drilled or part to be welded.
Winter is just around the corner and pretty soon the phone
will start ringing with every car or truck that slides off the
road. Shields is running four recovery vehicles at the
present time and will be adding a fifth by Christmas. In
talking to him you begin to realize that vehicle recovery is
part art and part science when he goes into some of the
details. You also begin to realize why you need several
different sizes of wreckers.
Although he is relatively new to the Internet, Shields now
finds it an important part of the business. He uses it to
track down parts and to get information on equipment. It
also gives him a little advertising visibility. Word of mouth
has worked well for 37 years but a little new technology
can’t hurt.
While excavating work for new homes, septic systems and roadwork for the townships
has been the majority of the company’s workload, the vehicle recovery business and
truck building are important contributions. The truck building part of the business slowed
down about 10 years ago during the economic boom, but it’s taking off again. The
economics of buying a refurbished truck in recessionary times makes good sense.
Shields’ main building has two large workrooms with industrial strength welders, plasma
cutters and drill presses. One doubles as indoor garage for the wreckers and the other is
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