Coal Stoker Boiler

Pocono Summit man always dreaming up ways to make life easier

Name: George Kuzni

Age: 52

Town: Pocono Summit

Occupation: Semiretired/ landlord/inventor

Education: Majored in electronics and physics in college

Hobbies: Photography, bicycling, roller skating, inventing things

Community: Serves on the board of Stillwater Lakes Property Owners Association.

Words of wisdom: Poor is a state of mind. Broke is a statement you get from the bank. I have been broke, but I've never been poor.

More wisdom: People are loyal to their habits. When a habit goes to extremes, it becomes an addition. So, pick a good habit.

Growing up in Lebanon, Kuzni left his homeland in 1977 at age 19 as civil war devastated the country. Having a sister in California, he was able to settle in the Bay area, where he worked as an auto mechanic and at odd jobs. Soon he began taking college courses in electronics and physics.

In the early 1980s, Kuzni worked for an electronics company in Oakland, Calif., that was looking for a way to record and replay a telephone answering machine message digitally. Using a tape recorded message had drawbacks because the tape would wear out and break from constant winding and rewinding.

Kuzni was hired to design something with no moving parts. Given the task, he worked hard, putting in many overtime hours that he wasn't paid for.

"I never worked for the money," Kuzni said. "I just wanted to make it work."

His prototype was the beginning of digital recordings used in voicemail today.

"I don't' like voicemail, but I designed it," Kuzni quipped.

Soon after developing the device, Kuzni was laid off.

"I told myself that if I could survive for two weeks on my own, I'd never work for anyone again," Kuzni recalled.

And he hasn't. After his job was terminated, Kuzni did consulting work, handled finances for a nonprofit and got into real estate.

I hate theives!!! - Coal Stokers: Boilers, Furnaces and Stoves

My son has been hard at work weekends splitting this winters firewood.He recently got a call from a neighbor 10:30 at night.The neighbor was coming home and there was a van with two guys loading the freshly split firewood. As soon as the first light went on in the house,they were speeding away. The neighbor did not approach nor did he get a license number. Sad to say it, but this is the stuff we are living with presently and as times get tougher,there will be lots more of it. Mike My grandfather often told a story about his father getting fed up with people stealing their firewood...he drilled a hole in one piece, loaded it up with black powder and plugged the hole with a dowel. The left the "loaded" piece of firewood at the end of the pile and sure enough, the thieves made off with a dozen pieces or so...including the loaded one. They never found out who the thief was, but they never came back.

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