http___www.jw.org_hr_jehovini-svjedoci_dogadjanja-zanimljivosti_podruznica-betel_natpis-watchtower-bruklinska-znamenitost__1.xml
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The Watchtower Sign—A Longtime Brooklyn Landmark Download Day and night for more than 40 years, the tall, 4.6-meter (15 ft) red letters atop the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been a familiar sight to residents of New York City, many of whom depend on the sign’s useful time-and-temperature readout. Eboni, who can see the sign from her apartment in Brooklyn, said: “ It’s nice to look out the window to see the time and temperature before I go to work. It keeps me on time and helps me dress for the weather.” Will the time-and-temperature sign be there for another 40 years? Probably not. With the planned relocation of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ world headquarters to upstate New York, that decision will rest with the future owners of the building. A sign was originally installed more than 70 years ago by the previous owner of the building. Jehovah’s Witnesses changed it to its present form after purchasing the building in 1969. The sign requires regular maintenance. Several generations of young men have worked on the sign, performing needed repairs at all hours. A night worker recalls: “ One evening we got a call from a television news director. He was calling to tell us that the clock on our sign was 15 seconds off. He wanted us to fix it so that he could feature it on his program that night. Soon, a sleepy technician was at work correcting the problem.” To make it more efficient and accurate, the sign has been modified several times. In the mid-1980’s, a display of the temperature in Celsius was added to the alternating display of the time and the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. In 2009, the rather inefficient neon tubes illuminating the sign were replaced with red light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are more reliable and save over $4,000 (U.S.) annually in maintenance costs. Today this sign consumes a fraction of the electricity that it once did, making it “green” as well as red.
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Natpis “Watchtower” – bruklinska znamenitost Stanovnici New Yorka već više od 40 godina danju i noću mogu vidjeti natpis “Watchtower” (Stražarska kula) koji se nalazi na vrhu zgrade glavnog sjedišta Jehovinih svjedoka. Mnogi Njujorčani često bace pogled na taj crveni natpis visok 4,6 metara kako bi vidjeli točno vrijeme i temperaturu zraka. Eboni, koja živi u Brooklynu, kaže: “ Drago mi je što prije odlaska na posao mogu pogledati kroz prozor te vidjeti koliko je sati i kolika je temperatura zraka. To mi pomaže da se odjenem u skladu s vremenskim prilikama i na vrijeme izađem iz kuće.” Hoće li taj natpis koji pokazuje točno vrijeme i temperaturu zraka i narednih 40 godina stajati na vrhu spomenute bruklinske zgrade? Vjerojatno neće. Budući da će se glavno sjedište Jehovinih svjedoka preseliti 80-ak kilometara sjeverozapadno od New Yorka, odluku o tome donijet će novi vlasnici zgrade. Bivši je vlasnik prije više od 70 godina postavio na krovu zgrade jedan drugi natpis. A onda su 1969. zgradu kupili Jehovini svjedoci i postavili na nju natpis “Watchtower”. Taj natpis treba redovito održavati. Na njegovom održavanju radilo je nekoliko naraštaja mladih ljudi koji su ga popravljali kad god je to bilo potrebno, bilo danju bilo noću. Jedan radnik koji je radio u noćnoj smjeni kaže: “ Jedne večeri nazvali su nas s televizije. Urednik informativnog programa rekao nam je da naš sat kasni 15 sekundi. Zamolio nas je da ga točno podesimo kako bi ga te večeri mogao prikazati u svojoj emisiji. Stoga se pospani tehničar morao žurno popeti na krov kako bi otklonio problem.” Natpis je više puta bio dorađivan i renoviran. Tako je sredinom 80-ih godina prošlog stoljeća izmjeničnom prikazu točnog vremena i temperature zraka izražene u fahrenheitima dodan i prikaz temperature zraka u Celzijevim stupnjevima. Godine 2009. neonske su cijevi zamijenjene pouzdanijim i štedljivijim LED diodama, pa su godišnji troškovi održavanja smanjeni za 4 000 dolara. Renovirani natpis troši puno manje struje, što doprinosi očuvanju okoliša. Stoga se može reći da je taj crveni natpis nedavno postao i “zelen”.