Garage Door Injury Sidelines Mets’ Pitcher

© 2002 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Summer 2002
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Page 50


CLIPPINGS
Garage Doors and Openers in the Media


Garage Door Injury Sidelines Mets’ Pitcher

When celebrities get injured by a garage door, word gets out.

On April 16, New York Mets right-hander Satoru Komiyama was put on the 15-day disabled list, a day after cutting the middle finger of his pitching hand while opening his garage door on his way to Shea Stadium.

"I haven’t heard of that one before," Mets’ manager Bobby Valentine acknowledged.

It does not appear to be a pinch injury. Reporter Dave Buscema of the Middletown, N.Y., Times Herald-Record says, Komiyama’s "hand got caught in a hinge as it slid off the handle." Another report said Komiyama sustained "a small cut above the finger nail."

The Japanese player said he had trouble with the "garage door system" here. "I’m not gonna use the garage any more," he joked.


Telephone Becomes GDO Remote Control

Thanks to a new "telephone controller" (the manufacturer is not identified), it’s now possible to open your garage door from any telephone.

The device can control a thermostat, water heater, and other appliances including the garage door opener. "Once wired in," writes technology reporter Stewart, "you pick up the phone (could be a cell phone), dial your home number, enter the security code, then enter the function code."

If a homeowner added a few Web cams around the house, he or she could let in a garage door technician (or any repairman), watch the repair via the Web, and never leave the office.


The Garage Door Rapist

Some folks transform their garage doors into a beautiful mural. But this Toronto billboard door is the opposite.

A man has painted a message on his garage door, accusing a named Mountie of being a rapist. The shocking sign, "viewed daily by thousands of commuters," accuses the alleged rapist of first drugging his victims, then raping them.

"Most amazing of all," writes reporter Bonokoski, "is that this provocative, in-your-face sign has been there, in various forms and rewrites, for seven long years."

The case has been investigated, but the evidence has not warranted an arrest. Nonetheless, the homeowner continues his garage door campaign and has never been arrested for slander.


Regulating Garage Door Colors?

In the last 10 years, garage door manufacturers have multiplied their color offerings. Now, it seems that some municipalities are beginning to rebel.

In this Canadian editorial, Gibbons attacks a local legislator’s efforts to change a local ordinance that bans hanging laundry outdoors in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. He says the town already has laws where "garage door colors are carefully regulated," dogs are leashed, and rusty cars and boats are forbidden on driveways.

He later notes, however, that Kanata doesn’t really have a law that regulates the color of garage doors, but that this myth was spread by real estate agents from another suburb.

Gibbons likes the myth. "Because," he writes, "as long as Kanatans believe they must restrict their color selections to friendly earth tones, then my neighbor won’t deface his garage doors with a (Toronto Maple) Leafs logo."


The Correct Color for the Garage Door

Many garage door manufacturers now offer technology that helps consumers select their garage door. Now, paint companies are helping consumers decide the right color for exterior components, including the garage door.

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore both have color cards that indicate which colors work best on siding, doors, and trim. At Lowe’s, you can send in a photograph of your house and a "Color Doctor" will mail back an appropriate color scheme. The service, which "cures color anxiety" is free.

Yes, exterior colors are a personal choice, "but the results are very public." The story advises that you should not draw attention to "utilitarian features" like garage doors, gutters, and downspouts.

Garage doors are "less conspicuous in the same color as the body of the house," writes the reporter. "If the house is unpainted brick, paint them the color of the trim, not the shutters."