morning lineup firegeezer on 28 Sep 2007 07:12 am
Morning Lineup - September 28
This morning I just have some odds ‘n’ ends that have been floating around:
For those of you who have been following our “Plastic and Glue” housing stories, this snippet from a California newspaper will bring a nod:
“The vinyl siding on the neighboring home melted. Further damage was limited because the wall had stucco beneath the vinyl and because the garage fire was knocked down quickly,”
Besides the fact that a home-builder actually built fire safety into his houses, I took notice that having your siding melt away has become such a ho-hum happening that it’s just casually mentioned.
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During recent discussions about difficulties in recruiting new volunteers, we failed to mention another obstacle that people don’t like to talk about. Namely, the ever-increasing standards demanded for participation. There needs to be a threshold for physical standards in order to complete the basic tasks. But what about “knowledge and skills” standards that are usually only acquired through extended academic work? In the case of volunteer participation, just how many people can we expect to be willing to spend 9 months or a year traveling to a remote place several times weekly to take paramedic training?
While it’s desirable to have paramedic-level people on every unit, should it be a necessity? I’m wondering if our desire for ultimate quality is overriding our ability to deliver. We’re going to be addressing that more later.
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Those loons in the advertising industry who make TV ads seem to go through follow-the-leader fads in their productions. The current one is to zoom in to the actor’s mouth while they’re gaping at the product being pitched. Ever since camera lens design has improved to the point of being able to show every speck, they’ve been obsessed with this virtual invasiveness. I don’t want to see the sweat on somebody’s gums. It’s disgusting. And it certainly doesn’t make me want to drop everything and buy whatever they’re pitching.
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For the first 1,970 years of the A.D. calendar, the Christmas shopping season began on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then some retailers began what’s known as “Christmas creep” as they started peddling their seasonal merchandise earlier and earlier each year. This led to a pundit proposing the establishment of a “Save the 4th of July From Christmas” committee to try and stop this foolishness.
It looks like we’re still losing the battle. COSTCO, the “warehouse” retailer that charges admission just to shop there, put their Christmas lights, ornaments and related products out during the second week of September this year. Ridiculous. Where do I go to join that committee?
Ok, folks, it’s shift-change time. Let’s get the equipment checked out now. I’ll start the coffee machine.
