Morning Lineup - July 29

I think I’m finally recuperated from the “Expo experience.” We had such a good time there that all of us, the Geezerguys and Dave Statter, are already making plans to return next year. This was the first time any of us had been on the “booth side” of the exhibits and we were learning-as-we-go about how the system works.

The folks at Firehouse.com were a great help and very pleasant with us, considering how unruly we could get if left unsupervised. And Chief Billy Goldfeder, publisher of the FirefighterCloseCalls website, was a terrific host for the podcast that was recorded on Friday. Billy has obviously had at least a year and a half of training at the Columbia School of Broadcasting, because he was a real pro at moderating and guiding the roundtable talk. It must have turned out ok because afterward several people made a point of coming by the booth just to tell us that they were in the audience and liked the show. As I promised earlier, as soon as Firehouse gets the podcast posted, we’ll put the link up for you.

The good folks at Singer Associates allowed Dave Statter to climb the Pierce aerial and get a few overhead shots of the exhibit floor. We’re hoping that Goldfeder didn’t see him going up the ladder without strapping on a pompier belt.

I can’t emphasize enough how impressed I was with the variety of vendors (at least 500 of us) that were on the floor as well as the displays that were set up. In Maryland the State Police operate the air ambulance service statewide and they had a complete helicopter in there on display. And of course, every apparatus builder both large and small had their latest models on display. I heard a lot of buzz over the amphibian mini-pumper that was not too far from us.

Yes, I’d recommend that you plan on visiting the Expo next year. And expect to spend the whole day in there….. you’ll be glad you did.

But since today we’re going to spend the whole day in here, let’s get this equipment checked out. I’ll start the coffee going.