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Morning Lineup – May 24

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Thursday Morning – Check Your Invoices

Last month we told about a scam that is being tried out on fire departments across the U. S.  There is a shady outfit that calls itself Century Manufacturing from someplace in New York that is sending gallon jugs of liquid labeled Wetter Water to fire departments unsolicited and then billing them for $114 (price varies, but always close to that).  Apparently their hope is that whoever gets the invoices will assume that the chief ordered it and they will go ahead and pay it.  Sometimes the jerks phone first and try to generate a sale for several gallons and if the chief says "No" they go ahead and send one anyway along with the invoice.  If you missed this warning the first time around, then click HERE and HERE to review our initial lookouts.

After those postings we receive a few emails from other FD's that had experienced the same irritating contact with Century.  Yesterday another email arrived that I will share with you:

Just to let you know I received a bill for the free gallon of Water Wetter. It was half full due to being damaged in transit. The salesman called and since it was damaged he would send me another for free. This time I got a 2 gallon bucket. This was seven weeks after I talked to him when we were billed for four gallons and they will not take it back, so it is now in the hands of the Attorney General for Arkansas. Stay away from Century products.

This fire official's contact began right at the time of our first alert so he was already on guard for it, and his department isn't out any money on this one.  Make sure that your FD doesn't get slammed by these shysters and check your invoices before you pay them.  If any of you are contacted by this outfit, please write and let us know.

Before we start rummaging through the mail pile, we'd better get started with the equipment check.  You know where I'll be, then we'll meet back in  the day room.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

Last night's game in Madison Square Garden was a seat-gripper for fans of both teams.  New Jersey score the first goal just 2:43 into the game, added another one less than two minutes later, and by the midway point of the first period they had a 3-0 lead in what looked like a runaway in the making.  But the Rangers dug in and began a comeback by getting their first goal six minutes later.

The Rangers attack continued with a second goal just 32 seconds after the start of the 2nd period and then their 3rd unanswered goal was scored 17 seconds into the 3rd, tying the game up.  (Fans standing and cheering).  The game remained tied until the Devils scored their go-ahead goal with 4-½ minutes left in regulation.  The sealed the deal with an empty-netter at the end to take a 3-2 lead in the series and a chance to take it when they return home to Newark tomorrow night.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3: Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Phoenix – 2, Los Angeles – 0.
Game 5: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 3 OT.

Los Angeles wins series 4 games to 1.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2: New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 4: New Jersey – 4, New York – 1.
Game 5: New Jersey – 5, New York – 3.
Game 6: Friday 8 pm Eastern, NBCSN.

New Jersey Devils lead series 3 games to 2.

Highlights from last night's game:

 

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Posted by on May 24, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – May 23

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Wednesday Morning – Stop and Think Before You Open Your Yap

Everybody in Fire and EMS is constantly thinking about our public image and trying to keep it "positive" in the minds of our citizens.  Even though we try our best to behave, once in a while somebody goes into action before they put their brain in gear and the results can undo a year's worth of good deeds in just seconds.  That's what happened in Union County, New Jersey, a few days ago when a police officer got a serious brain cramp and plunged his department, along with his chief, into a world-wide scorn.  Fox News sent this story out:

Frank Roder, a construction worker from the town of Winfield Park, had taken his son, Aidan, down to the Rahway River to feed ducks Thursday. But when he stopped briefly before settling on a parking space, the impatient boy jumped out and took off — straight toward a ledge 35 feet above the river, Roder recalled.

"He hopped out, and I thought that was OK, I was just going to park," Roder, 38, said, but "he just took off, made a beeline for the edge."

The panic-stricken father jumped out of the cab of his 2006 Jeep Commander and raced after the errant boy, catching him just feet from the edge.  That's when Aidan, eyes as big as saucers, looked behind Roder and said, "Um, Daddy …"

Roder turned in time to see the Jeep nosedive down the embankment and land in the muddy water.

Fox News

Roder hugged the boy and waited as Union County police converged on the scene over the next few hours. A crane pulled the Jeep out, and amazingly, it started right up, though Roder is pretty sure his insurance company will count it as totaled.

He was counting his blessings when a young cop approached him and handed him two tickets. One was for failure to produce the insurance card, which was somewhere in the waterlogged cab. The other was for failing to use his emergency brake.

That's not all.  The Loopy LEO then went so far to say that the man should have disregarded the sprinting moppet and "taken an extra five seconds" to set the parking brake.  Read the full story HERE to see how the police chief is trying to double-clutch his way out of the spotlight, but I don't think he's being very successful with that.

Maybe this cop does this sort of thing frequently, I don't know.  But somethin's gotta change soon now.  Just keep in mind, you are only a few seconds away from dropping into this sort of publicity quicksand if you don't keep your brain in gear all the time.

Let's use that sparkling brainpower now to get this equipment checked out.  I'm going to help sharpen our mental reflexes by getting some good, strong coffee going  before we meet back in the day room.  (Just don't tell anybody what you think about this.)

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

The dark horse Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes put on a good show for the fans last night and played an exciting game that went into overtime.  Putting up six goals in regulation, they were tied 3-3 after two periods and then went scoreless in the third.  The OT winner came 17:42 in the first OT for the  4-3 win.  Phoenix had their chances to win with a 5-on-3 power play in the third period and a power play during the sudden-death overtime.  But the Kings' defense dug in an earned their pay holding off the attacks.

The Kings came into the playoffs seeded last at #8 and marched on through knocking off the top 3 seeds and only losing 2 games total in the first three rounds.  They have a week to rest, heal and get rusty before the first game of the Cup championships round on May 30 versus the winner of the Rangers – Devils series that resumes tonight.  That matchup is tied at 2 games apiece and is assured of playing at least two more games.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3: Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Phoenix – 2, Los Angeles – 0.
Game 5: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 3 OT.

Los Angeles wins series 4 games to 1.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2: New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 4: New Jersey – 4, New York – 1.
Game 5: Wednesday 8 pm Eastern, NBCSN.
Game 6: Friday 8 pm Eastern, NBCSN.

Series tied at two games apiece.

Highlights from last night's game

 

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Posted by on May 23, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup, public relations • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 22

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Tuesday Morning – Up, Up and Away

There are so many interesting things happening these days that we just can't cover them all, especially off-topic events.  One of those is the first-ever launch of a privately-owned space rocket early this morning.  The launch of the Space X Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to take place Saturday, but a faulty rocket valve shut off the countdown at the last second.  You may have seen a quick blurb about it on the news that evening.

But the valve was replaced and the ship went up successfully at 3:44 am Eastern from Cape Canaveral.  This also launches a new era in space exploration and travel with most future projects like this one being financed by private interests.  They are filling the void left by NASA as the government's space program is being defunded as more cash is getting diverted to reward wealthy political campaign contributors.  The private space industry is the future of space travel and it got off the ground (so to speak) this morning with little notice by most people.

One of the interesting sidelight stories of this launch that is carrying equipment and replacement supplies to the international space station is a small canister of private cargo.  This dedicated parcel contains bits of creamated remains (ashes, if you will) of 308 people, including two well-known celebrities.  One of them is those of actor James Doohan who starred on the long-lived tv and movie series Star Trek.  He is the man who played the role of Scotty, that guy who was constantly "beaming up" Capt. Kirk and his workmates from space places back to the Enterprise.

The other notable is one of the early astronauts Gordon Cooper.  He was one of the Mercury project, and later Gemini program, astronauts in the 1960's, a true space pioneer.  ABC News tells us where they were riding on this final mission:

These ashes are in a canister stored in the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which will separate from the Dragon capsule nine minutes into flight. If all goes as planned, the rocket will orbit the Earth for up to a year before it re-enters the atmosphere and burns up

Celestis' prices vary. A suborbital flight with a return to Earth starts at $1,000, the launch into Earth orbit is $3,000, and a trip to the Moon costs almost $10,000. If you really want to go where no man has gone before, a flight into deep space will run you almost $13,000.

You can read a good summary of the rocket and unmanned space capsule used in this flight on NDTV HERE.

"Beam me up, Scotty!"

The window is now open.

Our own window for getting the equipment checked is now open, so let's get started.  I'm a'headin' for the coffee pot to make sure all is ok there.  See you back in the day room.

Reminder:  Midnight tonight is the deadline for free downloading of the eBook 2 Weeks a Year?  Finding Humor While Deployed in Iraq, a paramedic's tale of his time as a medic in Iraq..  See yesterday's posting about it for information HERE.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

The New Jersey Devils tied their series with the Rangers last night with a convincing 4-1 win.  The Devils came out in full steam right off the bat and controlled the entire game from start to finish.  Their captain Zach Parise got two goals and the sluggish Rangers failed to score until there were barely more than five minutes left in the game.  The next game will be played in Madison Square Garden and should be a real corker worth watching.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3: Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Phoenix – 2, Los Angeles – 0.
Game 5: Tuesday 6 pm Pacific NBCSN.

Los Angeles leads series 3 games to 1.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2: New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 4: New Jersey  – 4, New York – 1.
Game 5: Wednesday 8 pm Eastern, NBCSN.

Series tied at two games apiece..

Highlights from Monday's game:

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Posted by on May 22, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 21

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Monday Morning – "Say Kids, What Week is This?"

This is EMS Week…. it began yesterday and runs through Saturday.  This year's theme is incorporated into the banner:

National EMS Week – May 20 – May 26

FossilMedic Mike Ward is keeping us abreast of the activities and pronouncements that are accompanying the focus during the week by posting a daily essay or news item each evening around 7 pm Eastern.  He began his series last night and the first installment is the posting immediately preceding the Lineup.  So be sure to scroll down beyond our morning greeting and see what he is leading off with.  While you're at it, keep on scrolling and catch up on the rest of the Sunday articles you may have missed.

The National EMS Week is sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians and you can read more about this year's program on their website HERE.  So if you are assigned to any unit, fire or EMS, that responds to medical emergencies, then check out the web page and be sure to keep up with Mike's daily postings.

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While we are talking about designated weeks, now is a good time to remind you of the upcoming Firehouse Expo 2012 that will be held in Baltimore in just under 2 months from now.

The week-long event includes training, conferences, lectures, and the always-popular Exhibit Hall.  The exhibit hall is open during the final three days of the Expo and for the 5th year running, Firegeezer and STATter911 will be sharing a both right on the central aisle in the heart of the action.

Dave and I will be looking forward to seeing you there again this year.  For me, this is one of my most-looked-forward-to weekends of the year.  I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing and talking with our readers who stop by for a visit.  So mark your calendar now and begin making your plans.  A lot of people round up a group and ride down in the FD utility van, and use that department gasoline for the trip.

See you there!

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It's time to get the Monday equipment check started now, so let's get going.  I'm headed for the Bunn-O-Matic to make sure there's plenty of that life-extender for us.  See you back in the digital day room.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

Sunday afternoon the Phoenix Coyotes staved off a sweep by the underdog L. A. Kings by beating the Kings on their home ice, 2-0.  The next game will be back in Phoenix and they will be charged up in this must-win contest.  Now we'll see if Los Angeles is still on their improbable roll, of if their high-flying streak has been snapped.  Phoenix has a real challenge ahead, needing to win three more consecutive games to move on to the final round.  The Kings however only need to win one… and this will show us if they've still "got it."

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3: Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Phoenix – 2, Los Angeles – 0.
Game 5:  Tuesday 6 pm Pacific NBCSN.

Los Angeles leads series 3 games to 1.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2: New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 4:  Monday, 8 pm Eastern NBCSN.

NY Rangers leads series 2 games to 1.

Highlights From Sunday's Game in Los Angeles

 

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Posted by on May 21, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – May 20

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Sunday Morning – Weekend Sports

Well, that "wonder horse" did it aqain yesterday.  At the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, the 2nd leg of the famed Triple Crown series went off with 11 horses in the race, and it had the same story line as the Derby.  The slightly-shorter race (1/16th mile less) was still just barely long enough for I'll Have Another to come from the field and chase down Bodemeister, beathing him by a nose at the finish.

Deja vu in Baltimore  (Washington Post photo)

What more is there to say?  The final race of the series, the Belmont Stakes in Long Island will be held in three weeks on June 9.  You can betcha' that this will be a tv ratings-buster for sure.

You wanna watch yesterday's thrilling finish again?  Here:

 

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 Have you been watching the Live Hawk Cam from the University of Wisconsin?  We talked about this HERE eleven days ago on May 9 where we linked you to the live webcam set up to view the Red Tail Hawk's nest on a building ledge at the college.  At the time, the three chicks were little, white fluffy things barely able to move around the nest.

Since then, they have grown noticeably and are now well into the fledgeling stage of their life, showing most of their color in their feathers.  If you watch today you will see a lot of wing-stretching going on and a bit of strolling around the nest.

They seem to get along together pretty well, they haven't pushed one of their siblings out of the nest.  But they have established a pecking order with one chick definitely dominant over the others and one of them more or less standing to the outside and waiting to get the leavings at meal time.  Last evening Mama brought home fresh bunny rabbit for dinner.

During the next couple of days I expect to see a lot more and vigorous wing flapping going on as they get ready to take to the air and begin their hunting lessons.  If you haven't already, CLICK HERE to reach the webcam page and put it in your Favorites file for a couple of weeks.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

For the second time in three games, the Rangers blanked the Devils by a 3-0 score Saturday.  The game was scoreless after two periods and still up for grabs going into the final period.  But New York scored twice in two minutes early in the third at 3:19 and 5:16 to deflate the Devils and held on through the rest of the game, largely thanks to their goalie Henrik Lundqvist.  The third goal was an empty-netter that sealed the deal.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3: Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Sunday, 3 pm Eastern on NBC.

Los Angeles leads series 3 games to none.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2: New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: New York  – 3, New Jersey – 0..

NY Rangers leads series 2 games to 1.

Saturday Rangers vs. Devils Game Highlights

 

Let's get started on our own highlights reel now and get this equipment checked out.  Sunday breakfast will be ready soon and I need to get some more coffee going.

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Posted by on May 20, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 19

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Saturday Morning

Did you read our posting in Thursday's Lineup about the upcoming annular eclipse of the sun tomorrow?  If you missed it, then CLICK HERE to catch up on it.  Especially if you live in the Southwest U. S. where it will be seen.

Fred Espinak image

Mark Donovan wants us to know that there will be some websites that will be live-streaming the "ring of fire" including NVO News.  You can go to their website HERE to get some good viewing tips and other related info, then tomorrow return for their netcast of the event.  Some other websites that will be live-streaming are:

  • The National Park Service HERE.
  • Slooh.com will be utilizing telescopes stationed from Japan to New Mexico to show the entire path of the eclipse HERE.
  • Panasonic has a string of telescope cameras set up along the face and top of Mount Fuji in Japan to catch it right at the beginning.  That show will start TONIGHT at 6 pm Eastern and 3 pm Pacific HERE.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

Los Angeles continued its hot pace through the playoffs by winning their third game against the Coyotes and taking a commanding 3 games to none lead.  The Kings went into the playoffs seeded #8 and have torn up the competition beginning by knocking off the league's top-rated team Vancouver in the first round.  I will have to see if I can find out when the last time, if ever, the 8th-seeded team won the Stanley Cup.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3:  Los Angeles – 2, Phoenix – 1.
Game 4 Sunday, 3 pm Eastern on NBC.

Los Angeles leads series 3 games to none.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2:  New Jersey – 3, New York – 2
Game 3: Saturday, 1 pm Eastern on NBC.

Series tied at one game each.

Kings vs. Coyotes Highlights from Game 3

 

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We'd better get our own highlights reel started now and get this equipment checked out.  I've got to make sure we have plenty of coffee when we get back to the day room.

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Posted by on May 19, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 18

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Friday Morning – Let's Go Shopping

Yes, that's right…. today is Friday and that means yesterday was Thursday.  Thursday is when our regular feature Looking Back is posted, but my addled brain lost track of the weekly progress and we missed it.  But worry no more.  It isn't missing, but only late and will be posted first thing this morning.  Sorry about the equipment failure, but all systems seem to be working ok this morning.

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Is J. C. Penney the next giant retailer to take a tumble?  If you regularly scan the business news pages, you probably saw that the department store chain's stocks took a plunge the other day that was their largest one-day drop in 40 years.  And Standard & Poor has put a "watch" on their credit rating now and dropped their listing down into junk status.  It was based on their first-quarter earnings that came in much lower than was projected.  The "experts" say that their sales dropped off primarily from a change in their marketing strategy that shifted from weekly sales promotions to an "everyday low pricing" policy.

My own opinion holds that another big part of their problem comes from having nearly all of their stores located in major shopping malls and those places, with a few notable exceptions, are bleeding customers and going out of popularity for a variety of reasons.  But I'm not writing them off yet.  They still have their catalogue business and have an online sales presence, plus a steady and reliable top office that usually doesn't make these kinds of mistakes that created this latest stumble.  They also have begun a movement to open smaller stand-alone stores in commercial districts, so I don't think they are anywhere near the fatal slide into collapse that Sears is in (as I talked about last year HERE), but they sure do need a rearrangement of their locations and access to their customers. 

James Cash Penney

Penney's is one of those retailers that is a commercial icon in our country that began in 1902 when James Cash Penney opened his first store in Wyoming.  We'll see what happens next.

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I guess by now most of you have heard about the latest detailed, scientific study that assures us that coffee is indeed good for you and has some properties that may lengthen your life span.  And this one says that caffeine has nothing to do with it, plus or minus.  These coffee-good, coffee-bad studies have been alternating back and forth for 50 years now.  You can bet that in about ten or fifteen years a contradictory study will be released that warns us about terrible and irreversible damage to our brains and bodies if we keep drinking coffee.  When I was working, we always greeted these "latest studies" with a bit of mirth and skepticism.  If it was a postive study, then we would gather around the Bunn-O-Matic and toast the enlightened scientist who reconfirmed what we always knew.  If it was a negative study, then we would gather around the coffee maker and remind each other that a good cuppa will help us get through the waiting period before the next report arrived to reverse everything the latest one proclaimed.

We need to grab our GeezerCups now and get this equipment checked out for this morning.  I'll get a fresh pot going before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on May 18, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 17

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Thursday Morning – Look Up!

For you sky gazers out there in the Southwestern U. S., there is a rare opportunity coming up this Sunday to view a solar phenomenon known as an "annular eclipse" of the sun.  Unlike a total eclipse where the moon's shadow completely covers the view of the sun, an annular eclipse occurs when the moon is the perfect distance away from the earth where the shadow is slightly smaller than the sun's display and there is a slight ring of light showing around the edge of the shadow.

This composite photograph taken in 2005 by Fred Espenak shows
the view slightly before, during, and slightly after an annular eclipse.

Sunday's display begins in eastern Asia and crosses the North Pacific Ocean and ends in the western United States in the Texas panhandle.  The shadow will be entering the southern Oregon and northern Caifornia coastline at 01:23 GMT, which by my (unreliable) calculation is 5:23 pm Pacific time.  The map below that is provided by NASA shows the path of the eclipse and when it reaches Texas, the inevitable sunset ends the entire episode about 3-½ hours after it began in China.

NASA

If you are standing at a point within the path, you will see the "ring" for about 4 minutes before the shadow begins shifting out of sun's rays.  If this was taking place during a school day, then the kiddies would be herded out onto the playground to watch it.  But it's after school hours and on a Sunday to boot, so it becomes your responsibilty to do the herding of your young'uns to watch with you.

NASA has a very complete webpage devoted to this event if you want to get into the details of it.  They also have lots of maps including closeups of each state for you lucky folk who are in the path (or maybe planning a day trip to get to an affected area).  CLICK HERE to get to the NASA page.

We don't need any maps to find our way to the apparatus, though.  So let's get going with the equipment check while I make some more solar coffee.  See you back in the day room.

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From Amazon:

Barska Starwatcher Compact Refractor Telescope
includes table-top tripod and carrying case.

59% off!

CLICK HERE to see the details and to order yours.

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Posted by on May 17, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Morning Lineup – May 16

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Wednesday Morning

I know we have a lot of baseball fans here, so I'd like to pass along this entertaining, but provocative, article posted last night in the Wall Street Journal.  It was written by Rich Cohen, a noted sports writer, and he lays out the case for demolishing and plowing over Chicago's Wrigley Field ball park.  He sets the tone for his essay right off the bat with these opening paragraphs:

Having not won a World Series since 1908, and having last appeared on that stage in 1945—a war year in which the professional leagues were still populated by has-beens and freaks—the Chicago Cubs must contemplate the only solution that might restore the team to glory: Tear down Wrigley Field.

Destroy it. Annihilate it. Collapse it with the sort of charges that put the Sands Hotel out of its misery in Vegas. Implosion or explosion, get rid of it. That pile of quaintness has to go. Not merely the structure, but the ground on which it stands.

It's an amusing piece and obviously written with the proverbial tongue-in-cheek, but I think he is serious in his argument.  He points out that in 1906, before the team took up residence in their current park, the Cubs had a .763 winning percentage which is still the Major League record.  Cohen goes on to lay out the team's fortunes from then on and how they not only tumbled, but became seemingly jinxed after they encamped in what is now called Wrigley.

Set aside a few minutes to CLICK HERE and enjoy this article for what it's meant to be.  I had fun with it.

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Mark Donovan passed along this video report from New Hampshire that was broadcast on WMUR-TV the other day.  It's always nice to see a story that holds the FD in a positive way.  The Manchester FD got to have a repelling drill, rescue boat practice, and happy PR last Friday when they responded to help rescue a Golden Retriever that had fallen into the swift current of the Merrimack River.

The tv's video crew happened to be close by and recorded the entire adventure.  It's a nice story, so enjoy the broadcast video:

 

Now, let's start our own happy story and get this equipment checked out.  I will be very happy once the next pot of coffee is ready, so I'll get started on that.  See you back in the day room in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Finals

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.
Game 2:  Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 0.
Game 3 on Thursday, 6 pm Pacific.

Los Angeles leads series 2 games to none.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One: New York – 3, New Jersey – 0.
Game 2 on Wednesday, 8 pm Eastern

New York leads series 1 game to none.

Highlights From Tuesday's Game in Phoenix

 

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Posted by on May 16, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 15

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Tuesday Morning – Let's Brush Up on Investigation Tips

Everybody gets that occasional "smell of something burning" call that scatters the whole company throughout the house, sniffing here and there to try and track down the source before your nose gets used to it and you lose the scent.  Those calls can be so maddening when you can't find the source after five minutes or so.  A hot electrical smell takes you to the furnace and all the racks of stereo equipment here and there around the abode.  All the while you're hoping that you don't have to start poking holes in the drywall to check between the walls.  That's the last resort.

You have to call upon your experience and common sense to hopefully get to the source, but sometimes it just stops before you find it.  And that's even more maddening.  The smell is gone and you wish you were, too.  But you don't want to leave with a potential incipient fire waiting to come back in big style a few hours later.  Teeth gritting time.

Many moons ago I had one of those calls and we were definitely getting a burning-wood smell in the house.  It wasn't overpowering, but you could smell it on most of the first floor and it was strongest in the kitchen.  So we went to the scatter-and-search routine and I stayed in the kitchen, poking around, especially at and behind the stove.  Nothing.  The smell was getting softer, but it was still there, just tantalizing us and seemingly playing with us.  After about 15 or 20 minutes of poking and worrying that whatever was burning might be getting bigger while we are doing the Keystone Kops routine, I finally opened the dishwasher for a peek.  And there it was….. a wooden spoon had dropped from the rack and was laying across the heating element just scorching away like a wood-burning tool.

Ever sinces then I always included that pass-along tip during appropriate drills and made sure everybody who worked for me added that to their memory banks.  And apparently I am still doing it by passing this anecdote along to you now.  What brought all this to mind was seeing a press release online about a product recall and I immediately thought, this could be added to the million or so tips for firefighters that you carry around with you. Specifically, if your "smell" seems to be localized in a bathroom, this just might be one thing to check out while you're looking around.

Last week the QMI Agency issued the following recall notice:

Rechargeable Toothbrushes Recalled

Health Canada issued a recall Wednesday of Arm and Hammer's Spinbrush Pro Clean Sonic rechargeable toothbrush due to the possibility of fire, shock or burns.

There is "a small risk that the charging base may overheat, with localized melting and sparking. The risk…appears to increase somewhat with the age of the product," manufacturer Church & Dwight said in a statement.

The company has received six reports of overheating in the U.S. and one in Canada, but no reports of injuries, the statement said.

If you own one of these yourself, then you can read the entire release that gives the appropriate serial numbers and a link to the recall page that has instructions on how to get your money back by CLICKING HERE.  For everybody, here is still one more handy little tidbit to file away and just maybe there will be time you can use it.  It is always good to be able to limit the time you need to spend in somebody else's bathroon, don't you agree?

Now let's spend some time with our own equipment and get it checked out for the day.  Coffee is coming soon.  See you back in the day room.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Championship Round

The Conference finals are underway now and the bottom-seeded Los Angeles Kings continue their dark-horse run through the playoffs.  Sunday night they beat the Coyotes 4-2 to take a one game lead.  Last night the New York Rangers had a convincing win over the New Jersey Devils, 3-0 to start the Eastern conference final round.

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
Game One: Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
Game One:  New York – 3, New Jersey  – 0.

Highlights from last night's trans-Hudson series

 

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Posted by on May 15, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 14

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Monday Morning
If Only More Fire Chiefs Would Do This – Cont'd.

Another fire chief has been added to the Firegeezer Hall of Fame for his unflinching forthrightness in telling his citizens the truth about the wood-chips-and-glue method of home construction.  This follows our REPORT HERE on April 25 about the Ontario (Canada) Association of Fire Chiefs taking up the megaphone and loudly telling their residents about the deadly dangers of this cheap-o construction.

The community of Carmel, New York in Putnam County, was shaken earlier this month when a house fire killed a local police captain, his wife, and two of their three children.  The prominently-known family's sudden and tragic death brought a lot of media coverage partially due to the extremely rapid burn of the house that went down a mere ten minutes after the fire started.  Yes, it was built with the so-called lightweight construction method that the fire service abhors.

Carmel Fire Chief Bob Lipton held a press conference that same day and spoke the truth about the tragedy.  WPIX-TV reported his words:

The Carmel Fire Department said the flames that early morning were unbeatable. Firefighters say it took a mere ten minutes for the Sullivan family home to catch fire, collapse, ad kill four out of five of them sleeping inside. The Carmel fire chief was quick to blame lightweight construction. It's uses inexpensive and popular building materials made of small bits of wood held together by glue and metal plates to fasten it all.

Carmel Fire Chief Bob Lipton wearily recounted the details of the home's undoing to reporters the day of the fire saying the walls gave way as metal fasteners popped off from heat. Once the walls started to buckle, the roof crashed down. It took a mere ten minutes Lipton said, and it's an all too common occurrence for homes built to code using engineered wood products.

AdditionaL fire companies we spoke with say they won't even put men onto the roof to try to knock flames down, fearful these new construction methods can lead to collapse in just minutes, as happened at the Sullivan family home.

The Sullivan family home a few hours after the fire began.
(Ossining – CrotonOnHudson Patch / Tarr photo)

Carmel's Fire Chief said the metal plates that are used instead of nails to create bonds between pieces of OSB actually heated up and popped off, causing the walls and roof to collapse. According to the Medical Examiner, the family all died from smoke inhalation–which is the other major problem with this less expensive lightweight construction.

Channel 11's story goes on to quote a prominent fire instructor who confirms the inherrant danger and then goes on to talk about the unique fire gasses that these products emit when they burn.  "The gasses that are produced as the glue is consumed by the fire is toxic as well as flammable, so as the wood is burning it produces a toxic gas that burns even more. The resulting fires are 200% to 300% hotter. Plus the fire releases heat quicker. This is just a nasty toxic recipe for killing. It really is." he told the reporter.

Take a few moments to read the entire ARTICLE HERE.  Not only is Chief Lipton doing his part in getting this message out, but we are starting to see some curiosity from the press about this stuff.  Now is the time to grab them while they are listening.  I recall that when the inexpensive home smoke detectors came onto the market in the early 1970's, there was a nationwide effort by our fire chiefs and FD press releases to get the newspapers and tv stations to always mention in their reports of house fires whether or not smoke detectors were installed.  We are still seeing the success of that program, with a near-automatic inclusion of this vital information showing up in almost all residential fire reports now.  ( Seat belt usage is seeing the same publicity success.)

It is time that we – all of us – mount a concerted campaign to include the fact that a particular building was constructed of this deadly method with every report.  It begins right in the firehouse…. on scene interviews should always tell when that is the situation.  The following press release from the FD must also state this.  And the fire chiefs lay on the third message.  When these are consistently included in the reports, then the press starts catching on and after a while they start inquiring about it and putting it in their stories.  Come on… let's go!

Let's go to apparatus now and get the equipment check taken care of.  It's Monday, so we work with the long form today.  I'll put the Bunn-O-Matic on extra duty and get plenty of coffee ready.   See you back in the digital day room in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs – Conference Championship Round

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
        Game One:  Los Angeles – 4, Phoenix – 2.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
          Game One Monday night 8 pm Eastern

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Posted by on May 14, 2012 • Filed under: Building construction, morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 13

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Mother's Day Sunday Morning

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So far, it has been a fairly quiet weekend around the fire and EMS world.  That means it's probably going to blow sometime this afternoon, so let's take it easy while we can for a couple of hours.  An exception is a report coming from China where still another weather-related catastrophe has stricken one of the millions of "remote areas" that they have.  A hailstorm that lasted one hour killed at least 40 people and sent 87 to the hospital (wherever that place is), and another 18 people are still missing.  Xinhua, the official news agency for the communist country, tells us:  "Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, farmland was destroyed, and the power supply and telecommunications services were disrupted by the extreme weather." 

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While you're taking it easy waiting for the bells to ring, click on over to STATter911 and watch the video Dave posted last night HERE.  It's a fun-view of a 1953 film taken in Austin, Texas, showing a "routine day" in Fire Station 5, complete with training evolutions, fire response, and of course…. equipment check!  I always get a kick out of those vintage reports.

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Rich H. has been a loyal and steady reader of Firegeezer ever since we went online five years ago.  He is a retired firefighter who also holds a commission in the military and he sent us this photo of a T-shirt that seems to be growing in popularity around the various military bases.  It looks like this one is focused on the Marines.  I don't know where you would order one, but we can all enjoy the humor in it:

It's time to get this equipment checked out now before the Sunday breakfast is ready.  I'll check on it while I start up some more coffee.  See you back there in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs – End of 2nd Round

The final game of the 2nd round of playoff games was played last night and the New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals 2 – 1 to advance to their Conference finals.  The Rangers scored first, just 1:32 into the first period and held the lead through the entire game.  The other two goals came in the third period when NY scored midway through the period taking a 2-0 lead, but the Caps scored just 38 seconds later, keeping them in the game until the final buzzer.  Here are the matchups for the Conference finals:

Western Conference – Los Angeles (8) vs. Phoenix (3)
           Game One Sunday night 8 pm Eastern.

Eastern Conference – New Jersey (6) vs. New York (1)
          Game One Monday night 8 pm Eastern

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Posted by on May 13, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , , ,

Morning Lineup – May 12

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Saturday Morning – Getting From Here to There

Let's take a couple of minutes to look at some items that don't really fit anywhere else in the daily postings.  First off, Ron Y. passed along this brief report from Middletown, Connecticut, where a high school was caused to evacuate when the fire alarm triggered Thursday afternoon.  The Associated Press tells us:

Officials say a fire alarm that went off at a Connecticut high school was activated by a student's "overabundance" of body spray in a locker room.  Firefighters were called to Middletown High School shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.

Officials told The Middletown Press that the student used an excessive amount of the scented spray and created a cloud of mist right below a heat sensor, which tripped the fire alarm.

Now that the kids know how and where to make it happen, how long will it be until another hygenically-challenged boy decides to override his bodily effervescence at that same spot?

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Fort Lee, New Jersey in Bergen County, apparently has more than its share of simpletons walking the streets.  So far this year, which is barely more than four months old, at least 20 pedestrians have been struck by autos after they wandered off the sidewalk and into traffic because they were so engrossed in "texting" that they lost their bearings and were oblivious to the curbstone and stuff like that.  In an attempt to jolt the dolts into reality, they have enacted an ordinance prohibiting the sport.  In the first 45 days of enforcement, the police have issued about 120 tickets, at $85 a pop.

However, the champion Dumbo-texter is still this woman shopper from eastern Pennsylvania:

 

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The Discovery TV Network announced recently that they have chosen not to renew their popular series Cash Cab.  The impromptu quiz-show-in-a-taxi has run for six years on the channel and has been nominated several times for Emmys (and won two).  No more deciding whether to make a mobile or a street shout-out.  And we no longer get to see if anybody gets three strikes on the first three questions.

The host/driver Ben Bailey, who is a stand-up comedian by trade, makes the show even better than its premise takes it.  The concept originated in England and after it became a hit, the program was licensed to local production companies in more than two dozen countries around the world.  The U.S. producer, Lion Television retains the option to sell their program to another network if they can strike a deal.  Discovery will continue to air reruns until September.

We need to begin our own reruns now and get the equipment checked out.  It's Saturday and the weekend shoppers will be out soon, looking for new ways to get in trouble.  I'll get some more coffee going before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on May 12, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 11

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Friday Morning – Let's Go Shopping

We have been observing and commenting on the growing e-reader usage and product lines for several months now.  In fact, back in January we ran a 4-part series of reviews of the various e-reader devices on the market and how they differ.  (If you missed them, click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE to review them and start your learning adjustment process.)  The e-reader wars took an interesting turn last week when retailing giant Target announced that they will be discontinuing in-store sales of all Kindle products from Amazon after they sell off their remaining stock-on-hand, certainly by the end of this month.

Post-Standard

Target also announced that they will be setting up dedicated departments to Apple products, featuring their iPad tablet/e-reader, in most of their 1,700 stores in the coming weeks.  On the surface it looks like a part of the Target / Apple alliance is to remove the iPad's competitors within the stores.  But reading farther down the story line we see that Target will continue selling the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader.  So, what gives here?

It is believed that Target's decision was made back in the Christmas season when Amazon came out with a phone app that allows a the user to use their smartphone to scan the bar codes of products in stores and will send back immediately the price that Amazon sells the same product for.  And in practically every instance Amazon's price will not only be significantly lower, but in most states there will be no sales tax added.  Add in the free 2-day shipping that Amazon Prime customers get, and you can see what the logical results will be.  Now we have this new shopping phenomenon of people browsing throught the bricks-and-mortar stores to see their potential purchases physically and deciding if it's something that they like.  Then they scan to barcode to get Amazon's lower price and simply sending the Buy Now command to purchase the widget before they casually walk out the door empty-handed.

This hand-to-hand retailing combat is concerning other major chains, too.  Best Buy, Walmart, Staples and others that sell Kindle products in their stores are likewise upset with the strategy and are looking for their own solutions to remain competitive.  It is not only the publishers that are having to readjust due to the incursion of the e-readers. 

We need to readjust our equipment check routines, too.  But until we have scanners and apps to record our morning check list, we have to be content with the 19th-century clipboard and get started with this morning's inspection.  So while you get started on that, I'll head for the Bunn-O-Matic and get another pot going.  See you back in the day room in a little while.

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Posted by on May 11, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 10

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Thursday Morning – Save That

Have you noticed that we aren't seeing much in the way of sale advertisements for blank CD's anymore?  The electronics retailers and office supply stores still have them on the shelf, but no promotional offerings and loss-leaders designed to get you into their store to do your shopping.  And prices are about as low as you could expect, averaging about 20¢ per disc (or is it "disk"? ).  Take away the costs of shipping them from Asia somewhere, packaging them in protective containers, etc., and the actual price of the individual disc is somewhere around 6 or 8 cents (my estimate).

But now I am wondering if maybe their time has passed and the handy media storage item that made the 3" floppy extinct overnight are about to go down the same path?  Each disc holds 700 MB which is enough for most uses and serves as a good backup storage device.  But the space that they occupy on your shelf or in a disc storage box is measurable.  Not so much that it's anything you would think about, but certainly a lot more than a flash drive.  Not only is the flash drive itself smaller, but it holds a lot more data in it compared to a single CD.

I read recently that there is a natural migration from discs to flash drives as the manufacturers are able to get more data onto a device and the prices continue to drop.  This week I saw an ad placed by Office Depot offering 8GB flash drives for $10.  If I am figuring correctly (please tell me if I'm not), then that works out about 87¢ for the same amount of storage space as a CD that sells for 20¢.  Not really competitive in that category….yet.  But they are a lot easier to carry around.

The term "drive" to identify the gadget is a bit misleading because there is no "drive" in the device.  It is a microprocessor that has no moving parts, but functions through computer commands as if it was a hard drive.

All that aside, there are pluses and minuses for both storage types, disc and flash.  My concern is the permanence of data on the flash drive.  While it's good to store files temporarily, I wonder if it is acceptable for long-term permanent storage of your most valuable data?  Is it reliable enough to be your only storage for your irreplacable family photos, for example?  I have a lot of questions like that, but I'm afraid that the change-over will take place anyway.  I would prefer to keep both methods in use.  I will probably get in the habit of carrying a flash drive with me for convenience, but for most files I think I will keep using my CD's for most of them…. the ones that are less than 700 MB, that is.  Yeah, a combination of the two, I think.  We'll see. We have no control over it anyway.

We do have control over our apparatus, though.  So let's get going with the daily check while I get more analog coffee started.  See you in the day room.

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One hockey playoff game plaed last night.  The Washington Capitals topped the New York Rangers 2-1.  That sets them up for a decisive Game 7 in New York on Saturday night.  The winner of that game moves up to play New Jersey for the Eastern Conference championship.

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Posted by on May 10, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 9

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Wednesday Morning – What's For Breakfast?

One of the novelties that has been around for many years on this internet thingy is the Live Webcam.  About 12 or 14 years ago the device became prominent when a 20-something single woman set one up in her apartment and left it on 24/7 so the whole world could peek in on her mundane life and hope to catch her "doing it" with her latest boyfriend of the moment.

Soon, a lot of tourist spots and resorts had them running so that future visitors could check the weather and the action at their inviting spot.  Even the Cape Hatteras lighthouse had one for a while where you could check out the wave heights, but the National Park Service got tired of maintaining it (governement work, you know…broken a lot of the time) and they shut it down.  Talking about this triggered my recollection of a major downtown fire in a small town (in Texas, I believe it was) that occurred across the street from a live-cam that had been set up for the tourists-to-be.  I was able to place the live video of the FD's mopping up and building demolitions going on during the day.

Many of the various states' highway departments have gotten in on the act and are now running their traffic monitoring video streams over the internet, too.  So wifey can check to see if hubby really was caught in traffic causing him to be an hour late getting home from work.

What brought this discussion up was my discovery yesterday of a live-cam that has been set up on a building ledge at the Universtiy of Wisconsin – Madison.  It was mounted there several weeks ago when a Red-tailed Hawk built a nest on the ledge and one of the natural science departments set up the camera.  I'm late coming in on the visit because the chicks are already hatched and have grown to the point where they are squirming around.  As I am writing this, Mommy (or maybe it was Daddy) has just arrived with a fresh mouse and is feeding to her young'uns:

I missed the big event on Monday when she brought a tasty rabbit home for the family.  But you never know what or when she'll be bringing next.  Before long, the chicks will be getting large enough to start their wrestling matches sorting out dominence and their pecking order.  If you want to follow the action for the next few weeks, CLICK HERE to watch and add to your Favorites folder.  (sometimes during the day there is a high usage of the feed and you have to wait for a minute getting in – stay patient.)

Before you get anxious for some fresh meat, let's get going with the equipment check.  I'm heading for the Bunn-O-Matic and you know why.  See you back in the day room later.

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NHL Playoff Update

In the only game played last night, New Jersey outscored the Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 1 to win their series 4 games to 3.  The Devils lost the first game of the series in Overtime, then came back to win the next four straight.  They will play the winner of the Washington vs. New York series for the Eastern Conference championship.

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Posted by on May 9, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 8

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Tuesday Morning – What's Wrong With This Headline?

Firehouse.com, the online offspring of Firehouse Magazine, the pop. news giants of the fire/rescue world that have been setting the pace for news and information for more than 30 years now.  Why did you do this to us?

Yes, this is the headline from an article published yesterday about a collision between an ambulance and a fire engine.  They have stooped to calling our firefighters as "responders" now.  And it doesn't stop at the headline.  The brief story continues in part:

Three responders were hospitalized after a fire apparatus and an ambulance collided ….
The injured responders were transported to Sparrow Health System …..

Even more demeaning is that these poor student drivers aren't even dismissed as First Responders, as many newspapers and tv stations would hurl their way.  No, they have been demoted to mere responders, not even the first ones.  Is that one of the penalties for running into each other?  At least Firehouse hasn't (yet) picked up on those silly Patch news sites' ridiculous practice of tagging us as Emergency Safety Personnel.

Oh Firehouse, Firehouse, what has happened?  What did we do to deserve this from you, of all people?  At the very least, you could send Ray McCormack a couple of bottles of Pepto-Bismol.

We'd better set our self-pity aside now and get this equipment checked out.  I'll skip the medicine cabinet and head straight for the Bunn-O-Matic to get more coffee ready.  See you back in the day room in a little while, you safety specialists.

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NHL Playoffs Update

There were two games played last night.  New York Rangers topped the Washington Capitals in overtime to take a 3 games to 2 lead in their series.

The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators 2 – 1 to win their series 4 games to 1.  Phoenix will play the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Confernce finals.

The Philadelphia Flyers, already against the wall with only one win versus the N.J. Devils' three games, will be especially hard-pressed at their next game when they will have to win in order to not be eliminated.  Their star forward Claude Giroux was suspended for one game by the NHL for delivering an illegal check to the head of a New Jersey player Sunday.  Their next contest is tonight at 7:30 pm Eastern.

NHL Director for Player Safety Brendan Shanahan shows the infraction and explains the reasons considered in the suspension in this video report:

 

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Only you can prevent First Responder

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Posted by on May 8, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 7

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Monday Morning – Where Do You Park?

Unfortunately, most large cities are tainted by corruption within the ruling class which also breeds hair-pulling ineptitude of the agency heads.  This combination often causes clownish disfunctions that would be funny if they weren't so costly to the poor taxpayers who voted for these crapheads to begin with.

The latest example of that was exposed last month in Miami-Dade County, Florida.  One of the local tv stations broadcast a story about a 6-yr.-old fleet of cars and vans that were purchased new in 2006 and then stashed in a Metrorail parking garage where they have been sitting there unused the entire time.  Back in October the investigative news team of Channel 41 found 298 brand-new Toyotas that had been sitting unused as the warranty clock ticks.  More than 60 of them were police cars and nearly 100 more are Prius hybrids.  And that was just part of the secret stash.  The Miami Herald reported that by the spring of 2008, the county had 1,200 vehicles squirreled away in various locations.

More than 60 of the stored cars were police cruisers.
(el Nuevo Herald photo)

Since the city got wind of the snooping news team last autumn, they began shuffling them out and trying to get them on the street to replace older high-mileage vehicles.  The Miami-Herald reported on April 20:

At least one county commissioner, Javier Souto, said he first heard of the unused vehicles in early 2010 from a county employee who told him they had not been used and were "getting rusty" in the garage at 2100 NW 41st St.

In February 2010, Souto asked the administration of then-Mayor Carlos Alvarez for an explanation. "At the time I was concerned over the secrecy with which the case was being handled and the fact that no one knew anything," Souto said. "I saw that they covered it up all this time."

Two months ago, Souto said, he went back to the parking garage and found that many vehicles had been moved out of the building. But dozens of new police cars, vans and pickup trucks remained.

"It’s still unclear why so many vehicles were purchased in the first place," Souto said.

el Nuevo Herald photo

All the while, the cars were routinely serviced every two months.  The Priuses had their batteries recharged and all of the vehicles were driven around the block, had their brakes checked, and were washed.

It has been noted that the purchases and stashing away of the vehicles took place during the administraton of former mayor Carlos Alvarez who was later removed from office by a recall election for various misbehaviors.

It's amazing that so many new ways to fleece the taxpayer keep getting invented.

Let's do our part to protect our taxpayers, though, and start by getting this equipment checked out.  I'll service the Bunn-O-Matic and get it making more coffee for our meet-up in the day room later.

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NHL Playoffs Update

There were three games played over the weekend and one of them was decisive.  The Los Angeles Kings beat the St. Louis Blues  to sweep their series 4 games to zip.  Now the Kings will have to sit back a while to see who they will meet in the Conference Finals.  Washington outlasted the Rangers 3-2 to even their series, and New Jersey continued to build up steam and won their third straight over the Philadelphia Flyers, taking a 3 games to 1 lead in their series.  Philly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period (including a short-handed goal), but the Devils rallied and score 4 unanswered goals to win it.

#2 St. Louis vs. #8 Los Angeles
                 1 – 3
                 2 – 5
                 2 – 4
                 1 – 3
Los Angeles wins series 4 – 0

#3 Phoenix vs. #4 Nashville
               4 – 3 OT
               5 – 3
               0 – 2
               1 – 0
Phoenix leads series 3 – 1

#1 NY Rangers vs. #7 Washington
                      3 – 1
                      2 – 3
                      2 – 1 3OT
                      2 – 3
Series tied at 2 games each.

#5 Philadelphia vs. #6 New Jersey
                     4 – 3 OT
                     1 – 4
                     3 – 4 OT
                     2 – 4
New Jersey leads series 3 – 1

 Highlights From Sunday's Flyers vs. Devils Game

 

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Posted by on May 7, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Morning Lineup – May 6

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Sunday Morning Who's Winning?

Did you watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday?  The Derby is one of the most phenomenal spectator sports in modern history (in the U. S., that is).  Millions of people who know absolutely nothing about horses or their racing practices will plan their Derby Day Saturday around the televised event that lasts all of two minutes.  And since these are relatively young horses (3 yrs. old, give or take a few months), only the most avid racing fan will have ever even heard of the entrants prior to the race.

So it's hunch bets galore around the buffet table as people get all set to watch the grand production.  My favorite part is when the assembled chorus serenades the crowd with the traditional song "My Old Kentucky Home" as the camera pans the crowd of drunks, who only know the first line of the song, trying to sing along.  After they get past the first line, they bluff it along trying to look like they sing it in the shower every day at home.  Whenever it comes to a line that includes ",,,, my old Kentucky home…" they chime in full-throat and then revert to their cheap ventriloquist act.  It's great entertainment.

"Oh, the sun shines bri-i-ight…."
(Reuters)

Then the Big Moment begins as the horses take the post parade down to the starting gate and we get a good look at them as they go by the tv cameras.  "Wow, look at the size of that horse!" …. "Interesting markings on that one" …… "Why are all the jockeys from South America?"  This year they had an eye-opening number of 20 horses in the field, a large number for the Derby.  I always enjoy watching the hostlers loading the horses into the starting gate.  It's interesting to see the beasts' reactions to being shoved into what they know is an upcoming adrenaline rush and some of them protesteth mightily.  But yesterday they were all cooperative and there was a smooth loading allowing a fast starting bell.

Within a couple of minutes, 2:01 to be more precise, it was over and a genuine long-shot won the race in magnificent story-telling style.  I'll Have Another started waaay out in the 19th post position and was carrying a relatively-unknown rookie jockey (who is from Mexico instead of South America), storming out of the gate with 15-1 odds showing on the tote board.  The crowd's sentimental favorite Union Rags got bumped and pinched between his two neighbors coming out of the gate and was never able to recover, getting trapped behind the bulk of the field and unable to find room to move up.

The horsemen's favorite, Bodemeister jumped out to an fast lead while setting a blistering pace and lead the field all the way around the 1-¼ mile course until late into the 4th turn when I'll Have Another, who was pacing along around the 6th position, started moving up and began chasing Bodemeister.  The leading horse was five full lengths ahead of the field coming into the home stretch and we were treated to a truly exciting moment as I'll Have Another chased Bodemeister down, passing him and winning going away by a length.

I'll Have Another (left) strides past Bodemeister
coming down the home stretch.  (Reuters)

Great drama provided by an undersized pony that was picked up at a yearling sale for a mere $11,000.

If you missed it yesterday, here is the official track video of the race:

 

Let's get ready for our own drama of the day now and get this equipment checked out.  I'm going to start another pot of coffee while humming "My Old Kentucky Home."  See you back in the day room.

NHL Playoffs note:  Only one game played yesterday ….. Washington beat NY Rangers to tie their series at two.  There are two more games scheduled for today and we will have an update tomorrow morning.

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Posted by on May 6, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Morning Lineup – May 5

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Saturday Morning – Get Ready For the Weekend, Amigo

Some people have fallen into the advertising trap that was set out about 40 years ago that wants us to think that May 5 is also known as Cinco de Mayo, a make-believe holiday from Mexico.  It's harmless fun, but in this era of the soundbite and failed public education systems there are many who think it's for real.  So this morning I will reprise the Morning Lineup from three years ago, May 5, 2009.  Learn and enjoy (like we do every day at Firegeezer):

Did you ever wonder where all this Cinco de Mayo stuff came from? Out of nowhere we’re being potty-trained into thinking that today is some major Mexican holiday and all the once-a-year Irish are now encouraged to become Mexican for a day of celebration. But a cursory check into the cultural history of Mexico discloses that May 5 isn’t a holiday there. In fact, most of them don’t even know what you’re talking about if you were to ask.

In fact, Cinco de Mayo is a regional celebration followed in the state of Puebla where the Battle of Puebla took place on May 5, 1862. A French invasion force had entered Mexico for the purpose of collecting a large debt that the Mexican government was trying to renege on and when they were met by a greatly-outnumbered Mexican army, a battle ensued in which the Mexicans routed the superior French forces. That event is the seed of the “holiday.”

Fast-forward to the 1960′s and some problem-solving committee meetings at the Coors Brewery in Colorado. Coors had two large obstacles facing them. One was a major push by American Hispanic groups to boycott their products because of some well-publicised hiring-discrimination activities. Their secondary challenge was a sizeable drop-off in beer sales every May as the nation’s colleges finished up their Spring semesters and the partying students headed back home.

So the grand idea was formed: Create a reason to celebrate something Mexican that calls for beer-drinking. Some simple research discovered this lost holiday and the big publicity machine went into action. And the rest, as they say, is modern advertising history. But by the 1980′s it still hadn’t caught on outside of the college campii where it was targeted and the Mexicans were still as puzzled as ever about “what’s the big deal?”

As sure as the sun comes up in the East, more breweries jumped on the phony holiday bandwagon and more than most, the Mexican breweries invaded America looking for their share of the “holiday” prize. That led to some of the most outrageous ethnic exploitation seen in over 40 years. Coors started it’s “Sabemos como celebrar!” (We know how to celebrate!) campaign and Mexico brewery Tecate launched its “Let’s party!” program. The one that went over the top though, was Corona’s campaign parading a “party parrot” wearing a sombrero, sunglasses and a serape while holding a bottle of Corona in each claw and squawking, “Drinko for Cinco!”

In 1997 a consortium of Hispanic cultural groups got together and started to turn the make-believe holiday into something more positive along the lines of the Pulaski Day and St. Patrick’s Day ethnic celebrations and now we are seeing more positive promotions that allow the Hispanic members of the population a chance to display and celebrate their heritage. Myself, I’ll help out by opening a bottle of Dos Equis today.

First though, we'd better get this equipment checked out.  I'll get some more coffee started, the Dos Equis comes later.  See you back in the cantina in a little while.

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NHL Playoffs Update

All eight teams have played at least once in the past  three days and two of them are worth mentioning.  On Wednesday the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers played into the 3rd overtime before the Rangers won it 2-1 sometime after midnight.  Fortunately for both teams, the schedule had worked out with 2 days off between that game and their next one this afternoon, giving them a chance to rest and restore.

Last night Phoenix beat Nashville 1-0 giving them a pretty commanding lead in their series, 3-1.  Here is how they stand going into the weekend (today's matinee between Rangers and Caps is the only game scheduled for today).  And keep your eyes on the L.A. – St. Louis series.  The bottom-seeded L. A. Kings knocked out the #1 team Vancouver in the first round in just five games and they're on their way to sweeping the #2 team St. Louis.  Their next game is Sunday at 3 pm Eastern on NBC.

#2 St. Louis vs. #8 Los Angeles
                 1 – 3
                 2 – 5
                 2 – 4
Los Angeles leads series 3 – 0

#3 Phoenix vs. #4 Nashville
               4 – 3 OT
               5 – 3
               0 – 2
               1 – 0
Phoenix leads series 3 – 1

#1 NY Rangers vs. #7 Washington
                      3 – 1
                      2 – 3
                      2 – 1  3OT
New York leads series 2 – 1

#5 Philadelphia vs. #6 New Jersey
                     4 – 3 OT
                     1 – 4
                     3 – 4 OT
New Jersey leads series 2 – 1 

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Posted by on May 5, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – May 4

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Friday Morning – Can't We All Just Get Along?

We have a bit of a follow-up on that story about the Ohio fire chief who was fired because he is rude.  On Wednesday we carried the report HERE about Fairfield Twp. (Butler County), Ohio Chief David Downie being suspended back in January because he was rude to other city employees and would sometimes shout at someone he was having a disagreement with.  Earlier this week the township trustees held a meeting while Downie was out of town participating in a charitable event escorting WWII veterans to Washington, D. C. and voted to fire him.  (Read the linked article for the details.)

The fire department has but three paid firefighters, the chief and two other officers, and is staffed by paid-on-call firefighters.  A large number of them were at the public meeting Tuesday and became vocally responsive as they were obviously defending and supporting their chief.  Many citizens are also upset over the way the termination was handled and are dubious about the supposed justification for his dismissal.  During his suspension the township had an investigation into the complaints against Downie and WXIX-TV got ahold of the report and posted it yesterday HERE.

The report claims that Downie failed to "properly handle" an incompetent paramedic.  The chief responded by saying that she had a disability and is protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act.  The bulk of the report describes Downie's "hostility" toward other township employees, particularly police officers.  But most curious in this report are some interviews with Downie's neighbors (his neighbors!).  One of them says, "I am one of many neighbors that dislike the man. I lost all respect for him after watching him berate children for playing in front of his house." Still another one said, "He is the most unpleasant, rude, and overall un-friendliest person you could meet. He absolutely hates kids and never hesitates to scream at anyone who so much as steps foot on his grass."

So there you have it.  Not getting along with your neighbors is a firing offense in Fairfield Township.  Not one instance of poor or dangerous firefighting tactics or lack of training, etc.

WLWT-TV also follows up the event with a STORY HERE about Downie's response to the firing and the fact that he still has not been officially notified of the action by the trustees:

Dave Downie said he was in Washington on Tuesday, escorting an Honor Flight of World War II veterans, when he logged in to Facebook to post some photos of his trip. That's where he learned that township trustees had voted to relieve him of his duties.

"So that's how I found out, very cowardly," Downie said. "They didn't have the decency, one, to hold a hearing when I was in the audience, and didn't have the guts to come and tell me to my face."

Downie said he's been a target since standing up for his firefighters during a January 2011 ice storm, when he called out a road supervisor for being negligent.

"I always felt I stood up for what I believe is right, always stood up for my firefighters," Downie said. "At the end of the day, it's my job to see that they go home to their family, and if I mess up, people die. And I'm not going to have that on my watch.

Hinting that he plans to contest the action, he added, "They have not heard the end from me, I am not going to go away."

So what do you think?  Should you be able to fire a competent and obviously successful fire chief because he has an abrasive personality?  That seems to be the only complaint about his work performance.

We need to begin our own work perfomance now and get this equipment checked out. I'll get the coffee maker checked out before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on May 4, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – May 3

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Thursday Morning Afternoon

We're baaaack!!  Thanks to all for your patience, mine is wearing thin right now.  The entire FireEMSBlogs server got hit by some nasty hacker during the night and kept us offline for several hours.  But our great tech crew has worked non-stop to get us back onto your monitors and Firegeezer thanks you for hanging in.  Now let's get started:

Somebody said once that, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," or something like that. It may have been Shakespeare, or perhaps John Wayne Bobbitt, I can't remember. But nobody can disagree with the premise, especially Marek Olszewski of Warsaw, Poland. Marek, you see, had recently dumped his girlfriend Anna Mackowiak, who happens to be a dentist, for another woman.

But when Marek got an excruciating toothache the other day, he went to "his"dentist Anna for treatment and relief. But when Anna got him in the chair, her emotions overran her professional ethics and she blithely administered an extra-heavy dose of anaesthetic putting him into deep euphoria before she proceed to pull out every last one of his teeth.

"I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions," she told the Daily Telegraph, "But when I saw him lying there I just thought, 'What a b—–d.'" She then wrapped up his head in bandages so that he couldn't move his jaw and told him that there were complications and that he would have to go see a specialist.

"She told me my mouth was numb and I wouldn’t be able to feel anything for a while and that the bandage was there to protect the gums, but that I would need to see a specialist." Marek told the Telegraph. "I didn’t have any reason to doubt her, I mean I thought she was a professional. "But when I got home I looked in the mirror and couldn’t f****** believe it. The b**** had emptied my mouth. Now I'm going to have to pay a fortune for (dentures) or something."

That wasn't the end of his woes, however. Marek's new girlfriend dumped him telling him that she can't stay with a man who doesn't have any teeth. It was a life-altering event for Anna, too. She is now under investigation for malpractice and could be sentenced to 3 years in jail. Ahhh… the consequences of the achey-breaky heart.

We had better avoid bad consequences ourselves and get this equipment checked out.   Ooops!  You got that done hours ago… good for you.  Let's head back to the day room and see what's happening.

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Posted by on May 3, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup

Morning Lineup – May 2

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Wednesday Morning – Abra Cadaver

A recent event in Niagara County, New York, involving the fire chief of a local VFD is indicative to me of a disgusting degradation of our culture that is going on.  On April 18 there was a violent traffic accident in Cambria in which a passenger in the vehicle died.  The Cambria Fire Chief Vincent Salerno and a county cororner, Russell Jackman were both on the scene in their official capacities when Jackman got a brain fart and decided to hand over a chunk of the victim's body to Chief Salerno with the intent that it be used for training with the FD's authorized cadaver dog.  And Salernon accepted it.

Somehow the sheriff's office got wind of it and an investigation began that soon brought charges against both men for "obstructing governmental administration" and mishandling human remains.  They were scheduled for a court appearance on the charges yesterday (Tuesday) and during the few days approaching their date with the judge, they both resigned from their jobs.  They were sentenced yesterday to community service and fines that are sumarized in this video report from the courtroom:

 

When their arrests were first reported, I immediately recalled a similar incident that occurred in September 2008 in St. Lucie County, Florida, when a fire department paramedic took possession of a severed foot at an auto accident.  The original owner of the foot in this case was still alive and survived his injuries.  The paramedic, Cynthia Economou likewise owned a trained cadaver dog and had plans to use the foot "for training."  Long-time readers of Firegeezer will recall that we had extensive coverage on this bizarre play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.  Economou was fired, convicted of petit theft and later sued by the man whose foot was stolen.

These two incidents happened 3-½ years and 1,500 miles apart, but they are directly related for obvious reasons.  But for me they are related in that they display to me a serious disintegration of both our culture as caring firefighters and medics, and a disgusting deterioration of our culture as civilized human beings.  Perhaps 300 years ago this activity was considered normal for the times.  And in many parts of the world today where local cultures are still dominated by barbarism, such as Pakistan and Iraq, this is mild stuff.

But we are supposed to be better than that.  Our culture has advanced in recent centuries to become more respectful of human life, more considerate of the precious life force that God granted us.  That's why we have respectful funerals and burials for our dead rather than just tossing them off a cliff somewhere.

Unfortunately somewhere along the way an anti-civilized button has been creeping into our consciousnesses that is liable to spontaneously trigger a disregard for our compassion for others and prioritize a sorrowful selfishness that demands an "I want this for ME!" response that is so strong that some of us are liable to act before thinking, as happened in both of these two incidents.  I have no doubt that both Salerno and Economou are truly remorseful for their actions.  But I am worried that our own culture, that we have every right to be proud of, is starting to veer away from respectability and heading in a different direction.  And I don't like this at all.

Now let's head over to the apparatus and get this equipment checked out.  I'm heading for the Bunn-O-Matic.  See you back in the day room.

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NHL Update:  Tuesday night score, New Jersey – 4, Philadelphia – 1.  Philly scored in the first period and held the 1-0 lead until the third period when New Jersey unloaded all four of their goals.

#2 St. Louis vs. #8 Los Angeles
                1 – 3
                2 – 5
 Los Angeles leads series 2 – 0

#3 Phoenix vs. #4 Nashville
               4 – 3 OT
               5 – 3
Phoenix leads series 2 – 0

#1 NY Rangers vs. #7 Washington
                      3 – 1
                      2 – 3
Series tied at one game apiece

#5 Philadelphia vs. #6 New Jersey
                     4 – 3 OT
                     1 – 4
Series tied at one game apiece 

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Posted by on May 2, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup

Morning Lineup – May 1

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Tuesday Morning – May Day

Here we are ….. May 1, often called May Day.  That point where it feels and looks more like Spring as the warm weather returns to stay and plant life bursts out with leaves and blossoms.  It's all good for the psyche, whatever a psyche is.  I'll have to check with Mick Meyers at FirehouseZen to find out for sure.  Most of our friends and readers in Europe are enjoying today as a holiday, the equivalent of our Labor Day where the average worker gets a day's respite from the daily grind.  Unfortunately the public safety people aren't "average workers" and they will all be on duty and on call to help out all those average workers who get themselves into trouble today.  But we love it, don't we?

I think my generation was the first one that didn't get raised with the May Day tradition.  Older people in the U. S. recall May Day as a school festival day that grew out of the ancient Pagan spring celebration.  While it was still a school day, it was mostly given over to playground games, picnicking, contests and the mystifying May Pole.  I never did understand what the joy was in prancing around the pole while winding those ribbons onto it.  But then again, we never got to try it.  In a way, it's a shame that a tradition that dated back more than a thousand years was suddenly disbanded and put untold hundreds of ribbon-makers out of work.

Edinboro (Pa.) University Archives

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It might be warming to Spring these days, but there are still eight cities around the U. S. that have ponds of ice awaiting visits of their respective National Hockey League teams as they work their way through the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Unfortunately for our Canadian friends, the two teams from Up North that made the playoffs were both bounced in the first round, including the highly-favored Vancouver Canucks that was upset by the #8-seeded Los Angeles Kings.  Now we're down to eight teams in the elimination contest and three of the four matchups have completed two games in this second round.  So let's see how their doing this morning.

It looks like my Cinderella pick, the St. Louis Blues have dropped themselves into a mighty tough spot.  They have lost both of their first two games at home to Los Angeles.  Heading back to L. A. two games down on enemy ice, things don't look so good for them right now.  But they're looking great for Los Angeles, the giant-killers who toppled the Canucks.

The Philadelphia vs. New Jersey series will be playing their second game tonight.  Here are the scores and standings from the early part of this round:

#2 St. Louis vs. #8 Los Angeles
                 1 – 3
                 2 – 5
Los Angeles leads series 2 – 0

#3 Phoenix vs. #4 Nashville
               4 – 3 OT
               5 – 3
Phoenix leads series 2 – 0

#1 NY Rangers vs. #7 Washington
                       3 – 1
                      2 – 3
Series tied at one game apiece

#5 Philadelphia vs. #6 New Jersey
                      4 – 3 OT
Philly leads series 1 – 0

Ok, let's leave the May pole and head for the fire pole to get this equipment checked out for today.  I'm going to get some Spring coffee going before we meet back in the day room.

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Posted by on May 1, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged:

Morning Lineup – April 30

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Monday Morning – Got An Idea You Want to Cash In?

Have you ever thought about other uses for fire hose?  I know, some people chop off sections of surveyed hose to use as buffers on boat docks or even along the gunwales of their boats.  But how about something new and innovative?  Japanese fire hose manufacturer Yokoi has teamed up with another firm to develop an anti-piracy device for use in those African and Asian waters where sea-pirates are operating practically unmolested and seizing ships of all sizes for ransom purposes.

Yokoi and MTI have developed what they call an Anti-Piracy Curtain that was no doubt inspired when somebody saw a fire hose with an open nozzle whipping out of control after it was charged before the firefighter was ready.  DigInfo, an online video news site that covers cutting-edge technology, is reporting:

The system consists of two elements, the first sprays water from high-volume nozzles, which hinder the pirates from boarding the ship, as well as filling up the pirate's vessels with water, and the second are hoses which whip around violently, with the purpose of intimidating pirates from a distance.

Flexible "whipping" nozzle.

"If a pirate boat approaches, with this system, the first line of defense is to threaten to capsize the pirate boat, by filling it with water. Another tactic is our patented hose, which is a new idea. By spraying water from the nozzle tip, the hose is made to move around unpredictably, using a very small amount of water. We've made the hose snake around near the bottom of the boat, without rising too high, by attaching a sinker to the end."

The high-volume nozzles are utilized to prevent boarding ladders from being placed against the hull, the usual technique used by the pirates currently.  The device was created with the smaller, private boats and yachts in mind, but it can also be used on the larger freighters that are targeted as well.

Check out Yokoi's video presentation that demonstrates the device in action on a freighter:

 

So there you go, putting ideas and imagination to work.  Look around the firehouse and see what you have that could be used to make your second million.  But you'd best wait until we get this equipment checked out before you turn your imagination loose.  It's Monday and we have the longer, weekly check sheet to follow.  I'm heading for the Bunn-O-Matic to get more java pouring before we meet back in the day room later.

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Posted by on April 30, 2012 • Filed under: morning lineup • Tagged: