Thursday Morning – Things to Read

There was a tragic accident last evening involving a fire department paramedic that is also notable for its unusual occurrence.  An automobile fire on I-395 in Arlington County, Virginia, during the evening rush hour brought units from both Arlington and Alexandria FRD's.  The location of the incident was on a stretch of highway that bridges a rocky creek about 30 or more feet below and one of the Alexandria paramedics fell over the guardrail and dropped to the creekbed where he was critically injured.

Dave Statter has been keeping up with the developing story on STATter911 since it occurred and I recommend that you check on the STORY HERE to both learn a lesson and be informed of the unfolding narrative.  It is not known yet what led to the medic's plunge.

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For the past month I have been getting emails and FB messages from people telling me that they have been acquiring e-readers, mostly as gifts, and they are really pleased (shall I add "excited"?) with their new devices.  Most of them have been getting the Amazon Kindle e-reader, although sales reports show that Barnes & Noble's Nook is doing pretty well, too.  The Sony e-reader is a distant third, but I think that's due to a heavy advertising imbalance rather than quality of product.  One acquaintence of mine said that his wife gave him one for an early Valentine's gift.  And from the joy I "heard" in his announcement, I could tell that she really hit the spot with that one.

You know by now that I, too, am an enthusiastic booster of the eBook readers and am equally fascinated by the rapid growth of their usage in what is an inevitable transfer of reading habits from print to digital.  A recent article in Wireless and Mobile News reported,

The share of adults in the United States who own tablets or eReaders nearly doubled (in the past year…ed.) reported Pew Research. The main reason for this surge apparently is the introduction of the lower-priced Kindle Fire and Nook as well as the price drop of eReaders below $100.

This is the kind of information we expected because Amazon sold a record number of Kindle Fire tablets. When tablets like the HP TouchPad cost less than $200 they sold-out.

They go on to tell us that the share of adults in the United States who own tablets went from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January. The same surge in growth also applied to eBook readers, which also jumped from 10% to 19% over the same time period. The number of Americans owning one tablet or e-reader went from 18% in December to 29% in January.  Now that is an impressive statistic.

Now let's make an impressive statistic ourselves and fill out our morning equipment check sheets.  I'll get the coffee started.   See you back in the day room in a little while.

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Amazon Kindle prices begin at $79.

CLICK HERE to review the different models offered.
(Firegeezer recommends the Touch-3G model)

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Wednesday Morning – New Learning Opportunities Await

Let's talk a little more about this internet technology stuff this morning.  To begin with, there has been a lot of buzz about Google's new plan (already being phased in) to consolodate all their various operations such as YouTube, Gmail, Google+ and about 30 others, so that your every move online will be noticed by their Master-of-the-Universe computer that will then more effectively select what ads to serve up when you click onto any Google site.

They have been posting the new Privacy Notices on all the sites that you bring up with a password and thus become sucked into the Great Network.  One prominent example is played out if you, for instance, log onto a Gmail account and remain logged on (even though you leave the page) while you resume other activities.  If you use Google Search later on, then the topics you select and the sites you click onto will be duly noted by the Master.

If you are rightfully concerned about this intrusion into your personal computing activities, WIRED emagazine has published a good, concise guide on How to Hide From Google.  It's basic stuff and easy to follow.  In fact, much of it is passive action that simply reminds you to segment your email accounts and similar activities.  They also cover protecting your smartphone usage, too.  I recommend that you CLICK HERE and read through the article.  It's not long, so you don't have to set aside any time block to read it.

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Another topic we've been touching on recently is the rapid growth of what is often called "distance learning."  While many colleges and universities are putting more and more courses online, thus expanding the numbers of students of higher education, many new schools are opening up that are online-only facilities.  They are more often than not offering classes and "degrees" that are not properly accredited, thus not fully recognized as acceptable alternatives to genuine colleges.  But that will change rapidly as more of them get online and pressure the accrediting services to start recognizing their programs.

But it is not only scholarly learning that is going online.  Other traditional training and learning centers are now online, too.  For example, now you can go online and learn how to belly dance.  Now don't laugh, we're talking serious physical fitness programs here.  Belly Motions Online is already up and running dancing and offering their services where you can "learn to dance, exercise, and immerse yourself into a new way of living healthy and happy, all from the comfort of your own home; anywhere, anytime!"

No longer do you have to put on your harem costume and drive to some seedy shopping center to get your muscles toned.  You can do it right in the comfort or your own tent home.  So go ahead and CLICK HERE to view their program outlines and videos.  You can even buy a coin belt from their belly dance store.  Tell then the Geeze sent you.

Now let's shimmy and sway over to the apparatus and get the equipment checked out.  I'll get some more high-octane coffee going for us before we meet back in the day room.

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Tuesday Morning – We Go Through the Looking Glass

Somewhere, Lewis Carroll is laughing and taking notes.  Carroll (the pen name of Charles Dodgson) is immortalized as the author of the Alice in Wonderland stories that told of the political absurdities of 150 years ago couched in writing designed as children's books.  I say he's laughing now because the absurdities live on and have popped up this week in the U. S. fire and rescue service.  And as Carroll's nonsense was in  the 1850's, today's nonsense is rooted in loopy judicial behavior.

Earlier this week the Fire Critic pointed out to us that as a result of an illogical court decision, one of the more unusual methods now being taken by the FDNY to encourage more hiring of minorities is to watch firefighters going out door-to-door and try to entice people who are so undereducated that they cannot fill out a basic employment application to try again, this time with help.  Just the kind of person you need to fill out a recruit class ….. somebody who can't understand basic instructions.

But a little ways west of NYC in Erie, Pennsylvania, absurdity was kicked up two notches yesterday when a judge and jury both equally mush-brained, in the spirit of "fairness" ordered the  Erie Fire Department to rehire (with back pay) a firefighter who had been dismissed after setting a fire in her own house in a pathetic suicide attempt.  At the time she was under the care of a psychiatrist and taking six medications, all of which had potential side effects of inducing suicidal thoughts.

Nearly four years ago on March 25, 2008, Firegeezer reported HERE on Mary Wolski's attempt to get her job back by filing an appeal with the Civil Service Commission.

On April 11 of last year Fire Chief Tony Pol wrote her a letter of termination and detailed what Pol said was her attempt to set her father’s house on fire.

Pol wrote that Wolski disconnected the smoke detectors in the house, located in the 1800 block of East 34th Street. He said she took an overdose of medication before starting a fire.

“This incident renders you presumptively unsuited to be a firefighter, as you pose an ongoing threat to the safety of the public, other firefighters and yourself,” Pol wrote.

After appealing the termination, the Civil Service Commission upheld the firing with the admonishment, “(S)etting a fire … is the single most significant act a fire fighter may not commit. The act of establishing a fire in a residence is wholly incompatible with the role of the fire fighter….”

Failing at that attempt for reinstatement, Wolski then began a long trudge through the courts claiming unfairness, violation of her constitutional rights, violaton of the Americans With Disability Act, etc., etc.  (Firegeezer report HERE.)  Wolski and her lawyer finally found the "perfect storm" of judicial disconnect with  the team of Judge Sean J. McLaughlin and an 8-member jury whose concern with fairness overrides their concern about public safety.  The Erie Times-News has a complete summation of yesterday's court decision with background of the trial HERE.

Apparently nobody representing the city was able to impress on the jurors the necessity of holding emergency personnel of police, fire and EMS agencies to a higher standard of ethical and behavioral practice than that of the standard work force.  Mary Wolski may indeed have been an exemplary employee for her first ten years in the fire department.  But the citizens of Erie cannot be holding the same level of trust and confidence in their fire department that they had before yesterday.

It is time now for us to confidently check out our equipment for the day.  In the spirit of fairness I will get more coffee started for all of us before we meet back in the digital day room in a little while.

……. Bill Schumm, Firegeezer.

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Monday Morning – Talk About An Equipment Check!

Have you ever heard of the Last Resort Fire Department?  It kind of sounds like something out of the Old West and that's just where they are located.  Our friends in Washington State no doubt are familiar with the LRFD because their HQ and main station is in Seattle.

If you haven't figured out yet, it's a very quaint and imaginative name for an organization that saves and restores antique firetrucks with an emphasis on the Seattle FD and immediate area.  According to their WEBSITE, they are in their 44th year of service and have accumulated what they claim is the largest collection of antique motorized fire apparatus in the Pacific Northwest.  Their storage and maintenance shop house about a dozen of their restored pieces including four ladder trucks while some of their collection is also on display in the Seattle Fire Department museum downtown.  From their website:

Our primary mission has always been the preservation of Seattle Fire Department history. Our collection is comprised of several unique fire apparatus from the SFD. Included are Seattle's only Ahrens-Fox, which was fully restored in the mid-1960's, and three of Seattle's tillered aerials – their last wooden aerial – a 1929 Mack, their first metal aerial – a 1937 Seagrave, and their last "conventional-cab" tillered aerial – a 1969 Kenworth/Maxim. We also have the SFD's last city-service ladder truck – a 1950 Kenworth, and what we believe to be the oldest surviving motorized fire apparatus from the SFD – a 1913 Seagrave City Service Ladder. The SFD's only Bulldog Mack is included in our collection, although it has yet to be restored.

We work closely with the Seattle Fire Department, providing apparatus for fire prevention activities, fire station dedications and open houses, as well as recruit graduation ceremonies. In addition, upon request, we transport their horse-drawn and motorized steamers to parades and displays. We strive to promote a professional image in keeping with fire service tradition.

Looks like a great outfit, doesn't it?  I suggest that you take a few minutes and stroll around their informative WEBSITE and take a look at their handiwork and collection.  Lots of good photos if you click around.

And just be glad your Monday morning check sheet isn't as big as the LRFD's.  But we'd better get started on ours now, so while you do that I will get the Bunn-O-Matic fired up for a fresh pot before we meet back in the day room.

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Sunday Morning – Where Do We Land?

Everybody is aware of the ineptitude of centralized government when it comes to getting things done efficiently.  Instead of allowing professionals to build or operate complex projects, the legislature or council will try and do it on their own (usually because they want the big contracts to go to their friends).  I don't know what the motives or origins of the design work for a new children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia were, but the results are familiar.  The new Royal Children's Hospital was built by the state government to replace an old, outmoded building and they laid out more than $1 billion for it.  That's right, a billion dollars (Aus.) for one hospital.

After it was built last year, it was found that the roof-top helipad is inadequate for some instances, primarily weather changes and weight limits.  The old hospital a few blocks away had its helipad on the ground and weight limits were never  consideration.  But apparently this new heliport which is on what appears to be a 5th-floor level, is right at the limit for a routine helicopter with crew and patient.  This being the state's primary children's hospital, it is also used frequently for advanced pediatric transports that require the hospital staff to load up equipment such as repirators, etc., along with a cadre of doctors and nurses.  But all that puts helicopter over the limit for safety on this roof.  (See article from The Age HERE.)

Currently their only alternative is to use the helipad at a hospital in Essenden which is a 25-minute drive (one-way) in the best of traffic conditions.  Rush hour and business day traffic will slow it down considerably, so that a mercy flight requiring the staft to travel out, retrieve, and return will require the staff to be gone from the hospital for more than two hours longer than should be. 

Another consideration overlooked is the occasional times that windy conditions prevent rooftop landings and a regulation that does not permit rooftop ops when the temperature goes over 30º C.  That has something to do with the air being "too thin," but I don't understand why you can take off in this thin air from the ground, but not from 50 ft. higher.  But then, that's government regulations for you.

Danger Zone photo by Joe Armao
for The Age newspaper.

So why not just build a new pad on the site of the old hospital which is only a couple of minutes away, to be used when the rooftop is unsafe?  Ohhh, noooo!!!   The old hospital grounds are designated to be turned into a park with valuable "green space" and when that alternative was advanced, the public outcry was politically deafening.  They just will not tolerate a playground and green area to be polluted with an occasional helicopter arriving to save an infant's life.  They have their priorities in Melbourne.

Right now our priority is to get this equipment checked out while cook gets the Sunday breakfast ready.  I'm going to make sure the Bunn-O-Matic is still operating at all temperatures.  See you back in the day room.

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Saturday Morning – Power Up

File this under How to Make a Million.  This little plug-thingy is a power adaptor for the Amazon Kindle e-reader.  A USB cord plugs into the other end of it and when you connect the two, it enables you to recharge the permanent battery in the device.  You don't have to use the power adaptor because you can plug the USB cord into your computer and charge your Kindle from there.  But not only is it much slower that way, but you have to have access to a computer (that is plugged in) to use it.  So this little power adaptor is virtually a necessity, but not absolutely required.

Prior to December 1 this power adaptor was included with your Kindle purchase, so you were all set to go, right out of the box.  But sensing the strong demand for Kindles likely to occur during the Christmas rush, some marketing whiz-kid convinced the policy-makers to include only the USB cord in the sales box and offer the power adaptor separately for $15.  When you take into account that perhaps as many as 5 million Kindle e-readers were sold over the holiday season (Amazon doesn't release the numbers), you can figure for yourself how that boosted the sales figures for the 4th-quarter.

This morning I see that Amazon is selling the adaptor for $10 if you buy it with a Kindle.  That's a welcome concession, but really, guys.  For all the money that your customers are spending already for your device and future eBook sales, you really oughta' go back to including this plug that probably doesn't cost more than 12 cents to make.

Here's a stat for you:  The number of Americans who own a tablet or e-reader is estimated to be 29% of the adult population.

Let's start on another set of stats now and get this equipment checked out.  I'm going to get more coffee started for us… a Saturday kicker.  See you back in the day room.

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Friday Morning – Where's the Checkbook?

Once again we had the disappointing duty to report yesterday on a volunteer fire company officer who was nabbed for embezzling funds from his department.  See "Another VFD Officer Goes to Jail" HERE.  This guy was something special, though.  He managed to hit the Top Ten All Time list for amount stolen by pocketing more than $800,000.  While his thefts were spread out over an 8-year span, it's still a remarkable amount, especially for a small community that has a limited number of emergency calls.  Look at the photo of their apparatus bays and you will see that they haven't been swimming in donations over the years.  But to have collected that much to have 100-Grand go missing on average each year and still have enough left to purchase fuel and supplies shows that this department had some great community support.

But that support has to be thin now after this fiasco.  In all that time, the members of the Windber Fire Company never accepted the responsibility of monitoring and accounting for their citizens' generosity.  Even when the house-of-cards started collapsing and suppliers began complaining about not getting paid, their only response was to accept the thief's claim that it was because of the hard economic times and they needed to concentrate on holding more fundraisers.

Just how many times over the past five years have we gathered around the Bunn-O-Matic and emphasized the need necessity of having professional, outside audits done on the department's financial records?  How many times have we iterated that it is the department's further responsibility to take out performance bonds on all their officers?  They don't cost that much at all, and are a very cheap way to protect yourself.  The good citizens are out 800-thousand dollars now…never to be seen again.  That could have been prevented by purchasing a low-cost bond from their insurance agent. 

So once again, we will shout it out….. AUDITS!!! ….. BONDS!!! ….. and another good practice followed by many departments is term-limits on all administrative officers positions.  Don't let one of these disasters happen to you, ok?

Now let's get this equipment checked out.  I'll get some more coffee started and see you back in the day room.

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Thursday Morning – In the Shadows, International Bouts Past and Present

First, let's start with the important stuff….  This is Groundhog Day (did you remember?) and the world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil did most certainly see his shadow at sunup this morning.  So another six weeks of whatever kind of winter you've been having is now predicted to continue.

February 2nd has been the Christian feast day known as Candlemas since the very early days of the Catholic church and was based on the even-older Mosaic tradition of the Fortieth Day. It is also deliberately timed to occur at the midpoint between the Winter Solstice (first day of Winter) and the Vernal Equinox (first day of Spring).

The multitude of German immigrants who populated the bulk of Pennsylvania brought the Candlemas celebration with them to the New World and in the 1880′s a hunting club in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, held a groundhog hunt every Candlemas.

In 1887 the editor of the local newspaper, who was a member of the club, promoted the hunt and announced that their ancient tradition of using rodents (badgers were used in Europe) to predict the coming of Spring would be practiced in Punxsutawney with their own pet groundhog. And the rest, as they say, is history. According to tradition, if a groundhog peeps out from his burrow following his winter hibernation and sees his shadow, then there will be six more weeks of winter weather. A dull or overcast day preventing his shadow from being cast will announce the coming of an early Spring.

 If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won’t come again.

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The death toll from the so-called "riot" in Egypt has risen to 79 so far.  I normally don't cover such events, but the immediately-high numbers of casualties made me wonder what kind of medical response they would get.  Unsurprisingly it wasn't much, if any at all.  It was also evident that  this was neither a spontaneous action, nor did it have anything to do with a soccer game.  To me it looks like it was a planned civil disturbance mounted for political reasons, thus continuing the ideological turmoil that has risen in the past year.  Therefore I will not bother saying any more about it unless an ambulance ever does show up there.  That would be newsworthy.

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First thing this morning I see that famed boxing trainer Angelo Dundee passed away yesterday at age 90.  Boxing doesn't have anywhere near the popularity that it had for most of the 20th century, but during that time Dundee was already a legend.  His ability to take a boxer and elevate them to their maximum performance level was unmatched.  He became famous outside the boxing community for his record with Cassius Clay / Muhammed Ali, taking him on after his Olympic success and directing his professional career from start to finish.

He also trained more than six other world champions.  Dundee was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992 and they have a good review of Angelo Dundee's professional career posted in their website HERE.

Now let's devote ourselves to our own training program and get this equipment checked out.  I'm going to start some championship coffee so it will be ready when we meet back in the day room.

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Wednesday Morning – Take Aim

Entering into a leap-year February.  All of you Feb. 29 birthday people get to celebrate on the real day this year.  It might be February already, but I'm still finding Christmas tree tinsel (icicles for you youngsters) in stray spots on the floor.  How do they get there and where have they been?  It's an annual chase for me.

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Still another amazing technological advance has been disclosed.  It's not fire-ems related, so I'm talking about it here instead of a regular posting.  The Sandia Laboratories have been overseeing development of a special round of ammunition that has a self-guiding feature that will direct the bullet right to the target.

Sandia Labs photo

The object was to enhance the ability of a .50-caliber sniper rifle to hit a target from a mile or more away.  And it looks like they just about have the prototype ready now.  Part of the challenge facing a long-range sniper is the environmental obstructions, namely air movements (winds) and air density that alter the course of a bullet.  From a 1+ mile range, these tiny alterations can cause the bullet to miss the target by a significant amount.  A recent report from Wired emagazine tells,

Each self-guided bullet is around 4 inches in length. At the tip is an optical sensor, that can detect a laser beam being shone on a far-off target. Actuators inside the bullet get intel from the bullet’s sensor, and then "steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target." The bullet can self-correct its navigational path 30 times a second, all while flying more than twice the speed of sound.

The innovation involved some major changes to typical bullet design, which involves grooves inside the barrel to make the bullet spin and therefore fly in a straight line. Researchers had to eliminate that spinning to allow the bullets to twist and turn towards their target. Instead, they used those tiny fins — similar to those on a dart — to keep the bullet aloft while allowing it a full range of motion to navigate through the air.

Sandia Labs photo

Even with an ace marksman, researchers found that a typical unguided bullet — operating in real world conditions that might include crosswinds or changes in air density — would miss a target that was a half-mile away by nine meters. A guided bullet, however, could get within eight inches of that same target.

Sandia says that with commercially available gunpowder, the bullet will travel at speeds of 2,400 feet per second. But with customized gunpowder, it could hit military speeds. A Sandia field test demonstrated that the bullet's internal electronics and battery can survive the rigors of flying from rifle barrel to target. Presumably, they would not survive striking the target.

Part of this new development is to have the laser beam generated from the sniper's own scope, presumably to allow him more freedom of movement.  Simply amazing.

Let's do some amazing equipment checking now.  We're close enough that we don't need laser guidance to find our apparatus.  The Bunn-O-Matic now, that's different.  I'll track it down and get another pot going.  See you back in the day room.

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Tuesday Morning – Who-ray?

Granted, my circle of friends and acquaintences is not at all representative of the population at large.  In fact, it's not representative of anything.  But within my limited scope, I do not know of anybody who has switched their dvd purchases and viewing over to the Blu-ray format.  This grand refinement of video disc entertainment was supposed to launch the world into super-enjoyment of videos that match the quality abilities of the new HDTV, or Hi-Def television sets.  But I don't see where "the world" has knuckled under like a bunch of sheeple to the crafty sales ploys of the video entertainment industry.

You see all the ads for the enhanced video discs, and many tv retailers are conveniently tossing in a free Blu-ray video disc player with a tv purchase.  Just what it this Blu-ray thingy anyway?  Well, Blu-ray.com (of course!) explains in simple language:

Blu-ray, (not Blue-ray) also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a new optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.

While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD.

Blu-ray is currently supported by about 200 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has support from all Hollywood studios and countless smaller studios as a successor to today's DVD format.

Wow!  With all that firepower behind them, why haven't we all rolled over and accepted this magnificent advance of televiewing pleasure?  I don't know about you, but for me the slightly (yes, slightly) improved sharpness of the HD picture just isn't worth the significantly-greater cost of the Blu-ray dvd's over the standard models.  It's not like the disc sellers are adding an extra buck or two to the price, but they are jacking them up by 25% or more.  I realize that there are movie afficianados out there who truly enjoy any little bit of refinement to the picture of their $5,000 tv set, but I am watching purely for some plain entertainment and a good story.  And I get all that just fine now, thank you.

What about you?  Have you joined the Blu-ray club yet?  Do you know anyone who has?  Am I just out in left field here?  Inquiring minds want to know.

We'd better switch from Blu-ray to Roto-ray now and get this equipment checked out.  I am going to get some more hi-def coffee brewing before we head back to the day room.

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From Amazon:  30% Markdowns and
more on Blu-ray dvd players

Including Wi-Fi models.  CLICK HERE to see the wide selection.

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