When last we met, my buddy Jim Brunelle was awaiting delivery of a pair of Black Diamond firefighting boots to test out, while my fingers and brain took a mini-vacation from blogging (my imaginary trip to my own private Idaho was lovely, thanks very much).

Jim sent me an email with his thoughts regarding the boots, and I opened it, fully expecting a knuckle-dragging Cro-Magnon-esque male perspective.

You know; something along the lines of "Boots good. Feet…

I had every intention of posting a new "boot review" piece today, until I received the news of the passing of a FASNY member and firematic friend, and I have opted instead to post a quiet good-bye to a gentleman with extraordinary qualities who loved the fire service with unabashed abandon.

I first met Bob and Rebecca Franklin about five years ago when I was just starting out in my career at FASNY. I was running registration at a FASNY-sponsored seminar, and Rebecca showed up…

I erroneously made an assumption that my original blog post below was yanked and sent to the Principal's office for violation of TOS (that's Terms of Service for you acronym-challenged folk)--but we all know what happens when assumptions are made.

Wikipedia it if you were born in 1809 and don't know what I'm talking about.

So here it is...in its entirety, and thanks to WebChief for the clarification/go-ahead.…