Two of my three daughters started back to school yesterday, which leaves me alone for at least the morning hours with the youngest, Honora (she's 15 months old). Emma, my oldest, said to me that I must be sad because I don't go back to school anymore. Of course I told her, I go to school now just as much as I used to, but I didn't want to say, not everyone I work with does though. When you get to be the chief, do you keep going back to school? When you're the Director of the Task Force, have…

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...I figured it's time to fan the old flames of apathy again. Here we sit, years again after another disaster, and have we learned our lessons? All of the complaining about how the fire service isn't taken seriously enough and where am I gonna get funding and all that. How much has changed since the last little fit thrown by Mother Nature and what have we learned? We got a great best-seller in Hurricane Katrina Lessons…

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I took the week off from work (both the department and the task force) just to spend some time at home and take the kids to the beach. Going to the beach from my house involves loading up my folding cart and a half-ton of crap (my needs are in the cooler, but I have a wife and three girls, so picture the load), and walking about two blocks. Our home has been here at the beach for over ten years now and yet my only visit to the ocean's edge would be on Memorial Day Weekend and on Labor Day…

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This whole FirefighterNation thing is pretty intriguing. The network forming already is phenomenal. I was early to the party but late for the initial opening of the whole Firehouse Forums and couldn't believe the unbelievable response to that. I think Dave may have hit another homer here with the numbers of people coming in already. The whole social side was really what seemed to drive the forums, even though there were quite a number of us that were really in it from the beginning to get…

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We just got back from another activated alarm. My tillerman tells me it is too hot back in the box, but I would have no idea as the rest of us are sitting in the relative comfort of our poooorly air conditioned cab (like all those o's?). Of course, I have my turnouts on, but at least I had the foresight to leave my gear under the HVAC vent in the station, so it stays cool for about 20 minutes, which is what it should take to go out, get staged, and get turned around (AGAIN).…

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This whole thing is so intriguing that I've sat up since midnight trying to figure it all out. It's a brave new world, all of this electronic chatter. Oh well, I think it would be smart to go catch a little bit of sleep before the next call, or at least so I can function while watching the kids tomorrow.