I'll be using this space periodically to update my friends and others on this site about my participation in the Lake Placid Half Marathon on June 15, 2008, in, amazingly enough, Lake Placid, NY. I'm running 13.1 miles with Team in Training to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Donors (Heroes) so far:

• LadyChaplain
• Sean Crotty
• Dave Blank and family
• Donna…

It was a little daunting for me at first, because I was being sworn in at the monthly business meeting, and other than the chief, didn't really know too many others, and the room (apparatus bay) was PACKED to the rafters with the members.

Here's what I can tell you about my department....everyone is named Frank, Bill or Ernie. I figure I have a 35% chance of getting it right. Oh, and I'm old enough to be my Lieutenant's mother. They also take their Sunshine Fund 50/50 raffle very…

I must have taken a sharp blow to the head at some point recently....because after running three half marathons for Team in Training, I'm doing it again. Surely I have better things to do with my time than get up every Saturday morning at 6 am to meet a pack of other runners so that we can run mile after mile in the dark and cold.

I'm stepping away from the Chronicles of the FNG(irl) for a moment, because I want to write about my participation in Team in Training.

Team in…

First things first....I passed. (a barely stifled YIPPEEE!!)

Received my Class A certification card which will accompany me to my swearing-in.

There were some aspects to the physical and fit test that I found.....disconcerting:

1.) The eye test: after a rather frustrating several minutes with my face jammed up against what appeared to be a Fisher-Price Movie Viewer, and telling the examiner that I couldn't SEE "A-1" because it was…

Well, props to my chief, he didn't want me to have to wait another week or so to get the arson check back and then have to wait for the letter from the department, so.....drumroll.........

I'm unofficially officially IN !!!

I'll be getting sworn in at the next department business meeting (first Tuesday in February), that is, of course, as long as my arson background check comes back clean.

They can't count that time my sisters and I set the garage on fire when I…

Tell you what, I'll save all of you the trouble and say it myself....

I'm a jackass.

There. Everyone happy?

I spent the better part of the day yesterday semi-obsessing, stressing and second-guessing about my interview. I changed clothes twice after work (I didn't want to come across as too business-like, but I didn't want to be sloppy or look too girly) and spent ten minutes alternately putting my hair up and then taking it back down again (who does this??? Oh, only…

My name is Mary Ellen. Those that know me fairly well call me Mel. The short story behind my nickname is that I used to cook professionally at one point in my life (among other occupations) and had a nasty habit of burning the bacon I was charged with cooking off on a weekly basis. As this was becoming an expensive habit, the chef in charge of the kitchen decided he needed to shorten my name; the thought process was that he had at least a shot at saving a couple of trays of porcine fatback…

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

-I Corinthians

There are hundreds upon hundreds of charities out there competing for your time, attention, energy, and your cash. I know I get solicited by every imaginable cause out there; some I donate to, others I "back burner" because I'm committed elsewhere, some I just shake my head at ("Save the Donkeys in the Holy Land" is my newest source of fodder…

This was in my email this morning from a very good friend, and I thought there were too many truisms in this not to share with my friends on here.

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we…

This is a short one...the linked story is the real story; keep your wits about you while on the road, because while you might be able to account for YOUR actions while driving, you can't account for the other drivers' actions, particularly when alcohol is involved.

The 1st Asst. Chief of Wilton Fire Department (Upstate NY) was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver while pulling out of his station. He'll recover, but we all know that this outcome is sadly not often the…

For those of you who don't know me, actually, even for those who do, my blog area will articulate my latest and hopefully greatest adventure.....finally volunteering for the fire service.

I currently serve as the state-wide Training and Education coordinator for the Firemen's Association of the State of New York...better known as FASNY (not FANCY, as it's sometimes referred to). My job entails working with the T & E committee to offer educational programming to the Fire and…

FASNY is pleased to announce the following seminar:

"HAZMAT/WMD" February 23 ,2008 at the Keeseville Fire Department, 8 Pleasant St. Keeseville,NY. 8:30 am- 5 pm.

Cost: FASNY members $ 5.00 with pre-registration, $20.00 at the door (includes light lunch).Non-FASNY members, $15.00 with pre-registration, $20 at the door. To register contact the FASNY office or follow the training link on www.fasny.com to download a registration form (FASNY members may…

After roaming through the mall tonight, and observing mankind exhibiting less than admirable behavior during a high-stress time (Ho, Ho, Ho? ) and not being terribly impressed with said behavior, I'd like to offer up some thoughts based on the philosophy of "Pay it Forward".

The concept is simple......simple acts of unexpected and unneccessary kindness; to complete strangers, to friends, to family.

My parents raised me to be a mindful, respectful and polite person. My mother is…

William McKay, the little seven year-old boy granted firefighter status by the Colonie Fire Department died today. See my previous blog post on this.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=645015&category=&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=12/6/2007

I don't know why God takes the innocent and the young, and it's not for me to know or…

So I got to thinking about posting something that wasn't a nag session about seatbelts, or that really had anything to do with firefighter safety, per se. (thanks Mick for the inspiration) I think I'd just like to express my thoughts about what the Fire Service, in particular the volunteer fire service does, around the holidays.

For those of you "Catlicks", of which I'm one, the Holidays are a celebration of our Savior's birth. Has the celebration become too commercial? In my mind,…

Someone, somewhere on here who regularly reads new blogs is going to see this and say to themself..."There she goes again, nagging about seatbelts again. What's the big deal?"

I'll tell you what the big deal is....firefighters are dying because they're too stupid or too invincible to wear their seatbelts. Here's another article about wearing them that I thought was good reading.…

Every single time we run a road safety program, and we stress using seatbelts, inevitably I get at least a handful of responders saying...."But I caaaaan't wear my seatbelt....it a.) takes too long to get on b.) doesn't fit around my turnout gear "

Let's review: A.) It takes too long to put on? It doesn't take any time at all to be dead though, does it? Especially after you've been ejected from a rolling pumper tanker and it's now laying on top of you. Is your rig only slowing…

We ran another "CSI, New York: Crash Scene Investigation" class tonight at Verdoy Fire Department in Latham, NY (aka the "Taj Mahal" of Upstate NY) {thanks to Chief Dave Leonardo for giving up other plans to stay onsite and assist FASNY after the onsite Verdoy coordinator had a conflict} --

The class is a focused look at emergency services operators injured or killed while responding to a call or while on scene. During a discussion about scene staging, one of our attendees wanted to…