wraftery

Take a look at the line above my name that refers to lime yellow fire engines. I didn't put it there. Apparently someone hacked into my profile and put it there. I noticed it the other day and I figured the culprit would fess up. One day, the perpetrator will admit it was him. People who do things like this can't keep it secret because they have to have the credit fot it. Lime yellow is kind of an inside joke in central Westchester, so I will briefly explain that I had a Chief for 34 years that firmly believed in the color yellow based on the Solomon study on visibility. I believed that red is a color that is universally recognized for fire engines. For 34 years we agreed to disagree (but the Chief gets the color he wants), and remained both coworkers and friends for all that time. Back to "what's funny." Was the title I was given funny? YES Was it harmless? YES Am I mad at the hacker ? NO (AS long as he doesn't mess with important stuff) Will I retaliate? YES Once I find him, I am duty bound as a Fireman to retaliate Are my feelings hurt? Hell no...I'm a Fireman Wait! There's a lesson in this whole prank thing: Today, in our politically correct fire service, a prank like this would potentially warrant a complaint to the Chief, a letter to the FCC, EMT-Bravo Board, a written reprimand, an EEOC complaint,and more. In the old days, we laughed and moved on to construct the next prank. I truly believe that I worked with some of the funniest men on the face of the earth. Anyone and anything was fair game as long as it did no damage. Well, except for the guy that stuck a lit firecracker in a homemade peach pie because the crust was hard. That caused a two-hour all-hands cleanup, and the "pie man" and the "pyrotechnic expert" didn't talk for a week. So what happened to my fire service that caused us to lose our sense of humor and our crust? Perhaps it is a good item for discussion.

I was trying to think of a "respectful" way to say that. You got it. Thanks!

I would be willing to bet they waxed the bejeezez on that roof in the morning just before they left for the parade. If you are going to ride up there, you want it nice and slippery in case the driver stops short. Hopefully, the Bogota Ambulance Corps is next in the line of march and not riding the roof of the bus.

In S Westchester there are no brush trucks. But we have options: 1. Stretch in 2. Indian tank it. (They're in the station cellar someplace) 3. Wait 'til it comes to you, put the stick up and make rain

One more tip: When you go out the door in rubber boots and Bunkers, throw your shoes on the rig. When you take a blow (that's old guy talk for Rehab) you can drop your bunkers and let the wind cool you off. Even if you are wearing leather boots, an old pair of shoes on the rig wouldn't hurt. It feels pretty good to kick those work boots off to cool down.. PS And you know who you are. I said Shoes...not the pink bunny slippers you wear at nite!

Make sure your SatDish is mounted with wing nuts and not lag bolts. You want to be able to take it with you to get the Yankee games when you evacuate. It's Hurricane Season, you know. ALSO!!! An old sailor's method for calming the sea was to pour oil on the water. Did BP ever hear of that?

OK...got it...it works like 1.a washing machine wringer to get water out (which people under 55 have never seen) and 2.goes back and forth to keep the bedded hose level. That would make it a cross between a self leveling fishing reel and a proby

OK Barry,, you've been in HQ too long. It's 2010 now so The Britixh are our buddies Scottish ...buddies Canadians...buddies Australians...buddies Muslims...not buddies

I don't like to talk politics, but we may be in need of a new American Revoultion.

I've been teaching anti-terrorsm courses since before terrorism becsme popular. I always preached "Watch out for the secondary device" and also "Only the bad guy knows where the secondary device is." There are no or very few clues as to where it might be. In most cases, secondary devices were only discovered AFTER they detonated. There is no course out there that can tell you where to look for the secondary device. If you take a course that even attempts to tell you where to look, forget it. By the time you get the info, the bad guys have already taken that course and changed the game plan. The only way to prevent terrorism is to kill the terrorist before he srikes.

You're right on, Jack. Every time a fire photo got posted, the guy or operation got picked apart by the know-it-alls down to the most miniscu;e of "sightings." The "sightings" are things like "OOH, look, I hit Zoom in seven times and found that the FF pictured has his right shoe double knotted but not his left. This is a major safety hazard. That shoelace could suffer a catastrophic failure" The photo guys that used to post here are very good at what they do. (Pinto, Messar. Bendick, etc). I hope hey didn't give it up. How 'bout the rest of us just look at the picture and don't be stupid?

Is FIRE BIKE 1 still in service?

Good luck...have fun...stay safe Most of all, learn Something every day

Well, I guess us retirees are finished "venting." The rest will probably be in the hands of the lawyers. I bet they won't "Share The Wealth."

He also said "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what, then, of an empty desk?" Nothing to do with the thread, but I just like the quote

First, we who have health care ARE sharing the wealth. Illegaal immigrants, those on welfare for generations, and the like pay nothing for their health care, The reason we get hospital statements showing $ 4.oo for an aspirin is because we paid for our aspirin plus the 8 doses for the freeloaders I mentioned above. Second, those in the private sector are always ready to bang cops and FF's over health insurance costs. From proby to Chief, our salary and benefits are an open book. How does the private sector CEO's salary/benefit package compare to his average employee? I bet he's doing OK if you can even find out! How many Fire Chiefs make 100 to 1000 times more than his FF's? Not a one. Maybe...just maybe...Cops and FF's are good negotiators,, and those in the private sector are not. Third. Cops and FF's are not that smart. We keep endorsing Democrats, and a year or two later, they want to lower our salaries, and lay us off. It happens over and over. And yes, Rob, I know we have to scramble. I was just spewing out a few thoughts while I scramble.

I believe if White Plains is in any financial difficulty, it has to be due to mismanagement, not brcause of PD/FD retirees. It is a hub for business, shopping, entertainment, and so on. Its population increases tremendously during business (M-F 9to5) hours, and them the restaurant goers and bar crowd take over. How could you blow that and then blame the retired cops and firemen.

FYI By law, bargaining units (the unions) are not allowed to negotiate for persons who have retired, Except for COLA, retirement packages are "written in stone" It's like buying a house. Once you sign your mortgage, the mortgage company cannot change your contract because you now happen to be paying a lower interest than the national average. That's their problem.

I made sure that when I retired, I had a copy of the contract that I retired under. Not that I didn't trust anyone but I don't trust anyone in the future to honor the word of their predecessors. And...Capt 32 used to be young like JFLYNN, but I wore him out coming to my jobs (and he loved it)

In Westchester, because of the myriad of radio frequencies, the dept next door could have a good job going on and I would not know it. What would think if 60 Control made a simulcast announcement over all freqs for all working fires and multiple alarms with a few quick details?? As a shift commander, if I knew I was "next up" I could do some prep work such as: Get an address Move some manpower around to fill the aid Company MPOs cuold pull out the correct thread adapters, magnetic hydrant wrench etc Take hard suction out of the cellar There are plenty of things a company can do before the calls come in. Comments?

This is not directed at anyone personally, but at everyone personnally. I think the word is grandfathering, but I'll go along with "great" because it has the same connotation. Grandfathering has pros and cons. Young whippersnappers have the notion that everyone with a lot of time on the job are living dangerously in the past and are know-nothings. Where did you get the standards you are using? Did somebody just dream them up? Yes! It was those old guys that gave you the standards you are using today. If you think the old guys should all start over because some 18 year old State Instructor said we should, you are rather pompous. I have two sons on-the-job so that makes my father their grandfather (OTJ 1945-62). What did that grandfather he give you? Well for a start, The Westchester Paid FF's Association, precursor of the 5th District NYSPFF. The purpose was to fight for your rights and safety. Then there was formal education for the fire service. Now there was a new concept. Remember the Delehanty Institute? Of course you don't. How about the Westchester Career Fireman's School in Mt. Vernon? Dosen't ring a bell, does it? It was taught by Manny Freid, author of a book called Fireground Tactics, which included subjects like fireground command. The fireground command system had features like Span of Control and Unity of Command and looked very close to ICS. Don't you remember that book? My generation, 1971-2005, gave you things like college major in Fire Science (my BS was in 1977). Wow! More formal education! We gave you SCBA's...all the time...(not carried in a suitcase, to be used only on special occasions). I wonder who changed that? And not to forget the Trench Cut, invented by trial and error by the FDNY guys in the Bronx during the Burn Baby Burn days. If you are from Westchester, I probably taught you in proby school. There's a new one a combined proby school! Everyone meets the same minimum standard. And Chemistry, Hazmats, Terrorism...boy, my generation was really busy making up things to pass on to the next generation. Well, thanks for letting me rant. But old guys are allowed to do that. They accuse us of forgetting things too, but the young guys can't remember what their Lt. told them 5 min ago. OK, I'll try your stanndards as soon as you catch up to me. Move along, too because I'm not gonna wait.

I agree with Chris but would add "Where would you be happy?" Also, we New Yorkers don't know ennough about the structure of things there in New Mexico to be able to give accurate advice. If you can find Bill Vargas an ICS Instructor who was on the original ICS committee, he is probably the guy to ask. He was wwith NM OEM for a while. If you can get to Socorro, find some retired Alberquerque (not even close spelling, huh) guys at bomb schools Good Luck

The requirements for fast at an incident begins at the moment the incident leaves the incipient stage and the atmosphere hes the potential for becoming ILDH. Remember 2 in 2 out? Well the purpose of that 2 out is fast. When we hear an IC calling for a FAST TEAM from dept X and getting an ETA of 20 min, does that mean that IC has been operating up to now without a fast team and will continue to do so for at least 20 more minutes? I hope not, but if you listen to your scanner, it sure sounds that way. That's a far cry fromm operating with members on the first alarm assignment being designated as fast , and then designating an incoming company as fast. The IC that is operating without a fast team and something goes wrong needs two things asap: 1. He still needs FAST, but a bigger team 2. He needs a good lawyer

I know there were 27 8x10 photos. It was a typo. Also; I put that envelope under that pile of garbage.

This is the only time Flynn says not to crawl!