Coming Soon: Where's Rudy & Judy?

Hey, everyone knows that Rudy & Judy love the Royal Canadian Legions. We have a new contest coming soon that will test your sense of Ontario geography.
Correctly state the location of the Legion and you could win the grand prize (details to follow).

Live Training Online

Check out this site for "live training"!

Event Registration (EVENT: 24088):

"Ventilation: The Problem And Effect On Today's Buildings
Event Date: June 29, 2006 03:00 PM EDT
Presenter: Mike Dugan

Fires are burning hotter because interior plastic furnishings produce extreme heat. As buildings are constructed tighter they hold in these products of combustion. This creates a more dangerous situation for firefighters entering the fire building. This webcast will be an overview of ventilation practices and how they affect structural firefighting today. Ventilation must be coordinated and controlled. Does your department have procedures to manage venting?

New 911 Movie

A new movie by Oliver Stone is about to enter the theatres on August 6... You can check it out at: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/wtc/medium.html

Mississippi Volunteer To Be Honored For Sacrifice - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty

Mississippi Volunteer To Be Honored For Sacrifice - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty:

"Flags at the Mississippi Fallen Firefighters Memorial were lowered to half-mast on Monday in honor of a volunteer who collapsed and died last week after responding to a call.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday for Robert W. Edwards, 45, a volunteer in Tunica."

Indiana Firefighter Dies in House Fire - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty

Indiana Firefighter Dies in House Fire - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty:

"A volunteer firefighter responding to a possible lightning strike at a home in Tippecanoe County Sunday died battling the fire.

The fire in the 4100 block of East 700 South, near Westpoint, claimed the life of Wea Township Community Fire Deputy Chief Steven Smith, 35.

Smith was the first firefighter at the scene after the call was received, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported."

Bob Johnson Meets Charlize Theron

Thanks to Stump for getting involved in the Blog... as you can see, Stump has a real talent for editing ...

Thanks, Stump

Just to give u a heads up.This is Bob and Charlize in a recent trip to San Francisco.Bob was hoping to be a stand in in one of her movies.He worked like a dog with sit ups and gym work to look this good.But during the visit he found out she smoked and this completely broke the man.He will be at the 37TH bOB jOHNSON retirement party in Gladwin and am sure he will be back to his old self when u see him.

Stump

Ohio Department Mourns Loss of Veteran - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty

Ohio Department Mourns Loss of Veteran - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty:

"WELLINGTON -- Why did Allan 'Buz' Anderson die?

The 32 members of the Wellington Fire Department were searching for the answer in seclusion Thursday night while trying to deal with the emotional trauma and grief of losing one of their own earlier in the day.

The 47-year-old Anderson, a veteran swift water rescue technician and diver, died Thursday afternoon while trying to rescue two teenagers clinging to a tree in the swollen waters of a tributary of the Black River, about a half mile north on Pitts Road."

Forgot To Mention .......

Oh ya... we were away... forgot to tell everyone... We really enjoyed the trip to Hawaii by winning the Where Is It? contest... we also stopped in at Lavender Forest and said hello to Betty Patterson.. I would suggest that anyone wishing to visit her should make it this year as she has her place up for sale and this wonderful site might not be available next summer... photos to follow in another post.

Funeral Set for Georgia Firefighter - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty

Funeral Set for Georgia Firefighter - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty:

"Craddock, 36, stricken with a heart attack in May died Tuesday night at Emory University Hospital.

'There was very heavy fire. He came out, saying he didn't feel well. We initially thought it was heat-related. He had been inside, and fire conditions were bad.' Capt. Eric Jackson said just after the incident.

But, Craddock's condition continued to deteroriate as he was transported to the hospital. Once there, tests showed he was having a massive heart attack, Jackson said."

Tennessee Forestry Technician Killed - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty

Tennessee Forestry Technician Killed - Firehouse.com In The Line Of Duty:

"The flags at the National Firefighter Memorial in Maryland are flying at half-staff in honor of a Tennessee forestry technician who died in April after being hit by a tree.

Mark Allen Stanley. 49, was preparing an area for a burn when a dozer struck a large dead red oak, causing it to fall. The top of the tree hit him, the USFA reported.

Stanley was employed with the Tennessee Division of Forestry. The USFA was only recently notified of his death."

Not Everything Is Secure

I snapped this shot about 4 years ago on Ellis Street.... I found it funny that no matter what you try to prepare for in life that sometimes all the plans you make might not go the way that you want them to. : )
This poor soul probably thought his bike was very secure with his expensive lock.. but to no avail.. the bandits took everything except the frame! I suppose there's some lesson here to ponder.. like "dont put all your eggs in one basket" or some other ditty... I thought the photo was kind of ironic.

Phil "Drives" To Work

Isnt it strange how some people get around town? Phil claims this is the best way for him as his insurance rates have dropped drastically and he also gets to park in the handicapped parking areas at the local malls. He's even contemplating putting a siren on the scooter so he can attend fire events on his day off.
Phil stated that he is even thinking of getting a room in the nursing home itself. This would afford Phil the opportunity to talk to more folks on his level. Phil feels that he can even run errands for his peers with his new cheap transportation! Good luck with the new wheels, Phil... !

Class of '98

This was taken at Kew Drive March, 1998... 8 years ago.. I wonder if any of these guys remember the fun they had... ? I always remembered that folks at this stage loved coming to work.. I suppose most of them still do

The West Texas cowboy & The Yuppie

A West Texas cowboy was herding his cattle in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new Porsche Cayenne Turbo S advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his SUV, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany .

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.
Comic Sans MSFinally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the back of his SUV.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a Congressman for the U.S. government" says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows.............Now give me back my dog!"

An Old Story

I know most of you have probably read this one before... Father Mike sent it to me... and this is for those that havent had the pleasure of reading this story


In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible..
The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?"
Mommy, "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true."
Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix.
She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine.
Fireman Bob said, "Look, we can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us ! his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat-not a toy one-with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast."
Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station.
He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic's van, and even the fire chief's car.
He was also videotaped for the local news program. Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.
One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital.
Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.
The chief replied, "We can do better than that.
We'll be there in five minutes.
Will you please do me a favor?
When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's just the fire department coming to see one of its finest members one more time.
And will you open the window to his room?
About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window 16 firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room.
With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him.
With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?"
"Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,"
the chief said.
With those words, Billy smiled and said, "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.."
He closed his eyes one last time.
My instructions were to send this to at least four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you.
This story is powerful and there is nothing attached, uplifting stories are one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards, let's continue to uplift one another.

Where Is This? - THE Winner!

Ok... above is the final photo for the "Where Is This?" contest. The individuals are:

Bob Tapak age 53; Dann Dancy; G. Mennon Williams; Charlie Long (wearing cap); Mayor of Windsor; Queen Elizabeth; Ethel Merman (behind queenie); Phil;Kathy Block; Gary Percy; Jim Berthiaume (behind Percy); Vanna White (in window)

As promised the winner will spend his/her vacation in Hawaii at the infamous Wilton Inn in the lap of luxury.
The individual who came the closest to winning the grand prize was none other than former Windsor firefighter Gary Percy who is now enjoying the wreckage in Lakeshore left for him by Bob "Wanttobechief" Tapak, 102 now "working" for Tecumseh or Amherstburg...mmm...Essex..I'm sorry I can't keep up with his exploits lately.
Sooooo... the winner is.....

MEEEEEE.... Yes.. Me... I guessed all the people correctly... (doing a victory dance)...

I'd like to thank all of the contestents who thought they were going to win this wonderful trip... Im sorry but I have to run now.. I must contact Deputy Chief T. Berthiaume for my cheque which he has been holding.. Bye for now... I'll be thinking of you while I drink coconut milk on the golden shores of Hawaii... Aloha ... : )

?

Writer's block.. be patient..