A couple of quick announcements regarding "News of Members".
First good news regarding Steve E., "flapara16", granddaughter. There is talk that she may be moved out of ICU in a couple of days. For those of us who know Steve, you just couldn't ask for a better guy. He is a Battalion Chief in a County Department in Virginia and is the boss of an entire county for his shift. A guy really into the job. Steve, your Brothers to the north sure hope everything continues to go well for your granddaughter.
Now, a "Big Thank You" is in order for all the guys that take the time to give us the rundowns and stories of ALL the Jobs. Both FDNY and other areas. I don't know how they do it, but I sure do appreciate it. I guess at least for me, this fire department stuff has been ingested into the blood stream and I just can't seem to get rid of it. But anyway, thank you for providing me with my needed "daily fix".
Also the pictures that are posted here tell the actual story. Many have been taken by "OnScenePhotos" and posted on the main page. Other than being there, it shows what went on. Thank you for posting them.
Last week, I made a trip down to the Sunshine State to visit a few friends. I thought it would be warm in Orlando. Well, they didn't exactly get 5 feet of snow like the Buffalo area did, but the first night it went down to 38 degrees. I could have stayed in Connecticut for that kind of weather. In fact, the entire week, I never got a chance to wear my shorts and show those nice, big fat white legs on mine.
But while I was down there, I was invited to a gathering of the Suncoast Retirees luncheon in Sarasota by site member Garrett L.,"69mets". I have met Garrett in the past through this web site. He is a retired FDNY member who worked Ladder 123, Ladder 33, Squad 41, and Rescue 3. He also might have spent time working Ladder 156 and driving the SOC Chief. His father was on the job in the FDNY and now his son is on the job in Fla.
I also met another site member at that Retirees Luncheon. Site member Jack O'R., "JOR176", who I met for the first time. Jack was assigned to the FDNY Communications Division for several years. As I understand it, he was also a U.S. Marine during the Viet Nam War. We had been in contact in the past through this web site, but I really didn't know Jack. When I did get to meet him at this luncheon, it was like we were long lost friends. One of the guys took a picture of the three of us. I think my good friend Emmett M., "fdny1075k", might post that picture on here for us.
The luncheon was made up of about 20 guys, mostly from the FDNY. But as I understand it, there was also two retired guys from the Camden Fire Department, myself from Connecticut, and a retired Brother of mine, named Gerry K., who I worked with on the job in Connecticut for my entire career. We also used to buff the FDNY together back in the day. I think I've seen him once since he retired 15 years ago. So it was great to see my Retired Brother Gerry K., the "Wildman", as he was known in the firehouse.
Now, on a somewhat different note, as we all know, site member Frank D, aka "fdce54", has put off his November 30th, 2014 retirement until July, 2015. For many of us, the Big Question was "Why is that" ? Well, we investigated and what we found would probably be no surprise to anybody. It's all about money. It has been rumored, that those who work under his command are so upset that their boss is leaving, that they feel it's in their best interest to offer Frank a huge sum of money, just to put that retirement date off a few more months. I have no proof of that but from what it sounds like to me, that seems to be the results of our investigation. As we all know, only Frank knows the real story and probably would plead his Fifth Amendment right on that.
What was also in the works was a little retirement gathering for Frank at Maggie Mays. That retirement party has now turned in to a "Frankie D Roasting Party". Yes, at some point he must face the music. I think the new "Roasting Party" will be discussed and possibly that date may be posted here for EVERYONE to tell Frank just how they feel about this sudden change in plans.
Just one more bit of news to report. If you received any text with a picture of a newly designed piece of equipment called "The Willy Scope Tool", it was sent to me by a member of this site. Some of the comments that have been made are:
"Willy, I was going to buy you this for Christmas"
"I have the same problem"
"I needed a laugh like that today"
"Willy, I think you got a hacker into your cell phone"
"Willy, it kind of looks like you"
"Those Baker Aerial Scope engineers got nothing on you"
"Good idea, could use one myself"
If I have your Email address, I'll try to send it to you within a few days. I know it gave me a laugh and the name fit it perfectly. To the original member who sent this to me, you made my day. Maybe you made a few others day too.
First good news regarding Steve E., "flapara16", granddaughter. There is talk that she may be moved out of ICU in a couple of days. For those of us who know Steve, you just couldn't ask for a better guy. He is a Battalion Chief in a County Department in Virginia and is the boss of an entire county for his shift. A guy really into the job. Steve, your Brothers to the north sure hope everything continues to go well for your granddaughter.
Now, a "Big Thank You" is in order for all the guys that take the time to give us the rundowns and stories of ALL the Jobs. Both FDNY and other areas. I don't know how they do it, but I sure do appreciate it. I guess at least for me, this fire department stuff has been ingested into the blood stream and I just can't seem to get rid of it. But anyway, thank you for providing me with my needed "daily fix".
Also the pictures that are posted here tell the actual story. Many have been taken by "OnScenePhotos" and posted on the main page. Other than being there, it shows what went on. Thank you for posting them.
Last week, I made a trip down to the Sunshine State to visit a few friends. I thought it would be warm in Orlando. Well, they didn't exactly get 5 feet of snow like the Buffalo area did, but the first night it went down to 38 degrees. I could have stayed in Connecticut for that kind of weather. In fact, the entire week, I never got a chance to wear my shorts and show those nice, big fat white legs on mine.
But while I was down there, I was invited to a gathering of the Suncoast Retirees luncheon in Sarasota by site member Garrett L.,"69mets". I have met Garrett in the past through this web site. He is a retired FDNY member who worked Ladder 123, Ladder 33, Squad 41, and Rescue 3. He also might have spent time working Ladder 156 and driving the SOC Chief. His father was on the job in the FDNY and now his son is on the job in Fla.
I also met another site member at that Retirees Luncheon. Site member Jack O'R., "JOR176", who I met for the first time. Jack was assigned to the FDNY Communications Division for several years. As I understand it, he was also a U.S. Marine during the Viet Nam War. We had been in contact in the past through this web site, but I really didn't know Jack. When I did get to meet him at this luncheon, it was like we were long lost friends. One of the guys took a picture of the three of us. I think my good friend Emmett M., "fdny1075k", might post that picture on here for us.
The luncheon was made up of about 20 guys, mostly from the FDNY. But as I understand it, there was also two retired guys from the Camden Fire Department, myself from Connecticut, and a retired Brother of mine, named Gerry K., who I worked with on the job in Connecticut for my entire career. We also used to buff the FDNY together back in the day. I think I've seen him once since he retired 15 years ago. So it was great to see my Retired Brother Gerry K., the "Wildman", as he was known in the firehouse.
Now, on a somewhat different note, as we all know, site member Frank D, aka "fdce54", has put off his November 30th, 2014 retirement until July, 2015. For many of us, the Big Question was "Why is that" ? Well, we investigated and what we found would probably be no surprise to anybody. It's all about money. It has been rumored, that those who work under his command are so upset that their boss is leaving, that they feel it's in their best interest to offer Frank a huge sum of money, just to put that retirement date off a few more months. I have no proof of that but from what it sounds like to me, that seems to be the results of our investigation. As we all know, only Frank knows the real story and probably would plead his Fifth Amendment right on that.
What was also in the works was a little retirement gathering for Frank at Maggie Mays. That retirement party has now turned in to a "Frankie D Roasting Party". Yes, at some point he must face the music. I think the new "Roasting Party" will be discussed and possibly that date may be posted here for EVERYONE to tell Frank just how they feel about this sudden change in plans.
Just one more bit of news to report. If you received any text with a picture of a newly designed piece of equipment called "The Willy Scope Tool", it was sent to me by a member of this site. Some of the comments that have been made are:
"Willy, I was going to buy you this for Christmas"
"I have the same problem"
"I needed a laugh like that today"
"Willy, I think you got a hacker into your cell phone"
"Willy, it kind of looks like you"
"Those Baker Aerial Scope engineers got nothing on you"
"Good idea, could use one myself"
If I have your Email address, I'll try to send it to you within a few days. I know it gave me a laugh and the name fit it perfectly. To the original member who sent this to me, you made my day. Maybe you made a few others day too.
