Thursday, February 28, 2008

My Engine

I am being very patient but I want my Fire Engine finished...the Chassis got to Boise Mobil Equipment late because there was a strike at the International plant then the chassis got red tagged(things not right, needing repair).So here I am Chomping at the bit and muttering "BAWLZ"well anyway it looks like BME has pushed to the front of the line and things are moving forward. Here is a look at the chassis before they started any work. When she is finished her name will be 233 and she will be a looker yes she will, look how tall it will be, it has what we call a high angle of departure and is well suited for Rural and Urban interface work....being 4X4 there wont be much slowing her down

I type this as I listen to Chris Cornell Singing Black Hole Sun ...Unplugged, and it is so cool a song
Peace out People and have a Great Friday



What I learned in Bloodborne Pathogens class

We had our yearly B.B.P. class and Our Hazmat refresher all in one night

Overheard from the Paramedic section "if it Warm, Wet, Gooey, Smells bad, or not yours Dont touch it"

LMAO

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Doh

Oh I am thinking this could get real ugly on big project fires when nothing else is slowing the fire down. I dont know which way I would go on this one.

From Western Montana Printed in The Missoulian

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/02/27/news/top/news01.txt

Faced with possible jail time, U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey apologized Tuesday to a federal judge in Missoula for the Forest Service's delays in evaluating how wildfire retardant affects the environment.

But Rey, the Bush administration's top forest official, insisted the agency has complied with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Rey testified before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in a watchdog group's lawsuit accusing the Forest Service of violating the nation's top environmental laws through its use of fire retardant.
The hearing, which is scheduled to resume Wednesday, could result in Rey being jailed for contempt or placed on electronic monitoring.

The Forest Service also could be prohibited from dropping anything but water on wildfires until it complies with the judge's earlier orders.

As the West grapples with worsening wildfires and firefighting costs, the prospect of a federal forest official being jailed and retardant air tankers being grounded has drawn national attention. Government attorneys at Tuesday afternoon's hearing urged Molloy not to halt the use of fire retardant, saying a prohibition would threaten homes, communities and forests.
In a January ruling, Molloy said he considers the Forest Service to be in contempt for ignoring his orders, but that he would withhold a final decision until this week's hearing.
Forest Service officials said they did not intentionally ignore Molloy's order or delay completing their environmental analysis of the harm from ammonium phosphate, the primary ingredient in retardant dropped on wildfires.

They said they were slowed by several factors, including the unanticipated complexity of studying retardant's potential impact on more than 450 species from coast to coast.
They also blamed other agencies involved in the process - the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service - for slowing them down. The two wildlife agencies found that the Forest Service's lax attention to fire retardant drops could jeopardize dozens of endangered or threatened fish, plants and other aquatic species.
Those agencies said the impact could be reduced by taking certain steps in how the retardant is applied.

But Forest Service officials said retardant can be used without significant impact as long as they monitor species' mortality and health and take steps to keep chemical slurry away from waterways.

And they promised to consult with other agencies and study the impact of retardants and their toxicity.

Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist who has directed U.S. forest policy since 2001, was backed by a half-dozen government attorneys when he testified.
He repeatedly expressed regret for the Forest Service's delays, but said the agency acted in good faith.

“There's no way to put a positive face on the fact that we dropped the ball,” he told the judge. “I'm sorry, your honor.”

Molloy thanked Rey for his candor, but expressed continued impatience with the agency's failure to meet deadlines and keep him informed.

“Don't come in here on the last day - at the last minute - and tell me you've got a problem,” the judge said.

The hearing stems from a 2003 lawsuit brought by Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics after the Forest Service dropped fire retardant that killed 20,000 fish in Oregon in 2002.
In 2005, Molloy ruled that the Forest Service violated the law when it failed to properly analyze the potential environmental harm from ammonium phosphate. The judge gave the agency time to comply by working with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

But in January, Molloy said the Forest Service had not followed through in a timely fashion.
The Forest Service uses an average of 15 million gallons of retardant on fires each year, although that figure has reached 40 million gallons during severe fire years in the past decade.
Andy Stahl, director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, said the Forest Service should be required to conduct a more detailed environmental review that looks at the combined impact of aerial retardant, bulldozers and other firefighting activities.

FSEEE, based in Eugene, Ore., wants to use the suit to force the agency to change its firefighting policy to emphasize fire prevention around communities and allowing fires to burn if they pose minimal threat rather than extinguishing most fires.

Leave it to someone in the great Bastion of Communism "the Peoples Republik of Eugene OR

Sunday, February 24, 2008

seafood and wine

The weekend was outstanding, sunny, and beautiful. We went to the festival on Saturday and I drank all sorts of wine, I came home with a little and just had fun.....I got a little crabby on Saturday afternoon but that's just me. Had some great beach combing...found Fossils and Agates
and now I an home and back to the grind again. This is a Picture of My youngest It was her First time at the Festival, she insisted they get the outhouses in the Picture....what a goof, and I believe she had fun also.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

To the coast

I am out of here See ya next week

MEME from Aprilwine

Five things about Doug

1. I ride for the brand....If I work for someone
I am very loyal to that person

2. I can wait a long time for something if I have to.

3. I dont like New Country Music, give me
Buck Owens Or Johnny Cash.

4. I like a Good Chic flick and own several

5. I am a Horrable Sci-Fi Geek....Really bad

And everyone else that reads me got it April....

Luke...... I am your Father



Star Wars Horoscope for Aquarius



You can be cruel and torment people who disagree with you.

Deep down, there is a peace-loving, friendly side to you.

You have a knack for inflicting pain on people and use your intellect during battle.



Star wars character you are most like: Darth Vader

Hell Yes

Monday, February 18, 2008

My weekend

My weekend, Saturday Morning I got up and went to Weight watchers And I have lost another
3 Lbs. I was really stoked about that. (Christmas and New Years set me back a little) then of to the Market. We have a little Market in town that has the best produce and they label everything as to where it came from and use a lot of local stuff in season. Then home and raking, does anyone out there have redwood tress growing near to them .....holy crap these things suck. they can dump a metric shit ton (that is a term for a lot around our house) of needles and cones. the Latin name for them is Sequoiadendron giganteum they are about 100 years old and they are over 10 ft through at the base. then we had friends over for pasta and chicken and some nice Sangiovese wine, we are planning this coming weekend at the Newport Seafood and Wine festival, its something I wait for every year....I love it. Then Sunday we went up in our woods with our logger and helped him cut out a end piece of a 70 year old Doug Fir and loaded it into our truck, talk about heavy, I had to use the backhoe to unload it UGG. I will only be working 3 days this week and I will post pics of the Wine festival...have a good day

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentines

Hope you all have a Happy Valentines day and spend it with the one you love.
I want chocolate!

Monday, February 11, 2008

The Yoshida Brothers


So I yammer on about my eclectic taste in music ...this is one of the things I like, Asian sounds always interest me, I love Taiko Drums. Anyway these are the guys that have the song on the Wii commercial, anyway Its bed time and my head is all cloudy

TTFN

Friday, February 8, 2008

motivation for the day


that would motivate me
to run like hell

Thursday, February 7, 2008

the Hog

What military aircraft are you?

A-10 Thunderbolt II

You are an A-10. You may not be the prettiest or swiftest, but you're tough as nails, and everyone knows not to mess with you!

Personality Test Results

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Did anyone notice that the last 5 questions can be changed any way you like and you get the same plane? WTF is up with this

Monday, February 4, 2008

And I rant on again

This is my law:

The purpose of fighting is to win.
There is no possible victory in defense.
The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either.
The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.

1. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
2. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.
3. I carry a gun cause a cop is too heavy.
4. When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away.
5. A reporter did a human interest piece on the Texas Rangers. The reporter recognized the Colt Model 1911 the Ranger was carrying and asked him, "Why do you carry a 45?". The Ranger responded with, "Because they don't make a.46."
6. An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity.
7. The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. "Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?" "NO Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle."
8. Beware the man who only has one gun. HE PROBABLY KNOWS HOW TO USE IT!!!

Comments: I was once asked by a lady visiting if I had a gun in the house. To which I said I did. She said, "well I certainly hope it isn't loaded!" To which I said, "of course it is loaded, can't work without ammo .." She then asked, "Are you that afraid of someone evil coming into your house?" My reply was, "No not at all.I am not afraid of the house catching afire either, but I have fire extinguishers around, and THEY ARE ALL LOADED."

Parting note: An unloaded gun is just a club