Busy last day before vacation

Well, I’m not actually going on “vacation” but I will be off for 13 days if I can only make it to 07:00am tomorrow morning!

On Tuesday, Rhett Fleitz ( Fire Critic) and I will head out for Atlanta, Ga. and Fire Rescue International ( FRI ) 2011 !  We have a GREAT week planned and hope to see you there. While at FRI, Rhett will be facilitating a 90 minute discussion on Social Media and Incorporating Technology in the Workplace on Friday, August 26, 11:00 am-12:30 pm in the Firehouse Café. If you are reading this and will be at FRI then you should make plans to attend this discussion!

Rhett will also be working the floor of FRI for the new company he and partner Jeff Harkey just launched … Daily 911 Deals! You have GOT TO check these guys and the new site out. Their 1st “DEAL” is scheduled to go live tonight! Basically, they will provide various Fire, Rescue and Police products for a limited time, in limited numbers at GREAT savings! I know what the 1st deal is but don’t want to spoil their unveil. TRUST ME…. it’s is something you will want / need and the price is UNBELIEVABLE! If you haven’t registered yet hit the link above and do so NOW. Also, don’t forget to follow and like them on Face Book and Twitter.

On Wednesday morning, Rhett and I will participate in our 2nd   9/11 Memorial Stair Climb !You may remember that we, along with Salem Fire / EMS Captain Kevin Tottin; just completed our 1st climb while in Baltimore, Md. for Firehouse Expo. See related post  HERE   HERE  and HERE .  If you’re going to be in Atlanta and haven’t registered yet, you can do so  HERE .

I will also be working the floor ( or a booth anyway ) with my good friend Zach Green for MN8 Products / Fox Fire !  We were a HUGE success at Firehouse Expo last month and I hope to improve on our sales while in Atlanta.

If you haven’t seen these products yet PLEASE take a minute to hit the link above. This stuff REALLY WORKS and will make your job safer! Drop by our booth and I’ll give you a personal demo. We have a completely darkened tent and when we get you inside where you can see the illuminating quality of these products, you’ll be amazed. I love the look on firefighter’s faces when they step inside.

If that’s not incentive enough for you to drop by, I think we will also have a couple of  “booth babes”  on duty. They’ll be pretty enough to get ya to stop long enough for Zach and me to rope ya in and show you the product.

Like I said, take the time and stop by …. you’ll thank me for it!

We have a ton of other stuff on schedule for FRI as well. One of the events Im most excited about is that we were invited to a firehouse for dinner. I mentioned several posts back on the fact that we were planning to attend FRI. Next thing I know, I get an e-mail from Brother Mark Akins of the John’s Creek Fire Department. Captain Akins wrote of how he and his crew are huge fans of Ironfiremen.com ( of course, they had never heard of Rhett or Fire Critic…LOL ) Captain Akins extended several offers of good ol “southern hospitality”….. how could we refuse?

Rhett and I will be eating dinner at Station #63 on Wednesday night following the Stair Climb. I’m a little nervous because, as I understand it; Sergeant  Tom Johnson (from the Rescue) will be the cook that night. Rumor has it that he’s a “box and can” cook. I received an anonymous note saying to pray that the can opener remains in good working condition or we may starve! LMAO …. I’m just kidding Sarge. Rhett and I are humbled and honored that you guys will share your table and break bread with us. TRUE BROTHERHOOD!  We look forward to meeting you guys and can’t wait to sample some of your famous Hamburger Helper.

I’ll post more on our trip and plans in the next day or so …. I missed last days post because I had too much other stuff going on. Last day really wasn’t that exciting anyway, so you really didn’t miss much. I even had to ship little Randy out so the new “star” of the blog wasn’t here.

We shipped him out to Station #14 under the leadership and direction of Captain Robert Perdue. On a side note, Captain Perdue is off for a while due to having surgery today. Get well soon Capt and call if ya need ANYTHING. Any way, Captain Perdue is known as a slave driver who trains ALL DAY LONG. He was even assigned to the Training Division at one time.

Well, the Captain must have been in rare form on Wednesday because he wore my poor little Randy out!

They sent me this pic and and I blew a gasket!

Here I am trying to mold Randy into a fine tuned firefighting machine and Captain Perdue wears him down to a frazzle in ONE DAY! LMAO. They actually had a decent day of work. I asked Randy this morning what he learned while at the one, four.  Now remember … he’s from Max Meadows, Va. His reply was that he learned that here  in “town”, some men actually dress up like a woman! LMAO … I guess he has never seen that down in good ol Max Meadows.

Today, we got him right back into his groove. We started the morning with multiple runs back to back. He was assigned to cook again today and was actually spotted in the kitchen several times. Of course lunch was late but that was because of all the runs. We do need to have a class on how to drain the grease from ground beef! LOL … I though he fixed hamburger soup.

He did a little better at supper time with a little assistance.

Some kind of “chicken smack” in gravy, mashed potatoes, brocoli and home made mac and cheese … UMMM UMMMM !

Awwww.. his Moma is gona be so  proud!

Today’s training was a little easier to stomach than Monday’s CPR training ( I still can’t get the images of him french kissing the manikins out of my head ..LOL ).

He worked on exposure problems and deploying a 2 1/2″ line vs. 1 3/4.

We got to talk nozzle selection, available GPM’s (gallons per minute) and effective stream application.

Another effective tool we carry here on Lucky #13 is a 500 gpm Mercury Monitor. With minimal reaction force, these bad boys are a dream to operate. That said, I hope it stays on the rig tonight!

We also had a few special Guests today.  Not just special ….. VERY SPECIAL.  Hillary and Sam are driving South for vacation. Against her better judgement, she decided to allow husband Dave Statter to tag along and figured they’d  just drop him off in Atlanta along the way.

She said he’s been very excited to get out of Statter 911 Headquarters and that he LOVES riding with his window down. He’s made several request for “stops” along the way as he’s spotted items / locations of interest.

On today’s leg of the trip, he kept talking about firehouses and how he’d really love to see inside one. Well, Hillary knew her route would bring them through “The Noke” so she planned a stop here at Lucky #13.

Dave was like a kid in a candy store. It was all Sam could do to keep him under control !  LMAO

No Rhett … it’s NOT an optical illusion …  that actually IS Dave Statter in a fire truck!

Hillary and Sam got to ride as well. Just a quick cut around the block but pretty cool all the same.

Despite Dave’s rich history within the Fire Service, Hillary and Sam have never rode on a rig of any sort.

They say you always “remember your first” and I had the honor of giving Hillary hers! LMAO just kidding Dave.

It was very cool that Dave and his family took the time to stop by for a visit. Despite what you read on our sites, Dave (and Hillary) is a GREAT friend and has always taken care of me and Rhett.

Hillary will be dropping Dave off in Atlanta to attend FRI. Rhett and I will hook up with Dave Wednesday morning at the Stair Climb. You’ll see a lot more of us and our escapades from Atlanta throughout next week. Dave also has a very special report coming to Statter911.com very soon…. check it often …. you wont want to miss this one.

OK, I have to get some reports completed. I’m gonna stop here for tonight but will check back in as soon as I can. Until I get back…. Thanks for reading!   Stay Safe and In House!

Captain Wines