Time for an update, I guess?

It's been too long since the last posting. I apologize to the legions of fans who check this web log religiously and thank them for their patience. :-)

Anyway; it's been busy/slow all at the same time.

Slow: We haven't had any structure fires since the last update. However, we have had some incidents of note. A few vehicle accidents... thankfully, no fatalities. However one that sticks out in my mind: We were called out at 2:30am for a lift assist which typically means helping EMS move a very heavy victim. But at 2:30am and the location was odd: the only thing there was a Costco and some retail stores.

I get to the station and one guy has a disgusted look on his face. It turns out we're being called to the quarry across the street which is very very deep (I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 feet). So we're thinking .. ohh, body aka. pancake retrieval?

Turns out (allegedly) he was stealing stuff from Costco. The cops were called, he ran, jumped the fence, and fell down about 30 feet onto the access road that descends into the quarry itself. However, he ended up 3 feet away from the edge that leads to the 300 foot drop. We were called in assist with loading him into the ambulance. Now, remember: 30 feet is still at least 3-stories high so he did suffer significant injuries but he's lucky he didn't go over the real deep end.

As per media reports, he suffered some broken bones and some internal injuries.

An anniversary and a milestone

This past sunday marked my one year anniversary at FDMT. As is typical, my probationary status was dropped and I'm now a full-fledged member of the department.

During the monthly general membership meetings, I tend to sit up front so I can see the secretary's laptop as she types on the PC as well as lipread people from the audience and from the speakers podium.

At the designated time, they asked me to leave the room while they discussed the proposal to drop my probie status. I quipped "I can just stand and face the corner if that works..." and left the room amid laughter.

While standing outside, I'm thinking to myself, "hmm, they're taking longer than they usually do. What'd I do wrong now?"

After about 5 minutes and me chewing my fingernails down to the stubs, someone came and got me. I walked back into the room amid a standing ovation. I motioned for everyone to stop and sit down and said words to the effect of:

"Thank you for this honor. As a result of my experiences, press coverage and my website, I've been in touch with many other deaf people who are either firefighters or want to be firefighters. I've heard horror stories of people being treated as less-than-human by other fire departments, people enjoying full rights as a firefighter then finding them revoked because of firehouse politics and people being told they can take a class only to find they will not receive their certifications.

"After hearing these stories, I'm greatly appreciative of the opportunities that FDMT has given me. I'm extremely fortuanate to have joined such a wonderful department. You have all treated me with the respect due to any other firefighter and that's all I've ever asked for. Thank you."

I can only hope that everyone who reads this has the opportunity to find a department that is as progressive as mine.

My first job!

At 0645 this morning, I was (thankfully) sleeping when my pager went off. Getting my sandals and shirt on, I read:

APT COMPANY- XXX KEYSTONE DR 47-19 NAT: FAL - FIRE ALARM; TRUCKS: 18E 18L NOTES: XXXXX COMPANY - DUCT DETECTOR

Arriving at the station, I joined Chauffer Mogenson, Safety Officer DiCiccio, FF Conicelli and FF Bailey on Ladder 18. It was a nice morning. Not too hot, not humid. Pulling up on scene, a police officer came out of the building and said there was a fire. Since we all know that cops think a piece of burnt toast = fire, FF Conicelli and I went in to check it out.

The facilities manager showed up where the alarm was going off. Upon entering the building from Side A, we could smell smoke. When we got to the main part of the facility, we saw a huge glass-walled enclosure where they make fittings for gas pipes. Going around to side C, the manager showed us a small room via a window(about 6' by 10') that was completely filled with smoke. Going up a maintenance stairwell over the site, we saw a circle on the top of that room that was literally bubbling paint. FF Conicelli radioed that we had a fire and informed the chauffer and FF Bailey to get the 1 3/4 hose line stretched.

At this point mutual aid assigments were called in (Wissahickon-Sta. 7 and North Penn-Sta 62). We got the attack line set up. FF Bailey was the control and stayed at the doors helping advance the hose line. FFConicelli and I went to the room, donned our SCBA and waited for the hoseline to charge. When fully charged, we entered the room, used a straight-stream to attack the ceiling to disrupt the thermal layers then made a quick knock of the fire.

We believe a ceiling exhaust fan caught fire, but since the fan was above the side-mounted sprinkler, it was not able to fully extinguish the fire.

Units were in service until (I think) 0830 and I got home around 1030. 62 and 7 helped us with overhaul and clean-up. The building's strong air circulation system made it difficult for us to ventilate the building but we sucecssfully vented the smoke after about 40 minutes.

This was my first building fire that I was actually inside doing front-line work. The funny thing is: I always told myself and anyone else that I would never do this in a big industrial or retail-type building. But I know and trust FF Conicelli and he knows I'll stick to him like stink on a skunk. Even though we've never did this before, what we were doing became automatic in many ways and no one really stopped and said, "hey the deaf guy is doing this.."

Bottom line: if I can do it, any idiot can do it. :-)

I passed my FF1 Class!!

The written exam was 3 weeks ago followed by two burn sessions. The practical exam were held Saturday 5/8. I posted this in a deaf-related forum for firefighters.
----

The exam itself was structured as follows:

You had to pass 100% of 7 skills stations that were established. In the beginning of the day, you were given a card with the different skill stations listed on it which gave you time in the beginning to study. At the end of each skills station, you were to be asked if you would've changed anything. If you knew you made a mistake, you can "explain" what you did wrong and articulate what and why it was wrong and how you would've fixed it. If you failed any station, you were given the opportunity to re-test only once. If you failed 3 stations, you were automatically disqualified from the session.

Ours sessions yesterday were:

1. SCBA/PPE - Must put on both within 2 minutes

2. Interior Fire Suppression - In The drill tower, hook up the high-rise pack, extinguish the fire, and ventilate the room using the hydraulic method.

3. Exterior Fire Suppression - this was a simulated car fire.

4. Ropes and Knots

5. Search and Rescue - This was in the 2 1/2 building. No fire or smoke. We simply turned our hoods around.

6. Fire Hose - Identifying attack lines, supply lines, different appliances, and performing one supply hose lay and one preconnected attack line lay.

7. Straight Ladders - How to carry, how to throw the ladder, how to inspect/maintain and identifying the different parts of the ladders.

I had my interpreters with me all day as I've had them with me for 90% of the class.

There were a few situations that came up:

1. I screwed up big time when I did the hose lay. This was a class that I'd missed due to illness. When the station was done (and I knew I'd messed it up), the evaluator asked if I'd change anything. I told him the lay was not properly done and that I should've done X and X. He nodded and told me to return to command. I fully expected to have to re-do the hose loads but I did not have to re-test at all.

2. TALK TALK TALK to the other candidates who are coming back from their stations. Find out what mistakes they made and what you should and shouldn't do. If I hadn't done so, I probably would have forgotten that you need to use a pike pole to clear glass from a window instead of a different tool. Some people aren't aggressive when they want their interpreters to sign other conversations. Take the initiative and do so.

3. If you are HURT for any reason, tell the command post. One student received minor steam burns as a result of another candidate's imcompetence.

4. Drink plenty of water and STUDY STUDY STUDY.

Funny: When I did the ropes and knots, the gentleman who did that evaluation was VERY inquisitive about having interpreters and could NOT get over the fact that he was supposed to basically ignore them completely. (my words: treat them like ghosts.. they don't exist. Talk directly to me). But he was a fascinating person and we got to talk for a while. He remarked that I seemed to know what he wanted me to do before he even said it.

I said "its part of growing up deaf in a hearing world."

When I know what the context of a situation is, I'm going to start anticipating what the next dialogue, situation, or event will be. He found that to be fascinating and even said it would be a good lesson for many firefighters to learn.

Been way way way too long. If you've been here before and said, "Forget about it!", I don't blame you.

Here's a page with pictures from my FF1 class's burn session on 4/24. I passed the written examination two weeks ago and we'll have another burn session this saturday. In two weekends, we'll have practical skills and that'll be the blessed END of my FF1 class and I'll have my saturdays back!!!

Acute Otitis Media and Burn Buildings... Hoohrah!

I had an experience this past weekend at the Fire Academy that I think
everyone can identify with: That feeling of "man, what have I gotten myself into" (because of one's deafness) and coming out of it with a renewed
confidence.

On Friday, the little extra tinnitus I had in my ear for the past week
culminated in a HUGE inner ear infection that had me dizzy and basically
"out of it". This worried me because I knew on Saturday, I was going to
have my first actual burn building experience. I called the doctor and
received antibiotics and a decongestant to help the nasty stuff go away.

Thanks to plenty of sleep, a loving wife who let me off easy in terms of
taking care of the kids, and a good dose of tylenol for the fever, I felt
better and went to class (called FF1). The class itself is broken down
into 4 "platoons." I knew I was in good hands when I realized my platoon had two Lieutenants from a different county (long story) who have plenty of experience.

A note about burn buildings: They're basically solid concrete structures
that have been "mocked up" to resemble the conditions a firefighter would find in an actual fire. For the first few sessions, they're using cold
smoke (same stuff they use in clubs and theater) so if a person runs out of air or panic, they can take their air mask off without worrying about
inhaling fumes. Later sessions, they will burn hay in the building to more
closely resemble the smoky conditions found in typical structure fires.

In all, we did three search and rescue (SAR) scenarios. The first two were
in a two story building using the clean smoke. In both scenarios, I was
"following" the leader by crawling along the walls and tapping his foot
letting him know I was there. A few times, my helmet clinked against the
back of my partner's air cylinder as he sat up to assess the situation from
a higher vantage point. During the second scenario, I clinked my helment
against what I thought was his cylinder and waited for him to move. After
he didn't move for about 30 seconds, I started to feel around the smoke for him and realized what I hit wasn't an oxygen cylinder; it was the smoke
machine sitting on a chair! Needless to say, I continued along leading the
man behind me along the wall until we exited the building.

We realized at that point that the three others were verbally communicating to each other but I was left out of the loop. We decided for the next one,
I would lead the team, yelling out what obstacles or what turns are being
made so they know where we're going. That way, my partner can hear what I'm seeing out front. If there's something wrong behind me, three hard and rapid taps on the leg or butt will tell me to stop. Taps on my boot mean
that they're OK and they're with me.

Boy, the next one was a doozy. The Fire Academy has a trailer that has 2
(or 3?) different mazes built into it. The mazes are about 3 feet wide by 3
feet tall. In some places, there are cinder blocks on the floors. Other
places you'll have pipes and wires on the floor or the ceiling. And even in
others, it narrows to about 2 feet tall. No small task especially if you're
wearing an Airpack.

Oh, and did I mention that they close the door so there is absolutely NO
light whatsoever in the trailer?

As I started, my mind was going nuts. "I have a guy behind me whose life
depends on me getting him out" "this is only training" "but what if it was
real" and so on. Then the door closed and all the light was extinguished.

I took a deep breath. I had to. I only had 1/4 of a bottle of air left.
Started along the corridor and stubbed my finger into a cinder block.
Called out the cinder block and we got past them without incident. After a
minute, I realized, this isn't so hard as long as I take it easy. The maze
had us go up levels, and we had to descend through trapdoors to get back down and at each point, I called out what I was coming up against. "It's
really low here, you'll need to slither on your belly" or "trapdoor here,
It's not hot.. I'm going to open it slowly...It's open, I'm feeling with my
arms to see if there's any dangers... " so on and so forth.

When we were done, I felt like doing my best Howard Dean-in-Iowa
impression. It was inviograting. Sure, I made some mistakes (was too
focused on checking what was on the ground in front of me, not checking
what was above me and needed to stop more often and look back at my
partner). Even still, I felt like this was AWESOME and I *can* do this.

Oh, and did I mention that I couldn't wear my hearing aid because of the
ear infection? I was completely and totally deaf the entire time.

Two weeks of FF1, condensed into a viable coalesence of human experience

Can you identify the source of the paraphrased title? Clicky!

Anyway: The second class of FF1 was CPR and First Aid. Nothing earth-shattering there.

This past saturday was the first of the actual "hands on" experience. We learned about our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment and more to the point, we learned more about our SCBA. More on each later.

Right now, I'm using "hand me downs" from Syosset FD in NY. When I complete my probationary period (after 1 year), I'll be issued my own personal set of turnout gear. Turnout gear is typically made of fire resistant material (sometimes called Nomex or PBI, depending on what its made of). This stuff weighs about 20 lbs and can usually handle temperatures up to about 700 degrees for a a few moments. Gear with PBI can go up to 1200, but that's only going to help you if you've made an incredibly stupid mistake.

We also worked with the SCBA equipment. The SCBA stands for Self-Contained Breathing Appratus, otherwise known as the airpack. My department uses Scott and the carbon-fiber bottles that Scott offers. The bottles are smaller, rated to last 30 minutes (but they usually only last between 15 and 25) but they're very lightweight.

We had to don the SCBA packs in one minute. That meant putting the gear on the ground, along with helmet, gloves and facemask. It may sound easy but when you also have 20 lbs of turnout gear, its tougher. One gentleman in the class popped his knee and will be out of the class. I kept getting my SCBA straps twisted and kept coming in at 1min 5 seconds. After my third try, I finally got it down at 53 seconds. Cool!

Unrelated to Fire Service...

Digital hearing aids really rock!

I'm sitting at my kitchen table, the kids are having their midday nap and I've got my brand new Sony CD Walkman (thanks for the gift certificates to B&N, mom and dad!)playing some Louis Amstrong.

A few months ago, I made the plunge and bought a new hearing aid. Not just any hearing aid but a Siemens Triano SP digital hearing aid. One of the benefits of the aid is that it is infinitely programmable. Meaning you can program it to amplify/mute certain sounds/frequencies and it has a omnidirectional microphone. Additionally, the SP has 4 different programs. Here's how mine is currently set up:

Program 1: Omnidirectional microphone is on and is set up for moderate background noise and will bring up speech to a normal level. I use this for everyday use and in the fire house.

Program 2: Omnidirectional microphone is on background noise is not removed. Designed to be used for listening to music ior speech in a quiet environment.

Program T: This is for use with phones or other T-coil systems.

Program AB: This is for the audioboot. I've purchased an adapter that will allow me to connect my hearing aid directly to the walkman so I can listen to my music without bothering anyone else.

FF1 - Day 1:

Some initial impressions:

1. I'm old in a relative sense: Lots of men there. Lots of younger men. I think me and one other person were the only ones above the age of 30. Everyone else was hovering around the 18 year old mark or lower. A very masculine group. One person of color there but the rest of us were lily-white. Then again, the demographics of the volunteer fire service is probably accurately represented.

2. Good instructors They're very committed to what they do and they really make the course understandable. I'm glad I went with a Saturday class.

The next two classes will cover CPR and first aid. In two weeks, we'll actually begin the review of various fire service topics. Yesterday's class covered basic evoutions of fire (how fire behaves) and we also discussed building construction. Fun fun.

Definitely will INSIST on interpreters for all classes from now on. I had someone sitting with me to ensure I was able to follow the context of discussion but even though the instructors were easy to lipread, it's difficult for me to do that for an hour at a time, never mind 8 hours. By noon, I was exhausted.

FireFighter1 class starts tomorrow!

Today, my friends, is my last day of uneducated, ignorance=bliss firefighting. Tomorrow morning, I leave at 7am for Bucks County Fire Academy to begin my formal schooling in firefightin'.

There was one snafu with the interpreter. They weren't able to get one for the first class. This isn't too much of a problem because the first class will be an introductory class and won't cover the actual materials until next week. Next week there will definitely be an interpreter and we'll be all set.

With the recent cold weather in the Northeast, we've been busy. Last weekend, temperatures on Saturday (1/10) never went over 18degrees. Plenty of chimney fires and water main breaks to keep us busy. I missed most of the action as I was in NJ visiting family.

The past few days, we've had similar weather. Today was the coldest. Low temps last night were about -3 degrees. Highs today about 14 degrees. A few calls this afternoon for water main breaks or sprinkler heads breaking. Nothing major.

I'll try and write again this weekend regarding my first FA class.

First actual fire!

I've just returned from my first actual live fire. It was a dumpster that was on fire. Let's start at the beginning:

I had just finished cooking breakfast for the family using Challah bread I bought a few minutes earlier. After eating my first piece of this great french-toast, I was about to dig into the plate when I had a serious case of beepilepsy.

Reaching for my pager, I read:
--------------
2705 MARYANNES CT-MONTG
FTR-TRASH/DUMPSTER FIRE
TRUCKS: 18E
XST: 3308 HEMMINGWAY DR-MG
NOTES: IN FRONT OF....
-------------
Challah or fire call. It was an easy decision. I gave the kids and Sarah a kiss and ran out the door. Arriving at the station along with Frankie D, I got suited up while Frankie started up the Squad. In short order, Bernie, Carmen and Michael jumped in the back while Seth rode up front in the officer's position.

En-route, I helped the others get their gear and SCBA on. Upon arrival in the development, I was looking for smoke or fire but couldn't see anything. After rounding the final turn, there it was: A dumpster fully involved with flames licking out the sides and smoke pouring out the top.

This isn't the actual picture but its close:


Other FFs put the fire out using the front-mounted hose off the Squad. I assisted by giving them the tools they needed (eg. pike poles, etc.). After the fire was out, they gave me a walk-through of what they did to knock it out and why they used various tools.

The fire apparently started because someone threw the remnants of their fireplace in the dumpster. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy so I usually like to think people are smarter than that, but this just proved me wrong.

Afterwards, we cleaned up the hoses, and re-filled the tank. I left with strict orders to update the blog as I've been neglecting this po' baby for a few weeks. Many apologies.

Been a while..

So sorry. Life intrudes and one loses track of time. The only reason I'm writing now is because I'm grabbing a quick bowl of cereal after the most grueling drill session yet.

Today, we did high-rise drills. Since I haven't taken any of the FF1/FF2 courses yet, I did mostly fireground support. Part of this meant dragging the dummy to the upper floors. Its a 300 lb dummy meant to simulate the weight of either a person who's completely out of it OR a typical firefighter completely decked out in FF gear.

The other part of the session was a flashover simulator. A flashover occurs when the temperature intensity in the room is so hot that the gases that have accumulated at the top of the ceiling begin to ignite. Even though this was a "fake" fire, I could feel the heat and really appreciated the protection the turnout gear offers.

More to come. Gotta drink some water.

Changes to this blog

Out of the Closet
You may have noticed that I've started identifying myself and the department I belong to in the header of this blog even though I'd originally said I wouldn't.

After the news articles came out and essentially "outed me", I figured trying to hide was just an exercise in futility.

Open up the bomb bay doors...
Yesterday, we had our open-house for the community to come and check out the station house and the trucks. I got some great pictures and I'm disappointed I can't share them with you on this freebie blogspot site. If I ever do get them uploaded somewhere and get links, then I'll "post" 'em here.

Events and Un-events...

October is Fire Prevention Month. If your local fire department is having an open house, take a moment and pay them a visit. If they're raising money, please donate.

This past week has been busy. On Saturday, we had a ropes drill and practiced rappelling. I hadn't done that since freshman year of college (11 years ago if you're counting) and it was a blast.

Monday was the regular drill night. I had planned to stay a short time but ended up staying for it all.

Wednesday, I went to help out with stuffing the envelopes for the fund raising drive. If you ever want a sample of my DNA, take a swab of the envelope. :-)

Thursday: My Loo (Lt.) and I took a ride down to Swarthmore's Fire Department where they also have a deaf firefighter. We talked with him and the officers to find out how training and fireground activities were done there.

Today: nothing.
Saturday: Nothing.
Sunday: Open house at FDMT from 10am to 5pm. Stop by!

Next friday is our golf tournament. I still need a fourth. Please let me know if you can come! :-)

Not much else is going on. I'll keep blogging when I have a few minutes.

Isabel and More Media Interest:

On Thursday, September 18th, Isabel roared ashore in North Carolina slightly after noon. 12 hours later, her effects were being fully felt in Montgomery Township. High winds and horozintal rain made it fun to watch out the bay door windows.

Fortunately, for us, we didn't have any calls during the height of the storm. I would've HATED having to go out there during that time.

But we did have some false alarms near the end of the overnite shift. Nothing major.

More Media Interest

The Reporter, based in Lansdale, published this article:
The Reporter Article

I've had some people coming up to me and discussing the article. It's gratifying to see the gears turning in their head when they walk away.

Media Interest...

A very well written article about me and what I expect going forward in regards to the department.

I'm glad the author didn't try to make me out to be "more" than just a regular guy who happens to be deaf joining the fire department. Two more stories to come out shortly. I'll post those links soon.

The Intelligencer - Bucks/Montgomery County

Tomorrow night will likely be my first overnight duty assignment at the station. Some of us will be spending the day/night while Isabel pays a visit to ensure the station is fully staffed. I'll keep a journal and post it here later.

(by the way: whose bright idea was it to put the 'd' next to the 'f' on the keyboard.. i keep typing "dead" instead of "deaf". )

9-11-01 Rememberance

Today, we had a memorial service for the men and women who were killed on 9-11-01.

The Chief asked officers to read portions of "Report from Ground Zero", a book that compiles the stories of various firefighters who told their 9/11 stories and the stories of the cleanup work afterwards.

He then asked one of the senior firefighters in the department to read the names of all firefighters who were killed in the attacks. Reading 343 names takes a while and the entire time, I was thinking to myself, "Would I? Would I have gone up when everyone else was going down?" It's hard to answer that question today as a new firefighter and a father of two little boys. Could I leave my boys without a father and Sarah without a husband trying to save the lives of strangers?

I don't know the answer to that question and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I do know that those who died didn't plan on dying that day. I guess not knowing the answer means simply living one day at a time. I know it's trite but that's the only answer I can think of that provides any comfort.

At the end of the name-reading, the senior firefighter presented the department with a heavy steel cross welded together from the remnants of the World Trade Center. In the middle, the number 343 represents all the firefighters who died.

Not much I can say after that.

My purpose, defined.

During the drill last night (phsaw.. drill shrmill.. it was check-the-equipment and clean-the-apparatus-bay day! Very necessary work though), I had a long talk with the president of the Fire Company. In it, I told him what my goals were as far as contributing to the department.

1. I want to become THE expert when it comes to pre-planning for emergencies and training firefighters on how to properly respond to calls that involve disabled people and the elderly.

2. I want to become a resource when it comes to vehicle extrication. I figure this is where I can contribute most in terms of operations. In a vehicle extrication, I have a fairly good view of the entire staging area.

Additionally, vehicle extrications are not fast-paced activities. There's an almost slow motion ballet going one during an extrication, with the portable compressors and the slow movements of the extrication tools. Every firefighter has a buddy and the slower pace means my communication efforts with other firefighters will be clearer and less impeded by the natural adrenaline rush that comes with structural fires.

3. My role at structural fires will be limited to manpower assistance (helping with tools and SCBA packs), running hoses, etc.. These limitations are completely voluntary. I don't want to put myself or any other firefighter in increased danger because of my hearing loss.

In return, the department president asked me to do the following:

1. Develop standard operating guidelines for safely evacuating disabled/elderly people. For example, a paraplegic poses very unique concerns from a rescuer's perspective: carrying them using the outdated "Fireman's Carry" poses a risk of severely damaging lungs or exacerbating the existing injury.

2. Promote the message that deaf/disabled people CAN contribute to their communities by joining their local volunteer fire/EMS/police departments. The roles they play may not be as varied as those available to an able-bodied person but the work is just as honorable. Getting a hose to the right place makes sure the firefighters can do their work. Making sure the computer system is up and running to receive dispatches makes sure the ambulance can get to its destination without delay.

3. Teach the firefighters the gospel truth (my words) on how non-verbal communication is the best way to communicate in a noisy environment. People have a habit of just raising their voice if it's noisy. You can save time by gesturing and getting your point across.

That's it for now. I hav emore later.

First General Meeting

This is going to be a quickie because I have drill night tonite in 20 minutes. Last night, we had our first "drill" night. Since it was my first time, I was going to go in and basically watch and see how the meeting progressed before making any definite changes to how I'll participate.

BUT:

Before the meeting started, we received a call to an automatic fire alarm. I was walking to the soda machine when I heard the tones go off. Since I can't really hear in the high pitches, I didn't realize they were OUR tones. I saw guys running to their lockers and it hit me: a call.

Adrenaline rushing, I got my turnout gear on and got on the ladder truck only to find it was full. The Squad truck, however, had seats and I rode on Squad 18 to the call. It was my first call and I must've looked like a kid in a candy store with a big grin on his face and his eyes wide as dinner plates.

Fortunately for the homeowner and unfortunately for me, it was cancelled enroute and we turned around.

Awesome high.

Tonight is the weekly drill night. It will cover tanker tactics, etc.

I'll post soon regarding our department's 9/11/01 rememberance ceremony on Thursday evening.

I've been in touch with 3 other deaf firefighters. I'll be meeting up with another one in the SE PA area soon and hopefully, we'll use this as a "team blog" to cross-post our experiences and questions on the blog.

It's been a while..

Yours truly is an idjit. I figured the new AOL journals might be a better place to host the journals because I thought they offered more functionality than the freebie blogspot does. While this is true, AOL doesn't really make note of the fact that EVERYONE has to have some type of AOL screenname in order to access it. That is definitely not cool.

I have several posts over there. When I have a chance, I'll be copy/pasting them over here.

Not much has been going on as of late because of summer. Some of my postings in the AOL journal has more information.