Wow what to put up about now? I used to want to blog about local traffic and public safety issues. Sadly, I think the residents of the area are truly the ones I should be blogging about. How much of traffic and public safety responses are purely due to the way society has evolved? People are impatient and only think of themselves. What's even worse is when you call someone on their own impatience, they blame the other guy for being rude. These are also the same people who want to call 911 and report that someone cut them off or was tailgating them. Most of these people are world class drivers who have perfect driving records and easily allow at least a 2 second interval between themselves and the car in front of them.
Thank heavens baseball season starts soon. Thinking of changing the focus of this blog to baseball. It will be more fun and better than the other negative things covered in the past.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Free tip of the day...
In this rough economy, we are looking for fun free things to do. A little gem hidden in Pottstown is The Hill School. If you are into watching competitive sports, The Hill School athletic programs are free to go and watch and very entertaining. The Hill School students are instilled with characteristics I wish every school student would have. The students are polite, give 100% and make you feel very welcome while you visit their facility.
You can see their schedule daily at:
http://www.thehill.org/scoresandschedules
You can see their schedule daily at:
http://www.thehill.org/scoresandschedules
Friday, April 30, 2010
Firefighting arsonist. Can you trust your local fire companies? YES!
The past few days have been rather troubling for anyone involved in the fire service, a local man who was at one time a firefighter was charged with arson. The official statement issued from the Linfield Fire Company pretty much sums it up, "Only days after joining the company, Charles Sluzenski was denied the status of an active firefighter due to a failure to provide a medical clearance after an injury he suffered on his personal time. At that point he disappeared from the fire department."
The suspect admitted openly while walking to court he has a problem with alcohol. I don’t believe alcohol is an excuse for reckless behavior. The behavior he displayed isn’t typical of the behavior or mindset of your average firefighter.
Your local volunteer public safety workers are people who care tremendously about people. Whether it their own family and friends or someone they don’t know out on the street, I guarantee a majority of those involved in public safety will be stopping to help you out even if it is just to make a phone call and get you the appropriate help. In this day and age of people who only care about themselves its nice to know there are ordinary people who like to go the extra mile for a stranger just because it is the right the to do. These people often put YOU, the public before their own family. Holiday dinners, children’s birthdays, vacations and many other things get delayed or rescheduled for YOUR emergency situations. So don’t think what happened is your typical situation. Your local volunteer firefighters will move mountains for you.
Sometimes people see a firefighter who is a little over excited about being involved in the fire service and they call them “crazy”, “fire nut” or some other derogatory nickname. The senior members of our respective companies hold these people in check. So when you see a fire truck racing to the scene of an emergency, you can rest assured you are getting people who are trained, knowledgeable and putting the protection of your life and property as a top priority.
Recruiting and retaining GOOD members in the volunteer (meaning zero paycheck) fire service has never been easy. Over the last twenty years I have seen numbers is some firehouses get cut in half. Older members get out of it due to health. Some people get out of it when they get married and have children since they both parents need to work and time is an issue. So the suggestion by some in online public forums that volunteer firefighters should have to undergo psychological testing, which would be even more of a burden and scare some people away. Some fire companies struggle to pay bills and maintain equipment and now we suggest psychological testing? Who would incur this cost? Do we need to do more fundraising?
Current requirements to be a firefighter are a minimum almost 200 hours of basic training, which takes almost six months to complete. Not to mention annual re-certifications which amount to another 20-40 hours depending on what types of certifications people have attained. Factor in the time some organizations need to do for fund raising because they don’t get many returns of the donation envelopes that go out and that’s a lot of time. The commitment by some to keep you safe is in the hundreds of hours. These people are basically working a highly skilled part time job for free. Take a minute to go meet the crew at your local fire station. Thank them for being there for YOUR safety. Heck, you might even make some new friends and want to hang out and find out how rewarding it is for yourself.
The suspect admitted openly while walking to court he has a problem with alcohol. I don’t believe alcohol is an excuse for reckless behavior. The behavior he displayed isn’t typical of the behavior or mindset of your average firefighter.
Your local volunteer public safety workers are people who care tremendously about people. Whether it their own family and friends or someone they don’t know out on the street, I guarantee a majority of those involved in public safety will be stopping to help you out even if it is just to make a phone call and get you the appropriate help. In this day and age of people who only care about themselves its nice to know there are ordinary people who like to go the extra mile for a stranger just because it is the right the to do. These people often put YOU, the public before their own family. Holiday dinners, children’s birthdays, vacations and many other things get delayed or rescheduled for YOUR emergency situations. So don’t think what happened is your typical situation. Your local volunteer firefighters will move mountains for you.
Sometimes people see a firefighter who is a little over excited about being involved in the fire service and they call them “crazy”, “fire nut” or some other derogatory nickname. The senior members of our respective companies hold these people in check. So when you see a fire truck racing to the scene of an emergency, you can rest assured you are getting people who are trained, knowledgeable and putting the protection of your life and property as a top priority.
Recruiting and retaining GOOD members in the volunteer (meaning zero paycheck) fire service has never been easy. Over the last twenty years I have seen numbers is some firehouses get cut in half. Older members get out of it due to health. Some people get out of it when they get married and have children since they both parents need to work and time is an issue. So the suggestion by some in online public forums that volunteer firefighters should have to undergo psychological testing, which would be even more of a burden and scare some people away. Some fire companies struggle to pay bills and maintain equipment and now we suggest psychological testing? Who would incur this cost? Do we need to do more fundraising?
Current requirements to be a firefighter are a minimum almost 200 hours of basic training, which takes almost six months to complete. Not to mention annual re-certifications which amount to another 20-40 hours depending on what types of certifications people have attained. Factor in the time some organizations need to do for fund raising because they don’t get many returns of the donation envelopes that go out and that’s a lot of time. The commitment by some to keep you safe is in the hundreds of hours. These people are basically working a highly skilled part time job for free. Take a minute to go meet the crew at your local fire station. Thank them for being there for YOUR safety. Heck, you might even make some new friends and want to hang out and find out how rewarding it is for yourself.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
So you think the Pottsgrove Regional Police Department is overdue?
I see Upper Pottsgrove was the first township to endorse the regional police deal. While it all looks good on paper and in theory, there are many things to consider which the first poster on www.pottsmerc.com brought to light. How do you merge existing contracts? How do you decide who will be in charge and will that person truly be in charge or at the beckon call of each municipality’s board of supervisors. Last thing you need is an elected township board member trying to contact the chief and put them in a bad spot because a friend or family member of a supervisor got in trouble with the department. Yes, politicos do try that.
While I think it would be a great concept and to outsiders it seems like a win-win, slam dunk, no doubt about it approach I offer this analogy. You are dating someone who you really like. This person makes you happy, you feel as though its time to have a more lasting commitment to that person. You get married, right? Well in this marriage of police departments the whole family is moving in. The cousins, your in laws who really annoy you at holiday time, all those pesky kids that you can’t wait to leave when holiday dinner is over. They will all be in your house, you can’t quite tell them exactly how you feel because you don’t want to step on your partners’ toes. Then, to top it all off, you will be footing the bill.
If someone is saving money in the deal, obviously someone else will be paying a more. Its just a matter of economics, unless someone has figured out a legal way to juggle the ledger and save everyone money. Short term might be rough for some but in the long run I think it can work out. Just don’t rush these departments into becoming one large department. Let them work it out and give it some time. Because I will tell you what some of those cousins could bring the whole plan down.
While I think it would be a great concept and to outsiders it seems like a win-win, slam dunk, no doubt about it approach I offer this analogy. You are dating someone who you really like. This person makes you happy, you feel as though its time to have a more lasting commitment to that person. You get married, right? Well in this marriage of police departments the whole family is moving in. The cousins, your in laws who really annoy you at holiday time, all those pesky kids that you can’t wait to leave when holiday dinner is over. They will all be in your house, you can’t quite tell them exactly how you feel because you don’t want to step on your partners’ toes. Then, to top it all off, you will be footing the bill.
If someone is saving money in the deal, obviously someone else will be paying a more. Its just a matter of economics, unless someone has figured out a legal way to juggle the ledger and save everyone money. Short term might be rough for some but in the long run I think it can work out. Just don’t rush these departments into becoming one large department. Let them work it out and give it some time. Because I will tell you what some of those cousins could bring the whole plan down.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Welcome
I want to start out with a quick hello to everyone. I am planning on writing on here once a week as a regularly scheduled thing. Hoping to let people in on public safety issues as well as the occasional blur about any other topic that may be hot at the time. (Although my name says TrafficDan, I actually dislike traffic a lot and have a lot to say about it)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)