SAFER '05 rejection while we wait

[Flochief]

Well said LVFD.
I also come from a volunteer dept on a limited budget. My property taxes here are VERY VERY HIGH. Our community is growing being in the Greater Atlanta area. In order to keep our taxes from really getting out of site, we need volunteers. Anything that we can do to keep volunteers we need to do it. Hint Hint, incentives, dinners, uniforms, retirement benefits, gift cards etc. The reason for this is volunteers will keep the cost of the service down and can provide a very good service.

[Chiefmax1200]

Needs are Needs, we all have them. What we all "Need" to do now is quit wasting our time trying to convince Culpster to not hate so much and just leave him in his own ****ed off little world. You’re just not going to be able to change a mind like his because he simply can’t think in any other reality than his own narrow, selfish little world.

Culpster, if you want to talk about abusing the system and talking to the press about it, don’t forget to mention to them that your department applied for a firefighter position through SAFER that you ended up being able to afford yourself anyway. Your supposed to be applying for things you can’t afford aren’t you?

[Greenacres2]

As Rodney King said, "Can't we all just get along?"

We do all have needs and they are ultimately very similar. All departments, regardless of size, career, vollie, combo, POC, urban, suburban, rural--basic needs are pretty similar. And budgets are tight all over. Finding ways to fill the needs are vastly different depending on the specific situation. That's been said here a few times, and i appreciate all of the input.

We still don't know what exactly was ineligible, and may never know for sure what the 'puter tossed out. I will tell you this, the clothing was not in this year's SAFER app, but the training (with justification!!) was. So...in a few months we may have an indication.

Have a great weekend. I'm off to the local track (gonna get rained out again though), then to the Milwaukee Mile in the morning. Culpster--we're in Section 409 on Saturday, somewhere in the 100's Sunday. If you make it cross the state, i'll buy you a beverage at the Mile!! Maybe even a brat.

earl

[Culpster]

LOL Earl...

I guess the point I have been trying to get across ( and for some people they think it is a hateful one, which to all avail, it is not...), all I am trying to say (which is almost verbatum to SAFER:

What is the purpose of SAFER?

The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant Program was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help increase the number of firefighters. The goal is to enhance the ability of fire departments to attain 24-hour staffing and thus assure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. SAFER grants will help fire departments meet minimum standards for firefighter staffing.

Now I sure hope that those applying for "t-shirts, and class-A's" are thrown out if that is the way they see fit to support thier departments way of membership. The idea of SAFER is protection, and t-shirts dont protect.

If the departments have to use a t-shirt to keep their members... those members are obviously in it for the wrong reasons... I do not need a t-shirt to know why I am doing it. Is it nice??? Sure it is... But I know I don't want my tax money going for that. This is what I am saying.

And again, if that is what your department has to do to keep members, maybe it is time to look really deep and see what the purpose of the majority really is trying to accomplish, and maybe it is time for some leadership to assist in changing that mentality. We as Firefighters/First Responders is to help, and if it means that we need new shirts... Have a Brat Fest and sell brats!!!! just means a little more harder work my brothers and sisters....

“I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a firefighter The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the firefighter has to do believe that his is a noble calling. There is an adage which says that, "Nothing can be destroyed except by fire." We strive to preserve from destruction the wealth of the world which is the product of the industry of men, necessary for the comfort of both the rich and the poor. We are defenders from fires of the art which has beautified the world, the product of the genius of men and the means of refinement of mankind. (But, above all; our proudest endeavor is to save lives of men-the work of God Himself. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even at the supreme sacrifice. Such considerations may not strike the average mind, but they are sufficient to fill to the limit our ambition in life and to make us serve the general purpose of human society.”

Chief Edward F. Croker, FDNY.

[Greenacres2]

Hey Bro, we just got back to the hotel after 10 hours at the Mile. Since you didn't come by for the brat, i ate it. And one of the best pulled pork sandwiches i've ever had anywhere. Guy sweetens his sauce with a local brewed (forgot the name) ROOT BEER!! Anyway, i bought three bottles of his BBQ sauce, got a new idea for Recruitment and Retention!!!

Later,
earl

[k3twpfire]

Race Track Ticket: $50
Brat & "Root" Beer: $15
New Idea for Safer Grant: Priceless

[Culpster]

LOL Earl,

As long as it is Festival Foods Brats, you got a wiener, I mean winner...

Sorry I couldn't make it to the Mile this weekend, just got back from vacation last Sunday and I am all tapped out. Guess I am going to have to have a brat fest of my own to get by.

[Greenacres2]

Race Track Ticket: $50
Brat & "Root" Beer: $15
New Idea for Safer Grant: Priceless

BBQ sauce was cheaper per ounce than bottled water!! The Milwaukee Mile is a great track, and well-priced compared with some other facilities i've visitied.

I was only half kidding yesterday when i commented on the R & R benefits of a good barbecue. My wife has been talking about hosting our department and families for a cookout, and i'm thinking that it might be an excellent way to mix a few potential recruits in there. A little different than an open house, and we could do some specific invitations.....

Culpster, i haven't looked at a map, but it seems like Milwaukee would have been a haul from your area. At least there's no Chicago in the middle!! I did a pretty fair amount of business with Midwest Security Insurance out of Onalaska for a few years. Good bunch of folks, but they changed their rating area for us so i rarely use them now.

earl

[ktb9780]

I was only half kidding yesterday when i commented on the R & R benefits of a good barbecue. My wife has been talking about hosting our department and families for a cookout, and i'm thinking that it might be an excellent way to mix a few potential recruits in there. A little different than an open house, and we could do some specific invitations.....


earl

MMMMMMHHHHHHH! My taste buds are salivating. Paging Dr Pavlov... Earl is ringing the dinner bells!

Earl I regulalry host 25-40 at BBQs all summer down here. Will have to have you over next time you get this way! I can smoke anything that walks on four legs or has feathers and make it fall off the bones. You ever had a BBQ'd Armadillo? Or smoked and BBQ'd gator tail?

[Greenacres2]

I've eaten BBQ zebra, roast elephant, beaver, elk, bear, a variety of snakes, rabbit, venison, moose and squirrel (no, not Rocky and Bullwinkle!!), and more--but never armadillo or gator. There's a Spanish restraunt up this way that offers a wild game buffet every year, it's an incredible experience. Not sure if i'll have a chance to get over in August, but i will accept a future invite!!

This past weekend i had beets and sweet potatoes in fresh chip form. I wasn't real impressed with sweet potatoes, but the beets were like fried dessert. Got client here, time to work!!
earl

[onebugle]

....and it all tastes like chicken

We have a winner...sign Earl up as a contestant for Fear Factor.

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

He'd beat me. I could handle the worms, grubs, and that other stuff they put out there. Put beets or brussel sprouts on the plate, I'm done. I don't care how much money is on the table.

[ktb9780]

He'd beat me. I could handle the worms, grubs, and that other stuff they put out there. Put beets or brussel sprouts on the plate, I'm done. I don't care how much money is on the table.

Aw come on Brian. You haven't lived till you tasted " soft shell turtle" with "swamp cabbage".

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

I'll eat stuff like that. It's them beets, lima beans, and brussel sprouts that make me gag. Got over the cauliflower issue, but not the cooked spinach or creamed corn. Bleah.

[Greenacres2]

My wife planted brussels sprouts in our garden this year. I'm paranoid that they might make everything else taste bad. The broccoli is awesome though.
earl