first post

like most people, i guess, i tend to think everything i have to say is somehow important -- if not to you, then at least to me. i know this is absurd, but in my mind this is how it works. and so in this quest of enlightening you, i'll begin my wonderings here, today.

i'm not much of a reader, unless it has to do with fishing or traveling. i also tend to limit my television viewing to these topics also. i keep up on my job (more about that below), by reading the trade magazines and pumping out the required training. shift-to-shift i'm pretty busy with administrative stuff and it seems that rarely do i have the time to investigate new techniques, which is what my lieutenants do for me.

i'm a battalion chief at a small to mid-sized fire department. i've been in the fire service for 25 years, beginning as a volunteer, and after testing around for a full time position for three years, getting hired at a department similar in service area and culture as the one i volunteered for. hiring was much simpler then. nowadays a job opening at a fire department, especially a large department, can bring hundreds of applicants.

i believe my age, my years in the fire service, the fact that i held a real job before the fire department, that i have children, grandchildren, and have been married three times to three wonderful women, grants me the right to pretty much say what i please. you obviously don't have to like what i say -- you don't even have to comment on what i say -- hell, you don't even have to read what i say, but i have a mind, fingers, an aging computer and a keyboard, and a bit of spare time.

so please stick around while i learn how this blogger works. who knows, i may occasionally write something worth reading and commenting on. let me know either way, but please don't be rude. i won't if you won't.