Fire Critic An Unadulterated View of the Fire Service
This is part IV of my FDIC wrapup. Read Part I, Part II, Part III
Another good read is IronFiremen’s Simplicity of Brotherhood
How I got to FDIC
Randy taking care of his Captain
I drove in a van…not the point. I would not have been at FDIC if it weren’t for two great guys who have helped me out in the past. I needed two shifts covered and they did it no questions asked. Captain Clayton Martin covered for me Saturday and Firefighter Randy Armbruiser covered for me on Thursday. I appreciate it. Randy “Rocket Randy” to be exact is one of Captain Wines guys. He works at 13’s house. Thanks guys!
One of the things that Willie and I have always tried to stress is that we do what we do because of our readers, friends, and fans. If it weren’t for you guys, we would not spend hours behind the computer typing, sharing, networking, and commenting. We love it. We learn. I don’t have time to travel around going to fire schools taking classes, so much of my learning is from instructors who share online. Many fire bloggers do just that, they share their love of the tactical and strategic side of firefighting through their blogs and on Facebook.
I mentioned many of them with links to their sites here
In another post, I shared almost 50 pictures that were taken of us with our friends at FDIC. Many of the people in the pictures were people we either finally met in person, or were seeing again for a second or third time. We loved it and it meant a lot to us. We were honored to have our picture taken with each and every one of you. Especially the Mariachi band! Those were just the pictures we were able to get. There were so many other pictures taken yet we didn’t have our camera out for it.
We met all kinds of people. These lovely ladies were in town for a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk.
One of the things that really bothers me is that there simply isn’t enough time to keep up with so many great bloggers, authors, and firefighters who share stuff online. I used to be on top of it. Now, not so much. What bothers me about it is that I hope no one feels slighted. I do my best…and that is what the Fire Critic is about.
I am a fan. A fan of the fire service, a fan of firefighters, and a fan of my readers. I love hearing from you guys. I enjoy being able to do favors in sharing news and information on the blog. I don’t teach fire tactics or strategy, or tips of the trade. I leave that up to the other guys. They are better at it. What I do is help perpetuate their network by sharing their information. Yeah, every once in a while I will beat Statter to a decent youtube video…but he never sleeps so it isn’t that easy.
What I am trying to say is that Fire Critic wouldn’t be anything without you guys. I wouldn’t have half the content I have and I wouldn’t have any readers…no, I haven’t been drinking. I am serious. And I hope that message is felt when we meet in person or chat online.
To all those who we met at FDIC, Thanks for making it special for us!
