The Volunteers

You get a different perspective on firefighting if you ever visit an all volunteer fire department. Watching Vermilion Township's fire department come together on a cold Sunday morning, just to unroll miles of hose and pressure test them makes you forget that they are doing it all for free.  When most of us might be heading off to church, or getting ready for the Sunday NASCAR race, this group of men and women were in a nearly empty parking lot pressure testing their hoses for annual certification.

Some career firefighters look at volunteer firemen as weekend warriors, perhaps stealing a paying job from a career firefighter.  Some career firemen even look at volunteers as reckless because some don't see a lot of action and they can be dangerous on the fire ground because of that lack of action.

It's hard to agree with those statements. Sure most volunteer firemen don't see a lot of action, and some can be in it to get their name in the paper, but most of them do it because they want to legitimately help, or they are young guys learning the job while they work to put themselves in medic school and the fire academy so they can get a career job.

In the end 70% of all firefighters in this country are volunteers. Whether they are getting paid or volunteering means little to a resident who's house may be on fire. They just want the fire department to show up and put it out and these volunteers are making sure their hoses hold up when they do get that call.

*special thanks to my cousin Scott Schindler for inviting me and my daughter Audrey out. Wish the weather was better, but hell, we have a great time**

Dogwood Tree

Easter Sunday was great as always. The ladies went to church, dressed in their beautiful Easter dresses. The Dads started brunch and waited for them to return. After lunch and an Easter tea with Grandmother in Derby hats, a climb in the dogwood tree was a perfect way to spend this relaxing Sunday afternoon, especially with an Easter dress on.

Lighting the Fire

My favorite part of some of the live fire training I have been to is the very beginning. The first evolution starts and the first team goes into the structure and gets on their gear in the dark. Then breaking the darkness is a flare that lights up the fire. For the next 8 hours or so, there will be a fire burning, and evolution after evolution, the crews will run in, and practice putting them out.

Sunset

Sitting waiting and chasing sunsets is fun, but this photo was a photo of opportunity. As the sun set, it looked as if the Sun was setting fire to the sky. The reds and pinks were brilliant. I couldn't help but grab the camera and snap a quick one.

Besides, I had nothing else to do while sitting in a parking lot for two hours waiting for my daughter to be done with her school play practice.

Babies

Babies are little miracles. They represent the hopes and dreams of a generation. They are sponges absorbing the world around them. They are precious little gifts.

This baby was just a few days old when their parents graciously let me spend some time behind the camera with her. Taken in low light with a single window and lamp as the sole sources of light, I caught her sleeping while be fawned over by visitors.

She is precious, just like all children.

Business Cards

What you see here is the worst picture I plan to post on this blog. I took it with my phone which is 8 MP and it was dark.  I don't plan on another photo this horrible ever again to grace the pages of this blog.

But the content of this photo is what I want to show you. What you are looking at are my new business cards. More specifically you are looking at the back of my new business cards and on the far left, the front.

I signed up for Klout about a year and half ago. A friend who does social media for work was raving about it. Look how influential you are! Is it a perfect system? Hardly, but it does track how you interact across the social networks one is a part of. After a certain score they call you influential and you start getting perks.

I happen to grab up the Moo.com perk.  It's a cool printer who had the technology to print up to 50 different images to business cards. How cool is that? They were offering 50 free business cards for Klout influencers. Sweet!

I uploaded some images, put in my personal information on the template and hit mail. All I had to pay was shipping of $5.50.

I got them last night and I was blown away. They look great. I am lucky enough to be able to share a discount with you! So if you want some new business cards that look great and showcase something important to you, go to my custom referral link here and claim it! I rarely plug anyone on my blog unless they deserve it, and my goodness Moo.com deserves it.

*clear disclosure. I do believe I get some sort of discount from Moo.com for sharing this link. That is not why I am writing this blog. I would have written it anyway. Just go there and get some business cards, or mailing labels, or stickers, or greeting cards, or envelopes, or almost anything you can print. Cool company with a cool name! Go get your discount now!