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Confusing the Message – My Apology
It has become apparent to me that an apology is in order for more reasons than one. I'll be succinct since the volume of comments, both via e-mail and on the site have led me to the conclusion that...
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America Burning – A Belated 40th Birthday Wish
As my family and friends will tell you, even being one of the most connected guys on the planet does not result in timely birthday wishes to your loved ones. I think it has more to do with the many...
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The Just
Who are the wise? Who are our leaders? Are they the ones who always open their mouth when a question is asked? Or is the wise one he who listens and encourages you to answer your own questions?...
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The Culture of Hate
So I blundered into reading a piece about Michele Bachmann's call to arms the other day. I don't dare link anything to her name for fear I will be inundated with hate mail from her minions. As...
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Going From Here To There
I wrote a page I called The Preamble to all Posts the other day. In writing it, I found that I had left out something really important; how is it that I came to call this blog Firehouse Zen. So I...
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Time To Get Uncomfortable
I have been doing a little research lately and happened to re-read the theories of crew resource management and just leadership, as championed by Paul LeSage. I wholeheartedly agree with these ideas,...
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Learning an Unintended Lesson From FDNY
As many of you know, recently I was teaching a truck company operations course for Task Force 1 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Prior to making chief, I spent the vast majority of my career on the truck,...
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What Are Your Plans For When Things Change?
I came in to work and as usual, the TV news was on in our office. I was getting my briefing from the off-going chief and heard the amazing news; if I lived in the UK, I stood the chance of having my...
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Embrace Fear
If you are one of these guys that has a "I Fight What You Fear" t-shirt, this post is probably not for you. Nothing bad, but I have to laugh at those shirts because in more than a few occasions,...
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Stand Up Against The Bullies
I always seem to have to lead off with a statement in order to get everyone to realize that I'm not preaching. I have been on the other side of the fence before on almost every subject I write about....
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Happy Day After Father’s Day
My first white leather. My grandfather's, actually. This was a very, very long time ago. I hope you all had a great Father’s Day weekend; whether you are a father or you were honoring your own father...
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I’m Telling You, Don’t Go There…
Okay, you can stop giggling over the fire at Columbia (SC)'s Headquarters station now, seeing as it has been trumpeted all over every news wire imaginable and I'm sure these guys were sick of it the...
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Paula Deen: Getting The Shaft or What She Deserves?
Why, you may ask, are we discussing Paula Deen's recent situation on Firehouse Zen? Well, we are discussing it because it is appropriate to leading and change management; because hers is a...
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The Emergency Service Information Xchange (E-SIX)
I was invited to a game-changer the other night by Chiefs Peter Lupkowski and fellow blogger Pete Lamb where they taught me about Google Hangouts, which is a new way to interact and share information...
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No Fun Here
Yesterday we had our firefighter association's annual summer family picnic. In addition to enjoying some eats and letting the kids run amok, the event also serves as an informal retirement...
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History Lesson: From Scott’s Campaign on Mexico City
I am doing research for one of my classes, American Military History, and I have to write an analysis of General Winfield Scott's campaign to take Mexico City in the Mexican-American War. In the...
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The Yield of Pressure
Pressure is a funny thing. A while back I made some off-hand comment about pressure. I think it was about how a little pressure can create an increase in output, but a lot of pressure can result in...
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Being First Versus Being Right
If you haven't seen the latest fiasco in the media quest for expediency over accuracy, Dave Statter has been sharing it here. I understand it but I don't agree with it. There is a lot of pressure in...
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Parting From Tradition
My eldest daughter Emma got a Furby a few years ago. For the uninitiated, a Furby is pretty much a plastic and synthetic fur housing designed for maximum cuteness and has a silicon chip that lends it...
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Slow News Weekend
Twice today I did my usual lap around the computer (I write my Monday post on Sunday) and not much was in the news. I have been out of town for the past week and purposefully limited my entries on...
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