In honor of those traveling during this school vacation week, I bring you Five Innocent Things Which Make Me Look Nefarious:

• I photograph fire engines. I’m a firefighter, a bit of a buff, and an apparatus geek. It comes naturally. It used to be just a hobby, but in the modern world it gets some very odd looks.
• I fly one-way. Synchronizing strange work and family schedules means I’m often flying in one direction and driving the other with my wife. It increases my sketchiness factor in the eyes of the government. Which brings me to. . .
• I park my car at the airport and walk away. I need it to be there when I get back. See above.
• I photograph documents with my iPhone. I have a great scanner app for it, and I try to run a paperless office. I always feel like James Bond as I snap away. Q would be proud.
• I have sleep apnea. By itself this is not suspicious, but it means I travel with a CPAP machine. The TSA seems convinced that this is some sort of infernal device. It earns me an ‘enhanced screening’ every time I get in the same zip code as an airport.

Enjoy your vacation, and if you saw that guy packing his camera and walking away at the airport don’t worry it was just me.

 I’ve been going through the blog tonight, making sure it’s compliant with my employer’s current social media policy.  I’m not sure if my standards had slipped, but HR’s seem a bit stricter. A few things were changed; some were removed.

It’s not an unreasonable policy, and it’s probably overdue for some enforcement.  Basically it says be nice and mind everyone’s confidentiality.  I can do that.  Project 365 will be difficult to continue on the days I work, but I will just have to engage my creative side a bit more.

I love my job and my employer, so it’s worth doing.  With over 500 posts, it may take a few passes to make sure I’m fully compliant.  Although it is in the sidebar, I will reiterate the disclaimer here:  the opinions expressed herein are mine alone and do not represent any employer past, present, or future.  Details have been changed in the interest of confidentiality, and some things are pure fiction.

Now I’m off to police my Facebook timeline.  I’m Mack505 and I approve this message.

I’ve got nothing. Ten years ago this very minute, one of the darkest days in American history began. We discovered how much some people can hate, and we would discover the depths and strength of the American soul in the days that followed.

I don’t have anything profound to say. Please take the time to remember those lost, and to say a prayer for those still suffering. If you have the opportunity to help or heal, take it.

I will be in the same place I was in 2001: saving the city from the cab of an Econoline. Stay safe out there.

A while back I set up a security camera using some old hardware and a software package I found on the internet.  It was more to prove I could do it than anything else.  It covers the yard and normally catches things like squirrels, turkeys, and me going to work.  I also used it to film the RFD response videos by setting it up in the cab of the engine.

The response project is done filming, so the camera came back home.  This morning one of the cats discovered it and decided it needed a little love.  Unfortunately it didn’t capture the culprit, but I’m guessing it was one of the Siamese.

“We deal with sick people all day long with detached efficiency, but when it’s one of us, the reality of our vulnerability hits home. This job has a way of making us feel invincible, untouched by the sickness and suffering that surround us daily. It seems inconceivable that one of our own may have succumbed. . .” —Lt. Michael Morse, Rescuing Providence

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks at work. Two weeks ago I worked a swap to get my Friday off. Early Friday morning, about the time I should normally be coming on duty, we ran into a crew from another company who asked us, “Did you hear about the fatal crash in Woburn? Channel 7 said there were EMTs involved.”

We activated the grapevine, and before I left for home that morning I learned that I had indeed lost a coworker.

Kristin Abreu was not a close friend; she spent most of her time in the other division. She was still one of us. We were all stunned.

By the nature of our business, we have a good idea what goes on at an accident scene. Our imaginations are fully capable of filling in the horrors. The few details I’ve heard only make it worse. I don’t know which is worse, knowing or not knowing.

Slightly more than one week later, the hammer fell again. We learned that Salisbury FD Lt. Tim Oliveira was seriously injured while performing preventative maintenance on a department SUV. Again the grapevine was activated; again the news was not good. Lt Oliveira survived for about 48 hours in the hospital before succumbing to his injuries.

Again, I did not know him personally but good friends did. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to a line of duty death, and it’s too close.

An off-duty car crash, and routine maintenance. It all seems so senseless. I’ll be on the porch with my dog and a beer if you need me.

Tornadoes in Massachusetts are exceedingly rare.  Much like a blizzard in the Carolinas, they happen every so often and are guaranteed to send the locals into a panic.

And for once I’m right there with them.  Bring on the hurricanes, blizzards, and floods.  Those I can deal with.  Let’s leave the tornadoes with my friends in the Midwest.
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I’m not sure who’s having the bad joke, the weathermen or Mother Nature, but either way I’m not impressed.  We may get snow, we may get rain; we will get a meteorologist-induced panic.

It does give a good opportunity to highlight an old favorite, though.  Enjoy this blast from my past, exactly 14 years ago tomorrow.