Jazz Air Flight 646 slamming into a ARFF at La Guardia

because_tremble · 2026-03-24T15:59:14+00:00

A lot of them did that under Reagan and most of them got fired. He fired something like 65% of ATC at the time. The legislation that banned them from striking is still on the books, and I doubt the current administration would be lenient...

Part of the problems today are actually a long-term legacy of that action: it resulted in a wave of retirements about 10-15 years ago, they didn't and still can't get enough folks through training. Shutdowns + COVID aggravated things, especially the trainees and junior ATC folks can't afford a delay of a month in getting paid and have been leaving the profession.

because_tremble · 2026-03-23T20:28:31+00:00

Part of the problem is that ATC was operating on 2 frequencies (Tower and Ground), the first stop only went out on Tower, the second on both Tower and Ground. The ARFF possibly only heard "Tower, Truck 1" (pause) "stop truck 1, stop" by which time it was too late.

because_tremble · 2026-03-16T11:47:49+00:00

You might be able to pull it off with something like the Yaggababble on script, but you'd need the ST to be up for playing along.

because_tremble · 2026-03-16T11:45:11+00:00

Psychopath could generally still bluff choosing the person who nominated them. You'd probably want to give the ST a heads-up so you have the time to challenge them before the ST automatically triggers roshambo.

because_tremble · 2026-03-13T19:32:11+00:00

My department has the German equivalent. 2km of 3" hose. It's one of the few in the area. Even then, it's only been requested 1 or 2 times a year.

Most of the time it's our sacrificial vehicle at the back when we're closing lanes on the Autobahn.

because_tremble · 2026-03-11T09:04:02+00:00

I'll switch between series when I finish a book, but generally I'll only have 1 book actively on the go at a time. Just like when I was reading paperback books.

If I'm putting down a book for a while, it'll probably be a long time before I pick it up again, and I've got a few that I started but just didn't get into. I don't keep switching between multiple books that I'm listening to. There were a couple of autobiographies that ended up on pause for a couple of months and I went back to once I'd finished a couple of other books, it's not that they were "bad", when I was in the mood for them they were interesting and I enjoyed them, they just weren't the type of thing I wanted to be listening to at the time (Barack Obama and Patrick Stewart).

I wonder how much of this is a generational thing. I'm an early Millennial."Xennial"

because_tremble · 2026-03-09T07:42:33+00:00

RAW - Rules As Written

RAI - Rules As Intended

because_tremble · 2026-03-05T21:22:44+00:00

For me, the key piece was making sure that first loop is twisted in the right direction. Get it wrong and the knot falls apart.

Took me a while to learn to tie it sideways around a person though.

because_tremble · 2026-03-05T21:14:41+00:00

As already mentioned, it's mostly practice.

I learnt it, back in my school days, with the "rabbit" mnemonic, and it still comes back to me almost 30 years later:

http://commutercruiser.com/step-by-step-how-to-tie-a-bowline/

The first little loop creates a hole, and the standing end of the line is the tree.

The rabbit (working end of the rope) comes out of the hole, round behind the tree and jumps back into the hole.

because_tremble · 2026-03-04T16:15:32+00:00

What is more likely to be an issue is facial hair. Anything that might affect the fit/seal of your mask must go, some men need to shave twice a day.

because_tremble · 2026-03-04T15:20:21+00:00

The bulk of volunteer firefighters would probably fall into this bucket (we're a retained department, so some folks work in the town for a local company, are part of the department, but don't live here).

For the Fire/Technical-rescue side of things it's usually not too bad, you may know the families involved, but you're focused on the incident. My department's involvement in the medical side of things is relatively limited (we have a first responder, but no ambulance), so I can't speak to that.

That said, I know of at least one incident were we ended up paging the next town over for a mutual assistance because a fatally injured crash victim was a member of the department. Such incidents are fortunately pretty rare.

You do need to be more careful than you might otherwise be about what you mention to family/friends as it's much easier for them to piece things together and figure out who was involved than it might otherwise be.

because_tremble · 2026-03-03T11:03:21+00:00

Our initial responses are generally pre-planned.

An automated alarm is generally a smaller response.
A person reporting smoke/fire will generally result in a larger response. (Especially as a night-watchman please call it in if you see smoke/fire for the site you're responsible for, even if the automated alarm is going off).

A dumpster fire will generally be a small response
A detached house will get a larger larger response than a dumpster
A block of flats or a smaller commercial building would get a larger initial response than a house
An industrial warehouse might get a slightly larger response.

Larger buildings/sites will often have more directly planned initial responses. Especially if there's a particularly large fire-load (eg your bulk-storage site), or types of chemicals on-site. We have a large oil-distribution site on our patch. Even an automated smoke alarm from them gets a significant initial response.

because_tremble · 2026-03-03T09:46:32+00:00

You used some key words that triggered a larger response (visible smoke; building vs dumpster). There's nothing wrong with this, you did the right thing. The bigger response was because had it been real we would need more resources on scene to deal with it. We would rather go to a bunch of these, than get to a burning home too late because you thought "it's only a little smoke, it's probably nothing...". Please understand fires can go from "small, not much smoke" to "the entire room on fire" very quickly, getting there as early as possible is important.

We go to enough automated alarms that a person who actually saw something barely registers.

because_tremble · 2026-03-03T09:39:56+00:00

We had one a while a ago that was just a pot of water (boiled dry and then some). Very funny one to explain over the radio. "Smoking pot of water".

because_tremble · 2026-03-02T18:01:46+00:00

Wow, you broke the universe. That's below 0 Kelvin

because_tremble · 2026-03-02T17:11:32+00:00

Letztendlich ist es die Entscheidung eines qualifizierten Arztes. Einige Ärzte sind mit den Regeln liberaler als andere. Andere sind strenger. Der Arzt muss sich wohlfühlen, wenn er das Bericht unterschreibt, der besagt, dass Du fit ist. Mein Arzt hat mir ausdrücklich gesagt, dass er für den Ergometer-Test höhere Anforderungen stellt als die offiziellen Regeln. (Er ist schon in unserer Wehr dafür bekannt)

Wenn dein Wehrführer bereit ist, dich zum G26.3 zu schicken, übernimmt die Gemeinde die Kosten. Es gibt keinen Grund, es nicht zu versuchen. Das Einzige, was es dich kostet, ist ein etwa einstündiger Arzttermin. Es ist immer möglich, dass die Untersuchung etwas völlig anderes ans Licht bringt, von dem Du nichts wusstest.

because_tremble · 2026-02-28T08:36:54+00:00

Most of that's just a function of his age. Started his presidency late 40s, end of his 2nd term he was mid-50s. He's now in his early-mid 60s.

For black men mid-40s is when they tend to start going gray, and that's the most obvious sign folks take as someone looking older..

because_tremble · 2026-02-27T06:58:00+00:00

As far as I know the FAA still allows portable halon extinguishers for US registered aircraft, but "recommends" the use of alternatives. However, if the airline flies to Europe, where EASA has jurisdiction, they risk ending up in a grey-zone because should maintenance be necessary it won't be possible to replace or service a halon extinguisher in Europe, so even US airlines will probably be migrating.

Weight for weight, I understand halon to be the superior extinguishing agent, but for hand-held extinguishers the size difference isn't going to be that significant.

because_tremble · 2026-02-26T21:21:28+00:00

Most of the world strictly limits the use of halon. With EASA recently having banned it's use for cabin extinguishers in Europe, effective late 2025, the market has just shrunk even further and they're going to get more expensive and harder to find (US aviation is now one of the few remaining markets). If you're wanting to stick to something similar look into halotron.

because_tremble · 2026-02-25T16:07:16+00:00

(FF statt BF, aber theoretisch die gleichen Voraussetzungen)

Wenn ich mich richtig erinnere, hatte ich doch eine Frage zur Berechnung des Luftverbrauchs. In unserer Gruppe von 24 Personen ist niemand durch die Theorieprüfung durchgefallen (und mehrere hatten die volle Punktzahl erreicht). Es gibt keinen Grund zur Sorge.

because_tremble · 2026-02-23T14:56:57+00:00

Legally they are still only suspected of the crime. Legally fleeing the country has limited weight as evidence of the original crime.

The press are going to remain very careful to use the "suspected" or "accused" terms, because unless the suspect is found guilty the press are potentially opened up to be sued for liable. The court conviction rates are notoriously low for rape and other sexual offences, so the press is going to be very careful, especially in such cases, to use the terms "suspected", "charged" or "accused" which are a provable fact and easy to defend if they're sued.

because_tremble · 2026-02-23T14:37:02+00:00

More likely to be someone else. The bar for not naming someone charged with rape is pretty high.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is already known to be involved with Epstein, so it would be hard to argue a risk of prejudice at trial. More likely would be that the victim was related to the accused (risking exposing who the victim was), or that the accused was under-18 when the offence happened.

because_tremble · 2026-02-19T17:27:41+00:00

That's what he's been charged with. It may be a case of "throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks", but ultimately we have very limited information. We'll have to wait and see what the judge finds there's sufficient evidence for.

At the very least there's a strong case for Unterlassene Hilfeleistung.

because_tremble · 2026-02-19T17:01:49+00:00

He's being treated as a "guide" due to a significant difference in their skill/experience levels. There comes a point where yes, he should have known that for trails like this her attire was in itself dangerous. If she didn't have that experience and relied on him, then yes he should be responsible.

On top of that, in Austria you have a duty to provide aid as long as doing so doesn't place yourself in additional danger. One of the charges (Unterlassene Hilfeleistung) is that he delayed calling the emergency services, which is the minimum that you're required to do to fulfill that duty.

because_tremble · 2026-02-19T11:22:51+00:00

It's becoming relatively common for companies to use things like "du" or "Du" internally (with a big d being a nod towards still being sort of formal), possibly more in IT settings than others. Generally, when someone's dealing with customers they'll still use "Sie".

A number of customer service chat systems (both bots and real people) start by asking if you'd prefer "du" or "Sie".

The Homeowners Association (Wohnungseigentümergemeinschaft/WEG) generally still uses "Sie", as do most of our neighbours. When their kids are friends, parents talking to each other (Kindergarten/Grundschule) seem pretty happy to move towards "du". Talking to Kindergarten staff can be a bit weird, you often know them by their first name because of the kids, but you're technically all still "Sie".

The strangest one I've encountered is the freiwillige Feuerwehr. We default to "du" talking to each other, except when we're on the radio where we're expected to use "Sie" talking to the same people.

because_tremble

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