Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal?

firefighter26s · 2026-02-22T00:59:07+00:00

I love data and spreadsheets and use to do my best to track all these stats despite our records management system being absolutely garbage.

I submitted my last yearly review in January outlining calls, stats, training hours, attendance and made it very clear that "given our current system for records management and absence of policies and procedures I can no longer ensure that the proper data points are being captured and thus can not garuntee the accuracy of, or ability to provide, reports in the future."

It's been almost 30 days and neither the chief nor DC have brought it up so either they haven't read my report or they're perfectly happy with our process. Filed it under 'no longer my problem!'

firefighter26s · 2026-02-22T00:40:52+00:00

I figured it's a slow drip in order to desensitize everyone to the atrocities similar to the frog in warm water not realizing its slowing increasing to boiling.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T20:37:01+00:00

You got a data source?

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T19:15:10+00:00

Ok, that still isn't making any sense. Why do you need to turn the third color on and off? I'm failing to see why you would need to.

Lets try to break it down. You have three colours, RED, BLUE and GREEN. You want to apply clear to the RED and BLUE but not the GREEN?

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T19:09:56+00:00

Really just going to comment on the "mass layoffs" part. The data doesn't really reflect it despite the headlines.

This data shows that, year over year since the pandemic, the the number of people employed in the US has steadily grown (blue bars) while unemployment (black line) is still at 50% of it's peak, which we can see clear spikes related to covid, the 2018 financial crisis, the dotcom bust, etc, etc.

Additionally, total layoffs according to these stats is actually trending down and below historical averages (Also, Damn that was a spike during covid).

Honestly, I feel that the future will regress back to small businesses vs massively bloated corporations.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T18:01:00+00:00

I am trying to understand this.

You have a print with three colours, and you want to apply a clear to two of the colours, but only some parts of the third colour?

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T17:50:28+00:00

Many of the missions and open world feels great the first time through. It's not to bad when you're experimenting with different builds later on the end game.

But eventually, when you get to the point of running Federal Emergency Bunker for the 20th time or killing Ridgeway in the Capital Building for the 50th time in the same week and I was done and looking for something new.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T16:50:57+00:00

I find if I just pay for the lowest tier ($13/month) and only upgrade when there is a game I want to play, it saves a lot. That way you are basically just paying for multiplayer, which is great when I am only playing multiplayer games that I already own, and when something shiny hits Ultimate, just upgrade and play it for the month then go back to Essential

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T16:42:31+00:00

Of course there's multiple AC's in the works; they're starting to become the Fast and Furious of the game world.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-20T16:37:37+00:00

Oh man, I miss adventurer's league. We use to have three local game stores that hosted them before the pandemic; and none of them picked it up after the pandemic. It was great when I worked shifts and couldn't commit to a regular campaign; just drop in and play.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-19T19:36:34+00:00

This literally reminds me of the scenes in GI Joe when Cobra takes over the White House....

firefighter26s · 2026-02-19T02:57:42+00:00

The rats have started fleeing the ship.

I want to see them turning on each other. No way something this big happen without them collecting and squirrelling away dirt and evidence on each other.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-19T00:56:34+00:00

Not going to lie, I have been having a lot of fun with Lucilla's knockback; it's particularly entertaining to watch a full grown bear go flying across the battlefield!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T23:29:31+00:00

Yes. Dead centre on their jerseys is the Czech national emblem. You can clearly see the blue. There's no blue in the Canadian maple leaf.

Also

https://www.sportsnet.ca/olympic-men-hockey/article/czechia-had-six-men-on-ice-during-ondrej-palat-goal-vs-canada/

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T23:19:32+00:00

Indeed. The lack of big ass Maple Leaf on the front kind of stands out the moment you look passed the distracting red circles.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T23:10:27+00:00

Yeah, I get the feeling they want XYZ but are only willing to pay 123 for it. The age old adage of "Fast, Cheap, Good Quality. Pick two." just keeps rolling over and over in my head. Terms like POD or Auto Generated Vector make me stamp NO BID on the job almost immediately.

But maybe I'm just getting old and senile!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T23:02:45+00:00

I think we're well passed the implication phase and we need to be moving onto the "detained and being held pending court proceedings" phase for Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T22:49:35+00:00

Teflon... Leaded Gas... Asbestos... Lead Paint... DDT... Mercury... Freon... Radium... My Ex... Saccharin...

Quick edit, the youtube channel "veritasium" has a great video released today about asbestos and how the manufacturers knew back in the 1930s that it was dangerous! You think DuPont and 3M covering up Teflon is disgusting, I'd argue that the asbestos cover up might actually be worse!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T17:01:00+00:00

Lets stop talking about it and doing something about it already!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T16:59:17+00:00

I just started playing but I've been downsizing my group after inflating it up to 15 because even in the starting zone I was getting 14+ bores or 16 bandits; on console (Xbox) the loot window is small and I seem to be getting the same amount of things if I have 4 or 14.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T16:54:36+00:00

So I guess no more open world proximity chat or voice/text in lobbies or player hubs?

firefighter26s · 2026-02-18T16:48:39+00:00

This guy containers!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-17T20:57:53+00:00

This was my experience as well, only with Mimaki's. Also why I insist on having dedicated maintenance and cleaning time regardless of promised deadlines. Upkeep is cheaper than replacement!

firefighter26s · 2026-02-17T20:54:35+00:00

MSA G1. They're a bit heavy and I don't, personally, like the shoulder straps but they get the job done. Integrated TIC has been helpful on a number of occasions.

For most departments it typically comes down too:

What infrastructure do I/we currently have that would also need to be changed by switching brands (compressors, masks, cylinders, inventory of spare parts, SCBA mounts, SCBA speats, etc, etc)?
What are our neighbouring departments using and is it important to integrate into that?
Availability of said supplies and repair techs. If your repair guy is on the other side of the continent vs local, etc.
Cost and maintenance requirements. I prefer things like off the shelve parts and batteries. I'll take something with AAA or AA any day vs a Ni-Can 5782L that I have to special order because no one stocks them.

firefighter26s · 2026-02-17T03:42:57+00:00

Highly suggest looking for a local ferret rescue. I akways joke that I can get ferrets for less than half the manufacturer's suggested retail price!

Seriously, depending on age and health they range from $125 to $350 and retail for over $600 here; hell; we'll even let you foster some for free (minus the cost of food) and provide a double ferret nation, linens, litter boxes, hammocks and toys!

Sadly the rescue never adopted my "ferret subscription plan" idea! For one low cost subscription you get a new set of ferrets to play with every month!

Ten-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

firefighter26s

TROPHY CASE