Firefighters- Remembered

by Loraine Ritchey thatwb@yahoo.com

Just a couple of weeks ago I crossed the Millenium Bridge over the Thames to walk the way to St. Paul’s, a carpet of red poppies and wreaths lying along side a building caught my eye. I wandered from my intended route to the Cathedral to see why they were laid .

The wreaths came from all over the world, from individual firefighters and firehouses, from Bombay to Boston. Was this the scene of some great fire or recent disaster, as I looked around I saw the reason

Memorial to Firefighters, St Paul’s Cathedral, London

In the last few days I have received hundreds of hits on this site on an information piece I put up with regard to a local firefighter John Volak. It seems most of the traffic is being driven here by the image accompanying the piece.

I couldn’t find the original “source” for this image to give credit where credit is due but it is very powerful .

The image of the firefighter is one who will give his life and love to save , to enter the flaming hell so that our lives,homes and businesses can continue.

There are many images and memorials such as the one in our little public square in Lorain, every bit as important as the great memorials in the great cities as they all honor bravery and unselfishness

Lorain’s Firefighter Memorial- Veterans Park – Photo Renee Dore

However in searching I came across another image which also tells the human side of the firefighter

A FIREMAN’S PRAYER
When I am called to duty, God
Wherever Flames may rage
Give me the strength to same some life
Whatever Be its age
Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person from
The horror of that fate
Enable me to be alert and
Hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
To put the fire out
I want to fill my calling and
to give the best in me
To guard my every neighbor
And protect their property
And if according to your will
I have to loose my life
Please bless with your protecting hand
My children and my wife.

World Trade Center Memorials

Home Home in Lorain

This Fame and Shame it YOU have to see to believe, but then again????
http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=245

Where do I begin and how to restart?

by Loraine Ritchey thatwb@yahoo.com
This has truly been a year of – another day another emotion-, of feeling helpless, angry, and “waiting” tempered with joy but no peace of mind. So the thought of getting away from all things local and not spending the day in front of a computer feeling obligated to “do something”, disagreeing with friends, watching friends effected by differences in opinions, exposing those that rant at the expense of taxpayers who myther and mystify, to leave treatments to the Dr. – to take a break and go to a place where for just awhile the only people that would surround me were family ( who love and support me no matter my mood or opinion) , where those opinions didn’t count for squat as I was just passing through – was very appealing.

Well it has been six weeks of sewer backups, pontificators, the rip off French connection, expensive lessons, more than I ever wanted to know about trains, planes and boats , fleas bites- tourist traps- and then the “bug” to end all bugs and nearly my mum….and worry.

So I will begin at the beginning with planes and Continental Airlines as they were the start and the end ( almost) of this period of supposed rest and relaxation!

Continental Airlines

Continental ran a non stop service from Cleveland to London, Gatwick, as time went by the service ended earlier and earlier in the year. It was primarily on for the summer months. For those of us making the trip to London it was great, although the plane seating was cramped the fact that you didn’t have to change planes and the rigmarole that all involved meant you put up with the conditions.

Gatwick Airport is not for the out of shape or over the hill , the gate was one mile from baggage claim-

there are areas with moving sidewalks which hurry you along to stand in line ( for those with non EU passports to wait for over an hour on occasion( especially with a number of international flights coming in in the morning hours) to go through passport control .

Source

By the time you get your luggage you are shattered, luckily the UK “customs clearance” is much better than the US clearance.

Unfortunately , BP pulled out of Cleveland and Continental was facing their own problems. But they were still running non stop in September to London this year, only they pulled back even earlier which meant the return journey entailed a stop in Newark-New Jersey
BEWARE NEWARK- BEWARE CHANGING PLANES- BEWARE THE WORD SMITHS and they do it all with a smile!!!!!

As uncomfortable as the Cleveland to London flight was it was nothing compared to the trip back. I wondered why it was taking nearly 9 hours to fly from London to Newark when the “farther away” Cleveland flight took an hour less until I looked at the “speed” we were doing- Could it be that in order to save fuel the airlines are “slowing” down making the journey that much longer? HMMMM seems so

“Fliers, already beleaguered by higher fares, more delays and long security lines, may not even notice the extra minutes. The extra flight time is added to published flight schedules or absorbed into the extra time already built into schedules for taxiing and traffic delays.”

ERRRRR I NOTICED!!!!!!

And why when I looked at the ticket why was an hour flight from Newark to Cleveland having a “flight time” of 1 hour and 54 minutes on the information? Well it seems that at Newark you literally sit on the runway for 40 to 50 minutes before takeoff so that time is now calculated into your “flight time”. We sat longer on the runway than we did in the air. One reason alone to stay away from Newark….
The London- Cleveland flight would get us in at 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon coming through Newark we arrived at 9:45 p.m. which added another 6 hours to our already lengthy journey. By the time we got home we had been travelling for nearly 24 hours.

No thank you Continental never again will I traverse your Newark hub-!
Source

When you arrive at Newark ( in one concourse) the fun begins, you are pushed through lines of people all worrying and sweating with their bags to “baggage claim” where you man handle your bags through to the customs, your passports and questionaires looked at – then your bags scanned by customs .

Oh! and you better be quick because the conveyor belt doesn’t stop for anyone so luggage spills onto the floor. Then it is time to find the place ( along with other frustrated and tired passengers) to send your luggage through to the next flight and concourse.

BEWARE the luggage is rescreened and you had better have re packed your “duty free” booze that you purchased on board or in “Gatwick’s secure lounge” into your checked bags before they are sent on -because signed for sealed and delivered doesn’t count – they take your Scotch from you if you have a connecting flight …… no wonder they are smiling

I am sure they don’t throw it away!
Source

Then comes the “train” to the next concourse -down flights of stairs -up flights of stairs, and don’t go by the tickets or boarding passes for the gate ..these things are subject to change at a moments notice…….

But above all “don’t complain, don’t moan and don’t get angry” I have learned that the “muppets” have power the power to decide whether you fly or not….

If you’ve ever wanted to end a complaint letter — or phone call, for that matter — with the words “I’LL NEVER FLY YOUR AIRLINE AGAIN!” or “I’LL SEE YOU IN COURT!” then let me offer a little advice. Don’t. Threats won’t just guarantee your failure. You could also end up on a company’s blacklist (oh yes, they have them)

8 reasons your travel complaint is being ignored by Christopher Elliott-Tribune Media Services

and they do it with a smile!

More Bridges

Buster’s Momma has some great info
http://bustershouse.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-help-yourselfbridge-edition.html
And Henery has more videos…..
http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=243

HEY ODOT THE FACTS ARE LAID BARE ( AND IT MAY NOT BE THE CRAZY HORSE BUT WELL WORTH A LOOK!!!) ( just a little something for your desk to keep you working on the Bridge….after all wouldn’t want to deny you your “entertainment” whilst “purchasing parts”.

Bridge Safety????? Hmmmm

So WoM presents the other side of the bridge ( pun intended ) from a comment on the PD article which refers to Bridge safety of the Bascule Bridge.hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yeah is is an old Bridge from the 1930’s hmmmmmmm so when checking the bridge in June 8th maybe they noticed a problem YEA!!! Great !!!! but then why didn’t ODOT take time from their little vacations of strippers and fishing trips to tell Lorain that there maybe a problem and this is what we are doing about it for “your safety.”….. seems ODOT found time to price garage doors and communicate locally and make purchases?????
http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/10/18/with-one-e-mail-a-scandal-is-uncovered_122/

The report said O’Donnell would meet Kratochvil, Kosmata, other ODOT vendors and three to five strippers at Huron Yacht Club or Bass Haven Marina in Marblehead, where they would depart for a day of drinking, swimming and frolicking on Lake Erie aboard O’Donnell’s 36-foot Tiara yacht.

The report also said that O’Donnell partook in Kratochvil’s annual Christmas party for preferred vendors at the strip clubs Crazy Horse and Cleveland’s PM, a strip club located 1.3 miles from the ODOT office that Kratochvil was said to often frequent. The vendors, according to the report, left hundreds of dollars in cash to cover drinks, food and lap dances after such parties.

The money dropped at those parties, the report said, was in exchange for the more than $660,000 in business that Kratochvil gave to O’Donnell’s business. At one point, O’Donnell even gave Kratochvil $800 in cash as a partial payment for furniture that Kratochvil purchased for a stripper at Kronheim Furniture Co. in Cleveland, according to the report.

I think people could understand it is there was a safety issue but frankly the only “saving” I can see is the saving of ones own arse!

HEY ODOT- WE HAVE VIDEOS FOR YOU !!!

HENERY HAWK HAS YOU TAPED!!!!!!!

http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=242

HEY ODOT- The Chair supports Lorain(e)

Literally!!! Check out Henery’s Blog for the rest of the story
http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=241
Photo Henery Hawk The Chair ( itself)
Nice seeing everyone again !!!!

EAST is east and WEST is West

and ne’er the twain shall meet ( at least not anytime soon)

Today Scott has a way back when the movies had a message, that has in today’s society has now morphed into a television commercial
for “money”

Divided by ideals – Generation X- Y? Will it be Z that is needed……….

Spam canned!

Fome today’s Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3209031/Spam-email-gang-shut-down-by-investigators.html

They are accused of bombarding internet users with emails about penis enlargement, prescription drugs and weight loss through a network capable of sending 10 billion messages a day – or 115,741 every second.

Mr Atkinson, of New Zealand, and Mr Smith, of Texas, are accused of making millions of dollars through the HerbalKing ring, which the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says stretched from America to China, via Canada, Australia, India and Russia.

Acquistion & Development Loans — Gone Up In Smoke

Link Up to more on the Subprime – Primetime –

Last week I asked everyone whether they knew of any lending institution making A&D loans these days. After that posting I received a number of emails and phone calls on the issue. The results are not encouraging. Most area lenders have virtually ceased to lend money for acquisition and development. No one knows when it will change. The concern understandably centers upon the developer/builders’ ability to then sell the homes they are building or to lease the office space in a new building………
READ THE REST HERE by Connie Carr
http://ohiorealestateblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/acquistion-development-loans-gone-up-in.html