St Rt 104 west of Ontario Orchards – controlled burn

3pm – 2320 Ct Rt 7 – Oswego Town Hall – burnt out circulation motor

“Who the fuck is going to pay for my fucking television? Huh? You mother fuckers killed my television.” Yelled a glassy eyed Mexican man with a strong accent.
Hector had come home from a small factory on Chicago’s west side. His job was to make grinding wheels for machine shops. The owner hired illegal aliens to make the wheels for him in a basement of the factory. It was an ingenious scheme. It would have been like putting Anne Frank to work behind the refrigerator. OSHA people would have closed the factory down in a second if they knew what was going on in the
basement. The air swirled with silica that went into making the wheels. The foreman wore a device that looked like a World War I gas mask that had two little air vents around the mouth. All the workers used paper masks and they were issued two a week. Hector worked ten hours a day and made eight dollars an hour. Hector had come from an area of Mexico called Jalisco. Hector paid a man close to $8,000.00 to take him across at Tijuana. The men, who took his money, provided him with fake papers. From there, Hector took a bus to Chicago to live in a studio apartment with his cousin and four other
men. A studio apartment is nothing more than a room that serves as everything but a
bathroom.
Hector started a side project of doing handy man repairs on the side. Sylvia, a seventy year old Jewish woman, hired Hector to fix some small items in her apartment and before long, Hector was living with Sylvia. Hector was a short dumpy Aztec looking man with dark, ruddy complexion and black eyes. Hector hated the United States.
Hector saw an invisible wall that kept his people invisible. Nobody seemed to notice that at all the restaurants, car washes and front lawns in upper middle class areas around the country, functioned because of undocumented Hispanics, primarily Mexicans. Hector knew that as an undocumented, illegal alien, he had to settle for whatever job and money he could find.
The silica made him wheeze and his eyes tear. Hector often coughed but thought nothing of it. Hector had been watching El Salvador playing against Mexico. It was a tied game in the 78th minute when six firemen axed the door open and began smashing all the windows out. Hector grabbed the arm of one of the firemen and as the fireman struggled; his axe went right through the 70 inch, high definition television that Hector had just purchased. It cost Hector the equivalent of ten days of work. The fireman apologized and walked out. Hector found out later at work that El Salvador won the match.
Sylvia stood on the sidewalk, trying to calm Hector while holding her parakeets in

a small cage. Hector had just downed several shots of tequila and wolfed down a six

pack of Tecate. All he wanted to do was watch the match on television and fall asleep on

the couch.

Hector and Sylvia found a motel on Lincoln Avenue called the Rio Motel.
Hector was checking into the motel that doubled as a convenience store too. Behind the bullet proof glass were cigarettes, pop, condoms, pain relievers and so forth. The Indian proprietor looked at Hector, a Hispanic man in his mid thirties and the seventy year old Jewish woman holding two birds in a cage, while dressed in pyjamas, was
impressed with that. Ajesh the proprietor was used to seeing all kinds of outrageous things but felt that the odd couple were the most unique of the night. Just as they were settling up with Ajesh, a young black, homeless man came in.
“Yo man, I’m just coming back for my cigarettes… I was in here back before y’all started foh the night and left my cigarettes here on the counter… You kin look at the tapes, I was here bout foh clock…”
“I don’t know nothing about no cigarettes, bro… You better leave now,” said Ajesh.
Hector slipped Fifty dollars cash under the bullet proof glass and handed it to
Ajesh. An Indian musical played in the back ground on a small television. There was one woman dressed in a Sari with twenty men, dancing in unison with her in front of a palace. Everyone of the dancers, were good looking people and light skinned to the point of looking Anglo with a hint of Indian. They were dressed in yellow and orange. They were all smiling, fit and happy. Ajesh was heavy and very dark and looked unhappy. He had a great disdain for the patrons who frequented the motel he purchased from a Korean couple several years back. The patrons used it to use and sell drugs, they used it to have secret rendezvous and some used it for prostitution. Illegal aliens used the motel as their
only means of living since they were fearful that a background/credit check would reveal the fact that they were not living and working in the country legally. Hector lived with Sylvia and so he had an apartment to go where there would not be four men to a room. Sylvia had companionship. She had someone other than birds and a television for interaction. Even though Hector was surly, he did appreciate the old woman letting him live with her. The relationship was non sexual for the most part. There had been a few
occasions where the chemicals within Hector, built up and drove him to do something that he would not have done otherwise. This poor decision making was aided by Tequila. Sylvia actually liked it quite a bit. It had been years since she had sex with a man. That night, there would be no sex and very little talking. They were both disturbed by the fact that they were instantly displaced from their apartment due to the fire.
“Hey man, I just want my motha fucking cigarettes… Look on the motha fucking tapes if you don’t believe me,” said the black man, with even glossier eyes than Hector.
“If you don’t leave now, I vill call the police,” said Ajesh, sternly.
“Fuck you, you fucking A-rab mothah fucking, carpet riding, snaking charming motha fucker.”
Ajesh emerged from behind the bullet proof room with a good ole Louisville Slugger. It was a thirty two ounce bat, which is to say that it had some weight to it. It was supposedly signed by Bo Jackson, who once played baseball for the Chicago White Sox and football for the Oakland Raiders. Ajesh held the bat up as if he were playing Cricket, which he was once very good at back in India. Ajesh was not a small man and was not afraid of black men who tried to intimidate him. In fact Ajesh was secretly hoping that one of them would cross the line so that he could brain them with his bat and then tell the police that he was being threatened with death by some transient.
“Who’s the mother fucker now? Mother fucker… Try some stupid shit, bro. I vill charm your fucking snake…”

With that, the transient man walked off and Hector and Sylvia went up to their
room. The room was musty as if mold was growing somewhere and the toilet smelled of urine like an outhouse. The bed had nothing but sheets on it and every spring on the bed
could be felt. Hector turned on the television to find two Indian men having sex with an Indian woman in a garden while sitar music played softly behind her feigned moans. Sylvia fell asleep talking to her birds, Hector fell asleep watching the Indian manage a trois. They too were good looking Indian people, this time with their clothes off.

Tunnel protection
Security systems for underground traffic facilities must respond rapidly and reliably while at the same time displaying the highest possible degree of immunity to interference or false alarms.

Accident in tunnels and underground traffic facilities can quickly develop into disasters unless the correct protective measures are taken immediately. The reasons for the high level of risk are increasing traffic densities, the transport of more goods and combustible materials, and the limited space available for rescue and intervention. Furthermore, a small fire in a tunnel tube can spread rapidly within a few minutes due to the influence of wind (draughts, slipstreams, ventilation and natural convection). The rapid spread of smoke and the enormous generation of heat are an immediate threat to life and are often underestimated.

Modern tunnels therefore should be monitored by a fire detection system that immediately identifies an incipient fire and automatically actuates the appropriate protective systems. The OTS 2000/4000 fire detection system locates the fire precisely to within 1.5 – 4 metres and automatically actuates the extinguishing, ventilation and intervention system at the actual site of the burning object. The system also provides informative data about the development and size of the fire and the direction in which it is moving.

These systems have been proven over several years, and their reliability has been repeatedly demonstrated by more than 1000 installations throughout the world. In co-operation with dominant partners in fire safety worldwide, OTS technology has been successfully installed for fire detection in hundreds of kilometres of road and rail tunnels and for numerous other applications.

As the pioneering force, LIOS Technology has established a new standard in modern fire detection.

Read more:

• Tunnel protection - Security systems for underground traffic facilities must respond rapidly and reliably

Slipway Fires is the third album by English rock band Razorlight. The album was released on November 3, 2008. It received generally negative reviews – Drowned In Sound described it as “a headachey throb of over-production and excessive sentiment” and “about as indie as Margaret Thatcher”, while the NME described them as “just a boringly competent indie band masquerading as, at best, Fleetwood Mac and, at worst, Whitesnake”. Q were favourable however, commenting that “Slipway Fires requires more of your time and duly rewards it”.

Tracks

1. “Wire To Wire”
2. “Hostage Of Love”
3. “You And The Rest”
4. “Tabloid Lover”
5. “North London Trash”
6. “60 Thompson”
7. “Stinger”
8. “Burberry Blue Eyes”
9. “Blood For Wild Blood”
10. “Monster Boots”
11. “The House”

Genre: Indie rock

More info @ Wikipedia
Buy on Amazon: Slipway Fires

The Four Step Curse

Thursday and grey

Was the sky, it turned

To night as we woke

Up, Zack had to throw

Up and enter the disarray

Of where we all stayed

Flipped upside down

Pillows and couches

And lounge like

Dinner tables

Everything was

More real than fables

Maybe robbed, maybe

A prank we simply

Did think, but who

Would do such a thing?

Who would trick us

Like a game? The cops

Came, did their thing,

But we prayed like

Watchmen in every

Corner of our house

We trapped every

Mouse that stood

In the way, we concluded

That witches came,

We heard of the four

Step curse, slashed tires

Black cat fires,

Upside down was

An inch away from

A blood display

On every mirror

We would later

Look into as

We dug a fire pit

Piled the compromises

Hidden in shelves

And under the bed

Let Jacob do the

Digging he’s from

Texas, and then came

The text message

Kyle pranked us,

Sank us, worried

Us and still we

Threw away in

The fire whatever

Did inspire us to

Live far from Him,

The flames engulfed

The plastic tapes

Of eight years of

Endless babble,

Vinyl records and

Literature, no fire

Extinguisher just

The four step curse

That was not real

But what a steal

That we would

Now have a funny

Story to tell

Ja està confirmat, per Nadal anem a Logroño i Eibar, una mica lluny, tal com ja ens pensavem.

Ara, per estar informats de totes les fires a les que assistim us podeu subscriure al bloc amb l’eina que trobareu a la columna de la dreta al final de la pàgina.

Fire Safety is for Everyone

Since Europe, North America and areas of the Asian/Pacific region have adopted new fire safety practices, they have reduced their fire-related fatalities by up to 50%. The United States is following suit by having the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) conduct research on new fire prevention and fire safety techniques.

Researchers have examined the benefits of improvements made by other countries, and insist that adopting some, if not all, of these safety methods can save the lives of citizens and fire-safety personnel (like me!)

Since I’m a firedog, this is of particular interest to me. Who would have guessed so many injuries and deaths could have been prevented by resisting the temptation to take the battery out of the smoke-detector to put it into the television remote control? Or that beating the screeching smoke alarm to death with a broom, after making a particularly smoky batch of cookies, could actually end up putting you and your family in danger?

Some of the firefighters down at the station have been making house calls, and talking to people about how important it is to be prepared for fire. If you do simple things like creating a fire-escape plan, you can greatly increase your chances for successfully exiting a burning house.

Of course, no one likes to consider that their own home might ever catch on fire. But it’s important to have a basic knowledge of fire-safety, just in case.

Nations across the globe that have adopted these fire prevention techniques emphasize the significance of maintaining a working fire alarm. Though not all families have the money to pay for a fire alarm, and while some might not be able to figure out how to install one, most communities have programs that will cover fire alarm installation for those who live in high-risk areas. If you live in one of these areas or think that you might, all you have to do is call your local fire station, and we’ll be more than happy to assist you.  To see the entire list of fire safety instructions, visit the RJ Westmore Inc. website.  And don’t forget to have a great week, and to BE SAFE!

Aquest cap de setmana hem anat a passar l’estiuet de Sant Martí a la Cerdanya.

El dissabte vam sortir tard, ja que en Pep havia d’anar a entrenar. Cap a les 12h marxavem i vam parar a Ribes a dinar. A les 15h ja estàvem a Coma Oriola amb els esquís i les pells posades.

La setmana passada va nevar però la veritat és que el dissabte ja no quedava gairebé res de neu… l’únic lloc que es podia començar era Coma Oriola i ni pensaments d’arribar al refu de Niu de l’Aliga ja que a dalt tot estava ventat i encari hi havia menys neu… En fi que vam estar pujant i baixant per les poques pistes que hi havia obertes fins que es va fer fosc, almenys ens vam treure el “mono”!!!

Després vam baixar cap a Puigcerdà i vam buscar un lloc per aparcar la furgo i passar la nit. Vam triar un revolt d’una pista que surt de la carretera que puja cap a l’estació del Puigmal-2600 abans d’arribar a Err (ja a França), amb unes vistes molt bones a tota la vall. Vam provar la “cale” i la veritat és que la teníem al mínim i ens vam “axixarrar” això sí silenciosa, silenciosa no ho és gaire!

El diumenge vam fer una ruta amb bici, és senzilleta i es fa amb mig matí; però molt maca i divertida.

Es surt del poble d’Err (a la Cerdanya francesa), allà feien la fira de la poma i es podia comprar un suc de poma que el feien allà mateix molt bó! Doncs això, sortim d’Err i anem seguint les marques d’un GR. Anem per pista forestal  cap a Verdinyals per un camí que puja planeja i baixa. Atravessem Verdinyals i davallem fins a creuar el Segre (aquí deixem les marques del GR). Un cop creuat trobem uns pista, a mà esquerra anem cap a Llo i a mà dreta (remuntant el Segre per la vora esquerra) anem cap a les Gorgues del Segre. Prenem direcció dreta i ens internem en les espectaculars Gorgues del Segre. Allà hi ha la via ferrata de les Escaldilles (però s’han de pagar 20eur…) seguim remuntant el Segre fins al seu naixement prop del refugi no guardat de la Culassa. El camí va pujant però és fa molt bé, anem trobant neu pel camí però molt poca… de moment. A l’arribar al refu (1834m) ja comencem a trobar més neu i al cap de poc ja hem de fer molts trams a peu ja que hi ha massa neu per pedalar. 

A peu, amb bici, a peu, amb bici, ...

Anem alternant bici-peu per culpa de la neu fins al punt més alt del recorregut, el Pla de no sé què… (2051m). Allà hi ha unes vistes espectaculars de tota la Cerdanya, el Cadí, Carlit…

Brutal!

A partir d’aquí tot és baixada i la pista es transforma en un camí més estret i pedregós. El camí baixa molt ràpid fins al refu de “Camí de Núria”  (1750m) és un lloc molt xulo per parar una estona i fer un mos. D’aquí la pista segueix baixant per unes ziga-zages molt marcades fins a la pista que ens durà novament a Err (on ens donen suc de poma i pà amb compota de pona i botifarra).

L'arribada a Er

La ruta té uns 25kms i un desnivell de +/- 900m amb el seu punt més baix a 1350m i el més alt a 2051m. Es pot fer tranquil.lament en unes 2h.

mapa

Altimetria Gorgues del Segre

A la tornada vam parar a la Fira de muntanya de Vic, feia un parell d’any que no hi anavem i la veritat és que ens va decepcionar bastant molt pocs estants i poca cosa interessant.

New image in the aircraft spotting photography contest

This was taken outside my house…a scary few hours as they put a field fire out! …
Kefalonia-Fire chopper photography picture

8:15pm – Cemetery Rd – wood stove problem

10:45pm – St Rt 104A/Wall Street – Passerby reporting a heavy smell of smoke in the area. No problem found, all units cancelled.

During this weekend a horrific fire killed three men in an illegal set of rooms.  See New York Daily News story here.

     One of the survivors being taken from the scene

The fire occurred in the basement of a Woodside, Queens, two family house that was converted to an illegal five family house with a set of seven single rooms in the basement.  The fire and fatalities occurred in the basement where Bangladeshi immigrants lived.   The building owner was cited for illegal occupancy, failure to provide a basement exit, and conducting renovations without a permit.  Illegal apartment conversions are a problem in working class neighborhoods with a heavy immigrant population.

In a lawsuit plaintiff would have to show that the building owner’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the injuries.  The violation of a safety law, as the building and fire codes, would be proof of negligence.  This is called negligence per se.  In this situation, the building owner would be liable for the illegal conversion which caused or were a substantial factor in causing the deaths. 

However, the owner’s violation of building and fire codes will not necessarily spell victory for a plaintiff.  The injuries must have been causally related to the violation, such as lack of exits, if the injured person were trapped in the apartment.  

If  you have been injured in a fire, please feel free to call us for a free consultation at 800-581-1434 or write to letters@seitelman.com.

Mark E. Seitelman, 11/8/09, www.seitelman.com.  

this article has a graph at the end which i’ve always wanted to see. it shows, over the course of several years, # of jobs created, # of firings, and the net (in black between the two). it’s actually somewhat reassuring that there’s so many jobs, and that the black line is so small relative to the # of new jobs. but if you integrate the black area, it does ramp up quickly.

another interesting aspect of this graph is that it seems to not be subject to what i consider a flaw in the regular bls statistics. the bls only counts people who’ve been jobless for up to 6 months, so the true number of jobless is much higher than the official figure, especially in a recession. however this article only considers # of hires versus # of fires, and so whether someone’s been jobless for 6 months etc doesn’t enter the picture. the total black area, as far as i can tell, should equal the total number of unemployed over the course of the recession.

RIT Team to Fair Haven, cancelled enroute

Sí, ja ho sé, fa massa que no donem senyals de vida…..Hem estat liats i la notícia ara és que aquests dies ens podeu trobar al Portal de l’Àngel de Barcelona. Us animem a visitar-nos i comprar esmalts compulsivament, je je.

Pel que fa al Nadal, la cosa encara no està clara però és gairebé segur que no anirem a cap fira catalana, ah i enguany NO anem a LLEIDA (mira per on, ens han dit que no).

3am – 370 Thompson Rd – gained entry reset system

While it remains unclear whether Google Voice should be treated the same way as other telecom companies, the search giant isn’t taking any chances with the rather unpleasant probing it’s receiving from the Federal Communications Commission.

Thanks in part to the finger-pointing of AT&T, Google has to answer the accusations that it does not connect calls to certain rural areas. AT&T believes this is unfair–Google should be made to connect calls to any location, regardless of how expensive it is to the company–but Google is firing back, claiming that it’s only blocking calls to obvious “traffic pumping” numbers.

Now, Google has gone one step further. In a letter to the FCC, it claims it has isolated less than 100 numbers that are responsible for the practice, and is now only blocking those specific numbers. If you’re short on time, here’s the pertinent text from Google’s letter:

In June 2009, Google Voice began noticing extremely high cost calls to a concentrated number of destinations. Our internal investigation revealed that the top 10 prefixes to U.S. destinations (NPA-NXX) accounted for l.l percent of our monthly U.S. traffic by volume – an unusually large number, and some 161 times the expected amount by prefix. In tum, this traffic accounted for 26.2 percent of our monthly U.S. cost – again, an unexpectedly large number. In addition to these grossly anomalous call patterns (which include the frequency and duration of calls to rural areas), we also were aware through various industry sources of certain in-bound traffic stimulation practices, and the identities and locations of some of the carriers in question. Many of these businesses are located in rural areas with local carriers that charge unusually high rates for terminating traffic. Our own underlying carriers would assess Google Voice up to 39 cents per minute for some of this interstate traffic. As a result, based on an application of these data filters to the total universe of our outbound traffic, in August 2009 Google Voice began the practice of restricting calls to certain high-cost destinations. Currently, fewer than 100 U.S. telephone numbers are restricted based on an application of these filters.

For a couple of technology giants, they sure are good at tennis. The ball is now back in AT&T’s court!

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!