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Posted: Jul 22, 2022

Cantankerous Wisdom: Avoid the Three A’s when Spec Writing

By Bill Adams

After several “not-much-happening-today” morning coffees, the Raisin Squad started picking on each other. Old people are easy pickings. “Do you wear a COVID mask so we can’t see you drooling all over yourself?” “You gotta hit the bathroom again? When you get older does your bladder get smaller?” White hairs can be brutal.

Trying to change the subject, I mentioned a work-in-progress column about fire apparatus specifications. It was a mistake. All you salesmen lie.” But I’m retired. It don’t matter; you still write about that junk. Vendors can sweet-talk for 20 minutes and never say anything. Specs ain’t nothing but smoke and mirrors. Nobody understands them. People just buy whatever they want.” They drove me out. It was a double Tylenol morning.

I finished the column, originally titling it the S&M in Spec Writing. Then I realized the magazine hierarchy would think I’m promoting Sadism and Masochism, which ultra-conservative readers might find objectionable. Raisins already believe S&M means Smoke & Mirrors, which also could be construed as accusatory by vendors.

So, for-the-record, S&M means Sales & Marketing, which on a corporate level is an honorable profession, but one I don’t necessarily agree with. S&M could also be called advertising and marketing, or marketing and advertising. But A&M or M&A doesn’t have the same pizazz as S&M.

Being politically correct, I titled it Avoid the Three A’s when Spec Writing. The three A’s are advertising, adverbs, and adjectives—the earlier encompasses the latter two. All three are meaningless, confusing, and unnecessary during competitive bidding. They confuse old people. It should be illegal to incorporate them into purchasing specifications.

Two Purchasing Specs

Old timers say purchasing specifications only have to say the rig has to be big, red, go fast, and carry a lot of hose. It is a bit more complicated. Traumatic to the mindset of some S&M folks is my belief there should be two distinct types of purchasing specifications. One should only be used by the S&M people and vendors to advertise and promote the product. Why? Fire apparatus manufacturers are seldom held accountable about the accuracy of their advertising. This is not an accusation that all advertising is smoke and mirrors. Some S&M can stretch reality to its limits by astute and liberal use of adjectives and adverbs.

The second spec should be called the legal specifications, meaning they’re the ones the rig shall be built to. Most apparatus are sold via a signed contract—a legally binding document. Here’s where the legal profession dips their fingers into the pie. Legal Beagles be

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Posted: Jul 22, 2022

Lewiston (ID) Considers New Fire Station Construction For Health of Firefighters

Lewiston (ID) Fire Chief Travis Myklebust says his department needs a new fire station for the health of his firefighters, according to a report published by The Lewiston Tribune.

Among the deficiencies at the Lewiston Orchards station including lack of clothing cleaning, sleeping quarters that cause firefighters to lose sleep, poor ventilation that don’t expel diesel fumes and no unisex bathrooms, according to the report.

To remedy the issues, Lewiston is in the process of replacing the station with a new $6.9 million facility which could be on line as soon as 2024, according to the newspaper.

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Posted: Jul 22, 2022

Sheboygan (WI) Puts $810K Pumper in Service

The Sheboygan (WI) Fire Department has taken delivery of a new $810,000 Pierce pumper and assigned it to Station 4, according to a report published by radio station WHBL.

Assigned as Engine 1864, the new apparatus replaces a 29-year-old rig and is expected to see 10 to 15 years in front-line service before being placed into reserve status, according to the report.

The new engine has a 1,500-gpm pump and 750-gallon water tank, as well as foam capabilities and extrication tools, the report says.

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Posted: Jul 22, 2022

Woman jumps into river, riders evacuate through windows after train in Massachusetts goes up in flames

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: A packed Orange Line train transporting commuters on a bridge that runs over the Mystic River in Somerville caught fire on Thursday morning, sending hundreds of people scrambling for safety. Video shared with Boston 25 News showed flames shooting from a train car and thick smoke billowing into the air.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston
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Posted: Jul 22, 2022

How rescuers saved trapped Pennsylvania miners in 2002

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Brad Hillegass had operated a crane plenty of times but never with the lives of nine men in the balance. That changed July 24, 2002, when nine miners were trapped 240 feet underground at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County and his job was to safely lift them to freedom one-by-one in a slim, yellow, metal capsule through a precariously narrow shaft dug by rescuers.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TribLIVE
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