Catching up

It has been a really busy couple months in my life. With the kids back in school and all of those activities that come along with it, and add in a wife that works and is a full time college student, you can imagine that I have very little "me" time.  When I do seem to have a few minutes to sit by the computer, I have a habit of dozing off.

I did get a bit of a reprieve 2 weeks ago when I headed to Charlotte, NC for an annual business meeting. Some of you probably saw my drunk blog from there. Even though it is a work conference, there is plenty of fun time built in.

We arrived in Charlotte on Saturday morning. The Hilton hotel where we stayed was gorgeous. After walking around a little bit it became evident that Charlotte is not what I am accustomed to in a city. It is made up primarily of hotels, office buildings and parking garages. There were some places to eat. What it lacked was any type of retail stores.

Sunday was the first official day of the conference. It kicked off with a golf outing. What a beautiful day that turned out to be. The weather was spectacular. I was actually in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. The course was amazing and we played really well. I am not an avid golfer but I love the game. I always worry a little bit when I play in these events because my skills could use some fine tuning. Luckily I played awesome that day. You could never guess I don't play all that often. Sunday night we headed to a local bar where it was a "meet the candidates" meet and greet. I had a few drinks and ate some great food. I stayed fairly sober. lol

Monday was the opening meeting which was fine, but not the reason I was looking so forward to that day. It also happened to be the night of the welcome event. This year the event was in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I was in my glory! I got free admission into the Hall and got to do all the interactive stuff there. Add in the open bar and buffet that we had in the lobby area and it was a perfect evening. In all my years of attending these conferences, this was by far my favorite welcoming event. My son thought I was going to be total redneck when I got home. lol

Tuesday was the annual business meeting and elections. The morning was filled with speeches and campaigns. It may look boring on C-Span but, being there you can not help but get caught up in the whole process. We had a nice lunch and then I had the afternoon free. That night was delegate photos and the exhibitors reception. Again with a bar and buffet. this is where the trouble started. Every year, the New York delegates ( I am one of them) hosts a hospitality suite. We do it in conjuction with a few other states. This year it included NC, ND, RI, UT, KY and I think NJ. We had an open bar and some snack foods. I admit to getting totally smashed this year. Thankfully my room was only 8 floors up. I will not get into details here. Let's just say I ended up making the swear "Dear God. Let me live through this and I will never drink again!" I lived. So far I have been pretty much sticking to the promise. I will probably keep that promise......till next years conference in Phoenix AZ!

Overall, I had an awesome time in Charlotte. I brought home a lot of great memories and a bunch of pictures.

 

This was Saturday. You know where I was on Monday!

 

I managed to change the tire in just over 20 seconds. 

Guess I should not get a job with a pit crew!

 

At the trade expo on Monday

 

I had such an awesome time here!

 

That's my favorite!

They have actual cars sitting up on the track that wraps around the ramp to the second floor.

the track display. All full size cars.

 

This was the simulator area. You sit in the car and drive a simulator.

I managed a 1:00.564 lap time at Talladega!

This was actually after more than half the people left.  

And before you ask, the lady in the lower right was dancing to the DJ. lol

NASCAR Heaven

I am a NASCAR fan. My kids pick on me for it, but I don't care. I love sitting and watching the races. It is even better when Jimmie Johnson wins the race. Seeing that Lowe's 48 car cross that finish line in front just makes my day. Last year, NASCAR opened a Hall of Fame in Charlotte NC. I knew this would be a place I just have to see one day. That day is happening October 25th! Woohoo!

Every year I travel to wherever the ICC Annual Conference is being held. This year it just happens to be in Charlotte, NC. As soon as I found out, I said I was going to hit the Hall of Fame. Well, it gets even better. Each year the ICC holds a big opening event. They find a major venue and book it exclusively for the ICC attendees. We have access to the entire place. There is a buffet and an open bar. When I was in Detroit it was held at the Henry Ford Museum. In Florida it was in Epcot. In Baltimore it was in Camden Yard and Oriole's Stadium. This year it will be in, yes you guessed it, the NASCAR Hall of Fame. So, not only do I get to see the museum, but it will be free, there will be food and drinks, and I will be in my glory! I am so excited that I feel like a kid just before Christmas.

One of the things that we do at our conference is trade collector pins. Chapters from all over the world bring pins and all week long I find people that are looking to trade pins. I have a decent sized collection. My Association is no different. We have had 3 designs over the past 10 years. All rather plain and all designed by the company making the pins. Since we have been using the same pin each year, it was getting harder to find people that didn't already have one. This year I decided I was going to take over the design. I wanted something unique. Something that combined the Chapter and this years International Conference. This is the design I came up with:

Knowing what people look for in a pin when trading, I have no doubt these will be hot this year. I didn't tell anyone I was going to design it until after I had the design complete. When it was done I presented my design to the Chapter President and VP. In typical fashion the President tried to tweek it into something he could then claim as his own. (He is notorious for this). I stuck to my guns and in the end we went with my design. 

I can not wait to get to Charlotte!

Public Snowjob

Let me preface this by saying I know this is going to really piss off some people. Especially the NYFD. I assure you this is by no means to discredit you or downplay what you brave people do each and every day. If you misunderstand the point I am trying to make I apologize up front.

Many of you know what I do for a living and how I feel about my job. For those that don't, I am a State Code Enforcement Officer and I love what I do for a living. My job is life safety. I deal with buildings primarily. New construction and existing construction. I am also responsible for hazard mitigation for disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, floods, and other natural and man-made catastrophes. This post will be more about my role in fire prevention and fire safety.

The local news recently commented on statistics that showed the number of injuries and deaths in fires has declined in recent years. Right away the Chief of the NYFD spoke up to take credit. Saying that it was all due to decreased response time of the NYFD and other measures taken by the NYFD. All the credit went to him and his men and women. I do not dispute that your job efficiency has improved. And I certainly am not saying you do not deserve any credit. However what about the countless people like me and those who do the job we do? Did it ever occur to NYFD that maybe less people are killed or hurt in part to safer buildings?

Building & Fire Codes are constantly being worked on and improved. I personally am an active member of the International Codes Council or ICC. I attend the code development hearing each year and have voted on a number of critical issues. I see the passion of the thousands of Code Officials from around the world. We take what we do seriously. We know that every single day we may have saved another life that day. The US Senate has officially referred to us as the "First Preventers." Yet you never hear about us on TV or the radio. You will never hear how someone didn't die in a fire. Or how a fire was contained by sprinkler systems and fire walls and that the building didn't collapse. What you will hear is how the Fire Department was able to save the people and the structure because of the response time.

On a regular basis I will go to a house owned by a fire fighter. They will typically make a point of saying, "I am in the fire department. I know what I am doing and don't see why you have to inspect this!" Well I give you credit in putting out the fires. You are superb in your ability to fight the fire. Well, it is my job to try and make sure you don't have to fight a fire to begin with. God forbid if there ever is a fire in your home and your family is inside, do you want to have to run to the fire house to get the equipment and people to come back and put it out? Or would you rather that we make sure that if there is a fire, that things like rated walls and doors or smoke detectors or egress windows are as they should be so that your family can make it out alive while you wait for the fire department to respond?

It is time to wake up NYFD. If it were not for the Building & Fire Codes and the men and women who enforce those codes, the fires you fight would be more severe. Not only would the occupants be at risk, but you would be attending the funeral's of countless fellow firefighters on a much more regular basis. So when will you stop and take a minute to thank us publicly for saving YOUR lives?

Rest assured, even if you ignore us, even if you take all the credit, we will still be doing what we do each and every single day and building a safer community. You are welcome.....tm