Headed to Vacation in...Florida!

a reply to: Boomy327

I left one off...

Nellis = Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada

a reply to: Vector99

I try to avoid that call, honestly.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Was only joking, it's people like you that make disasters go as smooth as a disaster possibly can. Thank you!

a reply to: Vector99

I understand.

We have two words which define what we do..."Mission Critical".

Mission critical is when it has to work, no matter what, no excuses, no exceptions, no matter what it takes.

I remember when I was a kid I first heard the phrase "information is power". It took me years to fully digest that simple statement, it seemed so banal, so ambiguous. In time, the phrase would translate to me as "communication is survival".

On a sad but very real note, one of the biggest causes of loss of life for the FDNY during the tragedy of 9-11 was lack of radio communication. That hit home. We had comms in those buildings, just not for FDNY...they never asked.

ETA...now those radio comms are required by NFPA and Building Codes across the USA and developed World...exactly because of 9-11.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Just great big capacitors.

They can kill ya though.

RF is different, ...it cooks you first (and it's got a 100 different ways it can do it too).

Can you explain more about the RF and why that concerns you more then alternating current?

Stay safe. My younger brother and nephew are staged up at an Air Force there now with Their urban search and rescue team from Memphis. I see they are with at least one other S & R team from NYC.

Your coming for meeeeeeeee! ........( and my husband and Of course all the others down here too.) we live in the Florida keys ,Cudjoe key ...we've evacuated to winter haven , Florida ...that's the Central Florida area .And I am so afraid by the time this is over ,we won't have a house left or anything at all ,.... I'm so sad .....I know the house can be rebuilt, it's the sentimental things that have me sad. Like furniture my grandfather built, Old whisky bottles I dug up in New England, my husbands Military team photos, antiques.....I know it's just all stuff , but, it's part of our life and who we are .... It's so bizarre to know you may only have what's on your back and what little you brought with you .....all I can do is pray for the best , right?!.....a few of our neighbors stayed behind and I am so worried about them , and I'm worried about others I know in Key West too. I don't understand why they stayed . I tried my hardest to get them to leave ....all I have been hearing is This : " I've been through every hurricane down here ,and it's never as bad as they say it's gonna be. It's all just hype for TV ratings" . ... This Seems to be the common thought process down here. It's Stupid !! .....God help us .

How is your hand ?...this isn't gonna help any .

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

How coincidental,I just got back from Vegas,and my buddy and his neighbor are there,flight back is Monday,so we may have them in LB for a few,they said their houses are insured,not much else they can do,and they both live near Key West,good luck to ya

a reply to: Meldionne1

It's getting better, but it's taking a L-O-N-G time to heal!

Thanks for askin'!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Just quickly, because someone else mentioned it, but the jargon; who is "us"; what generally falls under "misssion critical"; and what exactly is it that you do (to whatever degree of comfort)? Thanks in advance. Take care.

The OP gave me goose bumps.

How's things goin down south? Where are you now and whats the word. Haven't heard much out of the keys other than they got basically demolished. Oddly enough we had minimal to no damage in port charlotte...my grandparents house even had power still.not too shabby for having an almost direct hit from the eye less than 50miles from landfall.

a reply to: RickyD

Didn't have to go. We flew to Vegas for two days for staging, but when Irma went west they waved us off. We've still got a whole slug of people down there, but they all volunteered for special duty assignments. That's different than my group. We could also volunteer if we wanted, but I've got too much other stuff going on here. The special duty assignments are 90 day assignments. We would have gone for 45-60, but much more intense. We work closely with the federal government and military (in fact, they're actually the customer).

Not completely out of the woods yet though. Now they're talking about having some of us go down to the Caribbean. That's turning out to be a lot bigger mess than originally thought. I really don't like that place, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen. Had to do that once before and swore never again back then. I think I'd rather go back to Thailand than that...and that was ugly!

a reply to: RickyD

Sorry, I didn't answer all of your question. The damage in FL was a lot less than what they expected (which is a good thing). Biggest problem people are wrestling with now is continued power outages.

Thanks for the reply...glad you got to sit it out. Florida isn't the greatest climate for doing hard labor type work outside. Especially when there is no AC. The Islands as I've heard are completely wrecked and won't recover for some time...probably not before being hit again as it seems. Even the keys won't be back up and functional for most people for months if ever. Reports saying the smaller islands are wiped out almost entirely.