by California Casualty | Firefighters |
To prepare for our Battle of the Blogs, I’ve spent the last few weeks combing the Fire & EMS blogosphere.
And you guys, there are a ton (and I mean a ton) of Fire & EMS blogs out there.
Today, we are so proud to spotlight one of our top blogs: The Fire Critic!
This is Rhett Fleitz, aka ‘The Fire Critic’
Rhett is a bit of a blog veteran. ‘The Fire Critic’ isn’t his first rodeo. He’s been blogging since 2005, has authored multiple blogs, and written 1300 articles for ‘The Fire Critic’ alone! Exploring his blogs, we had to learn more about this blog rockstar. Check it out:
So, Rhett, how would you describe your blog?
My blog is a fire service blog hosted at FireEMSBlogs.com and ranks among the top fire blogs in the World. It is about anything and everything firefighting including fire based EMS occasionally.
What woudl you say is the focus of the Fire Critic?
The focus of my blog is to give my readers interesting articles to read. I do write a good bit myself, but I also feature other links, videos, and content from other blogs around the World. I try to use my network and my reach to help my readers find new blogs and help other blogs get new readers. I try to share the stuff I enjoy reading myself. I write in all different kinds of ways. Everything is an experiment for me. Sometimes I write without offering my opinion on a topic so I don’t sway others opinions. I offer posts that include the good, bad, humorous, sad, and ugly of the fire service.
Why did you start this particular blog?
I saw a void in blogging when it came to the fire service and filled it with the uniqueness of what The Fire Critic is all about. Even though “The Fire Critic” was simply the name of the blog, it has actually become somewhat of an alter ego. So many people know me as The Fire Critic and might not realize what my real name is.
How long have you been writing on this particular blog?
I began The Fire Critic in June 2009. That includes almost 1300 articles which works out to a little over a post a day.
What’s your favorite thing to write about?
I really enjoy writing about great articles by other bloggers and writers and helping share their message. That is probably the most rewarding. It is great hearing from other bloggers thanking me for sharing their stuff.
What about your least favorite?
I dislike writing about Line of Duty Deaths. I still find honor in sharing information about our fallen, I would just rather not have any LODD’s to write about.
What is your blog ‘community’ like
The network surrounding fire service blogs is immense. Every day, more firefighters are finding out about fire bloggers and starting to follow more and more. The content created by fire bloggers rivals that of any original content on the main fire service web sites. I get my inspiration from other bloggers and firefighters. I find my motivation to keep on doing it through the communication between myself and my readers as well as the occasional out of the blue comment of thanks for doing what I do.
What has been your best experience as a blogger?
Probably the relationships I have forged just through blogging, email, twitter, and facebook. It is amazing how I might meet someone in person after knowing them online for years. Typically once we meet in person it is like we have known each other personally for a long time. If you blog, people get to know you…You kind of become a “celebrity” at times. People might have read about you for years and when they meet you they talk to you like you should know them too. I have a terrible memory and hate it when this happens. It makes it tough for me at times.
Have you learned anything through your blogging experiences?
I have learned that it isn’t worth it to try to please everyone…it simply isn’t possible. I have helped so many fire bloggers get started, one thing I always tell them up front is that it takes time to get readership and you have to stick with it if you want to succeed. If they aren’t willing to put the time in, they won’t succeed.
If you win the TOP BLOG competition, to which charity will you donate your $200 winnings?
The National Firefighters Endowment because I believe in what they are doing and I want to see them grow into a huge success that will help fire departments across the United States.
Is there anywhere on the web where people can keep up with you, other than the blog?
Yes! Facebook: https://facebook.com/firecritic or Twitter: https://twitter.com/firecritic.
Like what you hear? Cast a vote for the Fire Critic here! Or go check out some of his latest blog posts!
by California Casualty | Educators |
The recent story of a student who was given an “award” for having the most homework excuses has generated a great debate across the social media world.
Cassandra Garcia, an Arizona third grader, received the “Catastrophe” award for having the most excuses for not turning in her homework during a classroom awards ceremony. According the Garcia’s teacher, the award was a joke – but it has raised the ire of both the student’s mother as well as a huge number of internet users who are watching the scenario unfold.
This raises a series of questions:
- Who is at fault? Did the teacher exercise questionable judgment, or was this an attempt at motivating a child who regularly failed to hand in assignments?
- Does this constitute bullying by the teacher? Was this an attempt to humiliate the student or to create a change in a negative behavior pattern?
- What is the role of the parent? Should this story have even made it to the media? Does the parent have any responsibility for the student’s lack of homework performance?
I’m not ready to completely absolve the teacher because I don’t know that publicly discussing the issue was the best approach. However, I do know that if I was that third grade student, embarrassment at school would be nothing compared to what I would have to deal with when I got home.
If I was ever recognized for my lack of work, my parents and I–not my parents and the newspaper– would be exchanging some words.
I think, ultimately, this leads us to a larger issue, which is the increased need for teachers to not only instruct, but also take responsibility for lessons that should most likely be taught at home. Every year, we hear more and more stories of parents who aren’t taking an active role in their child’s education. In this scenario, this mother contacted the media regarding this ‘award’ instead of focusing on the real problem: that her child simply wasn’t doing her home work.
by California Casualty | Nurses |
If we know anything about our nurses, it’s that they are one BUSY group of people.
Long shifts, grueling work, emotional fatigue… it’s a lot.
So stopping to think about nurses’ auto insurance probably isn’t how you’d like to spend your very limited free time…
This would be much nicer, huh?
But it is important to know the options when it comes to insurance for nurses…
…and your risks
Did you know: One study found that in a pool of 895 hospital staff nurses, 67% reported at least 1 episode of drowsy driving per month. Some even reported drowsy driving after EVERY shift. Drowsy driving more than QUADRUPLES the risk of a crash.*
Nurses, with all the work you put into keeping everyone else safe, don’t forget about yourselves!
California Casualty is proud to work with you to provide home and auto insurance for nurses that matches up with your profession. Here are some of our nurse-specific benefits:
- We know you are busy and frequently work nights, so we make our service—and your accounts—available around the clock. Nurses can manage their accounts online, 24 hours a day! If you have a home or auto insurance claim, we are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help you.
- We know you nurses frequently volunteer your time; you should be able to serve the community without stressing over your car. We will protect your car if it is parked within 500 feet of the facility where you work OR volunteer. We will reduce up to $500 from your deductible for collision and vandalism that occurs near where you are working or volunteering and even cover up to $500 of the personal property inside your car for no additional cost.
- You protect others, let us protect you. California Casualty offers free ID defense. If your identity is stolen, we will work with you—one-on-one, for as long as it takes—to resolve the problem. To help prevent identity theft, we will monitor your credit for fraud and report any suspicious activity at no additional cost.
- Spend less time thinking about nurses’ home and auto insurance. Our low rates are locked in for a full year—even if you have a claim. That’s twice as long as most companies, so you’ll spend half as much time making sure you’re covered at a fair rate.
- Nurses are good drivers, and we reward them for it. We are proud to extended good student, multi-policy, and even mature driving discounts to our nurses.
Nurses, we know spending time on the beach may be more fun, but we hope you take time to make sure you are protected. We are proud to offer nurses home and auto insurance that offers great discounts, excellent service, and profession-specific perks.
And hey, if all that drowsy driving talk got you thinking you need a break… let us send you to the spa! We know how hard our nurses work, so we’re sending 4 to the Hershey Chocolate Spa! Click here to enter.
*Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2276124/
by California Casualty | Educators |
Whew, it has been one busy week around California Casualty. This week is both Nurses Week & Teacher Appreciation Week.
As you can imagine, trying to show how much we appreciate you has been a slight challenge. I mean… where to start?!?
Leading up to this week, I have been trolling the web, searching for articles, quotes, and gifts that our nurses and teachers would appreciate. (You can check out–and judge–the fruits of my labor on our Pinterest account.)
While scouring the web, I found this quote by Henry Brooks Adams about teachers…
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
And guys, it got me thinking.
So in this blog post, I’d like to talk a little bit about a teacher who is still influencing my life, 15 years after we met.
Growing up I was that kid in the classroom.
I always got my work done, was a good student, but I was annoying.
Chatty is an understatement. I was that kid who finishes her work then distracts everyone around her who is trying to finish. That kid who hides the hermit crab in her desk to play with when she’s bored. That kid who, once silenced with a final warning, starts passing notes.
My poor teachers.
But then I had this teacher, Mrs. Setter, who took the glue, hermit crabs, and gel pens out of my grimy little hands and replaced them with this:
… and boy was it beautiful. It had my name on it. Written in hot pink, perfect teacher handwriting. It was just for me.
The deal was I could use this pass whenever I finished my work. I didn’t have to ask. Just show it to Mrs. Setter, and down the hall I went.
The best part? The librarian let me pick any book I wanted.
Didn’t matter what age level the book was intended for. If I could handle it, and the content was age-appropriate, it was mine. And off I went, back to class, book in hand. And while everyone else was finishing up their math sheets, I would read, read, read… and Mrs. Setter? She got some much-deserved silence outta me.
peace was found.
Fast forward 15 years…
And to this day, I’m a book junky. I still fill my spare time–whether it’s time spent on the train or sitting in a waiting room–with a book in hand. I still think the only way to judge a good book is by how sad you are when it’s over… because there’s no more left to read.
And when I think back to the roots of my literary obsession, I come back to Mrs. Setter. Here was an overwhelmed, underappreciated teacher who took a kid with too much energy and channeled that into something that would occupy her hands, silence her mouth, and completely rock her world.
Her creative problem solving led me through the magic wardrobe into Narnia, sent me afloat with Huck and Jim, and introduced me to Alice and the Queen of Hearts.
She led me to a world that once explored, I never left. And for that, I will be forever grateful.
So, on this Teacher Appreciation Day, be sure to thank your kids’ teachers.
You have no idea what worlds they are opening up for them.
But also take the time to remember the teachers who have influenced your own journey, just like Mrs. Setter did mine.
by California Casualty | Nurses |
Have you ever had one of those experiences where something just keeps popping up in your life?
You meet someone with a peculiar name, and next thing you know you’re seeing it everywhere: the credits of movies, a book you’re reading, the nametag of your waitress. You hear a song you like and suddenly it’s on in the grocery store, running in the background of a TV ad, playing while you’re on hold.
Well, that’s what’s happening to me right now.
And it all started with this:
Yes, I am being stalked by chocolate beauty products.
That chocolate scented lotion is in the bathroom at work. It smells heavenly. I have quickly become a chocolate lotion addict.
So chocolate-themed beauty products were already on my mind.
Then CalCas announced that we were giving away a spa trip for nurses…
To the Hershey Hotel.
As in this Hershey:
Apparently, aside from providing nurses auto insurance, we also like to provide them with chocolate facials. Who knew!?
I had to get to the bottom of this chocolate products craze. And guys, it doesn’t stop at facials. Hershey’s offers chocolate sugar scrubs, cocoa massages, whipped cocoa bathes, chocolate fondue wrap, chocolate immersion!!!
So I had to know, what’s the deal? Does coating ourselves in chocolates do anything more than lead to wicked candy bar cravings? After extensive googling, here’s what I learned:
- Cocoa beans are high in antioxidant phenolic phytochemicals (say that three times fast…). Those anti-oxidant properties prevent damage to skin’s elastin and collagen. In other words, it could help smoothen out/prevent wrinkles. (One study even shows that chocolate can contain more antioxidants per cup than red wine or green tea!)
- Chocolate contains Shea butter. Shea butter! Now there’s something I recognize. Shea butter is a fairly common moisturizer and skin softener. It can do wonders for dry skin
- The cocoa butter in chocolate also serves as a natural skin softener as well as conditioner
- The caffeine in chocolate can stimulate circulation and give your skin a healthy glow
- That great chocolate smell causes the brain to release serotonin. That’s the same hormone that promotes happy feelings (like falling in love) and reduces stress
So, I was pretty sold on this whole chocolate shtick. (Honestly, it didn’t take tooo much convincing.) And then today, I had to get my oil changed. I’m flipping through a magazine and what do I see?!?
This ad:
It’s a crazy, chocolate world out there, kids.
[And hey, if you’re a nurse and you wanna give this whole chocolate thing a try (and take three people with you!) enter to win the Hershey Spa Giveaway from California Casualty by clicking here!]
Chocolate fact sources:
- https://www.livestrong.com/article/164163-chocolate-spa-treatment/
- https://www.sharonpalmer.com/blog_details.php?article_id=104
- https://www.herbcompanion.com/body-care/body-soul-chocolate-spa-treatments.aspx
