And we’re back!
It’s your stay up too late/wake up too early thread.
Fun video out of New Zealand on one of their EV firetrucks. I’ll let Gavin take you through the specifics:
Bonus Trixie – I think I broke her:
This is a wide-open thread
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Their freedom requires your slavery.
Innocent people do not delay justice.
The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.
“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”
After dobbs, women are no longer free.
Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity
Not all heroes wear capes.
Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.
There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.
Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?
I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.
The revolution will be supervised.
We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.
President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.
Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.
Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.
If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.
Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.
American history and black history cannot be separated.
Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!
There is no right way to do the wrong thing.
Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.
Black Jesus loves a paper trail.
Bark louder, little dog.
War for Ukraine Day 1,142: Never Going to Happen
Satanley (aka weasel)
After this week, I feel as tired as Trixie looks…almost anyhow :)
ArchTeryx
A note about fire apparatus/appliances (as they are called across the pond).
We tend to use huge trucks because a) We use the storage lockers in them inefficiently, and b) We like volunteer departments, where one size has to fit all. In Japan, Europe, and overseas, they use much smaller trucks. They are just as capable as our huge ones, but more specialized, so instead of a single apparatus, you need a few of them. They also know how to pack the things far better and far more efficently. With narrow roads meant for small cars, they had to do this. Plus fuel costs are far smaller for these miniaturized appliances than for our enormous trucks.
The U.S. isn’t the only country that uses way oversized fire apparatus, though. Canada, with its wide-open roads and huge amount of rural territory, does the same thing. So it’s not just a ‘Murica thing.
And even overseas there are some truly huge trucks. Look up the Bronto Skylift sometime. Those things are absolutely insane, but in cities with a lot of high rises without good standpipes, they are life. They can put a crew or a monitor (heavy water pump) 300+ feet into the air – 30 stories!
YY_Sima Qian
Not sure the service academies will be offering quality educations, anymore:
There must be a brain drain of professors & instructors, too.
YY_Sima Qian
Good read from Adam Tooze on the latest craziness:
rikyrah
Trixie🤗🤗🤗
eclare
Poor Trixie!
NotMax
Help me out here, folks. Counterintuitive?
Menu board at the Costco food court displays the calorie count for a plain cheese pizza as higher than the count for a pepperoni pizza.
trollhattan
Trixie looks like a GIANT Dally and I loved our Dallys, so all the hugs for Trixie (who looks to be dreaming of a properly large sofa).
Martin
@ArchTeryx:
Video about that. The most notable part is creating the ability for fire trucks to operate in spaces where cars can’t block them.
Martin
So, when I was a kid in NY, we’d go see the fire drill team competitions on July 4. Best as I can tell, this only exists around NYC.
They seem to still be using mostly the same trucks from 40 years ago.
ArchTeryx
@Martin: Yep, saw that video. It’s a bit harsh on North American FDs but a lot of his points are absolutely valid. It also can be argued both ways for specialty crews: I’ve seen hazmat trucks the size of 18-wheelers. Quite literally: They were converted semis. But they’re carrying what amounts to a portable chemistry lab and a full testing suite. Even European FDs are not above buying big appliances if they serve a specific purpose; German FDs often have large mobile cranes, for example, for collapses and special rescue. They just don’t have to deploy them for EVERY fire run, but they aren’t deploying the giant specialty trucks here for every call, either.
NotMax
@Martin
Same thing when lived on Long island, only on Memorial Day.
@ArchTeryx
Narrow streets also a factor as to why American cars since WW2 never had high sales throughout most of Europe and the U.K.
NotMax
Head/desk head/desk head/desk.
Cued up to a specific point to enable you to view and hear 50 seconds or so of MAGA/Xtianist WTF.
Martin
Tesla stopped sales of two car models in China they were importing from the US. I guess that’s winning.
YY_Sima Qian
Trump is fighting the economic war of early 20th century. At the same time, he is kneecapping the U.S.’ ability to compete in the 21th century. One example below of the changing landscape (gift link to WSJ article):
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: Along with how mean they are, I am always struck by how damned childish their “belief system” sounds
eta: as in ” god controls the sun.”
Chris T.
@NotMax:
More cheese = more calories. The pepperoni pizza has less cheese on it, and the result is fewer total calories.
KSinMA
Very cool firetruck!
twbrandt
I love the kiwi accents
Jim Appleton
@Martin: I was fire chief in a top-of-the news oil train derailment and fire in 2016.
Shortly after, a third party contacted me “on behalf of” Tesla, wanting to interest me in EV fire trucks.
Long story short, there wasn’t anywhere near enough output to meet reasonable needs.
Ten years later that’s still true.
The NZ truck in the video does a mediocre job in a situation with short travel and engagement time. The majority of fire departments wouldn’t consider it because it can’t perform as they need — transporting a lot of weight more than a mile or two, often in varied terrain, and going to work for more than two hours.
Gas and diesel have a secure future in most fire services.
Ruckus
@Martin:
They just look the same and are likely built by the same company.
On the other hand if you are talking about NYC they may not actually put that many miles on them per year so they may last a long time. And out here in SoCal many big fire trucks don’t look any different than they did 40 yrs ago. Also remember that many large truck last a lot of miles. A Lot. Some of the operating parts may be replaced but the trucks themselves last a long time. Don’t know as long as 40 yrs but 20-25 seems rather normal to me. Used to work next to a Cummings maintenance facility, saw a lot of large trucks that got rebuilt or new engines etc and could do another two/three hundred thousand miles, no problem.
NutmegAgain
Oh, Trixie. Such a sweet pup. Thanks for the picture. These days animal pictures are kind of my go-to tranquilizer drug…
Ruckus
@Jim Appleton:
In a country like ours, with in many places a large population base, big cities, larger trucks such as what we have makes a lot of sense. In Australia (I’ve been) with much of the country being wide open spaces and some of the roads rather narrow, a big truck might be at a disadvantage. It’s like do you need a ladder truck out in the country near as much as in say Los Angeles, Chicago or New York? Now the cities in Australia may have grown since I’ve been there but they could have, when I was there, easily grown outward rather than only up. (And yes Los Angeles does not have the same level of tall as Chicago or New York)
Jim Appleton
@Ruckus: my most useful apparatus was about the footprint of a typical ambulance. One person could do a lot without leaving the cab, using a remote compressed air foam nozzle on the front bumper.
It could not be electric because the tech cannot provide the range and run time needed.
MCat
Hi TaMara. Good to hear from you. Thanks for the Trixi picture. We need all the animal pictures we can get these days. Thanks.
Ruckus
@Jim Appleton:
I sure believe that about range and run time.