Sometimes it's the Simple Things

I've just spent the last 45 minutes of a road trip trying to adjust the brightness on my laptop.  My wife is driving so I could get in a little extra time on an assignment (I'm working on another degree at WGU). The display was so dim I could barely make out any detail at all.  I tried various help pages for the operating system and laptop manufacturer.  I tried loading updated drivers.  I went to several blog pages and tried many of the ideas that were posted there.  All to no avail.  Then I noticed the little light sensor at the bottom of the screen, and wiped my finger across it.  Voila!  If the screen were any brighter I could toast marshmallows.

This reminds me of when we took the kids to Hogle Zoo a few weeks ago.  We rented one of their larger strollers so we could put the little one and a cooler in it. One of the bigger kids pushed it around for awhile, all the time complaining that it wasn't very easy to push.   Finally, tired of hearing all the whining, I took over, and immediately noticed that it really was kind of hard to propel forward. By the time we made it back to the rental stand at the end of the day, I was ready to give them a piece of my mind.  How dare they issue a stroller before at least checking it out for proper operation.  The young man operating the booth was very kind as he showed me how to release the parking break.

I think we often make life more difficult than it needs to be. When you feel you're reaching the end of your patience, start looking around for the parking break. Really.

Region VIII RECCWG Meeting in Park City

It's good to once again meet with my fellow FEMA Region VIII state and local government RECCWG representatives -particularly on my own Utah turf. We're meeting in Park City.

As always, I appreciate the agenda that has been put together by our federal hosts. The individual reports from each state are an outstanding opportunity to learn from the failures and successes of one another. Without a doubt, my favorite activity is the networking we do during the breaks in the hallway where we share rumors, ideas, complaints and solutions. The friendships and working relationships that have been established are growing stronger and more valuable as the RECCWG continues to mature.

The National Emergency Communications Plan is a great concept, but it will remain a concept until it is discussed and adopted at all levels of government. Interoperability discussions become focused and meaningful --with measurable output, when professionals with a passion for emergency communications champion efforts such as The RECCWG. My thanks to Brian Carney and Dennis Fisher for making theses opportunities possible. Lives and property have and will continued to be saved because of the efforts of dedicated professionals like these.

There were many valuable presentations.  I was particularly impressed with the presentation by representatives from our Salt Lake UASI group. They have not only put together valuable rapid deployment communications assets, but their operational teams are knowledgeable and well trained.