Life lessons from the VFD

On a longish drive through the country, the Spousal Unit and I were talking about life lessons we learned during our brief buy happy tenure on the local volunteer fire department. Here's my list:

*Candles are evil, conscious beings who want to burn down your house. Really. Unless you're a church, beware. I've seen several fires and much devastation caused by pretty candles.

*Four-wheelers are in the pay of Hades, god of the underworld.

*Try before you pry. In the VFD we had all kinds of cool tools to cut our way into buildings or vehicles. But that doesn't mean we have to use them. Try the simplest thing first before you break out the hardware. Politically speaking, don't assume you have to work at the margins. Sometimes they forget to lock the front door.

*Don't risk a life to save a thing; only risk a life to save a life.

*There is no end to desire. I remember conversations with our guys who were lusting in their hearts for a ladder truck, even though my town is pretty much a two story place.

*Four year olds are right. Firetrucks are cool.

MAKES SENSE TO ME. Here's an op-ed on how WV needs to make it a priority to put its indigenous population back to school.

WANT TO READ SOMETHING WEIRD BUT COOL? Try this.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

It's not either or

Hoppy Kercheval is a big fish in the WV media pond with his conservative commentary and news reporting for WV Metro News. Occasionally I agree with him. I remember one time when that happened we agreed in an email exchange that on such occasions we should both reconsider our opinions.

He recently wrote a commentary in which he criticizes calls to diversify WV's economy while, correctly in my view, pointing out that a major problem is our low level of educational attainment.

I would only add that doing so would be one of the best ways to diversify our economy.

(I would also point out that big corporate tax cuts, which I believe he supported in the past, have also resulted in less funding for higher ed and higher tuition costs for WV students.)

I also sorta kinda agree with his implying that state government can't do a whole lot to plan an economy. I do think, however, that it can do the kinds of things that can position an economy to grow, like having a decent infrastructure, a great educational system, a skilled workforce and a decent quality of life.