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Be advised I am now based out of Corvallis, Oregon.
Should you be interested in having me speak to your group of firefighters, I am willing to do so.
My current speil, entitled "Don't be That Guy" begins with my life prior to the injury on 31 oct 2001, my adventures in the various hospitals afterwards, and how my life has changed as a result.
After reading this site, you pretty much know the story. Should you think it might make an impression on your young firefighters, feel free to shoot me some mail, and we'll figure out the details. (I fixed the form, it works now..)
Earlt on I spoke at the Governors Summit on Wildland Fire and Arson, October 9 and 10 2002, at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Prestonsburg, KY, and gave yearly presentations to Ron Marley's fire class at Shasta College.
in 2003 I went back to Marley's class, and a few of the Redding Jumpers sat in. Next thing I know, Redding IHC asked me to come up. So I did. Then Tahoe asked, so I went out there. Shortly after, their Supe sent this out to most of the crews:
Mike can you pass this on to the rest of the crews. On May 7th. We had KRS Evans from the Plumas Hotshots give a presentation on snag awareness. It was good you could hear a pindrop. I wrote him a $100.00 Govt. check charged it off to traning. KRS is willing to come to your station his presentation takes about 1.5 hrs. its a strong message it will make you and your cutters more aware. KRS has a van that he drives around, he doesn't ask for anything accept gas money. If you are intersted contact KRS
Rick
************************************
Rick Cowell
Hotshot Superintendent
Tahoe NF, Downieville RD
************************************
Then Plumas got ahold of me, and I went up there...
Since then the pace has stepped up a little...
This year folks are asking already. I don't
know how popular I'll be but if a day you want is open below ask me
& we'll get it scheduled. (there's a contact form at the bottom)
Also, please be aware I'm in school studying such things as Nuclear Chemistry & Genetics. I'd rather not miss too many days of school (else I'll fail) thus weekends are Definately better than weekdays. Oh. Tues & Thurs are Absolutely Cannot Miss Lab days. So if you want me on those days be prepared to be *Very Convincing*.
The current 2008 "Don't Be That Guy Tour" schedule is:
(Updated 1 April 08)
13 & 14 April~> Flagstaff & Mormon Lake IHC., Flagstaff Az.
Absolutely Off Limits days: (School)
15 April ~> Carson IHC, Taos Nm.
21 May ~> Descanso R.D. & Laguna IHC, San Diego Ca
24 May ~> Mendocino IHC, Willows Ca
16 June ~> Sawtooth IHC, Twin Falls ID
9 & 12 June.
Are you along the way? Let me know as we can make it a tour & share costs.
Curious as to what the presentation looks like? You can download the powerpoint I took to Lassen IHC last year right here. It's in a .zip format as there's 2 vid files that go with it. There's 73 slides taking you through my life starting in fire, through the military, back to fire, the injury & how that changed everything.
Pretty much I throw up a slide, tell the group about it & go on to the next one. Why do it that way? I sat for 8 years on the other side of the potium listening to someone read slides to me. With enough coffee... I usually could stay awake. I refuse to subject anyone to that in my presentation. So check it out.
I'll need your laptop & projector, and please have some version of Micro$oft's powerpoint on said laptop. I'm pretty sure StarOffice and OpenOffice versions of powerpoint will work as well.
If you are thinking of having me up please talk to the crews, engines, whoever around you so we can get as many folks as possible in the same spot. I'd hate to go talk to one group then find out later another group from an hour down the road was interested but didn't hear till later or something.
So far I've spoken to various FS groups, a couple City departments, some Volunteers, an "Industry Conference", and (where it all started) several college classes. I'm willing to talk to anyone- I don't really care who you are. If you spend time in the woods you know things fall out there- You can be the most alert person there and still get whacked. (points to self) Thus, be you BLM, BIA, N or CDF, CCC or even a "convict" crew, I don't care. Ask, and I'll come out.
You get a little more than me droning along while I put your guys to sleep- I'll bring a couple phone chargers, some toy-hose clamps, and if we're both lucky maybe a toy-hose roller as well. So at least you'll get Something besides memories out of it.
Should you have a place in mind which is within 100 miles of Corvallis, Oregon, buy me lunch, and we're even.
Should you be farther away, please cover my round-trip expenses at the
standard Federal rate of 37 (you can keep the .5) cents per mile, as
calculated at Mapquest.com
from Corvallis Or, 97330. I only ask for gas $$ as my van's a freakin'
hoover & I don't know what gas costs in your zone, but last time I
filled here I paid $2.59 /gal for the cheap stuff. I don't make any
money doing this (If I did OWCP would just take it anyway) and I'm not
trying to.
The message is way more important than the money.
Although it's not required, every IHC I've spoken to so far has given me a $100 "speaking fee". Like I said, it's not required, but gladly accepted.
I will bring an invoice with all the numbers on training day, but you should be able to get a pretty good idea from mileage calculations.
Update as of 9 Feb 2006~>
In order to get around the "OWCP will just take it anyway" issue
mentioned above, I now have something in place with Vicky Minor of the
Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Here's how it works:
I come out & talk to you on my own dime, or if you wish you
may purchase such things as hotel rooms & the like for me while I
am there. I make out an invoice for my expenses, mileage & such, at
the rate stated above. I send it off to Vicki, who puts it on Official
WFF letterhead, and sends it on to you. The check then gets made out to
the WFF in my name.
I go home.
I then provide the Foundation with a wish-list, (payment to my
plastic which I used to get to you & back, tires & casters for
the chair, a payment to my cell bill, etc) and those things show up on
my porch with bells on.
Apparently by helping me in this way the Foundation qualifies for
more grant money, and I don't have to worry about OWCP finding out I
made some extra cash.
That way I can avoid anything "illegal", you're happy, I'm happy, and I still get to use the money. It all works out.
These have fallen by the wayside I think, but if you want to try & get some please do.
You may take these images and have them printed by a professional print shop, or get them from Jim L. Spano, R8 Safety & Health Coordinator, jspano[at]fs.fed.us or contact me and I will try to get you some. Jim's got the hammer, but he's always off somewhere, being the safety guru guy that he is. He's one of the dudes who investigated my incident, for example.
Getting the cards can take a
while sometimes, so if you're thinking of havin' me out, start the "can
I have some cards please" process now.
Want me to come out and talk to your crew? You can contact me right here.