Tired tootsies on track

Happy national running day! How did you celebrate? We did a family run after dinner. I had hemmed and hawed all day. It was a cold dreary day here in New Hampshire. And it was a non-running day for me since I had run yesterday afternoon. I could come up with a million excuses if you want me to. Oh and I had bacon for dinner...there was no way I could run after eating bacon! But John thought a quick three miles sounded like a good idea. And We did 3.18 in 30:06. Rock on!



Goals for 2014: 500 miles, sub 25 min 5k and sub 2 hour half.

Mileage to date is 280.77 and with several long races in my future to train for I should hit that by October. Fastest 5k has been 27:20 and my last half fell short by 9:51. My goals are within striking distance, but seem so lofty!

My biggest goal is to stay healthy and so far that has been ok. I have been plodding along with two bouts of strep, a nagging knee pain, and lately my calves have been grumbling at me since I changed up my gait.

So here's to a great second half of 2014. Looking forward to what the second half will bring. New races, new challenges, and a fancy new pair of running sneakers!




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We have spoken and we demand to be heard!

This is a message to our dear friends on the Board of Selectman. The town has spoken. We voted nearly 2:1 to keep our police department as our own. We voted to have seven full time officers. We voted to not have the Belknap sheriffs department not provide services which would not be equivalent to the services we are supposed to have. How are four full time sheriffs supposed provide the same coverage as seven? How does that math even make sense?

The town has spoken. We voted to have a full time fire chief command our fire department. We do not want to merge or form a partnership with Gilmanton or Pittsfield. We already work together with these departments in the form of mutual aid on a very regular basis. If regionalization is even a potential reality, I demand to see your master plan. How is the police or fire commission going to be set up? What is the long term plan if one town wants to get out in a year or two? How much will it cost?

Have you even looked into the RSAs that would allow for such a change? Have you considered the large expense involved in getting all of our equipment matching from each of these departments? You currently have one town using MSA breathing apparatus and another using Scott. They are not compatible. What about the cost of building a central station? You cannot realistically put a station in North Barnstead and expect them to respond to the Northwood town line in Pittsfield in a timely manner. Or respond to the corners in Gilmanton. But I am sure you have already considered all of this because you must have a five to ten year plan already if you are already proposing such a change.

We have spoken and we demand that you respect us as your constituents. Personal agendas need to be put aside. The bullying needs to stop. It's time to put the town of BARNSTEAD front and center. We demand a police chief, a fire chief and more than one full time police officer. We demand that you hire another full time firefighter and keep our town safe.

We have spoken and we will not allow this to be brushed under the table while you destroy our town. We demand to be heard! Do not push us aside because those of us who put our lives on the line for this town will push right back.
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Needs vs wants

I am writing in reply to a letter featured in the Baysider this week. Since when has the BARNSTEAD BOS ever put the needs of the town before their own agendas? Seriously? They have never once shown the ability to put the needs of our town before their wants! This had been seen time and time again with the firing of our elected road agent, and the "retirements" of the police chief and the fire chief. The real need here is public safety and the BOS are compromising each and every resident's safety by letting our police and fire be without commanders in chief. Sure we have adequate officers on our fire department and I am not knocking their abilities one bit. I have full faith that I can follow my officer into a fire and he will get me out safely. But the need goes beyond what is happening inside. Someone needs to fulfill the hierarchy of incident command and then complete all administrative duties that go with this position.

And one fulltime police officer? I am sure Sargent McDowell is being stretched thin at this point. How many hours can one person realistically work during the week. We cannot rely on one fulltime officer when there are supposed to be seven including a chief. It's ridiculous to think that our town is safe.

I am proud to work alongside these men and women of our fire, police, EMS personnel. I do not believe for one minute that our leaders of these departments think that the taxpayers dollars do not matter and that all they do is want, want, want. We need adequate equipment to protect ourselves and this town. And we need an adequate number of trained people to run that equipment. By cutting two firefighter/EMT positions, how is the ambulance supposed to roll out the door? By law, there needs to be two certified EMTs on that bus in order to transport a patient. And the majority of our call EMTs do not work in this town during the day. I know I can't leave my fulltime job to respond to a call. This is true for most of us.

What would happen if you or your loved one called 911 and there was no one to help? That is the dangerous road our BOS are leading us down. Think very carefully about what your needs versus wants are when your house is burning down or you are suffering a medical emergency. What will your needs be then? You need and want the fire department. To me needs and realistic wants are a simple answer.



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Sometimes it takes a village

First I would like to thank everyone who has read and shared my blog. I had over 450 hits in the last day. WOW! My letter has been sent to all the local papers.

Tonight I would like to address firefighter and scene safety. As I wrote last night, it is important to have an incident commander at every call. This person is set back from the chaos and active work to control that chaos. Number 1 is firefighter and EMS personnel safety. If the chief or other officer is expected to be part of that active scene than safety is compromised. When will the board of selectmen realize this? After someone is seriously hurt or worse. I do not want to say goodbye to another firefighter lost too soon. It sucks plain and simple.

Yet the selectmen's budget proposal doesn't allow for the hiring of a new firefighter to fill one of the open positions nor does it provide for adequate part time staffing to cover when people are off. This essentially brings us down two firefighters. Now neither my husband nor myself are fortunate enough to live and work in the same town. This goes for the majority of the call firefighters in the area. So what happens when there is a major incident during normal work hours? Who is going to show up to assist those on duty. Who will be in charge if the chief has to work interior attack because there are not enough bodies. It comes down to compromised scene safety and how much value we put on human life. I do not want anyone to ever have to explain to my son that his mom or dad's life was not worth it because budget cuts were necessary due to personal agendas.

Firefighting is probably the most physically challenging tasks I will ever undertake. That goes for my fellow firefighters. We need enough people on scene to allow us adequate rehab breaks. The number one cause of firefighter death is due to heart attacks at scenes or shortly thereafter.

The BARNSTEAD BOS is completely reckless with the lives of not only our civil servants, but also the lives of the towns people. We need to stand united and take a stand against their out of control behavior. I do not want it come down to the lives of my brothers and sisters before some change is made.

Remember...the BOS forgets they work for me. I am a voting tax payer of this town and I will not allow them to drag us down. They are elected to oversee the running of the town. Oversee, not micromanage.

Maybe it's time to ask them why one of them is no longer the police chief and why the other is no longer involved in the fire department.

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Spring in NH

It's been awhile since I have done a blog post. Life is busy happening and there are a many good things happening in the world of chez Savage. I had the pleasure of completing my 10th or 11th half marathon back at the beginning of May and the miles have been continuing to pile up. I am to the point that 8 miles doesn't feel like anything to me. I no longer feel the need to nap for hours when I get back. I can come home, have some food, take a shower, and be ready to chase the crazy kid around for the rest of the day. And I have been enjoying my early morning runs around town listening to audiobooks. Thank you to my old high school friend who suggested it because conversations with myself just weren't doing it for me.

The Barnstead Firefighters Association has started a scholarship in memory of Jake and it's just taken on a life of its own. We have sold over 200 shirts as of tonight and we are still taking orders until next week. John and I will be making a delivery to the north country in a few weeks when we go to complete a half marathon as a relay. I look forward to meeting my competitor in shirt sales. I have learned how small the fire service is and it makes me so proud to be a part of it.

Next weekend I have my first 15k. It's actually 10 miles and a trip around Bow Lake. At least it's close to home. Then the week after we head to Colebrook for a weekend of family camping, running, and hiking.

So spring which seemed to begin last week is rapidly heading towards warmer days and time at our beach. The days are getting longer and softball starts in a few weeks. There are good things ahead...


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From my soapbox...accountability.

When we first moved to this town of Barnstead I decided I would join our fire department as a way to integrate myself into the community and contribute to helping neighbors in need. I had no ulterior motives and no personal agenda other than giving back. However it has come to my attention that not everyone feels this way and it has become very clear that our elected officials do not approach their job as selectmen without personal agenda and ulterior motives. It's disgusting and disheartening. They have bullied and harassed with the most knit picking micro management until we no longer have any department heads leading the fire department the police department, and the highway department.

Now I find out that one of them took it upon himself to go to the town of Gilmanton to see if they wanted to merge departments...police, fire, and highway. This is the same selectman who stated at last nights meeting that he wants the new fire chief to live in town...is that because he already has someone picked out, but forgot that the BARNSTEAD firefighters association has to be directly involved in the selection process. Oops forgot about that contract you signed a few years ago. Oh and he never mentioned last night that he was at Gilmanton's s meeting the night before.

Another wants a chief who works...hello what has the current chief been doing? The fire chief needs to be an administrative position. He should not be dragging hose and working interior during a structure fire. He needs to be at the command post making sure that his firefighters are safe and accounted for. Why would anyone suggest that the chief be working shifts? Because he clearly does not understand what a fire chief is supposed do. And he kept reminding us that he used to be on the fire department. Then he should know first hand what makes an effective chief. The fire service has changed a lot since his days. It was recently named the third most stressful work environment. We deal with inherently dangerous situations and we need someone to lead us. I have a husband and child at home and I want to come home to them at the end of the day. I want safety and accountability for my fellow brothers and sisters to be at the forefront of each call we go on. We all come home. It's what we are repeatedly taught in training. Our safety first...all else second.

Accountability...that is a perfect word for tonight's post. The people of this town need to start holding the board of selectman accountable. They are running this town into the ground. It's time we stand up and take our town back. I love this town and hate to see the current state of affairs that three members of the BOS have created with their personal agendas. Please go to the meetings on Tuesday nights...ask question! It's time to turn the tables on them.


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Paying it forward

So a friend is in training for a 40 miles ultra this year as part of her 40th birthday celebration. I am mile 14 and for my end of the bargain I was given 5 dollars to do with as I see fit to pay it forward. Now those five dollars have been sitting in a drawer since late December. When I originally signed up for the challenge I figured it would be so easy to come up with a plan for using that money for the greater good. Not so much when push came to shove. I was coming up with nothing...zip, zilch, nada. Until this evening...

Tonight I asked my husband what he would do and he asked me what are some things I care about. So I listed off Grayson, him, my family, the fire department. Then he asked what I could use those five dollars to turn them into something more. And there it is folks....my grand plan for paying it forward.

What do I love? What is my blog about...I am going to combine my love of yarn and my love of running. So stayed tuned because I will be hitting my sweat shop to help my friend celebrate her birthday and her 40 miler.


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