Its a go

Incase you haven't been following along on the home blogs, the project is a go for November with Mark traveling first, then me following a week later.

Right now I;m awaiting the details to come back out of headquarters regarding specific assignments and activities for when Mark is here.

He is planning a blogger meet and greet in Newcastle when I am there, so, not to be outdone, I will be planning one when he is here.

So if you are in the Northern California (San Jose) area around November 12th, I'm putting together a little get together to meet Mark and pick his NHS brain about the system, the Project, the blogs, nationalized healthcare, llamas, whatever you like. And since it's organized by a fireman, me, we'll be having it in a bar or brewery, so adults only please. Mark can sign autographs for the kids.

So keep an eye on the main blog for specific details as they develop.

Back up dates, anyone?

The 90 day pre-purchase window for intercontinental flights being even reasonably affordable is swiftly coming to a close and I have no ticket in hand.

Sadly, we are still waiting on one supervisor to either approve or disapprove of the Project and we can move on. I'm pumped, Mark is pumped, the BBC is pumped, you are pumped...this person perhaps, not so pumped.

So to keep you all excited I'll post a little video to get your toes tapping.



I'm glad his flack jacket says "FDNY" and not "FIRE." Always thought putting FIRE on something a gunman might see seemed odd.

Dates, dates, dates

Looks like we're narrowing dow nthe dates to the second week of November through Thanksgiving (the 25th).

It seems like 7 days is alot of time until you take into account 3 of those days are travel days.

I'm waiting for work from Mark and the BBC that everything is clear on their end, we had a bit of a hiccup, and waiting to get some particulars decided on my end. Mainly my dress while there.

I would like to be able to wear my uniform, but I can understand if the Department is cautious about me in uniform while not on duty. If that is the case, I think I have a solution that runs end around that, but we'll see.

So stay tuned, friends, we're almost there. When I have my reservations in hand, the shoe drops and the veil comes up at HMHQ, with a redesign and focus on the Project.

The Project begins

We announced the Project yesterday to rave reviews, it seems. Many of our followers are understandably congratulatory, they are like friends. I think the real admiration for the project, if there is any, will be in the real time sharing and interaction with the experience. I envision (hope) to update the blog and twitter constantly, so folks feel as if they're riding along side.

In other Project news:

Spoke with the BBC rep this morning (his afternoon) to discuss different topics he wanted clarification on. A lot of trying to explain how EMS is delivered in the US, without making it sound like a bunch of thrown together ideas, which it really is. the problem with "State's Rights" is that everyone invents a wheel of a different size and shape so that it barely works, if at all, somewhere else. I'm interested to see how a generalized program can work as I believe the NHS model does.

For now, we're just waiting on the BBC schedule, and then it's off to the races to get everything lined up and ready to go.