Last night, Teresa and I went to a free dinner and fire safety lecture by a representative from "Master Guard". The speaker has a degree in Fire Science in some form. He was also in the fire service for many years. I only went to hear the lecture, considering that I had a background in fire protection.

People were packed like sardines in this barbeque restaurant. It was fairly disorganized and almost boring, but I was interested to see what they were hocking.

It turned out that Master Guard manufactures and distributes quality fire detection equipment. I had never heard of this company before or its products.

It amazes me how much I forgot or rather never use in fire knowledge. The speaker covered a lot of topics and things I used to teach. I taught fire safety classes years ago. I haven't done that in soooo long.

One thing that was offered was that anyone who is interested in doing these same type demonstrations could write on the guest registration card that they were interested. So, I did, just to see what may come of it. This guy's hook to be able to speak with "authority" was that he has a degree in fire safety and was in the fire service for years. Well, I have that, too. It would be one way of using my degree, which I haven't done in a long time. I could also use my communications skills. The BIG drawback would be my present job. Because of the sort of job I have, I never know when I will be working, and it would be hard to commit to doing classes, lectures, in home inspections, etc.

The company makes their money by collecting names and numbers, offering free home inspections, and then pitching the products. There must be decent money in it to afford to put on full dinners for 50 to 100 people at a time.

This evening, A&E is showing "Live By Request" with Barry Manilow. They take some phone calls and emails requesting your favorite songs. They only took one email/web request, so I figured that I would submit one. I wrote something like "One of my favorite Christmas memories is listening to a recording of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". I would love to hear that song. Two other things: 1. How does a nice Jewish boy come to host a Christmas music show? 2. Did you know that Principal Vernon from the movie "The Breakfast Club" raided your wardrobe?" I never expected it to make the show. At the end of the program, he said something like, "I know you're wondering why a nice Jewish boy is hosting a Christmas show. Well, know that Christmas song "O Tennenbaum"? Well, my doctor's name is Tennenbaum." He used the exact verbage in my email.

I don't know if it was because of my email or not, but Teresa and I got a good chuckle out of it.