The Holidays can be Safe AND Fun!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: On this month's episode, we welcome Donnie green with the DeKalb County Fire Department, as well as Jennifer White with the Alexandria Activities Center. Justin will teach us all about digital reminders on our smart devices. And lots more fun coming up for the holidays. You don't want to miss it. Learn more about fun, local events and. [00:00:17] Speaker B: Interesting people throughout the heart of Middle Tennessee. With a dash of everyday tech talk thrown in for good measure. The Local Click starts now. [00:00:28] Speaker A: Happy December, everyone. It's time for the latest episode of the Local Click. The Local Click is the technology based podcast brought to you by DTC Communications each and every month where we talk all things technology as well as local people. And we are lucky to have my co host here again for this month, which is Mr. Justin Malden. Hello, Justin. How's it going today? [00:00:49] Speaker C: I am still recovering from gaining five pounds. And I know it doesn't look like I've gained any weight at all, but after Thanksgiving and stuff in my face, I'm gonna need some time to recover. [00:01:03] Speaker A: Are you saying you made it worth your money? [00:01:05] Speaker C: I made it worth somebody else's money. [00:01:07] Speaker A: That's okay. [00:01:08] Speaker C: It's family time. It's holiday time. It wasn't all my own. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I understand. It was a team effort, right? [00:01:15] Speaker C: It was a team effort. We enjoy good eating in the, in the Malden family, in the Malden household. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Well, the good news is if you didn't get enough to eat for some reason during Thanksgiving, Christmas is just around the corner. [00:01:25] Speaker C: So yes, right now we're in. We're in that. In between that. Sandwich time. [00:01:29] Speaker A: Yep. [00:01:29] Speaker C: And. But this isn't like a regular sandwich where you want the meat in the middle. If this. You want the bread on the outside is the best part, actually. [00:01:36] Speaker A: Yeah, that's, that's, that's not wrong. That's not wrong. You know, speaking of the holidays and all the fun that comes along with that, I got to thinking, what. What are some of the fun things that we always look forward to during this time of year? And one of them for, for me and my family are all the great Christmas movies that are out there. Right. So I just wanted to kind of pick your brain. What's. What's your. Or you and your family's favorite Christmas film during the holidays? [00:02:04] Speaker C: Elf. I had a feeling the number one Elf and then probably number two would be Home Alone. What about you? What about y'all? [00:02:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I think number one for me would probably be Christmas vacation. I mean, it's just. It's hard to go wrong there every now and then digging way back, probably before your time, the Gremlins movie. I don't know if you remember those. [00:02:26] Speaker C: That is in our rotation for our Christmas movie. [00:02:29] Speaker A: Okay. There you go. [00:02:30] Speaker C: That's a Christmas movie. That is definitely Christmas themed. I don't think anybody argues that one. Die Hard is a Christmas. [00:02:35] Speaker A: Die Hard is awesome. Yeah. [00:02:37] Speaker C: And I will. I will fight for that one being a Christmas movie. That. That's in the Christmas rotation. You've got your traditional ones. We listen, we go back to the Claymation stop motion. [00:02:47] Speaker A: Okay. [00:02:48] Speaker C: You know. Yeah. We go back to those with Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:52] Speaker C: So we don't mind having that. That in the rotation. And I can't remember the names of the other ones. There's three. There's three or four of those. [00:02:58] Speaker A: Miracle on 34th Street. [00:03:00] Speaker C: We don't play that one. That one's not in ours. I watched that as a child on. When VHS still existed. I do remember that. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Many years ago is when. [00:03:11] Speaker C: Years ago. But I'm still a product of that. See, I'm. See, I'm old enough that I still do at least remember those. [00:03:16] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:17] Speaker C: My children don't know what even a disc is. [00:03:20] Speaker A: What's a rewind button? Yes. [00:03:22] Speaker C: Be kind. Rewind. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Exactly. Sweet memories. Right. [00:03:25] Speaker C: It's the time to get us together, like you said, to make the mix that. That, you know, we talk about our favorite. Our favorite movies and we enjoy the movies, but what are we really enjoying more? It's that time gathered together with family, with friends. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:38] Speaker A: The company would keep. [00:03:39] Speaker C: Yes. And it's. Listen, that's. It's the perfect time. Time of the year. And I, you know, as we get close, I know that this episode will. Will release. It will still be a little bit short of Christmas, but I hope everybody has a very, very merry Christmas. [00:03:51] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely. And what better Christmas gift to give everyone, you know, than a heads up of the latest episode of the local clique out there all over the Internet for everyone to enjoy. Right. [00:04:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Everybody listen. It doesn't matter where you're at. Listen, we're. We're on YouTube. We're on all your favorite podcast platforms. It's very simple. All you have to do is. It doesn't cost you anything, totally free, but a couple seconds to click that subscribe button, to click that like button or that share button and follow along with us and share us out and let everybody else see what we have to offer and spread the good news of what we're doing here. [00:04:27] Speaker A: That's right. There's a lot of great local people that really don't have their stories told as often as they should, in my opinion. So that's always one of the best parts, I think, of the program. And, and they're so gracious with their time to come over and be a part of it. And it's just a lot of fun. So we really enjoy it. We hope everyone that's listening and watching is enjoying it as well. Speaking of gracious time and guest and that sort of thing, I know you'll be here in just a moment to talk some, some tech tips and tech news and that sort of thing. We'll have an interview with Ms. Jennifer White with the Alexandria Activity center, which is going to be a lot of fun. They are doing lots of great and exciting things in Alexandria. They're very busy. It's very, very place right there, so you don't want to miss that. But we're going to start this episode with our first interview with Mr. Donnie Green with the DeKalb County Fire Department. Hello, Donnie, how are you? [00:05:21] Speaker B: Hey, Nick. I'm doing good. Good to be here with you today. [00:05:24] Speaker A: We've known each other for, for quite a while, and it's going to feel kind of odd. Some of the questions I want to ask you because I may already know some of these answers just because, you know, we've been around the block a time or two with the fire department and, and different things, but I want everyone back home to learn about it, too. So. [00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah. You're a Citizens Fire Academy graduate. [00:05:42] Speaker A: I am. I am. [00:05:43] Speaker B: I expect some hardcore stuff here today. [00:05:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No pressure, right? [00:05:47] Speaker B: No pressure. [00:05:48] Speaker A: Tell us more about yourself and kind of how you became interested in becoming a firefighter and in the firefighting business, so to speak. [00:05:57] Speaker B: So my name is Donnie Green and I'm the county fire chief in DeKalb county, and I've been with the fire department. I'm going to date myself here just a little bit. So actually, legally, I've been with the fire department since I was 18. So before that I was probably, I guess, considered an honorary firefighter before I was 18 because my dad was also a firefighter with the fire department. So I got the tag along and do a lot of things, say a lot of things, go to the meetings, go to the trainings and that kind of stuff, you know, not really any fire calls, but enough to spark my interest. [00:06:38] Speaker A: Being around it a lot. [00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, been around it a lot. And then my uncle was a sheriff's department deputy back in the early 80s, and I had a first cousin that was a paramedic with ambulance service. So, you know, I was kind of around it in my family, and I kind of like, hey, you know, this is a good opportunity to serve others. And it's just something that I've always had a genuine interest in since. Since I just really. From adulthood on till now. And yeah, so about. I think I've got about 40 years now with the department, so. [00:07:12] Speaker A: That's amazing. Yeah, that's a. It must be a. It's more than a job. It's something. It's a passion. Right after that time, I tell people. [00:07:19] Speaker B: We get people that come to us and say, you know what? I'm thinking about being a firefighter. You know, what do you think? Do you think I can do this? And I was like, if you want to do this, you can do it, but you really got to want to do it because it's a commitment. You know, we're volunteer. [00:07:32] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:33] Speaker B: But, you know, it still is a huge commitment because when people call us, they're having a bad day, you know, it's. It's an emergency, something's wrong. You know, it could be life threatening, it could be property threatening. You know, whatever it is, it's a serious situation. So we have to be prepared. You know, we talk about equipment a lot of times, you know, we talk about spending money on equipment, and that's important. But if you're not trained and you don't have, you know, the volunteer staff that is responding with that equipment, then it's all for not. [00:08:03] Speaker A: Right. Someone's got to use that equipment and know how to use it safely. Yeah. What are your primary responsibilities as the fire chief? [00:08:10] Speaker B: So it's like in a lot of things, you know, it's a management position, and we have a lot of resources and a lot of inventory that I have to manage. So. And even though we're a volunteer, I manage personnel and. [00:08:24] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:24] Speaker B: So, you know, training, equipment, maintenance, budget, you know, we're an entity of county government. So part of my job is, you know, budget management, budget preparation, presentation to the county budget committee, purchasing acquisition. We have to go through all the same steps that all the county. You know, the bid process is when we buy equipment, bid openings, all that stuff. So, you know, it's management. I still respond to most all the calls, not all the calls, because, you know, I believe in delegation. I've got better than that at that as I've gotten older. But, you know, with most of the structure fires and the serious vehicle wrecks, you know, with people trapped and that kind of thing. I try to be active in response to those calls as well. So I believe leadership and management has positions, but they also have to be an example. Uh, you know, there's no job that we're too good to do. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:24] Speaker B: You know, you know, I want to be out there, and my officers are the same way with this. You know, I've got assistant chief and captains and lieutenants. You know, we're, you know, we've always had the. Had the mindset that after the fire's out and the cleanup's happening, we're out there helping roll up hose just like the newest firefighter on the field. [00:09:41] Speaker A: No one's too good to jump in and help with any task. Right? [00:09:44] Speaker B: That's right. [00:09:44] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's what, that's what makes a good leader, I think, in anything. [00:09:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:48] Speaker A: Really in life. [00:09:49] Speaker B: That's what motivates me when I'm. When I'm working with someone or for someone, you know, to see them, you know, bought in and own the process too. That's what makes me work harder. So I try to, you know, that's, that's the model that we try to portray also. [00:10:02] Speaker A: So as far as the number of people and stations in the DeKalb County Fire Department, what are the kind of stats on that sort of thing? [00:10:09] Speaker B: Right now we have about 84 active volunteer firefighters, which sounds like a lot, and it is more than we've had before in the past. But when you look at that across 12 stations, that's what, on average, seven stations. [00:10:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:22] Speaker B: So. And given again, you know, we're volunteer in nature and we don't have schedules, you know, as far as who's okay, who's working today at the fire department, you know, we're, we're kind of dependent on our firefighters availability. You know, they have family and jobs. [00:10:37] Speaker A: And so the whole station won't be able to respond for a single. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Typically not. Usually typically not. But the beauty of a county wide operation, which we do, is that we can respond into other people's areas. So, you know, we have the 12 stations, but we're divided up into three districts in the county. So we have typically four stations in each district. So, you know, if some, you know, we don't tell people, okay, you can't go out of town on Friday night to go eat, you know, with your family. So. And there's a chance that maybe most of the people off a particular station may be gone that weekend. But. But we have other stations that are nearby that can respond with their manpower and equipment. So it really does work well in that county wide model where we can help each other. But yeah, We've currently got 12 stations with plans to build our 13th station coming up pretty soon. We're working on a project with the Corps of Engineers. It's going to be called a public safety building that will house a fire engine over around Center Hill Dam. We do have kind of a void in that area as far as response. It used to be pretty sparsely populated over there, but now with the lake and all that's developing over there, we have more, more residents there. [00:11:48] Speaker A: So grown. [00:11:48] Speaker B: It's grown a lot. And so we're trying to fill that void working in this partnership with the Corps of Engineers and getting another to be the 13th station. [00:11:58] Speaker A: Wow, that's great. That's great. I mean, the more, more coverage, the better because it just lets you respond in a faster way and, and hopefully try to resolve the situation. [00:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's important with people's insurance because your insurance, your homeowner's insurance is based on what they call a property protection classification. And that's all determined by how much risk that the insurance feels like that they're at as they cover. So if you're within five miles of a fire station and if you have water hydrants or water supply available, you get a better rating on your insurance. If you're outside that five miles, your insurance, your homeowners insurance is significantly higher. [00:12:38] Speaker A: Wow. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's going to help the people in those area because, you know, they are outside that five area. [00:12:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I bet they'll be very excited to hear that. [00:12:45] Speaker B: Yep, they are. [00:12:47] Speaker A: Normally things don't go, go down in cost in life, so anytime you save a dollar, that's a good thing. [00:12:53] Speaker B: The cost, especially when you're dealing in the emergency world, you know, some of that specialized equipment and building projects, you know. [00:13:01] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:02] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's expensive to do. [00:13:04] Speaker A: So the importance of volunteers, how important is that in your mission and how does that work? [00:13:09] Speaker B: We have a mission statement at DeKalb County Fire Department and that is to professionally serve our community with honor, integrity and accountability. Sounds pretty, pretty simple, but it's pretty deep if you look into those words that you're talking about. Right. One of the things that I've always, and I think our management team at the fire department has bought into this is regardless of our status as volunteer or career paid firefighters, we're going to be professional because that's what the public expects. And another thing that we talk a lot in our officer development training is about expectations and accountability and how that relates to how we hold ourselves to our expectations, to the public's expectations, and how do we hold ourselves accountable to those things? What's realistic that we should be improving on what we can do to better improve the services that we. That we provide? So, you know, our mission statement really don't gear to. Whether we're volunteer or career, it's about how we do the job and how we perform the services that the public expects us to perform. I've always said before, if your house is on fire, when you call 911, you don't say, send me a paid firefighter or send me a volunteer firefighter. You say, send me a firefighter. And. And that's how we train to that level. And we have a pretty stringent training program. You've been through our citizens Academy. You, you know, kind of about that. So, you know, we set the bar pretty high. [00:14:39] Speaker A: You did. [00:14:39] Speaker B: And not that I don't say that in a brag ocean way or anything. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Like that, but it's the seriousness in which you guys approach it. It's not just. Just because it may be a volunteer position, the way I looked at it when I was kind of around it a lot, that doesn't diminish the importance of it. [00:14:54] Speaker B: Yeah, right. It doesn't. And I know, you know, I live in DeKalb county, and my family lives in DeKalb county, and if they have an emergency, we go back to expectations. I expect the people that respond to that to have the tools, the equipment and the training to perform what they need to do. And I think if I expect that, then everybody else has the right to expect that, too. [00:15:17] Speaker A: So, well, what does it take? If someone always in the back of their mind thought, you know what? I'd kind of like to become a firefighter one day. What are some of the steps involved as far as getting that started? [00:15:26] Speaker B: I think the first thing is to. To get the stigma out of their head of what's on Chicago Fire. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Or. You mean it's not like television? [00:15:33] Speaker B: It's really not like television, you know, but, you know, I like those shows. But, you know, if you have a servant's heart and you're really wanting to do something in your community to help others, there is a job for you at DeKalb County Fire Department. You might not be the one that's on the end of the hose going into a burning house, but you could be the one that drives the fire engine for us. You could be the one that runs the pump on the fire engine. For us, we have a rehab team that responds out and they just provide refreshments, rehabilitation, you know, when the firefighter, when they get overheated or whatever, if they just need a cool down break, they're there on the scene just to provide those support services for very important, too. Yeah. And we've not had that team together probably about five years now, but they have taken tremendous strides and really what they're doing to support us, which allows us to do our job better. So there's all kinds of jobs on the fire department circling back around. You know, a lot of people get in their head kind of, you know, this is a, this is going to be an extreme task, and it's really not an extreme task. We do a lot of training, but we always work hard to make sure that our training opportunities are built around everyone's home life and their employment. We know as volunteers, you're not making your living off being a volunteer. So you've got, you know, you've got to pay bills, you got to feed your family. So, you know, people's family and their jobs come first. And then we tried to build around that. You know, a lot of our trainings are in the afternoons, you know, evenings, weekends, you know, whenever we can make it work. So we try to be really flexible when we're, when we're working. And so, I mean, we do have a high expectation for training, but at the same time, we're really flexible in the way we, we give those training opportunities. [00:17:22] Speaker A: And that keeps people engaged longer too, right? [00:17:24] Speaker B: It does. So anyone that has a desire to serve their, a place for them to serve and they can go, they can be as basic as they want to, or they can get as advanced as they want to. We have, we have firefighters that come to our department, particularly younger firefighters, and we'll get them, we'll get them in the training program and get them trained and through the fire academy. And a lot of our firefighters have had opportunities to go to bigger departments to where they get a career. Yeah, I've got firefighters that started with us, that's at Murfreesboro, at Cookville. Just had one hired at McMill. So they do that as their career, and then when they're off shift at their paid job, they're still volunteering for us. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Wow. [00:18:01] Speaker B: So it's a win, win. You know, we help train them to get them into their career, but at the same time they're getting more experience on the job. So when they come back and they're volunteering with us, we're Getting benefit out of that too. [00:18:11] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. As far as the type of emergencies that you're called to respond to, it's not always fire related. Right. What are some of the different types, other than fire that you might be called to help with? [00:18:21] Speaker B: So we get cats in trees, you know, that you've seen that on. [00:18:23] Speaker A: That's a classic fire. Yeah, that's a classic. [00:18:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, seriously, it is. The realm of our response is way outside of this fire, weather related. You know, if a tornado comes through, which we had that last spring, you know, the isolated one up just north of town a little bit, you know, we respond out to those kinds of emergencies. Power outages, you know, if, if there's an ice storm or whatever and the power's out and we have people at home on medical equipment, we provide generators for those medical necessary situations. So we take generators out for that. You know, outside of fire, we provide vehicle rescue. You know, everybody knows it as the jaws of life, kind of from back watching back, I guess, rescue 51 years ago. But yeah, we do vehicle rescue and we have a team that's just specialized in that. So like, like I said before, if you get in, you know, you start out as a firefighter and you won't get into more specialized skills like vehicle rescue. We offer those opportunities as well. So that's another thing we do. We do the wildland firefighting, which is like the brush fires and stuff. We do specialized training with that through the Tennessee Division of Forestry. So we're a partner with them. And that's another specialized area that you can go into. And then also a lot of our members are also into the medical part of it. So they do emergency medical responder, so they respond to medical calls in their communities where they live. They can get their, you know, they have a basic trauma kit or, or a basic medical kit that they keep with them. A lot of them carry the automatic external defibrillators with them. So if they're out in the community and you know, and can get there quicker, they can render aid until the ambulance can get there. So it's a broad umbrella of things that we offer. [00:20:10] Speaker A: It's definitely grown a lot since the early years, has it not? [00:20:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it has grown a lot in a lot of different ways. [00:20:15] Speaker A: How does technology impact kind of how you guys operate the department? I know there's probably a lot of different tools in your, at your disposal that are high tech related and things like that, because I got to see some of those when I was helping out with the Citizens Fire Academy. But I know it's probably in communications and other areas too. That's probably pretty important. [00:20:32] Speaker B: Absolutely. And it's changing daily. I don't know if y'all have been keeping up, but we're fixing to go into this new, what they call tacking tacn, Tennessee Area Communication Network, I believe is what it is. It's a statewide network that the state of Tennessee is building out across the state that, that allows departments and agencies, not just within accounting but within the state to have interoperable communications. One of the neat things is, is not some of this is building in the technology of LTE communications. So we're going to be able to do that across Internet, some of the communications instead of just the two way transmissions that we've had off the repeater tower. So we're the county just entered into a major contract with Motorola where we're getting new radios. They have the LTE features on many of the radios. So we're using, we've been using for a while now an app that's called I Am Responding, which is a. It comes like when we get paged out by 911, we get a text message app that comes across our phone that tells us, you know, the location, you can click on the address and it pulls up the map. And so, you know, if you're, you know, we have a lot of people that move here to the county. They're not group didn't grow up in DeKalb county like I did. I know the roads, but they might not know all the roads in the county. So this app has been really beneficial. You know, when they get that, they can punch it up and it pulls them up a map and take them straight to the call. So we have another program that's called Ready Ops. And my cell phone will operate just like a portable handheld radio. I can use my cell phone anywhere that I've got a Internet connection. I've been in Texas before and been able to talk back on the fire scene of something working here over, over my cell phone. So a lot of technology improvements in the past and I'm, I'm guessing that will continue. [00:22:28] Speaker A: And what I think it's amazing too is a lot of times you think about a county the size of DeKalb county in Tennessee, maybe they're not large enough to enjoy some of the fruits of that technology labor. Right. But you guys are not standing still. You guys are at the forefront of a lot of technology and a lot of advanced techniques and that sort of thing. I've always had A lot of respect for you guys for that. [00:22:49] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to give credit to that. That's a lot to do with our 911 director, Brad Mullinax at the 911 Center. He stays on the cutting edge of technology. If something is new out there and it works and it's within our budget and we can afford it, he makes sure as we have, he makes sure we have the best tools available out there for communications and, and you can go all around Middle Tennessee or across the state of Tennessee. And a lot of people envy our 911 center here because they do, they, they really do stay on the, the. [00:23:20] Speaker A: Holidays are basically here and I know that can be a dangerous time from a fire standpoint and that sort of thing. Can you give us any tips, anybody watching, listening that can kind of keep us help, help us keep safe and avoid any of those potential fire hazards? [00:23:34] Speaker B: Yeah. So over the years and you know, my career being a volunteer, we see trends around the holidays. You know, starting Thanksgiving on all up through the end of January, the number of home fires, incidents increase. I would tell you there's about four things that they all revolve around is alternative heating methods. So if you're using portal space heaters, and that can be a lot of things where, how you place them, if you get them too close, you know, to curtains, too close to, to furniture, right. Or if you use an extension cord that you shouldn't use or if you using a cheap power strip to run the Nintendo PlayStation and your heater and you know, all the, all the things that we plug in now because, you know, with all the technology we're talking about, you've got cell phone chargers and all these things, right. Some people, you know, they get kind of careless and using the, the, the extension cords with a lot of outlets on them and that pulls a lot of surge on, on that kind of, on that kind of cord that's not intended to have that amount of electrical current on it. So we see that with the alternative heat kerosene heaters, not so much fires, but you know, people not having properly vented areas, you know, carbon monoxide poisoning with those. So making sure if you're using those that you're following the manufacturer's instructions with ventilation and that kind of thing. And then around Thanksgiving, you know, we're getting ready to fire up those deep fryers for those deep fried turkeys everybody likes. We have, unfortunately we have those kinds of fires too. You know, somebody will get too much, get too much cooking grease or oil in The. In the. In the pot and then put the turkey in. It boils over and it catches on fire and catches their deck on fire. Hopefully everyone's doing that outside and far. [00:25:26] Speaker A: Away from the house. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Right, Far away from the house. So if it does do that, you know, you don't want to be on the back deck and catch the back deck on fire with your turkey fryer. So, you know, those kinds of things. And then not as much now. Back a few years ago when we had a lot of live. People use live Christmas trees. You know, you had those. They wasn't LED bulbs back then. They were. You probably remember the glass. [00:25:47] Speaker A: I sure do. [00:25:48] Speaker B: That get really hot. And we used to see how long we could put our finger on the. [00:25:54] Speaker A: Real test of strength, you know. [00:25:55] Speaker B: But, you know, those used to be a source of fires when, you know, if a live Christmas tree dried out and you had those hot bulbs. We don't see that as much now, but, you know, people do. I mean, extension cords, again, even with LED lights, just don't. Just be very careful not to overload your circuits on that. Cooking fires, of course, you know, people spend more time in the kitchen. Holidays, you know, on the other side of that, I told you what some of the risks are, some ways to prevent that. You know, I think it's great to talk about. This is a great time. We're getting a holiday season. Talk to your family members about smoke detectors. If they don't have smoke detectors in their home, those are great Christmas gifts. [00:26:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:30] Speaker B: Fire extinguishers, particularly in the kitchen. Always a good fire extinguisher in the kitchen. And now they've got these. I don't know if you saw the new blankets, the throw blankets. [00:26:40] Speaker A: I've seen those popping up a lot. [00:26:42] Speaker B: So they're made out of a material. I can't remember exactly what they're called. The material is now, but they're a fire blanket. And they're available on online merchandise stores and whatever. So I've got those in my house. I've seen them work. They really do work, particularly on a cooking fire. You can just lay it right over the stove. Whatever's burning and it takes away the oxygen out of there and just puts the fire right out, no mess. You can fold it up and use it again. And that's pretty neat. Yeah. So they're valuable. They're pretty economical as well. So, you know, just safety things like the fire blanket, the fire extinguishers. If you have fire extinguishers, check them to make sure. I talked To a guy the other day, had a fire in his kitchen. He picked up the fire extinguisher, and it didn't. It had that. The propellant, and that makes the chemical blow out. But the chemical where the fire extinguisher been laying down the chemical had actually set them constricted or clumped up. [00:27:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:27:43] Speaker B: And it wasn't. It wasn't when they did it. So if you've got a fire extinguisher, take a rubber hammer, pick those things up and kind of shake them around a little bit and tap them with a rubber idea, too. And it keeps that. And then they're. They're fairly cheap. You know, if you got one that's five or six years old, just replace it. You can go to Walmart. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Don't take a chance with it. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah. When you need it, you need it. [00:28:03] Speaker A: That's right. Yeah. If there's something more that people want to learn more about the DeKalb County Fire Department, where should they go to learn more about you? [00:28:10] Speaker B: So we have. We have a website, www.dekalbfire.com. we're on Facebook. I've got a communications officer, Alyssa Harvey. She makes some cool recruitment videos, and it shows some of the things that we do, and it shows some of our fire scenes, some of our training, and puts those on TikTok, and she's got a huge following on there. So it's. It's. It's the Cab Fire on TikTok. You can pull it up and look at it. But some really good recruitment videos on there. [00:28:41] Speaker A: Well, Donnie, thanks for everything that you do. You're one of the hardest working guys I've ever met, and we just appreciate you and. And your volunteer spirit and your hard work and everything you do so well. [00:28:52] Speaker B: Thank you. But we appreciate DTC and the partnership we have with dtc. It's always great. Y'all are a big supporter of. I know all emergency services, but y'all. Y'all are a great supporter of DeKalb County Fire Department, and we appreciate the opportunity to help get the word out there about who we are and what we do. And hopefully people will be interested in that and want to become part of the DeKalb County Fire Department team. I've got a great team around me, and that team has great family support around them, and we have great community support. Like I said, our partners would like DTC and other businesses. Our local government is great. Our county mayor and our county commission is great in supporting us. So we're. We're very fortunate to Live in a community that we have good support. [00:29:36] Speaker A: That's true. And make sure you pass that on to the rest of the department too. We appreciate all their their hard work and their countless dedication and service. [00:29:44] Speaker B: I absolutely will. [00:29:45] Speaker A: So. Well everyone stay with us. We've got more of the show coming up in just a moment. Great communities attract talented people to live, work and raise their families. We've deployed a high speed network that helps the best and the brightest enjoy better lives in our smart rural community. Great small businesses provide jobs that help workers earn a good living and provide for their families while strengthening local economies. We deploy fiber Internet that helps those businesses succeed. Great doctor and patient relationships create bonds that lead to healthier lives. We deliver secure connections so every home and rural healthcare provider can connect to the best health care options. Great schools help knowledge hungry students learn, think creatively and follow their passions. We've built a network that helps their dreams take off. Great farmers provide the food that sustains and nourishes our our nation and the world. We keep those farmers connected to the technology that ensures their crops can thrive. We've planned, engineered and constructed a cutting edge communications network. We're committed to delivering future proof broadband so our friends, families and neighbors can live rich lives in smart rural communities across America. Your community is our community. We're your rural broadband partners. You do great things, we make great things possible. Gaming builds real skills for real careers. [00:31:39] Speaker C: In esports and beyond. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Project manager, Content creator. [00:31:50] Speaker C: Customer service rep. [00:31:54] Speaker B: Software developer. [00:31:58] Speaker C: Build your skills with fiber Gaming Network and DTC. [00:32:02] Speaker B: Learn more at fibergamingnetwork.com. [00:32:08] Speaker A: Welcome back to the program. It's time now to hand the microphone over to Mr. Justin for one of my favorite parts of every single episode of the Local Click. Justin's tech tips. Justin, take it away. [00:32:22] Speaker C: So this time of the year, I am sure that just like me, you have nothing planned, you have nothing going on. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:32:29] Speaker C: It's easy to keep up with everything. There's no deadlines for anything going on at work. Personal, church related, nothing. Right? [00:32:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Wide open schedule all holiday season, completely going right. [00:32:39] Speaker C: Do you ever forget anything? [00:32:41] Speaker A: Never. Well, I can't remember. Maybe a few times. [00:32:43] Speaker C: Just. Just a few. Listen, if you're like me, you gotta have something in front of you telling you exactly what to do. And my wife even reminds me of that very often that I need to be reminded of things. And so today we're going to talk about something simple. I'm going to say go ahead and pull out your reminder. And we're not talking about a Planner. We're not talking about a piece of paper. That may be the system that you utilize, but we're technology based here, so. [00:33:12] Speaker A: That's right. [00:33:13] Speaker C: We're going to talk about digital reminders. And it's something that's simple. It's built into most of your cell phones that you're using today. It's on your PC, it's on your computer if you use a Macintosh. It's even built into your smart home assistant. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:29] Speaker C: So I'm not going to say the name of any of these because I don't want to accidentally trigger anybody's devices at home while they're listening to this smart thinking. But utilize reminders on your smart devices. Something, something so, so, so simple. You know, when my wife and I are cooking, for instance. Yes. We've got the timer on the oven, we've got the timer on the microwave. That's just above the range. But then sometimes we want to set another reminder why we have to have that many things going at one time. And that's when we will holler at our smart device and say, hey, set a timer for 12 minutes and 30 seconds. [00:34:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:34:06] Speaker C: Because whatever we're doing, we know, needs, needs that amount of time. And bam, in 12 minutes and 30 seconds we'll get a reminder. And the, the thing about it is that I really enjoy is it doesn't just, it's not just a timer that goes off. It will go off and say, here's your reminder for this pot of noodles that you're boiling. You know, it'll tell you what it's for. [00:34:25] Speaker A: That's a good point. It's not just some random noise going off. It actually explains why you're being reminded, which is a good point. [00:34:31] Speaker C: Yes. And you know, and that's just one instance on a smart device. You know, I, I had, I had to take something to somebody the other day and I was planning on going somewhere. Well, I knew what time I was leaving. So I input on my phone. So what does it do? It pops up. Hey, don't forget to grab this item with you. Because I knew I needed it. I was going to be at the same place with this person to give them this specific item. It was a time sensitive item to give them, but I didn't forget it. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:57] Speaker C: Now I forget stuff when I leave my house on the regular. If I am not being reminded of something, tell me. I have my phone set up. This may shock you. This may, this is going to totally blow your mind. But I actually have a reminder to make sure I get my work badge and don't leave it at the office. [00:35:16] Speaker A: What I have never seen you forget your work badge. [00:35:20] Speaker C: I, you know, I even track it with an air, with an air tag. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Whose idea was that? [00:35:26] Speaker C: I will give credit to Mr. Noakes. Thank you for that one. [00:35:30] Speaker A: Your technology friend. Yeah. [00:35:32] Speaker C: But now my, now if I do leave it at the office and I get down by the Alexandria Activity center is usually when it pops up it will say you left your back the office. And I usually ironic. I usually pull in the office there. [00:35:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:47] Speaker C: Or pull into their parking lot there and circle around to head back to the office and hope that maybe somebody. [00:35:53] Speaker A: Wave Jennifer White as you're circling through the front window. [00:35:57] Speaker C: And, and I hope that somebody is in, in the building. But for me, reminders are essential. You know, we think, you know, I've got two children and we've got ball schedules and we've got school schedules and we've got church activities and church things going on. And my wife and I have different things going on with, with employment and with work and there's all kinds of things, you know, community events. And it's nice to have these reminders. Sometimes you may have a reminder app, you may have a calendar app or you may have some sort of task management app that helps you keep up with things. Whatever it may be, utilize it. Utilize it on your, on your devices. Utilize it in, in your smart home. My children, every night, they know when bedtime is because they get reminded about bedtime from our smart home. [00:36:45] Speaker A: You know, I tried that with mine and knowledge is ignore it. I don't think you wanted to go to bed. [00:36:50] Speaker C: You know when, if you, if you utilize home automations, it's crazy when all their stuff turns off. The Internet quits working. [00:36:56] Speaker A: It makes it a lot more convenient and easy to follow those reminders. [00:37:00] Speaker C: Yeah, they, they hop, they, they hop right on it. So this is, this is a simple thing, not something that's not going to cost you anything because all it's built into your devices as long as you are utilizing and taking advantage of it. And we've talked about the, the assistants that are built into these devices. Every one of these smart assistants has some sort of reminder function built into it. All you got to do is say, say the name of it, activate it. Remind me to do whatever it is on this date, this time, before I leave, after I leave, it opens up a whole new world and it'll make a lot more productive. [00:37:38] Speaker A: Oh yeah. [00:37:39] Speaker C: And while I'm still forgetful, my smart devices are smarter Than me. [00:37:44] Speaker A: And here we go with our next interview on the local click for December. We're very lucky to have Ms. Jennifer White with the Alexandria Activity Center. Hello, Jennifer, how are you? [00:37:54] Speaker D: I'm good. How are you? [00:37:55] Speaker A: I'm doing great, doing great. I've heard great things about you. I've got some friends that spend a lot of time time there at the center and, and they brag on you all the time. So we appreciate you being on the show. [00:38:05] Speaker D: Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here. [00:38:07] Speaker A: So as far as getting started, first tell us a little bit more about yourself and how you got started with the center. [00:38:14] Speaker D: I am originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and I moved here and I believe it was 2007. [00:38:20] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:20] Speaker D: So my. I have three sons and my youngest started kindergarten it to cab and he is set to graduate MTSU in the spring. So not a whole lot about me, just family, person, love. People love spending time. [00:38:34] Speaker A: You have to be a people person because you spend a lot of time with people. Every day, right? [00:38:38] Speaker D: Every day, yeah. Yes. A lot of my participants don't have a big family or a lot of people to deal with, so. [00:38:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:45] Speaker D: We have a lot of fun. Before I came to the senior center, I worked in a very stressful industry and it was time for a break. I had some time to myself and I got bored. The senior center in Smithville was looking for someone part time, so that is what I applied at the county for. [00:39:03] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:03] Speaker D: And they offered me the full time position in Alexandria and I was a little leery, but I would never turn it back. I love it. [00:39:11] Speaker A: That's great. [00:39:12] Speaker D: It's absolutely the best thing that could have happened to me. [00:39:15] Speaker A: What's the primary mission of the center and how do you become a guest there? [00:39:19] Speaker D: Our guests, we call them participants members, really. It's. It's a cool little club you can join if you're 60 or older. [00:39:27] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:28] Speaker D: That's the only requirement. [00:39:29] Speaker A: But other than that, anyone, as long as anyone is they're 60 or over. [00:39:34] Speaker D: As long as they're 60 or older, it doesn't matter what county you live in. If you belong to another center, everybody is welcome. [00:39:40] Speaker A: Okay. And what's the primary objective or mission as far as getting everyone together there? [00:39:45] Speaker D: We try to help empower seniors to live more independently, live more healthy, be involved with each other. And the socialization is such an important part of their lives. So that's really what we try to do. We offer activities, meals. We have health and education classes that go on. We do a lot of different, you know, A lot of different things. [00:40:14] Speaker A: As far as the. Some of the fun activities, talk about some of those. Because that's the kind of things in the back of my mind, I'm always kind of picturing, imagining some of the fun things you guys are probably doing there. [00:40:23] Speaker D: Well, we have a pool hall. [00:40:25] Speaker A: There you go. [00:40:26] Speaker D: So we, we do have a big group that shoot pool on a regular basis. We have my arts and craft gang, which I lead as the chaos coordinator. That brings on a lot of laughs and carrying on. We play bingo and we have a group of people that play cards, generally rook, but we have some other centers that come sometimes and they'll play hand and foot, different kind of games and puzzles and I mean, you name it. If you want to do it, bring it up and I'll find a way to make it happen. That's. That's my rule. [00:40:59] Speaker A: Right. As far as the educational side of things or helping with health issues and that sort of thing, I'm sure that's an important part of the scenario. It's. [00:41:07] Speaker D: It is. We are required by the Upper Cumberland who helps us as senior centers, and we're required to provide evidence based programs for the seniors. So these programs, they go from healthy eating to, I mean, exercise, balance, all kinds of things. And we do those several times a year. I try to do one a quarter, so works out pretty good. Most people participate in it because, you know, there's prizes involved. [00:41:38] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:41:39] Speaker D: And lots of laughing and me being the goofball that I am. [00:41:42] Speaker A: And they look forward to it, I bet, too. [00:41:44] Speaker D: Yes. The laughing and carrying on and that, that is the big thing. I mean, we have done so many art projects that have just flopped in our laps, but we have laughed and carried on the whole time. And then, you know, the next time we're like, well, we'll try it this way. And they turn out pretty good. [00:41:59] Speaker A: But you know what? Humor is such a big, important part of staying healthy as we age. Would you agree with that? [00:42:05] Speaker D: I agree with you. [00:42:06] Speaker A: And having a positive outlook and learning how to laugh at yourself and your friends and each other. I mean, it's important. [00:42:12] Speaker D: Yes. And I'm learning it at a much younger age than they are. [00:42:16] Speaker A: Well, it's infectious. So there you go. [00:42:18] Speaker D: We laugh at me all the time. And I'm okay with that. I mean, I'm. It's just fun. It's fun to see people smile and to know that you did that right. It's great. [00:42:29] Speaker A: Makes you feel good when you see that. [00:42:30] Speaker D: It does. Yeah, it really does. [00:42:31] Speaker A: Well, there's one thing that always seems to bring everybody together, regardless of age, it's food. It's the universal language, is it not? Other than laughter, maybe talk about that. [00:42:41] Speaker D: Food is a little higher than universal laughter, I promise you. Yeah. We offer a congregate meal, a free congregate meal to all of our members every day at 11 o'clock. Home cooked meals, you're getting anything from lasagna to chicken and everything in between. Homemade soups, desserts on occasion. Right now we're more on the fruit path. It's a little healthier. [00:43:05] Speaker A: But it could be a real blessing to people though, that may not have access to a warm cooked meal every single day. [00:43:12] Speaker C: Yes. [00:43:12] Speaker D: And a majority of our people, they do consider that their main meal of the day. So at least I know and you know, they know they can get a hot, nutritious meal every day of the week and it's free. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Right, right. As far as those that maybe they don't feel safe, you know, driving or aren't able to drive, don't have a ride to the center and home and sort of that sort of thing, do you guys have options as far as people having transportation to and from? [00:43:38] Speaker D: Absolutely. UCHRA will pick up anybody and take them anywhere. Now, I know they do charge a minimal fee. We have been provided with ride tickets, so I can make that happen for free. [00:43:52] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:43:53] Speaker D: For our participants. So if anybody is interested in that, I mean, we can get the information out to them. And the tickets, I have them. So. [00:44:01] Speaker A: Wow. We were joking around a little bit about laughter and how important that is. But, but talk about the friendships and the memories that get made there because I mean, you're, you're sitting there, you're eating, you're playing games with everyone. There's got to be a lot of friendships that are. [00:44:15] Speaker D: Yes, everybody is very connected to everybody else. I mean, if one's not there, we want to know where they're at. [00:44:22] Speaker A: And because they really care about them, they've grown close to them. [00:44:25] Speaker D: It's just an extended family. I mean, I call that place my home away from home. When I'm not at home, I'm there. And they're my extended family and they all feel the same way too. So as far as outside of the center, I don't know if a lot of them do things together, you know, different groups of them. Yeah, I try to. Everybody just gets along so well. We don't ever have any disagreements, anything like that. If your card people don't want to do what the arts and crafts people are doing sometimes, you know, if we pull the card game apart, they get a little antsy. [00:45:03] Speaker A: But it's. [00:45:03] Speaker D: It's never bad. It's always fun. [00:45:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:06] Speaker D: We've had a couple get married last year that met down at the center. [00:45:10] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:45:11] Speaker D: So that was, you know, that was a fun. [00:45:13] Speaker A: That's exciting. Yeah, I can imagine that. Keep keeping this machine running from a day to day aspect can be challenging at times. Right. Do you use things like, you know, the Internet or technology or computers or smartphones to kind of help with that? And how do you use maybe some of the technology aspects of it? [00:45:31] Speaker D: I use it more than they do. But we do have the smart tv. We kind of touched on that a little bit. So I can stream my bingo app to the TV where the ones can't hear. So Great. Can see the numbers being called. So that works out really good. I call us the high tech seniors. [00:45:50] Speaker A: There you go. [00:45:51] Speaker D: Yeah, we watch movies. Every month we watch a movie movie day. So we stream that, you know, right onto the tv. I have a system that keeps me in line with who's attending and who's not. We are a nonprofit, so we have grants and whatnot. And that's how I help get that money to keep the center going bigger and better. Now we do have tablets for our seniors. If they were interested in wanting to learn how to do online grocery orders or stuff like that, we can, you know, obviously teach them if it's something they're interested in. A lot of them are not interested in that newfangled technology. [00:46:31] Speaker A: Well, it might get in the way of a rook game or something, right? [00:46:34] Speaker D: It might. It might. Or seeing what the politicians are doing on tv. We don't want to interrupt that ever. [00:46:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we'll step on that. Yeah. What's the best way for people to stay informed about upcoming events or to learn more about what you're doing? [00:46:51] Speaker D: Alexandria Activity center is on Facebook. Follow me and you'll see our menus every month, our activity calendars, pictures of all the crazy things we do. I have WJLE posting online every week, our menu and activity calendar. And Smithville Review also posts it online for them and they put it in the paper if they have room. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Okay, good deal. Good deal. [00:47:17] Speaker D: Or call me. [00:47:18] Speaker A: Yeah, you can always do that too. [00:47:19] Speaker D: Call me. I will happily talk you through anything you want to know. So. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Well, Jennifer, sounds like exciting, fun times there in Alexandria. And thank you for what you're doing. I know, I. Like I said, I know they think a lot of you because I've been getting a first hand reports from some friends of mine that spend a lot of time there and they just have nothing but good things to say about you. [00:47:37] Speaker D: So I'm so happy to hear that. And you are more than welcome to stop down anytime and check us out, see what we're doing. [00:47:42] Speaker A: Yeah, may just. I know you're not old enough, but. [00:47:45] Speaker D: You know, you can be my special invited guest. [00:47:48] Speaker A: There you go. There you go. Hey, I'm always up for a good game of pool, so. Although I'm afraid they might better watch. [00:47:54] Speaker D: They'll teach you a thing or two. [00:47:56] Speaker A: I know they would. I'm not, I'm not. I'm not putting any money on it. I can tell you that. [00:48:00] Speaker D: I call one of them coach because he always wanted me to play and I'm not good at this game and he coached me right through it. So let's coach. [00:48:07] Speaker A: I think they'd let me win the first game. [00:48:09] Speaker D: No, they won't let anybody win. [00:48:11] Speaker A: Oh man. Yep. [00:48:13] Speaker D: But you'll have a good time. [00:48:14] Speaker A: I promise. [00:48:14] Speaker D: You'll laugh. You will laugh. Without a doubt. They're a great group of people. Love them all very much. [00:48:21] Speaker A: Yeah, we're blessed to have some good people around here. So. Well, thank you so much for being on the show and good luck with everything at the center. [00:48:27] Speaker D: Thank you so much. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Everybody. Stay tuned. We're going to wrap up the show here in just a moment. [00:48:33] Speaker C: Here's normal Internet speed. [00:48:36] Speaker B: Here's the gig difference. [00:48:38] Speaker A: Average speed. [00:48:40] Speaker C: Gig not enough speed. [00:48:42] Speaker B: Gig speed with gig Internet from dtc. [00:48:46] Speaker A: Everything's different. [00:48:48] Speaker B: Video streaming is a breeze. [00:48:50] Speaker C: Music and photos fly and gaming gets. [00:48:53] Speaker B: Real with no data limits. That's the gig difference. Call or visit DTC online and get your gig today. [00:49:06] Speaker A: It's time to give the microphone back to Justin once more. For a part of the show we call Tech News Roundup. [00:49:13] Speaker C: Korean manufacturer lg. Everybody knows lg. LG Electronics has been working on a couple gears now on a new display technology and they're previewing it even more. They have now got a new next generation displayed that is a stretchable display. So they have a 12 inch display that is stretchable up to 18 inches. And I'm not just talking about the glass. I'm talking about the entire display. So it can. It contains micro LEDs and it contains the LCD panel inside of it. So it is actually a. A stretchable bendable contort distort display. [00:49:55] Speaker A: Wow. [00:49:55] Speaker C: That they have been previewing now. They have no announced uses for it yet. They have no announced timeline for it yet, but they do want the world to know that they are working on it. And now with, you know, foldable smartphones, which I feel like at some point, screens, there has to be a limit to how big of a screen that you want. [00:50:15] Speaker A: Are you sure this story is not a stretch? [00:50:19] Speaker C: See what you did there? [00:50:22] Speaker A: Sorry, dad. Joke. [00:50:23] Speaker C: Listen, it is, it is intriguing to see especially the aspect that it can bend and distort a little bit as far as far as being able to throw it in your pocket. Because foldable smartphones at this point, yes, the glass and stuff is foldable, but really the display isn't really that bendable, except maybe in one specific spot where this can go around quite a bit. So it'll be interesting to see what LG decides to utilize that for. They manufacture a lot of displays that are used in other products, so it's not just used in NLG products. So there's no telling who we may see incorporate this technology. So that's pretty interesting. Again, don't know exactly what their plans are for it because they don't have anything concrete, but we can keep an eye out for that to see, to see what's coming up in some more domestic news. Something that should be beneficial to the United States is the United States government has announced $6.6 billion of direct funding to TSMC, which is the Taiwan semiconductor that is manufactured on the island of Taiwan. We know that there's some geopolitical things going on in that region, but they are the world's largest supplier of semiconductor chips, which we know that there are microprocessors and chips in everything. I don't know that you can buy a manual toothbrush that does not have a microprocessor right in it at this point. And so they're the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors. And given those geopolitical issues, you know, you probably don't want them to be the largest manufacturer and be so dependent upon them. So they are contributing $6.6 million from the federal government into a project that's going to have an additional $65 billion of private investment for them to produce three plants in the state of Arizona. They're going to be manufacturing these plants so that they can then shift some manufacturing here domestically within the United States. And so we've seen some things called the Chip Chips act that this is a product of where they're trying to shift this processing and manufacturing to the US So that we are not reliant on other countries for this very kind. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Of a really A national security. [00:52:46] Speaker C: Yes, that's what I say. Exactly what I was going to say. This critical piece of technology that we need to be more in control of and not so dependent upon. [00:52:53] Speaker A: Right. [00:52:53] Speaker C: Find others. So, so that'll be interesting again. We'll see it. You know, the fruits of that will take a few years to see, but in the long run will be beneficial to us. Now, the third and final thing, and this is probably my favorite thing and one that we talked about before filming today that I was a little bit giddy of. So of course, you know, I'm a fan of SpaceX and all these kind of things that they're doing. And they've done something now multiple times that hasn't ever been done before in quite the same way. You know, used to, if you launched a rocket into the air, the space shuttle itself, the main shuttle was reusable, but your booster rockets were never used again. [00:53:37] Speaker A: Right. [00:53:37] Speaker C: It's one time use and one. Yeah, they would get used. They would usually, you know, we think everybody often wonder, well why do we, why do they launch off the coast? Well, that's so that these rockets can fall into the ocean. Right. So that there's not a chance that they're hitting someone. Right. You know, we're damaging anything. What SpaceX has done, we've seen them with their Falcon 9 rockets, we've seen them land in the middle of the ocean on these, on these boats. But they've done something that is pretty incredible with their starship and the super heavy rocket booster. They have now been able to catch a 300 plus thousand pounds, what I'm calling a building because it's basically a 20 story building, it's 223ft tall. Wow. This rocket booster that they have been able to catch and again previous to this, I don't know the manufacturing cost of the rocket, but again, it's 300/2 thousand pounds, it's 223ft tall. I'm sure that cost a few million dollars to produce. Well, they have now caught one and they have successfully used it again in another launch. So not only have they called it, they were able to reuse the rocket and it the engineering feat to launch it and to have it come back down to the launch point, taken the same trajectory, to be able to lower, not to take out the launch pad and not to be able to take out the other equipment. It is pretty impressive what we're seeing. And you know, there's a, there's some ambitious goals. Ambitious is probably, probably a very light way to put it for space exploration in the future and what people are wanting. [00:55:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:55:23] Speaker C: To do. And this. The starship is very important because it is the largest ship for cargo and to be able to transport. And so they're. They're transporting stuff into space in heavy volumes into the International Space Station using this rocket. That's going to be needed because those other rockets are smaller. And yes, they can launch things, but not to the magnitude that the starship can. [00:55:49] Speaker A: It's amazing. If you told us that a decade or two ago that we would be able to catch a starship like that and reuse it, people would laugh. Right? [00:56:00] Speaker C: I don't know that I could launch a rocket from my backyard and shoot it up a couple hundred feet and catch it. [00:56:05] Speaker A: Yeah, you. I hear you. [00:56:06] Speaker C: So I feel like that would be a very difficult task to do, let alone something that, you know, put something into. Into low Earth orbit. [00:56:13] Speaker A: Well, it seems like just the launching process is hard enough, much less the retrieving part. So, yeah, it's. It's pretty amazing. So there's some very smart people on our Earth working on some very big. [00:56:25] Speaker C: Projects, a lot smarter than I am. [00:56:26] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. That's why we do a podcast. And they catch rockets. That's exactly. [00:56:31] Speaker C: That's just a small sampling. Like, you think of how incredible those things are. There's a lot more things going on that we just don't have. Have time to cover. [00:56:40] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. But one thing we do have time to cover is all the activities involving DTC for the month of December. And we'll do that in a part of the show we like to call what's up dtc? And for the month of December, you can catch us at a lot of Christmas parades. It is one of our favorite times, times of year, and I always jokingly say we like to kind of chase Santa Claus down, no matter where he's at, whatever town he might be in. And we have a lot of those kind of things going on for December. The first one that we like to mention is on December 1, the very first day of the month. And that'll probably already be over at the time of this announcement, but the playback will not be. And that's the Carthage Christmas Spray, which would be December 1st at 5pm On December 7th will be the Woodbury Christmas Parade. That'll be at noon, as well as the Smithville Christmas parade at 4, the Watertown Christmas parade at 4, and the Gordonsville Christmas parade at 5pm Then on December 8th, the very next day will be the Liberty Christmas Parade, which will be at 2pm and to round it up for our area parades will be the Alexandria Christmas parade on December 14th. And as far as sports goes in DTC3 and DTC sports, we will be continuing our sports coverage with high school basketball and you can always catch those games replayed throughout each and Every week on DTC3. If you want to look at the schedule which games will be recorded, you can go to DTC3TV. Click on the sports part of the page there and you can see that. So but it's going to be a lot of fun and we hope that you get to see Santa Claus in a town near you and I think that's going to do it for the month of December. First and foremost, I'd like to thank our guests for this month's episode, Ms. Jennifer White and Mr. Donnie Green. They did a great job and they're doing lots of good things in their local communities and we appreciate them being on the program. I'd like to say Merry Christmas to you, Justin and your family. We appreciate everything you do for us, the podcast here and always being a great co host and we hope you and your family get lots of presents from Santa and y'all just enjoy the holidays and the time spent with each other. [00:58:55] Speaker C: So Merry Christmas to all of our viewers, all of our listeners, and to you too. I'm listen, I'm just glad to be along for this ride every month that we are blessed to be able to do this and there's a lot of things to be thankful for is we're coming off of Thanksgiving. But there's a lot of blessings too that we have. And so I hope that you celebrate this season and the reason for the season and I hope everybody has a very Merry Christmas. [00:59:20] Speaker A: Absolutely. Couldn't have said it better myself. Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Holidays. We hope you have a wonderful December and until January this is Nick and Justin sang so long for the local clique. [00:59:30] Speaker B: Learn more about the show by visiting us [email protected] also be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast or. [00:59:38] Speaker A: Video platform so you won't miss our. [00:59:40] Speaker B: Next episode of the local Click. See you next month.