I just wanted to take a moment to wish my fellow ETS'ers a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday! I'll be watching Die Hard and waiting for Santa tonight. I hope you all have a good one.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all.

We've got the DVR programed to catch the movie channel that's showing Die Hard on Christmas day around 2PM. Turkey, potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole are on the menu. A drop of Bailey's in my cup tonight and I'll share it with Santa when he shows up!

Paul -

Holiday Greetings and Best Wishes to all for the coming year!

We will enjoy a quiet day with family....

Thanks to all for another great year at ETS! Have a great holiday!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
The traditional Christmas meal is fried sausage and potato salad with mayonaise. The traditional movie is "We´re no angels" (the 1955 version).
The weather is nice enough for a ride on my motorcycle.
A special thanks goes to the sheriffs for their time and efforts.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Mostly I’ll be chillaxing, maybe watch something stored on the DVR — Vikings, Killing Eve or maybe something brutal having to do with British royal history...

Merry Christmas to all. As usual, we have family together, we hosted single soldiers who could not go home, and we supported a homeless shelter. Trying to bring something to those in need and give back something. I thank you all for the good discussions and varying ideas and points of view. You may not realize how valuable that is.

Hope all had a great Christmas. This year, for traveling logistics, Christmas was on the 24th. Yesterday the (25th) was outdoor adventure time and were rewarded with great views and winter sunshine with temps of a balmy -12F to bring this Christmas to a very memorable close.

Edited to remove image by request of Teslinhiker — chaosmagnet

I had to work....eve AND day... so all of you can jump in a lake.....LOL.

Seriously...all was good, even with working. Family is good (biggest thing).

I presume you are being paid for your work, unlike many of my former colleagues in the National Park Service, who either were kept away from their jobs, or have been working without pay (although Congress will most likely give them pay retroactively).

My most memorable Xmas eve was the year I stood guard in Korea - a bit on the nippy side, but at least no shots were fired.

Happy Holidays, and I wish you a very safe and joyous new year!!

And once again, thank you for keeping this forum as enjoyable and sane as it is and has been for many years. Some of these topics could go sideways very quickly. Heh!!

For me the ETS thinking started many years ago with a by-chance discussion with local search and rescue folks at a county fair. That lead to teaching the ETS thinking to Scouts (Cub, Girl, Boy). As the years past, and my kids grew up and left the nest my ETS focus is more on just the small world of my wife & I.

The coming year brings very big changes to our lives since we'll be retiring and moving from northern Illinois to a MUCH more rural, but stunningly beautiful area of northern Wisconsin. With that brings a whole new set of potential risks (power loss, heavy snow, forest fire, age-related health issues, very different emergency services ...) and the need to rethink how we handle those new risks (whole-house generator, different snow removal equipment, plans to purchase a defibrillator, age-proofing our house, how to move canoe/kayaks/farm stuff without injury, ... ).

Congratulations on your retirement KenK!

A hearty second on congrats....

Also, my brother is retired just west of you in Bemidji, MN and has a country place with many of the same challenges you face. I have been impressed at how he has set up to face the challenges of snow removal, significant cold, etc.

It's all about understanding the local hazard profile and taking appropriate measures. While you do have challenges, Wisconsin is one of two states that has never experienced earthquakes, unlike Alaska and California, etc. We all have to deal with fires.....

Enjoy!