Review of Mesozoic Vertebrate Life: (Hardcover)

The title is misleading. If you're looking for information on pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, or Mesozoic crocs, this book probably isn't for you. However, if you want to get the skinny on Tyrannosaurus arm movement and what they were used for (yeah, amazing, eh?), new dinosaurs, and generally good information on dinosaurs, this is a good book to consider. Heavy on the second half of the Mesozoic, the book none the less manages to have a good variety of papers about various aspects of dinosaurian paleobiology, phylogeny, and behavior. A great volume.

Product Description
This path breaking volume provides further evidence that we are in the midst of a new golden age' of dinosaur paleontology. It presents important new research on the vertebrate life of the Mesozoic as reported by 45 of the leading workers in the field.Organized into sections on theropods, sauropods, ornithischians, dinosaurian fauna, paleopathologies, and ichnology, these original papers represent a broad cross section of current research.Studies of Charles Sternberg and dinosaurs in fiction conclude the book.

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Review of For the Bride (Hardcover)

This is a great book with lots of advice, BUT purchase it early on in your wedding plannning stages.There are not a lot of photos and the few photos in the book are black and white.Don't expect to get a lot of ideas withpictures, but do get this book for exceptional advice and rules of thumb onhow to plan an elegant and stylish wedding. He covers all the right areaswith rules and opinions for the bride of 2000!

Product Description
From celebrity stylemaker and wedding guru Colin Cowie comes the ultimate style guide for the modern bride. Like its companion volume, For the Groom, For the Bride offers expert guidance on everything from creating an unforgettable wedding to making a graceful transition to life as a newlywed.

Colin begins by walking you through the planning, ordering, and arranging necessary for a memorable wedding that everyone will enjoy. He covers all the details from flowers to dresses, registry to reception, with tips on how to tactfully negotiate the guest list and how to make your wedding a personal expression of your identity as a couple.

Colin goes on to demonstrate how to let the momentum of your wonderful wedding celebration set the tone for your upcoming life together. Your wedding can and should be a springboard for a lifetime of welcoming family into your home and entertaining friends with charm and verve.

Of course, marriage is more than just a succession of parties. Which is why Colin has also devoted attention to the practical marital arts: how to communicate, merge your finances, settle disagreements, and keep the romantic spark alive. With its gorgeous black and white photos, timeless advice, and elegance of tone, Colin Cowie's For the Bride is as indispensable as it is beautiful, and a natural engagement gift for any woman.




From the Inside Flap
From celebrity stylemaker and wedding guru Colin Cowie comes the ultimate style guide for the modern bride. Like its companion volume, For the Groom, For the Bride offers expert guidance on everything from creating an unforgettable wedding to making a graceful transition to life as a newlywed.

Colin begins by walking you through the planning, ordering, and arranging necessary for a memorable wedding that everyone will enjoy. He covers all the details from flowers to dresses, registry to reception, with tips on how to tactfully negotiate the guest list and how to make your wedding a personal expression of your identity as a couple.

Colin goes on to demonstrate how to let the momentum of your wonderful wedding celebration set the tone for your upcoming life together. Your wedding can and should be a springboard for a lifetime of welcoming family into your home and entertaining friends with charm and verve.

Of course, marriage is more than just a succession of parties. Which is why Colin has also devoted attention to the practical marital arts: how to communicate, merge your finances, settle disagreements, and keep the romantic spark alive. With its gorgeous black and white photos, timeless advice, and elegance of tone, Colin Cowie's For the Bride is as indispensable as it is beautiful, and a natural engagement gift for any woman.

In FOR THE BRIDE, Colin walks future brides through the planning, ordering, and arranging necessary for a memorable wedding that everyone will enjoy, covering all the details from engagement to reception. From flowers to dresses, from selecting items for the bridal registry to negotiating the guest list and seating chart, Colin's got it covered.

FOR THE GROOM, written with Colin's trademark charm and practicality, guides husbands-to-be through it all, from how to propose to what to buy for the first anniversary gift. With all the answers the bride wishes the groom already knew: how to assess the quality of a diamond, how to host a rehearsal dinner, how to win over her parents, and much more, FOR THE GROOM is a natural engagement gift for any and every guy soon to be married.

Illustrated with photographs from weddings Colin has planned and written with a warm, engaging tone, FOR THE BRIDE and FOR THE GROOM offer practical advice and romantic, inspired suggestions to create both a memorable wedding day and a graceful, stylish start to married life. -->

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Review of Crew Resource Management for the Fire Service (Hardcover)

I think, if embraced, CRM could do more to prevent FF injury and fatality than any combination of initiatives currently in vogue in the fire service.CRM is about using all resources available to accomplish the mission.The mission, by the way, is not the standard risk management slogan we all know: risk a lot for lives, risk a little for property...The mission is that everyone goes home safely.Safety is the operation.

CRM derives from the aviation industry in the 1970s.What was found was that airplanes were not causing crashes, human behavior was.Meaning, it was not mechanical malfunctions causing planes to go down, it was the pilots flying them.Interesting.Fewer fires, more protective gear, building codes, suppression systems, SOPs, risk management, safety officers, command teams, IRIC and RIC teams, excellent training, TICs, etc., and we still kill 100 firefighters per year.Are we that steeped in tradition that we can't see that human behavior kills firefighters?Let's give CRM a chance.If the aviation industry is an example, we will see a dramatic decrease in FF injury and fatality.

This book is above average.My only constructive criticism was the implementation aspect.While there is a lot of good information, including the last chapter about implementing CRM, the substance of the book doesn't really define how that would happen.That said, I really liked this book.It will be tough for a lot of firefighters to digest because it is conceptual and not practical hands-on stuff.

For another excellent introduction to CRM I would refer readers to Dennis Rubin and his series on CRM through Firehouse magazine.These articles also provide a good introduction to this topic.

It is worth purchasing this book and I would recommend adding it to any fire department library, or personal library.

Product Description
Crew Resource Management for the Fire Service will provide fire service professionals with the necessary communication, leadership, and decision-making tools to operate safely and effectively under stressful conditions, thereby reducing injuries and deaths on the emergency scene. Although the concept of crew resource management has been around since the 1970s, this is the first book to apply CRM to the fire service industry. CRM emphasizes that in most cases technology isn't the root cause of catastrophe-human error is the culprit. Therefore steps taken to minimize the impact of errors are the keys to reducing the magnitude of the inevitable human failing.This book will be valuable for college classes, and may be used internationally by the fire service, emergency medical services, industrial fire brigades, technical rescue teams, and any other emergency service provider systems.

Features & benefits:

Explains the predictable manner in which firefighters react to stressful situations

Teaches methods and tools to combat these problems to provide safer and more effective operations

Provides a framework for cultural change in fire departments

Perfectly suited for both wildland and structural firefighters

About the Author
Randy Okray has been a member of the Campbell County (WY) Fire Department since 1987, where he serves as training officer. Okray earned an A.A.S. degree in Fire Science from Casper College. He is certified as a Fire Instructor III, Fire Officer III, Fire Apparatus Operator, and EMT-Basic, as well as being Wildland Certified as a Task Force Leader.Okray has been published in Fire Engineering magazine, and has presented programs at the International Wildfire Safety Summit in Alberta, Canada, the 11th International Aviation Psychology Symposium in Columbus, Ohio, and the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD.Tom Lubnau II, B.S., J.D., has been a member of the Campbell County Fire Department since 1990. He is certified as a Fire Officer I, Fire Apparatus Operator, Hazardous Materials Technician, EMT-Basic, and Fire Instructor III. He is a founding member of Lubnau, Bailey and Dumbrill, PC, a law firm that represents fire departments and hospitals throughout Wyoming. He has been an instructor at several conferences on legal issues in the fire service and crew resource management.

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