5:22 p.m. Survived my first event - mini event. While I would like to say it went fantastic, nothing goes as planned or without a glitch.

Trying to make due, in the short amount of time, I scrambled to put together a half-assed Tips for Kids, an event in conjunction with an upcoming Pull for Kids in September.

I had a call from one restaurant owner say he was disappointed with the turn out of the EMS team. While it was expected that each EMS team have 4 or 5 members help serve at the restaurant, only two showed up. Twas disappointing, but it was all they could muster, I imagine due to...hmm, lack of time!

No idea how much money was raised but I hope it was semi comparable to last year's, minus two restaurants.

Saturday I went to St Catherine's to see how a Pull for Kids (an event that has teams competing to pull a fire truck) is run. Before attending it, I had to imagine the event using a manual. Seeing it live proved invaluable. I learned what NOT to do.

For example, don't have incompetent timers. This might seem obvious, but I've never seen such poor 'judging'. People complained, particularly when the race became single elimination.

There were major discrepancies between the trucks (they had 4 trucks, thankfully we're only going to have 2). One truck never failed to win. "Lightweight" teams were out pulling firefighters.

But, I suppose, it's all for fun and for raising money.

I've already faced some issues regarding the Pull last year. The Woolwich Fire fighters are choosing not to participate because of the actual racing (the truck weight discrepancy, again) and the lack of recognition for their top fundraiser. It's unfortunate because the Woolwich team has been the top fundraisers every year. Actually, it sucks. I still have a tinge of hope that they'll reconsider.

Have been exposed to some cops and understand why some people don't like them. The fire fighters I've met are great. As are the paramedics.

I now have 8 confirmed teams for the Pull and need 20. I suspect I'll have to do some serious grovelling to recruit more teams.