My Dark Little Corner Of Cyberspace

Moving on?

2011-02-16T23:47:00.004-05:00

How do you move on when your life has been destroyed?

As if it wasn't bad enough that she walked out and left me and my daughter, I had my suspicions recently that she had someone else. Now, I'm convinced.

The calls on the cell phone bill that didn't add up to the explanation, and the explanation that sounded just a bit too canned and rehearsed. The deletion or 'un-friending' on Facebook, and now my friend telling me that her last FB post said "hadn't felt this good in a long time, hope it lasts" all tells me what I had long suspected. I remained faithful, and still do - she didn't and doesn't. She's got someone else.

I wish things were different. I wish I could have saved my marriage. I wish she hadn't found comfort in the arms of someone else - but wishes don't come true. Life isn't a fairytale. I'll continue to get up every day and continue to provide for my daughter and survive.

4 days since I last tried to contact her with no response. Guess whoever is making her 'feel that good' is more important than those that once were her family.

So, How do you move on when your life has been destroyed?

Survival

2010-09-22T23:01:00.004-04:00

Where to start? It's been a long time since I have written here. Thought about it many times. Had many times maybe I should have to get stuff off my chest, but I didn't. Too lazy I guess. Too busy maybe. Life tends to get in the way.

So, here I sit. Staring at the computer. Baseball game on for company. Squirt sound asleep in her bed.... finally. I think she cried herself to sleep tonight. How did I get to this place? How did after 5 years together, and 4 years of marriage, did I screw up so badly that she left me?

How do I survive this? I can't breathe. I can't sleep. I can't eat. All I do is think. Think about how stupid I've been. I should have done so many things different. Instead, she left, I'm a single parent again, and I'm miserable.

They say it will get easier. I hope so, because right now, it's killing me. I don't know if I can endure this.

This is not the place I expected to be at in my life.

Call off the bloodhounds... Here I am

2009-01-17T04:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true. I am still around. I know, I know. I said I would get back to posting a long time ago, but alas - Life still tends to get in the way. I have had a rollercoaster ride the last couple months. Work was crazy for so long, then everything came to a screeching halt in mid-December.

We took a family vacation to the mecca of mouse, Disney World, the week before Christmas. Yes, I actually took a vacation, left work & everything else behind for over a week, and relaxed in sunny Florida. It was a wonderful trip with my wife & daughter, as well as my wife's family. We had a wonderful time, and that was our Christmas present this year. Made shopping pretty easy!

I was off for Christmas, and we spent Christmas day with my family. That, also, was wonderful and had a great day. I went back to work after being off for 2 weeks the day after Christmas. I promptly did something stupid while cutting someone out of a car and hurt my shoulder. That sent me home for over a week, causing me to miss several shifts at both the fire department & EMS. I had to deal with a slew of doctors visits, physical therapy and paperwork to get cleared to return to duty. I finally got cleared to go back to work a few days after New Years. I worked 2 shifts at the fire department, came off shift one morning & went to work @ EMS.

I made it through about 4 hours when I re-injured my shoulder and was again sent home after dealing with the usual myriad of forms & doctors visits surrounding a work-related injury, again. I was out for roughly another week. EMS deamed my injury was not the result of an accidental on-the-job injury, and denied to pay workers comp to cover any further medical expenses. The fire department stated since I was treated for the initial injury, cleared by the doctor & had returned to work, it was not a re-injury but a new injury.

I was stuck between a rock & a hard place. The doctor I saw after the second injury felt I had possibly torn a tendon in my shoulder and wanted me to have an MRI. Now that it was not covered by workers comp, I was left to find a way to get the MRI on my own with my insurance - not a good opton. Way too much out of pocket expense. So, I went back to see the doctor that had seen me after the original injury. Since He was familiar with what I had done, and I wanted to see what he felt I might have done to it agian.

Mind you, the second doc had my arm in a sling, telling me not to use it, because I would do more damage to it if I had in fact torn a tendon. After seeing the original doc again and laying it out for him, he checked my shoulder out. Once he got my arm out of the sling & had me move it, he quickly realized I had not torn anything otherwise I would not have had the range of motion, despite some discomfort, that I had. He told me to start using the arm again, gave me some steroids to ease the inflamation I had to my rotator cuff that was causing the pain, and told me I could go back to work soon as I felt up to it. I was ready right then! I was so sick of beig at home, not able to do my job. He had me on light duty for a couple more days then cleared me to finally go back to work.

That's the story! I winding epic, full of twists, turns, pitfalls & boredome. So, now, I'm back to work. The shoulder seems ok, and no trouble so far. Knock on wood.

Did you know?

2008-12-07T21:35:00.002-05:00

Did you know it is possible to eat a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese in 4 bites in under 60 seconds?

Did you know it was possible to eat a large fry while driving at a high reate of speed with the lights & sirens on?

Did you know that 1 milligram of Narcan is enough to wake up a 200 pound man who has been using cocaine, marijuana, oxycodone and xanax - and that he will be fighting mad?

Did you know that the average 12-hour EMS shift lasts 13.5 hours?

Did you know it is possible to run 8 EMS calls in 6 hours, before you ever get a chance to have a cup of coffee or eat breakfast?

Did you know that the human body can function for 36 hours at work with only 3 hours of broken sleep?

Did you know that a fireman wears an additional 50 pounds of gear and equipment to go into a burning building?

Time constraints

2008-10-22T07:44:00.002-04:00

I know I have been gone a lot lately. Sorry about my un-announced hiatus from the Blogosphere. I sort have been busy, and a lot has happened in my life that I still want to write about, but time has been short. I will return shortly and get back in the swing of things. Hope everyone is well.

Betrayal

2008-09-21T21:48:00.003-04:00

No good deed goes unpunished. That's what they say, right? In the movie "The Generals Daughter", the question is posed by John Travolta's charachter - "What's worse than murder? What, She cheated, she lied?" By the end of the movie, it is exposed that betrayal is worse than murder. I tend to agree.

I was finally told the name of the person that went to the fire chief and initiated this entire ordeal.... or should I say names of the persons. Turned out it was 3 people, not one. Two of the three did not surprise me. One is a well known snake-in-the-grass, the other I never really trusted. The third however - well, let's just say I was shocked. This man was at my wedding for crying out loud.

I thought that was it. Nope - wrong again. As I had said earlier - the BC requested that several people that I work with and have driven for over the last several months, write statements to describe my driving ability and style. Most of them weren't a problem. A few, including guys on my company that I work with everyday - weren't as kind. They wrote what they felt were not negative statements, but included specific concerns, complaints or incidents - and that is what the brass zeroed in on. Anyone that drives emergency vehicles for an extended period of time will have close calls or do something that is not liked - it's the nature of the business.

Anyway, I wasn't done being dissapointed yet. Over the past several weeks, I was not me. I was in a foul mood. Between worrying about the legal troubles, the investigation, the concern over a fellow firefighter going behind my back to the chief - and then some personal issues at home - I was in a deep bllue funk. As the BC put it, I had a negative attitude and it was contagious. It turned out, that several of the guys on my company went to the BC and told him they wanted me moved. In essence - because I was having personal issues, I was voted off the island.

Yup - I was done. Guys I called brother, had been out drinking with, had been to my house, had taken vacations with - had betrayed me and hung me out to dry. Rather than ask me what was wrong (as if it was a big shock or surprise) and see what they could do to help, they screwed me over and I got transferred. Screw 'em. They thought I had a bad attitude before - yeah, right. I'm supposed to smile & whistle a happy tune now. Despite being labled because of the sequece of events that I really didn't have control over. Nice, huh? So, I asked for a meeting with the chief - that was well over a week ago. Have not heard back - nothing, not a peep.

That's a big part of why I have not posted in a while - I have been too upset and angry to sit and talk about it. Now, I don't give a shit anymore. They have won - I give up. I show up each day, put in my hours and go home - just like everyone else. I no longer go out of my way to do extra. I no longer try and make it better. I no longer do extra work to better the job, the company or the city. Screw 'em. They didn't want to listen to me before - not going to give them a chance to listen to me now.

Round 2

2008-09-10T19:54:00.002-04:00

First of all, I know of the problem with my blog images not showing up. Not sure why. The file hosting site I use is to blame it would appear. I have contacted them and am waiting on an answer.

After my legal victory with the D.A. and the court system, I was riding high. That did not last long. The city administration, specifically the Fire Chief, has been dragging this whole thing out. I finally had enough on Friday morning. I was getting ready to leave work for my days off, and the situation had still not been resolved, nor had anyone come back to talk to me about it any more. So, I got a bit pissy as I was leaving work said I was going to City Hall and take my grievance to the next level.

Here's the short version; within an hour and a half, I received a phone call telling me that the investigation was over, I was returned to driving status, and it was resolved. Amazing, huh? I had to threaten to take policy action then legal action before anything was done.

However, I still have not been provided the name of the person who made the allegations, or had any assurance that this will not appear in my personnel record. I also have not been given the written statements from all the people who had been interviewed about me.

So..... those of you that know anything about me, know that I am not about to walk away and let it go like this. Nope. Not me. I HAVE to continue on with this. I want the name of the prick who caused me all the trouble. I want them held accountable for their actions, to answer for what could easily be construed as slander in a court of law. After all, what prevents this person or anyone else from simply saying whatever they want about whoever they want without repercussions? To be honest, I really would rather this was all over and I didn't have to follow through with any of this - but morally, I simply don't see that I have a choice.

Victory

2008-08-28T22:59:00.002-04:00

A victory of sorts! Yes, it would seem that the D.A. agreed with me and my lawyer. He has dropped the charges against me in the wreck. A wonderful 1st step. I am very happy and excited.

I am also cynical. Most of my fellow firefighters at work, won't know this. The news that I was in a wreck and cited in that wreck spread like wildfire (if you'll forgive the pun). This news, however, is less juicy. Therefore - I already know it will not be fodder for the rumor mill. I know that in most minds, I paid the lawyer to get me out of it and that I was still wrong. I know I will be looked at differently by some for the rest of my career.

When the wreck happened - I had people calling me within 15 minutes. Guys that were off-duty knew about it. Now - no one has called. No one cares, because this is anti-climactic. Sad, really. I guess it's true - bad news sells.

Nevertheless, I am happy with my legal victory. Now I will await the results of my moral victory of the brass at City Hall. I am confident I will be triumphant, even if no one knows about it.

Resentment

2008-08-27T21:19:00.002-04:00

Well, my posts have become few and far between again. Life is just too hectic. I'm in the middle of a 16-day stretch of working without a day off. When I do have the time to sit & wrote, I'm usually too tired. Most times, when I have the time to write, I'm at work & don't have internet access that will allow me to get on and post.

So, the drama at work has actually gotten worse. I'm now not allowed to drive again. After driving 6 days in a row, the chief in his infinite wisdom revoked my driving status. This following the recommendation of the city attorney and an 'anonymous' complaint from a fellow fireman that I am supposedly unsafe. Hmmmm... been driving firetrucks for almost 20 years, 6 of them for this department, and this is the first accident I have been involved in - but I'm unsafe. Gotcha. In a move to question intelligence, I get punished without proof, based on a verbal accusation without basis. Nice. Not to fear, my lawyer has already been called, and the grievance with the Human Resources Dept and the City Council is already in the works. If that fails, then the lawyer gets to have a crack. Guilty until proven innocent.

Needless to say, I have been in a funk as of late. I have actually thrown my hands in the air at work yesterday and told them I no longer give a shit. Do what they want. I will show up, do my job as outlined, give 100% the entire time - but not one bit more than I have to. Maybe that is why I'm so drained. Pretty good deep blue funk. Or it could just be that I have been working everyday without a break, bouncing from fire to EMS and back again without a day off.

Did that today, went to EMS after coming off from the fire dept. I was beat to start, then we had some really bad storms roll through. We ran our asses off. I agreed to work today as a favor. I was supposed to be on a different medic unit, and my partner called out. I should have gone home. Nope - I agreed to work on another unit. Shoulda said no. Told them I needed to get off @ 6PM so I could go to the Squirt's first soccer practice of the year. Thanks to stupid people, doing stupid things, and calling 9-1-1 for stupid reasons, I was again late getting off and wound up missing the entire practice.

My personal life has to suffer, yet again, because some fucktard called 9-1-1 for the earache that's 3 weeks old, or the stubbed toe from last week, or the flu-like symptoms that have been going on for days. How much do I have to suffer, in the name of helping others, before I get to have a life? I talk to my wife in passing, or on the phone. We see each other occasionally now, because our schedules are opposite. I work and work and work, and still can't pay my bills. I see int he local paper that the city leaders are getting raises & bonuses - but I can't feed my family with 4 jobs. Ahhh.. public service. What's wrong with this picture? I'm beginning to resent those I am sworn to serve - because of stupidity and abuse of the system.

Update

2008-08-13T22:56:00.005-04:00

So, been two weeks since I had my wreck. Went to the beach for the weekend afterit happened. I did a pretty good job of puttin git out of my mind while we were there. We really did have a good time, a very relaxing weekend. Even before that incident, I needed a weekend off and a weekend away. I was fried.

After I got back, I had to face reality again. First, I went back to work and was cleared to work - my drug test was clean. Big surprise there. Then I was cleared to go back to driving status. Really didn't want to - but I also knew I needed to get back on that proverbial horse and ride on. So, back to work, back to driving I went. Still no word from EMS if it will affect me there. No news is good news, I guess. Not going to push it and / or remind them. Maybe I slipped through the cracks - fine with me. Found out what I already knew - I'm on my own. The city and the department aren't backing me at all. I have to fight it alone. I talked with the local lawyer, and got some insight. I have a meeting with him Monday.

Found out today that the city attorney is reccomending to the fire chief that I be suspended from driving - supposedly to protect me from any further potential problems, incident or litigation. Whatever. Nothing official yet, it was told to me on the down-low. It violates policy. Not going to worry about it until it happens.

Othe than that - just hanging out. The wife started her new job, and so far she loves it. She's still learning, and it's stressful, but she's doing well. She's dispatching for our county fire, rescue & sheriff. I listen to her on the radio all day, and she's better than some of the veterans we have. She doesn't believe me when I tell her, but I know she is.

Been working just about everyday trying to make as much as I can. Of course, we're just as tight as everyone else in the country with the gas prices and the prices of everything else because of the gas. Now we have the added cost of the lawyer.

Alright - enough of that crap. It'll all work out. Starting to depress myself. I get Monday & Tuesday off. Looking forward to that. I have to go to con-ed Monday morning, then have that meeting Monday afternoon. Tuesday - I get to stay home and do zilch. Hang out with the Squirt alone Tuesday. That'll be cool.

Bad JuJu

2008-08-01T00:26:00.003-04:00

Karma, fate, JuJu... call it what you want - I got a bad case of it today, and not in the good way. I was working at the fire department for another guy, he needed the shift off and I agreed to work for him. He's going to repay the favor next month when I need a day off. I didn't go so well.

He called me the other day to tell me that he was slated to go fill-in at another station for the day, and since I was working for him, that meant I had to go fill in at another station. Already, I wasn't thrilled. Then I found out I had to drive, and at that - one of the rescue trucks. One of the busiest companies in the city. Great.

So, I reluctantly packed up my gear and headed out this AM. I relieved the other guy working and put my gear on the rescue, checked the compartments real quick to see where everything was, then settled in for the shift. We ran the usual myriad of calls - nothing special.

Then we got dispatched to a house fire. Me and my partner hopped into the rescue and headed out. The 1st in engine reported heavy smoke was visible upon arrival. We continued on, and just before we got there, we were cancelled - they had the fire out. We headed back to the station. As we approached an intersection, I tried to stop. Key word being tried. I wasn't successful. The brakes went out on the truck and we couldn't stop. Luckily, the only car coming into the intersection was a cop, and he saw me and slowed down. I called the Battalion Chief & told him what happened, told him I was putting the truck out of service, and he advised me to take it right to the shop to be worked on. They couldn't get to it, so it would have to stay. We were going to have to ride on a reserve truck. We were picked up, taken to the reserve, and then back to the shop to get all our equipment off. After an hour and a half in the sun & the heat, we were done & headed for the station. The late afternoon thunder boomer came in - the rain was horrible. You couldn't see anything.

As we got close, we took a call to assist another engine. We were cancelled before we got there, and as I went to turn down the side street to go back to the station - I was involved in an accident. Depending on how you look at it, either I struck the car going through the intersection or the car going through the intersection struck us. Either way, I got a ticket, totaled his car, sent him & his son to the hospital and wrecked the fire truck. Shitty day, to say the least. And remember - I wasn't supposed to be working today.

I'm not done yet. I'm fighting the ticket. I had the turn signal, despite what the cop said and thinks. His witness was another cop, off-duty from another town. He said I didn't have the light. Yet, he was behind me in an unmarked patrol car - how could he see the light from behind a big ass fire truck? He's not listed on the report as a witness. No one else was in the intersection coming from the other way - so if he had the green light, why was there no other car from the other lane in the intersection hitting me? These questions and more will be brought up in court.

In the mean time, I was sent home tonight. I had to take a drug & alcohol test. My driving privileges at work have been revoked, and I can't return to work until the results from the tests come back. I also am facing the ticket & court costs. There is the possibility that the driver of the other car may sue the city & me as well. If the ticket isn't dropped, I will have an increase of my insurance, as well - and that I can't afford.

I was looking forward to a weekend away this weekend with the wife & kid and some of the guys from work down at the beach - I doubt I will enjoy myself now.

Damn bad juju.

Huh?

2008-07-15T22:14:00.002-04:00

Holy crap, the last couple weeks have been busy. I have not had a great deal of free time. I have been working just about every day, going back and forth from one job to the other. I haven't had time to read blogs, let alone write anything.

Sorry gang - life got in the way. My wife got a new job. Hopefully, I will be able to ease up a bit once she is trained up and working a regular schedule.

Still nothing on the new job for me. Have not heard back from them. I am giving them until tomorrow - and if I have not gotten a phone call or e-mail, I'm calling them. I e-mailed the guys 2 weeks ago, with no answer. I heard through the grapevine that I was there top pick, but they never called. I know they had a meeting last night, and I thought maybe they were waiting for that to make their offer - but still no word. I hate waiting - patience is not one of my strong suits.

Impatient

2008-06-30T12:45:00.001-04:00

Still no news on the new job. Still waiting. Been three weeks since I interviewed. I finally broke down and sent the Point of Contact an e-mail, asking if I was still being considered or if the position had been filled. That was Saturday - no answer on that either. Talk about frustration.

Knew I shoulda stayed in bed

2008-06-25T22:17:00.004-04:00

What a shitty week. Fighting with my wife, fighting with my kid. The chiefs at work are losing their minds. Implementing new policies or talking about new policies that have everyone pissed off and up in arms. Friends at each others throats and no longer friends - and I'm caught in the middle. Working every day. Broke as hell. George Carlin died - what a loss. Too busy fighting with my wife to have had sex - been weeks.

This sucks. Shit - almost out of bourbon too. Told you this week sucked.

Waiting Game

2008-06-12T16:05:00.002-04:00

I've never been very patient. I have evolved in a generation of technology, and despite having fought it, have become used to instant gratification, information, and knowledge. I want it my way, and right now.

I had my face to face interview Tuesday night. Now I wait. I was one of 4 people for the final round of interviews. I left there feeling OK, not good or bad - just kind of indifferent. Now, as I replay the interview in my head, I am second-guessing myself. I am wondering if I was aggressive enough, assertive enough. I went from having a good career that I love and not really wanting this job to deciding that this may be one hell of a career move for me and wanting this job. If for no other reason than it will be a hell of a challenge. But, I'm not sure I did well enough.

I don't know who else I'm up against. I don't know if they are done with their interviews yet. I know they had made a scheduling mistake and I was the only one to interview on Tuesday, when it was supposed to be two of us, and they accidentally scheduled three for Wednesday night. So, I don't know if they tried to do three last night or if they moved one..... I don't know when they will contact those of us that are not being made an offer to say thanks, but no thanks. I don't know when they will contact the individual they want to make an offer to.

I hate waiting.

Close Call

2008-06-07T15:38:00.003-04:00

I was on my way to work at the city yesterday, and I had a near-death experience. I was riding my bike, enjoying the weather. Not a cloud in the sky, sun was up and warm, but not too hot yet. Beautiful riding weather. As with much of the country, we're in a heat wave and it wouldn't take long before it was no longer a nice morning but too damn hot.

I was behind a Ford F-250 diesel, Harley Davidson Edition with a 4-door cab...... big ass truck. I made the turn off the boulevard and the F-250 took the left lane and I took the right lane. I was passing the female driver, when I caught a glimpse of a silver car over her hood cutting across the 2 lanes of stopped traffic going the other way& waiting for the light to turn. The silver car cut right out in front of the F-25o, she began to swerve right, I was right next to her. I had enough time to think - "Awe, shit! This is gonna hurt!"

I jumped on the brakes hard, but she was coming over too fast, I tried to dodge right to go for the curb and land in the grass, but the front wheel caught and went hard left. I figured this was it, it was fun while it lasted. Just as the bike started wobbling hard and going left and I thought I would lay it down & get run over, I remembered what an experienced rider taught me about when you start losing control of your bike. He told me if it wobbles & you're gonna lose it, get off the brakes, get on the throttle & the bike will stand back up and go straight. So, I did. I got off the brakes and gunned the throttle. Damn if that bike didn't stand straight up and head straight and thanks to my loud pipes, she heard & then saw me, and she dodged back left into her own lane.

I looked over as I passed her, and she had a look of sheer horror & terror on her face with one hand covering her mouth. She then put her hand down and I could read her lips as she mouthed "I'm Sorry". I waved and went past, only to come to a stop another 250 yards down the road at a traffic light.

She pulled up behind me, jumped out of her truck and ran up to me. "I'm so sorry, Are you OK?" I assured her I was fine, shaken, but not stirred, and that I saw the other car cut her off and I knew it wasn't her fault. She continued to apologize to me, telling me that she & her husband ride as well ( I kinda figured from the truck) and that she was glad I was ok, then threw her arms around my neck and gave me a huge hug before running back to her truck because the light had changed. Off we went, one last wave as we both entered the expressway and she passed me. Off into the morning light, probably never to meet again.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't still a little rattled when I got to work, and for the 1st time since I've owned my bike, I was happy to get off it.

In other news, the prospective job. Well.... the unthinkable has happened. Apparently, the really liked my resume, because I was one of 6 finalists chosen to take part in a phone interview. Then I got notified they liked what they heard in the phone interview, and they want me as one of what I am guessing is 3 finalists for face to face interviews. I never expected this. Now i have to really start to seriously consider if I want to accept this job. Part of me really does, and part of me really is unsure. I have some serious questions to ask them, and myself by the end of next week.

I am past my narrow brush with death now, but a bit wiser. I don't think I will ever pass anyone on the right ever again. And we have a ride scheduled for tomorrow with about a dozen friends to head to the beach for lunch, then back to our house for poker night. I'm feeling lucky - wanna buy in to the game?

Return to reality

2008-06-01T22:42:00.002-04:00

So, vacation was very needed! I didn't realize just how stressed out I had been. Driving 600 miles each way may not seem like a rest for many of you, but for me - it was heaven.

I got to enjoy the scenery, talk to my wife and the Squirt, and with each mile that passed - I was one mile further from work, aggravation, headaches, bitching patients, whiny administrators and all career-related responsibilities.

Once we arrived, it was a whirl-wind of activity. We made very good time on the road Friday, arriving before dinner, which was burgers & dogs at my mother-in-law's. We then settled into the hotel room and got some rest.

Saturday morning found us up & out early back to the house. The whole immediate family was gathering to head to the family-owned piece of property where the annual Memorial Day Weekend camping trip takes place. So, we loaded up and drove about an hour & a half south-ish. We had intended to stay the day & head back to the hotel around dinner. We got to the property, and the extended family was already there & firmly in camping mode. The 4-wheelers were out, the boats in the water, fire burning, etc, etc. They have about 40 acres that once upon a time was used for strip-mining coal (though you'd never know it today!). The have 2 ponds on the property and trails for the 4-wheelers, and hunting blinds. It's great. A couple hours in, the family got the best of my wife, and talked her into staying the night. Now mind you, we didn't bring a stitch of camping gear with us, because when we left home we had not planned on staying overnight at the property. Off to the nearest Wal-Mart I went (25 miles away). I got a tent, sleeping bags, air mattress & pump. We'd wing the rest. On the way back - stopped by a State Trooper for speeding. I was behind a pick-up truck and we both were doing 70 in a 55. Whoops! Sometimes, being a fireman helps out - and he let me off with a warning, but the other guy got a ticket! So, we stayed the night, my Squirt's first camping trip. She loved it! To me, it was well worth the money I didn't have to spend on the tent and stuff.

Sunday, we got up and ate, and broke camp and headed for the hotel around noon. We decided to clean up & get a nap and meet her family for dinner around 6:30. After dinner, we headed back to the house & we played poker with her brothers & their girlfriends until around 1AM, before heading back to the hotel.

Monday, we got to the house late morning, just in time for her mother's HUGE breakfast. You name it, she cooked it. Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, pancakes, home fries... I thought I died & went to Denny's! After stuffing ourselves, we hung out at the house most of the day, then her brothers & her uncle & I went to play a round of Golf while the girls went shopping. Her mom made dinner that night - Pasta. Another incredible meal and I had to be rolled off the table.

Tuesday, we went up to Cleveland. I went to the fire museum during the day with my wife, while the Squirt went with her aunt to get their nails done. After that, we met up for dinner near the ballpark, and then we all went to the ballgame. We got to see the Indians beat the White Sox. Now, I'm a Yankee fan, but for this occasion, I was a wig-warmer. It was a really good game, but a bit chilly that night.

Wednesday found us running a few errands in the morning, then we went back to Cleveland to have a late lunch / early dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant. Holy Crap!!!!! Being Italian, from a big Italian family that loves to cook & eat, I know a thing or two about food. Lemme tall ya - this was some of the best damn Italian food I've ever had at a restaurant outside the New York / New Jersey area. Once again - they had to roll me off the table.

After we gorged, we headed to a specialty grocery store where I was in heaven. Oh, the food I could have bought! Her mom bought a few things for us, and we managed to kill at least 2 hours wandering the isles. Then we headed back to the house to relax. Later, we went back to the hotel to pack.

Thursday morning found the trip to an end, as we loaded up, said our good-byes and drove home. Once again, we did very well on time & made it home earlier than I had expected. We unloaded and collapsed. I need a vacation from my vacation!

VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-22T23:00:00.002-04:00

Sorry gang, have not been around here much, because I have been working just about every day leading up to my vacation. Finally - I get outta here for a week. I need it. I had 2 patients call in complaints on me this week.... silly me, I thought my job was to carry there butt to and from, not kiss it.

Anyway - we're leaving Oh-Dark thirty tomorrow morning, heading to visit the wife's family. I can't wait to see how much it's gonna cost me in gas..... friggin' $4.00 a gallon.

See you all when we get back!

Disbelief

2008-05-16T22:05:00.002-04:00

Holy crap! I really don't believe it. The job I applied for as Chief of Department.... well - they have contacted me and they want to interview me. I had written it off. I hadn't heard anything in the time frame they said to expect, so I figured I was not in the running. That was OK with me, I had accepted it. Part of me didn't really think I would get a call.... I still find it hard to believe I am qualified. Then I checked my e-mail.... and there it was. I still don't believe it.

2008-05-10T20:44:00.000-04:00

For all you moms out there......

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!

A little this, and a little that.

2008-05-10T20:18:00.005-04:00

I love this commercial! It's so true. Some day, I'm gonna run for office, and when I do - this will be my platform; Firefighters get stuff done. We don't screw around, we identify the problem, decide on an action plan, utilize strategies & tactics, and GET IT DONE!

Yikes! What a week. Been busier than a 1 legged man in an ass kicking contest. Finding time to write is getting harder & harder. Between my regular shifts at the city, working EMS and teaching at night - I'm gone for 2 days at a time, working something like 38 or 40 hours at a stretch. Looking forward to Memorial Day and my vacation. We're heading North to visit the wife's family for about a week.

That back is good. Our massage therapist friend did a wonderful job, and had me back on my feet the next day. I managed to get outside Monday afternoon and work around the yard a bit, and that actually made it feel better by stretching everything out. So, I've been riding almost everyday - ok, it's mostly back & forth to work, but at least I get to ride a bit.

So, I've been working my butt off this week, but off tomorrow for Mother's Day. The whole family is coming over to my house tomorrow after church and my brother & I are cooking dinner for Mom, my wife & his wife. Should be a good day.

Had a wild week of calls. The average person never ceases to amaze me. The reasons they call 9-1-1 often astonish me, however. Let's see.... there was the call for chest pains that turned out to be a sore throat, and yes - they wanted to go to the hospital for it by ambulance. The grandmother who overdosed on NSAID Pain meds because she was depressed over her grand-daughter getting pregnant in an attempt to kill herself.... my question was WHY?!?!?! Is killing yourself going to un-pregnate your grand-daughter? Then there was the call for the dogs locked in the car. Helpful hint here folks - leave the dogs home when you go shopping. No need to bring them to the store and leave them in the car while you shop so some nosey old woman can call 9-1-1 about "The poor doggies locked in the car with the windows only cracked and panting all over the place". The ducklings stuck in the electrical conduit pipe was a recent favorite. Along with the kittens in the storm drain. The water main break at the apartment building that we had to sit and babysit from 4 AM until 6AM. The guy being arrested for 2 pounds of drugs in his car that thought that passing out would prevent him from going to jail..... the list could go on almost for ever.

Is it time for my vacation yet?

Pain

2008-05-05T13:43:00.002-04:00

It turned out to be a weekend off. Wasn't supposed to be. I was supposed to be teaching Saturday all day, then working EMS Sunday night. I was already off Friday. I ran some errands and took care of some stuff around the house. I took the wife & the Squirt to the motorcycle shop that evening and got them both helmets.

The class got cancelled since there was not enough people. So now I had Friday, Saturday & daytime Sunday off. Since I was free Saturday, I agreed to go to the annual firefighters memorial ceremony at the state capitol with the fire department honor guard. Apparently, we couldn't get our shit together, so we didn't go. Instead, I got up with several other firefighters & we all rode our motorcycles there and back for the ceremonies.

When I came back in the afternoon, the Squirt was over at my parents house for the night, so I took the wife out on the bike to go to dinner. It was her first time on the bike - she loved it.

Sunday morning we went to church, then home. I decided to take the Squirt out for a bit on the bike to spend some time alone with her. We rode across the county and stopped for ice cream. On the way back, I pulled something - bad. I could barley move my back hurt so bad, and it took all I had in me to make it home. It hurt so bad, I couldn't take a deep breath. I had to call out of work Sunday night. I made it into the bed, and couldn't move.

My wife called a friend of our who is a massage therapist. She came down and worked on my back for a little while, showing my wife what to do. That, combined with the heating pad & rest - well, I was laid up all night, but today... I'm up and moving. Not 100%, but I'm up and moving. Hopefully I will make it through the class I am supposed to teach tonight.

New Horizons?

2008-05-02T12:07:00.002-04:00

So, I've applied for a new job. I have my doubts & reservations. I'm still amazed I meet the qualifications. Am I really ready for this step? Can I really do it? Should I take the leap, accept the challenge ..... or play it safe? Can I really put the hose down? Oh, don't worry - it's still a fire department job. Just a different department, and not as a firefighter - but as the Chief of Department.

It's a smaller department, with both paid & volunteer firefighters. I'm not sure if this a newly created paid position as Chief, or if they are looking for a change in their leadership. Either way, it would give me a challenge, and the chance to take a department and mold it the way I want to see things done for a change, instead of having to always do what I'm told.

I'm still nervous about it though. Should I give up the security I have with the city. All the years I have in, the seniority, the benefits. But if I am offered this position, it is a substantial raise in pay. It means moving about an hour from where I am now. I wouldn't want to try & commute, even if I could. I will need to be close to the town, so I am available all the time.

I guess time will tell.

Wild Hogs

2008-04-28T14:00:00.002-04:00

The wife & rented Wild Hogs the other night. We had never seen it, and it seemd fitting now. Well, we laughed our asses off. What a funny movie, even if it was a wee bit close to home! There were several times when sje looked at me and asked if that was me. Ummmm... no, sorry!

Ok - so as I said, I survived the motorcycle ride. It was fun, but not so sure I will do that again.

Around 200 bikes in formation going about 125 miles to the beach. Impressive site going through some small towns, where the folks came out to wave as we went by. However, being in that close of formation is tough. You can't keep a constant speed - we were constantly having to adjust throttle. We almost had one bike go down, and that was my friend, due to grandpa deciding to run up in the middle of the pack in his car and refuse to move back over.

I actually had more fun on the ride home with just me and my buddy and one other rider that we caught up with on the road, the 3 of us rolling together back to the city. That was better because we were able to get up to speed & stay there, stretch out on the road & just enjoy the scenery & sites and just ride. But, like I said, it was for charity and worthwhile.

I did, however, get a wee bit too much sun and am paying for it. My arms are red, and my face looks like a cross between a lobster & a raccoon! We rolled out of my house aroun 0730 for the 0800 line-up for the ride. I got home around 12 hours later,a nd was falling asleep in the recliner by 9:30! I was tired. Probably the combination of the heat and the riding and the couple beers when we got back. Oh yeah, and SORE!!!! Holy crap! I had soreness in places I didn't know I had places!

So, when's the next ride????

What a ride!

2008-04-27T06:35:00.003-04:00

Had a great time, made it home in one piece. My friend almost laid his bike down (scared the hell outta me!) but he saved it somehow. It was a fun ride, but not sure I will do it again. Easily 200 bikes, and that close together - well, you get the idea. It was an impressive site going down the road, though! We did about 250 miles yesterday, I'm sunburned as hell, and still can't hear worth a shit outta my right ear. I'm on my way to work, I'll fill in the details soon as I can!

I'm here.....

2008-04-25T21:54:00.003-04:00

Hey gang -

Sorry I have been scarce this past week. Busy doesn't even begin to describe it. In case anyone was really wondering about me, I am alive & kicking. I'm actually going on a charity motorcycle ride tomorrow. Hopefully, I will get back early enough & not be too tired so that I can get caught up with everyone, and get you caught up with me.

Until then.... TTFN!

I'm just an ambulance driver........

2008-04-14T15:25:00.002-04:00

I am Just an ambulance driver, you say as I am on the scene of a vehicle accident that has a popular high school student that is trapped in the submedged S.U.V. in the creek as I'm standing in chest deep water, freezing rain falling and stinging as it hits the exposed parts of my body. Holding her head above water to keep her from drowning until rescue could get there to cut her free---BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

I comfort a 89 year old woman who just watch me and my partner cover the face of her husband of 64 years as he lay dead in their bathroom floor---BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

I am on scene at another MVA with mom trapped upside down in her car and her dead sons body laying on top of her without a second thought for my own safety I crawl into the wreckage to take C-spine control and calm the frantic lady---BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

I get called away from my just prepared meal to respond to the middle of B.F.E to a house with no numbers, no porch light on, nobody waiting to signal us in, and they bitch because we took too long only to find out the patient left in their own vehicle ten minutes ago...so we smile and walk away from the verbal lashing only because we are JUST AMBULANCE DRIVERS

I stand in the middle of the street at midnight on the wrong side of town trying to patch the holes and stop the bleeding of a 19 year old shooting victim with the occasional bullet wizzing past our heads, we never break stride because this kids life is in our hands---BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULNCE DRIVER

Or how 'bout doing chest compressions on a 16 year old girl who decided this life was more than she could take. Her family screaming at us to help as though we are the ones who did this to her. Her lifeless body flailing about as the tube goes in and IV's being started, my arms and back burning from the pain of 30 minutes of CPR never once giving up, hoping she would make it through and over come whatever lead her to this bad decision----BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

Death is all around me and still I go home to live my life
I get kicked, hit, spit on, bled on, puked on, cussed at and disrespected...
I look into the eyes of a lifeless child at 7am and by 8 am i'm holding my child a little tighter and they know nothing about what happened.
I have hundreds of hours of classroom time
Years of in the field experience
I have challenged death and won.
I've helped the helpless
I've neglected my family for yours
I find comfort in complete chaos
I eat cold meals if I eat at all
I work with no sleep for days at a time
I miss birthdays, holidays and school functions
I put myself in harms way for a total stranger on a daily basis......ALL BECAUSE I AM JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

I am an ambulance driver..... I drive 90 MPH through congested traffic, full of people who refuse to yield the right-of-way, while my partner stands unrestrained in the back of this screaming land-missle, saving your loved one's life. Never once does he question my driving, he knows that at the end of the shift, he will go home to his family safely because.... I am an ambulance driver.

Politics

2008-04-12T21:57:00.005-04:00

Don't know what your views are regarding politics. For those readers that are from outside the U.S. - won't mean much to you or affect you. Probably don't care. For everyone else - well, I have the following policy; You have your views, I have mine. I'll respect you and not try to change your views - I ask the same in return. That being said..... I am member of the "Vast right-wing conspiracy" was a phrase used by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1998 in defense of her husband President Bill Clinton and his administration during the Lewinsky scandal, characterizing the Lewinsky charges as the latest in a long, organized, collaborative series of charges by Clinton's political enemies.

Regardless of your political views..... The following is funny, I don't care who you are (to quote Larry the Cable Guy).....

The title is; "If Obama Wins"

Twenty-Four

2008-04-12T16:47:00.004-04:00

24. One of my all-time favorite shows. But today, 24 has a new meaning for me. It has been 24 days since I quit dipping. The supposed experts say if you can go 21 days without it, you are free of the addiction properties of the tobacco ...... I say in the immortal words of Col. Sherman Potter - Pigeon Pellets!

I still want a dip. Miss it like crazy. Not just the physical effects from the nicotine, but the feeling of having it in my lip, the taste, the texture, the smell. I'm still crabby & edgy as hell - I could gnaw the leather off a seat cushion. Grrrrr.......

Thinking back, I don't even remember how I started doing it. Why I tried it, or who suggested I try it. I'd like to remember who gave me my first dip so I can go smack them in the back of the head. Close to 12 years of use. Let's see..... if you figure an average of 5 cans (1 roll) a week, at a cost of roughly $20.00 a roll, over 12 years - that comes out to .......... HOLY CRAP! $12,480. 00 I coulda bought a car! What a monumental waste of money. Still.... something that I did for over 4300 days, it's not realistic to think the habit will be broken in only 24 days, right?

We're not even gonna talk about weight gain. I haven't stopped eating since I quit. I am afraid to see how much I've packed on - but I can see a difference in the mirror. Yikes! Gang, I've always been on the heavy side, despite my career. But now..... well, let's just say I really gotta get my rear in gear.

So, when does it get easier?

running for the can.....

2008-04-07T22:34:00.005-04:00

It's been a rough few days. Not work wise - that's been easy, I've been off! No, domestically. Things have been a little rough around the house. Truthfully, it started about a week ago. It got bad, to the point we were yelling at each other over the phone & hanging up on each other. Then, when I did get home, it was like being in an elevator with a stranger - afraid to speak or move. Unsure what would happen if you did - for both of us.

We continued to scrap at each other for a few days, then finally made up Saturday night. I was supposed to go riding Saturday with some friends. The weather sucked. Rainy & cold. Oh, how I could have solved the drought issues months ago, had I only known! So, instead, I joked to my wife that since I was home, the weather was awful, and the Squirt could not play outside either, let's go rent some movies, get some adult beverages, and veg all day. Her argument was that come dinner time, if she has been drinking, she wouldn't want to cook. OK - Frozen lasagna to the rescue! And a plan was formed and away we went to the Wally World & the liquor store.

I went to get my bourbon.... she usually drinks those foo-fooey Smirnoff Ice things. We had several in the fridge, so I thought she was set. She surprised me by telling me to get her something new in the liquor store, something different. OK. I went browsing, leaving them in the truck.

I got my bourbon.... and walked around looking for something for her. Then it caught my eye. Absinthe. We had watched a show on the History Channel several months ago about this mysterious drink. Said to have psychogenic & hallucinogenic properties. It had been banned since the early 1900's around the world, but it was making a come-back, legally. A slight variation in the distillation process took care of those 'harmful' properties. Right. It's still 110 proof - good shit!

When I came out and showed her what I found, she grinned and giggled. She was curious about it, as was I. Neither of us had ever had it before. So, it was going to be interesting. We got some movies, mostly for us, Shooter & The Bourne Ultimatum, and a family one as well, Meet the Robinsons. Then went home, it was lunchtime. She had something to eat, not wanting to drink on an empty stomach. After she ate, she asked me to make her a drink, which I did. Interesting flavor, tasted a little like sambuca. She liked it, alot. At $40 a fifth, thankfully she only can handle 2 drinks over several hours. She said it kicked her butt.

We all watched Meet The Robinsons together after dinner, it was hysterical! Not sure who liked it more, me, the wife or the Squirt. After the movie, put the Squirt to bed & we watched Star Wars on TV before deciding to go pass out.

I woke this morning following a weird dream. I was at a shopping mall, 50 miles away. I went back to my truck to find the rear window smashed out and the truck looted. My ipod, computer, radio, etc, all gone. The glove box emptied out - they even took the registration! I called the cops to file a report, and waited. My wife woke me up, ending he dream.

She told me she was going to pick up a friends kid that she was going to watch today. OK, I rolled over & went back to sleep. The dream started again, right where I left off. I called the cops, and waited. And waited. And waited. After waiting for like 3 hours for a cop to show up, I went back inside to call again. They told me they were lost & couldn't find me. I gave them directions as to where I was, they finally found me. We went back out to my truck - now the whole truck was gone. They came back & stole the whole damn truck! I again was woken up by my wife, to tell me she was back. Thanks! saved me from this damn dream. Hell with it, I'm getting up!

Today sucked, weather wise, that is. I was gonna go ride again today before I had to come to work tonight, but Nooooooooo. No cooperation from mother nature. I will be tied up tomorrow and unable to ride, therefore it should be beautiful!

I had to take the day off to take my wife to the doctor. The doc is doing a 'procedure' on her. You know what that means, right? Something un-natural will be done to the body in the name of medicine & science. Right. This time, it's to figure out why she's having so much trouble with her stomach. All the tests they have run yielded no answers. So, now the doc wants to place a camera in an area that no camera should go, to see what he can see. To do this, they will sedate her first. So I have to drive her to & from.

She's been prepping all afternoon. No solid food, only clear liquid diet. Taking an emetic to 'clean her out'. Poor thing has been running for the bathroom every 15 minutes. I do not envy her.

Tomorrow ought to be fun.

Rain, Rain and more Rain

2008-04-05T16:46:00.003-04:00

Ok, so we've been in the worst drought in recorded history here for close to a year. I buy a motorcycle...... and it hasn't stop friggin' raining for days!!!!!!

Yes, I realize we need the rain, and believe me, I am thankful for it. But ....... all at once????????? Holy Crap! I wanna get out and ride!!! I was supposed to go on a poker run today.... NOT! Raining since last night... raining all day. Not supposed to stop till tomorrow morning.

The wife & I decided on the next best thing. We got an easy dinner from the store, a couple movies, went to the liquor store and came home. Decided to stay inside all day playing games & watching movies with the Squirt.

Maybe I'll get out tomorrow for a ride.

Live to ride, ride to live.......

2008-03-30T09:35:00.005-04:00

I survived my first day on a motorcycle in over 15 years! I forgot how much fun that was. My wife dropped me off at around 10:00 to get it. He gave me the rundown of what he did, went over the basics of the bike & what was where and so forth. We cranked it up and let it warm up. It was cold yesterday.

On Friday, I was sitting at work damn near in tears because it was 80 degrees and sunny & an absolutely PERFECT day to ride. But the weather forecast was not looking good for Saturday. A front came through Friday night that dropped the temps to a daytime high yesterday of only 57, and that was at 8:00 in the morning, it got colder during the day. It was around 54 when I picked the bike up, and I think around 50 when I went home.... much later in the day.

I rode off from my friends house, who apparently had no hard feelings about my objections to his bill, especially since I paid him (borrowed) cash. He lives in the city, pretty close to my station in fact. I headed back towards my house. So, about a 25 minute ride, stopped to fill up the tank, then went over to get Tommy. He was supposed to go with me to pick it up, but he overslept. So, I told him I would come back & get him.

Got to his house, he was ready to go. I was cold as hell. I had 3 layers of sweatshirts on, jeans & insulated leather boots - still cold. Told him we needed to swing back by my house so I could take the old tag off & put the new one on & get my registration & insurance card in the bike. Home we went. Did all that, also got a hat to wear under my helmet, changed a layer of sweatshirt to a heavier one & got a bandanna to cover my face.

Of we went. It was better, but still brisk. We stopped over a friends house, he was lounging in front of the TV with his girlfriend, in fact I think we woke him up as we pulled in. We BS'd with him for a while then decided to head back into the city to have a beer at Hooters.

By this point, I was getting better with the throttle & the turns, I was a bit rusty. Still am, but getting better. We made it to Hooters in one piece and headed in. The waitress was cute & sweet and thought we were nuts for riding on such a cold day, but admired the bikes. We even got a few customers that were checking them out while we were inside and came over to tell us they admired them. That was cool. I still think his is nicer, it's a Harley - way out of my price league right now, but I still love mine!

The Squirt was out with my mom for the day, and they called me to see where I was. they were shopping right down the road and wanted to come by & see the bike. OK, they did. Well, the Squirt called my wife to tell her she was coming to see me & the bike at Hooters. That prompted a call from her upset because I was there...... without her! She's wasn't mad I was there, just that I didn't bring her with me. So, I told her to get in the truck & come down to have lunch with us. She thought I was kidding, didn't want to intrude on 'guys time'. So, Tommy got on the phone & told her to come down. She did. We waited till she got there to order, then had lunch.

We talked about the temperature out, and the fact that I really needed to get some leathers, but the local bike shops didn't have a great selection and they were way over-priced. He commented that he got his at Wilson's Leather. I thought for a minute - Hey, there's one of those in the mall, isn't there? Yup. Let's head over and check it out.

After we were done eating, we headed over. Holy Crap!!! They're closing half the stores in the country, including this one. Everything in the store is 70% off. I got a pair of chaps, normally $240 for $80 and a leather jacket normally $210 for $80. What a friggin' deal! So, broke out the credit card and away we went.

Needless to say, the ride home was much warmer now that I had leathers, what a difference! We stopped at a local watering hole for a while and hung out. Probably stayed an hour or so, and decided to head home. It wasn't getting any warmer and it was getting late. We stopped back by our friends house, the same one we were at earlier in the day for a short while. We were just about to leave when Tommy's wife called. The wife of another one of our friends on the fire department had a flat tire near the county line, had a carload of kids, and needed help changing the tire. We geared up and headed out. Got to the place she was at, and as we pulled in, I noticed the rear tire on Tommy's bike was about flat. When we stopped, I told him, and he said he was feeling it as we came down the road. We took care of the car tire, then checked his tire on the bike. We weren't too concerned because he knew he had a very slow leak in it, so we figured it just aired down over the day. As I went to put air in it for him, I could hear the air hissing out - Uh oh. We found it. There was a nail hole in the tire. Crap. No riding that home.

I got back on my bike & headed for the house. Hitched my trailer to the truck and headed back to to get him. Loaded his bike on the trailer & took him home. Then I finally made it home. It was a long day.

Then sat and watched a movie with the family last night before putting the Squirt to bed & spending some quality time with my wife. All in all - a good day.

Friendship?

2008-03-28T10:10:00.003-04:00

When you least expect it, you get bit in the ass.

So, everyone knows just how excited I have been to get my bike this week, and that I have been looking forward to tomorrow when I can pick it up from my friend, who has had it all week doing a tune up and what-not on it. I get a call from him yesterday afternoon telling me it's all ready to go, ran down a list of stuff he did to it, and come get it Saturday morning, bring $250.00 with me.

HUH?!?!?! How much???? I was so caught off guard, I just agreed and ended the conversation. It bothered me all afternoon & last night. I mean, I don't mind paying for services, but damn. He's a fellow fireman, a union brother at that. I was under the impression he would charge me what it cost him in parts if any, and fluids. I didn't think he was going to hit me with hours & hours of labor. It's not like he does this for a living, he has a garage behind his house where he tinkers on his bikes.

So, last night, I sent him an e-mail, basically telling him that I was strapped this week (which I am), and that I must have misunderstood him regarding the price when we talked about him doing it, and I would pay him next week if that was OK. He responded politely, but sternly, telling me all that he did to it, that any dealership would have charged double that for the service he did, and I could come get the bike next week when I had the cash, not check, to pay him.

Now, I'm fuming. Oh, hell no. There is no way I'm letting my friend hold my bike hostage. I think not. I have been pissed about this all morning at work. I'm at EMS today, at my combination department. One of my friends, who I got into the fire service, trained & helped get hired here full-time was talking to me about it. She agreed it was BS and walked away. About 30 minutes later, she walked up to me and handed me a check for $250.00, told me not to give her any crap, we're family , and pay her back when I can. Damn.

You really do find out who your friends are.

Blissful Boredom

2008-03-27T15:51:00.004-04:00

Not much exciting has been going on, so I guess that is a good thing - right? started 4-day break from the fire department today, and working EMS today & tomorrow, teaching class tonight. I have Saturday & Sunday off (How the hell did that happen???)

Was a quiet week at the fire department, nothing major happened on our shift in our area. We ran the usual 'routine' emergency calls, but nothing serious.

Was on a woods fire with the volunteer department the other day that got a little hairy for a time. Wound up being close to 10 acres by the time we got it controlled, but it ran fast, almost over-ran me and another guy in the brush truck, and burned up 4 or 5 cars. We managed to keep it away from the houses, though. I got nervous for a minute, didn't think we were gonna stop it.

So, like I said, off Saturday - going to take the bike out to ride during the day. Looking forward to that! Been waiting all week to get it back from the shop and have a day off when I could go ride.

Other than fighting a bad head cold, that's about it. Pretty boring week, actually. Sometimes boring can be good!

Changes

2008-03-21T15:00:00.007-04:00

Well, going through a few changes in life. After about 10 years, I am tobacco free..... again. I quit dipping Skoal Wednesday afternoon. Now, that being said, I'm NOT giving up my cigars. I only have those maybe once a week, so they're staying. I'm ready to kill someone. Ugghhhhh.....

Now the other biggie - I bought a motorcycle. Quitting the tobacco was part of the leverage I used to get her reluctant agreement to buy it. The money I save on the dip & the gas by riding to work will pay for itself. Wanna see?

Went and picked it up this morning. Brought it over to my budies house so he can give it a tune up & change all the fluids. It's been sitting for over a year without being run, so it needs a bit of TLC. Trust me when I tell you I got it for a song - way, way, way below what it's worth. The guy just wanted to get rid of it since he hasn't had time to ride in so long.

Happy Birthday to........

2008-03-20T16:18:00.002-04:00

Hey - it's Mr. Rogers Birthday today. I can remember sitting & watching him as a kid. Then, I thought it was a great show - now I look back and wonder a little bit about him. Then I got to thinking.......

There were many urban legends about Mr. Rogers over the years. Like he was drug addict, a former Marine Sniper and even a child molester. Maybe I should check?

All I could find about him was that he was a Presbyterian minister (Hardly a felony) and made the show generations of kids adored.

If you'd like to read more about him, check out Snopes.com for some info on Mr. Rogers.

Turns out, he was just a kind-hearted, decent, gentle man who tried to educated children & parents alike on many things from attitudes to manners. What a shame we lost him.

If you'd like, check out the website dedicated to his show, here.

Do I really make a difference?

2008-03-20T14:12:00.003-04:00

There are days, where the monotony & the repetition just seem to go on forever. It's the same thing day in & day out. Of course, not with firefighting. No - those are the days I am working on a transport unit for EMS. These are non-emergency (usually) patients that we take to doctors appointments, dialysis treatments, hospital exams, etc, etc. Whenever the patient can't get there themselves, of the family or caregiver is unable to transport them, we take them by ambulance.

This gets old, quick. Some days are not as bad as others. But there are certain, set days that a majority of our dialysis patients go for treatment, and we get hammered. We run our tails off trying to get them all done.

Normally, when I'm on the transport trucks, I'm tired. I usually don't really want to be there, but it's a paycheck. I always do my job right, but on those days I'm doing those boring, routine transfers...... I may tend to do it with a little less enthusiasm.

The other day was one of those days. It was routine after routine after routine. We get to know the patients, especially the dialysis ones, because we carry them 3 times a week for treatment. I got a call to pick up a regular, but something wasn't right. It was the wrong day. Miss T goes Mon, Wed, Fri..... why are we picking her up on Tuesday? Then they gave the address to transport to - a doctors office. Ok - new doctor. Probably wants to check Miss T out and see if her meds need adjusting or anything like that.

We got to Miss T's apartment and went in to get her. She's lost more weight. Since I've known her, she's been small, but now she's frail & brittle. Only in her 50's. Her various medical conditions are really eating away at her body. She can no longer stand or walk. Less than 6 months ago, she could. She's so light, I can pick her up alone, which I do. I scoop her up from her sitting position, and she winces in pain. I try and be gentle, but she's so frail. I gently place her on the stretcher, get her positioned just right so that the pain she is in everyday is bearable for her. Then we get her coat, hat & gloves (she's always cold). We get her keys, and help the home health nurse to lock up the apartment. Then we loaded her up and took her to the doctor.

It was a new doctor, her first visit as a new patient. They were going to try and manage her pain. The receptionist told us it would take about 2 hours. We gave her the phone number to call us back when done, and they would send a crew to get Miss T. We made her as comfortable as possible in the wheel chair and then left.

We got called to several different places, and then a couple hours later, I heard them sending another transport unit to go get Miss T and take her home. I was just about done with the report from the last patient I had transported. I told the dispatcher on the radio that I'd take that call and we went to get Miss T.

Once again, her arms around my neck, I scoop her up out of the wheelchair and onto the stretcher. We head for home. We chat about her doctors visit. She hopes the medicine he prescribed will help her. I look. If the idea is to stop the pan, it should. He gave her methadone for the pain and then an anti-nausea medicine. I asked her how she was going to get them, knowing she's bed-ridden. She didn't know. She thought she could send the nurse down to drop them off, but being that the other is a narcotic, they probably won't let her pick it up.

Not to mention the nurse left when we did earlier in the day, and it would take some time for her to get back that afternoon. I called the supervisor & explained the situation. Normally, we go from point A to point B without deviation or exception. In this case, he gave me the go ahead to stop at the pharmacy which was right down the street from her apartment to see what I could do. When I went in with the prescriptions & spoke to the pharmacist, she knew the patient well. I don't think she realized her condition had gotten so bad that she was no longer able to walk, and when I explained all the details, she said it would be no problem to have the nurse pick up the medications for her. I went back out to the bus and got in with the patient and told her what we had worked out, and you could see the relief on her face. She was really worried, not knowing how she would get her medicine.

Back at her apartment, brought her inside and gently scooped her off the stretcher once more and put her into bed. We got her all settled in before we left her alone for that time until her nurse got back. Then we headed out to the next call.

Maybe we do make a difference.

How far will it go?

2008-03-17T22:55:00.010-04:00

Anyone Remember these days??????

At the rate we're going, I'll be walking to work before long........

Identity Crisis

2008-03-14T23:10:00.004-04:00

Last night I went on a call that bugged me. It wasn't the type of call that had blood and guts and gore that give bad dreams. Despite that, I lost sleep over the situation and couldn't shake the feeling that I, and my crew, had not done all we could, or the fixed the situation.

One of the things I am used to doing in my line of work, is bringing order from chaos. Last night, I don't feel that I did that.

We responded to a call for an assault subject. When we arrived, there was a bunch of cops at a local motel. We walked into the motel room, and were confronted with 3 people. The first, was a mid-forties woman, the mother. She was lying on the bed wearing sweats & a t-shirt. She told us that the girl had gone nuts and bit her several times. She had a small wound on her ankle, she told us that she had a wound on her breast (that thankfully she didn't try and show us and we didn't ask to see it), and then finally a large bite mark on her lower leg. The bite mark on her leg was already bruising, swollen and was obviously in the shape of human teeth. She also was intoxicated. The odor of alcohol was heavy in the room, despite the fact that there was no alcohol visibly present in the room.

Also in the room were 2 teenage girls. She identified them as her daughters, age 15 & 17. At first, mom didn't want to go to the hospital, but after talking to her and explaining to her that we could not fulfil her request for a tetanus shot right then & there, she decided that she wanted to go to the hospital by EMS. So, we got on the radio and called for a unit to respond. We tried to explain to her that when the ambulance got there, they would not be able to take her & both her daughters to the hospital. She got agitated and decided that if her teenage daughters couldn't go with her, she didn't want to go, because as she said, they were being thrown out of the room for the night and they had no where to go.

We asked the officers where the girl was that caused the injuries, and they told us she was in the hotel lobby. I asked if she was in custody, and they said no. That raised an eyebrow. If she assaulted this woman, why was she not in police custody?

We went to talk to her, to ensure she was not injured. After talking to her, we found out that the 4th individual, was in fact also the woman's daughter as well, the oldest in fact. The 23 year old woman told us what really happened. They all had driven into town from Florida to visit her brother who had just gotten back from Iraq. Mom didn't have much money, and the oldest daughter had driven her car, with her mom & sisters with her, paid for the trip and then mom went nuts on her after drinking & had attacked her. She also told us this was not the first time, and she was tired of it.

I tired to reason with the oldest daughter, explaining to her that despite all that had happened - they were still family and that was the most important thing. She simply didn't want mom going off on her again and attacking her again. She didn't want to see her sisters out on the street, and said they could stay, but she wanted mom out of the room, and since she paid for the room, she had that right. We talked for several minutes, and the oldest daughter agreed to talk to her mom again and try to work it out. She didn't want her mom & sisters out with nowhere to stay for the night.

So we walked back to the room, the cops all standing around while the mom & teenager daughters were packing up. The oldest daughter went in and I told the mom she wanted to talk to her. She never got the chance. The mom went off on her again, with a diatribe of filth and belligerent ranting that would have made a sailor blush. The mom told the other daughters to get their stuff and they were leaving. How she planned to get home or where they were going to go was up in the air, but she wasn't about to try and work through the problems.

We wound up leaving as the two teenage daughters and the mother walked down the sidewalk with suitcases in tow. I felt like a failure. I hated the fact that we were unable to solve the problem & get this family to put their differences aside for the night & stay together. We didn't bring order from chaos. I have no idea where they went, or how they would get home. I saw the pain in the eyes of the oldest daughter as they walked off before we left. I could see that she wanted to get past this, but her intoxicated, belligerent mother wasn't having any of it.

I went back to the station feeling as though we didn't do all we could. I went back to the bunk room to go back to bed, but couldn't sleep. I wound up tossing & turning for a long while before being able to go back to sleep.

Pleasant surprise

2008-03-10T13:29:00.003-04:00

So I drug myself out of bed this morning @ 0430. Got a shower & shaved and put on my EMS uniform, out the door by 0500. Headed for a 12 hour shift from 6-6. Got gas, at a horrific $3.18 a gallon and headed in.

Got to work about 20 till 6 this morning, and the supervisor looked at me with a quizzical look. "What are you doing here" he asked. "Uh, working 6-6 today" I answered. "Um, I don't think so. I thought you were taken off the schedule" was the reply. Now I was confused. We went and checked the schedule, and sure enough, one of the other supervisors had crossed me off the schedule for today and had someone else scheduled to work in my place, without ever telling me. "WTF?" I asked. He proceeded to apologize, if he had known he would have called me, etc, etc. I wasn't mad at him per say, since it wasn't his fault, but I was pissed nonetheless. I could have stayed in bed, not wasted the gas, and slept in this morning.

He asked me if I wanted to stay and see if anyone didn't come in or called out sick, or he could find a unit for me to ride on as a 3rd provider. "Hell, no. I could use the day off, but I hate to lose the money. I'm outta here, going home" I said. "Alright" he said, "I never saw you. See ya." and out the door I went and headed home.

Scared the hell out of my wife when I came in the door at 6:30, but she was happy to see me all the same. So, I got to wake the Squirt up this morning for school and see her off to the bus. Then we went back to bed together for a couple hours and enjoyed a leisurely morning.

I got up a couple hours later, ran a few calls with the volunteer department, we had brunch, and I got my truck washed. It needed it. Due to the water shortage, I have been putting off washing it for months, and it was disgusting. We finally got some decent rain this last week, and the reservoir levels are up and I figured I could expend just a bit of water to wash it. We have been really good about trying to conserve over the last 6 months or so.

So, I got an unexpected day off, and enjoyed not having to work. Nice change of pace for me. I do have to teach class tonight, but at least I didn't have to pull the original 18 hour day I thought I was going to have today, but I will have it tomorrow.

Now let's see if I can get caught up on some other blogs!

Here I am

2008-03-04T21:24:00.002-05:00

Ok - so I'm recovered! Actually, I have been better for a while now, but I had so much going on that I simply have not had the time to sit and write.

Quick recap. The flu knocked me on my butt for a couple days solid, then I had to push myself to get back in the saddle. I worked the fire department, EMS at both places, and taught classes at the academy non-stop until this weekend.

Something odd happened this weekend. I was off. For 4 whole days, can you believe it??????? I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somehow, when I got all my schedules for my part-time work, I wasn't scheduled to work anywhere over my normal 4-day break from the fire department. I wasn't about to argue, I sure as hell needed the time off.

That's not to say I didn't have things to do. I came off shift from the fire department on Friday morning and had to go downtown to do an honor guard detail for the department. I finished up there around 11 and headed home. Changed clothes and helped the wife set up the house for the invasion. My brother was home for the weekend and we were celebrating his birthday. The whole fam-damly came over for dinner. We ate, drank, laughed and generally had a good time.

Saturday morning I got up and tinkered in the yard after sleeping in a bit. I had to take down the Squirt's swing set, it was rotten and the wood was splitting. So, out came the chainsaw and down came the swing set. Onto the burn pile in the back part of the property it went. Then I lounged around the house watching TV. My wife commented that this is what normal people did on their days off..... Hmmm. Interesting. I had no idea!

Late in the afternoon, I responded to a rather large woods fire with my volunteer department. It screwed me up, since I was supposed to be at a recognition dinner for the head of the honor guard. We wound up getting there almost 2 hours late, and missed the dinner. I had just enough time to pay my respects & offer my well-wishes.

After that, we went out to dinner ourselves and then out to a tattoo parlor to shop for a design for the wife who decided after I got mine last year that she wants one. They were busy, and couldn't do it that night, so we'll have to go back. We went home and got some sleep.

Sunday morning found me skipping church (Yeah, I know) and out working in the yard. I needed to cut a line around the burn pile out in the back of the property. I had invited a couple friends over Sunday evening and we were gonna burn the pile. It turned into dinner for the 4 of us then burning the pile. Well, that changed too. Before I knew it, half my volunteer department showed up, with beer, and the pile got lit before dinner and what a fire! The pile of yard debris & other not-so-legal burnable items had accumulated over a year. This measured about 6 feet tall, 20 feet wide & 30 feet long. The flames were a solid 40 feet in the air. The pile actually burned much faster than I anticipated, and the added folks assembled for the make-shift bon fire / party got a bright idea.

I had 2 dead trees in the wood line that they decided needed to be cut down and added to the fire. So, they got out my chainsaw, and with some work, down came the trees. Onto the fire one went, the other still sits on the ground next to it, awaiting the next burn.

To say we all, myself included, drank too much Sunday night would be a grave understatement. I was hammered. I had to be up Monday morning for another honor guard function, the graduation ceremony of the new recruit firefighters from the academy that I had helped train. So, I drug my weary, hung-over ass out of bed and put on my dress uniform and away I went. I managed to get through it without screwing up and of the drill & ceremony.

After that, I went home, got the wife & we went to Wally World to grocery shopping. Another not so enjoyable experience with a raging hangover, but again, got through it. Afterwards, went home, unpacked and did some prep work. Then had a union meeting that night. Came home, spent some quality time with the wife and then to bed.

Back to work today. Oh joy, and so it goes.

So, that's the recap. One of these days, I swear, I will get caught up with what everyone else is doing!!! I'm still willing to accept donations for the "Help the poor fireman get an aircard fund" so I can get online & do stuff at work during the down time! LOL!

TTFN!

Recovery

2008-02-23T08:55:00.003-05:00

Alright, so I am still alive and all but recovered from my bought with the flu. Holy Crap! It really is frightening that a little bug can knock you on your ass so effectively & efficiently. The little congestion and slight cough still remain.

Sorry guys. I have no clue what anyone is up to. I have not had time or energy to read anything, again, in over a week.

Here's the rundown in a nutshell; Like I said, I was out of town teaching last weekend when I got sick. I managed to make it home Sunday afternoon and crawled into bed and slept for over 14 hours. I can't remember the last time that I did that. I got up Monday and made it from the bed to the couch, and there I stayed all day with the Mythbusters marathon. I was supposed to teach a class Monday, but had to call out from it since I was dead.

Tuesday was better. I felt good enough to get off the couch around noon. I was scheduled to teach again Wednesday, and couldn't call out again. Me and my damn work ethic. So I spent Tuesday afternoon in the den on the computer working on my lesson for Wednesday. I must have slept too much time sleeping Monday & Tuesday, because when I went to bed Tuesday night, I had a raging case of insomnia. I wound up back on the couch watching TV all night so I didn't keep my wife up with my tossing & turning.

I went and taught class Wednesday, despite still feeling crappy, and managed to get through it alright. I worked EMS Thursday & yesterday, and pushed myself to get through the shifts. We were busy as hell, running call after call. All the while, picking up all these whining little turds with flu symptoms who wanted to go to the hospital. Oh, the irony. Suck it up you idiots! Do what I did, rest, drink lots of fluids, take some Tylenol and you'll get over it. Sheesh.

We got the Squirt out of bed the other night to watch the lunar eclipse from our back deck. She thought it was awesome! Not just to see it, but the fact that we got her out of bed in the middle of the night to do it.

So, here it is Saturday morning. I have a day off. I have promised the Squirt we would spend the day together. I have been so busy lately that we have not spent much time together doing anything. I usually see her a few minutes here & there in passing as I'm going to or coming from one job or another. So, she has decided she wants to go bowling, play miniature golf, then to the indoor rock climbing place and out to eat. So, I guess that's what we'll be doing. We'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!

One of these days, I will have time to sit & get caught up with everyone.......

Sickly

2008-02-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

I was out of town this weekend teaching at a seminar. The wife & kid flew out to see her family since I was going to be gone all weekend.

I barley made it home yesterday. I got sick Saturday night, and then had no choice but to teach all day Sunday. Soon as I was donr, I packed up and hit the road for the 2 hour ride home. Longest 2 hours of my life. Sheer willpower alonr allowed me to get home. As soon as I did, I changed clothes and went to bed. I wasin bed by 7:30 last night.

I had a very restless night, not getting up until almost 9 AM this morning. I have spent the entire day on the couch watching Mythbusters.

I need to go lay back down. I don't feel so good. Damn flu.

Time

2008-02-16T00:00:00.003-05:00

One of the hardest things I have had to contend with since I decided to start blogging again was time. I simply don't have any! I've tried to figure out a way to add a few hours to the day or a day or two to the week, but I haven't had much success with that yet.

Thanks to all that asked about my dad. He's ok. His blood pressure got real low and when he went to walk in the kitchen he got lightheaded and fell and passed out briefly. My mom freaked out, called me asking where I was. As luck would have it, I happened to be home that night for a change. She told me what happened, told me that he was passed out on the floor and told me to get over there. Which, of course I did. I had EMS meet me over there as well, but he wouldn't go to the hospital. He's more hard-headed than I am. I finally talked him into letting me take him to the urget care and get checked out. Turns out, the high blood pressure they had him on was too much and his meds needed adjusting. So, he's doing well now.

Again, I'm keeping this one short. I'm actually out of town this weekend, teaching class at a weekend fire college. I have a class full of kids wanting to play fireman. Half of them aren't old enough to legally drink! Damn, I'm feeling old.

Last night I responded to a house fire where 2 kids less than 3 years old were killed. Sometimes this job really sucks.

I'll get caught up with everyone soon, promise.

TTFN

Life

2008-02-12T23:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry gang. I have been extraordinarily busy this last week, working almost non-stop. I have not had time to read anyones blogs, let alone write myself. I had expected to be home tonight and get a chance to get caught up, but life has a funny way of stepping in. I had to take my dad to the hospital tonight. He's alright now, and back home resting. But I got a good scare. I will write more when I have time, hopefully tomorrow night.

Super Bowl Recap

2008-02-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Osbasso made some interesting observations about the Super Bowl. I had to chuckle, since many of us probably made similar observations during the extravaganza but didn't make the notes he did. Here's my thoughts on a few things.....

Way too much time before the game hyping it up! Yes, it's the Super Bowl, I got that. It's the biggest game of the year... but they started broadcasting 'filler' material at like what, noon? Sheesh, enough! The damn kick off wasn't until 6:30 for crying out loud!

They closed the roof of the stadium because it was 'cool' and it 'might rain' Gimmie a damn break. Half the fun of the Packers vs. Giants playoff game was the snow!

The commercials weren't all that impressive. I'll not go into as much detail as O did, but some of them actually sucked in my opinion.

The Bud Light commercials were funny.

The Audi commercial was lame, but DAMN! I like the car! Might have to go check the sticker price on that bad boy. (Not that I can afford it)

The Hyundai commercial was weak, too - but again, DAMN! Impressive for a Hyundai. Might have to think about looking at that ride for the wife when we go car shopping her in the future. (And I'm a die-hard Chevy & Jeep man.)

The sales lead commercials were damn near racist.... not funny or entertaining, either.

The Bud commercial with Hank the Clydesdale was friggin' Awesome! Get's my vote for the best ad of the year.

Checked out the internet commercial for godaddy.com - Danica is HOT, but weird commercial. Last year's with the guys from OCC & Danica was better.

Commercials for upcoming movies, Boring. Don't care to see half of them. Letherheads & Jumper, maybe. The rest - Pffft.

Diet Gatorade? WTF?

Doritos - it was a song, whoop-de-friggin' do.

Fed-Ex with the pigeons was funny.

The Garmin one made me laugh.

Tide & the talking stain... we all stared at eachother.

The dancing SoBe lizard was pretty good..... still don't know who the girl was.

The Planter's commercial was dumb as hell.

I loved the Doritos one with the giant mouse - laughed my ass off.

The Bridgestone commercials were mildly amusing - would have been better if they had run over Richard Simmons!

The Pepsi commercial with Justin Timberlake was funny as hell - watching him get slung all over the place - Loved it!

The Coke commercial with Stewie & Underdog - I'm still laughing!

The F-150 commercial with the truck ont he centerfuge - Um.... HUH? Like I'm gonna spend $28,000 on a truck and sling it around in circles! No, I'm gonna drive it. What do I care if the damn tow hooks are strong enough to spin it around in mid-air. Yeah, that could happen!

The Toyota commercial with the guys on the big wheels racing down the hill - pretty amusing. Looks like some shit I'd do.

The Victoria's Secret spot - Damn, you gotta love Vickie's!

I'm sick of American Idol, enough said.

What was up with the AMP commercial with the jumper cables?!?!?!? All I could think was - OUCH!

The rest of the commercials weren't even note worthy.

Now, for thosee of you that watched the pre-game show, or any of it, the Commentators were Frank Caliendo, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long & Jerry Johnson. Of the 4, only Frank picked the Giants to win, as did I.

The Half-Time show. What a dissapointment. All the hype. All the money. All the publicity before hand. It sucked. I love Tom Petty's music, at least I used to. He sounded terrible, looked worse. My brother and I were texting back & forth during the show, and we both said the same thing - He looked like he was sick, like disease sick, AIDS or cancer sick. I was not at all impressed with the show.

The overall game - Friggin' Awesome. Not because I'm a Giants fan & they one, but because it was a really good game. It was close, not the blowout everyone was expecting. The score was within a touchdown the entire time, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, literally. I have to say, the best super bowl I have ever watched. Both teams played excellent, and it could have easily gone either way the entire time.

CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-03T22:06:00.000-05:00

19-0????? Foughgetaboutit!!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!!!!

I told all you doubters... don't count the Giants out!!!!

We're going to Disney World!

What was that about a dynasty??????

THE MAN!

That being said..... What a damn game!!!! One of the best Super Bowls I have ever seen!

GAME DAY

2008-02-03T14:01:00.000-05:00

It's time. The food is cooked, the friends & family are coming over later, the house is cleaned, I've got my Giants Jersey on........ All is right with the world.

Now, let's see if we can pull out a win & put an end to this 'Dynasty' crap and ruin their perfect season, shall we?

GO GIANTS!!!!

(Gratuitous shot of a hot chic in a Giants shirt)

Betrayal

2008-01-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

I was stabbed in the back tonight. By my brothers and sisters. The very people I have trusted my life to on countless occasions, on countless calls. Hear-say about something that didn't happen was taken as truth - and I was made a scape goat.

Why do I try so hard to make a difference, to make it better? Why do I try to do the right thing? No one cares.

Fuck it. Maybe it's time for a change.

Bad Blogger

2008-01-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

Once again, I have been bad. I thought I was going to have the entire weekend off, but that didn't happen! I was scheduled to work EMS Saturday and didn't have a partner to ride with until Friday afternoon when a young, eager, anxious, over-achieving new guy decided he wanted to work and get some more hours. Viola! I suddenly had a partner and my hopes that I could take the day off vanished just like that.

Sunday I was off. I slept in, for me, that means past sunrise! I got up, decided I couldn't stand my garage any longer, and played hooky from church. Yeah, I know - bad. Considering I hadn't been in weeks since I have been working. Anyway, my garage was a disaster. I literally could not walk from the garage door to the door leading into the house. There was that much crap piled up, dropped, draped, tossed & discarded over the last couple months. I spent the entire day outside in the garage cleaning it out, organizing, throwing stuff out I didn't need, etc, etc.

By the end of the day, I had reclaimed my garage & was able to park my truck in it again! Yeah, me. Unfortunately, by the time I was done, I was wiped out. I had just enough left in me to pay the bills, balance the checkbook & have dinner with the family. I was sore and beyond tired. I was so tired, I couldn't sleep. I did something that I have NEVER in my life done, and will NEVER do again. I decided to try better living through modern chemistry. I took one of my wife's percocets before going to bed. I figured it was a good way to get a solid nights sleep and get rid of the pain in my body from the full day of work. Boy, was I wrong! Sure, I got the narcotic induced euphoria, but I still didn't sleep. Nope. Instead, I tossed and turned all night, my mind refusing to shut down, getting up for work in the morning feeling worse than I did when I laid down. So much for that idea. I will never understand how people become addicted to that crap.

Needless to say, I didn't really read any blogs this weekend as I had planned, and now I am even further behind. Was on shift yesterday at the fire department, not able to ready any there. Working 2nd EMS job today, was busy all morning trying to get stuff done. Trying to plan classes and take care of up-coming training issues I am responsible for. Finally got to a point where I can do no more right now, so taking a break and going to try and speed-read some blogs & try to get caught up on what everyone else is doing. Me, I'm just working as usual.

Waiting, with anticipation for Super Bowl Sunday!!!! Go Giants!!! Can't wait to see Jillie in her Giants Jersey, rooting for the good guys! I guess there will be no bet with her, since she's so against the Patsies! For her, I don't think it would matter if the Buccaneers were playing instead of the Giants, she still wouldn't pull for the Patsies! LMAO.....

It may be time to invest in a broadband card for my laptop just so I can get online when I am at work, and have some down time, so I can stay connected..... maybe. Anyone want to contribute to the "Help the underpaid fireman get a broadband card" fund? :)

Oh, how they do try my patience

2008-01-29T09:33:00.000-05:00

We walk in the house, daughter directs us to the back bedroom. My partner and I go in and find him lying on the bed, watching TV, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee. He's close to 70. He's pale, thin, frail as hell. Looks like he was born 10 years before Moses.

I ask him what the problem is. He says he doesn't feel good. I feel like saying, "Well, duh! You called EMS!" but I don't, and I re-state my question. I ask him what specifically does not feel good. He tells me that he is weak, dizzy and was having chest pains. BINGO! The magic word, chest pains. I start my line of questioning;
"Are you still having chest pain?" No
"When you were, describe the pain for me" Sharp and shooting
"How long has it been since you had chest pain?" A while
"What's a while? 10 minutes, half an hour, and hour, several hours?" Few hours
"Ever had chest pains before?" Sure, had a heart attack few years ago.
"Any other medical trouble?" Had triple bypass surgery, and had a couple strokes.

During this exchange, I am hooking the cardiac monitor up and my partner is getting vital signs. Vitals, surprisingly, are good. EKG might show a problem, too hard to tell on the 4 lead, I need a 12-lead to be sure.

As I get ready to hook up the 12-lead, I ask him what hospital he wanted to go to. We have 3 close enough to choose from. He tells me he doesn't want to go to the hospital. Despite my initial instinct and impulse, I calmly ask my patient, "Sir, if you don't want to go to the hospital, why did you cal 9-1-1???" Well, he said, I just wanted you to come by and check me out and tell me everything was OK. I get on the radio and slow down the Paramedic that is on his way to assist us with this call.

I manage to keep my composure, and tell him, "Well, you realize I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any lab equipment, so there may be something going on that I can't identify." I'm not worried about that, he tells me, I just wanted to make sure my vital signs were ok.

"Sir" I say with a bit of an edge in my voice "Do you realize that because you told the dispatcher on the phone that you were having chest pain when you weren't, you had 2 emergency vehicles driving to your house, with lights & sirens on? Every time we drive emergency traffic, we endanger ourselves and the general public. Despite what everyone thinks, we don't get our kicks by driving like lunatics with the lights flashing & the siren blaring"

I think that got his attention, because he then began to complain to me about the last time he called 9-1-1, and the EMS crew showed up & they told the doctor at the hospital that I had a drug overdose when I didn't! I hate you guys and the way you handle stuff......

"Sir, I don't know who came out here the last time you called, or what they wrote on the report or told the doctor. All my concern is right now is making sure you are OK. With your history, I suggest you go to the hospital and get checked out by the doctors." Yeah, well, he said, Then I get to spend half the night int he emergency room, they aren't going to do anything, and then just send me home telling me there's nothing wrong.

I have gotten more attention & understanding when talking to a friggin' wall! Why do people do this? If you don't want medical attention, and you don't want transport to the hospital, why in the name of all that is holy do they call 9-1-1 and tell them they are having a medical emergency???? Who the f**k did they think was going to show up, the Good Humor Man????

The medic walks in. I give him the run-down. He repeats, almost word for word, what I told the patient about needing to get checked out, going to the hospital, the seriousness of calling 9-1-1. The patient, in turn, repeats almost word for word, his initial rejections to him that he had told me! I give up. Fine, you are talking and alert, answering all my questions correctly, you don't want to go to the hospital, I can't make you. Here - sign this refusal of care & service form, we're out. You need us again, anything changes, you have another heart attack and die - call us. Peace, out!

"Everybody's working for the weekend......"

2008-01-24T22:15:00.000-05:00

Been busy this week, obviously. I have not had a lot of time to write or read. May have some time off this weekend, hopefully I can get caught up. Counting the days until the Giants smear the Patsies!!!!!!

How we did in 2007

2008-01-22T23:35:00.000-05:00

USFA Releases Provisional 2007 Firefighter Fatality Statistics

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announced there were 115 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States in 2007.

The Breakdown;

In 2007, there were firefighters lost in 33 states and Washington, DC.

South Carolina experienced the highest number of fatalities (11) while Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and California each suffered more than 5 on-duty losses.

Heart attacks and strokes - 54 firefighters (47%)
Wildland fires - 10 firefighters

On June 18th, Charleston, SC lost 9 firefighters while working to control a fire in a large sofa warehouse facility.

For 2007, 64% of all firefighter fatalities occurred while performing emergency duties. Almost 42% were at structure fires with 19 caught or trapped (16.5%).
Speed and a lack of seat belts contributed to many deaths as well. More than 2 of every 10 firefighter fatalities in 2007 occurred when responding to or returning from an incident. While seat belts and speed were not necessarily factors in all of these fatalities, they were contributing factors for most of them.

Why the hell are we still killing over a 100 firefighters each year???? Our knowledge, training, equipment, apparatus and gear is better now than ever before in history, yet each year we continue to have more than 100 firefighters die in the Line Of Duty. While, when you figure there are over 1.1 million firefighters (both career & volunteer) in this country, one a year is still too many.

And now, for something completely different

2008-01-22T19:20:00.001-05:00

It will be new and exciting, bigger and better! You won't believe it until you see it! Coming soon!

We're going to Arizona!!!!!!

2008-01-20T22:15:00.000-05:00

GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I smell Creamed Cheese!!!!

Ya wanna bet?

2008-01-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

Ok gang... here it is. Jillie laid down the gauntlet, and I have accepted it. Thanks for the suggestions for bets guys! I really like the idea from Sex in Texas, but I think I will keep this one PG-13. Here's the bet I propose....

If Jillie's beloved Cheesy Heads win today, I will take a picture of myself & post it wearing a Packers Jersey & Cheese Head. (I have a friend who has a cheese head, yes).

If the Giants win, I want to see a picture posted of Jillie wearing a Giants Jersey with her face painted blue & red.....

Do you accept the terms Jillie??????

I don't care who ya are.... this is awesome! Star Wars & the Giants together at one time.... freakin' GENIUS!!!!! Love it!

To the victor, go the spoils

2008-01-18T14:26:00.001-05:00

Hmmm.... the gauntlet has been thrown, apparently. Jillie still thinks her beloved Cheesy Heads are gonna win Sunday against the Giants. She asked if I care to wager. What do you think gang?? I'm certainly a betting man, and have no trouble making a wager with our beloved Jillie, but what should the wager be?? Any suggestions?

I work, therefore I am.

2008-01-16T09:59:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to get there for weeks. I keep saying I'm going to go. I keep saying I'm going to make the time. I never have the time. Life is so busy, filled with work and schedules and deadlines and things I have to do, responsibilities, bills to pay. There's next week, or next month. Now it's too late.

Day in an day out, I work. Each day I get up, and put on a different uniform and go to a different fire or EMS job. Sometimes I'm gone for 2 or 3 days at a time without coming home from work. All for what? To pay the bills. Sure, we have a nice house, and 2 cars, and lots of stuff. We have food on the table, and we're healthy and happy for the most part. Squirt has a room full of toys and stuff that in her little world is the most important. On the rare occasion I do get a day off, I usually have something that needs doing or somewhere to go or I am just too damn tired to do anything.

Yesterday, in between EMS calls, I stopped in to see my insurance agent. We're old friends, too. In fact, we used to date years ago. We still talk from time to time. She asked me how things were going, how I was doing. She's got a whole new life, recently married and with a new child. She asked me if I've slowed down any and taken time to enjoy life, spend time with my family and do things with them. Sadly, the answer is that same as it was the last time she asked me, no.

Now, it's too late. A friend, and brother fireman has died. He had been sick, battling cancer. He was young, not even 'middle aged' yet. He had to retire from the fire department due to his illness. He had been doing well, so we thought. Had taken a turn for the worse, back in the hospital, but in great spirits and seemingly improving. He went suddenly, without warning really. I never imagined it would happen like that. I never thought I wouldn't get to see him again, wish him well, say hello or goodbye. The only time I changed my work schedule, made the time to see him, was too late. It was to pay my respects and rend honors at his services.

I kept saying, Oh next week I'll make the time to drive to the hospital to see him, or call him, or I'll get a day off soon and get out there to talk to him. I never did, and now I can't. I hope he is resting in peace, I hope he understands, I hope he can forgive me. I just don't know if I can forgive myself. We get too wrapped up in our own lives sometimes. Right now, I am disgusted with myself for making the choices I have, to work more to make money to pay the bills and not be a friend, a brother.

Take it from me. There isn't always a tomorrow. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. The only guarantee in life is death. We all start dying the day we are born. Find a way, trust me, to make the time, to take the time, for what's really important. Take the time to stop and do the things you want to do, need to do, have to do. Waiting until tomorrow may be too late.

For me and this good man, it's too late. I never made the time to see him, wish him well, say goodbye. Now, I know. I know what is really important. I will take a lesson in life from this. Somehow, I will change things so this does not happen again. I can't change fate, karma, or God's will. I'm not so arrogant as to think I can. When it's your time, and your time has come to an end or passed, I will mourn your loss. But I will never again regret not having made the time to see you or talk to you before you go.

Don't order the daisies yet

2008-01-13T11:41:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm alive & well. Thanks to all who inquired. Sorry for my absence. I have been working almost everyday since New Year's, and we've been very busy. Definitely starting 2008 with a big bang. On top of that, I was sick last week.

A pretty good bout with the flu knocked me for a loop. I fought it and fought it, kept going to work, even though I shouldn't have. When I finally did decide to call out of EMS one night last week because I was coughing so much, I was vomiting, they actually gave me crap. They knew full well I had been sick, having worked the day before and everyone telling me I looked & sounded like hell... yet when I called out sick to try and get some rest and medicate and get better - they were mad at me. What a bunch of idiots. All they care about is having a body in the bus to respond to calls. Never mind you're sick as hell, making your patients & partner sick - just show up. Yeah, right. It's actually amazing that we don't get sicker than we do in this line of work, when you consider who & what we come in contact with on a daily basis.

Now, I had the ability to get online from the fire department most days I worked, but without elaborating, it appears that ability is gone. I've never been able to get online from my one EMS job, simply no access and no time, we're way too busy. My other EMS job, I still have free access about any time I want, when not out on calls, and our call volume is considerably lower. However, the last week or so, I hadn't worked there much, I had been at one of the other jobs. So, that only leaves when I'm home, and lately that hasn't been much. Not too mention I have been trying to spend time with the wife & kid when I am home. So, there's the lengthy explanation as to where I have been for almost 2 weeks.

That being said, I feel a lot better, and I will as always try to get on as often as I can to keep up with everyone and see what's going on. Now, I'm going to go read some blogs and get caught up with everyone. TTFN!

Most people start their day with a cup of coffee

2008-01-07T19:53:00.000-05:00

So, it's been a busy week. I knew I was going to be working a lot, and not have time to write, but damn.

The other morning, I was getting ready to get off shift from he fire department. Less than an hour to go, and we were dispatched to a car accident. The location given was odd, because it's not an area used often that time of day, it's in the shopping district and nothing is open there that early. Sounded like it was going to be routine BS. So, we climb into the engine and off into the cold morning. As we approached he scene, it was another one of those Oh Shit moments. Once again the dispatch was woefully understated.

We came to a stop, and as I exited the engine, I surveyed the scene. A single car had spun around, gone off the road backwards and struck a power pole dead center on the drivers door. There was a police officer kneeling down at the front passenger door holding something, but I couldn't see what from my angle. As I headed over, he yelled out to me, "She's not responsive, and I don't think she's breathing!" Great. I got on the EMS radio and told EMS dispatch to get me an ambulance emergency traffic, serious MVA with possible traumatic full arrest.

I got to the car, and what he was holding was the victims head. She was laying face down, across the passenger seat, hanging out the passenger door, and he was trying to keep her off the ground and attempting to keep her airway open. I give him credit for trying. A fast check, and he was right, she was unresponsive, had no pulse, and was barely breathing on her own.

I yelled to my partner what we had, and the 2 of us managed to get her pulled free of the car and laid her down on her back on the ground. Confirmed no pulse, and started CPR while my partner bagged her. I took one hand off from doing CPR long enough to get back on the radio and confirm to EMS dispatch we had a confirmed traumatic full arrest and that we had CPR in progress, a viable patient.

I went back to working her, my partner continued to bag as the captain brought me the rest of the medical supplies, namely the AED (defibrillator) and combi-tube to secure the airway. I placed the AED pads on the patient and switched it on, continuing CPR until it was ready to analyze the cardiac rhythm. Not a shockable rhythm, no pulse, continue CPR. We did this for another minute or so, time was moving so slowly. It was like slow-motion in a movie. Doing all we can, all we know, trying to save this young life. The backboard and straps arrive, and I'm not ready to put her on the board yet, CPR is the only thing going to help at this time. We work on, feverishly trying in vain to do what we can. She's got massive injuries, some are obvious. Her pelvis is deformed, she has massive head trauma to the back of her head.

The AED starts to analyze the cardiac rhythm, I stop CPR so it can do it. No shock, I look at the monitor, she's got a heartbeat again. I quickly check for a carotid pulse, it's there and it's fairly strong. HELL YEAH! We got her back. She's still not breathing well, my partner continues to ventilate her, breathing for her. We're ready to put her on the board, and we do. I was just about to place the combi-tube in her throat when the paramedics arrive. I hold off, they can intubate her and secure her airway much better. We got her loaded into the ambulance, they needed help in the back, so I wound up riding in to the hospital with them. We got her transferred over to the ER staff, and it was in their capable hands. All that before my first cup of coffee for the day.

I went back to the firehouse, did the report, changed uniforms, and went to work at EMS for the day. Later that day, I checked back in several times with the ER doctors to see how she was doing. She went into cardiac arrest 4 more times in the ER, each time they were able to save her, finally stabilizing her enough to send her upstairs to surgery. That apparently went well enough to stabilize her further where they sent her by medevac chopper to a trauma center about 60 miles away where a neuro-surgeon was waiting for her.

Oh yeah, all this, and I've been sick as a dog since Saturday. I been going back and forth between the two EMS jobs and the firehouse since Thursday, feeling like crap. Soon as I finish typing this, I am heading to the bunk room to try and get some rest and maybe I'll start to feel better soon. So, I will get caught up my reading of everyone else hopefully tomorrow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-12-31T18:01:00.001-05:00

Wanted to wish everyone a Happy new Year. May it be filled with peace, love and joy for you all. I will be working tomorrow & the next few days, so may not have time to write later, wanted to get it in before it was late. Hope you all enjoy your NewYear's Eve and stay safe!

See you in 2008!!!!

We made it

2007-12-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Whew! I'm wore out! But, we survived it. I had to work Christmas Day at the fire station, and for once, we were SLOW! I couldn't believe it, in fact, the entire city was slow. I lost my $5 bet, we didn't run a single house fire call. For once, I am glad to lose a bet! Usually, we get at least one, someone trying to cook and they light the kitchen on fire. But not this year, I was really surprised, and happy.

Since I was working, our company got together and decided we were all going to bring different things in to work for dinner, so no one had to cook and no one person had the brunt of it. Everyone brought something, and we had a turkey and all the trimmings and enough dessert items to put us into a sugar-induced comma. Most of us had some family come to the station and eat dinner with us, which was nice. My wife and the squirt came to eat with us, and hung out for a while. even better, we were not bothered during dinner with any calls! That never happens!

So, since I did work yesterday, our family did Christmas on the 24th. We all got together at mom & dad's house, we ate too much, drank too much, spoiled the kids rotten with presents, and had a wonderful time.

We went to church in the evening, and then home after to open presents at our house for the Squirt. What she didn't know, was that before I left to head out, I put out her presents from Santa, filled her stocking, left the remnants of the cookies and milk (and a carrots for the reindeer), and a personalized letter from Santa explaining why he had come early - i.e, her daddy wouldn't be home on Christmas Day, and spread oatmeal on the front walk and steps as if the reindeer had been eating while Santa was inside.

So, when we got home, and she started to go inside, she spotted the oats on the ground. She commented that I had already lef thte food out for the reindeer, to which I replied I didn't, how could I? we were together all day. Except for the 15 minutes she forgot about (thankfully) when I sent the two of them ahead in the other car to my folks house while I was loading up all the desserts into mine and would neet them there in just a minute. (hehehehehe)

Once she realized I hadn't done it, she freaked out and began screaming, "Santa must've come already! Santa must've come already!!!" and darted for the front door. As I unlocked the door, she ran inside and saw the presents, and the stocking and the plate of cookie crumbs, a partially eaten carrot and an empty class of milk. She went nuts, jumping up and down, "He came! He came already! See?!?!?! He left a note", and proceeded to read it out load and explain why he had come so early. She was out of her mind with glee. We had pulled it off... the magic of Christmas one more time. Who knows how many more years I have left before she stops believing in the big guy, so I wanted to try and keep it alive for her a little longer.

Needless to say, she got spoiled rotten from both us and Santa. A new bedroom set (all Hannah Montana) a Playstation, some games for it, some board games, books, art supplies, etc, etc.

I've been working the last couple days and this was the first chance I've had to sit and write. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. So, that's the highlites. Another Christmas in the books. Now on for 2008. Let's see what kind of mess we're gonna have this year.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas Eve. We're celebrating our Christmas today, since I have to work tomorrow. Someone has to do it, I guess, and it's my turn this year to be on shift on Christmas Day.

So, to you and yours, A very Merry Christmas to all! may it be filled with Peace, Love & Joy.

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through station All was quiet except for our snoring dalmation.

Our boots had been placed by the bunksides with care In hopes that the shift change would finally be here.

The lights were turned down and the TV was off The rigs had been washed and the floors had been mopped.

Firefighters and Medics lie nestled in bed While visions of homelife danced through their heads.

When out of the darkness, arose ringing and light The Klaxton brought tidings of something not right.

The Firefighters and Medics were dressed in an instant Aboard their trucks and racing into the distance.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow Reflected the lights in a hellish, red glow. The sirens, they wailed while the Federal screamed Moving too slowly, as if in a dream.

The wreckage was there and came slowly in sight Lending fear, pain, and loss to our silent night.

Each of us thought of our own Wife, Daughter or Son Each prayed in silence, "Let me save at least one."

We leaped to the task without further a thought And for more than two hours we worked and we fought... To free the two drivers who hadn't been thinking their driving would suffer after a full night of drinking.

The smoke of the flares, and the stench of the blood The screaming of metal as we rolled back the hood. The cry of one driver, the whine of the Jaws Putting fear aside, we never gave pause.

With one driver out, and the other pronounced dead We focused our efforts on keeping our heads.

C-spine and backboard and IV in place We loaded him up and we started the race. The monitor showed a heart rate to slowBP revealed a systolic too low.Level of consciousness rapidly dyingDespite all of this...the Medics kept trying.

Atropine, Dopamine, Epi and more...to keep our reason for being from opening death's door. We fought and we prayed and tried all that was known While trying to believe fault wasn't our own.

The sun, she was rising as we reached the ER We'd given all that we know, and all that we are. The Doctors pronounced with barely more than a glance. And gone in a blink, was the patient's last chance.

The ride back to the station was quiet, and then.... Despite what we'd been through, the singing began.

At first it was one and then all followed suit This effort together was merely the fruit...

Of a labor that however needlessly bared Was one of a million we knew we had shared. As we sang out the words of the song, "Silent Night"

We acknowledged to ourselves that we put up a good fight. The punch of the clock, the start of a car we all realized and loved who we are.

And on Christmas morning, as we all drive away... We know we'll all try in a couple of days...

To give someone back their one chance to live Now matter how hard or how much we must give.

So please, when you pray on this new Christmas morn Add something for us, and for all that we've borne.

WTF did I say?

2007-12-21T23:29:00.000-05:00

I've been in a deep blue funk. I've worked almost everyday this month so far either at the fire department, or one of the EMS departments I work at part-time. I had written the other day about the bad wreck I'd been to. I don't know why I can't shake it.

I've been doing this for close to 20 years. I've seen plenty of bad scenes, been to many deaths, fatal wrecks, stupid shit. People who want to live who don't, fighting for life and lose, and people who want to die that we literally snatch out of the jaws of death and save - giving them a second chance at life that they don't want. So, why can't I shake this one? Why the hell is this one bothering me so much. Maybe it's the holiday season that makes it worse. Maybe it's the fact that 3 kids were orphaned for no good reason. Maybe I've been doing this too long, and I'm worn out, tired, burned out. What else can I do? I've devoted my entire adult life to serving the public and protecting lives and property. I'm not trained or qualified for anything else.

It's affecting my home life. I know I've been distant the last several days, and I still can't shake it. I had a fight the other night with my wife, for no good reason. She went to bed in tears and I didn't do anything about it. What the hell is happening to me? How do I even begin to apologize for the stupid, alcohol induced crap that came out of my mouth that night, let alone ask or expect forgiveness for it?

Despite my personal mood, I still show up for work each day. I continue to do my job. Sometimes I think showing up is enough, just bearing witness to the horror and death is enough. I'm like a sponge. I soak up the pain, the sorrow that others are feeling and try to take it away from them so they can go on with their lives in peace and happiness. I never manage to wring it out of me, though. I carry it with me, it has become part of me, part of who and what I am. I hate what I've become. I helped a middle aged woman yesterday that had just lost her mother deal with her grief. When I left, she was better, but I was worse.

I started this post a couple days ago, and didn't finish it; going to now.

Today was better. I've really tried to put it out of my mind. I focused on happier things. I am attempting to make some Christmas cookies that my great-grandmother used to make. I'm going to surprise the family with them on Christmas, they don't know I'm making them. I had to make the batter today and let it chill overnight, tomorrow I'll make them. They are made on a special cookie iron, one at a time. I have enough batter for I guess about 80 cookies. Loooong day ahead!

Luckily, I don't have to figure out how to fix what happened the other night, she did it for me. She let it go, saw it, I guess, for what it was, and moved on - this let me move on, too. She's a great woman, wife & mother. I don't deserve her, and she certainly deserves better than me.

I need to change.

Happy HNT Three Wishes

2007-12-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

OK - I've never been big into the HNT posts, but what the hell. I need something to take my mind off other shit going through my head right now, this should help.

Here's the rules as I've read them;

YOU will pick 3 fellow HNT/bloggers.
YOU will choose ones that you aren't necessarily close to, since you'll probably be doing separate Christmas wishes for them anyway. So Phain won't pick Fame, Betcha won't pick No One, MG won't pick TG, etc....
YOU will tell us what you're going to get them for Christmas, if you had the means to do so.
YOU will do all of this on YOUR site.
YOU will leave a comment here to let us know that you've put up your list, and to whom you're gifting.
YOU will comment to, or email, the recipients to let them know you've listed them, so they can come to your site and see what they'll get.
(optional) - YOU will post a picture of each gift, if that's possible.
WE will go to your site and see how generous you are to total strangers

For TK Kerouac (one of my newest reads & readers); She gets a new version of my light-up bra.

A beautiful sunrise over Key West to chase away the winter snows

And a visit from Santa......

For GoodWife, One of my oldest blogging friends;

Alittle something to wear to heat up the holidays with rick

I remember seeing something about a new use for carrots..... Here's a new ornament for the occasion

And of course, a visit from Santa

For Jillie

A pair of crutches to keep in reserve... just in case you need them again! :)~

Maybe a hot Doc to keep you well......

And a prescription to have filled.....

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy HNT!

The most wonderful time of the year?

2007-12-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

DISCLAIMER:

This post is graphic, sad & NOT for kids. If you have delicate sensibilities, stop reading now and go Google something.

Sometimes I hate the holidays. Responded to a car wreck early in the morning recently. Around 3 AM we got the call. I had been in the bed, but had been tossing & turning, not having slept yet. The dispatch was routine, no big deal. As we approached the scene, all was not routine. The scene before my eyes unfolded and it was horrific. As with the holiday season, we're always bound to have that one really bad call, this was going to be it.

There was a 2 car wreck, head-on collision. I knew there were going to be critical injuries. I grabbed the EMS radio and called EMS communications and made sure they had ambulances responding, they didn't. The call hadn't been transferred correctly from the fire dispatchers to the EMS dispatchers. I immediately told them to send 2 ambulances emergency traffic, gave a brief size-up and told them I'd advise more in a minute.

We hopped off the engine and headed into the carnage. Went to the first car, massive damage to the drivers side, no movement, 2 people inside. I checked for signs of life, a pulse - nothing. Both were pinned in severely, both were DOA. Ran to the 2nd car, the engine was gone out of the car, laying across the roadway. Wow, that's a hell of an impact to completely dislodge the motor. I asked my partner what he had over there.

Driver was alive, moving slightly, slumped over the passenger seat, no seatbelt on. All the doors were jammed, he was pinned in. Ran back to the engine and got the Jaws of Life out, and started working on the door. The captain already called for more help, a truck company & a rescue company. I was working on the door, the Hurst pump for the Jaws died. Couldn't get it cranked back up. Luckily, the rescue truck arrived & we used theirs to finish.

EMS had called for a helicopter to fly out the driver from the 2nd car. They landed across the road in a store parking lot. EMS stabilized him & got him loaded into the chopper, they headed off into the night to the trauma center. Now we had to sit and wait for the police to do the crash investigation before we could extricate the bodies from the first car.

It was one of the most technical extrications I have had to do in a long time. The officers all stood back and let us do our jobs. I was the senior fireman, but we had a good group of guys working with some solid experience & training. Despite the frigid temperatures, the wee hours of the morning and the extended time it took to complete, we got the job done and got both bodies out.

It took almost 2 hours to get them both out, using multiple Hurst tools, the winch on the rescue truck & a tow truck to pull the car apart to complete it. It was horrible. There was a picture of 3 small kids on the dash of the car. I hoped and prayed they were relatives & not their kids.

The EMS Shift supervisor was on-scene, along with one of the captains, besides the ambulances. I work there on my days off from the city. They all know me well. Everyone said the same thing. When they heard me get on the radio calling for the ambulances, they could hear the urgency in my voice. They said I was calm & collected, not freaking out (always good), but they could tell by the tone in my voice it was bad, and they all started heading my way before they were even dispatched.

Over 4 hours after we were called out, the victims were all transported, the cars on wreckers and gone, all the debris cleaned up along with the oil and fluid that was on the ground. Except for the stains from the vehicle fluids and the paint markings from the investigators, you would have never known there was a double-fatality wreck there. We cleared the scene and headed back to the house. It was sunrise. I was cold & tired. So was everyone else. It was almost shift change. There were tools & equipment to clean, a report to be written. I got the report, the other guys took care of the tools. We went home, a little weary, very saddened. I was supposed to go work EMS later that day after getting off shift. I had told the EMS supervisor on the scene I wasn't going to come in that day, after being up all night. He said he understood.

In the almost 2 decades I've been doing this, this is one of the worst calls I've ever been on. I later found out that the 3 kids in the picture were theirs, all special needs kids. She was also pregnant. I went home that morning, got drunk and went to bed. Merry Christmas.

I Wish You Could...

I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home, only to find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.

I wish you could know what it is like to search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns.

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 a.m. as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try to save his life.

I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've become too familiar with.

I wish you could understand how it feels to go to work in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.

I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?" Or to an EMS call, "What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?"

I wish you could be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy" again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"

I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?"

I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.

I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of "It will never happen to me."

I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or of preserving someone's property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.

Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us...I wish you could though.

-author unknown

The Graduate

2007-12-16T17:07:00.001-05:00

No, not the movie. My wife. She walked the stage yesterday and got her degree. 4 years, 2 universities, countless nights of lost sleep studying for exams, dozens of term papers and I don't even want to think about how much money - but she mde it.

I'm pretty proud of her. There were a few times I thought she was going to throw in the towel & give up on it, but she stuck with it and she made it. Now, she gets to look for gainful employment! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that it happens soon... I need the extra cash!!! LOL

Some of her family was able to make it into town for the weekend and now they are stuck. Weather here is ok, but not so good on the other end and they can't get a flight back home. So, in a hotel they sit, they are waiting on a flight tomorrow afternoon.

After graduation yesterday, we all went out to dinner, then out to a bar afterward. She had a blast, and got blasted. That was kind of the point. I wanted her to unwind, de-stress and enjoy a night out, finally realizing she is done. I tasked her brother with making sure she consumed plenty of shots and what not, and she did. She had a good time.

Speaking of Christmas Political correctness.......

Holiday Humor

2007-12-15T15:10:00.001-05:00

Lust a little levity to make the season bright.....

Endless days

2007-12-14T20:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry, yes - I'm tired. I should have stayed home today. But, I didn't. I never do. Despite waking up with a serious case of anal glaucoma (I simply couldn't see my ass going to work today) I still went in. I have this damn guilty conscience that won't allow me to call in sick when I'm not really sick.

So, it started out like a typical day. Shift change, truck checks, cleaning the station. The usual stuff. I'm riding on the engine this week. Kinda novel for me. Lately, I've been on the truck & usually driving.Then we had to go downtown for about an hour. When we got back, the truck guys had to head downtown, but we switched units and they took the engine & we stayed with the truck company in service in our area. They hadn't been gone 5 minutes and we had a medical call. Loaded up, headed out. Respiratory distress. We get there, and it's a sweet old woman, but no breathing problems. Her back hurts. Called to slow down the ambulance and find out what's going on with her. EMS shows up, turn it over and off we go. Back to the house.

We didn't make it. We started having mechanical trouble with the truck, and it died on us 3 times while trying to limp back to the station. Yippie. What a site, the truck dead in the middle of a busy 4 lane roadway, with me out there putting out traffic cones & waving cars off to go around us. We finally got it moving again and wound up coasting into the station. The transmission which had been acting up, finally quit on us. It was fried. They had to tow it to the shop from the station. I had to ride out to another station with one of the chiefs to get a reserve truck to run. But, because of it's type, we also have to have an engine run with it. So now, we needed another driver (guess who?) and another firefighter to ride. So, they had to call in overtime to staff it and I wound up driving, again. So we are now running 2 units (a ladder & an engine) as one to make up for the fact that the quint (the type of truck for you non-firefighting folks out there).

Then we got busy with runs all afternoon. It was pretty steady for a few hours, which always makes the day go faster. I was tired to begin with, since I was up late again last night. Trying to get everything done I needed to get done before my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and aunt-in-law (is that a word?) arrived this evening, and of course I'm not there because I'm at work.

Why did they come to visit for the weekend you ask? Because Beth graduates with her Bachelors degree from the university tomorrow. Yeah! She did it! Finally, she's done. I'm pretty damn proud of her. But, I had a great deal to get done, as I said, prior to their arrival, and I've been working almost every day over the last 3 weeks.

Yesterday & the day before I sat through class all day. A command and control class that was BORING!!!! I got a great deal of useful information & learned a lot, but very dry material and the instructor can only do so much to keep you interested. So, sat in class Wednesday from 8-5, then worked EMS from 7 at night until 6 in the morning, went home & showered & changed clothes, back to class yesterday from 8-5, then had training at the volunteer station from 7-10 last night. Got home, did the stuff I had to get done, and made it to bed somewhere around 1 this morning. Up at 6 for work - and here I sit. I think I need to go to sleep.

Got a long day tomorrow, graduation in the morning, then out to dinner & partying (for them, I'm the DD) tomorrow night. Hopefully, the good citizens of the city will leave us be tonight & I can get some sleep..... yeah, right. That could happen.

Oh, Christmas Tree.....

2007-12-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a request to see the tree. Sadly, I have not had any time to come up with anything witty, HNT related or provocative. So, here it is - our 'new' Christmas tree.

Just been too busy last several days to do much else. I'm still not used to the tree. I haven't had an artificial tree in over 15 years.... doesn't seem right.

Ok - I did remember something I have for HNT I have. Happy HNT!

Christmas Shopping sucks

2007-12-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

Oh, that wonderful time of year. I finally had a day off, and had to try and cram 4 days worth of errands into 1 day. Despite that, we managed to get it almost all done.

We did the Christmas shopping for the Squirt. That was an adventure! I had a couple bouts of road rage driving around the city today from store to store, thanks to silly people who think they are the center of the universe and the traffic laws don't apply to them. But, even with that, I managed to keep a pretty good mood & got a lot done. I lost track of how many stores we hit today.

We took a break to eat lunch, and what a fiasco! Went to a fast food joint to just grab a bite on the run & save time. We had to wait forever for our food, half of it was done and sat till the rest was done. That made half of it cold. Then the kids working the counter could care less.

The local Toys-R-Us is an insane place this time of year. Man, I hate that store. I thought I saw a couple old ladies tackling each other for the last Nintendo Wii....

Speaking of the Wii, and no, we're not getting one, there was a line of schmucks lined up in Wal-Mart waiting for a delivery of them today while we were there. They didn't know when the truck was due in, how many would be on it, but nevertheless - there they stood & waited. What i did break down & agree to do, was to buy a used Playstation 2 for the Squirt. She's been asking for a game system for a couple years now, and I finally gave in. I have a friend that works in a pawn shop that's getting me one for a really good price. There is no way in hell I'm gonna pay those prices these idiots want for these new systems.

We also got the Christmas cards printed up today, got a tree, put the tree up, got my truck inspected, got all the decorations out & into the house and then got all the cards addressed & in the envelopes tonight. Tomorrow, Beth has the unenviable task of going through the decorations & ornaments and getting the tree all done and the house decorated. I will be in a specialized class the next 2 days, and working EMS tomorrow night. So, I won't have any time to breathe the next couple days.

We spent way too much money, more than we had - but what the hell. It's worth it. So, here we are. Squirt is in bed, tree is up and the lights on it. No decorations or ornaments yet. It looks a little like the Charlie Brown tree right now, but that'll change. I'm tired, after a non-stop day. I need a drink.

It's the most wonderful time of the year?

2007-12-10T11:32:00.001-05:00

A little holiday snowman humor.....

Been a couple days since I had a chance to write. Been working. Alot. Too much. The Squirt has been asking me every night on the phone "Daddy, when's the next time I'm going to see you?" Breaks my heart that I am not home more with her. And, then when I am home with her, I am usually so exhausted that I don't have the energy to do anything with her. I am a horrible parent.

Why do I work so much? Yeah, we need the cash to pay bills and stuff. That's the obvious answer. But I am missing my child grow up. Beth does a great job in my absence, but I can hear it in her voice, too. She wants me home more, and the strain is getting to her as well, being home alone all the time with the Squirt.

Today is day 15 straight without a day off. Just came off this morning from the fire department and working at my 2nd EMS job, a slower service with less call volume and actually have a chance to get online, read e-mail and get caught up a bit on the blogs.

It's a busy time of year for us. Lots of fires, car accidents, false alarms, and even suicides this time of year. Sure, we're always busy, but the holidays seem to cause more. Everyone out & about shopping, going to parties and doing things they normally don't do the rest of the year.

The other night, my engine company was dispatched to a house fire, we were the 2nd in company. The first in engine company arrived & called a working fire. They had heavy fire in the carport area of the residence with about 1/4 of the house involved. We were turning the corner on the street as the company officer finished his report on the radio. I hopped off the back of the engine, grabbed my axe, and headed for the house. There was a hoseline on the ground already from the 1st in engine, but it wasn't charged yet, and the rookie on the company was still trying to get all the hose out of the crosslay. The nozzle hit the ground, I was walking up as it did. I never broke stride, bent down, grabbed the nozzle and headed for the house. I had my partner in tow, trying to keep up. He's fairly new, too, but has some experience. Told him to stay with me, called for water in the line, and we went in.

Hit the fire from the outside, knocking the majority of it down, the carport, the truck in the carport, the storage room behind the carport. Night be kids in the house, not sure yet. Handed off the nozzle to my partner, told him to keep hitting the hot spots. Another firefighter was going in alone to search, not letting him go alone. Grabbed my axe and went in behind him. Medium smoke inside, no visible fire. Did a quick search, all clear. No one inside. Good. Additional firefighters were inside now, going into the attic to look for extension. I headed back out, met up with my partner and helped finish with the hotspots. A pretty good night. No one got hurt, the house was saved with only minor damage to the interior. All in all, pretty good.

You never know.....

2007-12-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, I was working EMS and was dispatched for a transfer from a nursing facility to the ER for evaluation of an elevated temp. Sounded routine enough. I was going to let my basic partner take the call, but something told me to take it myself. The patient is in a permanent vegetative state, so I was going on the info from the nurse & family member. The family member wasn't much help, a very poor historian on the patients condition & past medical history. The nurse, wasn't too much better, but did let me know that patient had been seen in the ER a week prior for an infection & treated with antibiotics that didn't seem to be working. The patients temp had elevated since calling for EMS and having been given meds to counteract it.

So, we loaded up & headed out. I went to get a set of vitals, couldn't get a decent BP. When I went to repeat it, I couldn't get any BP at all. Not good. Ok.... lemme check a few other things. Damn. Pulse is thready & very tachy, respirations through the roof, almost 60 & shallow. Crap! Pulse ox in the 80's?!?!? Damn. O2, tell my partner to step it up, and call into the ER. No time to do much, we weren't that far away to begin with , and now almost there. Got the patient into the ER, the nurses, doc & respiratory therapist waiting on me, very good thing. Gave report, moved the patient to the bed, and they went to work. They did great. Within an hour, when I had returned with another patient, vitals stabilized, fluids in, breathing slowed - much better.

Went on a call for an unconscious subject. I was once again on the fire truck. We almost always beat EMS to the scene. We pulled up, and something simply wasn't right. No one was panicking or excited, ok - good sign. Why are there no lights on in the house? Why is the woman standing at the front door with a flashlight? Got out & asked the woman at the door what was going on, and she said that the power was off in the house. Ran back to the truck and grabbed some hand lights. We went in. The house was a disaster. Barely enough room to walk inside. Stuff piled all over the place, just paths to walk from room to room. We had to close the front door to make it down the hallway to the room the patient was in. Patient was lying on the floor, one of the other firefighters made it in before me and started asking questions. Family & neighbor giving very confusing info. My partner is trying his level best to get info & find out, and I chime in. "Is the patient breathing?" I asked. Barely, he told me. "What about a pulse" I asked. He said he didn't feel one. Damn. I got on the radio, told EMS of the cardiac arrest, my partner & I had to manhandle the patient to get them out of the room, with all the crap piled everywhere & limited room, there was no way we could work a code in that room.

We came out with the patient, and EMS was waiting for us at the door. we put the patient on the stretcher and right to the ambulance. We all went to work. My partner & I bagging & doing CPR. The medics starting an IV, getting the monitor & defib pads in place, preparing to intubate. Not a shockable rhythm, keep doing CPR. Everything went pretty smoothly. After a few minutes, all that needed to be done was done. IV, O2, monitor, defib, meds on board, CPR. My partner was going to have to ride in with EMS, they are getting ready to leave. Wait a sec, look at the monitor. Hold CPR, think we have a rhythm, I check a pulse. Yep, patient has a pulse, it's weak & thready, but it's there. Medic gets capture & starts pacing. Yeah, buddy. Off they scream into the night to the ER. Later found out patient was still alive, had an erratic pulse and was on a vent, but alive.

Sometimes, you never know.

Old Friends

2007-12-05T20:32:00.000-05:00

It's amazing, how when you least expect it, you hear from an old friend. Over the last year or so, I have made a concerted effort to catch up with a few people from high school and such. I've been successful in many of them, thanks to the Internet. Myspace & Classmates.com are wonderful resources.

But just yesterday, I got back in touch with a dear friend from right here on the blogs. Sadly, she had taken a break from all this, and I had lost touch with her. Happily, she has returned and we're starting to get caught back up on what has been going on in each others lives & families. It's really one of those wonderful things that seems even so much better around the holiday season. It's because of her, that I met my wife and have the life I have today.

Yes, it's true, I'm still a rough-around-the-edges fireman that tends to be crude & vulgar at times, with less than refined social graces. But because of her, her blog, and her words, I met the woman I love, married & will spend the rest of my life with. Without Beth in my life, it would still be the dark, dreary, monotonous grind I used to write about over 3 years ago.

To her, I owe a great debt of gratitude for being that catalyst that allowed us to meet. You know who you are. It may not sound like much, and doesn't really express my full appreciation, but - Thanks.

Christmas Thoughts, part deux.....

2007-12-04T13:30:00.003-05:00

After writing, reading & re-reading my last post, then reading some other blogs - I had a few additional thoughts.

I have never been one to be 'Politically Correct'. Hell, I'm a fireman. This means, I am jaded, cynical, have a mouth that would make a sailor blush, and generally expect the worse from humanity and what they are capable of doing to each other on a daily basis - the evidence is in the calls I go to. The shootings, stabbings, car wrecks, assaults, domestic disturbances, etc, etc. You get the idea. Anyway, I commented on Jillie's blog earlier today about becoming 'Politically Correct' in my Christmas Cards. It got me to thinking about a commentary I read from Ben Stein.

If they know of him at all, many folks think Ben Stein is just a quirky actor/comedian who talks in a monotone. (You know Bueller...... Bueller..... Bueller..... and the ever-popular Visine commercials)

He's also a very intelligent attorney & political advisor who knows how to put ideas and words together in such a way as to sway juries and make people think clearly.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary, Sunday, 12/18/05;

Here with at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:

I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young, it's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas
trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an
explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.

I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

Holiday Thoughts

2007-12-03T11:15:00.001-05:00

A couple years ago, I made a posting about some of my Chrstmas thoughts on my other blog. I'm probably going to be getting rid of that blog here soon anyway, but I thought it would be interesting to re-visit some of those things.......

The things that come from a childs mouth are wonderous. When my daughter was 5, she looked at her grandmother one night while visiting her and asked for a bananna split. When she was told there were no banannas, she proceeded to ask "Can't you just improvise?" Yes, a 5 year old used the word improvise correctly in a sentence.

Now for the Christmas thoughts... and for those of you that do not celebrate Christmas, I do not intend to offend anyone.

I get giddy when putting up Christmas decorations, I'm just a big kid at heart I guess.

Liquid Potpouri makes great wood cleaner..... I found out the hard way.

Christmas trees can be too big.

You can never have too many Christmas lights, but you can have a bad display of them.

I am tired of getting hit up at every store by the Salvation Army dudes ringing bells.

Christmas should be white...... EVERYWHERE. No exceptions. I don't care if you live on the Equator, there should be snow for Christmas. It can melt away the next day.

Christmas is too commercial. We often forget the reason for the holiday, but I can't help getting caught up in the commercial part of it.

I love hosting Christmas get-togethers.

I have to work Christmas Day this year............. again.

I spend more than I have on Christmas.

I have learned that there is nothing like looking at Christmas through the eyes of a child.

New Year's Eve sucks. It's amature night. The one night a year when those idiots who never go out and party, go out and party.

We are always busy during the holidays with bad emergency calls.

I can never remember to write the new year on my checks for the first month.

I enjoy Christmas comedy, as well.

My vehicle payment is due on Christmas Day.... think anyone will be there to accept it? 9not anymore, I traded that car in)

I put up alot of Christmas lights.... this in turn raises my electric bill. (I cut back this year on the lights)

Christmas lights look cool on fire trucks.

Santa was a fireman.

I love Christmas songs..... and really like singing along with them. I have some favorites, the top 5 in order are; 1) Carol of the Bells 2) Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree 3) Anything by Mannheim Steamroller 3) We Wish You a Merry Christmas (As done by John Denver and the Muppets) 4) Silent Night 5) Merry Christmas from the Family

I went light-hunting as a kid with my parents. I loved it.

I take my daughter light-hunting. She loves it. I still love it.

I want to have one of those houses one year that people flock to for the lights.

I still get misty eyed when I watch Charlie Brown's Christmas.

I have played the drinking game that goes with How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

There is something magical about midnight mass on Christmas Eve, regardless of your religion.

I have been drunk on Christmas.

I have fought many house fires on Christmas.

Scrooged with Bill Murray is one of the best and funniest adaptations of Charles Dickens A Chrismas Carol. (Followed closely by the Muppets Christmas Carol)

I didn't like the remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey.

I love the old classic Christmas cartoons: Rudolph, Frosty and Santa Clause is Coming to Town, etc. I have them all on tape.... bought them for my daughter to share my childhood memories and loves with her.

I think I enjoy them more than she does sometimes.

I never get my Christmas Cards done in time.

I miss my grandmother around the holidays, she always had a way of making them magical for me - even as an adult.

I have been to Rockefeller Center, seen the enormous tree and been ice skating.

My parents used to take us to New York City each year around Christmas to go to FAO Shwartz, Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes, the aforementioned Rockefeller Center, the window displays along 34th Street, and of course, Macy's in Herald Sqaure.

I loved those times as a kid, they are some of my most favorite and cherished holiday memories.

Now for some new thoughts:

Some all time favorite Christmas movies include (in no particular order) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Emmit Otters Jug Band Christmas, Polar Express, The above listed renditions of A Christmas Carol, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, and of course, A Christmas Story.

I own all the above listed movies on DVD.

There is nothing like a live tree - the smell, the sight - wonderful.

I don't own an artificial tree.

As I get older, I have finally understood that it really is better to give than recieve.

Christmas does not feel the same when you live in a climate that allows you to be outside in only a t-shirt.

My daughter still believes in Santa.

She wants to make 'home-made' reindeer food to leave out this year with the milk & cookies.

I do not look forward to the day she stops believing in Santa.

I love baking Christmas cookies.

No one makes Christmas cookies like mom, but I'm gonna try this year.

The anticipation of Christmas is almost better than the day itself.

Christmas Day goes by too quickly.

Each year, hundreds of house fires are started because of Christmas trees & lighting - Please be safe and be sure to keep your tree watered.

Finally - I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate. May there be Peace on Earth.

Sanity

2007-12-01T12:25:00.001-05:00

I'm beginning to question mine. I'm in the middle of a 13 day stretch of work without a day off. I go between jobs, leave one and go straight to the other, and then back again. My car has turned into a mobile closet with all the different uniforms hanging in the back. Last night I woke in the middle of the night at the station in a cold sweat. My mind is running away with me, even during the limited sleep I do get.

Last week went to a call for a cardiac arrest. Female patient, obvious death, very young - early twenties. She had been dead for hours. Cold to the touch, rigor & lividity. Nothing could be done, I know that. I was on the fire truck, so I called EMS on the radio & told them to slow down, patient was DOA.

I was dreaming, I think...... I hope. She was standing over me, asking me why we didn't help her. Why did we stare at her, not doing anything to help her live. Why hadn't we done CPR, shocked her, breathed for her -Why? Then I woke up, in that cold sweat. Damn it was real. Am I losing it?

Survival

2007-11-26T18:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I am happy to say, I survived Hannah Montana. For a while there, I wasn't sure if I would make it.

The ride to the coliseum wasn't too bad, we only had traffic the last couple miles, and the police did a pretty good job of keeping that moving. The biggest problem was parking. With over an hour to go before the show started, the parking lot was FULL. Over 6,000 parking spaces. So, on to the overflow lot we went. About 2 blocks from the coliseum. Well, we detoured into a small parking lot and took a gamble. It paid off. Found a space, the business was closed, and the car was still there when we came out.

Once inside, it was worse than being at the horse track 5 minutes before post time. I have never seen so many teenage & pre-teen girls in one place at one time. It was unreal. And the noise! Whoa. I never knew you could get that kind of sound out of girls. My ears are still ringing. but, my daughter had a great time, I took a ton of pictures for her, she got a concert T-shirt & a light stick, and she was very content. her first concert, I think she'll remember it for a while.

Hannah Montana????

2007-11-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

Oh, Joy. I get to take my little girl to her very first concert today, Hannah Montana. We bought her the tickets for her birthday. That, was an ordeal in and of itself! Ticketmaster sold out in something like 7 minutes. I had to go on Ebay to get them, and paid a small fortune, but this was her birthday present. Today is the show. Yippie. I get to drive a couple hours, take her to the show, then drive home. I can't tell you how happy I am. Somebody shoot me.

Thankful for stupid people

2007-11-23T10:58:00.000-05:00

So, Thanksgiving is over. We ate too much, drank too much, laughed a whole lot, and had a wonderful time with family. The way it should be. We really do have a great deal to be thankful for. What a meal. Everyone chipped in and made part of the meal and brought it to our house. Everything was phenomenal. I'm still full.

I deal with stupid people. Everyday at work, I deal with stupid people. It goes with the job, I suppose. Lately, we've had more than our share. Recently, we had 2 idiots that will forever stay in my memory.

The first was a guy that had apparently overdosed. On what, we were not sure. His story changed a few times. First he said he found the pills, then he said he found them in a friends car, then he finally fessed up and said he took them from this girls medicine cabinet in her apartment. He said he didn't know what they were, but they were yellow. That narrows it down. We went so far as to send the cops to the apartment to try and identify the pills, without success since the label was ripped off. Anyway, I asked him why he would take a bunch of pills that he didn't know what they were or what they were for. He told me he thought they would help him sleep. Silly me asked him why he thought that. Without missing a beat, he said "Well, on the bottle it said take before bedtime." Yup - You're in the running for a Darwin award my friend.

Now, idiot number 2. This middle-aged woman was involved in a car wreck. Notice I don't say accident. There is no such thing in my opinion. Someone had to do something wrong to cause those two cars to collide, so therefore, it was not an accident, it was an incident. However, I digress. So, this woman was struck from behind by a young woman. Let me paint the picture for you. Middle-aged woman was the passenger in the front car, a 15 year old station wagon, being driven by who I presume was her 20-something year old son. The young lady was driving a late model sport sedan, with a Chihuahua on her lap. When we got there, there was not a mark on either car - I mean not so much as a scuff mark. The crew gets off the engine and we go to make sure everyone is OK. Like I said, not so much as a scuff mark - important to remember that. So one of the guys goes over to talk to the woman who is standing on the passenger side of her car at the rear, and is asking her if she is alright, and surveying the non-existent damage. She responds with all sorts of nonsense about how rude the 9-1-1 operator was, how long it took us to get there (never mind they gave the wrong location to the dispatcher when they called in and we had to hunt to find them), and then she proceeds to go into a tirade about how the girl in the car that "slammed into her" had backed her car up after hitting her and that was against the law, and she isn't supposed to move a car that's been involved in an accident. Well, my man there was trying to speed along the process of finding out if the woman was hurt and told her he didn't need her to preach to him about the law.... Yeah - that didn't go over so well. She started going off about how she knows half the fire department administration, wanted our names, how she had the right to say what she wanted, blah blah blah. It was all I could do not to tell her to shut the hell up. Now the cop shows up in a marked police car. I tell him she's all kinds of mad, and he might want to try and get her calmed down before we go off on her, and he asks for her registration & insurance. She looks right at him and asks if he is the police. Um..... yeah. standing there in uniform, in front of a patrol car. Whatya think? Then she makes some comment about not being able to see his badge, well duh - he's wearing a traffic vest. So he opens his traffic vest to show her his badge, then she wants his name and badge number. I mean, this chick is loony tunes.

Mind you, the whole time, the young girl is sitting in her car with the window down, not saying a word to her. She answered our questions & that was about it. I leaned over to her and told her to do herself a favor and not say any more than she had to to the woman, and then we loaded up and left. What a dumbass.

Yeah, I'm thankful for stupid people. They are the reason I have job security, and I never have a dull moment at work. There is usually some dumbass doing some dumb crap that ultimately will end up in someone calling 9-1-1.

Damn, I'm tired

2007-11-20T16:12:00.001-05:00

Yup. That about sums it up. I worked at the fire department yesterday, and we ran our butts off all night. Didn't get any sleep at all. Soon as I came off shift this morning, I came straight to work EMS. I'm trying to stay awake by keeping busy online. It's not working.

I'm on hour 33 of a 36 hour day working, then I have to give a tour to a group of cub scouts at the volunteer department for about an hour after that. Ugh. I need a nap.

Last night at the fire department, we had just about everything. We had calls for fire alarms, building fires, car accidents, a pedestrian struck by a car, and even a cardiac arrest. What a damn shift. I never thought it was going to end.

Friday night was fun. We had the opportunity to attend a ball, but not just any ball. It was a Tartan Ball. What is that, you might ask? Well, a few years ago, several of the Fire, EMS & Law enforcement agencies from a particular county got together and decided to combine their individual pipe & drum groups into one large organization. It has turned out to be a resounding success. Friday night was their 2nd annual ball, a way to show off what they have accomplished thus far, enjoy some fellowship and love of Celtic traditions, and raise some money for the group.

Many of the attendees were in Highland or Celtic garb, complete with kilts and tartans. The pipe and drum members were, of course, in full attire. There were performances by Irish step dancers, Scottish dancers, and of course, the pipe & drum members. They were incredible! What a night. What a performance! Despite not having any Celtic heritage, I have always had a love of the bagpipes. We were not disappointed at all. A wonderful time was had by all, and I look forward to next years ball!

Thanksgiving is fast upon us. 2 more days. I'm still trying to figure out where the year has gone. Seems like yesterday we were celebrating New Years. This year has flown by, and it has seen the best of times and the worst, as well. I think back, and realize that I have a great deal to be thankful for. No, we're not financially secure, not even close to wealthy. But we have our health, a beautiful daughter who is happy and well. We have an extended family that is loving and there in times of need. We have a home, and careers, and friends. I consider myself a very rich man, indeed. I also consider myself very lucky and fortunate to have what I have, and am very thankful for it all.

Just lucky I guess

2007-11-14T15:05:00.000-05:00

Alright, so I'm back. And in true me fashion - I start off with a bang. Posted last night, now doing it again. Lemme tell you about the kind of luck I have.

The last few weeks have been trying to say the least in regards to my wife's car. Here's the background on it. About 2 years ago, I had the chance to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee off a friend of mine. It's a '94, had been wrecked and rebuilt and he bought it from auction for $1500. After about a year without him ever really driving it, he announced he was selling it because he never could get it running right and he was moving and couldn't take all 5 cars he had (3 drivers in the house) with him.

So, I make a deal and buy it off him for $1300. He thought the reason it didn't run right was the computer, a $500 fix. I quickly found out it wasn't the computer, but the alternator on it was the wrong one, putting out low amps and not letting the computer work properly. $300 later, Cherokee running fine.

I start driving it around daily instead of my Wrangler to save wear & tear and tires, etc etc. A year goes by. I decide I don't need to pay insurance & taxes on 3 cars. I had my Wrangler, the Cherokee and the wife had a Cavalier. Cherokee & Cavalier both needed work. I estimated there was less wrong with the Cherokee then he Cavalier, sink some money into it to get it running real well, and give that to the wife. I then sell her car to a high school student for a song.

Since I bought it, I had put in the alternator, new tires, brake job and a starter. Fast forward to May. The transmission goes out. 1 week before the wedding, I had to drop $2000 I didn't have to rebuild the tranny so she had a way back and forth to school. OK - it's like a new car now, right??? Wrong. In the last 2 months, it's had to be towed twice. The freeze plugs blew out of the block, breaking a radiator line & frying the thermostat. Then about 2 weeks after that, the water pump went out.

The latest fiasco? Just a couple days ago. Beth was driving to see me at work, and the power steering went out. she managed to get into a store parking lot and frantically call me. Lucky for her, she was very close to my station and we were able to head over in the truck to check it out. Turned out the serpentine belt broke, which of course controls like everything to include the power steering. Ok, no problemo. We ran to the auto parts store, got a new one, and proceeded to put it on. Cranked it up and within a minute - WHAMO. Broke that belt. Ok, something more serious is wrong. Called for the tow truck to take it to the garage. Turned out the idler pulley was bad, the bearings inside had seized. Lovely. By the time I'm done, I'll have a brand new motor in a 14 year old vehicle!

Is there anybody out there?

2007-11-12T18:56:00.001-05:00

I don't even know where to start. Been gone so long. I didn't warn anyone I was leaving, I just split. Sorry. All I can say is that I had some reasons. I'm back, I guess. Not sure for how long, or how frequently. One of the reasons I quit blogging for so long was time constraints. I didn't have the ability to do it at work anymore, and work got very busy.

So, what's happened in the last year since I left you ask? Well, I got married, had some transfers at work to different stations, started working another part-time job. Since May, I went from the oldest station in the city to the newest. I hated it. I didn't want to get moved, didn't ask for it, begged to be left where I was. Nope - they weren't having that. So, I bit my tongue, bidded my time, and when an opening presented itself to move to another house to take the place of a guy retiring, I jumped on it. Best thing I did. Now I just hope they leave me there for a while.

Marriage is interesting. Never have I been so confused in all my life. I love my wife, don't get me wrong, and I love being married. My problem is after so many years of living alone, doing things my way, and not having to consult or ask anyone before I do things, I regularly do stupid crap to piss her off. I act without asking or checking with her that there may be a conflict or a problem in scheduling, and then have to handle the fall out. Or I don't check to see if she's taken money out of the bank and wind up spending money I shouldn't. Stuff like that. We're getting it worked out though. They say that life isn't about the destination, but about the journey to get there. I'll buy that. So far, wild journey!

Sold my Jeep. That sucked. Never should have done that. I miss it. Loved it. Had a lot of fun with it. Needed something bigger, more room, better for family trips, etc. Bought a Suburban. Love it, great ride, lots of room, terrible on gas! LOL Don't regret buying the Suburban, just regret having to sell the Jeep to do it. Oh, well. I'll get another some day - bank on that.

Hmmm.... What else? I've missed some friends on here, that's for sure. used to have a great bunch of folks that would read and comment on what I wrote, as I would do for them. Miss that. I wonder where you all are? GoodWife, Boringsuburbanmother, SN (You know who you are), mouthy mom, The Fleitz family, Mia, and so, so many others. Where are you all now? I would love to hear from some of you. Maybe you'll read this and drop me a line. I hope so.

I got a new laptop - FINALLY. What a damn fiasco that was. I have a 'friend' who owns a computer business. I've known him for years. He's a volunteer fireman. So, I when Dell in their infinite wisdom denied my request, I went to him. The request? Build me a laptop and I want the operating system to be Windows XP. Vista sucks. I hate it. It's awful. Bought a laptop with Vista and returned it 2 days later. But, that's a whole other story. Anyway, anyone ever called Dell to buy something? You get a guy named George with an extremely thick Indian (not the Native American kind) accent. "Hello, My name is George. Thank You for calling Dell. What can we custom build for you today?" Did you catch the custom part? I did. "Well, George, I want a new laptop with Windows XP instead of Vista." "Oh, I'm sorry" says George, "We can only offer Windows Vista." Round and round we went about the term custom built computer and what I wanted for my money. I lost, so did Dell - my business that is. After being a LOYAL Dell customer for years, I will no longer buy from them. Enter my 'friend'. I go to him, tell him what I need the laptop for, what I primarily use it for, what I need it to be able to do. He starts spouting all kinds of techno-geek terms about ram and specs and gigs and the like. I have no clue what he's talking about, but it sounds good. He assures me, it will do all I want, and more. He's going to put XP on it for me instead of Vista. He's going to give me Office 2007 free, he's going to give me Dreamweaver for my website work. He's going to give me Photoshop, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. Cool. Now the price. OUCH! Yeah, a bit more than I wanted to pay, but hey - it's still a pretty good deal. The software alone is worth the price of the machine. OK. Bonus - it's the state's tax free weekend before the school year starts. Cool, save a few bucks there since computers are included in the tax free weekend. He asks me to pay in advance. Now, normally I'd be leery. But, hey, I know him and he's a fireman. He'll take care of me. Tells me it will take a few days to get the machine from the supplier then he'll add the additional hardware and the software I need and want, and Bang-O! I get a high-speed, low-drag, state of the art laptop. Should all happen in less than a week. Right.

Over a month. That's what it took for me to get it. I repeatedly called him. I get the run-around. First, it was lost by UPS. Then he had to have UPS track it. They couldn't find it. Then he had to have the shipper file an insurance claim and order a new one from him. Then, it's back ordered, there's a recall on one part, the company is upgrading components and drivers, blah blah blah - on and on. I finally had to threaten him. After 30 days, I had to tell him if I didn't get my laptop by the next day, i wanted my money back. Miracle upon miracles! That very afternoon he calls me back to tell me it had been delivered by UPS and he'd have it ready the next day with all the stuff I want. Uh, huh. Right. Born at night, but not last night.

Finally got it. However, I must admit - it's one sweet computer. It's so fast, I can't keep up sometimes. Does all I want and then some. All in all, I must admit, awesome computer.
Beth graduates in less than a month. How the hell did that happen? Wow! It seems like yesterday she was transferring schools here and moving in and had over 2 years to go ..... now I'm buying a cap & gown and tassel for her and helping her prepare her resume to land her first post-college job. Time really does fly.

Still not sleeping. When we do go to bed together (to sleep), she sleeps, I toss and turn. usually, she goes to bed and I sit up working on websites or watching TV or having a few drinks to tire myself out enough to actually sleep.

We live in the Southeast. What's with the friggn' weather???? No damn rain. Can't get a hurricane to save our butt. At this point, even a hurricane wouldn't be enough rain to get us out of the drought we're in. Just checking... but it's like mid-November, right???? So why was it over 70 degrees here today??? Then overnight it goes down to the 30s & 40s. It can't make up it's mind. All I know for sure is, it's too damn warm to be November!!! I'd kill for a little snow. Guess that's what I get for moving here.

Well, I guess I've rambled enough for now. Guess I'll post this and see if anyone actually reads it. But, I never really did start the blog for anyone but me to begin with.

The 12 Days of Christmas - EMS Style

2006-12-07T00:02:00.000-05:00

On the First day of Christmas, my Dispatcher gave to me...
Grandma who fell and hurt her knee...

On the Second Day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me...
2 MG of Narcan for the out of work person who wants to end it all by taking her Husband's pain pills and won't tell me what she took and is feeling suicidal....
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee.

On the Third day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me....
Three stacked shocks for the 88 year old man who instead of paying the neighbor kid 5 bucks to shovel his driveway, decided to do it himself and have the big one in the driveway...
2 Mg of Narcan for the psycho chick trying to off herself...
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee..

On the Fourth day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me....
4 AM in the morning I have to go to the nursing home because someone has had the flu for like 16 years and all of a sudden needs to go to the hospital....NOW,...
Three Stacked shocks for the full arrested popsicle,
2 MG of Narcan for Morphine eating Momma...
and Grandma who fell and hurt her knee....

On the Fifth day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me...
Five minutes to eat.....
4 AM shuttle call,
Three stacked shocks,
2 MG of Narcan,
and Grandma who fell and hurt her knee....

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me....
Six run reports behind because the computer guy can't fix the system...

Five Minutes to eat!!!!!!!!!!
4 AM Shuttle,
3 zaps to the chest,
gonna have a stomach pumped,
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee...

On the Seventh day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me...Seven car pile up while everyone was trying to beat the light so they can get into WalMart the day after Thanksgiving thinking there is only 4 dancing Elmo Dolls...
six reports behind...
Five minutes to eat.......
4AM is way to early,
3 stacked shocks,
2 of Narcan Pushed,
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee....

On the Eighth day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me....Eight flights of steps to walk up to get the 400 pound person who is having shortness of breath since LAST Christmas and can't walk...oh, and of course, the elevator doesn't work...
7 cars a crunching,
six reports a writing,
Five minutes to eat.
4 AM shuttle,
CPR in progress,
2 MG of Narcan,
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee...

On the ninth day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me Nine blankets needed to cover up grandpa because he is freezing and we aren't even out of the house yet but thinks he will get pneumonia and die for all of the 10 seconds we are outside...
Eight flights of stairs,
should have stayed home and bought it off of Ebay,
six reports I'm writing...
Five minutes to eat.....
What the Hell time is it,
should have paid the kid,
2MG of Narcan,
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me...
Ten Minutes till I can get a bed in the ER because the nurses are busy figuring out who is going to lunch next....
Nine blankets needed,
Hope fire department is coming,
7 cars a crunching,
six reports I need to write,
Five minutes to eat...
Can't you wait till morning,
stick a fork in him, he's done,
Man I hope she shuts up...
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee.

On the Eleventh day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me....
Eleven times I tried to get the heat to work in the back of the truck and maintainence won't take the truck in...
ten minutes waiting,
Nine blankets needed,
eight flights of steps to climb,
Hope you have Progressive,
Give me a new ink pen...
Five minutes to eat....
4 AM is early,
3 Leads all show he's dead,
2 MG won't touch her..
and grandma who fell and hurt her knee...

On the Twelth day of Christmas, my dispatcher gave to me...
a 12 Gague IV needle that I put into the drunk 19 year old who tried to swing at me...
it's really freezing,
Hope you choke on your sandwich,
9 blankets for grandpa,
How did you get up here in the first place,
man your husband is gonna be pissed,
six reports STILL down...
five minutes to eat...
Better than taking them back,
Hope I recorded the code,
Man, just pass out already...
and grandma who fell and hit her knee...

Does anyone read me anymore?

2006-11-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

How the hell did I go almost a month without posting???? Oh, yeah - I been working damn near every day. Does anyone even read me anymore? Please leave a comment and let me know if you are reading - otherwise I may just scrap this blog.

Holy crap. I never should have accepted that promotion at my volly station. Ever since the Chief promoted me to Captain - it has been nothing but headaches and hassles. There is one individual in particular that I am convinced takes great delight in coming to me with problems, gripes, bitches and over-all complaints. I think they just want to see if I will do anything about whatever it is they are bitching about. Well - I showed them today. One of the major complaints I have heard from many people lately is that new people joining the department aren't getting the proper training before they are cleared to respond to calls. I don't think I really need to elaborate on why that could potentially be a problem. So, I made a command decision. The person who was in charge of getting the new people trained really didn't have the best work schedule to make it possible for him to be there - and he was delegating it out to others to be done. This wasn't happening in the best way - and a great deal of the training was being done half-assed. I decided there needed to be a change, and moved one of the other LT's to oversee that aspect of training and the LT that was doing it I moved to take care of the apparatus. Of course - I got the Chief to OK it first. Never want to buck the chain-of-command too hard.

So, when that word filters down through the membership - I'm sure I will hear additional bitching and griping. Cet le vie. They'll get over it. I have a simple goal here. I want to provide the best training and the most knowledge to these kids as I can, in the hopes that they stay alive and maybe save my ass some day, period.

Beyond that, it's been status quo. I wish I could say the same at the city. I've worked to pretty bad MVA's in the last week. God really does protect small children, fools & drunks. If not, there would have been 2 more dead folks this week. How these 2 guys survived their respective wrecks is beyond me. But, mine is not to try and understand how they survived it - just to keep them alive until they get to the ER.

Also this week, a friend and fellow fireman was involved in a wreck. His was a bit serious & scary. I say that because at first he was responsive, then went unresponsive - then he went into seizure activity. He gave us all a good scare. He also decided to wreck in our response area - so we all showed up not knowing it was him until we got there. I wound up sitting in the ER all night with his fiance until we knew he woiuld be ok. Then went to work the next day with zero sleep. That was fun, lemme tell ya.

I wish I could say I had some non-work related events to share, but I don't. The last several weeks have been hectic, to say the very least.

Again - if anyone is still reading, please let me know. I am seriously thinking of dumping this blog if no one is reading it.

Thanks - and Cya!

Race Day Pics - Finally!

2006-10-19T06:51:00.000-04:00

I had been trying to upload these pics for a couple days now, but blogger wouldn't let me upload for some reason. Better late than never!

Here's the start of the race - the green flag drops and they're off!!!

After the first lap, crossing the start / finish line, and heading into turn one when this wreck takes out 14 cars!!!

Race Day

2006-10-15T17:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was race day in Charlotte @ Lowe's Motor Speedway. Oh, what a sea of humanity! To say it was crowded would be a huge understatement. Inevitably, when you put that many people together in one place, add cool temperatures and alcohol - stuff will happen.

We got there much earlier then we anticipated. We had decided not to tailgate because we didn't think we would have the time, so we didn't bring anything with us. To our surprise, we made much better time getting there then we expected, then got into the parking area and the track much faster than we expected. We wound up having about 4 hours prior to the start of the race. Oh, well - next time I'll bring my tailgating gear.

We decided to head in to the track, since we were all hungry and we hadn't brought food with us. We hit the vendors outside the track, bought a few things and a frequency list for the scanners, and got something to eat. When we actually entered the track, my brother & father got busted for bringing in stadium seats that were too big and not allowed. My brother had to go back to the car and put them back. Needless to say, they were both pissed off about that. Dod got even more agitated when later on, he saw other folks walking in with the exact same stadium seat and they got away with it. I thoguht he was going to start an incident with security, but he didn't.

My brother had volunteered to drive out and back to the race, leaving the rest of us free to partake in adult beverages. That, of course, we had packed in abundance. Can't go to the race without booze. By the time the green flag dropped, I was buzzing nicely. Beth was nipping on a flask of our famous home-made brandy that we had brought with us. She too was feeling fine. By the time the race was over, I was pretty well toasted and feeling no pain.

The race started on-time, and looked to be an exciting run from the drop of the green flag. That lasted for the first lap. As the leaders came past the start-finish line and were heading into turn 1, there was a 14 car wreck sending cars sliding across the track and into the infield grass. There wasn't a single person sitting down.

After the track was cleared and everyone pitted, the race resumed and the remainder was pretty clean. There were the minor wrecks here and there along with cautions for debris on the track and what-not, but no other big wrecks.

Dale Jr. ran a really good race, staying out in the front 5 most of the night and out of the wrecks. At one point, he had the strongest car out there and was dominating. He was passing cars left and right, anywhere he wanted. He could run the high line and the low line with no problem.

In the end, he didn't have the strongest car, and Kasey Kahne went on to win the race with Jr. coming in 4th. That puts Dale Jr. 5th in the points race, up one spot, and only 106 points back. Go, Dale, Go!

We had a great time during the race. We were sitting behind two young female shcool teachers, who didn't dress quite appropriately for the cold temperatures as the night wore on, and they wound up huddling with one another, legs intertwined and hugging. The one refered to the other has her 'roommate' but I think they might have been just a tad closer. Who knows... but it was good for a side show during cautions and pit-stops!

During one caution period, there was a fist-fight between two drunks in the next section over. Like I said, you put that many people together and add alcohol - something will happen. The people around them broke it up quickly, before security or police had to be called in, and everyone went back to enjoying the race.

After the race was over, we got out fairly easily, got back to the car and made our way out. The higway patrol and track staff did a great job of directing traffic adn getting everyone moving, and we made it out to clear road in decent time. I of course fell asleep on the ride home - alcohol will do that to you, and woke up just before my brother dropped us at the house.

Beth and I crawled into bed and were both asleep in minutes. I was rudely awakened at 8 AM. It was one of the Battalion Chiefs from the city asking if I wanted to come in to work overtime. Nope. I was in no shape to go to work. I went back to sleep, neither of us getting up till after 11 AM, by then I felt much better. Not too long after that, I got another call. The EMS chief from the volunteer station begging me to work tonight at my old part-time EMS job. She didn't have anyone to work, and now that I am an officer again, they are once-more calling upon me to do more. I told her I would cover it, and run calls from the house and not actually work the shift from the station. I also told her she needed to ensure someone was there in the AM to work @ 0600, as I have to teach the city rookies at the fire academy tomorrow morning.

I was just working around the house today, getting caught up on some stuff and cleaning up the garage - still recovering from last night. My volunteer station was dispatched to a car accident this afternoon right up the road from my house. I responded to that, having command of the incident.

So, a great weekend, and even when I try and take a weekend off to relax and enjoy life and family a bit, I still get called into work. Sheesh!

This and that

2006-10-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

Into the Fire. Great show. Premiered tonight on The History Channel. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Finally, a film/documentary that portrayed firefighters in a realistic and honest manner. About time. Fireman's Fund insurance, The History Channel, and the filmmaker are to be commended on this work. If you missed it, I encourage you to watch it again when it is re-aired. If you can't sit and watch it for the hour and a half, set your VCR or TiVo. Well worth it. It airs again Oct 22 @ 4PM.

As a die-hard Yankees fan, I was saddened by the death of pitcher Cory Lidle. Of course, like many emergency responders, I too initially wondered if a plane hitting a building in NYC was another terrorist attack. I was relieved that it was not, but the later reports of Lidle's death and the destruction caused by the crash didn't make the fact it was not a terrorist act make me any happier.

As with all things, life must go on. I am excited to be traveling to Charlotte tomorrow to watch the Nextel Cup Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It's been a few years since I have attended a NASCAR race, and I'm looking forward to it a lot. This will also be Beth's first race. She is very excited about it and can't wait. Despite that it will be rather chilly out tomorrow night, and I hate going anywhere with large crowds, we should have a great time. We're going with my father, brother and nephew as well. Can't wait!

Other than that, just working a lot as usual. Bounced back and forth this week from city & EMS, teaching a few nights for the fire academy after getting off from EMS. Made for some really long days. I need this weekend off to relax and enjoy the race. Took Sunday off as well to recover. Next week, back to the grind.

Teaching a couple days for the rookie class at the city, along with working shift & EMS as well. Some things simply don't change. The end of the month brings the state union convention. Hard to believe it's been a year already since the last one! I took vacation time so I can once again attend as a delegate. Should be very informative and intersting - as always.

That's about it for now!

New opportunity?

2006-09-25T22:01:00.000-04:00

Things continue to be busy and hectic. My situation at the city hasn't gotten any better. The two individuals at my house are still annoying the hell outta me. One I can mostly ignore and tell to buzz off. The other - well, that's a bit harder, he's the boss. (Sigh) I guess I will just have to learn to live with it and keep my mouth shut.

EMS has been slamming. We have been so busy, it's not even funny. The bad thing is, that most of the calls lately are actually legit and serious. Some even fall into the category of real bad. All I know is I have been picking up extra shifts and each time I do, I wish I had stayed home. We run like crazy the entire shift. But, the money is pretty good.

In my volunteer department, things took an unexpected turn for me. For months now, I have not done much with the department. Ever since I got demoted from Lieutenant, I pretty much washed my hands of the station. I would show up occasionally for a call, and make a meeting every 6 weeks or so. I didn't care. I even joked one day I had to stop by the station to see if my gear was still on the rack or if they had pulled it yet. I happened to be teaching a class at the station about two weeks ago, EMS con-ed. We didn't have enough people show up, and had to cancel. Since I was already there, I decided to hang out and see what has been going on. I wound up sitting in the chief's office and talking to him. The conversation was interesting, to say the least. The short version is this - within 5 days, he promoted me to Captain and made me the department training officer. Hmmm..... from black hat and former LT to Captain. I guess I should be skeptical and cynical, but I think I am too shocked it happened to be. So, as if I didn't already have enough crap going on in my life, now I have to start showing up for calls and meetings again, and planning all the training! Crap. Well, no good deed goes unpunished.

Beth is not happy that I accepted the position, for many reasons - and truth be told; she is justified in her feelings and I understand why she feels the way she does. First, she's upset that it will take me away from the house more than I already am. Second, after the demotion, she saw what it did to me. She saw through my tough exterior and my facade - she knew it hurt me and embarrased me. Even more so, becasue what got me demoted wasn't my fault. Third, she thinks I'm nuts for having stayed there after that, despite the number of years I have been there. She thinks I should have told them to piss up a rope a lick the wet end. Fourth, her intuition tells her it's a trap, set-up, political act, or just done to shut me up. See, I told the chief about 6 months ago when he promoted 3 kids to LT that he was making a huge mistake. All were too young, inexperienced and hot-tempered. She thinks this is his way to shut me up about it, seeing as how I now out-rank them all and they have to answer to me in the chain-of-command. And, to be honest, she may have a valid point.

Either way, and despite all that, I am rather happy about the promotion. Even if it does mean more work. This way, I get to train the kids the right way, make sure they know what they should to maybe save their life or mine some day. To be honest, it's the position I have always wanted - handed to me on a silver platter. I guess time will tell how a) I perform in the position and b) if this was a set-up or not.

Wish me luck.

9-11-06

2006-09-12T20:52:00.000-04:00

5 years later. How can it be 5 years? I remember with vivid horror watching the events unfold, as if only yesterday. Thousands of innocent lives lost – the act of murderers, terrorists. Thanks to my fire & news notification pager I have carried for 15 years, I knew of the events unfolding in lower Manhattan literally 3 minutes after the 1st plane hit – even before CNN could get a camera crew rolling. Here I was, some 650 miles away, and I knew more about what was happening than the major media outlets.

I was with a group of soon-to-be paramedics, a class. Most of them I called kids. Most were fresh out of high school. I had at least 10 years on most of them. They were not old enough, certainly not experienced enough in the ways of the world, to deal with & understand the enormity of what was happening as we turned on the TV and watched the replay of the jet smashing into the first tower. I watched there in horror as they showed the scene over and over again, then crews began arriving at the Trade Center. The firefighters, paramedics and police officers running into the buildings, loaded with gear. Even then I knew this would not have a good outcome. It couldn’t. I was there in ’93 when it was bombed – I knew the task that laid ahead of my brothers in that building. I did not envy them. Suddenly, the second plane hit.

At that moment, I knew. I knew we were being attacked. This was not the pilot error or accident the press wanted us to believe, wanted us to hope for. No – we were at war. Then word came in about the Pentagon, then rumors of a plane crash in Pennsylvania. How could it be? How could this be happening? Then the 1st tower came down, followed all too soon by the second tower. When the 1st one crashed to Earth, I knew the death toll would be enormous. I knew I had lost brother firefighters, maybe even friends I have on the job there. When the second tower crashed down, I was sick to my stomach. I felt like I would vomit. It was a dream, it had to be. I tried to believe I was asleep and was dreaming some horrible nightmare – but it was real.

I needed to get out of there. I left and picked my 2 year old daughter up from daycare and rushed home. I needed to think, to plan. I was going to NYC. I had to. I had to be there to help my brothers with this disaster of proportions too gigantic to be fully comprehended. I called my mother. I needed her to watch my daughter for several days, maybe a week or more. She hadn’t heard the news. She didn’t know. Her office has piped music and no TV’s or radios. I told her to get to a TV and see for herself. I also told her she needed to come home as soon as possible.

She arrived an hour later. I was packing my gear bags, grabbing everything I could think of, everything I thought I might need. I was grabbing batteries, lights, radios, turnout gear, extra everything. She stopped me. I’d seen that look in her eyes before. “Son, you can’t go.” Before the words escaped her lips, I knew that was what she was going to say. “Mom, I have to. It’s what I do, it’s who I am – those are my brothers.” She took a deep breath and held my arms. “Not this time. You need to stay here. You have a responsibility to your child, and to your current position and obligations. You can’t up and go. Not this time. I can’t look after the Squirt for you while you’re gone – you have to stay.” I couldn’t talk. She might as well have been forbidding me, as she had done when I was a child, to go – it was the same. I wasn’t going to win the argument.

So, I stayed. And I watched. Over the days and weeks that followed, I watched the never-ending TV coverage, watched the flag-draped Stokes Baskets being hauled out off the pile. I called friends back home in the area. I found out who was still alive and who was not, I found out who was missing. I gathered as much info as I could about the guys I knew. I still felt awful – I felt like I should be there. In the end – part of me will always feel like I should have gone. But I also know that at that time in my life, I had too many commitments and obligations to simply pick up and go.

So, here we are – 5 years later. The wound is still very fresh for me. The pain of that day is real. How can anyone forget? How can anyone say we shouldn’t be fighting a war on foreign soil to protect our freedoms here? Have you forgotten so quickly? Did our parents & grandparents forget about Pearl Harbor after 5 years? I think not. I don’t care what your political beliefs or affiliations are. I have heard all the rhetoric saying the only reason we invaded Iraq was for oil. Hmmm….. if we invaded Iraq for oil, then where’s the damn oil? I dunno about you, but I’ve been paying higher prices for gas ever since the war started than in any other time in history – and we control Iraq right now. So, anyone that says we invaded Iraq for oil is oblivious to the global economic dynamic. We’re looking for terrorists – plain and simple. I say – drive on. Don’t quit, stay the course. The whinny, liberal, peace activists are allowed to be whinny, liberal, peace activists because of the freedoms our troops have secured for us over the last 200 years. They can get out there and spout off about how evil the President is for going to war, and how we should all get along and we should leave the Iraqi and Afgan people alone. OK, fine. If we do, do you think that those terrorists hiding out over there are going to say thanks and leave us alone in return. Ummm…. Nah, not thinking that’s gonna happen.

These fanatics want us dead. They hate us, they hate everything about us. They despise our beliefs and way of life. We’re the evil western infidels and they are doing the work of the Lord. If eating pork, and having the right to say what I think and having women in our society as equals and allowed to do as they please makes me an infidel, then so be it! I’m the biggest infidel out there. And their basis? Religion. Didn’t we try this once before? Oh yeah, I think they called it the Crusades and if I remember from my history books, it didn’t go over too well either.

5 years later. I was on-shift yesterday. I had to go to a 9/11 remembrance ceremony. There were few people there. Each year it seems like less and less people show up. This year, it was mostly soldiers and their families. Those who have served this country with pride, honor, courage and distinction. These men and women who each and every day protect my freedom to live my life as I choose. These men and women I can never thank enough, can never find the words to adequately begin to thank. These men and women who have sacrificed, continue to sacrifice and some who have given their lives for the cost of freedom. And these soldiers that were there today, were coming up to me and the guys on my company after the ceremony, and were thanking us. How can that be? These folks have been to war and will return to wear, and yet they are thanking me for what I do? The irony was overwhelming.

So, here I sit. 5 years later. I am still hurt, sad, and mourning. Yet, I am also angered, outraged, beligerant and defiant. I will not forget. I will not let others forget. I support our troops and our President. I don’t believe we need to leave the battlefield until the job is 100% done, period. Until every last terrorist, extremist, fanatic and any other individual or group that wishes to do us harm is eradicated, we need to continue to fight the fight and stay the course. Anything less, is dishonoring those brave men and women who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom. Anything less is accepting that those almost 3000 people, 343 of which were my brother firefighters, that died on 9/11/01, died in vain. To me, that is unacceptable.

God Bless America.

TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN (2001-911)

Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"

They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."

Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."

From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
trust us sir, we've passed that test."

"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores

A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day

"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"

The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"

Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must

Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"

So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."

Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45

The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."

"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.

All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.

With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

Author UNKNOWN

Vacation?

2006-07-25T06:15:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe I haven’t had time to sit and write in 17 days. Summertime is always a busy time at work. Between the increase in the call volume and everyone taking vacations, it keeps us hopping and keeps us all moving around the city filling in at other houses to keep up the minimums. In fact, my vacation started yesterday – and I worked EMS. I took the next cycle off from the city.

Beth and I were planning on going to Baltimore for the Firehouse Expo, but we don’t have the extra money right now, so we decided not to go. We both were really looking forward to going, so needless to say we’re kind of bummed about having to cancel the trip. Since we’re not going to the Expo, we’ll probably do a day trip or two instead next week.

I’ve also been picking up a lot of extra shifts at EMS. I need the money and they are short-handed after several people have left to pursue other careers and positions. We stay real busy every shift, we’re averaging around 2800 calls a month on EMS, and we’re over 10,000 calls for the year at the city. Despite that many fire calls in the city for the year so far, I haven’t seen more than a car fire in a couple months. I suppose that’s good in the grand scheme of things, but it does make for some monotonous shifts. Lots of medical calls, lots of wrecks, lots of alarm activations and stuff like that. Sure there are fires, but they seem to be happening in other parts of the city or on other shifts.

The family is good, the Squirt is getting bigger everyday and I swear there are days when she is more on the ball than I am. I fear for her teacher this fall. I have no doubt she is ready for 1st grade, but I’m not really sure if 1st grade is ready for her! Beth and I are just chugging along nicely. We take things day by day, and the plans continue for the wedding in May.

Next month, her aunt and uncle are coming down from Ohio for a long weekend to visit. We’ll probably do a trip to the beach while they are here, seeing as that is one thing her aunt emphatically stressed she wanted to do while they are here. And there is one other unusual turn of events regarding her family. We heard from her mother. Yeah, we were pretty surprised, too. Her mom sent her an e-mail a few days ago, basically telling her how sorry she was for the way things transpired, and that she misses her and wants to try and make amends. I see it as an opportunity, but the cynic in me is still pretty leery.

The other night, I set one of my best friends (another fireman, of course) up on a blind date. I met this new nurse about a month ago. She’s a traveling nurse, and she stopped by the station one day I was on shift with her parents. Her parents helped her move here from Florida and stayed a couple days with her. Seeing as I’m in the ER on a regular basis with EMS and her dad is a fireman in Florida, I gave her my number and told her I would show her around and what not. So, the other night we set up a double-date with her and my friend and Beth and I. We went out to dinner, then out for coffee and then to a local bar for a few drinks, some music & some conversation. After several hours, Beth and I called it a night and headed home. My friend was going to drop her off at her apartment. Seeing as he and I both had to be on shift the following morning, I figured he would drop her off and head for home. I called him that morning after shift started, and he told me that he really liked her, they got along well, and wound up sitting in the parking lot in front of her apartment talking till after 2 AM. Seeing as we left them around midnight, I’d say that is a good sign. We’ll have to wait and see.

I wish I had more to talk about, but there really isn’t much else going on. I do plan on working around the house this week with the time off I have coming. Beth and I have some ideas for some landscaping plans, and money-willing, maybe we’ll get a few of them done next week. Actually, my life is pretty boring and routine – all I do these days it seems is work. I really need this vacation.

Another busy week

2006-07-07T21:09:00.000-04:00

So much has happened in the last week and a half since I last had a chance to sit and write. Work has been slammed. We've been busy at the city, really busy. I've been working a lot of overtime on EMS. The weather has been very hot and humid lately, and it wears me out quickly, By the time the shift is over, or I get home, I'm usually wiped out.

The worst thing to occur was getting assigned a new captain. Well, new is a relative term. In fact, he is one of the oldest captains on the job, having over 30 years on the job. The problem is that he is very set in his ways, is a micro-manager, and is the same captain I had 6 months ago before I got transferred. He has many quirks about him that drive us all nuts, and there is not a whole lot we can do about it - seeing as he is the captain and in charge of the house and the company. I spent over 6 months before getting transferred trying to get transferred just to get away from him - that's how annoying he is. Well, my luck ran out and they moved him to my house. At first, I thought it was a sign that someone high-up didn't like me and was trying to tell me something. Then I found out they had moved him there so he would be closer to City Hall and the fire chief so they could keep a closer eye on him. It seems he had some issues and problems and they were wanting to watch him for a while. Oh, lucky me.

Over the 4th of July, Beth had taken the Squirt and gone with mom & dad to visit my relatives for a family get-together. I had to stay home, since I was working just about every day over the weekend. I had the house to myself for a change, and it was nice & quiet. I was off Sunday, the 2nd, and spent the day working on the Jeep at the house. I tore out the carpeting and took all the seats and the console out and I applied the generic version of rhino lining to the inside of the Jeep. I had my doubts as to how it would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised by the end results. It came out great, and looks really good. It will certainly make clean-up of the mud and stuff that gets inside the Jeep easier now after going 4 wheeling.

Today I was at the academy helping administer the physical agility test for the new recruit hopefuls. About 20 of them failed, leaving around 100 left to go on to the written test. After that they have interviews and then admin stuff. I imagine about half those will get fail & get weeded out. That will leave around 50 for less than 20 positions. There will be a lot of unhappy folks.

Squirt had gotten a bite of some kind on her thigh the other day. Beth showed it to me last night, and it was obviously infected. I told her to get her in to the doctor today while I was at the academy. She called me when they were done to let me know that the doctor had numbed it, then had lanced it and drained it and given her some antibiotics. Poor kid. But, Beth said she handled it like a trooper and she was good tonight when we cleaned it and put on a fresh bandage.

Earlier this evening, I was coming home from the academy when mom called me. She told me dad had been bitten several times by fire ants and was having a reaction. He told her that his tongue was swelling along with his legs. I told her to call for an ambulance. She said no, and he didn't want one. Hard-headed is an understatement. I told her I would be there as soon as I could, and headed that way as fast as I could get away with. I also got to thinking more about it. I decided that if he really was having an anaphylactic reaction, I really could do nothing about it without any equipment or meds. I called up the station, and had the on-duty EMS crew head over that way, telling them to meet me there. I got there first. He was doing OK. The swelling was starting to go down a bit, and his tongue was better. Mom had already given him some Benadryl. When EMS got there, we checked him out real quick, but he refused transport to the hospital. I thanked them, and they left. Soon after, I left too.

I had to back-track into town, and pick up the prescription for the Squirt at the pharmacy. Beth had dropped it off and they were backed up and it would be a couple hours before they could fill it. On the way to the pharmacy, I was cut off by some yahoo making a right on red at a traffic light, then he drove so damn slow right in front of me. I was less than happy.

Once I got to the pharmacy, the fun continued. Beth had gone to the Wal-Mart pharmacy, and you all know how I feel about Wally World. Once again, it was an adventure. I had to wait in line for 20 minutes just to get up to the counter to get the meds. The girl working the register was about one brain cell above pond slime. She couldn't speak English clearly, didn't know how to ring up sales, and then broke the register tape printer. Finally, it was my turn, and she promptly told me it would be a few minutes while the medication was mixed. I about blew a gasket. The prescription had been dropped off over 3 hours earlier and should have been ready.

After several more minutes, I finally got the meds, and headed out. I started for home, only to be cut off once more, and then got stuck behind a line of slow drivers that would not do the speed limit or move out of the way.

I also was starting to feel like I was coming down with something. That was about all I needed to cap off the day. I was getting achey and my throat was getting scratchy. When I got home, I popped some ibuprofen and kicked back to rest a bit. After about an hour, the ibuprofen kicked in and I started feeling a bit better.

After that, it was just a matter of getting the Squirt inside from playing with the neighbor and cleaned up and then ready for bed. I let her watch a movie in her room after she was tucked in for the night. Now, I think I'm going to go to bed.

What day is it again?

2006-06-29T19:33:00.000-04:00

My 4 day breaks have become a blur again. I am working EMS every day of my 4 day from the city this week. I really need a vacation. I can't wait until the end of July when I go to Baltimore for the Expo. I am so looking forward to it, and really need it.

I was supposed to work 6-6 again today, but was feeling a bit run down, so I traded shifts with someone and worked 8-4 instead. It didn't make a difference, we ran our asses off all day, and had a late run and didn't wind up getting off until 5:30 anyway. Oh well, at least the paycheck will be good!

For Becky (and anyone else wondering) - Beth and I got married March 20th. We did a civil ceremony. I didn't go out of my way to talk about it, but at the same time, it's not a secret. We are still making plans and going forward with our church wedding and honeymoon this coming spring. We did the civil ceremony out of necessity, not desire.

The end result of another day on the job

2006-06-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying first, I am not against volunteer firefighters. In fact, I have been a volunteer fireman for 17 years now. I am also a career firefighter, and a card-carrying member of the IAFF. I am what the union calls, a two-hatter. And for those who may not know, they frown upon this, but so be it. While, as I said, I am a card-carrying union member, I don't always agree with everything they do, or all the candidates they endorse.

So, the council had their meeting Monday night, and the budget was approved. We got our 6% raise. It's not as much as we had hoped for, or needed to bring us to competitive market value with other departments our size, but it's a good start. I'm not going to be greedy or complain about it.

I was working EMS today, and we were steady all day. I was on a 12 hour shift, 6 to 6. I wasn't feeling great today, but I plugged along with the end in sight. We were 20 minutes from the end of shift, and were fueling up the bus. A call was dispatched for a wreck on the interstate. My partner and I were about 3 miles away from it, and we jumped the call for the unit that was responding from much further away, despite that we were supposed to get off in just 20 minutes. It was dispatched as a routine response, minor injuries.

When we got there, we found the vehicle had rolled over at least twice, it came to rest on its wheels, and there were 2 adults and 4 kids hurt. My partner and I did a quick triage, called for additional units to assist and started packaging patients for transport, utilizing full C-Spine precautions for all patients. All 6 got transported to the hospital to be checked out, but all in all, they were very lucky. Mostly bumps, bruises and some scratches. Needles to say, by the time we transported them in, 2 in my bus, and 2 each in the other 2 units, got the reports done and re-stocked the bus, we got off 2 1/2 hours late.

My 2 patients were a mother and daughter, both scared to death. I calmed them both done, tended to their injuries and made them feel a bit more at ease. When I finally got done with my reports and was leaving the ER, I stopped by to say goodbye to the mom. She had regained her wits about her, and was thanking me for all I did, and apologizing for all the trouble they had caused us. I assured her she did nothing wrong, it really was an accident. She had nothing to apologize for. She then did something that caught me way off guard. She grabbed my right hand and asked me if I was married. I told her I was in fact married. I was a bit confused, since she had asked me to call her husband for her and let him know what had happened and to let him know they were all ok (which I did). She then told me she had hoped I was single, she wanted to set me up with her sister! I was flattered, but after all I am VERY spoken for. Just another day on the job.....

D-Day

2006-06-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight is the night. The City Council is voting on the budget for next year. Within the budget, is the potential pay raises for the city employees - including us lowly firefighters. Never mind that the cops got their raise 2 months ago - at a staggering 9%. Also they will be getting step increases each year - and are required to do nothing for them.

The firefighters on the other hand, are fighting to get a raise of any kind, and we have to do a great deal of training each year to increase our positions and gain promotions. We have one council member opposing any raise whatsoever. He thinks we don't need a career fire department with 15 stations & 300 firefighters, protecting 92 square miles and some 150,000 citizens. He thinks volunteers can do it. Hopefully, we will get some kind of raise tonight. The number being thrown out there is 6%. We'll see.

Day by Day

2006-06-23T21:08:00.000-04:00

As usual, I have been working like crazy. If I'm not on-shift at the city, I am working EMS. The last week has been extrememly busy at work. We've been on all nature of calls, everything from the routine BS medical calls to a parachutist coming down with his chute on fire to DOA's to house fires to car wrecks and everything in between.

But as promised, I was up in Cleveland a couple weeks ago. During my trip, I went to the Western Reserve Fire Museum & Education Center. It was a great time. While the museum is still a long way from being open, I made a contact there. He is the executive director of the museum and he invited me to come by and see what they had done so far and the plans for the place. He took over 3 hours out of his day to show me and my wife's 2 uncles the place. He also told me the history of the building, which dates back to the early 1920's, and then showed me all the memorabilia and antiques that have been collected or donated for the museum. The building is located diagonally across the street from Jacobs Field (Home of the Cleveland Indians).

We had a great time, talking, being showed around, and learning the history of the Cleveland Fire Dept. When we were done there, he took us next door to the quarters of Rescue 4. I had the chance to talk with the guys on the company, see the rig and the house, and compare notes on how they do things versus my department.

If you have a few free minutes, I encourage you to stop by their website and check it out, and in the future, if you ever have the chance to visit Cleveland - stop by the museum and see it for yourself. They are really putting together something special there.

The front of the building, with the 1947 American LaFrance visible in the bay, awaiting restoration.

The ORIGINAL Gamewell receiving system for the City of Cleveland on the 2nd floor, which originally served as the communications center.

I'm still alive - barely

2006-06-14T21:24:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's been weeks since I've written. Not because I've had nothing to say, quite the contrary. I've had a ton to write about, but simply have had no time. When I got off shift Friday morning, I ran home to pack the Jeep & get Beth & the Squirt and we hit the road for northern Ohio. We went on a roadtrip to visit her aunts and uncles. Another day, when time allows I will write about the weekend. I will say we had a wonderful time, had a great trip, and we made some great memories. One of the highlites for me was visiting a fire museum in Cleveland that is still under construction.

The last 36 hours at work have been hellacious. I was on shift yesterday at the city, and we ran about 6 calls. That may not sound like a lot, but they were spread out just right and it screwed with what little sleep I normally get. The calls combined with our normal daily activities kept us steady all day. Our last call of the shift was around 1AM this morning. We were dispatched to assist the medic unit with air packs for a DOA. We rolled up and PD was already there. Apparently, they had gotten the call for a well-being check. The guy hadn't shown up for work in 3 or 4 days and they finally decided to get concerned and call cops to go and check on him.

So we get there, and the cops let us know he is in fact very much DRT.... Dead Right There. We were parked out on the street, one house up and we could smell him from there - not a good sign. I thought the forensics tech was gonna puke when she came out from taking her pictures. Of course, I had to get a dig in on her and asked if she was ready to go get a cheese burger. HEHEHEHE

Anyway, the medic unit showed up, along with the EMS shift supervisor and they wanted us to go in and bag the guy for them. Ummm.... NO! We told them we'd help them but not going to do their job for them. So, they suited up, and we helped them go retrieve old smelly, swollen dead dude from his bed and put him in double body bags and they toted him off to the morgue. We headed back to the house to decon the air packs and try and get a few hours sleep.

When daylight came, I got up to finish the reports and end the shift. From there I went to work EMS until 6PM this evening. We were slammed. I was supposed to be working on a non-emergency transport truck today, but thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto, we wound up running a bunch of 9-1-1 calls for car wrecks in addition to all our normal convalescent transports.

We started the shift with a call for a fallen subject at a nursing home. This old gal was a hoot. 91 years old, and sharp as a damn tack. She had all her wits about her and she was fine. She didn't want to go to the hospital, and let us know up front. But the nursing home staff had called and wanted her transported. I tried to explain to the stupid LPN that we could not legally force her to go since she was coherent and oriented and in her right mind. She insisted we take her, and I had to explain that doing so is called kidnapping and I didn't feel like going to prison today. She finally backed off and the little old lady signed the refusal of care form and we left her there to yell at the stupid nurse for having called EMS in the first place.

From there it was off to a car wreck where there was multiple victims and they needed a second transport unit. We wound up taking in 2 patients, a husband & wife that got banged up pretty good, but will probably just end up being bruised and sore. I don't think they had any major injuries.

There were other wrecks thrown in, then the convalescent transports - we stayed really busy today. Then the shift supervisor was calling for us on the radio while we were in the ER, and when we didn't answer, he started calling me on my cell phone. I finally broke free to talk to him to find out what the hell he wanted, and it was to change my shift for Friday. Like this couldn't wait??? He knew we were running calls left right and center and were busy as hell. Anyway, I went from working 8 hours on the transport truck Friday to 6 hours on the transport (slug truck) and then 8 hours after that on a 9-1-1 truck.

The end result is my partner and I survived the shift and I made it home in one piece, just tired as hell. I wanted to get this written since it's been so long since I have posted anything. I will write more about the fire museum another day - it was pretty awesome. Until then, TTFN!

Another day

2006-05-28T22:07:00.000-04:00

Time is once again becoming a luxury and a commodity I don’t have in abundance. Most of my time of late has been spent working. Even if I am not at work, I am working around the house. Hence the lack of posts by me, and the fact that they have been so sporadic.

I’ve finished all my orientation and ride-time with the county EMS service, and have been cleared to start working now. I have 12 shifts scheduled for next month, and that doesn’t count any extra shifts I pick-up if someone calls out sick.

The other day when I was doing my last day of 3rd party ride-time, we had some real interesting calls. Once that was really notable was the guy we went to twice in the same day. Not even a frequent flyer. We went to him in the morning, it was supposed to be for an unconscious subject, possibly a drug overdose. When we got there, he was awake and talking, and there was no evidence of drug use. His blood sugar was fine, and we could find nothing wrong with him. He did not want to go the hospital, and we have no legal way to make him go. So, we had him sign the refusal of care form and we left. We went about the rest of our day, running several other calls. Late in the afternoon, we got dispatched to a possible suicidal subject. When the address was given, it was the same guy. We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes – knowing this was going to be interesting. We called for law enforcement to respond along with us, and headed out.

When we got there, the family proceeded to tell us that the guy has a history of drug use, he’s been taking any type of prescription narcotics he can get his hands on, he smokes pot, and over the past weekend, he had gone on a crack binge. They also told us that he didn’t want us there, and would resist any attempt to make him go to the hospital. Great. We went in to talk to him, and true to their word, he was irate at our presence there. We finally got him to tell us that he had taken about 4 times the normal dose of an anti-depresent that is not prescribed to him. He was pretty much in La-La land, but still didn’t want us there. We finally coaxed him outside, and about had him talked into letting us transport him to the hospital when the cop showed up. He got irate all over again, and we had to calm him back down and explain to him he had two choices. He could either go to the hospital with us and get treated for the stuff he took and get cleaned up, or he could go to the hospital in the back of the cop car and get in-voluntarily committed. The choice was his. He finally agreed to go with us, since he decided that sitting in the back of the patrol car in handcuffs was probably uncomfortable. We took him to the E.R. and he was very quiet and gave us no trouble at all the entire way in. That wound up being our last call of the shift and I actually got off shift on time for once.

Things have been slow for us at the city. Other companies are running a ton of calls, but we’ve been slow. Today, I had to go fill in at my old house for the shift. Maybe it’s me… maybe I’m the white cloud. Even at the busiest house in the city, we haven’t had a single call all day today so far. Last week we did have one interesting call though. We were sent out late one night for a broken arm, requested by PD. Translation; subject in custody that did something stupid and got hurt. True to form, we pulled up to find about a dozen cop cars and one teenager in cuffs and bleeding. Turned out that the kid was trying to strip copper from an air conditioner on the roof of a restaurant when he was spotted and the cops showed up. He tried to run from the police, jumped off the roof of the building, and screwed himself up but good. We bandaged him up, splinted his arm, put him on a backboard and loaded him into the ambulance when they arrived. Then we had to go ladder the building for the cops so they could investigate it and the forensics tech could go take pictures. Oh, what fun.

That’s been about it for excitement. Even a decent thunder-boomer coming through Friday night while we were working didn’t result in any calls for us. When I get off-shift in the morning, I’m heading home to help Beth get the house ready for the family. Everyone is coming over for a cookout for the holiday.

Please remember the meaning of Memorial Day, remember our troops that have served and continue to serve, and those that have given their lives so that we may remain free. Remember that Freedom isn’t free, and these brave men and women have given and continue to give us a very precious privilege. If you know a vet – say Thank You to them for all they have done.

That’s about it for now. TTFN!

OUCH!

2006-05-11T20:06:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that the only way I can get a couple days off from work, is to hurt myself. Nothing too serious, just a pulled back muscle. Wish I could say it was because of something worthwhile, like in a fire. But alas, it was mundane hose-testing that got me instead. It has me on light duty at the city for a few days. It does stop me from working part-time, though. So, I had to call out from work for today.

Light duty for me consists of riding around with the BC for the shift. We had a house fire last night while I was with him. I was planning on getting some pictures, but I wound up having to take care of the occupant of the house who had some minor smoke inhalation.

We went riding in the Jeep this weekend, and played in some serious mud. Rain does not even begin to describe what we encountered during the trail ride. Monsoon would be a better word to use. Despite that, we had a blast, no one died, and we made it home in one piece - and no damage to the Jeep. Always a plus.

This weekend, I'm taking Beth to a concert and the Squirt is going to stay with grandma & grandpa. Then the family is coming over Sunday for mother's day dinner.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend, I know we will. Until next week!

More of what has been going on

2006-05-08T20:56:00.000-04:00

Once again, I have been a bad blogger. I have not allowed much time to sit and write lately. To say I have been busy would be another major understatement. Between working my shifts at the city, finishing out my last few remaining shifts at my old EMS job, teaching several classes at the academy, and starting work with the county EMS – it’s been hectic. Last month I had a whole 3 days off.

Here are some hi-lights; we had an apartment building fire at work last week. I was driving the engine that day (figures). We were the first-in company, and it looked minor as we pulled up, just light smoke showing from the rear of the building and the front windows of a 2 story brick apartment buliding. We also were riding short, only 3 on the engine. As the driver / operator, my job is to get us there safe, then supply water to the lines for the attack crew. As we pulled up in front, I set the brake and put the engine in pump-gear. The lieutenant (LT) who is our company officer had command of the incident until the Battalion Chief (BC) gets there. We had a rookie fireman riding on the back. I pulled the attack line off the engine for him as he advanced the nozzle to the front door and stretched the remaining hose out for him so it would not kink up and would fill with water. The rule is that you never go in alone, and as command, the LT can’t go in with him. He had to wait for the 2nd in engine to get there so he had back-up on the line. I charged the line, set the pressure and then went to get the fan out of the side compartment so we could set up ventilation ops as soon as it was time.

The 2nd in engine got there and the 2 senior firemen and the captain went to the door to go in with the probie already on the nozzle who was waiting. As soon as they opened the door and made entry, the smoke conditions changed rapidly, from light grey to dark black. This indicates the fire is taking off and conditions are deterororating inside. About a minute later, one of the front windows was broken out (we later found out by accident) and things really went south. The fire got a huge gulp of fresh air, and rolled over. This means it rapidly flared up, went across the ceiling and headed for the window, and then out the window and up the front of the building to the roof line. A roll-over is just shy of being a flashover, which is fatal to victims inside the room who are not protected as firefighters are, and in many cases – even a firefighter in full gear can’t survive a flashover. When I first saw it happen, I initially thought it had flashed, but as I looked again I determined it hadn’t flashed, but was as I said a vigorous roll-over. My first thought was “Oh God, we just killed someone”. We knew there was no victims in the apartment, they had gotten out safe when the fire started and were outside when we pulled up. But I thought one, if not all of the the guys inside had gotten burned.

As fast as it had happened, it died down, the crew inside doing their job and knocking the fire down with the attack line. I made sure my line pressure was right on the pump panel, checked how much water was left in the tank and then I immediately pulled the second line off the engine for the next engine pulling up so their crew could go in as back up. They also were dropping me a supply line from the hydrant to supply my engine so I would not run out of water. I hooked the supply line up to the intake and signaled for them to charge the hydrant. That gave me unlimited water, and I no longer had to worry about running out, since the tank only has 750 gallons in it.

Once they had the fire knocked down, the attack crew came out. I was worried, once again. The rookie that had been on the nozzle had gotten a beating in there. He was black from head to toe, his helmet was melted and deformed. We started pulling his gear off him. He said he was OK, just got hot in there. We checked him over, and found he had gotten burned a little, even through his protective gear. He had some burns to his neck and to his shoulder. He would be transported to the hospital to get checked out. When he got back, we found out he had 2nd degree burns to the side of his neck, and on his shoulder. We inspected his gear. His helmet was destroyed, he had burned the straps and the hoses on his air pack, the radio had been damaged, his coat had been burned through on the one sleeve, his protective hood had been burned. His gear did what it was designed to do, it saved his life – but it took a toll. The radio would have to be repaired, the helmet was a total loss, the air pack would have to be sent out to be repaired, the coat would have to be replaced and the hood was destroyed as well.

Despite what many people think, our gear is not fireproof; it’s fire resistant. It will protect us – to a point. Nothing is fire proof. Like I said, it did it’s job, but he got lucky – very lucky. It could have been much worse. If they hadn’t gotten it knocked down when they did, and he had been in those conditions a little longer, he could have been hurt much worse.

We wound up staying on scene for several hours, hitting hot-spots, making sure the fire was totally out, overhauling the apartment and ensuring there was no hidden fire, and waiting on the Red Cross and the owner of the building. When we finally did clear the scene, we still had work to do. We had to get the engine back in shape at the station. Spare hose had to be put on in place of the stuff we had used that was dirty and wet. The dirty sections had to be cleaned and put in the hose dryer. Tools had to be cleaned, air bottles had to be refilled, the water cooler had to be refilled, etc, etc. The fire started around 1030 AM. We finally got done and had a chance to grab a bite to eat around 6 PM. Then we still had 14 hours left in our shift to run other calls that came in.

All the classes I have been teaching lately have gone well. Nothing spectacular to write about there. Unfortunatley, all the extra money I thought I was going to get for teaching I had to spend last week. The entire exhaust system in Beth’s car went ka-blooey on her. The short version is when the guy at the shop looked at it, he said if she drove it anymore, it would blow the engine. Everything from the headers on the engine back had to be replaced. The manifold, the flange, the catalytic converter, exhaust pipe, muffler and tailpipe were all shot. One thousand dollars later, and she has a new exhaust system in her car. (sigh) Everytime I get half a step ahead, I fall two behind. Oh, well.

I’m still in orientation for the new EMS job. This is all administrative work. Going over policies & procedures, learning the computer system for the reports, radio procedures, supplies, equipment, getting uniforms, doing paperwork, etc, etc. Mainly feels like a waste of time to me, but at least I’m getting paid for it. I should finish up the admin crap tomorrow, then I have to ride 3 shifts with another crew to get familiar with everything in the field. After that – I will get cleared to actually work and pull shifts. I will be happy when I get to that point, in about another week.

Saturday, I went to a parade. I drove our engine to it and during the parade and then back again. It was for a new memorial being dedicated to all the firefighters who have died in the line of duty within our state. It was a full day of ceremonies and events, but I didn’t get to stay for it all, since the chief wanted the engine back in service in the city as soon as possible. I was kind of bummed about that, having been told before hand that I would be staying for the day with the engine, but he had changed his mind I guess. The up side to that was I got home a lot earlier Saturday than I thought I would, and I got to spend some time with Beth & the Squirt at home.

It also let me get ready for yesterdays events. We were going trail riding in the National Forest with the Jeep club. We headed out from the meeting point, lots of Jeeps in convoy bright and early for the 2 hour ride to the forest. We met up with everyone else that had headed up the night before or even earlier that morning. There was a bunch of us. 2 of the guys from the department who also are avid Jeepers also went along, and we of course all stayed together for the day. Despite the fact that it was raining like crazy, and there was way too much mud on the trails, and I was apprehensive about some of the trails we were on for my experience level – we had a blast. We spent all day wheeling on the trails, breaking only for lunch with the group back at the outpost where the club had cooked a pig. After lunch, back on the trails for more wheeling & mud. By the end of the day, I was a bit frazzled. The trails were in bad shape from all the rain and the mud was giving us a fit. I was sliding more than driving a few times, and I got hung up a couple times, but managed to get out of it without having to be winched – always a good thing. I even talked to one of the guys from the Jeep club who works for the local Jeep dealership, and he wants me to come in and trade mine in for a new one. He thinks he can get me into a 2006 Rubicon. I’m stoked. That’s what I had originally wanted to buy, but when I bought mine on ’04, couldn’t afford the extra money for the Rubicon package. Maybe now, I can get it. The downside is, I got to start all over with my customizing. I was just starting to get it where I wanted too! But, it will be worth it if they can make the deal work money wise.

It’s been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, to say the least. I have obviously kept busy, with something going on each and every day. I have been bouncing back and forth from one job to the other each day. I tend to get home every other night long enough to eat and sleep and not much else. But, there is a rainbow on the horizon. I am done with all my scheduled shifts at my old EMS job. I’m almost done with orientation at the new one. I’m also slowing down with teaching commitments. I only have a few more scheduled through the summer, and they are very manageable. I also have some recreation activities scheduled. I’m taking Beth to a concert this Saturday, we’re going to the beach for a day with her best friend (and maid of honor) the first weekend in June, we’re going to visit her aunts later in June, and I have vacation time in July. Right now, the plan is to go to Baltimore in July for the Firehouse Expo, if I can squirrel enough money away between now and then to afford it. I hope to, since I don’t want to cancel it and really want to go. Time will tell on that.

That’s about it for now – more as it happens I guess.