Being sick

Today I had the notable privilege of being both physically ill and being called a sick f@#$ at the same time.

I woke up this morning running to the toilet and spent the rest of the day doing the same. I was either sitting on it or kneeling in front of it, in between taking several hot baths in a losing attempt to begin to feel better.

I checked my temperature several times, and yes, I did have a fever.

So that seals it: fever, chills, aching joints, puking, and diarhhea. I think I covered just about all the bases.

I check my e-mail and someone has posted a comment for one of the videos the FD has on YouTube. That's where getting called a sick f@#$ comes in. Seems they didn't appreciate the video of a recent vehicle extrication. No victim faces were shown and the accident wasn't even a fatality, so I have no clue where this person was coming from. Oh well, I reported the post as spam...

This on top of being threatened with a lawsuit for a photo I posted on the TVFD website last week.

I guess the 'tards are out in droves. Is it that time of month again?

The Art of Delayed Gratification

Ok, so Amazon is having a sale on Lodge cast-iron cookware and the cook in me is absolutely salivating over the possibilities while my analytical financial mind works feverishly to reign the cook in.

I had the 3-qt. chicken fryer, the 5-qt. dutch oven, and the 10-1/4" skillet in my shopping cart and was halfway through checkout when the analytical side put on the brakes.

The cook attempted to compromise. I went back to the cart and took out two items, leaving only the chicken fryer and proceeded once again to checkout.

Once again, the finance guru intervened, reminding me how I'm trying to pay down the credit cards to $0 and buying more items isn't helping. The cook pitched a fit, telling the finance guy to take a long walk off of a short pier and asking him just how he thought he was going to eat. The finance side said it didn't appear that we were exactly starving, did it?

I resented that comment, but had to agree he was right.

So I closed out the window without purchasing anything.

Till next time...

I'll Never Understand Some People's Viewing Habits

About two months ago, I decided as webmaster of my FDs website (www.tarkingtonvfd.com) to join thousands of others and post videos on YouTube. I've posted over twenty videos ranging from training exercises to live fires to a year-in-review video. Of all those videos, some of which are from some amazing fires, which one do you think would be the most viewed?

The cool shot from the 75 foot aerial overlooking the Hell Hole at Livingston? Nope...

The video of the vehicle fire training? Once again, nada...

Maybe it could be the LifeFlight helicopter taking off? Wrong again...

Nope, the most watched video, and by a very large margin, is of me responding to a call only to be disregarded before I even get near the location. A little less than three minutes worth of me driving with my lights and siren on, only to stop and turn around. In fact, I only pass one car.

And it is the most viewed video.

The only thing I can figure is that these are the same people whose only other entertainment is sitting around watching paint dry.

Texas Weather

You know, you've just got to love Texas weather. Walk out of the house this morning wondering if my decision to wear a sweatshirt was a bad one, then leave work wishing I had brought a jacket.

Sunny and warm one day, cold and rainy the next.

It's a wonder more Texans don't suffer from the flu or worse...

Make hay while the sun shines...

...because tomorrow it might rain.

Or your barn full of hay could burn to the ground.

Steaks just off the grill, about to sit down for a great meal, and... you would know it, the pager goes off. Structure fire. Great.

I can see the smoke from my house, not a good sign. Hay barn full of hay, fully involved. Looks like it might be awhile before I get back to those steaks. FD makes a great response, four apparatus and fourteen firefighters. You really can't put one of these out, so we extinguish the perimeter and let it burn. Not much else you can do.

Oh, and the steaks were wonderful, if I may say so myself...

The Realities of Not Doing Your Homework

Not me, the teen-age son.

First major bump in the road comes when I'm checking his grades and see that he has a single-digit average in Speech. How in the hell do you get a grade like that in Speech, for Pete's sake? I do some checking and he didn't turn in a major assignment for a grade. I ask him about it and he tells me the teacher won't accept it late. Tough... do it anyway and give it to her. If she doesn't accept it, at least you did it.

Talk to the teacher and she says she will accept it. Ask him later and he claims she just handed it back to him. Hmmmm....

Does he really think that I, a teacher, don't talk to the other teachers? If he did, he got a rude awakening when I had dinner with three fellow teachers at a local restaurant later on in the evening...

I did learn that when a certain teacher says she's bringin Millie with her, be prepared to duck.

"And God said, 'LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!..."

... and, by God, there was light.

Last night, the FD's engine returned from the shop, having had a light tower installed over the last two days. Now for those that might not know what a light tower is, it is a bank of six high-intensity lights that can automatically raise and extend up to eight feet over the cab of the truck. Think of it as portable stadium lighting.

And these ARE that bright. They can turn pitch-black night into day in an instant, and that's not exaggerating. They are a complete order of magnitude brighter than the old lights that were on the truck. No more wandering around in semi-darkness, trying to do our jobs.

The thing can even auto-park itself, so it is nearly completely foolproof...

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -- Douglas Adams

Just because there's a fire...

... doesn't mean you HAVE to call the fire department.

Sometime after midnight, the FD is dispatched to an unknown-type fire. Units arrive on location to find it is nothing more than a large trash pile on fire. The area around it has been cleared and is very wet, there is no wind, and the whole surrounding area is water-logged after two weeks of near-continuous precipitation. This fire is not out of control and is not going anywhere.

We decide not to worry about putting it out. It is freezing and it would take several hours and several truck loads of water to put out what is essentially a harmless fire. I stick around for better than an hour just to make sure it burns down before heading to the house. I'm not home more than thirty minutes when we are dispatched yet again.

So why was it reported? Better yet, why was it reported a second time two hours later?

I guess the drunks coming home at three in the morning have nothing better to do...