Happy New Year

December 31st, 2008

I am working at Pullman Fire today for New Years Eve. That is okay, because I had no other plans for the day.

We didn’t have a lot going on during the day, but in the evening we ended up getting called out to a couple people. One call came in around three in the morning. It was someone who was not very cooperative. Those are some of the calls I like to deal with. I was on the engine, but I was told to go with the ambulance because the captain wanted me in the back. I suppose that was to make sure that if things went bad I would be there to help deal with the situation.

Got a New Car

December 30th, 2008

I met up with the guy from Yakima today. I took the rig out for a test drive. That went okay. I saw something under it that made me worried. I took it to a place and had them give it an inspection.

After going through the inspection they said that it looked okay. The problem that I saw, some oil on the transmission, was not a concern. He said it was not from my transmission, but from road grime.

We concluded the deal and now I have a limited Durango that is blue and has a hemi. I am happy about it over all.

Second Twenty-Four

December 29th, 2008

The day started out sort of bad when we got called to a car fire. I was driving. On the way we were told to park behind the other ambulance. As I got to the scene I saw a cop car and I went past it and parked near the other ambulance but on a different part of the road. The Lt yelled and told me to move it behind the other ambulance. The car fire was out. We just cut off the hood and put more water on it.

After it was done he asked me why I didn’t follow his directions. I told him the cop car appeared to be in the way until I was past it. He said in the future I need to slow down and take a better look because I cost time by having to move the ambulance.

We ran on a couple more calls through out the night including a fire sprinkler going off in someones apartment. I used a tool to stop the flow of water, but I got soaking wet in the process.

We all watched Superbad following our dinner. That movie was pretty darn funny.

Repaying the Twenty-Four

December 28th, 2008

I had someone cover for me on Christmas Eve so I could stay in Renton. Now I am repaying it back.

Today I did the rig check on Engine Thirty-Three. I ran all the tools and did the fluid checks. I also helped to wash all the rigs and then we went through the kitchen and reorganized everything.

We ran one call all day and it was a fire alarm. Overall it was a quiet night.

Car Deal Fell Through

December 27th, 2008

Before heading back to Pullman I thought I would call a couple car dealers who had the ought-four Durango with the right options and colors. I found one in Auburn and one in Yakima that I called about. I started to make a deal for the one in Auburn. I was a little concerned about the one in Auburn because of the high miles, but I was willing to take a drive.

I got to the dealership and took the Dodge out for a test drive. I walked around it checking out the rig closely. I found the tires were more bald on the back and really bald towards the inside of the back. That was something that made me a bit worried about the vehicle. They tried to hide the bald tires.

I was going to get in the drivers door when the alarm start to sound. It was turned off. But soon I was having the alarm go off when I opened any door. It was very good to have happen while I was there. It was at that time I looked at the fob closely. I found that had some damage to it.

So with the high mileage, the tires, fob, and alarm, plus the fact I didn’t have a good gut feeling I decided that I was not going to do the deal. But we went inside. The salesman said he would take two-hundred off to fix the alarm while I was in Pullman. But I knew that if the cost to fix was higher than that it was coming out of my pocket. So I didn’t take that. I wanted them to cover the cost of fixing it. The dealer asked if I thought it would be more than two hundred bucks. I said I don’t know. But the idea is I don’t want to get hosed.

So the deal was the cost of the car, plus a new fob, two tires, and fixing the alarm. But I noticed the cost was not the same price we agreed to while on the phone. On the phone I was told a price. When I repeated the price the salesman said “hold on something is wrong with the number, let me call you back.” I got a call back and I was told a number that was six hundred bucks less.

While dealing with the salesman he had the old price listed on the paper. The one that was six hundred bucks too much. So he had the old price and the fob, tires, and alarm. I pointed out the problem with the price. He went to his manager then came back and said they would do the six hundred off, but not fix anything, or they would keep the deal as written on paper. I said that I wasn’t going to do it, because they were pretty much making me pay to fix the problems with the vehicle.

I walked out and got in my rig. I was mad because I had to get going and it was late. I wasted hours on this deal. I got a call as I was leaving and the salesman said he tried to catch me. The manage said we would do the six hundred dollars lower plus fixing everything. I said that it was too late. I kept going.

I called up the place in Yakima that I talked to earlier and we worked on a deal over the phone. I am now going to get the one from Yakima. I went home and packed my Durango and headed to Pullman. As I hit the road I realized that I would be running late to get to Yakima. I called and talked to the guy I made the deal with. We decided that they would drive the car out to me.

I made my way to Pullman. It was slower going but there was no snow and I was able to keep my speeds higher than when I was going to Seattle. I got back around nine o’clock in the evening. I got my rig unloaded and then went over to get Gunnar. We hung out and watched a movie.

Car Shopping

December 26th, 2008

I was doing some car shopping today. I was looking for a ought-four Durango Limited. I found one in Auburn I was going to look at if the prices were right. After talking with the dealer on the phone I found the price was way lower than I expected. I thought the vehicle should cost about twelve thousand, but I head him say fifty-nine. So I figured something was wrong with it. I asked him, and he said it was in great shape. So I drove to Auburn.

The vehicle was nice. We took it for a ride and it drove well. We went in to talk numbers. But I found that I heard fifty-nine. He said Fifteen-nine. So we were way off on the numbers. I told them what I was willing to do. We didn’t get close. In fact we were off by about six thousand bucks when it was done.

So I walked away from that deal. I was mad that I went the whole way to do it only to find we were so far off.

Later Jon and I went to play some poker down at the Silver Dollar casino. We played four-eight Texas Hold’em. Jon did well and I ended up losing money. We were there for a couple hours playing. It was fun to get out to the casino and play some cards even though I ended up losing. I played a little blackjack but lost money there too.

Merry Christmas!

December 25th, 2008

I got up this morning. We had a nice breakfast before opening up the gifts. I got some tools that I wanted plus the mint set that I get every year for my collection.

I spent some time going through my dad’s guns. Jon and I are going to split them up. I got a list to take down to Jon’s.

We were having a Christmas dinner with the extended family down there. We had a big dinner and then opened the presents. The kids got a ton of stuff. They all liked it.

After everyone started to leave I stayed and Jon and I made decisions on what guns he wanted and I wanted. I let him pick the ones he wanted. I took the others. I wasn’t too worried about what ones I was going to get. I also got the gun cabinet that mom had he her house.

Christmas Shopping

December 24th, 2008

I went to Renton today to do some Christmas shopping. I had to get a couple things for Bill. I also got a picture frame for mom and a new cordless mouse for her laptop. It was raining in downtown Renton at Fred Meyers when I was there. By the time I got to my mom’s house it was snowing pretty hard. There is about twelve inches of snow at her house and it is snowing everyday.

Dave and I met up at Shari’s. We hung out for a couple hours talking. I told him about the hybrid and got his opinion. He said the hybrids are good, but I need to pay off my vehicle and work towards my goal of buying some property and a new house rather than paying tons of money for a hybrid.

More Hybrid Research

December 23rd, 2008

I went to a Dodge dealer in Kirkland to talk to them about getting a hybrid Durango. They don’t want to charge me a premium like Bellevue wants to charge. But we are trying to figure out a price that will work for me.

After I went to the Dodge dealership I headed out to Mercer Island for Marine Patrol. I was working the Christmas Cruise. It was a nice night overall. It wasn’t as crowded as it was last year. That is probably due to the weather. It was cold, but really calm.

Driving a Hybrid

December 22nd, 2008

I went to the Dodge dealership in Bellevue after I got done doing my work this morning. I ended up spending nearly eight hours there looking at the different cars they had including the hybrid. It was interesting driving around the hybrid.

There is a lot to think about with it. Dodge made me an offer to sell it, but they wanted to charge almost four thousand above MSRP. There was no way I was going to do that.

They found an ought-eight Durango as well, but they wanted over forty grand out-the-door. I pretty much let them know that was obscene compared to some of the prices I had been quoted in the past on the ought-eights.

At one point the sales manager came over to try to help the process. I explained to him what I had told the salesman. I left around ten o’clock at night.

Six-Hour Cross State Trip

December 21st, 2008

The only plan for the day was to go to the coroner meeting and drive across the state. The pass was closed in the morning, so I figured I would hit the coroner’s meeting and then go home and hang out with Gunnar.

Before I was to head out of town for the coroner’s meeting I got a call from Pete that the meeting was cancelled.

I was at home looking through some stuff on the computer on some news websites. That is when I saw the pass was open. So I called Gunnar and let him know I wasn’t going to stay into town. He understood.

I got some pizza from Pipeline and hit the road. It was a long drive over. The snow covered the road the whole way. But I still made decent time coming over, considering the road conditions. It took six hours for me, which is about one and a half hours longer than normal.

Happy Birthday Eddie

December 19th, 2008

I sent my normal yearly e-mail to Eddie wishing him a happy birthday. It is something I do every year on his birthday. I update him on what I have been doing and see how things are going for him.

I spend some time in the evening with Gunnar. He came over and we watched a movie and then sat around talking for a couple more hours.

The Big Thirty-Five

December 18th, 2008

Today is my thirty-fifth birthday. I wasn’t planning on doing a lot of celebration. Pretty much at the coroner’s meeting we were going to have some cake. But before it got too late that meeting was cancelled. Then the sheriff’s office cancelled the reserve class. This was all due to the massive amount of snow we were receiving. I was loving the snow.

With those things cancelled I didn’t really have any backup plans. Gollnick called and asked if I wanted to play poker. I said I would. He came over and we played cards for several hours.

During the game I found a sly way to let him know it was my birthday. Once I did, he remembered that it was. We played poker and at the end I was up about ten bucks on the night. It was fun to play cards.

I got a lot of birthday wishes from people on Facebook today. It was great to see my friends and acquaintances. It make me feel good to be remembered by so many people.

My Boyfriend

December 17th, 2008

I got the final items completed on my work for NU. They have all been checked in and I am now going to start the testing process. I got some plowing done around the house.

Gunnar and I were going to get together. We went to Moscow. I went to a couple stores. I bought a couple pair of cargo pants. I tried them on and got his input. It was pretty relationship-like feeling. I also got some belts.

We went to get some pizza and then back to my place to watch a movie. We choose The Count of Monte Cristo. I also told him what ten-six-seven means as well as wondering if someone owns a weedeater or not.

We sat on the couch together watching the movie. When it was over with we cuddled some more. During that time he asked me if I would be his boyfriend. I said I would. So I now have a boyfriend.

Intriguing Coroner’s Case

December 16th, 2008

This mornings plan was to focus only on my NU work. I wanted to go to Safeway and buy some pop. They were having a great sale. I picked up twenty-twelve packs. Then I went to my house.

I was put on notice that there could be a coroner’s case in Palouse. As it turned out there was. I went up with Anna. It turned into an interesting case. The information I was getting from the police who interviewed neighbors was not adding up to what I was seeing. So I started to put my sleuth hat on and went to work.

I was able to come up with some information that started to point to a time of death that was more inline with the condition of the body. It was pretty interesting. I had to dig around a lot of different sources in order to discover what I needed. It also helped I have my computer skills. I was able to use those in order to come up with a possible date of death.

That case took us several hours to complete. Then I had enough time to rush back to my place and get changed for my reserve class. The class itself got out early.

I was going to meet up with Clark, A. Wilcox, and the other guys from the fire department but I ended up doing some call back first. I was told I would get a message if they left Pete’s. But when I got there no one else was there. I went home and sent a text message to A. Wilcox and Clark. Clark called me back saying they went to Mike’s because they got cut off at Pete’s. I told them that I was already home. I was pretty upset that they left me hanging.

I have always had the feeling that they really isn’t anything more than a slight working relationship. Even at that, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was a crew leader of theirs they would probably not talk to me at all. Since leaving the reserves I never hear from them. Many times when we are around each other during different functions or calls I pretty much have to initiate anything. This kind of stuff just proves what I was thinking all along.

Busy Day Ends Busy Week

December 15th, 2008

This week has been a busy one at work. We have worked a lot of calls. Today would be no different. We started with a structure fire. I was able to save a three-legged cat. It was a small house, small-ish fire. But I was able to find the cat and take him out to the owner. That was great. We spent more time doing more calls through out the day and evening.

I went to Safeway towards the end of the night and bought some ice cream for everyone to share. I had BKoe come and have some with us.

Doing the Run

December 14th, 2008

After getting off work from the fire department I was very tired. We ran calls all night long. I got about an hour of sleep before it was time to get up and do the morning chores.

Later on I got some more sleep before we went out to do with the run with Ross. I met up with the other guys at the Bubble on campus. We did the run. I was a little sore in the groin section, but it wasn’t that bad. When it was done Ross passed and we all went to My Office to celebrate. Ross bought everyone some food and beverages. It was nice to sit around and hang out with everyone.

After the class I went to my house and worked on the stuff for NU. I am getting close to being done!

IC on Second Fatal Wreck

December 13th, 2008

I was down in Colfax for my reserve class. I was sitting in Ross’ truck waiting for class to start. I was reading my notes for the test we had coming up. A phone call came in. I looked and saw it was Jessie. I was going to give her a hard time when I answered it because I figured she was running late. But I didn’t.

She said that someone spun out in front of her, she T-Boned them. She said to get the ambulance and rescue and get up there now. I ran to Colfax fire. I jumped in the first out ambulance and we went to the scene.

It wasn’t long after we were en route that we were getting updates. I wasn’t clear whether we had no injuries with all the patients, or one non-injured with others being injured. But I did get notified that there was one death. I started to feel really horrible for Jessie.

When we got to the scene I set up command and made sure our resources were coming. I had two people, including myself, check on the deceased to make sure. We got everyone transported and then I went back to Colfax so I could get to class.

We had Anderson doing the teaching. The class went by fast. We got through everything shortly after the two o’clock hour. So we got out of class early.

I got back to Pullman and we were busy there. I got on an ambulance and went to the hospital so Blake could finish one of his reports. But then we started to get more calls. It was a very busy day.

We had a very good dinner together. We ran calls together. Blake bought everyone a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. It was a stressful and long day.

Date Number Two

December 12th, 2008

This evening found Gunnar and I going to dinner at The Emerald. After dinner I got some food for BKoe and then went to my place. Gunnar and I were going to watch the new Batman movie. He got a chance to see my new TV. He was very impressed.

After the movie we were watching some stuff on TV. I was on the loveseat and he was on the couch. BKoe also watched the movie with us.

Later he went upstairs and Gunnar invited me to sit on the couch with him. He laid up against me and we held on to each other as we watched TV. At some point BKoe came down stairs. I felt sort of weird having him walk past us, but I didn’t make eye contact nor say anything. I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.

Communication

December 11th, 2008

Today’s class for the reserves was about reports and communication skills. It was sort of slow and dry material.

It is funny that this class is on communication and I am writing one of my shortest entries ever.

New Bed, TV, and Phone

December 8th, 2008

I don’t usually splurge in the way I did over the last week. I have spent thousands of dollars on a new Tempurpeadic Rhapsody bed, a fifty-eight inch plasma TV, a new TV stand, and a new Sprint Touch Pro cell phone.

All three items came in today. I started to get the phone set up. The bed was set up by the delivery men. I put an electric blanket on the bed so it would heat it up. I was told the first night they are too cold to be soft. So I figured with an eclectic blanket that would fix it.

Later on I spent time working on my living room set up. I took down the old TV stand and components. Then I put in the new TV stand in place. I set up the TV and the other components. I watched a little bit of a CD just to see what it looked like.

The TV is huge in my room. It takes up the space between my couch and loveseat. It is pretty crazy.

Coroner Case Sidetracks Me

December 7th, 2008

I was spending the day working on my spec for NU. I have a lot of work to get done and these next four days I am going to be working hard on it. It seemed that things were going along pretty well, but then my pager went off.

There was a fatal car accident down at the river. I called Anna and we responded to the scene. This is her second case, both in the same general area. This one was at the same spot we have had other fatal car accidents that were due to suicide. But during my investigation I found things that made me believe this was anything but suicide.

This one there was a lot of things at the scene that I had to look at closely and try to determine what I was seeing and why things at times didn’t seem to add up correctly. After the time on the scene I went to Kimballs with Anna. I was teaching her the things we do at the funeral home. It was a pretty long night. By the time I got home and went to bed it was after two in the morning.

Criminal Procedures

December 6th, 2008

I went to the store this morning to get some donuts for the class. I also bought some of the fire department. I saw Malakowski at Dissmores. He ended up buying the donuts for the class. I dropped off the donuts at the fire station and got in with Ross to go the class.

The class was good today, but towards the end I was starting to get really tired. I was dragging for the last couple hours of the class.

After the class was done I got back to the station and I went to get some dinner with Blake. We were just getting back when I heard BKoe say he was arresting the “female half”. Within seconds another cop was calling for an ambulance. After getting there I gave BKoe a hard time about being a bully.

I had one more call around two in the morning. It was a night without a lot of sleep.

My First Date with Gunnar

December 5th, 2008

I went to the Dodge dealership to talk with them about the Chrysler Aspen they have for sale. I got a pretty good over all price on it. The problem is I was not happy with some of the things it didn’t have, such as the upgraded sound system and the center counsel that is not as spacious as the Durango. I turned down the deal after some negotiations. I got some calls through out the afternoon dealing with this vehicle. The final one was me saying they would have to come down five to seven thousand more for me to consider it as it would be me “settling”. I am not ready to do that.

I went to Moscow to pay for my bed and TV set. I am excited to have it delivered. It will be at my place on Monday. I am excited to see what it is like to leap on one of those beds. I will have to writ about it in one month when I have it and me broken into it.

At six-thirty Gunnar and I were going to go out on our first official date. We hung out on last Saturday and again for coffee on Monday. But we have not done anything official yet.

I went to his place to pick him up. I was trying to decide if I was going to get out and open his door or not. I decided to not do so. I am not sure of that was good or bad. But he got in and we headed down to Pete’s. He was dressed in some slacks a tee-shirt and a button-up with the buttons not done. He was looking good.

I was wearing slacks and a collared polo-type shirt. I was looking reasonable as well. Or so I say. Anyway, we went to Pete’s and had dinner and conversation. We talked a little about jails and religion and their crossing point. We also hit on some other subjects that he brought up. We both ordered nachos.

After dinner was over we went to Zeppoz’s. We were going to do some bowling. There was a bit of a backlog. So we played some video games and I watched him do some Dance Dance Revolution. He is pretty good at it. I went to check on the lane availability. Turns out there were many lanes open but we were never called for it.

Anyway, we started to bowl. He was struggling. On the other hand I was doing pretty well for myself. He finally got a strike and i gave him a high-five. In the second game I bowled left handed. I lost to him by five pins. I bowled a one-oh-nine left handed.

After bowling we went to Dairy Queen for dessert. We both got an ice cream cone. I drove him home and he was saying goodbye. He put his hand out towards me palm up. Indicating he wanted to hold hands. I took his hand. We held hands in my vehicle talking about all sorts of things for about fifteen to twenty minutes. He talked about how happy he was to have found me. He was excited about the possibilities for the future. He didn’t want to let go. Later on that night he sent me an e-mail saying that if I didn’t want to have let go, he would have gladly gone home with me.

It felt so good to hold hands and have the physical contact. I am making sure that we are taking things slowly. There is no reason to hurry into a physical relationship if we want something more out of it. If we want a one-night stand type of relationship it would already be over with.

I am not sure what it will be like in the future if our relationship blossoms into something of a boyfriend relationship, then he will come with me on events I am sure. I am sure people will talk, because first off it would be a might Mo of a relationship. The other thing is that he is twenty-one. I am sure people will look at me as a cradle robber. I am just happy to have someone who loves to be around me and I hope that something positive comes of the whole thing.

No Rest!

December 4th, 2008

Started this morning hitting the floor running. I was doing rig checks and other related work around the fire station. I had some time to sit at lunch and then it was off to the races with training then a call then more training.

I got back to the station in time to go to training for the SO. We ended up having to do two-hundred-and-twenty-five push-ups because people didn’t know how to spell the Sheriff’s last name.

When class was done I got to the station grabbed some dinner and did the dishes that needed to be done. I just sat down to do some stuff on the computer when another call came in. Following that call we had another. I finally was able to get to bed around two in the morning. It was just a crazy busy day.

Nine Plus Hours of OT

December 3rd, 2008

Today I was working on my stuff for NU. Around lunch time I heard the tones go off for a transfer to Colfax. I figured I could take that one. But before I knew it we had two transfers. I also had plans to go see an Aspen at the Wysup. But with doing both transfers I was butting up to the time where I needed to be set up for my CPR class this evening.

I went to the dealership and took a quick look. I liked what I saw at first, but I have some reservations. Then I got some dinner followed by my CPR class. I had a pretty good group of guys. They were pretty lively and asked a lot of questions. That really helped the class move along. I enjoyed doing that class and got some positive feedback.

Search Training

December 2nd, 2008

I spent a portion of the day yesterday looking up information to find out a way to prove to the city I should be making holiday pay. From what it looks like I am being told I don’t fall under the contract with the fire union at all because I am a temp. But there are provisions they are going by. So either I do fall under the holiday pay provision of the contract, or I will argue that I should be going by the city’s policy and procedure manual which says a work week is forty hours.

If that is the case then I am going to argue the city owes me lots of overtime hours for those weeks when I worked more than forty hours in a week. That would actually make me earn a lot more money over all. I think I have a pretty strong case with this one. I have to be careful, however, because I don’t want to this to screw me in the long run.

I had my reserve training tonight. We spent time doing searches of people. I was doing okay. I missed a couple items on the searches, but I am trying to learn a new way to search because what we learn to do on the street is a lot different than we do in the jail. I am going to have to learn a whole new technique.

Coffee with the Man

December 1st, 2008

I was working hard on the new spec that I have for NU. It is an update to the LP program that we have. It is a lot faster going than it use to be since my computers have been put into the colo. But now it is just getting up to speed on some of this stuff. I am running into road bumps off and on.

This evening Gunnar and I met up and went to the Daily Grind to get some coffee and spend time talking. We were there for about an hour and a half. We talked about a wide range of subjects.

When I dropped him off at his apartment I asked him out on a date. We are going to go out this Friday. I am excited about it!