Teaching First Aid

This morning I worked with Darren from the WSU PD to teach first aid to the police interns. We started at seven in the morning. I went with Darren to get him some coffee. Then we were getting the room ready. I moved the table and knocked his coffee onto the ground. That sucked. I didn’t mean to do that and I felt really bad.

The first part of the class was bad because everyone was so tired they were not really into it and they all had blank looks. But as we got closer to lunch and after lunch they were really getting into it. Darren and I traded off with some of the sections giving examples and talking about some of the key points. As the class was coming to an end an echo response came out on the radio.

I helped Darren clean up the classroom. We went to the WSU PD station where I got a copy of the class roster. I went home and started to look up information about a new computer. I’ve spent the last couple days trying to find a new computer and I’m having a hard time because of all the information I’m finding on the Internet.

I got a call from Richards. He wanted to know if I wanted to go see a movie with him. I said that I would. We went to see the Book of Eli. It was interesting. I didn’t know what to expect with it. It was an interesting movie. I was thinking in some ways it reminded me of Mad Max. But it had a different plot. It kept me entertained through out.

I went home and spent some more time looking for the computer. I decided that I would get the Gateway model I found on their site, but I couldn’t find it anywhere online. I finally called Fry’s and I learned it was discontinued. But Fry’s had a brand new HP with the nearly identical specs. It was an Intel Core i7 with nine gig of RAM. It has a one-TB HD with Windows Seven. It has one-point-eight gig of video memory with two DVI plugs. It has a DVD burner with LightScribe. It is a pretty sweet system. I asked Jon if he would get it for me and send it to me. He is going to get it tomorrow for me.

John came over and we started to play cards. We tried to get a game going but only Richards was able to come over. We played until three in the morning. We played Acey-Deucy. Blake got hose four times when he said “Pot It”. I was laughing so hard.

At the end of the night I was up about two or three bucks. It had been a while since we last played cards.

A Busy Night on Call

I went to Keegan’s and we both filled out the application for Whitcom. We turned it in and then went to Winco together. He was doing some grocery shopping for dinner. I had to be on call tonight so I had to leave, but we were talking and I just didn’t want to get out of there. Finally it was close to six and I had to run. He gave me a hug and I was on my way.

This evening we were supposed to have HazMat training. But instead we ran out on some calls. It turned out to be a busy night where we got a call. Then we had to wash the rig. We got home for about an hour and a half and then we were back out on the road. It happened until nearly four in the morning that way.

Keegan the Dispatcher?

I was doing work on the maps for Pullman Fire for while and I also got the photos edited and ready to print. But I need a couple more photos.

Then I went to Whitcom for about an hour with Keegan to show him around the dispatch center. When we parted ways and I headed home.

I went to the fire station to put the maps and some photos from the badge pinning on the computer. I didn’t stay up too late because I was working the road tomorrow with Rich.

Watching the Championship with the Guys

I got up and went to the doctor for my follow up for my ankle surgery. I went to the Three Pigs to have lunch with Jon, Terry, and Jim. After that was done I hit the road to get back to Pullman. It wasn’t a bad trip. I made pretty good time. When I got to Pullman I went to TBAG to meet up with Blake, Blake, Chia, Chris, and their wives for the BCS championship game. We had some beer while watching the game. I have Keegan come down and hang out. It was nice to get him there. He fit in well with them and they told me they likes him. I just wish he was more than just a friend.

When it was done Pitch and I went to Zeppoz to play some cards. Chia came along as well. We played poker until nearly one in the morning. I was up and down most of the evening, but I ended up losing it all in the end.

Keegan and I spent more time texting back and forth for a while as I was getting ready to go to bed.

Movie with Peterman

I got my column completed and turned in for the newspaper. Then I hit the road I had to be in Renton by five for an online meeting. But as I was en route I got an E-mail saying it was cancelled. So I ended up going to the Eagles for dinner instead. First I got my mom’s new TV set up. Then I drove her to the Eagles. We had dinner.

I then it the road and went to the movie theatre to watch Law Abiding Citizen with Peter. I invited him down and I wasn’t sure if we would have our talk or not. We ended up not having it and he didn’t bring it up. I told him I wanted to talk to him about something, but I am having a hard time bring it up. One of these days I just need to bring it up.

The movie itself was very good. It had a lot of twists and turns I didn’t expect. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect and I was not disappointed.

When it was done I went home and chatting with Keegan online for a short time before going to bed.

Ought-Nine in Review

Jan – Mr. President – I wanted to be the class president. There were two possible candidates that most likely would have been voted for. Myself and one other guy who works in the jail right now. He also would have been a very fine pic. But it is something I want to do. The vote was held by Ross putting out the ballots. When the counting was done it was nearly unanimous. I am now the Ought-Eight Reserve class President.

Feb – Final Mock Scenes – Today was going to be a long day. I was expecting to be done around three or four in the afternoon, but today was the day I was going to prove I could do the job, or I would prove I need more work, or that I am just not cut out for being a cop. I have spent sixteen hours a week for nearly the last five months

Mar – First Day on Patrol – Following the swearing, Jimmy was doing a couple things at the SO before we left to hit the road. We went north on One-Ninety-Five looking for speeders. We pulled over one car, my first as a reserve deputy. I was the cover officer. I went to the car and the passenger was talking with me. The person was given a warning.

Apr – My Latest Oil Change – I have lifetime powertrain and bumper-to-bumper warranties. It has a DVD player built into the radio. I have a rearview camera and backup sensors. It has the Hemi with MDS so it shuts down some of the cylinders when they are not needed to help save fuel. It seems to have some get-up and go. It feel great to drive it. Plus it has the newer traction control system so I feel better about driving it on the bad roadways.

May – First Code Run – we got to the first address we needed to go to Endicott for a call to back up the others there. We were going code and just passed some cars on SR One-Ninety-Five. After we got past the Albion road a burglary in progress was put out in Albion. So I had to turn around and go back to Albion. So I went code past the cars I had just passed.

Jun – Contract with MH Terminated – Since April of Ought-Four I have been working as a software engineer for NetUpdate and then I was moved to MostHome when they bought out NU. I worked with them until I got notice today that my contract was going be terminated. The application that I worked on since I started with NU was a mortgage application. That was then sold to a competitor a couple months ago. I told MH that I wanted to remain on with them. But as it turned out the project I was put on just got sold off. So they are cutting their ties with me.

Jul – Second Class Reserve – I was told I was moved up to second class. They shook my hand and said they had great expectations for me. They all believe that I will do a fine job. That was great. Now, I just need to start to set up times to ride so I can work my way to first class.

Aug – Final Shift as a PFD Temp – We got on scene in the ambulance and were made into the backup team. We went to the attic where the seat of the fire was. Eric, who was on his first day back, was on the nozzle and put the fire out. It was still pretty small, but growing. It was lucky that we got there when we did and that the fire was not in the wee hours of the morning when it could have really taken off. I ended up putting in an hour and a half of overtime. So my full-time tally was one year, one month, four days and one and a half hours. It has been a good run.

Sept – Bushwood Golfs Again – I was hot on my short game. The problem is that we would use after we all hit a drive we would pick one. From that point each person hit his own ball to the hole. I didn’t do too poorly. I was able to keep up in score. In fact my putting made me lead some of the holes. I had some very nice putts including two there were around thirty footers for birdies. It felt great.

Oct – IM Championship Bound – I hit the ball well, as did the team. Our defense was very good. We went on to win and go to the Semi-finals. We were playing a team that had been using an illegal bat. Once they were called on it, in the previous game, they couldn’t hardly score. It turned out we shut them out. We scored nine runs. We didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have hoped, but we won. Ryan said it best, this is the most worried I have felt in a shut out. We never had a big enough lead that put me at ease. Not until we scored the ninth run and the other team no longer had a chance to win because of the eight-run limit.

Nov – Gay Firefighter – Then I was asked a question about how I feel I am treated being a gay in the fire department. I said since I have been outed to everyone I don’t feel that I have ever been treated poorly due to being gay. Chris let me know that he has known for years. He said that pretty much everyone on the fire department on the career side knows. He said there are probably only a couple people who don’t really know. He said that they probably have been told, but think that people are screwing with them. It is without a doubt that the information is told to everyone. I am not sure who actually tells the others but the information is freely available. But once again no one treats me differently.

Dec – Search for Missing Hunter – I was teamed up with three young men. It turned out it was the son of the missing man and his friends. They wanted to put a member of the SO with each team going out searching. We were sent down the road a ways to start our search. The son was leading the way as he knew the area well. We made our way along some level ground. There was about four inches of new snow. It was covering rocks on the ground so we had to be careful where we stepped.

This years review shows many things that were related to being a reserve Deputy. I guess that is the major thing that has happened to me over this last year. I am now a sworn reserve law enforcement officer. Many of the writings I had through out the year dealt with the class or going out to patrol. I also had an unusual suicide where I was able to trace the night leading up to the death of a young man. It was very unusual and probably affected me more than any other death I investigated. It didn’t make the list this year because the fact that I am a gay man who is a firefighter is something I am always thinking about. When it was finally brought up with some people I have never talked to about it before it was a big conversation to me. It was nice to hear his perspective. Ought-Nine was a good year overall. I had some frustrations at the fire department, but they were overall small in the grand scheme of life. I am jobless, but I do have a new contract where I will finally start to bring in some money again. It has been a year that I am happy with.

Final Day of the Decade

I went to the fire station and met with Brenda about the reserve timesheets. I also met up with Ryan about the map tests and the upcoming fire academy. I am going to be making the timesheets for the reserves this year. I also was integrating the timelog into the timesheet Excel workbook. But more importantly something I have been working on is the ability to fill out the timelog and have it automatically fill in the timesheet. That is now completed. I also let Ryan know about some of the things I didn’t like about the academy in the past. I also let him know the map tests are worthless for proving guys know the roads. So often they pass the test with one-hundred percent, but still are clueless when they get on the street.

I went home and started to work on the new spreadsheet. I had the basic stuff done for the timecard. I just did some tweaking on it to make it closer to the ones we currently use. The timelog has some updates to it. Then I started to put the two together.

I was trying to create a master workbook that would have every one’s name and employee number. It would also include the pay. Then if information needed to be updated on any reserve it would only have to be updated in one spot and the workbooks would get that information by linking to the master. But I was running into problems. That is because I didn’t want to hard code each firefighters workbook, I wanted to be able to have one spot where I put the firefighter number in their workbook and Excel would then take that number and concatenate it with the column number in order to get the correct data. But that is not nearly as easy as it sounds. I found a function called INDIRECT, but it only works when the master spreadsheet is also open. That is not going to work for what I want to do.

Finally I had to give up on that idea for this year. I just made a master in the workbook and the data would be updated there. So it is still only one place to update the pay information for people. But if four people need their pay information updated it will require opening up four spreadsheets rather than one. But I got the whole set done. I hope the guys like it. I know several thought it was cool with mine, because I was testing out the process. Now that I know it works I asked Heston about doing it for everyone. He said go ahead. Several of the guys who saw me using it this last year wanted me to do that for them. So I am sure for the most part guys will like it. But as with all change there are some guys who hate change and will complain about it no matter what.

I went to the Deuce and met up with Suggy for working the WSU Men’s Basketball game. They were playing Oregon in the Pac-Ten opener. The first half was not very solid for the Cougs. But in the second half they started to come alive. They had an eight-zero and a ten-zero run. Soon it was tied up. With about thirty seconds to go the Cougs had the ball. But they ended up wasting too much time on the clock. That caused them to have to take a poor shot and it was missed. That put the game into OT. In the first OT the Cougs had a five point lead, but it came down to a dunk by Casto in the final second of the game. The Cougs were up by two and the crowd went crazy. There was three-tenths of a second left on the clock. But the Cougs were assessed a technical foul for celebration. They gave the Ducks to free-throws. The guy made both and they tied it up and went to a second OT. The second one was closer. But the game ended when the Cougs had the ball with less than ten seconds to go. It was tied. The Cougs missed the shot. The Ducks got it and drove hard to the bucket. They made it and got fouled. They celebrated without penalty. They made the freethrow going up by three with, again, three-tenths of a second. But the Cougs couldn’t come back and lost. I was so mad. It was crushed. It felt the highest of highs only to be crushed.

During the game I talked to Kuhrt and he was seeing what I was doing for New Years. I told him that I had no plans. He said I should come over. He said he would get in touch with me after the game. I went home and completed my project to work on the timesheets. I got a text from Kuhrt to come over. I headed that way. When I got to his place we watched some TV and talked shop. I asked him questions about the way he learns and remembers traffic laws. We had a couple drinks. At midnight we toasted the new year. It was a nice evening with the Kuhrt’s and their pets.

Seeing Mr. T.

I went to Issaquah to return my extra set of router bits. I bought some blades for my saws and a couple various tools. Then I met up with Mr. Thuot in Issaquah at Starbucks. We were there for several hours talking about life and health. We talked a little bit about ICS systems and his speaking tour that he did where he went to several cities to talk about dealing with major events at a school setting.

I hung out with Dave this evening. Tomorrow is his birthday. We went to Shari’s for dinner. I had pizza with my mom so I just had some pop. We sat there talking about life and work. Then we went to see the movie The Hangover. The Regal Thirteen theatre is now a second run theatre. They had lots of older movies there. When the movie was done Dave and I said our goodbyes and I headed home for the night.

Seeing Pond After Ten Years

I went to Burien to meet up with Chris. He was taking me on another ride along. It is so a great pleasure to be out there with Chris. I love to see him working. He has found his calling by being a cop.

It was pretty quiet over all. We responded on some minor calls, nothing too major. A call for harassment, a truck that hit a fence when it rolled after it popped out of gear, there were a couple warrant checks on people, and we looked for a car that flew by us. We found it parked next to a house. The guy lied about the car. He said it didn’t run, but it was warm. Then he said it runs, but he doesn’t drive it because the tabs are expired.

After riding with Chris, I drove South near Spanaway to see an old roommate. I had not seen him for about ten years. It had been a long time. We had been roommates at one time while I was staying in Pullman for the summer when I was first staying in Pullman for the summer. He is a mo. He always was interested in me, but I wasn’t so interested in him because back then I was not a big fan of being gay. Not that a lot has changed, but I am a little more comfortable. But I still have issue with being with another gay guy. I would love to find someone who I would love to be with, but I have yet to find that guy.

Softball in the Winter

I thought my softball stuff was put away for the winter, but there was a softball pick-up game in Seattle that I was able to play in. It was put on by a guy who plays softball in the ECSA. Several others who played also are in the ECSA. Two of the guys really caught my eye. One was an athletic guy. He play shortstop for my team. He had the couple-day facial hair growth going for himself. I would have placed him in the cute category. The other guy was a little more of my kind of guy. He was blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a nice smile and also was athletic. He wasn’t over weight, but he had some bulk about him. He wore a baseball hat with a well rounded bill. He was ten-six-seven.

We played about an hour and a half of softball total. I was hitting the ball well. I had a fielding error. I let a ball go under my glove. But I had a great time.

I headed up to Bellingham to see Joe and Doug. I was also doing a ride along with Joe. I got to their place and we chatted about their house and about their cats. Then Joe and I hit the road. It was a pretty quiet night over all. I got a chance to see him do a DRE evaluation for someone suspected of being on drugs. I headed home at three in the morning.

Merry Christmas!!!

When I got up this morning my stepdad was making brunch. We had bacon and crapes. I helped to clean up then we opened gifts. I made out pretty well. I got cold weather underarmour, patrol gloves, router bits, patrol boots, tennis shoes, US Mint proof set, Apples to Apples, Trivial Pursuit, and a new shower head. It was pretty much every thing I asked for on my list. I have two pair of patrol gloves and two router bit sets. I am going to return one router bit set. I may return the patrol gloves for a different pair or get something totally different.

I sent and received lots of Christmas wishes. I also received an invite to play softball tomorrow. I am looking forward to that!

I went to my room and watched TV. Billy was coming over for dinner. He got here just before five. I was watching Quincy so I waited until that was done before I went down stairs. We were having fatback with gravy and potatoes. It was a good meal.

We all watched some TV together. Around nine o’clock I went to my room and started to watch some more TV as I was falling asleep. I wanted to stay up later than I did so I could be more ready for my ride along tomorrow.

Christmas Eve with the Family

This morning the plan was to go shopping for some stuff for my mom and stepdad. I decided to brave the mall and go to Southcenter. I posted that on facebook and people were sending messages about me wearing kevlar and to R.I.P. Southcenter is a little more rough than when I was younger, but it didn’t seem bad at all yesterday.

As I navigated through out the mall and some of the stores I found myself face to face with ten-six-sevens. There was one that had a perfect face with perfect skin. I was in awe. Maybe that helped to make the trip there so nice.

But as I walked around from store to store looking for ideas I was coming up blank. I couldn’t find anything that I wanted to buy. It sucked. So I texted Jon who said I should get mom a gift card. I ended up getting one for Bill as well.

I got home and watched the Rockford Files then headed to Jon’s for dinner and the gift exchange. We had Chinese food and everyone sat around talking. We talked about guns and computer programming.

I got router bits and patrol gloves for Christmas. I also got a birthday present of Office Two-Thousand-Seven from Jon and his family.

I headed out around ten o’clock to head home. It was a nice time with the family.

Movie Night: The Hangover

I was supposed to be on my way to Renton today, but due to the coroner’s case last night I stayed in town an extra day. I worked the coroner’s case for part of the day. I went to Moscow and got a Christmas gift for BKoe. I also got myself a copy of the movie the Hangover.

I was asked by Reed to cover him on the fire department. So I invited Melcher, Rose, and Gecas over to watch the movie with me at my place. So it was an impromptu movie night. The guys came over and we watched the movie.

The only calls we got were all for a fire alarm at the Village Centre Theatres. We were dispatched there three times tonight. We only ended up responding once, but we kept getting toned out and waking me up.

Hanging with B-Shift

This morning I was going to bed at seven o’clock in the morning. I got up just before one o’clock PM. I went to the fire station and gave them some fudge to try. When I was there Chia asked if I wanted to stay for a movie. I did. We watched Inglorius Basterds. That is a pretty good movie. I watched it a while back in the movie theatre as well.

When the movie was done I went home and put in a couple loads of laundry. I wanted to get that done before my trip to Renton on Tuesday.

I had planned on watching my Sunday night shows, but that didn’t happen because they were re-runs.

Happy Thirty-Sixth Scotty

This morning I had a critique for a car accident. It was the one where the guy hit the two pedestrians. When the critique was over I stuck around for a little while talking to some of the people there. A couple people wished me a happy birthday. I was also getting a lot of birthday wishes on facebook as well.

Ryan met up with me at my house right about eleven. We took my truck to get the alternator worked on. Then it was off to my place. We made some fudge. But the first batch was not right. I cooked the base ingredients too long. It was dry. I tried a second one and more or less did the same thing. So I messed up back-to-back batches. We went to Moscow to Hastings to look at some movies. I wanted to buy the Hangover. We then went to Walmart. But they didn’t have the unrated version available.

We went to my place and I tried a third batch of fudge. But because I was scared to cook it too long, I think I went too short and it was a little too creamy for what I like. But overall it is going to work out.

We then got ready to go bowling at Zeppoz. I met up with the Young’s, Richards, Gollnick, Keeton, BKoe, the Caessens’. Ron and Heather came down as well as Dan and Michele. Jessie also came by. She brought me some crack for my birthday. We bowled several games. I wasn’t bowling very well. But BKoe did awesome. He had two games over two hundred. He also got a game with no open frames. After bowling for several hours we called it a night at Zeppoz. Ryan had to leave to drive back to Spokane. Richards, Gollnick, and I went to Sports Page. We played several games of pool over the next couple hours. In the first game I played I nearly ran the table on John. I was sinking all my shots. But as the night went on I got worse and worse, without the help of alcohol to get worse.

It was a good birthday. I was happy to get a chance to be with friends. They make it special.

Happy Twenty-Fifth Pritch

This morning we had a critique for one of the two recent fires at Terrace Estates. It really didn’t bring out a lot other than some communication issues and dealing with the cold.

Later on I had a transfer in the city with Chuck. I got a rescue crew to come along to help us with lifting. It was a round trip to the hospital and back to her residence.

After the transfer I had some time before I had to head off to the Rimrock Search critique. On the way down I called Chia to see what he was doing on Friday. He then said they were out with Pritch at Zeppoz for his birthday. They said I needed to come. But because I am going to the critique and on call I didn’t think I would make it out.

I was near Zeppoz when that conversation took place. I popped into Zeppoz and wished Blake a happy birthday. I said hello to the other guys who were there before hitting the road for Colton.

This critique was a lot more involved than the one from this morning. We started with a slide show the Sheriff put together. Then they talked about how the search was started. Then on to things that went well. That was pretty brief. Then we talked about things that didn’t go well. There was a bit of a longer list.

Several of the things they came out with were valid. One was communication problems. One was not having an ambulance or a visible designated EMS team for the searchers. Then there were a couple things that caused some grief that I was involved in. One was the use of the Spokane mountain rescue team to help with the recovery. I spoke up as to what my thoughts were. Pretty much when we are in recovery mode, there is no hurry and safety is of the utmost importance. Then there was one issue I brought up where I blocked the only pathway to get people out of the area where they searched. I got committed and I couldn’t move. That caused some people to get upset because they wanted to get out of there and they were forced to wait. I explained what my mistake was and how I intended to correct it in the future. Pretty much, it was, me being the last unit out of an area like that.

When the critique was over with I think people were overall happy with the command and the decisions made. We learned a little.

I came back to Pullman. I called up another guy on the fire department to see if he would cover for me so I could go out with the guys. I was able to get coverage. I went to the hill. I met up with the two Blakes, Chia, Chuck, Timmy, and Mully at the Coug. I had two beers while there.

Later we went to ValHalla for some more action. I didn’t drink anything there. Ross was working and we talked for a while before I made my way to the other guys. Chuck and I were talking about his upcoming promotion to Senior Firefighter. Chia was getting ready to go so we said goodbye to him.

After we left there we went to Mike’s. While at Mike’s a guy who Ben introduced me to a couple weekends ago was there. He saw me and came over to say hello and wish me a happy birthday. He is ten-six-seven and a very nice person. I enjoyed playing pool with him when we were at Mike’s before. He told me to remember him when it came to softball season this Spring. I told him I would for sure.

Blake, Chuck, and I went to TLD after we left Mike’s. We got a burrito to go. I went home and went to bed.

Christmas Party at Chucks

What a day, I got up to go get the photos of the guys from the new recruit class, but they were dismissed from class at noon, just about when I showed up. So I didn’t get the photos of anyone. I went into the kitchen and talked with Tractor and VanNess about both my article in today’s Daily News as well as some history about Pullman Fire and the opening of the downtown fire station.

I was at home for a while waiting until it was time for me to head down to the fire station for daily rig checks. I got down there and worked on the rescue and engine. It was starting to snow and the roads has some snow on them.

The plan was to head to Chucks after rig checks. I got to Turner and I was dispatched to a call. So I turned around and went back to the station to run the call. After that call I went to Chuck’s. It was going well until I got a call. I had to head from Chuck’s place and it was an Echo. But it didn’t take long to find out it was a nothing call. When that call was done Turpin said he wanted to see Togs and I. He gave us each a Christmas Gift. It was a very surprised by the gift.

We went to the call and got cleared when we got there. We then went towards a second call for a gas leak, but we were cancelled. So we went to the station and I went back to Chuck’s. I was able to stay there for a couple hours before being called away. I left the house with no intentions of coming back. It was getting late.

I got a call from the Sheriff asking if I could help with a search for a missing hunter. He said I would need to head there around six-thirty in the morning. I thought it would be necessary for some sleep. But the calls would not cooperate.

I was getting called to service in a very steady fashion. There wasn’t anything that was kicking our butt, but it was just a constant stream of calls.

I finally found my bed at three-thirty in the morning only to get called one hour later.

Gun Cleaning Party

This morning I worked on my column for the Daily News. It is about how people substitute the word Holiday for Christmas and pretend nothing has changed.

I got a transfer to Lewiston around three. I went down with Pritch. When it was done I went to Papa John’s to get some pizza. The profits are going to be donated to the Lakewood police officers’ families.

I got home in time for the gun cleaning party. Only one person showed up to clean his gun. That was perfect because just after cleaning our guns the tones went out for reserve callback. I went to the station. I was there for several hours chatting with one of the new guys. We joked about lots of different things. He talked about his oral board and how the room was set up. He said it was pretty intimidating.

After I left the station I went to Kuhrt’s house. We played video games until around one-thirty in the morning.

Mr. Lightweight

I got a phone call this morning to go over a couple work related things with the company that is looking to give me a contract. That was only a five minute phone call.

I got cleaned up and put on my Class-B uniform for the fire department. I got my boots and headed to the Deuce. I needed to show two new guys around Beasley because we had no one else to work the events with the badge pinning ceremony going on.

I spent the time when I got there shining my boots and watching TV. I waited around watching TV until the guys got to the station to start the training. I showed them what equipment they needed and headed to Beasley with them. I helped them get the beds set up and walked around some of the places they needed to know about. As it got close to two I had to run out to the badge pinning ceremony.

When I got to the Pioneer Center I gave my camera to Ryan who was shooting the pics. We started to get our seats and the ceremony started. It was one career and about twelve reserves getting their badges. I had asked Gollnick to pin me but he wasn’t able to. I also asked Chia, and he wasn’t available. I then asked Turpin. He did it. The whole ceremony took just over thirty minutes.

I went home and Victor gave me a ride up to the WSU police station. We were doing the Wet Lab drinking in the old WSU Fire station. We played some cards and ate a little bit while drinking drinks as Matt made them for us.

I was supposed to be the most drunk. After a double-shot, I was blowing a just under a point-zero-two. I was going to have a long way to go to get where Matt wanted me. His plan was to have me at a point-one-two. But as I was getting towards the point-zero-eight, the legal limit in Washington, I was really feeling the effects. I am a bit of a light weight.

We made our way to the CUE. I was feeling pretty good, but Matt also had me get a couple more shots. While there I had a point-seven-three reading near the start and a point-seven-eight at the end. I wasn’t legally intoxicated, but people would argue I was under the influence. I hardly could stay in the starting position.

I knew my eyes were not doing well, I could feel them spazzing out at max. dev. I figured I would not do too well when they decided whether to arrest or not.

Sure enough at the end they saw I had six clues in my eyes. That is the most possible. I also had about two to four clues in the other tests on average. Most people put me at a point-one-three or so. I was nearly half that. When they heard what level I was they burst out in laughter. It was a good time.

When we were done I got a ride to ValHalla to meet up with Ben. He was in town for a turf club Open To Close event yesterday at the Coug. I got to ValHalla and start to drink water. That was my drink of choice for the rest of the evening. We at ValHalla with a couple others guys Ben knows. Brandon, was one of the guys with Ben. He plays softball with Barge’s IM team. Ben is telling me I should try to steal him.

Brandon was very nice. He was easy to chat with. Ben said he is competitive and a good player. We walked to Mike’s and played some pool there. I could see Brandon’s competitive edge come out. We stayed at Mike’s until just before two o’clock.

I walked back to ValHalla with the group but I broke off with them. Ben gave me a hug and said good bye. I went downstairs and waited for my taxi to show up. I ran into Mully and Pritch. We all shared a taxi to get home.

Engineer Training with Victor

This morning I got ready for a trip to Pullman a day early. I was going to work with Victor. I went to Three Pigs to have lunch with Jon and the other guys.

Then I hit the road. It was a typical trip there. Nothing of note happened.

I got to Pullman and got ready for Victor’s training. I got some engineer calculations ready for him to do. Then I waited for him to get there. First we worked on the calculations. I helped him go through them.

We hit the road and drove around. We did about an hour and a half of city drive time.

Happy Birthday Wendy!

This morning I woke up to my scanner on the Pullman Fire frequency. I heard “Delta response for a structure fire.” I got up and started to collect my things. Then I heard BKoe on the radio and running. I didn’t totally hear what he was saying, but I knew by the fact he was running and talking on the radio that the fire was real. So I expedited my response to the station.

I was joined by two other reserves and we went to the scene. We got there and got assigned to a back-up line. Soon we were sent in to help with the overhaul. We pulled ceiling and put water on the hot spots. We were asked to help with the investigation. There were some interesting findings.

I went home and cleaned up. There was about two hours before training. I went to the station early. It was ICS training. It lasted about two hours.

Following the training I went to Zeppoz. Wendy was celebrating her fiftieth birthday. I was invited to have some cake. When I got there the Uskoski’s and Peterson’s were the only ones left. I stayed and had some pop with them as well as some cake. I wished Wendy a happy birthday.

Apple Cup at the Moose

I was invited to go to the Moose and watch the Apple Cup with the gang. I got there just before kick off. I was invited to help myself to some food they had there. I ate and had some pop. I am on call tonight so I cannot have anything more than pop.

As the game was going on I thought the Cougs had a chance. They were down by thirteen after half, but I was mad they didn’t try to score when they had the ball and some time on the clock to at least try something.

The second half things went down hill. We ended up losing by a shutout. I cannot believe how horrible things are right now. But I believe we will see things look up in the next two years.

I had to leave before the game was done to get my uniform and do the daily rig checks at the station.

I went home. Brandon, Kevin, and I played some games. We played for a couple hours before Brandon had to go to bed. I went to bed myself around midnight. I need to get up and patrol tomorrow.

Before I got to sleep, I tossed and turned in bed for a while. Finally I was drifting off to sleep when a call came in for a Delta Response for a Structure Fire at the Elmhurst apartments. Pretty much every firefighter in Pullman knows that is a bad news place. It is very old building and it would be a big fire should one happen.

This time it was only an overcooked pizza.

Feels like the Weekend

I received several responses from people about the messages I sent out to everyone. Several people responded thanking me for the messages and letting me know they felt the same way. I had stopped by the Deuce and John was there. He called me over and shook my hand. He thought what I said to him was very nice.

This afternoon I had a meeting with the other coroner’s to discuss cases that we have done recently as well as covering our schedule. Both cases were mine with the help of Anna.

The meeting lasted a couple hours in all covering the cases and a couple other procedural issues that Pete wanted to cover. When it was done I went into the SO and talked with Jordan for a little while before going home.

I am the on-call coroner for half of today, so I didn’t get into anything that would keep me too busy.

I was totally confused about the day of the week. It felt like a weekend day, but instead it was a Friday.

I went to the store and got some stuff to make Fanny Farmer Fudge as well as some of the orange dessert. I made up both of those things.

Not Spending Thanksgiving Alone

After being up until nearly five in the morning I figured I would sleep in until noon or later. But at nine-thirty I got a call from the VanNess. He said that he wasn’t sure if I was clear that I had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner. I wasn’t clear about that at all. I sort of got the feeling otherwise. But I was very happy to hear that. So now I am going to get a Thanksgiving dinner. My alternate plan was for pizza.

I went back to sleep for another couple hours. My mom called and she wished me a happy Thanksgiving. I spent time on the computer and watched football to burn time. Around four I went to the fire station to do daily rig checks. I was meeting with my partner on Rescue at four-thirty to head to station one.

When we got there I jumped in and helped out. I was assigned the gravy making detail. I was doing strong work. I was joking with Drew about getting toned out while making dinner. He said, no, the tones will go out when we are dishing up.

I put the gravy on the table and the youngens started to get served. We got toned out on a structure fire. It turned out to be someone who had a fire in the fireplace with the flue closed. We opened the flue. Put out the fire and removed the smoke from the building.

We finally got back and started dinner. It was very good. I was very happy to have been included in the meal. After it was done we were sort of talking and telling stories when a second call came in. We ran that one and went to the hospital. I got the back of the ambulance cleaned up. Then went back to the station and helped to do the dishes.

When everything was cleaned up we left and went back to the Deuce. I went home and started to write to my friends. I was writing a letter of thanks to many people who I feel I need to recognize for positive things they have done for me. They were heartfelt and I said things that I felt, but I usually cannot tell people. I ended my final one just before one in the morning.

Getting Sick

It sucks but I am getting a little sick. I have a cough and a running nose. I don’t like to be sick. It doesn’t stop me, just makes me a little miserable.

I completed my coroner’s report for the suicide I worked. It was the longest report I have done to date. In total it was five pages. I think it would have been preventable if one person had the whole picture. It was tragic.

I went to My Office this evening and hung out with CBass and BKoe. Richards from the FD came down as well. We watched MNF. Jeff, the owner of My Office, was there and we all talked. Jeff shared some funny stories about somethings that happened with in here in Pullman.

Richards and I played pool. We played about five games. I won three of them. I shot pool very sharp when we started, but I got worse as the night went on. I am not sure why.

Patrolling with Melcher

I was excited because this evening I was going to patrol with Melcher. I got up and went downstairs. The boys were up. We watched some football on TV. It was snowing outside pretty good. There was about an inch on the ground and more was expected.

We had breakfast and then they started to load up and got ready to head out of town. I was at home and watched some more football as the snow was piling up. At one point the tones went off for a bus rollover on Davis Way just outside of the city limits. They called for four ambulances. I went to the station. But it turned out there was only a bus driver on the bus and it never rolled. So everyone was cancelled. But that put me behind the eight-ball. I had planned on going to get some long johns.

I drove to Shopko and picked up two pair of long johns and got home. I got my uniform on and headed to pick up Melcher. This is his first patrol as a second class reserve. I was excited to patrol with him.

The weather was bad and I thought we would deal with a lot of car accidents. We ended up dealing with none. We got dinner with BKoe in Pullman. We traded driving after a while. The snow had stopped and the roads were starting to get better. We worked twenty-six for a while. Then we went north on One-Ninety-Five. But it was dead. We made it all the way to Pullman. I took Two-Seventy to the state line with no luck. As we were leaving Pullman I head a PPD officer getting ready to transport someone to Colfax. I offered to bring the prisioner to the jail. He happily took me up on the offer.

That was the final thing we did on the night. It was near two in the morning. We fueled the car and called it a night.

Final Cougar Football Saturday of the Year

I had breakfast with the boys and Jon before heading to the fire station. I went to The Deuce and picked up the minivan and some EMS equipment. I went to station one. I hung out there having some lunch and talking with some of the guys as we waited for the briefing. After which we headed to the stadium. I was working as the runner.

I spent the whole day in the South Aid Room, aside from the times when I walked to the top of the seats to see some game action in person. The Cougs looked good for the first half, considering all other factors. We were only eleven points out. But the second half belonged totally to Oregon State. The number of people at the game is horrible. I heard there were about eight thousand total. I am not sure if it was that few for sure, but it surely was empty.

We got some free pizza from Pizza Hut. They gave away all their remaining pizzas to people around the concourse level.

After the game I went home. We ordered some Pizza Pipeline. We also got Tricky Sticks. The boys love it. We ate the pizza and watched some TV. Before it got too late I went to my den and worked more on my suicide report. It is a very long report. It took a while to write it up and I still have some more I need to do.

When I was done I was looking at the Seattle Times website. There was an article about suicide awareness. I read it. There was one person talked about in the article. I soon realized it was a case that happened here in Whitman County.

I stayed up reading some suicide resources before heading off to bed around one in the morning.

Long Term Soluntion, Short Term Problem

Here it is again. This morning the pager goes off for a Bravo response, for a possible suicide in Pullman. I went to the station. It was pretty clear early on that it was done with a gun and the person was probably not going to be alive when people got there. I waited around the station until the ambulance crew returned. I found that it was a young male who ended it all.

I was tapped to investigate the death. Due to the circumstances surrounding the death. I went to the scene. It was not pleasant. The reason for the death, the method of the death, and the outcome all are frustrating to me. I didn’t know this person and I probably never would have. But due to the event, now I do know who he is. I have learned a little about it. I have to shake my head at the waste of a perfectly good life. I suppose one could argue with me about this being a perfectly good life. One who is perfectly good probably wouldn’t kill himself.

This bring me back to a suicide that I wrote about some time ago. It was another young male in Pullman who decided to end it all. The effects that it has on the survivors are not very good. I have heard many people talk about the people who commit suicide as being weak. They are selfish. Those comments are from people who don’t fully understand the ins and outs of the situation. It is a simplistic and sarcastic answer to something that is causing someone a great deal of pain.

Unlike people who make such comments, they don’t investigate those deaths. They don’t get to know what is going on in that person’s life. They don’t really understand the situation. They cannot feel what that person is feeling and they could not ever really get into the mindset of the person who is at the point where they feel like killing themselves is the only option they have. That is utter loss of all hope. The tough thing about suicide is many times with the proper help and counseling those lives could be saved.

Jon and the boys were coming to town today. I had planned on getting some stuff done around the house before they came, but due to the suicide I spent the whole day doing the investigation. Jon got to town. I had a chance to see him for a couple minutes and then I had to leave again to complete the investigation.

When I was done I went to Cougar Country to meet with Jon and the boys. We then went to see the movie Twenty-Twelve. Logan wanted to see it. It was alright. I hadn’t planned on seeing it myself, but because Jon and the boys were going, I decided to go along.

When we got back I started to work on the write up for the suicide. It is going to be a really long write up.

SWAT Training Helper

Today is BKunz’s Thirty-Second birthday. I met Brandon when he was eighteen. He was a freshman at WSU. I have had such a pleasure being Brandon’s friend. He is a sincere and honest guy. He went to school to be an engineer which he did for some years, and now he has become a fireman. It is great to talk to him. I also love playing softball with him. I had the opportunity last summer. It was incredible!

I worked with the SWAT team to play a bad guy for their scenarios. I was slightly uncooperative. I was able to get beat by these guys a little. They only went as far as I did. If I cooperated they didn’t have to work to keep me in line. I had a lot of fun. We did it most of the day and ended with one last scenario after it got dark.

It was a good day out doing the training.

Video Game Night

I started the day with my doctor’s appointment with my eyes. He found the pressure in my eyes were higher than normal. He wanted to check my eyes to see if there was something wrong. The eye test included dilation of my eyes. The left eye was left seeing blurry for a couple hours. It was crazy to close my right eye and see the world as someone who needs to use glasses. There was nothing I could do to see clearly through it. That sucked. The good news was there is nothing wrong and life goes on.

I went to Loco Grinz with BKoe for lunch. Then I went home and did some work on the computer. While at home I heard them call for reserves to call for a transfer. But I had a meeting with Heston and the other crew leaders. I was called directly by the captain to see if I could do it. I let him know that I was supposed to do the meeting. I said he would need to clear it through Heston.

I was cleared to do the transfer. I was supposed to do it to Lewiston. I was told the meeting would be moved back. But when I got to the station I was told that transfer was cancelled and we were going to Spokane instead. I went with Tony.

Following getting to Spokane we hit dinner at Chili’s. We got back and I went to Kuhrt’s house. CBass’ birthday was today and they were out celebrating. People went back to Kuhrt’s place. When I got there CBass wasn’t there, but BKoe and some others were.

We played Wii bowling and Scene It on the Xbox. It was fun times. I was there playing Scene It until nearly two in the morning. Kuhrt and I played two games after everyone else left. He won the first one. I won the second one. I won on the final question. I was down by about two-thousand points, and got the final question correct.

Pool Playing Fun

This morning started with a meeting to discuss streamlining the response to calls to better utilize the resources we have. Ideas we brought up to use all our resources, to include the reserves before calling help from our local partners. Many of the things brought up universally accepted by the task force. It is good to see we have some positive ideas that can help make Pullman Fire more streamlined.

After the meeting I started to type up the notes from the meeting but the career guys started to go over reports on the Zoll’s. I decided I should participate in the training, just to get better at reports and because a couple examples had my name on them.

When the training was done I went to the Deuce to meet up with John to go to Jefferson Elementary school to show off the fire engine to the second graders who were going through a book on firefighters. They kids had a good time looking at the fire engine and its tools. They all had a chance to get into the drivers seat and take a look around from there.

Tonight’s OTEP training was infectious diseases. It was a short training. Chia did the training for it.

When it was done Chia, Blake, a couple other reserves and I went to Val Halla. We played some pool and had a couple drinks. I only had a couple because I planned on driving home. After my couple I didn’t have anything more for four hours so it had plenty of time to go through the system. I was mainly out to hang out with the guys and have a good time.

As we were leaving to head to Mike’s I checked my phone. There was a missed call from the fire department. They had tried everyone else on the career side. They needed someone to come in and cover for someone who needed to go home sick. They called to see if I would finish out his shift. I was so stoked. This would have been a big step to have a reserve work a shift. I wanted to do it, but I had drank a couple beers. I had to turn it down. It killed me.

At Mike’s we played some more pool and shut the place down.

Another Cougar Loss

This morning with only four hours of sleep I was up and getting ready for Cougar Football. I got my uniform on and drove to The Deuce to give the van keys to Michael. I had forgotten to put them in the keybox when I left the station last night.

I was going to the station when I got a call from the developer lead of the contract I was interviewing for. It went about thirty minutes total. Kittelson and I went to station one together in my rig. We went down for lunch and the game briefing. I had a couple hamburgers and enjoyed the company of everyone until the briefing started.

I am working North One with Kittelson. Bien is going to be coming to the game to meet up with us and hang out. We stopped at Safeway to get some pop and supplies for the game. I found that Safeway switched from Pepsi to Coke. I was very annoyed by this. I am going to write some letters about this.

We got to the stadium and made our way to our place over the tunnel. It wasn’t too bad on the weather side of things to start. I was wondering how my ankle would deal with the standing around. I was a hurting unit by the end of the game. Without a doubt. I hope things will get better. Kittelson and I talked about being a reserve sheriff. Keith showed up and we watched the game together. Bien made is way around a little bit going to see Reed and a couple others. For the most part he stayed with us the whole time.

The Cougs were not doing too well. They threw three INT’s in the first quarter along. UCLA scored on their first possession because of the first INT the Cougs gave up. UCLA had a short field for a lot of the first quarter. The Cougs were only able to score one touchdown the whole game. The Cougs were having such a hard time they fans cheered for firstdowns. By half time many of the fans had left this extremely cold game. Near the end of the game one could almost count the number of people left. The Cougs went on to lose.

When it was done we went back to the station and turned in our equipment. I went home and took some medicine for my ankle and had some dinner. I was meeting up with Victor for working Jeff Duhman at Beasley. I was looking forward to working that event. We made our way to Beasley. The doors were open and people were pouring in. It looked like a lot of people were going to be coming. I hung out in the first aid room for the opening act. Once it came time for Dunham to come on I went to the place where we stage on the concourse level. He came up on stage to a lot of cheers. There were a couple bits it was doing that was cracking me up. I was laughing really hard. He did a couple things on the local area and poked a little bit of fun at the football game.

It was a good show and people were having a good time. Once it was done I went home. It was nearly eleven-thirty at night. I got a hold of Keith who was over at Reed’s. He had me come over and bring some batteries. I went to Dissmores to get the batteries. They only had two lines open so it took a while to get through the line.

I got to Reed’s and we played some Rock Band. It was my first time playing. I had a good time playing that. I had a couple beers while I was there. Keith was crunk in a big way. He was starting to go down hill while I was there. I think he is going to be hating life. Before I left it wasn’t liking life too much as it was. I went home around two-thirty in the morning. I didn’t stay up too late before going to bed. I was really tired because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.

Winning at Z’s

I got a call from Gribbon about some stuff that happened last night while they responded on calls on the fire department. When we were done talking he asked if I want to go see the Fourth Kind with him and Gecas. I said I would. I wasn’t planning on seeing the movie, but I wanted to hang out with the guys.

The movie reminded me of the Blair Witch Project. It was a let down to me. When I started to look up some information I found out the setting of the movie and the real Nome, Alaska were very different. So some of the “actual” footage were fakes. It included it being light outside when it should have been dark based on the time of day and the time of year. There were tons of very tall trees in the movie where Nome doesn’t have that.

While looking that information up I thought about what it would be like to live in Alaska and maybe thinking about getting a job around there doing programming. I started to look for places looking for people. I found one that sounds like they pay well and it would be based in Anchorage. I e-mailed the contact to ask about softball. I wouldn’t go anyplace were there is no softball. I was thinking about moving south were softball can be played all year long as well.

I got a call from Richards about going to Zeppoz. I decided to go and play some cards. It has been a while and I had some money that I could spend on gambling. I grabbed that and went up there. I sat down at a blackjack table. I was close to being busted out then the dealer changed. All of a sudden I went on a win streak that brought me way back from the bring. I ended up winning cashing in one hundred bucks for a winning amount of sixty bucks, including fifteen bucks I gave away as a tip.

We went to the Sports Page to play some pool. The Vandals were on TV as well. I watched the game and we played a lot of pool. I won a couple of the game. But I wasn’t doing too great. Blake was on pager for the fire department. He got called in. I went with him. We sat around for about thirty minutes and watched a fight on UFC.

I went home and worked on my map book. I got the final pages colorized before heading to bed.

Boys at Girls Night

This morning I was a little on the tired side. I was up late with Blake and Young. We had a good time, but now I had to be at resume and cover letter training. It was just like the class for filling out the application. It is set up for someone who hasn’t really finished college. It is for the person who may or may not even have a GED. I showed my resume when it came time for us to write resumes. After looking at it, I was asked a couple questions, then I was excused for the class.

When I got home I was looking at posts on Facebook I saw one from Casi. She said she something about girls night. I joked about bring me along. She said tonight they are going to Wehrungs at six o’clock. She said I should come along. I wasn’t for sure I should just show up to Wehrungs place, so I texted him.

I realized the funeral for Officer Brenton might be played live on TV. So I checked NWCN and sure enough they had it. I sat down and watched the funeral. Seeing the people who came and showed support was great.

When the funeral was over, some two and a half hours later I turned off the TV for a few minutes. When I turned it back on they were showing an aerial view of some people on the ground near a police car. They had a heading showing there was a shooting. At first I was thinking that it could have been a cop shot. They showed about fourteen cops cars filling up a nearby street. More and more were coming. I started to think that maybe this had something to do with the guy who killed Officer Brenton. As the coverage continued more cops were showing up. Cops from at least eight different agencies were all showing up in Tukwila. I continued to watch the coverage as the time went by more information was coming out. Sure enough they were getting the cop killer. He pulled a gun on the cops and got shot. He was down, but taken to the hospital.

What a turn of events. To spend two and a half hours watching the funeral and learning about the life of the officer killed, to almost right away watching the cops arrest the guy responsible.

I got a text back from Chris about his party. I headed over to his house around six o’clock. I was the first there. But soon everyone else started to show up. We spent a lot of time chatting and laughing about various subjects as we mingled. The guys usually grouped up and the girls usually grouped up. Then we would co-mingle. It was a good time. They were fondue party. It ended with chocolate fondue.

While I was there I got a call about a job I had sent in my resume for. It would be a six to eight week contract to do web work. I got a little background on the job and I was asked some questions about my experience and availability. I was told I would get a call in the next couple days to let me know one way or another about this job.

As the night was coming to an end we were talking some politics-like stuff in reference to department and fire services in general. It was interesting to talk about how some other fire departments do things.

Then I was asked a question about how I feel I am treated being a gay in the fire department. I said since I have been outed to everyone I don’t feel that I have ever been treated poorly due to being gay. Chris let me know that he has known for years. He said that pretty much everyone on the fire department on the career side knows. He said there are probably only a couple people who don’t really know. He said that they probably have been told, but think that people are screwing with them. It is without a doubt that the information is told to everyone. I am not sure who actually tells the others but the information is freely available. But once again no one treats me differently.

Chris said when I lost all the weight I gained a lot of respect from a lot of people on the department.

Perfecting Applications

This morning I got up with enough time to get my Toyota to my mechanic. Not that I should be spending any money right now on the Toyota, I want to be able to drive it around this winter. It might save me some money in the long run. But I doubt it.

Anyway, I had to be at the Mechanic at eleven-thirty. I know… Call me lazy. But it has only been real recent that I have been going to bed so late so I want up so late. I am not doing anything important. Just screwing around. Last night it was listening to old recording of Paul Harvey on YouTube. I really miss listening to Paul Harvey. Every now and again I see it is noon and quickly look for a radio to tune him in, only to realize that he won’t be on. I learned about Paul Harvey when I was a freshman at college. He was on the radio station the Roto had playing on their speaker system at lunch time. One girl in the group I use to chow with pointed him out. I started to listen and fell in love with his story telling and his comments. So I wanted to make recordings of those so I could listen to them in the rig from time to time. So I was doing that plus colorizing my county map and that kept me up until nearly four in the morning, which is why I got up so late.

A fuel line that was leaking was fixed plus a vacuum line was fixed. I was able to get the noise happen for him. He listened with a mechanics stethoscope and he was able to determine that it was my alternator. It sounded like some bearings were going out. I am not sure if I have replaced it since high school. So it has had a long life. Anyway, I might have to put out a couple hundred more.

From there I had to go to the WorkSource office for a perfecting applications class. It is part of my unemployment training I have to take to be eligible for benefits. The classes are setup to help people learn how to market themselves. But I think the classes are geared towards people who have no college education. Many of the topics we dealt with were very basic. I think it was good training for some of the people, but for others I think it was probably just telling them something they already do and already know.

After that class I buzzed down to Colfax for a meeting with the prosecutor to discuss search incident to arrest of a car. It is a new topic that affects those in law enforcement. So he met with the SO to tell everyone his opinion of the case law out of the Washington State Supreme Court.

Following the meeting I went home and had some dinner and watched TV. Richards from the fire department called and invited me out to have a beer. I took him up on his invitation. We met at My Office. I had a couple beers and played some pool. Young also showed up. It was a good time. We were out until about one in the morning. I really like spending the time with the guys. I am happy that they haven’t stopped doing stuff with me. Every since I left being a full-time guy I have tried to keep the relationships going with those guys. I don’t want to be forgotten.