I Get to go to the Game

Today is BKunz’s birthday. He is turning thirty-one today. We lived in Stephenson together as next door neighbors. That was when he was a freshman at WSU. Over the years we played sports together and hung out. He was married a couple years back and I went to his wedding. Now here we are thirteen years later. He is a great person and also a fellow firefighter/EMT. I called him up to wish him a happy birthday, but I only got his voicemail. I still left a message for him.

I went to Pete’s for the Palousitics lunch. We have five people there and just talked about some of the recent election news and one of the topics of discussion was aircraft, including military aircraft and some stuff about WWII in the Pacific. It was a nice lunch.

I went to look at the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is a nice vehicle, but the back is not roomy enough for me to store my stuff without having to put it sideways. It has a comfortable seat, but I need something that I can fit all my stuff in easily. So I am still at the Durango or maybe something from Chevy or Ford. But I really like what the ought-eight Durango has to offer.

I got called for a transfer to Spokane around seven o’clock pm. I went to the station and ended up working it with Drew. I was the attendant and he drove us to Spokane. It was an uneventful trip up.

We went to dinner. While at dinner we were talking about the Apple Cup. We are both working the game. He prefers to stay at the station and not go to the game. I much prefer to go to the game. So we switch positions. I was supposed to be stuck at the station. He was supposed to go to the game. Now I will be going to the game and I am very thankful about that. I am excited!

Beat The Boys at Tecmo Bowl

After getting off work this morning I had to make my way to Colfax for reserve training. At lunch we went to the sheriff’s office and did our sit ups and push ups. Then it was off to the track at the high school.

We had to run the mile-and-a-half. I ran it with Jessie and I made sure we kept pace so she could pass it. We did it right in the nick of time. It was great that she got it passed.

After the run we went to lunch. We hit Zips again. I am going to suggest some other place for lunch next week. After lunch we went back to class. Waltz was teaching traffic stuff. I think he was surprised to see me in the class acting as class president.

After class I went home. I had some dinner with Jon and the boys. Then we sat around and talked. I rough housed with the boys and then went on to play them in Tecmo Bowl. I beat each of them. I was starting to feel a little sick to my stomach and wanted to get to bed. Plus I was getting tired. I had to be at work in the morning and I wanted to be rested.

A Mini-Golf Comback

This morning’s plans were diverted when I got a call about an unattended death in Pullman. Pete asked if I could cover it. I told him that I was able to do it. I went to the scene and did the investigation. Between that and the time at the funeral home I spent several hours. I went to my house and cleaned up and then headed to the Rec Center to get a workout in. It was an upperbody day. I wanted to shoot some hoops but I had work ahead of me.

I got home and spoke with the doctor involved with the case and then Pete. After running stuff by Pete I was completing out my report. I got a call from Peter asking if I want to play Mini-Golf. I said that I did. I met up with him, Danny, and Kevin at the Mini-Golf course on Airport Road.

The first nine I wasn’t doing very well. I wasn’t in last place but I was about six strokes off the lead. But the back-nine I started to make a comeback. I had a hole-in-one and when it was over with I had completed the comeback and beat Peter, who had the lead at the turn. I won by one stroke. It was a good time to hang out.

After the golfing I came home and finished off the final touches of my report before printing it off. I didn’t have any plans for the rest of the evening, so I got some stuff done on the computer before heading off to bed.

Worked for NU

It has been a while since this last happened, but I got some work done for NU. I have a new spec that I have to work on. It is a big one. Plus I have a couple small ones to work on. I have until the end of the year. I am going to have to work hard over the next couple months because I have to overcome the short comings of our system as well as try to do development. This will be very difficult. But I let them know that.

My washing machine went down. I took my final load of laundry to the laundry mat and did it there. I spent the time that I was there going over my study guide for the academy. I was able to get through a lot of the questions that I had on my the guide.

I went to workout afterwards. I had to do a lower body workout. I was able to pound it out in about twenty minutes because of the exercises I chose. But I also shot hoops for a bit.

I am going out with Matt tonight. We decided we would go out and have a drink. He had a big week of midterms. We talked about his recent test for WSUPD as well as my new position with the Sheriff’s office.

We started at My Office. I had some pop and we both had some dinner. After My Office we went to Rico’s. We played several games of pool, but I won them all. I had some water while we were there. After Rico’s he headed out and I met up with Hanna, Jessie, Warren, Erik, and a couple others from the softball team. We were at Thai Ginger. I hung out there for about thirty minutes. I wanted to get home so I could get to bed because I needed to be up a little extra early for cooking breakfast at the fire department for the football game for tomorrow.

Enough with the Tequila

I had my training for the SO today. We were covering more criminal law stuff. The class has been going along swimmingly. A lot of it is stuff I knew at one time so I am not learning anything new, but it has been more than a decade since I studied it. So in someways I am learning it like it was new.

After class I went home and BKoe was getting ready to head to the Zuu. Kevin and Peter were already up there. I first ordered a pop. I got a pitcher of pop and a straw was put in it for me. So I just drank from there. Later on BKoe was saying that he drove so I could drink if I wanted. I had no plans on doing so, but then it happened. I ordered a tequila. Not just one, I ordered three.

I drank them down, shooting them one after another. A girl next to me looked on in amazement as I downed the final one without making a single facial expression. I went back to the table and told them I just had three tequilas. They did not believe so I was challenged to do it again. I went to the bar with Peter and got three more tequilas. I downed those just like the first ones.

Peter and I sang a song that I picked out from the book. We ended up doing One-Million Dollars by the Barenaked Ladies. Following that I got three more tequilas. I downed those are the bar. I quickly ordered three more. I took those back to the table. I did those in front of everyone. I had two-and-a-half beers as a chaser. I was gone, very gone. As I was walking out of the bar the bartender made sure I had a ride home. I did.

I went to the parking lot where BKoe car was. I was having a bit of a hard time standing up straight. I think it was hitting him pretty hard. BKoe gave me a ride home, but I really don’t remember much of the ride home.

Knocked Out of the Playoffs

In this evenings softball game we gave the other team a lead, but then we came back and too the lead, only to give up seven runs in the last inning to lose the game. It really sucked.

During the game I was on third base. There was someone on first. A grounder was hit to the middle infield. I started to go down the line. I got near the commitment line thinking that it was going to be a double play, but it wasn’t. The ball was thrown to the catcher. He stepped on the plate, but I was safe. So I waited by the line he ran towards me. As soon as he got to me I stepped over the line. I was called safe right away. The umpire made the correct call. The other team was confused by the play. The umpire explained it to them. Some of the guys on my team knew what I was doing because I explained it to them, but some others didn’t. They thought it was funny when it was all said and done.

As we went to take the field following that inning I heard one of the guys on the other team say “the old man is crafty.” Ryan said I should bean their batter for that comment!

After the game I went to Cougar Country with the rest of the team. We got dinner and voted for team awards. We also had some fun talking about the season and looking forward to the upcoming season.

Getting New Boots

When I got up this morning I felt very rested. More rested than I have felt in weeks. I decided to send a text message to Brandon. He was working grave at the PD and he was up all night, so I thought I would tease him. He hit me back and suggested a breakfast at Tam’s. I said that would be good. We had an early morning fire alarm. We followed up the fire alarm with a second medical call. Due to the length of time we worked past eight o’clock, BKoe was too tired and went to bed. I was disappointed.

I decided that I would go to Spokane and get a pair of boots from one of the places up there. I called Ryan and we were going to meet up for lunch while I was up there. I called Reiber and got his advice about boots. He suggested that I go to Nicks.

I met up with Ryan at a place called David’s. We got some pizza and talked about web hosting and web sites. I went to Nick’s from there and tried on a couple different pairs of boots. I ordered some boots. They will be around five hundred bucks when it is all said and done.

On the way back to Pullman I called the station and I found out they were going to be doing a transfer to Spokane. I told VanNess that I would like to do it. He said he needs to get one more person to do it, that it may not happen. But I had to stop by the station anyway. So I stopped in and talked to the guys there. I found out we would not be doing the transfer. So I went home.

Later I got a call about another transfer and someone else had called in saying that he was available. So we ended up coming in. But do to mix ups on the other end we waited around for nearly two hours until it was settled. I was staying at the station to keep the staffing levels to the minimum. We ended up running two calls right at the end of my night. I ended up going for almost eight hours.

League Champs

This morning I did my weigh in, I was down about seven pounds from last week. I had only lost one pound the previous week. I am under two-sixty for the first time in a very long time! I can’t wait until I am under two-fifty. It is very exciting. It is like when I got under three hundred for the first time. This is one of those little mile stones I didn’t really have in mind, but it felt so good when I saw it.

This evening we had softball. We were playing for the league championship. This is a make up game for the rain out from last week. It is lucky for me because I ended up working when the last game was supposed to be played, but because of the rain out it was moved to tonight.

I have been hitting the ball very well in this league, just as I have been hitting very well in the intramural league as well. I guess last IM season I was just rusty. It was the opening part of the season.

We went on to win the game with a come from behind win. It was very exciting and we are the league champs!

Brandon came out to the game with me and then we went to Apple Bees after the game. From there we went home and played some games before I had to get to bed.

Mock Train Crash

This morning when I got off work at the fire department I went to Colfax for a mock scene. It started out with a train vs car crash with alcohol involved. It was for the Colfax High students. We started with an assembly. Then to the scene. I was on the ambulance. During the scenario we got a real patient. I was the attendant. That took me out of the rest of the mock scene.

Following my call we went back to the scene. It was cleaned up. We all had lunch and prepared for the hazmat portion of the event. I set up the computer items and walked the Colfax people through how the system worked. We went to a train car to see how some of the tools we have work on the train car. That was nice to get a chance to see how the tools worked. We cleaned up and headed back to Pullman.

I was meeting up with Brandon and Kevin. We went to see a movie in Pullman. We saw Eagle Eye. It was an alright movie. When it was done we went to my place and played some games that Brandon had before Kevin had to leave. I went to bed a little while later because I had to work in the morning.

Outside the Park Homerun

Today was pretty busy for the most part. I got up and went to station one for the reserve testing. I got to drive the PL to the tower and back. I helped to set up everything. I also was an evaluator. I followed about seven of the people through their testing to keep time and make sure they did everything they were supposed to during the test. We were done after about five hours.

I was invited to My Office by two of the other career guys. We had some lunch and a couple pitchers of beer. We talked about a various number of things. One of the subjects that came up was about me. One guy has known since he was a reserve with me years ago. The other guy was a newer fire medic. I didn’t know he knew. But when I made a cryptic reference to the guy who knew, the other one acknowledged that he did know about me.

I asked how he knew. He said he over heard something about six months ago. He said it didn’t surprise him, but he didn’t care either. He has been a very nice guy to work with and I have always gotten along with him. I asked why he wasn’t surprised. He said it is because I am such a nice guy.

Following the time at the bar I went to my house to get into my softball uniform and went to the Valley Road Playfields for the games. I ended up pitching both games and did just fine while pitching. I had one ball hit back right at me in the second game and it hit my right on my cup. Good thing I had one.

Hitting was good for me. I had an over-the-fence homerun in the first game. It was the difference in the game. It was a two run shot. I took a pitch that was inside and up. I swung away and it just flew. I knew there was a good chance that it would go out when I hit it.

We lost the second game because no one could hit and all of our defensive players made an error. It was sucky.

Ryan and I got some dinner from Cougar Country and went back to my house to watch the Simpsons and Family Guy. After Ryan left I worked on my Town Crier column.

Another Cougar Downer

I got up this morning to a phone call and decided to stay up. I got cleaned up and grabbed some breakfast. I got a hold of Bien and he gave me a ride to my car downtown. I also talked to Dearth. He was going to get cleaned up and then we were going to meet up and head to Tyson’s trailer.

I parked just off of campus and waited for Dearth. Him and a friend of his picked me up and we drove out to Tyson’s trailer. We were playing beer pong and having some ribs that Dearth grilled up. A while before the game we walked to the parking lot near the vet building to see Wehrung. The guys were happy to see him. We talked for a bit. He handed me a flask and said “here Probie”.

We went back to Tyson’s trailer and got ready to walk back for the game. We made our way to some seats under the scoreboard in the endzone. Within now time the Cougs were down two touchdowns.

The game went down hill from there. We did score two touchdowns along the way. Bien, Dearth, and the girls left at half time. I stayed until the end of the game. When the game was done I got my car and went home. I grabbed something to eat real quick and drove out to Tyson’s camp. They were playing some beer pong again.

I continued being a designated driver for the night. I took McPherson, Bien and the girls to Mike’s. I went back to the camp. We sat around a little fire talking and chowing a little bit. Dearth started to fall asleep so he had be give him a ride to the place he was staying.

I said goodbye to Tyson and left. I went to Mike’s and worked on finding Bien. When I got there I ran into Faber. It took a while to work my way downstairs. Finally when I was there I looked around the dance floor and found him. It was really crowded down there. I made my way up to him letting him know I was going to have to head home for the night. I was very tired and I wanted to get to sleep.

The Boys are Back

This morning I went to my appointment for the psychological analysis that I need to get have for the reserve deputy position at the Sheriff’s Office. That appointment took nearly two hours doing all sorts of various tests.

When the tests were done I went home and got some stuff taken care of there before Bien was going to get into town. Heston called me and said he was planning on going to My Office an hour earlier than the scheduled time in order to have some dinner and meet up with Bien. I went down even earlier in order to save a table. It took a while for people to show up.

Heston and a girl who he knows from softball were there. We sat around watching some baseball and talking about things. We were waiting for the others to start to show up. Dearth was coming as well as Bien and Tyson. We also had Parrish, Williams, A. Wilcox, Yean, and Togiai all were going to come down. As people arrived we greeted each other and started to share drinks and conversation.

We also started to get photos of the different groups of reserves. After a while when A. Wilcox wasn’t there Parrish called and reminded him about it. He came down and we got a photo with him in it as well.

The Spring class

The Spring and Fall class

It wasn’t long after he got there that we headed up to campus to go to the bars up there. Dearth and Tyson headed to Dearth’s old frat. A. Wilcox, Bien, the girls, and I walked down to Mike’s.

On the way I asked A. Wilcox if we were good. He said we are. He was relieved that I asked that. He felt we were good the whole time but he didn’t talk to me because he thought I wasn’t good with everything. He said he felt bad because the other day I was working at the station and we were sitting next to each other on the computer and he wanted to chat with me but he thought it would make me uncomfortable.

He said that he really respects my moral values and my work knowledge. He said he has learned a lot from me. He said he always would look for me when we were doing some sort of training at the station to say hi to me in the past. He didn’t want that to end. I still cannot look him in the eyes. But we talked for a while and holds no hard feelings at all.

He knew some of the bouncers and got us downstairs without having to stand in line. Bien got something to drink. We talked and hung out. I told Bien that I wanted to tell him how sorry I was over something that had happened. He didn’t even remember it, but I told him that it was probably the worst I felt I have ever done as a crew leader. I felt I had been out of line. I told him I thought that since that happened we were not as close as we had been. I also told him I had great respect for him and that he was always my right-hand man on the shift. It was good to get that off my chest and that I needed to let him know how bad I felt.

Bien started to get out on the dance floor and he was dancing with some of the girls down there. We stayed at the bar until closing time. Then we walked back to my house from Mike’s. He stayed the night and we went to bed around three o’clock in the morning.

Bad Turn at Two

This morning I was woken up with an EMS call outside of the city. By the time I was done working the call it was time to go home. I went off to the Rec Center to do some cardio. I have a test coming up on Saturday. With the looks of the way I am going right now I am afraid I will not be able to pass the test.

But as I have said before if it is meant to be it will happen. There is a chance it is not meant to be right now do to any number of reasons. It will not be clear right away, but if I don’t get it I have no doubt at some point in the future it will have been for the best.

I went to my softball game this evening. We played in Moscow. I ended up playing at second base. In the second inning there was a play that I tried to turn. But I didn’t square up my body and I threw very wide of first. About ten feet wide and I almost actually beaned the runner with the ball. Hitting-wise I only had a triple to the fence. I didn’t hit well besides that.

After the game Warren, Jesse, and I went to My Office. We had some chips and drinks. While there the “hottest guy in Pullman”, as Russell would say, walked in the bar. He sat a couple tables from us. Russell and I have been seeing him around Pullman for several years, I would have to think he is a Senior this year. This is the first time this year I have seen him.

Playing Games

I had to go to the softball managers meeting. I had the time wrong so I got there early. I went to the Bookie while I was at he CUB and looked at some books while I was wasting time. I found some Body for Life books. I want to buy them.

When I got home I played some games with Brandon. While playing I was texting back and forth with a guy who read my blog recently. I said I wanted to talk to him. He asked about what. He assumed it was due to the fact at the football game on Saturday he ignored me. He said he thought I wasn’t in a good mood and waned to leave me alone. I told him that wasn’t it. I want to get this conversation over.

One of the other things I have been working on is speaking up when something bothers me. As a cop I need to be able to speak up when something is happening and not worrying about what someone thinks. I need to be able to speak my mind. That is something that I am working on a lot. Some of that includes being able to confront someone.

Today would have been my two year anniversary as crew leader if I wasn’t working for the fire department as a full-timer. I still miss some aspects of being a reserve.

Crushed in the First Home Game

After I got home from working this morning I went to bed. But within a few minutes I was getting a call from Pete. When I heard him on the phone I realized that I was going to need to get ready for the autopsy that I was going to observe. I knew that was going to help make me tired tonight. I went to the funeral home and watched the autopsy. I was able to see some findings that I had seen and understood what they meant. I had a chance to ask questions and have a better understanding about what happened.

When I got home I cleaned up and headed down to station one. I was meeting up with a reserve who bought tickets for the football game for Brandon and I. Brandon was working on getting the transportation figured out.

When I got to the station I met up with one of the guys there. I wrote something that was used to tease him. After I found out that happened, the situation has made me incredibly embarrassed because certain pieces of information about me are out to some of the newer reserves. I have tried to keep my private life and work life separate. It has worked for a long time.

I talked to him about it. We had e-mailed about it, but I wanted to speak to him about a couple things specifically. I cannot look him in the eye. It is tough to look at him at all. He said he doesn’t have a problem with me. He said that he hasn’t lost any respect for me but I am having a hard time with it. We never used the word gay during our conversation, but I don’t have a doubt he knows about me now. I don’t feel better, I think I will have a hard time being around him and the guy who was doing the teasing. Right now I am not sure who was all told and who knows about the situation, but with the way things get spread and the way rumors get built, it will probably be devastating to me. I will have a hard time around the reserves. I am not sure who knows now and as I interfaced with them today I felt very strange not knowing if they knew or not.

I went back home and met up with Brandon. We made our way to the bus stop to ride it to the game. We first went to the CUB. Then to the PD. I met up with the reserve to get my ticket. We went into the game and met up with Weese. We sat down on the twenty yard-line in the lower section. I stood the whole game. It has been a while since I have done that from the stands. Within eleven second of the game starting Cal scored a touchdown. They did not stop. People were leaving the game in the first quarter. That is a record as far as I have seen.

The Cougs got crushed. From what I heard their worst loss in history. Brandon and I went to the bus to head home. At the house we got some pizza. Watched Cops and then the movie Thank You for Smoking.

BKoe’s Graduation

I went to Burien today to watch Brandon graduate from the police academy. It started with the final inspection. That gave us photo ops with the guys. Then we had a presentation mainly for family of cops. It talks about how to deal with the stresses of the job and how there will be some changes, but how to keep things as normal as possible.

Later was the actual graduation. Each officer was called up for a chance to be recognized by their chief or sheriff and then they had their badge pinned by a person of their choice.

When the was done we went to the lunch room and spent time talking with Brandon and congratulating him.

When that was done I stopped by the Renton Dodge dealer. I was in negotiations for a Chrysler Aspen for several hours. But when it was done I was not able to get the deal made. But that is good. I am not sure now is the time to buy a new car. I am getting closer to having mine paid off, and with the short term uncertain future of my jobs I figured it would be good to not spent much money right now.

Par Three Golfing

I was going to do some golfing today, but it got cancelled, but Jon was taking the boys to a par three course in Kent. He invited me to come. Around noon I went shopping for a new golf bag. I wanted one that I could wear like a back back. I was able to find one that fit the bill. I picked that up. I also got some pointers on my swing while I was there. I cannot wait to try it out with my driver. I hope it cleans up my slice I have had.

At the par three course I did okay, but I had some bad hits along the way, but all the holes were pretty short, all under two-hundred yards. After golfing we went to Costco for pizza for dinner before heading home.

National Tournament Day Two

We are no in do or die waters. We had ten people today, but I haven’t seen two of the guys play for ages. As it turned out they were rusty. But the rest of the team didn’t do very well either at the plate. We didn’t hit the ball at all. We scored a little in the first inning, but the inning was ended when Chad hit a homerun with no outs. Matt and Mike both packed on the pounds since leaving WSU. Mike was rusty out there as well. But it was good to see both of them.

We didn’t score enough runs and lost the game ending our hopes at the Western ASA D-league Nationals. It was fun to be here and I have my t-shirt to show for it.

I went to Ron’s hotel room for a while I shared a couple beers with him as we talked softball and then sports in general. I was there for a couple hours before heading to Jon’s to had a BBQ with them. I played around with some of the boys waiting until it was time to go see Dave.

Dave and I were going to watch Batman tonight. Dave had not seen it. He wanted to go the night before, but the movie was already starting.

We met at Southcenter and he complimented me on how much I have lost. He hadn’t seen me in a while. After the movie we went to Shari’s for some dinner and we spent time talking and getting caught up with each other.

National Tournament Day One

I got up early and working on finding one more person to play softball with us. I was still hurting after finding out that one of the people I was counting on would not be there. I only had eight confirmed. So I made calls and texts to lot of people. Most of the people were planning on going to the Cougar game. I called Jim and he said he would play. He saved my bacon. I texted Jon and wrote “Jim is my Huckleberry”.

I bought a tee-shirt for the tournament and waited for people to show up worried about everything. As people were showing up I had them sign the roster. I was worried about everyone showing up. We had no room for anyone to be missing. As the game started we were going to have to take an out for every time through the line up. It sucked. To top it off Ron got hurt in the second inning. That really caused us some trouble. We didn’t score any runs.

Later Brandon and I went to see Batman. I was told I need to see it in the theatre. We decided to meet at the Southcenter theatre. It is the first time I was there since they remodeled the whole mall. It is pretty incredible the difference in the look.

After the movie we stayed and talked for a while about work and whatnot.

Fantasy Draft at My Place

We started by golfing this morning down in Colfax. There was a large group of people down there. The first nine everyone played on their own. Then in the second half we teamed up in to pairs. It was those teams they went on to challenge each other for the best score. The winners would split the pool. Each person put in five bucks to start. I was teamed with Ron because he had the second best score and I had the second worst score after the first nine holes. Team Ron and Scotty went on to tie the best score. Due to that we split with the other team.

After the golfing we went to Pullman. I had Ron and Heather as well as CBass coming over for the FFL draft. I worked on getting Ron’s and my computer set up to use. I worked on making sure the house was looking okay and that I had quarters for the pop machine. When they came over we ordered some pizza and wings. I ended up drinking some beer with them tonight. I also had some hard-A. They were over for a couple hours doing the draft. I got Farve as my quarterback. That was good, because I wasn’t sure if someone else would try to steal him from me.

Lentil Festival Champions

Today I am playing in the Lentil Festival Softball tournament in Pullman. Our team is one of seven in the tournament. We started out with a win, but it was close, we had to do a comeback in order to win the game. With us in the winner bracket we had a couple hours off. I walked over to Reaney Park where the fire department was operating a dunk tank. CBass was in it. I threw some balls, but I missed with all of them. It was horrible. I was in uniform and CBass was ripping on my moustache. Later on Heidi got into the dunk tank. I sank her two of the three first throws. She also set me up for a ride with her tonight.

I went back to playing softball. We kept winning the games we were playing and we went to the championship in the winner bracket. We were playing the team we beat the first game. We knew they would be tough, but we also knew they would be less rested with us because they have been playing straight through. But they still came out and beat us in the first game. But that just made them more tired. We finally went out and took care of business. But we had to go into extra innings.

We were tied at the end of seven. In the eight they took a lead and we tied it up. In the ninth they took a three run lead. We got one run. Then with the batters we had coming up we were going to need a miracle. With two on, the miracle was starting to happen, we were down by two. There were two outs. Warren came to the plate. He hit a walk-off-three-run-homerun. Everyone on the team started to cheer. It was great.

I hurried home to clean up and then down to the police station for the ride along. I went out with Heidi for several hours. It was a pretty quiet night over all for an opening weekend of school. We had a couple drunks. One guy was arrested for assault. But it was all pretty tame. It was nice to ride with Heidi though.

Lost Early

I was over in Moscow for the first softball game this morning. We were playing for a spot in the Nationals for ASA. But we were flat and couldn’t get a basehit. We ended up losing the game and were sent home early.

Ron, Joe, and a couple others hung out at the fields watching some of the games after ours. We were having a great time watching the games and ranking on each other. While there I told to the organizer of the tournament. He said he doesn’t know of other qualifiers, but he said that if I call the person in charge of the tournament in Seattle that he may just let us in. I am going to see if I can get us in that route.

I went to Tri-State and got a folding chair and some new Levis. I needed some new jeans as my only pair are in bad shape. I got home and washed them with all the other clothes I needed to wash.

I went to the rec center and did the Cooper test again. I didn’t pass it because of the run, but I did do good enough to pass all the other sections of the test.

I spent some time getting things ready for my first day of work tomorrow.

Tournament to Earn a National ASA Spot

The softball team is playing in a tournament to earn a spot to play in the Nationals in Seattle this year. We need to be one of the top three teams to earn a spot. But in the first game we came out flat after the first inning. We couldn’t score runs and lost the first game. That is not where we wanted to be in the whole thing.

After the game we went to get some breakfast. I had already eaten so I just went for the ride. We got back to the field and hung out for a while. Our second game I pitched. I struggled for a couple batters then I was did really well from there on out. It was a close game, but we beat the team and went on to play another team later on. It was a weak team and we easily beat them.

While at the field one of the guys from another team that I met recently was at the fields. He is ten-six-seven. While in Bovile for the softball tournament there I saw him there shirtless. He is well built and had a nice chest. It was nice to see him again.

After the game we went to dinner in Moscow and then over to Pullman to hang out at the Sports Page. I played a couple games of pool and talked with the others who were there. We hung out there until around ten o’clock in the evening. I gave Warren a ride home before going home myself.

Final Day on Days

This morning was my final day working dayshift at the fire department. Starting on Monday I am working twenty-four hour shifts. We went to the main station for training that lasted a couple hours before going back to the Deuce. I bought some lunch for the guys before going back to finish training. It was a pretty quiet day at the department. When we got back we dealt with a “hot” odor in the station. We figured out it was the blower from the HVAC system. We let the city know about it.

I was about thirty minutes from going home. Those thirty minutes seemed to take for ever. It was like a little kid waiting for the last day of school to end. When it was finally done I went home to change and head to Pete’s.

We watch the Seahawks and hung out for several hours. Nearly seven hours in all watching TV and signing karaoke. I sang several songs and had a couple beers. It was all the guys from the softball team that will be playing in the ASA tournament coming up tomorrow morning.

Nearly Passed It

I went to the rec center to test myself on the cooper test. I dd my best on the sprint and pushups. I did the minimum on the sit up. Then it was off to the mile and a half run. I didn’t pass it, but I was only seventeen seconds off. I also did a short walk and stopped for water. Without those two interruptions I think I would have passed the test. So I know I am there.

I went home to clean up. I went to the golf course and spent about an hour chatting with Matt. I planned on getting Hang ‘Em High to finish watching it. I was going to invite Matt if he was interested.

I went to the video store and bought some movies, but they didn’t have it. So I went to Video Quest and found Hang ’em High. I rented it. I got some pizza from Pizza Hut. I got a cyclone from Cougar Country.

I had pizza and watched Hang ’em High. I wasn’t all the keen on the ended, but I had to watch it because I didn’t get to see it yesterday.

What a Great Day

I started out this morning watching Hang ‘Em High, but I wasn’t able to finish it because I had to go to Spokane to hang out with Ryan. His birthday was on Wednesday and we were planning on going to see the X-Files and have lunch.

We started with Pizza at Rocky’s. I bought a large. We had some leftovers for Anna. We spent a fair amount of time talking about what names that could be used for naming a baby. We were joking about making sure the kid is named something cool and not doing the dumb things some parents do. Such as naming their kid a normal name but spelling it different.

We walked down to the mall to watch the X-Files. It was like watching a long episode. I guess you wouldn’t expect anything different though. When the movie was done we got some ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s. We did some people watching and we saw two people walking around with their kids on a leash. I told Ryan I would kick his ass if he ever did that to his kid. He laughed and said he wouldn’t.

I left and went down to Colfax. I hung out at the fire station for about an hour with Tim. Then we went to Jamie and Brett’s wedding together. It was a nice service. The jail Captain did the service. He did a very good job. There were some good laughs. After the service we went in to the banquet. I had some food and spent time talking to everyone up there. I had a chance to congratulate the newly weds and talk to many people I have worked with over the years.

I also spoke to Myers a while about being a reserve. I told him about about the situation that I am in and that I have been working hard to be a reserve. He said we will do something to make it work. I still need to make sure I get enough time off of work to make it work out correctly. I am going to have to talk to Dan and John and some of the other guys to see if they are willing to help me out as much as possible about covering some of my shifts so I can make the training.

After the reception I went back to the fire station with Tim. We went to let his dog inside at his house. While there he was showing me around the house. While there we got toned out on a call. We went to the scene and waited for the ambulance. When it was done I helped restock the Brush trucks’ EMS supplies and then I headed home.

Russell is Going Away

We had more softball today. I was playing first base most of the time. We had our first game against Zeppoz. We were not getting timely hits and we were losing. I had called Kelly about playing. When he heard we needed him he came in. It was great it was the boost we needed and we went on to win the game. We were in the losers bracket and now we were going to face Sports Page in back to back games. We had to beat them twice.

We won the first game and then went on to win the second game. Ryan and Russell came down and watched the final part of the last game. We won the championship. We got the trophy and got out photo. I went to Pete’s for a while with everyone, then it was off to Cougar Country.

Rhonda was happy we won the whole thing. She loved that we beat the B league team yesterday because one of her cooks was on the team and we was talking about how they were going to take us down. She put up the championship trophy and couldn’t wait to show her cook.

Russell, Nick, and Ryan also came along to Cougar Country. After we ate Ryan and I went to get some cake and stuff for Russell’s birthday which was coming up really soon.

Russell is leaving Pullman for good and we wanted to have a day out with Russell and we decided to celebrate his birthday as well. We were at Russell’s for a couple hours eating cake and watching some video’s on YouTube.

The New Temp

I went to the fire station this morning to update a couple photos on the photoboard. I was asked by Wilkins if I would be there after I was done. I told him I needed to go to the rec center but I could come back later on. I had a feeling that he wanted to talk to me about the temp job.

I went to the rec center and did the LE physical agility test. I am still not there on situps. I also made the mile and a half in about the same about of time. I need to shave about one minute off that time in order to get forty points.

I came home and cleaned up. I called the station and I set up an appointment to meet with the Chiefs at three o’clock PM. In the mean time I talked with Jon a little about the upcoming decision that I have to make. I guess I am sort of in the drivers seat, because I don’t need to take the position. I sort of feel like I need to take it however.

I went to the fire station and I met up with the chiefs. I was offered the temp positions. It was said that I would not be guaranteed a job due to this, but it could help if I do a good job while working as a temp. I was given some time to think about it. They said they would work with me due to my other job. I told them I couldn’t give up my other job knowing that there may not be a position when this is all done because they want to change it to a paramedic position. They said they would work with me in reference to my other job.

I left and called Jon. We talked about it some more. He pointed out that this temp period is a good thing for a couple reasons. One is that if I don’t work out, then I still have a job to go it. If I don’t take this, and wait until a fulltime position comes open. Then I take it and don’t work out, I am out two jobs. Plus with them working with me I should be able to do both for a while. I am very nervous about saying yes, but I went back to the station to take it.

I went to Heston’s office and said I that I am going to take it. He shook my hand and we scheduled my first day to be Monday of next week. I am going to only have three more shifts as a reserve. I am sad about that. I am going to miss working with those guys. I am now in a little bit of a haze as this is a big event in my life and I have a lot to think about now.

I got a call from Gollnick. I thought he already knew. He was calling about playing poker. I figured I would tell him in person.

I asked Heston to hold off on the e-mail until as late as he can so I can tell my guys in person. It was going to work out because everyone was coming down for rig checks early, and A. Wilcox and I had to be there to clean the bay. As I got to the station I got another call from Gollnick. He had been at the station and heard some rumors. He called me to ask me about it. I told him what was going on. I told him that I was going to tell him while playing poker. For my guys, I waited until everyone was there.

I told them that I was offered and accepted the temporary position. They congratulated me. But I am sad. The E-mail had gone out and by the end of my softball game I had a couple texts from people congratulating me.

We played against Tubbs. My head was not fully in the game as I was thinking about the change in my life. I had a good night. I pitched the whole game and didn’t walk anyone on accident. One guy we walked on purpose a couple times. I also hit the ball pretty well. We won the game in the bottom of the seventh. It was great to win that one. We let up eight runs in the first, but came back to win.

After the game I went home and Gollnick came over. We played poker at my place until almost two in the morning. We spent a lot of time talking about the things I should do while I am at the fire station. What I should do on my first couple days. I had a pretty good idea having been around the fire services as long as I had been. The one I didn’t know is to make sure there is coffee always ready.

I lost some money playing poker, but it could have been worse. I was only down nine bucks on the night, but at one point I was down to two bucks left.

Today is one of those days, I was expecting the offer for the temp position, but I am still not mentally prepared to leave the reserves. Though I have spent a lot of time thinking about that in the last couple months. I also realize my dreams of getting back on the sheriff’s reserves will probably not be fulfilled. I am disappointed about that because I was really starting to think about how nice it would be to get that under my belt. It seems like everything went so fast.

Pullman Fire Test

Started the morning off with the written test for the fire department. There were several people there wearing shirts from other fire department. Pritch calls them “Shirt Testers”. He agrees with me that they are tools. I didn’t feel like I nailed it like I have felt in the past.

When it was done we were going to have to go to the training tower to find out what our score was. If we didn’t do well enough we would have to leave. I didn’t want to do the walk-of-shame if I didn’t pass, so I waited outside the high school for the test administrator to come out. I was told I passed and I was off to the physical agility test. That made me feel better.

They did the test in alphabetical order. So I was one of the first to go. I bested my last time by about one minute. After I tested I spent the rest of the time helping with the other tests. I was resetting the dummy drag and the hose drag. It was hot and I drank as much water as I could.

I went home and showered. I hung around my house for a while. I was going to put together a poker game, but there wasn’t enough people. I decided that I would go to Zeppoz to talk to Loren about putting on some games at my house.

While I was there I played some Spanish Twenty-One. I won two bucks when I cashed in and tipped it to Loren. I talked to him about poker. I saw Gilbertson from Colfax Fire. He was playing Spanish Twenty-One. He had a moment where he was able to double down. He got a very small card, so I suggested a double-double down. The dealer had an ace showing. Gilbertson double-doubled and got a twenty. I said “Watch the dealer flip over a three and draw a seven for twenty-one.” The dealer flipped a three. Then an eight, then a nine for a total of twenty-one. Everyone was laughing at the table and it pretty much broke him.

Small Reserve BBQ

Due to the busy week I missed two work out dates, so I went to the rec center today to make both of them up. I was there for about an hour doing that. Then I shot hoops with Matt for a while. We played some one on one and HORSE. I lost both of those games.

I went to the store afterwards and did some shopping. I was getting low on some food items I need. The trip took about an hour in all.

I had some time to get ready for the small BBQ we were doing at the station with Andrew and Clark. We were having the package of brauts left over from camping last weekend. I cooked those up and we had those plus some potato salad and ice cream that Clark brought in.

We went on to rig checks. There were only three of us so it took a while to get through everything.

Jersey Night Lives On!

I spent a couple hours with Ben driving in Engine Thirty-One going around looking at FDC locations. It started with an EMS call coming in. We went to the scene with Rescue. Then it was off to the engine. No calls came in while we were using the Engine.

I went to the WSU Surplus said with Bruce. We found him some pants to wear but as it turned out the whole box was sold in the auction and we were not able to get the pants. That sucked for him.

We were going to be playing against his team this evening in softball. It wasn’t quite a run away like the others games for us. My first at bat was a triple and that felt good to hit it. It was my first extra-base hit in the regular season for men’s softball.

We ended up being tied at fourteen each. We went into the eighth inning. We shut down Tubbs. On our at bat we went to work. Warren hit a double. Peter got walked and Kelly hit the game winning double. It was a nice victory. We are starting to click as a team.

After the game Joe invited me to go to Pete’s to meet up with his team, Tubbs. I said I would come down, but I needed to say Happy Birthday to Heather first. I went to the Moose. I said happy birthday to her and said hello to many of the others who are part of that group.

Then I went to Pete’s. I was only going to drink pop, but it was Jersey Night. Jessie and Craig from Colfax fire were there. I sat with them for a while and we talked. Craig and I started a text messaging game on accident. We had to text message a single word to the other person that has something to do with the word that was texted to you. We went on with that for a long time.

Joe came over with a shot for everyone. I had one. Then another shot. Then some beer. Then it was over with for me. I got my vehicle home and back for more beer. Then we went to ValHalla. Loren was there and he was drunk. He gave me two Long Island Ice teas that he couldn’t finish. Plus I got another drink there.

The next stop was Mike’s. We had more to drink there. Plus the guys from Tubbs were being crazy. A couple of them were in the dancing cage having fun. Then it was off to Thai Ginger, which use to be Shermers. On the way Chambers, from Tubbs, wanted to run to the bar. We were taking a taxi. He went off sprinting. A couple Pullman cops were in the area and almost had to jump out of his way. They were wondering what the heck was going on.

He beat us to the bar. We had more to drink there. We played some darts and other games. Then it was across the street to My Office. That was the final stop of the night. We closed out My Office. I spent time talking with Jake and Mac from Tubbs. I think both of them are ten-six-sevens. It was a very fun night. I got a ride home in a taxi. I stayed up for a while drinking water before going to bed. It was going to be a short night because I have to get up on the early side tomorrow.

A Big Day Scoring Runs

This morning I was very tired getting up after only a couple hours of sleep. I went to the station and met up with Gecas. We took Engine Thirty-One out to do drive and pump time. We spent a couple hours driving and about thirty minutes pumping.

I got done in time to rush down to Lewiston to see the doctor about my finger. He said the injury I have usually takes nine months to heal. He said I should buddy-splint my finger. He gave me a couple buddy splints. He suggested using tape when I am playing softball. It was good to know it will heal on its own, but it will take a long time.

I got back and started to get ready for my softball game. It was being played over in Moscow. We were playing a team we have never played because they are a new team. We scored eleven runs in the first inning and just kept hitting away. We scored a total of thirty-one runs in the game. That is a record for the softball team.

After the game I went to the Zzu to meet up with Michele and Heather and the other girls from the softball team. We hung out there until around midnight. I had some nachos and pop as we sat around talking about softball and random other things. It was a fun night out.

Another Tough Loss in Softball

After getting up and starting my morning I went to the camp site where everyone else was. I brought out my muffins as we started to cook breakfast. I did the eggs. Carl cooked the hashbrowns and Jim cooked the bacon. We sat down to eat breakfast then people started to pack up.

I got my motorhome taken care of then I helped Jim and Carl with their camp areas. We left there around eleven in the morning. I got back to Pullman and got cleaned up.

I went down to the station and started with the rig checks. I got the bay cleaned out first and the pump test done. Then the others started to show up and we checked the rigs. That took a couple hours in all. I was done in time for me to be at the coed game.

We only had five guys and five girls show up. That was good because everyone got to play the whole game, but we were hurting at the left side of the infield. We gave up some outs we would not normally give up with our normal starters.

It was a close game, but we were not able to get the timely hits. That has been a problem with all my teams lately. We cannot get a hit when it matters. We ended up losing the game by four runs, but again we had a chance and with our starters there I think we could have won this one.

After the game we went to Cougar Country. I got a Cyclone and we sat around talking before breaking up a little after eight. I went home and I was on call for the rest of the night. We got one call that came in around three in the morning and that was about it for the night.

Camping at Central Ferry

After sleeping in a little bit due to my late night I was still up around eight in the morning. I got the final things into the motorhome and headed to the store. I got some food for the meals we were going to have and headed out. I got some fuel in Colfax and made my way to the park.

I got my motorhome set up pretty quickly and joined the others sitting around talking and joking. After a couple hours I went back to the motorhome to get some sleep. Everyone else went off to walk their dogs or do something like that.

I was sleeping for about two hours when Carl got me up and we started to play cards. I was on fire. I was winning stacks of coins from the other guys. We played until it was time to start dinner. We had brauts and hamburgers. Dinner took a couple hours in total between starting it, cooking, eating and cleaning up.

Once we were all cleaned up we started to play a Texas Hold’em tournament. I went all in on the first hand with pocket eights. I won against Connie who called me with pocket threes. I had a big chip lead, but that went away over time as I wasn’t able to get much going. I did hit on one four-outer. But that was about the best of what I could do.

I went out third and watched the rest of the game. It only took about thirty more minutes then it was done. It was not terribly late, but everyone made their way to bed.

Softball Tournament in Pullman

The morning wasn’t looking great for a softball tournament. I was a little worried about a rainout. We started to play and the rain went away, then it came back and went away again. By the afternoon the weather was decent.

We lost the first game to the Bomb Squad. Then it was off to play a team from Lewiston. We did really well and hit around on them a lot. We beat them. Later we played the team that Jake and Nick put together. We were losing, but we were the home team.

We ended up beating them in the bottom of the seventh inning. We had a little rally and just went up on the with a big hit. That was fun to do the come back victory.

After the game we went to Pete’s Bar and Grill. I got some dinner and hung out with most of the team for about two hours. Almost everyone was heading out to Dan and Michele’s for Tory’s graduation party. It was for Tory and the adult friends of the family.

Most of the softball players were there. I went around and talked with different people and chatted with them. I had some food there before going home around ten in the evening. I got some stuff done around the house before going to bed.