Survival Outing Day Two

My day started at the crack of midnight. After an hour of sleep I was back to the instructors area. We sat around the fire some more talking and eating. At this time the students could come to the instructors area if they wanted. It turned out that only one student stayed with us all night long. Two others made their way there and stayed for a while then went back to camp.

Keith, Joe, Jacob, and I started to get into a conversation about politics. Keith is very liberal where the rest of us are conservative. It was a nice discussion. We started talking about trickle-down economics and went from there. I could see Jacob was more liberal when it came to some social issues.

I was going to go to sleep around four in the morning, but the conversation was so good that I was not tried. Pretty soon it was six in the morning and we got the students back to the instructors area. We had a final briefing. The night was mild with no rain. So it was an easy one this year.

Thuot and the students went on the rounds going from shelter to shelter talking about the good and bad about each one. Joe, Jacob and I started to take down the instructors area. I had to be gone around seven in the morning to head to the softball games.

Now I was pretty tired. I got my uniform on at the gate to the Bandera Airfield. I headed straight to the field. I stopped in North Bend to get some breakfast. I showed up about thirty minutes late for batting practice. I got a couple swings in.

I was wearing metal spikes because I had not changed them out. It was going okay, but I had to go to the bathroom really bad. Finally I had to run to the bathroom. Someone from the team we were playing second heard me running on the cement and said something to my coach. I had to take them off.

I did okay in the games. I was getting on base and making the outs at first base. We won the first game by four runs. Then we were playing Grandpa’s old team. We beat them by two runs. I had a triple in that game. I am leading the team in triples this year. I have about six or seven on the season.

When the games were done I said my goodbyes. This is my final game with the Maulers. I am not going to play next season with them because of the driving involved and the gas prices. Don asked if I was going to be able to play in the All-Star game. I was voted in this season. It actually was not one of my best seasons and I finally was recognized. I cannot play because next weekend I am on call for the coroner and I do not want to drive over to Seattle for one game.

I went home and crashed. I slept for about five hours. I got up just before dinner. I was going to leave after dinner, but I stayed longer surfing the net. Then Old School came on I watched that until nine o’clock. I finally hit the road. It was a nice drive. Very little traffic in the way.

I got home around one in the morning. I checked my mail and then I decided to make my way to bed.

Survival Outing Day One

When I got up I got some breakfast and went to Ken’s Truck town to meet up with Thuot for the survival outing. That was at about eleven in the morning. By noon we were underway. We made our stops along the way where Thuot would talk about hiking areas. Then we went to Bandera Airfield for the start of the survival outing.

I helped to set up the instructors area when the students were out looking for a place to set up their shelter. There was some down time for use while the students where making their shelter. I helped to get the fire going for the instructors area. We hung out and talked about old times.

Around five we put the students on a solo. That is an hour where they just sit by themselves. They don’t get to do anything but sit there. When they were done we brought them back to the instructors area for a few final words about the night to come. They had more time to work on their shelters. It was about eight o’clock that they had to be in their shelter until midnight.

We sat around the fire relaxing and doing rounds every two hours to check on everyone. My shift time was going to be early in the evening and I was going to get the four to six hours off. I also had some time until midnight to sleep.

I went to my truck and slept for one hour.

Waking up late

I heard my alarm clock go off to get me up for going to Bellevue to work, but I kept on sleeping. It was about ten in the morning when I got up and decided to work here instead. A call came out for an injury accident East of Palouse. I went to the station with Brian and we got on the road behind the ambulance. When we got on scene there was a truck that had our patient in it. His truck was sideswiped by a car that had crossed the centerline.

After that call I had my weekly dev meeting. My plan was to head back to Bellevue when that was done. I wanted to get the Website for the softball team updated first. So I did not leave Pullman until four in the afternoon. I got pack and stopped by Colfax fire. I ended up hanging out for a couple hours. I did not get on the road until almost seven in the evening.

The trip itself was uneventful. I got home around eleven at night and watched some TV and surfed the web for a couple hours before going to bed.

Softball Double Header

I spent part of the day going on calls as they would come in. It was right about the time I was going to stop going on calls until after softball when a call came in. I decided to go. It took about an hour total. I dropped off Rescue and then I got to the apartment and changed for softball.

We had a double-header tonight. In the first game we were playing PSPT. We were beating them until the sixth inning when we let them take the lead. In the fifth and sixth innings they scored seventeen runs. It was terrible. We ended up losing by two runs.

The second game was a little better. We took a lead and did not give it up. We ended up scoring twenty-nine runs. We had a total of forty-eight runs on the day and lost one of the games. I had eight hits and four doubles in the games.

After the games I went home and got ready to be on call. I went to the fire station and hung out there until around ten-thirty. I got some dinner and went to the office. I headed to Dearths for his party. There were a lot of the reserves there and a couple full-timers. There were other people there as well. I hung out outside talking to Dearth Jr. and some of the other guys. About midnight we could an Alpha for a citizen assist. The update was that someone was stuck in a tree.

We got there and two girls up on Greek Row had gotten into a tree for a water fight and then were trapped because the ladder they use was gone. The cops were there and were not amused to what was happening. It was a pretty unusual call.

Lightning Strike

Today I was covering for Reed at Pullman Fire. Wakeman was covering for Chapman, so we had two A-shifters and one C-shifter on call. During the day Wakeman and I went to a call at around eight in the morning. We got cancelled just as we were going to arrive on scene.

Following that call we went to EMS rounds and stayed for the OTEP training afterwards. So we were in Rescue all morning long. Shortly after EMS rounds people were going to lunch with Scharnhorst who was in town. It was at the New Garden. Wakeman and I went to that in Rescue as well. So we were running the town most of the day in Rescue.

Just before six in the afternoon I went to the Deuce to do some rig checks. Tadema and Wakeman showed up a little while later. We chatted at the station for quite a while. Tadema decided to leave. Before she left the parking lot we got dispatched to a call.

A couple hours later it was lightning outside pretty good. It was all dry lightning. Then I saw one that lit up the sky. I hear a loud boom of thunder. Within a few minutes we were called to a big tree on fire near Valley Road with a structure being threatened. But Tadema has to come across town. So by the time we got there the fire was nearly out.

We helped roll hoses and get the rigs back in service. That was pretty much it for the night for us.

My Office Site up to date

Today I spent some time getting the My Office Website up to date. I was out of town during two games so I was behind on getting things completed. But with the help of Eric and Duane I got caught up.

I also spent time at work trying to get some bugs finished. One showstopper came out and it looked like it could be a problem. The scope of the fix that was applied to the last release was too big and caused undesirable behavior. Basically the appraisal value was not updateable. To fix the scope problem I had to understand the data flow and get closer to just the one stream. It took some time. Chris was worried about me getting it solved quickly. I figured it could take a couple days. I was able to finish it off yesterday.

I also found out that SQL Server two-thousand-five is more picky about things that two-thousand let you get away with. We had some sprocs break. Finally after banging my head against the wall because I was getting resistance from others, Shawn helped me realize that the problem was with the fact that the new SQL Server was picky. I was able to quickly fix that problem and retire it. But it was only quick once I found out the info about SQL Server.

After work I went to get my pants from Moscow. I got back to the Deuce in time to go to ropes training. I am not on the ropes team, but I was able to help out in the training doing a non-technical role.

After the ropes training we got Rescues cascade system topped off and then it was off to the Deuce again. I watched Rescue Me with the guys at the station.

Davolt was having a poker game. I was there long enough to play two hands when we got a call. I left only to find we got cancelled on scene. I went to the office and wrote up my thoughts about the extrication tools from class on Monday. I am voting for the Amkus tools over all. Once I sent that off to George I went home and got to bed. Before long I was on my way to the station for a fire alarm at Stephenson North. We sat in the rig on scene for about twenty minutes before being cleared.

ATV and the Tree

I ran a fair number of calls today. I was up pretty late as it was with calls last night. I went down to one call and Wakeman was still asleep. I let him keep sleeping. A while later we got a call for an accident in Albion. Normally Rescue does not go to Albion calls, but because they said accident I went to the station.

Wakeman had my stuff ready to roll. We were first on scene. An ATV had gone down a hill hitting a tree branch pretty good trapping the person. I helped to cut away tree branches and then I rode in the back of the ambulance on that call.

Following that call I had to get back to the office to take care of some burning issues. I got two bugs solved and checked in during the hour and a half that I was there. We were doing extrication training today. We are using some new tools to see what ones we like the best. We were using Holmatro and Amkus tools. There were pros and cons for each one. We were there for almost four hours using the tools and cutting apart cars.

After the training was over it was getting late. I needed to take my pants back to Moscow to get them fixed, so I decided to stay in Pullman tonight rather than driving to Colfax to sleep. But it has been more than a week since I was last home so I need to get there and get the mail.

Working on my Ollie Day

This morning when I woke up I found the softball games had been rained out. I then decided I would go to Pullman and work instead of taking my day off. I called Chuck and let him know I was coming back. But I had to wait around the house until my clothes were done being washed.

I got on the road around one-thirty in the afternoon. I had to fill up my truck and grab some lunch along the way. Now that I don’t have to do that drive as often I am really disliking it. For a while it was a fact of life, so I put up with it. I want to do it as rarely as possible. Twice a month is the most I would like to do if possible. This week however the survival outing is coming up so I will have to make my way back home.

I got to Pullman around six-thirty. I got my uniform on and to the Deuce. I spent about two hours with Heston and his son. I was demonstrating our extrication tools for him, including the air bags. It was nice to get them out and use them. I rarely do that.

After that we had a crew dinner then it was on to vehicle maintenance. It took about two more hours. So I did not get out of the station until after eleven at night. I was going to do some shopping at Safeway. But I went to Dissmores instead. I got some pizza and went home to fix it.

My roommate was up and he asked me some stuff about being webpages. There is a project he would like to do for his Senior project at school.

Making Whatcom County Safer

I got up and went down to Fry’s to get a new thumb drive. I found one that was a gig for about thirty bucks after instant and mail-in rebate. I got that and some CD-R’s. Then I went to Diamond Lil’s. I wasn’t doing all that great. I was not finding many hands that I could stay in on. I was playing a higher limit table than normal because I was hoping people would not stay in and catch. While I was playing Joe called to see if I still wanted to ride.

I decided to do it, so I went home and changed and then headed to Bellingham. I got there about ten minutes before Joe went on shift. It was a pretty quiet night over all. We ran a lot of traffic on this one road looking for DUI’s. We did not find one there. We also had a chance to go code a few times. That was fun.

We had one call where some people were having a party. A young girl was there and her mom went to get her. There people in the party would not talk to the mom and shut the door on her. She called us to help. We got there and knocked. When they asked who it was it was announced “Whatcom County Sheriff”. Within about a minute we heard a lot of people running out the back.

We went around back and saw the place was empty. It was a rental that was not rented out. So we checked for people inside. We did not find anyone, but we found a wallet with ID. So we knew one of the people who was inside. The guy came back and faced the music. It turned out he met some girls on MySpace. They claimed to be sixteen. They were only fifteen. They were twenty-one and came up form Gig Harbor. The cops told them that they should go back to Gig Harbor and not come back. They said they would.

We let them go and then a DUI was caught by someone else. Joe was handed the PC and took the person. At first he was not very nice, but as time went on he got better. We released him to his wife. Then Joe dropped me off because it was almost four in the morning.

I made my way home. It was starting to get light out as I was going. It was only four-thirty in the morning and it felt like it was later than that because of how light it was. As soon as I got home I went to bed.

Dinner on the Hill

After work today I had a scrimmage game against another softball team. It was played at the Raineer Beach playfield. We did really well in the scrimmage. They had one big inning, but we had lots of big innings. I even poked one out of the park. I played firstbase and pitcher through out the game.

After it was done Jamie, Chris, Don, Kevin, and I went to Capitol Hill to a pizza place on Madison Ave. It was packed inside. We had to wait a little while for the seats we got.

We hung out talking about softball and they spent time talking about boys. It was around ten-thirty when I headed out and went home for the evening.

Not Breathing

When I woke up I realized that I had fallen asleep before putting on the CPAP. So I did not get a chance to see what it was like to wear it. I did put it on for a little bit and try it, but I wasn’t really that tired so I could not get back to sleep very well.

I went into work around ten in the morning and got a couple bugs done on our next release that is coming up in October. All the work for the current release is done and checked in.

After work I went to my sisters house where my mom has been staying. I hope she does not get a divorce. Through everything my step-dad has been my father figure since I was ten years-old. So he is my dad in many ways and I would not be able to turn my back on him, which could strain my relationship with the rest of my family I would think.

After that I just went home and played some poker, watched some TV and went to sleep remembering to put on my BA today. I will call my CPAP machine BA for breathing apparatus from now on.

RV The Movie

After getting out of the sleep study I was told that I had been cured of snoring and the sleep apnea when the machine was turned up to thirteen. That is pretty high from what I understand.

I got showered and got all the goop out of my hair and started my day. I went to work. I was there around seven-thirty in the morning. There was not as much to do today because I did not have the new branch to check all my stuff into yet. By the end of the day however Ricky had it done. I built the new branch on my box.

I had a prescription for a CPAP machine. I called my insurance to see how it will work for me to get one. I was told that I could go get one. My insurance has been covering me at eighty percent the whole way. But that means I will probably be paying about two-grand out of pocket when this is all said and done. I may be a little high on my estimate, but we will see.

Two-grand is not much to pay considering that I will help save my life from bad conditions that will happen if I continue to live with sleep apnea.

Dave also called about going to see a movie. We decided on RV. I met up with him at the Shari’s by Fairwood. We went to Auburn for the movie. It was a good movie. A lot of laughs by me. We then stopped at a new casino that is in Billie’s Casino’s old location. I played some Texas Hold’em. I did not do to hot today.

Dave and I left around midnight. We had chatted through out the day about the CPAP machine and his situation. He also has a CPAP machine. I got some distilled water for the humidifier. I went home and had it all set up. Then I fell asleep before I got it put on.

Sleep Study Call Back

I got woken up around eight-thirty in the morning. All my leads were taken off and I was able to take a shower. There is a gel-like substance they put into your hair to make the leads stay in. The guy told me the hottest water I can tolerate is helpful in melting it away. I got all cleaned up and went into work.

If I indeed had apnea I would get called back for another sleep study and I would get fitted for a CPAP machine. Sure enough I could the call back. I am disappointed that I have sleep apnea, but I am happy it is going to get fixed. I really hope that being tired a lot will be a thing of the past. I am also happy the snoring will go away. It was very embarrassing to have around other people.

I finished out the day at work, working into the early evening to get stuff done. Because it was getting late I told Bill I would not be home for dinner. I would just get something on the way to the sleep study.

I got to Issaquah at the Swedish Campus. I checked in and watched some TV as I was getting set up with the leads. The guy doing my setup also has apnea. He was telling me about his experience, his machine and whatnot. It was nice to get a chance to talk to him.

After some time I was put on the CPAP and worked on breathing with it for a while before going to bed. Those beds are firm and it hurts my back to sleep on my back for a long time on those beds, but I was told to stay on my back and much as humanly possible.

The lights went out and I woke up a few times through out the night due to the pain from laying on my back. But like a trooper I stayed on my back. I later found out that he had be fixed early in the night and I could have gone to my sides.

Here’s to the men of the military

After waking up and getting packed I made my way to Seattle. It was not that bad. There were a lot of cops out, but when I got outside Ellensburg the traffic bogged down. It was stop and go for miles and miles. I sat there getting frustrated at the fact I cannot go fast.

But I would keep reminding myself that I am here and able to be frustrated in my big, expensive truck… In the land of the free because of those who fought for me.

I put on some patriotic songs and thought about what others are sitting through right now. How some people have died and would probably gladly trade their death with traffic. How some people are being shot at all the time for me to not worry about bad people getting me.

When traffic or other daily annoyances are put into perspective, they generally don’t see that bad.

I got home and unpacked my truck only to get some dinner and zoom off to the sleep study. Bill and I ate in the motorhome because the kitchen is getting worked on. We had cube steak with mac and cheese. It was very good.

I went to the Swedish Campus in Issaquah. I got checked in. I was set up with a bunch of leads all over my body. My legs, all over my head, my chest, and face. I was able to watch TV for a while before I went to bed.

It was not a comfortable bed, let alone having all the leads everywhere. I was still able to get some sleep. I was woken up through out the night like normal for me. I also had to change sides because my back was hurting due to the bed. One of my leads came off so the guy had to come in at one point and fix that as well.

Weekly Checks with Two

I spent part of the day relaxing at home. But I wanted to get to Pullman and talk to James about being on duty tonight with my knee injury only a day old. I let him know I was feeling better and that I thought I could work. He allowed me to do so as long as I promised to let him know if I was having problems.

I started the rig checks early because I wanted to get them done before eleven o’clock at night. There was only two of us doing the checks. I got a large part of rescue done before Shane got to the station. When he showed up we finished off rescue and worked on the engine.

During that time we got a call to a frequent flyer. We went on the call. When we got back we finished the checks. The other guys did not come straight back. It turned out they went to get some cookie dough. They cooked up some cookies and once they came out of the oven we threw some in a bowl and covered it in ice cream. It was very good. Hot cookies and cold ice cream.

I hung out at the station until around midnight before I decided to head back to the apartment and get some sleep.

JT and Suz are in the House!

After two short hours of being asleep I was getting up. I went to get some pop and went to Dearth’s apartment to help him move a couple items. My knee was sore but I told him I would help. I was able to lift things, it was stairs that took me extra long to do. Luckily we had only a couple steps getting into the house he is moving into. We were using my truck to move some of the bigger items that he had. It only took two trips to get the things necessary.

Then I went to the doctor to see him about my knee. Turpin wanted me to see him to get everything checked out. I filled out the L&I; paperwork and the doctor took a look at me. He pulled, pushed, poked, and did a few other things. He felt that the injury was a common one for people who fall on their knee. He said some rest is what I need.

I called JT and let him know I was coming to Colfax to meet up with them on the golf course. I was going to golf the final nine-holes with them, but that was before I got hurt. When I got to Colfax they had all been waiting for me. So I decided to see if I could swing a club. I took one of Ron’s and took about four swings. It did not hurt at all. I decided to golf.

I got my clubs and paid for a round. I did really well compared to normal. I think due to my injury I was being tender and that helped my game a lot because I did not want to hurt myself. I was hitting a lot of good shots and my short game was really good. Aside from one bad chip, they all were hitting well for me.

Following the golf we went to Dan and Michele’s for a BBQ. We hung out there for a couple hours eating, talking, and playing. I played some darts and cards with Ron’s son, Jonathan. It was around six in the afternoon that Jason, Suz, Jen, and I decided to play some poker at Zeppoz.

I play sixty bucks. JT and Suz played some more. I did okay most of the night. Then on one hand a new guy come on the table and started to try to push people around. The table was playing pretty tight. I had a K-Ten and he raised my big-blind. I called and on the flop was a K-Two-Six. I had top pair and I bet, he raised. I re-raised. Then came an Ace. Finally a Ten. I had been betting the whole way. I had two pair. He had two-pair with an Ace. He was pushing with an Ace-Two in the hole. I lost some of my stack.

After playing cards until about ten-thirty JT and Suz wanted to go to the New Garden for dinner. They invited me to come along. We talked about their last year and their complications with their son who had some birth defects. We were there for about an hour total. It was a nice conversation.

I was really tired so I headed home after dinner. I watched TV for a few minutes before going to bed.

Another Structure Fire

Spending most of the week getting up late and getting to work late I was determined to get to work at a more normal hour. When I got there I found some bugs in my pipeline. I got them taken care of quickly. Chris got me on IM and asked how the bugs were going. I let him know that I had them done and turned in.

We had our three o’clock meeting on the phone like normal. There was not much to discuss. It was a short meeting. I spent time after that working on the fire prevention website as well as the My Office website.

A call came in around four in the afternoon. It was a frequent flyer. I was not sure that Wakeman would want to go. But he said he did. So we went code three until we were downgraded by the units on scene.

I rode to the hospital with the hospital. On the way home I asked Wakeman to drive us around the Steptoe Village apartment to get familiar with the new driveways. With the work being done on Stable Drive, the main way into Steptoe Village has changed.

Upon finishing that I went home and got ready to be on call. I went back to the station and started to do the rig checks. Wakeman came out after a tiny bit and joined in. When we were done I went to get some dinner at Taco Del Mar. I went back to the station to eat it.

I hung out there watching TV. While there we got a call. It was for someone who had been in a fight. We were cleared after it was clear we were not needed. I was back at the station watching some TV. I had some plans for first-thing in the morning do I did not plan on being out late, but I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet. There were some good shows on.

Wakeman was in the TV room with me. Just after midnight I heard the pre-alarms for a Delta Response for a Structure Fire.

It is unusual for Pullman to get a lot of structure fire in any given year. In fact around the country due to fire codes, sprinklers, etc, fires are pretty rare.

But eight minutes after midnight we got toned out for a structure fire at an apartment complex. I was less that enthused. I figured it would be the typical call like that. This is how they go:

We get toned to a structure fire only to find out someone about one-hundred yards away saw a flame. That flame was from a BBQ grill being started and they did not know it. So we all go there only to go home a few minutes later. Today was not that day.

I was at the station with one other Reserve. We were watching some TV. We were on call until six o’clock. We went to the bay and got our turnouts put on. Turnouts are also called bunker gear. It is the firefighters clothing that is worn inside a fire.

I was driving so I did not have my coat on, only the pants, to allow for better movement while driving to the scene. It was not long after we were dispatched that I learned there was a shed on fire. The shed was attached to an apartment.

So we went code to the scene. As we were arriving the Lt on scene said to come straight into the Engine and pack up for a possible rescue. That means that we need to put our SCBA’s (self-contained breathing apparatus) on. We were going to go into the building because someone could possibly be inside still.

The others had a head start on me because all they had to do was throw on their SCBA packs. I had to get my coat and pack on. We were in the parking lot above the building we were going to enter. I saw the other guys take a shortcut to the door.

The shortcut involved going through a planter and over a three-foot wall. I stepped into the planter and it was a much bigger drop that I expected. I thought I was only stepping down about six inches when in fact it was about a full foot. I lost my balance and fell over. I stood up and went to step up on the top of the wall to jump down. When I was making my step up for the top of the wall the bushes sank on me. This caused my step to not be high enough. My foot hit the side of the wall and my momentum carried me over the wall.

I landed on my right knee and my hands. I was sort of shocked about the fall. But I quickly did a self-assessment and thought I was okay. I got up and we entered three apartments checking for people. In one apartment a bedroom door was locked. I fully expected to find someone inside. We kicked down the door only to find an empty room.

After searching all the apartments there was a report that heavy smoke was entering one of the apartments. We were told to go back into the apartments and make sure all the windows were shut.

In the third apartment, the one that was connected to the shed that was on fire, we found thick, heavy smoke. It was so think you could barely see your hand in front of your face. We found the heat had busted the window and we could not secure it.

We were told to set up a positive pressure fan to get the smoke out of the building. By this time my knee was starting to hurt a little bit. So after I helped set up the fan I took myself off the crew. With being hurt I knew I would be a liability should things go bad.

I spent the rest of the fire running the staging and rehab area. I was in charge of all the people coming out of the fire and it was also my job to make sure they were ready to go back inside.

It looked like the fire was getting under control, but while searching for extension, they found the fire had made it inside the apartments. So thick smoke started to roll out the ventilation hole that was cut in the roof. They pulled an extra hose line from one of the fire engines to fight the fire. I was concerned because I did not have any crews ready in the staging area. I was worried because if something bad happened it would be harder for us to have someone ready to rescue people.

It was not a whole bunch longer that we started to get the fire in the apartment under control. Pretty soon things we slowing down. I had a couple crews in the staging area. A little while after that we started to break down the scene because the emergency was over.

My knee however was hurting and I was not able to kneel down nor put too much pressure on it.
Other than my injury on one else suffered any injuries. But I found out that everyone who tried to go down the way I went had similar problems with the bushes giving way. No one however was unlucky enough to actually fall down the three-foot drop off like I did.

Following the fire and the clean up we went back to the station to put all the vehicles back in service. We did not get home until nearly six o’clock in the morning.

I went to my apartment and went to sleep just before seven o’clock in the morning. I had to be up in two hours.

Poker instead of Softball

I got a couple new bugs that were issued to me fixed and turned in. I also had a meeting with Dragoo for the Fire Prevention website. We started to gather documents to place on the site. We are finally going to make some headway on the site.

I got ready for softball and went to the field. I noticed only one field was being used. Games on Wiley were cancelled. That is where my game was. So I went to My Office to let the others know, but Brian already knew. I sat there and talked with a couple of the guys for a little bit. I ran to Dairy Queen for some dinner.

I had gotten a call from Davolt for some poker tonight. With yet another rainout for softball I decided to play some poker. I got to his place. We played six handed for most of the evening, then it dropped to five. Someone went all in and I called. I got my card on the river knocking him out. We played for about another half hour with just the four of us.

We decided to call it a night at midnight. I went home and decided to go to bed when I got there.

Running the jail

Yesterday after the call Jay from the Colfax PD asked if I could do some work on a patch for the SWAT team. Today I spend some time working on an idea for the patch. I was able to make something like he was talking about to me.

Today’s coroners meeting was cancelled because of the concern over rain and that Patty would be late. So I took the opportunity to work in the jail. I started by booking someone in. Following that I helped with some rounds and took in a fresh arrest.

I worked until midnight tonight. I also showed Chris the patch I created today. Over all it is like they wanted, but I don’t know how much I like it. Chris was questioning some of the same things I was.

Another Rainout

Our games were rained out today because of all the rain we got yesterday. It seems more evident to me now that Pullman needs to do something with the drainage problem on the city playfields.

Because the softball games were rained out I went to fire training in Colfax. We were going to go to the trailer and do some stuff there, but we ended up instead doing our quarterly SCBA test and our yearly fit test.

Following that Scott, Jim, Matt, Jeff, and I played poker for about an hour and a half. Someone of the guys wanted to get out early so we broke the game around eleven o’clock. Not long after breaking the game we called to Wynona for a heart problem. It is funny because just a couple days ago I was thinking about how I have not had a call out there.

The Big Storm

I woke up around nine in the morning with a call going out, but I was not close to being ready to go on it, so I just went back to sleep. Then later a call went out for someone who fell in the same apartment where we had the fire early this month.

I went to the station and Wakeman was there. We went to the scene and got there the same time as the ambulance. We helped carry up some equipment. We had to package the guy and get him to the hospital. While there the guy, Barry, who called in the fire had called this one in. I asked if the dispatcher had a problem understanding him where the apartment was thing time. He said “nope, I just told them it was were the fire was.” I also mentioned that I wondered if that place had been built on an old Indian Burial Ground.

The ambulance took someone from the engine to the hospital with them so they did not need someone from Rescue to go with them. That was fine for Wakeman because he had to get to a lunch with some people in Colfax.

I went to work and another call came out. I went to stand by on that one because Wakeman was still out of town. When it was done I went to work some more. I worked on a bug for a little bit before going to the apartment at five to get some dinner. I fixed one of my mini-pizzas. Then I went to get some pop and head to training. But that time it was raining very hard. It was stormy with thunder and lightning. Just after six o’clock we had three fire alarms going off at once plus other problems.

All the people and the rigs were going on calls. The streets were starting to get filled with water. There was four inches of standing water on Grand. It had rained nearly seven-tenths of an inch in an hour. The rains let up and everything went back to normal.

We had NIMS training. We were doing the overview portion of the training. When it was one we had to get on a computer and take an online test to get a certificate for taking the class.

I went to Colfax following the training. I got some laundry going and then to the fire station. I hung out with Scott and David for a little bit. We watched some TV and talked about the call today. David was there working. I had seen him there and waved.

I told Scott that I would be responding assuming we got any calls. Right before midnight a call came out for an unknown medical problem. I went to the station and only one other person showed up. We went to the scene and transported the guy to the hospital. I made the cot as Angela did her paperwork. Just as I finished the cot we got another call in LaCrosse. I called the station to make sure we would get ILS to come along as it was someone with breathing difficulties.

We went code to the station to get Jim and we went to LaCrosse. I drove code both ways. It is about a thirty mile trip each way. Upon completing both calls I finally got home. I did some more laundry and then went to bed.

Bomb’s Away Softball tournament Day Two

Our first game was at noon. But I was supposed to help out with the reserve testing. I went to the station and met up with Dearth. I put my stuff on the engine and I went POV to the training tower. I helped get the course set up. Drew was giving out the jobs. He said he did not have one for Blake who decided to come and help. So I offered my position to Blake so I could go to the softball game. I was taken up on the offer so I went to my office and got my uniform on. Then I went to my apartment and got a key for it.

I went to Moscow and watched the softball game before mine be played. Smitty showed up and then a few other guys trickled in. Smitty said he is bringing two guys to help us for the ones we lost. It was minutes from game time and the main group of guys who were at the bar last night were not here. I was very worried. Then they pulled in at the last minute. I finalized the line up.

We were the number one seen having won three of four games on Saturday. We were playing the AleHouse again. I knew we could beat them as long as we played like yesterday. But our bats did not cooperate with us. They scored seven in the first and kept tacking on a run or two in most of the innings. We could not score when we were getting people on base. We lost to them by four runs. It was very disappointing.

After the game was done I drove to Colfax and got my extra mattress and some bedding linen. Then I went to my apartment and dropped it off. I went to buy some stuff for the place like a pizza pan and a power supply for my hand held scanner.

Wakeman had called about doing some engineer training with Reed. I said that I wanted to go. After my shopping was done I went to the station. We watched the end of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with Chris then went to the tower. We set up the street pipe and did some pump time. Because of that I got one more thing checked off in my engineer training packet. We were also setting up a stand pipe and dwelling lay. I still don’t know all the calculations off the top of my head so when Wakeman testing us on a couple things I did not do great at that. But there was one thing I got right and Reed, who knows most of the calculations got wrong.

Wakeman at one point was trying to get into the tower. They key was not working. He said there was something wrong. I suggested using this other door. Then he wondered why the key would not work. I said PEBKAC as I was walking over to help Reed. Wakeman thought I was making fun of him so he had me explain what I said. When I did he got mad.

I didn’t say it to be mean, I was making a joke. I felt bad that we were finally able to talk easy with each other and I felt like I messed it up by doing that. I wanted to let him know that I did not mean to make him mad with it. But I did not say anything at that time.

After the training we got a couple calls. We were also doing vehicle maintenance. He asked what was wrong because I was pretty quiet. I told him I planned on talking to him about it later. We finished up the maintenance, which took a long time with just three people doing it. I watched some TV and then as I was leaving Wakeman came into the bay and asked what was up.

I told him I felt bad about making him mad at me. I told him how it seemed like only lately we have had a decent relationship while going on calls and I felt like I ruined it. Then he talked to me about how he felt I was undermining his being a crew leader. He knew I had more time on the department than him and that he thinks that I am in some power struggle with him.

That really surprised me that he felt that way. I have not harbored anything bad towards him being the acting crew leader. He told me there were a lot of little things that by themselves didn’t seem bad, but as he would go over things in his mind they were lining up pointing towards the power struggle. We talked about it for about two hours. I wanted him to know that I did not have ill feelings toward him. That my ways of talking to people are the same when they have a position of leadership over me. That when we need to do as we are told, I do so without argument and when there is time, if it is not in a grave situation I will question something I think is wrong or different from my plans.

I wanted him to know in no way was my joke today meant as bashing him and that I felt that I have a lot of respect for what he knows and what he does on the department. With the last few months where he felt I have been challenging him and when I said what I did that was sort of a last straw moment for him.

When the talk was done I think we were better off, but I am going to be a lot more mindful of his concerns about his feelings of me challenging him. I am going to do what I can to make sure he knows I am not doing that.

I got to my apartment around two in the morning. I unpacked the things I bought today and decided it was a good time to get some sleep.

Bomb’s Away Softball tournament

This morning I got up after three hours of sleep. I got a phone call right away about softball and the rain. It was raining really hard. I found out that the games were pushed back two hours. So I called everyone I could and e-mailed everyone then went to sleep for an hour. When my alarm went off again I called Smitty and he said the games were pushed back until noon. They would make their final decision around eleven in the morning. So I got one more hour of sleep. By this time it had stopped raining.

I got ready and went to the field. We had the first game and it was a go. We were playing Palouse Tavern. We ended up losing a close game. We could have and should have beat them but our bats did not help us.

We had an hour long break before our next game. I hung around the field waiting for the next game to start. I pitched that game and Smitty had pitched the first one. We were playing AleHouse. It was pretty close, but we broke it open and won by several runs.

Following that game we had a four hour break. There was a little bar near the field and we had coupons for a free beer from there. Several My Office and Palouse Tavern players went there. To my surprise the bar was open and no one was working. We just poured our own beer. It was nice.

We went out on the deck and everyone had a big tub of beer and we talked about the games and the stuff we were going to do tonight. They said they were going to go to Mike’s Bar and then to Mullvains for a pool party.

I talked with Kelly from Palouse Tavern. We were bantering back and forth about the teams and our games we have played so far. He also plays IM ball and we have played against each other in the past. So it was a lot of fun to talk to them.

I could not play the last two game because I was supposed to work the Palouse Thunder Football game. So I got my truck and went to the Kibbie Dome. I talked to some of the players on both teams and got myself set up in the booth. As the game got closer to starting I put on the music and I went to work making my announcements.

Then it was time for kickoff. The game went pretty smoothly for me. I am pretty confident about my abilities as the announcer/music guy now. I can run everyone pretty well with my computer.

The Thunder played a decent game, but the defense could not come up with the big stops needed and Spokane kept marching. They ended up winning by eleven points. After the game I said bye to a couple players.

I went to get my boat because it was done being dewinterized. I hauled it to Pullman where I went to My Office. I had talked to Duane and he said they were there, but they would be going to Mike’s about eleven o’clock. So I got a pop at My Office because no one was there and I watched some TV before heading to Mike’s. It is up and Greek Row. I was a little concerned about parking with the boat up there, but as it turned out no one harmed my stuff.

I got to Mike’s just before eleven. No one was there yet. I got a bottle of Coors Light and saw Blake, Dearth, and Ross. I went to talk to them. They were getting ready to go to ValHalla. So I only talked to them for about five minutes. Then I got my seat and waited. Soon everyone showed up. The bar was pretty dead, but shortly after the guys from the team got there Mike’s started to fill up.

We stayed until closing time. Chris was so drunk we got him to dance on a speaker. It was pretty funny. Once the bar closed I decided to go home. I was tired from this morning and the lack of sleep.

Trying to get some sleep

Being on call tonight was causing some issues with me getting some sleep. For about four straight hours we kept getting called out. But there would be enough time to get home and back into bed before the next call would go out.

I wanted to get some sleep before the softball tournament tomorrow. Our first game is at eight-thirty in the morning. My alarm is set to go off at seven o’clock so I am not going to get much sleep.

Sitting three and oh

I got up this morning and went to the dentist. It had been a while for me because my insurance kept changing and my dentist was not on my plan. But I talked to the insurance company and it turns out it is only slightly more expensive for me to go to my dentist. So I made the appointment for this morning. Courtney was my assistant and she did my teeth work and took the x-rays. The dentist now has a digital x-ray machine to they come up on a computer screen. It is pretty cool.

Things checked out well and I did not have any new problems, but he let me know one of my old cavities will have to be replaced with a crown some day. He said not anytime really soon, but it will happen.

After the dentist I went to work and worked on the two bugs in my pipeline. While working on those I also was getting calls at the fire department. I went down for two and ended up standing by because no one else showed up. But after the second one I was there talking to Rich and Dan. Then a third call came out. Wakeman was there so I checked out where we were going on the map and away we went.

After transporting that person to the hospital we took rescue to get fuel and back to the station. I went to the office and got my softball uniform on. The I went to My Office. I had some water. Joe and Matt were down there. They gave me a hard time for only having water.

I went to the field about thirty minutes early. I got parked and made my way to the field. I got my cleats on but I did not warm up my arm. I got the stats sheet ready to go. I am playing firstbase today. Brian said that if he struggles that he would like me to pitch. I told him that would not be a problem. We were playing another game against Palouse Multiple Services. We beat them last week twenty-two to six. This week is was a little closer, beating them nineteen to seven. I hit a hard shot to right-center field. It was a good shot, but the wind was blowing hard enough that a huge American Flag that flies over the fields was standing at attention. I hit it directly into that wind and it died near the warning track.

After the game was done we went back to My Office. The lightning was striking a bolt a second it was pretty cool looking. Mitz is getting married this weekend. So we gave him some gifts and we all bought him shots. Then later in the night I played a joke on him by getting him a shot of water and having a lemon put on the shot-glass. He smelled it trying to figure out what it was.

Then he gulped it down. Took the lemon. Then said “That was water!” Everyone started to laugh so hard. They did not know I was playing a trick on him.

Later Matt and I were playing pool against Michael B and Mitz. Michael B was getting ready to shoot. I called his cell phone which was in his back pocket. He hurried his shot as the phone vibrated in his back pocket. He missed his shot and quickly grabbed his phone. I hung up really fast. I could not help but to smile. Michael B knew what I did and Matt started to laugh so hard. It was good times tonight.

I took off around eleven o’clock pm and went home. It was still hot outside. I got home and used my AC to cool down the living room while my bedroom window was open to cool it down in there.

Last day of recess

Today was the final day we go to the elementary schools. Today we were at Sunnyside Elementary. It was really hot today both in the classrooms and outside. The kids were out on recess when went go there. Once they got done we were going to start. Dan and Rich were outside with the kids and Wakeman and I were inside. Wakeman did the teaching and I mainly just sat there doing nothing. One little girl came up and told me all about the butterflies they had in the classroom.

After the presentations were done we went to lunch with the kids. I sat with a group of them as we ate pizza. They were all sharing stories about times they or someone they knew got hurt.

After lunch we went outside. We played some boys vs. girls tag. Then we walked the “Feelin’ Good Mileage Club”. We got two laps done. They have cards that get a hole punched in it for each lap they do. Four of them is a mile. We got half a mile done in that period of time.

I dropped my boat off at Dale’s Boat Service to get it dewinterized. The weather right now is screaming to go boating. When I got back to Pullman I did some more work on the bugs I had in my pipeline. But it was starting to get close to the time to be on call. I went to Dissmores to get some dinner. I saw Christensen and Dan from IS there. We talked a little bit while waiting in line.

When I was getting into my truck the tones went out for a call. It was just before six o’clock pm. I got to the station and Wakeman and I went out on it. It was an alpha call. I got a chance to do quite a few things for the guy as he was pretty sick. I had most of the patient care to the hospital and when we got there a room was not ready so we sat in the hallway. While waiting I got some O’s from the ambulance and the blood-sugar machine. I applied the oxygen and took the patients blood-sugar.

When we finally finished that call we went back to the station. I ate my dinner that I had placed in the refer. Then we got the daily truck checks done. I was planning on playing some poker we Devolt. I was able to get up there about an hour after they started playing.

I bought in for ten bucks. I lost there pretty quickly. I re-bought in and my first hand was a pair of queens. I won that hand. I was up and down most of the night. Then in what turned out to be my final hand right around midnight I got another pair of queens. I raised. Someone did a small raise back. I went all-in. He called. I flipped over my queens as he flipped over his aces. So I was way behind. He ended up beating me and I walked out of there with nothing.

More Recess!

Today we went to Jefferson Elementary for EMS week. Today my role was to be outside and teach the kids about the ambulance. I walked them around it and showed them the compartments and some of the tools like the glassmaster and the “keys to the city” aka bolt-cutters. We started to run out of time so by the time I got to the last group we were really running them through and did not get a good chance to really show them as much as I would have liked.

For lunch today we had nachos. Then we went out to the playground. We played kick-ball. That was a lot of fun. I really was beating those first-graders pretty easily! Actually I did go easy on them, but I did not give them free outs.

When we were clear of the school I made my way back to the office. We had a teleconference with a guy from Sollen about some login issues we have been having. After talking to him and working with an E-mail Miki sent us we think we have it figured out.

Our softball game was cancelled today so I went to Colfax for fire training. We did extrication training. I was more or less a helper. Several of the people had not done it before so my role was to teach people and make sure they were being safe. The training went well. I did some hands-on stuff with people teaching them about the glassmaster and some other tools.

After training Jim, Tim, and I played poker for about an hour and a half. I got home around midnight and it was pretty warm in my house. I opened the window in my bedroom and let it cool down a little bit before I went to sleep.

Recess is great fun!

It is rare that an adult gets to have recess. I did today and will get to do so for the next couple days. This is EMS week and I am one of the Pullman Firefighters going to elementary schools to teach the first graders about us and the ambulance. Today we went to Franklin. I was one of the classroom guys. With VanNess we talked about several things including how to dial nine-one-one and what we do. Outside Wakeman and Keeton showed the kids some equipment and toured the ambulance.

After the class was done we went to lunch with them and sat with them. Then after lunch we went to recess. Today I played wall-ball with the kids. It was fun to get out there and play. I have not done that in ages. Wall-ball is pretty much the same as it has always been, except there is no penalty for getting three strikes. No lining up on the wall and getting beaned with the ball.

We also had training tonight. It was our normal OTEP training. We covered heart conditions. It was a good class. It is part of the new material that the Region-Nine EMS has developed and certified with the state.

More Back Resting

I took today to rest some more. I watched some more movies on TV. I did go out to Rosauers for some food. While at the store I Juan. He talked about wanting to do something in the future.

I went to the fire station and hung out with Ken for a while. We watched Pros vs Joes. It is a pretty cool show where average guys get a chance to go against pro athletes. It is pretty funny at the same time.

I went home to watch my normal Sunday night shows. It was the last Malcolm in the Middle tonight. They did not have some big blow out or anything. Just sort of took the time to show where the people went as their next step and that was about it.

Resting the back

With my back hurt today I decided today would be a fine day to allow it to rest. I went to get lunch and dinner out on the town, but the rest of the day I spent at home watching TV, movies, and talking on the phone. It really was a day to rest.

Movie Night with Ryno

I was debating on going out at all today when I realized I had a meeting with George for the website. So away I went to Pullman. Because I was in town I went to work. It was a good day at work. I struggled through some bugs and got them checked in just before our weekly dev meeting. I am glad I did not skip today like I thought I was going to do.

Ryan called me up to see if I was interested in going to see a movie with him. We went to see Poseidon. I had never seen the original so I did not know what to expect. It was pretty good. Some of the graphics were very obvious fake. Sometimes I wish they would do less computer generated stuff. It is getting to the point where a lot of things seem fake in movies right now. But at the same time we are just getting going with a lot of this technology so it will take some time to get really good.

After the movie I went to the fire station. Shane got some ice cream for everyone from having his first code-call on Wednesday. I am taking the day off because of my back but I hung out down there for about an hour.

Ryan and I went to get some dinner at Taco Time then we rented the movie Cry_Wolf. It was supposed to be a horror movie, one of those teen slasher movies. It turned out the only people who died were the girl at the beginning, which had nothing to do with the “murders” that were taking place, and the teacher at the end.

Ouch! I hurt my back

I was excited as normal for softball tonight. I went to My Office to meet with some of the guys. I got some pop and then headed to the field. Joe and I were warming up our arms when he threw one that was to my right and in the ground. I twisted at the waist. I bend down to scoop it. I felt the pain in my back. I knew I caused another spasm. I get them every once in a great while. But when I get them I am out of service for about four days for the most part.

I tried to play. I could do firstbase okay. It hurt when I was not sitting down. I got a basehit on my first at bat. The Joe hit a homerun so I did not have to run hard. Brain kept asking if I thought I could play. I told him I can not stand up straight, I cannot run, and I cannot throw, but I can play. I was in the field for three innings. By the end of my third inning in the field my back was hurting more. So I told Brian to have someone else play for me.

I took myself out of the batting order as well. It really hurt to hit the ball hard. I had to mainly do an arm swing. I spent from the fourth to the eight inning on the bench. We took the game into extra innings after being behind the whole game. We were down by as many as nine runs. But we battled back and won it on a two-run shot by Eric.

We went to My Office. I hung out as long as I could without my back killing me too much. We talked about playing in the McCoy tournament. We are doing that and Mitz is getting married that weekend so he will be out of town. I will run the team for the tournament.

Engineer Training

Ryan, George, and I went to a dinner for Ryan. Now that he has a new job in Spokane he will be moving soon. So we had a going away dinner for him. George was running really late, so we ate and then he showed up a tiny bit before we decided we were going to head out. So I stayed later than I had planned on staying there.

Brian, Shane, and I spent some time doing engineer training for me. We started by talking through taking some hydrants. Then we took one, Brian pulled a hose and I got the pump going. I was slow on getting him water. I was a little clumsy on the pump panel. Then we packed everything up and did it one more time. This time I did better. But it is clear I want more training.

Shane had to leave early so Brian and I got the hoses and packed them up. We went back to the station and did the triple-layer load by ourselves. It worked out pretty darn well.

We got a call for someone who was not breathing well. On the way to the station I was thinking we would get re-toned to this as an echo. As it turned out we did not get re-toned, but the cops got on scene and said he was not breathing and CPR was in progress.

Playing My Office Softball Again

After not playing, except for tournaments with My Office Softball, I am back playing again. I had to leave the team except for tournament because I was out of town working in Bellevue during the weekdays. But now I am back. I am only got to have to miss one game this season due to being in Bellevue for code release.

I went on a couple day time calls with Wakeman, but they were all small ones and we did not even make it to them all before the scene was cleared.

I got ready to play softball and headed over to Moscow for our first game. I got there about an hour and a half early. I watched the other team finish their game up. I saw some guys walking around in metal spikes. I remembered we can use metal spikes in this league. I got my cleats and changed out the plastic ones for metal ones. It was helpful to have them.

I saw a lot of people wearing football style cleats they would fall from time to time because the ground was so hard. With my metal spikes I had no problem with falling. Brian got there and gave me a My Office hat. I also learned I would be playing first base. I was happy about that. They other guys were too. One guy said “someone who will be able to catch the balls.” I said, “why to put on the pressure.”

I warmed up my arm. Then we played. I was batting sixth in the line up. My first at bat was a long fly out to center field. My next at bat I tried to go to left field. Both balls were foul. Their right fielder then played close to the line. When I get two strikes on myself I will power down and look for a small basehit. That is what I got, scoring one.

In the fourth inning I got up with the bases loaded. I hit a sharp base clearing double. It felt good to have a good day at the plate. When it was done I was three for four with a double and a team leading five RBI.

After the game we went to the Garden where Taj was working. I had pop and the others had beer. We were chatting and having a good time. It is weird the team only has three people on it from the ought-three season. Joe, Brian, and I. About half the team is brand new this season. One guy on the team played on the Thunder with me in the ought-four season. The team looked pretty sharp today. If we can play like this more often we can win a lot of games.

This team we beat tonight beat us in the pre-season by fourteen runs. We did not have all of our good players there that night. We were missing Phil tonight as well. Michael B, Joe, and I went to My Office for some more beer. I got a pop and a burger for dinner. We were only there for about twenty minutes to let our sponser, Jeff, know how we did.

Emerald Downs Fire Critique

My mom made me breakfast this morning before I headed East. On my way I stopped and got some gas and a couple doughnuts and pop. Then I was East-bound hrammer-down. In the pass I encountered some new snow fall, but it was not on the road itself.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Most of the national-syndicated morning shows are horrible so I have to listen to talk radio, but none of my favorite people are on that early in the morning.

I got to Colfax and dropped off my stuff and then came to Pullman. I stopped by Shopko at lunch time to get the photos from the live-burn however I got the run around by them. I was not able to get them so I went back to my office and started to work on the city of Pullman fire website. I got the fire prevention site started and under way. I have been neglecting doing that for a while.

We had the Emerald Downs Fire Critique tonight. It went okay. The one thing that is almost always an issue is communication. Today that did not seem to be the case at all. We got to listen to our tapes and went through everything from the top. Ironically the critique took longer than the time it took to put the fire out and do the mop up.

After that was done I got some dinner from Cougar Country and went to the office. This last weekend really threw off my sleeping schedule. So I was getting tired around ten o’clock pm. I stayed up pretty late looking for people needing roommates. I put out a few E-mails. One of them was looking for someone who is “open-minded” because two of the roommate are gay. I responded to that one as well. As it turned out that one had the cheapest rent of any of them and it is pretty close to the fire department.

I got to sleep for a little bit when a call came out for someone giving birth. We went en route and Brian asked how wanted to go, and I said I did. So when we got on scene the medic wanted one person. Reed walked past me and went. I was very mad that he took it. I stewed on it for a while and tried to decide if I should bring it up. If he really wanted it and asked I would have given it to him, but for him to just take it is what made me the most upset.