This is how my Wednesday went:
7:15am - Wake up, drag myself out of bed, let Jak out and feed him, shower, dress, let Jak out again, finish getting ready for work, pick up Mom at the garage, drop her off at work and then go to work myself.
9:00am - Staff meeting usual topics discussed.
9:45am - Still in staff meeting, unusual topic discussed, boss announces he's leaving after ten years as head of our program.
10:00am - Back in my office, working on little tasks for an upcoming certified inspection.
11:07am - Fire department toned out for a brush fire, third straight day it had been burning.
11:10am - Phone calls, texts and emails start coming in from auxiliary members about above said fire and what is an appropriate response from the auxiliary.
11:20am - 12:20pm - Head to the Y to swim and pretend that work and fire do not exist at least for an hour.
12:30 - Back at work, eat lunch, continue to field inquiries from auxiliary members about the fire while trying to do work.
1:15pm - Decide via text message with other auxiliary members that we should order pizza.
1:30pm - Order 3 party pizzas and plan to leave work to pick them up and deliver them to the fire scene.
2:00pm - Leave work, pick up pizzas and head for the hills.
2:15pm - Arrive with pizza. Delivering food to hungry firefighters allows for special parking privileges.
2:20pm - 4:45pm - Hang around at the command center and wait for further instructions or to assist firefighters coming out of the fire and wonder why the PD has a paid a chief.
4:46pm - Begin to form a plan to get more food to the scene because the fire is not out and more firefighters are arriving to help. Secure a Subway run by an auxiliary member returning to town from work.
5:00pm - Make a trip to the firehouse to make coffee, stop at the store to get 1/2 & 1/2 because no one really wants the fake powdered creamer unless there's absolutely nothing else.
5:25pm - Drop off coffee and creamer back at the scene then make a mad dash home.
5:40pm - Leave to meet Dad and Lois for 2nd Wednesday of the month Spaghetti Dinner (spag din).
6:15pm - 7:30pm - Eat spaghetti, comment that it isn't as good this month as it usually is, catch up with Dad and Lois, laugh at their story of being on the jumbotron at a Boston Bruins game.
7:45pm - Get stuck in traffic on the highway because everyone waits till the last second to merge down to one lane for construction.
8:00pm - Arrive at Costco to purchase more supplies for the auxiliary in case the brush fire goes into a 4th day.
8:45pm - Head home.
9:15pm - Arrive at home. Mom is painstakingly looking at pictures on the internet which requires waiting for a dial up modem to download them. Start laundry so that I have clean pants to wear to work the next day.
9:45pm - Mom gives up on dial-up. I clean out my overflowing purse.
10:00pm - Start doing dishes while calling At&t because I'm having cell phone issues AGAIN.
10:15pm - Still on phone with At&t, fold laundry.
10:20pm - Insist that At&t send me a new phone and get one, hang pants to dry, finish dishes.
10:40pm - Plug in phone to charge and head for bed.
11:00pm - Read for a few minutes until my eyes refuse to stay open then fall asleep and remain that way until 7:00am this morning.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
This Picture's Worth Six Words
I acquired these new bumper stickers this week in an attempt to gain some motivation in my triathlon training. Tri like hell makes me smile. I like the play on words. I did get a few jogs in earlier this week. Today I swam 20 lengths of the pool and then took Jak for a mile walk. So slowly I'm starting to get back my tri legs back under me.
As you might have noticed the Revvies Season Opener countdown clock has been removed. The first match of the season was last in LA. All I can say is it's going to take me some time to adjust to all the off season changes. The commentator said that of LA's 26 player roster they retained 20 players from last year. My comment about the Revolution was of our 26 player roster we retained 6 players. Okay maybe it's not quite that extreme but with changes and injuries, four players from last season started the game last night. And in a decision that is baffling me, the team captain was a player who hasn't played a minute for us prior to the start of last night's match. Okay, deep breaths. We will get through this. Anyway, the Revvies lost 1-0. Given the circumstances it could have been a lot worse. Next match is Saturday. Go Revs!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
For You, Mom
Remembering not everyone is on Facebook!
It was brought to my attention last night that due to outdated internet connections, not everyone is able to access Facebook and therefore neglected blogs do not go unnoticed. So I'm sorry Mom, I'll try...no promises...but I'll try to better about updating my blog.
The biggest news I can think to blog about today is what brought our small town into the spotlight last week. A kayaker lost his life while paddling the brook that runs through the state forest in town. With the snow melting and inches of rain falling the previous weekend, the brook was apparently irresistible to those who kayak. (Details I know have been found out through the media and not from my affiliation with the fire department...I point this out for two reasons I will address later.) From what I've read the man's kayak overturned, his fellow paddlers realized he had not resurfaced and went back to help. He was caught in a whirlpool and kept getting pulled back under. His companions eventually were able to pull him out and performed CPR to no avail. By the time they left the scene to go call for help it was not a rescue but a recovery.
The initial call came in sometime after 2PM. Members of our town's fire department and surrounding towns' departments began the mile and a half trek into the woods to begin the recovery process. I arrived at the command post around 7PM as an auxiliary member bringing food for those waiting and for those involved in the operation when they came out of the woods. What complicated matters even more than the hike in is that the man had been dragged out of the brook on the side of that was not accessible by foot. So using ropes and cold water rescue suits, department members had to get across the brook to the deceased then get him, our members and all their equipment back. The whole process took hours, many hours. At some point in the evening it was discovered that it would be easier to come out of the woods the opposite way they came in...if they'd only known that at 2PM. So at about 11PM, department members emerged from the woods with their recovery mission complete.
The man who lost his life, by all accounts that I've read, was an avid and accomplished paddler so this was not a case of inexperience. Apparently paddlers know the risk involved in the sport and perhaps that is what drives them to do it. One person wrote of him, "he went out with a smile on his face." We should all be so lucky to go out doing something we love to do.
The aforementioned points that I wanted to address are these: first, if I had been privy to any of this information through being an auxiliary member I would not be sharing it anywhere, let alone on a blog. Secondly, that's what strikes me most about the whole incident is really not only me but the people who were directly involved in the recovery didn't know details. In the few brief conversations I had, no one knew his name, where he was from, if he had family. And to them, for what they were doing those things were not important. They had a task that needed to be done and they did it.
Full time fire departments, at times, look down their noses at volunteer departments. They seem to feel volunteers are not professional enough. Although I am biased, I feel that volunteer fire departments bring more to the table. On our department we have truck drivers, engineers, arborists, etc. These guys don't sit around at the station waiting for a call to come in. When a call comes in they leave their jobs, their families, their whatever to help their fellow citizens for no monetary compensation. They don't do it for the recognition, they do it to help.
So if you have the chance remember to thank your volunteer firefighters and EMT's. You can thank the paid ones too, I may be biased but I'm not prejudiced.
It was brought to my attention last night that due to outdated internet connections, not everyone is able to access Facebook and therefore neglected blogs do not go unnoticed. So I'm sorry Mom, I'll try...no promises...but I'll try to better about updating my blog.
The biggest news I can think to blog about today is what brought our small town into the spotlight last week. A kayaker lost his life while paddling the brook that runs through the state forest in town. With the snow melting and inches of rain falling the previous weekend, the brook was apparently irresistible to those who kayak. (Details I know have been found out through the media and not from my affiliation with the fire department...I point this out for two reasons I will address later.) From what I've read the man's kayak overturned, his fellow paddlers realized he had not resurfaced and went back to help. He was caught in a whirlpool and kept getting pulled back under. His companions eventually were able to pull him out and performed CPR to no avail. By the time they left the scene to go call for help it was not a rescue but a recovery.
The initial call came in sometime after 2PM. Members of our town's fire department and surrounding towns' departments began the mile and a half trek into the woods to begin the recovery process. I arrived at the command post around 7PM as an auxiliary member bringing food for those waiting and for those involved in the operation when they came out of the woods. What complicated matters even more than the hike in is that the man had been dragged out of the brook on the side of that was not accessible by foot. So using ropes and cold water rescue suits, department members had to get across the brook to the deceased then get him, our members and all their equipment back. The whole process took hours, many hours. At some point in the evening it was discovered that it would be easier to come out of the woods the opposite way they came in...if they'd only known that at 2PM. So at about 11PM, department members emerged from the woods with their recovery mission complete.
The man who lost his life, by all accounts that I've read, was an avid and accomplished paddler so this was not a case of inexperience. Apparently paddlers know the risk involved in the sport and perhaps that is what drives them to do it. One person wrote of him, "he went out with a smile on his face." We should all be so lucky to go out doing something we love to do.
The aforementioned points that I wanted to address are these: first, if I had been privy to any of this information through being an auxiliary member I would not be sharing it anywhere, let alone on a blog. Secondly, that's what strikes me most about the whole incident is really not only me but the people who were directly involved in the recovery didn't know details. In the few brief conversations I had, no one knew his name, where he was from, if he had family. And to them, for what they were doing those things were not important. They had a task that needed to be done and they did it.
Full time fire departments, at times, look down their noses at volunteer departments. They seem to feel volunteers are not professional enough. Although I am biased, I feel that volunteer fire departments bring more to the table. On our department we have truck drivers, engineers, arborists, etc. These guys don't sit around at the station waiting for a call to come in. When a call comes in they leave their jobs, their families, their whatever to help their fellow citizens for no monetary compensation. They don't do it for the recognition, they do it to help.
So if you have the chance remember to thank your volunteer firefighters and EMT's. You can thank the paid ones too, I may be biased but I'm not prejudiced.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Finding Motivation
Okay ladies, time to start training!
Well at least for me it is. It has come to the point of now or never, so today I not only put my gym bag in the car but I actually went and swam 14 lengths of the pool on my lunch break. (That's 350 yards in case anyone is counting!?) For those that don't know, the new training goal is to do the Trek Women's Triathlon at Fort Wilderness in September. It's the same distances and the same course we did last May, just a different company running it at a different time of year.
The good and the bad part of doing another triathlon is that I now know how much...or how little I actually need to train. I think I've been holding on a bit too hard to the how little side of things. And I do have to admit it felt pretty good to be in shape at this time last year. With the spring and summer coming fast that means opportunities for outdoor running and bike riding instead of being stuck inside at the gym.
Not sure if this little spiel is helping my fellow triathletes, but it's helped me a little bit to find some enthusiasm. Consider me the triathlon motivational speaker. If you're looking for me, I'll be in my van, down by the river.
(RIP Chris Farley)
Well at least for me it is. It has come to the point of now or never, so today I not only put my gym bag in the car but I actually went and swam 14 lengths of the pool on my lunch break. (That's 350 yards in case anyone is counting!?) For those that don't know, the new training goal is to do the Trek Women's Triathlon at Fort Wilderness in September. It's the same distances and the same course we did last May, just a different company running it at a different time of year.
The good and the bad part of doing another triathlon is that I now know how much...or how little I actually need to train. I think I've been holding on a bit too hard to the how little side of things. And I do have to admit it felt pretty good to be in shape at this time last year. With the spring and summer coming fast that means opportunities for outdoor running and bike riding instead of being stuck inside at the gym.
Not sure if this little spiel is helping my fellow triathletes, but it's helped me a little bit to find some enthusiasm. Consider me the triathlon motivational speaker. If you're looking for me, I'll be in my van, down by the river.
(RIP Chris Farley)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Blog Neglection
If it existed, I'd be doomed.
The snow is disappearing and signs of Spring are starting to pop up. Over the weekend I saw blooming crocuses, a sure sign that winter will soon be behind us.
My blog is not the only thing that I've been neglecting, trips to the gym have been few and are between during these winter months. Most days I pack my gym bag with either treadmill gear or swim gear and at the end of most days I carry the bag back in the house not having touched a thing inside. Why is it that it's so much easier to talk yourself out of a trip to the gym than it is to talk yourself into it?
*Update* So while I was typing this blog I decided that today I would go to the Y for a swim on my lunch break. I got in my car and headed toward the Y only to realize that my packed gym bag hadn't even made it to the car today. Hmmm. I was so close to getting there. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. And since tonight is Spaghetti Dinner night I'll need to work off those extra carbs. At least that's what I'm telling myself...
The snow is disappearing and signs of Spring are starting to pop up. Over the weekend I saw blooming crocuses, a sure sign that winter will soon be behind us.
My blog is not the only thing that I've been neglecting, trips to the gym have been few and are between during these winter months. Most days I pack my gym bag with either treadmill gear or swim gear and at the end of most days I carry the bag back in the house not having touched a thing inside. Why is it that it's so much easier to talk yourself out of a trip to the gym than it is to talk yourself into it?
*Update* So while I was typing this blog I decided that today I would go to the Y for a swim on my lunch break. I got in my car and headed toward the Y only to realize that my packed gym bag hadn't even made it to the car today. Hmmm. I was so close to getting there. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. And since tonight is Spaghetti Dinner night I'll need to work off those extra carbs. At least that's what I'm telling myself...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
What I've Been Doing
It has been a week of snow.
While places in the country that are accustomed to little or no snow have seen their fair share this winter, Western Massachusetts had been blissfully spared up until this week. It started snowing on Tuesday and has on and off since then. In the hills I'd say we've had 18-20 inches and more north and west of here. The thing is tomorrow is March 1st and I'm ready to be done with winter, not just getting started. Before this our last major snow fall was in December and I would have been happy to keep it that way. I know, I know some places have been hit far worse this week and I feel for them.
While places in the country that are accustomed to little or no snow have seen their fair share this winter, Western Massachusetts had been blissfully spared up until this week. It started snowing on Tuesday and has on and off since then. In the hills I'd say we've had 18-20 inches and more north and west of here. The thing is tomorrow is March 1st and I'm ready to be done with winter, not just getting started. Before this our last major snow fall was in December and I would have been happy to keep it that way. I know, I know some places have been hit far worse this week and I feel for them.
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