This is a placeholder, because my tale isn’t finished. Carry on until I have it done.
Type fast, man! Great title!
Second! Woot! Great title, I am really looking forward to the whole tale. Can you type faster, please, I am very impatient!
Do we get helicopter pics?
Need MMP fast!
my wayward son…
Oops wrong thread.
Up, caffeinated, off to irk.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienated. We had a tstorm last night. A biiiiiig one that woke me up and had me sittin’ up for about 45 minutes until it passed. Haven’t checked the rain gauge yet but I’m sure there’s a couple inches of rain at least.
BBBobbio I got the preview on fb. Can’t wait for the details!
Bob, we’ll hold our collective breath.
Blurf.
I am looking forward to the fireman tale.
Wow, just dropped off my final paperwork and it could take several weeks to get paid. (Normally you get paid waeekly.) Oh well, it was such a nice weekend it still made up for it.
Now I’m sitting at Panera and I just had an awesome bagel with cream cheese. But holy cow, that’s quite a few calories so I only ate half the cream cheese.
Next up is either clothes shopping or a trip to the bank followed by a nap!
Yay! First day back at work after nine days off!
No, wait…not “yay”…that other thing. The one that means just the opposite.
I just had the oddest birthday of the 49 I’ve endured to date, and this is the chronicle of the second oddball call I had in the previous 2 days. Thursday, I fought a house fire in a severe thunderstorm. Nothing was story worthy about that incident, except for the weather.
This past spring, while doing stuff for the fire department, I found out my property is an officially designated landing zone to be used for medical flights. Okay, kinda cool, but the only suitable spot for landing a helicopter is a bit tight, and will become a mini fruit orchard whenever I get around to planting the trees. Fruit trees and rotating blades don’t mix, so the LZ designation may be short lived.
It was birthday weekend, VunderWife on Firday, and me Saturday. Vunderwife had declared that she wanted to go to Hampton where we used to live and get her feet wet in the Chesapeake Bay. Okay, we’ll go.
We stopped in Chesapeake where she did a bit of shopping, had lunch at the Hampton Hooter’s (it was her choice, but nobody ever believes me), then headed out to Grandview Island to go to the beach. The walk in the sand was nice, except for dodging the dead and dying jellyfish. We schmoozed some dogs, waded out into the water, and talked to various people. It was a low key good time.
VWife has been getting IV iron as treatment for profound anemia that doesn’t respond to oral supplements, and she had one Firday. The treatments leave her sick for a day or so afterwards, and the beach walk did her in. We headed for home.
We were within a few miles of the VunderLair when we heard a page for somebody falling at the Mayberry [del]Warehouse for the Elderly and Infirm[/del] Nursing Home, and needing transport. We both said uh-oh, because the joke is when the nursing home is involved, the pages come in pairs, or worse. We were right.
Just as I turned onto the far end of our road, a second page was issued for a single vehicle wreck, with the reported location very near the Pixley fire station. Multiple patients involved, one with head injuries. Nobody could find the accident.
Pixley sent out most of their equipment to look, and others went in their private vehicles. Radio traffic from the chief directed some to search my road, which is the eastern boundary of their district. I got on and told them twice it was clear, I had just driven the entire length and saw nothing. They looked anyway.
They finally found the SUV involved on a side road about a mile and a half as the crow flies northwest of my house. Yup, two patients, one with facial injuries and bleeding rather profusely, the other just bumped around a bit. Then they paged for an Intermediate.
I made the promise to VWife I would not take any calls this weekend because of birthdays. I blew off 2 requests for my services already, and told a big fat fib to the chief about our Saturday plans in the process to get him off my back. VWife looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said, “You’re going.” So I went anyway.
Didn’t take me long to get there. No extrication was necessary, and the hurt guy was out of the wrecked vehicle and sitting in a different car with a rag on his face. He was going to need a lot of stitches. Between our exam, standard protocols, and a brief loss of consciousness, all the pieces were in place and we had to fly him to a trauma center. East Care out of Pirateville was summoned.
Pixley’s chief then cornered me. “Where do you want the landing zone set up?”
Great. Now I have to decide that. “Is the Pixley Christian Church a designated LZ?”
“We’ve used it, but it’s not official.” An official LZ has predetermined GPS coordinates.
“OK. Well, the closest designated LZ is my place. Land them in the northwest corner of the property.”
He gave me a look of, ‘you have to be shitting me’, but the fire department took off and set up.
We did our usual stuff to the patient, backboard, dressed wounds, IV, trauma exam. Once the IV was going, we rolled too.
When I looked up from the patient, the ambulance was parked by my pole barn. I could see firemen, traffic cones, and all sorts of gawkers standing around. VWife was outside, helping as she could and taking pictures.
East Care circled the property, plopped down right in the center of the zone, and we transferred the patient. It was textbook. Then they took off, and the excitement was over, except for the ruts left in the sand. Old Fred across the road had a front row seat and enjoyed the show immensely.
All of the dogs barked themselves into comas, and we spent the rest of the evening answering phone calls about the event. Happy birthdays, indeed.
[I have pictures to go with this, but I can’t link to them from work. Look for a later post]
Laughing ------- oooops, still the wrong thread.
BOBBIO great birthday memory. Many many moons ago I can remember a fantastic blaze on my birthday the VFD had to turn out for. Easy to find though ----- it was the firehall and station! I believe the fire started in the bar, under the bar itself, and since the booze had all torched off we had Caine’s own time getting any of the equipment out to fight the fire with. Other departments responded though, and the community really supported us, and it all came out good (Well ------ actually you could say “well done” 
) in the end.
That’s a birthday you won’t forget, bobbio!
I made rye bread on Saturday and pesto, granola, and chocolate chip cookie dough (frozen to be used a few cookies at a time so there are always fresh cookies available) on Sunday. KT was nice enough to clean up the kitchen after all of that. It was a good weekend.
:dubious: An actual bar in the fire station? My station would never sober enough to answer a page if we had one.
There is one other station in the county with a reputation of whenever a page goes out for a training exercise being code for the keg is chilled.
In PA, having a bar in the basement or beside the equipment bays is pretty common. I can only think of a handful where the social hall and “business end” are two buildings and separated by a small distance. Castle Shannon springs to mind. But more are like Blaine Hill and just one building. Social memberships (bar privileges) are actually one of the major sources of funds around here.
We had responsibility for the Elizabeth Bridge which has a nasty curve on one end. Standard rule for ambulance crews back then was first sign of raindrops you headed for the bar and played Hearts or Euchre ----- sodas and snacks were free. We knew beyond any doubt we would have calls for TAs and it saved response time. God help your soul though if you went from the bar on a call having consumed any alcohol. Jesus may forgive you but the Chief and Company President never would.
Firemans fair parades are another story. I can remember one company that I refuse to name (us) who had forgotten to designate a driver. They (we) had to make a drunken call back to the station to get someone else to come get the truck and miscreants involved.
Great story, Bob! Happy belated birthday. 
I won $60 at poker on Friday night. 
Saturday evening I went to a private screening of The Wizard of Oz at a local cinema & drafthouse that a friend rented out: every year he throws a big party to thank all of his clients, and the friends who have sent referrals his way. It was awesome, with free food and drinks and good friends. I got home from that around 8pm, and spent the rest of the night at home with the doggy. Yesterday was very low-key, too, in a good way. I’m already looking forward to the end of this week: I’m an aspiring jazz singer, and two friends/fellow jazz musicians are helping me get some exposure by letting me sing a couple of songs with their quartet on Friday night. I just have to not suck, but I think I can handle that. 
Time for some lunch!
bobbio, you have such an interesting life.
I went to see Inception on Friday afternoon. I really liked it.
Very hot weekend at Casa Anachi. The pool was over 90 degrees and more like getting into a hot tub yesterday. Then we lost power (AGAIN!) at around 8 and it didn’t come back until after 11. Another faulty transformer. :mad:
I still haven’t got my iphone. It’s only been a week but I am ansty.
That’s all I got.
Tupug
Happy belated birthday , Bob.
I am so annoyed with people around here. We have had a heat advisory for several days. The heat advisory essentially is to let people know that it’s really a bad idea to do anything outside. The temps are in the 90’s but the feels like temps are over 100. Now if you would not run around outside barefoot while wearing a fur coat in these conditions, don’t expect your dog to do it!
We’ve seen about 4 or 5 heat strokes this week and at least one that was DOA.
The problem with heat strokes is that people think all they have to do is cool the animal down but that is not enough. Essentially they cooked in their own juices and their body will start shutting down. It is extremely difficult to treat and have a good outcome and it is so preventable with a little common sense.
Coyote that makes me all grrrr… I say we should take names and pictures of people who do this stuff and plaster ‘em all over on signs sayin’ this person can never own an animal.
They should all be like the folks I took my edger to this mornin’. I have to remember to look down when I open the door because “Buck” their sizeable and extremely laid back mutt may just be asleep right there. Apparently right in front of the door is the just right combo of sunshine from outside and a/c from inside and Buck just lurves it there! Sure 'nough there was Buck! I looked at him and said “Wassup Buck.” He raised his head, wagged his tail a couple of times and went back to sleep. Hey, at least he acknowledged me right?
I have done the edger chore aforementioned, been to the bank, to Staples, the post office, Long John Silver’s (I think tummy is plannin’ on holdin’ a grudge for that but it was good!) and the grocery sto’. It’s waaaaay hawt, heat advisory and all that there so da bear is in da cave for good now. I was provided with leftovers after yesterday’s lunch, so tonight’s dindin is heat 'n eat leftovers. Fine by me!
BBBobbio I say leave the designated LZ. That way when you give tours of the Vunderlair you can point out your officially designated LZ. I mean, how many other people do you know who can say that.