Making Lemonade

Sorry for not updating recently, LOTS of things going on. Life gets in the way sometimes.

  First I'd like to say, Jacob (2 month old from previous blogs) is doing great! Breathing on his own, and we got him away from his evil parents.  I hope he grows up to be President, or at least does something awesome!
  Spent the day yesterday making the front yard look like someone actually lives here.  Had these "satan vines" growing in the bushes. Pretty purple flowers and red berries, no idea what it is, but it was EVERYWHERE!  Including over the entrance to the yellow jacket's nest.  Took 2 to the stomach, one to the chest, one directly on top of my head, and three to the back. OUCH!
  Reading some "self help" books and Andrew Carnegie's autobiography.  It was really cool to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play ball on TV while reading about the Pittsburgh Steel King.  What a fascinating man he was! Books have me on a great road right now, and I can't wait to see where it takes me and my family.  Talking about moving out of the city, looking at houses in the 'burbs.  Making 10 year plans to own 3 houses, one of which will be in Kill Devil Hills.  Andrew Carnegie said "Put all of your eggs in one basket. Then WATCH THAT BASKET!"  I like it!  Another quote from a different book that I'm leaning on right now is "If you have a big problem, you're just being a small person."

  I'm cooking dinner tonight, ribs on the grill and fresh sweet corn from the farm.  Want my baby doll to walk in the door after work to a nice dinner.  Stopping at my friend's BBQ food truck for lunch, getting a few pointers on cooking, and a jar of his homemade sauce.  Have some running around to do this morning, open a new bank account because someone broke into my truck over the weekend and now has my bank account number.  My bad! Don't leave shit like that in your vehicle dummy!

  Right now times are a little difficult, but hey, everyone has problems.  Stay positive, look to the road ahead, and enjoy what life has in store.  Can't wait to see what's down the road for me!

  Ya'll stay safe out there!!!!  Thanks for reading!

EGBAR

  Well, been a rough week for me. Not handling the back-to-back youngsters all that well.  Talking to friends, some that were on scene with me, and a Critical Incident Stress counselor. I don't want to lay this on my family at all. Took a few days off work to go find Fishy Fishy and get my head straight.
  I honestly believe that the universe gives you what you want, or are currently asking for.  Be all negative, and guess what? More negative comes! Have to go to court tomorrow as a witness in the child abuse case, then I'm being POSITIVE. Taking my honey to an Akron Aeros baseball game.  I have season tickets, so why not?
  Couple beers, peanuts, 3 dog night (hot dog inside a bratwurst, inside kielbasa!) and my baby doll. Can't get much better than that. A long time ago Simple Green had a campaign called "EGBAR" which stood for Everything's Gonna Be All Right.
  As rough as this week has been, I find myself wanting to hurt the guy that injured his son. But that won't solve anything at all.  I find myself wondering why Aden was the victim of such a horrible accident.  He didn't do anything wrong. I wonder how the driver of the car is doing, as bad as I feel, I can't even imagine what he's going through.  Not sure why, but I was "chosen" to be there for a reason, now I have to accept it and deal with it.

  So anyways gang, chin up! Face in the sun! It's gonna be whatever kind of day YOU make it!  Mine's gonna be great!

  Thanks for reading!!!!

Rough Weekend!

Well, since it's on the news, I guess I can share now.  Here's what I did Friday at work, I was first on scene:

http://www.wfmj.com/story/22787424/struthers-infant-in-hospital

And then last night at work, again, I was first on scene:

http://www.wkbn.com/2013/07/08/struthers-boy-struck-killed-by-car/

Two shifts in a row with the little ones, enough of that please!

  But in between those days, had a great time hanging out with the family.  Spent Saturday with a plan! I ran around and did some errands and my chores while my honey took care of her errands in the morning.  Taylor brought home a rather large kiddy pool that I blew up and filled. Wife and daughter, in bathing suits in the Kiddy pool! It was so funny. 2 adults sitting in 18" of water and in their glory!
  Johnny and I spent some quality time getting all the kinks out of my "kink-free" big $ garden hose, then putting together our new outdoor dining table.  You would think a firefighter could handle his hose better. No snide comments!! LMAO! Then the rain came, so we took the party indoors.  Some friends stopped by after the rain, so I was back to chores. Namely drying the deck seat cushions and filling tiki torches. All-in-all a pretty stellar day.
  Not much going on Sunday.  Pretty much just hanging out with the family, but much less of a "party" atmosphere.  Then over to a buddy's house to help him move some stuff.  Pretty good weekend other than the Friday-Monday bookends!

Save!

I can't get into details right now for legal reasons. BUT! Starting with me, into my medic friends, ER Docs, and then eventually my friends at the police department.  Not only did we save a 2 month old baby boy yesterday, but possibly his 18 month old sister too!

2 month old is on life support but he's alive because of all of us!

911 call came in, I took care of it. Gave you my best on your worst day.

LOTS of "negative" on this call. But because of me and my colleagues, 2 month old baby boy is alive! And I don't care where you're from, that's GOOD!

WOOO-HOOOO!!!!

Happy 4th!

Under the advice of a friend from OBXconnection, had the camera out tonight on manual.  Getting the hang of it little by little! And having fun with it!

4th of July Parade

This is "MY" rig! Engine 83

4th of July Parade

The entire Struthers FD at the parade today. Well, except for the Chief's rig.

Fishy Fishy!

And so it begins..

Well, here it goes. My blog.  This all started with suggestions from OBXConnection.com where I do an annual "trip report".  Kind folks over there seem to think I have a gift for writing, and suggested I write a book or a blog, so here it is.

Happy Birthday to the greatest country on the planet!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July, and a  SAFE one as well!  Let's not do anything stupid today please.  And also Thank You to all the firefighters, police officers, and paramedics that are working today to keep us safe, and missing yet another holiday with their families.

  Just got back from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. My family's annual vacation.  Getting used to socks and work boots again, and the world doesn't seem to want to let me get gently re acclimated to real life.  It's a full on assault! LOL Rough first day back to work, but that's OK. Off yesterday and today. Looking forward to spending the holiday with my family. Spent some quality time yesterday with a good buddy that's going through some difficult times.  This too, shall pass.

  So for the first blog entry, I'm gonna end this one early.  Can't wait to see where this takes me, well US since you're involved too because you're reading it.

Stay safe! It's a jungle out there!!!