The Demon Door

  Sorry, no song to go with this one, just straight thoughts from me.

  Every time I come home, without fail, My wife, my children ask "How was your day, Dad?" Even my buddy Carl is excited to see me, tail wagging "HI DAD!"

  My day was "OK" is my standard answer.

  What I don't tell them, or ANYONE is about my Demon Door.  The Demon Door is a place way back in the darkest corner of your brain that you store stuff you do not want to deal with.

  Today, I saw a woman overdose on heroin. At 5:00.  In front of her children.  In front of her grandchildren.  The grandchildren were watching Nickelodeon like nothing was wrong.

  Today I saw a completely psychotic woman about to end her life, because of things she had done in her past.

  Today I saw a 16 year old girl talking to her mother in a fashion that would NOT be accepted in my generation, and would have probably landed me in the hospital with a fractured jaw and missing teeth if I had uttered those words to my mother.

  Yesterday, I saw a Cop, who happens to be a lifelong friend of mine,  put himself in danger to make our community a safer place to live.  He ended up at the hospital getting stitches.

  I was very fortunate enough to talk to a new dear friend of mine tonight.  Wanted to know stories.  That's when WE realized the Demon Door.  There are things we deal with in the Police/Fire/EMS world that the general public cannot deal with, yet we do on a daily basis.

  We all have saved and lost loved ones.  We have all seen tragedies and travesties.  We have all been angry at the situation found, but have done what we were trained and hired to do and made a positive outcome.

    So, you people from "Outer Space" that want to know what's in our minds, out of your curiosity?

BEWARE

We ALL have a "Demon Door" 

Hey, I don't know

WHAT a day!

Hey, I don't know!

  Obviously by the lack of my blog posts, I done fell off of my mountain again. But this is a great story, and I'm climbing again, and NOTHING is getting in my way this time!

  This story depends on a past story, so if you're new to my blog or not familiar with my New Stanton exit story you need to read this first: The Country Song

  Cool story!  So a short time back I realized I fell off my mountain and lost my way.  I was asking GOD, Karma, The Universe to help me find my way back.  Thought I was doing good by trying to help others, but I wasn't "ALL IN" and it wasn't working.  There was a hump I couldn't get over, but I was trying.  I even thought to myself "Why isn't this working anymore? I'm really trying." Yet I was bitching about my idiot neighbor, Obamacare, and had a "Why me" kinda attitude somewhere in the back of my mind.

 Friday the 13th, June 2014.  Run over to Gibsonia PA to look at a car fire for job #2.  My son wanted to go with me for something to do, I explained that he can't go because you have to literally be on "the list" provided by the insurance company to even get in the yard, let alone look at the car.  He was curious as to what I do, and wanted to learn something.  I felt bad for telling him not this time.  So I get to the salvage yard, I LOVE this place.  I consider everyone there a friend of mine because I go there so often. Nice conversation with the office staff, Bob brings my car out, nice conversation with Bob.  Do my thing, figure out what started the fire, yadda yadda.  Then I get a text from my "brother".  "I need a HUGE favor if you're in Da Burgh."  I'm not in Da Burgh but I'm a hell of a lot closer than you are!  Just needed some pics of an accident scene he's working on.

  Drive back towards town until my "awesome" T-Mobile phone gets a signal, and we can figure out where the hell I'm going.  We figure it out, and before you know it I'm eastbound on the PA pike again.  This should be a 2 hour delay in my day to help my "brother" out.  On it!

  Send him a text, trying to be a smart ass, "OMG It's the New Stanton exit!  On Friday the 13th!"   Even send this pic:

 Yes, that's MY guardrail from the previous story.  Get off in New Stanton, head to 70 westbound and literally 10 min later my truck dies. I'm 2 min from where I need to take pics of the accident scene, and 2 hours from home.

12:30:  Well, I know how this ends up!  Been there, done that!  OH! Go figure, my awesome T-Mobile phone has ZERO signal!  Fantastic!  I jump the guardrail and walk towards the motel until I get a single bar for a signal.  Call 911 because I have NO CLUE where I am. Call my new roadside insurance because I learned from the last time!!!!  They're on it!

13:15: PA State Trooper shows up.  I have a CCW, my weapon is in the truck, loaded.  OK.  You're off the road, we're good, I'll check on you later.  Thank you sir!

  I don't think I'm in a safe place at all, so I remove myself from the potential accident scene.

  So we sit and wait. For 2 and a half hours!  Insurance Co calls me back, walk back towards the motel to get a signal, call them back.  Finally found a tow truck.  ETA 1 hour.  Tow truck driver on conference call tells me he has to stop for fuel first. GOOD BOY!  So here we sit.  Trying to help a friend.  All alone. Angry at my situation, my phone, and the world.  What else bad can you send my way?

Wow! Really?

  Ok, I'll shut up!

  I was ANGRY.  Wondering why I was being "punished" for trying to help a friend.

 FINALLY made it home, and still didn't know what my lesson was.  Grabbed a beer, hugged my wife, chatted with my son. It's been a looooong day.  I need a shower.  Then it hit me. WOW did it hit me!

 I was literally ASKING for this!  Needed some alone time. Got it!  Desperately asking for a way to get over that hump, and back on track. Got it!

  It took me a long time to figure it out, but I did.  I asked for exactly what I got.

  Standing on the side of the road alone. 

 I saw breast cancer stickers.  I saw POW/MIA stickers.  I saw Lupus, Autism and Alzheimers stickers.  I saw a Convoy of USMC troops that weren't with they're family's.  I saw a Dassanti truck when I was thirsty. I saw an ambulance on the red.  EVERYONE that passed me had problems of their own that don't concern me.

  So, Hey!  I don't know, why don't you tell me?  God sure did.  Just took me a few hours to understand my lesson.

  I didn't realize it at the time.  

  But I was the fortunate one.  

  My big problem was a faulty fuel pump.