Ichigan, take II

  I normally wouldn't start a story before the story happens.  But in this case I will, there are SOOOO many people looking forward to our annual snowmobile trip.  I also have things I'd like to "note" for the later story, so what better way to make notes, than to start the story! My idiot friends have already started this story, so I should start writing.

  EVERY year, we say "We are NOT doing this again next year!!" referring to the thrash that happens working on sleds, trucks, and trailers the day before we leave.  My hands are stained, and literally smell like "two stroke smoke."  Lots of hell to get through, but we're ready.  5 of 11 already on the trailer.  In the middle of the "trash" we have to go pick the third Musketeer at the airport, he came up specifically for this trip.

  The MOMENT I saw him walk out of the terminal, I jumped out of the Jeep, ran up to him and jumped into his arms.  He's THAT kind of a guy!  Pat did the same.  Erick is really THAT cool, and he flew in from Flo-Ryda just for our snowmobile trip.

  On the way home from the airport, Erick's sitting in the back seat commenting on how comfortable and "posturepedic" the seats are.  He's being serious but the way he says it it hilarious.  Who uses "posturpedic" in a normal sentence?  He starts telling us a story about blah blah blah that happened to him in Florida.  I look at Pat and make a comment....

  In Three Stooges fashion, Erick slaps Pat and I both in the back of the head.  "Hey!  Are you two nipple nods listening to me?"


  I'm about to take on the greatest responsibility ever, and I welcome it.

  My job?   Bring them home.

  When I START with "friends" like this, I have no choice.  I'll bring them home, with a story.

Paramedic School II: Learning to FLY

If you've read any or all of my blog, it should come as no surprise that I surround myself with the best people I can find for a particular situation. I do this on purpose. I get pretty animated about things I'm passionate about.  Be it firefighting, drag racing, or something as simple and mundane as making coffee.  I want the BEST coffee maker ever showing me the ropes!  I demand the best of the best.

  I will settle for nothing less.

  It is a true gift from above when someone asks you to mentor them, teach them, and guide them through what you've already done. If you find yourself in this situation, It's a blessing.  Seriously? What does this Mutt want??? Does He deserve my time???  YES SIR! HE DOES!  You SIR have an opportunity for change.

  I have done this!  For this I am fortunate X 10.

  Watching others succeed in their own endeavors is glorious!  Its even better when those you mentor take your knowledge and run with it.  Look at what THEY just did!  I helped turn this rookie into someone that not only can now teach me something, but they are out there saving strangers, and teaching others.  A caring, compassionate, intelligent human being that I had a small part in creating. An always learning, willing to share, teaching MONSTER!

  I now find myself on the other side of that coin.  In my transition from the end of my teaching career in the fire service, to the beginning of my learning career in the EMS world, I'm still surrounded by the best minds possible.  I did that on purpose too.

Learning to FLY!

  I'm 46 years old, and I want to be a Paramedic when I grow up.  I've purposefully surrounded myself with the best Mentors.  Instructors. Preceptors. Co-Workers.

  The wisdom and knowledge I walk into when looking for the time clock is phenomenal!  Ya just have to know where to "listen".

  I study around the clock.  I study notes.  I study books.  I study videos.  But the most important thing I've found is that I study the people I purposely put around myself.  I learn from them, even though they may not realize they are teaching at that moment.  I do my best.  Then I do my best plus. I also study WHOM to put around myself. I retreat from negative people.  I attract positive people.  I DO have a shit umbrella, just in case I'm forced to be around a negative person all day.

  My current "Boss" in the EMS world (More of a Mentor. No, not more of.  He's a Mentor and a Role Model.) told me on my hire interview as an EMT-B: "Billy, we all know you'll be a Paramedic soon.  But here is what I want.  I already have a Frank Medic, I already have a Bonnie Medic.  I have a Jimmy Medic too.  I don't need another of any of those,  Take what you can from them.  They are all good in they're very own way!  We love them, we NEED them!  But, I what I want, what I need to see is what Billy The Medic can do!"

  I was told, by all of these new mentors that I now hold in high regard, that Paramedic school would somehow "click" at an unknown point in the future.

  Becoming a Paramedic is an overwhelming amount of knowledge in a short 2 year period of time.

  Thinking back about all those I've taught how to tie a figure eight on a bight, a seemingly unobtainable task.  I taught them.

  Paramedic school is simple.  It's an insurmountable task, with a mind numbing amount of knowledge along with an incredible amount of responsibility.

  I'm not better or smarter than anyone else, I've just surrounded myself with the best people.

  I was told by these new found Mentors of mine that I would be handed "magical" powers.  I've witnessed these powers in the hands of my mentors, first hand!  Their hands can and do literally save lives.

  My hands are not capable, yet they assure me that they are. And more.  Their hands live on in mine through  The wisdom. The Skills. The Knowledge. The Mentors accepting me, expecting me to attain their skills and perhaps someday make them proud.  Accepting me.

  These men and women are MASTERS of their craft!
  They expect my best, after all they taught me.
  I don't know what my best is yet, but I know those that have taught me.

 "There are people waiting! What do YOU want to do Boss?"


I want to make you proud, but more importantly I want to give this patient, my ONLY patient right now, my full attention.  The attention deserved from all of my mentors.

  I'm just learning to fly.

Paramedic School I

  I titled this Paramedic School "I" because I KNOW there are going to be more blogs about this.

  For my fans, fear not I will get back to "Small Town" soon,

  I'm just an "ambulance driver" for now, but I'm going through Paramedic School.  First of all, don't call us ambulance driver's, there is so much training and hard work involved.  We're called EMTs for a reason.  Emergency Medical Technician.

  Paramedic School is ridiculous, I honestly don't know how there are any Paramedics on the face of the earth right now.  I call it "Dr Light".  There is so much information to cram into your brainus, so many hours of riding on an ambulance for free, so many hours of working in an ER for free, so many hours of studying.  So much time and dedication.

  If you ever find yourself in need, and I hope you never do, but if you hear the words "Hi, I'm Bill. I'm a Paramedic and I'm here to help you."  You are in the hands of angels.

  I'm at the end of our first semester of 3 in Medic School.  My brain hurts from the amount of information being crammed into it.  My back hurts from all of the lifting.  I'm literally emotionally and physically exhausted.  STUDY! QUIZ! STUDY! RIDE TIME! STUDY! CLINICALS!

  I have doubts of whether I have the knowledge and or skills to pass this class and actually become a Paramedic.  All of this going on while working TWO full time jobs.

  Breathe Billy!  Breathe!  I got this.  FOCUS.

  I got to thinking today about where I am in my own life, and where I want to be,  I want to be exactly where I am right now. In Medic School.

  On a recent trip,  I felt as though I was making my own music video in real time. Here's how it played out:

  Medic 101
Medic 101
  Code 3 in the city, Diabetic Emergency
Medic 101 roger, on the way

  And at that exact moment, this song came on. I literally turned the red lights on a 00:46 into this song.

Lovin EVERY minute!


Nothing personal, but I never want to meet you.  But if you touch that dial.... start me like a motor, make me run!

You called me on your worst day.  
That's when I'm at my best.

Small Town: Fairs

  While I was working at McDonald's as the night watchman/maintenance dude, the carnival rolled into town in the plaza behind us.  I had become familiar with the "carnies" as they are called through my years at our local county fair. I however, had not become familiar with Tara!  I DID have a Mustang Cobra at this point though!  One night after work I decided to hit the local carnival.  Hell, what else did I have to do?

  SO against the grain of my inner being, I actually went up and talked to a stranger!  A girl even!  Tara and I hit it off from the word go, even though I don't believe "go" was ever said.

  Tara was shorter than I by about a foot.  Long blonde hair, a bit overweight, but she had all the right curves in all the right places.  She would meet me at my beach job ( I STILL do not know what she did for a living!!!) and we would sit and chat.  Nothing every really happened with her, but it was certainly nice to know someone from the south was interested in me.  We went fishing, we seemed to have muttled our way though our teenage years with each other as friends,

  It was at this point that I turned in my first application as a firefighter.  Cape Coral FL was hiring, and I wanted to be a part of it!  Even though at this point I had not a flipping clue what "it" was.

It's also at this point in my life that the turbo Mustang I just bought became important,  Dad and I spent HOURS on this car until we learned that blah blah blah.  We got it running HARD CORE!

  Tara had lost interest in me at this point, but had also taught me so much about I don't have to be alone, and this GIRL wants to be with me. Curvy, soft and she smelled good.  I can't blame her at all, she was willing to teach, I was worried about the car.  Retrospect, dummy me.  DUMMY me!

  So here I am a few months later.  I have the world by the ass, although I didn't know it at the time, and Dad comes into the garage.

  Junior, we have to talk.   "We're moving back to Ohio son."

  Ahhhhh shit Dad.  Shit. Dad? SHIT! Really? Gulf Coast Florida, 17 years old, Killer Mustang, making money, and I know about girls now.  We work on boats for fun, we go fishing 40 feet from our house.  I don't know what's going on on your end, but life is GRAND on mine!!!!

  When are we leaving Pop? How can I help?



  Tara was already gone, no more making my own food at McDonald's, no more beach. No more bikinis. No more anything I had grown into an adult as, and grown to love.

Point the Orange Mustang north.  And at that exact moment, my Flo-Rida life was over.



 

Bad Medicine

  Bad Medicine

  It's super simple yet complicated. So is everything in life.  The key is to make the complicated simple!  Simple, right? Or is that make the simple complicated? Or simple?

WAIT A SECOND!!! THAT'S A V-8 DIESEL RUNNING ON ALCOHOL!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8-xkrL-iVg

  Do you automatically make simple things complicated?  I call that "drama", but drama is a time for another blog. Not now. Do you want to make complicated things, "simple"? I call that "Life."

  The key here is to make what seems "complicated" simple in your life.  By adding complicated things.  Complicated things are nothing more than things in your life that are out of your comfort zone.  As I have said before, the only, the ONLY way to improve your life is to learn new things. The  only way to learn new things.... is way over there. Out of your comfort zone.  So if there is something "complicated" in your life right now, lets add more. We're gonna add YOU out of your comfort zone to add positive to the situation.

  Its that simple.  Embrace the complicated things in your life, its a way of learning.  Add YOU from the unknown. Out of the comfort zone, That situation is no longer complicated.  NEXT!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U78Ji5vXInw



 Karma gives the real battles to the warriors.

Year 26, Day 1

   25 years ago today, The City of Struthers thought it would be a good idea to hire me as a firefighter.  What an incredible journey its been, I hope they still believe that was a good decision.

  Back in 1990, I was a young man full of energy, but lacking on fire service knowledge.  Thankfully I was surrounded by others willing to mentor and teach.  Over the years, I've grown as a person and as a firefighter.  I've been a leader, an instructor, a role model.  I'll never be a master of my craft, but will always keep striving to be.

  Over the past 25 years, I've seen so many things.  Some I'd like to forget, but most I will cherish for the rest of my days.  If you're from "Outer Space" (What I call people NOT in the fire service) there are no words to describe The Brotherhood, I'm not even going to attempt to.  My second family.  The people I've met, the places this job has taken me, the opportunities it has afforded me.  Hopefully I've been a mentor to a few of my Brothers, I know for sure I've learned more from them than I could give back in three fire service careers.

  Today I find myself much older, hopefully much wiser and way down on the energy side of this business.  I realized how the tables have turned, and how I'm now an "old timer" teaching the next generation of firefighters the art of our craft.  Again I'm thankful to be surrounded, but this time by firefighters willing to listen and learn.  I've always been a student, and will be until they put me in the ground.

  I assure you, this is not a "farewell" letter.  Its a THANK YOU!  Thank you for putting your faith and trust in me to be there when you needed me.  Thank you for skills, tools, and knowledge you have given me.

  I can't wait to see what's next!

The Legend of Carl Dog

  My family lost Carl Dog to a massive infection, probably caused by cancer on August 10, 2015.  He was born May 24, 1999.  We're not exactly sure of the date, but we chose that date because it's also my daughter's birth date.  He was found as a new born puppy under a shrub in Roosevelt Park in Campbell.  A loving person found him, took him in to take care of him, and placed an ad in the paper, "Free Dog to good home."  I had no idea what this dog was capable of or what he was about to teach my family.  I offered a good home, for the dog.  The dog made us a good home!

  Although we already had Dusty Dog, I felt it wasn't fair to leave her home alone so much, as both kids were in school, and my wife and I both worked crazy hours.  So I went to see him, and was strictly thinking of finding Dusty a friend.  As soon as I met him, he loved me.  And I loved him.

  Carlin Douglas came to live with us that day, and quickly became part of our family. He and Dusty became fast friends and were inseperable. We named him after George Carlin, and just called him Carl for short.  Because who would name a dog George??  That's ridiculous.

  His name and personality quickly fit together like an acorn in a chipmunk's mouth.  He developed many nicknames such as, Carlos, Carl, Carl from Campbell, Car-Hole (because he really was an asshole sometimes!) Cizzarl Dizzog, Dammit Carl, and the most used CARLDOG.  It was almost impossible to just call him Carl.

  A few years later, my family found ourselves in a huge predicament.  We had to move.  Not going in to deatils, its not important.  The years had been hard on Ole Crusty Rusty Dusty dog, she had arthritis and could barely stand up on her own.  Carlin would actually help her get up sometimes.  So it was decided that we would leave our beloved neighbors, and start again at our new home.  Without pets.  Typing this story reminds me of the pain I felt having to put Ole Dusty Dog down, and we put Carlin up for adoption.

  The kids were NOT OK with this decision, and kept asking what happened to Carl.  After what seemed like a million phone calls, I finally got someone at the dog pound to breech protocol and she actually told me Carl was adopted by a family with a farm in Brookfield.  The kids were OK with that story, and we continued life as a family, adapting to our new home and life without pets.  Things progressed as expected for a few months, and we became accustomed to our new surroundings.

  One day while I was working on the race car, I can remember what clothes I was wearing!  My wife calls me.  

"Hey Hon, I just got a phone call from one of our old neighbors.  Do you remember Mike?"

     "Yeah, why?"

"He just called me and said that Carl is on our old back porch."

     "Wait. WHAT?"

"Yes, Carl Dog is on our old back porch. What should I do?"

     "You go see if it really is Carl.  If it is, you bring his ass home!  If he wants to be with us THAT bad, well then he will be!"

"OK. I'll let you know."

"Hon? Carl is here. He's scared, looks like shit, but he's here. He's really here.! It's really Carl Dog!"

     "Bring his orange ass home, I'll be there in a few."

  The damn dog chewed through his leash to get free.  It was POURING down rain that whole weekend. Tornado warnings in all 3 counties.  14 miles, and two major highways to get past.  He did it. He wanted to be with us THAT bad!

  Carl Dog decided he wanted US as his family.  My wife brought him home.  HOME.  He chose us, he knew where his home was.

  The next day, I was on duty at the fire station, We felt it wasn't good to leave him in a new place, after all he just went through.  So Carl worked a shift at the fire station.  Gave him a bath behind the fire truck.  This is when I noticed the pads on his feet were worn from walking on concrete.  He had worn his nails down to the point that a few of them were bleeding.  He was cold, wet, tired, sore, scared, and miserable. And happy. He slept so hard that day, he snored.

His tail was wagging, because he was with me. He chose us to be his family. I was happy to be with him.

  Hanging on the wall in our home, I have his leash from Brookfield and a story.  I won't point it out, and its not in an obvious location.  But if you ask, I will sure as hell tell you his story!

"Don't Quit"

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging on seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit--

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a person turns about

When they might have won, had they stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow---
You might succed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late whe the night came down

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out----

Its pressing on past fear and doubt--

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit:

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit!!!

  During the following months, Cizzarl got accustomed to our new house, and the changes that had happened while he was away.  He was an ass, and would escape every chance he got.  He absolutely KNEW how to open the screen door on the deck! Unless you were watching! Then all of a sudden he got "stupid."  He would play "deaf", he would play "blind." If it benefitted him. 

  We didn't know where he went when he escaped for a while.  We would drive around looking for him.  Jerri, our old neighbor called my wife one day.  Carl is sitting on your old back porch howling. I think he's looking for Dusty.

  Something as simple as peeing on a phone pole made him so happy.  He chose us as a family, and he went through hell to be with us.

  Lessons learned from an animal that didn't judge.  An animal that showed us what unconditional love was.  An animal that was happy to be with his family. An animal that was part of our family.

Nose in the wind my friend, My Carl Dog.