Sad Day in the Firefighter Community

July 1st. 2013

 

It is a very sad day here in Arizona and in my community of firefighter brothers and sisters.

You have probably all heard the news stories about the 19 young firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hot Shots that lost their lives on June 30th, 2013 while fighting the Yarnell Hill fire in south of Prescott Arizona.


Granite Mountain Hot Shots - Rest in Peace
God Speed Brothers ~ We'll take it from here.

Please keep the families, friends and loved ones of these young men, boys really, in your thoughts and prayers.

I have been a firefighter my entire adult life and started out working as a Hot Shot on my 18th birthday. 35 years later I am still on the job and my heart is breaking for the thought of these young lives that have been so tragically snuffed out. I knew several of these lost souls and their families personaly.

Also keep all the families that have lost their homes and all of their possessions during this tragic incident. My sister-in-law and her husband were amoung those who have lost everything.

Please support your local firefighters as they put their lives on the line every day to protect you and your family.

Time for a BREAK

It seems like lately we've been workin' our fingers to the bone and have had little time away from the grind.

Kristie has had more than a few "stand up 24s" on the ambulance (that's when she goes to work at 0800 and doesn't get a break until she goes home at 0800 the next morning) dealing with a bunch of the usual suspects (mostly Native American street alchoholics) that tie up our medical system (See Mike and Molly controversy... They have it pegged exactly right and I won't apologize because the truth hurts) along with more than a little administrative and bureaucratic buffoonery. My lovely bride is at the absolute end of her rope.

I have had my usual mix of medicalwildlandcaraccidentcatinatreestaiontourforthekidstrainingexercisehousefireteachingCPRetc work schedule along with a sizable dose of FFD administrative buffoonery (I can't believe they haven't fired our "not really a Fire Chief and piss poor  administrator" yet) on top of the end of semester hustle and shuffle at the college and the summer EMT Refresher course keeping me pretty busy (yes, My name is Dave and I am a workaholic). That said and our extended road trip vacation is still 5 weeks away.

We thought we were gonna have a little getaway over Memorial Day weekend but it turned out to be more of a hassle than it was worth in the end. As it turns out it is not such a good idea to go camping with a bunch of people (18 total) many of whom you don't know. WAY too many "personalities" came into the mix when what was really needed was a bit more quiet and solitude.

We had a bright spot when our daughter, Kasey (ER Nurse in Seattle) flew in for a few days last week to visit her grandmother who has been having some serious health issues. We had a great visit albeit far too short. Unfortunately for me I was teaching an EMT Refresher course all day Saturday and Sunday and then had to go back to work for my usual 48 hour fire department tour on Tuesday and Wednesday so I really only got to visit with Kasey on Monday. At least she got to spend a little more time with her mother, brother and her little sister.

We were able to get all the kids including our youngest daughter (Meghan, NAU student), our son (Lee) and his girlfriend (Lena) along with her 6 y/o daughter (Andi) to come out to the house for a pizza party on Monday because Kasey was in town. It is such a rare thing to have them all together any more. Everybody was giving me the business because my refrigerator was full of PBR. It however did not stop any of them (with the exception of little Andi) from consuming ALL of the aforementioned PBR. For the record there were several other beer selections available.

I think now it is time to have a little Kristie and Dave time with just the two of us partaking in some adult recreation. We're gonna cash in Kristie's "Pot of Gold" (that's where we've dropped all or pocket change for the last 6 months) find a hotel with a comfortable bed, a swimming pool and maybe a Casino in the mix as well... Laughlin here we come!