Well, This Should Be Fun

On Wednesday November 19th, I will be visiting my daughter's Kindergarten classes, reading them this book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will read it aloud to them while wearing my firefighting boots and pants. At the end of the story, Fireman Joe gives all the kids plastic fire hats which I will do as well. Afterwards I will demonstrate putting on the rest of my gear including an air pack, and show the kids what we look and sound like if we have to come into their house to rescue them. We tell the kids not to be scared and go run and hide, but to come to us even though we look and sound kinda scary. Afterwards an open Q & A which is always entertaining. My daughter seems to think the questions will be all about the amazing fact that I am her Dad, not about being a fireman.

In October I did my 19th Fire Prevention program at our local school. I have been in charge of it since 2006 when the subject came up and the Chief was looking for someone to run it. I have done it ever since. Sometimes I have a helper to do the gear demonstration, but other times it is just me like it was this year. We currently do Pre-K to second grade, but I have spoken to the school about moving the program up to second to fifth grade. My thought is if we REALLY want to engage the kids in fire prevention, they need to be a little older where fire safety points make sense, and it's not just about seeing a big red fire truck.

OMG!!! She Was Hot AF

Whom you may ask? Why the gorgeous and super sweet 19 year old Irish redhead "Sexy Kitty" I had as a patient in my ambulance on Halloween night. She had been traveling through town on the interstate to an out of state Halloween party and began having an asthma attack while driving. She got off the highway to seek medical attention, however she instead found herself traveling on a dark state road in the middle of nowhere. She finally stopped on the side of the road and called 911. When I approached her car to talk to her.... HOLY SHIT!! look what she's wearing. Black stiletto ankle boots, fishnet stockings, a tiny black short skirt, sporting a bare midriff, a small black top with spaghetti straps, and of course... the cat ears on her head and a round black spot on the tip of her nose. I won't go into the details of her physical attributes, but it suffices to say she was a well put together young woman. She was very sweet and outgoing and so nice to me as well. She had tried to use her rescue inhaler but found no relief. Thankfully, she was not in acute respiratory distress. When she exited her car I got to see her from head to toe. OMG... so smokin' hot! I wished I was 20 and single because I would have done my damnedest to date her. Alas, I am married and old enough to be her Grandpa, so I was just the charming old man that took care of her until the paramedic got on board and then I assisted the paramedic. We got her to the hospital and turned her over to the ER and wished her well.

I just returned from another call with that same paramedic, and told her I will remember that call until I die. She didn't get why.

 Uh.... maybe because I'm a guy?

FD Service Call Today

I am on duty with the FD today. FYI... we do not rescue cats stuck in trees. That is a big city FD type call because they usually have a ladder truck that can reach the heights and retrieve the cat safely. We only have ground ladders that make that type of rescue extremely hazardous for us and require quite a bit of manpower. When they call the station for that circumstance I recommend people put food at the base of the tree and wait until they are so hungry they come down themselves. 

Mid-morning there was a knock at the front door. It was a elderly female resident that lives a couple of miles up the road and she told me she was a damsel in distress. She was on her way back from a veterinarian office in Hartford and had her cat in a pet carrier in her car. Because she is unable to manipulate the latch mechanism, she had the door tied shut. When the vet brought that cat out in the carrier, the string was gone and the door was latched but she didn't notice until she got home. She thought the latch was broken and stuck, but it just has a really stiff spring and she couldn't open it. I went outside to her car to look at the situation and check out the cat carrier for myself. I then called dispatch to log a service call incident and responded with our service truck. When I arrived at her house she was already inside with the cat. I showed her how to hook her fingers as leverage on the door and pull the latch with her thumb, but she still couldn't do it. I opened the door and stepped back and the cat scooted out. She sat on the rug several feet away looking at me, eyes as wide as dinner plates... and then she beat it up the stairs. I conversed with the resident for a few minutes before clearing the call and returning to quarters. So this is as close as I ever got to the cat rescue scenario.

 

Here is the official narrative from our NFIRS (National Fire Incident Reporting System)

"Resident stopped by Station XX looking for assistance with a cat stuck in a cat carrier. She had been to the vet and they locked the carrier. The resident could not open it due to the heavy spring on the latch. If the door was left loose in the vehicle the cat would escape. She requested assistance at her home to release the cat inside the house. Service-XXX responded to the resident's home and the cat was released safely." 

Two Good Scares This Week

Scare #1; Fire alarm at my house

I worked a 24 hour shift from the morning of Sunday the 31st until the morning of Monday the 1st, Labor Day. At 03:30 AM Monday as I was sleeping at the firehouse my phone buzzed. Then buzzed again. Then again. Then it started vibrating non-stop which meant I was getting a phone call. It was my alarm monitoring company telling me there was an active fire alarm at my house, and is everything all right? I told them I was not at home and I have no idea what the problem may be and to dispatch us immediately. Here's what really scared me... the buzzes were alerts from alarm system app; first reporting the alarm, then reporting a power failure. When an actual fire occurs the electrical system is damaged so my immediate thought was "Holy shit! There is a real emergency!!" I yelled to wake up my partner to get ready to go to my house. As I got dressed I called my wife and she answered saying she did not see anything and did not know why the alarm was going off. I told her we were on the way. We were dressed and had half our gear on before the tones dropped to respond. We respond with what's called "One and One" meaning one guy in each engine. We rolled out to my house lights and siren. My partner was in front of me and went up the driveway first and I pulled up behind him. The garage door was up so I grabbed my portable radio and the TIC (thermal imaging camera) from my engine and went inside. My wife was in the kitchen in her jammies with all four dogs with the alarm still sounding. I punched in the master code to clear the system and stop the siren.

There was no fire, just a faulty detector on the first floor. I have all my sensors tagged in the system with their physical location but the monitoring company said they did not have a specific sensor location. When I mentioned to my wife about the power failure, she told me she tried unplugging the base unit to silence it. Unfortunately, it has built in battery backup good for at least 48 hours so all she ended up doing was scaring the bejeezus out of me. 

I am not happy with the alarm equipment company. The smoke detectors have reached the end of their 10 year life this year, but have been rendered obsolete before they could be replaced. Like back in 2018! I found this out talking to customer service who told me I would have to upgrade my ENTIRE system at my expense to the tune of about $2000 to keep what I have. None of the sensors are compatible. THAT is not happening. So, I will eliminate the smoke detectors and the system will be a burglar/break-in alarm only since those sensors will work forever. I have the hard-wired smoke detectors that came with the house, which were all replaced in 2021 and still have 3 years of life left. They all have battery backup and are connected together so if one goes off they all go off.

 

Scare #2; Almost bought it on "The Beast"

Tuesday was a gorgeous sunny day with temps in the high 70's. I decided to go for a loop cruise late in the afternoon just before 3 PM. My security camera showed me pulling away from the house at 2:51 PM. I planned on heading north and east on the back roads of Windham County so I took a right out of my driveway. 

The speed limit on my road is 35 MPH and that's about how fast I was going until I locked `em up about 300 yards or so up the road from the end of my driveway.

I say locked `em up, but in actuality my bike has ABS which brings it to a quick stop without going into a skid and possibly laying it down. A jackass that lives a couple of miles from me drives like a raving lunatic on my road all the time. I had to jump out of his way at my mailbox when he went screaming by at 60 several months ago. I got his license plate while he was parked at the local convenience store so that if I observed him driving like a nut again I could report him. But in this incident I didn't know it was him because he wasn't driving his normal blue Chevy Avalanche.

He was driving an older kind of beat maroon Chevy pickup with a roof rack. He came around the curve at a high rate of speed and overshot the curve putting him on a direct head on path to me. It happened very fast and I had nowhere to go but to sit stopped and brace for impact. At the last second he swerved and missed me, and then threw it in reverse to come back to where I sat so "I could yell at him" he said. That's when I saw who it was and I laid into that motherfucker without removing my helmet. I told him what a fucking asshole he was, that he drives like a fucking lunatic, that I know he drives the blue pickup and little white Nissan van, and where he lives. I told him he will be getting a visit from the state police, threw my bike in gear and took off. He continued on his way. I went up to his house to get his house number, but of course, an asshole like that doesn't bother having a visible house number. It was at that point I realized I was so shaken by the incident I needed to go home and park my bike. I actually had the shakes. I have other means at my disposal to get the guy's name and proper address, which I did and then called the state police routine number, not 911. I told the desk trooper what happened and he said they would send a trooper to my house to talk to me. The state trooper came by just before 4:30. Another young 'un younger than my own daughter. I explained the whole situation including the incident at my mailbox. He took me by surprise by asking if I thought he was targeting me. I told him definitely not. While I was at my mailbox he came speeding around a blind corner and probably didn't even see me. And on my bike I had on a full face helmet so he had no clue who I was. I was asked if I had dashcam video and I said I didn't. The state trooper left and said he may or may not get back to me, but there will definitely be a record of this situation in case there are any future incidents. I assume his next stop was to visit that jackass.

Because of this incident, I pulled my old GoPro Hero 3+ camera out of storage and will use it from now on as a dashcam on every ride. My wife ordered me 3 new batteries with charger, a windshield clamp, and a ball swivel mount off Amazon so I can put the GoPro protected behind the windshield without obstructing my view or interfering with the controls. People ask me how I can do something as "dangerous" as ride a motorcycle? I remind them what I do for a living, and that just going in to work each day could be my last. I tell them I thoroughly enjoy riding motorcycles, and WILL NOT deny myself such pleasure because of "what if?" I live my life.

Wednesday afternoon I ventured out again.... kinda like the "get back on the horse" ride. I did the 35 mile loop ride I attempted Tuesday. On the way back I stopped at the firehouse to speak with the Deputy Chief who was out front putting in some mums. I parked my bike near his SUV on the front ramp. As I was talking to him, that jackass drove by, saw my bike, stopped and turned around in the parking lot to drive by again. He didn't see me at first because I was behind the SUV, but I looked right at him and he knows he was seen. He doesn't yet know where I live or that I am on the FD, but he will definitely find out if he fucks around.

Not Happening I Guess

The new gig I referenced in this post that is. Sometime on Tuesday August 26th I was supposed to receive an email from one of the owners as an invite to interview. I had updated my resume' in anticipation of sending it back to her in a reply. Nothing. My buddy that would have been my manager there probably thinks I am pissed at him because he has made himself scarce. I'm not mad at anybody. I have a job. If they are not interested in my services, then once again as always.... their loss.

In the meantime, I will keep looking around for other employment opportunities. 

New Gig?

I am looking into a new job as a production line mechanic for a regional food manufacturer about 30 miles from home. First shift Monday thru Friday 7 AM to 3 PM starting pay will be about a $12 per hour raise. This kind of work is right up my alley. Electrical, mechanical, electronics, PLC's, preventative maintenance, and my manager would be a buddy of mine. He actually told me about the job. Probably going in Tuesday to fill out an application. He will be informing them tomorrow that he has a possible candidate for the opening and to find out the process to apply. He got his job offered while doing some contracting work there.

The FD is not going to be pleased if this pans out. As a taxpayer in the town I work in, it is in my best interest to give and honor the 2 weeks notice so they can get coverage, but it will still be a shit show. I will leave on a good note as best I can (even though I would love to stuff it up their asses and tell them why I am REALLY leaving). I will remain with the department as a volunteer, and may take myself off the line as an interior fire fighter and just be driver/pump operator.

I saw myself as a short timer in the FD, shorter if an injury (or worse) were to take me out. This line of work may take me past my normal retirement date if I like it enough, and the chance of serious injury is way less. I will be able to squirrel away much more in retirement savings when SSI kicks in. Other benefits are sleeping in my own bed every night, getting to commute on "The Beast" in good weather, and having staggered hours from my wife making the care of our animals no longer a point of concern.

Nepotism - The Nightmare Has Returned

I posted this on X earlier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to document the latest problem below, redacted heavily for SafeSECS of course. This is not the version I will be discussing with the involved chief officers, leaving off the personal opinion paragraph.

 

Incident #2025-XXXXXXXX   Location totally redacted

 

At 23:48:17 on Wednesday August 13, 2025 Station XX was dispatched for a Fire – Service Call “RESIDENTIAL LOCKOUT / ADULT / 2 CHILDREN”. The response was with A-XXX only since there is a complete lockout kit on board.

8-13-25 23:53:07 A-XXX responding

8-13-25 23:57:09 A-XXX on scene

Upon arrival, found two adult females and two children under 2 years old waiting outside at the end of the sidewalk. They told us they were not locked out of a vehicle, but had lost the keys to the building and the apartment at the location they left to come home. The Knox Box was accessed and the keys to the front door and the “Apartment Master” were retrieved. I followed the resident upstairs to Apartment #XXX. Upon arrival at the door, I observed heavy damage to the door and the exterior housing of the deadbolt. The resident stated she had tried to break open the apartment door using the fire extinguisher from the hall. The apartment master key went into the deadbolt but would not turn. I could not determine if it was an incorrect key or that the resident had damaged the lock making it inoperable. An inspection of the door jamb behind the weather stripping in the immediate area of the dead bolt showed a gap that would easily accommodate a forcible entry attempt. The plan was to get a Halligan bar to see if the door and jamb would give enough to pop open. If that did not work, no further attempts would be made so as NOT to cause more damage than what the resident already caused. Knowing C-XXX was on the air responding from home, I called him on the radio to stop at Station XX to grab R-XXX. He acknowledged.

8-14-25 00:07:05 R-XXX Responding

8-14-25 00:10:14 R-XXX On Scene

As we were discussing the plan and about to get the tools, EMT X. XXXXX called C-XX at home and reported that we “were going to break down the door.” C-XX via telephone through EMT XXXXXX ordered crews on scene not to perform forcible entry.

For the next 15 minutes multiple phone calls were then made to property management to try and get maintenance out ASAP. Maintenance was not immediately available. The residents took shelter inside the vestibule to wait for maintenance to arrive. The keys were secured back in the Knox Box.

8-14-25 00:25:41 All units cleared

FAILURES

1). Non-fire qualified personnel not understanding proper forcible entry techniques and PANICKING. WE are trained in forcible entry and do not “break down doors.” Is there NO FAITH in our abilities to perform the task or use proper restraint?

2). Breach of the “Chain of Command.” This went in both directions. There were TWO Chief Officers on scene (C-XXX & C-XXX). At no time were they consulted by EMT XXXXX or C-XX. One could go as far as to say they were totally ignored.

3). Making command decisions from miles away via telephone relayed by non-fire personnel, instead of speaking DIRECTLY to those on scene with DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of the plan. Or by responding to the scene if concerns were so great.

 

OPINION

True, there was no life safety or medical emergency need to gain entry to the apartment. There was only the need for shelter from insects and proper care of the children. Only one attempt to get the deadbolt to pop free was going to be made. The door was already severely damaged by the resident. Nothing the FD was going to do was going to result in further damage. But unqualified people with no clear understanding rendered concerns that were not necessary, and have now caused tension in the workplace and fostered distrust between team members.

PERSONAL OPINION

There were MANY reasons I left the XXXXXXX Fire Department in 1995 and took a 10 year hiatus from the fire service. A major one was the nepotism of the XXXXXX family which seems to now be the case with the XXXXXX’s and the XXXXXX FD.  XXXXXXX XXXXXX was appointed “Administrator” without that position being offered to anyone in the department or publicly. The lines are now being blurred between line officer and operations and admin of the paid staff, with actual “power” being derived via a phone call to Daddy. All qualifications for line positions have been permanently suspended, and this as well as future situations are proof that this has not, is not, and will not be advisable for the department going forward. There is also the fact that XXXXX constantly leaves a mess in the kitchen, both a sink full of dishes and a disgusting greasy mess on the stove top. The Chief’s response to a complaint early on is “some peoples definition of a mess is different than others.” Therefore, his messes are left for him to clean up on his next shift.

If I can get another job lined up I WILL be terminating my employment.

 

 

All I can say is pretty fucking sad to have to be dealing with this once again. Nothing can be done about it because nothing would change. That would first require an admission that there is a problem. I can only escape it on my own. I will however, remain a volunteer, because I am very close to 20 active years and Lifetime Membership, getting me a lifetime town benefit. Once that is awarded it is for life.

Remembrance - May 28th

 

I copied this post from 2022 to the top for the obvious reason. 

**SAY HER NAME**

Cassidy J. Wofford

July 5, 1988 to May 28, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Obituary Link

I met this young lady on an EMS call a couple of years before her tragic death by suicide. That call was a suicide attempt where she had laid down in the middle of a back country road hoping someone would just run her over. An alert motorist saw her and called 911. I will not go into any of the details other than this; when we arrived at the hospital and I opened the doors to get the stretcher out, she was sitting on the stretcher facing me rocking back and forth, sucking her thumb, and weeping. As a Dad of a daughter myself, it absolutely broke my heart to see such a pathetic creature. To this day, my "bug-a-boo" ambulance call is what I call "the sad little girl." 12-23 years old, crying her eyes out, covered in cutter scars, sometimes telling tales of abuse; mental, physical, sexual, and probably being transported against her will by law enforcement for wanting to harm herself. My career and volunteer partners know this, and depending on the severity of the call will offer to tech it. I am getting better at handling these calls myself, but I think of Cassidy on every one.

From her clothing, she may have been a 1st Responder

One heckuva fish!

Proof she did have happy times in her short life

I had heard things about her life that if true, she had it rough, and those circumstances would drive anyone to the brink. I wish I could somehow turn back time and maybe do something more to prevent the final outcome. If you or someone you know is in crisis, PLEASE reach out for help to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Each year I do a benefit motorcycle ride called "Ride For Gage" that benefits the Jordan Porco Foundation for suicide prevention in September. I also see more than my share of successful suicides, and doing the death presumptions while the family is nearby SUCKS!

As a side note, the call involving Cassidy actually disturbed the other technicians, too. I was just the driver, but the other two were in the back doing patient care. In a casual conversation a few months later the subject of this call came up. Both guys said how it bothered them too, and how we probably should have talked earlier and gotten Critical Incident counseling as a group. Both of them are no longer in EMS, so they probably don't think about it any more.

Rest In Peace, Cassidy. Because I will never forget you.

A Man's Stay-cation

Last week, I was supposed to join my wife, adult daughter, and several of my daughter's friends on  her 40th birthday celebration in Florida at the house of the mouse. The two main reasons I chose NOT to go are; #1) I am on a self-imposed commercial "NO FLY LIST" meaning I refuse to fly commercial anywhere. This way I avoid having to be disarmed, the TSA Kabuki theater bullshit, and any of the "wild animals" acting out in airports or on airplanes. I have seen Europe twice and don't care to go back, and anywhere I desire to go here in the states I will drive to. The single exception is if my father-in-law passes and I need to go to Florida with my wife and her family. #2) I refuse to give one red cent to that woke mess called Disney. I made all this abundantly clear to my wife and daughter months before they went and they felt it was my loss. Oh how wrong they were. Until that corporation returns to its non-woke, family oriented content and environment I will never return. I cashed in two 24 hour PTO days from last year to pay for my time off and still have 12 hours left over. My last shift ended at 06:00 AM on April 11th, and today is my first day back. Nine glorious days off, including not attending two training sessions which I will probably hear about, but TPTB are not going to like my response to. It's called a fucking vacation and that means you don't see me until I come back to work!

On the 11th I helped my wife get ready and did stuff around the house. My daughter stayed over at our place so we could leave early. We left at 06:15 AM to drive to Logan Airport Saturday morning the 12th. What an absolute shitshow ride that was. Cold temperatures, heavy snow, and no roads treated or plowed. We thought the MA Turnpike would be better, but oh no, it was far worse. And the heavy wet snow was accumulating on the asphalt and freezing. Not until we got to about Framingham did conditions improve, and luckily any of the accidents we passed were minor spin outs. By the time we got to Boston it was as if the bad weather behind us was nonexistent. I got them to the airport on time and quickly got the hell out of there. The ride home was easy-peasy, because by that time roads were clear and wet and the snow was gone. Time to start my stay-cation! I had to take care of my normal weekend chores except laundry which got done the day before.

The next few days were me doing some of my favorite things and eating meals I like. Sunday I went to the range. I usually only go during the week when I have the place to myself. A couple of guys came over after Trap to each fire a few handgun rounds and then left. I was now by myself for testing some subsonic .22LR ammo I bought from an estate sale. I tried some in a semi-auto rifle and pistol. It would not cycle in either one so I ran it manually. Accuracy was fine so it should be good for pesky chipmunks out of my bolt action .22 rifle. I then put a few cylinders through my 1935 vintage S&W K-22 Outdoorsman. Of course it functioned just fine and I repeatedly dinged the hanging steel plates at 25 yards. Next up, my US Patriot 1775 home built sniper rifle. Originally a 1939 Soviet Mosin-Nagant 91/30 from the Izhevsk Armory, this reformed Commie now serves to support and defend The United States and The Constitution against ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. Targets of opportunity from a far away hidey hole, don'cha know.

This rifle fires my precision measured and loaded ammunition with PPU 7.62x45r fire formed brass to this rifle's chamber that is neck sized only. The bullet is a 174 gr Sierra Matchking BTHP in .311" diameter. Some rifles are .308" but most of the Russian ones are .311" I slugged mine to find out. Accuracy with .308 factory ammo is less then satisfactory for obvious reasons. The powder is 45 grains of Hogdgon Varget. The primer is Winchester Large Rifle. I measured the chamber length and have the bullet seated 0.005" off the lands. Chronographed muzzle velocity is 2580 fps. Accuracy is better than I can make it shoot. More practice would definitely help for sure. That and a trip to the eye doctor for some new glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking downrange to 200 yards

 

200 yard backstop circled in yellow

17" spatter target with added 2" bullseye

 

A closer view. I'll try again after a visit to the eye doctor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started by verifying zero at 100 yards and it was dead on. Next out to the range maximum of 200 yards. After some windage adjustment, controlling my breathing, and waiting for my heart rate to slow so I could time my shot between beats, shot #5 was as close as I was probably gonna get. Definitely close enough for my purposes. I then proceeded to hit the 12" gong and then the smaller 6" gong I had stood up on its side on some timbers on the ground. It makes a really loud "THOK!" sound when hit. After 3 shots at the smaller gong it fell over. I decided to see if I could hit it lying on the side.

On its side with 3 fresh shiny shot marks

 

 

Exactly where I was aiming. Perfect!

 

I went down range to pickup my targets and then back to the firing line to pack up for home. I headed home to secure all my firearms and ammo, and have some lunch. The plan was to go fishing early evening to dark so I got my fishing gear in shape. Later, I headed to my club pond a little before 6 PM and was met by my neighbor and his 9 year old grandson. The grandson was pretty rambunctious splashing a stick in the water and then hooking my rod when he tried to cast. No biggie, I caught a nice largemouth bass anyway and then I moved to the left of them near the pond outlet and deeper water where I promptly caught another smaller largemouth. Every evening except Wednesday (too cold and windy) I returned to the club pond and had great success with both bass and trout, landing a decent 14" Rainbow Trout on Thursday. Since all my tackle has the barbs crimped, catch and release is easy and not hard on the fish. They all swam away quickly. I went home at dark to feed the dogs and watch a streaming movie (I don't remember what I watched) but it was definitely something my wife would not care for.

Monday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week with highs in the 70's, so late morning I headed out on The Beast for the Kommiecticut shoreline, specifically Niantic and Skipper's Seafood on RT. 156. It was more crowded than usual since the kids were out of school for spring break. But since I had nothing but time I had no problem waiting to order, then waiting for my food. $22.54 for a fish sandwich with onion rings and a bottle of soda was a little expensive, but man was it good and screaming hot. Their onion rings are lightly battered and sliced very thin like shoestring french fries. I thought I might stop for ice cream on the way home but I was too full. I got home and decided to play some guitar before heading out for an evening of fishing. The 1946 vintage case is in pretty good shape, but the old leather handle was falling apart and I really didn't want it to break making me drop it. I found a Gibson style excellent replacement handle on eBay and ordered it for $29 plus tax. The new handle arrived on Thursday and fit my old case perfectly.

What's left of the original handle. It went in the trash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new handle installed on the original hardware. Nicely made

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than fishing on Tuesday evening, I don't recall what I did all of Tuesday and Wednesday during the day. I do know Tuesday afternoon I took my little poodle girl for a walk around the town park and then along the river on the linear trail. We had the place to ourselves and she got to have some quality alone time with Daddy. 

 

Wednesday was in the 40's and very windy. I am surprised I didn't lose power. Thursday I rotated out my snow removal equipment for my lawn upkeep equipment. The lawnmower and weed whacker got fueled up and started on the first couple of pulls as usual. The snowblower got a fresh oil change and then the fuel tank drained after I drove it down to the barn. I pulled all of my wicker porch furniture from the back of the barn. The snowblower then went to the back of the barn with the snow shovels. I had backed my truck and trailer down to the barn to load all the furniture to bring up to the front porch in one shot. I was outside all day and then back out in the evening for fishing until dark. The fishing action every night has been great. Friday morning after breakfast I took a trip to BJ's for a restock in anticipation of my wife's return. I am also in the process of rotating out all of my generator gas storage from last spring, so I picked up 25 gallons in my Jerry cans and then topped off my truck. That leaves five more Jerry cans to dump in our vehicles to burn up and then refill. This gives me a total of 70 gallons of gas on hand which this time of year could have my generator run about 10 days at full power. 20 days if I was to run conservatively and even longer if I siphon some out of my vehicles. I would only do this if I was unable to buy gas because of a regional outage due to large scale system damage. Luckily that has never happened. After going to BJ's I came home and put everything away and made some lunch. After lunch it was out for another cruise on The Beast. I only went about 50 miles, but 50 miles of wind therapy will do anyone some good. I went home, had some supper, and then out fishing for the evening until dark.

Saturday evening I was to return to Logan to get the wife, so I wanted to make sure I managed my time during the day properly. A week earlier we went to Boston in snow. Saturday the 19th it was predicted to be 85. My club had our big spring cleanup work party in anticipation for our two big fishing events and our big summertime fundraiser event. I worked from 08:00 to about 11:00 on the pond detail. I figured since I have been doing so much fishing I would concentrate my efforts there. After that the weekly trip to the dump, home for lunch, and then some guitar time sitting out on my front porch entertaining the birds and squirrels. My wife and I had dinner plans for on the way home, so I needed to shower and put on some clean duds. Her flight was due to land at 6:06 PM, so I left at 4:00 PM in case of unexpected traffic to Boston.

I decided that since I would have to sit in a cell phone lot for an unknown amount of time and then have to hit a rest area on the way home, I would have to play my game of "Felon-Not A Felon" by carrying my EDC into the Republik of Massachusetts without their "permission slip." As I cross the imaginary line at the state border where I magically transform into a felon and then back again, I call out "Felon-Not A Felon!" Because of the warm weather I was wearing cargo shorts and carrying my S&W 45 Shield in a DeSantis pocket holster in my right thigh pocket, a spare mag in my left thigh pocket, and as usual my SOG Instinct blade horizontally at 11 o'clock. Traffic was non existent and I arrived at the cell phone lot at Logan Airport at 5:15 PM. There is a sign in the lot with all the "rules"... no unattended vehicles, no idling over 5 minutes, 30 minute maximum wait time. Wait, WHAT? It's over 80 miles to Logan from my house, how the fuck am I supposed to know what traffic will be or if her flight is on time? Well, I decided to see just how that gets enforced. If necessary I would just circle the airport and then return to the lot if I got kicked out. Certainly don't want any trouble with "authorities" while carrying. It turns out, no one enforced anything, so I sat and waited listening to streaming music. The flight was on time and my wife called me saying that she and my daughter would be waiting curbside for pickup. Aw man... my daughter was supposed to have a friend pick her up. There goes a nice dinner with my wife because going out to dinner with my daughter (the vegan freak) is beyond tedious, so I normally avoid it. I got to their location in just a few minutes, loaded their luggage, and headed for the airport exit and the Mass Pike. After drinking a bottle of water and sitting for so long in the cell lot, I needed to hit the first rest area in Framingham heading westbound. We arrived at the rest area and all went in because my wife and daughter wanted drinks, I went straight to the Men's room. While at the urinal doing my part to recycle, in walks a MA State Trooper and goes to the urinal more than the appropriate anti-gay distance away. I watch him out of the corner of my eye, but he pays me no mind as he has probably been on the road for a couple of hours and just wants to relieve himself. I finished first and walked behind him to get to the sink to wash my hands. He heads for the sink as I am exiting the restroom. As I am walking across the main concourse of the rest area I see him come out and then head into the convenience store. Never saw him again, but man if he only knew. The advantage of concealed carry. The girls got their drinks and we got back on the road.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. We hit a heavy rainstorm west of Worcester and down I -84 which was good because it washed most of the salt off my wife's car from the previous ride to Boston. When we hit the Kommiecticut state line I said quietly "Felon-Not A Felon" and my wife asked "what did you just say?" to which I replied nothing, just mumbling to myself. When we got closer to home we came out of the rain and as we came down the home stretch on the main road everything was completely dry.

My wife and daughter and her friends had a great time. Not the kind of fun I would care for. And they got to see The Old Man (my wife's father) while they were there. He will be up for the summer next month and we hang out on my days off.

Brought Back Memories

Yesterday morning I did a Patriot Guard mission at the CT Air National Guard base in East Granby. It was a send off for the 103rd Airlift Wing on a deployment. The PGR was there to stand a flag line. There were about a dozen of us and although there was media present, none of the local outlets have posted a story. Here is a link to the media advisory from the 103d and below is an excerpt about their mission:

The Guardsmen will provide logistical, mechanical, and mission support to forces deployed within various global combatant commands supporting of Operations Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa.

They regularly fly their C-130s over my house at low altitude every couple of days heading east out towards Cape Cod and I assume Otis AFB. Later the same day they fly heading west back to Bradley. Occasionally they'll fly contour at maybe 500 feet. Some people in town are frightened or annoyed by it and complain, but I think it is way cool! In fact, so many military aircraft fly over my house I believe my house is a navigation waypoint. In addition to the C-130's, I get pairs of F-15's, UH-60 Blackhawks, CH-47 Chonooks, and the occasional C-5 Galaxy, OV-22 Osprey, or CH-53 Sea Stallion directly overhead. Sometimes it's like my own private airshow. 

I had to work until my FD shift ended at 06:00. I thankfully got out on time, went home to clean my chicken coop, shower and change clothes, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and made the less than 1 hour ride to the air base. I did not ride "The Beast" because my driveway went from a frozen glacier to a mud hole suitable for 4x4 races. At this point it will be weeks before "The Beast" comes out of hibernation.

The ceremony was held inside a closed pristine hangar on the base. That required me to give my drivers license info to the PGR State Captain to be forwarded to base security for a background check. Last time I did one of these we had to park outside and walk in, but this time we drove on base and parked in the hangar lot. This also required me to be totally unarmed, because we were actually going on base and would be subject to search at any time. I had to choose between doing this mission unarmed, not doing the mission at all, or taking a chance. I chose to do the mission and not take the chance so as not to reflect badly on the PGR by potentially getting arrested with a firearm, therefore honoring those that deserve my presence. I made sure I went straight there and straight home so as not to regret my decision to be unarmed.

Driving on base brought me back to my days in the military many years before 9/11. Back then, all I had was a DoD decal on the left side top of my front bumper. If the sticker was not expired and I was in uniform, I just slowed down enough for the SP to see it and waved through. If I was in civvies, I would have to stop and hand the SP my ID. If your sticker was expired, you would have to produce your ID and then report to the base security station to get a new decal. On weekends when we Reservists were there, there was a back gate with one SP manning it we could go in and out of. It was even pretty easy for civilian visitors to go in with a brief check at the gate or an escort. There were no physical barriers other than the chain link fence gate that was always open. No zig-zag roads, pop-up barriers, or other post 9/11 modern base security measures. Yesterday, they held us in a special lane until everyone was there. The State Captain verified the list with the SP and we were let in. There were plenty of SP personnel to guide us to the parking area. The ANG personnel in the parking lot was disappointed none of us rode in on motorcycles. They were hoping for a "Rolling Thunder" optic of our arrival. Sorry, not this time of year. We grabbed our flags and headed in to the hangar.

You could truly eat off the floor in that hangar. There were two portable bleacher units brought in for spectators set up at a 45 degree angle to the stage and chairs in front of the one on the right for brass and dignitaries. The open area in front of the stage were for the formation of those being deployed. There was a 4 piece military brass ensemble playing Sousa march and patriotic tunes. We all hit the restroom, assembled our flags, and lined up to the right of the stage. After we lined up, many National Guard brass and dignitaries went down the line to shake our hands and thank us for being there. The first one through as usual was someone I have met a few times before, Major General Francis Evon. He is the Commanding Officer of the entire CT National Guard, a soldier's soldier and a real down to earth guy, starting his military career as an enlisted man. Then several other ANG officers came through. The local state representative came through the line. Then.... I had to suck it up and do my duty to the PGR, because here came US Senator Richard "Da Nang Dickie" Blumenthal; Mr. Stolen Valor himself. If I had been there on my own, I would have waited until he approached me and turned my back on him. But since I was there with the PGR, I did not want to mar the reputation of the PGR. I shook his hand and when he thanked me for being there, I just gave him the stock PGR response of "It's our honor." I don't know of any health problems he may have, but he seems to have become a shrunken little man. He reminds me of a toddler, whose head is too big for his body.

While we waited lined up and looking good, they called for formation. I chuckled to myself, remembering have to assemble for my own daily morning formation in the drill hall so many years ago. It was usually called by SSG Ed Demetrion, but when he wasn't there it was up to SFC Gomez. That was always fucking hilarious. SFC Gomez was a naturalized US citizen from Colombia and he had a heavy Spanish accent and he was also quite the comedian. He would walk down the hall of the Reserve Center repeatedly yelling, "OK, OK, for-may-shon in de drill hall! Le's go, Le's go! Get een for-may-shon!! NO ES-MOH-KINK!" He knew damn well how funny he sounded to us young gringos, and it was even more funny while he tried to emulate a tough Drill Sargent to get us lined up and squared away.

It has been quite a while since I have been around that many active duty personnel. Some of those females, young and older, both enlisted and officers were quite fetching. We used to call them "Split Tails." Of course since this was the Air National Guard, it is the Air Force, and to me always seemed to attract more females than the other branches.

The ceremony only lasted about a half hour. They posted the colors and the brass ensemble struck up The National Anthem. A military Chaplain did an invocation. There were several speeches, and first up was General Evon. After him was the unit Commander. Then the politicians.... blah, blah, blah. Luckily with my poor hearing, the loudspeakers facing away, and the poor acoustics of the hangar, they all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I did catch Da Nang Dickie complaining of defense budget cuts, spinning the waste, fraud, and abuse DOGE has been eliminating into political gibberish and propaganda. Fuck that piece of shit, gaslighting the young skulls full of mush in the process of being deployed. They then held a promotion ceremony for a few airmen, as well as service awards for others. The Chaplain went back on stage to deliver a benediction and the ceremony was over. The troops were dismissed and the PGR was called to stand down. We disassembled our flags and walked out single file to the lot. The ride home was uneventful and I continued with my weekend chores and errands.

Later in the day, my wife and I went out for dinner at a restaurant we haven't eaten at in over 20 years. The Traveler Restaurant off I-84 in Union, famous for their roasted turkey dinner and a free book with dinner. That's right, a full free library as well as some books, puzzles, games, and greeting cards for sale. The last time I remember eating there was on the way back from Maine when we would go to the State Fair in Skowhegan back in the 1990's. I wasn't going to take a book because I am behind in my reading already, until my wife showed me this:

I bought it for $4.50 to keep at the firehouse. A non-woke children's book from 2010 with large print and cool illustrations where the "kids" are different little animals. A couple of pages were ripped but I taped them as good as new. Sometimes little kids come to the firehouse to visit, but when they get there they are shy and want to hide behind their parents. My plan is to read to the younger ones when they visit to "break the ice." By the way, we both had the turkey dinner with a large side of green beans to share, washed down with a glass of lemonade. The dinner was delicious and filling, perfect for a cold late winter night. Pretty reasonably priced as well and Glypto recommended if you're passing through the area at dinner time.