TDS Is Worse Than China Coof

Although I never agree with her politically, I do enjoy reading Comrade Misfit's blog Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, especially on Sunday mornings with her regular feature of Prop/Jet/Rotor Noise featuring military and sometimes rare aircraft in flight. I mean she is obviously a Pink Floyd fan, so....

But her post today cracks me up. The title is "Don't Let Them Live in Your Head Today" yet that is exactly what is going on with her and every other TDS sufferer. All the D/S/C propaganda media and Faux News wanted Nikki Haley to win, but there was and continues to be no way. I wish I could stomach an hour each of CNN and MSNBC to watch the meltdown post Iowa of Trump's historic win, but I am on shift for the FD and hunched over the toilet puking makes it hard to fulfill my duties.

As always, I wish Comrade Misfit well, and just imagine how much better the country would be if she and all the other TDS sufferers held the D/S/C's feet to the fire to follow The Constitution, actually improve the economy, close our borders, crack down on crime, etc. etc. instead of directing so much negative energy to one man and his supporters.

Been A Couple of Wild Weeks

I started composing this post on December 23rd, but have had so many interruptions between emergency calls, other things that have drawn my attention, and then the hustle and bustle of Christmas it is FINALLY finished.

 

I'm going to try to do this in chronological order of the photos. I know it has been a few weeks since I've put up a blog post, but don't worry... I have been trolling and shit-posting the hell out of #Libturds of all kinds on X (Twitter). Amazingly, I have not been suspended. Elon Musk has really reigned in the SJW censors they had on staff.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I found out my cousin Christopher was here in New England visiting his mom, family, and friends. He served in the Navy on the west coast and left with full retirement, only to be immediately hired by the DoD because of his expertise. He still works for DoD but lives in South Carolina. I text poked him when I came across this photo at my brother's house. I am just a little older than he is. This photo is from Easter 1965 and was taken at my Memere's house. He and I are in the foreground, me on the left and him on the right. From left to right was my Memere, his mother, my mother, my aunt Terese, my maternal grandmother (Nana) with my sister on her lap, and in the back my uncle Donald. I have no idea who was in the high chair. My cousin and I tried to get together over Thanksgiving weekend, but it never happened because I had to work. I broke his balls for sneaking up here without telling me. We'll try again over the summer.

 

 

 

On November 28th, snow bands off of Lake Erie made their way across PA and NY/NJ to my neck of the woods. They call it "mood snow." This didn't amount to much more than what's in the video.

Next, this is yet another fine example of shitty Duracell batteries as documented by me a year ago with this post. I thought I had purged them from everything I own.... guess not. On December 2nd I went to put away my brush fire gear for the season and this EverReady headlamp wasn't working. This is what I found when I opened it up. The batteries are dated 2027. Into the garbage it all went. The other day, I discovered yet another device with Duracell batteries that was just starting to leak, my Midland clock radio that is our severe weather alert. What tipped me off that there was an issue was the battery indicator was not at full as it was supposed to be. I dumped the batteries and was able to clean the battery compartment and terminals to save the device.

The headlamp battery compartment

 

I was in WalMart the other day to buy some spare EverReady Energizer batteries for stock. As I approached the battery display, a woman ahead of me grabbed a package of Duracell AA's and accidentally knocked several to the floor. As I helped her pick them up, I told her of my problems with Duracell and how we at the fire department have swapped them all out. Plus the Energizer's were a couple of dollars cheaper. She put the Duracell's back, grabbed the Energizer's, and thanked me.

On December 4th, my chicken flock got one of their favorite seasonal treats, the large pumpkin we buy to set out with the mums for fall decorating. Using a large knife, I score the skin in several places and smash it open on a large rock in the chicken yard. They attack it immediately and get a few days enjoyment out of it. All that's left are paper thin pieces of the skin.

On December 7th, my shift partner and I did a transport to Hartford Hospital just before lunch time. The decision was made to save our lunches back at the firehouse for the following day and stop at one of our favorite places. I always get their "Burnt Ends" with two sides, cornbread, and a drink. We were so hungry we ate most of it driving back from Hartford. I was in a food coma later that afternoon.

We had a couple of heavy wind and rain storms. The first one was while I was on duty Sunday the 10th and Monday the 11th. The western part of the state got the worst of it but we were double staffed at the FD just in case. We made sure all the apparatus was fueled, and all the saws were running good. I found three saws with skunky old gas in them and replaced with fresh 2-stroke mix. We got several inches of rain and the local river was near the top of its banks. Only one call for tree/wires down.

 

For the past 40 years we have had a live tree, cutting our own at a tree farm. $85 again this year, but it is full, lush and green. My wife finished up with the it and did a fantastic job as usual. She weaves the lights in and out from the trunk so the entire tree is lit, not just the outside. 1500-1700 lights on the tree this year, she lost count. She also decorates an artificial tree in the corner of the dining room. That tree belonged to my parents and is pretty good for a fake. It is a themed tree, decorated with only Santa ornaments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly a week later Sunday the 17th into Monday the 18th we got another wind and rain storm, which hit the eastern part of the state worse this time. I was not scheduled to work and decided I wanted the time off right before Christmas. If it wasn't right before Christmas, I would have grabbed at least one extra shift. We lost power at the house just before 9 AM and with the storm howling there was no chance a power crew was coming out to fix it. I reported it to Eversource and went outside to set up my generator. I got fucking soaked but at least we had electricity again. Because of the wind and rain still occurring, I set up the collapsible shelter I fabricated to protect the generator from the elements. I listened to my scanner as my department and all the surrounding ones got hammered with calls. EMS calls, flooded basements, trees and wires down, etc. Once the storm went by, things calmed down big time. Just after sundown, power crews were on my road. Normally we don't get power back until all the main feeds are repaired, but this time the main feeds sustained no damage. I looked at my meter around 7 PM and the display was lit. I called my neighbor to let him know power was back on because after I shut mine down I heard his still running. I brought everything into the garage to cool down so I could re-fuel and stow the equipment. The rain gauge showed 5 5/8" total. I dumped it at 5 inches and we got another 5/8" as the storm wound down. The flooding was way worse this time with the local river in the parking lot of the firehouse only about 30' away from the building.

3 1/2" at 07:00, this was at 09:00

 

Below is my latest mortgage statement. I could not imagine trying to buy a house right now thanks mostly to the economic disaster we live in now. We pay less per month than what people are paying for a 1-bedroom apartment in a nice complex. My daughter is now living in a 3-bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor in a multifamily house in the city of New Britain with a roommate and is paying $1500 per month. We have anywhere from $200K to $230K of equity depending on which market analysis you look at. Our house was built for us, moving in April 2005, and we paid about $277K. As you can see, the biggest chunk of my monthly payment (and unfortunately the one that fluctuates) is the escrow for taxes and insurance. For whatever reason, the monthly payment dropped $40 per month with the latest escrow analysis. We re-financed in early 2021 to get the 3.125% rate because every month Chase was inviting us to refinance. Of course, they wanted us to cash out a ton of equity but we just re-financed the balance, leaving the equity alone.

Redacted (OF COURSE) mortgage statement

 

Finally, our Christmas celebration was nice and quiet at home with my wife's brother who lives in a group home and stayed with us for a few days and my daughter. My wife's other brother and his family went to Florida to spend Christmas with The Old Man so we got together with them before they left. My brother and his gang went to Vegas for Christmas. It was nice to be home since the FD schedule is different now meaning I do not work all 5 days M-F. I was off for Thanksgiving and will be off for New Years.

Turning Meme's Into Reality

H/T to Midwest Chick over at Non Original Rants (one of my favorite daily reads) for the Sunday Meme Drop this morning and this little gem.

So of course, I just had to change the name on my 06:00 alarm on my Android phone.

It helps to be reminded to oppress others when you are not actually an oppressor

 

At home I use my Midland Clock radio that also provides my severe weather warning. But at the firehouse when I go in at midnight, I'll set an alarm on my phone for the 06:00 shift change so I am up when the next person comes on. If we get hammered with calls over night or both of us are doing an 18 hour shift, I will sleep in for a couple of extra hours and get up if there is a call or whenever.

FYI... I will have no computer access until August 27th, so no new posts until then.

Update Of Turkish M2 Ball

Since it is hot and sticky outside today and the grass is not drying out from the storms early this morning, there will be no mowing today. I will hit it after my 18 hour FD shift tomorrow evening. Today makes 40 years of wedded bliss for us, so we are going out to Foxwood's for an awesome dinner, just the two of us. When we get home I have to don a duty uniform, prepare my bunk duffel, and food for the day tomorrow because I go in for midnight. I am usually at the firehouse by 22:30, stow my food, make up my bunk, and catch the last of the late news turning in before 23:00. If there is an earlier call and I respond I go on the clock right then. I'll set an alarm and get up at 06:00 if there are no overnight calls and there is a shift change. Otherwise I will sleep in to make up for getting woken up in the middle of the night.

So, in anticipation of an upcoming range day, I spent some time in the nice cool basement de-linking some more of the Turkish M2 Ball ammo I got from Tacticalshit.com  The cardboard case is divided into three partitions, so I figured I would finish the first partition and use the space to store the Ziploc bag of machine gun links. In my previous post I described how easy it is to accomplish. I grabbed a piece of scrap PT deck board and clamped it in place on one of my Stanley Workmates. I placed a small bucket on the floor to my right to toss the links in. The .30 cal ammo can I have my M1 target ammo and accessories in was in front of me for the M2 Ball rounds to go into, and the pile of 4 round assemblies are sitting on the end of the board by the ammo can.

Below is a closeup of the end of the board where I dimpled it with a punch to keep the bullet point from sliding away as I pressed down.

Rather than taking a chance on chewing up my hands and fingers I wore a pair of gripper gloves to perform the de-linking operation.

Each 4 round assembly took only seconds to take apart. Links tossed in the bucket, rounds in the ammo can. Being dissimilar metals (steel links and brass cases) there was no electrolytic caused corrosion that made the components stick together or have to be cleaned. IMHO this ammo was properly stored in a dry environment. When I was done, this is what was left for the future; two partitions of ammo with the bag of links.

I sealed up the cardboard box with packing tape and labeled it with a Sharpie. Hmmmm.... a dilemma; where am I going to store a cardboard box of ammo? While my basement is nice and dry, all of my ammo in my large steel storage box is stored inside individual sealed 30 and 50 caliber ammo cans. So I made room in my super fortified and alarmed gun closet in the living area above grade. I just had to move some hard handgun cases around. As for the ammo can full of M2 Ball...

It already had a spot in the ammo box. Without counting I should now have about 132 loose rounds. The 6 loaded clips with cardboard covers are the Greek ammo that is going to be used for comparison. The white box are M1999 blanks and lying on the cover is the blank adapter. Years ago, we had a miniature poodle that my wife had trained to retrieve ducks. We would train him in the yard where my wife would throw the dummy duck high in the air, I would fire a blank, and as the duck fell she would yell "GET IT!" and he would get it and drag it back. The yellow device allows me to shoot my M1 as a single shot rifle. It locks down the bullet follower and allows the bolt to move freely to manually load a round and then automatically eject the brass. To remove it from the rifle you simply hold the bolt back and press the clip ejection button on the left side of the receiver and it pops out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I put a tape label on top differentiating the Turkish and Greek ammo head stamps. When I uploaded this picture I realized I incorrectly put "MKE 82" instead of the actual "MKE 83".  I'll fix it at a later date.

Stay tuned for the upcoming range report on how this ammo functions and performs. When I get a range day depends on weather, work, and family obligations. I should have multiple opportunities before Labor Day.

Do Big Bugs Freak You Out?

Last night as I pulled into the firehouse for my midnight shift, this was fluttering around the front entry under the lights. It landed on the concrete in front of the door, and stayed put as I opened the door to get this photo.

Click it to big it. A Polyphemus Moth. It was at least 6" from wingtip to wingtip

Here is a link to a page about it.

Earlier in the week, there was a large Luna Moth hanging around out in back along the wood line. My partner almost ran it over when he was leaving, so I let it climb onto my hand and I moved it to the leafy thicket.

Yummy!

I've been on shift today since 22:30 last night, and got up at 06:00 for the shift change for my incoming partner. OMG... she is so young, but IMHO fully capable. It is strange to work in the fire service with someone born after 9-11. My own daughter was already 18 when my shift partner came into this world. I have actually met her parents and they are bikers, so OK in my book.

I had a leftover baked potato and some kielbasa, so with a couple of fresh eggs from my birds cooked over medium with some Mexican style shredded cheese and an English Muffin, I had a good breakfast.

I did the potato and kielbasa in the toaster oven for 10 minutes under the broiler, while the English muffin went in the 4-slice toaster and I fried up the eggs. Perfectly timed to all be hot and ready at the same time. I thought about turning the potato into homefries, but opted to just halve it with sour cream. I washed it down with an ice cold cup of milk. Real milk... like I have drank all my life... from a cow. Not from a nut tree, oat field, or soybean plant. As an aside; I was the oldest of 3 kids in an intact nuclear family of five. We went through 5 gallons of milk a week. It came direct from the Moser Farms dairy store right in town. They sold a 5-gallon jug that fit in the refrigerator with a spigot at the bottom. We also bought the rest of our dairy goods from them, and went to their soft-serve ice cream stand once a week in the summer.

Not Even The Same Area Code

While watching Newsmax this morning, they showed footage from the recent state dinner at The Whitehouse in June. There he was, the 1st Criminal, glad-handing with assorted VIP's and a thought occurred to me.... who in their right fucking mind would purposely be seen and photographed with that piece of shit? Like the title states, I don't want to be anywhere near him or any other criminal for that matter. Guilt by association? I don't need the added aggravation.

There have been times in the ambulance transporting a patient of questionable, uh... shall we say standards. They lost, misplaced, or don't have a phone and want to make a call. If there is no ALS Paramedic on board, I have to use the app on my phone to contact the receiving hospital. I tell them a lie that I need to keep the app open for the hospital only. If there is a paramedic, they are responsible for using the app, and so I lie again saying I just don't have my phone. I do not ever want my phone number appearing in the call log of some criminal's phone while being scrolled though by law enforcement, and then have to explain it. I got into an argument with another department member (who is a total jackass anyway) that told me I was "heart-less" for not letting others just use my phone. My response was "good, I will send them to you to make their phone call." Boy, you shoulda heard the excuses.

How Humid Is It?

After the tropical downpours of yesterday, this is what the windows at the firehouse look like. Heavy condensation on the outside of Pella double pane insulated windows.

I came on at 06:00 and the outside air is thick and soupy. The A/C is on throughout the station so it is cool and comfy. Ambulance calls won't be bad, but being outside for any length of time or at a fire will suck.

I Almost Became A Tranny

Well, I guess a more accurate description would be a eunuch, since I wouldn't be cross-dressing or asking people to use made up stupid pronouns.

I went on an ambulance call yesterday at one of our apartment complexes. When I knocked on the door, the door wasn't latched and swung open a few inches. Much to my surprise, a large pit bull shoved it's head through the opening right at and against my groin. I was not injured, but I used my best Drill Sargent voice and commanded the occupants to "CONTROL YOUR DOG!" They weren't too happy to be yelled at about their supposedly "friendly" dog, as I was axed "Why you gotta be like dat?" as they pulled it backwards into the apartment and closed the door. The person we were there to see opened the door and squeezed out through the opening so the dog wouldn't get out and the rest of the call was a routine transport.

I documented all this in my Patient Care Report, and then had a phone conversation with the Chief so he was aware. We both agreed that if that had been a state trooper that came to the door first, the dog would have gotten a lead pill in the noggin, no ifs, ands, or buts. They should be happy they just got told in a loud voice to control their dog.

A Couple Of Items

Monday I was out on "The Beast" to run an errand and then help out a friend with his Goldwing. It was a warm and partly sunny midday, with thunderstorms in the evening well after I got safely home. My riding bud has been laid up since winter, and is no closer to riding after stints in the hospital and rehab facilities. I don't think he will ever be able to ride on two wheels again, so I went over to dust off, start, and take his 2015 Goldwing out for a short run. It already had and still had a full tank of fuel when I got back. He came out in the blazing heat with his walker and sat on his bike side-saddle, and then barely made it back into the house without collapsing. I thought his girlfriend was gonna kill him for that. I let his bike cool down and hooked up his battery charger and put the cover on. On the way home I had a revelation. I stream iHeart Radio on my cell phone, connected to my bike via a Bluetooth adapter. I happened to be streaming the iHeart 70's channel and something felt really familiar. Not deja vu but just very familiar. OF COURSE.... I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!

The earlier model Archer Road Patrol Bike Radio I had

I got one of these for maybe my 11th birthday. My siblings had later received the newer round red model. They were AM only, mounted to the handlebars of your bike, and had an electronic horn. There was a large round yellow reflector on the other side. We spent all summer riding our bikes from just after breakfast until dark every single day it wasn't raining. All of us had our bike radios tuned to WDRC AM-1360 in Hartford listening to the pop hits of the day, and what they play on iHeart 70's is exactly what they used to play on WDRC. Just before the WDRC noon news break every day, the DJ (I believe it was Ted Dalaku) would say the day's "sandwich of the day" (which was usually a gross combination of foods and toppings) and then loudly proclaim, "It's LUUUUUUUUNCH TIME!!!" followed by the news jingle and noon news with Walt Dibble. After the noon news it was music with commercial breaks until late afternoon drive time when news and traffic would be at the top and bottom of the hour in between music. While I was heading home on my motorcycle Monday listening to my streaming tunes, I was mentally transported back to summer vacation 1974 as a 12 year old kid riding my bicycle. Oh if only I could have 3 months off every summer to do nothing but have fun like a kid again with no worries or cares as an adult.

Today would have been Cassidy Wofford's 35th birthday. Who is she you ask? She was a PT I once transported that attempted to commit suicide by lying down in the middle of a dark back country road. Luckily an alert motorist spotted her and called 911. I won't go into any more detail, but she is the primary reason I do not like what I call the "sad little girl call." To me the "sad little girl" is 13-22 years old, depressed, suicidal, crying her eyes out, most likely abused, a cutter, and I am probably meeting her because of a suicide attempt and a law enforcement 72 hour psychiatric hold in the ER. While there have been many others, she is the one that I probably should have sought counseling for, it was that upsetting. I am much better on these calls now, even though I still would rather drive the boo-boo bus and let someone else tech the call.

Cassidy during one of her few happier times.

Cassidy had moved out of state; to Kentucky I believe, and finally, sadly committed suicide on May 28, 2011. At 35 she would have been only 3 years younger than my own daughter. I think about her on both days; her birthday and death day. 

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Little One. You are not forgotten and although you never knew it, you touched someone that really did care for you.

GREAT NEWS!

For me anyway. Had my post MRI consult with the orthopedic doc today. NO SURGERY! He reviewed my case notes and the MRI and pointed out the tear to me (see image below).

Click it to big it. My personal info was scrubbed and those are my notes on the slide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out (no surprise) I had no idea what I was looking at when I got the results a week or so ago, but then, I am not a radiologist. The doc then performed a physical examination and manual manipulation of my knee. I winced a little for some lateral motion and he said there was no point going further and causing me unnecessary pain. Because I have been basically pain-free for the last six-weeks right after the injury and able to do normal stuff outside of work there is no way insurance was going to pay for what amounts to preventative arthroscopic surgery. He recommended just a cortisone shot, ice if I need it for post-shot pain, and a follow up visit to his office in six weeks. I've never had a cortisone shot before, it felt weird. It was a 3 inch long large gauge needle and the syringe held about an inch of white cortisone. He numbed the injection site with lidocaine and buried the entire length of the needle into my knee joint (smartly I might add) by my kneecap. It didn't hurt at all but I felt the pressure of the juice going in. The doc said as long as I don't firmly plant my right foot and then twist, I should be fine going forward without surgery. He said I still may need surgery at some distant future date, possibly a full replacement because there is some thinning of the cartilage and arthritis that isn't going to get better on its own. Hopefully that will all be after mandatory retirement as an interior rated firefighter. I told him I would do my best to be cautious with lifting and such so as not to repeat this mess.

This means that as of Monday, I will be up on a ladder cleaning my gutters, get out on "The Beast" for a post-injury ride, and get out in the canoe with my FIL to do some fishin'! My next scheduled shift was supposed to be an 18 on Sunday, but that is a day before authorized. Therefore I will be on duty Thursday as my next scheduled shift. I can't wait!

UPDATE 6-14-23 @ 21:00 EDT: I have taken the doctor's advice and put an ice pack on my knee. It's just a bit sore from the cortisone shot, and I figure if I do it now maybe it won't wake me up out of a sound sleep at Zero-Dark-Thirty.

Fabulous Weather

It is sunny, 82 with low humidity, and a light breeze. The leaves have finally popped on the trees providing shade on the house. I have every window open and it is a comfortable 72 on the first floor and 74 on the second. I am spending a quiet afternoon alone on the porch listening to the WTIC AM 1080 stream on Audacy through my ROKU with the birds and squirrels to keep me company. 

Nothing else to do until after I get my knee fixed and go back to "fightin' fires and savin' lives!"

If this were a normal day off I'd definitely be out on "The Beast." I hear some guys out on the main road rippin' it up on sportbikes in the distance.

Update On My Knee Boo-Boo

This is an update on my "Aww Crap!" post. Since Sunday, I have been getting around without crutches and I ditched the knee brace. My knee actually feels pretty good, but "twingy", meaning I feel as though I am one wrong move, twist, or hard landing away from being back where I was last Friday afternoon. Initially I was OK on flat ground, but struggling with stairs and inclines. Now I can do those too, but slowly and with caution.

Getting the Workman's Comp paperwork filed has been a cluster fuck, with conflicting information and instructions. It finally got filed, getting me the all important claim number, but I believe it is still not right. At this point, I don't care. I got a claim number and was able to get right in to the orthopedist office for an exam yesterday morning at 11:00.

I saw a real nice young and handsome (I can recognize a handsome man without being gay!) physicians assistant. He listened to my story of what happened and then did a physical exam of my knee, by manipulating it in all different directions, and some other joint tests where he sat on my foot while I lay on my back. It was when he tried to bend it straight back as far as it would go that I howled and came off the table. He then did the same manipulations to my my other knee for comparison. He said my joints felt pretty good and strong, and is suspecting a meniscus tear in my right knee, requiring minor surgery to go in and "clean it up." He explained that there is no blood flow to the meniscus, therefore it will never heal. Instead they go in and just remove the damaged cartilage causing pain. An M.R.I. will be required to confirm, which of course, has to be authorized by Workman's Comp before I can even get an appointment. That should be early next week. The P.A. told me that when most people come in for the ten day post-op to get stitches removed after surgery, they are mostly recovered. THAT is good news compared to something that would sideline me for a couple of months like a total knee reconstruction or replacement. I would be out of my mind!

In the meantime, I am getting stuff done around the homestead. I have a Honda self-propelled walk behind mulching mower so I have been able to keep the grass cut without causing myself pain or further injury, although at a much slower pace than normal. Taking care of the chickens is trickier, carrying a 5 gallon waterer or their full feeder down the hill to the chicken coop every couple of days. I just take it slow and cautious. I have a minor exhaust repair to do on my truck that will be tricky. My FIL is around so he can get me tools and stuff while I stay down on the creeper, instead of getting up and down myself.

I had an terse discussion with my wife, who is upset that I am not working and that we are taking a temporary hit on our income. I say temporary because I will receive back pay for lost time. I had to explain that there is only two day time positions at the FD and there is no "light duty." I am a Firefighter/EMT and have to be able to fully perform my duties. Now if I had my old job in I.T. that was mostly a desk job, this would be a no brainer. I probably wouldn't have even filed a claim. Can you imagine me trying to be part of a 2-man team bringing a patient down a flight of stairs in a stair chair? Or being up on a roof trying to cut a vent hole? Trying to remove a victim from a house fire? Or operate the hydraulic rescue tools to open a crashed car? The list is endless. While I am certainly not a top notch physical specimen like the guy on the left and more like the guy on the right, as long as everything works on my body I can effectively do my job. BTW, the guy on the right is actor Kevin Heffernan portraying Chief Terry McConky in Tacoma FD. That show is one of the most accurate depictions of a small fire department on TV, and a favorite at our station.

Another friend asked if I could just sit at a desk and file reports. Nope. Our incident reports, patient care reports, maintenance records, etc. are done as soon as the incident or maintenance is concluded. Reports do not pile up for a clerk to do or for us to do later. Our department call volume is such that we have plenty of time between incidents to get reports done.

Aww Crap!

I am officially off the line and out on Workman's Comp. Did something to my right knee but don't know what. It was a little sore around noon time and even more sore when we got back in quarters. Then around 2:30 PM I was climbing down from the top of one of our engines and felt something pop in my knee. Not a painful pop, more like cracking a knuckle. Oh boy, now my knee won't bear any weight and trying induces pain of 5-6/10. It was interesting  getting back on the ground to say the least. I took a couple of Advil and tried to stick it out until end of shift. The station phone rang and I almost fell getting up to get it. At 5 PM I couldn't stand anymore and decided to head to the ER. I drove myself there because I have NEVER been in the ambulance as a patient and I needed to keep that record intact. I got to the ER and spotted a parking place near the door. As I came around the island, some bitch was lining up to park in it. Shit! I had to park in the lot down the hill and hobble back up. I got up to the ER, got inside and checked in. I didn't have to wait long to go through triage and get put in a room. A nurse came in, then an ER doc. It was one of the docs I have dealt with several times over the years by phone for a presumption on an untimely death. Then came the X-ray team with the portable X-Ray machine. A physician's assistant came in to tell me that other than a little arthritis that isn't the cause of this problem, the X-Rays are clear. They fitted me for a straight leg brace and crutches. In the packet of discharge papers is the name, address, and phone number of an orthopedist for further exam and probably an MRI. Ice, elevation, and rest for now.

Yeah right! Are you kidding me? My weekends are jam packed with shit to do.

Conditions Improved

In this post the other day I highlighted the high fire danger conditions around my home and the region. I am pleased to report that thanks to the over 3 1/2" of rain we received (with higher rain amounts in the CT river valley) in the last 24 hours, the spring wild fire season may be completely over. The leaf canopy and green ground cover is going to explode when the sun comes up. Also, the water levels in the rivers, streams, ponds, and swamps are way up. This means plenty of water supply for rural firefighting operations. Fishing will improve in the next few days too.

Happenings at The Homestead

The fire danger in Kommiecticut (actually most of southern New England) has been anywhere from "High" to "Extreme" with RED FLAG WARNINGS for the past few weeks. I receive the daily fire danger alert from the state via email. If there is a day of rain, the danger may go to low for one day, but on the next day it goes back to "HIGH" and continues up until the next rain. There have been many fires in the region and several I have personally worked. There was a 700 acre fire in Rhode Island that looked like a fire from out west that required help from CT & MA. Our fires never get into the trees like that requiring air drops, but that one did. The next couple of photos are from one my department fought along a town hiking trail. When we got the call it was reported as 10' x 10'. I was on duty that day and got there first with our brush truck, finding an area that was now 100' x 100' with a roaring fire spreading fast. We put it out with a total of six guys and 2,000 gallons of water from two of our engines. When all was said and done it was more than an acre. Normally a dirt strip will stop it, but as you can see it went right across the hiking trail burning both sides. In the last photo, the fire was on a hilltop a few hundred feet in off the road. Smelly, dirty, and soaking wet when you are done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My house is surrounded by woods and for the most part has a wide WUI (wildland-urban interface) barrier except for the west side facing the road. That is a thin strip of grass and in the summer also has a thick lush green area of ferns and ground cover. However, everything is just starting to grow so the ground is still covered with dry cured fuels that burn ferociously.

Our front porch which sees lots of use in warm weather

Looking down the steep hill from the porch towards the road.

The front of the house from the driveway

 

As you can see, the woods are pretty close to the front of the house. All it would take is some fucktard driving by to flick a cigarette butt out the window to light off my front woods. Under normal conditions that is not an issue. Once the tree canopy shades the forest floor, the ground cover holds the moisture and prevents fire spread. Right now, the sun is shining right through and baking everything on the ground making it super flammable. Therefore, once in the morning and once in the evening, the entire area 20-30 feet from the grass line out is wet down with what we in the fire service call "The Green Line" meaning a garden hose. Doing it twice a day will allow the water to soak through enough to slow if not halt fire spread. This coming Sunday we are supposed to get significant rain, so with this area pre-wetted down, the rain should really soak through and not just run off down the hill. Luckily we have not suffered through the decades of drought like Kommiefornia and are allowed to clear and mange our forests. I have a pile of stuff to burn out back once the fire danger lessens.

In yesterday's post about my Rhodesian Ridgeback Eli's birthday, I mentioned he won a dog show. The official photo came in the mail. I cropped it out for SafeSECS to eliminate the judge and my wife's faces, but there is my Handsome Boy in a show stance.

We normally keep our dogs lean, so you can just make out their ribs. But my wife was told that judges don't care for that look, so we have upped his meal portions to bulk him up and it seemed to work this time.

Sunday Morning Firefighter Breakfast

Sorry for the lateness of this post. I am on-shift alone today and have been hammered with calls since mid-morning when I started to compose it. I just got back in the office to do my reports and decided to get this post up first.

 

We had a steak BBQ with friends over the weekend. My wife bought some nice top sirloin steaks at The Country Butcher in Tolland. They were pretty big so I only ate half of mine, which meant the other half would become a steak-n-egg breakfast. It is after 3:30 PM EDT and I am still running on breakfast with no interest in lunch.

I slice the steak to half thickness and fry it char side up with butter. A left over baked potato got cubed up for homefries, skin and all sprinkled with garlic salt and paprika. Two fresh eggs out of my chicken coop from yesterday afternoon over medium with a slice of cheddar melted on top, and a Thomas' cinnamon raisin English muffin slathered with REAL butter. Just before I ate (after the photo), the eggs were doused with some Cholula Hot Sauce. FYI... The apple is the fruit pattern on the plate, not food.

Range Report For 4-4-23

I went to my club range after my shift on Tuesday the 4th and was pleased to see I was the only one there. I usually enjoy the camaraderie of fellow shooters at the range, but my main reason for going was to learn how to use my new shot timer. I would have to ask other shooters to hold up until I was done so their shots wouldn't interfere with mine. I'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem but alone was definitely better.

First, I wanted to make sure the ammo I was using for this exercise functioned OK in my Browning Buckmark. It was about 1/3 of a 1 pint milk type container of some old Remington Yellow Jacket that my Dad had. They functioned perfectly, so that was what I was going to use for my timer work. This was the first time I would be shooting while wearing my new Walker electronic muffs. They worked great for protecting my hearing. But it was weird to hear only the echo of the shot off the woods and hills and not the shot. Throwing .22LR's against steel plates didn't make enough noise for me to hear, but I could see I hit the plates. It will be interesting to ring steel when I move up to larger calibers on another outing.

I had already put in a fresh 9V Eveready Energizer and set the time and date. The clock will run down the battery so I will keep it out when not in use. All the settings and shot data stays in memory, only the clock will need to be reset. The default mode is to simply measure shot strings; from buzzer to first shot, and times between successive shots. I had it set for a random start between 1.5 and 9.0 seconds. I first loaded the gun with 3 rounds, hit the "START" button, and held at the low ready. At the beep (which I heard clearly through my Walker muffs) I raised the gun, acquired the target, and shot all 3 rounds. When I looked at the timer, it said 4 shots with about 10 seconds to the last shot, That's strange, I wonder what it heard to think it was another shot. A couple more tries and I had it figured it out. I had the timer clipped to my belt, and when I pulled it off the clip snapped against the body of the timer. I need to hit a button to stop the string. That was not detailed in the instructions which after reading right after I got the timer, I thought needed greater detail. I then did a few 10 shot strings and stopped the timer after 10 and had good readings. Now it's time to try setting some par times.

Not having any standard drills in mind to try, I made one up. 10 shots on target in less than 15 seconds at 7 yards. Now I was going to have a start and stop beep. Interesting thing I didn't know, the timer continues recording shots and time after the stop beep. What I thought was a stop beep just tells you you're at the par time and missed making time if you still need to shoot. At 7 yards, putting all 10 rounds in the 10 ring and a couple in the bullseye weren't too difficult, but doing it for time was new to me. I again started from the low ready position and was under time each string. What got better were my groups each time I tried it. I was satisfied I could use the timer for training without too much fumbling around and put it away. I then proceeded to shoot the rest of my ammo by smacking the hanging steel plates at 25 yards, as well as some free standing small diameter plates to set up and knock down. The largest of these plates was 6 inches, there were two 4 inch plates and a 3 inch plate. There is a silhouette target with a 2 inch swing-out plate in the center of the chest, and a hanging 2 inch plate. I did this several times effortlessly until I was out of ammo. The Buckmark is an accurate pistol for sure.

The last thing I did was try out my new Sig-Sauer Kilo Rangefinder. It turns out the 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, and 200 yard backstops are all a little short. The 200 yard measured 194.7 yards by laser. No big deal, just interesting. I had the connection up between the range finder and the Sig BDX app on my phone, which shows the readings on the range finder on my phone. The ballistics calculator is not as accurate as the Ballistics Buddy app which is right on with my dope card for my rifle, but also has a lot more parameters to set than the range finder. I will just use it for range and up/down angle, and let the Ballistics Buddy app give me elevation and windage.

Goings On In The "Quiet Corner"

I took and passed my annual fire department "Interior Firefighter" physical yesterday, meaning another year of cheating death with interior attack firefighting inside burning buildings. The last one I was in occurred on February 16th. Nothing visible from the outside, we had to go in and look for it. First guy on scene did a 360 (walk around to see all sides of a building) and told us the fire was to the right. Unfortunately it was when he was looking at the back of the house, not the front where we went in. The house was filled with smoke, and we went down the hallway searching the bedrooms for the fire. The sound of the over the range microwave crashing to the floor in the kitchen behind us said to go the other way to check. Sure enough the fire was in the kitchen and the adjoining room. We knocked it down quick with a single hose line. Being in my 60's I am good for one cylinder of SCBA air for initial knock down and then I'm done. I am more than happy to let others go in to pull ceilings and do overhaul while staying outside to roll hose or run the pump.

With temps in the mid 50's and partly sunny yesterday afternoon, I got out on "The Beast" for an inaugural spring ride. Last time I was out was New Years Day. I pulled off the cover, disconnected the Battery Tender, topped off the tire air pressure, took it off the stands, and punched the starter button. It fired right up as I expected. I backed it out of the garage to let it get up to temperature, and took the opportunity to re-position the snowblower at the front of the bike. I won't move it down to the barn until its time to get the lawnmower and lawn furniture out. I don't need to have it put away for a surprise heavy spring snowstorm and get caught unprepared. I did a simple 20 mile loop around through my town and the next one over. Of course, since it was Friday, my normal shift partner was on duty, so I had to stop at the firehouse to torment him. I do circles in front of the Day Room window with the music blaring and honking the horn. I got the expected two hand middle finger salute out the window. I went around back and parked so he came out to B.S. for a bit. After that it was back home to put the bike away because today was predicted to be wet and crappy out. They were right for a change.

Yep

H/T to Western Rifle Shooters Association

 

 

While I have served in the military, I was never in combat. That said, working in the fire service for over 30 years, I have seen more than my share of horrific things. Gore, death, people dying in my presence, severe burns, trauma, etc. I don't do the George Costanza "Serenity NOW!" thing of burying things deep in my mind only to manifest themselves later in a horrific way, but I don't sit and dwell on it either. I believe I strike the right balance of knowing and remembering what I do and continue to do the best job I can.

The coping mechanism we use is the black humor. It occurs back at the station and only amongst ourselves, NEVER in public. I once dealt with a guy that accidentally set himself on fire. Rather than do what we are taught from a young age of "STOP-DROP-AND ROLL" he ran out of the house and down the road. Neighbors reported him to be a giant screaming fireball when they tackled him and put him out with pots of water from their houses. It was one of our first aeromed transports by LifeStar helicopter and I was in charge of the L.Z. The EMT's were bringing the PT up the road on the stretcher to meet the bird already on the ground. Have you ever burned a hotdog on the grill? That is exactly what this guy looked like.... all blackened and his skin split open all over his body. They loaded him up and flew off to a trauma center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

When we got back to the firehouse it started out with everyone kind of quiet, then they started talking about what we just went through. It did not take long for the "crispy critter" comment to come out, and from there it was a free for all of jokes and laughter. I said I was going to be off grilled hotdogs for a while. More laughter. That's just how it is. We do it. Cops do it. Hospital personnel do it. The military does it. It must be done privately among ourselves because publicly it would be disrespectful and hurtful if family members overheard it. But believe me, it is very beneficial to us.