WHERE did my 4 day break go??!!

MY ACHING BACK!!!!!

Talk about “carrying the load”!!

And OVERLOADED at that!!!!

That’s what it feels like on 3 Engine today. Carrying the load for the Medics ONCE AGAIN. Here we are sitting on 11 and they have all of what??… 3 or 4 runs? geesh. To top it off, every time we make it back to the house (either soaked from sweat due to the heat or drenched because of thunder storms) we find the “box boys” nestled on the couch, kool-aid stains around their lips (yea…RED) brushing cheese puff crumbs off their shirts! LMAO !!! I’m just kidding. It’s been busy for all of us today and I don’t know why… Friday the 13th is next day. But yea, the Medic has been just as steady. It’s almost felt like being at a County sub-station today. The Engine has ran about 3 across the line today plus we have 2 of their members riding as students on the box. Fran Gonzalez is becoming a regular around here and Jeremy Newman returns for his 2nd ride with us. I always post pic of the ride-a-longs so here is Fran and Newman once again..


We have a fill in on the Engine too. Opie was off to school today, tonight he is riding as the 3rd person on the box (part of the class requirements) and Pee-Wee is on vacation and planning to get married this Saturday (more on that next day). Anyway, that leaves us a man short so the South Side was gracious enough to send us a man from Station #11. Meet Jeff “Dud” Dudley…

Our runs have been nothing really exciting or out of the norm today…just a bunch of em. We did catch an alarm over at a new football stadium being built at one of our local high schools. The system for the stadium is separate from the school itself and something in particular caught my eye… here are a couple pics.



Nothing “standoutish” here right?? A football stadium under construction. Notice anything in the 2nd pic? The 3rd shot gives a closer view (I moved closer Schmoe..no fancy lens or camera tricks here..lol). Yep.. pull stations at the entrance / exit to an outdoor stadium. Now these high school games are popular and with the new stadium are sure to draw even larger crowds. Just imagine all those fans.. happy for a win..upset over a loss, pushing, crowding either in or out of the gates. I can see the puzzlement in their eyes when they spot the bright red pull stations..hummmmm. How many times do you reckon they’ll get pulled?? I’m betting we’re gonna see a lot of high school football action this fall. Anyway, like I said; not too much excitement today. And, in case you wondering, the best thing about 4 day break was that I wasn’t HERE. Other than that, it mostly sucked. As usual, nothing went as planned. The best part was when I got to watch the Buckaroo all day. We spent the most part of it mowing on the hillsides of the farm. Steep and rough but a beautiful view..


There’s nothing the little fella loves more than to ride the tractor. When he was a baby, I even had a car seat mounted in the cab for him. Now, he’s either standing at my side, sitting on wheel well or in my lap driving. Afterwards we cooled down in the creek for a bit..


Yea.. he’s getting big..and becoming quite the “rock chunker” too. Well, like I said; the Buckaroo was the highlight of my break. As for the rest of it, I just took out my aggression on the ground hogs…(***WARNING***the next pic contains blood and evidence of violence)

Hope the pic didn’t offend any of my “light hearted” readers. I would like to report that no animals were harmed in the taking of that photo but…well… the little fella didn’t make it. In my defence, it is a part of farm life plus… isn’t it nice to know we are still on top of the food chain?
Ok, enough for tonight.. We’re back for Friday the 13th and what is already shaping up to be a long post. I’ll see ya then but mean while, stay safe and in house.
Captain Wines