Getting my "move" on!

It’s the 2nd day of my first cycle at my new digs. LUCKY #13! I’m out here with Lt. George (Georgie) Perdue and FF / EMT Todd (Boots) Harris. We are a single engine company with only 3 assigned (we are holding a vacancy here). It seems as though our Department goes from over staffed to running short from one day to the next so its hard for me to keep track of exactly where we stand personnel wise. It really depends on who and / or when you ask as to which answer you receive.  It’s kinda like when we over promoted a few too many folks and had to pass out boomerang bugles.  Its  that fancy “past high school” type counting they use down there where  all the beans are counted…  you know the math… we can close a station here… loose a truck there … put these two companies together yet NOTHING will change. Not response times, man power etc. Nothing.  Hummmm?? Yet here we sit running with 3 (that’s counting the officer and driver).  I knew I should have paid a little more attention in math class… well either to school or Andy

LMAO.. I love that episode. So anyway, I’m out here at #13 and adjusting just fine. My new crew and I have all known one another for some time now and get along great. It has been a very easy transition. As far as the station, I was assigned here to Ladder 13 (now Ladder 5) several years ago when I made 1st Lt. so, the house is not unfamiliar either. I think I mentioned a few post back (while filling in at #6) that this house and #6 are identical. I wasn’t quite sure at the time but now know that this station was actually built a year before #6. This house went up in 1978 and #6 in 1979. Here’s a shot of the new place…

As for the reason for the move ..that’s a long story and NO, I’m not in trouble nor have i done anything wrong.  It would take me 10 pages and 2 days to tell the story and honestly, I don’t think this is the place to air dirty laundry. For now, I’ll settle for a more glamorous and “made up” reason for the move.  My job at #3 was done and they needed me out here. Georgie and Boots need to be “dialed in” and pulled  together so they can function more like a “team”.  Company and team building … a “special assignment”. Yea.. that’s it… a special assignment.

 LMAO… I love those videos. For those of you new to this site, you may want / need to watch the first video installment here to better understand the “goat” comments and to get to know the man in the cowboy hat a little better (it’s a pretty good video / post too). Anyway, I’m here, Clayton is there and everyone is going to live through it. Oh yea.. I just thought of another reason for the move… I need to help Boots build on his cooking skills. Last day (my 1st here) he was going to make “pigs in a blanket” for lunch. You know.. SIMPLE.. pigs in a blanket (a whole or half hot dog wrapped in a plain ol biscuit from a can right??). Obviously,  NOT SO SIMPLE. One very important step in making pigs in a blanket…. put a tooth pick through the two folded ends of the biscuits and down through the dog. That way, while subjected to the heat of the oven;  the biscuits wont open up, unfold, and leave you with a baked hot dog on top of (vs. wrapped in) a flat biscuit LMAO! Instead of a pig in a blanket we had a dog on a biscuit LMAO…I don’t know who laughed harder.. Boots or us. It was a fairly busy 1st day here. Moving, unpacking etc. A couple visitors, a hundred phone calls (thanks to everyone who called with “well wishes” etc.. it meant a lot to me and I appreciate it) and a few runs to boot. We only had 4 runs the entire tour but of those 4, we only had a 50% survivability rate. Not a good start huh. Today we are taking a little more time to settle in and get adjusted. It’s Friday and our middle day so we are almost over the hump. Big plans for tomorrow when we get off though. I’ll be heading over to West “by God” Virginia for the 31st Annual Bridge Day held at the New River Gorge.

 If you’ve never been and can get there, you wont be disappointed. Check out the link above for all the activities etc. The high lineis a MUST but my favorite is the rappel. Anywhere from 700 to 850′ negitive (depending on your position on the cat walk) ! When I say “negitive” , I mean that you are not against a building, wall, cliff or ANYTHING. I’ve been on some pretty awesome rappels at some unbelievable sites but nothing can compare to the Gorge… not even by the falls..

 Like I said, it’s worth the trip, you’ll have to see it to believe it and it’s sure to be an experience you wont soon forget.. hope to see ya there. Ok, for some more local news… ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL??!!!?? Oh yea, it’s that time of year again and the Roanoke Rampage are gearing up for our 2nd season in the Nation Public Safety Football League. Strength training etc will begin in November, practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays in December and pads / full contact in January. Check out the Rampage link above and sign up for a committee. We need your support!

That’s gonna do it for now. I’ll check back in a little later on. Until then, thanks for following, tell all your friends on “picture book” and “tweet tweet” to follow along, stay safe and in house!

Captain Wines