Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
Scary thought I know but hey … everybody is doing it. I mentioned last night that 2010 was kinda like a roller coaster ride for me … a lot of “ups” and “downs” but I assume everyone’s life is kinda like that so maybe that’s my one link to normalcy. Anyway, today is the first day of 2011 so I figured I’d take a look back too …. hang on, here we go..
My “blogging” career began back in December of 2008 while assigned to Station #9 aka home of the “Melrose Misfits”. An A-shift member Jerry Franks aka “Beans” came up with the idea and created the site. The plan was for all 3 shifts to post and show a small glimpse of what firehouse life was like … the good the bad and the ugly. As it turned out, I did the postings for “C-shift” … thus, the beginning of my involvement in blogging. The site was AWESOME and we had a blast doing it … it “hooked” me. We damn near won The Fire Critic’s 2009 Blog of the Year in our first one out of the box. If you’ve never seen the site, take the time to scroll through the post HERE. Anyway, that’s how all this got started so if ya don’t like it, you have “Beans” to thank … here he is
Station #9 was being shut down and combined with station #5 into a brand new multi million dollar station. The crews were to be hand picked and I wasn’t one of them. On my Birthday of all days, I was relocated to Station #3 January 16, 2010. The “trend” back then (set by us) was “station blogs” and it just so happened that station #3 had one. Station #3 was a new station as well and quite honestly took a ton of ribbing from us thugs at #9. Their site was sporadic at best and wasn’t updated very regularly. I didn’t want to move in and just “take over” so I decided that maybe I was done with the blogging thing. Who wanted to be part of that “fell good .. hippie blog” anyway?
Several phone calls and e-mails later, it was evident that some folks (well… both of em anyway) really enjoyed my writing and convinced me to pick it back up. I came up with the name Wooden Ladders and Iron Firemen because I felt (and still do) as if that “saying” has somehow reversed itself over tha last how many years. Anyway, that was the name and the site went up on February 23rd, 2010.
My first post contained a Xtranormal video … yea… you’re welcome Statter..LOL. I later erased the video and left the reat of the post ( I was just a little disgruntled at the time). So, I’ll start there and hit the highlights of each month since.
February 2010 The “birth” of what has now become Ironfiremen.com Most notable was the now erased video and the Hooter’s Girls pic of them choking a chicken …LOL (Hooters was 2 doors down from Station #3..yea.. that was a smart move).
Look closer guys … there IS a chicken in the pic…LOL
March 2010 A busy month and some decent posts. Our football season had began ( Roanoke Rampage.. and YES I played and YES it was full contact) but what stands out most in my mind was past Melrose Misfit Ben “Tyrone” Obaugh leaving the department after only a few years. This has been a problem in our Department for some time now…. big and quick “turn over”…. new guys staying a year or two and moving on. Tyrone was the “star” of the Station 9 site but more than that, he was “one of us”. We had a great crew back then and I loved em all but Tyrone held a special place in my heart … if ya didn’t kill him … you had to love him.
April 2010 WOW! More good post. Some great pics… fires.. work etc. I met some new friends and fellow bloggers such as Hydrant Girl … or “Gal” as I call her. I have a pic of her that month in her wedding dress and bunker pants … sexy, cool, and odd all rolled into one. That’s not the pic that stands out in my mind though. April also brought the first “nude” pic to our local blogs and YES .. we had it here first …
May 2010 We announced several pregnancies this month (no … none of em mine) and had several other funny events happening. It was Memorial day and I listed the name of our 343 Brothers lost back on September 11, 2001. But, for me; the Rampage away game in Orlando Fla was the highlight. I was a celebrity for a while plus I didn’t have to be out in the cold snow or rain feeding cattle… I was laid up by the pool in good company ….
June 2010 Hay season was upon me and we were winding up our football season. I broke a collar bone but didn’t miss a play .. our last game in Charlotte was one of my best … I was mad as hell and just getting back into the “groove” of football. Birthdays, parties, float trips and even a few fires. It was a very stressful time in my life so I neglected some of my work on the farm and spent quite a bit of time down in the Outter Banks …
July 2010 More hay and farm life shots. Visitors, a new shed and the end of 2 Eras. Battalion Chief Bobby Slayton retired with almost 45 years of service while we, The IAFF and the entire Fire Service lost a leader in Duane Dixon’s death.
August 2010 More good post. The Buckaroo in some “compromising” settings. Family, friends, training etc. Another good Xtranormal video. August was also my first out of town “Fire Department related” trip in some time. I traveled to Chicago with Firefighter Netcast (Rhett Fleitz and John Mitchel) for Fire Rescue International 2010. WOW .. what a trip! I met so many new friends, contacts and leaders of the fire service that I had looked up to for so many years. This was the first time I had met Chris Naum, Chief Reason and Chief Billy Goldfeder. We even got to meet (and interview) “white Sean” from Rescue Me .. Steven Pasquale. Most notable .. the first time I met Dave Statter .. or he met me 🙂
September 2010 Obviously, the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks were on everybody’s mind. My post was of how I haven’t forgotten. Another stand out for that month was that my baby sister from Long Beach, Ca. was in. I hadn’t seen her in a while … a good but short visit
Octaber 2010 Oh yea… I was in full swing. Some fires .. good and bad calls… I showed some emotion in a post and even earned a “counseling session” from the Chief as to my posting choices. I had 2 big stand outs for the month .. I again teamed up with the crew from Firefighter Netcast and we headed up to Emitsburg, Md. for the 2010 National Fallen Firefighter Memorial Weekend. That trip and Halloween with the Buckaroo … his first mustache
November 2010 House fires … raw video … more emotion and Victoria Secretions. Yea… November was a good month! Tons of sexy pics and funny posts. Most notable was the time with friends and family for Thanksgiving. We had 5 generations together for a picture. Also notable was my product review of Axe shower gels and body wash …
December 2010 What else can ya say about December … CHRISTMAS. Of course, I had to add my little “Ironfiremen” spin and throw in Santa’s Sexy Helpers …
So there ya have it … a brief “Year in Review” if ya will. I have to admit that I had some decent post in 2010. Again, I don’t know why because I’m WAY out of the box when it comes to “Blogging rules” etc. My site and post are about me, my family and our lives. Well, a small part of it anyway. I guess it is kinda neat for some of ya to see how firemen think / live as opposed to straight line news etc. I don’t know but anyway and again, thanks for reading and following. Hey, take the time to browse through the older posts .. the “Archives” are in the right hand side bar. Don’t forget to “friend” me on “Picture Book” and be sure to “share” these post with your friends.
I hope you’ve enjoyed it … I know I have. Gonna kick back and relax for a bit this afternoon …. feeding etc maybe even a movie tonight (True Grit ???) . We’re back on duty tomorrow so I catch up with ya then
Until next time, stay safe and in house!
Captain Wines