If I live 12 more hours!

Geesh !  WHAT A WEEK !!

The good news is that if I can last about 12 more hours, I’ll be headed home for what will hopefully be a relaxing Sunday and the beginning of my 4 day break. Yesterday started off good, got busy and then ended late but good.

It started off with me and the Buckaroo meeting Captain Witt and the crew from County Station #1 for breakfast.  Afterwards, we stayed plenty busy on the farm despite the rainy conditions. Later in the evening, we loaded up and headed out to Buena Vista, Va for the 11th Annual Nothin Fancy Bluegrass Festival. It was a VERY relaxing evening with family, friends and good music.

I’ve mentioned before that dad (aka “Pop”) has been driving the tour bus for Nothin Fancy for a while now. They are an award winning band that has been together for over 18 years now!

Learn more about Nothing Fancy  … Previous Post       Web Site     Face Book

If you hit the “previous post” link above, you know that I sometimes help out with the driving … there are several benefits to that.

First, it’s not bad work….easier than fighting fire or farming anyway. It also allows me to spend some time with Pop where we can cut up and carry on a little bit.

Driving down the road listening to the boys practice is not a bad gig either ….

Plus, when we get to our destination, we often get to meet and hang out with some other great musicians, singers and people. Nothin Fancy tours a lot with Rhonda Vincent . I’ve been a HUGE fan of hers since I was a kid.  Pop and I have met her several times now over the past year or so. She always makes the Buena Vista Festival.

She stopped long enough last night to pose for a  back stage pic with me. I told her I needed the shot to fret  … show brother firefighter David Lucas from Station #3-A.  “Big Luke” is also a huge fan of Rhonda … that ones for you brother 🙂

Also in the “previous post” link above, I mentioned the guys practicing a new song on the way down to Florida. At the time, I couldn’t  even mention the name of the song.  Last night, I got to hear them play it for the first time in front of an audience. I knew the song was going to be a huge hit  and it was. The title is “Darkness and Dirt” . It’s a song about a coal miner’s life but relates to that of firefighters as well. The lyrics are pure poetry and lead singer Mike Andes nails the vocals. Here’s a short clip I recorded on my camera ..

That clip doesn’t do the song justice.  If you like Bluegrass music at all, hit the link to their web site (above) and buy the new CD … you’ll LOVE it!

So, I got home after mid-night, caught a few winks and headed back in here at 6:30 this morning. Fresh out of a Bluegrass festival in Buena Vista to the heart of  NW Roanoke City to find the bay door busted…I told ya it was gonna be one of “those” cycles!

Apparently, a young lady was being chased and shot at this morning. She didn’t think she could out run the shooter’s vehicle so she figured she’d find refuge at the local fire station.

Never mind it’s “whatever AM” , everyones asleep and the doors are closed …

Just try to drive through it!

LMAO …. what ever happened to just pulling a street box for help? ( Oh wait … we took all of them out )

The good news is that it was the Medic truck’s back door so it wont affect running out of the station (they can back into the front door rather than pulling through). Bugg got the mess cleaned up and the door secured but it should remain out of service for about a week or so (until the door company can complete repairs).

I headed out early to attend an airport disaster drill. WooooooHooooooo! Me, a few other firemen and a whole lot of other “agency heads” with “wonderful ideas” on how to handle a plane crash.

There’s nothing like “talking” an incident to completion with a hanger full of people who have never been on or ran an emergency incident much less a plane crash. Hummmm … here’s a few terms we may need to discuss … NIMS ? Unified Command? Ever heard of these???  HELLO ??? Don’t worry … I’m just the “acting” Chief … I kept my mouth shut…LOL.

After the cluster f   …. errrrrr disaster drill, I headed over to the Civic Center for a Department event to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness … Fired Up For A Cure.

There were all kinds of activities on site for both the young and old …

The morning started with a 5 and 10k run.

There were Fire, EMS and Police vehicles / equipment on display.

silent auctions …

Zumba, music …

Children activities, free ice skating, the Fire Safety House, free food and more.

October is fire Prevention as well as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Our Department and  IAFF Local 1132 joined forces to get an early start in trying to “extinguish”  Breast Cancer. The event seemed well attended. Chesapeake even brought down their PINK Engine #106. Here are a few pics from the event ….

The Chief told me that we had around 200 people participate in the 5k run but he failed to mention one of our most notable runners. If you haven’t heard yet, our very own Rhett Fleitz …aka The fireCritic was in attendance!

Not only was he there, HE RAN. Even more yet …. he finnished!  ….. ALIVE!

Rhett ran with his wife Becky. This was the not Becky’s first run but the first time she and Rhett had participated in a run together (it was Rhett’s first ).

Becky said it actually wasn’t as bad as she had expected…. Rhett was lighter than she estimated so carrying him didn’t slow her down that much. Maybe I should have loaned her the papoose I use for him when we participate in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climbs.. LMAO

All kidding aside, they both did an awesome job! I think they said their final time was around the 30 minute mark. CONGRATULATIONS !

Despite the fact that this was a breast cancer awareness event, I was a little embarrassed that Rhett choose to run in women’s clothing. Well, maybe not the entire “outfit” but I’m quite certain he was wearing Becky’s socks …. What do you think Statter ??? Can you tell his from hers??

LOL .. Iguess I shouldn’t give him too much grief about his socks because I was wearing a pink shirt. Actually, several members on duty today were wearing pink.

Because next month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we will also be wearing the shirts then.

Each company / member has the option of wearing the pink shirts while on duty during the middle day of each of their cycles for the month of October.

We have some members who have choosen to support the cause by wearing a ribbon or helmet sticker rather than the shirt. I think that’s great as well.

I’d dare say that we don’t have a single member whos life hasn’t been affected by cancer in one way or another.

Much like my good friend and fellow blogger Kelly Grayson’s ( A Day In The Life Of An Ambulance Driver ..2011 EMS Blog of the Year ) campaign …  Kilted to Kick Cancer ,  maybe at least we can help raise awareness. Either way, Station #13-C will be sporting PINK in October!

I’ll leave ya with one more short clip from Nothin Fancy. This is my uncle Gary’s rendition of “Turn the Page” …

I’ll check back as soon as I can … until then, Stay Safe and In House!

Captain Wines