EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE TYRONE!

You just gotta love Tyrone. With him in the house, there's never a dull minute. Sometimes that's a good thing, other times it ain't so bad. Today, the boys decided to take matters into their own hands and attempt to suppress his thyroid problem by fretting him into a state of calm. That plus I think they were just trying to get a jump on him and beat him to the punch (usually Tyrone is the one doing the fretting). Anyhow, it's been Tyrones day to be the center of attention. That, along with some other happenings has made today a pretty fun tour. It started with us getting up a few leaves this morning. Tyrone had a nice big pile. I think he was planning on doing a swan dive into them from the bed of the "cowboy Cadillac" but just as he'd get em piled up, Opie would come along with the leaf blower. Just might have saved Tyrones life... or at least a few fractures.
Now, we all know that Tyrone is a little "wired" at times... ok ok.. MOST of the time and I thought we had learned to work around it. Apparently NOT! The one thing we try to avoid is letting him eat sweets. I think I've even issued an order on it. DIDN'T MATTER. The boys juiced him up today. They've done everything but shoot him up with D50. I know you've heard the "you might be a redneck if" jokes. Well, here at station #9, the joke goes a little different. "You've worked in the ghetto to long when..." ???? how about when you make Kool-aid pies. Yep... I said "Kool-aid" pies. At least they made it from our favorite flavor...RED!! So sweet your teeth hurt! Just look what happened when Bugg licked the spoon. Ok, so fretting Tyrone didn't calm him down ANY. The Kool-aid pies only jacked him up worse. So, our only option... buy a new mask and scare the crap out of him...
LMAO...He's still sitting in the corner shaking! But at least he's quiet :-) The rest of the day...just as funny. A tour full of laughs and even one unbelievable event. The well known, famous, master blogger, self proclaimed genius, author, mega web master, paterfamilias Rhett Fleitz himself was left SPEECHLESS... Yep...didn't (couldn't) utter a word! SPEECHLESS! Well after the fact anyways. You see, Todd "multi media" Harris was attempting to talk on a cell phone while utilizing the "redneck hands-free technique" (pinning the phone between his shoulder and ear). Which generally works, just not so well when you're wearing a radio strap across the same shoulder. You guessed it...the radio mic was keyed. Oh yea, and for what seemed like an eternity. Always up in someones business, looking for any hint of a story for his "feel good" "eco-friendly" piece of poo, rag blog / web site, Rhett was in close proximity and just had to add his 2 cents...it came across the air loud and clear.... here's how it went.... #%&@^%!$%*#) church $@^*#*@^^#((&&^%@*&@^% please $@#&&@%*@%#&$!&@%** yes, thank you *#&@#%$^^#(@***@^%%@$#&*$%#^@ I love my job too @*%#&^!$@*%%$#*!&@**#@* that Chief of ours..what a nice guy*#%@^$#*@&%#&^@** gonna have to buy him dinner#$@*&!%@$#(!*@&^#%!$@#**@#!HAHAHaahahahahahahahaha. Every man on the North Battalion was running for their radio or cell phone to notify them. Too late. Afterwards, when the Chief came out to bust a few balls;...errrrr I mean to investigate the matter to assure there was no radio malfunction or possible safety issues involving their portables, Rhett had no rebuttal. NOT A WORD. Quiet as a church mouse. GUILTY! The best part was that we got to witness it. They (Lucky 13) were out hose testing and, since they never get to use any of that "yellow stuff" on the back, they called and asked the Melrose Misfits if we'd come help. The chief even rolled his sleeves up and all the while kept us in tears with his antics over the open mic. (editor's note: Rhett and I are good friends and he knows I'm only poking fun in the above posting. His site is NOT eco-friendly). The shenanigans haven't been all about Tyrone and Lucky 13 today. The boys have even worked on me a little. You see, Wheezy and Coon are testing for promotion to Lieutenant. Our Lts ride the seat when the Captain is off so, in an effort for them to gain some experience, I have been letting them "ride the seat". Today, Wheezy is riding and I'm backwards. Our War Wagon is still sick so we're using a reserve piece. Yesterday, the "Q" siren quit on the reserve. Now, the engine is equipped with an electric siren as well but I CANT STAND hearing a fire truck on a run blowing an ambulance siren. Ughhhhhhhh! I'll stick my head out the window and yell for vehicles to move while blasting the air horn before turning on the "woo woo". Well, Wheezy and Bugg know how much it irks me so.... THEY BLEW IT! I guess they were thinking I can't fit over the dog house and between the seats to get to them. Blowing and laughing all the way. Then....THEN... to top it off, when he keyed the radio to clear us from the incident, he identified us as "Medic 9". See... that's why I hate those woo woo sirens, messed him up so bad he thought we were on a medic truck. Geeeeesh.
Ok, this is getting long, it's late and I'm tired so I'll try to wrap it up. Sorry we missed the post last day. Caught a small job, looked and seemed worse than what it was. I'll tell the full story another day (it's funny)...basically a mattress fire. Here's a shot just before taking up.

One last note is that Gary "Fish" Fisher is back in the States and town. We posted earlier about seeing hits on the blog from Iraq and that we figured them to be either my future son in-law or Fish. Well, he called the station tonight and let us know he's in. He's here for about a week, back to Iraq for about another week, then home for good. We're glad you're back safe and WELCOME HOME brother!
OK, I'm done. Off on 4-day in the morning, back on Saturday. Until then, stay safe and in house. Capt. Wines

C-shift sweating out our middle day

It's been a long hot middle day for the Melrose Misfits of C-shift. I'm not sure what today's temperature was but it was HOT. It's been steady running for the Medic, sitting on 9 while the Engine hangs on to 4. I had the pleasure of spending the last of 4 Sundays getting my "learn on" out at our regional training center. Now typically, I wouldn't be too happy about sitting in a classroom for 4 days but with Instructors like Battalion Chiefs Adkins and Manual, who could complain? Forget the endless chapters, the HOMEWORK, those color in all the dots sheets from DFP, the ENDLESS chapters,the HOMEWORK, reading assignments, 7 page papers in some kind of funny "format", the HOMEWORK, endless chapters, and lets not forget the 7 page essay and oh yea..HOMEWORK. With Teddy and Roger at the helm, it was actually not that bad. Here's a shot of Chief Adkins in action.

While I was gone (and due to Wheezy being off on vacation ... he's away at kick-ball training camp) we had a fill in from The Deuce (remember?? The Deuce because 1 is never enough...click here and scroll down). Anyway, we got one of C-shift's newest members FF/EMT Ward. They made a few EMS runs and then caught a vehicle fire. I had my camera with me this morning so they didn't get any pics but I understand Ward did a fine job. I guess the boys did miss me though because they had me a present when I got back. A little "Bling" is always good because it adds points to your street credit.


We opened the barber shop after dinner with Lt. Bugg wielding the shears again. Just like with Tyrone ( here and here )Things didn't look so good for Coon in the beginning...you be the judge

The good news is that it turned out ok. I was checking out my regular web sites / blogs this evening and found some really good smack. Anyone who knows me knows I'm sort of a FDNY buff. Well, firefighterspot has some GREAT vintage photos of the FDNY in action. Here's the direct link to the post, scroll to the bottom of the pic, look right and click view all images or just click here. I also found this really cool T-shirt over at the Happy Medic Again, scroll towards the bottom of the page and look at the right side bar.

You can purchase this shirt here
Well, that's enough for tonight, it's back to the hay fields again tomorrow. I have the Buckaroo in farm training as well as FD training. I'll end with a few shots from yesterday of the little fella helping out and doing what he seems to do best...EATING LOL




Stay in the house, if not remember to keep your members hydrated and cool. Get that gear off of em a soon as possible. BE SAFE! Capt. Wines

Busy day for the Melrose Misfits

Gotta love Mondays! The good news is that it's the last day of our cycle...COME ON 4 DAY BREAK! The morning started off as usual Monday checks, egg sandwich, and giving the 'ol War Wagon and Gut Box a bath. Off to the store for the daily grub and back to mow the grass. Out to flow a few hydrants, a forcible entry drill and back to prepare lunch. Then it was out to station #13 to get a new paper towel holder for the kitchen. Let's just say me and the old one had a little disagreement. I thought it should remain closed at all times and hold paper towels for us to dry our hands. It, on the other hand wanted to stay flopped open and keep all of the towels on the floor. May it rest in peace! While out at the running ONE THREE, we also got to wish our very own poop magnet "Coon" good luck on his 14:00 physical(he's transferred out today). Word is that our new city Doctor has hands like a logger and fingers the size of Twinkies. Now, that's just rumor and I'm sure her hands / fingers aren't that big but the look in Coon's eyes was priceless. Then the running began. A moderate damage MVA that had one vehicle atop a hydrant at 19th and Melrose. While working that one, we literally witnessed a 2nd rear ender due to the always expected "rubber necking". Here are a few pics of the initial incident.



Add in a couple commercial fire alarms along with a residential alarm and a few "wires down" calls and that carried us all the way to supper time. The medics (9 and 101) responded to a multiple stabbing that resulted in 2 "Gold Alerts" with our brothers from the 12th street express (Station #5). They seem to keep coming this evening so who knows what the night will bring. I'll add a few pics of our forcible entry drill from this morning. A typical door for our area but always a good training tool to look at and think about how you would attack it. Would you attack the bolt heads, run the saw down the jambs or attack the garage door?? Gets ya thinking..






We also stopped by to check the status of our future home.. here's another few pics of a "measure of progress".


That's about enough for now, I'll update tonight if we catch anything worth posting about. If not or until then, stay safe and keep em in the house...we'll be back on Saturday. Capt. Wines

YOU'D BETTER SIT DOWN

If you're not sitting, you may fall from laughing. Today has been one of those days. To begin with, both Wheezy and Coon are off so we needed a "fill in" for the shift. It was supposed to be a man from #13 but the capt. banged out sick. Rumor has it that he may be a little bit of a hypercondriac. The story continued that last day, they ran an EMS call where the pt had gout. He must have gotten too close or, gosh forbid; even touched the pt. That said, they're not sure, but the boys at #13 think the Captain must have "caught" the gout. HaHaHa are you kidding me? You CAN'T "catch" it....all kidding aside Capt. get well soon, see ya next cycle. So, now a man from #13 was out of the question and the Battalion had to back up and punt. A couple calls were made and the result was us getting a man from the South side. I guess I should narrow it down some and say a man from "The Big Show" aka station 1. I always wondered why they call Alex "smiley" but it didn't take long into the shift for me to figure it out. Check out this pic.ALL SMILES! I think he's having a little too much fun up here. A few routine runs, a trip to Food Lion for the day's meals and then to class at 13:00. After class, we stopped by the Shriners Fire Brigade building to help them load a little hose in preparation for Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Here's a picture of the boys hard at work. I should also mention that we took a few minutes before going to work to visit old station #3 which is under HUGE renovations by its new owner. I'll post more on that visit in the future. Anyways, as most of you know by now, the Melrose Misfits not only work hard, we play hard too and, I'm a little afraid that we may lead poor "Smiley" astray.... see below

WAIT.... it gets BETTER. Watch the videos..

Now, I know it doesn't look that dangerous BUT, we are talking about Tyrone here... when he says "out of the way!" you'd better run. ENJOY!

Did you hear him say..."Oh did ya see that?" Almost like a "hey yall, watch this" Is that BEAUTIFUL or what?? Well it's time to get the cornhole boards out and make a little more ice cream... flavor of the night..pineapple. Stop in for a bowl.

Bad start to beautiful day!

It's hard to believe that we were shoveling snow just 4 days ago on our last tour and today the temperature was 80 degrees! WOW what a swing in the weather. Station 3 seems to think we've been laying around the beach today (check their blog post here) but I can assure you that the "Melrose Misfits" have been on the job and at the ready. We started the morning in the worst way imaginable. In our profession, we have to see and do things that most people never think about. Every member has their own way of dealing with such incidents but it's always harder when there's children involved. Our first run of the day was for a 1 yr old infant not breathing. The stress level increases about 10 fold. Firefighters always give 110% but sadly, the outcome wasn't what we were hoping for. I will move past this subject by saying how proud I am of the effort the boys gave and how well they handled themselves on such a difficult call (I should also add a special "Thanks" to Capt. Bocock, our C-shift EMS supervisor who responded and rode in with the boys). Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. Well, with that behind us; we gathered ourselves together and began to move through the day. Chip beef gravy and biscuits, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and Bacon filled the boy's bellys ( I don't think they eat very well over 4 day breaks). Normal station duties and YES, contrary to station #3's belief, we did a little training. FDC hook ups and some pump drills. It was just too nice not to be outside.

Routine calls scattered through the day but we fully expect business to increase tonight. It seems everyone had the same idea for dinner so we too rolled out the grill for mushroom and swiss burgers. We snapped a shot for the brothers and sisters at #3 because it's most likely the most fire they'll see tonight (haha).

After another fabulous meal prepared by our "ninja cook" we broke the ol "corn hole" boards out. Now, for all you dirty minded readers..it's not that kind of "corn hole". It's a board and bag game also known as "baggo". The bags you toss are filled with corn, the object is to toss it through the hole in the board..thus CORN HOLE. We custom made our boards last year and try to play every evening after dinner weather permitting.

We also shot a little video of the action for all those who couldn't attend the event.


Our neighbors and citizens stopped at the light in front of the station seem to enjoy the games as well. Every time we play, we receive several honks and waves as well as inquiry's as to the score. One of the neighborhood families were out for a bike ride and walk this evening and stopped long enough for the youngster to test her skill.

Don't forget to make plans to attend the St. Patty's Day Parade and post-parade get together at the Union hall. The parade is next Saturday the 14th. There is a link at the top left of our site for details on the route etc. Line up is at 9:30. We (Local 1132) will have the 1938 Chevy and a tractor / hay wagon for the kids to ride on. Members can ride or march beside the truck / tractor. I think most guys are going to wear their station St. Patty's tee-shirts and bunker pants. Rhett has a few pics of some of the shirts designed by individual companies here. Speaking of links, I added one to the Long Beach Ca. Training Div. site at the top left of the page. It has a cool simulator that some of you may find useful as a training aide (plus station 3 can use it to see some fire). It's almost 21:00 (9pm) and the runs have started. Plus Bug is outside playing with the rats so I'd better wrap it for now and get the boys inside. It's all fun and games til somebody gets an eye put out...or bitten by a rat. Stay safe, C-shift is back Monday and Wednesday.