1st day back for the C-shift Misfits

Another up and down day! We have a lot of news and event to pass along and you all know I'm long winded so hang in there. 1st of all, we want to officially say CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Scott "Coon" Boone on his promotion to Lieutenant. I don't know why he worried so much through the process... I've always told him that he's a winner!
There were 11 promotions total within the department (2+2=4). Congratulations to all of them, here's the list and YES... we got it up before Rhett! Captains: Brian Conner, Mac Craft, Doug Hurd, Chad Riddleberger, Clarence Turpin. 1st Lieutenants: Jamey Brads, Randy Smith. Lieutenants: Scott Boone, Andy Foley, David Lucas, Trevor Shannon. We are also in the waiting process to find out who's moving where. Obviously there are going to be some moves due to promotions but there's a bigger "shake up" on the horizon. Vacation sign ups are next week and in anticipation of our new station opening (along with all the promotions) there are a LOT of moves coming. Just as stressful as the promotional process! The Chief's will try to get the "right people" in the "right places" and that means everyone from Firefighter to Captain could be on the slate. We just went through a total Battalion Chief relocation so these additional personnel moves will give our shifts an even different look / feel. Anyhow, we continue to patiently await our fate. One things for sure, at the least; Coon or Bugg is moving out and either will be missed. Tune in next day and hopefully we'll have some news..good or bad (5x4=20). In other shift news, one of our brothers from "The Deuce" has become a father. They had to perform an emergency c-section on Richard lipe's wife. She had not reached her due date yet but we received a report of the mother and baby doing fine. Congratulations and best wishes to the Lipes family. We'll keep them in our thoughts and prayers until we get moma and baby home. More big news.... there are some people out there who seem to like us (LOL if they only knew). Not only were we nominated for 2009 Fire/EMS blog of the year over on the Fire Critic's site, we've even made the cut to the top 10! Now all we need are the votes to seal the deal. You can vote every 8 hours until the 12th. Here's a link to the voting page. How cool would that be if we actually won? A bunch of firemen...LOL..oh wait... all of the candidates are firemen. Whoda thunk it? And hey, the competition is tight! I follow most all of the blogs nominated and everyone is worthy. We've even caught a few good comments from our competition. Check out what The Happy Medic and Fire Daily had to say about us. Good luck to all of the candidates...take the time to check em all out but remember to vote for us! (10-2=8) Ok, so it's no A-shift "hat trick"...well not yet anyways but we did catch one today. One of those THICK black smoke garage fires. Our 1st of the new year and with our new Battalion Chief Slayton. Units assigned were E5, E9, E2, L7, L2, M9, M7, M101, RS1, B2, B1. Our brothers from the 12th Street Express made a great knock down with a 2 1/2" ..The ladders opened up, made the searches and did a great job with salvage and overhaul. Good work from all members on scene, here's the pics (5+4=9) The bottom pic was stolen from Mikey Overacker. He has more pics over on his site. Thanks for making it out Mikey. Check out the local news coverage here as well. We had a "fill in" riding backwards. Captain Martin from up at Lucky Ladder 13 was just leaving after filling in during class when the tones hit. Well you know Clayton, he jumped on. We had smoke showing pulling out of the bay door so after getting my pack on, I turned to him and said... "Clayton..we're going to work...STICK WITH WHEEZY AND DON'T GET HURT!" (pause) "WHAT??" (now louder) "DON'T GET HURT!" (shorter pause) "*&@^#%$@^^#&*@*...OK!". What happens when we roll in? Yep. As I step out of my door, there's poor little tink tink HANGING from the rear door by the head set cord. LMAO! Tied to the truck... running 100mph and going NOWHERE! Woulda burnt a treadmill up! The good news was that we got him untethered, put his helmet back on and he got to work. (7+2=9) He was actually in there "doing it" until he figured out that the pit bull he was going to save was actually alive and wanted OUT! Damn near hung then almost eaten alive Hahahahahahahahahaha...BEAUTIFUL! (3x3=9) Ok.... so I guess your wondering what all the math problems are about and I wish I could tell that story but Coon wont let me. Just trust in me that there are a few people who will know the meaning and several more who will laugh their butts off. That said I'll leave you with yet another video....

OK, that's enough for tonight..The Southies are on a worker of their own as we speak, the forcast is for snow and more cold so its time to make a tall glass of "fire juice" and hit the hay (or try to anyway). Don't forget to vote for us (every 8 hours) and pass it along to all your friends (use picture book, churp churp, cell phones or what have you). Thanks again for keeping up with us..C-shift is back on Saturday. Until then, don't take no wooden nickels Captain Wines

LOOKING TOWARDS 2010

What a year! Kind of an emotional roller coaster for the Melrose Misfits and our Department as a whole. A-shift has worked their last day of 2009 so I guess C-shift will try a "best of" or "highlight" post next day (Thursday) to kind of sum up the year. Yep, not only did the C-shift Misfits get to work Christmas Eve, we also have the honor of pulling New Year's Eve as well. Oh well, someone has to do it and we'll do our best to get a worthy post up. I mentioned an emotional roller coaster and by now, you should all know that we laid to rest one of our most respected members yesterday...Retired Battalion Chief Billy Obenchain. Rhett and Mikey Overacker have some great photo coverage of the funeral here and here. I must admit that once again I was humbled by the turn out (local news coverage here). The "Sea of Blue" behind the hearse would make any brother swell with pride. As with Brother Chris Brown's funeral, members from all around the Valley attended the service while our brothers and sisters from Roanoke County and Salem helped to fill our rigs and stations. I did not get nor compile the list of those brothers and sisters this time, but without naming each of you, please accept our sincere appreciation and THANKS! Our Honor Guard....WOW! What an awesome display of respect for a fallen brother! Just look at some of those pictures linked above. What's not so obvious was the weather and well... it sucked. Freezing cold with high wind. FREEZING COLD! Those guys never swayed at either service (Church or graveside). At the Church, somehow or another our very own Lt. Bugg and Lt. Songer (Station #10-C) had the honor of being posted by our fallen Chief's casket during the service (as they did at Capt. Brown's service). Another solid 45+ minutes on "guard" without a flinch. To each of our Honor Guard members, at both of the viewings, during the Church Service and at the Graveside Ceremony, WELL DONE LADS! You made us all proud. The stories have been told at every station today. Everything from the wooden spoon beatings to kitchen table wash downs and spiced up cigars. It was even said that he's most likely somewhere in heaven conducting a hose line drill, teaching strategy and tactics or testing a new nozzle. Fitting I'd say. Gone but never forgotten, REST IN PEACE CHIEF BILLY.
Ok, like so many other times this year, and like Billy would have expected, we got back on the trucks today. Another cold and windy day and busy on top of that. It seems as though the day has been all about vehicle accidents and car fires. On the North side, we had one rolling under a car port. A quick response and knock down by "Smoke and More, Running 4" (with our crippled War Wagon on their tail) kept it from extending into the structure. Responding companies were E4, E9, E5, L13, M4, B2 and RS1. Working fire was signaled due to the volume of fire and it's location of being under the carport, but additional companies were turned around. A good job by all members on scene. Lt. George Perdue of Lucky Ladder 13 was able to overcome the obstacle of Officers strewn in the front yard to force entry and conduct a search with negative results. Companies were up and back in service quickly with only minor injuries to an ankle and some Captain pride :-) Here are some pics

Yea, our ole War Wagon blew a radiator hose while en route but still managed to make it in, and YES....this time WE laid the line (lol).
Think I'll wrap it up here for tonight. I'll close with saying thanks for all the thoughts and prayers sent to the Obenchain family and our Department. I'd ask that you continue to keep the Obenchains and Brown families on your mind and near your heart as they continue to deal with these losses. I'd also mention a brother from the opposite side of the Country (and his Department as well) who seems to be struggling through a loss of their own. Follow Captain Schmoe's blog here ANYTHING you need Capt. we're a phone call or key stroke away.
Captain Wines

IT'S ON ! and "meet our members" part 2

Ok, some of you may have caught on that Rhett and I have a friendly little game of fretting going on. We are actually close friends and enjoy the jabs at one another. Lately, it seems as though we've been "one upping" him as far as our posts / blogs go. Even though he thinks he's an "arther" (an inside joke), he really has a long way to go. Of late, he's been caught twisting the facts, doctoring post times and dates and is often out right guilty of plagiarism and copyright infringements. Well, today, he's taken it a step further and involved "almost" innocent bystanders. When I say "almost", it's because the little Hippies should have known better. You see, today I stopped by Roanoke County's newest fire station #1 for a tour (WOW!!! but I'll get to that in a minute). When I got there, Capt. Witt told me that Rhett (riding OIC on City Engine #3 today) had stopped by earlier for a tour and took a few photos. Well, not to be out done, I too got a few shots around the station and had intended to beat him to the punch as far as posting them. I called in a favor with the Hippies at the Green house to help me in my efforts but got double crossed instead... PLUS Rhett took a little jab over on his precious Fire Critic site ..you know what that means..

I would have never thought Rhett would put Innocent people in the line of fire nor would I have ever believed that the Hippies at #3 would have gotten the balls to mess with the misfits again... especially after the last spanking we gave em here LMAO. Anyways, the Hippies got the post up first and I'm sure Rhett will soon have an award winning (in his own mind) post up as well. Not be stopped, I too will proceed as planned and post on my tour of the palace. Here's our local news coverage of the stations opening here and here's a picture of the building

The building is AWESOME! OMG if we had stations like that here in the city. Helmets off to the County on a job well done. Modern EVERYTHING! Check out these shots of the kitchen, day room and bay...



YES, that's leather recliners! I just had to give one a test ride

Oh..sorry, that one's a little blurry. Let me see if I have a better shot...

I gotta admit, I was speechless when I walked into that station. All kidding aside, I hope Rhett got some good shots and creates a decent post (if ya need some help Rhett just call me...u got the digits). As for the Hippies getting in the middle of it.... it's coming ;-)
Ok, on to our 2nd installment of "meet our members". Tonight we'll get you a little closer to Tyrone (Ben Obaugh). Tyrone was hired 9-22-03. His 1st assignment was to Lucky 13 and soon after became a Misfit. He is married to Jill who is bound to have a special place reserved in heaven. Together, they have 2 children (and future firefighters) Jackson and Noah. He's a Veteran, and a past Marine. He's an avid outdoorsman who often hunts with his bow or uses open sights on his riffle. He scares easily and believes in zombies. All in all, a great guy to work and live around. Above all, he's a devoted husband and father. Heres a family shot

Now, Tyrone is often portrayed as a "jokster" the "funny" or "crazy" guy around the station but I really don't understand what would give anyone that impression...He's perfectly normal in these shots.... right??




He's been featured in several of our videos.. check out these links from our past
here and here
He is a BLAST to work with but also a damn good firefighter and paramedic. He too rotates between the Engine and Medic and has become proficient with his skills on both levels




I gave him his nickname because he thought he was fretting me. He was here when I got the assignment. Well, to break the tension of a new Captain / crew etc. I may have fretted him just a touch. In return, when asked what his middle inital "T" stood for (Ben T. Obaugh), his reply was "Tyrone". Like I would believe a skinny white boy from Highland county would be named Tyrone...anyow, it stuck and he's been Tyrone ever since. Besides, he looks like a "Tyrone".... well groomed and handsome!

SO there he is.. well all we can show ya on here anyway. It's rainy and cold here tonight. Bugg's in the seat while I fill in for the Battalion. We'll update if anything comes up. Thanks for following, use the comments to let us know what you think. We're back Friday and Sunday. Until then, stay dry, safe and in the house. Capt. Wines

C-shift update

I was so caught up with Opie, I forgot to tell ya about an earlier call the Medic ran with Lucky 13. The call was a medical call, pt nausea and vomiting. The female pt was assessed and while giving her medical history and personal information, she stated that she had received both the Influenza and H1N1 (you know the Have 1 Need 1)shots this season. Well, it was about that time that Mr. "I used to be an EMT in Richmond" busted to the front(knocking Coon down)to advise the pt that these shots "only last 60-90 days". LMAO! Where did Dr. Fleitz come up with this??? He stated he researched it and found it as FACT. We figure he researched it as he did with the cut and paste job he did with or "new hire" list last day. Well, we put the Melrose Misfit's blog research department on it and have came up with the following rebuttle...FACTS...nuttin but em!
Check out sec. 2 paragraph 4 of this link.
or, simply check out this video You have to watch the entire video to get the appropriate answer. So, there you go.. proof again that Rhett is a fraud. A knock off, plagiarizer, copy cat! We just wanted to make sure our readers are up to speed on this issue and not be confused or misled on how long the shot is good for!
I also forgot to mention our 2 visitors of the day. Retired Lt. Mikey Overacker dropped by for a visit and we had a ride along on the Medic. Travis Meadow (Meadow...not Meador) is an EMT student and volunteer with Blue Ridge Vol. Fire and Rescue. Travis was hoping to see a little of what the job is and figured this was a good spot. It was good to see Mikey and as is everyone. Travis was very welcomed and we appreciate his interest in The Melrose Misfits. Here they are...


We also wanted to remind everyone of 2 A-shift retirements tomorrow. FF/Medic hank Pfister is retiring from station #4 while Lt. Leroy Edwards is retiring from Lucky 13. I have had the pleasure of working with both of these men and hold many many fond memories. Good luck and best wishes to you both! Stop by #13 between 14:00-16:00 and by #4 anytime.
Peace out...Capt. and the boys

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

Been one of those days for the C-shift Misfits. Wheezy is a little short of run and skills for his EMT-I certification so we had to transfer him up to The Deuce to ride with a preceptor. That led to us getting a fill in from Lucky 13 who ended up being First Lt. Sam Stump. Now, this affected us in a few ways. First, next day (Friday) is Sam's last day on C-shift for a while. He is being moved to Station #8 A-shift as acting Captain taking the place of recently retired Captain Jimmy Renick. Due to the facts of him being an Officer and his leaving the shift next day, I didn't want to assign him to the Medic unit. Here's a shot of Sambo.

Tyrone is still wandering the Highland County mountains in search of the perfect kill. That leaves Opie to ride and he's been on there for the last several days (not to mention they took a beating last night). So...the Ol Capt. bit the bullet. That's right all ye non-believers.... I'M RIDING THE MEDIC. OK, let me ellaborate... I'm out there "DOING IT". Yep, we've seen it all and in just 1/2 a tour. Heres the proof...





Now don't get excited. The box drives a lot easier than the "Cowboy Cadillac". The only reason I'm in the back of the copter is cause they wouldn't let me fly it. And, you have to admit that I look GREAT in my Doctor coat. I know, I know... I didn't have my mask on in the OR but hey, the stash makes for a pretty good filter. I mean come on guys... if it was easy, everybody would do it! Alright, the day hasn't been all about us saving lives, we always manage to squeeze in a little training as well. Today, we got to experience our newest training tool. Our regional gas grill....errr burn building. The latest and greatest. No more real fire, a brand spanking new Class B burn building. Here she is...ain't she a beaut?? More safety features than NASA and the Space Shuttle..Geesh

We basicly ran company evolutions with Ladder/Medic 7 and Battalion 4. Let me tell ya what... Woooooo. Talk about your barn burner! I mean just before those fans kicked on at 500 degrees ... OK OK so it's gonna take some getting used to. At least they have it labeled right..

LMAO...that's the actual label on the building. Anyways, we moved our riding positions around so the boys could get some training from other perspectives. Coon rode the seat and became the Incident Commander while Opie pumped the War Wagon. Both did an excellent job. Here are a few shots from the training...




You may have noticed the "bull horn" located on Coon's Command Board. Well, that's because our brand new radios work REALLY well inside that building. Communication was much better after he started using that thing. LOL. All kidding aside, we had some good hands on training (plus a little "pretend like" on the side) so helmets off to the lead instructor Lt. Tom "Bucket Head" AKA Guts Gherman (and his quality control Officer Plaza)...

Ok, enough of these shananagans, lets move on to some important stuff. New hires. We posted earlier AND FIRST on the 11 new hires for the City. Now Rhett would have you believe that he had the list first by changing his post time and date, BUT...BUT read the comments. He's a fraud....An imposter! We just may sue for copyright infringment and / or Plagiarism (that means you "stole" it PUNK). A cut and paster this guy is. And an insult to every readers intellegence by trying to cover it the way he did. An "arthur" my ASS! Anyway, regardless of where you read it, CONGRATULATIONS again to all of the new hires. And hey, just to PROVE we are the bomb and beat him to all of the "REAL" stories, here's the list of new hires for our Brothers and Sisters out in Roanoke County
Mallic, Meger*, Miller*, Martin, Campbell*, Hefflin and Googin (again, " * " denotes Medics) CONGRATULATIONS to these folks as well and "UP YOURS MIDGET BOY"...gotcha again :-) OK 2 more things real quick. Our Local's President Rodney Jordan and Lt. Steve Jordan from over at #4 A's father is in ICU up at UVA. Keep these brothers and their family in your thoughts and prayers. We also wanted to tell everyone HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We hope each of you enjoy the day and time with family. Keep the brothers and sisters all across this great country who have to pull a tour tomorrow in your thoughts as well. As for you folks out there not on the job...take a moment to stop by your local firehouse and let the guys know you're thinking of them. That's it for tonight... don't eat too much turkey. Everyone stay safe and in the House... see ya on BLACK FRIDAY... peace out! Captain Wines and the boys.

CONGRATULATIONS !!

The hiring process for the City is now complete and we have 11 new conditional employees. I'm going to give you the list now and maybe talk a little more about them / the process etc in tonight's post. Honest answer is that I wanted to get the list out before the "famed", "noted arthur", "blogger", "pod caster","mobile video caster", "mouth of the south" Rhett Fleitz got his grubby little paws on it...LOL!
Anyways, here's the list, CONGRATULATIONS, GOOD LUCK and BEST WISHES to them all.
A. Helems *
J.Kaylor
J. Dixon*
C. Walsh
J. Anuszkiewizz*
B. Wasson*
G. Crabb*
B. Hodges
J. Walker
M. Akers*
J. Lonnemann
( * denotes Medic ) Regular C-shift post this evening, catch it here or now via Face Book or Twitter. Capt.

Monday Monday 1st day back for C-shift Misfits

I don't know why but it seems as though when you take a few days off and then return 9 days later, tasks which before seemed simple and routine now have become much more difficult. I usually arrive for duty first ohhh anytime between 06:30 and 06:40. My first chore is to put on a hot pot of coffee. Today... NOPE. We have a new combo lock on our food locker and guess who didn't get the memo. Result... no coffee. Next, I get my gear in shape and on the truck, do the computer work, check department e-mail then my favorite sites. As the boys arrive, they too get their gear on the trucks and begin to complete their morning checks while one of them prepares our morning egg sandwiches. This morning, 08:30 before the sandwiches were up. OK, one slow / late meal ain't so bad but we do try to maintain a schedule here..it is a firehouse you know. Lunch is at 11:30 so we catch the Price is Right showdown and the noon time local news. Dinner is at 17:30 so we don't miss Andy and then get to catch the evening news. Well tonight, as 17:30 rolled around, I was waiting for a pregnant lady to walk in. Why a pregnant lady you ask... cause this is what Wheezy had on the stove...

Enough water boiling to birth triplets but NOTHING to eat...GEEESH! I thought for a minute or two there that Wheezy has been taking lessons from the 'ol "Ninja Cook" Opie. Guess I was just a little impatient cause after throwing a weee weee weee tiny fit, tossing a few pots and pan etc. Wheezy produced a master piece... and well worth waiting for. Yard bird, stuffing with gravy, mac and cheese and a side of CROW for the Capt....lol

And, my little "I'm gonna starve" tantrum wasn't the only obstacle for Wheezy this evening. I guess the clock and my showing had him picking up the pace a little. Ok maybe turning up the heat instead of picking up the pace. The result of that... smoke. It got kinda bad at one point... so bad in fact that Coon had to take protective measures...

And again, seeing how fabtabulus the meal turned out, I guess we should have paid a little more attention to the sticker atop the Captains desk

(NO WHINING...and also note my Fire Geezer mug, I'm not sure how it manages to sneak its way into so many of our pics). So, Wheezy's cooking and riding backwards. Tyrone has been off to hunt camp since Friday and with no cell service, all we can do is pray that he has and is taking his medication. If he's not...well Highland County will never be the same. Opie is riding the box with our own little poop magnet Coon. Opie actually attended hunt camp with Tyrone Friday through Sunday. He slayed the big one from his mobile recliner, slept ON a wood stove (placed inside a tent by multiple firemen), showered outside in 30 degree weather and used a 5 gallon bucket for a toilet. Guess he had all the fun he could stand so he came on back home. A rainy / cool day here in the "NOKE", sitting on 8 runs total. Nothing too exciting, some local lumberjacks fell a tree across a service drop and didn't think enough of it to slow them from continuing their work. Downed line and all, they finished cutting the tree, loaded the wood and cleaned up debris before anyone called it in... and oh yea, the line was hot


Other news includes a HUGE date that we totally missed. Our house..station #9 located at 514 24th Street NW Roanoke, Va turned 80 years old last month. The station was completed October 2, 1929 so HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY old gal. Like a fine wine, she gets better with age. Warm in the summer, cold in winter and, the roof only leaks when it rains. No, she's a good house and we'll miss her. Here's a pic of how she looks now. I'll also add the new station. Scheduled to open in March 2010, her replacement is well under way and we managed to snap a shot from across the street today. This pic is from the front or the Orange Ave side..check it out, a "measure of progress".


I also wanted to remind everyone that our Public Safety Football team will have it's 1st official practice a week from today. I CAN'T WAIT.... PUT ME IN COACH! Check out the Roanoke Rampage site here. Thanks to Captain Todd Stone and Assistant Fire Marshall Chris Price for all their hard work and effort.
I'll close with a very special announcement. Most of you have figured it out by now but today, we (ok..more like Rhett than "we") officially completed our "RSS" feed. What that means is that whenever we post here (to this blog) we automatically feed to "Networked Blogs" which takes the post to our newly built and under construction Face Book Fan and profile pages and then on to our Twitter page. WoooHoo, now all you "picture bookers" and "Churp Churps" can follow the Melrose Misfits as well. I hope you all enjoy the ride. That's it for tonight, We've got the Monday, Wednesday, Friday tours so we'll see ya again Wednesday night. Until then, stay safe and in the house. Captain Wines

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