tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post5698242149737421353..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: Halloween Has BegunDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-56468305555547431712017-10-09T19:32:30.634-05:002017-10-09T19:32:30.634-05:00To your credit and honor.
LucyTo your credit and honor.<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-84995928295762599922017-10-09T16:54:07.450-05:002017-10-09T16:54:07.450-05:00Yeah, it was one of those moments you look back on...Yeah, it was one of those moments you look back on and wonder why it wasn't obvious right away, but when you're in the middle of things you just deal with the problem at hand and let the larger picture sort itself out later.<br /><br />One of the older volunteers used to say, "Vaudeville will never die as long as there are volunteer fire companies." <br /><br />It is a strange thing to do as a volunteer. I remember going to Firefighting I, up at the county school (we all had to be certified). One of the first things the instructor told us, all 60 or 70 of us out there on the field in our turnout gear, was "You people are fucking stupid. You're doing the most dangerous job in America, and you ain't even getting paid for it!" And yet everyone stayed.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-86808495103974616192017-10-09T16:18:22.381-05:002017-10-09T16:18:22.381-05:00Oh, and that story 'bout the supply hose was f...Oh, and that story 'bout the supply hose was fun, and as someone who deals with hoses on an hourly basis, I spotted the problem before you got the first adapter. Wish I'd been there to see that. (Wouldn't have said anything, but I would have enjoyed the whole Keystone Firefighters bit immensely.)<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-4761476520095469932017-10-09T16:13:15.707-05:002017-10-09T16:13:15.707-05:00Editing would be a nice feature. Most especially f...Editing would be a nice feature. Most especially for the administrator. But, on the other hand, you are infallible and could never have need of such a superfluous tool. "140-15" is easily decipherable: 125 calls.<br /><br />I, on the other hand, have to deal with my spell checker that substitutes words I then have to go look up in a foreign language code book. <br /><br />Burning buildings are not a place humans are supposed to run into, and I commend sincerely anyone with the courage to do so. And, upon reflection, having recently witnessed such valor, will paste two additional extra credit gold stars on the forehead of anyone who does such things as a volunteer.<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-68175069424650515082017-10-09T15:47:10.236-05:002017-10-09T15:47:10.236-05:00140-150, that is. I wish I could edit these comme...140-150, that is. I wish I could edit these comments.<br /><br />As long as all I had to do was stand off and drown the conflagration from a distance, nothing about that would be nightmare-inducing. Now, ask me to go inside a smoke-filled inferno and find the flames on the second floor, and that's different.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-53694671867573845502017-10-09T15:44:55.146-05:002017-10-09T15:44:55.146-05:00I spent five mostly unheroic years as a volunteer ...I spent five mostly unheroic years as a volunteer firefighter in the suburbs of Philadelphia. We were also a rescue company, so I am in fact fully trained on the Jaws of Life. We got maybe 140-15 calls a year at the time, which worked out to a lot of accidents and car fires, some small-to-mid-sized fires, more than a few false alarms and/or vaudeville routines, and maybe a couple of real burners a year. I've gone into places hotter than anything I've ever cooked with. As my dad - also a member of the department - once put it, "It takes a certain kind of mindset to run into a building when the cockroaches are running out."<br /><br />I would have loved to continue, but I have never since lived anywhere there was a volunteer company, and it was never my intent to make it a profession.<br /><br />I have posted a few stories from that time, though not for a while. I do like <a href="http://4quarters10dimes.blogspot.com/2011/06/story-for-fathers-day.html" rel="nofollow">this one,</a> though.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-49326940111729163522017-10-09T15:30:49.317-05:002017-10-09T15:30:49.317-05:00I'm going to have that reduced, printed on lit...I'm going to have that reduced, printed on little cards, and hand them out to local store managers.<br /><br />And, speaking of little known facts: <i>... former firefighter ...</i>??? You now officially owe us one blog post. Do tell ...<br /><br />And, as a former firefighter, these would would probably inspire nightmares. Knock it down a little 'cause of the wind? HA! Wimps! Bring it on! Get some more logs! And, that ever famous: "Here, hold my beer ... Watch This! ..."<br /><br />Serious. <br /><br />Pyromaniacs. Need. To. Be. Watched. Warily.<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-65923348946622051522017-10-09T15:21:54.784-05:002017-10-09T15:21:54.784-05:00I admit that we haven't had the bonfire that y...I admit that we haven't had the bonfire that you describe (though as a former firefighter, I've had worse observation duty where nobody gave us food and drink, so good on you, I say) - I would have loved to see one of those bonfires. I will say, though, this year's was a bit smaller than last - the wind was pretty fierce and it knocked it down a bit.<br /><br />Bonfire for the win either way, I say.<br /><br />I loved that Little Known Fact. I need to make that a More Well Known Fact.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-64801860564161772042017-10-09T14:29:31.410-05:002017-10-09T14:29:31.410-05:00I have always heard about bonfires. What you have ...I have always heard about bonfires. What you have pictured here, though, is merely a campfire.<br /><br />At our Family Reunions (a family made up mostly of pyromaniacs) we had BONFIRES on the beach. You would, in all probability, refer to them as conflagrations. And you would be correct. 25 - 30 10" diameter 10 ft. logs. The county fire department would send a well staffed engine + one truck and park them at the edge of the beach to protect the rest of the world. We would give them iced tea and burgers. They would watch us warily.<br /><br />Family, friends, and pyromania. Good times. Little tuff to roast the marshmellons though.<br /><br />Also, Little Known Fact:<br />In any business that plays Christmas carols in October, you’re legally allowed to kill the person responsible and use their body as a Halloween Decoration.<br />True in all 50 States and Puerto Rico!<br />( https://randysrandom.com/falls-coming/ )<br /><br />LucyLucyInDisguisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08169432604954981941noreply@blogger.com