Day Two: Okay, so now what?
I swear, I have all the luck. I'm around all the time when there's a pump out, lifting assist, or fire alarm drop call, but the structure fires I miss by like 20 minutes. This morning I left for work at 6:20, and at 6:42 Round Lake got toned out to send a FAST to Mechanicville. Kenzie says I didn't miss much, just a lot of people running around and not really putting out quite as much fire as maybe they should, but it still burns me that I missed it so narrowly. Of course, Mike got to go, so that was good. At least I had somebody to get all the interesting details from. Since Mike was gone, I mowed the lawn at Station 2, only to break the lawn mower. This may sound strange, but I think that machine hates me. It fakes illness when Mike is using it, only to get me outside, and then it runs fine. Then when I have to use it, it breaks for real. I swear, it loves to waste my time. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. Just because it is an inanimate object doesn't mean it can't have feelings. Any mechanic will tell you that sometimes it's all a matter of how you talk to things that determines whether they work or not, and there are some things that take a perverse joy in causing ulcers in mechanics. Truck 9, for example, is the bane of my existance. Even worse than the lawn mower, Truck 9 likes to screw with my head. If I'm not around, lights go off, sirens won't work, the aerial won't raise, the outriggers won't set up properly, etc... But when I try, everything works fine. I swear to god, it's like the truck is looking at me and going "What? I didn't do anything. You're just paranoid." I swear, some day I'm just gonna take a hammer to it. A big hammer.
But besides evil apparatus bent on the destruction of my psyche, things are pretty good. Called my mom today, and she met with her surgeon the other day and likes him. (Quick note to the uninformed: My mother lost the index finger on her left hand last friday in a freak accident involving a horse. She now needs to have some surgery done to fix the remaining part of her hand). I'm glad she likes him, but it's still kind of wierd for me. Not used to my mother being mortal, and this brought a lot of stuff home in a hurry. Kind of reinforces the idea that she's not indestructible, and may not, in fact, be here forever. Very disturbing.
In other news, Dale may have a job offer tomorrow from a company in Albany. This is very good, as we (that's my wife and I and the RLFD) would like to have Dale remain here rather than move to Toledo, which to me sounds like some kind of ugly domestic car (Try the new Chevy Toledo! Guaranteed to be mediocre and somewhat homely! But it's Cheap!). Dale has rapidly become like the brother I never really wanted, but am glad to have anyway, and it would be excellent to have him around for a while.
The Great House Paint Adventure '04(tm) continues, and hopefully soon primer will be applied to turn my house from an ugly pink to an ugly white with pink underneath. Everyone seems to want to help paint, however nobody seems to want to help strip the old paint off. I can't blame them, stripping paint rates right up there with being sodomized with a rusty pitchfork as far as fun goes. I'm sure it'll get done, just not looking forward to it.
Holy crap, it's really late and I need sleep. Let me leave you with the FUN FACT OF THE DAY:
Birthday candles that relight after you blow them out do so because the wicks are treated with magnesium. That's right, kids, remember that when you're arguing over who gets to lick the frosting off the candles!
Farewell! Until we meet agian, peace be with you, and may the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house!
But besides evil apparatus bent on the destruction of my psyche, things are pretty good. Called my mom today, and she met with her surgeon the other day and likes him. (Quick note to the uninformed: My mother lost the index finger on her left hand last friday in a freak accident involving a horse. She now needs to have some surgery done to fix the remaining part of her hand). I'm glad she likes him, but it's still kind of wierd for me. Not used to my mother being mortal, and this brought a lot of stuff home in a hurry. Kind of reinforces the idea that she's not indestructible, and may not, in fact, be here forever. Very disturbing.
In other news, Dale may have a job offer tomorrow from a company in Albany. This is very good, as we (that's my wife and I and the RLFD) would like to have Dale remain here rather than move to Toledo, which to me sounds like some kind of ugly domestic car (Try the new Chevy Toledo! Guaranteed to be mediocre and somewhat homely! But it's Cheap!). Dale has rapidly become like the brother I never really wanted, but am glad to have anyway, and it would be excellent to have him around for a while.
The Great House Paint Adventure '04(tm) continues, and hopefully soon primer will be applied to turn my house from an ugly pink to an ugly white with pink underneath. Everyone seems to want to help paint, however nobody seems to want to help strip the old paint off. I can't blame them, stripping paint rates right up there with being sodomized with a rusty pitchfork as far as fun goes. I'm sure it'll get done, just not looking forward to it.
Holy crap, it's really late and I need sleep. Let me leave you with the FUN FACT OF THE DAY:
Birthday candles that relight after you blow them out do so because the wicks are treated with magnesium. That's right, kids, remember that when you're arguing over who gets to lick the frosting off the candles!
Farewell! Until we meet agian, peace be with you, and may the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house!