Yes, we are still here.
So I have been very delinquent about updating the blog and I have now received enough threats to be concerned that someone might actually come down here and beat me. But then again that isn't a huge threat since you likely wouldn't get a flight for a while if things continue as they have been.
Lets review what has been doing since Oct. 22nd. We have been working and the wind has been blowing. That pretty much sums it up. My secondary job at the Fire Department is the Vehicle Control Officer. This has consumed about 75% of my free time. I have been averaging about 30 hour shifts since I have been here. I am not complaining about that at all. Actually I spend most of my free time here at the station. I keep telling everyone that I have done this for free for the last 20 years, so being at the station even when I am not getting paid is nothing new for me.
For a streak of about two weeks, we had at least one and usually more vehicles out of service for various reasons. Actually one day it was so bad that we scheduled the tanker for service and the replacement pumper that we were going to use had a problem where the passenger door would not latch closed. So I took it up to the heavy shop to repair and they did not have a mechanic available and they did not have an empty bay to work in. So I stayed with the truck and took the door apart outside in -5F weather and repaired the latch. So, at this point I was feeling very good because I was able to actually fix something. I took the pumper back to the fire station to replace the tanker and as I pulled up front they stopped me and said that there was a major leak in the front line pumper and so the backup had to be used as the front line, and we had to live with the tanker as is. Just one thing after another.
In all actuality I really enjoy keeping busy on my day off. As far as being a firefighter, we have had 6 emergency calls on my shift since I have been here. The other shift has had 25. So the balance is certainly biased to A shift. I was the officer in charge of my first call about 2 hours ago. It was a reported smell of something burning in a dorm. It was not found and all was well. So fortunatly most of our calls have been little to nothing. We have had a few significant calls that then required medivac to Christchurch, but those are few and far between.
The last week has been very, very stormy. We have had condition 1 at the Ice Runway for many, many hours during the week. I spent Wednesday night out at Station 2 in condition 1 for about 9 hours. It is very impressive to be in a storm with continuous winds of 45 knots with snow. I have lots of photos and video of Condition 1 but I have none of them with me now. So that will have to wait for the next installment.
I have included some random photos from the shared directory. Enjoy.
Lets review what has been doing since Oct. 22nd. We have been working and the wind has been blowing. That pretty much sums it up. My secondary job at the Fire Department is the Vehicle Control Officer. This has consumed about 75% of my free time. I have been averaging about 30 hour shifts since I have been here. I am not complaining about that at all. Actually I spend most of my free time here at the station. I keep telling everyone that I have done this for free for the last 20 years, so being at the station even when I am not getting paid is nothing new for me.
For a streak of about two weeks, we had at least one and usually more vehicles out of service for various reasons. Actually one day it was so bad that we scheduled the tanker for service and the replacement pumper that we were going to use had a problem where the passenger door would not latch closed. So I took it up to the heavy shop to repair and they did not have a mechanic available and they did not have an empty bay to work in. So I stayed with the truck and took the door apart outside in -5F weather and repaired the latch. So, at this point I was feeling very good because I was able to actually fix something. I took the pumper back to the fire station to replace the tanker and as I pulled up front they stopped me and said that there was a major leak in the front line pumper and so the backup had to be used as the front line, and we had to live with the tanker as is. Just one thing after another.
In all actuality I really enjoy keeping busy on my day off. As far as being a firefighter, we have had 6 emergency calls on my shift since I have been here. The other shift has had 25. So the balance is certainly biased to A shift. I was the officer in charge of my first call about 2 hours ago. It was a reported smell of something burning in a dorm. It was not found and all was well. So fortunatly most of our calls have been little to nothing. We have had a few significant calls that then required medivac to Christchurch, but those are few and far between.
The last week has been very, very stormy. We have had condition 1 at the Ice Runway for many, many hours during the week. I spent Wednesday night out at Station 2 in condition 1 for about 9 hours. It is very impressive to be in a storm with continuous winds of 45 knots with snow. I have lots of photos and video of Condition 1 but I have none of them with me now. So that will have to wait for the next installment.
I have included some random photos from the shared directory. Enjoy.
posted by R.J. at 5:18 AM
4 Comments:
It's sunny and nice here in TN,
sorry it's not the same for you!
It's sunny and not especially warm here in Buffalo but at least it's not snowing!
Worst thing going on here is my lawnmower has a slow leak in the right rear tire.(very annoying) My dog IS getting enough cheese so I guess the impact of these two bits are off-setting.
Was that Ann Curry?????
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