Don't Pee On The Electric Fence

A fitting title for my long awaited and much anticipated post about work. I hope this isn't like one of the movies that everyone tells you is "Sooo Goooood!, " then when you finally get around to renting it you think it stinks.

For those that don't know, I work for the local fire department as a firefighter-paramedic. My responsibility's are to put out fires and help sick people. Many people do not realize that 80 percent of our 22,000 annual emergencies are medical in nature. Car accidents,

heart attacks, strokes, diabetic emergencies, broken bones, drug overdoses, etc etc. However, that leaves 20 percent for fires of all kinds. You may not realize how many fires there actually are in this valley. The news only covers the big ones. Anyway, that is my op-ed piece-slash-plug for my job!

I love my job. It is the best job in the world. I love being able to help people. I always say that I do not wish for anyone to have a fire in their house,

or car, or wherever, but since they happen, I like it to be when I am working because I want to try to help out. Fighting a fire is so intense. Nothing compares to it. ( Did anyone have Sinead O'Connor pop in their head briefly?) As much as I love my job, I fear I would not have a job if not for people's stupidity. I don't mean that in a demeaning or rude way, serious. I guess it is no where near a majority, but stupid people keep me in business. My "stupid" definition includes drunk drivers,

those who OD on pretty much anything that comes in a tablet, residents that leave candles burning unattended in homes, and on and on. I am not calling those with health problems stupid, or the accidental electrical problems that start fires, or things like that. Does that make me less terrible? Maybe my title makes more sense now? I don't know.

My employment provides some pretty amazing opportunity's as well. A few weeks back we did some swift water training. It was awesome. My station is one of several specialized crews that respond to swift water rescue situations. I have not responded to an actual emergency yet, but the training was a blast. These pictures are of that training. One is an exercise that trains us to avoid snags in the river. This photo shows me getting my butt kicked by the "strainer."

The next photo is one of me pulling the "victim" out of the water.

This next bit may be repeated on the family blog, but I love the 4th of July. Not so much due to work, I have always loved the 4th. I love the Simpsons episode when Homer Simpson teaches Bart what the 4th means and why we celebrate it. In his immortal words, "We celebrate our Country's Independence by blowing up a small part of it!" Classic. This 4th of July went by way to fast and I did not get to do much celebrating. I missed the Magna Parade, missed the family barbecue, and missed, sort of, the firework shows. I had worked the day before and we had one of the rare all-nighters, so I went home and slept through the festivities. Then I had to work at night doing extra staffing for fireworks, so I missed all the night shows. However, I got to be very close to where they launch the fireworks, and that was amazing! Very different, very cool. Hope the picture does at least a little justice( it's a shot of the grand finale in Holladay being launched!).

I love parades. I love marching bands. I love fireworks. Disneyland has one of the best firework shows I have ever seen. Coupled with Tinkerbell flying around the sky, how can you beat it? The absolute best fireworks show I have ever seen was at Jackson Hole. 1997 or 98 for the 4th of July. Amazing. I am comparing this against the "Capitol 4th" at Washington DC which I have also seen. So there you go. That's all. That's my job.