I'm back.

and I wish i wasn't. Hate to say it - but I love and miss the UK terribly. I want to move back.

had a fun trips - lots of neat pics. I'll post an update with pics later in the next day or two.

Farewell cruel world!

So it's time to go to London.

(not my home town, but the original one)

Back next week.

I can just taste the real ale and fish n chips now!

*drool*

Allergies

In addition to being one of the most accident prone people in the history of man, I also have allergies.

This season my head, sinuses and ears are all swollen and feeling like i've been beaten by a deificus phallus suppolitor sanctifico (sacred rubber dildo of the gods).

I was supposed to have my ER (emergency room) rotation today for my EMT class. My last one was fun (but pretty uneventful). Instead, i'm home with a headache and my nose is running more than a lone altar boy at a remote monastery.

Today life sucks.

I hate tree sperm.

Teeth update

so last night i go the dentist - time to finally get my veneer installed and stop looking like an organic can opener.

i arrive, sit in the chair, the dentist gets the tooth...

'oh dear,' he says.

'?,' i inquire.

'the tooth is the wrong colour. we'll have to reorder it.'

so in 3 more weeks this saga will hopefully be over. meanwhile, the dentist at least gave me 'something' to fill in the area where i only have a small portion of my top front tooth. it's similar to a piece of chewing gum that is wedged in place, but is enamel hard. not as obvious.

maybe now my friends will stop making banjo noises when i walk in the room.

Drama at the station....

So on Sunday, April 29 - duty crew started out to be ideal. good weather, good briefing at the beginning of the shift, as some fun yet tiring training. we all returned to the station (after training) tired, hungry yet quite happy.

that's when the excrement collided with the rotary oscillator.

i can't (won't) do into all the details - as there is still a possibility i might press criminal charges, and the internal investigation is underway. meanwhile, i've taken leave until the end of the investigation and/or my emt class finishes - whichever is the latter.

meanwhile - my redhats - who knows who is training them and working with them. i hate that they are the collateral damage.

in the last week or so - i've learned some things:

1) you can write a complaint against someone, yet because you choose (at the time) not to press criminal charges- the 'defendant' (if you will) is still active operationally.
2) we have no by-laws / SOPs for situations like this - this is bad.
3) i've been assured that an investigation will happen, but i might not be told of the conclusions / actions taken (if indeed any are taken).
4) when you write a complaint against someone, you're lucky that you're not under discinplinary action yourself
5) i'm privileged to work with the redhat program, even though (on my own initiave, without any formal direction from anyone) i started it, manage it, run it, and once it was operational - it was 'officially' blessed like it was someone else's brainchild.
6) i had to threaten to quit in order to get time off.
7) i have no news as to what is happening regarding the investigation - again - if indeed something is happening
8) the feeling of sheer betrayal by an organization i have devoted so much time / energy to is very profound and is affecting me in unexpected ways.
9) if the station doesn't go public with a strong statement along the lines of "the actions/behaviours of ________ are not tolerated and have done ______ to ensure that such things do not occur in the future.' - they are in fact complicit in the actions. it's kinda like sexual harassment - if something happens in your organization, and you do nothing - you're open to a whole world of legal shit.

so after learning these things - these are my options...

1) continue to try to be the adult and have some faith that the station will do 'the right thing' (whatever that ends of being). Downside of this is it requires time and a lot of faith in our leadership that right now i do not have.

2) press criminal charges. shitty for the person who would be on the receiving end, but then they did the things they did, not me. also shitty as both the county and the press will hear of this and it would be very ugly. plus i don't want to be the guy who grasses on people. the theory is in the fire service we take care of shit internally. of course, this implies that we will actually take care of shit.

3) do nothing. this means that the behaviours/actions of ___________ will continue to go unchecked, and someone else will be the victim. and i do very strongly believe that this behaviour will continue - there is a long history of it.

4) leave the fire service. while this would give me ample free time, i would get bored and frankly i love it far too much.

5) go to another station. i'm seriously considering this one. given my confidence/trust for my station leadership is at a (justifiable) all time low, it might be the best option. i like to think i'll be man enough to wait for option 1 to play itself out prior to making any decisions.

6) civil action. this depends on the outcome of option 1, but sometimes you need the threat of lawyers to get organizations to change. heck - look at corporate america.

i swear, there is more drama in the fire service than with a group of jr high 90210 girls.