Stroke it!

So with spring finally (?) here, I've decided I need to get outside more often and do some fun non-fire department related things.

I'm going to get back into rowing. I used to do this back in college in Cambridge, when I lived in Chicago and when I first moved to the metro area in Alexandria.

The mornings killed me though - having to be at the boathouse at 0445 to unlock the doors (the toils of coaching) sucked big floppy donkey dick.

Happily, there is a boathouse only 3 miles away. They also have an evening programme that will work with my random fire/rescue schedule.

Finally, an excuse to wear lycra shorts in public again!

The fire gods mock me

Why do they mock me?

Well, a few months ago I was transferred to another crew because they were desperate for drivers. This is obvious simply because I was selected to go.

A bit of background. I do enjoy driving fire engines. It's fun, and even bullshit calls are good because I get to make loud siren noises (with the siren) and blow the airhorn.

Unfortunately, I want to spend more time in the back of the engine doing the actual firefighting.

It would seem that the station's apparatus feel the same way.

I've had a bad run of luck. Since I started driving:

- hit the bay door by driving through it when it wasn't up all the way with Wagon 11. This is DESPITE the red/green go/don't go lights beside the door.
- had a broken valve stem on a tire on Engine 11. Fire trucks with flat tires = bad.
- transmission failure on Wagon 18.

My next shift?

I'm back in the back.

Drive through slurpees

It's 230am on a Thursday night.

A car drives into the front window of the local 7/11. Shatters the glass, fragments spill into the store.

No one gets hurt.

Moments later, 3 fire apparatus, 1 ambulance, 1 command vehicle and about 5 or 6 police cars are all there, lights flashing away like a bad acid trip or a 1990's English rave.

Get this.

People *still* tried to go into the store to buy their smokes.

*boggle*