Hittin' the Sack

It was an uneventful shift today, all day, until it was time for me to go home. Ended up working a few extra hours, and have to be back on at 0500 tomorrow. So I talked to one of the guys on the night shift, and took his shift for him, which means I'm at the station tonight instead. It's been freezing and foggy - not a good combination - so I don't even have to drive home and back. Of course, those conditions may make I-5 a mess tonight and early in the morning, so I may not get the sleep I'd like.

Been thinking a lot about career choices lately; will post an entry sometime when it's not late and I'm not ready to sleep. Here's to a quiet night...

You Mean NOBODY Needs Help?

Finished a 26 hour shift yesterday without a single call. It was worst shift ever. There's this constant stress hanging over you that never changes, never gets better or worse, just eats away at you. Hated it.

Now I'm on my four-day, so I slept 10 hours last night and plan on 10 more tonight. Time to catch up on laundry, sleep, and a little recreation. That's way better than 26 hours of waiting. No, really.

Bound to Happen

I've been working a pretty crazy, strenuous work schedule the last month or so, but my sleep has been solid for the most part. Granted, that may be due to not getting enough sleep for days on end, but at least I haven't had those "wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep" nights. Until now.

Worked 16 hours yesterday, hit the sack around 10:30pm, very tired. I was asleep quickly, as usual lately, but woke up out of the blue at 0300. I've been getting up around then quite frequently, so I guess my internal clock figured it was a pattern. I tossed and turned for an hour or more, then finally got up and got ready to go to work this morning. Stupid internal clock.

Anyway, I'm on a 24 today (26, actually), and thus far it's pretty quiet. Yesterday was kind of hectic with the first call of my shift coming in at 0800 and the last around 12 hours later. Pretty consistently busy (two strokes, a 2-year-old with 409 cleaner sprayed in his eyes, a hypertensive crisis and/or migraine attack, low blood pressure/dizziness, etc) but nothing too extreme.

We'll see what the day brings. After 1700 today I can change back into sweats and grab a nap or something before drill tonight. Then let's hope for an uneventful night shift. As of 0900 tomorrow morning I'm on a four-day-off stretch. Maybe I can get some solid, uninterrupted sleep then!

Thank you, Technology

It's a relatively slow shift today; I'm in the early part of a 24 (that's actually 30-hours long), and decided to break out my laptop. So I'm laying on my bunk, laptop on my... well, lap... wireless card plugged in, and a "Very Good" signal strength from the station's wireless network.

It occurs to me that not so long ago this would have been impossible. Not only did fire stations not have wireless networks, but they hardly had computers or Internet access if one goes back only a number of years. And yet, here I am surfing the 'net from the privacy of a 10 x 10 room and a twin bed (neither of which is terribly roomie, but this little laptop gives me the world!) :)

In other news, I spent much of the morning working on a PowerPoint presentation detailing asbestos awareness for tonight's drill. I was giving the material yesterday (or late Monday night?) and have to teach it tonight. Then I'll finish off my 24 (30!), grab a late afternoon haircut, and then probably nap the rest of the day. :)

Finally, as a side note, the History Channel has put together an excellent documentary on firefighters entitled Into the Fire. It's a great film directed by Academy Award winner Bill Couturie. It aired last week, and is playing again this Sunday at 4:00 pm. Check your local listings to be exact!

Busy 24

Worked about 30 hours in the last two days, ran a lot of calls, got sore feet:

71 yo female with chest and arm pain

60 yo female who had spent all night in her bathtub, unable to get out

9 yo male with broken leg from a motocross accident

27 yo female with syncopal (fainting) episode

59 yo male ejected from a kart during a race, and struck by another kart

Fire at the middle school (turned into a 4-hour hunt for the source of smoke)

Off today, back to work tomorrow 0800. I'll try to write something a little more witty when I'm not so tired. :)