Point the bow in the direction you want to go...

Hey blog readers...the title doesn't really have anything to do with what I plan to blog about tonight. Actually, I am not really sure what I am going to blog about tonight. If this takes a nasty turn or really no turns at all consider this your warning...oh and the title was said to me when I was learning to captain a boat back in the day. I laughed when the instructor said it to me, but actually find some direction in it in my life now.

Yesterday was a shift day. In the morning we got to play in the ice. By play I mean we got to train. Living in this Northern Midwest climate that we live in our inland lakes have a tendancy to freeze over. Well humans as a whole tend to be curious creatures and at one point in our existance we decided to venture out onto that ice. Well ever since then there has been a tendency for we humans to fall through said ice and end up in peril. Well yesterdays training is the answer to that. We donned our ice rescue suits and took turns being the victim and the rescuer. Over the years this training has gone from being something well all dreaded to something some of us actually look forward to every year(me being one). The old suits(gumby suits) were made of neoprene and often leaked quite significantly. The new suits(Mustang Ice Command or Chiquita suit) fit better, keep you warm and actually keep you dry. So for an hour of my morning yesterday I took my turn as a bobber in a frozen lake...all and all one of my favorite trainings we do on a regular basis.

The rest of the day kind of spun out of control in the afternoon. We had a tour of Cub/Tiger Scouts come through the station. So I showed them around and we had a great time talking about fire trucks, fire stations and what firemen do when we are at work. I love when they are filled with questions and can't wait for you to show them the next thing. Just when that tour was ending one of my good friends from school stopped in. All the while I was trying to cook dinner to feed my firehouse full of fire fighters. My friend Monkey that stopped is a Police officer west of here and was in town paying his respects to the Mishawaka Police and Cpl. Szuba's family. It was great to see him. We had a chance to have a brief catch up and share some laughs. We are planning a get together with Jenny, Sharkboy and his family. Hopefully sooner than later.

Today I had class this morning at the new St. Joe Med Ctr. It is an amazing facility. All new and full of such potential. We recieved a tour of the facility. It is big and modern. If you drive in that area, you have seen it. It will serve the community well in it's new location.

After that, it was errands. The afternoon after school was spent hanging with Sharkboy. He has a new found love for Tom & Jerry. It is great, because that is one of the few cartoons that doesn't make me want to vomit or commit violent crimes against my television.

With all of the things surrounding the line of duty death of Cpl. Jim Szuba, and his K9 partner Ricky that have been going on the last few days I catch myself thinking and reflecting on a few things. (Now don't click closed yet, the soap box isn't coming out) I hope I never know how his family feels and more importantly I hope the rest of my family doesn't either. It is a reminder that what I have chosen as my career path is a dangerous job, and that fate isn't completely out of the question. So I need to be extra vigilant to make sure they(my family) don't ever know how they feel. It also is a testament to the family that the police officers, and other people in blue really are. There is a family right now in this county struggling to find answers to questions that may never be answered. The family doesn't pretend to know the answers, but they are there to provide ears to hear the questions, shoulders to catch tears and arms to hold through some of the pain. My prayers continue that the Szuba family finds some comfort in this hardest of times, and that their "Blue Family" continues to be there for them. God Speed Cpl. Szuba and K9 Ricky.

So this ended up being a lot longer than I expected. I have to make a confession. I have been penning this blog during American Idol. I am actually on a boycott of AI. I was and am a fan of Glee. Now that Idol is on, I have to wait until they crown a winner to be able to see a new episode. Idol is getting old to me...I don't really care for several of the Idol Winners from the past, and I just don't see it having that magic it used to have. So boycott I will...I have much better things to do with my time, like tell you want I have been up to.

Tomorrow back to work...

Be Kind, Be Safe...

Shalom my Peeps!