Some of the monumental questions we ask ourselves is: Who will remember me after I'm gone? Will it matter that I was here? Will anyone care? These questions can haunt us and cause us to worry and wonder and, sometimes, do crazy things in an effort to be remembered.
My Dad's grandfather on his Dad's side, my great-grandfather was named Erik Olson. He was born in Sweden in 1851. He grew up in Stroms Parish, Stromsund, Jamtland, Sweden. It is fairly certain he was an only child. I don't know how much school he completed. He married in 1875 a neighbor girl named Maret Martensdotter. They had 9 children together. Sometime in 1892 (or perhaps earlier than that), when they were pregnant with the 9th child, they made the decision to migrate to America. It appears the decision was motivated by the Swedish government's policy of requiring military service of every male Swede. Maret did not want her sons to face this requirement. So in April 1893 they started the long process of packing and moving. I can only imagine what that involved.
A family sponsored them in northern Minnesota. Toward the end of the summer they moved into a one or two room 'shanty'. On Halloween that same year Maret died. Once again I can only imagine the feelings that must have swept the man as he contemplated this new life in America with 9 children, the youngest only 6 months or so.
Faced with this difficulty he did what countless of folks have done, he gritted his teeth and did what had to be done. The younger children were cared for by the older. The baby was 'farmed out' to another family. (He was actually adopted by that other family and so had a different last name than his brothers and sisters!)
They got on with the business of living. Reading 'between the lines' as they say you have got to admire a man who could take what had been handed to him and make a life for his family in this new, and sometimes strange, new world.
My father remembers this grandfather. He categorized his grandfathers as 'the singing Grandpa and the grouchy Grandpa'. This one was the grouchy one... I must remember that my father was just 6 years old when this man passed away. It seems harsh to judge a man through the eyes of a 6 year old! He died in 1937. There are pictures of him throughout his life that I have in a 'book' compiled by one of my aunts. She had contracted ALS, Lou Gerhig's disease, and this was a labor of love that helped her get through things. What a gift she gave to all of us! A chance to know something about your forebears.
I will write more about this later. Right now I am in awe of a man who moved his family to America when he was he was in his early 40's and took what came and handled it.
I named one of my sons after him.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Oh yeah...
Oh yeah...
- if you don't post stuff on your blog people will stop reading it.
- life is short, enjoy it. Went to a memorial service last week for a friend from college years. She found out she had colon cancer that had spread to lungs and liver. She died 20 days later. Could I go to the Dr. for what I thought was a small problem and be dead inside a month? Why not? Life is short, enjoy it.
- As I am writing this at my computer the computer table is strewn with toys...my grandsons and their mother are visiting. This is what it was like living with children.
- in our town this past weekend a child, 7 years of age, was shot by her 5 year old sibling. They were in the family van while Dad and Mom were just outside the vehicle talking to a friend. The kids were rummaging through the vehicle and found a loaded handgun in the glove compartment. Now I work for a fire department though not the one in our town... Is there anything in your training that teaches you how to deal with taking care of a gunshot wound (GSW - how I hate those three letters in that combination) to a 7 year old? To their credit they got the child to the nearest hospital who then transfered her to the Level 1 trauma center. As has been my sad experience when children are wounded by guns the child died the next day. So... is it worth having a gun for protection? Pretty steep cost.
- On Sunday our Battalion did a drill, one station at a time, where much of the hose/equipment was taken off the engine. I was Acting BC and so I was evaluating each station. Six times on Sunday I helped re-load the engine. I was whupped by the end of the day... oh yeah... I remember... I ain't 35 anymore!
- I started this blog in the hopes that it would help me to write more...here's hoping you are still a reader!
- if you don't post stuff on your blog people will stop reading it.
- life is short, enjoy it. Went to a memorial service last week for a friend from college years. She found out she had colon cancer that had spread to lungs and liver. She died 20 days later. Could I go to the Dr. for what I thought was a small problem and be dead inside a month? Why not? Life is short, enjoy it.
- As I am writing this at my computer the computer table is strewn with toys...my grandsons and their mother are visiting. This is what it was like living with children.
- in our town this past weekend a child, 7 years of age, was shot by her 5 year old sibling. They were in the family van while Dad and Mom were just outside the vehicle talking to a friend. The kids were rummaging through the vehicle and found a loaded handgun in the glove compartment. Now I work for a fire department though not the one in our town... Is there anything in your training that teaches you how to deal with taking care of a gunshot wound (GSW - how I hate those three letters in that combination) to a 7 year old? To their credit they got the child to the nearest hospital who then transfered her to the Level 1 trauma center. As has been my sad experience when children are wounded by guns the child died the next day. So... is it worth having a gun for protection? Pretty steep cost.
- On Sunday our Battalion did a drill, one station at a time, where much of the hose/equipment was taken off the engine. I was Acting BC and so I was evaluating each station. Six times on Sunday I helped re-load the engine. I was whupped by the end of the day... oh yeah... I remember... I ain't 35 anymore!
- I started this blog in the hopes that it would help me to write more...here's hoping you are still a reader!
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Computer Problems
It has been nearly a month since I have been able to post anything. Our computer was shutting off at random times, right in the middle of whatever you were doing. No warning, no messages just "Boink!" at it was gone. I began to despair that we had lost all of our pictures, files and such that weren't backed up. I have a device but hadn't actually done any back up for well over a year! My bad.
So, in discussing the problem with my oldest son he seemed to think it was an overheating issue. Then in the mail this past week a local company was advertising 1 day repairs. So I called to find out what they needed me to bring in. When asked for a description of the problem the tech felt it was a hardware issue and that was more than one day and pretty expensive (in-other-words - buy a new computer!). I decided to take the tower apart and see if it was dusty/dirty... and it was! So I vacuumed extensively, blew dust out of parts the vacuum didn't reach and generally tried to clean it up. When I put it back together and re-attached all the plugs/wires it came on and has worked seamlessly since! I had all but decided to buy a new computer today and now have received a reprieve!
Now, while I cannot promise that blogging will resume in earnest I have at least explained why there was no change for so long.
Sorry.
So, in discussing the problem with my oldest son he seemed to think it was an overheating issue. Then in the mail this past week a local company was advertising 1 day repairs. So I called to find out what they needed me to bring in. When asked for a description of the problem the tech felt it was a hardware issue and that was more than one day and pretty expensive (in-other-words - buy a new computer!). I decided to take the tower apart and see if it was dusty/dirty... and it was! So I vacuumed extensively, blew dust out of parts the vacuum didn't reach and generally tried to clean it up. When I put it back together and re-attached all the plugs/wires it came on and has worked seamlessly since! I had all but decided to buy a new computer today and now have received a reprieve!
Now, while I cannot promise that blogging will resume in earnest I have at least explained why there was no change for so long.
Sorry.
Monday, 30 January 2012
It's Not Fair!
Recently read that President O is planning to push his tax code reforms on the basis of fairness. If you listened to the SOTU address you heard this theme there too.
I won't deny this has me concerned.
Remember when you were a kid and playing some game? What happened when something didn't go your way? You stated (in some form or another at some volume or another) "It's not fair!" By that you meant clearly that it wasn't fair that you lost and the other person won. They had some advantage over you and it wasn't fair.
Have you ever observed a family where the main goal of the parents is 'to make everything fair'? What one child gets the other must as well. It becomes the main goal in life and it warps the world. It isn't possible to make everything fair and to try and frame the world for the children that it is fair puts them at a disadvantage.
Now we are being told that 'it's only fair' that the rich pay in taxes 'their fair share'. It sounds good. It sounds right. It isn't fair that they have money and I don't. I'm one of the 99%. I'm entitled to get relief from the unfairness of the world by making those rich people shoulder 'their fair share'.
But do you see the problem? Remember back to the childhood game? This time remember when you were the winner and your friend cried out, 'It isn't fair!'
The world has always been about those who are in power make the rules. Now it appears that the rules are this: everything you own belongs to the government. They will determine what is fair and will take (tax) 'only what is fair'. You shouldn't complain. It is fair.
This, my friends, is at best socialism and at worst communism.
America always used to be about trying to give everyone a chance to make it big. It wasn't always a perfectly level playing field and some had advantages of wealth, education or talent. But the key was that it was up to you. If you worked hard, took chances and risks, kept your nose to the grindstone and sometimes were lucky, you could make it big. But it feels like we are straying away from this hard work ethic and moving towards an entitlement mindset. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised... this is the generation that learned in school that giving out grades would hurt the self image of children. Everyone was special (think that one through.... if everyone is special then the word/phrase loses meaning and no one is special) and we need to celebrate the uniqueness of every person. But people don't get anywhere convinced that their unique status will win the day!
While this may come across as a political post it is meant more as an expression of exasperation at this brave new world. Here then is the power - if you can define what is fair then you will be able to switch places with them and have what they've got! It is the hope and dream of our times. Just occupy it and it is yours. Because it's fair!
I won't deny this has me concerned.
Remember when you were a kid and playing some game? What happened when something didn't go your way? You stated (in some form or another at some volume or another) "It's not fair!" By that you meant clearly that it wasn't fair that you lost and the other person won. They had some advantage over you and it wasn't fair.
Have you ever observed a family where the main goal of the parents is 'to make everything fair'? What one child gets the other must as well. It becomes the main goal in life and it warps the world. It isn't possible to make everything fair and to try and frame the world for the children that it is fair puts them at a disadvantage.
Now we are being told that 'it's only fair' that the rich pay in taxes 'their fair share'. It sounds good. It sounds right. It isn't fair that they have money and I don't. I'm one of the 99%. I'm entitled to get relief from the unfairness of the world by making those rich people shoulder 'their fair share'.
But do you see the problem? Remember back to the childhood game? This time remember when you were the winner and your friend cried out, 'It isn't fair!'
The world has always been about those who are in power make the rules. Now it appears that the rules are this: everything you own belongs to the government. They will determine what is fair and will take (tax) 'only what is fair'. You shouldn't complain. It is fair.
This, my friends, is at best socialism and at worst communism.
America always used to be about trying to give everyone a chance to make it big. It wasn't always a perfectly level playing field and some had advantages of wealth, education or talent. But the key was that it was up to you. If you worked hard, took chances and risks, kept your nose to the grindstone and sometimes were lucky, you could make it big. But it feels like we are straying away from this hard work ethic and moving towards an entitlement mindset. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised... this is the generation that learned in school that giving out grades would hurt the self image of children. Everyone was special (think that one through.... if everyone is special then the word/phrase loses meaning and no one is special) and we need to celebrate the uniqueness of every person. But people don't get anywhere convinced that their unique status will win the day!
While this may come across as a political post it is meant more as an expression of exasperation at this brave new world. Here then is the power - if you can define what is fair then you will be able to switch places with them and have what they've got! It is the hope and dream of our times. Just occupy it and it is yours. Because it's fair!
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
A Whole Lotta Miles
On my way to work on Saturday morning the 1996 Chevy Silverado that we have owned since 1999, bought used with 78K miles turned over the magic mark:
2 0 0 0 0 0 miles!
only 2 20 200 2,000 20,000 200K
This means the little dial that measures 10th's of a mile has gone around a staggering 2,000,000 times! Of course, if you tried to calculate the number of times the pistons have gone up and down while powering the vehicle.... I don't even know how to begin trying to figure that out! Nor could I calculate the number of times the tires have rolled.
What I do know is that this means my truck is O L D!!! In fact, both of my front line vehicles now have over 200K miles on them. Do you suppose this means it is time to start looking into getting something with a little less time on the dial? You bet! My only obstacle is money. I don't really want to get into a vehicle payment again but the choices may be so limited now that it could literally come upon us tomorrow!
I will keep you posted on what transpires! Until then - squeezing every mile I can!
2 0 0 0 0 0 miles!
only 2 20 200 2,000 20,000 200K
This means the little dial that measures 10th's of a mile has gone around a staggering 2,000,000 times! Of course, if you tried to calculate the number of times the pistons have gone up and down while powering the vehicle.... I don't even know how to begin trying to figure that out! Nor could I calculate the number of times the tires have rolled.
What I do know is that this means my truck is O L D!!! In fact, both of my front line vehicles now have over 200K miles on them. Do you suppose this means it is time to start looking into getting something with a little less time on the dial? You bet! My only obstacle is money. I don't really want to get into a vehicle payment again but the choices may be so limited now that it could literally come upon us tomorrow!
I will keep you posted on what transpires! Until then - squeezing every mile I can!
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Oh the Weather outside is...
So, with this post there are two things I am proud of: the first is the beauty of this picture and the second is that this is the first picture I have figured out how to get into the blog!
Hoping for warm weather since that is truly our snow removal device on these back roads...
'til next time.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
A Full, Rich Day
Since in my last post I gave you a flavor of what a day at work was like I thought I would follow it up with what the second day of the cycle was like.
I came in early, on overtime, to cover for the Capt at the station who had taken 2 hours of vacation to leave early: he was taking a child to swimming practice and his wife did not like driving in snowy conditions. So it was up at 0430 to make sure I left plenty of time should I also hit snowy conditions. I arrived at the Station around 0540 and parked my vehicle in front of our 3rd bay to avoid making noise in the lot right next to where the bedrooms are.
I switched over at 0600 and did a little work on some personal projects. Around 0730 the other two members of the crew came in and around 0745 we had a call. It was snowing by now and that always makes driving a bit of an adventure. We transported to a local free-standing ER and then got back to quarters around 0900.
Shortly after getting the report completed I got a phone call from dispatch. He was reporting that dispatch had received a call from a woman who was complaining about a crew that had transported her son the previous night. He was giving me the name and phone number saying she wanted contact. I took the information and then had the crew gather because it was our crew that had transported. We suspected there may be further issues from that transport as the Mom had tried to direct the paramedic to administer certain drugs on her time frame and was angered when the paramedic refused to do so. So we made contact with our MSO (medical services officer) to let him know what was going on and he asked that we all write statements regarding our contact in this case.
All the while we were dealing with this pleasant little nugget I was watching it snow harder and harder. Not long into our little meeting I asked the engine driver to get the chains 'staged', that is ready to apply immediately. We weren't at the snow depth yet, but if it kept on dumping, we would be. Shortly after this task was completed we received our first call of the day, a residential fire alarm for E-13. So now, we have to decide if we put on the chains or respond. I decided to respond.
This call was about 6 blocks from the Station, right off the main street. We arrived and soon discovered that a child had tripped the alarm and there was no problem. So, since this was a cul-de-sac we had to turn around. We decided to just nose into another 'lobe' of the cul-de-sac and back around. So the driver just nosed in and when he put it in reverse to back out the rear tires just spun and polished the section on which they were sitting! Crap! So out came the shovels and we removed snow from behind the tires about 4 or 5 feet, then removed snow from in front of the tires so the truck could go just a bit forward and then back up. All the while, of course, I am hoping that we don't get another call! Just as hoped the engine eased a bit forward and then came back without trouble. We were able to get back to the station without further incident and immediately put on the chains!
We then decided we needed to go to the store as it was around noon. We had invited a neighboring station (from another district) over for dinner to celebrate their company officer's retirement at the end of January. So we needed to pick up a few things. This included a cake. In icing on the top of the cake we had this written: "Happy Retirement, about freaking time!"
Once back at the station we noticed that it had stopped snowing but not before dumping 7 - 8 inches! This isn't much for places that get snow all the time but it is a whole lot of snow for Western Washington! The main reason is that there aren't too many snow plows and so the snow on the roads gets compacted into about 2 inches of pure ice. Any more snow on this layer and ... you get the picture!
About 3 p.m. we got a call for a 16 YOA female with an asthma problem at the local high school. We surmised that there was a tournament there and that it was a player. We were right. She had run out of her medicine and so we gave her a breathing treatment. As we were clearing this call a late teens or early 20's male came up to us and said he had just lacerated his thumb pretty bad. We checked him out and found that he had lacerated himself down to the bone! So we used sterile dressings to replace the ragged t-shirt he was using to staunch the blood and then his buddy drove him to the local hospital for stitches.
Around 5 p.m. the visiting station arrived for dinner. We had a great time laughing about past incidents, telling great stories and just generally having a nice dinner together. We had Thai Coconut-Curry Chicken over rice with salad and, of course, the cake. Finally around 1920 hrs (subtract 12 to get normal time - we function on military time to avoid having to specify am or pm) they mounted up to leave. Our Battalion Chief had called in sick for the day and while he was covered on overtime during the day I was going to be moving up to Acting BC to cover the night. I had to wait for a firefighter to come from another station and so expected him around 2015 or so. But as one might expect we got a call at 1945 hrs for a power line down. After we got back from that (it wasn't a line down but was a line being impacted by a tree limb laden with snow) I packed up my stuff for the drive to Station 11.
It was slick everywhere but I made the drive in just a little longer than the usual time. I tied in with the overtime BC and then settled in to catch up on some reports, paperwork and e-mails. I called my wife around 2130 and noticed that I was getting pretty tired...(up at 0430 - I wonder why). So I finished up what needed to be done and hit the sack. No calls for me during the night! I was happy about that. Got up around 0700 and began to get ready for tie-in and shift change.
Another full, rich day at work.
I came in early, on overtime, to cover for the Capt at the station who had taken 2 hours of vacation to leave early: he was taking a child to swimming practice and his wife did not like driving in snowy conditions. So it was up at 0430 to make sure I left plenty of time should I also hit snowy conditions. I arrived at the Station around 0540 and parked my vehicle in front of our 3rd bay to avoid making noise in the lot right next to where the bedrooms are.
I switched over at 0600 and did a little work on some personal projects. Around 0730 the other two members of the crew came in and around 0745 we had a call. It was snowing by now and that always makes driving a bit of an adventure. We transported to a local free-standing ER and then got back to quarters around 0900.
Shortly after getting the report completed I got a phone call from dispatch. He was reporting that dispatch had received a call from a woman who was complaining about a crew that had transported her son the previous night. He was giving me the name and phone number saying she wanted contact. I took the information and then had the crew gather because it was our crew that had transported. We suspected there may be further issues from that transport as the Mom had tried to direct the paramedic to administer certain drugs on her time frame and was angered when the paramedic refused to do so. So we made contact with our MSO (medical services officer) to let him know what was going on and he asked that we all write statements regarding our contact in this case.
All the while we were dealing with this pleasant little nugget I was watching it snow harder and harder. Not long into our little meeting I asked the engine driver to get the chains 'staged', that is ready to apply immediately. We weren't at the snow depth yet, but if it kept on dumping, we would be. Shortly after this task was completed we received our first call of the day, a residential fire alarm for E-13. So now, we have to decide if we put on the chains or respond. I decided to respond.
This call was about 6 blocks from the Station, right off the main street. We arrived and soon discovered that a child had tripped the alarm and there was no problem. So, since this was a cul-de-sac we had to turn around. We decided to just nose into another 'lobe' of the cul-de-sac and back around. So the driver just nosed in and when he put it in reverse to back out the rear tires just spun and polished the section on which they were sitting! Crap! So out came the shovels and we removed snow from behind the tires about 4 or 5 feet, then removed snow from in front of the tires so the truck could go just a bit forward and then back up. All the while, of course, I am hoping that we don't get another call! Just as hoped the engine eased a bit forward and then came back without trouble. We were able to get back to the station without further incident and immediately put on the chains!
We then decided we needed to go to the store as it was around noon. We had invited a neighboring station (from another district) over for dinner to celebrate their company officer's retirement at the end of January. So we needed to pick up a few things. This included a cake. In icing on the top of the cake we had this written: "Happy Retirement, about freaking time!"
Once back at the station we noticed that it had stopped snowing but not before dumping 7 - 8 inches! This isn't much for places that get snow all the time but it is a whole lot of snow for Western Washington! The main reason is that there aren't too many snow plows and so the snow on the roads gets compacted into about 2 inches of pure ice. Any more snow on this layer and ... you get the picture!
About 3 p.m. we got a call for a 16 YOA female with an asthma problem at the local high school. We surmised that there was a tournament there and that it was a player. We were right. She had run out of her medicine and so we gave her a breathing treatment. As we were clearing this call a late teens or early 20's male came up to us and said he had just lacerated his thumb pretty bad. We checked him out and found that he had lacerated himself down to the bone! So we used sterile dressings to replace the ragged t-shirt he was using to staunch the blood and then his buddy drove him to the local hospital for stitches.
Around 5 p.m. the visiting station arrived for dinner. We had a great time laughing about past incidents, telling great stories and just generally having a nice dinner together. We had Thai Coconut-Curry Chicken over rice with salad and, of course, the cake. Finally around 1920 hrs (subtract 12 to get normal time - we function on military time to avoid having to specify am or pm) they mounted up to leave. Our Battalion Chief had called in sick for the day and while he was covered on overtime during the day I was going to be moving up to Acting BC to cover the night. I had to wait for a firefighter to come from another station and so expected him around 2015 or so. But as one might expect we got a call at 1945 hrs for a power line down. After we got back from that (it wasn't a line down but was a line being impacted by a tree limb laden with snow) I packed up my stuff for the drive to Station 11.
It was slick everywhere but I made the drive in just a little longer than the usual time. I tied in with the overtime BC and then settled in to catch up on some reports, paperwork and e-mails. I called my wife around 2130 and noticed that I was getting pretty tired...(up at 0430 - I wonder why). So I finished up what needed to be done and hit the sack. No calls for me during the night! I was happy about that. Got up around 0700 and began to get ready for tie-in and shift change.
Another full, rich day at work.
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