Swiss Cheese Cake

Ok I know it's been a long time.  Sorry.  Been busy with the new job.  I'm finally settling down enough to start blogging again.  Here is something Angela and I made last night.  It's our first cake!  Were so proud!  Hope you like it and ill be on track again soon.

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What's Up DOC?

Well I started my new position this week as Assistant Fire Marshal. I'll have to admit that most of this week I was thinking that I made a mistake taking this position. All the time alone that I had on my two days off after a 24 hour shift at a fire station... gone. It's been hard adjusting. I've been on 24/48 shift work for the past 5 1/2 years! What was I thinking going back to 8 to 5? Anyway, I was really getting a little depressed about it this morning and my mind was not all that sharp. Today was also my first day on my own. The Fire Marshal took the day off and left me to inspect about 20 businesses. The first one of the day was a doctor's billing office which was supposed to be in this particular

building in section "C". I went inside and spoke to the first person I saw. He looked very busy but I didn't have the mentality to be polite. I found out he was in charge and I quickly informed him of my obligation to inspect his office. He didn't look too happy about it and seemed puzzled that I was there in the first place. So, I did my inspection and found that both fire extinguishers were expired for over a year. I told the guy that and he sort of gave me this, "ok but exactly who do you think you're talking to?" look. I guess he felt I was trying to bully him or something and I wondered why someone in charge of medical billing would be so irritated by my inspection. Anyway I told him I wouldn't fail

him if he could get the extinguishers inspected today and I would gladly come back this afternoon. That seemed to really piss him off but I just said: "hey that's HIS problem". So when I finally returned that afternoon I noticed right off when I walked into the door that there was a big bulletin board full of mug shots of "Wanted" suspects, which I thought was odd for a doctors office. Anyway, I talked to the guy and he said that the extinguishers were inspected and tagged and I inspected them and they were. I told him thank you and then exited the building. When I looked back I saw MDOC on the doorway above the door. Didn't see that this morning in my early funk of mind. I couldn't help but laugh. I went back in and informed him of my mistake and promised not to hassle them anymore t

his year. "At least you're up to date" I told him and he agreed and I left snapping the above pic. I never did find the doctors office though. It wasn't all my mistake the paper read 819 Main Suite C plain as day. I felt better after that. I think I will like this job. I'm giving it until next weekend before I start questioning my new career choice. Hopefully it will all work out. I'm still a little worried it will affect my music career but then again, unless I'm playing some major gigs I don't think I'll miss playing local bars and restaurants that much. Time will tell. When it does... I'll tell you all about it.

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What I'm Going to Miss

I thought I would take some pics of some things I would miss about the fire station and about being a firefighter.  The uncomfortable recliners?   The interrupted movies?  The 3 am snot-slingers?  I couldn't think of a whole lot I would miss here except for my crew.  I never shared a college dorm with room mates so I did gain an appreciation for the male comradery that came along with the shift work.  I will miss the guys.  Also engine 6 was my first truck I drove as an engineer.  Coincidentally it was just retired to rest at this very station with me.   I guess ill miss old engine 6.  I still say its the best truck we have..  rides like a Bitch but it rarely ran out of water...  1250 gallons can put out lots of fire.  Besides its a Pierce which any fireman knows is a much better truck than our newer smooth driving E Ones.  I've always said the Pierce was like having a vintage Mercedes rather than a brand new Dodge sedan.  It's the only truck that still has the original door handles.  Quality.  Well its 8:30 pm and nearing my last night at the station.  I hope to God we don't have a fire.  I hope we all get a good nights rest... the entire department,  the entire city, and all my friends, fans and family.   Love you all.  Captain Aubrey Holman... signing off.  

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We Got a New Fire Engine

I rode around all yesterday in this baby.  Fire station 6 got a new engine. Of course I'm not stationed at 6 anymore I was only working for another captain.  I am stationed today and tonight at station 5.  *see new station blog. After this shift I will have been at work for 48 hours.  Normally I would be a little crazy by now but I have some excellent news!  After this shift I will be off my usual 2 days and report to work Monday morning as Assistant Fire Marshal!  Yep I got promoted!  No more 24 hour shifts for me!  I'm 8 to 5 now.   Off on weekends but I will be on call some nights.    So enough about me..  the new truck drives like a Cadillac.  It holds plenty of water.  Over 1000 gallons.  We needed one badly.  It's our second new truck this year.  You know, if a town as poor as Greenville Mississippi can afford 2 new fire trucks and give 60 of its fire department members a raise during a financial drought, then why the hell can't our government manage our tax dollars with the same care?   Ah.... I'm too happy to complain about all that.   Later.

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Nothing special

<untitled>Ok I'm going to try this.I'm just testing thing out.  I'm hoping this is the kind of program that will allow me to type freely and then copy and paste into another application.  So far it seems to do the trick.  I'm really beginning to enjoy this little program.  

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Letter to Kenmore

To any and everyone at Sears and Kenmore:

I've owned my Kenmore "True" (drop-in) glass top stove for less than 16 months and the handle stripped off of it. I examined it and realized that it was a design flaw. The screws were too short and the plastic the handle was made of was too soft. I can already tell by the comments here:

http://www.epinions.com/msg/sec_~forums/show_~threads/cat_id_~17/id_~5493/forum_id_~409/pp_~2

that I will get no useful help on this matter. I assure you that I will fix it myself but I will never buy a single Sears, Kenmore, or any other related product as long as I live. This problem is not one of ignorance or even neglect it's a lack of basic human consideration towards the people who put food in your mouths. Make better products or you will fail as a business. Feel free to contact me if you care to keep or lose a lifelong customer and a future generation.. over a set of screws.

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I'm Alive!

Well of course we had a fire last night. Several in town actually. And they were this morning actually. The first that I heard about was one of my firefighter's rental properties. He left to tend to that and I rolled over, said "ok" and fell back asleep. That was about 4 am. My engineer (driver/operator) woke me at 5:30 am and told me that we had a house fire to tend to. I never heard the fire phone or even the radio crackle so it seemed sort of unreal. In fact all I knew when I got in the truck was that we were going to a fire. I assumed, because of all the radio traffic that we would be second or third on the scene. I was wrong. All the other companies were at the other 2 fires! We were the first on scene and the entire back corner of the house was blazing. Worst part was that there was a family supposedly still inside. I kicked the front door in while my firefighter began the attack. It was too hot and there was too much smoke and fire to go any further than a few steps into the living room so I pulled a second line of hoses around the other side of the house and attacked the fire until it was down enough to do a quick search. "Where the _____is everyone?" , I said out loud to myself. I knew it was foolish and against department policy to go in alone but I had to even though I thought it was too late. We're trained to do a right-hand search pattern so I put my axe under my arm, held my flashlight in my right hand and stepped into the blackness. Not to brag but I never get scared or even nervous at fires and I had no reason to be scared so I did my thing and searched the first 3 rooms. Even in broad daylight a fully involved burning house is as dark as any cave. With my flashlight I could see about two feet in front of me. The house was bigger than I thought. The 3rd room was huge compared to the other child-sized rooms before. I took a few steps in and I heard my air pack whistling. That sound meant that (under normal circumstances) I should have about 5 minutes of air left..... only it went off way too soon. It had been leaking... For the first time in my six year firefighting career I was afraid. I immediately turned around and headed back down the hallway towards the entrance. All was well until, what should have been an open entrance to the living room, ended up being a bathroom. My heart quickened a bit and I backed out and headed left again but ended up in an entirely different room... I backed out of that room and headed left again. Surely the entrance was right there..but it wasn't. Just a wall. I stood there a second and gathered my thoughts. 'calm down and figure a way out or you're going to die in this house". Sounds discouraging but I needed a wake up call and I was alone. I knew that if my air ran out my mask would suck to my face and there would be no one to keep me from tearing it off filling my lungs with super heated air and smoke. That's when the real panic sets in. That's the reason we find bodies under beds an in closets. That's how a mother or father can leave their children behind in a burning house. It's instinct. Instinct is not something you want to rely on in a house-fire. So I told myself to calm down, take a breath, slow my breathing and heart rate and find my way out. Still I just couldn't seem to get back on track. It would be at least 10 minutes or even longer before anyone would even notice I was gone. I was sure no one even saw me go in. I've never felt so alone in my life. I cursed myself for being so stupid. I cursed myself for having no sense of direction. I get lost in shoe stores! What the hell am I doing alone in a burning house? Why am I even a captain? How did I get this far? I made one last attempt to back track my way out but still I ran into a wall... I forgot my radio. I couldn't even call for help. I nearly lost it. I was going to die. I thought of Paul Smith... station 8 was named after him. I would be the next fireman to have something named after. But I was not going out like that... lonely crying.. I had an axe and by God I was going to pick a room and chop my way out! Only my mask was tightening on my mouth like a huge hand slowly closing over my mouth. I would run out of air after the third swing.... Think.. think... I heard water splashing! The fire was at the left rear of the house so.... there was at least a reference point! I kept the sound at about 11 o clock and made my way across a room and there it was. The window I'd opened earlier out back to put the fire out. I don't remember if it was daylight or fire that I saw from the outside but it looked just fine to me. I leaned my head out of the window, pulled my mask off and shouted, 'how much have you knocked down?" The captain on the nozzle said, "not much!" All was well. I pulled my air pack off, threw it out of the window along with my axe and dove head first onto the safety of the soaked back lawn. By now the house was blazing. I ran around front and an engineer loaded me up with another air tank. That's when we noticed the air leak. Until then I thought I was just breathing too hard. After a new air pack I went to help the other team who had arrived and were trying to control the fire. After the fire was under control I did a thorough search. No one was in the house. Thinking about it now I can't help but laugh at how I got so lost in such a small area. However I made a promise to myself and my wife (not out loud) that I will never enter another burning building alone. I'm alive to fight another fire.... yeah... now I know I can handle it. Now its me time.... where's my guitar?

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