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Saturday, August 9, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
I just wanted to have a drink... and maybe meet a pretty girl.
Today I though I would share with you a strange tale. A series of happenstances that led to me carrying a young 20 something female into an emergency room in Bakersfield, Ca.
So, I wanted a drink, and maybe to meet a pretty girl or two or three. I was 24, single, just hired as a squad leader on a Kern County Fire Dept. Initial Attack Crew, and I was in tip top shape- like out push up, pull up, and mile everyone in a 30 mile radius kind of shape. I had some overtime on my check, and my days off were here.
I drove to Bakersfield to meet with a good friend who had just moved there from our mountain town of Tehachapi. We wound up in a REALLY weird bar called "The Alley Cat", located in an alley of course, in downtown Bakersfield. Yes, now that I'm writing it down I admit it- I should have known something was going to happen. After having a few drinks my friend and his new wife wanted to have a cigarette, so I joined them in the small enclosed outdoor area the "Cat" had for smokers.
Just across from me sat a pretty cute young girl in a goth type skirt enseamble. We happened to make eye contact, and she gave me a big smile. So, of course, I smiled back and asked how she was doing. "Do you really want to know?" was the reply... my heart sank a bit. All of a sudden I was in size-up mode and something seemed wrong. I noticed she was holding a napkin on her leg. "Sure" I said, "why not". There was no turning back now.
She looked down at the napkin, the smile became a nervous one, and she lifted it up... there it was; a penetrating stab wound about an inch and a half across. I say penetrating because when a knife penetrates deeply it can produce a suction when pulled out- this causes the outside of the wound to resemble a pair of puffy lips-for lack of a better example. You can see subcutaneous tissue- the fat layer and such- sticking out.
They are not very kissable lips ;)
The was no bleeding, so cool. I asked what happened- boyfriend, argument, methamphetamines, that old tale. I told her she had to go to the hospital. There was no way she was sticking around for an ambulance. I offered to take her myself, and convinced her to let me. I promised I would stay with her. She told me she couldn't walk well, I suppose the adrenaline was down and the pain was now up. So, of course, I had to pick her up in my arms and carried her to my car. It was only around 9:30pm so the bar patrons were laughing and jeering "it's too early for that!" "wasted!"... ya, they had no idea.
I took her to the emergency room about 10 minutes away and stayed with her. She kept talking about leaving- she surely feared law enforcement- so I stayed until she was seen- over half an hour- and kept her talking... not about anything serious- small talk, to comfort her.
Once she was seen my night was pretty much over. My friends were ready to be picked up and taken home, and I was in no mood for midnight bar hopping solo... So yeah, I had A drink, and met A girl... just not the one I had in mind...
Thanks for viewing.
So, I wanted a drink, and maybe to meet a pretty girl or two or three. I was 24, single, just hired as a squad leader on a Kern County Fire Dept. Initial Attack Crew, and I was in tip top shape- like out push up, pull up, and mile everyone in a 30 mile radius kind of shape. I had some overtime on my check, and my days off were here.
I drove to Bakersfield to meet with a good friend who had just moved there from our mountain town of Tehachapi. We wound up in a REALLY weird bar called "The Alley Cat", located in an alley of course, in downtown Bakersfield. Yes, now that I'm writing it down I admit it- I should have known something was going to happen. After having a few drinks my friend and his new wife wanted to have a cigarette, so I joined them in the small enclosed outdoor area the "Cat" had for smokers.
Just across from me sat a pretty cute young girl in a goth type skirt enseamble. We happened to make eye contact, and she gave me a big smile. So, of course, I smiled back and asked how she was doing. "Do you really want to know?" was the reply... my heart sank a bit. All of a sudden I was in size-up mode and something seemed wrong. I noticed she was holding a napkin on her leg. "Sure" I said, "why not". There was no turning back now.
She looked down at the napkin, the smile became a nervous one, and she lifted it up... there it was; a penetrating stab wound about an inch and a half across. I say penetrating because when a knife penetrates deeply it can produce a suction when pulled out- this causes the outside of the wound to resemble a pair of puffy lips-for lack of a better example. You can see subcutaneous tissue- the fat layer and such- sticking out.
They are not very kissable lips ;)
The was no bleeding, so cool. I asked what happened- boyfriend, argument, methamphetamines, that old tale. I told her she had to go to the hospital. There was no way she was sticking around for an ambulance. I offered to take her myself, and convinced her to let me. I promised I would stay with her. She told me she couldn't walk well, I suppose the adrenaline was down and the pain was now up. So, of course, I had to pick her up in my arms and carried her to my car. It was only around 9:30pm so the bar patrons were laughing and jeering "it's too early for that!" "wasted!"... ya, they had no idea.
I took her to the emergency room about 10 minutes away and stayed with her. She kept talking about leaving- she surely feared law enforcement- so I stayed until she was seen- over half an hour- and kept her talking... not about anything serious- small talk, to comfort her.
Once she was seen my night was pretty much over. My friends were ready to be picked up and taken home, and I was in no mood for midnight bar hopping solo... So yeah, I had A drink, and met A girl... just not the one I had in mind...
Thanks for viewing.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Why I Take This Sh** So Seriously
Have you ever felt someone's last breath against your cheek as you desperately tried to get them to take another? I have. Have you ever hiked into rugged terrain to carry out an injured child after fighting fires for the past 30 hours straight? I have. Have you ever witnessed a helicopter land for a teammate in full seizures from heat stroke? I have. Have you ever responded to a natural disaster that wiped out an entire team just like yours the day before? I have... and those of you that have too, will know exactly what I saying in this blog.
"Thomas where's ______?" This was the subject line of an email I received not too long ago. In the context of the email, it was a powerful headline, one that portrayed the sheer desperation that concern for a loved one brings. It was a member of a production company that was deeply concerned for a friend filming in Egypt, and s/he had good reason to be. While day hiking to a historic mountain top a freak ice storm hit- that's right, an ice storm in Egypt. The terrain was COMPLETELY barren, steep, and rocky. The team got split up, and they already found some bodies.
The email consisted of this back story and the single request. So I tried to go to work. I pulled up a Google Earth image of the location and tried to reason a chain of events. It appeared easy to get confused in the rocky terrain if going for the top, and easy to get into the wrong ravine and head into nowhere if heading for the bottom. Either way, I pointed this out and hoped they would find him sheltered in a crevasse.
The response came within 24 hours. "Thank you Thomas, but they found his body". There was nothing more for me to reply. I never heard of this man before, but it was hard to hear. No where near as hard as it was for his friends & family of course.
So what a survival instructor must understand; they take everyone of their students' lives in their hands when they teach them a course. When that freak ice storm hits, when the take a fall into a ravine, when they need to find water or else- yours will be the only voice in their head. Your training will be ALL they have to fall back on. If you've been trained to operate in life/death situations, you know your training was all you had your first time going live. So if you're just here for the money, for the ego, to have some fun on the weekends; you're in the wrong field. Period. There is no room for this crap when lives are on the line. This is about more than cool titles, youtube videos, and neat outfits- it's about serving your fellow man. So when I see the Discovery Channel play things like; a man making fire with a bag of pee as a "magnifying glass", Backpacker Magazine publishing that you can "dig below a cactus for water", youtube vids and survival sites claiming you can make a fire with a bottle of water, and fake army rangers claiming survival instructor status stating you can kill a deer with a wrist rocket style sling shot... I get a little perturbed- to say the least. Because I know the same thing they know- that they are full of sh**.
So why do I take this sh** so seriously? Because that first paragraph may sound all hardcore and whatever, but it is absolutely horrible to experience, and I would much rather no one else had to... and I'll be darn sure no one does because of my courses.
"
"Thomas where's ______?" This was the subject line of an email I received not too long ago. In the context of the email, it was a powerful headline, one that portrayed the sheer desperation that concern for a loved one brings. It was a member of a production company that was deeply concerned for a friend filming in Egypt, and s/he had good reason to be. While day hiking to a historic mountain top a freak ice storm hit- that's right, an ice storm in Egypt. The terrain was COMPLETELY barren, steep, and rocky. The team got split up, and they already found some bodies.
The email consisted of this back story and the single request. So I tried to go to work. I pulled up a Google Earth image of the location and tried to reason a chain of events. It appeared easy to get confused in the rocky terrain if going for the top, and easy to get into the wrong ravine and head into nowhere if heading for the bottom. Either way, I pointed this out and hoped they would find him sheltered in a crevasse.
The response came within 24 hours. "Thank you Thomas, but they found his body". There was nothing more for me to reply. I never heard of this man before, but it was hard to hear. No where near as hard as it was for his friends & family of course.
So what a survival instructor must understand; they take everyone of their students' lives in their hands when they teach them a course. When that freak ice storm hits, when the take a fall into a ravine, when they need to find water or else- yours will be the only voice in their head. Your training will be ALL they have to fall back on. If you've been trained to operate in life/death situations, you know your training was all you had your first time going live. So if you're just here for the money, for the ego, to have some fun on the weekends; you're in the wrong field. Period. There is no room for this crap when lives are on the line. This is about more than cool titles, youtube videos, and neat outfits- it's about serving your fellow man. So when I see the Discovery Channel play things like; a man making fire with a bag of pee as a "magnifying glass", Backpacker Magazine publishing that you can "dig below a cactus for water", youtube vids and survival sites claiming you can make a fire with a bottle of water, and fake army rangers claiming survival instructor status stating you can kill a deer with a wrist rocket style sling shot... I get a little perturbed- to say the least. Because I know the same thing they know- that they are full of sh**.
So why do I take this sh** so seriously? Because that first paragraph may sound all hardcore and whatever, but it is absolutely horrible to experience, and I would much rather no one else had to... and I'll be darn sure no one does because of my courses.
"Check your instructors qualifications, survival has gone corporate
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