Category Archives: Home Life

On Duty

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Last week, volunteers from my fire department were deployed to help with rescues and back-filling support for a sister fire department in North Carolina, in one of the hardest-hit areas affected by a recent devastating hurricane.

I was not among those who volunteered to deploy… been there, done that. Not necessarily in this location, but over a span of two decades, I have deployed for response to provide support for hurricanes, floods, and other calamities wrought by Mother Nature. This hard, dirty, and ugly work is better suited for the younger generation.

The deployment of a number of volunteers from my department left us in a position where an “all-call” to duty was made, and that includes me. What am I doing?
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The People You Meet and the People You Keep

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Yesterday, I attended a memorial service for a man who I worked with closely during my career when I was at my longest-term employer where I worked for 20 years. I had grown close to this gentleman during our 20-years of collaboration on dozens, if not hundreds, of joint projects used nationwide by millions.

During the years we worked together, we…
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Spouse Loves Me

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Despite the challenges that Spouse is having with his health, and despite the ongoing emotional strain in dealing with his mother’s decline to the point of being on hospice care, Spouse gave me a present for my birthday that I truly appreciate.

What? New leather, new boots, new Harley?

Well….
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Relief

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I have been very concerned about my Spouse and his overall poor health situation. Every day — almost every hour — it’s something. We continue to arrange to see specialists. Unfortunately, we cannot find a good general practitioner to manage the overall process and supervise the Spouse’s healthcare. Turns out the good GPs don’t accept new patients and those who do accept new patients have not been helpful. We have seen at least 10 of them so far this year and on initial contact, Spouse and I look at each other and say, “damn, another bust.”

The last GP who saw The Spouse three times turned out to be a “doctor feel good” — that is, treat with drugs for anxiety and depression. Hell — that was never it. That doc never wanted to look for (test for) the underlying cause.

However, as I face weeks of travel, I am relieved that…
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