Heavy duty

The last two weeks have been a bit heavy around the department,  it would be a long story, but in a nut shell, one of our firefighters has been lying to me and in a sense to the whole department for the last 6 months.  In an effort to help him out, I found out about the lie.  While in the end, no one will lose any money, but the fact he has lied for that long and continued to not come forward with the details has lead to our need to have some form of discipline.  It is not like we have a lot of people clamoring to join us, and this firefighter does a good job on the fireground, it is just his conduct in other matters, both in the department for which I have a responsibility but also in the area of his other jobs and personal life choices.  I really like this guy when he is going right, but of late, like for the last 10 months he has made bad choice after bad choice.   I had this problem a  couple of years ago, and thought then that I would have to suspend him, but he righted the ship for a while.  As I sat in church this morning, we sang a song about the love and justice of God.  Realized that while God loves us, more than anything, he is also just.  I really want this man to be successful, but he also needs discipline. God loves us, but cannot exist with sin, as such man needs a redeemer to take away the penalty of sin.   For my firefighter, I wish there was a way for him to escape the penalty, but I also think that maybe the penalty will wake him up and hopefully bring about a change in behaviour.  Time will tell.  Have not had many calls, had an unusual haz-mat this afternoon,  live ammo on the road, and cars were driving through it and causing it to go off.  Great dispatch scenario,  "Shots fired, send in the fire department."  We swept up about 100 yards of road and collected about 250-300 22 caliber rounds.  Give to the police to dispose of.  Bought my wife a flurry last night, she says that she only has one a year, will we see about that.  She also says I spoil her.   Need to get a few things done for work tomorrow.  Tuesday, I have the party for the 2nd. graders.  Will hand out 13 certificates for pizza, and 14 for ice cream cones. We will also have pizza for lunch.  13 of the 14 students actually held a home fire drill, and all 14 did the home work of making a drawing and show the fire escape plan on paper.   They passed the test so we get the party.   I really look forward to this bunch of kids and they have the greatest teacher.  Will do it again next year, well worth the 4 days of vacation that it takes to do this each year.

New Firefighters

We have been looking to add a few firefighters to our department.  Held interviews last week, and to say the least, we some what  unimpressed with the applicants.  One was a no show, one canceled the day before, and the other three each had some questions that need some more information be make a decison on them.  We had questions about driving records, general ability to do the work, and concerns about how long they might be around and be involved.  Hopefully will know more this week. Friday evening, took my bride and we went to dinner and the symphony.  Had a great night, we stayed in the hotel were we ate, and had a lazy Saturday morning to shop and get a few things done.  Later we attended the graduation of a son-in-law who had completed his Masters degree.  Enjoyed the pomp and ceremony of the event, and also the graduation speaker.  Wish I had taken notes as he had a lot of wisdom to share.  Went to dinner with the daughter, son-in-law and grandson along with his folks and family.  Had a good time and still was not a late night.  Today is mothers day, and we spent the day pretty much alone.  My wife got a couple of calls from far off children, and those close saw her yesterday to wish her a happy mothers day, but still think she would have loved to have had them all home today.  Just realized that it was five years ago the first of this April  that we as a family were all together.  We have Christmas planned for the first Saturday in December, and hopefully everyone can make it.   Thought today what with one new grandchild on the way and who knows maybe more, that I get tee shirts of different colors for each family and hand them out at Christmas, that way we could know who's was who's.   Recieved news late last night that a friend of ours in Ghana had lost his wife in a car accident.  Not to many details yet.  He and her lost a  baby about a year and a half ago, and she had a real hard time of it.  But recently, had heard that she was doing better and that things were looking up for them.  They have an older daughter who is about 6 or 7 years old.  Will be very hard for him in the coming days.  Hope to hear more in the next day or two, if no email, than we will call to see how he is doing and if there is anything we can do to help.  Saturday before the graduation ceremony, I stopped at GRFD to checkout their open house.  Got a few good ideas for ours, and also for some ideas for the agility phase of our  firefighter training.   Have a busy week at work, and throw in a couple of meeting and we have the makings of very busy and full week.