Started the day today, after 2 hours sleep, by having breakfast with KC KS FF Dave Doherty. Thanks for breakfast Dave. Gotta love the west, you can get egg white omelettes w/o hassle. After 7 pots of coffee I headed out to Wichita.
The Great Plains are, well, great. I'm riding on Engine 1 at station 1 downtown tonight and getting pointers on forcible entry (through the lock) from FF Mark. I'm doing laundry right now and just got done working out. I made it down the pole without incident earlier on a house fire call that turned out to be steam coming off of the roof after the rain. Huh??? It had been about 9 years since I had last managed a fire pole, no sweat. Pat Bailey would be proud. Besides that it's been pretty uneventful today. I stop for gas at half a tank because stations are very sparce, even worse out in west KS I'm told.
I'm heading down to the burn unit tonight at St. Francis to check it out and maybe get a bite to eat.
Jenn and the kids are at a party today so I hope their having fun and wish I were there. I miss them terribly but I'll be home soon. It is very hard when they call and the kids end up crying by the time the conversation is over, that makes me feel like a jerk sometimes. I hope they understand what I'm doing as best they can for their age. I am doing this for my kids as well, I want their lives to be lived in a kinder world than we see today. I have to remember that great things do not get accomplished without sacrifice and enthusiasm. The Harley is going great and I removed a metric ton of bugs from the windshield today, sorry bugs.
Be good.
Mike
Saturday, May 26
Where are all the riders?
C'mon everybody, its gets lonely on the road. Get on that motorcycle and join me for a bit, I promise I won't bite, well maybe just a little. Ok, drive your car next to me, whatever, lets show our support and thanks for burn survivors and burn units!
Peace,
Mike
Peace,
Mike
Oh yeah
The pics below are from the MO Fallen FF Memorial. It was definitely worth the stop. The original statue that was intended for the memorial was in NYC customs on 9/11/01. NY kept it for their own and the second one is in MO.
May all 343 rest in peace. We think of you daily, thank you.
May all 343 rest in peace. We think of you daily, thank you.
KCFD, Mo
Good morning all, sorry for my absence yesterday. After a good night's sleep in Mexico I headed out to KC early yesterday. I still can't quite just get up and go. I don't think I'm cut out for living out of a backpack.
I made the 170 mile trip in the rain and arrived at the Univ. of Kansas hospital/Burnett Burn Center around1pm. Upon arriving I was greeted by Dave Hurlbut and his daughter. Dave is a burn survivor, a cool dude, and helped design and pay for the kick butt burn unit here. It is very cool. There is a nice day room and rehab/exercise room for patients and the unit has lots of windows. All burn related care is provided in the same wing, including the OR (looks just like the ones on TV) so patients do not need to get carted all over the place. This also means that the pretty and talented nurses can keep an eye on them so they are taken care of all the time. Thank you Kayla, Julie, Marsha, and Tracy (I hope I remembered your names correctly:-) for the tour. Keep up the great work. I was able to speak with a burn patient at the unit and gave her a toy, we're all kids at heart so everyone gets something no matter how old they are. If that doesn't make people smile I sometimes have to resort to singing "Paul Revere" by the Beastie Boys, whatever it takes - No one in the burn unit is safe!
This unit also cared for 6 of our brothers who were burned here in a KC commercial flashover back in January. ALL of the burned FF's will be back to work very soon. False ceilings in old buildings stink.
I was able to run a few calls with the Rescue here at station 19, which is conveniently close to the party district, which also sums up my evening after 7pm. Thank you to Joe for the Gatorade at Kelly's Bar. Joe owns the place and retired from Hook and Ladder 7 after 31 years of service to KCFD, his shield is on the wall there.
I found out yesterday that I will be on FOX NEWS on 5/31 from Denver at 8:40am est to talk about the fundraiser. Giddy up.
I'm meeting with a FF who is also a burn survivor for breakfast and aspirin this AM after I log off, then it's off to Wichita for 2 nights, and then on to CO.
Thank you to B shift for feeding me for free yesterday and letting me use the Capt.'s quarters during my stay. Station 19 is 7 months old and is Sa-weet. Weight room, wide screen, b-ball, ping pong, you name it. Special thanks to Trevor for the linens hook up.
When in KC, I would have to recommend the Boulevard Pale Ale with a lemon wedge.
I saw a couple street performers yesterday who were breakdancing. i'll have to bring some cardboard w/ me on the way back east and give them a run for their money. You don't know me!
Thank you for the GREAT time KC, check ya later.
I made the 170 mile trip in the rain and arrived at the Univ. of Kansas hospital/Burnett Burn Center around1pm. Upon arriving I was greeted by Dave Hurlbut and his daughter. Dave is a burn survivor, a cool dude, and helped design and pay for the kick butt burn unit here. It is very cool. There is a nice day room and rehab/exercise room for patients and the unit has lots of windows. All burn related care is provided in the same wing, including the OR (looks just like the ones on TV) so patients do not need to get carted all over the place. This also means that the pretty and talented nurses can keep an eye on them so they are taken care of all the time. Thank you Kayla, Julie, Marsha, and Tracy (I hope I remembered your names correctly:-) for the tour. Keep up the great work. I was able to speak with a burn patient at the unit and gave her a toy, we're all kids at heart so everyone gets something no matter how old they are. If that doesn't make people smile I sometimes have to resort to singing "Paul Revere" by the Beastie Boys, whatever it takes - No one in the burn unit is safe!
This unit also cared for 6 of our brothers who were burned here in a KC commercial flashover back in January. ALL of the burned FF's will be back to work very soon. False ceilings in old buildings stink.
I was able to run a few calls with the Rescue here at station 19, which is conveniently close to the party district, which also sums up my evening after 7pm. Thank you to Joe for the Gatorade at Kelly's Bar. Joe owns the place and retired from Hook and Ladder 7 after 31 years of service to KCFD, his shield is on the wall there.
I found out yesterday that I will be on FOX NEWS on 5/31 from Denver at 8:40am est to talk about the fundraiser. Giddy up.
I'm meeting with a FF who is also a burn survivor for breakfast and aspirin this AM after I log off, then it's off to Wichita for 2 nights, and then on to CO.
Thank you to B shift for feeding me for free yesterday and letting me use the Capt.'s quarters during my stay. Station 19 is 7 months old and is Sa-weet. Weight room, wide screen, b-ball, ping pong, you name it. Special thanks to Trevor for the linens hook up.
When in KC, I would have to recommend the Boulevard Pale Ale with a lemon wedge.
I saw a couple street performers yesterday who were breakdancing. i'll have to bring some cardboard w/ me on the way back east and give them a run for their money. You don't know me!
Thank you for the GREAT time KC, check ya later.
Friday, May 25
Thursday, May 24
Se habla Espanol?
Mexico, MO. Had a WINDY day today. A front was blazing through the plains and blew me around all day. The Harley sucked down almost 2 tanks of gas just getting here. I started the day visiting Lincoln's home in Springfield. It was pretty cool. It is located in an 1800's period block of Springfield which is a National Site. Seeing the St. Louis Arch was really cool. It looks far out as you're approaching the city. After a great salad and baked potato I had to leave a little early to beat the storms.
Mexico is like Germantown but a little more spread out. They have 10,000 people in town, 3 fire stations and 50 volunteers. Asst. Chief Bill and his wife took me out to dinner, thank you very much Bill, and we just got back to the station. The FD is doing SCBA donning training. The FF's carry their gear with them and report to the scene here. I'll be on a cot in the station tonight and will be catching up on my latest philosophy book, "The Tibetan Book of the Dead." It's not as weird as it sounds, pretty positive really.
The arch is definitely something that was better than expected. I'm usually one to admire nature's wonders but this was pretty amazing. To consider the whole thing is welded and has withstood a lot of nature's fury is very cool. I took a dip in the Mississippi to cool off and headed west. The river didn't taste as bad as I thought.
I'm going to Wal-Mart tonight to buy some more toys for the kids tomorrow at Univ. of Kansas Burn Center, which is where I'll be tomorrow at 1pm. Can't wait. To see a kid momentarily forget they are laid up inside a hospital because of the excitement of a new toy is priceless. I feel very lucky to be the person who can help make that happen. The media ran great stories on our fundraiser on tv and the paper in Springfield.
We received donations today from the following FF's:
Dennis of Springfield $12, and Rob of the Little Dixie fire Protection District (Mexico, MO) $10. Thank you both VERY much. One thing that is funny about this world, that I have noticed, is that the people who can barely afford to give anything give all they can. It is very humbling.
Hasta Manana de Mexico Missouri,
Miguel
Mexico is like Germantown but a little more spread out. They have 10,000 people in town, 3 fire stations and 50 volunteers. Asst. Chief Bill and his wife took me out to dinner, thank you very much Bill, and we just got back to the station. The FD is doing SCBA donning training. The FF's carry their gear with them and report to the scene here. I'll be on a cot in the station tonight and will be catching up on my latest philosophy book, "The Tibetan Book of the Dead." It's not as weird as it sounds, pretty positive really.
The arch is definitely something that was better than expected. I'm usually one to admire nature's wonders but this was pretty amazing. To consider the whole thing is welded and has withstood a lot of nature's fury is very cool. I took a dip in the Mississippi to cool off and headed west. The river didn't taste as bad as I thought.
I'm going to Wal-Mart tonight to buy some more toys for the kids tomorrow at Univ. of Kansas Burn Center, which is where I'll be tomorrow at 1pm. Can't wait. To see a kid momentarily forget they are laid up inside a hospital because of the excitement of a new toy is priceless. I feel very lucky to be the person who can help make that happen. The media ran great stories on our fundraiser on tv and the paper in Springfield.
We received donations today from the following FF's:
Dennis of Springfield $12, and Rob of the Little Dixie fire Protection District (Mexico, MO) $10. Thank you both VERY much. One thing that is funny about this world, that I have noticed, is that the people who can barely afford to give anything give all they can. It is very humbling.
Hasta Manana de Mexico Missouri,
Miguel
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