Oktober Fest 2008

Went to a party near by to celebrate October. Since I couldn't make it to Germany this year, this will have to do. We had a lot of fun and a few of us got out of hand at times. Nothing new.



FIGHTING 1's!!!!! This is my engine crew minus the driver. Getting ready to kick some ass and take some names.



Vinny showing us his mad skills at the drive through window. "Can I take your order?" Yeah Vinny! How about that damn coffee!

Making friends everywhere I go.

The new guy talking to the new new guy still in the academy. Easy Vin, that's his girlfriend.

One of the lovely hosts of the party.

Making friends.... Did I mention that I like meeting new people.

Two of my newest friends. For all of you emergency service providers out there, these two lovely ladies make your Whellen warning equipment.

Thank you for the beer. That game sucked. Can't say that I am a fan of the games east of the river.

Soon after this Vinny and I became scared. It is amazing what seems like a good idea sometimes. It is evenings like this that build memories for a life time. I just wish I had the 30 pack back. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made for safety reasons.

Work Party

On Sunday members of the Berwick Fire Department and Somersworth Fire Department came to my parents house to help cut, split, and stack wood for the winter. We had 24 people show up to help. In three hours we were able to cut all the trees into logs, split 70% of the wood and stack it all. I could not imagine how long it would have taken my brother and I to do all of this work.

I have been at a loss lately how to express my appreciation for the outpouring of support. All I really have been able to come up with is THANK YOU! So again I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that was there on Sunday.

More Decorations

This week my father is undable to have visitors due to his white blood cell count being 0 and his absolute neutrophyl count being 0 as well. These are the blood cells that fight infections. My family received a call from the chief of Somersworth Fire Department letting us know that they had some shirts at the fire station to add to my father's walls at the hospital. Below are pictures of the shirts mounted on the wall. It drives my mother crazy when I hang the shirts with thumb tacks on the walls.

Thank you SFD and SCFOA.

Want to do something?

Today was the second day in a row that my father received platelets. I learned today that platelets have a five day shelf life and the first two days are spent being tested in a lab to make sure that they are safe for infusion. This whole process I have felt that there is little I can do to make any difference. So while I was bored today I called the American Red Cross which has a donor center down the street from Maine Medical. I wanted to schedule an appointment and they advised me that if I could be there in 15 minutes I could donate today. So off to the donor center I went.

it is a very painless process. Just two small IV's stuck in your arms. I have good veins they say so they were able to use both arms at the same time. This is me near the end of donating my platelets. The bag hanging just left of the screen is my plasma which is used to keep the platelets alive. The process of donating took less then 57 minutes. At the end you do not feel tired at all as they replace the fluids they take out during the process.

I encourage anyone who has the time and ability to donate blood or platelets. I was surprised to learn of the short shelf life of platelets and the sometimes critically low level of blood at times. I now know someone very close to me who has needed both blood and platelets. I plan on donating as much as possible in the future.

Decorations

We have used T-Shirts to decorate my fathers hospital room. The first two are T-shirts representing where my brother and I work. These are located adjacent to my father's bed. The remaining fire department t-shirts are from the Portland Maine Fire Department. They have been great to my family. The white T-shirt is of super heroes. Thank you Roger.

The rooms are very boring without decorations. It makes the hospital staff ask questions.