Corridor 9

There is a good possibility you won’t hear from me for a week or so. I’ll be sure to update you when I get back. Don’t Panic!

Last night I was sick as a dog for some reason. I don’t know if it was something I ate, or what, but I was up 5 or 6 times last night, and didn’t sleep well when I was in bed. This morning I started feeling better, but I still have a bit of an upset stomach. I’m hoping this isn’t the virus that has been passed around the fire department lately. I would sure hate to be sick out in the woods.

After 3 days of shopping, organizing, and packing, I think I’m finally ready to head out tomorrow morning. I’ve finished the final packing ans only have the fuel and a few other items to put into the pack before I’ll be ready to leave. I’ve been ready to go for weeks now.

Well, I had to rollback the server this morning. I lost a few posts in the process, but I think it is more stable now than it was yesterday while I was digging around in configuration files. It got really slow there toward the end, and I wasn’t sure exaclty what the problem was. I am not sure when I’ll try to update the server again, but I know it will definately be after my camping trip.

Well, It seems as if some information that I had posted on a number of years ago has surfaced again. Fortunately for me, someone out there was nice enough to let me know they had found this information. At first I wasn’t sure what they were talking about because they kept saying it was appearing on my blog. I was seriously hoping someone hadn’t hacked into my website and started posting stuff. I found out after trying a while that for some reason they were using a search engine to get to my blog rather than just bookmarking it. When they typed in my blog address, a number of older links popped up, some of which had personal information on them, and discussions that I would prefer not get out in the public. Nothing that was posted was inaccurate, and there is nothing that isn’t part of my testimony, but I would prefer it be used as my own witness as opposed to other peoples gossip. I have contacted the website administrator, and he has deleted my account. Now, even though the link may still be there, no information about me can be researched.

Thanks again guys.

* PS: Google is better than Yahoo!
* Press [CTRL] + D to bookmark this page in your favorites.

After breaking out of my prison yesterday morning at 7 am, I decided it was time to get out of town for a while to relax a little bit.

Kristie and I packed up the jeep about 9am yesterday and headed off to Nashville where we had a wonderful day and were both very glad to get away from Madisonville for a while. One of the first places we stopped was a Fresh Market down in Brentwood. I had been to a fresh market before, but forgot how nice it was to be close enough one to shop there. Imagine Kroger having a deli section 4 times the one you have now, a seafood section that covers an entire wall, and a meat section where you can get stuffed chicken or portobello mushrooms ground in with your hamburger meat.

After browsing around the market we went down to the REI store where I found some killer deals on clothes. I’ll bet I bought around $200 worth of clothes for less than $50. All of the items were marked “scratch and dent” but most of the stuff was like brand new. A few of the items were worn for photo shoots, the rest were returns for various reasons, but I just couldn’t pass up the bargains. I even got a pair of winter snow pants that would be good during my trip in February for less than $15! Kristie started fussing after about an hour about how I could stay in the same store and still be looking around. She just doesn’t understand the fact that I can spend hours in there and not get bored. I enjoy looking at everything, dreaming about the trips I’d like to take, planning my agenda, and creating a shopping list in my head of the items I’d need to purchase to make these dreams a reality.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying our time together walking around the Opry Mills mall. We didn’t find too many deals, but our whole goal wasn’t necessarily to go shopping as much as it was to relax and get away for a while. I know I enjoyed my time away, and I’m sure that Kristie felt the same way.

’m updating Mother today, so the server will be going up and down pretty much all day. I should have it done by this evening hopefully, and if everything goes as planned, you won’t even realize anything happened. Lets just keep our fingers crossed.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it wasn’t as clean as I thought it would be. I forgot to check my page after the Apache web server loaded, and thus many of you may have seen the “default” Apache web page. Thanks Gwen for emailing me about this.

UPDATE 2: AArrrgghh!!!! I hate it when developers change around configuration files. Its not that the files them self change… its the fact that the locations change. I had to spend 2 hours finding out what configuration files changed on the web server update, and then try to change them back. So here I sit at 3:30 in the morning hoping that what I have fixed doesn’t break again next time I update the system.

I saw this today and absolutely had to have a copy of it. I did a little searching around on the net and found a link to the artists home page. Some of the links on his site appear to be bad, but the artwork on the site is purely awesome.

Check out the Ferenc Caco Seoul Sand Art video from the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival in 2003. It is a fairly large video at approximately 18MB, but it is well worth the download time.

UPDATE: Here is a faster link to the Sicaf Sand Video

Only 15 more hours to go before I am finally released from this prison. Since I showed up at 7 pm on Wednesday to work for another fireman,and worked a full callback yesterday, I’m going to be here a total of 108 hours. Thats only 12 hours short of 5 days straight. I have only done this once before in my career, and swore I would never do it again. Unfortunately this time it was not by choice. I have figured out that the paycheck should be pretty good though. It will allow me to take care of some obligations I wasn’t looking forward to. I guess God does work in mysterious ways, even if they do involve a bit of cabin fever.

I spent the better part of the day tweaking Gentoo linux on my laptop. I have wanted to include some enhancements for quite some time now, but just haven’t gotten around to it. I was worried about the fan states (the speeds that both the CPU and Video fans run depending on thermal load), and never really liked the fact that the CPU fan wouldn’t run at max speed unless the CPU temp was between 75° - 80° C. Its my understanding that the die temperature (the temp at which the processor starts overheating) is 100° C, but I would like to keep the temp well below that. I believe that the processors internal thermal control circuit (TCC) will kick in as the CPU temperature approaches maximum die temperature (135° C). However, because I have altered the CPU and Video fan speeds using a software application, I am not sure that the system hardware will override the application if the CPU temp approached 100° C. Under normal operating parameters, this wouldn’t be a concern as the system itself regulates fan speeds in correlation to temperature . However, if the software application happens to crash for some reason, I’m pretty sure the fans will not operate correctly. This would be very bad!

I’ll have to look into this some more tonight before committing to the changes I’ve made.

I got bit by my actions at the fire department today.

It all started last night when I showed up at work to finish out a shift for someone. I had owed him some time, and he had made plans so he needed me to fulfil my obligation. Things went smoothly for the first hour or so till I got the bright idea of pranking one of my coworkers. As you’ve probably seen on TV, life around the fire department is filled with harassing pranks and hazing. We’ve got to keep it lively somehow and what better way than to make fun of others.

Anyway, my coworker was on the toilet when the idea hit me. I got my supplies ready, walked into the john, and asked him if he had a change of clothes. For a moment, he stumbled, so I asked him again. “Do you have a change of work clothes?” He replied that he had another shirt to wear so with a big smile gleaming across my face I promptly informed him that he was probably going to need it. In one foul swoop I dumped approximately 1 cup worth of flour on him over the stall door.

I had a nice big laugh….. until I went to bed later. He decided that repaying me with one prank wasn’t good enough, so he chose to get me back in five different ways.

I smelled the Tabasco sauce first, but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Smelling around my sheets and pillow revealed the pepper he had stuffed into my pillow case hoping I would sneeze my head off all night long. After cleaning out all the pepper and hoping to get to bed without any more incidents I walked back into the bedroom. I kept smelling the vinegar smell, so I sniffed around more and finally found out what it was. He had placed Tabasco on the inside of my pants waistband hoping I would itch all day today. Seeing as this was my only pair of clean pants, I had to wash them before I went to bed. After getting them washed, I started to go lay down and stepped into something wet. AARRGGHHH!!!!! He had poured water into my boots and it was leaking out all over the floor. Needless to say, I’m not wearing my boots while writing this as they are still soaking wet!!!!

I finally got to bed around 1 am, but my sleep wasn’t peaceful. I was rudely awaken by the flour hitting my head this morning. My nickname for the day happens to be Casper. Now I had to wash my sheets, blankets, shorts, shirt, and socks because they were all covered with flour. So, after a while, I’m thinking all is said and done and go to get some ice for my water when I see a solid block of ice. As soon as I saw this I felt that feeling in my stomach that I was once again duped. Buried within the block of ice were the keys to my jeep. Luckily I didn’t have to go anywhere this morning, otherwise I would have been late.

Oh well, what goes around comes around. However, when it comes around five fold, thats a bit excessive. I’ll have to get him back good for this one.

Today marks the beginning of the final 2 week countdown to the GSMNP trip.

I was finally able to contact the ranger station today to make campsite reservations, but after looking at the distances again I’m a bit worried that we are indeed pushing ourselves. I am going to consider alternative camping sites later on today just in case we need, or want, to change our itinerary to make the trip more enjoyable. I’m don’t think that it will be an issue, but after looking at the extra weight I’m carrying around in my spare tire region, I figure its better to be safe than sorry.

Yesterday I received my Sierra Pacific hiking pants from Ebay. I was a bit displeased with the fit of them, but I think this may simply be due to the design. I should be receiving my Columbia GRT pants sometime today. I’m hoping they fit better.

After a quiet day today, I’m looking forward to getting a bunch of needed work done tomorrow.

Church this morning was good… not what I’m used to, but good. We had a guest speaker who I just didn’t care for. I went in with the attitude of getting all that I could out of the service because I haven’t had the opportunity to go the last 3 weeks and I can always feel when I’ve been out of church for too long. Something about the guest speaker didn’t strike me though. I’m not sure if it was his preaching style, his message or what, but I just didn’t feel God moving as much as I have in the past. I may be going to church on Wednesday night to see what that service is all about. I’ve heard that the services on Wednesday are really good, and I was told the speaker who is supposed to be there will be good.

After service, and a much needed nap, Kristie, Kendall and I went to Lake Pewee to fish for a while. Kristie and I both caught a few bluegill, not much bigger than a few fingers, but we caught some none the less. Kendall got to play around in the water a bit… though we told her not to get too wet cause we didn’t want her smelling like fish all night long. We also got to watch some guy training his two Golden Retrievers. They were beautiful dogs and just kept going and going with tails wagging almost constantly.

Tomorrow is going to be a day of work. Not only have I been putting off the dishes for a number of days, I’ve also been putting off mowing the lawn. I so hate mowing the lawn and can’t wait until its winter again so that I don’t have to worry about it any more. I also need to change out the oil in my Jeep since its about 1,000 miles past due. Since I’m doing all that… I figured it would be a wonderful time to change and flush the radiator system. I know it hasn’t been done since I bought the vehicle, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t done since its been sold originally. I figure I’ll be spending quite a bit of time outside working tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t be too hot though.

As you’ve probably figured out already I’m finally home from my three day stretch at the fire station. It was a long, and painful experience. For some reason the last three days seemed to drag by. The drama posted below didn’t seem to help things either, but I found out today that my actions were completely right. I talked to a member of the department who is above the officer that chewed me out. He told me that there wasn’t going to be any sort of disciplinary action in my file since my refusal to follow a “direct order” was justified because he had no authority to give me orders regarding my personal equipment anyway. This news was such a relief. I thought I was in the right when the incident took place a few days ago and also when I talked to my own shift commander yesterday. Its just nice to know that I was in fact in the right.

Its not really about being right as much as it is about being able to stand up for what I believe in. I knew full well the consequences if I was wrong, but because I firmly believed in my own rights as both a firefighter, as well as a property owner, I was willing to accept the consequences if a higher authority deemed necessary.

Well all….. I almost got suspended from work.

For those of you who don’t know, I do most of the internet routing for the firefighters on shift. I make sure the router is working, the network is properly configured and locked down so that no one on the outside can hack their way in. I try to keep it as locked down as possible and allow a certain number of knowledgeable individuals access to the password in case something doesn’t work.

It all started when one of the Shift Commanders walked in to the training room talking about how he couldn’t get his laptop to work correctly on the internet. He knew the system was locked down, and he also knew all he had to do was ask and I’d have given him the password. Instead he chose to blow things out of proportion, and start an argument with me about how everyone in here pays for the internet access and “everyone needs to have the password”. This is completely incorrect. Yes…. everyone here pays for the internet connection that is supplied by Charter Communications. The funding is taken out of the profit from our soda machine.

However, everyone here doesn’t need the router password. First of all, the wireless router in question belongs to A shift. It was purchased by fire fighters on that shift for our own personal use. When we first bought the wireless router we took up a collection to get cable service running, but the hardware was still paid for by A shift personnel.

I tried giving out the password last year and spent more than a few of my days off here fixing problems created by people who didn’t know what they were doing. When I ended up changing the password, I had just performed a network scan for possible holes in the system when I found multiple security problems because someone who didn’t know what they were doing logged into the router and changed a bunch of port settings. Those of you who know I’m a security buff know that I don’t want my laptop on a network that is this insecure.

In addition, the Shift Commander started becomming irate telling me he would change what he wanted, when he saw fit. At this point I tried to remain calm and collected while getting increasingly pissed off inside. I had no reason not to give him the password, other than the fact that I think its just another person to screw up the router. I didn’t even mind him having the password as I thought he was knowledgeable enough to figure out what needed to be changed and what didn’t. What upset me the most was his yelling at me , and telling me he had given me a “direct order”. He can not give me a direct order on what I should do with my laptop, so why does he think he has the right to give me a direct order telling me what to do with equipment that I bought.

He threatened to send me home, threatened to suspend me, and even threatened to rip the networking out of the station. The simple fact of the matter was I was more than willing to get sent home and suspended. I felt I was in the right, and still do. However, because of the number of people who use the network up here, I let him “win” so to speak. It wasn’t a matter of a password, it was his attitude, demeanor, and inappropriate orders which got me upset.

We’ll see if this is over… He’s supposed to be talking to the assistant chief. I hope so, as me and the assistant chief feel the same way about security problems.

Some news floating around the station seems promising today.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has put out a request for 1000 two man teams to help out in New Orleans and surrounding areas during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There are about 6 people from the fire station who are looking to go there to aid the relief effort. I was hoping to go with the ambulance service, but I think that going with the fire department would be a better situation for me. Not only would I not have to find coverage while I’m away, but I would be working with another fireman from my department rather than someone who I don’t know, and have no idea about their skill level. The only thing that concerns me is the dates as I may have to push the camping trip back a month or so.

Lord, be with those in need.

With disaster & destruction being broadcast nationwide and death in the paper daily, its especially hard not to become calloused over with regard to other peoples pain and suffering. There is a need to get the job done, be effective, compassionate, and caring. There is also a need to keep your head clear and make sure that you deal with the problems physically instead of letting them deal with you mentally. Today was a rough day though.

I was laying there all peaceful for my midmorning nap when the tones went off. We had been paged out to aid MCAS in the vicinity of Muffler Express on South Main Street. F3 went in route fairly quickly and I rode with F8 shortly there after. When F3 arrived they couldn’t see anything happening, and hollered back to dispatch trying to get a better position when they were told that the incident was approximately 1 mile west on St. Route 70. As soon as we pulled up the medic yelled out the rear door of the ambulance that he needed 3 people now, and we needed to get heading to the hospital yesterday.

For those of you who don’t know, most of the people working for Med Center Ambulance Service are fairly laid back, knowledgeable, and good at what they do. It is extremely rare, even in the worst of circumstances, to have a medic barking out orders with what looked like panic in his eye. When I stepped in the back of the ambulance I understood what the look in his eyes was all about.

Standing in the door, I saw an 11 year old boy who had a gunshot wound to his chest. He was unresponsive and CPR was in progress. The paramedic was in the process of starting IV lines and the EMT was needing to setup equipment so I took over CPR along with another firefighter from F3. It only took approximately 5 minutes to get to the hospital, but it seemed like hours sitting in the back of the truck. As we pulled up to the ER, another MCAS crew was standing by to take over care from the other firefighter and I.

From what I understand, this incident started out toward Richland. The family of the patient decided to put him in a personal vehicle and head toward Madisonville which explains why we were unable to find the scene plus the reason we were toned out in the first place.

It us my understanding that the child died shortly after being taken to OR.

God, help us to remember how short our time really is, to care for the ones we love while they are here, to take joy when they depart for heaven, and to comfort those who are left behind. Amen.

What a wonderful day today turned out to be.
After such a long day yesterday, it was nice to be able to get away with Kristie and have a stress free day. Yesterday started at 7:30 am with me crawling out of bed to the shower where I almost fell asleep again. I didn’t want to get out of bed and absolutely didn’t want to go to work. However, after a nice shower things started perking up. The day went by with only a few runs, but at 4 pm I decided I wanted to stay over a bit and work the North Hopkins Madisonville High School football game. This gave me a few more hours of time for my paycheck with very little effort.

I woke up this morning around 9 am and started getting ready to get out of town for a while. Even though the price of gas is outrageous right now, I just couldn’t stand to stay in town and not do anything yet again. I had to get out and relax for a while. Kristie and I headed out around 10:30 am after a short stop by mom & dad’s house. I wasn’t in that big of a hurry and seeing as how the weather was so nice I decided to take hwy 41 up there instead of the Pennyrile Pky. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect; dry, cool, and calm. We ended up keeping our windows down until well in the afternoon. This allowed us to enjoy the fresh air, and save on gas.

All in all, we didn’t buy much of anything, but simply walked around, went to all the stores we wanted to go to, and didn’t get in a hurry for anything. I don’t think I’ve felt so relaxed in months.

Wow, I didn’t realize it had been so long since I have been able to post. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to stay on the ball lately guys, things have just been so hectic here in the past few days. Either that, or I’ve just been in a state of semi-conciousness. I thought I had posted something 2 days ago, but it must have gotten lost in the mail or something cause it didn’t appear on my site.

MCAS is looking to send a few crews down to New Orleans to help out with the disaster going on down there. I would really like to go as I think it would be a great learning opportunity, and I would be helping those in need. It may be a great missionary situation and it would surely help me get a bit more street time as an EMT. It may even get me some disaster management or triage experience. I’m not sure I’ll be going though, as it would primarily depend on my work schedule at the fire department. If by chance I can get someone to work for me a day or two then I would have 6-8 days to spend down there helping others. Otherwise, I don’t think it would be beneficial for me to take my four days off and spend two days traveling only help people for the other two days. I may know something more a bit later next week as that is when the volunteers from Kentucky are supposed to get deployed. Even if I don’t get to go, I’ll be able to fill in shifts at the ambulance service for those who do go. This would work out wonderfully for me too as I really need to get on the ball and work as much as I can to start paying these bills off. I’ve only been able to work a few days in the last 3 weeks, and am only “officially” scheduled for 1 day this month. I need to work more than one day though… the more the merrier.