Catching up...

It's been a while, I know. The medevac portion of our year is in full swing. Last week we had two back to back possibly life-threatening medevacs head north. One on our shift (B Shift), another one the next day. We haven't been as busy as we were in the beginning of the season but we're still keeping our plates full every day. Miraculously, Tanker 3, which we all thought was out of service for the rest of the season (if not indefinitely) will be back in service and in station 1 by the end of this week. Our annual MCI drill (which was supposed to be held last week but was canceled because of a serious accident (which led to one of the medevacs). Now, the element of surprise is gone and station management has resorted to just emailing us and letting us know when the drill will be held (Friday at 1330 with me being the station officer). My stress induced by the daily operations (and sometimes management) of the Antarctic Fire Department has been cured by incessant bitching and moaning to other firefighters and officers who are going through the same troubles. Now, during this time of celebration (It's [near] Christmas you know...) I'm at ease and I'm happy...somewhat....

...somewhat meaning that I'm missing my dad terribly. We (the fire department) had our Christmas party on Saturday night. A time that was suppose to be fun was spent, by me, smiling politely and waiting to leave to go back to the station (we were on duty at the time). I have a hard time partying and having a good time during holidays or days that bring back a lot of memories for me. I'm missing my family pretty terribly as well.

My plans have remained, so far, extremely dynamic. Because of my plans to go back to school and having to start the fall semester in late August, I've been looking at National Park Service positions in Alaska to take advantage of the shorter fire season. So in order for me to save enough gas to drive from home to Boise to visit my daughter and Boise to Alaska, I have to put my travel plans to Africa on hold and may be tramp around New Zealand or Australia. Haha, bummer, I know. All in the name of education though....