Pretty horrendous last 2 weeks...

Hi there--while my buddy over at http://jdaroundorange.blogspot.com/ does a great job of giving a day to day accounting of the fires that hit southern California and Orange County in particular, even his words or any that I could come up with do it justice. Back in 2003, I was a newly promoted supervisor, and was on duty the day the 2003 Firestorm started. All of southern California, much like this year, seemingly was on fire. But the two fires that really garnered the attention of the world back then were the Old Fire up along the hills and mountains that parallel the 210 Freeway in San Bernardino and parts of LA County, and of course, the apocalyptic Cedar Fire. We were so lucky in Orange County that year. We didn't have any fires that required more than an hour to put out. No major "campaign" fires. BUT...we worked our tails off to provide strike teams and additional personnel to all of our fire brothers and sisters in neighboring counties. I remember my Activity Report one night showing that between us and our partners in Orange County through MetroNet Fire, we were able to afford to send out 10 strike teams to various locales to assist as best as we could.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. The amount of mutual aid that we received for our major campaign fire was substantial to say the least--ONLY AFTER OUR GREAT CHIEF GOT ON LOCAL MEDIA AND SAID, "Hello!!!!!!!!! We're going to lose homes if we don't get help!!" Just as my friend Jon said on his blog, we were essentially fighting our fire alone with just our units and some much needed (and appreciated) help from MetroNet Fire (for those that have no clue what I'm talking about, MetroNet is a dispatch agency that dispatches for Anaheim, Orange, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach and is the coordinator for the independent fire departments like Laguna, Santa Ana, and Brea). In any event, all political posturing aside for a moment, once the calvary arrived, BOY did it arrive. We lost homes (24???), which is NOTHING like what happened in other areas of southern California. But we could have had some major problems if not for two things...

First, the AMAZING job of our dispatch/command center. Sometimes as a group of people we can get just about as "dysfunctional" as any family can, but I'm telling you, there were people in our center that were making some major sacrifices for the team. I can't begin to tell you the plethora of things that happened, but "team work" was the word, and we rose to the occasion. I'm VERY proud to be part of the OCFA ECC.

And secondly, and even more amazingly, the performance of our guys out in the field. There were people out there I heard yelling in their radios that I consider friends of mine, and you don't know "stress" until you hear panic in the voices of those you consider not only your friends, but HEROES in the fire service. I had to make a recording of the famous "burnover" that occurred where thankfully, none of our guys was hurt. But the Battalion Chief that was the main person in command of this and who I respect a great deal--I could it hear it in his voice, and it's tough for me NOT to put on the shoes of someone else and I could feel his frustration and fear during his radio transmissions. Everything worked out and I'm grateful--but a huge salute to the BC in charge of this emergency when it happened.

I don't know if 2007 will be worse that 2003, or 1993 for that matter, but I will tell you this. I can truthfully say in my 14 years of working, this was really my first MAJOR campaign fire. I've worked big ones before (Antonio Fire, Blackstar 1999, the December USFS screw up, the jet crash, etc), but this was bigger than I ever thought we could get.

In other news--

• I had lunch with a big name drum corps guy this past week that I'm not going to advertise WHO it was. But I will say that it's someone who knows how to produce a Top 3 drum corps, and fancy that, knows a WHOLE LOT ABOUT A LOT OF OTHER THINGS. Get this--he wanted to "pick my brain" about the southern California band and corps scene. Step right up brother--you picked the right guy.
• Wife is still sick and not doing well. Pregnancy--in a word--SUCKS.
• Announced a show last week and had a VERY nice and sort of long chat with another big name in drum corps, Frank Dorritte. Man this guy is 61 and is just AMAZING. We talked a lot about the direction of drum corps, about this whole amplification and narration business, etc, etc. And guess what? He may address something I actually told him about in his next column.

That's about it--just wanted to check in. Special thanks to Jon for doing a great job with the photos and narrative on his blog.

Has the dust settled???

Welcome back Turner....what are ya??

BUSY!?!?!?!?

Busy to say the least. Frustrated. Happy. Sad. Elated. Concerned. Anxious. Nervous to the point of stomach issues. Oh man....where do I start?

Two of the most important things right now that are over and done with that I was able to proudly say to myself "GOOD JOB!!!" if no one else would be able to: The announcing gig at the Rose Bowl, and my promotional interview and presentation at the Fire Department. I will expand further on both at a later time, but suffice it to say, those were two of the most challenging things on my mind these past several weeks. Both were opportunities that would/will open doors (OR CLOSE THEM) to the future, and I don't think I've ever been as "wound up" about this stuff before in my life...except back to the time I was getting ready to audition for drum major for my high school band in 1982 and had anxiety related diarrhea for 2 weeks PRIOR. Yeah. THAT was fun. Anyway...there's a lot of emotional and strange "baggage" involved with the Rose Bowl gig that I'll expand upon later.

The other biggee--the promotional--well, it's been on my mind obviously. Outside of the weighing in my mind if I wanted to actually follow through with the interview, I was going up against some heavy competition. There were going to be 7 of us, all of my competitors bringing something to the table. Then, strangely, not without at least some lovely DRAMA, 4 of the competitors pulled out, citing various reasons. I was pretty disappointed with one of the people that pulled out as I could have definitely worked for that person had that person beat me. And that person probably WOULD have. Because that person is very talented and needs a swift kick in the ass to remind THIS PERSON. Suffice it to say, that left the field to just three. Me, my comrade in arms and fellow blogging giant Jon Dumitru, and someone that was hired the same time I was back in 1994 Jenny Cradle. I couldn't afford to worry about those two leading into the interview and presentation, it was only AFTERWARDS that my self-esteem plummetted. LOL!!! I think all three of us uniquely qualify for the office. We all have strengths that could be utilized nicely. Our weaknesses are nothing out of the ordinary, certainly nothing worse than some of the qualities of people that hold FAR loftier positions than what I'm striving for. So...what this is going to come down to is not how many years we've been here, or how quickly I can pull a technical tidbit of knowledge out of my butt, or how I well I'll be able to supervise a whole CENTER full of people versus just a shift....rather, it will come down, inevitably, to the person that is going to fit the position the best. The person that will be able to learn, be taught, be able to use what is taught in some meaningful way, who believes in the organization, and will be able to motivate others. Am I the best for the job? I am one of the best, that's for sure. But I certainly don't DESERVE it. I have to EARN it. And if I DON'T earn it, than it's worth...

NOTHING.

That's my update--when I get a chance, I'll get back here and rap with you all abouts some cool experiences over the last few weeks.

Another week...another step down the rabbit hole

To say I have a lot to talk about is a vast, vast understatement. And how to approach it all...chronological, alphabetical, importance...HOW? I just don't know. So...let me start by saying this. In my last post, I indicated there is a family issue that I am dealing with as I go about my everyday stuff. That situation is getting neither easier nor better, and in some ways, it's getting worse. I do my gut-level best to keep it "under control" and quiet, but it is so bad that it's starting to affect my work. Something is going to blow soon and unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to do much to keep it from happening save somehow finding a way to "walk on water". In case you don't get that symbolism, I'll say it simpler.

Unless I can somehow pull a rabbit out of my ass, boiling point will be reached very soon. In any event, this particular family situation is "behind the scenes" and weighing on my mind quite a bit. Quite a bit. I know I'm not the only person with "problems" right now, but there's a part of me that feels because of who I am and how I come across to people, that I'm not "allowed" to have problems. I guess that's why I'm posting this. Oh yeah...I have problems. I tend to make other people laugh a lot to take the focus away from me...

Speaking of laughing. While I am having these issues, I had the opportunity to go to Ventura this past week for a two-day fire department-related conference. Some sort of...uhhh...strange things occurred...

--Found out, by accident, that one of the chiefs from my department marched in the very same drum and bugle corps that I did, albeit, about 10 years prior to me. That was VERY strange. We ended up knowing a lot of the same people, but I could tell he was not remembering a whole lot from "way back then". But it was WILD to be sitting there and sort of comparing notes with him. Reminded me of the time when I found out that our admin assistant in our command center also marched in the same corps back in the 70's. That would be the Velvet Knights. Small world. And I know there's a lot of you that read this blog that wouldn't know the significance of this if it came up and hit you over the head. Just trust me. It was a pretty cool moment for me.

--Because of my personal issues, I was more in "rare form" in Ventura than I have been in a long time (guess it helps me deal). It actually reminded me of the time about 5 or 6 years ago that I went to Vandenburg AFB with my friend Jon Dumitru for some fire department training. We both were invited to "hang" with the instructional staff at a dinner up in a nearby city. And uhhhh....well...let's just say, between me, Jon, and several Diet Cokes, we made quite the comedic impression. Jon and I played off of each other PERFECTLY, and damn near had people in hysterics in this restaurant. It really was very funny. Fast forward to this past week...it was me solo. In a lounge. In the large lobby of the hotel. Let's just say I didn't make friends with Kern County Fire when I did a bit on their "dispatching by banjos". Apparently the dispatchers thought I was a riot. Their chief? Not so much. And Chief Dave Pierce. I think his pancreas was bruised. By Chris Funk's NOSE. GAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWD!!! But it was funny. Never saw my own chief laugh so hard. Good times hanging with Chiefs Pierce, Concepion, Wells, Robinson, McIntosh...JoSAYYYYYYYYYYY Valbuena...holy cow...Funkalicious, my own boss DJP....ahhhhh yes. It'll be a historic night... or two.

--Here's another bit of weirdness. On Thursday morning, I woke up early. Couldn't sleep. Stress does that. Anyway, instead of going for the $11 breakfast buffet in the restaurant downstairs in the hotel, I just did what I do best. I went exploring. I love driving around and just looking at stuff. Found a McDonald's. COOL. Got myself a Sausage McMuffin. And a large Diet Coke. Life was good. But then...it took a strange turn. As I returned to my parking space at the hotel to start another fun-filled and exciting examination of the California mutual aid system, I finished sucking out the last remnant of the dark brown liquid goodness that is Diet Coke. And I thought to myself, "Self, I think I shall take this cup of ice with me into the fun-filled conference so as to keep myself from actually slipping into a freakin' coma!" So...I pulled off the top of the cup, and lo and behold, what did I find? Right...what you'd expect to find at the bottom of your ice in a large cup from McDonalds. A $20 bill!!!! That's right. Imagine my amazement as I stood in the parking structure of the Crowne Plaza Resort in Ventura. Slack jawed. Staring into my cup. At first, I thought..."Oh my gosh. I'm going to die. I just drank contaminated Diet Coke swill." Then I thought, "I'm impervious to all poisons. I've been drinking the aspartame in Diet Coke for 10 years now. If I'm not dead, I won't die from any stupid poison." And then the 2nd thing I thought..."I'M RICH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And the good news didn't stop there. I fished out the 20 from below it's icy demise, flattened it out, and put it in my center console for drying. Looked back into the cup--per chance I was going to find a lottery ticket. Better!!! I found 37 cents. I'm not kidding. Needless to say...I threw the cup and ice away. And thought that MAYBE I need to be aware that I MAY start spontaneously vomiting in the next 2 to 6 hours. LOL!!! :-)

That's about it for now.

Oh wait. One more thing. My wife told me that her youngest brother, 17 year old Joseph, was going to his prom tonight. And I got a little melancholy about that. I mean, I was happy he was going and all. But 13 years ago when I first met him, he was 4. And he and I really got close. Cool to see him growing up. Not cool to know while he's growing up...I'm just growing OLDER.

Dammit.

Get outta here....