ride along #4

I don't know if it is just me but damn, time has been passing by way too fast. I feel like every day goes by so quickly that I can't keep track of what I've done on what day. And it is definitely not because I have been having so much fun that time is flying or anything. Oh well, I kinda wish my days would last a little bit longer.

Anyways, I had a pretty interesting weekend. On Saturday I got to ride along with the fire station right by my house near Baranca and East Yale Loop. They made me dress business casual and show up at 8 AM so I was pretty tired and uncomfortable the whole day. It was pretty chill hanging out with them though. I have been on a few ride-alongs before so I think I have the proper fire station etiquette down by now. The first part was pretty boring; I just helped them clean and vacuum a little and then one of the new guys just showed me pretty much everything on the engine. I know he probably did not want to waste his time showing me everything but deep down, I really didn't want even want to see it either. Haha, I guess I am there to learn but I guess I am more interested in their personal relationships and other aspects of the job.

For the majority of the day they had zero calls so the more interesting part of the day was probably when they were working out. They asked me if I wanted to work out with them and I really didn't want to because I was incredibly sore from lifting on Friday, but I kind of really didn't want to look like a bitch either so I just agreed. They asked me what I was going to do so I just said "Uh... I guess I'll just do what you guys are doing." Big mistake. They are pretty into crossfit training and I had taken a crossfit class before so I was aware of what I was getting myself into. Crossfit is a type of workout that is more built for endurance so it is constant and has very little breaks. (I belive I have blogged about it before so just scroll down if you you want to read more about it.) Anyways the captain is a 50 years old or so 6 ft tall guy, with a big mustache. He had huge forearms and legs and I could tell he was pretty jacked. The other firefighter was smaller but also looked pretty fit. The work out was a circuit: row 250 meters, twenty-one 95lb high pulls, 15 pull-ups. You do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes without any breaks. Now, normally I would be pretty okay with it, but my legs and shoulders were already incredibly sore from the day before that just lifting the 95 pounds one time was very painful. The problem was, it was too late to back out now and I didn't want to complain about being sore. Before we started, for some reason the captain asked me if I wanted to get a lighter weight for the high pulls. I thought for a minute and said "Uhh..... Yes. Yes I do." Haha. I figured it would look worse if I rejected the offer and then failed during the work out.

So we started the workout. 20 minutes is a damn long time but I was set on giving it my all. I know for sure if I were doing this by myself or with my friends, I probably would stop within the first minute. I was just pushing through and about 10 minutes in, I was doing the high pulls and felt a pain in my hands. Didn't matter. The weight they gave me was only 65 pounds and I only had to do 21. The skin on my palms is pretty tough from lifting over the years. This is something I am personally pretty proud of, since wearing gloves is for bitches. After the set, I threw down the weight and to my surprise, my hands were bloody. A piece of skin about the size of a dime had been ripped off on each hand. I was really confused on how that happened, but I was more happy since now I had a legitimate reason to take a quick break. One of the firefighters that wasn't doing the same workout took me in and wrapped up my hands. The way he wrapped my hands made the injury look way worse than it was.

Here's a picture


Anyways, after getting that break, finishing the work out wasn't too bad. I was glad that I finished it and my body wasn't feeling as sore anymore. I was really glad I did it with them, because for some reason I kind of felt a closer connection with them and it made talking and joking with them easier.

The funniest thing was when we went out to dinner later, we were ordering at Rubios. When I went up to order the cashier asks me if I was a fire fighter too. I said "No, I'm just riding along." And then he looks at me with the biggest eyes and was like "Dude... what happened to your hands?" I didn't want to explain it to him so I just told him I got cut. "You got cut?" He looked like he was thinking that it must have been huge or something. He gave me a free drink.

All and all, I had a pretty great time. They got some calls during and after dinner and I got to see an old, overweight sick woman naked. She also pooped on herself. It was great. I don't really want to go into details but yeah... I would have very much preferred seeing a different call.

brush your teeth

Yeah, so we were watching a video about fires in class the other day and I was sitting on the left side of the class room when all of a sudden, I smelled something horrendous. I started sniffing a little harder to try to figure out what it was and then I realized it was someone's breath. I first though to myself "How the hell am I smelling someone's breath right now when I am not even talking to anyone or even looking at someone face to face." Anyways, I just ignored it. Eventually it became so bad I was forced to cover my nose with my t-shirt. I was pretty sure it was coming from the guy on my left so I turned to him and looked at him with a face full of judgement and turned back around. Since we were on the left side of the class room and I was on his right, I just pretty much turned my back to him to avoid the smell. No it did not go away. Now picture this, I have my back to this guy and he isn't even directly facing me or trying to blow on me, and I can still feel his stench sneaking up behind me, coming around over my shoulders and penetrating my nostrils. What the fuck could he have been eating before? I had to sit next to him for three hours. I kind of wanted stab him. After class ended, I couldn't resist telling my friend about how much this guy smelled. He was sitting behind that guy in class and he knew exactly what I was talking about. Then he started complaining about how much it smelled for him. Now, my friend was sitting behind him. How fucking bad does your breath have to smell when the person behind you can smell it?

Yes, I am not exactly the cleanest person in the world and I don't exactly have great hygiene either but come on people. If you forget to brush your teeth before you leave the house, then don't breath out of your mouth or talk for the day. Or eat a pack of gum or something. It is quite simple. Man, there has been plenty of times in high school that I can remember where I only had enough time to only either brush my teeth or do my hair because my ride was already at my door. Usually doing my hair would win because, well... you know. Anyways, the point is, it's cool if you're going to smell, just make sure you keep it to yourself. God. If someone is needing cleanliness advice from me, then you know it has got to be pretty bad.