Stormy Weather

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a good Holiday. Mine has been mixed between good and not so good. Kinda like today, stormy.

I had a great Christmas eve and a good Christmas day cause I got to rest and spend time with Amy and Hunter. On Christmas night, we went up to mom and dad's for our traditional Christmas evening meal and exchange of gifts. Mom and dad, you of course over did but I love you and appreciate all you do for us. I enjoyed myself and enjoyed the fellowship. Thanks for all.

Unfortunately, after the evening was over is when it all went down hill here. Amy got real sick in the night and it has been a long couple of days with her feeling so bad and in the bed. Hunter and I got up the day after and went to exchange the PlayStation from a 40G to a 80G so it would do what he wanted. I sure did not know how complex those gaming systems had gotten. You can say that he got a computer for Christmas instead of a gaming console. it does everything. He even gets on the web and stores data. I like the blue ray disk player. It took us almost all day to get the Ethernet cables ran and it set up. But he enjoys it and that is all that matters. As for Amy, she is still under the weather but seems to be a little better.

I worked TCC yesterday (Thursday) morning and then taught a Basic refresher class last night. I am now at Care in Talladega working a 24 shift. The weather is stormy just like the last few days but I look forward to the sun to come back out.

I have to work at TCC the next two nights for the night 12 hour shifts (that will be Saturday and Sunday nights). I will update my blog then and let you know how Amy is and how my shift here goes.

Tell then,

Jeff

On the day before Christmas, all is quite. Alot of creatures stiring, especially Jeff

Good Morning and Merry Christmas.

It is early Christmas eve here at TCC (0640 to be specific). Amy and Hunter rode into work with me to go visit the Rogers and do some last minute shopping. Amy a nor Hunter slept last night. I got 3 hours sleep. But this afternoon and tomorrow are rest and relaxation days. I look forward to some time with my family.

Amy and I did some shopping yesterday and I think got finished, at least I hope so. It was good to have some time with just Amy and I. We had a good time. If I have never told you, I hate shopping or maybe I just hate crowds of rude people.

Anyway, Here is a picture of the Drum that I did for Hunter as a bedside table.It really turned out well I think. As I was doing it things changed from my original plan. I cut a piece of wood that fit tight to go under the head and then Hunter had this head that his friends had signed that we put on it instead of painting the wood. It made it look more real. Then we had some glass cut to protect the head. the legs are bought from HD and painted. It does not have a bottom head on it but the ring is screwed in so it looks like it is holding a head and the snares are on the bottom. It is pretty cool for a drummer table. I have 3 bass drums now that I am going to do something with for his room. Probable shelves. Can't wait to get to work on them.

I am also going to share this picture of the jewelry box Amy made for my friend at the Humidor Room. it is a gift for his mom. He gives me all the cigar boxes for Amy to use. She makes some beautiful keep sake boxes out of them.

And lastly for today, a few pictures of Amy's foot warmer - Archy

For more pictures, go to the Picasa link to the right side.

Have a good Christmas.

Jeff

Christmas is near. So Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone,

Hello to all. It has been a long week for me, so I will bring you up to date. I last left you on Monday night/Tuesday Morning from TCC. Well guess where I am now. Yes I am at TCC.

Tuesday was a long day. I left TCC at 0730 hrs and headed home. I slept for about 3 hours till I had to go meet with the Sheriff about the Tractor Cruise. It went good and very fast, but we have his support. After that I stopped by and chatted with the new band director for a while. Amy and I went to the Christmas party for the WHS staff that night. I went real well and I enjoyed it very much. It was at Mrs. Head's home which is very country nice home.

Wednesday, Amy had to work, so Hunter and I slept in somewhat. We got up and went to the school to get Hunters drum for the holidays. He and I had some conflict due to him missing some drum sticks. Anyway, while we were discussing responsibility, Sycamore was paged out on a fall. It was a interesting call. One of the students from Winterboro was going down a stair way into a cellar and the whole stair way collapsed and he fell in. We had to get ladders into the home to get down to him, than board and basket him to be able to lift him out with ropes and us pushing from below. He hurt his back but will be OK. When Amy got home, We all went to Alex City. Amy was dropped at Wal mart and Hunter and I went to Sure Shot to get his bow serviced and get new broad heads for his arrows and make sure his draw length is OK. We then had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Alex city. When we got home, Amy helped me get packets ready for the mayors of Childersburg and Sylacauga for meetings tomorrow. We were in bed early.

Thursday started with me meeting Daren in town at 0830. We went to Childersburg and to Sylacauga to meet with the mayors about he tractor Cruise. Both meetings went well, but Sylacauga seems to really want to get involved and help host the riders as they pass threw. We have to now go to the city council meetings in both towns and we have been put on the agendas for both in January. After that, I went to Care for more orientation. I rode there till midnight. Let me tell you what, I went from no structure to a lot of structure. I think I will work well in their system. We will see. I love the tablet PC for doing the patient report. I cant wait ill it is fully in place. We ran several interesting calls and got to show my skills quite a bit to my FTO. He released me to work on my own now and I have my first shift on the 28th. (For you medics out there, one of my calls was a 34 yo man in v-tach with a pulse and talking to me even with a few syncope episodes but converting in and out on his own several times. Amioderone finally got it stopped and he was going to his cardiologist on his own. He had had his internal defib sensitivity reduced the day before, I think it was set too low LOL.

Friday brought about another shift at TCC from 1030 to 1030. I had to go to SAS before going in to get my check and cash it to get it deposited since SAS did not direct deposit it for the 4 th time in a row. At TCC, it was a busy day. I don't remember it being this busy in a while. I got off about 1115 pm. I slept here at TCC. Let me do a product endorsement for a minute; Mom bought an AERO Bed a while back. Amy had told me that it slept well, but I was not prepared. When you do not want to get up from sleeping in the floor, that says it is comfortable. I would recommend it to any one. Not for outside, cause I can see that there would be no insulation and you would be cold from the ground. But for an extra bed at home, GOOD PRODUCT. Anyway, I slept good and now am back at work at TCC for a 0730 to 1930 shift. I am ready to go home, but doing OK.

Tomorrow, Amy and I have to finish shopping. Hunter will stay with my mom and dad. I work again Monday morning, so I will update you then and talk to you before Christmas.

Till Monday,

Jeff

Feeling a little stronger about my decisions

Hello everyone,

Yes, I am out of SAS. I clocked out at exactly 0800 hrs Monday morning of the 17th of December. There was very little even said to me except by Preston and my partner Deanna. They were very supportive and wished me the best. Mr. Curtis did not even acknowledge anything was happening, but I did not expect him to. He does not even realize what was given over the ten years + I put into the company. Oh well and fare well.

I did orientation at Care today taking several competency test and watching a bunch of videos on all kinds of procedures and how to protect yourself and what to do if you have an incident. I did run my first call with Care also today. It went OK. I am not used to the modern equipment that they have to do vitals with and not do it myself. I will adapt quickly I feel. I even got to do a Drug screen and physical exam by a doctor. What a concept of prevention.

I am now pulling a 12 hour night shift at TCC. Its been a good night so far. I have painted the legs on Hunters drum table (pictures of final project to follow on another post), and worked on Tractor Cruise stuff to present to the powers that be to get permissions for road usage. I will again let you know more about the Tractor Cruise later. I am going to post the Logo that Paige and Thomas help me by designing and working on it. The whole Tractor Cruise committee love it and can not wait to start printing and preparing for our event. The Logo will look good on the fliers and t-shirts along with all that goes along with the cruise advertising. THANK YOU SO MUCH PAIGE AND THOMAS!!!

Till next Time,

Jeff

Want to go to East Buddaville with me?

Hello to everyone,

It is Saturday here at TCC on December 15. I know you all are going, where is Jeff. Well, the truth is, I have been in my own little crisis world. I am so tired of all the problems and drama. I can not wait to get threw tomorrow and for Amy to be out of school. I hope it will calm down for a bit. Between SAS drama and all the problems that have plagued the school the last few weeks, we are ready to move to east buddaville.

I start orientation at Care on Monday. I am nervous about the change but will quickly relax once its done. I have certainly gone from one extreme to the other with Care. I have never seen so many policies and procedures. But that is what SAS was missing, so no complaints.

To much has gone on in the past several days to even start telling you all of it. I promise, you don't want to hear all of it any way.

A few things of note worthiness; Hunter and the band did well in the Childersburg parade on Thursday night. Hunter and I spent the day yesterday together running errands and going to look at things Hunter has requested for Christmas for his hunting bow. We ended the day with Christmas tree sales and home for dinner. It felt good to have some time with him. I look forward to more over the next couple of weeks.

I will keep you advised of the event of the next few days.

Jeff

Hello to everyone,

Look at the trailer, it's come along way hasn't it. I am so proud of it. I am calling it finished, but I still want to put some spot lights on it for night time loading and unloading. I will get to it one day.

Just a quick note on the last few days, they have been stressful. Amy and I both have not felt real well. Hunter acted out and got in trouble at school then at home. SAS remains tense but I am feeling better about my decision to make a move due to more poor leadership decisions and money problems. I don't think I am alone in leaving. It looks like up to six others are also going with me now. We will have to see when it all shakes out. The school continues to surprise us, especially Amy, with what kind of kids are there. I feel it is a sign of the world, but it is hard to explain that to Amy and calm or comfort her. I sure wish I knew how. I don't feel it would be different somewhere else but am willing to look. I hope it will all calm down and settle.

I hope all of you are doing good. I am sitting at TCC and so far having a steady day. Can't wait to go home and get back in bed.

Till next time,

Jeff

To see a start to finish picture guide of the trailer, Go to my Picasa site on the R column and go to the trailer group.

The move is on !

Hello everyone,

I finally reached the point of breaking at SAS over the weekend. So I have resigned from there with my last day being the shift of December 16th. It was on of the hardest things I have decided in along time. I can't tell you how much I put myself threw making the decision. I am so blessed to have the family support I have and all the advice they have given to me. Amy has helped me so much and held me up. Of course, I did not feel that the management even cared that I was leaving, which did not surprise me. I think all of you that read this know that i has not been good at SAS for some time. I just can not believe that my manager tried telling me about loyalty when he has been so did loyal to us and non supportive to us for so long. All he had to do was to be there and show interest in the company and we would all have been more patient. But that did not happen, so we now look for options.

I made my choice to resign and accept employment with a company by the name of CARE. They are based in New york with the Alabama base of operations in Montgomery. I will be working out of the Talladega office for now, but they are planning on placing a unit into the Southern end of Talladega county soon and I will be working that unit. A unit could actually be based close to Sycamore before to long and that would be great. I will keep you up to date as things progress in the process.

Besides that, We got a new band director in place on Tuesday of this week. I have not meet him yet, but he seems eager to do the job. We will support him as much as possible.

Not much more to tell you for now. I continue to work on WEF Tractor Cruise stuff along with band and PTSA projects in my spare time. The family is decent. Hunter got into some trouble and has D hall this afternoon which of course he also got in trouble at home for. Amy and I just continue to work and volunteer to much.

Talk to everyone soon,

Jeffrey

Some people just don't want to work with the system, Do they?

Hello to all,

It is Friday morning as I again sit at my desk here at TCC. Came in to a busy morning after a long hard night for the off going shift. They had two really bad calls last night and all are kinda down this morning. One of the calls had seven (7) cheerleaders in a vehicle that killed three of them and seriously injured three more and one is already out of the hospital. the other call had several patients but it was not talked about much due to the other call being so tragic.

As for me, I have had a few good days even with them being busy. I was off Tuesday and slept in a little then spent the rest running a few errands and getting ready for the WEF meeting that evening. Amy and I meet with our insurance guy and worked on a life insurance policy to replace mine that is going to expire, then headed to the meeting. This is where part of my title comes from. The meeting was a board meeting of the foundation to figure out some old business that we (the new administration) did not understand. We have a good group of people that want to do good for the school, but are still working on getting to our goals as we see them now. But of course there is the old guard that gives resistance to change. I feel we are doing all we can to make the system work, but some people just don't adapt to a system. We ended up moving in a positive direction but still have a lot of work to do.

At SAS on Wednesday, it was a busy day all around. Besides medical calls, I ended up fighting a trailer fire by myself with a pump operator and one support personnel that really struggled to support due to medical problems. But by the time the other FD's that were coming to assist found us, I had it out and ventilated. Then, of course that rest of the day was busy. To make it worse, I don't understand what is going on with SAS. We are in desperate need equipment, trucks and many other things and it seems that we continue to fall further behind. The moral is so low, it is unbearable any longer. Then the next morning, I was told at about 0815 that my relief would be late if she gets to come at all. Of course the manager/director had no idea that this was going on even though the person had known she had court. I stayed till 11 and then just had to leave to make a appointment I had at noon. It just really gripes me that nobody is even respectful enough to handle themselves for this shift ad just dumps it on whoever gets caught. But My main complaint is the lack of leadership or discipline when these events happen. I just don't know how much more I can put up with. I don't feel that I work for a good company no longer and I do not feel the level of service is were it should be for the customers/patients we serve.

Like I said earlier, at 11, I just left with no relief. That bothers me so much, but I don't feel i was my fault that personnel were not in place. I went to the house and cleaned up, then headed to the school and had lunch with Amy. From there it was and afternoon full of errands and getting some grants submitted for the WEF. We had PTSA meeting last night which of course the same few people showed up for. I sure wish parents, teachers and students would get more involved, but like I told Amy - I just don't think they are going to. I think Amy has a hard decision of shutting it down due to lack of participation and support. Her and Rhonda can not do it all themselves.

Back at home, we relaxed and watched some of the DVR shows we never get time to see before I feel asleep. Then I was up at 4:30 to get ready to be here by 6:30. I can't wait to get back toward home. I plan on going and helping Hunter sell Christmas trees then again relaxing and preparing for SAS tomorrow.

I do not come back to TCC till next Thursday , but will attempt to give you an update from home before that. Next week is going to be an exciting week with band getting going again and meeting the new director and putting the train back on the tracks. besides that, I have a few off days to do some projects that I need and want to do. I can't wait.

Till then,

Jeffrey

Hunters questionable music is driving me crazy !

Hello everyone,

Its been a few days since I talked to you all. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I was at SAS but we had a very slow shift and I got to run to Sycamore for about an hour and visit. We ate too much at the ambulance service and slept the rest of the day. Unfortunately, we had a Bham trip during the night and then a wreck. So I was tired when I got off.

Friday, I was off and slept more than I was awake. It was relaxing for the most part. Amy did not feel well and did not rest well.

Saturday, I was back at TCC for a 1030 to 1030 shift. We were busy for the most part so the shift went quickly. Amy still did not feel well so Hunter and her did not do much.

Sunday, back to SAS, now you talk about a slow shift. it was absolutely slow. We ran 4 calls total and only transported two of those. I got a lot of rest but it still was a day at SAS which I would rather be home instead. Hunter aggravated Amy so that made life interesting for a little while. I sure wish I could get him not to do that when she feels bad. But he is 14 and showing it.

And now to today, I got off and spent some time working on WEF business. That is Winterboro Educational Foundation. Then after getting home and getting ready to go to work, got involved with working on band business. I don't know how much I have said about the band stuff, but it is in a mess. The school and us parents are getting it straightened out. They are working hard on getting a new director in place, and I can not wait. The kids need to be playing instead of goofing off. Maybe soon. I of course am at TCC now. We have been very busy. Then on top of that, I have been listening to music to approve or disapprove for his i-pod. I do not know where he finds some of this music, but then I have to remember how I listened to everything and found some weird music at times. And of course, if it was questionable I would try it. So I now find myself paying for that. He does not do to bad, but some is of question as to content.

It is now almost time to go to the house. I am ready. Tomorrow brings a off day, but I'm sure it will be full of things to do. I will let you know.

Jeff

Looks like a rainy Thanksgiving

Good morning to all of my readers,

It is Wednesday morning here at TCC, Its foggy and rainy so maybe we will have a easy day. I know we will not have aircraft to deal with today. We had a busy afternoon yesterday, so I will gladly take the easy day.

Not much to update you guys on. No exciting events around our place. Amy and Hunter are out of school for the holiday weekend and of course I am working.

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and be safe.

Jeff

Band in kaos, WEF bussiness never ends but was off two days

Hello everyone,

Yes I am still alive and well, even though I have not filed you in for the week. I am again sitting at TCC and it is real busy, so forgive me if I seem spaced out.

This week has been both good and bad for me and my family. The good was that I was actually off two days in a row and got to rest and spend some time with Amy and Hunter. I enjoyed it a lot. The bad is the chaos at the school. We officially have no band director after she has been MIA for over a month. I wish I knew what happened? We have just been told that she resigned and the search for a new director will start. This does not make me feel good. We have put so much into this year and Hunter wants to play so bad. Then there is the WEF and all of its business which seems to be in a mess on one hand and becoming better on the other. And then on top of that, the VFD seems to be having another spell of personal conflicts that drags the department down so fast. I am beginning to question how many of these things I can handle at one time.

I feel guilty when I think about backing off of the "volunteer" position at the VFD, but I want more time for my family and myself. But is it wrong of me to not volunteer at the VFD with my skills or to pick and choose when I am going to respond and when I am not. I struggle with the fact that if someone close to me needs help, I want others to be able to respond. So I feel that I should do the same for the people of the community. But it is clear that other members do not treat it the way I do, so way do I worry? I don't think there is a way to win.

As far as the band and the WEF, I do those to try and help the school for Hunter. But as Amy tells me all the time, I do them for me more than Hunter. I do enjoy doing for them most of the time. I just wish the drama around them was different. It is not necessary at all. I sure hope we can land on our feet with a new director before to much time has passed and the kids miss getting to do all-county or all-state tryouts. Its going to make it hard for them to be competitive.

Well I do not have much more to tell you and my brain is in overload from the week, so I do not wish to go threw day by day with you. I did manage to get the power to my shop hooked up and on along with some organization of it done. And most of all, got to be at home a couple of days with my family. So it has been a good week, despite all the drama.

Till next time,

Jeff

Weather station is up and online

Good morning everyone,

I have had a great weekend and I hope that you have too. Friday, after I talked with you, I went and took a nap at the Rogers than back to TCC. We had a very slow night. Hunter and I got up early the next morning and headed to the abc3340 weather Xtream class. It was at the car show in B'ham. I really enjoyed it and Hunter seemed to get a lot from it also. We are now advanced storm spotters for Alabama Skywarn/NOAA. We did get to go to the car show free (thank goodness it was free, cause it was very disappointing). We stopped at Hooters for Lunch on the way home. I guess I am really starting to realize that he looks at girls (women) more than I think. That scares me! Anyway, after that we headed to the school for the Ms. Winterboro Pageant. Amy helped with the decorations and organization. I was asked to run the sound board. It went well, but once again, I realize that Hunter is growing up. His girlfriend Heather was a contestant. When her interest were read, one of them was "spending time with my boyfriend Hunter". I about barfed! Sunday was pretty relaxing with sleeping in and not much projects or stuff done. It was nice. We laid around last night and watched the movie "SICKO" by Micheal Moore. I would encourage everyone to watch it. It will really make you think about what is going on with or health care system. I may move to Cuba, Britain, Canada or France to take care of my family. It will make you mad when he shows that the people of CUBA get better medical service than we do with better equipment and at no cost. When they showed the ambulance and fire trucks in Cuba, I was shocked to see equipment we dream of in the ambulance and how clean the ambulance was.We have been lied to for our whole lives about how bad the health care systems of those other countries are. We need a new government system.

Well, I will get off my soap box now and get to work. Yes, I am again at TCC this morning. I get off at 2:30 pm. and look forward to going home to have a little more time with Amy and Hunter who are at home due to the holiday.

Talk to You later.

Jeff

P.S. ; There is a new link to the Right side bar. It replaced the weather that I was putting in. It is a link to my weather station and keeps its self updated. You can also click on it and it will open to a full station detail with current data and history.

Long Hours with Little Sleep

Good morning folks,

Its about 5:30 on Friday morning. I am working TCC an a 7:30p to 7:30a shift. I figure I will update a little about the last few days. I left you on Monday evening. So it wont take long to bring you up to speed. I went in early at 7 am at SAS on Tuesday morning and worked till 8 am Thursday morning. We did not have real busy shifts but just enough to mess sleeping up. Nothing exciting happened, just two boring days at my favorite place (LOL). I got off and went home, took me a sleep aid and slept till Amy and Hunter got home. Got up and got ready to come to TCC for tonight's shift. It has been a slow shift here. We did have a bad shooting early in the shift but since then, it has been sparse. I did finish the 3rd season on Emergency on DVD. I am headed to the Rogers to nap when I get off and have to be back at 2:30 this afternoon. So like I said, Not much to tell you about for the past several days. But you are up to date.

Love, Jeff

Football season is over but still can't get a day off

Hello everyone,

I am again sitting here at TCC and able to update you on the affairs of my life. I left you on Wednesday with nothing new to tell. It been busy since, so here goes.

Thursday, back to SAS. Nothing really to tell about that place other than I am so ready to get out of there. I do not understand how a company can go so badly wrong.

Friday, I was off during the day but had a list a mile long of stuff I wanted to do. I got home and did a lot of work on the tractor till I of course broke the fuel filter off the tractor. I decided to go ahead and get cleaned up that I could run to Talladega to get the part I needed so that if I ran late I could be ready when Amy and Hunter got home. I did make it back and got the tractor running just as they got home. We got ready to go do the last football game for the year. We are so ready for it to be over. The game actually went better than expected. Ms. Street was still out, so Buster substituted as band director. I did not even pull the trailer due to my truck problems. So I sat with Amy for most of the game. We got home late and tired as usual.

Saturday, I slept in a little, then headed in to TCC. We had a busy shift, so I did not even open my blog. Sorry you guys had to wait a few extra days for some info.

Sunday, Back to SAS. We were busy during the day but slept all night. Again, I will tell you that I live getting paid overtime and sleeping all night. It may be the only justice I do get at that place.

So now I am to today. I go toff late from SAS due to a late call. Went home, cleaned up and headed back to town. I had to go get my tags renewed since I forgot they were due in October. I then went to WHS and had lunch with Amy. It was good old lunchroom food (It actually was good). I then headed to work and am to the present time.

I have updated the Picasa link on the right side column with some new pictures. Yes Mrs. Rogers, this is were you will find the ones you want (look in Rogers family pictures). Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Talk to you later,

Jeff

It's hard to believe but it's only been two days

Hello, and to all of you whom doubted me, Ha! It is Wednesday and I am updating the goings on of my life.

Monday - SSDD
Tuesday - SSDD
Wednesday - great day so far. Slept in, had lunch with Virgina then went into TCC for some more SSDD

See ya later,


Jeff

I burned my truck up but still had a decent week

I have been told that I write to much and it read like a diary. I figure, why change now. So I will continue to fill you in on my days here on this planet, for now.

When I left left you, I was at TCC on last Sunday. This week has been full of events, so get ready.

I finished Sunday night out at work and went to the house. I got up when Amy and Hunter left for school on Monday and went to go help Charlie. It was a beautiful, Rainy day. Like I told you before, I had truck problems the day before. Well, it did not get better. I got in the truck to go and made it about 100 feet up the drive when the truck blew a fuse again. I started trying to find the short in a wire. I had to jack the truck up so I could get to the starter and thought I found a lose wire on the top of the starter, but I could not see it or get a wrench to it. I called Charlie and told him I would not be making it and called my mechanic friend to see what he suggested as far as getting to the starter wire. He agreed with me that dropping the starter is the easiest way. Please remind me that I am not a mechanic from now on. I failed to undo the battery cable so when I dropped the starter and it touched the brake line, all hell broke loose. If you could have just scene me coming out from underneath that truck, you would not need to go yo the comedy club for a long time. I got the cable off the battery and the fire out. I let the wrecker come get it and a real mechanic clean up my mess. I just did a couple of errand s around town and went back home. The Foundation meeting went well. I was elected Secretary/Treasurer and the fund raiser I came up with was approved for next November 1st. I will fill you in later on the event. I'm sure you will get sick of me talking about it for the next year.

Tuesday, Another day at SAS. We had a great day and night with only a few calls.

Wednesday, It was another rainy day. I ran some errands around town then went to get mom so she could take me to get my truck. We met dad at The Raspberry Bakery for lunch then mom and I ran to the bank so that I could be added to their account in case of an emergency. I picked my truck up from the shop and headed home. Of course it still acted up and blew a fuse just as I got to my driveway. I just parked it and got ready to go to Pelham to see Thomas and his family. We had a great night with them and Pam and the Rogers. Thank you Mrs. Rogers for allowing us to have beer with our pizza (LOL). It was great to see the kids and visit with Page and Thomas.

Thursday, I pulled a 7:30a to 7:30p shift at TCC. It was a great shift. I love to have those easy days and get paid at the same time (its not near as rewarding as being in OT at SAS and sleeping all night, but close). I went to see a friend who is in the hospital at VA when I got off work. Then home.

Friday, Back to SAS. I only worked till 4:30, thank goodness, cause we ran our butts off. I left and went home to change quickly then to the school. I got the privilege to being substitute band director for the night. It was a blast. For those of you that don't know, our Winterboro Bulldogs played a great game and won with 1 second left on the clock. It was one heck of a party after the game.

Saturday, We went to Pelham for an early Thanksgiving meal with the Rogers and family. I had to leave at 2 to be back to Sycamore for the hay ride, but Amy stayed for the night. When I went to go, Amy and Hunter followed me to Sprint and we picked up their phones. Yes, I have lost it and gave my son a cell phone. He now has his own # and Amy's # is the same as our home #. The hay ride went very well and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.

So we are now back to Sunday, I am again sitting at TCC. Thomas and Page came by and sat with me awhile. It was good to have some visiting time with them, even though it was while I worked. I look forward to going to see them in Colorado.

I will finish my shift out tonight at 10:30, then head home to get ready to start another week with SAS tomorrow. I will update you guys Wednesday when I am back at TCC.

Till Then,

Jeff

Watch the video at the side and bottom of this page

All of you friends and family, watch the video that is in my favorite video place and at the bottom of the page. if you want to make it full page, click on the you-tube logo and then make it full page when it pulls up in you-tube.


Jeff

Band Band Band, Will it ever end

Hello again,

I Left you on Tuesday at TCC. I got off at 2:30pm and headed to the school to pick Hunter up. We left from there and went to Goodwater to see how Charlie was doing with the deer fields. After driving all over the property looking for him. we found him at sunset cleaning a deer. He had been in a tree stand hunting deer,while we were hunting him. We meet Amy for dinner and headed home. Wednesday was another day at SAS. Nothing exciting happened but we were very busy during the day. But got to sleep all night again. The best part is that I do not have to return to SAS till Tuesday. HEY!! I did some errands around town then home for a shower and to TCC. We had a busy day there. I got home late as normal. On Friday, I was off (don't go into shock) I did not mean to, but I slept in till 10. I had a list a mile long of projects to do. I got most of them done, but not all before having to head to the school for the band to load the trailer and head to Lineville. We had a great show. The football team looked good but then feel apart. We lost of course. we got home and got to bed, due to having the band competition on Saturday. I got up about 7 so that I could get ready and go get ice for the family reunion. I awoke Amy before I left. When I got back, they were almost ready to go. We headed to the school again to again load the band trailer. We got to Pell City for the competition and started the process of getting the band ready. We took the field at the designated time and I thought put on a good show. That is when my day went wrong. We got back to the trailer area to find Ashville's band parked in front of ours and all there kids all around our truck and trailer. This made it very difficult for us to reload ours and even do anything. It was a mess. After our band threw there stuff in the trailer, I stayed around to hook back up and move when Ashville left. Even with the band director knowing I was watching and waiting. He did not move the kids or even watch them. I came around the side and found a bunch leaned on our trailer and three of them sitting on our finder bending it down. I lost it. The stupid director did not even help me when I was asking the kids to get off our trailer. One of the Pell City folks saw that I was upset and came and helped me get the kids away and we got our trailer out of there. The rest of the day went OK when I finally cooled off. The band scores were not what we wanted, but We can get it next year. We headed home after the awards. Amy had driven her car so that she could go check out the Martha collection at K-Mart. Hunter and I got home and proceeded to relax. When Amy got home, we cooked dinner and watched a movie where I feel asleep. So now it is Sunday. I meet some of the FD members at 10 this morning so that we could map out our hay ride route. Of course, my vehicle broke down in the middle of the woods. Andrea went and got her Jeep and we pulled it to the house. I don't know which wire was shorted but we moved them all and replaced the fuse to the ignition and it fired back up. I guess I will have to figure out which wire some day. And as I said, I am now back at TCC. We have been very busy with flights today. I did get my Power Point presentation done for the Foundation tomorrow and it e-mailed home. I am now about to get off and head home. Tomorrow starts early again. I told Charlie I would help him with the tractor work to get finished than get it home. I have the foundation meeting at 6 pm and Hunter has Court of Honor at 7pm. Just another day for Jeff.

See you later.

An easy Sunday and a busy Monday

Hello everyone,

I am again sitting here at TCC. Came in this morning (Tuesday the 16th) at 0630. I thought I would fill in the last couple of days.

Sunday was a SAS day. We ran a few calls in the morning hours. After lunch, I was able to work on the trailer some. I got the back area around the door sanded and repainted. It looks so much better. We had a real light afternoon and I laid down at 8 pm. We did not have a call all night, but the phone rang every time I fell asleep. David eventually asked if I was a operator or what. We did have a call about 6:30 the next morning.

After I got off from work on Monday, I started working on the trailer some more. I found aluminum wheels to fit it at a local wrecker service. They are off a Explorer. It took some time to get them off, but they will look good. I then went to Phillips Tire and used a breakdown machine to remove the old tires so I could check clearance of the wheels on the trailer. They fit great. Phillips has ordered a new set of trailer tires for it to be here Wednesday. They are donating them. I then went to HD for some supplies. Then to Childersburg Truck sales for some lights. I picked up some clear type lights for outside the back and side and some new marker lights to replace the ones that look so bad. I ended up also getting a couple of flashing LED lights for the back donated. I headed home after that. Picked up a couple of errands that needed done and headed to the school to take Amy something she needed and to take down a decoration from homecoming. From there it was to town to drop off cards to Daren for the Foundation. Then back home. to do what I needed to be doing hours ago. I cut over the grass that needed it before the family reunion. Smoothed over the lines that where trenched for the power and water lines to the shop and put grass seed on it. Charlie came over to borrow the tractor to do some deer plots, so I helped load it up. I did some more work on the conduit line to the shed then it got to dark for me to finish the electrical hookup. Maybe this afternoon I can do it. During all this work, Amy and Hunter got home and came up. Amy had ordered some silverware for our cottage we are planning on building. It is named Turkey Cottage, so the silverware has turkey on the handles. It is real nice. Unfortunately she also got to telling me about her day and that a kid had come to her and told her that another kid has Hunters long lost ipod. Well this got me to thinking about all the searching I had done were Hunter had told me he lost it. HE HAD LIED TO ME ABOUT WERE IT WAS ! We headed to dinner and I asked Hunter were he had lost the ipod and had he knew the whole time I was searching for it, where it was. He confessed that it had been stolen by a thug at school and he did not want to get in trouble for taking it to school and it being stolen. So he made up the story about dropping it at the tree sale. It is now a year later, so there is not much we can do to recover the ipod. I have yet to decide Hunters punishment for lying, but he needs to lean that a lie will always catch up with you. I'll be glad to take suggestions on punishments from you family members out there. Anyway, the night was not as relaxed as I wish it could have been. Amy and I talked some till to late. I did manage a few hours of sleep. And Like I said before, I am now at TCC. I get off at 2:30 and will head home.

Talk to you later,

Jeff

Week of October 8th thru 13th

Hello again,

As you saw on the previous post, the trailer is coming along great. This week has been another long week of trials for the White family. As you know, our air went out on Saturday sometime. So of course the first chance I got to get a repair man there, I did.

Let me go back and just start from the end of the last post. I finished Sunday night at TCC. Amy and Hunter stayed up at mom's due to the air. I got some sleep and then headed out to SAS on Monday morning. Hunter was still out of school due to it being a holiday but mostly due to the race traffic. We had a good day at SAS. Nothing much to report. I had to leave SAS before getting relief due to the repair man coming at 0830. He got there shortly after I did. We found that the fan motor outside was out causing the unit not to transfer the air to cool it. It about put me in shock when he told me the total for the repair. During the time he was gone to get a part, I ran over to the sign man shop and approved the lettering for the band trailer since he had to change fonts on it. After the repair man left, I ran into town to get some lunch and pick up some metal trash cans for the school to use for homecoming decor. The good news is that I get them back next week to use for storage of the bird seed.I hung around the school for a little while till it was out. Hunter had band practice so Amy and I went home. We had to return at 5:30 pm to pick him up and for Band Booster meeting. I sure wish I could figure out how to get the boosters all together on issues and there not be a separation down the middle. I don't think it is possible. We headed for the AUCE wing place for our normal Tuesday dinner. Wednesday started off great for me, I got to sleep in. I did not mean to, but it sure felt good. When I awoke, I was heading out the door to the shed when I saw a Coyote in the yard. It was marking out where we feed the Deer. I made my way to the Gun safe area and got out my 270. When I got back out there, there were two of them. One was full blood Coyote and the other a wild dog or mix. They were laying together so I shot them together. I hate shooting them, but they have caused us so much pain and I don't want them getting the cats. After that, I worked on putting in the electrical conduit and line to my shop. Amy and Hunter got home and I got to a stopping point so we could head to Bham to have dinner at Ted's as per Hunters request. We stopped at the music store to get a new drum head then went to the Rogers to drop off some baby stuff. Dinner was real good as normal. Got home and into bed. Thursday was again a day at SAS. It was a steady day but not to bad. The best part was that We went to bed about 11pm and I did not awaken till 7:30 the next morning. I love getting paid overtime while I sleep. I was supposed to hold over till noon but did not get off till 1 pm due to a Bham trip. I made my way to get Amy's prescriptions then home for a quick shower then to the school for the Pep rally. I picked up the trailer from getting lettered on my way in.When I got to the school, I found out the rope on the flag pole is still broken. I got a line man from Alabama Power to come to the school and put in a new rope threw the pulley. We ran home and then right back to the school for all the fun of working the concession stand. Again, I sure wish I could find a way to get all the boosters on one page and to get along. We had a great crew tonight and it went pretty smoothly until we started running out of stuff to sale. I again do not understand why people want to behave badly when we tell them we are out of something. Its not like we are McDonalds with a truck that just comes and brings supplies in. We can't overstock but then we are caught understocked. I myself would love to somehow figure out the solution. Maybe with some thought and work, we can do it more efficiently. We were all so tired last night I do not remember laying down.

I am again sitting here at TCC. I came in at 1030 (1045 I was late). We have been super busy today. I did put a lot of new pictures in the picture link and have the new video of the band last night at homecoming. I still have to upload the last week performance from Ohatchee, Sorry.

An update on the trailer fund raising, we got $125.00 more this week toward it. So that means we only have $313.00 left to pay it off as of right now. I do have to buy some lights for the inside and outside this week, so it will go up by about $100.00 then. But we are doing good. I will keep looking for sponsors to help.

Till next time,

Jeff

The trailer is as good as done !

After weeks of work, the band trailer is almost complete. All I need to do now is some final touch up on a rust spot or two and lighting inside and out. Go to the Picasa link to the side and check out all the pictures of the trailer and band.

The band is going to get a picture in uniform by the trailer soon.

I will update my blog later today with this weeks events.

Jeff

Yet another busy week.

Hello everyone,

It has been another long week fort the White family. I left you on Monday night after working in the yard and being busy all day. So I shall try and feel in since then.

Tuesday, another day at SAS. It was not a bad day, but nor a good day (I was at SAS). I did get a new partner due to Patsy leaving to go to work at Citizen's Hospital. Her name is Deanna. I think she will be a good partner. She is pregnant, so I know she will be off when she gets to where she can not lift till she gets back from maternity leave. I do worry a little about her being on the same shift as her boyfriend or going to be husband (when he gets his diverse). I had a run in with Tanya today but that has gotten to be so common, it is not worth a response.

When I awoke on Wednesday, I felt good and for some reason decided to go to a few businesses to see if I could get enough donations for the lettering of the band trailer. To my surprise, I got a lot of good response and I did not stop going door to door till after lunch. I ended up with $420.00. to go to the trailer fund. the lettering is only going to be $250.00. That means we can use the rest for other things. I am keeping up with every penny that I bring in for the trailer so that I can show that we ended up paying for the trailer without using general budget money. So that means that with the money raised today with the cost of the lettering factored in, we only need $613.62 to have it paid for. I felt real good. While I was out, Amy called and needed me to go to Wal-Mart and get some bags for student of the week. She is going to to the students bags today due to a short day tomorrow and no school Friday. I got the bags and headed for the school. Amy gave me the list of what the students want in their bags and I went to get that. After getting it back to Amy, I went to the band room to tell Ms. Street about the money given for the trailer. She was not in a good mood because she had gotten the letter stating that the Grant we had applied for had been turned down. I headed back to town to do a couple more errands before going home to get cleaned up. I had a FD meeting about the new quick attack vehicle we are trying to get ordered.. It is supposed to be family night so as soon as the meeting was over I took off to home to get Hunter and Amy so we cold go get supper. We went to Giavoni's and had a great pizza then back home.

Thursday, I was at work at 6:30 am. had a good day at TCC. I spent most of the time faxing letters to every senator or congressmen, of our districts, to ask for help with money for instruments for the band. I got off at 2:30 pm. I wasted some time as I had a Doctors appointment at 4 pm. After it. I headed home. We went to Golden Rule for steaks for Dinner and then of course had to go to Wal-Mart for something. We did a few things around the house then to bed.

Friday, I was back at SAS. I went in at 6:30 am for Jim to leave early. I got my truck and the two ambulances of the day washed before anyone else got there. We had a good slow day. I ran a few more stops on my donation list for the band and got another $150.00 and several more promises of money made. That brings me to a total of $570.00 for the trailer raised (meaning we have $463.62 to go). I picked the trailer up from Watson's Paint and Body after lunch. The trailer is a beautiful blue now. It does not even look like the one we bought. I can not wait to get it lettered. My relief showed up at 2:00 pm and I was heading out the door to go home when Amy and Hunter pulled up. They had been to Subway to eat. She had a letter from Congressman Mike Rogers, but it was just to tell me he had no resource funds for the band. We headed to the house to get changed for the game and then we headed to to school to get loaded. The game was interesting. The team looked better and of course the band did awesome. Just after we started the 3rd quarter, the power went out. We were in the dark for I think about an hour and a half or so. It was chaos but fun at the same time. The game could not be called due to it being an area game and no other time to reschedule within the allotted time due to the race going on this weekend. After the power came back on, the team did not do as well and we ended up loosing the game. Amy and I also had a run in with a parent at the game that was not pleasant. we have since learned that this lady is just a problem maker and looks for fights, we just happened to get this one. The school administrators are planning on trying to bring her in to talk with her about the whole incident and the effects it had on the kids around her and us. We did not get home till about 1:30 am. Hunter got a shower and headed up to the hill to stay at mom and dads cause we have to be at the track so early. I think we finally laid down at about 4 after talking along time about the events at the game. I remember seeing the clock at 4:30 and must have passed out.

Saturday, I do not remember the alarm going off at 5 to go to the track. I awoke to find it was 5:38 am and we had to be at the school at 6. Amy could not get up so I went ahead and was only about 8 minutes late. We headed up to the track with a good group to work. We got the stand up and running and opened for business. Amy awoke I think about 9 and called to find out how to get to us at the track. She finally made it in after a lot of us talking on the phone to find each other in the crowd. We had a bad cash day but we had a great crew and a real good tip day. We got home about 7:30pm to find that our air conditioner was not working. By the sound of the compressor, It does not have freon in it. I guess when we ran the heater the other day it did something to bust a freon line. We just can't seem to win. In the mail was some great news for the band. State senator Pruitt has requested $5000.00 for the band to help with instruments. Hunter came down and Amy went to grandma's to work. It may have been warm, but I don't remember laying down after my shower.

It is now Sunday. I slept in till noon. Amy came in sometime about 8:30 and laid down to. It was very warm in the house. I got ready for work. Amy and Hunter headed up the hill to stay where the air worked. I took the band trailer to the sign man so he could get to work on it tomorrow. I headed to TCC to work. So far it has been an OK day. We are waiting on the storm of calls now that the race has ended and all the people are hitting the interstate to get home. Maybe it won't be to bad.

I will update the blog ASAP with the video of Fridays band performance, so keep on checking it.

Talk to you soon,

Jeff

Finely got the trench dug

It has been a day around here. Started off with Amy not feeling well, but she went on to work. I did some laundry while I was clean to wash our sheets. When I went out to start working in the yard, Kelly had a friend of his over to plow a deer plot. I watched them for a few minutes then headed to do the trench. I cranked the digger and got it off the trailer, then moved to the start location. When I went to re crank it after surveying the site again, the starter cord broke. I headed to town to go to the lawn mower shop to get a cord. Of course it was closed. I did find some cord at Home Depot that I thought would work. I picked up a few other things too (you know you can't go for just one thing). I had to go by Bruce's office and look at a fire truck bid and then headed home. I finely figured out how to get the cord to wind properly and got to digging. It was going great till I saw water shooting into the air. I had miss judged the depth of my water line severely. Got it cut off and continued down the trench. I only found two other pipes or debris beside my water line. But I ended up redoing the start string several more times. When I got turned around to come from the shed back to the trench I broke the cord again. I'm sure glad the pack of cord I bought was 50 feet. I got the trench finished and was moving the trencher to the other side to do the water line when disaster struck. The trencher wheels on the right side got stuck in the trench already dug and the whole thing fell over onto the right side. I had to get the tractor out with the front end loader to pick it up. When I did, I noticed the muffler was missing from the trencher. It of course was broken off at the motor. It looked like it had been repaired before, so I took it off and have used JB Weld to see if it works like it claims to. Anyway. I did get the water line dug and even taught Hunter how to operate the trencher. The job I thought I would have done by 10 am was finally complete at 6:05 pm.

During all the above, it was also medical day for the people around me. First, the Band Director had a wreck in Anniston on the way to school this morning and was in the ED when she called me to tell me that we would postpone band boosters till another night. Then Dad called me and said he was on the way to the ED because he felt like he did 10 years ago when he had the cyst. Of course his Neurologist is in Chicago, so I was hunting up names of other doctors in case. It ended up OK but he is on serious pain meds till Dr Suede gets back Thursday. Then of course Amy does not feel good. So I would not get around me, I may be bad luck.

Hunter had Scouts tonight and I had a Foundation Nominations Committee meeting. Then we went to dinner and are at home. So I am going to bed. Sorry no pics of the events of today.

I do want say that I will pray for the health of all the people that are ill or injured around me and ask that you all include them in your prayers. And yes, Mrs. Rogers, you are on my prayer list with your surgery too.

God bless and good night,
Jeff

Friday night bliss and a Beautiful Saturday

I left you as I was leaving work Friday headed to the game. As normal, the band looked good, but the team did not. I am not a football person, so I can not tell you what is going on with them. It looks like they just can't get together. As I said, the Blue Knights looked good. They performed the entire show for the first time and I thought did a good job. The video for the performance is in the right side area under a new link place to videos. Just click the video you want to see and it will start showing at the top of this column. Then you can click on the link under the video to go to a larger screen size viewing. I will attempt to keep the videos from the games posted. Other videos I post to Google will also show up here, so look for the band picture for band video. I have already posted two videos, one is of our band. The other is of the TCCHS band performance at the County wide exhibition at Childersburg on Tuesday. It is a show to see. I will get our performance from the exhibition uploaded soon. I upload from my computer at work due to the very high speed connection we have verses at home.

Let me cover the last couple of days for you. Friday night went well. We made a decent amount from the concession stand. It actually got chilly during the game. Amy worked a table to sign up PTSA members and I think got 5 members signed up. I slept good that night. Saturday, I headed to SAS with concerns due to the events of last shift. To my surprise, the day went pretty smooth. We only ran 8 calls total with my unit transporting two and a public assist and a PRT. We got some good sleep. during the day and night. My partner and I rode out to the Sycamore Fire Fighter appreciation day at Chief's house. It looked like they had a good time. We only stayed a short time.

Today, I got home about 8:15. I laid down with Amy to watch some TV before getting ready for work. I of course fell asleep. I got up at noon, got ready and left for TCC. Picked up lunch and take out for supper at Hooters. Made it in to work on time. A co-worked at TCC brought me his trencher so I can cut the conduit trench to my shop tomorrow. I think I will go ahead and trench in a line from the water line to the shop while I have it and put in a spigot at the concrete pad for so we can wash the tractor or whatever. I'll let you know how it goes next time I post.

I work tell 10:30 tonight and then have plans to work outside tomorrow till time to go to Band Boosters, Scouts and a Foundation meeting tomorrow night.

Till next time,

Jeff

Rough end week of Sept 07

Hello everyone,

I have had a rough week this week. I sure hope you have had better. My works have both been very stressful this week with conflicts between fellow employees and my worrying on how to solve the problems. If you know anything about me, you know that I do not like conflict and am a saver of the world and its problems. Well, this week has been one that I have gotten into messes trying to do just that, solve the problems and reduce conflict. But as always, it has just made it worse.

I ended the last blog at work on Saturday, it ended without much incident.

Sunday was at SAS, the day was slow but of course we were up all night.

Monday, I went home and slept till noon. Got up to get ready for work and headed to TCC. I barley made it in time. We had a busy shift but during the shift I did try and solve some of the problems with the pool personnel shift schedule that a co worker and I are trying to get started at the request of Joe. We are getting some resistance to the change and a couple of people are real mad, but Joe approved the plan, so I guess I will just have to put up with the complaining and being mad at me till it all blows over. I did not get out of there till after 11 pm. That meant getting home after midnight. Amy needed help with a couple things so I did not lay down till after 2 am.

Tuesday, I got up with Amy at 6 am. I worked on getting the trailer ready to go get painted on Wednesday. I also worked on checking grants and doing some fund raising calls for the band. I went to town to check on Amy, who was a chaperon for the pool party at school. I then had lunch and headed home to complete getting the trailer done and to be at the school at 3 pm to get loaded for the band exhibition. The band did a great show. Then it went downhill. We had several kids decided to wonder off and be where they were not supposed to be. Myself and another parent went to retrieve them. One of the students decided to be trouble and resist the command to go back to where he was supposed to be, He was verbally abusive toward us and to Ms. Street ( the band director). this just made the rest of the night tense and unenjoyable. When we got back to the band room and were unloading, Amy called and said she was coming to meet us but the car would not start. We finally got all the students gone about 10 pm and Hunter and I headed home. We have not eaten supper even at this late of an hour. I got home and found that indeed the car would not turn over. It jumped right off, so we headed to town to get a bite to eat. The funny thing that happened during this was that Amy (known for going slow everywhere) got pulled over for going 40 in a 25. The officer knew me and did not give her a ticket, but it was funny to Hunter and I. We ate at McDonalds and Kelly came by and visited with us there. When we got ready to leave, the car would not crank again, Kelly couldn't jump us with the patrol car so as I was hunting for someone to help us, he pulled back up with a fellow Sycamore FD member that he had come across down the road who jumped us off. So once again, I got in bed about 2 in the morning.

Wednesday, I got up at 5:30 so that I could take the band trailer to the body shop and get the truck back home so that I can jump the car off and leave it for Amy to use. I then headed back to town to get a the battery checked and replaced. I made it in to work at SAS just a few minutes late. That is when everything went wrong. Of course I was grumpy and tired. I was in the supply room and was gripping about the lack of some supplies and not knowing who my partner was today since David had school again and Patsy would not be with me. Patsy heard my gripping and for some reason got upset with me and yelled about several issues and stomped off. I got with Preston and we left to run some errands. we got a call and then the other unit had to go to Montgomery. While they were gone, we ran our tails off. Then when they got back, we again had a small conflict with the other crew about a call. It took a four page report to Barry to explain all the events of that day and night, so I will not bore you with all the details. Lets just say that it did not get better but worse, to the point that Patsy left in the middle of the night.

Thursday, I was awoke by Barry to ask me to write a incident report on the events of the night. I had to work over till 6 pm today. I got up and wrote the report. The mood around the service was awful for the whole day and of course I was tired since I had all of 2 hours of sleep and not good sleep at that. We had a decent day with not to many calls. I got off work at 6 pm and made my way to the PTS meeting at the school. we than went to dinner and I got to bed a little before 10. Finally some decent sleep.

And now it is Friday. I am at TCC working the 6:30am - 2;30 pm shift. I left the house at 5:30 and made it in fine. We have had a very slow day. I got about 30 minutes before I get to head home to change clothes and go to the school to work the concession stand. Then to SAS tomorrow ( I am worried about what the mood will be).

I will update you on Sunday when I am back at TCC.

Tell Then,

Jeff

Trailer for Band taking shape

I can not believe I have not put on a blog all week. It has been a busy week.

I don't even think I can start to tell you about the whole week, but I will give you a quick snapshot.

Monday was a SAS day, We had a pretty good day till that evening. About dark (we were headed to dinner), the other unit got a call to a possible death of unknown type. We went as backup for them. We arrived to find a young man (22 yo) ,that we all knew due to the fact that he worked at the hospital, dead on the couch. No apparent reason for death. As I did a survey of the home for possible medication bottles or other facts, I came across some explosive devices and what looked like a bag of nails. We evacuated the home immediately. The ABI came and cleared the home before we could remove the body. it made for a long few hours. I fell for our acquaintance, but we all knew he had some problems going on and was not right when it came to firearms and explosives. It scared all of us that he had the devices we found. The ABI confirmed that the devices were triggers for hand grenades and the bag of what looked like nails were something he called fasets. He explained that these were projectiles from the Korean and Vietnam war that are basically nails with fins on them so that they fly straight. He told us they are rare to see and mostly use to load shotgun shells with to fire like a bunch of arrows. Like I said before, it was not a good feeling to know these things are out there much less that a person you knew and someone that talked about weapons all the time had them and was doing something with them. We finished the night pretty quietly.

Tuesday, Got off and got ready to head to B'ham for an afternoon shift. I ran a bunch of errands on the way in. I had to go to the cleaners, to Home Depot for stuff to work on the trailer on Wednesday. I then went to the Rogers to pick up the new band director podium that Mr. Rogers built so that the new director would not fall threw the old one. It looks great. He helped me round off the edges for the boards for the new trailer floor dividers also. Mr. Rogers had also called a friend of his and arranged for some railing to go in the trailer, so I left there and went to pick it up. I made it in to work a little early. It was an interesting day with a charge from my director to figure out how to get all the "pool" staff on a path to doing our schedule differently. A co-worker and I figured out that the only way to make it work with the staff never being in one place at a time and it hard to communicate between us, was to do it online. So I set up a new Blogspot for tccpool and than linked a calendar program to it so that we can input our days and communicated from where ever we are. It is not exciting or anything, but you are welcome to look at it.

On Wednesday, I spent all day stripping put the inside of the trailer and rebuilding a system for the instruments and equipment to be secured. Check out all the pictures of the trailer by clicking on the Picasa link to the Right side of this and go to the band album. It looks great inside. Oh and by the way, I got a my friend who owns Watson Paint and Body to agree to paint the trailer for the band and he got Dupont to donate the paint for it. I also painted the podium base and put the carpet on it. The podium was delivered that afternoon when we picked Hunter up from practice. We relaxed the rest of the evening after dinner. I guess it was the first time I had sat and watched the new TV. It is amazing to me how clear the picture is, even without the HD tuner yet.

Thursday came, I went to SAS and Any to the school. She called me shortly after 9 am and said she was having trouble with her vision and had blacked out a couple of times. I went ahead and took the day off so that I could watch her and be there if she needed anything. It actually gave me a restful day that I probably needed anyway. She is doing fine now, i think it was just the sinus infection she has that has been going around these parts. I picked Hunter up from practice and we went to town and ran a couple of errands and picked up dinner then relaxed some more.

Friday was of course a busy day for us. I finished a few things that needed doing to the trailer for use for the game. Did some chores around the house, then headed to town to get my radio programed and get some lunch. I got to the school at 2 pm to hang a curtain rod for Amy and then load the band trailer. If you looked at the pictures, you saw that everything fit great and it went well. The game went well tell the rain came than it all fell apart. We rushed to get instruments in the trailer and out of the rain and during this, one of the football players got hurt and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. At the same time, we had a band member having chest pains and shortness of breath. We ended up calling a ambulance for her also and she went to the hospital. we left a parent with her and headed back to Winterboro. As soon as I got back to the school, Amy picked me up and we headed back to Wedowee to pick up the parent and check on the students. My mom came and picked Hunter up and took him home with her for the night. We got back to Wedowee a little after midnight to find that everyone was already gone home. I sure wish I had had phone signal threw the woods so that we could have not made that trip. We got back to the school about 1:45 and picked up the truck and got home right after 2am. I don't even remember laying down.

And now it is Saturday. I am at work at TCC. So far it has been a good day, But it is a Saturday, so there is no telling what will happen later.

I will fill you in next time. Check out the pictures on the Picasa link to the Right for pictures from the week in the Band and school albums. I also put a vidio below of the band as thay prepair and play thae fight song as the team comes to the field at Woodland.

Jeff

What a beutiful Weekend

I don't know how your weekend was, but mine was great. Could not ask for better.

Friday, started at SAS a had a good day. Got off from there and went to the ballgame to volunteer in the concession stand. We had a decent night as far a fund raising goes. the team did not have such a good night, but the band did well. Came home and got to sleep in my bed.

Got up Saturday morning and headed to town to get the parts to fix the car. Rex hand I knocked the job right out and I learned a little about brake work. Rex then took me on a tour of the river down stream from his place. It was so beautiful out there and the temp was awesome with a cool breeze. Got home to find Amy and Hunter up and we got ready and went on to Birmingham to do some shopping. I did not find the Crocs I was looking for nut we did find a good deal on a 42 inch LCD monitor that Amy wanted to buy the family for both TV watching and for the computer to work on her web sights. Like I'm going to argue with that. We also got a DVD player that expands the current DVD's to 1080p format and records DVD's so Amy can record some of her shows she keeps on the DVR. Hunter and I got it hooked up and watching fast when we got home. We took the Sony 32 inch up to grandmom's so that she would have a bigger set so it would be easier for her to see.

I got to sleep in this morning which I needed badly. When I got up, Hunter was on the phone and Amy was still asleep so I went out and pulled the vinyl stickers off the trailer for the band. Hunter and I then did some more work on getting the trailer cleaned up and ready for new carpet and to be cleaned up good. We straighten up the shop and fixed a bar on the 3 point hitch of the tractor. Since then I have just relaxed, ate dinner and done this blog. I look forward to a busy week, but it should be a good week.

Talk to you later,

Jeff

It's gone, it's finally gone !!

Hello everyone,

Yes, I sold the u-haul truck. I am so glad. We have already purchased the trailer to replace it. I will get some pics up soon of the trailer for your viewing.

Anyway, let me catch you up from my last post.

I left you as I was getting if work at TCC. We had a staff meeting at TCC after my shift. Not much to update there, a possibility of more part time and full time positions coming as we expand and we went over new Trauma Plans for North Alabama region. I headed home about 9:45. I stopped at Hancock fabrics to see if they had a square that Amy needed with no success. I then had to go on into Sylacauga and pick up Hunter's uniform at the cleaners. So I got home about noon. I had to be at the school to load the band at 2:00 (you do the math, that's not much sleep). Anyway, We got the truck loaded and headed tho Pleasant Valley for the game. It did not take long before Amy and I realized the truck had an fuel leak and a exhaust leak. We were flying high by the time we got there. The game did not go well. We lost about 5 or 6 players to injury and lost after a great start. The band did GREAT. Dad rode back with me due to I would not let Amy ride in the fumes.

The next day was a SAS day, We had a great day. it was relaxing and smooth. On the way back from a Brookwood trip, we stopped and I got to look at the SMART car. It is so cool, I want a silver or red one bad. Chris worked for Preston and he is the "MASTER' of ribs, so he did us several slabs up and we were in heaven. Amy came over and got her hair cut. We had a steady night but not to bad.

I went home the next morning and took a 3 hour nap before heading to Work at TCC. I did stop at the SMART car exhibit again so that I could drive one. It just made me want one worse. They are so much fun to drive. At TCC, we had a busy afternoon with several long flights for LifeSaver.

On Monday, Amy and Hunter headed to school and I was going to sleep just a little but awoke at noon. I went to the school to take the u-haul truck to the shop. it has a major fuel leak and we found that the exhaust system was completely shut down and collapsed. I got a great offer for the truck for parts from the shop mechanic. At the Band Booster meeting, we decided to sell the truck and go ahead and buy the trailer. We did other band stuff to but nothing really to tell you about except to be ready to purchase cookie dough and pizza kits soon.

Then it was back to SAS. We had a busy day till I got off at 5:30 to go to a Foundation meeting at the school. The foundation meeting went real well with the foundation giving $1231.00 to the band for help in the purchase of instruments. Back at SAS, we had a slow night and got some decent rest.

On Wednesday, I went home when I got off from SAS and cleaned up, then headed to the school to help Amy move some computers and go sell the truck. Of course, if it can happen, it did. We found out we had no title for the truck. I still sold it to the guy fro parts but lost $750.00 due to him not being able to turn around and sell the chassis without a title. But it is gone and I do not have to worry with it no more. I spent the rest of the day either at the school working or running to the bank for the band to make deposits and get a check to purchase the trailer. I picked the trailer up in the afternoon and then when Hunter and I got home, started cleaning stickers off of it and getting it in tip top shape for the band. It is going to be so much better to use than the truck was. The family actually ate at home last night which was a great treat. Amy and I watched some TV and went to bed.

I now am at TCC for the 6:30 to 2:30 shift. It has not been to bad today here. I have done a lot of organization of things in my binders and worked on next months schedule. I did realize I had a brake problem on the Sable, so I will be doing a brake job on Saturday with Rex's help.

I am looking forward to this weekend. I get off from SAS tomorrow afternoon to work the ball game and don't have to work till Monday again. Beside doing the brake job, I hope to just do things with Amy and Hunter and relax.

I'll let you know how it goes. Bye for now

Jeff