The weekend is over……time to do a re-cap.
It all started Friday evening………every year, the Line Maintenance Division of the City of Okla. City participates in an event called the “Corporate Challenge.” This is a time when different corporations in our city (Chesapeake, Hertz, OU Medical Center, Blue Cross/Blue Shields, etc..) compete in friendly games. The main events (basketball, relay races, tug-of-war, home run derby) are normally held at the Bishop McGuiness High, while the walking and running events are held at NE 10 & Phillips.I was not a participant in any of the events on Friday evening, but I was there to take pictures of our teams participating in the relays. While I was there taking pictures of the relays, I received a call from one of my fellow REACT members, informing me of a severe thunderstorm that was entering our city. Our team had not been activated to spot, but I went ahead and left anyway because I had a new two-way radio I needed to get installed in my truck….and one of my fellow members was going to go ahead and install it for me Friday night.
You see, I really could not afford the radio, so one of my fellow team members decided to allow me to use the one he purchased because he did not have room for it in his truck. He decided to just buy himself a hand-held radio, so he is allowing me to use his mobile. These new radios are hooked into a repeater system, so we will be able to communicate with each other more efficiently when we are out spotting storms. They are refurbished radios, but they are nice. Anyway, we spent most of Friday evening, under a carport, installing the radio and antenna. We had a couple of storms pass through the city while we were installing the radio, so we ended up under a carport to finish the installation. I did not make it home until around 11:30 that night.
I was up at 6:30 Saturday morning. I had a volleyball tournament to play at 11:00 am, so I had a little time to do whatever I wanted to do before I had to play. I contacted our dispatch office and learned that there were numerous emergency water main breaks around the city. So, I obtained some of the addresses and checked them out myself to see which ones could wait and which ones needed to be worked asap. I checked one on the south side of town and two on the north side of town. After that, I decided to head back to McGuiness to get ready for the volleyball game. I arrived around 10:15 am and watched some of the other teams play. Some of the teams I watched were really good. You could tell they had played together for a long time and practiced often.
We played our first game at 11:00 and it was a hot puppy outside. It was co-ed volleyball, so I knew the rules would be different. What I did not realize was how complicated THEIR rules were. They were picky about how you hit the ball back and how you used your hands. It seems that every time I would hit the ball, I would not hit it the correct way. Even though it would go over the net, we would not score because of the way I would hit the ball. The rules were ridiculous! Then, to top it all off, one of the men that was on our team felt he was much better than me and kept jumping in front of me when the ball was coming my way. That was really irritating. I know how to play volleyball and I know how to get the ball over…….and I always hate when someone thinks they are better and they jump in front of you to hit the ball. Anyway, it did not really matter because we got eliminated very quickly.
Since we were eliminated, I decided to go ahead and leave…there was nothing more I could do and I had a birthday party to go to. I contacted dispatch once again and was informed of a big main break at NW 63rd and N May. So, I headed over there to see if I could be of assistance. When I got there, traffic was horrible, so I assisted the water rep by shutting down a lane of traffic while he shut down water valves. Traffic was not cooperating, so we wound up having to call the police and get their assistance with traffic control. For an hour, I stayed on the scene, assisting with traffic control. Once they got the valves shut down, I decided to leave the area and go to a birthday party. The eighteen year-old daughter of one of my REACT team members was having a birthday party for her at my church. I had promised to be at the party, so I headed that way.
It was nice to be inside where there was air-conditioning, especially since my truck still has none. I was at the party for a couple of hours. The guests eventually started leaving, so we started cleaning the place up. As we were cleaning, I received a call from our dispatcher, informing me he was leaving for the day and that the evening dispatcher would need some help for a while. So, I left the church and headed to work. I stayed there for three hours and assisted with dispatching and answering phone calls.
My body was really tired and a little sore, so I did not sleep very well Saturday morning. I had my alarm set for 6:00 am because I had to be at NE 10 & Phillips by 7 am for the “Corporate Challenge” mile walk. I did the walk in thirty minutes and headed on over to the church. After church, we had a Falls Creek sponsors meeting in the fellowship hall. We ate fried chicken and discussed our responsibilities for Falls Creek. After the meeting, I checked in with our dispatcher and learned everything was quiet. So, I decided to go home and rest for a while. I laid down and took a nap for 2 hours. When I got up, it was time to go back to the church for the evening service.
All in all it was a good weekend, just a little busy. Today we are short-handed again…as usual. After work, I have two lawns to mow….in the heat.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
CERT Training
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