This is my life.

This is a test to see if anyone even bothers to check my blog anymore.....

Let me give you all a quick update on my life.

Tonya and the kids are doing fine.

Jessa is getting ready to graduate from High School, and we are in the middle of the "what do I want to do with my life?" madness. She desperately wants to go to East Georgia College in Statesboro. The problem is that she only wants to go there because her friends are going there. We don't talk a lot about it, but Jessa has a learning disability that has resulted in her graduating with a technical rather than a college prep diploma. She cannot even qualify for East Georgia. On top of that, I don't have the money to send her there. So, it looks like she will be going to a technical school, probably Gwinnett Tech. This is good because she can qualify for the HOPE grant (not to be confused with the HOPE scholarship). The HOPE grant would pay all tuition, and some money towards book and student fees. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the way she goes!

Ben is ... well he's Ben. He is a good kid with a stubborn streak. School "bores" him. so... he got terrible grades last semester. We are doing everything we can think of to get him to apply himself, an so far this semester we think we have hit on an answer.... It involves grounding him and not allowing him to see his girlfriend. So far, this is the only thing that has gotten a response out of him, and it seems to motivate him.

Sarah is doig well, and working hard. She gets decent grades, and her Trumpet playing is improving greatly.

Jason is a nutcase. He keeps us laughing. AND he gets the best grades of all of them! He's a good kid.

And now for something completely different:

I have made the conscious decision to not to bother telling you all every time some new rumor comes along, because things at work change from day to day, sometimes hour to hour. Often, while my boss is telling me about new policies, procedures, appointments, promotions or transfers, other people of equal rank are telling THEIR people different and conflicting things. The AFD is a ship without a rudder.

BUT...

I guess it's time to fill you all in on the current situation, and tell you my best guess about the near future. I know that there are lots of things that you would rather hear about (like toe fungus or boils), but believe it or not, this crap occupies most of my time right now.

The fire chief continues to completely dismantle and realign the entire Department. If you want a good over view of the state of the Fire Department from the rank-and-file perspective, check out this letter from the President of the firefighter's union to the Mayor. Decisions are being made that even the newest rookie can see are poor.

The latest plan involving me and my station is as follows: My Truck (Truck 17) will be moved to station 14 in March. It will be made into a "Heavy Rescue" Truck company. In order to be assigned to this unit, a person would need certain specific training. Ironically, I have the required training, but there are some other Captains who also have the training, and who also have seniority over me. So, I will not have the opportunity to go with the Truck to Station 14.

So plan B: I will stay at my station, transfer over to the Engine, and remain Captain of Station 17 which will now be a single company. Hey - it sounds good! Half the people to manage, a station designed for 8 people but staffed with 4 means lots of room!

BUT...

My Chief has already told me that since Engine 17 is an Advanced Life Support unit (that means staffed with Paramedics), I would eventually be booted out of my spot in favor of a Paramedic Captain (I am an EMT - a lower level of training).

So plan C: Look for a different station to be assigned to, and bid for the spot. Problem there is that there are no "good" stations available right now.

So plan D: Stay at Station 17, and force them to move me... then sit back and wait for something good to become available and bid then. (note: once I bid on and win a position, I MUST stay there at least 2 years - that's why D seems best I don't want to do plan C and bid on a not-so-good spot and be stuck there).

So this is my life of perpetual LIMBO. It is really hard to lead a crew when I can't even promise them where they will be working next month. I have already had one of my best men to bail on me and transfer to a station with a more stable future. An I can't blame him.

One of my fellow captains and I were talking the other day, and he said something that blew my mind: "If we had sat down two years ago and come up with a plan to completely destroy this fire department, we could not have hoped to do a better job than this administration has done".

And I agree with him 100%