A Snowy Tour At Work...

Last Tuesday through Saturday is just the reason I am ready to retire and head south. We started our four day tour Tuesday morning. I went to work fully loaded and expecting to stay until Thursday morning. Since the snow didn't start until 4 p.m. I took advantage of it and went home for supper and to say hello to my family before heading back into work at 7 p.m. Everyone that lives in our area knows what Wednesday morning looked like, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW. Now you must understand that I really hate snow so 38 inches at my house in one week is about 50 inches to much.

With chains on the tower truck the day started slow. Our only box alarm of the day was for a gas leak on Liberty Street, see photos above, that is Lean Cliatt, Wagon 3 operator, Wagon 3, the crew waiting outside the home and my truck partner Brian Bastinelli returning to the tower with our air monitor. Once back in quarters John Peskie decided to ready the snow mobiles with the help of Bastinelli and DeShawn Dennis. Shortly after Mike Souder and Rob Lohin (both Wagon 3, C Platoon) put the sleds in service answering all ambulance calls. At 4 p.m. the shift was sent home with exception of five of us. With all the highways closed and most city streets impassable I will not say I understand the decision, but will not say anything else about the amount of manpower working the city or the state of emergency status on this site (I want to keep my job for six more years). At shift change Peskie and I assumed the sleds 1 & 2 positions. And we were off and running at a pace of one call every 30 minutes for the first four hours of the shift. I will admit it was a blast working O.T. on the snow mobiles.

I do not want to bore you with any more details of the tour. It finally ended Saturday morning operating at another gas leak. My butt was dragging and my back was sore, but I still had fun and am glad I chose the career path I did. Of course it would have never been so much fun if it wasn't for working with the best crew the city has.