Shovelhead Ed

Ed,
We MUST meet! I will make it happen and I will buy the beers. People like you are hard to come by these days. Mostly busy in the far corners of the world, unfortunately. No matter what happens there always seems to be someone like you who will go to hell and back to come get me. God I love this country!
Frank

From a comment on Lab Firefighting Ability Questioned.

Shovelhead Ed sez:
I am a fireman. I am a Los Alamos fireman. With this in mind, let us begin this literary soirée. First off, I consider “anonymous” writings to be an exercise in the lack of a quality known as “Pride in Ownership.” Whatever your reasons are for this, suffice it to say they are but yours…. And yours alone. This allows you pious mouthpieces within this hallowed blog hallway, to fire away clandestinely at everyone else without fear of retaliation or retribution. The veil of anonymity perhaps does hold a protective, sheltering quality for the timid of mind and heart. If what you write here ARE genuine truthful statements, why the anonymity? Be proud of your writing, of your opinion. Writing is an art form…. A gift. If you’re proud of it .. put your name on it. I will be now, and in the future; addressing some of these bloggers who have chosen to feebly attempt the degradation of my career and brotherhood with various examples of what one would only refer to a phonetic dungstorm. So…. Anonymous authors… you will be given a number. “Anonymous 1 thru ??? whatever. You will know who you are… who I’m referring to. Remember that number… It’s yours. You own it. How does it feel to be a number instead of a name? So, without further adieu, let us begin? O.K.???? Oh and let’s try not to get our feelers hurt …o.k? freedom of speech and all you know!!!!

Anonymous #1 ( a collection…..inexperienced prima donnas)
This inexperienced prima donna fireman you’re addressing here is a 19 vet. 17.8 years of that serving your shit spewing shell. Feel the need to bag on our trucks…… ok---- fine . Wanna trim some fat? Hey great… I’m all over it man… nobody’s bigger. Perhaps YOU should assist our administrative officers with the ordering of these apparatuses. Know anything about vehicle specs for a quad, a quint, an aerial?? Site and dept. specific for Los Alamos??? I’m sure they’d appreciate your vast knowledge and insight. You ARE the fire apparatus guru, to be sure!!! Yeahhhhh, guilty as charged goin’ to Smith’s. We’re kinda funny that way. Food procurement and daily meals has throughout the years been a mainstay and a constant for us. We’re strange people….. we like to and further more, have a need to eat. Starvation status quo for you? Or what?? We’ll never find you at Smith’s will we? Oh and by the way… thanks for compliment… I haven’t been called a young buck in decades. Feels good… as for response times…. We’ve been through this with you people before so I’ll tell you again. Maybe this time it’ll sink in. If we had a 4-5 minute response time on the scooter wreck it was from the SECOND IN ENGINE AND MEDIC (relocation companies) COMING FROM LOS ALAMOS. Not the first in response companies coming out of White Rock. Times are recorded. Perhaps before you inundate us all with diarrhea of the keyboard, you should know certain facts. One last thing……….. you have little use for us?? Best news I’ve heard today. Let’s keep it that way. You remember one thing…. When you have a need, or a use for us…… you’re having a bad day bubba. It is my sincerest wish that you and yours never need us. Thanks for your time. Have great days.

Anonymous #2 (Two points…… heroes of the Cerro Grande)
Hey 2 points. First off I’m a volunteer in one of those departments who showed up here to serve. I have extensive service with these brothers as well. We ARE extremely practiced. We fight a shitload of fire. You will understand one thing…… there may not be a lot of structure fires here in L.A. , but I’ll tell you, with my extensive training and experience, these brothers and sisters of mine here in L.A. are ready to and HAVE answered the call, and are damn good hands. Let’s talk about Cerro Grande. I am a Cerro Grande vet. Are you? Your job was to run out of town. Ours was to stay and fight. We did. The experienced right along with the inexperienced. All that stayed….. all that fought were the heroes. Where were you? Stand down… you don’t have a dog in this fight. Find something else to nitpick on. You a military vet? I’m seriously doubting that. If you were… you’d understand and have respect for those who do stand in the face of adversity. The experienced were the heroes huh??? Guess what genius. After that fire… everybody had experience. Good day. Hope the new year treats you well.

A special shout out and thanks to YOU…… Frank Young…… thanks much for your guidance and tutelage. Much appreciated. Enjoyed the phone conversation. Have great days brother!!!!!!

Anonymous #3 (true story…. Hour-by-hour)
Yeah sure man…. Abandoned by L.A.F.D. as too dangerous. You are to be addressed in the same fashion as your buddy 2 points above you there. Let’s look at your statements logically here….well we’ll ---attempt to anyway….. not much to work with certainly… but we’ll try. The large sections of town that were “written off” that you refer to, were the areas that we were in the god damn middle of (western area) attempting to extinguish fires that were already involving homes. Homes that were “written off” were the structures that had achieved or were about to achieve “full involvement” status, and there were a lot of THEM bubba. Those were let to burn in order to foam down and attempt to save those homes that were salvageable, or otherwise unimpinged by fire yet. And I mean YET. Also don’t give me your bull crap blog about saving homes with garden hoses. The north community burned. Have you seen aerial photos? Place looked like Rolling Thunder over Hanoi. Only thing standing were the chimneys. I’m all about learning from others, and I’m fascinated with learning new techniques to improve my quality of care and service that I provide throughout my beloved career. So I would really appreciate you and the rest of the garden hose fire company to come forth and teach us how to repel firestorms with 5/8 inch garden hoses. That’s cutting edge firefighting technology right there. And if you can pull THAT off….. market it buddy….. you’ll make millions. You’re pathetic. I was in the middle of it…………. You weren’t. And if you were you weren’t much help. Where was your silly ass know-it- all attitude then? Best of luck and times throughout your days!!

Anonymous #4 (cush job)
Hey c’mon man….. Cush jobs. Who has those? You? Me? Frankly, given human nature if there was one on the planet everybody would be clamoring and chomping at the bit to get it. Own a little piece or a bigger piece of the pie right? Everybody wants longer vacations, better vacation spots, nicer cars, bigger homes, mo’ money, the hottest women, the kinder, more sensitive understanding man…. I mean the human’s list goes on and on. We may not have a plethora of structure fires or metro type calls daily, but we still have many tasks and details to attend to. I cordially invite you to stop by Fire Station 1, on A-shift and I’ll give you the grand 25 cent tour. I would be happy to genuinely show you what we do, and why it’s to be done. It’s obvious that you are unaware of how we live by your choice of verbage. “Gotta be” and “must be” are what’s perceived as “ guess” terms. It’s cool. You don’t know…. I’d be happy and proud to enlighten you. Would love it if you’d stop by. Oh… and uhhhh …It’s not boring. Thanks for your time. May you be in heaven an hour before the devil ever knows your dead!!!!

Anonymous #5 (suck it up young man)
Suck it up young man??????? Stick it in your g/d ear!!!! You need to understand something clown. I have credentials out the wazoo too. Your 24 yrs. of schooling and achievements have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on me serving here or anywhere else for that matter. I choose to serve here. Here’s just a small brief breakdown for you. While you’ve been in school and in your ivory tower, I’ve been out here and elsewhere….. serving 2 departments….. 2 cities for almost 18 and 20 years respectively. In that time, I’ve saved 3 lives. 3 people are walking this earth because of me. You got 24………. I got 3. Hmmmmmmm. 24 to 3? I win. You are a sad little soul… and I feel for you. I sincerely hope your psyche changes and you can feel better towards the world. Must be lonely being the only one, or one of very few in it. Good day.

Well that’s it… for now anyway. For those of you who have read these blogs and have supported , cared for, genuinely concerned yourselves on our behalf and well-being, I say unto you all…. Thank you so much from the bottom of mine and this family’s heart. WE appreciate you. It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve you. I look forward to many more years. For those who navigate by means of negativity , cynicism, and misinformation, I really hope you can find a more positive outlet for your frustrations. Try positive living …… you’ll be happier and there won’t be a need to attempt to bring others down. Best of luck in your endeavors.
One last thing…. This fireman does not ask for “hero” status. I don’t even give a damn if you thank me when we see each other on the street or at the lab sites. But the one thing that I will insist on… for me and this family of mine here…. Is basic respect. We have, by God earned it. I will accept nothing less. Thanks to all who have taken time in your lives to spend some time here with me. A peaceful good night to all.
Hunter
Los Alamos F.D. Firehouse 1