oopsWell, the storm came and went with plenty of accidents, trees down, and flooded creeks, but no real serious harm. I think we got 5" of rain not the feared 15". One of the most horrible things was last night as I was tasked with backing the engine into the fire station in the dark, in the rain.
Shadows do a great job for helping a trucker judge distances and relationships between objects and I had no help from that last night. I took several minutes of up and back trying to get the rear into the doorway - clearing the door by as little as possible on the driver's side to ensure I had ample room on the out of view passenger side despite the 4' overhang of the body beyond the rear tires. I was actually in the door and pulling up for one more straightening manuver when I made the mistake of turning the wheel which in effect, pivoted that same overhang, but on the drivers side! The 1/4" was all it took and I heard the unfortunate sound of the plastic lens cover of the side marker light crack as it scraped against the door frame. Shit. At least I didn't add a dent to the door or scrape the paint!
And last weekend, at our annual company dinner and awards presentation, they had already surprised me with the Fire Fighter of the Year Award! Too late, Chris! You can't take it back now! (the assistant chief when I walked over to tell him what I did, exclaimed : "you BROKE my fire truck?!!!")
