Old Weird Ward
Unless otherwise noted, that which is posted here is opinion, which is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. If you don't like my opinions, go somewhere else. Nobody is forcing you to actually read this drivel.
The presumption exists that you can read at all.
That may be a large assumption.
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Tuesday, October 05, 2004
- - - - - Milestones - - - - -
Yesterday, 4 October, was a most important day - daughter Margie had her tenth birthday. Not a huge thing, in the Great Scheme of Things, but important to all of us.
On Saturday, we had the Big Party for Margie and a few of her friends, with a pinata, and icecream cake, and a waterslide blowup thingie donated by a neighbor in the "blow-up bouncy-house" business.
But yesterday was the family thing, with a few presents, a "birthday dinner" to Margie's specification (pizza delivered from a local outfit - and it was GOOD pizza!), plus a few family presents.
Today is MY birthday. I'm fifty-five (55) years old.
I've been living on "bonus time" since I was 22.
Two ship-board fires will do that to you.
Senator Kerry can go on and on about how he served in the 'Nam, but I'll bet you fourteen cents American that he never got up-close and personal with a fire on a ship that's a thousand miles from the middle of nowhere.
I got "lucky" twice, and was in the Duty Fire Party when my ship had a fire while we were under way in the Western Pacific.
The first things that happen with a ship-board fire is that:
1. All hatches to that compartment are closed.
2. All electrical power, including lighting, is disconnected.
3. The "duty fire party" responds to the call, hoping like hades that it's not nearly as serious as you think it might be.
So, when you go in, there is no light, it's hotter than you would believe, and, if you've got any sense at all, you're scared spitless.
You fall back on your training (Rose Canyon Naval Fire-fighting School, 1969) and your shipmates. And you get that sucker OUT - or you start swimming. There is no other option.
I've done that twice, and I never want to do it again.
(I regard the guys who went up in the WTC on September 11th as my special heroes, for obvious reasons. Each and every one of them, a ten-foot tall, clanking hero, you betcha. I know about fire.)
And why is ship-board fire important?
Because I lived through it.
And each day tastes sweet. The sun rises, and I watch and rejoice, because I Am Here. Because each day is a Bonus Day. And, I watch the sun go down, and I rejoice again.
Because my shipmates and I did everything right, I live.
And each birthday marks another year that I've lived, when I shouldn't have, so each birthday, that I shouldn't be having, is "Bonus Time", and especially sweet when I can celebrate it with the children I never expected to have.
As Hipshot Percussion has said, "Thanks, Boss."
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