Hi Team!
I forgot to employ Pete again today. I guess everyone deserves a weekend off once in a while. Being Sunday, I know I didn'g get that much walking in anyway.
I did have plenty to drink but I kinda sorta forgot to go to sleep last night, putting me only 1 for three! I didn't do it on purpose. I was reading a manuscript that an online fiction writer asked me to read as a favor. The main characters are career fd paramedics and some volunteer ff's. HOw could I resist? I really have had a hard time putting it down. When I started to realize that I was dozing between sentences, I looked at the clock and it was 3 am. I had to get up at 7 to get ready for church. OOPS! I haven't even picked it up today, and I am having withdrawals!
I was gone most of the day but I took a break from the quiz team because my ff brother was in town visiting his in-laws and I spent the afternoon at a get-together potluck bbq there. He just put me on his cell phone plan so that I could get rid of my pay as you go phone. It is a lot cheaper for me to pay him the difference from what his family was paying to what he will be paying by adding me, than it is for me to get my own plan. Now I am on the verizon network which is the best coverage available here. Most emergency service providers use Verizon here too. THe fire buff battalion has verizon and all of our calls will now be unlimited and not cost us minutes. I also got unlimited texting which is good because Coach Alex is a text-a-holic! LOL And I can take, send and receive pictures -also unlimited. I love my new toy. My brother made sure that as soon as I got my phone he sent me the sound of the Klaxons to use as a ringtone. I set my alarm clock to it. =) It really doesn't take much to make me happy!
On a sad note: This morning in the next door town to us, Lakewood, 4 police officers were ambushed and executed in a coffee shop. The only information known is that there were two men involved, a caucasian man and an African-American man and that they did not say anything, that there were baristas and customers in the coffee shop that they did not point their weapons at or shoot at and that the drove away, no description of the car. That is all I have heard of it so far anyway. I don't know if more details have been released or not. I am only adding this in my blog to say, please... pray for the families, friends, co-workers and other loved ones of these officers and for the other victims -the baristas and patrons of the coffee shop, for comfort and peace. Pray for those involved to be caught and brought to justice. Please pray for this to take place quickly. And especially pray that no other people are harmed by these criminals. I am saddened beyond words at this tragedy.
It's just about a quarter after 10 so...
Stay safe!
Hotflash out.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Report From Ladder Company 40 Day 75
Hi Team!
I fell asleep and forgot to post day 75 so here it is a day late.
Saturday: I slept very well last night. I forgot to employ Pete for the day, but I can tell you my walking was not remarkable. Probably a little below average for a Saturday. I did however, get plenty of fluids in me today.
My mother-in-law treated us, (her sister, my son, his girlfriend and her mother, and myself) to Christmas Tea at the Secret Garden, a Victorian Tea House in Sumner, WA. This is a tradition we started as a family several years ago and it is an absolutely delightful experience. I was especially good and ordered an Orchard Peach Roobius tea (red tea) which is naturally decaf and had at least 4 pots of tea over our 4 hour visit there. While engaged in conversation I discovered that my son's girlfriend's mom was a huge fan of Emergency! in the 70's! Cool! I promised to loan her the series a season at a time. She was almost as thrilled as I always am when I watch it. Her daugher and my son just rolled their eyes at us. LOL
Well, 2/3 isn't too bad. Nobody's perfect!
Until next time, Stay Safe!
Hotflash out!
I fell asleep and forgot to post day 75 so here it is a day late.
Saturday: I slept very well last night. I forgot to employ Pete for the day, but I can tell you my walking was not remarkable. Probably a little below average for a Saturday. I did however, get plenty of fluids in me today.
My mother-in-law treated us, (her sister, my son, his girlfriend and her mother, and myself) to Christmas Tea at the Secret Garden, a Victorian Tea House in Sumner, WA. This is a tradition we started as a family several years ago and it is an absolutely delightful experience. I was especially good and ordered an Orchard Peach Roobius tea (red tea) which is naturally decaf and had at least 4 pots of tea over our 4 hour visit there. While engaged in conversation I discovered that my son's girlfriend's mom was a huge fan of Emergency! in the 70's! Cool! I promised to loan her the series a season at a time. She was almost as thrilled as I always am when I watch it. Her daugher and my son just rolled their eyes at us. LOL
Well, 2/3 isn't too bad. Nobody's perfect!
Until next time, Stay Safe!
Hotflash out!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Flashpointz -Johnny Rocket's
While my friends, Coach Alex and her hubby John and I were out and about in Seattle today one of our missions was to find gluten free restaurant food for Coach Alex. She is higly intolerant of glutens. THey make her hurt and make her feel very aggressive and make her want to kill the people she loves. Not such a good thing.
Today was a very busy day for businesses in the area. Imagine that on Black Friday. We waited until late to look for food so that we wouldn't be trying to get special service during rush times. We went to Johnny Rocket's in Westlake Center for dinner. Coach Alex surveyed the menu and asked to speak to the manager when he had a few minutes. It took him a little while before he was able to get away, but he came over to us and Alex asked him about a bazillion questions about the menu, how the food was prepared, what was in it, etc. Johnny Rocket's does not have a gluten free menu but the manager on duty, Stephen, was amazing and willing to accommodate in any way he possibly could. Alex ordered a burger, sans bun, with chili on it. We were seated at the counter and could see the cooks preparing the food. They toasted the buns on the grill. That causes cross contamination for those who are gluten intolerant. They wear gloves to handle the food but they touch the buns which is a cross contamination route as well. They also use the same spatula to remove burgers and buns from the grill. They place buns directly on the work counter which can also be a route for cross contamination for glutens.
When Alex explained her health situation Stephen was SO acommodating. He promised to do all he could to make sure her food was gluten free. He make the cooks sanitize the counter, change their gloves, get cheese and tomatoes from the back that had not been touched by gloved hands that had touched buns, get a clean spatula, clean the grill and he gave them explicit instructions, in SPANISH to make sure Alex's food was safe for her. He did all this very cheerfully, with a constant smile, even when he had to direct his cooks to change gloves when they touched a bun from anothe order. He told Alex he was sorry she had to go through all that to get a good bite to eat, he showed compassion for her. He stood guard over the food preparation to ensure no mistakes were made. He then chatted with us willingly for over 10 minutes. He gave us his e-mail address and asked us to let him know how she felt tomorrow because he really wanted to know if the efforts he and his staff put forth had paid off.
When he wrote down his name for us he wrote "Steve" and Alex commented that it had a "V" when his name tag said Stephen. I said it was because
"S-T-E-P-H-E" looked a little funny and was harder to pronounce. He repeated it out loud "Stephe" with an "f" sound. He laughed and said that was really funny and he liked it. He said he would like to have a name tag made up that said Stephe!
In talking with Stephe we discovered that this wasn't even "his" store. He usually manages the store in University Village, right next to the UW. He encouraged us to come by his store and promised that he would always ensure Alex could have gluten free food.
I did NOT order gluten free food. I had the route 66 burger. All beef patty, REAL swiss cheese, and fried onions and mushrooms. It was absolutely amazing. All in all the food was delicious, the prices were very reasonable and the service was absolutely incredible. Please tell all your friends and have them tell their friends to tell their friends!!
Johnny Rocket's is worthy of your business and Stephe is an awesome manager.
When you try it out for yourself, drop me a line and let me know how it went. You'll be glad you went!
Hotflash
Today was a very busy day for businesses in the area. Imagine that on Black Friday. We waited until late to look for food so that we wouldn't be trying to get special service during rush times. We went to Johnny Rocket's in Westlake Center for dinner. Coach Alex surveyed the menu and asked to speak to the manager when he had a few minutes. It took him a little while before he was able to get away, but he came over to us and Alex asked him about a bazillion questions about the menu, how the food was prepared, what was in it, etc. Johnny Rocket's does not have a gluten free menu but the manager on duty, Stephen, was amazing and willing to accommodate in any way he possibly could. Alex ordered a burger, sans bun, with chili on it. We were seated at the counter and could see the cooks preparing the food. They toasted the buns on the grill. That causes cross contamination for those who are gluten intolerant. They wear gloves to handle the food but they touch the buns which is a cross contamination route as well. They also use the same spatula to remove burgers and buns from the grill. They place buns directly on the work counter which can also be a route for cross contamination for glutens.
When Alex explained her health situation Stephen was SO acommodating. He promised to do all he could to make sure her food was gluten free. He make the cooks sanitize the counter, change their gloves, get cheese and tomatoes from the back that had not been touched by gloved hands that had touched buns, get a clean spatula, clean the grill and he gave them explicit instructions, in SPANISH to make sure Alex's food was safe for her. He did all this very cheerfully, with a constant smile, even when he had to direct his cooks to change gloves when they touched a bun from anothe order. He told Alex he was sorry she had to go through all that to get a good bite to eat, he showed compassion for her. He stood guard over the food preparation to ensure no mistakes were made. He then chatted with us willingly for over 10 minutes. He gave us his e-mail address and asked us to let him know how she felt tomorrow because he really wanted to know if the efforts he and his staff put forth had paid off.
When he wrote down his name for us he wrote "Steve" and Alex commented that it had a "V" when his name tag said Stephen. I said it was because
"S-T-E-P-H-E" looked a little funny and was harder to pronounce. He repeated it out loud "Stephe" with an "f" sound. He laughed and said that was really funny and he liked it. He said he would like to have a name tag made up that said Stephe!
In talking with Stephe we discovered that this wasn't even "his" store. He usually manages the store in University Village, right next to the UW. He encouraged us to come by his store and promised that he would always ensure Alex could have gluten free food.
I did NOT order gluten free food. I had the route 66 burger. All beef patty, REAL swiss cheese, and fried onions and mushrooms. It was absolutely amazing. All in all the food was delicious, the prices were very reasonable and the service was absolutely incredible. Please tell all your friends and have them tell their friends to tell their friends!!
Johnny Rocket's is worthy of your business and Stephe is an awesome manager.
When you try it out for yourself, drop me a line and let me know how it went. You'll be glad you went!
Hotflash
Friday, November 27, 2009
Report From Ladder Company 40 Day 74
Hi Team!
I am feeling great! While I did get very full at dinner for Thanksgiving, the first part of my meal was a huge salad, (a planned event to prevent more calorie filled eating) so I feel pretty good about my holiday eating. I did not have huge amounts of anything else. It was all very sensible. This is something my husband suggested last year and it worked so well that we have decided to make it a tradition to start the meal with a monster salad.
I slept very well last night, -thank you tryptophan (sp?)- and I drank more than enough fluids today. Even though I skipped walking in the mall this morning (cause I'm a chicken!) I went to Pike Place Market and Westlake shopping center with Coach Alex and her hubby, John today. We darted in and out of the crowds at the Market, exploring and having fun. I found a cool firefighter belt buckle for only 12.95 and bought it. Then we watched the Westlake tree lighting ceremony and fireworks before shopping around Westlake shopping center. I didn't know that one of the big shopping centers has snow at 6 pm every evening this time of year. Coach Alex brought me there to surprise me. It was really cool having theater snow falling all around. It is little sudsy snowflakes! It was beautiful. Anyway, all the walking we did from all of that according to Pete was 9,398 steps! YAY ME!! I'm 3 for 3 today.
Today was really an awesome day for me and a lot of fun.
I hope you all had an awesome, family filled thanksgiving.
Until next time, Stay safe!!
Hotflash out.
I am feeling great! While I did get very full at dinner for Thanksgiving, the first part of my meal was a huge salad, (a planned event to prevent more calorie filled eating) so I feel pretty good about my holiday eating. I did not have huge amounts of anything else. It was all very sensible. This is something my husband suggested last year and it worked so well that we have decided to make it a tradition to start the meal with a monster salad.
I slept very well last night, -thank you tryptophan (sp?)- and I drank more than enough fluids today. Even though I skipped walking in the mall this morning (cause I'm a chicken!) I went to Pike Place Market and Westlake shopping center with Coach Alex and her hubby, John today. We darted in and out of the crowds at the Market, exploring and having fun. I found a cool firefighter belt buckle for only 12.95 and bought it. Then we watched the Westlake tree lighting ceremony and fireworks before shopping around Westlake shopping center. I didn't know that one of the big shopping centers has snow at 6 pm every evening this time of year. Coach Alex brought me there to surprise me. It was really cool having theater snow falling all around. It is little sudsy snowflakes! It was beautiful. Anyway, all the walking we did from all of that according to Pete was 9,398 steps! YAY ME!! I'm 3 for 3 today.
Today was really an awesome day for me and a lot of fun.
I hope you all had an awesome, family filled thanksgiving.
Until next time, Stay safe!!
Hotflash out.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Report From Ladder Company 40 Day 73
Hi Team!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Pete and I took the day off! We think we deserve it.
Stay safe and THANK you for being there for me!!!
Hotflash out.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Pete and I took the day off! We think we deserve it.
Stay safe and THANK you for being there for me!!!
Hotflash out.
Report From Ladder Company 40 Day 72
Hi Team!
I was so tired I fell asleep reading a manuscript an online writer friend of mine sent me for review and therefore did not post my blog for Day 72 yesterday. I feel badly that I fell asleep reading it because I am enjoying her story. I met her on a fan fiction writing website but she has been published as a fiction author and I feel very honored that she asked me to review a manuscript she was considering submitting to her publisher. Anyway, that is my excuse. Please forgive me.
Today (by that I mean day 72) was a good day. It has been a long week, these last 7 days. The last 5 work days were extra long shifts, as I have mentioned and I have been very tired. Tuesday and Wednesday were really good days at work though. I have been in a very good mood -more sleep makes a difference =) I have laughed a lot and really had fun with my school age kids.
One of my boys is a firefighter's kid and because he knows my passion, he thinks he can get special privileges and allowances. I have to ride him extra hard to keep him in line because of it. He isn't a bad boy, just very active and unaware of the "enough is enough" boundary. Today we had blackbean soup, that the kids and I made together, for snack. After all the kids had been served I served the staff and I was fixing myself a bowl. This boy came over to me and wanted to "help". I had chopped cilantro, sour cream, sliced green onions and lime juice to top the soup with. He wanted to put the lime juice in, but had never used a plastic lime squirt bottle before. As he got ready to put some in my soup I directed him to point it downward towards the bowl more, but he was faster than I could give the directions and he ended up hosing ME with a lot of lime juice! Then, my startled expression and the expression and loud laughter of my assistant who was right next to me at the time, and my sharp calling of his name to get him to stop squeezing the lime caused him to laugh so hard that no sound would come out and he nearly fell down. Luckily for him I generally have a good sense of humor and was able to laugh about it. I had a big wet spot partly on and under my left breast on my smock and my lovely assistant informed me that it looked like I was lactating and leaking! And I had to wear the smock because my boss requires it. It was a little embarrassing. But I survived. The same boy cracked me up prior to that when I was serving snack to the kids. I was encouraging them to at least try the soup and the toppings for it. Many would try the soup but only a few would try all the toppings for it. Most kids don't seem to like green plantlike things any where near what they have on their plates or in their bowls. When it was his turn to be served he said, "I'll be brave and try everything because that's what firefighters do!" He can be a real pill sometimes, but he really is a cute kid!
Well, I am happy to report that over the last 5 work days, 3 of them were exercise days and thanks to encouragement from my wonderful awesome terrific team (that's you) I didn't skip any of my workouts even though I was very tired. In fact, for Day 72 Pete logged for me 11,367 steps! No wonder I was so tired when I got home. I drank at least 3 quarts of fluids, not counting my morning coffee. And I slept okay overnight too. That makes 3/3! Yay me!!
Not much else to report.
Thanks for cheering me on. I love my team!!
Stay safe.
Hotflash out.
I was so tired I fell asleep reading a manuscript an online writer friend of mine sent me for review and therefore did not post my blog for Day 72 yesterday. I feel badly that I fell asleep reading it because I am enjoying her story. I met her on a fan fiction writing website but she has been published as a fiction author and I feel very honored that she asked me to review a manuscript she was considering submitting to her publisher. Anyway, that is my excuse. Please forgive me.
Today (by that I mean day 72) was a good day. It has been a long week, these last 7 days. The last 5 work days were extra long shifts, as I have mentioned and I have been very tired. Tuesday and Wednesday were really good days at work though. I have been in a very good mood -more sleep makes a difference =) I have laughed a lot and really had fun with my school age kids.
One of my boys is a firefighter's kid and because he knows my passion, he thinks he can get special privileges and allowances. I have to ride him extra hard to keep him in line because of it. He isn't a bad boy, just very active and unaware of the "enough is enough" boundary. Today we had blackbean soup, that the kids and I made together, for snack. After all the kids had been served I served the staff and I was fixing myself a bowl. This boy came over to me and wanted to "help". I had chopped cilantro, sour cream, sliced green onions and lime juice to top the soup with. He wanted to put the lime juice in, but had never used a plastic lime squirt bottle before. As he got ready to put some in my soup I directed him to point it downward towards the bowl more, but he was faster than I could give the directions and he ended up hosing ME with a lot of lime juice! Then, my startled expression and the expression and loud laughter of my assistant who was right next to me at the time, and my sharp calling of his name to get him to stop squeezing the lime caused him to laugh so hard that no sound would come out and he nearly fell down. Luckily for him I generally have a good sense of humor and was able to laugh about it. I had a big wet spot partly on and under my left breast on my smock and my lovely assistant informed me that it looked like I was lactating and leaking! And I had to wear the smock because my boss requires it. It was a little embarrassing. But I survived. The same boy cracked me up prior to that when I was serving snack to the kids. I was encouraging them to at least try the soup and the toppings for it. Many would try the soup but only a few would try all the toppings for it. Most kids don't seem to like green plantlike things any where near what they have on their plates or in their bowls. When it was his turn to be served he said, "I'll be brave and try everything because that's what firefighters do!" He can be a real pill sometimes, but he really is a cute kid!
Well, I am happy to report that over the last 5 work days, 3 of them were exercise days and thanks to encouragement from my wonderful awesome terrific team (that's you) I didn't skip any of my workouts even though I was very tired. In fact, for Day 72 Pete logged for me 11,367 steps! No wonder I was so tired when I got home. I drank at least 3 quarts of fluids, not counting my morning coffee. And I slept okay overnight too. That makes 3/3! Yay me!!
Not much else to report.
Thanks for cheering me on. I love my team!!
Stay safe.
Hotflash out.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Report From Ladder Company 40 Day 71
Hi Team!
I am writing Day 71 early on the morning of day 72, sorry! I was trying to get a chapter ready to post on the site that I write at and time got away from me last night. I decided it was best to get to bed and catch up later.
I slept well last night and awoke refreshed! That is so rare that it is cause for celebration! YAY ME!!! Pete logged 7,035 steps for me today. Pete's doing a great job, isn't he? Maybe that was my problem all along... I just wasn't giving Pete enough encouragement! I drank plenty of fluids yesterday, at least 2 quarts over and above my one cup of coffee (12 oz) in the morning. I sure am a sucker for home brewed coffee with coffemate's gingerbread creamer!! I am stocking up on creamer and freezing it because I can only get it for two months in the year!
Well, there you have it. That is the day. Oh, one good thing to add. I get to back to Washougal over the New Year's 4 day weekend. My company will be closed Thur the 31st AND Fri the 1st. I was scheduled to work the closing shift on Wed. but my boss and the other Site Manager it would affect both agreed to let me switch to the opening shift. I'll be off at noon and can go to Washougal one day earlier! (Super big toothy grin!!)
Maybe this time while I'm there I'll make it to OMSI (Oregeon Museum of Science and Industry! My brother has a membership for his family and my husband has been promising me for 20 YEARS that we would go there. WHenever I remind him he always says, "Yeah, but I didn't say WHEN!)
Well, I have to get ready to go to work.
Stay Safe!!
Hotflash out.
I am writing Day 71 early on the morning of day 72, sorry! I was trying to get a chapter ready to post on the site that I write at and time got away from me last night. I decided it was best to get to bed and catch up later.
I slept well last night and awoke refreshed! That is so rare that it is cause for celebration! YAY ME!!! Pete logged 7,035 steps for me today. Pete's doing a great job, isn't he? Maybe that was my problem all along... I just wasn't giving Pete enough encouragement! I drank plenty of fluids yesterday, at least 2 quarts over and above my one cup of coffee (12 oz) in the morning. I sure am a sucker for home brewed coffee with coffemate's gingerbread creamer!! I am stocking up on creamer and freezing it because I can only get it for two months in the year!
Well, there you have it. That is the day. Oh, one good thing to add. I get to back to Washougal over the New Year's 4 day weekend. My company will be closed Thur the 31st AND Fri the 1st. I was scheduled to work the closing shift on Wed. but my boss and the other Site Manager it would affect both agreed to let me switch to the opening shift. I'll be off at noon and can go to Washougal one day earlier! (Super big toothy grin!!)
Maybe this time while I'm there I'll make it to OMSI (Oregeon Museum of Science and Industry! My brother has a membership for his family and my husband has been promising me for 20 YEARS that we would go there. WHenever I remind him he always says, "Yeah, but I didn't say WHEN!)
Well, I have to get ready to go to work.
Stay Safe!!
Hotflash out.
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