THE END OF JIMINIRAQ!!!!

Well I had high hopes for this year....mainly financial....but that didn't happen. I came back from Iraq in November hoping to go back as scheduled and it isn't happening as of now. Thankfully, Behnkes Nursery is helping me out temporarily during my job search.


2009: A bad year.... a good year in many ways but overall, bad.. FINANCIAL FAILURE!


I met so many great people this year and look forward to continuing many new relationships.


2010: off to a bad start already..... but a means to an end..


Iraq: seems to be over which means http://www.jiminiraq.blogspot.com/ has met it's end.... so I guess I want to thank all my (all my= what few there really are) readers that I appreciate your following. A new blog will follow soon, as soon as the hangover wears off! LOL!


What's next.......... Well I suppose, since I am out of the fire service it will be a little more open, a little more candid and I suppose a little more fun................. for those of you who might not have it figured it out yet, the "real" me has been in beat-down mode for too long, I'm tired and I just want to live life. I'll figure out who will lead it with me along the way.


THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO READ MY BLOG, I LOVE YOU FOR READING AND APPOLOGIZE FOR OFFENDING! I WILL START A NEW ONE SOON...

"There's no way out, no way out, of this livin' hell. No way out, no way out, unless you walk heaven's trail. No way out, no way out, of this livin' hell..............I guess i'll live in HELL!!


Best in 2010!!

ENGINE 611, RESPOND TO LOST LAKE FOR A KITE STUCK IN A TREE.....A REALLY BIG KITE!

So last night we get called out to Lost Lake for a service call and it turns out that during a pretty strong downdraft.....VERY strong indeed....the observation blimp or "Eye in the Sky" was blown extremely low to the ground and the tether was caught in some trees. We were called out as a standby for safety and EMS if needed. The tether carries a very strong (220V)electrical current through a kevlar wrapped cord.

They basically had to cut it out of the tree, couldn't see much in these pictures but it was a good night, 4am hanging with the MP's. The new unit is pretty cool so far. Here are a few pictures.

The blimp on the ground.

How they normally look.

One of our new Indiana MP buddies, Hansel, to the rescue.

OK, the bunny goes in the hole and around the tree and then... SHIT!

I don't know, something about some chloroform and a few missing Boznian chicks??

Quite the adventure....join me next time!

UGANDAN, UGANDAN, LET DOWN YOUR HAIR........

OK, that was BAD!!

We swung by one of the guard towers at the edge of the base today to drop off a smoke detector for the occupants. Tower 65 is about equal to a 6 to 8 story building and is a hike to get up, definitly got my cardio for the day and boy were my legs sore the next morning......... Yeah, I need to work out more! Here are a few pics of wht we saw, how close were are to...urgh...FREE IRAQ....and the guys that help keep us safe day to day.

That looks like an elevator shaft in the middle but it is an emergency evacuation shaft that the guys can quick-repel down if under heavy fire. OIF X-Games kinda stuff.

Long way up, or down, who the fuck knows from this shot!

Nelson throwing up some kind of crazy Wisconsin gang sign.

Boy, Craig has really been doing his Kegal exercises!

Not a whole lot to look at really.....

These Mosque towers were called the "field goal posts" early on in the war because the locals would shoot rockets and mortars through them to "aim" at the base.

The other side of nowhere.......

OK, screw this sigh-seeing shit! Point me out some bad guys and let me go to work!! LOL! Just kidding.



Our gracious hosts...Look, I'm a Ugandan sandwich!!

DO YOU SMELL BACON???????

OK, so that line has seen better....and funnier days. It is wore out now but it will find new life with the new MP Detachment on the VBC, the 939th, State of Indiana. As for now, our buddies from the 143rd out of Montana are going home. The 143rd proved to be very good friends to the South Victory Fire Department, taking part in a prank war that had some really good moments on both sides. We will truly miss these guys and can only hope their replacements will be as entertaining as they were. Here are pictures of some of the guys and pranks......

Safe travels and best to you all back home!

Ferocious.......like a bunch of kittens!

Tanner before his morning coffee and donuts!

They tried to sell our Engine!

TP the MP!

Even he had to laugh.

Lord knows where these got handed out.

Thats right, be proud and sign it!!

OK, thats combat firefighting!

WHAT YEAR IS THIS???????

OK, well I have been on night dispatch this week and the natives have been a bit restless. There has been more activity than in the last year. The latest was a tanker explosion just outside the wire, close th the Station. I was still on dispatch so I couldn't go far to get closer. It burned for well over an hour with flames reaching at least 100 feet or more, since it was not on base the Iraqi firemen were there in their flip-flops and tank tops fighting the fire the way they do! LOL!

This was over a half mile away so it was a big-ass fire!

9-11 FLAGS FROM GROUND ZERO FLY ABOVE STATION 2

We had some visitors from the New York/New Jersey area, new Military unit that had a few flags from Ground Zero. We asked them if we could fly them above the Fire Station, or rather next to it, our flag pole is pretty short. They were kind enough to come by and hang for a while so we could get a bunch of pictures.....gotta love that Northern hospitality!! Anyway here are a few of the shots, thanks guys and you are always welcome at the Station!!

2009 9-11 CEREMONY AT AL FAW PALACE

OK, so I have decided that there are wwwwaaaayyy too many flowers and rocks on my blog ;) am going back to my roots! I'll need to start taking more pictures but for now we have the 9-11 Ceremony at the Palace. My apologies to Mikeys Dad, and possibly one of my only remaining followers on here, LOL!!

D-Mob in the house.

General Odierno, or Odi as I call him, or SOB when he steals my parking space at the DFAC!

Sam: The official bell ringer and bus-thrower-under of the South Victory Fire Department.