First day of training..

Ow.. my hands hurt.

My crew leader was getting his first aid updated this morning and my crew boss was doing some other sort of training so I went out with another crew to do some pump training. For the most part we did a lot of driving around and standing around. But we did do some pump set ups in swamps and bogs. We have to do training in a bunch of different water sources and in many scenarios such as no foot pump or no intake or no gas line.

I've got the pump set up down, it's pretty straight forward. But OH MY GOODNESSSSS, starting the pump was another story. I had to start the pump from cold and it took me about 40 pulls. My hands, back and legs were killing me. I think I just have to get the hang of it, because all the guys can do it in 1 or 2 pulls... and I don't think I'm that weak.

That was by far the most difficult part of my day, and the most frustrating. I think the more I practice the better I'll get- if that's not the case and the reason I'm struggling so much is because I'm just a weakling... well then I better hit the gym hard.

The guys I was with were all funny, two 30 year veterans, a 2nd year and another rookie like me. Fire rangers lovvvvvvveeeee to tell stories, that's pretty much all they ever do. This fire, or that fire... it's entertaining and interesting though so I don't mind.

I now have 2 days off, Thursday and Friday, and then I start on with my full crew on Saturday. We work 5 days on, 2 days off. And then sometimes we work 7+ days on, and a few times we have 4 days off in a row.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself for my days off... I'll probably explore the town some more. And buy a towel- I've been using tea towels to dry myself because I forgot a real one!!

I miss everyone from home, but so far I'm really enjoying myself!

<3