Oskees big burger challenge...

The Big "O"

Me and three other guys on my shift did the Big O burger challenge at Oskees in St. Albans. It's got 1.25 lbs. of hamburger, pastrami, ham, five different cheeses, thousand island dressing and all the regular hamburger fixins. I finished his first but Brandon ate his and finished the rest of Capt. Mitchell's and ate the pickle too. Lt. Dan was the only smart one of the bunch. He got a regular sized burger. It was a really good burger.

back to work

Well... I'm finally back to work. It's nice to be back in the swing of things. I was away for about 7 weeks. During that time we got six new air packs that are completely different from our old ones. We got two new thermal imaging camera's, a new accountability protocol, we went from doing our medical and run reports on paper to, actually, doing them on the computer. We got a new air conditioner. Hmm... anything else? I feel like i was gone for a year.

Other than than not much has changed.

Glad to be back.

The Edge

OK, last night I smoked a cigar that kicked my butt. I started out smoking mild cigars but have been slowly trying stronger and stronger. Well i made a big leap, thinking I could handle it. I smoked a cigar by Rocky Patel called The Edge. It tasted great and smoked awesome. But when I got about halfway through, I started getting really light headed and kinda nauseous. I had to stop smoking it about 2/3 of the way through. The whole room was spinning, I felt drunk(not in a good way). That lasted for about 45 minutes after I quit smoking it. When I picked that cigar out I specifically asked for one of the strongest they had. Maybe I'd better wait a little while before I try that one again.

Festival of the Bluegrass

The bluegrass band that I play in, The Grass Stains, played at The Festival of the Bluegrass this past weekend. We opened up the festival on Thursday and we played on the progressive stage on Friday. We played two good sets. I hope we get asked to play again next year. I took my camera but didn't take any pictures or videos. I did get to see some old friends, like Jerry Hockensmith. But I wasn't very social.I was having a "Blah" weekend and my shoulder was hurting. I actually left early on Saturday and came home. Usually I stay for the entire festival which lasts until Sunday. But I was ready to come home.

not much going on

I haven't blogged lately because there is not much going on. The band has been working in our new member. She's working out just fine. We played the Mudd River bluegrass festival this past weekend where we shared the stage with Jim and Valerie Gapeheart, Front Page and Russel Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out. It was a fun day. And we were there all day from 1:00pm until 9:30pm. It was hot but not unbearable. We are playing the the Festival of the Bluegrass this week. We play the main stage on Thursday and one of the smaller stages on Friday. It too should be lots of fun. There are always some really good bands that perform there. Blue Highway, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lonesome River Band, The Grascals etc...

I'm still going to physical therapy. The constant, annoying pain is still there. But my shoulder seems to be getting stronger. I have my doctors apt. on June 17th so hopefully I will be released to go back to work.

I've taken up a new hobby/habbit. I've started smoking fine, hand made, cigars. I've purchased a humidor to store them. And have been reading up on all the different fillers, binders and wrappers. It's a neat and expensive hobby. I know what you're thinking."OH NO, YOU'LL GET LUNG CANCER!" But I, and most people, don't actually inhale cigar smoke. You just smoke them for the flavor on your palet. When I first started smoking them, I really liked the flavored, sweet ones. But the more i smoke I tend to lean toward the full flavor with the rich smoke. I've been thinking about starting a blog dedicated to the cigars that I smoke. I could post which one I'm smoking each day and tell a little bit about them. I just don't know if I'd keep up with it. It's an awful lot of work to have to do an entry every day. We'll see.

Well I think that's it for now...

nothing to post

Same ole routine
Wake up
feed animals
make coffee
do my physical therapy
drink my half a pot of coffee
drink my breakfast shake
watch an episode or two of The Unit or 24
run on the treadmill
do more physical therapy
sit around and do nothing
do more physical therapy
watch more 24
read
go to bed


repeat'



I'm ready to go back to work

Time Off

I've been off work for a couple of weeks now due to a shoulder injury. So I decided to let my whiskers grow a little bit. I usually let them grow out when I'm away from work because that is the only time I really get to have a beard. We have to be clean shaven in order to get a good seal on our self contained breathing apparatus(SCBA). I haven't decided if I'm going to just let them grow wild the whole time I'm off or keep them trimmed and neat. Probably the later.

Lincoln County Crime Watch Dinner

The Lincoln County Commission had a crime watch appreciation dinner and they had us play for about an hour while everyone was eating. It was a fun little gig. I got pulled over by a state trooper on the way home for having a tail light out. The he proceeded to tell me that when there is an emergency vehicle on the side of the road with his lights on, it's a state law to get in the other lane. Which I told him "yes, I know that but you didn't have your warning lights on". He said "yes I did, I just got off a traffic stop". I decided not to argue about it but his warning lights were not on or I would have gotten in the other lane. He let me go with a warning.

New Stains

This is the latest line up with The Grass Stains.

Matt Poff, Bill Bagby, Ron Dean, Greg Sovine, Jarrod Saul and Linda Workman


Lisa Stowers(lead vocals & guitar) has been replaced by Linda Workman(fiddle & backup vocals). As of right now, Greg and I will be carrying the load of all the lead vocal stuff. Hopefully as Linda gets more comfortable with us and playing with us, she will be singing a few also. We are undergoing the slow process of working her in and learning all the ins and outs of the fiddle. This will be the first fiddler in the band. This is something we've been wanting for a long time. But be patient, it's going to take a while before we start gellin'.



check us out at www.thegrassstains.com

Temporarily Out Of Service

I'm temporarily out of service. My internet through Suddenlink has been cut off. I am going to Verizon. I should be back up and running within the week. Bare with me. I'll be back soon.

I got a little carried away

Today, as soon as I got off work, I went to Flatwoods for the last day of the Fiesta-ware tent sale. I got all this for around $200. They are all factory seconds except for the WVU pitcher. I went in the store and bought it. It was $40. All the other pitchers were $4.75 each. I couldn't pass up the deals. I'm so ashamed. Now I get to go through my cabinets and get rid of most of my old dishes. I may take some of it to the firehouse.

Fripp Island

I took a vacation last year around Christmas, that lasted up until January 2nd, to Fripp Island, NC. It was a nice vacation that I got to spend with friends. This is a group photo taken on the last full day that we were there.

My niece Kieren Poff

The bluegrass band I play in, The Grass Stains, had a cd release concert last month. We just released a new cd called "Still Stained". This picture was taken before the concert. She later got up on stage and sang "Hey There Delilah" with the band. It was a good show. Check us out at www.thegrassstains.com

I'll try this out

My buddy, at work, has had a blog for a couple years now and he keeps up with it on a pretty regular basis. I thought I would give it a shot and see if it's too much trouble. I figure I spend so much time on the computer as it is, I might as well do something that documents my wasted time.

I'm working at the fire department today. I've been at the Saint Albans Fire Dept. for 11 years. I've said since day one that I should keep a journal or log of all the calls and adventures that I've ran while at work. I guess today is as good a day as any to start.

In addition to the routine, day to day, things that we do(training, station cleaning etc...) I ran a few medical calls today. One interesting call happened when my cousin, Jeff, and I were returning from another call and one of the SAPD officers radioed us to come to his location. When we got there we found a young man who had a fish(treble) hook stuck in his leg. The barb end of the hook was all the way through his skin and sticking out the other side. So I ended up cutting the hook where it met the other two hooks and ran it the rest of the way out. The young man was 18 years old and was tough as a pine knot. He barely flenched. I was hoping Jeff got a picture but he was a little picture shy after he got jumped for taking some video footage of a fire he was on. Maybe next time.