I am awesome!!! Just in case you didn't know.

So check this out. I've been looking for one of those Thule cargo boxes that attached the roof rack on your car. New they run between $350 and $800. Ya No. So that's not going to happen. So I jumped on www.craigslist.com and started looking around and wouldn't you know it, I found this pod listed for 25 bones. Yep, that's right, $25.

So I email the woman who was selling it who happened to live just around the corner. She had already received an email from someone else who said they would be coming but later that evening. I offered her $50 and told her I'd come get it immediately. It probably helped that I included my work "Signature" that showed me as a Firefighter but hey, if you got it, use it.

Knowing ahead of time the pod had damage, I drove over and picked it up. Here it is in the condition I bought it in.

The rear had be epoxied by the woman's husband who did a really bad job. The epoxy was cracking and flaking off and the box leaked but I thought, "This isn't something a little fiberglass can't fix." Ummmmm, does anyone know how to fiberglass???

Well now I do.

Long story short, an extra $40 and about 3 days due to cure time and here you go. All fixed up. Fiberglassed on the inside with three layers of fiber and a flex resin for strength and flexibility. There were a few spots where the acrylic from the lid had completely broken and was lost leaving a hole. These spots I applied a layer of fiberglass on the inside to create a backing, then mixed ground up powdered fiberglass into the resin to create a paste that I was able to use as a filler. After it was done curing, I came back, sanded it all down, and applied a primer and epoxy based paint.

The paint is necessary to provide UV protection to the acrylic fiberglass resin. The color didn't match exactly so I added the sloped angle to try and make it look a bit better. I may go back and repaint the entire lid to match. What do you think? Should I repaint the entire lid?

Thanks for checking in.

Remember the 343!

Pay close attention to the first 30 seconds!

"Home"

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

A must see for EVERYONE! Please! Everyone do me this one favor. Check out the link above and then go to your local Blockbuster Video and rent the movie "Home." You can watch most of it on the link but it's choppy and not a comfortable to watch on your computer then sitting on your couch. This is such an amazing movie and one that really spoke to me about our planet and how we are destroying it. After you've watched it, please, tell everyone you know to do the same. I believe what this movie is trying to tell us. If we don't do something today, the world we leave for our children may not be something to be proud of.

I know, I'm suposed to be studying, but this is too entertaining and I need a break.

See, it is true!

For everyones enjoyment! My life in a nutshell!

September 11th Tribute - Denver 2008

I had the pleasure of participating in this event. One of the best things I've ever done. Myself and 10 other guys from my department got in agian this year so stand by for new pictures come Septermber. They only allow 343 firefighters participate to represent the 343 firefighters who died with the towers collapsed. Firefighters come from all over. Even as far away as Wyoming. This year we're going to do the climb with an airpack on and carrying tools.

Our Orchid

So this is our orchid. It was a gift to Annalise back in February. We weren't sure how it would do making the trip to SD so it's decided to live here in Colorado for the next year. When we got it, it only had a few white flowers on one stem. Those have since fallen off however it has continued to blossom over and over.


I actually took Adam and Shawn to a free orchid growing class that was being held in Louisville one weekend when we were on shift. Shawn enjoyed it but Adams narcolepsy kept kicking in.



This blossom just opened up this morning!

There's a story that goes along with this flower that will be revealed at another time. Stay tuned for future posts about how it's doing.

Night.

Future Project!

Get CPR Trained!

In honor of CPR Week.

I Promise...

... I won't try to top this. SICK!!!!

Back from CA. Anni's all moved!

Thought it would be nice to let everyone know that Anni's all move back to CA, and while not totally smooth, is done and she's settling in. We left Colorado on the 29th and were headed toward Moab, UT when in Grand Junction, CO, her "Check Engine" light came on and her car started making a sound like it was about to take off for galaxies unknown. We spent the night in an Apple bee's parking lot overlooking over a really nice golf course. How interesting it was to be cooking dinner on a camp stove sitting on the bumper of her Volvo in the middle of town. It turned out to be pretty fun if you ask me however cramming the both of us and Kai into the back of the Volvo at night was "cozy" to say the least.

The next morning we tracked down a flat bed trailer that we were going to use to get her car back to CA however while on the way to pick it up, we were able to contact a VOLVO service center in San Diego who ensured us the car was drivable so we scratched the trailer idea and headed to Moab. The car did just fine.

We rolled into Moab around noon and found a beautiful camp site along the Colorado River. Even Kai liked it.

After taking a bit to grab some lunch, Annalise had her first experience with mountain biking in Moab on a trail named the Barr-M. Off in the distance you could see Arches National Park.

That night we again slept in the back of the Volvo however this time we kept the rear hatch up which made for a much more comfortable night sleep. We were able to look up at the night sky and enjoy the sound of the river flowing by.

Friday morning we packed up and headed for SD however we only made it into Nevada before calling it a night. We rolled into SD on Saturday just in time to get Anni's car into the Volvo dealer for repair which turned out to be covered under the warranty. Finally, a bit of luck. We spent the rest of Saturday and the majority of Sunday moving Anni's things into the "penalty box" as she likes to call it. Her mom was so nice to make the driver from Oakhurst to spend a few days in SD helping her get settled in. I'll bet Jeremy, who wasn't home when we started setting up the kitchen, will wish he had been.

I caught a flight back home on Sunday evening. It was really tough to leave but I have confidence that this is only temporary and that next year, we'll both be in a better place to make a life together work.

FREE O.A.R. Concert in Vail, CO. BITCHEN!

Closing day of Vail Mountain they were having a Free concert in the village. Anni and I drove up for the evening to get out of town and enjoy some good music. We were supposed to meet a friend from work who was going up too but she never showed. We did however run into our roommate.

Kai liked Vail.

The concert was awesome! Fun night!

Trail Running - Walker Ranch

So, some might say I'm a bit crazy! Well, today I'd agree. Anni and I decided to go for a run as usual, however this time I miss judged the difficulty of the trail by a little bit. What I thought would take an hour and a half, ended up taking closer to 3 hours. My BAD! It was fun none-the-less.

Happy Birthday Anni!

Beautiful hike, beautiful mountains, beautiful company. What more could you ask for? For Annalise's birthday, went for a hike up near the town of Ward, CO toward Blue Lake. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Blue Lake due to the snow. We forced to park about 3 miles from our original destination and hike into Brainard Lake shown in the pictures.

None the less, it was great day. We're hoping to go back this spring and finish the hike to Blue Lake. Enjoy!

Oops!

 

So, I guess I should have had my partner get out and spot for me. We went on a small grass fire last month and during the response, I accidentally cut a corner a bit too close and added some pin striping to our brand new ambulance.

Good news is, I still have a job.

Sean

For all you dog lovers out there!

Hey all,



I found this video and want to share it with you all. Being an EMS provider, I've found myself in several situations where I wish I knew how to do CPR on a dog. Now I do. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AFrUiRIeVo

Getting Settled In.

Hey everyone!

Greetings once again from Colorado. Well, as we finish up our second week back from California, Annalise, Kai, and I have accomplished quite a bit. Annalise's stuff arrived earlier this week and already she's found a place for just about everything. The place looks GREAT! You won't believe the view from our loft and the sunshine we get during the entire day. We're waiting for a few pieces of furniture to arrive and then our place will be for the most part done and ready for guests..., so get out here!

The three of us have been getting out almost every day for some type of romp in the mountain whether it be trail running or snow shoeing.

Annalise has just about got Boulder figured out. We've discovered an awesome little sandwich and pastry shop right across the street from our place called Spruce Confections and an awesome local brew pub downtown called The Mountain Sun. From our front door, we're less than a mile to a number of different trail heads so we're both loving the area. North Boulder is perfect for us.

A few days ago, we were treated to a blanket of fresh snow when we woke up in the morning. That afternoon, we all took off and went snowshoeing at Chautauqua Park on the south end of Boulder near the base of the Flat Irons. It was amazing, however I learned a lesson. Don't wear jeans when you go snowshoeing. It gets pretty cold after an hour and a half.


As soon as our place is finished, we'll take some pictures and post them for you all to see. Miss you all already and we can't wait for our first house guests.

Much love!

FIRE...in January?!?!?!?!

So..., yesterday afternoon while driving home from Lakewood after picking up the last of my belongings from my apartment I could see smoke off in the distance coming from an area of Boulder that appeared to be fairly close to our new place. As it turned out, a grass fire had been started, sparked by 80 mph winds that blew down a transformer, in the hills a mile north of our place. The picture above was taken later that evening. The fire burned for almost 12 hours and in the end, burned almost 3500 acres. Nobody was injured from the fire but at least one home was lost. Annalise made the comment, " I left California where there's always fire only to come here and this place is on fire!" Funny!

The fire was contained that last night with only some hot spots remaining. If there's a bright side to this it's that the trails up on that mountain will be great for running come Spring time.

Back from CA and settling into the new digs!

Hey all,

I just wanted to drop a quick post to let everyone know Annalise, Kai and I made it safely to Boulder from San Diego. We left Coarsegold on the 28th and headed for San Diego. Due to a slight miss calculation by the attendant at the car wash, the drive to SD was a bit more crowded than previously expected. Annalise tells the story much better so I'll save that for her. We were able to arrange for the movers to pick up Anni's stuff a day earlier so we spent the 29th preparing for that. After arriving at Jeramey's place 5 hours late, we finally hit the road around 7PM on the 30th and headed for Las Vegas. We couldn't believe the amount of traffic headed to LV. 11:30 and night and it was bumper to bumper for the last 15 miles before LV. We finally stopped for the night in Mesquite, NV around 1:30 am at this awesome dog friendly hotel right off the interstate.

The following morning, we were up, fed, and on the road by 9:30 headed for Colorado. Our goal was to spend New Years Eve any where in Colorado. The Utah landscape was beautiful. Hundreds of miles of high desert canyons all covered with a blanket of snow make it appear like an endless frozen ocean. We rolled across the Colorado state line around 5PM, just as it was getting dark. Four and a half more hours and we could have been in Denver, however we elected to stop in Glenwood Springs for the evening at the Hotel Denver and enjoy New Years Eve together.

January 1, 2009!!!!!
After checking out of the hotel, we hit up this local breakfast place just a few blocks from the hotel. As we left Glenwood Springs and headed east through Glenwood Canyon, I could see the annual gathering of kayakers boating Shoshone with ice covering both banks. At 20 degrees, it wouldn't have been so bad to be on the water that day but we had places to be and no kayak to play with, so we pressed on.

Two and a half hours later we arrived in Denver, weary from the drive but ready to move into our new place. First stop, my apartment where we loaded my bed and a few other items into my truck and finally turned north towards Boulder.

So..., 1,100 miles and a little bit of effort later, we were able to spend the first night of 2009 in our place. Kai settled right in, however I think Anni is going to take a bit longer to get used to the weather.

This is going to be a GREAT year! Hope everyone had a safe and exciting New Years and I wish everyone an amazing 2009.