Stuffed Cabbage

So - we march on. Together, unified, or seperate, alone, disheveled. We march on. I dont feel a need to reguritate the news. You can see it any of a million ways. A million views. Opinions are like....and yeah, I, you, and everybody else got one. The live link below may give a more hands-on approach to the scene if you are so inclined.

Lets not play the blame game. Common sense, normal outrage lays it where it belongs. Nuff' said on that. Here is for anyones perusal, the bureaucratic BULLSHIT that I faced yesterday at the Alarm Bureau, a.k.a. firehouse.

Bare with me, folks, it will all come out, with out bleach.

We had a bunch of alarms, yesterday. The facts are, and will forever be, logged in the good old mass of goo atop my head. The call for a brush fire comes in. The crews go, and see that it is in an area virtually inaccessible to the guys (girls, too). The crews need more manpower, so we send them. the Chief in charge of the situation he asks for some assistance from the military, who in our last big fire finally came around to help, after 3 (sound familiar?) days. So our job, down at Alarm Bureau, is to get the wheels turning. So we call. We call the colonels, the generals, the grunts.

"parapharse" - yada yada yada yada yada is all I (we) hear.

Our chief, via the radio, is understandbly, pissed. You can hear it in his transmissions. So the gang bust ass all day in the hawaiian sun, cutting down the fire, protecting endangered specis of plants, animals. All the time wary of the fire going over the ridge, down the valley, to the MILITARY AMMO DEPOT on the other sdie, in Lualualei. (sorry all my ancestors knew about were vowels, 12 letter language does that to the words)

And they do the job. They get it under control by early night fall. Chief thanks the crews, everybody off to bed.

All we (HFD) were needing, was a another chopper to assist with water drops. Kill the fire, help the boys.

Never came, needless to say.

And you know what comes around, well, yes indeed, it goes around.

So night time turns to later in the night time. About 9PM. Cell phone caller. "Fire - what is your emergency?"

"I am up on Kolekole pass, up above the brushfire today, and we are missing 2 soldiers from a hike today"

-"OK - let me get some information"........

So let me nutshell this operation.

It seems that 2 soldiers got disoriented, and lost on the trails above the westside. This is on military land. We really have to jump thru hoops to access, get coordinated with the soldier guys. (thanks again, Al-queda!) Terror levels, you know, all the red tape you need, thanks! Our Air1, it is the pilots call to decide to fly or not at night. He outranks the Fire Chief, on this call. We lost 2 pilots in recues back in 1996-7 in the span of 6 months. So his word, is the end word. So while we make calls, get people on the same page, all kinds a shit breaks loose, saturday, 3 day weekend, the natives are restless)

Air 1, he says...No.

Of course, life safety in question, he would go. But these guys were safe, via a dying cell, and hunkered down for the evening. The military Fire Department, the SAY they are going to go, and will let us know what is up. (we are seperate from the Fed Fire, BTW) So far, so good?

Morning light comes, we get called, they NEVER went, they waited for light, so that we HAVE to go.

These are the same bureaucrats that couldnt spare a chopper for a couple of hours to protect the bombs and shit they store here. So we bust ass, for the red tape line.

I get home late, miss a hug, a surf, and generally, tired.

But - (and I got a big 'un) - -

It seems like a good view of all the BS that surrounds the whole shit-fest in Da Big Easy.

No one has the balls to say DO IT. Do IT Now!

Spineless, pencil pushing, dweebs.

No one has/had the balls big enough to put OTHERS before SELF to get the damn job done.

Blame 'em all if ya like.

I say what if just one of 'em had some friggin gonads, and put the job on the line, and got the shit moving?

Hero?

Or fool?

Feel free to disagree.

.....Aloha....

Promise to tell 'the lady stuck in the exhaust vent' alarm next time.......

Surf Is Up, BTW. (ahhh, some good)