Where to begin, work for the last two years has had no stability no sense of permanence if you know what I mean.  I know I will have a job, but I do not know where I will be stationed or what I will be doing each and every day.  For two years I have done this running from station to station driving rigs as part of a promotional process.  Now we have been working for the city for the last 5 years without a contract everything is set by the courts and one of the things we lost in the courts was staffing minimums.  In our old contract, we had it spelled out that there would be a set number of Battalion Chiefs, Captains, FAE's (Fire Apparaturs Engineers - what I tested for 2 years ago) and a set number of firefighters.  So if someone retired there would be a corresponding promotion to fill the vacancy.  Well that is now gone and its much cheaper to pay someone a bit more to act in that position rather then promote someone and pay them that next pay grade salary.  So I have ran and ran and ran and watched guys with 6 and 7 years less seniority sit still and relax.  I am tired of running, it would be nice to ride my motorcycle to work now that gas is getting up there.  It would be nice to know where I am going to be each day ahead of schedule.  It would be nice to get into a rhythm once again.  So the test came around again and I took it cold, no studying no carrying.  I did not even stick around to go over the questions to see how I did.  I just found out, several weeks later from an email, that I passed.... barely.. Now do I start it all over again and run for 4 years in hopes that I might get promoted or do I just say screw it and relax back into my station in my spot and hang out and try to get motivated again.  

Up and coming events, for my birthday, if I do not get chosen to go to the police academy for the arson investigator training, oh yeah I interviewed for that also.. yeah 6 months of police training.. oh joy.. anyway.. for my birthday this year Nej and I are planning on riding BRAN..it should be fun.  Nej and I have not been training.. so that is NOT a good thing... oh well, best laid plans and all that.  

On an up note, we have been taking alot of yoga and well I am truly enjoying it.  If you have a bad back then yoga is amazing.  It truly has helped.  I know longer walk up to pain, which is always nice.  It is calming and a nice workout.  We will be doing this for quite some time to come.  Not sure how that will effect our retirement plans since you do not find yoga studios in the middle of no where. .. .. bummer.

all in all, life does not suck so that is all win.

Live long and prosper.. unless your a starwars person then,,, may the force be with you.

its a yoga morning.

swell for the last several months, Nej and I have been taking yoga classes at Sound Method Yoga in Omaha.  Its a really nice studio with outstanding people.  For me, its all about the back, since I started feebly doing yoga my back has stopped hurting, I feel better and I am noticeably more flexible.   Now I am not into the whole religious aspect or the artsy fartsy feel you body slough away yoga, but the here lets bend you in new and totally bizarre ways that will appear to be amazingly painful.  All in all though, its kind of addictive.  I had a new instructor today, it was the first morning class at the new studio and it was very small, there was the instructor Suzanne, myself the feeble newbie, and David an instructor at a different studio.. not to make yoga intimidating but come on.  Thankfully both instructors were every helpful and encouraging but still its intimidating to say the least.
So here I sit in Starbucks drinking a giant massively caffeinated coffee getting ready to study for the Fire Apparatus Engineer exam that I have in the morning.  Basically, its a test to see if I can be promoted to drive the pumps and ladder trucks full time.  They give the test every two years and build an eligibility list off of those that pass both the written and the practicals... now I have been on that list for the last two years being bounced around the city from one rig to the next and no one was promoted from the last list.  I have not decided what I am going to do on this one.  Today is my day to study, 2 years ago I put in about 3 months of studying, this time I am putting in 1 day.  To say I am discouraged is an understatement.  I am ready to have a home.  So if I do well, great I will spend another two years bouncing around the city, never seeing the station I bid into, if I do poorly or rank poorly, well I will call it good and take my name off the list and finally go home.  As you can tell, I am writing instead of studying.. so far so good way to procrastinate.
Anyway, I am off to read the very dry, very boring, very job specific in theory but virtually inapplicable to the real world of a fire ground standard operating procedures.  Now you know why I have a huge mocha in front of me.
Off to the land of brain damaged.

Hasta La Bye Bye