MY Top 10 of ‘11

1. The people I have met in 2011 This should go without saying. I finally got the privilege to meet the folks behind the keyboards and @ signs that I have spoken to in 140 character blocks. It was worth being called an “ass” when I met Ted Setla, as much as it was worth watching @THEGrinderMedic order someone a drink called “uh…” in Vegas. Hope to meet more next year.

2. EMS Today 2011 Well, yeah, the first real conference I went to would make the #2 spot. It had its own set of adventures (to include a missed flight). When is the pre-party for next year’s at Pratt St.?

3. EMSWorld Expo 2011  Wow…the one thing I bitched the loudest about getting my travel approved for only made #3. The strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center will never be the same after the #CoEMS crew was done with it. Will NOLA be the same?

4. FDIC 2011 The biggest Fire Department conference of the year made the Number 4 spot on this year’s top 10. Finally meeting The Fire Critic, Capt. Willie Wines, and a few others.  Same place in 2012—the week before my 41st celebration of being alive.

5. My unit returning home from Iraq The 801st Combat Support Hospital (Detachment 10) was in Iraq for 10 months providing Detainee Health Care. All but two of my Soldiers are now home.

6. 21 seconds at FDIC The Globe Firefighter Challenge only took me 21 seconds to complete at FDIC in Indianapolis.  It would have been faster if I had known that the “rescue dummy” weighed about three pounds (I was expecting much heavier).

just crawl between the cones to take less time

7. Participating in #KiltedtoKickCancer The idea of a couple of friends not only increased awareness for the male specific cancers, but also ended up with a pretty penny being donated to LiveStrong and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It also got the biggest reading from this headquarters while trying to make my kilt (which is now hanging in the closet and a 3rd one is being planned on for purchase eventually). I will say, though, that they’re nice in the summer…but one wintertime word:  SHRINKAGE. (Though they make life easier with the TSA)
 

8. Making the “Medic’s Mecca” The only reason this is not higher in the countdown is because 1) the LACoFD Museum was closed and 2) the crew from LACoFD Station 127 were out on a run when I arrived. It was still a nice retirement present from my unit given to me the day before Thanksgiving.
 

9. Attending the 9th Annual US Army EMS Conference I wasn’t expecting to go, but I got my first glimpse of the Alamo and Durty Nelly’s in San Antonio. This trip was much better than phase 2 of my BNCOC.
 

10. My Retirement Orders It took over a year to get them, and that included re-submitting the packet exactly one year after I first put it in. But getting them puts a chapter to a close that I am very thankful to have written in history. It had its high points and low points, and I actually got to see some beautiful parts of the country while I was in the Army Reserve, but now I get to watch the younger Soldiers fill in my place as I sit and watch from my rocking chair.

The OPORD that I can actually write

This past week, along with the new background for the blog, I received what could be the nicest piece of digital paper ever.  ALMOST better than the orders I got for EMSWorld Expo.

I received orders transferring me to the RETIRED RESERVE starting New Years Day.

With my unit celebrating the holidays next month, I figured out that my retirement party is going to be the Saturday night of drill this month.  So I pulled out my old “Sergeant Major Eats Sugar Cookies” format cheat sheet and began typing out the OPORD.

I never thought that I’d actually be attending (much less planning) MY OWN retirement party. I finally figured out that after 21 years, it’s time to give the reins over to the younger folks so they can try to be better than I was and not make the mistakes I had made over my career.

Also, for the simple reason of “because I can”, I’ll be bringing out the kilt for one more time this year.  It’s getting a little too cold to wear it.