Once again I have become overwhelmed by technology. I’m not very technological, so admittedly it doesn’t take much. However, I have found myself to be in complete awe with an aspect of the social media.
When the book came out the publisher insisted I get involved with the social media. I must admit I really had no interest in Facebook before that.
It is interesting; I have reconnected with a lot of nice folks from the past. It’s interesting to see people that you went to school with 30 or more years ago and what they look like now. A lot of these people I haven’t see for many years.
Recently, a coworker began showing me photos of vintage fire trucks. I asked him one day where he was getting these photos and he signed me up for an online fire truck photography group.
I was in awe. There were fire truck photos from all over the world. As most of you know, I wear a fire truck medic alert bracelet. I have always liked them. I have taken photos for years.
However, I quickly observed I was an amateur compared to some folks. They have serial numbers, year of manufacture, and the stations they served and where they are now. I have even joined a Crown and Seagrave group.
Have camera, will travel
Wherever I go, I always manage to take a fire truck photo. The family is pretty much used to it. The kids groan and the wife just smiles. She even laughed the other day and mused, “After all these years you finally have somebody to show your fire truck photos to.”
Fire truck photography is not as easy as it sounds. Some times it can be downright dangerous. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Several years ago our family vacation involved a cruise. The first stop was Mexico, which required a ride into town on a bus. After armed soldiers searched the bus we were dropped off at a market.
This wasn’t really my thing, lots of bartering and negotiating over pesos. I announced that the oldest son and I were going to walk down to the fire station, naturally for a picture.
No comprende
I asked the tour director for directions. He had a look of complete bewilderment on his face. He hadn’t ever been asked this before. I’m used to that. I have seen this look before. Hotel desk people, waitresses and so on will look around as if they are looking for smoke.
The tour director said one block down and two over. Great!
Off we went. Soon, we were on the seedier side of that Mexican city. People on front porches looked at us curiously.
I stopped in a motorcycle dealership to ask if we were close. The salesman jumped up and hugged me obviously thinking I was there to buy a motorcycle. He then gave the same look as the cruise director at my question.
One more block and we found it. It was an old gas station that had been converted into a fire station. The apparatus were parked under the carport pump area.
I snapped a photo and told my son, “let’s get back!” It was too late. As we walked away I heard a car pull up behind us.
The value of education
A male voice called out “Senor!” I turned around to see a brown sedan and as all four doors swung open as four uniformed men got out. The door read “Policia Federalis.”
Uh oh the federalis. The driver began saying something about Mexican infrastructure and photography and el permission. Oh dear.
I decided at that point I would take on the Federalis and allow my son to make a run for the ship. I would take a life of roaches and drugs in a Mexican prison and allow him to live his life.
My son began conversing in Spanish with them. At one point I heard my son say the word “Bombero.”
The driver flashed a big smile and yelled to the others “Bombero!” The others raised their hands and yelled “Bombero!” I guess college was a good thing. They all shook my hand (which was cold, clammy and shaking) and insisted we come in and meet the guys.
I am very careful about my photography now.
Old friends
To take this one step further, there is even a FireRescue1 connection. In April 2012, I wrote about the high jinks involved in three communities getting a new fire truck.
One of the communities was Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. Thinking money grows on trees, spend-happy Revelstoke firefighters had the nerve to ask the city to replace a 30-year-old snorkel. What were they thinking?
Well low and behold, recently on the fire apparatus photography group was posted a photo of the old Revelstoke Snorkel. I commented on it and another member sent me a photo of their new aerial.
At the time the article came out, the outcome was still in doubt. I do like a happy ending and I hope the folks in Revelstoke like their new aerial.
Let me hear from you.
