We had meetings during the day and wound up heading home for a few hours prior to my shift. You know the drill. Help with homework, clean up, talk a few minutes and head down to check the equipment. Everything finished and fall asleep watching TV.
Awake to "Get up! We have a call." Didn't hear the alert tone, the dispatch, anything. Just my partner trying to cut through my sleep induced stupor. Luckily my autopilot is not broken and I got us to, through, and away from the call. It was a three hour job with clean up and restocking.
I still can't tell you anything about the call. It's like I was sleep walking through the entire night. I've heard about this happening to people, even made fun of people it happened to, but never to me. Chalk it up to being tired, a good dream, or whatever they say to me. It occurs to me that I am getting old.
My dad stayed on after I became a fireman. He pushed cajoled, and taught me common sense all while making sure I was learning the cutting edge as it became available. I am holding out for my son or daughter in the same way. I wanted to work together, share, and bond. I'm just not sure. I'm just so damn tired.
