New Feature

We have a new feature for the blog! Notice the upper left corner... ? Yeah, where it says 'Followers'? Well, click on that link and follow the instructions and become a follower, alright? If you become a bona fide follower of "The Phoenix" it helps my self esteem an awful lot and gives me the warm and fuzzies. Hummm... to heck with all this nonsense regarding my self esteem. I got lots of self esteem and I get the warm and fuzzies on a regular basis. Click and sign up...I know where you live!!! : )

A 911 Tribute

Tom Pearce Song

This one is just for the retirees out there ... and also for those that are afraid to retire : )

Freddy Meyer and Father Mike

Here's a couple of photos I received from Freddy Meyer. With her is a rather younger version of Father Mike : ) I believe the young fellow in the background could be Gary Meloche... but not sure. This was taken a few years ago on July 1st

Fun In Detroit

I really don’t want to reveal the identity of the infamous brothers who joined our illustrious ranks of Windsor’s Bravest some time ago. To say that they were shy would be a blatant lie and I recall a story about the ‘boys’ before they joined the brotherhood. I can’t swear the following story to be true but knowing them and their ‘sense of humor’ it sounds pretty ‘legit’ to me. I predict that this story will become a legend in the annals of the department only because I was brave enough to say it out loud… well, not out loud, per se but at least I wrote about it.

It starts a few years ago across the river in the city approximately a mile away. Namely Detroit, where our two siblings were busy helping the citizens of Detroit invest in their local taverns’ mortgages. Apparently the youngsters were exiting one of the establishments during the wee hours of the morning when they noticed a car with Michigan plates quietly idling against the curb with no driver present. In the back seat lay a young American chap quietly snoozing. Well, he wasn’t actually sleeping in the truest sense of the word; passed out is a more accurate description. The boys found it interesting how luck had played a part in their plan. The plan of hailing a taxi to return home was no longer necessary as a ‘ready made’ ride had miraculously appeared in their midst. As they approached the Canadian customs on the mbassador Bridge the nice customs man asked where they were going and they promptly informed him, “why, we’re going to drop this nice Canadian guy in the back seat at his residence and then return promptly to the US of A, sir”! The customs person must have just began his first day on the job because he readily accepted this excuse and let them go! What happened next is a witness to our boys’ ingenuity.

The boys, now free of the border crossing guard, promptly drove the car to a nearby field where they left it with the keys in the ignition and our poor passed out American still sleeping on the rear seat!

I can only imagine the thoughts that ran through the poor fellow’s hungover mind as he came to and noticed the Ambassador Bridge located outside his rear window. Thoughts such as, “Mmmm….isn’t that bridge supposed to be on the other side of the car? I always figured the Bridge was east of us...Not west! What’s with all the cows…? we don’t have cows in our neighborhood!”

I believe the boys are now working part time at CAA as trip planners.

Don't even assume that you know who they are....you'd be wrong : )

An Olympic 'Moment'

I don't remember seeing this guy in Beijing... do you?

How To Show Off

Don't you just love to see this type of justice? hehe. Hey, come to think of it....doesn't one of those guys kind of resemble Kris Matton????

Precious

Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I only publish the stuff : ) Oh, by the way, does anyone remember what Phil Boots nickname is? I think it's "Precious" isn't it? He He

Rickey Smiley - Precious

Dyslexics

"Dyslexics are teople poo."

Hey, just a little ray of sunshine to brighten up your day.

The Knights' Code

At the funeral for DC Bob Leek his brother likened him to a modern day knight. He read the 'Knights' Code which I found to be very interesting looking at it from a firefighter's viewpoint. We should never forget who we are and what we do. Sometimes a false modesty can be harmful and does little for our profession. We should be proud. Here is the code;

To fear God and maintain His Church

To serve the liege lord in valour and faith

To protect the weak and defenceless

To give succour to widows and orphans

To refrain from the wanton giving of offence

To live by honour and for glory

To despise pecuniary reward

To fight for the welfare of all

To obey those placed in authority

To guard the honour of fellow knights

To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit

To keep faith

At all times to speak the truth

To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun

To respect the honour of women

Never to refuse a challenge from an equal

Never to turn the back upon a foe

Lodge For President

Hey, I decided to run for president in the USA.... if Dubya can do it...so can I!!!

City And Colleagues Prepare To Pay Tribute To Fallen Firefighter

Monday August 11, 2008

CityNews.ca Staff

A day after a firefighter died following the devastating propane explosion Sunday, colleagues and strangers alike gathered to remember District Chief Robert Leek.

"You can talk to any of those of us who were around headquarters here, and everybody has a story to tell of Bob and of Bob's sense of humour. He was a lot of fun to work with," described Division Chief David Sheen.

Funeral arrangements so far:

A visitation for District Chief Robert Leek will be held Wednesday and Thursday at DeMarco Funeral Home. The time will be decided late Tuesday.

Funeral Information
Friday August 15
11am
Prayer Palace
1111 Arrow Road

Story continued at http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_25672.aspx

Mongo's Moves

Wow, I just discovered an old video of Mongo in his bachelor days. He was quite the mover I must say.

Oh... I almost forgot

Oh ya... I almost forgot this thought from the previous post regarding my plight with Immigration, "Why on earth should I have to press "1" for English?"

The Newest Fashion Icon

Hey... it could happen, right? Who says guys getting older can't be an icon. After all, take a look at the 'caps'... The toothpaste with the whitener must have cost a bundle alone. : )

Best Smart Alec Answers

SMART ANSWER#5

It was mealtime during a flight on Alaska Airlines.
“Would you like dinner?” the flight attendant asked John, seated in front.
“What are my choices?” John asked.
“Yes or no,” she replied.

SMART ANSWER#4

A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets.
As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her.
Without missing a beat, she said, “Sir, I need to see your ticket not your stub.”

SMART ANSWER#3

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store but she couldn't find one big enough for her family.
She asked a stock boy, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?”
The stock boy replied, “No ma”am, they”re dead.”

SMART ANSWER #2

The cop got out of his car and the kid who was stopped for speeding rolled down his window.
“I”ve been waiting for you all day,” the cop said.
The kid replied, “Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could.”
When the cop finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

SMART ANSWER#1

A truck driver was driving along on the freeway.
A sign comes up that reads, “ Low Bridge Ahead.”
Before he knows it, the bridge is right ahead of him and he gets stuck under the bridge.
Cars are backed up for miles.
Finally, a police car comes up.
The cop gets out of his car and walks to the truck driver, puts his hands on his hips and says, “Got stuck, huh?”
The truck driver says, “No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of gas.”

A Man With No Country

Many have asked why I haven’t attended the Pig Roasts lately. My reason is legit even though it sounds more like a situation comedy rather than the truth. Let’s do a little background first, shall we. Some of you may know while others may not that I was born in England around the time of the crusades. My parents loaded me onto a rather large boat and we left the island for Canada. Growing up in this country I was allowed to obtain an education, work and I felt special that I was permitted to pay taxes. What was really special is that someone in government felt it necessary to collect even more taxes after they extracted them from my pay checks. This usually took place around the end of April. What is amazing is that I could do all this without anyone asking if I was a Canadian! It’s incredible that I could vote and no one asked me to prove my citizenship at the polling stations.

Back in the “day” I had very little difficulty crossing the border into the USA. All I had to do was show my badge at the border and the nice folks in the official uniforms would kindly smile and whisk me on my way where I supported the American economy and paid taxes there also. Life was wonderful.

Long story short. The American customs folks changed their minds about me and no longer smile. Now all they do is snarl; send me into a detention center where I’m questioned for an hour and then sent back home. I never realized that my last name of Lodge sounded like it derived out of the Middle East. The closest that I’ve gotten to the Middle East was watching the movie Lawrence Of Arabia. All of this treatment because I don’t have my papers. I’m starting to feel like I’m in one of those movies in the ‘40’s where the guards at the border are always demanding to see your papers and the victims shiver in fear.

It gets better! In order to leave the country to get to the Pig Roast I now need to apply for my Canadian citizenship. That will take me a year and a half. Wow, how special is this? I saw on the net that there was an 800 number to call if you were having problems getting your citizenship. Aha!!! Finally someone had seen my plight. I made the call and the gentleman kindly told me that I didn’t qualify because the assistance was for those immigrants who were WAITING to get into Canada!!! I mentioned that I had been here since I was 4, had worked in the fire service for 32 years and had been able to vote since I was 18. I loved his answer even though it was hard for me to understand with his accent, “Sorry, it seems that you have fallen through the cracks”. How nice!

Many nice people have tried to help me namely Ron Jones, Brian Masse and the MPP in my area Mike Wallace and for them I am truly grateful. In conclusion it will be easier to apply for a British passport that will take me only 6 weeks to obtain. The ironic part is that I will have to apply for a Permanent Resident Card from Ottawa. This will stop me from voting now as they have proven that indeed I’m not a citizen of this country. I would love to vote for those folks who helped me but I’m afraid that I can’t. Maybe in a year and a half I will be able to. Let’s hope they don’t hold another election until then.

So, until that time I say “cheerio” to everyone as I munch on my crumpet and take a sip of my cup of tea. : )

Gladwin '08

Thanks to Art Caza for these photos. I have a ton of them but the blog can only host so many. I thought the captions on the bottom of the photos explained the pictures perfectly. If you're that old that you can't read the print just "click" on it and it will appear in another window. At least that's what I have to do : )

Celebrating

Hey... this has been a time of celebration...

• Jeannie and I have been married one year on the 7th of July
• The littlest granddaughter graduated from Kindergarten
• Gord graduated from O.P.P as an Auxiliary constable
• As most of you know George's house was completed
  
• and last but not LEAST.. the blog just passed 25,000 "hits" because of YOU! THANKS!!!
  

A Story About "Rotten Ralph"

Some stories are funny... this one is hilarious and touches the heart at the same time. For those that have never experienced "the good old days" this is a typical day at the hall. Thanks go to Tom White for this story about a guy we all loved and respected. This was "Rotten Ralph" at his best. Enjoy.

Hi Jack

Thanks for the heads up on '' Ralph's '' passing. Imagine Barney , Ale and Ralph back together again.

I've often wondered who hung the name rotten ralph on Derush.......

Personally, I remember meeting Bob in the summer of 69..... It was a Thursday and being the redass I got shipped to headquarters on pit street.

It was window day and we were doing the windows upstairs. Bob stopped me and said what are you doing, Stupid, you don't wash the whole window , you pull the shade half way down and just do what shows. After I had done a few like that, Bob and Ron Lemay went and told Lt. Jack Hillis the redass was only doing half the job.

Later that day I thought I was going to get even;Lemay and Derush and Smitty were playing pool and this was my game..... I was good and too stupid not to show off. I went to my car and brought in my own cue. After letting me in to the game, I proceeded to show off. Bob asked to see my stick and proceeded to brake it over his knee and throw it out the third floor window. Ralph knew when to be rotten ,when a lesson in humility was needed and believe it or not had a big heart. Bob and Ron took a shine to this little alley rat of a kid named Phillip and they would hose him down in the hose tower and clean him up regularly and feed him and give him money.

God those were good times. Once Bob was on my side in a water fight. I was waiting at the foot of the stairs out front to throw a pail of water on Fenton who was driving the chief. Bob yelled let it go and I threw the whole damn bucket on Ray Berthiaume who was the meanest man I ever met. How could I have trusted Rotten Ralph.....? We all have our memories and those old pit street ones are special........

Retiree Tom White