Well, yesterday, I got my second certification for the volunteer fire department (the first, last spring, was my stormspotter training). I'm now trained in extrication.

Though this community is somewhat annoying at times (to say the least), I enjoy the VFD. See, most of these guys are "outcasts" in the community, and it's the place where we tend to flock together apart from the ijits. Yesterday, we were given two cars, one rolled onto its side, and had to extricate the "victims" (which several high school students played rather well). The first car, a hatchback (the one on its side) wound up requiring our popping the hatch to pull the victims out the back. The second was easier and didn't require special tools (though we got to use 'em anyway....for the practice).

I got a bit of a reputation, though, when it came time to open up the first car's windshield. I took the axe and made short work of the windshield (you dig the axe in and pull it back, cutting along the top and sides, then pull the windshield back). One of the other firefighters commented that if I had that much adrenaline in happy mode, imagine what I could do if I was pissed!

It was a hot, sweaty day, though, and my arms and right wrist ache (I think I strained the wrist when trying to pry open the back hatch). But it was fun, and I'm glad to have one more certification under my belt. It makes me feel a bit more useful to the department.