5-5-5-5 *

By Fireman Chris, October 31, 2006 11:35 PM
At 5:08 PM tonight, Firefighter Pablo Cerda became the fifth and final fatality from Engine 57. According to Dr. Dev Gnanadev of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, his family decided to take him off of life support due to the extent of his injuries and the minimal chance of recovery. “In the end we did talk to the family and gave them an option of taking him to the operating room again for further surgeries, knowing his prognosis is very, very poor, and they decided to let Pablo go.”

Firefighter Pablo Cerda
Fountain Valley, California
Age 23
2 years of service

Rest in peace, Brother Cerda.

* 5-5-5-5 is the traditional signal of a firefighter line of duty death from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). It consists of sounding a bell five times, repeated in four sets, and dates from the days before radios, when bell signals were used for dispatching units and communicating important information. This tradition has been adopted by many fire departments throughout the country.

Engine 57

By Fireman Chris, October 30, 2006 6:32 PM

I’ve been putting off writing this, but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been in my thoughts for several days now.

As most everyone knows, last Thursday, four U.S. Forest Service firefighters were murdered and one was seriously injured at the Esperanza Fire, a wildfire deliberately set through an act of arson. These five men were doing what they were trained to do, taking on the risk of injury and death that they knew was part of their job, and unfortunately this time, the risk caught up with them.

There’s not much I can say here that hasn’t already been said. When the news broke on Thursday, I was shocked and saddened. I know several USFS firefighters, and it was a long afternoon waiting to hear which crew it was that was lost. While it turns out that I didn’t personally know any of them that doesn’t make the impact any less. They were still my brothers.

Firefighters, unfortunately, die most every day. Some are killed in actual response activities. Some die in training accidents. Many are killed in traffic accidents responding to and returning from emergencies. Countless numbers die years later from injuries or illnesses suffered while “on the job”. This year to date, 85 firefighters have fallen in the line of duty. 29 of those fatalities have been wildland firefighters.

So, please remember the fallen crew of Engine 57 of Alandale Ranger Station, San Jacinto Ranger District, San Bernardino National Forest and their family, friends and co-workers in your thoughts and prayers.

Engine Captain Mark Loutzenhiser
Idyllwild, California
Age 44
21 years of service

Fire Engine Operator Jess McLean
Beaumont, California
Age 27
7 years of service

Assistant Fire Engine Operator Jason McKay
Phelan, California
Age 27
5 years of service

Firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera
San Jacinto, California
Age 20
2 years of service

Please also remember Firefighter Pablo Cerda, who is hospitalized at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California. Cerda is the only survivor of Engine 57′s crew and suffered burns over 90% of his body. His condition has stabilized somewhat, but he faces a long and uncertain recovery.

Firefighter Pablo Cerda
Fountain Valley, California
Age 23
2 years of service

Several funds have been established for the families of these five firefighters.

The Esperanza Fire Relief Fund
c/o Forest Service Volunteer Association
P.O. Box 394
Idyllwild, CA 92549
For more information, call Mike McCann at (951) 237-4542.

Esperanza Firefighters Assistance Fund (Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley)
P.O. Box 1645
Riverside, CA 92502-1645
For more information, call Ray Smith at (951) 955-1130

Esperanza Fallen Firefighters Fund
c/o Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union
P.O. Box 60890
Los Angeles, CA 90060-0890
For more information, call (800)-231-1626, Ext 2390

Muscle soreness trumps bottom soreness

By Fireman Chris, October 23, 2006 10:47 AM

Last night I smacked Sparkle’s bottom, and like the old (usually untrue) spanking cliche, it hurt me more than it hurt her.

I kid you not. I smacked her butt, and I said “Ow.”

I’ve been taking an Urban Search and Rescue course through the fire department the past few days. This is actually the second such course (each is 40 hours total) I’ve taken recently in the process of getting certified in that area. This course is the “advanced” level of the previous course and is a lot more physically demanding than the first one.

In any event, yesterday’s course involved the section referred to as “lifting and moving heavy objects”, with the heavy objects in question being 10,000 pound blocks and slabs of concrete. And we don’t use cranes…just things like pry-bars, come-alongs, jacks, air lift bags and lots of wood cribbing. The prior day, I’d been assembling 20 foot tall wooden building shores, which involved carrying a lot of lumber and swinging a hammer.

So, I suppose its no surprise that my arm, no matter how much it likes spanking Sparkle, protested last night. Thankfully, we’d already taken care of her weekly reassurance spanking the night before when I wasn’t quite so sore (she was afterwards, however).

At least there’s a big bottle of Aleve in the medicine cabinet.

Fundraising with paddles

By Fireman Chris, October 19, 2006 2:51 PM

Had a bit of a startle last night at our monthly meeting for the fire department. The mayor, who usually attends to give us a brief update on what’s going on in the rest of the city, also was promoting the big fundraiser for one of the large civic groups in town.

While doing so, he shared that if you show up late to this particular event, they apparently have a person who goes around and paddles the latecomers. That’s right, paddles.

Based on the reactions from the group, we have a bunch of kinky firefighters (besides myself).

—–

On less interesting news, while typing this entry, I got a phone call regarding the phone interview I mentioned last Sunday, and it looks like I’m out of the running for that. C’est la vie, back to the search.

A kinky Sunday afternoon

By Fireman Chris, October 16, 2006 9:08 AM

First off, let me say that I hate being sick.

The princess, helpful child that she is, brought home a lovely case of the sniffles from her pre-school last week, which has spread to the rest of the household. Luckily, the duration of the worst part seems to only be about three days, but since I was the last one to contract it, I’m still at about day two and fairly miserable.

That being said, even doped up on Tylenol Cold and not feeling our best, Sparkle and I did manage to get out for a bit of adult time yesterday. We headed into LA and met up with our friends Mija and Paul and another couple (who can identify themselves if they so choose) for lunch at a landmark restaurant, followed by a field trip to the famous (or is it infamous) Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood.

This was my first time there, though I’ve heard about it for many years. It has to be one of the nicest adult stores in the world. Very clean, friendly staff and prepared to supply just about any kink or fetish you may have. Its probably as much of an LA landmark as the restaurant we ate at…after all, how many sex shops make it into numerous mainstream guidebooks. I’ve seen the Pleasure Chest in at least three of the biggest ones.

Like any good sex shop, the Pleasure Chest has a fair collection of BDSM-related items. There was a whole display case of leather hoods and muzzles, another one of various types of collars, still more bondage-related items in the display counters, and various other items throughout the store. And, of course, hanging in two separate areas, a number of implements. The first area, behind one of the checkout counters, had a number of different floggers mixed in with some spreader bars. The other area, in the opposite corner, had a wider variety: a few more floggers, some Delrin canes, and a number of different paddles.

The six of us spent a fair amount of time examining all the wares, but as you can imagine, we probably spent the most time looking at the spanking toys. And we all came to the realization that we’re implement snobs.

Don’t get me wrong, the Pleasure Chest sells very nice things, and the implements definitely aren’t cheap (in either quality or cost). The floggers all appeared to be very high quality and I’d be happy owning any of them. But, when you’ve purchased hand-made items from places like The London Tanners, Satinwood Paddles or Adam and Gillians, its hard to get excited about a factory-made plywood paddle painted black or a gimmicky slapper with the word “OUCH” cut out in mirror-image in the surface. Not that we don’t have some of those type of toys, mind you, but like I’ve said, we’ve become snobs.

And then there was the patent leather heart-shaped paddle with metal teeth protruding from the surface. I’m not sure who thought that was a good idea.

Friday Night Funnies

By Fireman Chris, October 13, 2006 11:15 PM

Someone posted a link to this on the Shadowlane member’s only bulletin board, and its just too good not to share.

Tom Cruise Sues over Unauthorized Use of Image on Butt Plug

And yes, its a joke. The site where this was posted, Postcards from the Pug Bus, has the tagline “lifting a leg on popular culture” and the disclaimer “the editorial content on this page is fictional. Be advised to believe half of what you see and nothing of what you read. You must have a mental age greater than eighteen to enjoy this website.

If you like The Onion, I highly recommend checking out the Pug Bus…just make sure you have nothing important to do for awhile.

Ode to a bottom

By Fireman Chris, October 9, 2006 5:12 PM

Last week, when I was commenting on not knowing what to write on my blog, Sparkle suggested that I write something nice about her bottom. I had to chuckle at that, but it seems like a very good idea.

To start out more generally, I suppose its no surprise to any of you that I’m a great fan of the female backside. Even before I knew or admitted I was a spanko, I always enjoyed that particular part of the female anatomy. Going through puberty, I was never all that fascinated by breasts like most of my male buddies were, but when “she” turned around, oh man, I was in heaven.

To this day, even knowing and understanding my spanking kink, I’m never quite sure what makes bottoms themselves so alluring. I can list many attributes that I like about them: their gentle curves, their taboo nature, the way they feel when squeezed and caressed, the lovely bounce they have when a firm smack is delivered. But it seems to be more than that.

I’ll admit to a certain degree of male piggishness and share that I enjoy looking at women’s bottoms, whether I know them or not. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not one to objectify women and I don’t simply focus on their bodies. What’s inside a woman’s head attracts me a lot more than what’s inside her jeans. But I’d be lying if I said that I don’t enjoy looking.

Now, onto my wife’s bottom. And I hope she blushes furiously when she reads this…I love her blush too.

Sparkle has a lovely little bottom, and it just begs to be smacked. As most of you know, or can at least guess if you read one of my early posts where I talked about how Sparkle and I met, our first real-life meeting was in an airport when she came to visit me. As I’m sure you can also imagine, when we first embraced and kissed, my hands naturally slid around and down to rest on and squeeze her bottom. That was my first actual impression of her bottom, and it was quite a nice one. Firm, yet soft enough, with a nice curve. She, of course, pushed her bottom back into my hands, which was a very nice feeling indeed. I knew I’d be spanking that bottom soon, yet at that moment, I was content to simply hold it.

As we walked to the baggage claim, we were side by side at first, but I eventually let her in front of me so that I could see it. She was wearing a fairly loose jumper, so visually there weren’t many cues, but I could tell it was a pretty little bottom.

Of course, later that was confirmed when her jumper was pulled up and her panties were pulled down and she was getting her first spanking from me.

I still love Sparkle’s bottom. I love it in most any position, though my favorite is when she’s laying over my lap. That may sound like an obvious thing for a spanko to say, but even if we weren’t spankos, I’d still love her bottom best in that position. The curve is accentuated, and her cheeks spread ever so slightly. Its a very naughty bottom, and it likes to tease me.

I’m not the only one who thinks so either. A few friends who’ve seen me spank Sparkle have commented on how cute her bottom is, especially when she’s getting spanked. There’s really no better way to put it than saying her bottom was made to be spanked.

Of course, there’s other scenarios I like too. I love her bottom in a pair of snug jeans. I adore it when we’re sleeping at night and she nestles her bottom against me. My palms start itching when she turns around and wiggles it at me (clothed or not). I can’t resist smacking her when she bends over to pick something up.

I’m a bottom man, what can I say? And I’m very glad that Sparkle’s bottom is the one that I get to enjoy the most.

Just a mundane entry

By Fireman Chris, October 8, 2006 10:17 PM

Sorry for not writing anything lately, but its been a terribly long week followed by a terribly long weekend. But some good things are happening.

I hope I’m not jinxing it in any way, but after my ranting “hate my job” entry, I felt like I should share. I have a phone interview tomorrow for a really cool emergency preparedness job. Its actually already been rescheduled twice (both times due to conflicts on the interviewer’s part), but he apparently is interested enough to keep rescheduling. I’ll let you know how that pans out.

I finally got to drive one of the fire engines on a call this week. Since I became an Engineer, I’ve not had the opportunity to do so. Last week, we had a small grass fire start, and I got to the station in time to drive the second engine. We didn’t end up doing anything except backing-up the first engine (which did the actual firefighting), but then as we were driving back to the station, our engine got dispatched on a gas leak (since the first one was still tied up), so that became my second run. This weekend, I’ve gotten to drive a couple more times for a traffic accident, a couple of medical calls and a possible fire (false alarm).

As I mentioned, the week was a very long one work-wise. I was basically out in the field 4 of the 5 days, which is a lot for me, and there was a lot of driving. This weekend, we had a big public event at the fire station Saturday, and today was the last 10 hours of the 40 hour rescue class I’ve been taking, so I’m now certified in that.

Anyway, I got 3 hours of sleep last night (because of calls) and spent 10 hours training today, so I’m wiped and not feeling too creative. Hopefully I’ll get to post something more interesting soon, but for now, I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for the mundane.

Based on the Panorama Theme by Themocracy