firefighting » Stop, Drop and Blog

Bad Romance

Jul 272010

While we were camping last week, I read five books. Apparently if you take away my Internet connection, I can blast through the pages like a madwoman. It was great to get back into my first love of reading. I read all year, but I love to throw down books so quickly.

I had a wide and varied library with me, but chose to dabble a bit in romance since I read romance novels so infrequently.

Now I remember why!

To boot, pun intended, these two romance novels were… wait for it… FIREFIGHTER ROMANCE NOVELS. Win.

The Firefighter's Secret Baby The first was The Firefighter’s Secret Baby which started as a joke and then made its way through Denise, Sassymonkey and Elizabeth before being delivered to me. I love friends with humor. The book was somewhat different than I had expected. It was full of (cheesy) suspense, with things being blown up and people chasing the main characters. A baby is obviously involved. So is the FBI. And the mob. And the previously mentioned firefighter. And some kind of triggering adoption-speak, but it was too cheesy to be too triggering.

Kind of lacking in the realism factor. But that’s okay. What’s not okay, however, is the crazy sex the main female was having less than a week after a traumatic birth experience. I laughed. A lot. Not at the cheesiness of the writing (which, yes, it was still cheesy), but at the thought that any woman could read that section and possibly think that sex so shortly after birth would feel that good. Also? No mention of the breastmilk that was likely pouring at that point since she wasn’t nursing the baby. I had a good laugh.

This book was part of the Atlanta Heroes series… and, sadly, I want more to be available already.

As an aside, thank you to Denise, sassymonkey and Elizabeth for signing the book before sending it to me. That sentence is brought to you with a side of cheese. (Ha!)

The second was an accidental find at the library right before we left for camp. Island Sojourn by Katrina Thomas is another firefighter romance, with a small twist. This time the main female character is the firefighter, which is the fire time I’ve seen that in any firefighter romances I have read. (And I’ve read a few.) Of course, the man that she meets and falls for while on her beach vacation to the Outer Banks is, you might have guessed it, a firefighter as well. She’s a professional and he’s a volunteer.

This particular book was somewhat more believable than the previous one. It involves a lot of sisters, a beach house and shenanigans pulled by said sisters to get the younger sister someone to date. And marry. I kind of resented the fact that they were pushing her to date and marry just like them. Maybe she wanted to be single! Maybe she wasn’t interested in men! Maybe she was seeing someone on the sly back home! Get off her back, nosy sisters! But, as it always does, it worked out in the end.

This book had a great fire scene… until they sent the man in to make sure that she was okay. Granted, she ran in without a mask or any gear, which was silly. And she probably did need some rescuing. But I kind of resent the “let’s rescue women” theme in romance novels.

In the end, I kind of enjoyed both reads more than I wanted to. FireDad had a great time making fun of me any time he saw me reading either book. I would have made fun of me as well.

If you know of a firefighter book, romance or not, that I need to be reading, please let me know!

Cookbook Review: Firehouse Food - Cooking with San Fransisco's Firefighters

Recipes, Reviews, fire life 6 Responses »

Jun 152010

I recently discovered something awesome: the world of firefighter cookbooks. It was an accidental discovery while searching for something else and I’m glad I came across this particular book.

Firehouse Food: Cooking with San Francisco’s Firefighters is a beautiful cookbook in itself. It’s 224 pages of amazing photography, outstanding recipes and a bit of humor here and there. The introduction is a surprisingly moving one as well. (Who cries when they read a cookbook introduction? Just me.)

The dedication of the book also speaks volumes about firefighters and cooking.

To San Fransisco’s firefighters,
who understand the sustaining power of a nice hot meal.

Ah. True.

I actually borrowed this from the library as it is currently unavailable on Amazon or Barnes and Noble (though used copies are selling anywhere from $47 to $120!). I didn’t want to give it back to the library. I really, really didn’t want to do it. I did. After I renewed it three times. It’s just that good. I know it’s because I’m a sucker for both good food and good photography, but really, doesn’t it seem like a perfect addition to our household? I was sad to see it go.

We made quite a few recipes from the book while we had it, including the one for Irish Soda Bread. In fact, FireDad was the one who made the soda bread which was his first attempt at baking something other than pre-made cookies. Quite honestly, the two of us could have sat and picked at that delicious concoction for hours. Carbs? Love em. Sweet carbs that aren’t overly sweet? Love ‘em.

The only complaint that we had about this particular book is due to the location of where these firefighters live juxtaposed with the location in which we live. San Fransisco firefighters have much easier access to a wide variety of fresh fish than we do here in land-locked central Ohio. A large number of the recipes called for various kinds of fish and seafood. While our family loves seafood, it’s not easy to come by even in our reliable local grocery store (unless it’s Lent). There’s no fish market here. As such, some of the recipes were not possible for us to consider, let alone make.

That aside, the cookbook had a wide variety of recipes that we’ve adapted and placed in our rotation. A few pasta recipes were actually great hits with my kids as well as one of the various chicken recipes. There are many great sides including some great Caesar salad options which are apparently the big thing with San Fransisco firefighters. Each house has their own recipe.

What makes this cookbook truly great is that while it was still being printed and sold, some of the proceeds were donated to the SFFD Surviving Family’s Fund. I wish I could have gotten a copy back then (originally printed in 2003).

When it boils down to it (pun intended), we loved this cookbook. I only wish that we could get our hands on it to have in our own cookbook library. If you happen to see two copies, pick one up for yourself and send us the other! (I did just learn that the book itself is available to view on Google books. Check it out!)

I’ll have another firefighter cookbook review in July! Stay tuned!

_
[Disclosure: Amazon link is through Amazon Affiliates but the book is no longer in print.]

Firefighter News Headlines or, Where Are the Murderous Plumbers?

fire life 4 Responses »

May 122010

I read a lot of firefighter news. I have Google Alerts set up to show up in my inbox every morning. I also follow a lot of fire news linkers on twitter. I don’t read everything. But I do when I see a headline like this: Firefighter, Son Due in Court Wednesday. And on that page is a video titled, “Firefighter and Son Charged with Murder.”

He’s innocent until proven guilty (you know, despite the presence of eye-witnesses, ahem), of course, so I won’t be commenting on the case. What I do want to ask is this: what is his son’s career? Really, I need to know what his son does for a living.

Because we obviously had to know that the man-beating father with poor parenting skills was a firefighter. So, I want to know what the son does. Is he a CPA at his wits end at the end of tax season? A glee club teacher gone crazy after too many rehearsals for sectionals? A freelance writer who had been holed up working on a piece for too long? Was he a train conductor, a construction worker, a member of a band? Did he teach small children right from wrong in our school system? Did he fix my computer after hackers wrecked all of my data? Would he have come to fix my pipes after my kids threw something in the toilet that clogged everything up? Those occupations might be mentioned in the article at some point but would make an unlikely headline.

I get it. Firefighters, like police officers and soldiers, are held to a higher standard. They are here to serve and protect. When they go rogue and beat someone to death or start fires or any other number of heinous crimes, it’s kind of scary. These are the people we expect to save us. These are the people we count on when something bad is happening in our own lives. And so, when I hear a story about some firefighter who has gone off the deep end and started his own unintentional or, if the crime is premeditated, intentional smear campaign of firefighters everywhere, I want to create my own headline that reads: Freelance Writer, Full-Time Blogger and Part-Time Newspaper Photographer Goes Bat Poop Crazy and Hits Really Stupid (Alleged) Crime-Committing Soon-to-be-EX-Firefighter Over the Head with Her Really Heavy Purse-slash-Camera Bag. Except I’m able to keep my anger in check.

But that makes my other point, doesn’t it? If I beat someone up alongside the road, they’d most likely use my title of mom to make titillating headlines. Unless I was at, say, the BlogHer conference. Then I might get some reference to my work, though it would be something like, “CRAZY BLOGGING WOMAN KILLS EQUALLY STRANGE PEERS.” If my husband delivers the beatdown, well, screw his role of husband and father, it’s a firefighter! There are so many job titles that would never have made that headline, let alone the small article itself. I really want to see more occupational titles in headlines though. So I’m sure to avoid every person in any profession. Because the bad seeds should be able to speak for us all.

All of this is to say that my heart goes out to Mark Wallace’s family, the man who was beaten to his death by this unfortunate so-called firefighter and his apparently jobless son. I am so very sorry for your loss and that it came at the hands of someone who was supposed to protect.

Life, Death and Firefighting

fire life 4 Responses »

Apr 262010

A retired firefighter from our department passed away this weekend.

He was a 91 year old man. A World War II Army Veteran. His wife of 69 years died in 2008. He served on our fire department for 27 years. That’s just two years shorter than the length of my life at this point. He retired as a Captain.

FireDad told me about his passing on Friday, the day of his death. I don’t know if it’s because I celebrated a birthday and welcomed another year of my life or if because death and grief have been an all too present thought in my daily life as of late but I’ve been thinking a lot about firefighting, death and the like over the past few days.

I don’t think firefighters are better, in death or in life. They’re not all perfect people. They make mistakes in life. But to lose one, even one who is retired, is a somber reminder of the brevity of life. FireDad was off teaching a fire propane class yesterday. More so than any other time he has left me to teach this class, I feared for his safety. I told myself it was due to the weather, the storms and the wind. I feared for his drive there and for his return trip. I was anxious until he arrived home. I’ve always known the risks he faces with the job that he loves. Sometimes more than others, like now, I am reminded of them and they make me catch my breath. I force myself to remember he is a safe, capable firefighter surrounded by other safe, capable firefighters. I push away the thoughts of Ladder 49 and Backdraft. I imagine he is invincible. I know he is not but it is the only way to shake the nagging fear.

I work on Saturday. I think we’re having someone watch the boys for a few hours so FireDad can attend the viewing, the funeral and the graveside service. FireDad never fought a fire with this man but there is a sense of honor, respect and understanding that without our previous firefighters, our current men and women wouldn’t be where they are today.

We are grateful for the prior service of our late firefighter and we send our best to his family during this difficult time.

_
Photo Credit.