20150920 - Baton Rouge LA

The whole plan for this day would be to ride into Baton Rouge, LA and meet up with my friend of 20+ years and current District Fire Chief of St. George's Parish - Jack Jones.

Once again, I left without breakfast.  The GPS indicated I was about 2 hours away and I expected Jack to be working with his guys on training.  The man has to work and I really didn't want him to be having to play host to me.  I was expecting to get there, find a corner of the fire station to crawl into, light up my wireless hot spot and start blogging until he was done for the day.  Truly, I was very excited about getting there and catching up.  20 years is a long time and I'll comment once more about FaceBook bringing people together.  20 years ago, the technology wasn't there.  If you didn't get their phone number before they lost town, generally speaking, you expected them to be lost forever unless you had friends in common that could put you back in touch.

So, as I road from Natchez to Baton Rouge, I reflected on how happy I was that I wasn't sweating my a$$ off.  It was still 70 something degrees.  I was also thinking about what a shame it was that on this trip, I would only have 3 meal opportunities to sample some world renowned cuisine.  It was sort of depressing.  I had considered going to the French Quarter; but, truth be told, I was road weary and was looking for a day out of the saddle to rest up for tomorrow's 600 mile ride home.

I pulled into town and just about did an end when I saw a cafe on the side of the road with 2 police cars.  If it's meal time and I see emergency services folks piled into a restaurant, that is where I want to be.  These people know the local area well and know what's good and what's not.  Think about it.  How often do you see the local police, ambulance or fire crews at McDonalds?  You don't.  They are at that little restaurant that sells great food, a little off the beaten path, that knows them all by first name.  This is the place I'm always looking for.  So, I slammed on the brakes, did a quick U-turn and came pulled in.

I was definitely looking for something different for breakfast.  American breakfasts can be somewhat boring; eggs, omelets, french toast, pancakes, waffles, cereal, oatmeal and that's about it.  Maybe sometimes, you'll find a Huevos rancheros dish somewhere; but, for all intents and purposes, an American breakfast is pretty dull.  I found what I was looking for when I read "Catfish fillet and eggs, Toast or girts."  I can honestly say, catfish has never been on my breakfast menu; but, when in Baton Rouge do what the Baton Rougi ... people from Baton Rouge do.  Order up!  So, I read what I wanted right off the menu to the waitress, who asked if i wanted grits and I looked at her funny because it was either toast or grits.  She said the menu was wrong and I could have both and that if I didn't want toast, they had homemade biscuits.  This is getting better by the second.  I'll have grits and a homemade biscuit please!  So, when she came back she asked where I was from because I looked at her strange when she mentioned grits.  I told her I love grits and prefer to have them plain, unlike those folks from Mississippi who mix their scrambled eggs in their grits.  At that point, it was clear that I was a member of the grit eating community and not some damn yankee (this is our secret).

So, while I'm enjoying this killer biscuit, I notice some guy taking a long look at my bike.  He came in and saw me right away and said he had a K16 of his own and was looking at my crash bars.  I introduced myself and offered him a seat.  I knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation.  He politely refused; but, when a well dressed church going couple came in and took his seat, he took me up on my offer.  We talked for the better part of an hour about bikes and riding.  He's a lineman from Detroit; but home is Louisiana.  He said that he doesn't ride much; but, that's because he just had his hip resurfaced and was just cleared back to work.  He was rightfully concerned that he couldn't support the weight of the bike on that hip.  He's planning on getting back to it soon.  As good as the conversation was, I had to excuse myself because a full day of catching up was in store for me.  James bought my my breakfast, which was entirely unnecessary; but, very nice.  So, my day started out with a free and very tasty breakfast.  On the way out, I complimented the waitress on her biscuits.  I had a feeling it was her restaurant and she made those little beauty's from scratch.  Her whole face lit up.  That's awesome.

So, literally, I went into the restaurant and it was in the low 80's and when I came out, the temperature was more than 90.  OMG.  Fortunately, I was only 7 miles away from getting out of my riding duds and into some cooler clothing.

The GPS almost took me to the firehouse.  I was just about to blow by it when I saw the bay doors open and two firetrucks inside.  I doubted there were two nations on the same street less than a mile apart, so once again, I tested the limits of the braking abilities of the K16, swung a U turn in front of the engine and parked around back.   Jack heard me coming and was out back.

People could learn a thing or two about hosting from Jack.  I was barely off the bike and Jack was showing me inside to my room.  He had a sleeping bag, a sheet, and towels waiting for me.  The room was air-conditioned and cold.  He told me to get myself comfortable and come out so he could introduce me to everyone.  I would not say that I had low expectations; but, I would say that I would be perfectly happy sleeping on the couch.  I had a whole crews quarter with it's own bathroom to myself.  Did I mention that it was nice and cold?

I met the guys and Jack and I had a chance to catch up.  We also talked about FaceBook and how once you get past all the cat and dog pics, you actually do get insight into what's going on in people's lives.  Catching up is much quicker.  The one thing FaceBook didn't prepare me for was how deep Jack's voice has become.  He told me he was taught how to whisper in a sawmill.  This would be true.

Before too long, we were out in the Department's Tahoe looking over St. George.  We drifted in to another station, where Jack had Walt give me the tour of the rescue.  Walt is a rescue Captain, and there is good reason for it.  He exudes knowledge about every inch of that truck and it's capabilities.  He can tell you the specifications on every piece of hardware and exactly what it's capabilities are.  The people of St. George are lucky to have him.  Judging by the others at this department, he was one of many talented individuals.

After the tour, we drifted over to HQ, where I met an assistant Chief, Mike Armanini.  Mike went to Paramedic school in Williamsport with Angelo Porecca - small world.  It became very clear that there was lots of trust and a solid working relationship between Mike and Jack.  Later in the day, I'd meet another District Chief and it was even clearer that there is very open and fluent communication and support for each other at the top of this company.  I was very clear that the lines of communication were open all day and that they were each responsive to one another's needs within their districts.

Before too long, Jack, Mike and I wandered over to the simulator.  Yes, they have a $250,000 fire engine simulator.

Jack, being the perfect host, did not tease me with such a wonderful combination of fun and technology and fired it up for me.  I will say that it takes a little getting used to.  There is lots of realism; but, there are also some things that are strange - like if you go over railroad tracks, the screen bounces; but, it's not a full motion sim, so you don't feel anything.  The simulator focuses on many aspects of driving a fire engine - control, response time ( to unexpected events), blind corners, driving at appropriate speeds, control limits, etc.  I can see how some might complain that it's not like the real thing, and they would be right; but, it is absolutely world class in that it demands good judgement from you and allows you to make errors in a controlled environment.  Here's my run where I'm supposed to go down to K street, turn left and find a vehicle fire.  There never was a vehicle fire due to a computer error; but, it was a good run.

After about an hour or so of simulator time, we said goodbye to Mike and headed out for more of a tour of the town and it wasn't too long before we were out on vehicle wreck.  It was my first response with Jack in over 20 years.  I have to say that 20 years has changed things drastically.  We definitely had our issues with people not getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle, no doubt; but, things are ten times worse now.  Firefighters meticulously plan everything just so they can get out of the station faster and to the scene as quickly as possible.  They take incredible risk by dressing in the back of the piece, only to have one a$$hole after another pull in front of them or not yield the right of way, all while talking on their cellphone.  In a 3 minute response, we had at least that many drivers that would not yield to us.  I'm thinking that emergency vehicles should be equipped with  cellphone jammers.  When the lights and siren go on, every call in a 1000' semi-circle in front of the vehicle is dropped and their cellphone goes dead - until the vehicle passes.  The technology is available.  It would really anger a lot of people; but, it would save lives and do a lot to guarantee the safety of emergency responders.

Jack and I had a mission.  I wanted to bring desert to dinner.  Jack, again being a flawless host, planned for us to have dinner at the firehouse.  On the menu was Josh's pastalaia.  This is a combination of jambalaya and pasta.  It's a firehouse special and it's damn good.  Excuse the pic below.  At one point this really awesome cast iron dutch oven was full; but, the picture had to wait until after I we were done eating.  Josh is an awesome cook.  When I came in, they were talking about whether or not they needed the rest of the stock.  They cooked this up from scratch - no microwave involved.  AND, they had a caesar salad on the side.  Truly awesome.

So, just a comment about the smoke eaters.  Simply put, these guys are family.  It is a highly social environment.  Not a single person picked up an smartphone the entire time I was there.  Now, finding your place in the family is a requirement is a process and time honored tradition.  The person with the least seniority can count on being the brunt of all jokes and be required to do a lot of the house chores.  When I pledged Sigma-Phi-Epsilon, this is exactly how it was.  The brothers were relentless and unmerciful and your only solace is that on that glorious day, when some poor noob joins your station, you will no longer be the low man.  Cayman, my brother, keep smiling.  You have a great personality and you handle it well.  Know full well that when you're in the station, you're their punching bag; but, when you're out of the station, every single one of those guys has your back - and you can bet your life on it.

I really liked this dutch oven and had to get a picture with the lid.

After dinner, we rolled on two calls - one where someone pulled the alarm in the section 8 housing district and a fatal overdose.  The dispatcher was obviously trained by the very best and everyone at our station sleep the whole night through; other stations weren't so lucky though.

I had to grab a pic of my motorcycle's sleeping accommodations.

and, this story wouldn't be complete without a picture of me and Jack.

Before I close out this day's post, I really want to say thank you to the St. George Fire Department for making me feel so welcome.  Every station I visited had a really awesome clue and my only regret is that I didn't get to spend more time with each of you.  Josh, again, great grub.  Cayman, thank you for the iced tea.  Erik, Joe, Brad, Mike, it was great meeting all of you.  There are so many more of you and I am so sorry I didn't write down all your names.  Please be safe.

Jack, if you're reading, what can I say.  You rock.  My day off the bike was way more than I expected.  Just catching up and kicking back would have been plenty for me; but, you went all out and showed me a great time.  I know you have a ton of brothers around you every day; but, don't forget about the one that is only 618 miles away.  If I can ever host while you're in Florida, I'd be honored and please expect another visit soon - this time on your day off and probably in the French Quarter.