What would we have done?
Waiting for a good friend to show up. We’d arranged to meet at a Starbucks, but through some misunderstanding, we both ended up at the wrong place. The situation was easily remedied through use of a mobile phone. By the time he showed up I’d finished my first cup of coffee (picture with cup and arriving friend in the distance).
I wondered: what would we have done 20 years ago? I suppose I’d have waited for about half an hour, tried to find a public telephone and – provided I had coins- tried to call him at home. And would then have moved on. Times have changed indeed.
Cup of Coffee?
This morning I went to Veendam to collect our trailer. I called ahead and spoke to one of the guys. What he had to say: “There’s a cup of coffee waitong for you”. Sometimes, it’s the small things that mean a lot.
Copenhagen
I’m on the train in Copenhagen (s-tog) enjoying free internet. It’s great , provided you have some handy device like an iPhone or sometime soon a tablet. On the other hand, it keeps you from looking outside, and it’s not like a break from being online is a bad thing. On the other hand, I can write about how odd it is to be close to where I gathered nice childhood memories. On with it.
WordPress for iPhone
Just downloaded thw WordPress App and testing!
In Between…
I really wish I’d keep this blog more active. Foremost to work as a diary to remind myself of thoughts and experiences, and perhaps to keep the odd person or two up to date. It’s not happening, but I really should look at a better integration of Twitter, Flickr, Facebook in particular, with this blog as a focal point. Anyway. Here are a couple of things that have happened since the last post in December:
First and foremost, I was deployed to Haiti as a member of @fire, following the earthquake. We went there as a USAR team. This will problably qualify as the most extreme experience of my life, in many respects. Im am glad and thankful I could be part of the relief effort.
This is our team ready to go at Munich airport.
Going to Haiti was like going to a black hole. We did not know what to expect. It was like a movie unfolding. This is the building where I finally realised we were there:
There are about 15 dead people in this picture, just only out of sight. It was smelly and hot. We were there for three intense days. The most stressful thing? Not the dead, or the destruction. Rather, for 10 days, not knowing what was about to happen for the next hour. We finally got home courtesy of the Belgian Air Force. (Picture Set)
Haiti was plus 30+ degrees Celsius. The week after that, I was in Warsaw, Poland. Minus 25 °C in the daytime, that is a temperature difference of almost 60 °C. We spent most of those two days indoors. It’s a shame, because I was really glad to finally be in that city – I’ll have to take a closer look another time.
Station 1, Warsaw.
Last week was all Heavy Rescue: first, three days with “grand master” Jimmy, of raddning.se, in Knivsta, north of Stockholm. Two days Bus Lift, and one day Truck extrication using a deformed, brand spanking new Scania truck. It was outside, cold, but it sure as hell beats any office job.
Finally, my very own Big Lift. This time, a situation to strike fear in the hearts of the participants :)
..and these are only the facts. Emotionally, it’s been a roller coaster ride, but that is boring. On with it.
Sets on Flickr: Haiti, Warsaw, Heavy Rescue Sweden, Big Lift
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Welcome
Welcome to Irakli West's personal pages on the Web. I am Danish, live close to Munich in Germany, and run FWnetz, an online magazine and training resource for firefighters. In real life, I am Regional Manager Northern Europe for Paratech, teach Heavy Rescue (it's fun, challenging and serves a good purpose) and try to learn more about USAR. I am a member of the Munich Volunteer Fire Department as well as @fire, a USAR and Wildfire NGO outfit.
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