Remscheid Feuerwehr (Rettungs Wache)

Today I applied for an internship (my 3rd) at a massive fire department, in the neighboring city of Remscheid.

I was uncertain whether to confess that I'd failed and that is why I'm repeating my training, but eventually the interviewer figured it out. I didn't want to lie, and in truth, an internship has no bearing on my test day. I simply must complete a certain number of emergency calls in 160 hours.

I couldn't help but get really excited as he showed me one of their 7 ambulances - I felt right at home except their breathing device was different. He assured me that as an intern, I won't have to *do* anything, just observe. I told him depending on the team I'm working with, I'll happily either watch OR participate. I know that some teams treat interns as less than shadows and some actually want to engage us.

The fact that I was unable to restrain my enthusiasm for being at another Wache shows me how my heart truly longs for this job. I couldn't stop smiling and ugh, that's so American.

***

My repeat course starts this Sunday and lasts a month. Then I have (another) month at a hospital, and then the Wache.

I've been re-reading my Medic text book every day and quizzing myself with index cards I started in 2017. OK half of them I still don't know, so there's lots to cram into my brain.

So far the hospital I want (Sana Klinic Remscheid) has not confirmed my internship there and that's stressing us out. I guess it's easy to get an internship in our tiny town, but in the "big city" of Remscheid, well, I may have to move on to Wuppertal.

The blessing in this course is that it occurs exactly during Summer break, so I can actually get to the course in Cologne, using our one car. The bad thing is school will start in another 6 weeks and I won't have a way to get to my internships, cuz we live in a "train hole" as I call it. No trains here. Just busses. And the closest internships are 1.5 hours away by bus with 2-3 transfers required. Yah, a 20 minute drive will take me 3 busses!

Funnily, I looked into renting a car, and found it easier to just freaking buy a car. Come on, 900Euros for a week for a Smart?

Also, this will be our first Summer "apart" - I'll be gone and J will be enjoying his fist full of free days alone.

***

Nasty evil hay farmer has been texting and calling J this week. Herr Daniel.

I thought he understood we never want to hear from him again, after he 1. broke our gate trying to take it apart to get in, 2. failed to get in and in a rage, told us he'd not be making hay here this year and 3. failed to simply communicate. (Reverse order.)

"I've got beautiful horse-feed quality hay for only 5E per bale, and the bales are larger than normal."

J and I both LOL'd, cuz his bales range from super tiny (a toddler could carry one) to twice that size.   When I think back on the size of an American "small" bale (2-string), his biggest ones don't come close. To elucidate, there are no hay hooks here, because no tool is needed when the strings themselves are comfortable on your un-gloved hands because the bales are are so small.

Herr Daniel said, "Why won't you let me make hay on your field?" He must have driven by and seen how thick it is.

WHY? Cuz you said you would not, and forced us to go find another farmer.

Are you daft?  

Somehow J neglected to say that to him and just said, "When we need you we'll call you."

I glared at the walls, "When we are absolutely desperate, we will."

Weather update:  They predict another drought this year. But farmers wised up after last year and started mowing in APRIL, so there are third cuts going on already. I doubt there'll be a problem. Is "there'll" a word?

***

My dear husband committed to helping me tear out a huge stand of thistle from the center of our hay field at 3 pm today. We didn't know what we were getting into, and got eaten by horsefiles and had a really hard time ripping the thistle out of the uber-dry earth.

I admit, I failed in Spring, at my thistle poisoning with Dicamba. I mean, I won, I got most of it! But unfortunately enough was left that I didn't notice once the grass was long, and until today we had a plague.

I know horses and donkeys eat thistle happily. But I am worried about having it in my hay bales. I'm worried it will cut my hands and I'm paranoid it will cut my animals' mouths and throats and even possibly kill them. They're not camels (camels have special thorn digeting mouths).

So I'm glad we were able to yank out out most the thistle by the roots today, and that our pasture is almost completely weed free.

Then again, it's in danger of dying completely if we don't get rain. It has not rained since May.

They say there may be a few drops of rain, so if we harvest now, we may lose it all, because a few drops might mean something else.

I'm so glad J did the math and told Daniels, "When you harvest our hay, we pay twice as much as the farmer we found. " And he told me, "It's half as much, if our new hay guy makes our hay on our pasture and gives it all to us for only by-the-hour costs. We'll pay only 3Euros per bale."

And so this haying adventure continues. As Laurie H taught me recently, don't barter, don't deal. Just buy what you want and screw those guys. OK she wasn't so crass....

***

Below is a pic of Easter 2017, Mag and J watching the Easter fire across the street, and the donkey not caring. BTW neither of them are adversely affected by Silvester (Germany's 4th of July on New Years Day). Lucky us.

     

J's favorite sweet spot in America is Dairy Queen. He loves the strawberry cheesecake blizzards. He has completely worn out the DQ sweatshirt in this photo. If you know where we can order another please let me know. 

If someone will finally invent transporter technology, we could beam to America weekly and get things like DQ, Best Foods, Castille soap, Kool Aid, Ranch dressing, Garlic salt, Taco seasoning, Golden Curry......and many things you Americans talk about that I'm clueless about (Buffalo sauce?) cuz they've emerged in the last 12 years. WTH is a velvet cake?