Wednesday 31 August 2016

Hills, trees and a dam

Hi everyone,

Wednesday evening, and it's been an orange coloured few days.

When I last posted, I explained how I was down at Creswick on a peer support training weekend.  The Course was immensely productive and it was good to see other SES Peers from across the state: aside from this training we'd rarely if ever meet.  I got a good run in on the Saturday evening before the presentation dinner.  Even though Creswick is chilly, it's beautiful hilly country to run in.  I'd love to do a lot more of it through the country owned by the School of Forestry.


If you're interested, these are the photographs that I took while I was down there.

The SES theme has continued into the week.  Monday wasn't a bad day, and I picked up a bit of labouring work as I said before.  A flood watch was issued through the afternoon, to kick in on Tuesday and Wednesday because of expected heavy rain.  This meant that Tuesday itself became a fairly full day.  I spent most of the morning working in Shepparton again, and then came back here so that the old boy and I could go over to Mansfield in the afternoon to help a friend round up some steers to take to market.  We were mustering on motorbikes and four-wheelers, and chasing the cattle took us right to the ridge overlooking our friend's place.  This was epically worth it.  The valley laid out below is mind-bogglingly beautiful and peaceful.


Because the weather was expected to get bad, I drove over to Tatura in the evening to pick up the four wheel drive and storm trailer to provide rapid response to any jobs.  In case you're wondering, this is what that ensemble looks like in daylight -


I drove back here on Tuesday evening and I'd no sooner walked in the house when my pager went off to advise of a tree down / traffic hazard.  I was the duty officer, so I activated one member from Tatura with the truck and then I drove through Shepparton towards the job, picking up a crew on the way.  The job was less significant than had been initially thought and the truck was able to deal with it before we got there.  We met and compared notes at Mooroopna before dispersing for home.



I tumbled into bed a bit after midnight and was asleep by about 0100.

Not for long though.  At about 0345 my pager went off again for a tree down / traffic hazard at Pinelodge.  I was still duty officer, so I got up and acknowledged the job to Dispatch, confirmed a crew could turn out, and headed out.  What did we find at the scene?  A fellow waving us down and directing us to a much more pressing matter: a truck that had run off the road into a farm dam!  I really really want to tell you what happened next, because we were the first emergency unit on scene and I think we did a good job (aside from one glitch - I failed to make or direct to be made a wordback to dispatch).  However, I'll be responsible and not talk about it.  I'm proud of what we did though.  If details surface on the web I'll share them.


I don't know if it was the sleep deprivation or the intense start to the day that leaves you feeling a bit flat, but I had trouble finding my stride today.  I've read a little and there was some farm work in the evening, but I couldn't much settle my mind to anything.

Not much more to note.  More farm work tomorrow.  The weather has passed through so hopefully the pager will stay quiet tonight!

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