Pssst, SHertz here! **UPDATED**

Hi everyone!

The core group at HeroToHero.us is gettin' pretty danged busy.  I know there are rumors flying around about me, and my latest adventures, so I thought I'd see what I could do to set the record straight.  Here we go ...

NO, I am not seeing Carmen  Elecktra, or Kirstie Alley ... Carmen's married, and Kirstie won't return my calls.  (But she's lookin' good!)

NO, I am not traveling as a roadie for Toby Keith.  However, I am planning on catching up with him (And the WSCFFA Burn Calendar Firefighters ... who will be at McCabe's -- 26th & Pacific -- before & after Toby's concert) at the Tacoma Dome on January 21st ... I have message for him from Liz's son Bo.  "Thanks for the awesome concert you put on in Afghanistan while I was deployed there.  Made another fan!  A lot of them!"

Yes, I did take off recently with my passport.  A bear's gotta do what a bear's gotta do.

And taking care of all of my troop morale duties this past year has caused me to come dangerously close to being noncurrent.  So when this mission came up, I was able to serve my country as only a small fuzzy bear can.

You see, there were some things that needed taking care of.  Now, normally we leave that to the big guys in uniform, but every once in a while ...

I can't give you all of the specifics, as a lot of what I do is classified.  And on occasion I have to sign a "Nope, didn't see that" clause. 

In any case.  I can tell you that I just got back from the desert.  Had a couple missions come up overseas.  America, rest assured, I handled it.

Fortunately, my crew was backing me up, and my Secret Service detail performed to their utmost when things got furry ... er, I mean, hairy.

But, I have to tell you I am exhausted!  Check out the photos, they had me man every position on the aircraft.  In between perusing my pubs and checklists, I was giving the loadmaster a hand, checking up on the crew, making flight meals, inspecting the avionics system, and playing cards.

I even got a limo pin, (that was misplaced/lost on the flight), and the loadmaster got a really cool coin!  If my buddies there in DC have another pin, it'd be nice to have it on my uniform.

And I won't say we were shot at ... but let's just say it's never dull flying over the sandbox.  But, I'm okay!

There was a small incident when I tried to put my foot in place to help tie down a load. And before I knew it I was in a rather precarious position.  This danged leg is never gonna heal!  But I think I may qualify for a disability pension when I retire.

As if escorting the Presidential limo over to the desert wasn't busy enough, I had to plan a return photo op for HeroToHero.us.  (Don't know what they'd do without me!)

And so after my fur-raising international travel, I found myself back on terra firma in the good ol' Pacific Northwet ... but not for long!

Just when I thought I'd catch a mini-hibernation, it's off we go again.  This time it was to the newly merged Federal Way & Des Moines Fire Depts.  Now they are South King County Fire & Rescue.  (Which to H2H means, more shirts!!!)  And they seemed like a great bunch of folks!

They made me BC for the day.  Set me in the BC rig, where I immediately checked out their computer.

We did some photo ops with them.  A few of them were just downright cuddly!

Then I hear the words I have come to dread ...

"You know, almost all of the other departments have done something fun & creative with SHertz.  Any ideas?" 

Have I mentioned that Liz is on my list?

And I see that look, that crazed look of a firefighter with "an idea".  And I realized that to them, BC meant Bear Cub, and nothing more.  Oh, to be back in the desert!

These guys are nuts!  They informed me that their truck was red, with yellow stripes ... You look at the pix, and decide ... I shoulda run then! 

But before I could say, "Ummm, excuse me, no!"  I saw the rope. 

Then I saw the ladder being pulled out (For you nontechnical types, that means a big firetruck with a realllllly long ladder that points straight up in the air!)

Can you see where this is going?  I could.

So look real close, that "spot" you see on the rope?  Yup, that's yours truly!  And they didn't even seem to feel bad about it.  They just did their thing, then waved to the camera from the ladder. 

There is a shot taken from the 105 ft mark ... and if you think it's blurry from YOUR point of view?  Change seats with me!

Even the big guy that looked like he'd be on my side?  Noooooooooo, he just covered his eyes!  You'd think he'd signed one of those "Nope, didn't see that" clauses like I had.

Only thing that saved this furball was that MY HERO, the Commissioner showed up.  Whew!  

And I got hugs from Debbie ... sigh.

So, summing up ...

-Flying over to the desert on a USAF C-17 ... awesome!

-Hangin' with the Secret Service ... way awesome!

-Hugs from Debbie ... again, awesome!

-Hanging like a pinata from a 105 foot ladder ... not so awesome.

-Giving notice that after this Pack-Out on February 25th, at the Fortson Armory, I am retiring ... PRICELESS!

Gotta go, phone's ringing ... Kirstie? 

( ;

SHertz Forda Troops

PS ... I will be holding interviews for my replacement.

**And NOW it can be told ...

K, folks.  The  powers that be have come down from on high and released more info from my recent forays to the sand and beyond.   So to clarify prior statements ...   We got to Ramstein and were taken back to the states for a high priority mission.    The big limo is the President's.  The others are Cheney's, it was a VP mission...not presidential.   We also stopped in Gandor INTL, New Foundland where I assisted in the refueling so that we could get to Andrews,  then  home for a R&R and one day later back out to the system.   I pulled a Deadhead on a KC-10 to Turkey, and spent many hours out with over 50 aircrew partying up the scene for Christmas.  As for those photos, ummm, geez can't seemto find any.  Hehe.   Our down time was busy.  We visited friends in Al Udeid for a bit, and watched Four Brothers in the free AOR movie theatre. Had some pool time even though it's not pool season at the "Deid Pool".  Then it was back into Bravo Alert for our mission that night.  Work never ends for us warrior types.   I helped back the aircraft up on the way to the sandbox to get some of those oh-so cherished tax-free dollars ... Hey, wait a minute, I never did get a check.  Better call Finance!   We flew to Al Sahre, then Balad then back to Turkey. Pictures from this part of the mission are being scrutinized, and will be posted very soon.  Got some good ones in the cockpit when our pilot let me fly the C-17 for a while!  So, I took over the left seat, and humored the right-seater.  (It's good to let these young upstarts think they have power, you know.  No worries ... he'll get the hang of it!)   Start engines time was pretty busy for me.  Had to check the aircraft forms for anything that could be wrong with the plane before we take off ... all was well, but just goes to show how much I had on my small furry shoulders.    And with that, it was off to Germany where we had New Year's Eve at the Blarneystone, with fireworks everywhere.  Got our attention when a "dud" went off by my A/C and Loadmaster's feet!  As a diversionary tactic, I pretended to be scared, seemed to help calm everyone.  I do what I can.  Again, I can't seem to locate those photos, either.  (Hey, I signed a clause, you know!)   We hauled our load, and my furry backside back to the States, so the crew could get some rest before their next mission.   I would like to thank and commend my fine crews ... appreciatethe lift.    SFT