It has been over a year now that Handsome has been employed as a full-time firefighter.
And that means a lot of things.
It means that he's officially off of probation, and will likely not get fired if makes a tiny mistake. We thought, for the first year, that this was a possibility, and his employment there seemed like such a ... fragile, precious thing. Turns out, he probably would not have been fired for a tiny mistake either way, but ... meh. Definitely not now though.
It means that he's not the new guy on the shift anymore. It means that he's got a nice camaraderie going with the guys he works with. It means that I've got every third day marked on my calendar from now until after Christmas so we can keep up with his shed-dule. It means that his mastery of the English language has deteriorated some. Now guys, don't take this the wrong way, but you all get a little... creative when it comes to noises that make up real words, and noises that don't. Also, it means that when Handsome comes home after a shift or two, he sounds like he grew up eating fried okra, drinking sweet tea, and his first cuss word was dad'gum.
There's a lot of things that go on at the fire department that carry over into home life. There's the southern drawl, of course. And Handsome is a better cleaner, thanks to the mandatory daily upkeep of the station. He's also a more reluctant cleaner at home, since he does it every day at work, but, you take the good with the bad. And if you had asked me, I would have guessed that these traits, as well as the others above would eventually come to pass.
Let me tell you something I didn't expect: Firehouse Remedies.
Nope, wouldn't have guessed it. Got a problem growing your tomatoes? There's a firehouse home remedy for that - watered down dishsoap in a spray bottle, once a week. Got an issue with your dog not eating his food? 2 Tablespoons of Canola oil on his chow every day, he'll gobble it right up. And, most recently, my reigning favorite...
Having foot problems? Of any type whatsoever? Oh, we've got this covered:
 |
| If you think that bottle says: AntNeptic Moth Rink Well, you're wrong. But hey, the glare gets the best of all of us once in a while. |
