This week I will be working as a Cowboy at a ranch near La Barge, Wyoming.

I have no idea what to expect. When I think of a Cowboy, a cliche of images come to mind. The infamous Cowboy hat, boots, jacket, horse, piece of hay in the mouth, accent, riding in open fields for miles and miles.

But all stereotypes aside, what exactly is it that a Cowboy does? Is it possible to be employed as a full-time Cowboy?

I didn’t need much information before making the decision to head towards Wyoming - I would be working at a ranch located outside a small town in Wyoming with a Cowboy named Chet. What more did I need?

It was Chet’s brother who first contacted me a while back. When I finally spoke to Chet last week, he sounded excited about the idea of me coming. I still don’t know what to expect, though he did mention something about calving.

Whatever that means, I am sure that I will soon to find out!

Here’s the entire Rachael Ray clip which aired March 6, 2008. It was a lot of fun!

I arrived at the station and met with Battalion Chief Dave Messerschmidt and Captain/Paramedic Shannon Stone.

Dave had a serious face and asked me, “Sean, what is your objective here?” I went into a rather long winded answer about the project and what I was hoping to get out of my time at the fire station. His serious face made it difficult to gauge his reaction.

After a slight pause, Dave calmly replied, “Well, that’s great. My objective at the moment is to get breakfast.” We all laughed and I felt at ease.

A tradition the guys have on weekend is to visit a local diner for breakfast. We didn’t want to break tradition, so away we went to start the day off with a good meal. Afterwards we got into some training.

I learned about the use of ropes and harnesses that are used in situations when the fire can’t be attacked by ladder. I also got the chance to use the Jaws Of Life. That was an awesome experience, the sheer power of that tool is incredible. It cuts through a car like a knife through butter.

All the guys at the department are like family - they spend so much time together and their profession demands they work as a team.

It was great that they quickly accepted both Ian and myself into their group even though we were only there for a short while. I have have always been involved in team sports growing up and in College. The comradeship and interaction among them reminded me of that unique team dynamic - working together to achieve a common goal.

Firefighters are tough (some may even say intimidating). Though I must say these guys are extremely good people. They have integrity and a great sense of what is “right.”

As the Battalion Chief said, “Yes, we are like family here, all brothers and sisters. That being said, you don’t want to screw with us.” Though he added, “You must have a sense of humor to be this profession.”

-Sean

My interview and segment from when I was in studio last week will air tomorrow - Thursday, March 6/08. The station and time depends on where you live, though it’s Rachael Ray’s talk show and not the cooking one.

Here is a clip from backstage after the interview.

The first of my two 24 hour shifts at the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department started off early morning. There are three shifts at the department, A, B, and C. Each one works 24 hours (7am - 7am) and then has 48 hours off.

As I mentioned earlier, we stayed with Ryan and Lacey in Pensacola before heading an hour east to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Ryan was kind enough to give us a ride. Once there, we decided to go out for dinner and drinks with a couple of his friends. One drink turned into several and we ended up having a late night. Not the best idea when I was set to kick off my Firefighter training early the next day. I guess I didn’t realize it would be that challenging.

I suited up with all the gear which weighs about 60lbs. After I put on the gas tank, I thought, “Hey, this isn’t so heavy.” That obvious mis-conception was soon relinquished after I began some the training exercises.

I took out the fire hose, ran with it pressurized for about 100ft. (when I say “ran” I mean exerting myself as if I was in a full out sprint, though with the weight of the hose, all my effort was translating into a full out crawl). I tried the “Denver Drill” which is a technique used to get an unresponsive firefighter out a window to safety.

I dragged a 180lbs dummy, climbed the 75 ft ladder, and simulated entering a building on my knees with the hose and sprayed the interior. It was a really cool experience, minus the fact that I was pretty close to exhaustion and I thought I was going to vomit. All part of the job I guess.

I felt like a wimp. All the firefighters on duty watching as I struggled to gain my breath trying to appear as if I had everything under control. What made the experience even more humbling was the fact that I knew there were taking it easy on me!

I have a lot of respect for firefighters. Not only do they put their lives at risk for others, but the training and physical shape they must maintain is truly impressive.

Afterwards we headed back to station then out for some lunch at a local BBQ hut called Wilbur’s Sauce. It was awesome, we ate ribs, chicken, coleslaw… he just kept bringing us food. I am beginning to see some of the perks of being a firefighter.

We got a few calls that afternoon, a couple of vehicle accidents though nothing serious.

As I discovered when I was a Park Ranger in Week 46, you are always “on-call.” In the event of an incident they are able to respond quickly and take the appropriate action, though on slow days there can be a lot of downtime spent at the fire house. I enjoyed this aspect of the job especially after the training that morning and we had a fun time hanging out with the guys and hearing all of their stories over the years.

Fighting fires is easy compared to trying to get 8 guys to agree on what they are going to cook for dinner. It was good decision and we all sat down for spaghetti.

Day 2 would bring more training drills and equal indecisiveness on what to eat for dinner, though I will write a post about it in the next couple of days.

-Sean