Tales from fireschool

Fire school was last week out at A&M. It was nice to get to go back and wander around. The town and campus have changed and are steadily growing. But one thing is still a constat. The Egg Roll House is still there. And as far as anyone knows has never been open. At least not since 1991.

 

As to what happened out at fire school. as my last blog indicated it was pretty tame this year. All carousing, drinking and genral misbehavior consisted of a few beers in the room, me staying up late studying and dinner every evening after classes. Jeff, Bob aka Tim, BC and Adam the Pimp all had to leave by about 6:15 every morning to get a descent parking space out at the fire field, I had class till 6 every day and thus no one felt the desire to go out.

 

Sunday we all met up at the Dixie Chicken, my former employer. Place has changed little besides a bigger back porch. Freddy is still there, Roger is still at Chicken Oil Company thus proving short order cooking can be a 20+ year career.  

 

Jeff is a man among men, sucking down a large chicken fried steak (approx 20 oz in size) and all the trimmings at Sodalaks Steak House in Snook, TX. We went there Moinday eveniong and Thursday. This place also has chicken fried bacon on the menu. Served with cream gravy. It will kill you, theres nothing else to be said. 

 

Bob got ambitious and tried to eat the large sirloin  appox 32 oz of beef. He lost. I took discretion over valor, ordered the small sirloin, only 16 oz, medium rare, was damn nice. Bob also donated a PFD shirt to the collection of FD shirts they have on the walls of the place and in return was given a Sodalaks t-shirt, in hot pink of course. Bob has no doubts of his masculinity and wore it proudly. The shirt also led to us getting invited to partake in the passing around of a half gallon of Crown Royal with a bunch of guys I think were instructors at fireschool, one of whom was wearing an apron made from empty Crown Royal bags. These kind of things just happen in Snook.

 

 Wednesday I took Jeff, Bob and Adam the Pimp to downtown Bryan for some hole in the wall Mexican food. Los Nortenos. Hadn't been there in about 12 years, place hasn't changed, foods still great. Was one of those perfect meals, tejano playing in the background, a sort of cute if you had a few more beers Hispanic waitress, hot sauce that had moments of lighting you up, cold beer, and huge homemade tortillas that burned the hands when you unwrapped them.

Afterwards we wandered around Bryan and wound up at the Bonfire Memorial. I will admit it took me a lage amount of effort not to break down while reading the Last Corps Trip which is inscribed on the walls as you entire the memorial site. I helped build two Bonfires and know what was going on when it fell and why those Ag's were out there doing it. I tried my best to explain what it all meant but as the saying goes, from the outside looking in, you cannot understand it, from the inside looking out, you cannot explain it.   

 

It was a long week, a lot of work. Most everyone seemed to enjoy it. Maybe next year I'll be like 70% of the attendees and drink to excess nightly and suffer for it for three days.

 

Then again, thats what New Orleans is for. 

 

Later