Remainder of the Fire Camp experience

I'm going to give you a quick finish to this story. So my first official day there, I was standing amongst all these dirty, tired looking firefighters at the morning briefing. After the briefing, I met the man I was working for. He was a Communications man from the USFS. Within about 10 minutes of meeting him and seeing where I'd be working, he had me cloning radios for firefighters. Cloning a radio, simply means programming it with the frequencies used on the fire line. I was a little nervous, as this was the first time I'd ever done this. I mean, I received my Radio Operator qualifications at the local Air Attack base near our town. This Air Attack base works fires locally during the summer months and I am a Call When Needed contract employee. I have worked there as a CWN for a little over 12 years. My duties there only involved using radios to communicate with fire air craft and other operations at the base. So as I'm cloning these radios, I kept thinking, "who would have ever thought that my training at the Air Attack base would send me to a fire camp, programming radios for firefighters. The assignment was a lot of fun. The 2 Communications leaders we worked with, were very knowledgeable and fun to work with. The second day there, I was informed that I would be rolled into working the night shift. So I was sent into Bishop to rest for a few hours. I had been at briefing at 6:00am then worked until 4:00pm, went into Bishop, showered and ate a quick bite, and actually got 2 full hours of nice sleep. I drove back to the camp at 9:30pm. I worked from 10:00pm until 6:00am the following day. In a 24 hour period, I worked 19 hours. As I sat there in the early early hours of the morning, I kept thinking about my husband and how these can be the hours he works. I had much appreciation for night shift firefighters, now. It's interesting how, even though we think we know what they do, when you see firsthand what it is, it brings a whole new perspective to everything. I was luckily given a motel room about 5 minutes from the camp. Which after working through the night hours, is a good thing to not have to drive a long time. It's amazing how when you're that tired, eating breakfast doesn't even sound appeasing. My breakfast usually consisted of a water and a breakfast bar. I don't really remember falling asleep, since it usually happened so quickly. The feeling of being asleep during the day, then showering and going back to work when it was dark, was a weird feeling. One night the dispatch center called me and wanted to send me to Boise, ID for a Radio Operator assignment. I turned this down, knowing that my husband had almost reached his 14 days and would be home for R&R soon. I worked the night shift for 3 more days, then was released back to my home unit. That morning, I went to my motel room to sleep for only 3 hours. The Comm Leader had me come back to camp, and wait for possible reassignment. Nothing had come in by 12:00pm, so we were released and available. I drove 6.5 hours to my home, and let me share with you the best feeling in the world. When you walk in your front door and you're tired, your own bed feels so wonderful to sleep in. Again, I am beginning to understand how after sleeping on the ground and in the different sleeping areas, our husbands are so happy to come back home. Makes me want to make sure, the sheets are clean and the bed is made when hubby gets home. I'm ready for my next assignment...............