By Georgia Osten
Lately, I’ve been wondering how long I want to keep working. I guess, because I’ve just reached a pretty significant birthday, the thought arises that I’m “no Spring Chicken.” Maybe the real question is how much longer will a business/company want me to work for them? I’ll bet if I was still at that big ol’ oil company in HR, I would have been offered the package by now. Not like my brother-in-law, the geologist, who was given retention after retention to stay on. I think, rather know, that if I wasn’t at work, I’d be out running the streets shopping. Not very productive, but I must admit – A lot of fun!

I just LOVE TO WORK. I love to get up in the morning and have some place I need to be. I love the challenges. Maybe that’s because it’s a new job. There are so many things about this new job that I don’t know a thing about.

Have I mentioned the fantastic people I get to work with? Shame on me! It’s a whole different crowd of folks. Volunteers who stop at the drop of a hat, namely, the fire siren alarm. These volunteers rush to their respective fire station and jump in a truck to head into action. Have I mentioned, they have the best fire-fighting equipment money can buy!?!

Our trained medics are on call 24/7. The crews, each with a partner, are on call around the clock. They’re stationed at any of the VFD’s. For instance, if one crew is called out from Crystal Beach, the High Island crew will drive to Crystal Beach to man the Crystal Beach station. Same with Port Bolivar. In a brief 5 months, I’ve come to know all the shifts. There’s a few I feel a special bond, after all, we had a brief 2:30 am encounter almost a year ago. My hat’s off to all these brave men and women, I’m proud to be a fly on the wall.

A job is a job, it’s what you make of it. Me? I get a kick out of being there, and I plan to stick around just as long as they want me around. I’ve got my pictures on the wall and my coffee cup on the desk, my password on the computer – I feel right at home!

GO’s Sand Bucket is only one beach bum’s journal of life at the beach, probably something each of you can relate to. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts, visions and/or feelings of just exactly what the beach means to you. Email: [email protected]

[9-24-2018]