"BAD BOYS BREAKFAST"

does GOOD!

FF Kevin Nazario & FF Jesse Harris spear head the Bad Boy breakfast which has been huge in raising funds for brothers!

FF Jesse Harris and Me with a GIFT that i will cherish forever!  Thank you so much

It is my pleasure to announce a new "partnership".... The BAD Boys and Bull will be teaming up monthly to raise funds for our brother's and sister's.  It is something we all feel will only benefit those we are trying help, and I for one are looking forward to this huge help.  Today was special and I can not thank my brother's enough for such a fantastic gift.  Here are a couple guys as well as a few more brother's who have taken the time to go across the country to be at a fallen FF funeral services that they have never met just to honor them....because they take the name BROTHER as a truth not just a saying!  And I am proud to be serving with them.  Today was also great because I got treated to lunch by none other than the Shakey himself!!!!  Yepper it looks like he will be making a return to LIGHT DUTY in a couple weeks, so while he was in town turning in some paper work he swung by the PIT to take his lil' buddy the THE BEST FOOD JOINT IN O-TOWN ....HDH!!!! BABY YIPPPPEEEE!!!!  Hot Dog Heaven is what that stands for....this family has stood beside and given SO MUCH not only in donations but in true friendship and LOVE for our brother.  Anytime I have walked in there they stop and take time to ask "How is Shakey doing" or "What does Shakey need"....I love this place and the people who make it great!!!!

Shakey, and the people who put the HEAVEN in hotdog! Me
Todays squats went BIG and I was joined by Matty Rogers from OPD and Rob Graham from OCSO and we tok turns and today I was able to make it up to 405# again off a high box!  Next week if things go well I am going for 425 to 450...
One more thing before I close tonight...PLEASE keep my Squad 1 Lt Charlie Walsh in your prayers tonight and this weekend.  Thank you and I will update his status tomorrow. Thank you with all my heart......much LOVE ---Bull

August 26, 2015

Lt. Charlie Walsh

Squad 1 Reunion & Gorzon-Rajcula Retirement...B Shift"ORIGINALS", FF Thomas "BULL" Hill,
Lt. Charlie Walsh,  Engineer Jody Rhoden,  PM Dana McCrystal(2nd Generation)

Lt Steve Kidd "A", Bull "B", J.Rhoden "B", Lt Charlie Walsh "B", FF Doug Samms "A", LT Bobby Kasper "C"
SQUAD 1 "THE ORIGINALS"
I am asking for prayers, tonight for my Lt. from The"Original 12" Squad 1.  I received a call today from ret. Lt Bobby Kasper who was sitting with Lt Charlie Walsh in Englewood, Fl. and his family.  Bobby said that he doesn't know if Charlie actually knows if he is there or not.  He had made the trip wanting to share stories and pictures from the glory days with Charlie.  Bobby, as well as a few of us knew Charlie had been sick, but we had no idea that Charlie was THIS SICK.  Today, Hospice is there and administering some pain meds to keep Lt Walsh comfortable.  Bobby is by his side.  He says that it is close.  So I am asking you my friends to ask for Lt Charlie to have another safe journey and that peace is with his family.  I ask that he is soon pain free and enjoying sunshine and freedom.  I am asking that his heart is filled with God's amazing LOVE and that his family is embraced with that same LOVE and that they know he is in a better place.  Your prayers have strengthened me in these 136 days of Squatting .... I know your prayers will be heard for this.  I know I ask A LOT, but I do it because I know each of you are capable of doing great things, and together we can get all things done that we set out to accomplish!  Charlie Walsh is one of the reasons this truck is STILL in service and why there is 2 more trucks also.  He is a big reason why we were a success and why we did not fail.  Remember there was nothing...no guide books... no "THIS IS HOW" it is done diagrams back then ..we were the 1st and he was one of the 3 LT's who led us!  Now it is our turn to carry him and lead him.  So, before you sleep tonight please say a prayer for my friend and Lt.  Charlie Walsh...... Thank you-Bull
 

134th DAY of SQUATTING

So this past Sunday was a rough day, it does not get to this very stage often but some days with doing heavy squats on a daily basis your mind can go to dark places.  It's funny I read that in a couple articles I researched before I started this journey, but I never imagined HOW dark that was.  I am learning this is about like every other hard thing I have done...IT is a mental game as well as physical and I think it is MORE mental most of the time.  Sunday my legs were shot, I feared  squatting in the worst way, in fact I didn't even start squatting the night before until 10:30 pm!  Well Sun I started around 5pm because I wanted to wait to see if I felt better as the day went on...which was wishful thinking.  So I did a warm up then started tearing up like a big ol' baby.  I texted JP and Shakey and asked them to remind me how much pain they are in daily and how scared they are.  Then I started squatting...10 sets later I finally finished at 355#.  And truth is my legs felt better when I was done!  I am learning this is mental to the max...my mind doesn't want me to do these things for some reason and it can play serious games with me on a daily basis, but IF I just keep doing the right thing and by taking one day at a time and not think about tomorrow I do just

 fine.  It is when I start thinking about the  WHAT IF's, and then I start questioning if what I am doing is worth it and that leads to a whole lot of worthless mind games.....Crazy stuff!!!  But  I want to share a picture with ya'll that I received from JP.  I was already in bed but this is how I know what I am doing is the right thing.  Whenever I start to doubt or listen to the naysayer's I am sent a message. ......

JP sent me this.  I do not need any other confirmation that what I - WE are doing is the right thing
Some how, some where there are people out there who have the power to help us get the medical coverage and time off we need without it being such a burden.  Please help me help our brother's!  I am not asking for you firefighter's to give any more BUT I am asking you to reach out to friends and family who can give more!  We spend our entire careers taking care of the citizens of Orange County and that is what we get paid to do BUT we need to start taking care of each other because IF we don't...IF we don't start taking care of each other, then there won't be many more of us left to do what we were created to do.  We are each other's heroes!  Rest well my brother's and tomorrow we will go back at this hard.  Love you-Bull

DAY 131

Today is August 22, 2015, it is day 131 in the journey I started for raising funds and awareness but also and mainly for me to pay honor and tribute to my brother's who have passed on before us.  Since I started this, I now come close to thinking of  Ganley. Anderson, Stephenson ... of Priester, Spenser and many more almost daily and it is good.  In a small way I think of them as they were now and not with the sadness of death, even though they are not here in person, they are with me daily.  In 30 years and being on busy units for most of those years, I have seen and been through a lot.  I hate thinking about how my brother's never got to spend much time in retirement, and some never made it to retirement.  Too spend all those years saving others, helping others daily and dealing with the worst moments of some peoples lives takes a lot out of you.  We all look forward to the retirement years to finally breathe fresh air and not hear that damn alarm go off in the middle of the night!  But to then have it cut short because of a illness just fricking eats me up.  This we Ret. Lt Steve Kidd advised us all the my long time Squad 1 Lt. Charlie Walsh was not doing good....that the cancer clinic he was attending has sent him home.  Charlie and I were together in the beginning years of Squad 1...I was in my 3rd year as a FF and was chosen to be a part of what is now a pretty damn big deal, all I can say is we busted our asses to get this Unit going and too keep it going.  Back then it seemed there were only two opinions of the squad..You either were for it or you hated it.  As a new FF i had a hard time understanding this thought process because I thought we were a FAMILY, BROTHERHOOD that we had each others backs...but as in life some people only looked on from the outside.  Charlie loved this unit and did everything in his power to make this unit a success.  Charlie pushed us all to do and be at our best always and we trained night and day, and at the time I didn't like it too much but looking back it, ... it was the best thing to happen to me.  I learned so much and did so much more than the normal 3 year FF did. I was on so many crazy calls for a lot of years that I grew up fast in the Firehood!  But now it sicken's me to think of Charlie in this way, to hear that he is sick...very sick..he has not been retired that long.... I know this...he would not change a thing and would still do this career all over again.  He loved being at Sta. 50...being Lt of Squad 1 of being at battle daily not only on calls but also in the HQ....The deal is, is that if it wasn't for Lt Charlie Walsh and Lt's Kidd and Kasper I do not think that the Squad would be the success it was and is today.  And I am proud to be a part of that history,  I am proud to be a Firefighter for Lt C Walsh.  I am asking everyone who reads this to please keep Charlie and Gayle and his family in your prayers over these next days.  Thank you all for what you do....Rest well my friend Charlie and know you have given me so much over the years and I am thankful to have served under you Sir.  Dear Lord with all that I am I ask that You comfort Charlie and strengthen him and his family and that you hold Gayle in your Loving Arms. Amen.  Through Your Son Jesus I ask.  

8/19/2015

Day 129 in the journey of Squatting for Shakey and JP and it looks like some headway is being made!  This morning I received a call from Kat Kennedy our PIO person, and she wanted to set up an interview so we set a time for later this afternoon.  Around 4:30 while I was finishing up my 2nd to last set of Safety Bar squats Miss Kat and the PIO Team showed up at the Pit!  Once I finished my last set at 330# I met the team in my office.  Yes,  I felt pretty bad for them to be sitting in my office as bad as that place smells!  I am not use to having professionally dressed women in my office!  So she went on to explain that per Ch D we are going to achieve 3 things....1) get an article in the News Ladder about Squatting for Shakey and JP and the 343 Hero Challenge, 2) work on another article for the Orange Spiel ( the county WIDE newsletter) 3) get this story to local news!  

So you can guess my joy!  129 days into this journey and I am trying to figure out how I can keep begging for sponsors for the next month and here comes 3 women who do this for a living and are willing to make this a huge success!  One day at a time, just one day at a time!  Keep pressing forward, keep believing that you are doing the right thing and good things will come!  Dear Stephen and John, I think we might be getting ready to GROW SOME!  I am so happy right now, I feel like I just got a promotion!  THANK YOU ALL for not only giving funds BUT for your prayers also that have given me the strength to keep squatting and not finding an excuse to stop.  This feels like just the beginning of something HUGE!

I would like to ask for more prayers tonight, these are for Rachel.  Tomorrow morning she willing be having surgery to have half of her Thyroid removed and then biopsied.  She had a biopsy last month and it came back "undetermined", so it now has to be removed and tested to find out what is wrong.  I beg of you to please keep her in your prayers over these next few days.  Thank you and I will post the news as I know.   Here are a couple pictures from the weekend and Tues of this week.

At the Eagles for the Firefighter of the Year Award with Keith, Bailey (my daughter) Patti ( my sis) and John ( her husband)

Me-Holly and Shakey at "HDH"  Hot Dog Heaven !!!!
I have been looking forward to taking him to lunch for 129 days!

It's getting late and tomorrow is a early day.  I am thankful for all that you friends do for the brother's and for me.  Without your prayers and sponsoring I would not have the strength to keep doing what I am doing.  YOU ALL KEEP ME GOING - 1 DAY AT A TIME!  Rest well my friends. Know you are loved.  Squat everyday!  Bull

  

SQUATTING for SHAKEY and JP

DAY 127

It is Mon and it was a great day!  First, my weekend was the best in a long time.  I was chosen for an award by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles for humanitarian actions outside of FD.  BUT,  as nice as this was the BIGGEST award was the surprise of my children and grandchildren driving down from Charleston to surprise me for the ceremony!  I was totally caught off guard and it was one of the best surprises I have ever had!  Thank you Rachel for loving me the way you do and putting this all together...you are the BEST!  Then today our brother Shakey was at work!!!! Yes he was ....I got to visit with him at training for a bit before my day started so you know that was a big lift for me!  I want to thank everyone again for all the support up to now and I really mean this.  But...we are only 127 days in to our 365 day journey and I know we are all on board I just want to ask each of you to speak with friends and family members to see if they can help us too.  Thanks and I know the next 238 days are gonna be great.  I have not spoken with JP today but I know he and Rachel were headed to Shands this morning...I will do my best to talk with him or Rachel tomorrow...PLEASE -PLEASE-PLEASE keep JP and Rachel and their family in your thoughta and prayers as they go through this trying and painful time.

SKWAATS  (squats)  SO FAR!

Today I did the Zercher Sqts which most people will not do cause they murder your elbow joints BUT i like them for some strange reason...I went up to 330# from a standing rack position to a squat then back to rack.  Then I switched to a Zercher DL from squat position and made it up to 345# for a PR but failed at 375#.  Sun was a reg box Sqt to 370# on a 18" box which is just below parallel for me.  Sat I had to squeeze them in fast due to all the activities that day so I only went too the minimum of 330# to a 20" box.  So far we ave made it 127 straight days of squatting to at least 300# as a minimum and up to 495# with bands.  GOD has been GOOD to us and I believe we are going to grow even more if we can stay true and strong to this journey.  JP just texted me and said today was horrible and will update me tomorrow.  PLEASE keep him lifted up!!!!  We are in full swing right now of getting ready for the 343 Hero Challenge at the Fit Pit.  This is our 3rd year and each year we grow-this year all proceeds are going to Firefighter Cancer Support Network/Fla chapter.  Right now we are letting civilians in to practice the FF tactics so they can be prepared for the day of battle.  If you have not been out to see this event you have to come and check it out....This year it is on Sept. 12th at Forsyth Rd Training Center and it kicks off with color and honor guard presentation at 8am.

James Geering and Brian from The "CREEK"- Reedy FD that is

CREEK brother going through the 1st wod which is the 343 Step ups that honor the FDNY brothers

330# from Sat 8/15/16...lightest lift of the weekend

JP and Stephen, rest well tonight brother's and know deep inside that you and your families are not alone.  We as a group of brother's are standing beside you both daily taking turns and never leaving your sides.  We are here to stay and you both have made us stronger.  We love ya....rest well my friends....Love ya, Bull

DAY 120

Last Sunday I was in Eustis, Fla. doing squats at Crossfit Unmatched, yesterday I was doing Zercher squats in St Cloud, Fla. at Strength Station and today we were invited to squat at Crossfit 26.2 in Rockledge, Fla.!!!  Where are we going next weekend ???  This has really been neat getting out of my garage or the PIT and meeting new people and spreading the news of what "The Cost of Being a HERO" is all about.  I met some really good people today at 26.2 who made me feel right at home...I will say this - I loved the atmosphere and the size of this box and the amount of strongman toys!!! It was like a playground!  I really would like to thank Lauri McGee (FF for the City of Cocoa) who has been very supportive of what we are all about from the first moment I told her about Shakey. Month's ago I mentioned to her our plans of doing a HERO WOD to raise funds for Shakey and without questioning anything, without ever formally meeting in person! she drove over to do it AND to donate, she also was fortunate to be there the day Stephen came and was able to meet him too!  Thank you for your loyalty to a brother in need Lauri! I also want to thank Shane, the coach at 26.2 today...Class act brother all the way!  So I would also like to announce that CF 26.2 is officially the first box to have one of the SIGNED T Shirts from the World CF Team Champs " Mayhem Freedom" that we will be raffling off!  What a great day!

Day 120, 8/9/15 - 18" box squat to 370#

City of Cocoa FD Sta 2 - Me/Lauri and Lt Bruce with our signed Shakey Shirt 8/9/15

Me and Shane after the squats 8/9/15

At "THE" Strength Station on 8/8/15 doing Zercher Squats to 330#
To JP and Shakey...brother's I am meeting people all over Central Fla., who LOVE you guys! they may not know either of you personally but they absolutely LOVE you both.  You are heroes to these people just like you are to us, so do not ever think any differently...Last weekend in Eustis at UNmatched CF the events lady was just so excited to help us out in anyway she could and it looks like they will be having a lot of people coming out to the 343 HERO...and they will be wearing the now famous purple T's!!!  Guys there are people praying for you every where!  I am going to have to pick ya'll up one Sunday so you can go with me on the tour.

DON'T QUIT
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
And the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with it's twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow

Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit-
It's when things seem worse that you
MUST NOT QUIT.

Never have I had 2 men as strong as you both are, inspire me the way you both do to keep moving forward - to not quit or give in to the pain. If i could have half the strength and courage you both have I would be amazed.  I thank you for keeping me going, I thank you for trusting me with what I have been doing, for allowing me into your lives at such a time.  I will keep going -one day at a time- for you both and your families until we beat this thing.  I am here beside you both with so many other's to stay.  We are a band of brothers.  Rest well-
Love you both-Bull

Last 11 Days of Squats

Aug 2nd at CF UNMATCHED with FF Dan Barnard 330# X 2 off short box - DAY113

Aug 8th at the Fit Pit with FF JB Nichols 405# on a high box - DAY 117

The last 11 days have been good ones with a bit of mixed feelings and a lot of FEAR...I was saying in a conversation earlier this week that it has taken over a 100 days for my knees to start hating me and this week they have been talking to me,  but...today Fri the 7th they actually started feeling better and I fear what the end of Sept/ Oct bring with my knees both being fully replaced with artificial joints.  I use to hate fear but as I have grown older I have learned to respect it because when I look at the times in my life when true fear was involved I grew stronger from it and other times the fear it self was just False Evidence Appearing Real.  I have a quote from the wrestler The Ultimate Warrior about FEAR that i'll share with you after I post my squats for the last 11 days....It truly speaks volumes...

July 28 - Front Sqt to 300# then Bk Sqt 320#

July 29th - Safety Sqt Bar on 16" Box to 325#

July 30th - Zercher Sqt from Standing Position 320#

July 31st - Back Sqt 320#

Aug 1st 18" Box Sqt  330# X2

Aug 2nd 16" Box Sqt 330#X2

Aug 3rd 18" Box Sqt 330#X2

Aug 4th Safety Sqt Bar on 18" Box 330#

Aug 5th 20" Box Sqt 380#(PR)

Aug 6th 20" Box Sqt 405# (PR)

Aug 7th Safety Sqt Bar 18" Box 350#

Ok, I think that catches me up on the squats. I have not been able to talk to Shakey since he has been home from the family trip but I will let ya'll know how he and JP both are this week.  Also on Sat and Sun I am going to peoples homes to squat or their gyms so if you want to raise some funds I will come to your place just let me know a couple days in advance.  And as I said earlier here is one of my all time favorite sayings from a great athlete "The Ultimate Warrior" RIP

What do I fear?

I fear stagnation and lack of progress.

I fear never reaching my potential and being average.

I fear being forgotten...The past...Yesterday's news.

I fear giving up and being passed by, going softly into that good night.

I fear letting those I love down, letting myself down.

I fear settling, giving into the, "that's just the way it is" mindset.

I fear dying without leaving my mark.

I fear not feeling these fears anymore and just floating along.

These fears feed me, they nourish my drive.

I love my fear

I love the way he wrote this and changes fear into something that can make us better men and women.  What ever you do...BE ALL IN...what you do matter's, what you do means a lot to people no matter what you may think  So if your going to do something...BE ALL IN.  Tomorrow will be 119 DAYS of SQUATTING for my brother's and trust me I wasn't sure what I was doing when I started, didn't know if my legs would hold up...I only knew I had to do something and once I started I could not stop.  See, it does not matter what anyone else thinks about it as long as Shakey and JP know I am with them in a small way every day then I am doing the right thing.  Rest well tonight my friends and I ask the Lord's blessings on all of you.  Peace and Strength...love ya Bull

CROSSFIT WORLD CHAMPIONS...

Signed Shakey Shirts and we are going to start a big raffle for them starting next week.  The announcement of winner will be at a CF Box that shows the most support for our brothers and we will be doing a HERO WOD too.  ALL proceeds go directly to both Shakey and JP that day!  I hope that this blog can be shared to everyone you know and you DO NOT have to be a crossfit athlete to participate the hero workout will be choose that has moves everyone can do and the weights can be scaled.  THIS IS A FUND RAISER AND PARTY to celebrate the bravery of not only these 2 brave brothers but to all your family members who have fought this battle!!!  We will celebrate ALL who fight and continue fighting, this is also for all of us who wish we could do more, so we will give our sweat and muscles and money to honor them on this day.  Thank you 

OK here is the "BIG DEAL" about these shirts.  1) they are OUR shirts to bring awareness to this enemy we firefighters fight on a daily basis and to help Stephen and John.  2)  I sent them to Tennessee to see if I could get the 4 time CF Games winner to sign it along with his first year team that was going to compete at this years games.  3) This team signed our shirts a few days before the games and went on to come from the bottom to WIN THE TEAM GAMES !!!!  So we have the very first shirts signed by the champs!!!!  I am going to start raffling these off next week at $5 to $10 a ticket.  I will post when the drawing and party will be held!!!!  PLEASE SHARE THIS ON ALL NETWORKS and to friends and family....stay strong Bull

GO ALL IN or QUIT

Day #109 - 16" Safety Bar Squat @ 320#, with Doss the BOSS...(where did that NO HAIR spot on my head come from????)

Doss B...todays Squat partner for the brother's.  I need these men in my life daily.  Silverback trying to hide behind us!

Recruit Class #73 - $90.00 donation for the month of August-'Salute JP & Shakey"  I am glad they took part in this and I believe that they learn  and participate in "brotherhood" early in the career and they hold tight to this then, just maybe they will build a bright future of "BEING ALL IN"...living this life of a firefighter means we don't clock in and out, you are a firefighter 24 hours a day-365 days a year!

The life of a "real" firefighter is so much different than any other profession that I know of.  To be a "real" firefighter your either ALL IN or your not a firefighter at all.  Say what you may but with 30 years of experience at some of the busiest house's I say I am an expert.  See you can't be a real firefighter and just "clock out" when the shifts over, your heart and head doesn't work that way..meaning, you care too much about your fellow man. When you are not clocked in, in the normal world, your tools are neatly put away in the tool box, your brief case is put in the hall closet, if your a salesman then your suit is hanging up somewhere out of sight and so on, but not with the real firefighter because in his/her case if an accident happens near them, they are all in it, no matter how bad it is, no matter if they are dressed in their Sunday best or in a swim suit.... if they are driving and see smoke coming from the rear of a restaurant and people are still sitting in the main room unaware of the danger, they are running inside getting them out then running into the kitchen to find the fire.   You might even be delivering a neighbors daughter, or working CPR on the neighbor's son after the father ran him over by accident or talking a stranger holding a gun to his head out of killing himself.  There is something about real firefighters that is different too, the calls that use to be "good ones" aren't the same after 30 years...the firefighter starts to realize that these incidents change peoples lives dramatically, that they are losing loved ones you tried to save but couldn't and property that was just burning way too much before you got there.  That these citizens are losing people and things they will never get back. People don't dial 911 and invite us to a party... they are inviting us to probably the worst day of their lives.  A real firefighter is "ALL IN"....there is no other way. We have to form a bound, a trust, an unconditional love for the men and women who are beside us daily, they who ride with us to the next call and face what ever it brings.  There isn't another profession out there like this.  There is the service but that is NOT the same.  Since I have taken the position at the Fit Pit, I have seen so many different things, that I sometimes question "real,"  BUT on the other hand I have also been blessed with the opportunity to meet just about every firefighter in OCFRD.  And I don't really get to meet them all under the best circumstances, BUT I can say this with honesty....I am honored to be a part of this department and the so many "REAL FIREFIGHTER'S" we have here.  Before I close (so I can eat at 10:40 pm) I want to share this... "What we have here as a FD is good, what we do here for the citizen's of Orange County is good,  the instructor's we have here are VERY good and I have watched these men and women put their heart and souls into what they give you (firefighter's).  Do not doubt that you are important to so many people, the old and the young look at you as HEROES.  So try to pick each other up every now and then because we are our brother's keepers.  And one more thing please be ALL IN! Because people are counting on you to save them.
Bull