No. 3 ~ Adrenaline

Dear Diary (and you),

What a Friday.

From the moment I woke, it was filled with the promise of excitement that comes with summer, the warmth of the day bringing out those characteristic smells that summon memories of holidays past. Which was simultaneously nice and depressing – it’s only just spring and it shouldn’t be this hot.

But I think there’s something in our DNA that remembers exact combinations of temperature, humidity, breeze strength, and smells and associates them with specific memories. It’s not uncommon for some combination of the above to stir a memory in me of a specific time, place, and experience.

Anyway, I rose early and headed north to Dad’s to see my aunt and uncle on their way through to their yearly holiday destination. I then headed out with Dad to get some more motorcycling experience on some local back roads (I only have a few hours under my belt at the moment, but I love it). We had lunch and a drink at a local pub before I headed home.

My return commute was punctuated with multiple fires on either side of the highway. They all appeared to be small and under control, likely lit and manned by owners of rural properties, but the smoke had thickened the air and given everything a mildly post-apocalyptic filter. Something told me I would be called out to a fire, and lo, ten minutes before I arrived home, I missed a call from a client (I couldn’t answer as I was driving) asking for assistance on a fire in the plantation.

I mentally rescheduled my afternoon, arrived home, made some calls, and recruited a colleague to help me, who would arrive in 20 minutes. The battery in my phone is rubbish, so I threw it on to charge while I got ready.

To add to the complexity of the afternoon, my fridge had completed failed the day before, so I’d borrowed a car fridge from Dad this morning as a temporary measure. I hurriedly unpacked it from the car and set it up on the floor of the kitchen, transferring what contents I could from the fridge so they wouldn’t go bad while I was out.

After tidying up from my ride, I dressed for work and gathered my bag and water. My colleague arrived as I did so and together we strode up the street to the pick-up point to meet the fire tanker, which had pulled in as we approached. I browsed through the snacks the driver had bought as he briefed us on the situation.

We were halfway to the fire and loaded with adrenaline when the driver received a call with the good news that the fire had been put out. Suddenly, all direction and purpose had been let out of our sails, but the adrenaline was still in high gear. All three of us were feeling lost and wondering what our afternoon would entail now.

I decided to take advantage and channel it into productive endeavours that would otherwise take a lot of procrastinating.

I bought some oil for my car service, tried on a bunch of different fire boots (mine had very much seen better days – I had glued them back together twice) and invested in a new pair, and even went to a large white good retailer and looked at fridges. I found one that I’m happy with, but I’ll buy from a scratch and dent company for 40% off.

I did some work on my Notion setup as well, organising my goals and sub-goals as an outline for my personal curriculum that I want to have ready to begin next year, and planning a fire-fighting checklist of extras that I may need for overnight firefighting.

It would have been easy to cave in to the desire to nap (or, the more likely outcome, to scroll mindlessly on my phone for a few hours). The unexpected adrenaline injection provided by the fire callout was a blessing that I’m grateful I took advantage of. It was like a to-do list accelerator.

My final task for the day was actually gathering all the extra items that I’d added to my newly created fire-fighting checklist. I had most of what I needed at home, but I did go grocery shopping for non-perishable snacks, opting for mostly healthy options like tinned fruit, corn, and chickpeas, as well as coconut rice and protein and muesli bars. I also bought some coconut water and electrolytes for hydration.

Now I have the list, I can refer to it after each fire and restock anything I need, and I can check at a glance if I’m missing anything that I might need to repack after cleaning. I spent a fair amount of time on it and I think it’s comprehensive, so it’ll save me a lot of time and thought in future. I love checklists.

Let me know what checklist you’ve recently compiled!

P.S. This entry came together well, but I didn’t finish it at the time of composure – it took me nearly two months to come back, complete it, and publish it. You’re only just seeing it now, but I wrote this seven or eight weeks ago. That’s okay – it takes practice to get into a habit, and I’m working on it now.

Yours in truth and transparency,