Providence engine and ladder companies are the busiest in New England, plenty of action to keep people happy. Jeff Davenport was detailed to Rescue 1 a while ago. His spot on Engine 2 is open, waiting for him to return. Because of the work load on the rescues not many are willing to be assigned there. The department has been rotating people through the rescues in six month assignments. After six months you get a good idea of what rescue is all about.

I’ve been playing guitars since I was fourteen. I’ve almost got the Aerosmith song, Same Old Song and Dance down. It was the first song I played, I’ve been working on it for thirty years. One day, Jeff asked me to teach him a few chords. I showed him some easy ones, D, C, Am, G. “Learn those and get back to me,” I said, then forgot about it. Last week, I was trying to learn a Foo Fighters song, Times Like These. The chords looked pretty easy. Days into it, Jeff came into my office. “You might be able to play this,” I said to him, thinking it would be difficult but not impossible for him to play. He picked up my guitar and went to the dorm. Less than an hour later he returned, sat down and played the song, start to finish and sang the verses. The best I can do is hum along to Wild Thing while switching two chords. I wanted to throw the guitar out the window. Thirty years is a long time. When I got home I went to my basement, plugged in and let some hideous noise loose from my Ibanez Les Paul (lawsuit model 1976.) Thirty years, three chords. Rock On!