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FROM GOOD OLE UNCLE VICJuly 2005
G'day mate.
The answer to last month's quiz: What was the code name for D-Day, June 6th, 1944, the invasion of Normandy, in World War II? Operation Overlord.
This month's quiz, again for a free movie pass, what do the letters in the word Scuba stand for, as in scuba diving? Again, email your answer in to Vicki, via e-mail.
Vicki.Brick@BrickBodies.com.
Well, we are back from Australia, all in one piece. I know you are getting tired of hearing about our family vacations but this one was so eventful that I have to tell you about it. So please bear with me.
As you may remember, Lynne, Jon and I went to see our daughter Vicki, who is working for my health club buddy, Tony deLeede at one of his Fitness First health clubs in Sydney and trying to play pro basketball over there. Needless to say we had a great time but it was not without incident. All the excitement took place at Gwinganna, Tony's health retreat.
Gwinganna is Aboriginal for “The Lookout”. It is an old, rustic cluster of cottages and buildings on top of a low mountain on Australia's Gold Coast, about one hour south of Brisbane (pronounced "Brisb'n"). Tony bought it a few years ago and is renovating and adding to it to make it a world-class health resort. There is a quaint, one hundred year old church on the property that seats about 40 people where Lynne and I renewed our wedding vows on our 25th anniversary two years ago. Attached to the church is a kitchen, a newly renovated dining hall that seats about 30 and a huge covered veranda overlooking the pool, where we ate all of our meals. There are other buildings scattered across the grounds. All are wooden, and all are quite old.
The first night we were there we ate a great meal on the veranda, enjoyed each other's company and then went to bed. Tony had his three kids there, Evan, 16, Nichole, 19 and little Jackson, 5. Nichole's boyfriend, Jacob was there and our good buddy Geoff Dyer (who owns Lifestyle Family Fitness in Florida and is also Australian) had his two boys, Sean, 17, and Christian, 12, there as well. During dinner some of the kids stoked the fire so high in the fireplace in the dining hall that some of the flames momentarily leaped out of the hearth. Johnny, the curator for the property was able to get the fire under control and extinguish it and no one gave it a second thought. That is, until about 12 midnight.
Jacob's mom, Judy, married an Australian, Graham, and they had driven down from Brisbane (Pronounced "Brisb'n". Did I tell you?) to spend time with him. They were sitting on the porch of their cottage catching up when they smelled smoke. They walked around the tennis court to the dining hall and saw the roof was on fire. That was when all hell broke loose.
Jacob immediately sprang into action. Did I tell you he was a firefighter? He woke Tony who went to work fighting the roaring blaze with a fire hose that spit out about as much water as he does when he gets excited about his business deals, which is quite often. Jacob realized my son, Jon, was in the cottage behind the kitchen and not only could help fight the blaze, but was in danger if he did not get out of there. Now, have you ever tried to wake a teenager from a deep sleep in the middle of the night? Jon at first did not believe him but, being my wife's son, he soon realized that he was, in fact, in danger and went over to the offensive.
Jacob had scouted out the grounds when we first got there to see what fire fighting equipment was available (Did I mention he was a fight fighter?), and he and Jon knew where all the water hoses were. Whoever had built the place had the good sense to install water pumps so the hoses, and I am talking about full-size fire hoses, had full pressure. At first the one hose wouldn't turn on because the nozzle was jammed but Jon had the presence of mind to go get another hose, and now they were in business.
Jon worked the water pressure and Jacob worked the hose. The pressure was so great that Jacob could not move when the water was turned on, so Jon would turn it on and off as Jacob directed. Jacob's dad also had to help hold him down so the hose wouldn't knock him off his feet. Meanwhile, Tony was standing UNDER the roof with his little water pistol hose trying vainly to save it. When he realized the massive bronze chandelier was about to fall on his head, he retreated to the safety of the tennis court — just before it fell.
By the time the fire department got there the blaze was relatively under control. The dining hall was trashed but the kitchen and, more importantly, the attached one hundred year old church were saved. Jacob was hailed as a hero by the local TV and newspaper press and rightfully so. Jon got one mention in one paper as “the other guest”.
Now, you might ask, where was I while my son's life was in danger? Why, sleeping of course. Just like Lynne and Vick and everyone else except Tony, Nicole, Jon, Jacob and his parents. Now, truth be told, I did get up to go to the bathroom at midnight as men that are over 50 want to do and did notice a fire truck driving up the driveway but because it did not seem to be in a hurry and because it did not have its lights or siren on I did not think anything of it. I thought it was a false alarm or something. Now, when I told Lynne what I had seen, she did say we should go check to see if Jon was okay but, because I could not hear or see anything that seemed unusual and because I was dogged tired, I shrugged it off and went back to bed. That's right. My son and one of my best buddies are fighting a blazing fire, and I go back to bed! Boy, did I blow it!
Thank goodness the story had a happy ending. Jon, Tony and Jacob saved the day, Tony got tons of free publicity for his new health retreat, insurance will pay for the damage, no one was hurt and we all have a story to tell.
But, what d'ya reckon, there are valuable lessons to be learned here, aren't there? What are they?
- When in doubt check it out. I should have sprinted out there to check on what was going on. No fire truck pulls up at midnight without something going on. I was like the idiot that hears a fire alarm in his hotel and sleeps through it only to wake up at the pearly gates in front of St. Peter!
- If your child is in danger, never assume anything. I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to Jon. Again, when in doubt, check it out.
- Some people have all the luck. Jon got to fight the fire, Jacob got all the press, Tony got free publicity — and I got a guilty conscience.
I guess the real moral of the story is "If you snooze, you lose!" What d'ya reckon???
Semper Fi,
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
(Seen on a pub wall in Australia)
"The Four Stages of Aging:"
1. You believe in Santa Claus.
2. You do not believe in Santa Claus.
3. You are Santa Claus.
4. You look like Santa Claus.
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