Oh my goodness! What a thread to have come back.
And of all the times to have it come back too. Tonight, I have been feeling a bit down. To be reminded of this incident is really an uplift for me.
While I was not a "hero" that night -- not like real heros like KV who regularly charge into danger to save others -- I guess I was important... for once anyway.
Day-by-day, I'm a product developer. By definition, if you are reading bf.c, you have used a product I developed. But I like to work on these obscure things... little bits of infrastructure. My career has been about what I have come to call the "recession of the mechanism," things which you use but don't even have to think about. I am happiest, actually, if most of you don't know about my products. You use them and you don't even know that they're there. But this can lead one to question self-worth. To ask, "why am I here, do I make a difference?"
Well, I guess that once I did... in a small way. I brought the fire extinguisher.
I remember that night now.
The really amazing people that night were the professional men and women of Tualatin
Valley Fire and Rescue. My grace under pressure -- if there was any -- was by chance. Their grace under pressure was a matter of professional skill and pride. It was like watching a choreographed dance... except that a choreographed dance performance is specifically rehearsed and practiced until it is correct and this was but improvised on-the-spot. It was an impressive performance to watch.
Again, I want to thank everyone for the fine compliments in this thread. Somehow, your words have reached out over six years time and touched me again in a very important way.
