#1 - The Birth of Four Day Breaks

Welcome to Four Day Breaks! In our premiere episode, we introduce the concept behind Four Day Breaks and share our vision for the podcast. We'll discuss the topics we'll cover and what listeners can expect in future episodes. We also touch on our careers and aspirations before diving into the dynamics of shift life and relationships with our crew outside of work.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
🎵

(00:30):
How's it going? How's it going? How's it going? Welcome to four day breaks. The podcast brought
to you by high rise fuel for an unfiltered world of candid conversations. I'm Joey. I'll
be one of your hosts alongside with me. I got what's going on guys. My name is Michael
Bazan. Join us every nine days to see what's going on from latest trends to personal stories

(00:52):
and everything in between. Nothing is off limits here, boys. Nothing. Nothing is off
limits. So a brief description on, I know this is probably very new news to everybody,
but high rise fuel has decided to create a podcast. If you don't know what high rise
fuel is, it is a firefighter owned energy drink from South Texas. We basically wanted

(01:14):
to put something together and cultivate a better understanding of what we got going
on behind the scenes, but also keeping it as candid and as open ended. I guess you could
say kind of, you know, be a little more transparent in that sense. But on that note, obviously

(01:34):
start off with some introductions from the host. Myself been a firefighter for about
a decade now, eight years with my current department. And yeah, I'm a driver just passed
my lieutenant test a few months ago. Hopefully we got something going with that. Bazan, you
want to give a little intro? Yeah, just a little bit about me. I started the fire service

(01:57):
back in 2019. So I'm still kind of fairly new. I've been bouncing around departments
and stuff like that. And now I ended up in my current department where I'm at. But initially
from what everything like started for me, I was a volunteer. You know, I had a bunch
of family members that were firemen and fire women, you know what I mean? But, and they
would kind of teach me the ropes and I fell in love with everything about it. And I love

(02:20):
what I do right now. And as of right now, to me, I didn't know you had other family
besides your brother. Yeah, man. Yeah, man. I have a bunch. I have a bunch. And then also
one thing about me too, is that my current department, I'm a pro be, so they call me
pro be Mike right now, you know? So that, so it's kind of, it's kind of a little fun
thing that's going on right now. But I mean, it's all fun and games, you know, you get,

(02:42):
everyone should know how probationary works. That's a lot of fun. Yeah. It's, it's, it's
good in our department though. I don't think our department's too bad with probies. I think
we're pretty, pretty decent. We're really, oh, I just, let me rephrase that. It depends
who you end up with, right? Cause it does things differently. Every shift does things
differently. Every crew does things differently. So it's a little more, I just learning the

(03:05):
ropes on how, how our department works. But I mean, that's, that's cool. I didn't know
you had more family besides your brother. I thought it was just you and him. No, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. He just finished his probationary at his other department recently, if I'm not
mistaken. And then also speaking on, on like, you know, we treat everyone right and stuff
like that at the department. Yeah, I do agree. I do agree on that, but there's this one,

(03:29):
there's this guy, there's this guy on my shift, this guy keeps putting fucking junior firefighter
stickers on my back. So every time that we go out in public or we're going out and stuff
like that, I have the sticker and it's like, all right, let me, let me, let me guess. Let
me guess who this is. Yes. Yes. Please. All right. Is, is it, is it a firefighter or is

(03:49):
it a, is it a driver? No, he's a driver, bro. He's a driver. It sounds like bass. Yeah.
I know it is him, bro. And I know it is. People tell me like, Oh, it's not, it's not, it's
not me. It's not me. Nah, it is you, bro. It is. And there was this other guy too recently
too. Uh, he's still on our shift, but he, he's a floater now and he does it as well.

(04:13):
Last time he put a, an empty water bottle in my boots. Like who the fuck does that?
We get a call, we get a call bro. And I put it on my boots. I'm like, what the fuck? Yeah.
So it's, I mean, I guess it depends where you're at. Cause like even us at, at station
two, you know, we're always messing around. We're always, uh, doing some fun things, you
know, trolling John, messing with Robert, obviously stuff like that. So it's cool. It's,

(04:36):
it's a, it's a good environment, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Um, but, but on that
note, I mean, that's, that's cool though. I didn't know you had extra family in it.
And then aside from that, congrats to your brother on passing probation. I know yours
is coming up pretty soon. And I think maybe another half a year, I think. Oh yeah. Half
a year counting down the days, brother. I'm counting on the days. Yeah. That's, that's
cool. I mean, my probation was, uh, 2016 is when it ended. So I'm kind of well past that

(05:02):
point, but, uh, but no, it's cool, man. I think our department differs a lot from all
the other departments down here. Not to say that, you know, any department is better than
the other, but, um, I definitely think that, uh, as far as I do think we started well,
like behind everybody, right? Yeah. Like our neighboring departments were all civil service
and I'll have these things going on. Um, our department to my knowledge, if I remember

(05:26):
correctly went civil service in 2014 or 2013, something like that. Um, I had just finished
high school. I just graduated. So I know it was around that timeframe, 2013, 2014 range.
But I mean, for it to just go civil service then, and you know, the improvements that's
been going, you know, now five stations, uh, five different crews, you know what I mean?
Like it's still, when I got hired, it was only two. He's only, and they had just opened

(05:50):
up that second station a few months before I got hired. So, um, definitely been a lot
of improvements, you know what I mean? And it's still improving man. Like everything
that they want to start doing now, dude, it's, it's insane to me. I could just imagine what
2025 is going to have in store for us, not only for the department, but for four day
breaks. I mean, this is our very first podcast. Y'all like, I mean, it's been a year since

(06:14):
high rise fuel came out in September of 2023. Um, we hit a year in September, 2024. It's
been good. And this is a, another avenue for high rise to kind of come into and kind of
start hopefully making waves just the way we're doing in the energy drink market and
see what, uh, what comes out of it. Oh yeah. Yeah, of course. Um, we will be having guests

(06:35):
also, just so everybody's aware. We do have a pretty much, I guess you would say a calendar
lined up for the year, um, all the way up until the end of the year. We do have guests
hopping in. Um, we got a little bit of a, some surprise guests, some other guests that
people may know may not know. So we'll kind of, um, keep it up as, as we go on for now,

(06:55):
for the time being, these next few episodes, we're going to be doing a, uh, uh, audio only,
but we do plan to add and incorporate a, uh, cameras and all that kind of stuff to get
everything situated, make it a little more engaging ideas. So you could go watch it on
YouTube, Facebook, et cetera, et cetera. Um, before now this next episode, two episodes,

(07:18):
maybe a handful of episodes will all be, uh, audio only just to kind of get a feel for
it and, uh, we'll, we'll start making waves then. Um, everything's looking good. All our
lineups, everything that we're going to have, everything's done. The video side is done.
All we're missing is just doing it early. That's showing up. Um, I know that's something

(07:41):
that some of the people I talked to about coming on board as guests were mentioning
like, Hey, just come out to, you know, come out to this area, come out to this city. And
I'm just like, amen. And move everything from one spot to go to another spot. Yeah. Not
gonna happen. If anything, it's easier for you to come to me. Um, but we'll, we'll cross
that bridge once we get there. Um, aside from that though, I mean, in, in other news, right,

(08:05):
there's a lot of stuff going on right now out in the world and the fire world. Um, obviously
I know for us in Texas, we have those three firefighters from Houston. Yeah. Um, that
got hurt in the, uh, Southeast Houston apartment fire. Um, I haven't seen too, too much on
it. I just know that they, they had gotten trapped. I don't remember what station they

(08:28):
were from. Um, it was early in the morning, uh, but they got trapped behind a heavy ass
door is what I, I remember reading. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly what I heard too. Three
firefighters from the Houston fire department and, um, don't want to say the station and
stuff like that. Right. But, uh, yeah, it was at 5 30 AM, 5 30 y'all. That is insane.

(08:51):
I'm already in my third dream. I find 30 AM. Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Joke's
aside, you know, wish them the speedy recovery and stuff like that. Thank you guys for what
you guys do over there. And yeah, yeah. To my knowledge, they are, uh, I don't know if
all three of them are in surgery or a few of them, but apparently the injuries are pretty
severe. So, yeah, you know, hoping, hoping a speedy recovery for them and hopefully everything

(09:14):
goes out there to my knowledge. It was once one, uh, one truck, I believe it was a captain
and then the two firefighters that are along with them. Oh yeah. That's what I heard too.
And like the amount of heat, like, uh, I was reading a post on it recently that the amount
of heat that was being like produced from that fire. And one of the, the, the quotes
was said, uh, said was the gloves looked like they were just a piece of plastic. Like, you

(09:39):
know how hot that needs to be for like bunker coat gloves or like bunker gloves to be as
plastic. That's insane, man. Yeah, no, man. It's, it's, it's a intent, but I've, I've
been noticing there's, there's always something going on. You know, and obviously the population
difference, right? But there's always something going on in Houston. Yeah. I could just imagine
their call volume and everything that they do. I'm pretty sure they probably average

(10:01):
a structure fire a day, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't doubt it. I wouldn't doubt it.
Um, and then on the, on other news as well, we also have LA, um, with those fires going
on, it's over a thousand structures killed at least two. I mean, it started, it evacuated
celebrities from their residences as well. I know Mark Hamill was one of them. I'm not

(10:22):
sure of anybody else, but, um, the names that I saw, those are the only ones that I'd, I'd
seen. But I mean, the thing with Cali, man, is it's, it's literally a year round season
for wildfires over there. Yeah. Yeah. Like we have our little season here during the
summer and sometimes it is busy. Sometimes it doesn't, but it seems like over there,

(10:43):
it's just year round all nonstop wildfires over there. Yeah. So let me ask you this,
Joey, would you ever live somewhere over there in Cali?
Um, I'll say this. I, when I went to Twitch con in 2020, how, when the hell was it? 22.
Okay. And it was over there in Cali. Yeah. Yeah. It was in San Diego. I think it was

(11:09):
in 22 or 23. Let me see. When was a San Diego Twitch con? I want to say it was 20, 22, bro.
I can't remember fully. Yeah. Yeah. 2022. I went over there back when I was doing the

(11:30):
whole e-sports world things. Right. So we went out there and I went to San Diego and
I'll say this San Diego is, it's nice. I just don't know. Like I was there for a week, right?
I was there for about six days. I think, um, I'm not sure if I'd want to live in Cali and
obviously that's the only place in Cali I've actually been to. I have a few other buddies.

(11:52):
Um, Manny, right? Manny, two times one of my homies, uh, he's from LA. He lives in,
he lived in Arizona after that, but he's from, from Cali. Uh, I want to say it's like the
LA area or something like that. Um, and he loves it. Right. He says he, he, he loved
Cali except for the traffic and everything like that. But, um, yeah, I don't know genuinely.

(12:15):
I mean, I went to Tennessee, right? For the firefighter challenges past a year. Okay.
And I lived in Tennessee beforehand. I lived in Knoxville for like a year growing up. Really?
I didn't even know that man. Yeah. I lived in Knoxville for like a year growing up. Um,
I wouldn't mind Tennessee. I like cold weather. That's the thing too. I like cold weather.
So I think, I think Tennessee would be nice. Um, cause over there, they're cold or they're

(12:40):
like normal was like in the seventies and eighties, which was like fucking great for
me. But, um, yeah, if I had to choose, I, I mean, I don't know snow too, man. I remember
living in snow and that shit sucked. I think it'd be so cool, bro. Just seeing some snow.
I mean, I grew up here in the valley, like, you know what I mean? We don't get, yeah.

(13:00):
I think the last time that we had a small like snow, uh, snow storm was what? 2018 something
like that. Yeah. I remember I was on shift, dude. I was in high school, bro. I was a senior.
I was on shift. Damn. You made me feel old. I was already, I was on shift. It was on,
I was in Edinburgh. Actually we were working when it hit, when it kicked in. I remember

(13:21):
the next day when I turned on my car, uh, it was just ice all over my windows, all windshield
windows, everything like that. I was fucking crazy. Yeah, dude. That's insane, bro. Because
like they put out like that, uh, cold weather alert saying that you can take your kids to
school like late or something. Yeah. Bro, we were there in the student parking lot,

(13:41):
bro. Trying to pick up the little snow that we had and just start throwing at each other.
Some of it was probably rocks, bro. Some of it was probably rocks. Some of them I wouldn't
doubt it, but that actually explains a lot, bro. It actually explains a lot. Oh yeah.
Um, but yeah, so I don't know. What about you? Would you live in Kelly? You see, I would,
I would say yes, I've never been to Cali. That's one thing about me. So it's kind of

(14:04):
hard for me to pick, but I would say yes, but like how everything is over there and
stuff like that, like, like pay wise, you know, like it's expensive over there, but
I could just imagine how much you spent for that year or that I'm sorry for that, for
that week that you were there. That is insane. Um, I don't remember how the thing we, we

(14:26):
rented a big Airbnb when we were there, but everything else, as far as like we went to
like some like regular restaurants, downtown San Diego and stuff like that. And I mean,
yeah, you're spending about like, uh, like 30 to 50 a meal. You know, it was just me.
Yeah. But I mean, it was, it was good though. And some Bruce skis, you know what I mean?

(14:49):
Some Bruce skis. Some, yeah, of course some Bruce skis, but that was always on a separate
tab. Oh yeah. The, the, the one thing I will say too is like, I think like with Cali compared
to what I like about Texas, right? Is that we, we don't have any state income tax. And
with Cali, that would be the thing that would like, it would, it would, it would bud me

(15:09):
is the state income tax. So I don't, I don't know if I'd live in Cali for that reason.
Oh, okay. Yeah. You see, like, I like everything, you know, but I mean, like some people say
like, Oh, like Santa Monica, I think it's like a beach or something, or it's like a
pier. I don't know what it is over there, but we also have that, you know, we probably
have like one of the best beaches in, I would say like the U S like, you know, I'm not too

(15:33):
sure.
Our water is ugly, bro. Okay. Our water, but compared to like Galveston, whoever's from
Galveston, my bad. But I mean, dude, let's be real. Yeah, but it's all from the same
thing, bro. It's from the Gulf. Yeah. But I mean, like, look at, like, look at our stuff.
Like we have Clayton's, you know, I got a bunch of like those like famous people and

(15:54):
stuff like that. They go and they do concerts there. The small bar. Don't get me wrong.
I mean, you're there on the beach, but I mean, okay. But let me, let me, let me, let me,
let me rebuttal with you. Would you instead of Cali, would you do Florida? Oh yeah. I'll
do Florida any day. And you've been to Florida. Yes. I've been to Florida. I've been to Orlando.
I've never been to Florida. Really? Yeah. I've never been to Florida. I just, from what

(16:17):
I've heard from Florida, I don't want to go over there and catch something. You know what
I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So especially them alligators, bro, whatever they have over there.
I'll fuck one of that. Anything in the water, bro. I stay away. I stay away. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't mess with anything in the water. Jellyfish. I hate jellyfish. I don't even fucking have

(16:37):
you done stunned by one at South Padre? No, bro. And I pray to God, I don't. Like there
was one time where we went and it was like my family and I, and we went, we were there
by Clayton's. Someone yelled shark. I immediately left. I didn't even look back. I didn't care.
I sat down. Yeah. That guy, whoever that person was, bro, whether he was fucking around or

(17:00):
not, let me tell you, bro, he ruined my fucking day. Cause I did not go back in that water.
Damn. Yeah. Yeah, bro. Yeah. All right. Now, now we know though, now we know whenever we
go to the beach, can we're actually, actually now that I think about it, we're planning
to go to the beach here pretty soon. We'll talk about it off, off, uh, off the air, but

(17:20):
yeah, we're, we're planning to go. I know me and Ray talked about it, me and, uh, John
Robert, but John won't, won't go though. That's the thing. John, John will go to he's closer
bro. He's over there in Mercedes, bro. You know how that guy, especially now that he
has his truck. Oh yeah. Yeah. Now that he has his truck, he'll go a hundred percent.

(17:44):
Oh, for real bro. How many percent? But I mean, we'll see, we'll see if we go out there.
Last time we went out there, it was all of us, JP, Kevin, Ray, me, John, uh, Marcus and
Josh were supposed to go out there, but they didn't. But, um, it was cool, man. Ray got
stuck like four times or five times. Oh yeah. Yeah. You had told me about that with the

(18:06):
desert runner or something. Desert runner. We fucking desert Walker or something like
that. You can do out. Yeah. Let me tell you this bro. Cause I mean, that's awesome that
you guys are doing that. You know, I learn every day, especially with the new department
and stuff. Um, like how you guys like stick together on or off shift, you know, like in

(18:27):
my past departments that I've been with paid or volunteer, uh, we never did nothing like
that. You know, it would probably be like, maybe, Hey, let's go get a beer or something
like, you know, like a little store, but like going to like, I guess like another city or
like out of state, like, I think that's like awesome. You know? So how do you, how do you
feel about all that? I mean, it's cool, man. It's, it's cool with certain individuals,

(18:48):
right? Cause you build, you build those rep, um, how do you say it? That, uh, like that
repertoire or that, that relationship with them, you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, I mean
like me and Ray have always done a lawn. Me and John have always done a lawn. Um, Robert,
you know, all of us there at station two, but then, you know, as far as the rest of
the shift, I mean, everybody's pretty much, pretty much cool, man. I haven't had any issues

(19:09):
with anybody on the shift. So everybody's decent to an extent when we, whenever we link
up, um, you know, I've linked up with some of the guys from four, some of the guys from
five, you know, it's kind of just, it just depends. It depends who you're stationed with
too. I think that plays a big factor in who you, uh, you link up with on the days off,
right? So like with me and John, I'm, I'm with John at work. My girlfriend gets mad

(19:32):
at this all the time, bro. Amy's always giving me shit. I'm with John at work and then John's
online on discord and I'm online playing with John. It's the same thing, never ends. It's
just the way it goes. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like that
with other stations too. I mean that, you know, with Kevin and JP for, even though we're
in business together, I mean, we still, before we were in business together, we'd still go

(19:53):
out, still go, you know, the beach, go to, um, the bars, right. With Kevin, cause Kevin
loves drinking. Shout out Kevin. Um, and shit like that, you know? So it's kind of just,
I enjoy it. I think it's cool. Um, get to link up with everybody. And then even when
we do stuff at the houses too, bro, like we know sometimes JP will throw something. Um,

(20:14):
I started doing it recently. I know you've come a few times, you know, when we do stuff
here at the house, so stuff like that, you know, some poker nights, some just chilling,
drinking some brewskis and just kicking it, you know?
No. Yeah, bro, for real. And I'm still waiting for that invite. JP, I'm still waiting. If
you're watching this, bro, I still, I'm waiting for that invite. I need that invite. You said
that you were going to throw down. It invited me for new years. But I couldn't go because

(20:38):
I didn't go to Amy's parents' house for new years. Cause they throw a party every weekend.
Uh, I didn't, I didn't go to it. So then they, uh, he called me and said, Hey, I'm gonna
throw something here if you want to come by. And I'm like, bro, if I go over there, I'm
not going to hear the end of it. So I'm just going to stay here chilling. I played, I was,
it was by myself playing online. Like, I don't know, my family never celebrated new years.

(21:00):
So like, it wasn't too like, uh, important to me. Like obviously the big holidays, Thanksgiving,
Christmas. Sure. But I don't know. New years to me, I don't really see the point in it.
Oh yeah. It's the same thing with me too. It's just a new year. We do like little stuff.
We probably like the party won't get started until like seven. I mean, you cook the food
and then you're just kind of waiting it out. Like, you know what I mean? But dude, by like

(21:22):
10 30, bro, I'm already yawning and shit. And it's just like, Oh, I want to go home.
Yeah, no, I'm not. I'm not with that shit, but, um, on that note, so let me ask you this
kind of you worked in another department. Um, what is from, from your old department
to your new department. And I'm not saying the bachelor department either. And I'm just
saying like, what is the, the biggest, this is two part question. What's the biggest hurdle

(21:47):
you've had to like get past learning in the new department and what would be your favorite
thing that you didn't have in your old department that you have here? Well, you can't say money.
Oh, we all know that's it. Yeah. Yeah. No. I mean, the main thing was kind of like, you
know, like the lack of training, you know, like I'm very big on training and stuff like

(22:07):
that. And like the little orientation that you guys like give to like the probationary
is like the first month or something. Yeah. Like I learned a lot compared to like what
I did for like three plus years at my other department. Like, you know, and that was just
a small sample of it, you know, even coming on to shift. I know my lieutenant, he loves

(22:28):
to train, you know, so every other day we're training or literally every shift day we are
training, you know, we're always going to the drill field or we find something to do
there at the station, watch videos, watching other departments, see how they work and stuff
like that. So those are huge things where I really liked. And I mean, it was just a
step step forward, you know, coming back from the from the old department. Yeah. What about

(22:54):
the hurdle? The hurdle? I would say would probably be like the people that I left behind,
but they're on to bigger and better things because the people, the main people that I
started with, now they're in bigger departments now, you know, like we're talking about McAllen,
we're talking about mission. Some, some are even trying to get into Edinburgh, you know,

(23:16):
I feel bad for the some of them that didn't get picked up. But I mean, it doesn't doesn't
hurt to keep trying. To my knowledge, we just hired a few on Monday. Really? Yeah, they
were sending to the Academy. Oh, yes. Yes. One of them. He's a volunteer. He was a volunteer
there in Edinburgh. I'm not too familiar with his name and stuff like that. I know how he
looks like. But yeah, he starts. I think the Academy starts in January. Something like

(23:43):
that. But yeah, not five. Yeah, he's eight to five. And then they said that there was
two. But I've only only saw one. So I mean, I haven't I haven't seen anybody. Obviously,
I've been out but I haven't seen it. They told me last week when I was there working
on the the presentation for the ESO training. They they had mentioned that they were picking
up to on Monday. Yeah, for the Academy. That's cool. Yeah, one of the guys was there for

(24:07):
the for the training that was there. Okay, nice, nice. I guess the next thing too would
be what is the you know, here's the best that I love. I love asking this question. I know
you've only been at one station technically assigned, right? Because you haven't been
assigned to another station. Yeah, at least yet. And I've heard there's some changes coming

(24:31):
up pretty soon. What from this to you seen every station, right? Yeah. Which is your
favorite station? By looks and stuff like that. I would know. No, just just like what
station would you want to be at? Like, because you're like, I like this station. Just station
doesn't have to be no, no. It's just the station itself. Truck station. Area, whatever. To me,

(24:58):
if I had to pick one, it'd be for for the retirement station. Yeah, bro. The individual
dorms, bro, they play a big part, man. Like, you know, like, there's times where you want
to get your little privacy in and stuff like that. It's nice. But I mean, I also do like
that we're kind of like an open dorm. That way we all like see each other like, you know

(25:20):
what I mean? Like not doing whatever. But yeah, I didn't mean it like that. Maybe I
did, maybe I did. But yeah, dude, like, I mean, it's kind of like pick your poison.
I kind of do like my little bit of privacy, I guess you could say. But other than that,
like I would still be out there with the guys still talking, shooting the shit, you know?

(25:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I like for that. So that's where I mean, I've me and Ray have
talked about it. We've we've said we'd like to go to we'd like to stay at two because
it's obviously too busy. Yeah. It makes the shift go by quick. And it's not that bad.
I mean, I don't think to I mean, yeah, you know what the fire alarm set station and all
that stuff because we have all like all the fucking like business side of it. Yeah. Commercial

(26:05):
side. But it's it's it's busy. It's fun. It's cool. But yeah, I would like to go to four.
I really don't want to go to five because that's obviously the farthest station from
me. Yeah, bro. It's the same thing with me, too, bro. I like to go to five. Three is OK.
Three is OK. I was a lieutenant. I did that separate dorm. Yeah. The dorm was killer.

(26:29):
Yeah. As far as central, I never want to go to central again. Ever. I feel like that.
It's like with like that with anyone like, you know, and yeah, I mean, nationwide. I
mean, no one wants to be at Central. Yeah. All eyes on you. You know. Yeah, exactly.
But aside from that, I mean, four is cool. I wouldn't mind for. Aside from from all the

(26:56):
the stations and everything like that. So I know you were a driver in your previous
department. Right. Yes. What would you say? I guess was is the the difference in ranks
from driving or being a driver here in Edinburgh or to be in a driver in San Juan? Honestly,
I would say I mean, like I said, aside from pay with what you just said, would probably

(27:22):
be like the amount of information you guys got to know for like high rises and stuff
like that. Like, you know, like we never had high rise buildings. I think the most building,
I guess you can consider it high rise, but it's a two story building. And it was even
it was vacant, you know. So other than that, we never really had stuff like that or stuff

(27:43):
put into play on what we needed to do, what we needed to know and stuff like that. Do
you have your aerial up? No, that's the only thing I don't have. OK. Yeah, I know. I know
they're going to put a class together pretty soon for that, too. I know, do I saw that
and I'm looking forward to it, bro. And then even the the RGV, I forgot what that class

(28:06):
is called, whether you guys host like a bunch of classes like the fire school every year.
Yeah. So that one that one seems pretty good, too. But from what I heard, that probationary
is they can only take one class and it's kind of like, hey, we're going to take you to this
one or we're going to send you to that one. Like we don't have the option versus like
you guys, you know. So hopefully, hopefully we'll see, man. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see

(28:33):
what happens with it. I mean, I signed up for a class to it's a leadership class. I
can't remember which one it was, but I signed up for it. I was going to sign up for vehicle
rescue, heavy vehicle rescue. Yeah, I saw that one, bro. And then I was talking with
with one of the guys there and he was like, oh, usually they'll only send like people

(28:56):
that are like the senior men and stuff like that. But I was like, man, fuck that. So I
still applied. I mean, I doubt I'm going to get chosen. Right. But I mean, hey, doesn't
hurt. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, we'll see what comes out of it. It's it's it's cool. It happens
every year anyway. So if you don't get to do it this year, you still have next year.
Oh, yeah, bro. For sure. That or you can always go to A&M. That one. Not going to teach. I've

(29:19):
never been over there. I've never been to teach. They've asked me in the past, like
three years, but it just I don't. And I never my thing is they always want to send me to
rope tech. Right. Oh, yeah. And I'm not I'm not keen on like rope tech. Like I know my
knots, right. Like I run through my knots every now and then with Ray will go through
a system, you know, I mean, a three to one or whatever. Yeah. And it's just. To me, I

(29:47):
say three to one, a four to one or anything like that. It just doesn't like. It doesn't
interest me. You know what I mean? No, yeah, it's just one of those objects that obviously
I know I need to know my basics, my clove hitch and you know how to do a bow line and
you know, like figure it on a bite or anything like that. But like, as far as like really
getting into it, into it, like it does not pique my attention. No, yeah, it's the same

(30:12):
thing with me, too. But I'm not like it just it just doesn't it. It doesn't like gravitate
to me to where I'm like, oh, I want to learn this. You know what I mean? Yeah, I'll learn
it if I need to. But like, I don't care too much for it. Yeah, no, I'm literally the same
way. So it's a little it's a little different on that. But now that they added that that
assert, I might look into it. Oh, dude, for real, bro. And I was literally going to ask,

(30:36):
man, like, I wonder what like, you know, like organization and stuff like that wants to
do with those two shirts, because, yeah, I don't think I don't think they'll make it
assert for what's it called? Like, yeah, like a pacer through our department, like one of
the certifications you get, I don't think they'll make it one. But I mean, it's still

(31:01):
good to have because all you need to do now is just challenge it. You need to get a letter
from the chief that we call it that you you meet their department's requirements to perform
as a rope rescue or something like that. No, yeah, I saw that. I saw that. And then you
can get to the awareness and ops or the tech level. So to my knowledge, I think we have

(31:22):
until any Texas firefighter has until October 1st to challenge that, I think. Yeah. I'm
going to submit the application. I think you need to test for it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you do
have to say you get like if you're taking any other. Yeah. So those exams. Yeah. So
I think I think I think that's cool. I think that'll add a little more to the certification

(31:50):
pot. I guess you could say. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, as far as certs go, how many how many
certs do you have more or less? You don't have to name each one of them off the top
of your head, but more or less. I don't have a lot either. Yeah, I don't have a lot. I
think I have three, four, three CFP, I assume. Oh, don't through TCFP. I only have two.

(32:11):
Okay. And then through teach you have some other one through teak. So I have one and
then through the NRMT. That's another. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So I have I have a handful
on on TCFP. I think I have five. You don't have a lot, bro. That's a lot. No, it's the

(32:33):
like the like my driver op, my driver aerial wild land. Yeah, like the main ones, you know,
my actually I'm supposed to get my advanced here in the next like week. I think that's
it. You know, I think I'm supposed to be applying for the intermediate. Yeah. My advance comes

(32:55):
up literally in like a few days. Holy shit. Yeah. So I'll get that one out of the way.
I'm trying to remember what else I had all on my fire instructor and my officer there.
I was like, I know I have two others. Couldn't remember. I could have hazmat tech, but I
fucking failed to the 68. But you know, this troll shit to bro, like what I paid for my
retest. Okay. I didn't know I had 30 days when I paid for my retest to take the test.

(33:21):
Yeah, dude. That happened to me too, bro. Not only that. So I paid for my retest thinking
like, I'll take it in like two months paid for it because I had the money. And then I
logged in to apply for the test and nothing. Yeah, it expired, dude. It expired. And then
it counts as like a failure or some shit. So I was like, bro, you're trolling me. That

(33:41):
happened to me with wild land, bro. So wild land, I had literally took the course a year
prior and I was like, I had never taken the course or taken the exam. So I was like, fuck
it. So I took it and, uh, on online, I waited, I purchased it. And then like now, if you
want to take wild land, you don't even got to take the state cert anymore. Now it's just

(34:03):
like you show up to the course, you do your course completion, you submit it to TCFP and
they automatically give you the cert, you know, obviously. Yeah. You got to pay for
the cert now and stuff like that, like any other cert, but, uh, yeah, now you, you don't
got to take a state exam for a handful of people. I think one of the guys from B shift,
he just recently took it. I did not know that. Yeah, dude. So I, I felt cheated out of $55.

(34:30):
So I'm expecting it back. Yeah. They don't give refunds. I already, I already tried.
I was like, Hey, so since I didn't take my test, uh, my money and they're like, nah,
you, you know, you don't get it back. It's non-refundable. I was like, bruh, I troll
bro. You trolling me. Yeah. It is what it is though. Maybe I'll take it again at some

(34:51):
point. Um, it has my, that was cool. The course that I took it in, to be honest, wasn't the
best course to my, in my opinion, it was, it was a lot of war stories and shit, but
it is what it is. You know what I mean? He's got a role with it. Some other people passed
in my class, so can't blame it on that. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think the highest
grade we had in our class was like a 73 or some shit though. So yeah, but I heard the

(35:15):
hazmat tech is, is really tough bro. And then congratulate to the two guys in our department.
They hopefully they made it, they made it to the task force bro. From what I did, they
did. They did. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Both of them made it. Both of them made it. You see
congratulations to those two guys, man. I know. I mean, both of them, bro. Hazmat gurus,
bro. Those, those motherfuckers, they get a hard on for fuck and for hazmat bro. Easy.

(35:39):
I haven't, I haven't been to two around them whenever it goes over hazmat. So I'm not a
hundred percent on that, but, uh, but yeah, no, they got in, they got in. That's a shout
out to them. Shout out to them. Um, on that note, I guess let's kind of break away from
the fire side of things or not the fire side, but the, I guess our backgrounds and shit,

(36:02):
we started going down a rabbit hole. Do we haven't really talked about that before? Um,
what is, uh, what are some guests that you look forward to this year? Like who, who do
you, who would you like to potentially bring on to the, uh, to the podcast from like the
ones that we already have lined up? No, no, no. Just like anybody, anybody. Like I, I'll

(36:25):
tell you right now, one of mine and I already reached out, right? I don't know if it's gonna
happen. I, I, I'm not a hundred percent sure. Um, but I reached out, I sent an email out.
I wanted to know how much it was cause I mean, I'm down, you know, but I reached out to Steve
downs. Do you know who Steve downs is? No, no, I lighten me. Okay. That's the voice actor

(36:46):
for master chief. All right. So I was trying to bring master chief on this shit. Yeah.
Uh, I literally just sent the email this past week. Um, I don't think I've gotten a response.
I haven't looked at my email today, but, uh, that's who I reached out to. So I'm saying
like in that realm, right? Where it's like, who would you like to bring on? Cause I might,

(37:07):
my immediate, you know, I'd like to bring Steve down. So that's master chief all time
favorite game. I don't care what anybody says. The halo series is S tier. It's God tier.
Uh, yeah, I'd like to bring them on here so he could say, you know, four day breaks, all
this other stuff. He just say my name and master chiefs voice bro immediately moist,

(37:29):
you know, but who, who do you think? Who, who's the, who's that person that you're like,
you know what? I'd like to bring this person on board. You see, bro, like right now it's
kind of hard to say, but one of the, uh, the, I guess like the someone that we're, that
we're going to bring on, bro, I'm really excited bro from ETRGB. Yeah. I am excited for that,

(37:52):
bro. I would love to know what's going to happen like during their season, what they
plan on doing their first season. Like the changes. So on that note, did you see, uh,
that, that, uh, the UTSA quarterbacks coming over really? I did not see that. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So, um, if I remember, I can't remember his fucking name and I just saw it literally.

(38:16):
Um, Eddie Lee Marburg really is the court. He's one of the quarterbacks at UTSA. He transferred
back or not transferred back. He transferred to, um, UTRGV. I'm assuming, is it my assumption?
I'm assuming he's coming over here to be the starting quarterback. Oh, for sure. For sure.

(38:39):
I think who was our starting quarterback at first, it was someone from Raiders. No, no,
no. It's, uh, no, no, no. It was supposed to be this other kid. I can't remember his
name. Um, yeah, I can't remember his name, but, but on that note, I mean, yeah, this
guy's coming down from, from, from UTSA. He's from mission. He was in, uh, in what's it

(39:08):
called? Uh, Sharon, was it Rattlers or pioneers? One of them. Yeah. Something like that. Something
like that. I'm not, I'm not from over there. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, me neither.
So I mean, I think it was something like that, but I mean, he, he's coming down. He's going
to be like, uh, I'll be honest. I don't know what he's going to be like a fifth year. Oh

(39:31):
shit. He's a, he's a junior. Oh, okay. He's a registered junior. I guess, I guess he can
only play one year, but I mean, if you're saying that he's a junior shit, yeah, something
like that. Um, but yeah, so that's, that's something else to look into. And he started

(39:53):
playing in 2021. Yeah. But, but yeah, so that, I mean, that'd be cool to get something like
that. I mean, I'm hoping that everything falls through with UTRGV. We'll see what goes through.
Yeah. Um, so, but okay. Aside from that, aside from people that we already have potential

(40:14):
plans with, like just anybody out in the world, if it could just be like anyone, bro, I think,
I mean, I wouldn't say anyone, but something realistic, you know, don't tell me like, Oh,
you know what I want fucking, uh, in somebody, but I want Mark Wahlberg or some shit. Like,

(40:37):
nah, like be realistic, bro. I don't know, bro. I mean, anyone that's kind of like in
the comedian side, bro, I would want to know more on their story. Like, you know, like
that stuff is hard, bro. Like, you can't just like walk up to a stage and just start spitting
some bars, bro. Like, nah, you gotta have a script. You gotta have like this and that.
On that note, like, what are you thinking though? Are you thinking like a, a, uh, like, are

(41:06):
you thinking like Andrew Schultz or are you thinking like Theo von, are you thinking like
some of the new guys from like, like, I like kill Tony, right? Like that, that, that serious
Tony. Oh my God. So like, are you looking at like stuff like that or what's, what's,
what's the, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Stuff like that, bro. Like, like Theo von, bro,

(41:27):
like he, I think he's probably like one of the best, bro. He's hilarious. Hilarious.
He's funny, bro. I like that one meme where he's just like, it makes you want to, he does
like that little, uh, what did he say? He makes you want to kick a kid, a kid with cake
or some shit like that. Yeah, bro. He's, he's, he's next level troll, bro. He's funny. So

(41:49):
yeah. And then the cat Williams, bro, that shit was hilarious. The, he bought the black
nutcracker and he's like, yeah, I got a little mini cat Williams at the house and she did
that. Shit's funny. I did that. That'd be cool. That'd be cool to reach out and see.
Yeah, bro. I'm pretty sure it's a grip pretty more. But that'd be cool. Um, I think on,

(42:19):
uh, well, one of the things that I'd like to do, right. With four day breaks on that
note, right from guests and stuff like that. Um, I'm, I'm trying to debate whether we want
to stay prerecorded or we want to go live, right? Cause live obviously creates a bigger
community engagement. You could kind of have people around talking and shit like that,

(42:40):
you know, or not talking, but chatting. We didn't kind of go through it for like Q and
a's and stuff like that. But I think, I think if we maybe every like other month or something
like that, we do one that's like alive and then everything else is going to stay as is
with all the different contents. So that's the thing, right? We, we, we have no idea
where this is going to branch off to. This could completely go a month or two and then

(43:04):
it stops. It could go a year or two. It could go a decade. It could, you know, podcasts
are going to be around for fucking ever. Um, eventually it will come up with segments.
Eventually we'll come up with more creative ideas. Um, we'll get some more sponsors, get
some more, you know, everything kind of intertwined into it. But I think right now, um, we'll

(43:26):
kind of figure out the routes, um, as it develops, as we continue doing what, um, what we got
going on right now. No, yeah. I mean, I agree. Right. I've never done this shit. Yeah. I've
never done this either. And then like, yeah, that that's as far as I've gone to personally.
But I mean, like the recordings and stuff like that, like it's really good. And like

(43:50):
the way you just said, like once in a while, we'll throw in a little live stream, you know,
a reasonable time that way, you know, we can get some live, like live chat, you know, going
and stuff like that. Yeah. And the main thing too is like, we, we kind of, I mean, we kind
of procrastinated a little bit on doing this. Um, and I kind of, you know, just went down

(44:10):
this whole damn process with my dog and everything like that. Um, and it's been a grip has been
a long, I'm running on a few hours of sleep right now, but this is something like I told
you that we had to knock out, had to get done that way we could get everything uploaded
and running and see, see what comes out of it. You know what I mean? That's ultimately
the all we can do is just see. Um, but I do want to build a good community with it. I

(44:36):
do want to kind of bring more guests on board and bring the local entrepreneurs and stuff
like that. Um, I have a few people in mind from like even our department, right. They're
run successful businesses and stuff like that, that I'd like to bring on board and kind of
just pick their mind. That's the thing with this podcast is it's so open-ended that it's
not like tied down to just firefighting. It's not tied down to just energy drinks. It's

(44:58):
not tied down to, um, you know, gaming or anything in that nature. It's pretty much
open-ended can go any which way we want it to, you know, learning from entrepreneurs.
I know what's up. That's one thing that I learned too. And like in the department, like
majority of everyone there, bro, they own businesses, like, you know, like, like yourself,

(45:19):
like, you know, I know the guys there on a shift, man, they're, they're, they're part
of high rise and stuff like that. I've heard some other businesses from beast, uh, from
B shift and C shift, which is awesome, but like, it's insane.
Yeah. No, there's tons, bro. As I'm saying, like there's so much to do. Um, and that's
why one of the, you know, the funny things with this podcast being called four day breaks

(45:40):
is we have a lot of off time. You know what I mean? Um, a lot of, I mean, working nine
to 10 or 12 days a month, max. I mean, that's, you know, you can't beat that. And that's
why a lot of these guys work part-time jobs or other places too, you know, just to kind
of keep busy. Um, but I think with our side of it, you know, it's a little more, um, you

(46:01):
know, every nine days, it's second day of our four day break is when we plan to do this
every single week, um, or every, I guess I don't even know if you'd say week, but every
nine days. And I think that, uh, you know, creating a community and kind of having that
open ended conversations with people. I mean, there's a few people I have in mind that I

(46:21):
want to bring on board to kind of talk from the department and see what, uh, you know,
what we can learn. Kind of you like even your business too, with, with a queue, it's a,
it's different. You know what I mean? It's something that I'm not too like involved in.
So I don't know all about it. You know what I mean? So it's like that. I want to learn

(46:41):
and kind of, you know, maybe set it up and I wouldn't say segments, but set it up to
where people can kind of learn a little bit from others as well and see what, you know,
maybe it's something that you've had a question on and didn't have an answer to, but then
through our discussions, it comes out, you know, and I've have that learning moments
as well. Um, aside from that though, I mean, I think this is a good first episode. Obviously

(47:08):
it's not going to be too long. One of the things that we kind of wanted to do was just
let conversation run through and see where, where we end up, but obviously not bore everybody
too much. I know like some of the bigger podcasts can go for hours and hours and hours, which
I don't get bored, but, uh, obviously as we're developing here, we'll kind of figure out
a more well-toned script, a more well-toned, uh, narrative, how we want things to kind

(47:30):
of transpire and go and we'll, uh, we'll, we'll get everything adjusted. But I mean,
for now we're a little over 45 minutes. I think right now I'm good to go. I appreciate
everybody. Um, if you know, everybody came in and listened, show some support, follow
high rise fuel on all socials. Um, I'll be creating at some point, some form of discount

(47:51):
for everybody, um, through the podcasts that way you can save some money. Um, and yeah,
any closing thoughts about some, no, yeah, same thing. You know, I mean, there, we have
a lot of ideas coming up. I mean, stay tuned with the podcasts and stuff like that. We,
we really want to build a community, um, for high rise, for four day breaks, you know,
and stuff like that. So we, we do have a lot of stuff in store and then, uh, what's it

(48:15):
called? Well, what did you had said earlier? You had to mention something about, uh, what
was it? What's up? What's up? I forgot what you had mentioned. I mean, we mentioned a
lot, but what part? It was about the, you know, I think this part we're going to need

(48:37):
to cut off brother. It's staying, it's staying 100%. I don't remember what it was, but,
uh, nonetheless, next episode should be out January 17th. Um, I don't think we have a
guest lined up for the first two months. Um, but I'll try to get something situated. I'll

(49:00):
see it. Maybe we did someone for next, next. I think we do know. Uh, no, the net, the first
one's March 12th, I believe. Holy shit. Then I read that fucking thing completely wrong
then brother. Yeah. Yeah. Now the first one should be March 12th. I need to look at, I
have, I have an idea for somebody for this, this, uh, um, this month. However, with them

(49:23):
being on a different shift, I think a lot of these land on that day that they work.
Now that I think about it, the second day of our four day break is always a B shift
day. Is that okay? Yeah. Yeah. Cause that's the way our cycle never changes. Yeah. Yeah.
It does. Yeah. So it's a B shift day every time. So, um, the person I have for an idea

(49:46):
on C shift, it's good to go. The person that I have for an idea on B shift is probably
not, but we'll figure it out. We'll schedule some vacation time or some shit. No. Yeah.
But yeah, other than that, uh, look forward to seeing everybody. Uh, we'll, uh, keep everybody
updated on socials and get everything uploaded. Once you can listen on, I believe it should

(50:07):
be Apple podcasts, Spotify podcasts, and, uh, I don't know the full list of the ones
that we have listed there, but, uh, as soon as I have an idea, we'll get everything situated
and let everybody know. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right. Appreciate everybody. Listen in.
We'll catch you on the next one. Y'all stay safe brothers.