Hey, what’s up, Tony’s fans? Are you tired of waiting for Tony to write anything new here? No worries, his wife is coming to the rescue. I started the post below from my blog at work. I like to continue updating it so here I am.

Reposting from Education Northwest intranet, originally published on June 8, 2010

My husband Tony joined the Multnomah County Search and Rescue (SAR) last fall. He came up with the idea when he decided to do something similar to me volunteering for Amnesty International USA (I’ve been an active member since 1999) – a cause I am deeply passionate about.

The Multnomah County SAR trainings are held from mid-September to early June every year. There is an indoor classroom training every Wednesday 7-9pm and an overnight weekend outing once a month. When he began the training last fall, we were two months into our kitchen remodel. The remodel was a total gut job. We demoed all the way to the studs and sub-floor. And we are still working on it at the moment. The SAR trainings had probably caused a good amount of delays but I didn’t mind it at all. (Big thanks to Nancy Henry for loaning us her hot plate. We are still using it everyday!!!)

Last Wednesday was graduation day. I got to go to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to attend the ceremony. The newly elected Sheriff was there and he gave a good speech. Good man, I think. Less than a week after Tony was officially certified for SAR, he got called out on a search. This is the big one – the student that went missing at Skyline Elementary School.

The first call came in last Friday. He couldn’t go at that time. He checked back with his team Saturday night after finding out the news online. Another call went out to all volunteers to gather at the Sheriff’s Office on Sunday at 7am.

He woke up early last Sunday to eat a big breakfast. I couldn’t get back to sleep after he got out of bed. I got up, watched him get dressed and off the way he went with his huge backpack and another duffel bag of stuff in case he had to stay overnight. I called his friend later that morning to let him know we wouldn’t be able to make it to his place for the barbecue he was hosting that evening. I also talked to my brother-in-law by phone to make sure his mom know Tony went on the search (his mom requires him to call her every time he goes on a search). Then, my duty was done for the day. I wasn’t in the mood for the kitchen remodel so I did chores around the house instead (neglecting two bathrooms during a remodel is not a good idea).

Sometime after 5:30pm, he called to let me know his team was back to base (the “command center” of the search) and he was waiting for further instructions. An hour later, he sent me a text that said he was going out again with his team and he would be coming home later in the evening. Sometime after 9pm, he got home. I don’t worry about him but the not-knowing what he is doing out there is kind of bugging me. The news reports weren’t super helpful. But at least the Oregonian snapped a good photo of him.

Last night, we were out having dinner in the Pearl District. His cellphone was buzzing the entire time. There was another call for the search. He had a major report due later this week so he took all of his gear to work this morning. A moment ago, I got a text from him. He is going out to the search again. I hope he won’t stay overnight. A few of his teammates were sleeping in the school gym over the weekend. With school back in session, I don’t know where the volunteers would sleep if they stay there. It could be the A-frame made of tree branches and a tarp as he had been trained to do all along.

Update (6/9/2010): Tony called me shortly after 9:30pm last night to let me know his team was back at base. They had to debrief before they could go home for the night. He got home around 11pm with all signs of allergies. His arms got red marks and his eyes and nose were watery. Lots of sneezing and itchy eyes, too. A teammate told him to pour rubbing alcohol over his arms and it took the itchiness away. He took an allergy pill before heading to bed. We looked everywhere for the special eye drop prescribed by his doctor but it’s nowhere to be found (nothing is easy to locate during a remodel). I asked him if he should stay out for a day and he said he might just take his gear to work with him. Do I need to wave the “Listen to your wife, please” card? Well, he is still quite congested this morning and agrees that he won’t go out on the search today (he had already gotten calls from several people last night for today’s search). 200+ hours of training are no match to the thick vegetation (as tall as him I heard) that kicks off his allergies.

Update (6/10/2010): There was a call out to Multnomah County SAR to meet at the Sheriff’s Office at 4pm yesterday. Tony didn’t bring his gear to work and he wouldn’t be able to arrive on time anyway. He offered to drive the shuttle and that was his job for the night. He transported search teams between their assigned areas and base. He also added up volunteer hours at the command center. Even for such simple tasks, he was there past 9pm and got home after 10:30pm. As for me, I went to the store to get him allergy medicine (and a chocolate bar for me). In terms of tonight, he plans to go straight home after work to clean up his gear to get ready for the weekend. But what about all the festivities (2 graduation parties and a baby shower) we got invited to this weekend? “We will see,” he said. What did I let him get into? A new obsession?!

“Stay tuned for the continuing coverage …”

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