July 17, 2012 Tuesday Afternoon

Last night we figured we would make the kid watch a classic movie so we watched the movie It's A Mad Mad Mad World.  I don't think the kid appreciated the movie as much as we did, watching it again.  There are so many big name stars in this movie, but as a kid, he did not know any of them.  He did enjoy the movie, but not as much as I had hoped.  Around 10 PM we put the kid to bed in the spare bedroom and we went to bed after a little lovin.

This morning we were up at 7 AM.  Fed the dogs and gave Vito his shot.  My plan was to take the kid to Discovery World Museum on the Milwaukee lakefront.  A little after 9 AM I was looking out the window and asked the kid if it looked smokey or hazy outside.  In no time at all a fire truck went past the house and turned down Center street.  I grabbed the kid and said 'lets go see where the fire is'.  As we got down the alley the smoke was so heavy you could not see in front of you.  We went a block up Center street and could see the flames shooting out of an auto body shop that Tony does business with and we know the family and owners well.  I asked a person on the street if I could use his cell phone and called Tony at work and told him his buddies auto body shop was burning.  We watched the fire for a while and went back home to get the camera and some water since it was heading towards 100 degrees today in Milwaukee.  We met Tony on the other side of the fire, having to walk around the block to get around it from all the police tape and fire equipment.  Watched the 5 alarm fire for a while and when Tony went back to work in tears, we headed home.  Tony does a lot of business with this auto body shop and knows the owners well.  Drove to McDonald's, again, and bought some lunch for the kid and me.  Took lunch to the fire and watched the building burn for another hour or so in the 98 degree heat.  Thankfully we chewed on ice cubes to stay cool.  The house still smells of smoke and if you go outside it is just a horrible smell.  Funny thing, the guy who accidentally started the fire was a past employee of Tony's.  Guess he was working on a gas tank and the light above fell and when the bulb broke the gas tank exploded.  Flames went to the ceiling and in no time the entire auto body shop and 10 loft apartments above were all in flames.  Biggest fire of the year so far in our neighborhood.  Thankfully everyone got out safe.  Since we spent the day at the fire we had no time to go to Discovery World.   Unfortunately the kid is leaving a day early, today, around 5 PM.   I honestly am counting down the hour because from being in the heat watching the fire I am so tired I think I will go to bed the minute the car pulls away with him in it.  Tony will come home exhausted working in this 100 degree heat.  We even broke another all time heat record today in Milwaukee.  Will most likely spent the night watching America's Got Talent, if we can keep our eyes open, and then to bed.   Not even hungry or feeling like cooking tonight so it might turn out to be a Jimmy John's night.  Here is a picture and a short video from today's 5 alarm fire 3 blocks from our house.