It's a tough job

At an open house in Arlington on Sunday, family and fellow firefighters spoke of fire chief Lon Langdon’s abiding devotion to his job. Here are a few other tough jobs that deserve a nod:

House movers. It takes much more than a truck and a back brace to transport the massive loads moved by Canadian-based company Nickel Bros. In fact, it takes heavy equipment, cooperation with utility crews and sometimes a barge, much like trying to get everything home after an overzealous trip to Ikea.

The Washington State Roadkill Patrol. Turns out that when there’s a carcass larger than a raccoon on the highway, state troopers are the ones who get to stop traffic and scrape it out of the way. If you’d like to express your gratitude for their efforts, we suggest you seize the opportunity the next time you’re trying to explain why you were doing 80 in a 60 mph zone.

A parent at bedtime. Researchers have found that getting enough sleep may reduce kids’ risk of becoming obese. Further studies will likely show that the superhuman effort required to wrestle kids into bed an hour earlier also keeps parents from becoming obese.