Well, since I've already performed a little thread necromancy once today, why not do it again?
Some of the guys here already know me - Gil, Chief Mike, specifically - but for those who don't, you have this last chance to close your browsers before its too late.
As you've no doubt already guessed, my name is Earl (pause to allow the TV show jokes... ...and we're back). The TVAs known me for a few years as an employee of the Historic Ships Museum through good times and lean, but I've recently returned after a year-long absence to a new position within the Museum as the Site Manager for Torsk and LV/WLV-116 "Chesapeake". This means, basically, that I'm the one that gets the phone calls during the night when things go to pot.
I've been interested is all things War Two and later for most of my life, starting right around the time I learned to read. Becuna was my first fleet boat, Torsk my second. Graduated high school in 90, off to Uncle Sugar via the Army, and out again, shifting from job to job and location to location... not much call for a Bradley gunner in the civlilian market, though the Beltway could use it. Still read everything I could get my hands on, still built models, went to museums... just didn't imagine ever working at one. Worked one summer here in Baltimore as a guide/docent and overnight educator, but had to leave in the fall as the money wasn't conducive to supporting a family. Went into HVAC work, where I moved quickly up the shop ladder, working as XO to my boss, a USCG Academy grad, in training and repair work. Did that a little over a year before being knocked out of that game by an inattentive driver whose actions left me with a bit of a disability in my left arm & shoulder - can't wrestle with compressors with an arm that developed a tendency to randomly not work. Came back to the museum, stayed a couple of years, then was out again with some family responsibilities, caring for my mother in what would be her final few months. After Mom passed, my wife and I took a trip to San Diego, where I spent some time stomping around Midway. Decided then and there that the teaching degreee I'm currently pursuing was going to be a means to an end - I want to be involved with making all of these vessels accessible and relevant to everyone who comes to see them.
As luck would have it, here I now sit, sorta back where I really started my museum ship career, finally getting a chance to do what I wanted to do for years. I love this job, I love what I do, and I love that I'm not alone in how I feel about this!
