That is neat: another mariner! I worked for the railroad for years, but since tugboats have locomotive engines for propulsion, I gravitated to the maritime industry. I teach mariner skills now, so yes: I know the difference between "a ceiling" and the "overhead", and the difference between a ship and a boat!
Unfortunately, I didn't realize that having three miles of water below me would give me such bad heebie-jeebies. (Fun fact, I love flying light aircraft, so not sure what gives!) That coupled with the fact I can't swim worth a damn, even with a life preserver, kinda told me it was the wrong profession. I did get to have experience with navigation and shipboard fires, relevant stuff for my current employment!
I loved working on the tugs, but when I got a family, it was hard juggling sea time with family time. So when people asked why i got done,I told them, "humans were not born with webbed feet"!
I have made my living as a dairy farmer, logger, commercial fisherman, ironworker. The area that maybe of some interest to other writers is that I have extensive experience working with the Amish. I am one of the few who have spent sometime in their environment, and am familiar with their customs, traditions and their faith. The real stuff not the Amish Mafia stuff that was on TV.
I'm a corrections officer at a county jail, been here nearly 7 years now. Like @Lewdog I also have done the tactical response team stuff (We call it CERT here, Cell Extraction Response Team). Prior to that I worked on PATRIOT launching stations in the US Army. I was a Girl Scout camp counselor for 7 summers. I've been a lifeguard, and also was on the swim team nearly every summer growing up. Also played lot of soccer. I sing and have been in many many choirs. One of my more eclectic hobbies is cross-stitching, but I'm not a pro on that.
I am a media technician and a journalist by education, but I also worked as a photographer and enumerator (in a census). And also helped out here-and-there with more physical stuff, such as house repairs and taking apart a car.
