After working 10 years in aviation fueling planes, to overhauling propellers, and a brief period as a flight attendant, I decided to try something else. I then spent 20 years working as a system administrator in IT, and 27 years in law enforcement and an EMT. I became a ham in 2011, kind of by accident after looking over one of Gordo’s books and realizing I knew all of the material. I aced the technician test the following week, and finally got around to my general license about 18 months later. Upon purchasing my first HT, I found the WIN System and the Morning Net on N6NFI in Santa Clara. Shortly thereafter, I volunteered to work on a project with Shorty that ended about 18 months later. I finally retired in 2017, and move to northern Washington state to be closer to my 80-year-old father and my sister. In the summer of 2021, I was told I was enjoying retirement too much and needed to find something that required me “to do something on a schedule”. About that same time the WIN System announced they needed someone as a fill-in Net Controller on the Insomniac Net. I figured the timing of those two comments was too coincidental, so I gave Steve – N5ZUA a call.
I lived through the Great Alaska earthquake in 1964, and 25 years later the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Those two events, along with a few hurricanes, wildland fires, and other events I’ve lived through, I became very interested in emergency preparedness. In 1999, I was recruited to take a position within a group of four who oversaw our agency’s Emergency Operations Center. When I became a HAM I quickly realized my EMS tasks and HAM radio went hand-in-hand. One of the biggest lessons learned was to be organized, rehearse your tasks, and keep check lists. With those three tasks in mind, I feel most of the time I can comfortably switch rolls from a listener to Net Controller in a moment’s notice. Those lessons have greatly assisted me in my role as an Insomniac Net Controller, and I really enjoy the task of researching the questions/answers, and the comments I receive from the other HAMS from around the world.