Expertise: Accounting, Amateur Radio, Childcare, Classroom Instructor, Computer Programmer, Cooking, Disaster Preparedness, Electrician, Electronics Tech, Fire Fighting, First Aid Tech, Handyman, Certified Lifeguard, Locksmith, PC Repair, Plumber, Scuba Diver, Software Technical Support and Navy Survival Training.
How did I learn these things? Like the Jack-of-all-Trades of old, I have always been interested in all kinds of things. Figuring out how all sorts of gizmos and gadgets work and reading about new inventions and technologies has been my bread and butter my entire life. As a pre-teen, my parents would often give me broken radios and clocks just so that I could find out what makes them tick. Quite often I would end up fixing them to my parent’s surprise!
This thirst for knowledge only grew stronger when I became a Scout and learned about the outdoors, first aid and self-reliance. My desire to learn new skills was so strong that I made Eagle Scout with more merit badges than were required. Scout summer camp for me was about learning everything from primitive lashings to horsemanship. I even completed the certified lifeguard and wilderness survival courses just for fun.
One summer I even went through every volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, page by page, from A to Z – reading almost every article. I even went so far as taking mail-order courses in locksmithing and electronics. You could call me an information junkie…
While I was in the Navy, I took advantage of every survival school offered including jungle, desert and ocean survival courses. Because I was an aircrewman assigned to an aircraft carrier, I also received training in shipboard firefighting, damage control and fun stuff like ejecting from an aircraft over land and water. Not only did I learn about surviving the parachute landing but also escape and evasion while in hostile territory. On my own time, I also became a certified scuba diver and sport parachute jumper. I know the next question… why on earth did I jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
I spent a lot of time maintaining and repairing both motorcycles and cars (mostly because I couldn’t afford to have someone else fix them on a sailor’s salary). Once I moved off-base, I added fixing a whole host of problems around the places I lived. Simple plumbing, wiring and window repairs turned into bigger jobs like installing appliances such as gas ranges and water heaters. It was the late 70’s, well before the personal computer boom, when I bought my first PC and began studying computer programming, at first self-directed and then by getting a programming degree in college.
Next, I got married and soon babies came along. Fortunately as a teenager, I had a major role in caring for my baby sister so I wasn’t a stranger to dealing with infant and toddler issues. I was hands-on through everything. Three kids later, I’ve run the gamut of dirty diapers, bumps, bruises, bleeding and sicknesses. I really have earned my grandpa credentials…
As our family expanded, so did the house! We designed a house addition which nearly doubled the size of the house. I performed all of the electrical work and plumbing for our brand new master bedroom, bath, family and bonus rooms. I dealt with the building codes and inspectors to get through all of the code compliance issues needed to get my work approved by the city.
As my children got older, I started volunteering for various community services such as Little League (as coach, board member and umpire). I was in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts leadership, Assistant Regional Director of a national motorcycle club and as a volunteer member of the community Recreation Council. I even joined a prospecting club and panned for gold.
I became highly motivated to prepare for major emergencies when I watched the devastating Cedar Fire of 2003 roar towards my home and actually destroy buildings and homes within a mile of my house. We were even facing a possible evacuation order.
When I found out about the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) from a booth at an expo, I jumped right in because those skills were a natural follow-on to everything that I had learned. Through the CERT and FEMA training courses, I have been able to both learn about and train for a wide range of disaster response techniques including search and rescue, mass-casualty first aid, firefighting and emergency radio communications (for which I became a ham radio operator).
I put those skills to work during the 2007 Witch Fire where my CERT team provided direct logistic support to the front line firefighters and later provided medical triage and supply management at the displaced survivor centers.
All of this has led me to what I am today – a semi-old (but still feeling young), Jack-of-all-Trades, emergency responder, computer nerd, coach and proud grandpa. I would like to share my experience with you so that you too can be ready for those everyday issues and those more serious emergencies which may occur to you and yours. Be Ready4Emergencies!
Grandpa TJ