Continuing along

Hi everybody! It’s Thursday again and this week I’ve been keeping busy as usual.  I didn’t travel anywhere this week but I have some plans to travel possibly so I’m super excited for that (more on that next week!).  For now though I have been working on the computer upstairs and then downstairs in admissions and the gift shop.  It is nice to get the change of pace going and I definitely get to interact with the public a lot when I am downstairs.  The office is also feeling loud and alive again now that everyone is back. 

                I have spent every morning this week working on the surveys that were taken during the conference in Georgia.  I need to take forty-odd surveys and make them into one easy to read table for the rest of the staff here.  I thought it would be quick work and done easily but I was mistaken.  Everyone is eager to hear what the attendees wrote down though so I need to get this completed but that will not be until early next week because I have a few projects to complete as well.  The results are interesting though because the vast majority of attendees gave everything 4’s and 5’s which is a positive sign and there were just a few that ranked things poorly.   I guess not everyone liked the food but hey, most people did so I chalk that up as a win.

In the process of being decorated for Halloween,

                Anyway, besides that I’ve been spending  the afternoons down at admissions and the gift shop.  I will be working by myself with Emily on hand if I need her this weekend so I need the practice closing up.  I like it downstairs because I get to talk to people and maybe tell them something they don’t know or learn from them.  A lot of people that visit us here are surprised at the artifacts we have such as the amputation table from Cedar Creek, surgeon  John C. Wiley of the 6^th New Jersey’s tent (one o f a kind) or that we’re among the most haunted buildings here in town.  That doesn’t deter people though (often it attracts them).  We get a lot of medical professionals coming through here so it is nice to hear their interest in the Civil War and often the foundation it has in their modern career.  After they go through I often ask how medicine compares from 150 years ago to now and many find it shockingly similar.  We will find out Monday though how my weekend working here went so stay tuned!

                So I have lots to finish  next week when I get back.  It should be fun because I will be getting to tour the Collections room with Lori the curator and a few other staff.  In that room is all the stuff that is not on display in the museum so it should be awesome.  I’ll get to see documents, photos, more amputation and medical kits along with a mummified hand from Antietam! I’ll try to get pictures for everyone.  Until next week!