It just dawned on me that, in the early 80’s I corresponded with one Rudy Dorneman about my interest in pursuing archaeology. At the time he was serving as curator for the Milwaukee Public Museum. (Somehow we are related by blood.)
My pursuits took me elsewhere, but this subject still holds interest. One thing that bugged me then, and still does, is how many assumptions must be made, or guesses, when dealing with ancient relics. Rudy since moved on to be Executive Director of the American Schools of Oriental Research. I drive a shuttle bus.
(Somehow we are related by blood.)
I think I’ve seen an old marriage notice for the Chugabrew-Dorneman wedding...
The nice thing about regular jobs is, steady income and (often) pretty reliable employment.
If I’d gone into an academic field, I’d probably have had my pants bored off by now teaching after having built up more ed loan debt than I could pay off without taking the teaching job.
For original research, a scramble for somewhat paltry grants could be necessary. In the right field (art history for example) there’s side work in editing coffee table books. Those are not typically great sellers.