Something I never predicted that I would love about my last job: the intake process. I was trained over a couple months' time (through some very clunky and slightly abusive methods) to simply "take in" what I was seeing in front of me. I had to compartmentalize my reactions into purely objective eyewitness accounts. Overall condition. Frame condition. Glazing condition. From there I could look closer and specify and assign labels to conditions. However it was very risky to even go so far as to label something a stain. "Stain" connotes that a relatively unintentional event occurred, one that must be quantified and given weight, at least when you're associating yourself with an insurance company that can choose whether or not their client is covered for this event or that. It was maddening sometimes. And honest questions to the more senior staff people were often met with irritated sighs. Nobody really wants to be in charge of making these assumptions, but that's what we were faced with for three hours every day. Sometimes you could easily attribute staining to the documented water loss that occurred on a specific date. Other times it wasn't so obvious. Was it even water that caused that stain? Could the painting have been hung near a table where food was served, and something splattered it? You have to love being a detective to do this type of work. Then present evidence to your internal judge, and spit out a verdict.

But the point is, there were some parts I did really love. Using my eyes to see the difference between cracks and craquellure. Putting it in the record. Discerning between rust and corrosion. Putting that in the record. It reinforced for me that my eyes were actually more accurate than a photograph. I put my nose right on the wood frames to determine if there was smoke odor, or mold odor. Sometimes Id sniff and sniff and detect nothing. Often it was so strong my face would contort. There's beauty in that instantaneous assessment and reaction. No subjectivity enters, It's not the time or place.

I'm probably glorifying this one aspect of my former job because it was so overwhelmingly unsatisfying on all other counts. But if I could hone in on one skill from the experience, it would be the one that gave me a chance to slow down my reaction time. Observe. Describe. Save and Exit.