What did you know, when did you know it, what did you do about it?
From the Desk of
Commander Curtis
Retired Naval Officer |Tucson Home Owner | Solar Enthusiast
Admiral says I talk too much...
You know what? She's probably right, but...
This is my only chance to talk about me, so stand by!
Tucson is my home...
While I was born in Phoenix (you can throw spoiled fruit at me when we meet), I came to Tucson before I turned one and grew up here.
All I ever knew was Tucson.
Sure, Mom-n-Dad took me lots of places (most notably San Luis Obisbo) but Tucson was, is and has always been my home.
My entire family (on the male side) with few exceptions are members of the Local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). I'm about the only exception, I chose a different career path...
That career path was born while I was a freshman at Santa Rita High School and Dad was working at a nuclear power plant (Diablo Canyon) near San Luis Obisbo and I went with my mom to stay with him for like 2 or so weeks during the summer.
While there, we took a trip to a lookout/scenic view kind of thing on the road leading to the nuclear power plant high up on the edge of Diablo Canyon. I remember this moment clearly through to this day.
(Mom's and Dad's, take note...)
We were looking down at the incredible view of a huge canyon with this huge nuclear power plant- very mesmerizing and Dad was telling Mom all about how the men and women who worked there, the ones who operated the nuclear power plant, were so smart and prestigious.
Mom agreed and amplified... It was CLEAR they were highly impressed with those men and women- and they spoke about how proud of them they were...
Right then, I knew. I knew I was going to be a 'Nuke'. That was that.
As I went through high school I looked really hard at the Navy's Nuclear Power Program and also studied which colleges actually had nuclear reactors on campus.
You might be surprised to hear it but- our very own University of Arizona actually had a reactor on site.
So, I opted to attend UofA.
While I was certain I wanted to be in the nuclear power world, I was also dealing with a new distraction... girls.
I attended classes and studied, got passing grades but didn't feel like I was gaining any traction and truthfully felt like I was betraying my parents for not doing better in class.
Being the Grade A example of my GenX generation- I didn't want to put my bah-loh-ney on my parents, so I joined the Navy.
Boom, I was in the Navy's Nuclear Power Program and left for bootcamp on Valentines Day, 1990. (I think Mom still doesn't forgive me for that stunt, sorry Ma!)
Full Steam Ahead!
I wont spend too much time on a 30 year Naval career, you'd never get done with all the stories...
But I would like to highlight a few tours and a few accomplishments.
1st- I started out enlisted and did well enough to get a commission as a Naval Officer based PURELY on performance... I know a thing or two about high performance (but that's not the point of this newsletter, so let's not toot that horn too much).
2nd- I had a tour where I was a Navy Recruiter in Yuma, Az for about three years. I learned a lot about myself in that time- most notably: that I LOVE sales.
In fact, I almost quit the Navy to get into sales- but I had made a promise to myself on that lookout years earlier to do a full career, so I never acted on that love of sales (until now, that is...)
3rd- My two main jobs throughout my career was to operate (stand watch in the propulsion plant spaces or control rooms) and repair the nuclear propulsion plants. One of the funnest assignments was when I was the Ship's Electrical Officer (ELECTRO) on USS NIMITZ.
I was the senior officer in charge of all distributed electrical power and electrical equipment on Mother NIMITZ, and being the Old Battle Axe She is, I had plenty of challenges keeping her at her peak performance.
The only reason I point out the ELECTRO tour is to share that I might have a deeper perspective on the installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of distributed electrical equipment- and this is a newsletter about generating electrical power via solar panels and systems.
I'm not a solar expert.
But I'll go toe to toe with anyone on the street on the subject, know what I mean?
The Admiral
Navy guys have a lot of nick names for nearly everything imaginable.
Since we all have to do what Admirals say, many Navy Sailors refer to their wife as 'the Admiral'.
Yup, I capitalize the 't' in The Admiral because she is the one.
I was married early, and it didn't work. About the time I was commissioned, I was also divorced.
It took years to finally get to a point where I could genuinely approach a serious relationship, and just before it was time to retire from active duty, I met the most wonderful lady I could imagine.
We had a lot of plans, but things happen when you're in the Navy and since we were both active duty- we never were able to get it so we were stationed together.
So, I retired from active duty and went to be with her in Key West. I had dropped an application to work at the shipyard back in Hawaii and soon got a job offer.
We thought she was headed to Hawaii/Guam for her next assignment so I took the Hawaii job (which the position was actually focused on Guam) with the anticipation that she would soon follow.
Orders are orders, and they can change. Hers did. She wound up in Connecticut!
We tried to keep it long distance (money was good at the shipyard) but it just didn't work for me. I was spending so much time on video calls and was just miserable.
We spoke and agreed- we knew we were going to Tucson eventually, so I just pulled the plug on the shipyard job and resigned in early 2022 and went to live with the Admiral in Mystic CT.
You might have heard of Mystic Pizza- a movie that kind of put Julia Roberts on the map... We lived a frisbee's throw from front door to front door.
In May, Tien became the official Admiral in a small wedding ceremony administered by a Naval Officer who had been stationed with her and I on the NIMITZ (yes, the Admiral and I met onboard the NIMTZ when I was ELECTRO)
At the end of 2022, the Admiral was able to retire from the Navy and we moved here to Tucson.
Tucson Solar Insider
The Tucson Solar Insider is a newsletter that sprang forward from our frustration with the solar sales reps we've seen...
Not just in Tucson, but across the industry there are horror stories abound.
I have a unique position because of my love for Tucson, my love for going solar, my love for honesty and integrity, and my love for sales. I know not only a lot about the systems, how they designed, installed and all that- but also a lot about the sales 'techniques' (more like tactics) that can be deployed.
Simply put- I can seem 'em coming and going...
So, I decided to create a newsletter aimed directly at Tucson home owners to help them arm themselves with as much knowledge of both the solar systems as well as the sales techniques so they can have a fighting chance to get the best deal for themselves.
Tucson will be better if more of us go solar- but not if we let the sharks out of their cages and into our homes.
I truly hope I can help.
Be Good!
Curtis
What did you know? When did you know it? What did you do about it?
A great man I worked for was a high performing Naval Officer who was hand picked by Admiral Hymen Rickover- the father of Naval Nuclear Power (and some might say commercial nuclear power too...).
By the time I met Roger, he was 72. He did a full 35 year active Naval career and had gone into civil service immediately following.
He knew my questions before I could even ask them.
Truly an awesome mentor and leader.
I came in one day very frustrated and very perplexed.
I was responsible to watch a project and had missed an item on my reviews that wound up being an error that set the team back quite a bit. (now, to my credit, the impact of the error having been made was the same regardless if I found it or not- just that the delay from when I could have found it was really what I was ultimately responsible for...)
Anyways, I was beating myself up pretty hard about it when Roger called me into his office.
He asked me how I was doing and what I was frustrated with, and I explained.
He grinned, and said:
"It all boils down to What did you know, When did you know it, and what did you do when you found out"
His point being, we all try hard. And we all make mistakes. But you really only have control over WHAT YOU DO once you find out what you didn't know.
Dunno if this lesson has any impact for you. It shaped nearly the last half of my career.
Thanks for reading!
See you in the newsletter...
If you got all the way to this point, I'm impressed!
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