Scaling three-story rope ladders up the sides of ships, memorizing every rock and current in a harbor, and narrowly avoiding catastrophic collisions with Grant Livingstone, a retired harbor pilot. What do you do when your engine and anchors fail in heavy fog? And how do you dock a ship the size of the Empire State Building?

Grant and his twin brother Captain George Livingstone co-authored the recent book Shiphandling, The Beautiful Game.

IF YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE: Check out what it's like to be a long-haul trucker, an ocean lifeguard, or a London cabbie.

Learn more about StoryCorps and the Story Preservation Initiative at their websites.

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Comforting patients as they prepare to transition, navigating end-of-life regrets and frayed relationships, and providing support and advice for fearful families with Heather Meyerend, a retired hospice nurse. How does she know when the end is imminent? And what has the work taught her about the different ways we deal with death?

Heather is a contributing author to the book Resilient Faith: Dare To Believe. She was also profiled in The New Yorker in 2016: "A Tender Hand in the Presence of Death".

Like this episode? Check out what it's like to be...

• A Nurse
• A Brain Surgeon
• A Veterinarian

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Calming scared cats with pheromone sprays, advising families how to balance their pet's well-being with budget realities, and diagnosing mysterious animal maladies with Dr. Hindatu Mohammed, a veterinarian in Austin, TX. What breed of dog, when having its nails clipped, responds as though it's being murdered? And how did an injured ant shape her career choice?

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Tracing mysterious errors to their source, jousting with product managers, and rolling out new features (without breaking the old ones) with Taylor Hughes, a software engineer. How did one failed software fix ruin Christmas for kids around the country? And what is "spaghetti code"?

Taylor is currently a co-founder and the CTO at Hypernatural.ai.

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Mediating pickleball noise disputes, shepherding communities through thorny decisions, and practicing radical pragmatism with Martha Bennett, city manager of Lake Oswego, Oregon. What is it that makes public hearings so noxious? And what's the difference between "Big P" and "Little P" politics?

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Pouring pints for thirsty tourists, defusing situations with drunk patrons, and finding flow in the Friday night rush with Brian Wynne, a barman in Dublin. What caused one customer to throw a dog at Brian? And what is "craic"?

If you'd like to reach-out to Brian, we'll pass along your note. Just email dan@whatitslike.com

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Zapping parts of the brain to know where to cut, operating a mouth-controlled microscope that's worth more than a house, and carrying the weight of life-or-death decisions with Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, a brain surgeon at the Mayo Clinic. How do you preserve a mathematician's expertise when removing tumors? And how did he go from picking tomatoes to performing brain surgery?

Dr. Q wrote about his remarkable journey to the operating room in the book, Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon.

He was also featured in the Netflix documentary series The Surgeon’s Cut.

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Commanding a floating city of 5,000 sailors, intercepting Houthi missiles in the Red Sea, and stripping rank from sailors who cross the line with Captain Chris "Chowdah" Hill, commanding officer of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. How do you stop a fighter jet in 2-seconds? And what are “midrats”?

Got a comment or suggestion? Email us at jobs@whatitslike.com

Want to be on the show? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

• What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
• What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.