I'm a museum curator (not at the NHM) who's just read this thread on my way home after a particularly strenuous day at work. I almost burst into tears (yes, possibly a tad oversensitive today...)
We take the objects in our care (and 'care' really IS the word) incredibly seriously. They don't belong to us, or to the museum, they belong to 'the nation' and it's our job to make sure they stay safe and available to the public not just for now, but for generations to come. It might sound cheesy but it's true.
Yes, the 'private sector' might be able to 'move stuff' in half a day, but the 'stuff' you're moving isn't remotely comparable. I've worked in the private sector before where I was responsible for moving around equipment worth millions of dollars. If something went wrong and I broke something, it would be horribly expensive and embarrassing but ultimately the insurance would probably cover it and we'd get a replacement. But now if I break something, I've potentially destroyed hundreds or thousands of years of history.
A whale skeleton isn't something you just whack on a forklift and hope for the best. Everyone involved in that move will have been preparing for months, if not years, to ensure that the object stayed safe and that it got where it needed to be. As for the 'curators' (actually, more likely conservators) cleaning it with cotton buds, how else do you think they should clean it? Unless you're a trained conservator of natural history specimens yourself, then perhaps you could recognise that those people probably know what they're doing and are doing it that way for a reason.
As for moaning about public money being wasted: yes, museums get SOME public funding (which is getting less and less all the time) but they also do an awful lot of fundraising so that they can pull off projects like this while also keeping their galleries open for the public to visit free of charge. Museum staff get paid bugger all. Some of the brightest academic minds in the country are working in museums and have accepted that they'll never have any disposable income, never own their own homes and facing the prospect of further job cuts all the time. And yet people still look at the work we do and think it's pointless or 'taking the piss' or that we all just fanny around with cotton buds for no reason while we have a lovely time spending the public's money.
Sorry for the rant but reading this just REALLY got me down today. I know we're not doctors or nurses but I still believe that the job we do IS important to the country and we all care incredibly deeply about it. It's pretty sad to see that so many people just think it's a big waste of time or that they could do it better themselves.
Tell you what, why don't you call me next time you safely transport and install a giant whale skeleton on your office ceiling? I'll happily eat my words then.