Who am I ?

I'll give a brief background on who I am to help folks make a determination on whether or not to take me seriously. I am a country boy who grew up around machinery from a early age. My father rebuilt Vw engines part time for several years and I'm sure this is where my interest in the Vw engine began. At the age of 13 I started working in a garage owned by neighbors while still working on the farms around home.
 When I entered the 11th grade in high school I chose to enter the heating and air conditioning trade in Vocational Technical school. How I wound up in this business is a story in itself, maybe to be told at a later time. Five months into my first year of training I was called to the office where two men in work uniforms were waiting with the Diversified Cooperative Education instructor. I found out that my instructors felt I was wasting my time in class and would be better served by moving to the next level, on the job training.
 The two men were from Marshal University in Huntington, West Virginia and needed a replacement set of hands in housing maintenance. The next week I started the next phase of my life, working on all types of refrigeration equipment,  150 ton chillers, 32 ton rooftop ac units, hot water heaters for an entire dormitory, steam boilers and believe it or not, Brunswick bowling pinsetters among other trivial things. I learned a bunch pretty quick. The pinsetters were in the basement of the Memorial Student Center, named in memory of the football team, coaches, boosters and doctors who lost their lives in the 1970 plane crash on approach to Huntington Tristate Airport in bad weather. The movie, WE ARE MARSHALL, tells the heart wrenching story of this tragedy. Most of the movie was actually shot on campus and in a few of the scenes the Memorial Fountain in back of the Student Center is shown. Maintaining this fountain was also one of my responsibilities, one which I recall as my least favorite. Now, looking back, I'm proud to have done it realizing it was an honor that I could not recognize at my young age.
 I stayed at Marshall for two and a half years then I took a job at a private HVAC company for more money. At the age of 22 I purchased the Company after my employer passed away and over the next few years we struggled along. We finally relocated, changed our company name and we have been at it since. All along the way I have been in continuing education and have been able to accumulate quite a collection of tools and test equipment but most importantly, I have 31 years of experience in heat transfer. I have also learned the proper way to troubleshoot and analyze problems from a mechanics point of view, something that has really paid off with the plane.
 When you are in business for yourself you are forced to do things out of desperation, like working on a truck all night for the next day. I have done most of my own truck maintenance over the years because we couldn't afford to have it done rebuilding three automatic transmissions, untold numbers of engines, rear differentials and the list goes on. Along the way I have become a self taught machinist and welder.
 Now many of you who have read this will by now think am bragging about my life, my experience, I am. I'm proud of where I am, who I am and how I got here but most importantly I want my readers to understand that I have a little bit more experience than your average shade tree weekend mechanic. That is the only point I want to make.
 Next time we'll talk about airplanes, I promise.