From the time I was eight, I could read blueprints. I was rebuilding engines by 12. I was designing machinery by 20. I do systems now, of incredible complexity.

I would be doing that full time, but for the fact that I can’t get out of repair.

I make industrial engineer money, but I’ve spent SO much time inside machinery of all types, and am so skilled at repairing it, that i keep getting sucked back into a repair capacity, usually when there are issues so difficult the “professionals” won’t touch them. (AND I still keep doing design, in the middle of a repair THIS MORNING I got a call from a colleague who needed my help sourcing unusual components) I know more about machinery and how it works, and how it should be designed and maintained, than most people will ever know about anything

None of this is mine, incidentally, lest anyone accuse me of hubris, these skills and this talent come directly from the Creator of the universe; I have merely accepted the gift, and never did anything to earn it. I only hope I work hard enough to deserve it.

Consequently I understand more about machinery of every kind, from autoloading pistols to flight controls, from donut packaging to coin sorters, from cars and trucks of all kinds to the machinery that makes every individual piece therof. I have been exposed to a good deal of it firsthand, and can extrapolate the rest. At least once a month someone says something to the effect of:

“You look like you know what you’re doing. How long you been doing (whatever task it is I’m working on)?”

“About fifteen minutes”

I don’t take those skills lightly, and I use them where there is great need, though I (or, well, at least my employer) gets paid handsomely for them. I take a good deal of comfort in knowing that I am helping good, solid American companies stay in business competitively. I sleep like a baby.