Electronic Engineering

[donecweb]

No problem.

I don't remember how old I was but I remember my step Dad got mad because the B&W round TV, an old Philips kept rolling all the time and so he hit it with the heel of his hand and you could the tubes inside and the just kind of mesmerized me. When no one was around I used a pencil with a rubber eraser to push on the tubes to see what would happen and I found I could make it roll and flip when ever I wanted to and stop also. I think that is when I really got interested but I didn't do much in that area as my step Dad didn't trust me around electricity as he was a lineman and had recently lost his partner due to an accident while working and said he could still smell his skin burning while hanging from the wire. I was 15 when I made my first radio from scraps and a schematic my Father had given me and once it was done all he said was good now make it FM. From there on electronics just kind of took on a life of it's own and a good part of mine also.

[Menard]

I'm trying to remember what sparked my interest in the subject.

At the age of two, I stuck my finger in a live light socket...

...the rest is history.

[Andy]

I used to read books on how computers worked years before I could get near any hardware. It was fascinating how the instruction sequencers worked with the machine code.

And in the English literature class, my only interest was in technical books  Learning how a TV worked etc. was far more appealing than learning Shakespeare. The old-style TV's were extremely interesting to learn about, with picture geometry correction challenges, and I had the pleasure of working in the design lab of Ferguson's for my first job.

[donecweb]

You were lucky Andy, my first job was cleaning up at a convenience store/bar.

[Andy]

You were lucky Andy, my first job was cleaning up at a convenience store/bar.

Well, somebody has to clean up ...

I had many part time businesses and jobs before what I was referring to as my first "real" job.

I guess you didn't particularly enjoy your cleaning job? The way to get satisfaction from that job is to be the best cleaner IMO (that's what my wife did when she was in that line of work - always striving to have the cleanest possible floor or work top etc.).

My part time jobs and businesses included: gardening, puppet show, selling plants, window cleaning, hay baling, selling a current probe kit via mail order, marketing water filters, marketing mobile phones, all good fun.

I started my flower-selling business at around 7 years old. That business lasted 1 day with 1 sale. My mom informed me that the "flowers" were in fact weeds.

My biggest mistake was becoming a company employee, I wish I had been a contractor/consultant all along. This was evidenced by my many career jobs in electronics to the tune of 10 or so (I lost count).

Each time you join a corporation it is fun for the first year or 2 and then gets boring so you have to move on if you have an entrepreneurial mindset. So it is better to contract out your services I think so you will earn more money and only be employed when there is exciting work to get done.

Now I will never go back to a full-time salaried job. I learned what works best for me. I am sure that there are many folks that love to be employed rather than independent though.