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About MeMy name is Ray.You HAD to do it! You got nosey and looked into my private life... so get ready for both barrels. I'm one of those guys that if I'm in for a penny, I'm in for a pound. Let me begin by saying that I am an unashamed born again Christian. All work that I do, I give my Godly best to, as if I am producing for the Lord Almighty. I apprenticed as a blacksmith's helper as a teenager. I learned how to make all sorts of stuff, bending and twisting and molding metal to my will. Then there was this girl. She was interested in electronics. To get closer to her, I took up electronics. I got REALLY good at it! I got me one of them ham radio licences (presently AI5FF), a First Class Radio Telephone License, and later a GROL. I build a computer from diodes and resistors (COSMAC ELF), and learned how to program in Assembly, FORTRAN, COBOL, PASCAL, C, C++, PYTHON, and BASIC. I even DJ's for the high school radio station at the time (WNWR). She was unimpressed. I decided that there was more of a future in Electronics than in Blacksmithing, which was, in my opinion, a dead end career. After all, the schools were pushing high technology jobs, and when was the last time you met a blacksmith? I knew only one. So for the last 43 years, I fixed Radio and Radar and Microwave and Satellite equpment. Not just module swapping - but bonafide component level troubleshooting and repair. First in the military, but after my first war, (yes, I'm a combat vet), I decided it wasn't a safe career. So I got out and fixed TV sets, which became a dead end career. (When was the last time you saw a TV repair shop?) Then I repaired VCR's, which became a dead end career. I moved on to fixing laser disks, which also turned into a dead end career. I learned computer repair, programming. That was cool - in theory - until the 2008 dot.com crash. For the last 31 years I have worked in the Television Broadcast industry, using ALL of the skills listed above. I have climbed 2000 foot towers, repaired multi-million Watt systems, and put my life and limb at risk on more occasions that I care to remember. In this career, I've been a plumber, and electrician, a carpenter, an A/C tech, a Generator and Diesel truck mechanic, and yes - at times, a blacksmith. Broadcast Engineer means exactly that. My skillset was cast broadly across all fields. After working for the same company for the last 19 years...I am beginning to see a pattern. Broadcast TV is being replaced by streaming services, cell phones, and the internet. TV stations are hiring fewer and fewer Engineers, and paying them less and less. Something about Dead Ends..... So in my golden years, I plan to take up Blacksmithing again. People are still doing it, and still making good money at it. I know welding and even in my present occupation, I have had oppertunities to do forge and foundry work multiple times over the years. My skills have only improved over time. I am a member of the North Texas Blacksmith Association, and the Guildmaster of the Kaufman County Blacksmith's Guild. At least I won't have to worry about learning new technology anytime soon. Blacksmithing has remained largely the same for over a thousand years. |