I started my own low voltage shop in my basement in 85 working for a family owned corporation. They became one of the biggest security providers for large store chains in the US. I have helped configure and troubleshoot thousands of custom design Burg, fire and CCTV assemblies over the years. They would provide a schematic to me and many times I would have the prototype design built, debugged and shipped the same day. That was one of the ways they "trumped" their competition. In 99 one of their best engineers who was leaving the company "stole me away" to work for another large corporation building access control panels for industrial applications. My tiny company (still in my basement!) was key in helping them secure four of some of the biggest fortune 500 companies around. Then 1 year later they said "thank you" and bought an assembly company local to them with about 100 employees. Oh well. Lesson learned: (Contracts are good!) I then went out on my own with my Limited power and contractors license to find out how hard it is to sell security equipment -cold- without a sales team. To put it simply, unless someone had just been burglarized, it was a very hard sell. In 02, I decided to start seriously focusing on the biggest dream I've ever had - To become a certified licensed electrician. Since the age of 5 this electrical stuff has held me spellbound. I am now continuing into my second year of apprenticeship with a small residential/commercial contractor. I would have had my Journeymans license years ago if it were not for a misinformed individual in my past telling me how much advanced math was involved with the trade. (my weakness in school...) There is of course math to be learned but, I've found out it's not as bad as I had been told. This site is golden. After "lurking" here for years, I can say that I have (almost) learned more here than I have working with the union journeyman they placed me with. MUCH to my surprize, I have actually taught him some things. So - a heartfelt, sincere "Thank you" is due to all who have made this site possible. J