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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ORVietVet" data-source="post: 22893" data-attributes="member: 9438">Drinking too much beer, after I got out of the service, led to my 40+ years in the shop industry. I used to love photography. Did it at my high school yearbook and school newspaper and then I worked part time at a small town Excelsior Springs, Mo. newspaper. All as a photographer. Draft # was "2" and my fate was sealed. I wanted to control my fate and joined the US Navy because my dad was in the Navy during the Korean War. 3 years of Vietnam War and 1 year of peacetime and I got out and was living in Paradise, Ca., yes-where the big fire was, and I drank beer with my cousins and friends. A lot of beer. My uncle was an aircraft mechanic during the Korean War and he had his own auto repair shop in Paradise. He got tired of seeing me drink my life away and he reminded me my dad had shown me some auto work on family cars and therefore I was coming to work at his shop, whether I liked it or not. First was sweeping, a lot of it. Then I started asking questions. That's all he was waiting for. He made me buy some tools and started out with oil changes and inspections and then on to more detailed work. I was there for 9 months and moved back to KC, Mo. where I lived when I joined. I could not find any photography, except for weddings and portrait work. Found plenty of shop work and stayed there. 10 years as a tech and 30+ years writing service. Now I am retired and work on what I want and when I want, in my driveway.</blockquote>