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People who own their vocation


gwalchmai
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Years ago I worked with a carpenter that was simply amazing in his precision and attention to detail. He cut rafters and mitered trim like it was easy, every joint perfect and tight. He could drive a 16d nail in two blows, tap to stick, BAM, BAM! Straight lumber and no knots to you, Gail

Another one is my own brother, truck driver, heavy equipment operator, firefighter, husband and father. He becomes one with the machines, works with only an inch to spare and never scratches the paint, on road or off, they send him to all the hard jobs, and when other drivers get in a jam they call him and he drives their rig out. More than once he has saved lives on the fire scene and you can see the respect he has from his men.

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My brother is an excellent mechanic. He built his own motorcycle at age fifteen, from a couple of milk cartons of parts and a rolling frame. It was a 1951 British AJS 500 cc single. Before that he built a minibike with a Briggs and Stratton on a small bicycle frame. He can fine tune any kind of engine just by listening to it whether it's a stationary engine, motorcycle, boat, tractor, or anything, he just has an instinctive feel for them. He's built a number of race cars.

He's not a mechanic by profession, he's a retired schoolteacher and counselor. But his son worked in the motor pool in the Army and has continued working on vehicles in the national Guard and has a full time job at the local Army post.

 

Edited by Borg warner
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If you are referring to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, he is the perfect example of a wasted Doctoral degree. With an AB from Harvard College in physics, he went to the University of Texas - Austin and failed to spend his time working on his Doctoral research in astronomy - earning a M.A. in astronomy instead. After a brief stint as a lecturer at the University of Maryland, he was accepted into Columbia and earned another Masters [MPhil] in astrophysics, then his Ph.D. in astrophysics. 

A Doctorate is bestowed on those who do prodigious work, along with dedicating themselves to advancing their fields of study and contributing to the 'common stock of knowledge'. He did about 5 years of work as a research affiliate at U of Maryland, Princeton, and at a museum and planetarium. He then left research and science to become a talk show host, a writer, a TV actor, and promoter of astro-sciences. 

While Dr. Sagan did some of these tasks, he did them as a sideline to his research interests. He remained an active scientist. 

I consider Dr. Tyson to have wasted his talents and degrees, preferring instead to be doing the work of a charismatic graduate student giving lectures and being a celebrity.
 

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1 minute ago, tadbart said:

Bill Paxton. Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan was the great communicator. Nixon was defeated by the Left wing media but Reagan was able to use that same media to communicate directly with the American People and they could do nothing to stop him. But compared to the media to day, the media back then was less overtly biased and more honest.  It's hard to believe how much worse they are today.

When I lived in California and Reagan was governor, he used to give a weekly radio address at noon everyday that I used to listen to at work. it would be followed by Paul Harvey on talk radio

 

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12 minutes ago, blueiron said:

This guy owns electricity, but his protegé made it better.

In 1911 Westinghouse received the American Institute of Electrical Engineer's highest award, "For meritorious achievement in connection with the development of the alternating current system....

The Edison Medal.

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