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Hello All and thanks Lou i did write a reply but it would not let me send it? i am not sure what I am meant to write and I do not want to come over the wrong way so please keep in mind I am 57 and at school in the 70s back then was kicked out the lessons and put in remedial classes (before dyslexia was a thing) this basically killed any confidence until I was in my 40s and realized I was not in the bottom few percent and in fact, I am more like the top few percent in the skills, trades and things I can do, but I do not judge others or think I am or anyone is above or below someone else, but I am proud of what I can do, have done and still learning, since leaving at 16 and starting in second opps in a small engineering firm, after 2 months I was given the position of engineering inspector with my own office and in charge of the precision of all the small parts produced by 3 lines of 8 auto fed lathes reading and checking technical drawings, I kept tollerances so tight that a few years later they changed the company name to Auto Precision Turnings, but pay was poor so construction I went, plasterers laboring and then building bespoke fireplaces that I learnt a lot of different skills, from a old style brickie and Irish plasterers, traditional skills in a wide range of trades, from a village close to the city with loads of trades men always wanting help from a very strong agial sponge eager to learn, I've always had a need to understand the logic behind everything, how it works why this and that is done in a very deep way, I can read and understand every word, but I cannot remember a paragraph I just read or ten times it still doesn't sink in, but if I see it done once I can do it at a high level ( I watched over someones shoulder splicing and polishing fiber optics once and the next day I was at a new cinima of Loughbora university on my own installing it, after 6 weeks installing data cat5 and fiber optics cabling from point to racks in computer rooms. i was running the installation contract at a new 3 storey Viking direct call center, putting hundreds of telliphone and computer cables from every desk to racks and terminating a perfect completion reading site drawings and managing 2 other engineers one was the person I watched how just 6 weeks earlier, after learning more I moved to Birmingham and won a princes trust award for a property maintenance business ( that was hard to get) not the best timing with a recestion and new to the area without word of mouth, but a great achievement was building a false wall chimney and fireplace from an old carved wood panel, reclaim bricks, antique tiles, imagination and skills from a dull flat wall to a chimney breast and fireplace made to look 12th 13th century, friends of my customer from English Heratage thought it was an authentic original fireplace, 7 years living in Brum I did a music access course and a year at unni (but education system Damned me again after changing the course I chose because it was practical and written music not reading and writing, so left with dept and another blow to confidence from education system) did a lot of work on demolition that I learnt lots about structure and logic again along with other work I was getting in construction, back to Leicester 7 years later,a few more years had 1st of 2 girls, while being stay home dad I got work driving first then subbing to a glass process machinery makers and not long I was completely stripping and refurbishingall the part ex machines that were built in all different countries, they were built to order originally so each one was a unique protertype machine with no manuals, plans or drawings so I had to rebuild from memory and they are like car washers but for glass that don't bend, 3 phase down to low voltage controls, belt, chain or geared driven motors one for 4 to 8 cleaning revolving brushes another to drive glass through perfectly straight could be 6 to 10 double drives up to 3 separate plumbed water pumped spray tanks and systems with heaters and float switches and hot air knife blowers to dry racks driven in and out with lights to inspect before being made into a double glazed unit, I did all the electrics and fabricated all parts I could and respayed, the biggest machine I built new from scratch without plans making and designing parts as needed along the build on the lathe, miller etc was a £200,000 CNC glass floating shape cutting edge deletion and transfer table, and alsorts of odd ball one of machines, over 20 years subbing there when it was slack I joined a friend plumbing, air conditioning and pipe fitting in domestic, commercial industrial educational, hospitals, and prisons, listed buildings, manor houses, I did a new large curved cricket pavilion with bar home and away 1st and 2nd teams showers and toilets public toilets with 2 big cylinder water heaters all on my own, I managed the plumbing on a big massive warehouse and call center directing 5 other plumbers in my team working out heating pipe runs flow & returns with expansion squares risers on 3 floors in maypress pipe making sure I missed false floor posts or ceiling wires, ducting and units, electric trays etc, so I had to read and scale all trade drawings then tell my plumbers what to do, did loads of the plumbing at hospitals new MRI and CT departments, loads of different kinds at every sort of place and later after 12 years joined another plumbing father and son team learning even more traditional plumbing from the dad, we did a few of Jamie Olivers italians together and I did the Brighton one on my own from a open shell void from floor to very high ceiling with a water feed pipe in one corner and the waste soil pipe in the car park below I had to connect to, on my own putting soil pipes and water feeds to nothing ready for shop fitter to build stairs and walls, these had original thomass Crapper high cycterns chain pulls and £200 American walnut seats hidern pipework top end stuff, I was asked to do the plumbing at Chelsea wine bar refurb, we did lots of restaurants and food places down London. i now do Traditional Plumbing, Tiling and property maintenance that covers most things and more, I tell my customers straight I could build a house from scratch but somethings I have not got the speed to compeat with a trades person who does it daily so I would not be economical to do it, this has taken hours for me to right and it is brief honest, I have loads of tools but I have not got money at all I have been through a bad patch because of a few things that piled up and then a big thing tipped the scale, but I am working my way back on track, but ADHD I MUST have because I have never heard anything describe me in such detail, but a major thing of ADHD is prioritizing and doing things, I've been trying for over 2 years to go doctors about it and still haven't lol, so hello all if you read this sorry I was being brief and one thing leads to another, blame Lou he sujested it LOL, only joking Lou, cheers all bye
