August 12, 2012@ Patch Kat-
Yeah, well I am a creature of the night and darkness too! Literally that is...
I work at night. The shadows of large airplanes cast by the moonlight are frequently my only companions. I dislike the sun as well, so maybe I'm a vampire! I am tasked with aircraft maintenance quite often by myself, because I thrive in the nasty unwanted work that others in my profession don't enjoy.
I like the cold of winter far beyond the heat and humidity of summer- but that is a different story. But as you also did as a child, I liked to draw. I, however; wasn't very good at it. At least not according to my own opinion. Others seemed much more talented than I.
And then there was building models of WWII navy ships, tanks and airplanes. I was much better at that sort of craftiness, so I claim to have always had a great and fulfilling imagination. Now I use that gift whilst at work.
It isn't a challenge to me to theorize the workings of even an unknown or unfamiliar airplane. Things that fly eight miles above the Earth, hundreds of miles per hour, with hundreds of people on board- sometimes for half a day at a time bring me joy. Knowing how a thing works- that has a fuel system much more complicated than an entire gas station, that maintains a breathable atmospheric pressure, with precision engineering- of gross complication keeping it up there gives me the utmost of satisfaction. Much more so than the pilot who sits in front whilst the auto flight computer does his job.
Unless, that is- the thing doesn't work correctly or suddenly has a problem that redundancy cannot compensate for. Only then does he (or she) earn their pay.
Every night, I earn my pay. And nothing about my job- except the FAA really scares me.
