I was a street-running shitbag when I went into the army at the tender age of seventeen summers; but I learned to admire many good people. I had dropped out of the 10th grade after failing it twice (ironically, my GT is 138). I went back into the civilian world with no certifiable education.
All I could do was emulate the people I admire. It was never of my own doing because I had no such skills of my own; I could only imitate my betters. They possessed something so simple it seems mundane yet the rest of the world cherishes it as if it were mana from Heaven: a work ethic
Within 4 months I was being trained for management.
When I moved on to another town I became field supervisor in 3 months.
The pattern of advancement repeated itself on up until I became a restaurant manager and there I was given a skillset that translated into far more lucrative opportunities. I was even logisitics manager for a fine art company that held art auctions at sea including the recently ill-fated Concordia. I have held orginal Rockwell, Erte, Nikita and Dali pieces as well as Disney animation cels in my paws.
Now I have a job where my supervisors are trying to not only find the budget to keep me but give me a raise.
All because my singular claim to intelligence is that I knew who was better than me and I tried to mimic them.
And my self-esteem suffers not one iota knowing that I have people better than me, any more than looking at the works of fine art demoralized my creative spirit.
When I first started as a driver for a trucking company at the ripe old age of 22, I was already an accomplished welder, mechanic, electrician, and plumber. NO formal training in any of these fields, just what I had to learn in order to keep a dairy farm working. It was either that, or pay someone else thousands of dollars to do the work for me.
The owner of the company agreed to let me do routine maintenance on the 6 trucks at our warehouse for a flat monthly fee, so I took it. At the time, we had NO trucks with fuel injection, just carbs, but when they started replacing our aging fleet with the newer ones with fuel injection, I bought a book and started reading. It didn't take me long to figure out what system did what, and how that related to engine performance. Still no formal training, but I can diagnose engine problems as good as the "factory trained" mechanics, and the only time my cars go to a dealer is for recalls.
Today, I, like miskie, work for the Postal Service, and not a day goes by that SOMEONE isn't asking me about a problem with their car. LOL!
