I went to college for mechanical design, graduated in 65, and have been designing prototype machinery and industrial automation for 40 years as of July 2005. When I was a kid, I lived in northern Ontario, Canada and my dad was a lumberjack. We never had any money, but I loved anything mechanical. One of my uncles had a stripped down model A Ford, just an engine and frame with a seat on it, no body. He used it in the summer months for timber cruising (searching out new stands of timber to cut the next winter). He was killed in a logging accident when I was 15 years old, and the car was willed to me. I had another uncle who wasn't much good, never worked, just liked to drink whiskey, play the fiddle, and monkey around with old cars. Needless to say, he was my favourite uncle. He was actually quite brilliant with anything mechanical, and he helped get me started with my inherited model A Ford. I have been modifying cars, racing cars, and building hotrods ever since, but it is the mechanical design business that has put money in my pocket over my lifetime. I have my own business, work from my home office, and its really great. For 8 hours a day, I deal with the theoretical aspect of machinery, (engineering and mechanical design) on my computer, and then in the evening I can step out to my garage and work on my roadster pickup.