Germany

  In November 1986 I started working in a Chemical Factory called and it was actually a very hard labor. getting the chemical mixtures ready for cooking in the big pot and when these were finished putting them through the machinery to make them to a powder that we had to then sack them in 50lb bags and get them ready for shipment. It was also a very unhealthy job working with chemical such as lead powder, cadmium powder. We worked with masks (gas or air filter depending on what we were making).

  After about 2 years I started taking a German class to help me in wy writing and reading in German, this is one of the requirements from the German Government that they wanted if I wanted to go to school at their cost. Well I completed this with no problems.

  In January 1990 I quit my job and went to a 2 year Information Technology School full time for 2 years. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy sitting back down to learn after being out of School for over 15 years. Another problem was learning the german technical language, pulling back into by head math such as Algebra, Geometry, etc. It also includes things that I thought I would never learn but I did. It was 8 hours of hard schooling everyday, usual equivalent to 4 years of going to College. Well after the 2 years I passed with flying colors.

  Now all I had to do was find a job, well I started working for a computer cash register company in June 1992. I was a Field Service Technician and went from store to store to repair Computer Cash Register Scanning Systems. Well at first my area was in the east and it sure was funny as an ex US Soldier to be in the east and be around the Russian Soldiers (they hadn't moved out yet). Considering that where I was stationed we were at that time in the cold war and had never thought that we would see them and that they wouldn't be our enemies anymore.

  Well after several years of good work with my boss, he had decided that he didn't want to be the boss and he said I should become the boss and he would work for me. Well, I decided that I would take over the job so he could take my place since if I didn't do it he would have to leave the company so they could hire someone else, the other technicians didn't even want to get close to that job.

  Well as of September 1996 I was the boss in our office in Braunschweig with 5 Technicians under me, to include my ex-boss. Well things went well till about almost 2 years later when I had to make a decision. My ex-boss had to go since he was a problem for my boss and a couple of other people. It was one of the hardest decisions for me to make and he went. Well the job went on and it was not easy for 6 people for our large service area with over 700 stores. Well it was ok until the central office took over the control of technicians orders, to much overtime, long times on the road and I was the dummy that was responsible. For certain reasons I left the company at the end of December 1999.

  So I started the new century trying to open a small business with Websites but it is not easy in Germany so I started looking for another job.

  In February 2001 I started working for a company out of Frankfurt. I was a Field Service Computer Technician working from home. My job was to contact customers make appointments and then go to their homes or business and repair their computers. It was all Garantie work and strictly the hardware side. I averaged basically between 5-10 computers and 100-250 miles a day. Well after over 2 years of doing this, my family life and health were beginning to feel the stress.

  While working for company above I had received an offer from a company here where I live that sells and installs new windows and doors. I would work for them down at Rammstein Air Force Base coordinating the projects between germans and americans. It was an offer that I couldn't refuse and I started working for them August 2003. This job was supposed to go on for at least 8 years but after 6 months the company went broke and that is where I am right now, self employed. Now at this time, thinking of the move to Colorado.