Grid Michal

50 of my 75 years spent turning wrenches on all types of marine engines have changed my hands into gnarled fingers best suited to whacking on a keyboard, helping those whose engines can be cured over the airwaves, and of course taking the liberty of not giving anybody a break when a chance of inserting humor is available! Never fear, though! Twelve years pushing the Hertz #1 Club taught me to be more nice than bad.

My curative skills range from "Did you install the safety lanyard?"; "Did you attach ALL the battery cables properly?"; and "Just when did this junker last run right?"; to instructing a Q&A customer who strangely had the same unique boat I did, but would run only 1/3 as fast. I gave him directions how to improve it. He was so tickled he called and wanted to take me fishing. No. Then he said we would be only an hour from the Gulf. I don't care--no. I don't like fishing. Then he said he'd send a plane for me. Needless to say he piqued my interest with that one, but NO was still the answer. Turns out he was the guv'nor of a southern state, who I got to meet a few years later as I traveled as a tech rep for a major engine manufacturer.

I never know how many forks in the road I'll encounter when I awake every morning: some I'll choose to follow, some I'll use to eat with. But each will have a great story!