Making Tour Own Clevis Pins

There's nothing sadder than an average kid who cannot seem to get good grades graduate and then become a burger flipper or a cash register with symbols key puncher.

They have no future at all.

When cars were repairable we kids broke them shamefully then had to repair them or walk. Some got interested in why their car radio vibrator broke, others tore into engines, and transmissions. We had a hydramatic nut who became one the most gifted automatic transmission gurus in the business.

I went to school with a person by the name of Art Himsl. A genius with paint, and design.

But somehow this country got all twisted around. We no longer manufacture stuff that can be tweaked, or messed around with. So youngsters do little besides hang out, listen to music or get involved in tragic activities. Sadly many of them get lazy and refuse to learn anything extracurricular.

The bad part about being forced to live with a product that is fixed and not tweakable is the product design may not be optimum -- not by a long shot.

I lived in the Golden Age of charging systems. Nothing was impossible. In Mexico 32 volt marine charging systems did not exist -- they switched to 3 twelve volt batteries. And controlled the charging by hand -- a rheostat. I got together with some voltage regulator company CEO's and designed 42 volt voltage regulators and the marine industry down here went nuts for them. I sold in excess of two thousand voltage regulators. That cannot happen today. Everything is offshore and the furthest a person can get with a Chinese manufacturer would be to the desk of "Brigette" Chang.

I still do not understand why wages in Germany are higher than they are here. Land costs more, energy costs more. Yet Germany produces better screwdrivers than Snap On at half the price -- what am I missing?

Those drawer pull handles I mentioned earlier...hardware store stuff comes from China. Ghastly quality. Look at Chinese made electrical ring terminals sometime. Very thin material. The hole is more than likely off center. Power supplies rated for five amperes have 25 gauge wire.

Audiophiles love vacuum tube amplifiers. SOVTEK is a big supplier. Old stock from the USSR?.

Hardware store fasteners are likely made in China. And they are far worse than the British fasteners I used to ridicule.

Much dumpster grade Chinese electrical components are giving Lucas, the prince of darkness a good run for their money. Japan? The stupid fan motor for a Fantastic Fan costs a buyer in excess of sixty dollars.

And a majority of our high school graduating students are as sharp as a butter knife.