Wow Rich...talk about parallel universes...but separated by a few years... I was doing the same bit but back in '80 - '81. Wasn't as good at bodywork and painting as I wanted to be - and being young and impetuous I never really gave my skills a chance to develop - and of course I expected to be Darryl Starbird right out of the chute... I worked at an auto parts store, first as a driver and then as a counterman during that time. Absolutely loved it, but the pay totally sucked, just as you noted. It was a great time though...that was back in the day when you could walk into an auto parts store and ask for a filter for a 727 and the guy would just go grab one off of the shelf; today they need to know if the car has four-wheel steering, fast or slow blinkers, rear wipers, and body side moldings in order to get the computer to tell them that the item has been discontinued...
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A learned from that hobby and profession should never be the same. The auto parts world sucks compared to how it used to be, one field for sure where computers did no one any favors, I just wish I kept some of the many mant catologs I've tossed while working that field.