To be great at something, or blend into obscurity in another.
Well if Larry's interested I can get him a job at a CNC shop tomorrow in San Diego. Learning doesn't pay much but the owner of the shop has brought up a few guys that now have their own shops. He could probably offset the low income of the apprenticeship, with tourney's betwen here and L.A.
I gotta be honest though, as a guy that's pretty much spent my whole life in a machine shop in one facet or another.. I really struggle to see a pool player picking this profession and suceeding at it. It's not exactly 9 - 5. If the shop is die hard, or a higher end shop (injection mold making) it's more like 6 - 5, and you work weekends if they let you.
I'm not saying anything about anyones work ethic. I'm just saying that they work a LOT of hours, and with us going into a recession, pay scales are only getting tougher etc..
Personally I do a lot of manual machining / prototyping etc.. I manage a lot of CNC projects that I sub to other shops for certain aerospace clients. As well represent a prototype CNC shop, and a production CNC shop in a sales capacity.
I'll tell a quick story in case Larry is reading just so he knows what he is getting into.
I sent some quotes out for an aerospace project recently. A few of my vendors came in with their standard pricing. What was surprising to me though was how many came in cheap.. and I mean dirt cheap. One vendor literally came in a hair above the price of materials! Things are bad right now, and I only expect them to get worse. Being a lower level guy will not be easy in these times..
DJ