One of the simple toys makers
Ivan is 60 years old, born and lived for the first 39 years of his life mostly in Bulgaria.
National Language Service Corps member since 2009
San Diego Seaside Scrollers member since 2011
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) member since 2012
I started working at 4th grade of elementary school, 1977, in Bulgaria. Every year in elementary, middle, and high school I was picking strawberries and corn in the fields for 1 to 3 months per year, I have also worked in a factory for dill pickles and picking bales of hay from the field.
I did my mandatory military service in Bulgaria as air traffic controller in Ihtiman, Bezmer, and Graf Ignatievo, 1984-1986.
In college in Bulgaria, I worked for 1 month per year, 1986-1989, picking tobacco leaves from the plants, I worked on a lathe making metal parts, and on a assembly line for electrocars in two factories.
I did social work for the Red Cross and for the municipality in Kirchseen, Germany in 1990 and 1991.
My first full time job was a Quality Control Inspector of incoming merchandise for medical devices in pvb medizintechnik, Kirchseeon/Eglharting, Germany from 1991 till 1993.
After I came to the United States on fiancée visa, I worked as a Custodian starting in 2006. At the same time, I received a job offer from a company called QMicrowave to work as a Drafter. I wasn't completely sure of my AutoCAD skills that I learned in Bulgaria and also the person conducting the interview said that if I make one mistake the administration in the company will never forgive it. I decided to continue working as Substitute Custodian. At the moment I am working as a Drafter in a world famous prestigious company.
As I make simple toys from wood, I want to share a story from ancient Greece including a thing made of wood. The following is from Encyclopedia Britannica
"Trojan horse, huge hollow wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into Troy during the Trojan War. The horse was built by Epeius, a master carpenter and pugilist. The Greeks, pretending to desert the war, sailed to the nearby island of Tenedos, leaving behind Sinon, who persuaded the Trojans that the horse was an offering to Athena (goddess of war) that would make Troy impregnable. Despite the warnings of Laocoön and Cassandra, the horse was taken inside the city gates. That night Greek warriors emerged from it and opened the gates to let in the returned Greek army. The story is told at length in Book II of the Aeneid and is touched upon in the Odyssey. The term Trojan horse has come to refer to subversion introduced from the outside."
From San Diego Air and Space Museum and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
