Mark Miller:  

I joined the Navy after High School,picked the hardest subject they had to offer(Nuclear Power Program) for the challenge.The next couple of years were bumpy in my personal life, said some things to some people that I wished I hadn't( they know who they are ).I am asking for forgiveness. Strangely though it wasn't even accurate. Stranger still all of this set in motion a series of events that ultimately led me to my wife to be. The Lord blessed me with my beautiful wife and we have been together ever since(28 years). We have three children and youngest just gave birth to my first grandson!The Lord has put all things in focus, while the trials are still hard his Word sees me through.Professionally I am the Mechanic for a full service yacht repair facility in Arnold,Maryland( been there 17 years).Dr. Gerard Baruch( Chemistry teacher at Lackey) said in 1976 to me," if you want to change the world, build a better battery". He couldn't have been more right. Since my interest is with Electric Cars I have to reply," Doc.I'm working on it". "A CAR STORY" I owned my first car when I was 19 years old(1978), it was a newly repainted royal blue,1964 2-door,Cadillac Coupe deVille with white leather bucket seats. I bought it from my parents on the the way to my next duty station at the Naval Nuclear Power school in Orlando, Florida.The weather in Florida is unpredictable. One moment very sunny the next pouring down raining. The heat was such that you needed to keep the windows down a bit to vent the hot air out. Problem was it would also let the rain in. Solution, invent a system that would sense the rain and close the windows. As a side benefit the system was modified to also turn on the headlights and wipers when the car was running. Also giving an auto feature to put the windows up without holding the buttons(a feature found on cars today). The system worked great! With the sensor easily reachable from the outside of the car you could wet your finger, touch the sensor and "UP" comes the windows, it got your attention. The next interesting modification stemmed from "rude" drivers riding behind you with their high beams on. This particular car had the gas tank fill cap behind the rear license plate. The tag would hinge down exposing the gas cap. Step 1 was to motorize the mechanism thus allowing me to raise and lower the tag at will(James Bond like).Step 2 was to install a one million candlepower quartz floodlight, it was mounted on a rod and rested on the gas cap. The light would slide into the bumper to give access for refueling. As you probably guessed a quick flick of the light switch produced a beam a thousand foot long, you can imagine the results. Your probably wondering about leaving ones car windows down while the vehicle was unattended. Hey, it was 1978, thieves were more interested in stealing your gas than your car. However I built an alarm system that modified the CB radio's( you know you had one too!) PA system. Once the alarm was tripped it turned on the the hand held mike,the outside speaker and this is key, an inside speaker. What you got was the most annoying feedback squeal you have ever heard. It was then amplified to 120 decibals on both speakers(in and out). Better yet the doors would relock, the windows would go up and you could not open the doors or windows without shutting down the alarm with a switch. The effect was inspiring( especially if you were stuck inside ).The trunk, hood, doors, tag and motion would trip the alarm, and to my knowledge the car was not violated.In addition to the...Expand for more