On the aerospace side I have been representing a marvelous company from the Netherlands called NIJL Aircraft Docking BV. They design and produce airframe access and fall protection stands for most of the world's aircraft, including commercial narrow-body and wide-body, military and corporate aircraft. These are structures that allow mechanics to get around on the outside of an airplane to work on it. With the pandemic going on and air travel being brought quite low it is very exciting to see the vaccines allowing for an increase in travel and business for our airline customers. There is a class of company referred to as an MRO - Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. These are third-party companies that work to keep aircraft flying, typically for the owners of aircraft, whether airlines, leasing companies or military organizations. These are also very important companies and I will be attending a trade show that specializes in this kind of work. It will be the first one that I've gone to in over a year, since last year's event was cancelled. It will be good to not only get out of the house for a while, but also to revisit important industry contacts and friends that I've made over the decades that I've been in this business.
I don't want to dwell on the negative, but my loving wife of sixteen years passed away just before Christmas of 2020. I include this here because many of us have not been in touch as we might be and you should know this. You can read her obituary here. This has been a genuine struggle in all respects. Not being able to share this loss because of the pandemic has compounded the emotional gravity for me. I'm doing my best to regroup and find my life again, but it has been very challenging. Being able to be busy and see people again will certainly help. Feel free to drop me a line (to let me know that you're okay) at Rugglesby at Hotmail dot com.
