My fascination with this stuff goes back to when I was about 2 (during the JFK administration). Fast-forward 40+ years. I learned of the National Neon Institute neon school in Benicia, CA. Took classes for about 6 weeks, then the school abruptly closed (not because of me). Seriously, we students showed up one morning to find the place locked up. Never did figure out what happened. Anyway, I went and bought my own equipment and spent the next 20 years practicing the same mistakes over and over again. Through an odd set of circumstances I found out about The Color Of Neon in Reno and have been taking lessons for about a month now, at a work space right next to the great "O" maker Anniemation.