Lu, when I was in tech school our instructors kept stressing how important it was to keep our certificates in a servicable condition. It was explained to us that we could always get another job using our certificates, but it would be hard to stay employed in this field if we lost our certificates. I have also found that drawing the line and standing one's ground pays off later on, as people realize you won't compromise your integrity. I am concerned about the areas in our industry that do not have all the avenues of support to do the job correctly that I enjoy, such as NASA forms, the FAA hotline telephone number and union support.