So far, Cisco has hired only one of the academy students: part-time maintenance technician Felicia Voss, 18, who graduated last spring from San Francisco's Thurgood Marshall Academic High School.

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After several hours, including a lot of time with a Blackberry technician and after following the instruction he got from one of the higher-level engineers at RIMM, I had to give up.

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To keep an old-style machine running for 24 hours required three shifts and eight hours of a technician's time.

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Right afterwards, Scott returned to work as a telephone technician for Verizon, and he spends time with his older son from a previous marriage, nine-year-old Thomas.

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He started work as a laboratory technician, doing amateur dramatics in his spare time.

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The next thing I knew, the technician was back, telling me it was time to get up.

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Jon Simpson, a technician from Sundance Computers, a small-time computer store in northern California, said he was impressed by the vast array of fresh products on display.

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In 2005 Rebecca Pittock-Shouldis of Ghost Hill Cellars chose to leave a full-time career in aviation as an Oregon Air National Guard maintenance technician on the F-15 Fighter Aircraft to pursue her passion for wine.

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An ultrasound technician was conducting the test as the audience saw real-time images of the fetus on the large screen.

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South East Water said it was alerted at about 07:40 BST and a technician was on the scene within an hour who managed to turn the water supply off some time later.

BBC: Berkshire