Howdy Vegan,
I started out life as a pilot and mechanic on the West Coast, I'm an Oregonian by birth and right. I studied engineering in collage got my A&P and FCC ratings back then as well, I'm aeronautics all the way. I Lost my medical 12 years ago and have worked in the MTX / OPS side of the industry ever since. I'm currently an aircraft systems engineer for "a large airline based in Houston TX". They don't care to have their name thrown out there, but you can figure it out I think. I work on avionics, hydraulics, pneumatics, anything mechanical and even some structure if no one else is available. Your right though, I have to make my own time when I can, turn off the cell phone etc. CAD rocks by the way.
Jimbo