I gratefully wish to acknowledge several persons who made this book possible. My loving wife, Nancy, who generously gave me time, encouragement, and support to write apart from my full time maintenance job. Dr. and Mrs. Richard C. Palmer (Dad and Mom), who raised me with a work ethic including a sense of responsibility that things should work. The late Ralph McCallum (Atlanta lawyer) and Dr. Gary Poehlein (Georgia Institute of Technology) for patiently explaining the concept of "bringing something to the table." Richard Johns, whom I consider the utility father of planning. Bill Jenkins (utility vice-president, retired) for empowering me to make planning work. Les Villeneuve and David Clemons, the planning supervisor and one of the planners who supported the changes and did the working. David was the model planner. Hicks and Associates, who helped us format and conduct the first work sampling studies. Bob Anderson, who gave me valuable advice for outage and overhaul scheduling. Bob Kertis of Fluor Daniel who taught me the weekly scheduling routine using a worksheet such as in Figure 6.5. Pastor Tom Drury for his prayers and encouragement. David Stephens and my parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Paul F. Peek Jr., who allowed me to spend several weeks of my vacation time in their vacation cabins not vacationing, but writing. Finally, one never learns maintenance in a vacuum. I wish to thank all the other persons who taught me along the way including those members of the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP).