I used to be quite disdainful / semi-scared-of SMD tech - until I designed a project for work which needed to use it and Marvin Johnston kicked my butt into working with the stuff. In addition to all the other items - I use a fine-tipped Weller adjustable iron, and I bought a nice binocular low-power microscope to work under - my past-half-century eyes need a bit of help with the tiny parts. I also use Eagle Cad for design and layout - such a long way from the tape and cut days of Xacto knives and transfer letters. All in all, I enjoy it very much, the things I'm building are postage-stamp size, and a huge parts inventory can be kept in one small set of plastic bin drawers... Cheers John