Emma is our former combat soldier who's currently a hog-riding mechanic. She said some men had a problem with her, especially older ones.

"I'm not trying to emasculate anyone," she says. "And I'm not trying to act like a man. I'm still a woman, I'm just a woman with a tool box."

Nina wrote in asking how women view her. Emma is back to answer.

She says: "That really depends on who they are. Random strangers seem pretty intrigued by what I've done and what I do. Younger women, especially, seem almost empowered. I imagine that the more women work as plumbers, pipe-fitters and carpenters, the better it will be for all women, including lawyers, secretaries and businesswomen, in terms of equality and pay parity.

"My generation was raised to believe that women could be anything. People don't think twice about female doctors and lawyers. But still less than one percent of machinery mechanics are women. Someday it, too, will lose its novelty.

"Some women view me as competition. While being blue-collar was sometimes a hindrance to having an actual relationship, it was a plus if I just wanted to get hit on. When I was single and I'd go to the bar with the guys after work. Some women, who were often prettier than me and always better dressed, didn't like it when a woman with salt stains and grease on her uniform wearing grungy boots got more attention than they did.

"Actually, I always get more attention in bars if I go straight from work than if I get cleaned up and dressed up. I guess I just look more approachable. And there's a built-in conversation starter when the name of my company is over one pocket and my name is over the other.

"Wives and girlfriends of co-workers can be a different story. I try to include them in conversations as much as possible, but they're outsiders when the conversation inevitably devolves into shop talk.

"Some of the jobs I've had come with their own language. I have the utmost respect for Army wives. While some of them actually know the myriad acronyms soldiers use, and can follow the conversations, they'll never understand 'war stories' like I do. I literally lived with the soldiers in my platoon. We worked together, slept in the same tent together and got attacked together.

"Even in my civilian jobs, I'm typically spending more time with their husbands than they do. Some of the women have opined that I work the jobs I do just to steal their men, which is patently ridiculous because I think I could find an easier way to get a boyfriend than, say, driving a fuel truck in Iraq.

"A lot depends on their significant others. I've had co-workers use me as ammunition when they get in arguments at home. I can't fault the woman for resenting me when her husband says, 'Why can't you get a job? There's a woman at work and she makes as much money as I do.' On the other hand, the wives who feel respected by their husbands don't feel threatened by me.

"Typically, if I get a negative reaction from a woman it's not because she doesn't like that I'm a mechanic, it's because she's afraid that her boyfriend will."

Got a problem? Send it, along with your questions and rants to [email protected]. And check out my e-books, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."