joeaverage, that is JUST what i was looking for. i really appreciate your help in this.
that's a lot of work for someone you don't know. THANKS. but i will keep an eye on those
coordinates just to be safe. now that i know i have a button for it.
    Again, thanks for your help. it gives me a script that i can edit (for other reasons)
to learn more. i can't learn by reading, mostly by doing

It may help if you are aware for the difference between machine coordinates and work coordinates. The DRO display normally does not show the machine coordinates. It shows the work coordinates which are the machine coordinates plus the fixture offsets. The "Machine Coordinates" button toggles between the two. (There are other things that can offset the work coordinates but we will ignore them for now.) The default fixture is G54 and has zero values until you do something to change them. The menu choice "View" -- "Fixture Offsets .." opens a window that lets you view and set the offsets.

The "Zero" <axis> buttons by each DRO line set the offsets to the machine coordinate which makes the work offset read zero. The offset values are stored and returned when the program is restarted.
The mc.mcAxisSetPos(inst,mc.X_AXIS,0.0) lines  in Joeaverage's script also sets the fixture offset. If you do more than one job you could store different fixture offsets and change them with the MDI or even put it in your G code. This would work if you home to the exact same physical location each time.

Setting home consistently would let you use soft limits and protect your machine against crashes.

Thanks MN300,
i work completely in G54. never use offset or G55.G56....etc.
the only thing that changes is the tool diameter and the length i set when
i set the tool in the spindle(when i rezero Z.
i have a simp0le life but love my job.
THANKS again !