Topic: What did/does your dad do?

[d3buttz]

My Dad is a Physicist for the goverment out at the White Sands Missle Range, a very intelligent man-but couldnt use a wrench or screwdriver if his life depended on it. 
Every time he tried to build or fix anything in the house he would get frustrated, yell a few expletives and go inside the house and i took over.  All my mechanical interests and skills took off from there.  So in a way i think my father made me who i am today due to his absense of any mechanical aptitude. thanks Dad!
 i remember one summer i re-shingled the house and installed a fire place at 16 years old-they got me a new Hoffman bmx frame and 3-pc cranks in return. i think my parents got a deal on all my labor! slave drivers!

[bucky katt]

my dad went ashore at Anzio. before and after that he worked for Pratt + Whitney first as a machinist then starting in the late 40's till the time he retired in 88, he was a tool designer. i never ever saw someone with such a gift for math, or such a great ability to piss me off in seconds  despite the fact that dad and i fought like cats and dogs, there was a real mutual respect. 7 years later after his death, i still miss the ol' bastid and the conversations we had.

[kslrr]

My dad is a great man!
Radar operator on a small, old destroyer escort in the early '60's around Vietnam.  At his station with a bucket between his legs!
Was on a team with a company (later acquired by Rockwell) that designed military tow targets.
Worked for Rockwell during the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions as a financial analyst.
Self taught auto/motorcycle mechanic
Self taught home builder.
etc.

Where I learned to work hard, be respectfull and that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.

[Bonafide]

My Dad aggravated the dickens out of my Mother. He had mastered that skill set.

Career-wise .. he was a truck driver for 35 yrs.

[bucky katt]

dad and i were way too much alike, we fought like cats and dogs but i still miss my dad every day. i will never ever forget the time i got him to smoke pot with me. i was 30, he was 75, what a riot that was.

[BobbyR]

What I am noticing that with a few expections each Father had mechanical skills and problem solving ability. I sometimes wonder how much is nature vs nurture. Is there some genetic trait passed along like eye and hair color, or are we mimicking a behavior we observed.

[Frankenkit]

I think mechanical ability is an inherited trait to a point, both grandfathers were welder/machinists, Dad does most of his own repairs on his mail cars (except the stuff best left to the pros) I always helped him change brake pads/ rebuild calipers/patch tires/etc etc but since his motorcycle was gone before I was around, I never got to do bike wrenching with him, and I regret that.  I think he would've been a heck of a teacher.

[Uncle Ernie]

My whole life, POP told me not to smoke or ride motorcycles.  He had no idea that I was imprinted on motorcycles around 3, and started smoking at 8.  He had no idea we had a cat until we moved to Houston.

He finally got several masters degrees and ended up with an RelD and PhD.  He was a great preacher, counselor, and expert on African violets.  He believed a screwdriver was a drink with orange juice and that clear stuff.
My brother and I were inconveniences to him, and I was a poster boy for birth control.  He stopped beating me when he realized one day that I would kill him if he tried it again.

I learned how to be a manipulative, controlling SOB, and then how to recognize that and rip it out.  I learned that I would do everything in my power to never have kids,  to be humble, and save a big piece of the show for close friends and loved ones.  

Luck of the draw, I guess.  ?

[72 yellow]

Dad was head mechanic at a iron foundry from 1927-55.  When it closed he was a millright at a local steel mill from 1955-75.  He was a hard headed Hungarian who fought with everyone including me.  Before I got married and moved out we would go for a year at a time not speaking to each other, even though we sat next to each other at the dinner table. Growing up the only thing we had in common was motorcycles.  He had a sense of humor, but it was rare to see it.  He was the family mechanic.  He would much rather spend a day under his car, cursing up a storm, installing a exhaust system, rather than take it to a shop and be back in a hour.  Once he started a job, he would not quit.  I was the one to throw tools and parts.  Before I was tall enough to see over the fender, he would have me handing him tools.  I guess I got the skills from him.  After our daughter was born, he changed almost overnight.  Our relationship improved a lot.  My daughter did things to him that would have gotten my a$$ spanked.  He would just laugh at her.  I imagine that his childhood shaped the way he was.  Head of the house at 12 years old.  He served in the 49th Service Squadron, 5th Army Air Force in WW2.  Never talked about it too much.  I don't think he ever realized how much I admired him. I vowed that I would be different towards my family and I made good on that.  My daughter and I are very close. Yesterday was 23 years since his passing.  I do miss him.