Memory Lane

[Rockwood]

Got any cool stories of schemes you did with your Pops or other role model?

Here's mine:

Dad worked for Symtek as a software engineer programming these guys in the 80s/90s:

http://www.mektra.com/symtek.html

Amazingly, still used today.  Good job pops!

Dad and I used to buy broken ones for scrap from the company: sell the stainless/aluminum for recycling, then bring the electronic components to surplus stores to sell. Would spend a couple of weeks sorting the things into piles, take them to wherever, then pocket about $100-200 net profit.  Not worth it for an adult, but for a 9-14 year old, great money.  Pops went to HP after Aetrium bought the company and Effed everyone over (as is common).  Taught me a lot about how things went together and how to look at something to take it apart, as well as business dealings.  

 

[zilla68]

may be off topic a little bit but 

my dad and I mowed lawns for a little while when I was really young. he was always with me as I went up the ranks in Boy Scouts. He was a tough Purple Heart Marine from nam. He worked for the post office and retired at 55. 

While I probably didn't give 2 chits  at the time, but when my son was about 9-10 we started mowing lawns. He hated it at first, but I had a zero turn and that was his only job. He did this and made money. As he got older and I picked up more and more accts, he was the master of the zero turn, branched out to all the other aspects, and at 15 he was making 1000.00 a month cash working sat 8-10 hours and part sunday mowing with me and doing property management.

We had a ton of knock downs, and at one time my wife even made us go to counseling over it lol. The counselor said why are you so obsessed with him mowing with you. I explained it to her like this. I don't give 2 flips if he ever mows a lawn again, its about teaching him something. It's about teaching him how to do a job right, take an a$$ eating when its done wrong, talk to customers, deal with people and their issues, manage funds, take care of equipment, manage his friends that helped time to time, stuff like that.

He helped a buddy who's mom was getting divorced move to her new house, and he said dad, all the guys (friends he grew up with), said how do you know how to take a door off a hinge, hook up a washer and dryer, move heavy stuff, back a trailer, stupid stuff like that. He said I learned from my dad. I hated it when he made me do it, but he told me how proud he was he could do all that with the tool kit I put together to keep in his truck.

Fast forward to current day, he's 22, plays d2 football in his 5th year, and told me about 2 years ago, you know dad, it all makes sense now. He said everything you did, everytime you got pissed, threw things, it all makes sense to me, and I'm glad I went thru it. He has 3 room mates and he gets pissed because noone takes the trash out, does dishes, leaves laundry in the washer, stuff like that lol. he said I sure know how you felt. I told him you really don't, until you have 2 kids, mortgages, car payments, dance classes, travel ball, and all the other expenses that go with that, you don't know the pressure we feel as dads. 

But I felt good that he recognized I wasn't just an a hole, and that there was a reason to all that. 

I think this is where I failed with my daughter, but couldn't be as hard on her as she's a girl.

 

[wesinls]

It all started at the Malibu go cart track in San Diego...pics from the internet below, but memory lane wise - That's what got me hooked on motorsports...that place was awesome, I was never old enough to drive one of the big cars - before they closed it.  Plus the "license" made it even better...and of course the arcade games you could play while waiting for your turn.  

I had and still have great parents...taught me to work hard to play hard.



Fuk Ya!

 

[Phoenix7]

@Rockwood Your dad had the same job title as myself, and I worked briefly at a silicon wafer factory in Phoenix.  Thanks for your story.

My story about my dad is that he would become very addicted to hobbies, and I inherited that from him....BIGTIME!

Regarding his gun hobby, he shot so many pistols at the range that one arm was longer than the other.  And he sat for hours in his den reloading ammo.  From the sounds of what I heard in the den, it didn't sound like fun.

Many years later when I was also addicted to guns, I would be shooting my Desert Eagle at the range with brass all over the place behind me.  When it was time to clean it up I either threw it or swept it into the dirt.  People would ask me "hey don't you reload?", and I would say NO WAY I don't do that.  If people wanted to pick them up and save them, I said sure please do.  Yes I had those memories of my dad, but mostly its because I had grown up with many personality differences than him. 

 

[ChEFF]

We Were RAISED BY MARINES! You can only imagine the stories. I'll drum up a few when time allows. Good TOPic. Peace