Have your fathers habits rubbed off on you. Just for fun

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember19781]

[This posting has been removed]

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember19781]

Have your fathers habits rubbed off on you. Just for fun

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Some people do follow their fathers, however my son isnt one of them unless theres a keyboard involved

[John Paton 1Participant @johnpaton1]

I like to think so – my Dad was a true gentleman, but others must be the judge of that.

He was a qualified electrician but repairs to the cable on his electric mower where he had mown over it (wire conductor ends simply twisted round and covered with PVC tape from a 30 year old 'hard and tacky' spool) warn me not to follow his example too slavishly as I grow old.

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

What is really weird is that my signature which was totally unlike my dad's has over the years grown imperceptibly to be like his – his initials were a.j with the a a lowercase one while my initials, n.j with a capital N has metemorphed into a lower case n and the bottom of the n is closing up. Our surname which I always used to write differently has become more like his as well.

Weird or what??

[AJWParticipant @ajw]

Reminded me of my Dad over riding the strimmer safety switch (didn't work) replacing it with a round, brown domestic light switch!

Favourite saying when tidying something up was 'take the dairy off it' , use it myself and people wonder what I'm talking about!

(Not sure where it came from)

Alan

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Curiously the older I get the more like my dad I become, he passed away two years ago but his sayings and mannerisms live on in me.

But I also carry on some of my maternal grandfathers odd habits including throwing the odd item out of the workshop door when my patience wanes. If I'm.having a tantrum about tools or mending something SWMBO will calm me down by saying "Harry boy, I won't put up with it"

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Nick Clarke 3 on 29/03/2019 17:12:41:

What is really weird is that my signature which was totally unlike my dad's has over the years grown imperceptibly to be like his – his initials were a.j with the a a lowercase one while my initials, n.j with a capital N has metemorphed into a lower case n and the bottom of the n is closing up. Our surname which I always used to write differently has become more like his as well.

Weird or what??

Strange, my daughter (who has different initials) also has a signature remarkably close to mine.

One Christmas I was wandering around with a bin bag picking up the wrapping paper as fast as it could be strewn around the living room. I saw that as a worrying sign I was morphing into my Dad.

Neil

[vintage engineerParticipant @vintageengineer]

Hope not! He was a selfish alcoholic a**ehole!

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

Referring to the original post, an old friend of mine spent his working life in the paints division of I.C.I. he tells me that while gloss paint is fine with frosty storage, emulsion paint will take on the appearance of porridge and be unusable; so in that respect you'd best listen to your dad Bill.

Maurice

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

I get told that I am so like my late father in so many ways as he used his hands alot tinkering in the shed. The only thing that I have not tried to folowhim in is making a wooden greenhouse in the living room the wife would kill me.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

No. My dad was an academic specialising in adult education. He was proud that he alone among his acquaintances owned a screwdriver – he also had an excellent pair of slip-joint pliers that I still use 40 years after his death.

It would never have occurred to him to store paint, because painting was always done by others in his world. He might have been able to fit an electric plug so long as he had a diagram, but he was happier if I did it.

He was puzzled by my preoccupation with machinery and tools, but respected it.

What I took from him was an understanding that intelligence has as many dimensions as a Stephen Hawking multiverse.

 

Edited By Mick B1 on 30/03/2019 06:34:21

[Simon CollierParticipant @simoncollier74340]

No. My father had a blunt saw, a blunt screwdriver, which he used to leave out in the rain, and a hand brace which I have. No bench, no vice, no anything useful.

[Paul MParticipant @paulm98238]

Certain things have. My father taught me to be accurate, have patience and not to look to blame others for my mistakes. He made do with mostly poor tools and not much teaching from his father but always finished a job to the best of his ability. What I appreciate and try to always apply, is not to criticise and be constructive. I think my daughter has taken on board my love of making and creating well made products. My son now he is married and building his home is beginning to develop his practical skills which is great.

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

The one thing I've picked up from both my Father and Grandfather is waste nothing, one day it will be useful. I keep old shoes to potter about in until they fall apart and cant be repaired, I'm always de cluttering and always trying to repair what my Daughter and Son in Law try to throw away.

Martin P

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

My dad was a diy enthusiast. He used to buy old furniture (cheap) at auctions and use the wood for his projects. I can do wood work but prefer metalworking. My employment involve working with electronic equipment, having acquired an interest in my early teens. I must have saved a fortune over the years repairing my own household appliances. My dad used to like a pint in the pub, as do I, but not to excess.

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

My dad was very domineering and very opinionated when I was at home, mellowed a bit in old age, but my wife sometimes remarks that I had better not become my dad when I say something in a particular manner. He was a chief draughtsman eventually and I met a number of people in my working life who had worked under him, they all gave me their sympathy. He had a few hobbies in his life, photography, woodwork, gardening but never stuck to anything throughout his life. I have stuck to mine, photography, model making etc all my life. Hope I keep to all up for many more years.

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember]

[This posting has been removed]

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

My father was also very domineering and opinionated, so was my mother, childhood was total s##t for me, one of twins but brother died at very young age. Ended up working in same factory as the old man but in different department and nobody would speak to me, month trial period was due to end any day so I went into office and told foreman to shove his job where sun don’t shine, his reply was that he was very sorry for way I had been treated but my old man was universally hated in the factory and they dreaded having another one like him, he said that now they knew I was different things would improve, I stayed another 3 years until made redundant,

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Fairly limited influence from my Dad, as for my first eight years he was fighting through India, the Middle East and then up through Italy before getting a home leave. Back again after the War but he died while I was in Aden on my first overseas tour. One cardinal rule of his which stays with me is 'Tell the truth, no matter how many problems it causes YOU, but try to take care of others" Hugely difficult, at times, and not always succeeded

rgds

Bill

[Steve NeighbourParticipant @steveneighbour43428]

My late father was an absolute stippler for doing 'anything' properly – which is why my wife says I procrastinate for ages before doing what to her appears to be a simple job – well, I have to consider all the 1000 & 1 things that could 'go wrong' !!

I like an earlier post didn't have a very happy childhood, Father was very strict and discipline was always delivered via a leather belt or ruler . . thankfully a trait I didn't copy when raising my kids !

I suppose the one person who I owe much to was my Grandfather, he had a workshop and a very ancient 3 speed lathe, which with an abundance of patience taught me the basic principles of machining, I honed these fledgling skills further by completing an 'indentured engineering apprenticeship' (what ever happened to those ?)

Now that I too approach retirement, I'm busy building my dream 'man cave' and will soon install a nice lathe of my own (my wife suggested that I should also put a phone in it, so she can call me when she is off to bed) !!

Would she be offended if I got one with an answering machine I wonder ?

Edited By Steve Neighbour on 30/03/2019 18:02:45

Edited By Steve Neighbour on 30/03/2019 18:03:26

[vintage engineerParticipant @vintageengineer]

I would get one fitted then you can ring when you want a cup of tea!

Posted by Steve Neighbour on 30/03/2019 18:01:55:

My late father was an absolute stippler for doing 'anything' properly – which is why my wife says I procrastinate for ages before doing what to her appears to be a simple job – well, I have to consider all the 1000 & 1 things that could 'go wrong' !!

I like an earlier post didn't have a very happy childhood, Father was very strict and discipline was always delivered via a leather belt or ruler . . thankfully a trait I didn't copy when raising my kids !

I suppose the one person who I owe much to was my Grandfather, he had a workshop and a very ancient 3 speed lathe, which with an abundance of patience taught me the basic principles of machining, I honed these fledgling skills further by completing an 'indentured engineering apprenticeship' (what ever happened to those ?)

Now that I too approach retirement, I'm busy building my dream 'man cave' and will soon install a nice lathe of my own (my wife suggested that I should also put a phone in it, so she can call me when she is off to bed) !!

Would she be offended if I got one with an answering machine I wonder ?

Edited By Steve Neighbour on 30/03/2019 18:02:45

Edited By Steve Neighbour on 30/03/2019 18:03:26

[Steve NeighbourParticipant @steveneighbour43428]

when requesting my cuppa, should I 'order' a nice juicy steak ?

(I'm told they are good for soothing the enevatible black eye)

[Guy LambParticipant @guylamb68056]

One thing I've noticed happening to me as the years advance is my hands are turning increasingly like my Dads.

Guy

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Well, I've certainly inherited the practical gene. Some of it anyway.

My Dad was a Chartered Electrical Engineer, but as he was an MoD scientist I don't know what he actually did to help Defend the Realm, only that Electrical Engineering is lots of Very Hard Sums. That was an ability I didn't inherit!

Dad did encourage me though, and my 18th birthday-present from my parents was an EW 2.5" BGSC lathe he'd bought from a work colleague. I still have it, but the poor thing has a very basic, rather flimsy headstock now quite noticeably worn (you can see the chuck jumping about), and I'd love to bring it back into proper condition but am not sure how without excessively compromising its strength and design integrity. Consulting the Oracles (aka Tony Griffiths), I was delighted to find my example has all of the optional-extras offered by EW Stringer, except the change-wheel guard.

Yet the engineering side of the family was Mum's: her brother was a professional engineer in British Railway's Technical Centre in Derby – and Hon. Sec. of Nottingham SMEE for many years. The first miniature loco I drove was on that Society's original track, for a lap or two. While Mam's father or grandfather (I forget which) was the Kay of the eponymous bicycle manufactured in the Nottingham factory he established.

Our Mam always reckoned we're descended from John Kay of very early Industrial Revolution fame, though we've not been able to verify this family legend, and apparently there were two, non-related but more or less contemporary, John Kays separately inventing early textile machinery!

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