Lessons I’ve Learned From My Father

My father is a very wise man. I have learned many lessons from him over the years, and I’m sure he has a few more gems left to impart.

My dad is a bit of a perfectionist. When I bought a loft bed from a fellow student during my sophomore year at university and needed a ladder to go with it, he made me one.

It was stained, varnished, and perfectly angled so to lie flat and sturdy on the floor. The loft frame itself was constructed of raw timbers and bolts; it was akin to putting Mercedes hub caps on a Gremlin.

When I admonished him for the overkill, adding that he could have just thrown something together, he retorted “I don’t throw things together.”

My father taught me that anything worth doing is worth doing right.

As a skilled carpenter by hobby and electrician by trade, he taught me “Measure twice, cut once”. (Excellent advice for the impatient, by the way.) He was truly the best electrician Werribee had to offer… or at least that’s what he would tell me!

When he retired (and refused to do any more repairs for me!), he taught me how to find a trustworthy level 2 electrician Wollongong that would do the job properly and not overcharge.

He taught me how to use a hammer, and a screwdriver, and how to refill the freon in my ’79 Chevy Impala so that I’d have A/C for the 6 hour drive back to school. (That he wrote “freon here” in permanent marker on the engine block, complete with arrow, for no other reason than he is a smart aleck, I was less pleased with.)

He taught me that there is nearly always a creative solution, and that it is normally the most obvious, “I should’ve thought of that” solution. He taught me to think outside the box.

He taught me to NEVER respond to “pull my finger”.

I’m sure there was something in there about keeping a quarter between my knees.

Hopefully I’ll be able to pass on as much valuable knowledge to my kids as he has to me.

Except for the “pull my finger” warning. Their father has taught them differently.

*Hangs head in disgust*