July 28, 2019 at 3:07 am
I consider myself very fortunate. My father (Professional licensed engineer), saw my potential and from the age of about 6 had me help him fix things around the house; in the beginning he would explain what and why, then send me off to get a tool he needed. This was the 1960’s - By the time I was 12, I was doing the actual work and he would still be explaining the what and whys, and he would go get the tool I needed. Toaster, Washing Machine, TV, Car didn’t matter we would fix it together. To this day, I still try to fix things, but I have learned when it comes to Women – just listen, don’t try to fix it.
Wow! Almost identical for me and, I agree... I was incredibly fortunate. My Dad was also a licensed PE in Chemical Engineering. I remember when I was 6... he was down in the basement doing some work and I went down to see what he was doing. He had a torch and some glass tubing and he was blowing his own pipettes for an experiment he was working on. Instead of shoeing me away, he taught me how to blow glass. Under his supervision, I made several pipettes, made a hole in the bottom of a beaker and installed a flush mounted glass bottom drain, and even blew a tiny (about two inches tall) bubble shaped vase for Mom.
For a science project when I was about 11 years old, he taught me how to make a self starting electric motor from a down, two corks, a pretty strong refrigerator magnet, a couple of push pins (for bearings) and a single piece of wire for an armature. For a truly homemade hack, it ran pretty fast and absolutely silently.
Mom taught me how to garden, took us to science museums, took us to beaches that had rock outcroppings where we could find fossils, showed us how to cook and can, showed us how to sew (came in real handy in the Navy) and how to embroider.
Grandpa and Grandma both taught us a lot of that, as well, and they both taught us how to aim and shoot a rifle and then clean it.
And, like you, by the time I was twelve, he had taught me how to frame a wall and put it up both level and plumb, how to measure and cut bird-mouths, measure, cut, and solder copper water pipes and fittings, drive a well point, and how to run the wire and install the electrical outlets, run a switch to the light in the ceiling, re-roof a house, paint walls, cut the grass, how to cut branches on a tree with out a bark-strip-run down the side, how to dig and pour a foundation, how to lay bricks, how to make water filters, how to make stitch-less button holes, how to build and fly G-String Model Airplanes and much, much more.
After I got out of the Navy, I started working for a large company and became a "plank owner" of the new PC Support Group. There were only 2 of us (not my Dad) to help about 3,000 people and we built that many PCs by hand. After that, I returned the favor of him teaching me how to do so many things by teaching him how to run spreadsheets, etc, etc, and, man, the things he did with it to help himself in the world of Chemical Engineering were amazing.
I also helped him test the environmentally benign mono-propellant (burns in anaerobic environments) fuels he designed (he invented 3... MF-1, MF-2, and MF-X). The fuels were designed to replace "Otto Fuel", which is the fuel the USN still uses in many torpedoes including the Mk 48 ADCAP Heavyweight. The fuels are so environmentally safe that you can water them down and brush your teeth with them. During the "bonfire test" for the Navy, when the plastic 55 gallon drums they had in the middle of the bonfire full of his fuel finally weakened and tipped over, his fuel almost put the bonfire out as true testament as to how safe it was to be onboard ships and aircraft. It survived a 30 gram gun-powder explosion in a 55 gallon drum with no explosion or burning of the fuel, survived the 50 Cal. gun test with the same results, and has more energy density that the Otto Fuel it was designed to replace.
As for the other thing you spoke of, I'll remind you that old men aren't hard of hearing... we're tired of listening. 😀 😀 😀
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
July 31, 2019 at 1:32 am
Jeff since the day I joined this forum, I have always liked you and your post(s); I could never put my finger on exactly why, but it seemed like I knew you from somewhere.
I two know how to sew, embroider, needlepoint, knit, etc... I was even the asst manager of a So-Fro Fabrics in the late 1970's. Once had a nice little lady tell me I could not help her because "I was a man", I told her ask me anything. She said something like "How sharp of a needle do I need for the Qiana fabrics" and I told her she needed a very fine Ball Point needle so as not to pierce the fibers but separate them; afterword she had me show her out finest wool, and she asked for me every time see came back to the store.
I almost forgot isn't playing with melting glass awesome, it's right up there with sand castings! Maybe even higher for the relatively immediate results, kids even then liked to see the results of there work.
Can you imagine how social services today would react if they heard a father was teaching his son (Child) how to respect dangerous things, Like Electricity, Guns, Melting Glass, Molten Metal, a Chemistry Set, or even a soldering iron?
I see the biggest difference between us as your father was in the Navy and mine was in the Coast Guard. Thank you for sharing, I look forward to many more pleasant exchanges with you.
Frank
PS: Big Steve, see what you have done! Again; I will say this is why I love this forum.
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