Get to Work!

[RiverDave]

What are you teaching your kids?

 

[Singleton]

9yo daughter does 100% of the maintenance on her quad.
I show her an example on mine and she follows on hers.

 

[ka0tyk]

The other day we learned all about the brad nailer.

 

[attitude]

9yo daughter does 100% of the maintenance on her quad.
I show her an example on mine and she follows on hers.

Impressive!

 

[SoCalDave]

That the proper safety equipment is as important as the proper tool. The youngest one just don't get it yet...LOL

 

[Singleton]

Impressive!

thanks
i told her if she wanted one two years ago she had to do a few things
1 - clean it after each trip
2 - prep it when it gets off loaded (check oil level, brake fluid, tire pressure, etc)
3 - do the annual maintenance

she has loved every step. Added a step each year. #1 when she was 7, #2 when she turned 8 and #3 when she hit 9. Up next ToyHauler maintenance

 

[liquid addiction]

I had me son driving forklift at 7. He started loading trucks for us when we worked weekends. Funny as shit watching truck drivers faces when he came rolling around the corner with a full pallet to load in their trucks.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

thanks
i told her if she wanted one two years ago she had to do a few things
1 - clean it after each trip
2 - prep it when it gets off loaded (check oil level, brake fluid, tire pressure, etc)
3 - do the annual maintenance

she has loved every step. Added a step each year. #1 when she was 7, #2 when she turned 8 and #3 when she hit 9. Up next ToyHauler maintenance

8 Year old daughter gets to clean her quad from our Glamis trip Saturday Morning. It has been sitting in Havasu.

 

[Kbach]

The other day we learned all about the brad nailer.

Wait until you get your RV done and you can teach them how to dump the shitter. Best day of my life

 

[renodaytona]

My daughter which is 9 now learned everything about reloading Ammo when she was 6. She knows the whole process and enjoys helping me.

 

[Desert Whaler]

Cool

 

[rrrr]

RD's post started a long train of thought. I began this post to discuss my duties as a grandfather, and it has gotten way too long. I'm not doing this to boast about my accomplishments, I want to tell the younger RDPers how much they can learn and accomplish in their careers. The possibilities for the individual are limitless. It doesn't require graduate university degrees, but it does require hard work and personal integrity.

Please indulge me with my long story. I hope it will provide motivation for those who might be thinking they have little future. Perhaps some educational or personal problems have made it hard to see how to proceed.

My story: To begin with, my issues with aggressive arthritis, coupled with the effects of significant orthopedic injuries sustained in the bulletproof years of youth, ended my ability to work over a decade ago. I've lost count of the number of surgeries I've had, and in two weeks I'm having major surgery to remove arthritic destruction of cervical vertebrae and a C5,6,7 fusion. If I hadn't purchased a long term disability policy in the 90s, life would be very different right now. While that resolved financial issues, the physical and mental burdens have made for many long days and nights.

So I apologize for the long winded story. To be honest, my impending surgery is making me scared and depressed. If something goes wrong, which has been the case with my knees, I could become completely impaired and require assistance for many basic functions. In the last twelve years, I've had to abandon boating, traveling, golf, racing, doing all of the maintenance and repairs on my vehicles and properties, and many friendships. It sucks.

But anyway, just a bit ago I was thinking about my grandson Aiden and the screwed up world he will experience as an adult. He's thirteen. I really need to start guiding him in choices, and teach him about self sufficiency.

I want to share the knowledge I've gained, and show Aiden that it's possible to become an expert in many fields. It's not too early for him to begin thinking about career choices.

I want him to know his possibilities are endless, and if he makes good decisions, he will be successful. The United States is headed down a path of self immolation. There are forces in play that actively seek to destroy our history of personal integrity, hard work, and responsibility.

Life is going to become very difficult for most Americans, because as a country, we cannot continue to tear down the capitalist economy, squander our great natural resources for untrue political and social chimeras, continue to spend trillions of borrowed money, and weaken our military strength to pay for social program giveaways. Unless things change, our great United States is going to become just another country of slaves to government control and enforced theft from those who work to support those with their hands out.

I have been incredibly fortunate to have had education opportunities that allowed me to become financially secure, even though I had to quit working when I was 53 because of the health problems. I started working in my Dad's mechanical contracting and commercial sheet metal business when I was 11. Over the next decade, I was expected to learn skills, perform as a leader, and uphold my Dad's legacy as a tough but always fair individual.

Not only did my Dad teach me how to work, he gave me the opportunities to learn skills in every almost major trade. By the time I was 23, I had 6G welding certifications in pipe and plate. I had a journeyman plumber's license, and was working at a journeyman level in pipefitting, welding, sheet metal work, pneumatic temperature controls, and site utilities, including backhoe and excavator operations. I also learned how to run a business, and that flashing money and living beyond my means would make me just another broke ass construction worker.

I moved to Houston and went to work for Brown & Root, at one time the largest construction company in the world, for 1½ years as a QC specialist when I was 24. This was a great education in the world of massive projects, finance, and interactions with large firms and individuals. By the time I was 30, I had gained extensive experience in complex formed concrete structures, and was part owner of a medium size commercial drywall company. I received a journeyman electrical license when I was 32. I gained experience in steel erection, and held an NCCCO Rigger II certification, and other OHSA required certifications.

In 1994, I went to work for a company that sold large UPS systems for data processing. Their customer base and sales staff provided the basis for me to begin a general contracting division that focused on data center and broadcasting facilities. By 2005, the business had over $25MM in annual revenues, I was doing projects from California to New York, and owned 75% of the company.

All of this was the product of incredible good fortune. I feel blessed to have had these opportunities, and the exposure to so many different disciplines in the world of construction was unusual and has always been interesting. I was lucky to learn all of these things.

I'm now going to dedicate myself to healing from surgery, working hard on rehabilitation, losing some weight, and getting involved with my grandson. He is a great kid, happy, and does well in school. But he's at the age where the attractions of drugs, alcohol, violence, rebellion, and bad influences are entering his life. I am fortunate that we have a strong relationship. We have been doing projects together from baking cookies to fishing to repairing cars since he was two. His dad, my son, is going to be 38 this year, and he's an undependable and unmotivated fuckoff. His mom is completely opposite. She earned a nursing degree when she was 26, and is a fantastic parent. Her fiance is also a nurse, and does a great job as a dad for Aiden. I need to provide guidance for Aiden, and with the wonderful parenting they're doing, I will hopefully be able to become a reliable mentor.

I again apologize for this long and rambling post. I love my grandson very much, and RD's "step up" exortation will help me ignore my own difficulties and focus on the responsibility I have to Aiden. I hope some other young people will read this, and recognize that they too can accomplish great things by working hard, pledging to maintain high standards of personal integrity, and finding a profession they both enjoy and wish to master.

Thanks for listening.

 

[MK1MOD0]

My kids grew up in the restaurant business.......... yea, they don’t want anything to do with it as adults. They seen enough for a lifetime.

 

[satellitemike]

What are you teaching your kids?

View attachment 980935

Only issue I see is the teacher! Sorry Tyler couldnt resist.

 

[boatdoc55]

My daughter which is 9 now learned everything about reloading Ammo when she was 6. She knows the whole process and enjoys helping me.

Now you need to get her hot on finding primers

 

[Nordie]

I've tried to teach my stepdaughter not to be a dumbass like me.

 

[petie6464]

I've taught my children that the reason we can pursue whatever dreams we have is because young men sacrificed their lives so that we can.

 

[Joker]

What’s amazing it that our neighbor has 3 daughters from 16 to 22 and they do nothing all day. You can thank the government for that.

 

[LowRiver2]

Fundamentals: next step comes in April with a rimfire pictured.

Having 100 birds to feed and checking out shells keeps them plenty busy outside class

 

[Brokeboatin221]

Kids are cool!

 

[rivermobster]

My kids are in college, my work is done.

Now they are teaching me stuff!

 

[ka0tyk]

Gotta teach em to shoot some freedom seeds too.

 

[Reddy Too]

“Nothing that is what teachers are for.” JenRod.

 

[Joe mama]

When I was a kid my dad had me out on the job sites. I would pull a little Romex and other shit. I have to admit I didn’t get much done, I had more fun throwing rocks at the out house when someone went in. Times you will never forget as a kid.

 

[mjc]

When I was Customer engineer for IBM I used to take my boys with me on some of the weekend projects to see how different businesses where to give them ideas of what they could do and not want to do. They learned how some things that looked kind of cool were just about slave labor in the factories.

 

[LowRiver2]

My kids know exactly what I do. Makes it easier to understand why I’m not home at times. They are great sales people at static displays too

 

[69hondo]

My girls have dirtbikes and quads. THey have to change all the tires when we go from hardpack to sand or back. they have to do all the maintenace on their own bikes and keep them clean. They are 15 and 16 now but they have been doing some sort of this since they were able to ride. THey have also learned how to wax the boat and change the oil in all the vehicle's we have. They have help me build my big garage, our fence, our patio, etc. I love teaching them stuff and I think they teach me more. LOL

 

[monkeyswrench]

I was helping Pops on roofs early on. Even as a kid, it was dirty, hard work. As I got older and bigger, the jobs got harder. Not to long before Pops passed we talked about it. He wanted me to hate the work, and thought it would teach me to stay away from a blue collar life. I kind of laughed. It taught me that you have to work for what you have...and it doesn't matter how.

My kids are 17, 14, and 13. Been working with them the past year on the fundamentals of welding, and some mechanical/automotive things. The school work they have figured. The things they no longer teach in school are the ones that need to be...don't believe you are born a victim, and don't expect anything for free.

 

[jeteater1]

I have my daughter helping (doing all) swaping exhaust manifolds for headers on my truck. Only 2 broken studs.

 

[2Driver]

 

[rrrr]

Aiden and I are going fishing next weekend. The crappie are already running up the creeks to spawn, we should bag our limits.

 

[Brokeboatin221]

Love breaded and fried crappie and some slaw
With fries. We tear it up in about a month!

 

[SoCalDave]

Aiden and I are going fishing next weekend. The crappie are already running up the creeks to spawn, we should bag our limits.

I can almost actually picture that...sounds like a great time together for both of you...looking forward to some pics of the trip when you get back if you don't mind sharing.

 

[rrrr]

I'll post photos. Last spring we caught our limit, and the kid landed all of the big ones.

 

[Cibolasam]

My grandson always wants to help me with everything. Luvin it!!

 

[monkeyswrench]

I'll post photos. Last spring we caught our limit, and the kid landed all of the big ones.

When I was a kid, Pops would take me fishing every once in a while...
I never caught a damn thing! But, I remember those times as clear as anything that happened today
Last time we went was the week before Father's Day, 2007...I still didn't catch a damn thing!

 

[nowski]

What’s amazing it that our neighbor has 3 daughters from 16 to 22 and they do nothing all day. You can thank the government for that.

Sounds like the parents deserve a pat on the back for that, the government gets the assist...

 

[rrrr]

.

Fishing at the Lake Lavon boat rental dock in October 2013, Aiden was five:

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Same dock in June 2018, Aiden was ten:

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Our 2019 trip for the crappie run, it was cold that day!

.

 

[CLdrinker]

My 6yr old knows the process for hooking up the load distribution hitch.

 

[WYRD]

Roto hammering at 7

 

[WYRD]

Damn good fisherman too