Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

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once leased a car and drove it around the country. Went way over on miles. Ended up jacking it up in reverse in our garage and backed about 80% of the miles off of it before turning it in. It took him weeks.

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You almost had me tug, almost. But this one just put it too far over the top..... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

I'm sure I could tell some stories about how cool my dad was and badass things he did but that doesn't capture why he was so awesome to me as well as a small, simple story.

When I was 10 years old I took a huge interest in auto racing but my dad absolutely hated it. Despite that, he got tickets to a Nascar race from his work and took me down to Atlanta motor speedway with all his co-workers. It was awful, way too loud, and I never wanted to go again. I can't believe how boring and horrible it must have been for him but I'm sure if I had wanted to go again he would have taken me every year.

The best part is I could tell about a hundred little anecdotes just like the one above - when I was growing up he did everything he could to make my life a happy one and because of his example I believe that when I have children of my own I will be able to be an awesome dad myself and that is by far the greatest gift anyone has ever given me.

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

i'd say the first part of my dad's life was awesome...

he was very understanding, for the most part...
but that all changed once i got married.

apparantly, my mom disapproved so vehemently of the
marriage that she made my dad's life even more of a
living hell than she had previously.

since my dad "had" to live with her, he sided with her,
and the rift remained pretty much in full for the rest of
his life.

he did coach my little league baseball team and spent
a lot of time teaching me the 'over-the-shoulder,
running-towards-the-fence' catch.

that was pretty cool.

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

he didn't divorce why?

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

divorces are damn expensive, ldo.

kidding, but that's usually a top reason.

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

quirkasaurus,

what reasons did your mom name for disapproving so much of your marriage?

Also, not sure if i agree with you blaming you mom for your father's position on it, but meh, obv you know the situation a million times better.

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

When I was 16 we went camping with the whole family (5 kids) and every kid was allowed to bring 1-2 friends. So there was about 6 of us teenagers walking around the campground and came across 4 13-14 year olds smoking weed. We started harrassing them and told them that our father was the Park Ranger and he was on his way so they should leave (we wanted the ampitheatre area which is where they were) they wouldn't leave so we went and got Dad.

Dad came thundering into the ampitheatre area, sniffed really loudly and boomed out "What do you kids think you're doing? Where's your parents? I'm going to report you"

I swear I think they all [censored] their pants. We all had a laugh and later invited them over to the campfire for s'mores and wine coolers.

T

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

took me to first baseball game

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

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divorces are damn expensive, ldo.

kidding, but that's usually a top reason.

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My mom made 40K a year when she divorced my dad, so I've never quite understood this. When there's a will there's a way.

Re: Examples of why your dad is/was awesome
 

[ QUOTE ]
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once leased a car and drove it around the country. Went way over on miles. Ended up jacking it up in reverse in our garage and backed about 80% of the miles off of it before turning it in. It took him weeks.

[/ QUOTE ]
You almost had me tug, almost. But this one just put it too far over the top..... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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I don't know why nobody believes this. He did it. I was fairly young and was horrified that it would come off of its jack, back into the garage door, and cause some unimaginable damage to the house or the neighbor's house across the street. He was self-employed so he would sit around all day like Jabba the [censored] Hut while he rolled it back.

He also had a Tourette's-ish habit that was funny but only borderline awesome: he would talk to himself in short sentences, usually repeating the same saying over and over. One of his favorites was "[name], [censored] 'em". I've picked up this exact same habit and when people aren't around sometimes just blurt it out without thinking. Not sure if that's learned or genetic.

He also used to spit at the mirror when he brushed his teeth. He didn't gargle, he just spit it out at the mirror. And didn't clean it up afterwards. Very strange. But now I'm filling this thread with things that are at best borderline awesome so I'll stop. I think I'd have more to say in a thread about how he was NOT awesome so if that ever comes around I'll post in it.