I don't know, I thought ringing off my dad's valve cover bolts when I was 14 sounded pretty deafening...he sure heard it a half acre away and over the TV set!
What is another way to say Ringing Off? I've never heard of that. Snapping off? Rounding off? Just curious, and how furious was he? What were you doing with his valve covers at age 14? Wrenching to see what things were under the valve covers? Or to set the gap between rockers and valves?
My old man would tear up crap and I had to fix it, I learned field expediency in a very high pressured setting.
How furious? Well my old man was an abusive little man who thought stepping on his kids and wife was the only way he could see his face in the mirror. So how furious is not an question I can really answer, since he stayed keyed up. It wasn't the worst beating I ever got but it would sure would have landed him in jail nowadays.
Anyway, yes I was tightening the tappets and twisted off a bolt on the valve cover because I had no torque wrench. Not, that not having the proper tools was in fact, never an acceptable excuse to him.
Damn, I wish we had a time machine and could fix problems. So much awful experiences because people don't realize how good life is, and how much they should treasure their kids. I'm sorry you had a mean dad, and a valve cover bolt that wasn't strong enough to keep you out of trouble that day
for sure. It wasnt until I was an adult that I realized how good I had it as a kid. two parents who loved each other and their kids, and who both worked hard to provide a safe stable home for their family. we didnt have alot of money, my father was a forest ranger, in 1968 his salary was $275 a month, and we lived in a house owned by the govt, in the Appalachian mountains, six miles from the nearest paved road. and our house was the local first aid station, since we had electricity and a phone and everyone knew where the forest ranger lived.
Well I remember but I don't want people to think after all this time I need to whine about my childhood....plenty of kids never even survived theirs.
Besides adversity is what makes us stronger. I left home at fifteen, I lived on the street, I went hungry and was often cold wet and miserable. But I figured it out.
I worked my way offshore from a deckhand to Barge Captain, and once took charge of the space shuttle fuel tank in transit. Took my knowledge on land and became a Haz mat and marine safety officer for my fire department, and started my own taxi business where I ran a 35 car operation slap out of town with five cabs, a sedan and an airport shuttle.
I moved a thousand miles inland, living for the first time in my life away from the shore and finally met the girl of my dreams. The pirate and the preacher's daughter were hitched on the Crown Princess ten years ago last New Years Eve, and together we have settled here in G-Town a stone throws away from where Elijah Craig invented Bourbon in our 1870's stone and brick home that I am spending my early semi-retirement restoring.
I believe we are the sum total of our experience, and how we navigate life's challenges. So I would not change what happened in the past.
I told my wife that if every rock I hit and every fall I took is what eventually led me to her, then I'd gladly walk each step again, singing at the top of my lungs along the way!
I was just remembering, not whining....but good talking with you.
Great responses. Pertaining to the sneeze and the picture that started this ball rolling, our neighbor, now deceased, would always say "Gesundheit" when he heard me sneeze. You birng back memories and still when I sneeze I attract low-flying geese.
I don't know, I thought ringing off my dad's valve cover bolts when I was 14 sounded pretty deafening...he sure heard it a half acre away and over the TV set!
ReplyDeleteWhat is another way to say Ringing Off? I've never heard of that. Snapping off? Rounding off? Just curious, and how furious was he? What were you doing with his valve covers at age 14? Wrenching to see what things were under the valve covers? Or to set the gap between rockers and valves?
DeleteMy old man would tear up crap and I had to fix it, I learned field expediency in a very high pressured setting.
DeleteHow furious? Well my old man was an abusive little man who thought stepping on his kids and wife was the only way he could see his face in the mirror. So how furious is not an question I can really answer, since he stayed keyed up. It wasn't the worst beating I ever got but it would sure would have landed him in jail nowadays.
Anyway, yes I was tightening the tappets and twisted off a bolt on the valve cover because I had no torque wrench. Not, that not having the proper tools was in fact, never an acceptable excuse to him.
Damn, I wish we had a time machine and could fix problems. So much awful experiences because people don't realize how good life is, and how much they should treasure their kids. I'm sorry you had a mean dad, and a valve cover bolt that wasn't strong enough to keep you out of trouble that day
Deletefor sure.
DeleteIt wasnt until I was an adult that I realized how good I had it as a kid.
two parents who loved each other and their kids, and who both worked hard to provide a safe stable home for their family. we didnt have alot of money, my father was a forest ranger, in 1968 his salary was $275 a month, and we lived in a house owned by the govt,
in the Appalachian mountains, six miles from the nearest paved road. and our house was the local first aid station, since we had electricity and a phone and everyone knew where the forest ranger lived.
Well I remember but I don't want people to think after all this time I need to whine about my childhood....plenty of kids never even survived theirs.
ReplyDeleteBesides adversity is what makes us stronger. I left home at fifteen, I lived on the street, I went hungry and was often cold wet and miserable. But I figured it out.
I worked my way offshore from a deckhand to Barge Captain, and once took charge of the space shuttle fuel tank in transit. Took my knowledge on land and became a Haz mat and marine safety officer for my fire department, and started my own taxi business where I ran a 35 car operation slap out of town with five cabs, a sedan and an airport shuttle.
I moved a thousand miles inland, living for the first time in my life away from the shore and finally met the girl of my dreams. The pirate and the preacher's daughter were hitched on the Crown Princess ten years ago last New Years Eve, and together we have settled here in G-Town a stone throws away from where Elijah Craig invented Bourbon in our 1870's stone and brick home that I am spending my early semi-retirement restoring.
I believe we are the sum total of our experience, and how we navigate life's challenges. So I would not change what happened in the past.
I told my wife that if every rock I hit and every fall I took is what eventually led me to her, then I'd gladly walk each step again, singing at the top of my lungs along the way!
I was just remembering, not whining....but good talking with you.
Great responses. Pertaining to the sneeze and the picture that started this ball rolling, our neighbor, now deceased, would always say "Gesundheit" when he heard me sneeze. You birng back memories and still when I sneeze I attract low-flying geese.
ReplyDelete