Tru-isms from Dad: The Char-Broil Quantum Infrared Grill Giveaway

not necessarily cliche but it helped me out during a hard time

“Son, right now you are just having a weak momment. You need to put your nose to the grind stone and keep going”

You’ve got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em…

Good advice for any occasion.

My dad told me when I started driving to be polite to any police officer who pulled me over. He said, “We can sort it out later, but on the side of the road an officer with a gun and badge is in control and his name is always, Sir.”.

Paid off more times than I care to admit.

“The Cheapest you can buy is the Best.” The Best you can buy will last longer than the cheap price stuff and cost less in the long run.

The only way to eat steak is medium-rare. Words to live by.

Didn’t have a dad. Can I still be entered?

Take good care of your body and the things you own and they will reward you later.

Squeeze the trigger, don’t pull it.

One thing my dad always told me is “Son, you may never hear a word about something you’ve done right, but when you do something wrong sooner or later its going to come back and bite you in the ass”.

Remembering that has always led me to try to do what is right in any given situation.

don’t start a fight, but if you have to fight…hit them in the nose…..it works.

40 years ago, when expanding their house, he went to town to buy a circular saw (20 minutes one way). He bought a cheap saw, and less than a week later, it quit working. Another trip to town, a little bit more expensive saw. That one lasted about a week. After putting a penny in the fuse box, locking on the power switch on the saw, and tossing it in the driveway until the saw caught fire (as he watched with pleasure), he made his third trip to town. This time, he bought the best saw he could afford. He still uses that saw today.
“Buy quality tools, take care of them, and they’ll last a lifetime.”

Told to me on my wedding day by an old bagpiper. “When your wife asks what’s wrong, don’t tell her nothin’. YOU tell the Priest nothin’.” Some of the best Fatherly advice I’ve ever received. By the way, just celebrated our 10 year anniversary.

It doesn’t matter, son, you have to play your ball where it lies.

When I bought my first motorcycle my dad told me an old saying; “There are old ones and bold ones, but there are no old bold ones.” Thirty years later I have managed to stay in one piece.

My dad was full of good sayings and advice. I wish I could follow them more consistently.

The one I always think of is, “plan your work and work your plan.” Often followed by “boy,” no matter how old I was.

Also “It ain’t enough to know it’s rainin’, son – you got to know how to stop getting wet!”

When helping me understand and obtain the mentality I needed when playing football my dad gave me this advice:
“It’s great to be a nice guy, but sometimes we all need to leave that guy in the locker room and find our inner warrior”

“Sometimes you just have to say: what the funk”
(you know what he said instead of funk)
And a tru-ism from Barry Goldwater to his song: If you don’t get any by midnight it is time to go to bed

When walking towards him to ask him a questions he tells me

“What’s your problem, apart from your face?”

Never gets old.

My Dad was a mechanic, worked hard his whole life making a living with his hands. He’d always say, long before Nike came along, “You just gotta do it.” I miss him.

If we got the lead out of your ass, the silver out of my hair and the gold out of your grandfather’s teeth, you could retire early.

“Work for yourself and you’ll never be unemployed.”

Don’t pass up an opportunity to tell those whom you love, “I love you.”

“Use your head for something besides a hat-rack.”

Another favorite, “If you let anything in the world get in the way of a goal, for God’s sake don’t let it be fear.”

He would tell me that money is fleeting but friends are forever.

There’s always the unexpected.

When I did not get the job that I really wanted, Dad said, “son, go out for ice cream and celebrate! God is always in control and His will is always best!”

- Jon

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy

my dad once said “son, red heads are crazy, date them, have fun with them, but by god don’t every marry one.”

When I was a teenager I habitually blew off or forgot appointments. My dad sat me down and reproved me with these simple words. “Be where you’re supposed to be, when you’re supposed to be there.” It worked. The simplicity of it somehow sparked me into a commitment filling fiend.

I grew up with three younger sisters. Needless to say, I felt deprived sometimes at home of the ability to rough-house with a little or older brother. I had to learn how to treat females with respect like they deserved, and no one could have taught me better than my father. After getting in trouble for ‘accidently’ knocking one of my sisters out with my Tonka Truck, my dad gave me a good whippin’ and left me with the words, “Son, you need to learn how to be strong enough to be gentle!”
My father’s words have stuck with me ever since, and I am proud to say, although young, I have learned to be a man that treats his wife with unconditional love and respect. She often lets me know how grateful she is for my character with her. I also have three younger sisters that look up to me now for being the kind of man they intend to marry some day.

Always do your best!

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

If you’re going to be a big man at night, you’ve also got to be a big man in the morning!

On his deathbed, my father held my hand and told me, “Take care of your mother and don’t be afraid.” I was only four, but I have never forgotten those words.

My dad was a carpenter, and I grew up working with him, so it was:

“Measure twice, cut once.” and a bonus: “Don’t cut off your fingers.”

I sure miss him. Every time I smell sawdust, a wave of memories hit me.

If you run, it will hurt more when I catch you!

A very sarcastic but humorous tru-ism my father has dispensed down to my brothers and I goes like this:

“you ain’t cheatin, you ain’t tryin.”

My father is a man of integrity and would never cheat on anything, what this actually means (he says) is that you can never try too hard, you can always give a little more.

My favorite Dadism to this day is “This will hurt me more than it’ll hurt you.” I never believed it, until I had my son.

When it comes to anything in life don’t cheat. When you cheat you are cheating yourself. You cheat yourself of the self satisfaction of knowing you accomplished what you were doing within the rules. You cheat yourself of the self satisfaction of knowing you are equal to all those who came before you and those who will come after you.

Dad was a man of few words…..but always ended every conversation or every visit with “I Love You; you’re my little girl.” No matter how old I was getting…He always told me that he loved me…I was his little girl. He left us almost 3 years ago at the age of 82. Dad taught me to drive; to swing a bat; to fish. But most of all he made sure I knew that I was loved. Those few words meant the world to me and stayed with me my whole life…and I pass them on my own family….frequently.

If I have taught you anything about relationships, it is to not make the same mistakes I have made.

“Never put money down if you’ve never seen the other person play.”

Nothing in life is free

Whenever I asked my father why I should try so hard at “X, Y or Z”, 9 times out of 10 it was “The satisfaction in a job well done.” Cliche I know, but its pushed me forwards more times than I can count.

My father was a man’s man. He grew up during the great depression, joined the Marines, fought in the Korean War, became a plumber, ran his own business and raised a family. He could build or fix anything. He loved his family intensely, especially his wife of 57 years who he always put first in his heart. He taught me how to live life properly, treat women with respect, be frugal with money, fire a rifle, fish, drive, be a good husband, work hard and trust God. He would help anyone in need however he could. The last word’s he said to me on his death bed a few hours before he died were ‘You are a fantastic person, do not ever forget that!’. He has been gone for three months now, and my life will never be the same. I Love and Miss you Dad!

If you are going to go… go! Don’t just go half way!

My Dad used to remind me, “The difference between hope and despair is a good nights rest.” It’s true, when you wake up after a good nights rest, your perspective will be more positive. In fact, you may have found the answer you’re looking for.

On getting promotions or something ‘unfair’ happening at work: “Keep your head down and do your work. Everything else will take care of itself.”

On everything else: “Use your head… it’s the little things that count!”

But the biggest thing was how my dad taught me to “put my name” on everything I did. He was a long time contractor before he got his job in the white collar workplace and worked himself up to an executive VP of a fortune 100 conglomerate. We would walk into a room we hadn’t been before and said “this electrician was a craftsman.” I looked at him puzzled, then he showed me that the screw on each plate… on the switches and the electric outlets were all parallel with the floor. He said you never overtighten those screws, and a craftsman will make sure they are all completely uniform. 99% of the world won’t know, but those that do show real appreciation…
As a developer, 99% of the people will never see my code, but those that do will see my ‘name’ on everything I code. I won’t tell you how… because that is part of it. I do it for me, knowing almost everyone won’t notice. But that extra effort gives you pride in your work.

I’m a songwriter and my band and I had this mini -fridge in our practice room that my family often borrowed on camping trips to the lake…. Well one of my pals stocked it slap full of Miller High Life cans. My family was going camping that weekend and my dad took the little fridge up to the lake and plugged it in next to the camper without ever looking inside of it. (He just isn’t a big fan of drinking).

Well I drove to the lake that night to be with my family and, sitting around the campfire, my Dad asked me to go get him a Coke out of the Fridge. I said “Sure Dad.”
When I opened the fridge door and saw all the Miller High Life my Dad had walked up behind me and said over my shoulder, “Son, I’m trying to keep this a dry county.”

On marriage. “Always bring home flowers when you can; you might be able to make up for the times when you forgot them”