Who's your daddy and is he really a Duck mechanic?

[Moonbear]

A little bit of physical isn't bad for you.

I agree, and it's a nice change from being chained to a lab bench or locked up in an office in front of a computer, but on the days I get in just wiped out, back aching, bruised, and stinking like sheep sh**, I do sometimes find it ironic I was supposed to go to college to avoid that (then I watch my other friends widening ever-so-rapidly at the waist and am glad there's some physical aspects to my job...I'd be miserable if I did nothing but sit at a desk all day).

 

[Kurdt]

I don't know why I put that wink there. Looking at it again it makes me sound seedy but that was not the intent.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know why I put that wink there. Looking at it again it makes me sound seedy but that was not the intent.

I didn't interpret it as seedy, so no worries. I thought it was more a commentary on people's over-sedentary lifestyles.

 

[larkspur]

My dad was a chemical engineer grad. from VMI before he enlisted in the Army and was taken prisoner by the Germans in WWII. His group of tanks(don't know the correct term for this) was captured in Africa the first day out so he spent two years as a POW. He came home and went to medical school at the U of Maryland. He was 20 years older than my mom and died from lung disease(a smoker) about 15 years ago.

 

[lisab]

I agree, and it's a nice change from being chained to a lab bench or locked up in an office in front of a computer, but on the days I get in just wiped out, back aching, bruised, and stinking like sheep sh**, I do sometimes find it ironic I was supposed to go to college to avoid that (then I watch my other friends widening ever-so-rapidly at the waist and am glad there's some physical aspects to my job...I'd be miserable if I did nothing but sit at a desk all day).

I'm with you, Moonbear! I love being a "blue collar scientist." I work in a lab where we frequently have to do physical activity, in addition to the more typical lab work.

 

[Astronuc]

My dad was a chemical engineer grad. from VMI before he enlisted in the Army and was taken prisoner by the Germans in WWII. His group of tanks(don't know the correct term for this) was captured in Africa the first day out so he spent two years as a POW. He came home and went to medical school at the U of Maryland. He was 20 years older than my mom and died from lung disease(a smoker) about 15 years ago.

I'm sorry to hear that larkspur. I'm sure being a POW was a profound experience. One of the women I've known from my days in university had a father who was POW after his plane was shotdown over Germany. He never talked to his family (wife, daughter or son) about his experiences, but they were apparently traumatic. He too was a smoker and died years ago of lung cancer.

Tank or armored unit would be an appropriate term for your father's unit.

 

[larkspur]

I'm sorry to hear that larkspur. I'm sure being a POW was a profound experience. One of the women I've known from my days in university had a father who was POW after his plane was shotdown over Germany. He never talked to his family (wife, daughter or son) about his experiences, but they were apparently traumatic. He too was a smoker and died years ago of lung cancer.

Tank or armored unit would be an appropriate term for your father's unit.

He said he never wanted to eat another boiled potato again and had nothing kind to say about his captors. I don't think his experience was anything like Hogan's Heroes.

 

[Astronuc]

He said he never wanted to eat another boiled potato again and had nothing kind to say about his captors. I don't think his experience was anything like Hogan's Heroes.

No, not when one's life is in the hands of others who are more or less enemies.

 

[Moonbear]

I love being a "blue collar scientist."

I love that term! I think I'm going to have to adopt it for my own use now.

 

[lisab]

I love that term! I think I'm going to have to adopt it for my own use now.

Oh, absolutely! It came to as I looked a myself in the mirror one day at work. I was wearing steel-toed boots, leather gloves, sawdust in my hair, and sweat on my face...I test building products...!

 

[OmCheeto]

No, not when one's life is in the hands of others who are more or less enemies.

My uncle was a pow in WWII. He never complained about the experience(that I know of).
He was interned somewhere in england at the ripe old age of 16. Had to mow lawns.

If only wars were always that civil.

 

[OmCheeto]

Ok. As I said at my daddy's eulogy; "If he hadn't been my father, he'd have been my twin brother" Fortunately, I learned from his mistakes.

errrr... mistake. He was a smart man.

very human, but smart.

but then again, so was mommy. grhs.

 

[Math Jeans]

My dad is a retinal surgeon. When he talks about his work, I don't understand a word of it.

 

[turbo]

Retinal surgeons have a complicated life. They may spend most of their days trying laser surgery to combat the multiple types of macular degeneration, and they may get called in for emergency surgery in the middle of the night to try to re-attach the retinas of an accident victim, who would otherwise be blinded for life.

 

[turbo]

My father is 82 years old. He grew up a product of the Depression, quit school early to join the Army and join WWII, worked to try to support a family of 6 on a single income (common back then!) and did his best to pass on the survival skills he'd acquired. He walks several miles every day, fighting arthritis pain and gout, and never fails to make me proud.

 

[Integral]

My father was a carpenter/ truck driver. He served in the South Pacific during WWII as a Duck mechanic, specializing in electrical systems. He began teaching me the ins and outs of electricity very early on. He died with a brain tumor in 1970 just shy of his 50th birthday. He loved hunting and fast cars.

 

[Danger]

a Duck mechanic

That sounds more like something along Moonbear's line.