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| Rushmore, a sweater and my dad's condoms | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 27 2012, 04:17 PM (539 Views) | |
| Pasta | Feb 27 2012, 04:17 PM Post #1 |
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Chief Engineer
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For some reason someone wanted to watch National Treasure 2 this evening and part of the movie had scenes of Mount Rushmore itself. One of the great memories I will have in my life is taking my dad on a trip with me from Vancouver south to Seattle, and then across the US up through Detroit and Windsor on our way to my manufacturing plant in Toronto. This is going back a lot of years. My dad was retired and had already had a few minor heart attacks. Not much to do in his life and it gave us a chance to spend about ten days together. Quality time. On the way to Toronto we stopped at Little Big Horn - pretty much nothing actually and factually incorrect respecting where people died. All those little white crosses are far too close to the souvenir kiosk and far too distant from the place of actual death. We also stopped at Mount Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore is incredibly brilliant and impressive. How it didn't make the modern 7 wonders of the world I will never know - maybe it has to do with UN voting and such. It is huge. It is so impressive and the story behind it speaks of someone who was both brilliant and at the same time insane. Most likely something that will last as long as mankind. Now to make this story personal - and all memories should be personal and what is a story without a reason for the tell - my dad was a farm boy and always frustrating. He was stubborn. The whole family picked on him and with cause. He used to take his socks off every night and drape them over a rocking chair, only to put them on the next day. Now my dad had smelly feet and ingrown toenails. He would wear the same socks for up to a week. We could never convince him to actually wear new socks every day. You get the drift. He wouldn't flush the toilet just for pee because on the farm, with a well and septic tank, that would be a waste of water. Boy this is going back to the early 1990's. Maybe 91. I had a Chevy Cavalier. Liked that car. Got more than 52 miles per gallon doing between 120kph and 140kph. But it was a small car and it was winter. This meant that the windows were rolled up except during smoking times. I noticed a smell. A body odor smell. An old man smell. I really wanted my dad to have a good time with me. Learning my business. Seeing my manufacturing plant. Visiting my friends and seeing my products in all the stores even in Ontario. We had dinners at the hotel overlooking the tennis courts. We played bridge with my partners and their parents. I really didn't want to criticize him like in the old days. As we were about to leave Toronto for the trip back I told my dad he needed to shower. He said he had a bath the day before, but I insisted he shower again. He asked why, and I said because we had a really small car and I couldn't take the smell anymore. So dad showered again and we hopped in the car and off we went. Again I didn't want to say too much but the smell was horrible. After about two hours on the road I had an epiphany. I asked my dad "When was the last time you washed your sweater?" He replied "I don't know - maybe a couple of months ago." He wore this sweater every day. It was the culprit. I stopped on the freeway, made my dad get out of the car in freezing weather, and put his sweater in the trunk. Problem solved. I think the final part of this "trip with dad" story has to do with my dad's condoms. My manufacturing plant was virtually on the shores of Lake Ontario and in the middle of farm/wine country. Our hotel had one restaurant. Maybe they had a local tavern somewhere but it was boondocks. One day I noticed my dad fumbling with his wallet in the hotel room and I noticed he had a few condoms in his wallet. Well you know me. "Hey Dad - what are the condoms for?" He replied "Well you never know." I asked him what he thought I did when travelling on business. Of course my notion of travel then was long before I travelled to Asia. A different story of course. In any case I thought it was humorous at the time. My dad was then late 60s. But his then wife - a younger Chilean number - found the condoms as she searched through his wallet and other belongings - apparently a passtime of hers. Well then there was hell to pay and of course it was all my fault. So what really should have just been a simple humorous story turned out to be a significant wedge between my dad's wife and me. She never invited me to their house after that. Lessons: 1. National Treasure 1 and 2 were good movies. 2. Mt. Rushmore is incredible and should be seen by all. 3. Never let your widowered dad marry a Chilean. |
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| H16 BRM | Feb 27 2012, 05:40 PM Post #2 |
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Refueller
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I can agree with you about Mount Rushmore. I was at Ellesworth AFB near Rapid City in the 80s (long story, just don't ask what a Brit was doing there!) and I can well remember my first visit. Truly awesome. Mrs H16 and I went back about 6 years ago and I was dismayed to see how built up the whole complex has become. Car parks, security booths and lots of tarmac. I much preferred it back in the eighties. |
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| Pasta | Feb 27 2012, 06:03 PM Post #3 |
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Chief Engineer
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I can see some security given how many nutters want to hurt the United States. I do agree that the tourist trap stuff is poorly done. How many cheap artifacts/dolls whatever in the vein of Disney can one possibly buy? I would personally like to see the opportunity to spend two days there living as the workers did. Something to do during the day in a works type of thing, and then afternoon/evening entertainment like they had during construction. Wild west stuff. Poker, steak and mashed potatoes, small stage dancers. A recreation and the tourists get to participate. That would be a helluva lot better than buying postcards. |
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8:44 AM Jul 11