Guentzel.Org

Dad came over last night to borrow a computer.  The kids were asleep, so I just happened to walk out the front door as he was driving up.  What followed was more or less a typical conversation with my dad.  Here’s a brief snippet:

• Me:  Here’s the computer.  it has everything you need.  If you have any questions, let me know.
• Dad:  OK.  Thanks for doing this for us.
• Me:  No problem.
• Dad:  Say, when you built mom’s computer, did you put any software that will take songs off a CD and change them to MP3s?
• Me:  No, but you can get that software free online.  Here’s how you do it…
• [This went on for awhile]
• Dad:  OK.  Thanks for info.
• Me:  Dad?
• Dad: Yes?
• Me:  The Miata is running like garbage.  How do you change the spark plugs again?
• Dad:  You get a torque wrench to remove them and replace the wires one at a time.  You need to do that because if you mix them up, you’ll go crazy trying to put them back in the right order [quick note:  I'm sure he said this because of my less than sterling track record with cars]
• [Dad explains to me in basic terms how to do a simple maintenance task on a car]

So…the moral of this story?  When I was a teenager, I could never do simple things with cars or anything else.  Dad would always try to teach me, but it just never took with me.  The truly fantastic thing about my dad is he can fix anything…but computers.  Water heaters, cars, washers, electricity in the house, air conditioners…everything.  He’s a rock star.

Now that I know how to do a few things around a computer, we can do information swaps like last night where I don’t feel like a complete dope.

I would like to think dad is somewhat proud…but I’ll settle for not ashamed.