Rulers of Life

[Irish]

Re: Rulers of Life

My Mom's favorite, and the only sentence she could say in Spanish, translated to "In a closed mouth no flies enter ...!"

Grin, Susan

[One Thumb Carver]

Re: Rulers of Life

Susan
I would agree with that “Rulers of Life" The second Starting a Plumbing repair when you finish the sales clerk and you will be on first name bases and you will invite him for Sunday Dinner------Because of the number of trips . If I'm lucky I will have it finish the same day I started........Bill

[BrandantR]

Re: Rulers of Life

My Grandpa used to say when I got hurt:

"It'll feel better when it quits hurtin'"

He's been right every time.

[squbrigg]

Re: Rulers of Life

My dad always use to tell me: "Good enough, isn't!".

My mom use to tell me: " A quiet man is sometimes called a fool, a talkative man simply confirms it."

Dad's advice always held me in good sted in becoming a carver.

Bob

[LMiller]

Re: Rulers of Life

There are so many...

It's much cheaper to maintain that obtain! (Meaning that it is cheaper to keep up maintenance on my car than it is to replace it.)

Everyone brings you joy. Some on their way in and the rest on their way out.

Poor men have poor ways.

I can always make it worse. {This was typically announced whenever I was prompted to state that things weren't fair! (I have used the close cousin to this one: There isn't anything so bad that it can't be made worse.)}

Everyone sets an example for you but you get to choose if the example is a good one or a bad one.

If you throw it away, you will end up buying its replacement sooner than you think. (My wife hates this one! There were something like three semi trailors full of buckets and coffee tins full or rusted, restraightened nails, second hand bolts, nuts, washers, etc. in his collection when he died. Something his heirs rolled their eyes at but something he would be proud to tell you!)

Each bucket, tin, can, bottle, or container is sent to you so you can fill it up. (See above. Another one that my wife hates!)

Doing more than the next guy makes you impossible to replace.

Doing for those that really need it is one of the few true ways to earn a place in heaven.

Always keep a good pair of Levi's set aside for when you need them.

You can't have enough buckets, hammers, or pocket knives.

Everybody has a little devil in them right along side of the angel you see. The converse of this has also proved to be true to me. (Everybody has a little angel in them right along side of the devil you see.)

Beware of the fanatics -- no matter what their passion! (He applied this more to former smokers and reborn Christians than anyone else, but it is true 'no matter what their passion'.)

Choose your friends slow but keep them fast.

Try to never be in anyone's debt but always acknowledge the aid of others with sincere gratitude.

(Sheesh! I sound like he was some kind of preacher!!! He would laugh at that thought.)

I haven't thought of some of these in ages. Thanks for the question to remind me.

LMiller

[Irish]

Re: Rulers of Life

Big Grin, LMiller! Your Rule for Life "If you throw it away" reminds me of one rule and one "life confusion".

Mike, my husband, and I lived for 30 years in a small, 800 sq.ft., mobile home with no long term storage space and that brought about the rule "If you haven't need it in the last six months you don't need it at all!"

And the 'life confusion' was one of Mike's and my long running battles about the tools in the work shop. We, throughout our marriage, have shared everything equally ... except his wood working tools. That caused many a rip roaring discussion between us until one day I finally realized that he 'collected tools to be looked at and admired' while I 'owned tools to used and abused to create things.'

Once I came to that realization I understood why he got upset if I took his grandfather's ballpean hammer to set some nail into some piece of wood. That hammer really, in his mind, was nolonger a hammer ... it was an antique from his grandfather's tool set. Two totally different things there.

You should see his prized collection of machine bolts ... hundreds of every thread size, length, and even a few brass ... all to be admired but not used

Thank you, LMiller!

Susan

[txchoo]

Re: Rulers of Life

Eddy-smiles' dad must have known my dad. My Dad would never pay anyone to do anything he even remotely thought was possible to do himself. That is the legacy he has passed on to me " Never pay anyone to do something you can do yourself". It's the Scottish in us!
I carved a wood-spirit hiking stick because I knew I could and reopened a world I had left behind 40 years ago.
I repair my cars, because I can and therefore any money spent otherwise is foolishly spent in my own mind.
I sew my own renaissance costume accessories.
Because I can, I repair everything around my house.
My wife thinks there is nothing I can't fix. I sometimes mess up, but I try anyway(note the dead neptune washer in the garage whose board I fried while testing)
My kids drive me nuts with things that are impossible to fix because they think I can, and sometimes I do it even though it does seem impossible.
Someday I will give in and hire someone to do something!

[Eddy-Smiles]

Re: Rulers of Life

Txchoo.... That's it! The Scottish! My great-grandparents were Irish but their great-grand parents were Scottish so there must have been a gene or two that slipped through! My kids are the same way and even now that I have some limitations I still get called upon to come over or come up and supervise! Although, they are taking it pretty hard that Pop can't do as much as he used to!

[TexasSteve]

Re: Rulers of Life

Whenever myself or one of my two brothers used to tell my Dad we wanted something, whether it be a be a toy, or something built, he always used to tell us "Spit in one hand and want in the other and tell me which fills up first." Meaning if you want it will never happen on it's own, go and make it happen. Pick up that tool, go mow a yard for money to buy a toy. Just make it happen.

[sashadoc]

Re: Rulers of Life

Short relationship with parents, but I remember these three:

Father: "If you want people to listen...whisper."
Mother: "Do you know the difference between your business and my business?"
Grandfather: "If life gets to be too much...go fishing."

Tim

[mdallensr]

Re: Rulers of Life

My mother's advice was to get up in the morning and get ready to face the world. Get up, shower, shave/make-up (as the case may be) and put on real clothes. No one ever did anything serious padding around the house in pajamas and bedroom slippers. Get up even when you don't feel well; move around a little and you'll feel better. As most moms know, staying in bed when there are kids to get off to school and house work to be done wasn't an option, but the advice applies to everyone.

My advice is to never start a DIY plumbing project on a Sunday. Not only will you need to make multiple runs to the store, the last run won't make it. You will find the water line you're working on has no shut-off valve, so you had to shut off the water to the whole house and now can't replace the faucet that was just leaking before you took a huge wrench and mangled it. Hey, not a problem, you just can't flush a toilet, wash dishes, take showers, or do laundry. And you work all day tomorrow so the final fix won't get done until tomorrow night. Mike

[txchoo]

Re: Rulers of Life

@Mike, what really sucks is not being able to take a shower the next morning and not having water for the pot of coffee one drinks half of before leaving. Been there, done that.
However, Murphy's law dictates that the problem will develop on a Sunday or a national holiday.

[ka0fan]

Re: Rulers of Life

Eddy and Txchoo I think out fathers were all from the same mold. When I was young we fixed it ourselves or done with out just could not afford to pay some one else. Still doing it today and the daughters call to get fixit help long distance.
And Dad was full of "Life's Rules"
Another one I heard a lot was: Don't let that champagne appetite overload your beer budget.

[Flint]

Re: Rulers of Life

"Don't get in a p**sing contest with a skunk." My dad would say this when he heard
an argument start.

[txchoo]

Re: Rulers of Life

My wife always says she got this one from her Dad, "never start a battle of wits with an unarmed man". Whenever I failed my dad always said, " You ain't the 1st to lose and you won't be the last, just don't quit the game before it's over".