I have to vent!

[OLDBULL8]

Our Father who art in Delta, Blessed be thy name.
Loan me 15 bucs, for gelling is the game.
I know it all, but I won't ball.
Shoulda fixed it in the Fall.
To this ole beater.
I'll install a heater
The dents will get fixed.
They won't get nixed.
The snow is deep.
Promise's I will keep.
Amen.

 

[FordGuy100]

Eventually he will learn Mel. Sooner or later he will realise the value of his parents wisdom. I guess he is at that age though.

And like others have said, be glad thats the only thing that he has done. I know some kids who put their parents through living hell...this doesnt even remotely stack up (although it is an annouance, I do understand that ).

 

[icanfixall]

Mel.... With grades like that are you really that upset at this tiny little issue. Seems to me that you are upset that he didn't "listen" to you words of empending doom... Both you and your wife should be very proud your sons are turning out great young men.... Thats worth plenty in this day and age. I understand the danger he puts you and himself in when these kinda things happen... My wifey wont take care of her health so she gets sick all the time... I'm the person that holds back her hair when she is barfing... I get the fresh towels and help here get cleaned up afterwards.... this has been going on for 40 years... It will never change.... I really don't like the smell or the sound of her throwing up but I am their for her because I love her.... Three nites ago she woke me up telling me she was sick and about to barf... Oh... BTW the toilet it stopped up and I'm about to barf... So at 4am I'm running a water hose to the bathroom and fishing out what I will just call stuff from the bowl and clearing the blockage... You love you sons... helping them when they need it is not a bad thing.... Helping them understand what can happen if you don't do what should be done... I feel you have done a great job raising "the boys"... Pat yourself on the back for that.... Many parents are at best only part time parents and want others to do it for them.... If you started taking apart his truck and magically needed to leave who would finally have to finish the job.... Its a great feeling to be needed and especially wanted as a parent. Give him a hand making the changes but remember this... If it doesn't work how will you feel then... Truely someone could use some fuel treatment too no matter how this turns out. You guys in the cold areas really have no idea whats getting upmped out of the underground tanks do you.....

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I always thought you should have them kids more.

 

[freebird01]

mel,

once he gets a job in the engineering world if its with a large company he will learn corporate style politics quickly and what CYA really means!!!

 

[snicklas]

Mel,

I understand where you are coming from with the kids. My 15yo is, I believe, a smart kid, but he will not show it. He does not do his school work, will not listen to Mary, Myself, or even Travis when he is given advice. He wants the world, but wants it on a silver platter. I am glad to see that Matthias is doing well in school, and that is not a battle that you have. But I understand the "Dad doesn't know what he is talking about" attitude. It seems to start somewhere around 11, they go "brain dead" (his younger brother is there now) and it seems to go on until they are in their 20's.

I am on your side about having issues because of not taking care of something simple, where it be add the heater, or a bit of treatment. I am just glad to see that no one was hurt, and everyone and everything made it home safe. Maybe this will help to show him that you do know what you are talking about.......

Being a parent is a tough job, and I am glad to see all the parents out there that do step up to the challenge and do the best they can. Some days it is hard, but it is all worth it in the end. We have 5 children, 15 - boy, 11 - boy, 10 - girl, 8 - girl and 3 - boy. Some days the 3yo is the easiest one to deal with.........

 

[Agnem]

I guess that's the problem that befodles me so. In all ways, they are better than me except for one. I flunked my way through school, never went to college, lost my father when I was 12, and don't know my multiplication tables. Both my boys have math and science skills way beyond mine. Both have social skills way beyond mine. Both have more friends than I had, are more popular than I was, care about the world in ways I never cared about, and genetically speaking, are as much a copy of me as I could have ever hoped for. Now Graham, he takes after his mom. So I don't expect him to be a mechanical ****, but Matthias is so much like me I just don't understand... how somebody that is a copy of me, and is superior in every way, can come up short on the dumb end of the scale. What I consider obvious, he doesn't even consider.

 

[freebird01]

but Matthias is so much like me I just don't understand... how somebody that is a copy of me, and is superior in every way, can come up short on the dumb end of the scale. What I consider obvious, he doesn't even consider.

youth and inexperience

if you knew then what you know now would you have walked the same path? nope

 

[dennis]

I did a google search on what temp does #2ulsd gel at. and it was interesting it appears the #1 diesel is in low supply for the winter blend and the #2 gel's above 0 degrees. Maybe an additive would be a thing to try. I have froze up my dozer twice in the past ten years and almost cry when my ip runs dry it is so ******* them. I have been adding power service to my fuel for the past 4 years since seeing it work out in bethel in their winter.
When you first posted my thoughts went to the old diesel #2 gels at -10 or so. when I looked up the new stuff I was suprised on how much higher the gel point was.
good luck

 

[BigRigTech]

How much have you charged him for the 2 tow jobs and how far up his **** have you inserted your work boot?....He needs a wake up call as to the reality of life - Dad WON'T be there forever to bail him out when he does something he could have corrected/prevented in the first place. My boy would still be sitting cold in his truck - not on the side of the road but in my driveway with a searing pain in his ****....He's only 2 and he's already testing me....He is going to figure out eventually who is the king of the castle and who is the dirty rascal.

 

[nyteshades]

Mel,

I understand where you are coming from with the kids. My 15yo is, I believe, a smart kid, but he will not show it. He does not do his school work, will not listen to Mary, Myself, or even Travis when he is given advice. He wants the world, but wants it on a silver platter. I am glad to see that Matthias is doing well in school, and that is not a battle that you have. But I understand the "Dad doesn't know what he is talking about" attitude. It seems to start somewhere around 11, they go "brain dead" (his younger brother is there now) and it seems to go on until they are in their 20's.
....

I'm guilty of just that. Got into my late teens and my Dad didn't know jack. I knew more than him.....I thought I could do more than him...all those things Dad tried to tell me and help me understand about life...I just blew off thinking the old man hasn't got a clue....

I got married, had 2 kids, got divorced and suddenly my father is a genius that makes Einstein look like a 5th grader. I didn't start getting it together until I was 26 or so.

Now I talk to the old man at least once a week. When I go home to Denver, him and I spend a lot of time together. It's an age and maturity thing. I can honestly say the old man is my best friend. But he let me learn a few of the lessons the hard way and from that I learned some damn valuable lessons (like don't ignore the small ****, its what will bite you in the ass)...and I give him grief all the time about my abused childhood. Making me help with the cars, the repairs around the house, teaching me to keep my word, keep my mouth shut and listen to the old timers...and above all, all those old school values that were handed down to him from his Uncle (he didn't know his dad either).

I have spent the last week having my kid tell me things like cat litter in front of your tires on a snow packed/icy road won't give you traction or that putting the "tool extension" on a ratchet won't help....I tell these things to my dad and he just laughs...and tells me, "Now you know what I went thru with you..."

I hope one day to be able to have the conversation from the other side. It's just a growing up thing.

 

[redneckaggie]

my dad would have left me there. coming from someone that is about his age I can tell you that those ages are rough because you are learning a lot of things that are very hard to digest and many people think that you are just "young and dumb". This ****** most youth off and that, in part, leads to rebellion. seems like he hasnt rebelled to hard. In all reality you are just young and ignorant and need to be taught. If he wont learn the easy way let him learn the hard way.

As my grandpa always said when i did stupid stuff- "you have to be young and wild before you become old and wise"

Another thing I have to say is does he really want want he is doing? I was a very good child until high school but I had so much pressure to do everything everyone else wanted me to that I got lost on what I wanted to do. that was the turning point in my life. I felt like I was wasting time because wasnt doing things that led me down MY road. that led to my rebellion and many fights between my parents and I.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

id image most idi's don't have a working fuel heater on the road today.
im thinking about trying one of these:
http://www.padheaters.com/cold_fuel.html
because i recently experienced the same problem.
i don't feel any heat from the top of the fuel filter assembly,so i guess its toast.not even sure if you can find a replacement heater for these things? if so,its likely not worth the $ ford would want for one anyway.

 

[DOE-SST]

Book smart, street smart.

I think perhaps his engineering school is having a larger influence on him, instead of a parent that is miles away.

For years, I have dealt with engineers on aircraft projects, and learned a few things dealing with those guys...

They truly believe they are smarter than everyone else. They believe this as strongly as they believe the sun will rise each morning. Your 50 years of worldly experience have very little value, compared to their 4 years of engineering school.

They will never admit to making a mistake, even when it is as obvious as that morning sunrise. They will get silent, retreat back to their desks, and avoid the problem. When pressed about it, they will "look into it" and try to conjure up some far-fetched scenario that lays blame on someone/something else.

I had to stop a 2 million dollar modification job, and wait 15 days while the engineers tried to save face. I sent their drawings back, with the errors circled in red, photos to prove they were wrong, and my proposed solutions. Eventually, I got a one paragraph letter, saying they had "no technical objections" to my solutions. This was from a company that did nothing but engineer aircraft modifications, had 50+ engineers on staff, and bragged in their lavish advertisements about their engineering experience.

 

[crazytwo]

I know what you're going through. My daughter is 24 and I had the same problem. I be the first to say that no one is more proud of her than me. She was on the Dean's list also. The good one, not the one I was on. Her know it all attitude was really ******* me off. I let it slide until one night she called me "Dude". Boy did I open up a can of verbal woopass. I explained what she could do with all that knowledge. She was free to pack her crap up and go conquer the world with all that knowledge.

Your boy sounds like a good kid. No one is perfect...especially me. If that is an example of something bad that he has done, you can thank God that he turned out OK. I can tell you stories about other people's kids that would make your hair turn white and fall out. Drugs, stealing, illiterate, jail, prison and worse.

My daughter joined the Peace Corps and will be in Africa for 2 more years. I know it's a noble cause and I am proud of her but I still struggle with the fact that someone that has her talent helping someone pick rocks out of rice because there is nothing for her to do.