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Current Mood: flannel

My grandpa was an old school guy.  He was tough, patient, quiet, and hardworking - cut from the "Dirty Jobs" mold, if you will.  He served in the Army, worked nights in a paint factory and as a locksmith on the side.  He had a rusting green Ford Bronco, a wood burning stove, a cuckoo clock, a police scanner, and a well worn coffee mug.  When I was a kid, he used to show me old drawings and articles about B-17s and talk about engines (anything from WWII radials to the lawnmower in the garage). 

I wish I could tell you I soaked it all up, but as a kid I was more interested in Star Wars, Nickelodeon, and my Game Boy than sitting down to watch boring old black and white war movies.

Yesterday I was thinking about how much has changed since he passed away years ago.  I switched my major, and now I see and work on aircraft and engines nearly every day.  I'm going to graduate from Purdue and get my mechanic's license from the FAA next month.  Now I go out of my way to find movies like The Flight of the Phoenix and Twelve O'Clock High on Netflix.  Even beyond technical things, I go to state parks and on camping trips and think about the leaf-identifying project he helped me with in 5th grade.

I miss him.  I wish he could see some of the stuff I get to work on - I think we'd have a lot more to talk about.