Great Uncle Tink (dad's uncle) a hard old man,
WWII Marine Officer & then reenlisted Korea, Army Green Beret Col.
had a cool family farm/ranch out on Bethel Island Eastern delta Bay Area
right off the water, 3rd gen.
he would say;
"that rain is louder, than a cow pissen' on a flat rock"
or when it was windy;
"here comes a norther"
I assumed a cold wind from the north...
"what you doing, drowning some bait"
when we didn't catch as many fish off his boat or dock
as he thought we should
he was a fun old guy, full of life
always had great dogs, always retrievers/labs, we did a lot of bird hunting
smart dogs, always 2 & very well trained...
when us kids did something stupid, silly or wrong,
looking right at the guilty prospect/party, he'd say;
"that dog won't hunt"
(I use it a lot when I golfed or taught)
meaning you did it all wrong
the old;
"you can lead a horse to water, but are they smart enough to drink ?"
he owned a trucking co. & his family farm
after being in military most his years
he had 2 speeds when driving,
he was a no-nonsense guy, he was either hauling *** or stopped
seemed like never nothing in-between
people ahead of him, slowing him down;
"either **** or get off the pot"
or when he'd miss a gear or air acting up in the splitter
he'd say;
"grind me a pound while you're at it"
"honk, my ***"
my aunt dads sister has a photo of me as a toddler,
still in diapers
sitting in an oil drain pan
pouring engine oil all over myself, what a mess
I was laughing it looked like too (I don't remember doing it)
my uncle trying to pick me up out of it & not get oil everywhere
his shop was spotless always
I need to get a copy of it someday
I was destined to be a gearhead
(funny my birth father, knows almost nothing about cars, but my stepfather
did, he was a diehard Pontiac Stock Eliminator, S/S drag racer too 63-73-ish)
Tink & Ann they loved Mopars
he had an old 300 Chrysler 58 (?) Hemi,
I loved that old car as a kid he'd sit me on his lap & let me steer
my mom would get all nervous, but he always had control...
He'd let me drive his old Ford tractors & his Cat...
He purposely says it (MoPar) like "Mow Par",
like it was 2 words...
My 2 older uncles, 2 of his sons, both Jim & Pete, (both military too)
(my other uncle John) all 10-12-15 or so years older than me
were both Plymouth guys, Pete's the 340 Duster was
'the Flustered or Buster'
the Barracuda Jims 1968 383 4 speed Formula S was
"the Baca'ruda"
Uncle Tink called it "the gear jammer"
they were a huge influence on me becoming a MoPar fan
my Aunt Ann had a 360 Duster 3 speed, bright red white interior IIRC
it was "the red rocket"
John was a Power Wagon guy...