1. Read the directions FIRST and count all the parts.
2. Sand with the grain.
3. Appreciate the tools you have and don't abuse them. (A wrench is not a hammer, a screw driver is not a chisel.)
4 .Never cut wire  / wood / pipe  "exactly."    Always " over allow "  on  them.  You can't glue back
    the wood you  " under cut "....measure it twice ..cut it once.
5.  Don't  " pop the clutch" when stopped uphill at a stop sign/ red light.
6.   He taught me how to read a road map,  use a compass,  plot and  lay a course line,  and most importantly, how to re-fold that road map so it firt  neatly in the glove box.
7.  Look beore you sit down...(Mom had just taken a fresh baked Pumpkin Pie from the oven and put it on the small bench in the kitchen, and Pop  came in, sat down to unlace his boots, and after a moment, got up VERY quickly).  This was a VISUAL  lesson.
8. You can't put the spray nozzle back on a can of whipped cream once you break it off......well, you can try, but the results are messy.
9.  Appreciate a good joke.
10.  How to tie a Windsor knot  and a Four in Hand knot  so the ends come out even.
W. Brooks Riley
Parkville, Md.

Some axiom's of my Dad, Robert Fontaine:

" Don't ever think you're better than some else, just try to be a
better person."

"It's the responsibility of every generation to make the world of work
and society better for the next generation."

"The only people who get in trouble are those who try to do something."
 (offered when I got in a political jam at work)

"Don't worry about the politics (at work), just serve your members and
the politics will take care of themselves." ( My Dad and I were each
union officials at one point in our lives.)

"When in doubt, ask yourself , "What would Dad want me to do?" (This
was very helpful when I became a 19-year-old married father.)

"You may disagree with your wife, but always treat her with respect."

"Kids remember everything - so watch yourself."

I finally got into the enjoyable habit of reading when my father
insisted I read at least one editorial a day. At first I didn't know
what most editorials were saying, but I'd discuss it with my Dad and I
would learn about issues and values. This started when I was about
twelve, which eventually led to daily newspaper habit and thousands of
books.

David Fontaine

Things my father taught me:
1. To pick the strawberries that are ripe for picking and how to walk
down the row without smashing any other berries that are still ripening
2.  To dig for clams in the mud with my toes
3.  To entertain myself with a little string and a bag of chicken wings
at Public Landing
4.  To change a flat tire (although I definitely did not want to learn
this at 16).  He insisted that if I was going to drive a car, I needed
to know how to change a flat tire.
5.  Never to bring the car back with the fuel gauge on “Empty.”
6.  Never put the cookies back in the pantry with only one left in the
box.
7.  To help those who do not have as much as you do.  When I told him
years ago about a homeless guy in Gino’s on York Road trying to bum
something to eat from us poor college kids, he was stunned that we had
not shared our food with him.  I never made that mistake again.   Many
homeless fellows have shared my leftovers in Little Italy and Fells
Point since.
8.  “Every jackass thinks his load is the heaviest” was his response
when I complained about having to do more work than my younger sisters
and brother.  You can bet I think twice before I complain about
anything.  I hear his voice in my head saying, “Every jackass…”
9.  To kiss my spouse good-bye every time I leave the house.  As kids,
we always saw him kiss our mother when he left the house because he
said, “You never know what today will bring.”   I think now that while
Mother might not have found the words comforting, the kiss surely was.

Faith Hermann