Top-10 Things I've Learned From My Dad

What's up guys? Well, today is Father's Day, and I wanted to give a huge shoutout to my Dad. Dad is one of the funniest, gentlest, and hardest working people I know. He is the one person I always look to for an example, and he has guided me my whole life. As such, I thought I'd share some of my favorite bits of wisdom from him that we could all learn from. As you can imagine, not all of it has completely stuck with me yet, but here we go in no particular order.

1. If you're going to be particular about how something gets done, do it yourself. This applies to everything from hiring a landscaper to dining out to asking your significant other to help with chores. Simply put, either do it yourself or don't micro-manage!
2. Know how to drive a stick-shift and operate some power tools. You're an adult. Odds are, there's going to come a time when you'll need to know how to drive your drunk friend's truck home, or drive in a screw to fix that cabinet.
3. Be a Gentleman. Or a lady, for that matter. Dress nicely, stand up when you meet someone, be on time, always say yes to a dance, even if its an ugly girl! (He literally said that verbatim before my first 6th grade dance at Kearney Catholic.)
4. Most of the time, its best to stick to beer. You won't get a beer gut if you ride your bike enough, and you never hear about someone dying of alcohol poisoning after too many Budweisers... you might still puke though...
5. A hangover is not an excuse. Pops will pound IPAs with me all night... until about 10:30 PM... at which point he pulls an Irish Goodbye and sneaks off to bed. Why? Because his mornings matter. 
6. Don't take yourself too seriously, no one else does.  Dad used to joke with us kids in such a solid deadpan that we didn't know if he was kidding or not. When asked, "DAD!! Are you serious??" He would calmly reply, "I'm as serious as a heart attack." 
7. You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running. At 60, my dad is "younger" than some of my clients half his age. Why? Because he gets up every day and moves his ass. 
8. At the end of the day, you're going to do what she wants anyway. My dad has set for us kids the best example of how to love, and I am eternally grateful for that. He knows that ultimately, its not up to him, but to Mom how the yard looks/where we are going to eat/what to wear/who to invite. He taught me to do the same thing with Rachel, and its worked out pretty well so far. 
9. Take pride in what you do. How can you expect someone else to pay you for your services, whatever they are, if you don't have some pride in them? I remember Dad coming home from work, and bragging about how nicely he'd put a crown on some poor bastard in his dental chair. The layperson wouldn't even know good work from bad probably, but Dad was pumped about it. For some reason, this always stuck with me, and I think that's how everyone should approach their workday. 
10. I'd rather be out on my bike thinking about God than in church thinking about my bike. Dad was quoted as saying this to the priest in Rolfe, Iowa, who one day asked about his spotty Mass attendance. I don't know if this is true or not, but Dad did teach me to love my bike. He taught me the best water I'll ever have will be 96 degrees, taste like plastic, and be in a corridor of corn on a July day in Nebraska, 40 miles from home, with saddle sores, numb hands, and fire in my legs. 

Colorado's mountains are beautiful. The ocean in Mexico is awesome. But, my favorite bike rides will always be through that pancake-flat corn field they call Kearney with Dad. Hope y'all enjoyed this as much as I did! Happy Father's Day, pops! FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!