Last year I made a list of the top 10 Father-Son movies of all-time.
This year I couldn’t think of any thing “special” to do for Father’s Day. But an idea popped into my head as I drove into work on Friday morning listening to sports talk radio.
They were asking callers to call in and give one quirk that their dad does.
I immediately thought, “What a great idea for a blog entry! I’ll do the top 10 quirks that my Dad does!”
So I phoned my brothers asking for their help in thinking of 10 quirks. Erik and Randy were both up for the idea and immediately gave me one or two suggestions.
I asked them to think about it for a day and then get back to me.
Sunday roles around and I phone them both. They both gave almost identical answers, “Oh yeah…sort of forgot about that.” I had to admit, I did too.
But anyway, here I am late Sunday night making a list of some of the quirks that my Dad does. I couldn’t come up with 10 instead deciding on five.
So here they are…the top five quirks that my Dad has:
5. Up, down, up, down, just pick a volume! Nothing is more annoying then someone fidgeting with the dials of the car stereo. Well, meet my Dad, Captain Fidget. I seriously believe he has Attention Deficit Disorder. He turns up the volume, a second later he turns it down, he turns it up, a second later he turns it down. You get the point. He’s always got to have a hand on some dial and moving it around some way.
4. Sleepy Driver: Maybe the reason Dad fidgets so much with the dial is because he’d be asleep if he didn’t. Yep, Dad’s planned another road-trip. We’re supposed to leave right after school but the clock says 8 PM and we still haven’t attached the trailer to the truck. Once we are on the road we need to switch drivers because Dad’s eyes are rolling back into his head, his knee is shaking and he’s got one hand at 12 o’clock and the other wishing it were in bed. Sure my Mom can continue to shout “Ken! Ken!” but after a few hours of that, Dad’s already ignoring her and he’s ready for the pillow. Makes for some interesting late night drives though.
3. That Darn TiVo: Okay, so I totally agree that TiVo is one of the greatest inventions in the last 30 years. But do you really need to TiVo the friggin’ weather? My Dad does. He uses the excuse that he needs to know what the weather is going to be like because of his job (construction), but c’mon, TiVo-ing the weather. And then Mom comes in and he’s got to press stop and play, stop and play, throughout the weather because she’s talking. Oh it’s exciting and one of the few quirks that drive my brothers and I crazy. Personally we’d prefer if Dad used the excuse that he TiVo’s the weather for the weather gal.
2. The Million Dollar Idea: Dad has always said he’d make a million dollars. But as our good friend Dale Griffith, from Planes, Trains & Automobiles, would say, “I’m still a million bucks shy of being a millionaire.” He’s always got an idea for making a million dollars – from being a 17-year-old bong salesman to a 48-year-old construction manager – but unfortunately for us, the idea has never worked out. That’s okay Pa, we don’t fault you for trying — too much.
1. “We’ll figure something out.” His trademark saying. We’ve already got his tombstone picked out. Name, date he was born, date he passed and “Here lies Ken. He finally figured it out.” Dad’s got a knack for telling us “We’ll figure something out” whenever we need something from him. Even if we don’t need something from him, maybe we just want his opinion on something like my Mom’s upcoming birthday, he’ll still answer “We’ll figure something out.” Which translates to, “I don’t want to think about it right now and I’m not going to think about it right now so ask me sometime later.”
I hope you enjoyed them and I hope, if my Dad reads them or has my Mom read them for him, that he enjoys them and finds them amusing and not harmful.
Right now they are cruising Idaho and Montana looking to hit up dog shows. Go ahead and laugh – I’m not joking.
Dad, if you didn’t have these five quirks you wouldn’t be unique and you wouldn’t be my father.
Who knows, maybe one day Lukas will be typing in his blog writing 10 wacky quirks that I have. Who knows, maybe Lis has already started a list for him.
Happy Father’s Day!
