A Yinzer’s Fathers Day Paean

OK, OK! I just switched off the Craig’s List page where my dad found the Ford Ranger pickup truck of his, well, not exactly of his dreams - more like of his willingness to settle. He’s willing to pay the price asked for the used truck offered in this ad. He went out to see the thing last night. The point is, he found this vehicle on Craig’s List, on my computer, with some assistance from me. That’s the least I could do for my old man.

You weren’t here to hear the yelling and bickering that went into the process that led up to this online discovery. Tonight it was my fault that he couldn’t get to yesterday’s ad list fast enough. It was my fault that I haven’t spent enough time on Craig’s List to know that yesterday’s ads will be listed after the more recent ones that went up today. It was my fault that the task I was involved in accomplishing, before he came over to see his chosen truck again, took me a couple of minutes to wrap up before I could assist him with his search. I haven’t used Craig’s List so I couldn’t hurry up fast enough for the old man to get that truck image up again so my cousin Frank could appreciate his find before he had to leave for the night. Frank works very early daylight hours and needed to go home and get to bed.

Family codependence! Interdependence? Codependence? Whatever.

Frank, before he left, agreed to clean out my clogged gutters. “All you had to do was say so!” he said. We’ll borrow the neighbor’s ladder, my dad or I will help throw the thing up there, and I’ll hold it steady at the bottom while Frank scoops. We have a plan for one of the next dry evenings.

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I took the pictures below from my bathroom window earlier this evening, before the Craig’s List argument. My dear old dad, 79, bought the little old block house just across the alley from mine not quite two years ago. It’s a common sight for me to see him out there in the street, working on something or other with my brother or one of my cousins. This evening Frank was over there helping him to do something with the back seats in his blue station wagon.





Please take note of Kit, the watch cat. She oversees every job that my dad has going. She has been known to dash from across the street and jump at the neighbor’s dog for daring to approach my dad for a petting. She’s the old guy’s pride and joy and she’s very possessive. Don’t mess with her!


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The following post began a discussion thread yesterday on one of my favorite online social networking sites:

Any plumbers here?

Sorry to put this here, and I'll remove it in a few days, but I'm kinda desperate, here...

My sewage line is broken and needs replaced between my clean-out pipe and the main line. A plumber friend of mine was gonna help me with this, but isn't gonna be available anytime soon. And with a dog who's gonna need over $1,000 in medical care over the next several weeks (possibly WELL over $1,000), I can't be dropping a couple grand on a plumber to do this for me.

I can do the digging (or maybe have a digging party where I pay people with beer and pizza), but would love to find a plumber who's experienced with this to replace the pipes. Of course, I'd pay for all materials and pay whatever is fair. But doing it this way would surely save me some bucks, as well as throwing some money towards a fellow MI person.

Anyone out there interested in helping me out with this, gimme a buzz. Thanks!


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After reading that post I couldn’t help but start thinking about all the practical knowledge that my dad has been in the process of passing along to my brothers and my cousins. Cars? The old guy knows about them, resurrects the old ones, and keeps the thriftier members of the clan on wheels. Home wiring? Yup. Almost fifty years ago he went to the library in the West End when we were first living in our house there, got the books, did the job, and let there be new lights. And lowered ceilings. And refinished hardwood floors. Put in a new kitchen. Rebuilt stone walls. Plumbing? Yup. Two months ago I was out there laying on my fat belly across the alley, steadying a wrench on a pipe down in the hole while my dad was there laying inside the ditch, twisting against me, tightening the seal on a newly replaced incoming water line. Building a wall? Yup. See pics below from last summer, disagreement and cooperation duly documented, participation of family cats fondly captured.








OK, the price one has to pay for my dad’s help is, at minimum, putting up with a goodly amount of bickering, delay and teasing. (No, I didn’t entertain the thought for very long of offering my dad’s expertise to my online friend who posted above.) You have to get in line to get on his schedule, behave yourself in the way that he expects on that given day (don’t ask!), and maybe you’ll have to jump through some other kind of perverse emotional hoops along the way. With him, you just never know. Be prepared to kiss butt if it’s something you only want rather than something you truly need. In a real emergency, however, I know that my dad will be there to help me if he can. I guess that’s part of why I feel lucky to have him living across the street from me now. I guess that’s why I’ll do what I can to help him out in ways that I’m able. Split pea soup from that hambone? Sure. Transplant periwinkle from the back hillside to your front yard? OK. Pull a tick off the bad cat? Just give me a minute. Get you started on Craig’s List? Here, scroll down with this mouse. Like this! My old man’s sure smart enough to learn how to use a computer by himself but he says to me, “That’s what daughters are for.” This old guy’s my one and only dad and I’m wishing the old fart another Happy Father’s Day this year and many more to come! Even if I could, I wouldn’t trade him in on a new model. (Old fart!)