Great Father’s Day Gift Ideas (Via Two Awesome Dads From Two Different Generations)
Well, Father’s Day is right around the corner. My editor (Jess) asked if I came across any handy dandy Father’s Day gift ideas this past year. I seem to always come across a few each year, so let me think. I just finished remodeling a house with Lorinda, my girlfriend. I got bored and needed a project. Nothing like feeling your age after three months of some really long hours at the place. Next time I’m bored, I’ll take a trip, which is exactly what I’m gonna do once this place sells. Anyway, during the process, I used a few items that made my life easier.
Pony Portable Folding Work Table
One of them was a saw horse with built-in clamps. It freed up space on my workbench when I was working with large pieces of wood. Saved me time and effort. There are a lot of different ones out there. The ones I got were mid-range priced.
Then I found the Ortis vacuum switch. It is an outlet box that you plug your vacuum and your saw into. When you use your saw, the vacuum automatically turns on. This saves you from constantly turning on your vacuum when you’re about to use your saw. What a great idea. I’d like to come up with a great idea that could make me money. Just once. Geez!
My kitchen cabinets were delivered to me disassembled on a couple of pallets. Jess happened to be visiting at the time, so I put her to work, and we put them together. Even after all these years, working with my baby girl still pleases me. She even caught a few of Dad’s mistakes. Ha. After installing the cabinets came the knobs and handles. That is usually time-consuming, tedious work. Not anymore. I found a cabinet hardware jig made by Kreg. Wow, did that make my life easier. I guess they have been around for a while. That’s what happens when you’re out of practice for a while. Hell, next thing you know, there will be self-driving cars.
Endoscope Camera for iPhone and Android
I was installing a black toilet in one of the bathrooms at the house, and I dropped one of the plastic screw head covers down the heating duct. Yikes. I picked up a flexible endoscope camera made by Light in the Box last year cause I swear I’ve never dropped as much crap as I do now. The camera connects to your phone so you can see under cabinets and beds when you’re looking for something, and I don’t have to get on my hands and knees ten times. Well, I broke that baby out and went down the heating duct with it, and lo and behold, there was my toilet screw head button within arm’s reach. Yay! That should take care of the tool department for handy dads.
I’m gonna have a little gathering for friends and people who helped with this remodel. Just a little Chicago Hot Dog afternoon. I bought a hot dog steamer made by Vevor. That’s because Chicago hot dogs should only be steamed. It sits on the table and is cute as a button. It steams the buns also. Of course, I had some Vienna Beef franks (the only hot dog) shipped in. If your dad likes hot dogs, get some Vienna dogs shipped to him. Trust me, they are a winner. There is a company called Tastes of Chicago that will take care of everything for you.
Circle Critter Short-Sleeve T-Shirt | Scenic Short-Sleeve T-Shirt
Since I’ve owned my cabin near Lake Tahoe, I’ve been dressing more casually than I used to (or I’m just too lazy to get dressed up). Anyway, I found some T-shirts made by Marmot Mountain Works. They are comfy and nice-fitting. Long-sleeve or short-sleeve shirts are both really nice. Really outdoorsy too. I lean toward wildlife designs.
AG1 Multivitamin Greens Powder
Between the remodel and the cabin, there has been plenty of work. I swear I get home and I am beat. I thought maybe I should get some kind of multivitamin. As I am thinking that lo and behold, Hugh Jackman is on my TV promoting AG1, a vitamin supplement. Now I am not usually moved by TV commercials, but Hugh Jackman? My favorite actor on the planet and the most talented man on earth. Yep, I’m gonna try it. Then, one day, as I’m walking through Costco, there they are. Go figure. I suppose it could be mental, but I have more energy at the end of the day.
Getting older is a process. I try to make the process as easy as possible. I need to do that for my kids and my grandbaby. Time with them is the most important gift I can give myself, or they can give to me. All the other stuff is crap-ola. I know there’s an old man knocking on my door, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let him in. Jess and I went to a Cub game this season. How do you beat that? I was up at Morgan’s house working side by side in his shop. How do you beat that? I cooked with my granddaughter. How do you beat that? Let me tell you. YOU DON’T!
I wish all of your Fathers a happy day. I wish all of you a happy day. Yeah, it’s special.
Regards,
Les
And as promised in the title, here are a handful of recommendations from our other (younger) father expert, Brian:
Grand Crosscourt Winner Sneaker
From Emily: Brian says he gets complimented by other dudes every time he wears these shoes. But he wants me to tell you that they are extremely comfortable, like his favorite shoes for every day that aren’t full-on sneakers.
From Emily: I finally was able to convince Brian that life wasn’t worth living without slippers (especially in the PNW in winter, you have to lean into all the cozy vibes to embrace the months of rain). These are strictly inside shoes, but they have enough support and a grip that if you need to pop outside for something, you can. I know they are just slippers, but they are pretty dang good ones!
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
From Brian: I really try to portray myself as a serious reader on here, always pompously recommending literary fiction with meaningful themes, but screw it, this one is just fun. Very, very fun. Stupid? Yes. Frivolous? Sure. A blast to read? Hell yes. I first started seeing posts about Dungeon Crawler Carl a few months ago and thought nothing of it, that it was some kind of card game, maybe a video game. But it kept popping up in my algorithm, and then I saw people on lit substacks writing about it and realized it was a novel. Well, novel may be a misnomer; it’s what is being called LitRPG, as in Literary Role Playing Game. And if you’ve ever played Dungeons and Dragons or a really immersive video game, that’s what reading this book is like. It’s undeniably fun— there are goblins and monsters and acid-spitting llamas, and the hapless hero has a talking cat for a sidekick. It also has a gamer-style aesthetic to it, with curse-filled quips and fast-paced action sequences that feel like you should be eating popcorn while reading. There’s also a video-game-logic to the narration, where the hero gets to pull up his arsenal of weapons, spells, and achievements in a heads-up display in his vision and dis. It’s a perfect guilty pleasure for anyone who is looking for a fun escape. Or maybe that dude in your life who doesn’t read – this one will keep his attention. And, with multiple books in the series, maybe he’ll become an unexpected bookworm! Oh, and the narrator on the audiobook is awesome if you’re more of an audio person.
From Emily: The only shirt that Brian wears on a date, LOL. He’s not a big “dress up” guy, so he usually has a couple of go-to’s, and this is one right now. He likes the slimmer fit, while still looking casual.
From Brian: Boy, have I come a long way since the little yellow tree hanging on the rearview in my high school truck! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still got a soft spot for that sunbaked vanilla scent— whenever I smell it, I’m immediately whisked into a boundless summer night, cruising with the windows down around the suburban outskirts of Sacramento. Ahhhh, youth. But now I’m a man, and I don’t need a silly scent in my car. Or so I thought. After some pretty intense algorithm marketing, I finally pulled the trigger on the Drift Car Freshener, and even Emily can attest— it smells really good! Basically a scent-soaked wooden block that’s magnetized to a sun visor clip, it looks pretty sleek and masculine, and it smells even better. I ordered two different scents: Teak and Amber, and would recommend both. It’s like having a masculine candle burning in my car, with an oak/tobacco/sandalwood aroma. But don’t worry, the smell is pretty subtle, so you don’t feel like you’re getting punched in the face every time you enter the car.
Happy gift shopping for the dads in your lives!