Skip to main content

30DW2-2 - Day 17: Whatever, Dude



It was sure to be an arduous task. The light in the laundry room had burned out and if he didn't change it soon he'd be recycling his underwear: front to back, back to front, inside out, repeat. He wasn't looking forward to that.

He shuffled across the living room floor with the aid of his cane and then gingerly lifted one foot, then the next, then the cane, step-by-step down the stairs to the basement. With advancing age he didn't move as quickly or as confidently as he once did. Nor did his mind work quite the way it used to. Entering the laundry room and lifting his eyes to the dead bulb in the ceiling, he realized he couldn't reach it and would need the step ladder.

But the step ladder was in the garage, hung high on a nail on the wall. He'd about need a step ladder to get at the step ladder.

So his tired legs and feet climbed the stairs and shuffled to the kitchen where the phone was. He'd call his grandson and see if he were able to come over and help him.

He slowly punched in the numbers and waited for the ring to be answered. Luckily, his grandson was home from school early that afternoon and said he'd be right over to help.

Oh, that's great he thought. I've got new bulbs, a ladder and now a helper. What a great grandson. I'm all set.

About half an hour later there was a knock at the door. That reminded him his doorbell was out of order and he'd soon have to do something about that, too. With a smile and a "Hey, Grampa" his grandson bounded through the front door and extended his arms in a hug.

After a brief discussion and dispensing with introductory pleasantries the grandson went out to the garage to retrieve the step ladder which hung on the garage wall.

They descended to the basement, one a little slower than the other where the grandson opened up the ladder, climbed up and unscrewed the burned out bulb.

He turned over the bulb to view the wattage and said to his Grampa "It's a 60."

"Oh dear" replied Grampa, "I only have 100s".

To which his clever grandson replied:

"Watt ever, dude!"

Comments

Cheryl P. said…
Again, an awesome post. While the pun at the end was perfect...the story of a grandson being present in an older grandfather's life nearly brings tears to my eyes.
Nicky said…
The King of Puns, Dufus. How do you do it? Do you think of a pun and then "socket" away until the right moment comes to light? :-)
P.J. said…
You are so punny! Especially when you can talk about you and your grandson like that! ;)
Indigo Roth said…
Ooooh, you deserve a slap for this one, you big punner!


That said, I loved the storytelling. Nice work, Sir. Indigo
To be honest, I almost cried reading this. My father lived to be 97 and I can relate. You captured the feelings of an older person who can no longer do what they once did. Sweet.
nonamedufus said…
I'm hoping to be around long enough to have this kind of relationship with my grandkids. They're pretty special.
Ziva said…
You did it again, my friend. Wonderful writing, and then wham, the mother of all puns. Great job. ;)
nonamedufus said…
97! Wow, I'm 60 and I'm starting to feel like this.
nonamedufus said…
Yeah, I didn't want to shock you with this one.
Shawn Ohara said…
Clever clever. Very clever.
And a nice story to boot.
mike said…
Man, I didn't see that coming, although I should have expected it.
nonamedufus said…
I know, I'm a bad boy.
nonamedufus said…
I thought you'd get a charge out of it, Nicky.
nonamedufus said…
I need help. That's the first step towards a cure. Recognizing you need help.
Linda R. said…
L love it! You really lit up my day with this one.
nonamedufus said…
I was going to say "you're welcome" but then I was shocked to see what you did there. Very clever, Linda. Well done.
"he'd be recycling his underwear: front to back, back to front, inside out, repeat."


OH
MY
GOSH.


I never THOUGHT of that!


(quickly changing my underwear from front to back!)
nonamedufus said…
It sure saves on the laundry load.
KZ said…
That is the coolest grandson ever. He's courteous, helpful to his ailing grandfather, and he has the punny sensibilities of Noname. This whole entry was simply awesome.
Boom Boom Larew said…
Oh, double groan... I should have been expecting something like that. You had me fooled right up until the end.
nonamedufus said…
Hopefully my grand kids will grow up like that. I'm working on them now.
nonamedufus said…
You should know me by now, Boom Boom.

Popular posts from this blog

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born.  That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network.  And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard.  But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door.  And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran.  The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993.  I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share.  The formula was pretty simple.  A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains.  The show opened as follows... Imagination Day!  Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

It's For You

I'm going to show my age here - and at my age be thankful that's all I'm going to show - but I can recall growing up as a kid in Toronto and we had one telephone in the house. It was a wall-mounted, black rotary-dial affair behind the door in our kitchen. If you stretched the cord you could actually sit down at the kitchen table while you talked on the phone. This was in the mid-50s, hardly on the heels of the device's invention, nevertheless - having been patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 - it was still in it's formative years. Coloured models, the Princess phone, and the push button model were all yet to come, to say nothing of wireless home phones and the cell phone. The telephone, by the way, figured prominently in comedian Bob Newhart's early stand-up routine. In the late 50s/early 60s Newhart made his mark using a telephone as a prop and having hilarious one-sided conversations. It was a device he used for years. The telephone also played a ce...