I caught my dad talking to the thermostat again

I guess you could say he's trying to have a degree of control over the conversation

My dad said for Father's Day, he just wanted one thing.

"An entire afternoon in the garage," he mumbled, "without anyone asking where the spare batteries are."

My dad said he didn't need anything for Father's Day.

Ten minutes later, I found him in the garage, 'just finishing up' a project he started back when I was in elementary school.

I asked my dad to make a bucket list for Father's Day

and it was just a list of all the things he wants to fix around the house before he dies