Everybody Should Have a Hole

a few of you may recall this one...

every summer my dad's plant shuts down for 2 wks, which is usually a good time for home improvement projects. this past summer he spent it painting the first floor, which was in desperate need of a facelift. before they moved out of state, mom and dad would let my nieces and nephew do/draw/color/touch WHATEVER they wanted so there was a solid spattering of chickenscratch and little handprints on the bottom 2 ft of all the walls...

but since dad was at home alone, i periodically called to check in on him and see how he was doing.

me: hi dad, what'cha doing?
dad: oh nothing. just taking a break.
me: oh yeah? were you painting today?
dad: no, not exactly. i'm still looking at colors.
me: then what?
dad: i cut a hole in the ceiling downstairs.
me (shocked): WHAT???
dad: i cut a hole in the ceiling downstairs.
me (now panicked): why would you do THAT?
dad: cuz i needed to look inside.
me (now totally panicked): why would you need to look inside, dad???
dad: cuz sometimes you do. just too see what's in there. you know, have a look around.

what you have to understand is my dad is the same dad that dug ginormous holes in the backyard the previous summer and would never fill them. his explanation back then: "i was looking for rocks."

me: dad, how BIG is the hole?
dad: well, maybe 2ft x 2 ft...
me (panic renewed): WHAT?! why would you do that?
dad (slightly defensive): how else am i suppose to see what's in there? everybody should have a hole to look in. (and then in a reassuring tone) don't worry. i covered it up.

at the time i had no idea how you would cover up a 2ft x 2ft hole in the ceiling. i also had no idea that he was trying to move a cable line. forgot about the whole incident til i a few wks later when i saw his handywork, and it wasn't til xmas that i remembered to take a picture. not too shabby dad...