Happy Father's Day to all the dads and everyone who has Dad Energy
(you don't need to be a man to have Dad Energy, you don't even need to have a kid to have Dad Energy, all it takes is an outward expression of confidence and a small selection of dowels)
A Bouquet of Dowels to all the dad and dad-adjacent people out there
I made the dowels joke on other Father's Days and I'll make it again because repeating the groan jokes is Dad Privilege
With a hammer and a circle hole in metal you can make your own dowels
If you can't make your own dowels then store-bought is fine
I invite you to do Dad Shaped Things today that you can do regardless of what sort of person you are or what sort of family you're part of or not part of
If you have a shed, you can do something in it or to it
Putter or potter about, perform tasks that will go unnoticed until they're not done
If there are any two-stroke engines around you can do things that make you smell like a two-stroke engine
Screws, and their interactions with jam jars, could be investigated today
Clean a filter
Do you have wood screws mixed in with sheet metal or machine screws? You don't have to sort that out today, but if you do then you'll have the psychic energy of millions of dads cheering you on, just something to think about
Me, trying to make today as inclusive as possible: 🦝 Alright I guess most folk don't have sheds and some people don't even have jam jars full of screws but I BET there must be SOME kind of filter nearby
May today bring you the perfect use for that weird-shaped bit of wood you've been hoarding just in case
However you choose to mark the day, make sure to wear appropriate PPE, for the sake of anyone who calls you Daddy
@ifixcoinops hahaha fill the salt shaker
Dad was the power user of the kitchen table salt shaker and all he wanted was some appreciation for filling it without being asked
@catmisgivings emptying and filling containers of things, always a favourite
@ifixcoinops @catmisgivings *looks up from phone* I should fill the pepper grinder.
@ifixcoinops I opted to flop into a hammock and listen to a Moby Dick audiobook.
(Here in Germany, we already had Fathers Day in May, and I spent that whitewater kayaking)
@ifixcoinops
Screws and jam jars? As in placing the former into the latter, or is there some other common interaction of which I’m unaware?
@superball placing into, and then placing those jam jars somewhere defined, but also shaking them a lil bit 'cause cool noise
Jun 21, 2026, 4:17 PMAlso poking holes in the lids and screwing them to the bottom of a shelf so you have clear containers that are easy to see for storing those parts that you took off of the broken thing you dismantled but looked too useful to throw out
@gbargoud @ifixcoinops @superball This is a scene directly from my childhood.
@ifixcoinops ah yes, cool noise
Jun 21, 2026, 4:47 PM@ifixcoinops It's shaped like a duck.
@ifixcoinops I'm travelling and around nice vistas but your wonderful thread really made me want to be in my garage woodshop. Happy Father's Day to all dad energy beings!
This actually happened to me today. Just a cat dad though.
Jun 21, 2026, 4:31 PM@ifixcoinops i find fathers day really... something. My dad died when I was 24, and most fathers day stuff brings me down, but yours today is making me feel good
if nothing else, it's helping me remember that I'm already quite dad-shaped
@reb I hope the rest of today goes well for you dude, may your shapes align to however you need them to
Jun 21, 2026, 4:46 PM@ifixcoinops I'm massively hungover because I accidentally the whole vodka last night, but staying up til morning talking to my girlfriend was nice, we meandered through dad-adjacent stuff at points and it really helped. I've come to realise that so much of what she loves in me I inherited from my dad. Like at one point she had a little cry because I was talking about doing my research for when it comes time to switch her to linux, I need to know how to properly set up her user account to be accessible for her eyesight. It just seems obvious to me that you'd do that for someone you love, but apparently not.
In our group chat earlier I was talking about how when your dad dies, his role as a father figure gets splintered out across the guys in your life, even guys who it would be chronologically absurd for them to be your dad
@reb Dadhood itself is a defined thing but Dad Energy is a more free and nebulous thing that anyone who has it can bring to anyone who needs it and that was a very Dad Energy thing you did last night
I have no children but am still Dad™ based
I make Honey Do lists for the weekends of mini projects and have a long term project list
@ifixcoinops so far the church we go to served root beer floats (for everyone not just the dads) and the church my daughter goes to (a Latin American one, she invited me) went all out on the food, I think I’m now 35 percent mole sauce
I am now packing up the car and I’m going to do a complete AC system replace on the van over at my friend’s house. I’m bringing beer and pizza but I don’t think I’m going to be hungry until Tuesday
Jun 21, 2026, 10:09 PM@ifixcoinops
I checked the filter on the air purifier. It looks good so I’m leaving it for a couple of months before checking it again. No dowels required for that task.
I do have some small pots of screws and nails in my tool box. I will be checking that they are categorized in a couple of hours, but right now it’s nap time.
@ifixcoinops And this is the crown you shall wear on your head.
Jun 21, 2026, 5:41 PM@ifixcoinops so, my dad was hopeless with mechanical stuff and I didn't realize until college that wood screws were not made of wood. Similar realization much more recently that metal drill bits did not refer to drill bits made of metal.
I love mechanical stuff and I'm suuuuper late to it. I don't have a point to make, just something amusing to share.
@iris @ifixcoinops But confusingly, treenails are made out of trees!
@attoparsec @iris @ifixcoinops
And don't forget tin whistles and fog horns!
Jun 21, 2026, 6:09 PM@GustavinoBevilacqua @attoparsec @ifixcoinops even I did not think fog horns were made of fog, thankfully.
Jun 21, 2026, 6:07 PM@attoparsec @ifixcoinops TIL of treenails.
@iris @attoparsec @ifixcoinops
Then learn another one: the "double head nails".
It sounds like a prank, but actually they are very useful for temporary woodworking.
@GustavinoBevilacqua @iris @ifixcoinops Plus, they make great little swords with a bit of filing.
Jun 21, 2026, 6:26 PM@GustavinoBevilacqua @attoparsec @ifixcoinops it *does* sound like a prank. What next, double-sharp-ended nails?? (ouch, ow, oh no)
These?
I make them by myself, when I need one…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF6ERUC0TnQ
Jun 21, 2026, 6:47 PM@GustavinoBevilacqua @attoparsec @ifixcoinops oh wow, that's actually brilliant!
@GustavinoBevilacqua @iris @attoparsec @ifixcoinops ok brilliant but surely these are called double-pointy nails, no?
@poswald @iris @attoparsec @ifixcoinops
Probably.
I'm not resposible for the mistakes of other people.
@ifixcoinops Just replaced a furnace filter. Feeling paternal
@ifixcoinops I have been thinking *so hard* about whether I should build new screens for the dining room windows, or if the screens I built like ten years back aren't yet old enough to deserve replacement.
@Austin_Dern oh that's perfect, a screen is a sort of coarse filter after all, ideal dad shaped activity right there
@ifixcoinops today's Dad Energy plan: putting hinges on an old trunk (free CL find); replacing the porch light motion sensor; replacing ALL the burned out lightbulbs; adding flood lights on the deck; and ending with wandering over to the neighbor's with a couple of beers and spending the next hour or so discussing what to do about his culvert while the dogs galumph about.
@mightybigcar fucking hell that sounds idyllic
@ifixcoinops I have a counter in the woman cave in my garage that I need to clear of accumulated e-waste, so that I can do 3D printing
@suzannealdrich Perfect Dad Energy task and the perfect day to do it
Jun 21, 2026, 5:12 PM@ifixcoinops I'm gonna change the filters on my house HVAC systems and clean the filter on the basement dehumidifier!
Jun 21, 2026, 10:05 PM@ifixcoinops Did this, thanks for the suggestion!
@ifixcoinops Gonna check the oil in my wife’s car. I might make stereotypical dad noises while inspecting the level on the dipstick.
@ifixcoinops Would you accept lashing things to things - especially for transport - then patting them and saying "That's not going anywhere"?
@Canuckduff ayup
@ifixcoinops I always smell like a two stroke engine does it count
[smell courtesy of my kdx]
@ifixcoinops Oh no, I cleaned that filter last night. I did it too prematurely!
Jun 21, 2026, 10:14 PM@ifixcoinops reminds me that a new cabin air filter has been sitting on the passenger seat of my car for three days and perhaps today is the day to install it.
Or I could just go do some grocery shopping at Canadian Tire (for some reason, they sell Greek food)
Jun 21, 2026, 10:44 PM@ifixcoinops i spent a couple of hours mowing grass. might go sort some screws later
i legitimately think this is how i celebrate this day now, thank you for this
@ifixcoinops It's not Father's Day here for another couple of months, but my sibling and I have spent this week cleaning the heat pump filters and then diagnosing, buying and fitting an ignition coil. We did text our dad to confirm what we'd figured out, but we're pretty much experts in ignition coils now; it's the only thing that goes wrong with our cars lately, this is the third in a year. (My car has two per cylinder, sibling's has the simpler arrangement, so we're a quarter of the way through replacing them all, but well prepared for another to fail.)
Next on the dad jobs plan, we want to clean up our socket set and lightly scent it with WD-40 for that lovely rust-free workshop aroma.
Jun 21, 2026, 4:29 PM@ifixcoinops What about reused dowels? Never know when you'll need that size again, after all!