[Moses]

My dad is 82 years old. He's had a rough life. He joined the Marines at age 16 and was wounded twice at Guadalcanal and spent more than a year in and out of hospitals at wars end. He spent 26 years as an Oakland cop. He was shot twice, stabbed once and finally was "disabled" when his neck was broken by a pipe swung in anger. To say the man is tough is a drastic understatement.

At age 75, while remodeling his house, the managed to lift an 1800 pound glulam from the floor to it's resting place 9 feet higher. No hydraulics or block and tackle. He just lifted each end up 2" at a time. He hurt his back and had trouble getting around...for a few days. A week later he's on his roof rebuilding a brick chimney.

Fast forward to now. He's now 82. He drives a Dodge Ram diesel long-bed pickup. He somehow smashed the bed, so he bought a used one at a wrecking yard. He hauled it home, took off the old one and put on the new one. By himself.

I always have dad over for dinner on Sunday. Last night he showed up with a ragged bandage around his right index finger. I asked him what happened. Apparently he cut himself on the new pickup bed. I unwrapped it. He cut himself all the way to to the bone. How he didn't cut the tendons I don't know. Then he tells me he cut himself BEFORE he installed the new bed. He just waited for the bleeding to stop then pressed on with his project. His cut is now 2 days old and still needs stitches that he'll never get. At least he'll take some antibiotics.

I love this old fart, but he's making me a little crazy. He won't ask for help. I'd gladly help him with the tough jobs, but he never tells me what he's up to till he's finished.

How do you get a fiercely proud old man to be a little more careful?