Yes, and I'll Tell You Why

Yes, because of all the things that have broken here in the last couple of days--three cars, a ceiling fixture, the sink and the hot water heater, among others--today I got up with the itch in my stomach that it was time for Dad to take over things. That means me. So I told Italo, who works from 4 AM-8 AM daily and then generally goes to Chepa's, to come right back here after work to work. And work we did: We went to Home Depot, bought some parts after I spoke to a plumbing guy, for both the water and water heater, then headed home. On the way we dropped off my truck, the one with no brake lights, at Rick's Auto. I told him to fix it quick as I need my next truck done as well and can't do that till this one was fixed. Then me and Italo came home and worked on the sink and water heater till we got them done. Then Rick's called to say my car was ready. Then I called a wrecker and had my old green truck with the busted clutch brought to Rick's and he should have that ready in a few days. And then I fixed the light fixture that nearly conked Madeleina last night and I fixed the washing machine and fed the dogs and scrubbed the kitchen and tried--failing miserably--to unclog the bathroom sink, sent Marco over to Chepa's with a printer that will work on her computer wonderfully but doesn't really work on the Mac I use very well. She's about to lose her house and the printer will prove she's paid two extra payments they're not crediting her for. If not, I'll pay. Today I'm freaking dad and nobody got in my way. Today I had to intervene and though I rather my kids to do that stuff these days, it had gotten so overwhelming that we needed me to step up to the plate. And bang! bang! bang! I was hitting ropes between the left and center fielders and it felt like I had all the power in the world.
And then two minutes ago Marco made an ultra mistake: He walks up to the kitchen table and says "Hey, old man, you and me. You got balls?" and sets himself into an arm wrestling position. Italo said: "Marco, you're crazy. Not today. Dad's insane. He'll kill you."
Marco didn't want to hear it. I took him down with the left hand in less than a second.
"I'm not a lefty. That's not fair," he says.
I turned to righty. My right shoulder is bad. It has always been great but about six months ago I tore into the rotator cuff and there are a lot of positions it simply won't go into anymore. I mean, I have to lift my elbow into a lot of positions, and that's painful. I still took him down in about three seconds.
Italo laughed. "Told you, stupid. Not today. He's like 30 years old today. You got to get him on an old guy day to even have a chance."
Marco walked away dejected. "I think you cheated. Your arm was off the table...."
Oh really. Yeah? And I'll tell you why. Because sometimes even us old guys have to step up and make the play. We'd just as soon that you make it for us. but if you're not gonna get anything working, then it's gonna be my turn. And I will get it done. Hooray for us old guys! That's what I'm talking about.