With Father's Day just around the corner, take a look at some of the suggestions I have to make your Dad say "Wow" this Father's Day.
If your Dad does a lot of home projects, one device he should have in his toolbox is a new stud sensor from Franklin Sensors, at www.franklinsensors.com. The Franklin Sensors ProSensor 710 finds either metal or wood studs, and the 13 LED-light displays immediately indicate the location and width of a stud. It is much more accurate and easier to use than most stud "finders" and is available at Amazon.com.
Beyond tool gifts, there are plenty of other things Dad would love for Father's Day. If he's a University of Michigan, Michigan State or Lions football fan and wants to support his team while grilling at the tailgate party, get him a Metro BBQ Tote from Picnic Time, at
www.picnictime.com. This 3-piece portable barbecue tool set comes in a black polyester zip-up case with the team logo and features a large spatula with built-in bottle opener, a pair of tongs and a grill scraper with a serrated edge for cutting. It is also available from Amazon.com and Bed, Bath and Beyond,
He can also display his school spirit while sitting around the fire in the backyard or at the cottage with a collegiate fire pit made by Patina Products,
www.patinaproducts.com. These pits feature the school name and logo emblazoned on the side of a one-piece fire pit drum made from 16-gauge cold rolled steel.These collegiate fire pits are available from many online retailers such as
Amazon.com, Garden-Décor 1,
www.garden-decor-1.com and the University Fan Shop, www.university-fan-shop.com.
If he is a golfer and wants to know the exact distance to the pin for each hole on up to 40,000 different golf courses around the world, get him a Golf Buddy Voice GPS Range Finder,
www.golfbuddyglobal.com.This unique GPS unit was just introduced and is the only golf GPS unit that speaks the distances as well as displays them. It is small enough to attach to a golf hat or belt and is available at Great Golf Deals, www.greatgolfdeals.com or locally at Carl's Golf Land, www.carlsgolfland.com.
To help attain grilling perfection, get him the Grill Alert Talking Remote Meat Thermometer available from Brookstone, www.brookstone.com.Just insert the stainless steel probe in the center of the grilling meat, select how well you'd like it done and a voice prompt on the belt-clip monitor will alert Dad when the meat is ready.
Another high caliber adventure could be taking him to Target Sports, (248) 549-2122, www.targetsportshooting.com, in Royal Oak and letting him squeeze off rounds with a fully automatic machine gun. Target Sports rents H&K, Colt and Uzi models that range from $50 to $75 a half-hour, plus the cost of ammunition, of course.
For the NASCAR enthusiast, let him drive a real Sprint Cup style stock car at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.This starts with a Stock Car Driving 101 class and then lets him hit the track to experience speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.You can also buy a "ride-along" with a professional stock-car driver if he would rather sit back and enjoy the ride instead of driving.These are available through Track Time Racing Schools, (866) 2-DRIVE-1, www.tracktime.com.
If you would like to suggest a question for this column, email askglenn@masterhandyman.com. If you want to talk to Glenn Haege personally, call his “Handyman Show” on WJR-AM (760) at (866) ASK GLENN, (866) 275-4536 between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The “Handyman Show” can be heard on more than 130 radio stations nationwide.
