I've been blessed with a great dad. A man who is reliable, resourceful, hard-working, and possesses an incredible sense of humour. One of Dad's favourite sayings is, "Ya gotta have a laugh." And laugh we have. It seems I've spent my whole life laughing, even in the difficult times. As Dad says, "A sense of humour will get you through anything." It's hard not to laugh when Dad's around. He's always been one to pull a prank. Frightening people just for the fun of it is a hobby of his. And he's really good at it. Like the time when he worked in the tin mine at Irvinebank and he shoved a live goanna in the glove box of a mate's truck then asked him for something out of it. Or the time he hooked a piece of wire around three spark plugs of his brother-in-law's car, then ran the wire up under the seat. When his brother-in-law got in and started it he got zapped in the backside. I remember one day when I was a little girl, my mum and auntie were standing in our backyard chatting. The garden hose was lying near Auntie Hazel's foot. Dad was a fair distance away when he grabbed the end of the hose and flicked it. Just as it lifted off the ground near my auntie, he shouted, "Snake!" She screamed and nearly leapt on Mum's head. Dad could barely stand for laughing. When he was around no one was safe. He was always sneaking up on people with the stealth learned from years of trapping in the bush. It's lucky none of us had a weak heart. Dad, on the other hand, never seemed to get a fright. I tried many times to frighten him, jumping out to surprise him when he couldn't possibly have known I was there. Not once did he jump, shout, or even flinch. Even in the dead of night, when I was supposed to be in bed, I'd tiptoe out to his shed where he was often working late fixing something. I'd take ages to carefully pick my way up behind him without making a sound. Then I'd yell. "What ya doin' there," he'd say as though I'd strolled in leisurely in broad daylight. I gave up in the end. I'm tempted to try it now just to see he still has nerves of steel, but he has a bit of a dicky ticker so I guess his reputation for being unshakable will remain intact.