He didn’t believe in being unprepared either and taught me that lesson as well in a variety of ways, but the way that most quickly comes to mind involved my own driving lessons.  It wasn’t enough to be taught how to drive, but what makes the car run and what makes it stop running, along with what to check regularly and what to change often.  As I graduated from bicycles to cars, he would always prepare any new vehicle of mine by loading the trunk for any emergency.  By the time he was done, I was protected against the cold, flats, snow banks, mud, rain, floods, alien invasion, elephant stampede, and twisters…basically, Armageddon of any kind.   We lived on a long, dirt road in the country, as were most of the roads in the area at that time, and he wasn’t going to have his little girl unsafe, uncomfortable, or unprepared.  In later years, I realized that I was usually prepared for anything to the annoyance or frustration of others.  I have often been able to pull the most unusual item from what seems like thin air whenever necessary, surprising whoever may be around.  I eventually married a man who never seems impressed by my knack for this oddity, causing me to retort that I could pull gold bullion from my butt without him so much as raising an eyebrow.  To that end, he and I both know that I have Andy to thank for that ability.  While going from one room to the next in my home recently, noticing a screw missing from the safety gate at the top of the stairs, I reminded myself of my father who was continually teased for always whistling and carrying that Yankee screwdriver in his back pocket, fearful that he would be unprepared, should he pass something in need of repair.  Having just put up a shelf in the family room and still in possession of the power drill, I replaced the screw, and went on my way, avoiding the temptation to whistle a tune.  I am, after all, Andy’s daughter.