Dale Gribble - Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Dale runs his own extermination business, Dale's Dead-Bug, although he generally does not pay taxes on his income and has filled out an income tax form only once. It is hinted that he is not professionally trained in extermination and that his business is not a legally operating firm in the United States, as his company checks read "Dales Dead Bug - A Liberian Registered Company". He drives a white Dodge Caravan called "the Bug-ebago" (a portmanteau of "bug" and Winnebago) with a large, fake queen ant perched on the roof. The ant, which can be rotated to appear dead (legs up) or alive (legs down), was a group project of Dale and friends/neighbors Hank Hill, Bill Dauterive and Boomhauer to help them over the emotional turmoil they shared over the death of actor Hervé Villechaize.

Dale is an accomplished musician, with the electronic keyboard as his principal instrument. His résumé includes a stint with the Propaniacs, Big Mountain Fudgecake, and the Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience. However, during the false marriage of Bobby Hill and Luanne Platter, at which Dale was playing the keyboard, it is revealed that he is using pre-recorded tunes programmed to the keyboard. It is unknown if this is actually where he gets his musical talent or if it was simply a one-time gig.

During the episode "The Texas Skillsaw Massacre", it is revealed Dale also cares for and raises show turtles, where Dale was seen polishing a turtle using turtle wax and a handheld electronic buffer.

When the chemicals he used to kill rats forced Dale to briefly give up his job, he took a position as a corporate hatchet-man and was spectacularly good at firing people, but his action to deal with a roach infestation (which he caused inadvertently) at this job led him to return to extermination. Dale's favorite TV shows are Sanford and Son and What's Happening!!. He enjoys drinking Alamo Beer with Hank, Bill and Boomhauer. Dale is an avid smoker (since third grade) of Manitoba brand cigarettes, perhaps a parody of Marlboro cigarettes, and also drinks Mountain Dew (which he once asked Nancy to boil). In the episode "Dale Be Not Proud", Dale tells a boy receiving his kidney that the kidney likes Mountain Dew, and to give it a can once a week. He also stockpiled barrels of Mountain Dew in preparation for Y2K in the episode "Hillennium".

Perhaps owing to the research he has conducted as a conspiracy theorist, Dale has a thorough knowledge of the workings of the American government, legal system, the BEAST (computer conspiracy), and bureaucracy. He has used this knowledge to assist his friends, both to help Hank with problems related to renewing his driver's license, and to help John Redcorn with his land claim and lawsuit against the American government. Ironically, Dale's help for Hank in that instance came about after he realized the Warren Commission report was accurate and became obnoxiously patriotic, to the point of painting a huge American flag on Hank's house and trying to turn Hank in to the Department of Homeland Security after he tried to remove it. However, he has a habit of horribly misconstruing information, having misunderstood placebo (a fake drug, usually sugar water) for a top secret government research project and Hank for cleaning off the paint he put on Hank's roof as "defacing an American flag" in the aforementioned case.

Dale stands 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), and can bench press 35 pounds (16 kg). He shares a birthday with Van Cliburn (July 12). He is almost never seen without his signature Mack cap and sunglasses, except on rare occasions where he is forced to remove them, as seen in the episode where he worked at a sticky notes business and had to adhere to a corporate dress code. He wears his cap and glasses indoors at all times, even at funerals. He wears his hat because he is very sensitive about his hair loss.

He often gets caught up in his (usually far-fetched and extreme) conspiracy theories, which can sometimes cause him to be very selfish or double-cross his friends (particularly Hank), although in the end he usually sees sense and comes to the aid of his friends. His schemes also tend to run out of steam or collapse; he bought a low-power radio transmitter, and launched his own talk station "serving the entire tri-house area" Art Bell-style, but soon ran out of things to talk about on the air. (He later indicated that "Dale's Dead Bug", of which he is owner and sole employee, was offended by things he said on air. He sold the transmitter to "Mexican interests" – namely, his friend Octavio.)

His trademark line is "Shi-shi-sshhaa", usually heard too fast to phonetically understand, and he says it whenever he is impressed with himself carrying out a plan or when springing a sudden move. He also exclaims "Wingo!" when excited and "That's a Gribble of an idea!" when someone thinks of a solution to his problems. He's also known for exclaiming "S'go, s'go!" (a contraction of "Let's go") when rushed or excited and "G'h!" when he is startled or learns something that feeds into his paranoid nature.

In the episode "Tankin' It to the Streets", Dale claims to have completed a Russian correspondence course and can speak the language, in this episode he is heard reciting perfect Russian as is done in one other episode "Nancy does Dallas" though his application of this in handling an Abrams M1A2 tank isn't exactly flawless (having flattened Kahn's new SUV, or, as Hank put it, "hit a curb"). In "Night and Deity", moreover, Dale is further shown to have some competency in Tagalog.

While Dale is boastful and often outgoing in his schemes, he invariably turns into a coward at the slightest sight of trouble, such as when he and Bobby attempt to steal the rival school's mascot (and subsequently retreats back to Tom Landry Middle School when they realize that their mascot costume isn't protected), Dale takes off the second Bobby tells him of the incoming students from the rival school, leaving Bobby behind (Dale ironically heads off to tell Hank so that the latter may go and save Bobby). However, he openly admits that he completely trusts his friends (particularly Hank), even more than himself, and in cases where he does realize the full impact of his actions, he can be surprisingly self-sacrificing. When he and his friends became volunteer firemen, he secretly switched his full oxygen tank with Hank's low-running one just before putting out a fire. On another occasion, in order to save Bobby from a swarm of fire ants, he intentionally transferred them to his own body and allowed them to all bite him at the same time, an action that nearly killed him.

He is also a keen baker, as referenced in numerous episodes.