Ben wants to know when he can become a construction worker and drive the big crane.

I told him when he's 22. He must go to college. After that, if he still wants to be a construction worker. It's not my fault.

But it is better than his most recent decision to become a delivery person when he grows up so he can walk up and down ramps with a hand-truck.

My kid has big dreams.

Oh, and lest I offend any construction workes out there: I really don't want Ben stuck with seasonal work. I mean, how hard is it to get dates with such limited earning potential?

Sunday evening. Steve is hacking back the non-native invasive Himilayan blackberry brambles from taking over our back yard stone wall. He stops and yells up to me. There's some might fine blackberries back here!

He cuts branches; I pluck berries. Turns out, in addition to everything else I'm allergic too, you can add blackberries. Every time I got stuck with a thorn, my skin welled up like an itchy mosquito bite. My hands were soon covered with purple juice and very very itchy.

Really itchy.

But so worth it. After Steve helped me finish plucking off the berries, we ended up with about two gallons of berries.

Two gallons.

Monday, Ben and I made blackberry jam. Turns out the first step is to mash the blackberries with a potato masher. Ben was in heaven. And blackberry juice. He lifted and dropped the masher so high he ended up with blackberry juice up to his elbows. In his hair. In the kitchen counter above his head. Everywhere. He mixed up the pectin and sugar. Stirred it into the crushed blackberries.

16 jars of jam later...

Did I mention we had two gallons of berries?

Ben insisted we deliver jars of jam to our neighbors like the mailman. Before he cleaned up. We must have made quite a site walking down the street covered in blackberry juice, carrying jars of jam on our heads (well, on Ben's head).

We managed to deliver two.

We also gave several jars to Steve's co-workers. And we have three of my favorite batch in the freezer right now.

Ben has even eaten blackberry jam. And liked it. He has told everyone that we made homemade blackberry jam. And he asks everyone if they want some of our homemade blackberry jam.

Which is kind of a problem as I don't want to give it ALL away...

Yesterday morning I was out diving with a few friends at a dive site across Elliot Bay from Seattle.  The morning was unremarkable, low clouds, lots of new divers taking classes.  We got in the water, did a few quick checks to make sure our rebreathers were working correctly, and started to swim down.  Keep in mind this is a dive site I've been to literally 50 times or more.  The site isn't great, but it's really close to home and easy to get to.

After about 10-15 mins in the water, Stefan stops fighting with some piece of equipment that's been giving him problems and decides to head back to shore.  Curtis and I keep going.  Visibility is about normal for this time of year, being able to see clearly out to about 10', and less clearly to 20'.  At this particular site there are some I-Beams which are lying on the bottom in about 100' of seawater.  The beams are really quite beautiful, every square inch covered large plumose anemones.

Once we reach the I-Beams we run into a group of 5 other rebreather divers.  They were on their way back up when all of a sudden they start flashing their flash lights all over the place.  I start looking around and then I see it.  Swimming about 10 feet away. 

If you dive around Seattle long enough you'll start to hear people talk about the six gills.   Six gill sharks that is.  Six gill sharks are deep water sharks and there are reportedly a few (less than 10) swimming in the deep waters of Puget Sound.  I've been told you have to go out really early in the morning, when it's still dark if you want to see the six gills.  Everyone talks about the six gills, but very few have seen them.  Every once in a while you see a shadow off in the distance which you might call a six gill, but I've never seen one up close.

Until yesterday.  Like I said Curtis and I swimming along, trying to stay out of the way of the other group of divers when everyone starts flashing their lights around.  If you're not a diver, when diving in the dark or darker waters and you want to get another divers attention, you generally move your flashlight back and forth in front of the other diver (not directly at them so you don't shine directly in their eyes).  So I look up at the people with the lights, and then off to my left to see what they're looking at and I see it.  Sliding effortlessly by. 

All kidding aside, the damn thing was huge, easily 8-10' long, probably the largest thing I've seen in the water in the 6 years I've been diving.  After it was gone and the initial amazment wore off and I realized I was 10' away from a shark bigger than me, I almost wet myself.  Considering my drysuit has a leak in it somewhere around my crotch you'll never know for sure. 

The rest of the divers swam away and Curtis and I sat there for 10 mins or so, staring off into the green-black waters.  Eventually to break the spell I call out "wooooo-hooooo, shaaark...."  Curtis looks at me and starts laughing his ass off.  Then he whistles into the dark trying to call the shark back as well.  We were clearly cracking ourselves up.  I start calling out that if he wants he can eat Curtis.

For the rest of the dive we keep looking off into the deep, occasionally whistling, and then laughing.  Not a bad dive for a wet Saturday morning in September.

(By the way, the pictures of the anemones I took.  The shark picture I found on the web.  Even if I did have my camera with me on this dive, there's no way I could have aimed and taken the picture in time.)

Ben and I checked out Levers by Michael Dahl from the library two days ago. We've read it maybe three times since then. The book discusses first class levers, fulcrums, bars, loads, efforts. Basic physics for, according to Amazon, four- to eight-year-olds.

We also got Inclinced Planes and I really know more about both machines than I ever wanted to know.

We bought Ben a wheelbarrow. He loves digging and has been asking for one for a few months now. We finally got one. Came in the mail this evening. In pieces. While Steve put it together, Ben picked up the wheel. And said, "Look, Papa! This is the fulcrum! My wheelbarrow is a lever!"

Then he ran upstairs, grabbed the Levers book and flipped to the wheelbarrow page to show us what it was supposed to look like once we had finished putting it together.

It's a little frightening watching your four-year-old not only remember something from a rather complex book but apply it in a new way as well.

So last week I had some work done on the Audi -- dropped the car off Friday morning, picked it up Saturday morning.  The car sat in the garage all weekend and then drove it to work Tuesday (Monday being Labor Day and all).  I noticed that when I locked the car at work Tuesday the car didn't make the helpful Chirp! to let me know it was locked and the alarm was on.  I blew it off, assuming I was hallucinating.

Tuesday night I was at Silent-World for the pre-La Paz trip meeting and noticed no Chirp! then either.  Bummer -- I really like the Chirp!, plus this was starting to feel like something might actually be wrong.  On the way home from the World, I opened the windows and notice that when opening the driver-side front window, I actually had to hold the down button the whole time.  Normally I just have to click the button and it goes down by itself.  I'm not really lazy enough to think having to hold the button down is a huge inconvenience, but there's definitely strange things afoot.

Wednesday morning I get in the car, wave to the family good bye, and drive up the street to work.  While driving away, I try to roll up my windows -- it is 52º and all -- but the front driver side window won't close (the rest do -- this is an important plot point).  Crap -- this is getting serious.  And cold.  Driving up 520 this morning when it's 52º outside with the window open was a character building experience.

I get to work and call the dealer:

DEALER: How can I help you?
ME: I need to bring my car in today -- the window won't close since you worked on it on Friday.
DEALER: OK -- I have an free slot next Thursday.
ME: My window won't close -- I need to bring it in today.
DEALER: I'm sorry.  I might be able to squeeze you in on tomorrow.
ME: Seriously -- my window won't close.  I can't lock my car.  This all worked fine when I gave you the car Friday.
DEALER: Well, if you want to bring the car in today, we can give you a loaner until we can look at the problem.
ME: I'll be there shortly.

Seriously -- these people are a real treat to work with.  So I head down to my car to go to the Audi dealer, get in the car, turn on the ignition, and start getting 'ding ding ding' telling me my seatbelt isn't fastened OR my door isn't closed.  I fasten my belt, and still with the 'ding ding ding'.  I look at the dash for the helpful picture which tells me which door is open, but no graphic. 

Hmmm.

So I go and open and close all the doors and trunk, but still with the 'ding ding ding'.  And the light inside the car won't turn off.  I sit in the car, perplexed and mildly scared about driving this possessed contraption.  After a very short moment of reflection, I MAN UP and slide the car into drive and pull out of my spot.  The dome lights are still on, and again with the 'ding ding ding'.  This is going to be a long drive.  People are actually looking at me like I'm insane.  They don't know me well enough to pass judgement on that.

I pull out of work and try roll down the back windows to even out the breeze through the car, but now that doesn't work either.  Wow, this is going from bad to worse pretty quick.  A few blocks later I look over my shoulder to make a turn and notice the "alarm is on" light on the diver side door is flashing.  Now I'm waiting for the car alarm to go off as well. 

I get to the dealer and a well dressed service advisor immediately comes out of the building to greet me.  I must look very concerned/tense/upset because he's pretty attentive.

WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: How are you today?
ME: Well... My car has been possessed ever since you worked on it Friday.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: Can you be more specific?
ME: (Pause) <give him the full list>
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: Do you know what work we did on Friday.
ME: Well, you replaced an engine temperature sensor, replaced the brakes, changed the oil.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: (getting into the car) May I have the keys please?
ME: (minor terror growing -- man I hope it's still broke) Sure, here.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: (turns on ignition, plays with buttons, everything still broken)
ME: (small sigh of relief)
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: Did we do anything else -- maybe something in this door (points at driver side door)
ME: Oh -- right (feeling like a big dope).  You fixed the speaker there.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: We probably just left something loose -- I'm really sorry you needed to come back.
ME: (Lying, but being polite) No problem.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: Let's go inside and get this taken care of -- I'll get Dave here to pull a loaner for you to use today.
ME: Great -- thanks.  Do you want to take a look to see if it's something easy?  I can hang out for an hour.
WELL DRESSED SERVICE ADVISOR: No -- you don't need to do that.  We'll just get you on your way and I'll give you a call when it's fixed.

Dave pulled out a brand new 2006 Audi A4.  I've been teasing Valerie that it's about time I got a new car, particularly a red one (red cars are faster).  However, I must say I'm a little disappointed.  The new A4's are almost identical to the 2002 I'm driving.  Not that what I'm driving is bad (except for the fact none of the windows close), but I expected a little more change in 4 years.

Oh well, Valerie would kill me if I came home in a new car today anyway.

Every once in a while you see something that make's you say "Wow! I've never seen that before!" This morning, on the way to the store we look in the car beside us and see a lady eating corn on the cob. While driving. And she was really going at it too. Not that there's a way to be dainty and eat corn on the cob, but seriously! This was at 9:45 in the morning. (posted from Steve's phone)

Well, actually, Mama needs a new pair of lungs, tho some new shoes wouldn't be so bad.

Went to the allergy and asthma specialist last week. My doc thought it would be a good idea as my allergies have gotten progressivly worse over the years. Seemed like a good idea to find out what exactly I'm allergic to so we could deal with it.

Doc decided to do a full work-up: skin poking test, lung function test. All of it.

Turns out I have "severe" allergies to just about all the trees and grasses outside my windows. (And for an allergy specialist to say your allergies are severe, they must be pretty severe.) AND I have asthma. Proven by the poor lung function test that significantly improved after an asthma treatment.

Damn.

Doc decided to hit it with everything. I now have 4 different medications (2 are inhalers) to get it all nailed down. Probably I'll be able to ditch some of the meds after the asthma is all under control. 

Interestingly enough, after taking all these medicines, I am no longer tired when I wake up in the morning. Steve's thrilled. He no longer feels like he's living with a teenager who mopes around the house for an hour after waking up. I'm thrilled to actually have energy.

I've also discovered I'm not nearly as out of shape as I thought I was. Turns out asthma gets you out of breath when you do things like walk upstairs and such.

And I'm discovering just how spoiled I have become now that I know just how good I can feel with full lung capacity. I ran out of the samples two days before the presciptions came in and I've been walking around the house wheezing and feeling tired and mopey. Steve mentioned I used to just get grumpy whenever I got all out of breath before. Crazy.

Will update with more in a few weeks after I've gotten used to taking all this crap. And running on full lung capacity.

Ah. Full lung capacity.

Deep cleansing breaths. That are actually deep.

Sigh...

Valerie's behind in her blogging, so take it on faith that we were in Cannon Beach last weekend for our annual pilgrimage to the beach.  Like other houses we've rented down there, this one was stocked with a variety of games, including a deck of cards and some poker chips.  At one point while we were waiting for dinner, Steve busted out the cards and chips and taught Ben, Luke, and Max to play Texas Hold 'em. 

OK, not really play, but they did have their own hands, bet their own chips, etc.  We just told them if they had anything worth playing in their hand.  Somewhere along the line I asked Ben to show me his poker face.  Needless to say, he has a long gambling career ahead of him.

It's one of those events you never really want to happen.  One of those events where you always look upon with a sense of dread.  Yesterday on the way to work the "check engine" light showed up in my A4.

Crap.

So I slow down a little and think it's probably better to keep on to work since work is closer to the Audi dealer than home.  I get to work, and double check a few things (like making sure the gas cap is on tight -- believe it or not that can cause problems), but the light wouldn't go away. 

Once the dealer opens, I call to make an appointment:

DEALER: How can I help you?
ME: I need to get my A4 serviced -- the check engine light came on this morning.
DEALER: Was the light blinking or steady?
ME: (somewhat confused) Uh, steady.  It blinks?
DEALER: Oh yeah, when it blinks it's pretty serious.
ME: No kidding.
DEALER: We're pretty busy today, can you bring your car in tomorrow?
ME: (slowly) Sure, but is it safe to drive?
DEALER: Oh sure -- don't worry about it.  As long as it isn't blinking it's probably just some emissions related thing.
ME: You're sure.
DEALER: Definitely.

This morning I take the car in and I talk to the "Service Advisor". 

SERVICE ADVISOR: So it says here the check engine light came on
ME: Yup.  The lady on the phone says it's not to serious -- it's not blinking.
SERVICE ADVISOR: Yeah -- blinking is definitely a sign of something bad.
ME: That's what I hear.
SERVICE ADVISOR: Ok -- sign here.  Note that it's going to be $175 to diagnose the problem.
ME: But the car already knows it's broke, right?  That's why the light turned on.  Can't you just ask plug the car into the computer and ask why it turned the light on?
SERVICE ADVISOR: Nope.
ME: (feeling a bit silly) Oh.  Ok. 

Haven't heard back from the dealer what's wrong, but I'm sure it's no big deal.  Just a lesson however, if the light in your car ever blinks, pull over and run away.  The blinking light is a sure sign of bad things to come.