Are You This Brave?

My youngest son, Samuel Eli, has always been a mechanical whiz. He certainly is his father's son. As a toddler, his favorite toy was the vacumn cleaner. When he was in elementary school, his Halloween mad scientist costume had light up effects in his pocket, created by him. He blew out an electrical outlet at my friend Peggy's house when showing off one of his moving creations. And, when he was involved in the Odyssey of the Mind, in sixth grade, he motorized a cart and another prop and the judges took off points because they felt there had to be parental involvement, despite the coaches assurances that he had been the sole inventor. He never owned a toy for very long, because he took them apart to see how they worked. In fact, he almost lost the sight in one eye when he incurred a serious laceration from a piece of plastic flying off an tear-apart and had to wear goggles from then on. He was (and is) fun, inventive and interesting. Also, highly hyperactive as a child and definitely a challenge at times when he got "wound up." Sam, at age two, winged a heavy silver fork off a balcony at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and it just happened to land on an employees head two stories down. He also left a goose neck lamp lit that he was playing with when he was perhaps 5 or 6 at a Jersey shore rental house and it just happened to catch a beach towel on fire, and then burned the carpet as his Grandfather, who fortunately was nearby, smelled smoke and raced to throw the burning towel in the tub. That event cost me new carpeting for the house. I love to tell these stories, not because I was upset with Sam. I couldn't be. He was just like the monkey George in the books "Curious George" and to me, just as cute, likable, happy and charming. Even when he was driving you so crazy you wanted to find duct tape and wrap him up.

Now Sam is into cars. Big time. He repairs friends and family's vehicles and has done quite a bit of audio customization. He created his own touch screen computer for his former car. Now he is doing a huge project (which just happens to be taking up every conceivable bare spot in the yard and under the house). He has purchased two BMW's, each for $800, and is placing all the interior in the car that has engine problems into the car that has the great rebuilt engine but a crapped out interior. Then, he will sell all the remaining parts on eBay. He laughed and told his friend Jim, when I looked at the project, that I would say exactly what I said..."Sam, you are scaring me." But, every time he takes these cars apart, they manage to get put back together in perfect order and in perfectly working condition. Including mine.