I'm Spending $75 On Little Pieces Of Blue Plastic!

My 10-year old wants LEGOs for Christmas. Not just any LEGOs.

He wants the Maersk 2005 Sealand Container Ship model LEGOs.

Serves me right for spending many a sunny afternoon in Long Beach with him watching the container ships loading in and out. He knew a lot about container ships at 3 or 4, more than I will ever know.

My kid is a Future-Engineer-of-America if ever there was one. The kid corrected me once when he was about 3 years old and I was playing with him on the floor, attempting to fill up one of his jetplanes with gasoline in the same place (back on the right side) you fill a car, and he explained kindly to his non-engineer-minded mom, that you fill the tank for a jet UNDER THE WING. He knew that by 3 years old. I was dumb enough to argue with him. He knew a good opportunity when he saw it, he let me think I might be right but offered, -- "Let's go to LAX and check it out!"

Those were the pre-9/11 days when you could do a lot more hanging out at airports and we did our share. Of course he was right.

He NOTICES these things. I am oblivious to such issues of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, any kind of engineering, I think. Nonetheless, I invariably fall in love with, work with, am in awe of and am mostly surrounded by ENGINEERS -- go figure. It's a bit like Dante's version of Hell -- for them, not me. I can't remember the names of things like pliers and have a hard time knowing what a wrench is compared to say, a screw driver. I am NOT gifted in this realm.

So of course, that's the kind of kid they assign you.

And that's why I have to go score $75 worth of blue plastic this morning at the mall on a 15 degree morning. Tiny pieces of blue plastic that will make his day and probably destroy my vacuum cleaner.

[Editor's note: Why not order them online? That's a long story I'll go into another day. I'm sure the LEGO.com site is awesome, but I left it to the last minute and ... don't ask.]