It's been a long week writing code, writing design documents and generally trying to keep up with life. We had a nice rain this week so I'm looking forward to cutting my now green lawn and picking a few more fresh vegetables from the garden. I've also resolved to finally upload the pirate weekend pictures to flickr, which I haven't done yet.

Speaking of pirate weekends it's hard to believe that it's nearly Labor Day and time, again, to head to the beach for fun, sun and crab fishing. After my last trip I think I've hit onto something with the raunchy bait and fully expect to freeze even more crab Sunday night. If my luck holds out the Captain may even be in town for a little sailing action.

As I mentioned earlier Saturday was a work day and after the automotive portion I moved on to garden activities. My Ford Hook limas, or butter beans, were starting to fill out and there were plenty of tomatoes and green peppers to pick. Three rows of beans netted around half a 13-gallon bag full of pods.

The toughest part about growing lima beans is shelling them and at present it looks as if I have my work cut out. Once we were back home and everyone was settled in I sat down with the wife and watched Into the Wild while I worked the produce. Sure it sounds thrilling, even a bit like my grandparents' idea of a good time, but in the end the reward is worth the effort. Like other forms of home grown produce these beans taste nothing like the bland, green tasting frozen variety and have a better texture than canned beans when they aren't over cooked.

Despite the fun I think I'll skip planting limas next year for two reasons. First this season has produced a bumper crop and I'll have all I need for the next two years. Second at the moment I'm the only person in the house who likes lima beans. The kids haven't tried them yet so I continue to hold out hope. The wife, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. So far she's been reluctant to eat anything from the garden and I think that will continue to be the case until I can grow something that yields chocolate cake.

On second thought to heck with all of these heritage varieties.. I'm going to start a confectionery farm!

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Few things can be said about the Volkswagen which don't include the words "and then I fixed it". Saturday I managed to knock a few more to do items from my list by replacing a set of bad tie rod ends on the Passat. The car started to feel uneasy a few months back and I noticed that I had to apply more counter steer (turning the steering wheel to one side) in order to keep the car driving straight. The steering also felt generally loose instead of crisp as you'd expect and would rattle a bit over severe bumps.

Long story short I spent around 2 hours removing the old one and replacing them with new, slightly upgraded tie rod ends. Then with the help of my dad and his specially constructed "laser alignment kit" we set the toe and everything was good to go. I immediately noticed a difference and was incredibly surprised to find the steering wheel settled into a nearly perfect position. I still plan to have the car realigned but at this point it's not a pressing matter. Thankfully this was and straightforward change and easy enough to accomplish without taking all day.

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