Life Continues, Unabated

June 26, 2002

My first class in the master’s program is complete. Next class is marketing. Before I even show up to class I have to have a 1,000-word paper to turn in concerning marketing in my organization, which is eBay. So this week I have been chasing down some marketing person in San Jose, where eBay corporate offices are. It feels good to be done with the first class though. 15 more to go! Oy ve!

Working days has its benefits and drawbacks. I am growing to truly harbor a great hatred towards my alarm clock. I am in the habit of setting two alarm clocks, one with batteries, for fear that the power will go out and I will get to work late. Yes, it’s true; I’m a giant nerd.

Aside from this little has happened, so I would like to add a few thoughts for free. I think its down right disturbing how we live in a society where we shudder to think people use the restroom and don’t wash their hands but blowing your nose in public is perfectly acceptable. Those people don’t have to wash their hands according to socially acceptable rules. Never mind that sneezes contain mucus and every germ that person has encountered. But these people don’t care. They will blow their nose in a restaurant. No Problem. But you just try to go to the bathroom without washing your hands. You’ll feel guilty. Try it. I dare you.

Well, what are you waiting for?

School Begins

June 16, 2002

It’s been an exciting couple of days.   School started at University of Phoenix. I am the youngest in the class by far.   This first class just teaches you how to be a student at the University, how they approach teaching, how to write papers.   There are 8 people in the class; they are all over 30, except me.   Pretty dry and boring stuff.   That was Tuesday night.   We meet as a team once a week in addition to normal class time.   4 of us are in the team.   Also pretty dry.   We have individual and team assignments.   I want to get this first class behind me.   Next class is marketing and that should be much more interesting.   Right now its just basics.

I stopped by the condo last Thursday and took a few pics.   The foundation is in but no walls yet.   Once the walls are in Eddie and I will go put in the wires for the sounds system.   In any case here now is the view from the garage and from the front door as it exists now, which is not at all!

The piranha is coming along very nicely.   He is growing and eating.   It’s a lot of fun so far, even despite the cleaning of the tank.   He and the algae eater have these little fights all the time.   They remind me of two prison mates who hate each other but where are they going to go?   So they are friends who just snap at each other.   I noticed some of the dorsal fin of the algae eater missing so it appears the piranha wins these little scuffles, but it is definitely the algae eater who starts them.  

Last week on eBay I bought some décor for the aquarium.   It is a life size skull that looks very real.   The aquarium looks exactly as I envisioned it.   The algae eater stays busy cleaning the tank and take pics very well with a digital camera.   Hannibal, the piranha, has proven to not be very photogenic at all.   I think it’s because he jerks around so fast.   I just need a faster camera maybe?   Anyway, until I can get a clean pic of him you’ll have to deal with this.   Over all I must say I am very pleased with the skull though.   It looks mahvelous!

In other news my time on the grave shift has officially ended.   I start day shift this coming Tuesday.   I hope it is fun and exciting and doesn’t last long!   I either want a promotion or to be on the grave shift as soon as possible!   All in good time I suppose.   I will make the best of this situation though.   Even if that does mean I’ll be on days for another year.

Failed Promotion,and the Death of Summer

June 6, 2002

I've been reading my last few journal entries before making this one. It's funny how my mind changes like the tide. Remember the job promotion? I originally said, "Oh, I don't want any part of this, I'll just go for experience."  Well in typical Craig-fashion, I got way too involved. I got excited and I got into it. When I worked for Third Day, the band manager told me he was impressed with the way I "owned" the work I did in the office and that is why he allowed me to go on tour with them and be their merch guy. I'll never forget that because he told me that the same conversation that he fired me for not "owning" the merch job.  Oy. Ever since then I have tried to "own" the jobs I work. I have gotten involved and thrown myself full force at this eBay/Half.com thing. Things were going so well.  I was a master of what I did and meeting people and making friends. People liked me. All the planets were aligned.

So I did the interview for the promotion.  I prepared for it, asked questions, did everything I possibly could. I "owned" it. I tried anyway. The job was given to another. Another person who started work at Half.com after I did. A girl even. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her. I'm not trying to pull some sexist thing here. I even like her.  She is a friend of mine that I work with every week. I'm not here to say bad things about her. No sir.  I'm here to say bad things about me.

I think the primary reason I got turned down was because I lacked the technical experience. I guess it's true. I don't know oracle or networking. I don't even know what I don't know because it's all stuff I don't know.  I'm not a tech guy. So sue me. 

I expected to get the job, I really did.  I wanted to "own" it.  That won't come now.  Perhaps in the future something will happen, but I don't want to look at the future.  It's my journal and it's wallowing time.  Time to wallow in the present. 

I am still working the graveyard shift.  Much talk happened and I had the choice to stay graveyard shift, but ultimately I have decided to switch to days.  It will be better for visibility they tell me. Access to management and special projects. 

It's funny how life does this to you.  Yes, I am taking it way too serious, but thus is life, and this entry is my official reaction.  I kind of want to get it all out of my system, and honestly this journal helps.

I move to days next week.  School also starts next week.  Amber leaves next week. By the end of summer Eddie will be gone. I'll be living in the condo (unless some other disaster strikes).  Such change.

The piranha Hannibal continues to thrive.  I intend to start him on brine shrimp.  That dried food I have stinks something awful. 

Anyway that is my entry, that is my song.  Perhaps the next one will be rosier.

The Birth of the Piranha

June 2, 2002

For those of you who don’t know, I have been thinking about buying a piranha.  My roommate in Tennessee, Shawn, had one and I was pretty impressed with it.  It seemed to be easy to take care of.   When Shawn moved out he sold the fish to Jesse, another roommate, and when Jesse moved out the fish was gone with him.   I moved back to Salt Lake and ever since then have wanted one.  However keeping live animals in a house with my mother…well, it shouldn’t be done, let’s just say that.   With all the condo news I figured I’d try to get hold of one when I moved out.  As I began to think and plan about it I found that piranhas are illegal in Utah, and about 35 other states.  This brings up some ethical questions which I will address shortly.

About a month ago I got more serious when I found out that Paul had a 20 gallon aquarium that was recently vacated by his last fish.   I think his fish moved to Florida or something.  I was told he had gone to a better place anyway.  So I asked Paul if I could assume ownership of his tank, assuming I collected rent from any future tenants.  Paul was all too happy to get rid of the tank.  Then came the question, how am I to find a piranha as they are illegal in Utah.   Well my friends, they are not illegal in Wyoming.   I began looking on the internet and talking to some people and found out that getting hold of a piranha was going to be difficult.  Evanston, WY is only about two hours from Salt Lake City but no one in Evanston sold them.  I then talked to some pet stores here in town and found that in order to get one I would have to drive to WY first because no one would claim they had any over the phone.   I don’t know why.   It’s a fish, not a bomb.  

So I made my mind up that I would drive to WY and find a piranha, even if I had to drive to Cheyenne, 450 miles away.  I went to Paul’s and picked up the aquarium first.  I set it up, filled it with water, went and bought some gravel and just for kicks picked up a fish called a Chinese Algae Eater.  Just to clean up the tank.

The next day I struck for WY.   We pulled into Evanston and went the one place I knew—Wal-Mart.  A gentleman there named Paul told us they don’t sell Piranha’s but I should talk to a guy named Barry England who keeps some in his house.   I looked up Barry in the phone book and called him.  He was very nice, talked with me about fish and aquariums and where I could find Piranhas.   He said Rock Springs is the only place he knew of.  So, off to Rock Springs , another hour and a half. 

I pulled into the Wal-Mart and asked about piranhas.   The girl there said I needed to go to Summit Pets across the street.  So I went there and met a woman named Margaret.  They had piranhas!  My month long search was over.   We talked about care and feeding and what was needed and I now own one baby piranha, which is about as big as a penny.   His name is Hannibal after the great general from Carthage. Hannibal fought against Rome in the Second Punic War for Carthage, a kingdom in North Africa. He was one of the few generals to repeatedly have success against the Romans in the field. He is best known for marching his "cavalry" of war elephants through Spain and over the Alps to invade Italy from the North.  Also, out of convenience, Hannibal was a fictitious serial killer from the movie Silence of the Lambs.   You decide which one you want the fish named after.

While he is a baby he will eat little freeze dried shrimp (that smell awful).  As he grows he will eat goldfish and little baby guppies.  Mwuhaha!  However, it isn’t really the violence that I want this fish for.   People associate piranhas with violent eating habits.  That’s not my fault.   But when you tell people “I have a pet piranha” their eyes get big and questions follow.   People are interested and that is why I am driven to own one. 

Now comes the introspective legal question.  I am a good law abiding citizen.  I often go out of my way to make sure I am not doing anything illegal.  However I know about this law against piranhas in Utah and I have grossly ignored it.  I find it interesting and don’t really know what to do about it.   I mean, I want a piranha, and I have one, and I enjoy it.  By saying that, I am out of line with a state law.  I don’t know what the penalty is for breaking this law.  I am under the impression that these fish are illegal in many of the states because people don’t want wild piranhas swimming loose in their rivers.   But, the temperature in Utah is much too cold to support a piranha, so if any were released, they would die.  But I understand that I am breaking a law in keeping this piranha.  What can I do?

The Birth of the MBA, The Death of the Graveyard S

May 24, 2002

Well, this is a journal entry of much significance.   Two major changes have taken place in my life. The first of which is that I have decided to attend further education.  That's right, I'm talking about a masters degree. From henceforth you should all refer to me as "Master Craig" or "Yo Master Diggity Fwap" would be fine. I will also respond to "Your Extreme High Excellence's Majesty who is so high and exalted that even your dog's belly is higher than I".  Master Craig will be fine though. This decision came after 2 months of thinking.   Since eBay offers tuition reimbursement, schooling will be free, sort of. They offer about 1/3 of the total costs per year. So I will either have to get scholarships, pay for myself, or just take 5 years to complete to program.

The school is University of Phoenix in Salt Lake City. I am attending because with Amber gone, I will have two years of sitting on my thumbs.   Might as well get a degree while I'm at it.   It's also free.   The last reason is pride.   How many people do you know who have a master's degree?   I can think of two.   So, right there I'll have bragging rights over a major part of the population. That'll be nice.

You'd think my motivations would be income, or education, or even self-improvement.   Nope.   It's boredom, it's free, and it's pride.   Those are the three reasons.   You can file that information however you so choose.   Of course education and income are benefits, so that will pan out with time, assuming I finish the program.  

The second large change in my life is that they (management) have decided to disband the graveyard team at work.   This could be great and it could be bad.   They are asking that everyone go to swing or day shift with a pay cut because there is no shift differential on days and only 5% differential on swings.   This is disheartening, since the condo is about to come to life.

What makes this exciting is the fact that this promotion interview is about to happen.   In two weeks I will know whether or not I am getting that.   This all plays in because if I get the job there may or may not be a pay raise, and depending on how much that pay raise is, I would be willing to go to day shift.   Swing shift is out of the question since classes in the above mentioned masters program are at night.   So, I am totally in limbo until I know what is up with the interview and new job.

If the interview process falls flat on its face and I don't get a new job, I will stay on grave shift and work for eBay instead of Half.com. This would KILL me because I love working Half.com and eBay would just intimidate me since I've been out of it for so long.   I'm hoping it all works out for the best but we shall see.

That's all for now.   Thanks to all for keeping up on the journal.   I'm always flattered when people tell me they have read the latest.   Motivates me to write more!

The Condo Begins and Visiting Teachers

May 16, 2002

No major news, but a few little things.   I stopped by the condo site the other day and they have begun construction!   The foundation, or "cornerstone" if you will, is in place!   It's just an outline of cement forms at this point and very difficult to tell what room is what, but it has begun!   It's about time.   All I can do is watch until the framing is up.   Then Eddie and I will go over and drill holes and install a surround sound theatre, which will be hooked up to the TV system.

A week or so ago I had the strangest dream about one of my middle school teachers.   For some reason I was a student again in Mrs. Rideout's English class.   For some reason, in the dream, we were developing pictures.   The whole class was busy and I was standing next to the teacher because she wanted to talk to me, but kept getting interrupted.   That was pretty much it.   I woke up and thought, "I wonder how Mrs. Rideout is?"   So compulsive me shows up at the middle school and in Mrs. Rideout's room.   I just showed up and said, "Hello".   We talked briefly and caught up.   I was glad she remembered me!

Then I stopped by Ms. Graham's band room and said hello.   She remembered me too!   We just briefly caught up because school had started and her class was getting restless.   It was kind of fun though, seeing faces I knew so long ago.   I advise everyone to compulsively catch up with friends you haven’t talked to in a while.   It's like getting a letter in the mailbox.   It's unexpected and surprising and makes you feel good.   It should be done more.

I applied for a higher position at work.   Long story short, and details aside, the interview should be next week.   If I get the job it would be virtually no change in what I do day to day and would include a small raise.   However, in order to accept the position I will have to move to days or swings and leave the grave shift.   This would mean taking a 5-15% pay cut for the shift differential.   This means the raise would have to equal that amount.   No way I'm taking a pay cut and then buying a condo!   So, at this point, I'm in the race for the interview just for experience, exposure and practice.   It will be good to know the rigors of how interviews are done here.   So all that to say, no new job will be surfacing, but I'll keep you posted.   I haven’t even done the interview at this point, nor have they offered me the job, so, as always, I'm way ahead of the game by saying anything here.   I like to keep stats, what can I say?

Since this is my journal, I talk about me, but I wanted to mention some other events in my family's lives.   My brother bought a new truck.   It's a 99 Chevrolet S-10, ZR2.   He went and bought a thumpin' sound system and installed it.   It looks very nice.   I'm jealous, but I also don't have a car payment (currently).   In other news, the discussion around the house lately is about water.   Our neighborhood owner/leader/czar/dude (take your pick) is not turning on our irrigation water.   So mom called some guys over to hook the culinary water to the sprinkler system.   Ripped apart her precious yard.   This all sounds like mundane stuff, but I kid you not, this has been the main topic of discussion around the house for about 5 days.   I have a few opinions on this:

We've over evolved as a species if there is a drought and our main concern is how much it's going to cost to water grass.

Is there really a drought if ANYONE can still water their grass with culinary or irrigation water?   I mean, I envision times of war when people are happy just to get food on their plate.   That's drought to me.  

Boring stuff, but I'm just saying is all.

The Oregon Road Trip

May 2, 2002

Last weekend was interesting. I went to Oregon with Amber. She is going to Western Oregon University in the fall and wanted to see the school. I had originally not planned on going but Amber wanted driving help and I ended up going. Oregon is about 12 hours driving time and we had to be back by Sunday night so most of the time was spent driving. Amber did most of the driving anyway, but in the end I think I was more help than hindrance.

She wants to get her bachelor's degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. I think this school will be good for her. We first arrived in OR after driving all night. We stayed with some friends she knew that lived about an hour away from the school. They live on a small farm, raise their own cattle, chickens, and have some ducks, dogs, and cats. They cooked us breakfast which included eggs that their hens layed that morning. I also met the cows and discussed their coming slaughter right in front of the cows. Felt weird but I don't think the cows knew what we were talking about.

Anyway, off to the school we went to meet Leo, a guy in the administration for the school. We toured the campus and Amber got an idea of the place. By then it was Saturday Afternoon and we wanted to do some sight seeing. So off to a large water fall.

It's right next to the road so we just got out and maybe hiked a quarter mile. It's an impressive display of how gravity sucks. That water just keeps falling down. We waited a while to see if it would fall up. Nope. Just down. They said in 1995 a bus sized piece of rock fell down. I wish they had that on video!

Later that day we drove to Washington State across the Bridge of the Gods, which crosses the Columbia River.

Over all it was a fun trip. We made it home late Sunday and I had to go straight to work. You gotta hate those graveyard shifts! So Amber is going to go and I'm not sure what I will do. Paul and Amber are 100% of my social life and Paul is only in town maybe once a week. So when Amber leaves, that'll be it. I'll just curl into a ball and die! Maybe not. She's supposed to be gone 2 years roughly. I'm not really interested in getting new friends because though (like eBay teaches us) I believe all people are basically good, but I also believe most people are basically idiots. That being said, I have no desire to open my doors to said idiots. I guess we'll see. All the same I'm gonna miss Amber a whole lot. It's a shame they don't have a Sign Language degree at the University of Utah. Oh well. Here's to now!

Visiting Nashville

April 19, 2002

Eddie and I went to Nashville, TN last weekend. Eddie is looking at going to school there at a place called SAE.  It's a sound and audio production school and he wanted to see it.  So off we went.  We landed about 7 at night and drove around and saw some of my old haunts. Then we went to Doug's house. I knew him from working at Way FM. We slept there while in Nashville.  

The next day we went to the school.  They showed us 4 or 5 rooms; each one had a different level of studio. Eddie knew the first two rooms all ready but it got more advanced and ended on professional soundboards and full isolated studios.    We left feeling impressed with the place for the most part.  Eddie now has to make the decision whether or not he wants to go there.

After that we looked at apartments so Eddie would know how much rent is and what you get.  From there we had lunch and met a friend of mine who took us down town. We were supposed to hang out with her the rest of the night but she was busy so it didn't work out.  Eddie and I then went to Grand Ol' Opry, which despite its country atmosphere, is pretty cool.  Huge mall, Gibson Guitar factory, the hotel.  From there we went back home and ate dinner then it was to Belmont college for a free concert.  College kids smoke.  Unreal and almost comical. It's nothing like the ads. College kids are awkward and dorky. You give them a cigarette and it's like giving Jello to a baboon.  The funniest sight of the evening to me was this overweight girl on crutches smoking. You just tell she wanted to be cool and hang out with her friends.  She wasn't that much of a looker anyway, the weight wasn't helping, by the time you got to the crutches it was like watching the three stooges. Then she was smoking.  It was like looking into a Picasso picture or something. I just don't get the logic. I can see James Dean smoking, or Elvis, maybe even the Fonze. But whatever, they all wanted to smoke. They had no idea how comical it was. Oh yeah and disgusting. The place smelled like an armpit. The band playing was mediocre. After 4 songs we left for downtown.

Eddie and I are not cool enough for down town. The rap music and the bars and strip clubs. We just are not cool enough for any of it. Our car didn't have hydraulic lifts and neither Eddie nor myself look good in spandex.  So we finally left.  Down town is better on a Tuesday night, not a Friday night. 

The next day we met up with Steve, a friend of mine from the Newsboys tour. He owns his own studio and I knew he and Ed could talk for a bit about sound and Nashville. He has an impressive studio, to me anyway. All kinds of gear and is really doing some professional work in the Christian industry.

After that Eddie and I drove down to Murfreesboro and MTSU. Didn't tour it other than driving around and seeing some sights.  Then came the highlight.  We went out and ate at J. Alexander's.  The restaurant I used to work at.  It was great. 

The next day we flew home and went back to schedules as normal. Eddie has some choices to make about school and I just had a good time.  Hopefully I can make it back there someday. Depends on how life goes I guess.

Oh and I have some condo news.  The grant people called me and told me I'm in danger of losing the grant money.  Reason being is they need the appraisal and construction hasn't even started yet. I'm scrambling to get a case number from the real estate people to give the bank so they can give the appraisal to the city so the grant goes through.  What a mess! Hopefully I can reach someone tomorrow on that.

Till then, over and through...er...out.

Arizona, California and Nevada with Paul and Amber

April 2, 2002

It's been quite the week. Paul and Amber and I headed south for a spring break. We saw so many things and people. We left Salt Lake and drove through Utah and arrived at Flagstaff, Arizona. Paul's sister lives there. We got there late so we all went to bed. Next day we went to the Grand Canyon. There were so many people there it kinda sucked the fun out of it. It was all right, you know, for a whole in the ground. If you really wanted to experience the Grand Canyon you'd have to spend a few days there, but it's a whole lot of the same hole. We hiked a mile and a half down which was like backwards hiking. You show up at the grand canyon and you have the best view just getting out of the car. So hiking down it is just anti productive because the view gets worse the farther down you go. Also, they have these donkeys that you can rent and get down and up and canyon with. Donkey's tend to leave...shall we say..."trails". I'm talking specifically about Donkey excrement. Nobody is real interested in cleaning up said excrement so it pretty much just sits there. Piles of it, knee high.

Our little hike was nothing. You can spend days on different trails walking across the canyon to the other side and to the river below. But, we had fun on our hike and no one was fatigued, which according to the signs is just an awful thing to be. At the top was the best part of the Grand Canyon. Ice cream! Amber quickly dropped hers on the ground but she enjoyed a lovely cone. Then we drove back to flagstaff had pizza, and relaxed. The next day we were off to Las Vegas. Of course on the way is Hoover Dam, which we had to stop and enjoy. Like the Canyon there was loads of people. Too many people. To the point where it wasn't that enjoyable. Must have been Easter Weekend or something. We went for a tour of the dam innerds. which were impressive but we learned that only 4% of the dam's power goes to Las Vegas, which is the nearest city. This to me says that someone isn't really thinking. Anyway, I'm not a power engineer mechanic dude, so, whatever.

I should tell you about this odd thing Paul and Amber do. Every time there is an over hang of any kind Amber has to hang over it and Paul must take picture. Truly odd. They've been doing this for a while so I thought I'd document it here. Anyway sometimes we act like normal tourist too, so here's to that.

Next stop was Escondido and San Diego, home of Michele Peroni and Rochelle Bazan. Geoff also came down from Moreno Valley and joined us. We did a tour through Seaport Village, which was just a walk around boats and shops. Fun stuff though. California has great climbing trees that we also took advantage of.

That same day we went to this place called D and B Coopers. Michelle described it as a Chucky Cheese for adults. I expected just a big arcade. It more than met my expectations. We walked into this place and they asked for I.D.s just to get in. Inside was a very nice restaurant and an arcade that was huge. All of the games were state of the art. They had pool tables as well. One of the funnier events of the evening was this dance machine. I didn't try it since I sincerely believe dancing exists just to make fools of people, but I was happy to take pictures of those who tried it. It was just fun and games though. After spending way to much money blowing aliens up and racing jet airplanes, we were out for an evening on the beach. We arrived at a family that was burning pallets. It was a huge bonfire. We were cold so we inched up to them hoping to make friends and enjoy the fire. The gentleman managing the fire decided it would be a great idea to put an unopened can of Pepsi in the fire. You should try this some time. Just make sure you stand back! Then they just left. So we took over the fire and were warmed.

The next day was Easter. Rochelle is the music director at a church so she had been working on a production that went really well. After that we went out to eat with Rochelle and her parents in Temecula. Just a simple lunch but it was nice to visit.

Next stop on the tour was Ely, Nevada. They have a cave called Lehman Cave. It's a lot like Timpanogos, but about 3 times as big. Also, no hike. You just drive up and head into the cave. There was a very smart-alec kid there. He rivaled even me. The tour guide kept asking things like "Does anyone know how caves are formed?". I love answering questions like this because I can usually make the answer funny. But the little kid kept answering before I could say anything. Which was all cute and fine since he was about 10 years old. But after 90 minutes of this kid telling everyone in the tour group about every formation in the cave, everyone on the tour decided it was time to string the kid up. It was just a minor annoyance but to hear the grumblings of the crowd was very entertaining. I wonder if they say that about me behind my back? Probably!

On the way down the mountain they have these real strange art displays on the side of the road. Very odd. The funniest of which was the legs of a mannequin sticking up out of the ground with a boot on each one. It had a tombstone that said "Too Tall Tim". Very funny. We all got out and mourned. From there it was a quick drive home through Wendover, Nevada. Next day I was back at work.

Over all it was a successful trip. No bones were broken, no one was maimed, and I don't think anyone even got any scars! Who knows what adventures will await us next?

The Birth of Nashville For Eddie

March 14, 2002

Well it's been a while since I updated but I wanted to list a few of the minor changes in my life.  The condo people have said that construction has been delayed a little and now the planned date is sometime in September.   This is bad because it means living at home that much longer.  However, it's good because it gives me three additional months of time to raise money.   This means now I will be able to move in with a full set of furniture.

In other condo news, no word back on the loan yet.   I should hear from them by the end of this week.  The loan is at the underwriter’s office.  Once the loan goes through I will have an appraisal, which I can give to the City and they can decide on the grant.  At this point I'm optimistic about the whole deal.  Just waiting for time to pass.

Enough condo news.  I have some trips coming up.  I was a little worried about them at first due to the money crunch, but with 3 extra months I should be able to do everything I need.   First Paul and Amber and I are going to Flagstaff, AZ to visit Paul's sister and the Grand Canyon.  From there it's off to Vegas and then to San Diego to visit Michelle and Rochelle and Geoff possibly, and a few other California people.   Then we drive home through Ely Nevada where there's supposed to be a cave to visit, then back home.

Next trip is back to Nashville with Eddie.   He is looking at a school there called SAE to study sound engineering.  He wants to visit before making a decision which is great because it's an excuse to get back there!  I have plans with a few friends there all ready and am looking forward to that.

Other than that, I have zilch to report.