Maybe I should just stop reading the news...

I just came across two interesting news stories, both of which have gotten somewhat under my skin.

The first is from Edmonton, where a school is thinking of stopping the sale of milk, because 2 children are allergic to milk (CBC-link). Ok, this allergy fear has now gone too far, it was bad enough when peanut butter began to get banned (and I'm allergic to peanuts) but milk? So by this rational the only things allowed to be served in schools will be allergen free, what is that coke and potato chips? I think people are becoming a bit too sensitive about the possibility of allergic reactions. Hey if the kid is alergic to milk it's about time that they learn to avoid it, because in the real world they won't keep milk out of restaurants just for them.

The second item is a new proposal from the US, requiring any aircraft that even passes through US airspace to provide a passenger list (CBC-link). Meaning that a Canadian flight from Winnipeg to Toronto that passes over the northern tip of Minnesota will need to be cleared by the US before it can fly. I think that the US is becoming just a bit too paranoid. On top of that instituting all these draconian rules/laws is only going to result in further anger towards them. Perhaps if they backed off just a bit, maybe they wouldn't need to be afraid of flights going to Mexico.

Ha ha I just had a long weekend

Ok so it's not that big a deal, plus I didn't get the long weekend for Victoria day, so it all balances out in the end. But Monday was a holiday in the US, Memorial day, which is apparently a rather large holiday. Apparently it is also the start of summer (officially 22 days away, but how can you argue with Americans?).

It was a nice day for a change, actually the whole weekend was. Though Monday I took a nice ride out to a town on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, a place called still water. Most of the way there it was all bike paths so that was nice, kind of hidden in the trees and away from traffic. Though I did take the highway for the last part of the ride. And that's where things get really funny. One thing to note is that the shoulders of highways in the states are just MASSIVE. This shoulder is wide enough for 3 people to ride side-by-side without coming close to the white line. So one would think that no car would object to you riding on the shoulder of the highway, well one could think that. It seems though that I managed to offend a woman passenger of a vehicle while I was riding yesterday (I'll give you one guess what type of vehicle it was). See there is a paved bike path that happens to run along the edge of the highway, and she felt it was necessary to stick her head out the window and scream "bikepath" at me as they sped by. Now normally I will ride a bike path, unless it is too congested with slower traffic, it's just safer if I'm not speeding through. Now next to a highway, or any major road, I really don't like riding on a bike path that is detached from the road. I have learned from experience that most vehicles forget that the path is there when they turn across it. And seeing as the shoulder of the highway was even wider then than the SUV that she was yelling from, I figure nobody should care if I'm there. But alas, my health lifestyle, doing minimal ecological damage and obstructing nobody's way was highly offensive to her. Should I ever chance upon meeting her in the future I will have to apologize fully, and promise that the next time she sees me I will be driving the mandatory gas guzzler. Perhaps I can be like the fool I saw the other day with Florida plates on a hummer, I only hope that the idiot didn't drive the damn thing here from there, but somehow I feel that is too much to ask for.

On a more positive note there were a lot of people out biking this weekend, which was very good to see. However I was surprised to see that of those out riding were older than me, it would be nice to see more kids out, maybe one of these days. One interesting thing I noticed was the frequency of tandem and recumbent bicycles. It's kind of odd to see so many of them, but still neat. There was even one recumbent tandem. All in all neat to see.

It arrived!!!

I'm stunned, my packages finally arrived today, and I now have them in my apartment! I have to say that I am surprised at how little overall damage the items had sustained, though most were repackaged by Mailboxes Etc. when they were returned the first time.

That being said, I'm also somewhat shocked at the level of damage some items incurred. Most surprising has to be the wheel stand for the stationary trainer. This is a strong piece of molded plastic, yet somehow one end has been shattered. It is still functional, but disturbing that they could cause that kind of damage. In addition it looks as though the side of my stereo was the subject of a swift kick, there is a large crack in the side panel (though this is only cosmetic). And I have no idea what happened to my CDs, they were tightly packed in a smaller package originally. When I received them they were in a new box, though it seems that before the transfer they had been hit with a hammer. This is all I can suspect, as about 4 or 5 had sustained deep cracks and were missing chunks of plastic.

But all in all I'm not to concerned, the bikes were well packed and appear to have not sustained any damage, and to be honest that is what I was worried about most. But for future reference I'm going to avoid dealing with UPS at all costs.

UPS - UnProfessional Shipping

So you should all know by now that I've been waiting on a number of packages to arrive from Edmonton, these include most of my clothes, a couple of bikes, most of my CDs and all the other things that I wanted to keep when I left Edmonton. Well I left Edmonton on April 26th, it is now May 26th and I still do not have my packages. Though in the last couple of days I have come close to receiving them, but go figure, I don't have them yet. Below is the short form of the stupidities that have kept me from getting my stuff:

• US customs prevents the packages from entering the country. Reason-insufficient documentation, apparently they needed copies of every form that was stamped, even pages of my passport with the stamp but no other information
• Now all that could have been resolved right away, had UPS been competent enough to call me, as I could have faxed in all the paper work, but clearly they didn't
• UPS returns all my packages to Edmonton (8), though not all to the same place, one of the bikes manages to end up at Redbike, lucky for me they know whose bike it is and it finally gets to the shipping brokers.
• The shipping brokers need to repackage a number of the boxes, as the journey to Montana and back did not do them well
• Finally the boxes cross the border and eventually reach Minneapolis, they are delivered while I'm not home so a note is left saying that the packages are at the rental office (which is open 10 am - 6 pm, I got the note after 6 pm)
• I stayed home the following morning only to find that the packages were too big and the rental office did not take them (you think someone could have changed the note to say that they would deliver it again?)
• Calling UPS and using the tracking number on the slip I learned that there is no information on my packages (well that was just so encouraging I had to listen to it twice), when I finally speak to a human I'm told that they will be delivered today by 7 pm, (it's about 10:15 am, so there's a narrow window)
• One person at the rental office tells me that UPS comes by between 2 and 3 pm, so I plan to return from work before then to get my stuff
• Turns out UPS comes by at around 11:30 am, nobody leaves me a phone message to let me know this, I only find out when I get home at 1:45 pm to wait for the packages
• New note on the door says that the packages will be delivered Friday, between 10:30 and 2:00 pm (at least this is more narrow than "before 7 pm") but I'm still not going to hold my breath on that one

A couple more interesting things that I have noted with calling UPS is that it seems that the phone operators are instructed to end each call with "thanks for using UPS, use ups.com" or something to that effect, it's always mumbled. Then I realized why it was mumbled, these unfortunate people have to advertise the system that is designed to replace them, I wonder how that has to feel? The other fun part is when you call you first have to speak to a computer, literally, and read it your tracking number. Unfortunately the damn thing cannot tell the difference between the sound of an M and an N, so invariably I always had to repeat myself twice before being able to talk to a person.

Just testing a system to publish photos on the blog. This is one that was taken by Jeff Davis durring a cyclocross race last year. The races are a lot of fun but obviously there are some obstacles in the way of a fast/smooth ride. 

Check Cards - Realy Dumb Idea

As I had mentioned in a previous post it seems that the majority of what Canadians would term debit transaction are done through the use of "Check Cards" here in the US. Though they both directly remove the purchase value from your bank account there is one major difference; there is little to no security with the "Check Card".

I have recently received my check card, which was mailed to me, and only required the knowledge of my PIN to activate it. Since then I have used it twice, admittedly for minor purchases (~$5 each). The first time I had to sign the receipt, the second time I just gave them the card, it was swiped and returned to me. Now I'm not one who worries about "security" of every little aspect of my life. Yet it would seem to me that Americans tend to want more security in just about every aspect possible (so long as it doesn't restrict their access to weapons, or force them to do things safely i.e. helmets on motorcycles). But I now have in my wallet a card which essentially grants unrestricted access to my bank account that it would seem pretty much anyone could use to buy whatever they like with my money.

It really stuns me that I have had a debit account for over 15 years, which used the simple security feature of a PIN. Yet the US which appears to be a newcomer into the debit world has decided to use a much less advanced and less secure method. I really just don't get it.

Here's hoping I never lose my wallet in this country.

Oooh my very first refering link!

I just realized today that Cory (a friend in Edmonton) has put a link to my blog in his so it's only fair that I include his link (it will also be in the sidebar for future reference).

For that that don't know Cory he's really one of the nicest guys I meet in Edmonton. Very bright, on a number of subjects, and a nerd like most of the people I know. Plus being that he's a computer programmer he's likely to be able to do some more interesting things with his blog than I will do with mine. So check it out from time to time, I'm sure you will learn something or at least laugh.

More riding

Well it seems that the weather has finally made a turn for the better, at least until this weekend. I'm not sure on what the numbers are but I have heard that over the past 24 days (about the amount of time that I have been here) it has rained during 17 of those days. Now that's just fun biking weather isn't it?

Yesterday was another nice day, though the winds were strong, with predicted speeds of up to 50km/h it felt like spring in Alberta all over again. I was out for a ride with the UMN team again. It was a much shorter ride than the previous day, at only about 70 km, but the group was fun to ride with and we did some nice hills in St Paul. Oh the Ramsey hill that I mentioned in the last post, it's not all that bad a hill, it just really sucks when you reach it at 100 km into a ride. We ended up doing it twice on Sunday and it felt rather good (ok, as good as it ever feels to rip one's legs off on a hill).

As for the choice of teams to ride with, I think I'm going to ride with the UMN team this year. They seem like a lot of fun and I feel that my experience with ERTC and all that I have learned there will be more useful to the UMN program.

And on the lighter side of things I almost had the most unique accident yet on my bike. As I was crossing an intersection a motorcyclist somehow managed not to see me and was turning right at me. He noticed me in time and stopped, but I wonder how that would have turned out had we hit. I know I would have been messed up, but neither he nor the woman on the back had helmets, so who knows. I find the whole thing particularly funny as motorcyclists are always wanting cars to see them. Oh well, the only thing I can say is that I believe I have found a city with worse drivers than Edmonton, now there's scary thought.

And on a good note it seems that my packages have made their way through customs and may eventually arrive at my door this week! But I'm not going to hold my breath.

Riding with the Superteam

Well I finally got out for a ride yesterday with the Superteam, one of the clubs I have been thinking about joining. There were only 3 others to show up for the ride, though it was threatening to be a lot of rain, but it turned out to be really nice.

All I can say is that I'm somewhat surprised that I'm still in as good a shape as I am after only riding about 400 km in the last month. Today we pre-road the race that they will do next weekend, the whole trip was about 130 km, and I was not able to keep up well at all on the hills. Though I was also riding with 2 Cat. 1s and a Cat. 2, all of which have been training. In the end I made it but I have to say I really cringed when we went for a very steep wall (~10% for ~1 km) as we were returning through St. Paul. That one nearly cramped my legs up completely, but I made it home.

So I guess now I have to figure out which 9 am ride I want to go on tomorrow. Another one with Superteam or one with the UMN team again? I'll let you guys know what I chose, and whether or not it was a good idea.

Bike Race Volunteers Needed

So as most of you know in the past I have occasionally asked you for help in volunteering at a race that I would participate in during the summer. Well though I am not in Edmonton this year, I still feel that I should publicize the fact that there is still racing going on without me (I know, I'm shocked as well) and that there is always a need for volunteers.

The first race that needs some volunteers is the Pigeon Lake road race. It will be taking place on Sunday May 29th. This is really one of the better race events of the year, and certainly the event that I feel has been a showcase of how to put on a good race. Though that being said this is only possible with volunteer help. If you do wish to volunteer contact Jeff Davis at PLRR@ertc.org you will also receive the following for your help:

• ERTC's latest t-shirt

• A BBQ lunch

• Snacks and refreshments during the race

• Draw prizes exclusive for the volunteers (thanks Redbike)

• And of course the thanks of many individuals for your commitment (myself included)

There are more details about the race at the ERTC web page please think about helping out, it is a lot of fun (in fact I will be volunteering for the Nature Valley GP this year, at least I can see some pros that way).

Bumper Stickers

Last night I was out for a short ride around the three lakes near my place. It's a nice place to ride, the loops around the lake are relatively free of traffic lights and stop signs. However there are a large number of people who drive down to run/bike/walk the dog along the paths next to the lakes. Due to the speed I ride I figure it's best to stay out with the traffic and for the most part this works well. It seems to be a 25 mph (40 km/h) zone so riding at 30 km/h doesn't seem to tick off the motorists.

However last night I had an on instance where a driver was just driving along right beside me for a significant distance. I'm not sure why she was doing this, but I didn't really like it as there was a long line of parked cars on the other side of me. So for my own safety I decided to sprint for a while and left her behind for quite some time. When she finally did pass me I had to laugh out loud upon seeing her bumper sticker: "Courtesy is Contagious". Apparently she had managed to find a cure for this though so don't worry, I'm not likely to become courteous any time soon.

Another funny bumper sticker was the only one that I could read, of sever, on the back of a Ford Explorer. I don't know the emission standards for vehicles very well, but I'm pretty sure an Explorer is not the most efficient vehicle out there. Yer there it was in big green letters on the bumper "Be Green". I guess this is a case of do as I say, not as I do.

And one last note on cars down here. I mentioned in a prior post how many I had seen with evident damage, well I think I have a better idea why. Americans seem to be afraid of using both head-lights and turn signals. I'm not sure if they are worried about night-time air raids by the Germans but I've even seen some on rather dark streets without their lights on. And I don't mean that they don't have them on in the middle of the day, even though that makes sense to me. They don't even seem to turn them on in the rain, on cloudy days or at dusk. It's really strange. And from the cyclists perspective it's a lot harder to see a car without its lights on. Ahh well this is just more of the fun of being in America ;)

A few more things

I don't know about you guys, but I kind of like these lists of things I've seen/learned. As it is I keep forgetting to add a few of them to the list each time so I'm doing another list right away, rather than after about a week or so as I had planned. So with out further to do here are some further items of interest that I have noticed:

1. Messenger bags are all the rage. I sort of knew that they had been popular but these things are even more popular than iPods. For those that don't know messenger bags were designed for bike messengers, they are very comfortable, can hold a whole lot, and are very expensive. Yet it seems that every other student on campus and even guys in business suites are wearing them. Most common are the Timbuk2 but I've seen a whole lot of the much more expensive Chrome bags
2. When shopping for my phone I saw the most ridiculous concept yet, a cellular phone with a tv in it! I mean really do you need to watch tv while you walk from the living room to your SUV with the dvd player in it? (sorry I couldn't find a link for the phone to go with this)
3. Lots, and I mean lots of cyclists here are into riding fixed gear bikes. For those that don't know it these bikes have no breaks, no gears and you have to keep pedaling as long as the wheel is turning. To do this in traffic is damn brave.
4. Maybe this is just in my neigbourhood, but people seem to have no qualms about standing out in the middle of the street, even with traffic around. But it seems that I live in an rather "interesting" neighbourhood.
5. Oh and this is one of the states where a motorcycle helmet is optional. It's not all that odd to see someone without a helmet, at least it's not as bad as seeing the fools riding in shorts, sandals and a helmet. But the other day I saw a guy with a helmet strapped to be bike. And it wasn't like it was a really hot day...but hey maybe this is just more fun with natural selection.
6. And this last one is just plain odd, I was at a nice little coffee/ice cream shop and had a cappuccino, in a paper cup! It's not like I was going anywhere, why couldn't I get it a real cup?

Oh well part of the fun I suppose. Anyway I hope this entertains/puzzles you as much as it does me. I hope you are all having fun.

More funny things I've seen/learned

Ok so the last couple of posts have had a bit more complaining than they I'd like to have included in them. I've come to accept that the rest of my stuff may, or may not get here, no use in complaining about it further. So in an attempt to lighten the mood here are a few of the latest interesting/strange things I've learned while down here:

1. I'm still not sure why they crossed the road, but when Canada Geese do it they honk the whole way across when you are biking nearby - what can I say even our geese are polite
2. State police have US flags on their chests significantly larger then their badges - who needs to see a badge, all you need to know is that it's for the good of your country
3. Most stores have signs saying that guns are not permited on the premises - does this mean that you would normally be allowed to take a gun into a store if the sign wasn't there?
4. When getting on the bus there is a sign below the watch your step sign, stating that you may be photographed and/or audio recorded while on the bus - any bets that this is a new measure from the dept. of homeland security?
5. Americans seem to be willing to watch any "sport" on tv, so long as it involves Americans - the other day in a restaurant on ESPN I saw really fat men debating the best fishermen of our time, followed by national high school athletic dance championships (not actually cheerleading, which would get better air time) two gentlemen in the restaurant made sure that they could see the tv clearly when they realized what was on
   
6. Americans love to sign for things - they use "check cards" here far more than debit cards, it's the same damn thing, except that you have to sign for it and show picture id, still isn't it faster and more secure if you just use a secret code? After all it's so hard to fake id, just ask all the kids under 21 how they get their beer.

Anyway that's about it for now, as always I expect to learn more and more the longer I stay here. Somehow I feel like Uncle Mat from the Fraggles, now there's an interesting reference for the kids.

News form the mid-west

So not too much has been happening lately, which is why it's been a while since the blog was updated.

I do want to thank the guys at Redbike though, they managed to find one of my bikes that UPS is so competently trying to ship to me. I'm not sure how it was delivered to them, but that's where it showed up yesterday. So hopefully now that it's being reunited with the rest of the packages they may be able to make it to me this time, though I'm not really holding my breath.

The real unfortunate part in all this is that the really good fenders that I bought for the bike last year (and never really used) are in one of the boxes. And here in the mid-west it's been raining quite steadily for a few days now.

Today was also the first day that I did any training over at the nano fabrication centre, this is all related to my research. I can't say that I really enjoy dressing up in those bunny suits. Actually my cycling physic (or freakishly strong legs as Aaron puts it) don't really work well with the shoe covers/boots we need to wear. Because of the size of my calf and how long my legs are it constantly feels as though the covers as slipping down my leg. So I'm going to have to find a pair that I can pull up to about my knee so that I can tighten them above the calf to keep them in place.

For now that's about all that's going on, I'm having fun and enjoying the people around here. Though I do miss all of you and look forward to seeing you again.

Homeland Security Strikes Again

As most of you know I'm not overly fond of the US government and a lot of what they do. Perhaps they know about this and that would at least allow for a logical explanation of why things are going wrong.

To get you up to speed you should know that before I left Edmonton I used UPS to ship most of my goods down to me here in Minneapolis. It seemed like a cheap and logical choice. Well I've been here almost 2 weeks and my boxes of stuff, including 2 bicycles, are back in Edmonton. The broker there has been helpful in getting some information about my situation and has recently learned from customs why my goods were rejected; apparently I'm not allowed to live in the US! This is rather surprising; the same organization that says this is the one that stamped my damn visa, allowing me to live in the US! But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, this is only a branch of "Homeland Security" and after all they shouldn't be having internal communication problems now should they...

I wonder how safe Americans would feel if they knew just how stupid their systems really are?

Getting lost

So I think I have found the team to ride with down here, though admittedly I have yet to ride with them, but the shop instills me with confidence. The guys who started the shop all came from QBP and over the years have started to expand the shop, even building on their own cafe(what more could a cyclist ask for?) So hopefully I will get the chance to ride with them soon, this weekend seems to be a race weekend.

Since there weren't any rides going on, I did get up late as well, I figured I would tour around town a bit on my own. I have to say that I am impressed with some of the roads down here. Not only is the quality rather good (some kind of red pavement, maybe part brick) which feels really fast, but a lot of roads are bike friendly (few stop signs). I started taking a bit of a tour around the lakes near my place. It was funny to notice that the bike/walking paths around the lakes were probably designed by a Brit, as you are to ride on the left side.

The funny thing with today is that it was raining a bit, though still over 15 C the whole time. The problem with this was that it blocked out the sun, the sky was a uniform grey colour. This lead to me being rather confused as I rode in circles around these lakes (about 10 km loops). At one point I suddenly realized that the "new" lake that I was riding around was the first one that I had started on, and I had no clue how I got back to where I started. Eventually I found my way out to where I knew where I was and decided to try one of the river roads by the Mississippi. Well after following it and being lead to a very nice parkway I suddenly found myself at a lake. Sure enough it was one of the same ones I was riding along before. Somehow I went from going south-east to going due west. All I can say is that that was one of the oddest rides I have ever had within a city.

Oh and a neat little note for the techno-geeks out there. As most of you know I only use a cell phone, and have not had a land line in ages. Well moving into an apartment for the first time in about 6 years I was concerned that I would have to pay for a land line just to be able to use the buzzer in my front door. Well it turns out that I can actually have it directed to my cell phone, which conveniently enough has a ring (assigned to that number) which is a doorbell. I still have to try to call the door and see if I can open it that way. Either way though I don't need to use my key to get through the front door if I forget it, so long as I have my phone with me.

A few things I've learned:

Here's a short list of things that I have learned over my first week here in Minneapolis. Some may be common knowledge to many of you whereas others may be new, hopefully you will be able to laugh a little either way.

1. The strange people ride at the front of the bus. I'm not sure why this is, but not having taken public transit much in many, many years this was new to me. The fun one was the guy muttering to himself next to me in another language. When I asked what he was saying (assuming it was directed at me) he said he was talking to himself, and then just kept right on going.
2. University classes run for 15 weeks. Down here they still have yet to write their final exams, and labs are just ending this week.
3. Half the time you have to show picture ID for a credit card purchase, the other half you sign an electronic pad that messes up your signature completely, which nobody checks anyway. But I guess this is the binary logic of the US system, either they don't trust you at all, or they trust you completely.
4. If you want to listen to/partake in a religious debate, sit out front of the chem building on a Wednesday. Nobody here is quite sure why, but there are these preacher types that show up most Wednesdays and will preach/argue for hours on end, right in front of the chem building.
5. If you are in a basement lab/office with locked doors you don't meet many other grad students. Unlike the U of A it seems that theft is more or a concern here and most of the labs are locked so people don't really drop by that often.
6. Minneapolis drivers may be worse then Edmonton drivers. Scary as that may seem it is likely true. I have seen less cracked windshields but a lot more cars with massive dents, panels almost missing, or parts held on with bungee cords then ever before. Now when I bike not only do I need to watch for the cars but parts falling off of them.
7. Letters mailed that are destined outside of the US need to be addressed in capital letters, with a return address and with a person's name as the destination (cannot address it to Grandpa). Any bets that this is to make it easier for the government to scan letters and record who is sending what to whom. I feel so safe knowing that Big Brother is watching out for me, no as long as I can keep my books away from the Ministry of Truth...
   

So that's some of what I've learned so far, I'll impart more advice/wisdom onto you as soon as I learn about it the hard way.

Free Lunch

So now that I've been here for a week things are starting to feel a lot more comfortable. At the very least I'm starting to get used to life here, and sadly enough sleeping on the floor, though that will end shortly (I'm off to IKEA after this).

One thing that this university has going for it over the U of A is a much better selection of restaurants around the campus. Though I don't know if there is a sushi place or not, I'll have to see if they can do better then Yokozuna's $10 bento lunch. But today I was able to better that with a free lunch at a pasta place. We still aren't sure what happened but one of the girls from the lab and I went out for lunch and for some reason it seemed to take a longer time than expected to get our food. When the waiter did bring it over he apologized and said that the meal was on the house. Who's going to complain about that.

Anyway that's about it for today, I'm starting to plan the research out but nobody needs to be bored by those details at the moment.

Blog Success

I have to admit that I'm surprised with this blog. It seems as though a rather large number of you are checking it out on a daily basis. Apparently I've had about 30 views today alone. Hopefully there is enough on here to keep you entertained. Either way though, thanks for making it seem worthwhile to do this.

Oh if you want to see the site hit stats just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the site meter button. And if anyone knows who (or wants to admit to being) those people hitting the site from East of Greenwich Mean Time please feel free to let me know. I'm rather curious about those hits.

Anyway hopefully I'll have more interesting things to say tomorrow, but no guarantees.

New phone number

I guess this week I will probably start to do something that is a bit more like work. Ok, so I'll be going to a safety training seminar tomorrow afternoon, but it needs to be done before I can start doing the nano-fabrication necessary for my project.

Other than that I now have a cell phone that works down here without the nasty roaming fees. The new number is 612-770-6189 (the last digits are strangely similar to my old number). So if you want to give me a ring feel free to do so.

Oh I did a quick little calculation of what the health insurance will cost me for the year, it's going to be roughly $4,000! Pretty scary, lucky for me the university covers most of that, about $300/month and I only need to pay $30/month. But still when you think that the whole of my taxes last year in Canada was probably less than $4,000 you have to wonder about this system.

Anyway nothing greatly important happening down here, it's just cold and a bit snowy/raining. I will finally be going to Ikea this evening to get furniture. Hopefully it will arrive mid-week and I can stop sleeping on the floor.

I miss you all and sorry if I've been slow in writing personal e-mails, it's just taking some time to settle in. I will get back to all of you shortly though.