Fire Extinguishers

Everybody knows having fire extinguishers in the home is important. We all say we should have one. But how many of us actually do?

Over the Christmas Holidays a coworker had a kitchen fire.

Somehow a resin / plastic refrigerator magnet became attached to the bottom of a baking pan.

When they baked muffins, or corn fritters, I can’t remember which – the resin magnet caught fire.

Fortunately – they had a fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

Home saved. Nobody is homeless / living in a rental apartment. Keepsakes and photos are safe. Life not disrupted. No having to deal with insurance companies for 6 months.

And NOBODY DIED.

The next day I bought 2 fire extinguishers at Lowes Home Improvement.

The primary fire extinguisher is adjacent to the kitchen, garage and the stairs to the bonus room.

 

 

The second fire extinguisher is in the hallway laundry closet. Next to the bed rooms.

 

 

And as my coworker said to me – “That’s great you got fire extinguishers. I hope you never use them.”

Indeed.

Christmas 2009

Nuke's parents were out of town for Christmas so he came up to Sanford to go with me to NoVa to spend Christmas with the family.

We left around 1030 on Christmas Eve. Traffic wasn't too bad until we got near Fredricksburg. After that it was pretty heavy with some stop and go.

My nephews were in a Nativity thing at Vienna Presbyterian; so we drove directly there. Got there about a half hour before the start so we went across the street and got some Starbucks.

The service was pretty full. We sat in back so the families of the kids in the pageant could take the closer seats.

Plus, I didn't want anyone around me to get hurt when I got struck by lightening for being in church.

Afterwards we all went to a restaurant for dinner: Me, Nuke, brother-in-law, sister, niece and her hubby, and the 2 auxiliary nephews. Chinese Christmas Eve dinner should be a tradition. It was great.

Christmas morning ADD and RDD has everybody over for breakfast and to watch the kids tear into their loot.

None of my photos turned out all that great.

Afterwards Nuke and I went into Reston to see Sherlock Holmes. OK but not that great. Wait for Netflix - skip paying admission at the theater.

Christmas dinner was at ACH and GAH. As usual it was excellent and a lot of fun to have everybody together.

 

Drove back to NC on Saturday. I spent the evening watching Bowl games. The UNC - Pittsburgh game was about as close as you could get. Interesting note - NC State beat both UNC and Pittsburgh this season.

Sportsmanship

This unfortunate incident happened late in Saturday's game. With the intense rivalry between State and Carolina - it has become a 'hot' topic.

BTW - the penalty flag was on State - elsewhere on the field. The refs did not see this, after the play, UNC taunting. If one had, I feel sure there would have been a 15-yard flag.



The State message board comments are understandably angry. Rather than link to them, here's a link to the InsideCarolina board. The majority of UNC fans are embarrassed and want Coach Butch Davis to take corrective action.

UNC at NCSU Thanksgiving 2009

 

Table Repair

I meant to put this in to the last entry but forgot. File this under boring chores and stuff.

My coffee table leg got broken a couple weeks back. I finally got around to fixing it.

A picture is worth a thousand words - so here's the web photos link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bill.Sessoms/TableRepair#

The initial clamping was for about 3 hours (I used 30 minute yellow wood glue). After I reassembled the leg, I re-clamped it for the next 24 hours just to be sure.

Thanksgiving Preview

I have a full Thanksgiving weekend ahead.

Nuke is coming up from Southport on Wednesday. Thursday, we’re driving up to NoVa for dinner with the family. Nuke’s parents are in California and his girlfriend is in Texas. It will be good to have someone along for the long drive and back. We’ll need to get an early start Thursday to get to Reston in time for the afternoon dinner.

Friday, we’ll drive back to Raleigh. No time requirements so we can make the drive whenever.

Saturday is the final football game for the season – UNC at NCSU. Pre-season this was expected to be a huge game. Early predictions had both NC State and UNC as possible contenders for the ACC Championship game and BCS bid.

Well, that sure as heck didn’t happen. Especially not for NC State. I expected a 7 – 5 or 8 – 4 season with 9 – 3 a real possibility. After Saturday we’ll end up 4 and 8 - maybe 5 and 7 but I don’t think we can win this one. I looked on Stubhub yesterday; there are a whole lot of NCSU tickets for re-sale. I guess a lot of State fans just can’t stomach the idea of watching us lose to UNC as the final nail in this season’s coffin.

Sunday afternoon there’s a home basketball game – New Orleans I think.

I haven’t made the drive to NoVa in a long time – possibly almost a decade. I don’t like making long drives, especially by myself. My trips up there have all been by airplane. But, flying would take almost as long. An hour to the airport, and hour checking in, the flight takes an hour, and about an hour to pick up my bag and get to M&C’s house. Altogether about 4 hours at the very best. What used to be a convenient, almost pleasant travel experience has become an ordeal of long lines and stress.

The drive will take somewhere between 5 and 6 hours. Plus, having Nuke along for company will be nice.

So, for a relatively short trip such as to NoVa - the boredom of driving vs. the stress of TSA has become a wash.

I haven’t made plane reservations for Christmas yet. I’m waiting to see how this drive goes.

Ringing

There’s another downside to driving. Starting about 6 months ago I developed Tinnitus.

Folks, its dammed annoying. I get it when there's a lot of background noise. So, everyday, on my drive to and from work, the wind, road and traffic noise set it off. And it’s loud. The volume of ringing can sometimes overwhelm the volume of background noise.

It usually persists for a couple hours after I get to work / home. Which means I’ll have it all day Thursday and Friday. Plus the drive up to the games Saturday and Sunday and the noise of the games as well.

I’ve been thinking about getting some noise cancelling headphones – but I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive without being able to hear. On the other hand, the Tinnitus is getting so bad I just about can’t hear when I’m in the car anyway.

Overall though, the long drive notwithstanding, I’m looking forward to the weekend. It will be good to see the family and there’ll be lots to do over the long weekend.

Recession Visual

Speaking of Nuke, he had this posted on his blog - it's very strking. Similar to how charts and graphs can help one grasp numerical data - this depection of unemployment progression by county just reaches out and grabs you.

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html

Weekend Update - November 15, 2009

Nothing to report on this week. Just a typical work week and chores at home.

Watched The Changeling this week. What a great movie. If you haven't seen it - I highly recommend it.

Went to the Clemson at NC State game yesterday with Chip, Dwayne and Erika. It was nice to sit out in the sun and people watch. Well, at least the people who didn't leave early.

The offense played pretty good. Our defense has just evaporated. We're not going to win another game this year. Next up is Virginia Tech and the season ends Thanksgiving weekend with UNC.

I keep up with the various State sites and message boards. There's a lot wackos out there in Internet land and State has its fair share.

I am, however, in agreement with the majority of disgruntled State football fans - Mike Archer (Defensive Coordinator) needs to go. He developed poor to mediocre defenses at Kentucky - and now he's doing a comparable job at State.

Coach O'Brien values loyalty and stability - but I hope he realizes that Archer is a losing proposition and makes a change for the good of the program.

Weekend Update - November 8, 2009

 

The weather was perfect for watching State beat Maryland in a frustrating, but exciting game yesterday. This may very well be the last win for NC State football this year.

Nuke came up for the game and brought his girlfriend, Emilie. We had a good time.

We watched a couple movies on DVD; had roast chicken Friday night; and steaks Saturday after the game.

It was a nice relaxing weekend.

I've been up since 0630. As I write this entry, I'm waiting for Emilie to get up - I'd like to take her to the hippie-dippy cafe in Pittsboro for breakfast. Then maybe stop by the hippie-dippy grocery store for a cappuccino. Or, they may head back to Southport. Whichever. It's all good.

Meanwhile, I've put the left over roast chicken in the crock pot for home made chicken soup. I need to swing by the grocery store to pick up an onion, some celery and carrots.

A Word About NC State Football

State lost a close, exciting game yesterday to Florida State; 45 - 42. The game was close the whole way.

But the score also shows how porous our defense is. In the last 3 games opponents have scored 49 (Duke?!? - yeah, Duke), 53 and 45 points on us. You can't win ballgames with those kind of numbers.

I was expecting a 7 and 5 season - with next year being the breakout year. So far, we've won 1 game against a FBS opponent (Pittsburgh) and are 3 and 5 overall. We'd have to win all 4 remaining games to reach 7 and 5.

That's not going to happen.

We should be able to beat Maryland at home next weekend.

After that - it's Clemson (home), Virginia Tech (away) and Carolina (home).

Looks like we could end up 4 and 8.

(Guys - puh-leeeeze make it 5 and 7 with a win over UNC.)

The Wolfpack has taken a giant step backwards this year.

I'll be at the home games - and I'll stay to the (bitter) end of each game.

Oh yeah - basketball tickets arrived Friday. Oh joy - we're expected to finish dead last in the ACC this year in basketball too. It just keeps getting better and better.

October 2009 Cruise Vacation - Westerdam

Usually I post photos with my entries – but this one is a narrative of my Cruise vacation with out embedded photos.

For photos – click here – or click on the Bill’s On Line Photos link to the right.

Sunday – Raleigh to Ft. Lauderdale

Typical travel day.

Easy flight from RDU to Ft. Lauderdale. Jet Blue has their act together.

Met up with David and Olga at dinner. Which for me, was a scallop cocktail, chilled fruit soup, pork medallions and a custard parfait for dessert.

David (the vegetarian) said his eggplant Parmesan was the best he’s ever had.

Yummy.

I got up at 0500 so I was tired and went to bed early – around 2100.

Nuke stayed up till the bars closed.

Monday – Half Moon Cay

Half Moon Cay is the HAL (Carnival Corporation) private island.

We rented a cabana which we were kind of wary of due to the high price ($300).

It was great.

Over priced and waaay too expensive – but still great.

Provided shade, a couple of fans, water mister, a place to shower off sand and a nice covered place to sit or read if the sun was too much or to sit out the one rain storm. Much nicer than dealing with lounges in the sand.

Dinner was scallops, avocado soup, chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese on guava with roasted peppers and pineapple.

Tuesday – Grand Turk

Sailed into Grand Turk around 1000.

We got some lounge chairs in the shade (and also rented ‘clamshells’) and lazed around.

Dave and Olga left their stuff with me and caught a cab over to the lighthouse.

There isn’t much else here.

Seriously.

Other than the cruise port – which was developed and owned by Carnival – there’s nothing on this island. Scuba diving is the only draw this island has.

As touristy as it is – the best thing to do is lounge on the beach, do a little window shopping – and that’s about it.

I read, swam, read some more, had a pina colada, napped, swam, read a little more, and napped again. Pretty nice day if you ask me.

Nuke walked past the port complex and hung out a local bar for a while.

Tonight was formal night. Most cruise ships have gone more and more casual. HAL still requires tuxedos or suits / jackets on formal nights. If you don’t have a jacket, you are NOT allowed in the dining room on formal night.

Traditional fare – jumbo shrimp cocktail, chilled potato and leek soup, surf and turf, vanilla hot chocolate sundae with almonds. Excellent.

This evening I finished a wonderful book – The Lost City of Z by David Grann.

About the Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett.

It’s part biography, history of Amazon exploration and current Indian tribe status and culture.

Compelling story and very well written. I really lucked out with this random selection from the ship’s library.

Wednesday – Sea Day

A day of sea travel on the way to Grand Cayman.

Didn’t do much.

Read, walked around the ship, listened to music and such.

Excellent string quartet on board, by the way.

The evening show was Olympic gymnast Lance Ringnald.

Best show so far. He explained the different things he did, the technique involved, the training required, etc. A very entertaining and informative act. Best act so far on this trip.

Dinner was pretty simple for me – crab mouse, chilled blueberry soup, and a simple salad with oil and balsamic vinegar. The salad was on the starter side, but I had it for the main course.

If you’re over 50 – roughage is your friend.

Thursday - Grand Cayman

Nuke and I walked around town and then stopped at a local bar away from the tourist district. After a couple (each) of very well made cocktails (and by well made – I mean STRONG) we staggered back towards the port area.

I split off at the National Museum and Nuke went on to another local bar.

Dave and Olga went out to Sting Ray City on Wave Runners. They said it was a blast.

Dinner was chilled apple, peach and pear appetizer, coconut soup and thinly sliced citrus marinated beef over a salad with avocados.

Nuke had the surf and turf for the filet mignon. He doesn’t like shell fish so I ate his lobster tail.

Friday - Mujuhual aka Costa Maya

Slept in since the ship didn’t arrive till 1000. We went ashore at 1100 for a tour of Chacchoben Mayan Ruins.

Our tour was through a private guide, not the ship’s tour.

It was a great private tour – however – we did have one scary moment. At speed - the left rear tire blew out – completely shredded – nothing left but the rim. Our driver eased us over to the side of the road. The tour company sent out a replacement van.

The Mayan Ruins were great – see the photos in my link to the right.

Dinner was a fruit salad, crab soup and steak.

Saturday – Sea Day

I crept out of the room early so that Nuke could sleep in.

Went to the top observation lounge and finished a Christopher Moore novel (Fool).

The Westerdam is full of art (as most ships are).

Nuke downloaded an Art Tour of the ship from the HAL website for me to this i-pod. Essentially - like an art museum audio tour.

I took the i-pod tour during the afternoon.

BUT - the ship has been remodeled since the tour was created - so - the tour was out of order.

Soon - I was out of sequence with the i-pod tour.

Nuke had showed me how to stop / pause / start the i-pod - but didn't show me how to fast forward or fast reverse it.

Frustrated - I spotted a kid (young guy) in the hall - "hey you - you're young - can you help me with this?"

The guy said "sure". He showed me how to operate the various functions and such.

Then - some other people came up and asked me - "Would you please take a picture of us?"

Sure thing - I figured they were with the kid (young guy).

While taking their photos with the kid - I realized - the "kid" was Lance Ringnald!

I apologized - he told me that it was great to be treated like a regular person.

He and I then hung out for a while and talked.

If you want details about his career, girl friend (health problems - but getting better), life as a cruise ship entertainer, etc. - give me a call.

Gala Dinner – some kind of mouse, another appetizer, soup, shrimp scampi and baked Alaska.

We all met for the show later and I hung out with Nuke at the Sports Bar afterward.

Around midnight – I went back to the room and packed.

Sunday – Ft. Lauderdale to Raleigh

Nuke and I rolled our bags down the hall to Dave and Olga’s room and hung out with them during disembarkation.

Dave and Olga headed out to Miami South Beach for a couple of days.

Nuke and I had a late afternoon flight back to Raleigh. Outside the terminal I asked a Policeman where to spend time till our flight. He said, “Early Sunday morning? I know just where to send you.” He waved a cab for us and told the driver to take us to the “Marriott Beach Place – Ft. Lauderdale” and added “between Las Olas and 17th Street”.

The taxi took us to a great place right on the beach. An upscale residential / hotel area with shops, restaurants, coffee bars – next to the Marriott and the Ritz Carlton.

Nuke and I spent the day at the h2o Café.

Nuke had a few beers, I had a Cuban sandwich and some Pellegrino water – and we spent a few hours people watching.

Walked next door to the Ritz Carlton entrance, caught a cab to the airport and away to Raleigh.

All in all – a great vacation.

U2

 

 

I watched 8th ranked Cincinnati at 21st ranked USF on ESPN Thursday. It was a good game. We play Cincinnati next season.

The announcers kept talking about how bad the field was (Tampa Bay Buc’s Stadium). Seems there was a U2 concert last weekend – and the damage was pretty bad – and it wasn’t repaired in time (or properly) for the game. The Panther’s play the Bucs there this coming Sunday.

When U2 played at NC State our turf was removed before the concert. Then temporary turf was laid down for the remainder of the season. And that will be replaced by the correct turf at the end of the season.

Here come’s the science (and boring details) –

Our ‘brand new this season’ flat fast draining field is basically a sand bed with a ¾ inch golf course putting green on top. It was installed early this year and had a full growing season for the roots to attach to the underlying sand bed.

With the stage, structures, equipment and plywood, etc. required to stage the U2 show – that would have pretty much killed the grass and dented the sod, etc. So – that’s why it was removed before the show – basically taken back down to the sand bedding / foundation.

The ‘temporary’ replacement sod is much thicker. AND – has a clay base. The idea is that since there’s no growing time – it was made to be heavy enough that it won’t move during football play. And the thickness withstands the pounding and cleats.

But – clay doesn’t drain well (negating the fast drain system) and the turf isn’t the fine quality of the initial field. Thus – after the season – we rip it out – replace it with the nice (and thinner) putting green sod – and it’ll have a year to grow and attach.

How much you ask? Around a quarter million dollars.

We, and by we I mean the Athletics Department and Cameron Smith (head engineer for NCSU) know what they’re doing and made sure that the U2 show wouldn’t negatively impact the football program.

U2

Spectacular show. Very well done. The political commentary was kept to an acceptable level. The play list could have been a little stronger but overall a great show.

My friend Chip had an interesting observation. He said that good talent and music should be able to stand on its own – without the need for special effects.

He’s right.

Name Branding

Name recognition and branding is important. Major corporations spend millions researching and testing when they want to rename or market a new line or product.

The local airport is about 3 miles from my house. I'm not in an approach path or anything like that so there's no noise except for the weekend folks learning to fly in piper cubs buzzing around. I enjoy watching them. Sometimes I drive over just to kill a little time and watch the various little planes take off and land.

Saturday was the first ever Family Day at the airport. I went over for a little while in the morning. The afternoon, of course, was spent watching State get it's ass whupped by Dook.

Anyway - they announced that our little ol airport was getting a new name: the Raleigh Executive Jetport at Sanford-Lee County.

Huh?

I guess there's something to be said for getting everything in the title.

Maybe they'll call it the REJ@SLC for short.

LOL

Movie Addendum

I'm watching The Man Who Fell To Earth. I've only seen it once - when it first came out in theaters.

The sound has been digitally remastered for Dolby Surround as well as THX / DTS. I've switched back to the original stereo. All the extra sound seemed out of place with the original cinematography.

Duke 49 - State 28

We lost to Duke. Yeah - Duke.

Duke scored 49 points on us.

Not Florida, not Texas, not Ohio State - Duke.

The second half (except for a beautiful kick off returned for a touchdown) was the absolute worst I've seen State play since Amato's last year coaching.

We found out in last week's loss to Wake Forest that we have a porous secondary.

Well, tonight, Duke's Thad Lewis passed for over 450 yards against us. There was no need to run against us - Duke could pass at will.

You can bet that every team we play from now on will be airing it out.

All the preseason talk about an 8 - 4 or maybe even 9 - 3 season was just a bunch of BS hype.

Shout Out

My friend Chip also keeps a blog. You can find his blog by looking over to the links on the right.

Here's a link to a recent post of his.

Even if you're not a sports or baseball fan - it's well worth watching.

That guy should be in Vegas setting sports book odds!

Don’t Touch Me Biatch

Woody Durham has been UNC’s sports announcer for ages.

Obviously one is partisan – but – most announcers try to be professional and objective. Naturally, I’m prone to find fault with Woody since I’m an NCSU guy.

To me – Woody has always been blatantly slanted during his broadcasts. He's gotten better over time. But still . . . .

[NCSU’s Gary Hahn (and his predecessor Wally Ausley) is always much more objective and professional during broadcasts. IMHO]

Woody seems to have an ego. He comes across as self-important and self-aggrandizing. Basically kind of icky and oily.

Hmmmmm – seems some of the UNC staff might have issues with ol Woody as well.

Here’s a clip of Woody interviewing UNC Head Football Coach Butch Davis.

You only see Woody’s microphone and hand in the video. Watch Woody's hand – and Butch's right shoulder. What you’re looking for happens around 25 seconds into the clip.

I haven’t been able to find a way to embed the clip - so you have to click on the link for now.

Let’s roll the tape, shall we?

LOL

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/inthehuddle/video-iframe.html?&url=http://mfile.akamai.com/26782/wmv/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/unc/09-10/video/m-footbl/09sep/092609_unc_m-footbl_DavisPress.asx

This is a Great Movie

NCSU 38 - Pittsburgh 31

 

 

NC State won a very tough game against Pittsburgh on a wet Saturday afternoon.

It was one of the hardest played games I've seen in quite some time.

There's a reason Pittsburgh is expected to win the Big East Conference. They are a big, fast, hard hitting, physical team.


Thanks to Chip, John and Erika for joining me at the game.

Photos from the News&Observer.

Synapses

Memory is an interesting thing.

Supposedly, all our memories are stored in our brain. We just don’t have the ability for total recall. But – we all have memories that pop up now and again that we remember with full clarity.

When I was about 6 or 7 years old – my sister, *Georgiana, taught me Puff The Magic Dragon.

I remember sitting with her and going over the lyrics until I learned the whole song.

I even remember not caring much for the slow part of the song but liking it when it picked up at the very end with the refrain again.

I also remember asking her what the song was about, where that sea was, and did there ever really used to be dragons?

I love music.

In my house - usually the radio (or nowadays the computer through the stereo) is playing music rather than the TV being on. To this day, that song is still one of my favorites.

It's so cool to have learning that song as one of my life long, never to fade away, memories.



Thanks to Peter, Paul and Mary.

Mary Travers: November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009.


Oh yeah, BTW

*Mike -

Thank you to you too.

You're the bestest sister ever.

Just How Bad is Western Kentucky?

State beat Murray State 65 to 7 Saturday.

It wasn't even that close.

Still - I'm not sure how our Offensive Line is going to be. Certainly better - but will they be good enough?

Coach TOB played backup QB Mike Glennon in the second quarter, most of the third and part of the fourth. Then he put in our third QB Imhoff with instructions to hand off to the running backs each play to run the clock out.

In fact, we punted for the first time in the fourth quarter. After that, it was hand off each down - including fourth down and turn the ball over on downs.

Which brings us to Western Kentucky. Murray State beat them the week before - 66 to 10.

Pretty much a ho hum game - but as always - we stayed to the end.

Thanks to Chip, John and Dwayne for going to the game with me.

One Minute Football

Want to see the entire South Carolina at NC State game from last Thursday? In under a minute?

This is a neat time lapse video from the local cable TV news - News14Carolina.

It works best after it starts if you 1) Click on the video to take you to the youtube.site and then 2) Click on the HD button for a high quality version.

Feeding Mama Raccoon and Her Kitts

Here's a little video of our, almost nightly, routine. Only 2 of the kitts (and mama raccoon) are in the video. I thought maybe we had lost one. But number 3 showed up later.



Saturday

Went to hear some music at the Moncure Fire Department. It was a fund raiser for the local 'Food Bank' operated by the New Hill Baptist Church.

 

Live music is always good - and a couple of the groups were excellent. Also, the BBQ was tasty as always.

I thought this was a pretty cool shot of one of the fire trucks.

 

The Crying Game

Some excerpts from The President's Speech:

"...it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork."

"But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying."

"Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future."

"We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country."

That socialist commie bastard!

The nerve of him trying to encourage individual responsibility, staying in school, respect for your teachers, studying hard and doing your homework.

Debating differences in opinion are a fundamental part of Democracy.

So here's my opinion.

I think some people should have paid more attention in school - in Civics Class for instance.

And maybe they should pay a little less attention to bloviating demagogues - Glenn Beck for instance.

I also think melodramatic Crying Mom could get a better grip on reality.

The Score Is a True Indication

State's Offensive Line Lets Russell Wilson Get Sacked 6 Times

It was supposed to be a good NC State offense vs. a good S Carolina defense. And an average State defense vs. an average S Carolina offense. I expected a score of 21 -17 or there about.

What happened was a weak State offense / strong defense vs. a weak S Carolina offense / strong defense.

When neither offense can get anything going – you have a low scoring game. Both team’s offenses were awful. State’s offense sucked a little worse than S Carolina’s.

S Carolina 7 – NC State 3 is about as low a score as you can get. It sums up the game exactly.

Technically you can have a 3 to nothing game – but . . . . .

I don't think you can call it highlights - so let's just say - here's some video of the game:



Still – being there was exciting.

Carter-Finley was packed and rocking. South Carolina brought a lot of fans and filled up the visitor sections with a scattering of them elsewhere using scalped tickets. Everybody stayed till the very end.

The game may have been a sleeper to watch on TV – but in the stadium – it was still a lot of fun.

Thanks to David S and his mom for going to the game with me and the Nuke’ster.

Ready for Football

 

South Carolina at NC State - Thursday night, 7 PM on ESPN.

Early line has NC State by 4 points. Sounds about right - I expect a close, exciting game.

5 more days - I am sooooo ready for football.

Craig Anthony Miller Wingnut Asshat

Remember seeing this guy on the news?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

He's Craig Anthony Miller; 59 years old - and guess what?

Living off the Guv' Mint.

Yep - government funded disability.

At the Town Hall Meeting he looked pretty healthy and energetic to me.

Maybe he should shut the hell up and get a job.

NCSU Ticket Math

My NCSU Football season tickets arrived today.

Also – I recently received a mailing from the Wolfpack Club alerting me that Basketball Season Ticket Renewal Packages for the upcoming season will be mailed shortly.

About this time each year I do a little math.

2009 Football Season Tickets were $1,456.00 for 4 seats per game for 8 home games (including a parking space).

2009 – 2010 Basketball Season Tickets will be $1,143.00 for 2 seats per game for 16 home games (including a parking space).

Plus, I have to pay $600.00 per year for my Life Time Rights – i.e. the “right” to keep the same seats in football and basketball year after year.

Plus, I have to “donate” $420.00 per year to the Wolfpack Club.

Anyway – it all adds up to $3,619.00 per year.


With me so far?


For football it breaks down like this –

$1,456.00 for tickets + $400.00 annual LTR payment for 4 seats + $210.00 (½ of my annual donation) = $2,066.00

$2,066.00 divided by 32 (8 games x 4 tickets per game) = $64.56 for each ticket


For basketball it breaks down like this –

$1,143.00 for tickets + $200.00 annual LTR payment for 2 seats + $210.00 (½ of my annual donation) = $1,553.00

$1,553.00 divided by 32 (16 games x 2 tickets per game) = $48.53 per each ticket


Of course, it doesn’t matter to me how it’s divvied up – I still have to pay the $3,619.00 regardless.

I'm a Get to the Point / What's the Bottom Line kind of guy.

So another way to do the math is to divide the total amount by the total number of tickets.

$3,619.00 divided by 64 tickets = $56.54 per ticket.


Chip and Nuke owe me some serious ass kissing.

At the very least they could bring me a lemonade or iced tea from the concession stand.

:-)

Waaaaay back when Boze and I graduated from State and started getting Football Season Tickets - I think it was something like $120.00 per season ticket and the Wolfpack Club Dues were $100.00 - which Dave and I split. Basically - for a long time I remember it was around $300.00 per year for football. I couldn't afford basketball tickets back then.

Now, just the parking space costs more than the Wolfpack Club Dues / tickets / everything was back then.

ROFL

Due to the Recession

My annual LTR payments and annual donation payments are drafted monthly from my checking account ($50 and $35).

Then – each year I’d have to write a big check in May for the upcoming football tickets and each September another check for the upcoming basketball tickets.

I have always wished there was a way they could draft ticket costs each month – sort of like a Christmas Club savings account thing.

Due to W’s recession / damn near depression - Starting this past spring – The Wolfpack Club offered the option to pay for season tickets in installments – 3 months for football (starting last May) and now 3 months for basketball (starting in September).

That makes it a whole lot easier than writing 2 big checks each year. Now they just charge your credit card.

Due to overwhelmingly positive response - I’ve been told that the Wolfpack Club is going to continue the installment payment plan even after the economy improves.

As Martha would say - That’s a good thing.

Sanfordstan Air Force

The B-17 Liberty Bell is in town this week. The Sanford-Lee Airport is about 2 miles from my house. So I popped over after I got home from work and took the following photos.

Click on the photos for a much better look.

From the Parking Lot

Front View

Close Up

9 Cyl Radial Engine

Pristine Restoration - Inside the Wheel Well

Control Cables Inside the Wheel Well

Rear View

Sanfordstan Air Force MIG in the Background

Piss On The Devil

Path to the Devil's Tramping Ground

Devil's Tramping Ground

Anyone who grows up in NC hears of The Devil’s Tramping Ground.

I’ve lived out here in the country for over 10 years now and I decided it was time to finally go and see this thing.

On the way I stopped at The Old Place for breakfast. Pretty busy. Naturally, I had some homemade biscuits with country ham.

Then on down NC 903 to Harper’s Crossroads which is where the infamous spot is located.

Yep – it’s a natural perfect circle in the woods. It’s like a circle of dirt and gravel surrounded by woods.

The gravel is the clue. From the looks of the gravel, which is quartz and granitic and the fact that it’s only in the circle surrounded by clay and soil – my guess is the spot is a small igneous batholith or laccolith from which the overlying sedimentary structure has eroded away. The top of the batholithic structure has also eroded down to a flat top. The surrounding sedimentary erosion resulted in the rich soil outside the circle. So, you have a granitic circle which doesn’t support growth surrounded by rich sedimentary soil which readily supports vegetation.

Not sure if the devil walks around it, but from all the litter and debris it’s obviously a party spot for the local kids.

Of course, being a guy, in the woods, and having had several cups of coffee – naturally I . . . .

NC State Football

The fan “Blog of Record” for NC State athletics is StateFansNation.

Started by one guy, it now has multiple contributors and is the place to go for good articles and links along with the usual chat and criticism.

One contributor, LRM, has written a series of articles about the recent history of NC State football. LRM sums up almost perfectly how I’ve viewed and experienced NC State football over the past decade or so. The hopes, dreams, highs and lows.

I, of course, was at the home games he describes – such as when we first beat Florida State at Carter-Finley. And I was at many of the away games - the Gator Bowl victory over Notre Dame and the game at UNC where the refs gave the game to the Tar Heels. I was also at the ECU Peach Bowl (and both ECU brawls at Carter-Finley), the cow bell Peach Bowl, the Florida Gator Fog Bowl and the thrilling triple overtime game at Ohio State.

Along with the hiring and firing of Amato, implementation of Life Time Rights, the facilities investments and building program, Phillip Rivers – LRM describes everything pretty much as if he were writing for me personally.

Part I – The 1990s

Part II – 2000 to 2006 (Chuck Amato)

I want to add to something that LRM touches on in Part II. He mentions the inconsistency caused by assistant coach turnover.

Actually, I think there was more to that than just inconsistency.

Assistant coaches under Amato left – every year. Far more than typical attrition.

It’s one thing if you have a great program and assistants get hired away for promotion type jobs – like coordinators or head coaches. But that wasn’t the case here. Coaches were just plain leaving. Every year.

Was it mismanagement? Could they tell the program wasn’t being run well? Or was it they wanted to get away from difficult working conditions?

I think they wanted to get away from their boss – Amato. My, off the cuff, not at all informed, and totally unsubstantiated opinion is that Amato was a dick to work for. Possibly emotionally unstable. Probably personality disorder. Which would go along with his outsized personality and ego.

Even before things began to disintegrate on the field – I was watching the yearly coaching exodus and I wandered what the hell was going on.

Part III – Phillip Rivers

Part IV – TOB

Part V – 2009 and Beyond

I agree with TRM 100% on this year and the future. We’re going to be a very improved team. I’ve been telling folks that this year we should be 7 and 5. With a break here, a little luck there - maybe 8 and 4.

One thing for sure – we’re going to be IN every game we play.

The important thing is – TOB has laid the groundwork. Each year we are going to get fundamentally better and better.

Improving from, say, 3 and 9 to 6 and 6 is a lot easier than going from, say, 8 and 4 to 10 and 2 or better.

I don’t expect the breakout to happen this year. I think 2010 is the year NC State will take its place on the national map.

And from there – anything is possible.

August 2 Weekend Update

Not much to blog about.

So here's a couple of pictures.

There's this guy who rides around downtown Raleigh on bicycles outfitted with American flags. And sometimes POW flags. He's been around for years and years. I drive by his house on my morning commute. I snapped this photo this week while waiting at the traffic light.

 

Sunday, Nuke and I went to the The Old Place restaurant. It's way out in the country. It's been there for years. The food is served buffet style - and it's all homemade. A bit pricy as buffets go - around $14 per person - but it's like going to Grandma's for Sunday after church dinner.

BTW - follow the link to the restaurant - click on their menu link and take a close look. Yes - they really do have "that" on the buffet.

LOL

 

We went late - around 6 PM. If you go there right after church on Sundays - prepare to sit around outside and chat with all the other waiting folks as it's totally packed.

Bummer

 

President Barack Obama is coming to Raleigh Wednesday to hold a Town Hall Meeting. The event will be at the Broughton High School Gym which is a typical school gym - a rather small venue. I'd guess maybe 500 - a thousand tops - could fit in there.

With such a small venue - the demand for tickets would be great and supply tight.

I was very surprised when I got a call Sunday afternoon asking me if I'd like to attend.

Of course! Awesome!

OK then - come by the school Monday (today) to pick up 2 tickets. Bring ID, etc. etc.

Well - I happen to have scheduled 2 days of contractor interviews for Tuesday and Wednesday.

When the State needs to hire consultants / contractors for design work - we request proposals - sift through them - pick out the top candidates - interview them - select who we want to hire - then negotiate a contract.

Typical contracts are in the hundred thousand(s) range. Pretty good money - but nothing to get excited about. Lately we've been getting a dozen or more interested firms per project. Usually we interview 4 firms. Pick the best - and carry on. Happens all the time.

This particular project is different. It's for some very complex landfill and contamination investigation, remediation, and implementation of clean up. There's hundreds of these sites in NC. The budget for the initial contracting is $40 Million.

We plan to contract with 4 companies (instead of 1) and are gong to bundle multiple sites together per contract. The average contract will be $10 Million - which is bit more than the typical couple hundred thousand.

For that kind of money - there's been a LOT of interest. We received dozens and dozens of proposals.

We're going to interview 6 firms on Tuesday and 6 firms on Wednesday. Select 4 - and go from there.

This is just way to important a project for me to hand off to someone else at the last minute. Plus - If I did get someone else to handle it - they'd have to commit for both days AND all subsequent negotiations and everything else that goes along with the project.

As much as I'd like to go see the Prez - there's just no way.

Bummer.

Sooooo - the tickets are going to Nuke'em and a guest of his choosing.

Of course, Nuke's politics are a bit to the right of Attila the Hun.

In the interest of National Security - I went ahead and alerted the Secret Service.

They said they already knew all about the Nuke'a'Nator and would have plenty of tasers on hand.

LOL

Just kidding.

Nuke seems to be really looking forward to going.

With such a small venue - it's gonna be up close and personal for this type of event. I bet he really enjoys it.

If he gets to shake the President's hand - I'm gonna be pissed off big time.

Feeding Mama Raccoon

A short video of feeding one of the raccoons that visit the house. I didn't do any editing. My camera records in .mov format and I don't have any apple editing programs.

I've been experimenting with some online video conversion sites - to convert to .wmv - which is the Microsoft format - for which I do have an editor. But so far, the quality of the converted file is seriously degraded.

So - in this case, I uploaded the raw video.

This is the routine - I get home from work - she shows up and bangs the screen door - I (or Nuke) feed her.

She has us well trained.

If it's raining, we put the food bowl inside the screened porch and prop open the porch door with the block of wood you see sitting on the deck.

Like I said - well trained.



Oh, a quick note about my asking her about her arm. She injured her left arm - she had been limping for a couple of days. No outward sign of damage and nothing looks broken. She's walking a lot better now. Seems to have been a minor injury that is just about healed.

2009 ACC Football Schedule

I really like the Football Helmet Schedule. As always - click on the image for a larger view.

Analog Person

I'm kind of like the cliche - I'm an analog person in a digital world.

I downloaded the image to my pc. Where I then tried to upload it to this blog. Which on every attempt, I got an error message. Something to the effect that the file is corrupt.

Besides being a bit insulting - the message really didn't give me much to go on to fix the problem.

Wondering if the file had a virus or something - I ran it through a couple of anti-virus programs. Nope - nothing wrong here.

So - I went back to the original web site and downloaded a new copy. Tried to upload the new file to this blog. Same result.

After a few attempts - I finally decided that maybe the problem was that the image was .pdf format and maybe that doesn't work with blogger. So - I opened the file with Adobe Acrobat and then saved a copy in .jpg format.

Bingo! No problems uploading.

I guess these are things that some people just 'know'. But for me - it's a struggle.

On the other hand - why couldn't the error message tell me something useful - like - "blogger does not support .pdf format" - or even just a generic "the file format you are uploading is not supported". The message telling me the file might be corrupt was pretty much misleading. Granted, it made me aware that the file wasn't going to upload - but heck - I thought that I might have downloaded a file with a virus or something.

I just hope when the time comes - my walker is manual and not digital.

Is It Football Yet? +Addendum

Carter-Finley Stadium - New Fast Drain,
Flat Football Field During Construction

The talk around the office (full of NC State Engineers and Season Ticket Holders) has been the upcoming football season.

We’re all excited.

Anything less than 7 and 5 will be a disappointment.

But, you say – 7 and 5? That’s OK, but not that great.

Maybe so, maybe not.

The expectation is – the 5 losses will be close. In other words – State will be a ‘dangerous’ team for other higher rated teams to play. On paper – maybe we should lose – but with a break here, a busted play there – and State could beat any team on the schedule. Including @ Florida State and @ Virginia Tech.

In several pre-season articles – NC State is touted as a dark horse.

We’ve been plagued the last 2 years with unbelievable injuries. But so far this year, everybody is healthy including a couple of ‘stars’ that haven’t played in the past due to injuries.

Now, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve read articles that flat out predict that NC State will be the surprise team in the nation – going all the way to the ACC Championship game.

An article in today’s News & Observer gives an overview of the upcoming ACC season and predicts that NC State will finish in first place at 6 and 2 in the Atlantic Division and will play VT (predicted to be 7 and 1 in the Coastal Division) in the ACC Championship Game.

Of course, all this is counting your chickens before they hatch.

I’m sticking with 7 and 5 (overall) and finishing 2nd in the Atlantic Division and playing in a pretty good bowl game.

Still – if you read between the lines of today’s N&O article – a 6 and 2 ACC Conference record has implications for the overall record.

With 8 Conference games – State plays 4 non-conference teams: Murray State, Gardner-Webb, South Carolina and Pittsburgh.

State will win against Murray State and Gardner-Webb. We should be slightly favored over South Carolina. Pittsburgh will be a toss up on paper – but I think that Pitt will be down from last year with having a much younger team due to graduations.

So – let’s say Pitt wins – that means State should still win 3 non-conference games. Combine that with the article’s prediction of our final record in the ACC and you’ve got a 9 and 3 season. Beat Pitt and we’re 10 and 2. If we sneak up on FSU or VT in the Conference - then you’re looking at an improbable 11 and 1 regular season.

If that happens – as Fred Sanford used to say – “Elizabeth honey, I’m coming to join you!”

LOL

Again – counting chickens before they hatch.

I’ll be very happy at 7 and 5. Anything more? - I’ll be ecstatic!

Football is 2 months away.

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas in November.

Addendum

Talk about not counting your chickens . . .

Linebacker Nate Irving was a phenom his freshman year. Last year he was only able to play in about 4 games due to an ankle injury. But he was back at full speed during spring practice and a probable All ACC player this year. He is definitely a future NFL First Round pick. Nate is a big reason we're hoping for a good year.

Not one hour after I wrote the above post - the news reports came out. Nate has been in a car crash and has a broken leg and collapsed lung. He will undergo surgery this evening.

Wishing the best for Nate.

I hope Nate has a speedy recovery and maybe even be able to play this year. Not just for State - but for himself.

Dexter

My friend DB gets HBO and Showtime. For years now he’s been telling me that Showtime's Dexter is a great show.

I put Dexter on my Netflix list and the first discs have arrived.

This week the roomie and I started watching it.

It’s awesome. The writing is very crisp and dry – in a very weird funny way. Even the opening credits are funny – if you pay attention. By the way – that’s a blood orange that gets cut open.

The story lines, characters, music, camera work, creativity and writing are just simply excellent.

To have come up with such an offbeat show – the creators / writers obviously could use some psychiatric help.

This kind of sums it up - While watching the third episode - Here’s the verbatim exchange between Nuke and myself:

Nuke (grinning): “You really like this show don’t you?”

Me: “Oh yeah!”

Nuke (laughing): “I knew you were a sick fucker.”

LOL

Life on the Road

I travel throughout North Carolina for my job.

Usually I am out of town for the week. Sometimes, however, I'm on-site for only a day or so.

Today is one of those times.

I'm currently in Sylva - a small town near Western Carolina University. I'll be here a couple of days.

This is my room at Comfort Inn on the Highway.

 

Ahhhhh - the life of the Super High Level Jet-Set Executive.

I think my nephew, David, does a whole lot better working, and travelling, for Google.

Bunnies

Two years ago I put fabric and wood chips around the house. The idea was to have landscaping beds. It looked great for about a year. But then, the chips start to decay which creates soil on top of the fabric - which became the home for a yard full of weeds! It looked awful.

So, this spring and early summer, I’ve been removing the fabric and chips. Still looking for something more natural than grass – I’ve planted white dutch clover. So far – it looks like I’ve found the answer.

Clover will only grow to about 4 to 6 inches in height. It can also be mowed for when I’d like a manicured lawn look – but normally – it’s best to just let the clover grow to its natural size.

Clover extracts nitrogen from the air so fertilizer isn’t needed. Once it grows dense enough, it usually will choke out weeds. It has a deep root system so it resists draught conditions. Clover grows and spreads under just about any condition – full sun, partial shade, total shade. It’s even growing like crazy under the back deck. So it looks like I’ll have a nice cool green cover even under the deck instead of the typical dismal bare dirt.

Plus – it’s a natural food for deer, rabbits and other small critters.

It’s working. For the past week, I’ve seen a whole bunch of bunnies eating in the front year in the morning when I go to work. Friday morning I counted 6.

I’ll try and get a photo.

Speaking of yard work – my farking lawn mower died. Nuke said it quit on him last time he mowed. I started it up this weekend – was mowing – and the same thing happened. It just died. Wouldn’t restart. I’ve been tinkering with it but no luck.

So – I’m headed over to Lowes in Pittsboro in a while to pick up a new riding lawn mower. Plus, one of the guys that works there does small engine repair and also does volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and such. He’s going to take my old mover – repair it – and donate to either a family that needs a mower or will sell it at the Habitat Store in Pittsboro.

And - my TV is trying to die. The picture / screen goes away every so often and I have to shut it off and let it rest for a while. It's happening more and more frequently. Unfortunatly, looks like I'll be buying a new TV as well.

A thousand here, a thousand there - pretty soon - this is going to start to add up.

Lilies

 

 

The orange and cream color lilies in planting pots on the back deck have started to bloom this week.

I first planted the bulbs 2 winters ago. They bloomed last year and then receded over the winter. This is their second year and the number of bulbs and plants have increased.

Unfortunately, the lilies crowded out the tulips (planted in the same pots) which tried to grow and bloom first.

They co-existed great last year - the tulips blooming first - than the lilies a couple months later.

But this year - the lilies quickly overgrew the tulips and took over.

Looks like I may have finally found something to grow in the deck pots that even my brown thumb can't kill.

As always, click on the photos for a closer / better look.

FCAP Outer Banks

My work took me to the Outer Banks this week.

Most buildings we work at are rather mundane. But sometimes, we get to see interesting stuff. Since there are a number of museums, visitor centers, and an aquarium along the ocean - this week's work was far more interesting then usual.

Here's an enigma machine recovered from a WWII German submarine sunk off the NC Coast (at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum).

 

While at the Roanoke Aquarium, I happened to be in the pump room area above the main tank when they were feeding the sharks. She (the shark, not the girl) is 8 feet long and about 400 pounds.

 

This is the old Coast Guard Life Saving Station at the south end of the Bonner Bridge, currently under restoration.

 

And I was able to get a good deal (State Govt. rates - $63 a night) at the First Colony Inn.

 

Of course, not everything is all so peachy keen for State employees.

This is the NC Ferry service bunk house on Ocracoke Island. The crews stay here when they have to dock the ferrys overnight when they can't get back to Hatteras Island (due to weather, emergencies, etc.). Yeah - it's a dump.

 

Just so you don't get the wrong idea - it's not sight seeing. We started work a little before 8:00 this morning and didn't get back till about 6:30. We put in a solid 10+ hour workday today.

Tomorrow I've got a lot scheduled as well. And then the drive back to Raleigh.

I'm looking forward to getting home.

Bermuda Cruise

New York City

First day of the Bermuda cruise.

Up at 0600. On the road to the airport before 0700.

Easy check in and an easy flight to New York City.

Used SuperShuttle to get from the airport to the cruise ship terminal – well worth the $15 per person price.

Met up with the sister and brother-in-law and their friends (Dave and Jane) for dinner.

The ship was late leaving NY. 2000 instead of the schedule 1600. Which was fine with me since it gave us a sunset view of Manhattan as we sailed out of NYC.

Unfortunately, I’m having a serious sinus / allergy attack. Dave gave me some Tylenol-Sinus which he had – and it’s helping.

Still – am getting ready to go to bed – and it’s before 2200. I hope this darn stopped up head clears up. It farking hurts.

At Sea

Nice quiet calm water. Chilly weather though – you need a sweater when out on deck.

Nuke got in late last night and, being a bit tipsy (what else is new?), wanted to talk and talk about the people he had met and a couple of ladies he danced with and so on. I fell asleep listening to him talk on and on.

Morning coffee delivered to the room around 0700. Sitting on the balcony drinking my morning coffee – I saw – A Whale!

I saw a fluke / fin break the water not more than 50 – 60 feet right in front of my balcony. Then again. I said out loud “ WT? – Is that a whale?” – Nuke gets up – and just as he gets to the balcony – she surfaces again and breaths. Yep – that’s a whale – NOT a porpoise. We watched as she kept on going past the ship – surfacing and blowing.

How cool.

Then, just a little while later, there was a pod of dolphins – again – not but about 50 or so feet off the balcony.

Nice little show to wake up to. How cool is that?

At Sea Day 2

Did nothing.

Well, outside of dinning. And attending the ship’s shows. And reading a couple of books from the ship’s library.

Good dinner conversation.

Bermuda Day 1

What a pretty island. Very upscale and proper.

Nuke and I bought the bus / ferry transportation pass. Rode the bus from the Ship to Hamilton where we changed busses and went from Hamilton to St. George.

St. George, I think, is the oldest settlement on the island. Had lunch there. My GOD the prices are high in Bermuda. Not just at fancy places – but everywhere. I’m talking New York City prices – like $10 hamburgers at local burger joints. We had a simple lunch – Nuke had a burger, I had a slice of quiche – water – and 1 beer for Nuke. Total was about $35. Yikes!

Rode the ferry back from St. George to the ship.

Dinner and then some reading for me. Nuke, of course, closes down the bars at night on board the ship. LOL

Bermuda Day 2

Rode the ferry from the ship into Hamilton. Walked around and looked at the sights. Really nice little town. Bought some Cuban cigars for Chip. Spent some time sitting in the main park in Hamilton and just people watched. Took the direct ferry back to the ship.

Back at the ship, I walked around the Royal Naval Dockyard. The buildings have been restored and converted to shops and restaurants. Bought a print at the Bermuda Arts Center (very good local artists btw).

Back on board – dinner – good conversation as usual, and some more reading.

Nuke continues to help the ship’s economic stimulus by frequenting the various bars on board.

Bermuda Day 3

I took the bus to the beaches just to have a look. Yep – the sand has a very light pink tint to it. Then I walked a couple of hours along the center of the island on the hiking trail which is the old railroad bed.

Caught another bus into Hamilton and looked around a little more. Ferry back to the ship about a couple hours before we were to leave.

Day at Sea

Saw another pod of dolphins.

Finished the second book.

Took in a couple shows and listened to some of the musicians on board. Went to the crew’s talent show - which are always kind of cute.

Last dinner on board and more good conversation.

New York – Raleigh

Got up early to watch us sail into New York. Very overcast and some rain – not quite as impressive as when we sailed out. But still – pretty awesome.

The shuttle driver called us on the cell phone to let us know he was at the pier. That’s pretty nice having the van waiting for you – instead of the other way around.

BTW – I recommend SuperShuttle. It worked great for us on this trip.

The flight was smooth and a little ahead of schedule back to Raleigh.

When I got home – waiting for me on the back deck – this pot of flowers had opened up during the week.

All in all – a nice vacation.

And BTW - my sinus are still acting up. The pressure change on the flight back did a number on them - and my ears. Which are totally stopped up.

Oh well - life isn't perfect. But it can get pretty close sometimes.