A Day in Our World

Despite my limited range of motion, arm brace, and other limitations (some be say I ain’t be all there . . . er . . . here, as the case may be), I plan to partake in an ambitious project to document, in pictures, people’s homes, work, and communities all around the world.

All on one day; May 15, 2012.  That would be Tuesday.

I figure I would post this quick reminder for them who might not have heard of it.  Here is the link to the site where one can register and find out more details on what it’s all about.

http://www.aday.org/

Happy Mother’s Day

This gallery contains 19 photos.

A small token in honor of Mother’s day.   For my mother, for all mothers who care an nurture their children throughout their lives, and for all women who act as mothers though they might not in fact be so. … Continue reading →

The Header, the Gravatar, the Likes and the Comments

So . . . I decided to change my Blog Header, FaceBook Header, GMail Profile Picture, and Gravatar.  But given the name of the blog, I figure I should stick with the whole Disperser Wolf thing.

However, I wanted something more stylized than what I had.  I tried converting the old Blog Header, but it did not morph into something I liked.

Original Header given the “treatment”

So, I tried a couple of different photos.  One that came close was this one . . .

A “too-busy” version of something that might work

What I wanted was something less defined.  Metaphorically speaking, I was looking for something which would give a hint of who I am, but not reveal too much.  Playing around a bit more, I come up with this:

Just about right . . .

I suppose I could play with it a bit more, but this seems to fit my intent pretty well . . . a disperser on its way to parts unknown.  Not threatening anyone . . . almost innocent-like.

FaceBook was a bit difficult because it has different dimension requirements for their header.  After some trial-and-error, I came up with this:

Again, I think it fits the venue pretty well . . .

Definitely more . . . “back off” kind of image.  Perfect for FaceBook.

. . . and also perfect for the Gravatar.  Sure, the old Gravatar worked well, but I feared it was becoming too familiar, too comfortable, almost as a friend of sorts.  The primary feature of the old gravatar was the no-eyes thing.  You want to keep others from knowing who you are, you shield the eyes.  But in my case it was more because “they” say the eyes are the windows to the Soul, hence the no-eyes thing.

Still, the visage said too much . . . I played around a bit with the crop of the FaceBook header, and came up with the right mix.  This time the eyes are the predominant feature.  Seems right, in a way.

My new Gravatar . . . I like it.

For a very brief moment I considered using my own eyes . . .

Me as a Gravatar . . . “Ugly, Thou Hast a Name”

. . . hell, no!

Which brings me to the whole “Likes” and Comments thing.  Astute readers (pretty much the majority of my readership if the statistics are to be believed) might notice there is no longer the option on the actual post to click “Like”.   The Comments interface is also gone.

All that is left is the Crap Star Rating System.  I did leave all the other ways one could heap praise upon my stuff, but those require more effort, so I’m pretty sure they will be seldom used.

“Why?!?” The agonized cries rise from distraught readers.

Basically, I found myself becoming too interested in getting validation from readers.

I’ve said before one should do things primarily for one’s self, and that appreciation from others is a bonus.  But, I noticed I started to pay attention to the “likes”, and almost craved   comments to feed my ego.  It’s a hard thing to explain, but it probably goes along with the whole awards and freshly pressed post I did a while back; I like recognition, but it also feels strange to get it.  It’s not something I am used to . . . the validation of the opinion I hold.  You know, that I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I also got the feeling many of the likes and comments had become almost an obligation to my readers.

It can’t possibly be that someone “likes” every single thing I do.  I got to wondering if part of the likes were more social convention than an actual measure of the quality of my work.

In part, it came about from my own behavior on other people’s blog.  I read them, or look at the pictures, and automatically hit like.  You see, after a while one develops a rapport with the people running the blogs one habitually visits (or subscribes to); you feel bad if you don’t say something encouraging.

But it’s not really fair to the person.  It gives no indication of the relative value of their efforts.  Some things may be nice, but not spectacular, others may be spectacular, but may not be something I particularly like (one can take a fantastic picture of a pile of crap, but that does not mean I necessarily will like the picture).

From my end, I’ve resolved to click on “like” when the content really speaks to me.  And the fact I may not hit “like” on a given post does not mean I think it’s crap.  It’s just something that while nice, it did not move me beyond the ordinary.

Same with comments . . . I am forcing myself to not say anything unless I have something helpful to say.  If what I see or read really strikes hard at my attention, it will get a comment.  But sometimes pictures are just snapshots, not Works of Art (still don’t know who he is, but Art does get around).

Sometime, the pictures or words will be the spark for an interesting interchange between me and the author.  Other times I may have a suggestion (wanted or not), and other time I may just say “Very nice!”, and the blogger will know he or she has struck a chord in me.

So then I look at my stuff . . . and I wonder just how many of the likes I get are throw-away likes, the kind people hand out to be polite, when in fact they could care less about the picture, writings, or both.

I know it’s a little unfair to people who genuinely enjoy what I do, but they can still rate the effort.   And yes . . . I know I risk alienating some people.

In the end, I’m probably punishing myself more than my readers because, as I said above, I got to the point where my ego and desire for validation had me addicted to the adulation and near-worship . . . er . . . I mean, to the positive feedback.

It was getting so bad that when I did not get what I thought was an appropriate response, it bothered me and I wondered what I did wrong.  Then it occurred to me . . . people are not reading this so they can coddle me with praise.  They want to be entertained, learn something, or have a momentary escape from the real world.  Maybe they don’t have the time, or maybe they were in a bad mood, or maybe they forgot to hit “like”, etc.  But worse yet, maybe they did not even read the stuff, and just hit “like” out of habit.

I figure I am giving my readers a break, removing any obligation they may feel about acknowledging what I do.   Especially since my posts are usually long and complicated, and I am pretty sure many don’t read or look at everything.  

For those who read this far, thanks.  If you feel like it, please rate the post . . . but you don’t really have to.

Edited to Add: My Apologies

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Reading, Writing, and Kindles

On February 25th of the year Two-K-Twelve I watched the animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.   For them who missed this Oscar winning short, here it is:

I watched this short, and right there and then I decided I would return to one of my first loves.  I had forgotten, you see, just what a wonderful thing it is to read.  Movies, cable, the Internet . . . all conspired to slowly draw me into the lazy world of watching.  So much so, that my writing suffered as well.

To give an idea of far I had fallen, one of my favorite sources for amazing science fiction short stories, The Analog of Science Fiction & Science Fact, has an accumulated backlog stretching back to the July/August 2007 issue.

Part of my reading material backlog

And this is just one monthly magazine.  There are a number of books I purchased, other magazines I subscribe to, and assorted printed matter which slowly made my To-Read pile more a thing of shame than a potential for joy.

All it took was the above video to shake me from my visual-media-induced stupor, and resolve to read and to write.

Now, you would think I would dive into my reading pile . . . but no.  I had just finished re-watching the short-lived SyFy (stupidest name ever) TV series The Dresden Files. 

While I do not lean much toward fantasy, the series struck me as something different.  Something well done.  Something of value.  How can it be so?  Well, it was cancelled after only one season, so we know it was also too smart and nuanced for the average viewer.  Sound familiar?  Can anyone say Firefly?

Well, it’s not Firefly, but then Firefly is not The Dresden Files either.  Different animals, and both struck chords in me.

I wished there had been more of the Dresden series, so I bought the first book.

Jim Butcher, the author, is now on my shit list.  You see, the books are nothing like the series.  They are multiple tens of times better.  Great characters, great dialog, intricate plots which resolve to amazing climactic scenes, great moral questions, compromises, honor, doing what’s right in the face of impossible odds, willingness to live to what is right as opposed to what benefits one’s self . . . all blended in a fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.

Jim Butcher is exactly the kind of writer I want to be . . . and he showed me just how far I am from being such a writer.  I don’t have enough life left in me to claw my way up to that level of talent.  Bastard!  . . . well, OK . . . without knowing anything about the guy, and just going by his writing (a dangerous thing to do), and knowing writers per force put at least a small part of who they are in their writing, with all that I would have to say I admire the man.  Maybe he’s a jerk in real life, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, I read the first book.  Then I checked out the second book from the library.  Then there were no more to check out.  BUT . . . I could check out books 1-through-6 as an e-book collection.  I could do that if I was willing to buy an electronic reader.

It just so happens that around that time, mid-to-late March, Amazon sent me an e-mail.  I could buy the Kindle Fire (refurbished) for $139.  That seemed to me a good price point for that tablet, and I ordered one.

My refurbished Amazon Fire

I should say I had been, and still am well ingrained into that whole tactile feeling of reading.  Handling the book, turning the pages, etc.  Great stuff.  But you know what?  The Kindle was not that bad.  In fact, it was nearly great.  It actually was easier reading on the Kindle than reading a book.  Who knew?!?

The opening of Serenity, the movie.

Yep, it also streams movies.  Either from Amazon direct, or from Netflix.  There are other sources as well, but those are the two I have.  Also, you can play games, and there are apps that lets me see my blog, Facebook, my G-Mail, etc.  I don’t plan to watch much on it, but I have watched movies on it as I lay in bed just before drifting into my four hours of sleep.  With headphones on, and the thing propped on my chest, I can enjoy watching the series I am interested in without disturbing Melisa.

A crucial scene from The Big Damn Movie.

The thing is, as much as I liked reading on it, it’s a tad heavy to support one-handed.  So, I bought me a refurbished Kindle Keyboard with 3G.  Also $139.

My Kindle Keyboard next to the first of 13 Harry Dresden books

Slimmer, easier to hold, easier to read, and lighter.

As close to reading print as a reader can come

Let me tell you . . . I now understand the popularity of these things.  I should have looked into them before.

But back to Harry Dresden.  From somewhere near the end of March to today I finished the books-1-through-6 collection, rented and finished the books-7-through-12 collection, and I am on the last one, book 13, about twenty pages in.  Since the beginning of March I read 12 of the 13 Harry Dresden books currently in print.  In a shade over a month (after I bought the Kindles) I read, thoroughly enjoyed, and immensely appreciated ten books.  The 11th, and latest, will be read by this weekend.

That is still not close to what I used to read in “my prime” . . . by “my prime” I mean before PCs, before the Internet, before 400 cable channels, before e-mail, before FaceBook, before Google.  But, it’s a good start.

But what of writing?  Ah, yes . . . I did write a couple of things, and I am not happy with them.  I can’t muster enough drive to get into my writing zone.  In part it’s what I said above.  Damn, these Dresden books are good (subjective assessment – I liked them to no end; others may not be as taken with them as I am), and they make my own efforts look like someone pissing in cursive on a snowbank.

The other part is that I am still in the reading zone.  I had forgotten what an escape it is to immerse one’s self in a story masterfully told, with characters I care and identify with, and with a depth which rivals the complications of real life.  And it’s fantasy!!  Magic!!  Stuff that is not real!!  Who knew?!?

I plan to do a more in-depth review of Dresden, the character, and the storytelling associated with the character, all in a future post.  Suffice it to say my main worry is that I am nearing the end of the Dresden material . . . I’ve not checked, and Butcher might be working on book 14, but it’s not out yet.

What I won’t do is go look to other fantasy series.  I will turn instead to my stash of hard-core SF, and make my way through it.  You see, I’m worried about the Claymore effect.

Claymore was the first anime series I watched (a few years ago).  I thought: “Wow! this is really good!“  I went looking for more, and found I had, on my first try, watched the best anime series I have yet to come across.  Everything else has been less. Again, my opinion only.  Others might differ.

I fear my foray into fantasy might mirror my experience in Anime.  Dresden may be the best, or what I consider the best, of fantasy writing out there.  Better stick with hard science fiction, and be safe . . . at least for now.

So there you have it.  Part of my reduced output has to do with crap the universe sees fit to throw my way.  But a significant part of it is that I also took to heart the gentle push from the video I linked at the beginning of this post, and “rediscovered” reading.

I will pull back a bit, and integrate reading with the rest of my interests, and eventually get back to more regular posts.  Maybe even some writing . . . provided I can shake the feeling of futility in even trying.  We’ll see.

As always, thanks for reading my stuff.

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About awards: Blogger Awards          About “likes”:   Of “Likes”, Subscriptions, and Stuff

Note: to those who may click on “like”, or rate the post; if you do not personally hear from me, know that I am sincerely appreciative, and I thank you for noticing what I do.

. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Barr Lake State Park – Colorado

On Saturday, April 28, we decided to visit one of Colorado’s state parks.  Specifically, Barr Lake State Park.

Barr Lake is one of three state parks within an hour and a half of where we live, and we have not visited them in the six years that we have lived here.  The other two are the Rocky Mountains Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, and that Jackson Lake State Park.

As a point of interest, it should be noted that since I do not have the use of my right arm,  I am using Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is a speech to text program.  I am sitting here with headphones and a  mike and I am speaking the words that are being written.  I should also note that while this is an incredible tool, it isn’t particularly adapted to someone who stutters, and I do have to make some corrections by hand.   I should also point out that I don’t particularly type very well with my left hand, and that I might miss some things.  Anyway, to continue . . .

Barr Lake State park is at exit 21 of I-76, just Northeast of Denver. Very nice setting, and lots of stuff to see.

The original plan was to visit both Barr Lake and Jackson Lake state parks.  The two parks are within an hour of each other, and are both along I – 76, just north east of Denver.  The Rocky Mountains Arsenal refuge is actually closer, and much larger than the other two combined.  Unfortunately, the majority of it is only accessible via a bus tour for which you need reservations.  As of this writing, they are taking reservations for June.  Off particular interest to me are Burrowing Owls that inhabit the refuge.  We’ll plan a visit after my recovery.

the views from the path are spectacular.

We hate driving through Denver.  We used to take the E – 470 bypass, but now it costs about $18-$20 to go through it, and it’s just a tad too steep a price to pay to avoid mingling with idiots.

Luckily, the traffic this particular Saturday morning was not too bad.  We arrived at the park in a fairly good mood, and the only thing marring the arrival was the realization I left my hat at home, we forgot our walking sticks, had no sun-block or bug spray, and were not sure about what we should wear.   When we got there, a stiff breeze was blowing and it was pretty chilly, but it was supposed to get fairly warm, especially with no clouds in the sky.

We felt like these guys – American Coots

I bought a goofy looking hat, and we started off on the 9 mile loop that goes around the lake.  Mind you, we were not planning to go all the way around.  Our interest was to walk on the preserve-half of the park to try and see the following; the nesting owls, the nesting eagles, the nesting ospreys, the white pelicans, and any other winged denizens of the Park willing to pose for us (me).

Aside the path that circles the lake, there are also boardwalks that go onto it

The rare “B-B” tree, loved by boys of all ages

Did you ever wonder where centipedes come from? This is the Rocky Mountains Brown Centipede Tree. Once they turn, these fall to the ground and scurry off.

Okay I’ll stop doing that.

This is honeysuckle . . . there were two plants about 70 feet apart, and they smelled up the whole area.

There are many marshy areas around the lake. It’s the perfect habitat for Canadian geese as well as other waterfowls.

The locals appear to be very friendly, and this little guy kept trying to follow us. We gave him the slip

This rabbit was sitting just to the edge of the path. I would never have noticed him, except he moved.

This guy was very small, and totally unconcerned with our presence a scant few feet from him.  He just went about his way, doing rabbit stuff as I snapped away with the camera.

This ranks as one of the better pictures from the excursion. He started to scratch his nose and I caught him in mid-stroke.

As I said, he was unconcerned with me snapping pictures. There’s lots more in the SmugMug album.

But it was not just the birds and the animals; the shoreline was interesting as well.

For instance, this particular root system caught my eye.

And of course, always the background of the lake. Those are some of the white pelicans I was interested in, which unfortunately never swam close.

This is a Western Grebe that played hide and seek with me. Whenever he saw me raised camera, he dove. However, I did manage a couple of shots.

this is a Swainson’s Hawk flying overhead

If one looks at the map at the beginning of the post, one can see there is a walkway to a gazebo well onto the lake.  The following shots were taken from the boardwalk leading to that gazebo.  I should point out, we were quite a ways away, as you cannot get close to Eagles nests.   Essentially, I’m shooting across the lake, and the boardwalk is not the most stable of platforms.  Neither was the gazebo.  Any movement along the boardwalk jostled the tripod and resulted in many a blurred pictures.  The great distance also limited the clarity of the pictures, especially since it was over water and the sun was evaporating it.  Nevertheless, the nesting Bald Eagles.

The setting was nice. Wish I could’ve gotten better pictures.

These look good as they are, but if one zooms in, they don’t look very clear or sharp.

Just to the east of the eagle nest, some seagulls and pelican’s were resting.

At one point, one of the Eagles flew off. After playing with various settings and zooms, I determined I wasn’t going to get any better pictures, and I turned my eyes to other things.

. . . look to the left . . .

. . . look to their right . . .

. . . Dive!! Dive!! Dive!!

It is a very scenic lake . . .

The view from the gazebo.

Walking back to shore on the boardwalk, I noticed a couple of very rare specimen . . .

. . . the Dreaded Rhinoceros Forest Pyranha . . . Very Dangerous!!

. . . and Great Horned Unicorn Forest Whale.

Both were laying very still, trying to pass as a dead tree trunk. Ha! . . . I spotted them right away!

a picture of the boardwalk leading to the gazebo on the little island in the middle of the lake

another rare picture, this time of the Unknown Mayan calendar, which predicts absolutely nothing with regards to the coming end of the world.

As we rounded a corner of the trail, we saw this great blue Heron in the Denver & Hudson canal that follows the lake for a portion before branching off.

he was backlit, and a long ways away.

We stopped, but unfortunately, the couple ahead of us just kept on walking, and the heron flew off.

again, because it was far away, and I was shooting hand held, these are not the best of pictures.

However, I am reasonably pleased with the setting and with the reflection of the bird in flight on the water.

The Rangers had told us the location of a Great Horned Owl nest, but warned us that the foliage would make it difficult to see.  The spot was marked by a red ribbon on the three branch by the side of the trail.  There were four of us trying to locate the birds and nest, and the other couple left after about 5 min.   It took me another 5 min. to realize that what look like a piece of broken three branch was actually an owl sleeping.

It looks obvious here, but keep in mind this is zoomed in quite a bit, and the exposure was adjusted so that everything is a little lighter. We were maybe 100 feet away, and the owls were maybe another 30 feet up, under a dense canopy.

I should’ve snapped the picture showing what it looked like with the naked eye. Much more difficult to see.

I was also frustrated by a small twig, right in front of the owl, which the camera insisted on focusing on preventing me from getting a good, sharp picture of the owl

This owl looked like it was sleeping, and at no time while we were there did I notice it opening its eyes.  However . . .

. . . Melisa noticed another owl a little bit farther up to tree . . .

. . . This one was not sleeping . . .

It did not look particularly friendly.

There there are many more pictures of the owls in the SmugMug gallery, but as they did not move much, they are mostly the same shots where I attempt to get better resolution.

After a while we continued with our walk.  As it got very warm, and we were overdressed, we decided to head back to the car, and toward the Osprey nest.

Hello!!

This is the West Colorado Gopher Snake http://bit.ly/aqcZeX).  Some people, including the the person at the visitors center at the park, erroneously call it a Bull Snake . . . but they are wrong, at least as far as my research indicates.

This snake was right at the edge of the footpath, and the lady ahead of us almost stepped on it.

Normally I would have snapped hundreds of photos, but as we were hot, and were still interested in seeing the Ospreys, I limited myself to just a few.

. . . a couple of interesting things on this photo . . .

First, there is the pelican.  Second, you can see a rather large fish halfway out of the water just above the pelican.  Whatever they were, they were jumping all over the lake and they’re not small.  Big splashes whenever they jumped.  And third, in the back you can see the store where corporations buy the politicians who do their bidding.

Finally, here we are at the Osprey’s nest.

The shot above is after its mate went off to hunt.  The SmugMug gallery has many more shots, probably too many, but it does tell a narrative of the time we were there.  I’ll only include a few shots here that I found interesting.   

One bad thing happened while we were there . . . I mounted the 80-400mm lens on the camera, mounted the camera onto the tripod, and then wanted to hang my camera bag on the tripod to help stabilize it in the wind.  

In a first for me, I did not zip up the camera bag prior to removing it from my shoulder. My $1600 70-200 mm lens flopped onto the gravel of the path.  It is now the very first all my lenses which is not in pristine condition.  It is the only one of the 10 or 12 lenses I have with any marking on it indicating someone has used it, or in this case abused it.  I was not happy, but all the useful lessons in life are hard ones.

 As I waited for the Osprey to come back, I missed two Swainson’s Hawks circling above and then slowly dropping to their nest less than 60-70 feet from us.  I also missed a number of pelicans who were gathering just behind us flying in circles. At one point there must’ve been over 20 circling right over my shoulder . . . And me waiting for the Osprey to come back.

after a while, I moved the camera to snap a picture of the Swainson’s Hawk in its nest

one of the Hawks had already flown off, and the other one sat there looking at me, probably not happy with my presence.

Unfortunately, with all the moving around, I ended up with a fuzzy picture of the Osprey coming back to the nest with a fish on its talons.

Not only that, but guess who has an expensive camera that can take moving pictures, but who did not remember to shoot a movie?  Oh well, I did get some nice sequences of the one Osprey sharing the fish with the one in the nest, the one in the nest hopping out to eat the fish, while its mate replaced it in egg-sitting duty.

. . . here you go . . .

Yummy . . .

Another sequence that would have been great as a movie is of the Osprey hopping back on to the nest after finishing its meal.

Ready . . .

. . . up . . .

. . . control the wind . . .

. . . show off a bit . . . (my favorite shot)

. . . prepare for landing . . .

. . . Touchdown!! . . .

Docked!

We waited a little longer to see if it would fly off again for more hunting, but after another 20 min. or so, we decided to pack it in.

On the way back to the car, I had to snap a picture of this thing and the ant that was all over it.

. . . normally I make up some clever name, incredibly witty, and insanely amusing . . .

. . . but in this case I really wanted to know what this thing was . . .

. . . and I ended up spending close to one hour searching the Internet for something that looked like it . . . It’s a wild cucumber.  At least that’s the best that I could figure out; if anyone knows any different, please let me know.

By the time we got back to the car, it was too late to think about Jackson Lake State Park.  For one, we would not have been able to do it justice.  The plan, once I recover from my surgery, is to go back and visit each of the other two, and then repeat as often as necessary to get thoroughly tired of the places . . . something I think might take a number of years to occur.

I hope you enjoyed the journey I shared as much as I enjoyed sharing it.  As always, thank you for reading my stuff.

Note: Please forgive any misspellings and other errors as sometimes the program cannot understand my weird accent, stuttering, and mumbled words, and I probably missed them while proofing.

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About awards: Blogger Awards          About “likes”:   Of “Likes”, Subscriptions, and Stuff

Note: to those who may click on “like”, or rate the post; if you do not personally hear from me, know that I am sincerely appreciative, and I thank you for noticing what I do.  

. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Back Home

So, surgery went OK, and currently home. 

I’m writing this on my Droid using Swype.  Fairly impressed I can write using just my left thumb while propping the phone up on my chest.

They repaired a quarter size tear, anchoring it to the bone.  The surgery was under 45 minutes, and right now the shoulder is numb, but apparently that will change by the evening. 

The most uncomfortable thing is the arm being immobilized, and the hand feeling like it’s asleep.

Sleep would be nice, but it ain’t happening.  Reading the Dresden books instead.

End of transmission, an my thanks to all who  sent good wishes my way.

ejd

On my Bucket List – El Caminito del Rey (a.k.a. El Camino del Rey)

A comment Sandra made on my last post triggered a memory . . . my wife saw me write this, and her comment was “No.  Not goona happen!” (she’s starting to get my accent)

I’m talking about a video I saw a number of years ago.  I liked the walk.  I liked the music. I plain liked the whole thing.  And, unlike going out to the end of a girder, I would totally do this.

No, this is not contrary to what I said about the skywalking.  For one thing, there is a safety line here.  For another, I would be super extra-special careful.  And finally, there is a safety line here, although the guy with the camera did not seem to use it.  I repeat myself for the benefit of my wife. 

The place looks amazing . . . and unfortunately we’ll never travel there . . . that we know of.

One can read the history and write ups of the path in the following links:

Wikipedia Entry

More general info, and points to the two following links

Guide, photos, and hints about doing it

Another guide, more photos, more hints

This to me looks doable.  Not likely, given my wife would kill me before I step foot on it, but doable.

Let me know if you are moved to planning a trip before it’s renovated. 

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About awards: Blogger Awards          About “likes”:   Of “Likes”, Subscriptions, and Stuff

Note: to those who may click on “like”, or rate the post; if you do not personally hear from me, know that I am sincerely appreciative, and I thank you for noticing what I do.  

. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.