February adventure!

I am going on a holiday! It sort of snuck up on me. I have had my plane ticket since the end of November but it seemed like ages away. My birthday will be occuring over the holidays and last night at dinner with my parents they gave me my birthday card. Like I said, it totally snuck up on me. Since my adventure begins in less than a week, let me take a moment to tell you my plans.

Part Uno
Next Friday I hop on a bus and drive across the province into Manitoba to attend a quiz meet. I will tell you more about what that is another time. Quizzing certainly deserves its own blog entry.

Part Two
Upon return from Manitoba on Sunday night I am hopping into my car and driving to Calgary. Early early the next morning I hop onto a plane and fly non-stop* to Phoenix to visit my grandparents. We are planning such fun events as a trip to the Grand Canyon, a birthday celebration (February 10th!!), and possibly a trip to Biosphere II. There are mangroves there! I love mangroves. I think it will be very cool to see.

Part Trois**
I do some more hopping (my calves will be tired) onto a plane and fly back to Calgary (yes, again a non-stop flight - huzzah). I will chill around Cow-town for a couple days and then head out to the mountains for the Second Annual Ski Trip Extrordinaire!

The First Annual Ski Trip was a blast although quite eventful. There were 3 of us hardcores who were joined on various days by various friends. The first night we hit an elk and totalled the car we were in (belonging to hardcore guy 1). Glass was everywhere and even elk blood splattered on one various guy in the front seat. I know - gross. It was an excellent way to begin my birtday. Anyway, we were a little car-less so we paid a friend to drive us back to the ski hill (but she chose not to become a various girl and stay and ski). Since we were stranded for a couple days (until a different various guy came to ski the last day), we stayed at this wonderful little resort called Emerald Lake. I highly recommend it. Anyway, the last day we had a great morning of skiing but the day was cut short. Hardcore guy 2 and various friend decided to jump about in the terrain park. Hardcore guy 1 and myself (hardcore 3 by elimiation) were waiting at the bottom of the hill when approached by a cute random snowboarder who asked if we were waiting for a couple guys who had been messing about the terrain park. Of course we proceeded to take our injured hardcore 2 friend (whom we found at the bottom of a jump that he had not quite landed right) to the emergency room in Banff. Sadly, the poor boy had a broken back. Like I said, eventful trip. Oddly enough, I remained unscathed. Perhaps that is part of the reason I am so game to go again this year. Even more oddly, both hardcore guys are planning to come again this year. We have high hopes that there will be less broken cars and backs and more laughs and fun. I cannot wait! Well, back to work. Next Friday will be a sweet sweet day.

* I could have gotten a cheaper flight but had to stop in Seattle or something - I figured the extra $40 was worth it for non-stop. I have never flown non-stop to anywhere of any mentionable distance and I am quite excited about it. Just think. I am on a flight important enough that they are going all the way there in one go. Fantastic.

** That's right ladies and gents, I can count to three, in three different languages! Oh the cleverness.

Brrr, it's cold in here....

Ohmygosh! The Environmental project manager in our office just walked in and told me that there is a seminar being put on about new Environmental legislation that I "really need to be at". Implying... THAT I WILL BE DOING MORE ENVIRONMENTAL WORK THIS YEAR!!!! It means he has finally accepted that he is going to have to use me over the new guy even though he'd rather use the new guy because he is a guy and has a little bit of experience from a previous job. But new guy was hired as a hazmat guy - not an environmental guy. Hah! Seniority pays off!

This is gonna be hard. I feel out of my league. But the Environmental project manager will never know that is how I feel. Bring it on!

Things I think are cool

I have discovered a new tea. For the last year or so I have been drinking chomomile almost exclusively but for whatever reason I recently tried one called African Honeybush. Sadly, I have not been able to find it ANYWHERE since the first and only time I ordered it. So please, if anyone sees it tell me. Because I think it is good and cool.

Journey into an early morning devotional

Well. I was reading Proverbs 22 this morning. Still contemplating last evening's adventure, verse 3 caught my eye: "A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." So does that make me a simpleton? I did foresee the possibility that going on an unfamiliar trail, in the dark, in the cold, when no one knew where I was might not be the best idea ever. So I sort of did foresee the potential dangers but that pesky little "and takes precautions" pushes me into the simpleton category anyway doesn't it? Sigh.

But, then I got to verse 13 which made me think perhaps I WAS right to go anyway: "The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, 'If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!'" The thought actually crossed my mind that I could run into a wild animal so maybe I should not go. They do have bears up there after all, I think anyway. Although not likely within the city limits. But the point is I did not use that excuse so I am not lazy by Proverbs 22:13 standards! Hooray! It looks like I had two choices. To be prudent but lazy or to be a simpleton but, um, not lazy. So there you have it.

Lost in the snow...

Hahaha! I got lost! I am in Prince Albert (the nearest place with a decent hotel to the small town where I am working this weekend). We got done early today in small town so I came back to the hotel and had a 4 hour nap. Awaking at around 7pm I decided to go for a quick ski. I am taking a cross country skiing class with a co-worker and our instructor got real huffy last class that no one had practiced. I do not want to get in "trouble" again at class on Monday night.

I asked the hotel staff where I could go. They told me about this park right outside of town that was lit for night skiing and everything. They also mentioned that there was a trail at the golf course. I opted for the park. I drove out of town along they road they had indicated and turned onto the side road that was marked. But the road was closed ahead. Bummer. To the golf course!

I got there, parked and looked around for ski tracks. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I found them. I began. Now, you must remember that I have only recently begun cross country skiing. And I was only planning a quick ski. And I did not know the trail. But I have been golfing before - I know how big courses tend to be. Surely the trail goes around the perimeter of the course. Surely I can handle that. I mean, I would be able to run that far - can't be that much harder to ski it? Off I go. Practicing my weight transfer, my double poling and all the things I have learned. After about 5 minutes, I am bushed. Perhaps I should have paced myself better. After about 20 minutes, the path still has not turned to go back toward the clubhouse. Hmmmm, I do not even know if I am half way or not but I did not like the thought of turning back. What if the path was just about to turn and I am almost back? I decide to keep going. And going. And going. Finally the path turns (by the way - it would have been faster to turn back but that would have felt like giving up).

I stop and take a quick break because there were so many hills and I was moving slower and slower. I feel refreshed after my break and I start going again. And the path ends. Oh gosh. Now what. I do not know where I am. By this time I have been going almost an hour. There is no turning back. There is NO WAY I will last another hour. So I decided to make my own tracks through the deep snow and go the direction I think the clubhouse is in. Well lucky girl that I am I only had to trudge through the snow for about 15 minutes until I hook up with a trail (I have no idea where it came from - certainly not the trail I started on). And hooray! I am back.

Weather permitting, I will be up early tomorrow to go to the small town and take my clearance air samples. I should be home in time for church! Now I am going to fall asleep. Crazy how tired I am even after a four hour nap.

Night.

The case of the mistaken identity

I am doing a mould removal job this weekend in another small town. This morning in my hotel room I was flipping through the channels trying to find the weather network. I think I am addicted.

Anyway, the video for "Pump Up the Jam" was playing on Much Music and was so tacky that I just had to stop and watch for a second (really the chick singing the song and doing all the dancing looked a little like Lisa from Saved by the Bell and I had to stop and confirm). I could not believe it that as they flashed through her various dance poses and outfits, one of them contained a fanny pack. Hah! It made me laugh.

My rose coloured glasses

I love good hair days.

Most of the time when I leave my home I feel somewhat presentable with respect to my hair, but by the end of the day usually my hair is has fallen flat or is so static-y I could power the television. But then there are those incredible days (like today) where my hair is just perfect all day. And everything seems better because of it. A good hair day, is my world through rose coloured glasses.

I had to go downtown to do some historical searches on a building I am doing an Environmental Site Assessment on (Hooray! Still more work with the word Environmental in it!). And I get stuck at a train crossing. But instead of being frustrated or annoyed, I just turned up the radio and did some chair dancing. At one point I turned my head and saw the girl in the car next to me grooving to music of her own. I felt all happy that there were at least two of us not letting the train get to us. Even when it stopped - 2 cars from the end - I just looked in the mirror at my hair and turned the music up again. Even when the train started moving in the opposite direction - nothing was gonna touch my mood today.

I realise it may be very shallow of me to let something like my hair put me in such a good mood. But I guess I will take good moods by whatever means they come.

As an aside, has anyone ever heard of Seanix? I am thinking of getting a laptop customized just for me and I stumbled across Seanix today. Wondering what their reputation is.

Anyway, I am off to enjoy the rest of my day! It even involves some cross country skiing tonight. Excellent.

Super Shannon Falls Flat on Her Face

Hmmmm, I was doing so well. Being so productive. I was getting so much done and feeling so good about myself. And then utter and complete bad luck/stupidness/ditziness. Why did I have to have such a failure of a weekend!? Okay, perhaps a bit over dramatic. Here is what happened:

I had my first high risk asbestos abatement job for a certain company that we do a lot of work for this past weekend. It was in a little town just over 2 hours (in normal driving conditions) away. Now, something always manages to go wrong on these jobs. Trust me on that. Even when it seems like a small easy project that should run completely smoothly, either I or someone else screw up or something completely unpredictable goes wrong. So keep that in mind. Side note: I was once discussing jobs for the certain company with a friend and I was listing all the things I was worried that might go wrong on the next one. She told me to stop being such a pessimist. I had to think about that for awhile because I certainly don't want to be known as a pessimist. But at this job, the better your skills of pessimism, the better you are at your job. Because like I said, something always goes wrong. The more things you can imagine going wrong, the more you will be able to plan for.

So anyway, as fore-mentioned, this was my first high risk asbestos abatement. High risk asbestos abatements could also be called "summon all possible powers of anal-retentiveness" asbestos abatements. Here is a little rundown of what I mean. We had to remove asbestos-containing insulation from some exhaust ducting from a boiler. There was not much of it and once the contractor actually started removing, it took 2 guys about an hour. However, it took 3 guys 12 hours to set up. They must put up air tight barriers so that nothing can get out of the removal area. They must construct three air-lock-type clean rooms that they have to walk through when leaving the removal area. It is kind of like in the movies when people are decontaminating from virus research - except not quite that sophisticated. They wore full hazmat suits (the big white ones) and full powered face masks. The had to shower (in the shower that they set up) in the second clean room before leaving the removal area. Plus I did 4 hours of air monitoring before they started. Plus I did air monitoring all over the place while they were working. Plus, when they finished the removal, we had to leave it for 8 hours then I had to do 4 more hours of air monitoring before they could finally remove all the stuff that they had set up. Overkill - sometimes it feels like it to be honest. But that is the nature of the job and what is required to keep everybody safe.

So get this: They had finished the removal and it was time to let everything sit overnight. And up to this point IT HAD GONE FANTASTICALLY. What? Nothing wrong yet? This was unfathomable. Yet there I was in this little town away from home and all that stood between me and being home in time for a late lunch the next day, was some clearance air monitoring and the contractor's cleaning up. The productiveness I had planned for the next day! Even my well trained pessimisstic side could not come up with anything that could cause me trouble. Oh how much I still need to learn.

I awoke the next morning at 6am to start my clearance air monitoring. I was expecting the contractor to arrive around 11 so I wanted to make sure I did not hold them up. When I returned to the hotel to pack up (after turning on my pumps), I flipped to the weather channel (my guilty pleasure). My smile froze and slowly started to fall until my jaw was in an open position of unbelief. Instead of the snazzy local forecast, there was a red meterlogical alert. Guess where my little town was, right in the middle of the "getting 15-20 cm of snow, travel not recommended" zone. The contractor called about an hour later and said he would be awhile. So much for that Kraft Dinner at home that had my name all over it (Sundays I take a break from healthy eating and enjoy whatever tempts me most - I sort of take that break on Fridays too. And once in awhile on Saturdays...). So I am stuck waiting for this guy.

Still hoping that I might get to make it home for a late supper, I check out of my hotel room and go wait at the building where we had been working. Now let me just say that we had had to shut off the boiler while we were working on it and it was beginning to get a tad chilly in this building. So he finally gets there at 5:00pm (so really I did not have to wake before the sun to get my sampling done - although on the bright side, the samples were fine and everything had passed) and says he will be about a half an hour. That means, of course that he finishes at around 7:00pm. It is still snowing, dark and the roads are not supposed to be good. I decide maybe I should stay the night. The bright side, the hotel has a hot tub and I brought my bathing suit. Warmed by thoughts of this evening plan, I cheer up, thank the contractor for all of his hard work and close the back door he is leaving through. But what is this? Something is not right. The key is not turning right. I look down and I am holding the head of the key in my hand. The rest of it is STILL IN THE DOOR!!!!! The key actually broke in half. And of course it was before the door locked. "This is just the type of thing to help refine my sense of pessimissm" I say as I try to look on the bright side. "Think of it as a professional development seminar".

Of course this means I have to stay there until a locksmith can be found (ironically they tell me he is going to have to come from Saskatoon - exactly where I am trying to get to). With the bad roads, I could be there for awhile. I have not eaten supper. I have no place booked to sleep. And I have nothing to do in a very cold building. While pessimism reigns, optimism is not dead! They find a locksmith much closer to small town! Hooray! With road conditions and such he only takes about an hour and a half to get there and about an hour and a half to fix the door. I can finally go to the hotel, which is heated, and sleep. Alas the hot tub is closed but oh well.

So I awake Monday morning. Gonna take it easy on my way home. The job is done for goodness sake, optimism may return in full force. Like I said, I do not want to be a pessimistic person in normal life - just on the job where it is required. I stop to return the DVD that I had rented the night before. And I did something that until 6 months ago I had never done. I locked my keys in my running car outside the video store. I was simply putting the dvd into the drop slot. The store was not even open. My habit of locking the door as I get out of the car without realizing it took over. Sinking dread. Roads suck - tow trucks will be busy. Crap.

I phone the roadside assisstance people and start crying as she tells me it will be a 90 minute wait. I admit - I broke down - I had not eaten anything yet that day (breakfast was of course in the car on the passenger seat) and there was a guy in a CAT trying to clear the parking lot. Plus I was going to be royally late for work. I just wanted to get home and return to being Super Productive Shannon! It had been going so well. But I sat there crying and scaring the lady on the phone so much I think she was ready to call the cops for fear that I would sit by my car until the tow truck got there and slowly freeze to death (there was nothing really open yet and the hotel was a good long walk away - plus my mitts and touque were in the car on the passenger seat). The guy in the CAT laughed at me and said "Girly, you are really up the creek". I laughed between my sobs and he told me about a store that opens early just down the block. So I walked in there and sat with very red eyes and chatted with a very nice man about the stock market (apparently Gold is hot again - but you did not hear that from me). The very nice man must have a wife and many daughters because I have never been around a guy who handled tears that well.

Well, that is what happened. But in keeping with my attempt to have a positive optimistic outlook on life (outside of work of course) rather than a negative one, I shall now attempt to list all the good things about this weekend to balance out the bad.

1 and 2. The job itself was actually a success. That is worth two points at least because that is the most important thing.
3. The roads were still a bit icy on my way home but I did not get into a car accident. Bonus.
4. I met a nice man and learned about stocks.
5. I found out which Chinese restaurant NOT to eat at in the small town. As a result, should I ever go there again, I will have good dining experiences.
6. The DVD I rented as a result of not going home was called My Date with Drew. It was extremely cute and I enjoyed it much.
7. I was just thinking a couple weeks ago that I had not had a good cry in a long while and I felt like it would be a good release. Wish granted.
8. I went for a really good run on Saturday night while stuck in the small town at my hotel (pre-storm).
9. I got all my work done over the weekend because I had so much waiting time. Which was good since I did not quite make it into the office on time on Monday...
10. I might be soon in the running for best customer of my roadside assisstance program. I mean, this is the 3rd time I have locked my keys in. Surely I qualify for some kind of gold membership?

Anyway, my productivenss has definately not been where I had hoped this week. I feel like I am running up a very steep hill. But if I can make it to the top, what did not kill me, will only have made me stronger. Right?

Colour me surprised

Sadly, the picture of Neville Longbottom, who is apparantly my Harry Potter Love match, was doing wonky things to my blog so I have deleted it.

At least I won't have to fight Lyn for Harry. But Ky might have some issues for me!

Take this quiz.

5 wierd or unusual things about Shannon

Hmmm. I have been tagged.

1. My right hip sticks out way farther than my left.

2. I think kelp forests are cool.

3. In university when I needed to stay up late studying but was falling asleep at 3am I would put in my Christmas Michael W. Smith CD and play the last song (I saw 3 ships come sailing in). It has this great bagpipe/Celtic sound and is completely perfect for doing a jig - which I would. By then I would be awake and ready to continue on in my studies. I have since performed this jig for select people.

4. When I am sad, lonely, depressed, sick or even just a wee bit under the weather, I sleep in the living room. When I first moved to Saskatoon I slept probably 80% of the nights on the uncomfortable futon instead of in my cozy bed. When my wonderful university boyfriend Chris and I broke up, I think I spent a month on the couch. I think it makes me feel less lonely. The funny thing is, when I first moved to Saskatoon, I lived alone. Hello Shannon - just as many people in the living room as in the bedroom! But it does not matter - it is my weird habit.

5. Sticking with the couch theme, when I am excited or thrilled, I jump on the couch. Same boyfriend who caused me to sleep on it for a month, also caused me to jump with reckless abandon the very first time he called to invite me to play ultimate frisbee.

Since Bronwyn pretty much tagged the only people that I know of who have read my blog, I will try something a little different. I am not sure if it is still the tail end of de-lurking week or if I have missed it, but in (perhaps belated) honour of said week, I will tag anyone who has ever read my blog but not commented. And if there is a chance I haven't read your blog, please leave a comment so I can check it out.

Things I think are cool: Introduction

The first in an occasional series.

I have discovered a new animal. The tassel-eared squirrel. (And you will notice that I just figured out how to link - hooray)

They are interesting little creatures with a unique relationship with ponderosa pine trees and goshawks. It's a life cycle that would make a perfect Biology 100 example, but I'll spare you all. They kind of look like a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo.

Anyway, I think they are cool. I have always had an affinity for squirrels, which may explain why I did a major project on them in my 4th year Animal Behavioral class. Not the tassel-eared mind you - that was a plain old Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (American Red Squirrel).

Super Shannon

I am one of those lucky people who can usually sleep well the whole night through. I generally attribute this to the fact that I almost always stay up too late and get up to early so I am always tired enough to fall straight asleep when I hit my pillow. Nonetheless, I am thankful that poor sleep nights, like last night, are few and far between.

Imagine my surprise at the fact that today, even coming off a bad night, was one of my most productive days in months and months. I was on fire or something.

I slept in (due to my bad sleep) until about 7:08. This meant that I had to rush around trying to get ready for the day. Rushing aside, I managed a healthy breakfast and found all my warm clothes required for a day in the field. I got into work at 8:30 (only a half hour later than usual - which was okay because I was going to working late) and managed to:
- revise a report that had come back from my reviewer (with lots of changes required) and get it sent back for final review
- phone contacts to either set up or follow up with 4 other projects I have on the go
- chat for 15 minutes with my office mates about politics and
- get all my stuff together for my field job and leave by 10:00.

I stopped for petrol and was still about a half hour early to the job site. I proceeded to log soil samples for the 5 exploratory boreholes that were dug. We were outside for pretty much the entire afternoon (thankfully it was only about -12 degrees) and got done in record time. I was back in the city in time to drop the samples off at the lab. Since I was on the right side of the city, I went straight to the gym and had my best workout so far of the year. By now it was 7:00pm and I had not stopped moving. I stopped for groceries, got home in time to unload the perishables (with the help of my roomate), change into a skirt, throw a leftover stir-fry into the microwave (I had not eaten lunch because we were so busy drilling we sort of forgot) and head to prayer meeting. Only 5 minutes late! Upon returning home, I made 6 phone calls I have been forgetting about/putting off for the past 2 weeks (quasi-business related), cleaned out all my cupboards and re-orgainzed all my stuff, put away the rest of the groceries, tidied the kitchen, got all the paper products ready to recycle tomorrow and wrote this blog. It is now almost midnight and what a day. I performed my second Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (which you will know is exciting for me if you read my blog a few days ago). Not only that but I ate a completely balanced diet for goodness sake! What a day! I think a big part of the reason that I accomplished so much is because I have given up television for the month. I think I was starting to watch too much of it toward the end of last year. So it is gone from my life. I shall re-evaluate in February.

And now, exhausted, I shall fall into bed and enjoy the sleep that I trust will quickly come to me as per usual.

I had dinner with 11 Mongolian Cowboys

(Well, technically one of them was the son of a close friend of one of the said cowboys).

Finally!!!!

So I have been working at my job for just over 2 years. I have a Biology degree and am interested in many things environmental and ecological but somehow managed to get a job in the hazardous materials department of an environmental company. The stuff I am really interested in is water quality, species studies, land use impact studies and that type of thing. In fact my undergrad thesis was about introducing new species of phytoplankton (a.k.a. algae) into a recovering formerly acidified lake in Ontario to see if we could boost the species count (all in a controlled environment mind you). Boring to you - possibly. But it was thrilling for me. So anyhow instead of getting paid to hike around, chase birds, ride quads, count plants, etc. I spend my days crawling around attics and crawlspaces looking for mould and asbestos.

BUT

Today - I got to do my first strictly environmental project. It even has "Environmental" in its name. I got to spend the entire afernoon outside performing a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment. We had a drill truck come and drill holes so we could see if there was any contamination in the soil. Still a far cry from canoeing through Killarney to find a lake with the perfect water chemistry to do algae introductions, but I will take it! And it was really interesting too - I mean at least for me as a first timer it was. I think the project manager training was not as filled with glee as I.

Tomorrow I get to do another Phase II but it is a bigger one out of town. I guess I could say that I am actually excited to go to work tomorrow. It has been a long time since I have been able to say that - and it feels good.

I go with winter?

So last night our young people's group went to my favourite outdoor skating rink. We had a most excellent time. We were playing games, doing stunts, performing doubles routines and (the highlight for me) we did a pinwheel! (Anyone who took figure skating lessons when young will have done a pinwheel in an acheivement day-type performance.)

If you have not yet figured it out, I love skating. I took lessons for years and was never very good competitively but I enjoyed the ice. And I guess last night people could sort of tell that I was enjoying myself. My friend Stephanie at one point out of the blue stated "You go with winter." It caught me by surprise because it was such a matter of fact statement. But I can totally see her point - I just had not really thought about it before. I love winter. I do not like cold but I adore snow so as long as we have lots of snow - I am usually quite content. It is always a struggle for me when we get the frigid temperatures without the snow because then the things that I like about winter, are not. I love skiing, I love skating, I love snow fights. Basically anything that I can wear my ski pants for I enjoy. I am always happy when I am playing in the snow. And I definately feel more at home in a snow suit than a bathing suit. So even though I had never thought about it, I think Stephanie is right and I do go with winter. So bring on the snow 2006!! In a time of indecision and questioning my future, it is really nice to figure something out about myself.

Note - This does not mean that I do not often tire of winter by the end of it. And it does not mean that I don't also very much enjoy summer and beaches and mud and rain. In fact, after spending a month chilling on the beaches of Hawaii a couple of years ago I could definately see myself enjoying more of that type of thing. Now if only popular bikinis looked more like a ski suit, it would be my perfect world.

No - I shall stick it to it

After an afternoon of responsible organizing of financial and other files from the past year (I am even labelling tabs on folders!!!) I have decided to stay with the original plan. Debt be gone.

hmmmmm

Would it be so bad if I only put half the money from the sale of my car toward the loan?

Take THAT debt!

So Christmas and New Year's were lots of fun and good times. The best part was having almost a full two weeks off of work. But now I am back on the job for the busiest January our office has ever seen. Crazy.

But anyway, I bought my first brand new car this past June. I am not a huge car person so I did not want to have to do tons of looking through papers and auto traders, although I did do my homework and visited about 8 or 9 different dealers (looking at both new and used). I ended up getting a smokin' deal for not too much effort and was quite content. But I still had my old car to sell. And I was out of town quite a bit and found it super easy to put off. But I am oh so glad I did because it turns out my uncle was interested in buying it. Not only does it stay in the family (it was my late grandfather's), but I pretty much did not have to do ANY work to sell it. I did not get as much as I probably could have, but I also did not have any hassle. So anyway, my uncle did not want to have to withdraw any more RRSP money last year so he asked me to hold on to it until January, which it just so happens to be at the moment, and today we did all the transferring of ownership and plates. Sigh of relief.

Sadly I will do the responsible thing and pay all the money toward my loan for my new car rather than blow the money on fun things at the mall and home decor type stores. But, I do get to kick my debt where it hurts. Excellent.