November 30
It was nice waking up not hung over, and while I was still kind of sore from our long weekend, I didn't mind, 'cause it had all been fun.
My hips felt a little bit strange, like they were slightly out of joint, which I think was because of all the time I'd spent on the snowboard with my hooves anchored down, and when I stretched out my leg one of them cracked and it hurt at first but then it felt a lot better, so I stretched out the other one to see if it would, too, but it didn't want to cooperate. Maybe it was because I was lying on it.
I didn't want to wake Peggy up, so I got out of bed really slowly and she moved around a bit but stayed asleep.
I wasn't the first one up; John and Chrissie were both downstairs and I must have been a little bit tireder than I thought, 'cause her hair was wet and I hadn't heard her take her shower.
I got a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with them, and Chrissie asked me what I was planning to do for the rest of the week, and I had to tell her that I didn't know, but we'd find something fun to do. And I said that I wanted to do something with all of us, if we could, and if there weren't any caves.
And then I said that I was gonna go flying this morning and enjoy the sunrise, and she said that I had better get up in the air pretty quick if I wanted to because it wasn't going to be too much longer before it was over the horizon.
She gave John a goodbye kiss and then went out to the garage so that she could go to work, and he picked his newspaper back up and started reading it, while I drank my coffee and thought about where I could fly this morning. Since I'd spent the last four days up in the mountains, it might be interesting to see something else, so maybe I'd go east. I'd have to stay kind of low, at least until I passed out of the way of the airport, but it was so close it wouldn't be much longer than if I went any other way.
So that was where I was going to go, so I went back upstairs and got my flight gear, staying really quiet so that I didn't bother Peggy. And then I went back downstairs to get dressed and I happened to think about the fish I'd seen in the stream when I was flying through the mountain and asked John if I could catch one if I wanted to. He said that my Michigan fishing license wasn't valid in any other state, but if I did catch one nobody would know. And while that was probably true I didn't want to break the rules, so I wouldn't catch them.
I didn't take my GoPro, 'cause I'd forgotten to empty its memory or charge it up, but I made sure that I had all the rest of my gear, and then I went outside to the backyard, and John did too. And this time the airplane directors were a little bit less confused when I asked for flight clearance, but they weren't too happy that I didn't have a destination in mind. But I'd given them a compass bearing, and I thought that should be good enough. And I guess it was, because they said that I could but I had to stay low until I was out of their airspace.
So I flew over the fence and turned around long enough to wave goodbye to John, and then I flew across the open meadow between their neighborhood and the airport, angling off to the south.
I looked to make sure that there weren't any airplanes coming as I got close to the end of the runways, 'cause I knew that a big one might blow me away. And I was just past them, about a hundred feet above the ground, when I saw the sun start to come up over the plain.
I made short glides while I watched it rise—I wasn't high enough to glide very far—and then I climbed a little bit, but I still stayed pretty low. I didn't want to annoy the airplane directors by pushing my clearance, even though they probably would never know if I had.
There was a little neighborhood all by itself that was a little ways past the airport, and then I was in open land. I was following a road that was off to my south which had a few farms along it, but it wasn't like Michigan or Indiana where there were lots of farms that had their fields bound by trees—here there were just thin fences here and there, and they were mostly surrounding prairie grasses. Some of the fields had cows in them, but I didn't see any barns where the cows might live. Maybe they just stayed outside all the time, or maybe their pastures were bigger than I thought, and the barns further away. It was really hard to see exactly where all the fence rows went.
It all looked kind of dry, which was funny because of all the snow up in the mountains. But a lot of times mountains stopped clouds, and they dumped out all their moisture before they got across the mountain range, so the land on the downwind side didn't get very much rain or snow. And I saw a deep creekbed that confirmed my thoughts—it was cut a ways into the soil, but there wasn't any water in it at all. I bet when the rain did come, though, it filled all the way up.
I could see a couple more dry creeks going across the prairie, and also a dry lake off in the distance. And then in front of me I saw what I thought was a crater at first: it was a little bit of a depression, and I could kind of make out lines radiating out from it. And in the center there was a windmill on a short tower.
Once I got close, though, it was obvious what it was: there was a big, low tank that had some water in it, and all the trails that I was seeing were made by the big herd of cows that was relaxing just on the other side of the hill, and I was kind of disappointed that that's all it was. It would have been really neat to find a crater, especially if nobody had found it already.
Off to the north of me, there was a bunch of big buildings and parking lots and it was a really strange place for it to be, since there wasn't much of anything around it. So I thought about flying out there to get a look at it but then I decided that since it was off all by itself like that maybe that was because they didn't want people going there, and wouldn't be too happy if a pegasus flew overhead.
So I turned around and started flying back. I was too low to really see the airport, and its control tower sort of blended into the city, and I couldn't see their beacon turning. Maybe it was only on during the nighttime.
But it didn't matter, 'cause I had a road to follow and my watch knew where the airport was, too. And so when I called the airplane directors and told them that I was flying back, they gave me permission and told me to stay under a thousand feet and to let them know when I got within a mile of the airport, and I said that I would.
I liked the view flying back better—the mountains stretched across the horizon, and the sky was clear behind them. If I had time tomorrow, I thought that instead of flying through mountain valleys, I could see if I could get permission to fly along their peaks. Maybe I could land on a couple of them.
I saw an airplane landing before I actually saw the airport, but now I knew about where the end of the runway was, so I angled a little bit more south so that I'd clear it, and when I got over the little neighborhood I called the airplane directors again to let them know where I was.
They said that there was another big airplane landing soon and I could cross over the south end of the runways if I could be clear in four minutes, and I wasn't sure that I could—I probably could but I remembered how that one airplane had almost knocked me out of the air just from its wake, and if I was only a few hundred feet above the ground that wasn't much room to recover. So I told them that I'd just circle and wait, so I did. And it was a good opportunity to drink a little bit more water, too.
Even though I knew I was far enough away to be safe, I still got nervous as the airplane came in for its landing, just 'cause it was so big and quick. It looked like it was a long ways away at first and then all of a sudden it was right there.
I started flying towards the airport as soon as I saw it slow down at the other end of the runway, just so that I'd have plenty of time to get across before the next one came. And I didn't cut north this time; I just kept heading west until I was clear of the second runway, and then when I crossed the 21 road, I was right by Peggy's neighborhood so I started gliding down until I saw her house.
I looked both ways for cars and then I landed on the street next to Cobalt.
I had to push the doorbell so that I could get in, 'cause I didn't have a key. And at first nobody came to the door and I thought about pushing it again but that was probably rude—I could hear it outside so anyone who was inside ought to be able to hear it, too.
And after about a minute, John came and opened the door and let me inside. He told me that Peggy had just gotten up and that she was in the shower now, which meant that I'd have to wait for a turn.
So I went inside and got out of my flight gear and I sat at her desk and wrote in my journal until she came in the bedroom. She said that I should have knocked on the door, 'cause if she'd known I was back she would have finished sooner, but I said that it was okay.
When I got done with my shower I groomed myself, and then I went downstairs. Peggy had made macaroni and cheese and a salad for lunch. She also said that she had a can of pineapple if I wanted to have that.
It was kind of neat how all the pineapple was in rings that fit just inside the can, and it was all in pineapple juice which she poured into a cup so that she could drink it.
I asked her what she wanted to do in the afternoon, and she said that most of her friends who had visited liked to visit the gold mine but I probably wouldn't like that because it was underground. Then she said that there was a Go-Kart track north of town and we could do that, or else we could drive back into the mountains because the weather was a little bit nicer today. There were hot springs that were a couple of hours away, and also a big gorge that she said was really nice. They had a train that you could ride, too, but it only ran on the weekends.
So I said that racing Go-Karts would be fun, and she decided to see how many of her friends wanted to do it. She told me that these were different than the ones I'd driven before, because they were electric and it was inside, but you drove them the same way so I knew how to do that.
She sent telephone telegrams to all her friends, and then we went upstairs to her room so that I could plug in my GoPro, and put all the movies it had taken on her folding computer, so if I went flying tomorrow morning I could use it then. And while we were there she got a telegram from her friend Clive who said that him and Gina could meet us at the Go-Kart place in a few hours, but they were both working right now.
Peggy decided that she wanted to change her clothes to go Go-Karting, and then we got in Cobalt and drove into town.
We didn't go to the Go-Kart place right away; she took me on a little tour of town and showed me her high school, which was called Sierra. Their mascot was a stallion, and I asked her if that was why she wanted a pony roommate and she laughed and said that she thought it would be fun, and she'd been lucky to be the one who was picked. And she reached over and pet my mane and said that I'd been the best roommate she'd ever had even if I did shed all over the place, and I told her that that wasn't true; I hardly shed at all. Except when it was time for my winter coat to fall out; then I shed a lot.
She said that she was just pulling my leg, and we drove north through town and she took me by the Olympic Training Center, which was kind of close to where the #freethenipple protest had been. Probably nobody was out there without shirts today because it was a lot colder.
Then she went and drove to a big park called Palmer Park, and it was like mini-mountains. There was a spot where you could look over Colorado Springs, and there was also a big picnic area called Lazy Land. There wasn't anyone there today, but she said in the summertime it was pretty full.
There were also riding stables near the park, because there were therapeutic horses who helped people out that weren't healthy, which I thought was really neat. Peggy said that she didn't know a lot about it but that the horses somehow could help people who had trouble walking, and it wasn't just by carrying them where they needed to go.
We stopped the car and walked along one of the trails which went through a little pass in the rocks, and I flew up to the top of one of the rocks (it wasn't very high) and said that I was princess of the mountain, and so Peggy had to climb up, too, so we both could be princesses.
She asked me if I'd ever thought about sticking Equestrian flags in things and claiming them as my own, because that's what explorers used to do—whenever they found something new, they put a flag in it and said it was theirs.
I said that I hadn't brought any Equestrian flags with me or else I would have. And she said that maybe we should get some and she was sure that there was someone who sold them in Colorado Springs.
Peggy looked at her portable telephone and then she said that she'd found a store and she sounded like she was surprised by that. It was called Flagline.com, and it wasn't very far from the park.
She said that it had a internet name so probably it was just a headquarters and they didn't have any flags there, but since it wasn't very far away it wouldn't be any trouble to go there and look at it, and maybe if they didn't have any they would know who did.
So after we'd finished walking around the trail, we drove over there and it wasn't very far at all. And when we went inside it didn't look like a store at all, but they did have lots of flags on the wall and on posts and I did see that they had an Equestrian flag.
The woman at the front desk asked us who we were coming to see, and so Peggy explained what we were looking for, and she told us that they didn't ship from there and didn't keep product in stock, which was kind of what she'd expected. But the woman said that sometimes they had samples and she could check and see if there was anything, so she picked up her telephone and made a quick call and pretty soon a man in a suit who was named Brian came out and he was really helpful. He said that they'd gotten a shipment in of miniature flags to look at—he called them 'stick flags,' cause they came on a post—and he said that it might still be in back somewhere.
We sat down in the office and waited and pretty soon he came back with a handful of flags, and said that that was all that he had. They were on little plastic posts and he said that they did come with bases normally but those hadn't been included in the shipment since they were early samples, and he could go looking to see if he could find some, but Peggy said that we wouldn't need them. And then she asked him how much they cost, and he said that he'd just give them to us, since it was the first time a pony had ever come in asking for Equestrian flags.
Well, I was so happy that I had to give him a hug, and Peggy did, too, and she put the flags in her pocket and we went back out to Cobalt.
The Go-Kart track was north of town, near the Air Force Academy and a Bass Pro Shop, which was a place that sold things for fishing. They had a big plastic bass on their building, and also a boat out front which Peggy said was a bass boat. It was sleek and sparkly and looked like it was really fast, and it had a big motor on the back.
I told her that it didn't look anything like a bass, and she said that it wasn't supposed to; it was supposed to catch them, and I told her that our lobster boats looked like lobsters, and she looked at me like she wasn't sure if I was telling the truth or not. And then I stuck my tongue out at her and she started to laugh and then when we stopped the car she showed me a picture of a Wiener Mobile, which was a car that sold hot dogs and also looked like a hot dog.
We'd gotten there later than Clive and Gina, so when we found them we went right to the desk to get our tickets, and the person there wasn't sure if he should let me, but I was expecting that so I showed him my pilot's license and he asked me if I'd even driven a Go-Kart before and I told him that I had. And Peggy used her portable telephone to find some pictures of me driving the Go-Karts in Kalamazoo.
Then he said that he wasn't sure if he had a helmet that would fit me, and she said that we had one out in the car, and so she went out and got it and he looked at it and decided that it would be okay to wear.
We had to sign a paper, too. Humans make you sign a paper before you can do anything fun. And then we got in line.
While we were waiting, Peggy's telephone chirped and she looked at the message and said that us four were going to be the only ones there, 'cause Lindsay and Victoria had already made plans. Then she told me that Lindsay was really mad about it because she wanted to see me drive.
The Go-Karts drove a lot like the ones in Kalamazoo. They were a little bit quicker to accelerate, and they were really quiet, too, 'cause of their electric motors. But all the controls were the same, and after one lap I started to remember how to drive it, and pretty soon I was racing around the track and keeping up with Peggy and Gina and Clive. He was the fastest of us. I think I could have caught him if I'd gone faster, but there were a lot of turns and they slowed me down more than him.
I got a little more aggressive the second time we raced, and I passed him but then I was going too fast for a curve and the back of my car slid out and it bumped into the barrier and by the time I got it back on the track he was too far ahead for me to catch, so I concentrated on going through turns as fast as I could for the rest of that race. I didn't really get any better at them, because whenever I went too fast the back of the go-kart would start to slide, and then it always wanted to spin and I didn't know how to straighten it out.
So I never wound up beating him in a race, even though I wanted to. Even if he did slide into the barrier, he could get his go-kart going again quickly enough that he didn't lose too much time.
After we were done racing, Peggy said that we should all go to dinner together, so we ate at the Mikado Asian Bistro, which had sushi. I was the only one who wanted it, and I would have felt bad about that, but they also had Thai food which Gina liked, and Chinese food which Peggy and Clive liked, so everyone was happy with it.
We said our goodbyes in the parking lot, and then drove back to Peggy's house and before we went to bed, we all sat at the kitchen table and John taught me how to play Blackjack, which is a card game that's played in casinos. He said that since we were playing for fun he wouldn't use real money, so he used chips like Mister Salvatore had when he was playing poker with the tornado ponies.
It wasn't that hard a game to figure out, 'cause it was based on probabilities, so all I had to do was keep track of what cards had been played already to figure out what was going to come up next. Chrissie said that I was taking too long between my moves and you weren't supposed to count the cards.
I thought that was kind of silly, because how else would you know if you had a good chance of getting a card that you wanted.
After we'd played for a while, John had most of the chips because he was the dealer and the dealer usually won. John said that that was the rules for casinos, that the House always won.
Peggy promised that she wasn't going to sleep in until noon tomorrow, and she said that we'd go back into the mountains, and that I'd have a chance to fly and plant my flags, and then on Friday it was her parents' turn to come up with what we were going to do, 'cause Chrissie had the day off.
Silver Glow could get in trouble for flying so close to the airport without checking in. She may have been low but I believe that the controllers where not happy with her cutting across the runways. Hopefully she will not get chewed out for it. A sad pony is not a fun pony.
Has Silver Glow thought about getting the videos transferred to film or to an ipod so she could show them off in Equestria or anything like that? Or maybe doing some kind video album on her facebook?
four
Ok. So SG is apparently clairvoyant now. This would not surprise me at all.
EDIT:Wait, wait. I've got it worked out. She saw the plane before she saw the airport. It wasn't really clear.
I've read arguments that small planes shouldn't be allowed to fly near major airports for the same reason bicycles aren't allowed on Interstate Highways.
I was thinking they could improvise an EQ flag, so I looked it up on the Internet. The one they had has a blue flag with a LOT of stars (the night sky, I suppose), the sun over a lunar eclipse & Celestia & Luna chasing each other. It's probably the most elaborate flag I've ever seen,
Still, they could probably get all they wanted from Amazon in a couple of days (One of the reasons retail stores are going out of business)
I love a good jointcrack.
In honor of the sexy Wildebeast's long-overdue pardon, she should read the Ballad of Reading Gaol or at least check out the classic animated shorts of The Selfish Giant and Happy Prince.
Admiral, you missed an opportunity for SG to have the Becelestia scared out of her by having her go inside that store and having one of the bass displayed on the wall suddenly turn it's head and start singing.
In Equestrian: "%$#@! Discord!!"
Then she'd be scared for saying the name out loud in Equestrian.
Then she'd have to explain to her human friends what Discord was.
I think the Native American mythology has a trickster spirit as do other cultures.
I guess Q gets around.
If Silver thinks trying to get round the airports she been near is fun, she should try watching videos of Heathrow. At peak rate, every 30 seconds, the first plane hasnt got off the runway before the next one hits the other end. And they say they want even more planes and even denser flying. And then fog comes down and half the planes have to fly hundreds of miles for alternative sites.
How much paperwork is Mr Salvatore going to be getting through Silver leaving foreign flags on US territory, litterng, not filed tax returns due to not purchasing, and a whole other bunch of jobsworths demands?
For those for whom the hustle and bustle of the modern suburb has just become too much.
7915684
I hadn't worked it out, and I thank you for explaining it to me. (Every time that I read something like that, I let it slide by on the premise of "Theoretically, this is all just somepony's journal.")
Your descriptions of Colorado are spot on. I can practically see the area Silver flew over, though I haven't been down to the Springs in years
7915793 So do I but then again I'm old.
7916979
For your vicarious pleasure, a compilation of joint-cracking:
If you like joint-popping, you might like pimple-popping too:
¡That Doctrix Sandra Lee really loves her job!
If you like popping pimples, you will love extracting Mango-Worms:
just means Silver needs to do the math faster haha. i bet there are tons of youtube tutorials hahaha
The House always wins.
Unless you call a courier.
Silly Silver, you don't play Blackjack, you shoot Blackjack and then sleep with her. ;)
Sorry, I just had to...
Also, december... I'm affraid to read it, because it will end so soon... :(
7915562
She did get permission from them to fly that route, so she's okay. And now she knows better than to cross a runway when there are airplanes nearby.
Actually, here's a fun fact--I can't remember where it was, San Diego I think, but when my brother flies one route in his little prop plane, he goes right over the airport, because all the jets are either flying tens of thousands of feet above, or landing under him. So going over the center is the safest place to be.
7915676
She hasn't. Currently, unless she can get them transferred to Equestrian-format movie film, she can't watch them back in Equestria (and that would be assuming she had, or had access to, a movie projector). Currently, a lot of the tech that we take for granted simply doesn't exist in Equestria.
7915684
I changed it around to be more clear. Also fixed the 'for'; thank you!
7915758
It depends on the airport and where you're flying. If you're not interfering with commercial flights, and you follow ATC instructions, than you can safely fly around airports--they route you where the big airplanes aren't, which apparently is sometimes right over the center of the airport.
Yeah, it wouldn't be too terribly easy to make.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/7/78/Equestriaflag_S2E11.png
Although searching Google images, some people have.
Yeah, and that's unfortunate. I do try and do most of my shopping at brick and mortar stores for that reason, but there's some stuff that you just can't get locally very easily, or at all.
7915793
Breastbone is the best, but really hard to do. I don't crack my knuckles anymore; it turns out that when you crack a sprained finger, you'll wish you hadn't.
7915840
In honor of the sexy Wildebeast's long-overdue pardon, she should read the Ballad of Reading Gaol or at least check out the classic animated shorts of The Selfish Giant and Happy Prince.
She did read The Ballad of Reading Gaol when she was in poetry class.
7916110
Admiral, you missed an opportunity for SG to have the Becelestia scared out of her by having her go inside that store and having one of the bass displayed on the wall suddenly turn it's head and start singing.
Oh man, that would be awesome!
I was at a llama show once, and the llamas had to do an obstacle course (with their handlers) and the last thing they had to do was get into a livestock trailer which had a Billy Bass on the wall, and there were some llamas that were not going to deal with that at all.
If you say his name he might show up . . . which would freak everyone out. I don't think he's allowed on Earth. Or else he roams around from government building to government building. . . .
7916132
The last time I flew into DC, a plane was landing on a parallel runway at the same time and that sort of freaked me out.
With the flags, as long as nobody finds one, he hasn't got to worry about it. And she's probably okay on income taxes, because depending on how they work things out, she had no income in her time on Earth. But he's always got paperwork to do, which is partially why he's so happy when he gets to yell at someone instead.
7916220
Exactly. Although it's not that far from the airport, so you'd be listening to the sounds of airplanes taking off and landing all the time.
7916511
Thanks! Google maps for the win; I haven't been to Colorado in nearly 30 years. Although after writing this, I really really want to go back.
7917288
Yeah, but you've got to wonder how good they are, you know? What you really need to learn is which cards you need to count and which ones you don't, and then it gets a lot faster.
7919002
Or you have a crooked dealer on your side.
7959419
8017046
As I was reading through the section of her flying into the country and over the "crater" where the cows were, I wondered if I'd see them all if I went to Google maps.
And now I'm wondering if I can see your old car museum.
You do (that't how I knew it was there), but you've got to change between multiple years' images in order to see the cows.
Sort of, if you know where to look. On the current Google Maps image, you can see my Suburban, my 78 truck, the potato chip truck, and my minivan. On street view, you can see my 69 Chevy truck (which has since been sold). my minivan, and my potato chip truck.
Is there not a reason people don't eat sushi at a bistro?
8565632
I wouldn't know, I've never tried nog.
Get well soon, Admiral san~ Maybe next time you'll heed my warning. *climbs back into time machine*
8566010
Just some people don't like it, I guess. If there is some other reason, I don't know what it is--I'm not much of a gourmand, though.
I wouldn't try gas station sushi, though.
The nog is the best part (especially without the egg).
imagetm.objects-us-west-1.dream.io/19/950151.jpg
(not a paid promotion)
8017031
Like anyone could stop him, and... well...... that would explain the last few years.....
This is the brony fandom, if it has been on screen, it was arted, plushified, and sculpted by the time the episode ended.
Yes, it is nice not waking up hungover, I would assume, never had one to compare it to.
Yup, cracking a joint hurts, but often gets everything working again. WAY better to just need to crack a stiff joint the waking up to a leg cramp.
Yes, no caves for the pegapone
And the East Pull continues!
Such a good little pony, not grabbing fishy becuase she might not be allowed to, even if no one will know.
Pony just leaves ATC's all messed up
"Where are you heading?"
"Over that way-ish, more or less."
Silly Pony, pretty sure any craters would be nice before they'd even finished being formed. Especially that close to NORAD.
Yes, I don't think military bases would enjoy a random fly over. Ponies give security people SO many headaches.
Pony Feline Instincts flaring up, must perch on highest point visible!
Someone looks up and wonders why the funny looking blue bird up there is circling around.
Pony no mind waiting for you to enjoy your shower.
Yeah, gold mine is a no go for pony.
Now Pony Kart racing, all the YES!
Of course pony is best roommate. Except maybe Cayenne. But I'm sure even she'd be nice enough to share what she brings over.
See, see, just proving to Pony that humans DO need Equines around to take care of them.
Pony no needs flags to claim things, she is pony, all things pony wishes to have belong to Pony, is way of
catpony.Of course they have pony flag, must push all the pony merch!
And of course pony gets free stuff for being pony.
See, you troll pony, pony learns to troll right back at you!
The Wienermobile, aka best, car, EVAR!
She knows to break out the proof of "I am skilled super smart pone that can do this" right away to get in that kart.
Also, perk of everything you do being recorded, you have proof you did it.
Yeah, gotta sign for fun. No risking you having fun that might get them sued.
So... how long till we have a NASCAR pony driver?
YAY! Pony get raw fishy! Happy pony!
There is a reason ponies do not have actual casino's, far to many like Silver or Twilight that just innocently work out things they aren't supposed to
And now, just one month left.........
Stuff like that is shown to be a lot more common in Equestria, like the bakery designed to look like a gingerbread house.
To be fair, it's mathematically likely that Silver had more chips than she started with. That's the whole reason why they get mad at you for counting cards.
11582539
That's true, although since it isn't common on Earth, it would have been worth note.
She probably did; as I recall Blackjack is a game where if you know the math you can do reasonably well. Depending on the rules, the house still has a significant advantage, but barring really good fortune on anyone else's part, Silver would probably be the last to run out of chips.
What is this casino propaganda. I'm pretty sure card counting has been ruled in courts as not cheating, because the advantage you gain isn't unfair, since you're using information available to everyone.
11715797
I believe it depends on the state. In some it's considered cheating, or the casinos can ban anyone they want for any reason they want; in other state's it's been determined that a casino can't ban a player for counting cards.
I seem to recall that coming up in a legal video I watched not that long ago, but I wasn't paying enough attention to it to give a definitive answer. Pretty sure the casinos in Vegas can ban you for counting, anyway.