Scary Shoes

Robbie enjoyed his birthday very much, it would have been nice to have him home a bit earlier, but things don't always work out as planned (especially when London Midland are involved!). We had a happy evening together and he was able to tell me all about his day, it seemed to involve a lot food so perhaps it is a good thing that birthdays only happen once a year! He had two breakfasts, a lovely lunch and his favourite meal in the evening, no wonder he was too full to have any birthday cake! So we decided to save the cake until today.

Life with Robbie is never dull, I have learnt to expect the unexpected, but last night I was lost for words. Watching Robbie try on his new Dr Martens was a surreal experience. He was wearing a white T-shirt and his favourite very bright and very baggy M&M design PJ bottoms when he decided to try on his new Dr Martens. The shoes are white with brown trim and in my opinion they are absolutely horrible, but Robbie fell in love with them and because I love him very much I bought them for him as an early birthday present. He sat for a little while just stroking and admiring the shoes, then he decided to try them on.


He deliberated about the colour of the laces for a few minutes, he asked if I thought the white or the brown laces would look best. It really made no difference, the shoes would still look horrible, but I chose brown, so Robbie decided on white. The shoes looked so wrong, the look was not helped by the black socks that he was wearing. Not to mention the M&M PJ bottoms. He walked up and down the lounge, one hand on his hip and asked me what I thought. I am rarely lost for words, but on this occasion I was speechless. What I was actually thinking was that he looked like a cross between Larry Grayson and Phil Mitchell, but perhaps it wasn't the moment to say so!

My heart sank when he announced that he would be wearing his new shoes to work today, I am not sure the railways are ready for a shock like that, but I couldn't change his mind. He is wearing them with jeans and a casual shirt, personally I think they are hideous but I will leave you to decide....... 

A Scary Thought!

Sam and Robbie get on very well really but they are a bit competitive and they never miss a chance to get the other in trouble with me. Then to leave me completely confused, when I am really cross with one of them they back each other up. When I got home last night it seemed a fairly relaxed atmosphere Robbie was sitting in the corner working in his laptop, I had expected him to be ready to go with me to fill the car up, but he was in his PJ's so I decided to leave the car until the morning. As I took Sam to school this morning he told me about Robbie having a little tantrum the when he got home yesterday. Apparently Robbie had been looking for a particular T shirt and he came down stairs to check the folded laundry in what Sam described as leggings. This had me laughing out loud, the thought of Robbie in leggings is so disturbing that it is funny. Sam kept a straight face and assured me that it would take years of therapy to deal with a sight like that. I protested that Robbie did not possess any leggings and suggested that he must have been wearing trunks. Sam shrugged and said settled on a new description - 'unmentionables'. Robbie insisted that he was wearing PJ's and he came up with a variety of complaints about the way Sam dresses. They are like two little boys, but I wouldn't want to change either of them (well not much anyway!).

In a Minute!

I hope our neighbours go to bed early because if they had glanced out of the window at close to midnight they would have seen a very odd sight. The wind and rain had caused the fence at the end of our garden to lean perilously and Robbie had been promising all evening that he would go and investigate 'in a minute'. For someone who deals with train times accurate to the minute, he is far less respectful of time in his personal life! He managed to put off inspecting the fence until bedtime when it could not be ignored any longer because Meg needed to go out in the garden. Robbie ventured out wearing in a jacket, PJ trousers and Dr Marten boots and armed with a torch! I can't imagine what the neighbours would have thought, but at least the fence is secure (for now at least).

New Shoes

Robbie got new shoes last week, well they were boots to be exact, he walks much better in boots. They were Dr Martens as usual, but more beautiful than the usual clumpy old things that he wears. When he got home from work he couldn't stop talking about the new boots and he kept taking them out of the box to show me how nice they were, they were nice but I can't manage too much excitement about a pair of shoes. Having not got the desired response he tucked the box containing the new boots under his arm and left the room. He appeared again a few minutes later wearing the the new boots, he did a few laps around the lounge, stopped, did a twirl, then changed direction and continued to walk around the lounge. It was a bit like horseless dressage! He wanted me to admire the boots and I did my very best to keep a straight face as I admired his footwear, but he had changed out of his work suit and the sight of him cavorting around the lounge in smart new boots and PJ's proved too much for me. It had a certain comedy value, but Robbie was most indignant when he saw me laughing!

Trouser Trouble

It is a strange life, when Robbie is at home I want to send him back to work and when he is going back to work I want to keep him at home. He has been challenging at times over Christmas, but I wish he had a bit longer at home. On Christmas Day he was still trotting around in his PJ's when my mum, stepfather and brother arrived at lunchtime, a fairly alarming sight especially when you are not expecting it. He eventually got dressed in his cords and his 'Ho, Ho, Homer' T shirt (that slogan proved too tempting for the kids!) but more shocks were in store – his trousers fell down when he was doing the washing up! I thought that was the end of the trouser trouble, but I nearly crashed the car on Tuesday when we were taking my Mum and step father shopping and out of the silence he suddenly announced that he was not wearing underwear! I sincerely hoped he was joking because he was wearing the same pair of cords that had fallen down on Christmas Day, and it was 'geriatric' day at Morrisons - he could have caused mass hysteria! I really don't know what triggers him to speak his thoughts sometimes, but I really wish he wouldn't, I have far too many grey hairs already!

Robbie, Where's Your Trousers?

There is one thing that Robbie just can't resist – the Marks and Spencer sale. He couldn't resist a diversion to M&S in Birmingham on his way back from the railway open day. He bought two new pairs of PJ bottoms, some socks and quite possibly a few other things that he hasn't admitted to yet. He got a train to Birmingham International and then he visited the loo before heading off to catch the replacement bus to Northampton. He was just washing his hands when a horrible thought struck him, his PJ's were still on the train heading for Bournemouth. He rang customer support and the absconding PJ's were apprehended and escorted from the train at Coventry so Robbie had to go chasing after his 'lounge wear'. It always seems to happen to him!

Bin Wars.

I thought it was about time you were treated to another photo of Robbie in his PJ's! Don't worry there is nothing frightening. I took the photo of him last night, he was sitting in his usual corner glued to his computer with his headphones stuck in his ears. I had been talking to him without response for several minutes before I realised that I was actually talking to myself, he was watching a DVD apparently. I am going to try plugging him in again the next time I can't get a word in, I had almost an hour of peace this evening while he watched his DVD. There is just one drawback, when he had finished watching his DVD he provided me with a detailed (and I do mean detailed!) account of the plot. Somehow he misses the point, if I was interested in the plot I would watch the film myself, but you know Robbie, when he has something to say there is no stopping him!!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Robbie's determination to buy a new bin for the kitchen. As you may have guessed it wasn't as high on my priority list. The old one was perfectly adequate but Robbie sneaked out and bought a new one anyway, a very expensive one in fact. Why does something as basic as a bin have to create so much controversy? The existing bin had a swing lid and Dave the cat (who had been a stray before we adopted him) found it very easy to get into the bin in order to scavenge for scraps. The difficulty was that he couldn't get out again and he either curled up and went to sleep in there or he tipped the bin over in his struggle to get out. Robbie insisted that the new bin would be cat proof because it is metal with a press top lid that flips up to give access to the bin. It certainly looks smart - it should do for that price! It took Dave two days to work out how to open the lid, he seems delighted with the arrangement because he can still get in, but the lid stays open so that he can get out again. Robbie hasn't admitted defeat, he now intends to have a 'high rise' kitchen bin to be certain that it is cat proof.

Over Dressed

Robbie went to a gig last night, to see a group called Be Your Own Pet, he has seen them before so he must have thought it worth the effort of going to the gig. He tends to like loud and tuneless music, there are a few groups that we both like, but generally if I like it he doesn't and vice versa. I picked him up at the station at midnight and he could hardly walk, his legs were killing him because of all that standing around. He insists that he is not too old to go to gigs, but I do worry about him, his legs hurt and his ears play him up for days afterwards, I can't understand why anyone would do that for pleasure!

Just when I was thinking that I was on a winning streak with Sam and his school shoes he found a new issue for me to worry about. He was obviously acting as Robbie's understudy this morning, still flitting around in his PJ's fifteen minutes before we needed to leave the house. He finally appeared in the lounge fully dressed, in fact he was a little too fully dressed, he had his uniform black trousers, white shirt, tie black blazer and lurid green belt! I insisted that the belt had to go but he was adamant that it would be fine, after another verbal spat I won and the belt was reluctantly returned to his bedroom to be reunited with his jeans. By the time I dropped him at school he managed to look approximately tidy and he was very reluctantly wearing his new school shoes. I wonder what new challenge he will manage to come up with tomorrow!

All Change 06.02.08

Yesterday proved disappointing for Robbie. He took the 'sick' laptop to PC World in Coventry as arranged, but yet again they proved that they were a complete waste of space. We would have got more sense if we had asked our cat to diagnose the fault! So now it is 'plan B' we will speak to an independent repair company to see if they can help.

Despite his frustration Robbie was surprisingly chatty in the evening. He had bumped into an old colleague today and he always enjoys meeting old friends - even the annoying ones. When the CrossCountry franchise transferred from Virgin to Ariva a number of colleagues moved on to new ventures or transferred to 'the Dark Side'. Robbie has bumped into a several of them during his travels recently. Last week he was most impressed that one loud and irritating excolleague appears to have been 'tamed' in his new post. He has been instructed to mute the volume and now he has to make do with sign language and notices, I bet keeping his lip buttoned is killing him. They even have him wearing a shirt and tie - but he still wears an anorak! The old colleague that Robbie met yesterday now works for Network Rail (well, somebody has to!) and it seems that he feels the need for a disguise because he is growing a beard, but true to form for Network Rail it is still a work in progress!

Robbie was working on some important notes last night, I stayed up until midnight but he was still busy so I left him to it. I was woken shortly after 2am by Robbie, he was in agony and seemed rather disorientated. Apparently he had fallen asleep over the computer and had been woken abruptly by the cat, this had made him jump and he'd had a few seconds of panic while he tried to work out why he was at work in his PJ's! He eventually realised where he was, and staggered up to bed, but he was in pain because he had been hunched in an awkward position. I couldn't help laughing about the cat having to wake him up, I expect he was keeping the animals awake with his snoring!

Back to Work (perhaps!) 01.01.08

The air was filled with expletives this evening when Robbie found out that Network Rail's work at Rugby will not be completed in time and they will retain possession of the line for yet another day meaning that all the people returning to work tomorrow will spend most of their day getting nowhere - very slowly! It looks as if Thursday promises more of the same, so it certainly won't be a happy new year for passengers using that line! Robbie has planned a ridiculously early start in the morning and he intends to drive to Kettering station and make his way to Birmingham on East Midlands Trains service via Leicester. A bit of a contorted route, but Robbie has always had a bit of the Baldrick about him - cunning plans and all that stuff!

There is one thing that bothers me about Robbie returning to work. He has become very attached to his new PJ's and he seems very reluctant to wear anything else. I am not sure if he prefers the navy ones or the dark green ones, but given half a chance I'm sure he would wear them to work! On the subject of work wear Robbie has ordered a new suit and I persuaded him to choose charcoal grey this time, he always chooses black and it makes people think that he only has one suit!

Christmas Morning - by Robbie 26.12.07

Well, its Boxing day and we have had a brilliant Christmas. We all gathered in the lounge early on Christmas morning to watch the children open their presents. For weeks now Christine has been reminding me that we were not to buy each other anything for Christmas, not even anything small. The trouble is that Chris does SO much for me throughout the year it would be impossible for me to not buy her just a 'little' something. After everybody had opened their sacks Laura came down with a red Santa sack...for ME!!! OMG, she's done it again (I refer to Chris doing the same trick last year, think I'd learn by now...lol..) There was one big present sticking out of the sack and the shape of it set me thinking ....had she remembered my comments re the M&S Hornby limited edition Night Scot train set? Yes, you guessed it, she did! ....what a FANTASTIC surprise! But there were also another couple of surprises lurking.....two railway mugs! Chris knows I have a bit of a thing for railway mugs so she bought me TWO class 170 railways mugs, one for home and one for work (she thinks of everything..) they are GREAT mugs too!! I also got several railway videos, a book called Along Lost Lines which is packed with loads of information and photos about railway history. I opened two other packages and found 'lounge wear' (or PJ's according to Christine). I was initially dubious because I like to choose my own 'lounge wear' and these were not a brand I had bought before, but when I tried them on they were a perfect fit and really comfortable, for someone who hates shopping Christine had done an incredible job!

An Over Inflated Ego 25.11.07

On a Sunday evening I enjoy a bit of escapism and nostalgia before facing the reality of another week, so I look forward to watching Heartbeat. The opening credits had hardly finished when Robbie started finding fault, apparently they were using a southern railways engine in the north, and by the date that the programme is set if Beeching's axe hadn't closed the branch line that served Aidensfield they would have been using diesel traction. By the time I had been given the full details from Robbie the episode was almost over and my need to escape was more pressing than ever!

Robbie is full of surprises, but he rarely leaves me speechless. This morning he came into the bedroom and asked if I could please mend and strengthen the button on his PJ's (lounge wear). I commented that this was the second repair in the space of two weeks but his excuse left me dumbstruck. He said "It's not my fault it's the knob". I struggled for words and before I could tell him that I thought he may be exaggerating, he explained that when he stands at the sink to do the washing up he catches his PJ's on the drawer knob! Maybe I should just sew him into his PJ's!

Customer Service? 16.11.07

It was a surreal sort of day, as I drove Sam towards school I noticed that the all the girls heading for Laura's school were armed with large soft toys. Laura explained that to support Children in Need they were having a 'take your teddy to school' day. I asked why she did not have her teddy bear with her and she said that the sixth form were doing something different, they were having a 'wear your pyjamas to school day' but she had wisely decided that she would rather pay not to wear her pj's! It wasn't until I watched Children in need tonight that I realised that a number of companies were also doing a 'wear your PJ's to work' thing. Thankfully Cross Country have been too busy getting on with the first week of the franchise, so the travelling public were spared the horror of encountering Robbie in his PJ's on his way to work. You know what he's like, any excuse to take his clothes off, he would ha jumped at the chance to go to work in his pyjamas - scary! It has been so cold at Northampton station in the last few days that he would have had a serious case of frostbite - imaging explaining that at casualty!

Well, it didn't take long did it? we are still in the first week of the new franchises and there is already fighting talk from East Midlands Trains passengers at Kettering and Wellingborough. EMT found themselves on the TV news this evening, in their infinite wisdom they have withdrawn the option of seat reservation for season ticket holders and the passengers are furious. It seems obvious to me that people who pay an arm and a leg for a season ticket would expect something as basic as a seat, but apparently East Midland Trains didn't foresee the consequences of their action. Clearly they haven't got a clue about customer service, one traveller described the service as the worse she has experienced in 20 years. I am tempted to suggest that they may as well abolish the coaches and replace them with cattle trucks so that they don't need to bother with seats at all. The irony is that if they packed cattle in the train in the way that they pack people in, they would be breaking countless laws and regulations, it seems a shame that the welfare of passengers does not merit that much attention. Déjà vu, it could be FGW all over again. Another own goal for the chinless wonders at the DFT who make these batty decisions about franchise changes. My anger about this issue extends far beyond the Cross Country situation, I still haven't forgiven them for merging Wessex trains with FGW last year, the date they chose for the merger speaks volumes - 1st April!!!

Rumpelstiltskin! 26.09.07

Robbie fell over again this morning. He cut his knee badly and grazed his hands, worse of all he tore his new work trousers (the ones that travelled to Euston on their own!). He had to come home, clean up, change his trousers and recover his dignity, so he missed his usual train and had to go for the next one. His knee is hurting him badly, but hopefully it will soon get better.

Yesterday proved to be a day of confessions for Robbie. He had meetings in London and I wondered why he left at the crack of dawn for a 10am appointment. I should have known better, he managed to visit four mainline stations for a bit of train spotting - he is impossible! The more surprising confessions involved the kitchen, he admitted that the new arrangement of the kitchen cupboards works much better. I sensed I was on a winning streak and through gritted teeth he managed to admit that the new tea towel is actually very good!

The dog and cat decided to play games with Robbie last night. I had just gone to bed and Robbie was heading in that direction too, when Megan asked to go out in the garden - and she wouldn't come in! The best thing is to ignore her and within 5 or 10 minutes she will rattle the door to come in, but instead Robbie (dressed in PJ bottoms and Dr Marten boots) was galloping round the garden trying to catch her. I could have told him that it was futile, but Meg had fun and Robbie got some exercise - I dread to think what the neighbours though, but they were in for a little more entertainment. The kitten got out and he couldn't catch him either, in the end he had to go out with one of the kitten's toys (a mauve feathery thing on a stick) and coax him in by playing with him. Finally both the little terrors were safely back in the house and Robbie came to bed - it was 2am!! I had already been asleep for a couple of hours, but Robbie was dancing with rage and the air crackled with expletives - he reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin! I finally calmed him down, leaving him sleeping soundly and me wide awake - typical

Secret Weapon 19.06.07

I can't say that Monday mornings ever fill me with unbounded joy, but this morning proved extremely challenging. Thankfully we had planned a slightly later start today due to a GP appointment so Robbie and I were still at home just after 8am, Laura was at home too. As I glanced up my attention was attracted by a flash of movement in the back garden and I realised that there was a man dodging around in the garden. Robbie, who was wearing only PJ bottoms went out to see off the intruder. I am not sure if he intended to scare the fugitive into submission, but it seems he was fairly effective. The man took one look at Robbie and ran shouting and swearing towards our neighbours fence. He cleared the obstacle with ease, but the scene became even more surreal when two policemen popped up and pursued the man. One followed the man into our neighbours garden, but the other clearly felt that enough was enough and gave up. Robbie let the policeman through the house to the street in time to see an extremely vocal and foul mouthed youth man being led towards the police car. With that much drama before 9am it is no surprise that the rest of my day was fairly challenging too.

Pay Attention to Detail 25.05.07

Robbie was jubilant when he got home last night, the cause of his elation was not that he had finished work ready to go on holiday. No, he was overjoyed because he had found some new lounge wear (PJ's) that met with his rigorous specifications - don't ask! Whatever the cause it is always good to have a happy household and he was so cheerful that he willingly cleaned the kitchen while I delivered the guineapig to 'grandmas'.

I believe Robbie's colleagues are in for a very quiet week next week, not only will Robbie be away but the noisy northerner will be away too. Enjoy it! One of my colleagues asked why I don't put much about my work on the blog. Mainly it is because the people that our organisation works with have a variety of needs and many have overcome obstacles that would make the rest of us give up on life, I would never want to appear to laugh at them or to make light of their circumstances. However there are lots of smiles and laughter in our work as well as the other stuff. The story I am going to tell you about happened many years ago so I don't think it will do any harm to write about it.

A young man of about thirty came to ask for help, nothing unusual there, I often advised him on all sorts of things from Housing Benefit claims to food preparation. On this occasion his problem was a little more personal, he had acquired a carpet burn on a part of his anatomy that should not normally crop up in conversation - don't ask. I advised him that his GP was the person to deal with that sort of problem and not me. He persisted, but I was clear that I couldn't advise and he phoned for an appointment. As he could not be seen immediately he said that he thought he would put some cream on it in the meantime and I agreed that it seemed a reasonable thing to do. It was only a few minutes later as he was leaving the office that something made me call him back and ask what sort of cream. His reply - deep heat!!! I rescued him from a fate worse than death by suggesting that Vaseline would be far more suitable!

PJ Problems Again!

Well, Robbie threatened to do it yesterday and he actually did the deed today - he wore his shorts. In order to let me adjust gradually he wore his most sober pair, but it seemed a bit strange to see his very white legs on public display after all these months. Believe it or not he managed to tear his other pair of PJ's this morning, he was so cross with himself about it. He tore his other pair a while ago and he has only recently replaced them. When he told me how much they cost I could hardly believe it, they must be stitched with gold. He says they are not as good as the previous pair, so this time he want's to get the replacement pair from Gap. I always thought that stood for 'Gay and Proud' - but whatever floats his boat!

Megan has rolled and is polluting the atmosphere with the pervasive aroma of fox. Since she idolises Robbie, he can have the pleasure of showering her. This usually results in a clean dog, a devastated bathroom and a drenched and very dirty person.

Emily went away for the weekend to Gateshead with the County Youth Concert Band to take part in the National Concert Band Festival - and they got the gold award! Emily said Gateshead seemed a bit grim, but she liked what she saw of Durham.

Robbie has been playing with his latest toy - his usb turntable. He is delighted with it and has been busily adding to his i-tunes play list. He is woefully ignorant about certain types of music, I can't believe that he muddled Lonnie Donnigan up with Val Doonican! And before anyone criticises my taste in music, I must point out that a certain Mr B absolutely had to have The Funky Gibbon by the Goodies in his collection.

A Plea From the Heart 10.02.07

The saga of the 'lounge wear' continues. It must be a month since Robbie managed to tear one of his pairs of PJ bottoms in a rather vital area - don't ask how, it is one of those mysteries that I am probably better not knowing the answer to!! They had a gaping tear of at least twelve inches and for the protection of 'the viewing public' I had to throw them away. He is still sulking and he claims (unsurprisingly) that he is unable to find any suitably modern and 'Robbie style' lounge wear. By Robbie style he means loud clashing colours combined with large and dubious patterns - Sam's right he is still stuck in the 1970's!

This is a plea from the heart, we have endured at least a month of Robbie parading around the house in his knickers and it's more than flesh and blood can stand. It is one of those visions that you never get used to. Please, if one of his colleagues reads this would you send him out in his lunch hour to buy some PJ bottoms - my requirements are less onerous than his, the price must be 'within budget' and they must cover all the 'relevant parts'. Our family (and the postman) will be extremely relieved to see him properly attired again.

PJ Problems! 17.01.07

Robbie had a busy day, he was up at the crack of dawn to go to Leeds. The trains were a little kinder to him today and he arrived at his meeting on time.

Robbie is still smarting about the loss of his torn pair of PJ bottoms or 'lounge wear' as he insists on calling them. I put them in the bin a couple of weeks ago and he appears to be still in mourning for them. Of course it is not a simple case of replacing them, there is the little matter of bad taste to be considered. Even Marks and Spencer's cannot be relied upon to stock garish coloured PJ's with alarming patterns. It takes considerable effort to track down exactly the right pair to fit his personality, so he is still at the research stage.

His remaining PJ bottoms were in the wash, so this evening he disappeared upstairs and returned a few minutes later wearing what I can only describe as a pair of workman's overalls without the bib part. They were a sober navy blue colour, but they were about a foot too long for him and they made him a very peculiar shape. For some reason he wore them for the whole evening with the M&S price tag still attached to his bottom and this didn't enhance the image, the tag looked like a tail. I couldn't help enquiring what they were meant to be, and he explained that they were lightweight leisure trousers from Marks and Spencer's. Unlikely as it sounds, they are ten times worse than the PJ's and I am actually encouraging him to replace his 'lounge wear'!!!

Robbie - by Sam. 16.01.07

Sam, has decided to describe Robbie from his point of view, he had a bit of help from his sisters too.

Robbie is a bit weird in some ways. He is very interested in clothes but he is really retro like he is stuck in the 80's. His favourite clothes are PJ bottoms, he calls them 'lounge wear' and he wears them all the time at home if he can get away with it. Mum makes him wear a T shirt with it because he is not allowed to eat meals without a top on, she says he is worse than Stan Ogden, but I don't know who he is (I expect he is dead, most people that she talks about are dead). Robbie also likes wearing the T shirts that he buys at gigs, but sometimes mum says "you can't go outside wearing that or you will get arrested" he tries to argue but he always has to change. There is a T shirt that he really wants but mum won't him buy it because she says it is blasphemous, that makes Robbie laugh, then we all laugh and mum gets cross. He likes big patterns and bright colours, you should see the shorts that he wears on the beach, they are very loud - just like Robbie really!

Sometimes I borrow Robbie's socks and that makes him really mad, and whatever pair I have nicked he always claims they were his best pair! He used to wear boxers but they bunched up and mum said it made him look like Gandhi (that is someone else who is dead, he used to wear a thing that looked like a big nappy). Now he wears trunks (Robbie not Gandhi) and he likes them better because they are more comfortable.

Emily says he has a sort of skater style and Laura calls him a 'geek with chic' but I think weird sums it up best. He has a thing about shoes too, he collects them, he loves Dr Marten's and he likes converse too, they have to be bright colours, in fact the stranger the better as far as he is concerned.

Robbie eats revolting things like black pudding and dripping, he dips bread in his gravy and sometimes he even eats ostrich burgers - disgusting! Sometimes Emily tells him off for keeping evil things in the fridge, she is a veggie so she gets a bit stressy sometimes.

In some ways Robbie is like me because we both like facts and details and we don't like people to mess up our routines. The person who is most like Robbie is our little sister, they look so alike and she is loud, noisy and totally mad too.