Big show tomorrow night!

Or tonight, depending on when you read this...this is your last chance ever (well, ok, maybe not "ever", but at least for a while) to see Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world. Jack Chicken is moving to Minnesota and the rest of the band is going to "go on hiatus", by which we mean "drink heavily".

Here are the details:

We're back at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School, up at 15th NE and 125th in Seattle (the address is 12510 15th Ave NE, and the map is here). Relatively easy access from I-5, and while the show is all-ages, there is a tavern about a half mile north on 15th for those of you who can't watch us without getting your drink on.

Kicking off the evening's entertainment are Dapper Jones, a band we've never played with but sound cool, at least based on their MySpace stuff. Kind of a power-pop-punk thing.

It's an early show - 7:00-ish start for Dapper Jones, 8:30 for Chickens.

It's a cheap show - cover is $5 a head, and the money goes to support the Drum School

There's an after-party - and you're invited. We just can't tell you where it will be, because we haven't figured that out yet.

See you tonight! Or tomorrow night, again depending on when you read this...

Vote Frangles!

Entry #11 Frangles the Cat
Originally uploaded by shayneknitter

I'm Frangles the Cat, and I approve this message.

Hi, everyone. My name is Frangles the Cat. My mom, Paige Chicken, knitted me this sweet outfit and submitted my picture to the Mason-Dixon Knitting web site's "Teeny Project Runway" contest. So help me out...go to Mason-Dixon Knitting and vote for me, #11, Frangles the Cat.

Relapse?

Probably not. But after slowly improving over the last few days my thumb is acting up again tonight. Which really effects the typing, since hitting the space bar hurts.

So instead of anything insightful and long, here's a photo of Logan in his Boy Scout uniform, complete with small stuffed cats:

And....scene!

Well, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, my time as a Cubmaster / Cub Scout Dad / Volunteer has come to an end. Or was coming to an end then...and now it's officially at an end. Tonight was the big night, the combination dessert banquet, volunteer thank-you, Arrow of Light ceremony and cross-over to Boy Scouts. Quite a bit to pack in to, oh, an hour and 15 minutes. But we did, and it's done, and now I can relax. Because Boy Scouts doesn't start until, oh, tomorrow night.

But, they tell me, Boy Scouts is "Scout led". And, they tell me, "we don't give parents jobs for the first few weeks." Great. They're working their hooks in to me already, but I'm definitely going to take a break. No, seriously.

Anyhoo, here are a couple photos:

First up was the ceremonial "crossing of the bridge". The Den made this bridge as a part of their "Engineer" pin...designed by an actual engineer, it even supports my massive, elephantine weight!

Then it was time for Logan to officially meet Mark, his new Scoutmaster, who welcomed him to Troop 123. After that Mark asked him to "introduce his parents." To which he responded by turning around and staring at us, then mumbling something. Amazingly, he's not even a teen-ager yet!

After that awkwardness, he was given his new neckerchief by the Senior Patrol Leader, whose name I've forgotten and wouldn't mention anyway because of privacy issues (hence all the blurring of faces earlier). We'll call him Rasputin. That Rasputin can put on a mean neckerchief, I must say.

Oh, and that arrow Logan's holding in his left hand? Yeah...that's basically what I did today instead of going to work: created two slide shows on the computer and painted stripes on two arrows. If you need an arrow-painting jig let me know, 'cause I've got one.

Save the sandwich!

So as you no doubt know, Starbucks is phasing out their delicious breakfast sandwiches. And I must say, that's just sad. Not that I eat them every day, but there are those occasions when you want something greasy, cheesy, and with a nice spicy bit of sausage in the middle. Or ham or bacon, for that matter. Anyhow, the point is that when that mood strikes I'd much rather go to the Starbucks in my building than have to go out in the world and find either a deli that sells something similar or, perish the thought, a McDonalds Eggamuffin.

Which is why I was so happy to find this site where I can mouth off about the wonders of the "Classic Sausage Egg and Cheese". Won't do any good, but what the hell.

Anyone have, oh, 36 hours to spare?

I am wicked behind on too many projects for Tuesday's big Cub Scout meeting...stuff to paint, slide shows to make, songs to pick, scripts to revise, yeesh! Hence this nicely short blurb, and a shout-out to Diablo Cody for not only writing the best original screenplay of 2007, but also for best name and best tattoo at the Oscars. One of these days I might even see her movie!

So about what I said yesterday...

Today was, well, not quite the same. It was sunny and gorgeous, yes. And I went skiing, yes. So far so good. But that's where the similarity ends.

The difference starts with the snow. Today we were at Summit Central up at Snoqualmie Pass, and it was a weird mix of ice and slush. When we got there at 9-ish it was all ice, all the time. The groomed runs were big frozen washboards. Great for a foot massage, but that's about it.

The next difference was the temperature. While yesterday was warm at times, I never had to adjust any layering. Not so today...after the first run it was back to the car to drop the chamois shirt.

Which brings me to difference number 3: Yesterday I didn't lock the keys in the car, today I did. Lucky for me, the security guys at the Summit are experts at unlocking cars.

The final difference is that yesterday my legs were sore, but that was the worst of it. Today my legs are sore, true, but so is my hand. Why? Because I had a nice face-plant on the third or fourth run of the day and manage to sprain my right thumb. Like to the point where I thought I might have partially dislocated it. So that pretty much ended my day at 11 AM, and let me deal with getting the car unlocked while Dave got to continue skiing. The punk.

What's that old saying?

"A bad day fishing beats a good day at work?" Something like that. Anyhow, I would posit that a good day skiing beats pretty much any day at work, except maybe the day at work when they tell you to leave work and go skiing. Or give you a gabilliion dollars.

So today was day 1 of the Heuga Center's "Vertical Express for MS" ski event thingy at Crystal Mountain. It didn't suck at all.

Back in High School I skied at Crystal 'cause that's where the bus the school chartered went. As I recall, it was better than Snoqualmie Summit, but it was also a lot harder. And I got stuck at the top of more runs I wasn't able to ski.

That was in, like, 1983. Haven't been back until today. And I must say, it's definitely better than the Summit. Maybe not better enough to get me to spring the extra $400 or whatever it is for a season pass up there (that 2 hour drive isn't much fun), but definitely enough to think seriously about renting a condo or room up there for a few days next year.

So anyway, on to the event itself. It's a three-day thing, and unfortunately Dave and I were only able to go today. Which, it turns out, wasn't a bad thing. First, we didn't have to go to work. Second, as you can see from the photo at the top, it was sunny - at least in the morning. And even when it clouded up, it was still bitchin, as shown in this shot of Dave standing in front of some valley leading over to where Mt. Rainier would be if there weren't clouds.

And thirdly, since it was Friday, there were very few people there. I think the longest we stood in line was maybe a minute, and we never had that "I'm going to be steamrolled by a mob of snowboarders" feeling that you get at the Summit. In fact, it looked a lot like this most of the day:

And best of all, we raised a bunch of money for a good cause. And second-best of all, since Dave and I can't go tomorrow due to ski school up at the Summit, Dave's wife and daughter get to use our passes and be honorary one-day members of the mighty Team Minkey Boodle!

For the record...

I posted the "Breaking News from 7200 BC" before Taranto threw it up on Best of the Web, although I will admit that the whole "breaking news from..." headline is his. Probably should have prefaced my post with "shameless idea theft", but I didn't. So sue me.

We like da moon...

'cause it is close to us. And sometimes gets eclipsed by the Earth and looks super cool. Tonight's eclipse was a great opportunity to get the kids outside looking up, and to bust out the tripod for the camera:

This one's kind of fuzzy as it was the first I took, and had the longest exposure. According to the photo properties it was a 20 second exposure at f/4.8. And I don't think I bumped it, I think the streaking is from the long exposure.

This shot is much closer to totality. Only went with an 8 second exposure on this one and it popped the iris out to f/5.6.

Now we're starting to see the moon come out of the umbra, kind of mimicking the "diamond ring" effect you see with solar eclipses. We're now shooting 5 seconds at f/6.3

This one was taken shortly after the previous, but now I'm zoomed out so you can see Saturn down to the left of the moon. We popped that up on the telescope and the kids were able to see the rings, but since I don't have an adapter for the camera this is the best you get. Once again a 5 second exposure, this time at f/4.0 (the camera was choosing the f-stop...)

And then the clouds rolled in. We had pretty darn perfect weather for the eclipse, and at the end the clouds streamed in from the south, whispy and white, slowly covering the moon as she came out of the shadow. 6 seconds this time, again at f/4.0

Breaking news from 7200 BC

Headline from today's Seattle Times:

"Kennewick man kills neighbor's 2 pit bulls"

(Kennewick Man, in case you didn't know, is a fossilized human about 9200 years old)

Sunday pondering

Meant to post this on Sunday but I got all distracted...

So Sunday's "Parade Magazine" was the annual "who's the biggest dictator" issue and I have to wonder...do these guys check this stuff on line? Is North Korea's Kim Jong Il totally psyched that he made it to #1 and knocked off that bastard Omar Al-Bashir from Sudan?

And, in light of today's announcement, do you think that Fidel Castro finally gave up the fatigues because he didn't even make the top 20 this year?

Personally, I like to think that they all sit around the Dictators Club in Zimbabwe (home of #6 Robert Mugabe who moved up one slot this year), smoke their cigars and razz each other about their standings before going in to dinner and discussing new ways to oppress the masses.

What kind of directions are these?

So I'm reading a story about the new Habitat for Humanity Home Improvement store in south Seattle, and I'm thinking "Gee, I don't recognize that address. Wonder where it is?" And then I see the link for "directions". I click on it and, for some reason, start reading the "From South" set:

From South: Head North on I-5, take Tukwila Exit to WA-599. Highway 599 will connect into Highway 99. Take Highway 99 towards East Marginal Way . Take left onto East Marginal Way. Turn left onto Idaho Street use left hand turn lane. Turn right onto unmarked street before the Fiberlay building. Follow road and turn left on S Nevada Street

Is it just me, or does that sound like either the directions to a speakeasy or a street fight? "Turn right onto unmarked street"? WTF?

Crap!

Here I was going gangbusters, remembering to post every day, and then we have a holiday Monday and I blow it. Damn!

Anyhow, here's what I WOULD have posted yesterday if I could have...

Wish I were here...we were supposed to go up to Mt. Baker and go skiing today, but Paige got sick so we stayed home. Luckily, thanks to camera phones, I can now see what I was missing...CRAP!

Two week warning...

Just wanted to give you a two-week warning for our big Pre-Reunion show...yes, two weeks from tonight is your last chance ever (well, ok, maybe not "ever", but at least for a while) to see Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world. Why, you ask? Because Jack Chicken is moving to Minnesota to be closer to Target and the rest of the band is going to "go on hiatus". At least until we can sign an aspiring lead vocalist to an exclusive contract...

Here are the details:

• We're back at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School, up at 15th NE and 125th in Seattle (the address is 12510 15th Ave NE, and the map is here). Relatively easy access from I-5, and while the show is all-ages, there is a tavern about a half mile north on 15th for those of you who can't watch us without getting your drink on.
• Kicking off the evening's entertainment are Dapper Jones, a band we've never played with but sound cool, at least based on their MySpace stuff. Kind of a power-pop-punk thing.
• It's an early show - 7:00-ish start - and it's a Friday night, so get off work early, come on out, and give Jack Chicken the all-ages sendoff he so richly deserves!

Click here to put our songs on your Facebook profile.

Ugh...

So here it is, Saturday night of the big President's Day weekend, and I'm bushed. Got up early (well, late for a work day but early for Saturday), took the boy up to ski lessons, skied for about 5 or 6 hours, and completely toasted my legs. I am, as they say, wicked out of shape. Then we had band practice tonight getting ready for the big pre-reunion show on the 29th (at the L.A.B. at Seattle Drum School...more info on the band MySpace page). So now I'm beat.

Oh, and it doesn't help that Mrs. Chicken is down with the crud, fighting a sore throat and a fever. I'm guessing we're not going up to Bellingham as planned tomorrow night...just guessing...

More shameless idea theft

This time stealing from John "Monkey Disaster" Moe, I bring you the resurrection of the Family Herman project.

As some history, back in our carefree college days, when John and I would read the Spokesman Review over coffee, we'd do the swap with Family Circus and The Far Side. But since the Far Side isn't in the paper any more, now you gots to swap in Herman. Assuming you read the Seattle Times, which I don't (I'm a lifelong PI guy and still peeved that they killed The Phantom).

Anyhoo, the concept is this: You swap the captions between the two strips and see what comes out. And today we've got this:



It appears, to me anyway, that Daddy or Mommy is trying to scrape snow off the car, and Billy is finding a great deal of enjoyment in the fact that they're using the wrong scraper. Maybe the right scraper is lost and they're stuck with a credit card...we just don't know.

Herman, meanwhile, apparently requires a snow shovel to remove the tartar from his teeth. We can only assume that the dentist likes this kind of bad weather because it gives him an excuse for having the snow shovel in the office...people would ask embarrassing questions if he whipped that sucker out in July.

Happy VD!

I'm not cool enough to have a sweet graphic like Tina has up today. Heck, I'm not even cool enough to do the traditional Scott Chicken protestation of love to Mrs. Chicken, the free Stranger love ad. Usually I'll submit one, then lead Paige through the pages of the paper with a trail of sticky notes, pointing out all the freakish ones (well, some of them...if I did all of them the pen would run dry) before leading her to my lame one.

This year I was even lamer than that, and completely forgot to get it in on time. So instead I had to use the Stranger's "Lovebot". It's not too late to send your own.

Unless, of course, it is, in which case you're on your own.

Help me help the Heuga Center fight MS!

I've been raising money for the MS cause for years now, initially because I was looking for an excuse to go on a cool bike ride, and then because more and more people I knew were being diagnosed - from my sister to a friend's sister to another friend's wife to, well, lots of people. I took a break from the MS cause in 2006 when I ran the Portland Marathon (and thanks to those who supported me with that cause), but this year I'm back to MS, but with a twist: This year I'm leaving the bike in the shed and strapping on the skis instead.

I'm teaming up with a couple friends to participate in the Heuga Center's Vertical Express for MS, a series of "on-snow events" (mainly skiing, although I think there's some other stuff in there too) at Crystal Mountain in two weeks - February 22nd through 24th. And with just a week to go I'm still a few hundred dollars short of my goal and I'm hoping you can help push me over the edge by following this link here and pledging money on the secure donations page. Seriously, it's that easy.

Thanks for your support!

My latest album

So, been working hard in the studio with the new band, Priscilla Studd, and we're just going to press on our new album* "Else Has Seen You". I'm really happy with the album art, especially the drippy font that gets to the heart of the Priscilla Studd sound. That and the photo of the 80s new wave-looking dude...



*In case you've forgotten the album cover rules, they're here...

Book suggestions?

Just figured I'd put this out there on the off chance anyone reads this crap...so young Logan Chicken is doing a "reading wheel" in class where he's supposed to read books from different genres and write reports on them. So he's done humor (Captain Underpants), he's done SciFi (Restaurant at the End of the Universe), he's done myths and legends (a book of NW Native American fables), and he's working on fantasy (The Book of Three). But he needs others. Other categories are historical fiction, classics, biographies, and a bunch of others I don't remember.

So...any suggestions for a 10-year-old who isn't really in to fiction? One of the biggest hurdles for him is getting past the first "boring" chapter or two, so if it's something that just jumps right in that would be good...

Yet another thing I don't know

And that would be "what the hell is that?" No, not whatever they were talking about in that old SNL sketch that really should be on YouTube but if it is, I can't find it. No, I mean what the hell is this thing?

And then there was one...

One more event as Cubmaster, that is.

Today was the big Pack Pinewood Derby, 3 hours of boys racing cars down a wood track broken up only by a few befuddled senior citizens looking for the Republican Caucus. We offered to let them stay and watch and maybe vote on which car looked the coolest, but they all declined. Probably their loss...they looked like Huckabee supporters. Although they might have leaned toward McCain. Definitely not Ron Paul, who not surprisingly finished 3rd in the Washington caucus (while on the Democrat side of the aisle Obama walked away with like 65% of the delegates...Tina must be ecstatic).

But back to the Cub Scout stuff. Four years ago, when Logan was in 2nd grade, I kind of pushed him in to the Cubs. I'd had fun in Scouts, his friends were in the Den, and so I gave him a nudge. And agreed to be the Den Leader because, well, no one else was really jumping up and down wanting the job and I knew Logan would be more likely to stay in it if I was involved beyond the "parent" role.

The next year I passed the Den off on another guy and moved in to the "Pack Committee Chair" role. This was much better since a) I didn't have to plan two Den meetings a month, b) I didn't have to deal with a bunch of rowdy 8-year-olds whose favorite game was "Kill John", and c) I could handle almost the entire job via e-mail. Man I loves me the e-mail. That gig lasted for about two and a half years, and then last February I was basically thrust in to the spotlight as Cubmaster.

And in retrospect it hasn't been that bad. Yes, I had to deal with the kids again, and a lot more of them than at the Den level, but it was only once a month and I had a lot of help since if they started acting up I could lean on their Den leaders to get them back in line. I still had to plan meetings and stuff, but one meeting a month is way easier than two, especially when you're expected to actually get stuff done during the two Den meetings. The Pack meeting is more of a party.

Which brings me back to "and then there was one..." Just one more meeting, at the end of the month. And it is most definitely a party. There will be desserts. There may be cookie decorating. There will be pins, ribbons and trophies awarded. And Logan and 3 of his Den-mates will receive the Arrow of Light (Cub Scouting's equivalent of the Eagle) and "cross over" in to a Boy Scout troop. Where hopefully he'll have more fun, learn more stuff, and not need me to run the whole show!

Caucus Schmaucus

I know, I know, it's my duty as a good citizen of these United States to vote. Or, in this case, to caucus. And I would, honest, if a) I didn't have other plans, and b) I gave a damn. But I do, and I don't.

The other plans are the all-important Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Logan's final Derby since he moves on to Boy Scouts at the end of the month. And I feel pretty confident saying that his streak of non-victory will be unblemished since I just can't make a fast car. They look kind of cool, or funny, or whatever, but they just ain't fast.

The not giving a damn isn't as insidious as it sounds...at least not to me. Back in 2004 I caucused for the first time because I was actually inspired. Or, if not actually inspired, maybe just more interested than previously. Anyhow, back then (on the off chance you don't remember 2004), there were 4 candidates still in the running come Washington's turn in the spotlight: Kerry was the front-runner, Dean was still hanging on, Edwards was a strong second, and Kucinich was, well, Kucinich. I was an Edwards man at the time, for two key reasons: First, I liked what he had to say on pretty much all the issues; and second, I had a gut feeling that there was no way in hell the American people would hire a guy who looked like Herman Munster or Lurch and was as condescending as hell to be their President, and it was really important to nominate a candidate that would actually stand a chance of swaying the electorate and convince them to shift the political course mid-war.

So I went to the caucus. The few remaining Deaniacs were fairly easily swayed, but most of them went to the Kerry party. The Kucinich people were definitely a harder nut to crack. There weren't enough to warrant a delegate to the district convention, but we were able to sway a few of them over to the Edwards camp, enough to land us a second delegate spot. Horay for us, we did our caucus job, and Democracy was saved. Or something.

Anyhow, we all know how 2004 turned out...Edwards accepted the VP slot (a huge mistake, in my opinion), and in spite of their self-proclaimed great hair, they lost the general election to GW because a) people didn't want to change horses mid-stream, and b) Kerry continued to look like Lurch and be condescending as hell.

So now we're here in 2008 and I'm not nearly as moved as I was then. It looks like the Republicans are gathering around McCain, and he's not quite as scary as GW. And the Democrats have two strong candidates, either of whom I feel confident can win in November. And while I've heard them both speak, neither of them really moves me quite the way Obama moves Tina or the way Hillary moves whoever it is Hillary moves (white women of a certain age, perhaps? I'm not exactly sure).

So that's why, instead of being at the school fighting for who I think should be the nominee, I'll be across the street watching 7 - 10-year-old boys squeal with glee as their little wooden cars zoom down 40 feet of wooden race track. Whee!!!

Fast and Easy Ordering from Your Mobile Phon

So I get this e-mail from Pizza Hut today (see the screen shot below), touting how fast and easy it is to order a pizza with my mobile phone. And I think to my self, what a wonderful world. No, wait...I think to myself "um...isn't it fast and easy to just call the number I've stored in my phone and tell them what I want?" Apparently not. Apparently it's easier to text message my order in, or use the mobile web.

Who knew?

From the "things I'll never do" file

The latest item on the list: make a functional bicycle out of wood. Like completely out of wood. Well, with the exception of glue, but the glue no doubt had "wood" in its name. The point being, no metal pieces.

No mention in the article about how it rides, but it definitely looks sweet!

More Gondry

Since the Chicken household has a thing for Legos and Lego stop-motion animation, I bring you this...far better than anything we'd ever make!

"Harvesting brains"

Sounds like something a Zombie farmer would do (a farmer who is a zombie, not a farmer who raises zombies...they'd just harvest the zombies). But apparently it's not, and it's leading to some weird new disease. All of which makes me really, really glad I work at a cushy desk job.

Mementos of the past

So John Moe, author of the fine Monkeydisaster blog, is moving to Minnesota to pursue his lifelong dream of living near the Mall of America. As a result, John has sold his house and is now in the process of packing to move, which involves much purging of years and years of crap. As outlined in this post right here.

Well, as a genetic pack rat, and one who hasn't moved farther than 15 miles since coming home from college (which was a whopping 350 miles or so), I haven't done the purging thing, much to my wife's chagrin. So it is that, on a bookshelf in the basement, in addition to some weird drum stick with a rubber dohickey on it that I've had since I was like 17, I have two autographed baseballs.

The ball on the right is an authentic player ball, autographed by legendary Mariner's outfielder Greg "Pee Wee" Briley. This was a gift from Steve Chicken many years ago ('93 or '94, I think), signed at spring training and given to the wife because she was a huge Pee Wee fan (both Briley and Herman).



The ball on the right was signed by Darryl Tarbox, John's character in the play Tent Meeting. John and I (and fellow classmate Erika Rolfsrud) did Tent Meeting as our senior project back in the glory days of college. It was the closest I ever came to being an evangelical preacher, and I was told I was frighteningly realistic. Probably good that I didn't take it up as a profession, or I'd probably have turned out like Ted Haggard. Only with a female prostitute, because I prefer them with my meth.

Anyhow, um, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. I kept the ball. Mostly because it's a good conversation piece, but also because it's a reminder of a great time in my life, working with two actors who so vastly outclassed me that they pulled me up. Maybe not to their level, but definitely above where I would have been otherwise.

I didn't save any photos of the show, but fortunately someone else did. So now I've got more photographic evidence that I did indeed at one time have hair:



Me as Reverend Eddie, no doubt trying to drive the devil out of my son Darryl (John)



Erika as Beckie Ann, devoted daughter and mother of our savior the eggplant (eggplant not pictured)

More video fun

So in addition to being followed around by his poop, filmmaker Michel Gondry is also a wizard at the Rubik's Cube:

Hmm...

Not sure what to make of this. I mean, it's funny and all, but disturbing at the same time. Still, it's hard to beat David Cross...

Wow.

That's all I can say. And not just because it's almost midnight and I might pull off a Galivanting Monkey (a term I'm coining for Tina's plan to post twice in a row just around midnight, thereby killing two days' postings with one stone, if by "stone" you mean "blogging session", if "blogging session" is even what you call this).

Anyhow, the reason for my "Wow" is the latest post on Jason's Blue Moon MySpace Blog. If you don't know Jason, he's the guy who books bands (like, oh, Chicken Starship, the most important rock band in the world) to play at the Blue Moon, possibly the most important dive bar in Seattle. And if you've never read his blog you should.

But you should REALLY read this particular entry, because it's timely, it's not about music (well, not about music performed at the Blue Moon), and the videos are just atrocious. Seriously. I think I could have happily gone through the rest of my life without ever seeing the LA Rams do "Let's Ram It". Or the lilly white folk of Boston singing "New England, the Patriots and You". And possibly worst of all, the Seahawks' own "hit", "The Blue Wave" (or maybe "The Blue Wave Will Be Rockin'". Sing it, Mike Tice! (Side note: Mike Tice was the guest speaker at my Eagle Scout court of honor. I remember nothing that he said, but damn that dude was big...).

Thanks a lot, Denmark!

What did I ever do to you? Whatever it was, I don't think it warranted the invention of furniture you assemble yourself, or all those pegs and weird bolt/toggle things. And don't get me started on the drawers...

That said, Maya loves her new bed, and it's no doubt way cheaper than if we'd bought something pre-assembled. And it was far easier than if I'd done it the hard way, with hours and hours of work trying to mimic Norm Abrahm. But at least with that plan I would have been able to justify buying some new tools...