Swimming Pools and Flannel Sheets

The swimming last night was fine. I did forget flip-flops, but as I was wearing my so-old-really-dead-sneakers, getting them wet was not a big deal*. As I expected, the setup was much like the one at the Y. Sign in, get a towel, go to the locker room. I had put on my swimsuit at home, so all I had to do was take everything else off and put it in the locker. I did remember to bring a lock, which is probably more important than the flip flops if you have to choose. Quick rinse in the shower and into the pool area I went.
*Though I went to Costco after I finished, to pick up a prescription, and while I didn't squelch, it was a strange feeling. Also, I walked in to see a display of fitbits on one side, and truffles on the other. Didn't get either, but such an interesting dichotomy!

It wasn't as warm as I was expecting, but it wasn't chilly or anything. The biggest difference was probably how few people were there. Another woman came out as I did, and we were the only ones in the pool for about 15 minutes, before first one man and then another came out. If it's always that empty, it will suit me fine! Actually, I suppose not having a lifeguard is a difference, but it isn't one that bothers me. The pool also didn't have a deep end and a shallow end, which surprised me but also isn't a problem (according to the signs, it's 3 feet 9 inches at each end, and 4 feet in the middle; kind of funny, right?).

It was pretty peaceful, actually. I only swan for about 20 minutes: I'd planned to try for half an hour, but my back was starting to ache--I haven't been exercising at all lately--and I decided to take it easy the first time, since I wanted to be able to move today. And although I was slightly achy, it was nothing major.

We'll see what Tuesday's class does to me; I hope I like it. Laps are kind of boring, but for me and exercise, that's not the worst thing. "Actively hateful" is how I often feel when exercising, so boring will do. One of my friends said waterproof headphones are the way to go, so I may try that, in future. Not today's worry.

Then, flannel sheets, how's that for a topic transition? After all, it is November! I like a flannel sheet in winter (or, in other words, any time it isn't hot), and recently when my old sheet wore out, I realized that the other one I used to have had also worn out. I found a set at TJ Maxx, and when I got it on the bed, wow, it has been a long time since I had new flannel sheets! So startlingly soft and cozy. Of course, I wanted a second set so that I don't have to do laundry the day I change the sheets, so I went into Bed and Bath this week and got a second set there. So soft! Man, sometimes it's the little things in life.

I'll have to get pictures of the two patterns, so you can see why I was amused when I realized what they had in common. This weekend, maybe...it's the weekend! And next week is a short week, and then it's Thanksgiving, and I will be eating many delicious things while having a five-day weekend. And then, three weeks later, I go to Florida, and in a blink of an eye, it's going to be 2016.

Sorry. Got a little carried away. Have a nice weekend!

First Step Taken

I went swimming tonight, so the proverbial first small step in the long journey is taken. More about that later, though, as right now the game is on, and someone wants my attention.

Some Random Thoughts

• I got out my swimsuit and a towel and a lock for the locker. Tomorrow, I will go swimming after work. Classes are Tuesday nights, but I want to try to get there another night a week. We shall see. Baby steps. I saw the pool last night, but I don't know where the locker room is, so finding that would be a good start. 
• I am assuming that it will be along the same lines as the Y, so it will be interesting to see how they are alike and how they differ.
• Last week, the sink in my bathroom started backing up, it seemed like suddenly though I suppose it must have been gradual. On Monday I dug out the name of the plumber I called when the same thing happened in 2011 (old building, hinky pipes); I left him a message, and tried again on Tuesday, when he answered, You've got to love working from home an extra bit when you can answer "Is anyone home today" with "Sure, come by any time." It was fixed by noon (and, since I tried unsuccessfully to fix it myself Sunday night, it was sort of validating that he needed the power snake again).
• My agreement with Verizon for internet/cable/phone was up, so I called and suffered through the spiel on Saturday and reupped for only a little bit more per month (it's such a racket, but when you want it, you pay to get it). She was pleasant, the woman I spoke with, but a fast talker, not explaining very well, and when I got an email Monday with the tracking number for my equipment, I had to call to ask what exactly they were shipping me. It turns out to be a faster modem, and it came today. I'm not going to try to install it until Saturday; not messing with the status quo during the work week, thanks. Wish me luck.
• My friends came over on Saturday for lunch (and pie) and a movie, our second new-TV-old-movie experience. This time, we watched Desk Set, another classic. Good movie, good food, good company, and motivation to tidy up: who could ask for more?
• Some very good advice from the new book Humans of New York Stories:

Words to live by, right? It's a powerful book, great photography (obviously), but the stories are varyingly funny and tragic and inspiring and just such an interesting view into the ways people are. I got it at the library tonight and looked through it all.

And now it is dinner time!

I Done Did It

I believe this is the traditional way to celebrate joining a gym, yes?

A Cat Note

In case my complaints about Belmont have left anyone thinking she is the only annoying cat around here, let me say that Carlos is being pretty annoying right now, fussy about food and wanting even more treats and why haven't I come to bed already. Of course, since I love him, it's generally a little easier to take, but not completely. If you heard someone yelling around 4:30 this morning, that was me. (I already fed them when I went to the bathroom around midnight, but apparently Not Enough.)

On the other hand, he is my baby.

And don't you forget it.

So Tired of Adulting

I'm so tired of being a grown-up, and not just "a" grown-up but "the" grown-up. Who put me in charge of anything? More fool they. I am so sick of adulting that I am too tired to give the details of why. Here. Have some random, assorted, and unrelated photos of things. It's all I've got.

Go.

The Globe changed the layout of their Saturday edition recently, and I kind of love that when they specified the changes, they added, "Sports -- sports we don't touch."

A while ago, I bought some precut carrots and celery at the grocery store. Does this photo convey that they were so tightly packed, I had considerable trouble getting them out? Like, they were wedged. It was kind of funny, once I finally got the first piece out.

I took a photo that didn't come out well, to show just why I didn't buy this drinking fountain for Belmont. She loves water, and I expect she would like a fountain even more than a bowl, but not only is this an odd design, which I find quite ugly, it's ON SALE for $87.99. Sorry, not happening!

Working On It

As part of what I talked with the doctor about, I am going to focus on doing a bit better with my diet. As part of that, I put up a few reminders in my work space.

These are not new things to me, but I needed reminding. Also to ask myself, are you really hungry? As the fridge magnet says,

Or maybe there's something good nearby, but are you really hungry? Or is it just a case of Yeah, I Could Eat That?

Mind you, I'm not eating almonds today. They aren't going to appeal to me for a few days, after I had these yesterday:

Delicious! But will spoil you for plain almonds for a while.

A Challenge. Sigh.

I went to see a new doctor today, and one of the things that came out of it is that she's challenging me to find a way to exercise for an hour every week. We went over the many forms of exercise I've tried and hated, and I mentioned that when I tried the swimming for a few weeks this summer, I didn't hate it as much*, just found the logistics such a challenge.
*She seemed to find me pretty amusing.

So maybe I can find a way to manage that. I am looking at gyms with pools, and schedules, and costs, and sighing a lot. The nearest one to me does not seem to have any swim classes in the evenings, and I really did like the low-impact water aerobics more than lap swimming. It looks like another one does have a class Tuesday evenings; I guess I should go take a look at it. Sigh.

The idea of paying $40 a month, plus $50 a year ... it's not that I can't afford it, but man, that is not what I want to spend my money on. Yarn, books, chocolate ...

Laptop Update

Overall, I am very happy with my new computer, and since I haven't fully transitioned everything off the old one yet, every time I crank it up and waaaaiiiitttt for it to dooooo anyyyyyything, I am more grateful.

However.

As I mentioned, it has this Issue about staying connected to the wifi. Oddly enough, some days it seems fine, but most days (like today!) it drops over and over and over. Sometimes it goes to a "Limited" connection, sometimes it drops altogether. Sometimes it will reconnect at the push of a button, other times it takes a while, sometimes it says it can't connect, though that is often followed by it connecting itself. It has dropped perhaps 10 times as I try to write this. It's maddening.

It's dropping so much, and I'm having to reconnect so much, that I now know someone near me has named their wifi network Waffle House, which is a funny choice.

When I tried googling it, I found that it was an issue going back to Windows 8, which Microsoft in its infinite laziness has not fixed. I found various websites talking about workarounds to fix the problem, but I swear, every one of them, when I looked at the instructions, became the print equivalent of the teacher talking in a Charlie Brown cartoon. There's no way I'm getting into that level of computer tweaking. But I don't know how else to get it to stop doing this. I'll ask my brother if he can dial in, sometime, and see if he can get it to behave.

But not tonight. I can't fight it any more tonight. I'm already bummed because I was all excited and hopeful earlier to talk to someone at a shelter about taking Belmont, only she wouldn't because of Belmont's age, and now I'm kind of discouraged again. Time to think about something else.

Chipping Away at Things

On Saturday night, I went down to my storage area in the basement to look for something. Two bad things came of it: one, I didn't find what I was looking for, and two, I hauled things around so much that my arms, especially the right, became very sore, and in fact are still somewhat so. However, I did come out of it with a renewed determination to do something about the space, which is, like my condo, suffering from the nine-years-of-occupancy stuff accumulation.

The first thing I pulled out was bags of peanuts--packing peanuts, the kind that come in some packages, and get all over everywhere? Yeah, for some reason, I had four bags, kitchen trash bags, of peanuts. And I hate reusing them, and I usually get enough other packing material that I don't need them. So onto Freecycle they went, and someone came for them today. Done!

My next basement project will involve flattening and recycling a variety of cardboard boxes that I had down there. I imagine I'll keep the boxes the OED came in, since they are so perfect for that purpose (and I am absolutely not getting rid of the OED before I move), but otherwise, spring for new boxes next time, not spidery dusty in-the-basement-all-these-years boxes. I don't want to put my stuff in those.

I also did a little work upstairs. I spent some time this weekend tidying up, particularly the living room, since I have friends coming over this Saturday for lunch and a movie (it is SO good for me, and my home, to have friends over regularly; otherwise the piles of clean laundry take over a whole couch, and the dust bunnies start to think they are in charge). While I was at it, I pulled out some more books I can do without, making a nice stack to donate. Baby steps get you there, eventually. Right?

Would You?

I saw this in yesterday's Globe, and was mightily amused. Would you see this movie? I like the idea of dream logic...

The Kitchen Table

Back when I got the physical newspaper delivered every day, I read it at the kitchen table, and oddly enough this helped me keep my kitchen table, if not free of clutter, at least under control, since if things were piled high, reading the paper was more difficult.

However, a couple of years ago I switched to reading the paper on the tablet on weekdays, and only getting delivery on weekends (not a tangent: one day recently I heard my neighbor's paper being delivered and looked at the clock to find it was 7:18; so much for delivery guaranteed by 6). And apparently that was the tipping point, and ever since, I have regularly had trouble with the table getting out-of-control messy.

As it did recently, when I went from "getting ready for trip" to "OMG back from trip ahhhhhh" to "my head is just not right, who cares about the table." I am finally digging it out, and it's quite a relief. And a process.

A pass through the worst of it last week revealed three of the local weekly newspapers, a stack of coupons gone through, junk and junkish mail dealt with. Phew. Today, while waiting for my lunch to heat up, I started really tackling it, one segment at a time, both dusting/cleaning, and also assessing what belonged there, removing that which didn't, and thinking about how best to store things that do. Tonight, I continue, with pauses for sticky spots encountered elsewhere--like a file folder, not in the file cabinet, labeled "current medical" and containing paperwork from roughly 1998 to 2008. Mmm hmm.

Anyway, back to it!

Beautiful Day; Small Progress

Today's weather was beautiful, in the 70s, sunny, blue sky and the amazing colors in the leaves; I would gladly take this exact weather for the next six months. I had to run out at lunch for an appointment and went from cautiously not wearing a jacket to taking off my sweater, and wishing I could stay out all day (though that regret diminished when the clouds came in the afternoon, making it less perfect).

Even better, though, was being able to open a window to the lovely air. Carlos has been much displeased with the window, his window, being closed most of the time that the heater wasn't working, and he was very pleased today. And so was I: his fur normally smells delicious*, and even better with fresh air, but when that air smells of autumn leaves? You can't even imagine how good that is. You may think you can, but it's even better.
*Which baffles me, honestly; what is in kitty spit, to produce this effect?

I've taken a few baby steps toward getting things cleared up around here, as I discussed. After I wrote last night, I thought about some other things I'd seen in the trunk while I was looking for those photos. Like a few board games, which I couldn't even tell you why I've kept, but I put them on Freecycle this morning and someone already came and got them, boom, gone.

And then there were the smurfs.

Did anyone else collect smurfs? I was introduced to them, somewhere around 1980 or so, when I was visiting a friend in New York, which was quite an adventure for me. I want to say she took me to Macy's, though I may not be remembering correctly, but anyway, I bought two.

Neil and Jimmy. The start of a collection that got considerably bigger; I'll have to get photos. And I've never gotten rid of them because, well, what to do with them? I hated to think of just dumping them at Goodwill; I didn't think that putting them on eBay would be worth my time and trouble; but what to do?

So last night, I thought of a friend whose kids might be of an age to be interested, and e-mailed her, emphasizing that she could say no but offering them to her. And after sending a picture so she could show them what smurfs are (kids today, sigh), they said yes! So I will be packing up the figures and cottages and kits and all, and bringing them to be played with again. Yay!

But I will be keeping Neil and Jimmy, and one other. Guess why.

Pre-Moving Thoughts

No, I'm not moving any time soon: the most definite I get is, "Probably in the next few years--or less if we have more winters like last year." Maybe the title should be Pre-Pre-Pre-Moving Thoughts. But I've been thinking about moving-related things as I come up on nine years that I've lived in this condo.

Nine years. This is the longest that I've lived in one place (by far) since my parents sold the house where I grew up, which was over 20 years ago. Two years here, three years there ... I've always hated moving (and I suck at it, frankly; I'm always up at least half the night before the movers come, and still have to tell them to ignore that pile of crap over there), but one thing it does, to some degree, is force you to assess your stuff periodically.

Assess. Your. Stuff.

And guess what I have done very little of in the last nine years? That's right.

Since deciding that, yeah, my next move will be to Florida*, I have started to look around with a more assessing eye. or tried to, anyway. It's hard; I'm not a hoarder, but definitely a pack rat. I take after my dad, and his dad, and I have to really force myself to remember things like how if virtually every library carries a certain author's books (like Dick Frances, or Anne McCaffrey), I don't have to own ALL of them. And I am trying to ask myself, as I look at things, "Is this something that I should (pay to) move to Florida?" I'm not getting rid of everything now, by any means, but given my poor track record with moving, starting a few years ahead of the actual move is a very good idea.
*Hi, Mom!

What is making me think of this tonight, specifically, is that I was trying to find some old pictures I have of my first cat, Honey, and I thought I had them in a small album, but it isn't where I thought it should be, and it isn't in the other place I thought it might be, and huh. Where else could it be, where my eye has been sliding past it unseeing for a few years.

Sigh. The place isn't that big, and it's nothing like those nightmares on shows about hoarding (I can't even watch those; it's like being a voyeur to mental illness), but it isn't spare and clear, either. Mostly I'm okay with that, but situations like this are frustrating.

It makes me wish I could time-travel back to when I was laid off in June and, knowing I would be working again by the end of August, make a plan to use all that time I had off, that I mostly spent either frantically buried in a book, or paralyzed with worry about what would happen next. How much I could get done with two months off, if only the worry had let me!

Somewhat Seriously, About Belmont

Sweet picture, right? Look how cute they are, and how well they're getting along!

Well, a picture can be worth a thousand words, perhaps (I should count how many I have here when I'm done with this!), but it can also be very misleading. For instance, Belmont has been on the (nice warm) bed a lot more than usual this week, since that heating unit has been out of commission and it's cooler in here than usual (it's supposed to be fixed tomorrow), so perhaps she is putting up with more than usual in the name of warmth. Also, it's a lot easier to get pictures of the stationary, well-lit, no-fuss, peaceful moments than the howls in the night.

I remember a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin is pushing the mess in his room out of the way so that he can take pictures showing how tidy he was as a child, for future use in his autobiography. And the truth of this picture is that although there is some "peaceful coexistence" in the relationship between Carlos and Belmont, there is also too much* of the "yowl and scuffle" going on, especially in the night when I can't see what happens, but I sure can hear it.
*Truly, any is too much, but really, I would settle for almost-never, rather than daily.

I've come to realize over the last few months that certain factors about Belmont (her inability to be friends with Carlos, her need for lots of attention, and her VOLUME) add up to a cat that is not working out for me*. Especially since I started working from home, the latter two items have become very obvious, and since the first item means I've never fully bonded with her, the yelling and complaining and interrupting my work time have become less and less tolerable. And given how much the working from home thing is suiting me otherwise, it isn't something I want to stop doing.
*Which I hate, incidentally, as this is now the third cat I feel like I'm giving up on, one way or another. But here I am.

Let me clarify, if I can: Belmont does sleep a lot every day; she's a cat, and an old cat to boot. However, several times a day she will come to where I am at the computer, working, and yowl. She wants up on the desk, she wants me to pet her, and if it was for a minute or five minutes, I could do that, but seriously I think she would want an hour at a time. She is very hard to discourage, walking between me and the computer, bumping her head against my hand at the mouse or keyboard, always with the yowling, and honestly, she's just being a cat, how can I be mad at her for being a cat? Well, but I can, though, especially since I prize a peaceful home and she is Just So Loud.

None of this is news. At least, in hindsight! I mean, early on, I was talking about her "crabby meow," right? I also mentioned how she was "happy to have me pet her and pet her and pet her." And by her lights, she is a nice cat: she's affectionate, she purrs, she likes company (human, anyway). For the right person, someone who has a lot of spare time, and no other cats, she could be a great pet. But I am not that person.

I'm not sure what will happen next. But whatever happens next, at least now you know it's heading that way.

Another Weekend Done

Another weekend come and gone. How was yours?

Mine was good. The Bruins won both their games. After starting the season with 3 losses, they have gone 6-0-1 since, which is shall-we-say better, and they are still undefeated on the road, also nice. Keep it up, boys.

On Saturday, I went to see the movie version of The Martian, and thought it was great. I haven't been so impressed by a movie based on a book since I don't know when. I usually come out of such movies with at least three major gripes, and the fact that no, Gwendolyn in Earnest would NOT have a tattoo, thank you, can spoil a movie for me. But while I had a few minor quibbles with this, overall I thought they did very well. By the way, the friend I went with had not read the book, and she also loved the movie, so there you are.

Otherwise, not too much excitement. I turned the clocks back, changed the sheets and washed the mattress pad (which requires great cat juggling and displeasure: a mattress pad in the washing machine does not warm the bed for a cat, you know), and of course I kept knitting. I like how this is coming out.

A Quite Quiet Evening

Ahhh, Friday! Importantly, Friday night.

It's not that it was an awful week. It had its downsides, true (like the problem with the heat in the building, for which we are awaiting a part, or like the new laptop's issue with dropping the wifi over and over, which is not the laptop's fault as apparently this has been happening since Windows 8, WTF Microsoft, you couldn't have fixed that in Windows 10?), but overall it's been fine. Busy! For instance, my evenings so far:

• Monday, chiropractor and then stitch and bitch
• Tuesday, a flying visit to the eye doctor to make sure that my eye, which was bothering me, was nothing serious (which it was not, but I'd rather hear that than not go and find out later that it was something)
• Wednesday, other knitting group--I started a new project!
• Thursday, dinner with a former coworker, so it was nice to catch up, plus she grew up in my little city, so it was a time-travel evening for her (she took the T out this way, I picked her up, then after dinner drove her home)

So tonight, I wasn't feeling like hustling out for anything in particular. And since tomorrow's plans include a midday movie (The Martian! Can't wait! Loved the book!), I can run errands after that, and still get home well before dark--Halloween gives me the fidgets that way, I hate driving around worrying I'm going to miss some little kid hopped up on sugar and excitement stepping out into the street.

I've been knitting and listening to an audiobook, but it's time to switch to pregame Bruins coverage; I will leave you with a picture of what I'm working on.

Isn't it pretty? Not that I'm at all partial or biased, of course.

Colorful Walls Get Closer

As part of Operation Office Walls, I took advantage of a recent one-day sale* Photobucket had, and got 10 of my photos printed: I thought $2 each, instead of $5, was a good deal, and they even gave free shipping.
*There's nothing like a one-day sale to kick me into gear on a task!

I found this part of the ordering process pretty amusing, though:

So standard shipping takes three days, and expedited takes four? I don't think that word means what they think it means.

I was so, so tempted to order a few prints of photos that weren't mine, but I refrained*; it just doesn't seem kosher. There are some lovely, colorful yarn photos I've seen on blogs, and of course there's the one I saw in the Globe recently ... I tried to justify that one to myself, since my brother looked into ordering a print for me, for my birthday, and he let me know that they weren't offering that option, but still, it doesn't seem right, somehow. I didn't have much trouble finding 10 of my own that I liked, anyway.
*Although I didn't notice that they asked me if the images were my own to legally print; did I miss that, or don't they ask?

They arrived the other day, and while the quality is certainly good enough, I wasn't thrilled with how they shipped them, in just a paper envelope with a thin piece of paperboard to "protect" them. Because of course the mailman stuck them in the mailbox, which to be fair to him is only about an eighth of an inch too narrow... so they got slightly messed up. Not badly, and I expect it will not be noticeable when I get them matted/framed/up. But still. I put them under a volume of the OED to keep them flat and safe until I have time for the framing quest.

Speaking of the walls, I also put up something that I got several years ago, in New York. Who here has been reading since 2007, when I went to NYC to see the Yarn Harlot? And bought something fun at MoMA? I suddenly remembered it, and up on the wall it went. I can't locate the photos at the moment, but they're in that MoMa link: scroll down looking for red.

Couch Musings

I brought the laptop to the couch so that I could blog in comfort while watching the Bruins game; this does not suck.

I also have a down comforter on my lap, as my building is having a problem with the heat. It's one of the two heating systems, and I'm sure I've mentioned before that my place actually has vents from both of them, which I'm pretty sure wasn't supposed to happen, but since it means that when one system has a problem, I'm not completely screwed, you won't hear me complaining too much about that. So I'm not completely without heat, which is good considering the freeze we may get tonight, but it is damned chilly in here, and I was glad to remember the comforter, which I don't normally need, and pull it out.

The Bruins are currently in the lead, so despite Carlos, who wanted me to come to bed starting an hour ago, I will be staying up a while longer. (Last week, against Philly, I went to bed happy after 2 periods, Bruins winning, and did not have to watch them fall apart in the third. I would rather they had held on to win, but I wasn't sorry to miss seeing what happened.)

They're trying to get their first home win of the season tonight, while being undefeated on the road--that's a weird combination, if you're not aware. They are also number one in the league on the power play (which is SO unlike the Bruins of the past few years, but it's a good thing), and yet are 29th on the penalty kill--that's also a weird pairing. It's been an odd start to the season around the league, in many ways; one team lost their first eight games*, which is crazy, almost as much as that another team has won their first nine.
*Before finally winning one

I'm wearing an old sweatshirt of my dad's, which is of course the only reason I would be wearing a NY Giants shirt. (I wore it last night, and when the chiropractor saw me he stopped, head tilted, and said, "...the ... Giants?" as he knows very well that I am only a hockey fan, and not at all football--sometimes we'll have sardonic conversations when he asks what I thought of "the big game" and I inform him seriously that no, the Bruins didn't play yesterday, as though I don't know he means the Patriots.) Hey, it's warm, and sometimes when I'm thinking about my dad for whatever reason, it's nice to wear.

It's the end of the second period, and I think I'll go get ready for bed, so that as soon as the third ends, I can get into bed. I slept well and heavily last night, and would like more of the same tonight. Which Carlos thinks can't start soon enough.

Wisdom Where You Find It, or Look for It

I recently got the first Humans of New York book out of the library (I'm waiting for the second one), and while I really enjoyed the whole thing, I was much struck by one of the entries.

To close in on the quote:

Seriously, how true is that? This isn't my favorite photograph from the book, but it's my favorite quote.

P.S. I got a new computer. Before the old one completely died! (Knock wood.) How crazy is that? Hey, listen, I think I've only had the old one about ten years...Windows Vista, anyone?

While I am finishing my transition (most of the stuff I want, the important stuff, is already on an external hard drive, but I'm double-checking everything on the old computer before I kill it), my desk looks like this:

Once the old machine is ready to go away, I plan to use its monitor as a second screen for the new one, so this view won't so much change as tweak in the future. But I will be glad to get rid of the tower on the other desk!

One question, for anyone who might know: The new laptop connected to my wifi just fine. However, periodically, I have trouble connecting to something, and when I look at the wifi list, instead of saying "Connected," it says "Limited." When I disconnect and reconnect, it works with no problem, but why is it dropping-not-dropping like this? Anyone? I can't see anything in the settings that I can tell would do that, but I am (major understatement alert) hardly an expert.