Posts
We can not seem to get enough of camping. Amy enjoyed our weekend inspite of the rain. So we decided we need a bigger tent.. Yesterday we went out and got the "Alpine Lodge" by Swiss Gear.. the name just kills me :) But it is a large tent with a built in screen porch.. so that should give us more room when we are in the woods.
So you can't buy a new tent and not go camping... so we are off to Sleeper State Park in the thumb.. randomly selected because they had openings.. but it looks interesting.. right on Saginaw bay near Lake Huron.. there are some things of interest in the area.. including several light houses... we will see if I actually make it to them.
Then the following week is our vacation.. on Wed we leave for a week in the UP. 3 days at Brimley, then 4 days at Indian Lake.. with lots of side trips of interest.. should have a ton of pictures when I get back!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
July is flying by
July is flying by and I have not been posting.. A summary... my wifes surgery went well and she is recovering, in fact she started back to work today 1/2 time. Common Ground went better than expected, as each day got easier.. and I am looking forward to that paycheck today. The month has been hot and fairly slow.... so this weekend my wife thought we should go camping.. This surprised me to no end, because I didnt think she would want to, or be up to it yet.. but as she pointed out, she does not really have to do anything.. so I made a reservation at Straits park in St Ignace and Saturday morning we went up there.. camped in a nice spot by some cedar trees right near the water.. so the camp established and went to the beach.. it was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed being out in the sun! Got cloudly later and tried to sprinkle but over all was a nice day and evening..
I really do enjoy camping and as I lay down to sleep could not help but smile as I felt the breeze coming in the tent window above my head. My wife woke me up at some point that night and pointed out it was raining.. yep I could hear it and went back to sleep. In the morning.. must have been somewhere around 6 it was raining steady with lots of thunder and lightening.. still enjoyable.. as I felt the mist from the rain on my face.. The rain stopped around 9 and the day cleared up a bit.. got home to HOT weather mid 90's and really bad humidity..guess they had bad storms here.. some flooding and lots of trees down.. at least we did not have that!
Talking about going to Taquhamenon Falls and camping for Labor Day.. also talking about getting a yearly pass to the Mackinac Parks for next year for $59 we can go to any of the parks for the whole season.. that sounds cool!
I am really enjoying camping... looking forward to my trip to the UP that will be coming up soon! Leaving Aug 3... and I know Aug is going to go just as fast as this month.. the good news is Mitchell we soon be back in school and the childcare fees will go down!
I really do enjoy camping and as I lay down to sleep could not help but smile as I felt the breeze coming in the tent window above my head. My wife woke me up at some point that night and pointed out it was raining.. yep I could hear it and went back to sleep. In the morning.. must have been somewhere around 6 it was raining steady with lots of thunder and lightening.. still enjoyable.. as I felt the mist from the rain on my face.. The rain stopped around 9 and the day cleared up a bit.. got home to HOT weather mid 90's and really bad humidity..guess they had bad storms here.. some flooding and lots of trees down.. at least we did not have that!
Talking about going to Taquhamenon Falls and camping for Labor Day.. also talking about getting a yearly pass to the Mackinac Parks for next year for $59 we can go to any of the parks for the whole season.. that sounds cool!
I am really enjoying camping... looking forward to my trip to the UP that will be coming up soon! Leaving Aug 3... and I know Aug is going to go just as fast as this month.. the good news is Mitchell we soon be back in school and the childcare fees will go down!
Books 33 & 34
Freemasons - Inside the Worlds Oldest Secret Society, by J Paul Jeffers (33). I have an interest in Masonry, and thought this book might tell me more... It was heavy on the history of Masonry, and details of famous people who were in it (Geo Washington, Mozart etc.) but in the end told me very little about what it is...
I am also reading a book about lumberjacks written in 1976 by a man who was in the lumbering industy in 19-teens.. I am having problems getting through it.. it is very place specific (Camp 33 was where the gravel pit is now) and heavy on the remininsing (when I run into George he still talks about the night we got caught in the snow storm) It is somewhat interesting.. it just isn't well organzied.. It is sort of like sitting about with an older person and listening to stories.. none of them particulary interesting.. and the whole thing isnt really going anywhere.
So I decided I needed a quick fiction book to get me going, so I read Tales of the Wolf (34) by one of my favorite authors Lawrence Sanders. This was like a collection of short stories about Lanihan an investigator for an Insurance firm.. I later read that these were some of Sanders earliest works which had been published as short stories in Swank magazine in the '68 & '69. Sort of amusing.. lots of drinking.. every case has a good looking woman who he ends us with.. but enjoyable stories as well.
My goal is to read a good a week... and it looks like I am ahead of schedule as we begin the 30th week of the year and I am reading my 35 book. A small cushion.. I just need to keep reading!
I am also reading a book about lumberjacks written in 1976 by a man who was in the lumbering industy in 19-teens.. I am having problems getting through it.. it is very place specific (Camp 33 was where the gravel pit is now) and heavy on the remininsing (when I run into George he still talks about the night we got caught in the snow storm) It is somewhat interesting.. it just isn't well organzied.. It is sort of like sitting about with an older person and listening to stories.. none of them particulary interesting.. and the whole thing isnt really going anywhere.
So I decided I needed a quick fiction book to get me going, so I read Tales of the Wolf (34) by one of my favorite authors Lawrence Sanders. This was like a collection of short stories about Lanihan an investigator for an Insurance firm.. I later read that these were some of Sanders earliest works which had been published as short stories in Swank magazine in the '68 & '69. Sort of amusing.. lots of drinking.. every case has a good looking woman who he ends us with.. but enjoyable stories as well.
My goal is to read a good a week... and it looks like I am ahead of schedule as we begin the 30th week of the year and I am reading my 35 book. A small cushion.. I just need to keep reading!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Brooklyn Bridge (32)
I finished A Picture History of the Brooklyn Bridge by Mary J. Shapiro. It was interesting.. many of the construction techniques are the same as the Mackinac Bridge. I was surprised that when they completed the cat walks for the cable spinning.. that they opened them to the public.. something that would never happen in this day and age. The final picture of the book was from 1983 aprox 100 years after it opened.. It was taken from Brooklyn looking toward Manhattan.. and there very prominately on the skyline is the World Trade Center.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Common Ground
I made it through day 1 of Common Ground. Not nearly as busy as I expected it to be.. Got done around 9, which was also nice, as I expected to be there until after 10. Lots of upset students who did not want to pay for parking, sigh.. The City is not good at customer service.. so I got the brunt of it.. This is going to be a long week.. but the upside is that I will have a lot of hours this week which will help the bank account. The down side is 14 hour days and not getting anything else done. But things went well at the house last night.. everybody is feeling better so that is a plus. We will see how the rest of the week goes. I am thinking there will be problems at some point.. but prehaps I am too pessimestic.. and things will so smoothly.
I am still not feeling 100% and am not looking forward to work as I usually do. I am hoping tonigh has less problems and that will give me a better outlook for the rest of the week!
I am still not feeling 100% and am not looking forward to work as I usually do. I am hoping tonigh has less problems and that will give me a better outlook for the rest of the week!
Monday, July 11, 2005
Back to hetic
It has been a wild couple of weeks. The week following the UP camping trip was very short with my wifes surgery. The end of week and weekend went quickly and the next week just slipped away. The surgery went fine.. although the following week she started running a temp. Everything seems find from the surgery and it appears to just be an unrelated bug. It seem that everybody in the family has gotten it, including me... in the midst of this I was SO tired all I wanted to do was sleep.
I feel better but not great.. this week is Common Ground so I will be working late all week, which is good from a $ standpoint, but I know it will be a long and trying week.
I feel better but not great.. this week is Common Ground so I will be working late all week, which is good from a $ standpoint, but I know it will be a long and trying week.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Mackinac Books
Bridging The Straits (30)
By Lawrence A Rubin
Written by the Secretary to the Board of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Lots of background on the financing of the bridge and the politics. It was the bridge that nobody wanted.. they had a lot of problems selling the bonds that will finance the bridge... very little on the actual construction of the bridge.
Mighty Mac (31)
By Lawrence A Rubin
This is largely a photo book about the actual construction of the bridge.. a very cool book with great photos and decent explainations of how the bridge was put together.. it starts to fill in the gaps on how it all came together. Includes a forward that talks about the history of the Straits going back to the Indian wars of the 1600's and the French, British and American occupation of the area.
By Lawrence A Rubin
Written by the Secretary to the Board of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Lots of background on the financing of the bridge and the politics. It was the bridge that nobody wanted.. they had a lot of problems selling the bonds that will finance the bridge... very little on the actual construction of the bridge.
Mighty Mac (31)
By Lawrence A Rubin
This is largely a photo book about the actual construction of the bridge.. a very cool book with great photos and decent explainations of how the bridge was put together.. it starts to fill in the gaps on how it all came together. Includes a forward that talks about the history of the Straits going back to the Indian wars of the 1600's and the French, British and American occupation of the area.
Monday, June 27, 2005
UP Travlelog
Left about 8 am on Friday morning.. first stop was Meijer for some Aloe Vera to slather on already crispy children. Weather reports are calling for 95 today.. glad to be heading north!
Arrive in Mackinaw City about noon, get some sandwiches and go to the park by the lighthouse.. after a quick lunch we headed into the UP. High winds in the Straits.. they had Bridge Authority people at the entrance in Mackinaw and they were making trucks, trailers etc park to the side and be escorted across... First time I had seen that.
Got to the UP and stopped and did 2 geocaches at a rest area south of the Soo. Arrived in the Soo about 2 and toured the locks. It was engineers day, the one day of the year that you can go out onto the lock and see the admin building. The building is beautiful, all marble and tile.. built in 1879... did not realize it was that old. Unfortnately no freighters going through while we were there.. but got to walk across the Mac & Poe locks. Started to rain before we left.. not hard.. just sprinkled for a bit. Headed toward the campsite, and stopped to get some juice which I had forgot to pack.
Arrived at the camp site and got checked in, got the tent set up and our stuff unpacked... walked down to the beach and was stunned at how beautiful it was.. sandy beach and shore.. just spectactular! And a freighter going by too :)
Had dinner, got some wood, then went swiming.. the water was so warm.. could not believe it was Superior!
Campfire was a bit of a disappointment.. had trouble getting it to go.. but good enough for some marshmallows! Off to sleep looking out the tent window at the trees.
Saturday
After a breakfast we headed back into town.. Today there were boats in the locks! One was leaving as we arrived and we saw the OG: Reserve lock through (up bound). There was an indian demostration at the lower park. MM especially enjoyed this.. I was amazed at how many of the indians there were from St Ignace (and the rest from Brimley). No more freighters due in for a while and noon time approaching we left.. but ran out to the Ashmun boat launch on a hunch.. Sure enough the Gott was coming into the canal heading toward the Locks. Very impressive to see the 1000' boat go by so closely. After that we hit Subway and grabbed some sandwiches. Returning to the campsite we had lunch, then laid down for a while. After a nap we went swimming agin.. still can not believe how warm it is.
Off to do some geocaching.. headed toward Bay Mills which is an Indian reservation.. surprised at how strong the Tribes presences is here.. sort of like a different country. Very cool to see! We did a geo cache which ended up being down a snowmobile trail.. which this time of year is called a Cedar swamp. It was pretty to see.. but also wet, mucky and full of bugs that were attracted to my bald head! Found 1 of the 2 caches on this trail and also found some kindling for the fire tonight. Moving on we stopped at a statue to pay tribute to the Indian vets. Could not find the micro cache here.. but did look through the Old Indian Burial ground (1841) across the street. Rather than head stones there are small wooded boxes over the grave sites.. almost like caskets. I noticed they are all facing the same direction and have a small hole in the gable edge.. there must be a story here.. I will have to find it.. obviously has something to do with their beliefs and traditions.
Move further we went to the Pt Iroquois lighthouse.. we climbed the 72 steps to the top for an incredible view. We could also see people setting up for a wedding on the lawn. Came down and walked along the board walk by the lake. Found a geodetic marker here also.. an unexpected bonus!
Returning to the campsite we had dinner, then went swimming again. This time we saw 3 freighters going by. Coming back we had a campfire which went much better this time! Enjoyed being outdoors and the beautiful area.
Sunday
Slept in on Sunday until almost 10! Had breakfast and went swimming got back and had lunch.. by not it was nearly 1. The kids played at the playground while I packed up the tent and loaded the car.
Left the campground at 2:20 and headed south. Stopped at the Father Marquette memorial in St Ignace to do our last Geocache and take some pics of a freighter passing under the bridge.
Returning the the lower Peninusla we made our way home stopping to pick up a pizza in Mt. Pleasant and got home about 7:30
Arrive in Mackinaw City about noon, get some sandwiches and go to the park by the lighthouse.. after a quick lunch we headed into the UP. High winds in the Straits.. they had Bridge Authority people at the entrance in Mackinaw and they were making trucks, trailers etc park to the side and be escorted across... First time I had seen that.
Got to the UP and stopped and did 2 geocaches at a rest area south of the Soo. Arrived in the Soo about 2 and toured the locks. It was engineers day, the one day of the year that you can go out onto the lock and see the admin building. The building is beautiful, all marble and tile.. built in 1879... did not realize it was that old. Unfortnately no freighters going through while we were there.. but got to walk across the Mac & Poe locks. Started to rain before we left.. not hard.. just sprinkled for a bit. Headed toward the campsite, and stopped to get some juice which I had forgot to pack.
Arrived at the camp site and got checked in, got the tent set up and our stuff unpacked... walked down to the beach and was stunned at how beautiful it was.. sandy beach and shore.. just spectactular! And a freighter going by too :)
Had dinner, got some wood, then went swiming.. the water was so warm.. could not believe it was Superior!
Campfire was a bit of a disappointment.. had trouble getting it to go.. but good enough for some marshmallows! Off to sleep looking out the tent window at the trees.
Saturday
After a breakfast we headed back into town.. Today there were boats in the locks! One was leaving as we arrived and we saw the OG: Reserve lock through (up bound). There was an indian demostration at the lower park. MM especially enjoyed this.. I was amazed at how many of the indians there were from St Ignace (and the rest from Brimley). No more freighters due in for a while and noon time approaching we left.. but ran out to the Ashmun boat launch on a hunch.. Sure enough the Gott was coming into the canal heading toward the Locks. Very impressive to see the 1000' boat go by so closely. After that we hit Subway and grabbed some sandwiches. Returning to the campsite we had lunch, then laid down for a while. After a nap we went swimming agin.. still can not believe how warm it is.
Off to do some geocaching.. headed toward Bay Mills which is an Indian reservation.. surprised at how strong the Tribes presences is here.. sort of like a different country. Very cool to see! We did a geo cache which ended up being down a snowmobile trail.. which this time of year is called a Cedar swamp. It was pretty to see.. but also wet, mucky and full of bugs that were attracted to my bald head! Found 1 of the 2 caches on this trail and also found some kindling for the fire tonight. Moving on we stopped at a statue to pay tribute to the Indian vets. Could not find the micro cache here.. but did look through the Old Indian Burial ground (1841) across the street. Rather than head stones there are small wooded boxes over the grave sites.. almost like caskets. I noticed they are all facing the same direction and have a small hole in the gable edge.. there must be a story here.. I will have to find it.. obviously has something to do with their beliefs and traditions.
Move further we went to the Pt Iroquois lighthouse.. we climbed the 72 steps to the top for an incredible view. We could also see people setting up for a wedding on the lawn. Came down and walked along the board walk by the lake. Found a geodetic marker here also.. an unexpected bonus!
Returning to the campsite we had dinner, then went swimming again. This time we saw 3 freighters going by. Coming back we had a campfire which went much better this time! Enjoyed being outdoors and the beautiful area.
Sunday
Slept in on Sunday until almost 10! Had breakfast and went swimming got back and had lunch.. by not it was nearly 1. The kids played at the playground while I packed up the tent and loaded the car.
Left the campground at 2:20 and headed south. Stopped at the Father Marquette memorial in St Ignace to do our last Geocache and take some pics of a freighter passing under the bridge.
Returning the the lower Peninusla we made our way home stopping to pick up a pizza in Mt. Pleasant and got home about 7:30
Thursday, June 23, 2005
A Sailors Logbook (29)
I finished A Sailor's Logbook: A Season Aboard Great Lakes Freighters by Mark L Thompson last night. Not a bad book.. it was truly a log book, no attempt at background or plot. Picked up some interesting things about life on a ship. The person should interesting, although we only pick up bits and pieces of his life as we go along. This follows a Steward through the 1996 season on the Great Lakes. Enjoyed the parts where he visits the power plant near our cottage to drop coal.. hmm.. wonder if I was around those times to see them go by?? Definately a book for the hard core person who is interested in this!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
St Ignace.
Its been a tough week.. starting last week just been having some problems.. Does not seem to be an end in sight. On the highlight we went to St Ignace last weekend and camped. This was a great experience and it turned out to be a wonderful day! The park was cool and right next to the bridge. Went swimming in Lake Huron.. a tad bit cold, but considering it was June, I would say it was warm. Would like to try to do Northern UP this weekend.. not sure if that will work or not.. time will tell. A few obstacles to overcome before that falls into place.
Hopefully the rain will hold out today.. I need to get the lawn cut.. it is out of control.
Hopefully the rain will hold out today.. I need to get the lawn cut.. it is out of control.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Life...
Ok, going to St Ignace tomorrow. I have rented a mini cabin at the Straits State Campground. I will leave in the morning with the kids.. should be fun.. not quite sure what to expect with all of this.. and weather is not looking as good as it was earlier in the week? Either way it will be a new adventure and I think we can have some fun.
Wife is very upset with me this week, and not entirely sure why... That bothers me more than I would like to. Not quite sure what to do with that.. ignoring it really wont make anything better..
Got a cc yesterday.. so I dont feel quite so much as a financial loser now.. the extra job has really helped out with my finances.. I am in a much better place than I was last year, so that is an improvement.. 2 more years and I should be in much better shape.. this is the 5 year plan.. got fuzzy in the middle for a while, but I am back on track now!
Wife is very upset with me this week, and not entirely sure why... That bothers me more than I would like to. Not quite sure what to do with that.. ignoring it really wont make anything better..
Got a cc yesterday.. so I dont feel quite so much as a financial loser now.. the extra job has really helped out with my finances.. I am in a much better place than I was last year, so that is an improvement.. 2 more years and I should be in much better shape.. this is the 5 year plan.. got fuzzy in the middle for a while, but I am back on track now!
Books
The Dilbert Future (27)
What can I can say about Scott Adams.. he has this amazing way to capture what it is like to work in an office.
Know Your Ships (28)
I Flipped though this one quickly, it is a guide book about ships on the Great Lakes, but also includes many Ferry boats (including the one I worked on), work boats, as well as Salties that you may see here.
It had some interesting articles.. I wasnt impressed with the actual data, it seemed hard to find things.. I think Boat Nerd is better, it has all the same information, plus pictures.
It was intersting, and I did learn a few things, so it was not a waste of time.
What can I can say about Scott Adams.. he has this amazing way to capture what it is like to work in an office.
Know Your Ships (28)
I Flipped though this one quickly, it is a guide book about ships on the Great Lakes, but also includes many Ferry boats (including the one I worked on), work boats, as well as Salties that you may see here.
It had some interesting articles.. I wasnt impressed with the actual data, it seemed hard to find things.. I think Boat Nerd is better, it has all the same information, plus pictures.
It was intersting, and I did learn a few things, so it was not a waste of time.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Half way
Made it through half of this week.. and it is going fast. Trying to figure out what to do this weekend. Wife is mad at me and does not want to go camping, or probably anything else with me. I checked on the local State Park and I have to buy 2 nights stay (not just Sat). But in the UP I can do 1 night... so I am toying with the idea of getting a cabin at the State Park in St Ignace.. might be kinda fun.. and will be easier if I am alone with the kids.
I work the next 3 nights... glad to have more hours again.. the union finally caught up with me and took a chunk out of my paycheck.. now I will await the benefits - lol
Cooler today.. a nice change.
I work the next 3 nights... glad to have more hours again.. the union finally caught up with me and took a chunk out of my paycheck.. now I will await the benefits - lol
Cooler today.. a nice change.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The cabin
The weekend was great! Left about 7:30am on Saturday and arrived around 11. It was already hot there, the kids played on the beach while I got things put away in the cabin and cleaned up. The cabin made it through the winter in good shape. We had rain in the afternoon, but it cleared up later. Keith and Ursula came out and we hung out on the beach, and BBQ later.
On Sunday it was overcast and not quite as hot. We drove to Charlevoix, but went around the lake first.. Tried a geo-cache but could not find it.. we then went north on US31 and stopped at a few road side parks on Lake Michigan. Had a good view of Big Rock which CE is decommisioning Then had lunch and tried another geocach.. this led us to a beautiful view of the Lake from the top of a sand dune.. After some looking finally found the geocach deep in a cedar forest.. which was also *very* cool. We played on the dunes and in the water for a while, although it was quite rocky.. went to the public beach by the lighthouse and went swimming.. by this time it is about 4.. headed to the cabin picked up, and packed. Went swimming again then got dressed and hit the road... grabbed a pizza on the way home and we arrived in Lansing about 9 pm.. a full but enjoyable weekend
On Sunday it was overcast and not quite as hot. We drove to Charlevoix, but went around the lake first.. Tried a geo-cache but could not find it.. we then went north on US31 and stopped at a few road side parks on Lake Michigan. Had a good view of Big Rock which CE is decommisioning Then had lunch and tried another geocach.. this led us to a beautiful view of the Lake from the top of a sand dune.. After some looking finally found the geocach deep in a cedar forest.. which was also *very* cool. We played on the dunes and in the water for a while, although it was quite rocky.. went to the public beach by the lighthouse and went swimming.. by this time it is about 4.. headed to the cabin picked up, and packed. Went swimming again then got dressed and hit the road... grabbed a pizza on the way home and we arrived in Lansing about 9 pm.. a full but enjoyable weekend
I Married A Logger (26)
On Friday I finished I Married A Logger by Julie Anderson. An interesting book.. the woman was a young school teacher in the UP and met and married a man who had a lumber business. She lives with him at the camps and gets to view the camps from the outside. An interesting view point as she is not familiar with everything. Also this takes place in the 30's & 40's so the techniques are different.. they have trucks, and toward the end they even have chain saws.
Not the best book I have read about logging, but worthwhile none the less.
Not the best book I have read about logging, but worthwhile none the less.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Moving quickly
been a busy week... Lots to get done.. clean the house up for Amy's get together. Which led to cleaning out a lot of stuff we dont need. I sure like Freecycle I was able to get rid of a bunch of the kids stuff quickly.. you can walk through the breezeway it is amazing :)
I work M-W-F so that just leave T-TH to do everything. The plan is to leave early Saturday morning probably between 6-8 am. That way we can get up there before noon and enjoy the *whole* day. Lots to do there too... cleaning, getting things unpacked from the winter, but mostly just enjoying ourselves!! Want to do some geocaching.. I still have this TB from St Ignace.. would like to drop that in Lansing and grab another to take up north. It is suppose to be warm this weekend so that is good news.
Mood B-
Morning Music - Megadeth & Billy Squier (as if those go together)
I work M-W-F so that just leave T-TH to do everything. The plan is to leave early Saturday morning probably between 6-8 am. That way we can get up there before noon and enjoy the *whole* day. Lots to do there too... cleaning, getting things unpacked from the winter, but mostly just enjoying ourselves!! Want to do some geocaching.. I still have this TB from St Ignace.. would like to drop that in Lansing and grab another to take up north. It is suppose to be warm this weekend so that is good news.
Mood B-
Morning Music - Megadeth & Billy Squier (as if those go together)
Monday, June 06, 2005
Children taveling alone
This made me laugh.. maybe it is the lack of diet Coke today...
From and article at CNN about kids flying alone.
She has also devised a four-part test for parents to determine whether a child is "travel-worthy," or ready to travel alone.
The child must be able to follow instructions quickly, without argument; control impulse behavior; cope with minor inconveniences; and be trained to not wander away.
These same 4 questions could be applied to all sorts of things...
Job interview, dates, etc.... think of the possibilities
From and article at CNN about kids flying alone.
She has also devised a four-part test for parents to determine whether a child is "travel-worthy," or ready to travel alone.
The child must be able to follow instructions quickly, without argument; control impulse behavior; cope with minor inconveniences; and be trained to not wander away.
These same 4 questions could be applied to all sorts of things...
Job interview, dates, etc.... think of the possibilities
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