"An Official Guest of the Sri Lankan Government"

While I did not have a band greet me or receive a key to the city, I couldn’t have been happier with my arrival. I hadn’t seen David since the day I left Hong Kong over 4 years ago. We had missed each other the last time I came to Asia in 2004 and I had promised that I would come and see him. The desire to visit him and his family in Sri Lanka (along with other friends in Asia) is what prompted this trip, more so than the sight-seeing and adventure. We hopped in his government-issued SUV and he drove me to the government bungalow he had arranged for my visit. It is a nice place and free so I couldn’t be happier. He also took my passport and is having his staff process my Indian visa (saved me a full day at the embassy and $40US). Additionally, I have a personal car and driver at my disposal, the driver is a 3-time former national karate champion and a bit of a celebrity (so it sounds like the car/driver is when he’s not busy at the office, understandable).
After taking a three hour plus nap I awoke at my hotel to shower, type up some blog entries, and prepare for my pickup at 1pm. David ended up sending a man from the branch presidency that was going to meet him at the minister’s office anyway. He took me to McDonalds for lunch, told me about the Church here, and swapped mission stories (he served in the Singapore Mission in the 1990s). When I got to the ministry I sat in the waiting room while David was working with the minister and meeting with citizens. After a while they ushered me in and introduced me to the staff and the minister. He was a nice guy who didn’t speak English but insisted I eat watermelon with him and stay while they conducted business. The group talked for a good half hour or so in Sinhala as I sat oblivious to what was being discussed. Once in a while David would give me a bit of information but he was really busy answering three different phones, discussing issues, and helping his boss. It was kind of crazy to meet and share food with such an important cabinet minister in the circumstances but quite enjoyable. After business was done they discussed what work I would do in the office when I volunteered here and which areas I would be of most help in. They seem to have much higher expectations of me than I expected so I better bring my game face next week (and buy some dress clothes). All I have for nice clothes is one short-sleeve white shirt and a pair of khakis with no shoes. When I met the minister I was wearing flip-flops, the khakis, and my blue/white button down collared shirt. Thankfully, business dress over here isn’t super nice so I didn’t look too shabby and the minister wasn’t even wearing a tie so I felt OK.
I think the rest of the day will be spent in David’s office with him being busy and me blogging and reading. Wednesday is National People’s Day (or something like that) and all the ministers and high-level bureaucrats have to meet with citizens to discuss there concerns. I guess it is a direct order from the president and a big deal, as David said, “You don’t get Wednesday off unless you are out of the country or dead.” David has employed a couple other LDS people in the office here and throughout the government so we joked that Mormons are taking over. His boss doesn’t know tons about the Church but seems cool with it. The minister’s son-in-law is a member although his daughter is not. I couldn’t get a picture with the minister before he had to go (plenty of other opportunities ahead) so I got one of David at his desk, his building (his office is one of the round glass parts on the 4th floor), and David, the minister’s son-in-law, and me in front of pictures of the minister and the president.

Six Weeks Down, Four to Go

It is amazing to think that my trip has passed as quickly as it has. Six weeks are gone and all of my travel friends from BYU are back in the states getting back to work and moving on with their summer. So far the trip has been great. Mackenzie leaving early and the iPod/computer troubles were low-lights, but on the whole things have gone amazingly well. My bags have always arrived where they needed to be, all of the hotel/car reservations worked out (internet is amazing), my health has been great, I’ve been able to see all of my friends I wanted to (like Benji in the Philippines, see picture) and successfully encouraged a couple to go back to Church, and have seen all kinds of amazing sights. Honestly, I am a little tired of being a tourist and moving hotels every couple of days, but still love the trip on the whole and especially seeing old friends.
One of the nice things about these last four weeks is that I am relatively stable. Two weeks will be spent in Sri Lanka, the first touristing with David and his family, and the second volunteering at his work. The following ten days I will be in India visiting a friend from BYU and the service camp she helps run. We will spend about 5 days in Chennai and another 5 in New Delhi (I am way excited to see the Taj Mahal). On the way back home I spend 2 days in Sri Lanka saying goodbye and then 2 days in Hong Kong seeing old friends. Finally, on July 11th I arrive back in Arizona and will be heading to a nice Mexican restaurant. So far on the trip I’ve taken roughly 1500 pictures and used about 9 gigabytes of memory. The last time I checked Brandon Seiter had the only guess on my distance travel so he might be the winner, we’ll see. One lesson I’ve learned from the trip is that I probably don’t want to spend the rest of my life in Asia. It was nice to learn before I would try anything crazy like that. The good old United States are where it’s at for me, specifically Arizona I hope.

"We Don't Fly to Sri Lanka Anymore"

Tuesday morning I decided to pass on another Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda as I wanted to sleep-in and take it easy until my 11am flight. When I went to get breakfast I walked into a stinky, dark restaurant where the food was not a pleasant sight. I ended up passing on the runny eggs, pork strips (not deserving of being called bacon or ham), but did eat the nice begat. My flight to Hong Kong was nice as I had 3 seats and slept about half of it.
At the airport I sent some emails and tried to call home but it was about 2am back in AZ so I didn’t catch anyone. After a couple hours I went to check-in for my flight and was told by the agent, “We don’t fly to Colombo anymore.” I knew CathayPacific had been evaluating their service to Colombo after the Tamil rebels attacked the Sri Lankan air force base next door to the international airport. I guess they had decided to stop their flights and had conveniently forgotten to inform me. Thankfully, they had made arrangements with Sri Lanka Airlines to move their people over to Sri Lankan flights from Bangkok to Colombo. My flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok was in another four hours so I had a nice chance to sit at the airport in Hong Kong, eat good food, and enjoy the free internet. It also gave me a chance to call home and successfully connect with my dad for once (he’s hard to get a hold of). The Hong Kong Airport has kind of become a home away from home for me on this trip. I have been through there maybe a dozen times, spent a night on the floor, eaten a handful of meals, and enjoyed the nice amenities.
My one worry was how to get news of my change in arrival to David in Sri Lanka. I sent an email ASAP and he replied just before I left to catch my flight so that was wonderful. The flight was less than ½ full and I got four seats to stretch out across in the back. We arrived in Bangkok before midnight and I had over three hours to kill before the next flight took off. I wandered around the airport looking for a power plug and seeing if I could find any cheap internet service. Somehow I lucked into both. When I went to use the restroom I passed a storage room that was open and had an available power plug. Not only that, it was next door to the CathayPacific 1st/Business class lounge which had an unprotected wireless internet hookup. So I ended up spending the next two hours sending emails, reading news, and calling home while sitting in a storage room in the airport in Bangkok. It was a little strange, but whatever works I guess. The flight to Colombo was packed and I couldn’t sleep at all even though it was from 3am to 6am. When I arrived in Sri Lanka I was dead tired, but very happy to see David at the airport.

Unhappy Places

I woke up Monday morning at 5:30 to grab some breakfast, pack, and make my 8am flight to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. We walked out of the small terminal (security was a joke, never had to show ID and they checked Mackenzie in too even though she was no where in sight). One thing that has been entertaining is being on the receiving end of racial profiling for once. However, other than maybe one or two times that being white was unhelpful (ostracized, shunned, etc.) being American has been a huge plus. I can set the metal detector off and they don't care (in the malls not the airports). They give me the best service, police treat us better than everyone else, and in general most of these countries have learned that you treat white tourists well so they keep coming back and giving you there money. We stepped out onto the tarmac to find a twin prop plane. It instantly reminded me of the one used by the Cleveland Indians in the movie "Major League" when the owner is trying to mess with the players. However, it was fine on the inside and ran surprisingly quiet.

When I arrived in Phnom Penh I was as tired as I've been the whole trip. Between staying up late watching Federer-Nadal, waking up early, and walking/climbing the entire day before at the temples in Angkor Wat, my body needed a break. Once I settled in my room and relaxed in the air conditioning I felt a lot better and eventually headed out around 2pm. The only sights I was really interested in Phnom Penh were Tuol Sleng (S-21 Torture Prison used by the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's crazy regime) and the Killing Fields (10 miles outside of town). I contracted a motorbike carriage (could squeeze six, I got it to myself, nice plush leather and I could relax) for the stops and a ride back to my hotel for a grand total of $12.

The stops were chilling to say the least. More than anywhere else on the trip, these places had an unpleasant feeling. S-21 is a former high school that was turned into the notorious prison camp where people were tortured before being killed. Over 14,000 entered its gates and only 12 survived. Walking through the rooms and seeing the pictures of the people was disturbing. For some reason, this human suffering seemed so much closer as I was on the spot and it happened just 30 years ago. How people can hate others so much to do such things is beyond me.

After visiting the prison camp I hopped back in the cart and enjoyed the drive through southern Phnom Penh to the Killing Fields. One of Pol Pot's crazier actions was to evacuate Phnom Penh in 12 hours (said US was going to bomb it) from 2 million people to a couple thousand because he wanted everyone working in the countryside. Between the civil war (1970-75) and the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979) roughly 2 million people died in Cambodia, or over 10% of the population. I can't believe that the people have suffered so much and are now just going on with their lives. The Killing Fields were very solem as well. Signs told the stories of how the people were brought there, executed, and buried in systematic fashion. The memorial had lots of skulls and bones that have been unearthed. About 1/2 of the graves have been dug up and the estimate for total killed there is about 20,000. The stories of people who were killed and suffered under Pol Pot were very disheartening. So many lives lost, spouses, children, parents, never heard from again. There must be so much anguish and sorrow in the people of this country.

When I got back to my hotel I tried to watch another movie but my DVD drive died half way through. Now my D drive doesn't work along with my iPod and my harddrive is filling up fast with photos from the trip. Basically, I am just nursing myself home in the technology department, hoping everything will be fixable when I get back. My one salvation on the food front in Phnom Penh was the nice Total Gas Station just across the street from my hotel (picture taken from my balcony). It had Magnum ice cream bars, Pringles, juices, Pepperidge Farm Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookes, and other snacks that kept me fed. My breakfast this morning was unpleasant as the restaurant stank and the eggs were the runniest I've ever seen. I ended up eating the bagget and left the rest.

My flight was nice to HK (three seats to myself, good meal, and an hour nap) and I ended up spending about 6 hours in the airport as my flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka had been changed. Due to the rebel attacks on the Air Force base next to the International Airport, CathayPacific decided to quit flying into the airport so I have to change airlines in Bangkok. Things are looking good though as I can't wait to see my old friend, David Athukorala. More on him later.

Whoops, I’m at a 4-Star

So my taxi driver was really impressed when I said the name of the hotel, which I totally butchered and had to repeat 3 times before he could figure out what I’d been saying. I’m at the Samodevi Angkor, a nice new place just off the main drag. My room is good sized, with a big balcony over-looking the huge pool below. The bathroom is all marble with both a shower and bath/shower. The place costs $45 bucks a night with the internet deal but normally runs $120. There are 80 TV stations, although only 15 or so are in English. However, the best part about the whole place (at least for me) was the buffet breakfast I have included in my room rate. There was six different kinds of juices, omelets made to order, different meats, rice dishes, lots of pastries and breads, lots of fruits, waffles and french toast (1st time on trip), and hash browns (also a first). The problem with being in a 4-star hotel is that everything you have to pay for costs through the roof. Internet is 4 dollars an hour, water runs $2 a bottle, and I’m afraid to ask about anything else.
At around 9:30am my driver and I headed out to the Angkor Wat National Park area. While Angkor Wat with its five spires is the famous site, there are actually dozens of temples and sites to see spread out over 38 square miles. My guide called it the Disneyland of Buddhist temples and I would agree. Besides the massive size of many of the structures, the most impressive aspect was the intricate carvings that run throughout many of the buildings. They depict scenes from history and famous events in the life of the Buddhist and Hindu gods.
Angkor Wat itself was an adventure. I picked up two young teenagers who served as my defacto guides throughout. They did a descent job and had surprisingly good English. I learned that the mote was filled with crocodiles and cobras to keep people from attacking, this whole, massive structure was only used to pray, and they had big libraries to keep records back in the day. Honestly, other than Japan and former British areas, what the crap happened to Asia the last 800 years? These civilizations have amazing history and former power, but have been basket-cases and shadows of their former selves for hundreds of years. Western civilization picked a good time to peak at (at least for my sake and most people I know). On the way out the younger of the two brothers showed up and I was like, how much do I pay these guys? The only money I had on my was a $20US and 1000 Thai Baht (about $25US) plus 2 one dollar bills. I wasn’t willing to part with either of the big bills (I was paying my driver $25 dollars for the whole day) for their hour of work. However, they weren’t happy with $2 so eventually I got some change and paid them $7. It was way more than they should have gotten and I should have set a rate when they first showed up but such is life I guess.
The next stop was Angkor Thom, an even bigger compound with two well-known temples and a couple famous terraces. First I visited the Bayon temple which was one of my favorites. It has lots of towers with four heads on each, one facing each cardinal direction. Many are damaged or defaced, but some are still in quite good condition. I guess Tomb Raider was filmed around here. I took an hour or so to sit in some shade and drink a bunch of water while reading my Book of Mormon. Since I wanted to stay at the park until sunset I wasn’t in any hurry and enjoyed a few quiet moments without people swarming me trying to sell post cards, buddhas, and other things. My next stops were the Terrance of the Leper King and Terrace of the Elephants. Both were nice and reminded me how amazing it was that they had chiseled these beautiful images into huge stones. Most of the stones in all the temples were hauled from a mountain 60kms away on elephants. I felt sorry for the animals as I could only image how much weight they had transferred over 200 years of construction. The last temple in Angkor Thom was Baphuon. This one is slowly being rebuilt to give tourists a flavor of temple building so you can’t walk through it.
Ta Keo was my next attraction. This temple is unique because it was never finished in the sense that it doesn’t have any carvings or elaborate finishing. I guess lightning struck the temple or through some other means the gods signaled they didn’t like this one. The locals took that as a sign to leave behind their massive piles of rocks and start another one. This is amazing because they left behind years of effort. The picture with me being the speck of “John Deer Green” (my t-shirt and a classic country song) is Ta Keo. To get this photo I had to ask some Polish tourist who spoke little English to take a picture of me from the ground 3 minutes away the whole time thinking in my mind, “I hope she doesn’t run off with my camera and I hope I don’t fall and kill myself” (such positive thoughts I know, effect of no iPod I guess). The idea of moving all this stone and then deciding the temple didn’t meet favor with the gods so we need to abandon it would be tough to take if you had worked on it. One thing I did like about visiting all the temples is how genuine and rustic they still are. The stairs are straight up and down and about three inches wide. You have to be very careful when getting around, but it is fun and adventurous as you can go almost anywhere and jump all over the rocks and structures. At times, I felt like Indiana Jones as I made my way around obstacles, through crevices, shimmied walls/overhangs, and scaled roofs, all while wearing my brown hat. The temples and entire park would be in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act as you couldn’t get 5 feet in a wheelchair.
My final stop was Ta Prohm. This temple is unique because it is the one that they decided to not completely reclaim from the jungle. Huge trees rise up from the ground and climb 100+ feet into the sky, all the while straddling massive walls, having roots run perpendicular to the ground at times and cutting through thousands of pounds of rock in other places. The trees here really apply the phrase, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” They grow over, around, and through everything, including tunnels, walls, and buildings. I guess when you give nature 600 years to overtake something without any interference she will take her course. After seeing this entire area I am amazed that this wonder completely disappeared for 500 years. Some French naturalist stumbled upon it in 1863 and it has been looted much since then, but what remains is still amazing.
On our way back out of the park, I stopped the local mountain to get some pictures and a panoramic view of the area. It was nice, but made me want to get a better picture of Angkor Wat since all my photos from the morning had the sun at my back. We drove back to Angkor Wat (it is weird sitting in the back seat and having a driver at your beck and call) and I ran inside to get the famous picture of the spires with me in it. I found the perfect spot but couldn’t find another tourist to take the photo for me so I had to ask a Buddhist monk in training. He was a great kid named Sam who didn’t really know how to work a camera but tried hard. We chatted for a few minutes afterwards and I even took a photo of him which I promised to send him if he emailed me (we’ll see if that ever happens but he does have my address). Dad, look at that, if monks in Cambodia can do email, you can too!!!
Finally we drove back to the hotel around 6:30 and I’ve been here ever since. The day was humid, hot, and sweaty, but just reminded me of summers spent in cotton fields as a teenager. I really enjoyed the sights and was happy I rearranged the trip to make it here. While I’m not into archaeology and such enough to spend four days here, another one or two with a real guide would have come in handy. One of the benefits of my nice hotel is StarSports. Last night I got to watch the French Open women’s final live and now I’m enjoying Federer-Nadal got at it. This is the one tennis match I’ve really wanted to watch since the Australian Open in January when I had to wake up at 2am on a Thursday to catch Federer-Roddick (Ian totally flaked on me, I wonder why?). They split the first two sets, but Nadal is up a break in the third, we’ll see how it goes. Go Federer!!!

“Same, Same”

Saturday morning I woke up early, packed my bags, grabbed breakfast and jumped on the back of the first taxi scooter I saw to hurry across town to catch my tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Our bus ride out was nice as the tour guide told us some facts about Vietnam and we visited the local craft-making enterprise. As usual, it was tinged with anti-Americanism as we were told that all the employees were somehow adversely affected by American imperialism, whether via Agent Orange, bombs, torture, or some other kind of handicap. Thankfully, the people didn’t seem to mind us at all as they smiled occasionally amid their feverish work. I was really impressed with the etchings made into material that looked like sandstone. After being etched they were painted and polished, and were very beautiful (coming from a guy who has no interest or expertise in the arts). When we got back on the bus, our tour guide Thi (pronounced like “Mr. T,” I thought about teaching him a good joke he could use introducing himself to foreigners but passed) continued with his Vietnam tutorial. There are 80 million people in the country and 18 million motorbikes. In HCMC alone, there are about 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes (I think I saw everyone of them in my three days there). Vietnam is 3,600km from top to bottom and takes about 36 hours to ride a train across the entire country. Finally, when we got to the tunnels Thi reminded us to follow him and get back on the right bus. As he stated it, “All you Europeans, Australians, Americans, white people, you all look same, same. I can’t remember you so you remember me!” It reminded me of my first month in HK when all Chinese people looked the same unless they weighed 50 pounds or more different.
The tunnels were interesting. Of course we got an introduction about their history and their success in fighting the Americans. A film told about all of the “American Killer Heroes” who fought in the tunnels and of their exploits, needless to say I did not enjoy it. Once we actually started walking around and seeing the tunnels and camps, it was informative and enjoyable (except when contemplating what they had been used for). We were shown village set-ups, B-52 bomb craters (about the size of a basketball court and 10+ feet deep in the middle), traps, weaponry, secret entrances and ventilation systems. Two ideas that struck me throughout were: (1) how did we ever loose to these people with their AK-47s and home-made knifes/sharp things and (2) what on earth were we ever doing over here in a crappy jungle where we knew nothing fighting an enemy supported by the people and blending in with them? While the two contrast, obviously the 2nd one had much more effect on the outcome.
When we finally got in the real tunnels, I was impressed. I’m sure the 30 meter stretch they ran us through was the nicest tunnel around, but it had enough room to move along on your feet when totally squatted down. It was fairly deep (maybe 5 meters) and part of a larger network you could keep going in. In total, there were over 200km of tunnels at the peak. Some places they were 3 levels deep with big rooms for kitchens, meetings, armaments, and other purposes. The one part of the trip I was really torn about was firing guns. They had a shooting range where you could fire all kinds of automatic weapons. I didn’t have any moral qualms, but at $1 a bullet my frugal nature got the better of me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I figure if I made a few phone calls back home I could scrounge up an AK-47 or M-16 at a much cheaper rate for a few shots (I’m not exactly the gun-toting camouflaged type).
The bus ride home was nice as I had the front row (extra leg-room) to myself and took a nice nap. Back in HCMC I hopped on another scooter and went to Al’s Fresco Café. My guidebook recommended it for western food and I was in the mood. They hooked me up with a Chicken Caesar Salad (descent) and a hot pepperoni pizza. The pizza was delicious and reminded me Red Banjo in Park City. HCMC was not an easy place for food. I never saw a 7-11, western fast food joint, or place I felt completely at ease eating besides Al’s. After taking another scooter back to my hotel, I collected my bags and headed to the airport.
At the airport I had the second big set-back of my entire trip. I tried to charge my iPod and it basically died. First, all my memory disappeared, then it wouldn’t restart, and now I can’t even get it out of “Recovery Mode.” I’ve tried visiting a couple websites, completely restarting it with my computer, and whatever else I can think of, all to no avail. Maybe in Sri Lanka there will be a place that can service it but I doubt it. Initially, I feared I would be miserable without music to listen to all day (especially since I’m alone), but today went fine and I can listen to music on my computer when in the hotel room. Does anyone know what kind of warranty you get with a 30-gig video bought last December? It’s looking like a month of silence while outside.
So when I landed in Siem Reap (easy 50 minute flight with my own 3 seats, the plane was 70+% full but nobody wanted to sit near the white guy) I felt like where the heck am I. We had to walk off the plane on an old-school staircase and into a tiny little airport terminal. Visas for Cambodia can be purchased on arrival and I was happy to have another page taken in my passport. I’m down to 3 and one-half pages (one will be taken by India’s visa) and hope I will be able to fill up the whole thing before it expires in May 2009. The taxi ride into town was nice and I booked my driver to take me around to the temples the next day.

War Sucks, Even More So When You Lose

Another random poster at a hotel today.

After relaxing at the hotel for a while, I headed out around 2pm to see the War Museum. Formerly, it was called the War Crimes Museum, but I guess that gave it a bad reputation so they toned down the name. However, they didn’t change the contents. The museum was all about how Vietnam had been mistreated (to put it nicely) by foreign powers, especially Americans. It was full of propaganda, disturbing images and artifacts, and generally anti-American. Sadly, as I walked around I started thinking about Iraq and how things aren’t looking good there. I could see a museum just like this 20 years down the road in Baghdad or Fallujah.
My next stop was the Vietnam National Museum. To get there I hopped a ride on a scooter taxi and marveled at the craziness of HCMC roads. There are about 30 scooters for every car and they are intermixed with random pedestrians. Transportation over here is something that is much different than anything I’ve seen before, even it I am back on the right side of the road. Being a pedestrian is fun though as you slowly make your way across moving traffic (never gets above 20ish mph I’d guess) by just walking across the middle of the road with scooters and the occasional car moving around you. Tomorrow for the fun of it I think I might try to rent a scooter for a couple hours and try my luck. I ended up passing on the museum as it seemed pretty lame and propagandist. From here I walked across town to see some sights and buy my ticket for a tour tomorrow (I’ll be visiting the Cu-Chi Tunnels).

HCMC supposedly has 7 million people, but it seems like the biggest little city in the world (no offense to Reno). I can walk across the main parts of town in an hour or two and have generally traveled on foot. Two of my American friends have kept me company. Toby Keith offered his playlist on Thursday and Tim McGraw followed suit today. After picking up my tour ticket I hired the Vietnamese version of a rickshaw. The guy rides a bike behind you with one wheel he powers and you ride in a seat with two wheels under you. Transportation over here is really cheap. The scooter ride and bike taxi both cost just over one dollar. Oh yeah, one of my life goals is complete. I am a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE!!!

OK, maybe it is in Vietnamese Dong, but it still counts in my book. The exchange rate is $1US dollar to 16,000 Vietnamese Dong, making me a rich man. For dinner I hit an authentic restaurant this is popular with locals and tourists, although the place was hopping and I think I was the only white person in sight. I ordered two rice based dishes and wasn’t overly impressed with the food. Honestly, Asian food has never been my thing. The only stuff I have really liked on the trip was Thai, and that was mainly the curry. Give me Mexican, Italian, or American food and I am a happy camper. Tomorrow on my way out of town I hope to hit the local version of TGIF (at least that’s what my guide book called it). Finding restaurants here was a story of two days. Thursday, I didn’t have any options near the hotel, Friday I visited the part of town with lots of good restaurants. Guess you just need to know where to go.
On the whole, HCMC has been nice. It feels smaller and more charming than many of the other big cities we’ve visited and the weather has been the best since Japan. Temperatures are probably in the low 80s with moderate humidity, much better than HK, Singapore, and Bangkok. Life is good, although boring and lonely at times. I won’t see another American until India on the 27th of June, so I look forward to seeing Emilie Predmore’s beautiful face more than ever. It is getting close to bed time. Tonight they had The Thomas Crown Affair on TV. This was the first good movie in English I’ve seen on TV in a while. It kept me busy as I typed all this up.