A LONG time coming

Editor's note - I've had this in my queue for almost a month now and kept waiting to publish it because of how events unfolded.  The thoughts are the same but you can see where the changes had to be made...

I grew up in Cowtown; Fort Worth, TX.  My parents made the decision to stay there because of the opportunities for my siblings and I had to expand our knowledge through great magnet schools, a lot of "culture" there, and a reasonable closeness to both my parent's families (they really wanted to live in the country).  There was also an opportunity for me in another way...professional sports.

My Dad was fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you view it) to work for Texas American Bank through the Great Texas Bank Crash of the late 80's.  One of the things that the bank foreclosed on before the great crash was a box at the old Arlington Stadium where the Texas Rangers played.  There were times when customers would come into town and the bank would take them to a ballgame and I was able to tag along at times.  This was my introduction to Major League Baseball.

SO many fond memories were formed when my Dad and I would go to those games.  He and his co-workers introduced me to the tasty goodness and fun of cleaning chilled shrimp at the pre-game buffet.  I was able to sit behind the Rangers dugout and get (notice, I didn't say catch) my first MLB foul ball when one of Dad's co-workers caught it and gave it to me (hey, I was probably around 6-8 at the time).  The box seats provided some relief from the oppressive summer heat and a location so that a foul ball could land in the box. At that time, it wasn't about the intricacies of the game, keeping stats, or hand scoring a game.  It was spending time with my Dad and watching these men slam (Juan Gonzales anyone) a ball out of the park with the wide eyes of a young boy.  Then there was the game we went to for my birthday (not in the box seats but purchased in the outfield), the Rangers had the lead going into the top of the 9th, and thunderstorms started to roll in from the west.  Nolan Ryan came in to close the game on 9 straight pitches, all strkies, and all his fastballs were over 95 MPH.

After the failure of Texas American Bank and my Dad's subsequent layoff, he and I would get the cheap outfield bleachers seats, walk into the stadium for batting practice, and listen to the theme of the Greatest American Hero play over the loudspeakers.  And how could I forget all the racket we would make banging our feet on those old aluminum bleachers.  As I started to get older, I began to understand the intricacies of deciding what pitch needs to be presented to the batter, shading the outfield to left or right field because of how a batter hits, and what a 6-4-3 double play is.  Both he and I would take our gloves to the game in hopes of catching a home run or a ball tossed into the bleachers after the inning throw-around was done.  We were jubilant when the Rangers won and sighed when they lost.  Which happened a lot.


Then there were the times we didn't get to go to Arlington Stadium but would listen to the games on WBAP 820 with Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel making the calls.  It could be sitting on the back porch after Dad had finished mowing the lawn on a rare pleasant summer evening in the Metromess.  Countless times were spent driving to grandparents in the late summer afternoon and evenings passing the time listening to the Rangers play.  And how can I forget spending August 22, 1989 on vacation in Pagosa Springs, CO, driving back to where we were staying, and managing to catch the right atmospherics to hear WBAP as Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson for his 5,000 career strikeout only to have the signal fade immediately after the strikeout was made and Holtz shouted "He did it!  Strikeout number 5,000!".

But the Rangers languished in mediocrity (Thanks, R.E.).  Lineups changed, Bobby V. was always the coach, and there rarely was a season where the Rangers were in contention for anything other than a sub-average year.  Then came the mid/late 90s.  The Ballpark in Arlington (as I will always remember it) was built and the Dollar Decker Hot Dog nights continued.  The All-Star Game came and went.  And the Rangers started to win.  Gone were Steve Buchele, Rubén Sierra, and Pete Incaviglia.  A new crop of players came in; Mickey Tettleton, Pudge Rodriguez (although he had been there a while before), Will Clark, and my personal favorite of that era - Rusty Greer.  New owners were in place and Johnny Oates was the new manager.  And the Rangers started to win.  Not only win but win the American League West in 3 out of the last 5 years of the last century.  And then lose to the evil empire of the NY Yankees.  And then it was back to mediocrity once again with a bad owner (whom admitted that he cut corners like he did with the Dallas Stars), a loosey-goosey with his integrity A-dud, and a couple of managers and general managers that couldn't do much.

Why did I share all of that with you?  Because I am not a "fair-weather" or "jumping on the bandwagon" or "late arrival to the party" fan.  I have been and always will be a Texas Rangers fan.  Part of this is due to the fond memories made with my friends and especially with my Dad, but the other part is that I have some pride in stating I suffered through the lean years now that the Rangers may have turned the corner and will move up away from mediocrity.  Even if they don't, I won't jump ship to the hottest team or one of the "old vanguards" like the Cubs, Yankees, or Red Sox.  The Rangers this year exemplified what teamwork and heart (The Claw and antlers!) can do when the rest of MLB teams try to buy their way to the top (not that this is bad, but it hampers the weaker/smaller teams a LOT).  This team has faced adversity in so many ways and in so many different years, but they manage to pull through it (just look at the history of Josh Hamilton or Ron Washington's issues in the pre-season this year).  However, I will also admit that I am a skeptic when it comes to new seasons; too many promises had been made that "this will be the year we go all the way" and then the team falls apart in the last month of play.  But they proved me wrong this year and I'm delighted!  Not only did they win the American League West, but they did it convincingly and by a BIG margin.  And now we are on our way to the AL Divisional Series AL Championship Series  WORLD SERIES baby!  Congrats to my Texas Rangers, and we'll see how well we can do against San Fran.

---

And now here I sit after the series looking back at what has been an amazing year for the Rangers.  I would argue that the umpires wanted San Fran to win the series based on some of the wacky strike zones they were calling in the games at the Ballpark in Arlington, but regardless the Rangers were out-pitched and our bats went cold at the wrong time.  It is easy to lose sight that we are in fact, the American League Champions for the first time in team history and that isn't anything to forget.  We faced down the Rays and yankees and made it through two of the best teams in the AL.  I am optimistic that the new ownership will indeed do what it has promised and try to keep the Rangers payroll in the top quarter of MLB in order to attract and keep their best players.  It also helps to hear one of the owners state that they will make sure to take care of Josh Hamilton after all he did for the team this year (sorry, I can't find the article on the Star-Telegram webpage).  In a short five months, we will find out where the Rangers will go from here.

Thank you to the Texas Rangers for a heckuva ride this year, from a lifelong fan.

One for my friends that are fans of t.u....

This one from the good folks at XKCD.org made me chuckle once again because of the last frame...and I thought of all my t-sipper friends as well when I read that last part...

Yup, Texas technically should go all the way into Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and parts of Oklahoma...

Still Around

Yes, I still am around but I guess you could say I have had "blogger's block".  A quick perusal of my post list shows three different posts in the last 4 months that are still in the editing stage but I can't remember what prompted the thought or where I was going to go with it.  Then there has been "life" - a couple of vacations to the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico, working some cattle one weekend with my family, and then some personal things I've been working through.  But now I'm wrapping up a work trip to our nation's capitol and have some time to sit and put down some thoughts since there isn't anything worth watching on TV and I'm trying to figure out if I ate something I shouldn't have today.

I really like visiting Washington D.C.  Being a history buff, there is something about being in the midst of what I think is living history.  Not only is there all the stuff that develops and moves day-by-day, good or bad, in this town but there is also the rich history that precedes the "now".  When I fly into Reagan National Airport, I look out across the city and can't help but think that our founding fathers may have walked on some of the same ground I may.  How many people in benchmark/milestone/historical moments were in the various places that I was/am walking that aren't commemorated by a marker, memorial, or named street.  Then there are the collections; the Smithsonian system, National Art Museum, Library of Congress, FBI, U.S. Treasury, and so on - all of which bring a wealth of educational knowledge for those who seek it out (as opposed to those who go to say they have been there or the schoolkids that view a field trip as only a day away from school).  The memorials also speak to those that have come before and fought for what I more often than not and so many definitely take for granted.

The other thing I can fill up on for a bit is the "closeness" of everything.  Being able to take a 10 minute walk to work (and it DEFINITELY helps that the weather is cool and relatively dry out here right now), shops, restaurants, a Whole Foods within a short walking distance, and a fairly routine scheduled mass transit system.  Yes, there are cracks in this; the Metro is really showing it's age, infrastructure construction has resulted in some traffic jams which I guess slows the buses down, and you can see some areas of urban blight in the midst of the renewal that is attempting to take place in Silver Spring where I am working.  I also can get my fill of a vast collection of cultures.  We had lunch at an authentic Italian Ristorante two days this week and neither time was I disappointed.  Then there was the outstanding Thai cuisine I had last night in Sterling with a good friend and former co-worker from the Panhandle.  Basically, I need two more days to try out the Ethiopian food place that smells so good when I walk by and the Indian restaurant that from the outside looks like a dark, dingy hole in the wall but is rated 4-stars by several reviewers and locals.

If there was a way that I could manage to do it, I would come back much more often and explore all that D.C. has to offer.  Matter of fact, I even made the comment to my friend that if my employer had a temporary assignment lasting a year, with close housing (basically here in Silver Spring) that allowed me to walk to work every day, and weather like we've had so far here year-round, I would have to give it SERIOUS consideration.  But then after five days here, I also realize that there are so many things I miss.  The trees, hills, and overall green are nice but I feel claustrophobic at times.  I can't see the horizon to know what is moving in thanks to the mass of steel and concrete around me and outside of the city has trees which do the same.  The cost of living is much higher here, I cannot honor our founding father's gift by practicing my rights under the Second Amendment in Maryland (or D.C. proper for that matter), and the traffic would drive me insane.  Drivers here feel entitled to the road therefore normal pedestrian laws don't apply because they are running late for work, the light is still red, but they could turn right and I'm in the crosswalk and give you a dirty look, honk, or cuss you out.

I also think I'm not ready yet in other areas: how do I respond to the homeless man that follows me for a while saying I look like a rich boy and could spare some change because I walk in fancy boots?  What do I do on the Metro when a stoned/drunk out of their head guy is confronting a lady because she won't take him home with her (they got off at Metro Station so I have no idea how it ended up) and I feel that it isn't a good situation?  Getting in my car and driving to think or unwind; impossible with this traffic and it would be pretty hard to find a place of solitude within 15 minutes like I can back home...

Too many things to think about right now and I've got an early departure in the morning.  So I bid you adieu once again Washington D.C. richer in some ways and yet empty in others.  We'll see what the next couple of years bring and (Lord willing) I'll be back sometime soon.

A Retirement...

New post coming but I'll leave you with this preview as a hint:

Something to do with changing cameras...

Thoughts on HDR Photography

I am a slacker.  I've been busy and preoccupied with various things and my blog has fallen by the wayside as a result.  BUT, this has been in the queue and I've decided to get it out in hopes of jump-starting my blogging time.

Recently I have started to play with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. The human eye can perceive a high range of brightness with clarity; from dark corners of a building to the bright blue sky out the window in the same scene. However, cameras do not have this ability. Print film/slides can "see" about 7 stops of contrast, my Canon Digital Rebel XT can "see" about 10 stops of contrast, and the computer screen can display about 9 stops. The human eye on the other hand can see anywhere from 20 to 30 stops.

This poses problems for tying to capture in a picture with what I am seeing when there is a large difference in brightness/contrast in the scene.  Before the advent of digital photography, the use of neutral-density filters, over and under exposure, ISO push, and film development techniques all tried to compensate for the limit of technology.  I still have in my gear bag many of these filters and from time to time will pull them out and use them.  Then I dove into Digital Photography when I purchased my Canon Digital Rebel XT in 2005.  After becoming comfortable with the abilities of the camera, a friend of mine introduced me to HDR photography 3 years ago.  I filed this newfangled process in the back of my mind believing I would stick to the true nature of photography and not let technology do the work for me.

Another reason I didn't dabble in HDR was an unfounded belief that anything altered or created significantly by digital means is NOT photography in true form.  Don't get me wrong, I used Paint Shop Pro and now Photoshop to remove dead pixels, dust on the sensor, and a blur or two from fingerprints or water on the lens.  However, I felt for the longest time that HDR images didn't look "real" mainly because HDR was still in it's infancy.  For example (pulled at random from Picasa), this album just doesn't look right to me for some reason.  The color balance was off and it looks as if the sky was burned into the image.  Several other pictures had this similar unnatural discontinuity.  I also had to deal with on occasion at work images submitted of tornadoes that were obvious fakes that soured my taste for heavy digital editing.

But as is usually the case, technology improves, methods improve, and my mind started to change.  I started to see stunning images created through HDR work, and now there are videos starting to arrive that are made through HDR techniques (and probably take a LOT of work!!!).  Information on various methods, techniques, and software started to grow and I finally started to realize that HDR images can bring the actual image out MUCH closer to what I was seeing through the viewfinder.  Let me give you an example:

This image was taken by my XT at 5:27 AM MDT at 0 EV.  The color in the sky is nice but the foreground is rather dark.

For this case, I had set my XT to bracket at +/- 1 EV for three shots (Ideally, I would have done +/- 2 EV and +/- 1 EV for a five shot bracket but my XT cannot do this).  So, the -1 EV shot looked like this with a nearly invisible foreground but the deeper reds came through in the sky:

And then the +1 EV images came in with the sky almost totally washed out BUT the foreground is totally visible now!

For my HDR processing, I plinked down for Photomatix Pro after reading many a blog, review, and webpage on the various software packages out for HDR work.  Taking the three images (remember, you need at least two or more images to combine into HDR, ideally several from the + and - EV sides) and letting Photomatix Pro combine them, then tonemapping the image, reloading into Adobe Photoshop Elements, then only doing a weak sharpening for this example, we end up with this image:

And THIS is what I saw that morning about as close to what it really was as I can reproduce right now.  That is what I am supposed to do; capture the images as close as to how it is in nature so that others can see and enjoy.  If HDR helps me to do so, then I am all for it AS LONG AS it is stated that the images is indeed HDR and not a single exposure.  Not disclosing this fact in my mind is misleading to the viewer/buyer and is also dishonest at the least.  I prefer integrity and honesty over being a fake or liar any day...

ANYWAY, having worked through my initial issues with the idea of HDR, I am now actively looking for scenes where this may work to help convey what was truly going on at the time I saw the scene in the picture. Matter of fact, technology has come such a long way that I now have an app on my iPhone that will take HDR images using the built in camera.  I can now capture more realistic images while out and about and share them with others while still using the digital SLR for archival, print, and maybe eventually selling higher quality images.  Besides, since I don't have a tripod for the iPhone, there are still some alignment issues with the images and the tonemapping isn't quite as robust as in Photomatix but it gets the job done:

I continue to warm to HDR photography as yet another tool in my camera bag (well, now camera AND laptop bags) to try and represent the best image possible.  It opens a new way to give you the image that I saw with my eyes or at least something as close to it as possible.  Hopefully images that make you have the same reaction when I see them in real-time:  "WOW!"...

Lesson Learned.

My laugh (and hopefully yours) for the day...

Spring has Arrived

Spring has arrived out here on the Llano Estacado; warm days, cool nights, low relative humidities that make your skin look like it was from a lizard, and an occasional day of 1/2 mile visibility in blowing dust. Ugh...

HOWEVER, as a sure sign spring is here, these guys have bloomed in the past week (all images ©2010 Jason Jordan, all rights reserved):




It also appears that I will have at least one tulip...pics when it finally decides to wake up and open to the world.

REVIEW: Asus Eee 1005Ha Netbook

Gotta get into the habit of this thanks to the new FTC disclosure regulations: no payment was received either in equipment or monetarily for the product below. In other words, I bought it, I like it, and I want to share my thoughts. So there...

ANYWAY, I have been keeping this review in the edit list for quite a while but I think I have enough experience with it now to share my thoughts. Lugging around my "supercomputer" laptop has become quite cumbersome, especially when flying on AA or SWA. This machine is a 17" widescreen Dell Dual-Core with Vista and is primarily used for photography editing and was used as my primary stormchasing machine as well. All the horsepower is nice when compared to my 8-year old desktop and the laptop is handy for quick edits while in the field. However, this machine is H E A V Y; even in a backpack carrying case, it is quite cumbersome to lug around. When stormchasing, the laptop is also quite big and takes up the entire arm rest leaving little in the way of comfort for long hauls (and no, I'm not interested in a Ram Mount just yet).

With my desktop starting to show signs of it's age, I started to look at how to handle swapping machines around. An iMac is still in my future for a desktop and eventually a MacBook Pro once my laptop gets quite a bit of age on it. Until then, I'm leaning towards leaving the 17" laptop as my replacement "desktop" until enough money is saved up for the 27" iMac. BUT, with all the pain (physically and logistically) lugging that 17" laptop around, I started to look at Netbooks.

Netbooks are technically a different class than a laptop in that the screen sizes are generally limited to under 11-inches. They are based on different processors, different graphics cards, and often times, different hard drives than their bigger notebook brethren. Most are also designed for minimal software options; they are underpowered for the graphics intensive games, for hard-core computations (i.e. photo editing, mapping/GIS processing), and for long-winded typing. However, netbooks are perfect for what I use most on the road when work-related travel takes place; e-mail, web surfing, and an occasional blog entry or quick photo upload. I have two friends with netbooks and one of them has "hackintoshed" his machine. Disappointed that Apple continues to think that a mac-based netbook is unnecessary (the iPad may try to fill this gap), this hackintoshing seemed like a pretty sweet option (especially since OSX was only$29).

ANYWAY, after evaluating my needs for a portable netbook BUT also support for the GRLevelX family of products for stormchasing, I decided to go ahead and stick with a Micro$oft-based machine. Perusing through CNET and a fairly new netbook review website helped considerably in narrowing down all the options. I also opted to cap my spending to at or under $300 as I didn't need a top-of-the-line model but also didn't want something an the bottom end that couldn't handle 3G-cellular internet and GPS/radar data processing. As is usually the case, I wanted the best bang for the buck. With all these in mind, I finally found what I was looking for: the Asus Eee 1005HA Netbook:

Granted, mine is jet black but you get the overall idea. Intel Atom Processor at 1.6 GHz, 1GB RAM, 160 GB SATA HD, 10.1" LCD display, 3 USB 2.0 ports, and built in SD card reader. Best of all, bought this puppy on sale for $279 at newegg.com. Again, it isn't the top-of-the-line but gets the job done for me. I was hoping to get this in by the time I was leaving for home around Thanksgiving but had to wait until after I returned to open it up. So, after having my Eee for a while, a trip to Kansas City under my belt, and finally getting the GPS drivers and radar maps installed for a test-drive home, here are my likes and dislikes:

Likes
LIGHT - weighs in just over 1.5 pounds. Much nicer than the heavy 17" laptop.

PORTABILITY - I LOVE the fact I can carry this in my work bag as opposed to the backpack I carry the Dell around in. It is no bigger than a large book and getting this through TSA checkpoints has allowed me to lose one of the bins I had to have JUST for the 17" laptop.

BRIGHTNESS - screen is backlit by LEDs and I could run the screen at minimum brightness without any problems in an office environment. I'm afraid I would be blinded going full brightness...

COMPUTING POWER - there is enough juice in the processor to handle the GRLevelX applications (including 3D rendering in Analyst with full GIS road support), GIMP, Spectran, iTunes, and OpenOffice without too much drag on the system.

SD CARD SLOT - quite handy for use out in the field when needing to download pictures off the SD card.

THREE USB 2.0 PORTS - more than enough for my needs (GPS, AirCard, and an open port for whatever), two on one side and one on the other. That leaves ample clearance for USB accessories as opposed to a stacked configuration (one on top of the other).

BUILT-IN WEB CAM - if for some reason I ever need to stream while chasing or get into video calls via Skype, the camera is built in.

BATTERY LIFE - I think the longest I have run on battery power alone is 8 hours but much of that was doing easy-on-the-processor web browsing. Most of the time I'll get 6 hours, still not bad on the factory battery.

UPGRADEABILITY - Although the netbook came with 1GB RAM and this seems to be enough for now, the memory port is easily accessed for upgrades. I also got the 160 GB SATA hard drive but this too can be accessed (although not quite as easily as the RAM) for an upgrade if needed. I don't see the need to upgrade storage space with all the external drives I have though...

TOUCHPAD - This is one of the few laptops/netbooks that the touchpad is integrated into the case itself. In other words, it isn't recessed into the top making cleaning SUPER easy. The pad is also set up for multi-touch; you can use two fingers to zoom in/out or scroll pages.

Dislikes
KEYBOARD - my netbook has a keyboard about 90% as big as a "normal" PC/laptop. I knew this going in and the only real complaints I have are the split up/down arrow key (they took one "standard" size key and split it into two) and lack of Home/End/Page Up/Page Down keys. The last four are there...but you have to hold a function key to get them to work.

SOUND - The stock speakers are rather "tinny" sounding. Easily solved by using the external speaker jack with a set of good quality earbuds.

FINGERPRINTS - the case has a glossy finish and being jet black shows every fingerprint and/or smudge. After a couple of weeks, the case looked like I had used it after eating a greasy cheeseburger.

HEAT/CLEARANCE - although equipped with a stout fan to keep the innards cool, the clearance under the case has a lot to be desired. I usually find a way to elevate the back of the netbook to give an extra half an inch or so of clearance to get more air underneath it. However, even at full blast, the fan is able to keep things tolerable on the heat levels. How well this will work in a hot car in the middle of the summer does remain in doubt though. It did get a bit toasty on my pickup arm-rest so I'll have to figure out something for the vehicle to help keep it cool.

DISPLAY - as much as I liked the brightness earlier, it still isn't bright enough to handle certain color combinations...most notably black background with thin blue lines (such as what I have for my GIS display in GRLevelX). There isn't any way to adjust the contrast either, only brightness.

POWER ADAPTER - Although there is a nice catch feature on the power plug going into the netbook to hold it in place, the pin is REALLY small which could pose problems if it is yanked. I already have had one close call tripping over the unusally long power cord and bending the pin a bit. Too bad Apple has the patent on magnetic power cable attachments...

Overall Opinion
I am quite impressed and happy with this purchase. The ASUS Eee 1005HA is on the low-end of the price range but doesn't have the low-end performance I was worried about. With a powerful laptop already in hand for the heavy-duty processing, all I needed was a very portable PC for e-mail and web surfing while on short-length or work-related trips. This netbook has fit that need and surprised me a bit with how much it could actually run. The ample hard drive space allows me to use the netbook as an "emergency" storage medium for photographs if I am in the field and don't have my external hard drive. This was also purchased knowing that there was no optical drive/burner and if worse comes to worse, I can purchase an external one down the road. If all you need on a trip is something to get e-mail or web access with, take a look at a netbook and see if it may fit your needs...

Where are you?

I've been busy, thanks for asking. Have a major workshop I'm helping set up and get going that has taken quite a bit of my time. Then there is trying to diagnose an intermittent check engine light and "Check 4WD" icon on my dashboard status display (and no, it doesn't display fault codes). See, the four-wheel drive has gotten quite a bit of use the last couple of days thanks to yet another snowstorm. Three and a half inches of snow on top of one quarter of an inch of ice. Yeah, not fun to be driving on but 4WD (when it is working) has helped immensely. Add in pricing out parts to finally upgrade the Jeep since I managed to blow a shock on it and I've just had "life" taking up a lot of time. Did I also mention that I had family in town for Christmas (during yet ANOTHER snowstorm), and then a trip home for the last weekend of hunting season? Top everything off with a healthy helping of doing some work around the house and I just haven't made the time to sit down and blog. But there are some thing I have in the edit queue that I'll hopefully get out soon so be expecting a flurry of posts in the next several weeks...

Merry Christmas

Yes, I am still alive; just extremely busy. Went home for thanksgiving, was at work for a week, went to Kansas City for a week-long training, back at work for a week, a couple of days off, and then back at work for Christmas. Family has also come to pay a visit and I had to make the house presentable. Add in shopping for presents, some vehicular fixes, and raking leaves three separate times to make the yard somewhat presentable and there just hasn't been much time for writing on here!

This certainly has been an interesting winter so far; all the snow I had in Colorado (24-38 inches), another two to three inches while I was in Kansas City (along with 50 MPH winds and temperatures in the low single digits), and now another 3 to 6 inches here in the Hub City. This too had a bunch of snow and wind with it:

Yup, there was about 4-6 inches of snow on the Jeep thanks to the wind and drifting. I loved it; the Jeep handled it without any problem thanks to the Interco TrXuS Mud-terrains and the softer compound was able to grip the ice nicely once the snow melted and refroze overnight.

It did cause some problems for my family and I; Southwest canceled all flights from Love Field into the Hub but they didn't make the decision until late. The part of the family hoping to arrive instead had to brave the poorly sanded and cleaned highways from the Metromess out here on top of all the stress from yesterday. However, they made it in and we were able to celebrate a wonderful Christmas night...a first for our family!

I hope that the few readers of this blog have had a blessed 2009 as it comes to a close. Hopefully 2010 will be as good or better.

Merry Christmas!