Recalling trip to Hong Kong's Jumbo Floating Restaurant

 When my wife and I visited Hong Kong seven years ago in an effort to boost her chances of getting a U.S visa, we hit all the highlights: a Disney theme park, a huge aquarium, wax museum and tons of restaurants. One of the restaurants where we dined was the iconic Jumbo Kingdom, or Jumbo Floating Restaurant. The restaurant has entertained famous people like Bruce Lee, Jimmy Carter and Tom Cruise. Last week on CNN I was shocked to see that the restaurant reportedly sank in the sea where it was towed for maintenance. The story about the sinking has become more muddled as time goes on.  I've read several online articles about the incident, one saying it's still afloat somewhere near the Paracel Islands. Conspiracy theories abound. Apparently, the owners have back-tracked on the sinking claim. One story that I can believe said that the restaurant was struggling financially since Covid, and the protests and unrest in Hong Kong. Insurance?  Unlikely, the news reports say. Anyway, I don't remember much about our meal -- it was OK I think -- but I recall all of us in the tour group getting into a little boat to get to the restaurant, which was designed like an imperial palace; our trip was whirlwind and we always seemed to be tired. No one knows or will say now exactly what, if anything, happened to the Jumbo Kingdom other than the fact a tugboat pulled it out to sea. The only thing that's certain to me is that my wife and I can say we ate there.

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Vietnam is changing rapidly these days, mostly for the better. Many of the improvements are long overdue, such as public trash receptacles in parks and on the streets, or the ability to purchase with a bank card in some of the bigger retailers. The trash cans have reduced litter, which has reduced flooding since sewer drains aren't as clogged with discarded plastic. That's crucial this year since rainy season is prolific. The card purchases most likely have boosted spending by foreigners living here, especially on big-ticket items. I know I've bought more necessary items, such as hammocks and book shelves. Actually, the toaster oven I bought a while back is the most used item in the house, other than beds and bath soap. A new fridge is on the wish list and most certainly will be purchased if my wife doesn't get the waiver. There are so many more cars here now than when I first arrived, and most folks on bikes are smart enough to get out of their way. Bigger means right of way on the road. That's led to more bikes on sidewalks, probably out of necessity, which is unfortunate for me and my daughter, who are daily pedestrians, a real rarity here other than the women and few men who sell lottery tickets.  Line cutting persists, but not to the extent of even a few years back. Covid barriers helped cool off that obnoxious behavior to a small degree. The staring continues but no one has yelled f@#% you! at me for no reason in at least four months. Ah, let the changes and good times roll.
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I'm wrapping up the book Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. 931 days in a row of Kindle reading. The book was better than I initially stated, but I'm a little too obtuse for some of the details provided.  ... The Jumbo Floating Restaurant news got me thinking about another site we visited which was tragically in the news: the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok was the site of a 2015 bombing that killed 20 people. ... My daughter is close to being able to swim, but progress is slow. She remains a little spooked by deep water since falling in a fish pond at a coffee shop. Understandable. ... I saw Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court and that same-sex marriage, contraception and other rulings may be in jeopardy. I'm also following the Jan. 6 hearings and war in Ukraine. No wonder I enjoy watching BabyTV so much with my 2-year-old son and daughter.

We get 4th Covid shot; I pull struggling girl out of pool

My wife and I got our fourth Covid vaccine dose. We debated if we really wanted or needed another shot, but since I'm approaching 68, have had some lung issues, and live in a city with dirty air where masks are becoming less fashionable, the debate was a short one. I didn't even feel the needle go in, but I developed some real tenderness in my shoulder that evening. It disappeared after two days. No other side-effects noted. I've said it before: I'll be a human pin cushion if it keeps me out of a hospital. My wife had the same shoulder soreness and some minor chills, but otherwise she's doing well.  Our soon-to-be 6-year-old daughter Joanna is next in line for a shot. Not sure about our 2-year-old son Elijah. I read where kids in the U.S. will be getting shots.  I would like our daughter to get jabbed before she starts school, either here or in the U.S. 
* * *
My daughter had floating devices on and was swimming widths last week in the bigger pool where we go. She swims well with floating devices because she doesn't have to keep her head under water for very long. This was the first time ever I stayed in my street clothes and didn't swim with her. So I'm squatting down next to the water talking to her, when a 12-year-old girl comes splashing toward us. Her mother stands next to me and is shouting to the girl, who starts to struggle a bit in the water. I see that the girl is in trouble about 4 or 5 feet from the side of  pool and starting to go under. Her mother is screaming at this point. I was hoping I wouldn't have to jump in the pool fully dressed with cell phone, shoes on and wallet in my pants to get the girl to safety. Nonetheless, I was certainly willing even though I'm a very mediocre swimmer. Just as I was ready to leap, the girl surfaced. I yelled for her to reach for my extended hand, which she did. I grabbed her hand and arm, and pulled her out of the pool. The girl just walked away coughing, and she seemed a little angry and perhaps embarrassed; I have no idea since the girl and her mother spoke zero English. The mom thanked me profusely in Vietnamese. A short time later, the girl played with my daughter in the kids pool, then returned to swim in the big pool's deep end. I don't know what to make of the whole deal. One of the reasons I didn't swim that day was that there were 28 kids in the pools, splashing, jumping, frolicking, and so on. Joanna wants the interaction, even if it's awkward due to language. She enjoys playing chase and race with the kids, but really hates being grabbed, and she's not afraid to make that point to any kid of any age, or adults as well. In fact, she hates being touched by anyone she doesn't know, and will let whoever touches her know she doesn't like it or want it. I encourage, love and respect my daughter's strong character.
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Reading Salt by Mark Kurlansky, and it's becoming a slog. I like the substance and have mildly high blood pressure to prove it, but the book, while very interesting in parts, has a textbook flavor, so to speak. The facts and details are piled on high and are overwhelming at times. Like everything else in the world, Kindle is getting more expensive, so obviously I'll finish to keep my Kindle reading streak going (it's at 922 days in a row) and get my money's worth. ... I found a decent restaurant near our house, Hong Kong Seafood, and our whole gang walked there Thursday for dinner. We had shrimp, octopus, ribs, black eggs and tofu, and garlic with some kind of  cooked lettuce ... thanks to my wife, who did all the ordering and talking in this one-language eatery. The last time I went there with my daughter I got scallops and tofu that was put in to-go boxes, which wasn't my intention, so we ate out of the boxes at our table in the restaurant. The food was OK, but expensive, and the experience was weird. That wasn't the case with my wife there. ... I got my precocious daughter a hammock as an early birthday present and she loves it. Not even 6 years old yet and she understands chillin'.

Kid who snatched my credit card off counter tracked down

 I took my daughter on our weekly field trip to Vincom mall on Thursday and did some shopping. I purchased clothes, toys and food. My biggest load of purchases came at the bookstore, nearly 800,000 Vietnamese dong (about $40 U.S.) for some books for my son Elijah and daughter Joanna, paper, and toys. This is one of the few stores in Bien Hoa that allows me to pay with my debit card with a chip. I gave the clerk my card while another clerk and I examined a computerized sketchpad I bought to see what kind of battery it needs. While we fiddled with the sketchpad, a boy about 7 or 8 comes up and starts hugging me, acting a little strange. I sent him away and reassembled the sketchpad. While this was all happening, the clerk laid my credit card on the counter. After everything was put away and bagged, the clerk asks for my credit card again. I don't have it, I told her ... you had it. The clerk started looking, and then her search got a little more frantic. Three other clerks joined the search and the card was nowhere to be found. We emptied the five bags I had with me, looked under the counter and behind the counter. No card. I checked my wallet three times. No card. Then the manager said she would check the security camera. She came back right away and said the boy had taken it off the counter. Immediately, the security guard and three store employees fanned out through the mall. After an agonizing wait, one of the girls came back into the store and signaled they got the boy and card. I can't express my relief, since the card is my only source of cash here and it's nearly impossible to get a replacement sent into Vietnam from the U.S. Actually, the boy's father (I guess) came into the store and handed me the card, with no apology or anything, just a silly smirk on his face. And away they went. My daughter Joanna was remarkably patient through the whole ordeal. For some reason I thought about all the times people have scolded Joanna by using harsh or sharp tones for something "horrible" she had done: touching a fish on ice in a supermarket; leaving her shoes (like everyone else) in front of the shoe rack at the swimming pool; opening a glass door at a bakery to get a closer look at a fancy cake. Nobody said boo to the boy or his dad to my knowledge, and the boy took a credit card off a counter. Interesting world and times we live in ... Regardless of my percieved inequities, I want to thank the store employees for their grit and effort in getting my card back to me. Thanks, ladies, you were wonderful. Earlier, I won a stuffed pig and candy for Joanna at the video room playing one of those impossible claw machines. Turned out to be an OK day. 
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It can be awkward for me when the pool we go to is crowded. A lot of kids want to practice their English, which means sometimes I'm being interviewed while I try to watch my daughter. I'm in the pool with Joanna 95 percent of the time, but the 5 percent breather or bathroom break is when the kids will usually pounce. Sometimes they try to talk when I'm in the pool, but I'll just go under water or hack around with Joanna. Often, parents will push their kids to approach me for speaking practice. I don't mind so much, but I really do need to keep an eye on my daughter, who's a bit of a risk-taker, which I don't like around water. When she wears floaties I breathe easier, but she's getting braver as she gets closer to being able to swim. One 11-year-old boy was firing a lot of questions at me and I saw that his mom was video recording the conversation. I have to wear a tiny Speedo here because it's the only suit in my size -- I've got a body like W.C. Fields these days and don't really appreciate being surreptitiously recorded. And I don't really appreciate the mirror in the bathroom when I change into the Speedo. Anyway, I put up a towel to block the video recording and the lady and her friends said sorry multiple times. It was all good-natured but I'd still like to know if someone is recording so I could say no thanks until I get in shape again.
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I don't expect a ruling anytime soon on my wife's waiver application to get a visa to enter the U.S. As a result, I'm considering enrolling my daughter in an expensive private school in Bien Hoa, the only English-only school in town. We visited the campus and were impressed, and Joanna seemed to like it as well. 
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I took my daughter to Ho Chi Minh City for an eye appointment, and the doctor said her vision and eyes are in tip-top shape , unlike her dad. Those were his words, not mine.

Delays in visa bid; fewer masks; distressing times

The date for a decision on my wife's waiver request for a U.S. visa  keeps getting moved back. We hoped to find out as soon as possible after the USCIS acknowledged receiving the waiver request Oct. 28, 2021. At one point, the USCIS web site indicated a decision was possible in late June. Then the date changed to late July; now it's late September. This means our daughter may have to start first grade in Vietnam. The only all-English school in town carries a hefty price tag approaching $20,000 U.S. dollar a year. I've been homeschooling, but I've seen the importance of peers for my daughter's development. She was doing fine with swimming lessons I provided at the pool but was reluctant to put her head under water. I didn't push it. Maybe she was shook up by her fall into a fish pond at a local coffee shop. But when she saw other kids at the pool swimming under water, she lost that reluctance and went under a bunch of times. I believe a little positive peer influence and competition would be invaluable for her.
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Masks seem to be becoming a little irrelevant here, with more people exposing their faces. Perhaps the importance of selfies is playing a role in this. My daughter and I continue to wear masks whenever we go out, which is every day for several hours. We'll walk close to 3 miles round trip for swimming or fish watching at Lido or wherever. Vietnam recorded just over 1,000 Covid cases and no deaths on Sunday. By comparison, North Korea had 100,000 new 'fever' cases but only one death, which is amazing if true. I'm hoping to get a fourth Covid vaccine shot just to be safe.
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I've backed away from watching the news, which is so distressing lately. The Texas shooting upset us greatly; we have a little girl of school age. I was a substitute teacher for a day in a predominately Hispanic class of second graders in California a long time ago, and I remember how sweet the kids were; there was very little English spoken in the class. The war in Ukraine continues with death, destruction and atrocities. There's no end in sight and the repercussions can be felt throughout the world. At least Covid seems less intense except in North Korea, which keeps lobbing missiles into the sea .... Changing to a lighter topic, we've had serious rain daily for over a week. This, I assume, is what a real rainy season is like. .... I got a chilly (that's the spelling on the menu) chicken roll at Bay Leaf Restaurant on Vo Thi Sau and it was outstanding. Every dish I've ordered there has been excellent. .... My Kindle reading streak passed 900 days in a row. I'm at 905. If I get to 1,000 I may miss a day on purpose to keep things at a nice even number.
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I was hit twice in the past week by motorbikes while crossing the street with my daughter. No injuries for me and Joanna or the perpetrators either time. The first bump occured in the rain near The Coffee House. The rider must have really cut his left turn short as he came onto our street because he was in the wrong lane when he bopped me. Since we were past the center line holding umbrellas, I was looking the other way to make sure oncoming traffic didn't hit us, so I didn't see him coming. The impact was minor. I didn't get an apology. The second bump upset me a little more because the traffic light signaled for pedestrians to cross -- the little person lit up green which meant we should cross. I held up my left hand, which was holding a Bluetooth speaker I had just purchased (my right hand held my daughter's hand), just to be safe. Didn't matter because a cyclist banged into the hand and speaker as we legally and properly crossed the street in the zebra (white stripes). This impact shocked me a bit. The cyclist wouldn't make eye contact as I yelled at him about being blind and/or disrespectful, and he took off without looking back. A security guard sitting at a chicken joint on the corner thought the collision was hilarious. I'm not really sure what to do about these types of incidents. Hey, we're like the chicken and sometimes we have to get to the other side. I seemed to have fewer encounters with traffic when I carried my walking stick, but it's difficult to carry bread, pastries, fruit,  AND hold the stick AND my daughter's hand AND chew gum all at the same time. Since my back and foot are now functional, I can go without the stick. Besides, the walking stick makes me look like a fat, beardless Moses.

Rain won't go away, so we improvise to have fun

There are no free outdoor playgrounds near our house in Bien Hoa that I know of, so we have to improvise to provide fun and entertainment for our two young children. My wife is good at this, probably because she grew up in this environment. She supervises our 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son as they play in heavy rain -- and there has been a lot of heavy rain lately; it rains every day, sometimes for stretches of three and four hours.  The kids splash, puddle jump and run back and forth in the flooded streets. They love it. Our kids are unique playing in the rain because most adults here seem to fear the rain and keep their kids and themselves indoors even when it's cloudy. We have taken our kids to a place called tiNiWorld at the mall to play. Obviously, tiNiWorld has lots of options but it can be extremely crowded, which makes it much less enjoyable, and the coughing, sneezing crowds probably make it just as unhealthy as playing in the rain. A nearby coffee shop, Nup, had a slide and swings, but it closed down recently. The fish coffee shop, Kim Koi, has put in a few items for kids -- a small slide and springy toys -- but three kids make it crowded. It's better than nothing, but water for the koi creates a safety hazard in my view. My daughter fell into the water at Gosanke coffee shop, and my son's 3-year-old buddy fell into the water at Kim Koi. With no railing, this kind of stuff happens. Kids play soccer in the streets, but motorbikes and cars don't slow, swerving around the kids and blaring their horns. No matter.  Joanna isn't interested in sports and Elijah is too young. The park we go to has exercise equipment  primarily for adults. So for now, we go on long walks, go to the swimming pool and play in the rain.
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I missed the flower moon this year due to cloudy skies and rain. I did see a nice moon the next night, although it was a day late and sliver short. My cell phone doesn't quite capture the beauty of a nearly full moon in the night sky, so I'll spare you the poor visual. Venus is usually visible in the night sky, but that's about it.
* * *
 The Internet has done wonders for my foot, pained by a tailor's bunion. I wear Softstar shoes around the house, apply ice when necessary and use a toe spacer; the combination has made my daily walks with my daughter enjoyable again, except for the heat and humidity.  I sent a note to Softstar complimenting them on their shoes, and "Elf " Tiffanie responded, thanking me for the note and saying that she was happy to hear about my pain-free walking. I guess the employees are elves -- so cute. My right foot, which was banged up and bruised when I fell down some stairs, improved on its own. I didn't even look online.
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Our son Elijah has become a big fan of CNN. Not sure why. He cries in frustration when BabyTV is on, and relaxes and races to "his spot" on the couch when I change the channel to CNN. Those are the only two channels we watch. I try to be careful with what he sees, switching off if the details are too much on the mass shooting in Buffalo or war in Ukraine. The same goes for Joanna, who will repeat snippets from the news sometimes. But at least Joanna will still watch BabyTV; she enjoys the songs and a couple of the shows. So do I, for that matter. Admittedly, the kids probably watch more TV than they should, but with the rain alternating with 96-degree heat, options can be limited.
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Joanna was drawing near the front door when the girl next door, who's 6 or 7, came up and gave Joanna the middle finger. She did it a second time and my wife saw and the girl ran away. This isn't a huge deal.  A boy down the street did this to Joanna as we took our walk, but the boy came up and stuck his finger in her face. I'll guess both kids probably saw this at school. A few years back a boy about 8 or 9 yelled $%&@ you! at my wife, me and Joanna as we walked up the street, and another young kid spewed about five or six choice words at me when I came home from the market. This stuff used to really honk me off, but these days I roll with it a lot better. If the remarks upset my wife or kids, maybe I'll get riled up, but usually my glaring stare will calm things down.
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After finishing the 818 pages of Hamilton by Ron Chernow I've moved on to Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. So far, lots of facts, almost all very interesting. My Kindle streak continues at 893 days in a row of reading. My kids aren't the only ones with limited recreational opportunities. ... I'll give Joanna a long summer break from formal homeschooling, since she's had enough for the time being. I'll do an evaluation to see where she stands as far as entering first grade goes. I suspect patience and behavior will be more of a challenge for her than the academics. She'll thrive with the right teachers in the right environment. Probably true for all of us.

Fall from grace; late nights; Lenin statue in Hanoi

   In yet another sign that the end game can be rough sport, I fell while coming downstairs from the third floor of our house where I had gone to do a little exercise while my daughter colored animal pictures and my son resisted sleep. It was just a bit past 9 p.m.. Things like this happen quickly when you're older and slower. I wasn't drunk, since I don't drink these days. My left leg either buckled or missed a step, I grabbed the railing and it creaked a little. If I go through it's either death or close enough to death since there's no real barrier from the third to the first floor. That design has been a nightmare with our two children. It's cheaper to build up than out. No horrible damage as I write this the morning-after ... other than a sore right foot, tender left arm, sore neck and tweaked back. My daughter heard the commotion of me rolling down some steps and yelling out, and ran out of her bedroom asking "Are you OK, dad?"  What a sweetheart! Elijah came out smiling -- another reason to stay up late. My wife, who was exhausted from dealing with Elijah, dinner and tons of laundry, which requires multiple trips up and down our vertical living space, saw I was sitting up and seemed relieved. My wife has fallen on these unforgiving faux marble stairs a couple of times, once twisting an ankle. I've had a few crashes. Anyway, I was able to walk Joanna to the pool and swim with her on Friday. The entire trip is more than 2 miles, so that's a good sign.
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I mentioned sleep resistance above because both of my kids don't like to go bed early, meaning before 9 p.m. I'll defend them a bit here. This is the tropics, or torrid zone (my daughter just learned this in her science book). It's either brutally hot or raining in the late morning and afternoon, so the optimal time for our kids to be active is very late afternoon and evening. Elijah takes a decent nap in the day and Joanna just doesn't enjoy sleeping like the rest of us,  although I've noticed she 'll read in bed in the mornings. Anyway, after dinner, which seems to stimulate our children, they're not in the mood for sleep. Joanna likes to draw in her room at night and will stay up way too late. Elijah bounces around a little but he's out like a light when he decides to sleep, usually around 9:15 to 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. when dad falls down the stairs. Our kids' sometimes erratic sleep patterns contribute to my fatigue.
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I was reading about Vietnam's neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, which makes sense given its past relationship with Russia. What I didn't know was that the friendship was cemented when Russia gave Vietnam a statue of Lenin in 1982, which sits in a Hanoi park. The park is a haven for skateboarders, who probably don't give the statue much thought, but the gift from Russia seems to show a real bond between the countries. I rode past the statue and park on a bus tour of Hanoi with a friend, uh comrade, who visited a few years back.
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The rain has stranded me and my daughter on our walks a few times in the past two weeks. A big storm the other night had us sitting in a milk-tea joint fairly close to our house. We waited through thunder and lightning, and Joanna finally got impatient and was willing to make a dash in the rain. We ran and the rain seemed to a let up a little. Our big adventure ended happily. I've heard thunder a few times while we're at the pool, and we get out of the water. No one else does, and people just swim while it's raining. I haven't actually seen lightning while at the 7th floor, outdoor pool, but hearing the clap and rumble of thunder is enough.
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Spoiler alert: Alexander Hamilton gets killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in the book Hamilton. The West Indies immigrant who was George Washington's confidante and helped create our financial system and wrote much of the Federalist Papers, led a tragic, controversial and remarkable life. This wonderful book has pushed my Kindle reading streak to 887 days in a row. Just finished on Friday and I may let the streak end here. ... I tried to buy a fish tank for my daughter but it never got delivered. Oh well. ... My son Elijah looks up to his big sister so much that's he's started showing off for her at night, bouncing off the bed onto the faux marble floor. Ouch. Easy fella. You can get hurt in this house.

Fast-moving bread; birthday boy and a scary dip

 They zip down our street twice a day nearly every day with the signature, recorded chant of banh mi nong day, banh mi nong gion day (hot bread here, hot, crispy bread here) blaring over a loudspeaker. The men and women who race down our street on their motorbikes are carrying baskets filled with rolls and they seem as interested in covering a lot of ground as they are in selling the bread. Some people on our street join me in chuckling about the speed at which the bread sellers travel. If you're not outside, it's difficult to get these doughboys and doughgirls to stop and sell you bread. I've yelled from inside the house and they'll glance and keep moving. I've gotten them  to stop maybe once or twice with a yell from inside the house. Standing outside and waving a hand is your best bet. The reward is an OK roll that is best eaten right out of the basket. In a hour the crust can get absurdly flakey and the dough expands and gets chewy. But the bread, which doesn't cost a lot of dough, so to speak, at 5,000 dong (25 cents U.S.) per roll, is adequate in a pinch, even if you never know exactly when these bread bikes will come around. Sometimes I hear the familiar and not always comforting chant of  banh mi nong day, banh mi nong gion day at 6 a.m., and the chant continues (loudly) while the cyclist stops to make a sale outside our bedroom. The few times we've really wanted to buy a roll or two, they'll pass by after dinner or not at all. But all the sellers are pleasant, friendly and willing to change large bills. The seller I have a photo of picked up our daughter's shoes from the street and put them on our front steps when it started to rain; we were trying to dry them out after our daughter went puddle-jumping. The drive-bys are welcome since they bring some life to streets recently quieted by Covid. It's a sign that life is returning to normal. There is plenty of commercial traffic now on our street from motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians; these folks sell ice cream, mops and brooms, food and lottery tickets. And if you don't blink, you might see people riding on motorbikes selling bread.
* * *
Our son Elijah turned 2 on Friday, which seems incredible. Even more unbelievable, Joanna will turn 6 in July. I'm not sure Elijah understood the whole birthday party process, but he smiled every time I sang Happy Birthday. We had a little unwanted excitement before the birthday dinner when Joanna fell into the water at Gosanke, slipping off a wet rock while trying to touch some fish. My wife pulled her out of the water and things could have been horrible if no adult was around. The water was fairly deep -- over her head and she can't quite swim yet. I was chasing Elijah around the coffee shop's parking lot and didn't see any of the mishap. Elijah and I went back into Gosanke and a soaking wet Joanna was walking toward us with her mom. I took her home, had her shower, and we went back to Gosanke. Hopefully, Joanna learned a lesson. She seemed a little shook up by the incident, aplogizing to us, to the fish, to everyone. But she got right back on the rocks to feed the fish after she cleaned up and dried off. Maybe that's OK, as long she avoids the wet rocks and watches her step. And keeps close to me or  mom!
* * *
Rainy season is off to a roaring start here, with big storms coming four out of the last five nights. No water in the house yet, except from plumbing issues, so all is well. I've always enjoyed thunderstorms, and that's usually what we get here. ... My ailing foot has responded well to treatment and I'm able to walk where I need to go with Joanna, places like the pool and Japanese Bakery. I don't want pain to intrude on our trips, or prevent them from taking place. ...  The remarkably detailed book Hamilton by Ron Chernow is riveting, depressing, upsetting and inspirational. It has given me a whole new perspective of our founding fathers in the U.S. Hamilton has helped push my Kindle reading streak to 881 days in a row. It's a long book and totally absorbing so I expect the streak will grow. And speaking of streaks, I haven't drunk any booze of any kind for 29 months. Too busy reading and chasing my kids, I guess.