American Giant Sunflower

Trying a new version of the Sunflower this year.  This one promises to reach 16 ft.  It is planted now.  We shall see.

Barn Movie Season

It is barn movie season!  The first flick of the year was The Flintstones, which we had never bothered to watch before now.  

Shush Yourself

Yes. It is particularly rude when the individual you are shushing has held back their own shushing, quietly soaking in all of your rude, obnoxious and unnecessarily loud volume.  That person has tolerated your shouting across the building, your talking loud to anyone and everyone around, all of the constant and irritating level of noise that surrounds your entire being.  And, how do you repay that person that has put up with that?  You rudely shush them.  Shush yourself.

Arkansas and the Eclipse

Wandering down to Arkansas to take a look at the total solar eclipse offered up a few new opportunities, a chance to catch up with the usual haunts, and generally enjoy some time with family.

The first day in residence looked in on Mossy Bluff National Nature Trail, which found local holly berries, soft blue monkshood, bright red buckeye, and a multitude of dogwoods all glowing brightly from the forest floor and the understory, a recurring theme on all of the trails.  However, water flow seemed minimal, considering the time of year.   The tenant cascade splashed along with less enthusiasm than usual.

A trek around the Sugar Loaf showcased much of the same, to include bright yellow cowpea and purple phlox fringing clear views of the mountain from the waterfowl pond.  Likely the most interesting point on this visit proved to be a sublime new stone map and accompanying trailhead markers.

The day ended with a bit of bingo up in Mountain View.  It was not the most interesting experience for me.  Usually, the ladies go have their fun with all that and I go find something more intriguing for myself, like wandering the woods.

After wandering about woods again on Sunday morning, a trip down to Little Rock to take in the Symphony ensued.  Some in the party were a little disappointed that there were no visuals, in spite of the fact that plenty appeared on the backside of my eyelids.

The following day brought the eclipse, and the lack of turnout for the event in our little neck of the woods. The highway patrol and Department of Transportation were ready for it, as well as many other organizations.  The crowds never materialized, but I did get a few good shots.  There is this one of the moment of totality, and another of the diamond ring.  More wandering about the woods completed the evening, along with some tasty treats prepared by one of our hosts.

The journey home on the following date offered little time for distraction.  The beautifully warm, clear day had a few agenda items and the rare timetable.  Arriving in Warsaw on scheduled, a pause to look in on some land in Warsaw proved enlightening, though a rare opportunity to reconnect with a long-lost friend failed completely.  A little further up the road, a few amusements in Clinton posed for their close-up while we surfed around for a bit of sustenance.

None could be found, worth having, until we began to edge out of town.  The realization hit us that we had yet to try Mallard's Roadhouse though and, after a quick search for their hours, we discovered we were lucky ducks.  What had been Graffiti's for untold years, then Mallard's for the last 10, we were pleasantly surprised to have found a new roadside haunt for our non-franchise appetite that proved itself worth every cent.  Satisfied, the remainder of the journey included nothing but music, sunshine and relatively empty roads.

Colorado Visits

Stumbled on this interesting little piece of related history sitting all lonesome by itself out in Orrick.  We met up with the Colorado folks there this evening and enjoyed a full night of conversation.

Another Failed Collaboration Request

In the middle of sending out an email to a colleague informing them of our newly evolving SharePoint policy, she happened to pass by my office, so I asked her to pause for a moment.

I smiled and explained that I was about to send her an email when she walked by.  I told her I would go ahead and send it along anyway so that the rest of her department was aware but wanted to talk with her instead.

I asked her, "Hey can you do us a favor and coordinate with IT on creating new SharePoint/Teams sites?  Last week, you created a Team that seems to overlap with other Teams ..."

She immediately interrupted saying, "You need to just leave her alone and let her ... "

Having had enough of her rude and interrupting behavior or previous occasions, this time I interrupted her, talking over the top her to finish what I had started to say.

Starting again, "You created a Team and Channels that already exist, and we are only asking that you coordinate with us prior to creating any new Teams.  We just finished cleaning things up in that space, removing a lot of abandoned sites and merging some that were redundant, and are wanting to guide things a bit more."

She rudely interrupted again saying, "I am not sure why this matters to you."

"Well, I am the SharePoint Administrator and we have left things open to make collaboration and continuity a little easier.  Again, we just finished cleaning things up in that space, removing a lot of abandoned sites and merging some that were redundant."

She asked, "Why isn't it just locked then and bar everyone from doing it?"

"We have a small IT staff, and we keep costs of support and management down by enabling folks to do what they need to do without excessive interference from us.  We could just as easily lock it down and force everyone to go through us, but we are choosing a more collaborative path."

She kind of huffed a "fine, whatever" and walked off.

I followed with the email as promised, so her group would know.

Hi QS!

As a follow-up to our conversation, we need your help in reducing redundancy and information scatter.

Please come and discuss any plans for creating new SharePoint/Teams spaces so that we can help guide the process.

The new SharePoint/Teams space you recently assisted VPCP in creating duplicated space already allocated to those programs.

We only recently completed an effort to clean up the SharePoint / Teams environment, removing numerous abandoned and redundant spaces.  Some of that effort continues with those that are more integrated with other services.

Her boss immediately shot back a response.

It’s my understanding that QS was helping VPCP with Channels within her existing team.  Educating her on how to create and ideas on how to utilize.

Are you saying we need your approval to create any new channels within our teams?  And need approval for any new Team creations in MS Teams?

I waited a little while before responding, feeling that perhaps she might realize her own misunderstanding of the situation.  An hour later, I responded.

Channels within SharePoint/Teams are always at the discretion of the Team owner.

We are asking that users assist in reducing information scatter and redundancy across SharePoint/Teams.

The best path forward for that is through collaboration with the SharePoint Administrator, which happens to be me.  

Doing so will help to ensure that SharePoint/Teams already supporting a given effort are utilized to their fullest potential, as well as eliminate the site redundancy, abandonment, and information scatter of the past.

As explained to QS, SharePoint/Teams has been left wide open not just to facilitate greater collaboration, but more importantly, to lower support and management costs for those IT-managed cloud services.

We appreciate your patience as development of policy and guidelines surrounding governance of this space and associated data continues to evolve.

As always, let me know how I can help.

She replied again.

Sorry, I’m still not following you.  QS helped VPCP create a channel.  This was for her other groups outside of My Day.  If she needs a team for those groups, then she should be able to create one.

This is first we’ve heard that consultation with the admin/you was needed prior to creating new teams and/or channels.  So noted and we will advise others to reach out to you moving forward. 

While we are talking about Teams – please remove yourself as owner the General/Files folder in our Teams

I look forward to the policy so we can clear up these communication issues.

Clearly, she is not getting it, so I went to look for her to "clear up these communication issues."  Email is always difficult with this person.  They never seem to comprehend, even when it is presented in bullet points.  Actually, I don't think they want to comprehend.  They are too busy trying to rule over things that they have no authority over.  

She could not be found, and it appeared that she had left for the day to work from home, so I replied again.

There does seem to be a little confusion.

QS created a new SharePoint/Team and Channels beneath that for Teams that already existed.

We are only asking folks to collaborate with us prior to creating a new SharePoint/Team.

Channels remain at your discretion. Create as many as suits your purpose.

Otherwise, I am not now, nor have I ever been, owner of anything within your Teams, or even a member of those.  Consequently, I am unable to make that adjustment, but will stop in and clarify this with you.

She replied almost immediately, validating my thought that she was working elsewhere.

The other teams you are mentioning are the Director’s Teams, not VPCP.  She wants an area where she can manage the information across her teams.  An area where she will only invite the directors and she doesn’t want to traverse a bunch of teams to store her own information.  But – this is a good conversation for you to have with her.

Then she fired off another note.

Here’s the screen shots of where I see you as “owner”.  You were on other folders, but that has been removed from what I can tell.

I responded.

Thanks for sending that along!  It is a huge help!

I never noticed, but it appears that since I am Site Admin, I show up as "Owner" of document libraries in SharePoint.

Let me see what I can do to change that.

She replied.

Only on the two I listed. Not on any others. 

However, her statement is inaccurate.  I am very much "Owner" of all Document Libraries in SharePoint.  It seems that because we do not have a group and I am Site Admin for all the sites, I show up as "Owner."

I didn't respond any longer.  There is no need.  Talking with my C-Boss about the situation, he seemed in perfect agreement with me and added that she probably needs to get used to the idea that IT has insight into everything. Indeed, she should probably already be fully aware of that, having come from the Cerner Sweatshop.

Karen, Tennessee, and the Opry

The dot on the map tradition continued again this year, this time in the highlands west of Nashville.  Looking forward to visiting "The Home of Country Music" and an assortment of other random places in the city, we ultimately decided exploring the surrounding hills would be more interesting than battling throngs of people and excessive entrance fees.

We only paused for a couple of minor distractions along the way.  Some ancestors left a fort unattended in O'Fallon.  It had had been taken over by Christmas on the last visit, but this reconnaissance found it accessible with only minor foot traffic wandering about.  The only other distractions involved gas and grub.  When attempting 1000 kilometers in one day, it is best to stick to the interstate and not dawdle too much.

The last 80 km twisted and turned along back roads, making for slow progress in the dark. While not particularly engaging, our patience was rewarded the following morning with a contrasting bright and quiet view from atop a ridge.  Humans could not be seen or heard.

Down the hill, Harpeth River Narrows waited to enable a minor adventure for the day.  The spot stands recognized today as an engineering masterpiece and historical landmark.  Almost 100 years ago, Montgomery Bell initiated a project that excavated a tunnel 2.5 x 4.5 meters wide, 88 meters through a limestone bluff, successfully diverting water from the stream back into itself in order to maintain the stock of mermaids.

 

His namesake state park is just down the road a bit, promising a showcase of artifacts from the nearby mound excavations, as well as construction by the Civil Conservation Corp.  It seemed reasonable enough to investigate and we also discovered a restaurant in the park, which fueled the afternoon perfectly. 

After spending the day in the peacefulness of the surrounding countryside, arrival in eastern Nashville proved a bit of a culture shock.  The hoards promised by others that had been before were on full display and accessing the area of our intended destination for the evening proved quite the task.  The mall associated with that region helped pass the time before the show though, offering up a culture twist of its own, with delicious snacks and music.

The Grand Ole Opry was the real prize of the day though, and this first-time visit left a strong desire to do it again, in spite of the challenges in getting to the show. It lived up to its own relative fame, cycling through a solid mix of old and new, gospel, traditional, and popular country and folk demonstrations.  The only downside to the situation was getting out of that area again.

Successfully returning to our roost just west of the city, peacefulness surrounded us again and another morning equal to the one before greeted us.  The trip home was generally uneventful, starting off under bright, sunny skies and spirits.  The former held its ground, while the latter turned dark. One of the drivers fell to gastrointestinal assault, which complicated the effort to make the return trip in one day.  It did not deter success.  It was not worth repeating, though everything else was awesome.

. . .

A few related links ...

Harpeth River State Park — Tennessee State Parks (tnstateparks.com)

Montgomery Bell State Park — Tennessee State Parks (tnstateparks.com)

Country Music's Biggest Stage | The Grande Ole Opry

Chocolate Praise from NB

Appreciated receiving this little surprise of Muddy Bites Waffle Cones Snacks today for my helping another individual get through their SharePoint trials.

The Interrupting Cow

Pausing to ask QS about something today, I was a little taken aback by her tone.  It seems to be increasingly rude.

I started plainly enough with, "Hi QS, I noticed you had created a Teams Channel for the Safety Committe, and I was curious to know ..."

She immediately interrupted, barking back "How do you know about that?"

I responded, "Well, I am the SharePoint Administrator, and we are currently going through the entire platform, cleaning things up.  I was only curious to know your channel is the new home for documents related to that committee. If they are ..."

She interrupted again, "Those are probably old files and don't really matter anyway."

I started over, "COO has a Team for that holding a lot of documents, and I was curious to know if you would like those merged into your channel."

She responded, turning away, "It probably makes no difference."

Praise from JW

gT has gone above and beyond to automate our group and help us build an online data collection and analysis. He is always willing to troubleshoot our issues and educate us! Thanks for making us cool kids!

The Previous and Coming Darkness

Maps and data from the eclipse last year and the coming eclipse this year, as visualized by the folks over at NASA.  The most recent is interactive, enabling a better view into what time to be where.

NASA SVS | The 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipses: Map and Data

"This map illustrates the paths of the Moon’s shadow across the U.S. during two upcoming solar eclipses. On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America creating a path of annularity. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth while at its farthest point from Earth. Because the Moon is farther away from Earth, it does not completely block the Sun. This will create a “ring of fire” effect in the sky for those standing in the path of annularity. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North and Central America creating a path of totality. During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely blocks the Sun while it passes between the Sun and Earth. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk and those standing in the path of totality may see the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) if weather permits."

Annoying DisplayLink Update

A recent update to DisplayLink driver (version 10.3.6400.0) causes Dell Docking Station D6000 to completely ignore power settings in Windows 11.

The result is that the docking station no longer connects monitors, not just after locking the screen, but when the device goes to sleep.  This is usually after about 10 minutes.

This forces a person to disconnect and reconnect power to the docking station to get it to recognize the monitors again.  An alternative is to disconnect the docking station from the laptop.

A better alternative, is to change power settings to NOT turn off the screen, when plugged in.

Benford's Law in M for Power BI

On first glance, this seems a little raw, with several steps that are wholly unnecessary.  However, it works.  Hopefully, I can revisit this and clean it up a little.

Begin in Power BI, transforming the data.  Do not rename columns, until specified.

1. Add Column -> First Characters
1. Extract the first digit of the numbers to be analyzed.
2. Sort Lowest to Highest
3. Click Column Title for First Characters Column
1. Add as New Query, which will appear as a list.
2. Convert List to Table [COLUMN1]
4. Sort [COLUMN1] Lowest to Highest
5. Group By (no change to default screen)
6. Sort [COLUMN1] again, if needed to order
7. Create Index Column beginning with 1
8. Create Custom Column [COLUMN]
1. List.Sum(List.Range(#"Added Index"[Count],0,[Index]))
9. Create Custom Column [COLUMN.1]
1. [Count]/List.Sum(#"Added Custom"[Count])
10. Change [COLUMN.1] to %
11. Add Column from Examples for Benford’s Law [COLUMN.2]
1. 0.301
2. 0.176
3. 0.125
4. 0.097
5. 0.079
6. 0.067
7. 0.058
8. 0.051
9. 0.046
12. Change [COLUMN.2] to %
13. Rename
1. [COLUMN.1] = Actual %
2. [COLUMN.2] = Benford %
14. Graph

Yellow Signs of Spring

Stumbled upon these yellow Crocus poking up out of the leaves the other day.  Spring is here very early again this year.  If it is coming now, the summer will undoubtedly be another scorcher.

Lacking Technology Leadership

There appears to be organized leadership in every category except Technology.  This one area becomes more fragmented with every passing month.  

It is unnecessary and costing more than it should in time and effort. As there is leadership devoted to other divisions, to include the relatively new Quality Assurance Department, the firm desperately needs leadership devoted to Technology.  

Holding the line is insufficient and technological fragmentation is positioning the company for failure in the long run.  There are no successful companies lacking dedicated technology leadership!  

A technology leader that understands the systems currently in place, and the best solutions for those not in place, could only elevate the company further, inspiring greater innovation across all departments.

Read this supporting argument.

Sunday Trail with the Parkville Girls

Out on the trail again, these guys really like to roam about this location.  Getting to the waterfall is only half the fun.  The other half belongs to hopping across the old water shoot at the foot of it.  Not this time though.  Things were a little slicker than usual in that area.

Chiefs Drunken Role Models

photo borrowed from CNN Story - Wild celebrations greet KC Chiefs as they take to the streets for Super Bowl parade

We did not go to the rally for the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Victory.  I decided that I had no interest in hanging out with a bunch of drunks and getting shot at. 

Turns out that I was not far from wrong. The Kansas City Chiefs were drunk, along with the rest of the city, and then people got shot at.  

This is not classy.  Only the win.  That was classy.  Everything is stupid absurdity from drunken imbeciles, followed by more of the same from a few even further intellectually challenged with weapons.  

What happened to the world?

When and why did it become acceptable for role models to behave like this?

Why did a few feel it necessary to bring guns to the event?  Were they afraid they were going to have too good of a time?

Ridiculous.  

Shameful.

Grow up people.

New Discovery in the Maple Woods

While out hiking this afternoon, a typical diversion from the trail to check out the "Witch's House" led to the discovery of an old farming implement rusting away beneath the trees.  

I am not sure why we never noticed it before.  Perhaps, it is just perfect time of year for such a discovery.  All the leaves have fallen away, and the winds have swept a good portion of them to other locations.

Either it is an original combo of some sort, or there are a couple of different objects clumped together.  Parts of it appear to be an antique hay rake.  Another part looks like that of a loader, while yet another portion looks like that of a sickle mower.

Competition versus Collaboration

 Rulers encourage competition in order to discourage collaboration.

- Todd Comer

Birthday to the Land of Oz

The card for her birthday had invited her to a special showing of "The Wizard of Oz," along with a trip to the Museum in Wamego, where she would enjoy the opportunity to choose her own birthday gifts. 

And so, the adventure began a few weeks later for the oldest of the youngest generation, on Friday evening at dinner with family, then back to the grandparent's house for a night of coloring, video games, hot chocolate, and lounging about.

Cinnamon Rolls kicked off the following morning, quickly finding our way to the car for the trip to Wamego.  The journey proved only a little long, softened by a pause for hot chocolate in Topeka and a little wandering about downtown.

She seemed to enjoy darting about the small Oz Museum, pausing to peek in on the movie, the daring about a little more.   Undoubtedly, she proved more than excited about choosing her own birthday gift there from the gift shop, walking away with a pair of her very own ruby slippers, a stuffed Toto, a lollipop nearly the size of her head.

Lingering a bit longer, we followed the Yellow Brick Road over to Wamego City Park.  She met a few new acquaintances there, though it was much too cold and muddy to stand being out too long.  The yellow bricks led us back to where we started and a delicious lunch at Toto's Tacos, where she gobbled down all of her taco, nachos and an entire Jarritos Fruit Punch.

The journey home took on a quieter tone, where the munchkin savored napping throughout the entire trip.  She woke in plenty of time to issue a decision on a side-trip to the local swimming hole, where she overcame her fear and took on the giant waterslide.  

Celebrating the achievement and the day with Pizza, we headed back to our house to end things with a repeat of activities from the night before, to include a round of dominoes this time.

The next day took on a slower tone, taking time to cook a good breakfast that included snowflake-shaped waffles, filling out coloring pages, gathering things for the return home, and patiently waiting for the arrival of cousins.  A special one-time viewing of "The Wizard of Oz" on the big screen of the local theater was planned for all involved, which they all enjoyed immensely.

Some time at local park allowed them all to get rid of the wiggles that had crept up on the oldest two of the three, during the movie.  After that, we dropped off the two youngest and began the journey to the other side of the northland, and home for the oldest. 

She chose to hold on a little longer and remained with us for dinner at a local spot.  Chattering about all of the events of the special birthday weekend, she concluded quickly and decisively, when asked about her favorite part, "Getting to spend time with you!"

Out of the mouths of babes!  Who would have thought that would have been the singular choice after all that transpired over the weekend.

Words to Live By

An acquaintance made a post on LinkedIn today, with the most perfect and profound statement that matches my own life goals.  Good words to live by... 

My goals in working for a company is to elevate knowledge and methodology in my cohorts, and have my knowledge and methodology elevated by my cohorts. I want to be remembered and I want to remember you. - Paul Pasika

All Trails enables Copyright Infringement

Only just now made aware of the use of the above photograph on a click-bait site, I was a bit annoyed.  It was not so much that the photo was used, but done so wholly without permission. When folks ask, I usually give the go-ahead, with a few conditions.  One of the conditions was met here, but the other was not.  I was credited, but permission was neither asked for or received. 

Some might argue "Fair Use."  However, I am not so sure that extends to wholesale scraping of photographs from another web source, leveraging as if it is their personal outlet for stock photography.  That is exactly what their writer did.  Every single photograph in this article was scraped from All Trails.

This brings up another point for consideration.  All Trails really needs to begin making serious efforts to protect content uploaded by its users; photographs, GPS tracks, reviews, etc; especially in this age of AI.  In the case of photographs, it is a relatively simple code task to prohibit users from downloading photos.

They should have been doing this all along.  This type of scraping has been happening since the formation of the internet.  The difference is that people, more specifically writers, have grown to feel that they are entitled to do whatever they please and use whatever they please.

This is the third time now that a photograph of mine was taken and used without authorization, in violation of copyright.  I understand the risk and made adjustments after the first instance.  

Why did All Trails not make an adjustment?

Snowy Hike with the Parkville Girls

Weather finally broke out of the deep freeze, lurching upwards to one full degree Celsius, enabling an afternoon out on the trail.  The girls in Parkville jumped at the opportunity, telling their mother in no uncertain terms that they were ready, willing, able, and would not be denied.  They had been couped up long enough and were anxious to get out and about for a snowy survey of the Old Kate Trail at Parkville Nature Sanctuary.  An hour later, they were more anxious for hot chocolate and home, but enjoyed the brief journey none-the-less.

Glass Crystallization

A look out the window at the crystallization process and recrystallization underway on the window over a period of days in subzero temperatures with very little melting.

Chicken Fried Chicken Goodness

There is just something about Chicken Fried Chicken.  It is a special treat, and when served with a bit mashed potatoes and gravy, the perfect comfort food.  In this case, it is the perfect celebratory food.  The urge to make it once again struck me this afternoon.  Dragging out the electric skillet and a few random modifications later, related to a recipe from The Food Network later, we were soon enjoying this tasty treat.

Too Cold for Man but not Beast

I would say that it is too cold for man or beast on this date, but I saw these two (actually three) out wandering around.  We are officially in the depths of the polar vortex.  

Ice Design

Ice always makes the most interesting art.

Don't Mess with My Folders

Some need to learn to be a little more considerate of others in Teams.  If a developer creates a certain folder structure, there is a reason.  You really do not have any right to question that reasoning, much less go in and just start rearranging things to suit your own desires.

Just because you do not like where the oil pump is in a car, does not enable you to move it wherever you like, whenever you like.

Just another Snow Day

The latest addition to the 500px collection displays a view of the snow-covered trees across the field. While I am not particularly fond of the cold, snow is always creates a beautiful scene.

This whole COVID Thing

Not Happy.

This is not even remotely funny.

Whomever engineered this should be shot.

The water is so muddy now that nobody will ever know for certain.

Quality over Quantity

Accidentally read an article today that is one of the things that bothers me most about my alternative platform.

What Happened When I Wrote an Article Every Day for 300 Days Straight | by Nimish Jalan | Dec, 2023 | The Taoist Online

The story is like just about every other bit of click-bait out there, different only that it is singing the praises of another writer on Medium that offers nothing more than clickbait.

Initially, I replied, 

I am truly curious to know by what standard you are making this evaluation. What are your measures? Followers? The ridiculous "claps" count? Time Read? Engagement? Your essay fails to support your thesis. Indeed, I could find very little to support your thesis. 66K followers do not make one popular. 1000+ click-bait listicle articles do not make one popular. What is it exactly that you are using to measure this popularity? 

Indeed, I was truly curious.  I could find nothing indicating that Eve Arnold – Medium was anything more than a hack, churning out click-bait on a daily basis, regurgitating many of the same topics over and over again.  Her profile undoubtedly exemplifies that.

The writer later replied, 

I find her work and story interesting enough. I find her dedication to the craft impressive. I’ve laid out my reasons if you pay attention. I don’t know a lot of authors who’ve written 1000 plus pieces. To me this is dedication, hard work and intelligence.  She doesn’t have to be a part of any list.

I started to reply to that, but then remembered I was breaking my own rule about responding anything on the internet.  It is a lost cause after all, and mostly unproductive.  The internet is full of pointless nonsense and calling it out is equally pointless nonsense.  It will eventually wither away and die.  You just have to wait a little while.

I am no better a writer than those and do admire their efforts to write daily.  I try to do that myself, here, where very few can see the pointless nonsense and generally bad writing.  I am definitely not trying to sell it as worthy of the next Nobel Prize.

Folks should think more about this sort of thing before they offer their unnecessarily redundant opinion about the 3 Best Ways to Get Ahead of The Game.  It makes the internet bloated and unhealthy.  Not everyone is an expert.

Don't Encourage Questions

And he said to me, "Don't leave that page in the report."

I asked, "Does it really make a difference.  It continually updates on its own."

"Do you want more questions about it?"

Honestly, it really makes no difference.  

The data was pretty straightforward.

Is he trying to hide something?

Girls First Day Hike

After a good breakfast that included mini waffles, we took care of the popcorn disaster from the night before, then headed out onto our trail in the maple woods.  The usual leader blazed the path for us, while her colleague took up her position in the rear so as to keep an eye on the younger of the three.

Jumping over the fallen trees, stretching across bridges, climbing rocks, and filling the creek with rocks was more than the fourth, and youngest of all, could keep up with though. He still did not quite have the sea legs for all that.  He remained at the homestead enjoying an afternoon siesta, later celebrating our safe return with us and the hot chocolate.