Day 119: Spray Paint Art

I made this!

     Have you seen those uber detailed spray paintings? They are usually of some fantastic cosmic landscape an look like the artist spent years perfecting every inch of the canvas. They are so cool and I was excited when Mac invited me over to try it. I've seen pros go to town with their paint and produce an awe inspiring piece of work in no time. They can throw together a painting within like 20 minutes, and they use everyday materials like cans of spray paint, newspaper, cards and needles. When I got to Mac's house I saw the prints that he had tried earlier. They were all pretty good looking, even the ones that he swore were terrible. He asked if I wanted to try, and in typical uneducated fashion, I agreed. I didn't have any pre-determined thought of how I wanted my painting to turn out, I just wanted to spray around. Here's what I came up with. I can admit that I'm nowhere near where these pros are, but it was still fun and I thought mine turned out pretty cool.


Here's what it looks like when a pro does it. They look amazing!

I did not make this 

Day 118: Rescue A Cat

Believe it or not, I took this pic before work...

...and took this one after work

     Thats right, apparently that old cliche about having to call the fire department to get the frightened cat out of the tree is true. I woke up this morning and was enjoying a bowl of cheerios in the backyard when I saw a poor little kitten stuck in the high branches of one of the willow trees. Not sure what to do, I Googled the scenario and read a little bit of a forum. The article said to simply let the cat be and it would eventually climb down on its own. I took the advice to heart and left to go to work. I forgot about the cat and wandered home roughly 7 hours later only to see the same cat stuck in the same tree. He was still as freaked out as he was earlier. Thats when I came to the conclusion that either this cat really liked this tree, or that article I read was crap. I immediately began to climb the tree to rescue the freaked out feline, but not before giving the camera to my brother so he could obtain some photo-proof of the situation. It took a bit of careful strategy, but I soon got close enough to snag the cat. He seemed  pretty worn out from a day of tree-hugging, so he didn't put up too much of a fight. He did however seem to cling to the branch with all his might. I ripped him from the tree, only for him to grab the next branch in sight. Every time I would tug him away he would find another branch to claw onto. It went like this for a couple minutes till I finally got the cat to an area free from tree limbs. From there, I simply dropped him, as soon as he hit the ground he bolted. I could tell that my dog Kota was looking to tear this cat apart and so she chased right after him. The cat got away though, he hopped the fence and I have yet to see him up in that tree, so I think that means that this challenge was a success. I totally just saved that little guy's day, or maybe even life. Double score.

Day 117: Backgammon

remedying the tire situation

     So, I'm pretty tired. A little too tired for my liking. I've been running around all day doing this and that. From attending class, to being stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, to going to work during 31 cent scoop night (that really sucked), I've been pretty busy today. The 31 cent scoop night was what really took a toll on me. The concept is pretty self-explanatory, but I reiterate anyways. Basically, instead of us charging the predetermined price of $2.17 for a 2.5oz. scoop of ice cream, we knock the price down to a mere $.31 (ya know, cause we're Baskin Robbins 31 and all). The whole shenanigan is put together to help raise money for an association for fallen firefighters, which I'm all for. They actually had two firefighters come in and help us out. They scooped and took orders from people, it was cool cause they come in a lot so I know them .We have jars designated for tipping the firefighters, and we have jars that usually get a considerably smaller amount of donations that go to us employees. I'm not complaining or anything, cause I think firefighters are totally badass, I'm just saying. I was told that the people from corporate even kick out something like $10,000 for the cause each year. So anyways, its a chaotic shit-show of an evening. The line of costumers stretches out the door for the entire 5 hours that the promotion is going on. The amount of noise from a room that has exceeded its maximum occupancy 5 fold is unbearable at times. All I'm trying to say is I'm really glad that it only comes around once a year, and even after my third time working it, it never gets any easier.

     So yeah, had a busy day today and I needed my challenge to be something that involved basically no physical activity. Backgammon, probably the least physically demanding game I could think of (well, maybe a staring contest). I decided I was going to learn how to play backgammon, the only problem was, it turns out that theres a lot to this game. I've spent the last 25 minutes looking up instruction videos and I'm getting the feeling that I'm only getting more lost. . These people are talking about things like; stones, hits, prime, blitz, blocking numbers, midpoint, home boards, inner boards, outer boards, blot. All these videos end up being the same thing, some guy with an unfortunate hair-do mumbling about "stones" and "home boards".Needless to say, its not getting through to me. Thats a shame cause I'm really super tired and I have to work in the morning so I'm gonna go to bed now. All is not lost though, I mean, I did learn the basic concept of the game, I learned how the checkers move and what the dice do and what the point of the object is. I learned how to play, but I am still clueless as to play with any sort of strategy. I also learned that I am probably not gonna be dusting off the ol backgammon board anytime soon. I feel like my history of jazz teacher is the kind of guy that would enjoy a round on the backgammon board. Moral of the day: Firefighters are totally rad, and backgammon is the complete opposite.

If you want to test your backgammon know-how, check out this glossary: http://www.bkgm.com/glossary.html

Day 116: Hypnosis

     Well, it was about as close to hypnosis as I could get. See, I have this thing with money...and how I don't like to spend it. Like non of it. I really think that I'm either the cheapest person I've ever met, or I simply understand the value of a dollar better than most. I could go on another long and misguided tangent about how I don't get paid enough for the work I do and how I feel that my job pays me 8 bucks for an hour of my life and I find that mildly insulting when I think that my life should be worth at least $10, and how I don't know how to end my sentences. Whatever. All I'm going to say is that I don't have the money or the willingness to spend what little money I have on these challenges. I'd be way too broke. My whole thing is to experience as many things while spending as little amount of money as possible.
     So when I say that I did hypnosis, that doesn't mean that I paid some guy with a PHD to entrance me with the swaying motion of a pocket watch. Paying some shrink to hypnotize me to think I was a chicken or something would cost way too much money. So, I went with a more financially friendly option. I downloaded a deep realization program called "Darren Marks Hypnosis". I'm taking a stab in the dark when I say this, but I assume that this Darren Marks guy is the dude that was guiding me through the procedure, with a very soothing voice I might add. So I downloaded this program, and tried it, and I gotta tell ya, it was pretty wild. I'm not gonna say that it changed my life or anything, but sure did ease some of my skepticism about the art of hypnosis. The program is basically a voice (Darren) that guides you into a calmer state. I remember being completely relaxed for most of it, but once the voice started to count down from ten, my heart started to race really fast. It was so strange and felt intense, and the fact that the voice warned that this feeling may appear right when I started to experience it made it even more freaky. After that, it was more calm thoughts and tranquil images until the recording stopped. It was a strange experience to say the least, and I definitely want to try it again. I know that it wasn't done in person with some fancy doctor, but I think that it still worked, at least, I think it worked a little bit.

Heres a sample session I found

If you want to try the program that I used, you can find it on the android market.

Day 115: Beard Boosting Pills

Pro skateboarder, Patrick Melcher,
 my facial hair inspiration 

    Can ya believe it? They make pills that supposedly boost your beard growing power to the next level of beardom. Its a product thats called Biotin and not only does it increase growth on your chin hair, apparently it helps your hair and fingernails grow nice and strong also. I got a bottle, not for some fingernail assistance (I got it covered), but for the beard potential. If this power-packed-peach-fuzz-pill really works, I should have a set of luscious mutton chops in no time. I took a dose of Biotin about five minutes ago and I just know that these puppies are gonna put my chin on the map! I can feel it.

Day 114: Bake Pizza (From Scratch)

  

Check out that technique! 

     So I took what little knowledge I had gained from yesterdays bread making challenge, and I used it to help me with making the pizza dough for my make a pizza from scratch challenge. For the most part, making the pizza dough was a lot like making the bread. I did a lot of mashing and mixing, and even a lil bit of "kneading". I got to test out my pizza-pie throwing arm when it came time to toss the dough. I think its supposed to stretch the pie and make it more circular, but who really knows, I just do it to look authentic. I threw the crusts into the oven for a little while to get them crispy. Then I chopped up a pineapple and garnished the crust with tomato sauce, cheese, salami and whatever pineapple chunks I hadn't already eaten. By then it was time to cook, so I let those puppies bake for about ten minutes, took um out, cut um up, and served. They were good, like, actually surprisingly good. I really enjoyed it, and my brother and dad seemed pretty fond of the meal as well. I hate to toot my own horn, but, I gotta hand it to myself...I'm pretty awesome. Another day and another successful challenge.

Probably the best thing ever

Day 113: Bake Bread

dirtay 

extremely edible playdough

Turns out, bread is super easy to make. dry yeast + salt + white flour + sugar + warm water = bread. Simply take those ingredients and mush the crap outta them in a bowl. Then you mush the dough around with your hands using technique called "kneading". The kneading process takes about ten minutes, then its time to let the dough rise for a while. From there, you just knead one last time, then bake. It turned out to be delicious. I ended up making a sammich and toast out of most of it, the rest is hangin out in the fridge.

Just weave these lil' bread worms

Day 112: Offset My Carbon Footprint

     I figured that today was Earth day. I was hearing about Earth day festivities everywhere from Facebook posts to DJ's. And so, being the Earth-conscious individual that I am, I decided to dedicate todays challenge to mother nature and her awesome world. I wanted to offset my carbon footprint to help try and reverse that whole polluted planet problem. This is another challenge that is directly inspired by the great Vlogbrothers; where they calculate the amount of carbon has been created due to the amount of energy it takes for people to watch their videos

Good luck understanding anything he's talking about if you've never seen a Vlogbrothers video.

. I felt like offsetting my carbon footprint was a fitting challenge for today, so I went to http://www.carbonfund.org/ to fill out my assessment. I completed the questionnaire and found out that I would have to reach a little deeper into my pocket to cover my damage. Apparently, the average cost to offset the average persons carbon is around $240. That was a little too pricey for my liking. I know it may make me a bad person, but I couldn't seem to part with that kind of cash. I mean, I like the Earth and all, but I like money too. So instead of spending close to an entire paycheck on a noble cause, I decided to simply make a donation towards their project. I spared what I could, $15, and gave them that, hoping they would put it to good use. I know its not enough, but until I make enough (we're talking more than 8 bucks an hour), this will have to do. Happy Earth day!

Day 111: Cook Veggie Soup

Mac seemed to like it

     Made a fat batch of veggie soup tonight after work. You see, both Mouse and Mac are vegetarians, and all three of us were in the mood for some food. So, not only was making veggie soup the obvious choice, its also something that I've never done before (score). So we picked up the basics; veggie broth, potatoes, celery, onion, veggie soup mix, corn, and Boca burgers. We then did as the instructions instructed; cut up ingredients, and boil in pot till tender. Its not the most demanding challenge yet, but its something. The soup boiled for a while and we kept ourselves entertained with random YouTube videos. The soup was pretty alright, I felt that the Boca burger chunks kind of threw it off, but it was pretty damn enjoyable overall. As far as meal preparation challenges go, this is for the most incompetent of beginners. I love the fact that the instructions for cooking any sort of soup will fall along the lines of:

• Cut up whatever you bought
• throw it in a pot
• boil
• eat

There you have it, my delicious-animal-loving-meal-making-challenge. Twas a success if I do say so myself.

Day 110: Plasma Grapes

     Legend has it, that an ordinary grape, a glass cup and a microwave are all the tools you need to create a plasma light show. Its true! Apparently if you cut a grape almost in half (cut it open as if it were a book, but make sure that the skin of the grape is still in tact) and place it in a microwave oven with a glass cup over it, it will begin to spark and fret about. I don't really know why it does this, I just know enough to be able to torture a couple of grapes at work today. I guess its sort of an experiment that unsupervised people like myself when we have nothing but grapes and a microwave. While I was researching this little trick I found an article that explained the phenomenon. They said that the sliced grape has a high amount of electro-lights and somehow those help create the sparks that actually act like a little antenna; conducting the energy of the microwave. To tell you the truth, I haven't the slightest idea whether or not this explanation holds any water, but I'll go along with it. I did as the video told me, and I got a couple of good sparks from a couple of very unlucky grapes. The grapes were totally fried after the experiment and the glass was filled with a smelly gas. The smell stunk up the entire store, but that didn't stop me from continuing to electrocute more helpless fruit. I guess I can count this a nerdy lesson, which is fine with me cause I was totally geeking out about this nifty trick.

Heres a little video explanation thang:

Day 109: Brew Coffee (From Scratch)

     Well it seems like that warm milk really did the trick. Not only did it put me right to sleep, but it made me sleep in late today. I was supposed to get up early and get some major homework and bike riding related activities done. Its the milk's fault, thats my story and I'm stickin to it. So, when I did finally wake up, I needed some energy, and thats where the brewing coffee challenge was born (thats another one of my stories that I plan on sticking too). I wanted to brew coffee, but I didn't want to use a coffee maker. The following video explains basically what I did. The only difference was that I used 4 filters instead of 2.

     I made two batches of coffee cause Mouse complained that the first cup was "the worse thing I've ever tasted". I reassured him that he simply just wasn't cultured enough to appreciate a quality cup of joe. I made a second batch but used only 2 filters so that hopefully more of the caramel truffle flavor would present itself. The process went smoothly and the coffee came out a tad darker then before, which was promising. I threw in a generous amount of creamer and sugar to shut Mouse up before he could pooh pooh it. He took his cup, teased it with a couple of half sips, and then placed it back onto the counter. It would have been a discouraging insult if I didn't already know that Mouse hates all coffee and never drinks it ever. So, I guess that if I use a bit of flawed logic, that means I made a pretty good cup-o-coffee.
My slightly flawed logic

• If mouse hated my coffee
• And he hates all coffee
• And if almost all coffee is considered to taste good by those who drink it
• Then my coffee must have tasted like the kind that Mouse hates
• Which means that my coffee was good

That makes perfect sense. I made some great coffee today, and I didn't use a coffee maker like some lazy American. I mean, I liked the coffee anyway.

Day 108: Warm Milk Folklore

     I wanted to see if that whole warm glass of milk puts you right to sleep myth had any truth in it. I looked up a couple sites that told me differing opinions about the whole thing, so I felt like my best bet was to just try it. I just microwaved a tall glass of milk for like 40 seconds and tested the waters with a small sip. It wasn't bad, it was just, weird. I enjoyed my glass of warm milk with a piece of my Dad's leftover birthday cake and headed upstairs to go to bed. As far as I can tell, it knocked me right out. I don't know if it was the milk's doing, or if I was just that tired. But let me tell ya, it sure is relaxing having something warm in the tummy when your trying to fall asleep. This challenge gets my stamp of approval!

Heres a link to an article about the warm milk debate: http://blogs.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/2008/01/warm-milk-true-or-false.html

Day 107: Wax My Leg

couple of idiots

     I'm just on a roll with these pain filled challenges lately. So I helped Mouse move into Mac's apartment and for some reason, that gave me the idea to try waxing. I knew it hurt, but I didn't think it could hurt that bad. So I picked up the waxing starter kit and allowed Mouse to go to town on my hairy leg. We placed the pads on the hair of my shin and pressed hard to make sure as much of the wax got on me as possible. Once the pad was securely cemented onto my leg, Mouse would yank it off in a sort of band-aid peeling fashion. We did this about ten times on my right leg, we spared my left leg so I would have something to compare the wax job to. This project has gotten to the point where I don't even second guess doing things like this. I got the idea to wax my leg, and within seconds, I was ready to rip my hairs out. I don't know if its just me being and idiot, or if its dedication to the project. All I know is that I spent last night letting my friend rip off my leg hair with super adhesive pads when I should have been sleeping. I did that just so I can continue with the project and afford myself more opportunities to make a complete ass of myself. This is only day 107, imagine what I'll be getting myself into around day 360, jeeze.

icky

Day 106: Meat-shake

     Its about as appetizing as it sounds. To really get the reference with this challenge, you might want to check out this video by one of the greatest channels on YouTube.

Nasty

Its a channel shared by two brothers (John and Hank Green), and although I'm not about to go into too much detail over their online vlogging project, but I will say that their project entails a variety of punishments, and the blenderized happy meal is one of those. I have been following John's and Hank's project for years now and have watched every single vlogbrothers (thats their channel name) video (all 814 of them). I felt the need to recreate John's cheeseburger blending experiment because I always thought that he was totally overeating about the disgusting factor of the challenge. I thought it would be a cake walk. In hindsight, I can tell you that drinking a blenderized cheeseburger is a horrible idea. I blenderized my entire meal just like how John did. My shake had one cheeseburger (bun, mayo, ranch, ketchup, patty, cheese, tomato), some Lays potato chips, some baked beans, and the rest of my cup of lemon-aid. I knew that the lemon-aid was a bad idea, but that could only make for a more interesting blog entry. I blended up the shake and gave my brother a tiny bit to try. It was god awful, everything about it was completely off-putting. The texture resembled soggy oatmeal, and it was too thick to actually eat. I ended up pouring in some milk to make it easier to drink. The taste was so awful that I ended up gagging twice. I thought that throwing up was the only way this challenge was going to end, and I'm still surprised that it didn't happen. Somehow, I made it through the glass of shredded cow and lemon-aid. It was so disgusting and I definitely give John Green credit for his attempt at the meat shake. It'll fill you up and let you down.

Day 105: Meditation

     I've been trying to find my chi lately. With all this work and school and ridiculous challenges, I need to find some balance. I felt like meditation would be a good start. Unfortunately, meditation requires a quiet, tranquil environment, and my Dad's birthday party wasn't the most tranquil of settings. He was celebrating with friends with a BBQ at the house and it was apparent that they were having a good time. I had gotten off of work and wanted to complete my challenge quick so I could go to bed, but I couldn't seem to focus for the life of me. I looked up meditation videos and sat in the omniscient position, waiting for pure enlightenment... but nothing happened. I was told that there is something like 5 stages of meditation and I had yet to get past the first one.  I was bummed out about not getting the best crack at that whole meditating thing but its O.K. I'll try again some other time. I'll light some incense, throw up some wind chimes, and bust out the chi tea. Then I'll get some balance.

Day 104: Get Towed

Waiting on the street

Funky jazz lights

     Ya like the new layout? I've been spending way too much time messing with it instead of doing things like homework and actual blog updates. Honestly, I don't know if I like it, but whatever, well see. So I went to another jazz gig with Joey to beef up our know-how for this jazz paper we have to write. We went to this jazz club downtown called Dazzle to watch the Joey DeFrancesco trio play. Long story short: we over-payed to hear some jazz, eat some garlic bread (and a complementarity ice cream Sunday cause they messed up my garlic bread), and take notes for class. It was an enjoyable time and I felt good about my small amount of new found knowledge concerning the jazz genre. The trio ended with a funky cover of "Billie Jean" by the late Michael Jackson and we left the club. It wasn't till we reached the empty parking space that had once been occupied by Joey's car that we realized that we were screwed. His car had been towed, and we were stranded in Denver. This may sound like a lame challenge/experience thing (and in some regards, it totally is), but I couldn't really do my new thing seeing how I was stranded in city with nothing but a jazz notebook. This may be a lame experience (and it was. it really was) but its still a new experience, so that means I can count it. Joey and I spent the hour or so that it took for his mom to drive down and pick us up walking around and people watching in front of a weathered old liquor store. We were solicited by a couple guys wanting cigarettes and weed, and we kept attentive by watching the flocks of dance club-bound people. It was cold and dark and really uncomfortable, which makes for a pretty crappy situation. We eventually got picked up by Joey's mom, who felt that it was her job to inform us of how stupid we are. Apparently, even though we parked on the same block as the jazz club, we were on the property of the Spicy Pickle, and thats where the towing of the car came into play. Joey got slapped a $195 fee to get his car back and was made well aware of his dumb mistake. He went to the impound lot the next day to pay the fine and retrieve the vehicle. It really sucked, but now I know that getting towed is no fun at all.

Day 103: Cook Spaghetti

Radioactive Meatballs

     I'm finally caught up with the blog. I've just spent the last 3 hours typing up the last 6 days worth of challenges. Its a true testament to my procrastination abilities. Today was a crappy cloud covered day. The vibe at school was sleepy (Joey fell asleep in just about every class). I got home and fell asleep till almost 10 P.M. I got worried that my sleepiness would be the reason I wouldn't complete a challenge. I brainstormed, and I went with the idea of making spaghetti, cause I've always heard that its easy, cheap, and delicious, plus I was hungry. I looked up instructions online and began cooking at once. I microwaved the meatballs to help them thaw and brought a pot of water to a boil. Everything went smoothly (which is a change of pace for my cooking style). I heated up some tomato sauce, threw in a couple dashes of salt and olive oil to the pot of boiling spaghetti, tossed a bit of shredded cheese into the tomato sauce, and kept stirring the ingredients periodically. The noodles reached their ideal noodle-like state which meant it was time for me to drain the water using a strainer. I tried to imitate the chiefs at my dish-washing job as they would toss the big bowl of noodles. I got the hang of it and even kept all the noodles in the strainer. All that was left to do was to plop the spaghetti onto a plate, cover it with the tomato/meatball sauce, and garnish it with some Parmesan cheese. It was a good, warm meal. My only complaint would have to be the tomato sauce to noodle ratio. Next time I'll have to cook like twice as much sauce. But it was an easy to make, easy to eat meal. Hawt diggity dawg!

Day 102: Try Mud Masks

Welp, thats creepy

     This one came outta left field. I was working and trying to brainstorm what I could do for the project when I got the idea that I hadn't done a challenge where I hurt myself in a while. Thats when I got the idea to wax my legs. It would be a totally comical challenge and yet, be some much needed man-scaping (Hell yeah manscaping). So Mac and I checked out the situation at the grocery store. Turns out, that wax stuff is a little pricey. I cant be spending too much money on each and every one of these projects, I'd be even more broke than I already am. So we went with a more financially friendly approach, mud masks. They were only like a buck or two, it would still count as some man-scaping, and it wouldn't be a painfully traumatising experience (thats a win-win in my book). The directions were simple; rub on face. We did as the packet said, and even cut up some cucumber to place over our eyes for whatever reason people actually do that. Other that the cucumber giving off a burning sensation on the eyeballs, it was a pretty cool experience. The mask began to harden and you could feel it getting down on some pore cleaning action. I washed my face off, cut up some cucumber to munch on, and went home for some nap nap time. I find that I enjoy these non painful challenges very much!

Day 101: Try An Energy Shot

     Lame challenge? Yeah probably. I have had the energy drink (Day 30:http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-30-liquid-energy.html) and the energy pills (Day 92: http://aimforeclouds.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-92-energy-pills.html) , but never have I had the energy shot. I was super sleep deprived from the past couple of days and had work and school that day, so I guess I could have used the shot. My friend Cody and I went and picked up a 5 hour energy shot and both gulped them down instantly. I cant say that my experience was anything like those of the actors portrayed in the commercials, but I defiantly experienced something. I was totally out of it mentally, my stomach was aching and I felt the mild urge to throw up when I was eating dinner. I guess I cant expect too much from a product we bought in the "impulse buy" shelf of a run down gas station. And to be fair, I was beyond tired. I was running on a few hours of sleep, I had been at school all day, and I had already tried my luck with a hot cup of coffee to keep myself from passing out in Jazz class. Maybe a clear mind and an energized body was just too much for that little bottle to grant (even though it promised it). So, so far, its not looking good for the energizing promising products. 3 attempts, and 3 failures. I guess I'll just stick with some good ol fashioned REM sleep.

Day 100: Try Dragon Fruit

     Aw yeah! I made it to the triple digits for my project. I spent most of day 100 driving back from my sisters concert in Kansas so I didn't have too much time or energy to spend on the project. And thats a shame cause I was really wanting to go all out for day 100. My original plan was to bike to the Pacific Ocean Market (an Asian grocery gem. Its got everything you would never  think of wanting to eat. From tongue to fish heads, they got it all. I wanted to try jelly fish for my challenge, but it turns out that jelly fish cooking is a three hour ordeal, and like I said, I didn't have the time or energy. It required you to submerse the jelly fish in a pot of hot water for three hours, making sure to change out the water every 30 minutes. I wandered through the isles of the exotic store, looking for something that would fit better in my time frame. What I found was a friend refereed to as a Pokemon. It was called a dragon fruit and it really did look like a Pokemon, it was pink and green, and had abstract leafs extending from the body. It was pretty freaky looking so buying it became a no-brainer. Mac and I rode to his house to partake in some Dragon fruit eatery. We researched the process and found out that eating any part of the exterior would be very bad. We cut the fruit in half and found the edible meat. the insides were a grayish silver substance with tiny black seeds. We went to town spooning out heaps of the fruit but it was soon clear that the fruit didn't have much of a taste. Its not like it was bad, it just wasn't much of anything. It had the texture of a kiwi, but barely tasted like anything at all. I didn't finish my fruit cause I didn't feel like getting full off of a tasteless meal, but it was alright. Definitely not worth the price though, it was like 4 bucks a pop for one of those suckers.