I’m creating a special thread for our friend, @FGB4877.
We’re here, @FGB4877, if you want a listening ear and emotional support in these troubled times. I often find engaging in conversation, swapping stories, sharing frustrations, finding humor in the chaos, and simply talking about the mundane can help restore perspective, balance, and faith.
I’m moving your recent posts here.
Let’s keep @FGB company!
🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼
From July 6.
Dear @PackMule3, @GoodTwin, @OldAmericanLady, @Cleopatra, @Fern, @SnowFlower, @Table122000, @MoonStar512, @DianaGarcía and especially @GrowingBeautifully, how have you been?.
I have been writing my novel. You could say that even if the page count is still low (74 pages in the Word file so far), handwriting the general ideas and gripping with order and structure has been a delicious headache.
I am about to finish “366 Nichi” (2024) with Hirose Alice. The biggest star is her younger sister Hirose Suzu, yet it seems I am attracted to her work. Last year we had a “Shitsuren Meshi” (2022) post that was my birthday gift ^_^ (Thank you very much!!!). A little bit of a tearjerker, as Alice’s in-story boyfriend suffers an accident that keeps him comatose. Will the person she has longed for since her high school years ever wake up? Regrettably I can’t discuss more without spoiling your potential view now that I may have opened your appetite.
On the other hand I am still dealing with a Drama with a similar theme, “Unmet: Aru Nogekai no Nikki” (2024). The main character is a Neurosurgeon that had an accident that makes her memory reset every morning, so she has to rely on her diary to walk through her life. She have demoted herself from brilliant neurosurgeon to nurse, as she fears her memory impairment could kill someone in the operating room. That character is BRILLIANT and I can wholeheartedly recommend this show up to Episode 5 that is the last I have watched. The subplot about the general directors of the Hospital system (conglomerate?) she works in conspiring for her not to get her memory back dampens my enjoyment. That said I love the main character so much that in the back of my head I still scream “YAY, SHE WILL RECOVER!!!”.
Sorry for being so forlorn. I love you all and I miss you, I am just entangled into my own creative process.
From July 29.
Hello dear Friends, how are you?
Finished “Blue Moment” (Japan – 2024). A little bit too intense drama about disaster relief. It has its good points about the creation of an organization not so handicapped by command chains yet its intensity makes it cartoony.
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It is unusual, but pray for us Venezuelans. It seems like the regime will cut electricity after 7 pm to show its power to us citizens. Widespread protests as Nicolás Maduro stole the elections by using an officialist-packed national electoral commitee to communicate whatever numbers he wanted.
Had an Internet service hiccup a moment ago. I guess it will cease in a while.
We are living through strange times indeed, and for the longest time.
And yes dear Friends, all these things fuel my writing 😉
From August 2.
Dear Friends, how have you been? Here in Caracas we have been very “entertained” so to speak by our current events.
At this moment I am watching just comfort series and movies. Today I finished “Koi wa Hikari” (2022) or “Love is Light”. It is deceptively simple and aimed to younger people yet it has an ace under its sleeve.
Saijo is a college student that works as a proofreader and was abandoned by both parents as a child so he was raised by his grandmother. His best friend from childhood is Kitashiro, played by a beautiful Nishino Nanase (lady is cute as a button). In class he eventually meets very old fashioned Shinonome that lost her parents in her childhood then her grandparents who raised her due to old age. He feels intrigued about her reclusive and idealistic nature.
The third girl is Yadogiri played by Baba Fumika that is… well a bombshell. Her character also considers stealing boyfriends as a form of love.
What I found out was several archetypes that roughly represents three ways to express love: Eros (Yadogiri), Philos (love by companionship) and Agape. Will not spoil which characters fall in those categories. They encounter a transformative character that points out what was obvious and makes the male lead to reconsider what he has taken for granted.
Maybe I spoiled a lot by describing the Saijo and Shinonome’s background when the movie introduces us to it with a very delicate touch.
The 1h 50 min movie is a discussion on love. Probably I would have raved about it had I watched it in my early 20’s but it was a lovely watch nonetheless in my late 40’s.
Will read you later!
From August 3.
Dear @GB, of course I will!
I might be in a kind of solitary mood, would like to think that I am only enriching my life so I can appreciate even more our time together with everyone.
It is what it is. My part of Caracas has been very quiet until folks starts banging their pots (cacerolazos). I lent my copy of “Millenium” by Tom Holland to my next door neighbor and friend. It is a book about the history and happenings of Western Europe from roughly the year 800 to the declaration of the First Crusade in 1095. The Humilliation of Canossa that Mr. Holland describes as the moment where Church and State separated speaks to me differently at this crossroad: it is a question on what makes a leader legitimate or not, where its legitimacy resides and what can be the consequences of not fulfilling his/her role properly.
I still have to type on my computer, but my notebook and fountain pens are getting lots of use 😉
From August 8.
Dear Friends, how have you been?.
At this moment my comment counter stops at 18 (BTW Kalispera from my side of the World dear @Cleo!!! – hope your cough gets better dear @GB!!! – Yes @Fern, what I fear the most about the future is the past still lurking to drag us down the same paths again). My guess is that I am having problems with Cookies or a rogue configuration – I know my Community is lovingly chatty – but asking @PkMl3 is not out of line and also, Hello!!!
I still have to end “Byoshitsu de Nembutsu o Tonaenaide Kudasai (2020)” (I am 8 episodes in out of 10) about a Doctor in the Accidents and Emergencies Department of his Hospital who is also a Buddhist Monk, and is one of the smartest and thought-provoking series I have watched in a while. What is a good person and what to do to live fully and without regrets in the face of death are questions pondered in this show. If you want to watch it, please be aware that it does not flinch from showing evil so be prepared.
Watched also “Koe Girls (2018)” about Seiyuu (voice) actresses, their world and how to success in it. Found it lovely and would recommend as a low stakes, funny and relaxing watch.
Now I will see if my comment gets published and how many of your voices will appear in front of me 😉
Hope to read you soon!!!
Moving @Fern’s comment here. -pm3
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Got it, @FGB4877, just before heading to bed. Stay safe. Thank you for your comments – always inspiring to me. I hope I can find your “Byoshitsu…” You and your countrymen are in my thoughts and prayers.
Moving @GB’s comment here. – pm3
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Hello there dear @FGB! The comment count should be 21 after this comment of mine is posted.
I am still recovering slowly from the cough and doing quite well. It’s back to high humidity today after a heavy downpour. I thought the rain would wash the mugginess away!
I’m still in the throes of the sentiments whipped up by Lost You Forever. I am reading only the last few translated chapters of the novel and having the feels once again. The script for the show simplified the novel in terms of the number of extra characters, but it did it well. I’m glad to say that the novel did highlight more sentiments than we might have been able to see in the Show. It gave added understanding and appreciation, but even without reading any of it, the Show succeeded in making me feel so much.
Moving @FGB4877’s post here. –pm3
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Dear @GB, happy to read you are getting better. Hope the mugginess subsides, sweating is needed to keep body temperature where it should. Please keep a spray of fresh water nearby!. Also a good insulating water bottle with lots of ice.
Thankfully my Post appeared now along yours, so it simply was that there were no new Posts since two days ago and yours truly assumed a technical problem… ^_^U <— smiling character trying and failing to hide its embarrasment. Maybe I should consider watching Lost You Forever. I tend to avoid Chinese Dramas as I consider them Dictatorship propaganda and also a numbing agent for the masses. It is exactly the form of entertainment I dread the most as it is directed to people like me and I fear I might lose myself in its lullaby. Most probably I am assuming too much and missing a lot of gems.
Thank you for your thoughtful gesture @pkml3!!! What a wonderful idea!
My Dear @FGB, rest assured that I think about you and pray for you and your country. May you be able to carry on creating and writing, and may you draw much comfort from the process.
I find that using pen on paper gives me more time to ruminate and allow the thought processes to develop better. However, I am impatient to put my thoughts down before I forget them, and often prefer to type (on a big keyboard, not on a small device!)
As I forget faster than I can type or write, I find myself putting down strange words all over the place, to remind myself that I had a certain thought.
As for the many recommendations you have made, I will let you know here when I pick one of them up. I’m actually feeling it’s due time to pick up another jdorama too. After cdramas, kdramas …. I need a break, and jodrama seems to offer the quirky and unusual to add excitement to my viewing.
@FGB4877, I’m glad your neighborhood is relatively peaceful during the tumult in Venezuela. I’m also glad that the exercise of writing is keeping your mind and heart engaged. When you have electricity, is there any music you’re listening to that speaks to your soul at this moment? I recall that you have a deep appreciation for music.
I am maneuvering through a rough patch in my life with music, reading, journaling, praying, Bible study, and communicating with friends. I feel I’m fortunate that difficult circumstances have sharpened my focus on positive things.
@Welmaris. Yes, you’ve hit on one of the best ways to deal with the negative. I’m praying for you too. 🙏
Kalimera my friend @FGB!
I have missed you and now that I read what you have been through, I am kinda sad.
I am happy that you are writing your novel and you are watching Doramas. Do whatever it gives you peace of mind.
I have stopped watching dramas for some time now. Life was too hectic. I had too many deadlines at the office and my plea for an assistant hasn’t been answered.
I have taken some decisions though, and I will start implementing them.
In Athens, we had a lingering heat wave from mid July until the end. It was too hot. The electricity bills are rising all the time. People are using AC and they are waiting for what they will pay for next. After the war in Ukraine all goods are pricey. You go to the supermarket and a few dayss later you will see another price.
I am worried with what I am reading around the world. I do hope we will overcome this too. I am an optimistic and I guess we need to be brave, even though some cannot. (Channelling my inner Jeong Tae Eul(!) from TKEM.)
It is good to know that my B.o.D friends are okay. Stay safe @FGB!
We live in interesting times, let us be each other’s light.
Whenever you want someone to talk to you, just come here…
@Packmule3 thank you for this thread! <3
August the 4th was my Birthday. Did not want to make ripples but even without asking, I am getting this marvelous gift!
Last year it was “Shitsuren Meshi”. Maybe out Buddhist Monk will convince someone.
Or just a place to talk.
@Welmaris, it is always good to find time for yourself. Time with the Lord is time well-invested with the best of Friends. If you can use this time to develop yourself, then this season of your life can be one of the best!
@GB, Thanks for your Prayers! Get better soon. Also there is kind of a connection between writing informally (notebook) vs. typing in the computer. The computer file feels kind of a finished product, so it can make you more timid in exploring ideas.
Kalimera dear @Cleo, we had an hyperinflation from 2017 to 2019. Those were hard times. What kind of saved us was to buy important things (kitchen utensils, clothes, etc.) with the best quality available and while we could afford them once we noticed. Our exodus was starting so there were a lot of folks selling for cheap what they spent a lifetime to acquire, and we could get some nifty things for pennies. Acquiring tools for fork was a priority, or collectables to sell in an emergency.
Some of the best pants I have comes from an open flea market in “Prados del Este”, a rather posh zone South East in Caracas. Also my collection of fountain pens comes from flea markets, and as I am an User not a Collector I don’t really need mint pieces, so I can negotiate even better prices.
Yes, even in Hyperinflation it is good to buy something to remember you that you are going through a rough patch… but it just an event, everyone around you is going through the same and you should do your best to keep your happiness and an eye on the horizon.
Food was a problem we were expecting, so by having a stockpile of non-consumable items we could have free hands for medicines (stockpiled on those too) for mum and also for food and everyday expenses.
Please be flexible, what is happening to you is not abnormal and it has happened over and over again, so there are guidelines.
Happy Belated Birthday @FGB!! This is indeed a lovely birthday present to receive. One that keeps on giving way after one’s birthday!!
You give good advice about preparing for further rising prices and shortages. The question did come up about when one should start preparing. For some things, better earlier than late.
Comments doesn’t appear. About two hours ago I wrote a comment for @Cleo about surviving Hyperinflation. Guess there is a lag after all!
The comment of hyperinflation is there, @FGB4877.
It was great that you had the foresight to stockpile necessary provisions like medicine.
You must have thought us Americans ludicrous when we rushed the stores to get our hands on toilet paper (TOILET PAPER!) during Covid. We had a friend who owned a company cleaning office buildings. Since offices were closed, he opened his warehouse to people who wanted to stock up on toilet paper and cleaning supplies (Lysol, hand soap, etc.). But he warned us that the toilet paper weren’t the plush sort so some delicate buttocks had to make do with roughness. 😂😂😂
Happy Birthday @FGB5877! May all your birthday wishes come true! I am keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers, @FGB4877. I hope that things will improve soon for Venezuela.
I am glad that you have doramas and your writing to give you solace and support. Take care of yourself, dear. We are all thinking of you.
Dear @PackMule3, thanks a lot for this thread!!!
I still remember that Toilet paper was the first “crisis” we had back in 2008. At that moment I was starting my Master’s Degree and had my favourite booth in the Library. At some point Toilet Paper dissapeared (had my Bachelor’s Degree at the same University – it had never happened before) and I had to bring a harsh roll from home.
So Toilet Paper was the very first thing to become scarce, one of the oh so many to come. I could relate. On the other hand yours was a scarcity driven by nervous purchases, not a production and supply failure, so I knew you would eventually be OK.
I stayed back here even if aging was pushing me out of Doctoral Fellowships due to my mom being an asthmatic person and out of worry for both her food and her medicines. At some point during the hyperinflation period we became so poor that had to rely on rationing supplies, that had to be purchased by the ending number of our ID.
Imagine start making a line at 4:30 AM skipping water rationing, not knowing if you would get you 4 kilos of rice, your 4 kilos of precooked corn flour (for arepas), your 4 kilos of pasta (bad quality Vermicelli) and your 2 kilos of white sugar. It was a hellish time, thankfully our folks are funny and full of dark humour, so waiting in line was akin to what children do where they make a friend for a day. Sometimes the rationing was less than that. I had to ask permission from work to arrive late, our bosses understood and sometimes they themselves were subjected to the same forces.
Memory is merciful, both those times and also the COVID era are slowly getting behind me.
Thankfully my sister was able to eventually pull mom out to Florida where both of them live now.
As you can imagine yes, those memories are nightmare fuel, but there was also a lots of jokes and a lot of laughter in between. I don’t know if it was collective resilience or just the companionship of being all in the same boat.
hello @FGB4877,I am hoping beyond hope that conditions improve for you.i also hope that you continue to have K Dramas and Asian dramas in general to offer you some respite from issues beyond your control. words don’t seem to work but you are in my prayer s
@FGB, I recall you mentioned before how you line up for hours and had many good conversations and shared laughs with your fellow sufferers. It is always a source of hope that we human beings can unite and share even in the midst of scarcity and suffering. May your conditions improve while the goodness of the human spirit remain strong. 🙏
Generally speaking us Latin American folks laugh off our miseries. It is kind of a source of humour.
When water failed to come (we receive water two days a week to our building – a week skip puts us in a bad place) during the wet season I still remember taking photos of me filling up a water bucket with rainwater in our parking lot besides a car with an “OM” Sanskrit letter and putting a thumbs-up sign. I think I wrote about it here.
As a bonus that day I greeted a person that happened to be one of my neighbor’s nephew on his wife’s side that was staying at my friend’s home, he gave me permission to fill my bucket over my friend’s car. We bonded over the love of videogames and especially The Legend of Zelda franchise, so that day I got an update on my old friend and also made (inherited?) a new one.
Dear @PackMule3, how do you upload photos? XD XD XD XD XD XD
Dear @OAL, I always ask folks to complain in full force, but also to count their blessings. Both things are sorely needed.
@Welmaris, we don’t usually get blackouts in Caracas. Sometimes it happens and 3-4 hours later it comes back. There are several places more prone than others, like my very own part and a patch of the guetto near us that is basically the same size and shape everytime. Before elections they had a blackout and I could hear them screamning “MADURO MoFo!!!!!!!!” from half a kilometer. It is a National Sentiment at this point XD XD XD XD XD
@FGB, I don’t upload photo directly into BOD, but I place them in google drive and put a link to them here. You may want to try that. 🙂
@FGB, wishing you a blessed birthday, albeit belated! News on Venezuela appeared on the local news last evening, and I thought about you. My thoughts are with you and your family. Please take care!
Happy belated Birthday, @FGB4877. Now you have me thinking of creative ways to capture rain water using plastic bags or tarpaulins that funnel into a smaller container.
I know it’s not funny, but more like a survival show. There would be no point sending Venezuelan’s on such a show because they would surely be too experienced to lose! I hope that things can ease up soon. It’s very good that your mother could go to your sister in Florida. I pray that they are doing well there.
Belated Happy Birthday Dear @FGB! 🎂🥳
You are a good person and you have a good soul, God bless you. I’ll pray for you and you’re countrymen. 🙏🏼 Everyday I pray for world peace, I wonder if it will ever happen. Positive, always positive. 🙏🏼
Thank you for your jdorama recommendations. It’s great that you’re enjoying it a lot. ☺️ My last one was First Love.
Belated happy birthday @FGB!
I hope and pray things will get better in your country. Keep on writing and taking respite in the arts. They definitely sustain us in the tough times.
Similar to Latin America, Filipinos also use humor to deal with disasters and life’s miseries in general. 😁
Take care!
To all of you experiencing hardships in your respective countries, I hope youfind some comfort here at BOD. We may not be able to help materials, but I hope we can serve as an outlet where you find empathy and camaraderie. We live in a world filled with awful happenings but at the same time there’s lots of good. Sending you prayers and good thoughts for better times.
@Janey, it is a pleasure to read from a kindred soul! We live more limited lives given our lack of money yet since we have each other it kind of compensates.
Dear @OAL, this Community was instrumental for me to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. That is what I expressed last year during my Birthday. It was a celebration of the life I didn’t give up during the darkest of times. Having each other is a gift!
Going through political and economical decay these 25 years, scarcity first that at least escalated slowly, then hyperinflation, then COVID-19 was hard… but at least we were subjected to the same forces and that produced a very special spirit, that of comradery. At this moment we have a lot of loved ones abroad and our chances of being in the same space again are almost none. We also collective miss our family and friends.
Last year we saw “Shitsuren Meshi” as my Birthday gift that was so good that even @PackMule3 chimed in and enjoyed it a lot, just like @GB did.
Hope we can find a watch that is suitable to all of us. Personally I didn’t finish “Hatsukoi”, so it can be an easier watch.
What would you like to see?
@FGB4877 just piping up to let you know that I am thinking about you amidst the uncertainty and turmoil your country is experiencing. Your love of jdramas and kind thoughtful voice are part of what makes this blog such a wonderful place. Hopefully you will be able to gather with your loved ones in the future. Sending prayers for strength!
@Cleo, I have heard about fires in Greece. You OK?
Hello @FGB4877,
I’m sorry, I missed to visit bod website these past few weeks, and I am so sorry for what you have been through. I ever heard the story about my friend’s colleague that come from Venezuela, and from a long ago when I learned about the story, my prayer have been with your people in your country.
On the other side, it is a challenging time in our world. With what happened in this world. Be it from my own country, or from other countries. I felt that this is such a crazy era. Yet, we survived so far, and I thought that we live in a very important time of future history.
It is so inspiring that you and your folks could use humor, laugh off from our own miseries. In my country we sometimes do that too. I have discussed about this with my friends, and we think that it is part of our own coping mechanism from what happened with us. The part where we can laugh, means that, we somehow still find the light in our heart. The source of our strength to live.
I am interested to read your novel too.. is it in english?
if there is a way to buy a copy, please let me know. I would recommend your book to my friends in my bookclub too!
I hope you find your solace, while immersed in the creative process of writing your own book.
P.S: thank you for your list of jdorama. I will make a note about it.
I don’t remember if I ever write this in bod, but Jdorama was a door-opener for me, to enter this amazing realm of my love with drama, kdrama, asian drama in general. I remember that I was crazy for all of Takuya Kimura projects, I also become someone who really into Japanese lives, dreaming about going there and live there.. and now Takuya Kimura has a daughter who looks like very similar to him, and about to start her career in film industry too. Wow, I am too old.
Hi FGB, I feel close to you, as I spent so much time on story structure. By the way, I continue to spend time because I’m rewriting the kdrama and each episode needs a new outline. Of course, it’s more easy, thanks to the new idea files and previous draft.
About your novel, you give a number of pages, but please, give a number of words instead. Recently, I was agree with a writer for a script swap, 4 pages.
Only, it was a scam for me! I gave 4 pages of screenplay (my short: The Stag and the Owl), but the novel draft was in number of words equal to a 14 pages of screenplay!
So, screenplays and novels are really different, about density of the content. I would get a more accurate idea of what is your novel if you give a number of words. You can use various websites where you can copy-paste your text, and it gives you the number of words.
Next, unless you want to sell it, think about to make your novel available on internet, so anyone can read it. But maybe, before, wait some time and check if you want to rewrite some parts. Writing is rewriting. 😉
Nothing more to say, because it would be geopolitics, and it’s in the rules here to not speaking about politics. Of course, in private message, I could.
Some notes: about number of words or pages. One screenplay page is ONE minute on screen. But as I use a korean format, I have to calculate differently. So I found out that: 40 minutes screentime is 8000 words. Most of the time, 1000 lines on my notepad soft.
Dear @MoonStar, sometimes what scares me about the future is the past waiting to jump on us next corner. We people think that we are more enlightened than past generations, when the absolute truth is that we have been momentarily lifted from some of the circumstances our forefathers had to deal with. The causes are still there and ready to come back.
Dear Bro @WEnchanteur, definitely would love to sell it. Need money to get out of here as these are times for merchants, not for Engineers nor Industrialists, even less Scholars that I am still thriving to become in my late 40’s. I am stuck here.
At this moment I am writing in “Caraqueño” slang Spanish (lets say “Parisian French” as an analogue) as it is mostly aimed to our Diaspora, at least for now. I have idea after idea after idea that gets written in notebooks and slowly drips in the Word archive.
What I have found is that I am writing both on the experience of becoming middle-aged as much as the friends and family that are no longer part of our everyday lives as they left earlier. Also the things that used to be normal occurrences that are a memory or an unexpected luxury. The politics and geopolitics are only the background.
I don’t know how to PM you, but dear @GrowingBeautifully has my data and would like to read from you. If she is in contact with you she can send you my e-mail. Please be aware that I tend to let e-mails simmer for a while before I answer them. Also I live through interesting times with all that entails.
Hope you will not be disappointed.
@FGB,
Kalo mesimeri. I apologize for my late response, but I am a bit off grid for the past two weeks, as you have realized.
I am okay, don’t worry. Yes, there were fires in Attica, but it was not near the town I live, and I was not around at that time.
Still, it is awful and I am a bit sad and mad at the same time, because a person died and the forest was burned along with animals and houses, schools and other building in the areas affected.
I haven’t read any other comment you made, I just saw the email notification of your comment from last week and I came to answer on B.o.D.
I will return gradually on BoD and I will answer to you about hyperinflation too.
<3
@Cleopatra, Just a few words to hope that life gets better for you and that the fires die down and hyperinflation eases. We live with lots of unsettling occurrences. I hope that you get through them and become stronger.
Dear @Cleo, Kalispera from this side of the World! Hope my post on surviving hyperinflation gives you an idea or two, as I am a reluctant veteran on this topic 😉
Summer is summer and regrettably fires are part of the season. Thankfully you are safe but just to be safe please take precautions. In that regard I am not a veteran (thankfully) so I can only wish you the best.
As a sidenote, do you have any proposal for a watch? Lately my tastes diverge from the Forum yet I am open to recommendations, something I can share with you all!
Dear Bro @WEnchanteur, today my file has 34,976 words. Will work on it in a minute!
@FGB. Then you are too short for a novel. 60k to 80k words (can be more), and minimum 40k. It makes you have a novella. But I don’t advice to put more just for the sake to put more. If you rework it, you’ll probably trim the fat and get even less. And one of my philosophical tip about writing is “less is more”.
If you publish it, probably you need an extra novella with it. You can maybe self-publish on amazon, then the size doesn’t matter because you put a price according to the size.
Now your text is equivalent to 3 episodes of kdrama of one hour each. It could be a short drama like “page turner” for example, if it was screenplay style.
Thank you @WEnchanteur!!!
Yes it needs a lot more. Characters keep flowing in as does ideas.
I have moved from that number but even so slightly. Lately it seems that all the action goes into my notebook and fountain pens rather than the actual Word archive.
Last month and a half (BTW sorry for the late reply!!!) have been very political here and my writing reflects it. Hell, even the situation has percolated into my dreamscape!
Always looking forward to read your comments,
FGB