Togetherness in FloE-rIIi-dah

Brian and Joy were once in Florida, they were sitting on their Grandmother's back porch stuck with the common contemplation that they had little, or rather, nothing to do. When such contemplations as these occur, one must muse until he or she encounters a brilliant idea. Having these grandiose aspirations, it is with great anticipation that we bring you the "Bri-oy Holiday Lists of Meaningless Activities". Graciously sponsored by Brian's blog and the void of activity in a certain region of FL.

BRI-OY HLoMA

(1) Go to Walmart and stream orange juice from the bathroom door around the store in a non-interrupted stream.

(2) If you are at a place that for some inconceivable reason does not have a Walmart, petition for one.

(3) If neither 1 or 2 is available... try just using the bathroom for a very long time. Follow this up by seeing how many times you can sing Happy Birthday while washing your hands before going insane.

(4) Try helping a certain technology-feeble member of your family check their email via dial-up Juno... if this is not challenging enough, try downloading a docx file on a non-vista computer.

(5) Take long (and I mean L-O-N-G) walks, in which you get so lost that it takes you 2 hours just to find your way out of the nearby golf course.

(6) Clip your toenails.... or if you are really desperate for time-consumption, just file them until they are at an acceptable length.

(7) And if you are really, really, really bored.... incessantly text all your somewhat tolerant friends (DD this is for you) until they feel so sorry for you that they call back.

(8) Watch football. And by this I don't just mean one or two games, watch all the re-runs until your eyebrows are falling out and your eyes are bleeding.

(9) If you happen to be in an elderly living community, see how many people you can get to discuss their daily bowel functioning with you (believe me, you won't have to try hard).

(10) Keep hiding your parent's toothpaste so that you make it out of the house at least once every other day to go to the store.

(11) Eat like no other. Then go running/walking/swimming to shed every calorie. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

(12) If a certain male-gendered person in your family snores, see if you can find the beat.... set it to Chopin's Minute-Waltz for the next 60 mins.

(13) Try to swallow your tongue.... a fairly harmless (due to the unlikeliness) activity

(14) Have a water gargling contest. Put a glassful of water in your mouth and see how long you can keep gargling for. Extra points for loud and amusing gargling noises, minus points if you laugh.

(15) Buy a harmonica.... maybe your family will send you home sooner.

OK, all kidding aside, we are really having a GREAT time! Grandma's new place is beautiful, and the weather is just lovely. We are excited about the many activities planned for the week and truthfully we are looking forward to some physically challenging ones to work of these calories. Love and miss you all!

You never know how the Lord is working....

I had a very good conversation with Mr. Bob (CEF Director) the other day I thought I would share with you all!

I remember before I started working with CEF, I was thinking that I had not really done much in my life to share the Gospel of Jesus with other people. The Lord convicted me of this, and I asked the Lord if he would show me a ministry I could get involved in. I remember one day getting a call from Mr. Bob asking if I was interested in helping him...that is how I got involved with CEF!

The other day, I got to talk to Mr. Bob about what his thoughts were when he called me and asked me if I wanted to be a missionary! See, I had always thought Mr. Bob was just a bold person in general! This is a guy, after all, who has gotten free food at the state fair, got free gas, got me a free compressor and compressor mount to fix my car....basically, Mr. Bob never has a problem asking anyone for anything! Surely, he would have no problem calling up someone he had not seen in about 8 years and asking them to be a missionary with CEF! Mr. Bob actually was a bit nervous the first time he called me! He only called me because he found my phone number somewhere and the Lord told him to call me and ask me to work with CEF! Is it not cool how God had things planned out for the both of us?

I think the biggest blessing CEF has given me is to see the Lord working, especially when he uses you to do something amazing! Sometimes, you see the Lord using you immediately; other times, you find out how you made a difference in someone's life years afterwards. All I can say is that God is great, not just in 2008! :D

Merry Christmas!

The Government is like Santa!

It sees you when your sleeping!

It knows when you're awake!

It knows when you've been bad or good,

so be good for goodness sake!

Written by  '83rocketscientist' on December 17, 2008!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ok...I was trying to find ways to perfect my resume writing skills and came across this.... If this is too long for you to read, at least read the performance evaluations at the bottom!

This list of excerpts from people's resumes was printed in Forbes magazine.

1. "I demand a salary commiserate with my extensive experience."
2. "I have lurnt Word Perfect 6.0 computer and spreadsheet programs."
3. "Received a plague for Salesperson of the Year."
4. "Reason for leaving last job: maturity leave."
5. "Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions."
6. "Failed bar exam with relatively high grades."
7. "It's best for employers that I not work with people."
8. "Let's meet, so you can 'ooh' and 'aah' over my experience."
9. "You will want me to be Head Honcho in no time."
10. "Am a perfectionist and rarely if ever forget details."
11. "I was working for my mom until she decided to move."
12. "Marital Status: single. Unmarried. Unengaged. Uninvolved. No commitments."
13. "I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse."
14. "I am loyal to my employer at all costs. Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail."
15. "I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely no one and absolutely nothing."
16. "My goal is be a meteorologist. But since I possess no meteorology, I suppose I should try stock brokerage."
17. "I procrastinate, especially when the task is unpleasant."
18. "Personal interests: donating blood. Fourteen gallons so far."
19. "As indicted, I have over five years of analyzing investments."
20. "Instrumental in ruining entire organization for a Midwest Chain store."
21. "Note: Please don't misconstrue my 14 jobs as 'job-hopping'. I have never quit a job."
22. "Marital Status: often. Children: various."
23. "Reason for leaving last job: They insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 am every morning. I couldn't work under those conditions."
24. "The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers."
25. "Finished eighth in my class of ten."
26. "References: none. I've left a path of destruction behind me."

Excerpts from actual performance evaluations:

1. "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.
2. "His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity."
3. "I would not allow this employee to breed."
4. "This associate is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won't be."
5. "Works well under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap."
6. "When she opens her mouth, it seems that this is only to change whichever foot was previously in there."
7. "He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle."
8. "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."
9. "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."
10. "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."
11. "This employee should go far - and the sooner he starts the better."

41-10

CEF Good News Rally

One last crazy picture from the fair

I ran the sticky wall ride you see in the background of this picture. Basically, you put on a velcro suit, you jump (or in some cases, get thrown) against a velcro wall and you stick. My favorite part is pulling you off the wall and body-slamming you on the inflatable. Don't worry, no kids got hurt....

Puppets

I posted this picture because I tried to give these police officers some ballons at the end of the event.....

~342 people attended....

This face should be familiar....

Another hopefully familiar face.....

EXTRA EXTRA....CEF event in your area....

A princess casting a spell on me!

Just another picture of me and a friend I made at the state fair!

What I did at the state fair....

Some of us go to the fair for the rides....some of us go to the fair to eat food (aka Carrol and Katie). Other people go to the fair to do something much more important!!! Before I tell you what I did, let me introduce you to some friends I made at the fair...there is one more friend....but I do not have a picture of her yet! This is as bad as watching dragon tales isn't it Elizabeth?

Anyways...I helped tell the wordless book at the fair. I gave several presentations and even helped some of the students at Wake Christian learn how to share the wordless book!!!! One girl I worked with was very excited because someone got saved the second or third time she presented! It is always a pleasure to see someone suceed. I also had some sucess leading someone to the Lord so I was happy about that as well...I am going to the fair tomorrow to teach sommore Wake Christian students and hopefully get the chance to tell others about Jesus...your prayers would be appreciated!

How to look for a job interview....

A little bit of bling always helps (sunglasses)

Have a "ready to talk business" look

What has God done in your life lately?

One of the things I have always struggled with is sharing my faith in Jesus with others. Yes, I have told other children about Jesus through CEF, but I tend to freeze when I am around a group of adults, especially people who are my age! Since I have been convicted by this to a certain extent, Daniel and I have prayed about this in the Bible study we have been having.

So check this out....I was on my way out the door and over heard two people talking how the engineers they work for are such jerks! Of course, I had to get a piece of this conversation! When I was able to get in a word, I told them that I agreed that most engineers are jerks and that I also had first hand experience with this! I continued by saying one thing that keeps me humble about being an engineer is that I know God is the one that gave me the ability to get through the engineering program in the first place. I can't take credit for that!

Second, I was working yesterday, when I talked to a guy and his girlfriend. I asked him what kind of music he listened to and he said classic rock along with Contemporary Christian music! I told him I listened to Christian music as well and asked him some specific questions on what kind of Christian music he liked and what church he went to. I suppose that this does not technically count as sharing your faith; however, you could call this a "moral victory" since I was not embarrassed to ask him these questions and answer many of the same questions he had for me. After our conversation, I noticed that this guy and his girlfriend were talking to someone else while pointing their finger in my direction.

While I can only speculate as to what they were talking about, I am almost certain that they were saying something like....we were talking to this dude and guess what? We found out that he is a Christian! How cool is that? And most of us know that when you randomly meet people, the percentage of those people who are serious Christians is pretty low! :D

So while I am certainly not an expert at sharing my faith, I honestly hope that this is the beginning of a good change.... when I feel like saying something Christian that I would say it and not be afraid!

How could God send a good person to hell?

I often hear about how hateful it is that christians believe that God would send someone like Gandhi to hell. After all, Gandhi was a good man...probably better then most of us...so how is God justified in sending a man like that to hell?

The problem with our society is that we use the wrong yard stick to measure if a person is good or not. We have a tendency to use the human yard stick in which we compare ourselves to others around us. For example, I don't smoke pot or have premarital sex like these other people are doing, so I am a good person. By comparing Gandhi to the other people around us, yeah, he is a pretty good person.

However, if we use God's yardstick as defined in the Bible, even Gandhi comes way short. There is no comparison if one were to try to compare Gandhi to a righeous and holy God. When we use that yard stick, we see that God is justified. Using this yard stick in our own lives will allow us not to be satisfied by being better then the people around us...but to never be satisfied because in this life, no one will ever be as perfect, righeous, and holy as God.

I thought I would end this post with a few of my favorite quotes form Gandhi!

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
"Be the change you want to see in the world"
"I like their Christ but I don't like their Christians"

Beware of the jedi mind trick!

My visit with Joy

Carrying stuff for our picnic!

We discussed the physics of this marble ball suspended by a cushion of water!

Getting White Coated


Joy and Joy (aka Bundle of Joy)

All the fish....

Well...since Joy has posted twice about my visit with her....I suppose it is my duty as a brother to post something as well....

All sarcasm put aside, the visit was very very good. Joy was not with me the first couple of days because she had to go to a conference in Virgina. Therefore, the first couple of days were a mite boring; however, I did bring my xbox with me and my computer and a couple of DVD's. So....I got through that stage ok. In addition, a few of Joy's friends invited me to eat ice cream with them one night which was very nice! I must say that meeting Joy's school friends was a pleasant suprise. Some of them are believers or seem to have some kind of moral standing which is really great compared to most of the engineering people that I had to deal with going through school.

In Joy's blog, Joy points out that I made friends with a friend of her's husband (say that ten times fast!). That is because he is an engineer and (if you will permit me to insert a little more sarcasm here) he can actually talk on my level! As a matter of fact, several of Joy's church friends are engineers! I even met an aspiring rocket scientist! Now that is a first for me....going to a church where there is more then one rocket scientist!!!!

On Sunday, we went out to eat with many of these people where you could get a steak sandwich with just meat and bread. I have since discovered that Texans do not have sophisticated taste like we North Carolina people do! One of Joy's friends rightly pointed out that barbecue in NC is the best; however, when presented with the idea of putting coleslaw and chilly on his barbecue sandwich, he said he would not try something like that! Therefore, the tastes of Texans have not yet evolved to that of us North Carolina people!

Later, we did more shopping because Joy lost her cell phone, because I need to eat, and because Joy wanted to get more fish to add to the ones I had gotten her. At the end of our visit, we went to a butterfly museam. While waiting for Joy to take a picture of every single butterfly, I couldn't help but think that Noah would really enjoy something like that! Just an idea for you Martha.... I think the best part of the visit, was the time Joy and I spent talking about how things are with her and about our family in general! It was very nice to get to do that.

Cars Cars Cars!

Aston Martin Vanquish

Jaguar XKR (old model)

Audi TT

Jaguar xkr

Those of you who know me know I love cars! So....here is something fun I thought I would do! Here are some cars I like....you guys can tell me which one looks the best or if you have your own car you think looks good. The cars in the pictures above have simple curves yet they still look stunning, which is typically the kind of car I think looks good...simply beautiful! A complicated look would be like a Lamborgini Murcelago....the back end just looks too complex....or a Ferrari F50.

A couple of basketball stories!

Well, tonight I played basketball (thanks Martha and Mike for letting me play!) and there I met 2 much older people...someone brought up what I was doing this summer (working on my master's thesis) and soon the information came out that I am indeed a rocket scientist.

I often get a lot of praise from older people for sticking with school and doing something so difficult. I think seeing kids accomplish a lot in their education is something older people hold dear because they see the value of education in terms of getting a job that has true meaning and impact instead of working at a restaurant or working outside constantly. I suppose when your young, those kind of jobs are not too bothersome but if you do it for 30-40 years....that can be pretty tough! I think what is even tougher is just barely getting bye and not being able to enjoy money or have a difficult time saving for retirement! So I figured I would share that observation...for whatever it is worth :).

On a more humorous note, Mike, the reason why I wanted to play basketball tonight was because at Georgia's wedding, I invited some people to play basketball where I play every Thursday night! Well, a couple of weeks went bye...a couple of months go bye, and today they finally called me up and told me they wanted to play! Because they knew no one there, I felt obligated to go and help smooth things over in terms of them meeting people! :)

Now, I start playing with these guys (most of them are homeschooled I THINK) and it turns out that these guys are REALLY REALLY GOOD! They easily crushed the team I was playing with and eventually they started playing with the "brothers" (yes, a lot of black people play with us!). So, the first two games against the "brothers", my friends won. Now you have to understand that there were so many people there tonight, that after 2 wins, you needed to get off the court and let another team play. Well, the "brothers" were so determined to beat these white kids, that they told them to stay on the court! Unfortunately, my friends lost the third game...so the chaos could not continue...nevertheless...it was interesting to observe!

To fully appreciate the humor here, you have to realize that a bunch of white home schoolers BEAT a bunch of "brothers"! After all, black people are supposed to be very good at sports and white men can't jump! Apparently, memorizing bible verses and obeying our parents are not the only things us homeschoolers are good at!

Superheros quiz!

Ok...for those of you who like quizes, here is one for you to tell you what superhero and supervillan you are!

I apparently am most like superman: "You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others".

I actually think that is pretty accurate! Here is the link: http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/
There is also one for supervillians: http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/villain/

I got Mr Freeze...apparently "You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally"!

Let me know your results!

The Human Brain is truely amazing!

Have you guys thought about how the human brain interprets color? More specifically, how it can see patterens of colors and identify objects based on these patterens! Here is a great example of how wonderful the human brain is. Have you ever looked at a picture of someone when they were a child...and thought...I know who that is! Your brain has somehow recongnized certain patterens or certin similarities that have not changed with age based on the colors your eyes see.

So what has made me think such strange and crazy thoughts!!! Well, my thesis envolves taking taking a video of a ball, and finding and identifiying the particular sections of color placed on the ball! My code is in the final stages of development and now is so complicated that it takes a whole hour to identify the necessary patches on 10 frames of video!

Let me put some perspective on this value. Think of a frame as an image. Most movies you watch display about 25-30 images a second, or frames per second. Your brain manages to process these sequential images in one second. Furthermore, your brain can identify that an object in this 'video' is a flower, a picture, a friend, or a globe simply based on the colors your eyes see! Contrast this to the code I have written. It processes only 10 frames every hour! I can only find the colors on the ball for very specifically defined cases!

Well if you understand what I have said...or you are still reading this...you are to be praised. Turns out, this problem is a very difficult yet important problem. You guys have seen irobot with the robots walking around, sitting on a couch, or firing a weapon. A robot MUST know how to take a sequence of colors and identify shapes and objects in order to find the couch to sit on, walk to a destination, or aim a weapon. This, to me, is the most important problem in artificial intellegence, even more difficult then programing behaviors!

So what is the point? It has just been a good reminder that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! I don't know how God figured this stuff out....but he did a pretty good job!

Why do people always remember who I am?

Ok...this post is going to be a wierd one...but who cares...I am overdue for another post anyways!

I seriously want to know why people remember who I am? I am asking this here because I suspect some of you guys create a pretty memorable first impression as well...and people never forget you! Does are sheltered past really stick out like a sore thumb that much? :)

Anyways, I asked my sister this question! She said that people always remember someone who always avoids eye contact and talks with a very monotone voice! NICE!

I then told her about a recent trip to the pharmacy! Those people always remember who I am! I only visit them about once every two months or something like that and my face, one would think, would be lost in the sea of eldely people they see at least every two weeks!

So here I will redeem my sister some! She then told me that people always remember someone who is tall and handsome! All I am going to say about that is I know my siblings give me a lot more credit in the "looks" department then I deserve!

So I put forth the question: are you guys suprised at how people can always remember who you are? If you are, why do you think this is the case?

Be nice to all women!!!!

Today I was working with the inflatables where me and another guy were operating a ride called the bungie run! A good lookin young lady walked up, I explained some basics about the ride, and told her to pick a side to enter in on. She picked my side and I was about ready to go attach a harness on her when the other guy helping me almost jumped in front of me so he could hook the harness on her.

So what is the big deal? Well, guys should treat all girls equal unless they are interested in someone or want to date someone of the opposite gender! Hot girls should not get any special treatment whatsoever! Personally, I equate this with discrimmination! All we are doing is going the extra mile for someone who is attractive, and ignoring or maybe making fun of someone who we may not find attractive. Odviously, if I did this based on if someone was black or white, I would probably be in jail or something like that!

Unfortunately, this behavior is destroying our society! Girls feel like they MUST look attractive, if they don't, they feel like they will never get a boyfriend! So girls engage in all kinds of unhealthy behavior...not eating, thinking they are fat all the time, and spending too much time in front of the mirror in the morning! Most stick thin girls I know think they are fat....IT'S STUPID!

I haven't gotten to the most discouraging part of the whole situation yet, and that is respect! I am having trouble putting this in an appropriate way....this guy wanted to put this harness on her so that he could get as 'close' to her as he possibly could!

So what, he was about ready to jump in front of you...it's not a big deal...just let it go. Ladies and gentlemen, and especially you gentlemen, I see this behavior all the time. I see it in the people that I work with, people I go to school with, and even complete strangers...most men are obsessed ONLY with how a girl looks and nothing else. This is truely sad!

I suppose the best thing for me to do what to let him hook the harness on her...if he makes a move in any way, I would enjoy watching her husband beat the crap out of him!

Sorry for my rant...Peace Out!

My "Love Life"

I am going to post this against my own better judgement and will get "abused" for posting this...ok here goes:

So I was at carmax today from 10 am to 5 pm getting my car fixed and working on a take home test in the meantime. At about 4:30, the mechanic called me back to discuss what was wrong with my car! Apparently, while I was gone, a girl must have looked at my homework because when I got back she asked, "what kind of math is that?" I replied, "It is finite element analysis for partial differential equations"...and the conversation ended there......

I am sure none of you will listen to me when I say that she was just interested in what I was doing and the class I was taking....as I have been telling you...if you guys want to know more about my quote on quote "love life" all you will be reading is a book of empty pages!

Had a good weekend!

I have had a good weekend!

First, I went with Mr. Bob to help him with a wordless book/moonbounce event at a church. Needless to say, the time was great! I made so many new little friends...one even accepted Jesus for the first time when I shared the wordless book!

Anyways, I saw Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed again with my parents and Daniel! All of them enjoyed this movie so it is not for the "aerospace technical gismo minded people"! I still marvel at how somehow this movie has made it into our theaters so WATCH IT! Take my word for it...it's good!

ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!! Watch the top video first...then the next video!

CEF easter club

This is not even half of the people that showed up with motorcycles!

The National Guard came as well!

Children with their Easter Baskets!

That's a lot of easter baskets to hand out!

And of course, what is easter without the Easter bunny....excuse me...what is Easter without Jesus!






A picture of me...not sure that the biker image really fits me!

I make this car look good!








Well guys, here are some pictures of the Easter clubs I helped CEF do. So what is the deal with this event? Well basically we got a bunch of bikers together, we would go to a neighborhood, Mr Bob tells the Easter story, and then a biker would come and hand an Easter basket to a child. Once the biker did this, he would then show the child his motorcycle! Needless to say...this was a very fun and exciting event! Wish yall could have been there...the event was so huge, we had our own police escort!

Q&A

Ok I am due for a new post so here goes....

Five things about me:

What I was doing 10 years ago (1998):
1. Doing Math Homework
2. Flying Model Airplanes
3. Playing 'Smear the Quear' (AND tackling Donte!)
4. Playing Soccer
5. Reading 'Tartuffe'!

Five things on my to-do list today (Today is mostly over so I will tell you what I did!):
1. grade papers
2. change the oil in my car
3. clean the bathroom
4. do the dishes
5. Do some favors for dad

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Cereal
2. Tostinos Hot Pockets
3. Pizza
4. Hamburgers
5. Sausage balls

Five of my bad habits:
1. showing up late
2. eating too much food
3. not putting clean laundry away
4. speaking before I think first
5. acting without thinking

Five places I've lived:
1. Detroit Michigan
2. Raleigh NC


Five jobs I've had:
1. Waiter
2. Cook
3. Dishwasher
4. Evangelist
5. Teaching Assistant

A Confession...

For those of you who never think I get angry, loose my temper, etc... you should have seen me tonight...I was visibly upset tonight playing basketball. I was called for so many cheep little fouls and travels I did get angry! Unfortutely, I have no video, audio, or pictures of this event...which I am sure some of you would be interested in but lets see if I remember some of the things I did:

First:
Since they were calling cheap fouls on me...I started to call my own cheap fouls. A little touch on the palm of my hand while shooting...one guy kinda held back my leg with his while I was shooting...after that, my good friend Ryan told me to stop calling really cheep fouls.

Second:
I score the final winning point in our game and say. "I suppose I traveled, fouled, or double dribbled on that too. Take that!"

Make sure you guys make good friends that watch out for you and keep you from doing something really stupid! Ryan kept me from being a real pain a couple of times during the game and kept my mind focused on winning it! After the game, I apologized to Ryan for my erratic behavior and then asked him if I traveled...etc. Some free advice from me...find a friend you can talk to...ask their advice constantly on things you are not sure about! I know you can't read this blog but thanks Ryan...I owe you!

Finally...something worth posting!

Pictures of our CEF retreat this past weekend!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other day in the NCSU library, I had an interesting experience. Low and behold, I was minding my own business when my studing area was infultrated by a bunch of girls who were english and history majors. Although I was annoyed by the fact that I was studying and they were talking, I did manage to glean some entertainment! Here are a few good quotes/events!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The ingredients in this cup of coffee are caffine, sugar,..., and niacin, which is bad for you!"

"Yeah, niacin is pretty much poison!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I made a 35 out of 50 on my history paper, is that good?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why would you want to go on a cruise to Russia? You might as well take a cruise to North Korea!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, they started passing notes by writing on a piece of paper and making a paper airplane. The plane flew horribly so they had to throw it 5-6 times to get it from one person to the other. I thought about explaining the reason why...too much anhedral...but I figured it wasen't worth my time!

...And Everyone Thinks I Play Video Games Way Too Much...

Now you people know others that take video games more seriously then I do!

Pictures

Well, I haven't posted in a while...and I have nothing to say...so I will post random pictures and comment...enjoy...

Carrie deathly ill!

I think I am going to call someone!

We did some CEF work last week last week....one game we played with the kids was to have them wrap someone up as a mummy....whoever did the best mummy won! That was a fun weekend I wish would never end....but as they say...all good things come to an end!