I've died and gone to Ios =)

So when I first signed on for the Athens-Mykonos-Ios-Santorini itinerary that Dustin and Chaz had mapped out, Ios was the one spot that I wasn't familiar with, at least in passing... It's unsurprising really, though one of the bigger Cyclades islands in terms of geographic area, it's also fairly undeveloped, with a year round population of only ~900 people (though that swells to 10-20,000 each summer), and little development other than smallish family run hotels and similarly owned restaurants... What I didn't know however, is that Ios, though maybe not a household name in the States, is considered something of a party destination throughout most of Europe, with hundreds of Scandinavian college kids and backpackers descending on the island each May-July for extended working vacations, and hordes of Italians and Greeks setting up on the island for the high season of July-August.

Thus for the past five days the four of us have enjoyed relatively cheap food, ridiculously cheap drinks, great beachfront vistas and a college-town atmosphere, all on a relatively rustic-feeling island and with everything in walking distance along one main strip stretching from the port to the village to the main beach. =)

Basically we spent the days laying out at the pool or throwing the pigskin on the beach and the night bouncing through the village, which is a warren of pedestrian alleys connecting bars, clubs, coffee shops and gyro stands... Late nights and late mornings were the norm for the week, but the highlight of the trip was definitely Midsummer Festival which kicked off at 11am this past Friday...

For those of you that have never heard of it, Midsummer Festival is basically a Swedish holiday / all-day drink fest celebrating all things Swedish... think St. Patty's Day and Cinco de Mayo, but celebrated by thousands of young Swedes, Norwegians and Danes, and also Brits, Aussies, Kiwis and Yanks, all of whom wear yellow and blue and pretend to be Swedish for the day... the party was ridiculous. It started in town at a bar called Flames, where everyone showed up early and ready to drink... particularly Bacardi Breezers and Smirnoff Ices... You could buy 5 for 15 Euro and they'd throw in a free Midsummer Festival t-shirt... cue 15 Smirnoff Ices and lot of double-icing. ;) ...BTW, did I mention some Boston girls Iced Dustin totally unprovoked when we were watching the USA-Algeria match-up? This shit is SPREADING!

Anyways, Midsummer Festival was one of the longest days of my life, and thus last night (Saturday night) was an early one by Ios standards, as us guys came home at 2AM to drink some beers on our patio before calling it a night. All in all it was a great trip, and definitely an island I'd go back to some day... It's one of those places where everyone seems to know everyone else... not just the locals, but also the tourists, since many of them are visiting for months at a time and return every summer to their jobs as bartenders, waitresses and doormen... We met a lot of cool tourists, from Dan the Norwegian who comes to Ios for Midsummer every year, to Isabelle and Angie the crazy Swedes that never stopped partying, to a score of fun Aussies, Canadians and Europeans. We also met a lot of great locals, from Big Niko and his Mother who ran our hotel, to Ruth, the saucy but matronly, British woman running our poolside restaurant and catering to a constant influx of hungover and hungry travelers, to Sinead, the Irish-Zambian-Norwegian bar-owner that hosted us every night, to Terry (or Curry as Chaz kept calling him), the 60+ year old British ex-pat who drove us all over the island on our last day giving us the insiders tour of Ios (and regailing us with stories of what the island was like in the 60s and 70s), all told with loving reverence for "the Rock," as he called it, which has been his home for 37 years.

Today however is Sunday... And this morning at 11AM I set sail from Ios with mixed emotions: sad that the Greek portion of my trip is about to be over, but glad that I escaped with my liver in one piece. ;) I now find myself on the mythical island of Santorini, or Thira as the Greeks call it, and having watched the cliffs of Santorini rise up to surround me as we sailed into port this morning, I can understand why some people consider this most beautiful place in the world... The view, not only from the water but also from atop the caldera is truly awe inspiring, and although we've already experienced a bit of price shock after transitioning from the undeveloped Ios to the very commercialized Santorini, I'm nonetheless looking forward to exploring "Honeymoon Island" over the next 48 hours.

Unfortunately Alex left this morning and Charles departs tomorrow, meaning my last day and night will be spent in the every-so-romantic company of Dustin... lucky me. ;)

Tuesday afternoon I fly from Santorini to Prague (via London, of course... courtesy of Easy Jet), where I'll be meeting Mike Taylor for three nights in the Paris of Eastern Europe... Can't wait as I've heard nothing but amazing things of the capital of the Czech Republic.

Till next time, =)
-Tom

Mykonos!

So Friday morning came early as Alex, Dustin, Chaz and I woke up at 4AM to pack up our things and check out of Athens Studios in order to start making our way to Piraeus where we would begin our journey through the Cyclades Islands... And although anyone that knows me can attest that I absolutely detest mornings, this particular morning was redeemed by the fact that the clerk at the hostel was actually watching Game 7 of the NBA finals at the sports bar downstairs, allowing us four Yanks to watch the Lakers win the title just before setting off (shout out to all you Celtic fans out there... I was rooting for you).

Thus at around 6:30 AM our taxi rolled up to the port of Piraeus, which is absolutely enormous (fun fact, apparently Greece controls one third of the world's ships), we found the ticket window and boarded the nicest passenger boat I've ever been on (two stories, plush seats, several bars and hardwood floors). The journey to Mykonos took about three hours, and since I had booked Alex and I's tickets, and Dustin had booked for him and Charles, we were sitting at separate tables, with Alex and I sitting across from two Greek girls, which would have been more than fine except for the fact that the two of them spoke not a lick of English and we spoke not a lick of Greek, resulting in 3 hours of awkward staring across the table at each other. Sweet. ;)

At Mykonos we found the shuttle to our hotel and checked in the to K-hotel, before promptly making our way to the nearest bar called Blu-Blu to watch the USA-Slovenia game... with me rocking my Union Jack bathing suit and Alex carrying a real American Flag. =) That day we quickly learned that eating out on Mykonos was going to be very expensive if we didn't find cheaper alternatives, and thus began our four day love affair with pitas (aka gyro wraps)... You see, although almost any item on the menu at the restaurants on Mykonos would cost 8-20 Euro, almost every restaurant also sold Chicken, Pork or Lamb Pitas a la carte for 2-3 Euro... So basically we could get full on a big wrap with chicken, onions, tomato and taziki for a handful of change or drop 20 bones to eat anything else. I think I've since eaten about a dozen pitas, and I'm pretty sure that's not going to change on Ios or Santorini. ;)

That first night we went bar-hopping in Mykonos Town before catching a taxi to Club Paradise where Ministry of Sound was playing all night long... Good times aside from the 10 Euro drinks, and we finally cabbed it back to the hotel around 4 or 5 AM...

The next day we woke up bright and early at 2PM ;) before heading to Paradise Beach for some afternoon sun... and Paradise beach is just ridiculous. It's like Spring Break central, with young people everywhere, clubs blaring techno music, go-go dancers and even a dude wearing nothing but an elephant... yeah, basically an elephant-shaped puppet on his schlong, gyrating on stage and taking pictures with anyone that wants to... Have I mentioned that Mykonos has a pretty prevalent gay scene yet? ;)

We stayed clear of Elephant dude, but did enjoy some frosty beverages, good beats and a nice dip in the crystal clear ocean, which felt ice cold and glorious after roasting in the Mediterranean sun. That night we expected big things since it was Saturday, but what we found when we walked into Mykonos Town was that the whole city was PACKED with groups of Greek guys... Literally, there were roving packs of gay dudes out in force... not that there's anything wrong with that, but not really our scene. ;)

Thus we decided to leave the center of town and go to a club again that night, this time to Cavo Paradiso, which we'd heard was a great cliff-top, after-hours bar, known as a place to drink until dawn and watch the sunrise. So we rolled in around 4AM, but by 5AM Dustin and Chaz were both non-plussed with the scene (aka, striking out with the ladies and wanting to go home). Alex and I were both of the mindset that we should at least stay to watch the sun rise over the Aegean (we'd paid 20 Euro each to get in after all), so Dustin and Chaz left, and Alex and I grabbed some Coronas and cigars and settled back to watch the sun come up... while listening to blaring techno and watching some gogo dancer gyrate in the club's swimming pool. ;) All in all it was one of the coolest experiences ever... Gorgeous sunrise, good beats, and we even ended up making friends with a big group of Californians and some French girls... Sorry D and C, you missed out.

Sunday however was a different matter. After going to bed at 7AM, and several nights of heavy drinking I could feel a cold coming on and was in need of a night off, so I took advantage of the Sabbath to relax, take care of some business online and go to bed early... Monday was then our last day in Mykonos as were were catching the ferry to Ios on Tuesday morning, so we spent the day drinking at the pool and then spent all night barhopping in Mykonos Town. All in all it was a great night, especially when I got a UGA girl we met to tell Charles she had a present for him and then had her Ice him right there on the waterfront... For those of you that don't know what Icing is, you can learn more here: http://www.newser.com/story/89862/oddest-new-drinking-game-icing.html Yeah, I'm taking this shit international. ;)

Tuesday was a day in transit, as we caught the 40 minute super-fast hydrofoil to Paros (a harrowingly bouncy ride for four hungover schmucks) where we had a three hour layover before taking the 4 hour slow-boat to Ios. We thus got to Ios at around 6pm in the evening, where we checked into the amazingly situated Hermes Hotel (gorgeous panoramic views), and then heading into town for a night out... All in all, the verdict thusfar is that Ios is going to be my favorite place yet... Imagine a picturesque Mediterranean island, population ~2000, except in summer when it's invaded by thousands of young Scandinavians and Aussies on Holiday... at 29 (wow, I almost said 28) I'm definitely an old man for this island, but the people are super friendly and everything is about half the price it would be on Mykonos.

It's now Wednesday night and we just watched USA beat Algeria at a place called Fun Pub (prompting a USA! USA! chant much to the chagrin of the predominantly British clientelle). All in all it's been a great trip thus far, though I do miss home and am sad to know I'm missing yet another Wednesday Night at Pub 71. ;)

Cheers from Ios!
-Tom

Welcome to the Mile High Club ;)

So on Monday night after elephant trekking and checking out of the Amari Palm Reef, Danny, Brett and I caught the 6pm flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok for one last night of debauchery... Thankfully, we knew going in that we had a reliable guide to help us navigate this city of 10 million people... our guide being a man named Maxi Boy. =)

For those of you that don't know, Danny's father Barry is a pilot, and as it turns out, one of his old co-pilots from his British Airways days has since retired and moved to Bangkok, where he's opened up an 8-room guesthouse known as the Mile High Club... In a nutshell it's a clean, safe place to stay in the middle of the Sukhumvit section of Bangkok that typically caters to pilots... Thankfully Barry had reached out to Maxi Boy to arrange 3 rooms for us for our last night in Thailand and I couldn't have been happier.

In a nutshell, Maxi Boy is a legend... imagine a 60+ year old, ethnic Quagmire... you know, the shady but kind-hearted, sex-crazed pilot from Family Guy? From the moment we got there, Max was availing us of stories of his exploits and the life of an ex-pat in Thailand... To say this guy was a dirty old man would be the understatement of the century, but he was also incredibly helpful in keeping 3 naive guys from the States out of trouble, and the Mile High Club was a very clean and respectable home base as we explored Thai's capital.

After a fairly antagonistic taxi ride (I'll spare you the details) we finally made it to the MHC, where we introduced ourselves to Maxi Boy. He was a riot out of the gates, and after settling in he gave us the run down of Bangkok... where to go and how to get there... One thing he advised against was visiting Pat Pong, which is generally considered Bangkok's chief Red Light District, but we all agreed that no trip to Bangkok would be complete without at least seeing a Ping Pong show, and thus the three of us set out on the Skytrain to see what we could see...

Man should we have listened to Maxi Boy... In a nutshell we got off the Skytrain in Pat Pong and were walking towards the heart of the district when some lady approached us and asked if we were looking for a Ping Pong show (apparently 3 white guys in shorts and t-shirts was a dead give away)... Long story short we followed her to an unmarked door and up a dirty flight of stairs (first sign we were making a huge mistake), and on the way up, some poor old guy came down the stairs and told us it was a huge rip off (second sign we were making a huge mistake, but the guy looked drugged out of his mind so we ignored him and proceeded anyway)... Long story short, the Ping Pong show was what we thought it was... a perverse combination of freak show and strip show, but it wasn't until after one round of Singha and about 20 minutes that the real red flags started waving.

Long story short, we go to the counter to pay our bill, and the old women running the place shows us a bill for 3,500 baht... about $115... When we'd explicitly asked when we arrived how much for the beers and how much for the show and had been told 100 baht each on each count... Reasonable Thai prices, which should have ammounted to $6-7 each... This bill however, while it did have the beers at 100 baht each, it actually had the show at 500 baht each and tried to charge us 425 baht each for some drinks we supposedly bought for the girls... It was essentially a shake down... For one thing, we HADN'T bought a SINGLE drink for any of the girls working there... despite being implored by the sketchy Thai girls several times... And when we stated that we had been told the show was 100 baht each and not 500, she asked who had told us that (sure enough, the lady who showed us in was nowhere to be seen)... We of course reacted with righteous indignation... Lots of yelling on both sides. At one point I slammed 200 baht on the counter and told this woman that was all she was getting from me... That's when she picked up the phone and said in broken English, "Fine then, I call Mafia."

At that point Danny, Brett and I started talking amongst ourselves pretty hurriedly, wondering whether or not to call her bluff or try and reach a compromise in the off chance she really did have some Mafia thugs that could be there in a moments notice... I still think she was bluffing and wanted to storm out of there in righteous indignation, but cooler heads prevailed and we ended up negotiating the thieving woman down to 1,500 baht, or about $17 each... Lesson learned: 1) Trust Maxi-Boy when he says something is a rip-off, and 2) Never go to an establishment that has no signage and that feels sketchy from the get-go (even for a Ping Pong show).

After that we did some bar hopping, and eventually gained our good spirits back... It's hard not to in a place like Bangkok... While there's no doubt about it that the city can be a very shady place, it's also a tonic for the senses: lights, smells, and a cacaphony of sounds are everywhere... from the hawkers selling fried fish at 3am to the blaring music (one remix combined Metallica and Beyonce was amazing)... It was an experience I'll never forget... Nor will I forget the late night Tuk Tuk ride back home to the MHC, which consisted of Danny, Brett and I jammed into a box set on the back of a three-wheeled motorbike roaring down the road at 50+ miles per hour. =)

All in all it was a roller coaster of a night, but definitely a great experience.

The next day we decided to trust Maxi-Boy's advice and we took the commuter riverboat from the Southern part of Bangkok to the Northern-most stop... a great, leisurely way to see the city while enjoying the breeze on the river. It cost 14 baht per person each way (about 50 cents), and when we stopped at the northern-most stop we got off for a decidely un-touristy lunch and market tour...

First we found a restaraunt (more like a hole in the wall) that had the most locals in it and motioned that we wanted to eat. Nobody spoke english, there was no menu, and it was basically rolling the dice when we ordered... One waitress finally managed to ask "fish or meat?" and "big, medium or small?" and what came was three bowls of a brown broth with noodles in it, what appeared to be 1 meat ball, some strips of meat, bean sprouts, and some weird tentacle looking thing... Thus it was with some trepidation that we tried it, but all in all it was actually pretty good... The best part was that at the end of the meal we found out that our three bowls of soup and 3 Pepsis cost 116 baht total... That's about $4 for a three person lunch... Amazing.

We then spent the next 2 hours walking around this awesome outdoor marketplace... it was HUGE... all live fish and chickens and stuff, with the freshest meats, fruits, vegetables, seafood.... including live eels, turtles and frogs for sale... and did I mention grilled cockroaches?

Afterwards we took the river boat back... did a little more shopping at the MBK, which is a very American-style mall, very different from the aforementioned market, before heading back to the Mile High Club and pack our bags to depart.

Thus it was that I found myself at the airport on 6/15, getting ready to board my flight to Ahman when I first began this tale. It's now two days later, on 6/17, and my birthday-in-transit from Thailand to Jordan to Greece was everything I could have hoped for (except for the fact that the Ahman airport has NO internet cafe anywhere in the airport, resulting in a VERY boring 8-hour layover).

Regardless, I landed in Athens without a hitch, and was able to meet up with Alex, Dustin and Chaz with no problems (other than the fact that the Metro was on strike, precipitating the need to take a taxi to our hostel... go figure). ;)

Today we toured the Acropolis and got a lot of really great photos of the Parthenon. We then watched a lot of World Cup Soccer, and now I'm about to go to bed, as we're catching the 7:15 AM Ferry to Mykonos...

I guess that means good night. Next time I post, I'll be doing so from the Cyclades Islands... and tomorrow night, my USA flag bathing suit will be making its debut as we watch the World Cup here in Greece... Wish us luck!

-Tom

Thailand Part Deux

So Saturday morning, after a night eating King Prawn Thermidor and Pad Thai while reclining on wicker beds on the beach, and 10 solid hours of sleep, Danny and I were awoken refreshed to a 7am call from the front desk saying Brett Dawg had officially arrived. =)

In no time we were devouring another amazing breakfast buffet of omelets and guava juice, before heading right out for more fun in the sun. Since it was Brett's first day, we figured another low-key day was in order, and though be began bartering for beers on the beach around noon, we spent most of it pool hopping from infinity pool to infinity pool up and down Chaweng Beach... Apparently as long as you're white and act like you belong, every hotel assumes you're one of theirs. ;)

Later in the afternoon we decided to splurge and accept an offer from some beach side masseuses, and the three of us laid down for an hour long massage right there on the beach... Danny got the oil massage, although Brett and I both got the Aloe massage as I had already started to fry despite my best sunscreen efforts... An hour and $10 lighter I was totally relaxed, and we decided to walk through Town for some evening shopping... World Tour Lesson #1 by the way... If you're ever backpacking through Southeast Asia, pack LIGHT, as in, don't even pack any clothes... you can buy them when you get there... That was Danny's strategy, and every night we'd leave the hotel with him clad in nothing but shorts and sandals... Then we'd browse some of the street markets on the way to dinner, and each night he'd buy a new shirt. =)

Saturday night was also pretty tame as Brett was incredibly jetlagged and we'd decided to book a snorkeling trip which was leaving the hotel at 7:30 AM the next day, and thus it was that the next morning we found ourselves with about 10 other tourists on a speedboat to Koh Tau for what was undoubtedly the best snorkeling I've ever done... The coral reefs are vibrant, with elk horn, and brain coral and fire coral and every imaginable shape and color dotting the seafloor while vibrant tropical fish in blues, greens reds and yellows swim about EVERYWHERE... We then had lunch on Koh Tau before heading over to a tiny beach island called Koh Nangyuan for some more snorkeling (and lounging in the shade).

The whole day the three of us had been joking around with one of the funniest Aussie guys I've ever met, as he and his wife were on their honeymoon after having just been married in Las Vegas... This guy was hysterical, and his wife was a lot of fun too, so once we got back to Koh Samui we made plans to meet them for dinner which included an enourmous whole fried fish in tamarind sauce, some curry crab and lots of king prawn and grilled squid... Amazing meal. That night, the three of us went out and partied like rock stars, including drinking some 99 baht ($3) buckets... but not buckets of beers, literally buckets of vodka redbull, which are plastic toy buckets filled with vodka, redbull and ice... about a liter of it... again for $3... ridiculous. ;) All in all it was a great night: We hit up lots of bars, met some cool people, evaded the ever-present lady boys... which is a scary, scary phenomenon (Thai boys dressed like girls looking for company... shudder) before stumbling home to much welcome beds.

The next day's adventure highlight was elephant trekking.... yep, that's right. We rode elephants. Through the jungle. ;) We left the hotel at 10:30 and drove about 45 minutes down the island to an elephant reserve where Dannny and I rode one while Brett rode the other... We've got some great pictures to share ajnd I'll try to upload them soon, but those beasts are HUGE and although trying to get them to do what you want them to do is an endeavor for the brave, they're also REALLY smart... At one point Brett's sandle fell off his foot, and the elephant he was riding automatically picked it up with his trunk and handed it back to Brett... How COOL is that!!!

That night we set out for Bangkok, and we were stoked! That said, I think I'm going to wrap this up here and save Bangkok for another day. ;)

Everyone loves a cliff hanger, and my hour on this comp is about to end!

Till then!
-Tom

Last night in Bangkok...

So the last time I posted I had just landed in Bangkok and was beginning my adventure in Thailand... And now here we are six days later and my whirlwind tour of this amazing country is at an end... Now I'm back at Suvarnabhumi Airport getting ready to board a flight to Ahman, Jordan, and I have no doubt that my Thai trip will take more than one post, but before too much time elapses, here is my Thai trip, Part 1. =)

I met Danny Yunes without a hitch at BKK on Thursday morning and after an hour catching up over coffee we boarded our flight for Koh Samui, aka Island Paradise. ;) For starters when you land on Koh Samui, you start realizing that this is an open air island... glorified golf carts take you from planeside to baggage claim, which is a conveyer belt under an open air pavilion. The heat is palpable everywhere, made even worse by the humidity, but at the same time it feels great because the sky is light blue, the ocean's deep blue and smiling people are everywhere... When people call Thailand the Land of a Thousand Smiling Faces, it's aptly named... They may occasionally be liars and cheats, but generally everyone here has been pleasant, friendly and seemingly happy. ;)

Our hotel on Koh Samui was amazing. We stayed at the Amari Palm Reef, a beachside resort on Chaweng Beach, the main tourist strip on the island, and in addition to the open air lobby, the phenomenal breakfast buffet, the two swimming pools and the great location, the entire staff was accomodating to our every request, and we basically felt like rockstars on holiday in paradise... That first day Danny and I just bummed at the pool and on the beach before grabbing a dirt cheap Thai dinner at a local hole in the wall, and then barhopping at some decidely un-Thai establishments. ;) First we met two Aussie girls at a bar called Bondi, then we met two Brittish guys at a club called Mint... We finished the night at an Open Air Club called Green Mango before stumbling home to our amazingly air conditioned hotel room. =)

The next day was more relaxing on the beach, although we did rent sea kayaks for an hour to explore some coral reefs... which were amazing, but only the beginning of our aquatic exploration. That night we had dinner reclining on cushions on the beach. It was amazing and we felt like royalty, but we were so tired that we went home and crashed at 9pm... even kings need to sleep.

Saturday morning Brett joined us, but now my flight is boarding. Stay tuned for Thailand Part Deux. ;)

Good things come to those who wait...

Flying via Buddy Pass can be a challenge, but man do I LOVE being upgraded. =)

So at first I had to scrap my Sunday flight plans because all the flights filled up, and then I spent 8 hours at Hartsfield on Monday trying to no avail to get on one of four flights to LA or Tokyo... Thus when I woke up on Tuesday, I was determined to do whatever possible to get my ass to Asia... As it turned out, that involved flying from Atlanta to Milwaukee, Milwaukee to Minneapolis, and then 3 terse hours waiting in Minneapolis to see if I would make it on the flight to Tokyo... and not only did I make it, but I got upgraded to first class... Boo yah!

2 meals, 3 movies and 11 hours later we touched down in Narita where I spent my first 15 minutes ever in Asia before taking off for Bangkok (also first class by the way). ;) And though I spent no more time than that in Tokyo, I learned two interesting things about Japan.

1) They drive on the left side of the road (which surprised me, but I've since learned that the Thai drive on the left too... and I had always thought it was the U.K. that was idiosyncratic in this department)... Guess not.

2) Despite my conception of Japan as an island of overcrowded mega-cities, the countryside is as lush green, and cut up into patchwork farms as anything you'd see on the East Coast of the U.S.

Since then I've landed in Bangkok and found a decent hotel room in the city for 600 Thai Baht (approximately $20). Its now 2AM and I just finished an hour long walk through the Sukhumvit part of the city, which is vibrant, even at this hour, with shoppers, vendors, tourists, partiers (and yes, prostitutes)... I've already been approached by at least a dozen women, girls that look like boys and boys that are definitely boys, but thankfully a curt shake of the head is all it takes to walk on by unharassed.

Now I think I'll head on back to the hotel, since I'm meeting Danny Yunes at the airport tomorrow morning to catch our flight down to Koh Samui (an island in southern Thailand) for 4 days in paradise. =)

Lakon! (Thai for Goodbye), ;)
-Tom

P.S. A HUGE shoutout to my boy Dan for the gift of a Buddy Pass and for helping me navigate a myriad of flights to make sure I got to Thailand on time... And also, a big shoutout to Delta, which somehow managed to get my luggage on the same flight as me from Tokyo to Bangkok, despite the fact that I was coming from Minneapolis and my luggage was coming from LA!... once again I love the friendly skies! ;)

This is it...

This is it... It's been two weeks since I quit my job, started growing out this horrendous beard, and seriously began prepping for a month spent traveling abroad. With a little luck I'll be catching a flight to L.A. tomorrow morning, as I start my multi-layover trip to Bangkok. Hopefully this post will be the first of many, but for now I need to go to bed.

Wish me luck, =)

-Tom