The day to day ramblings of an IT Professional and Community Leader
June 3, 2012 Leave a comment
Black belt, 2nd dan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As part of my requirements for my Second Dan Black Belt test, I was required to break two 1.5″ slabs of concrete. Damn does it feel good… now that it’s behind me!
I spent so much time talking about it, here is the video! -M
June 2, 2012 2 Comments
I made it! More to come later, but for the time being please enjoy this series of pictures (that Sean Kearney will eventually put to music…)
June 1, 2012 1 Comment
It all comes down to tomorrow. Five patterns, nine knife-defense techniques, some sparring… and 2.5” of concrete.
For those of you who read my blog for the IT-related material, you will be relieved to know that after my test I will likely post some pictures, possibly a video or two, and a quick write-up… and next week this space (The World According to Mitch) will be back to being primarily focused on IT.
Black belt, 2nd dan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It has been a long road as most of you know… especially those of you who are martial artists. It will be two years (less ten days) since I earned my Black Belt, and it is clear that belt test preparation is a lot longer between Black Belt Dans than it is between Colour Belt (Gups), which I used to earn every month.
I have written all that there is to write and said all there is to say. If there is anything that I am missing today, I will not have it in time for tomorrow. If the stars are aligned, if I can focus my mind, then tomorrow I will earn the prize. I can’t think any other way. I want to thank all of my friends who have expressed their support and confidence. You all mean everything to me.
Thanks for reading… I’ll let you know when it’s done!
June 1, 2012 Leave a comment
My head is not in a good place right now, and that is affecting the … http://www.fitbit.com/user/22574L/journal/date/2012-06-01/24GMW7
June 1, 2012 1 Comment
The protesters were out in full force Tuesday evening as my friend Peter and I walked through the Plateau Mont Royal to the restaurant. When the radio announcer talked about the Pots and Pans brigade I thought he was being funny, but indeed the student protesters at the corner of Villeneuve and de l’Esplanade were banging pots and pans on all four corners. Peter, who has known me for years, warned me not to engage them. I was amused several minutes later when the skies opened up and their pots and pans got a thorough soaking.
The headlines yesterday read that they were waiting for a ‘clear response’ from the government. I thought this is inaccurate because they had already gotten a clear response to their demands… They just didn’t like what that response was.
Indeed they got that response again yesterday, and today’s article has one of the student leaders quoted saying ‘we are ready to go back to negotiations whenever the other side is ready.’
This is a lie.
Since the strikes began the government has moved a number of times. The students have not. Sure, they have on a number of occasions provided suggestions on who else could pay for their education, but that is all. That is not negotiations, that is sitting at the table insisting the other side give everything and offering nothing in return.
I sat with a university student Wednesday and asked her opinion. While she is not striking, she supported those who did. She was clear that she supported people’s right to protest, and that any attempt to stop them was tantamount to fascism. I was amazed but I shouldn’t be… Students should be idealists.
What I don’t understand is how people got the idea that education – especially higher education – is a right. Moreover not only is it.a right, it is my obligation as a taxpayer to provide it for her and every other student who wants it and is unwilling to pay for it.
This student objected to spending money on campus beautification, claiming that a recent investment of $600,000 in the gardens at McGill (where she studies) was an offensive waste of money. She rejected my claims that McGill is a cornerstone of Montreal, built into the mountain and should look nice. She also objected to the idea that they have to look good to attract foreign students who DO pay for their tuition.
I asked this girl how much her tuition cost, and she said for students raised in the province it was about $1500/year. I corrected her and said it was closer to $15,000, and that the taxpayer already paid most of it.
Her next objection was that she did not like that schools were run as businesses. This I felt sas her most naive position, insofar as any institution that is run otherwise will soon find itself in severe financial problems.
In the end I convinced this idealistic student of nothing, nor did e convince me I i was wrong. It is pointless trying to tell a young person that one day they will leave school and have to live in the real world with real realities… They are all smarter than we are, and know everything. Our experience in the real world doesn’t apply to them. I paid for her coffee and wished her well.
I do not k ow what will become of Quebec student protesters.. I guess time will sort that out. I do know that the realities of the real world can hit the idealistic quite hard, and I hope they do not turn into bitter or angry adults. You can bang as many pots and pans as you like; the reality is that their DEMANDS (to which I don’t believe they have the right) are unreasonable, and at a certain point, after you have made your point, you are just acting like cry-babies. The ‘But I want it!’ attitude doesn’t work in the real world… no matter how many tantrums you throw.
My friend Peter pointed out that a strike is supposed to be the denial of a service in protest. As the students are not service providers but rather consumers, they are not actually striking, but simply skipping class and (again) making a lot of noise. They have the right to protest, but to disrupt a city and damage property? No, it’s time to go back to school and get an education for which one day you will realize that the extra $1,500 (over a four year degree) that the government wants you to pay is the equivalent of less than one week’s pay – at least at a job you would get if you DID finish school which, at this rate, you won’t.
I wish most of the students well… but understand that before you can lead you must follow… and your organizers have lost sight of that; you may be following the wrong leaders down a very deep and unfriendly path.
Have a great week-end folks… and try to stay dry!
May 31, 2012 1 Comment
On Saturday May 26th I pre-tested for my Second Dan Black Belt test. The actual test is this coming Saturday, June 2. The Second Dan candidates were given a writing assignment to complete: “My Future Goals in Tae Kwon Do and Why I Want to Achieve Them.” I spent most of Sunday thinking about this, and writing. On the advice of Master Beis what began as a twenty-five hundred word essay has now been edited down into two more manageable articles. Only the second of these, which I will publish later in the week, will be submitted to my Grand Master this afternoon. I look forward to hearing your opinions about this first piece. –Mitch Garvis, 5/31/12
When I was seven years old I attended my first organized martial arts classes. Sensei Yaki Mendel taught us to count in Japanese, and taught us stances and punches. I was not a very athletic child, and had enough trouble getting my gi on properly. My friend Mark Nadler and I lasted ten classes then called it quits.
Over the course of the next three decades I took up and eventually dropped several martial arts. That is not to say that when I walked into GrandMaster Kim’s OMAC in January, 2009 I was not a good fighter – the Krav Maga I picked up in the army has won more than a few fights over the years – but I was never really a martial artist.
If the truth is to be told, from that first Tae Kwon Do class it would take another seventeen months for me to call myself a real martial artist, although I had probably used the term anyways. It was then – on June 12, 2010 – that I earned my Black Belt.
My reasons for studying Tae Kwon Do are simple: my goal in Tae Kwon Do is to find an inner peace that I have not known in my life. I practice to be a better me, and to escape who I used to be. That does not mean that I wish to learn Tae Kwon Do as a sport, but more as a way of life. I wish to follow the same mantra that I have heard from wise martial artists in the past: we train to fight so that we will never need to fight. That is why I prefer Poomsae (pattern) training over sparring.
Unfortunately the pragmatic side to me knows that the real world is not as peaceful as I would wish for it to be, and there are places that I travel that are not as safe as Oakville. In the past year I have had to fight – not for honour, not for glory, but to save my life in situations where there was no alternative. That is why when I train I understand the importance of completing every punch and kick and block as if there was an invisible enemy facing me. People have commented that there is a look of anger in my eyes when I perform my patterns, but they are misinterpreting the look; it is the look of pure focus in my eyes that an observer might misinterpret as anger… but if in a real-life situation it convinces that opponent that fighting me would not be a good idea then they can call it what they like… it has done the job.
—
When I joined Grand Master Kim’s OMAC in January of 2009 I did so to support my son, and to have an activity in common with him. While Aaron did not immerse himself in Tae Kwon Do, I fell in love with it, with the help and guidance of a couple of special individuals to whom I owe everything. I have on several occasions reevaluated my reasons for dedicating as much time as I do to Tae Kwon Do, both in and out of the Dojang. So many of my students (in IT, not Tae Kwon Do), friends, colleagues, readers, and people I meet on airplanes have heard about my testing by now that I am sure the lot of them are sick of it. My blog (which was chosen as one of the top IT blogs worldwide recently) currently has eight articles on my training and progress… more I recon than I have written about computers in the last month.
As Tae Kwon Do seems to be a big part of my life, then the better question may be what are the goals I have in life, and how do I plan to achieve them?
I can go into as many points and details as I like but the reality is that I decided several years ago that I was tired of not achieving my goals. The Black Belt was a goal, and now the Second Dan is a goal. All of these goals are summed up in the words of Grand Master Kim. I want to be a winner!
May 30, 2012 1 Comment
It was an accidental announcement, but according to a Microsoft blog Windows 8 Release Preview (the next pre-release) is dropping tomorrow (May 31)! Here’s a screenshot of the article (which has been yanked)!
May 28, 2012 2 Comments
How quickly they grow up!! Love it! I shot this video of Gilad a couple of weeks ago and didn’t get around to posting it until today. -M
May 28, 2012 Leave a comment
It is amazing what we as IT Professionals come across sometimes. My colleague Sharon Bennett recently posted an article about what (to me) seems like a combination of laziness on behalf of a technician and secrecy (for secrecy’s sake) on behalf of the Internet Service Provider.
http://bennettbusinessconnections.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/does-your-isp-have-control-issues/
I want to be clear, I do not think that most Bell technicians would do what this one did, although it is clear to me that this particular one dropped the ball either because they did not know any better (poorly trained) or didn’t care (poorly motivated). I confess it has been a lot of years since I last crimped my own RJ-45 cable, but from the pictures that Sharon provides it is easily apparent that this technician tried (and failed) to do just that. Had he done it right, nobody would have cared.
The fact is in this day of quotas trumping customer service it is a shame that technicians will look you in the eye and say ‘Yeah, your Internet is working properly.’ Well can I connect to the Internet? ‘I don’t know… I haven’t checked. But I assume so!’
Lesson? Whether you are a consumer or a top IT professional, never let the technician leave before he is able to show you that your connection is working. Sharon and I might know to look for loose (or disconnected!) cables, but most people wouldn’t.
As for the cable? It just goes to show you that shoddy work is usually indicative of a job shoddily done.
May 28, 2012 1 Comment
This past Saturday I pre-tested for my Second Dan Black Belt test. The actual test is this coming Saturday, June 2. The Second Dan candidates were given a writing assignment to complete: “My Future Goals in Tae Kwon Do and Why I Want to Achieve Them.” I spent most of Sunday thinking about this, and writing. On the advice of Master Beis what began as a twenty-five hundred word essay has now been edited down into two more manageable articles. Only the second of these, which I will publish later in the week, will be submitted to my Grand Master this afternoon. I look forward to hearing your opinions about this first piece. –Mitch Garvis, 5/28/12
When I was seven years old I attended my first organized martial arts classes. Sensei Yaki Mendel taught us to count in Japanese, and taught us stances and punches. I was not a very athletic child, and had enough trouble getting my gi on properly. My friend Mark Nadler and I lasted ten classes, then called it quits.
Over the course of the next three decades I took up and eventually dropped several martial arts. That is not to say that when I walked into GrandMaster Kim’s OMAC in January, 2009 I was not a good fighter – the Krav Maga I picked up in the army has won more than a few fights over the years – but I was never really a martial artist.
If the truth is to be told, from that day it would take another seventeen months for me to call myself a real martial artist, although I had probably used the term anyways. It was then – on June 12, 2010 – that I earned my Black Belt.
English: vector version of Black belt 2st dan.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In five days I, along with a handful of other students at our school will be testing for our next belt. Valerie, Teresa, Corwin, Alex, and I will be the five who are vying for promotion from First Dan to Second Dan. I speak for nobody but myself, but can only assume that the others have worked as hard as I have to get to this point. I know that at the pre-test on Saturday we were all working well together, and that although we are a small group, I think we are one that will make a big bang at the actual test.
In the past few weeks I have written a lot about Tae Kwon Do, my thoughts, and inspirations. But when I was asked to write about my future goals in Tae Kwon Do (and why I want to achieve them) I had to pause to think about that for a day before sitting down to write.
I am of three minds: The Young Mitch, the Wise and Pragmatic Mitch, and the testing in Five Days Mitch.
As I look at the calendar and realize that, young as I may feel inside, I am turning forty years old in less than six weeks. An optometrist actually prescribed me bifocals last week, so it is getting hard to deny that I am no longer young. Nevertheless I still feel young in many ways, so Young Mitch says that I aspire to be a Master – a Grand Master even. I want to open my own schools and franchise my own brand of Tae Kwon Do. I want to make a loud bang that is heard around the world.
Wise and Pragmatic Mitch lives in the real world, and knows several truths. The first of these is that I am turning forty and have a pretty good career in IT, and that aside from being a pretty lousy entrepreneur and however good I may ever be at martial arts I will likely always be better at IT, training, and mentoring than I ever could be running my own schools. I have also learned that the best way to achieve any lofty goal is to start by setting shorter term goals. As John Lennon said, ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’ Every long-term plan I ever made got interrupted by what would eventually happen, better or worse. I also know that as hard as the first and second Black Belts were to achieve the next ones will just get harder, and I do not know (based on my career and family needs) how much time I will be able to dedicate to Tae Kwon Do. I know that I can continue to advance, but at what rate? I do not know. I would love to become a Master one day but…
…Testing in Five Days Mitch is singularly focused on my Second Dan Black Belt test that is coming up this coming Saturday. I am so focused that I cannot see beyond that. I am eating, sleeping, breathing, and living the requirements for my test. I have to be out of town this week but have asked the Grand Master’s permission to visit a Dojang in Montreal to train, and I will be there a couple of nights this week in addition to intense jogging on Mount Royal. I plan to be back on Friday for the lunch class, and hope to spend that entire day in training, practice, and meditation. I will do everything that I can to be ready for Saturday… but if you want to know what is going to happen Sunday then I have no idea of anything beyond that. From a logistical perspective I know that I am getting onto a plane Monday morning, but my immediate focus is Saturday; Sunday will take care of Sunday, and once I am past this goal I will be able to refocus my attention on other things.
—
Whatever angle you look at it from my goals in martial arts have certainly evolved over the years. I remember wanting to be a ninja… then when I decided I wanted to be a soldier I wanted to learn the secrets of the best martial artists – how to repel attackers, armed or otherwise – with my bare hands, and how to disarm, disable, and kill them. When I had hatred in my heart I wanted my hands to be weapons.
Today my goal is much less violent. My goal in Tae Kwon Do is to find an inner peace that I have not known in my life. I practice to be a better me, and to escape who I used to be. That does not mean that I wish to learn Tae Kwon Do as a sport, but I as a way of life. I wish to follow the same mantra that I have heard from only a few wise martial artists in the past: we train to fight so that we will never need to fight. That is why I prefer Poomsae (pattern) training over sparring.
Unfortunately the pragmatic side to me knows that the real world is not as peaceful as I would wish for it to be, and there are places that I travel that are not as safe as Oakville. In the past year I have had to fight – not for honour, not for glory, but to save my life in situations where there was no alternative. That is why I train as a killer and not as an athlete. When I train I complete every punch and kick and block as if there was an invisible enemy facing me. People have commented that there is a look of anger in my eyes when I perform my patterns, but they are misinterpreting the look; it is the look of pure focus in my eyes that an opponent might misinterpret as anger… but if in a real-life situation it convinces that opponent that fighting me would not be a good idea then they can call it what they like… it has done the job.
May 27, 2012 Leave a comment
I cannot count how many people have come to me and asked how they could become a Microsoft Certified Trainer(MCT). I have said many times that I consider it among my most valuable credentials, and well worth the yearly fee. If you are one of those who would like to become one, then read on… especially if you are in the Greater Toronto Area!
Of course in order to become an MCT you need to be proficient in the technologies you are going to teach… so you have to have the senior certifications that align with the technology (MCITP/MCSA, etc…)
Unfortunately there are a lot of people who hold those certifications who cannot teach, and that is not a surprise… one of the greatest fears in people is the fear of public speaking, and training is just that. Getting up in front of an audience is not easy. Add to that you have to be able to clearly and concisely make your point – you have to know not only the subject matter, you also have to know the courseware, and the flow. And don’t forget the importance of knowing how to use and project your voice.
So how does Microsoft distinguish between those who can and those who can’t (and sometimes there are those who shouldn’t)? It is difficult, but one of the ways they determine eligibility is to check that people have taken and passed a CTT+ ‘Train the Trainer’ class. The class is only taught by a very select few companies in Canada, and at that not very often. So now is your chance… Trab Training, a CTT+ certified vendor on Microsoft’s pre-approved list, is offering the class in Toronto next month (June 26/27). You can sign up at http://www.trab.com/form-reg.html, or contact them at http://www.trab.com/contact.html for more information.
While I did not take this class I have heard from several of Bart’s students that he is an excellent trainer, and they each have their MCT to prove it. Please mention to them that you heard about this class from me, and when it is done please let me know any feedback you have!
Remember… if you want to be an MCT, you almost certainly need this class!
May 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Black belt, 2nd dan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It was the title of my favourite Barenaked Ladies song, but in this context it is a lot scarier. I have been working toward my Second Degree Black Belt… well, really since I started Taekwondo in January of 2009, and then since I earned my Black Belt in June of 2010 but in reality I have been ‘it training’ for it since this past January when I sat with Master Dimitrios Beis and we decided that it was possible for me to test for the belt at the mid-year testing.
I have been blogging about my planning and progress since February, and have been counting down since April. The testing is now one week from today… and more importantly the pre-testing is today. Today I find out if I will be a Second Dan Black Belt in one week’s time. Let me explain:
The Black Belt Ceremony is an amazing afternoon… you see Black Belts testing for their next level and Black Belt Candidates testing for their first. However if you go to the testing you will never see anyone who is not passed. That is because in the weeks prior to the testing ceremony the Grand Master pre-tests all of the candidates, and decides if they are ready to test. In other words, if they do not look like they will be ready, they will not be allowed to test. So while next week is the hype and ceremony and excitement, today is the real test… at least in my mind.
Don’t get me wrong… if I pass today that does not make me a Second Dan Black Belt. That has to wait until GrandMaster Kim wraps the belt with my name around his waist and then transfers it to me. THAT makes me a Second Dan. There are also things that we do during the testing that we do not pre-test for… one of which is the most worrisome part to me right now… the concrete.
Yes, the last thing I will have to do to get my belt is smash two slabs of concrete with a hammer fist. They do not pre-test you for that, and it is a good thing too… last time, you may recall, I broke my hand doing it. I know several candidates who have, which would prevent me from being able to test next week. So that is not pre-tested.
I had a little scare the other day thanks to my friend and training partner Chris Burgess, who is testing for his Third Dan Black Belt next week. When I got off the plane from Vancouver on Thursday I got an e-mail from him that said that they had found out the previous evening that testing was this Saturday. I wrote back and asked him that surely he meant NEXT Saturday. He replied no, it was indeed this week. I started to panic as I walked aimlessly through the terminal at Pearson International Airport (it was the first time I recall getting lost getting off a plane). I called Master Beis, who assured me that if that was the case (he did not think so) then I was ready, and I would test on Saturday.
When I finally reached Chris by phone he told me that his auto-correct must have changed PRE-TEST to TEST, and that it was actually the -pre-test that was this Saturday, and the actual testing is still June 2nd. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I don’t know if I really NEED the extra week… but it sure was comforting to know that I have it.
In other news my diet had been going terribly - I have not been disciplined with it for a few weeks, and I am lucky that when I got onto the scale yesterday morning I had only gained back five pounds and not twenty-five. I fasted yesterday (not fun when you jog 5km, do a 90 minute Taekwondo class at noon in the 85F heat and then another 90 minute class at night in similar heat) and am now back to the weight I was at… I still haven’t lost 50lbs, but I am within a couple of pounds of it, and hope to be there for testing next week.
Chris and I arranged to meet at our home dojang for an hour to train before heading over to the Burlington school for the pre-test, and I am confident that by the pre-test I will be ready. More importantly, Master Beis feels that I am ready, and when I spoke with the Grand Master last night he did not tell me I might not be ready… which is high praise indeed! Today he will confirm yes or no… and then I have one more week to train and run and lift and perform… and pray that I don’t shatter my hand again! (Think Bill Cosby)
See you after the pre-test…
May 17, 2012 Leave a comment
I had forgotten about this post. In February I attended Microsoft’s Global MVP Summit in Redmond, Washington. In anticipation of that I was asked by my MVP Lead and Microsoft Press to write a blog article about it. I usually write my articles in one sitting, but this one took place over four days. I hope you like it!
May 17, 2012 2 Comments
Yesterday was a dichoto-day. If I made that word up, it is what it sounds like – a day that was a mix of good and bad. I want to clarify at the outset that this had nothing to do with work, which was fine (I am teaching a class at TekSource Corporate Learning this week, and have a good group of students). It is strictly with regard to diet and training.
I ate (during the day at work) like crap – too much of bad foods (I blame Audrey, but she didn’t actually force-feed me the muffin or the pizza, she just made them readily available (as well as the only things). She also put out all sorts of cookies for the afternoon snack, and my willpower faltered – I had three lady fingers. To compensate – although I did not set out with this goal – I skipped dinner. I got off the train from Toronto and drove straight to Taekwondo, where everything got back on track.
I had been really disheartened Monday and Tuesday about my prospects for testing for actually being ready for my test on June 2nd, and I decided that yesterday (Wednesday) was the day that I would make my final decision. While I know all of my patterns (poomsaes) I had not learned the knife-defense ‘one-step-sparring’ that I need as a requirement. That is, nine separate (and numbered, in order) methods of repelling a knife-wielding attacker. While that is something I am pretty good at, I would usually revert to Krav Maga, so learning the Taekwondo (actually Hapkido) methods were a challenge.
vector version of Black belt 2st dan.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Miss Kelly (one of the senior instructors, who is testing for her 5th Dan Black Belt the day that I test for my 2nd Dan) and I had arranged to spend time on Wednesday going over the methods, and she agreed to allow me to record our session so that I could study the moves while on the road next week. She is an excellent teacher whom I have always liked and respected (she was Aaron’s favorite instructor when he was in TKD), and really knows her stuff.
One of the reasons I prefer working one-on-one with instructors, rather than working in a large class, is not simply the individual attention. I find that in most modern martial arts classes the focus is on teaching moves rather than teaching why we do the moves and analyzing them. As a Colour Belt suppose I had to cope, because as GrandMaster H.C. Kim once wrote ‘The study of martial arts really begins once you have achieved Black Belt Excellence.’ Until you have a strong knowledge of the basics it is impossible to start analyzing the advanced. However as a Black Belt I appreciate that when I learn a move in a one-on-one setting I can analyze, discuss, and really understand what it is that I am doing, as well as how likely I might successfully execute a particular move in either sparring or real-life situations. I find that by breaking down a move in this way it is easier for me to learn and absorb patterns and self-defense.
Working with Miss Kelly last night was such an opportunity, and while I came into the lesson with a slight knowledge of two or three of the moves, by the end of the evening I was much more confident that I knew what I was doing… even if I might not use most of those moves in real-life knife attacks. While I was able to execute all of the moves by the end of the evening, I am glad that I recorded them so that I can review them today and every day until I will never forget them. I will be watching them often, breaking them down in my head, and I predict that on my flight to Victoria next week I will be doing them over and over again in my head.
With regard to the diet, I decided this morning that I would start a two-day cleanse… which essentially means I am fasting, save for vitamin supplements. My weight has been fluctuating only slightly over the past few weeks, but it is still about 5lbs up from my low-point. I have lost (since January) 43lbs, and I have really been stuck there since mid-April. Every time I have done a two-day cleanse I have lost at least 5lbs, so it is entirely possible that I could test fifteen pounds lighter than I am today. That is a good goal, but I will settle for 10lbs. I say this knowing that Saturday evening I am taking the family to a Brazilian steakhouse – not a very good place to diet – but that is essentially the last hoorah before my final two-week push. Despite my travels (which, between now and the test will take me to Buffalo, Victoria, Vancouver, and Montreal) I am going to succeed, and do my absolute best on June 2nd.
More later.
May 16, 2012 1 Comment
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Monday I announced in this space that thanks to my friends at TekSource Corporate Learning (www.teksource.ca) I had nine (9) exam vouchers to give away for the Microsoft exam 70-659 (TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization). The response was incredible, and I want to thank everyone who entered the draw!
I want to congratulate the winners:
Remember… by passing the exam you are a winner, but just by trying you are one too!
Now you all have an obligation to me to take the exam before the deadline – May 31st, 2012! I would love to hear how you did, and if you are proud of your success, or you felt that this contest prompted you to get out there and do it now instead of later, write it up… I’d love to publish your story! (Bonus points for anyone who scans their score report… you have to be REALLY proud of it for that!)
