Friday, November 2, 2012
Blog Writing Pro Tip
Actually, not sure if this is really a pro tip or not – most bloggers probably already realize this. However, I just discovered it last night while writing my Halloween Craft Fail post. I normally compose directly in the Blogger template, however, I wrote that post in Microsoft Word before pasting it in. I added the pictures, made a few editorial changes and it all looked good. But when I previewed the post, it was all wonky. I discovered why when I looked at the HTML. The copy from Microsoft Word had added over 500 lines of extraneous code that was messing with my formatting. So, here’s the tip: If you cannot compose directly in your blogging program of choice, use a text editing program that does not insert all that formatting code, such as Notepad or WordPad. There, all better!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Halloween Craft Fail
Pinterest has introduced me to any number of crafting and home décor blogs. Previously (as you can tell by the bulk of the items I pin) my blog reading has been confined to family, friends, and cooking. I have to say, I’m a pretty darn good cook and Michael agrees (side note: I just made this for dinner last night and we both agree it is so amazingly delicious. Stop reading and go make this now!). However, the decorator gene is not with me – it isn’t with my mom either, so at least I come by my bare walls honestly! Michael is much more interested in home décor and with his and Ethan Allen’s help the house is slowly but surely becoming more magazine ready. With all this sprucing up I’m starting to feel my decorator mojo coming on and this pin just sealed the deal.
The lady in this post used a Dollar Store wreath and some (new) socks to create a fun wreath. I thought this would be a cut craft for Halloween – some cheap Halloween socks, the wreath form, a ribbon, and BOOM! a decorated front door for the first time ever. Unfortunately, my Dollar Store did not carry any wreath forms and the craft store forms were all too expensive for what was supposed to be <$10 project. I have seen several posts about using a pool noodle as a wreath form, but October is not the best month to find those. However, in another blog (cannot remember which one) I saw the suggestion to purchase piping insulation from the home improvement store. Score! I was able to pick up a 6' length for $1.23. The blog had stated that you could cut it in half for two 12” wreath, but I wanted a bigger wreath for the outdoors, so I cut off 4.75’ for an 18” wreath. Here’s a shot before I started embellishing. Beautiful, eh?
I was so excited for this wreath – it was looking so good. I should have just left it there. But I wanted a little more bling. First, I added shiny purple bat garland I had picked up at AC Moore – I thought it would be cute like the pennant banners I’ve seen strung across other wreaths, but it was just too stiff to line up properly. Then I didn’t have the right gauge wire to attach the bow so I used this thick green stuff. Still, I was decently ok with the wreath and hung it up on our door with (limited) pride - where it aged like an old lady (read: drooped). By the time Halloween came around, this is what my poor wreath looked like.
Let’s do a post-mortem on this, shall we? For anyone who
wants to follow in my decorating footsteps (although, why would you?!), what could be done to make
this a win? First off, an actual wreath form would resolve the droopiness issue.
If that’s too expensive, you might be able to still use piping insulation,
but I’d recommend no bigger than a 12” wreath. Another idea would be to unwind
a coat hanger and run it through the insulation to give it some rigidity. I may
try one or both with my wreath. As for the embellishments, thick wire garland
is a no-no. Thick wire in general is bad. I’ll probably try making a paper and
string banner and purchase some thinner-gauge wire to attach the bow.
As a coda to this whole story, last night Michael was in charge of handing out candy as I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. After one set of trick-or-treaters, he came back to tell me the news - apparently one of the moms complimented the wreath - go figure!
I’m planning on submitting this craft fail to Pinstrosity – y’all should check that blog out! Sort of like CraftFail but gentler and with better language . . .
ETA: Yes! I made it on to Pinstrosity! Check out my fail here.
 | |||
| http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2010/07/sock-wreath.html |
The lady in this post used a Dollar Store wreath and some (new) socks to create a fun wreath. I thought this would be a cut craft for Halloween – some cheap Halloween socks, the wreath form, a ribbon, and BOOM! a decorated front door for the first time ever. Unfortunately, my Dollar Store did not carry any wreath forms and the craft store forms were all too expensive for what was supposed to be <$10 project. I have seen several posts about using a pool noodle as a wreath form, but October is not the best month to find those. However, in another blog (cannot remember which one) I saw the suggestion to purchase piping insulation from the home improvement store. Score! I was able to pick up a 6' length for $1.23. The blog had stated that you could cut it in half for two 12” wreath, but I wanted a bigger wreath for the outdoors, so I cut off 4.75’ for an 18” wreath. Here’s a shot before I started embellishing. Beautiful, eh?
I was so excited for this wreath – it was looking so good. I should have just left it there. But I wanted a little more bling. First, I added shiny purple bat garland I had picked up at AC Moore – I thought it would be cute like the pennant banners I’ve seen strung across other wreaths, but it was just too stiff to line up properly. Then I didn’t have the right gauge wire to attach the bow so I used this thick green stuff. Still, I was decently ok with the wreath and hung it up on our door with (limited) pride - where it aged like an old lady (read: drooped). By the time Halloween came around, this is what my poor wreath looked like.
As a coda to this whole story, last night Michael was in charge of handing out candy as I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. After one set of trick-or-treaters, he came back to tell me the news - apparently one of the moms complimented the wreath - go figure!
I’m planning on submitting this craft fail to Pinstrosity – y’all should check that blog out! Sort of like CraftFail but gentler and with better language . . .
ETA: Yes! I made it on to Pinstrosity! Check out my fail here.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Getting Off Easy
Just a quick update to let y'all know that the McEl family is safe and sound. We actually received only a glancing blow from Sandy, so it wasn't too bad here. Monday was rainy and dark but not too bad until the afternoon - that's when the wind really started picking up. We were forecast for sustained winds of 35-40 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph and 6" of rain. According to Weather Underground it didn't quite that bad - only 4.25 inches of rain and max gusts of 54 mph - still enough to make the trees shake, though!
Despite the relatively minor (compared to what they experienced further north) impacts of the storm, we still have our own hurricane horror story to tell. Mid-morning we had an instantaneous power blip - just enough to knock us (Michael was working from home as well, since his office was closed) offline. Very frustrating to have to connect to the network again. We had hoped that would be our only complication but at 5:20 pm, BOOM, it went out again - and stayed out. I quickly saved my work (thank goodness my work computer is a laptop so still had some juice to allow me to not lose all I'd work on. I'd been good about saving all day, but still, it had been about an hour from the last save so there would have been a decent amount of work I would have had to recreate) and we scrounged up our candles and flashlights.
Unfortunately, I had a bone-in turkey breast roasting in the oven and it sill had at least 30 minutes to go. We left it the oven for another 1.5+ hours, hoping the residual heat would be enough to finish it off. We went ahead and shaved off the outer portions for dinner, figuring those were sure to be cooked. After our romantic candlelight dinner, I carved off the rest of the meat, stuck it in a cooler and tossed it outside. It was forecast to drop to the mid-high 30's overnight, so I hoped that was sufficient to keep it cool. No way I was opening the refrigerator to stick warm food in it!
The power didn't come on all evening, so we enjoyed some cribbage by candlelight - Michael won both games. I blame it on the adverse conditions! We bundled Buzzard up (put towels on his cage) and made an early night of it. I don't think we've gone to bed this early the entire time we've been married!
The power came back on at 4:30 am this morning. The refrigerator showed that it had risen to 48 deg F so I decided to toss all the dairy (glass of milk, and a little bit of sour cream and yogurt) but the freezer was only 8 deg F and none of the food appeared to be defrosted, so I let that stay. We brought the turkey in when we got up this morning and it seemed fine as well. We had it for lunch today (after a good nuking in microwave) and we haven't thrown up yet, so I think our experiment was a success! ;-)
So, not a complete bed of roses, but far less worse than it could have been. We are very grateful for the relatively minor damage we received and are praying for our neighbors to the north. Hope you will do the same!
In closing, here's a pic I took around 6:00 pm last night, after our power had gone out. Apparently, the USPS was determined to live up to their (unofficial) motto!
Despite the relatively minor (compared to what they experienced further north) impacts of the storm, we still have our own hurricane horror story to tell. Mid-morning we had an instantaneous power blip - just enough to knock us (Michael was working from home as well, since his office was closed) offline. Very frustrating to have to connect to the network again. We had hoped that would be our only complication but at 5:20 pm, BOOM, it went out again - and stayed out. I quickly saved my work (thank goodness my work computer is a laptop so still had some juice to allow me to not lose all I'd work on. I'd been good about saving all day, but still, it had been about an hour from the last save so there would have been a decent amount of work I would have had to recreate) and we scrounged up our candles and flashlights.
Unfortunately, I had a bone-in turkey breast roasting in the oven and it sill had at least 30 minutes to go. We left it the oven for another 1.5+ hours, hoping the residual heat would be enough to finish it off. We went ahead and shaved off the outer portions for dinner, figuring those were sure to be cooked. After our romantic candlelight dinner, I carved off the rest of the meat, stuck it in a cooler and tossed it outside. It was forecast to drop to the mid-high 30's overnight, so I hoped that was sufficient to keep it cool. No way I was opening the refrigerator to stick warm food in it!
The power didn't come on all evening, so we enjoyed some cribbage by candlelight - Michael won both games. I blame it on the adverse conditions! We bundled Buzzard up (put towels on his cage) and made an early night of it. I don't think we've gone to bed this early the entire time we've been married!
The power came back on at 4:30 am this morning. The refrigerator showed that it had risen to 48 deg F so I decided to toss all the dairy (glass of milk, and a little bit of sour cream and yogurt) but the freezer was only 8 deg F and none of the food appeared to be defrosted, so I let that stay. We brought the turkey in when we got up this morning and it seemed fine as well. We had it for lunch today (after a good nuking in microwave) and we haven't thrown up yet, so I think our experiment was a success! ;-)
So, not a complete bed of roses, but far less worse than it could have been. We are very grateful for the relatively minor damage we received and are praying for our neighbors to the north. Hope you will do the same!
In closing, here's a pic I took around 6:00 pm last night, after our power had gone out. Apparently, the USPS was determined to live up to their (unofficial) motto!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Rainmaker
I am originally from CO. Beautiful, wonderful, amazing CO. In 2005 I moved to not-so-amazing TX. (Sorry, TX friends! Hey, wanna hear a joke? God was creating the world and some angels were watching Him. He explained that He was creating the world with balance, so for every soaring Mt. Everest, there was an equally deep Challenger Deep, for every frigid Vostok Station, there's an equally blazing Death Valley. As the angels watched, God started creating a paradise - beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather . . . really, a heaven on Earth. "What's that place?" one angel asked. "Oh, just a little something I'm creating to prepare people for the awesomeness of heaven. I like to call it Colorado." "But wait a minute," another angel interjected, "I thought you were creating the Earth with balance. If you build a paradise, won't you have to recreate that . . . other place?" "No worries," said God, "just wait 'til you see Texas!" ;-) Ok, so maybe that wasn't the best joke to get me back in your good graces. In my defense, whenever I'd tell people in SETX that I'd moved there from CO, they'd give me a funny look and ask me whyever for. In fact, one little old lady said to me "Honey, I've lived here all my life and I would never leave, but this really is the armpit of Texas!". Anyway, getting distracted. Moving on . . . )
I moved to Beaumont on July 11, 2005. If you've never been to SETX, know that July and August are the absolute two worst months of the year. Hot and muggy with mosquitoes the size of your fist. As I started work and was being introduced, everyone ribbed me a bit about moving to TX in the summer. One gentleman even said to me "Well, you've seen about the worst Southeast Texas has to offer: heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. Now you just need a good hurricane and you'll have seen it all!". Bite your tongue, Mr. Pressure Equipment Integrity Engineer! In just over two months, Hurricane Rita, the most intense cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, came ashore just south of where I lived and worked. I was evacuated for almost two weeks and came back to a refrigerator full of moldy food and the joy of working nights for 16 days straight to get the refinery up and running. I was blessed that the food was the only damage I suffered and that I still had a job to go back to. Others were not so lucky. Welcome to Texas, indeed.
In the seven years I lived in SETX, we were hit directly by two more hurricanes (Humberto, the most rapidly intensifying North Atlantic cyclone on record and Ike, the second-costliest hurricane in US history) and one tropical storm (Edouard - nothing exciting to say about it) plus a few other near misses and glancing blows. Before Rita, the last major (Category 3+) hurricane to hit SETX was Hurricane Alicia in 1983 and the last tropical cyclone to cause significant rainfall and damage was Tropical Storm Allison in 1989. My time there was certainly more active than long time residents had previously seen.
All this to say, I was thrilled to move to NOVA. Finally, getting to leave the obsessive checking of Weather Underground during hurricane season. There was even a possibility of leaving like I came, with Hurricane Ernesto threatening to come north just as I drove out, before settling on staying south and making landfall (twice) in Mexico. Since August 13 we have been living it up in the perfect fall weather of NOVA - cool nights and sunny days leading to beautiful fall foliage. Sadly, this may be the last weekend we have to enjoy those colorful leaves . . . as we are once again in the path of a hurricane. What?! I didn't leave that behind?! Apparently, the magnetic draw of Naomi is too much for the Atlantic to withstand. Breath easy, SETX, and prepare to marvel as the mid-Atlantic experiences an abnormally high number of hurricane hits for the next few years. But don't get too comfortable - I'll be back in a few years and who knows what damage I'll be able to wreak!
I moved to Beaumont on July 11, 2005. If you've never been to SETX, know that July and August are the absolute two worst months of the year. Hot and muggy with mosquitoes the size of your fist. As I started work and was being introduced, everyone ribbed me a bit about moving to TX in the summer. One gentleman even said to me "Well, you've seen about the worst Southeast Texas has to offer: heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. Now you just need a good hurricane and you'll have seen it all!". Bite your tongue, Mr. Pressure Equipment Integrity Engineer! In just over two months, Hurricane Rita, the most intense cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, came ashore just south of where I lived and worked. I was evacuated for almost two weeks and came back to a refrigerator full of moldy food and the joy of working nights for 16 days straight to get the refinery up and running. I was blessed that the food was the only damage I suffered and that I still had a job to go back to. Others were not so lucky. Welcome to Texas, indeed.
In the seven years I lived in SETX, we were hit directly by two more hurricanes (Humberto, the most rapidly intensifying North Atlantic cyclone on record and Ike, the second-costliest hurricane in US history) and one tropical storm (Edouard - nothing exciting to say about it) plus a few other near misses and glancing blows. Before Rita, the last major (Category 3+) hurricane to hit SETX was Hurricane Alicia in 1983 and the last tropical cyclone to cause significant rainfall and damage was Tropical Storm Allison in 1989. My time there was certainly more active than long time residents had previously seen.
All this to say, I was thrilled to move to NOVA. Finally, getting to leave the obsessive checking of Weather Underground during hurricane season. There was even a possibility of leaving like I came, with Hurricane Ernesto threatening to come north just as I drove out, before settling on staying south and making landfall (twice) in Mexico. Since August 13 we have been living it up in the perfect fall weather of NOVA - cool nights and sunny days leading to beautiful fall foliage. Sadly, this may be the last weekend we have to enjoy those colorful leaves . . . as we are once again in the path of a hurricane. What?! I didn't leave that behind?! Apparently, the magnetic draw of Naomi is too much for the Atlantic to withstand. Breath easy, SETX, and prepare to marvel as the mid-Atlantic experiences an abnormally high number of hurricane hits for the next few years. But don't get too comfortable - I'll be back in a few years and who knows what damage I'll be able to wreak!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Buzzard
We have a bird. A sweet (cough, cough) handsome cockatiel named Topknot. Don't try to call him that, though, because he probably won't recognize the name. He is more commonly referred to as Buzzard (90% of the time), Ro-Buzzard (a reference to this villain) or Falcon (what Michael wishes he was). Buzzard was originally Michael's father's bird, but their dog had the unsettling habit (for Buzzard) of sleeping under his cage and Padre could tell that poor Buzzard was not thriving. Michael swooped in to save The Bird (my nickname for him), driving down to Florida to pick him up and bring him back to Harvard. Buzzard has been waking Michael (and now me) with his 7 am car alarm squawks ever since.
We have lots of Buzzard stories. We have to trim his wings so he doesn't hurt himself inside. We don't clip them so short that he can't fly at all, just trim them back a bit to reduce the chance of him flying headlong into a wall, window, ceiling fan or other obstacle (because he will. Oh yes, he will!). Anyway, even after all these years of having his wings trimmed, he has never learned that he won't be able to fly as far after having his wings trimmed as he could before. So as soon as we're done clipping the wings, he wants to escape and heads for the cage . . . only to slowly descend to the floor, squawking all the way. And we're terrible owners that laugh at him all the way down!
Buzzard is not the sharpest tool in the shed. It ain't called "bird-brain" for nothing! I really enjoy baths, especially in the huge garden tub we have now. Michael often brings Buzzard by so we can flick some water on him. It's important to regularly mist tropical birds - otherwise their skin dries out and the feather dust is unbelievable! Buzzard is a bit of a hydro-phobe, though, so its difficult to get him to shower. Anyway, during a recent bath, Michael had brought Buzzard by and set him down on (the very wide) ledge and left to grab a few things. Despite the ~1" lip separating the ledge from the tub, Buzzard managed to fall into the tub - and flapped and squawked his displeasure (are you seeing a trend?). I immediately rescued him and felt terrible for him but . . . we also laughed. He looks so ridiculous with his feathers all wet!
One more funny story. We keep his cage open, so he is free to travel about the house as he pleases. While we have occasionally returned home and found evidence (hint: he is not potty-trained) of his wanderings, he generally prefers to stick to his cage, especially in this new environment. He'll climb all over the inside and outside of his cage, but won't leave it. Anyway, last night we had several windows open to enjoy the cooler weather. In the middle of the night, a bedroom door slammed shut due to the breeze. It certainly woke me up! It must have woken Buzzard up too. In the morning I came down to the kitchen (where we keep Buzzard) and started Michael's tea. I then went out to the living room/office to fire up my computer and heard some rustling. Buzzard must have been frightened by the slamming door and flown off his perch. He ended up in our step-down landing (some 50+ feet away, around a corner from his cage) and couldn't figure out how to get back in the dark. He had left us a pile of "evidence" and sure enough, flapped and squawked when I picked him up and returned him to his cage. Oh, Buzzard, you silly little bird!
Hera are a few pics of the beast:
We have lots of Buzzard stories. We have to trim his wings so he doesn't hurt himself inside. We don't clip them so short that he can't fly at all, just trim them back a bit to reduce the chance of him flying headlong into a wall, window, ceiling fan or other obstacle (because he will. Oh yes, he will!). Anyway, even after all these years of having his wings trimmed, he has never learned that he won't be able to fly as far after having his wings trimmed as he could before. So as soon as we're done clipping the wings, he wants to escape and heads for the cage . . . only to slowly descend to the floor, squawking all the way. And we're terrible owners that laugh at him all the way down!
Buzzard is not the sharpest tool in the shed. It ain't called "bird-brain" for nothing! I really enjoy baths, especially in the huge garden tub we have now. Michael often brings Buzzard by so we can flick some water on him. It's important to regularly mist tropical birds - otherwise their skin dries out and the feather dust is unbelievable! Buzzard is a bit of a hydro-phobe, though, so its difficult to get him to shower. Anyway, during a recent bath, Michael had brought Buzzard by and set him down on (the very wide) ledge and left to grab a few things. Despite the ~1" lip separating the ledge from the tub, Buzzard managed to fall into the tub - and flapped and squawked his displeasure (are you seeing a trend?). I immediately rescued him and felt terrible for him but . . . we also laughed. He looks so ridiculous with his feathers all wet!
One more funny story. We keep his cage open, so he is free to travel about the house as he pleases. While we have occasionally returned home and found evidence (hint: he is not potty-trained) of his wanderings, he generally prefers to stick to his cage, especially in this new environment. He'll climb all over the inside and outside of his cage, but won't leave it. Anyway, last night we had several windows open to enjoy the cooler weather. In the middle of the night, a bedroom door slammed shut due to the breeze. It certainly woke me up! It must have woken Buzzard up too. In the morning I came down to the kitchen (where we keep Buzzard) and started Michael's tea. I then went out to the living room/office to fire up my computer and heard some rustling. Buzzard must have been frightened by the slamming door and flown off his perch. He ended up in our step-down landing (some 50+ feet away, around a corner from his cage) and couldn't figure out how to get back in the dark. He had left us a pile of "evidence" and sure enough, flapped and squawked when I picked him up and returned him to his cage. Oh, Buzzard, you silly little bird!
Hera are a few pics of the beast:
 |
| This morning, after being returned to the cage |
 |
| Isn't he a handsome bird? |
 |
| Bewitching our friend, Larry |
 |
| Messing up Grandma's hair |
 |
| Lord of the (SETX) castle |
My View
We've been having gorgeous weather here and are enjoying leaving the windows open at night, something the heat and humidity rarely allowed us to do in SETX. Not only does this mean we get to fall asleep to the sounds of nature at night, it also means I get to wake up to this view every morning . . .
Monday, September 17, 2012
Europe by Numbers
Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. We loved our vacation time in Europe but are very happy to back the good ol' USA. I tried to keep a decent journal during our trip, so I'll be updating with detailed, photo-heavy posts (note: they will be back-dated to the actual day the incidents occurred) but for now I thought I'd give some key numbers:
Nights slept abroad - 15
Countries visited - 2
West End shows attended - 1
Glasses of champagne consumed - 10 each, plus a bottle
Museums visited - 8
Churches/cathedrals/basilicas visited - 13
Eucharists attended/received - 4/3
Evensongs attended - 1
Art pieces correctly identified by Michael - every one he tried
Art identified by Naomi before Michael - none (in my defense, he's a Quiz Bowl nerd who took 3 Art History classes in college, I took AP Humanities in college and can divide art in to 3 categories: Love It!, That's Art? and Meh.)
Dog poop encountered on the sidewalks in Reims - to numerous to quantify
Royal residences (current and former) visited - 4.5 (didn't go in Buckingham)
Books read (not counting travel guides) - 10 (All by me - yes, I admit, most of them were fluff, but I did read a Tale of Two Cities for the first time ever. Figured it was apropos - and man, the French had serious issues!).
Night I started having "digestive issues" - 13
Day I started wishing we were back home - 14
Most miles walked in a day - 6.2
Most miles it felt like we walked in a day - at least 100
Average minutes to get our check after finishing dinner in France - at least 15
Steps up to Sacré Coeur - lots and lots
People the elevator in our Paris apartment held - 3 (clearly not Americans)
Train rides - 7 (it really is an excellent way to travel)
Last moment taxi rides, 3 hours before the flight back to the States - 1
Royal encounters - none
British tabloids with Kate on the cover - every single one, every single day we were in London
Times I've dozed off writing this as I'm still recovering from jet-lag - 3
And so, on that note, I'll call it a day. Be on the lookout for more detailed posts soon!!
Nights slept abroad - 15
Countries visited - 2
West End shows attended - 1
Glasses of champagne consumed - 10 each, plus a bottle
Museums visited - 8
Churches/cathedrals/basilicas visited - 13
Eucharists attended/received - 4/3
Evensongs attended - 1
Art pieces correctly identified by Michael - every one he tried
Art identified by Naomi before Michael - none (in my defense, he's a Quiz Bowl nerd who took 3 Art History classes in college, I took AP Humanities in college and can divide art in to 3 categories: Love It!, That's Art? and Meh.)
Dog poop encountered on the sidewalks in Reims - to numerous to quantify
Royal residences (current and former) visited - 4.5 (didn't go in Buckingham)
Books read (not counting travel guides) - 10 (All by me - yes, I admit, most of them were fluff, but I did read a Tale of Two Cities for the first time ever. Figured it was apropos - and man, the French had serious issues!).
Night I started having "digestive issues" - 13
Day I started wishing we were back home - 14
Most miles walked in a day - 6.2
Most miles it felt like we walked in a day - at least 100
Average minutes to get our check after finishing dinner in France - at least 15
Steps up to Sacré Coeur - lots and lots
People the elevator in our Paris apartment held - 3 (clearly not Americans)
Train rides - 7 (it really is an excellent way to travel)
Last moment taxi rides, 3 hours before the flight back to the States - 1
Royal encounters - none
British tabloids with Kate on the cover - every single one, every single day we were in London
Times I've dozed off writing this as I'm still recovering from jet-lag - 3
And so, on that note, I'll call it a day. Be on the lookout for more detailed posts soon!!
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