BES Assignment Eight - Greenwich

Today I went to Greenwich via boat, and explored part of Greenwich for a few hours. The boat ride was awesome! I had been wanted to take pictures of sites around the Thames because I forgot to bring my camera last time I was in that part and this boat ride gave me the opportunity to take some great pictures from the river. When we got to the Canary Wharf area, I was excited to get some pictures of the Canary Wharf building. I have really gotten into the Doctor Who series lately, and in the show, the Canary Wharf building is a front for Torchwood. It is nerdy, but I still wanted to see it. Stepping off the boat, I could tell that Greenwich was going to be a beautiful area.

My first stop was the observatory. I loved being on top of the hill it sits on and looking out over London. The spot where a person can straddle two hemispheres was cool to think about, but I was not in a hurry to get a picture there so I went into the observatory. I skimmed through the few various rooms that they had on display, but I did not really start looking at things till I got to the time section of the observatory. I really like watches and clocks; it is amazing how much detail and tiny parts go into making a clock tick.

The observatory had a lot of old nautical clock and the best part is the gears of the clocks were exposed. This gave me the chance to really observe how these clocks functioned. It is amazing how anyone figured out how to make such complicated pieces of equipment! Another tidbit that I learned was that people used to ‘sell time’. Basically people would charge a customer to set that persons clock to the correct time. This is a foreign concept to me because it is so simple to set watches to the correct time now, and I never really thought about how difficult that would have been when clocks first started appearing regularly.

My next stop was to the covered market. This was a unique market because it seemed to be focused on handmade arts and crafts as well as vintage items. There were these creepy stuffed bunny things that seemed to be staring into my soul. I have no clue how that lady sells any of them. A stand that I really liked had a ton of vintage tins and glass bottles. It would have been a great place to pick something up for my dad if I didn’t already have something for him. For some reason, this market made me want to buy a tea set. A few stands were selling vintage tea sets, and one stand had tea cups converted to candles. I never thought I would want to buy a tea set, but I guess I was wrong. I did a walk through the naval college after the market. The architecture of the buildings was magnificent. The college was just beautiful! One last thing, thanks for being good sports at Café Sol today!! I think that made every ones day!

Internship Assignment D

BES Assignment Nine - Reflection

BES Assignment Four - Orginazation

While here in London, I joined a poker club that was created by people from my internship. I used to play poker quite often when I was younger, but I have not had the chance to play in a long while. When I heard about this poker club, I had to join. Once week a group of guys get together, usually around 19.00, at one of the coffee shops that Coffeesmiths owns for a game of Texas Hold’em .

 My favorite coffee shop to play at is Liberty of Norton Folgate; mainly because the one side of the shop is all windows. This gave the game a cool feeling to it. I would be playing a hand and look up, and there is the city all lit up. Here I am playing poker with a group of friends in London; I never thought this would even be an option for me at this age. It was a great feeling, and winning my money back was a great feeling too.  

It is usually a £10 buy in, but this would vary depending on the feel of the group. Sometimes there would be someone at the game that was low on money so we would drop the buy in or just play for fun. At first, I did not want to spend the money, but I ended up joining since I thought I could win at least a couple of the games. Turned out I was right. I ended up winning one of the games throughout my time with the cub, which won me a decent amount. I also came in second once and third a couple times. Overall, I don’t think I lost any money.

Even though playing poker was fun, I think the best part was just hanging out with everyone in the club. It reminded me of my friends back home. My group of friends back home and I would get together for a card night; that made this club a little nostalgic for me. Normally after we all showed up, we would stand around and talk for a while before we would actually start the game.

One of the guys would always bring some aged whiskey with him, which added to the poker club feel. Have some whiskey with friends, cracking jokes, and trying to win some money. It turned out to be a great time! I am really happy I decided to join. This club makes me want to start something similar up in the States. The problem is college students don’t usually have the any money to play.

BES Assignment Seven - Villages of London

My village of choice was Hampstead, and wow was it a little odd for me. I can’t really believe that I was still in London. It was so quiet! No sirens, not a ton of traffic, and no construction. It was like stepping into the twilight zone. Once I turned off the main road, it was dead quiet, and funny enough, I was headed to a graveyard. The graveyard was beautiful if you ask me. It was not well kept; many headstones covered in moss, the bushes overgrown, the ground littered with leaves and branches, and some headstones lay in the same position they landed when they toppled over many years before. It really showed its age, and that was the magnificent part about it. It is hard to explain the feel it gave me without letting one experience it for himself/herself. I would not mind spending an hour just sitting on a bench and soaking in the whole place.

Walking up Holly Walk, I had this eerie feeling come over me. The place just seems so old and out of place with London. That with the combination of the quiet skinny street with no one but me walking it gave me chills. I was thinking that this place should not be here; it should be out in the countryside somewhere. When I got back to the main roads, the feeling drifted away as I found other life besides me.

On High Street, I started to pay attention to the people around me and the shops. The people were from middle age on up mostly. I was one of the few younger individuals walking the street. The majority were in their sixties and seventies (guessing of course). Much of the diversity disappeared as well. In Central London, there is a huge mix of people, but in Hampstead, it was mainly white people with a few other ethnicities scattered here and there. The people were all dressed nicely, and many of the old men had an old English village style to their dress. The pace of the street was much slower to Central London. I am used to walking quickly, but Hampstead was rather sleepy; no one was in much of a hurry. I had to slow down a bit so I did not stick out as much. The High Street was filled with many shops and cafes.

The shops were mainly niche clothing stores, which all looked too pricey for my taste. The cafes were littered down the street, and many people were enjoying the nice day outside with some coffee. I did notice there were not any chain grocery stores on the street; no Tesco, no Sainsburys, or no Waitrose. They did have a butcher shop and a bakery. Now that I think about it, it only seems right to have the traditional shops in a village like Hampstead. Anything else would seem odd. Hampstead is a nice place, but it did give me that weird eerie feeling. I don’t think I would choose to live there. 

BES Assignment Six - The East End

For this East end walk, I made sure that I went on a Sunday; mainly because the markets were my main interest within this assignment. I have not been to many covered markets, and it seemed like these markets were going to have more arts and crafts items, which I have not seen much of at other markets. Before we get to the markets, I will talk a little about the other things about the East end.

So I just now noticed how close I work to the East end. One of the coffee shops I work at, Liberty of Norton Folgate, is right across from Folgate street (hence the name). I wasn’t even aware that that was the East End of London, and that Brick Ln. was so close. Anyways, the Georgian houses were beautiful, and London’s quick change act struck once again. Just by turning one corner, I went from skyscrapers created from glass and steel to Georgian houses frozen in time. This is one of the great things about London; every street could be a new world. Dennis Servers’ House was closed, but it would have been interesting to step back in time. Just seeing the candles by the front door felt a little odd and out of place, but that is the magic of it. I did not stop in any of the churches as I must say, I am a little sick of exploring churches. The next stop was Spitalfields Market.

Spitalfields was a nice market. There were a ton of clothes stands, and many homemade crafts/art being sold. I enjoyed looking at the homemade items, and thought about buying a few; I thought again and saved my money. I did pass a doughnut stand, and that was so tempting! I haven’t had doughnuts since I have gotten to London. It was an instant craving when I saw them. Although this market was great, the next market was by far the better one; probably because of all the food!

This market was also a covered market, and the first thing that hit me when I walked in was the amazing smells! Half of the market was taken up by food stands from all different ethnic backgrounds. There was Chinese, Indian, Lithuanian, Spanish, Jamaican, and more. I am adventurous with my food so this was like a honey hole! I had to make three trips around the stands to finally decide what I wanted. Luckily there were a few stands giving out samples to help me decide. I ended up going with some lamb curry; it smelt great and the sample melted in my mouth. I have no regrets about getting it, but I had a sample of the Lithuanian food that was delicious! I put this market on my list to go back to so I can try the Lithuanian food, and of course, the many baked good stands they had there as well! The East End was a great place to spend a day. The cultural diversity of the area is something everyone should experience.   

BES Assignment Three - Interview

I stayed with a host family this past weekend, and they were nice enough to let me interview one of them. I interviewed Kitter, age 50, who has lived his whole life in a small village outside of Norwich. He owns and runs a duck farm, and he sells the ducks to Waitrose. He has two sons, ages 11 and 9, and one daughter, age 5. He and his wife, Jane, have been married for 12 years. Kitter also has a couple of brothers who live in house owned by the farm. His brothers are divorced, which is fine with him. He doesn't have a strong opinion on divorce.

When asked about the pressures that are placed on parents and children, he said there is pressure on the parents to raise their kids right and keep a steady income for the family. At times, he is kept awake by worries of money, and when to buy and sell land in order to keep the farm profitable. For the kids, he tries to keep their lives as stress free as possible. They have to do their school work and go to their various activities, but when they are at home, he doesn't have them do many chores. He wants them to enjoy their childhood because it goes quickly. This was really different from how I was raised. My parents tried to instill a good work ethic in me so I had chores and had to maintain a job once old enough. I don’t know which way is better or if there is a better way; both seem to be working well. I turned out pretty good, and his kids are very well behaved.

We got onto the topic of identity, and what it means to be British. I brought up the U.S. and how patriotism is a large part of being American, and that the UK doesn't seem to show a lot of patriotism. He said that with the U.S. flag being a large symbol of being American, he can see why we have so much patriotism. For Britain, he said, we don’t associate as much with symbols of our country. I asked if he had any input on the big debate of what makes someone British.

Kitter was quick on this one; he said that with the amount of people immigrating to the England, he can understand why it is a debate. However, for him and anyone else who has lived in England their whole lives, we know what it means to be British. I wanted to ask him what he knew that so many people didn't  but he seemed defensive about the previous question; it would have been rude for me to pry any more. I think this question is one of those that may not have an answer. People know they are British; they may not know what specifically it means to be British, but don’t ever tell them they aren't British!  

BES Assignment Five - IWM

The Imperial War Museum was fantastic. I decided to go against the advice of some, and I started with the Holocaust exhibit. The main reason for this was for time reasons; I knew I would spend the most time in that exhibit. I think the IWM did an excellent job with the setup of the exhibit. It was designed to be very simple to travel through, and it was set up as a timeline. The exhibit was one large story that flowed through the Walkways. It allowed me to learn about the Holocaust from start to finish.

 There were many individual stories placed around the exhibit that really helped me to connect to the people that endured this tragedy. My favorite part of the exhibit was the model of a concentration camp. I have heard plenty of stories about concentration camps and seen pictures, but this model really drove it home for me. I could follow the whole process of the camps, and it made my mind understand the horrific events that took place in these camps. After the Holocaust exhibit, I thought I would take a small break to recover so I spent a while looking at the three fighter planes.

I am your typically male that gets excited over the fighter planes. I loved being able to see them so close up. I wish they would have had one on the ground though. I wanted to see the controls and the cockpit in general. It is one thing seeing the outside, but it would have been amazing to get a look at the entire plane! Now that I was in a better mood, I was ready for the rest of the museum.

My favorite exhibit at the IWM was the Secret War exhibit. This was an exhibit about Britain’s history with spies. I love the idea of the spy world and the gadgets so naturally when I saw the exhibit I was all ready for it! The exhibit lived up to my expectations. The setup made it a little difficult to see everything, but it was packed with items so I understand why they designed it in the manner they did. What really fascinated me about the exhibit was the amount of gadgets that I once thought were purely fiction.

I have seen plenty of the gadgets in movies, but never thought most of them were real. Turns out I was wrong. They had trackers built into pens, radio transmitters disguised in all sorts of ways, and tiny spy cameras (of course many types of weapons as well). The exhibit also had many interactive games such as code breaking, and audio diaries of true spies. This was a perfect place of my inner child to surface and explore. It was a little nostalgic to have such fascination for something again. It has been a long while since I have experienced that.  

Internship Assignment C

My work environment is laid-back  In all four of the shops I work at, there is a consistent structure, but this structure has plenty of room for fun and joking around. I have noticed that even in the busy times everyone remains in a casual state, and yet, completes all of their work in a timely fashion. I found this interesting; in my experience in the food and drink business back in the States, people tend to get flustered and frantic when it becomes too busy. I have also observed that the environment is personal. The workers are always trying to get to know people, whether that be customers or other staff members. Going back to the structure, the way things are done in each shop is very precise. This has to do with health and safety as well as Coffeesmiths goal of making quality coffee every time. For example: when pouring shots, the amount of ground espresso beans has to be within .1 grams of 20.4, and is poured for 30 seconds. Another example is the various towels that are used for drying. In each shop, there are at least three different color towels, and each has a specific purpose.

The preciseness and the personable atmosphere are two key parts of the work environment that I would not get rid of. The preciseness allows the shops to run efficiently and safely, and the personable atmosphere is crucial to a successful coffee shop (it also keeps the staff happy). Two things I would change about the work environment is the allowed use of phones and eating behind the counter. This is a part of the laid-back feel of working in the shops, but I tend to think that it does not look good to the customers to have staff using their phones or eating behind the counter. It looks unprofessional. I have multiple supervisors, and their techniques are all different so I am going to focus on just two of them.

My supervisor at Speakeasy tries to style work for me in a fair and fun way. Instead of having me do dishes all the whole day, he likes to give me a chance to work all the jobs in the shop. He is looking to keep my work entertaining, and always changing. I will do dishes for an hour, then pour shots for an hour, and then work the till for an hour. He understands that I am here to learn, and he caters my work to that. He also likes to keep my work fun by simply joking around with me when the job may be boring. The other supervisor way of styling work for me is trusting. He tends to give me work that forces me to make decisions. I will be given a task with a set of instructions; however, when I start the task, I soon learn there is much he left out. 

He is a busy man so it forces me to think on my feet and make decisions, sometimes big decisions. This work is to help me learn what a true job would require of me. If I were to become a supervisor, I would like to be fun and friendly, but still hold my authority. I would also like to give work to my employees that force them to make decisions and think on their own, similar to what my second supervisor does. Through the work at my internship, I have learned a little about myself.

I have noticed that I tend to lose my casual state when I become busy especially when making coffee. This might have to do with my lack of experience, but it still bothers me. I want to work on this mainly because it does not pay off to get flustered. If anything, it causes mistakes, and it worries customers. Hopefully, gaining more experience will help. I have also learned that I take things to heart at work. If a customer is unhappy with his or her experience, I find that it bothers me. I am a part of a company, and if customers look badly on me, it looks badly on the company and vice versa. On the upside, when a customer is extremely pleased, it gives me an energy boost for the rest of the day. I have learned about myself, but I have also learned some new skills.

 The main thing I have learned while working with Coffeesmiths is how to make quality espresso drinks. Before this internship, I had no idea how to make quality espresso, but now I am confident in my shot pouring and decent at steaming milk correctly. Unfortunately, I still need a bit of work on the latte art, but in my defense, it is really difficult. I have poured a couple nice hearts and one rosetta. The other thing I have learned was through my projects with the CEO. I have been helping recreate the online shop, and through this, I have learned how to use Wordpress to create a website. I really had no experience with website creation, but now at least I know where to start and how to create a backend. These new skill will come in handy because I would like to own a coffee shop one day.

Before that day comes, I will try to get some more experience in coffee shops to help me hone my skills. As I said though, my goal is to own a coffee shop. I love the feel and overall atmosphere of coffee houses. It draws me in, and has created this love for them. I tend to do most of my homework in coffee shops, and I do not see that changing. Since starting university, I have also developed a love for coffee and espresso. I do not get the caffeine buzz anymore, but coffee is still my drink of choice. Coffee is something I hope to continue to learn about and surround my life with.    

BES Journal Five

The beginning of this week was filled with preparation for my fall break, so there is not much to tell about that. All the preparation finally paid off Friday morning when I was headed for Genoa for the beginning of a cruise. Two others and I had an early morning Friday in order to catch our flight. We wanted something cheap so we decided to fly Ryanair, and I must say that was an experience! The takeoff was great, and besides the annoying selling of items the whole flight, it went well. The fun part came during the landing.

I have flown a lot, but this was the first time I had ever been scared during a landing.

 We started coming down really shaky, and when we hit the landing strip, I am pretty sure we were only on one wheel. We were at a tilt for a while and began to swerve. To my relief, we finally came to a stop. The kicker, when we finally stopped, trumpets were played over the intercom! Wow that was a ride. I have to admit I was nervous about going to Italy. This was my first time in a non-English speaking country, and I was not sure how difficult it would be to interact with the people. My worries were put to rest shortly after arriving in Italy.

Although English is not the official Language, many people knew enough English to understand what it was I was asking them or wanted. I felt a little bad, though, because I know if the situation was reversed, I would not be able to understand them. It made me realize how catered to the English language is. Anyways, back to the trip. I was pretty tired by the time I boarded the ship, but I could not sleep. I was about to embark on my first real adventure! We left port Friday night, and headed towards Civitavecchia, Italy.

The first night on the cruise was great. There was a show in the theater, which impressed me for being a cruise show. I could definitely tell this was an Italian cruise by the risqué costumes the performers were wearing. After the show, we sat down for our first of many five course meals. I enjoy food, and one of my favorite things to do is try new foods. This cruise gave me that opportunity. Not only did I get to eat a high class five course meal every night, but the menu also allowed me to try things I have never tried before. I would say my absolute favorite was the mussels in red sauce; they were fantastic! We reached Civitavecchia the next day, and the three of us decided to get train tickets to Rome.

Being in Rome was surreal. I never would have thought I would be standing next to the Coliseum at the age of twenty. Rome as a whole was beautiful, and we saw the touristy parts and the everyday parts due to us getting off the train a stop too early. We spent two hours lost in Rome before we figured out a Metro (similar to the Overground) could take us to the Coliseum. It was all worth it though! It was an exhausting day, but I was excited to see what the start of a new week had in store for me!   

BES Journal Four

This week, we had a group trip to Canterbury and Dover. Canterbury had a unique atmosphere to it. I was transported to a different time period because of Canterbury’s medieval feel. The city still has its defensive walls, which makes driving into Canterbury a cool experience. We went to the Canterbury Cathedral, which was breathtaking from the outside. The inside architecture did not disappoint either! The cathedral was huge and displayed multiple types of architecture styles.  At first I thought this tour was going to be just another tour of a church, but there was an interesting story that caught my attention.

The story of Thomas Becket’s murder in the cathedral gave the tour a little extra something for people like me who have seen a large amount of churches and cathedrals. With the audio guide, I could follow the story and see the places in the cathedral that events leading/during the murder took place. There was an art piece at the place of Becket’s death that I found fitting. It is two sinister looking blades in the shape of the cross with two swords piercing the arms of the cross. My favorite part of this piece is how it cast its shadow on the wall, which adds to the sinister feeling of the piece. This art work really makes you feel the terrible act that took place in that very spot. Although I enjoyed Canterbury, I would have to say Dover Castle was my favorite place of the day.

Dover Castle was absolutely beautiful! The castle sits on the White Cliffs of Dover, and being that it was a clear day on my visit, I could see France from the castle. Walking through the castle, I thought they did a great job keeping the original feel (The smell of wood burning was a great addition) and mixing in some modern tech equipment (speakers playing sounds of the castle’s kitchen in action). The castle itself was great, but the grounds around it were my favorite part.

I spent a lot of time walking the grounds of the castle. I looked at the White Cliffs, and walked along the boundaries of the grounds overlooking the city and the channel. It was just a very peaceful walk, which was a nice change from London. I love London, but it is nice to have some quiet at times. There were some wartime tunnels below the grounds as well. I wanted to tour the secret tunnels, but the tours were too long for the time we were allotted. Instead, I explored the smaller medieval tunnels. We found some side tunnels, and an air vent that we climbed up a little. I liked how Dover Castle was very free to explore. I didn’t have to follow any set path or tour, and I was allowed to do what I wanted, go where I wanted, and find place other people may have missed. The only thing I would change about the Dover Castle visit would be the time we were allowed. An extra hour would have been great to explore the wartime secret tunnels.

Internship Journal Week Six

Week 6

Date: Tuesday 6^th & Wednesday 7^th November                                  Total Hours: 16

I was at Speakeasy as usual on Tuesday. I needed to finish up the spreadsheet and do a couple more little tweaks on the survey before Wednesday. I mainly spent my time on the spreadsheet. I had to weigh and measure a few more products, and I wanted to double check the work I had already done. I looked through the spreadsheet and picked out things that looked off, and I would do some research to figure out if I had made a mistake. I caught a few mistakes, but I think the majority of it was correct. I then changed the survey a little, and I let Tim know that these were both completed and ready for our meeting on Wednesday.

I was at Chancery Coffee this week, and I had an early morning. I had to be in when the shop opened so my day started at 7:30. I thought the day was going to drag on because I was tired and Chancery, being the newest shop, is one of the slower ones. The assistant manager, Ryan, wanted me on the counter with another member of the staff that was new to the shop. It was nice to have another worker that did not know where everything was. It made me feel less incompetent. We switched off working the till and preparing food for customers.

 Ryan wanted us to work on the customer touch points that he likes to use in this shop (greeting them, taking their order, taking the payment, taking their name, asking if they have a loyalty card, etc.). I had my first encounter with a hostel customer since I have started with Coffeesmiths. We asked a gentleman for his name, and he did not take that too well. He started ranting on about how taking his name for the coffee was silly, and how this is just as bad as Starbucks. Ryan explained to the man that we are just trying to build a relationship with our customers. That guy stuck in everybody’s head for the rest of the day. When you work in hospitality, you always remember the jerks. They just rub you the wrong way. We are only trying to do our jobs, and make customers feel welcome. Enough of the little rant; the rest of the day went well, and I left for Speakeasy a little before 14:00 to meet with Tim.

We started our meeting with the survey; he said I did a great job and took some initiative in picking the design of the survey. He had a couple of small things he wanted to change, and gave me until Thursday to change them. The survey should now be active, and Tim and I are meeting next week to go through some of the responses. We then moved on to the website project. He gave his approval on the updated spreadsheet so we were ready to move on. The next step in my project is to place on the information I have found into the backend of the website, as well as connecting products with related ones and suggested add on products.

 He taught me some tricks with using Wordpress, and gave me till next Wednesday to have the information in the backend. He also wants me to compile all the product images into a folder in Dropbox. This is a large amount of work to do in a week, but I will just have to work through the weekend to get it done. I do have to say that this project is making feel as if I actually work for Coffeesmiths. This is an important project, and customers will be seeing the information I enter into Wordpress. Coffeesmiths will be using my information to calculate shipping rates as well. Although it is a lot of work crunched in a small time frame, I am happy Tim trusts me to do it.      

Internship Journal Week Five

Week 5

Date: Tuesday 30^th & Wednesday 31^st October                                    Total Hours: 17

My project day started out with a meeting with Tim, the CEO, at Speakeasy. We went through the spreadsheet I had sent him to critic some items, as well as figure out what is the next step. He said I had knocked out a large chunk of the work, but he still wanted me to fill in the blanks that I could not find online. He suggested that I use a scale and tape measure from Speakeasy, and manually weigh and measure the products and their boxes. This did not seem like it would be too hard so it did not bother me. Tim also introduced the next project he wants me working on. He roughly wrote up a customer survey about how customers view Coffeesmiths’ home barista products. I was now in charge of proofreading/amending the survey, and creating the survey on Survey Monkey for online distribution. I decided that I would work on the survey on my own time later in the week. Being that I was in Speakeasy, I took the rest of the day for weighing and measuring products for the spreadsheet.

I was back in Speakeasy for Wednesday. I was supposed to come in at 6:30 and work to 16:00, but John, the manager, thought it would be best for me to come in at 10:00 and work to 18:00. I was not complaining because I did not really want to be into work by 6:30 anyways. I worked on dishes for a couple hours until the rush was over. John then put me on the counter. I was in charge of preparing any sandwiches or pastries that people order, as well as running coffees. This helped me with figuring out what sandwiches are what, and what they all have on them. I still do not know them really well, but I am getting much better at distinguishing between them. It was also nice to work the counter because I could see the whole shop, and watch how the shop and customers work from a large view. With an hour to 18:00, I went back on dish duty to finish up.

There was a big rush that started right before 18:00 and being that it was later in the day, only three of us were still working. I left the dish station a little after 18:00, and went up to help the two other staff. The rush lasted till 18:45, and I was exhausted! John sent me home with a piece of carrot cake as a thank you for staying an extra 45 minutes. Working late did not bother me, but I was more than happy to take a piece of delicious carrot cake!  I also walked away with some new knowledge.

Because it was Halloween, a few of us started talking about it, and I was informed that Halloween started as a British holiday, but died out. The states resurrected Halloween, and it made its way back to Great Britain. It still is not as popular here as it is in the states, but I still saw plenty of kids all dressed up. I also noticed that there were many more families that came in to Speakeasy on Halloween and many of the kids had brand new toys. I had not seen this in the past weeks, and I am wondering if it has to do with it being Halloween.  

Internship Journal Week Four

Week 4

Date: Tuesday 16^th & Wednesday 17^th October                                 Total Hours: 16

Tuesday, I went to Speakeasy to work on the online shop project. I was on my own to work all day, and besides a few interactions with some of the staff, I had my nose in my computer all day. This project was turning out to be difficult. Last week I took out a small chunk of the spreadsheet, and it was my job to finish it in this one day so I could send it to the CEO. Finding this information online, from a credible source that is, was almost painful. By the end of the day, I had not completed the spreadsheet; however, I had found all the information that I could find online. I sent a copy to the CEO and Ashley as a first draft.

On Wednesday morning, I was woken up at 6:30 to a phone call from Ashley. I was notified that, I will be working at Liberty this week instead of Department. I was not too upset with this because I get more time on the coffee machine when I am at Liberty. They started me on the till that morning and I also waited on some tables. This was nice because I had the chance to chat with some of the customers. I felt bad for one of the customers because I had to take his order 3 times till he ordered something that we still had left. During the busy morning rushes, we often run out of certain baked items, and it seemed that everything this gentleman wanted we were out of it. It is not my fault, I know, but as a server, I cannot help but feel a little responsible. This sort of thing comes with being in the food/beverage industry though. In the afternoon, Liberty slows down quite a bit so I had my chance to start making coffee again!

I made a few coffees before my assistant manager wanted to show me something new. He taught me about the coffee grinders, and how to calibrate them to get the desired amount/density of coffee. After running over this with me, he went to the grinder, and completely messed up the calibration on it. I was tasked with finding the correct calibration again. This is a long process because each step one has to do during calibration takes a decent amount of time. It took me a couple of wrong guess to get it back to where it needed to be, but I was happy to learn something new.

Someone had brought in a small boxed of spiced minced pies for all the staff. I had never tried this before, but I am adventurous with my food and up for it. I was informed that these spiced pies are really popular as Christmas holiday treat. This lead to discussing Christmas in the states, and my manager from Holland explained that Holland does not celebrate Christmas. They have something very similar with a character that is like Santa and little helpers similar to elves. It was not really different from Christmas just a few little differences. Back to the spiced minced pies, they were good, but when it says spiced, it is not kidding. It has a strong flavor. I would not eat them all the time, but I would be okay with a couple times around the holidays.   

Internship Journal Week Three

Week 3

Date: Tuesday 9^th & Wednesday 10^th October                                     Total Hours: 16

Finally, my project is getting kicked off! Tuesday I met with Ashley at Speakeasy to go over the project I will be working on. I will be helping Coffeesmiths revamp their online store. Coffeesmiths sells a variety of home brewing items, but Tim is not happy with the online store. I have been given a spreadsheet with all the items Coffeesmiths sells online, and my job is to locate on the specs on the equipment. This way when the time comes to change the website, all the information will be in a convenient place. I spent the rest of Tuesday searching for the product specs online and partly filling out the spreadsheet.

On Wednesday, I was at Chancery Coffee for the morning and at Department of Coffee and Social Affairs for the afternoon. The idea was to have me working in rushes all day. Chancery is the smallest shop catering to take away. I was given the grand tour when I arrived, and a minute later, I was tasked with taking inventory. This was something I had not done yet, so it did not bother me even though it sounds boring. After inventory, I helped package take away breakfast items and an hour before my shop switch I was able to get on the coffee machine again. The assistant manager of the site gave me a little rundown about where coffee beans are grown, and went back through the process of pouring shots. Although, I had heard all this before, it was still nice to have it repeated so it sticks in my head better. At noon, I was off to Department.

At Department, I walked straight into chaos. The line was out the door, and this was my first time working in this shop. The co-owner of Coffeesmiths and manager of Department, Chris, gave me really quick tour, and then asked me to do dishes and run coffees. This shop was the busiest out of all the shops I have been in, but it took me back to working as a cook back in the States. Orders were being yelled across the room, baristas were calling for runners, and me doing dishes, was yelled at to get more forks washed. Department is my favorite coffee shop looks and atmosphere wise, but it is probably my least favorite to work at. The staff was great and funny, but all I did was wash dishes for the rest of the day because it never slowed down enough for me to do anything else. It was a good experience, but I would like to get more practice making coffee.

While working on my project, I got my first real taste of the metric system. I had to locate product dimensions and weights and record them on the spreadsheet. I have not worked with the metric system much, so I found myself using a lot of conversion websites to not only convert inches/pounds to millimeters/grams, but also to remember how many zeros to add when switching from centimeters/kilograms to millimeters/grams. I felt like I should have known this stuff, but I did not. It is much easier than the way the U.S. is doing it. Anyways, that was my fun cultural experience.  

Internship Journal Week Two

Week 2

Date: Wednesday 3^rd October                                                    Total Hours: 8

Week two was a short week. I was supposed to meet with the CEO, Tim Ridley, to begin a project that I would be helping with; however, on Monday I received a call to inform me that Tim would not have time to meet with me this week. On Wednesday, though, I worked in Liberty of Norton folgate. This shop was a way different feel than Speakeasy. Speakeasy is large, and busy most of the day. Liberty on the other hand, was long and skinny; its rush was in the morning and the rest of the day was relatively slow.

Once again, I started with dishes, and clearing tables during the rush. As the day went on, I spent more time waiting on tables and working the till. Liberty has menus at every table, and it is the staff’s job to take customers’ orders. I enjoyed this because I could interact with the patrons. Accents posed a problem with taking orders at times, but I did my best; most people were understanding once they found out I was new to London. When I was working the till, I had to learn about the U.K. coins quickly. In the states, we do not have as many coins, and the U.K. currency confused me at times. When I started making change, however, I was forced to understand the coins. I am now confident when using the currency. Towards the end of my day, they put me on the coffee machine again.

This time I was not pouring shots; instead, they taught me how to steam milk. I would like to state that steaming milk correctly is difficult! Depending on what drink is being made, the amount of froth (the amount you stretch the milk) changes. The first step was understanding how much froth each drink needs. Once I figured that out, the challenge became stretching the milk correctly. I think I got lucky at the start. On my second attempt, the head barista of the shop examined my milk, and she was shocked. She asked me if this was my first time steaming milk. It was my first time. She said that she had never seen anyone steam milk that well on their first time. She then proceeded to show all the rest of the staff. It felt good to be complimented on something I was hoping I would be good at, but it also added some pressure for the rest of the day. I wanted to make the rest of the milk to that level, but unfortunately, my luck ran out. I had some really good milk, but I also had some really bad milk, which we could not use in drinks. I am just hoping by the end of my time here, I will be able to steam milk well. As a little side note, I tried my first latte art this week. I attempted a heart, which is the easiest. Let’s just say it turned out as blob. I will get it sooner or later!

 I would also like to say that sandwiches in London are way fancier than in the states! When I was taking orders, I was very confused when someone ordered a sandwich. The names of the sandwiches are very fancy, and I did not know how to pronounce some of them. Not to mention, I did not know what some of the things on the sandwiches were. This was a cultural obstacle for me! After I figured out what the customer wanted, I had to go figure out which of the sandwiches it actually was. Luckily, I did not bring anyone the wrong sandwich, but it took me a long time. It definitely made me feel like a typical American. The goal now is to learn these sandwiches and their ingredients!  

Internship Journal Week One

Week 1

Date: Tuesday 25th & Wednesday 26^th September                                 Total Hours:  10

The first week of my internship started with an introduction to Coffeesmiths Collective. I met the HR director, Ashley Lopez, at Liberty of Norton Folgate (one of the coffee shops) at 1:00. When Ashley walked in, it was clear that I was over dressed in my dress clothes, but she did tell me that it was safe of me to dress smart even though I do not need to. The introduction started with going over what they wanted me to do during my time with them and what I was expecting to get out of my internship. From there, we took a tour of all four of the coffee shops that Coffeesmiths own, and I was treated to coffee at all the shops as well as a piece of cherry chocolate cake at Speakeasy Espresso and Brew Bar. I must say, it was a great way to be introduced to the company. During our tour, I got to know Ashley, and a little history on Coffeesmiths.

On Wednesday, I worked at Speakeasy, and I was definitely nervous! The source of my nerves was in my inexperience in the coffee world, and I do not think that my nerves went away throughout the whole shift. John, Speakeasy’s manager, started me on dishes until the shop slowed down. Dishes are something I know how to do so I was okay with starting there. The only thing that sucked was the dish machine is down stairs, but majority of the coffee is served upstairs. I got a workout! Dishes are simple; however, putting away clean saucers is another story. The saucers vary in size depending on what drinks are served on them. The problem is the size difference is hardly noticeable, and I found that I was placing them in the wrong stacks. I was corrected multiple times but in a friendly way, which was nice. After the morning and lunch rush, John and I had a quick meeting to go over what I wanted to learn while at Speakeasy. Being that I have no experience as a Barista, I wanted to learn the trade. My afternoon consisted of learning how to pour a shot of espresso.

 When John started to explain how to pour a shot, I was shocked at how precise they are at Coffeesmiths. The espresso beans that go into a shot have to weigh within .1 of 20.4 grams, and the shots are poured for precisely 30 seconds. There is a certain order to how things are done during the process of pouring a shot, and I think remembering the little details and steps was the hardest part. I would often forget to purge the machine before putting the basket in, and John would have to stop me. Because these shots were being used in customers’ drinks, John had to make sure I was pouring the shots to Coffeesmiths’ standards. It was challenging, but by the end of the day, I was doing pretty well.

Majority of the staff at Speakeasy are from countries other than the UK, and their accents are rather thick at times. This made it difficult to understand the staff at times. I did not catch many of their names, and the ones I did catch, I forgot within a few minutes. If they asked me to run drinks to tables, I often had to ask them to repeat what table it was going to because I could not understand them. This was challenging, but I think the more I work with them, the more trained my ears will become. At least, I am hoping that is the case! You feel a little stupid asking ‘what’ all the time. Overall, it was a fun day, and I learned more than I thought I would on my first day! 

Internship Assignment B - Profile

Coffeesmiths Collective
Organizational Profile

I. Purposes and Values
Coffeesmith Collectives mission statement is to increase the quality of life that comes with quality coffee and food to as many people as possible. The company also has values that are used to help identify what is important and what is not. The values are as follows:

1. Make quality coffee 

2. Every person is to be valued 

3. Every coffee shop is a public place 

4. Our communities and relationships give us significance 

5. Give our customers a better quality of life 

6. Plan and execute for exceptional profitability and return on investment 

II. Carrying out the purposes of the company 
Coffeesmiths relies on their employees to carry out the purposes of the company. They employ people who can think for themselves and make good decisions to benefit the company and its customers. They try to teach their employees to prioritise and balance values. At times, certain values may outweigh other values. When this happens, practices need to be altered in the moment.

The chain of command is less formal than a large company, but is well constructed for a smaller company. There are managers and assistant managers at all coffee coffee shops. If employees have questions or concerns, they are to report to the assistant manager or the manager. The manager is to report to the CEO or HR director.

III. New Policies 
The new policies are formed between the two founders of the company. They do take input from many of the managers as well as employees and customers. It is a very open system, but the people with the most influence are Chris (manager of Department of Coffee and Social Affairs and founder), Tim (CEO and founder), and a silent partner who finances part of the company.

IV. Competition 
Coffeesmiths has a wide range of competitors. They include all the coffee shops in Central London, and the machines people can use at home. To combat the other shops, Coffeesmiths tries to make the best quality coffee and adapt to the area the shop is in. This, they hope, will keep bringing customers in. As for the machines people use at home, Coffeesmith offers a wide variety of household coffee machines. Even if the customer does not come to get coffee every day, they hope that the customers will buy their coffee equipment from one of the various shops.

V. Funding 
Coffesmiths has two forms of funding. The first is a silent partner who is not present, but he does fund part of the company. The second is from the retail sales that are made every day in the coffeeshops.

VI. Customers 
They serve the neighborhoods they are located in. Each of the four shops is located in different areas of central London. Each shop caters to the type of area they are in. However, the overall customers would be people who love quality customers, friendly service, and a pleasant atmosphere.

VII. Employees 
They have around 25 full-time employees. 23 of the employees work as staff in the various shops, and 2 work behind the scenes. Their employees are from all over the world, and many of them do not stay for long. Coffeesmiths does well with encouraging travel. They do only employ experience baristas because they are trying to provide the best quality coffee.

VIII. Benefits 
Coffeesmiths offers their employees a 25% discount on food, a 20% discount on coffee beans, and free drinks while on shift. When employees are off shift, they get a 20% discount on food, 20% discount on coffee beans, and coffee drinks for £1.50.

IX. Issues the organization is facing 
Coffeesmiths is growing quickly. In three years, they have opened 4 shops. An issue they are facing at the moment is getting the newest shop more business. Because it has only been open for 3 weeks, it is not well known yet. Coffeesmiths is doing its best to bring awareness to the people living and working in the area. Another issue they are facing is the demand for online shopping. The website does have an online shopping section, but it does not contain all the items they sell. At the moment, they are working on revamping the website to make it more user friendly and to update the online shopping page fully.

  

 

Internship Assignment A - Goals

I. Learn what it takes to run a coffee shop from behind the scenes

 
   A. Work closely with Tim (CEO) and Ashley (HR Director) one day a week
   B. Ask Tim and Ashley questions about their roles in the business
   C. Work on projects with Tim and Ashley to get a feel for what tasks they may do to keep Coffeesmiths running.
   D. Learn the history of the company and how it has grown

II. Learn what it takes to work as staff in a coffee shop

  

   A. Work in one of the various coffee shops once a week
   B. Observe the staff

III. Learn to make quality coffee
  

  A. Practice on the machines at least once a week
  B. Ask the baristas questions
  C. Listen to each barista as if it is my first time learning it
  D. Take bits and pieces of techniques and information from each of the baristas and compile them in a way that works best for me

 

BES Assignment Two - Museum of London

I ventured to the London Museum last week, and I had mixed feelings about the Museum. I was excited to check out this Museum because it would give me more of a background on London. It did not disappoint in that aspect as I did learn a great deal about the history of London. I found the museum had a slow start to it, but became better put together as it progressed toward modern time. The biggest part of the Museum that I disliked was the way they displayed the Roman exhibit. I believe they were doing a special thing for the Olympics, but I found that it took away from the exhibit itself.

In the Roman exhibit, they mixed modern with ancient. There would be a display of an old workshop, and sitting on the floor of the new workshop was a brand new modern set of tools. In another display, there was an IPhone next to ancient artifacts, and there was a piece of modern day furniture in a Roman house display. I understand that this was probably for children to show the difference between the past and present; however, for me, it was as if the museum was taking the value away from these ancient artifacts. By displaying modern with ancient, it says to me that the two items are equal, but in reality the history in the ancient artifact has far greater importance than the modern day items. Now that I got that off my chest, I can talk about what I really enjoyed.

I thought the museum did a great job with an exhibit that showed what London used to look like in the 20’s or 30’s (I do not actually remember the exact time period they were depicting). This exhibit had close to life-sized store fronts, and it made me feel as if I was actually walking through a small city block. I love when museums can make the visitor seem a part of that time period, and the London Museum did a fantastic job with this small city block.  The display that I enjoyed most was tucked away in a corner, and the other two people I went with missed it. There is a dungeon door, and beside the door is a small room that I decided to walk into.

The room was lined with wood planks; it was rather dark in the room, and the sound of walking on a wood floor created an eerie atmosphere. The wood planks were covered with cravings from the occupants of the room. There were many names carved into the wall, one was from the 1700’s, and cravings of a house showed up multiple times on the walls. The room left me in awe. The feeling in the room and the fact that people left their marks on these wood planks from hundreds of years ago made me want to know the stories of the names on the wall. I did have mixed feelings about the museum, but as a whole, I am glad that I went. There were many interesting exhibits, and it helped me to understand more about the history of the London area.       

BES Assignment One - Markets

The two markets I went to were Brixton and Camden. When I first arrived in Brixton, it seemed like a rundown part of London (it didn't help that it was raining and gloomy). Although it did look like a bad part of town, there was something in the air that gave me a vibrant feeling as if the true personality of Brixton was hidden away. I ventured there on a week day, but I would love to go back on a weekend to see if that hidden personality surfaces during the busy weekends.  I loved seeing the open meat shops mainly because I have only seen those sorts of stores on TV. We don’t have open stores like those in Iowa. As for the outdoor stands, there were a wide variety of stands. The stands ranged from clothes to fresh fruit and vegetables. I would like to buy some fresh food from the market sometime. It seems a little cheaper than at a supermarket. There were two stands that I found odd and possibly legal questions could be raised by one of the stands.

As I walked through the market, sitting between a clothes stand and a fruit cart was a stand selling explicit movies. This was odd to me because I consider a market to be a family friendly place; not to mention, the fact that it just was out of place at the market. The second stand, which could raise legal questions, was selling passports. A group of 6 passports from various countries sat on a table for all to see and/or purchase. I am not sure what the law is in the UK with selling passports, but the vendor did not seem too concerned. Brixton has some secrets, some good some bad, but it was still an enjoyable market that I will return to.

Camden Market was my favorite by far! Stepping out of the tube station, I was automatically transported to a strange and colorful world that resembles a carnival. The buildings had artistic twists to them, and the people, what do I say about the people? They are some of the most interesting, colorful, scary, and strangely beautiful people I have ever seen.  Everyone has their own style, and Camden is a place where anyone can be who they want to be. The stores are more souvenir and clothes shops than anything, but the shops are not what really draw me to this market. It is the food!

Camden is filled with food vendors from every ethnicity. The explosive fragrance of the food mixed with the assertive personalities of the vendors makes for a fun lunch.  The Chinese vendors are the most assertive. They do not grasp distance; I was walking on the opposite side of a wide aisle from one of the vendors, but the Chinese lady was still shouting “Hey you; Are you hungry? Come try! Free Sample!” I did not stop at that stand; however, I did stop at another Chinese stand. At this one, the lady behind the counter would start spooning different items in my bowl as she simultaneously asked me if I wanted it. After doing that for three different items, she stopped asking me all together and kept adding different types of chicken. As she handed the strange mix of Chinese food to me, she said “You can’t say no to me; it’s because I so cute.”  The mix did not taste the best, but it makes for a great story. I think I will be spending a lot of time in Camden.   

BES Journal Three

This past week, I was on a mission to find some beautiful views of the city. I enjoy looking out over beautiful areas, and I had not seen the city as a whole. London is beautiful just walking down the streets, but I wanted to get a feel for London as a whole. I went to Regents Park the week before, and it was wonderful! It was as if I stepped out of the city. I was lucky to get there before they took all the flowers out for the winter. Regents Park relaxed me and that was really needed. When I am around people for too long, I tend to get short tempered and annoyed easily. I was getting to that point and just needed to get away from everything so I can think and enjoy the quiet. After sitting and walking around Regents Park, felt so much better. I have been told about Primrose Hill a couple of times; so when I was looking for a great view of the city, Primrose Hill popped in my mind right away.

Since I had already been to Regents Park, I thought it would be easy to find the hill since it is right next to Regents Park. I miscalculated the distance a little. I left for the hill late afternoon, and I thought it would only be a 30 min walk to get there. It ended up taking me an hour. Regents Park is much bigger than I expected! It was a nice walk, but I couldn’t shake the thought that I still had to walk back an hour. Although my feet were tired when I finally found Primrose Hill, I must say it was worth the walk! When I finally reach the top of the hill, the view made me forget all about my aching feet. It was breathtaking, and the first time I had seen London in such a large chunk. The city is beautiful, and I couldn’t help but think that one day I could see London as a home. Looking out over London made living here seem right. I love the variety of people, and the way of life here; seeing that view of London, brought everything together.

I also rode the London Eye this week, and that just reinforced how I thought when I was on top of Primrose Hill. I am glad we took the night ride on the Eye. It gave me a chance to see London all lit up. I wish the ride was a little longer because I wasn’t even close to being tired of gazing out over the city. Something about the city at night that makes me feel happy as well as awe over the brilliance of London. I am going to continue my journey of finding beautiful views and areas of London throughout this whole trip. I think my next stop will be Hyde Park. I am feeling more and more at home everyday!

BES Journal Two

This weekend we had our first group trip. I was really excited for it because I have wanted to see what the UK is like outside of London.  The first stop on the trip was Stonehenge. On the bus there, I thought that Stonehenge was going to be amazing to see since it is such a well-known attraction. When we arrived, I was a little disappointed. It was not as big as people make it out to be, and we had to stay on a path that was at a distance from the site. I was hoping I would get to walk through the stones or at least be a little closer than the path allowed me to get. Do not get me wrong, Stonehenge is an incredible feat for the time it was constructed, but for me, it is just something I can say that I have seen. Next on the trip, which was also my favorite part of the trip, was Bath.

I found Bath to be beautiful! I enjoyed walking around Bath looking at the old architecture. It amazed me that a small city like Bath had so many things going on. It would not be hard to keep myself busy in Bath all day and all night. The Roman Baths were interesting and beautiful. I think I spent a few hours wandering around them. It shocked me how big the place was. From the outside and the initial entrance of the Baths, I thought I would be bored with it within an hour. I was wrong; there were so many hallways and rooms that it kept my interest the few hours I was there. What I really wanted to do was to try the water. So when I reached the exit, it didn't take me long to fill up a cup of the water and try it. It was not as bad as what people told me it was, but it still wasn't good. Not something I want to drink every day. Fast forward to the night life in Bath, and I would say that was a surprise.

Bath was crazy at night! There were so many people on the streets and at the pubs and clubs. It caught me off guard because it has more of a sleepy town feel to it during the day. The whole place did a 180 once the sun went down. I met quite a few people that night. Most of them lived outside of Bath, but came into the city for the night life. Two of the guys that I met made my night. These two threw every stereotype about anti-Americanism out the window. Once they found out that we were from America, they became very excited. One of the guys kept asking us to speak so he could listen to our accents. He was fascinated by us, and asked many questions about the states. I don’t think he knew much about the States because he asked me where I was from; when I said Iowa, he asked me what part of New York is that. It made me laugh, and definitely made my trip to Bath more memorable. At first, I was worried about anti-Americanism, but after my weekend in Bath and from the people I have met in Woburn Place, I just do not see the hate for America.  I guess it is just a stereotype.   

BES Journal One

The first week in London was pretty tiring. I was jet lagged and had plenty of things to do for the orientation week. One of the activities during orientation week was bowling. When I first heard we were going bowling, I was a little disappointed and a little excited. I was disappointed because I have bowled plenty of times in the States, and I was hoping to try new things and step out of my comfort zone. On the other hand, I was a little excited to see if bowling in London was going to be any different than in the States. It turned out that the game of bowling was the same; however, the crowd was much different.

Walking into the bowling alley, I could not help but feel like I was transported back in time. In the U.S. almost all bowling alleys have stepped up the technology; they have flat, touch screen monitors and covered ball returns. At this alley, the monitors were very old and outdated, and the ball return was open. The ball return was also really skinny, and I may or may not have knocked a couple of the balls off of it. Although it seemed out dated, it had a very homely feeling to it as if we were no longer in London, but rather, in a small country village where everyone knows everyone. It was a refreshing get away since I was still adjusting to the city. As I said before, the game was played the same as in the States. What was different was the amount of people that were there in, what looked like, their business clothes.

 In the U.S., bowling seems to be a pastime that is dominantly for younger kids, families, and for the people that have nothing else to do at night. In London, it looks like many business people gather at the bowling alleys with their work friends when the day is done. They all seemed to be having a blast in their suits and ties, and I myself was having a fun time. I wasn't too concerned about the bowling. I was more having a great time just getting to know the people in the group better. It made me understand why so many business people were there. Something about the atmosphere of bowling alley made it great for socializing and getting to know the people with you. By the second game, I wasn't even bowling anymore. Instead, I was sitting on some of the couches they had there with other people from the program talking and having a fun time.

Overall, Bowling was a great time. Not because of the bowling, but rather the atmosphere that the alley created. It helped me to feel a part of something in such a large city. It also helped me to get to know people in the program better, which was needed. When people are forced to get to know one another, it never works well; however, the environment we were in allowed me to feel less pressure. I was able to relax and be myself. 

Pre-London Post

Hello all! This is my friendly hello to start my new blog. I am T-minus 4 days till takeoff to London, and I must say, I am growing bored of preparation. It seems rather surreal that I will be in London, a huge city, by the end of the week. I am curious to see how long it takes to sink in if it ever sinks in. I am growing nervous as the days count down, but I am also growing more excited. I have heard all good things about London, and my hopes are high that I will love it. I like to feel the atmosphere of cities, and I doubt London will have a lack of atmosphere. During my time overseas, I plan to take a trip back to Ireland (I loved it there), as well as, a trip to Scotland and Germany. I am looking for those beautiful places to visit! Majority of my time this semester will be spent exploring England. I hear the countryside is magnificent. I hope to have an internship in  London. As of now, I haven't heard whether I have one yet or not, but my fingers are crossed. To see how a business functions in another country would be a great experience! You will all know soon enough whether I receive one or not, and if I do receive one, I am sure there will be plenty of posts about my experience. That is all I have for now. Until next time.