bert425

that's great! keep it up.. what kind of exercise are you doing? or are you dropping just from changing eating habits?

TR posted here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75729

So even tho we knew Wonder Woman wasn't open yet, the spouse and I took a drive down to San Antonio this morning to spend a day in the park on the 2nd weekend of the 2018 season. It is exactly 1 1/2 hours from our driveway to Fiesta's entrance, so perfect for a daytrip. overall, we ended up spending ~4 hours in the park, and tho it was obvious they have some "opening kinks" still to work out, we had a great day. The day started very overcast and drizzly in Austin, but we decided to go anyways, since we have the dining pass and figured we would just treat it as an excuse to get out of the house, and have lunch. The only thing we really wanted to ride was Poltergeist since we hadn't ridden it on our trips in Dec. Tho it was still overcast by the time we got to San Antonio area, the drizzle stopped just outside of Austin. And after a few hours in the park, the sun did come out. however, it was windy. . so windy that Poltergeist wasn't open , and Iron Rattler shut down just after we arrived (it was running when we pulled into the parking lot, but by the time we got thru the gates, and around to that part of the park, they had halted operations). I completely understand that, especially since IR valleyed last weekend, so they don't want to chance that again. It was weird tho, since Scream and Skyscreamer were running.. I'd think those would go down for wind before the coasters would. . but no biggie. 1st thing we noticed when pulling into the parking lot is the fresh new paint on Goliath -- BRIGHT yellow, and DARK blue. . it really does look amazing. Tho weird that one support leg is missing the new paint (did they just forget that support?.. weird). I had gotten an email from the park where they mentioned all the fresh paint and updates they were doing in the off season around the park, and that really showed on Goliath (tho strangely, the coaster mentioned in the email as getting a refresh, Poltergeist, still looked awful with peeling paint, rusty spots on the train/track, and just looking neglected. . . then again, I suppose it DOES fit with the themeing there. .LOL). And after the sun came out later in the day, the wind actually died down and IR started back up (with an 1:40 minute wait, so we passed on it). .and Poltergeist opened too, with a 15 minute or so wait (since they were only running 1 train). since Poltergeist was down when we first came in, we decided to head over to Wonder Woman and take some pics. The coaster is looking absolutely amazing, and cannot wait to try this guy out. They are working on the themeing and quite a few of the columns are in place at the entrance, and on the sides of the loading station. However, there is still a *lot* of work left to do on the station, the exit ramp, and the gift shop building. . . In speaking with an operator while waiting to ride Fireball, I definitely was left with the impression that the bad weather we've been having in Texas in Jan/Feb (several cold fronts, rain), really impacted the construction of these aspects, and that's why they "missed" the planned opening yesterday on 3/3. The circuit is complete, and from what I could see, it LOOKED like the lift mechanism is in place. . they had a train (blue) on the track, and there were two people working on the car while we were there. . so it looks close, if not ready. but still at least a week or more needed for the station construction to complete (although it looks like a lot of work is in process of being done). after the photos of Wonder Woman, we went over to Batman, and I gave it another try. This time knowing to pull the restraint as tightly as I could get it to go. That did it, and i loved the ride. Spinning *with* the car, instead of banging against the restraint every turn makes all the difference in the world. As much as I disliked Batman the prior time I rode it? really liked it this time, and it's on my list of must-ride when we go back to the park. Since Nick won't ride Batman, we headed towards the boardwalk to get him on Fireball (but he chickened out and I rode that alone too), but he was willing to ride Pandemonium, so we hopped on that since it had a 5 minute wait. I've never had such a great ride on it, not only did we get decent spinning, but on some of the drops/hills, we ended up getting airtime. while spinning. Never had that before! Again here tho, I thought of the email about Six Flags sprucing up on the off season. . not only is the funhouse queue not being used at all anymore (you come right off the boardwalk and into the loading station), but the funhouse door was open, and inside was a ton of construction buckets, ladders, and junk. . . not an impressive look. Also confusing was the large side of the "barn" where the paint had deteriorated enough that you can clearly see the "Big S".. which was part of the paint when the coaster was called "Tony Hawk's Big Spin". . . odd. Maybe they don't think it's a big deal, since the logo still has the skateboard guy on it?.. but it was odd. Scooby Doo branding was completely gone, and just a sign out front saying they are building thrills. I asked a worker who happened to be walking by us if they had announced what was going in the spot, and he said they had not been told anything other than it will be a shooting dark ride still. hmm. . so who knows? maybe it will be the pirate theme that was in the surveys they sent out. while walking by Scream, it had a super short line (not even one cycle), so I hopped on that while Nick took pictures, since he doesn't like heights. We'd been in the park for a bit, so headed to the Sangerfest Hall to grab lunch, and as it was almost 1pm, it wasn't really crowded. No show going on (and there was actually a table on the stage.. so likely the daily shows in there just haven't started yet. . it IS only the 2nd weekend open), and the register lady was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to ring our meal so that the Dining pass worked. After a few moments of trying, and (getting a manager to come over and help her), she figured it out, but also comped us the drinks as a "sorry for making you wait" gift. Greatly appreciated! the food was. . . . edible? I mean, wasn't the healthiest thing we could eat (Nick had a slice of pizza and cold french fries, and I had a Bacon/ranch/cheese dog with cheese tots), but hey, it filled us up and was on the dining plan. so s'all good. I had asked Nick if he would ride Bugs Bunny Rapids with me, and tho he didn't want to get wet, he agreed to go on it (and of course, we got soaked. . LOL). Ok, again, here's where it got weird. . the Bugs Bunny Rapids are themed to the cartoon "the singing sword". .so it's Bugs vs Yosemite Sam in a medieval theme. literally *every* scene (except for one) you pass in the long line, was missing the characters. there's the throne room, with empty throne, no Bugs. there's the dungeon, with no Sam chained up. there's the treasure room, with no body in it. . it was WEIRD. the TVs that show the cartoon thruout the queue were also all off. but all the water effects (including the spitting dragon that follows the log, and Bugs/Sam fighting over the sword after the 1st drop) were all working, and looked great. I have to assume the figures had all be removed from the queue for refurbishment, but it was sad to see half-assed displays thruout the queue line. it reminded me very much of Roadrunner Express. . which ALSO is missing all the Roadrunner/Wiley Coyote figures thruout that ride. eh.. the flume ride was great tho, and the actual themeing of the flume itself remains one of the better flumes I've been on. to try to dry off, I figured i'd hop on Skyscreamer, since the line was short. Yah. . here we encountered another "we just opened/training" issue. the line WAS short. . it was only 3 cycles until I was riding. Nick waited for me on a bench. 3 cycles took TWENTY MINUTES. seriously. the cycle of the ride is about 90 seconds, but they were taking almost 7 minutes between cycles to load/unload. . it was nuts. I felt terrible he had to wait for me, but at least it gave us both time to dry out we had seen Iron Rattler start up, so we headed that way, planning that if the line was long, we'd ride the train. as noted above, since it had opened back up, the line was posting over an hour wait (gully washer also was posting a long line, I guess because it had gotten warmer once the sun came out. .but we had no desire to get completely soaked again). . so instead of the train, I suggested Roadrunner Express, as I know he'll ride that. the line wasn't too bad (maybe 10 minutes) and we decided to try riding in the back seat, even tho it's a wheel seat. Not a bad ride at all, and felt much faster than i've noticed in the past. it really does haul ass in the back row! it was past 3:30, and he was starting to get a bit antsy about heading home, since he wanted to watch the Nascar race (which they were showing in the bar there in Crackaxle Canyon. .but he didn't want to sit in a bar in a theme park.. LOL).. we we headed back towards Superman, to get the Johnny Rocket's shakes as our "snacks" on the meal plan. oh, I should have mentioned, tho it wasn't super-crowded, a lot of the crowd that was there seemed to be school groups, all using vouchers, which made the food lines fairly long (and didn't help with the staffing/training issues as they were struggling to keep up with the groups of kids). . . . we had a group in front of us at Johnny Rockets, and that made the getting of shakes take about 15 minutes. No biggie, but just mentioning it. the intention had been that we'll get the shakes and head out, but as we were walking thru Kidzopolis towards the front, that's when Poltergeist started cycling. . so since that had been our intended ride, we went over that way, got in line, and rode that before heading out. I think they might have done something with the restraints in the off season? it was a *really* snug fit getting in and out of the cars. The restraints seemed the same, and the were comfortable, but the space between the seat and the front of the car just seemed very tight. There were also 2 "walks of shame" in the train we rode in, and in the cycle before someone had to get out as well (they were only running 1 car). So it makes me wonder if something adjusted during the downtime between seasons. all in all, we were in the park just over 4 hours and had a good time. ride count (all ridden once): Batman Fireball Pandemonium Scream! Bugs Bunny Whitewater Rapids (flume) Skyscreamer Roadrunner Express Whirlygig Poltergeist. on to the pics! dang. . Goliath is looking good! can you spot the old paint? Marvin Martian was out! so odd, the Loony Tunes themeing seems to be missing from all over the park, but the characters were out! Scream from the Batman queue liked it MUCH better this time, once I knew to make the restraint as tight as I could get it. in front of the Wonder Woman entrance. They had put up fences, but not very high ones. . so not sure what they are trying to block? the entrance looks great! I'm guessing the gift shop at the exit is what this building is going to be. what is that thru the trees? a train on the tracks? yep. . blue train on the tracks! going around to the fireball queue, you can see how much work is still needing to be done on the loading station. they've started the work, and I think it's gonna look great, but it's not there yet. From Pandemonium's entrance, could get a good view of the train on the track. there were two folks there doing work on the train, not sure if I got them in the pics. ghosts of "Big Spin" past. . . what can I say. . Scream! is scary in Sagerfest Hall, after eating lunch. They are doing some construction outside behind us. .i'd guess a new outdoor beer garden, since the beer booth is over on that side. edit: actually.. in thinking about it, I am convinced that since this HAD been a seating area, it's going to be where they are putting the Carousel (removed from where the Wonder Woman queue is going to be). . as Fiesta Tx had said the Carousel is coming back in a different location. Literally the ONLY Loony Tunes figurine in the "sets" in the Bugs Bunny queue, so I took a pic of it. our onride photo. . LOL. .it's a pic of a pic, so we're kind of blurry, but in the back row! all the water effects are working again! in the station for Roadrunner Express not a very long queue. . but it was longer than appears here (they were controlling who entered the station, so the queue is outside the station until the prior train loaded). pretty much the only themeing for Roadrunner on the Roadrunner Express -- framed on the exit ramp into the gift shop. still a very fun mine train ride tho. Fiesta Texas really is a beautiful park.

Spent the day at the park today, and TR will go up later tonight. main takeaway tho? (from a discussion I had with an operator on Fireball while riding it) . . the delay in opening of Wonder Woman does NOT appear to be due to the track/cars/mechanics, and that's something I'm inclined to believe. the delay SEEMS to be because the bad weather Texas has been having, caused them to miss the planned date for the construction of the station. . . you'll see in the pics I post, the station, the exit ramp theming, (and the exit gift shop) still need a LOT of work. otherwise, it looks fantastic. there is a car on the track (blue train), and there were two guys working on it while we were there. . .

And this is one of those little things that makes TPR so awesome!! I know I always chuckle when fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo comes up! what makes me giggle is when I'm talking about an awesome burger with a side of deep fried onion in a trip report and it comes up "rings" LOL

^ agreed. I don't use sugar in my coffee either any more, and I drink at least 2 cups a day. I find that flavored creamer makes my coffee sweet enough, that I don't even need to add any sugar substitute. that's great advice on the grocery shopping too, although sometimes buying from pre-processed foods is OK.. but the key for me is looking at the "calories from fat" content. If it's more than 30%, I put it back. luckily, my major weakness - PopTarts -- offer several varieties that are not only fairly low fat (1-2 grams saturated fat), but also are less than 20% calories from Fat. . . . so those make it onto my "treat yourself day" list of things I can eat I weighed myself yesterday morning, and once again, lost nothing this week -- *exactly* the same as last week: 187.8 I know, I know, maintaining is not gaining. . but still a little frustrating, as I continued to exercise every day thru last week I guess my metabolism is just really slowing down now that I've hit 50. we spent the day today at Fiesta, Texas, so didn't get to exercise today. We did do a lot of walking, but not consistently enough to consider it exercise. it was also a "cheat day". . as for lunch I had Bacon-Ranch-footlong with cheese tots (drank water with it tho, so could have been worse), and for the "snack" we get at Six Flags on the dining plan, i had a Johnny Rockets chocolate shake. So yeah, really wansn't that great, but back on healthy eating for dinner - large salad with chicken for protein.

agreed. . it was just fine when we rode it on our one visit to KD. (and it beat us up way less than Hurler did.. . it was smoother than Rebel Yell to us too).

it's making news (again) because of the new story, but yeah. . . that kind of info has been around for a while (unfortunately). there's a very good documentary film that came out in 2010 that talks about the kids that live in those hotels near Disney, and I believe several of the parents work at the park (if I'm recalling correctly): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706603/

thanks everyone for the feedback! doing research now

yeah. . I suggested that right away, and got vetoed. he does not want to fly, then do a 4 hour car trip. I can get super cheap flights to ATL tho. . I do that all the time. . so maybe I can talk him into it, but I think we might just have to eat the nutso airfares, and drop the $$ to fly into Knoxville. (would rather not spend $$ on renting a car if we do that tho). so might have to give DreamMore a call and see if they have any suggestions? (I'm certain it's a question they get a lot)

yeah, the other option (if we have to rent a car) is to look at flights into Greenville, SC (which has way cheaper flights, on Southwest.. .tho there don't seem to be many/any car rental places at that airport)

ok.. I fully intend to go back thru recent updates to this thread, but sometimes it's just easier to ask: we're looking at our 1st trip to Dollywood in a few months, and will book at the DreamMore resort, with 3 day DW tix. so that part I've got down. . airfare seems to be a big ol gotcha, with flights into Knoxville only offered by carriers we don't really care for. . but we can hold our noses and book anyways. but here's the question: Knoxville is an hour from Dollywood (and seems to be the closest airport). . . surely there's a shuttle of some sort that will pick up/ drop off between the Knoxville airport and DreamMore ? does anyone know? or am I going to need to get a rental car?

keep up the good efforts, and congrats on starting and already seeing some results. I'm right there with you on losing your Mom, that's what started me spiraling last year . . my Condolences on your loss. I did find that exercise helped me. . even when i was eating like crazy, long, long walks took my mind off things. It probably is what kept me from gaining more than 15 or so lbs early on.

what works for me, is I buy the pre-cut fruit bowls at the supermarket, and then I snack on those. I try to eat every 2-3 hours, which helps control the cravings, and then by doing the cut pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, etc. . I'm eating healthier choices.

yes, glad to see others participating. keep it up everyone, even if we slip, if we talk about our goals. . . we can help support each other in reaching them! I'm going to be back at Kings Dominion this summer (for the 1st time since 2015). . and this pic is just going to be a memory (I fit, but it wasn't comfortable)

AND the free shuttle from the Lodge to front gate (ie: no parking fee, and no hassle, they drop you right outside the main gate between Chocolate World and HP entrance). also extra time in the park (at least we got in an hour early when we went a couple of years ago). . and VERY good restaurants on site. I suggest the more upscale restaurant for some great food, tho the burgers in the sports bar were great too. the breakfast in the sit down cafe was "acceptable", but the grab and go from the attached coffeeshop was just as decent, and quicker. and the chocolate martini in the main bar in the lobby. . . only nasty for the 1st sip, then tasted really good! unless you really don't mind kids? I'd suggest avoiding the indoor pool. but yeah, we really liked Hershey Lodge too, and would gladly stay there again.

I, too, remember Ice Capades. It was quite innovative then. Bert, thanks for the interesting review & pix of Cirque Du Soleil's "Crystal." I would normally be drawn to anything involving "snow," so I'm sorry that it proved to be less imaginative than the company's usual stellar productions. (Nice pic of you and Nick!) Alice thanks Alice. as I noted tho, even a So-So Cirque show is better than a lot of what's out there. the biggest disappointment was the Music, and although I wish there was more interaction with the acts and the Ice, if you enjoy skating/ice dancing, the show will satisfy that itch

I'm talking about Phil Oakey's hair, of course [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

. . resist the urge to comment about things that hang to the right. . . resist. . . resist. . . . . . .

well.. evil of us, but you must admit we "enjoyed" the whole scene happening with the car behind us with the larger woman who INSISTED she would fit. . but didn't quite.. despite a good 4 or so minutes of grown men leaning on the lap bar to try and get it to close. I say enjoyed, only because anyone with eyes saw the issue, and she kept saying that was NOT the issue, and there was a problem with the ride as to why it wouldn't go down.

the important thing is that you stuck with it.. yeah, it feels like you didn't work out as much as you *should* have. . but the point is, you stuck with your routine! that's what I do to psych myself up on days where i just don't feel like doing my walk, or am too busy. I do 40 minutes, or 30 minutes. .because at least it's something, and it 's better than not doing anything.

Late posting (again), but despite struggles this week, for the most part I've managed to stick to my healthier foods. and I DID stick to my exercise, still doing every day, at least for a few more days so I'll finish off Feb exercising almost every day for about an hour. as noted, some struggles, and some poor choices to start out the week (that burger I mentioned last Sunday). . but I went out dancing on Sat night (after doing a 1 1/2 hour walk just in case I wasn't feeling the music). . ended up not being an issue as the music at Retro-Rage was great, and I danced for a little over 3 1/2 hours non-stop. when I weighed myself Sunday morning, I was at 187.8 lbs so only down 2.4lbs in the past two weeks, but at least trending in the direction I want to go in. . AND I'm back below 190! (which is the first time since mid last year). so only ~13 lbs higher than the lowest I've gotten to, but more importantly, only 8 lbs away from the goal weight I want to maintain, 180. So I'm in a great mood, and proud of myself. . now just need to keep it up.

agreed. great photos, and tho fast, you got a LOT done and look to have had a great time!

My review of the show "Crystal" has now been posted in the "Musicals" thread: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38494&p=1845474#p1845474 best, bert

My full review of Cirque Du Soliel's Crystal So we went last weekend to see the latest Cirque Du Soliel show, “Crystal” As noted in my initial take away, my main impression is that it’s a great show for the younger set (and if you really like ice skating), but overall, I was underwhelmed. Some really clever standout moments, but it's basically Ice Capades, but not really up to my standards for a Cirque show. So let’s look at this at a Positives/Negatives with a rating on a scale of 1(eh) - 10 (Fantastic): Set Design - 9/10 a really stunning set, that makes great use of an overhead rig that projects onto the ice, so as the skaters move the projections “follow” them onto the ice. The projection also allows them to change the ice rink into multiple different environments/settings. There’s also snow machines on the rig, so thruout the show, there’s snowfall in the area (which makes it very cold as the show progresses), but also is a really stunning visual, and the crowd loved it the several times the effect is utilized. The main backdrop is kind of a mountain, but has steps and ramps, and a train set that moves around the top. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that too gets some projection mapping done on it, and is used very well thruout the show to forward the storyline. Merch Tables - 9/10 I think this is actually the 1st Cirque show that I’ve been to where I didn’t buy anything from the merch table (I tend to wait until after I’ve seen a show, and I went into this one knowing nothing about it). . . but the variety of things offered is very good (the standard shirts, sweatshirts, magnets. . but also crystal paperweights, crystal capped pens, earrings/jewelry, LED flashing Snowballs, and stuffed dolls of the main girl character, Crystal). Obviously they know (or expected) their audience is going to be younger for this, and things were priced accordingly. I have *never* seen a merch table with such reasonable prices (the most expensive thing was the Sweatshirts for $50, which is a smart move because I’m sure those sold as the arena got colder ). It really did seem as if every other child was walking around with the Crystal stuffed doll. And those that didn’t had the LED snowballs. Really smart merchandising, and pricing. Quality of the performances - 7/10 There were a couple of standout performances, with near the top being the clown for this show. He was extremely well versed in pantomime, and interacted very often with the crowd (the preshow, throwing snowballs back and forth with the audience, and the “ice-dancing” with the lamp being the two standouts, but he was great thruout). the hanging ropes couple, the chair balancer, and the Ice Dancers / Ice Gymnast stunt players were all stellar as well. Not quite as good (but still great) were the trapeze act, the gymnasts, the pole vaulters, and the speed/stunt team skaters. but the Jugglers, the lead skater, and the majority of the main company were only decent to middling, with lots of missed cues and dropped props. It’s a live show (and on ice), so I am willing to give a wider berth for errors, and even a “decent to middling” cirque performance is still ahead of most other performances, sod didn’t hold it too much against them. Appropriateness of the performances within the context of the show - 2/10 Other than two exceptions (one in each act), the company makes very poor use of the fact the show is based on *ice* (there is a pretty spectacular set piece themed to hockey with lots of ramps/jumps, and in act 2, the "hanging ropes" makes great use of skater on the ice interacting with the hanging performer). .but for the most part? Most acts seem to just be transported into this show with no concern how/why it interacts with the ice. The chair balancing act is spectacular. But why is it in THIS show? And why is it on the ice? (and it’s not even ON the ice, it’s on a table in the center of the ice. . . it makes no sense). Same with the jugglers. . why is it on Ice? They didn’t really do any skating while juggling (a large set piece during this segment is them on steps that are pushed out so they can do the “bounce off the floor” juggling. Again, impressive, but I don’t get why in a show set on ice? The “pole climber” act – the poles are suspended from the ceiling rig over the ice, so yeah, impressive the stunts they are doing between the poles (in particular when they start them swinging back and forth and jump between them. But interacting with the ice? Nope, not at all. Same said about the gymnasts, as well as the hanging trapeze – the performers working with the “catcher” on the single trapeze was wearing skates, as he picked her up from the ice, but they pretty much all worked over pads laid down on the ice so they could get good traction (I assume). I know I sound as if I’m picking, but why set a show on Ice, if the vast majority of the acts don’t make good use of that fact? The Ice Dancers / Ice Gymnasts were great, but they were only 2 segments of the show? Story/Costumes - 3/10 the story is VERY broadly sketched – I THINK it was: "girl who is teased for being herself, falls thru the ice, and into a world where she fights her "expected" self, to see who she really is by interacting with the creatures undersea" (or something like that). Really needed some tweaking. Most cirque show storylines are “dreamlike” , “non-linear”, or slightly non-sensical. but this one kind of lost us. . .there are large segments where she’s fighting her twin (not sure why), where she’s put to work in an underwater office typing with dozens of other businessmen (not sure why), or – speaking of those businessmen/women – she’s skating among drones carrying large metal briefcases. is it a statement on that’s her ‘expected’ life? Grow up and get a boring job? No idea.. and confusing. as to the Costumes, they for some reason went with very muted/bland cosutumes, lots of whites, greys and blues. . . so instead of "popping" a lot of the performers just blended in with the backgrounds, as the projections overhead overlayed the ice. It seems to have been on purpose, but not really sure why. . it didn't help with the storytelling at all. Music - 1/10 I think, perhaps, the biggest disappointment to me was the soundtrack (which before the show, was discussing with a table-clerk how odd it was that the CD was not on sale at the merch booth. . . and honestly after seeing the show, I would not have bought it if it had been. A *huge* part of the Cirque experience for me is the live, original, music. There IS some original music here – mainly “bluegrass”/”40’s style” music. This show seemed to have several live musicians playing during the show (mainly violin, sax, and woodwinds), but performing along with pre-recorded tracks (if there was a full orchestra anywhere, they did not come out for bows, nor did any live singer take a bow). Not necessarily a negative to me. . but the covering of more current pop songs, and mixing in non-original songs was a huge negative to me. This cast performed to covers of songs by: Sia (Chandelier), Beyonce (Halo), U2 (Beautiful Day), and even Nina Simone (Sinnerman). I really wish there had been more original music overall score: 31/ 60 . . . not a great score. oh well, the kiddos really liked it, so if you’ve never seen a Cirque show, or you really enjoy watching skating, then I’d recommend it. but otherwise, it would rank somewhere outside the top 10 Cirque shows I’ve seen, and I wouldn’t see it again if I had the opportunity to (and only two other shows have that distinction: we didn’t care for Zumanity in Vegas, and were not all that impressed with Verakai either, tho I like the soundtrack to that one). Pics are from thruout the show. . I tried to take at least one for each act/set, just to give an idea of what it looked like since I had planned to post a review. in front of the Merch booth before the show started. VERY reasonable pricing, I was impressed with that. Nick and I in our seats before the show. (we had very good seats, as you can see from the angle of the rest of the pics). the place really filled up too, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a sell out.