Last minute jobs

It was a hot and sticky last night, and we were surprised to hear a combine harvester working late in to the night in the field just down the lane.  This seems to be almost a month earlier than usual, and, perhaps, indicative of the hot dry weather we have experienced in June?

My priority this morning was to inspect the bees before I headed off to France for ten days.

I made an early start, and wore my new mesh bee suit in an attempt to stay as cool as possible. The bee suit is really good, especially when moving around, but one still gets quite warm, when stood concentrating over an open hive.

The hives have done incredibly well over the past nine days.  The supers that I added last week are already  half filled with honey, so another was added to each hive to accommodate the glut of nectar.* At present hives #4, #5 and #6 have 4, 5 and 4 supers** respectively, and even hive #1 now carries two supers over the brood box.

On the subject of hive #1, I can report that it definitely has a laying queen. I still haven't caught sight of her, but the colony has several frames of brood at all stages.  It will be interesting to see what the new queen looks like, when she decides to finally make an appearance.

After finishing with the bees, I grabbed the clippers and finished off Whiffler's clip. He now looks very smart and, hopefully, will be much cooler over the coming days.

It was now time to focus on packing, and this took most of the afternoon. The reason for this is that it was bloody roasting upstairs, and I needed regular cooling breaks downstairs. I also took an extended siesta during the heat of the day.

I am now just about ready for my trip. There are a few last minute items that will need to be packed tomorrow, but, I think, I am ready for the off.

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* I can only assume that this is mostly coming from bramble blossom, which are abundant in the nearby hedges.

** A full super will hold about 25lbs of honey. Now, not all of these seventeen supers are full, but I would estimate that there may be close to 220lbs of honey sat waiting to be harvested.

Mind like a sieve

For whatever reason I have had problems holding any thought in my head for more than a few seconds. I don't know whether it is the heat, or just having too much going on, but I really have been very forgetful over the past few days.

In an attempt to manage this, hopefully temporary, amnesia, I took time this morning to make a list of the things I will need to pack for the motorcycle trip to France. I returned to the list frequently, as new items came to mind.

I also washed and fitted the panniers to the BMW. One them seemed a little close to the body panels, until I found that one of the screws holding the fitting brackets was a loose. A few turns of the Torx screw had it tightened up and the pannier now sits perfectly on its bracket.

I also popped over to Alcester to fill up the bike's tank.  This gave me a chance to try out my new mesh jacket. Once again we are well in to a heat wave, but I can report that the jacket is fantastic at combatting the stifling heat. It is almost as though I was sat in a little, air conditioned bubble.  Mind you, this evaporated the moment I stopped moving.

I filled up at the garage and wandered in to pay. At that moment it dawned on me that I had forgotten my wallet. I made an embarrassed apology to the attendant and advised that I could either give 30% a ring, or I did have the ability to make a bank transfer from my phone.*

The forecourt attendant was brilliant, and accepted a personal transfer from me. She then paid my fuel bill and I was able to head home. Apparently people fill up without having any method of payment all the time! 

In the afternoon I fitted a cushioned seat pad to the BMW. Hopefully this will make the ride a little more comfortable, as we will be covering long distances in the coming week.

I then grabbed the clippers and gave Whiffler a long overdue clip.  He is now twelve years old and I clip him at a pace that suits him. If he wants to lie down, I get on my hands and knees and clip the parts that I can reach.  When he shifts position, I grab the clippers and have another go. 

I managed to clip all but his left, rear leg. Although there are a few tufts of hair that I missed on other parts of his body. At that point we decided that it was far too hot to do any more, and the clippers were abandoned for the day.  I'll just have to find time to finish him off tomorrow.

The Tai Chi classes resumed this evening, and I headed up to the Parish Education Centre for an hour of meditative, choreographic stretches. It was very warm in the hall and Kung Po Fran decided that we should have the class in the churchyard. It was lovely standing in the shade of the church, looking out across the countryside running through the set.

A combination of the heat and a Tai Chi class meant that I was exhausted by the time I got home. Apparently the weather forecasters were predicting a tropical night, where the temperatures stay above 20°C. I can confirm that it was incredibly hot, and it felt like I tossed and turned for hours before sleep finally descended.

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* I have a banking app, but have not yet adopted Google or Apple Pay.

I really do need to make a list

 I finally made a start on my preparations for the France tour today.

My motorcycle boots were cleaned and re-waxed, and a happy hour was spent fitting the intercom into my new Arai helmet.  I sort of printed* a hard copy of my insurance certificate, and I adjusted the knee armour in my new motorcycle jeans, so it actually sits in the right place.  The linings have been removed from my new jackets and a pile of miscellaneous odds 'n sods is being assembled in the bedroom.**

As the title of today's Journal entry suggests, I really do need to make a list.  If I don't, I am very likely to forget something very important. This realisation dawned when I was attempting to connect our printer to the wifi. I needed the wifi password and went to the bureau to get the handy little card. It was in the same drawer as my password, and it was only at that point that it dawned on me to take it!

Today was not totally consumed with holiday preparations. The morning was spent out in the carport stacking the logs that I split yesterday.

I'd like to get more done before I head off, but I think making a list is more important!

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* Our elderly Canon printer still works, but it is so old that proprietary driver software is no longer available. This meant that I needed to resort to using 30%'s old HP laptop. The only device in the house that can connect to it. 

** Ear plugs, charging cables, registration documents, spare keys etc

Retail Therapy Or Vital Equipment?

 Having experienced a European heatwave when we went down to the Black Forest last year, I was concerned to see forecasts of similar weather conditions when we are in France next week. 

Riding in intense heat is no fun. One is obliged to wear protective equipment in weather where flipflops, shorts and a T-shirt would be a far better choice. I therefore made the decision to head up the M42 this morning to see if I could find a decent mesh motorcycle jacket that offers both protection and ventilation.

My destination was the JTS store in Coalville, and, after an hour of driving, I parked up and wandered in to the shop. I was immediately welcomed and offered a hot drink. What followed was some of the best customer service I have ever experienced. 

There were about three customers trying on motorcycle clothing and the young man in attendance managed to deal with all of us with an easy-going friendliness and comprehensive knowledge about the product lines. I was incredibly impressed and walked out of the shop with a new Furygan jacket, a pair of armoured jeans and a pair of braces to hold them up.

The jacket has mesh panels for ventilation, but also features removable waterproof and quilted liners. It should, therefore, be capable of dealing with most weather conditions. I will report further in a fortnight.

I arrived home shortly after 30%, who had been to the dentist's for a crown fitting. We shared a late lunch and then we both retired for a siesta in the heat of the day.

I felt that I really ought to achieve something today, other than a retail therapy session, so I headed out to the carport and plugged in the log splitter. I then spent a few hours splitting wood. I have produced another decent pile of logs and hope to get them stacked away tomorrow morning.

I also extracted our ancient printer from the store room, as I need to get my travel documents printed, before I leave on Friday. It is so old that I am not wholly convinced that I will be able to find the appropriate drivers to make it work.

I really must get focussed on preparations for the trip to France tomorrow!

Sore eyes

Sunday morning saw us make a long overdue visit to see Dot 'n Dave.

It has been a few months since Dave buggered up his knee, and we have heard* that his recovery has not been straightforward. We spent a couple of hours chatting with D&D, and he wasn't in a great state. He is still in huge amounts of pain and has to walk with a frame. He is confined to the ground floor of their house and has had to make the sad decision that he will never ride a motorcycle again, not even his beloved Royal Enfield combination.

We chatted for a couple of hours, but as the time ticked way my eyes started to become very dry and itchy. We eventually had to make our excuses, as I had reached the pint where eye drops made no difference and I could barely open my eyes.

Back at home I retired to the sofa and shut my lids, in an attempt to let my eyes settle. This seemed to help a little, and I returned to the sofa after saying goodbye to TP. I'll be seeing him on Friday, when we meet up in Folkestone for our trip to France.

I probably slept for a couple of hours in total. On waking I felt that I really ought to do something, so I headed outside and started to stack the large pile of logs that I split on Friday.  My eyes were much better outside the house and gave me no trouble, as I neatly stacked away over a cubic meter of wood.

I'd really like to finish plotting the logs, that are piled by the garage, before I head off to France, but I really need to start preparing for the trip.

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* 30%'s chum; 'Chelle works at Dave's GP practice, and, without breaking medical confidence, let us know that he wasn't doing well.

Stevie's Summer Slamdown

 I really wasn't looking forward to today.

A few week's ago we had been invited to a garden party being hosted by friends* in the village, and  today was the day of the event.  The thing is I am not a party person, and I have had a sense of mounting dread as today drew ever closer.

This morning was spent giving The Rat a run over with the clippers.  She was surprisingly patient today, and only squealed once during the entire session. Perhaps the regular rewards of malted milk biscuits helped calm her nerves. It was also really funny that every time we took a break, she would start to dance around the room and engage in vigorous play. It was almost as if she was expecting a reward for standing still like a good girl.

By midday I had finished clipping her body and legs, although I didn't have time to clip her feet. I'll get to them at some point in the next few days.

TP arrived home and joined us for lunch. I then had a snooze before getting clean, changing, and then heading down the road to Stevie's Summer Slamdown.

To be fair it was a pleasant enough event, and nowhere near as dreadful as I expected. There were several of TP's friends in attendance, who I knew fairly well, and several acquaintances from the village. I managed to make adequate small talk, ate some very pleasant food, and may have even found a buyer for our log splitter ... once I have finished using it!

In retrospect, the party was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. I did quite enjoy myself, but I still think an afternoon stacking logs has its merits.

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* The parents of one of TP's close friends

Chickens, Dogs 'n Logs

These three words neatly summarise my day.

This morning 30% headed off to the local gym with her exercise buddies. As she departed, she enquired about the best time to go and collect the chickens. I pointed out that I had quite an energetic day planned, and there was no way I would be remotely interested in catching chickens, if I left it until the end of the day.

Consequently we breakfasted and then headed down the road to collect the hens after their holiday with Paula.* I must be honest and state that I wasn't looking forward to this job at all. Chickens can be devilishly hard to catch, and this is best done at night while they are asleep. I was potentially faced with having to crawl around a chicken run on my hands and knees to catch the little sods.**

Fortunately the chickens were relatively cooperative, and we soon had them tucked in to boxes for transportation back to their home coop. Twenty minutes later they were being tipped, unceremoniously, in to their house. After a few disgruntled squawks, they recognised their surroundings and gentle clucking was resumed.

The rest of the morning was spent giving Hobson a haircut. Another heatwave is predicted and he, The Rat and Whiffler would all benefit from trim to help prevent overheating. I plan to get all three clipped before I head off to France at the end of next week.

Hobson was quite amenable to being shorn and, if I say so myself, looked very smart after the removal of what must have been a very warm coat.

I took a quick snooze after lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon moving logs in to the carport and splitting the larger pieces of wood. By the time I had finished I had created a large pile of logs. I will need to get them stacked away before I can split any more.

Tomorrow's plan includes giving The Rat her Summer clip.  That could be as much fun as catching hens!

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* A member of the coven and Grand Chief Vizier of the local Women's Institute

** I was quite seriously contemplating just leaving them with Paula, and hatching some more.

Mostly focused on beekeeping

Today ended up being mostly focussed on sorting out my beekeeping equipment.

I think that the reason for this sudden focus on my apiary equipment is a consequence of Tuesday's hive inspection. The inspection indicates that there might be a sizeable honey crop, and the store room will definitely need to be tidied in advance of the extraction.

However, my original plan for this morning was simply to get some honey bottled. Supplies for my roadside stall had run low, and I had a special order from a lady, who wants mini jars for her B&B business. I had put a batch of jars in the dishwasher last night, and had wandered out to the store room to collect some lids from the store room.

The untidy state of the room made me realise that the honey harvest was not far off, and, with plenty of other jobs to do as well, I should get my arse in to gear.

I shifted a couple of nucleus hives and then got distracted ... They had been sat on top of a crown board that I had knocked up at the end of last month. I realised that I will likely need an additional clearer board when I remove the supers from the hives, so I headed off to the workshop with the crown board and a plastic rhombus clearer. Half an hour later I had finished converting the crown board to a clearer and 30% was calling me in for breakfast.

The rest of the morning was spent bottling honey. I now have 18 half pound jars ready for sale, and these will hopefully last until I get back from my biking holiday in France. I also bottled 28 one ounce jars for the special order.

In the afternoon I headed out to the tomato greenhouse. They had grown well in the week that we had been away, and an hour was spent removing side shoots and tying up the vines.

I then returned to the store room and continued tidying up my apiary equipment. I had definitely been bitten by the tidying bug, as hive #2 has now been brought down from the apiary, broken down in to its component parts, scraped clean of debris, and is stacked away.

My plan for tomorrow is to give Hobson a haircut and get on with some log splitting, although 30% has already reminded me that we need to collect the chickens.*

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* They have spent a week boarding in a friend's coop, while we were away narrowboating.

Post Script

At one point this morning I was on the telephone attempting to make an appointment to have a steroid injection, to alleviate trigger finger symptoms in my right hand. While I was talking to the appointments clerk, 30% was excitedly trying to attract my attention. 

I shushed her and finished my call. She then told me that she had checked our premium bonds and that I had won bugger all this month. 

She, on the other hand, had won £10,000! This is the biggest win we have ever had. We usually get in the region of £150 - £200 each month, and, on one occasion, I won £1,000, but this is a fantastic surprise. I have a feeling that she may treat herself. A dental implant has already been mentioned.

When it takes all day to perform a simple task

I had already got a clear idea of what I would be doing on Wednesday morning, so I was mildly disconcerted when I was informed that my day would start by following 30% in to the Worcester BMW dealership. Her X3 is displaying a Restraint System warning message, and she had got it booked in for investigation. I was required to bring her home.

With that completed, we breakfasted and I got on with my original plans ... The brush cutter was extracted from the back of the garage and filled with fuel. I then spent a few minutes cutting back the swathe of Crocosmia that had surrounded our boiler.* The boiler was scheduled to be serviced this morning and I wanted to give the engineer a fighting chance of actually getting his hands on it!

With the boiler accessible, I grabbed a hoe and headed out to the veg patch. My parsnip experiment** seems to have been successful, and they are now ready to be planted out. I had just about finished hoeing by lunchtime, and there was still no sight of the boiler engineer.*** I left the weeds to wilt, and headed indoors for a bite to eat.

It will come as no surprise that a snooze followed lunch, and on waking there was still no sign of the boiler man. I chased him on WhatsApp and learnt that he was "on his way." I headed back out to the vegetable garden, set out a row for the parsnips and made a start on transplanting them, complete with toilet roll inner, in to the earth.

I eventually got the seedlings planted, although there were frequent interruptions to facilitate access to the boiler pipes and filter, re-pressurise the water system, and to be made aware of a couple of minor leaks.  The leaks and the late arrival of the engineer means that a repeat visit will be needed "towards the end of next week" to finish off the service and fix the leaks.

I eventually managed to find time to sit on my bum for half an hour before I was required to ferry 30% back to Worcester to collect her car.**** Our timing was appalling and we ended up in the middle of the mad rush of football fans leaving work early to catch the England / DR Congo match. The traffic was VERY busy.

So that was Wednesday. I found that today's theme was one of having to complete six or seven prerequisite tasks before I could actually get on with what I wanted, or needed, to do. By the evening I was absolutely shattered.

Let's hope the rest of the week is less manic.

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* This all looks so simple when it is typed on a page,  but, in actuality, it involves half a dozen other pre-requisites including finding some two stroke oil, mixing up another batch of fuel, fetching the wheelbarrow, and also the tidy-up that follows. Nothing is ever a simple five minute job!

** I planted the seeds in soil-filled toilet roll tubes. These were left to germinate in a propagator and are now at the first true leaf stage. They need to be planted in the ground before the roots are too long. I don't yet know whether I have left it too late to transplant. Only time will tell.

*** He was due to arrive "elevenish"

**** It needs a new passenger knee airbag. This will cost over £600, and will be fitted towards the end of the month.

I've taken notes

 Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been thirteen days since my last Journal entry, but, as this entry's title makes clear, "I have taken notes."  I do plan to complete the missing entries, but I have no clue on when I'm going to find the time. 

We have just returned from our narrowboating holiday and I am off to France on my bike in ten days time.  The intervening time will likely be filled with beekeeping, gardening and dog grooming, let alone actually getting my shit packed and some travel insurance arranged!

So, to be clear, this is not some rambling attempt to bring The Journal up to date. This is just Tuesday's shit.

We cruised into the boat yard at Acton Bridge yesterday evening and spent another boozy evening on NB Violet. This morning was spent clearing our belongings from the boat, and we were on the road by nine o'clock.

We were home by eleven, and another hour was spent sorting out washing and putting our stuff away, 30% then performed a minor miracle and managed to produce a very tasty lunch from a house that appeared to have less food than Mother Hubbard's cupboard.

In the afternoon I donned my bee suit, lit my smoker, and headed up to the orchard to inspect the bees. It had been close to a fortnight since I last looked, and I was a little apprehensive about what I might find.

I started with hive #1. This was the colony that had failed to raise a new queen at the first attempt, so I had given it a frame of eggs and brood in the hope that they might raise a scrub queen. This was to be its first inspection since the frame was donated on 31st May.  From the outside things looked quite positive. Bees were coming and going from the entrance, and a few were bringing in pollen. I gave them a few puffs of smoke and removed the roof and crown board. I was surprised to see a reasonable amount of honey stored in the single super on the hive. I then delved deeper, and started to check the frames in the brood box. As I got closer to the centre of the hive I was delighted to see a small cluster of larvae on one of the frames. They appear to be worker brood, which indicates that I have a laying queen.  I didn't catch sight of her, but hopefully I will at the next inspection.

I then went on to inspect hives #4, #5 and #6.  Each of these was doing superbly. They were doing quite well at previous inspections, but now they are magnificent. Their supers are crammed with capped cells of honey, and the brood boxes are filled with brood at all stages of development. Neither was there any sign of swarming behaviour. 

Clearly we have passed through the June gap and the bees are on to a good source of nectar. I am guessing that clover and bramble are the main sources. I added an additional super to each of the hives, and my thoughts turned to extracting honey at the end of the Summer. If the colonies continue as they are are at present, we will have an impressive harvest.

Having reassured myself that the bees are all doing well, I need to turn my attention to ensuring that I get as much done as possible, before I head off to France in ten days time.

Tragic News

It is the day before we head off for a week of narrowboating. 

30% has arranged for our hens to spend the week at Paula's house. As it seemed far easier for her to board them in one of her coops, than for her to come over here twice daily to let them out, and shut them in at night.

So, first thing this morning, we got them boxed up and dropped them off in their holiday chalet.

On the way home we passed Richard* in the lane, and stopped to enquire about the emergency services activity last night.  Richard was visibly upset, but managed to let us know that Road Rage Ken had taken his own life yesterday evening.

We were absolutely stunned by this tragic news. I have known Ken for many years. We weren't close friends, but we have shot together and share a common interest in beekeeping. He walked past our house every morning with his two dogs, and would always stop for a chat if we were outside.

Now there are people that I will talk to over the gate, but I always stepped outside the gate, so we could have a proper chat. He was always on good form and laughter came easily to him.

I will miss our regular beekeeping chats and I will certainly miss him.** 

The rest of the day was understandably subdued. I Packaged up the BMW seat and popped in to Alcester to post it. I then spent the afternoon stacking most of the logs that TP had split on Saturday. It was hot work and, once finished, I took it easy for the remainder of the day.

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* A neighbour and local farmer

** You couldn't fail to recognise Ken with his shock of white hair and his 70's porn star style moustache

Father's Day

Sunday started with a lazy few hours in the garden.

TP and I chatted over several coffees, before I found sufficient motivation to tie up the tomatoes and remove any side shoots. 

My Father's Day gift was a Mickey Flanagan themed hand-made card* and two bags of coffee beans. TP thoughtfully advised that the beans "were to replace the ones he had drank." Like his father, he is very fond of freshly brewed, strong, black coffee.

In the afternoon we headed out for a ride to Tintern Abbey. The weather was sweltering, and the roads were packed with Sunday drivers.  As a consequence the ride felt constrained and hampered in the blazing sunshine.

I had never visited Tintern Abbey before and was taken aback. by the fabulous ruins. We didn't have time to explore the site, but the abbey remains are easily viewed from the road. We enjoyed a coffee in the nearby cafe, before we parted and headed homeward; TP towards Cardiff and me back to Worcestershire.

It took a couple of hours to reach home, and I retired to house in an attempt to avoid the heat. As the evening progressed the traffic level in the lane increased considerably.** 30% commented that the vehicles seemed to be mostly police cars, an ambulance and a fire engine.

Our interest was piqued as the lane really only leads to a handful of houses, and we are familiar with most of the residents. 30% checked the local Facebook Village group to see if there was any information and there was a post mentioning an incident involving a vulnerable adult.  For once the local gossips were restrained, and, as they say,  we await developments.

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* The routine featuring Mr Ahmed, a polar bear driving a sports car in sunglasses and a tenner wafting out of a birthday card is well worth of tracking down on YouTube.

** Traffic levels are usually very low. It is no exaggeration to say that we see far more walkers and horses, than we do vehicular traffic.

Sometimes you need to be patient

Saturday started with a large and leisurely breakfast, before C&S headed home.

Their departure coincided with TP's arrival, and also that of an electrician, who was here to fit our smart meter. 

The rest of the morning was spent catching up with TP's news, before we had a light snack, and headed out to make a dent in the pile of wood by the garage.  TP manned the log splitter in the carport, while I used the chainsaw to cut the branches in to log sized chunks. 

After a couple of hours we had both produced two large piles of logs. TP's pile was ready for stacking in the carport, whilst mine would still need to be split, before being put away to dry.

It was then time for a kip, followed by a refreshing beer in the garden. After a busy few hours bucking* and splitting wood, I felt that a lazy evening was in order.

So that should have been all of Saturday's news, but as the evening progressed I checked my phone and noticed a new email in my inbox. It seems that I have finally sold the BMW R nine T seat that has been advertised on eBay for several weeks.

I was absolutely delighted as the seat had been relished several times and, despite attracting multiple watchers, had only received bids well below the reserve price. I was at the point where I was considering dropping the price, only to have someone hit the buy. it now button.

I am now £150 better off. As the title of today's entry states, "sometimes you need to be patient."

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* Apparently this is the correct term for cutting logs to the correct length for firewood

An evening of culture

This morning was spent tidying the house and preparing a bedroom for guests.

The reason for this flurry of domestic activity was that we would be hosting C & S this evening. Back in September last year we arranged to see The Tempest at the RSC and also Chekov's Cherry Orchard too.

It was The Tempest this evening, and 30% had reserved a table at the RSC Rooftop restaurant for dinner before the performance.

However, I am getting ahead of myself. 

With the house now reasonably tidy, I headed outside and grabbed my chainsaw. The last few branches of the ash tree are piled alongside the garage and I would really like to get them sawn up and ready for splitting and stacking. I could really only afford to devote a couple of hours to this job today, but I made a noticeable dent in the pile.

It was then time to get showered and shaved before C&S arrived. I even managed a short snooze!

C&S turned up just after four o'clock, and we had time for a quick cuppa and a chat before we headed off to Stratford.

The pre-show dinner was lovely* and the play was brilliant. Kenneth Brannagh played Prospero, and I later learnt that this was the first time that he had performed at the RSC in over thirty years. I had not seen The Tempest before, and found it hugely entertaining, and very funny. It just goes to show that I am an ignoramus that didn't realise that it was a comedy!

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* I had a prawn and crayfish salad to start and the sea bass as my main course. The pudding was a rhubarb and custard parfait. Considering I am writing this a fortnight after the event, I think this demonstrates that my memory is still functioning reasonably well. 30% would definitely disagree.