Where do you go to (my lovely)

With apologies to one hit wonder Peter Sarstedt, I may not live in a fancy apartment off the Boulevard St Michel but at least some of my clothes are now made by Balmain - a very nice suit I picked up at Fenwicks sale in Brent Cross.

A surprise package

Oh, there was another thing that was really funny about the announcement. The administrator was explaining the procedure for claiming redundancy from the Government, and how the Government will pay up to a statutory amount. He then said that "for the money that the Government won't pay we've put together a package".

I, and many others, thought 'that's a nice gesture - nice that they've looked after everyone'.

Until he told us that we could pick up the package that had all the details afterwards...

The last supper

Well, not exactly the last supper, but the nearest thing to it right now. Lots of us went across the road for drinks at The Distillers.

It's such a strange situation that nobody really knows how to handle it. Lots of talk about new doors opening, reunions, Facebook groups etc. I really hope that each and every one of the people in that room is able to emerge from this with something better than they had.

As Suzanne said, it's not the people that you got close to - you'll keep in touch with them. It's the people that you just worked with. The people who have been the canvas for every day you walked into the office. The people who will in all likelihood never be a part of your life again.

So even though I'm writing this on the Piccadilly line and nowhere near a bar, I raise an imaginary drink to everyone at zavvi that I was privileged to work with. Some of you were probably really good at what you did, maybe some of you were just ok. It really doesn't matter.

I've worked for companies, and I've worked for myself. But I can honestly say that in the last year I found a family. A group of people who wanted to achieve a dream against all the odds.

I'm listening to my ipod on shuffle as I write this, and right now it's playing the Rocky theme tune (I'm not making this up, honestly). And there you have it: the story of the underdog, punching above his weight, with no right to succeed. The only problem is that we were Rocky 2 and not the original. We got the girl but lost the fight.

But hey, Rocky came back, didn't he?

It's officially over

We've just been separated into two groups, a bit like in X Factor, and half of us have been told we're redundant. I'm in the losing group...

I know it's not really funny, but we were told to pick up a package at the end, and give our name so we could be ticked off a list. I couldn't help thinking of that scene in Life of Brian where Michael Palin asks everyone if they're being crucified or released. I thought about it, but...

139,988 is the magic number

139,988 - that's how many visitors we had to the site on Boxing Day - one of four consecutive 100k+ traffic days.

For a closed shop. We must have been doing something right...

Sunrise from the Pally

I've mentioned it in a previous post, but the sunrises from Alexandra Palace are sometimes breathtaking. This morning it was blues and yellows with an almost white overlay. The sun was a ball of fiery red like a Japanese flag. Sadly my phone camera couldn't do it justice but try to fill in the mental gaps ...

Supergood

Apart from the Eagles win on Sunday, my Christmas highlight has to be watching Superbad on my last night before going back into the office. Awesome!

I was also able to start watching The Wire over the break. Everyone's been saying how good it is and after the first few episodes, I'm hooked...

Eagles start the party

So Rangers couldn't do it on Saturday, but the Eagles sure did last night. It was one of those great sporting occasions where all the cards had to fall into place, and they did.

Chicago or Minnesota had to lose, and Chicago did (thanks Pazen & Andrew); Tampa Bay had to lose, and they did; leaving the Eagles needing to beat hated rivals Dallas Cowboys for a place in the Playoffs.

They didn't beat the Cowboys - they destroyed them 44-6 at the Linc. So it's off to Minnesota next Sunday for the first - and hopefully not the last - playoff game.

Isn't sport wonderful.

Good times start here

Right, enough of the gloom. I'm still at home, not fully fit yet but on the mend, and planning to go back into the office tomorrow to see what's happening. I fully expect to be made redundant by New Year's Eve, and I don't hold out any hope that I'll get any money from zavvi. But there's nothing I can do about that, so no point in worrying about it.

What I can do is concentrate on doing everything I can to turn this situation into a positive - and that's what I'm going to do. I've had a few contacts with recruiters, including one who - with fantastic timing - contacted me on Christmas Eve shortly after the zavvi announcement. There are opportunities out there - and I intend to find one with my name on it.

If I can find some time over the coming week or so I think I should turn the retail woes to my advantage by buying a new suit - got to look my best for the interviews...

On the best of days, on the worst of days, the sun always sets.

I think it's pretty much official - this is the worst Christmas ever. Not only have I been ill since Christmas Eve, with the mother of all sore throats and aching all over, but Rangers lost 0-1 to Celtic earlier today. It's been the least alcoholic Christmas ever, too - not that I'm suggesting the two are related - I haven't had more than three drinks since Wednesday.

So I think I'll just accept this as a time to withdraw, regroup and get ready for the challenges ahead. Starting with a game of Guitar Hero...

Christmas cheer

Nice to know that it's not only little kids that come out with those brilliant expressions that make you crack up.

We were sharing out napkins before eating on Christmas Eve, and Laura said "I don't want this one - it's haunted".

Fame for the wrong reasons

Some people can spend their lives trying to achieve being the top story on bbc.co.uk. So that's good then.

OK, so today the glass is only a quarter full...

Dear all,

It is with the deepest regret that I have to inform you all, that with effect from 9.30am this morning (Dec 24^th), we entered administration in the UK.

Guernsey is going through a process today.

As you aware zavvi Ireland has already been run as a stand-alone legal entity, and with enough funds to continue to trade has not entered any formal insolvency proceedings. We continue to manage and monitor the position.

Since EUK went in to administration and, indeed before, the impact on our business has been immense. Minimal deliveries, no returns and worse terms are just some of the areas impacted. Added to this are the dire trading conditions on the high street encountered for several weeks. This has all added up to significant lost sales and margin that quite simply the business could ill afford.

Our advisors, Steve and I have done all that is possible to keep the business trading.

As you are aware we have had to deal direct with suppliers since 27/11/08 effectively for cash. Clearly this situation could not continue and we could not secure the payment terms from suppliers or financial backing we require to keep our business trading.

Unfortunately, Steve and I, as directors have responsibilities to our creditors that we cannot deliver going forward hence the decision to enter administration.

Personally, Steve and I would like to thank you all for your commitment and support since the launch of our business.

During the next few days it’s imperative we remain professional. I know it’s terrible news and you’ll be in shock today but we must try to trade the business going forward. I ask you all to support EY, Steve and myself in doing just that.

Do not hesitate to contact your Line Manager or Ernst & Young (based Head Office) at any time.

Kindest regards

Simon & Steve

Thought

Expecting some kind of announcement today.

But as someone said to me yesterday; whatever happens, we won't starve.

We are the lucky ones...

The day before tomorrow

So here's how it's gone since I came back to the office. I went across the road to meet Bobby, who was instructing the barman on how to create a hot toddy. With my sore throat and all I joined him.

After a good chat, in which he said he thought I was IN MY LATE 30s OR EARLY 40s, I joined Suzanne and Heather with Ken and Matt from Disney. Let's just say they had a head start.

During conversation with Matt, he mentioned that HE THOUGHT I WAS IN MY MID-TO-LATE 30s.

Round about 4.30 we went back to the office in preparation for our after-work drinks with Steve. I added an obligatory couple of LinkedIn contacts, and headed back to The Distillers with Steve, Suzanne and Andy. Not really wanting to get into serious drinking, I bowed out around 7.00 and headed home for a bit of Rab C Nesbitt...

Eat, drink and blog

What to blog about? I'm beginning to feel the deadline pressure that Robert Peston must feel. The weight of expectation from my 6 - count them, 6 (and it would be 7 if SL was able to work out which button to click) - followers is starting to take its toll, so much so that I'm starting to feel my throat hurt a little and my body ache, just in time for Christmas.

Anyway, I had a very pleasant lunch with Michael at the Whole Foods Market on Ken High Street. Earlier, he emailed me to ask if I could help him buy a Friends boxset with my staff discount; fortunately I was in between meetings so was able to squeeze him in. Good to see the store busy.

I'm meeting Bobby B for a coffee in a moment - true to form, he's late - and after work (hopefully nearer 4.00 than 5.00) a few of us are going across the road for a couple of pre-Christmas drinks. Oops, he's here now - must go...

Merry Christmas!

Don't you just love those Christmas round-robin letters:

"Matilda was so good this year that we decided to buy her another pony."

"Julian got a new, ridiculously paid job and we celebrated by spending 3 months trekking in Patagonia followed by a diving holiday off the Great Barrier Reef."

(Real one from this year...) "Like last year, We started 2008 off in a chalet in the French Alps..."

This one takes it though, another real one: after the usual pleasantries;

"We explored Cairo for the next 3 days, reassembled the bikes and repacked the camping gear in preparation for our 12,000 km cycle ride to CapeTown..."

I've always wanted to try a new take on the Simpsons' year:

It was another good year. The ASBO has only one more year to run then we can start the parties again. We're all proud of the way that Laura is earning her own keep with her thriving dealing business, and James will be allowed out for two days over Christmas (as long as he wears the tag). We love the new car - it's looking a lot better after the respray and change of plates and is unlikely to be found now. And Wendy is so much better after her holiday - it was good of the council to fund the trip without actually checking the sick note we wrote.

When Saturday comes...

Up late, shopped and cooked some chilli two-bean beef for friends coming round tomorrow.

Rangers beat Hibs 1-0 (Boyd again...), then, after a decent game of 5-a-side I went to Guildford to bring James home for Christmas.

On the way home he was able to fill me in on the details of his game earlier in the day for Surrey University - particularly:

A depleted Surrey team found themselves two goals behind but fought back with James Simpson bagging a sensational hat trick to win the game for Surrey.

I'd like to say 'like father, like son' but of course modesty forbids...

Mobile blogging

This a test. Despite what I said about mobile blogging, I think I should have the ability to blog wherever I want. So I've signed up for mobile blogging BUT I've ticked the option that doesn't publish immediately.

It's the best - or worst - of both worlds. I can spout forth to my heart's content, even when I've had a drink or two (for example, now, on my way home from drinks with Z colleagues) and then I can sanitise it before publication. Well, that's the plan anyway.

I can even post pictures on the move, so here's a gratuitous pic of me with my BFFs earlier this year at Silverstone.

Now look hair...

There's a new hairdressers opening at the bottom of Muswell Hill. They've been fitting it out over the last couple of weeks, and they're almost finished. In fact the only thing still to be done is peeling the back off the window stickers with their name.

Sadly, as I passed it yesterday I noticed that unless they run it through a final spell check it's going to be called ELYTE STILES...

In the presence of greatness

So it's official. Retail Week - the editor of Retail Week, no less - has confirmed what all of us at Z already knew. Our colleague Stevo is officially "the coolest and most laid back man in retail PR"

While the cat's away...

Sounds pathetic, I know, but for those of you who don't work for zavvi, our CEO's office is right behind me. That means that he regularly walks past my desk. Call me old fashioned, but I don't feel entirely comfortable browsing Linkedin, emailing recruiters or updating my cv when he could look over my shoulder at any time. Frankly, it's been cramping my style a little.

So it's been good that he's been out on store visits for the last couple of days - makes it much easier to focus on the project I'm currently working on (Project Me). More on that another time.

Managed to use my staff discount to pick up a Christmas present at Fulham Broadway store, then had ribs with SJ at Bodean's. And payslips were handed out today, which is a big plus.

Off to the O2 with Wenge last night to see Coldplay. I'd never been to the O2 before, and I have to say I loved it. It's difficult to describe just how massive it is - like a small village under a round tent. And the concert hall itself is stunning, with great accoustics.

As you'd expect, it was a very good gig. While Coldplay can seem a little dour on disc and video, they're much more fun live, and Chris Martin is an accomplished crowd-pleaser. A highlight was when the band came off stage, walked through the audience, and climbed up to no more than 20 feet from where we were sitting to sing a couple of songs. Wenge was getting a little excitable and if you could see through the hordes of cameras it was pretty cool.

To cap off a fine night, we got on a tube straight away and were home almost within an hour of the finish.

Meanwhile, in the office, the deckchairs of the Titanic are being polished. I've never seen so many conversations taking place in quiet corners or behind closed doors. I need to start having a few of my own. Meantime my Linkedin contacts are growing by the hour ...

Come on England!

Those who know me will know that I'd normally rather walk the streets of London with nails in my shoes than support England in any sporting endeavour. However, I was so impressed by the England cricket team's decision to go back to India after the Mumbai massacre that I'm temporarily suspending my principles. It was a courageous, and important, thing to do, and the fact that the players also donated half of their match fees to the Mumbai fund has earned my respect.

So there, I'll say it: Come on England.

Pluses and minuses

It was a weekend to remember, and a test of glass half-fullness, if such a thing exists...

On Friday, Steve and I went to Liverpool to meet with a potential fulfilment partner to replace EUK. In the morning there was a Times article saying that we were about to go into administration, and on the way up we heard that the administrators have given up on EUK and had made 700 people redundant. So by the time I got home the glass was definitely close to empty.

Let's say, then, that the weekend started on a score of -5.

Friday night saw the first of two football nights out, with my Thursday night football crew. Drinks at a pub in Hornsey followed by a curry in Crouch End. While we were in the pub, one of the guys produced a 'chocolate roulette' game - spin a pistol and it points to a numbered chocolate that you eat. Except that one of them is laced with chilli. The way my week had gone, nothing was surer than the fact that I would get the chilli one and, sure enough, fate didn't disappoint. It felt like one of those comedy film moments when leading man has lost his wife, kids, house, job and everything he has, and to cap it all a dog pisses on his leg. So that was another -1 (-6 cumulative).

It was a good night though. Rob put together a football quiz that was great fun, and I wisely bowed out at around midnight instead of going to Will's for cheap liquers. +2 (-4).

Saturday morning, and a visit to my accountant to find out the damage for my tax return. To my huge relief, the bill is just over half of what I had expected. A big +2 (-2).

Rangers could only draw 2-2 at Dundee United, giving Celtic the chance to open up a 6 point lead at the top of the league -1 (-3). Celtic could only draw 1-1 with Hearts +1 (-2).

Saturday was the Chiswick Casuals day/night out. Started with team go-karting, in which Sav and I came second. Annoyingly, and to my mind controversially, I was given a sin bin penalty for entering the pit lane too fast, which could just have made the difference between first and second place. Still, never let it be said that I'm a poor loser...

A great game of football followed, then drinks and a Thai meal. I brought along a copy of the quiz from Friday night, which was fun. Soapy and I got home by Scooterman - a guy with a fold-up scooter who drove us back in Soapy's car. They really haven't marketed this properly - it's a great idea and should be more popular than it is.

All in all, a good day and night out +2 (0).

When I got home on Saturday, James was home for the weekend. On Sunday Wenge went to Nottingham to pick up Laura. In the meantime, I went to the Race of Champions at Wembley, with Lee, Suzanne and Michael. A 6 hour motorsports extravaganza on a mobias band of a racing track, with appearances by Lewis Hamilton, Chris Hoy, Michael Schumacher, Jensen Button, David Coulthard and others. That said, once you've seen a couple of cars racing round Wembley, it doesn't really matter who the drivers are or what cars they're driving - so it was mildly interesting for a while but not that long. The much-vaunted race between Chris Hoy and Lewis Hamilton didn't take place for safety reasons, which must have been annoying for the people who came because of all the publicity around it. +0 (0).

So we left before the final round of races, which allowed me to get home in time to have roast dinner with Wenge, Laura and James. A very big +3, taking me to +3 for the weekend and restoring my faith in the power of Melvtopia...

Stansfield shocker!

Here's a weird thing. Download Lisa Stansfield's 'All Around The World' from iTunes, and what you actually get is 'Never, Never Gonna Give You Up'. Even weirder, when you download it from Napster, from a different album, exactly the same thing happens.

So I guess that would be glass half empty if you wanted 'All Around The World' but possibly half full (pushing it...) if you really like 'Never, Never Gonna Give You Up'.

Taking the brand to the next level

Sadly, Michael has left for pastures new. We went across the road for some drinks yesterday after work, and it was a welcome distraction from everything that's been going on.

I reached that 3 drink mark where you're not going to do anything silly but your guard is down, and on the way home I reminded myself why I haven't signed up for Blogger's mobile service. You can SMS or email posts to the blog, and I've been tempted to do that. The trouble is that the ideas that seem good on the way home, after a few drinks, are often far from good the next morning, or indeed at that moment; and are often best not shared. So for now I'll settle for the safety of posting from the PC.

Suzanne also mentioned to me that the blog needs more content. Of course, like all great brand-builders I've been taking the approach that the melvtopia brand needs to be built on the back of honesty, integrity and a focused idealogical proposition before attempting to commercialise it. On the basis that I now have 4 followers, with possibly a new recruit in Stephen L, I think I can safely say that I've reached critical mass and so I'll be unashamedly adding Google ads and assorted widgets over the coming weeks. All to support the brand, you understand.

Traffic jam

We had the biggest day for traffic ever yesterday - for a store that has nothing to sell.

What a blast

Having started the day yesterday with a stunning sunrise over Ally Pally, I ended it with an equally stunning fireworks display over the palace. I was watching the last episode of Spooks (how could they do that to Harry?) and, just as I was waiting for the nuclear blast, the windows started to shake amidst a volley of loud bangs. "This is taking reality TV too far", I thought. Fortunately, a quick look out the window showed that London was still there, and it was just a fireworks display. A very good one too - I have no idea what for. I love where I live.

Here comes the sun

I catch the bus each morning from the top of Alexandra Park. This morning, I was greeted by an absolutely stunning sunrise over London, a combination of deep salmon pink and flame orange. Pity I didn't have a decent camera with me.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Apart from that rather large elephant in the corner of the room, I actually had a pretty good Sunday.

Wenge and I walked down to the Farmers' Market in the morning, and bought some algerian breads for lunch. In the afternoon spent some time brushing up my cv (including rather too much time playing with fonts to make it look better...) so now I'd better get it out there ahead of the rush.

A welcome interlude was learning that Celtic had lost 2-0 to Hibs, including an absolute howler from Boruc who let a shot from 45 yards slip past him. That, coupled with Rangers' 7-1 win on Saturday, makes the league wide open again.

I caught up with a couple of episodes of Heroes that I'd missed over the last few weeks. I've been generally disappointed in this series but these two episodes kicked it back to life - although I'm not sure who's who, when's now and when's not, or what the hell is going on. Apart from that it's crystal clear.

And it was just cold enough to give me an excuse to light a fire - which always makes the world a better place. Oh, and the Eagles gave the Giants their first home defeat 20-14. Lovely.

Good day for football

Rangers beat Hamilton 7-1, and James played for his university team in a men's league.  James scored a hat trick in an 8-2 win to take them off the bottom of the table.

80 with a bullet

Went to Crouch End to pick up Wenge's car from the garage.  Theo and Roy, who run the garage, are fantastic and we've been using it for years.  My car was serviced last week, but it's shaking at around 65-70 miles per hour, so Theo asked me to see if I could get it through 70 and up to 80 to see what happens.  Could be a bit of a challenge in North London but I'll see what I can do.

Played footie in the afternoon.  Couldn't quite reach 80 on the North Circular.  Good 6-a-side game, but the calf muscle I've been nursing all week went again so I limped through much of the game. Of course when you adjust for one injury you put strain on other parts so I now have a really sore thigh to go with it. 

Had a drink with Soapy, Simon and Nigel, talking about next week's Christmas bash - go karting, followed by football then a Thai restaurant.  Since Soapy and I need to travel across London to get there (and back) he is going to explore the scooterman service - could be fun.

Thai me up

I arrived home on a cold and wet Friday evening (laden with freebees from work that can be used as stocking fillers - well, credit crunch and all...) and fully expected to spend the night at home, probably catching up with some TV comedy and a nice bottle of wine.  

Instead, Wenge and I decided to go out.  We ate at a (fairly) new Thai restaurant in Muswell Hill.  We've been there a couple of times before, once when it opened and once since, and as well as serving excellent food the service is warm and friendly.  Last time, I asked about the Thai beef salad and the chef came out with some sauce for me to take home so I could try it myself.

The highlight this time was a quite delicious house white from Navarra - I'm not sure what grape it was, but it was dry, flinty and not at all acidic.  Perfect.

Yum yum

We've now stopped taking online orders completely, and are just pushing customers into stores where we can. Over the last couple of days we've met with a few companies who could potentially provide an alternative fulfilment service to replace EUK. All sounds fairly do-able, although I have no idea if we could make the commercials work.

We're still waiting for any news from EUK, and of course all bets are off until that becomes clearer. Maybe today, although the way this has been playing out I'd be surprised if there's anything concrete by the end of today.

Using my brilliant financial and analytical skills I've also worked out that even if EUK started trading again tomorrow, recent events may just have some financial implications that will need a bit more than sticky plaster. So hanging over all of us is the possibility that the rug may be pulled under our feet at any time, regardless.

Still, this is supposed to be a place to come for positive news so; (1) my lunch of festive turkey and cranberry baguette with tomato and basil soup from M&S was very tasty and (2) a recruiter has been in touch. Time for that coffee and a chat, I think...

What a drama

Caught up with Wednesday's Little Dorrit last night, with Wenge. I shall speak no more of it.

Getting something right...

eConsultancy gave us a little bit of stick a few days ago when we first put up the holding page. Pleased to see they're now praising us for what we've done since.

Silver lining

One of our suppliers just called me for a chat. He finished the conversation by saying "on a positive note, at least there lots of people out there that now know about zavvi that didn't before". Now that really is glass half full thinking!

Having a ball

To say yesterday was traumatic would be an understatement. We're doing what we can but our future depends on what happens at EUK - not the best place to be.

So it was good to have some light relief at Wembley for Barbarians v Australia. Went with Suzanne, Michael and Tilly and once the wine started flowing it was a fun night.

Just to add some interest, James was doing his first shift working at Wembley, for Bright Sparks agency. We all trudged down to the champagne and seafood bar on the way out to see him but he had already left - pity.

As always, being with friends makes the world a better place.

Retail news that's good!

Some good news...

Having shared a very pleasant lunch this very Sunday with good friends Marc, Arch and the girls, Marc has just texted to say he's been offered a position at BestBuy. Awesome.

Message in a battle

We had a brainstorm this morning about messaging. Yesterday's temporary homepage got the message across, but it was pretty stark, and was picked up in some media as the site shutting down completely.

We wanted to send a more upbeat message, focusing on the fact that we're open for business, the site is still up and we do have a range - albeit limited - of products available. So some new banners have replaced the holding page and we've re-merchandised to highlight the products that we can sell.

We've had one quick result, Retail Week reporting that we've resumed selling a limited range. Let's hope it's the start of something good. Glass half full and all...

Quiet night in

A traumatic day. Replaced the homepage with a temporary announcement, telling customers that we can't supply most titles and we're cancelling orders. The news spread round the web, and we were one of the most read articles on bbc.co.uk. Not the kind of fame I've been looking for...

I was planning to take my team out for a pre-Christmas meal at navarro's on Charlotte Street - a brilliant and (thankfully) inexpensive tapas restaurant. Unfortunately Noemi was ill, and maybe it wasn't the best night for us to go out anyway, so we postponed it.

As a result I had a night in with some pasta and Italian red, and watched the Marx Brothers 'Duck Soup'. Absolute quality.

Friends

So EUK is in administration, which means that we can't get any music, DVD or games products from them. While it's bad for the stores, it's even worse for us since we rely on EUK to ship orders to our customers. We've temporarily stopped taking orders and now we're writing to thousands of customers to tell them that we're going to cancel the orders that they placed with us.

What we're trying to do is give ourselves a fighting chance of getting these customers back when we get back to some degree of normality. By being honest and open with our customers, we hope that they'll see that we're doing everything we can to protect their interests and hopefully they'll give us a second chance.

Anyway, these are difficult times for all of us, but I've been in similar situations before and I've noticed that two things happen. First, people start to work together better - the politics and self-interest become less important and you find that everyone pulls together for the common good.

Second, you rediscover the value of having great friends. As soon as the news about EUK broke, the wonderful Helzo texted me to see if everything was OK. We've been through some some stuff, Helzo and me, but it meant a lot to know she was thinking of me.

Why now?

I'd been thinking about blogging again for a few weeks, but the notion crystalised for me in the middle of a long, cold night last week. With apologies for any unwelcome detail, I was suffering the effects of a horrendous stomach bug that was intent on relieving me of half my body weight in the space of a few hours.

As I crouched, shivering and sorry for myself, waiting for the next wave of sickness, I couldn't stop thinking that when this was all over I'd be able to crawl back into a warm bed. Furthermore, I could rehydrate myself with clean water from the tap; I could take some medicine to make myself feel better; if I needed any attention I had access to 24 hour services. The contrast with millions of people in the world's poorer countries couldn't have been more stark - not for them a cosy bed, more likely cholera or a warm grave.

So without coming over all Bob Geldof or Bono, it's a fact that a lot of good things happen to most of us - in fairness, I suppose I should only speak for myself - and I think sometimes we don't fully appreciate how lucky we are. That's what Melvtopia is all about - appreciating the good stuff where I can find it. Here goes.