2024 eBay purchase: how Rudock!

(Quick note: I thought I was wrapping up February when I went to post this and then realized I actually purchased the card in late January. Oh well, whatever--I tend to do something like quarterly eBay pickup posts and this is the only item I've bought on that site for myself through May, so we'll press on!)

Above note aside, let's finish up February's (or January's, or whatever!) pickups by looking at my first eBay buy of 2024:

Here we have a magenta plate of former Iowa/Michigan QB Jake Rudock. The plate was used to produce his 2016 Playoff RC though it was actually inserted into Panini's Plates & Patches product that year, as is Panini's wont.

Since I can't remember when I discussed Rudock last, I'll give a quick recap of his college and pro careers. A fairly standard pocket-passer-type QB, the Florida native headed to Iowa and was pretty much their starter in 2013 and 2014, with the team going 8-5 and 7-6 over those two seasons. He transferred to Big Ten foe Michigan for the 2015 season as it was apparent that new big thing C.J. Beathard would be taking over under center in coach Kirk Ferentz's stone age offense. The switch (or other combined factors) led to the Hawkeyes going 12-0 in the regular season, though they lost by 3 to Big Ten champion MSU, then got their faces kicked in by Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The following season Iowa stumbled to an 8-5 record once again.

Meanwhile, Rudock would become the answer to a trivia question: Jim Harbaugh's first QB as coach of his alma mater after the embarrassing end to Brady Hoke's tenure (which was the result of Rich Rodriguez's embarrassing tenure). He brought some respectability to the position (though that's no ding against the valiant efforts made by the colossally mismanaged Devin Gardner) and after stumbling in a tough road test against what would be a ranked Utah team, he led the Wolverines to 9 regular season wins with a close loss to temporarily good MSU and a typical blowout loss for the time against the Buckeyes. Highlights included a November bombing of Indiana in a 2OT game plus a 41-7 curb-stomping of the Gators in the Citrus Bowl. That was Michigan's first bowl win since the 2012 Sugar Bowl and would be Harbaugh's only postseason victory until his squad defeated Alabama and Washington to win the whole thing earlier this year.

Based on his steady improvement, Rudock earned a look with the Lions as a 6th round pick after that season, which is not bad at all since he didn't appear to have much of an NFL future before heading to Ann Arbor. That's not to say that his NFL career amounted to much--just spot duty in three 2017 contests in which he completed 3 of 5 passes for 24 yards and an interception. The Lions eventually let him go in early 2019, then he signed on with the Dolphins, though he never went active with them.

You won't hear Jake complaining about those results, though, because he gave the league his best shot and is now in med school back in Ann Arbor. How cool is that?

Rudock remains one of a growing number of transfers (both in and out) that I collect, with that number sure to shoot up big-time thanks to the burgeoning landscape of the transfer portal and NIL money. I'll always fondly remember his single season with the Maize & Blue when he and Harbaugh arrived to try to right the ship, the first step on a long journey that culminated in a championship that brought elation and relief to Michigan fans worldwide. This plate is now my best card in his small collection, joined by a higher-end autograph to make a solid pair. At about $12 delivered (including tax), I was happy to add it. As luck would have it, I'm even tied with Jeff as his top collector on TCDb at 11 cards!

And with that I should now be caught up through February (aside from TCDb trades which will get recapped in a larger catch-up post) so I should be moving on to March next time.

2013 trade package #33: cards from my BB4L PTSiA, so TTYL

To close out this year in trade packages (and likely, posts), here's some cards from one of everyone's favorite Californians, Greg Z. of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle!

You can see the rest of the package over on the sister blog, but Zakwin included some nice stuff that those of you who read this here blog might appreciate.

First off, here's the 100% awesome address label.  BB4L, yo!

So...yeah...um, cards...I was talking about cards.  Ok, here we go:

I'm lazy, so I'm literally copying/pasting what I wrote about this card on the other blog:  this Michigan card, displaying my state's motto--"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"--appears to hail from a company called Helmar Turkish Cigarettes, and was created in the early 1900s, predating even my grandparents!  Greg showed off a few such acquisitions here as well as here.  It's a very cool and unique piece to add to my collection, even if I don't know where exactly it fits.  Those bucks and eagle are here to tell you, "MICHIGAN!  FUCK YEAH!"

Greg then completely flipped the script by sending me cards that were produced during my lifetime:

A couple Lions from back when they were...well, I guess they haven't ever made any progress, so there's that.  Question:  do amateur players belong in "Pro Set"?

Here's one of the package's hits, a 2011 Limited jersey of concussion cautionary tale Jahvid Best.  If anybody's interested, please let me know as it's available for trade!

Now here's a couple teams that HAVE had success during my lifetime.  The Pro Set cards bring back happy memories of playing as the Wings on NHL '93-'95.  I'm happily adding to my Jimmy Howard collection despite his up-and-down-so-far career; the RC was especially fun to grab since it shows his college stats at Maine, and as I believe I've said multiple times, I saw the Wolverines defeat Jimmy and his Black Bears in the NCAA tourney about 10 years ago!

Hey, it's a trio of Ripkens!  I'm pretty sure I at least needed the two on the left, especially the fun Ginter insert.  Who doesn't enjoy some of these players' full names?  "Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr.," "George Kenneth Griffey Jr.," "Larry Wayne 'Chipper' Jones," etc.

Speaking of some somewhat successful teams during my lifetime, here's six cards of seven players that haven't won a title with Detroit.  Wait, that kind of came out wrong.  Anyway, it's a good group of players.  I'm guessing the Prince is called "Across the Years" because he's too large to fit within just one like everybody else.

Alex Avila 2012 Prime Cuts jersey

Finally, we have the hit I enjoyed the most in this post, a jersey of catcher Alex Avila.  It's a bit on the plain side, but I still appreciate that he's good enough to warrant a relic card at all.

Thanks again for another trade, Greg!  I'll Brie back next year to get more deals going with you (see what I did there?).  Readers, please validate all the time he puts into displaying cards of his man crushes over at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.

And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from TMV!

2013 trade package #24: a Screaming Line Drive that knocks in 23

Before I get to today's INcoming trade post, here's a look at what went OUT today:

That's right--I finally got around to sending pretty much everything I'm aware of that I owe, plus a few surprises.  Sports Cards From the Dollar Store, Screaming Line Drive, and reader Jeff W. have all been notified about theirs, but the rest are a mystery.  Well, not to me since I sent them, but to their recipients.  So watch your mailbox in the next 10 or so days as you might be getting something fun from me!

So, speaking of Screaming Line Drive, DC's own daddyohoho (Sean) caught my YCM post covering a big haul of 2013 Score Football last week, and he decided to help me out while shooting me his own wantlist.  Sean was able to knock a scorching 23 cards off my wantlist of that set.  Of course I'm thrilled to be able to make that kind of a progress through trading, especially since set-building is one of my favorite kind of card swaps (and I'm always willing to look at others' wants as well!).  Here's some of the highlights of what Sean sent me: 

I'm pretty sure Score's photographers captured every dive in the NFL this year, including the two of the Steelers.  I put the pair of future-HOF 12s together on purpose, right above Buttfumble.  James looks so wide open in his photo I have to assume it's from practice.  His teammate and QB is certainly pretty tatted up, right next to fellow QB Stafford, who is surely throwing a pick here.  And Celek has clearly been eating his Wheaties, or maybe those of Ryan Braun....

As usual when I can, here's the damage before,

2013 Score:  2 5 13 15 21 28 31 34 43 48 49 56 57 60 68 69 72 75 84 87 97 99 107 109 112 114 117 125 126 129 134 146 148 150 153 154 160 163 169 170 175 178 184 189 190 193 200 206 212 214 226 233 238 239 242 246 248 250 251 254 264 268 274 277 278 281 287 290 291 302 304 315 318 324 326 330 336 370 381 404 418 437

and after:

2013 Score:  2 5 13 15 21 28 31 43 48 49 57 60 69 72 84 87 97 99 107 109 112 114 117 126 129 146 148 150 153 154 175 178 184 190 193 200 206 212 214 226 233 254 264 268 274 277 278 281 287 291 302 326 330 336 370 381 404 418 437

Now that's a nice dent!  That's not all Sean sent my way, though, as he included these: 

It's a pair of Panini cards of former Iowa and current Lions T Riley Reiff.  The autograph card is about as thick as a Hawkeye linenam, which is pretty cool, and seriously, who doesn't like Elite?  These will likely go into my trade bait but are still very much appreciated.

Thanks again for letting me engage in one of my favorite kinds of trading, Sean!  Your package went out today, and if you didn't see my email, I did find a bunch more rookies to include to thank you for the Reiffs.  Let's trade again soon!  Readers, please head on over to Screaming Line Drive and send Sean your Phils, Sixers, Eagles, Flyers, and Nats, but DEFINITELY not your Redskins.

Two 2013 Upper Deck football rack packs

While I was in Milwaukee over the weekend for Sunday's Brewers game, I hit up the Wal-Mart near Miller Park along with my bro and sis-in-law.  That's an extremely rare event for me, but this was literally the only Wal-Mart I'd ever possibly set foot in again:  it was reasonably clean, and the usual "people of Wal-Mart" didn't appear to be around.

Anyway, I had been dying to try some 2013 Upper Deck football packs since they feature players with their college teams.  I had some house money to play with thanks to participating in an experiment at work (it was a distracted-driving-type simulation, so no, I didn't end up hallucinating about Adam Sandler dressed as Satan) and was fortunate enough to find a few racks up-front.  I grabbed two, and my brother and I each opened one.  Here's what I got, by category:

The hero:

A gorgeous shot of 'Tree on a beautifully done horizontal card.  As usual, UD > Topps.

The enemy: 

A couple of Sparties and a Domer.  Apparently, in Bell's case, being run into the ground ineffectively a thousand times a season makes you a "work horse" and "bell cow" RB.  Also, Riddick was drafted by the Lions, so his future is about as bright as his namesake series' first movie, Pitch Black.

The "they beat us down but at least Thomas Gordon ended up on this card":

I guess we'll find out if other teams letting Lacy fall to the Pack at #61 overall was shrewd or stupid!

The "your name is WHAT?!":

Let's just call him "Lutz."  Lutz holds Auburn's single-season and career record for TDs by a TE, and he signed with the Rams after the draft.  His transition to the NFL from Auburn and the SEC means a sharp decline in pay, but it's still probably a good move for him.

The "UD photography and design plus college football are the greatest combo ever":

Here's just three great examples.  #1 is A&M WR and somehow NCAA 2013 cover runner-up-to-Denard Ryan Swope in a shot I like to call "Swoperman."  #2 is Auburn WR Emory Blake in "LOL invisible bunk bed."  Finally, #3 is Wisconsin tackle Ricky Wagner in "Badger, badger, badger, BADGER, badger."

The "You 'bout ta get PAID, son!":

Here's the five 2013 first-rounders I pulled:  Jordan (3, Dolphins); Milliner (9, Jets); Fluker (11, Chargers); Werner (24, Colts); Jones (26, Packers).

The inserts:

Each rack pack comes with a pair of Robert Griffin UD Heroes inserts (which apparently differ from the hobby versions slightly).  I pulled #s 3, 4, 6, and 8.  I also ended up with one short print insert:  a '95 SP version of WSU WR Marquess Wilson.

My overall haul, then, was 59 different base cards (of the 100 non-SPed Star Rookies) and five inserts.  Cards #1-50 are veterans (including Anthony Carter!), and while they're not short-printed I don't know if they're just not included in retail or what.  #s 151-300 include multiple SPs of other players, including a pair of Denard Robinsons I'd love to grab.

None of the base cards here are for trade as I'll be going for the set, but I'll probably grab a couple more racks if I see them so I can complete the 100-card prospects subset, and at that point I'll surely have lots of doubles to trade.  The inserts can be had right now, though, if anyone's interested.

Who wants some last chance trade bait?!

I'm cleaning up what's left of my trade bait in anticipation of sending it in to COMC (with a possible pit stop on Blowout just in case) because I've got a fun project in mind and need to raise some funds.  However, before I work on selling it, I want to offer you guys this stuff in trade one last time--I'd love to get more deals done this year and I hope this spurs a few more!

Tigers:

Lions:

• Robiskie/Williams:  #193/250
• Harrington:  #08/99
• Best RPM:  #22/99
• Best Sterling:  #137/299
• Smith Sterling:  #237/309

• Young/Pettis:  #27/50
• Pettigrew/Williams:  #314/500
• Young Certified:  #067/499 (dinged corner)
• Fitzgerald/Williams:  #026/100 (creases near swatch windows)
• McMahon:  #073/850
• Staley:  #0854/1150

• Stafford Gold:  #1795/2012
• Delmas:  #450/999
• Young:  #081/999

Michigan football:

-Long Sterling:  #974/999

If you see anything here you like, please let me know and we can work out a trade.  My plan is to leave these up until the weekend, which gives everyone a few days to look through them.  After that I'll start trying to move them elsewhere.

2013 BA Benny Bonanza part 3: I ain't Lion

Previously:  Part 1 (complete sets), Part 2 (Cal Ripken Jr.)

Today's post will focus on the Detroit Lions portion of the package.  While I recently declared the team dead to me, Mike did include a couple keepers, plus some very nice trade bait:

We start with a few base cards, an insert, and a couple nice RCs.  The mini is TE Brandon Pettigrew, the Suh is, of course, his 2010 Topps RC, and the Delmas is #d 450/999.

Mike sent a ton of pretty nice Lions hits, and while none of these are players I collect, I'm betting they make for good trade bait or COMC fodder!  The Fitzgerald/Williams is #d 026/100 (too bad they couldn't have waited a year for Calvin Johnson!), the Young 067/499, the Pettigrew/Williams 314/500, and the McMahon (remember him?) 073/850.

Here's a few more tradeable hits.  Calhoun was a pretty good RB out of Wisconsin but couldn't cut it in the NFL.  Stanton is a Spartan so it was no surprise that he sucked.  Still, he was better than Joey "Blue Skies" Harrington!  A second Derrick Williams dual card pairs him up with former Buckeye Brian Robiskie, and that card is #d 193/250.

And now for a couple keepers:

I believe this is one of those cards you can get from retail stores where the package promises you a card/jersey swatch guaranteed.  The card says Topps on it but the back says the piece was put together by a company called "Vintage."  It's designed in such a way that the back can pop out so you can stand up and display the card.  I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Megatron, the game's current #1 WR, so I have no intention of letting this go!

This is one of the more oddball items that was pretty obvious from my initial teasers of the package.  Sanders was another Lion that was easy to respect and admire due to his obvious skill, professionalism and lack of ego, just like Johnson.  The card is an oversized Action Packed Mammoth issue from 1994 and is numbered to an ultra-rare 16018/25000.  As with anything else made by AP, parts of the front are raised to give it a unique feel.  I decided to open it to make it easier to scan and enjoy, and I'm glad I did.  You can even almost make out the Lions logo in the left-middle of the back, which is whiter than the rest of the back.  Also, a stamp on the front lists him as a "'94 Rookie Member" of the NFL Quarterback Club, which seems like a goofy award for a RB, but whatever.  This is simply a fantastic portrait of one of the greats of the NFL and Detroit Lions.

So for the third (or so) time, thanks, Mike!  I'll keep at it and get to the rest of the package very soon.

COMC spree update and a PC announcement

Hi everybody!  First up, I wanted to give you all a quick update on my COMC shopping project:  I'm nearly done, needing one more trade bait card, at which point I can see how much credit I have left so I can polish that off, then hit the magical "ship" button.  I picked up some really exciting stuff for some of you, and I hope you'll be surprised and amazed when it arrives to you.  This is definitely the most I've spent on cards for others at once from the site, but it worked out very well, especially since the show last weekend wasn't especially helpful.  I like being able to let people I'm trading with pick something out that they'll like, and even more, the selection is much better than you'll find anywhere in-person, so it's likely I'll be doing this more often as I try to facilitate some trades.

And now, on to my quick PC announcement:  I officially denounce the Detroit Lions and am asking that in the future, nobody sends me anything of that team, unless 1.  It's a former Michigan player (i.e. Jeff Backus and Desmond Howard) or 2.  You're feeling generous enough to send me Calvin Johnson or Barry Sanders stuff, in which case, you're a saint.  There's just nothing redeeming about that team besides Megatron.  The current GM is just as clueless as the old GM, the head coach is a jackass that doesn't know the rules of the game and lets his players do whatever the hell they want (on AND off the field), and the "star" QB left his throwing mechanics in his college locker room.  It's a team full of criminals and underachievers and I really don't want any more of their crap in my collection.

From Esquire

Therefore, I'm dumping all of my Detroit hits into my football trade bait album.  I'll decide what I want to do with my base and inserts at some point as well, but that's a start.  Eventually I may advertise whatever hits I have left as a lot on Blowout, but I'd much rather give you guys first crack at these (assuming you're crazy enough to want them).  Believe me, I won't ask for much, so get those offers in!

Back to regular posting within a day or two, I promise!

Holiday trade package #3: Screaming Line Drive

Today's trade package came from daddyohoho (a.k.a. Sean) of Screaming Line Drive.  This Philly-centric blogger (who's actually a native of D.C.) claimed a couple of that city's teams in my fall cleaning lot giveaway, then sent me some even nicer stuff in return. (which appears to be a theme of these posts lately!)  He did that after having sent me a ridiculously nice Charles Woodson insert a couple weeks ago.  So what did he send me this time?:

A nine-spot of Lions:  a couple Black Friday pulls of Megatron and Sidearm McIdiot; a quartet of 2012 Topps Chrome including a Refractor of Ndamukong Stuhpid, and more importantly, a RC of the promising-but-injured WR Ryan Broyles; and a trio of Leaf R&S base, including Brandon "Butterfingers" Pettigrew.  God damn do the Lions suck again....  Great cards, though!

These were the highlights of the Tigers Sean sent, and they're excellent:  a pair of Kaline inserts with classic shots of Mr. Tiger during his playing days; a Magglio insert celebrating a home run that's well-known among Tigers fans; a new Tettleton!; Turkey Red Red and Turkey Red Black!; and a new Cecil Fielder.

That's not all he sent, though, as he was obviously embracing the giving spirit of the season:

This here is a Luke Staley 2002 SP Authentic auto RC (#d 0854/1150).  Staley was an All-American RB out of BYU whom the Lions chose in the 7th round back in 2002.  Injuries derailed a career that never got off the ground, but at least he had a nice college career.  Hooray for a new Lions hit!

AND, there's this Chris Shelton 2006 Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures auto (#402/750).  Shelton, who's apparently the cousin of 49er QB Alex Smith, was a Rule 5 pick from the Pirates who started out the 2005 season with a bang--or rather, nine of them in his first 13 games.  He proved to be just a flash in the pan, though, despite a decent finish to that season, and he last played in the Majors with Seattle in 2009.  He's got a pretty nice autograph, though, and this is heading straight to my Tigers PC.

Thanks again, Sean, for a super nice Christmas trade package, and I promise I'll get you back with something nice in return before long--probably of the Philadelphia sports scene variety!  Everyone reading this should jump on over to Sean's relatively new blog, Screaming Line Drive, while you stay tuned for the other two trade packages I have coming up.

Merry TradePostMas!

Hi everybody!

Work and life have been plenty busy in the last week or so, especially with what's sure to be a kick-ass Christmas quickly arriving next week.  Because of all that, I've been lax in posting over here, but I owe y'all a trade post featuring a couple awesome trade packages I received last week.  You can also see two MORE over at Too Many Manninghams while you're at it.  It doesn't matter what time of year it is--bloggers and readers are always generous.

I do want to point out a quick programming note before I proceed, though:  this will likely be my last post over here until the new year.  If I get up the energy, I'll try to post a year-end look at my spending and resolutions for 2012, but this seems like a good time to focus on family and friends.  I will, however, be keeping up with the blogs in my Google Reader every day.

All right, onto today's trade post fun.  As I mentioned before, many of you jumped all over my fall cleaning lots, which I still really, really appreciate.  What was even cooler is that some of you who did so were also generous enough to shoot me something back.  Here are two examples of that:

Reader Shano (a.k.a. Shannon), who took the city of Cleveland off my hands, mentioned he had some football wantlist help for me, which is always welcome.  He wasn't kidding:

2008 UD First Edition

2010 Score

2008 Topps

As you can see, that may have been a touch of an understatement.  These 19 cards put a nice dent in those three sets, especially the 2008 Topps.  As an added bonus, those featured cards I didn't have of a pair of Wolverines in Tom Brady and Jamar Adams.  Sweet!  Because these weren't sets where I was within a small handful of cards, I'd been neglecting them for a while, but Shannon's got me motivated again to finish these very soon.  Thanks, buddy!  I'll be sending more stuff out your way pretty soon--hopefully this week.

Another fall cleaning lot participant who was nice enough to send something back was the guy who runs Brad's Blog--Steve something.  Oh, no, that's right, his name is Brad.  How the hell are you supposed to remember that?

Brad actually showed off the card he sent me in an overview of some recent show pickups, but you can also now see it here:

Yes, this is how it arrived.  THANKS, USPS!  'Tis the season to continue to be habitual fuckups.  Just to be clear, this is less than 0% the fault of Brad, whose care in packaging the card literally saved it from any damage--that's right, the item in that envelope arrived unscathed due to Brad's TLC ("tender love of cards"). So what did he send me?

An absolutely ridiculous dual auto of a couple Tiger greats! (and I do mean that, especially in Tettleton's case)  I actually already nabbed this one earlier this year, but I know I can find use for it, even if it's trade bait for a fellow Detroit collector.  In any case, it was an extremely generous return for a bunch of Phillies I didn't particularly want.  Thanks again, Brad!  I'm now following his blog, and all of you should too.

Well, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/awesome holiday season filled with food, football and 'Fractors.  Merry Christmas from TMV!

A trade package from TMB's Kevin, plus some updates

First, a few quick notes.  I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving, and better yet, was able to spend it with people you care about.  I got some quality time in with a couple friends I hardly ever see, then had a fantastic day with the family, so I couldn't have asked for anything more.

And yet, I got it.  While a good chunk of America was freezing its collective ass for four days to save $50 off a crappy TV, I put in a bit of time with COMC's own Black Friday promotions (from the comfort of my home!) and scored some fun new stuff.  Yes, I just had a large package delivered from purchases over the course of the summer, but this was as good a time as any to drop $100 on some sale cards and score free shipping--I mean, when are you gonna see THAT again on COMC?  So stay tuned for those whenever they get delivered, though most of them will again be featured over on the other blog.

Next, I wanted to update everyone on the fall cleaning team/other lots.  I'm extremely pleased with how many have been grabbed already, and I promise to work on getting those out this week, a bit at a time.  I scored a bunch of bubble mailers today and I believe I also have enough cardboard boxes to handle the larger lots, but for now, please consider it a work in progress.  Thanks again to everyone who participated.

I also wanted to update everybody on what's left, because these are still very much available:

Baseball:

• Detroit Tigers
• Florida/Miami Marlins
• San Diego Padres

Football:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Atlanta Falcons
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• KC Chiefs
• Miami Dolphins
• San Diego Chargers
• Tampa Bay Bucs
• Tennessee Titans

Basketball:

• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Charlotte Bobcats
• Dallas Mavericks
• Denver Nuggets
• Detroit Pistons
• Houston Rockets
• Indiana Pacers
• LA Clippers
• LA Lakers
• Miami Heat
• Milwaukee Bucks
• New Jersey Nets
• New Orleans/Charlotte Hornets
• New York Knicks
• Sacramento Kings
• San Antonio Spurs
• Seattle Supersonics
• Utah Jazz
• Washington Bullets/Wizards

Please step right up and leave a comment claiming as many lots as you want!

Trade with Kevin:

Ok, time for the feature of today's post.  As I also wrote over on TMM this afternoon, where I featured another card he sent me, I got a fun little trade package back from Kevin (Mojo Beard) who was hitting me back for some Minnesota-type stuff I sent him recently.  Besides that sweet Breaston, he included another football card he knew I'd like:

This here is a 2010 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket insert of Detroit's best player since Barry Sanders, Mr. Calvin Johnson, Jr.  It's actually a lot shinier than the dull scan makes it look, and as always looks better in-person.  Even better, it's a #d insert, which I almost always like, and is #d 88/99.  This may be another one of those "lost" seasons for the Lions, but Megatron still gives Lions fans some hope, not to mention reasons to collect.

Thanks again for the package, Kevin, and please keep on keepin' on with your fantastic blogging!