As I sit on the plane on the way home from another fantastic Looper's KC adventure, I know Michelle will be proud of me for starting this review of epic proportions. I'm just going to warn everyone right now that a majority of this review will document our travels and adventures, not the concert…it's for our scrapbooks. If you have read some of our other reviews you shouldn't be too surprised. If you're just interested in our Universal concert experience skip to page 6…but that doesn't work in a thread so sorry. Let the review begin…
It all started with the dawning of a new KC era…the AIEW era. The Loopers were ready to be in the center of it all. We were all stoked when we heard about the awesome radio promo during the trip to the Bahamas. Now, Michelle is still sad about not going so we won't talk about it too much, but there was no way that for sure this teacher could afford to travel from Wisconsin to the Bahamas so we needed a Plan B ASAP to cheer up our CG (Cheesegirl). We all started talking, and decided that the Universal Studios concert in Orlando was a complete possibility. We've always talked about traveling more long distance and to warm weather for the show, now was our opportunity. We immediately started coming up with a plan of attack…the Loopers were invading Florida. In order to save some cash, we decided we would use Michelle's "hook up up" and stay in Tampa with her awesome aunt. (First of many shout outs to Aunt Chris). Also, that put us right in the middle of Clearwater Beach and Orlando. We love KC, but we weren't going to FL without hitting the beach. We booked our flights, named our own price for our rental car, shopped till we dropped, went to the casino to try and double our $, lost some $, got pedicures, and we were set to go.
The plan was to leave Thursday before so we had Friday for the Beach, Saturday for KC, and Sunday to travel back. Now as I (Evan) mentioned before I'm a teacher. Now teachers may have the summers off, but they don't have many personal days. I get one day a year, and I used it for our 2W2V road trip. I was going to have to get creative….aka sick day. Of course there is the moral dilemma of lying, and many of you may be in shock that a teacher would lie, but then again you're all KC fans reading this so you shouldn't be…come on its KC. Also, technically it isn't lying if I have a fever and the only cure is KC in Orlando.
After a long day of teaching and some afternoon parent teacher conferences it was time for my sisters and Jenny to come pick me up early from school and drop us off at the airport. Sadly, the Loopers wouldn't all be traveling together because Michelle left earlier in the day to spend some time with her aunt. We made it to the airport with few issues. Only 1 trip back to Jenny's house for boarding passes and one stop at Alterra to change clothes…I couldn't change at work that would be too obvious.
Once we got to the airport we saw the dreaded D word… DELAYED. I took a deep breath and calmly assessed the situation, and Jenny went into slight panic mode. All we had to do was make our connecting flight in Atlanta…PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). After many twitter messages it was time for us to board our flight.
Now earlier in the day Michelle hit a huge bump in her travel
experience…no window at her window seat. She paid $6 for advanced seating to have a window seat and there wasn't
one there. Now it may just be us crazy Loopers but isn't a window kinda required at a window seat? Apparently not to Airtran…just a heads up. Either way someone was mad…it probably
didn't help that Evan had 2 windows on her flight and rubbed it in.
Current Window Count Evan 2, Michelle 0.
The flight to Atlanta was relaxing. We watched some Friends on DVD and enjoyed some beverages and "party peanuts," they're better than plain peanuts. Then it was time to focus and navigate through the "Hot-lanta" airport. Jenny wanted to sprint…Evan was thinking more of a brisk power walk. Either way we safely made it to our gate and our connecting flight and at 10:30 at night it was time to take our final flight to Tampa.
The flight to Tampa was like a teacher on vacation's worst nightmare…kids galore. After some kicking of the seats and screaming on takeoff things were semi peaceful. That could also be though because we were jamming to AIEW on our iPods. We landed after midnight and it was time to now begin our rental car adventure.
Current Window Count Evan 3, Michelle 0.
We travel by land, air, and hopefully sea too (Evan: Can I have a boat?). One would think that going to rent a car after at 12AM would be quick and easy, no line just walk up there get the keys and be gone…NOPE. There was a line and we were behind f-ing asks a lot of questions guy. Seriously dude, do some research before you go makes it a whole lot easier. We gave our info, checked in and where ready to hit the road. In the parking lot we were sucked in by a car with a New Jersey license plate in honor of our 4th Looper Robby. Too bad the car was made on another planet. Who puts the speedometer and %+*% in the middle of the dashboard? We fired up our British navigator Tom and we were on our way to Plant City. Now we all love road trips and taking in the scenery, but not when it's almost 1 in the morning and we have somewhere to be. We wanted to get to the house say hello and crash, so of course that would mean Tom would have us take the most scenic route possible. We were following his directions to a T and then all of a sudden he goes "turn around when possible" and Evan goes "excuse me Tom…wtf." No thanks to Tom, we finally made it to Plant City to be greeted by CG and Aunt Chris who so nicely stayed up for us. We said hellos and then we said goodnights.
We all agreed that we would get up at 7:30, get ready and then hit the beach. Well this is how it goes:
Jenny's Alarm: 7:03
Michelle and Evan's Alarms: 7:30
SOMEONE missed the memo…after a semi peaceful evening of rest due to what we debated as either "heavy breathing" vs. "snoring" and a squeaky bed we packed up and headed to the beach.
We decided to let Tom take a little break after his subpar navigating. We were headed to the beach the old fashion way…get directions and follow the signs. Can I just say we did an awesome navigating job? No getting lost and we even met a friendly Wisconsin driver. They did not know we were from Wisconsin $^@#&! New Jersey license plate. We were nearing the beach and taking some lovely pictures of the Florida foliage, when Evan had an uncontrollable urge to purchase sand toys. Luckily Super Target to the rescue. We picked up a sweet bucket/shovel combo and some other fun stuff. After, there was one more thing, McDonald's breakfast…aka the breakfast of Champions. Yummy, yummy egg McMuffin in my tummy…a few bridges later we had found the beach!!!
It was a little cloudy as we gathered up all our stuff and headed out towards the ocean. First thing we see a Turtle Shower…can you say Kodak moment? We don't have too many of those here in Wisconsin, a beer shower maybe, but not a turtle. A nice local man snapped a picture of all of us, and then it was time for us to do our best Baywatch run to the water…well literally 10 seconds into our sprint Michelle falls. Thank goodness Evan had her sand toys to dig her out safely. After that BUMP in the road, we finally put our feet in the ocean…we were at the beach. Of course we had to call, text, twitter, to make people insanely jealous that they were working and we were at the beach…*COUGH* I mean sick *COUGH*!
We saw these awesome chairs and umbrellas on the beach and promptly set up a base camp. We thought score we're here early enough for chairs. Well, after about 20 minutes of free chair bliss our dreams were crushed by Hot Chair Man…thank goodness for the hot part. He asked if we would like to rent the chairs and umbrella and Evan asked "we already have them why would we want to do that." He told us nothing on the beach was free…and Evan and Michelle sadly got some inappropriate thoughts about what they would do for free with himJ. His hotness sucked us in and we were now the proud renters of 3 beach chairs and one umbrella that we didn't plan on using for $25.
We had chairs and an umbrella and it was time to leave both and go frolic in the water. The seas were a little rough and some big waves were coming. Several parts of the beach were deemed non-swimming areas because of the rip tides. They were clearly marked, yet some not so bright people (Claymates…jk sortaJ) kept swimming over there which made the lifeguards blow their whistles. We heard whistles in our sleep for days. Seriously, not that hard people.
Evan was much more of a daredevil and ventured deeper than Jenny and Michelle. A huge wave came through and Evan timed her jump well, and then the wave went towards Jenny and Michelle. It almost sent them flying. Evan did what any normal person would do so pointed and laughed…of course as it always does with the Loopers karma ($^@#% Reba & KC) struck her nearly immediately. She face planted after a huge wave hit her from behind. FYI salt water doesn't taste like pretzels. Evan then voted it was time to start playing with her sand toys.
We decide to try and build KC's castle. We had visions of an elaborate, beautiful castle…well not so much. On our beach report card next to sand castles it would have an N for needs improvement. Instead, we decided we would commemorate our trip to the beach by writing Loop Hearts KC in the sand. Dorky yes, but we had to make up for our shitty castle somehow. Either way, we did manage to do a wonderful job of getting sand EVERYWHERE…and we do mean everywhere.
We played in the sand some more and just chilled. We were all about "chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool"- (name that tune). We were making friends with all the lovely birds who could sense Jenny's fear a mile away or the snacks in our bags when we needed to deal with a little issue. Now, it's important to remain hydrated when outside all day. We of course invested in some souvenir soda bottles…best deal on the beach. Well the combination of the soda and the salt water we drank when getting bombarded by the waves made nature call. Now KC may pee in the shower, but Loopers pee in the ocean. You can judge all you want, but Loopers do what Loopers have to do.
The sun was shining and the wind was blowing, when our "white knight rode in on his horse" aka hot chair man came by on a tractor to collect the umbrellas since it was so windy. He was so thoughtful to think of our safety... we wanted to shout marry us, but instead we just thought to ourselves "we think his tractor is sexy."
It was super windy all day and it was getting close to 3:00 when we decided to pack up our stuff and take our sun burnt selves over the pier before going shopping. Before hitting the pier we returned to our turtle friend to attempt to get the sand off us. That helped a little but not with all areas. So we asked ourselves WWKD (What Would Kelly DO?) Our answer…commando. That may be over sharing for many if not most of you, but really if KC said it you would love it.
Next, we paid 50 cents each…big spenders…to walk all the way to the end of the pier. It was a gorgeous view. Jenny was scared of "sharks," Michelle was trying to take deep pictures of herself, and Evan was pissed her soda spilled.
After our pier adventure, it was time to do some shopping and grab some souvenirs. We walked down to a shop and found some shirts and shot glasses. We ended up finding the one store in Clearwater with the longest checkout line. We waited for what felt like forever (a preview of what is to come later). Evan decided to play dress up to pass the time. One word: Fierce.
Post shopping spree, it was time to head back to Tampa. We all agreed that we would stop at Jamba Juice on the way home. There is only 1 Jamba Juice in Wisconsin. Jenny and Evan loved them during college so it was a must for the trip. For the most part we found our way out of there easily…one "bonus bridge" for Michelle…but all and all good "Tom-less" navigation.
So we get to Jamba Juice and we got like the employee of the month…boy was this lady crazy peppy. She kept trying to get us to come back tomorrow to have oatmeal. We were like lady we have WAY better things to do tomorrow. She finally just gave us a free sample of oatmeal. Who eats oatmeal when it's 80 degrees out? We said thank you and hit the road again. After a few bites we vetoed the oatmeal and stuck with the smoothies. Not only were they delicious, but the long straws made for great microphones as we sang our hearts out to KC in traffic.
When we finally made it home, it was Operation Remove Sand and Deal with Sun Burn. Our solution…jump into a freezing cool pool and hope for the best. After a nice dinner on the grill (shout out Aunt Chris) it was time to deal with our sunburn and prepare for tomorrow. We took showers and headed out on an adventure. First stop, Wal-Mart for aloe vera, higher SPF sunscreen, and snacks and beverages for our drive to Orlando. Of course, we just missed seeing KC's sound check performance on the TV screens there. #&@^# After our shopping spree, we were really in the mood to see what the night life in Plant City was like aka we wanted to find a casino. We tried, but apparently it no longer exists. We sought advice from Erin on twitter, but sadly, we never found anyone to play strip poker with us. We instead decided to call it a night and head to bed.
After another non peaceful night of sleep for all, it was time to hit the road. Once again, confusion on the alarm situation…. Evan and Michelle: 7:15….Jenny 7:17. We were all tired, but this was the day we had traveled here for. We hit the road and began the about an hour drive to Orlando.
The drive was simple as can be thank you highway 4 east. We got to Universal and made a very smart choice to upgrade to preferred parking for an extra $5….you'll understand why later. Before we headed into the park, we made sure our bags were packed with snacks, waters (there is your memo Jenny), and Evan double checked for the SPF 70 sunscreen…oops. Our plan was to first find the stage, get a locker near there to store a ton of our %+*%, and check out the line situation. Well, first we had to stop and buy $12 sunscreen…do you know how much fun we could've had at the casino with $12? No use in crying about it. We went and found a locker near the stage and loaded our stuff in there. We showed up at 9:00 and saw about 10 people in line, we were like already dude no way let's go ride some rides. We hopped over to the Islands of Adventure Park and went on the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Michelle and Jenny both made the little boy behind us laugh when they screamed on the ride. At least nobody peed in their pants…(another preview of what's to come later.)
Once we were done with Jurassic Park Jenny and Evan went on the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster while Michelle went to pee. Afterwards Michelle decided that why should she just wait for us to ride rides when she could be waiting in line. At least waiting in the KC line served a purpose. She headed back to the line to take a nap, and we decided to go ride the Hulk Rollercoaster. While we were in line for the Hulk seriously every annoying middle/high school cheerleader and singer was in line by us. They sang if you're happy and you know it…well nobody was clapping their hands, stomping their feet, saying hooray, or doing all 3. They could've at least busted out with a little KC. After our ride, we decided to go check on Michelle and the line. Once we got there, we saw that the line had grown, and we decided that 3 rides was enough, our new thrill ride was waiting in line.
To prepare for our waiting adventure, we headed back to the locker to grab all of our stuff. We stopped to buy another souvenir cup with discounted refills…we needed to by hydrated for our long wait. The kind, old lady who sold us our beverages said "I take tips." Evan really wanted to say "here's a tip stay for the Kelly Clarkson concert tonight," but instead she smiled and just "walked away". We headed back to the line and joined our fellow Expressers for the long haul. Now, so many people asked us how we could you wait that long for a concert, we say "all good things comes to those who wait…and wait, and wait some more.
While in line, we were all getting to know each other better...making friends is a prerequisite for spending an extended time with people. We had met some of the Expressers before at other shows, but something told us that spending all this time together in the hot sun would bring us together. Erin had the right idea from the get go "beer time." Too bad it was Budweiser aka %+*% and not Miller. While she was going to refresh her beverage and ours we tried to make some more friends in line so they would scoot back and give us some space. Let's looking at the situation logically…you're still the same # of people in line no matter how far back space-wise you're in line…makes perfect sense. Michelle tried to her best to share this logic and persuade them, but they really didn't like her. Our brash New Yorker Erin tried as well with a polite "back the f**k up"…still nada. On the hottest day in Florida this year, with the sun beating down on us, we were all forced to snuggle.
Slowly but surely they kept moving the line…we really didn't understand why if they were moving the line they couldn't just let us in the concert area. Evan finally had found a nice shady spot under a tree when Erin and Michelle started playing America's Next Top Model…strutting their stuff with the best "banned" pose. Of course 5 minutes later we moved again… to the sun. Then we moved again. With all this moving we were all hoping as the afternoon went on that "perfection was right around the corner." Much to our surprise it was. The Band came out for sound check and we started singing along and dancing. The entire time we were watched closely but our security guard friend/foe Stanley. Stanley had no idea what hit him, meeting all of us lovely KC fans…and can we just say that we wanted to hit him when he stood in front of us. He was especially top on our 'Punch in the Face List' when KC came out for sound check. He just had to keep standing right in front of us. We were honestly shocked that she came out with all the people out there, but pleasantly surprised. It must've been super awkward to try and do your job with a thousand people watching. Hey we'll take it. KC's preview of the show was the boost we needed to get us through the rest of the wait…T-Minus 4 more hours…ugh.
Finally, we were allowed to walk into the concert area in an orderly fashion by our numbered tickets. Evan yelled…reminded...everyone to walk. We were pretty impressed with how the staff handled all the people. The one guy totally caught a chick trying to get into the area 100 tickets ahead of where they were….BUSTED. We made our way to 2nd row center, and now it was time to do what we do best…wait. This time though there was a twist…we had to f-ing stand the whole time. Stanley got together with some of his friends…Trevor and Mildred Not Millie, and made sure that our asses were standing. Erin didn't take it too well. We tried to form a cocoon around her to shield her sitting…Stanley caught on, and sent some new friends to tell us to stand. LAME. Why should we be punished and have to stand just because we got in line way before all the other people? At least if Stanley was gonna make us stand, he could've helped Erin get another beer or dealt with that crazy line jumper lady…she was lucky I was "sick" and couldn't afford "Teacher Attacks Line Jumper" headlines. Now by this time the heat and the crappy Budweiser were getting to our favorite New Yorker. Those of you that have had the privilege of meeting Bklynchick understand how much fun she is…twice as much fun with a few beverages in her. Erin you kept us on our toes and made us laugh out loud (lol). We'll edit the rest and say "what happens at KC stays at KC."
Stand…stand…stand some more…don't forget to stand… We were sweaty, dehydrated, and impatient when someone upstairs finally sought pity on us and our
Security Friends let us sit down. Now we were still sweaty, dehydrated, and impatient, but we were sitting
We were
enjoying being able to sit down, but it made it even harder for people to maneuver. Well all of our beverages were
catching up to us quickly and nature was starting to call big time. Stanley had a lot of rules for us, but he did not
have rules about guaranteeing us to get back through the crowd to our spots if we left. We had to once again call in
our brash New Yorker to escort us all to the bathroom and back through the crowd to our seats. Erin did a fabulous job
of letting the people on the wait out know *nicely* we were coming back and they should let us through. Erin
successfully escorted Michelle to the bathroom, Evan to the bathroom, and Liz out to head to her meet and greet.
Now was the big challenge. We were in the home stretch. It was almost time for the concert to start, and Jenny really had to pee. She didn't know if she could chance leaving because she couldn't guarantee that she could make it back to our spot for the concert. She was doing that "nervous little kid I have to pee dance." Evan and Michelle were like "oh hell no you can't pee your pants, not even for KC." KC pees in the shower, we peed in the ocean, Jenny was not peeing herself in the sea of KC fans! Earlier in the day Erin got involved in a "Clarkson-Off" (Who is the bigger KC fan contest), well what happens next is proof that she is a bigger KC fan than random man in line behind us. Erin didn't want Jenny to pee her pants either so she selflessly (maybe she had to pee too, but it's still selfless) escorted Jenny to the bathroom. Neither knew if they would make it back, but we had faith they would. We waited, and checked our watches and then like Moses there was Erin parting the seas…they made it back! Erin didn't have to take a chance on missing KC from the second row to help a fellow fan, but she did, and that's why she is the bigger KC fan!
The Mardi Gras parade had started when we were keeping our fingers crossed for no "Blame Emma's" from KC. "Professional dress" required or there was going to be problems. We had back row seats for the parade, but we didn't care because we had front row seats for the main event. Then a scantily clad woman and man in white pants came out to get us revved up for the show by throwing beads everywhere except to Evan! FYI Universal KC is all we need to get excited for the show…man in white pants not necessary. The crowd was HUGE, it was hard to tell how many people were actually there. The show was just about to start. We were ready, complete with glow bracelets (not condoms…thanks Zilla). This is what we had waited for all day in the hot, Florida sun. It was time to show everyone why we waited 10 hours in line.
Now this is the part of the review that many of you who started reading wanted right away. Of course KC on stage in concert is why we all waited in line, but sometimes it's more about the journey and not the destination. All of the Loopers have been very privileged to see KC many times in concert, the last time was during the second leg of 2W2V Tour. Now, that tour was an amazing experience to see our idol on stage with hers, and it was a blast, but can we just say we're glad to have just Kelly back on stage. From the minute she walked out into the Florida heat she was on fire. Her set was jam packed with energy from start to finish. KC is a phenomenal vocal talent, there is no doubt about that and she almost always vocally delivers, for us we love it when she throws her energy and personality into the show, and she did. She was chatty, and really playing it up with hilarious facial expressions and gestures. We LOVED the FU during Gone….even if Universal is "family." KC missed Evan's "F**K David" at the end of the Bridge of BTHE…if she wasn't gonna sing "leave me alone" Evan was gonna adlib. KC may have forgotten the lyrics several times (you shouldn't be surprised), but you could tell that she was excited to be there for her "biggest, loudest" crowd to date, which only made us jump higher, scream louder, and clap till our hands hurt.
The set was one big high energy party. Now we were hoping for a few more songs off AIEW, but we had to remind ourselves that this isn't the full fledged tour yet and we have to be patient…hard to be patient when you wait 10 hours in line. Hearing I Do Not Hook Up and All I Ever Wanted was a great taste of what's to come later this summer and fall. We can't wait to see where that tour takes us.
One of the best moments of the night was during BOY. We went to 4 2W2V's shows so we've had a lot of practice singing the background vocals of Because of You…its habit now to sing it. Well Evan decided to give Jill and Kate a breather and gathered the troops (some required punching…Michelle) in her section to help KC out and sing the background part while she went to work on the other. If you heard us singing in some of the videos you know that we may not sing well, but we sing with our heart and that's what matters.
Then, before we knew it KC was singing My Life Would Suck Without you and the show was over. It's amazing how fast time passes when KC is on stage. Sadly it was over, and we were sweating bullets. We're used to jumping in the Midwest heat not this Southern heat. After being yelled at a security man who was directing traffic to leave the concert faster than "suitcase airport asap!!!" we headed out to the parking lot to begin our drive back to Tampa.
We mentioned earlier about how we upgraded to preferred parking…best choice ever. We heard nightmares about how it took people forever to get out of the park. We had few problems. We blasted KC, made a "slightly" illegal left turn, and were on our way in no time. We were in the cooling down process when we heard our stomachs growling. A quick drive thru stop and we were back on the road again.
The whole way home we were reminiscing about how awesome our day was even though we all started off crabby after a poor night's sleep. We made it back and we were too excited to sleep. We took our computers out by the pool, "borrowed" some neighbor's wireless, uploaded our pictures, hit the Express to see other people's takes, and of course checked Twitter J.
It was getting late…or should we say early in the morning when we decided to hit the hay. We were exhausted after a long weekend of fun, and finally we all slept like rocks. We woke up in the morning refreshed, ready to sadly start our travels home. We enjoyed a chill day by the pool eating some fresh strawberries (without forks) and some monkey bread for breakfast. Then before you know it Jenny and Evan had to head to the airport to go back to Wisconsin. Michelle was staying a day longer so once again the Loopers would travel separate.
We couldn't believe it was all coming to an end. We planned, planned, and planned so more for this trip, now it was almost over. We said our thank you's and goodbyes and headed to the airport.
We'd heard from friends that it was snowing back home. Yes friends, it snows in March/April in Wisconsin. We didn't want that snow to mess up our flights and took it as a good sign when dropping off the rental car that AMLT was playing. Everything was on a go and on time and we began the trip back to Wisconsin. Our flights were a little bumpy on the way back, but nothing we couldn't handle and when all was said and done we made it back in one piece and on time.
Window Count after Evan's Flights: Evan, 6 Michelle, 0
Michelle was still enjoying the Florida weather Monday when we headed back to the real life…peeling-sun burnt face and all. She enjoyed some last minute quality time with her aunt before she headed back to Wisconsin. There was just one issue to take care of first…window. Michelle was going to have a window on her flights come hell or high water. She even upgraded to first class on her flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee…rock star. Luckily, for all people involved she had windows on all flights back.
Final Window Count: Evan, 6 Michelle 3
That was it. We were all back to real life…and can I add with quite a few questions. "What happened to your face? Where did you go?" Our KC in FL trip was officially a thing of the past…tear.
As we've collectively written this review together over a week it's been like reliving the experience all over again, and now that this review is almost done it's ending again much the same. Here comes the sappy part…Evan loves to be sappy.
As we mentioned before sometimes it's more about the journey and not the destination. There are no 2 people I'd rather take a KC adventure with than you Michelle and Jenny (except for maybe KC and you know both of you would phase me out for her too). We met at a Kelly concert back in 2005, and our friendship started based on our love of Ms. Clarkson. Now, it's 2009 and our friendship has grown to be more than just KC. We've been through a lot with each other (including surviving a camping trip) and we'll be live long friends. I can't wait for our kids to be embarrassed by how excited we get for Kelly….fyi not any time soon. We have too many more KC trips to take first.
As for all our fellow KC fans that we met along our journey, our heartfelt thanks for making this one experience we'll never forget. Most of you we'd never met, only an avatar and a screen name, but somehow we enjoyed each other's company all day, as if we'd known each other for years. I think that's what makes Kelly Clarkson so special. Her voice makes beautiful music, but it's who she is who brings people from all different walks of life together to rock on. See you on Twitter.
We thank you if you're actually still reading this, and if you read it from start to finish. You deserve a prize or something. Head down to Universal and talk to Stanley, he'll give you a prize. Tell him "I need a beer" sent you. Our prize was getting to have these experiences that we'll cherish forever. Till our next adventure, this is the Loopers signing off…
Peace Out My Babies.
Jenny (Jenkinsfanatic), Michelle (BrewCrewJE22), and Evan (Evanlindsay)
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