AMP Reviews
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March 12, 1987, Indianapolis, Indiana
“Morning, Babe!” I said as I walked into the apartment just before 7:00am.
“Hi, Tiger! You must have been up very early!” she replied, pressing herself against me for a tight hug and kiss. “And what are you doing here early this morning instead of tonight?”
“We finished yesterday, so I decided to surprise you by coming up this morning. This way I get to see you before you go to work! What time does your shift end?”
“At 6:00pm. I’ll be home about 6:30pm. I was thinking - you have your dinner with your sister Saturday evening, so if you stay with me tomorrow, too, and head back to Chicago on Saturday afternoon, I could stay here instead of driving to Chicago. Do you think Kara would be upset?”
“I don’t think so. She’ll be up by now so I can call and check.”
“Thanks,” she said.
I called our private line and Kara answered. She quickly agreed to the plan, told me she loved me, and I told her the same.
“All set,” I said.
She smiled, “Great! Do you need breakfast?”
“I grabbed a donut and coffee on the way here. One day of a bad breakfast won’t kill me!”
“No, I suppose not! I hadn’t planned for you to be here early, so you’ll need to get something for dinner tonight if you don’t want to go out.”
“No problem. I’ll go to the corner grocery store. I’ll take your grocery list and do your shopping as well.”
“Thanks. And do you know what we’re doing tonight?” she smirked.
“I have a pretty good idea,” I said with a silly grin.
We kissed and hugged, and she headed out the door to work. I went over to the PC I kept in her apartment, turned it on and sat down. I pulled several diskettes and a stack of papers from my overnight bag and got to work. I was working on the changes that would allow us to implement the system-wide text search, while Heather was doing bug fixes back in Chicago. The changes I was making were vast, which meant that I would have to integrate her changes into the new code, instead of just copying the modules. I wished there was a source code control system like SCCS, which I’d used on the Unix systems, for PCs, but I hadn’t been able to find one. That meant a lot of extra work.
My stomach rumbled and made me look at the clock; I’d been in my zone for almost seven hours! I made a sandwich for myself and took Jessica’s shopping list, giving it a quick glance and mentally adding a few things as I went out the door just after 2:00pm. When I got back to the apartment, I put everything away, and then called the office to check in. Kaitlin had no messages for me, so I went back to work, making sure to set a timer so that I could have dinner ready when Jessica arrived home around 6:15pm.
I worked until about 5:00pm, and then made dinner. I set the table, including the candles that I’d purchased, and had everything ready when I heard Jessica’s key in the door. I quickly lit the candles and waited for her to come in.
“Oh! A romantic dinner! Do you think you’re going to get lucky just because you set out some candles?” she teased.
“No, I’m going to get lucky because you made it quite clear this morning what was going to happen!”
We hugged and she kissed me, and then we sat down to eat. I knew I had to tell her about Becky, but I decided to wait until after dinner. She told me about her day in the ICU and I told her how things had gone the day before. When we finished eating, I got some ice cream from the freezer and served some for both of us, and then we did the dishes.
“I really should have taken a shower when I got home,” she said. “But you had a romantic dinner waiting for me! I’ll take one now. Want to help?” she giggled.
“Absolutely!” I said, following her down the hall to the bathroom.
Her combination tub/shower wasn’t nearly as big as our walk-in shower back in Chicago, but we managed. I enjoyed soaping her body, paying particular attention to her small, firm breasts, her tight butt muscles, and the delightful groove between her legs.
“Naughty, naughty!” she giggled, as I slipped a finger inside of her.
“I could stop!” I teased.
“And I could kill you!” she gasped as I put pressure on her clit.
I gently slid my finger in and out of her, while using the heel of my hand to put continuous pressure on her button. Jessica leaned back against me and I moved my other hand to cup one of her breasts, and rub her nipple with my thumb. She groaned softly as I felt gentle spasms around my finger that was pushed deep inside her.
“If you don’t take me to bed and fuck me right now, I WILL kill you!” she gasped.
I shut off the water, pushed back the shower curtain, picked her up in my arms and carried her to her bed. I laid her gently on the bed, got on top of her, and in one hard stroke pushed deep inside of her.
“Ungh!” she groaned, gasping for air.
She wrapped her legs around me and urged me on, and we had a hard, driving fuck that threatened to break the bed. Jessica was humping against me with wild abandon, and I was pounding into her as hard and fast as I could. Ten minutes later, after her third orgasm, I slammed deep and filled her with spurt after spurt of cum. Jessica wrapped her arms tightly around me and held me to her as we both gasped for air.
“I think we need another shower!” she said, about five minutes later, when our breathing had slowed.
“I think you’re right. But then we’ll just end up back here, won’t we?” I chuckled.
“Not like this, though,” she sighed. “I mostly don’t like doing it that way, but for some reason I just needed that tonight. Let’s shower, change the sheets, and have some tea.”
Fifteen minutes later, with no hanky-panky in the shower, we were sitting on the couch, cuddled together with mugs of tea.
“So why did you need that?” I asked.
“I have no idea!” she giggled. “But I’ll let you know when I need it again!”
“You do that!” I chuckled.
“How was your dinner with Becky’s family?”
“It was good. They’re really nice people. Becky and I played chess and talked. She’s doing really well. I’d say that she’s more or less recovered from her suicidal state and is a relatively normal young woman.”
“Relatively?”
“Relatively. She did flirt with me quite a bit. She even asked me to play chess for stakes.”
“What kind of stakes?”
“If she won, we’d fool around. If I won, I was off the hook, so to speak.”
“You said no, of course.”
“I said yes. But I won.”
“That was dumb, Tiger!” she said fiercely. “How could you make a bet like that? What if you lost?”
“Calm down, Babe! I told her I could only do it with permission from you and Kara and that was never going to happen.”
“And if Kara and I had said yes? Then what?”
“You wouldn’t. And even if you did, Kara wouldn’t, because of our history.”
“And you thought it would be a good idea to even ask me about it, let alone ask Kara?”
“What harm did it do? None! I’m sure that Becky realized that Kara would never say ‘yes’ because of what happened six years ago.”
She paused, narrowing her eyes, “Are you SURE?”
“About what? That Kara would say ‘no’?”
Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure. Kara wasn’t the same person she was six years ago, or even three years ago. She might well have said ‘yes’ and if she had, then Jess might even have agreed.
“Primarily, but also, what if Becky is playing the same game she played back in High School?”
“I don’t think Becky is playing that game,” I said. “But suddenly, I’m not so sure of myself with regard to Kara.”
“And if Kara and I had said yes? Then what? You would have sex with a girl who caused you to cheat in the past? How smart is THAT?”
“Not very,” I said, chastised.
“What’s curious is why you would want to have sex with her. Wait! You still have feelings for her!”
“I do, but not like it was in the past. But I can see how you would think it was dangerous.”
“Because it IS dangerous, Tiger. It’s dangerous just like Penny is dangerous.”
I scoffed, “Penny is not dangerous.”
“No? And when she graduates from High School and demands her ring?”
“That was college graduation she was referring to and it’s not going to happen,” I said. “She’s been dating a guy pretty regularly for the past couple of months. She’d rather work for me.”
“And if she thinks she can work for you AND sleep with you?”
“She can’t. In order for that to work, she’d have to marry me, and that can’t happen. You’re my legal wife and it’s staying that way!”
“Does Penny know this?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve told her many times. Penny is not going to be a problem. Besides, she knows that she needs your permission and she knows that you won’t give it. You put Penny off limits and that’s where she stays. It’s nearly two years since I was with her last.”
“Tiger, your freedom, what there is of it anyway, depends on trust - me trusting you and me trusting the girl. I don’t trust either Becky or Penny.”
“I got it,” I said. “I made a mistake. I won’t make it again.”
“Good,” Jessica said, then smiled. “You’re about due, aren’t you?”
“Due?” I asked.
“For a dalliance! That’s why you were interested in Becky! Find a safe girl, Tiger.”
“Our original deal was until you finished your Residency, but that was when you were going to be in Indianapolis. Does it end in May, now?”
“Wondering how quickly you need to find someone?” she giggled.
“No, I’m wondering what you’re thinking.”
“About your dalliances? I guess the answer is that I’m comfortable with how you’ve handled it. And it doesn’t bother me like it did at first. If you stay away from dangerous girls like Becky and Penny, you can have your occasional dalliance, assuming that Kara’s OK with it.”
“Even after you move to Chicago?”
“Yes. We’ll discuss it again when I finish my Residency. Now, finish your tea and let’s go make love!”
I drained my mug and Jessica and I went to bed. We made love, then cuddled together and fell asleep.
March 13, 1987, Indianapolis, Indiana
“How can you be so wide awake so early in the morning?” Jessica groused.
I was working at my computer, and had been for over an hour when Jessica got out of bed. I’d woken up, and slipped out quietly so that I wouldn’t disturb her.
“I’ve been a morning person for as long as I can remember,” I said.
“Well, Mr. Morning Person, I think we have time to go back to bed before breakfast!”
“You need more sleep?” I teased.
“No, you jerk!” she laughed. “I need you to make love to me! That’s what I need!”
We made love, showered together, and then I made breakfast. We ate, and when she left for work, I continued working on the legal software. I was making excellent progress, and was ahead of schedule. When I stopped for lunch, having remembered to set the timer, I called Chicago to check on my messages. Kaitlin didn’t have any for me, so I asked to speak to Dave. I let him know that I wasn’t going to be at breakfast, and that I’d see him on Monday.
“How’s the coding going?” he asked.
“Great. I’m ahead of plan for the search function. Did you and Julia have your design meeting?”
“Yes. We’ll have a proposal to review on Monday for what goes into the release. We had our business development meeting. Mario closed the deal in Pittsburgh.”
“Seriously? Even though Boston Legal Systems lowered their price?”
“Yes. It was a combination of our referrals, as well as the spec sheet that Mario put together for version 2. He only included the global search feature and the things that are already completed, and that was enough to put us over the edge. The search feature is a major selling point and a major advantage.”
“Awesome. The big challenge is including the WordPerfect documents in the search. I’m still working on the C code that will extract the text and load it into the database. My big concern there is that it will have to be run manually whenever new documents are added. And it’s not very fast.”
“Maybe it’s a task that someone starts when they go home for the evening. You wouldn’t have the ability to search a document until the following day, but I don’t see any way around that.”
“I don’t think that’s unreasonable,” I said. “And we can work on improving it for future releases.”
“Good. We need to do your review,” Dave said. “Is Monday OK?”
“Sure. Do you have everyone else’s for me to look through before you present them?”
“I do. You’ll have those on Monday as well.”
“Perfect. Thanks, Dave!”
We hung up, I ate my lunch, and then got back to work. When my timer went off, I made dinner, planning it for 6:30pm so that Jessica could shower before dinner.
“You didn’t like last night?” she teased.
“I did. But you implied that you wanted to shower before dinner.”
“I do. I’ll be back in a flash,” she said.
She was true to her word and ten minutes later I was putting the food on the table. When we finished eating, we did the dishes and then decided to go for a walk. When we reached the sidewalk in front of the apartment building, Jessica slipped her hand into mine and we set off down the street.
“How is your ICU rotation going?” I asked.
“Fine. I should get good marks. It’s really all about knowledge and memory. If you pay attention to the monitors, do the exams, and can answer the doctors’ questions, you’ll score well. I spend a lot of time with the nurses, of course, because they do most of the minute-to-minute work.”
“What do you do in your cardiology rotation?”
“Assist with exams and procedures. Things like cardiac catheterization and angiograms. If the cardiologist is nice, I might even get into a cardiac surgery or two. I don’t know how Northwestern does it, but in Indianapolis, that rarely happens.”
“And then you have your outpatient rotation, and then move to Chicago!”
“Yes! I’ll start bringing stuff each weekend I come up in April so we can easily get everything into two cars for the final drive back. We’ll need to clean the apartment and turn in the keys, but that can be done on Saturday the 30th. How is Stephie doing?”
“I’ll call her on Sunday, but last weekend she was doing OK.”
“And how are you doing?”
“OK, I guess. I know what’s going to happen, but I can’t say that I’m prepared for it.”
“Just remember that all of us are here for you.”
“I know,” I said.
We walked in silence, and eventually returned to the apartment where Jessica made us some tea. We sat on the couch with our mugs and cuddled until bedtime.
March 14, 1987, Chicago, Illinois
“I’m sorry I missed your birthday last night,” I said to my sister as we got into my car.
“It’s OK. I know that Jessica needs you. But you really missed something! That goofball Jorge brought some of his friends to the house and they serenaded me! They were on the front porch of our house, with guitars! It was awesome! And then we had our party. It was amazing!”
“That’s cool!” I said. “How does it feel to be twenty?”
“Not much different from nineteen. Next year I can actually drink when I go out with the girls.”
“How do you manage Saturday nights?”
“We go to places that have food and get tables. That lets those of us who aren’t twenty-one yet hang out with everyone else.”
“How are you and Jorge doing?”
“Pretty much the same, which is good. I did go on a date with a guy I met at UofC, but I won’t go on a second one with him. Where are you taking me?”
“We’re going to an Italian place in the Loop - Italian Village,” I said. “They have nice private tables.”
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August, 1983, Chicago, Illinois I walked in the near 90°F heat to Carla’s place. I was grateful that the humidity of the morning had dropped significantly; otherwise the heat would have been unbearable. By the time I walked up the steps to the apartment over the photography studio and knocked on her door, I had broken into a light sweat. Carla answered almost immediately and invited me inside her studio apartment. The air was moderately cool, and the window air conditioner was running full...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio On Tuesday morning, I kissed Kara goodbye and headed to my parents’ house for my usual morning routine with my little sister. She was happy that I could spend the morning with her and asked to take a walk, so we weren’t in the house with my mom. “Let me guess — this walk will end in the clearing,” I said with a smile. “Yes,” she said, taking my hand as we walked down Overlook towards Klondyke. As usual, we turned around and walked back, taking the path to the...
March 13, 1994, Chicago, Illinois “Hi, Steve!” Ailea said when she opened the door. “Hi,” I replied, accepting the offered hug. There was no touching of lips, just of cheeks, and I wondered if I’d misread her intentions at her birthday lunch, or if, perhaps, she detected my reluctance to return the offered affection. “Lunch is ready, so go ahead and sit. I’ll bring it in from the kitchen.” I went to the low table, sat down, and a minute later, Ailea brought miso soup and sushi, our usual...
April 3, 1997, Dallas, Texas “Remember what I said about drinking too much,” I said, as I poured bourbon into three cups. We’d stopped at a liquor store, bought a bottle of Blanton’s, and then returned to the small suite I’d reserved at the Westin. Deborah’s room was down the hall, and Krissy’s was two floors below. Krissy’s comment had caught me a bit off guard, but I hadn’t reacted visibly. I didn’t know her quite well enough to know if she’d been teasing with Deborah, so I was being...
March 28, 1991, Chicago, Illinois “This day belongs to you, Kara!” I said when the three of us woke on Thursday morning. “Happy birthday!” Jessica said. “Thanks,” Kara replied happily. “I think I’d like an amazing birthday fuck from our husband, and then a nice loving shower with my wife!” Kara said. “Do we have enough time?” I asked. Jessica giggled, “I set the alarm for thirty minutes earlier!” “Then let’s not waste any of it!” I said pulling Kara to me. Kara’s squeals as I plunged...
September 4, 2000, Chicago, Illinois On Monday morning I went to my study to make a surreptitious call to ensure that the surprise I’d planned for Kara was still going to happen, and after confirming that it was, Jesse, Matthew, Michael, and I began preparing for the Labor Day party by getting beer and soda into coolers, getting the grill ready, setting up tables and chairs in the backyard, and ensuring the liquor cabinets were stocked while my wives and daughters worked on food prep in the...
September 1, 1987, Chicago, Illinois “I heard that you have some kind of plan to help Ed,” I said to Connie. “There’s no plan,” she replied. “A witness who saw the shopkeeper alive after Ed left came forward.” That sounded convenient, and I wondered if the witness was real or someone that Anthony had put forward to solve the problem. Certainly, the videotape was real, because I couldn’t imagine how Anthony could have faked that, but the witness? Who knew? “So is he being released? Or is...
August 17, 1997, Chicago, Illinois We finished lunch and Marissa and the younger kids went to play, but Natalie sat with the adults to talk, with coffee, tea, or soft drinks. The Sarcus were very comfortable, but the Heaths were still struggling. But, vitally, they hadn’t left and hadn’t insisted Natalie leave the group. “Can you explain how you developed this attitude and approach?” Chris asked. I nodded, “It started when I was just a bit younger than Natalie. My mom was a total control...
July 1979 — Falkenberg, Sweden On Friday, when I got back from my run, Pam was in her bra and panties again. I whistled at her, she giggled, then finished dressing. I showered, and we went to breakfast and finished up our last day. Once class was done, we were pretty much free. On Saturday, we’d have several optional activities and then on Sunday we’d head back to our host families. After dinner on Friday, I took Pam’s hand and we walked towards the river. It was quiet and peaceful, and...
July 1980, Over the North Atlantic We reached cruising altitude, and I settled back to read my book. Pam raised the armrest between us, snuggled close to me and read as well. The cabin crew offered drinks, and I had my first Coke in a year! Meal service began about an hour and a half into the flight. After the cabin crew picked up the trays and offered drinks again, they passed once more, offering headsets for the movie. Trevor and Maria took them, but Pam and I didn’t, instead we turned on...
July 8, 1997, Chicago, Illinois “Is it really that surprising?” Leah asked. “I suppose not,” I replied. “I just didn’t read too much into the kiss on the cheek.” “I didn’t think it was a good idea to kiss you on the lips with all those people around, because I had no idea who they were or what they would think. You were VERY careful with our dance, so I kind of followed your lead.” Which showed very mature thinking on her part. Both of these girls were exactly the kind of students I...
November 8, 1993, Chicago, Illinois A dark fog swirled before my eyes as I tried to take stock. My head hurt, badly. I felt something on my face and realized, dimly, it was an oxygen mask. My right hand was uncomfortable and I recognized the feeling of an IV and pulse-oximeter. My left arm ached fiercely. On my chest I felt the pads and wires of an EKG. I didn’t feel anything else wrong as I continued taking inventory. I tried to open my eyes, but the fog didn’t clear. I tried to speak, but...
August, 1983, Chicago, Illinois In the morning Anala and I ran as we had the previous time, then showered together, carefully washing each other’s bodies in an intimate but non-sexual way. After our shower we went to the kitchen and I made breakfast and we sat down to eat. “Steve, may I make a suggestion?” she asked. “Sure.” “Broaden your circle of friends. Other than me, all of you are white, nominally Christian, 20-year-old Americans. And you don’t invite me to your Sunday...
June 23, 2000, Chicago, Illinois “Steve,” Kimmy said over the intercom, “I have a Suzanne Aavik for you.” “Thanks,” I replied. “Put her through, please.” A few seconds later, Suzanne was on the line. “Hi!” she exclaimed when I greeted her. “I’m in Chicago for three weeks. Can I still run away and join the circus?” I chuckled, “You might want to find out what the circus is actually like before you join! If you’re free, you’re welcome to come to the house tomorrow or Sunday and meet the...
March 1979 Monday was back to the normal routine of school. Debbie Courtney, who lived across the street and had turned fourteen the last week in February, started flirting more with me on the bus each day. Debbie Vaughn, who lived just down the street, would turn fourteen on March 16th and invited me to her birthday party. And Donna Woody, who lived just down the street in the other direction, would turn fourteen on March 20th. She had made it clear what she wanted for her birthday, and in...
June 2, 1990, Chicago, Illinois “My office, please,” Sensei Jim said after class on Saturday. I followed him to his office and waited for him to bid me to sit. He did, and I sat in the usual chair across from him. “She has a real problem, you know that, right?” he asked. “I do. That’s why I insisted she start seeing a counselor.” “I run a huge risk having her here with that kind of temper and her violent acts.” I nodded, “I understand. May I ask what you intend to do?” “I really don’t...
February 21, 1991, Chicago, Illinois “Hi, Sweetheart!” I said, greeting Bethany at the door. “Uncle Steve!” Nicholas exclaimed. I took him from his mom and he hugged me tightly. “Is Jesse with his moms?” Bethany asked. “Yes. They won’t bring him back over tonight so you and Nicholas can surprise him in the morning.” “Perfect!” “How was the drive up?” “The same as usual. Just a bit of traffic in Northern Indiana. Otherwise, smooth sailing. It was driving the other direction that was a...
November 4, 2000, Chicago, Illinois “Good morning, Sensei,” Miyu said when Kara, the girls, and I walked into the dojo on Saturday morning. “Good morning, Miyu.” “Do you have a moment, please?” I nodded and we went to the small practice room for privacy, as Sensei Jim had a family in his office. “What can I do for you?” “I need you to meet a young man,” she said. “I think you might be taking this ‘not do anything without permission’ a bit too far!” Miyu shook her head, “No, I’m not....
May 1979 The limo dropped me at home about 9:00pm. I took my stuff to my room, stripped, and hung up the tux. The rest of the things went into the hamper. I took a shower, put on shorts and a t-shirt, and walked down the hall into my dad’s office. I saw no reason to put this off any longer. “Stephen, you need to explain yourself!” my mom demanded. “I was in Mrs. McGrath’s, well, Mrs. Sanders’ now, wedding, as I said.” “You walked her down the aisle! You’re sixteen and not even related to...
November 3, 1990, Chicago, Illinois “I still don’t understand why you told everyone to leave Katy alone last night,” Elyse said on Saturday morning. “Because we weren’t going to talk her out of it. I could tell by the way she told us. I hoped letting her sleep on it would allow her to hear what we had to say. Obviously I was wrong.” “I was surprised that she wouldn’t talk to Jennifer at all,” Kara said. “I thought Jennifer would be the one to get her to listen to reason this morning.” I...
February, 1983, Chicago, Illinois Our first joining since the previous summer was slow and sweet, trying to express our deep love for each other through the motions of our bodies. When we finished, Karin held me tight and refused to let me move off of her. “Sleep there, please,” she whispered. I kissed her once more then adjusted my pillow so that I could rest my head next to hers. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was what Karin wanted. The feel of her firm body under mine,...
July 3, 1996, Chicago, Illinois I blinked several times and took a breath before responding. It didn’t help. The best I could do was contain my visceral reaction at her completely out-of-line request and her wrong-headed assumptions when she had NO idea what had happened in my life the previous eight months. “What makes you think you can make that request after refusing to talk to me for nearly eight months? And equally importantly, without explaining Alexi? And without giving me the first...
August 12, 1994, Chicago, Illinois “Fuck ‘em all,” I sighed. “Especially Donald Fehr. Running to Federal Court, the NLRB, and Congress? I’m really tired of the government putting its thumb so heavily on the scale.” “Well, we’re not going to resolve that problem today,” Elyse said. “Jackie and Jeremiah want to come over.” I chuckled, “Why am I not surprised? I bet you anything he had a rough sketch done ten minutes after they hung up the phone.” “They want to discuss options. Kimmy felt...
July 1983, Milford, Ohio My drive to Ohio was filled with wild swings of emotion. After quickly driving Anala home I had set out for Milford, driving as fast as I thought I could get away with, slowing only when warned to do so by my radar detector. I’d told Nancy that I’d come straight to her house and asked her to call my dad and let him know so that Stephanie wasn’t worried. I pulled into the Blanchards’ driveway at 3:30pm, having managed to avoid any run-ins with the Indiana State Police...
June 1980, On the Train, and in Abisko, Sweden As the train sped across the Swedish countryside towards Stockholm, I reflected on the fact that there were less than three weeks to go until I had to be in Copenhagen to board a flight home. I was torn between wanting to go home and wanting to stay, but in the end, I didn’t have a choice. I really liked my life here, the freedom I was given, the friends I had and, the respect I had from adults. I hadn’t run into a single adult who had treated...
May 18, 1997, Chicago, Illinois “As I said last time, today we’re going to talk about decision making and how to make good decisions. I think we’ll start with what I think has to be the easiest decision with the least controversy - is it ever OK to drive drunk?” “No!” came a chorus from several of the students. “And yet, people do that every day,” I replied. “And they die or kill people because of that bad decision. You have to ask yourself why people would drive drunk; and often it’s...
March 6, 1987, Chicago, Illinois “This is a big improvement,” I said as the green flag dropped for the Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Bill had taken the pole, and when the flag dropped, led the field into turn one. “His car seems fast,” Kara said. It was. Bill led the first 89 laps, most of them under green, though there had been a yellow flag for seven laps when Richard Petty had wrecked in Turn 1 on lap 19. From lap 90 to 143, the lead shifted a few times, mostly...