Hopefully we can get these kicked back off again. Long time reader first time AMA'r and really enjoyed that hokietopher started this, never got the chance to meet him but by all accounts sounds like a great person and I think he'd really appreciate that we carried on this tradition.
The story of me is probably not all that interesting but here we go.
I'm Kevin, a 2015 hokie grad. I came to TKP by way of friends in school, joined after graduating and moving to Nebraska after years of browsing and not commenting.
VT Football Fandom
I come from a pretty Hokie rich background. My mom and aunt both graduated from Tech. I'm the middle of 4 children and we all went to VT none of us were really given any other school options. Even though my Dad isn't an alumn (George Mason by way of flunking NCSt) he's also a massive VT fan. My first game was Clemson at the start of the 1999 run. Fortunately, my parents and family enjoyed that experience and became season ticket holders the next year. From 2000 until my freshman year in 2011 we made the drive from Midlothian to Blacksburg every home weekend of the Fall and tailgated in various lots. Made every home game from 2011-2015 completing pinnacle to the fading of Beamer Virginia Tech football.
College Years
I came into school as a Business IT major, spent freshman year in Pritchard and was honestly not really involved in anything other than watching football and class. Sophomore year is when I really started the college experience and didn't really miss a beat. I joined the club volleyball team, discovered the New River, started working at Campus Cookies, and in general fell in love with the NRV. After a season and a half of volleyball and school I essentially quit both to be a river rat. I honestly have no idea how I graduated I spent every waking moment on the river, I was getting paid for some of that working for Tangent Outfitters mostly running shuttles, kayak trips, tubing trips, and the occasional raft guide. My pay was essentially access to the rafts whenever I pleased which lead to many night floats for big small mouth and musky and then rushing back for my 8am's. I kept my cookie slinging job as well and ended up as the manager there hilariously after missing 1/2 of my first shift because I fell asleep after a noon game. Going into senior year I loved the place too much to go back to Richmond. I picked up a shift in the kitchen at Sharky's and juggled 3 jobs while fishing the rest of the time. Once school picked back up I realized I really only needed a semester of credits to graduate my last semester was essentially a pile of electives just to keep me at full time student status....ultimately leading to more time on the river. Real life came knocking though and I had to get a job. I had pretty much no idea what I was going to or what I wanted to do, I knew it wasn't in DC where most of my peers were landing jobs. I decided to browse the job postings of places I liked to shop and found that Cabela's was hiring early career software engineers and I threw in an application and I guess the rest is history.
Professional Life
Not knowing even where Cablea's was headquartered I went ahead and said yes to the interview and flew out to Denver ...to make the 2.5 hour drive to Sidney Nebraska where my career would eventually begin. Picturesque Nebraska small town with ~6,000 people most of whom were employed by Cabela's. I started working on their .com team writing some software to track and display in store inventory. A few months in I was moved to a new team writing what is known in the industry as a "boundbook" which is essentially ATF compliance software that tracks the exact location, transfer, and sale history of every firearm in Cabela's possession. I continued on the project from writing the first line of code until the eventual sale of the company to Bass Pro (2018). At this point I was the only person left at the company that had any idea how the software worked which worked well in my favor because there was a set government deadline to combine the records of each companies records into a single boundbook. I spent a good portion of 2018 flying on Cabela's corporate jet back and forth from Sidney Nebraska to BPS headquarters in Springfield MO collaborating with their engineers to design a system and business strategy around merging the data. That entire experience was invaluable for my career and life. At 22-23 I was designing enterprise systems, got paid out a retention bonus and severance while still being employed, and was the only non-executive on that plane ride every week giving me some great insight into the ebbs and flows of the corporate world/ladder.
After my retention time was up I knew I needed to get back east, I found a job with FN firearms essentially writing the same software I was writing at Cabela's. They were located in Columbia SC which I did not know was the hottest place on earth and I genuinely hated that city so I spent a good amount of time from the minute I was hired trying to leave.
From there I started my stent in what has now been 7-8 years in the public sector as a contractor. Starting with Dept of State, in Charleston SC, I worked on their financial systems, then went on to the VA working on their benefits system for the better part of 5 years. Government BS is one thing....the VA's level of government BS eventually became too much software that was leagues better than what was in use was constantly getting shelved for contractual reasons and in my opinion veteran care and overall VA quality was suffering because of it nearly everywhere I looked. I did what I could and worked with a company that was very good about addressing a lot of these issues but it eventually took its toll and I wanted out.
I now work out of Beaufort SC remotely for a company doing satellite communication, command, and control. I love it, I've always been amazed by space and the process of launching space vehicles, getting to work with it daily has been awesome and I've learned more in a year here than I feel like at any point in my 11 years in the software industry. Added bonus is that though I do work on government contracts I'm much more removed from dealing with the government. Here's my LinkedIn
Personal Life
As you may have picked up by now I love the outdoors. I fish, hunt, boat, hike, golf, and just in general spend as much time as I can outside. I've been thankful to do that the last 4 years with my wife and 2 dogs (black lab and english mastiff). We spend just about every weekend on the water at the local sandbar. I really don't believe in idle time so when I'm not outside or working I'm a big fan of house projects (my highschool days were spent as a laborer for general contracting and flooring companies) or tinkering with boat engines (if mines working someone in the neighborhoods is broken). A few years back a built a boat from scratch, so that was a fun project. Being in South Carolina I don't get back to Blacksburg as much any more but we've made a strong effort to go to at least a game every year and starting two years ago have made it a tradition to travel for away games and make a vacation out of it (should be Clemson this year) Here's my Instagram
If you've managed to read this one step over BStreet stream of conscious; congratulations you now know why I didn't go into writing or literature. Ask Away and GO HOKIES.
My dogs and I on the Hokie Hy
this ended up way longer than expected.
Comments
Awesome story. I've been through Sidney a couple of times on some trips out west hunting and spent the night there on one occasion - I really love it out that way. Cabela's just wasn't the same after the BPS merger....
Having floated the New in a rickety jonboat a bunch in my Blacksburg days, I can't imagine making any floats after dark (though I was forced to finish a few after dark). My senior year I leaved in a small house on the way to the Whitethorne ramp, and I truly miss being able to fish largely whenever I wanted. I had the spare tire removed from my '93 blazer so my boat could fit in there and it stayed that way all year. I didn't get to enjoy it as much as you - great memories I'm sure.
Thanks for sharing - GO HOKIES!
Edited to add questions -
- what's your number one go to bait on the New if I told you to catch a smallmouth within 5 minutes?
- what's your favorite bait to throw?
- will you come fix my 25 Merc that has runs great but won't open up at WOT?
silver 3" fluke with a weightless gamakatsu skip gap hook.
in saltwater anything z-man on a texas eye jig. In fresh 10" tubes for musky.
carbed or injected? whats it mounted on?
I've thrown a big tube just a bit, but I feel as if I have no idea what I'm doing. Do you fish them similar to a glide bait if the fish are moving? Like a bass tube in cold water or when they're stuck to the bottom? I'm intrigued.
I believe it's an '04 model. Carb, 2 stroke, tiller steer, long shaft. Mounted on a 15' aluminum Tracker Grizzly. I think the high speed jets are fouled and I just need to rebuild the carb. She is cold natured but cranks right up when warm and runs great at low rpm's. Just won't open up much past half throttle. When she ran good you could ski behind me. I have it sitting on an engine stand as I routinely fish a couple of 9.9 lakes and I just don't need the bigger motor. Would love to be on the water more to push the issue.
We need to go musky fishing.
With the tubes I'll attribute my old roommate for how i fish those (the guy was probably the best musky fisherman on the river for a good stent, gained quite a reputation for his ability to catch them) cast it out and let it flutter then on a slack line rip them as hard as you can. Take in the slack let it fall and rip it again.
Yeah you just need to rebuild the carb probably. Then run a bunch of sea foam through it and presto it'll run like new carb'd 2 strokes are the best outboard design ever.
I haven't caught a musky in probably 10 years I would love to get back out and fish for them.
K is the man
probably the carbs (or perhaps a fuel filter?)
but before you do that check the fuel tank/line first. for example the little spring loaded pin on the fuel tank hose attachment can get stuck, corroded, or otherwise partially obstructed and won't open all the way (I chased that problem for months). there is a reason mechanics use their own fuel tank/line to test an engine.
So we now know that Heuplek is actually pronounced Kevin.
Thank you for sharing. It was a very interesting read and not as disjointed as you alluded. I do find it fascinating how incredibly diverse our TKP community is.
Couple questions from my end. Favorite meal/dessert? What's your go-to cocktail? Favorite place you've lived at so far?
I've alluded to this in comments before but yeah I get a kick out of the running Kevin joke every time.
Meal: wild mallard (any duck really) breast skin on seared with a berry compote
dessert: pie
Busch Light.
In reality probably an old fashion or any bourbon/dark rum forward cocktail. Really I just like both on the rocks more than most cocktails.
This is a hard question. In my single, hunting/fishing all the time days it was definitely Sidney NE. The outdoor opportunities especially for hunting there are really world class. Current life status its Beaufort, good size of town, not too trafficy, our neighborhood has a boat ramp so I can be on the water at a moments notice, has the niceties that my wife enjoys.
My birth name(and still legal name for now at least) is also Kevin and-like you-I've always been amused as I read the 'it's pronounced Kevin' comments.
Interestingly as I grew up (born in 1965) I encountered very few other 'Kevin's but once I hit Blacksburg in 1983, I'd hear the name EVERYWHERE. It got to the point, I stopped turning my head when I heard someone calling out 'Kevin' and only looked if someone said 'Skippy' cause then I knew it was someone I actually knew...
Two part question... How many boats have you owned over the years, and how many do you own right now?
List of boats and when I owned them:
Kayaks of various makes and sizes (2010-2015)
1966 Lund with a 1970 14' Johnson 35 horse (2016-2017)
1993 unknown make duck boat 14' 1995 Nissan 35hp (2017-2018)
1993 Action Craft 135hp 18' Merc Optimax (2018-2019) - blew this one up whoops
2011 Tidewater Baymax 21' Yamaha F150 (2019-current)
1980 Aluminum flatback Canoe 15' 9hp Mainer (2021-2021)
2021 Homemade Flats Skiff 13' same engine ^ (2021-2022)
just own one now, had 3 at one time for a bit but storage gets to be an issue quickly now that I live in the suburbs.
Should we ask if there is a good story about a blown up boat?
Took it down to the everglades, had the livewell on and a leaf blocked up the livewell overflow. Nearly sunk the boat before I flipped the bilge pump on. Then ran it out into the gulf. Well the onboard oil tank had gotten full of saltwater so about 3 miles off shore it started injecting water where oil should be and boom.
Favorite golf course?
Best golf shot ever you've hit?
Any dream bucket list courses you hope to play one day?
that I've personally played probably Bayside in Brule NE.
I hit a 262 yd 7w yesterday. Was easily the most pure shot I've ever had. Unfortunately the green was only 220 and it landed on the tee box of the next hole so probably not my best shot. Best shot probably sticking a PW to 4ft for my first eagle putt on hole 6 at crescent point in Bluffton.
All of your typical ones but locally I really want to play Secession which is probably the most realistic on my list.
Great call. Also Congaree just around the corner. And Cassique just up the road.
So, is the name pronounced "Kevin"?
"They were located in Columbia SC which I did not know was the hottest place on earth and I genuinely hated that city so I spent a good amount of time from the minute I was hired trying to leave."
My daughter's top pick of schools she has a good shot at getting accepted to is South Carolina. What were the bad issues you had with Columbia? Anything that could be done to alleviate it?
2 of her top 3 picks are South Carolina and Clemson, with the other being Georgia. College of Charleston is either #4 or 5. My hope is to retire or semi-retire and move down to the same state she goes to school. I'd say >50% chance that means South Carolina. Any feedback on good place to live? Wife and I looked at Greenville area and liked it, especially up by Traveller's Rest. Traffic in Greenville itself was horrid. Any pros and cons you know of that area?
As background, we don't want to be in the exact same location as her. Maybe 1-2 hours away, so we are close enough to support each other but she does not think we are breathing down her neck. We are hoping for a place that is:
(1) walkable area but not downtown in a big city - I never want to be in a big city, but suburb of one is fine
(2) has good outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking
(3) has access to a hospital that does advanced cardiac care - does not have to be top-rated, but able to do procedures given my history
(4) know I am shit-out-of-luck on this one, but maybe someplace that is not as brutally hot. Greenville has some areas around it over 1,000 feet, which will at least be slightly cooler. But not like NC where there are plenty of places that are big enough and over 2,000 feet
Columbia is good if you like the city. I just am not a city person and outside of downtown is just dumpy in my opinion. USC itself is nice and there's a lot to do for college aged kids, a lot of it had to do with shock of moving from the middle of nowhere to Columbia. Also its called the armpit of SC because the air doesn't move there it literally feels like an armpit for 5 months out of the year. If I was steering your daughter to a school based on towns I would have her strongly consider CofC and Clemson over Columbia because Charleston and Greenville are both better and safer in my opinion.
Given you're parameters I would look at Seneca. You're outside of Greenville traffic but close enough to use the amenities. The lake is gorgeous go west from there and you've got endless hiking, go east and you're back in civilization.
Thank you. Will look at Seneca.
College of Charleston was her #2 pick at one point, but they do not have an advertising department, so she would have to major in marketing and try and subspecialize. Also, she was a little turned off by how much of a party school atmosphere there was on her official visit. She's pretty timid and not into the night life, so it dropped a bit. Personally, I'd love for her to end up at Clemson. Getting into Gerogia looks like it will be a lot harder for her based on stuff we have seen/heard, but we will see. Once we know where she gets into and decides to go, we'll start looking in earnest.
I'm certain I've said this on here before, but one of my buddies always said living in Columbia was like living in a dog's mouth
If you didnt mention building a boat from scratch i was gonna ask about it since it's noted in the spreadsheet
What's the most almost arrested you've ever been?
Have you done the congaree river through the national park?
First week at Tech I got off the bus after some random party under Torg and had to pee. Cop shined his flash light on me right when I unzipped, nice guy, told me my dorm wasn't that way.
some how no, but I've heard its awesome.
I love the Beaufort area, my family likes to vacation in Hilton Head. Have you adapted to pretty much just salt water fishing now that you are down there?
Yes, there's an astounding lack of freshwater once you're south of lake marion in SC the next body of freshwater is the upper savannah river even most of the retention and golf course ponds here have some level of salinity which makes for a fun mix of tarpon, bass, and redfish in the same body of water.
Hey at age 61, I STILL don't know what I want to do when I grow up, lol!
Closest I came to drowning in my life was tubing at New River Junction. Not while actually IN a tube, though. As I recall Dominion released water from the dam upstream in the mid-afternoon. We had spent a great day taking a lazy ride downstream to the rocks and hanging out on the big rocks. As the time for the daily rise in water level, we began to make our way to the bank of the river. Someone through an empty beer can towards us and (being a conscientious drunk person) I tried to grab it so it wouldn't pollute the river with trash. Unfortunately , my foot slipped and I hit the water for the ride of my life(fortunately NOT the ride to my death) I was wearing tennis shoes and knew enough to keep one fit below me to feel if I got close to the bottom and one foot out front to let me know a rock was there. I was abl to hang on to a rock for about ten seconds yil the power of the rushing water overwhelmed my meager upper body strength. From that point on, I was a human cork floating pell-mell downstream at the mercy of the water. Apparently there were a hundred or more people on the shore watching helplessly as I was swept down until I fortunately got to deeper and slower water where I could make my way to the side. I climbed onto a huge rock and caught my breath til I could walk back to the shuttle. From that point on, I had tremendous respect for the power of water!
I put tubers in all the time at NRJ. The water level there definitely changes quickly and the flow rate also pushes through there fast being a relatively shallow area between two deeper holes.
What is the best Little Debbie/Hostess-style snack cake and why is it the Star Crunch?
Its the christmas trees. I do like star crunch though
Fun fact, in Chattanooga there is a Little Debbie Park with a giant Christmas Tree cake (pictured below with Mrs Mattboard). There are other various ones around the park as well including the ideal-sized Oatmeal Cream Pie (MattBoard for scale)
I'm stealing Topher's questions he asked me because I need to honor him somehow.
What's your favorite sound?
What's your favorite sandwich?
What's the nicest thing you've ever done for somebody?
What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen happen?
These are all fantastic questions and great idea taking them from topher.
Sitting in a treestand before sunrise, the transition from dead quiet to the world waking up undisturbed with no knowledge of my existence. Hard sound to describe to people that haven't experienced it.
I don't know. I love all sandwiches so usually the last great one I've had will be my answer - I recently had a really fresh BLT that blew me away and I hate the idea of BLTs as a sandwich.
Hmm I'm not sure that I've done anything life changingly nice for anyone, just try to treat everyone well.
This is a little grim but my first trip to Hawaii with my family when I was a kid all within a few hours we had a guy jump off the 3rd story of a mall and land a few feet from us (he survived), watched an unsupervised child climb and then break through glass display shelving, and watched a large pepper grinder fall from a balcony and stick in a persons head.
It was like living an episode of final destination and it was terrifying.
That was all in the same trip??
It was all in the same 3ish hours all within like .25 miles of each other. We were walking through the mall, the guy landed behind us, went into a store and the kid fell through the shelves, and waiting for the dinner the pepper grinder fell.
Note to self, never travel with Heuplek
I tell people all the time that hunting is as much fun for the sounds and nature you'd never hear otherwise as it is the hunting part. Hell taking game is where it can get cruddy because that is when the work starts.
I've often said it's a sandwich made entirely of toppings
Your responses are epic, thank you
So, I guess the question on everyone's mind but are too afraid to ask...
Is it really pronounced Kevin?
"Kuh-vaughn"
Love seeing this come back.
What's your favorite place to eat in Charleston? Did you ever get to a Nebraska game while out there?
The Charleston food scene is amazing for those that haven't experienced it yet. You can throw a rock and hit a phenomenal local spot. R Kitchen is by far my favorite spot there. Its fixed 5 course menu and you have no idea what you're eating until you walk in the door. The chefs cook right in front of you and serve you and talk to you the whole meal. I've been 4-5 times and haven't had a bad dish.
I got to watch Ohio State blow the doors of Nebraska in Memorial Stadium. It was the only time I went but great atmosphere. Despite being in the same state Sidney and Lincoln are like 5 hours and a timezone change away so not the easiest trip to make.
When we lived in Murrells Inlet the nearest Acura dealer was in Charleston so had to take my wife's car down for service. Always made sure to schedule a loaner and get out to lunch down there.
Honest-to-God - and agnostic of who is playing - watching a CFB game at Nebraska is the sports venue I would most like to personally experience. Have heard great things from the VT people who went there and the few people I've met who went there were pretty impressive. The sea of red looks good to. If you said I could pick a venue and see a game with any random team playing, I'd take a September or October game there before it starts getting too cold.
On the way back from the nebraska game my friend and I were sitting in Ohare waiting for our connection and some guy asked why would we go to Nebraska. We were like because it's Nebraska! At the time they and Miami were the only 3 time champions in my lifetime and I had been to miami.
As a public servant, I'm curious which Parks and Rec character you most identify with?
I believe they actually made Ron Swansons character based off of my life
I figured it was either Ron or Mark Brandanowitz
oooooh C2S software, that sounds stable and boring ( I architect ground systems for satellite constellations)
Do you follow the industry much and if so how do you see things going with all the VC backed players that have just popped up in the last 3-5 years like Quindar, Turion, True Anomaly? And how would you compare that with things like OpenC3?
Also do you develop for operations only or does the C2 software get used in spacecraft I&T prior to launch?
So as far as the industry I'm definitely still getting my feet wet especially with the history (I've only been here for a year) and there's a large gap between what goes on in the commercial side and then what goes on in the government side.
I called my work C2 but I work on two projects neither of which are C2 its just the closest parallel I can draw for government/IP reasons. If you're familiar with the Joint Antenna Marketplace the underlying software of that is part of what my company made, this is the kinda boring one I work on the other is less boring. Both projects are operations only.
Wow, I literally was on calls talking about integrating into JAM last month.
Nice I'd imagine those calls were with some of my coworkers
nope, with the customer and third-party (would be either my sub or mission partner depending where things go
P.S. while I know very little im glad actual companies are involved instead of done guy at sn ffrdc that made a demo in a few months and then everyone decided to fly with it and if something breaks while the guy is on vacation then it is broke until he gets back. Enterprise systems are important.
What movie have you seen the most times?
What is your favorite album that you can you listen to front to back and not skip any songs?
I'm really not big on rewatching movies but if I had to guess its probably Monty Python and The Holy Grail or Pulp Fiction
Weird answer but the first one that came to my head Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes - Jimmy Buffet
What is your most ridiculous fishing story?
What part on your boat breaks most often?
How many rails have you consumed in one sitting at Tots?
One day floating the new we found a golden finch just sitting on top of the water alive but I guess just exhausted. I musky fished the entire float with him on my head landing two musky in the process. When I pulled the raft into the landing he was gone so I guess he flew away.
Right now everything electric is in a constant state of broken on my boat I need a full rewire but I did that on my last boat and it was a miserable experience
3 in a row I believe it was Notre dame game post graduation don't remember going to the game. But I came back after the game and had one more.
The Carolinas were basically my second home growing up. I miss those beaches and US-17. You live in a fine area.
As an avid sportsman, I always loved Cabela's. Even went through Sidney, NE, on my move down to SATX in late spring 2021. Sadly, didn't get to try a Runza on the way. Stayed in Sterling, CO, that first night, Sweetwater, TX, the final night (had Whataburger, no Buc-ee's on that route).
Fellow Hokies here and my bros from VT, helped me
get right into the groove as relocated. Will see at least one of those bros @ SMU on November 7th.
I know you can cook. What is your best brown butter based fish recipe?
glad to hear you still have your 7 wood...imo, every golfer at every level should have one in the bag (just saw Alex Fitzpatrick often carries both a 7 and 9 wood...of course he's also missing the cut at the Scottish).
I love to cook but I'm not that creative with fish. I just like cajun and blackend. I made a pretty good blackend redfish the other day and just used the fond to make a cajun cream sauce over it and some home fry style potatoes I was quite happy with how it turned out.
I've taken my 7w off the tee more than my driver this year, have a lot of faith in that club.
OOH - I did not realize you liked to cook.
What is your favorite way to prepare:
Sea Trout
Redfish
Pompano
Sea Bass
Who is your mostest hated Football Rival, and why?
What are a few of the best rums you have had?
Sea Trout - is my favorite ceviche fish. usually keep my ceviche pretty standard but with some orange in it
Redfish - scaled and halfshelled. blackening seasoning throw it on the trager at like 350 with some butter on top
Pompano - I've never cooked pompano
Sea Bass - blacked with some mayo on a brioche bun
I'm going to forget about UVA for this one and go with Miami. They were actually good at one point and the games were competitive. Their fans act like their world beaters and are the most fair weather - no association to miami - trash talking - non-football knowing group of idiots in college football. They still haven't one the ACC but will give you 40 different hypothetical scenarios as to why they could have won any given year.
My barbados trip was filled with good rum. Foursquare had the best collection of rums there I think I had 2012 Exceptional Cask 12 year if I remember right. It was very very good. I took home a bottle of RL Seale 10 and 12 year and that's probably my favorite go to that's reasonably priced.
Fish cooking recipe help based on my experience with them (I've done this quite a number of times for both of these species):
1. Redfish blackened on a Lodge cast iron on the grill or Trager with whatever blackening recipe you like is Legit! Plenty of butter is involved.
2. Pompano.
A. 1st point is that Pompano do not have scales. Therefore getting 2 nice filets off of a fish can be obtained easily with the skin left on. What I have done is:
B. Either blacken it on the Lodge with plenty of butter so the skin doesn't stick (again follow whatever blackening recipe you prefer) or
C. Place some aluminum foil on the grill (wrapped around the grill bars to stay firm) with plenty of butter (again to keep skin from sticking) and place filets skin down on the foil and season to whatever you want. We typically did a pretty heavily spiced up garlic butter with diced jalapeno. We typically did not flip this, just let it broil on the foil in the grill.
D. The skin peels of the Pompano easily after both of these processes during plating.
Pompano is one of my wife and my top 5 fish ever to eat. I miss it, haven't had it in quite a few years since we moved away from Florida.
Sounds great I'll have to grab some of I ever get the chance. The ones that run up here are never eater size. I've been on a big sheepshead kick recently they're one of my favorite readily available fish around. Also one of the few fish i prefer the larger fish.
Sheephead are legit yummy. Them and Black Drum are underrated table fare. They both have huge ribcage so u need to get a good eater size. Their diet leads to the fantastic white meat they have. Enjoy!!
I really never enjoyed redfish until I moved to Tx.
This part of Tx has made me enjoy Cajun and Gulf Seafood.
which part of Tx?
I did a couple of years with Tangent before going out on my own. We should get together and swap stories. River name was Perch.