Grumbles, Groceries, Good Things; One Hundred and Five Weeks In

WHY DO WE STILL CHANGE THE CLOCKS TWICE A YEAR

I have been tracking my sleep on my Garmin watch since the New Year, and although I have no idea HOW my watch knows how much I sleep and how much of that sleep is deep or light or REM, it seems pretty accurate. I generally average between seven and seven and a half hours each night during the week, with more on Friday and Saturday.

This year, Springing Forward coincided with the celebration of my parents’ golden anniversary. That means, in addition to staying up late visiting and drinking wine, the clocks moved forward AND I ended up having massive wine-fueled hot flashes. Here is my Saturday Night Sleep Report:

So I was pretty fuzzy going into the week, and the time change always makes me feel just slightly off for at least four or five days. I would rage about it for a while but a) it looks like there is a US bill to get rid of the time change, and b) if this happens in the States I am hopeful it will happen in Canada. PLEASE GOD LET THIS HAPPEN IN MY LIFETIME.

I Am Not An Anti-Dentite

I had a dental cleaning scheduled for this week, and the dental office sent me the following reminders: five emails, eight texts, and three phone calls, two to my cell and one to my landline. I felt like this was an excessive number of reminders, particularly since I responded to and confirmed at least one of the very many reminders.

It brought to mind the days when my older son was going through orthodontic treatment, and the office would send a text, an email, and a phone call, and that never stopped even though at every single appointment – for twenty-six months – I would ask them to please just give me ONE reminder. ONE. They would make a note, and then nothing would change. After this barrage of reminders from the dentist, I longed for the orthodontic days.

Well, not really, but I was feeling pretty irritated by the time my appointment came around; that morning, I had a text and an email saying “see you soon!” and honestly, I felt like cancelling the whole thing, or maybe burning down the entire office. I was so grumpy about it that my husband commented on said grumpiness. “Why are you so mad about this? Things like this don’t usually bother you.” True.

I couldn’t stop complaining about going to the DENTIST and how I HATE the dentist and argh, I’m going to the DENTIST. I didn’t really understand my own crabbiness, except that it was maybe a Bridge Too Far, what with time change and all. I mean, I do not have a fear of the dentist, as many people do. I have never had a difficult dental procedure. Tooth scaling, while unpleasant, isn’t even painful for me. So why was I so worked up?

The answer came when I got to the office and the receptionist informed me that my “usual” hygienist was unable to see me, so would it be okay if I saw a different hygienist? I shrugged agreeably and said I didn’t even know who my usual was, and I was sure that whoever they put me with would be just fine.

People, the woman who cleaned my teeth was a literal angel of a hygienist. Never have I had such a pleasant dental experience. It was then that I realized that I never learned or retained the names of my past hygienists, which is highly out of character for me. I am a person who gets very attached to people in my life. I mean, I have favourite cashiers at the grocery store and I know all their names. The fact that I seem to block out the names of my dental hygienists speaks volumes, and then I remembered that at my last appointment, the hygienist talked incessantly about her unvaccinated family members, and any time she asked me a question, she would unpleasantly laugh and tell a follow up story about her kids and their superior athletic abilities. She told me I drank way too much coffee, which, while true, isn’t a nice thing to hear.

On the other hand, my new hygienist talked to me about fuzzy dog breeds, told me a lovely story about her own dog and her dog’s best friend, and that her daughter left her job as a legal assistant to become an ultrasound technician. She was incredibly gentle with my teeth and told me that I was doing an excellent job maintaining my oral health. I felt like hugging her at the end of our appointment.

When I told my husband about it, he realized that she is the hygienist that he sees, and that he has been trying to get me to go to for two years, but I kept saying that it doesn’t matter who the hygienist is. He didn’t actually say I told you so but point taken.

Walking Down The Aisles

I am back to my regular, first-thing-in-the-morning grocery shopping, and my faith in humanity has somewhat been restored, as it is too early in the day for Costco shoppers to leave their carts wherever they may be. I’m sure it’s still happening, but I’m not there to see it, and a tree falls in the forest.

My goodness, there are a lot of empty shelves right now. I am not in a panic; there is plenty of food, plenty. Everything is fine.

But also, there seems to be an oatmeal shortage? Regular rolled oats are very sparse on the shelves, and there seems to be only one variety of instant oatmeal. One of my sons likes to have instant oatmeal once or twice a week, and his favourite flavour has been unavailable for many weeks. There is a ton of sugary cereals like Froot Loops and that strange Timbits cereal, but very little of the hippie, high-fibre brands I like. Although, I did find Kashi Cinnamon Wheat Squares, which have been unavailable for well over a year. Mini-Wheats are also scarce, which, again, is not a big deal but something I noticed.

I walked down the frozen aisle to get some fruit, and I noticed that there were whole sections, usually devoted to pizza, that were completely empty. In the produce department, I have noticed that grapes are either completely unavailable or are really gross and wrinkly looking, although that could certainly be a seasonal thing.

My favourite Boom Chicka Pop Light Kettle Corn has been unavailable for over a month, but a few weeks ago I picked up a bag of Skinny Pop Kettle Corn, because god forbid I go without kettle corn. This is where the story twists: IT IS AMAZING. It BLOWS Boom Chicka Pop right out of the water, RIGHT OUT. As Ma Ingalls always said, There Is No Great Loss Without Some Small Gain, but let me tell you, if it hadn’t been for the Boom Chicka Pop shortage, I would have never tried something with such a ridiculous name as Skinny Pop, and now I cannot go back. I have since bought several bags and I may be hoarding, just a little.

Speaking of ridiculous names, I came across this at Superstore:

I didn’t buy it out of principle. I didn’t want to buy into the culture that food is somehow evil if you are enjoying it but this is less evil than other foods. NO. No sir, I will not do it. This may sound rich coming from a person who just admitted to hoarding something called Skinny Pop, but even I have my limits. I marched righteously past the display, thinking angry thoughts about society and putting value judgements on the food that we eat.

Except, strawberry white chocolate popcorn. STRAWBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN. I can’t stop thinking about it! I wonder if it’s delicious. Regrets, I have them.

One Slipped Past The Goalie

The biggest grumble is that, after two years, we succumbed to the plague. My younger son’s best friend texted to say he’d tested positive for Covid; my son – who had zero symptoms and never did develop any – took a test and it was positive. The rest of us were negative at that time, but the next day it was pretty clear the negatives had become positives. My husband had a headache, sore throat, and fatigue, my other son had a sore throat, and I was so tired I could barely pull myself out of bed, even having slept an extra two hours. I continued to be exhausted all day, even taking an afternoon nap. My energy level, normally approaching that of Jack Russell terrier, was downgraded to Barkley:

By about day three we all felt “approaching normal,” and more bored than anything. That’s the grumble – the good thing is that none of us were very sick at all – no one even had a cough or sneeeze, I had JUST gotten groceries so we had plenty of food in the house, and we were all able to just take it easy. I attribute our extremely “nothing” cases to the efficacy of vaccines; if this had happened a year ago, I think things would have been very different. As it is, meh. One slipped past the goalie and we are all just fine.

Pandemic Reading

Five Tuesdays In Winter. Wow, did I love this collection of short stories! They were wrenching, heartwarming, and beautiful, and also incredibly varied in terms of character and setting. I want to read all her work now, and have put myself in the queue for her other books.

We Are Not Like Them. This book is written from two points of view, by two different authors, which is interesting. It deals with a white woman married to a police officer who is involved in the shooting of an unarmed, innocent, 14 year old Black kid, and a Black newscaster who is covering the story. The complication is that the two women are lifelong friends. This is a very important story with very important information. I’m glad I read it. But, the book itself? Meh. The characters are cliched and one-dimensional, and the writing itself is pretty flat. It is, in every way, a Book Club Book. It’s very readable, don’t get me wrong, but if you’re looking for a beautifully written book with complex, nuanced characters, this isn’t it.

With Love From London. My goodness, what a sweet, cozy, charming little book about a woman who inherits a bookshop in London, from her estranged mother. Everything ends exactly as you’d want it to, it’s a Hallmark movie in book firm, but better. So satisfying and lovely!

Mitzi Bytes. This book deals with a woman who has an anonymous blog, that gets found out – and the people she has been writing about are NOT HAPPY. It was fun to read about the early days of blogging – remember the Mommy Wars, and how there was actual debate about no-nut policies in schools – and there is also quite a bit of “why do we blog” discussion. If you were a part of those early days, and remember the stardom of some bloggers, you’ll really enjoy this trip down memory lane. It’s a fun read! I obviously do not have an anonymous blog, but this book is also a bit of a cautionary tale about what we write about: my personal view is that I assume everyone I know could possibly read this blog, so I never write anything I would be ashamed to say in person. YES, THAT INCLUDES DISCUSSION ABOUT MY BRAS, TAMPONS, AND CHIN HAIR. But mostly, that means that I don’t say anything about other people that I wouldn’t say to their faces.

Everything is back to semi-normal around here; we are out of isolation today, everyone is feeling well. And it’s Spring Break! Which means…absolutely nothing, although we did have a trip to Mexico planned that we cancelled back in January when all our travelling friends were getting stranded here, there, and everywhere. Two weeks ago I was bitterly regretting cancelling, but now I’m rejoicing, because at least we didn’t have to do a last-minute-scramble-to-cancel! Isn’t it nice when things work out for the best? Take care of yourselves. xo

Comments

  1. Oh my gosh – your popcorn shopping made me laugh. ‘Regrets, I have them.’ So funny.

    The hygienist – I can SO relate, only in reverse. I love, love, love our hygienist – she was fast, gentle, bubbly, and loved on all of my family members so much. She even reached out to Lad via text a few years ago when she learned he was struggling. She left our dental office and now I dread going to the dentist. I goofed up and failed to note my next appointment when I made it 6 months ago, when life was a bit of a shit storm and the boys were leaving. Anyway, I got a reminder for an appointment when we are out of town. Oops. I’m now on the waiting list. I really dislike the people there that do the cleanings now and I’m tempted to switch to the office where our favorite hygienist has moved to. Turns out she clashed with the dentist’s younger son who finished dental school and joined the practice. I can imagine that he didn’t appreciate her level of expertise and came in as a young know-it-all type.

    I’m curious to know what a watch would tell me about my sleep. Hmm.

    That blogging book sounds super interesting. I am an anonymous blogger. A few close friends know my blog. At this point, the things I say are not anything that I’d be overly concerned about people knowing that I say them. It’s all true.

    Glad you have all recovered from covid. I do wonder if I had it and just didn’t know, because everyone else had it.

    • My only symptom was being tired, so you could have had it without knowing, for sure! And I shudder to think of my son who didn’t have any symptoms at all, walking around with Covid. Well, he wears a mask everywhere, but still.

  2. Oh, the dentist. I have Serious Gum Issues and I get a teeth cleaning every three months, alternating between my family dentist and a periodontist. I dread going because it’s both painful and almost always accompanied by bad new about something else wrong in my mouth. BUT. My family dentist used to have a wonderful hygienist named Brooke and when Brooke left she was replaced with Jeni. Both of these ladies were great and never judged me when I cried in their chairs. Now there’s an evil lady who berates me and I have to go next month and I’m actually kind of scared. It’s not a plain “I just don’t want to go,” it’s a heart palpitating, oh no, what’s she going to say to me this time kind of thing. So, yes, I think hygienists are MORE important than the actual dentists, if I’m honest. Also, if I could track down where Brooke is working now, I would totally switch offices just to have her clean my teeth!

    • I 100% agree that hygienists are more important than the dentists, and I’m so sorry you have such an evil one! I really feel for people who have dental pain because that’s just awful.

  3. I am very fortunate to go to an all-female dental office. They are wonderful. I get attached to doctors, etc.. So I understand.

    I am an early in the morning grocery shopper, but we love Aldi and they open at 9, which isn’t early in my opinion, so it’s STILL busy.

    I’m glad you’re on the upswing of recovering from COVID. 🙂

    The covers of the books you read are always so pretty. I’m actually working on a post about book covers that I love. I would pick a book on book cover art alone.

  4. Another post packed full of news and good stuff, and concerning stuff. I spent so long reflecting on your last post, I don’t think I got around to commenting! Well, I can’t miss saying: I am so relieved that you have come through being sick as well as you have. I love my hygienist and that is something that took almost my whole life to experience… what a difference it makes to get someone kind, and respectful, gentle! I am glad you have that, too. Let’s see, what else? Time change… ugh, just UGH! Supposedly we will have to go through one more “fall back, and one more spring forward” before we just stay “forward.” I hope Canada joins us. And odd food shortages… we got those as well. It makes me frustrated, a bit, and then grateful for what is available. But, yes, it’s kind of unsettling when favorite foods disappear, and other staples go missing. Any signs of Spring, yet? Have a great week!

  5. As for your experience with your dentist and an excessive number of reminders, same thing here. It’s ridiculous and goes on weeks before + day of my appointment. I always reply immediately, but it is irritating.

    The book about the early days of blogging sounds like it’s right up my alley. I remember lots of those early bloggers, I was among them, but never popular.

  6. First things first! I’ve dedicated my life to spreading the word- I just read an article about how the US got rid of DSL in the 1970s- or adopted DSL permanently- whichever. They didn’t turn the clocks back in the fall and everyone ended up hating it. Mainly because kids were going to school in the dark, and there were way more accidents in the morning, kids getting hit by cars while waiting for the bus, etc. So maybe we shouldn’t be too hasty about this!
    I think we may have found fiction common ground- I really like Lily King’s Writers and Lovers, and although short stories aren’t my favorite i would probably like this book!
    Glad to hear you didn’t get too sick! I don’t know… my son and I were both vaccinated and we got way more sick from Covid than you did. But, we survived so all is well.

    • I think keeping Standard Time, versus DST, would be more appropriate, and I wish that is what would happen.
      I consider myself lucky that we got off so easily, in terms of Covid. In any case, I’m glad you’re well!

  7. Pat Birnie says

    So much good stuff in this post — except the bad: sorry you guys got Covid, but happy it was mild. My daughter & family who were excessively cautions got it last week – she just laughed about it. What else can you do? I laughed out loud at your ” Jack Russell terrier, was downgraded to Barkley” line.

    You really don’t do DST well do you?? I just found that I was sleeping later, which, having just got back from 2 months away, was not a bad thing at all! Not having a fixed schedule makes that very manageable.

    I hear you on the dental reminders & the annoyingly chatty hygienist. I like one that chats a bit but can also be quiet. I told off my dental office of 30 years about the reminders. I asked if I have EVER missed an appointment (no) they reduced the reminders but I notice they are picking up again.

  8. I am eagerly awaiting the commitment here in the US to not changing the clocks twice a year. I know that sleep specialists etc say that staying on ST would be better than permanent DST, but since I live in the PacNW there is a chunk of every year when it doesn’t seem to matter what time the sun theoretically comes up because it never actually gets light outside because it’s constantly raining/about to rain/just finished raining/thinking about raining etc. So at least we won’t all have to screw up our sleep cycles twice a year and STILL get up in the dark for months.

    Also weird grocery store shortages continue here too. I realize this is not world ending but I’ve been unable to find the particular kind of cereal that I like for about a month. It’s at this point that I always start to play the discontinued or delayed game. There have been products that disappeared in March 2020 that I’ve never been able to find again, but many more that just were unavailable for awhile and came back. I’m hoping my preferred cereal is just on hiatus.

    • Girl, same, on all fronts. There is a huge chunk of the year in which we get not much daylight, so kids are either going to school in the dark or coming home in the dark, take your pick. In December the sun rises at 8:45 and sets before 4:30, so really, what is the difference.

      Dying to know your preferred cereal!

  9. I’m so sorry about COVID. What rotten luck, though I really do keep waiting for the other shoe to drop for our family, too. I learned today of two families we know by association (but haven’t seen in person for a while) have COVID. Including a family with NINE children. Yes, NINE children. I don’t know if they all have COVID, but NINE. Can you imagine 11 people in one household having COVID. I can’t imagine.

    I too hate DST. I am having major issues with insomnia lately and I don’t know why. I’m doing all the right things, I’m not anxious. I’m even taking Valerian Root which smells and tastes terrible but my mother swears is the best herbal remedy going. It does nothing. I might as well be sipping boiled grass clippings. Sigh. Oh well. This too shall pass, but the whole debacle with sleeping started back in November exactly when the time changed and it has stayed quasi-bad until this next time change and I am choosing to blame the whole issue on DST.

    Glad you’re all coming through COVID without complications, but sorry you got it in the first place…

  10. It’s good to know that popcorn is a “clean snack” because all I can find lately is popcorn that is covered in dirt!

  11. bibliomama2 says

    I refuse to even buy anything called “Skinny Whatever” (although I throw my principles out the window at the least provocation, so I absolutely respect having to substitute SkinnyPop for Boom Chicka Pop), so yeah, Lesser Evil Popcorn is gonna be a hard no from me (I do not think strawberry flavoured popcorn sounds good). I keep getting ads for mail-order snacks saying things like “guilt-free snacking” and the like and I report them as offensive. Some perfectly reasonable woman on Twitter tried to address the moralizing of food choices the other day. Holy shit, some people are attached to moralizing their food choices and feeling superior to others based on those choices.
    SO happy the vaccinations did their thing for you. And always here to pile on hating the time change because fuck the time change, I don’t think my eyes have been fully open all week.

    • GUILT-FREE SNACKING. That is one of my all-time least favourite sayings. The only reason we should feel guilty about snacking is if we murdered someone and ate them. Then, probably that is a guilty snack. But since none of us are resorting to cannibalism, I SHALL EAT MY SNACKS HAPPILY.

  12. Oh no! I’m so sorry that y’all were sick but so very happy that it was just a blip.

    I LOVE my dentist and all the hygienists that I’ve seen. I also love my OB-GYN and everyone that I encounter in that office (odd, I know. But they are exceptional).

    I freely admit that I am a popcorn snob. Usually, when I crave popcorn, The Husband makes it on the stove the old fashioned way. But when he doesn’t Skinny Pop (regular – I don’t do kettle corn, etc.) is PERFECT. I know how much you raved about Boom Chika Pop before and have actively looked for it to compare…but have never been able to find just plain popcorn. So, I am pleased that Skinny Pop is working as a replacement for you!.

    The time change – oh my God. It usually doesn’t affect me terribly but it is a pain. But honestly, I think if we are going to stop it we should probably go with Standard Time…and while we are at it, the rest of the world needs to also stop switching back and forth and just pick a time. It would make life so much easier on all of us.

    Based on your recommendation, I have ordered the Mitzi Bytes book and am awaiting its arrival!

  13. I loved my former dental hygienist so much. By the time she left (to work at another dental office; I ALMOST followed her, except I had been a patient at that practice and had left it for various good reasons), we were at a point where I would arrive at my cleaning, give her a brief update on my news as she was getting the tools/equipment ready, and then say “Okay!! While I can’t talk: I want updates on kids, boyfriend, Christmas, dog, and how your mom is doing!”–and then settle happily into the chair and open my mouth, and she would talk to me about all her news while she scraped and poked. I miss her.

    You KNOW I love the grocery store report. Oats were very skimpy here for awhile, but last time I went they were okay again. Grapes have been LUDICROUS: like, bags of wilted, terrible grapes, at high prices—who is buying them?? There are almost no edible grapes in that bag! But this past weekend, they had NORMAL GRAPES AGAIN! Like, still at the higher price. But grapes that were not the kind I would throw directly into the trash if they were on my counter at home. Cereal has been weird and patchily scarce. I am happy to hear the Skinny Pop was good, because I have been not-buying that brand on the assumption that it is terrible (I do not ANY food labeled “skinny”), but now I have a back-up if I need popcorn and cannot find it. I feel exactly the same as you about the Lesser Evil popcorn: first, an absolutely philosophical refusal to EVER buy it—followed by a yearning to know if the strawberry-white-chocolate is any good.

    I am sorry you all got Covid, while also relieved to hear it has not been too terrible.

    • I have put off buying Skinny Pop because of the stupid name, but needs must, Swistle, needs must, and I was unable to get Boom Chicka Pop. Now I feel stupid with this stupidly named delicious popcorn in my cart, but I don’t want to not have kettle corn. I just don’t! (I really am dying to know what the strawberry white chocolate popcorn is like, but I MUST STAY STRONG. Especially since now I’m addicted to SKINNY POP. I can’t have two such items in my cart.)

  14. I’m so sorry y’all got Covid. Glad to hear it was mild and fingers-crossed that it leaves no lingering effects. (My partner had a mild case when he went to help out in NYC in 2020, and he has some chest and GI issues from it still. So… not to be alarmist, but please keep an eye on things.)

    And thanks for the reminder that things aren’t normal yet… I haven’t been to the dentist in years at this point–it feels weird to be unmasked indoors!

    I loved the Lily King book! I always have a short story collection by me, so I can read something even if I don’t have a lot of time…

    And speaking of the old blogging days, I just realized I used to follow your lunch blog, Nicole!

  15. Does it feel anti-climactic to get it now, after all this time? I’m glad it was mild!

    The watch tracks your heart rate and movements, which tells it something about your sleep. I think my Fitbit is optimistic about how long it takes me to fall asleep, though. It always seems to be sooner than I would have guessed. Then again, I’m not looking at a clock, so who knows?

  16. I would love to know your thoughts on the purposeful manipulation of foods to be more cravable by the food industry. My thoughts are fraught because 1) body acceptance is an extremely important issue, 2) fat shaming is absolutely lousy, 3) food does not have moral valence, 4) some foods ARE not good for you, and companies that MIGHT have moral valence are intentional about the foods being not good for you but highly wantable.

  17. We are living parallel dental lives, Nicole! At least in terms of the number of reminders MY GOD when will it stop??? I got a reminder the other morning at FIVE AM, followed immediately by a phone call, and then woke up later to an email. WHY. I did not confirm via any of these reminders, out of spite. (Of course I showed up to my appointment on time because I am not evil.)

    I’m so glad that you and your family are okay, and that covid was as kind to you as it was.

  18. It IS nice when things work out for the best…that being said, now that you’ve all had the plague, you should make some plans for travel ASAP! Sorry you were all sick, but happy it wasn’t too horrible.

    I’ve had the lesser evil popcorn and it’s good; I only bought it because our store was out of SKINNY POP which is our favorite.

    I’ve been going to the same dentist office since 1999 and I’m on my fourth dental hygienist; they’ve all been lovely. But yes on all the reminders from Doctors offices. I’d like to start sending them reminders to NOT make me wait in the lobby when I arrive ON TIME.

  19. I’ve never had a terrible hygienist until the last time I went to the dentist because I was having gum pain. She was SO MEAN to me! I felt like she was judging me for needing to have a much deeper clean, and it made me feel so bad. I won’t be going back to that dentist office because she made the experience so terrible. A good dental hygienist is so important!

    I love when we switch the clocks forward for DST, only because I enjoy having daylight until nearly 8pm, lol. I don’t know if everyone switching to being on DST permanent time will work (there’s lots of data that suggests it won’t work well for northern cities with the sun rising wayyyy late). But it would work really well for Florida, lol.

    I’m sorry the old ‘rona got you guys! I’m glad it was a pretty mild case, although it still sounds pretty awful!

    • MEAN HYGIENIST!!! I am glad you won’t go back there!

      For us, DST means that in June it is light until 10pm, and where my parents live, after 11pm. In December, the sun rises at 8:45 or so and sets before 4:30. When it’s that little daylight, I’m not sure if it matters much one way or the other, but I like standard time more. I can see how you would like DST!

  20. Ok, is this a dentist office’s thing? Mine sends a gazillion reminders (through all different avenues), too and I have stopped responding to them LOL because what’s the point? They obviously don’t care if you say you’ll be there or not, if they keep reminding you. I am working on letting this one go, but it rubs me the wrong way too.
    I’d be pissed though if I got there and they changed me to a different hygienist, because I “love” my hygienist – Lee – and will break out in hives if he’s not there.

    I haven’t noticed any shortages at the stores yet, strangely, but I know what you mean when you say that the out of stock item has forced you to try something new which turned out to be even better than the original item. Happened to me! Sometimes it’s good to branch out and try other stuff LOL

    I am so sorry you guys got Covid, but am awfully thankful to hear it’s been such a mild case for all of you. I’ve heard from so many people recently that they got it… but I hate that people say “it’s a matter of time”. Ugh. I don’t want it.

    • Honestly, San, I think we would have been able to avoid it had it not been for the boys – they are at school and although they wear masks, they eat lunch with their friends. I knew it was inevitable for us since all of their friends were dropping, one by one. But what can you do? Unless I was going to pull them out of school or not allow them to eat lunch, the risk was there. If it was just me and my husband, I think we could have probably avoided it. I hope you can avoid it.

      I am absolutely on Team Branch Out now – I think I get stuck in a rut when it comes to groceries, but there are lots of yummy items out there that I don’t even look at!

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