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Speaker 1: And now my next guest, Well, you all know him

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Speaker 1: very well. We haven't had him in the studio for

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Speaker 1: a little while. He's obviously retired, but I don't think

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Speaker 1: he can ever really retire after you've been the local

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Speaker 1: member for how many years?

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Speaker 2: Jerry would.

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Speaker 3: In a fair number of years on the council of

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Speaker 3: thirteen before that. So it's hard to get politics out

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Speaker 3: of my blood. It is, and I've always been interested

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Speaker 3: in politics, but so you know, I do try and

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Speaker 3: keep it my finger on the pulse a bit, but

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Speaker 3: try not to be too too much of a sticky beak.

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Speaker 1: No, it's good to keep your finger on the pulse,

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Speaker 1: so I know exactly what's going on now before I

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Speaker 1: actually talk to you about the fire station, Emma Stark,

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Speaker 1: we spoke to the n Junior Sportsperson of the Year

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Speaker 1: just a little while ago. Now you know him well

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Speaker 1: of it. You're still umpiring, aren't you. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I stilled down at Casperin at the moment on the weekend,

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Speaker 3: so I enjoy it. It's a really great activity for me.

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Speaker 3: Oh yes, I have umpired occasionally with him, but him

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Speaker 3: is much faster than me, and a lot fitter than me,

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Speaker 3: and a lot younger than me, so I don't actually

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Speaker 3: umpire for with her. Very often she umpires with the top,

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Speaker 3: top grade umpires. Now, she's a lovely lady. She's very

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Speaker 3: skilled in football, and she's very skilled in umpiring, and

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Speaker 3: she well, you know, is a great it's a great

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Speaker 3: award that she's been given because she truly deserves it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. An impressive young woman.

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Speaker 3: That's absolutely, yes, yes, and very mature for her age.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now, Jerry, there's lots happening. I know there's always

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Speaker 1: plenty happening. But you and I spoke just a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks ago about the new fire station. Now at

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Speaker 1: this point in time, is it still called the Palmeston

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Speaker 1: fire Station.

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Speaker 3: It's still up there. I got an email on Friday

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Speaker 3: from the Minister and thanking me for my comments because

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Speaker 3: I've written to the minister and said, yes, we are

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Speaker 3: going to change it. We're going to put Parmesan a regional.

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Speaker 3: I thought, no, no, no, no, no, We're not Parmesan and regional.

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Speaker 3: I don't live in the Parmestan region to start with.

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Speaker 3: We have always been in the rural area. The rural

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Speaker 3: area existed in twenty years before Parmeston was even thought of.

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Speaker 3: We are an area which covers Bees Creek. We co

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Speaker 3: all of the area, but from the Northern Territory Fire

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Speaker 3: Service point of view, our volunteers cover Beest Creek, Virginia,

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Speaker 3: parts of Humpty Do parts of Herbert Girrowen mcmn's Howard

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Speaker 3: Springs Holts. That's the area that we regard as the

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Speaker 3: rural area. Are part of the rural area, but there

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Speaker 3: are rural volunteers at work there, and I think people

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Speaker 3: that live there say I live rural, I don't live reginal,

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Speaker 3: and I just it might be just being pedantic, but

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Speaker 3: it was also when the Parmesan hospital went up, they

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Speaker 3: call it the Parmestan Regional, which had been called well

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Speaker 3: at least the Parmetan and Regional. They're little things, but

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Speaker 3: it sounds like bureaucrats get hold of they make up

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Speaker 3: their mind what the name will be called. And yet

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Speaker 3: that fire station, which is built in the rural area,

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Speaker 3: is there also to work for people in the rural area.

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Speaker 3: So there's a major fire like a house fire or

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Speaker 3: car accident, not only do you see our volunteers go,

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Speaker 3: but you would expect the full time fire people from

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Speaker 3: that fire station go out and work in the rural area.

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Speaker 1: And so Jerry, obviously you wrote to the minister about this,

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Speaker 1: so she came back to you and she said that

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Speaker 1: it would be called the Palmeston and Regional.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you work out when you put and rural,

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Speaker 3: you have the same number of letters, so it won't

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Speaker 3: cost them any more money. But it would just be

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Speaker 3: nice that the government recognized the rural area as the

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Speaker 3: rural area. You see the stickers go around, Let's keep

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Speaker 3: rural rural. And I think there's a few others. Don't

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Speaker 3: mess with me on rural because people's that's reflecting who

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Speaker 3: they think they are.

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Speaker 2: So why do you reckon it's so important?

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Speaker 1: Why do you think it's so important that you know

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Speaker 1: that this is changed and it's Palmeston and Rural rather

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Speaker 1: than regional.

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Speaker 3: Because I think for a long time we have problem

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Speaker 3: with governments recognizing who we are. So we fight over

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Speaker 3: whether you should have this greater wholes area turn into

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Speaker 3: a suburb. Why do we fight over it because we

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Speaker 3: won't think it should stay rural Because there's a whole

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Speaker 3: big piece of land just south of palmestan cardwidell which

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Speaker 3: has been designed for suburbs now they take the shortcut. Well,

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Speaker 3: we'll just remove that part of the land and make

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Speaker 3: it into a suburb. So there are times here when

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Speaker 3: I don't think we get recognized as who we are

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Speaker 3: because we like living in the rural area, or we

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Speaker 3: love living in the royal area. We think it's a

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Speaker 3: great place to raise families. I've always said that people

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Speaker 3: want to live in the suburbs. That's fine, but we

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Speaker 3: should also be allowing people to enjoy living in the

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Speaker 3: rural area because the opportunities there for children, chooks, dogs, space, bush, motorbikes,

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Speaker 3: whatever you want, you've got a little bit more space.

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Speaker 3: So I think a lot of us define ourselves as

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Speaker 3: being part of the rural area, and when you get

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Speaker 3: told it's a region, you think, no, no, no, why

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Speaker 3: don't you put something up that reflects who the fire

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Speaker 3: station will be working with?

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Speaker 1: So, Jerry, have you got many people in the area

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Speaker 1: that are backing what you're saying at the moment?

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Speaker 2: Is there a few of them that are.

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Speaker 3: Saying, yeah, come on, look, I haven't gone around and

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Speaker 3: done a survey. Sometimes you go with your gut failure.

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Speaker 3: I've been round along enough. You said I was nineteen

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Speaker 3: years as a local member and thirteen years on the council.

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Speaker 3: I have a fair idea why people get a bit

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Speaker 3: uptight about not being recognized as rural because they like

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Speaker 3: being rural and it's not. And again I'll probably say

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Speaker 3: that people say, oh, yes, been p dandy perhaps, but

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Speaker 3: once the sign has gone up, that's the end of it.

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Speaker 2: Well, you've actually got some messages of support.

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Speaker 1: There's one here that says definitely rural needs to be recognized.

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Speaker 1: Keep up the good work, Jerry and Katie. So look,

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Speaker 1: you have got people that are out in the rural

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Speaker 1: area that are listening and that are thinking that it.

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Speaker 2: Does need to go that way.

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Speaker 3: It's also reflective of the volunteers that work on our

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Speaker 3: fire stations. So we got fire stations Howard Springs, We've

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Speaker 3: got Kolpina, We've got bees Creek, Virginia. We've got Humpky Dew.

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Speaker 3: I hope I haven't missed anyone there, but they're all

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Speaker 3: work as our rural volunteer fibrigades. The rest of the

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Speaker 3: Litchfield area is done by the bush Fires people and

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Speaker 3: they're fantastic. But that area there is the area that

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Speaker 3: I suppose I used to represent, and I think that

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Speaker 3: that also that name reflects what those people are doing.

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Speaker 3: They'll be connected to that fire station, that'll be like that.

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Speaker 3: You know, you might say the headquarters of the area,

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Speaker 3: but they'll be part of it. And so I just

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Speaker 3: think that's also important that they be recognized through that

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Speaker 3: through that title.

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Speaker 2: Well, Jerry would we will see what ends up happening

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Speaker 2: in this space.

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Speaker 1: Give us an update. If you hear anything more, please

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Speaker 1: make sure that you let us know.

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Speaker 2: It's good to catch up with you. We always we

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Speaker 2: miss your mate.

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Speaker 3: Oh. I keep listening every now and then. I do.

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Speaker 3: I've got five acres to try and get under control.

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Speaker 3: I also care for my good wife who is here

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Speaker 3: today see Melbourne. Yes, I brought her along. Yeah, So

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Speaker 3: I keep pretty busy when I can, but I do

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Speaker 3: keep an ear and an eye out for you know,

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Speaker 3: there's there are changes in local government at the moment

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Speaker 3: about some unincorporated areas being pulled into existing councils. I've

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Speaker 3: written about a fifteen page report on what I think

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Speaker 3: should happen. There's also changes in the rating system for

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Speaker 3: some people in the in the rural area. So I

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Speaker 3: keep in touch with those sort of those issues.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, look do keep us up to date with

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Speaker 1: not only the fire station, but also with those un

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Speaker 1: brighter there is. I'm going to have to make sure

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Speaker 1: that we get somebody on.

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Speaker 2: About that as well. But we really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: Thank you and and Amelda for coming in this morning.

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Speaker 2: It's to see you both.

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Speaker 3: I told you she had to sing you know when

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Speaker 3: the rain tumbles down at July, but she said no way. Okay,

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Speaker 3: she's a mad Slim Dusty fan. Okay, thanks Katie.

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Speaker 2: Good stuff, Thank you. Thanks Jerry,