Minor setback or major catastrophe? Time will tell. Fighting desperately to stay awake, I think I took an involuntary nap on the computer. Computer did not short out from leaked saliva. This is a good thing.
3am nap: No problem getting to sleep. Herculean effort to get out of bed. That split second concept that "I need to get up"... if it's not grasped with white knuckled fists, right then, will be lost. Managed it this time. 30min
7am nap: Can't believe. Hotel alarm did not go off. Obviously a user error.. but.. sheesh. Batteries for portable alarm clock.. deceased, one would suppose from lack of sleep. Lay down at ~7 and woke up slightly after 8. 65 min.
11am nap: Unable to nap. Skipped.
3pm nap: Slept in car. Unknown length of time. Guessing 45 minutes. The lack of structure at this time is causing large volumes of havoc.
7pm nap: Slept past alarm. 45min.
11pm nap: Every cell in my body is either screaming for caffeine or sleep. Some, bipolar at this point are screaming for a sleepytime latte with an extra shot. 45 min
Completely exhausted. Shouldn't be driving. The mention of Enya causes an involuntary closing of my eyes. The last 24 hours have a very dreamlike quality to them. The disturbing, I wish I'd wake up now, sort of dream.
Quick Stats: STR: 12 DEX: 10 CON: 9 INT: 5 WIS: 5 CHA: 5
"I'm not afraid to dream- to sleep, sleep forever"
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Polycycle Day Nineteen
Note to others that may be attempting this. Don't skip naps and check to make sure that you set the alarm and armed it.
3am nap: Managed to oversleep. Didn't I just say I thought I was past that? It's the missed nap thing. I set my alarm, but forgot to move the little dial thingy to say ALM ON. Didn't oversleep as bad as I'd thought.. but I know from experience that this is going to be a long day.
7am nap: Feeling like my body has been beaten to a bloody mass, sucked through a hose and reassembled. Took a nap, hoping to salvage some brain cells for the day. (Eh, I'm on holiday, so who cares)
11am nap: -Skipped to try and get back on schedule
3pm nap: Hard time getting to sleep, and even harder waking up. 35 minutes of deadtime
7pm nap: Napped at the hotel. Attempting to get back on track. 25
11pm nap: Vague memories of a dream. Good sign I hope.
Pretty much a lost day. Most of the morning was spent wandering a Mall in Maui. Vague thoughts occasionally bubbling up to the surface, only to burst before I could grasp them.
Quick Stats:
STR: 10 DEX: 7 CON: 7 INT: 10 WIS: 15 CHA: 3
"You know the part about life
Is just a waking dream
Well I know what you mean
But that ain't how it seems right here, right now"
3am nap: Managed to oversleep. Didn't I just say I thought I was past that? It's the missed nap thing. I set my alarm, but forgot to move the little dial thingy to say ALM ON. Didn't oversleep as bad as I'd thought.. but I know from experience that this is going to be a long day.
7am nap: Feeling like my body has been beaten to a bloody mass, sucked through a hose and reassembled. Took a nap, hoping to salvage some brain cells for the day. (Eh, I'm on holiday, so who cares)
11am nap: -Skipped to try and get back on schedule
3pm nap: Hard time getting to sleep, and even harder waking up. 35 minutes of deadtime
7pm nap: Napped at the hotel. Attempting to get back on track. 25
11pm nap: Vague memories of a dream. Good sign I hope.
Pretty much a lost day. Most of the morning was spent wandering a Mall in Maui. Vague thoughts occasionally bubbling up to the surface, only to burst before I could grasp them.
Quick Stats:
STR: 10 DEX: 7 CON: 7 INT: 10 WIS: 15 CHA: 3
"You know the part about life
Is just a waking dream
Well I know what you mean
But that ain't how it seems right here, right now"
Thursday, September 6, 2007
PolyCycle Day Eighteen
My fear of oversleeping is gone. Now, my biggest concern is making sure that I'm utilizing my time well. My 3-7 cycle was mostly wasted today. Lot of TV and little anything else.
3am nap: Adaptation looks to be complete. I set my alarms (Watch, Battery Powered, Standard Nightstand), lay down and after a few moments, fell right to sleep. About 20 minutes later, I awoke and turned off the unneeded alarms.
7am nap: Due to the need to leave the house at 6:30, I took my 7am nap at 5:30... Then we turned out not to leave the house till much later. A little zombie-like in the thought process.
11am nap: Quick. Less then 15 minutes. Did not feel fully rested. It should be noted that even though I'm saying "not fully rested" I still feel like I have more energy and more cognitive juice to play with.
3pm nap: Some little thief was in the Quiet Room.. so I had to wait over half an hour. Boo Hoo. Full 28 minutes and nice dreaming. A Pan Galactic Gargle Nap.
7pm nap: Unable to get to sleep on the plane.
11pm nap: Catching up with and old friend. Yes Ogre, I just called you old. Buaahhaahhaa.
Little worried that I will oversleep, but I'm going to take a double nap (I'll have to add that to the Pollynap list) and then continue on as normal. Fingers crossed and all that.
Quick Stats:
STR: 14
DEX: 16
CON: 18
INT: 16
WIS: 10
CHA: 4
3am nap: Adaptation looks to be complete. I set my alarms (Watch, Battery Powered, Standard Nightstand), lay down and after a few moments, fell right to sleep. About 20 minutes later, I awoke and turned off the unneeded alarms.
7am nap: Due to the need to leave the house at 6:30, I took my 7am nap at 5:30... Then we turned out not to leave the house till much later. A little zombie-like in the thought process.
11am nap: Quick. Less then 15 minutes. Did not feel fully rested. It should be noted that even though I'm saying "not fully rested" I still feel like I have more energy and more cognitive juice to play with.
3pm nap: Some little thief was in the Quiet Room.. so I had to wait over half an hour. Boo Hoo. Full 28 minutes and nice dreaming. A Pan Galactic Gargle Nap.
7pm nap: Unable to get to sleep on the plane.
11pm nap: Catching up with and old friend. Yes Ogre, I just called you old. Buaahhaahhaa.
Little worried that I will oversleep, but I'm going to take a double nap (I'll have to add that to the Pollynap list) and then continue on as normal. Fingers crossed and all that.
Quick Stats:
STR: 14
DEX: 16
CON: 18
INT: 16
WIS: 10
CHA: 4
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
PolyCycle Day Seventeen
3am nap: Went by in a flash. In fact the 11pm to 3am cycle seemed to flip right past. Awoke at the sound of the alarm. Recollection of working on two laptops during my dream. Mental clarity is high, as is energy.
7am nap: I remember dreaming, but not what about. Feeling very mellow today.
11am nap: Dropped into sleep almost immediately and woke up right before my alarm was to go off. Uncanny, it is. And kinda cool. I've given control of my body up to the aliens.
3pm nap: Again.. dropped right off into a deep sleep. The dream for this cycle was "Carnival". Very large group of friends were in what I am assuming a South American country for the festival. For my birthday, I suppose. Our group was very large and quite boisterous and quickly created a rolling party. Popping into street side bars for a round of X and the off down the street to see what puu puu's the next place had. Now if I only had enough money to fly all my friends to So. America for the weekend.. Woke up 21 minutes into the sleep mp3, with 5 minutes left to play. Uncanny. I'm beginning to believe that either aliens have taken over my brain, or that my brain has begun to seriously consider this new sleep pattern.
7pm nap: Tired, but not all that sleepy. Might have slept for 10 minutes.
11pm nap: Dropped quickly in to sleep and woke before my 30 minute alarm went off.
Gotta tell ya, it's rather weird.
Things are weird.
On on hand, I can tell that my thinking is still a little blurry, but at the same time, there is a clarity here. (Yup, sounds like I'm loosing it.) My mood is very calm. Things that normally would get at me are floating right past. Not as if I don't notice, but more like I'm more in control about how I react to things.
Seems sustainable.
I figured that I would inevitably want to break every clock.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 16
INT: 19
WIS: 13
CHA: 4
7am nap: I remember dreaming, but not what about. Feeling very mellow today.
11am nap: Dropped into sleep almost immediately and woke up right before my alarm was to go off. Uncanny, it is. And kinda cool. I've given control of my body up to the aliens.
3pm nap: Again.. dropped right off into a deep sleep. The dream for this cycle was "Carnival". Very large group of friends were in what I am assuming a South American country for the festival. For my birthday, I suppose. Our group was very large and quite boisterous and quickly created a rolling party. Popping into street side bars for a round of X and the off down the street to see what puu puu's the next place had. Now if I only had enough money to fly all my friends to So. America for the weekend.. Woke up 21 minutes into the sleep mp3, with 5 minutes left to play. Uncanny. I'm beginning to believe that either aliens have taken over my brain, or that my brain has begun to seriously consider this new sleep pattern.
7pm nap: Tired, but not all that sleepy. Might have slept for 10 minutes.
11pm nap: Dropped quickly in to sleep and woke before my 30 minute alarm went off.
Gotta tell ya, it's rather weird.
Things are weird.
On on hand, I can tell that my thinking is still a little blurry, but at the same time, there is a clarity here. (Yup, sounds like I'm loosing it.) My mood is very calm. Things that normally would get at me are floating right past. Not as if I don't notice, but more like I'm more in control about how I react to things.
Seems sustainable.
I figured that I would inevitably want to break every clock.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 16
INT: 19
WIS: 13
CHA: 4
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Pollynap types.
From the Wayward Wellingtonians:
I'd like to add a ninth:
9. The Zonk (AKA The Negative Time Share)
You feel pretty tired and fall asleep quickly. When you awake, you feel just like you did when you laid down, pretty tired. No dreams, no rest.. ARgh.. should have stayed up and played Halo2.
Since we started sleeping polyphasically, I've noticed the quality and nature of naps varies quite a bit. Most naps are just "standard" naps, but I get at least one of these naps each week or so:
8. The Paradox (AKA The Traitor, The Pan Galactic Gargle Nap)
Everything seemed to go so well. You lay down on schedule, fell asleep right away, and had a lovely dream involving cake, meadows and fluffy animals. Yet you wake up feeling like someone stuffed your head full of polystyrene and poured bleach in your eyes.
Luckily, the effect tends to fade away after a few minutes.
7. The Time Warp (AKA The Forgotten Oversleep, The WTF Nap)
Three hours have passed, both alarm clocks have been switched off, along with the light and the MP3 player. You may also have had a drink and been to the bathroom at some point. The last thing you remember is lying down.
6. The Newbie Nap (AKA Murphy's Nap, The Coffee Victim)
Your eyes refuse to stay open. Your body is exhausted. Your brain feels like it's been stuffed with cotton wool. You lie down expecting the best nap of your life.
Instead, you spend 20 minutes thinking about how badly you want to get to sleep. The ticking clock, humming refrigerator, faint noises from next door and blinking LED on the VCR also don't help.
5. The Phantom Nap (AKA The Non-Nap, The Wake)
You were awake when you lay down. You were awake when the alarm went off. You don't remember waking up. Did you sleep in between? No-one will ever know. Unless someone heard you snoring.
4. The Nap-22 (AKA The No-Win-Nap, The Nap-And-A-Half-Without-The-Nap)
You wake up feeling pretty good. Eyes open, head clear. But there's a problem. You still have half your time left. Do you get up, or go back to sleep?
If you get up you'll feel tired later. If you go back to sleep you'll feel tired when you wake up. You may as well just give up and sleep through to the next nap (not really).
3. The Micronap (AKA The Surprise, The iNap Nano)
Why did the hand of that clock jump forward two minutes?
2. The Snap (AKA The Epiphany, The Crystal Pillow)
You suddenly snap awake, with one minute left on the clock. You feel like your whole life has been a lead-up to this one moment of startling and unexpected clarity.
Work fast. You have about 5 minutes before you go back to normal.
1. The Chrono-Nap (AKA The Bullet-Time, The Saga)
You fall asleep almost immediately and have an incredibly long and detailed dream. You wake up what feels like hours later, cursing yourself for oversleeping, only to realize you've been asleep five minutes.
You resist the urge to call your monophasic friends and tell them how awesome polynapping is.
I'd like to add a ninth:
9. The Zonk (AKA The Negative Time Share)
You feel pretty tired and fall asleep quickly. When you awake, you feel just like you did when you laid down, pretty tired. No dreams, no rest.. ARgh.. should have stayed up and played Halo2.
PolyCycle Day Sixteen
11-3am cycle was filled with the energy missing from the rest of the day. Managed to make significant progress on a number of fronts.
3am nap: I've decide that the possibility of falling asleep and oversleeping on the 3am nap is greater than all others and to nap on the couch or floor. This particular nap was on the living room floor. My mental capacity right now is leading me to think that I might just be better off sleeping. First I need to fully integrate into this schedule. Creativity seems to be a bit higher in the wee hours. Might have something to do with lowered fear of looking like an idiot.
7am nap: Nice Sunday morning feeling to this nap. Awoke with just a hint of being drowsy.
11am nap: Powernap in the Quiet room. Took almost 30 minutes for my brain to reach anything related to cognitive skill.
3pm nap: Why did I forget to turn off my phone?!? 11 minutes into sleep.. Spent the rest of the allotted nap time with eyes closed and pretending to sleep. I'll need to make up that REM.
7pm nap: Attempted to sleep in the car outside a restaurant. I'm not sure why, but I have a bit of trouble sleeping in this car. Very light sleep for 1o minutes or so.
11pm nap: Pure exhaustion hit me around 10:30. Dropped into sleep immediately. Woke up because of the alarm (I've been waking prior for awhile now), and decided that I needed a bit more. Reset the alarms and went back to sleep. Awoke still a little on the groggy side, but with a bit more energy.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 16
INT: 14
WIS: 13
CHA: 10
3am nap: I've decide that the possibility of falling asleep and oversleeping on the 3am nap is greater than all others and to nap on the couch or floor. This particular nap was on the living room floor. My mental capacity right now is leading me to think that I might just be better off sleeping. First I need to fully integrate into this schedule. Creativity seems to be a bit higher in the wee hours. Might have something to do with lowered fear of looking like an idiot.
7am nap: Nice Sunday morning feeling to this nap. Awoke with just a hint of being drowsy.
11am nap: Powernap in the Quiet room. Took almost 30 minutes for my brain to reach anything related to cognitive skill.
3pm nap: Why did I forget to turn off my phone?!? 11 minutes into sleep.. Spent the rest of the allotted nap time with eyes closed and pretending to sleep. I'll need to make up that REM.
7pm nap: Attempted to sleep in the car outside a restaurant. I'm not sure why, but I have a bit of trouble sleeping in this car. Very light sleep for 1o minutes or so.
11pm nap: Pure exhaustion hit me around 10:30. Dropped into sleep immediately. Woke up because of the alarm (I've been waking prior for awhile now), and decided that I needed a bit more. Reset the alarms and went back to sleep. Awoke still a little on the groggy side, but with a bit more energy.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 15
CON: 16
INT: 14
WIS: 13
CHA: 10
Monday, September 3, 2007
PolyCycle Day Fifteen
The cycle from 11am to 3am was one of pure exhaustion. Barely able to sit upright, let alone put a thought together. Not sure exactly what I did to keep from crashing.
3am nap: Very Very drowsy.. Walking dead type of drowsy. Morning yoga may very well be a long term positive side effect.
7am nap: Still feeling sleepy.. but more of the Sunday Afternoon sleepy. Zoned out in front of the TV watching CSI Miami. Yawn.
11am nap: Nothing special to note with the exception that I'm consistently waking up before the alarm goes off.
3pm nap: Dreams were a high speed visual assault. Think Videodrome.
7pm nap: First repeat dream. Nice. I can get used to this. Almost every nap cycle today has produced dreams. Not entirely sure of the significance of this, but it is rather pleasant.
11pm nap: Slept soundly and dreamt. I was very very close to oversleeping. I lay in bed for about 20 minutes barely conscious.
Overall I have not felt rested today. I am attributing this to the reintroduction phase from Friday morning's oversleep.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 19 (I pwn you at Mario Party 8)
CON: 14
INT: 4
WIS: 4
CHA: 5
3am nap: Very Very drowsy.. Walking dead type of drowsy. Morning yoga may very well be a long term positive side effect.
7am nap: Still feeling sleepy.. but more of the Sunday Afternoon sleepy. Zoned out in front of the TV watching CSI Miami. Yawn.
11am nap: Nothing special to note with the exception that I'm consistently waking up before the alarm goes off.
3pm nap: Dreams were a high speed visual assault. Think Videodrome.
7pm nap: First repeat dream. Nice. I can get used to this. Almost every nap cycle today has produced dreams. Not entirely sure of the significance of this, but it is rather pleasant.
11pm nap: Slept soundly and dreamt. I was very very close to oversleeping. I lay in bed for about 20 minutes barely conscious.
Overall I have not felt rested today. I am attributing this to the reintroduction phase from Friday morning's oversleep.
Quick Stats:
STR: 15
DEX: 19 (I pwn you at Mario Party 8)
CON: 14
INT: 4
WIS: 4
CHA: 5
PolyCycle Day Fourteen
Day two in the outdoors.
3am nap: Thanks go out to Claudio and Anton for the fascinating conversation that helped get me to 3am. Very very tired. This nap went rather well. Woke up before the alarm went off.
7am nap: Claudio made it until about 4am (Guessing), but Anton, obviously not yet out of 'root beer' was more than willing to engage me in debate to help me stay up.
Yes, he stayed up with me until 7am. Family never goes out of style.
11am nap: Still very tired from trying to get back on schedule. This nap began almost immediately, and contained a very vivid dream. I awoke after 17 minutes of sleep with my pulse in the 170's and slightly disoriented. Once I realized I was dreaming, I lay back down and was able to control the direction of the dream.. Actor and director. Sweet.
3pm nap: Event pack down seems to take forever. An extended member of our group got caught in a downpour as we were about ready to leave. We, being who we are, stopped to laugh.. er.. help out. There's something about helping someone with absolutely no expectations of payment/reward. We carried his belongings from the his campsite to the permanent structure in the rain. Then carried them to his truck. Good and self rewarding work.
Nap pushed back to 4pm. Pure exhaustion.
7pm nap: I delayed this nap until 8pm to see if I could normalize the nap structure a bit. Awaking from this nap provided no sense of rest of sleep. Needed to hold on to the handrail to go down the stairs. Tired.
11pm nap: Extremely difficult to scrape myself out of bed. Strong feeling of being the walking dead. Constant and determined effort is required to keep eyes open. Needed some activity that required minimal brain work, and some physical activity. Console Video Games to the rescue. Mario Party 8.
Quick Stats:
STR: 18 (lots of lifting today)
DEX: 17 (play sword fighting with the kids)
CON: 16 Surviving (not yet thriving) on 20 minute power naps..
INT: 8 Is this really a good idea?
WIS: 10
CHA: 5 -Need shave and a shower.
3am nap: Thanks go out to Claudio and Anton for the fascinating conversation that helped get me to 3am. Very very tired. This nap went rather well. Woke up before the alarm went off.
7am nap: Claudio made it until about 4am (Guessing), but Anton, obviously not yet out of 'root beer' was more than willing to engage me in debate to help me stay up.
Yes, he stayed up with me until 7am. Family never goes out of style.
11am nap: Still very tired from trying to get back on schedule. This nap began almost immediately, and contained a very vivid dream. I awoke after 17 minutes of sleep with my pulse in the 170's and slightly disoriented. Once I realized I was dreaming, I lay back down and was able to control the direction of the dream.. Actor and director. Sweet.
3pm nap: Event pack down seems to take forever. An extended member of our group got caught in a downpour as we were about ready to leave. We, being who we are, stopped to laugh.. er.. help out. There's something about helping someone with absolutely no expectations of payment/reward. We carried his belongings from the his campsite to the permanent structure in the rain. Then carried them to his truck. Good and self rewarding work.
Nap pushed back to 4pm. Pure exhaustion.
7pm nap: I delayed this nap until 8pm to see if I could normalize the nap structure a bit. Awaking from this nap provided no sense of rest of sleep. Needed to hold on to the handrail to go down the stairs. Tired.
11pm nap: Extremely difficult to scrape myself out of bed. Strong feeling of being the walking dead. Constant and determined effort is required to keep eyes open. Needed some activity that required minimal brain work, and some physical activity. Console Video Games to the rescue. Mario Party 8.
Quick Stats:
STR: 18 (lots of lifting today)
DEX: 17 (play sword fighting with the kids)
CON: 16 Surviving (not yet thriving) on 20 minute power naps..
INT: 8 Is this really a good idea?
WIS: 10
CHA: 5 -Need shave and a shower.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Day Thirteen interval post
Going camping.
Car camping.. but hey, I'll take what I can get, OK.
No post until Sunday night.
I'm eager to see how I will fill the time between 3am and 7am, in the dark.
Alone. Without my normal distractions.. and the benefit of light.
This, I think, is going to be quite tough.
See you in a few cycles.
MtM
Car camping.. but hey, I'll take what I can get, OK.
No post until Sunday night.
I'm eager to see how I will fill the time between 3am and 7am, in the dark.
Alone. Without my normal distractions.. and the benefit of light.
This, I think, is going to be quite tough.
See you in a few cycles.
MtM
PolyCycle Day Thirteen
Camping at Ho'omaluhia Bontanical Gardens today.
3am nap: Did not sleep very well and awoke very tired. No more than 10 minutes. I am a little stressed out about oversleeping and I do not like to pack for a trip last minute.
7am nap: Restless. No more than 10 minutes of sleep. Not fully packed for the camping trip.
11am nap: This nap was taken in the heat of midday, in a tent. Sleep was obtained, but it was very restless, and unsatisfying.
3pm nap: Tent nap. I managed about 10 minutes of good sleep. I awoke to hear the gang of children trying to sneak up on me. I'm sorry to report that this limited potential for any ninjas in that group. Ninja's don't giggle. Ever.
This group that I'm hanging out with, is familiar with what I'm doing, but the extended group of course, was not. I must enjoy being different. The looks on peoples faces is great.
7pm nap: Slipped away for my nap almost un-noticed. Strange environment and sounds seem to be preventing me from feeling truly relaxed. Add that to a feeling of 'not really tired'.
11pm nap: Now entering dangerous territory. It's dark, we are out in nature. There are many signals that the brain interprets as sleep triggers. We conquer them thru electricity, but I think they are too ingrained in our brains for it to disappear. For this nap, I tried to reinforce in my mind the need to get back up again. It's natural to go to sleep when it's dark, you are tired, and well fed, not to mention a bit of physical activity. (Yes, I did just imply that this experiment in not natural. Silly, you think anyone would assume that it was?)
Now.. to make until 3am.
Quick Stats:
STR: 17 \
DEX: 16 ---- Nothing like a bit of physical activity (setting up camp) to make you feel healthy.
CON: 16 /
INT: 14
WIS: 9 doubting my wisdom in attempting to do polyphasic without the electronic stimulus.
CHA: 13
3am nap: Did not sleep very well and awoke very tired. No more than 10 minutes. I am a little stressed out about oversleeping and I do not like to pack for a trip last minute.
7am nap: Restless. No more than 10 minutes of sleep. Not fully packed for the camping trip.
11am nap: This nap was taken in the heat of midday, in a tent. Sleep was obtained, but it was very restless, and unsatisfying.
3pm nap: Tent nap. I managed about 10 minutes of good sleep. I awoke to hear the gang of children trying to sneak up on me. I'm sorry to report that this limited potential for any ninjas in that group. Ninja's don't giggle. Ever.
This group that I'm hanging out with, is familiar with what I'm doing, but the extended group of course, was not. I must enjoy being different. The looks on peoples faces is great.
7pm nap: Slipped away for my nap almost un-noticed. Strange environment and sounds seem to be preventing me from feeling truly relaxed. Add that to a feeling of 'not really tired'.
11pm nap: Now entering dangerous territory. It's dark, we are out in nature. There are many signals that the brain interprets as sleep triggers. We conquer them thru electricity, but I think they are too ingrained in our brains for it to disappear. For this nap, I tried to reinforce in my mind the need to get back up again. It's natural to go to sleep when it's dark, you are tired, and well fed, not to mention a bit of physical activity. (Yes, I did just imply that this experiment in not natural. Silly, you think anyone would assume that it was?)
Now.. to make until 3am.
Quick Stats:
STR: 17 \
DEX: 16 ---- Nothing like a bit of physical activity (setting up camp) to make you feel healthy.
CON: 16 /
INT: 14
WIS: 9 doubting my wisdom in attempting to do polyphasic without the electronic stimulus.
CHA: 13
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