it's a privilege now to introduce ken heineman. ken? >> thank you very much. >> good afternoon. thank you for that wonderful introduction. on these occasions, it's usually considered appropriate to lead off with a personal 1960s story, which is a little bit difficult in my case since i was born in 1962. therefore my '60s story took place actually in 1984. as a senior at michigan state university. my roommate, wes and i, had set up a landscaping business. and we came across a client a little old gentleman named ralph. and ralph wanted us to work on the big house. so ralph would ride around the property on a motorized lawnmower, have a cigar clamped between his teeth and say we have to move those railroad ties over there. of course wes and i in the prime of life at 22, both of us together groaning and straining to lift these ties up, one tie. like, gee, ralph, how did you get these down here? oh, i just threw them over my shoulders, two at a time, plopped them down. my friend wes said this guy is a gorilla. i was noticing the big house on the property and i noticed his gardens wer