For people like Okie interested in assignments with travel, I’m going to recap some of my recent assignments and the good/bad of taking these shops. Please feel free to add your own experiences in here so others can learn from them. I will start with the most recent assignments and work backwards for bit. Some of my best trips are definitely in the past, and will probably not be able to be recreated.

Bidding
I saw this shop come available and didn’t even know the resort existed, but was at one of the sister resorts on a shop and my wife looked it up in the catalog they left in our hotel room. It was in wine country we were down for a weekend of wine tasting. I bid low because I wanted to get it assigned quickly; $50 fee + $50 travel. Shop was assigned within a day, so the research/scheduling part was very quick (15 mins max)

Pre-arrival
Got the assignment details and it was a LOT of food, but I expected that from the shop we were on, and I knew what I was getting into. One more email to the MSC with a few questions to work out the stay details, another small narrative for the online reservation, and a spa reservation that I needed to report on (30 mins). The good news is that by asking a few questions in advance, I was let go of the requirement of making any meal reservations, or having to do a second dinner at the resort restaurant!

Travel
While $50 travel is not a lot, this resort is within driving distance, and I took my EV. It was slightly outside the car’s range, but I was able to locate a level 4 charger along the way, and in my pre-arrival text, confirm that charging was available on property! We stop for charge up on the way in. Starbucks is across the street and by the time we get 2 drinks and return to the car, it has enough power to make it to the resort! When we check in, they tell us the resort only has Tesla chargers, but fortunately they also have universal adapters. When I ask for the car keys the next day to go out, they tell me the valet will have to get the car, because guests have been stealing the charging adapters. The concierge offers us a loaner G-wagon from the resort as an option for going out, and so why not? We drive the resort car around for the remainder of the trip. When we go to check out, the valet loads our luggage into the car and I get home to find the Tesla adapter in the back of the car with our luggage!

Stay
The resort was great. The massage was even better, We loved the area (Los Olivos) and the food was excellent. The only meal on our own was dinner at a local outlet the bartender had recommended, but we could have had a second on property dinner instead, as long as I reported on it. We went wine tasting during the trip and they offered free tastings with the purchase of two bottles, so ended up spending a bit more on wine, but I am going to count the actual cost of the wine tasting for value purposes, since we haven’t even opened some of the wine yet. The resort also gave us a bottle of wine at check in that we brought back with us. I had to ask the concierge about local activities and ended up booking a horseback riding trip through them that I didn’t cancel, because it sounded fun, and came with more wine tasting. I got through the entire hotel stay without doing any actual reporting or much work, but a meeting I had scheduled for the next day got moved up and I spent 3 hours after check out on a Zoom call in the hotel lounge.

Post Stay
We left late after my meeting and stopped at a local casino on the way home because they offered free car charging, and I had a $100 gaming credit there. I managed to turn that into $380, but also gave $100 to my wife to she could keep busy, and she lost all of it. At that point, we were getting hungry, so I decided to stop for dinner at one of my restaurant dinner shops I was assigned for that week. We finally arrived home at 10 PM exhausted from travel. We unpack and I left my computer on the floor in my office.

Reporting
Woke up the next morning to find my work schedule had changed again, and I needed to be at an in-person meeting at 1 PM. I had just enough time to scan and organize the receipts, and get the diner shop from the night before submitted. Came home after work and got the photos from the shop all imported, resized and labeled, and I was once again exhausted. I woke up day #2 of being back with zero work done on the narrative, made coffee, got to work, and by noon I was cursing the person who set up the standards for this new client. It’s almost twice as much work as other hotels. I move to a new AI dictation app I am trying out, get all of the narrative in and formatted by 10 PM, and end up with 21 pages of 11pt narrative! I email the MSC that the report will be a day late and crash out. I get back at it the next morning and surprisingly get everything proofed and submitted by noon. Total time reporting is about 2 days of time.

Epilogue
Report comes back with a 100% score and no questions. Reversal comes through exactly two weeks after check out and am starting to forget how much work the narrative was. We got some great wines out of it and just shared a bottle with friends this week. The horse riding also felt like a once in lifetime opportunity for us. My wife bedazzled one of the old horse shoes they gave us and now it permanently decorates our home.

Finally Tally
Shop pay + travel reimbursement (for mileage) = +$100
Level 2 EV charging = -$9.99
Home EV charging = -$11.45 (Yes; that’s 2 nearly full tanks!)
Starbucks = -$13.65
Horseback riding = -$360
Dinner in town = -$80.96
Wine tasting = -$50.00
Casino = +$280
Tesla Adapter for car = +$139.99

Resort Reversal = $3,218.41
Reimbursed tips and valet parking = $40
Dinner on route home = $166.69

Total cost for 3 days of vacation: -$6.06
Total value of vacation: $4,091.14

Yes, I am including the Tesla charging adapter as part of the shop gains, because I put it in the report, nobody asked for it back, and I was on the verge of purchasing one. I have also made a habit of including any gaming winnings or losses in my overall budget, since it’s part of the experience and a reality of the vacation expense. The travel reimbursement was a bit of mislead with the MSC, because they reimburse for mileage and I knew the cost for the EV to get there/back would be far less than what I could claim as standard reimbursement. The vacation value ends up at a little more than $2,000 per day for the work I put in, so it was worth it in the end and we have some great memories from the trip, whereas I can barely remember the 2 days I lost prepping the reports. It is stressful to take on these assignments when you have another full time job, though, Especially one with an unpredictable schedule.

I prefer the timeshare shops for Wyndham/Worldmark. Might not be as nice as your resort, but I don't need all the additional headaches. I do not want to spend that much time on vacation writing up "War and Peace" novels.

Glad you had fun though.

Thank you SteveSoCal for sharing! Just curious, which brand and model EV do you drive?

@Okie It's a MINI Cooper. Not a popular choice in the EV world, but I live in the middle of the city, so I need something that parks easy and is zippy. My range requirements are not that heavy, since this shop is one of 3 times this year I actually had to locate a fast charger away from home. Most people don't drive more than 50-60 miles a day and somehow think they need a car with a 350+ mile range.

And to clarify for HBBD; I did not write a single word of the report from the time I left my house to when I returned. I brought my computer along for my main job and only needed it for the meeting after check out. The trip was a real vacation outside of me taking notes and pics with my phone.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Okie It's a MINI Cooper. Not a popular choice in the EV world, but I live in the middle of the city, so I need something that parks easy and is zippy. My range requirements are not that heavy, since this shop is one of 3 times this year I actually had to locate a fast charger away from home. Most people don't drive more than 50-60 miles a day and somehow think they need a car with a 350+ mile range.

Oh nice, I test drove the Countryman EV. I had to adjust the seat as far back as it could go for legroom. Other than that, that was a fun ride. I think the salesman touted something about even 50/50 weight distribution with front and rear. Turned the regenerative breaking on and off.

When I did a run of test drive shops, I've been trying out the EV models. That made it worth the time, and it went by quickly.

@Okie wrote:

I test drove the Countryman EV.

I started with the Countryman hybrid and moved to the Cooper EV 3 years ago when it came out, because I was ready to go full electric at that point. We are planning to get the new Countryman EV as soon as stock arrives here in LA. They are still hard to get out the door at my dealership.

Gas in CA is more expensive than most places, and they have yet to institute anything to replace the gas tax for EV drivers here, so the EV is definitely a plus for MSing right now. I'm 3 years in and all of have paid for is new tires. No more oil change shops for me, but I had not done one of those in a while anyway....

SteveSoCal, do you lease? If I was in the market for a new vehicle, I would consider a Tesla. The tax credit/domestic rebate and promotional financing for Tesla was reasonable. I would qualify with modified AGI. Me being frugal though, I envision that I'll still be driving the same vehicle for at least another 10 years.

@Okie wrote:

SteveSoCal, do you lease? If I was in the market for a new vehicle, I would consider a Tesla. The tax credit/domestic rebate and promotional financing for Tesla was reasonable. I would qualify with modified AGI. Me being frugal though, I envision that I'll still be driving the same vehicle for at least another 10 years.

The EV actually appeals to my frugal nature. I am planning to lease the new one because the tech is evolving so fast, 3 years can bring big changes...and we are planning to keep the Cooper EV in the family and give it to our son. They were not offering leases 3 years ago when it came out, so I own that car, but the incentives were great back then. I got back $9,500 from the purchase, and the car has HOV lane access for another two years.

There are fewer incentives in CA these days, but you can get a used Tesla in LA on the super cheap right now, along with the $4k used EV rebate. Many people here are ditching their Teslas for other models. Not because there is anything wrong with the car. They are either not fans or Elon, or upgrading to a Cybertruck.

I would guess in my neighborhood that 25% of the cars are probably Teslas. I like the idea of having a more unique car, but having a Tesla in LA might also really allow you blend in if you were a shopper (providing it's not a Cybertruck)

i've had 2 teslas now. 2018 model 3 (toyota corolla of Teslas) and now a 2021 model Y performance. While I love the technology ang single pedal driving, i refuse to take the car on long trips. basically LA to Vegas is my limit. I will take my highlander hybrid for longer trips.

No one talks about what they are going to do with all these batteries when they die off. Do I really think we are better off with EV, than with ICE? I don't think so. My 2000 honda crv with 270k miles will probably last longer than my tesla will. I do like renewable energy, but no one talks about all the mining that it takes plus how are they going to dispose of all the solar panels or batteries.

I will NOT buy another EV until the mileage is at 500 minimum. I was interested in cybertruck when announced in 2018 with 500 mile range. When it came out, it was well under that amount.

When I researched it, I read some compelling arguments going both way. For me, to tip the scale to EV, I would personally have to enjoy driving the vehicle on a daily basis, and the tech would need to make my life considerably easier. Honestly, I don't have a noble cause in trying to save the environment. I know to some that's a big factor.

When I thought about how I could make up the difference if I did purchase a EV like charging it for free at work and less periodic maintenance, I determined it would be a want later in life.

I'm with bigdaddy on the environmental impact of EVs. And nobody ever talks about it. Me, I drive too long and too far to worry about finding a charger, paying for it and either waiting in line to use it and/or waiting for it to charge. I want to get my gas and go ASAP. Even better is when the gas is reimbursed!

@SteveSoCal alright, Steve. What company was this shop for? I know you're a Coyle guy.
I do a lot of hotels. I had one Tuesday, and I had to sit in the lobby after two, because my guest and I both had work meetings. We were only there til about noon though. Not for three hours. I stay mostly local (midwest). But I did my first far flung one to the Hamptons last year. The mistake I made there, was thinking I'd get several NY hotels. And I got one and then pieced together an EXHAUSTING road trip where when I wasn't driving, I was reporting. Miserable.
Last month, I did a trip to Denver with two hotels and two museums and that was AWESOME. We flew so I had more time to enjoy the trip. Still exhausting.

@nolimitem wrote:

@SteveSoCal alright, Steve. What company was this shop for?

You can assume it's Coyle unless I mention otherwise. I do work for a few other MSCs now and then.

It's always exhausting to travel. I try to do the photos on the flight if I fly to the shop, but I can't do narrative on a plane. I need my comfy desk. I took a train back once and was actually able to do a lot of the work on the train, paired to my phone as a hotspot for WiFi.

@nolimitem wrote:

@SteveSoCal alright, Steve. What company was this shop for? I know you're a Coyle guy.
I do a lot of hotels. I had one Tuesday, and I had to sit in the lobby after two, because my guest and I both had work meetings. We were only there til about noon though. Not for three hours. I stay mostly local (midwest). But I did my first far flung one to the Hamptons last year. The mistake I made there, was thinking I'd get several NY hotels. And I got one and then pieced together an EXHAUSTING road trip where when I wasn't driving, I was reporting. Miserable.
Last month, I did a trip to Denver with two hotels and two museums and that was AWESOME. We flew so I had more time to enjoy the trip. Still exhausting.

I was exhausted just reading about Steve's trip!

I do appreciate Mr. SoCal's level of detail and precision with his trip report. One can tell his he brings that same level of attention and focus with his reports over to his posts.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I move to a new AI dictation app I am trying out, get all of the narrative in and formatted by 10 PM, and end up with 21 pages of 11pt narrative! I email the MSC that the report will be a day late and crash out. I get back at it the next morning and surprisingly get everything proofed and submitted by noon. Total time reporting is about 2 days of time.

21 pages of 11 pt narrative - dayum! Granted that is with an AI dictation app. Now I know why I get the grades that I do.

If anyone wants to share which MSCs do travel or timeshares feel free. In return if you want, I'll send a pic of myself wearing a plunging neckline - if you want to see an overweight 49 year old male that way.

That's an enticing description. Maybe you should start an OnlyFans account as a side gig.

@BabyBooey19 wrote:

If anyone wants to share which MSCs do travel or timeshares feel free. In return if you want, I'll send a pic of myself wearing a plunging neckline - if you want to see an overweight 49 year old male that way.

Here’s a different type of travel shop I can highlight, and also an example of what can happen when things go awry. This one has a happy ending, but client and MSC were accommodating with problems, and worked with me throughout. Not all MSCs may be as helpful.

Let me start by saying not all shops are available to all shoppers with many MSCs, and this client is not even around anymore (as a shop), but it is a big reason that I still MS, and brought me out of the break I took at the start of the pandemic. There’s really no fee bidding for this client. The MSC was offering $50 plus approved travel, so the bidding was all about travel allowances, and am usually out money for these experiences. I was pre-selected for this assignment in the Bahamas, and it was a four bedroom vacation home, where you are basically testing interactions with the staff, as well as the product itself. The shops themselves are relatively easy, and most of the work is done before you even arrive. The MSC is mainly looking at shoppers who can appear like they will be able to afford the experience, and are reliable. The fact that I personally know the owner of the MSC put me on the fast-track for this client when they signed them, and this is one of my favorite clients they ever had.

Bidding
The bad news is that they will only pay for two people to travel, but you are welcome to bring more family and friends, up to the stated capacity of the residence. I brought one friend who lives here in Los Angles, and two others from areas who were able to use award tickets for their flights. I found the most affordable flights for two that I could from LAX to the Bahamas ($734.85 x 2), and an extremely economical car rental ($165), and the shop was approved after 4-5 emails back and forth about details. The MSC also agreed to cover tips and other required incidental charges, but the food while on property was our responsibility, and I was required to order groceries through them as part of the shop, that I would then have to pay for.

Pre-arrival
There is a lot of back and forth on these types of shops, so from the time that it was first discussed on May 25th, to my return on November 9th, I had 51 emails with various people that needed to be documented for the report. There was another dozen or so emails and texts with my guests about travel details and vacation plans as well. All of this was written up before I arrived at the property, and probably amounts to 2 days of time, but was spread over a few months, 30 minutes at a time. And it’s all just emails, so I can usually do those when I have a little downtime at work.

Travel
The travel should have been very simple, and the flight there was easy. We had an overnight layover in MIA, and my status with American allowed us Premium Economy seats for the LA to MIA leg, which was great for my travel companion, since he’s 6’4”. I cashed in a hotel award night for the layover at a Miami airport hotel that included breakfast, and we had about an hour left for dinner at a nearby Cuban restaurant after arriving. I like this particular restaurant, and it was walking distance form the hotel.

Here’s where I realize I have a bit of a pattern to my travel shops, and how I budget them. My friend and I have a few beers at dinner, and then decide it’s a good idea to walk to the nearby casino. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a casino within walking distance to the Miami airport, or have it that my plans, but we saw the sign as we left the restaurant and next thing I know, I am giving my friend craps lessons at a machine in the casino. And it went well. So much so that we leave with a pretty decent wad of cash. I don’t exactly remember how much, because of what happened next. We then decided it was then a good idea to stop into a nearby nightclub on the walk back when it started to rain, and more beers were had. And we offered to buy drinks for some ladies were met, and that somehow turned into bottle service, I do know we took a taxi back to the hotel at some point, but everything else is kinda blurry in my memory, and I ended up with about $220 extra in my wallet the next morning, but that also includes dinner the night before, so it’s still a win. We meet up with the other two friends after a short island-hopper in the morning, the car rental guy was there to greet us, and pretty soon we are all at the resort.

Stay
The resort was really nice. The beach itself was amazing, and home was a multi-million dollar villa, but a little dated. I found 9 defects that I photographed for the assignment. One of the events offered at the resort was boar hunting, and while I am not up for actually hunting and killing a boar, I had recently tried some boar ragu in Italy, found the recipe for it, and had been wanting to try making it for myself, but unable to source wild boar at home. Fortune smiled on us and the resort delivered two pounds of wild boar meat, along with all of the other pre-ordered groceries, to the house. The recipe calls for the ragu to simmer for 5-6 hours, so we planned to make it the following day, and went out for dinner at a local restaurant that was highly recommended. One friend picked up that dinner tab as a thank you for inviting him, but this is when our fortune turned. We arrived back at the villa to find out that a tropical storm had shifted course, picked up intensity, and a hurricane was headed our way.

I don’t have a lot of hurricane experience, having lived most of my life in California, but a hurricane had ravaged this particular island a few years back, and everyone on this small island seemed to know someone who had died in that storm. Everyone at the resort was extremely concerned. I needed to be back at work in a few days and could not afford to be trapped without internet on a Caribbean island, in a home that I cannot afford to stay in, so after emails back/forth with the resort and MSC, the next morning, I agreed to bail out early, provided I could get a submittable shop out of it. The leads to me asking the housekeepers to come clean the house while a hurricane is barreling towards their own home, getting the 138 required pics, turning the evacuation requests into a “concierge interaction”, and my group of friends frantically trying to book seats on the one remaining flight out (all other flights had been cancelled at that point, and the staff were recommend booking a private flight that would have been WAY out of our budget). Those with awards tickets were able to easily make the change and get seats, but this was a different airline for me. American agreed to give me back a portion of my fare from the round trip tickets, due to them cancelling all of their flights, and I book some overpriced last-minute emergency tickets back on Delta, where they charge us $179.98 extra for two exit row seats, because those are the only available seats on the flight! We end up paying $1,531.32 for the one-way flights home.

And then…I realize I don’t have a full day to make the boar ragu, but I am not giving up. The friends band together to prep the food, we get it simmering and after a few hours, we can’t wait ay longer, so we just dig in. It’s not as tender as I would have wanted, since it only had about 3 hours to simmer, but it was tasty, and there were no other dining options available at that point.

Then ensues the crazy drive to the airport with winds picking up, waiting in line for gas as island residents hoard tanks of fuel to weather the storm, and our escape aircraft makes it out just as rain starts hitting the tarmac.

Post Stay
One of our travel group has lounge access with Delta and I have to say the most extravagant part of the trip was the 5 hour layover in the Atlanta Delta club. It offered a really impressive amount of food. I got all of the photos labeled and uploaded in the lounge, and even had time to knock back a few final drinks with my travel partners before we each went our own way. I sleep the rest of the way back to Los Angeles, get home around 2 AM and don’t even bother to unpack before hitting the bed at home.

The concierge had left us a grocery bill that we assumed was for all of the food we had ordered, but while I am I the airport lounge I get a bill for an additional $148.50. A few more emails back and forth and it turns out that was charge for the boar, plus a case of sparkling water that was supplied by the resort.

Reporting
I was in no rush to get this report done, since I was waiting for my refund from American to put together a expense report, so I spend a few hours each day for the rest of the week, piecing together the interactions into a narrative, get it all submitted after 3 days, and still have to follow up a week later with the expense report. It’s probably 20 hours of work in all for the whole report. 16 pages of narrative, and obviously longer than normal with all that went on.

Epilogue
It takes another two weeks from when I submitted the expense report for the shop to be finalized, and they take a deduction for grammar, but don’t have an follow-up questions. That’s not worth fighting and so I let it go. The good news about this client is that they ‘gift’ you the stay and you don’t have to front money for the villa. The MSC just pays your fee, and approved expenses. I got the full travel with the overpriced emergency tickets covered.

I am guessing on actual value of the trip was, but it’s a bunch of money that I cannot afford to because with this client who is doing the shop, memberships start around $195,000. I am guessing around $2,000/night for a villa at this location, so probably a little more than the previous resort example, but a very different experience. It would have been more valuable if we had stayed the full three nights. My friends also felt bad about the additional cost for the boar and really liked it, so they kicked in some $$ to bring my grocery costs down.

Finally Tally
Shop pay = +$50
Tips reimbursement = +$200
Flight reimbursement = +$2,403.48
Casino = +$220
Groceries = -$308.62
Boar/water = -$148.50
Venmo from friends = +$180

Total cost for 3 days of vacation: $7.12
Total value of vacation: $?????

Moral: Do not agree to shops in the Caribbean during hurricane season unless you have a good exit plan in place.

In search of some reading, I found the two threads below. I enjoyed reading the parts that I did. And also I want to stop bugging SteveSoCal The second thread is quite thick. Also, nice to see some familiar names on the threads.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

@Okie wrote:

In search of some reading, I found the two threads below.

Thanks for digging these up, Okie.

I actually ended up doing another around-the-world shop a few years later, but the other direction, and I think have shared some of those stories here already. I definitely lost money on that one...

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I don’t have a lot of hurricane experience, having lived most of my life in California, but a hurricane had ravaged this particular island a few years back, and everyone on this small island seemed to know someone who had died in that storm. Everyone at the resort was extremely concerned. I needed to be back at work in a few days and could not afford to be trapped without internet on a Caribbean island, in a home that I cannot afford to stay in, so after emails back/forth with the resort and MSC, the next morning, I agreed to bail out early, provided I could get a submittable shop out of it. The leads to me asking the housekeepers to come clean the house while a hurricane is barreling towards their own home, getting the 138 required pics, turning the evacuation requests into a “concierge interaction”, and my group of friends frantically trying to book seats on the one remaining flight out (all other flights had been cancelled at that point, and the staff were recommend booking a private flight that would have been WAY out of our budget). Those with awards tickets were able to easily make the change and get seats, but this was a different airline for me. American agreed to give me back a portion of my fare from the round trip tickets, due to them cancelling all of their flights, and I book some overpriced last-minute emergency tickets back on Delta, where they charge us $179.98 extra for two exit row seats, because those are the only available seats on the flight! We end up paying $1,531.32 for the one-way flights home.

...

Moral: Do not agree to shops in the Caribbean during hurricane season unless you have a good exit plan in place.

Flight reimbursement = +$2,403.48
That would be quite messed up if the MSC didn't reimburse the difference/surcharge. Happy to hear that there wasn't a squabble about it, and you all made it out safe. Thank you for sharing!

It was so much fun to relive the escape from the Bahamas trip!! I didn't realize they actually charged you for the boar meat though!!
Do you have the India trip written up somewhere? Now that one is epic...

Ya know, the whole time I was reading the Bahamas story, I wondered if Steve's travel companion was MickeyB! I wonder no more.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Ya know, the whole time I was reading the Bahamas story, I wondered if Steve's travel companion was MickeyB! I wonder no more.

LOL - yup - it was me (and I'm the one with the Delta Club access, but not the one that pitched in and helped pay for the wild boar).

I think (but could be wrong) that my husband and I may have been the "friends" that helped him drink a bottle of that wine that he picked up on the wine country shop he wrote about.

Ok I've acted on the OnlyFans Idea..... I'm gonna charge women money.... and in return put my clothes back on. I bet I'll never have to mystery shop again.

I don't know why, but @BabyBooey19 makes me smile when I read his posts.

Interesting thread but it does not make me want to attempt any of these multi day multi distant shops. It makes me appreciate more my el cheapo travel that I do that I actually enjoy even tho I have to pay for it all.

@MickeyB wrote:

I think (but could be wrong) that my husband and I may have been the "friends" that helped him drink a bottle of that wine that he picked up on the wine country shop he wrote about.

Yes; it was the cab franc that we picked up in Los Olivos!

I did not want to call you out by name in the story, but since you have joined it....Mickey was probably most hesitant about trying the boar. The other 2 guys Venmoed me to cover it. They are not MSers, so not part of this forum.

Mickey and I have had quite a few adventures in mystery shopping over the years together. I don't know that could accurately recall all of the details from the shops in India, but it was truly wild. I also think I might have met up with you at some point on my first round-the world trip. That was before India, because it's when they had flooding in Bangkok and the trains trips were all cancelled. India also included our first trip to the Maldives, and we were nearly kidnapped by some guy in Sri Lanka who took us to see a baby elephant, and then somehow ended up at a jewelry shop being pressured to purchase something.

And now I remember! I met you in Vegas on the way home from Florida, last leg of the round-the-world trip, and we crashed the very first shopper run mystery shopping convention!

@SteveSoCal - you inspire me to give a trip a try. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Your trip reports are interesting and intriguing....
I have quite a bit of experience with travel hacking, but very little through the MS route....probably because I never devoted myself, so you're my hero lol.