 Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Oshkahn. The first thing, thanks for letting me be here. When Oshkahn first mentioned it, speaking, I thought, wait, Saturday morning, there's a farmer's market, there's fresh fruits and vegetables. I wonder if I'm going to be a target. But, you know, getting aside, it's been an amazing experience for me, just being here last year and getting to know you all as business people and as entrepreneurs. I think it's really been a pleasure. You know, the health department, we were kind of stuck. What Peter was talking about just a few minutes ago was like spot on. We don't know what we don't know. Nobody likes to feel like they're less knowledgeable. I mean, it's just human nature. Nobody likes to feel that way. The health department, we've been asked many, many times. We need an exact list of everything you need. The thing is, we don't even know. We don't know. There's some things we, let's focus on these. We can figure these out and then we can, you know, that might open up, that might open up more opportunities somewhere else or it might solve a problem that we were working on somewhere else. It's just fascinating. But, basically, what my point in the presentation, it's not about me. We're all individuals. We've all had experiences. We've all had ups, downs. We've hurt. We've loved all that kind of thing. We all have that story. It's taken me 50 years to get here. Here, here and here in this room. I mean, it's taken me forever, quite literally. It's been forever. I'm originally from Minnesota. I grew up on the St. Croix River in Stilwater, actually in Marine on the St. Croix. You can see the sign over there. That's actually, I don't know if anybody is a public radio fan, but if you've ever heard of Prairie Home Companion, that's where it was based off. That's Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery right there that you're looking at. I grew up on public TV and public radio, so I apologize. I diverged. But I grew up in a river town. It was a logging town. And while I was growing up, that river really meant a lot to me. It was really something that it allowed me to question some things. It was really, it was a really moving thing. And, therefore, I went into biology. I'm a fishery's biologist. That's my training. I don't have a degree in environmental health. Actually, when I was going to school, it didn't exist. So I had no option. I didn't even know, I didn't even know these jobs worked. So this is another picture of the St. Croix River. Epistemology. I know if you're familiar with that term, but I read it in literature for this industry. It's the exploration or study of free thought. The river did that for me. It gave me an outlet and it gave me something to really question and apply some of the things that we've learned in school socially. It was just a very amazing place. Some of the best people I've ever known still live there, including my family, but I'm biased there. It's just a really interesting place to grow up. So, again, you're like, who cares, right? My point is, that's where I came from. Everybody's got a story. No matter what health inspector or whatever it is, everybody's got a story and it led them to where they are right now. They know what they know. Sometimes they really know what they know and are afraid to admit that they don't. I learned quite a long time ago, I don't know at all. If I know at all, I'll get bored. I don't want to know at all, but I'm not afraid to ask questions and I'm not afraid to admit I was wrong. It's just one of those things, but people are individuals. So I get into environmental health. Again, I'm a fishery's biologist. My vision is of being a fish hippie for the rest of my life, working for the Environmental Protection Agency, who actually, speaking of the EPA, I don't know if you'd noticed what they did to the Animas River in Colorado, but really detrimental. This is the scope of environmental health. So when you go in and talk to your health inspector or whatever term they use, these are some of the things that they're looking at. Food, water, land, building, air. They may, a health inspector that comes out to inspect your facility, maybe, they have a lot of things on their plate, right? So, geez, today I have to inspect a brand new septic system. Well, while I'm doing that, I'll be by this restaurant that I have to inspect. Oh, and the float center's right there, too. So their brain is all over the place. They're not as focused as you all are. It takes, they have to switch gears for every one of those things. And there's a lot more to it than just the inspection. It's the process. And as an environmental health specialist, we should be educating. That should be the primary goal, not to always bring bad news and slap people around. That's typically not it. But so, this is it. It's like information overload. And I'm not looking for sympathy. I just want to explain the fact that when I got certified for this, there's a national test. It's big and it's hard. It's very hard. That's the topics it covers. To maintain my certification, I have to stay current on this stuff. Radiation. I mean, how much, how often do we deal with radiation on a regular basis? Emergency preparedness, complaints, pesticides, epidemiology. Epidemiology, anybody here of outbreak with pork recently? Folks in my office are dealing with that. So, they're really all over the map as far as responsibilities go. The diversity has kind of gone away for me because I've been able to specialize. So, I'm focused. I do pools. I know you don't like to be put in that category, but that's what I do. That's what they've allowed me to do. And through work with this group and the Float Tank Association, it's given me this opportunity to really, really get specific. And I embrace it. I can't wait to learn more. Just talking to folks out in the lobby this morning. There's some things that are new and pretty darn interesting. I want to learn more about it. But so, again, we're trained and we have to be able to keep up with changing environments. Might not feel that way. There's a couple of people in the audience that have dealt with me directly as a plan reviewer for a new facility. They may have completely different opinions than I do, but I tried to work with them. I can't say everybody's any every health inspector is going to do that. I wish I could. I wish I could say that we're all the same and we're all seeing things the same way, but we're not. But through the industry, including Ashkan and Graham, last year, they spoke at the World Aquatic Health Conference. That's one of the conferences Ashkan was talking about that's so big, they get a really small portion of the population. This is fabulous. This is amazing. But so when we go to those trainings, we have to do that. We have to have continuing education. Well, when it comes to pools, that's what we're used to. It looks pretty familiar, right? There's been pools built like that for literally thousands of years. The city of David, that goes back a few years. Basically the same thing. They didn't have pumps so they use gravity, but it's still the same process. And the Piscine Molitor, 1929, when I was working for Montana, I found the 1912 swimming pool rules. You know what? They were simpler, but basically they were the same thing that we're looking at now. It's the same process. So this is what the pool is. Okay, where's the main drain? Where's the skimmer? Where are your inlets? How's the water being mixed? All that kind of thing, right? And then it's like, okay, pools kind of comfortable with it. We're all right. And then there's an evolution. About 20 years ago, all of a sudden water parks started showing up. And it's like, oh, man, environmental health. It's like, wait, it's a pool, but no, it's not. Wait. And it took a while for us to absorb that. It is a pool. Every each one of those is a pool. You just can't see the water. The water is somewhere else being processed like in a normal pool. This is just where you get exposed to it. It took a while for our end, my industry, it took a while to be able to grasp that. You know, looking at some of these, the one up in the upper left there, believe it's in Germany, it's called the Schlitterbahn. Look at how tall that thing is. Schlitterbahn, that sounds like it's only a couple letters off of potential end result. I don't know. Because that's what it looks like from the top, you know, the bottom on there. You know, wave pools, it's like, oh, man, now the pool doesn't even stand still. Now it's moving. So all these weird complications. So my point is, now comes along flotation systems. Our code in Washington calls it sensory deprivation. I wish I could change the terminology, I cannot change a single word in that code, not one word. Well, I can, but I'd have to go through public hearings and take about two years. So it's something I can't do. I wish I could believe me, I wish I could. But now, now comes along float systems. Let's see, salty water, really salty water. Hmm. Sanitizer, where's the chlorine, you know, automatic response. So it was kind of like, now it's really different. This is a completely different thing. Run away, run away. But through the industry and the motivation and determination of this group, it's like, we need to pay attention. We should have been paying attention years ago. We missed the boat. But it's really starting to get recognized that that's a boat we don't want to miss. So there is efforts out there. I understand and I'm sure I'm confident you've all run into roadblocks with health departments. But there is an effort. It might look like it's moving at a glacial pace. And it kind of is, but it's gaining momentum. In the last year, I have seen amazing from from my perspective in environmental health, I have seen an amazing growth in curiosity. And it's a genuine curiosity. It's, you know, I start talking to folks in the in environmental health. And I'm talking to them about they ask about sanitizers and filters and things like that. I'm like, you know, one thing that I think we're missing is that it's not even water anymore. This is a completely different compound. We don't we know what water does. You take a two liter bottle, put water in it, turn it upside down, stir it up a little bit. What happens is going to create a vortex and it's going to drain out, right? You take something like glycerin, which has the Scott is similar viscosity to what you're using in the tanks. That doesn't happen. It just it doesn't act the same. It's got a lot of variables. But like Peter said, we don't know what we don't know. So we need to start kind of attacking the things we can get to and build some successes there. And then some things might start to click and that might start to fall together a little bit better. But it's going to take work. I wish I could do it all for everybody, but I can't. Really, I think something I've learned again, I've had ups and downs in my life made some really bad decisions, made some really good decisions. But really, what it boils down to is communication. I honestly believe that in any, and I'll use the word relationship, any relationship. And that could be, you know, I talked to several people at the Rogue last night, we had a relationship, you know, it's you need to invest in that relationship. And then and it's a two way street. Everybody's got to participate. When when we get into a stressful situation, like going in front of a health department, it might be it might be intimidating. And again, the health department still kind of scratch in their head. So it's actually a little bit intimidating to them too. They'll never admit it. No, I didn't say that. But you know, clear terminology. There's a few things I talked to some folks last night that have a background in the medical field. There's, there's terminology that's used. That can be really confusing. You know, there's all kinds of acronyms, PPM and TDH and all all this different stuff. But you might not be talking the same language. For example, the difference between sanitation, which is what we're looking for in pool water or recreational water, I'll say, sanitation versus sterilization. That's a huge difference. If you've got if you're in the medical field, that is a very, very big difference. So if if you go in and say, I'm going to sterilize the water, that means the water could be used in a surgical procedure. It is that clean. We're not looking for that. We're looking for and I'm going to use the term a three log reduction. Does anybody I'm just curious, does anybody know what that is? You know, when you're talking about when you're talking to a group of folks, I teach like Jake does a certified pool operator class. And it's, you know, you talk about AFR is accidental fecal releases. And you're talking about sanitizer. And and all of a sudden, so you've got these images in your head and you're trying to get figured out. And all of a sudden, a three log reduction. Whoa, what kind of picture is that painting? You know, so so that's that's that onus is on us that you know, we have we have terminology that has been consistent. You might not like it or agree with it. I might not like it or agree with it. But it's an accepted standard. So you don't a three log reduction. Basically, what that means is you're trying to kill 99.9% of the bugs that can kill you or hurt you. Um, sterilization that 0.99 goes out eight or nine more spots. So you're killing way more, way more. So again, it's just terminology. And if you're unclear on a term, ask. And you know, maybe when you're talking to a health inspector or a plan reviewer, if they don't get it, offer to explain what that means. It'll I honestly believe it'll help you to get a better understanding. What I was what I've been taught many times is all I would I I don't remember what it was. See, I've been taught so many times I forgot that you watch and then you do and then you teach then you know what you're doing. And in my opinion, Albert Einstein Albert Einstein said it, if you can't explain it simply, you don't know it well enough. You really need to break stuff down. I'm not I'm not projecting this to you at all. I would I would give the same talk to folks in my industry. Exactly the same thing. Both parties have to be mindful. The graphic, it just cracks me up. But that isn't too far off. I showed the slide I showed you a little bit ago with the environmental health, and there's junk all over. I did that on purpose because that's what that's what it felt like. The mind is full. It's an you can't be mindful when your mind is too full. Floating gives you the opportunity to explore getting away from that. So I I float. Ashkan mentioned the guidelines were working on. I haven't had a whole time this summer, unfortunately, but when I sit when I sit down and do it, I work on it better after I've had a float at a facility that's represented here that actually went through plan review with me. And I was really afraid they were going to throw fruit at me. But no, they're great folks. I'm kidding. Sorry, Dan. But you've got to consider other positions. You know, you've done a lot of research. You've learned a lot of things about the attributes or the benefits of floating. You've learned a lot about business. I'll be honest with you. I don't know about business. There's another person, Valerie, somewhere in the audience. She had a business plan. And I don't know what a business I mean, I know what a business plan is, but I've never done one. I don't know. So we're trying to fit the two things together. But I can't teach to the business plan. But the business plan can't necessarily dictate exactly the direction you're going to go when it comes to something like a float center where people are potentially going to be impacted. Nobody wants to get people sick. That's very, very clear. In fact, when Ashkahn also mentioned a task group that we set up. And when I was here last year, like Ashkahn said, I came on my own, partially because I was afraid. I didn't want to be too conspicuous. But I was absolutely floored, shocked. I never had a negative conversation at all. Everything was very positive. I could feel frustration. No question. I acknowledge that. But it was really a accommodating. So I went back and I talked to my supervisor, Dave. We really need to pay attention to this. And the thing is, we are so close. We are so close to be in there. When I first set out to work with the group, I was hoping that we would be able to talk to this community, your community, and acknowledge that there are some concerns. Slips, falls, trips, you know, that kind of thing. And by the time I left here last year, it was like, that's not a destination anymore. We're already there. It's not a goal. It's already been achieved. That's because of you all. You all had already considered that stuff without even really tying the health department to it. It's common sense. You don't want people hurt. It's bad for business. Again, with communication, both parties can learn. If there's a willingness on both people's part to be willing to learn, I can't control that. I can't control it with folks in my industry. I can't control it with anybody in the general public. But I will try to listen as much as I can. I've learned a lot from the group. It's been a really amazing process. I just want to touch briefly on these guidelines. It's specific. I work for the state of Washington. We have our code. And there is a little bit of, actually quite a bit of flexibility in that code for a unique event, or a unique application, I would call it, innovation. You know, a float tank. Anybody, that's an example. Another example, anybody here who has ever slide the city, a big event that's been kind of going around, that's another one. We have to deal with that one, too. It's like, oh, okay, that one's really weird. You know, you think about it. Siding down a city street in Portland, you could, I mean, in Seattle, you could launch somebody halfway into the Puget Sound there. But it didn't go very well, unfortunately, this year for that event. But we do have to be able to apply the rule on, in an appropriate manner. So what the task group is tasked with is to come up within that parameter, within that code, we can pick and choose which parts apply. In the state of Washington, a facility like yours that the general public is open to, and it's not like a hotel or something, would be considered a general use facility. So it would be similar to a city park, or a municipal pool, say, same category. Again, I don't necessarily agree with all this, I'm just telling you what the fact is. And a general use facility requires a lifeguard. Does that make, are you gonna have a lifeguard in the float room with you? Sounds a little weird. But of course not. You know, so that one's like, that's easy. We got that one figured out. Now we've only got 7,000 more issues to go through to, to find out which ones really apply. And if they apply, do they apply the same way that that it worked in normal water? We don't know. We don't know. That's why we're asking for more information. I talked to folks last night that were, it was like, yes, taking tests, keeping records. It's like, man, that's the stuff we want to see. It might, you might not be sanctioned by a certain lab, but at least we see what's really going on. That's real world information. That is good stuff. Once you start getting it backed up with more science, that's, that's a really good thing. The, but basically I can only address things in Washington, state of Washington. There's, I've been contacted by folks all over the country. And I'm willing to talk to folks about it. But I'm, again, we're getting, I'm getting calls from all over. So I know there's interest in from the environmental health perspective. There's, there's a thing called the model aquatic health code, which the CDC and a bunch of partners came up with that addresses pools. And there's talk now that maybe float systems need to be part of that master plan. That's a big sign that the pool industry is like, whoa, wake up. Here we go. This is it. It's here. So it's a, it's a really big acknowledgement. I don't want to run over. But my contact information, again, I can't, I can't change. I basically can't change anything even in Washington. But I'm more than happy to talk to you about, about the regulations or, or where things are at. The group that we're working with with the task group has just been outstanding. And this image, has there anybody ever heard of Justin Beaver? That's sidewalk art. And again, I put that purposefully, because what is it? What are you looking at? At the street with a, with a painting on it, right? Do you think he's seeing the same thing? Or if you stand off to the side, you think you're going to see the same thing? It's a perspective. It's if you got one perspective, and it's very, very clear. You shift that a little bit, things start getting fuzzy. So just communication and clarification I think is really, really important. Other than that, I thanks again for allowing me to be here. And thanks for the warm welcome.