heyas; momcat; i can tell you from experience, we (the 'peons' ;) ) will NEVER know the details of what the dip is going on. it is a private contract negotiation deal thing, and we're not involved parties. also from experience, i think it is best to withhold judgement one way or the other, until things become clearer. (they probably won't, but once the chips are done falling, you can see the new pattern and decide from that.)