I just now discovered the message you put on my profile in December. (You asked about how I was doing at learning how to hop.) Well, the up-to-date answer is, it's going pretty slowly, but it's going to get quick very soon. I'm getting ready to start a long train journey around the country, starting in a couple weeks. I'm planning to take a few short hops first to try and get the hang of it... hopefully I can find someone, otherwise on my own I can probably get the hang of it at least somewhat.