Counting Problem

[TnTinMN]

Whenever you concatenate anything with Option Strict on it implicitly calls the ToString method of whatever it is that you're using. The same occurs with Integers:

Note to self: RTFM

The & Operator is defined only for String operands, and it always widens its operands to String, regardless of the setting of Option Strict. The & operator is recommended for string concatenation because it is defined exclusively for strings and reduces your chances of generating an unintended conversion.