Day 5, Friday
This was another slow day. We wrapped the kids up and headed for town. Our plan: introduce them to the cheesy world of garage sales. The local paper listed 7. First we set the rules: 1. We are going to be nosy, not to spend money. Estate sales are especially good since we get to see the inside of a house. 2. keep your hands back. 3. you may not get anything, it just depends upon what's there because everything one sees is trash to another soul.
Our first stop was a bomb. The address did not jive with any house. We moved on. 2nd stop was an estate sale in one of the older homes around. The sign on the door said, "Absolutely no children, no bambinos." After I walked through the house and started the conversation, she said to bring the kids in - cause they are not bambinos. It seems that these people bring 25 kids and turn them loose to run through the house. The walls of the house were wood with old cloth wallpaper. In the back a piece of the ceiling had come down. The wood ceiling had a pattern wallpaper. They had nailed sheetroock on top of the wallpaper and painted it. Someone forgot to use enough nails to keep the ceiling up. Really an old house, needs work, handman's dream....you get the picture.
The next stops were just normal stops. We skipped one place which had only clothes showing. When we finished it was off to the Sirloin Stockade.
Side Bar: Today is my wife & mine's 49th anniversary. A major outing is somewhat out of the question with 3 kids in tow. Thus, for our celebration: garage sales and sirloin stockade. The Romance continues.
The g'kids each created a card for us. The refrig now holds such bounty.
Back home was watch TV, play video games, throw the ball for Oscar, water the yard -- and at 7 p.m. the movie Tangled. There can be no grandparents as exciting as we.
More company comes tomorrow.
Purple Martins: We have 2 houses out by the lake. When I walked to the dock to start our water pump, the underside was loaded with birds - purple martins - mostly young one (you can tell by the light colored stomachs). Without trying I flush somewhere between 50 & 100 - Tried to count but those little beggars are fast and furious. I love purple martins.
One final thing for now: Brother Jim's chihuahua Charley died last night at the Vet's office. He was anemic and had quit eating plus.... The vet was talking about $800 to $1000 to more for an operation to see if certain things were the cause. Charley passed before a decision could be properly made. Charley came to them from the neighbors. He liked Jim and stayed after a fashion. There is more to that stone, but it will wait.
Tomorrow Saturday, I cannot remember what is in the envelope. I hope it is sleep late, eat lots, and leave the grandfather to putter about.
m3
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Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Grammy Camp 2011 Day 4
I am afraid this one might be somewhat short. The kids seemed eager to get up this morning. A trip was planned to visit the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. Really nice. We saw a special traveling exhibit Chinasaurus + the regular museum + an exhibit of Legos + plus some type of a light show + and + we ended up in the IMAX watching SeaRex - all about dinosaurs.
I don't think I will give a travelog regarding the museum - if you want to know about it, go.
Did I mention it was around 110 degrees?
Lunch at the museum was varied. Kayla had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich - she seemed a little unhappy because there was peanut butter on both pieces of bread with the grape jelly in between. The other two had toasted cheese sandwiches - so did the wife. I had a BBQ sandwich was really quite messy and sufficient. I am closing - maybe more later. maybe not.
I don't think I will give a travelog regarding the museum - if you want to know about it, go.
Did I mention it was around 110 degrees?
Lunch at the museum was varied. Kayla had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich - she seemed a little unhappy because there was peanut butter on both pieces of bread with the grape jelly in between. The other two had toasted cheese sandwiches - so did the wife. I had a BBQ sandwich was really quite messy and sufficient. I am closing - maybe more later. maybe not.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Grammy Camp 2011 Day 3
Day 3 of day camp - my oh my, how time flies - it seems like just a couple of days ago that Grammy Camp began.
Today was less busy - less structured. Up at their leisure, we open the envelope which proclaimed a 4 in one craft thing. Go to Walmart and you will find one for sale. 4 different items in one big box. Clay, Stickers and the stamping thing, a pencil thing that writes on black paper leaving pretty colors, and something else - I fergit. That kept them busy till lunch. Lunch: chicken fried steak, mashed potatos, corn, salad, and fresh stawberries. The dogs got a delicious chew stick - made Fritz happy.
Now I need to mention, last night - midnight about - I took the 5 dogs to the Dog Pit for their nightly relief session. As they were finishing and returning to the house, I walked by the gate looking towards the back porch. There in the grass, curled up, a black snake. My feeling about snakes, is, if they are potentially dangerous, I want to eliminate that snake. I can tell a copperhead now - no problem - but black snakes can be deceptive. The books say to check under the eye for the Pit. C'mon, how to you get close enough to even find the eye, much less the pit.
I moved all dogs into the garage & grabbed by shovel. The snake was dispatched in one stroke. I put the critter in a clear jar. Part of today was spent discussing the snake with the g'girls. I think we were all impressed some. As a sidebar: I showed it to all dogs. Not one displayed an interest in getting it. Most turned their heads. Greta, the snake dog, since her last being bit, was standoffish. Eventually she changed her tune and snatched the dead snake by the tail. I corrected her - eventually throwing the snake over the fence and out-of-mind. The day continued.
Afternoon was sloooowwwww. I fired up the laptop, and we lost Megan into it. I am not sure she ever came up for air. Shelby loved TV & I am not sure what Kayla was doing other than bothering her sisters - it comes with the territory when you are 5 years old. By now you might notice that today was not too active. Maybe tomorrow will fix that. Maybe.
Around 6 pm, I fired up the garden tractor - Megan learned to drive it last time - pulling a 4 wheel wagon. The two young ones climbed on and Megan drove the immediate neighborhood. I think they enjoyed the tractor almost as much as the computer video games.
Supper = sandwiches; played ball with Oscar; bubble baths all the way around; more computer games; their parents called; everyone was in bed by 9:30 -- children, dogs, and the wife. It is quiet now except for my TV.
Clown Room: I like things - trinkets and stuff. Some probably call me a hoarder. Don't care. I like what I like. Among my stuff is 3,000+ key rings, several hundred post cards - new and antique...lots of M&M stuff --- playing cards, I have 40-50 sets of playing cards - those are a stone alone. And I like clowns. One of our bedrooms is decorated quietly with clowns. I like clowns.
So I hear last week that Megan won't sleep in the clown room because she is afraid of clowns. I am hear to tell you , that is bunk. Tonight is her 2nd night in the clown room, no screaming. The room has twin beds - Shelby stayed with her last night and Kayla is sleeping with the clowns tonight. So, the clown room is no longer sacred.
That's it. I am tired of typing.
m
Today was less busy - less structured. Up at their leisure, we open the envelope which proclaimed a 4 in one craft thing. Go to Walmart and you will find one for sale. 4 different items in one big box. Clay, Stickers and the stamping thing, a pencil thing that writes on black paper leaving pretty colors, and something else - I fergit. That kept them busy till lunch. Lunch: chicken fried steak, mashed potatos, corn, salad, and fresh stawberries. The dogs got a delicious chew stick - made Fritz happy.
Now I need to mention, last night - midnight about - I took the 5 dogs to the Dog Pit for their nightly relief session. As they were finishing and returning to the house, I walked by the gate looking towards the back porch. There in the grass, curled up, a black snake. My feeling about snakes, is, if they are potentially dangerous, I want to eliminate that snake. I can tell a copperhead now - no problem - but black snakes can be deceptive. The books say to check under the eye for the Pit. C'mon, how to you get close enough to even find the eye, much less the pit.
I moved all dogs into the garage & grabbed by shovel. The snake was dispatched in one stroke. I put the critter in a clear jar. Part of today was spent discussing the snake with the g'girls. I think we were all impressed some. As a sidebar: I showed it to all dogs. Not one displayed an interest in getting it. Most turned their heads. Greta, the snake dog, since her last being bit, was standoffish. Eventually she changed her tune and snatched the dead snake by the tail. I corrected her - eventually throwing the snake over the fence and out-of-mind. The day continued.
Afternoon was sloooowwwww. I fired up the laptop, and we lost Megan into it. I am not sure she ever came up for air. Shelby loved TV & I am not sure what Kayla was doing other than bothering her sisters - it comes with the territory when you are 5 years old. By now you might notice that today was not too active. Maybe tomorrow will fix that. Maybe.
Around 6 pm, I fired up the garden tractor - Megan learned to drive it last time - pulling a 4 wheel wagon. The two young ones climbed on and Megan drove the immediate neighborhood. I think they enjoyed the tractor almost as much as the computer video games.
Supper = sandwiches; played ball with Oscar; bubble baths all the way around; more computer games; their parents called; everyone was in bed by 9:30 -- children, dogs, and the wife. It is quiet now except for my TV.
Clown Room: I like things - trinkets and stuff. Some probably call me a hoarder. Don't care. I like what I like. Among my stuff is 3,000+ key rings, several hundred post cards - new and antique...lots of M&M stuff --- playing cards, I have 40-50 sets of playing cards - those are a stone alone. And I like clowns. One of our bedrooms is decorated quietly with clowns. I like clowns.
So I hear last week that Megan won't sleep in the clown room because she is afraid of clowns. I am hear to tell you , that is bunk. Tonight is her 2nd night in the clown room, no screaming. The room has twin beds - Shelby stayed with her last night and Kayla is sleeping with the clowns tonight. So, the clown room is no longer sacred.
That's it. I am tired of typing.
m
Grammy Camp 2011, Day 2
Grammy Camp, Grammy Camp, will the fun never cease? Day 2
My wife was up early today. It is the first Monday of the month, and she had to leave for the monthly Quilt Guild Meeting. Luckily, cereal was served before I was in charge. Now some of thee may think this is about the G'girls - well, you may be wrong. It is all about me. Me! Do you hear? Me!
I was up before 8 and walked the path to the boat house in order to fire up my water pump. We water our massive estate with water from the lake. I flip the switch; it delivers. The water ran from 8 till 10. No, we don't have an automatic sprinkler system. I (all about me) have to move water hoses and sprinklers, which I did. Meanwhile the girls had cereal.
One of the things we do is to make an envelope for every day. Inside same envelope is a statement of the project or deed for the day. I have been telling them that our project for today would be picking up rocks in the backyard and digging holes to put them in. But, alas, when Megan opened today's envelope, it said - go to CiCi's - sell aluminum cans - Walmart - tour Corsicana (a real thrill for them) and Tye Dye.
Water is off at 10. Kids are playing alone. Shelby, Kayla, and I have gone into the garage to crush cans and get the plastic sack ready for travel. It is a pretty big sack of cans, all crushed. I slipped into a shower while they played alone - except Megan who was way into her ipod. Way.
Finishing in there, I took the two youngest out back and showed them the two big frogs living in a hole. The frogs do not appreciate our efforts. Of course, a ball had to be thrown for Oscar.
At 11:15 I began rounding up the kids - putting the dogs into the Pit - alum cans in the trunk - strap them down in the car - lock the car - turn on the automatic machine gun and rocket launcher on the garage roof ( see previous bluggy ) - and away we went to town. The first stop was the can place. There is no way to describe the disorder and filth of this place. Junk is piled everywhere and nothing is neatly placed. Friendly? They are so friendly, you'd think they knew how much money you had in the bank since you won the last lottery or thought they knew. It was a breeze though. 15 lbs of cans (interestingly showed exactly 15 lbs, no ounces). Pays 70 cents a lb. Not bad really. The $10.50 went into the hands of the girls for later. A pretty nice benefit for visiting granddaughters.
Next a short trip to the bank for a deposit and withdrawal. I had a certain large bill that I wanted in the bank. Bank of America has an ATM which sucks in cash. While I waited in line, I struck up a conversation with this nice lady - the fact she is black has no bearing on anything other than it will give you something to visualize. A lose fitting blue top, almost but not a scrub, tan pants and white tennis type shoes that virtually sparkled white in the sunshine. Those tennies had been scrubbed perfectly. This lady was in her 40s probably.
She & I talked about the heat - now hang on, this next part is good - We have had about 30 days of 100+ weather in a row. This puts 2011 in the record book at #2 place. If there has ever been a cliche about hot weather, she & I spurted it out. Finally I said, " I know it is hot; but, I am old enough to remember it being like this before." (I was remember #1 year). She turns and says without hesitation. " I know, the depression was very very hot."
The drpression. The depression.
That over I received a text that the wife was waiting at CiCi's. Off we flew - like a Marauder in the wind....(nice verbal touch, wouldn't you say?) CiCi's was okay. Someday I'll talk about the local store. When the young girl counted us, she missed Shelby who was checking out the trays. We were not charged. the girl then said, "Oh is she with you?" I whipped out the billfold, but another CiCi leader said, "nevermind, enjoy your lunch." We did.
Next stop was Walmart. Then, it was home.
Back at home the girls finished making their baloon flip-flops...naps were addressed....dogs were greeted....TVs turned on ..... Whe the wife awoke, the girls put on their flippity floppities, and photos were made of colorful toes. I have a somewhat good SLR camera which I allowed each girl to use. All 3 started doing poses for photos - while the others pulled the trigger. This may have been how Seventeen Magazine got their start.
A couple hours passed and it was time to make Tye Dye shirts. It may be hard to believe - at my deppression age - I have never been involved in Tye Dying. The final products are still in the process - tomorrow will be the unveiling.
Supper was Nachos (Megan said, "with meat?") Yes, with meat. More yard watering, more TV, dogs, etc. Bath time. My wife found bubblebath at Walmart - so you just know that baths were fun. One advantage of being he grand FATHER, I CANNOT assist with bath time.
I must remember to write about the Clown Room in our house next time. Not now. It is my bedtime. Remember, as I close, it is still all about me. See ya tomorrow for Day #3.
mtz
My wife was up early today. It is the first Monday of the month, and she had to leave for the monthly Quilt Guild Meeting. Luckily, cereal was served before I was in charge. Now some of thee may think this is about the G'girls - well, you may be wrong. It is all about me. Me! Do you hear? Me!
I was up before 8 and walked the path to the boat house in order to fire up my water pump. We water our massive estate with water from the lake. I flip the switch; it delivers. The water ran from 8 till 10. No, we don't have an automatic sprinkler system. I (all about me) have to move water hoses and sprinklers, which I did. Meanwhile the girls had cereal.
One of the things we do is to make an envelope for every day. Inside same envelope is a statement of the project or deed for the day. I have been telling them that our project for today would be picking up rocks in the backyard and digging holes to put them in. But, alas, when Megan opened today's envelope, it said - go to CiCi's - sell aluminum cans - Walmart - tour Corsicana (a real thrill for them) and Tye Dye.
Water is off at 10. Kids are playing alone. Shelby, Kayla, and I have gone into the garage to crush cans and get the plastic sack ready for travel. It is a pretty big sack of cans, all crushed. I slipped into a shower while they played alone - except Megan who was way into her ipod. Way.
Finishing in there, I took the two youngest out back and showed them the two big frogs living in a hole. The frogs do not appreciate our efforts. Of course, a ball had to be thrown for Oscar.
At 11:15 I began rounding up the kids - putting the dogs into the Pit - alum cans in the trunk - strap them down in the car - lock the car - turn on the automatic machine gun and rocket launcher on the garage roof ( see previous bluggy ) - and away we went to town. The first stop was the can place. There is no way to describe the disorder and filth of this place. Junk is piled everywhere and nothing is neatly placed. Friendly? They are so friendly, you'd think they knew how much money you had in the bank since you won the last lottery or thought they knew. It was a breeze though. 15 lbs of cans (interestingly showed exactly 15 lbs, no ounces). Pays 70 cents a lb. Not bad really. The $10.50 went into the hands of the girls for later. A pretty nice benefit for visiting granddaughters.
Next a short trip to the bank for a deposit and withdrawal. I had a certain large bill that I wanted in the bank. Bank of America has an ATM which sucks in cash. While I waited in line, I struck up a conversation with this nice lady - the fact she is black has no bearing on anything other than it will give you something to visualize. A lose fitting blue top, almost but not a scrub, tan pants and white tennis type shoes that virtually sparkled white in the sunshine. Those tennies had been scrubbed perfectly. This lady was in her 40s probably.
She & I talked about the heat - now hang on, this next part is good - We have had about 30 days of 100+ weather in a row. This puts 2011 in the record book at #2 place. If there has ever been a cliche about hot weather, she & I spurted it out. Finally I said, " I know it is hot; but, I am old enough to remember it being like this before." (I was remember #1 year). She turns and says without hesitation. " I know, the depression was very very hot."
The drpression. The depression.
That over I received a text that the wife was waiting at CiCi's. Off we flew - like a Marauder in the wind....(nice verbal touch, wouldn't you say?) CiCi's was okay. Someday I'll talk about the local store. When the young girl counted us, she missed Shelby who was checking out the trays. We were not charged. the girl then said, "Oh is she with you?" I whipped out the billfold, but another CiCi leader said, "nevermind, enjoy your lunch." We did.
Next stop was Walmart. Then, it was home.
Back at home the girls finished making their baloon flip-flops...naps were addressed....dogs were greeted....TVs turned on ..... Whe the wife awoke, the girls put on their flippity floppities, and photos were made of colorful toes. I have a somewhat good SLR camera which I allowed each girl to use. All 3 started doing poses for photos - while the others pulled the trigger. This may have been how Seventeen Magazine got their start.
A couple hours passed and it was time to make Tye Dye shirts. It may be hard to believe - at my deppression age - I have never been involved in Tye Dying. The final products are still in the process - tomorrow will be the unveiling.
Supper was Nachos (Megan said, "with meat?") Yes, with meat. More yard watering, more TV, dogs, etc. Bath time. My wife found bubblebath at Walmart - so you just know that baths were fun. One advantage of being he grand FATHER, I CANNOT assist with bath time.
I must remember to write about the Clown Room in our house next time. Not now. It is my bedtime. Remember, as I close, it is still all about me. See ya tomorrow for Day #3.
mtz
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Son Roger, leg transplant
This is a short stone because I left it out on purpose.
I have a fear - if you talk about the wrong thing - a burglar or criminal or crook or scum will read and know when to rob your house. We have so little to rob - plus we have the dogs here - plus the alarm system on the house - plus my machine gun and rocket launcher mounted on the roof of the garage - automatic with radar.
Anyway, son Roger just had an operation in Arlington about 3-4 weeks ago. Now I won't get this totally correct and Roger is welcome to add corrections at the bottom of the page - think blogville calls them comments.
His knee has been bad for some time. My left knee had the cleanout process back in about 2002 or so -- I was marching in a parade through downtown Manor and stepped into a pot hole - the left knee was never the same. My stone: Had it cut into the week of Thanksgiving that year. By the time I returned to school the following week, I could hobble just fine. As an fyi, I learned that when you come home from day surgery and are collasped on your recliner trying to return to the world of real people -- never drink a coke and eat a banana at the same time. I became a fountain of banana Coke - good thing someone found a bucket fast.
Back to Roger. They cut open his knee and downward. The replace the entire top part of his bottom leg - not the femur but the tibula - man my 10th grade biology is failin me now. What do I care, stupid coach teacher, really knew little about biology - but that is a different stone.
Roger had a bone transplant. No, i don't know where they got the bone. It was the cartlidge, cartlege, cartelegesthing -- that plastic stuff between your knee and the leg bone. They sliced off part of his bone and slipped the new one over it with good plastic stuff - not really plastic, I just cannot spell Kartelegedges. I choose to not look it up. Being smart about this is not my priority right now.
So his leg is healing - 6-% weight on it now. Isn't it amazing they can replace part of a leg bone. Amazing.
that's enough. It is this operation and subsequent resting of the Roger that encouraged us to take the granddaughters for 2 weeks of GrammyCamp 2011. that's it. g'night.
m3
I have a fear - if you talk about the wrong thing - a burglar or criminal or crook or scum will read and know when to rob your house. We have so little to rob - plus we have the dogs here - plus the alarm system on the house - plus my machine gun and rocket launcher mounted on the roof of the garage - automatic with radar.
Anyway, son Roger just had an operation in Arlington about 3-4 weeks ago. Now I won't get this totally correct and Roger is welcome to add corrections at the bottom of the page - think blogville calls them comments.
His knee has been bad for some time. My left knee had the cleanout process back in about 2002 or so -- I was marching in a parade through downtown Manor and stepped into a pot hole - the left knee was never the same. My stone: Had it cut into the week of Thanksgiving that year. By the time I returned to school the following week, I could hobble just fine. As an fyi, I learned that when you come home from day surgery and are collasped on your recliner trying to return to the world of real people -- never drink a coke and eat a banana at the same time. I became a fountain of banana Coke - good thing someone found a bucket fast.
Back to Roger. They cut open his knee and downward. The replace the entire top part of his bottom leg - not the femur but the tibula - man my 10th grade biology is failin me now. What do I care, stupid coach teacher, really knew little about biology - but that is a different stone.
Roger had a bone transplant. No, i don't know where they got the bone. It was the cartlidge, cartlege, cartelegesthing -- that plastic stuff between your knee and the leg bone. They sliced off part of his bone and slipped the new one over it with good plastic stuff - not really plastic, I just cannot spell Kartelegedges. I choose to not look it up. Being smart about this is not my priority right now.
So his leg is healing - 6-% weight on it now. Isn't it amazing they can replace part of a leg bone. Amazing.
that's enough. It is this operation and subsequent resting of the Roger that encouraged us to take the granddaughters for 2 weeks of GrammyCamp 2011. that's it. g'night.
m3
Grammy Camp 2011, Day 1
In our world, we have Grammy Camp. Three granddaughters come to visit for a week. It is Grammy Camp. This year, the traditional week has morphed into nearly 2 weeks. I suppose this works out for all.
We drove to Cisco, TX to meet Roger & Penney driving in from Lubbock. Somehow we had to drive 20 minutes longer than Roger did, but he did treat me for a feast at the Cisco Dairy Queen.
The trip home - with 3 in the back seat - was relative uneventful. Sure we had a couple of "Stop that" and "Quick Singing" - you get the idea -- "she's touching me" Surely you remember your own youth or kids. I think back to my youth - I was the youngest for years and the smallest - I touched nobody. My two older brothers could make me hurt. but I degress.
The trip home worked out fine. We arrive here, unloaded the trunk, let the dogs out of the Pit, ate burgers, did one craft activity, walked out on the dock (we seem to have about 4 ft of water still - the lake is sinking fast) -- baths, bed, and hopefully silence for a while.
Tomorrow day 2 of Grammy Camp. I will try to give a report as time goes by.
oh yeah, never heard of this, our craft - G'girl oldest, 11, Megan, told us about how to tie unfilled small balloons to the crossbars of flipflops. You just tie a little knot till the whole strap is covered in multi-colored balloons (un-aired). Sorta cute and they love em. So we bought 2 packages of balloons and new $2 flip flops at Walmart. Tomorrow we buy another 4 packages of balloons = 2 will never be enough if you buy only 2 to start with..... That IS a law of nature.
MORE TOMORROW - GRAMMY CAMP 2011
We drove to Cisco, TX to meet Roger & Penney driving in from Lubbock. Somehow we had to drive 20 minutes longer than Roger did, but he did treat me for a feast at the Cisco Dairy Queen.
The trip home - with 3 in the back seat - was relative uneventful. Sure we had a couple of "Stop that" and "Quick Singing" - you get the idea -- "she's touching me" Surely you remember your own youth or kids. I think back to my youth - I was the youngest for years and the smallest - I touched nobody. My two older brothers could make me hurt. but I degress.
The trip home worked out fine. We arrive here, unloaded the trunk, let the dogs out of the Pit, ate burgers, did one craft activity, walked out on the dock (we seem to have about 4 ft of water still - the lake is sinking fast) -- baths, bed, and hopefully silence for a while.
Tomorrow day 2 of Grammy Camp. I will try to give a report as time goes by.
oh yeah, never heard of this, our craft - G'girl oldest, 11, Megan, told us about how to tie unfilled small balloons to the crossbars of flipflops. You just tie a little knot till the whole strap is covered in multi-colored balloons (un-aired). Sorta cute and they love em. So we bought 2 packages of balloons and new $2 flip flops at Walmart. Tomorrow we buy another 4 packages of balloons = 2 will never be enough if you buy only 2 to start with..... That IS a law of nature.
MORE TOMORROW - GRAMMY CAMP 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
internet wisdom jewel
Bailey sent me this jewel:
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"The trouble with the internet is you can't always be sure of quote accuracy"- George Washington
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"The trouble with the internet is you can't always be sure of quote accuracy"- George Washington
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