Phase one of the hectic few days is done.
Unexpectedly we managed to make it home last night instead of spending the entire duration away, plans changed and instead of taxi-ing to and from the south coast we instead have a house guest for a few days, Fletch's younger brother, who we bought back with us last night and who will have to tag along with us for part two.
The birthday celebration weekend was cool, as ever. Fletch's mums manages the best family gatherings and among all the good humour, food and fun it was a day or two to forget the coming week and relax. We managed a walk on the beach, well I walked, Fletch sat on a groyne (Oh...I'm not sure that sounds very nice) and watched me walk, and I got to take a few photographs (see yesterday), something I haven't had much chance to do of late.
Today we re-group for phase two and the next journey, this time north for the funeral and somehow I have to get Fletch and his brother suited, booted, smart and away from the X-Box and ready to hit the road very early in the morning.
Wish me luck!
Monday, 26 January 2009
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
A few hectic days!
You know how everything seems to happen at once, for weeks you have nothing much to do and then suddenly, out of the blue come a list of things that need doing at once...the next few days in gemmak's-ville is one of those times!
Tonight, in theory at least (I'll come to that later) we are off down to the South coast to spend the weekend at Fletch's parents doing the 40th birthday celebrations family style. It should be good, it always is, fun, laughter, good food, good company and the sea, even in winter I love the beach.
However, you might recall that Christmas became somewhat hectic when unfortunately one of Fletch's close relatives became very ill....sadly she died last week and the funeral is to be held on this coming Tuesday, which means a trip up to Yorkshire and possibly some taxi-ing of relatives.
As a result I have no idea where or when I will be, the next few days will probably be spend mainly on the road again, covering distances from Cambridge to the south coast, to Yorkshire, to the south coast, to Cambridge....and that's where I said earlier 'in theory' because as sods law would dictate, Fletch's company car, late last night, presented a 'fatal flaw' message regarding it's road holding capabilities flashing manically from it's warning systems......wouldn't you know it! Fantastic timing Mr Toyota!
It is thus that today himself is 'working from home' (wink) while frantic efforts are made to get the local dealership to at least make the problem safe, the alternative is to take my little crap car, the prospect of which is not a good one when faced with the probablilty of over 1000 miles and the likelihood of us never actually making it to the funeral.... and instead finding ourselves on the back of a rescue truck!
Happy weekend guys! I'm packing for the long haul, I'll be here when I can make it and in the meantime I'll doubtless be Twittering!
Tonight, in theory at least (I'll come to that later) we are off down to the South coast to spend the weekend at Fletch's parents doing the 40th birthday celebrations family style. It should be good, it always is, fun, laughter, good food, good company and the sea, even in winter I love the beach.
However, you might recall that Christmas became somewhat hectic when unfortunately one of Fletch's close relatives became very ill....sadly she died last week and the funeral is to be held on this coming Tuesday, which means a trip up to Yorkshire and possibly some taxi-ing of relatives.
As a result I have no idea where or when I will be, the next few days will probably be spend mainly on the road again, covering distances from Cambridge to the south coast, to Yorkshire, to the south coast, to Cambridge....and that's where I said earlier 'in theory' because as sods law would dictate, Fletch's company car, late last night, presented a 'fatal flaw' message regarding it's road holding capabilities flashing manically from it's warning systems......wouldn't you know it! Fantastic timing Mr Toyota!
It is thus that today himself is 'working from home' (wink) while frantic efforts are made to get the local dealership to at least make the problem safe, the alternative is to take my little crap car, the prospect of which is not a good one when faced with the probablilty of over 1000 miles and the likelihood of us never actually making it to the funeral.... and instead finding ourselves on the back of a rescue truck!
Happy weekend guys! I'm packing for the long haul, I'll be here when I can make it and in the meantime I'll doubtless be Twittering!
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Orange - The debacle continues
You might remember a few days ago I blogged a situation I was enduring with Orange. To re-cap briefly, they believe I owe them £30 from a broadband account I held almost three years ago in Scotland. I dispute the debt in the first instance but rather than discuss it with me, they emailed me the notification on the email address they had closed when I terminated the account and when unsurprisingly they got no response, they 'sent their boys after me', despite my having already furnishing them, on a number of occasions, with all the legally necessary information to prove that regardless of whether or not the debt was valid, it was dated prior to my being declared bankrupt and hence I wasn't liable!
But the saga continued. Orange (and their heavies) wanted hard copy but as a small act of defiance I refused to send it on the grounds that none of my real or significant creditors had required it and that the law doesn't require that I provide it either, only the details of the court and case number etc.
Not put off they continued to hound me two or three times a day, including Christmas eve and boxing day, I reminded them that to hassle me 'post bankruptcy' is contrary to the bankruptcy laws, but still they continued, so finally I just stopped answering their calls.
Next, given a few weeks to calm down I decided that to capitulate was probably the sensible way to resolve the situation....and sent them hard copy, with a covering letter expressing my feelings regarding their behaviour and requesting confirmation in writing that the matter was now closed.
No response! Well actually there was a response....a company of bailiffs contacted me....may I remind you this is all over just £30! They however acted within the law and once I had given them the bankruptcy case details they backed off, almost as confounded as me by Orange's actions.
Enough already! With my hackles raised once more I contacted Orange's bully boy company again.....and it will come as no surprise to you to discover they deny ever having received the hard copy! Any degree of patience I had retained was lost at this point and whilst I stuck to the basic rules of remaining polite and calm I 'let them have it with both barrels' so to speak and then requested that a manager call me back, pronto.
She did, though of course not pronto, and finally, much haggling later, she agreed to accept hard copy by fax. Easy?Of course not, their fax machine was buggered and my 'manager' didn't have access to the office to deal with it! Jeez!
I suggested I email a copy, this was met with some degree of confusion because she was concerned it would arrive in a format she couldn't open!!!! I promised it in a common format and she eventually gave me an email address....which didn't work either and bounced back at me countless times!
I called her again, each call I might add involves all the usual phone menu frustrations and then the inevitable, "she's on another call, I'll get her to call you back"in three days time response! Eventually I got hold of her again and she gave me another email address, with a promise to confirm receipt of my mail by return.
This time success...... Of a sort......at least my mail didn't bounce back but I can only assume it arrived because thus far, which is three days later, I still don't have any confirmation! In fact I have had no contact at all, so my assumption is, that as they appear to have got off my bloody phone line on a thrice daily basis, something must have worked and got throught to them at last!
You will understand though why I am more than a little sceptical and why I still anticipate having to deal with the bailiffs at my door.
This is outrageous behaviour from a national company. Firstly it's appalling that these companies employ debt collecting factors that they are very well aware operate outside the law. Secondly, every aspect of their administration systems appear to fall down spectacularly, which from a company in a hi-tech business isn't very impressive, thirdly, do they really think anyone goes through the nightmare of personal bankruptcy without familiarising themselves with the legislation and rights, fourthly I am sick of being blatantly lied to by fuckwits who assume I don't know the law, and consequently they can do as they please and finally....can anyone really believe they have spent so much time and money chasing a disputed debt of only £30 from a bankrupt that they know ultimately they can't collect from!!! It's no bloody wonder the country is in the state it is right now!
They now have one more item of hard copy, a letter stating my dissatisfaction in a very specific manner and a promise that should this continue any further I will go to law to stop them, if only on principle.
I can deal with these situations without too much bother, albeit a lot of stress, I'm not easily intimidated and I know my way around but Lord help anyone who is less able, it horrifies me to think just what these companies might inflict on some!
ORANGE....the future is bright, the staff are not!
Oh, and the bully boys if you are interested....Buchanan Clark and Wells a subsidiary of The BCW group, who interestingly seem to have a lot of negative google returns!
But the saga continued. Orange (and their heavies) wanted hard copy but as a small act of defiance I refused to send it on the grounds that none of my real or significant creditors had required it and that the law doesn't require that I provide it either, only the details of the court and case number etc.
Not put off they continued to hound me two or three times a day, including Christmas eve and boxing day, I reminded them that to hassle me 'post bankruptcy' is contrary to the bankruptcy laws, but still they continued, so finally I just stopped answering their calls.
Next, given a few weeks to calm down I decided that to capitulate was probably the sensible way to resolve the situation....and sent them hard copy, with a covering letter expressing my feelings regarding their behaviour and requesting confirmation in writing that the matter was now closed.
No response! Well actually there was a response....a company of bailiffs contacted me....may I remind you this is all over just £30! They however acted within the law and once I had given them the bankruptcy case details they backed off, almost as confounded as me by Orange's actions.
Enough already! With my hackles raised once more I contacted Orange's bully boy company again.....and it will come as no surprise to you to discover they deny ever having received the hard copy! Any degree of patience I had retained was lost at this point and whilst I stuck to the basic rules of remaining polite and calm I 'let them have it with both barrels' so to speak and then requested that a manager call me back, pronto.
She did, though of course not pronto, and finally, much haggling later, she agreed to accept hard copy by fax. Easy?Of course not, their fax machine was buggered and my 'manager' didn't have access to the office to deal with it! Jeez!
I suggested I email a copy, this was met with some degree of confusion because she was concerned it would arrive in a format she couldn't open!!!! I promised it in a common format and she eventually gave me an email address....which didn't work either and bounced back at me countless times!
I called her again, each call I might add involves all the usual phone menu frustrations and then the inevitable, "she's on another call, I'll get her to call you back"
This time success...... Of a sort......at least my mail didn't bounce back but I can only assume it arrived because thus far, which is three days later, I still don't have any confirmation! In fact I have had no contact at all, so my assumption is, that as they appear to have got off my bloody phone line on a thrice daily basis, something must have worked and got throught to them at last!
You will understand though why I am more than a little sceptical and why I still anticipate having to deal with the bailiffs at my door.
This is outrageous behaviour from a national company. Firstly it's appalling that these companies employ debt collecting factors that they are very well aware operate outside the law. Secondly, every aspect of their administration systems appear to fall down spectacularly, which from a company in a hi-tech business isn't very impressive, thirdly, do they really think anyone goes through the nightmare of personal bankruptcy without familiarising themselves with the legislation and rights, fourthly I am sick of being blatantly lied to by fuckwits who assume I don't know the law, and consequently they can do as they please and finally....can anyone really believe they have spent so much time and money chasing a disputed debt of only £30 from a bankrupt that they know ultimately they can't collect from!!! It's no bloody wonder the country is in the state it is right now!
They now have one more item of hard copy, a letter stating my dissatisfaction in a very specific manner and a promise that should this continue any further I will go to law to stop them, if only on principle.
I can deal with these situations without too much bother, albeit a lot of stress, I'm not easily intimidated and I know my way around but Lord help anyone who is less able, it horrifies me to think just what these companies might inflict on some!
ORANGE....the future is bright, the staff are not!
Oh, and the bully boys if you are interested....Buchanan Clark and Wells a subsidiary of The BCW group, who interestingly seem to have a lot of negative google returns!
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
And in the news today
Given that the whole world will today be writing on the subject of Obama, I thought I would give you one or two alternative news stories instead. That's not to say that yesterday's inauguration was of no interest to me, I watched every moment of it and with a new sense of hope and even pride, despite not being American, but politics is not my forte so I'll leave that to those who know what they are talking about.
So, courtesy of the BBC a couple of reports of a lighter nature...
A weather forecasting cat in Germany,
A cow travelling by car in Beirut,
and a cat burglar in Swindon that reminds me very much of Tilly, who also had a penchant for soft toy theft, though she did at least stick to those in her own household!
Enjoy.
So, courtesy of the BBC a couple of reports of a lighter nature...
A weather forecasting cat in Germany,
A cow travelling by car in Beirut,
and a cat burglar in Swindon that reminds me very much of Tilly, who also had a penchant for soft toy theft, though she did at least stick to those in her own household!
Enjoy.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
A moral dilemma
I'm on the horns of a dilemma, one I have been pondering for a while and still can't really find a comfortable solution for inside of my own head.
It's the work situation, or rather the lack of it. I haven't worked now in paid employment for coming up to a year, I have tried various options, the design thing, though that was never likely to make me a living income yet at least, employment agencies who generally didn't have suitable types of work (or the motivation to do their own job properly, I'm not sure which) and managed to find me the grand total of four placements and the obvious, job hunting by the usual routes. All to no avail.
If I am entirely honest, for some of my period of unemployment the hunt for a position has been a little more 'low key' than might be ideal, mostly for various personal reasons but with the new year a new stronger push for work was commenced.....and believe me, it's tough out there and getting tougher by the day, particularly when most of your life's work experience is in retail!
Fletch has supported me both financially and emotionally throughout and as I didn't claim a penny in benefit, our decisions regarding my work status, I felt were our business, but things have changed in that positions are very few and far between right now and I have a moral obligation to him also.
In the main the state expects him to support me although we are not married but if one applies the same principle to the taxation system, they don't allow us the same rights as a married couple!No surprise there then! I think that's called 'having it all your own way'....the more I look into the benefit and taxation systems in the more it becomes apparent that where it suits them we are counted as married but where being married might be beneficial to us, we are counted as individual people with no connection at all!
So this is my dilemma....do I now 'sign on' or not?
The pro's are obvious, I get a little money, which whilst it might not be much, it is more than nothing, I will feel that I am contributing financially a little the running of our life, the systems will kick in and make efforts to help me find a job and I will be counted in the unemployment figures, something that is important to me.
The down side though, and the real crux of my dilemma, is that whilst we aren't exactly flush financially we aren't on the bread line either, we manage ok and are way better off than tens of thousands are right now. I feel guilty that I might be claiming monies that someone else needs much more than we do, families with children they can barely afford to feed, people living on the streets etc. etc.
But of course, as has been pointed out to me, it doesn't work like that, if it did it would be simple, but the reality is that anything I might be entitled to, if I forfeited it, wouldn't go to help someone in more need. It may be a better option and solution may be to claim any entitlement I have, use what I really need and donate the remainder to an appropriate charity.
I don't much relish the idea of being humiliated and degraded by the attitude of the benefits agency staff again....my last experience of that a few years ago was enough for one lifetime thankyouverymuch but the unfairness of the system, and my having relied solely on Fletch for a year, is beginning to make me consider that perhaps my morals should now lie elsewhere. At the very least, if I claim unemployment benefit, even if I don't qualify for payment, suddenly the system will show an interest and help me in my quest for work and in the meantime I will be counted in the unemployment figures.
I just don't know......
It's the work situation, or rather the lack of it. I haven't worked now in paid employment for coming up to a year, I have tried various options, the design thing, though that was never likely to make me a living income yet at least, employment agencies who generally didn't have suitable types of work (or the motivation to do their own job properly, I'm not sure which) and managed to find me the grand total of four placements and the obvious, job hunting by the usual routes. All to no avail.
If I am entirely honest, for some of my period of unemployment the hunt for a position has been a little more 'low key' than might be ideal, mostly for various personal reasons but with the new year a new stronger push for work was commenced.....and believe me, it's tough out there and getting tougher by the day, particularly when most of your life's work experience is in retail!
Fletch has supported me both financially and emotionally throughout and as I didn't claim a penny in benefit, our decisions regarding my work status, I felt were our business, but things have changed in that positions are very few and far between right now and I have a moral obligation to him also.
In the main the state expects him to support me although we are not married but if one applies the same principle to the taxation system, they don't allow us the same rights as a married couple!
So this is my dilemma....do I now 'sign on' or not?
The pro's are obvious, I get a little money, which whilst it might not be much, it is more than nothing, I will feel that I am contributing financially a little the running of our life, the systems will kick in and make efforts to help me find a job and I will be counted in the unemployment figures, something that is important to me.
The down side though, and the real crux of my dilemma, is that whilst we aren't exactly flush financially we aren't on the bread line either, we manage ok and are way better off than tens of thousands are right now. I feel guilty that I might be claiming monies that someone else needs much more than we do, families with children they can barely afford to feed, people living on the streets etc. etc.
But of course, as has been pointed out to me, it doesn't work like that, if it did it would be simple, but the reality is that anything I might be entitled to, if I forfeited it, wouldn't go to help someone in more need. It may be a better option and solution may be to claim any entitlement I have, use what I really need and donate the remainder to an appropriate charity.
I don't much relish the idea of being humiliated and degraded by the attitude of the benefits agency staff again....my last experience of that a few years ago was enough for one lifetime thankyouverymuch but the unfairness of the system, and my having relied solely on Fletch for a year, is beginning to make me consider that perhaps my morals should now lie elsewhere. At the very least, if I claim unemployment benefit, even if I don't qualify for payment, suddenly the system will show an interest and help me in my quest for work and in the meantime I will be counted in the unemployment figures.
I just don't know......
Monday, 19 January 2009
Hamsters and physics
Hammy, it would appear, hasn't quite grasped the principles of basic physics yet!
(Clickable)
(Clickable)
Sunday, 18 January 2009
'Fletch is 40'!!!
Well, I had it all worked out, today's post was going to be simple, none of the 'what shall I write about today' malarkey, it was sorted, I had subject matter right in front of me.....but then, dammit, Fletch mentioned it wasn't er...'necessary' to blog the fact that today is his 40th birthday, and suddenly my easy post was gone!So, no public jokes about age, no rejoicing in the fact that from today, he can no longer poke fun at my having been languishing in the '40 something' category for years while he was merely '30 something', no chance for public asides regarding age, wrinkles or decrepitude, as I can't mention that it is Fletch's 40th birthday today, and of course I wouldn't dream of it, all those opportunities for revenge are lost to me!
Ain't life a bitch!
*Hey...... shhhhh, just between you and me Fletch, HAPPY
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Excuse the mess!
I've spent better part of the last twenty four hours fighting with this blog's code in an endeavour to change it from HTML to XML, don't ask me why, probably just because it's there to be done!
Anyway, along the way and for a day or two to come you may notice it appear to fall apart here and there, my apologies, normal service will be resumed shortly, I'm almost there. In theory it's not hard, in practice it isn't really either but in my usual picky nature there are some bits and pieces that I want 'just so', no one else will likely ever notice but I will and until I have cracked them all the fiddling will likely continue for a few days.
One things for sure, while most of me loves all this faffing and it has the ability to swallow up a whole day into something that feels more like just an hour or two, right now I think if I get one more 'this can't be parsed' error message I might just be tempted throw this machine out of my third floor window!
So, as the title says, if you arrive here and it looks like a tornado has just passed through...please excuse the mess, I'm working on it!
*P.S. Should anyone out there know how to get Haloscan and Blogger commenting systems into the XML together please let me know, it was easy in HTML, not so it appears now! Hell, I don't even use Haloscan comments anymore but I just can't bear to let all the old ones disappear into the ether, again, it's just me, no one else reads them but occasionally I still do!
Anyway, along the way and for a day or two to come you may notice it appear to fall apart here and there, my apologies, normal service will be resumed shortly, I'm almost there. In theory it's not hard, in practice it isn't really either but in my usual picky nature there are some bits and pieces that I want 'just so', no one else will likely ever notice but I will and until I have cracked them all the fiddling will likely continue for a few days.
One things for sure, while most of me loves all this faffing and it has the ability to swallow up a whole day into something that feels more like just an hour or two, right now I think if I get one more 'this can't be parsed' error message I might just be tempted throw this machine out of my third floor window!
So, as the title says, if you arrive here and it looks like a tornado has just passed through...please excuse the mess, I'm working on it!
*P.S. Should anyone out there know how to get Haloscan and Blogger commenting systems into the XML together please let me know, it was easy in HTML, not so it appears now! Hell, I don't even use Haloscan comments anymore but I just can't bear to let all the old ones disappear into the ether, again, it's just me, no one else reads them but occasionally I still do!
Friday, 16 January 2009
The 'F' letter!
Ok, you may or may not have seen this but it arrived in my email yesterday and fascinated me. I have no idea if it's a scientific fact or some kind of illusion but it's still interesting. You have to follow the instructions, no cheating and no scrolling down until you have tried it!
It's typed out here exactly as it was presented in the mail, again, I don't know if that's 'part of it' or just poor typing but whatever, here goes;
Count every ' F ' in the following text:
How many did you find?
WRONG, there are 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's again.
Can you find them all yet?
The reasoning;
The brain cannot process 'OF'.
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 'F's' on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.
Like I say, I don't know if it's trickery or true but it's amusing/frustrating anyhow.
Incidentally, I got 4 and I had to look carefully twice more to find them all!
What did you get??
It's typed out here exactly as it was presented in the mail, again, I don't know if that's 'part of it' or just poor typing but whatever, here goes;
Count every ' F ' in the following text:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE E XPERIENCE OF YEARS...
How many did you find?
WRONG, there are 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's again.
Can you find them all yet?
The reasoning;
The brain cannot process 'OF'.
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 'F's' on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.
Like I say, I don't know if it's trickery or true but it's amusing/frustrating anyhow.
Incidentally, I got 4 and I had to look carefully twice more to find them all!
What did you get??
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Bloody bollards - redux!
So, just in case you were in any doubt as to what these things are all about, I thought I would enlighten you further with a little clip I took yesterday on my travels! Hell, I'm good to you lot! ;o)
Try being behind that....you can't see infront of the first approaching vehicle and by the time you get to them yourself the damn things are back up! Ack.
Try being behind that....you can't see infront of the first approaching vehicle and by the time you get to them yourself the damn things are back up! Ack.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Bloody bollards!
Necessity dictates that today I venture into the big city, not the big city of course, I'll be damned if I'm driving 100 miles just to pay the congestion charge, I mean the closer to hand big city, Cambridge, that of beautiful architecture, historic interest and top end seats of learning but also sadly a million life threatening push bikes and a traffic system straight from the depths of hell!You might deduce that I am not keen to be making this trip and you would be right. Cambridge might be famous for all manner of things intellectual, highbrow and beautiful but I don't like it one bit, or at least not in the practical sense and I rarely venture anywhere close. Truly, the place is most definitely not a number one destination if what you need to do is get in and out and do a little speedy practical shopping, so much so that usually I prefer to not shop at all.....and that's quite something!
It's an odd place altogether, it has a strange 'transient' unfriendly feel about it that doesn't endear it to me, maybe it's because most of the population is made up of students who are only there for a few years or tourists who are only there for a few days, maybe it's because the place is so spread out and scattered or maybe it's just because everyone is in as much as a hurry to get back out as I am before they become embroiled in the spokes of a speeding bike or have the front of their vehicle annihilated by a 'rising bollard'.
Rising bollards, now there's a thing, the traffic system is controlled by these items of engineering and they are just that, large bollards that rise and fall controlled by sensors on buses, taxis and other 'allowed' modes of transportation, sounds a clever idea? Well it might be aside from the fact that should you fail among the melee to notice a dropped one (and believe me they are easy to miss if you have traffic infront of you), the speed with which they rise out of the ground again is pretty scary and offers every possibility that you won't get home again without a tow truck!Maybe the drive into London isn't such a bad idea after all.....
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Decisions, decisions!
It's that time of year again, one of my favourites, the one where I can kid myself I am getting something for nothing though of course in reality I am not, instead I am merely paying through the nose by more nefarious marketing routes to fulfil my insatiable gadget obsession!January is the month my mobile phone contract is due for renewal, the down side is of course that it requires a good deal of haggling each time to negotiate a suitable contract (it's amazing what you can get out of these companies if you put your mind to it) the upside though and the bit that outweighs all other aspects is that I get to choose a brand new shiny handset, a new toy to amuse me and fiddle with, oh the delight!
Of course, I get to this point, a week before I can claim my new piece of technological heaven, and I have never actually made the decision as to exactly which model of gorgeous gadget to choose. As ever I have perused at length the spec. for just about everything on the market and as ever I come to the same partial decision, it has to be substance over style (hey, you can't fiddle with 'style' or connect to the internet suitably fast) and it has to be Nokia, I can navigate a Nokia blindfold and I'm too set in my ways to learn another system to that degree of second nature!
So, all that remains is the final decision, an N95, the N96, though to pay a sum upfront which this model requires is usually against my self imposed phone acquisition rules, or the 6220, which is actually small enough for my little thumbs to race over with the necessary speeds and dexterity!
Hey....this is important stuff don't you know! ;o)
Decisions, decisions!
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