Welcome to what is happening or has happened
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Jan 25 2023
Wow, looks like I have fallen down on the job. 6 months, you would think that something would have happened in all of that time that was worth writing about.
We are in Florida. We came down about the first of October and stayed until the first of December when we went back to Missouri for Christmas. We were back here for the New Year's Eve party.
We are enjoying our place and our friends here in the warmer weather of Florida. Overall we are very fortunate to have good health, good friends and a nice place to live here in the Sunshine state.
We still ride the motorcycle, play cards, go out to eat and run around whenever the mood strikes.
Wow, looks like I have fallen down on the job. 6 months, you would think that something would have happened in all of that time that was worth writing about.
We are in Florida. We came down about the first of October and stayed until the first of December when we went back to Missouri for Christmas. We were back here for the New Year's Eve party.
We are enjoying our place and our friends here in the warmer weather of Florida. Overall we are very fortunate to have good health, good friends and a nice place to live here in the Sunshine state.
We still ride the motorcycle, play cards, go out to eat and run around whenever the mood strikes.
July 25, 2022
As summer slugs along, we are suffering here in Missouri. The temp has been at or over 100 degrees for about 6 weeks now. We are suffering from a pretty serious draught. But the good news this morning is that it rained some. I doubt that it is near enough, but we will take what we can get.
Barb and I are doing fine. No serious health problems and only minor "Old Age" problems.
We have no plans for travel or any other exciting escapades for the rest of the summer but look forward to Florida.
Our grandaughter Sydney got married this summer and her and her husband moved to California where he is in the Marines. They seem to be taking to married life very well. I don't know why we who have been there and done that think that the current young people will have a problem adapting to married life and most of us do it automatically. We are happy for them.
As summer slugs along, we are suffering here in Missouri. The temp has been at or over 100 degrees for about 6 weeks now. We are suffering from a pretty serious draught. But the good news this morning is that it rained some. I doubt that it is near enough, but we will take what we can get.
Barb and I are doing fine. No serious health problems and only minor "Old Age" problems.
We have no plans for travel or any other exciting escapades for the rest of the summer but look forward to Florida.
Our grandaughter Sydney got married this summer and her and her husband moved to California where he is in the Marines. They seem to be taking to married life very well. I don't know why we who have been there and done that think that the current young people will have a problem adapting to married life and most of us do it automatically. We are happy for them.
July 8, 2022
I confess, it so hot that there just aren't any activities at our house. We stay inside as much as possible to stay cool.
So far, we have made no plans to do anything until the weather breaks.
I confess, it so hot that there just aren't any activities at our house. We stay inside as much as possible to stay cool.
So far, we have made no plans to do anything until the weather breaks.
April 25, 2022
Well, we made it through Christmas and back to Florida. David and Conner made it home for early Christmas and Cindy and Bill came for real Christmas. It was a little light but we enjoyed the visit with those who did come
We got back to Florida and enjoyed 4 months of much warmer weather than in Missouri. Believe it or not, we had more rain than normal for this time of year in Florida. But they are blessed with the rain because this is the drought season.
Since we have been back in Missouri, it has rained every day except one and that was yesterday when Syd had her shower here at our house. It was a beautiful day with sunshine, but lots of wind. All went well for that.
Syd will be getting married next month and they will move to California. That is all of the activities that we have planned for right now. But we will see, I'll bet we can come up with something to fill our time.
Well, we made it through Christmas and back to Florida. David and Conner made it home for early Christmas and Cindy and Bill came for real Christmas. It was a little light but we enjoyed the visit with those who did come
We got back to Florida and enjoyed 4 months of much warmer weather than in Missouri. Believe it or not, we had more rain than normal for this time of year in Florida. But they are blessed with the rain because this is the drought season.
Since we have been back in Missouri, it has rained every day except one and that was yesterday when Syd had her shower here at our house. It was a beautiful day with sunshine, but lots of wind. All went well for that.
Syd will be getting married next month and they will move to California. That is all of the activities that we have planned for right now. But we will see, I'll bet we can come up with something to fill our time.
Nov 23, 2021
We have obviously made it through another fall season and are still in Florida, while thinking about going back to Benton to see if Santa is going to come to our house.
We will head home soon and will be there for Christmas. David will come early so that he can be home for Christmas with Mary Ann. Conner is coming early also and will have to go back before Christmas. Hopefully, Cindy & Bill, Greg & Diane, Rick & Scarlett with Syd, Joe & Anna Clair and Tom and Mary along with all of the great grandkids will all be home for Christmas. It is the reason we go home in December.
We have obviously made it through another fall season and are still in Florida, while thinking about going back to Benton to see if Santa is going to come to our house.
We will head home soon and will be there for Christmas. David will come early so that he can be home for Christmas with Mary Ann. Conner is coming early also and will have to go back before Christmas. Hopefully, Cindy & Bill, Greg & Diane, Rick & Scarlett with Syd, Joe & Anna Clair and Tom and Mary along with all of the great grandkids will all be home for Christmas. It is the reason we go home in December.
August 25. 2021
Gosh a year and a half has gone by since the last entry here. With Covid dictating so many of our actions for the last year and a half, a lot of things have been put on hold. We didn't come home for Christmas this season and we spent an awfully lot of time just trying to get a vaccination. We finally got them shortly before we came home but so far God has taken care of us and we haven't gotten the bug.
We are already thinking about going back to Florida. In just 5 or 6 weeks we will be on the way. We enjoy it and always look forward to going. But we also look forward to coming home.. Life is good.
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Gosh a year and a half has gone by since the last entry here. With Covid dictating so many of our actions for the last year and a half, a lot of things have been put on hold. We didn't come home for Christmas this season and we spent an awfully lot of time just trying to get a vaccination. We finally got them shortly before we came home but so far God has taken care of us and we haven't gotten the bug.
We are already thinking about going back to Florida. In just 5 or 6 weeks we will be on the way. We enjoy it and always look forward to going. But we also look forward to coming home.. Life is good.
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Jan 20, 2020
This year we got to Florida around the first of October and it was hotter than heck for a while but then the weather moderated a bit and since the park was very sparsely populated, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed that for a while. Of course, we enjoy the folks here in the park too, so when they began to show up things got more interesting. As we usually do, we headed to Benton for Christmas.
As he usually does, David came in early and spent several days with us and went back home just before Christmas. Unfortunately he missed all of the excitement at our house but did manage to make the Family Christmas Dinner at Randy and Jana's. That was a nice time for him and us.. He had an opportunity to see lots of relatives that he only sees at Christmas time. Joe and Anna Claire brought Daniela and you can guess who was the center of attraction. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and particularly that little girl. Cindy and Bill came and of course Greg and Diane and Rick and Scarlett, Derek, Conner and Sydney all were there. Cindy took charge of Christmas dinner (under the watchful eye of the chief cook, Barb).
We came back to Florida shortly after Christmas and were here in time for the New Year's Eve dance. Sharon came with us and a great time was had by all.
This year we got to Florida around the first of October and it was hotter than heck for a while but then the weather moderated a bit and since the park was very sparsely populated, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed that for a while. Of course, we enjoy the folks here in the park too, so when they began to show up things got more interesting. As we usually do, we headed to Benton for Christmas.
As he usually does, David came in early and spent several days with us and went back home just before Christmas. Unfortunately he missed all of the excitement at our house but did manage to make the Family Christmas Dinner at Randy and Jana's. That was a nice time for him and us.. He had an opportunity to see lots of relatives that he only sees at Christmas time. Joe and Anna Claire brought Daniela and you can guess who was the center of attraction. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and particularly that little girl. Cindy and Bill came and of course Greg and Diane and Rick and Scarlett, Derek, Conner and Sydney all were there. Cindy took charge of Christmas dinner (under the watchful eye of the chief cook, Barb).
We came back to Florida shortly after Christmas and were here in time for the New Year's Eve dance. Sharon came with us and a great time was had by all.
Dec 11, 2019
Why in the world would anyone put up a webpage and not keep it more up to date? Well, lazy comes to mind, or we could say, just to be justifying, we are so busy. In any case, a couple of gallons of water have passed under that bridge and here we are at almost Christmas time.
Why in the world would anyone put up a webpage and not keep it more up to date? Well, lazy comes to mind, or we could say, just to be justifying, we are so busy. In any case, a couple of gallons of water have passed under that bridge and here we are at almost Christmas time.
April 25, 2019
A lot of water has passed under the bridge and over the dam since the last post.
We spent a very nice winter in Florida in 2018/2019. Got home Friday before Easter and we have had a weather roller coaster ever since. It has rained almost every day with a couple of nice days thrown in.
Of course we are very busy trying to get two houses and lawns cleaned up and looking good. We have not had any interest in our house. We are going to have to talk to our real estate agent to see what we are going to have to do to make this house go away.
Barb is feeling pretty good. She gets very tired very quickly but she has to keep going doing all of the things that she did when she was 40 years old. We are both very blessed to have the good health that we have. We both do pretty much what we want to do.
We plan on a trip to a special place soon and then to Virginia to see Cindy and Bill and hopefully Tom, Mary and Ellie.
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A lot of water has passed under the bridge and over the dam since the last post.
We spent a very nice winter in Florida in 2018/2019. Got home Friday before Easter and we have had a weather roller coaster ever since. It has rained almost every day with a couple of nice days thrown in.
Of course we are very busy trying to get two houses and lawns cleaned up and looking good. We have not had any interest in our house. We are going to have to talk to our real estate agent to see what we are going to have to do to make this house go away.
Barb is feeling pretty good. She gets very tired very quickly but she has to keep going doing all of the things that she did when she was 40 years old. We are both very blessed to have the good health that we have. We both do pretty much what we want to do.
We plan on a trip to a special place soon and then to Virginia to see Cindy and Bill and hopefully Tom, Mary and Ellie.
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What happened in 2018
After Barb began to recover from her operation, we were able to get out and do some things. Taking if very easy. We had a home care nurse come for about 3 weeks, she took all of Barb's vital signs and gave advice on what and how to do whatever she needed. They checked her vitals and the medicine that she took and when. Then we also had a Therapist come and she had Barb do lots of different exercises. Then she got out and walked up and down the road here in the park. She improved rapidly and by the time we headed to Missouri, she was doing pretty good.
Cindy came to visit this time and not to be a nurse. While she was here, we rode the motorcycle some and traded the truck in on a 2018 Jeep. We enjoyed Cindy's visit and Barb continued to improve all the way.
We got home OK and began to settle into the routine of summer in Missouri. One morning while I was walking, I came upon a sign for a house that was for sale. Barb had gone to coffee with the girls and someone there told her about the same house. Well, we looked at it and bought it. Then the terrible realization set in that we would have to get rid of a lot of our stuff. Then we would have to move what was left over.
Garage Sale
We started getting ready for a huge garage sale. Cindy came home to help, Scarlett, Donna, and Rick and Greg came to help and we spent about 2 weeks getting ready for the sale. Then for two very long days we sold/gave away lots and lots of our STUFF. Then we moved what we could to our new house and garage. I know,, it seems like I took most of my stuff but that is because I have a bigger place to store my stuff. Of course everyday we look for something that we must have given away or sold. But I guess that is what downsizing is.
Summer/ Fall
Somehow, we made it through the summer. We had the Kitchen of our new house redone so that we would have it the way we wanted. I kept busy mowing two lawns now. (one reason we wanted to downsize was to get away from mowing three acres sometimes twice a week).
After we got settled in, we put our old house on the market with the guy we bought the new house from
September rolled around and it began to get cool so, true to our routine, we headed to Florida. We got to Florida with no problems and had an uneventful couple of months, with few people in the park. Dec 1, we headed to Benton for Christmas and all of the doctor's appointments that go along with the return to home base. Our Real estate agent sent us an email and said that he was quitting the business and that he would give our house to someone else. Bummer.
Christmas 2018
Christmas was good. We had the Thompson's family dinner at Randy and Jana's. Got to see a lot of people that we only see at Christmas so that was good.
While we were home, we contacted MA Bell, a local Real estate agent that seems to get a lot of results. She has it now and we haven't seen any activity there either.
David came in early and spent time with us so that he could spend Christmas with Mary Ann. Cindy and Bill, Rick, Scarlett,, Conner, Sydney, Greg and Diane and Derek and Tiffany all came for dinner and we had a nice visit and a cool gift exchange. When everything slowed down and got back to normal, we decided that it was time to head out. Sharon was coming with us and she had a Doctor's appointment so we waited an extra day for her. It was a good thing because we were able to get all of the Christmas decorations put away without hurrying like crazy.
So it is back to Florida and our lazy fun routine of doing only what we want to do when we want to do it. The weather has really been cold for January. Seems like we had to have the heat on an awful lot of the time. But things are going good for us and we are happy.
After Barb began to recover from her operation, we were able to get out and do some things. Taking if very easy. We had a home care nurse come for about 3 weeks, she took all of Barb's vital signs and gave advice on what and how to do whatever she needed. They checked her vitals and the medicine that she took and when. Then we also had a Therapist come and she had Barb do lots of different exercises. Then she got out and walked up and down the road here in the park. She improved rapidly and by the time we headed to Missouri, she was doing pretty good.
Cindy came to visit this time and not to be a nurse. While she was here, we rode the motorcycle some and traded the truck in on a 2018 Jeep. We enjoyed Cindy's visit and Barb continued to improve all the way.
We got home OK and began to settle into the routine of summer in Missouri. One morning while I was walking, I came upon a sign for a house that was for sale. Barb had gone to coffee with the girls and someone there told her about the same house. Well, we looked at it and bought it. Then the terrible realization set in that we would have to get rid of a lot of our stuff. Then we would have to move what was left over.
Garage Sale
We started getting ready for a huge garage sale. Cindy came home to help, Scarlett, Donna, and Rick and Greg came to help and we spent about 2 weeks getting ready for the sale. Then for two very long days we sold/gave away lots and lots of our STUFF. Then we moved what we could to our new house and garage. I know,, it seems like I took most of my stuff but that is because I have a bigger place to store my stuff. Of course everyday we look for something that we must have given away or sold. But I guess that is what downsizing is.
Summer/ Fall
Somehow, we made it through the summer. We had the Kitchen of our new house redone so that we would have it the way we wanted. I kept busy mowing two lawns now. (one reason we wanted to downsize was to get away from mowing three acres sometimes twice a week).
After we got settled in, we put our old house on the market with the guy we bought the new house from
September rolled around and it began to get cool so, true to our routine, we headed to Florida. We got to Florida with no problems and had an uneventful couple of months, with few people in the park. Dec 1, we headed to Benton for Christmas and all of the doctor's appointments that go along with the return to home base. Our Real estate agent sent us an email and said that he was quitting the business and that he would give our house to someone else. Bummer.
Christmas 2018
Christmas was good. We had the Thompson's family dinner at Randy and Jana's. Got to see a lot of people that we only see at Christmas so that was good.
While we were home, we contacted MA Bell, a local Real estate agent that seems to get a lot of results. She has it now and we haven't seen any activity there either.
David came in early and spent time with us so that he could spend Christmas with Mary Ann. Cindy and Bill, Rick, Scarlett,, Conner, Sydney, Greg and Diane and Derek and Tiffany all came for dinner and we had a nice visit and a cool gift exchange. When everything slowed down and got back to normal, we decided that it was time to head out. Sharon was coming with us and she had a Doctor's appointment so we waited an extra day for her. It was a good thing because we were able to get all of the Christmas decorations put away without hurrying like crazy.
So it is back to Florida and our lazy fun routine of doing only what we want to do when we want to do it. The weather has really been cold for January. Seems like we had to have the heat on an awful lot of the time. But things are going good for us and we are happy.
An Exceptional Season
That is probably the least expressive title for this post. Dramatic, scary, weird, or difficult would more accurately describe what has happened this season in good old Florida.
In September we came to Florida and closed the deal on the park model that we were selling. So far so good. Barb had trouble breathing anytime we walked or she did anything that she exerted herself any at all. I just knew it was a heart problem. The doctor at home had told her to see the doctor down here for her reflux problem . Well we did go see the local country doctor and he said we could talk about the reflux later but now she needed to see about her heart problem. He made an appointment with a cardiologist in Lakeland and we went there. He determined that she needed a catherization to find and or fix the problem. She went into the hospital on a Thursday and they found two arteries blocked and they put a stent in the most blocked one. She came home Friday and we thought everything was fixed.
We were delayed from going home for Christmas because Barb had a follow up appointment with the doctor. We did get on the road about the 7th of Dec.
Christmas was fine. David came home early and spent a few days with us before going back to spend Christmas with Mary Ann, and Cindy and Bill came in Friday before Christmas. Cindy took charge of the whole thing. She coordinated dinner with Rick and Greg and got the dinner all fixed up and it went off like clockwork. Barb was still is having trouble breathing. (sounds like I was when I had my heart problem)
We came back to Florida in time for the New Year's Eve party and enjoyed it. Saturday Jan 6, Barb woke me up about 2:00 AM and said she thought she needed an aspirin because her chest was hurting pretty bad. Aspirin didn't help so I took her to the Emergency Room here in Wauchula and they stabilized her and put her in an ambulance and took her to Lakeland hospital. That was Saturday morning and they said they didn't call a team in unless it was an emergency and they didn't think this was. So, Monday they took her in for another catherization to find out what the problem was. They did,, and the problem turned out to be that scar tissue had engulfed the stent and closed the artery to 95% blocked. The only alternative was a double by-pass. So that is what they did, the same day. She stayed in the hospital a full week and came home on Monday.
Rick and Conner came Down on Sunday and Greg came later that day, I think. (Time gets rather scrambled) The boys had to leave and go back to work during the week. It was good to see them and it was nice of them to come. We both appreciate it.
Wednesday, after Barb came home on Monday, Cindy came and she was a big help. Helping Barb do her exercises, cooking and keeping her Mom company. (They watched 6 months, more or less, of Heartland in the evenings.)
As it stands, our patient is doing better, healing slowly but steadily and I know she is getting better because she is getting more and more onery.
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That is probably the least expressive title for this post. Dramatic, scary, weird, or difficult would more accurately describe what has happened this season in good old Florida.
In September we came to Florida and closed the deal on the park model that we were selling. So far so good. Barb had trouble breathing anytime we walked or she did anything that she exerted herself any at all. I just knew it was a heart problem. The doctor at home had told her to see the doctor down here for her reflux problem . Well we did go see the local country doctor and he said we could talk about the reflux later but now she needed to see about her heart problem. He made an appointment with a cardiologist in Lakeland and we went there. He determined that she needed a catherization to find and or fix the problem. She went into the hospital on a Thursday and they found two arteries blocked and they put a stent in the most blocked one. She came home Friday and we thought everything was fixed.
We were delayed from going home for Christmas because Barb had a follow up appointment with the doctor. We did get on the road about the 7th of Dec.
Christmas was fine. David came home early and spent a few days with us before going back to spend Christmas with Mary Ann, and Cindy and Bill came in Friday before Christmas. Cindy took charge of the whole thing. She coordinated dinner with Rick and Greg and got the dinner all fixed up and it went off like clockwork. Barb was still is having trouble breathing. (sounds like I was when I had my heart problem)
We came back to Florida in time for the New Year's Eve party and enjoyed it. Saturday Jan 6, Barb woke me up about 2:00 AM and said she thought she needed an aspirin because her chest was hurting pretty bad. Aspirin didn't help so I took her to the Emergency Room here in Wauchula and they stabilized her and put her in an ambulance and took her to Lakeland hospital. That was Saturday morning and they said they didn't call a team in unless it was an emergency and they didn't think this was. So, Monday they took her in for another catherization to find out what the problem was. They did,, and the problem turned out to be that scar tissue had engulfed the stent and closed the artery to 95% blocked. The only alternative was a double by-pass. So that is what they did, the same day. She stayed in the hospital a full week and came home on Monday.
Rick and Conner came Down on Sunday and Greg came later that day, I think. (Time gets rather scrambled) The boys had to leave and go back to work during the week. It was good to see them and it was nice of them to come. We both appreciate it.
Wednesday, after Barb came home on Monday, Cindy came and she was a big help. Helping Barb do her exercises, cooking and keeping her Mom company. (They watched 6 months, more or less, of Heartland in the evenings.)
As it stands, our patient is doing better, healing slowly but steadily and I know she is getting better because she is getting more and more onery.
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Oct 12, 2017 Lakeland Hospital
We have been in Florida since the 20th of Sept and Barb has been having chest pains for a couple of months before we left home. The pains were so bad that we took her to the Emergency Room. The ran tests and did an EKG. The doctor's diagnosis was Reflux and she prescribed Nexium. That didn't work and so she went to her regular doctor and she changed her medicine and that didn't help.
When we got here Barb went to our local Country Doctor, whom all think is great. He immediately set her up with a cardiologist. Today they are doing a heart catherization. Just got a phone call from the doctor and they said they found a problem and they are going to fix it right now. She will have to spend the night.
We have been in Florida since the 20th of Sept and Barb has been having chest pains for a couple of months before we left home. The pains were so bad that we took her to the Emergency Room. The ran tests and did an EKG. The doctor's diagnosis was Reflux and she prescribed Nexium. That didn't work and so she went to her regular doctor and she changed her medicine and that didn't help.
When we got here Barb went to our local Country Doctor, whom all think is great. He immediately set her up with a cardiologist. Today they are doing a heart catherization. Just got a phone call from the doctor and they said they found a problem and they are going to fix it right now. She will have to spend the night.
Sept 5, 2017
Where does the time go? Here it is September and we are getting ready to go to Florida. Since we have sold our old Park Model, we are going down early to take care of the paperwork. But!!! Right now we are watching Hurricane Irma. 180 mile an hour winds and it looks like it is headed straight for Florida. We aren't leaving for a couple of weeks so maybe it will be OK.
Today is Doctor and Dentist day. I have broken the same tooth off of my partial plate for the third time. Dr. Bollinger is working on that and Barb is at the Chiropractor getting fixed. (hope that works) Here I sit at McDonalds drinking coffee and dreaming about lunch.
Where does the time go? Here it is September and we are getting ready to go to Florida. Since we have sold our old Park Model, we are going down early to take care of the paperwork. But!!! Right now we are watching Hurricane Irma. 180 mile an hour winds and it looks like it is headed straight for Florida. We aren't leaving for a couple of weeks so maybe it will be OK.
Today is Doctor and Dentist day. I have broken the same tooth off of my partial plate for the third time. Dr. Bollinger is working on that and Barb is at the Chiropractor getting fixed. (hope that works) Here I sit at McDonalds drinking coffee and dreaming about lunch.
Aug 4, 2017
Sometimes when you slave away at retirement for days on end, you just have to get away and rest up a little.
With that thought in mind and being due for a vacation, we just took off and went to Eureka Springs, AR for a few days.
We stayed in a bed and breakfast, for 3 nights. We made an effort to do all of the tourist things we could and we accomplished pretty much of it. The down side is that we seem to have eaten way too much. We both suffered from indigestion on several occasions. We don't have a lot of experience at vacationing (?) but I think we can learn.
Sometimes when you slave away at retirement for days on end, you just have to get away and rest up a little.
With that thought in mind and being due for a vacation, we just took off and went to Eureka Springs, AR for a few days.
We stayed in a bed and breakfast, for 3 nights. We made an effort to do all of the tourist things we could and we accomplished pretty much of it. The down side is that we seem to have eaten way too much. We both suffered from indigestion on several occasions. We don't have a lot of experience at vacationing (?) but I think we can learn.
July 23, 2017
Unfortunately, Barb's Aunt Gladys passed away last week. We were able to visit with her a few days before she passed away. I think she knew who we were and she answered some things we asked her so that was a good thing. She was buried yesterday in Jackson.
The heat has been oppressive the last week or so. We do almost nothing except sit inside and watch television or mess around with the computer.
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Unfortunately, Barb's Aunt Gladys passed away last week. We were able to visit with her a few days before she passed away. I think she knew who we were and she answered some things we asked her so that was a good thing. She was buried yesterday in Jackson.
The heat has been oppressive the last week or so. We do almost nothing except sit inside and watch television or mess around with the computer.
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