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  • Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    This is something I wrote last year in my old blog:


    First off, I'm thankful for the cornerstone in my life, God. This year had it's up and downs. It wasn't until the later part of this year did I finally begin to rebuild the broken remains of dreary and drab life. On the outside, it was good but I was dying on the inside. A strong foundation hold everything together. No matter how strong the outside is, a weak foundation will eventually crumble. It was all made possible through the man upstairs.  I'm thankful for my family. My dad, my mom and even my brother (dont be shocked). We may not be the Cleaver's or the Brady bunch but I think we're a pretty cool family. I'm not thankful that I lost my dog this year but the memories he left is something I can never forget.  I'm thankful that I have both sets of grandparents. 2 grandma's and two grandfathers. I'm thankful they're still alive and able to celebrate another Thanksgiving. I know I don't visit them enough and I'm a horrible grandson. I do love them deeply though. I'm thankful for my friends. Whether I known you for three months or three years, it doesn't matter. A friend is something I cherish deeply. Even if it's something as simple as going to Starbucks, bowling or even just hanging out at someone's pad, these moments that occured this year will definitely not be forgotten.


    A year has gone by and I'm still thankful for what I have.  I'm thankful for having the family that I do. My pop has this nagging cough but I hope that it's just that and nothing more.  Both sets of my grandparents are still alive so that is definitely something to be thankful for. I've drifted from some of my friends but that doesn't mean I don't think about them.  Perhaps that's the price of getting older: responsiblities grow and fun dwindles.  God has definitely manifested Himself in my life more this year. I have definitely stumbled in my walk but He is always there to make sure I find my way back on track. There are times when I'm really down and yet He picks me up. 

    There are a few things I'd like to add this year on my "things to be thankful for" list.  First off is Esther.  She has definitely made me a happy  man.  She does little things for me that shows how much she cares and does things that are on a large scale that shocks me (example: b-day party).  If you know me, you all know that I'm not one to really manifest my emotions but today is one of the few days that we should all let it all out.  She's a special person and I'm thankful to have her in my life. Today will mark the seven month mark that Esther and I have been together. What a coinky dink that it falls on this day huh? I'm thankful for church. Pastor Dave is so passionate and he manifests it through his sermons. He delivers with such power and conviction that you can't help but get pumped up.  Church provides that boost of life I need when I'm at my lowest of lows.  Finally, I'm thankful for everything around me. For my car, my job (even if I hate it), my home..my existence. To reword an old saying: each day is a gift, which is why it's called the present. As the pastor said this past weekend, Thanksgiving is an awesome reminder for us.  It gives us time to do an introspection of ourselves and help us realize that it's easy to remember the bad but not the good. It's easy to think about how your job doesn't pay enough, your house isn't big enough, your wardrobe isn't fashionable enough, or that your ride just isn't fly enough (do people still use fly? Dang, I'm old!).   Rather than dwell on what you don't have, focus on what you do have and be thankful for that.  Like the pastor said, too bad we need Thanksgiving for this and can't do it everyday.  Still, it's better than nothing right? I mean I bet I'll be here, complaining months down the road but maybe I'll come back to this post and calm down.  So as you're enjoying your meal and sitting around with your family, just take a moment to be thankful for this reminder.

  • Friday

    The phones went down at work so time went by rather quickly.  Esther came by and we ended up chilling at my house.  I wanted to go miniature golf at first but then I got magically tired when it was time to go so we just stayed at my place and watched television.  

    Saturday

    I got off work a hour early.  Around 6ish, I picked up Esther and we had Pick Up Stix for dinner.  After we ate, we met up with Heidi at TE.  Shane, Dave, Mike, Jen and Wayne came by later on (not all together).   We chilled for a bit and then we watched Matrix Revolutions at the AMC nearby.   

    Charles was waiting for us after the movie and we all headed over to Starbucks from there.  I took Esther home early and went back to meet up with Dave, Mike, Charles and Shane.  We hung out for a bit before parting ways. 

    Sunday

    I slept in until about 1ish and went to church. It was especially awesome because the praise team brought out "shout to the lord", a song I haven't heard since my time at EFC. It definitely gave me chills to hear a congregation of our church's size sing such a powerful song. 

    I met up with Charles and Mike later on at the Starbucks by Jen's house.  Around six, I picked up Mike and Edmund to go balling.  We played a few games of 21 and then played one game of 2 on 2 with this one dude (Mark) that was there.   Mark and I won the game thanks to his contribution of 11 points.  By the way, we played up to 11.  After balling, I came home and showered.  Then I watched WWE's Survivor Series.

  • Friday

    Esther came by and we ate some pizza from Papa Johns.  We chilled and hung out at my house until it was time for her to go.   During the night (around 2:30 am), I noticed the television in the den was on.  My pop was sitting there, all wrapped up in a blanket.  I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with him but I think it has something to do with his lungs.  It sucked big time to see him suffering like that and made me pretty sad.  Even if you're not religious, if you all could pray for him, that would be awesome.

    Saturday 

    Work was slow and I wasn't feeling too great.  After work, I picked up Esther and we ate at Pat & Oscars.   Once we finished dinner, we went to TE and met up with Jen, Wayne, Heidi, Eric, Aaron, Jesse and Derek. Aaron and Jesse are Wayne's brothers by the way.  We spent our time there playing card games ranging from pusoy to gin to speed.  While we were there, we ran into Jonathan, Bernardo and Raul.   Jonathan shared some shocking news about a mutual friend.  Around 11, Esther, Jen, Wayne, Aaron, Jesse, Derek, Eric and I went over to Gable house for  bowling.  We configured our games for league play.   Our team lost every game. It was fun though despite the fact that I didn't bowl as well as I would've liked to.

    Sunday

    Esther and I ate lunch at Del Amo mall.   After we ate, I took Esther home and went to Todai in Cerritos for my grandma's birthday.  There were about 12 people there.  My mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, Tami, her boyfriend, Staci, Ashley, my brother and I.  I think that's 12.   Anyway, the food was pretty good but the bill was huge. I'm not even going to share how much it was but for those who have been to Todai, I'm sure you can guess. Well, we didn't ball this week due to a lack of players so I ended up going home after dinner.


    Once again,  please pray for my father.

  • Friday

    Monster Massive just wasn't fun for me at all. I mean, it was great seeing all the homies and homiettes but it just wasn't there. I don't even know if I'm going to TAO now.  I've reached that stage where I'll only party now if a lot of my friends are going. Well, there's always the exception of a top notch DJ. Still, it was good seeing everyone.  It was really weird to see Hoppa dressed up in all white.  Kim had a nice costume that she made herself.  

    Saturday 

    Jen, Wayne, Esther and I had hurry curry for dinner. Dave came by later and joined us. We met up with Shane and Charles later on in the night at Cafe Muse. Heidi stopped by for a bit but she had to leave.  After Cafe Muse, we went to Yu Yu and sang for a hour.

    Sunday 

    I went to church.  I haven't been there in about a month so it felt good to go.  I balled with Mike, Erwin and Hilo afterwards for a bit.

  • Friday 

    There wasn't too much that happened.   Esther and I ate Papa John's pizza, watched a few dvd's and called it a night.

    Saturday 

    I got off work early and picked up Esther. We picked up some dinner from this Chinese place and headed over to Wayne's.  Jen drove to the Queen Mary for that haunt thing but the line was too damn long. If anyone has any familiarity with that area, there was a line that went from the Queen Mary all the way back to the convention center. It was about 7:50 and the event ended at 12.  We went back to Wayne's and I picked up my car. I drove us to Westwood for Pazooki.     After that, we headed to Sawtelle and met up with Heidi. We played some cards and called it a night.

    Sunday 

    I picked up Esther since she asked me to the night before.  I was supposed to take her to San Pedro because she was going to have dinner with her co-workers.  When I picked her up, I learned she booked a night at the Hilton in Pedro for our six month.  I was shocked.   Before we went, I went to play ball with the guys for a bit.  Only Hilo, Erwin and Jack were there.   Jen showed up for a little later on. We didn't stay long. For those of you who are familar with the San Pedro area,  the Hilton is off of Harbor and 22nd.  This hotel has a pool, sauna, jacuzzi and mini work out facility (and I do mean MINI).  We drove around, looking for some grub and ended up eating at Grinders.   After dinner, we returned to the hotel and watched Pirates of the Carribean.  I really like that movie.

    Monday

    We checked out, and drove back to Torrance.  It was decided that we would go to the movies.   Before that, we stopped at the car wash for the cleansing my car oh so needed.   We watched Kill Bill and Scary Movie 3.  Kill Bill has a lot of blood.  A lot. Some of it was a bit excessive but I still think it was a good movie.   Once the movies were over, we stopped for dinner and I took her home. It was great to spend time with Esther but I just wish I could've done more for her.  Happy six month Esther.  


    A Few Thoughts

    • Like Mike said, I'm glad the Marlins won! I hate the Yankees.
    • It really sucks about those fires. Who knows how many people losing their homes.  You really have to give respect to the firefighters out there.
  • Friday

    Esther and I had some pizza at this one place near the Crossroads. I talked to Steph, whom I hadn't spoke to in the longest. It was good to hear from her. After dinner, Esther and I watched 2 Fast 2 Furious at my house. It's not that bad but maybe more of a renter. Oh wells, I'm stuck with my impulse purchases.

    Saturday

    Mike and I went to best buy and he made some purchases. Then we headed over to Mulligans and played some old school street fighter 2. Damn that was fun. Guile owns.   Chris and Dave came by at night and we all went to Tony's. From there, it was on to Spundae. AVB was on like no other. When he dropped a 1999 remix by Binary Finary, I was feeling it. That was the best song I heard all year long.  AVB never disappoints me.   It was cool partying with Dave and Chris too since they never been to Spundae. Dave got crunked though hahaha. I'm not saying anything though because what happens in SPundae stays there.

    Sunday

    I had a real hard time sleeping and ended up missing church.  I ended up balling with the guys and we played a few pick up games with these other ballers. Not to sound egotistical, but I had the stroke going.   It was me, Erwin and this black dude.  Man, this guy did some serious damage.  Driving, rebounding, and everything, he was the team.  Erwin of course did his damage. I was shocked though that I was hitting shots.  It was crazy.

  • I'm back my friends. Before reading this, please note that when I reference days, it begins at midnight, which is why an entry may overlap into the next day.

    Friday

    I picked up Esther around 12, and headed on our long trip to Vegas.  We stopped at the outlets in Barstow for a bit to check out what stores they have there.  My advice: don't waste your time. There's not a damn thing to look at there; just a good place to stretch and grab some grub, gas and whatever else you need.   From there it was on to Vegas. We checked in at the Las Vegas Club (LVC is what I'll refer to it from here on out) and got settled in.  We watched some television and headed out to Luxor.  My parents gave me some tickets that were supposedly good for the Blue Man Group but apparently they weren't. The tickets were a gift from a friend to my parents but I guess they weren't valid. It's all good though.  Since we couldn't see the show, we headed over to the buffet for grub.  Quite pricey at $17.50 + tax and not even worth it.  Only go there if you love salad because their salad bar was loaded.   After our meal, we headed over to Circus Circus.  Man, when I was little I came home with bags and bags of stuffed animals.  So here we are, years later and how did we do?

    Brett: 0 stuffed animals 

    Esther: 1 stuffed animal

    Saturday

    After a couple hours of futile attempts at various games, we headed back to downtown where LVC was. We went up to pick up some money and it was time to gamble.  Let's just say I made no money at all this trip. I won a few times but it was quickly put back into the great city of Nevada's economy. We walked around, hitting up various hotels in downtown before calling it a night. 

    Once we woke up, we headed over to the Mirage, and dropped the car off.   From there, we used our chevro-legs to get us where we needed to go.  We stopped at Harrah's for lunch and began our day. The Coke store was the first place we hit up.  I was in heaven. So much coke, so little time.  Then we went to the M & M store. There are so many colors but at eight bucks a pound, I'll just  stick to the bags for 50 cents.  From there we hit up various casinos. Esther got me into this game called Texas Tea. It's a five-cent game so you can't go wrong with the price.  I ended up playing that and video poker this trip. No pai-gow like I thought. The tables were too pricey for me. I found some cheap ones but eh, I felt intimidated. I think I'll wait for Jen to go so I can get some tips.

    Anyways, after we gambled, we went to Caesars Place and rode on this IMAX motion ride called "Race to Atlantis".  It was pretty nice but my neck hurt from trying to cover the entire IMAX screen.  Once that was over, we ate at a buffet in the Mirage. I have concluded that the buffet there is a reward to all the gamblers who walk all day and come yearning for a good meal.  The price is good too. A bit more expensive than Luxor but way better. After our meal, it was back to downtown for more gambling. 

    Sunday

    We gambled until about 2:30 and went back up. We went to sleep and woke up at 11 so we could get ready to check out. We checked out at 12, went to California for lunch and gambled for a few hours.  Around 4, we hit up the outlets and bought some clothes. I purchased some shirts from Nike Town. Esther bought a bag from there as well. She also bought some shirts from Pac Sun. I ended up buying a slice of pizza because I was hungry again.  It's now 5 pm and it's time to go home.  See you again Las Vegas.   We were making really good time. I was in Barstow by 7:15. Surely we would make it back by 9.  Nope!  The I-15 was backed up for an hour.  We got to SGV about 10:15 and stopped at JR's for food.  Finally, I dropped her off and went home.

  • Friday

    First off, our house had a power outtage and lasted for a good amount of time.  Esther came by around 7:30 and we went to eat at Carrow's. Aftewards, I went to see the Rundown with Esther, Mike and Dave. The movie was definitely Rock's best.   Once the movie was over, Dave and Mike took off while Esther and I went home.

    Saturday

    It all started with Dave, Mike and I eating at Gardena Bowl. Then we stopped by TE for boba (well for Mike).  I ran into an old high school friend there who I known since high school.   Now it was time time to go to the Orion.  The line was so long. We met up with Tony, Minh, Diana, and Stacie.  While in line, we saw Charles (Goku).   As we waited in, someone opened up this back door and a lot of people ran in.   Security pulled people back including Tony and Minh. The rest of us somehow made it. Tony ended up being kicked out completely and Staci and Diana soon followed. Minh stayed and was decided that I'd take him to Tony's, since he drove there initially.

    I spent the whole night chilling in the back, mostly with Dave, Mike, Minh, Clarissa, Helen, Hoppa and Charles.  Thee-O owned the night for me.  Tracking was so much fun and it was cool to make a total fool of myself. I need to do that every now and then to maintain my sanity.  I realize I have to mature more as I get older but I'm still a kid too.   It was good to hear the songs I loved during my hayday in the rave scene but there's something about the Orion that I can never love. I guess I'm picky about venues. That's just me though. 

  • Here's another quick weekend wrap up. 

    Friday

    Esther and I met up with Shane, Dave, Jen and Wayne at the Block.  Initially we met up with Wayne and Jen around 9. We ate at Jonny Rockets and Shane came by a bit later. Dave showed up when we were finishing up and all of use headed to D & B's.  I guess it was karaoke night. This one kid was really getting into it. He was singing this one song by B2k and start busting some crazy dance moves. He must've been only 8 or 9 but he moved like a champ. Later on, we watched Shane play some shuffleboard with these old people. It was pretty funny.

    Saturday

    Esther and I ate at Church's chicken in Manchester. Not to hate but you know a place is ghetto when they have glass protecting the employees. Dave came by my house around 10 and we met up with Jen and Wayne at 501. We sang for a few hours and then went to Starbucks to play gin. When we got there, we ran into Jenny, Michelle and Jason. 

  • It's time for my Xanga update.  This definitely has been one of the most memorable birthdays of my life.  Let's start from the beginning though shall we?

    Friday

    Chris, Mike and I bought our Monster Massive tickets at Ticketmaster.  Don't do it!  $6.25 service charge.  BS I say!  Afterwards, we walked around the mall and then hit up Del Amo. Mike bought some clothes and then we relocated to Best Buy.  Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything at all.  I had some time to kill before my dinner with my family so we went to Chris' and played some games.

    Dinner (Benihana) started at seven and it was time to grub. The show wasn't bad but they didn't do the volcano.  Around nine, I picked up Mike and Vu, and we hit up HQ, located at Qtopia. We barely made the cut off time to make it in for free. The music wasn't bad but nothing to rave(excuse the pun) over.  We left around 1:30 and stopped by a Denny's to chill and grub.

    Saturday

    My birthday!

    Thank you to everyone that left me a message (e-mail, e-card, text, v-mail) wishing me a happy birthday.  Now, on to the day itself. 

    It started out as a normal day for me. I woke up, worked out and called Esther to see if she was ready to get picked up.  We planned to eat dinner and call up some people to hang out.  She left me a v-mail stating that she had to work. I accidentally deleted it and kept calling.

    Around seven, Esther called  and picked me up to take me to dinner. She had to stop at Trader Joes for chips and salsa.  She also had to stop at Residence Inns.  Apparently, one of her co-workers was staying there and she had to pick up some papers.  When we stopped, I opted to stay in the car but she insisted I get out.  I saw Jen's car and Dave's car so I got suspicious. I had a hunch that Dave, Wayne, Jen, Shane, and Mike might be in there waiting for me.  We walked up a flight of stairs to a dark room.  I was very hesitant about opening the door since I knew something was coming.  Well, eventually I did and was bombarded with popper streamers.   Boy was I shocked though to see not just everyone I mentioned but Doug, Peter, Vivian, Paul, Mollie, Tony, Hilo, Chris, Mike V, and Jack.   Bryant, Ryan, Charles, and Erwin stopped by later on.   

    After saying hello to everyone, it was time to grub.  Esther made so much food.   Wayne was telling me that " I was lucky to have a girlfriend that can cook because Jen wouldn't be able to do that."  Without missing a beat, Jen was there with "damn right".  Hahaha.  I didn't drink anything except for the Smirnoff Ice that I mistook for Sprite. 

    From there, the night rolled by with mucho quickness. I played Pai Gow with Dave, Mike, Viv, Mollie, Esther and Paul. We also played Pusoy Dous (or however you spell it) . The rest of the guys played Texas Holdem until 3ish I think. 

    Finally it was time for everyone to leave and clean up. Jen and Wayne stayed because they were tired so they took the bottom level pull out bed.  It's kind of funny because we thought they were going to leave after a few hours but they were there until Esther and I left at 12. Jen helped us finish up cleaning which was cool of her.  Esther and I spent the rest of Sunday resting.  Despite sleeping six hours, I was still tired.  We just watched the Simpson DVD and relaxed.

    Tomorrow, we plan to go to Universal Studios so that should be fun.

    Thank you to everyone that came out. You guys definitely made it fun. Especially since all I had planned to just eat and hang out. Most of all, thank you to my girlfriend. She put so much effort into all of this: renting the room, cooking, organizing. Thank you. :)

  • Friday

    I went to Gardena bowl and met up with Paul, Mollie, Jen, Wayne and Shane. We shot some pool and played some gin later on. Well, Paul and Mollie left but the rest of played. Shane and Wayne had some drinks. Overall, it was a pretty chill yet entertaining night.

    Saturday

    I picked up Esther and we drove to West L.A. We stopped off at Best Buy and I purchased NBA Street for $20.  Then we waited for everyone else to show up at the public storage parking lot. 

    Jen and Wayne came by so we walked to the place where Relaxstation used to be.  Esther and I ordered some curry from Hurry Curry. Their curry is really tasty in my opinion. While we were waiting, we walked across the street to buy some drinks and ran into Heidi and Shien.  We were supposed to meet up with them so seeing them wasn't a surprise.  Shane, Charles and Dave came by later but not together.  For the next few hours, everyone except Esther, Shane and I played pai-gow. I played a few hands for other people but that was about it. 

    Around 11, Heidi and Shien left so the rest of us headed over to the karaoke place for a night of singing. It wasn't too bad although I hate how the room echoes too much. 

    Sunday

    There wasn't any balling for me  because I didn't want to drive to Corona, which was where all the guys were. Instead, I stayed home and chilled.


    1/4 of a century

    Hard to believe, I'll be 25 soon.  It's crazy I tell you.  Hmmm, what can you do when you become 25?   I could rent cars without paying a fee for being underage.   Anything else?  Oh yeah, I can qualify to be in the car when someone is driving with a permit.   Woot.   Aside from that, there really isn't much to look forward to.   At least I have a four-day weekend coming up. That'll be nice.

  • Friday

    Jen, Wayne and I went to Leslie's party in Little Tokyo. It wasn't that bad because I saw some familar faces.  A few people I saw were  AJ, X and YoshoI had to leave around 11 so I could pick up Esther and go to the Laugh Factory.   There were two comedians that were just "piss in your pants" funny.  One of them was in "Friday After Next".  He was that Iranian guy that owned "Holy Moly Donut Shop".  As a stand up comedian, he's pretty damn funny.   

    I really have an appreciation for comedians that can make a crowd laugh without lowering themselves to tasteless crowd disses.  I mean come on, all it shows is that they can bag really well.  Big deal.

    Saturday 

    I picked up Esther around five and stopped by the Obon to grub.  Then we went back to my house and waited for Dave to come over.  Peter and Viv also stopped by.  Once Jen and Wayne came over, we were all ready to go.  We met up with Charles there later on.   After some food and chatting, Dave, Wayne, Jen, Charles, Esther and I went to T.E for boba (well not me). We played some cards for a bit and then I had this idea to drive out to BJ's for pazooki. 

    The parking there was crazy.  Once we all finally settled in, Jen, Dave and I ordered pazooki.  Wayne and Charles bought a pitcher of beer.  For some reason, I was still hungry and bought a sandwich from the sandwich stand on Gayley.   Next, it was on to Cafe Muse.  It was a pretty interesting night.

    Sunday 

    Esther and I picked up Mike V for church.  The sermon was on wisdom. The one thing I really got out of it all was to always pray to God before making a decision.  That is so true.  After church, I dropped off Mike V and went home.  Esther and I ordered some papa john's pizza. It was good.   Around 6:30, we went to ball with the guys.  We balled until about 10:30. Fun times.

    Monday

    Esther and I ate at JR's, and then I dropped her off to pick up her car from the auto shop. 

  • Wow, talk about a really late update.

    Last Saturday (July 19th)

    Shane's BBQ!   Esther and I showed up around 10ish.  Wayne heated up the food and everyone grubbed.  Well, not Esther and I since we ate before coming.   Afterward, we watched the infamous Fourth of July video.  Around two, I dropped Esther off at home and then went back to Shanes.  Wayne, Charles, Shane and I played Gin until 4 in the morning. 

    Friday  

    Esther and I went to JR's and grubbed. Afterwards, we walked around for a bit.  Esther had work early the next so we called it a night early.  Afterward, I ended up hanging out with some friends for a bit before I headed home. 

    Saturday

    Jen and I went to the OCBC obon.   We only stayed for about a hour and then we headed to that cafe at the Crossroads. Wayne and his friend met up later and Charles came by soon after.  Around 10ish, I picked up Esther and met up with everyone at 501.  We sang for about 90 minutes and then parted ways.

    Sunday

    I missed church.  ARGH!  I was so lazy.   I balled with the guys for almost five hours!  Crazy huh?  Time went by so fast though. I hope we can have five hour sessions more often.  We just need to have the games start a bit earlier. 

  • Sunday was cool.  I was able to hang out with Peter, Dave, Mike and Chris.  I can't remember the last time we all were able to hang out.

    The moon bounce was fun but I got tired pretty fast . The highlight was when Mike fell in the corner.  Man, I almost peed in my pants.   It was one of those moments where you could initiate some "bullet time" action and see it from all angles.

  • Sunday

    I balled with the guys.   Esther came along and studied in the car.  I felt bad because she was all by herself.  I told her to come talk to Jen but she chose to study.  Later on, she finally came out.

    Afterward, Jen, Wayne, Shane, Esther and I went to Carrows for some grub.  Charles dropped by later and ordered this strawberry pie.  I swear it looked like strawberries and whipped cream, no crust.   After we were done, we all went our separate ways and said our goodbyes.  Esther and I went back to my house and watched Ice Age.  Well, more like I watched it since she fell asleep.

    Monday

    I drove around San Pedro with Esther to look for a good place to eat. Well, we found nothing and ended up going to Carl's Jr. Weak huh? Afterward, we made a few stops and went back to my house. We crashed for a while and picked up some dinner later on at Pick Up Stix.  Around 10, we went to Charles' to chill for a while and then I took Esther home.


    Now for a thought:  Ever experience something and it happened in a flash?  It's happening to you yet you're still looking at it from a third-person perspective. It's like you've seen this happen to so many people and now it's actually you.

    I know I'm not making much sense but I'm just spitting out some random thoughts. 

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