What are you doing today? [Part II]

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Took the sled in and the ski toe alignment was still straight on so I adjusted them to about 1" toe-out by just turning the outer tie-rods (I wasn't going to take out the battery again). Took her out and she's much more stable now, almost no darting. Steering is a bit to the left so that will need a slight tweak but it's OK for now.

However, while negotiating a snow bank, I rolled and dropped her on its left side. Broke the windshield and bent the frame piece that holds the mirror. Was alone and luckily a passer-by stopped and helped me right her. Man she weighs a ton! I never would have been able to do it by myself.

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Unbent the frame piece, Gorilla taped the windshield together and continued on my 160km ride. That will be a summer project to fix. Luckily the handlebar wasn't bent.

Although I wasn't injured in the rollover, I must have overdone it because my knee is just killing me. It's always bothered me ever since I broke my leg in 2000 and a rod was inserted through my knee, and was taken out a couple of years later, and then arthroscopic surgery, it was always sore, but now it's clunking and just causing pain. I can see a knee replacement eventually coming. Gonna check to see if my doc can see me today.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
So I got a job. Had been looking for a while, applying at dealerships to work as a shuttle driver. Easy enough type of job and auto related. I put in several applications, including to the dealership where I bought my Sierra, and the winner is... a Nissan dealer. Doesn't look like a bad place at all, real busy and it's not Ford :biggrin: . Part-time to start and we'll see how it goes from there.

Everything's gotten so expensive and Mrs. Moose is still working so I'm irritating her when I'm at home doing, well, nothing.
 

BrianF

Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Hey Moose, glad you are alright!! That Yammy looks like she has a lot of junk in the trunk!

Over here at the Crimetown ranch its a weekend where a clinician is in so the kids and a pile of others are riding. To bring the warm weather in, we had days of heavy, -30c windchill driven winds. Of course from the east so the driveway blew in. I cleared a bunch last night and again this morning. Thankfully nothing as bad as December.

Then fires up the Traeger. Smokies with a Mac and cheese casarole for lunch and pulled pork for supper. After lunch its sledding time.
 

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BrianF

Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Well, today's meals were bloody bang on. We ate like royalty after a long day.

I got my one ghost back on the trails. Got the clutch seated, found a spacer washer on the chain case that was causing it to be canted just enough to make the reverse linkage hit the edge of the clutch. It still leaks a bit of oil from the chain case but so do all the others.

All I can say is man this thing is fast! Well as fast as one of these 500 pound, 30hp cantankerous beasts can be. I fattened the top end a 1/4 turn and after a good power the plug was a dark tan. I can live with that.

I almost lost my cool thinking this ghost and the Evinrude were having crank seal issues. Both were having erratic and run away idles. I suspect and plan for the idle switch to die (on closed throttle it keeps the ignition from advancing). I lowered the idle and found the throttle cable was sticking a touch. I lubed that up and they were back on track.

I took it and the Evinrude out for burns on the trails and had a blast. A bit of fresh powder couldn't stop these things.
 

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flyboy2610

Member
Aug 24, 2021
460
Lincoln, Ne.
Spent a couple hours at the hospital today.
For a GOOD reason, I hasten to add.
This is my son, his girlfriend, and my new (and so far: only) grandchild, Kash Isaiah.
He was born 3-10-23. 8lbs, 7 oz. Mom and baby are doing well. Had to come by C-section, he managed to flip himself upside down in the last 2 days!
Amber, Christopher, Kash.jpeg

We're going down to Fairbury next weekend for my mom's B-day party. She'll be thrilled!
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Congrats grandpa!
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Nothing exciting down here. While dealing with an :lipsrsealed: who was dumping junk on the side of the road near the rear of my property, I asked the code enforcement deputy about the proper way to dispose of a pair of fiberglass boat hulls that were left behind by the previous owner. Since I don't have the titles (or access to a boat trailer) there wasn't a way that I could take them to the one facility in the county that can deal with them. Other solution is to cut them up into small pieces, and the facility 10 minutes from me will take them.

How it started yesterday... Took the sawzall out to do a couple of test cuts, and the blade seemed to run through them easily enough.

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So this morning, put on proper gear to deal with the dust, and got busy... For like an hour... ⌛ Between the sawzall and circular saw, I ripped through both 5 Ah batteries just like that. Managed to get vertical cuts around the front half of one boat, and the horizontal cuts only on one side.

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I knew fiberglass was tough, but even if I had additional batteries, I'd then have to worry about burning the motors out on the saws. Looks like I'll get to spend a little time each evening in the back yard, chipping away at this project before it gets done.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Went on a ride. Beautiful mild day, lots of sun, and at the beginning of the ride, the wife calls me (I have a helmet communicator for music and calls). There's water in the utility room :mad: . I figure it's through the foundation again from the snow melt and decide to keep riding, albeit a shorter 1 hour loop. Check it out and it's actually a slow plumbing leak from an old UV water treatment system that hasn't worked in years. So shut off the water, cut out the UV thing and reconnect everything. Had to run to the hardware store for a couple of fittings, some flux and done.

Might try again for a ride tomorrow. :rolleyes:
 

BrianF

Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
I made.some time in the shop for my old Ghost. This is my wife's grandfather's one, which picked up a nasty vibration some time back. I ripped the primary apart, clocked it and ensured it was seated correctly. Took most of rhe vibration away, which was great as it ran like a bloody top today. My youngest and I hit some powder and had probably the best ride ever. I got stuck twice and she was stuck once and even had a half tip over. The drifts were chest high in places, which made these old girls work.
 

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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Made a little more progress with one of the boats. This time, figured instead of cutting the easy to access sections that are right on top, get down and dirty and try to section one of these things. At least with the large chunks, it would be much easier to manipulate them to cut down further. Grabbed my 3rd little battery and got to it.

Attempted to cut straight across the middle, and got through most of the hull, but the center was slightly deeper than my blade length. Cut the rear section along the seating areas, which worked out nicely as there were thin sections there. Blade was done at that point, and it was my last 12" wood blade. :duh: All I had left were 6" metal blades. Couldn't reach where I wanted to, so went to the front to do some of the easy to reach thin sections of the rim. The fine teeth took considerably longer, so after one section called it quits there. Saw was hot enough to make me not want to push getting through the 3rd battery.

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:undecided: Will have to swing by harbor Freight after work tomorrow for some replacement blades. Will probably try to continue the cuts up the length of the hull to the front, so it ends up in 3rds, and then section those down from there. The front and rear halves are only held together by what's under that middle area. I'll leave that for last, that way I can weigh down the rear so it doesn't flop forward as I work my way up. That's the idea anyway...
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Decided to invest in some new (heavier duty) mechanics gloves while picking up the new saw blades. The 2 pairs of regular ones all developed holes on the left hand's thumb and forefingers. Really strange.

Now that I had a solid gameplan, was able to make short work of the remainder of the first boat. The bottom of the hull was FULL of ants. Some had come out earlier when I cut the sides off, but when I went through the middle of the bottom , the whole damn colony fell out. New and old egg casings and all. 🤮
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Got the remaining chunks sectioned down, and grouped to get a better idea of how much cargo room I'll need to transport them. Started eyeballing the other one, and that's gonna be more complicated. Wiring, cables and hoses are still running through it, and there's a bunch of nasty water that needs to be drained. Not to mention much more paneling than the first one. The good news is, since it's almost all the way on its side, I should be able to get most of the underside cut on one half, if I split it down the centerline :undecided:

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northcreek

Member
Jan 15, 2012
3,310
WNY
Picked up one of these (12 cu. ft.)up at Lowes to bring firewood into the garage and hold it while in there. I couldn't build one for the $225 that it cost me.
Thought I was through with wood after installing a NG heater but then gas prices went through the roof so....
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
The end is almost in sight! This is one of the few times I wish I had kids. "Get your asses off the couch, and go cut up those boats!!" :rotfl:

Took me a minute to come up with where to start cutting. Getting that first section off makes everything else easier after that. Had to use a spade bit to drill a hole to drain the mini swamp that had been there for years. No ants in this one, that's because the bottom of the hull was full of water. No wonder I could never stand that thing up level...

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Even after draining that, and the footwell areas, it barely wobbled much. Cut up one side of the front section, and cut around where the steering wheel and throttle mounted before the 2nd battery called it quits for the day.

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Gameplan for tomorrow will be to do the other side, same 3 pieces, since they should be dry, just dirty. Got plenty of swamp water splashed on me running down the center. :ugh: Friday, hope to tackle the bench and rear sections.

Had some chicken thighs in the slow cooker, whipped up a batch of mac n cheese. Good way to end the day.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Getting close to the finish line. Broke down the rest of the 2nd boat, and while there were some ants, not nearly as many as in the 1st one. I may break down 2 of the rear pieces some more, I'll have to move them around some to gauge how heavy they are. :undecided:

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Did come across a lovely surprise, which I guess isn't entirely unexpected. As stripped down as the boat was, the fuel tank was still intact, and had fuel in it too! :duh: Thanks to an open hole in the top, and sitting out there for at least 6 years, rain water had topped it off. Ended up cutting around it, and would decide what to do about it later.

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I think I'll try to carefully lift it, and set it on my dump cart, cut one of the hoses a little shorter, to use as a drain, and empty it into a couple of 5 gallon buckets. Seems like that should work, then take it to the shop down the street for disposal.

Bonus find, piece of a snake skeleton. Could use a few more live ones, get the damn gecko population under control 🦎

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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Thought I'd take a break from the harder labor, and just deal with that gas tank today. It was much heavier than I thought, so deadlifting it to get onto the dump cart was NOT an option. Managed to lift the drain end, and set it on a cinder block, and then lift the other end and rest it on a piece of the boat. Cut the hose (steel wire in it possibly ruined my ratcheting tube cutters :mad: ) and positioned a small bucket under it. First tipping forward, and eventually was able to tip it on its side.

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Ended up getting just under 15 gallons out of it, before whatever was left in the tank, wouldn't make it to the hose. Don't want to put that much more effort into it, so I may just sit it somewhere out of the way, and let what's left just evaporate. All the crap you see in this bucket was clumpy when it came out of the tank. The jostling from wheeling things from the back, up to the garage must have make it all break apart. Hopefully the repair shop I take my fluids to, doesn't look at this and refuse to take it. :ugh:

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Did have to pay a stupid tax. In cutting corners and not wanting to put on long clothes, I went out there in my crap shoes with no socks, shorts and a t-shirt. And as luck would have it, while straddling a chunk of hull, it shifted and a corner scraped my leg just above the ankle. Gave me a nice lil cut. One of those "I just KNEW that was gonna happen!" moments. :dunce:
 

BrianF

Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Forgot to mention, so my mother in law stopped in for a visit overnight. Today she wanted to go for a run on the sleds. It was her dad that bought the original Ghost and Quiet Flite. She took the Evinrude out for a burn on the trails and stretched its legs in the open. From what she remembers, she last rode on the sled in the late 70s.

Finished off the day with some steak and ribs on the Traeger. My oldest loves the ribs so it was a treat as she is in a cast now. She broke her leg Monday night and had surgery on Wednesday to bolt it back together. She's doing pretty good and is a tough girl.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
Not much for a what you did today but more of a what I've been up to. 3 weeks ago went car shopping for my wife's cousin who is a new driver in New jersey. After a lot of online searches and trips to dealers and lots we found something we are all happy with. 2014 chevy Malibu LT eco with 124k miles. Test drove it and it's solid Carfax came up clean serviced extremely well.20230318_125107.jpg
It did need a set of rear tires that the dealer was going to put in the following tuesday. At about a few days of ownership it developed a small leak at the water pump. Dealer said they would replace it but the car needed to be at there shop a few day. My cousin-in-law didn't want to leave the car as it was her only way to get around so I offered that she buy the pump and I replace. I told her to just to have them swap out the tires. Come this past Thursday they called and said they had the tires she drove to them after work and they told her they couldn't swap out the tires because it was to late in the day. I told to just put the tires in the trunk and I'd have that taken care of.
Yesterday day morning she drove to my house where I replaced the water pump and threw the rear wheels in the back of my truck along with the new tires. Drove to my brother's shop and had him do the tire swap and balance. 20230318_090306.jpg20230318_090315.jpg20230318_101629.jpg20230318_101632.jpg20230318_125052.jpg20230318_125056.jpg
After getting back home putting the wheels back on cleaning up and checking the car over as best I could. Drove it for about 1hr around Staten Island just to be sure everything was good and noticed the front tires had 40 psi. Pulled over let some air out and got them to 35 all the way around and the car is now super smooth on the roads. Not much for power but its nice clean and fuel efficient. It's almost time for an oil change but I'll take care of that in 2 weeks. I also want to go ahead and replace the trans fluid as it doesn't seem it was ever serviced.

The c-i-l is totally new to driving and car ownership so I've been letting her know what to look out for and things she needs to pay attention to also to read the owners manual as it will have tons of info I can't give her about the vehicle. I mean I'm sure I could but it's her vehicle and she's needs to know it.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
@Blckshdw, I appreciate your posts on those old boats. My old property was a massive work in progress. It was amazing the amount of junk people leave behind and the amount of work a guy does to clean it up. Good on you!

Thanks man, it's been a long journey.

When I found out the property had a shed, as well as an extension built off it, I was excited... Until I saw the inside. The shed was full of scrap metal and junk that was knee deep and smelled like rat urine. 🤢

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It took me a number of months to separate the scrap metal, to get a few $$$ for my troubles, from the rest of the junk and get rid of everything. I'd usually spend like an hour before sundown, on the evenings before trash day, and just shovel loads of junk into the bin before wheeling it to the curb.

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When I finally got it all cleaned and swept out, all the smells were gone, I was thankful for that. Some of the stuff, I kept, figured I could likely reuse it, and was finally able to get all my lawn equipment out of the garage.

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The extension off the shed was the same way. It looked like it might have been a nice screened in patio, overlooking the water out back, but had turned into junk overflow. The thing I didn't notice was that a ton of shingles had come off, and the seal around that skylight was bad, so the plywood decking was starting to rot. I didn't know squat about roofing back then, or I could have saved it, but it wasn't until the roof was falling apart, and gaping holes formed that I realized how bad it was. Had to strip the rest of the roof, just so the joists wouldn't get damaged further. Rebuilding the roof is lower on the priority list since I'm too tall to do much in there fully standing up.

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I was going to try and organize those boat pieces a little better, and probably cut some down to reduce air space. Hoping to only need a 10' truck and not have to get a 15'. Ran to the hardware store to get some new buckets and lids. Took the old fuel to the auto shop, and while they said they couldn't take fuel that old, one of the guys offered to take it personally and said he'd use it for a bon fire, IF he could have the buckets too. Wasn't gonna argue, that's the price of doing business I guess.

But in messing with my brakes this morning, tweaked my back trying to put one of the wheels back on from a kneeling position instead of being seated like I normally do it. :dunce: So I'm camped on the couch watching TV for a while, waiting for the Tylenol and Aleve to kick in. We'll see how I'm feeling in a few hours.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Just going through my wardrobe since I lost quite a bit of weight and a lot of stuff either doesn't fit or I haven't worn in years so will be taking anything that's still good to the Salvation Army. Reason is because I start training at the Nissan dealership Mon and Tue and then start working the week after. They don't have a dress code but still want to dress respectfully while driving clients.

And while going through my stuff, found this old pic of me from the early 90's. Seems like an eternity ago!

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And yes, that was a 1991 bubble top 9C1 Caprice with the anemic 5L :biggrin:
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
First day at work and come home to the forum down! Just when I was reaching for the bottle, I was able to get back on so personal crisis averted :biggrin:

Went very well, nice place and people to work with. Driving around in a brand new Pathfinder wasn't bad at all. Day went fast shuttling people back and forth and doing errands. My trainer told me it should get busy for the month of April as people get their winter tires swapped out for the summers so some extra hours. And best of all, free coffee :coffee:

Another training day tomorrow and then I start next Thur. This extra cash will be welcome since Mrs. Moose may be going on strike so money will be even more scarce than it is now. :ugh:
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Work is whooping me. Then I had an impromptu day off yesterday which meant I'm kinda behind on some big stuff even more. And then when that happens I feel a little lack of motivation even though I'm behind. Logical? No. Need to get myself in the right mindset again. I'm tired.

But good news! The baby is sleeping (mostly) through the night a few nights in a row now. And a couple nights he's gone down to bed without much fuss around the time his brothers have, without needing a bunch of fussing around to get him asleep, so that's freeing up the evening. Hopefully this lasts because it is so nice to have some time before bed to even just be able to get the house somewhat back in order before crashing.

Projects? Tons. No time for any of them yet. Maybe soon I'll be able to make some time. Still got a basement to clean up and some electrical to redo down there, a garage to clean up so I can actually put the van in it (and maybe the car but I'm not expecting to at this point, too much crap in there that really can't go elsewhere),
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
2 days ago, got my new Bilstein struts assembled in the garage. Was going to install them tonight.

Heard a loud bang last night, as the upper strut bearing plate failed on one of the struts, and the strut bearing plates bolts embedded themselves into my insulated garage door!

More parts ordered this morning, hopefully will arrive today, and will pick up a rental strut spring compressor tool on my way home from work.

Hopefully all goes well tonight... rear brake pads and rotors, front brake pads, rotors, struts... And maybe upper ball joints (again).
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
The plate failed? Ouch. that's not common. What brand plate? Pics?
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
The plate failed? Ouch. that's not common. What brand plate? Pics?
It was the OEM plate. So it was old, but looked fine, and I didnt see any dry rot.. Guess I was wrong!
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Well fook. Just got a call from the GM dealer I applied to and he was ready to offer me a job however, I have already started the job at the Nissan dealer but not working until next Thur. The GM dealer is full time but at minimum wage while Nissan is part-time at $1.50 more an hour. I just feel bad that I just got trained and will be leaving them in a lurch but I did want full time because, well, I need the money. And with the possibility of the wife going on strike, this would be better.

At GM, I'd be getting parts at cost and 50% off for service. At Nissan, well, I don't own one so no good for me except maybe for tires. And I think as full time, I would get vacation time and health and dental benefits but I don't really need those since I already have them as a pensioner.

I'm meeting the GM Service Manager tomorrow morning to get the full skinny. Depending on what the job entails, I think I'll go for it. Sucks for Nissan though.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Well, the boat chapter is officially closed. Had stacked everything up in a box shape to measure what sized truck I was gonna need, woulda been a chore to stuff everything into a 10 footer, so ended up grabbing a 15 footer to be safe.

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Got the truck this morning, had to fold the side mirrors in to get it through my back gate, but made it through with a few inches to spare. Threw everything in, leaving the largest pieces for last, and to keep things from sliding around while driving.

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Got to the dump, got directed to which dumpster, and commenced to chucking... It was quiet therapeutic really. Also helped that it was an elevated platform, so I didn't have to keep climbing up and down. Swept out the back when I was done, and took the truck back. Luckily the round trip was short enough to not need to put any gas in it. Love to see it! :cool:

Now, back home, and back to work although I'm feeling completely unmotivated to get anything done. A nap may be in order on my lunch break though
 

BrianF

Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Blckshdw, thats awesome! I really enjoyed my dump runs. Its one f'n great feeling to see all that junk disappear! We had this massive old wood pile, old fence posts, railway ties, utility poles and so on. It was half rotten and a haven for mice, fox and badgers as they tunneled under it. I busted my hump with a chainsaw to buck it up, stack it and then took six truck loads to the dump with what I could not burn. It was amazing to see the last of it go.

Outside looking in may not know but you knowing the amount work done is a good feeling.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
Got my IRS taxes in! $5500 in the bank!

Wife is going to sign up to finish he Associates Degree in Child Care, and I am going to likely buy parts to get this server rebuild done.. Should be around 1000 bucks! As talked about here...
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
So got the job at the GM dealership :woohoo:. Apart from the benefits and being full time, there's no BS like filing or license runs to do, just shuttle people and vehicles. And since it's a Cadillac dealer, they also offer valet service where we get the vehicle at the client's location and bring it back. A vestige of the pandemic and they're stuck with it. Also there's the possibility of driving long distance to transport vehicles. He's flexible to let me work at the Nissan dealer until they can find somebody to replace me, so 3 days at GM and 2 days at Nissan. Went to see the Nissan Manager in person as I figure I owe him at least that. He was good with me working the two days per week until he finds a replacement and he appreciated that. It was kinda awkward :redface:

I start on Monday :celebrate:
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Holy smokes I'm feeling fried.
 

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