This month, in my province of Ontario, a tax credit cheque called the Ontario Sales Tax credit comes out. This is one of the tax credit cheques that only low income families get (and yes I realize how other countries don't give the same credits and I think that totally sucks for the low income people in those countries).
I belong to several "mommy" groups on facebook. Each month that one of these credit cheques come out, someone usually asks what day they are to be expected, or something to that effect. And each month, there's various women (usually several of them on each thread) who start whining about not getting the cheque. Going on and on about how they could use the extra money too and it's not fair that some people get them and some don't.
So looked it up on my government website.... In order to receive this particular credit, a family like mine (2 adults, 2 kids) must make less than $50,000. Seriously? I know one normally doesn't advertise online what their income is but - that's more than DOUBLE what my family's income was last year! So we'll use the estimated income of - family A made 25k last year, family B made 50k. Family A qualifies for various tax credits from the government. Family B is deemed to have "made too much money". So lets see how fair this works out....
Family A makes $25,000 every year.
gets GST (Government Sales Tax) - $774 per year
gets OST (Ontario Sales Tax) - $1060 per year
gets Child Tax Credit - $8616 per year
gets Universal Child Care Benefit - $1200 per year
Total Income - $36,650
Family B makes $50,000 every year.
gets Child Tax Credit - $2436 per year
gets Universal Child Care Benefit - $1200 per year per child under 6 (in this case we'll stick to the same as my family, 1 child under 6)
Total income - $53,636
Difference - almost $17,000
As you see, Family B still gets *some* tax credits from the government (the UCCB being the exact same amount as long as you make less than 160k a year, the rest of the credits are all on a sliding scale, the less you make, the more you receive)
Now I completely get that Family B works and makes a higher living due to education or whatever, but really? I'm perfectly happy at my income level. I don't wish for more money all the time, I happily make do with what we have. We don't get all the fancy new toys that come out every 10 minutes, but we have much more than we need. I'm not at all complaining about someone making more money than me. What I'm complaining about is the people who DO make more money than me, bitching that they want more! I propose (since they're so in NEED of my tax credits) that they give me the 25k that they make more than me and I've give them my tax credits.
Showing posts with label Grrrrr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grrrrr. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, October 3, 2011
Menu Plan Monday
Sorry about suddenly disappearing. My Mozilla died and I had to figure out how to get everything working again. But I'm back!!!!
I am determined to go through the random foods in our house. I'm getting sick of over stuffed cupboards but "there's no food!". So.... unless there's a freaking awesome "stock-up" sale going on, I will be buying as little groceries as possible this month (other than dairy and produce).
Monday: Spanish Rice Casserole
Tuesday: Steak and Dijon Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Fish Sticks and Baked Onion Rings
Thursday: Taco Pie
Friday: YOYO (You're On Your Own)
Saturday: Crock pot Chili
Sunday: Thanksgiving!!
Linking up with Organizing Junkie.
I am determined to go through the random foods in our house. I'm getting sick of over stuffed cupboards but "there's no food!". So.... unless there's a freaking awesome "stock-up" sale going on, I will be buying as little groceries as possible this month (other than dairy and produce).
Monday: Spanish Rice Casserole
Tuesday: Steak and Dijon Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Fish Sticks and Baked Onion Rings
Thursday: Taco Pie
Friday: YOYO (You're On Your Own)
Saturday: Crock pot Chili
Sunday: Thanksgiving!!
Linking up with Organizing Junkie.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
10 Years
I slept through the actual event though dreamed of it. I woke up to horror in the real world. It played out like a movie, but CNN doesn't play movies. I went to my sister's house where my poor newly 4 yr old nephew thought it was his fault because it was his birthday (it took several years to have a happy birthday again). We watched in disbelief of what was unfolding in front of us.
Even here in Canada, all government buildings were evacuated just in case the next plane came here. My then-fiance worked as a janitor in one of those buildings and his boss would not let them leave. Threatened to fire them if they did. I was livid. Thankfully he made it home safely unlike so many others.
This morning I watched the "live" footage of that day with Brianna. It was like seeing a movie I've seen before with someone who's never seen it. Through her questions and comments, all I could say was "keep watching". I watched in as much awe and silence as I did 10 years ago.
In my thoughts are the people who lost their lives that day and the many since who have lost their lives fighting in the subsequent war.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Still Here
Just stuck in the same damn rut I've been in all summer.... floating somewhere between 166-170lbs. Personal ass kicking will commence after Labour Day!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Owie!
The left side of my mouth is trying to explode off my face. I have what I assume is an abscessed wisdom tooth. All 4 of my wisdom teeth are impacted which make them super easy to remove *sarcasm* so while $1800+ doesn't fall from the sky, I get to randomly experience the joys of abscessed teeth. Usually it's the same one (it's a greedy tooth) and makes it feel like it's going to just shatter into 215,451 pieces. So, off to the clinic I go, cause a prescription for penicillin from a GP is waaaaaay cheaper than going to the dentist for the same said prescription.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Kids And Chores
I recently read a blog post over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers about kids doing chores. Awwwwwesome!
I think a lot of kids nowadays think mom and/or dad are their personal slaves. I know of a child who is *over 10 years old* who can't even tie their shoes because the adult in their life does it for them. Every. Single. Day. And no, not putting the kid in velcro. Actually tying their shoes everyday. When I was a kid you'd be totally embarrassed if you hit even Gr. 2 without knowing how to tie your shoes!
I know of children who are 6, 7, 8 years old who own iPods, cell phones, the latest gaming gear, ect... Then the parents have the nerve to complain that their child spend 3576 hours a day in front of a screen.
Then there's the parents who complain about slaving over the house all day to have it trashed 3 seconds later. And I'm not talking parents with nothing but toddlers or babies at home. I'm talking parents with children that are 5 years old. Or 10 years old. Or even 15 years old. These are people who LET their child trash the house, do nothing about fixing it, then have the nerve to bitch about it!
Do they really think the cleaning fairy is gonna pop into their kid's head and teach them how to take care of themselves? Do you want to either be having the child live in a condemned house or do their housework for them once they are living on their own? No, of course not. We how the hell are they gonna both know how and even have an inkling to do it if YOU DON'T TEACH THEM?!?!
Children as young as a little over ONE YEAR OLD can be taught to clean up after themselves. My almost 20 mth old thinks it's great fun to put her blocks back in the bin. She even helps me unload the dryer! Of course at this age you can't expect them to scrub the ceiling fans or cook dinner, but when you're picking up the toys, make it sound like a great game and get them to help you.
My 8 year old does more chores than most nowadays teens. She changes the cat litter, wipes down the vanity, sweeps the whole 1st floor, vacuums the 2nd floor and more. Heck she even helps with the bigger chores as needed, scrubbing baseboards, cleaning the toilet, washing floors, shoveling, ect... Guess what, I'm the parent, she's the child. I don't care if she doesn't want to do it. I make her do it. This is part of being in the family. This is learning how to take care of yourself. No she doesn't do it perfectly, the first time, every time. But I take the time to teach her the right way of doing it rather than letting her do a half fast job then fixing it for her later. Next on our list is doing laundry and dishes.
Post in a point.... rather than complaining all the time that your kids do nothing but make a mess all day, make them DO something!
I think a lot of kids nowadays think mom and/or dad are their personal slaves. I know of a child who is *over 10 years old* who can't even tie their shoes because the adult in their life does it for them. Every. Single. Day. And no, not putting the kid in velcro. Actually tying their shoes everyday. When I was a kid you'd be totally embarrassed if you hit even Gr. 2 without knowing how to tie your shoes!
I know of children who are 6, 7, 8 years old who own iPods, cell phones, the latest gaming gear, ect... Then the parents have the nerve to complain that their child spend 3576 hours a day in front of a screen.
Then there's the parents who complain about slaving over the house all day to have it trashed 3 seconds later. And I'm not talking parents with nothing but toddlers or babies at home. I'm talking parents with children that are 5 years old. Or 10 years old. Or even 15 years old. These are people who LET their child trash the house, do nothing about fixing it, then have the nerve to bitch about it!
Do they really think the cleaning fairy is gonna pop into their kid's head and teach them how to take care of themselves? Do you want to either be having the child live in a condemned house or do their housework for them once they are living on their own? No, of course not. We how the hell are they gonna both know how and even have an inkling to do it if YOU DON'T TEACH THEM?!?!
Children as young as a little over ONE YEAR OLD can be taught to clean up after themselves. My almost 20 mth old thinks it's great fun to put her blocks back in the bin. She even helps me unload the dryer! Of course at this age you can't expect them to scrub the ceiling fans or cook dinner, but when you're picking up the toys, make it sound like a great game and get them to help you.
My 8 year old does more chores than most nowadays teens. She changes the cat litter, wipes down the vanity, sweeps the whole 1st floor, vacuums the 2nd floor and more. Heck she even helps with the bigger chores as needed, scrubbing baseboards, cleaning the toilet, washing floors, shoveling, ect... Guess what, I'm the parent, she's the child. I don't care if she doesn't want to do it. I make her do it. This is part of being in the family. This is learning how to take care of yourself. No she doesn't do it perfectly, the first time, every time. But I take the time to teach her the right way of doing it rather than letting her do a half fast job then fixing it for her later. Next on our list is doing laundry and dishes.
Post in a point.... rather than complaining all the time that your kids do nothing but make a mess all day, make them DO something!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tax Time!
Unlike the richer portion of the population, I love tax time. Because of our low income and having 2 kids we get a decent return. Course some people's income in a month is more than we expect back, but hey, it's LOADS to us!
We're also impatient people who refuse to wait for the gov to send us our money, so we do the instant refund thing (yes, I know we lose some of our riches this way, but as I said, we're impatient!).
We were expecting Lee's T4 thingy from work last week. He already had the Friday off, so we figured perfect! We'll have all day to do our taxes and some shopping (a new oven is the first thing on my list!!!). Friday comes, T4s weren't delivered to work *grrrrr*
So we knew he'd get it today at work. Down side is, we never know when he'll be home. He has one of those odd shifts... starts at 5am, is done whenever there's no more work. He's been home as early as 9am and as late as 8pm. I was hoping he'd be home by 2pm so he could drive mom to work and we'd have the van to run around with. No such luck, he didn't get home til 4pm.
Since we were walking, we opted to go to a closer tax place than our usual one. Get there, 2 hour wait and only if you were there before the client cutoff (we weren't). Ok, we'll do the hike to our usual place. But wait! I grabbed a brain and thought to call ahead. Sure enough, same deal. They've already stopped taking clients. *grrrr*
Then I remember the Money Mart (one of those payday loan places) does instant taxes. Still having that brain on hand I call them. Yup, they do them, open til 9pm and have loads of time to take more people. YAY! 23457 mile hike there (ok, so it's not even a 3 mile round trip).... Since it's getting late in the day and it's the height of tax season, there's a 4 hour wait for returns and the store closes before then. We can do our taxes, but won't get our return til tomorrow. Well that sucks, but it's better than the other 2 places where we couldn't even start the process in!
So now we hope that Lee gets home tomorrow before 2pm so we don't have to walk back there to pick up the refund. YAY for a new oven!
We're also impatient people who refuse to wait for the gov to send us our money, so we do the instant refund thing (yes, I know we lose some of our riches this way, but as I said, we're impatient!).
We were expecting Lee's T4 thingy from work last week. He already had the Friday off, so we figured perfect! We'll have all day to do our taxes and some shopping (a new oven is the first thing on my list!!!). Friday comes, T4s weren't delivered to work *grrrrr*
So we knew he'd get it today at work. Down side is, we never know when he'll be home. He has one of those odd shifts... starts at 5am, is done whenever there's no more work. He's been home as early as 9am and as late as 8pm. I was hoping he'd be home by 2pm so he could drive mom to work and we'd have the van to run around with. No such luck, he didn't get home til 4pm.
Since we were walking, we opted to go to a closer tax place than our usual one. Get there, 2 hour wait and only if you were there before the client cutoff (we weren't). Ok, we'll do the hike to our usual place. But wait! I grabbed a brain and thought to call ahead. Sure enough, same deal. They've already stopped taking clients. *grrrr*
Then I remember the Money Mart (one of those payday loan places) does instant taxes. Still having that brain on hand I call them. Yup, they do them, open til 9pm and have loads of time to take more people. YAY! 23457 mile hike there (ok, so it's not even a 3 mile round trip).... Since it's getting late in the day and it's the height of tax season, there's a 4 hour wait for returns and the store closes before then. We can do our taxes, but won't get our return til tomorrow. Well that sucks, but it's better than the other 2 places where we couldn't even start the process in!
So now we hope that Lee gets home tomorrow before 2pm so we don't have to walk back there to pick up the refund. YAY for a new oven!
Friday, February 18, 2011
30 Day Challenge
Disrespecting Parents *another late one*
Oh crap. I could go on foreeeeeeever about how much kids are idiots nowadays. Disrespecting parents is just the tip of the iceburg. I think most kids need a good ass kicking but most parents are to afraid to give it. Hence idiot children....
Oh crap. I could go on foreeeeeeever about how much kids are idiots nowadays. Disrespecting parents is just the tip of the iceburg. I think most kids need a good ass kicking but most parents are to afraid to give it. Hence idiot children....
Friday, February 4, 2011
30 day Challenge
Things That Irritate You About The Same/Opposite Sex
Men: farts are not funny, nuff said
Men or Women: golf. I get mini golf, but regular golf??? Zzzzzz
Women: adults that still act like high school stereotypical cheerleaders
Women: any one who still does the "I'm just a woman, I can't do that" act
Women: (of any age) who will wear miniskirts and middrifts when it's -20 then have the nerve to bitch about the cold. Put some freaking clothes on!
Men: farts are not funny, nuff said
Men or Women: golf. I get mini golf, but regular golf??? Zzzzzz
Women: adults that still act like high school stereotypical cheerleaders
Women: any one who still does the "I'm just a woman, I can't do that" act
Women: (of any age) who will wear miniskirts and middrifts when it's -20 then have the nerve to bitch about the cold. Put some freaking clothes on!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Day That Went From Bad To Worse
I should have just stayed in bed!
1) Woke up still with my head cold, but now with an annoying dry cough.
2) Sent myself into fits of allergy hell by digging out my desk to give my BIL my computer tower to try to fix.
3) My niece came over for me to watch while above mentioned BIL went to pick up my sister. Love the kid. However, she seemed to had bathed in perfume this morning, one which I apparently am highly allergic to.
4) After putting a fresh loaf of bread in the oven I am cleaning up my bread making mess and lean myself on the stove to put the flour away, directly onto the hot burner I just took a pot of boiling water off of, burning a giant hole in my favorite sweater.
Now I'm gonna do what I should have done first thing... go to bed!
1) Woke up still with my head cold, but now with an annoying dry cough.
2) Sent myself into fits of allergy hell by digging out my desk to give my BIL my computer tower to try to fix.
3) My niece came over for me to watch while above mentioned BIL went to pick up my sister. Love the kid. However, she seemed to had bathed in perfume this morning, one which I apparently am highly allergic to.
4) After putting a fresh loaf of bread in the oven I am cleaning up my bread making mess and lean myself on the stove to put the flour away, directly onto the hot burner I just took a pot of boiling water off of, burning a giant hole in my favorite sweater.
Now I'm gonna do what I should have done first thing... go to bed!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Door Mat Parents
A friend of mine pointed me to a blog that rubbed me the wrong way. I read both the post the link took me to and the previous one that "caused" the author to write the linked one. I can TOTALLY see the humour in the posts, but the blog read to me that BECAUSE toddler behaviour is normal, we as parents should just sit back and let our toddlers/preschoolers, hell, teens, do whatever, because their behaviour is normal for their ages.
And yes, I'm betting the author DOESN'T just sit there and smile while her child pisses on the floor, but it reads like she does. Unfortunately I see this too often. Parents that just let their kids do whatever. This was one of the reason I pulled Brianna out of school to homeschool her. Cause a lot of parents don't give a crap anymore! They don't raise their kids, they let other kids do it or the media. There is no more teaching of manners, courtesy or appropriate behaviour. It's just easier to tell them to go play.
I could go on and on about this topic, but in this day and age it's like beating a dead horse.
And yes, I'm betting the author DOESN'T just sit there and smile while her child pisses on the floor, but it reads like she does. Unfortunately I see this too often. Parents that just let their kids do whatever. This was one of the reason I pulled Brianna out of school to homeschool her. Cause a lot of parents don't give a crap anymore! They don't raise their kids, they let other kids do it or the media. There is no more teaching of manners, courtesy or appropriate behaviour. It's just easier to tell them to go play.
I could go on and on about this topic, but in this day and age it's like beating a dead horse.
Monday, January 3, 2011
It's Official
The oven is dead. I bought a new element, tried it out, took almost an hour to heat to just 250F. Should take less than 5 to get to 350! Now I need to find a new stove *sigh*
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Stupid Oven
My element blew again. I've had this oven 4 years, am now gonna replace it for the second time. I've never in my life had to replace an element (the inside the oven bottom one) before this oven. POS However, I need a new fridge and only want a new oven. Short of this stupid element, the oven works fine. My fridge on the other hand is wonky.
I discovered this by making bread. I had run the dough through the breadmaker, did it's 2nd rise and was preheating the oven to bake it. 10 minutes later the oven is only reading 120F! Crap.... So I turned it off, waited for it to cool and checked it out. The top element is slightly warm, the bottom one? COLD! Unscrew it, yup, one of the prong thingies is black. Fried. *sigh*
It's Sunday night... hmmm.... maaaaaybe Canadian tire is open. Drive up there, nope, closed. Sears sells ovens.... nope, closed. Well I don't know if Zellers sells ovens, but they do sell larger appliances so maybe... they're open, no elements. *siiiiiiigh* Drive to the other end of town to Home Depot. They DO sell elements, but at over $30! The one I bought from Canadian tire was under $20 so I only brought $20 with me *cry* I'll have to wait til tomorrow to go to Canadian Tire.
Thankfully my next door neighbour was home so I borrowed her oven for a half hour so at least I didn't have to toss the dough (which thankfully hadn't dropped by the time I got home!). First thing tomorrow... element shopping!
I discovered this by making bread. I had run the dough through the breadmaker, did it's 2nd rise and was preheating the oven to bake it. 10 minutes later the oven is only reading 120F! Crap.... So I turned it off, waited for it to cool and checked it out. The top element is slightly warm, the bottom one? COLD! Unscrew it, yup, one of the prong thingies is black. Fried. *sigh*
It's Sunday night... hmmm.... maaaaaybe Canadian tire is open. Drive up there, nope, closed. Sears sells ovens.... nope, closed. Well I don't know if Zellers sells ovens, but they do sell larger appliances so maybe... they're open, no elements. *siiiiiiigh* Drive to the other end of town to Home Depot. They DO sell elements, but at over $30! The one I bought from Canadian tire was under $20 so I only brought $20 with me *cry* I'll have to wait til tomorrow to go to Canadian Tire.
Thankfully my next door neighbour was home so I borrowed her oven for a half hour so at least I didn't have to toss the dough (which thankfully hadn't dropped by the time I got home!). First thing tomorrow... element shopping!
Monday, December 13, 2010
On To Computer Number 3....
Yesterday mom's laptop would no longer load an internet browser. The net was working fine cause my weather eye loaded and was giving the correct weather, but Mozilla wouldn't load. Even went so far as trying Internet Explorer, no go. *sigh* Thank cripes, we got my dinosaur of a laptop (which we didn't think was even internet capable!) to work with the net. Now I don't know if there's a wireless card in it cause I have my modem cable plugged into it, but I don't care! I still have net! I sooooo need a new computer....
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
OMG The Heat!!!
We are going through a massive heat wave. I hate it! We have had the air conditioner running on full blast since Saturday and it seems like we don't have one at all :( It's been about 45C (115F for my American friends) all week. We're expecting storms this afternoon to break it up but while the sky looks threatening, it aint doing anything. I think we're gonna spend the weekend at the beach!
Monday, June 14, 2010
A Little Behind
So I'm almost a week behind here! Oops!
New landl
ord says we don't get to use the porch AT ALL anymore. No chairs out there, no more cross stitching, no more reading, nothing. He wants it empty. WTF?!
Did Brianna's hair up in 32 braids. She loved it! The next morning we took her hair out and she's in love with the waviness of it! I'm guessing we'll be doing that hair style often lol
Olivia is walking around more than ever now. Getting really good at standing from a seated position without anything to hang on to. Got pigtails into her hair several times now. Trying to get better pics though.
Lee's still working crazy hours. He did get off before 5pm 2 days last week. It was so nice to have him home! But, I'll admit, this overtime is certainly helping with the bills!
Cleaning out the bedroom closet.... what a job! I've been working on it for the last 3-4 days. I've already got 2 bags of garbage and 1 bag of donate-ables out of it. But I'm getting there! I'm about 3/4 done and there is SOOOOO much more space in there! I'm hoping to be able to get all my for sale stuff in there rather than having it our in the bedroom.
Speaking of... my selling is going pretty good. Already got money in the savings account and putting more in this week. I'm finding new stuff to add to the selling pile everyday!
New landl
ord says we don't get to use the porch AT ALL anymore. No chairs out there, no more cross stitching, no more reading, nothing. He wants it empty. WTF?!
Did Brianna's hair up in 32 braids. She loved it! The next morning we took her hair out and she's in love with the waviness of it! I'm guessing we'll be doing that hair style often lol
Olivia is walking around more than ever now. Getting really good at standing from a seated position without anything to hang on to. Got pigtails into her hair several times now. Trying to get better pics though.Lee's still working crazy hours. He did get off before 5pm 2 days last week. It was so nice to have him home! But, I'll admit, this overtime is certainly helping with the bills!
Cleaning out the bedroom closet.... what a job! I've been working on it for the last 3-4 days. I've already got 2 bags of garbage and 1 bag of donate-ables out of it. But I'm getting there! I'm about 3/4 done and there is SOOOOO much more space in there! I'm hoping to be able to get all my for sale stuff in there rather than having it our in the bedroom.
Speaking of... my selling is going pretty good. Already got money in the savings account and putting more in this week. I'm finding new stuff to add to the selling pile everyday!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Another Day Home
After spending yesterday picking nits out of Brianna's hair we are on about the 8th washing of her hair to get the vaseline out. Happily, when I checked her hair last night I did not see any nits. But her hair still looks like she hasn't bathed in a month so I kept her home again. She helped by sweeping and washing the floors after I explained to her that while yes, the floors are normally Lee's job, we are doing his chores because of the insane hours he's working now.
Life was going great until she decided that in order to keep Timmy out of her wet floors that she'd lock him in the linen closet and spray him with Windex if he tried to get out. OMG I swear I'm gonna be bald.
So she got to sit on her bed doing nothing with Grandma watching while Olivia and I went to the grocery store rather than coming with us and getting a treat after. She did do fairly well upstairs though. She's now in the tub washing her hair again. Hopefully we can keep having good behaviour so she can help me bake while Olivia naps.
Oh! And Lee actually got home at 5:30pm yesterday! Soooo nice to have him home "early".
Life was going great until she decided that in order to keep Timmy out of her wet floors that she'd lock him in the linen closet and spray him with Windex if he tried to get out. OMG I swear I'm gonna be bald.
So she got to sit on her bed doing nothing with Grandma watching while Olivia and I went to the grocery store rather than coming with us and getting a treat after. She did do fairly well upstairs though. She's now in the tub washing her hair again. Hopefully we can keep having good behaviour so she can help me bake while Olivia naps.
Oh! And Lee actually got home at 5:30pm yesterday! Soooo nice to have him home "early".
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Getting Kicked off of PRMR
Arrrrgggg! I am so pissed right now! On Monday, I did my update on PRMR as usual. I went back Tuesday morning to check it over and found that Syd posted at 8am (5am his time) that I made mistake and he was fixing them. WTF?! Who gets up a 5am to check a game?! So anyways, because of this the Forum Hosts have decided to kick me off PRMR and make a whole new board with a whole new host account. The Forum Host zmailed me about it all full of I make mistakes, I don't get along with Syd, blah blah blah. Humans make mistakes people! I check my updates but when someone's getting up at 5am to find mistakes there's no way in hell I can find them and fix them! And I never talk to Syd, how can I get along with him or not? Holy crap I'm peeved.
On a high note I'm down .8lbs!
On a high note I'm down .8lbs!
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