all the speculations, expectations, and what-ifs regarding my ojt was answered just this monday.

my blockmates who were also accepted in STAR started a week ahead of us. supposedly, we should all start on the 10th.However, our(arene and me) trainer had an out-of-town coverage, leaving us with a few days more to enjoy the 'just-bumming-around' stage.

via sms, i confirmed to him sunday afternoon our ojt the next day and i'm glad he didn't forget that we are in existence as i got a positive response from him instructing us to meet him at 11 a.m. at the press center of the House of Representatives.

DAY1

Guessing game
i decided to left our house at 9:15 for fear of being late on my first ojt day despite my being uncertain of where the hell is the "sanctuary" of our representatives.luckily, i was able to arrived in sta lu before 10.there's actually a terminal(sandigan via batasan, comonwealth, according to the sign board) in front of the rcbc(or was it hsbc, i don't care) bldg there so that makes me somehow a little bix relaxed since it's only a ride away. I asked if the fx will pass in front of the house of reps. but the driver told me "no" since he's nursing a maroon fx with a plate number ending either on 1 or 2. i asked him instead if it;'s "walk-able" and he told me it is. so after he dropped me, i began searching for the house since the bldg that he pointed out was a school bldg!i then asked a sweeper in yellow shirt and gladly gave me the direction. i'm not really convinced with his directions because it's confusing so i decided to ask a tricycle driver.SUS!manong sweeper's direction is ALL WRONG WRONG WRONG!thanks to manong tricycle driver i was able to enter the house's gate without the lady guard asking me to log-in. she thought i'm no trainee since the word PRESS was written in my i.d.

after asking for the whereabouts of the press center, arene and i made our way there.

Sir,is that you?
we texted our trainer that we we're already inside the press center. he told us he's already in commonwealth and intructed us to read the papers as we did.i did as what we were instructed for fear of probably asking us what the news is all about and all those stuffs. although i can't concentrate with what i'm reading because of manang arene's endless stories (^-^) so i decided to keep the newspapers again and chatted until a not-so-tall guy in white shirt and white pants soon entered the center and asked us if we are the trainees.after putting down his things on the table, he sat in front of us and began scanning the papers.he then invited us to the round table found at the far side of the center where all his things were put and have our "q&a" portion with him then managed to joke around, probably to make ourselves comfortable with him. He also introduced us some of the reporters who were present there and we learned that sir esguerra is also assigned in the house!bwahahahaha..so after a couple of joking around, the three of us had our lunch at the canteen...his treat=)

write, write, write!
after lunch, he then handed us a press release and instructed to rewrite it. so eventhough arene and i were not sure how to make one, we managed to pass our works.he told us he didn't find major problems with our writing as he corrected our papers. i think he was even surprised (or somehow impressed?) when we used "yesterday" already in our rewritten article instead of the "today" that was written in the pr article.i told him sir esguerra taught that to us. so aun, first day turned out fine.our mentor was very nice and funny.

by the way, he asked us to rewrite the two pr articles that he gave us as our assignments.

DAY2
after checking our first assignment, had our lunch again.after lunch, tasked to rewrite another two pr articles. after our "consultation" with him, he told us to write a police report since rewriting press releases only "tempted" us to copy with what's already written. so after giving us the details that we need for our police news, we we're sent home.

wala kaming ojt ngayon.sir delon's in gensan, we'll resume on monday daw

nakakakabagot sa press center, sobra!good thing kahit paano exciting ung mga nasasagap kong balita from the reporters hehehe

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i find maria jimenez's REASON for deciding to give up her political aspiration FUNNY.

pwede naman palang tumulong sa mga mahihirap without holding any position in the government,e bakit ka pa makikisali sa magulong sistema ng politika sa bansa?e kasi, pag may position ka sa government, mas MAPAGLILINGKURAN MO YUN MGA TAO NG MAS MABILIS.WHATEVER.

the devilish side of me believes that the reason why all this "i-wave-my-white-flag" drama is happening is because the said camp's already losing the race this early, whether they admit it or not.let's be honest,it's mark jimenez who's the more popular one and her sister is (maybe)just taking advantage of the "prominent-ness" of her sibling, just as ali atienza is a trying hard mini-version of the outgoing mayniLA mayor. or maybe, i'm wrong.perhaps,neophyte maria jimenez can't just stand politics too much.

it's not that i have this hidden grudge with the lady.why, i don't even know or even care who she really is in the first place!what i'm trying to say is that, if you really want to HELP others, you do it in your own way.don't try to be the "messiah" of the millions of poor people in our country just like what the candidates are implying in their rallies left and right...we've heard enough of all these bullshits the past elections, but what happend?nothing that much.or better yet, nothing at all(?)

i commended the lady for realizing such thing.it's good that she realized that she doesn't need to hold public office if she wants to help others and that she could do it in her own way. though i have to be reasonable also.i should look also to the possibilities of why she made such decision. the government neglect its duty to the people and sometimes, doesn't even extend full support to individuals or groups who aim to help the unluckier ones.this might be her motivation why she decided to run(and eventually, backed-out).our polticians and candidates have one common goal-"to serve".everytime they say that, i wonder if "serving the people" is their code(or translation) for "serving and making myself millions richer" in their own "language".hmm...
*****
just got this funny and corny text message from debra jane..

Guys,pls wag nyo iboto c joker.D xa mabuting tao.
-batman and robin.
nyerkz!but joker arroyo, i think,is a good senator.not a bench-warmer for sure.i'll vote for him.hehehe

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find maria jimenez's REASON for deciding to give up her political aspiration FUNNY.

pwede naman palang tumulong sa mga mahihirap without holding any position in the government,e bakit ka pa makikisali sa magulong sistema ng politika sa bansa?e kasi, pag may position ka sa government, mas MAPAGLILINGKURAN MO YUN MGA TAO NG MAS MABILIS.WHATEVER.

the devilish side of me believes that the reason why all this "i-wave-my-white-flag" drama is happening is because the said camp's already losing the race this early, whether they admit it or not.let's be honest,it's mark jimenez who's the more popular one and her sister is (maybe)just taking advantage of the "prominent-ness" of her sibling, just as ali atienza is a trying hard mini-version of the outgoing mayniLA mayor. or maybe, i'm wrong.perhaps,neophyte maria jimenez can't just stand politics too much.

it's not that i have this hidden grudge with the lady.why, i don't even know or even care who she really is in the first place!what i'm trying to say is that, if you really want to HELP others, you do it in your own way.don't try to be the "messiah" of the millions of poor people in our country just like what the candidates are implying in their rallies left and right...we've heard enough of all these bullshits the past elections, but what happend?nothing that much.or better yet, nothing at all(?)

i commended the lady for realizing such thing.it's good that she realized that she doesn't need to hold public office if she wants to help others and that she could do it in her own way. though i have to be reasonable also.i should look also to the possibilities of why she made such decision. the government neglect its duty to the people and sometimes, doesn't even extend full support to individuals or groups who aim to help the unluckier ones.this might be her motivation why she decided to run(and eventually, backed-out).our polticians and candidates have one common goal-"to serve".everytime they say that, i wonder if "serving the people" is their code(or translation) for "serving and making myself millions richer" in their own "language".hmm...
*****
just got this funny and corny text message from debra jane..

Guys,pls wag nyo iboto c joker.D xa mabuting tao.
-batman and robin.
nyerkz!but joker arroyo, i think,is a good senator.not a bench-warmer for sure.i'll vote for him.hehehe

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my mom almost scolded me for arriving at 2pm when in fact, i'm off at 10am hehehehe..nakakakatamad kasi umuwi agad.aside from the fact na mainit, e mukhang wala naman kasi masayadong magagawa pag umuwi ako e hehehe so ayun medyo nagliwaliw lang sa san lazaro together with dez,arene,and djhay.on the way to recto, umulan pa, malas naman talaga o hehehe

anyway,photojourn class was never boring and uinteresting (except for the lecture) until evaluation time came.naman!from worst to worse talaga anf situation potek!imagine your professor saying stuffs that even a non-journalist student can decipher that what he's blabbering are totally UNRELATED AND INSIGNIFICANT to the subject!how will you feel if your professor somehow touches the "economic side " of the world when he should be teaching the proper angles of taking a good shot?!and lastly, how will you feel if he asked your class to summarize his "brilliant lecture" that lasted for almost three hours without you understanding it?!hehehehe ang saklap talaga ng photojourn class ngayon=( nasasayang ung pagdadala namen ng cam.moreover, ung time na sana e itinulog na lang pala namen.hay naman buhay talga o!

anyway, tomorrow, challenge na naman!lit class...hay...art app-wahahahhaha may subject pa pala kameng gnun kasi always m.i.a ung prof dun.at tadah-poldy!buti na lang i'm done with my recitation wuhooo!

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looking for what?
i know for certain that this coming summer will not be just an ordinary summer...armed with a file case where 11 pieces of resume(with a recommendation letter stappled on each resume) were neatly and carefully placed, arene,dez,anne, and I decided to apply early(?) this month for our upcoming ojt come this summer.

PERYODIKOOur ojt this summer will require us to work for 200 hours, 120 of which should be used in print journalism (where we are more "trained" nyahahahahahaha) and the remaing 80 hrs will be for broad jrn. or we could spend the remaining 80 hrs in a wire service(ap,afp,reuters,etc) or go full time in print for 200 hours. personally, i would like to spend my time in print-both broadsheet or even in a DECENT tabloid and a magazine (however,i'm not really inclined working with fashion mags hahaha) but i don't know, perhaps, i'll push through with my broadjrn din for 80hrs just to try something new di ba so that i wouldn't be confined much in the print world.the best of worlds sabi nga ng iba...hehehe

The four of us first went to port area where most broadsheets and tabloids held their office. we passed our resumes to the philippine star, manila standard today,and the philippine journal inc.(people's journal,people's tonight,women's journal, etc). with lots of optimism and confidence in our pockets that we got from port area after all our "prospect companies" willingly accepted and accomodated us, we rode a cab that will bring us to manila bulletin in intramuros.major disappointment and frustration, however,welcomed us. the guard told us that they're not accepting ojt applicants.WHATEVER!

next stop is the manila times and the malaya which held office in the same building in bonifacio drive. for the first time, we were able to came face-to-face with a certain mr. rivera from malaya who introduced himself(via the calling card) as an hrd officer.perhaps the reason why we saw the malaya hrd officer is because he caught us off-guard with his simple yet hard question "why malaya?" feeling naman nun!nakakakainis kasi.he could've just smiled and be thankful that we chose their paper noh!

MAGASIN
because of that "traumatic experience" in malaya office, we finally decided to go to ortigas where mmpi and summit were based.anne got starstrucked with both mmpi(in strata 100 bldg. all the while i thought there's just strata200 with which i'm familiar with) and summit (in galleria) offices. i thought both offices were great also but somehow i felt that i'm not for this "glamorous life" (cabuyao, 2007).both mmpi and summit told us that they'll phone us to let us know if we are accepted or not.oh well, we're still waiting for that "important call of our life" hehehe

IN A FLASH!
after learning wednesday morning that philippine star didn't received our resumes, the four of us together with shelly this time, went back to phil star office fresh from our 7-10am thursday class. our "complaint" was well attended by the nice fat guy and immediately phoned someone and reported our "case" inside. minutes after he finished talking to the phone, we were asked to enter the OFFICE itself wahahahha and right there and then was ms. marichu villanueva, the news ed, who seemed so mataray and all...and i was the one who actually told her about our problem in which she replied: hindi ko alam ang sinasabi mo.hindi ako ang kausap mo. wahahahahaha nakakamatay... and so, we were accomodated by her secretary who recognized me immediately and showed us the ust file.heheheh true, our resume wasn't there and so we passed again our resume and ms. joy, the secretary, handed it to ms. villanueva. she asked us when will plan to start and we told her probably in april.to our surprise, she told us to go back on march 30!yipeee.... and we were constantly reminded by her, the secretary, and another guy in the room to be there at exactly 10 am.surely, we won't be late!

honestly, the thought of me having my ojt this summer do gives me a mixed emotion of fear and excitement.

FEAR.it is already a fact that trainors will always be trainors-strict,uptight,disciplinarian and all those stuffs. the reason why there's too much fear in me this early is because i'm afraid of how my future trainor will treat me, most especially my article/s and all the lapses that he/she could find, with special mention to my grammar.i'm not afraid of being corrected, what i fear the most is being humiliated in front of people. i can handle seeing my article being "murdered" or having a "rejected!" word placed at the left upper part of my paper but what i cannot take (but i have to tolerate though) is questioning my "writing skills" (if there is really hehehe), especially my grammar in front of other trainors and trainees=). somehow i'm already expecting harsh words such as "journ student ka ba talaga?bakit ganyan grammar mo?" or "your grammar sucks!" wahahahhaha!nakakawalan ng dignidad yun!imagine a journ student who couldn't master or is not knowledgeable enough with his/her simple grammar!hahahahaha.

EXCITEMENT. i'm really excited with the things that i'll be learning.i'm excited of meeting my trainor in which i'm expecting to establish a good realtionship with.i'm excited of meeting and interviewing different kinds of people who will play an important role in my assigned article.i'm excited also with my beat, never mind if i'm assigned in the police beat (which i think is the coolest hahaha).but what really excites me with all this ojt thing is the thought of my work getting PUBLISHED.hay, i can't wait to see my article with my byline (or even a tagline will do) on it..that is, if my work is "publish-able"... i really hope so=)

i don't know if i'm already "geared up" for my ojt this summer. but one thing's certain: i'm really expecting for the worst to come hehehehehe...

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happy holidays!

for the first time in my entire college life, the class prepared(or was it rushed?hehehe) a little pre-christmas celebration, aka christmas party. Thanks to our ever MAGNANIMOUS adviser/great benefcator, sir jere, for contributing "enough" for that little celebration of ours.

the party started at around 4, if my memory serves me right. as we waited for others to arrive, there were a couple of my blocmates who sang their hearts out, thanks to kay's magic sing which she bought, just to pass time.as people started to flocked the room, we soon found oursleves AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN having those camwhore sessions. there were few "parlor games" that we really enjoyed eventhough there's no prize to begin with -the boat is sinking, the ever famous stop dance, the "pinoy henyo" thingy(of course from eat bulaga), and the last, well i don't know it's babsie's concept so i dunno what is the name of that game.basta, it involves couples who will stick tiny pieces of paper to their partner's body part that starts with a certain letter( letters p,t,s to be exact).dj and dez ALMOST made it...it was only a mere POINT that separated them from seatmate charles and wabbit joyce.

after that, we headed towards plaza mayor immediately to catch the five-minute fireworks display.but before reaching the place, we soon heard noises...BOOM!followed by several screams and that's when we realized that THIS IS THE MAIN EVENT. bright and colorful lights soon began dancing in the sky it's as if saying, "ADMIRE OUR BEAUTY!ADMIRE OUR BEAUTY". arene said that last year's fireworks was way better(failed to catch the firewroks last year because we're late), and in my opinion, the fireworks diplay during the victory party was more beautiful.oh well, at least we still managed to enjoy it.

this year's paskuhan was...boring?hehehe there were a couple of performers on stage but we can't really tell what they're dancing because we're too far away from the stage so we instead "bonded" na lang(me, arene,dez,shelly,anne,kristine, and at one point sir jere also joined us...especially in teasing kristine liu).so aun, there's nothing really much to say about paskuhan this year.aside from the fact that christmas lights were fewer this year(as part of the newly-installed rector's policy of being simple) the bands were somehow "alien" to us. i was kinda expecting pne to perform or rivermaya(as what sir acuna mentioned) but not a shadow of them was seen.oh, at least we enjoyed that free dirty ice cream hehehehehe...

christmas..well of course we celebrated noche buena with my aunts, uncles,cousins, and lola. aun, the kids were so excited to open their gifts that even though they're too sleepy, hindi nagpaawat hehehe.unlike the previous years, mommy thought it's best to order food na lang para hindi hassle sa pagluluto aun okay naman masarap naman ung food hehehe...

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christmas,oh christmas

i'm not very much awareof the date lately that's why i'm surprised to note in my calendar that it's only 13 days before MERRY CHRISTMAS...

the only thing that reminded me of the holiday being so close at hand is seeing my mom making those shopping rush at the mall.and yes, may i also share the boxes and giftwrappers(of divisoria), scattered in the living room that left me with the choice of sitting crossed legs on the floor while watching maging sinu ka man on weeknights. apart from that, sweets also began "penetrating " the household..hahahahahahahaha

no christmas decors yet.although we bought last saturday some decors but unfortunately they remained to be decors, literally speaking.i already thought of making the initiative to put some "christmas spirit" in the air by setting up the lights, but to my disappointment, i'm left with only three "reliable" boxes of rice lights!and yes, the light bulbs of the parol are also busted-wuhooo!now can you blame me being amazed with all the pailaws outside especially in ust's lovers' lane which is lighted by now, thanks to the remaining trees who remained "strong and sturdy"despite the strong typhoons.

"mamasko pooooooooooo," was the bukam-bibig of children nowadays, to which i always told my little brother to fight back with a "balik kayo sa pasko," which is effective because they'll evaporate immediately into the cold air of december.

in school, the class is planning to have a christmas party for the first time in three years, since we've crossed paths. thanks to our adviser who willingly gave a P1000 hehehe. meanwhile, in my circle of friends, we have to wait for the 20th before that exchange gift. haven't bought the gift yet hehehehe

christmas..yes, it's already in the corner.it's too close especially for the little children who can't seem to wait to open their presents.aah..i miss that feeling.the feeling of really "feeling" that christmas is really christmas.hehehehehehehe...

almost two weeks to go people...two weeks to prepare for Christ's coming.two weeks to forgive and ask for forgiveness;to share and to receive, but of course more of the former.that's the very essence of christmas right?right hehehe...

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ready or not

last nov.24, we attended our ojt seminar at the avr. honestly, i get shivers everytime i remember or i'm being reminded that i'm going to have my ojt this summer.it's just that, i really can't believe that come this summer, things will be very different compared with all the summer vacations i used to spend.waaah...

print vs. broadcast
as a requirement, we need to spend 200hours for our ojt this summer(goodbye to sleeping late, waking up late, being a bum for two months, surfing the net for hours, chatting,watching tv...um, in short, goodbye LIFE?;p) we were given the option to spend the whole 200 hrs in print(since we're jrn people) or spend 12o hours in print and the remaining 80hrs, in broadcast. on my part, i think i'm going to spend my ojt in both print and broadcast. i think i'm going to settle for a magazine.i know how to write a straight news since we're taught how to do it , it's just that i think i'm not really that good in writing one. it's just that writing straight news requires..umm..technical terms?writing for police beat is a little easier after mastering that johanna thorpe case in second year, but malacanang beat, i think, is another story.i really don't know but i want to try my luck for a broadsheet.sir esguerra mentioned about this philippine chronicle which is a newbie paper and he encouraged us to try our luck there since it's only new and the paper might be lacking with people.i really don't know. i want to work for a magazine also, since it'll be more of soft news, and i'm more at ease writing such news since the approach is so "humanly" but the prolem is, MAJORITY of the local magazines are FASHION magazines!i mean, what the hell am i going to write in a magazine who devoted about 75% of its content on the perfect makeup, what's hot, what's not stuffs?!waaah!i just hope i can find a good one...and i hope that i'll be considered hehehe

straight from the seniors' mouths
during the almost hour delayed seminar that lasted for two hours, if i'm not mistaken, our seniors shared with us their experiences. there's this girl(she's an officer of the jrnsoc btw) who was accepted in AP, i'm not so sure, but all i know is that she's one heck of a lucky journ student having made it to a wire agency(although by-lines are really forbidden, who cares?at least you have an international audience to read your news). there's also this girl, dyogi as her last name(and yes, she said she's related to the dyogi, the director) who reminded us(especially those who will make it in the entertainment world aka as PAs) not to be easily starstrucked.another jrnsoc officer, the guy i forgot his name also, told us his experience working for a small community paper based in (was it) LA.yes, he flew all the way just to have his ojt there.and the perks he got were not that bad.and yes, there's this varsi girl also(accdg to shelly, she's the sports ed) who made it to pdi...lucky bunch of people!

so?hay..i really don't know what'll happen. i'm really really excited with the idea of me, doing my ojt. however, i can't help but be "terrified" with the "what-ifs".i know i'm being pessimist at this very early stage, but i just can't really help it.waaah, i think as long as there's no definite thing going on with this ojt stuff, my future remains too uncertain..very uncertain.i mean, in two year's time(if GOd permits) i'll be working on my own and it seems like i'm still lost in the middle of nowhere,not knowing whether to turn right or just walk straight ahead. waah..i'm just really too scared...

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one message received

one of the perks of globe's unlimited is giving its texters like me this "sky's the limit" idea of texting as long as the subscription doesn't expire,which include replying a "k" to the one you're texting or forwarding around 10 quotes to your groupsend list a day.

and because of this unlimited texting also,simple yet great things happen like reconnecting with friends, new and old or sending a group message to your former classmates telling them how much you missed them and you're looking forward to actually see and bond with them. or simply telling your parents to take care and how much you loved them through text.or simply saying a "gud morning" to your special someone...awwww.how about informing half of the class(who are regular unlimited subscribers and are all included in your groupsend list) that professor x won't be around?how about informing some of your titos, titas, or friends that there is already a build-up traffic in junction?how about the "let's support the tigers" during the uaap finals?

but after the hundreds of text that you sent, with or without sense, at the end of the day, it's just nice to know that through this whole idea of texting people non-stop, you'll be able to send also the most important message to the recipient-no matter how long you didn't see each other or how far the distance is, the memories and the people were not yet forgotten.
*****
mga usong-usong o suking text sa inbox ko:

1.Lam qng may gus2 k sken.

Bkit d m p aq sryosohin?
pero gus2 q malaman mo n hnd aq pasy2get.

ngaung sem, gwin mu ang lhat para makuha aq.

-UNO

2."wala na kong ibang hinangad kundi ang mapalapit sayo,

pero patuloy ang pag-iwas mo..."

-IPIS

3.wag kang magreklamong pinaiyak kita!..

...dahil nauna mo akong sinaktan"

-SIBUYAS

4.psensya ka na kung nanlalamig ako,

wla nkong mgawa, gnito na talga ako...

-YELO

*****
but just as there are "entertaining" messages above, well, we all do agree that the text messages that will surely "transformed" us into a monster are the following:
1. mayroon ka na lamang nalalabing 6 oras para magamit ang iyong globe unlimited;
2.hindi maproseso ang inyong request(especially pag maulan); at
3.natigil na ang inyong globe unlimitxt

meron pa pala,
"message sending failed!" chineck mo naman, malakas ang signal kasi nasa bubong ka na pala ng bahay ninyo pero bakit ganoon pa din?laging "message sending failed!" nakakapagtaka hindi ba. ngunit nagulat ka na lamang na "your total account balance is P0.00"----ang saklap!=)
*****
not all text messages that we received are as entertaining(at least for me) as those above or inpirational. there are, however,some text messages that are made to "curse" other people's fortune. yes, i'm talking about the "chain text messages" that i frequently received which sometimes get into my nerves. imagine getting a patethic "send this to 20 people or else you'll die" or "send this to 19 people and in five days you will meet your soulmate" or "isend sa 10 tao kung ayaw mong mangyari sau ang nangyari kay pedro na hindi ifinorward ang text message sa loob ng takdang oras at namatay"...PATHETIC!i even wonder why in the world people who started all this bullshit message oftentimes include God. yes, GOD!just imagine how pathetic those people are, with hopes of spreading nonsense text messages,that scares or even threatens the good fortune or life of people, that include God in their frontline...now i calm myself down=)

however, there are also chain text messages that are not as pathetic as the ones above. messages like "i have a friend....his name is jesus.please send to 19 people...." or "God is good..." i do admit of forwarding, if i may say religiuos,messages like that.HOWEVER, and with all the emphasis on the word however, i do delete the part wherein it says, "pass this to 19 people..." the reason behind is that i view simple messages as those not as "chain text messages" thta i need to forward to be able to have goodluck BUT to share this beautiful quote to people for them too see OVER and OVER AGAIN the goodness of God.

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