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Thursday, April 15, 2021
Monday, April 12, 2021
Reminding Myself of Life During COVID - Day 397
It felt like volleyball yesterday.
A loud gym, 4 courts in use, some parents, but as I ref'd, I noticed it was confusing to me and girls about which whistle was ours or another court. It was hard to hear, and hard to talk. Even the kids noticed it.
I enjoyed it, although with masks, it's still hard to communicate. There are limited parents in attendance, and no food. It's strange, but less so with a little more excitement. However, we still only have pool play, no crossover, and less bonding.
I still hate masks, it's getting annoying to wear them for 6-7 hours, but I'm glad I can do things.
First Travel
Speaking of which, since the last update, we went to Philadelphia for a tournament. That was strange. We packed up and headed to the airport. No valet parking, and they packed the bus at Wally Park. That should have been a clue. The airport when smooth, though the security line was packed, the train was packed, and the plane was packed. Completely full.
We wore our masks, and while I got free bags and CLEAR still worked, we got a tiny bottle of water and two snacks in a bag. Didn't try for alcohol, but our 1K free stuff wasn't available. On the positive side , our late Sunday flight was upgraded and we got drinks and a snack box. The lady kept the tiny bottles of wine coming, and I was slightly worried about driving. I had less than Tia.
Philly was interesting. In the city, everyone wears masks, even walking around outside. Only a few didn't, so we wore them walking to and from. The "tight restrictions" at the tournament failed quickly. We didn't have to enter together, they barely checked us, and we managed to get extra parents in with our ticket allotment.
The courts were strangely spaced out. As in, the halls were separated, with 4 separate entrances. There were only 6-7 courts in a space where I'd expect Philly to have 12-15. Crossroads would have had 20+. Eerily quiet, though the team broke up and finished 29/79. A good trip.
Work
Work is work. I'm less thrilled with everything there, and I do feel a bit disengaged. However, I'm trying to find ways to keep going and being honest on surveys. No real changes from us yet, but I do have some people thinking they will get to live events for SQL Saturday or other things this year.
Vaccine
The US is kicking ass, as in 3mm a day. And my first shot. We cleared the 2 weeks post Shingles yesterday, but 2 days ago my sister in law told Tia to look at the downtown Ball Arena (Pepsi Center) site and we got appointments. We went this morning with Kyle, a drive through, slow process, but we got the shot
So far a sore arm, and hoping that's all I get.
Life
Other than that, life is about the same. We're busy, the gym is open, albeit back down to 15 in the yoga room, which is maddening. Everything just chugs along. We hit a few restaurants, but mostly we are just going day to day, the same thing.
On the positive side, Kyle came back early, so feels like we're getting back to a more normal life, with someone else around some of the time.
Shot 1. Did expect this until July, but apparently Colorado and the US are doing well.
via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CNkstNThfxh/
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Friday, April 9, 2021
A Touch More Travel in March
An interesting graph, with a little more movement. Glad we did get to Crested Butte, which was a great trip.
Some of the cities and places are from Volleyball, with us moving around a bit more, and some from Tia taking horses to places.
The movement still feels cramped, but I know it will continue to get better, and April will show even more movement.
Thursday, April 8, 2021
In memory of Fajga Fridman and the Holocaust
I saw a friend post a note to https://www.illuminatethepast.org/, a way to light a candle and commemorate the Holocaust. I did it, and got Fajga Fridman, a women killed at 54. The age I will be this year.
A horrible event in human history, and while my family wasn't touched, I can't conceive of how I might feel if they were.
I'm also very blessed. I think about that more and more as I age, and how lucky I have been in life.
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Friday, April 2, 2021
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Monday, March 22, 2021
Saturday, March 20, 2021
High school volleyball. Thrilled to watch so many girls I've been lucky enough to coach
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Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Reminding Myself What Life was Like Under COVID - Day 371
It's been over a year. I wanted to write this on the year later, but last week was busy here. Vacation the week before, and then a hectic time with work and storm prep. Fourth largest snowstorm in Denver history, and the biggest since the 2003 one.
In any case.
A Real Vacation
I still haven't flown anywhere, but Tia and I decided to do something different a few weeks ago. Our ski passes have a few days at Crested Butte, so we booked hotels and took a few days to drive down and get away. A new place, for the first time since the lockdown for us started on Mar 11, 2020. Fantastic to get away, restaurants were open, and we enjoyed life, albeit with masks.
Streaming Is Strange
Last night I bought the streaming package for the local high schools for a month. Some of the girls I coach, or have coached, as playing high school ball, but only 1-2 people per athlete, pre-named, are allowed in. While some parents might let me see a game, I hate to ask. I wouldn't give up the chance to see my daughter play and wouldn't ask them.
So, while I was finishing up some work, I had varsity and sophomore high school VB streaming. I saw a kid I coached a few years ago playing, and was sad by the lack of opportunity to see her live. This young lady is the only one I've gone to see play live in HS, in 2019, and I miss a few minutes seeing her play and chatting. I also saw a kid I coached last year, improved and having fun on the court.
Streaming was a thing for me in 2019 with my daughter in college. I've missed some games and watched video, but I've always had the opportunity, and it's strange to not be able to go support kids I coach or know. A friend has her daughter (senior, 18s) in Crossroads this weekend.
At Norco.
No spectators.
Ugh. At least we're still moving forward. We practice once a week, with high school in season, and we got an update the our Philly NE Qualifier is moving forward. Our last power can postponed, but that was weather.
Dining
We have gone out a few more times, including dinner with another couple. Places are getting busier, which I think is a sign that people are getting more comfortable. We've seen more choices in menu, and more people in places.
In Crested Butte, we ate out often, and all the places required masks, but you could take them off. I even stopped in a bar while Tia was getting boots. There wasn't anywhere to sit, but the let me stand in the bar area, sipping a beer, with my mask. I'd raise it to drink ,but then keep it on.
Masks
I bought more masks, mostly to have a few more spares. I've tried different ones, and I find the BoCo ones to be the most comfortable most of the time. I have a mesh-ish one, with filters, and I use it at the gym, but under stress, all of them suck.
I realized I'm a little more claustrophobic than I thought. In Yoga, or cycling, when I'm working hard, I get a little panicked when I can't easily breathe, and I can't with any of the masks. I really start to gate them sometimes, and they're annoying.
It's gotten worse as yoga moved back to the studio, so down to 15 again, with a hotter, smaller space. I still like the classes, but I'm not liking the masks.
Work
No changes here. The UK is vaccinating quickly, and perhaps thinking to remove restrictions by July. We'll see, but I heard they have 1/2 of all adults with 1 shot, so really a 1/4 of the way there. That's not bad. There's a chance I could go back to the UK this year, but not if people won't go to the office. So far, not many want to go. Had a meeting with someone there a couple days ago, said 2 people in the building.
No events planned, but a hybrid one for Sofia tentatively in Oct. An outside chance we'll see something this year, but mostly I think we might punt until 2022.
I have been thinking to see if the local user group will do a live meeting in May or June. Have to think if I have time to push.
Still looking forward to traveling in a few weeks and the experience. But also realizing that we have six more months of this, at least. Seems like I've felt that way for over a year now.
Monday, March 15, 2021
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Friday, March 12, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Reminding Myself of Life During COVID - Day 356
Things are becoming more normal, but still not there. Life has changed the last few weeks in Colorado, but as I approach a year, I'm still feeling the weight of COVID.
Colorado lowered our COVID restriction dial a few weeks ago. Restaurants opened more, and we could start more volleyball activity. We postponed the restart of our volleyball season, but a few days later things opened, and we had an official Power tournament a few days ago. We won, which was nice, but it was strange, with no parents and the gym was very quiet.
We wore masks all day, except for this picture. Slightly annoying, but I'm getting used to pulling down masks and raising my voice.
This was in contrast to a few tournaments in February up in Weld county. There parents could come in, albeit limited numbers, but it was nice to have them there and cheering. The downside was I had to get on a parent that wasn't pleased with one of my girls referring and missing a call, but it worked out well.
Tia and I have also been to more restaurants. We've stopped to eat after coaching, and have been able to get a table pretty quickly for a few weeks. That started to change last weekend, though maybe it was the weekend. It seems more people are starting to go out, so there are more crowds.
Masks everywhere, still, and I just purchased a few more. I need to keep them around, I wash them regularly, but I also am starting to stash a few more in cars and vehicles. In the last few weeks, I've driven 5 cars around, and a couple times I didn't have masks. I put a spare for me in each of the vehicles, but I need more.
I've been wearing one at the gym basically since June, though there were a lot of swimming and outdoor workouts that didn't need them. Weight lifting is fine, but I've struggled with some of the yoga. I'm slightly claustrophobic, and hard breathing in a hot room is hard. I have to pause my yoga way more than ever to pull my mask away a little and get some deep breaths. It's getting annoying, though I am happy to wear them if I can go to the gym.
Last week I took a cycle class in the gym. While it was hard, and good to work out, I really had a hard time breathing. I used a big mask that has some shape and integrity to give me space away from my lips, but when I breath really hard, it's tough. I hard time breathing there, but I'm going to give it a try again, perhaps looking to give myself a few more breaks. They talked about moving to the cycle room, which I'd dread. A smaller space, warmer, less air flow. Ugh.
Most of the rest of life is the same. Same. same. same. That seems to be how the world will be, at least for a few months. No events scheduled. As we try to reboot SQL Saturday, most everything seems to be virtual for this year. No idea if I'll be able to go back to the UK, or where we'll fly.
We are scheduled to go to Philly in a month. We booked a trip for the fall in Mexico. I'd like to take a few more, but we'll see. Vaccinations are speeding up and improving, so maybe we'll be able to do more in the second half of the year than I expected.
I hope so. As we close on a year, I'm really tired of the COVID world.
Started from the bottom, and we keep winning. So proud of these girls, another power win. From 87 to 47 and still looking to move up
via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CL7RgQUhhu_/
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Some of the best ball of the season from these girls,. 6-2 abs first place
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Friday, February 12, 2021
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Friday, January 29, 2021
Sunday, January 24, 2021
Friday, January 22, 2021
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Tracking Volleyball Stats on Paper
When I started coaching, other people were responsible for stats. Either a kid, a parent, or a head coach I worked with that liked doing it themselves.
When I became a head coach, stats became something I had to do. I tried a few ways with other coaches, with varying degrees of success. Eventually I got a good assistant, but they didn't want to do stats. I decided to try to tackle this myself, and do less coaching and more watching.
This is the process that worked well for me, and I've been able to teach a kid or parent to do this in a few minutes if I have someone else that will do it. I'll explain the process, and then some reasoning.
The Process
I've had 9 kids on a team over a few years, so this has worked out well for me. I think it works up to 12. Your mileage may vary, and I note that as I get older, making small marks on paper is challenging.
In Excel I build a sheet that divides paper into a few sections of graphs. These are essentially "T"s for each kid. I put 9 on a page, but I have gotten 12 if needed, going 4 across. My sheet looks like the image below. I am only showing the first 2 rows, but there's a third below.
I put each kid's name in a box, and I tend to order things as they are on the court. I put OHs on the left, MHs in the center and the L in the bottom middle. My RH/S go on the right. If I have subs, I'd likely put them on the far right, and then hope muscle memory reminds me of where they are located.
I often use a new sheet for each match, but at times I'll do a second match on the same sheet. I can usually use a second line for each stat to differentiate sets.
The grid is divided into four sections, clockwise from the upper left I have "Serve" , "Serve receive", "Digs", and "Attacks". While I record data in these in a similar fashion, each is slightly different.
Serve
- Attempts - I, or vertical line
- Ace - A
- Error (ball not in play, service error, etc.) - E
- end of service round - comma
This gets me something like these examples:
- |||, - 3 attempts, we get the sideout twice before losing a point.
- |A||E,E - first service round with serve in, then ace, then two serves in (4 points) and an error. Second service round, just an error (bad serve)
When a girl goes back to serve, I make the vertical line and keep the pencil or my finger on that spot. That lets me know I've marked the serve. If it's an A or E, I just add to the line to turn it into the letter.
Serve Receive
- 0, 1, 2, 3 - pass rating
This is the simplest item. When someone passes a serve, I rate it as a 0, 1, 2, or 3. Everyone has their own style here, but once reason I like doing the stats is the consistency for SR (serve receive).
- 0 - shank, or a bad pass that isn't really playable.
- 1- a pass that the setter barely gets up, with one option. Or someone else sets
- 2 - the setter makes minimal movement, and can easily set 2 front row hitters
- 3 - all three front row hitters, the back row, and time to decide.
Digs
- | - dig
- E - dig error
For digs, I record someone was able to get an attack ball up and make it playable or not. You may use your own judgment on what's playable.
Attack
- | - attack attempt, ball kept in play by opponent
- K - kill
- E - attack error (long, in net, touch net, etc.)
I try to avoid using the attempt for bumps over, especially with bad sets. If it's a kill on bump, I sometimes mark this as a K with an underline. For tips, I usually mark as a K with a line across the top. This is mostly for between set/match quick review. Are kids swinging?\
Blocks
- B (under attack section) - ball blocked back to attacking side
- B circled - ball blocked back for point
Generating Stats
Usually after a tournament, I go get some dinner. It's a good way to decompress from the day, and often I have a coach with me. We can talk about the day, re-live some highlights (or lowlights) and compile stats. While an iPad and app does this automatically, I find this isn't too hard or time consuming to do manually.
Here's my process. I put the sheets that correspond to a match together, and I'll do a match at a time. I go through each athelete's stats, writing down the totals. Usually I can mentally add up the values across 2-3 sheets and get them down on one sheet. I'll go through the process for each quadrant, but I typically do all 4 stats for each kid before moving to the next.
Serve
- Count every entry (|, A, E) total these up.
- Count all aces, total up
- Count all errors, total up
Serve Receive
- Add up all the numbers, this is attempts
- Add up the sum of the numbers, this is the total for calculating percentage.
- Add up the zero passes. A good metric to keep.
For this entry (3,2,2,1,0,3,1), I would have this line under the athlete: 7 / 12 / 1. The percentage is 12/7, which is a 1.7 pass rating. They shanked 1 of 7 passes. Not too bad for the level I coach.
Digs
This is easy. Add up the | entries and add up the E entries. I report these are straight sums.
Attack
I add up all items here, just as in serve. These are all the attempts. Next, I add up kills. Next, errors. This gives me three numbers again.
As an example, if I had ||K||E||K, I'd have 9 / 2 / 1. Nine swings at a set, 2 kills, 1 error. The calculation for hitting is (2-1)/9. Kills-errors, divided by attempts. This is a 0.111 hitting percentage. Not great, but positive.
Blocks
Usually I just write a B and then give the attempts and scoring blocks.
Data Entry
Once I have all the raw numbers, I type them into a spreadsheet. I keep a stat one around for each team, and I have a sample attached to this post. Each stat gets a sheet, so I have serve on 1, serve receive on a second, etc. I use a separate line for each day/opponent/kid. As an example, here's a serve example:
I can then repeat this for each of the five areas. If a coach is there, one can read and one type. This goes quickly.
Stats for Athletes and Parents
I add a new worksheet for each event. Typically I put this at the start of the Excel workbook, and move the last event to a spot after my 5 stat categories. I then copy the format from one of the other sheets. The layout looks like this:
Since I keep the kids' names in the same order, I can usually build a formula that adds up the 3-4 lines for each kid from the other sheet. For example, for Mary, her serve stats might be in the Serve worksheet in rows 120, 129, 138. This formula would be =+Serve!E120+Serve!E129+Serve!E138. I can just type "+" and then pick the three columns for her serve attempts. I can then copy this formula across to the next two cells (aces and errors) and the formula adjusts the column letter.
If I always have the same girls, I can copy this down to fill out the stats for all girls. If someone doesn't have stats, rather than leaving a divide by zero error, I usually add a DNP (or DNS for did not serve) and erase the formulas.
This builds a summary sheet that coaches can look at, and still find details for stats across girls. Parents and girls can easily look at this.
Parent Questions
I typically don't take parent questions on stats. I tell them they should ask their daughter. If the athletes don't know the answer, they can ask me. This is as much about educating athletes as parents.
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Friday, January 15, 2021
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Monday, January 11, 2021
Reminding Myself about Life Under Covid-19 - Day 306
It's a new year, and the weight of COVID-19 still presses me down. For the first time in a long time, COVID-19 hasn't been the most impactful thing in my life for a week. That's both good and bad, more bad, though, since COVID-19 continues to impact all aspects of my life.
Last week I started to watch the counting of the electoral votes. A non-event during most Presidential elections. In fact, I'm not sure I would have known the date or process before this year. In any case, I watched the votes for Alabama and Alaska, and then the protest against Arizona. The reps filed out of the chamber and I went to the gym.
While working out, I saw the protests getting heated, and eventually people break into the Capital building. I went a had a slice of pizza, watching criminals ransacking the building. I was somewhat shocked, and maybe more so that the owner of the pizza place was loudly defending them as not doing anything wrong, not causing any trouble. This was before we knew the scope of the damage, but I doubt his view has changed.
Since then, the talk of impeachment, of arrests and prosecution of the insurrectionists, the pressure in various reps to resign or condemn the actions. Some have, but continue to push the narrative of a bad election. I watched the speeches, or some of them, after Congress reconvened that night. While I appreciated hearing from many reps, I was also disappointed into others that continued to press forward with their complaint. I disagree that the session was the place to do this.
In any case, it appears there may be a second set of articles of impeachment coming, and it continues to dominate the news, even as various people are arrested.
Maybe even more crazy is the banning of our President from Twitter, Facebook, et al. It certainly has made for quieter news cycles in many ways. I was surprised to see that Parler, an alternative social network, was dropped from AWS over the weekend. As of now, I think they are struggling to find a large vendor to host them over the controversy.
I have lots of thoughts and opinions, but this is more about life during this time. We had a quiet Christmas. Kyle came home, and we mostly were here with family for a few days, without much of any sort of activities. We took a break from volleyball and things were quiet.
Tia and I did go to Keystone over New Years, which was weird. We didn't ski, hiked a bit, and relaxed. Takeout from a few places, and then with some of them being able to open under the Colorado 5-star program, we waited an hour to get a table in breakfast place and eat with a waitress. That was a highlight of our trip.
Since then, we've returned to more places opening and restrictions relaxing. Jan 4 allowed lots of changes. The gym now takes 25 for many yoga classes, spread into 2 rooms, or 17 in one, so it's easier to get in and get some exercise. I've appreciate that, though it's still hard to wear a mask. I'm not used to it, though I've given up on complaining.
I hurt my back last week, which was weird, and painful. While struggling to walk, and unsure of what to do, I had a miserable night. Tia found me a chiro Fri am, but it took work. I don't know that it would have been easier without COVID, but I know so many places have reduced hours, spread out appointments, etc., that I did worry about getting in as she called around. To me, one of the major crisis of the whole pandemic is that other non-COVID issues are more problematic. In any case, I was amazed that he fixed me in a day, and I was back to normal by Sunday.
Volleyball started back up, with the whole team after Christmas. We actually practiced with everyone on Jan 3, even though we were supposed to wait until Jan 4. This past weekend (Jan 9) we went back to competition. A higher level, we got beat pretty good, but we were back in a gym, parents got to watch (still 1/athlete) and life felt slightly normal. Coaches went to have a drink afterwards up in Johnstown, and Tia and I even stopped at Casa Mariachi on the way home and got a table.
I'm going skiing tomorrow with a friend. He asked me last week and I agreed. Then we realized we needed reservations, so he started the process at Copper and then we were on the phone, him getting me a buddy pass there. The whole "plan in advance" isn't something I like, but I guess that's where we are. I've gotten used to it for yoga, so I can do this. I hope it ends sometime this year.
I do have some hope. Most people I interact with think the vaccine rollout, while slow, will help smooth things out over time. We'll find a way to start having a more normal life, more in person work, school, etc. by the fall. I hope so, and I do think it's a possibility. I can even see live events potentially in the Sept/Oct/Nov time frame.
Work continues on about the same, though there is a little more aim for thriving rather than coping (or surviving as the CEO noted). I think that's good, though my job certainly looks like it won't change for quite some time. Life will continue to be remote and in my first floor office.
The interesting thing is that my world seems to have shrunk even more, and with more stability. Work every day here, go to the gym 3-4x/week, which is fine. We likely will coach through the summer with 1 or 2 practices a week. We'll get to a few restaurants, and probably do more camping this summer with horses. It's a slower pace, but that's not bad. In fact, it's comforting in some ways as I aim to handle more projects around here.
BMW X5 E70 Rear Hatch Won't Lock
I have a 2012 BMW X5 (E70) and the rear hatch wasn't latching. I loaded the rear, lowered the hatch and started driving. I noticed that the light was on inside as I was driving. When I got home, I found that the hatch wouldn't close or latch. It would open (from the inside button, rear button, or fob), but when it closed, it would get close and the release. Slamming it didn't help.
I looked at some of the posts on BimmerFest and elsewhere, and tried a few things. I pulled fuse 121 from the rear (behind rear tail light), but it didn't work.
At this time, I started looking closer and noticed that one of the bolts holding the u-bolt in the lower rear hatch was loose. The bolt was there, but as I grabbed the u-bolt, it moved. I'm pointing to it in the image below. The u-bolt would be where the second knuckle of my index finger is, and I'm pointing at 1 of the 2 bolts that are here.
I could wiggle the u-bolt at least 1/4" and maybe 1/2". I suspect that the upper hatch tried to grab the bolt and attach, but couldn't, so it opened again.
I looked at a parts diagram to see how this worked. I could see there appear to be only two bolts, despite the fact that there are actually 4 openings, and there mechanism under the ubolt has a few pieces
I tried to screw the bolts down. One grabbed and tightened. One would not catch, so I had to take things apart. I started by loosening all the screws on the lower hatch. These are on top when this is open. They are behind the flap that folds down on top of the lower hatch. You can see these below. These need a Phillips screwdriver.
Just a note, you need to hold the flap up (it's just visible at the top of the image below.
Once this is loose, you need to prey it loose from the lower hatch. The side closest to the hinge will pop out with a little prying around that edge.
The side furthest from the hinge actually wraps above and around to the back of the hatch. There is a plastic part that is on the outside. In the image below, I'm pointing at part of the seam. This has tabs near the lower (if closed) edge of the two plastic parts. I managed to carefully pry these and pop them loose from the inside.
Once you have this piece off (it's about 4ft long, about a foot wide), then you will see some of the wiring, and another plastic piece that covers the u-bolt. The u-bolt has a plastic cup that covers it, and from this side (when the hatch is open), it sticks out.
There are 5 Torx bolts holding this down. I am not sure of the size, but they were one of the larger Torx screwdrivers I have. They've likely been in this car for 8 years, and never moved, so they were stiff and hard to remove. Once out, I could lift this panel and see the mechanism below.
What I found is that there is a metal assembly that holds the locking mechanism, and a black spacer that centers this. The u-bolt attaches to this. If I get the spacer to fit correctly inside the mechanism, I can press the entire assembly up to the hatch and my bolt will then reach the threads inside. I had to fuss with this for a few minutes to get it aligned and then have the spacer slip inside the assembly before I could get this correctly put together. There are wires to the assembly, so I was working bent over with the ensure section only slightly lifted off the lower tailgate.
Once I did this, I hand tightened the bolts to hold things, and then found a wrench to snug them up tightly. I have no idea of the torque, but I made them fairly tight with a small adjustable wrench.
I assembled back the inner plate with the Torx screws, ensuring the wiring was placed below. Then I snapped the outer plastic back on and tightened 2 screws. I tested the hatch and it worked perfectly. I finished adding in the other 3 screws and tested again. Working hatch.
This took me about 20 minutes of fussing with panels and looking at the diagram and parts. It's not hard, but if you have latching issues, double check the bolts are tight and the u-bolt doesn't move.
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Monday, January 4, 2021
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