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California dreaming

Hana - I found a shop called Jelly Bellies here and they sell sugar free jelly beans. And they are made with Splenda so they don't have the unfortunate after effects of the ones made with Sorbitol. On top of that, they also sell the jelly beans that got deformed in the manufacturing process. And guess what they're called. None other than Belly Flops. They have sugar free ones as well and they sell them off at a very much reduced price. I've got a fair-sized bag so I'm about to settle down with my Jelly Bellies and watch The Bourne Ultimatum.
 
Hi Bill,
Well its christmas eve and have just put my ham in the oven to roast (never manage to buy one to fit in the pot!) its of a generous size and is going to take 6hrs to cook! As for my turkey well, its only 7lb and cost compared to yours £16 fresh, i'll pop that in when the hams finished. Weather wise its mild, infact on shopping yesterday in a light weight jumper and jacket i was too warm and walked between stores with my coat off and sleeves rolled up, to the strange looks my passers by, i can assure you its not hot flushes ( hope not ,only turned 40 this year!) So the event of a white christmas is slim, so i've 2 boys(10 &12) who are slightly disappointed at that prospect.

Well Bill i hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas in California, it'l certainly be different to the one we'll be having. On New Years day my friend has invited us to join her family tradition of walking round the Giants Causeway ( we'll see what the hangovers like 1st) Have a Happy Healthy New Year.
Take Care Bill
Kind Regards
Suzi xx
 
I see from my computer that it's getting on in the evening of Christmas Eve. Here it's just 11 a.m. and we've been out to buy those last minute items and we're just enjoying our morning cup of coffee. Elder Son and his wife have just left to visit the Steinbeck Centre in Salinas so my wife and I are taking it easy for a while, before we start preparing things for tomorrow. Our son and his wife will prepare dinner this evening and then I will be getting some kitchen jobs done. I shall be marinating a salmon fillet which I will flake and use to prepare the starter for lunch, and then I'm planning on making a raspberry coulis which will be mixed with mascarpone to top a bowl of fresh berries ( younger son works for a company that distributes the local berry produce). He has assured us that he will cook the turkey on the barbecue, though my wife and I are somewhat doubtful. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain.
A couple of days ago we paid a visit to the Glaum Egg Ranch as our son and daughter-in-law hadn't seen it before. If anybody is in the area in the future, I would recommend it as one of the most hilarious experiences on the coast. They have an egg vending machine into which you insert $3 and a box of 2 dozen eggs pops out. Then a window opens and a row of chickens sing and dance to "In the Mood", with little chicks with their heads sticking out of their shells bob up and down and sing the fill-ins. So for $3 you get 24 eggs and a show. It has to be the best value on the coast.
And now, Hana, Suzi, Dennis and everyone who has taken the trouble to read this saga, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!!
 
Feeling a bit sad at the moment as we're definitely on the downward slide towards departure. We'll be leaving on 14 January and that's less than 3 weeks away now.
The barbecued turkey turned out to be fine. It did rain, on and off, but once the barbecue was up to temperature Younger Son put the turkey in and we left it to roast. He put in a tray of wood chips to give a lightly smoked taste and it all worked well. Once the turkey was underway the rain stopped and the sun came out. The temperature was only around 50, but it seemed warmer in the sunshine.
Another pleasant surprise was in the towns around here. Both in Santa Cruz and Capitola the parking meters had a cover over them with the words "Free Parking - Merry Christmas".
We've been taking some fantastically good photos. Yesterday we drove a few miles north of Santa Cruz to Natural Bridges National Park. This park has long stretches of sandy beaches with arches cut by the sea into the cliffs and rocks. The sky was brilliantly blue and the sun was bright. A walk along the cliff tops in the cold breeze was exhilarating. We then drove down the coast to the Santa Cruz pier where we drove onto it, parked the car, and walked towards the end where a colony of seals can be found taking their ease on the wooden supports. A great way to spend a morning.
We have finally solved a problem we have had since Halloween. We'd bought a 3 lb bag of Tootsie Rolls plus a bag of other candies in anticipation of calls by all the local children. As it turned out, it rained on the evening and most of the kids stayed at home. We had three little visitors and then were stuck with pounds of toffees and chocolates. What a dilemma for a Type 2! I couldn't eat them, and my wife didn't want to but then Younger Son and his wife came for dinner and took most of them home. I've eaten the odd one and now they've all gone. Job done.
I had a shock this morning when I went to Safeways. They have a gas station attached to the supermarket and I had been building up points without realising it. As a result I filled up the car with 10 gallons and it cost me $7. Since I have paid up to £60 to fill up in England and about €60 in Luxembourg I was somewhat dazed when I signed the credit card slip. This, however, is a shock that my system can definitely tolerate.
Well, it's time to get on with the chicken and vegetable curry I'm cooking for dinner. The sunset is another vivid kaleidoscope and I must tear myself away from the window where the computer is situated.
 
Hi Bill,

I had a similar experience the first time I filled up my rental car in Phoenix. I handed over my credit card, as you would do normally, and the attendant looked at me incredulously and said "are you sure?" Oh yes I said, then he pointed out that my tank-full had only cost around $8.

Make the most of your last few weeks over there. Sorry I missed your Xmas greetings as I was in Switzerland, but Happy New Year to you and yours.
 
Hi bill,
your so right, the price of gas in the States is incredibly low. When we were heading out of Los Angeles on the freeway, i said to hubby we need gas shortly, of course the usual reply was next petrol station. Well we drove for ages,didn't see any, so i forced him into a turn off, Beverly Hills. We'll you can imagine the spending spree i could have had, but all i wanted was a gas station. We were on the red light and literally free wheeled down a very large hill and into the forecourt of a gas station, the relief was over whelming. We filled up a full tank of our rented luxury 4x4, plus bought beverages, sweets, and fags, and still have the Beverly Hills receipt for $24, the exchange rate back in '02 made that about £16. I must be the only woman on the planet to have shopped in Beverly Hills and only bought gas and sundries!!!
Well Bill enjoy the rest of your stay and take care, wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy new year,
Suzi x
 
Thanks for the wishes. Dennis, were you in Switzerland on business or pleasure? Either way, I hope things went well for you. Suzi, you're not alone in the Beverley Hills shopping spree. My wife and I went up Rodeo Drive one side and down the other side. Didn't spend a penny.
Tuesday was a fun day for us. Our friends had left us some brochures and magazines on things to do in the area and we found a tour advertised which takes you around the Monterey/Carmel area to see the various locations where films were shot. Inside the bus were video screens showing you the scenes from the movies whose location we were going to see next. They included A Summer Place, Play Misty for Me, Turner and Hooch, Doris Day in Julie, Marilyn Monroe in Clash by Night, Cannery Row, East of Eden, Of mice and Men and many more. The tour lasts three hours and is good value for the money and a really great introduction to anyone not overly familiar with the area as you are taken along the 17-Mile-Drive and through Carmel. At the end of the tour we parked in Cannery Row and went for dinner in the Fishhopper Restaurant, our favourite. They do a mean halibut fillet stuffed with shrimps.
New Year's Eve was pretty quiet for us. Younger Son and his wife were invited to San Jose to see in the New Year so we stayed home. I cooked spaghetti with shrimp sauce and a side dish of tomato salad - I used Dreamfields' pasta so virtually no carbs. :lol:
The weather has improved immensely since Elder Son left. We have had blue skies, sunshine and temperatures around 60°F.
I think I mentioned that we have roughly agreed to do a house swap with our friends in June. We've been kicking ideas around (renting a camper van is one) when I had the idea of flying into New York instead of San Francisco and then taking a train trip across to LA. I looked up the possibilities on the Amtrak website and the price is surprisingly reasonable (just over $1,000 a head for a 2-berth sleeper). We may even break the journey in Chicago and spend a couple of days sightseeing. It all depends on availability when our friends decide on their dates of arrival in Europe.
Well, time to wish everyone a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.
 
Hi Bill,
You certainly have given me food for thought re-amtrak, another good idea me's think. I hope on your next trip your kind enough to keep us up to date again, i'm really enjoying your holiday :) .Naturally i'm :mrgreen: with envy, i have a long time to wait before i fly across the pond. Enjoy the rest of your stay and take care
Suzi x
 
Hi Bill.
I too am enjoying each installment. You have the knack of writing in such a way that got me hooked.

Thanks for each update and keep 'em coming!

wiflib
 
Thank you for the compliments, Wiflib. I'll try not be a bore. And Suzi, try looking at www.amtrak.com . I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised at the choices on offer.
The weather hasn't been what you might imagine a Californian winter to be. The temperature has dipped somewhat and there was frost on some roofs and the cars outside this morning. The sun is shining but the breeze is cold. Most days the weather is beautiful, even if a little cool, but on Friday we woke up to a grey overcast sky which soon began to drizzle. We decided against our usual tootle along the beach and decided instead to take Highway 17 to Los Gatos to pick up a couple of items in the specialist shop there called Sur la Table. We had lunch in the town centre and headed back to the coast through the torrential rain. Next morning the sky was as clear as crystal, the sea as blue as a Sicilian wine crusher's feet.
Today we decided to go out for lunch and thought a drive first would be good. When we got up we found there was frost on the car and on some of the roofs across the way. There is a TV chef here called Tene Shake (www.coastalcuisine.com) so we thought we'd try his restaurant in Pacific Grove as I like his TV show and the dishes he prepares are very much to my taste. Anybody who has seen the Tom Hanks film Turner and Hooch may remember a scene near the beginning where a young boy finds a plastic bag containing $30,000 on the beach. When the boy and his mother hand the money over to Tom Hanksthey are all standing beside a low wall overlooking the sea. We discovered the restaurant, called Lattitudes is just across the way from this spot. The restaurant was comfortable in a homely way and the food was terrific. We both had corn and clam chowder as a starter followed by halibut topped by a giant shrimp with a lobster reduction, baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. We didn't take a dessert, even though the waiter assured me that they use Splenda instead of sugar (we didn't have room for any more food). Now imagine - this dish cost the equivalent of £19, we were in a restaurant owned by one of California's best TV chefs and the main dishes cost less than £20!! I was in Padstow a couple of year's ago and stopped to read the menu at Rick Stein's restaurant. Believe me, you won't get a plate of soup for £20.
And while we're talking finances I've been working out my credit card bill for December and I've come to the amazing conclusion that we've actually spent less money here than we usually do in Luxembourg. There is more money in our current account than there usually is at this time of the month. :lol:
While we were sitting in the restaurant a beautifully restored Corvette Stingray pulled up outside and the driver and his wife came into the restaurant. While I was admiring it I was utterly amazed to see another restored car cruise slowly by - this one a Chevrolet Corvair. This took me back a few years to the mid-60s, when I actually owned one of these :oops: My face is red because it was without doubt the worst car I ever owned. As it was a rear-engined, air cooled motor, the clutch was linked to the pedal by a wire cable. One day, in the middle of Mainz, Germany, the cable broke and left me stuck with my wife, young son and my parents on a very large junction where the traffic was being directed by a policeman. I could only drive by jamming the lever into 1st gear, then starting the engine. The car kangarooed along for a few yards before I was able to trundle along very, very slowly in 1st all the way to our home near Darmstadt. I had to do this every time I came to a traffic light or a junction. If anyone's interested, the second worst car I ever owned was a BMW 528.
So it's time to shut up and join my wife for the evening.
 
I can't speak for the rest of the United States, but this area is quite diabetes friendly. My son found a quarterly magazine on the racks called Diabetic Living which is full of low carb and sugar-free recipes, lifestyle tips and news on advances in diabetes research and treatments. The pharmacies carry a large stock of sugar-free sweets, chocolates and mints while supermarkets carry a wide range of products suitable for diabetics. They also carry a number of books featuring recipes suitable for diabetics. It's a pleasure to shop and still be able to experiment with my favourite recipes (a weakness of mine is always trying to improve recipes).
Changing the subject, there's a railway line running up the coast and I have to drive over the level crossing every time we head for Highway 1 and I always thought it was disused - until yesterday. Just as I arrived at the railway line the barriers came down and I duly stopped. Then along came a locomotive, just like the ones you see on TV. And painted on its sides were two words that took me way back in time: Union Pacific. Suddenly I was transported back to my early years and all those hours I misspent in the local cinemas watching those westerns starring actors such as Audie Murphy, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, James Stewart, et al.
In fact, the subject of American place names has fascinated me for the last 3 months. Just down the road from us is Trout Gulch Crossing, and a couple of years ago, while driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon we passed the town of Coyote Gulch which is close to Rattlesnake Gulch. And we stopped for lunch in a little town called Bullhead City. As we were tucking into turkey sandwiches the waitress remarked, "You folks aren't from around here, are you?" Of course, then began the long, long story that we were English, from London, in fact, but that we lived in Luxembourg because we had worked there for more than 30 years. We've learnt our lesson now - we just say that we're English, from London. :)
We Skyped with our friends in Australia this morning to make the final arrangements to pick them up at SF airport on Sunday evening. Our time here is coming to an end, sadly, although we'll be happy to be back in our own home while knowing that we'll be returning soon. I see from the internet that it's very, very cold in Europe, just as the temperatures here are due to rise to the high 60°s. I think I can endure that for a week.
 
A couple of miles down Highway 1 is a small town called Seascape. The town grew up around a hotel-cum-holiday resort called (what else?) Seascape Resort which has a restaurant named Sanderlings. We decided to go down there for lunch yesterday and what a surprise we had. They have 3 specials on their menu for $6.95 each. They are pizza, fish and chips and spare ribs. My wife ordered a gin and tonic and I took a Jack Daniels on the rocks while we perused the menu. Of course, at that price we took a special each, fish and chips. Now as a dyed in the wool fish and chips fan I have to confess that the US have not only adopted fish and chips all over, but it is invariably excellent. At least I have never had a bad plate of fish and chips in all the years I have been coming here. And I speak as someone who used to go down to the local chippie in Greenwich when you could get an eightpenny piece of cod and a pennyworth of chips. (Clearly, this is WW2 vintage). We had a glass of Merlot with our meal (an excellent Napa Valley vintage) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Taking a cottage in this resort starts at $225 a night and goes upward in a very steep curve so these menu prices are a minor miracle. We will definitely be returning to this restaurant.
After lunch (no dessert, I'm still a diabetic, after all) we drove another couple of miles south and went for a walk along the beach. Imagine, the day was as clear as crystal, the beach stretched out for several miles in either direction and we shared it with about 5 other people. It's almost worth being diabetic to have an excuse for a brisk walk along the sands. It was so beautiful it's difficult to believe that such places still exist.
Today we went along to the local Safeways. I filled up the car ($15) and we then did some grocery shopping. They had a special offer on lobster tails. Now what kind of idiot is going to turn that down. We bought two tails for $6 and half a pound of shrimps. I served them with a potato cake each, a spicy remoulade sauce and a bowl of cole slaw. I'm going to miss this place. Just think, this time next week we'll be back home. :cry: On the other hand, a couple of weeks after we get back we'll be picking up our new car. We ordered it at the beginning of Octobe for delivery at the beginning of February. Every cloud has a silver lining, they say.
Our son Skyped us this morning to tell us that he had been round to our house to check that everything was okay. My wife's car has been sitting outside since we left and when he fired it up it started on the first turn of the key. This has to be a minor miracle, given the weather Europe has been experiencing.
I shall close down now as CSI is just beginning on the TV. I'm a Grissom addict.
 
Hi Bill,
Well your certainly on the countdown to the end of your holiday and i'm feeling quite depressed about that Bill :( . I have so enjoyed your trip, you have a fantastic way of taking your reader into your holiday, i have seen that blue ocean, almost smelt that barbequed turkey and tasted those lobster tails mmmmmm all from my computer chair in not so warm and very windy northern ireland. So a very big thankyou Bill, your a man of many words and obviously have as big a heart. Safe journey home and many happy miles driving in your new car. Can't wait for your next holiday :wink:
All the best
Suzi x
 
Thank you , Suzi. You're doing my ego a power of good. We're planning on a trip to Normandy in the Spring, depending on the weather. As we only live 10 minutes from the French border that's not such a stretch, but we love the Normandy and Brittany area and it will help keep my French up to scratch.
Back to California: we bought our hosts two mugs from Villeroy and Boch in the Old Luxembourg pattern a couple of years ago. Horror of horrors - we broke one. My wife discovered that Macy's, the department store, stocks the Old Luxembourg line. The nearest Macy's, in Capitola, didn't have any, but they told us that the Branch in Monterey carried it. On Saturday we took a drive down to the Del Monte Mall just off Highway 1. They didn't have the mugs, of course, so we bought two others in a different pattern. We also ended up buying a new bag for our hand luggage. We found one that would take our laptop and we would thus have more space for our books and other in-flight necessities. We then drove to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for lunch. Oh, that seafood.
On Sunday our friends were due to fly back from Australia into San Francisco late in the evening. We drove up to collect them and decided to spend the day sightseeing in SF. What an enchanting city it is! I think anyone from Europe would feel at home there. We discovered the municipal public library which, as a dedicated bookworm, I couldn't resist going in for a noss around. Wonderful. My wife said if we lived nearby she would rarely see me. And I have to confess that there's a great deal of truth in that.
We later had a superb meal in a well-known seafood restaurant called Aliotto's on Fisherman''s Wharf. (There's an awful lot of Fisherman's Wharves around here.) I had calamari sauteed with mushrooms and peas. The best calamari I have ever eaten. And my wife chose the seabass with truffle oil.
We were very mellow by the time we drove to the airport. Our friends arrived dead on the dot. I think that's remarkable - they flew from Sydney to Honolulu, where they had a 4-hour layover and then flew from Honoulul to SF and the flights were dead on time. The airlines did a great job.
Today our friends are going down to Big Sur with us. The weather is absolutely glorious with the sea and the sky such beautiful shades of blue. They don't want to waste our last two days flopping around at home.
 
Our drive to Big Sur was out of this world. The weather was absolutely glorious with a temperature of 74, and the sea was calm. We drove down past Monterey and Carmel, over the Bixby Bridge to the River Inn where we stopped for lunch. We sat outside on the terrace and had a great meal. Amazingly, on the way down and on the way back we saw about 20 pods of whales. They were spouting and diving all the way down the coast. Our friend was astonished as she has never seen this many whales in one day. I 've read that the two most beautiful coastal drives in the world are Big Sur and the Amalfi Coast south of Naples. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have seen them both at their most beautiful.
On Tuesday we did most of our packing then we were taken to see the Monarch butterflies which come to breed in Santa Cruz. As it was the middle of winter we only saw a relative few. We're told that when the weather is warmer there are so many of them hanging from the trees they appear to be sheets hanging from the branches. My wife got a wonderful shot of two butterflies on a branch with a strand of spider web underneath, reflecting the sunlight. Pity we can't post photos here.
Wednesday brought the dreaded day of departure. I say dreaded, but in one way we were sorry to be leaving and in another we were looking forward to being in our own home and sleeping in our own bed. Our friends drove us to the airport via the Stanford University campus. This is a very prestigious university with lots of alumni donating large sums, so they select their students on their abilities without regard to whether they can pay or not. It's possible to take a degree course there and never have to pay any tuition fees whatsoever.
For lunch we stopped off at a place called Allied Arts, which is a series of small art galleries set in a garden compound. In the restaurant we had chicken schnitzel on a bed of mashed celeriac with cole slaw. It was only a short drive from there to San Francisco airport where we took a sad adieu of our friends. :(
On the other hand it's very probable that we'll be doing a house swap with our friends in June. The tentative plan is that they will come to Luxemourg and spend a couple of weeks with us, so we can acquaint them with the area and show them how to operate all the gadgets, then we'll fly to California for some weeks. Their son and his wife will arrive in Lux to stay with them for a couple of weeks and we'll leave them our car. :lol:
The flights back were dead on time, both from SF to Heathrow and Gatwick to Lux. Of course, we didn't see much sunshine.
Friday we had to head straight to the supermarket as after three months away there wasn't one item of fresh food in the house. Back to normal. Cold and misty. I'm missing that California sunshine already.
 
Hi Bill,
Glad you had a safe journey home. What can i say, i'm really going to miss your posts on Californian life, roll on Jume for my next virtual holiday :) . What i would like you to do for me as i'm interested to know,and just love your discriptive posts, is whats life like living in Luxenburg, compared to the UK.
Here in good ole Ballymoney, co Antrim we have rain and wind just like yesterday and temp about 5 degrees, Its an old cattle market town, tho no evidence of that is left today, it's small and very friendly, there are still old family run business' were you can still take items out on apro and pay them off weekly (just hope they survive this resession) It is abundant with butchers/hairdressers and cafes, we have a tescos and Lidl, a leisure centre, large park and nature walk, but no cinema or decent pub with kids play area. But we do have a memorial garden for the late Joey Dunlop, motor bike racing legend, now there was a gentleman in every sense of the word. Its a quiet place to live,it has good local schools and the decent shopping towns are only a 20minute drive away in either direction, and Belfast only takes around 40 mins to get to.
Antrim coast is 20mins away, with Portrush and Porstewart and there miles of golden soft sand, in good weather you could easily think you were in the mediterranean, except our oceans aren't as blue ( and are bloody freezing!) but are fantastic for surfing. Its a lovely coastal drive from Portstewart to Carrickfergus taking in the stunning views of Dunluce Castle and the Giants Causeway, through the Glens of Antrim and past vanishing lakes, we have the scenery and the beauty, just not the good weather to enhance the pleasure of it all.
Well Bill, my friend take care,
Suzi x
 
Hi Bill,

Glad to see you got back home ok. You'll have to continue your travelogue with details of life in Luxembourg. Its a part of Europe that few will have visited or know anything about unless they have dealings with one of the several EU institutions that are based there.

I agree totally about the Big Sur and the Amalfi coast, but would add one more - the coast road around Cape Breton Island in northern Nova Scotia, particularly the Highlands National Park area. This is real wild country. You could drive all day and see only half a dozen other cars.
 
Suzi and Dennis - _Thanks for the kind words. Dennis, I haven't been to Nova Scotia but after your description I'll put it on my wish list. In fact, I haven't been to Canada at all, a hole in my travelling itineraries I really should do something to fill. I did make contact a couple of years ago with a fellow shipmate of my father's during WW2 who lived in Calgary, but sadly he passed away.
Suzi, your description of your area of NI makes it sound a wonderful place to visit. The Giant's Causeway is one of those places I've always wanted to see but have never got around to. One of these days....
I'd be quite happy to write an account of life in Luxembourg if anybody's interested. Don't want to acquire the reputation of sending our fellow diabetics cross-eyed with boredom, though, so should I continue it on this thread, Dennis, or would the moderators prefer that we started a new one?
Reflecting on life in California on our return I have to admit to sufferng a touch of culture shock. We went to the supermarket on Friday morning and we were struck by the difference. People in Europe seem to be rushing around all the time - on the road, walking in the city, in the supermarket. Nobody looks at you here, whereas in Cal people will look you in the eye, smile and wish you a good morning, or whatever. And I'm talking about total strangers. When you come face to face with another shopper in the supermarket when rounding the end of an aisle they smile and make a joke. Here I felt that I was invisible. I stepped aside to let one woman past on Friday and she kept a stony face and walked on by without even a glance at me. I'd never noticed this before because I regarded it as the norm. They say travel broadens the mind, so there you go.
In the local supermarket in Aptos we were on first name terms with several of the supermarket employees. The fish counter man would shout "Hi'ya Bill," as soon as I hoved into view, and Cindy on the checkout was always so friendly that we would make a point of standing in line so she would serve us. She seemed to take special care of us because we were English.
Filling up the car is more expensive, too, although the price of diesel has dropped considerably since I left, but when we bought our car four years ago the price skyrocketed shortly afterwards and it is now just above the price we were paying then. My new car is another diesel, so I'm hoping for a bit of stability.
So that's our sojourn in California truly over. The good news is that we have tentatively agreed to a house swap in June with our friends. It all depends on what their financial advisor tells them when they meet up in February. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
 
Hi Bill,
You describe your experiences so well and give us all a very entertaining read. Why not start a new thread and call it something like Bill's Travels
 
Hi Bill,
I'm in full agreement with Dennis, a Bills Travels sounds like the beginning of a wonderful entertaining thread to me, if your happy to write it, i'll be more than happy to read it, and be transported to another country via your excellent writing.
Best wishes
Suzi x
 
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