All Work and No Play makes Smee Grumpy: an Oct.'19 "work" TR *New PTR link 4/8*

Finally got caught up on and finished your last report, so I hopped on over here to follow this one!
 


For now I'll fill you in on who I am and what I'll be ranting about in this report so you can decide if you want to stick around or act like a sign at the end of "It's a Small World" and bid me adios, dosvidania or auf weidersehen..........................
:rotfl:

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That picture is from May but this is the first time I've worn my Hello....It's Smee shirt and not had people I'm with say they love it! WTH is wrong with all of them???
I am absolutely obsessed with this shirt since I first saw it on you way back when. WTH is wrong with all of them indeed!?!?!?!? :confused3:sad2: I was already laughing with your title - glad to see that Smee has made a come back :thumbsup2
 
Hey guys! Sorry there haven't been any updates since I started this, I just got back from Uni/WDW about 1am today! Lots of catching up to do with work and tomorrow is our grandson's christening but then I'll be back to get this thing a'rollin'!

Add me to the "I'm here" list and the "I can't believe they didn't like your shirt" list as well! :)
Hey Dina :wave2: thanks for following! I hope you had a great time down there and I'm so sad we missed each other AGAIN!
I always love reading your trip reports. So glad you started another.
Hi and :welcome: it's nice to see you again!
Finally got caught up on and finished your last report, so I hopped on over here to follow this one!
Yay thanks for coming over! And for reading my last report :goodvibes Happy to have you here again!
I am absolutely obsessed with this shirt since I first saw it on you way back when.
IKR???? Lol but seriously I think it's hysterical so anyone who doesn't just has NO sense of humor :snooty:
I was already laughing with your title - glad to see that Smee has made a come back :thumbsup2
:P thanks for following along again Tracy :hug:
 


Late to the party, but still on page 2. I'll take it! :)

That picture is from May but this is the first time I've worn my Hello....It's Smee shirt and not had people I'm with say they love it! WTH is wrong with all of them???
You should have immediately changed into one of those Scar shirts I see all the time..."I'm surrounded by idiots."

For the record, I adore your Smee shirt!!! My brother and I used to watch Peter Pan obsessively, and he was our absolute favorite. We actually got to meet him and Captain Hook together on our first family trip in 2004! We may have acted like 5 year olds, we were so giddy!
 
So you know what I really hate? When someone starts a TR and then disappears for like 2 weeks..

Oh wait, I did that here. I'm sorry!!!

Got back from Orlando super late last Friday and it's been a whirlwind of 🖥
🎄🛍 since! I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here but the days are just flying by. Found out my sister and nephews probably will NOT make it up to NY for the holiday which really blows since I haven't seen them since last Christmas other than my youngest nephew who stayed with us and my mom for a couple weeks over the summer. But we'll have at least one grandchild and about 2/3 of the nieces and nephews on Steve's side so it'll still all be good!

When I last left off..........I hadn't started anything at all. Easiest update to begin
🤣
So let's do it!

DAY 1: OCTOBER 23RD
PART 1- scavenge THIS, people!


First let me apologize as I just finished typing this up and it is SUPER word-heavy; like reading a novel...... I promise I'll stop that. Next I realize I never gave the who what when and where of this trip so thought I'd do that to start.

About a year before the actual training we were told about the trip and asked if we wanted to go and where we wanted to stay - our options were All Star Movies, CSR, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge. Anyone want to guess where I begged my fellow TA/friend Cathy to stay?

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So there's the
who (my agency) and the where; the when was originally 10/23-10/27 but then we were offered the opportunity to tour the Disney Fantasy on the 27th so those of us who could extended to the 28th. Later on something happens that has me extending to the 29th; some of you know what it was but I'll save it for those who don't - keep them in utter suspense 🤣

The
what was WORK! Yup, I get to go places like Disney and Universal for work, as well as cruises, ship tours, lots of neat stuff. I had done Universal twice before this along with quite a few ship tours of Disney, Royal, and Norwegian ships but this would be my first WDW FAM or "familiarization" trip. Would I learn anything new??

Cathy and I flew together since she lives only an hour from me and we landed at about 10:25. We didn't need to be anywhere until 1:30 so after our ME to the WL eating was on the agenda! We had been told that at our 1:30 welcome reception there would be "light snacks" and that wasn't going to fly since we hadn't eaten other than mustache cookies on the plane. When at WL on a nice warm day, where's the best place to eat??

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I know I took pictures of what we ate and drank but for some reason they have disappeared? This was Cathy's first time here, she had the burger and loved it while I went with the turkey sandwich. We both got my GP go-to drink:


Huckleberry Punch
44° North Mountain Huckleberry Vodka, Bols Crème de Cassis, fresh Lemon Juice and Cranberry Juice



Super good and a great way to start any Disney trip! Now it was getting kind of close to 1:30; we both had to change because dress for the welcome reception was "business casual" and we were in "airplane comfortable". For us and many other agents this meant light summery dresses and for quite a few agents this meant putting on heels, which I still can't fathom in Disney!

We needed to be at the ballroom over at the Contemporary so we took a nice boat ride and found our room:


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I shall save you all the details of the welcome reception except that we did indeed have light snacks, ice tea, violet lemonade and POG juice! I had water as those don't float my boat but everyone else was super happy. We didn't do any "work" but we did get our swag bag and found out what "team" we would be on for touring resorts. Here's a picture of my team character:

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Along with some of the promo stuff we got during a later classroom training. So besides eating all 101 of us got to stand up, tell our name and where we're from and an interesting tidbit about ourselves. Raise your hand if this sounds fun to you!! I did like seeing who certain agents were; remember we're from all over the country and don't see each other like ever, just interact on our FB page so some that sound really cool or that you help out a lot, it's nice to see them in person.

After we were all done we split in to our groups- 4 of them - Mickey Minnie Donald and Daisy - and got our instructions for the next few hours. Now let me say here that the itinerary we were given prior to the trip did change a bit when we got there which really is no big deal for the most part. But now at about 3:30 we found out we were doing a scavenger hunt around resorts and the MK and as I said, many of us were in skirts/dresses and many had heels on! So many were not thrilled. It was also like 90 degrees outside, warmer than normal I think for late October so that didn't help. Cathy was a Minnie but another agent Cathy grew up with was in my group, Nicole. We met for the first time and kind of paired up when the groups were together.

What was on our scavenger hunt? Things like:
-get a pressed penny and a resort map from all 3 monorail resorts, WL and FW
-take a group picture at each resort
-get a picture with a horse
-get a picture with lei's at the Poly
-get a picture of the group on a boat and the monorail
-get a fruity drink

*do you see my favorite yet?*

Things like that. We had a group leader :rolleyes: who told/commanded where we went and I am pleased to say our route was determined to be CR where we were-Poly-GF-MK-WL-FW where we needed to be by 7:30.

Some shots as we walked around:

Not the best but getting my "lei" on:

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The lovely "fruity drink" we NEEDED, from Trader Sam's walk up window:

Tahitian Torch
ByeJoe Dragon Fire Spirit, Tropical Juices, Passion Fruit, and fresh Lime Juice


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This was awesome! Ever since trying a drink with the Dragon Fire Spirit in it at Jock Lindsay's in August I'm a huge fan of it. It has spice and heat FYI so it's not for those with weak taste buds! Side note about the fruity drink: when this was read off the list more than one of us said, "oh I'll take one for the team and get the fruity drink". This is good.
Others said "well we don't all need to get a drink, just one of us can". Unless the one was me, this is NOT good.
Still another one or two said, "does it have to be an alcoholic fruity drink?"


WHY YES, YES IT DOES!!! WHY DRINK FRUIT WITHOUT ALCOHOL???

So needless to say not everyone got a drink but I was far from the only one on line ::yes::

Next was the GF and we walked the back way past the wedding pavilion:

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And saw some cute fall decor inside the GF lobby:

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After taking our lobby pic which only the group leader has btw we headed to the monorail to go take our picture in the front of the MK. We were ahead of schedule with only the WL and FW to go and I was getting excited because I would have time to drop my huge and heavy swag bag at WL before meeting up with everyone at FW. I mean it was HEAVY. I need to take a picture of the bag, it wasn't small, it was an Adventures By Disney backpack type thing but not really and inside we had 3 t-shirts, a travel mug, a notebook and pen, a folder with lots of papers and a few other things. Plus most of had purses and some like me were also carrying sweaters or light jackets. It was really annoying guys. So the approx. 25 of us head to the monorail and another group of our 25 agents is right behind us, so we're all going through the security check there and all 50 attempting to get on the monorail along with regular guests. Oh, and attempting to get the whole group in the same car for our monorail picture................we managed most of our group and arrived at the MK and waited out front by the turnstiles. For what turned into about an hour. Yup, because right after we got off the monorail broke down with like 3 of our group on it who hadn't fit in our car.

Now here's where I say, "well let's cut our losses. take the picture minus those 3, chalk it up to a transportation fail and move on. So we don't win, big deal. I really don't want to stand in front of the MK this long". And I kept saying that to myself as time ticked by. And other agents around me were whispering it under their breath. But lo and behold our group leader and a couple others did not want to leave so we all sat there like a group of the South American 15's, spreading out on the ground, on our phones, napping, sweating. At one point I turned to Nicole and said, "this kind of........you know is taking a long time". I didn't know her and didn't know if she thought this was the coolest thing in the world so wanted to be nice. Her response was along the lines of "yeah this $**((^^&&& s**cks we should just &&**#$ leave". And I pretty much started singing YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME!!!

I know this is wordy so I'll get to the point. About 50 minutes later the rest of our group comes off the monorail. We take the picture. Then we need to take the boat to WL but the line for the boats is 2000 people long since the monorail was down. OMG we have like 45 minutes to do what we gotta do at WL and FW and meet the whole group. So 2 other agents I didn't know say "sorry, our car is at the CR so we're going there and driving to WL (where they were staying) so we don't have to move it later". A few agents were not happy that we wouldn't all be on the boat for the picture but...........I was getting rid of that bag! I had just stood in front of the MK doing nothing for almost an hour to get a picture for a scavenger hunt; time was MINE now. So I said "hey I'm Ariane, I'm coming with you" and that's how I met to really cool agents who I'd only had interaction with online, Linda and Jen. Thanks guys! When I got in Jen's car she had mini water bottles in a cooler in the back seat like some Lyft drivers we've had lol and we were at the WL, my bag deposited with bell services, bathroom used and waiting for that boat to FW before the rest of our group had arrived at WL.

This my friends was the first time I failed to follow directions on this trip but surprisingly🤞 not the last. But at least I wasn't the only one and hey, it wasn't my idea! I felt free in that car ride lol, it's hard being somewhere you know like the back of your hand and do a certain way NOT being able to do what you want.

Smiling again we went to our meeting spot by Pioneer Hall and waited for the rest of the agents. We did grab a drink from Crockett's Tavern to go window there but again I have no picture proof. Those of you that know me know when I say I had a drink I had a drink! It was this:


Blackberry Lightnin'
Ole Smoky Blackberry Moonshine, odwalla® Lemonade and fresh Blackberries


And it was good. Once everyone was there we took that great group shot in my intro and got on line for our dinner, the HOOP DE DO REVUE! You may remember if you followed my last TR that we did not know ahead of time anywhere we were eating and this made me nervous, especially since we had to get the dining plan. Our family enjoys HDDR so I was happy to see this for arrival night and I was STARVING by the time we sat for the 8:00 showing.

Those of you familiar have seen this before but here are some pics:


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That's my white sangria which is included and flowed pretty well at my table along with the red version; and here's some of the HDDR crue waving their napkins with us and the rest of the guests. Oh anyone you see in a picture with a red lanyard - that's an agent. 101 of us with the red lanyards at all times :thumbsup2


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I wanted to show a picture of the cast but I'm at my limit; funny enough, the first 2x I went with the family we had the same CM's performing and it was 4 years apart! This time all the performers were different CM's. Still just as entertaining but I thought that was interesting.

My little group had a good time and it appeared many agents did. There was a good mix of agents who had been and lots who hadn't. I did hear down the line there were some who thought the show as inappropriate :confused: partly due to the lead female performer lifting up her skirts and petticoats sometimes during the show and going "whoo!!!" I can't be friends with someone who thinks that...........

After the show Cathy and I took the boat back to the WL as we were shot. We'd both been up around 3:30am that morning and we were ready to see our room and get some sleep! Our next morning was pretty early plus there was another reason were thinking we may want to get up early depending where our room was...................
I PROMISE FEWER WORDS IN THE NEXT UPDATE 🤞
 
Late to the party, but still on page 2. I'll take it! :)
YAY hi Jackie! Glad your'e here now!!!
You should have immediately changed into one of those Scar shirts I see all the time..."I'm surrounded by idiots."
:laughing: OMG that would have been perfect

For the record, I adore your Smee shirt!!! My brother and I used to watch Peter Pan obsessively, and he was our absolute favorite. We actually got to meet him and Captain Hook together on our first family trip in 2004! We may have acted like 5 year olds, we were so giddy!
Aw! I wish they still met regularly! The boys met them together in Adventureland back in 2010 and then we saw them both when we did the Pirates and Pals cruise a couple years ago. And I love PP too!! One of the first Disney movies I showed Ricky!
 
My little group had a good time and it appeared many agents did. There was a good mix of agents who had been and lots who hadn't. I did hear down the line there were some who thought the show as inappropriate :confused: partly due to the lead female performer lifting up her skirts and petticoats sometimes during the show and going "whoo!!!" I can't be friends with someone who thinks that...........
HDDR is the most family friendly show ever so if someone thought that was inappropriate I can't be friends with them either......

Looks like a good first day and it sounds like you demonstrated extreme patience waiting for an hour (!!!!) in front of MK. I would have lost my mind......
 
I love your assessment of the large work group, so true!
I imagine it is very difficult to be with such a large group at Disney! Now are Epic group was different, lol! Still hard to corral all of us when drinks are involved :rotfl2:
Wow the one TA at HDDR lives a very strict lifestyle, HDDR is totally an all age dinner show!
 
So you know what I really hate? When someone starts a TR and then disappears for like 2 weeks..

Oh wait, I did that here. I'm sorry!!!
:laughing:
I take close to that, myself. But I'm running a contest and if I don't take that long, people complain that it was too fast! :laughing:
I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here but the days are just flying by.
Oh, Lord... YES!!!!
Found out my sister and nephews probably will NOT make it up to NY for the holiday which really blows since I haven't seen them since last Christmas
That's too bad. :(
I just finished typing this up and it is SUPER word-heavy; like reading a novel...... I promise I'll stop that.
:laughing:
I should take notes, here.
our options were All Star Movies, CSR, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge. Anyone want to guess where I begged my fellow TA/friend Cathy to stay?
ASMo?

:duck:
Yup, I get to go places like Disney and Universal for work, as well as cruises, ship tours, lots of neat stuff.
Not too shabby. I get to go to...

Cornwall, Ontario. A small town with absolutely nothing to do.
When at WL on a nice warm day, where's the best place to eat??
Whispering Canyon?
Huckleberry Punch
44° North Mountain Huckleberry Vodka, Bols Crème de Cassis, fresh Lemon Juice and Cranberry Juice
Dang! That sounds good... and the burger was good? I need to get over there, I think.
we both had to change because dress for the welcome reception was "business casual" and we were in "airplane comfortable".
Not the same thing?
:rolleyes:
for quite a few agents this meant putting on heels, which I still can't fathom in Disney!
I once posted a photo of a woman wearing stilettos at Epcot... just... why???
So besides eating all 101 of us got to stand up, tell our name and where we're from and an interesting tidbit about ourselves. Raise your hand if this sounds fun to you!!
Oh. My. God...

:faint:
It was also like 90 degrees outside,
Toasty!
-get a pressed penny and a resort map from all 3 monorail resorts, WL and FW
-take a group picture at each resort
-get a picture with a horse
-get a picture with lei's at the Poly
-get a picture of the group on a boat and the monorail
-get a fruity drink

*do you see my favorite yet?*
Maybe. Juuuuuust maybe.
Tahitian Torch
ByeJoe Dragon Fire Spirit, Tropical Juices, Passion Fruit, and fresh Lime Juice
Like the sound of that one too! And no rum!!!!!
Still another one or two said, "does it have to be an alcoholic fruity drink?"

WHY YES, YES IT DOES!!! WHY DRINK FRUIT WITHOUT ALCOHOL???
:lmao:
we managed most of our group and arrived at the MK and waited out front by the turnstiles. For what turned into about an hour. Yup, because right after we got off the monorail broke down with like 3 of our group on it who hadn't fit in our car.
Oh, no!
At one point I turned to Nicole and said, "this kind of........you know is taking a long time". I didn't know her and didn't know if she thought this was the coolest thing in the world so wanted to be nice. Her response was along the lines of "yeah this $**((^^&&& s**cks we should just &&**#$ leave". And I pretty much started singing YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME!!!
:laughing:
"sorry, our car is at the CR so we're going there and driving to WL
Thank goodness you did that. What a colossal waste of time.
Blackberry Lightnin'
Ole Smoky Blackberry Moonshine, odwalla® Lemonade and fresh Blackberries
You're three for three on drinks that sound good to me... and I'm very fussy about that.
 
Haha I love that hi I’m coming too. I would have been so annoyed at this point I probably would have left and met Mickey or something cause ugh!!
Oh HDDR!!! Exciting and a pretty good pick I think for dinner on night one! Hopefully the choices start to improve on the activity front and start good on meals!!
 
Following along now!

Wow touring with 100 people sounds like such a great time, where do I sign up to do that? 😁

I am excited to hear about all the different things you got to see and do!
 
When at WL on a nice warm day, where's the best place to eat??
DUH!!!!

Huckleberry Punch
44° North Mountain Huckleberry Vodka, Bols Crème de Cassis, fresh Lemon Juice and Cranberry Juice
My fav at GP too!!! Yum!

"does it have to be an alcoholic fruity drink?"
Umm, yes! Yes it does!

so we all sat there like a group of the South American 15's, spreading out on the ground, on our phones, napping, sweating. At one point I turned to Nicole and said, "this kind of........you know is taking a long time". I didn't know her and didn't know if she thought this was the coolest thing in the world so wanted to be nice. Her response was along the lines of "yeah this $**((^^&&& s**cks we should just &&**#$ leave". And I pretty much started singing YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME!!!
This made me LOL! Nicole seems like my kind of girl.
 
The smoked turkey sandwich at Geyser Point is one of my favorites. We stopped there this past Sunday for lunch after our morning at MK. I also grabbed a Magic Cookie bar for the trip home the next day.

HDDR sounds like a great way to end the day. :)
 
HDDR is the most family friendly show ever so if someone thought that was inappropriate I can't be friends with them either......
When I heard about this agent feeling this way I was trying to think if there was anything else they could have thought inappropriate and I can't! It's a bit beyond belief to me but :confused3 and if they thought anything in it was inappropriate then they DEFINITELY wouldn't like being friends with me lol.
Looks like a good first day and it sounds like you demonstrated extreme patience waiting for an hour (!!!!) in front of MK. I would have lost my mind.....
Overall it really was and we were welcomed warmly by Disney. It's so hard to do what you consider wasting time somewhere you've learned specifically how NOT to waste time!
I imagine it is very difficult to be with such a large group at Disney! Now are Epic group was different, lol! Still hard to corral all of us when drinks are involved :rotfl2:
:laughing: definitely not as hard with our EPIC group! And more fun :thumbsup2 Because we were still all free to do what we pleased and go where we pleased with whatever big/small group we wanted to. You may think sitting 20-30 for a meal and figuring who wants to sit where is hard but try that with 100..............................
Wow the one TA at HDDR lives a very strict lifestyle, HDDR is totally an all age dinner show!
She must! I didn't find out exactly who it was but I have some thoughts lol. We do have a wide array of personality types and also quite a few very religious agents who belong to varying religions. In fact there were 3 agents sharing a room with super different beliefs and I heard there were some heated discussions surrounding that.

You.................joker you.

I will say the pictures of the refurbed rooms look nice there though!
Not too shabby. I get to go to...

Cornwall, Ontario. A small town with absolutely nothing to do.
It must be the name because Cornwall NY is pretty much a small town with absolutely nothing to do :)
Dang! That sounds good... and the burger was good? I need to get over there, I think.
I actually haven't had the burger because I get the turkey sandwich every time but Steve and the boys LOVE the burger there and so did Cathy. You should go and check GP out it's relaxing, has great views and the food/drinks are done well!
I once posted a photo of a woman wearing stilettos at Epcot... just... why???
I wonder the same thing when I see that! I understand it a bit in DS when it's later at night; those youngsters will sometimes dress all spiffy for some bar hopping (I'm fine bar hopping in non-spiffy wear). But in the parks????? Vacation doesn't scream "heels" to me unless it involves a wedding or a super fancy dinner I don't have to walk around a theme park to get to.

Thank goodness you did that. What a colossal waste of time.
:sad2: I don't have to be running all the time when I'm there; heck Steve and I much prefer taking it easy when it's just the 2 of us and winging it. But I DESPISE wasting time!
Haha I love that hi I’m coming too. I would have been so annoyed at this point I probably would have left and met Mickey or something cause ugh!!
lol and I have such a hard time keeping my mouth shut I was biting my tongue pacing back and forth while we waited! There comes a time you just say "that's it!" and cut your losses - I mean it's a work scavenger hunt, c'mon!
Following along now!
:wave: glad you're here Aimee!
Wow touring with 100 people sounds like such a great time, where do I sign up to do that? 😁
Oh I'll let you know next time it's happening and you can tag along :rotfl2: How long do you think it takes to scan 101 MB's to get into a park :eek:
I am excited to hear about all the different things you got to see and do!
Thanks for following! We did get to see and do some really neat things for sure
This made me LOL! Nicole seems like my kind of girl.
I was so happy to find someone "like" me! I mean not nearly as cool as me but close :cool:
The smoked turkey sandwich at Geyser Point is one of my favorites. We stopped there this past Sunday for lunch after our morning at MK. I also grabbed a Magic Cookie bar for the trip home the next day.
And the waffle fries are delicious too! Never greasy. Believe me I got my magic bar fix during this trip too!!!
 
because dress for the welcome reception was "business casual" and we were in "airplane comfortable"
:rotfl2: Love this. Gonna start using that terminology :thumbsup2

Her response was along the lines of "yeah this $**((^^&&& s**cks we should just &&**#$ leave". And I pretty much started singing YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME!!!
Oh thank goodness. I was anxious just reading about that whole experience. At least you found a kindred spirit :thumbsup2 I would have been so annoyed ::yes::

I did hear down the line there were some who thought the show as inappropriate :confused: partly due to the lead female performer lifting up her skirts and petticoats sometimes during the show and going "whoo!!!" I can't be friends with someone who thinks that...........
:confused3 You and me both...
 
You.................joker you.
:rolleyes:
It must be the name because Cornwall NY is pretty much a small town with absolutely nothing to do :)
Perhaps Cornwalls everywhere are like that.

"Well, this is a hole in the wall that no one wants to visit. What shall we call it?"
"Cornwall?"
"Perfect!"
I actually haven't had the burger because I get the turkey sandwich every time but Steve and the boys LOVE the burger there and so did Cathy. You should go and check GP out it's relaxing, has great views and the food/drinks are done well!
I think I just might have to check it out. :)
I wonder the same thing when I see that! I understand it a bit in DS when it's later at night; those youngsters will sometimes dress all spiffy for some bar hopping (I'm fine bar hopping in non-spiffy wear). But in the parks????? Vacation doesn't scream "heels" to me unless it involves a wedding or a super fancy dinner I don't have to walk around a theme park to get to.
Yes to all of this!
 

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