eumelia: (flog it)
2012-06-09 08:57 am
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That Transient Smell of Cardboard

I would appear that I hadn't posted for two weeks.

The first week of June 2012 will forever be missing.

I've actually just been on other platforms where writing short sentences and re-posting pictures don't take up too much brain power.

I've also been writing fic, so a lot of my wordiness has been focused on those projects, which mean I've been neglecting these spaces.

Truth be told I don't know what to write about.

I'm feeling things rather intensely lately. "Lately" being since January, and this intensity is probably going to continue until I move out (again) to a place of my own (again).

I'm temporarily permanently back to living with my parents and yesterday, after a month and a half of living like a transient out of boxes I finally cleaned and tidied up my room. And when I say "tidies" I mean I threw out all the papers in my cupboards which I hadn't looked at in almost a year and papers I'd had stashed away since high school. There were papers in boxes I hadn't even seen in over ten years. One wonders what I was thinking at the time when I thought, "Nah, I'll keep it, I'll get back to it one day." You never do. I also found a bunch floppy disks, all of them decayed. Now that was humbling.

My room now looks great. It'll also make it easier to pack up once I move out.

I had considered staying with my parents, but I'm going fucking bananas and my grandiose plans of going to plumbing classes on the weekends will have to be postponed. Why? Because while I'm not living at the place, I'm still paying the fucking rent on that apartment. My lease did not work in my favour. Though [Sexy!Roommate] may have found someone to take over in July, in which case, that means I'll be able to actually save some money over the coming months and tuck it away for better grandiose plans.

Like traveling. I have two destinations in mind, I don't know when either will pan out, but they must, because I haven't had a holiday without my family in almost five years and I need to do things at my pace in a place where I can do what I want.

This usually consists of walking slowly, visiting a museum or two, eating and sleeping in the interim.

But my holiday plans are neither here or there, they are currently pipe dreams.

Today is a lazy day, I hope. There are circumstances which make this day a bit nerve wracking, but right now I'm sitting in my bed, writing and reading stuff, because I have two for [livejournal.com profile] queer_fest fics that are due next weekend, one is currently in beta, the other rather ethereal.

I've also signed up for the for the [livejournal.com profile] h50_exchange, which is exciting! Gifts for everyone!

I still have the "100 things" challenge to do, which includes various meta posts I have kinda-sorta planned.

At the moment though, I'm just really pleased my room doesn't smell of cardboard boxes.
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eumelia: (get a job)
2012-03-18 03:22 pm
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Situation, Normal...?

The parental units have returned from abroad and I've returned to my flat up north.

I'm very worried about Wish, because my mother ordered cleaners for the rooms and hallway that had been flooded and just before I left I heard him cough.

The cough was not as bad as it had been, he wasn't hacking or sounded like he was losing a lung, but he hadn't coughed since he came back from the vet and now he's starting again? I'm concerned about that.

Happy things though, due to my taking care of everything while my parents were away I received many presents of material worth! Like shirts and earrings (I love earrings!), I now have so many that I need another stand to hang them on.

Spending time at my childhood home really feels like a holiday, because I'm now heading out to shop for things like milk, eggs and other groceries on which [Sexy!Roommate] and I need to live.

I still have a beta reading to do, write my own fics and get ahead for a lecture I am probably going to be giving at the end of may.

And get a job.

SNAFU.
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eumelia: (flog it)
2011-12-28 08:02 pm
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Eating Cookies Because Life Is Hard

My uterus is trying to claw its way out of my body and these past few weeks have been no good, bad, horrible.

I think I'm warranted chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate milk this evening before I go off to make myself a proper supper.

I'm not feeling overwhelmed like I did before. I paid my first utility bill and am feeling mighty grown up, although I think I passes a level when it comes to adulthood regarding what I had to do yesterday.

You'll need a bit of back story and a strong stomach for this story is about plumbing and how it can sometimes become your life.

I'm recounting this, because suffering should be shared and not wallowed.

Some of you may recall the drama of my apartment.

I mentioned two weeks ago, or thereabouts, that the toilets in my flat were leaking and that the washing machine broke by deciding to leak and be an electrical hazard and whatnot.

Well the plumber came and did what plumbers do to fix leaks of this kind... He stuck some silicone goo stuff around the pipes, bid me farewell and left. I, being a first time tenant and overall helpless young bachelor(ette) called my land lady and informed her of the goings on. She said "fine, I'm covering the plumbing issues" and we say goodbye.

The washing machine repair man came, gave me a very expensive diagnosis (we need our washing machine!) and I called the landlady again, to tell her about this and the cost.

The woman blew up on me and flaked on me, telling me that I was inconsiderate and that I and [Sexy!Roommate] have done nothing but complain and did she not put in bay window for us on her own dime and I was utterly flabbergasted.

She told me to get the machine fixed, but it was at our own expense.

I spoke to people afterwards, people being my roommate and my sister who is a lawyer... yeah.

The washing machine was fixed and the guy said to let it run empty to make sure it works.

By this point I was a little rattled and had ranted and wailed to people. It all came to a head when I heard some rustle come from the service balcony. The rustle, as you may have guessed, was a flood of water from the washing machine.

I very bravely didn't cry.

I called the guy again and he returned to fix something he should have tightened before hand. I hope I never have to call a repair man, but if I ever do, I am never calling him again.

The man left and you'll be happy to know I've used the washing machine since then without incident, it's quite nice to have something that was supposed to work... actually work

It was after that, that I thought I could relax and actually use a non-leaky toilet without having to squeegee the floor. Well, nature called and wouldn't you know, the toilet didn't leak, because it was blocked. The water wouldn't go down and the water actually burst through the drainage pipe that is situated, you guessed it, on the service balcony.

At this point, I just wanted my fucking floor to be dry!

Cue the plumber again and me being very harried indeed.

The plumber said I looked like I'd been traumatised. Well, when you've had things go very wrong, very badly, very quickly one tends to get harried.

Once the asshole was done and took what was left of my cash he said to me, in that patronising way men of a certain age speak to women my age, "You know there are bigger problems in the world."

To which I replied before shutting the door in his face: "Yes, but these are mine".

And so, my landlady calls me not long after to inform me that [Sexy!Roommate] and I are no longer allowed to throw toilet paper into the toilet. Because this is what caused the blockage.

My roommate and I were utterly disbelieving, because what? We can't use the toilet the way man and woman intended? Seriously? And so we said "okay" and continued to use the facilities like civilised human beings.

Yesterday morning, nature called as it want to do. The water wouldn't go down. "Motherfuck" is what I said, quite succinct if I do say so myself. Being much poorer than I was and greatly reluctant to call a plumber and/or the landlady, I put on my big girl pants, rubber gloves and said to myself "Mel, you've changed the nappies of toddlers with diarrhoea. This is a piece of cake."

And indeed, toilet paper was the culprit.

I fucking hate this fucking flat.

Being independent is grand, I'm happy to be living on my own with a roommate. I'd be happier if this apartment actually behaved the way it is supposed to and would stop being such a menace to my health. Mental or otherwise.

But hey, at least I have cooking gas! It's supper time!
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eumelia: (thinky thoughts)
2011-12-27 01:47 pm
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New Year Incoming

It feels strange that we're switching the numbers again.

For me the new year really started way back when in September (around Rosh Ha'Shana) and my roommate and I started being proactive about looking for an apartment and registering for classes.

Along with having a nasty PTSD setback around that time it kind of marks that time of year as a start of something - I'm not sure where October and November went to, because all I can remember of October is the family vacation I went on and the fact that I moved out of my parents' home something like two weeks after that.

I'm really enjoying the independence, financial stress and uni woes notwithstanding. I mean, knowing I can handle (not well, but I can do it) multiple failings in an apartment in a somewhat dodgy neighbourhood is certainly nothing to sniff at.

The fact that this year I returned to writing seriously, one slogging word at a time, thanks to several inspiring fandoms - X-Men: First Class, you're a fantastic movie - pity your creators are asses and many of the participants in fandom are a bunch on entitled *mumble mumble*. Hawaii Five-0 who knew I could love something like that, this much and have it be such an inspiration to me. I know, gushing over pop-culture like this is kind of gauche, but who cares right!?

Looking at what I have planned for January it is certainly going to be a busy month, but I can't think of a better way to kick start the year.
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eumelia: (vocation)
2011-12-24 05:50 pm
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Where Have You Been?

It's been... wow... two weeks.

This is also possibly the worst time to actually update because the majority of you, dear readers, are probably getting wasted on mulled wine and eggnog (I myself have been slowly stuffing myself with Sufganiot - that's doughnuts to you gentiles :P)

Much has happened since I wrote last and most of it is quite good, which, considering my last few posts is rather great and it's not so much that I've been AFK (even though that's also happened).

So, what has happened?

Well, uni is still boring and not really that enjoyable. I am loving this living with a roommate in my own apartment - even though my flat tries to periodically kill me with sparking electrical sockets, and flooding toilets and washing machines - but god, being accountable to no one nut myself and my ever decreasing bank account, is awesome.

Other great things is that being free of so called "adult supervision" is that I've been proactive about getting myself a network in my new city. So I've joined an academically inclined LGBT/Queer reading group with a focus on the theoretical prism of Homonationalism. Why yes, we are all Ivory Tower Leftist Gay Intellectuals - only we're poor, working outside of academia (we meet at the Feminist Community Centre "Isha L'Isha" which is Hebrew for "Woman to/for Woman") and are pretty pissed off about having "gay rights" used as a propaganda tool.

The coinor of the term "Homonationalism", Jasbir Puar is coming to Israel next month and yeah, I'm going to hear her speak. BDS is good for this shit, I tell you!

But the best thing about "Isha L'Isha" is that they have a library and archive for which they need a volunteer to catalogue and classify. Guess who's starting volunteering there next month?

Hells yes it's me!

In addition, I went to a volunteer recruitment meet for an organisation that sends LGBT people to schools, military bases, police stations etc. in an Education and Change capacity - where us LGBT's tell our "life stories" and then have a Q&A in order to broaden people's horizons and hopefully have younger or closeted LGBT and queer listeners know that we are out there and in the classroom.

I am slightly cynical, as is possibly evident, by the actual capacity for difference any of this makes, but hey, I'm an also an idealist in the worst possible way and I believe in exposure, truth and education.

I was contacted by the recruitment coordinator and they likes what I had to say at the meet (they're also desperate for volunteers) and would like me to continue on the path to building a "personal story" and volunteer once a month.

I'll let you all know what happens.

And those have been the past two weeks, along with gorging myself on oily foods and cake due to holidays and Nieces birthday parties.
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eumelia: (oy vey)
2011-12-11 09:00 pm
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*key board smash*!!!!!!!

Fuck my life.

Seriously!

Yesterday was a good day. It really was. It was family and food and doing shit!

I feel like some kind of cosmic checks and balances suddenly noticed I was in a good mood and that things were actually going pretty well for me and went "nuh uh!".

The leak? It is worse, the plumber is coming tomorrow.

The washing machine? It fucks with the whole electrical current of the apartment! It blew the fuse three times. At least the washing is done, I guess? Will there be a visit from the electrician tomorrow? You betcha'!

Oh, and during those little mini-blackouts? My internet router lost all the definitions it had for the past two months. I spent an hour on the phone with the idiots from my ISP and phone company. I say "idiots" plural because I spoke to four different people in a single hour!

It was a close call, but I decided against naming the wireless network "FuckMyLife" or "ARGH".

RAWR!

Add to that that [Sexy!Roommate] is not here to do this shit with me or even commiserate and my mood is blown!

Thank god my BFF called me and we talked while I hung the washing and did the dishes and she gave me permission to bitch, complain and generally be the extrovert I am when in comes to dealing with my life.

Oh my god, I'm so tired.

Oy.
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eumelia: (get a job)
2011-12-10 06:37 pm
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Life, Rooms and Other Stuff!

Where does the time go?

I've barely updated here other than fannish stuff and even then, I feel like I'm forcing myself, I'm just lacking in energy I suppose.

But today I'm feeling good!

The majority of my huge nuclear family came to visit me in my flat far away from their regular abodes and brought with them stuff!

Stuff like food, a carpet (rug, I guess, but I call it a carpet), a bookshelf (along with a bunch of my books!), a mini stereo system that I can connect my little mp3 player to and a red coat hanger! Finally, I can sit on the chair in my room because my bag, jacket, jim-jams and tomorrow's outfit are now hanging up there.

And then we went out to Wadi Nisnas where there's a festival going on and so many are decorating for Christmas! There was music, roasted chestnuts, kanafeh (which my nephews don't seem to like, te mind boggles), crepes and a mish-mash of people, which I love.

My sister commented on how mixed my neighbourhood is and yeah, I like that, even though it's less neighbourly and more everyone being equally racist towards each other, i.e. ignoring each other's existence - except when there is, you know, mandatory interaction like saying "excuse me" in the stairwell.

You have no idea how much this means me!

Oh, and my signed A Study in Emerald now hangs over my bed. Finally, my bedroom is more than a room with a bed.

It actually feels like things are coming together.

Other than, you know, a leak I discovered in our bathroom - I guess two people using it at different intervals wouldn't notice, as the toilet is situated right next to the shower so the floor there is always kind of wet, but with more than ten people using it before heading out for a few hours on the town...

Yeah, there's a leak. I mean, I thought there was before, but wasn't sure and as such didn't call plumbers or my landlady (I try, to no avail, to avoid speaking with her, but she calls, a lot, on a fairly regular basis).

Well, there's always tomorrow. *sigh*

And in other news, I have a job! I work in a book store! Where my fellow workers assume I'm studying for what I'm currently doing; stacking books.

Oh well.

But life, it carries on and I can only keep calm.
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eumelia: (resist!)
2011-11-06 04:48 pm
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Unemployed and pro-Strike

As you know I am currently jobless. The prospect of getting a job at the moment is daunting as the economy is particularly tanked and it has actually been convenient for me to have all this time on my hands in order to deal with the disaster of moving into an apartment that wasn't as good as [Sexy!Roommate] and I first thought.

Not all that glitters is gold as the saying goes.

The country is very likely to be going on general strike tomorrow, which I am totally for, as the only way to get the workers who are outsourced any rights is for the public and semi-public sectors to shut down the systems.

The amount of anti-strike sentiment is unsettling, considering the summer of "Social Justice" we supposedly had. It stops it touches you personally, huh. It also goes to show how out of touch so many people in this country are.

Yeah, I need the bus and the train, but the people who clean the buses and bus stations deserve a living wage.

The universities are also striking, so tomorrow [Sexy!Roommate] and I will clean the place up and hopefully get other shit done that doesn't require me to be attached to the phone.

I have had it up to here with the effing phone.

With luck, things will settle by mid-November and I'll be able to get a move on job finding wise and the apartment won't give me any more headaches.

Next up: I fucking hate religion.
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eumelia: (gryffindor)
2011-11-05 01:13 pm
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Monkey Wedding

It's been a week since I moved into my own apartment.

I happen to be spending this weekend without [Sexy!Roommate] but that's all right, because I met with friends last night. A friend from Uni (previous, not current) invited me over for Friday night supper and it was quite glorious. A close-knit group being so warm and accepting towards a "stranger" and excellent food - there were not enough people to eat it all.

And today I work up so very late and had breakfast for lunch.

Apparently I moved into a neighbourhood with quite a dodgy reputation, which I understand where it comes from, it is quite neglected (despite the fact that many of the neighbourhoods, other than the tourist traps and historically restored ones, are equally neglected by the city) and what you'd consider "low class", I can't really tell you if the reputation of dogdiness is warranted. Maybe once I've lived here for longer.

Right now it's raining buckets while the sun is shining. My parents always said that there's a monkey wedding when that happens.

I don't really understand that idiom, but it's something that stuck on my mind, because I can only assume it means monkeys get married under a rainbow.

My room still doesn't feel like it's mine. There are too many things missing and there is still so much to be done in the flat itself.

Maybe you're all bored by all this writing about the changes I've gone though over the past few weeks...

So, is there something you want me to write about? Something you miss reading on this LJ/DW? Are you all busy writing NaNoWriMo?
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eumelia: (not in rome)
2011-11-01 08:52 pm
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R 'n' R

I am about to commence my slip and slide into a vegetative state.

It has been a long few weeks, weekend and three days.

I wrote a things on Sunday to post once I had my own internet (which I now do, on my name and everything!) and didn't have time to write yesterday as Mondays are now my hellish days.

So, here's what I wrote on Sunday, enjoy the freak oute!

Sunday 30.10.11

I wrote this Sunday night, while I was clinging to the single bar on free internet and [Sexy!Roommate] wrote her Seminar.

It just so happened that her room is the only place that had actual internet access from a thoughtful/careless neighbor – she’s been wonderful in letting me sit in her room, we are supposed to get hooked up on Tuesday (God is Great and פעמיים כי טוב, pa’amaim ki tov, it is good twice over), so I’m cautiously optimistic.

Let me tell you about the move itself.

There were misshaps and missteps that were more about [Sexy!Roommate] than me, so I shan’t get into them, but suffice to say we were both exsausted by the end of the day. Also, as she has lived in her own places before now, she brought basically everything she owns.

It took us a couple of hours to arrange the furniture the way we like. During this time the hot water timer was on.

My brother helped schlep my desk and bookshelf earlier that day and he had a cold shower afterwards. We weren’t sure if our water heater was solar as well as electrical. Seeing as it had been a sunny day and he only had cold water I assumed the water had simply not been heated for a while.

So yeah, we switched on the water heater.

Wouldn’t you know, I nearly gave myself frost bite.

I was not going to bed sweaty, dusty and stinky after moving my life from here to there, so I gritted my teeth and shrieked as I washed my (thankfully short) hair in icy water.

We had made a list over the evening of things we needed to do today (when I say “we”, I mean me, because she’s got a job that makes her work long hours and I am currently unemployed so I have the time to waste) and I very angrily and underlined “Electrician” several times.

I informed our $#%&$#@ landlady of our troubles. I’m reluctant to actually lay out everything that is horrible about this woman, but for those of you I have spoken to on different avenues – everything I said? She’s worse!

So, I called a guy, forked over way too much money for what was probably the simplest problem on earth and I indeed had a hot shower this evening.

It was the best shower ever.

We also don’t have gas for the stove, the toaster oven’s nob is stuck on the highest heat, we don’t have enough electrical sockets and when I said our furniture was “arranged”? I meant in disarray.

I understand that this is SN(AFU).

As I said, [Sexy!Roommate] has basically moved her life here and I have not.

I am planning to trickle my stuff as I visit my parents. This will enable me to sift through my many books and DVD’s and decide which ones should come with me for keeps and which ones can stay behind and keep my old room homey – it’s going to be a long while. At the moment I’ve got three Gerrald Durrel (yeah, I’m on a kick) books with me. Seeing as [Sexy!Roommate] is a Buffy Fan as well, I think I’ll bring all my Aca!Buffy books along.

I didn’t take into account how quickly the weather will change. As such I have no winter clothing with me and will be borrowing shirts from [Sexy!Roommate] as we are the same shirt size.

It’s lucky I’m heading down to my parents on Wednesday and will be able to take up more stuff.

One thing I’m definitely missing is a bedside table and bookshelf of my own in my room. I feel oddly as sea without being able to read beside me and switch on a lamp, grab my phone or my watch, or have a place on which to place my flash drives and jewelry.

Today was also bureaucracy day. I have discovered that a big part of the bureaucratic method is trying to discover where it actually happens. As I mentioned on Twitter, “Kafka was right”. I certainly felt as though I was wondering aimlessly through corridors trying to find where I was supposed to put my brain for safe keeping.

I did, ho wever, discover where many of the things happen and what forms I should bring next time in order to get my forms signed and registered.

Go me! \o/

So while many things this week are bust because, like many bureaucratic offices, they are only open at certain hours on certain days, I will probably only be able to get what I wanted done today next Sunday. This is much less stressing than I initially thought it would be, because I now know where to go and who to call!

The little things that please me as a(n ir)responsible adult.

If all is good (twice over on a Tuesday), this will be posted along with other belated posts some time on Tuesday evening – though I may be busy with fandom, because damn I miss it now that it feels so far away due to sketchy internet!

As I write this, I am heating up some pita in the toaster oven for my sandwiches tomorrow (Monday), because, oh my word, it is going to be the first day of school!

I finished writing this post at five to eleven pm.
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eumelia: (Default)
2011-10-30 09:39 pm
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I am moved in!

And I have sketchy internet!

I already have anecdotes of mishaps.

Once I am not piggy backing off a neighbour I will share.

Thanks to all who commented, messaged and/or emailed!

Tomorrow is my first day of school.

I hope to have details of everything at a later date.
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eumelia: (flags)
2011-10-29 11:09 am
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"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go"

Never have those song lyrics been more appropriate. Only those lyrics, mind, as I'm not leaving a sweetheart behind and I'll most likely be coming back to my parents' house later this week, but man...

I'm moving out.

I have pots and pans.

A lamp.

A huge backpack full of clothes.

A desk.

A bookshelf.

Food that my mother foisted onto me and [Sexy!Roommate]

A bunch of stuff I already took up to my apartment.

My apartment. A place of my own. With a friend.

I'm overwhelmed, because there is still so much to do; register with the municipality, get my student card, my student bus card, a job.

One of my friends said I'd have a hard time finding a job in the city I'm moving to and I wanted to hit him, because who the fuck says something like that (but knowing him, I guess I shouldn't be surprised) - I am prepared to work a job that will suck if it pays the bills and gives me time to study (two days a week, this is an MLS) and do whatever I want.

But yeah, that's where I'm going.

This is what I'm doing.

I've been veering between excited, apprehensive, crying jags and simple rage because I've never done this before.

But I'm ready to go.

Like yesterday, today the first day of the rest of my life.

I'll most likely be without internet the first few days so I won't be around until I'm properly hooked up or find some public wi fi.

See you on the flip side.
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eumelia: (beautiful)
2011-10-12 12:42 am
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[Hawaii Five-0] Meta Reaction Over to "Mea Makamea"

Oh my god, this took forever to write. I had to stop watching ten minutes to the end, because my ride to work called me. Then, I had to go sign my lease and had to stop in the middle of the rewatch for this post (oh, yeah, I'm moving to my own flat with a room mate, more on that later). And then, it took forever for me to download the screencaps I wanted for this post.

But here it is. I hope you enjoy!

( Spoliers and Treasure! Yarrr... errr, right, no pirates in this one )

To conclude... Hells Yes! I'm not saying it made up for horribleness of episode 2.02 or the disaster of portrayal and imagery that was 2.03, but it's a fucking start! Totally looking forward to next week.
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