Life with the Three Crazy Dogs

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Monthly Archives: November 2008

Our Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving day started off smooth.  Btw, SD , BF and Ally were over at SD’s mom’s home for Thanksgiving.  So it was just DB and I for Thanksgiving.  Maybe next year’s?

There was not much to get ready for our meal.  (I cooked the greenbean casserole and baked the pumpkin pie the night before.)  DB cleaned the bird and I rubbed it with salt and ground sage.  And this is what he did to the turkey… coz he said the plastic thing that tied the bird’s leg together cannot be in the oven for so many hours.  Yeah, he cut off the bishop nose too!  This is one ugly looking bird…disgusting, if you know what i mean!

The ugly bird sitting in the roaster ready for the oven
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The rest of the day, I putzed around on the lappie and took the boys out for their walks, long ones, too (they were pests in the house – too much cooped up energy, I think).  The day turned out to be a beautiful day – sunny skies but a tad bit windy but it was alright.

When I got home, the bird was still not done yet since DB said he wanted to cook it slow and we are not in a hurry.  When it was 4ish I was starving and I started the mash taters and canned sweet potatoes.  He cranked up the temp of the oven to get the bird going.

This is the final product of the bird.  A little anemic but I was starving, I didn’t care to have the bird a little more brown.
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And here is my Thanksgiving meal: mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and dark turkey meat.  DB had white meat instead.  Hahahahah….a little segregation in this household? :D

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We both had second helpings albeit already full guts.  Good chow, I tell ‘ya.  Nothing beats home made Thanksgiving meal.  Anyways, I ended up having a stomach ached from the mashed taters.  Why you might ask?  Because I added milk in the taters.  If the milk was cooked, I’m fine with it, no probs.  However, after a trip to the bathroom, I was ready for dessert.

We didn’t get our dessert in till a couple of hours later though.  It was the first time I baked pumpkin pie.

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The recipe calls for one 9″ pie shell (btw, didn’t make the shells, they were store bought.  They come in 2 in a packet) but the filling were too much for one so I had to use the other shell.

Here is a piece of pumpkin pie with a few dallops of cool whip to go with it for you….
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Of course, we didn’t forget the boys.  Here they are anxiously waiting for their Thanksgiving meal.
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Here’s their meal – their usual food with the cooked up turkey spare parts minus the gizzard and neck. :)

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I didn’t get pictures of them mawing down the turkey meat I gave them. Hand fed, mind you, coz they are spoiled rotten.

Nov 28, 2008

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I went back to work this afternoon.  I needed to picked up the the bird and my car tabs (similar to road tax in Malaysia).  I sent in my tabs renewal form through the convenience store 2 weeks ago but I forgot about it till last Friday after I got home.  My tabs are expiring this month.

DB drove me there coz I didn’t want to look for a parking spot just to run some errands.  It is hard to find a parking spot at work at that time of the day (1:30 p.m.)  Came home, of course, the first to check it out are the boys.  That’s Cooper sniffing and licking the packaging.

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The bird is frozen hard.  We are are going to cook it on Thursdays morning.  So, the thawing has to start today.  Into the sink the bird goes and soaking it with cold water.

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We have already did our shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner.  We went yesterday in the morning.  There were hardly any souls in the store.  Our meal will consists of a few simple dishes: turkey (of course!), mashed potatoes and gravy, grean bean casserole and pumpkin pie.  No stuffing this year.

Will update this blog later with pics, I hope.

Nov 25, 2008

The boxer

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Here is this boxer that loves to bark his brains out each time I walk past his territory.  I tried to go nearer to take a picture of him but his barks were louder and fiercer, so I stepped back.

He has the shock collar on him which I know works.  THere a few times he tried to cross the boundary (invisible fence) and I heard the “titttttttt” and Capone, that his name, was yelping super loud.

When I walk Chase past Capone’s yard, Chase will “drag” me closer to Capone so that he (Chase) can play with him.  I am very tempted to let them sniff each other out.  Why?  Coz Capone’s little tail wags a thousand miles an hour every time he sees the boys.  But I chickened out, I pull Chase away from Capone’s yard.

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I know the dog’s name coz I asked his owners once.  I was walking past their house and Capone was on the leash with his owners.  His owners told him to shut up which he did.  Capone’s little tail was wagging so fast which reminds me of a rattle snake’s tail.  I asked the owner is he fierce, he said he looks fierce but he is very gentle.  All he wants is just play with other dogs.

Well, one morning I was out walking just Ranger, Capone was out on his yard and he walked right to the curb.  Right a way I knew the batteries in the collar is weak.  He usually will stay by where he is on that picture coz that is where the invisible fence is.  Ranger of coz saw Capone by the curb, Ranger went to greet him and Capone stopped his barking and was crouching down, all ready to play.  I let them “exchange” greetings, allowed them to “play” a little and I pulled Ranger away.  Capone happily walked away, not back towards his house, but out of the yard.  Yep, the batteries were completely dead.  He was out walking the yard and I went back to my house, turning back a few times making sure he is not following me and Ranger.  I didn’t tell his owners about their dog which I know I should.  Oh well, he is now back on his yard and still barks each time I walk past his yard.

Filed under Pets
Nov 22, 2008

Just a few rambles…

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I thought i wouldn’t be writing any posts since I’m on vacation.  Well, I am writing one this evening.  I got back from work at Satay2Go, stinking of restaurant big time, took a shower and harassed DB a little.  The boys, surprisingly, the older two were bugging me to take them out for a walk.  I never walk them after I get home from working at the restaurant because my legs and feet are killing me.  Chase greeted me and went back to his favorite spot, the shag rug – must be its soft for them.

Anyways, I got off work this evening, went to Target to get some rawhides.  The place was packed full with people.  It’s as if Target is giving out free stuff for all of its customers.  I know they do give out free ice-cream once.  But this evening, every almost shopper have some sort of Thanksgiving dinner groceries in their carts.  DB and I are going tomorrow to get our week’s groceries and, of course, some stuff for a pumpkin pie I’m gonna make for Thanksgiving day.  We are not making anything special.  A pumpkin is pretty much a must for us every year (except for last year, we were in Malaysia).

I am already planning to go to the Mall of America (MOA)to pick up the freebies at the jewelry store on Wednesday.  Since it’s the holiday season, there might be some other things on sale at the mall.  It has been quite a while since I was at MOA, so I’m really looking forward to visit that mega mall again.

Alright, I better get going coz I have to change the bed sheets in the guest room and then proceed to plant my butt on the couch to watch movies.  Have a great weekend folks.

Filed under Writing
Nov 22, 2008

Vacation has started

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Yeehah, I’m off the whole of next week all through Thanksgiving.  However, I will be going back to my office to pick up the free turkey on Tuesday.  Yep, the company is still giving out a free turkey for all of their employees.  THis freebee is just for this particular location in the US.  Plus I need to run up to the convenient store to pick up my car tabs.  I forgot to pick them up today.

So what am I gonna do for the whole week?  I’m going to work at Satay tomorrow and the rest of the week, I’m gonna sleep in, watch my movies, complete some of my projects and walk the woods.  Oh, and I will be meeting Nicole for a jalan-jalan session on Wednesday.  That would be fun.

And this blog will take a break too.  Unless I change my mind which is not uncommon.

So, TTFN – Ta Ta For Now and Happy Thanksgiving to you folks in the States.

Filed under Holidays
Nov 21, 2008

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I just got done ordering a new laptop for my coworker.  Her old faithful lappie died on her this last night when she brought it home to get some work done.  Once she got it started, the laptop konked out in a blink of an eye.  She came in today, IT folks tried to save it, but it was fruitless.  Me being the admin for the department has to order her a new lappie since her lappie was already 5 years old.   The IT folks said it is easier to get a new laptop rather than adding new laptop memory.  This is because her laptop is already old per se, IT folks rather have employees get a new one if their department has the budget for it.  Sigh, wish I can have a laptop myself, then I can work from home some day.

Filed under Product, Writing
Nov 21, 2008

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On my way home, I heard on the news that President Bush extended unemployment for another 7 weeks.  When I got home, DB asked me did I hear about the extension on unemployment the Prez extended.  I said yes for 7 weeks.  He said it is for 13 weeks.  I looked up this piece of new on the internet and can’t find any.  Oh well, whatever the extension is it will be a big help for us right now.  If not DB will have to look for jobs just like a coworker of mine out east looking for jobs in Manhattan.

Filed under Product, Writing
Nov 21, 2008

The burnt Amish Friendship Bread

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I got this recipe from SD.  It is very easy and sure is interesting.  She gave me the starter on Nov 9th and after 10 days of “brewing” the “starter”, I baked it today.  Below is a picture of the 3 separate starters from the starter  SD gave me, of course, after adding more flour, sugar and milk (see below recipe).  It does smells “heaven” when you open the bag up on day 2 to stir it and as the days are up to stir and add more flour, milk and sugar, the entire starter sure smells like beer!
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The final product, burnt.  I’m disappointed.  DB and I blamed the oven.  The stupid oven made me so mad.  Actually, the entire evening making this bread was a disaster.

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First, I took the starter packet out coz today is Day 10, all ready to get it into the oven, and it was about to explode.  Seriously, if I didn’t open up the  Ziploc bag it will bust the bag, probably.  All the brewing of the sugar, flour and milk concoction turned into some science experiment, I thought!

Anyways, I added what the recipe asked for Day 10.  I separated the 3 cups and put a cup each into three separate bags.   Took the milk out and it was expired.  I went to the gas station to get a jug of milk.  Came home, all happy and started adding the milk in, took a look at the recipe, darn it, no eggs!!!!  Yeah we do, but just two eggs in the tray.  DB said he will go to the gas station but before he left, we look at the recipe again.  It calls for a box of 5.1 oz box of instant vanilla pudding.  He went and I continued to get ready the rest of what the recipe calls for.   Everything is done and waiting for the eggs.  I waited for DB and waited.  It sure seems like 30 minutes before he got home.  When he got home, I went to greet him and i saw him holding a jug of milk and a bag from Cubs.  He went to Cub Foods to get the instant vanilla pudding coz the gas station does not have the vanilla pudding crap.  But then, I want eggs, not another jug of milk!!!!  So he went out again to get eggs and I finally got my eggs when he got home and mixed every thing up, put them in the oven and after an hour , the two loaves of Amish Friendship bread were burnt.

It taste good.  I cut down a bit of the sugar and it’s still good.  The next one I’m going to try is the one with bananas.   If you are interested, try it.  It’s good even though it’s burnt.

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Amish Friendship Bread

The Original Recipe

Important Note: Don’t use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only glazed ceramic or plastic bowls or containers.

Required Main Ingredient

day 1:

Do nothing with the starter.

days 2-5:

Stir with a wooden spoon, or squeeze bag several times.

day 6:

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon, or squeeze bag several times to mix well.

days 7-9:

Stir with a wooden spoon, or squeeze bag several times.

Day 10:

Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 – (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Cherii Martin’s Banana Amish Friendship Bread

Omit cinnamon and vanilla pudding in the basic recipe and add two bananas (mashed)

Cherii Martin’s Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread

Omit cinnamon and vanilla pudding from the basic recipe and add 1 – (5.1 oz) box of instant chocolate pudding, 3 tsp. cocoa and 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours.

Cherii Martin’s Apple Cinnamon Friendship Bread

add one cup of raisins and one small diced apple.

http://www.armchair.com/recipe/bake002.html

Filed under My cooking skills
Nov 18, 2008

A free gift? Really??

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Received this in the Saturday mail.  Free gift but is it for real?  It says no strings attached and it is worth $25 retail value.  Probably will have to pay the sales tax.  Well, I might have to go check it out the following week (burning some vacation hours).  If I don’t like it, it can always go to the care package. :D

Filed under Uncategorized
Nov 17, 2008

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Sure looks like tomatoes, aren’t they?  :) Nope, they are sweet old persimmons.  They are so sweet and not too soft.  Just right.

I had Leong get me a case of persimmons from the Asian store or warehouse, I’m not sure where he bought it.  But he got me this case yesterday and it only cost $12.99 which he only charged me $12.  It sure beats the price of paying per fruit at Cub Foods.  At Cub, if I remember, it is 68 or 88 cents each.  It could be more.  I should have him get some of my Asian groceries soon.  He do get some really good prices when it comes to Asian groceries, well, from the warehouse, it’s definitely cheaper.

He even asked me if I want him to get some durians, if in season and durians from Thailand.  Hahaha, I don’t know about that.  DBs will go berserk if I bring that stinky king of the fruit home.  I said I might have to eat it at their house.

Filed under Just
Nov 16, 2008

Longest hours at Satay

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Yesterday was one of the days I have worked the longest hours  at Corrine’s; from 10:30 a.m. through 9:45 p.m.  She had no one to work the evening shift.  So I picked it up.  Earn extra pocket money.

Good thing I slept in on Saturday morning and didn’t walk the boys.  If I did, I would have konked out earlier than 9 p.m.  The day at Corrine’s was a busy day, from 11:00 a.m. through 8:10 p.m. we were on our feet.  It was good but tiring.  We started cleaning up the restaurant and closing every thing up after the last customer left at 8:35 p.m.  Last night was the second night I worked the evening shift.  There were more to do than I thought – all the cleaning.  And by the way, David, Corrine and Leong’s little boy, was sure happy to see me worked the whole day.  He asked me a few times if I was going to join them for dinner after work. Yeah, that kid and I play a lot together, read, play cards, jigsaw puzzles andpiggy back.

While we were cleaning up, we got a call from one of the customer Leong had delivered his order.  That guy called to asked for his change back.  When Leong hand the order to the customer, the customer handed Leong $40 (the total of the order was $34.11).  So Leong thought the balance was tips.  Leong left and came back to the restaurant.  The customer called saying the tip is only $1.80, he wants the balance back.  How stingy can you get and $1.80 for tips?  OMG!

By the time we got every thing cleaned up, put away stuff, we left the restaurant to Applebee’s for our dinner at 9:45 p.m.  Corrine said she could cook dinner but she was too tired, worn out.  It has been a very long time since I went out for dinner or drinks that late.  The wait for a table was 20 minutes.  After 10 minutes, we asked for a booth for 5 people.  We plopped down and ordered our appetizers and entrees right away and ate them up pretty quickly.

If I were to eat like what I did at Applebee’s I will be big fat slob in no time.   I would probably need diet pills to help me keep the shape I have now.  I might not need them unless I deligently take the boys out for their walks.

By the time I got home it was 11:15 p.m.  Wow, I just had “siew yeh” since I don’t remember when.  Took a shower right away.  My head was still pounding.  It was way passed my bed time.  I didn’t go to bed after midnight.  Dang, I’m old.  I can’t stay up late anymore.

This morning DBs let me sleep in till 8:30 a.m.  The boys didn’t bug me either.  SWEETHEARTS!



Nov 16, 2008

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Here is a picture of Cooper’s infected paws and the lump that got DBs and I worried.

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I found out about the lump when I gave him a bath 2 weeks ago.  My first thought was the lump was those fatty lumps that are emerging from Ranger’s body.   They are harmless.  But a couple of days later, I touched it, it was very soft and Cooper did not like me touching it.  My imagination went wild then, thinking that it’s a tumor and it’s cancerous.  I asked DBs to look at it, he too thinks it’s not those fatty lumps.  Those fatty lumps on Ranger are a lot more solid.  So, of course I panic a little but not showing it too much.  Tod DBs to make an appointment with the vet to check it out and also find out why his paws are not healing after so many months.

To the vet Cooper went.  The vet drew blood from the lumpt and did other kind of tests on Cooper.   The tests all came back negative, all is good.  Phew, that was a relief.  The vet then checked his paws and told DBs they were actually infected.  The wounds started off from allergies and Coops licking them, and because of boredom, he licks them even more.  Yeah, I know, some days I do not give them a lot of attention, the boys are on their own laying on the carpet by me (majority of the time) when I’m home or by DBs when I’m at work.  So, Coops had a few shots of super duper strength antibiotics and gave us some oitment and oral antibiotics for us to take home.

I am hoping the medication is going to help heal the infected paws soon.  Both DBs and I have caught him licking the bad paws.  We put the collar that looks like a float on him, but the collar seems to “choke” him when he sleeps.  So we take it off most of the time.  “Sum toong” to see him breathing so hard when he’s trying to sleep.  Plus with that collar on, he can’t get to his water and food bowls.  The vet says it will take about a week plus for the antibiotics to do the job.  We shall see.

Filed under Allergies, Pets
Nov 14, 2008

Week in review

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Can’t believe it has been one week since I blogged.  I’m getting lazier these days to blog. 

Since I made my first pair of cloth baby shoes, I made two other pairs to perfect it.  They are just ok in my opinion.  I showed them to my friend, the Filipino lady who gave me her sewing machine (which I returned it to her, and bought a new Brother machine myself).  She gave me some tips which are helpful.  Will work on that tonight or other nights where I’m not so tired or glued to the TV. 

I have to say sewing is kinda addictive.  I can’t believe I said this.  My sis is definitely gonna say her mind when she reads this!!  Count on it and she will be reporting it to my mom!  Yeah, she is the orang tengah for me.  I was at JoAnn’s last Friday, my day off, and bought some cheap flannel remnants.  All of them are less then a yard each.  I bought 5 pieces and all cost less than $6.  DBs asked if I’m up to sewing drapes for our room since the blinds are not helping with the silhouettes.  I don’t think I will take on that tasks.  Too big of a task for a rookie.  That will have to wait.  And then I have a few shirts that need hemming.  That is another project I need to work on since sewing on t shirt material is not easy.  Needs some practice before I venture on to the real thing.

Besides sewing, I got my first dose of cavity filled yesterday.  I really have no idea when was the last time I had one done.  I went in for my bi-annual checkup and cleaning.  I always get praises from the hygienist and dentist how good and well I have taken care off my teeth, so when the dentist told me I have a small cavity on one of the left top molar, I was not up for that.  He said I have to come in again to get it filled.  It’s like a command.  Not a choice that I can make.  Coming back to the get the filling done will cost money since I have to meet the annual deductible first.  The bi-annual checkups are free, all paid by dental insurance.  When I was done with the check up he walked me to the front desk and told the receptionist I am coming back in for a filling.  What the hell?  I said fine, just get me some date to pick which i picked yesterday afternoon.  
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The entire procedure from numbing my gums to the end only took 20 minutes.  Hopefully the next 6 months checkup is just good old cleaning.  Yes, those set of xrays are my teeth.

Since the company sent out an email to all Yahoo Messenger (YM) users to remove the program unless it’s a need for our business, I removed it coz it’s not business related to have it installed in my system.  I logged on to YM at home and chatted with my long lost ex colleague, Ms J, who became my good friend from my Seagage Ipoh days.  We chatted for 3 hours straight.  Catching up on each other’s lives and of course what happened to my ex bf since he still keeps in touch with her even tho he dumped her friend.  Updates on other friends and our families.  It has been 10 years since we last met and probably 9 years we had not kept in touch.  Thanks to MukaBuku we managed to keep in touch.

Speaking of Faceboook, I am able to keep in touch with so many of my school mates back in Primary days.  Plus there is a 20 years Main Convent Class 1988  reunion dinner in KL in December this year.  I so want to go, but scratched the plan off.  I will read the updates and see the pics on Facebook.  

Anything else happened will be the election results which we already knew Mr O will gonna get it.  It’s pretty much given to him.  There are a lot of jokes forwarded on to us from DBs’ nephew which were hilarious.  Whatever it is, Mr O better get his ass to work and stick to his words.

Chase is still with us.  Looks like this fella will be with us for good.  No more throwing him back to SD and BF.  They will be moving to a different place where only dogs that are 35 pounds are allowed.  35 pounds is more like a rat than a dog.   I’m just hoping if they can help out with Chase’s food and vet bills, that would be a tremendous help.  I just spent $200+ on Coops’ yesterday, so I can’t wait for this pay day Friday. 

Filed under Just, Personal
Nov 11, 2008

At last, it’s done

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It took me 3 days to finally complete this pair of cloth shoes.  I initially bought fleece material and it was a major mistake.  Fleece is a bitch to sew.  Finally I threw the cut out fleece pieces and dug out the clothes I can’t wear anymore.  The sole I used my old pair of jeans as the bottom, a layer of the fleece fabric in between the jeans and another piece of fabric which is the same material as the top. I completed the right side last night and the left side just now.  Once I completed the right one, the left side was a breeze.  I will make another one later so I can show my boss since she told me to show her if and when I complete one pair.

I got this baby clothe shoes idea from Aida.  She made one for her boy and I thought I will give it a try.  Thanks, Aida, for the great idea.  The pattern taken from this site, Star Dust Shoes. 

I was thinking of putting buttons on the top, but was told not to.  Babies can chew them things off!  I will try it on Ally tomorrow.  We are sitting her for a couple of hours.  DB told me to make a bigger pair for when she grows bigger.  OK, will think about that. 

What do you think?  Ok la for a first timer, right? :D

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Filed under Uncategorized
Nov 3, 2008

 

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