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What has Geocaching cost YOU?!


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Forgive me if this has been done before. There's 148 pages of topics behind this one. Can't check'em all. (Posted also on texasgeocaching.com)

 

I love this sport and don't plan to quit, but I have incurred some hidden costs in just under 10 weeks of caching:

 

#1 My vehicle gas bill doubled and then some not to mention wear and tear.

 

#2 My first ever case of poison Ivy.

 

#3 Jacked my car up hitting a raised manhole cover near Memorial Park (Hou. Tx.) while looking for a shortcut to Relics. $800+ in repairs! DOH!!! I'm sitting at Advantage Volkswagen (in Houston) right now!

 

#4 Spent wayyyy over a grand on cache goodies, t-bugs, bug tags, containers, and I still need about 3k in better equipment. (Nav system for the GeoJetta, way better computer + cable modem, replace my ancient Magellan, upgrade my night vision, etc.) (Really, I NEED it.)

 

#5 Got several new gray hairs at Deserted Islands and had to buy some new shorts...Ahhhhhhh!!!

 

#6 Ruined a pair of shoes on a night raid. Many rips and mud & grass stains on other clothing. Good for nothing but caching now.

 

#7 Lost nearly a pint of blood on the Duel Park cache in Waco and still didn't find the dadgum thing.

 

#8 Near arrest by The Fuzz on a Night Raid.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've almost wrecked scoping out a promising cache location while driving. I've listened to the stories of PI; walking off a short drop while looking at the GPS or walking into trees; close calls with snakes and alligators. We (Texas Geocachers) all have some idea what this has cost Usmorrows and 9Key. We saw the pictures of Sam's legs on High Five!

 

Let's enjoy each other's misery and learn from each other's mistakes. This may help someone, or at least give you a place to keep track.

 

All this for Dollar Store Crap that mostly goes right back into another cache down the road... I LOVE THIS SPORT!!!

 

Snicon_razz.gificon_razz.gifgans

 

The greatest labor saving invention of today is tomorrow....

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A lot more Gas. About double what I used to spend.

 

Got a Bronco and the GPS.

 

Ripped up my columbia jacket on barbed wire.

 

I'm always running out of geo-junk to trade and have to get more.

 

My new signature item refuses to be found cheaply, so I'm working on it.

 

It goes on and on.

 

=====================

Wherever you go there you are.

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Financially, between two GPSr's, software, cache containers, paint, a laminating machine & sheets for cache notes and cache trade items, I'd say somewhere around $1,600.

 

It's also cost me a lot of storage area in my basement, to make room for ammo boxes and some space in my spare bedroom to make room for two boxes of trade items.

 

My addiction to these forums cost me some time at work before I was laid off (no, not so much as to be the cause of that).

 

I've also done a little less fishing, but that has been balanced by a lot more hiking.

 

But best of all, it cost me a lot of the time I would have otherwise devoted to yard work, so I guess I'd have to add in the cost of the landscaper who raked the leaves last fall.

 

And I didn't include the cost of treatment for possible Lyme that my wife is undergoing after finding a tick attached a day and a half after we went out on a cache maint visit. At least that is mostly covered by insurance.

 

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln

 

[This message was edited by BrianSnat on May 06, 2003 at 12:14 PM.]

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Cost of GPS $114.

 

Cost of new computer $1100.

 

Cost of high speed internet service $39/month

 

Cost of possible signature items (grumble)

 

Cost of gas (serious grumbling at still $1.77/gallon)

 

Quality time spent with family and not going to the mall because there's nothing better to do...priceless

 

************

 

That moss-covered bucket I hailed as a treasure,

For often at noon, when I returned from the field,

I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure.

 

Samuel Woodworth The Old Oaken Bucket

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This is great. I am rolling on the ground. If I had to put a total down now, I would say wayyy over 2k and quickly approaching 3K! with the $826 bill I got for fixing the GeoJetta today. Oh, and I was an hour late to work. Good thing I'm in charge. Oh yea, another $100 to fry turkys at Huntsville is Happening this weekend.

 

I only really have a signature item for my famous, or infamous, night raids. I always leave something that glows in the dark. That stuff is fairly cheap and comes in great big bags full.

 

Snicon_razz.gificon_razz.gifgans

 

The greatest labor saving invention of today is tomorrow....

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This sport has cost me the friendship of my golfing buddies. Now every time they call to say we got a tee time I reply can't come out and play gotta go caching. (Just kidding sortof) icon_wink.gif

 

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

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Meridian Color

Meridian green for my wife after she got hooked

2 car mounts, 2 power cables

cradle w/power & pc cable for my computer and a power supply for the GPS cradle

Lots of rechargeable batteries and a charger

4 GPS cases (a loooong story)

camelbak

compass

compass to replace the one I dropped in the lake

Mapsend Topo

MG Topo

flashlight, first aid kits, radios for the family, radio for me w/weather radio channels, cache goodies, ammo boxes, geo-cache stickers, paint for the ammo boxes, journal, signature buttons, new walking stick from el Diablo to replace my old stick which died (another story), and...

 

the respect (if I had any) of my friends and siblings - they all think I am nuts.

 

If I added the dollars, I'd scream.....

 

DustyJacket

Not all those that wander are lost. But in my case... icon_biggrin.gif

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Hmmm, well, mine hasnt been that expensive,,,, YET.

Garmin etrex Vista= $290 $240 after $50 rebate.

Garmin GPS holder= $15

A ton of ink and paper printing out cache descriptions and satillite maps.

Hours each day looking at this addicting site.

 

-- Future Plans --

Car mount

Bike mount

MS Streets and Trips

Ammo Boxes for caches

 

All in all its been worth every penny. I actually found out about geocaching right after I ordered my Vista. Its just one more excuse for me to play with it. icon_smile.gif

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Garmin GPS III+ - $360.00 (a long time ago)

Misc cables & car mount - $100.00

Caching trinkets - probably close to $1000.00

Ammo boxes & other cache boxes - $100.00

Hundreds of gallons of extra gas - probably around $1000.00 - it's $1.439 now

Thousands of hours of time looking on the web site, searching for other web sites, trying out software, looking over forums, - $ who knows

Hundreds of hours having the most fun that I have had in years looking for a box/jar/tin/bottle in the woods/guardrail/trees/bushes/etc - $ not possible to calculate.

This is some of the most fun of anything that I have been able to do. I get to go out and enjoy the scenery, find areas I've never been to and see things I never would have known existed, learn about the history of the area, meet new people that are some of the nicest and warm hearted people that I have ever met.

Plus I get exercise that I wouldn't have done in any other way. Climb a half-mile up the side of a rather steep hill, look all over the place and climb back down. Before geocaching, No way - After Geocaching, No problem. I'll get that one before anyone else does.

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Well I have only been caching since last fall, and my wife won't let me go as often as I would like. You know the honey do list that is never done. So it hasn't cost me a lot yet, but here goes....

 

Garmin Legend $200

Bike Mount $30

Car Mount $32

Cache Goodies $50

Cache Containers $20

gas $500

Printer cartridges and paper $10,000!!

 

Total about $30/week or $1,280/week if you count the printer cartridges and paper.

 

Take care

Rocketman1

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Well, I had to upgrade my perfectly functional Garmin GPS II+ to a Garmin Etrex Vista, plus two different Mapsource programs (Roads and Rec, and just recently, Topo), an iPAQ, so I can save money on paper and ink (kind of like spending a dollar to save a dime, but hey, it's a neat gizmo that I can use for other stuff, like games), and I usually put around $30 a month into the change machine at work to get my signature item, Sacagewea dollar coins. On the plus side, instead of heading to the casino or the Mall of America when I can't think of anything else to do to get out of the house, I download a few caches and do that instead, so in the long run, I've probably saved money by geocaching.

 

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--Calvin

 

MnGCA-Button.gif

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ok -- here we go...

Garmin 76.....$225

Garmin Rino120....$240 (just 'cause I wanted a nicer one)

4 or 5 orders of stuff from Oriental Trading Company....$75 or so

6 or so Plastic jars to hide 'em.... $15

4 pill capsules for future micros....$15

pkg of Travel Bugs.....$20

Gas, fast food while out there, etc. .... $?

Bottom Line: Don't really care!!! I love it!! Due to some recent medical problems I lost a lot of my old hobbies. I started this one just a year ago and I love it. So, overall, I don't care what it's cost!!!

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quote:
Originally posted by Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking:

 

Cost of gas (serious grumbling at still $1.77/gallon)


Grumbling at $1.77? Hmm.. It's still close to $2 out here in So. California. I don't complain, though. Gas in this country is a bargain - the rest of the world pays more than twice as much for it. $2 to go thirty miles on my own schedule beats the heck out of any public transportation system I've seen yet.

 

--

Random fortune:

sigimage.php

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For me, it's way too much to even think about. When I started, I thought this was the cheepest sport I'd ever participated in. Now, almost 13 months later, it's the most expensive. I'll just list the big stuff.

 

I'm on my 4th GPSr (bought first just for geocaching, then upgraded from it, then that one got stolen and replaced it, then upgraded again).

Overheated my 92 Saturn Sport Coupe driving on logging roads (it really prefers the highway), and needed to get the tail pipe and muffler replaced after it all fell off the car ... on a cache hunt (yes, CITO'd). icon_smile.gif

Blew out a tire on my Saturn driving on rocky logging roads (of course, they were highway tires).

Traded in my Saturn for a 97 Tacoma 4x4 (with appropriate tires).

Bought many, many times more camping and outdoors supplies in just the past year than I have my entire life prior.

And add to all that the usuall gas, ammo cans, tradeables, batteries, boots, snowshoes, forest service maps, etc. etc. etc.

 

Please, someone help me stop!!!!!!

 

skydiver-sig.gif

---------------------------------------

"We never seek things for themselves -- what we seek is the very seeking of things."

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

---------------------------------------

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After all the responses, I went home and did a little cipherin and a few gozintas on my receipts and made a low guess at the stuff I didn't have receipts for. Results: 68 days of Geocaching; 60 finds = a tick over 3k. I feel a whole bunch better knowing other people are happily eating these costs along with me... icon_biggrin.gif

 

I wouldn't change a thing......

 

Snicon_razz.gificon_razz.gifgans

 

PS- To who ever asked the question, I most defffinitly am not an accountant. I have to take off my shoes to count to twenty.

 

The greatest labor saving invention of today is tomorrow....

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A few years ago the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that for the first time transportation was the leading household expense, more than even food or lodging. It's not surprising that geocachers have even more transportation costs.

 

Note that the vehicle operating costs mentioned here--purchase price, gas, vehicle wear & tear, and repairs--are only about one-quarter of the actual user cost of driving which also includes time, accidents, insurance and parking.

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GPS RINO,$167.00,Truck-Already had it,Gas-O-Well,Shoe wear and tear-$0.97,Tornado took cache $25.00,unless found,Geocaching-Priceless

 

THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE FOREST DOES NOT EVEN LIVE THERE*********WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS*GEOTRYAGAIN **1803-2003 "LOUSIANA PURCHASE" 200TH ANNIVERSARY AND THE "LEWIS AND CLARK EXPADITION" http://www.lapurchase.org http://www.msnusers.com/MissouriTrails

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had gps 2 days, 1 cache found so far, heading off to benchmark hunt along the sea wall tonight after work...

 

probably spent $250 so far, and with a journalist's salary... i'm going to have to keep it around there!

 

(luckily, i cleverly started collecting potential geo trinkets years ago, so have no shortage to dispense!)

 

___________________________________

 

there is no knowledge, only things, which is really old knowledge.

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I got shivers just looking at that picture in the link that Leprechauns posted..

 

For those of us that use printouts for cache hunting, I would say that Inkjet Printer refills are just killin me....those, and the fact that I keep upgrading my GPS to bigger and better about once a year (Etrex, 315, MeriPlat), even though I don't NEED to, I just like having the latest toy...

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So far the game has cost my my free time. And I used to Cross Stitch. So now all wedding and birthday presents are on hold until we finish getting every cache in our state. icon_smile.gif

Monetarily, I stopped counting after the transmission (and the ruined oil pan on the rental we got while the transmission was being fixed). But now, I need my own GPS, and We need a geotruck, and I want a rock garden instead of a lawn!

On the plus side, I do all my printing at work. icon_smile.gif

-Jennifer

 

Age does not bring wisdom, but it does give perspective.

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Hard to say on gas.

$140 for Garmin Venture

$60 for gc.com memberships

$80 in park passes

$20 for backpack

$100 for sig items icon_smile.gif

$50 for emergency room co-pay

 

icon_eek.gif

 

Yikes icon_smile.gif That's like... a trip to Vegas. To go caching. icon_wink.gif

 

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

Flat_MiGeo_A88.gif

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Cost is relative.......

 

Reletively speaking......DO NOT DROP YOUR GPSr!!!

 

I had to send mine off a couple of days ago and it was like sending off my right arm!

The house seems a bit empty with it gone...(sigh) where is it now?....how is it doing? Are they feeding it well?

 

Spectre Vic told me to buy a protective case but did I listen?

 

$71.46 lesson learned!

 

Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out.

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Never even consider what any of our hobbies cost us. You just can't look at extra-curricular activities in a cost sense.

What would life be without them? We can definately say that it cost alot less than many of our other hobbies/interests. More bang for the buck, you might say.

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I forgot to include the loss of free time. My quilting things are gathering dust and I will probably miss several deadlines for quilt shows. But this is so much more fun. It's too bad Mike's new grand jury duty will probably mean no more caching for 4 months once he starts serving sometime in the next 90 days. It's just not as much fun caching without him.

 

That moss-covered bucket I hailed as a treasure,

For often at noon, when I returned from the field,

I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure.

 

Samuel Woodworth The Old Oaken Bucket

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When one -loves- something, one does not count...

 

I was hooked on GeoCaching the moment I stumbled on it looking for a GPSr. I honestly cannot say how much I have actually spent on GeoCaching-related stuff, but the funny thing is: I don't care. GeoCaching has been incredibly rewarding for me in many ways . I've made a few good friends (try putting a price on that!) and I've seen many beautiful places that I would have never known otherwise. Best of all, reading the emails from fellow cachers finding my caches is priceless. I constantly learn from this 'experiment' and I'm proud to be part of this community.

 

82972_1100.jpg

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quote:
was hooked on GeoCaching the moment I stumbled on it looking for a GPSr. I honestly cannot say how much I have actually spent on GeoCaching-related stuff, but the funny thing is: I don't care. GeoCaching has been incredibly rewarding for me in many ways . I've made a few good friends (try putting a price on that!) and I've seen many beautiful places that I would have never known otherwise. Best of all, reading the emails from fellow cachers finding my caches is priceless. I constantly learn from this 'experiment' and I'm proud to be part of this community.

 

I think you summed it up perfectly. in the end, who cares what it costs? The real value is in what you gain and it far outweighs any cost (hey and its a lot cheaper than skiing).

 

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln

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Okay, so there's all the tires and gas (a couple hundred dollars worth last trip). There's the cost of the GPS receivers and stuff, but I've only bought two. There's the cost of the canoe, but that was only $350 or so.

 

I think the thing about geocaching that cost me the most is the Waverunner. Yep, without Mopar in the official geocaching chat, I would have never even considered getting a personal watercraft, and without the advice and help of several of our regulars, I would have never found and purchased the one I have now. (Not to mention, I wouldn't have gone out yesterday in the wind and waves and really bruised myself up enough to make it hurt a rather bit to sit today.) So, thanks, geocaching, for making me buy a Waverunner. icon_biggrin.gif

 

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

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eTrex Vista=$268

cables x2 = $20

neoprene case = $15

windshield mount = $32

Cambelbak M.U.L.E. = $56

equipment to fix mtn bike = $35

Gas = too much

 

I guess it's a very good thing that small consulting jobs come my way every now and again. Otherwise, I'd have to sell a kidney to pay for the rest of the equipment I want. I've already sold off quite a bit of my excess computer hardware to fund some of these purchases. Due to gas prices, I plan marathon trips quite a bit in advance to make the rare expenditure well worth it. In fact, I just spent a day of my vacation on one, and it's probably the first real caching trip I've made in a long time. I've done most of the caches with 10-15 miles of me, so driving to caches has become a lot more expensive.

 

Brian

Team A.I.

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Anything this has cost - it's money well spent (although I haven't worked up to a Waverunner yet!) icon_wink.gif

 

While stocking up on another 50 trade items - my wife had a good question I couldn't answer. I figured I'd post it to have more learned and experienced geocachers weight in:

 

Here's the query. Forgetting about caches placed (which obviously require trinkets and such), I've probably bought a couple hundred trade items. Since (while some caches are TN left something), most consist of a minor trade.

 

The question is: where are all these trade items evaporating to? I keep having to buy trade items as my geo-backpack keeps getting emptied of stuff! Could this missing stuff be related to alien ship sightings over New Mexico?

 

Either way - I'm fully stocked again and looking forward to 'spending' more trinkets!

 

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. - Ken Olsen, President, Digital Equipment, 1977

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quote:
The question is: where are all these trade items evaporating to? I keep having to buy trade items as my geo-backpack keeps getting emptied of stuff! Could this missing stuff be related to alien ship sightings over New Mexico?

 

I think there are mice in my house that raid my boxes of trade items and hide them in the walls.

I get the feeling that I'm going to be doing renovations in a few years and I'll tear down a wall and find hundreds of trinkets.

 

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln

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quote:
Originally posted by HartClimbs:

 

Here's the query. Forgetting about caches placed (which obviously require trinkets and such), I've probably bought a couple hundred trade items. Since (while some caches are TN left something), most consist of a minor trade.


 

They are obviously using your lost socks to build nests under the front porch...

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A whole bunch more since my last post.

 

Most recently I sweated out a Lyme Desease test.(NEGATIVE!!!yay!) Got a tick bite while caching down the PCH (Hwy 1 Ca.) followed by a rash. Tooo close for comfort. Whew!

 

I have come up with a new geocaching slogan:

 

GEOCACHING: Wayyy more chances to contract West Nile Virus, or Lyme Disease, than the average person. icon_wink.gificon_razz.gificon_razz.gif

 

God I love this freakin game!!!

 

Snicon_razz.gificon_razz.gifgans

texasgeocaching_sm.gif Sacred cows make the best hamburger....Mark Twain.

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Being that my wife caches too it hasn't cost my marrige. Otherwise I guess she would get on without me...Owwwww

 

Anyway our gas bill went up alot. Plus our army surplus bill went up too.

 

The dog well she is just as ugly so I guess that didn't change icon_wink.gif

 

I lost some weight.

 

It cost me some sanity looking for a *&$*@^#! micro in the woods.

 

The voices returned. Shhh..."yeah thats a good spot to hide one".

 

When in doubt...hit it with a big hammer.

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Lessee:

 

135.00$ Etrex geko

12.00 Serial cable

39.00 USB/serial cable

54.00 Cigarette lighter inverter

19.00 Streets & Trips

25.00 cache stuff

8.00 water

100.00 Gas

20.00 Bug repellant

9.00 Ivarest

 

- 10.00 Streets & trips Rebate

-160.00 Movie tickets not used

- 60.00 Being in good enough shape again to mow yard (so far.)

-500.00 "Hey we're in SC anyway, let's get a couple of lottery tickets!"

-bazillion Becoming best friends with my wife again.

 

So far, I'm doing ok.

 

They say this universe is bound to blow,

I say we crank up the Calypso Control!

~Jimmy Buffett

 

~Someday I Will~

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quote:
Originally posted by sept1c_tank:

quote:
Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:

I had my first run-in with chiggers!


_You_ have led a sheltered life, my friend. icon_rolleyes.gif


I grew up in San Diego, have lived in Colorado, and now live in New Mexico. I had never heard of of chiggers until I started Geocaching. I took a trip to Chicago and got bitten somewhere on the way home (I-55, I-44, I-40) while I was caching.

 

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness bandbass.gif

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I think I'm coming out ahead in this game. I already had the 4x4, the GPSr, topo maps, ammo boxes. So what little bit we've spent has been offset by fewer weekend trips to Las Vegas and Mesquite. Those savings have paid for everything else associated with Geocaching.

We used to get to Vegas about once a month, now it's about every 8 to 10 weeks or more.

 

It's a win, win situation for us.

 

2oldfarts

 

*******************************************************

Human beings can always be counted on to assert with vigor their God-given right to be stupid.--Dean Koontz

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