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I had a 90 minute commute for a year and change. And I considered this very problem. I could spend more on a more comfortable car, but I would suffer more depreciation from the added mileage. I judged this to make the luxury cost twice as luxury normally would. I eventually went with a 140k miles Civic and some seat cushions. I listened to the entire Pimsuler Spanish CD set and all of the Dresden files audio books. I felt pretty comfortable
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May 28, 2014 01:18
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Right, THE POINT of being good with money is to ultimately be responsible for your actions, having a well founded plan based on reason and the means by which you currently live and not a "Well maybe I'll... (Improbable future circumstance here)" sinkhole of endlessly frittering away your dosh into stupid poo poo hoping to get a return on it aside from that which you make for yourself. While sound financial decisions appear to be objective, you're ultimately pursuing them as a means to an end of living a comfortable life. Now away with this silly derail I had a friend who ultimately falls into the bad with money category. Let's call her Erica. Erica was a cool gal, somewhat sweet and I thought she had a kinda decent grasp on life and reality... had a new car and plenty of everything. So we're camping one night and I let loose my own woes of working $10/hr fulltime for an IT company (That's about or less than half of the market rate for someone with my skills, experience, etc.) and generally getting shat on. That turned out to be a mistake. She absolutely positively loses her poo poo. As it turns out, she put nohing down on her late model Kia... and can't make payments on it... but she has FOUR JOBS! You see, she was captain of the (Volunteer) Fire Dept, a Babysitter, and yes... a Mary Kate rep and you see she works so drat hard. I ran out the math in front of her, and worked out that she was earning less than half of state minimum wage between all of her "Jobs", putting on a shitton of mileage... and as you may imagine putting herself underwater. But you see she deserves her car because she works so hard; not because she spent years learning, tinkering, and honing skills. Because she works hard. QuiteEasilyDone fucked around with this message at 01:24 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 01:20
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Now that's how you irresponsibly buy a car!
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May 28, 2014 01:28
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I'm going to try to get this thread back on track with an update on the one guy I know. Last we left our (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3555678&pagenumber=95&perpage=40#post429982685) Well, today we got shocking news. He pops into our chat channel and proudly announces he got a job offer, much to everyone's shock and surprise, although when he revealed it was a part-time gig at a hardware store stocking shelves, it began to make more sense. I was eagerly awaiting him getting fired (he's never held a real job for more than a month or two) and the drama that would follow. Except he didn't take the job. Two hours later, he comes back and proudly announces he turned down the job offer, because he has an even better job offer lined up. Instead of $7.15 an hour 15 hours a week, he would be taking a job making $7.75 an hour cutting grass for the state 40 hours a week year-round. Sounds great right? He left out a little detail. This job is halfway across the country, in the south, where he has no family and no friends. His current plan is to move halfway across the country to make minimum wage cutting grass for a living. When I asked him how he was going to, you know, get there when he's broke, or possibly afford a place to stay, he went silent and immediately left the channel. I'm not even sure he actually has a job offer. Hopefully I can make more updates in the future, but I wouldn't be surprised if he sells his laptop for beer money and I never hear from him again at this point.
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May 28, 2014 02:01
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Guinness posted:Because this thread has turned from stories of people legitimately/hilariously bad with money to "I don't agree with your discretionary consumption". Every few months this scrimp-off happens. It's insanely annoying.
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May 28, 2014 02:02
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But not quite as annoying as somebody typing out 'let's call xer ~~'..
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May 28, 2014 02:03
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Or "blah blah blah *contributes hugely to derail* ... Now let's end this derail" It basically translates to "I want the last wooooooorrrrrdddd". "gently caress this stupid derail" followed by relevant content is the way to do it, jackasses!
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May 28, 2014 02:20
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Guinness posted:A good stereo, bluetooth, comfortable/leather interior, highly adjustable drivers seat, heated/cooled seats, sunroof/convertible, etc. Adaptive cruise control is also legitimately useful to have on a long highway commute, and it's starting to appear in a number of not-so-expensive cars (such as the Mazda3). Though it's generally only offered on the upper trim levels, forcing you to pay for most of the options offered on the car in question. Guinness posted:Because this thread has turned from stories of people legitimately/hilariously bad with money to "I don't agree with your discretionary consumption". That seems to happen in quite a lot of places where financial advice is dispensed. Steering people away from wanton consumerism is one thing. But it's like these people are actually robots with no grasp of human emotions, unable to comprehend the idea of people wanting to do more with their lives than exist, or of different people enjoying certain leisure activities more than others.
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May 28, 2014 02:24
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I am OK posted:But not quite as annoying as somebody typing out 'let's call xer ~~'.. Yeah just call them Erica don't tell us that's not actually their real name no one cares.
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May 28, 2014 02:45
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All I know is that I go on a lot of road trips and driving 90 mph in an economy car for more than 10 minutes is just awful. I wish bmws didn't have all the luxury junk in this country.
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May 28, 2014 02:48
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I've know another guy bad with money, he comes from a ridiculously spoiled background and if you talk to him for more than a minute you will learn about his ancestor who started the Boy Scouts. Strangely enough those virtues of hard work and thrift didn't pass to his generation as he was always spending way way more than he was taking in. For example in his late 20s he was bragging about how much of a reward he was getting on his credit card for the new washer and dryer he got for the house he just bought, which is a good place to park his Audi when he got home from his part time job at Costco. I know Costco pays well for retail work, but it isn't Audi/Seattle house money. Of course everyone knew his parents kept giving him tons of cash, but the guy never mentioned that and tried to pass off his lifestyle as something he was earning on $14 an hour. So after a while I think he was in danger of being cut off so it was time to earn his MBA from the University of Phoenix. Then he transitioned out of stocking shelves to a new job in Alaska that he was being super mysterious about, and talking about like it was a huge opportunity. It turned out to be a sea captain seeking shipwrecked gold on the ocean floor. This did not secure his financial future and I think he fell into marketing. That was two years ago, let's check Facebook to see where he is now... and he got married last week.
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May 28, 2014 02:54
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IAMKOREA posted:All I know is that I go on a lot of road trips and driving 90 mph in an economy car for more than 10 minutes is just awful. I wish bmws didn't have all the luxury junk in this country. Well a Mini is sort of like a BMW.
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May 28, 2014 03:39
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I'll make up for adding to the derail with a brother in law. He has a history of generally being irresponsible and is in his late 40s now. Given a lot of his circumstances, I'd think a financially responsible person in his shoes would have had no more need to work by now, but here he is still working and slaving away in an industry he very much despises while complaining about needing to work. His story reads more like a "oh that's good" balanced with a  counterpoint for every aspect of his financial life.
American culture makes it really, really a social faux pas to discuss money perhaps to our detriment. When so many people are in such dire straits financially talking about it probably does make you somewhat inconsiderate, but I think that not talking about it with each other has made our collective financial lives' worse and you'd think people helping each other is a pretty solid "small town American" value. Nobody thinks that the pretty healthy person is an rear end in a top hat in a group despite having lived a pretty healthy lifestyle for decades, why not so with financial health (aside from the lucky breaks like business ventures and other gambles basically)? No Wave posted:"Amenities"? Like what?
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May 28, 2014 04:02
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Trashed from lack of care (plus literally 6+ dogs in the 1100 sqft house that are not disciplined at all) and is likely less than $70k in value now despite a recovery in prices around him somewhat near the boom levels
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There's no way in hell he's making that much money or like you said he's spending it all on drugs.
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May 28, 2014 04:23
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necrobobsledder posted:Brother in law Gambling and Drugs EugeneJ fucked around with this message at 04:43 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 04:41
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Buy a used Volvo if you want amenities. I've had two in the last ten years, bought the first for $4500 for a '96 and then a '97 for $3200. Good gas milage, leather everything, power everything, heated seats, pretty powerful stereo, a good option if you live in a snowy/rainy place, pretty easy to maintain and they go forever. Rarely get broken into or pulled over by police. I've driven them on road trips and just around town as a daily driver. Some parts are more expensive and you may need a special Volvo mechanic for certain things (some of the sensors are weird) but I've found quite a few parts in junk yards when I needed them. The one downside is that if you're in a fender bender with a newer, plastic car, the plastic tends to get pretty hosed up because the Volvo is like a steel tank. I dated a guy with a brand new Toyota Matrix a few years back and it was insanely expensive, had fewer amenities and a shittier turning radius than my mom-mobile. A+ would reccommend.
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May 28, 2014 04:51
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jeffsleepy posted:Can you tell me about the cars you have for investments? I've got a homologation Celica ST205 and I'm looking to add something a little older in the next 12 - 24 months. There's also a Delta floating around our garage somewhere too. It's possible to import older cars here without too much hassle so it's a case of looking at what is almost that old and deciding whether you can afford to comply it, garage it and look after it. It sounds a bit naff to be investing in cars (herp derp depreciation machines) but if you're buying cars that are legitimately collectible and you can source them at reasonable prices then why not? Also I think the 'Get a Corolla' thing is also being slightly perverted by Corollas being different things in different parts of the world. I've got an 1800cc 5 spd manual 2000 GL that turns on a dime and is huge fun to drive - that's what passed for a Corolla here then. I've seen various Corollas/low end Toyotas since that almost drove me insane either through doughy handling, glacial acceleration and terrible flimsy plastic everywhere. The point was more that if you can find something cheap that gives you everything you need out of a commuter wagon and that's reliable to boot, I don't think anyone is going to think less of you for buying it over something else.
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May 28, 2014 06:24
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necrobobsledder posted:I'm mostly griping that for almost all markets relatively inexpensive things like a soft suspension and pretty good sound isolation are considered "luxury" options that bump you into luxury class vehicles when you don't give a rip about mahogany wood or branding.
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May 28, 2014 15:12
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Butt Wizard posted:I've got a homologation Celica ST205 and I'm looking to add something a little older in the next 12 - 24 months. There's also a Delta floating around our garage somewhere too. How much do you expect to make after licensing fees, maintenance, etc and over what time frame? I've always heard that this is a bad idea but don't know much about it.
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May 28, 2014 15:37
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No Wave posted:For what it's worth I appreciate this response because it makes way more sense to me than stuff like seat warmers and fancy interiors. It definitely makes sense that this would be way more comfortable, and I totally get how someone could come to the conclusion that extremely expensive cars were "worth it", especially if they didn't go to the trouble of dissecting exactly what features of the luxury car they're reacting so well to. Seat warmers and electrical seat adjustments are two things that I used to think were just gimmicks, but they've kind of grown on me. Electric seat adjustments are great if you want to adjust your seat while driving. This is pretty awesome if you're driving long distance; with the manual ones trying to move your seal forward or back while driving is... Interesting. Seat warmers... I'm not a fan (They do weird things to my bowels), but when you get in the car in the morning and the seats are frozen solid, they warm up a hell of a lot faster than warming up the entire car. Of course this is only useful in places where the temperature drops to -20C regularly.
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May 28, 2014 15:46
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My boss is a big guy (6'7") and needs his car ice cold when he drives anywhere. I'm a foot shorter and prefer it a bit warmer. We take his car when we have to travel because he can blast the A/C and I can turn on the seat warmers. It's win-win!
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May 28, 2014 15:52
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Nocheez posted:My boss is a big guy (6'7") and needs his car ice cold when he drives anywhere. I'm a foot shorter and prefer it a bit warmer. We take his car when we have to travel because he can blast the A/C and I can turn on the seat warmers. It's win-win! Your life sounds like a buddy comedy.
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May 28, 2014 17:35
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I never saw the appeal of "luxury" stuff until I bought a 2006 Subaru Forester with the LL Bean package because it was a good deal at an auction. Leather seats, seat warmers, etc. Leather turned out to be a lot more comfortable than cloth. And the heated seats are AMAZING in the winter when it's 10F outside. The leather is a pain though due to it requiring more upkeep and care. But it helped me understand that some of this stuff might be worth it if you're in the car a lot. The REAL dumbasses though go for luxury vehicles just because. Like some people require an Audi or whatever because if the brand. I guy I know had a girlfriend who traded a 2 year old Nissan Alitma with like 20k miles for an 8 year old Audi something-or-other with 70K simply because she wanted to say she had an Audi. And by traded I mean a one-for-one trade. And the cherry (or lemon) on top was that the car ended up having transmission problems, and it was obvious from some half-assed front end bodywork that it had been in am major accident. She basically got scammed out of $20k but didn't care because if the logo on the front of the car.
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May 28, 2014 18:48
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FrozenVent posted:Seat warmers... I'm not a fan (They do weird things to my bowels), but when you get in the car in the morning and the seats are frozen solid, they warm up a hell of a lot faster than warming up the entire car. Of course this is only useful in places where the temperature drops to -20C regularly. Seat warmers are fantastic when your back is aching for whatever reason. I use mine regularly and I live in Texas.
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May 28, 2014 19:00
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Is it bad that when I thought of luxuries and amenities my first thought was automatic transmission, AC, stereo with CD player? My car is 14 years old.
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May 28, 2014 19:00
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What's a CD player?
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May 28, 2014 19:05
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FrozenVent posted:What's a CD player? They'll never catch on, may I interest you in a Betamax player?
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May 28, 2014 19:27
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If your car has anything more recent than an eight track, you're bad with money.
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May 28, 2014 19:28
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FrozenVent posted:If your car has anything more recent than an eight track, you're bad with money. Um, you realize 8-track cassettes aren't free right? And radio isn't "free" either, since it uses electricity. Sing showtunes and 99 bottles of beer on the wall.
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May 28, 2014 19:36
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If you don't walk barefoot everywhere, you're bad with money
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May 28, 2014 19:57
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SubjectVerbObject posted:Is it bad that when I thought of luxuries and amenities my first thought was automatic transmission, AC, stereo with CD player? My wife's car is 15 years old, has all that poo poo, and we paid $1800 cash for it in 2008. You're just bad with money. Sucker!
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May 28, 2014 20:00
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LogisticEarth posted:My wife's car is 15 years old, has all that poo poo, and we paid $1800 cash for it in 2008. You're just bad with money. Sucker! It's more like the AC hasn't worked in 10 years, and the CD player eats CDs. I am too cheap to get either fixed.
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May 28, 2014 20:08
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if you stop feeding it CDs it might start eating other things, stay mindful
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May 28, 2014 20:12
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I bought a head-unit for my Miata to replace the factory one. I saved $30 by getting one without a CD player. When's the last time you actually used CDs? Bluetooth, USB, and aux-in are all you need besides AM/FM.
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May 28, 2014 20:41
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LogisticEarth posted:I never saw the appeal of "luxury" stuff until I bought a 2006 Subaru Forester with the LL Bean package because it was a good deal at an auction. Leather seats, seat warmers, etc. Leather turned out to be a lot more comfortable than cloth. And the heated seats are AMAZING in the winter when it's 10F outside. The leather is a pain though due to it requiring more upkeep and care. But it helped me understand that some of this stuff might be worth it if you're in the car a lot. I was so happy with seat warmers in my current old car that I'm upgrading to heated seats and steering well in the new one I'm getting this weekend. I live in WI and thought it was worth it. I was kind of bad with money by also getting a reverse camera though. I just thought it was neat and if it prevents me from backing over a dog or a child I guess it'd be worth it. Or if I'm ever in a high-speed reverse chase.
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May 28, 2014 20:49
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reverse cameras are a much more reasonable thing to have from a safety perspective, and should probably be mandatory in all new cars
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May 28, 2014 20:51
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Jeffrey posted:reverse cameras are a much more reasonable thing to have from a safety perspective, and should probably be mandatory in all new cars I think they passed a bill saying that by X year all new cars must start having them. I forget what year the requirement is though. e; 2018 it looks like, so model 2019 cars.
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May 28, 2014 21:01
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It's kind of weird because they still aren't really a substitute for looking behind you. It's just like, "well people don't always do that in practice so we may as well show them the child they are going to run over in advance".
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May 28, 2014 21:03
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I like them because some cars have strange rear ends that it's hard to determine where it is in relation to the car you are backing into. A friend of mine has some sonar sounding poo poo as he backs up and that poo poo is awesome. When I was younger I would just back up until I hit the car and then pull forward a little bit. Parking job done!
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May 28, 2014 21:06
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| # ? May 15, 2024 02:43 |
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The "bad with money" thread is the perfect place for mandatory backup cameras, coming in at somewhere around $20 million per (predicted) life saved.LorneReams posted:A friend of mine has some sonar sounding poo poo as he backs up and that poo poo is awesome. I was just renting a car in Europe a week or two ago and I found it less "awesome" and more "annoying as all gently caress". Beeping at a red light because the guy behind me pulled up close? Awesome. And thanks for constantly warning me that there's a curb at the front of the parking space. This makes it so much easier to concentrate on what I'm doing, really. edit: Jeffrey posted:It's kind of weird because they still aren't really a substitute for looking behind you. It's just like, "well people don't always do that in practice so we may as well show them the child they are going to run over in advance". My backup cam gives me far better visibility of what's behind me than what I can possibly see through the back window (particularly if I have cargo back there); it's not like it's just a lazier way of looking behind you. Zhentar fucked around with this message at 21:15 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 21:08
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