# When getting old hits you like a ton of bricks....



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

At about the age of 47, I suddenly realized that it became very difficult to read, especially newspapers and restaurant menus. I've always been a voracious reader, and this really began to bother me. Since I am a type II diabetic, I knew that failing eyesight was one of those eventualities that you might have to prepare for.
Luckily, a few friends were able to set me straight: that mid-40's was the magic phase of 'Presbyopia', where the eyeball can no longer focus on things up close. Reading glasses were all I needed! So, glasses have become a way of life. Even though I can still read numbers on an airplane, or street signs from a block away, my vision, where it counts, i.e. woodworking has been somewhat compromised.
Now, it really bothers me when I look at some of my work before corrective lenses; sanding scratches, uneven (or worse) finishes and other appearance malfunctions. (Wow, how did that drip get by me!!) Now at the age of 55, I find myself intentionally avoiding reading matter, owner's manuals, instruction sheets and product labels. Every item that I do has to be scrutinized under intense light, every square inch, to look for finishing flaws or other mistakes not visible to my naked eye anymore. I can't even sight down the edge of a board to check for straightness anymore, the somewhat fisheye effect of reading glasses makes it impossible.
Anyone else going through this unfortunate change of life? What are you doing to cope with it? Have you become a bit more philosophical about time and age robbing you of your gifts?


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## BigTim (Jan 17, 2008)

How do I deal with it???

If it looks good to me …

Then it is!!


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Ok, true enough, Tim…but there is a realization to be made here, that suddenly your work no longer has that "Wow" factor on which you fed your ego and generally was the driving force behind your need to create. Come to think of it, even legends like van Gogh, Picasso, and aging rock stars all began to stink when they got older… and I naively believed that my craft would continue to get better right through 'til old age.


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## jim1953 (Nov 18, 2007)

Its a part life that I dont like but what do you do good luck to all


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Yep, my eye doctor told me the same thing!

Getting older means you need more light and stronger glasses. Then when the "bifocal" stage hit, I was devastated. I certainly wasn't old enough to wear THOSE! He suggested the kind of glasses that have "no lines"- That's for me! The only problem was, in my work, I had to read extremely small print- computer circuit board silk screens, etc. The eye doctor told me that he could custom "fit" the prescription so that the reading distance for close up was suited to my needs. I took a sample of what I need to read along to the exam and he adjusted what ever they do so that I could read the print. As far as the amount of light, well each machine has a lamp holder over it and I move a halogen work light around as needed.


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## dustygirl (Mar 11, 2008)

I find I need much brighter lights to read and work by now.So much for the energy saving bulbs.(lol)


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## treeman (Dec 15, 2008)

I just had my 56th yesterday and know how you feel. I started out with reading glasses but have now graduated to bifocals to help my mid range vision. Makes a big difference in the shop.

Now if I could only keep the sawdust off of them!!


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

whoa ! vision that requires correct is not the handicap you seem to be making it. I have worn glasses since I Was about 9 or 10, bifocals since 34 and trifocals since mid 40's. My reading habits have changed also, mostly because of the fact that I am spending so much time on the computer. How long has it been since your eyes have been checked and are you seeing an optometrist or an opthamologist (MD) ? As a diabetic it should be the later and at least every 2 years or sooner if you notice a change. He may want you to be seen oftener. The changes to the eyes brought on by diabetes are NOT just in your vision and you need to stay on top of them. Talk to him about your problems. The biggest problem with reading glasses is putting them on and off which tends to encourage not using them. If you don't need a lens for distance consider bifocals with a uncorrected lens and then make the adjustment and leave them on all the time. The fact that you need bright light is in itself worrying. You should be making that appointment now managing your vision is an important part of managing your diabetes and if you don't you may spend a long time in the dark !


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

I statred to notice a change about a year ago. I went to the eye doc and they prescribed "progressive lenses". For those of you not familiar with these, they are a no-line bifocal. Now mind you I have been wearing glasses since I was in high school so a new prescription was not all that new to me. Boy, was I wrong! I went down and had the new glasses ordered and picked them up about a week later. I should've know that there would be issues when the girl told me that you had to look straight ahead and your peripheral vision might be a little "fuzzy". Fuzzy? Oh, grrrrrrrr I cant say it here, was not the word. Now I have been fortunate my sight is not all that bad in fact I am 20/20 without correction but I do have a fairly significant astygmatism making glasses a necessity for distance. I put these evil things on and I felt as though I was placed on a new psychotropic hallunicogenic drug. All I can say is OMG!! The girl, being really nice and sweet said it might take a few days to get used to them. A few days, yeah right. Well being a good patient I did as I was told and tried and tried and tried. I did somewhat get the hang of reading with them on but anything else I felt like I needed a red and white cane. And you can totally forget about driving with these darn things on. I now know why the elderly blue hairs of society are in the fast lane doing 30MPH, they cant see!! Needless to say I took the glasses back and had them replaced with normal lenses and I will be getting a pair for reading.


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

You have just told the story of my last several years. I had eagle eyes then mid 40's came the reading glasses and everything changed. Ever try to look down the sights of a rifle with reading glasses on or off? It is almost impossible. Wood working is done the best that I can with a lot more time involved. There are dangers too. I have to beaware of where my hands are a lot more than a couple of decades ago, strength and balance are less and, well, ...getting old beats the alternative.


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## PetVet (Nov 7, 2008)

Let's just hope that our skills advance at the same rate that our eyes fail!!! We should be able to brake even then


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## TheBee (Jul 3, 2008)

Do not show your projects to anyone under 50.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks for all your great replies! I am managing my diabetes quite well, and do have a baseline for my eye doctor to monitor. Glad to know that most of us in our 40's and 50's are coping with the same phenomenon to one extent or another. I guess I should stop resisting and get a pair of perhaps no-line bifocals. Yes, when hand-finishing I never do anything without a lamp with a naked bulb, and I have the burns on my face and arms to prove it!! Thebee, I laughed out loud, perhaps I should cater only to people older than myself!!
Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better knowing I'm not struggling with this issue alone.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

I don't know what you guys are talking about. My eyes are just as good as they ever were. And the stuff I make looks better everyday, even the stuff I did years ago.

Buuut, my arms keep getting shorter! And I swear, light bulbs just aren't made as bright as they used to be!


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## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

I used to have eagle eyes, and get chided by anyone I was in a car with, for reading a road sign VERY far away. My eyes even worked great driving in the dark. BUT, when I hit my mid 30's Driving in the dark was bothersome, I couldn't read the signs from AS far away as I used to be able to, and I noticed things changing quite noticeably. Recently, just after I turned 42, my left hip started bothering me & then shortly after my right hip. I chalked it up to sleeping for years on either side, and have since TRIED hard to change to sleeping flat on my back.

I'm suddenly realizing that I'm not as young as I thought I felt I was.


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## toyguy (Nov 23, 2007)

Yip…. I fall into this same category, as most of you…..It seems I have been afflicted with all the same symptoms. 55 now and some days feel it more than others.

Let's face it fellow jocks, getting old just isn't fun, but it *beats the heck out of the alternatives.*


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## Charlie_Wintercoats (Dec 11, 2008)

What a bunch of fogeys!!! You will all be yelling "get off my lawn" to the neighborhood kids by spring.

Ha just ribbing. Being good at something means dealing with challanges. There are people who start woodworking when they are 75! not 40s and 50 they have a disadventage because they learn with their eyes already crummy. You will never hear from these people because they dont know how to use computers, let alone find this site. Hehe.

Just dont get your knose too close to those pesky tablesaw blades.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I just turned 50 and I've worn progressives (no-line bifocals) for several years. On the one hand, I hate that I can't see a darned thing up close anymore without glasses and plenty of light, but I don't feel like it has to be a hinderance to the level of work I turn out. (My limited skills are hinderance enough). I just have to be a little more careful when looking for those drips and scratches.

What really ticks me off is that my wife, who has always had terrible distance vision and must wear contacts or thick glasses, has not lost her close-up vision at all. So she is constantly calling my attention to some spot on a dish that I missed when I was cleaning up or freaking out about some dust somewhere that I can't see!


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

When I turned 47 I got to wear tri-focals. I never did get used to them. But I had to have them because a large chunk of my income came from being a photographer, darkroom work and working on a computer. It got to where I couldn't focus the camera (this was before auto-focus cameras had all the bugs worked out of them). Now, I never wear them. I got a couple of pairs of "readers" from the drug store and they work fine for me. (I do have an auto-focus camera now) All this reminds me of my son talking about the "old" guys he worked with in a garage at a large auto dealership (he was 25 and they were 45). He said it wasn't strange to see them trying to read manuals and stuff with the books on the floor and them standing straight up with their necks bent over.
-JJ


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

Unless there's a big wreck in my rear view mirror, I don't worry about it.


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## eagle124 (Dec 17, 2007)

Yeah, I know where ya'll are coming from…......With my new glasses I can see just as good as when I was 70….I just need a LOT more light now!


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

I've been nearsighted since high school. I need the darn glasses to see thing far away. But, up close and now while I'm on the computer I take the glasses off ans let them hang with a granny string. I had to do that because I was always forgetting where I laid down my glasses and forgot them.

I'm now using Walmart/Dollar Store reading glasses, because the small type is getting harder to bring into focus.

But it's better than the alternative.


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## bbqking (Mar 16, 2008)

I wear bifocals also, but when woodworking, reading the paper, etc., I just take them off and can see up close just fine. My biggest problem is shooting my rifles. I can see the far site just fine, but not the near. If I move my head so the bifocals work on the near site, I can't see the far site. (Not to be confused with the Far Side) I have seriously been considering Lasik. bbqKing.


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## toddc (Mar 6, 2007)

I am only 43 and I am surprised at how much more light that I need to do detail work. I can still focus on text and details, but I definitely need more light.

One of my most critical clients was a blind man. When he ran his hand over my finish and said, "OH man that is nice." I knew I did good.


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## Michael121 (Jun 30, 2008)

I had 20/10 or whatever it was. At 44 I too need more light to read up close.

5 years ago I used to be able to read the numbers stamped on the tumblers inside a GM ignition, to make a key. Now I need a jewlers lens.

There ain't no cure for getting old. But you gotta have fun along the way.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I can sympathize, Mike. Prior to age 40 I had amazing vision and could read tiny things that most people could barely see at all. Now I need daylight and a magnifying glass to read a restaurant menu. LOL!


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## robbi (Jul 28, 2007)

Age is a matter of perception. When my youngest daughter (pictured with me in my photo) was in kindergarden she came home from school one day and was telling me about this very old lady that came to her classroom. I asked her if she knew how old she was and she said, oh, about your age mom….I was barely in my 30's then!! I look at my 88 year old mother and I think, wow, she's not that old and the closer I get to her age, the younger she seems.


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

Getting old is definitely not for the faint hearted. I just went to progressive lenses this year. It was a tough adjustment for me, but it sure helped me pass my flight physical.


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## saddlesore (Oct 17, 2007)

I agree with Karson. I buy the cheap dollar store reading glasses and leave a pair in each room. I have bifocal safety glasses for the shop that are great. I never have to take them off that way.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Lasik surgery is quite effective, but not covered by medical insurance. I had 3 friends have it, and they rave about it. Each of them has 20/20 vision now. My son, who was so near-sighted he was almost blind, had the lasik surgery when he was 22 (he's now 26) and is 20/20.

Me? I'm in bifocals. For very fine work I use magnifying lenses by Bousch and Lamb. They magnify up to 2.6x. I am considering having the eye doc write me a new script for some work glasses, then head off to Wal Mart or another big box store for some $45 bifocal work glasses. Oh, and I'm 55 and my eye doc says I have the early stages of cataracts. Great.


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## daltxguy (Sep 7, 2007)

My dad used to say that he didn't have an eye problem, it's that his arms weren't long enough.

I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. No problem seeing close but I need glasses for seeing far, BUT, I used to be able to see up close with my glasses on and now I can't, so I find myself peering under my glasses to read. Better yet, I just leave my glasses off and it lets me focus on what I am doing. Now the trouble is I forget where I left my glasses!

I've also gotten in the habit of checking the finishes on my pieces mainly by touch. I find that my hand can pick up things minutely small that my eye may have missed. If it feels good, it must be


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## woodsmithshop (Sep 10, 2008)

Medicken, I tried progressive lenses once didn't like them , I had the same problems you did and took them back for bifocals, after about 3 or 4 years I needed a new prescription, so I tried the progressive lenses again because I did not want trifocals, and this time I got used to them so now I really like them, it just takes time to get used to them.


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

Your lucky it happened to me at about 35!!!
99 cent store glasses!


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Hey Chip,

Cataract surgery is covered by most insurances. That's how I got my lens transplant. Before then I couldn't read the freeway exit signs quick enough to get off the freeway.So I just drove slower and by feel.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I look at in a different perspective in that I worked extremely hard to get these eyes of mine, I worked extrremely hard for every single one of my grey hairs and as a matter of fact….......I'm proud of it.

I have ZERO problem with bi-focals and worked damn hard to get them. I keep several pairs of glasses of various strengths around the shop and even have "drop down magnifyers" as well as reading lights with the giant "magnifying Glass"....................and none of it bothers me one bit.

I did found it rather odd on Christmas Morning seeing the daughter read her newspaper with glasses on, her mother reading her paper with glasses on, her mothers mother (Gramma) reading the paper with glasses on and dear old Great Grandma at 97 years young reading the paper without glasses.


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## LeeinEdmonton (Aug 5, 2008)

Somethin aint right here. In my early 40's I started with reading glasses, then in mid-50's bifocals, then late 60's tri-focals. No problem with any of them till now in later 70's, My problem seems to be that my sight is reversing….namely for things at a distance I now see very well WITHOUT my glasses & sure don't need tri-focals. Next step is gonna be drugstore glasses for reading & trips to the doc for the sole purpose of checking the health of my eyes.
I have never have worried about street signs because in this City the transport dept. seems to be playing "guess again" with motorists. Namely no rhymn or reason to where they place their tiny signs, often behind traffic lights or on differing poles, & some times none at all.

Lee


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks, Lee!
I never entertained the notion of eyesight actually getting better with age!
Your words are a gift, I searched my mind for a long time for the correct thoughts to divert my frustration over ever-weakening eyes. Now I know that eyesight CAN improve! Thanks again! For now, I'm doing what others have done: Plenty of cheap reading glasses in every room. There is a discount tool/hardware store nearby that sells reading safety goggles. $12.00 ..I've got 4 pair of 'em now!


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## woodyoda (Dec 7, 2008)

I have to agree with Lee….I even have a stigmatism and it's getting better, but I know why, and Lee I bet I can guess why yours is getting better.
Tell me if this isn't part of your history….you use to really stress out allot and now with your age you either have decided that it's just not worth it in life OR You take a kind of nap during the day…..every day that you are in a state where you are kind of awake and kind of asleep.
I am 58 this year and my eyesight is getting better…...I do self hypnosis and have gone back thru my life and got rid of out angers, unforgiveness, and cleared out old trauma's from my body.
A couple of years ago, I worked with a guy in his late seventies who suffered with myopia so bad, he was considered legally blind (that means he could only see something extremely close, and barely that) he had a seeing eye dog for years…......I worked with him for about 4 hours and got about 15% of his sight back. That meant he could read stuff on tv which special glasses. This is not a small thing for someone who's considered blind. All I did was talk to him, relieve some of his past traumas, and his sight came back naturally. He would have done better, but doctors had done laser treatments on his eyes and burnt the lens in his eyes.
Wearing glasses is part of the problem, they make the shape of your eyes fixed, and then you HAVE to keep wearing glasses.
I do this same thing with people with chronic illnesses, PTSD at the Veterans Hospital….etc
Why don't doctors do this? They want to see 15 people an hour…..I may be with one person for hours, so, as far as their concerned, there's no money in it….......................................................................yoda


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

There's nothing wrong with my eye sight. It's just a bit foggy and the fog will lift as soon as the sun comes out. They don't make street signs the way they used to. They're making the print a lot smaller and putting them a lot further down the road.

Seriously though, since my 40's I've had a problem with my eyes not being able to focus as quickly and it takes about 30 seconds or more to re-focus from far to near and visa-versa, so if I blink I have to wait for the muscles to relax or contract all over again. The doctor said it's a muscle condition, not a lense problem, so nothing can be done. Patience and control are key, now I just need some. I have noticed I like a lot more light to see up close. We've installed a lot of light fixtures: basic workshop type, ceiling track and arm type of fixtures all with flourescent bulbs in the workshop so I can see up close. In the arm fixtures I use the compact bulbs equivalent to 100 watt bubs. Since my work can be held up close, I want the surfaces as perfect as possible.

When I was in China we toured a rug weaving factory where they make intricately woven carpets that take 6 months or more to create. The young girls who do the weaving are in their 20's and have been doing this since their teens. The intricate work is very taxing on their eyes and they have to make their money from their work before their eyes give out, usually by their 40's. Since they don't have pension plans they're livlihood is short lived unless they can find another type of work.

My husbands' family carries the gene that causes retinitis pigmentosis which can cause blindness from a young or mature age. Two brothers are blind from youth, one used to see dark/light, but I'm not sure what he sees now that he's in his 40's. Sooo, for all of our griping on old age and failing eye sight, life isn't that bad compared to others. Just wish I could stop hitting my nose trying to find the doorway. . .

If I recall there is a blind furniture maker who does absolutely stunning work. I don't know if he lost his sight during adulthood or not, but he managed to teach himself how to safely work in the workshop and his creations can surpass any sighted craftsman.

I realize that my sight is my most cherished sense, may not be the most important, but I truly love aethestically beautiful things and I would be quite devastated to lose my eye sight, but if that should ever be taken from me, I will have to deal with it. I hope I will be able to create beautiful things as long as I'm on this planet. [But then, maybe I'll be able to visit afterwards and do more.]


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## woodyoda (Dec 7, 2008)

Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine. People keep sucking up, everything the medical profession puts out there…..anyone who has done yoga, knows that the eyesight can be improved at ANY age. Also Jack Lalaine also proved that ANY health condition can be improved at ANY age, even in the 90's.
I prove doctors wrong in their work almost everyday. Did you ever see the movie "Catch Me if YOU Can" 
about a young man who impersonated a doctor for years with no medical school at all…. because he just kept up with CURRANT medicine, and doctors didn't want to talk to him, because they NEVER did. They are taught in school, if there is not a pill or glasses to fix a problem, there is no cure…...........wrong.
As Linkletter said….Growing Old Ain't for Sissies…..but it doesn't have to be that bad, unless you listen to doctors. They told me I had 1 year to live…...that was in 1971….........................................yoda


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## LeeinEdmonton (Aug 5, 2008)

A simple excersize can often correct slow to focus eyesight. Sit at the corner of one wall in a room. Without moving your head move your eyes from one corner to the next to the next. Do this repetively for about 5 minutes every day. It will strenthen the eye muscles which sometimes have become weakened with aging.
For myself, I rec'd nasty news last week in that I now have the start of cataracs in both eyes. Only plus to this is they have improved the technique for lens implants over the years since my wife had her implants.

Lee


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## woodyoda (Dec 7, 2008)

I had a friend that was in his seventies, he was also color blind all his life…...they gave him lens transplants,because of cataracts. I'll never forget his face when he said he could see color for the first time in his life…....he said "Wow, the world is a beautiful place' like he had never seen it before, and wept.
yoda


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

I've worn glasses all my life. The a few years ago… presbyopia. I got a pair of the new progressive lenses but after awhile got tired of finding the right place in the lenses to read and reading off the end of my nose.

After all those years I broke and got contacts. They're new.. It used to be you'd get one lens for close and one for far and you're brain supposedly adjusted. The new ones Bauch & lomb, multifocal actually have multiple focal lengths in each lens. How do they do this? I dunno. But, they work pretty good. And I do keep a pair of light reading glasses for the tiny stuff. Never thought I'd do contacts, after all I've got permanent dents for the pads on the side of my nose for eyeglasses.


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