Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A New Chapter and CONTEST!

My former sidebar “The Saga of the Substitute Teacher” was written in the style of the TV show “The Adventures of Superman”.

The post about it is HERE .

The substitute-teaching day that led to it is HERE.

I began my blog on 09/06/09, which means I’ve been subbing for 2+ years.

My first post is HERE .


Last week on Monday and Wednesday, I interviewed for 2 full-time Special Education assistant jobs, fretted about whether I’d be offered those jobs (especially because I was competing against fresh out of school Special Ed. TEACHERS), and doubted every decision I’d ever made in my life.

Tuesday, I received a job offer for a Special Education Extended Term Substitute position that would last only 3 months (and be full of responsibility for something I have little background in… yet).

Thursday, I received a job offer in a town nearby to work with middle school children with behavioral issues. I TOOK THE JOB.

Friday, I called Cambridge human resources and resigned as a substitute teacher. (YaY!)


I may no longer be a sub, but the aim of this blog is the same: to chronicle my journey to have my own Social Studies classroom, land an agent, and receive a publishing contract.

I’ve deleted my “Saga of the Substitute Teacher” sidebar and added a new one, “Writer with Woes”:

Hello, I'm Theresa Milstein and I’m certified to teach Social Studies. For 2 years I was a substitute teacher. I was an assistant, a day sub, and an ETS*. My students were preschoolers, teens, and ages in between. But now I'm full time, picking up my life exactly where I left off. I'm back as an assistant, writing each day, and taking Special Education graduate classes. I'm finding out that though the positions have changed, the hassles are just the same.

* Extended Term Substitute

(If you can tell which TV show I pulled this from, let me know in the comments section.)


Under the “Substitute Teacher’s Saga” heading, it now says:

Although no longer a sub, the saga continues...

Thank you for sharing this saga with me.


To celebrate my 4 milestones: blogiversary, 600+ follower count, new gradate class, and new job, I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY.

You can win 1 of 4 BOOKS:




Abandon by Meg Cabot, hardcover SIGNED!






Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, paperback SIGNED!















Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif, paperback.





RULES:

You MUST be a follower and you MUST share this post in some way.

2 points - old follower

1 point - new follower

1 point for each place you share via social network

2 points for sidebar

5 points for blog post

(Extra bonus point if you suggest a new title for my blog.)

Tally points in the comments section, telling me what you did, which book(s) you prefer, and leave your e-mail address.


Open internationally. Contest ends midnight EST, 09/27.

GOOD LUCK!


85 comments:

  1. Congratulations Theresa! I'm so happy for you!

    I'm going to Tweet this to let everyone know.

    New Title Suggestion: Write it Out (Like 'ride it out' but with, you know, write...yeah, it's bad.)

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  2. Its fun to look back and see where we cam from and how far we've come. Makes you wonder where you will be one year from now.

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  3. Theresa, I'm so glad you've gotten a full time position. You will serve those kiddos well. I have all the faith in the world in you.

    + 2 old follower
    +1 twitter
    +1 facebook

    Total= +4

    Great giveaway! Congratulations on not being a substitute any more!!!!!

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  4. That is so awesome! I'm so happy for you! CONGRATS!

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  5. You know how happy I am for you, friend!

    +2 old follower
    +1 Twitter
    +1 FB
    +2 sidebar

    +1 Work & Writing Saga (similar but different)

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  6. Congrats on the job! And, um, my area of specialty in my day job is behavior - so let me know if you need ANYTHING!!! Hugs

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  7. Congrats, Theresa! Having followed your facebook statuses for quite some time, it is great to see this triumph in your life.

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  8. Yay! I'm so excited for you! I know you're going to rise to the challenge of this job, and I can't wait to hear about it! Congratulations!!!

    Also, guessing about your sidebar: Nikita?

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  9. Congrats on the new job!!! May this be the start of exciting times in your life and that everything else lines up nicely.

    Cool contest! Bestest Ramadan Ever is one I'd like to read. I've tweeted here http://twitter.com/#!/JL_Campbell/status/111263651842891777
    Hoping I can remember to include this in my post tomorrow. You should ask Rachel to put this on the noticeboard for Friday, if you haven't already.

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  10. That's awesome! Congratulations on the new job!! It must have felt really good to resign :)

    Thanks for the giveaway~I'm an old follower and I'll put your contest in my sidebar. No blog title idea from me right now, but I might be back to suggest one :)

    Again, congrats!

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  11. Tweeting this now. :)
    I am so happy for you! It's great to see your life and your blog evolve.
    Yay!

    Hmm, new title...
    How about:

    Teach & Type

    ?

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  12. That's terrific Theresa! My hub works with behavioral issue kids and used to teach social studies. Have a great year. What an accomplishment. It's hard to get teaching jobs right now. :)

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  13. Great news, Theresa! I'm so happy for you.

    I'll tweet this contest. Thanks for holding a giveaway of my book.

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  14. That's awesome--congrats to you!! Your job is sooo important to so many.

    I tweeted of course, and I follow!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  15. Congratulations on your job! That is absolutely wonderful. Your classroom will be a rich environment under your leadership.

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  16. So happy for you Theresa! I'm sure this new job will bring you lots of new stories to tell. Congrats!

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  17. Hi Theresa .. that's wonderful and I'm so pleased for you - and many new stories to come out of the Writer With Woes sidebar .. enjoy, good luck, much happiness and much fun - you'll be great as you've so much to offer ... excellent news - cheers Hilary

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  18. Love the sidebar title.
    And it's super great with all the positive changes in your life at the moment.

    old follower, tweeted, and will mention your contest in my next blog post. Plus I've already given you a new title suggestion via FB ;)
    So that's 8+

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  19. THERESA MILSTEIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    OH WOWOWOWOWOOWOWOOW!!!! OH WOW!!

    What can I say!?!? I'm grabbing Charlie and we are both doing a very very very happy and joyful dance for you!!!!!!

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Oh wowowwowwoowowow!!!! Goodbye to the BESTEST SUBSTITUTE TEACHER EVER!!! Hello to the WONDERFUL WRITER TEACHER! Yay!!

    Take care
    x

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  20. Congratulations!! That is so fantastic. I heard a sniggle of a job for you somewhere over the weekend, was going to send an email, (because I'm nosy like that) but I figured you'd share news here.

    I'm so happy for you. So so happy. Congratulations again.

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  21. Haha. I'm laughing that Old Kitty and Charlie are doing a happy dance! I'm picturing it in my mind. Anyway, congrats, again!

    I'm an old follower (no comments about age, please!)
    I've tweeted. I've Fb'd it. And I've shared on Google Plus!

    As for a new title? I'll get back to you on that. (Puts thinking hat on...)

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  22. Congrats on your good news! So happy for you.

    I'm an old follower. Thanks for the contest.

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  23. Well, that answers my question that I just emailed you! :) Congrats! You will love being in control of your own classroom again! I'm sure you will have some interesting days.
    Great contest! I'll tweet it!

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  24. Congrats on the new job and all the followers etc! Good things to good people :)

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  25. Hi Theresa! Congratulations on both the new job and 600 followers! So happy for you!

    I've posted this on my sidebar and Facebook. I've got 5 points, yay!!!

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  26. CONGRATULATIONS! I'm sure you feel amazing and excited right now, and you totally should!! :)

    I'm a newb follower. Great contest! And I'm brainstorming names for you for sure :)

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  27. Congrats on your new job! And on over two years of blogging. Time flies doesn't it?

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  28. Congratulations on your job. You will be the best teacher ever.

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  29. Congratulations ex substitute teacher!!! May all your other dreams come true, good things come in threes they say:)

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  30. Congrats on the job from a fellow-campaigner!

    And this is one awesome giveaway...off to tweet about it.

    Also, would like to invite you and your readers to take a look at The Rule of Three Blogfest ---a month-long extravaganza in the fictional town of Renaissance this October, with some great prizes, comment love, and of course, a lot of exposure for your writing.

    Check it out and sign up if you like---would love a YA vampire story set in the town of Renaissance!

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  31. Congratualtions again, Theresa. Can't wait to see where your journey takes you next!

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  32. Wow! How did I miss this one? Blame the vacation.
    That is such great news, congratulations!!
    I'll definitely blog about this on my Friday post, and I'll go FB and Google+ it right now!
    (9 points; denizb33 at gmail dot com)

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  33. Congratulations on the new job. Now I wish you success on the publishing contract. That will be the real coup.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  34. Congrats on the job, Theresa. I, took, have left the sub teacher queue for best job in the world(aka PE teacher) and wow, what a difference it's made.
    Would love any book (free books! *hyperventilating at the thought*)
    +2 for old follower
    +1 for twitter post

    rewrighter (at) gmail

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  35. Theresa, I am so happy for you, I just woke up the kitties with my shout of joy. I’ve had my fingers crossed you would find a job you could love and that you wouldn’t have to wait forever for it to arrive in your life.

    Congratulations as well on reaching 600 followers; I noticed that while leaving my last comment. :) That is so sweet of you to have the contest; let’s see … I’m an old follower who just tweeted/posted on my FB wall your awesome blog/this post, so that would be a +4. The books all look equally good; I’ll let fate decide this one! I’ll need to think some more about that new title …

    mefayard(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  36. Congratulations! That is very cool. :)

    And cool contest. All the books sounds great, but I would love to have Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.

    I'm sidebarring you and I'm an old follower so +4

    Thanks!

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  37. Bells & whistles! Hooray for you! Congrats on the new job, Theresa, and congrats on 600+ followers. You're on a roll. Don't forget to buy a lottery ticket! JK. Luck has nothing to do with it. Hard work pays off. Kudos to you. Cheers to your success. It will be fun following your journey to reach your main goals.

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  38. It's been great to follow your journey up to this point, and I am looking forward to more adventures.

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  39. 2 points - old follower

    +1 Tweet:
    http://twitter.com/#!/sophthewriter/status/111715089928818688

    +1 Google+
    https://plus.google.com/105238348935042088465/posts

    Total +4

    I would LOOOOVE Grace Lin's signed book!

    sophiathewriter at gmail

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  40. Congratulations! I hope you'll find your new job fulfilling!

    Old Follower - +2
    Twitter - +1
    New Blog Title - +1

    My suggestion: Saga of the Writing Ex-Sub (not the best, but I'm not in a creative mood...)

    Total = 4! :)

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  41. Sorry for the second post! Erm, forgot to add my Facebook point: +!, so my grand total is now 5!

    Also, here are the books in order of preference

    Bestest. Ramadhan. Ever
    Abandon
    Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
    Red Glove

    Thanks again for the sweet giveaway!

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  42. Hello my sweet! Congratulations on no longer being a sub! May you adore your new job. You'll be amazing.

    Sorta sad to lose the substitiute teacher tag, but I'm supporting you in your journey to publication.

    I won't enter your competition, but congrats on the 600+ followers and for blogging for over 2 years. Postage to Oz is too expensive if I win a book.

    Go Theresa!

    Denise

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  43. Big congratulations on your new job, Theresa. I'm really happy for you.

    I have great admiration for anyone who teaches and particularly people who are willing to take on pupils with special needs.

    Good luck with the new job and with your continued writing journey.

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  44. Congratulations, Theresa - I'm so happy for you!!!

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  45. Ooh congrats on taking steps forward with your life! I hope that God blessed this new phase in the plan. :-)

    3 points please: 2 because I'm an old follower and 1 for tweeting.

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  46. Woo-Hoo! Congrats on the job. I've no idea which television program you fashioned your new blurb after, although the cadence is vaguely familiar. I'm sure I'll slap my forehead when you tell us.

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  47. Yay, Theresa! Awesome news. Congrats and good luck in the new job!

    I'm an old follower and I'll tweet your contest - so +3 points please.

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  48. Woo to the hoo! Congratulations! You are one of the hardest workers I know. I have no doubt all your dreams and goals will happen. Because YOU MAKE them happen!

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  49. I hope your first week has been going well. I don't have a good title for your blog, but as these things seem to come to me when I'm not looking for them, if I think one up I'll comment later.

    Okay, so old follower, I posted on FB and I tweeted it, so 4.

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  50. Happy Dancing for you!!!!! :)

    You're going to love working with those kids. I've worked with kids with behavioural issues and I loved them. It's an amazing chance to give them some TLC and see them succeed. Have so much fun in your new position!!! :)

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  51. A giant yay and massive massive congrats! That's so fantastic - I'm beyond thrilled for you.

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  52. Congratulations on the new job! That is great. I hope you will have your 'dream' job soon. Don't laugh, but I'm thinking of the A Team. :)
    Okay, I've signed up to follow your blog twice but it isn't showing. I'll check back later. Just wanted to let you know.

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  53. Congrats girl! I've loved following your journey throughout and am happy you're still going to be blogging even though you're not subbing any longer.

    I'm off to tweet!

    julianalbrandt[at]gmail[dot]com

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  54. I missed this?? How could I? WOOHOO! I'z doing a happy jig for you and the people in my house have NO idea what has come over me. YAY! You KNOW how happy I am. <3 you.

    I knew without a doubt this would happen.

    *next stop? famous author status* ;-)

    +2 old follower
    +1 Twitter
    +1 FB
    +2 sidebar
    Best. Ramadan. Ever.

    or

    Where The Mountain Meets the Moon.

    robyn(at)robyncampbell(dot)com

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  55. Dropped by to say congratulations and I tagged you on my blog!

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  56. WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!! I am SO happy for you! :D

    *hugs*

    Man, I know how bad you've been wanting, needing, this.
    Yay yay YAY!

    I've won from you, so I'll not enter to give more people a chance. BUT, I will pimp it on my sidebar. :)

    Huggles...LOTS of huggles!
    Love,
    Lola

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  57. Oh, and I'll tweet it on Monday and during the week.

    Again: CONGRATS! :)

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  58. Congratulations on everything, Theresa- so awesome!

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  59. Congratulations Theresa! I'm so happy for you!

    Will be tweeting this!

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  60. Congrats on the new job and new moniker! (and I've tweeted!)

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  61. Congratulations on everything! Very exciting milestones all at once!

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  62. Congrats on reaching 628 followers.

    Now I understand the change in the title. That threw me for a second. I kind of like it now. LOL But try saying it five times real fast. :D

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  63. Hi Theresa! I'm so sorry I haven't been by for a while, but I'm thrilled to come back to such great news!!! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! :)

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  64. Hey Theresa! Just wanted to let you know I posted about your contest today. Plus I'm an old follower, so 7 points for me. I already have Medeia's book, so I'm going to go for Red Glove by Holly Black (one of my favorite authors!) My email is susanfieldswriter(at)gmail(dot)com.

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  65. Congrats on the new job and the followers! So happy for you.

    Old follower +2
    Sidebar +2
    Tweeted +1 - http://twitter.com/#!/LisaMPotts/status/113609462027272192

    I was going to suggest "A Sub No More" for the new blog title, but I like the one you have now too!

    I would have to choose Red Glove by Holly Black.

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  66. CONGRATULATIONS!!

    Old follower +2
    Facebook +1
    Twitter +1

    Total = 4

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  67. On the one hand... From a purely selfish side, I'm going to miss hearing about the awesome powers of super substitute teacher woman.
    On the other hand, you know how much I love alliteration in all its iterations... Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts was a surefire hit with me. : j
    And it's a dirty job, but someone has to teach tribulations. Teehihi. : j

    Congratulations on the new job!
    I'm also glad to hear you didn't have to go back to real estate. ;7
    Gambatte!

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  68. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  69. So happy about your new job! I shared on Twitter +1 and am an old follower +2

    Total +3

    http://twitter.com/#!/jpetroroy/status/113705424305397760

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  70. Hello, I wanted to let you know that I've passed the versatile blogger award to you, check it out on my blog: http://iqurae.blogspot.com/

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  71. Congrats on your job. I teach also and love it but I wish I could afford to stay home and write full time.

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  72. Congrats on the job and classes! And YAY for the saga continuing. :o)

    I'm so happy we met those couple of years ago. We've both come a long way and still have a beautiful journey before us. Best wishes hugs!

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  73. Congratulations on the job, Theresa. Good for you!!!

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  74. What a wonderful way to mark your transition. I will try to get all of the above done, but first I must figure out my launch persona. Congratulations Theresa...600 followers YAY for you.

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  75. Congratulations!

    And 600 followers? Wowza!

    +1 new follower
    +1 Twitter @33megan33

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  76. I came back to mention this contest ends on my birthday. Could that be my lucky charm??? Eh? ;-)

    How'z work going? (((hugs)))

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  77. Woo hoo, congratulations Theresa! I am excited for you! Congrats also on your followers and great milestones! :)

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  78. Congratulations! I'm so glad to hear the good news! Good luck on the new job! And on your writing!

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  79. Just FYI: I have tweeted twice more since I entered. :-)

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  80. Congrats!
    new follower 1
    Twitter 1
    FB 1 (also liked)
    I love it when I get to visit 7th grade classes. Not often enough.

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