2 Generations 1 Mic

Side Hustles: Making Extra Cash in Today's Economy

ANDREINA & MARK LANDIS Season 1 Episode 16

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Side hustles have become essential in today's economy, especially for younger generations struggling to afford basic needs while saving for larger goals like travel or homeownership.

• Mystery shopping for brands who need stores audited for product placement
• Social casino platforms offering free sweepstake coins that can be converted to real money
• Thrift store flipping using Google Lens to identify valuable items selling below market value
• Furniture restoration turning $10 Facebook Marketplace finds into $50+ resale items
• Rideshare and food delivery services as flexible income sources
• Content creation platforms for those comfortable sharing specialized content
• Reselling retail products through Amazon at markup prices

Don't fall for expensive online courses promising to teach you side hustles. Everything you need to know can be found for free on YouTube and other resources.


Speaker 1:

This is an episode I'm actually kind of excited about, because I don't know a whole lot about this stuff and I'm sure a lot of people my age would be real interested in knowing this and how to make more money. Everybody's talking about how to make more money, so I'm very excited about this. Before we get into that, make sure if you haven't already, like, subscribe and follow us. We have a brand new episode every Tuesday morning at 6 am. It drops Central Standard Time on YouTube, so it's free. So just subscribe to there if you would please. And then also it's on all other podcast platforms most every one of them Spotify, apple, iheart all the big ones and a bunch of other little ones, but most of those.

Speaker 1:

So if you would please do that for us, ask us questions If you have ideas for topics. I get that a lot on my personal TikTok or Facebook. People say you should do a podcast, you should do an episode about this. It's kind of funny. So if you have episode ideas, we'll be happy to discuss those and do that. But we appreciate you being on this journey with us and today's episode.

Speaker 2:

What are you wearing?

Speaker 1:

I am supporting the home team here. This is my Wildcats. Go Wildcats.

Speaker 2:

Who are the Wildcats? I mean, I know who they are, of course, yeah well that is the Willis High School Wildcats.

Speaker 1:

That's my grandson's baseball team.

Speaker 2:

There you go.

Speaker 1:

And he is a rock star baseball player. He is there you go, and he's already got moved up to the JV team, so we're very excited about that. And then we get the little one, vera, who's also playing baseball.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and also, who are the 45s?

Speaker 1:

The 45s are what the Astros used to be. Before they were the Astros, they were the 45s. Oh.

Speaker 2:

A little history there. Why 45s?

Speaker 1:

I don't know. The owner drank a lot of Colt 45. I have no idea.

Speaker 2:

What's a Colt 45? That's a malt liquor Jesus.

Speaker 1:

Not a very good one, but anyway. So, yeah, I'm supporting the team, okay, my kids' final year this year in baseball, which we're going to be going a lot of games.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're really proud of that. We're really proud of you kids, we're really proud.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm.

Speaker 2:

Nana. So Nana is proud of you kids.

Speaker 1:

Hottest Nana that comes to the school. I can promise you that let's do.

Speaker 2:

I'm proud of those kids. They're really, really good kids. So today's episode is going to be about side hustles, right, and it's something that I've always. I mean again, we own our international beauty business, beauty brand and we I don't know, I still like to follow that Warren Buffett motto like never put all your eggs into one basket, because I don't know, you never know, and also my ADD, I get bored and I need to find something else. I mean again, our main business is our main business, right, but I always, I'm trying always to find like what's how to make. I don't know even if it's a 10 extra 10, it just feels good like oh look, you can make 10 doing this or that, you know, like yeah, I think that uh, especially a lot of people my age um don't understand, um how you would even do this.

Speaker 1:

It's much more of a younger, like millennial, gen Z generational thing, because we cannot afford living in today's world, that's right Because you make an extra money to live.

Speaker 2:

Freaking eggs. Have you seen the?

Speaker 1:

price of the eggs. Yeah, everybody's talking about eggs, everybody's freaking out about eggs. You know how you stop that, how you stop the prices of things soaring. It's called supply and demand Economics 101. You stop buying something, the less people that buy it.

Speaker 2:

People need eggs. Stop buying them. It's America's number one breakfast.

Speaker 1:

Stop it. Eat granola, eat fruit. Stop buying eggs for a while and watch the prices go back down. I don't know, but again like the economy.

Speaker 2:

like again, like we talked about this the other day, and I think, when you were younger and when you were, what was your first job, at what age?

Speaker 1:

I think it was probably 13, 12 or 13.

Speaker 2:

Child labor here.

Speaker 1:

No, I was a paper boy. I threw the newspaper and my dad helped me with that. But, uh, I had a bicycle. I went bicycle and we used to throw the, the old school paper newspaper that some old people still read but what?

Speaker 2:

what did you use that money for?

Speaker 1:

oh gosh drugs. No, I'm not just playboy? No, yeah, probably playboy. That was my illegal subscription that I had under my dad's name because I got the I used to get home before he did from school. I'd get home from school before he got home from work and they sent him the thing saying hey, would you like to subscribe to Playboy?

Speaker 2:

Hell, yes, yes, I think I will.

Speaker 1:

I filled it out and then the mail always came before he did so. I had that stacked up. He had no clue that I had all these Playboy magazines.

Speaker 2:

What a little shithead.

Speaker 1:

That's before the internet, when you know?

Speaker 2:

porn was free. Well, not in Texas anymore. You cannot watch.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, texas, they don't let you do it, but they swear their big brother is protecting everybody from that, anyway, so we're getting off topic here. That was not my side hustle, but my first job was that. And then I think I sat groceries in a grocery store Again. At that time they would hire you when you're like 14 years old to sat groceries on a Saturday morning and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

Right, but if you guys like you were doing that, it was not as a side hustle, it was just number one to have a job, the only job outside of school To have, like it was just number one to have a job outside of school to have like spending money.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Spending money Right, but today's economy and today's world, like I said that before, it's so hard for us to young people to afford to buy a house, afford to have like other things other than normal living expenses. Right, you have to have your rent, you have to have like your car payment, your insurance payment, groceries and like for play, money usually you need to have if you want to travel. How do you? Even people are like save up for traveling, but if you really want to do all this, you need to have extra income that normal nine to five jobs usually don't give you. And if you can supplement that like, that's why our generations and younger always try to find that like the side hustle economy. Because you need that, you need to be able to afford better things.

Speaker 1:

There are a lot of you know. I said earlier that most older people don't understand how to do the side hustles. That's not always the case. Maybe technologically it's tougher on those things that we'll get into. But the number one thing I think that older people do as side hustles is drive for Uber. How many of our Uber and Lyft drivers are older people we've had conversations with and they're like remember, like in different cities, wherever we would land say, oh, somebody would be older, much older, like you know, 50, 60 years old. Are they to be? Like? Uh, they would say we would start talking to them and they'd say, oh, yeah, I'm doing this on the side because we're trying to do this and they're just, you know, they use that money to save up to do something, but they're doing, doing that's their side hustle is driving for Uber or Lyft or, you know, delivering or people that have let they were let go on their jobs, and this is like the most immediate thing that you can do to actually generate a little bit more money.

Speaker 1:

Quickly, quickly.

Speaker 2:

Like Uber and drive. There's nothing driving Uber or Lyft. There's nothing wrong with it, like I would. I mean, thankfully the US is not one of those countries that is so unsafe like, unfortunately, my home country of Mexico, where Uber drivers are as scared to drive passengers just as passengers are afraid of the Uber drivers because of the kidnappings and robberies and everything else that is so prevalent in there, but thankfully, here in the US that doesn't happen and I think that's a great side hustle to drive for them. Also, uber Eats and I hear a lot of people do that too, like the Uber Eats and Glovo and all these apps that are out there. Again, if you're doing this as your main job, I think it's not that much money Like, because I mean it's not really like made, unless it's your only job.

Speaker 1:

Like you said, you have fire and it's your only opportunity to make money, then yeah.

Speaker 2:

But like nobody is saying, oh, my dream job is to be an Uber driver, like no, I mean, it's fun, you meet cool people Like we've met cool drivers.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, really nice people.

Speaker 2:

Like that time we met this, like remember we were in, I think, miami. We ate a bonefish last night.

Speaker 1:

Or Orlando. We were in Orlando.

Speaker 2:

He used to. He was this guy from Brazil and he just got his green card here.

Speaker 1:

It just makes me laugh because I remember this story.

Speaker 2:

Sorry, my husband is the most random dude Parenthesis on the topic. So it's him, me and his daughter, tiffany and Natalie.

Speaker 1:

Adult daughter. Adult daughter Tiffany and Natalie, that girl that worked for us.

Speaker 2:

So we were there for a trade show and the guy's telling us his trouble story right Like he came from Brazil and he just got his green card and it's been complicated and everything. This is like about eight years ago.

Speaker 1:

He's bearing his, he's bearing his soul.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and like this very big accent Right and suddenly this ding dong goes oh wait, look. And we all looked, we ate a bonefish. Last night and the guy was just like what the fuck is wrong with this dude like I'm pouring my soul and heart and he just stopped me to tell me, which is a restaurant, by the way.

Speaker 1:

It's like it's kind of a seafood restaurant, yeah, but anyway.

Speaker 2:

So unless you're like that right, like it's really the only job you can do, uh, like having a that as as a supplement income, I think it's good because you can set up your own hours and everything right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's great, but you have so many other more tech savvy side hustles and things you tell me about and I'm like what? It takes me a while to even figure out what you're talking about. I'm like I don't say how do you make money? I didn't understand how it even works.

Speaker 2:

I mean there's some side hustles that are like some of the side hustles that I've found that are good. I mean, being a mystery shopper is one. There's companies out there that they pay you to go audit stores and everything and anybody can do it. You just need to apply for it and they have to make sure that you have a social security and you are able to work. But you can absolutely go and apply.

Speaker 2:

There's apps actually that you can do as a mystery shopper and you go audit shelves at a store, for example. Right, and this is actually something companies need, because me, being a brand owner, I know sometimes that stores say they have a product when they don't have it, or they have it in a shelf that is not supposed to go in there, because stores sometimes charge you for product placement in priority, kind of like shelves, let's say, like an aisle level or an end cap, end cap, end cap is when you're at a grocery store or anything like or any kind of store, the thing that's the shelves that are right on the end between the aisles.

Speaker 1:

That's called an end cap. And if you don't know anything about that, you generally have to pay extra for that slot in the store. Or they'll do it as a promotional thing, where they'll give you the end cap for so long of a period of time and they sell those for extra income for the stores. That's how they do that, but they need people to go check.

Speaker 2:

Right, make sure that what you're paying for, like what you're paying for as a company, as an end cap, like a Walmart, right? Like, for example, you need to make sure that in all Walmarts your end cap is available. So a lot of companies pay like mystery shopping companies, let's say to go for that, and that's a great side hustle. Another side hustle I think is good If you're a gambler, don't do it Like. If you're like a hardcore gambler and you don't have control of yourself, don't do it. But online casinos this is really cool. So there's all this. They're called social casinos online and what you do is they basically, they tell you you play for free, and, yes, you play for free, because every day you log in, they give you it's called gold coins usually, which is virtual coins that are just for fun. But they also have a separate coin that is usually called sweepstake coin, and these sweepstake coins are real money that you can withdraw into your account. I mean, you have to verify all your details and everything. But the fun part about this is, like a lot of these social casinos, because they're free to play. That's how they're.

Speaker 2:

They're in everywhere except like four states, I think they're not allowed in, like in montana or nevada or utah I don't know some states, but most of these states they're free. They have to give you free sweepstake coins that you actually can gamble with, and it's slots, solitaire, how you call it, blackjack, roulette and everything else. Again, you can put your own money into it, but that's what I don't. I say, if you're a hardcore toxic gambler, don't do it. But if not, you can write in letters to them which, again, all you have to do is like the paper, like the, the your cost of it is like the stamp, the envelope and the little index card. But what you can do is like you write in a letter and it has to be specific. What they tell you to write Like oh, I request this, that that.

Speaker 1:

So you have to use the exact verbiage.

Speaker 2:

They give you the exact verbiage and the exact way to write the envelope, and then you mail it in and then boom, you get $5. Sweepstake coins for each letter you mail. So if you mail 100, you have 500. Now the catch is, you have to gamble them in order to withdraw them. But if you're good at blackjack or if you're like, I mean, you're gambling with non-real money, but you can actually like withdraw it once you gamble it. So that's another thing.

Speaker 1:

Right. So the takeaway from that this hustle is one don't do it. If you have a gambling problem, obviously don't get involved in this. Don't get sucked into putting your own money into it, because then you're going to compound your problems you already have. So don't get sucked into that. You have to follow this mode of taking the time to write the letters, mailing letters, in getting your things using those coins. But if you're really good at playing blackjack, I'm horrible. I would never do this getting your things using those coins. But if you're really good at playing blackjack, I'm horrible. I would never do this. If I just like, if we're in Vegas and stuff, hey, you want to go lose a quick hundred dollars, come with me to the blackjack table. I'm always going to lose.

Speaker 2:

I know yeah, in Vegas no.

Speaker 1:

The only place I play really good cards and that's because it's the poker, the Texas Hold'em poker is in Red Dead Redemption 2. I'm really really good at card playing.

Speaker 2:

Yes, but you're betting like 20 cents and it's not real money, so it really doesn't count, but I'm winning. You're winning $2 to buy outfits on Red Dead.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, anyway, so but.

Speaker 2:

I've made money out of it. The other day I mailed in like seven letters. They gave me my $35 and I turned those into two grand.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's funny, We've actually been at dinner and while we're sitting there at one of our restaurants, she's like this is my lucky place. Because she's like, oh, I just want another $400. I just want another $300 on these hands, and so she just keeps going. Oh, I made like $2,000 at that dinner.

Speaker 2:

And then I quit and then I just let it go, because if you keep going then you're going to lose it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you have to figure out the algorithms. Yeah, you have to figure out.

Speaker 2:

At the point where you start winning, then you're going to start losing, because the house never loses right, Like the house will always win. So there's a time to retire from that. But that's a great side hustle. If you can write like with legible letters, you can do that.

Speaker 1:

Tell me about one that I think is more. I think it's especially older people can do this. Anybody can do this, once they figure out how to technically do it. Because I'm fascinated by this as a thing, because I remember when we first started talking about this, you tell me your ideas all the time and I'm like what, what, what and this like blew my mind. So there's a side hustle that you can go buy things at Goodwill Right Using Google and a camera feature.

Speaker 2:

Explain that so the other side hustle that I really like is reselling items on eBay. There's a lot of thrift shops that sell items that are good items. Like sometimes people donate the most random things and those things are actually like valuable, like you will, you would not believe. But digital cameras, you know, like those digital cameras from like what was it Canon? No, it was Sony. I think like really early 2000 cameras. They go for like two hundred dollars on eBay. Like, think, like really early 2000 cameras, they go for like $200 on eBay. Like people like nostalgia a lot and sometimes people donate those things because like, oh, I have my phone, I don't need this, and then you buy it for like $10. And then make sure it works, or sometimes for parts. But you have a Google camera. So if you go to a thrift shop and you see something that you think is interesting, like electronics specifically, for example, like the cameras or golf clubs and things, use your Google camera.

Speaker 1:

Hold on when you say Google camera, so that's not a good explanation. So if I have an Apple, I open up the Google app.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the Google app.

Speaker 1:

Go open up Google app on any phone you have.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

Right, and then you do what.

Speaker 2:

On the search bar there is like a little camera that you click on it and then you take a picture with that of the item and then Google will show you, like similar items, what's that item, like similar brands or that specific item, and it gives you more information about it. And if it's being sold on eBay or on other websites, that reselling websites it will show you the value of that item. Like what is it going for? Like, let's say, sometimes on Christmas time, sometimes on Christmas time there's this old school kind of like Santa Claus's and reindeers and everything that people just donate them and they look like they're horrible, honestly, but they sell like for $300, $400 each piece and people buy them for $2, $3.

Speaker 1:

So I could go. So it takes a little effort. You have to get up and go do some stuff, but it's not like you have to go invest a bunch of money because you really need. It's the research, yes, so you take your phone Everybody has a phone, cell phone. You go into a thrift store or a Goodwill that kind of thing and you start looking around. You can also search to see what is like the hottest thing that people are trying to buy and that kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

Right, I know you've mentioned that before, but you go in you find some item and it may be marked at like $10, $5, $10. And you check it and all of a sudden you picture it and say, oh my God, these are selling for $200. Right, well then, obviously take that item and put it in your cart.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

That's where you're going to make the investment. Right Is then you buy those items that you can sell for 10 times the amount on eBay Exactly, or sometimes like there was.

Speaker 2:

this time that I was, I was testing this side hustle and I went to a Goodwill and I understand Goodwill and all these stores are for low income families but this time I found these two sets of fondue Cuisinart fondue sets that they were being sold at $7, brand new and I was like, oh, that's cool, and I actually bought them because I thought we were going to do fondue at home and then I realized it's very complicated so I was like no, no, no, I don't want to do this.

Speaker 1:

We don't even eat fondue in restaurants. Why would we do it at home?

Speaker 2:

No, hey, they were $7. And then I was like fine, I'll sell them. And then I ended up selling them for like $50, when the retail price was $100. So I made, like I don't know, minus fees and everything, at least $30. I made out of that. Again, do your research. And that's a great side hustle you can do. Of course, I'm not telling you like it's all the time, it's a win-win. But if you go to different stores and you do your research, I mean, if you don't have anything else to do, you might as well utilize your time and trying to do this side hustle right.

Speaker 2:

And that's another one. What's another one? I've seen this. I have not put it into Well, into well, no, I've actually seen it because you did it and I was so pissed at you. So people list, people list items on amazon than you buy at walmart, but because I don't know how you bought a thing of bacon up oh well, bacon up, yeah, so for my cooking I was like who paying $40 for a bacon up that you can buy at Walmart for seven?

Speaker 2:

My husband, my husband did. He didn't go to the Walmart app because he doesn't use that. He uses Amazon for everything. So he bought a $42 thing of bacon up. I was like, why is it so expensive? And you're like, oh, because I cannot find it anywhere. They don't sell it locally. I was like no bullshit. And it came actually on a Walmart box and you're like, oh, it came in a Walmart box.

Speaker 1:

I was like we've been ripped off, I mean Right, so again. So what somebody did for their side hustle, their side hustle is to go get products like that. They do an Amazon ad, I'm guessing like that that I would see, and instead of buying it directly from Walmart for $7, they'll do it through Amazon. They're basically upcharging for you to get the product from there because I wasn't smart enough to go. Hey, I'm going to go check walmartcom. I don't do that, I just go to Amazon. I usually just go. You buy so many things on Amazon that the delivery driver could have an apartment or a bedroom in our house. I mean, that's how.

Speaker 2:

I do it there.

Speaker 1:

But I buy stuff only when I want it. But when I want it, I want it now. That's the way I shop. When I want something, I want it now, or I want it as fast as possible. So I'm going to buy that. Boom, one click Done.

Speaker 2:

You know you could have gone that same day to the grocery store and get it.

Speaker 1:

Well, I didn't know. I don't go to Walmart to go grocery shopping, so it's like you know. I don't shop there, I shop at HEB or we shop at Kroger. Sometimes they actually said Kroger had it. I couldn't find it in Kroger, so it was like Use the apps.

Speaker 2:

Use the apps people. Apps are there to help you. They even tell you, like Walmart, kroger or any other store ATV. They tell you which aisle the item is at and how many they have in stock. So you can do that, dave. Yeah, well, that's another side hustle and another one that I think is also like a good one. Like sometimes people literally like garage sales. Sometimes people get rid of stuff like the same as the Goodwill state sales and people get rid of furniture.

Speaker 2:

Flipping furniture is one of the most profitable side hustles out there. You have to have A little bit of patience and a little bit of a good eye for it. But you can buy easy. Start with an end table, right Nightstand table. Sometimes people get rid of them on Facebook Marketplace or at garage sales for like $5, $10. Buy that. Buy a good primer which Shellac Beam Primer is the best out there. A sander I think you have to invest about $100 worth of materials right Like a good sander, which is 20 bucks. A brush, a good brush and a paint roller and repainting a piece of furniture will give you an absolutely makeover. Like absolute amazing makeover that you can resell. That If you pay 10, you can resell that for 50 and pay $10,. You can resell that for $50. And you still have materials left.

Speaker 1:

Well, you also have to have like a desire to try to do that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2:

That's true, you wouldn't do that.

Speaker 1:

I mean you have to think that's a hobby. Oh, I want to fix for like in a million years I'm not going to do that. I'm not. I don't. You know me. I'm not a fix it guy. I don't like to fix things. I don't fix a car, I don't fix anything. I call a guy, that's what I do. I call a guy and I would much rather do other things. I'm not interested in that. I don't like doing repair. I don't like doing maintenance. I don't like building stuff with my hand. That doesn't do anything for me at all. That's just not me.

Speaker 1:

It's not my thing to Goodwill and start taking pictures of stuff or, more importantly, the one we can't leave out when we're talking about side hustles. I'm going for the low-hanging fruit. How do I sell my feet pictures, don't? I need to have an.

Speaker 2:

OnlyFans account or something. Well, that's another side hustle, but that's not for everybody, babe, Although, believe it or not, there's a whole market for older people. Some guys are really into older people. Some guys and women they're like like some guys are for older women and some women are for older.

Speaker 1:

So you say, is some guys, is the OnlyFans all guys, or mostly guys, or what is it? I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Babe, I don't have OnlyFans, I don't know, but I know what I've seen like sometimes some articles about it, like older couples or like couples per se. You don't have to show your face, you just get into the sexy times together and then people like to buy that type of content, or believe it or not. This is crazy. I don't know if this is just a how you call it like a lucky person, but some people sell their farts and their burps.

Speaker 1:

That's great, but hey, why are there so many crazy people out there? Everybody has their own weird kinks, it's just yeah, well, it works.

Speaker 2:

There's always a market like there's always somebody, something you have that somebody else supply and demand exactly what I just told you. Just like the eggs you want to buy eggs, sell your farts.

Speaker 1:

There you have that somebody else wants Supply and demand.

Speaker 2:

Supply and demand Exactly what I just told you. Just like the eggs, you want to buy eggs, sell your farts. There you go.

Speaker 1:

That is awful To me. I found OnlyFans by accident because I was searching for ceiling fans, and so I went to OnlyFans.

Speaker 2:

You're so stupid.

Speaker 1:

It's not what I thought.

Speaker 2:

It's not what you thought, you just know what I thought.

Speaker 1:

You just know what you thought. I got a bag of farts, that's all I got out of it.

Speaker 2:

That's gross. Well, but believe it or not, people pay up to $50 to $100 for a jar of farts.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2:

I know, hey, you got to do what you got to do. I guess who cares?

Speaker 1:

That's a side hustle.

Speaker 2:

Maybe you have a different side hustle, or what other people's side hustles are they know about Now what I'm going to tell you and please do not fall into this trap Everybody today nowadays is an online guru and they're going to sell you this course for $100, and then they're going to upsell you this and that. That's their side hustle. Selling you online courses. Everything you need to know about side hustles and if you want to learn how to do something, you can find free YouTube training with it. I will never, ever, ever tell you hey, you want to side hustle? Well, if you click this link, in about 40 minutes, I'm going to have a webinar about it and after the webinar, I'm going to sell it to you for $400. But the price is $3,000. Don't fall for that scam, because that's just people trying to prey on you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's how they make their money.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's how they make their money, but they're trying to prey on your need and your necessity that you want to do that, so don't do that Again. If you want to find a side, hustle YouTube free Free.

Speaker 1:

Watch videos on YouTube like this one is free. If you haven't subscribed already, please like, subscribe, follow, share it, ask us questions. Haven't subscribed already? Please like, subscribe, follow, share it, ask us questions. We have a brand new episode every Tuesday morning, 6 am Central Standard Time on YouTube, which again free to subscribe, and also on all podcast platforms, from iHeart, spotify, apple to most every other one you can think of. So please engage with us, ask us questions, tell us about your side hustles. I don't want to see your feet pictures or farts, but you know, just whatever.

Speaker 2:

Only mine, right babe?

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