Tag: Grinder

SQUALL AT THE FORT

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Seven men posted at WEP. Three for Milkshake, and four for The Fort.
Not a tempest, not a gale, but squall best describes the initial conditions (rain and gusty winds).
Us bootcampers broke off and did:

Ran around the band shell a couple of times and then circled up on the band shell stage.

Warm up:
SWIMLAPPS
SSH (IC 15x)
Windmill (IC 7x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 10X)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Arm Circles, forward and backward
Peter Parkers
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog

Performed across the stage floor:
Toy soldiers
Lunge walk
Duck walks

Thang 1: Prison yard burpees
Start with 6 burpees at end 1, bear crawl to other end and do 5 burpees, bear crawl back and do 4 et cetera until 1. Total is 21 burpees.

Thang 2: HIIT routine
Chapter 1: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Pickle pointers
Bobby Hurley’s
Chapter 2: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
American Hammers
Peter Parkers
Chapter 3: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imperial Walkers
Squat jumps
step ups
SSH
Repeated the three chapters

Mosey run into the neighborhood. Ran up/down stairs. Came across the Milkshake guys.

Back at the AO right at 0730, with the Milkshake guys alongside.
Fini

Strong work by all men. Sometimes foul weather can be fun.

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3

“Twos”day Torture

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9 PAX gathered on a beautiful February morning – a preview of spring that is right around the corner.

Disclaimer and we started to mosey down road towards the entrance when Olaf came trotting out of the woods making it 10 PAX.  Turned around at entrance and did some dynamic warmup on return to parking lot (Toy Soldiers, High Knees, Karaoke).

Maybe it was the weather or maybe it was just Olaf, but the mumblechatter was strong this morning.

 

The first Thang:

10 Minute hardCORE HIIT – 10 Exercises 45 Sec On 15 sec off

SSH

Freddie Mercuries

Standing High Knee Taps

American Hammers

Mountain Climbers

Laying Leg Raises

Plank In and Outs (think flying squirrel – plank jacks)

Plank side to sides (think elbow plank where you alternate rotating and touching each hip to the ground)

Star Crunches (essentially a Dying Cockroach)

Running High Knees

Before the circuit started, I proclaimed this was a core HIIT.  So thank you Bandcamp for letting us know halfway through that we were doing a lot of ab work – very enlightening 😉

 

The next Thang:

“Twos”day Torture – in honor of it being 2-22-22 on a Tuesday

2 stations separated by .2 miles – Station 1 at parking lot where we park, Station 2 at parking lot at entrance

Perform following exercises at Station 1:

2 Mickey Mouse Merkins

22 MNCs while in squat position

22 Lunges (11 each leg)

Run to Station 2 (Plank for the 6)

Perform following exercises at Station 2:

2 Kraken Burpees

22 overhead claps

22 calf raises

Run Back to Station 1 (Plank for the 6)

Rinse/Repeat – we made it through 4 rounds

 

Moseyed back and finished back at COT right on time

 

NMM:  As usual, an honor to lead the Pax.  Naturally, the runs back and forth between stations today evolved into long sprint races and competitions of who could get their heart rate highest.  Not sure there was a clear winner but we all got better together and fought the urge to slow down or cut it short.  Maximus would have agreed that we earned our 1% today –  great work from all the PAX.  Thanks for the opportunity Shower Curtain!

 

-Badlands

 

 

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Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

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Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Beyond The Lighted Stage

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Ten of Fort MIl’s finest met at the newly remodeled Walter Elisha Park for a combined boot camp (The Fort)  and IR/walk and ruck(Milkshake).  I heard that the milkmen did a tour of downtown Ft. Mill holiday lights.  Here is what the boot campers did:

The Thang:

Senator Tressel on Q

After the standard disclaimer, the group moseyed around the parking lot and headed into the park before doing a 180 and jogging back to the pavilion stage for COP.

All in Cadence:

SSH x 25, windmill x 15, merkin x 10, IW x 20, squat x 20, CDD x 15, Freddie Mercury x 20, jumping lunge x 20, wide arm merkin x 15

Mosey to the playground:

Round 1:  10 pullups, lunge walk from the playground to the side walk, 20 merkins, lunge walk back

Round 2:  10 pullups, run from the playground to the walking path, 10 burpees, run back, 10 bomb jacks

Round 3:  10 pullups, bear crawl from the playground to the walking path, 20 diamond merkins, karaoke back

Boat and canoe x 5.

Hand off to Grinder

Dora 1, 2, 3  (100 merkins, 200 calf raises, 300 LBC).  Partner runs around the playground.

Mosey to the small lot at the park entrance and circle up.  With the pax in a circle, one person in the center did a modified American Hammer (20 count with a brick) while everyone else performed an exercise.  Everyone took a turn selecting an exercise and sitting in the center.  Today, we did merkins, flutter kicks, burpees, and others I cannot remember

We finished off with the ACDC hit, ‘Thunderstruck’.  Every time the band sang the word ‘thunder’, the pax did a burpee.   It was a crowd-pleaser and now I don’t like that song as much as I used to.

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

What a pleasure to be back at the Fort on a Saturday!  Alcatraz is my usual Saturday stop, but Grinder asked me to Q this past Sunday and I gladly accepted.   It’s been close to a year since I’ve been back to Walter Elisha Park and well over three years since I’ve Q’d a workout here.  Wow – how different it looks now! The town did a great job with the upgrades to the park and it was pretty cool to do COP from the stage of the pavilion.  I see many more there on future Saturdays.

It was a pleasure to be back at WEP and to lead the group on a beautiful morning.  Good to see my brother Cable Guy back in action after an extended absence, and yes, I just put another reference to my favorite band Rush into an F3 backblast (RIP Neil Peart).

Announcements/Prayers/Praises

  1.  Adopt a Highway starting today (way to go Fogerty and F3 for continuing to give back to the community).  #HIM
  2. Prayers for ST’s friend Joe with cancer, and for those suffering from Covid 19.
  3. Praise for DD’s friend (a single parent) who raised a son graduating from HS.
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Thanksgiving Convergence 2021

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68 PAX in attendance for a pre-thanksgiving beatdown and some fellowship on a brisk morning Thursday 11/25/2021.

 

With the anticipation of fried turkey, oreos and coffee brought by @Change Order, @Smuggler and @RubySlippers, mumble-chatter abounded,  until @Hardwood took the center and called attention at 0600 hours. Disclaimer was disclaimed and the call for new FNG’s was made, no new FNG’s was the lone blemish on the otherwise fantastic morning in my humble opinion.

Run options led by @Gekko and a Moderate group led by @TripleLindy set off as the rest of the PAX moseyed towards back of Springfield Elementary. First Destination was in parking lot way back by the Middle School.

Circled up and @Hardwood called out the following exercises:

SSH- 40

Windmills

Downward Dogs and Honeymooners

Low & Slow Squats

Cyclops: Stay in Squat Position and complete Moroccan Nightclubs

 

The Thing

Series of Webs

Starting with Merkins and Overhead Claps

1×4 for 10 rounds of excruciating shoulder pain, mumble-chatter becoming more focused on the task at hand

more SSH 🤮

Next we completed ANOTHER WEB, worse than the last,

Shoulder Taps and Moroccan Nightclubs

1×4 for 10 more rounds that was never ever going to end

Lots of requests for Burpees strangely or anything other then arm workouts!

 

YHC began the 2nd half of the workout with more SSH

Mosey around to front of Middle School with 3 stops for 5 Burpees OYO, at the request of the PAX

Line up at bottom of small hill in front of school and explain the workout, AMRAP LEG CIRCUIT

Teams of 4 ish men cycle through three exercises at bottom of hill individually:

2 Squats

2 Split Lunges

2 Bomb Jacks

Next Broad Jump up Hill to top and complete the following:

2 V-ups

Bear Crawl to bench

2 Step Ups

Run around and down to bottom of hill stopping at cones for 2 burpees (two stops per lap)

Meet back at bottom of hill and repeat, only this time DOUBLE ALL REPS TO 4X

Goal is to complete 5 rounds or AMRAP, almost completed but just short of time before we had to get back to COT

YHC shared a article on Gratitude, and then @Shady shared the heart of the Fort, the success of @Seamstress initiative with the help of the PAX, @Seamstress shared his excitement and appreciation for the success of the event! Great job by all T-claps!

Finally we had a shovel hand-off YHC taking the Ranch from a long line of great site Q’s which I hope to make proud.

Then we were finally able to enjoy the fried delicacies and coffee! Cheers!

 

 

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Bushwood….where we never slice and gambling is fully acceptable!!

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We had 6 for Running with push-ups at Bushwood 👏🏻💥💪🏻

We took off from launch through the gorgeous campus of Catawba Ridge High School.  Did a little dynamic warm up. Then hit the CakeBoss Pain Train with 4 Pain Stations . The work is listed below.

  • 2.25mi
  • 40 burpees
  • 20 inchworm Merkins
  • 80 Merkins
  • 60 wide arm Merkins
  • 15 Derkins
  • 40 dips

We had stories and lessons of bringing up girls. Dealing with lice and all that fun stuff……we are tight now!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Cake Boss out!

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Colosseum Backblast

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Warmup: Shady

QIC: Zima

25 Pax showed to see if the rumors were true. Or Shady has a degree in short-term hype trains. Maybe a little of both. Humbled to see y’all out there for an out of shape Q workout.

Shady did a 5 min warmup

Station 1: Burpee Suicides 5-10-15 reps (no foreplay @Jekyll)

Merkin Suicides 5-10-15 repsMosey to another Station at entrance to school

Station 2: Quadzilla for 4 minutes (run downhill and nur back uphill). #lovelanguageOG Quadzilla (thanks @Pusher). Same as above but with 10 squats at top and 10 jumping lunges at bottom.

Mosey to Elementary School Car Loop

Station 3: Run 5 laps doing 10 hand release merkins at starting line and 10 hand release merkins at half point (5 laps=100 hand release merkins)

I had 3.0+ miles by COT. It felt good to Q again and be in the gloom with y’all. I felt the love.

Announcements: Read the Newsletter

Prayers/Praises:
-Zima praise for Let Me Run Coaching
-Prayers for those suffering from depression (when in doubt, reach out)
-Prayers for Blount daughter who has cancer
-Prayers for Cyclops M whose uncle passed away

Apologies for any errors or omissions. Thanks for the opportunity. I need a nap.

Zima Out!

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Q School – Snake Pit (kettlebell/gear edition)

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9 PAX for some Q school

Esso hit on the 5 core principles that every F3 workout shares.
Then YHC took over

Warm-up

We reviewed counting in cadence
– Next exercise is:
– Starting positions MOVE
– In cadence:
– EXERCISE, 1, 2, 3….

Then we had some PAX work on counting in cadence with various exercises. We worked it like an actor on stage calling for their lines. I fed them the 4 lines and they took off. Occasionally we adjusted for some correction or pointers, but these PAX can lead!

We had folks count: SSH and Merkins more than once (gotta practice). Then I encouraged them to learn to call 6-count Burpees in cadence for when they need to quiet the mumblechatter down.

Then we moved over to the Thang:
Written on the pavement was:
Overhead Press
Tricep Extension
Merkin on the bell
Skull Crusher
Lawnmover pulls

Initially I discussed the importance of having a list of exercises (weinke) written down to rely on. Doens’t have to be on the ground. Could be on a piece cardboard, index card in your pocket, back of a 12 pack, or sharpie on your arm: it is helpful to have your notes with you.

The first set we did 10 of each then planked up for a discussion.
Then we did 10 more of each and planked back up. When you’re actively resting between sets in a plank, it’s often a good time to share a message. F3 has THREE Fs!! If you’re just working to accelerate the 1st F, use the opportunity to Q as a moment to reflect and share how you’re doing on the other 2Fs. Think about 2nd F with your family, or your 3rd F as where you are on your faith journey.

In the gloom, PAX can see how fit you’re getting. But how fit are you to be a father, spouse, partner, friend, son, colleague, boss, communicator, facilitator, supporter…? How fit is your mind and spirit? How are you working to accelerate there? Be encouraged to bring some message, no matter how brief.

Then I called 10 more of these, and followed that round by immediately calling 20. This FINALLY got some PAX to balk and protest. Every one of these exercises was arm heavy, this is a POORLY PLANNED set of exercises.

We moved over to another bit of chalk on the ground:
Manmakers 1
Snatch 5
Merkins 10
Lunge 16
Flutter 20

This set allowed us to focus more on the entire body rather than just working one set of muscles to exhaustion and encouraging bad form or injury. It also steps things up as part of the weinke rather than relying on the Q to call reps.

YHC discussed using this a set with holding Al Gore between rounds to keep PAX together. Or possibly having a loop distance to run and allow PAX to more at their own pace. I like to keep everyone together and help exhort the PAX to move to the next exercise or finish their current reps. If you’re concerned about your fitness level or your speed relative to other PAX. Setting up a list of exercises and a loop distance between rounds allows the rabbits to move like rabbits and the Clydesdales to move like Clydesdales. It can even encourage more 2nd F as guys pair up or group up to work together. Maybe as the Q you choose to group with a newer guy or stay with the six to encourage guys as they’re accelerating.

We then moved to the final set of chalk on the ground. I’d paired up some exercises and then listed a mode of transportation. We were running low on time, so I gave the heads up to overprepare the weinke, and be willing to adapt and adjust. You’ve sometimes got to modify up or down (especially considering run distance) based on the PAX present, or you’ve got to cut when you’ve over planned.

So we just did:

Swings 20
Merkins 20
Bear Crawl – Crawl Bear from one island to another

Single Leg Deadlift 10
Manmakers 10
Sprint the parking lot and back

We returned to COT at 5:56 for some Mary (only one minute behind my schedule)

I had PAX practicing calling some Mary in a circle. For the newer PAX, I encouraged them to just call the same exercise the guy before did. You don’t have to think of something brand new to lead. In fact, it’s hilarious (to me) when we get a string of guys that all call Flutters and everyone is grumbling. Sometimes it’s the Qs job to silence mumblechatter, and sometimes you want to encourage it!

Hope the Q-school session was helpful and/or this backblast is useful for someone planning their next KB workout.

One last point with the kettlebells, form is important. If you don’t feel comfortable with an exercise DON’T call it. If you can’t DO IT, don’t Q IT! Or if you do want to do it anyway and aren’t sure, call/text Tesh the night before to make sure he posts. Then ask him to demonstrate. (that’s what I do. you’re welcome)

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Big Book of Pain

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Six pax posted at Footloose.  I was expecting rain, but none was to be had.  This was part of the Q swap event for October…I was filling for Ruby Slippers.  Disclaimer given (twice) and then proceeded to:
Warm Up
Mosey run
SSH (IC 10x)
Windmill (IC 9x)
Imperial Walker (IC 10x)
Low Slow Squats (IC10x)
Mountain Climbers (IC 12X)
Plank stretches, up dog, down dog
Headed towards the benches area under the awning in front of the church.

Thang 1: HIIT Routine (Harry Carry’s “Big Book of Pain”)
Chapter 1: Do the below 32 seconds on, 10 sec standing rest in between
Merkins
monkey humpers
Squats
Dips
Bobby Hurley’s

Mosey run as a group around the church.

Chapter 2: Do the below 40 seconds on, 20 sec rest in between (rest is a Low Plank)
Mountain Climbers
LBC
CDD
Amer Hammers
plank jacks

Mosey run as a group around the church.

Chapter 3: Do the below 45 seconds on, 15 sec standing rest in between
burpees
Imp Walkers
Squat Jumps
step ups
SSH
Mosey run as a group around the church.
Re-read chapter 1…make sure it sinks in.

Run back to COT area.
Thang 2: music routine
Sally routine: leg lifts, sally up = legs all way to 90°, sally down = 6″ off the deck.

Fini

Close out COT with ShopVac’s prayer.

Since Footloose is a ‘moderate’ work out, the Q should include some extra ’10 counts’.
But: I used Olaf’s suggestion from the podcast “Stuff worth trying” and asked a pax why they do F3 as a replacement for 10 counts.
This was a good application of the technique since this morning’s group was a mix of 4 veteran pax and 2 relatively new pax.

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Birthdays within the Colosseum

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Good morning. After the joy (not happiness) of yesterday’s 20yr 9/11 remembrance workout, I recognized the need to have a co-Q for my Q today at The Colosseum. After all, we’re celebrating two birthday’s, DaVinci’s & mine, I was sore and not sure what I had in the tank, but mostly because I want to share the opportunity with a brother. Fortunately, Punch List obliged my request.

Here’s what happened:

Mosey to the back lot (basketball courts).
51 + 1 SSH for DaVinci
41 Mountain Climbers
6 or so Wind Mills
41 LBC’s oyo

Mosey to the lot further in the back with the short wall and line up on the white line.
Run to the wall, 20 Muscle Ups then 10 Over & Backs which is quite literally, jumping over the wall and jumping back over. Do this 10 total times then plank at the white line for the 6.

41 American Hammers (of course) with a stop after 31 to catch a breather and ensure proper form for the final 10 reps.

Hand off to Punch List

Head back to the left side of the basketball court for multiple sets of Suicides.
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Run to the foul line and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Half court and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Opposing foul line and back
5 Butterfly Sit-Ups
Opposing base line and back

Repeat the same lines but now, perform 10 Prisoner Squats (w/ a jump).

Then, repeat it with 10 Hand-Release Merkins.

Then, repeat that with 5 Burpees (put the nail in the coffin on this one).

Lastly, for the finisher. Bear crawl suicide with a Merkin at each turn around.

Yeah, that was a great idea, enough of that nonsense…hand it back to Maximus.

For the final minutes, we made our way to the light post at the bottom of the hill going up the back road.
Run to the next light post, perform 4 Spiderman Merkins + 1 Burpee.
Run to the next light post, do the same.
Continue until 0555 then make our way back to COT.

Plank for the final 60 seconds with some intentional thinking for the last 30sec.

Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes but more importantly, your presence.

DaVinci, I love sharing this day with you.

Punch List, thank you again.

Until next time,
Maximus

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