Where on Wednesday twenty: House hill ruins

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It sits upon the top of a hill, right in the middle of a wheat-field, and offers 360° views across fields, small creeks and rolling hills in the distance. People lived here once, but they are long gone: Dead and buried. The house stands still though, it's bones do anyway; Sun-bleached, weather-worn and crumbling.

The once-solid homestead, built in the mid 1800's, was a home providing shelter, warmth and comfort to its inhabitants, adults and children, but now no-one calls it home, except maybe the critters: Snakes, lizards, possums, rabbits, spiders, bugs.

The house on the hill I refer to above is one of my favourite places and somewhere I go a lot. It sits right in the middle of a farmer's property and there are no roads leading to or from it. It is, quite literally, in the middle of a field. To get there I drive over those fields - The image above shows some vehicle tracks made by me, and the ruins at the crest of the hill. I know that when I'm there I'll see no one, except my mate if I've brought him along, and that it'll be quiet; At least until the shooting starts.

This is my range. My long-range shooting range.

I recently chatted with gentleman redneck @janton who asked about a comment I'd made in which I used the words, "my range"; in reference to a shooting range; He asked if I have my own property. My answer was no, and yes.

I have access to this range day and night, but of course, we don't go driving through the crop until after it's harvested so that precludes a few months of the year. Mostly I can go there any time I like though.

I have a few shooting locations and as you may recall I cull on a farm however house hill is a little unique in that I can shoot out to great distances. I could do so on the farm I cull on, but it's a farm and shooting a lot there - I go there to cull, not general shooting. It's work; Nothing more. Here at house hill I can shoot all day and night until I have no ammunition left and so it's perfect for practising. I often throw my swag out and stay the night too. It's not 5 star, it's a billion-stars...When it's not cloudy anyway.

I use this range for practice mainly, and fun of course. As a sporting shooter keeping my skills sharp and learning or practicing new techniques are pivotal to competition success. I travel around the country shooting, and as Australia is such a big country, it costs a lot of money. So, if I'm spending money I want results, good results - That means practice which I do right here.

Above is me, practising. Here you can see me shooting off what used to be a window. You'll note the band on my left arm which is my DOPE chart - The cheat sheet for windage and elevation adjustments which obviously change with the distance being shot and the wind speed and direction. I won't go into it in this post as it's technical.

From house hill we have the ability to shoot out to way further than the guns are capable of. I shoot the one you see above out to around 1600m (1 mile) although mostly only to 1400m. Competitions I shoot may call for shots from 300-1500m or so but generally 400-1000m is about what we see.

We have targets set out at various distances; They're steel plates called gongs which make a sort of ringing sound when struck by a bullet. We have them out to 1800m (1968 yards) and all the way in as close as 250m (273 yards) - The close ones are obviously much smaller.

We shoot at them from various positions, prone, kneeling, standing and from barricades like the massive fallen tree out the front, or the house itself as you see above. The idea is to simulate real-world practical scenarios which is what we face in competition. We also stress ourselves by running between positions which elevates heart rate and breathing. They do that to us in competition also.

Above you can see the fallen log I mentioned earlier and me kneeling next to one of the targets, this one at 1342m (1467 yards). You can see the hit I got. I was aiming for dead centre of the plate so it's not a great shot but considering the range...Meh, I'll take it. (I've blacked out my eyes because for some reason I have my glasses off - Yes, I'm also wearing flip flops, which we call thongs here in Australia - Safety first huh?) 😂 Calibre is 6.5mm creedmoor using Sierra 142g SMK projectiles pushing 2824fps

The wind was full-value from the right at 9mph so strong enough to make it a difficult shot. Full-value means 3 o-clock or 9 o-clock, so right angles to the flight of the bullet which means the wind has the full-value of force, or effect, upon the shot pushing the bullet the way the wind is travelling. With flight time of a couple seconds at that range this needs to be taken into consideration, as does Coriolis, humidity...Sorry, getting technical again. I record every shot I make: The environmental factors present plus the distance, elevation and windage input plus where it falls on the target. That is where DOPE comes from. (DOPE: Data of previous engagement). Technical again...Sorry. That's for another post.

One of my guns sitting on a window of the ruins looking out over the hills beyond.

I'm very lucky to have this location to shoot at - I think one of the challenges shooters have these days, here in Australia at least, is finding somewhere to actually shoot. Sure, there's loads of ranges to shoot from but they either do not have the distance or have loads of very strict rules relating to range-usage. I agree with them too, the rules I mean. Finding somewhere to shoot is very challenging and it has taken me years to find the locations I shoot at; Building trust with farmers isn't the easiest thing to do.

For what I need to do with long range rifle shooting gun ranges are not suitable and so I come here, to house hill and shoot freely, and of course safely. It's a privilege and my time spent there is always enjoyable. It feels pure...Not just the air, but in general.

Anyway, that's where I'd rather be and what I'd rather be doing right now as I sit in my office at work this Wednesday.

Just tag #whereonwednesday in your post, on a Wednesday, to join in if you would like. It's not a challenge or anything dumb like that, neither do you get anything for it. It's just a chance to post your thoughts and maybe a picture or two.


Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
Discord: @galenkp#9209 🇦🇺



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63 comments
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I'm not much of a gun person, so the technical stuff went mostly over my head, but the line "It's not 5 star, it's a billion stars" was so gorgeous and brilliant it totally overcame the confusing bits. What a lovely place to go and practice, and how lucky you are to get to use it!

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Very lucky...But then again, we make our own luck don't we? Mostly anyway.

I tried not to get technical, sorry about that. I love laying back beside a low-burning fire and wat hung the stars...So peaceful and keeps things in perspective reminding me how puny and insignificant humans really are. 😊

I'm glad someone picked up on that bit and not surprised it was you. ✅

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That definitely seems preferable to an office but I guess it depends what you’re into 😆

I’m pretty sure we’ve seen your eyes before 🤔

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Yep, see the eyes before of course, but holding a gun at the same time...Not.

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Are you concerned about us seeing manic glee? XD

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Haha, not really...Images get misused on the internet though so that's why.

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Yep, you look proper Aussie redneck there. I'd love to be able to shoot a gun, which is wierd for a left wing near Melbourne hippie girl like myself to say, but seriously, I really wanna learn to hunt and shoot.

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Red Brownneck? 🤣

I've been shooting for a long time. I compete around the country, cull and hunt although I haven't hunted much for a while.

I think it's a good skill to have and I enjoy my sport/hobby, but am also able to talk about lots of other things than guns - I'm not one of those!

I have many hobbies and skills.

I took a vegan from my office culling this year. She loved it! Was happy to see I was responsible and dispatched the ferals humanely. I respect her greatly for that. I did not let her shoot an animal - Killing things stays with a person, although she shot the guns and loved that. I also took her handgunning at my club...She loved that too. I did a post on both.

Thanks for being cool. I usually get hate from left-wingers. ✅

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'Where on Wednesday' - gonna remember that one, if I'm not doing wednesday walk or wednesday vegan... LOVE it!!! Is this a new thing, did you just make it up, or is it a corner of the steemiverse I haven't been to yet?

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I made it up one day at work, on a Wednesday. Done 20 weeks now. Check #whereonwednesday

Gives one the option to write about anything whilst wishing they were there instead of at work on a Wednesday. Could be a place you've been, a place you want to go, or even a made up creative piece about something. It's pretty open. None picked up on it though, except three others who did one week of it only. Oh well, no biggie...I do it, and that's why I made it up. I had visions of it trending, but it wasn't to be.

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Howdy sir galenkp! What a magnificent location! Man, I'd love to have a big house and ranch on that spot. I see why you love it there, it's perfection!
Thanks for the mention!

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It's a good spot for sure. I generally only go there to shoot but on the days I do I always get some relaxing in too, some reading or something. It's peaceful.

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That would be a great place to build if you ever wanted to retire in the country, if'n the farmer would sell the spot.

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Wow,it's really amazing. Hope it was enjoyable

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It's always enjoyable when I'm there. Thanks for commenting.

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GOSH! You are in gun range mecca. It must be dope to have access to that place day and night! Thanks for sharing your Wednesday, @galenkp!
Your firepower (photos you posted on my article dedicated to you) is impressive!

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I am lucky yes...Fortunate. I shoot at a range also of course, but getting out into the field is where I feel most comfortable.

(Yes, I have some cool guns - Some I won't show of course also.)

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I LOVE the DOPE chart on the wrist, I need to do that, and get it off of my tablet! Full load windage is tough; and I don't have past 600 yards available to me, so I need to join you on the hill, LOL!

I use a 300 Win Mag to hunt with, and I just added a new scope to my 6.5mm Swedish Mauser. Ironically, the last deer I took jumped up 150 yards out; not much distance for a 300....

:)>

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(Edited)

You're welcome on the hill anytime man!

I use StrelokPro as my ballistics calculator which picks up environmental readings from my Kestrel Meyer but like to have DOPE on my wrist in comps as it means I can reference it faster. I have another trick too...

Laminated cards on the back of my flip up cap on my scope...hand write dope for the ranges I'm shooting and it's there. Things change...Wipe it off and re-write...Works a treat as I don't have to bugger around looking at the wrist card. While a comp stage is being briefed I write it out, use a Velcro tab to stick it on and I'm GTG.

You can see it stuck on the flip up cap in the photo.

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Nice, I have a ballistic calculator, but I have been using my chrono, and running the calculations by hand. I am trying to get my trigger down better on a 200 yard range with blade sights. The peep sights on my M1A1 (Civilian M-14) seem to be best so far. My groups are coming in, shooting between heart beats seems to be the biggest help for me so far (after half breathing, hold).

I am looking for a set trigger for the 300WM, it has an eight to 24 power scope, with external adjustment. Trying to do justice to the rifle!

How do you like the 6.5 Creedmore? How fast is the bullet on it?

I am thinking about a 300 blackout, just to play.

I like the flip up DOPE even better; will see what I can do. Not happy with the cover I have, maybe I should make one I like.... Wouldn't it be nice to have a visual HUD inside the scope, with the DOPE displayed?

Just came back in from the shop, almost freezing here right now; came in to warm up, cold night on the vertical mill, LOL!

:)>

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shooting between heart beats seems to be the biggest help for me so far (after half breathing, hold).

This should make a massive difference to accuracy. I breathe out to the natural stopping point and shoot at that pause. I actually practice that whole process from parallax adjustment, sight target, aim, breathe, trigger pull to the moment the trigger breaks. I dry fire in this way a lot. It's all nicely timed and measured.

I've not worked with a set-trigger much although have fired several. I use Timney triggers mainly. Set triggers work for many here though - I can see the attraction.

6.5mmCM

This is one of my favourites. It is a laser! I'm getting 2842fps at the muzzle, from a SMK 142gr Sierra with a ballistic coefficient of 0.301 (G7). It's shot out to 1500m+ repeatedly but typically I try and keep it at under 1200m as I don't like missing. (It shoots 0.25moa at 100m so grouping well.)

For the flip cap DOPE I simply cut up paper to the right size, trimmed off the sharp corners then took them to Officeworks and had them laminated in a plastic sheet. Cut them all out individually and ended up with 30 or so little cards.

I stuck a velcro loop dot on the back of each and stuck the hook dot on the scope cap...Write on the card in your hand (use removeable marker) - Distances and dial - Then velcro dot to velcro dot and you're done. Works a treat. You can get things to do similar like the sidewinder DOPE thing, but I like my home made version better - Nothing sticking out the side of the rifle.

Blackout is a good fun option...I don't have one as I use my WFA1 for fun. (.223) Pictured at the top below. My 6.5Cm at bottom. Middle is my culling rifle .243 sporting the Kahles 624i 6-24x50 with the SKMR reticle in MRAD which I swap between the 243 and 6.5CM. This rifle sits in a Precision Defence Industries carbon fibre stock so all up with scope it only weighs 4kg. My mate owns PDI so I get them cheap at just over $1000.

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I will try the dry fire, I have a laser that will fit in the chamber, so I can watch the effects of my breathing and trigger action.

I will work out breathing timing for smooth trigger action with dry fire drills.

I am reading a book on long distance shooting. I have taken deer out to 450 yards, and would like to extend that by half. I will not get many shots longer than that here.

The 300WM hits those velocities with the 200 grain points, and 3100 with the 165 grain points. It does let you know when you pull the trigger, LOL!

The Ballistic coefficient seems to be the aerodynamic efficiency of the specific bullet, I have to study that more. It seems that these are .495 to .670 in this rifle. Is it higher means less drop from air friction, or is it delivered energy? Is higher better?

A new upper on the .223 would convert it to a 300 Blackout. The 243 is a good round, but not one I have. I am thinking about the 6.5mm, because I like it in my Swedish Mauser. A separate 308 upper would make it more useful, that round I have and like.

A .250" MOA is amazing, I need to get there for sure. When I get this job done in the shop, I need to go to the range, LOL! YOU are a bad influence....

:)>

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Yes, the higher the number the less drag on the bullet.

I've been called a bad influence before...I yam what a yam. 😃

I'm very happy with 6.5CM and at ranged of up to 1000m (1093 yards) it is deadly...Past that it's is still deadly and at about 1400m (1531 yards) is bloody awesome still...The problem comes in finding a scope able to keep up with it...Most cheaper scopes don't track that well...What I mean is that as one gets up to the higher dial-ranges each click is not exactly commensurate to the measurement. So with my Kahles 624i for instance each click is 0.1 MRAD...It does this all the way out to 26MRAD accurately. With some inferior scopes that 0.1 varies and brings inaccuracy.

At distance that means one could be dialling the incorrect input for the shot. Make sense?

Also whether the scope is level or not makes a difference. I sent a link to a post I did about scope levelling...Worth a read if you haven't got your head around it.

What book are you reading?

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I understand non-linearity in scope adjustments, I fear my scope is just a $300 one and likely has that problem.

I read that post, and I will add the scope leveler, I just never thought about that. I do lock up with a good leather sling, but I only have one Bipod, it's on the M1A1

You are working out further that I, but I hope to catch up, LOL!

When I get the AR-10 going, I will add the 6.5 Creedmore to the 308.

I will get the title, basically the Author is a long range competitive shooter. Hmmmm, is it you?

:)>

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If it's not this one then get this one on your list. I've read it 6 times, taken note after note...I keep it on the bedside table.

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It's not, so I will get this one too. I appreciate it!

:)>

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It's a good one. Take it slow, take notes and it will help you a lot.

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Bought it, I will digest it! Thanks.

:)>

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Cool!

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I got bogged down on mass reloading data in the other book. I already reload....

Most of the levels mount on the central diameter of the scope. Looking around the eyepiece defeats the purpose.

:)>

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Yes, the scope levels I use (Accuracy 1st and Vortex) mount to the tube. When I am behind the gun though it's as simple as opening my left eye. Once level (I mean when using a bipod) I don't have to level up again until next shot. Different when shooting free hand I guess.

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The bipod would make a big difference, haven't used one much. The sling has been a good friend, and I have been thinking about some shooting sticks.

I haven't shot prone much, but I did buy a pad for it.

I will measure the ring, and get a level coming. I like the tritium idea, I have that on my 1911.

:)>

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Slings can work well. I have a tactical one that adjusts quickly for fast positional changes. Keeps the gun snug to my shoulder at all times when doing shoot and move drills or in competition.

There's some key factors to remember in prone shooting; Body position and all. YouTube will help.

This reminds me...You might like to check out this guy. I don't use YouTube much but have seen some of this guy's stuff over the years. He seems to know what he is about.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TiborasaurusRex

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I like him! This guy is interesting. I have a full set of drawings for a 50 BMG Bolt gun. Collecting metal....

Some good shooting on this video.

Do you practice off hand (non dominant) hand shooting too?

:)>

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I think so too, seems to know his stuff and can shoot too.

Do you practice off hand (non dominant) hand shooting too?

I do as competitions often challenge us with that. I shoot IPSC too (handgun) and do the same there. With rifles I also practice shooting on a 90° cant. It's amazing the difference it makes to a shot. Truly amazing. I placed 4th in a comp against 55 of the best long range practical shooters in the country (including military and LEO) a couple years ago because I had cant DOPE and the ability to shoot off-hand.

Here's an IPSC video from YouTube in case you don't know what it is plus a link to the website. https://www.ipsc.org/

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They do this at the gun club. The meets are large, and make it difficult to find an open range, as they use a dozen or so ranges. There is a national meet there about once a year.

Glad you mix it up! I found that when I started firing black powder, my modern rifle shooting improved. With black powder the shooter has to hold the site picture while the slow powder burns.

:)>

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Yeah, IPSC tends to commandeer ranges. I like to mix it up though and it works, for fun. I shot some black powder guns once. It's pretty cool to be honest although I don't know much about it. Makes one respect the wild west gunfighters of the past though huh?

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True, they were impressive; it is hard to make them reliable! I have a flintlock pistol I am still trying to get a reliable spark from the frizzen.

It is pretty fun though!

:)>

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Flintlock? Now that's Old-school! Never fired one. Now I want to! I bet it's cool as! Pistols at 20 paces bro! 🙈

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Trying to get it to work, but I am building a rifle to match. The rifle will have two lock assemblies, one flint, and one percussion. I only lack the barrel, plan to go 50 calibre.

I am sure that the lock time will be greater, but it should be a lot of fun anyway! You use the pistol, I'll use my double barrelled 20 gauge black powder shotgun, LOL....

:)>

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You use the pistol, I'll use my double barrelled 20 gauge black powder shotgun, LOL...

Hmm, how about we do it the other way around? 😃

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Only if I get to load the 20 guage, LOL! Clay instead of powder.... :)

Right now, unless I get that lock problem worked out, you might still win....

:)>

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Haha! Deal!

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It is hard to find someone who is expert on a flintlock firearm....

But if I can't find one, I will play with it; until I become one!

:)>

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That's the ticket...Fake it until you make it? Nice one.

Hey, if at some point I drop off with my comments it's because I am flying interstate in a couple hours for the weekend, not because I'm ignoring you.

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No problem, I will be on the road next Monday myself. I have to finish a mini-split install, for one of my Sisters.

I find that I can usually think my way out of trouble; just need to jump in, and start!

Travel safely!

:)>

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Ok, just didn't want you to think I died or anything. 🙈

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I will see you when you return, No sweat!

:)>

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Cool...Have a great weekend.

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I'll do what I can, but I have to work a lot this weekend. No good deed goes unpunished, LOL!

:)>

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Haha...get after it. 😉

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Already started, LOL! Lots of milling to do to prep the adapters. I need to mill away about 100 cubic inches of aluminum to prepare the adapters. Small job....

:)>

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Small job 🙂 With dry humour like that you could be an Australian.

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Kindred spirits, LOL. I only have the machine shop to support the electronic consulting business.

My website is www.smithlabs.us

:)>

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Oh, cool, I just checked it out...You do a lot of gear. Must be good being clever! 😁

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I just think for a living, LOL. It can get interesting....

Sometimes they want me to fix gear that I have never seen before, on a new (to me) process. Then it gets fun!

:)>

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Good to keep the brain ticking over. I think that's a good thing as we age.

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I refuse to grow up, LOL!

I worked on some very cutting edge control systems; and a tube based tester, at the same facility! You never know what you will find....

:)>

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Refusing to grow up seems like a pretty good way to be.

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