# What would you do when you find cockroach in your unit?



## janej (Aug 28, 2011)

It's only our second night at a very nice resort.  Our unit seems to be very clean otherwise.   A huge cockroach appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen wall.   It is the kind that can fly.   We did manage to kill it after it escape to the kids' room.  What to do now?

We put all our cloth back to our suitcases and put all the suitcases on top of dressers and chairs.  What else?  I don't think it will help getting a different room since these things go to the vents.   Will it help getting the room sprayed in the morning?   

I want to make sure we don't bring the eggs home.   Please help!!


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## Ken555 (Aug 28, 2011)

Found this at a marriott just a few weeks ago. Reported it, they sprayed the room the next day, all was well. Never fun tho.


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## DeniseM (Aug 28, 2011)

Honestly, I'd rather have a cockroach, than the poison.


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## BevL (Aug 28, 2011)

Frankly I wouldn't be as worried about my clothes in suitcases as making sure absolutely ever crumb was cleaned up, no dirty dishes in the sink or dishwasher and the garbage is taken out religiously every night before bed.

One wouldn't freak me out at all, unless I was somewhere it was kind of unusual.  If it happened more than once, I'd be phoning maintenance.

JMHO.


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## janej (Aug 28, 2011)

Thanks for the reminder.  Just started the dishwasher 

I read a bit more about the cockroaches.  It seems like their eggs are in a poach.   The eggs can take 4-6 months to hatch.  Guess our chance of getting a poach is smaller.   I will rewash all our cloth as soon as we get home and inspect our suitcases before putting them away.    

I will talk to the front desk manager and see if they spray on regular basis.  If not, they probably should know the problem.


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## pgnewarkboy (Aug 28, 2011)

be glad you saw it so you could take action.


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## jmatias (Aug 28, 2011)

I always read roach posts with a bit of humor.  Living in the tropical climate of Hawaii, seeing a roach is common.  Don't like em....especially the flying ones!


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## loafingcactus (Aug 28, 2011)

DeniseM said:


> Honestly, I'd rather have a cockroach, than the poison.



+1

Vermin happen.  I usually inform the staff when i leave so they can take care of it before they get a hysterical person (but not annoy me / poison me), but otherwise... Eh.  I've never had anything that made me move.  I do always check for bedbugs and take bedbug precautions, but that's it.


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## Icc5 (Aug 28, 2011)

*Depends where you are*



janej said:


> It's only our second night at a very nice resort.  Our unit seems to be very clean otherwise.   A huge cockroach appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen wall.   It is the kind that can fly.   We did manage to kill it after it escape to the kids' room.  What to do now?
> 
> We put all our cloth back to our suitcases and put all the suitcases on top of dressers and chairs.  What else?  I don't think it will help getting a different room since these things go to the vents.   Will it help getting the room sprayed in the morning?
> 
> I want to make sure we don't bring the eggs home.   Please help!!



We have seen them in Florida,Hawaii, and Georgia and actually expected them in those places.  We know they do spray for them and they do try to eraticate but sometimes it just doesn't work.  Now If I saw them here in California I woud think it is because the place isn't being kept clean.
Bart


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 28, 2011)

Having gone to college in Florida, the roaches would wake us college girls out of a dead sleep by walking across the wood floors. We would just wake up and kill them, then go back to sleep. Asking for a spraying, got us a DDT dose - better to just kill the 2-3 inch long bugs. 

After all, they were more native to the region than us.

Even today, while at a very nice resorts in FL - I ignore them. As I live in the northeast and keep my house cold by FL standards, I know that will kill them off better than dosing with chemicals.


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## ronparise (Aug 28, 2011)

From your description Id say:

Welcome to Florida

If its more than just one or two...maybe the resort does have a problem that they should know about


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## Beaglemom3 (Aug 28, 2011)

I lived in Hawaii for a long time and these were part of living there. They were attracted to light (at least mine were). I removed them to outdoors. Didn't like trapping them in a towel or similar, but didn't want them flying out at me either.

When I would return to Boston to visit, I would leave my suitcases out on my Mum's porch and shake everything out. This was to ensure that I wasn't bringing back the other "kine cock-a-roach" into Mum's home.

To this day, when I receive a "care package" from my in-laws in Hawaii, I unwrap the package on my porch.

 The flying "roaches"  didn't bother me as much as the Cane Spiders did when I lived on the North Shore, but that's another thread.


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## Numismatist (Aug 28, 2011)

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126007&highlight=Cockroach

I hate them!


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## tlwmkw (Aug 28, 2011)

If it's just one flying roach then it may have come in from outside with you in which case you don't really need to worry.  If it's real infestation (lots of roaches all the time, esp. at night) then I would be upset.  If you get up in the middle of the night and go to the kitchen and turn on the light do you see/hear lots of the critters?  I would want to avoid the chemicals though and would prob. want to move to another unit if it was a bad infestation.

tlwmkw


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## sfwilshire (Aug 28, 2011)

I'm with the previous poster. I wouldn't give a thought to one bug. If there were lots, I'd want a new unit. I don't want exposure to the chemicals.

Sheila


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## AKE (Aug 28, 2011)

Be glad it was a cockroach -  I stepped on a 2" scorpion in our walk-in closet in Hawaii.  The bite did hurt! (but unlike James Bond movies, I survived though walking was dicey for a few days).


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## dukebigtom (Aug 29, 2011)

We found a scorpion in our bathroom in Scottsdale at a very nice resort.  Luckily it was on our last day.  I killed it, then told the desk clerk on the way out.  She asked me what I did.  As I was telling her, I thought to myself "oh boy, since they are common here, you are probably not supposed to kill them, so I just ratted myself out and will probably be arrested".  LOL

Wherever you travel, you have to take into account the natural "inhabitants".  I don't get out of the ocean because their are fish in the water.  (Sharks - well, I'm outta there in a hurry.  

Someone said they checked for bedbugs and we do that too.  Just curious how you go about doing that.  Can you share?


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## Judy (Aug 29, 2011)

Here in Florida, we call them Palmetto Bugs.  They're too big to be called roaches   They live outside in the palmettos and palms and come into the house whenever they feel like it.  The only way to keep them out is to use lots of poison.  When you see one, whack it with a fly swatter.  If you'd rather have poison than roaches, call housekeeping and request that your unit be sprayed.  Roach Baits work fairly well, but they're too slow for your purpose.


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## loafingcactus (Aug 29, 2011)

dukebigtom said:


> Someone said they checked for bedbugs and we do that too.  Just curious how you go about doing that.  Can you share?



Well, there are websites for how you are supposed to do it, but I do what I remember: check the area where the wall meets the ceiling over the bed for discoloration (caused by bedbug poop) or fresh painting that may have been used to cover the discoloration.  Check around the edge of the headboard.  Check the seams at the edges of the mattresses.

Put the suitcase on a stand or a smooth surface like a table.  Put warm clothes in the middle of another smooth surface until they have cooled out... Don't put clothes fresh from your body into your suitcase because it will attract the bed bugs to the suitcase.

I was a road warrior for five years, and I only saw one bed bug in that entire time.  It was in the middle of the day working at the office I was visiting and I looked down and there was one right on my briefcase.  But I worry about them!


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## BocaBum99 (Aug 29, 2011)

janej said:


> It's only our second night at a very nice resort.  Our unit seems to be very clean otherwise.   A huge cockroach appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen wall.   It is the kind that can fly.   We did manage to kill it after it escape to the kids' room.  What to do now?
> 
> We put all our cloth back to our suitcases and put all the suitcases on top of dressers and chairs.  What else?  I don't think it will help getting a different room since these things go to the vents.   Will it help getting the room sprayed in the morning?
> 
> I want to make sure we don't bring the eggs home.   Please help!!



Relax.  Cockroaches are just a fact of life in tropical areas.  They really don't harm you.  Scorpions or centipedes are far worse since you can get stung.  All cockroaches do is gross you out.  Just kill it and enjoy the rest of your vacation.


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## Eli Mairs (Aug 29, 2011)

Roaches, especially big ones, in tropical climates, don't bother me,

It's the possibility of bed bugs that freaks me out


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## CapriciousC (Aug 29, 2011)

Icc5 said:


> We have seen them in Florida,Hawaii, and Georgia and actually expected them in those places.  We know they do spray for them and they do try to eraticate but sometimes it just doesn't work.  Now If I saw them here in California I woud think it is because the place isn't being kept clean.
> Bart



Agreed - I am a self-admitted neat freak, bordering on obsessive-compulsive.  All the food in our house is practically hermetically sealed, we have traps set out, and a local extermination company sprays inside and out, once a month.  But still...this is Georgia, and I found a roach in my kitchen two mornings ago.  

The month of August always seems to be particularly bad for roaches - I think the heat really brings them out of the woodwork (literally).


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## Barbeque (Aug 29, 2011)

:hysterical: Bring out the skewers and have a BBQ.  :hysterical: 

Seriously, I know too many people that have cancer.  
A very good friend of mine was treated for cancer at USC and the doctor said
"You can live with a few bugs"  I would not have the resort bomb my room when I was there. 
I would much rather use traps and diatomaceous earth to kill the roaches.


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## jme (Aug 29, 2011)

*here we go again (mostly tongue-in-cheek, but.......)*

good grief.  

a bug in a kitchen??? imagine that.    
smart bug. 

from the southern tip of florida to the top of maine/vermont/new hampshire, bugs not only live but thrive. pick a state, go sit on the ground in the woods one hour, and then tell us what you see crawling around. we are actually invading THEIR space. and i wonder what THEY say when they see a load of us get out of a mini-van. 

be glad you only saw ONE critter. and a resort staff cannot possibly, cannot possibly, cannot possibly keep insects and bugs out of all units at all times. it would take a heroic effort of dozens of skilled and trained pest-control employees hours every week, if not every day, and then what? maintenance fees up $200? it can't be done, period. and yes, it would take chemicals, lots of chemicals.  then we'd have to deal with al gore. 

these periodic threads on bugs and insects make me laugh. people blame "georgia", or "south carolina" and yet, the bugs are found literally in every county in every state in the usa---- east or west, north or south----only the species of critter changes. if you see one, be glad its not twelve. 

recently returned from your neck of the woods-----williamsburg-----and i promise you that some of those bugs' ancestors knew and overheard our founding fathers very well. they settled there waaaaayyyy before we did.

wanna really see less bugs? then (let us) be neater! have you ever cleaned up after hotel guests or timeshare guests? many are quite messy (i'm being most kind here). it's a real wonder that zoo animals don't come snooping for brunch! 

don't mean to go nuts over this, but it's so petty.  if the bugs are so foreign, you definitely need to get out more. i've had to abandon a golf course in midday in new hampshire (mt. washington hotel, a rather nice place) due to huge flying insects that swarmed like a biblical plague all day long. same in florida-----the "love bugs" in season can render a  windshield translucent only in a manner of minutes, and the majority of florida residents regularly purchase screens to cover their grills and headlights. sheesh. (wow----lifestyle change for the sake of bugs???)  you know you're in florida when you spot oncoming cars that look like zorro. 

and then there are the mosquitoes throughout the country which have gotten so large that they're now flying south for the winter. they almost need an air traffic controller.

for goodness' sake, enjoy the vacation, take a couple extra paper towel rolls, or swatter, or bug spray, and be glad they're controlled as well as they are.... 100 yards into the woods from wherever you're sitting at any given moment and you'll see a gazillion of them. they're probably there on a convention trip too. and they do love twinkies, and roasted peanuts, and mesquite chips. 

don't look now, but the rambling foliage covering the sand dunes are full of rats, snakes, and creepy-looking lizards...... and far more gross, an occasional sun-bathing new yorker. 

and after this hurricane has mixed everything together like a big pot being stirred, watch out for gigantic mutants in the coming years.

P.S. forgot to answer the original question.....answer: if i saw one, i'd do the politically correct thing....i'd never kill it or even hit it, but instead i'd talk to it or put it in "time-out".


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## tompalm (Aug 29, 2011)

tlwmkw said:


> If it's just one flying roach then it may have come in from outside with you in which case you don't really need to worry.  If it's real infestation (lots of roaches all the time, esp. at night) then I would be upset.  If you get up in the middle of the night and go to the kitchen and turn on the light do you see/hear lots of the critters?  I would want to avoid the chemicals though and would prob. want to move to another unit if it was a bad infestation.
> 
> tlwmkw



Concur with this and unfortunately, I have a lot of experience doing battle with all sizes.  If it is a big one, it came in from the outside and sometimes impossible to find how they get in.  The resort needs to use granules to kill insects along the outer edge of each unit and spray the grounds every couple of months.  Otherwise, they multiply, get large, fly around and finds ways into most units.  

If you see small roaches and a lot of them, you need to worry about treating the inside of your unit.  

At home, I do all this and put granules behind my dishwasher, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, and washing machine.  I hardly ever see a roach and if I see one, it is a big one that made its way inside, but it is dying a slow death.


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## janej (Aug 29, 2011)

I am glad to report no more roaches so far.   I think it must came in from outside.   I was in and out that night going to the laundry room.

Today, my son found a tiny lizard under his shoe.   He thought it was hilarious.  The little thing was so fast that I was not able to catch and release it.  It disappeared in a flash.  

I have seen one townhouse totally taken over by roaches brought in by a tenant in Virginia.   It was so gross.  It was hard to control once it started.  All the neighbors were affected.   The next house they move in would be doomed too.


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## dreamin (Aug 31, 2011)

*Found a roach on my kitchen counter tonight*

I live in a nice Winnipeg suburb where we don't usually see cockroaches.  I have seen them in homes in the older parts of the city (usually poorly maintained homes).  We were on the Big Island in March and I did see a roach in our unit at Paniolo Greens.  Is it possible that I brought home roach eggs in our suitcase?  I have had very little experience with these critters but I did know enough to be meticulous about putting all our food in the fridge and disposing of garbage right away when we were in Hawaii.  I'm concerned that if I saw one roach today, that there may be many lurking nearby.  We live in a very cold climate and I'm not used to having bugs of this size in the house.  Roach baits and granules were suggested but I've never used these products before.  I don't like chemicals, but I hate cockroaches.  Help!


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## loafingcactus (Aug 31, 2011)

dreamin said:


> I live in a nice Winnipeg suburb where we don't usually see cockroaches.  I have seen them in homes in the older parts of the city (usually poorly maintained homes).  We were on the Big Island in March and I did see a roach in our unit at Paniolo Greens.  Is it possible that I brought home roach eggs in our suitcase?  I have had very little experience with these critters but I did know enough to be meticulous about putting all our food in the fridge and disposing of garbage right away when we were in Hawaii.  I'm concerned that if I saw one roach today, that there may be many lurking nearby.  We live in a very cold climate and I'm not used to having bugs of this size in the house.  Roach baits and granules were suggested but I've never used these products before.  I don't like chemicals, but I hate cockroaches.  Help!



Dreaming, IMHO I would not react to one cockroach.  I live in North Carolina, where they live much better and I have only treated for them once, when for some reason I had a population spring up.  In your case, they will likely be gone in the winter.  Just make sure you dont leave out food or standing water in your house for them (you can just wrap sugar and flour bags in plain ol plastic grocery bags.  Cockroach traps are HIGHLY toxic and there's just no point when your cockroaches are just going to die in the cold anyway.

And my friends always use that scare tactic on me "if you see one, there are more, etc." and this policy has worked well for me for 15 years in an area where they thrive.

If you do use traps, keep them away from food and pets and children and wash your hands well and make sure you collect them ALL for disposal when you are done with them so that a child or pet doesn't end up finding one.

Eta: I mean if you found one in your home.  I've never heard this eggs concern... I don't know how valid it is... Do cockroaches really want to come out in the sunshine to investigate your luggage?   Most people bring home actual whole cockroaches, such as in their grocery bags (this is one of the examples commonly given in public health pamphlets and it happened to me here in North Carolina).


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## bogey21 (Aug 31, 2011)

I found *one* in the 2nd bathroom of the duplex I rent.  I killed it with spray from a can of bug killer I had laying around, then sprayed inside and outside windows and doors and under counters with Ortho Home Defense for about *$5* from Home Depot.  It has been over 2 months and no more problems.

George


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## Janette (Aug 31, 2011)

I bought "roach" shoes in Hawaii and love them. I didn't know they were called that when I bought them. You can just step on a bug and wash your shoe. I really do wear them and have three pair. Rubber does wear out. They are great for the beach since water doesn't hurt them. We went on a snorkeling trip. When we got back, everyone had to check to make sure they had the right size shoe. No other way to tell them apart!


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## jme (Aug 31, 2011)

Janette said:


> I bought "roach" shoes in Hawaii and love them. I didn't know they were called that when I bought them. You can just step on a bug and wash your shoe. I really do wear them and have three pair. Rubber does wear out. They are great for the beach since water doesn't hurt them. We went on a snorkeling trip. When we got back, everyone had to check to make sure they had the right size shoe. No other way to tell them apart!



i just carry my shotgun whenever we're on a trip. they never know what hit 'em..... works well on people who put towels on pool-side chairs "illegally" all day long too.


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## MuranoJo (Aug 31, 2011)

Janette said:


> I bought "roach" shoes in Hawaii and love them. I didn't know they were called that when I bought them. You can just step on a bug and wash your shoe. I really do wear them and have three pair. Rubber does wear out. They are great for the beach since water doesn't hurt them. We went on a snorkeling trip. When we got back, everyone had to check to make sure they had the right size shoe. No other way to tell them apart!



Crocs would work for this.  I wear mine in the garden if it's muddy and just hose them off.  Could also hose off bug juice and they're comfy for just walking around.


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## Janette (Sep 1, 2011)

I'll never leave my towel on a chair under the big tree and go to the bathroom again!


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## mickeyfinn (Sep 3, 2011)

If it was a flyer, it was probably a "wood roach". They prefer to live outside and come it when attracted to light or sometimes the cooler temp. I haven't ever seen a big population of the Large roaches inside a building. If you have the smaller cockroaches, they will stay inside and thrive and you will need to do something.. The big ones, just stomp him out and be done with it. They are roaches, but not really cockroaches in terms of being the pests that people are usually concerned about.


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## jme (Sep 4, 2011)

Janette said:


> I'll never leave my towel on a chair under the big tree and go to the bathroom again!



funny janette....but you're ok.  wouldn't shoot YOU.


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## siesta (Sep 4, 2011)

*Off topic but....*



AKE said:


> Be glad it was a cockroach -  I stepped on a 2" scorpion in our walk-in closet in Hawaii.  The bite did hurt! (but unlike James Bond movies, I survived though walking was dicey for a few days).


 in all the years ive been spending time in scottsdale, i only got stung by a scorpion once, and it was bad. Blurry vision to the point i couldnt see, loss of equilibrium .. When i walked it was like i was extremely drunk. The skin on my whole body and all my limbs had the sensation that they were asleep and i couldnt wake them up, sensation was so bad i couldnt sit still let alone go to bed. And to top it off breathing was difficult,  that i had to concentrate. Called the ER to see if there was anything I or they could do, and they said no, if i came in they would hook me up to fluids and monitor me. I said forget it, ill stay home and drink water, i have someome looking after me. 

The worst of the symptoms lasted for a better part of 16 hours. With my vision not competely coming back until after 24. My pinky toe i got stung in was numb for 3 weeks, i just accepted i would never get feeling back in it but i did. Crazy night, oh ya i got stung at 3 in the morning getting the dog in from barking at the golf course. Must have been an allergic reaction?


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## ada903 (Sep 4, 2011)

Boy, I got all the symptoms just reading your story!  I will look twice before I put my foot down in Scottsdale, on anything!



siesta said:


> in all the years ive been spending time in scottsdale, i only got stung by a scorpion once, and it was bad. Blurry vision to the point i couldnt see, loss of equilibrium .. When i walked it was like i was extremely drunk. The skin on my whole body and all my limbs had the sensation that they were asleep and i couldnt wake them up, sensation was so bad i couldnt sit still let alone go to bed. And to top it off breathing was difficult,  that i had to concentrate. Called the ER to see if there was anything I or they could do, and they said no, if i came in they would hook me up to fluids and monitor me. I said forget it, ill stay home and drink water, i have someome looking after me.
> 
> The worst of the symptoms lasted for a better part of 16 hours. With my vision not competely coming back until after 24. My pinky toe i got stung in was numb for 3 weeks, i just accepted i would never get feeling back in it but i did. Crazy night, oh ya i got stung at 3 in the morning getting the dog in from barking at the golf course. Must have been an allergic reaction?


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## siesta (Sep 4, 2011)

ada903 said:


> Boy, I got all the symptoms just reading your story!  I will look twice before I put my foot down in Scottsdale, on anything!


 ada, bring a black light with you. Scorpions glow in the dark when you shine the light on them and i mean a really bright glow youll see across the yard.


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## carl2591 (Sep 5, 2011)

the original question was 

"What would you do when you find cockroach in your unit? "

A lot of good stories and answers have been submitted.. 

here is mine..


smack it with a flip flop and head to the pool... :hysterical: 

that the eco friendly of killing them and you don't get the chems. 

most likely have a chance of finding bed bugs before roaches.


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