Sowing And Reaping

Have you been standing on the Word and believing God for certain things to come to pass; to happen for you? While you wait to see the natural manifestation of what you believe, your patience and trust in God will be tested.

The Bible talks about seed time and harvest, which means there is a time to sow, a time to wait and a time to reap what you have sown (Genesis 8:22). Don't be discouraged, or allow frustration that accompanies impatience to deter your perseverance. Remember, for everything in life there is a due season. And due season always comes. Ecclesiastes 3:1 declares, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Sometimes, while you are waiting, impatience can usher in a flood of doubt and cause you to become weary. You may be wondering, "When is my harvest coming?" or "When is my breakthrough going to show up?" You have been sowing seed, believing and confessing the Word; your time of harvest is coming.

You must establish in your heart and mind that every promise of God has a particular time to be made manifest. Another thing you can be sure of, when dealing with God, is that there is never a question of whether something is going to happen that He said in His Word. Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

When you renew your mind to the fact that God's Word always comes to pass, you position yourself to no longer walk in the doubt of whether or not it will show up. This simply means that what you believe God for will surely happen, no matter what happens or is happening.

You have to get rid of the "if" mentality and get into the expectancy of "when" it's going to happen. When you develop expectancy, God is obligated to fulfill your expectation from His Word

God bless us all.

Related posts :

The amazing grace of God

keep your head up : God is still GoD

Take Good Care Of Your Employees...

As a Business Management specialist, I have had to do series of study on business resources secrets of business success. In all my studies and work, I have always come to the knowledge that the most important of business resources and the major secret of business success is not the sophisticated technology in place, the strong connections, the amount of financial power of the business owner or what have you. Rather that every business success or failure, hinges on the human resources available at his disposal.

A friend once said that the reason one of the banks here in Nigeria was doing well more than the others was because of the sophisticated technology it had put in place, especially in the area of internet banking. I said No ! I do not agree. To start with, those equipment were suggested by the staffers of the bank. It takes the staffers to make the machines operational. It also takes the staffers to tackle problems when they occur. Without humans the machines will forever be what they are – machines !!!

In all sectors of the economy workers are not treated as the goose that lays the golden eggs. What you have is mass exploitation of workers and in some cases, a complete disregard for generally acceptable standards for human treatment. Ranging from high rate of retrenchment/dismissals to inhuman treatments to unreasonable working hours to working-365 days a year to zero-welfare schemes, and very unreasonable salaries. The golden goose has been turned to the one that only lays the golden egg and it ends there ! Should it be so?

In such  organisations, there is very low morale, low productivity, high tendency to cheat or defraud the organisation, very low dedication and loyalty from employees, constant grumbling and dissatisfaction, very low tendency to be creative and very high staff turnover.

However, thumbs up for those organisations that see and treat their workers as truly the geese that lay the golden eggs and therefore have to be well nurtured for better production. These organisations are noted for excellent welfare policies (all of these or most of it) – free meals, all-expense-paid holiday trips, free accommodation, staff bus services, subsidized acquisition of home appliances, bonuses, excellent health services, scholarship for children of employees, humane treatment of emloyees, excellent award/reward system and salaries that makes vacancies to be very scarce in such organisations, amongst others.

Such organisations have very high staff loyalty, highly motivated work force, high productivity, creativity, dedication to service by employees and very low or insignificant staff turnover. Except for very strong reasons, why would one want to leave such organisations ?

I am one of those who see staff welfare expenses as investments, because that is exactly what it is. This is always an investment that always yields good returns. If you want to find out the results of having or not having a good welfare policy in place in an organisation, check out those organisations that either have them or do not have them in place. The results are so easy to see.

Thanks for your time.


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Outsmart your competitors or they will kick you out of business
Decision making : The most far-reaching function of a manager
http://justmikemon.bloSmall businesses' practices and the issues of stagnation and collapse

Outsmart your competitors or they will kick you out of business

Oshodi market is a very popular market in Lagos, Nigeria. There, you can find almost everything to buy. Like every other market, there are many people selling similar items. What this translates to is that survival is for the fittest.

A few days back, I had to go and do last minute shopping for my family for the Christmas celebration. The tempo in the market was unsurprisingly high as there were so many other last minute shoppers like myself. The traders too were at their best trying to outsmart one another to sell their products. traders used all sort of means to get customers’ attention – pulling customers, singing, cracking jokes, impromptu discounts offers and even making a mockery of themselves – all in a bid to sell their products. One thing was noticeable – traders who were very good at appealing to or wooing customers made a lot of sales. I had to stop by some trading spots, not because I wanted to, but because I was persuaded to by the very appealing tactics applied by the concerned traders. I was not the only one that so persuaded.

However, in a sharp contrast was a particular trader who simply stood there and held out his wares without making attempts to appeal to or woo customers to his spot. Instead, he stood there smiling at his colleagues who were busy applying creativity to the tensed competition that existed at the time, and making huge sales therefrom. Till I left the area where he was selling, he did not make any sales. I really pitied him.

This scene applies beyond the simple sole trader selling his wares on a corner of the street or in the market, to big multinationals. The need to do something extra cannot be over emphasized in business. One of the major reasons why some businesses are finding the business climate very tough is because of the presence of competitors, some of them being very aggressive. Remove the competition and you find them doing better.  But in business you cannot rule out competition, except for legal monopolies. So every business has to learn the art of survival of the fittest, or they are kicked out of business.

All that is required is to have at the back of your mind that a sale by a competitor means you have lost that particular sale. If it continues unabated, then collapse is imminent. Simple !

So you have to do everything (legal of course) to ensure that you outsmart your competitor. It’s all about being watchful, creative, proactive, business-minded, building customer loyalty and above all, being customer-oriented. Sometimes you might have to lose a few coins/notes. See those loses as investments that, most often than not, pay back.

Last line : Watch a boxing match, preferably that of Iron Mike Tyson, and see how to outsmart a competitor.

Good luck to you.

Related  links:

It feels good to be king : Thumbs up to healthy competition

Customer loyalty : A condition for business survival

Decision making : The most far reaching function of a manager

Small businesses' practices and issues of stagnation and collapse

                                                                                                                    

The Power In A Name

A name is supposed to serve as a means of identifying an individual. A name prevents an individual from being called like a dog, cat or any other pet by making a sound.

People may pass away, but names never pass away.

Names are given for different reasons. I gave my son Daniel because of the awesome miracle God did when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:1-28). Till date, my son’s life reflects this miracle. I nicknamed him unstoppable because of the way God has taken care of him for more than four years.  I gave my daughter Grace to constantly remind myself of God’s awesome magnanimity towards me and my family. For the past four months my daughter’s name has been working in her life. Hallelujah !!!

So you see, names are like seeds, prayers or wishes. Imagine being given a name like idiot or robber! Such a name has a strong tendency to hunt the child for ever. I have a friend who had to change his surname because it was associated with the water goddess.

Another angle of looking at names, and the major reason for this post, is where an individual suffers for the sins he never committed, simply because he/she shares the same name with the ‘’sinner.’’

A story was once told of a lady who lost a good job simply because she was the daughter of a sadist lecturer who forgot that there was a world outside the campus which he had no power over. We have them in all campuses. Some of them are worse than demons. It was her surname that exposed her at the point of the interview. Unfortunately for her, the lady in charge was an ex-victim of the dad back in the university. Another lost a scholarship abroad simply because the man in charge was once a victim of the young man’s father, who was his former boss. He was said to be worse than the devil when they were working together.  

In another instance, a young man had to change his surname simply because of the so many crimes the father had committed in the past. In yet another instance, what was supposed to be a future union was cut short as soon as the girl introduced herself. Her father murdered his father. That was the end of the short-lived love.

The examples of how a simple name can bring sorrow upon one’s life are common place. Perhaps as you read this post your mind would have taken you to a few instances.

However, the good news is that names have also opened doors for a lot people. The mere mention of their names brought them favour even when they did not deserve them. 

So the message is very simple. Names are like seeds. They grow and bring all sorts of consequences depending on the type of name and how they are nurtured over time.  Sadly, even the unborn eventually get to share from whatever comes with the names they meet in world.

So be careful, be wise and be prayerful.

God help us all, amen !!!

Related post :

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The transient nature of power

Transient nature of power

Congratulations To President Obama : Matters Arising

I have never been to the USA, but I love the country to a fault. For me, it is one of the most organized and matured countries on earth. A few other countries also impress me. Good enough, they have always lived up to expectation.

Another election has come and gone and as expected the USA lived up to the love and respect I had for them. To the best of my knowledge, the election was very peaceful, devoid of violence, ballot box snatching, assassinations, thuggery, accusations and counter accusations, threat of litigations and all other dirty aspects of politics that dominate the election of other countries. In fact, there was no sign of the incumbency advantage or manipulation by President Obama. He was just a candidate, just like Mr. Romney was.

What mattered to the Americans most was their country and not Mr Romney or President Obama. I use to feel ‘jealous’ when I hear the very common prayer "God bless America. Rather than watch chaos on TV, what I saw was intellectual and matured battle. Issues of national interest were the main subjects of the ''battle'' rather that personal witch hunting common in the elections of other climes.

Just like I expected, I just watched a video of Republican, Mitt Romney, conceding defeat in the 2012 presidential election to President Barak Obama, saying ‘I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory….and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation." I knew the American blood was in Mitt Romney and he will definitely do as I expected him to do. 

I join the whole world to congratulate President Barak Obama and wish him and his cabinet well too. I also praise the Americans for living up to the expectation of those who see them as the best democracy in the world.

For other countries where the game of politics is a very dirty and blood-sucking game, I pray that God will heal your lands. I look forward to a time when politics will be mainly for the purpose of service to humanity and not for self-centered and ungodly motives. I hope a time will come when politics in those countries will be free from violent crimes, acrimony, unnecessary litigations and ill-motived god-fatherism. It is very possible....it takes willingness and a strong resolve from all those concerned. 

Once more, CONGRATULATIONS PRESIDENT OBAMA and God bless  America......and God bless Nigeria !!!!

Related link :
The Transient Nature Of Power

The Amazing Grace Of God

It’s being a while that I wanted to do this post. But for one reason or the other I have not. But after hearing the loss of a baby of a colleague’s friend after delivery, I just had to deal with procrastination and get this post done.

I am one of those who believe so much in the fact that GOD is awesomely magnanimous – doing so much for man and me in particular, when we do not actually deserve it all. I believe so much in the fact that I am surrounded by so many things I do not deserve – the amazing grace of God ! I am 100% convinced that if not for God, I would have been woken up from my sleep, only to realize that all I have today and what I am today, were just fantasies in the mind of a dreamer. I believe so much in the AMAZING GRACE of God.   

Have you stopped to ask which human being can be so good to you despite all the bad things you may have done to him or her?  Is there any human being, living or dead, who can tell me that all he or she has, or has had, is as a result of their hard work and probably, their educational qualifications?  Come on ! Did you not hear that 13000 people applied for the post of drivers in Dangote Group(Google it), and majority of which were MBA and PhD holders? Can you say that these ones have not worked hard enough or read enough? How come their papers and years of hard work could not fetch them their dream jobs? I guess you will say it’s the unemployment situation in Nigeria; or perhaps that they are not well connected. Well, carry out your research. Nigeria is not alone in this strange situation.

Check out the life of every successful person you know - entertainment, sports, law, technology, medicine and much more – you will observe that there are numerous people out there who are several times better. But sadly, they are not as successful or successful at all. Why? Simple. God blesses whoever He chooses to bless. He releases His grace to whoever He so desires. The successful ones are simply products of the amazing grace of God (whether they accept or not), and His actions are unquestionable. God is awesomely magnanimous !

Someone once said He cannot see anything that God has done for him, just because things were not too rosy with him. And I asked “what about the extra ordinary gift of life.” Do you know that man would have taken the “little” he has given him because of ingratitude?  But God rarely does that. That is because He is God, and will not act like man. His grace is very strange and can only be comparable with His grace. God is awesomely magnanimous.

Have you ever wondered why wicked and evil people live long and even live a good life? Well, that again is because God’s grace is awesome and can only be comparable to His grace. It’s really annoying really. But that is what makes God different from us.
For it is written (Rom 9:15-16) :

.... I will have mercy on whom I 

will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy

 

So, the bottom line of my post is simple : we are all enjoying the AMAZING GRACE OF GOD, no matter who you are and whatever you may be ; yes I mean everyone created by God. The Bible (Rom 3:23) says that:

for all have sinned, and come 

short of the glory of God.

So, if you have not been doing it, make it a daily task to thank Him for all you have achieved in life. Always thank Him for His unmerited favors and mercies towards you and all that concerns you. Resist the temptation of stealing the glory which belongs to God and giving it to something else or someone else. Where you refuse, one day you might find yourself without that grace that you have constantly been relegating to the background of your life and endeavors. You will be left alone to be helped by that thing or person you have always depended upon. Do not wait till then. Thus says the Lord (Prov. 1:24-27) :

because I have called and ye refused; I have stretched

out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at 

nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof,

 I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your 

fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation and

 your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress 

and anguish cometh upon you. 

So, brother or sister, give God what belongs to Him......always acknowledge His AMAZING GRACE because He is awesomely Magnanimous!!!

Thanks for your time. 

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Tips On Safe Usage Of The Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine (ATM) , also known as an automated banking machine (ABM), Cashpoint, cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English and Hiberno-English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the client of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller.

The customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date.

The first ATM was put into use in 1959 in the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

The ATM machine is a modern day invention that has been globally applauded, accepted and used. However, like every other very good invention, it has not been without its own setbacks.

I have been a victim of this machine a number of times. Same goes for my friends. Hence, I decided to do this post.

Setbacks

The major setbacks are basically of three types:

Fraud. There have been so many reported cases of ATM card’s password forgeries.  Fraudsters have devised a means of getting and using the ATM card users’ password to steal money from their bank accounts. This they do without the cards.  One low-tech way is shoulder surfing (i.e. looking over someone's shoulder, to get information) your card’s personal identification number (PIN) or password by a criminal. Another way is to steal both the card and the PIN and use it withdraw money from the account.

Seizure of cards. So many ATM machines have ‘swallowed’ the cards of some users due to, in some cases, technical defaults. This usually causes untold hardship for the account owner who has to spend days, weeks and sometimes months waiting for a solution to the fraud.  It can even take a longer time where is an inter bank problem.

Debits without payments. I have fallen a victim of this setback, say thrice. Fortunately for me, I was credited within one hour of the occurrence of the problem. Some people spend months pursuing this error. An account holder in one of the banks said for three months he was yet to get his account credited.   

Tips on safe usage

Here are a few tips which I have been sharing with people to reduce the risk involved with the usage of the ATM :-

1.  Insist that no one is within a distance that can make the person see your PIN when typing.

2. Where you suspect that your PIN has been seen, change it immediately, either using the machine you are using or use the nearest machine.

3.  Where the machine seizes your card, report immediately to an officer in the bank who can act fast. Where they are slow on retrieving your card, I will advise you authorize you bank to stop your account until you are convinced that all is well. As soon as you get your card change the PIN immediately.

4. To collect money, follow the following steps:

i. Check the balance first to confirm that your banks’ network is connected to the ATM’s internet service.

ii. Start with a small amount. This reduces the risk of being debited with a huge sum without payment, as a result of either the machine not being able to dispense cash or that there is no enough cash in the machine.

5.  Keep your password very close to your heart. Where you have to inevitably release your PIN to someone, change it immediately after collecting it back.

6.  Do not be careless with your card.

7.  Where a particular machine is notorious for ATM-related problems, avoid it.

8.  From experience, it is advisable to always use the ATMs of the banks where your account is located. Apart from  not paying a fee of N100, it reduces the stress you may have to go through if there is any problem; and also it reduces the time you may have to wait to get the problem sorted out.

9. Where the transaction's processing is slow, it is advisable that you discontinue the usage of the machine, if your card is not seized by the machine. Cases abound of card seizures after a prolonged waiting for the transaction to be processed.

10. If you have forgotten your password, contact your bank. Your card may be seized by the machine after three failed attempts.

It costs nothing to take good advice.

Thanks for your time.

Related link :

The Internet : Between love and hate 

Divorce And Separations : The Fate Of Children

Cases of divorce are very common globally today, being the aftermath of a number of factors ranging from infidelity, dwindling finances, lack of contentment, intolerance, unsubmissiveness on the part of the woman, arrogance of the husband, amongst others. In some cases, legally processed divorces are not the case, but a mere walk-out by either the man or the woman.  And in some cases, what you have is what I will call in-house divorce/separation – a situation where the spouses live together, and do not communicate with each other. In all, one thing is obvious – the once happy home is no more!!!

Children are often the worst hit in most cases of divorce

Look at it this way: before things go awry, there was this moment when the man and woman loved each other so much that they gathered people together to come and see them tie the nuptial knots. Meaning : if we reverse the ‘’hands of behavior’’ backwards, it is possible for things to return to normalcy if the spouse(s) involved is WILLING. If this is true, then there should not be divorces except very very serious issues are involved such as that which exposes a spouse’s life to danger, like possible man slaughter. Biblically, except for adultery, divorce is not allowed.

However, this has not been the case in many cases. A young man once told me that he was ending the relationship because his spouse was ‘‘unsubmissive and talks back at him’’. Then I asked him, if there was a time when all was well. He answered in the affirmative. Then I said the solution was not separation but that two of them should trace back their relationship and take corrective actions because there is no perfect relationship anywhere. I want to be quoted on this. Some people see the pre-divorce turbulent period as a dark tunnel which can only be brought to an end only by a divorce. The question is: is it always the case? Does divorce guarantee light at the end of the dark tunnel. 

My sojourn in the academia has been very beneficial in many fronts. One of the greatest benefits is my exposure to all kinds of children – yes I mean all kinds of children – the intelligent, average, weak, very weak, children with disabilities, emotionally balanced and those that are emotionally traumatized. 

It is very interesting to note that most of the students that I have had to have a chat with for having moral or academic challenges were those whose parents had SEPARATED OR DIVORCED or their marriage was on the verge of collapse.

One of my former students once said: ‘’how can I concentrate when my parents are always fighting.” Another who I noticed was always absent minded in class once told me what I feared: ‘’her parents were divorced and home was no more home sweet home.’’ Another who was always in a bad mood told me that their home was a war zone on a daily basis. The kids of my former neighbor always spent their time in my apartment. The reason is not far-fetched - daddy comes back late, since he was always fighting with the mum; even when he returns late, as he usually does, it is fighting all through the night. A prostitute once said that the abandonment of their once happy home by the dad pushed her into the streets. If you checked the confessions of most of the street kids, armed robbers and other criminals, one fact is common - they are mostly products of broken or troubled homes. Take and examine ten emotionally disturbed and traumatised children. More than five cases will be the aftermath of troubled homes.

No doubt, the absence of that father figure, no matter how poor he may be, in any home tells a lot about what eventually becomes of that child in future. Any man who says he can bring up his kids alone without their motherly love and attention should give his views a second thought. And it is usually time that proves each person right or wrong.

What about the prolonged emotional problems that creep in for both spouses, with each wearing an all-is-well face.  What about families’ and societal perception of the new status of both spouses. It is no hidden fact that some remarriages sometimes end up in friction and disunity with a long list of commonly found unpleasant consequences. If you say divorce cases sometimes end ‘’well’’ it will definitely be that there was no child between them.

So wherein lays the light at the end of the dark tunnel which divorce, separation or in-house separation was meant to bring about. What I see instead is a continuation of the dark tunnel, which in most cases eventually turns into a darker tunnel.

The summary of my submission is this : spouses should ALWAYS give priority to the effects of their actions on their innocent children. They deserve to be happy like every other child, secured and free from trauma, and assured of a blissful tomorrow. The spouses too deserve marital bliss as planned out by God. For this to be so spouses should swallow the humble pie and always remember their MARRIAGE VOWS, and above all be PRAYERFUL.

Wishing you a blissful marriage and an enviable family.

Thanks for your time.


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The Internet : Between LOVE and HATE

I love the internet. But there is no amount of love you have for something, a time might come when some element of hate might creep in.

Before the advent of the internet, I was a one-way traffic kind of guy – only interested in business and finance which is my area of specialization. The main reason behind this was obviously the difficulty of accessing information on other facets of life. Getting information on varied facets of life was expensive as books and magazines/newspapers had to be bought to source for information.

The coming of the internet in the early 90s changed my life all together – thumps up for Sir Timothy John ‘’Tim’’ Berners-Lee for his invention of the World Wide Web.  I started off by going to internet cafes to surf the internet. I fell in love with the internet and how it works. I loved most the fact that I can get virtually any information from the internet.

My love for the internet grew when I bought my first internet internet-enabled phone, then a laptop, then a modem and then a blackberry phone. My knowledge base became immeasurable. Getting information on virtually any topic became just a click away. Afterwards, opened my Yahoo email account. Communication became swift. Then I opened my Facebook account. In no time, I reunited with many of my lost friends and relations. Wao!!! With time, sophisticated gadgets entered the market one after the other - tablets, smartphones, iPhones, sophisticated satellite dishes and much more.

At work, the internet became a wonderful assistant.  As an academia, the internet has really boosted my data base and confidence. It takes me seconds to source for any information - I mean any  information. The internet has been a remarkable assistant in all spheres of live and discipline - medicine, architecture, arts, engineering, security, communication, agriculture, entertainment, oil exploration, education and  much more. 

As I was enjoying this wonderful creation of man, some people, in secret places across the globe were scheming on how to use this creation to create pain in the heart of other internet users. Cybercrime is now common place. Hacking is now a means of livelihood. The most alarming and the height of it all is DEATH arising from internet-related activity, namely ONLINE DATING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING. The latest one is the murder of Cynthia Osokogu, a 25 year old Nigerian student, by friends she made via Facebook on July 22, 2012. In fact, her death prompted me to put this blog post together.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Badoo, Tweeter, and MySpace are wonderful creations of man. For me, it has really closed up the distance between me and my friends and family members scattered all over the world. But unfortunately some users of these networks have refused to follow one principle (Biblical) that has guided me through life so far. What is it ? TRUST NO ONE !!! Yeahh TRUST NO ONE !!!

One  fact is clear - whatever precaution one takes can still be broken. But another greater fact is that is worse and very dangerous when no precaution is taken at all. When you go by my principle :-

*You will not release very personal details online such as bank account details and PINs

*You will not give details of your credit cards online without caution

*You will not go and visit a stranger you only know online without security arrangements

*You will not disclose your actual locations to a stranger

*You will not discuss very intimate work details to a stranger

*You will not agree to marry a “stranger’’ you got to know online

*You will not ‘’foolishly’’ fall in love to with an online stranger   

*You will not end up being deceived by the photos you see online, especially profile pictures

*You will not use the same password someone used in opening an online account for you.

*You will become suspicious when a guy or lady is secretive while discussing

*You will not post your home address on social networks’ walls for people to see

*You will not disclose your financial status online

*You will avoid flamboyant photos online

*You will not accept friend requests on social networks without caution

*You will not give ANYONE unlimited access to your email and social network accounts

*You will always sign out from your email and social network accounts

The above are some of the precautions you and I could take to avoid being victims of internet criminals. Living a carefree life can really expose us to a lot of risk. So much money, properties and worse of all, life, have been lost through internet-related criminal activities.

Like I said earlier, precautions can be broken, but it is very risky and dangerous not to take any precautions at all.

HAPPY SURFING!!!

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