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House of Cards/Netflix

6 strategies to win at office politics in 2015

Like a boss.

THOUGH IT’S UNPLEASANT to admit it, there’s a lot more that goes into being successful at work than merely being good at the tasks you’re assigned.

It’s also about giving people the perception that you’re competent, getting the right people to like you, and — in some hostile workplaces — preventing your rivals from tearing you down.

Users on Quora recently discussed the question: “How do you win at office politics?

Their answers shed some light on what you can do to get ahead as you return to work in 2015:

1. Never let your guard down

One of the trickiest parts of working in an office is conducting yourself professionally during work-related social events. While the company Christmas party might be presented as a chance for you to put back a few beers and enjoy yourself, it’s important to remember that one wrong comment in a relaxed setting could tarnish the reputation you’ve spent all year building.

“‘Informal’ environments are a lie,” writes Quora user Michael O. Church. “Complainers (even justified ones) and blowhards still get shot in the head, in these ‘informal’ environments. It’s just not publicized.”

2. Be useful to your peers

Quora user James Liu shares this piece of advice given to him by his father: “If you share your knowledge with others and do this well, you will never be redundant.”

While it might seem counterintuitive to help others learn the skills and information that could otherwise distinguish you from everyone else, doing so builds trust with your coworkers that could lead to them being your ally down the road.

Additionally, these people may be willing to pass along information to you, whether it’s a tip on how to do your job better or a heads up about a coming organizational shift at your company.

“When you expose yourself, you are bartering knowledge for trust,” Liu writes.

3. Don’t be a gossip

It’s tempting to bad mouth someone you’re competing with for a promotion while they’re not around, but speaking negatively about your coworkers can do more harm than good.

Quora user Nick Baily explains that people are smart enough to figure out that if you’re giving them the dirt about another one of your coworkers, you’re likely to do the same thing to them.

“When someone instigates a conversation where you would be inclined to b*** about another coworker and you don’t take the bait, you send a very strong message that you can be trusted in the other direction too,” he writes.

And when it comes to speaking negatively about those in power, it’s best to be very, very careful.

“Assume everything you say at work will be heard by the boss,” writes Alan Cagle.

4. Keep busy… or at least try to look like you are

At work, you’re essentially managing two different things — your actual productivity, and how that productivity is perceived by your bosses and peers.

Michael O. Church says you should avoid being seen doing useless activities at work like chit-chatting with your friends. This gives people the impression that your time is not particularly valuable and sends the message that the only thing you’re adding to the company is a likable personality.

If you don’t have anything to do, he recommends finding a skill you’d like to learn and working to get better at it.

“You’ll probably never get fired for reading machine learning papers on your computer (you’ll stay out of trouble, with your head down),” Church writes. “But you will get pushed out or demoted (eventually) if you project low status, and putting a visible low value on your time has that effect.”

 5. Tactfully promote your accomplishments

It’s hard to impress your bosses if they don’t know what a good job you’re doing. You can do this by taking a moment out of a one-on-one meeting with your manager to bring up the specific things you have done — winning a new client, updating the company’s employee handbook, etc.

Career coach Lea McLeod recommends in an article on The Muse that you put your personal achievements in the context of how they help the company meet its longterm goals, this way there’s no doubt about what you’re adding to the team.

To avoid sounding arrogant, make sure to spread praise to the coworkers who helped you succeed.

6. Know your purpose

There’s no use trying to climb the corporate ladder if you don’t know why you’re doing it. Are you trying to make money to support your family? Do you have a desire to create products people love? Or is there some social goal you hope to achieve through business?

It’s important to keep what you’re trying to accomplish in mind at all times, otherwise you’ll lose focus of why want you wanted to excel at your company in the first place. And in some sense, that’s just as frustrating as not succeeding at all.

“Without purpose, you’re just playing a game and can’t expect anything to come of it,” writes Quora user Nick Yandell.

- Aaron Taube

Opinion: How to go from friend to boss overnight

DailyEdge.ie: How terrifying is your office fridge? 

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    Mute garb yakob
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:01 PM

    First one in 70 years reads headline. Opener reads, last time was 1967… Counts fingers again..

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:18 PM

    Garb , it’s correct in accordance to astronomy Ireland . ..

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:19 PM

    It says ever seventy years on average. So there.

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    Mute rossi
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:20 PM

    Big hands

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:21 PM

    It coincides with solstice for the first time since 1967 ..

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    Mute Keith D'Arcy
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:16 AM

    Astronomy Ireland, it’s like asking halfords about the Tour de France.

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    Mute Charles Coughlan
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    Jun 21st 2016, 2:27 AM

    You mean Astronomy Ireland Limited, bet you didn’t know that.

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    Mute Brian Farrell
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    Jun 21st 2016, 4:52 AM

    Just cacked myself. I was born in 67. Didn’t know whether to be annoyed at being 69 or happy to be retired.

    Hayho off to work

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    Mute Trisha Tully
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    Jun 21st 2016, 8:38 AM

    I didn’t have to use my fingers. I was born in 67 :-)

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    Mute Trisha Tully
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    Jun 21st 2016, 8:41 AM

    No, it says at the start of the article, Keep an eye on the sky tonight for the first ‘ Strawberry Moon ‘ in 70 years.

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    Mute Michael Lynch
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    Jun 21st 2016, 9:02 AM

    Then a photo of one over Whitley Bay this year!!

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    Mute Hipster Enda
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    Jun 21st 2016, 10:21 AM

    A full moon in June is known as a ‘Strawberry Moon’ it occurs every year.
    A solstice also occurs every year.

    This year on the exact point of the solstice we also have a full moon. Not much to see here. Astronomy Ireland really like to over-egg the pudding.

    It’s almost at the stage when you see a press story from Astronomy Ireland you have to personally ‘snopes’ it to find out what the real often non-story is.

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    Mute Michael Lynch
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    Jun 21st 2016, 2:23 PM

    My apologies to your obvious superior intellect.

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    Mute AARO-SAURUS
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:24 PM

    Hello clouds my old friend. I’ve come to squint through you again.

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    Mute Liam O Sullivan
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:01 PM

    Pretty sure 1967 was only 49 years ago?

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    Mute Trisha Tully
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    Jun 21st 2016, 8:42 AM

    I hope so liam or my days are more numbered than I hoped

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    Mute Pauliebhoy
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    Jun 20th 2016, 10:57 PM

    Just seen it there over Blueberry Hill

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    Mute Josephine Carroll
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:15 PM

    Beautiful moon.when it comes out from behind clouds.

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    Mute Peter keogh
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:40 PM

    I can see it but it just looks like a normal moon there’s no red or strawberry tint to it,maybe a little bit brighter than usual I don’t know.im in the north east

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    Mute Josephine Carroll
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:50 PM

    @peter…there was a slight tint of redness to it earlier tonight…now its just gone behind dark cloud….I’m in the northeast also….co.Louth.

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    Mute Peter keogh
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:56 PM

    Hi Josephine I looked at it at around 23.40 and didn’t see it I’m in Co.louth as well,doubt I’ll be knocking round for the next one

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    Mute Josephine Carroll
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:58 PM

    Me either…

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    Mute Peter keogh
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:00 AM

    Journal.ie probably should of put something in so people could send in pictures of it

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    Mute Josephine Carroll
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:07 AM

    If you have photos you can send them to www astronomy.ie/astronomy Ireland…I took photos but didn’t come out great….camera not up to taking good photos at that distance…

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    Mute Gerald Kelleher
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    Jun 21st 2016, 7:00 AM

    Hi guys, the Strawberry moon happens every year just like the Harvest moon .

    If a person walks around a central object with an outstretched arm pointing at the object this imitates why we see the same side of the moon at all times as it runs a circuit around the Earth. Foolish academics have convinced themselves that the moon rotates also as it orbit the Earth and that has to be the most stupid notion ever even though they are proud of it.

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    Mute Rónán O'Suilleabháin
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    Jun 21st 2016, 9:32 AM

    Gerald — what????

    The moon does rotate as it orbits the earth. The reason we consistently see the same side is that it’s tidally locked. The moon would originally have been spinning faster than once every 28odd days, but the gravitational pull of the earth is tugging against that spin, just as the moon tugs against our surface (creating our tides). Eventually the moon slowed to the point that the turning force came into balance with the effects of the earth’s gravity.

    In theory, the earth can become similarly tidally locked with the Sun, with one side always facing, but the sun will have gobbled us up long before then (billions of years)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

    As for your explanation, if I walk around in a circle, in my driveway, facing my car for a full rotation, I will have had the sun at my back, front, left and right sides, therefore I will have completed a 360 degree rotation. The fact that I will also have been displaced around a circle, relative to my car, means I won’t have spun on the spot, but I will certainly have rotated. If I wasn’t rotating, I would stay facing in one direction and instead have the car in front of me, then to my left, then behind me, then to my right.

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    Mute Gerald Kelleher
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    Jun 21st 2016, 2:21 PM

    Don’t be silly Ronan, when you walk/orbit you car/ moon while keeping an outstretched arm pointing at your car there is no separate rotation like most people of common sense would know. The idiot that was Sir Isaac Newton misread what Kepler wrote and became the first person in history to assert that the moon also rotates as it orbits the Earth. Kepler and any sensible person knows the moon doesn’t rotate -

    “The Sun and the Earth rotate on their own axes…The purpose of this
    motion is to confer motion on the planets located around them;on the
    six primary planets in the case of the Sun,and on the moon in the case
    of the Earth.On the other hand the moon does not rotate on the axis of
    its own body,as its spots prove ” Kepler

    If you see the moon rotating then good for you but it is the dumbest thing ever as it is the one observation we share with all astronomers since antiquity as the moon orbits the Earth. If you want to know what passage in Kepler that Newton misread then let me know but as far as I am concerned a rotating moon is worse than a flat Earth no matter how much voodoo and bluffing then surround it with.

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    Mute MARK O 'LEARY
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:27 PM

    I’ll wait for the blue one instead,thanks.

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    Mute Debi Nikita
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:20 PM

    Will be lucky to see it if it wasn’t for these clouds covering our Dublin sky.

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    Mute Carina Portman
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:26 PM

    Can’t see anything through these clouds as usual.

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    Mute Aisling Keogh
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:19 PM

    Not to mention the accompanying photo that shows the “strawberry moon” rising near Whitely Bay earlier this month!

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    Mute AGuyWithARant
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:10 PM

    Theres a new only last appeared 50/70/100/1000 moon every two months at this stage. How many shades of red can our moon get to?

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    Mute Ziggy722
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:39 PM

    I am going to just stare at it for hours.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 22nd 2016, 1:43 AM

    The TV lol.

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:41 PM

    Won’t happen again until 2062

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    Mute Meehawwl O'Buachailla
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:03 AM

    Or 9.02pm as we call it around my way.

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    Mute Peter Moran
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:31 AM

    Il hang on til then

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 22nd 2016, 1:44 AM

    Newton said the end of the world will be 2060, a bit late lol.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 22nd 2016, 1:46 AM

    Although he forgot the 1000 years extra in the Book of Revelation, the eejit…

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    Mute Niall Hirsch
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:21 PM
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    Mute Meehawwl O'Buachailla
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:05 AM

    Read the article.

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Jun 21st 2016, 1:26 AM

    Who else is still up?

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    Mute Patrick James Walsh
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    Jun 21st 2016, 2:01 AM

    Just you I`d say.

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    Mute Trisha Tully
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    Jun 21st 2016, 8:46 AM

    Hilarious Patrick

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    Mute john jones
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    Jun 21st 2016, 12:33 AM

    Just seeing it in ibiza was amazing

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    Mute James Xenophon
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:32 PM

    “It was 1967 since this last happened.” Whatever that’s supposed to mean …

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    Mute Trisha Tully
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    Jun 21st 2016, 8:45 AM

    It really doesn’t mean anything James.

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    Mute Notthatguy
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    Jun 20th 2016, 11:29 PM

    Strawberry moon above an article about a bltch witch…… Burn her like the witch she is….

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    Mute Donal O'Brien
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    Jun 21st 2016, 6:47 AM

    From my reading of this article, there is nothing particularly special about the full moon this month only that it falls on the date of the summer solstice, it’s not a different colour, it’s not larger etc.
    The full moon happens ever 29 days, so in 29days you will see it again, cloud cover permitting.

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    Mute TheBrain FromDublin
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    Jun 21st 2016, 1:58 AM

    I’m in Boston and the view of the moon is amazing, clear sky here, ……. I don’t want to come home….

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    Mute Patrick Brompton
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    Jun 21st 2016, 10:40 AM

    ‘The French call this moon “la lune rose”, which translates into English as “the rose moon”‘. No sh!t, Sherlock!

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    Mute Donal O'Brien
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    Jun 21st 2016, 9:55 AM

    This is a really stupid article, in my opinion.

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    Mute Jeffre Tomred
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    Jun 26th 2016, 2:37 AM

    BE SMART AND BECOME RICH IN LESS THAN 3DAYS….It all depends on how fast you can be to get the new PROGRAMMED blank ATM card that is capable of hacking into any ATM machine,anywhere in the world. I got to know about this BLANK ATM CARD when I was searching for job online about l 5days ago ..It has really changed my life for good and now I can say I’m rich and I can never be poor again. The least money I get $2,000 daily and now i have $10,000… Everyday I keeping pumping money into my account. Though is illegal,there is no risk of being caught ,because it has been programmed in such a way that it is not traceable,it also has a technique that makes it impossible for the CCTVs to detect you..For details on how to get yours today, email the hackers on : (cindytedder767@yahoo.com) Tell your loved once too, and start to live large. That’s the simple testimony of how my life changed for good…Love you all …the email address again is (cindytedder767@yahoo.com)

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jun 22nd 2016, 1:49 AM

    I thought it was made out of Cheese lol.

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    Mute Daniel
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    Jun 21st 2016, 11:32 AM

    My brain is moving the boat in the photo. Anyone else’s brain doing that?

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