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Updated January 2007Well, I've lived in Winnipeg for the past 15 years now and I own an Art Gallery and my own Consulting Firm as well. On top of that, for the past 10 years, I have been the computer guru at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. I also do the whole promotion manager/music video director/photographer thing for my fave local band Almost Famous. The important things - I am a single father of 2 beautiful, wonderful, happy children. My son Branden James & my daughter Amy Velma Mary (named after her kookums). They are the best thing to happen to me in my life besides the Creator, (all 3 taught me about unconditional love). We just got back from Disneyland! Yay! Presently, the kids & I spend lots of time together at our beautiful home in the Sargent Park area of Winnipeg where they both absolutely love going to school. Branden is a computer genuis and Amy is a ballerina princess. |
Amy Velma Mary
at age 2 |
Branden James
at age 8 |
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| Born: July 14
Town: Birtle, Manitoba, Canada
Weight: 6lbs 7oz
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Green
Sex: Male
Name: Derek Ralph Kematch
Parents: Velma Kematch & Eldon Quill
True story… I was born on July 14 in a little town called Birtle but only because my mother was on a road trip with a busload of nuns and she started to feel her labour contractions just as they were passing through this town. The nuns take her to the hospital and she proceeds to give birth to me in this town hospital and strangely, my mother rejects me when she sees me. But I don't mean this in a negative way, I wasn't an ugly baby freak. On the contrary, I was the exact opposite. Confused? Well, then, let me explain.
My mother and father are Cree Aboriginals, i.e. Indians, and they have the typical physical characteristics of the prairie natives such as the dark skin, dark eyes, long black hair, etc. So when the nurses put this white-skinned, blonde-haired, green-eyed baby in my mother's arms, you can imagine her shock and surprise. But after explaining to her that I was the only baby in the hospital, they forced her to take me home with her. Thus, begins my adventure which, much like my birth continues with travels and adventure throughout my home province to Manitoba.
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Bouncing Baby Boy
Age 1 - Shoal River |
Age 5 |
I grew up in many towns, cities and FN communities but my "home town" was called Shoal River. They have since changed their name to Sapotaweyak (Cree for "the mouth of the river"). Seems all the FN communities are doing it. Anyway, this is me in front of one of the many reserve houses that I will come to pass by in my life. I honestly can't remember which one this one is, but I was very young. My dad wanted me to be a hockey player at a very young age, but then I think all Canadian parents were the same in that respect. Now I wish I had stuck to it in my adult years. I really did like playing hockey.
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5 years old with my sister and mother in Shoal River |
So you're asking yourself, why the physical differences? Both my parents are completely First Nations in appearance while I'm a blonde green-eyed Indian. Well, that's easy enough to explain. My mother's grandfather, is a Bradbury, a Scot, and I'm told that I am the spitting image of that part of my family. |
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Here I am holding a big freakin' piece of baloney. God, I loved baloney, and I'm not just saying that. So pure and so tasty. Heaven, thy ground must be made of baloney. Anyhoo, I was young, just starting to speak English. I had spoken mostly Cree my baby years and so I really had to learn hard in School. It was odd, when I was at an indian school, I was a "white man", but when I went to white schools, I was an "indian". Didn't matter, though, whatever school I went to, I was always the smartest kid. I'm not kidding, too. Why was I the smartest? Because I couldn't stop reading. I just loved reading, man. Why, even to this day, I am a self-proclaimed "Information Junkie", but I have parlayed that into a very satisfying job. More on that later, but for now, reading and baloney, that was the life, boy.
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Age 6 |
10 years old with my sisters and brother in Dauphin
Age 11 |
My pre-pubescent years, my formative time. These were my buddies in the town of Rivers, MB. We had a rock-solid baseball team that was second to none. This was the time where I really came into my own as a person, a leader and quite the intelligent boy. I also broke my ass-bone during a winter slide on a rock. Yeowch! I went to many schools in my life but I enjoyed this one, because it was the first time I ever got to slow-dance with a girl. Awwww! (Did I mention, I also got into a fist fight with that same girl. Yeowch! I won, not that it's important.) Upper Left fellow is Kevin Chartrand who I still see every once in a while, the others, I just can't remember at this moment.
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My teen years were spent in Sagkeeng. 2 very important things happened this year, in grade 7, my mom was my teacher and in that very same class, I met my best friend in all the world, Lawrence Abraham.
I had my first crush on a girl (Shirley) although I could never bring myself to speak to her so she probably doesn't even know to this day. I guess we were both too extremely shy to do anything about it.
I got moved up a grade and started going to school in Pine Falls where I got my second crush (my French teacher). I also had my very first house party and at the same time I also became a born again christian with the help of a good friend, Dan Kline.
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Age 15 |
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Here we are in Spokane, Washington for a soccer tournament representing the Victory Baptist Academy from Prince Albert Saskatchewan. I went to school there and all my teammates were my chums - Prince Albert, SK. (I'm the 2nd person from the Left)
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FRONTIER
I am getting off a Grey Goose bus in October in a small town called Cranberry Portage, home of F.C.I., a residential school, where my younger brother, Sheldon, is going to school. I am 17 years old.
It's 6 a.m., and no one is around to greet me. The bus has dropped me off on the side of the highway which makes the school a short walk away. I pick up my bag, wrap it around my shoulder. I'm glad I'm wearing my black trenchcoat because it's quite chilly. It's still dark and quiet in an apoclyptic kind of way.
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Walking into the compound, I see that FCI which used to be an army base, is quite large with many different types of buildings. The first building I come across is the Nursing Station just to my right, but I can tell there's nobody there. I move on to a fork on the road and see to the left of the left street, there's a warehouse with the name 'Rams' over the door, surrounded by windows which has been converted to a Gym, but there is no one there either, there's a huge field on the other side with soccer and football posts but no other buildings go in that direction. Straight ahead, between the streets is something which appears to look like army barracks. I choose and head down the right street as the barracks are closer to this street. To the right of this street is bigger buildings with no visible people moving about. I'm to find out later that is the cafetaria and recreation buildings.
I approach the first wing of the barracks and find that the door is locked and there is no answer to my knocking. There are 3 wings side by side and proceed to test out the next 2 wings only to find the same result. All doors locked and no one home.
There is a 3-story building just past the wings and of all the windows, the light in the bottom-right corner is on and I see some movement coming from within. I approach the big window and see that a lady is at a desk writing on the papers. Before I can even knock, she looks up to see a guy in a black trench coat at the window. I smile. She screams. I seem to have that effect on women.
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Ah, The F.C.I. Years. Cranberry Portage, MB. I was one of the coolest cats in school. Gr.11 & 12 were the best years of my life. I totally ruled. Smart, handsome, athletic, the ladies all wanted me and all the men wished they could be me. I broke many a heart but sent hundreds more a-hummin'. (Oh come on, this shit is true I'm making up!) I think the funnest times I had were during the dances and the airbands (I did a mean "La Bamba!")
Some of my best friends were Cliff Laubmann, Ron & Dave Disbrowe, David Sanderson, Jody Ehman, Kevin Hutchinson, Jim Rondeau, Joe Moose, Eileen Becker and Stephanie Thomas. What can I say that hasn't been said in my yearbook and by all my friends. To quote Neil Diamond, "I am, I said." (I still don't know what that means) I met my high school sweetheart here and lost my virginity at the same time. Favorite song was Mike & The Mechanics "All I Need Is A Miracle" and my favorite movie was "The Evil Dead". Ooh, Spooky! Nickname was Ferris Bueller and I loved dancing more than anything else. |
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Now I don't know about you, but some of the best times that I ever had in my life were spent at this little hole in the ground. Here's some photos from my time spent there.
Here's the basketball team. I'm front and center pointing at the ball.
Here's the badminton team. I would be the dude with the tie (what was I thinking?!).
Hey, look at me, I'm a high school grad now!! Receiving my Diploma from Llyod Nelson, with Wes Dykun, Shirley Lavallee & Joe Ferland just on my right, behind me, looking at my bum! |
Graduation June - And of course, the proud parents of their baby boy! That's my mother, Velma Kematch & father, Eldon Quill, both from Sapotaweyak Cree Nation (Shoal River/Pelican Rapids). Below is the picture my mom took of all the graduates. Click on it for a bigger version.
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VOCATIONS
After spending the summer in Cranberry Portage as the Recreation Director for the Northern Manitoba Drama Camp, I went off to Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. For the first two years, Joe Ferland and I were roommates and we had the time of our young lives. Let's see, we partied there for 2 straight years with Darrell Moritz, Duane Gott, Terri Sinclair, Steve Sweeney, Jodi Ehman, Jim Rondeau, Dawn Holmen, Amy Playford, Greg McLeod and so many others whose faces are literally just a blur in my mind. Joe & I got part-time jobs at the U of M's Endowment Fund but I'm not sure how long we lasted there.
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College Man, aka, the Beer Years. I was a Budweiser man and well, I finally cut all that hair off and people started calling me that "Cory Hart" guy. Those Bastards! I went through 2 universities (U of M, U of W), 2 business colleges (Herzing & Robertson), 1 community college (Keewatin) and a gazillion life experiences (part-time jobs). Enjoyed every single one of them and stacked my resume like you wouldn't believe. Saw everyone and did everything that could be done, finished about half of them and forgot maybe about 75% of it all. Again, it was all pretty cool. I started wearing suits just for the hell of it and I looked good. Broke hearts all up and down this crazy province but I'm sure they all had the best time with the best guy. Yeah, right?! It's a good thing no one is actually gonna read all this stuff.
At some point, after a couple years of school, I get a job in Wuskwi Sipihk as the Health Administrator for the Band Office. The one thing that I'm very proud to have done there was having the first Sexual Abuse Conference for kids with other kids as the facilitators. It's something you couldn't do now...but man, for some reason, that conference worked. The whole community helped out where they could and it was such a major success. I was expecting 75 kids but 150 showed up. I barely slept for 3 days but in the end, it was all worth it. Met a nice young man from Puk there, his name is Ken and to this day, I still see him time and again and he reminds of what the good I did there.
After a year as the Health Administrator, as I'm driving home from another conference in The Pas, I hear a radio announcement for some new computer courses in Winnipeg. It hits me like a nuclear bomb. "Kyle, (I call myself kyle....anyways I say to myself)...Kyle, you need to get to Winnipeg and start working with computers!". Next thing you know...Kyle's in Winnipeg, oops, i mean, I'm in Winnipeg!!!.
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Winnipeg: Day of all days - the first day that gave meaning to my life. My son Branden is born 2 days after my birthday - July 16 in Winnipeg. From here on out, life is forever changed for me. I can't believe I have a son. He's so small, so tiny, so beautiful. When he was born, he was exactly 3 lbs. (and now he's 11 years old and an absolutely perfect gentleman.) So many things happen once Branden is born.
I realize what life is for and I start to take everything a bit more seriously.
ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA CHIEFS
Here I am. Got my technology career all started at the AMC and I call myself "Information Technology Specialist", but other people call me "Dancin' Machine" or "Karaoke Guy". I guess you can say that life was pretty good. I'm an information junkie, a bachelor and a busy workaholic. I create an intranet for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and keep their network running as well. I make 3D animations and webpages for friends and sometimes I even teach and mentor youth building computers to surfing the net to creating multimedia stuff. I've been in love and then just as quickly, out of love. Wrote some books, none ever got read, wrote some songs with my 12 string guitar that I taught myself to play, people seem to like those much better. Songs and music can be found on my MUSIC page. |
Fast forward 6 years....Employment-wise, I still work for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs for the past 6 and a half years as the Information Technology Project Manager, (Computer Guru) where I get the opportunity to learn everything there is to know about computers. Not that I'm bragging or anything like that, it's just that I find computer technology so fascinating that its a part of my everyday life in many aspects. Plus working for the AMC is so special to me. It's like I'm working with the good guys cuz everyday at the AMC, we're trying to do good things for First Nations people. It's great to be one of the good guys!
I use the internet probably more than anyone I know, pretty much from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep and I also run my own company, called Quill Interactive (consulting on technological projects & directing feature films & animating 3d video productions) in my spare time.
 
My daughter Amy is born on February 18 in Winnipeg. I literally wept with joy at the her birth. Truly love at first sight. I still can't believe God sent me these 2 angels to come into my life and brighten each and every moment with sunshine even on the darkest and dreariest days.
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Summer: Me & the kids at our spacious beautiful mansion in Winnipeg. (Don't ya just love the Blonde Do'?) Well, it's summer, me and the kids are having a blast living with out all our dreams and now I'm wonderin' what the heck I'm gonna do this summer. My new title at work is now "Information Technology Project Director". You know what, I think, I'll build a website about my former FCI Classmates. Wonder how that will turn out?! |
Well, I can't believe it's February 2003 already...So much has happened in the last 9 to 10 months. I've met so many old friends and the FCI page is just loaded with information on what classmates look like and what they've been doing. I've made so many new friends. Meanwhile, I'm workin' at the AMC (so many new exciting things happenin'), still learning (goin' after my MBA in Information Technology), makin' movies (and havin' fun), writin' more songs (better than therapy and lettin' those feelings out) and lovin' every minute that I get to spend with my kids (lovin' every minute). Life is good, life goes on, life is what you make it, life is life, it's your life and it's ending 1 minute at a time. |
Well it's summer 2003, July 27th actually. Wow, long and hot...just the way I love it. The kids and I are having the time of our lives.
I was in Toronto for a week. I was there for a Data Warehouse workshop which was incredible! I got to get a sneak peek of Matrix Reloaded down there, toured the Hockey Hall of Fame (where I almost broke down in tears of joy when I went through the Gretzky exhibit - u have to be a Canadian to understand!), went up the CN Tower a couple o' times, saw the Blue Jays lose to the worst team in baseball, partied like crazy, shopped like mad, made some great friends & had one of the best weeks of my life! Also got to hold the Stanley Cup just before the New Jersey Devils got it.
We went to the USA where we went to Valley Fair, Camp Snoopy and the Mall of America. We spent the next day ridin' the huge roller coasters of Vally Fair and then the crazy water rides. All that fun, all that excitement...all those back problems...whew...I'm just glad that I could walk by the end of the day! Branden's favorite ride was the biggest roller coaster in the world...also the fastest I think...300 feet high, some 3 miles long in about 1 minute and a half! Nothing but sheer terror! We also drove down to Minneapolis in my brand new 2003 black Mustang! Finally broke down and spoiled myself with a sports car. Traded in my crappy Jeep Grand Cherokee (not that bad really) and now...I got this sweet ride!
Branden turned 10 and we went to Camp Snoopy where we got unlimited rides on everything....including more roller coasters. Did a whole bunch of shopping at the Mall of America where Amy bought herself a tiera...after all, every princess needs one of those, don't they?! We had a birthday party afterwards and then slept like a bunch of babies.
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FCI REUNION HERE! - (August 4 - 7, 2003)
Well, I went to Cranberry Portage for the class reunion during Aug 1st to 4th. I wasn't there 2 hours and I was already drunk and wasted and blacked out in about another 2 hours, and the first day of the reunion hadn't even started yet. Rick Murnick and I had so much fun partying and catching up with all our old mates!!
To see pics from the Reunion...click HERE!
SEPTEMBER 2004
Wow! It's been a year since I've last added anything and well, the most significant thing that I've done is I went on a road trip all over the united states. Click HERE to see pics of all the places I visited. I made 7 dvd's of video footage and so far I've only watched the first one...left Winnipeg, drove thu North Dakota as fast as I could til I got to Wyoming where I climbed Devil's Tower during sunrise & saw the sunset over Larmie's Peak (got video of it all). Went over to South Dakota (climbed Bear Butte, shopped in Rapid City, took pictures and video of Mount Rushmore + the 1 mile long crystal caves nearby, stopped in at Crazy Horse, the town of Custer & spent a day at Wounded Knee), then Nebraska then Hit Denver, Colorado for a night, then I went to the River Gorge, drove through the Rockies from the south to Aspen, then headed west to Utah where I hit a beautiful mountain all day. Headed to Arizona the next day to see the Grand Canyon (Navajo). hit Nevada next (Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Area 51). Then it was off to Lake Tahoe in California, From there I went to Sacramento, San Francisco (golden gate bridge, china town, presidio, nob hill, alcatraz). Next up, drove down the Pacific coast and swam in the Pacific Ocean. Ended up in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Malibu, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills & finally Hollywood. Head east to Phoenix, Tucson, Las Cureches, Mexico (100 degrees), El Paso, Texas (San Antonio, Houston), New Orleans, Louisana, Alabama (swam in the Gulf of Mexico) & Florida (swam in the Atlantic Ocean). Hope to make some videos about it afterward.
What else did I do? I stood up for friends in a few weddings but as far as I know, there are no wedding bells in my future if you know what I mean! The kids and I went horseback-riding lots, went on the Praire Dog Trail Railway ride, went to Valley Fair in Minnesota again, Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America, Six Flags, all the local museums (Childrens, Man & Nature, Zoo, Antique), car shows, forks events, so much and lots of things. Other than those, not much to report - Later gators!
One Happy Son of a Gun!
JUNE 2006
2 years sure flies by fast. And yet somehow, I couldn't be any happier. I just had the most wonderful weekend ever with the people that I love the most in this world. It continually amazes me how the Creator has blessed me with this great life. Sure there have been mistakes and regrets in the past and you know what, there's gonna be more on the way, but I don't dwell on them. I can't. Not one person can change the past. One of the things that I learned recently was that "who you are today, is shaped by what you did yesterday. What you do today, will help you become the person you want to be tomorrow." It's not a direct quote, but I'm simply paraphrasing it for my own life.
I saw this girl, I felt an instant attraction to her. I went over and introduce myself before I could get too shy. She took my number and called me a week later. I met her the next day for a date. Within 6 months and 11 days, which went by so fast, she asked me to marry her and we were married. Another 6 months and 11 days later, we were separated for good. A year later, I look back and remember all the good times. I think it's just the optimist in me, that looks at life as something to be cherished and treasured, a positive experience no matter what. That's crazy love for ya! Someone once told me... "Forget the experience, remember the lesson.".... But this was the same guy who was sitting beside me in jail saying, "That was so f*cking awesome!"
AUGUST 2006
Let's see, my children & I went for a road trip this summer that was the highlight of my year. My kids just said, "Dad, we want to see everything that you've ever seen...plus we want to go to Disneyland." lol. So off we went on our merry way. I love travelling to lots of places and of course, fixed indelibly in my mind's eyes are certain splendid sights. I love to lean back, shut my eyes, and remember them in living color. These are the things I want to teach my children - that Life is an adventure. You only get one chance to live your life. So we drove down there in my mustang (soon to be my son's) and they saw everything that I've seen including Vegas, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles, even spent my birthday in San Francisco (my fave city in the world) and went looking for bigfoot (only saw a black bear and a big mouse.)
These sights accumulated across my short lifetime have been so far better than money in the bank. By far. I am remembering the beautiful sights such as California's best gift to the world is that forest of giant redwoods towering to fantastic heights, graced by light shining through the giant trees as in the hush of a great cathedral. This is one of the most fabulous places in all of God's great creation. Climbing to the top of mountains with my kids and seeing the entire world, jumping off cliffs, while having a conversation with the creator on mountaintops, and yes, the creator talks back to you up there.
Myself, I absolutely love the adrenaline rush of bungee-jumping, surfing in the ocean, racing my car down a mountain against other suped-up cars, snowboarding in july in oregon at the very top of a volcano with the middle a perfect 6 mile circle with the bluest water you've ever seen, water-skiing, whitewater rafting and all that good stuff. Driving and climbing the Rocky mountains starting from Jasper, Alberta all the way down to Colorado Springs in Colorado. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and the kids and I just being blown away by the sheer beauty and the size of it, something that can't be duplicated in pictures.
(My kids are #1 in each other's hearts. Has been since the day Branden's sister was born
and he wanted to call her Brandy. In fact, her first word was, you guessed it..."brother".
It's so obvious that she worships the ground he walks on and at the same time, he considers
her to be a princess, a princess that he protects like a guardian angel, always at her side.
Don't believe me...look at her fingers on her left hand. They protect each other, I think.)But she scares me when she's standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, cuz she just wants the best view. she is so reckless, so fearless, so confident, so cocky and arrogant...reminds of someone but I can't remember who. My son is so addicted to rollercoasters, and she'll follow her brother on all the craziest rides. She even rode Space Mountain - THREE times! Riding the best roller coasters at Disney, Valleyfair, Six Flags, West Edmonton mall, Montana, Nevada and so many other places. Driving through Monument Vally with all those incredible-looking rocks. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and watching the sun go down into the pacific ocean right beside it. The lights of Vegas just as you're driving from Boulder City (Hoover Dam) just after dusk. The hollywood sign, the walk of fame stars and the sights and sounds of being in Los Angeles. Swimming with seals and manta rays, petting sharks...I can't believe we were petting sharks in the Pacific Ocean in California.
They're gone home now...to spend the rest of the summer, and the rest of the year talking about what they've seen. I always wait for the day that they, once again, come to visit, for in those moments are when I am truly happiest. Here in the city, their favorite place to go...is still the Museum of Man & Nature. They always see something new. That was this past summer. You can see all the photos from our trip on the Photography page.
OCTOBER 2006 Lately, I've been working more on my hobby as a Photographer, doing photoshoots with girls and guys and you can find my pictures on the Photography page. I've been asked by several people at APTN to put in a bunch of proposals for all the movies, tv shows, music videos, etc that I want to do or have done and want to redo (with a budget). So I'm doing that. We'll see what happens with that. But I'm still filming movies and music videos like mad, meeting all these actors and actresses, models and singers, bands and people from the industry. Some of the people I'm working include the Bands, Models, Singers & Artists - Almost Famous, Hide Your Daughters, Kirk Harper, David Starr, Rob James (from Canadian Idol), Ashton, Ashley, Priscil, Robyn plus others. I'm just basically doing it all and having the time of my young life. It's been crazy busy and right now, I'm just crazy ridiculous happy!
Hey All!! Just a quick note...APTN did a documentary on the aboriginal music scene called "NEXT! Rockstar". I'm featured on it along with NCI Jam stars, Buffy St. Marie, Ray St. Germain, NCI boss Dave McLeod and hosts Ian Mozden & Amberae Wood. The show followed me around with cameras while I did karaoke, recorded music videos, filmed movies, sang my original songs and filmed live at the NCI Radio. The coolest part about it...my kids heard me on the radio that day. The show aired from Oct 24 to Oct 29. Here they are courtesy of YouTube.
JANUARY 2007 Well, this year is starting off so right in so many ways. First off, I finally opened my Art Gallery and let me tell you something, that is so sweet. Here's the video for the LNU GALLERY, also located at http://www.lnu.ca
G and I combined our 2 companies, Quill Interactive & Brake Consulting to form the LNU Consulting firm. Very exciting. G is a business expert and I'm the computer guru, so you know what means. We're gonna make a whole lotta money, doing what we love to do. I'll be making a video of it soon. Keep coming back!
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