# Working in the USA



## porshiebo (Jan 10, 2006)

Hello urbanites

out of interest - has anybody worked in the USA?
or knows someone who has?

I've got a british passport, age 21 - might want to spend X months working in California or other places - but would I be allowed to work, and what kind of work would it be I wonder?

Know any info about what visas would be required, and so on?

Any knowledge and stories gratefully received


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## spring-peeper (Jan 10, 2006)

porshiebo said:
			
		

> Hello urbanites
> 
> out of interest - has anybody worked in the USA?
> or knows someone who has?
> ...



You will need a green card and they are very hard to get.

Good luck!!!


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## trashpony (Jan 10, 2006)

porshiebo said:
			
		

> Hello urbanites
> 
> out of interest - has anybody worked in the USA?
> or knows someone who has?
> ...



I have but illegally. You won't get a work permit unless you can prove you have a skill that isn't available in the US. Unless you've got a load of friends there who can find you something, I'd say don't bother.

Except for Camp America and that kind of thing - working in a holiday camp. But that lasts for 2 months or something and after that, it expires.


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## rennie (Jan 10, 2006)

I did. but then I have a green card!


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## dylanredefined (Jan 10, 2006)

I did but as an rn had the skills they needed. If you fancy being a prison guard that mad sherif in arizona is hiring   .


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## _angel_ (Jan 10, 2006)

My friends sister has been over there years and I don't *think* she has a green card. She has had a right drag with her visa and getting it renewed (having to come back to the uk). Also she is effectively stuck with her boss for complicated reasons who has exploited her a lot by not paying her for several months.

I'm not sure if she got in there on the grounds of having special skills (she's a linguist, but I don't know if her job entails that) I'll have to ask my sis.


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## mhendo (Jan 10, 2006)

Yeah, it's very difficult. Even my long-stay student visa (F visa) only allows me to work on-campus at the university where i'm taking my PhD.

I've gone and married an American, though, so i'm about to get my residency application going.

Personally, i think that countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK should play tit-for-tat, and stop granting working visas to Americans until the US offers the same sort of thing.

I believe that if you're Irish it can be a lot easier to work over here, although i'm not sure what, if anything, is the actual difference in official policy.


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## mhendo (Jan 10, 2006)

Maddalene said:
			
		

> My friends sister has been over there years and I don't *think* she has a green card. She has had a right drag with her visa and getting it renewed (having to come back to the uk). Also she is effectively stuck with her boss for complicated reasons who has exploited her a lot by not paying her for several months.


Yeah, that's another thing. Even if you get some sort of work visa, it's generally only applicable for the particular employer who sponsors you. So if things go to hell, you either have to stick it out or leave the country; there's no changing jobs midstream.

My cousin, who's Canadian, works for a non-profit organization in Washington. She doesn't mind the work, but she's been there six years and is looking to move on. But she can't unless she finds another employer willing to sponsor her.

Luckily, she also has married an American (seems to run in our family) and once her green card application in in the works she'll be able to look for a new job.


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## FridgeMagnet (Jan 10, 2006)

I have, and to re-iterate the other comments on this thread, it's a pain in the fucking arse to do legally. Unless you are sponsored or want to get married you might as well forget it. Look for programs specifically aimed at students who want to work there.

Or, well, you could just turn up and hope to find an illegal job, but you'll need contacts for that, and don't expect to be anything other than underpaid and overworked.

Forget about Green Cards, you can't even enter the Green Card lottery if you're a UK citizen.


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## _angel_ (Jan 10, 2006)

mhendo said:
			
		

> Yeah, it's very difficult. Even my long-stay student visa (F visa) only allows me to work on-campus at the university where i'm taking my PhD.
> 
> I've gone and married an American, though, so i'm about to get my residency application going.
> 
> ...






Is this true? I could probably rustle up an Irish passport (although I'm not planning on going to the US!)


Yeah I think it isn't fair how hard it is for a brit to emigrate to US/ Oz, it seems to be a lot easier vice versa..


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## inflatable jesus (Jan 10, 2006)

porshiebo said:
			
		

> Hello urbanites
> 
> out of interest - has anybody worked in the USA?
> or knows someone who has?
> ...



If that X number of months is a maximum of four and you're a student then you can get a temporary summer work visa for June-October.

It's still expensive and a pain in the arse, but it gives you the legal right to work wherever you want and in whatever job you want. It does however, tie you to Bunac's flight and to it's fee.

http://www.bunac.com/uk/workamerica/

You can get the same (I think J) visa without Bunac, but I think you have to find some kind of American sponsor and that leads you into the problems mentioned above.

If you're not a student. Then there's much fewer options available.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/apply.html

Clicking on the H and L links on the bottom outlines your options.

Bush has been making noises recently about making temporary visas more accessable, the point of which is to encourage Latin American prospective immigrants to immigrate legally. However, there is the chance that it may mean that in a few months or perhaps a year the whole thing might be easier for you. It's a pretty remote chance though. It's not like he makes a habit of doing things that are helpful.

Good luck anyway!


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## tobyjug (Jan 11, 2006)

porshiebo said:
			
		

> I've got a british passport, age 21 - might want to spend X months working in California or other places - but would I be allowed to work, and what kind of work would it be I wonder?




The trick is to find a jobs broker in America who can get around the law that prevents jobs going to "foreigners" if an American is available for the job.
The usual trick is to advertise a rocket scientists job in the:- Alabama Pig Breeders Gazette. 
The jobs broker charges a huge wedge for the service.


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## angry bob (Jan 11, 2006)

FridgeMagnet said:
			
		

> IOr, well, you could just turn up and hope to find an illegal job, but you'll need contacts for that, and don't expect to be anything other than underpaid and overworked.



Working illegally is a lot easier/ better paid than you might think. Sad as it is, if you don't look mexican you stand quite a high chance of finding work. I did a bit in Seattle a few years back (I'm american but this was just a couple of days tax free work). There's a particular street that you can hang around on and people will drive by and fill their pickups with illegal workers. Being the only white guy there I was picked first and got $50 a day for helping demolish and move an old barn on a farm outside the city. Not great money and the work was hard but still ...


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## mhendo (Jan 11, 2006)

angry bob said:
			
		

> Working illegally is a lot easier/ *better paid* than you might think.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Being the only white guy there I was picked first and got *$50 a day* for helping demolish and move an old barn on a farm outside the city. Not great money and the work was hard but still ...


  

Actually, $50 a day, or about $6 an hour, is pretty much what i expected. Seems to me that you've simply confimed *Fridgemagnet*'s assessment:






			
				Fridgemagnet said:
			
		

> ...don't expect to be anything other than underpaid and overworked.


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## EatMoreChips (Jan 11, 2006)

I've been here on an H1B visa (one of the ones where you have to have skills that nobody else here does) for about 4 years now, but it's really only because I used to work for the same American company in Britain and they really wanted me to come over. I'm not convinced at all that there aren't people in America who couldn't do the same job, but it's probably quite hard to find them.

My problem is that I can't change job unless I get a permanent resident's visa (for which I think I might be eligible) or marry an American. I think I'm going to try the second option because it's easier. Or move back to London.

As for just coming over and working casually, I reckon it would be very difficult, unless you can coach soccer, 'cos they're desperate for people to come and teach their kids properly in some areas.


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## Fledgling (Jan 12, 2006)

Maddalene said:
			
		

> Is this true? I could probably rustle up an Irish passport (although I'm not planning on going to the US!)
> 
> 
> Yeah I think it isn't fair how hard it is for a brit to emigrate to US/ Oz, it seems to be a lot easier vice versa..



course it is, I'd jump at the chance to emigrate but I guess we threaten their middle class jobs whereas poorer countries supply them with gardeners and fruit pickers limitlessly. Whole system completely uscks in terms of entering the US, treated like dirt tbh even on a J-1. It irritates me becaus I'd love to live there.


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## laptop (Jan 12, 2006)

I spent 3 years there on a B1 visa - may have been renamed since to what EatMoreChips had. I was tied to particular employer, and had to send a letter hiring me in with the visa application. 

Reading the small print, it appeared I wasn't even allowed to do the washing-up unless my employer instructed me.

It's much tougher now: everyone has to pay substantial fees and go for an interview at the Embassy, where (I am told) the temptation to be sarky is overwhelming. And of course a visa doesn't guarantee entry - you can be sure you'll be jerked around at the Immigration desk the first time in.


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## spring-peeper (Jan 12, 2006)

Fledgling said:
			
		

> course it is, I'd jump at the chance to emigrate but I guess we threaten their middle class jobs whereas poorer countries supply them with gardeners and fruit pickers limitlessly. Whole system completely uscks in terms of entering the US, treated like dirt tbh even on a J-1. It irritates me becaus I'd love to live there.



I believe that the majority of the workers doing the gardening and farming are illegal (well at least in Florida).

As for the system sucking -> America has the right to protect the jobs of Americans.  That is all that they are doing.  

btw, why on earth would you want to live there?  I certainly wouldn't.


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## D (Jan 12, 2006)

As for playing tit-for-tat, I'm not aware of any country in Europe that will grant a residency/work visa to a non-institutionally-affiliated, unmarried US national wihout a whole lot of fucking hassle.

mhendo - in order to for an American citizen (like yours truly) to get work in the UK, I have to prove that I'm the only person who can do the job, etc, etc, the same thing or be a grad student and work 20 hrs a week or less

In Germany, fortunately for me, US, Japanese, and I think one or two other groups of nationals can apply for their residency/work permits after they've entered the country on a tourist visa (so, if you find a place that'll hire you, you can, presumably, facilitate the permit process).


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## jæd (Jan 12, 2006)

EatMoreChips said:
			
		

> I've been here on an H1B visa (one of the ones where you have to have skills that nobody else here does) for about 4 years now, but it's really only because I used to work for the same American company in Britain and they really wanted me to come over. I'm not convinced at all that there aren't people in America who couldn't do the same job, but it's probably quite hard to find them.
> 
> My problem is that I can't change job unless I get a permanent resident's visa (for which I think I might be eligible) or marry an American. I think I'm going to try the second option because it's easier. Or move back to London.



This about the easiest way to di it... Join a US company in London and at some point they might (if you push for it) offer to transfer you to the US. My company has offered me a job in the US but due to the above restrictions and that it would be a pay cut & and I'm in a long term relationship I've stayed put. Oh, and labour laws in the US appear to favour employers more...

Alternativly try going to Uni in the US. I had a year out there and got a job programming the equivilent of binary load lifters in North Carolina as my visa allowed me to work on campus. (In the US campus' are much bigger so there is much more student employment options: some have there own police force...)


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## salaryman (Jan 12, 2006)

Fledgling said:
			
		

> I guess we threaten their middle class jobs whereas poorer countries supply them with gardeners and fruit pickers limitlessly


forgive my ignorance, but is this generally accepted as the reason why it's so difficult to get a job in the USA (or for americans in the UK etc)?

porshiebo: you can apply for an irish passport if you're british with one irish parent or grandparent i believe.  once you have that you can apply for the green card lottery.  not a huge chance but you never know.

there are two other ways around the problem. 

1) buy an american business (e.g. a shitty dry cleaners or something).  obviously this is costly, but not as costly as...

2) having loads of money.  how else do you think british rock stars and actors can live and work over there?


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## Miss Caphat (Jan 12, 2006)

Hmm.

  I'm an American, so maybe I can help. But first of all, what kind of work have you done, or would be willing to do? 


   You can find alot of under-the-table (as we call it here) work but I'm not sure if any of it would be up your alley. I've done alot of that sort of work as a student, it's good for part-time because they don't take out taxes etc. Examples would be working at a restaurant, shop, whatever. Basically, just go through the application/interview process and if they're not asking you to fill out any paperwork then you're all set. If they do, just take off and don't show up again. 

  You could freelance at something if you have any marketable skills. Last summer I just went and started my own gardening business on a whim. Just put up fliers and got jobs through word of mouth. I set my own prices, and made a decent wage. 

   For other freelance jobs, there's a great free bulletin board for each city in the states called Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) I get alot of freelance art and design jobs off it. 

    If you stay in or near a wealthy area, you can always house-sit, pet-sit, or something like that. People will generally treat you very well and pay very well also. 

    Hope that helped?


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## Fledgling (Jan 12, 2006)

salaryman said:
			
		

> forgive my ignorance, but is this generally accepted as the reason why it's so difficult to get a job in the USA (or for americans in the UK etc)?
> 
> ...



Probably not but it is an interesting possibility. There's a lot of reasons for tighter immigration compared to elsewhere and it was partially influenced by my expereiences where foreigners largely got the bad jobs and the often less talented Americans had better jobs, we were all dishwashing which was a bit patronising. Still had a great time there. 

I think the difficluties partly arise from qualifications and how they translate from Europe to the USA but there does appear to be some fierce job protection.


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## Fledgling (Jan 12, 2006)

spring-peeper said:
			
		

> I believe that the majority of the workers doing the gardening and farming are illegal (well at least in Florida).
> 
> As for the system sucking -> America has the right to protect the jobs of Americans.  That is all that they are doing.
> 
> btw, why on earth would you want to live there?  I certainly wouldn't.



Totally agree on the illegal issue, and you're right about the mentality of job protection, but it's a bit rich to practice this and preach opeing boundaries elsewhere. 

I'd love to live in the US but only in one of the nicer suburbs with a decent job or out in a rural state, one of the plains states maybe with some land. I really like the people in the heartlands, very friendly and humourous and welcoming. The material existence is without parallel (size of houses, cars) and there's a confidence among people which is really attractive. Plus the working environment was interesting (though i only saw a small part of it) and people seem better able to express theire emotions. There's a lot of little things I like which add up to a liking for the country, but it seems to vary a lot between states.


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## AnMarie (Jan 13, 2006)

Fledgling said:
			
		

> course it is, I'd jump at the chance to emigrate but I guess we threaten their middle class jobs whereas poorer countries supply them with gardeners and fruit pickers limitlessly



R u saying Ireland's a poor country?

FYI the Economist has named Ireland number one in its quality of life index








Ahead of the US and leaving the UK way behind...but shush dont tell everyone


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## zoltan (Jan 13, 2006)

*The answer you have all been wating for*

Here is the holy grail of getting a legit job in the USA 


get an job with an interbational organisation - Red X, the UN or even with one of the consulates in NYC.

This is an oddity - you can go to the UN in NYC & apply for a job - any job - from bottle washer to head of department - they have a jobs section. It will take a while & you will be required to sit an exam to see you are literate, but if.when a job comes up , they will retrospectivally issue you a G ( I think ) visa. Ths is issued automatically if you get a job with one of these special institutions - I initaiily got a job with the Irish embassy as a messenger & got the all important VIsa to allow me to stay.The same is the case with the UN.

FYI, The UN pay excellent wages, even for really sad jobs!

Once you have stabilised yourself, its much easier to move onto somnthing else & apply fo a proper green card

THis is a short cut & avoids working black & risking deportation - alos is a good stepping stone to the full work permit stage

Good luck !!!!!


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## pakkers (Jan 14, 2006)

Here's a tip: stand on Cesar Chavez street in San Francisco (the stretch between the 101 Freeway and Valencia). You should be able to find day-laboring work for $10 to $16 per hour. Plus in San Francisco, the cops are directed not to work with the immigration authorities--so even if they hassle you, they won't get you deported.


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## septic tank (Jan 14, 2006)

Miss Caphat said:
			
		

> If you stay in or near a wealthy area, you can always house-sit, pet-sit, or something like that. People will generally treat you very well and pay very well also.



Yep. But where do you want to be in the States? That's pretty key, because that kind of work -- bartending, waiting tables, etc. -- is pretty tenuous, can be surprisingly hard to find and seldom pays enough to live on in major markets. So unless you're coming over with a boatload of money to cover a couple months' steep rent or have someone you can stay with until you get situated, I'd write off, say, the Bay Area, most of coastal California, New York and Boston. Not sure about L.A., but you really need a car there. 

In fairness, I've heard anecdotally that post-9/11, it's tougher to go UK-US the legal route than vice-versa, but the law seems about the same -- you need an employer willing to sponsor you, and if you lose your gig, you're screwed. Which is why I no longer live in Brixton (sob!).


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## mhendo (Jan 15, 2006)

pakkers said:
			
		

> Here's a tip: stand on Cesar Chavez street in San Francisco (the stretch between the 101 Freeway and Valencia). You should be able to find day-laboring work for $10 to $16 per hour. Plus in San Francisco, the cops are directed not to work with the immigration authorities--so even if they hassle you, they won't get you deported.


While San Francisco day laborers did indeed manage, with the help of unions like the SEIU, to get their wages up above the $10 an hour mark, this hourly rate has recently been threatened by new groups of immigrants from parts of central and southern Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas) who congrate on 26th Street and will often work for $8 an hour, or even less in slow periods. 

But i don't think that's the biggest problem with your suggestion. A pasty-faced Englishman is going to stand out like dogs' balls on a street full of Mexican laborers. Not only are employers unlikely to show much interest in such an unusual day laborer in this part of the city, but any _gringo_ trying to take advantage of this labor market to have a working holiday is also likely to face considerable hostility from the laborers themselves, who need the work to put food on the table and aren't likely to be too welcoming of outsiders muscling in on their territory.

Furthermore, although you make it sound like there's plenty of work to be had, the fact is that there are generally more workers than jobs, and on most days a certain percentage of the day-labor workforce goes home without picking up any work at all. When i was down in the Mission a couple of weeks ago, there were still people hanging around on Cesar Chavez (Army) and on 26th waiting for work at 1 in the afternoon. These folks were out of luck for construction work, but some of them hang around hoping to pick up odd jobs, like helping people move furniture.

All of this makes for a pretty uncertain and unreliable labor market, and it's far too insecure for someone who's coming from England and hoping to be able to pay his way in an expensive city like San Francisco.


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## hayser (Jan 17, 2006)

mhendo said:
			
		

> While San Francisco day laborers did indeed manage, with the help of unions like the SEIU, to get their wages up above the $10 an hour mark, this hourly rate has recently been threatened by new groups of immigrants from parts of central and southern Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas) who congrate on 26th Street and will often work for $8 an hour, or even less in slow periods.
> 
> But i don't think that's the biggest problem with your suggestion. A pasty-faced Englishman is going to stand out like dogs' balls on a street full of Mexican laborers. Not only are employers unlikely to show much interest in such an unusual day laborer in this part of the city, but any _gringo_ trying to take advantage of this labor market to have a working holiday is also likely to face considerable hostility from the laborers themselves, who need the work to put food on the table and aren't likely to be too welcoming of outsiders muscling in on their territory.
> 
> ...



Excellent post mate, agree Re: your point about the gringo waiting on laboring work.


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## dada (Jan 23, 2006)

try local british consulate or embassy in america if you are so desire.


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## septic tank (Jan 23, 2006)

hayser said:
			
		

> Excellent post mate, agree Re: your point about the gringo waiting on laboring work.



Well, I sure as shit wouldn't wanna do that kind of work -- it's back-breaking, dangerous and doesn't pay nearly enough to eat on, much less put a roof over your head -- but if you fancy yourself the writerly sort, there may be some great Upton Sinclair-style muckrakery in it. I'm reminded of Charlie LeDuff's piece on working in a chicken plant five or six years back in the NY Times.


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## JoMo1953 (Jan 27, 2006)

If your talking about coming over to Southern California (LA) you won't make it on day labor wages in this town!  The next problem is getting around in LA, you really do need a car...the mass transit system here sucks!  And that means a drivers license which requires a green card.....waiting tables is no longer an option for working under the table...at least not in Southern California....every employer requires a Social Security Number (the ultimate in Big Brother is Watching) and to get the magic SSN you've got to have a green card......

Embassy and or Foreign Services is your best chance of getting your foot in the door so to speak....but the waiting list is long and you've got to have some skills.

I'm in the LA area, pm if you'd like some more info.


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## mhendo (Jan 27, 2006)

JoMo1953 said:
			
		

> ...to get the magic SSN you've got to have a green card...


Not strictly true. I have a Social Security Number but don't have a green card.

What you need for an SSN is _either_ a green card _or_ a valid work or student visa.


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## JoMo1953 (Jan 27, 2006)

mhendo said:
			
		

> Not strictly true. I have a Social Security Number but don't have a green card.
> 
> What you need for an SSN is _either_ a green card _or_ a valid work or student visa.


Valid Work Visa will get you a SSN that's true,  a student visa will no longer get you a SSN automatically.


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## Gavin Bl (Jan 29, 2006)

jæd said:
			
		

> This about the easiest way to di it... Join a US company in London and at some point they might (if you push for it) offer to transfer you to the US.



This happened for me when I worked for an American credit card company in the UK - ended up going over for a summer to support software testing.

No paperwork needed, free flights (for me and the missus), all insurance covered, free accomodation, free car.

Turned out the software was rock solid already - I barely did any work and had a blast driving round the US in the free car!


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## septic tank (Jan 29, 2006)

Wow. Wish I could say the same for my transatlantic work experience (the work side of which was pretty grim). Why didn't I want to work in financial services again? 




			
				Gavin Bl said:
			
		

> This happened for me when I worked for an American credit card company in the UK - ended up going over for a summer to support software testing.
> 
> No paperwork needed, free flights (for me and the missus), all insurance covered, free accomodation, free car.
> 
> Turned out the software was rock solid already - I barely did any work and had a blast driving round the US in the free car!


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## Gavin Bl (Jan 29, 2006)

It has to be said, I got lucky


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