The EU did a lot of the spadework on the day before leaders arrived.

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After Congress's 1995 ruling, a Palestinian historian, Walid Khalidi, did a little spadework.

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In his newly released autobiography, Stewart says he was employed measuring plots at Highgate Cemetery but never did any spadework.

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And you will at least have done a lot of spadework if you decide to engage the services of a planner in the flesh.

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The effort was referred to as WebGov, managed by a dedicated team at GSA who had been doing the spadework on the project for several years.

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Such terms gloss over the fact that, just like the pipes that carry water, the tubes that carry bits are reliant on old-fashioned, low-tech spadework, human contact and the geographical reality in which all that exists.

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