SPEAKER_0 [00:00:00]
Dramas, please.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:13]
Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:20]
This is life
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:22]
with a twist of lemon.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:24]
Hey, John. Hey,
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:26]
Stan. Winter is coming.
SPEAKER_1 [00:00:30]
We've already had snow on the ground, Stan. Winter is here. You've had snow? Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:36]
It's just been ridiculously cold. There's a rumor
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:39]
that we're gonna get snow tonight, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:44]
I just don't. No? No.
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:46]
I brought my snowblower back from Seymour's. There's no way. There's no way that we will get snow now that the snowblower
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:55]
is at my new house. It's that simple. What kind of snowblower do you have?
SPEAKER_0 [00:00:59]
It's a two stage, I believe.
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:03]
I think that sounds right. Okay.
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:05]
It's it's pretty big. I mean Do you like it? Oh, dude. Using the snowblower is one of the most fun things I've ever done. You can ask you can ask missus Lemon. She says that when I come in from using the snowblower,
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:17]
I look like I'm just overwhelmed with joy and happiness.
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:21]
Nice. And there there are pictures to prove it.
SPEAKER_1 [00:01:24]
And possibly the most important question, can I afford it?
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:30]
On an infinite time scale, yes.
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:33]
Before you move in, probably not. How big is your your new driveway is not gonna be that big though, is it?
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:39]
I'm pretty sure my driveway is bigger than yours is. Well, okay. But, like, how long are we talking about? Because I it took me it wasn't until I got
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:48]
I guess I bought it while we were in still while we were in
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:52]
Saxonburg? No. I think I bought it in Seymour.
SPEAKER_1 [00:01:55]
But it, like After you got your
SPEAKER_0 [00:01:58]
your walk paved? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that that driveway was over 200 feet long. That that merited a snowblower.
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:06]
The driveway I've got here, I mean, it's not that long.
SPEAKER_1 [00:02:12]
If, I don't know.
SPEAKER_1 [00:02:14]
I don't know how to guesstimate this because the garage is behind the house.
SPEAKER_1 [00:02:18]
It's not in front of the house.
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:21]
Okay. It's it's a pretty big driveway. Here's a pro. So if you Google
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:26]
for Google Maps area or distance, like, are websites that let you measure distances.
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:32]
So you can pull up your new house and put points, waypoints
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:36]
at the start of the driveway and the end of the driveway driveway. And come up with the length.
SPEAKER_1 [00:02:44]
Alright. You keep talking. I'm gonna figure out if I can do this. Well, I mean, I was gonna pick your brain.
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:50]
I I because I got a I got a picture from you this week about with a with a sandwich,
SPEAKER_0 [00:02:56]
and I was Oh, yeah. I was curious to hear how this sandwich endeavor went.
SPEAKER_1 [00:03:02]
Right. So
SPEAKER_1 [00:03:04]
we got a new
SPEAKER_1 [00:03:06]
Italian beef place in Cedar Rapids.
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:08]
I had to go check out because I love Italian beef. Hold up. Hold up. You gotta you gotta give a little more background. Right? Like, you and I come from the most holy of places in the Midwest, so we know what an Italian beef is. I should say I come from there. You lived in a suburb. I I come from a suburb. Yeah. So but the but the point is that I don't I don't know that an Italian beef like, I don't know that people
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:31]
picture that clearly
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:33]
if they've not been to Chicago and had one.
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:36]
Seriously? I I don't know, man. Like, I think it's I think it's a pretty regional thing.
SPEAKER_1 [00:03:41]
Alright, Stan. You're gonna describe this better than me. So Alright. Go. Alright. So it's thinly shaved beef
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:48]
that usually sits in a pan and kinda slow cooks. We we like to call it gravy or juice,
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:54]
and then you have what would
SPEAKER_0 [00:03:57]
probably be best described as, a hoagie bun. So it's a it's a really an Italian bun.
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:04]
Cut that thing down the middle. You take that Italian beef, and you drop it in there, juice and all.
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:10]
In in some ways, it's very similar to, like, an au jus sandwich,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:13]
but it's so much better, and it's just got a great
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:18]
flavor.
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:19]
It's it's it's like it's very savory.
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:21]
Typically,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:23]
you will find, at least in Chicago,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:25]
that they'll place some Gardenera
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:28]
peppers,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:29]
on top of it, which, again, I don't know. Like, I think that's kinda regional too. Gardenera,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:35]
will have, like, pickled carrots and some small like, very small jalapenos
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:41]
and,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:43]
pickled cauliflower. Like, it's a whole little mixture. It's very colorful, but they've all been pickled spicy.
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:49]
Right? Like, hot. And they just add great flavor, some nice crunch to it. Sometimes
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:55]
you will find,
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:57]
mozzarella cheese
SPEAKER_0 [00:04:58]
that will go on it. You'll also find,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:01]
like, green peppers and onions that have been, you know, kinda grilled and and sliced up,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:07]
tossed on there as well. And then kinda the, like, when you go to a good Italian beef place, they'll ask you if they want it dipped or not. And a good Italian place will take, like, a grill fork,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:19]
shove it through the sandwich after it's been assembled. Right? So the beef is in there,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:23]
and, you typically get your peppers and your cheese.
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:27]
I don't know if they actually do this with the Gardener on or if they apply it afterwards, but they take that fork, they shove it through the whole thing,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:33]
and they drop it right in the pan,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:36]
and they pull it back out. So the whole sandwich becomes submerged,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:40]
and then they'll wrap it up and at, you know, like a place like Portillo's, which we've discussed before in the context of milkshakes,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:46]
they throw the whole sandwich then into a bag,
SPEAKER_0 [00:05:49]
a plastic bag, and spin it so it's, you know, sealed off. And then when you get to your your place to eat, you pull it out, and it's just it's just seeping everywhere,
SPEAKER_0 [00:06:00]
and it's delicious. It's also probably, like, 6,000
SPEAKER_0 [00:06:03]
calories,
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:04]
but it's totally We we don't talk calories here. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:06:10]
I from the looks of your picture, yours was not dipped, which is fine. I'm not a dipped purist. There are some people that insist
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:16]
on dipped.
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:18]
It was dipped. You had the choice of dry, wet, or dipped. I ordered mine dipped,
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:24]
and they must have taken tongs
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:26]
or their hands or something and dipped it in, so the top of the sandwich was not submerged. Interesting.
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:33]
Okay. So that's negative points. But overall,
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:37]
bread was good.
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:39]
The Gardenera was very good.
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:41]
Like, I was surprised
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:43]
having this in Cedar Rapids.
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:45]
The taste of the actual,
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:48]
beef
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:49]
was
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:51]
I
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:52]
don't know if it needed more salt
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:54]
or
SPEAKER_1 [00:06:55]
what. It just it wasn't like getting one from my favorite place back home or
SPEAKER_1 [00:07:01]
even Portillo's.
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:04]
Was it like a lack of depth,
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:06]
or just it not, like, very beefy flavoring? Or
SPEAKER_1 [00:07:10]
It just didn't have,
SPEAKER_1 [00:07:12]
like I think it was more seasoning than beefy flavor. Like, the beef itself was fine.
SPEAKER_1 [00:07:18]
It was just
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:19]
it must have been depth, I guess, is how if that's how you're using the word. It was a lack of depth. It just I was wanting more. Yeah. What okay. That would say it's depth. Right? Like, to me, depth, like, shallow depth is, like, I took a bite out of it, and I was like, there's
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:34]
not a lot going on there. You know? Like like, there's a Yeah. There's flavor in everything that's going on. As you chew, the flavor doesn't disappear.
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:42]
Well, okay. So you should probably try it again because, you know Right. Gotta try it They've only been open for
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:49]
a couple weeks. Okay. Now just, one one point. My if I were a betting man, I would
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:56]
say that they probably use the same Gardenera
SPEAKER_0 [00:07:59]
you've had back home, because I don't know that they're actually like, I don't think this is a market. I don't think Gardenera is a market where there's a lot No. Of
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:06]
I don't.
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:08]
I think And I was just shocked because it was in Cedar Rapids. Have you have you ever seen the containers that you get Gardner in, like, in a restaurant? They're huge. They're these massive, like, a gallon
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:19]
plastic,
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:21]
you know,
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:22]
like, jars, if you will.
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:24]
They're they're a beautiful thing. They're a sight to be seen.
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:29]
But yeah. And it's delicious. Alright. Well, now I'm hungry. Anyways,
SPEAKER_1 [00:08:33]
they had a Chicago
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:35]
style hot dog on the menu too, so I definitely have to go back for that if nothing else. There you go. And, John, for our listeners, what is the secret ingredient? What makes a Chicago style hot dog a Chicago style hot dog?
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:47]
Celery salt. Bingo. And if you don't know what celery salt is, shame on you. Go look it up in your grocery store and try it.
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:56]
Alright.
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:58]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:08:59]
that was a happy moment. You wanna talk about a sad moment?
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:03]
A sad moment. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:05]
I feel like I feel like if it wasn't completely faux pas to do it on a podcast, we should have a moment of silence for
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:11]
the, the late great
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:13]
Stan
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:15]
Lee.
SPEAKER_1 [00:09:17]
Hey.
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:18]
He has a cool name like you do. Yeah. Well, mine's mine's one word though. His was two. But yeah. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:25]
so this I I don't know. Like, do you have this fondness for Stanley? Like, when you see him doing his cameos, do you just, like does it just tickle you?
SPEAKER_1 [00:09:34]
It does. I I think that he was genuinely a nice and joyful man
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:39]
just Yeah. Based on me seeing him on screen or in interviews. That's that's the read that I get too. So this is the creator of Marvel. He was 95,
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:49]
and I think, like, here's a guy who
SPEAKER_0 [00:09:53]
the the the characters he created, I mean, they're they're beyond iconic. Like, let let me just I was I was reading a,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:00]
article in Time
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:02]
that listed out
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:03]
just, you know, some of his heroes. Listen to this list and tell me if this just isn't, like, blow your mind. Ant Man Yeah. Ancient One, The Avengers,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:12]
Beast,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:13]
Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Cyclops, Daredevil, Doctor Strange,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:18]
Fantastic Four, Groot,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:21]
Hawkeye, Hulk, Human Torch, Iceman, Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Jean Grey, Mister Fantastic, Nick Fury, Professor X, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Spider Man, Thing, Thor,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:33]
Wasp, and the X Men. Yes. Those were in alphabetical order.
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:37]
Bunch of villains too. But just think about that. Right? Like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:40]
it's not just the the characters that are iconic in the movies. They're a bunch of, like, peripheral
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:46]
characters too. They're just awesome.
SPEAKER_0 [00:10:48]
And I think It's not even
SPEAKER_1 [00:10:50]
just the x men.
SPEAKER_1 [00:10:52]
Yeah. Exactly. Like, that would be an accomplishment in and of itself. For sure.
SPEAKER_1 [00:10:59]
And think so about
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:01]
one of the things that that's always impressed me about Stan Lee
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:04]
is
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:05]
some of the characters,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:07]
if you take a look at,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:09]
black or Black Panther and Captain Marvel in particular, right, at the time that they enter the scene,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:16]
like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:17]
they're just not
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:19]
they're they're counterculture.
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:21]
Right? Countercultural?
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:22]
Is that what I wanna say? Cultural? Counter countercultural.
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:25]
And I think there's something
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:27]
really awesome just about his worldview,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:31]
and and what you see coming in through those stories. So, you know, for for me,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:37]
Marvel is it's it's one of my, like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:40]
you know, interests. Right? It's right up there with Star Wars and the Steelers.
SPEAKER_0 [00:11:44]
So this was this was sad for me. I was I was bummed. But, you know, what a legacy. He's like, what a legacy.
SPEAKER_1 [00:11:53]
And he had to have recorded cameos for at least Captain Marvel and the Vengeance four by this point. Right?
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:00]
Yeah. I hope. Well, yeah, it has to. Captain Marvel is already filmed. Because they're they would all be in post production then. Yeah. Yeah. So and I'm sure one of those will probably be, you know, dedicated in his memory or something like that. Maybe both of them. But,
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:15]
yeah. I'm man, I tell you, I am looking forward to Captain Marvel.
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:18]
I'm excited about Captain Marvel, I think,
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:22]
mostly because I have girls,
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:24]
and Captain Marvel is such an awesome girl or or excuse me, such an awesome hero
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:29]
for
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:31]
young girls like my daughters. Right? Like, it's just
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:34]
she's such a cool character,
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:36]
and she's so important, and I'm I'm just I'm stoked. And,
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:40]
you know, dresses modestly, like, that's a it's also a big deal with the young girls. So
SPEAKER_1 [00:12:47]
So see, being
SPEAKER_1 [00:12:49]
not as big of a nerd as you are, I know absolutely nothing about Captain Marvel. Well, then this movie will be a real treat.
SPEAKER_0 [00:12:56]
I know. I'm not gonna spoil the character for you other than to say, I am fairly confident
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:02]
that the teaser at the end
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:04]
of
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:05]
Infinity War
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:06]
means
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:07]
that Captain Marvel is the key to Avengers four.
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:12]
Alright then. There you go. We have that on our calendar. Right? I think we do. Yeah. Couple weekends blocked off. We're gonna get Patrick Sturtevant to fly up to Indianapolis. Yep. Yep. We're gonna do it. It's gonna be a big whole thing. Gonna be a good time. We'll have to record an episode just about
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:26]
Avengers four.
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:29]
We did that,
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:30]
what Avengers movie was it?
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:33]
Borgard, Patrick, and I went at
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:35]
midnight,
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:37]
and then we recorded an HT radio episode.
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:40]
And then I drove home, and I got home at, like, 04:50 in the morning. That's crazy. It
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:45]
was crazy.
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:46]
I'll have to dig up that episode and link it in the show notes. There you go. That'd be a good idea.
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:51]
So,
SPEAKER_0 [00:13:53]
on our little notes for the show, you also listed election follow-up.
SPEAKER_1 [00:13:57]
Did you was there something I figured since since we talked about it, I just wanted to let our listeners know that I did go and vote.
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:06]
I was voter 795
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:08]
at my polling location.
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:09]
I got a sticker. I did not post an election sticker selfie,
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:14]
and I think there was even one person who I voted for who was elected,
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:19]
which could be the first time ever.
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:21]
Well, you're doing better than I did this election.
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:23]
I so I think when we talked about this, I was
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:27]
shocked that you had a paper ballot,
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:29]
and guess what I had?
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:31]
A paper ballot. Yeah. In Indianapolis?
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:34]
Yeah. It was so weird. Well, they gave me a pen too. I'm, like, trying to fill in my little bubbles. I'm like, this is just a waste of time. How come they don't have machines?
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:41]
At least at least there were no, like Apparently,
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:45]
my grandma went to vote. She lives in a suburb of Chicago,
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:48]
and she did early voting.
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:51]
And, apparently, the colors were flip flopped.
SPEAKER_1 [00:14:53]
So, like, the Republicans were in blue and the Democrat rats were in red.
SPEAKER_0 [00:14:58]
Jeez.
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:01]
I I don't know, man. Our our ballot was solid black and white. Like, there was no Yeah. That's what mine is. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:09]
Well, I don't know. Like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:11]
the I think the outcomes were interesting. I think, generally speaking, change in politicians is a good thing regardless of what side of the aisle you're on.
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:21]
You know, getting rid of career politicians, having people phase in and out is is probably
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:26]
the best chance we have
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:28]
at getting honest people. I think there's something
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:32]
discouraging
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:33]
about
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:34]
people who stay in office forever and kinda lose touch
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:38]
with, you know, their constituents and and all that. So there's some I think there's some things to be happy
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:46]
election, but I I also just look at, like, the general outcome at the national level. It's like, alright. So so gridlock as if they already couldn't get anything done.
SPEAKER_0 [00:15:55]
Now everything's just gonna kinda get even slower, and maybe that's okay. Maybe that's actually the best outcome. Maybe that's the way that actual change happens is enough gridlock causes
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:07]
the the temperature of society to boil over, and we kinda get out of this,
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:12]
you know, just
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:14]
fabricated two party system that really doesn't leave us any choice of the polls.
SPEAKER_1 [00:16:20]
So you've been reading a lot of early American history and
SPEAKER_1 [00:16:24]
some of the early presidents and stuff like that. And when our government was being formed,
SPEAKER_1 [00:16:29]
they set up all these checks and balances so that nobody had too much power because, you know, just came from a monarchy.
SPEAKER_1 [00:16:37]
Not a good deal.
SPEAKER_1 [00:16:39]
So would you say that our government was kind of set up to be inefficient?
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:44]
I don't I don't know. I I don't think I would say that because, like, the whole notion of of,
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:50]
you know, parties and just partisanship,
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:53]
the the founders were really naive on that front. Right?
SPEAKER_0 [00:16:57]
So even if you read,
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:01]
know, Washington's farewell address,
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:04]
you get get a hint of that even after eight years of, like, really strong partisanship.
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:10]
You know, what is it? Jefferson
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:13]
begins his inaugural with we are all
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:16]
Republicans. We are all federalists,
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:18]
which was also,
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:19]
like, I mean, it was it was banter, but I think there was that sentiment that there wasn't gonna be partisanship
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:26]
in in in the founders in the founding documents. So I think the checks and balances were more about
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:31]
one person running away with everything. Right?
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:36]
And
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:37]
and naively so, like, it didn't take long, right, for partisanship to to emerge. The first cabinet just would stank of it.
SPEAKER_1 [00:17:45]
But Right.
SPEAKER_0 [00:17:47]
Yeah. I don't know. Did I answer your question?
SPEAKER_1 [00:17:51]
You did. We'll probably talk about this more at some other point in time. I I will say this. I just finished a book about John Marshall,
SPEAKER_1 [00:17:59]
the the supreme That is not a US president. Right. Okay. But
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:04]
but John Marshall spans this really long like, he fought in the revolutionary war. Right? He spans this long window
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:11]
of presidents on the Supreme Court,
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:14]
and
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:15]
he
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:16]
really kinda forged
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:18]
the Supreme Court in in the vein of which we think of it now.
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:22]
And what was interesting to me and I remember, like, as I've read,
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:26]
you know, a a biographer in Thomas Jefferson, you got, like, a sense of the partisanship by the time you get to Andrew Jackson. Like, it's just it's just awful. And I think, actually, this is where I'm going.
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:37]
The John Marshall book reminded me that this is probably not
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:41]
the worst
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:43]
partisanism.
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:44]
I don't think that's a word. But, like, this it could be worse, I guess, is what I'm getting at. The government is bigger. It's more complicated. The impact is arguably,
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:52]
you know, more significant from a fiscal standpoint and societal standpoint, but the,
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:58]
the nastiness factor, I don't I don't think we've reached peak US history yet. We we probably are dangerously close, but I don't think we've reached peak.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:09]
The other thing to keep in mind here is
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:12]
there was a time of civil war,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:15]
literally
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:16]
Yeah. Where, like, families were fighting against each other.
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:21]
Yeah. And,
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:22]
that book, I think I told you about this before, The Great Triumvirate.
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:25]
I like Yep. It sets the scene up for America
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:30]
pre,
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:32]
civil war. And,
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:34]
you know, again,
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:35]
you're gonna talk about just the nastiness of politics.
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:39]
We're not at that point.
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:41]
Thanks be to God, because holy Moses, that would be terrible, but it could be worse. And and I know that's, like
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:49]
it's a horrible
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:50]
horrible way to Not a lot of comfort. Yeah. No. It's like I don't know. So so I I totally digressed here. All all this to say that
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:59]
we we could be worse off, and I keep reminding myself of that.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:02]
The the big bright spot was voter turnout for a midterm was really high,
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:08]
like, across the board. Right. And that's a that brings us back
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:12]
back to the moral of the story is that John Colmire voted,
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:16]
so you can't be angry at me or send me hate tweets. Exactly.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:20]
My wife had some really interesting commentary listening to you in that episode.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:24]
I'll just leave it at that. Really? I almost called her today because I've been trying to call you on my way home for, like, a week, and you never answer. So I was gonna call up Sarah and say, well I was waiting for phone. Isn't around.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:35]
Should do that. So she's she had that surgery on her foot, and she's just chilling out in bed. She's not real mobile right now, so she probably would enjoy the company.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:43]
But So what does Sarah have to say? You've piqued my interest now.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:47]
Oh, man. I'm gonna have to look up the the quote. Basically,
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:54]
John, you're gonna put me on the spot here. It was it was something like
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:59]
you you were all, like, old man curmudgeony.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:03]
Oh, I know what it was. You were making cracks about me being old because of some nineties reference I made. I think it was the Nickelodeon one. And at the same time, she's like and then millennial John,
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:14]
you know, complaining about,
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:16]
voting.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:17]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:19]
she she said it better than I did. I'm I'm not gonna do it justice. Maybe I'll ask I am an old man at heart.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:24]
You you are.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:26]
I I sit around, smoke my pipe.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:29]
There you go. Tell kids to get off my lawn, or at least next week, I will. Yeah. Next week. So is that is that closing? You close next week? We close today.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:38]
If you are listening to this, the day it comes out, Thursday,
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:41]
November 15, I will officially be a partial homeowner. The bank will own the rest of the home until I can pay it back. But
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:50]
So are you excited? So
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:52]
I'm excited.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:54]
I think I'm in a pretty good spot. Got all utilities and stuff lined up.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:59]
So that will all be a smooth transition.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:03]
Closing appears to be a relatively smooth transition.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:08]
And then, yeah, movers will come on Monday and move all my stuff.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:13]
Good deal. I mean because I'm paying them to do it, Stan. Thanks to your advice. You I think it was good advice. Yeah. Guarantee you on everything else I have going on. I guarantee you won't regret that. So what's the status of your Kanban board? Has everything moved over?
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:28]
No. Not everything.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:30]
My mom is actually gonna come
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:32]
on Thursday. So today, if you're listening to the day, this is released,
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:36]
and she's gonna help us with some cleaning both at the
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:39]
house and then at the apartment so that we can move out,
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:43]
and
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:44]
help pack up anything else left in the kitchen.
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:46]
Good deal. How's, missus doing? Is she hanging in there?
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:50]
So missus Kolmeyer is far more stressed with life as a fifth grade teacher than she has been about moving as far as I can tell.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:58]
So I just kind of been handling the moving stuff. We both packed this weekend and got a good amount of packing done, so that was good.
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:06]
I would think that being a fifth grade teacher would probably be more stressful
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:13]
just because that Yeah. That seems like a
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:15]
well,
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:16]
let's put it this. Fifth grade teacher. You remember what you were like in fifth grade. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly what was crossing my mind. I like, oh my word.
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:25]
So,
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:27]
yeah, life's good. What's new with you, Stan?
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:31]
I mean, I'm I'm just hanging in there, buddy. It's it's been so here I would say working a lot. I've been working a lot, and then,
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:38]
you know, missus Lemon with her foot has given me a new perspective on one, how wonderful my wife is, and two, how terrible of a husband I am.
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:49]
Because I don't know. She posted a picture of you bringing her breakfast in bed,
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:54]
so that that's gotta count for something. Well, okay. Yeah. But at that particular moment, my kids were not in the house, so it was much easier to address. But but here's here's where I'm going with this. Right? So Monday and today,
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:08]
my kids were here, and I needed to
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:12]
make sure everybody ate. I needed to do some dishes, laundry,
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:16]
take care of the dog,
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:18]
make sure that missus Lemon, you know, got everything she needed. Monday, I had to take her to a post op appointment. So it's like it's like the stuff that she normally does. Right? I'm I'm trying
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:29]
my hardest to do, and I'm I'm doing
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:33]
probably just barely passable.
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:35]
But all this has made me realize that, like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:39]
I don't I don't do as much around the house as I thought I did.
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:43]
Right? So I, like, I went into this kinda cocky, like, oh, this will be no problem, you know. I'll keep order in the chaos. And the reality is, I think, again,
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:52]
maybe barely passable, but it's hard, man. Like, it it is really I don't
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:58]
even have kids, and I can see that. I
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:01]
just, like, you lose perspective. Right? So I it's it's silly things, like, the dog is always out in the morning and fed,
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:10]
and takes her medicine, which I I I, like, I completely forgot that it's a thing. She went probably four days without taking her her thyroid pill.
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:18]
Right? And,
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:21]
you know, it's just it's always done, so I take it for granted. Or, like, the laundry, I always have underwear in the drawer. Right? Which, again, I take for granted. And here here's here's the wild thing. I have had the same washer and dryer now for
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:36]
seven or eight years.
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:38]
I did not know how to use the washer. I know how to use the dryer, but I did not know how to use the washer. Right? So last night, everything reached critical mass. I was out of underwear.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:49]
So I You never really lived as a bachelor, did you, Stan? You just kinda went from college to getting married, didn't you? Yeah. But I mean, like, I was a I had my own apartment in college and
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:00]
Yeah. But still, it's college, so it's not really the same thing. Okay. Alright. I I I give you that. So yeah. But but the thing was, like, you know, reached critical mass. I had to I had to remember how to do laundry. It's funny because I did my own laundry probably starting in fourth grade,
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:16]
you know, all all the way up. But I, like, I just haven't done it in a while. So anyhow, all all this is, like, just making me really appreciate exactly
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:26]
how much missus Lennon takes on. And it's a reminder. I I I say this often, but this was a a really stark reminder that her job is far more difficult than mine,
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:37]
you know, because she's taking care of the house and stuff, taking care of the kids, and teaching them.
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:43]
Right? Because we homeschool.
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:45]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:46]
I I got it easy. I got it made. But,
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:50]
yeah, I did. You do, Stan. That you do. I fell asleep. But you know what you need?
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:56]
What?
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:57]
A milkshake. Well,
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:00]
maybe.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:01]
But you need a Kanban board. There you go. I'm pretty sure my wife would strangle me if I did a Kanban board in the house.
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:08]
Seriously? Yeah. She would she would look at She would like make sure everything's color coded and
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:14]
probably build shapes out of the different tasks. Yeah. It would be beautiful. There's no doubt about it. But the problem is that,
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:21]
like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:22]
I would it would be
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:24]
I I just I don't think that would go over well. We'll just leave it at that. I don't think it would go over well.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:29]
But she gets to be a product owner, Stan. There you go. That that actually that might be the the right strategy.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:35]
So last night, I it was it was half past midnight,
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:39]
and I was done folding laundry.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:43]
And I I had to get up at six because I had to go to the office today,
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:47]
and I I I have not been that tired in a very long time.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:53]
So I'm all this is to say, I'm really grateful for my wonderful wife
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:00]
who just takes care of all of the things I take for granted, and I should appreciate her more. That's the moral of my week, John.
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:07]
I hope that she listens to this episode so you get some props, Stan. Maybe. We'll see. I she was listening the other day. She heard you know, she got all worked up about the election one. But for for all I know, John, your whole antics about voting made us lose a listener. You know?
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:23]
Yeah. It's probably true. We were kinda down on last week's episode. I think that's more because you didn't share it to your Facebook friends list. But I didn't?
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:32]
No. Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't so I have not
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:37]
I don't know that I've been on Facebook.
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:40]
Have I been on Facebook this week? So there was, like, an outage yesterday or something, wasn't there?
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:46]
A Facebook outage? I have no idea. I think there was. I didn't notice one. Well, okay. So that's where I was going with this. Like, I I I you know, Facebook was nonfunctional apparently for a little period of time, and the only reason I knew about it was because I was looking at Twitter.
SPEAKER_1 [00:29:01]
But
SPEAKER_1 [00:29:03]
yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:05]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:06]
I'll have to remind me if I forget on Thursday.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:10]
I think there's I think Alright. I'm gonna be a little busy on Thursday, so it might be, like, when I see you over Thanksgiving. I know. I know why I missed it on Thursday, John. That was the day after the foot surgery. I was in a completely different world.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:22]
Ah. Good excuse. So are we recording? Sometime next week. Do we have that on the calendar? We probably should should put that on the calendar. I think we do. But but hey. Get this. This is not crazy it's been. Know how I read every day? Like, that's just the thing I always do?
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:36]
I have not read since Wednesday.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:39]
Oh, no. Stan, you were my only hope. I know. I'll get back there. I'll get back there. I just gotta gotta sort through it. I actually was gonna pick up, what I would call an easy read. David McCullough's got a book called seventeen seventy six, which has a ton of overlap with other stuff I've read recently. But I thought, you know what? It'd be nice to just have a really smooth, simple, short read to enjoy. And, of course, I haven't even finished the first chapter.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:04]
I suggest the Hobbit or Harry Potter. I read Harry Potter last year at this time. Flew through it. I think was I think last
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:12]
year was the last time I read Harry Potter.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:16]
Yeah. Because your kids were all in on the illustrated editions. Yeah. I mean, they're they're in the non illustrated ones now,
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:22]
and I think Yep. They're in six.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:25]
I think that's right.
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:27]
You know, they're they're moving along. It gets it gets harder as the books get longer, but they're Right. They're getting there. So yeah. Nice.
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:36]
I can't remember. Did I tell you that, that super secret thing came that we're gonna do beginning at the November?
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:45]
Yes. He did. Yeah. I got a picture. Yeah. So they're square and sticky. Secret for our listeners. Yeah. Square and sticky,
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:53]
and they're lilac
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:56]
with or is it lilac? Would you say lock or lack? Lack.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:01]
I think it's lilac. I probably say it both, actually. Lilac? So
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:05]
I think I say lilac normally.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:07]
Lilacs, like the flower. And we still haven't we still haven't never gotten to that story, but someday I'll tell the story about the lilac. And,
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:14]
yeah. Oh, yeah. So just keep listening, dear listener, whoever you are till the November,
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:20]
and you'll learn about this super secret sticky square that I have in my hand that happens to be lilac.
SPEAKER_1 [00:31:25]
Rate us five stars on iTunes. Next week, we should probably get back to some of our other written reviews that have come in because that generated a bunch last time we read a review on air.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:35]
Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:36]
We definitely should. Yeah. Because that's right. The the inaugural Sid Finch. I'll I'll never forget Sid Finch. Right. But we have more written reviews since then. You can check them out by going into iTunes,
SPEAKER_1 [00:31:47]
clicking the five stars, writing a review, and then reading the rest as you scroll down the page. We're on iTunes. I don't think you can rate us there.
SPEAKER_1 [00:31:55]
And we're on Facebook and Twitter at twist of lemon pod.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:58]
I think you meant we're also on Spotify. You said we're on iTunes.
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:04]
Yes. We're on iTunes and Spotify Right. And Overcast
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:08]
and wherever your favorite
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:10]
podcasts are sold slash twistoflemonpod.com.
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:14]
Twist of lemon on Twitter and Facebook. I think you already said that, but, yeah, there's there's no sense in not plugging ourselves over and over again
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:22]
to continue to feed our vanity as the show. Can remember after you're done
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:27]
driving to wherever you're driving to, hopefully,
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:30]
we didn't put you to sleep on the road. And if we did, don't tell us about it. Just post to Reddit. Alright.
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:35]
Reddit. Think that's a wrap.
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:37]
See you next week, John.
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:39]
We'll see you.