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Hey there. This is Lemon. First, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to John and Mai's podcast.
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I still find it a little surreal that anyone besides John's sister Elizabeth tunes in each week.
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So we are hot on the hills of Advent, which means Christmas is not too far behind. Advent reminds us that Jesus is coming via manger in Bethlehem,
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and we rejoice with the whole Christian church at this miracle.
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God made manifest for us.
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It's common this time of year to have a special emphasis on giving back. In that spirit, John and I wanted to take the opportunity from now until the end of the year to raise support for our friend, pastor Joel Fritchie, and his family who are serving in The Dominican Republic.
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Here's the deal though. As awesome as it would be for us to just say, hey, go give some holiday cheer to Fritzy via your checkbook.
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We want to sweeten the deal.
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So the first 25 folks who donate $50 or more and let us know about it, either via Twitter, Facebook, or email, will receive a complimentary three by three life with a twist of lemon sticker from Sticker Mule as a thank you from us for your donation.
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Oh, but it gets better.
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I will also personally match any donation that we know about up to $1,000.
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You can donate direct to pastor Fritzschi at l c m s dot o r g slash
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f r I t s c h e. That's lcms.0rg/fritsche
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or swingby twistoflemonpod.com
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and we'll link to it on our front page.
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All donations are a 100% tax deductible,
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which means that even if you don't like Fritzy or even John or I for that matter, you still win. Stickers and tax deductions.
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What's more not to love?
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If you donate and you want a sticker or just for the donation to be matched, let us know by sending us a screenshot showing you donated.
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There's more info on the website, and thanks again for listening, and enjoy the show.
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Dramas,
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please.
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Yeah.
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This is life
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with a twist of lemon.
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Alright, John.
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So
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are you listening to Christmas music yet?
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On the way over here to the recording studio in beautiful
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Newbo District,
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Iowa, Cedar Rapids,
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But there was a Reba McEntire
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show or something on, so she was singing
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what child is this with
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somebody,
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two brothers.
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Is that the only Christmas music you've listened to thus far in December?
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I would say that is the only pure Christmas music.
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I did have after Thanksgiving,
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I wanted to listen to,
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let it snow.
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So I played that so many times that annoyed my wife
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via Amazon Alexa.
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See? Did you see how I said that and set off everybody's device? Are they gonna be angry with me? Oh my gosh, John. Let
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it snow. I have not broken out the Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack yet, and that is a staple
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for my Christmas seasons.
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Okay. So I I've got two things that I need to address in that statement. First of all, you referred to Reba McEntire as pure Christmas music.
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I I think that
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no.
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I'm not even gonna acknowledge that. That's just terrible. She was singing she was singing What Child Is This?
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She she could have been singing Silent Night, and it still wouldn't affect change the fact that it was Reba McEntire. Oh, like, her voice just grates on me.
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Alright.
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The the second piece of commentary I'll I'll just add is this. In
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past years, you've been such a curmudgeon that I honestly believe that you didn't listen to Christmas music until the twenty sixth. Like, I I think you blocked it out of your ears during Christmas day service just so you could be that guy. So this is this is probably No.
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It's it's all fair game.
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Twenty fourth at sundown.
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It's sundown.
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Most people would say Vespers, but whatever. It's it's fine. We got it.
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So,
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you were pretty busy this weekend. You took to the old Facebooks,
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and you had some
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some action with the camera I saw.
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Action with the camera.
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So,
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yeah, where do we wanna start? I know. What's the explain what the heck WordCamp is because I like, here's what I imagine. I imagine a bunch of people with banjos and guitar sitting around a fire strumming
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and, you know, singing like John one or I I really I really don't know. Fair enough. So
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WordCamp,
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there's a bunch of them. They're WordPress meetups,
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kinda community organized.
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So WordCamp US is kind of the big one. It used to be word WordPress,
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no, WordCamp San Francisco.
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And then they start moving locations every year, where
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Matt Molwig, I don't think I said his name right, but he gives the state of the word address.
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And he's the cofounder of WordPress, CEO and founder of Automatic,
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which hosts wordpress.com
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and all the WordPress VIP stuff
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and
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everything else they do.
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So
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you have a question. Well, you you're in Nashville.
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I was in Nashville. So I flew out to Nashville Thursday night, got in 11:30
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central time after going through eastern time when I flew to Detroit.
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So that was confusing,
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but I started in central time, and I ended in central time.
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So that's good. Yeah. Like, Nashville's a pretty big airport. They didn't have a direct route to
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Iowa?
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Cedar Rapids doesn't fly direct anywhere.
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Well, obviously, they fly direct to Detroit.
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Okay.
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So they fly to hubs,
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Detroit, Atlanta.
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I can get to the twin cities,
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Dallas Fort Worth,
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Denver.
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It have been faster to drive to Nashville than it was to fly? No. It was actually it was faster to fly by a couple of hours.
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Okay. But you couldn't stop along the way
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and see me.
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That's true. But
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considering I left,
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my flight was delayed, so I would have left earlier. But I was flying out at
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five something on Thursday.
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Alright. Alright. So you get to Nashville,
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and I know. You were doing I need to come see you, Stan. We've been talking about it all year.
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I didn't make it at all this year, did I? No. You haven't been here. Not not I did stop by once. Not not for That's true. Yeah. Any amount of time, but I've seen the new house. There were no milkshakes to be had, and that really is the gold standard for a visit now. So I'll just leave it at that. I don't wanna belabor that, John, because it might make me sour, more sour than I already am. But so you're still So
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word WordPress. WordCamp WordPress conference.
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I don't know. There's probably 2,000 people there.
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Friday,
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go through they have sessions that I go to, a cool exhibit hall where I picked up a bunch of swag.
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Currently,
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I'm wearing a
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the official WordCamp US twenty eighteen
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T shirt and
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some socks that I got from Jilt, which is an email marketing company
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specifically geared at ecommerce. So they specialize in, like, card abandoned emails and things like that.
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And I have a T shirt for the next four days.
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So I mean, that sounds like a huge conference to me. I mean, anytime you can walk away with a new wardrobe.
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And what makes it better is registration
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for WordCamps is, like, $40.
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Oh, you can't beat that. That's that's a cheap conference.
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So Yeah. Let's let's rewind just a bit because for those that aren't super technical,
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it probably helps explain exactly what WordPress is. I mean, I think we probably take it for granted, right, because of the ubiquity of WordPress.
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But it's Right. It's basically a it's a blog that has evolved into what we would call, like, a content management system. Is that fair?
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Yeah. So it started off mainly
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as a blog, and it is now a very robust content management system. You have seen WordPress websites all over the place.
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Currently,
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powers about
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30 I think the number they threw out was 32.5%
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of all websites on the Internet. Yeah. It's always an outrageous number that they get. Like, it's really high, especially when you think about just how much is on the Internet. I've always been slightly suspect as to how they can come up with that number, but, you know, it's it's good PR for them. So
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I mean, you can crawl it, and you can kinda see. I am looking at websites all the time now, and I say, oh, that's a WordPress website, just kinda how it's laid out. If you've been with to twistoflemonpod
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or johncoalmire.net,
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Those are both WordPress websites.
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is not WordPress.
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No. It is not.
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I'm not I'm not actually, like, opposed to WordPress.
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I think if you want software laden with security vulnerabilities, it's a great choice.
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You you only think there's a bunch of security vulnerabilities
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because it is the most widely used CMS,
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so it also makes it the largest target. Usually, they're pretty good about patching those. You know who made that argument once that,
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like, user mark Microsoft. Yeah. User mark means we're the most targeted. Yeah. Exactly. Microsoft with Windows.
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So you know what? Just keep that in the back of your mind there, Johnny boy. Hey. Hey, Stan. If if you find a vulnerability,
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you can view the entire source code and patch it yourself. Yeah. I mean, that's that is cool. I'd like so I'm I'm
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I'm being sarcastic. Don't wait a month for a security update like you would with Microsoft on patch Tuesday.
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So
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it's it is it is a piece of open source software from all I can gather, Automattic, the company that kinda, you know, sinks money into
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the building of this open source product. Seems like a pretty cool company, so I I'm I'm digging it. And a $40 conference for its user base is is really kind of unheard of in the technology sector. Like, there
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there's just nothing that's that inexpensive.
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Yeah. So there's there's work camps all over The US. A couple years ago, I went to one out of Omaha, and it's really communities.
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They're it's all volunteer driven.
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So a bunch of volunteers come together, and they put together this conference.
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I think there's, like, an application process and committee that
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comes up with people who are gonna host WordCamp US.
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So for the next two years, it will be in Saint Louis.
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I I don't know if this is true, but I think that the whole, like, concept around WordCamp is derived from BarCamp. Are you familiar with BarCamp at all?
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Somewhat.
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I I know that there's one in Omaha. I have not been to it. Yeah. They're actually I I think there used to be a really big one in the Milwaukee area. And I I don't know if they I don't if they still happen or whatever, but Barcamp was like it's kinda that grassroots,
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you know, open
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user generated conference
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format.
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And I I think I think BarCamp, the BarCamp format,
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is what a lot of these things are modeled after.
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It it's cool. I dig it. I mean, you know?
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Yeah. So
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content was good.
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There was a speaker
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who basically is in charge of LinkedIn Learning
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who spoke, a couple marketing people,
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people who kinda run their own agencies.
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So it was a big big mix of different people
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from
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different areas and different types of businesses. And overall, I learned a lot, and it wasn't all just WordPress focused.
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There were
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talks about accessibility
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on the web,
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talks about
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project management for developers,
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things of that nature too. So it wasn't all, hey. This is how you do this in WordPress,
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which which is very helpful, especially since the majority of attendees are working in WordPress every day.
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Good deal. So I I don't know if your boss listens to the podcast, but if he does, the key takeaway is you learn something. This was a valuable investment, and you should send John again.
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And, maybe maybe,
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we could figure out how to how to, like, run. So in Saint Louis next year, Stan. Oh, alright. Never mind. I don't wanna go to Saint Louis. Forget that. Scrap.
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Alright. So be honest. Force, man. Dream force. No. I I will never I I won't do that again. It's it's great for customers. It's way too many people for my my personality. Like, I just that's way too many people.
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Alright. We digress. So Right. WordPress, you learned some stuff. Awesome. But it looks to me,
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based upon our own Facebook feed, that you
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got to enjoy a little bit of Nashville as well.
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A little bit. Not as much as I would like to. I mean, Nashville is a cool city with a lot of stuff to do. And when you're in a conference for ten hours of the day, not a lot of time, especially when you're kinda walking,
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to wherever you wanna get. I guess I could have Ubered, or I could have taken these bird things, but we'll talk about those things later. Well, hey. Talk about them now. I wanna know. Why didn't you take an Uber or Lyft around town?
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Well, I I actually really enjoyed
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walking. So I stayed about a mile and a half from the convention center,
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and I really like walking there and kind of enjoying the city,
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walking past people on the street. I think that I got a better sense of the city of Nashville
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by walking than I would have just driving in a car.
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And I think that's a good takeaway for
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maybe where our listeners live in your own city if you haven't walked around the downtown area or something like that. I think it's just a different experience.
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Allows you to slow down and kind of enjoy your surroundings. So I enjoyed that. I got the exercise benefit.
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Yeah. Saw you I saw you closing those rings on the Apple Watch. I will say this. I Nashville's a cool city. I think that what you're what you're kinda pitching here, this idea of walking around the city is great in the month of December.
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But having been to Nashville in the summer, I don't recommend that at all.
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Damn.
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Yeah. It's it's it's hot, man. It gets really hot, and it's usually pretty fair So enough
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but yeah. December? I was in Nashville for what? Two days last time you were there?
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That was a while ago. The Vanderbilt
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campus.
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Yep. I actually stayed not far from there. It's a pretty pretty campus. I that whole area is nice. I'm I'm a big fan of Nashville. I like the food. It seems like you got to experience some of Nashville's food.
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Yeah. So
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at the conference, lunch was included. So we got fried chicken. We had different kinds of beef.
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It was all very good at the conference itself.
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Dinner was on our own. So the first night, I had to try out Nashville hot chicken.
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So those of you who don't know anything about this hot chicken I speak of, it's basically fried chicken
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in the sauce that's made out of lard
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and a whole bunch of cayenne pepper
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and a whole bunch of other stuff.
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So it is legitimately hot.
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Like, did you need a glass of milk? Was it that hot?
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I did not.
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Somebody else may if I would have gone with their hottest heat level, I think I would have. So I went with the second hottest heat level. I would love to
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figure out a way to test
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the Nashville hot chicken against Aaron Fanker because
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if you remember, he's on the wall of flame in Fort Wayne,
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and and Yeah. That man has a serious resistance to heat. So I I would be curious, but I digress. It was good, though?
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Yep. So I went to Hattie B's. I know there's probably a competition about who has the best hot chicken in Nashville. Hattie B's was this within walking distance from my hotel, so I walked there.
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It was great. Got fries, got collard greens,
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which were not as good as the ones at Edley's. I that's gonna be my next question. That measure up. That is a high,
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high standard.
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I did not make it to Edley's barbecue this trip to Nashville,
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which was probably my biggest regret.
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So Edley's, we you and I went to Edley's,
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again, at that Vanderbilt conference a couple of years back, and I think it was kind of a whim. Right? And we went and we got
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did we get the we got tacos. Right? We got, like, brisket tacos?
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You know what? I don't even remember. I remember the sides. I know that I know that the barbecue was delicious It was. And they had awesome sauces,
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but I don't remember how I consumed it. So we had there were the there was the spicy collard greens, which were
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out of this world. And then I also remember
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a jalapeno cheddar
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Cornbread.
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Cornbread,
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which also
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oh, man. My mouth is watering while I while I sit here. Man, I got I gotta go back to Nashville. We should we should do we should do a visit, John. Like so true story. I went down to Alabama
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for a spring break vacation
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with my in laws a number of years ago.
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And along the way, we actually because, you know, the direction from Indiana to Alabama takes you just down 65. You cut right through Nashville. And so I actually drove a little bit out of my way just to go to Edley's because I loved their food that much.
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Yeah. It was a missed opportunity,
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but I'm glad that I tried the hot chicken this time.
SPEAKER_0 [00:18:07]
Good deal. I remember I remember brisket tacos. That stands out to me as being exceptional. That sounds good. That sounds like what it was what it was. Yeah. Can't really go wrong. Bob Myers
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came along with us. Yeah. Yeah. He did. Good old Bob. I feel like that was a,
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brisket tacos were a lunch thing. So if somebody's listening to this and they're like, oh, next time I'm in Nashville, I'm gonna go to Edley's. Think there are a couple locations, by the way. If
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you want the brisket tacos, you gotta go at lunch for what that's worth.
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Right.
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Alright.
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So You got you got some other food though too, didn't you, John? Because I I saw Saturday, some
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I actually finished the hot chicken that I finished, didn't finish the night before because the portions were huge. And I thought, sure. I'll just get the large one because it sounds good. So I I actually finished that for dinner,
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and I'm like, man, I gotta find a Nashville milkshake.
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So I go to Google
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best milkshake in Nashville,
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and they show up. There's a whole bunch that were on the Northeast Side. I was kinda on the West Side.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:11]
So I think this was listed like number six,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:15]
but it was Elliston
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:16]
Place
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:17]
Soda Shop.
SPEAKER_0 [00:19:19]
Okay. This sounds promising.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:22]
It was. So apparently,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:24]
it's like one of the oldest
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:27]
continuously operating restaurants
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:30]
in Nashville, at least that's been at the same location the whole time. This also sounds promising. Years.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:36]
Seventy five years.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:38]
So it started off as an old time
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:42]
soda shop and originally opened as a grocery store,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:46]
and the grocery eventually became a pharmacy
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:50]
in the nineteen twenties.
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:52]
And then in 1939,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:54]
they redesigned part of the pharmacy to open the soda shop,
SPEAKER_1 [00:19:59]
and the drugstore neighbors stayed on until the sixties.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:03]
So
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:04]
the soda shop has been there since 1939.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:07]
It's got a great atmosphere.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:11]
I walked in through the rain in Nashville, Tennessee,
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:15]
sat up at the bar area
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:18]
right in front of the milkshake
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:21]
mixers,
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:22]
and I sent you a picture of these. So they were, like, Hamilton Beach commercial mixers,
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:28]
and they each had three spindles on them, and they had three of these machines
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:33]
for a total of nine milkshakes being able to be mixed at a time.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:38]
They they were absolutely
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:40]
beautiful
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:41]
milkshake makers.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:43]
I, I will put this on
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:46]
the website.
SPEAKER_0 [00:20:47]
I I actually think that there might be I might have sent you a picture a few weeks back of me looking at those on Amazon, like that very model, if you recall.
SPEAKER_1 [00:20:57]
No. Yours was more rounded, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:00]
I I thought it was a Hamilton Beach.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:03]
I I thought it was Hamilton Beach. It's probably is.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:06]
Right.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:07]
It it was impressive. We'll just we'll start there. Right? Like, it was an impressive machine.
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:12]
I was very proud. I was very clear that that whoever
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:15]
invested
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:17]
money in this meant business,
SPEAKER_0 [00:21:19]
period.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:22]
So
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:23]
I'm in Nashville. It's probably
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:26]
36,
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:27]
38 degrees outside,
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:29]
raining.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:30]
I come in. I see this beautiful milkshake maker,
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:34]
and there are a bunch of milkshakes being made in it. So that says something about the milkshakes too. If people in Nashville are ordering them, when it's 38 degrees outside in the rain at 08:00 at night. Respect.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:48]
So good signs all around.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:54]
I did sit there. They were busy.
SPEAKER_1 [00:21:56]
They were definitely busy. The wait staff seemed tired,
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:00]
because it had been a busy day.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:03]
So I sit around, and I figure, alright. I'll order something light tea too so I don't just sit here and get a milkshake.
SPEAKER_1 [00:22:09]
You probably would have just gotten a milkshake stand because that's how you roll. So I got a BLT.
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:15]
Ate that. That was good. What you would expect. Hold up. I I have so many questions. So many questions. K. What kind of what kind of bread?
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:23]
It was your typical sandwich bread, Stan. Was look like they made it, or do did it look like it was, like, Wonder Bread that they popped in a toaster? It looked like Wonder Bread. Okay.
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:34]
The the lettuce, was it flat, or did it have structure?
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:40]
Lettuce had structure. Okay. So it was fresh. That's good. That's good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:44]
The bacon,
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:45]
was it crunchy,
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:47]
or was it soggy?
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:49]
Bacon was crunchy. Okay. So if I had held the bacon up, it would have been able to It stayed flat. Okay. Yep. Alright. Alright. Yep. And then the the mayo application,
SPEAKER_0 [00:22:59]
like, did you have enough mayo? I
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:01]
think so because I didn't notice it. So And it it wasn't dry, and it wasn't dripping all over the place. Okay. That was gonna be my next thing. Because one of the worst things with a BLT, right, is as you're eating, the mayo, like, packs up in the back and then starts squeezing out in chunks. That's when you know that they just they just didn't do it right. So it sounds like a good BLT.
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:18]
This is important. A BLT is is a work of art. Go on, John. Tell me about the milkshake.
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:24]
Alright. So the milkshake,
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:26]
they mix it up.
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:28]
First thing I notice is they pull out this
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:32]
big, like,
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:33]
five
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:35]
gallon bucket of ice cream, and the name on the side of the ice cream bucket was Mayfield Creamery.
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:43]
That's not our that's not our place. That That that is not ours. So I did some research, and apparently, they are based out of Tennessee,
SPEAKER_1 [00:23:51]
so
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:52]
locally sourced. Okay. That that's good. But, like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:23:56]
did you happen to find out anything about their overrun rate?
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:01]
No. Maybe I can find it quickly on the website. They just kinda
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:05]
talk about there. So, anyway,
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:08]
vanilla ice cream,
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:09]
not like soft serve, which you ran into
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:12]
at
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:14]
Grand House. Airport. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:17]
good
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:19]
base.
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:20]
Now I'm not 100%
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:22]
sure of this, but I think that they use chocolate milk
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:26]
that they put
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:28]
in the milkshake. Oh, that is fascinating.
SPEAKER_0 [00:24:30]
That is very go on.
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:33]
Because it came out of, like like, those cafeteria milk machines. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So I I didn't pay close enough attention to be 100% sure on that, but I'm fairly certain.
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:43]
And then it goes into the wonderful
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:46]
milkshake mixer
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:48]
where
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:48]
they have to put the aluminum
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:51]
cup all the way up so it clips in, and then it just sits there and it does its thing. And, yes, it was very well mixed.
SPEAKER_1 [00:24:59]
Great consistency.
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:01]
What about slurpability?
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:02]
It was a high slurpability score? Slurpability
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:06]
was perfect.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:07]
Not too runny,
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:09]
not too thick. Okay. So how how would you pair this against the
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:14]
ice cream based milkshake you had at the popcorn company?
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:18]
See, I this isn't a good comparison because I haven't been back with a better choice of ice cream. Sounds
SPEAKER_0 [00:25:24]
like something you should fix.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:26]
So I would say that this was definitely higher on the milkshake scale.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:32]
I think that is all around. I think it was mixed better. I think it was a better consistency
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:37]
overall,
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:38]
even the ice cream minus the big chunky parts out of the ice cream that I ordered.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:45]
So this was definitely high.
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:48]
It was served in a milkshake glass
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:50]
like you would see
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:52]
in an old time soda shop. Iconic. Unfortunately,
SPEAKER_1 [00:25:57]
no whipped cream and no cherry. I think part of that was was oversight by the wait staff because
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:05]
it was towards the end of the day, and they've been busy. Oh, that's that's you didn't say anything? I like, if if it loses some points, dude. I was just going with it. They gave me the milkshake,
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:17]
and they gave me the aluminum cup with the rest of the milkshake.
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:21]
So That's classy. It was
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:24]
That's classy.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:25]
It it was great.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:27]
All around, very good.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:30]
The person working the register was great.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:32]
Lots of fun. Great conversation.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:36]
And,
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:37]
yeah,
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:38]
waitresses were nice.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:40]
The guy who was working the kitchen was awesome.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:44]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:45]
So out of curiosity,
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:47]
paper or plastic straw?
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:50]
It was a plastic straw.
SPEAKER_0 [00:26:52]
Okay.
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:54]
Well, that's alright. Now as I was looking through the website earlier today, they did have
SPEAKER_1 [00:26:59]
some of those red and white type straws that would be
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:05]
what like, classic milkshake straws.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:08]
Yeah. Yeah. There's something about the imagery there in the glass, the the striped straw, but I'm thinking it. So in terms of, all of your milkshake ratings thus far,
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:20]
is is this number one? I believe this is number one. The only thing that it lost points on was the whipped cream
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:28]
and Sherry being missing.
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:30]
But,
SPEAKER_1 [00:27:31]
yeah, it it couldn't have gotten any better.
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:34]
I I'll be clear with you. If if a milkshake had come out in the vessel which you described
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:39]
with the extra
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:41]
in in the metal vessel that it was mixed in. Right? And and it didn't have
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:46]
the
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:49]
the the whipped cream or the
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:53]
cherry. I would have sent it back. I I
SPEAKER_0 [00:27:56]
would have said, no. No. No. Fix this. This this whole experience is too awesome.
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:01]
Or look it looks like the prospects are too awesome for me to, you know, just be be a willing participant in this degradation
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:10]
of of a quality milkshake.
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:12]
Yeah.
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:15]
So that But you and I are different, Stan, contrary to popular belief.
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:20]
So
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:21]
So I I was there Saturday,
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:24]
and I found out in my conversations with the employees
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:28]
that the night before on Friday,
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:31]
a very popular country artist
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:34]
was there,
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:36]
and that is none other than one of your favorites, Stan Lemon. Not your favorite, but one of your favorites. This is debatable. This is debatable with a nice Alright.
SPEAKER_0 [00:28:45]
Let's put it this way. I wouldn't change the channel if he was on. How's that? Fair enough. He's got some awesome songs.
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:51]
Toby Keith was there with his bodyguard
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:54]
and sounds like one other person. And apparently, he was super cool,
SPEAKER_1 [00:28:58]
came in with a hat. Most of them didn't even know who he was when he walked in.
SPEAKER_1 [00:29:04]
And, apparently, his bodyguard was super cool,
SPEAKER_1 [00:29:06]
and was funny and was talking with him.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:09]
So Nice. So, I mean, that that's a good sign. Right? Like, the the big dogs are going to the place that you stop by. I think that's probably indicative of the quality of product that they provide.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:19]
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:21]
I do I do like some of Toby Keith's music. I mean, he's got some great jams. I will say,
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:25]
he's he's definitely not my favorite. Right? You know, my go to is always Alan Jackson when I'm doing a country thing. Right. But, it was a Toby Keith song that actually got me into modern country music. It was, do you remember Beer for My Horses that he did Absolutely. Nelson? Yeah. So so that song
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:42]
was something that missus Lemon introduced me to and got me, like, kinda sucked into country music.
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:48]
And I had a long streak there right after college where I was, like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:52]
a 100% country music all the time. There was a lot of Toby Keith in my life. I will say today,
SPEAKER_0 [00:29:57]
I like, he's not on when I'm when I'm feeling the country vibe and I pull up my country playlist,
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:02]
I think maybe Beer For My Horses is on that list, but that might be it. That might be it. Interesting.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:08]
So I was wrong.
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:10]
Well Anyways Like I said, I like him. You know how I how I roll, though. Right? Like, I wax and wane as to whether or not I like a particular artist. I I I go in streaks. So I'm I'm not in a Toby Keith streak right now. It's it's that simple. Fair enough.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:24]
So if you're in Nashville,
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:25]
stop at Hattie B's for some hot chicken and Ellison's
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:29]
Place soda shop, which is apparently on the National Register of Historic Places and is mentioned in the book, a thousand places to see before you die, according to their website,
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:39]
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:42]
You you only got 999
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:44]
to go.
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:45]
Yeah. I should probably look what's all on that list. I've probably been born.
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:50]
It'd be interesting.
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:51]
Alright. So you got back. Are you are you in grill
SPEAKER_0 [00:30:55]
mode now? Are you, like, looking at grills trying to figure out what you're gonna do?
SPEAKER_1 [00:30:59]
No. I'm waiting for our conversation here.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:02]
Well, I thought about this all week because I was trying to figure out how to, like, articulate
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:06]
the criteria
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:08]
the criteria that I wanted to share with you.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:12]
So this this then got me into thinking, like, all of the different
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:16]
grills that I've bought, and it was
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:19]
not as many as I thought. So actually, here. Let's let's let's do this.
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:23]
Number of grills, more or less than the number of houses that I bought?
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:30]
Is this a trick question? Is it equal? Well, I mean, no. It's not equal. It's not equal. So it's actually it's actually less, believe it or not. I had I've had a grill that survived,
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:39]
two homes,
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:40]
which, kinda evens out. The other thing that I was was realizing, like, we probably need to start at the fundamentals. Right? Which is Absolutely. Are are It's you been five years since I've grilled Stan. Alright. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:31:52]
gas or charcoal? That's like when you go into looking for a grill, the first thing you decide is gas or charcoal. And there are,
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:01]
you know, great arguments on both sides. The charcoal folks are a little bit religious, so you gotta keep that in mind. Right? Like, they will they will preach it to you like there's no tomorrow, that nothing can possibly taste the same as when done on charcoal. So keep that in mind. I for me, it's been real simple.
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:18]
When I I wanna grill, and I don't want to get slowed down by the amount of preparatory time
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:24]
to to actually do the artful thing of cooking meat. Right?
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:29]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:30]
I have I have always gone gas,
SPEAKER_0 [00:32:33]
and people can judge me all they want. It's fine. That's I get it. But I bet that I grill a lot more than they do, and I'll just leave that there. I'll I'll let you let you respond to that, John. So what are you thinking? Gas or charcoal?
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:45]
So the correct answer
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:47]
to that question is both,
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:50]
which means the correct question
SPEAKER_1 [00:32:53]
is which should I get first since I am buying in December in Iowa?
SPEAKER_1 [00:33:00]
I'm going gas.
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:02]
Okay. That's good. So I will say, if you go down the charcoal route, I think as a just as an introductory
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:09]
starting point. Right? The classic,
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:12]
Weber
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:13]
bowl is is a really fine
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:16]
grill, and everyone should feel totally comfortable
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:19]
getting that. They are
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:20]
they are a bit more expensive than the thing that you're gonna buy at Walmart that's a knockoff brand. There is a reason for that, and it comes down to, like, you know, metal quality and how long it's gonna last. So keep that in mind. If if you want
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:33]
a grill just for a year, like, you know, there's no reason to go buy a big fancy Weber if you're doing the charcoal thing. But if you if you want something that, like, you know, it's gonna gonna be around for a bit, then I think it is worth sinking in some solid money. Now beyond
SPEAKER_0 [00:33:49]
the the charcoal front, like, you've got a whole host of options that are really awesome that are not gas oriented. Right? So are you familiar with the the green egg? Have you ever seen I am. Yep. Yeah. So that's that's creme de la creme, but that's that's expensive. Like, that's in that's in stained lemon kinda spending territory, if you know what I mean. So I I don't think you wanna do that, but you tell me if you're wrong, John. I maybe I'm I'm gonna totally off base here.
SPEAKER_1 [00:34:14]
So I'm going gas grill. Did you get that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I just okay. Okay. Alright.
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:20]
But what I what I mean is, like, that
SPEAKER_1 [00:34:23]
the I mean, if I'm gonna if I'm gonna buy a charcoal grill, it's gonna be the black Weber.
SPEAKER_1 [00:34:28]
Like Yeah. Okay. That's what I learned how to grill on.
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:31]
It's iconic. It's a it's a it's a beautiful grill. Alright. So, you know, like, the green egg, I think,
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:37]
our friend Aaron Fanker, he's all into, I think, Traeger. I think I got that right. Those are there's, like, a whole category of grills
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:44]
on that side of the spectrum,
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:46]
and, you know, you get into the meat smoking space, it adds even more variety.
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:51]
I'm I'm not an expert on that because, again, I optimize for, like, actually cooking the meat.
SPEAKER_0 [00:34:57]
So
SPEAKER_1 [00:34:58]
And you know what's you know what's great about a gas grill?
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:02]
Is if I wanna go
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:04]
make a
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:06]
grilled cheese for lunch,
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:07]
I don't have to wait an hour before I can make that grilled cheese.
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:11]
Yeah. There you go. I why I mean, let's not talk about grilled cheese on the grill right now because we could get into a big philosophical disagreement there.
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:22]
I make my grilled cheese in the oven.
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:24]
I'm adding it to the list.
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:26]
Okay. Alright. We'll talk about it in future episode.
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:28]
So for for gas grills, I think you need to look at the square inch space.
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:35]
You need to look at the the BTUs,
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:39]
and then you also have to kinda factor in your budget. And so there's, like, three knobs
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:43]
that I have historically looked at. So first and foremost, right, you know, cost is is not a trivial thing. These gas grills can go from,
SPEAKER_0 [00:35:53]
you know, a $100 to, like, $10,000,
SPEAKER_1 [00:35:56]
and you just have to figure out exactly what your boundaries are. Right. So I knew that I was gonna come to you with this question because when I googled,
SPEAKER_1 [00:36:05]
like, recommended gas grills,
SPEAKER_1 [00:36:07]
the low end was somewhere around $1,500.
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:11]
Yeah. It's that's a lot of money. I'm I'm I won't lie.
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:15]
So so my first grill, I think it was a Kenmore. It was from Sears,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:20]
and
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:20]
it
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:21]
I
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:22]
it was a good grill for me to get started on. Right? It lit. And that was that was what you wanna that's what you wanna go for. Yes.
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:29]
The the issues that I had
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:32]
factored into
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:34]
space,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:34]
the grates,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:36]
and the amount of heat. So that's where the BTU element comes in. So so basically, I wanted to be able to grill a steak
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:44]
at,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:45]
$5.50,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:45]
- Like, I wanted to get a nice hot
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:48]
grill,
SPEAKER_0 [00:36:49]
throw it on, flip it, pull it off, and eat it. Right? Right. And so I I didn't have enough BTUs. I didn't just didn't have enough heat on that grill to be able to do that. And so you watch your BTU count, and you kinda gotta evaluate the amount of space. But BTUs
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:03]
is more important than number of burners, and I think that the way that they they market and advertise grills,
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:09]
this is really misleading. Right? Because you look at a
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:12]
you look at a grill ad and you're like, oh, it's got 18 burners.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:16]
That must put out a lot of heat. And then you find out that, you know, it's it's like, I don't know, 20,000 BTU. That's probably, like, ridiculously low. But
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:24]
and and you can't, like, get it over 400 degrees. Right? So then that's that's not a good grill.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:30]
So don't focus on the number of burners.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:32]
Focus on the heat output.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:34]
So what am I looking for for a BTU range? I so I think gosh. Let me while we're talking, I'll look up the one that I bought because I don't actually remember what I've got, but I know that the one that I got would would do you well.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:49]
And I I wanna say let's see what this what it says. I think I think I was in the 60,000 range, but let me double check here.
SPEAKER_0 [00:37:56]
And, of course, it's been too long, so Amazon doesn't have
SPEAKER_1 [00:38:01]
Did you buy your grill on Amazon?
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:03]
I did. Yeah. That's a whole other thing too. So this says I I got 30,000
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:07]
BTUs on three stainless steel burners.
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:11]
So I can get my grill up to,
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:14]
about 600, six fifty degrees, no problem,
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:16]
on a cold day. Right? So in the summer,
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:19]
you know, if I'm and and I get the sear station going, I can get it even higher.
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:23]
But
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:24]
you're gonna see a wide range of number of burners, and and I I just I think the the bottom line is don't put your faith in the number of burners. Look for let's just say 35,000 BTU
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:34]
is a good good starting point. Maybe it's lower. I don't know. Got it. I probably should do more research before I give a number like that.
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:40]
But,
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:42]
I think if you look at some of the lower end,
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:45]
grills, you will see that those BTU numbers are super low, k, compared to to, like, a Weber as an example.
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:53]
And that's important. Heat output, really important.
SPEAKER_0 [00:38:57]
So the other the other thing I said was space.
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:00]
And this is tricky without doing a lot of grilling, but you have to figure out, like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:05]
how many people do you wanna cook for at a given time. Right? Right.
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:09]
And so, you know, you just kinda figure out what the square inches are. I think in mine, I have
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:15]
I think it's, like, 500 square inches of cooking space, give or take,
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:19]
which
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:20]
for me, as you know, right, we do, like, cookouts for kids' birthdays and things of that sort. And I can usually get enough hamburgers and hot dogs onto that grill to feed, you know, twenty, twenty five people and not have to stress about it. When you got less space, you wind up having to cook, take off, cook, take off, that kind of thing. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:38]
everybody doesn't get to eat at the same time. But, you know, you you gotta kinda, like, evaluate
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:43]
what you wanna do and and go from there.
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:47]
Before I forget, the burners the the one thing that is nice, right, is you can control spaces.
SPEAKER_0 [00:39:53]
So there are some really nice high end grills that have just two burners. And what happens the downside of that is
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:00]
when you turn off one burner, right, you're turning off a whole half of your grill.
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:04]
And so depending on, like, how much indirect heat, like, stage you wanna do with indirect heat,
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:10]
that
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:11]
you just you don't have as much control over the zoning. I've got three burners. I really like it. It works out great for me.
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:18]
I'm trying to think. The other
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:20]
the other thing is the
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:24]
grates. And so I've there's there's, like, a hole there's, like, a porcelain
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:29]
camp, there's a stainless steel camp,
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:32]
and you'll I think you'll find that the
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:35]
the, like, really cheap
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:37]
grates,
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:38]
the the enamel comes off real easily. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:42]
I you know, there people are in different places on the spectrum as far as what's best or not. I gravitate towards the stainless steel just because I've had cheap grills
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:51]
where
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:52]
the
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:53]
enamel came off.
SPEAKER_0 [00:40:55]
I think you gotta just keep in build construction as a whole in mind. Right? The cheaper the grill, the thinner the steel. The thinner the steel, the less likely it's gonna hold up. It's it's just really that simple.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:07]
Do you remember the grill I had in Saxonburg?
SPEAKER_1 [00:41:11]
Slightly. Was that huge?
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:13]
It was huge. It was stainless steel. It was it was just ginormous.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:16]
And I bought that one on the basis largely of cooking space.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:21]
Right. And it it was, like, it had enough heat. It did a great job.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:25]
The the problem that I had was it was just really flimsy steel,
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:31]
and it was never going to make the move
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:34]
to,
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:35]
Seymour. So we we ended up kinda getting rid of it before we moved because literally, like, I would drag it in and out of the garage to cook. Right.
SPEAKER_1 [00:41:44]
You made lobster tail for me and Finker one time on that. The first time you ever tried to grill lobster tail.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:49]
Yeah. I did. I did. We did steaks that night too, didn't we? Yep. Surf and turf.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:53]
Yep.
SPEAKER_0 [00:41:54]
So it it got a lot of action. I dragged it in and out of the garage, and it just it wasn't very sturdy. And and I tried tightening stuff up, but I just think that, you know, it was poor build quality.
SPEAKER_1 [00:42:04]
You know what else was great about that grill?
SPEAKER_1 [00:42:06]
That's when I first had the lemon chicken tacos, which apparently, you don't even use that recipe anymore,
SPEAKER_1 [00:42:13]
but it is one of my favorites, and it has become one of my family's favorites too.
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:19]
I it's been a while since I've cooked in that way. I have a, an indoor
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:22]
oven based variant that I do these days.
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:26]
I I've also mixed up the seasoning a little bit. I I actually use cumin.
SPEAKER_1 [00:42:30]
I think I gave you that hint, didn't I? Yeah. You probably did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:35]
That's so I we still do it. I actually have, I've been making a batch of of, like, we call it chicken tacos or fajita, you know, whatever,
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:43]
and then heat it up for lunch.
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:46]
It still exists. I haven't done it on the grill in a while. I'm probably overdue. You should come visit,
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:51]
and No. And we could do that.
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:53]
Alright. So,
SPEAKER_0 [00:42:55]
I'm gonna I'm gonna kinda show my hand here, and I'm gonna tell you the grill that I bought, and you can you can Google this. I don't know if they still make it.
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:02]
I I bought a,
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:04]
Weber
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:05]
let's see. It's an e p three thirty. I think it's what it's called.
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:08]
And I bought a red one because, you know, it was just pretty. But I actually did buy it on amazon.com.
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:14]
I bought this one, wow, wow, four years ago.
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:18]
Didn't didn't seem like it was that long ago.
SPEAKER_1 [00:43:21]
It's red? Budget
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:22]
it was red. Yeah. Yeah. You don't remember it?
SPEAKER_1 [00:43:25]
I've grilled on it, and I don't remember it being red.
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:28]
It's red. It's red. I I like it. Like, it it doesn't
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:32]
it, it looks different. It's it's like a crimson. It's not like Weber red. You know? Okay. So it doesn't,
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:38]
it's not as as bright or poppy like that. But it's got a side burner, which is one of those things that I think most grills have today, and I would tell you don't don't worry about. Like, I wouldn't sweat that. I think, in all the time I've had this grill now,
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:53]
I've used it maybe once. And the time I use it is usually with hot wings when,
SPEAKER_0 [00:43:58]
missus Lemon is using the the stovetop for something else inside. I've had those wings too. Those wings are good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I I I heat the sauce up on the side. I grill them, and I toss them in and spin it. But that's that's the only thing I've ever used that side pan or that side burner for. So I you know, if it's there, fine. But I wouldn't go out of my way to find it.
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:18]
K. You're looking for the core,
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:20]
you know, heating element. I wouldn't even, like, stress about the sear because quite frankly, I don't I don't really use the sear
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:27]
burner either.
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:29]
You know, I just get a piping hot grill and then work the meat.
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:33]
But the I guess it's technically a Weber Genesis e p three thirty. There you go. So,
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:39]
my goal was to stay under a thousand dollars. I didn't wanna go over the thousand dollar mark. I wanted something that I thought would last,
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:46]
and I was pretty comfortable with the quality of Weber having,
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:51]
I can't believe I'm gonna tell you this. I I literally went into Home Depot,
SPEAKER_0 [00:44:55]
and I walked up to a Weber, and I shook it as hard as I could for, like, five minutes until somebody came over and said, sure. Are you okay?
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:04]
And then I went and I did I did another brand and did the same thing, and you could just you could just tell. Right? Like, it was just a stiffer,
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:11]
sturdier grill.
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:13]
So that that kinda led me down that path. I was going for all stainless.
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:17]
Again, I had had some poor quality build
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:21]
grills before,
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:22]
water staining, grease staining. I just didn't I wanted it to continue to look nice. Right. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:29]
then the BTU count. The BTU versus the space provided, I felt like I could get the heat that I wanted. I did a bunch of reviews.
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:36]
You know, just kinda looked and and analyzed, and then I I waited for a price that I thought was was good. And, you know, I I think I think I spent, like, $830
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:46]
total. So I was I was well under my thousand dollar budget, which felt good.
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:50]
Right. Amazon
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:51]
delivered it. They had to use a special courier. They used a, you know, to to drop off this big old box off the back of the truck, and then I had to assemble it.
SPEAKER_0 [00:45:59]
I I would say if you find yourself in a position where for a small amount of money somebody can assemble it for you, that's probably a worthy investment.
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:08]
The grill took forever, and I was terrified I was gonna scratch something. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:13]
for what So that's
SPEAKER_1 [00:46:16]
buy it from a local place if I can?
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:19]
Yeah. I mean, if if they've got one, like, it I found it hard so we'll say this. The big box stores tend to not have
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:26]
the better quality models, you know, and you you can track down an actual Weber store or a
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:34]
a Weber distributor.
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:36]
Again, I keep saying Weber, but this this goes for there are plenty of other brands.
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:40]
Web Weber's obviously a very common brand. You know, you you got it. But
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:45]
I
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:46]
just kinda look and see who's around and do some googling. Sarah's
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:51]
dad actually has it's a it's a brand of of
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:56]
grill that
SPEAKER_0 [00:46:58]
is made out in North Carolina,
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:00]
and I've looked at it online. It's it's not cheap, but I it's a it's a great grill, and it's not a brand name that I I can't even remember, let alone would you recognize.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:09]
So,
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:09]
you know, in in person, I think, is is probably best for this just so you get a sense of build quality.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:17]
Alright.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:18]
But yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:20]
Think you can stand at thousand dollars. You can stay under a thousand dollars if you want. You could stay under 700 if you want.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:26]
My my gut tells me that once you drop below that, like, $403.50
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:30]
mark,
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:31]
you're gonna start getting into lower grade grills. And maybe that's okay. Right? Because maybe this is just a starter grill for a couple of years. You should be comfortable with that. Right? Like,
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:40]
odds
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:41]
are unless you
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:43]
really
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:43]
drop a ton of cash,
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:45]
this is not the last grill that you're gonna ever buy. You know? Yep.
SPEAKER_0 [00:47:50]
So to go into it with that in mind, it's it's kind of like it's like a lot of things. Right? You you sometimes you buy something, you figure out how you're gonna use it, you figure out what you like, what you need, and you iterate. Now granted, it it can be an expensive iteration,
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:03]
but
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:04]
it's it all goes back to how much you're gonna use it. So if you use that that first starter grill,
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:09]
you know, once a week, every week in the summer, you you probably
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:12]
are are gonna feel pretty good about it, you know, when you get to replace it two years down the road. You know? Right.
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:18]
So
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:19]
have you have you thought about what the first thing you're gonna grill is?
SPEAKER_1 [00:48:22]
I haven't.
SPEAKER_1 [00:48:25]
Some some steak with a meat rub by finger.
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:28]
I think that would be a good idea. I think that would be a very good idea. We should get a recommendation.
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:33]
What's a first grill steak
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:35]
from First grill steak. From Finker. Yeah. Let's let's see if we can when this episode comes out, we'll tag him on Facebook and see if we can get him to, to give us the answer there. Sounds like something that should have a Facebook Live involved.
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:48]
Oh, I don't know what that is or how that works, but it sounds neat.
SPEAKER_1 [00:48:53]
I thought about doing it for the milkshake.
SPEAKER_0 [00:48:55]
That again, I don't know what it is, but it sounds neat.
SPEAKER_1 [00:48:59]
It's a video
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:01]
in real time. It's like live streaming yourself from your phone. You used to have to pay a lot of money to do that kind of thing. Yep.
SPEAKER_1 [00:49:09]
You just pay a lot of money to Apple for your smartphone.
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:12]
Thank you, John, for making me feel old. You are old.
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:16]
Alright. Real quick. Let's do an update on pastor Fritzsche, and then we'll go from there. I finally I finally got some donations that came in.
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:24]
My mom came out swinging hard.
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:27]
Mom is the biggest owner.
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:29]
Puts me firmly in the winning camp. So if you are John's friends,
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:33]
you know, you could help him out a little bit. But, did you have you totaled up what where all we're at now?
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:42]
We're more than halfway.
SPEAKER_1 [00:49:44]
We're more than halfway?
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:45]
Yeah. Yeah. I think we're I think we're at least $600
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:49]
of the thousand dollar match. Did you
SPEAKER_1 [00:49:52]
did you get more
SPEAKER_1 [00:49:53]
donations that I haven't seen?
SPEAKER_0 [00:49:56]
I don't I mean, I don't think so. Just the big grandma lemon one.
SPEAKER_1 [00:49:59]
I think I'm at I think I'm at 500
SPEAKER_1 [00:50:03]
total.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:04]
Right? K. Well,
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:05]
maybe.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:06]
You know, did I tell you that your father-in-law
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:09]
gave?
SPEAKER_1 [00:50:11]
No. You did not.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:13]
Yeah. So
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:15]
alright. I've I've I missed that. That's he sent you the picture today. Did you not, like, wonder how he had a a Life With a Twist of Lemon sticker on his laptop? I asked. You got a sticker before I did?
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:26]
Well, I I
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:29]
yes. So your father-in-law gave, and when he did,
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:32]
I asked him, I said, do I have to count you in John's camp or mine? And this is what he said. He said, the only reason I gave was because it would cost you money. And I told him, he said, then fine. You're in my camp.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:44]
And he goes, whatever.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:45]
So, yeah,
SPEAKER_1 [00:50:47]
he, he gave, and he gave And he likes Fritzsche. And Yeah. He does. Fritzsche's mission. So Yep.
SPEAKER_0 [00:50:54]
So we're we're making good traction here, and I think
SPEAKER_1 [00:50:59]
So that would put us over halfway. You're right. Yeah. We are we are over halfway.
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:02]
So if you are listening and you want a life with a twist of lemon sticker,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:08]
it is not too late. You, as long as you're one of my friends and not John's, you or if you are John's friend, you can You win anyway because you're matching the donations. So Well, that's that's I it's still I like the competitive angle to it. The best you could have done was tie.
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:26]
I don't know about it. Alright. So,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:28]
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:31]
And if if you look at the web page, there's support for Chee in the top right menu. Click on it. You can learn a little bit more. Basically,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:38]
you know, as we said in the intro,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:40]
match
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:41]
we'll match the donation. I'll match the donation,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:44]
and I'll send you a sticker, a life of the Twisted Lemon sticker. It's a limited number of stickers.
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:48]
The donation match goes up to a thousand dollars, so we still got room to match. Please please please help us support pastor Fritzy,
SPEAKER_0 [00:51:55]
and, we're gonna do this through the end of the year. I think there was one other thing I was gonna tell you. I met
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:01]
I'm or I already met met him. I already knew him. But I found out who one of our,
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:07]
podcast reviews was,
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:09]
our
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:10]
go Bengals, go Browns, go Ravens Alright. Podcast review. Yeah. It's a not a tech guy who listens.
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:17]
Yeah. Yeah. With a really poor taste in football. Interestingly enough, he's actually a Colts fan, and he just just wanted to rub it in. But Is it worse to have a bad taste in football or no taste in football?
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:29]
No or no. Is it worse? It's worse to have bad taste in football. So
SPEAKER_1 [00:52:34]
I'm still I'm still a a step above. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:38]
Yeah. No. But, so,
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:41]
I I I guess I can't say his name. Right? Hayden,
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:45]
who is a
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:46]
friend or excuse me. He's the husband of a friend from our previous church
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:51]
in,
SPEAKER_0 [00:52:52]
Seymour. And so we were actually down visiting them, and it completely caught me off guard, totally surprised me. Missus Lemon said that, it's very rare that she gets to see a surprise look on my face,
SPEAKER_0 [00:53:02]
and and she did because I learned that he is a listener. So Nice.
SPEAKER_1 [00:53:07]
Yeah. We have listeners, Stan. We might not if we keep going long
SPEAKER_1 [00:53:12]
seeing as we're Are we over time? 50. Yeah. We're way way long. Thanks for listening for so long. We'll try to split this up into more episodes
SPEAKER_1 [00:53:20]
if we have this much to talk about again.
SPEAKER_0 [00:53:23]
See
SPEAKER_0 [00:53:24]
you next week.
SPEAKER_1 [00:53:25]
Later.