SoberNotMature - Episode 170 (Sitting Down & Shutting The F Up)

00:00:01.66
Bill
All right, everyone. Welcome once again to another episode of Sober Not Mature. And we haven't mentioned it in a few weeks, so I want to start off and just let everyone know that this episode and all of our episodes are proudly sponsored and run by Zencastr.

00:00:18.74
Mike
Yes.

00:00:19.75
Bill
The coolest coolest and cheapest little little podcast studio in the world, Zencastr with an R, no E.

00:00:26.84
Mike
mrs

00:00:27.91
Bill
And you know, maybe, maybe think about that. It was right before I actually, as I was setting things up here, um I listened to sober friends podcast a lot. That's our buddy, Matt, that was on, I don't know, episode, whatever, look back, you guys will, you guys will see it if you want to find it, but exactly.

00:00:36.06
Mike
Right. it

00:00:39.67
Mike
Right. Yeah. You do the work. Yeah.

00:00:42.79
Bill
And they, they look like the, like the super friends, you know, so it's a sober friends.

00:00:45.65
Mike
Yeah.

00:00:46.31
Bill
And he did that on purpose.

00:00:46.95
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:00:47.35
Bill
He told, told us that on the episode.

00:00:49.27
Mike
Yep.

00:00:49.59
Bill
Um, but, uh, I mean, Matt is, um, ridiculously particular. I mean, about everything.

00:00:56.07
Mike
Right.

00:00:56.29
Bill
I know they do a lot of editing. He talked about that and he talks about it on the podcast. And, i think they usually record on a Sunday, you know, so it's like Monday, Tuesday, maybe Wednesday when they put out an episode.

00:01:07.52
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:01:07.80
Bill
So I was making a a dinner the other night and flipped it on and I was listening and I thought I heard a little bit of a delay, which is weird because I never hear that with them. And then i was, like I could hear him talking and then Steve in the background, like muffled over.

00:01:21.77
Bill
And then this long silence, yeah like, you know, three, four seconds.

00:01:24.45
Mike
Yeah.

00:01:26.00
Bill
And then, then Matt starts talking.

00:01:26.48
Mike
right

00:01:27.84
Bill
I'm like, I'm like, Oh shit, that sounds like us with Riverside. You know?

00:01:31.02
Mike
yeah

00:01:31.41
Bill
Um, I don't know. I don't remember who he said he uses, but, um, I hate to say it, but i mean, I'm sure plenty of people turned our episodes off. I stopped listening. I couldn't. um I could not listen to the episode because it just and that's why, you know, we harp on on people all the time, like our guests and things like that.

00:01:42.72
Mike
yeah

00:01:47.30
Bill
Make sure your audio is good.

00:01:47.52
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:01:49.33
Bill
And we won't. We won't take we'll take money. I don't know. I suppose if we got somebody really if Tom Farley would have showed up and his audio is a little fucked up, I don't think we would have told him to go, you know, kick sand or anything like that.

00:01:56.30
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:01:59.98
Mike
Right.

00:02:00.64
Bill
But. um You know, I mean, we tried to make it really important to people, you know, just make sure, get your shit together because it matters, you know.

00:02:04.99
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah. You know, we care about something. Yeah.

00:02:10.79
Bill
Yeah, and it just, and the fact that, um and literally, I don't know if I was telling, was I telling you the other day? Or um or no, I was telling Shirley when you had restarted your computer last week that I was listening.

00:02:22.78
Bill
ah popped into a couple of our clips from whatever it is now, three years ago. um

00:02:27.22
Mike
Right.

00:02:27.34
Bill
And it's it's almost, I mean, they're funny, you know, when you listen to little parts of these clips, but it's it's horrible.

00:02:29.65
Mike
Right.

00:02:34.22
Bill
Yeah.

00:02:34.46
Mike
Yeah.

00:02:35.03
Bill
I mean, it's, it's terrible. it You know, i mean, it's us and I'm like, I, I, I can't even be kind. i'm like, there's nothing about it. That's the audio fucking suck. We got, we got lucky because our intro, all those clips except for two of them, I think are pre, you know, decent studio.

00:02:48.62
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:02:51.26
Bill
So we got lucky with those clips, but, but fuck man. I mean, it's just, yeah, it's, it's fucking, it's fucking terrible.

00:02:55.02
Mike
Yeah, it's bad. i know.

00:02:58.10
Bill
So.

00:02:58.36
Mike
I mean, I'd love to, you know, if there was some way we could run those early ones through some kind of AI and clean them up. But yeah.

00:03:06.17
Bill
Yeah. Well, in you know what? they Honestly, because you and I talked about that one time. I'm like, oh, let's just go ahead and record them all over. You're like, we're not doing that.

00:03:12.83
Mike
look

00:03:13.95
Bill
Like, yeah, I know that.

00:03:14.05
Mike
No.

00:03:14.59
Bill
Just fucking around.

00:03:15.75
Mike
Yeah.

00:03:15.77
Bill
But um I mean, it it was only, and I say only, what was it? The first 20, I think it was episode 22, three, somewhere in that area when we got Riverside.

00:03:24.34
Mike
Mm hmm. Right.

00:03:26.42
Bill
So it wasn't too far in. So if anyone's listening to this, we're not saying don't go back because there there is some really good content, um some great stories, but um we're just going to be really fucking honest.

00:03:31.80
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:03:36.11
Bill
I mean, it's the audio. You've got ah you've got to bear through it, man.

00:03:38.13
Mike
Yeah. It sounds like shit. We didn't know what the fuck we were doing.

00:03:41.74
Bill
Yeah, what do you...

00:03:43.00
Mike
We still don't know what we're doing, but at least we sound okay.

00:03:48.18
Bill
thats I got to write that down. We don't know what we're doing, but we sound good.

00:03:52.56
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:03:53.31
Bill
But our audio is good. ah shit i should do that up as a fucking tagline.

00:03:57.32
Mike
Right!

00:03:57.44
Bill
ah oh man, that's that kind of brought tears to my eyes. That was funny. But, um yeah, I mean, I was back when we were on our phones. And I remember i remember walking around because I used to pace.

00:04:04.27
Mike
Yeah!

00:04:06.88
Bill
I'm ah um ah a pacer when I – and I don't do it now because I did it a couple of times with this setup.

00:04:10.03
Mike
Right!

00:04:11.91
Bill
And I could hear my cord hitting stuff. after the fact, but, um, I've always yeah exactly.

00:04:16.22
Mike
Russell Russell Russell!

00:04:18.98
Bill
Yeah. And it's just, it was like the court itself was, don't know, it weird, you know, but, um, so I used to walk around and then, you know, just my, the the headset would, cause the phone that I had wasn't meant to have a headset.

00:04:31.48
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:04:32.89
Bill
So the headset would pop out. And one time you're like, yeah, like yeah you dropped out. I'm like, wait, what? And then I could hear it through my phone. It's not through my fucking at earphones anymore. I went through, i don't know, what was it? Six, I think, sets of headphones.

00:04:43.52
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:04:44.33
Bill
Seven, maybe.

00:04:44.80
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:04:45.58
Bill
um But yeah, I mean, like you didn't know what we were doing. I don't know now, but at least we we just sound better. That's all it is.

00:04:52.25
Mike
Right.

00:04:53.01
Bill
yeah

00:04:53.14
Mike
That is. Mm-hmm.

00:04:54.23
Bill
um But I got a couple of little things. i got i got a pizza thing I want to talk about. I want to talk about the this place that I'm at. Just a brief thing with when I was in Branson since we didn't get to talk about it last week.

00:05:05.67
Mike
Right.

00:05:05.69
Bill
Not a big deal. I was in Branson before, but there's just two quick things on that. And then, I don't know, I got some stuff. I do want to hear a recap of your D.C. trip.

00:05:14.01
Mike
Sure.

00:05:14.91
Bill
I made made a note about that. And I don't know, it's ah it's Memorial Day weekend. So you can you can spit out your normal your normal spiel to people, which is simple.

00:05:20.35
Mike
It is.

00:05:23.92
Bill
But you know what? If people really, Mike has the key the so the key to success to getting through a holiday. So stay tuned.

00:05:31.59
Mike
Well, there's that, right?

00:05:33.93
Bill
But for now, what do you think? but ah Time for a reading. What do what do you think?

00:05:36.65
Mike
Yes, exactly. Exactly. We're back on track. Let's do a reading. And this is from God Grant Me. This is actually today's. I read it this morning and went, ah, that'll do.

00:05:49.95
Bill
Nice.

00:05:50.13
Mike
That'll do, pig. That'll do. so So here we go. May 23rd. Down in their hearts, wise people know this truth.

00:06:02.19
Mike
The only way to help yourself is to help others. Albert Hubbard. He was a writer, philosopher, formed some sort of hippie commune in the late 1890s.

00:06:15.38
Mike
That's my Wikipedia entry. All right, here we go. Bill W. knew this when he felt a relapse coming on in Akron. He looked for an alcoholic to help.

00:06:26.33
Mike
He found Dr. Bob. The rest is history. Recovery is a quote-unquote deal. We are in this with other people.

00:06:37.93
Mike
We can't save ourselves and forget about others. Most of us have tried that many times. We change our lives by taking each other Wait, by yes, by taking... We change our lives by taking each thing as it comes and handling it in new, healthy ways with the help and advice of our friends.

00:07:02.35
Mike
The key is to, quote, use your sponsor, yours use your group, unquote. When we need help, we know where to get it. But here's the other part.

00:07:14.31
Mike
When our recovering friends need help, who To whom do they come? To us. We are part of their support group. We need to be there for others and to serve as a sponsor for others.

00:07:29.26
Mike
Prayer for the day. Higher power. Help me see when my recovering friends need help and support. Help me be there for them as others are there for me.

00:07:40.78
Mike
Today's action. Jesus, wasn't that enough action? All right. Today, i will make a phone call to someone in my recovery group who is having a hard time lately. i will let this person know that I am thinking about him or her.

00:07:54.02
Mike
Right.

00:07:55.42
Bill
Hi there, this is Mike. I'm thinking about you.

00:07:57.47
Mike
Because you read it this morning. Right.

00:08:01.38
Bill
You know what? um i And I remember that one because I almost i almost posted that one.

00:08:04.45
Mike
cause you read it this morning

00:08:06.39
Bill
Yeah, well, you know what? And this is kind of funny. So this is ah kind of a side note. I get the the Sober curator Curator sends out their their emails now, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

00:08:15.55
Mike
Right.

00:08:16.33
Bill
And their Friday one's a short weekend edition, which I do like.

00:08:16.81
Mike
hmm.

00:08:19.21
Bill
And, you know, was mentioned a couple of different times and things we have talked about. But um it does. It gives you a little recap of stuff. But they they mentioned um there's a review that they did on Demi Moore's book, which I listened to.

00:08:31.68
Mike
hmm.

00:08:31.84
Bill
And, you know, I'm like, i was about to, you know, the God, that'd be, that'd be kind of fun to be part if they ever did an episode on it.

00:08:31.88
Mike
huh.

00:08:36.88
Bill
But I'm like, I can't, I I'm such a, um I'm such an in the moment. I mean, obviously this thing, thankfully I live most days in the moment, but when it comes to movies, TV shows, books, fucking readings in the morning, um I just, i'm I'm right in there.

00:08:45.89
Mike
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

00:08:52.21
Mike
Mm.

00:08:54.07
Bill
And then I, it goes away, you know,

00:08:55.61
Mike
Right.

00:08:57.00
Bill
I remember bits and pieces. Like when, when I tell you about books that I've been listening to, um, I have to sit there and keep it in my mind, especially if I'm driving, maybe I could hit something and just, you know, kind of do a voice text into something and, you know, kind of make sense of it later.

00:09:11.21
Mike
right

00:09:11.43
Bill
But I can't remember these things. I couldn't, there's no way I could do a fucking book review on things. It's just, I i literally, I can't remember, you know, what is that? Four paragraphs that I read this morning.

00:09:19.47
Mike
right

00:09:19.95
Bill
Yeah. Um, but it, it cut off weird on it. So there was like the, I could have gotten a certain part, but then was like the last paragraph was important. i'm like, ah, fuck, I grabbed something else, but, um, I did, I, I liked the reading and I've been posting a lot more from,

00:09:36.21
Bill
Not necessarily on purpose, just because they've been resonating with me more, more of the God grant me readings over the last probably, I don't know, maybe month, you know, keep it simple as in there every once in a while and some of the other ones.

00:09:46.34
Mike
Sure.

00:09:46.96
Bill
But um I don't know. I mean, they're, they're really hitting home with some of these things. And, you know, like this one too, I mean, help yourself by helping others. I mean, that's, that's the, that's the way this started off.

00:09:54.46
Mike
Right.

00:09:57.13
Bill
And I mean, literally the backbone of, of what we do, right?

00:10:00.65
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, right. I believe I read somewhere the root of our troubles is selfishness and self-centeredness.

00:10:10.73
Bill
Right.

00:10:10.80
Mike
So, right. Yeah. What the cure for that? i don't know. Maybe thinking about somebody else once in a while.

00:10:18.59
Mike
Yeah, but absolutely. You know, um and... you know, talk about it endlessly on here, but you know, all all of the good things in our lives are byproducts of, of doing the next right thing.

00:10:29.34
Mike
And that's, that's a huge part of this is, you know, yeah giving you a way to keep it and all that crap. um

00:10:34.96
Bill
Right.

00:10:35.70
Mike
Right. You know, all the good things in my life are byproducts of, of, of doing the next right thing of, of helping others of, you know, I have shit in my life. I have, you know, good things because I do things for others. Again, you know, like Bob used to always say, AA math, it doesn't fucking add up.

00:10:53.68
Mike
All right. How does me doing something for somebody else make my life better? i you know, 15 years into this thing, I still don't fucking know, you know, all I know, but I am pretty goddamn sure that, um, that, that works.

00:11:00.61
Bill
right

00:11:06.19
Mike
It's, it's true. Um, I, I don't know why, I don't know how, but there it is. Yes, I do shit for other people and my life gets better. Fuck. Okay.

00:11:16.50
Mike
Now. Hmm. Hmm.

00:11:18.82
Bill
yeah doesn't make It doesn't make a goddamn bit of sense, but, you know, it's it doesn't have to.

00:11:21.13
Mike
now

00:11:23.51
Bill
And that's the beautiful part of this. And we've talked about this plenty of times, but um I mean, still to this day, you know, anywhere outside of my recovery life, um I literally, not everything, but pretty goddamn close to everything.

00:11:35.89
Bill
I question everything, you know. um I need to know the the what, the why, the where, the when. If nothing else, I've always been a why person. I need to know the why behind things.

00:11:44.60
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:11:46.08
Bill
I can't do something unless I understand how it works. I've used this example.

00:11:49.48
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:11:50.22
Bill
I don't get into a car and just, you know, now with the kind of car I have, you know, press the button and just press the other button and now, you know, drive away.

00:11:55.65
Mike
Yeah.

00:11:57.97
Bill
I understand what all this shit's doing.

00:12:00.45
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:12:00.79
Bill
I mean, granted, i'm not I'm not a computer whiz you know with some of the technology. I couldn't work on a car in detail like I could years ago, you know some of the older ones.

00:12:06.73
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah.

00:12:10.06
Bill
um But I i understand and I listen for things and I know what sounds mean. And I what you know i don't just look at you know idiot lights and realize that, oh, what does that mean?

00:12:17.53
Mike
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:12:19.67
Bill
you know So i I need to know the why behind things. But once I got beyond that with this,

00:12:25.74
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:12:25.89
Bill
um I mean, that was a, that was a game changer. Like, again, could it be that simple?

00:12:28.42
Mike
Right.

00:12:29.33
Bill
That was the, that's the perfect fucking example.

00:12:29.68
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:12:33.48
Mike
ye

00:12:33.64
Bill
That's me. That is me in infantile need to know why baby at nine months sober going, I can't understand this person and that person that was a Tuesday and he was a Thursday.

00:12:39.46
Mike
see

00:12:47.19
Bill
He's got blonde hair and he's got but blue eyes. Why does that guy, I don't get it.

00:12:51.25
Mike
Right.

00:12:51.38
Bill
Could it be that simple? You know?

00:12:52.69
Mike
Yes, it can.

00:12:54.58
Bill
And it's it it shouldn't be. I mean, it shouldn't be. It logically shouldn't be, but it 100% should be that simple.

00:12:58.37
Mike
Hmm.

00:13:00.62
Bill
And it is.

00:13:00.82
Mike
Yeah, it is.

00:13:01.48
Bill
but

00:13:02.34
Mike
Right.

00:13:03.93
Bill
And the line in the reading said, it's a we deal.

00:13:04.07
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:13:06.75
Bill
I like that. Rather than saying was a we program. Hey, man, it's a we deal.

00:13:09.38
Mike
Right.

00:13:12.05
Mike
That's right. It's your deal, Wade. Yeah.

00:13:15.04
Bill
It's my deal, Wade. It's a wee deal. But help and advice from friends, obviously use the sponsor in a group.

00:13:22.62
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:13:22.58
Bill
um I mean, I think that, you know, I'm not saying that, you know, neither one of us use. I mean, ah we we both have, you know, a sponsor that would do anything for us. And Joe in Cleveland

00:13:32.41
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

00:13:33.71
Bill
um you know, obviously would do anything for us. I mean, I've had and a couple of sponsors, you know, since I left Cleveland.

00:13:39.09
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:13:39.16
Bill
um None of them really did much for me. You know, I mean, maybe I didn't use them as much.

00:13:42.17
Mike
Right.

00:13:44.53
Bill
um I didn't really necessarily try to use Joe that much or even Bill, my first sponsor,

00:13:44.67
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:13:47.92
Mike
Right.

00:13:49.83
Bill
But um ah those two, Bill and Joe did more for me. And Joe still does. I, you know, I feel like a child when I when I walk into that and I sit down next to him.

00:13:55.30
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

00:13:58.76
Bill
I do. You know, he's he's like a parent, you know. um

00:14:02.06
Mike
Right.

00:14:02.47
Bill
i don't know how old Joe is. He's our age ish, you know.

00:14:04.74
Mike
Yeah, right. Yeah, probably a couple years younger. Yeah.

00:14:08.35
Bill
Yeah, he he may be. I don't i have no idea how old he is. but But I mean, literally, when I just thought about that, when I sit down to him or next to him and who do you know, I do.

00:14:11.59
Mike
Right.

00:14:17.29
Bill
I feel like a kid, like I'm talking to my dad, you know, and I just want to tell him all the things, you know, that sometimes he's like, I believe you.

00:14:19.63
Mike
Right.

00:14:22.71
Mike
Yeah.

00:14:24.48
Bill
I believe you. I'm like, I know.

00:14:25.12
Mike
Yeah.

00:14:26.18
Bill
i know.

00:14:27.31
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:14:27.47
Bill
I'm but um

00:14:28.53
Mike
Right. Yeah, I mean, you're right.

00:14:29.65
Bill
say

00:14:30.39
Mike
for it and Me, you know, when Joe became my sponsor, it was like, you know, he just looked at me and he went, you know, yeah, you're fucking, you know what you're doing. i mean, you know, I really don't have to do anything for you.

00:14:41.77
Mike
And I went, yeah, I know. just Just be there. And he went, yep. And it's, yeah, but again, it's the spirit of the reading to me is we help each other, you know, right.

00:14:51.81
Bill
Right.

00:14:52.73
Mike
Yes. He is our sponsor. And yes, you know, it, yeah, you feel, whos you know, whatever, but not pedestal thing. I mean, we're right.

00:14:59.90
Bill
Oh, no, no, no. Right.

00:15:01.04
Mike
But yeah, that's just it. And, and he would, tell anybody that asked him you know when we go to him we're keeping him sober as well I mean you know ah again I've talked about it out here I've i've got one sponsee that is still sober from alcohol um you know he's not in the program anymore because he's you know he's smoking pot and he apparently can handle that now and that's fine but he's still connected to you know he's friends with myself and other people in the program and

00:15:10.47
Bill
Right.

00:15:34.44
Mike
Um, still sober from alcohol, which was his main problem.

00:15:38.02
Bill
Right.

00:15:38.31
Mike
And, um, you know, still incorporates the principles and stuff in his life. He's just not really in the program anymore. Totally. Um, and he does that out of respect for the program because, you know, but again, successful doing what he's doing. He's raising a stepchild, just got married in the last year, doing well, you know, um,

00:15:58.32
Mike
all the other guys I've ever sponsored. There's my first air quotes of the,

00:16:05.12
Mike
all yeah, you know, didn't do the work and and didn didn't get the results.

00:16:09.35
Bill
Right.

00:16:09.70
Mike
um and But you know what? ah Same, you know, when Bill went to Lois, you know, and said, none of these guys are staying sober. And she looked at him and went, yeah, but you are.

00:16:20.24
Bill
right

00:16:20.42
Mike
So, right. It's a two-way thing. You know, I'm helping him. He's helping me. We help each other. And that's, you know, everybody that I sponsored, all those guys that are not sober today.

00:16:32.25
Mike
Um, I stayed sober through the fact that, you know, part of it was me helping them being of service to another human being, um, that has helped me stay sober.

00:16:43.79
Mike
So thanks.

00:16:43.91
Bill
Right.

00:16:44.85
Mike
Yeah. Fuckers.

00:16:46.85
Bill
Well, and, you know, we, we've talked about this plenty of times and we've run across it. I mean, a ton of times, you know, it's funny. I just, I don't even know what, I know what it was when I was looking through Facebook this morning and, you know, now I'm getting, um you know, memories on Facebook from, you know, 13 and maybe coming up on 14 years ago.

00:16:56.92
Mike
Mm. Hmm.

00:17:01.89
Mike
Sure. Right.

00:17:03.47
Bill
And it just clicked in my head. I'm like, Jesus fucking Christ. I'm like, we've been sober. I mean, 15 years.

00:17:07.96
Mike
Right.

00:17:08.48
Bill
I mean,

00:17:08.97
Mike
Right. Oh, yeah.

00:17:09.59
Bill
but so and And once again, I always, I qualify this with it's, it's a long time. It is, but it isn't, but whatever grateful and all sorts of things, but it's, it's still fucking mind blowing, you know, but, but in in that timeframe and, you know, we, I, I come back to Cleveland and we go to a meeting with Stella Maris or wherever it is, or, you know, we go over to the Keating center for one of the events and, you know, we see one of these, these fucking guys.

00:17:19.05
Mike
Mm-hmm. right oh yeah

00:17:32.11
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:17:34.64
Bill
And I mean, thank God, you know, they're still breathing air and they're above ground, but,

00:17:37.33
Mike
Right.

00:17:38.11
Bill
um I mean, these are people that I haven't been in Cleveland for 12 fucking years, almost in a couple of months, it'll be 12 years.

00:17:44.12
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:17:46.67
Bill
I left in July of 13.

00:17:46.88
Mike
Yeah.

00:17:48.15
Bill
thirteen So yeah, it'll be 12 years in a couple of months.

00:17:49.01
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:17:50.87
Bill
And there was the, that's the last time I really actively sponsored people. I mean, I helped people along the way in Wisconsin, but never, I guess, entitled a true sponsorship.

00:17:55.79
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

00:18:00.31
Mike
Right.

00:18:00.34
Bill
um But you see some of these guys that I worked with two or three, you know, at that timeframe and, you know, the back of the Keating center

00:18:03.64
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

00:18:07.30
Bill
You know, 10 years, 12 years um later.

00:18:07.64
Mike
Right. Right. Mm-hmm. Right.

00:18:10.44
Bill
And I'm like, I mean, ah part of me is, again, you're still breathing, you're still walking around.

00:18:14.87
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah. right

00:18:15.96
Bill
um But what the fuck, man? i

00:18:17.71
Mike
dream

00:18:19.06
Bill
i don't i don't know. I mean, I'm fortunate, grateful, um ah all of the above. But you know Yes, we had all the people in the world. We had all good people around us. So did We had all this different stuff.

00:18:30.52
Mike
yeah

00:18:30.58
Bill
the The key is is that we took the but took the suggestions, we did the work, and we keep doing the work.

00:18:35.07
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:18:36.58
Bill
you know that's That's what it is.

00:18:36.83
Mike
Right.

00:18:38.07
Bill
i mean, yes, we don't do this alone. All this shit was so freely given to us, but we still have to bake the fucking cake.

00:18:42.48
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:18:45.06
Mike
Yep. Absolutely. We got to mix up the crap.

00:18:50.00
Bill
Yeah, I mean, either one of us could have a fucking room full of, you know, ah boxes of cake and, you know, some of them open, some of half open, fucking dishes, you know all over this goddamn sink with half made stuff.

00:18:57.62
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:19:01.31
Bill
um But, you know, I mean, we don't. Somebody gives us a box of cake, which is this wisdom.

00:19:06.21
Mike
see

00:19:06.35
Bill
We make the cake, we follow the directions to make the cake, and then we eat the fucking thing because we earned it.

00:19:09.04
Mike
Yep. That's right.

00:19:12.72
Bill
We earned the goddamn cake.

00:19:15.17
Mike
That's right.

00:19:16.96
Bill
But yeah, I mean, you're right. Cause I, and the last thing I wrote down was ah the fact that it said, and it made it very clear that we are also, you know, a part of somebody else's support group. And that's the thing. It's the whole, you know, it's the, it's the sobriety recovery circle of life.

00:19:31.06
Mike
it is. Right.

00:19:32.33
Bill
ah You know, it's yeah.

00:19:33.14
Mike
One drunk helping another.

00:19:35.16
Bill
And then one drunk helping another, one drunk helping another.

00:19:37.01
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:19:37.88
Bill
And you got, shit's got to keep happening or, you know, somebody's going to fall off, you know, or somebody falls off.

00:19:41.65
Mike
Yeah.

00:19:42.31
Bill
You got to go, you know, da okay, well I got to go help this guy then, you know?

00:19:45.96
Mike
Yep. Exactly.

00:19:47.10
Bill
But, but yeah, I mean, ah obviously that was a, it's a good reading. It's the simple stuff like that, that I, um and maybe that's the thing that it of it is with, with God grant me lately. Maybe they're just getting um very basic and I don't know.

00:20:00.09
Bill
I'd have to look back and see, but usually it's the, it's the readings like that that are um really simplistic, really basic. I'm not trying to, to big thinking type of readings or anything like that.

00:20:10.64
Bill
Just the shit that this is basic, you know?

00:20:10.81
Mike
Right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. This is it. here's Here's the truth. Okay. Thank you.

00:20:18.46
Bill
Here is the deal, Wade.

00:20:18.66
Mike
Yeah. Yup. Yes. yep

00:20:23.03
Bill
But no, I mean, lovely, lovely reading. Better than you're better than your ah your spin reading a couple of weeks ago, which that was okay.

00:20:27.72
Mike
ah

00:20:30.76
Bill
You know, I mean, we had a, we probably had a good 15 minute conversation, mainly us laughing and making fun of the reading, but you know, it it provided, even that provided some sort of content.

00:20:36.32
Mike
yes

00:20:41.04
Bill
Yeah.

00:20:42.00
Mike
It did.

00:20:43.51
Bill
And it sounded better than what it used to. So that that's the way that is.

00:20:45.77
Mike
Right, exactly. The audio quality is better, so that's all that matters.

00:20:50.87
Bill
Right. The reading the reading sucked, but the you know you you could hear how much it sucked better.

00:20:54.36
Mike
You could under... your Exactly. It was quite clear how bad that reading was.

00:21:00.88
Bill
yeah Back in the early episodes, I would have known how bad that reading was, but yeah,

00:21:04.65
Mike
Right, we just did Pops and clicks. All right.

00:21:06.65
Bill
yeah it really did suck and I could hear that.

00:21:11.87
Bill
All right. Okay. So any anything else that that you pulled out of the reading or anything else on your mind about it?

00:21:17.39
Mike
no No, that's it. You know, um other than the fact that, you know, coming up in a couple of weeks here, it's going to be 90 fucking years ago that that little incident happened.

00:21:27.06
Bill
Right.

00:21:27.79
Mike
Yeah.

00:21:28.01
Bill
Yeah. And that's, that kind of blew my mind too. Cause I was thinking about it. I mean, I'm, I'm here in um Arkansas for another week and then back in Indiana for a week, a short week. Cause I took off on Friday and Monday cause we're coming out obviously on Friday.

00:21:36.70
Mike
Right.

00:21:40.42
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:21:40.58
Bill
um And you and I haven't talked about that, that it matters, but I'm guessing Kathy will probably stay by Helen's again on Friday. I would assume.

00:21:47.86
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:21:48.02
Bill
um So do you want to record that Friday ah founder's day? I think we did last year or do you want to record early or?

00:21:52.34
Mike
Yeah, probably.

00:21:53.48
Bill
Okay. Yeah.

00:21:54.29
Mike
Yeah.

00:21:54.26
Bill
I mean, i yeah cause I don't think that I mean, we're not I don't think there's anything else special going on that night. Less.

00:21:59.40
Mike
Nah.

00:22:00.54
Bill
OK, cool.

00:22:00.60
Mike
Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah, we never go down on Friday. I mean, there's shit happening in Akron, but we're not going to be a part of it. Yeah.

00:22:07.22
Bill
No, no, no.

00:22:07.52
Mike
Yeah.

00:22:07.66
Bill
I knew that. But I mean, just in general, i I was thinking that I couldn't remember, but I thought we recorded on that Friday of Founders Day.

00:22:13.43
Mike
yeah

00:22:14.39
Bill
Yeah, we'll have to. um and We got time, but I just booked a um just a weekend that Fourth of July weekend. I'm going down to Kentucky. I was kind of up in the air about it. I wanted to see that Red River Gorge that I was telling talking to you about.

00:22:25.37
Mike
Right.

00:22:26.77
Bill
And I'm like, kind of wonder, cause I went to, um, actually I was down here ah where I am right now. I was down here last year, fourth of July in this Buffalo national river area. Um, but I'm like, God, I wonder, and I found, I found a place that I can get for, get for a couple of nights.

00:22:40.70
Bill
And, uh, you know, it's only, it's 250 bucks or something like that total. But, um, I don't know, we'll talk about it.

00:22:45.20
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:22:46.34
Bill
Maybe we, we might have to do a hump day recording or something like that. Give us, give us a free, a free weekend, both of us.

00:22:49.68
Mike
All right.

00:22:51.81
Bill
And don't worry about that, but.

00:22:52.95
Mike
Yeah. That works for me.

00:22:54.02
Bill
So, okay. There, sidelines. Nobody heard that, did they? That was that was off the record.

00:22:58.31
Mike
Now, we'll we'll edit that out later.

00:22:59.03
Bill
Not a fucking chance.

00:23:00.67
Mike
Uh-huh. Mm-hmm.

00:23:04.17
Bill
Oh, by the way, speaking of, I was listening to, I grabbed one of the clips from Shirley's episode last week where I said that, that, the yeah, first time editing that she said something juicy.

00:23:09.41
Mike
<unk>

00:23:12.97
Bill
We had edited it is out. You're like, lies. You're lying. Yeah. but But real quick, um i was I was thinking about to do it to begin with, but you know sincere thank you from both of us to Shirley from last week.

00:23:25.75
Bill
um I mean, the episode played well. she was it was It was funny to me that she was nervous and you know kind of anxiety-ridden going in. I mean, I get it. people i get it i get it you know People don't like to do that sort of thing sometimes, but um it was a good episode, good conversation.

00:23:35.05
Mike
Sure.

00:23:39.56
Bill
She said she got at least one comment from somebody that messaged her.

00:23:40.02
Mike
Yeah.

00:23:44.03
Bill
I got a comment from somebody. Nobody emailed us wanting to.

00:23:46.87
Mike
Nah, motherfuckers.

00:23:48.09
Bill
I know. I know. So surely when you listen to this year, you've got to reprieve at least for another week.

00:23:52.51
Mike
Yes.

00:23:53.50
Bill
And um we're talking four emails total. I don't care if it takes us three years.

00:23:57.20
Mike
That's right.

00:23:57.37
Bill
We need four fucking emails.

00:23:58.41
Mike
Yeah.

00:23:59.69
Bill
yeah You little liar. You're going to tell us. So i ah you didn't.

00:24:02.60
Mike
That's right. Absolutely. You know, Hey, four emails from the same person. So, you know, send them out kids.

00:24:09.19
Bill
Yeah, exactly. Just with a different name. That's the same. Oh, no, it's not the same email. I just forget it.

00:24:13.21
Mike
Yeah.

00:24:13.51
Bill
Forget it.

00:24:13.77
Mike
Yeah. Right. I mean, I know I've got three, so.

00:24:16.66
Bill
Yeah. But yeah, so anyone, if you haven't listened to Shirley's episode, she's got a good story and it was a good conversation. And she was just, ah it was a nice, comfortable, day I mean, to me, the the hour and a half went by really quickly with her.

00:24:28.17
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:24:28.34
Bill
And it was just, that's ah that's a really good sign. We didn't have to, she's one of those one of those people that we didn't really have to pull conversation out of her.

00:24:35.49
Mike
Right.

00:24:35.88
Bill
um You know, and we've had, have had, you know, which is fine, you know, but it was just, ah it was a good episode. So.

00:24:40.42
Mike
Absolutely.

00:24:41.74
Bill
All right. um Real quick thing about pizza. And I got ah I got I want to bitch about Domino's for a second and then tell you where I got my pizza tonight.

00:24:46.90
Mike
All right.

00:24:48.10
Bill
So, um ah you know, when when I'm with Kathy's at this Domino's in Valparaiso, mean, I've gone there, you know, figure was coming up on three years ago when I gave up my place and went down there.

00:24:54.01
Mike
Right.

00:24:56.42
Mike
Sure.

00:24:58.41
Bill
And even though, I mean, I travel a lot, they still they know me and all that sort of stuff.

00:25:01.99
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:25:03.07
Bill
And I and I think that they I don't know. I would think that when the order comes through, even online, it's got my name on it. They know my name.

00:25:10.09
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:25:10.42
Bill
I would think they would know it's from me.

00:25:10.78
Mike
Right.

00:25:12.90
Bill
Wouldn't you? i mean, i don't know, maybe.

00:25:13.69
Mike
i yeah Yeah, I would think so.

00:25:15.83
Bill
Okay. And I don't, I don't need preferential treatment, but I want to be, I want to be at least gets the status quo. Okay.

00:25:22.73
Mike
Right.

00:25:23.26
Bill
And what I mean is I want a pizza that actually looks like a pizza and has the, you know, the appropriate toppings on it, like a pizza, um, all that sort of thing.

00:25:26.74
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:25:30.61
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:25:31.89
Bill
I don't think that's too much to ask for, you know, you order pizza with certain toppings, you figure, I don't know, I'm not counting them, but there should be a certain number on there.

00:25:33.84
Mike
No.

00:25:39.45
Bill
Right.

00:25:40.00
Mike
Sure.

00:25:40.28
Bill
um And it's ah over the last couple of months. I mean, when I, when I've been there probably over the last six months, every once in a while, I mean, either it's like really fucking good or it's just like, yeah, it is what it is. I should say something, but I'm like, fuck it. I'm not going to.

00:25:52.87
Mike
Right.

00:25:53.22
Bill
um But I, I got, I got out to my car and I peeked at it and I'm like, ah, it didn't really look like it. Get back to the house and I opened it up. And literally what it looked like is um almost like somebody walked by and did a drive by with the toppings, like through it.

00:26:07.65
Bill
I swear to God, that's what it looked like. Cause it, it looked like part on one side and then just kind of like sprayed over to the other. Okay. And I'm like, okay, that's fucking it. Okay. So I called and I recognized the guy that answered the phone, one of the guys, and he right away, he knew who I was.

00:26:22.99
Mike
Yeah.

00:26:23.30
Bill
And I said, um I said, i i don't I don't want to complain, but I'm going to. And I said, but I said, I want to make this clear. I don't want anything out of this. I just want to let you know what's going on.

00:26:31.79
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

00:26:33.51
Bill
I'm like, it's happened here and there, blah, blah, blah, the toppings. He goes kid goes, oh, he goes, I know. He goes, up he goes, basically what's happening. in And this is a part that blew my mind, that but the fucking honesty, okay?

00:26:42.46
Mike
Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

00:26:45.36
Bill
He's like, well, you know what the cost of things these days, he goes, he goes, basically he goes, we're trying to cut down and minimize, um, you know, the amount of toppings we use it.

00:26:48.36
Mike
Yeah.

00:26:52.83
Mike
Mm.

00:26:54.49
Bill
He goes, I guess somebody went overboard and I paused for a minute my head. I'm like, Why would you even tell me that?

00:27:01.03
Mike
Uh-huh. Right.

00:27:01.85
Bill
and That was number one.

00:27:02.35
Mike
Yeah.

00:27:02.73
Bill
But I told him, I said, okay, I understand the cost of things, but I said, I'm still paying the same price.

00:27:09.14
Mike
right

00:27:09.13
Bill
you know And I said, what I'd rather have you do is put the right amount of toppings on.

00:27:09.89
Mike
yeah

00:27:13.58
Bill
I said, I'll pay a little bit more.

00:27:15.43
Mike
Right.

00:27:16.36
Bill
And I said, and he's like, oh, I understand. He goes, I'll make no, but I'll let somebody else. I said, I said, well, here's the deal. I said, you know, i like I said, don't want anything. I'm not asking for anything free or I don't want anything. I just want to let you know.

00:27:26.15
Mike
Right.

00:27:26.91
Bill
But I said, if it keeps happening, i said, I'll just, I'll go someplace else.

00:27:28.74
Mike
Yeah.

00:27:30.48
Bill
I mean, you guys aren't the only game in town, you know?

00:27:30.96
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah.

00:27:34.01
Bill
So, and it wasn't, I mean, them losing my business is not going to be a big deal, but um I just, i I took it as long as I could, and I could take it.

00:27:38.81
Mike
Right.

00:27:43.96
Mike
Yeah.

00:27:43.95
Bill
And it reminded Little Caesars did that to me. Didn't they do that with you too? Did their pizza start getting a little weird for you? Or was it just more convenient to go to Domino's?

00:27:50.16
Mike
No, it was just, yeah, it was just moving. And yeah, yeah.

00:27:52.30
Bill
Was it? Okay.

00:27:53.53
Mike
And yeah, changing my schedule. And the Domino's is literally a few blocks away. And so, yeah. You know, instead of driving into Lakewood, it's easier to just go up street.

00:28:03.60
Bill
Right.

00:28:04.20
Mike
Yeah.

00:28:05.12
Bill
Yeah. And when I didn't even, I didn't even map out where, ah where a pizza place was here. And that's the one thing I knew where the grocery store was. And literally it's Harrison where that's where a Walmart and Aldi is.

00:28:15.38
Bill
It's, you know, it's 45 minutes away, 43 minutes away from here, which is fine.

00:28:15.92
Mike
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:28:19.14
Bill
I don't care. You know, um you know, because the other way around, if I would have stayed up there, I would have driven down here to go see things.

00:28:20.17
Mike
Right.

00:28:24.75
Bill
So it's, you know, a horse of peace, as they say.

00:28:25.15
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:28:28.07
Bill
Um, but I looked, uh, I think it was when I got down here a day before, maybe a couple of days before, like, God, I wonder if there's dominoes and there, there is one, but it's like almost 45 minutes away, probably in Harrison.

00:28:41.63
Bill
And, uh, I'm like 20 minutes away.

00:28:41.94
Mike
Right.

00:28:44.74
Bill
Like when I drove to Georgia or Tennessee, when I was in North Carolina, that's 40 minutes round trip.

00:28:46.43
Mike
Yeah. Uh-huh.

00:28:49.55
Bill
I can work with that.

00:28:49.93
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:28:50.91
Bill
I can't work with an hour and a half, you know, just stop.

00:28:52.55
Mike
Right.

00:28:53.63
Bill
It just would run into doing this and whatever.

00:28:55.98
Mike
Yeah.

00:28:56.71
Bill
So I'm like, I got to find a place. And there's this, I found a, I'm like, I don't even care if I go to a goddamn gas station that makes pizzas. I just, I want to have pizza, you know?

00:29:03.97
Mike
Sure.

00:29:04.81
Bill
um And I found this place that's called Boston Mountain Pizza. It's got to be just a local, you know, establishment.

00:29:09.54
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah.

00:29:10.90
Bill
And, you know, I looked and, know, pricing, whatever, blah, blah, blah. I mean, it was all said and done. And I did, I i don't like it. These places, when you go and they flip the receipt around, that's a tip thing, but I plan on tipping the guy. It's a little local shop.

00:29:22.58
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:29:22.70
Bill
Um, I am rather than national chains, if it's a local restaurant, I think you and I kind of on the same page.

00:29:28.65
Mike
Yeah.

00:29:28.90
Bill
Um, I'm more apt to, to tip a a local business person.

00:29:31.66
Mike
Sure.

00:29:32.80
Bill
Um, you know, even if they're more expensive, which they were, cause I, I spent fucking $18 on a pizza, you know?

00:29:32.84
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:29:35.65
Mike
Right.

00:29:39.10
Mike
Yeah.

00:29:39.60
Bill
Um, It was good. And it is good.

00:29:41.60
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:29:42.24
Bill
um Not $18 maybe, you know, but um I get leftovers, you know, i'll figure at some point over the weekend, but I'm like, I can't, it was 11 minutes away.

00:29:42.50
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

00:29:51.30
Bill
And, you know, I went down there and I walked in.

00:29:51.83
Mike
Yeah.

00:29:53.75
Bill
It's like a little sit down area. They got a salad bar. I'm like, who the God goddamn salad bar. I'm going have to come here for lunch.

00:29:58.05
Mike
Nice.

00:29:59.75
Bill
I got like soup and a trip to the salad bar for like $9. Yeah.

00:30:03.68
Mike
Yeah. yeah

00:30:05.00
Bill
But I don't know. it just ah It just kind of cracked me up. The Domino's thing, I'm like, God, this dude's fucking honesty. but

00:30:10.07
Mike
who

00:30:10.23
Bill
um And I get it. um'm I'm sure there's other places that are that are doing that. um But I don't know. Raise your prices. People did it after COVID, you know.

00:30:18.13
Mike
Yeah. he yeah

00:30:20.27
Bill
And I don't know. i'd I'd rather see the price of the pizza go up a dollar or two, um you know, then.

00:30:24.40
Mike
Yeah. And maintain the quality.

00:30:26.94
Bill
Yeah.

00:30:27.63
Mike
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

00:30:28.12
Bill
And I'm I'm fine with it. I'll bitch about the cost for a little bit, but I mean, because that's the American way.

00:30:31.05
Mike
oh sure.

00:30:35.11
Mike
Well, of course.

00:30:36.23
Bill
um But I mean, I'm still going to go there. I would still go there.

00:30:38.09
Mike
Yeah.

00:30:38.35
Bill
I just want, yeah just give me give me a pizza that actually has some substance to it. I didn't order a goddamn cheese pizza with, you know, with ah with a jizz of, of you know, topics on it because that's what it looked like.

00:30:47.05
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:30:49.47
Bill
Just like, there you go.

00:30:50.26
Mike
yeah

00:30:50.99
Bill
Thank you. yeah But anyhow, you know, you know how it is. Me be and my my my stuff.

00:30:56.06
Mike
yeah

00:30:57.59
Bill
But okay. Back to you, Mike.

00:31:00.32
Mike
Yes.

00:31:00.47
Bill
I would love to hear about your recap of D.C.

00:31:01.95
Mike
hey

00:31:04.77
Mike
Okay. ah Yeah. Went to Washington, D.C. ah

00:31:09.39
Bill
i had this I had this feeling if I could do that. That's okay.

00:31:12.17
Mike
a

00:31:12.63
Bill
That's all right.

00:31:14.43
Mike
No, it was cool. um Yes, we went. ah Chris, my girlfriend. Yeah, my girlfriend's son. i ill I'm going to explain at some point, not today, why I giggled like that.

00:31:27.80
Mike
Yeah. Because I haven't told you in the real world. So have I told you? i don't know. Anyway.

00:31:34.17
Bill
Yeah, you did.

00:31:35.13
Mike
Okay. All right. I don't remember. Anyway. So yes. um Her son, Cameron, who is in the Air Force. Thank you for your service. Um, he, uh, he, uh, has been going through college, um, while he's in the service to improve himself.

00:31:54.14
Mike
And, uh, it's, uh, yeah, it's like some, it's an online thing. It's not actually, you know, anyway. So, um, people from all over the country, um, we're going through this college course and, uh, they all had the ceremony in DC couple weeks ago.

00:32:11.92
Mike
um So anyway, we went there to celebrate his graduation. um It was cool. I'd never been to D.C. before. I'd been around it and rode a bus through it, but never actually spent any time there. um Yeah, it was great. you know um Chris kind of screwed up our flights.

00:32:32.86
Mike
um She sent me the flight information, and I bought my ticket like the day after. Did I talk about this on here at all?

00:32:39.39
Bill
Yeah, you ah you mentioned it, but not now like when you when you actually got there because you got to kick around by yourself for a while, right?

00:32:40.11
Mike
Yeah.

00:32:42.66
Mike
Yeah. Well, no, actually I didn't. Um, thankfully Cameron got there the day before they got in Thursday night. So, um, he got his ass up and picked me up from the airport, uh, Friday morning, which was very nice of him.

00:32:56.52
Mike
Uh, yeah. So I didn't have to do that. Uh, and yeah, went back to the hotel and just hung out and, uh, we actually spent that day cause k Chris didn't get in until later in the afternoon.

00:33:07.88
Mike
um, So we went to, where the hell did we go? ah Arlington? No, was it? Alexandria. That was it. Virginia. Spent the day there.

00:33:18.34
Mike
We went to the Washington Masonic Memorial, which was really cool. um Because, you know, all those guys were masons. Secret society. Another secret society.

00:33:27.74
Bill
Right.

00:33:29.64
Mike
um And, yeah, so so, you know, the history of that. and And, yeah, this big-ass building, that was cool. So we hung out there. And then we went down into the old town. And I went to this apothecary museum and got the tour there. That was cool.

00:33:44.36
Mike
oh You know, lots of ah lots of opium and

00:33:48.12
Bill
a

00:33:50.46
Mike
all that kind of cool stuff that they used to prescribe, quote unquote, to people. And ah yeah, really interesting. And so we hung out and then we, you know, Chris came in, we picked her up and we went out to dinner and kicked around there. And then the next day we all went to DC for a while, went to the national mall, the Lincoln Memorial, all that cool stuff. If you guys saw the pictures, I'm sure you posted them on Instagram too.

00:34:17.26
Mike
ah You know, the Washington Memorial ah monument, whatever, sticking out of my crotch.

00:34:21.12
Bill
hey Yeah, I said, what did I put?

00:34:23.78
Mike
of

00:34:25.95
Bill
i That's the one. i posted that one. the guy posted the picture of, because you had Cameron, um you and Cameron, and then the the picture of you. And I posted both of those. But I think I said you were like your picture of your monumental erection or something like that.

00:34:40.02
Mike
yeah Yes.

00:34:41.38
Bill
ah Yeah, it's something along those lines. So yeah, I posted that one because I had to. Yeah, that one for sure.

00:34:45.63
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:34:46.23
Bill
Yeah.

00:34:46.29
Mike
Because, you know, I'm a child.

00:34:49.34
Bill
but

00:34:50.36
Mike
So that was cool. Then, yeah. And then the ceremony was that afternoon slash evening. That was all very cool. um Oh, yeah. um The commencement speaker was a ah colonel.

00:35:06.60
Mike
Yeah, she was a colonel, a marine colonel, and had really cool speech. And she talked about there was a lot of stuff that actually kind of related to sobriety sort of stuff, not meaning to.

00:35:19.57
Bill
Really?

00:35:20.97
Mike
um and it certainly wasn't intended to be that way. But, yeah, um a big thing. Let me see if I can get this right. Let's see. She said... ah What did she say ah your Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits.

00:35:41.75
Mike
Your habits become your character. She like, yeah, over and over.

00:35:44.63
Bill
nice

00:35:46.21
Mike
She said that, you know, a few times. That was like kind of the crux of her speech. And no, it was just, it was really cool. I mean, she definitely looked like a Marine colonel. um But she was just very cool. it was that was That was a very cool part. So thank you, Cameron, for letting me be a part of that.

00:36:05.05
Mike
all Yeah, and then the ceremony was cool. Then we went out and had dinner again and celebrated a little bit. Oh, there was, I, so, uh, one of the beautiful moments and it wasn't really all that cool, beautiful moment for anyone but me, but um, we were having a discussion while we were having dinner and blah, blah, blah. And and someone was talking about, you know, um, I'm not going to get into the details, but it was basically,

00:36:33.21
Mike
um allowing themselves to do something that they probably shouldn't be doing. And all I went, oh, cool. So I could go get a vodka and tonic. Right.

00:36:45.20
Bill
Right.

00:36:46.20
Mike
And Cameron kind of wasn't paying attention to that, for you know, because we're all at the table and everybody's talking and whatever. But he heard that part. And he turned and looked at me all dead serious and goes, I'll kick your ass.

00:36:58.32
Mike
And it was just so beautiful. it was so loving and so caring. And it was just, it was a wonderful little moment. So yes, I felt loved. It was great. ah So that was very nice. um Yeah. And then the next day, um our flight didn't leave until like 1030 at night.

00:37:19.86
Bill
Oh God, really?

00:37:19.99
Mike
And yeah.

00:37:20.50
Bill
Wow.

00:37:21.11
Mike
And, you know, and Cam and his wife and the girls, their flight left at like noon. so So we didn't have a hotel room to stay in. So ah Chris and I wandered around downtown Washington, D.C. like homeless people. It was wonderful.

00:37:40.76
Mike
um Yeah. You know, I'll be like, cause you know, I, I had a stuffed ass backpack and she had a little, you know travel suitcase on wheels, whatever. And I'm like, Oh shit, i don't want to walk around with all this stuff all day.

00:37:56.57
Mike
So I'm looking for, you know, the airport didn't have lockers. The bus terminal didn't have lockers. Apparently that's not a thing anymore.

00:38:03.92
Bill
Really?

00:38:04.46
Mike
Yeah, right. Yeah, I was really kind of surprised. um But it was, ah you know, AI suggested, you know, check with hotels down there. You know, so I'm like calling around. We we got dropped out. They dropped us off before they went to the airport, know, down by the White House. Just, here you go get out ah OK.

00:38:25.61
Mike
And so I'm calling around and they're all going, no, not unless you're a guest, not unless you're a guest, blah, blah, blah. um And one of them that was actually really close to where we were at by the White House um was like, well, um go out and talk to the valets out front. They could probably steer you in the right direction.

00:38:43.67
Mike
So we walked over there and the dude was all, ah, shit, man, you know, give me 40 bucks. I'll go stash them for you. You know? So yeah, you did. So they stayed at, yeah, the hotel, you know, they stayed at the hotel, even though we weren't guests.

00:38:58.68
Bill
Oh, that's kind of, that's kind of fun.

00:38:59.06
Mike
Yeah.

00:39:00.18
Bill
So, and you know, the funny part is I've been at, with all the traveling that I did for work stuff, I've been at hotels like that where I had to check out, but I couldn't, didn't have to go to the airport right away.

00:39:04.65
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:39:10.77
Mike
Right. Right.

00:39:11.40
Bill
And I've had the hotels like, oh yeah, we can keep your bag here, you know, behind the desk or whatever.

00:39:14.14
Mike
Sure. Right.

00:39:16.01
Bill
um So that, yeah, that I, like you said, I mean, I wouldn't want to drag that shit all the way around.

00:39:20.53
Mike
Yeah. Right.

00:39:21.27
Bill
i mean, I don't care what type of bag.

00:39:21.32
Mike
I mean, cause I mean, we ended, yeah, I mean, we ended up walking, you know, close to 10 miles that day. So yeah, you know, it was going to be a real drag if we had to do that, but no, so that worked out.

00:39:26.78
Bill
Right.

00:39:33.39
Mike
Yeah. Then we went to the white house and, you know, I got a picture of me flipping it off. Uh, then we went to, we walked down to the Capitol, which is, you know a couple of miles away and, Got a picture of me flipping it off and, you know, singing I'm Just a Bill sitting on the steps, ah which was fun.

00:39:49.14
Bill
pray Right, right.

00:39:50.72
Mike
Yeah, you know, it just popped around, looked looked at the stuff, man. It was cool.

00:39:55.35
Bill
Yeah.

00:39:55.63
Mike
You know, yeah.

00:39:57.39
Bill
Well, that's a, and when, and Dawn and I did the same thing, you know, we were going to do that. I don't know. It's like this trolley tour or whatever. And then that's when I had the, had the stomach issue and had to get up and, you know, get off and go on some hotel bathroom and ruin the bathroom.

00:40:03.64
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:40:10.51
Bill
And then we just, we just did the same thing.

00:40:10.90
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:12.37
Bill
We just walked around all day and went to all the things and it was, yeah, it was something else.

00:40:13.61
Mike
yeah

00:40:16.63
Bill
I mean, um I mean, shit, that was 20 years ago now.

00:40:20.22
Mike
Right.

00:40:20.73
Bill
I mean, God, probably, i i don't think Derek was more a couple years old. Yeah.

00:40:24.97
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:40:25.71
Bill
So yeah, 20, 22 years ago, something like that. It's been a long, long 20 plus years.

00:40:30.36
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:30.36
Bill
um I would love to go back. I'd love to go back just to, um I mean, I've, I've looked around that area and I'll get, I'll get more East coast ish at some point.

00:40:39.08
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:40:39.65
Bill
And I wouldn't mind. I, I don't think I could afford to stay anywhere close to DC, but you know, I could stay outside and, you know, go down there.

00:40:44.53
Mike
Right.

00:40:47.12
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:47.55
Bill
um i would love I would love to walk around and just just see that. you know whats It's fun going to see trails and shit like that, but you know do the do my hiking through our our nation's capital. I would enjoy myself. I really would.

00:40:59.58
Mike
yeah yeah and i mean and clearly i mean there's we didn't do much of anything you know i mean really we didn't you know go into anything and do any tours and you know the smithsonian and all that stuff we didn't do any of that we were just like you know kind of enjoying being down there so it was cool yeah and then we rode the metro out to the airport

00:41:16.12
Bill
Yeah.

00:41:20.55
Mike
And, uh, yeah, sat around there for a couple hours.

00:41:25.55
Mike
It was great. Yes. It it definitely, uh, you know, like I said, man, know i there were times of my life where I wandered streets downtown in cities, nothing to do.

00:41:36.69
Bill
Right.

00:41:36.82
Mike
Um, and it was kind of a flashback to that. And I was very glad I had a home to come home to. Right.

00:41:42.52
Bill
Yeah. And actually wandering the city and, you know, not, I mean, not in ah in a haze or wandering the city in a blackout or, you know.

00:41:47.95
Mike
Right. Right. Yes. And actually being able to, you know, buy food and...

00:41:53.90
Bill
Yeah. and And like enjoy what you're looking at and yeah.

00:41:55.37
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm. Right. Not being sick or... Yeah, it was it was it was nice. So, yes, we had a very good time.

00:42:03.65
Bill
Well, that's good. But yeah, um to to back to your beginning thing. You told me about the the trip that you're your trip next year that you're planning. So is that what you're talking about?

00:42:10.23
Mike
Yes, I did. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:42:11.98
Bill
Yeah. Yeah. You told me about that. So, OK, no, I get it. We'll leave it at that.

00:42:15.49
Mike
Yeah.

00:42:17.42
Bill
But um so two things about your story. I told you that our Grandpa Jackson was a Mason and a Shriner, didn't I? Yeah. Okay. I thought so. Yeah.

00:42:25.91
Mike
Yeah.

00:42:26.03
Bill
When you said the whole secret society thing. Yeah. He was, he was a, he was a dually man. He had his, he had his fucking Shrider thing.

00:42:30.80
Mike
Right.

00:42:31.72
Bill
He had his Mason thing going on, but yeah, he was a big part of that for, or those two groups for years. I don't know what, what he did.

00:42:38.59
Mike
Right.

00:42:39.69
Bill
He never got to ride around in the cool go-karts like they'd use in the parades or anything like that, which, you know, kind of after all said and done and I got old enough from looking at that, I'm like, like, damn, why didn't Grandpa get to do that?

00:42:42.01
Mike
Yeah.

00:42:49.96
Bill
Maybe I would have been able to,

00:42:50.15
Mike
Yeah. Right.

00:42:51.74
Bill
And in the thing that Cameron said to you, that reminded me of um Corey when when I was I was helping Derek and Katie.

00:42:55.80
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:42:58.25
Bill
move isn't And you're right.

00:42:58.86
Mike
Right.

00:42:59.61
Bill
It's just that feeling of that.

00:43:00.90
Mike
Yeah.

00:43:02.32
Bill
Oh, somebody cares.

00:43:03.14
Mike
Yeah, exactly.

00:43:03.43
Bill
They care enough to want to kill me if I drink again. I it's so sweet.

00:43:06.93
Mike
That's right. It is, isn't it?

00:43:08.64
Bill
That's so sweet. Yeah. You know, in a fucked up and beautiful way, it is really goddamn sweet. Oh,

00:43:15.42
Mike
It is. Right, which is the exact opposite of how we used to feel. You know, what do you mean?

00:43:19.61
Bill
oh yeah.

00:43:20.24
Mike
Fuck you. Don't tell me I can't drink.

00:43:23.60
Bill
Right. But no, that, that's great. I mean, I was looking, it's like every, I was flipping through Facebook and once again, I'm usually only on there in the morning and at night. So I think I saw almost all your pictures at at one point, you know, and you know, from throughout the, that one day that you were kicking around doing that.

00:43:34.12
Mike
Right.

00:43:39.34
Bill
And then, you know, I'm like, Oh, I'm like, Oh, he's flipping off that. He's flipping off that. And I'm like, Oh, that's funny.

00:43:43.25
Mike
Oh, yeah.

00:43:43.46
Bill
He's flipping off that. Then, yeah, I said, Oh,

00:43:44.93
Mike
The FBI building, too. We happened to walk past that, so I flipped that off.

00:43:49.73
Bill
Yeah, you know, I guess i missed I missed that one, but I did see your note. You're like, just just so you know, I hate them all. I'm not but ah being specific.

00:43:55.43
Mike
Right.

00:43:58.73
Bill
I'm not, you know, targeting.

00:43:59.61
Mike
And i didn't use I didn't use the word hate. I said despise.

00:44:03.23
Bill
Oh, despise. Sorry. I, I, I know you, I know you wouldn't use the word hate.

00:44:04.86
Mike
Right. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. That's right.

00:44:06.98
Bill
So yeah, I despise them all. So yes, I apologize for that.

00:44:08.86
Mike
yes so

00:44:10.48
Bill
Cause yeah, I know you wouldn't, there's, there is nothing in my, in my life that I, we've talked about that. I don't, if I've ever said the word hate, especially on here, I correct myself because it's too, it's too strong.

00:44:21.03
Bill
You know i mean?

00:44:21.22
Mike
yes

00:44:21.47
Bill
That's, that's way, that's way too, that's way too strong.

00:44:24.28
Mike
yeah

00:44:24.53
Bill
despise, dislike, strongly, strenuously object.

00:44:26.11
Mike
yes

00:44:29.17
Bill
Oh no, I strenuously object to that person.

00:44:29.48
Mike
that's right

00:44:34.24
Bill
You know, um I have tried over the last, and I'm i'm just not going fucking pay for it.

00:44:34.41
Mike
Yes.

00:44:38.41
Bill
um I want to, we've talked about it a couple of times, it's come up in my thought patterns. A few good men I want to watch again, um but i don't want to pay for it because I think the the only way that I could get it, I think I was to have to buy it for like $9, which

00:44:45.35
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:44:51.62
Mike
Yeah.

00:44:52.37
Bill
i can I can shit out nine bucks and probably not not worry about it, um but it's the principle of it.

00:44:56.20
Mike
Yeah. Absolutely.

00:45:00.27
Bill
like I don't want to just blow nine. I'll go blow $9 on something else that'll be more fun. I mean, A Few Good Men is fun, but, you know, yeah, I just, I do.

00:45:05.99
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

00:45:10.05
Bill
I strenuously want to see it again.

00:45:12.93
Mike
All right.

00:45:14.32
Bill
All right, so speaking of that, what about, I was going to say strenuously take a break. That doesn't fit, does it?

00:45:18.69
Mike
huge

00:45:19.08
Bill
Yeah.

00:45:19.86
Mike
Now that... down

00:45:22.93
Bill
So let's just take a break. How's that?

00:45:24.50
Mike
That sounds like a plan. All right. Well, we will not straighten ourselves and be back right after these words from our sponsor.

00:45:41.57
Bill
All right, everyone.

00:45:43.69
Mike
It is. Yes.

00:45:46.05
Bill
ah Welcome back.

00:45:47.14
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:45:47.27
Bill
um And I just, saw I just lost track of where the, where the time came in. That is the, I think that might be the first time that I've ever broken, broken character in a break because ah ah so ah it, it is going to be in the break where Mike says, because I'm going to leave it in there.

00:45:57.27
Mike
it is

00:46:02.14
Mike
yes

00:46:03.60
Bill
But so we were at 45 minutes and 33 seconds. Would you, would you use words from our sponsor? And I'm sitting here. I'll say, okay. So I think that's going to be 35 because I'm going to have to do that.

00:46:16.81
Mike
I'm going to have to.

00:46:16.97
Bill
did I say,

00:46:17.33
Mike
Yeah. Sorry. Made you work. I'm going to make you work a little bit harder on this one.

00:46:21.25
Bill
It doesn't. All it does, it's a matter of typing in a five versus a three.

00:46:22.47
Mike
he Yeah. Uh-huh.

00:46:25.02
Bill
um It's so easy. It's the the editing software. Literally, I can i run the slider to the point where I get to like the 45 mark and then I type in 33 and then I play it real quick to make sure of where it cut off.

00:46:35.09
Mike
Right.

00:46:35.96
Bill
And if it's close, I could add 30 seconds or 45 or another ah mit or um another second or two, full second, whatever it is.

00:46:36.02
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:46:42.06
Bill
i can It's not hard.

00:46:43.49
Mike
Okay.

00:46:43.60
Bill
um And then the my cutoff point, i'm I'm going to put a question mark on that when I came back in because I was i giggled in the middle and I lost track of time.

00:46:51.02
Mike
Yes, you did.

00:46:51.61
Bill
so But yeah, that I think that is the first time I've ever i've ever broken character.

00:46:55.12
Mike
You'll figure it out. Oh. Sure.

00:46:56.63
Bill
so

00:46:57.61
Mike
yay

00:46:57.68
Bill
You know what? I might just leave that all in and just, i now how can I do that?

00:46:59.79
Mike
he you'll figure it out

00:47:02.86
Bill
I know. I know. But, oh, anyhow, because all you people would have just heard, heard our, our new, um, our new web promo website promo. I changed it, um, two weeks ago because obviously we got rid of the coffee and the books and stuff like that.

00:47:11.20
Mike
yeah

00:47:16.26
Mike
sure

00:47:17.01
Bill
Um, so I just, uh, right as I was doing the episode or and so coming up on or whatever, I'm like, ah, fuck. I'm like, I don't want to keep running that cause it's not there.

00:47:24.57
Mike
Sure.

00:47:24.88
Bill
um So you and I got to take a minute. It doesn't matter when, you know, it'll take us whatever it is, two minutes to record a new one um for both of us.

00:47:26.99
Mike
Yeah.

00:47:29.76
Mike
Yeah. Okay.

00:47:31.50
Bill
But I just did. I'm trying to find because the thing that bothers me now is that when when we switched from when Spotify did their whole switch over, I used to be able to um drop background music and all this stuff, which I liked.

00:47:45.41
Bill
I can't do it anymore. You know, so our episode clip, it's not that big of a deal.

00:47:49.42
Mike
Right.

00:47:49.51
Bill
But for this, for our website promo, I want that. So I'm looking into a couple of websites. If I can get get something there without having, again, you don't pay too much money to do it.

00:47:56.33
Mike
Yeah.

00:47:58.20
Bill
I'd like to be able to drop some music behind it or or maybe i'll I'll bribe Breeze or something like that to drop some music behind it.

00:47:58.45
Mike
Right.

00:48:01.01
Mike
Yeah.

00:48:03.45
Mike
Yeah, or whatever. When we record the promo, I'll just have my phone next to the microphone playing some music in the background.

00:48:12.59
Bill
You know what? thats That's about our speed. That is about our speed.

00:48:15.43
Mike
Yeah.

00:48:16.33
Bill
So it would have to be some, we would need to make sure that it's a royalty-free something, some random, random, whatever type of, we'll figure it out though.

00:48:16.49
Mike
Yeah.

00:48:21.12
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:48:24.30
Mike
Yeah, we will.

00:48:25.42
Bill
But, um okay, so um I had something. Oh, yeah, yeah. I wanted to bring up the fact because this was kind of funny, and I'm i'm not obviously going to say what the subject matter was.

00:48:33.99
Mike
All right.

00:48:34.07
Bill
um But so yesterday, yesterday was when, yeah, yesterday you texted me. And it's not that Mike and I don't ever talk outside of, you know, Fridays. We we do.

00:48:44.95
Bill
um

00:48:45.12
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:48:45.37
Bill
But it's rare just midweek for, you know, Mike to send me a text, you know.

00:48:47.26
Mike
Sure.

00:48:49.42
Bill
And, and I can, um, when I, but again, I'm not, I don't, I'm not gonna bring up the subject to just the, just what I thought, you know, so I, I, you know, get a text message.

00:48:49.89
Mike
Ah. was like, what the hell did I text you about? oh yeah. It took me. Yeah. Right. You're right. Right. all Right. Right.

00:49:00.91
Bill
I just tap my phone and I see it's from you. And I'm, I'm like, god what fucking day is it? I'm like, it's Thursday.

00:49:04.70
Mike
Right.

00:49:05.98
Bill
like, are we supposed to record tonight?

00:49:07.96
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:49:08.40
Bill
Because it was about that time of day like you did today when do you kind of let me know how your schedule is, you know.

00:49:10.00
Mike
Yeah, right. Yeah. Right.

00:49:14.11
Bill
um And then i can i can open up my my text program and just see like the first line.

00:49:20.16
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:49:20.42
Bill
um And you had a lot yeah ah person, yeah you had a line in there and then a space.

00:49:24.41
Mike
Yeah. Yeah, right. yeah yeah I just forwarded the text that I got, basically. Mm-hmm.

00:49:29.44
Bill
Right. But I mean, I couldn't, I couldn't see the regular body of the text. So I didn't know what it was about. So, um, so I see this first line and I look at, I'm like, ah fuck me. I'm like, who fucking died?

00:49:39.37
Mike
Right.

00:49:40.17
Bill
I'm like, somebody fucking, I'm like, somebody fucking died. You know?

00:49:42.26
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:49:42.94
Bill
So I'm like, I just, I left it. I don't know. How long was it? 15 minutes until I got back to you?

00:49:46.94
Mike
Something like that.

00:49:47.05
Bill
Something like that?

00:49:47.70
Mike
yeah

00:49:48.21
Bill
Which, I mean, i was working, but I'm like, I'm like working my way up, kind of working myself up to read who fucking died. And, and I read, I'm like, oh, well, that's, that's nothing to do with, with death.

00:49:58.26
Mike
Yeah.

00:49:58.52
Bill
yeah Like it has literally zero to do with death. It could be kind of on the other spectrum of things.

00:50:02.02
Mike
Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

00:50:05.18
Bill
And I'm like, oh, OK. But then I thought about that. can write this down because this is a topic of conversation because my question is, I think I know the answer. But um once again, are we just conditioned, you know, to to think that?

00:50:17.17
Mike
Yes.

00:50:20.05
Bill
I mean, you know.

00:50:20.88
Mike
Yeah, unfortunately.

00:50:21.11
Bill
Yeah.

00:50:22.48
Mike
Yes, we are. Yeah. You know, yeah. A random out of the blue. Yeah. Nine times out of ten. It's one of us fucked up. Yeah.

00:50:32.20
Bill
Right.

00:50:32.88
Mike
Yeah.

00:50:33.89
Bill
Yeah. and And like I said, it's, it's not ah just to make this, you know, I mean, crystal clear, it's not that Mike and I don't talk or don't text or anything like that, but it was two things.

00:50:40.36
Mike
right

00:50:42.22
Bill
It was, um it was not just the fact that, you know, getting the text, but then having that, the fact that it was forwarded me just seeing a first line and, you know, it was just a little out of the ordinary.

00:50:48.77
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

00:50:52.15
Bill
like, ah, fuck, fuck me, you know, cause yeah.

00:50:53.91
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. that's That's generally what that is. Yeah.

00:50:57.34
Bill
Yeah.

00:50:57.57
Mike
So, you know, yeah passing along information is right.

00:51:00.89
Bill
Hey, look what I saw at Facebook, man. I'm like, oh, fuck.

00:51:03.63
Mike
Yeah.

00:51:04.73
Bill
Well, I did that to you when our buddy Steve died.

00:51:06.84
Mike
Yeah.

00:51:07.10
Bill
You know, because I saw something on, shit, that one I saw on, I saw that on LinkedIn.

00:51:08.19
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:51:13.71
Mike
Right, right.

00:51:13.80
Bill
Because somebody had made a comment about it on, because i I follow Leah on there.

00:51:19.78
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:51:20.59
Bill
You know, so that's how i that's how I found out about Steve. And then I searched and, you know, found out some more shit.

00:51:23.06
Mike
Right.

00:51:24.99
Bill
I'm like, are you fucking kidding me?

00:51:25.33
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:51:26.80
Bill
You know, but yeah, it is. It's just a matter of being conditioned. And reminded me of when when Kimmy and I first, um you know, started rebuilding you know our relationship.

00:51:33.96
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:51:34.98
Bill
um And then I think that, I don't know what it was. It was like the for a certain period of time, you know, ah I think Kathy was reaching out to her, maybe I was.

00:51:45.91
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:51:45.96
Bill
And it was like either somebody's about to die or somebody died, you know.

00:51:48.80
Mike
Right.

00:51:49.46
Bill
And then I finally, ah like Kimmy and I, as we were getting together, I'm like, I'm like, you know, Hey, I said, at some point we're going to probably have to have to send text messages to each other about things other than people dying. So we don't get, you know, ah freaked out every time, you know, our phone buzzes and it's us.

00:51:59.28
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure. would imagine. Mm-hmm. yes

00:52:02.68
Bill
And, you know, she kind of laughed about it, but I don't think anything of it getting a text from her, you know, or even get forgetting a text from Kathy.

00:52:07.00
Mike
sure

00:52:08.94
Bill
Cause she'll text me about random shit all the time, you know, but, but again, it's you and it's not, it's not a bad thing.

00:52:10.87
Mike
like buy i would imagine and

00:52:15.32
Mike
Yeah, yeah.

00:52:15.47
Bill
It's just the way that you and I are, you know?

00:52:17.06
Mike
Yeah, it's just, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, i you know, and I didn't even think about that when I said it, because, you know, I got the, it was in a group text to a bunch of us, and yeah, I was like, oh, shit, I got to share this with Bill, because, you know, yeah, you weren't on it, because the person that sent it wouldn't have

00:52:32.07
Bill
right

00:52:36.45
Mike
really doesn't know you. So yeah.

00:52:37.81
Bill
right

00:52:38.42
Mike
Yeah. So i was like, oh shit, I got to pass this along. This is cool. And yeah, didn't even think about that. But yeah, right. Yeah. Normally that would be somebody died.

00:52:47.62
Bill
Right, yeah. and And like I said, it's it's ah just the just the format of the text and whatever it was.

00:52:52.34
Mike
z

00:52:52.70
Bill
But yeah, literally, I'm like, is that, it's just seriously, I thought about that. I'm like, is it just really the the way we're conditioned? Like yeah you answered it.

00:52:59.06
Mike
Well, it's just the fucking reality of of the life that we've put ourselves in.

00:53:05.20
Bill
I know. Isn't it?

00:53:05.96
Mike
Yeah.

00:53:06.74
Bill
Isn't it? It's just, yeah, it's fucking terrible.

00:53:09.04
Mike
Yeah.

00:53:09.44
Bill
Yeah. Just like the, oh, you know, it's funny with, so we do these with speaking of almost the same thing. um We do these call reviews at at work. And usually the only time that I get that I'm included in a call review is if my, if my numbers are down and that's what he does.

00:53:18.57
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:53:24.44
Bill
And I understand I've been on the other side of it and all that stuff.

00:53:24.99
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

00:53:27.25
Bill
And, you know, he'll usually pick, you know, certain people who are at least from a ah number side of things, maybe not struggling or doing really bad, but anyhow,

00:53:34.84
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:53:35.42
Bill
And then, um, he'll also do these, uh, and I, he's done it to me. It's, and it's been probably six months, maybe, maybe five.

00:53:42.65
Mike
Right.

00:53:43.58
Bill
And he'll, he'll book these, uh, through our trainer. Um, these, these strategy sessions is what they're called.

00:53:48.67
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:53:48.96
Bill
Get booked. I'm like, ah, fuck me.

00:53:50.82
Mike
Yeah, right.

00:53:51.16
Bill
Cause I know what it is. I know where my numbers are.

00:53:52.20
Mike
Yeah.

00:53:53.21
Bill
I'm behind, I'm pacing behind and like, it's a get together.

00:53:53.67
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

00:53:56.34
Bill
So what's going on? What do you see?

00:53:58.83
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:53:59.43
Bill
What can you do? This sort of thing, you know? And I'm just like, fuck it. My, my manager is a nice guy. I don't hate him or anything like that.

00:54:05.88
Mike
Right. Right.

00:54:07.04
Bill
Um, there's the word again, but, um, I don't like the process, you know?

00:54:07.13
Mike
Right.

00:54:10.97
Mike
Sure.

00:54:11.93
Bill
So we get on there and, uh, he's like, Oh, how you doing? I'm like, well, I asked that. I know why I'm here.

00:54:17.10
Mike
Right.

00:54:17.20
Bill
you know, I said, obviously i said, yeah,

00:54:17.58
Mike
so yeah i know Yeah. I do know how I'm doing.

00:54:21.49
Bill
I said, yeah, I, I, I know why I'm here. And I said, yeah, I said, I'm behind him. He was music like, no, no, no, that's how we're doing. I'm like, I say, come on. I said, I understand it.

00:54:28.53
Mike
Yeah.

00:54:29.35
Bill
He's like, he goes, I, he goes, I apologize. He goes, that's not what these are supposed to be. But I'm like, I said, you forget. I said, I've been on the other side. I, number one, I don't, I'm not offended by it, but I know, i know what the deal is, you know?

00:54:38.33
Mike
Right. Yeah, exactly. Right. I understand the process.

00:54:43.63
Bill
i don't I didn't tell him that until I didn't like it, but I'm like, I just say, but fine. You know, and I told him too, was just kind of funny as we were talking. And, and I said, here's the thing. um And I said, I said, um basically it's, I'm not doing anything differently. I said,

00:54:59.93
Bill
When I when my numbers are down, I said I get frustrated because I don't I can't again back to the why part of it.

00:55:05.84
Mike
the

00:55:05.97
Bill
I can't figure out the why I've talked about this. I don't I don't change my work, my my habits. I'm very methodical.

00:55:11.88
Mike
Right.

00:55:12.67
Bill
I work my route the same way, um whether I'm getting fucked with or hung up on or not talking to people. um I don't fuck off. I just I I understand the law of averages and numbers and everything like that.

00:55:22.25
Mike
Yeah.

00:55:23.97
Bill
And in my head, although I didn't say it to him, it takes just as much effort to fail at this job as it does to do well.

00:55:29.51
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:55:29.62
Bill
You know, there're there's no difference in it. It's just, it's a matter of, you know, the it's these ebb and flows, you know?

00:55:33.73
Mike
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

00:55:35.57
Bill
And I'm in, what am I in, an ebb or a flow? An ebb? No, I'm in a flow. Eb? Eb's a, I'm in a down.

00:55:39.87
Mike
Eb.

00:55:42.72
Mike
Yes, Eb.

00:55:43.86
Bill
I'm not in an up and ab I'm in an ab. Um, but he's like, uh, he goes, God, he goes, maybe I should try to schedule these for other times.

00:55:45.97
Mike
Yes.

00:55:52.14
Bill
And then, uh, he goes, and I said, I, I understand, you know, you gotta do this, you know, especially when people are struggling. He's like, no, no, no. He goes, he goes, I just did, he goes, I just did one with Ryan the other day. I just did one with Oscar. What I didn't say it I'm like, well, of course you fucking did.

00:56:03.45
Bill
The two of them are like blowing shit out of the water right now. They're, they're, they're like crazy.

00:56:06.68
Mike
Right.

00:56:08.88
Bill
I mean, over the last couple of months,

00:56:09.16
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:56:10.42
Bill
So I said, of course you'd meet with them.

00:56:10.52
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:56:12.23
Bill
i said what I wanted to say, but I didn't.

00:56:12.39
Mike
Right.

00:56:14.05
Bill
I'm like, you meet with people on the extremes. I understand it, but don't try to tell me you're doing anything different.

00:56:16.87
Mike
Yes.

00:56:18.97
Bill
I'm not fucking stupid.

00:56:20.88
Mike
Right.

00:56:22.00
Bill
You know, it's the high it's on the highs. was like, keep going. It's on the lows. like come on.

00:56:25.79
Mike
Right. Exactly.

00:56:26.34
Bill
And that's what this

00:56:27.04
Mike
Yeah, and the ones in the middle get left alone.

00:56:29.17
Bill
Yeah. And that's where I want to be.

00:56:30.75
Mike
Yeah, Right.

00:56:31.94
Bill
And like I said, it's been for the last six months, I've been, I've been right in that middle, but we talk about that. maybe think about it is that we talk about this middle, you know, um, I'm, I don't mind being the middle of the pack. I'd rather be upper middle.

00:56:43.34
Bill
I'd rather be in the top, you know, based on the number of people.

00:56:43.38
Mike
Yeah, sure.

00:56:45.74
Bill
I think there's 12 people in our, maybe in our group. Um, I'd like to be in the top three, maybe four at the most.

00:56:53.10
Mike
Yeah, right.

00:56:53.42
Bill
Um, that's respectable, you know, cause then I'm still in the top third.

00:56:53.75
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:56:56.37
Bill
Right.

00:56:56.93
Mike
Yeah, exactly.

00:56:57.16
Bill
Um, yeah.

00:56:57.57
Mike
Yeah, number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Mm-hmm.

00:57:01.91
Bill
And you know what? i'm I'm fine with that, you know, but, but yeah, when you get to that in this, you know, dropping below that middle part and then, you know, it's tracking you out where you're going to end up at the end of the month and where you should be pacing.

00:57:08.58
Mike
who

00:57:13.36
Bill
And then you start seeing percentages and that's what, that's what draws up the flags. And I, again, I get it all. I get it all.

00:57:18.38
Mike
Yeah, right.

00:57:18.82
Bill
But, but anyhow, I don't even know why started talking about that, but what were we talking about? Oh, conditioned.

00:57:24.11
Mike
ah yeah Yeah, being conditioned, right.

00:57:24.81
Bill
Well, we were conditioned.

00:57:26.71
Mike
Exactly. Yes.

00:57:28.27
Bill
Yeah. Just, it was absolutely, absolutely ridiculous.

00:57:31.12
Mike
Right. Well, it comes back to the, you know, the averages and the statistics and the you know reason why the spite is so strong in us.

00:57:39.82
Bill
Right?

00:57:39.97
Mike
Right.

00:57:39.99
Bill
Yeah. Yeah. Right.

00:57:40.49
Mike
Yeah. You know, 10% of you guys are going to make it. That means 90% you are going to fail. Well, fuck you. Right.

00:57:47.74
Bill
Yeah. yeah yeah

00:57:49.89
Mike
Right. Yeah. So that's it. It's the percentages and the statistics that, yeah, you know, if I'm sending you that, that random forwarding text thing, it's probably somebody's dead.

00:58:02.23
Mike
Yep.

00:58:02.75
Bill
right yeah

00:58:04.59
Mike
Exactly.

00:58:04.64
Bill
And it's, yeah. And if I'm, and if I'm getting ah a meeting for a strategy session, I already know why, you know, and it's just, it's just, and I don't know.

00:58:10.03
Mike
Exactly.

00:58:11.94
Bill
It's ah once again, you know, this, this job is allowing me to do what I need to do. But I don't certain times I'm like, I'm, I, I'm almost a, you know, kind of like feeling like i'm I'm too old for this shit. You know, I mean, I like the amount of money that I could make, but again, you know, I'm, I'm, I get this, it, what,

00:58:22.37
Mike
hu

00:58:25.27
Mike
Right.

00:58:28.42
Bill
Same thing, frustrating that I can't, I don't feel, i don't know what to do differently to to get to that next level until they put me to the next level. If I had bigger balances, that would make a difference because I know where my success rate is.

00:58:41.32
Bill
I know how I am on the phone. And it's like the difference of, okay, I'm collecting a couple of grand over here versus maybe it could be seven or eight grand. That's where the difference is going to come in.

00:58:48.35
Mike
Right.

00:58:50.10
Bill
Um, in the, I was talking to one of the, uh, his name's Wes. He came up through, he was level one when I started, had been there a while, but got moved back and then now moved up to a level four, um, technically what, which was a level three.

00:59:03.82
Bill
But when he was doing a, um, a side-by-side with me the one time I asked him, I said, so what is the biggest difference for you? Uh, I said, is it more difficult being a level three versus two or, you know, what have, what have you seen?

00:59:16.61
Bill
You know, and he said, he goes, God, no, he goes level three. He goes level two is the hardest. He goes level one. He goes, all it was is volume. You know, he goes around the dialer.

00:59:23.58
Mike
Right.

00:59:24.23
Bill
We're kicking out the volume. And he said, it's just going to happen. He said, level three, he said, they take longer, you know, but he said, you're working these balances. And he's long, he goes, as long as you're being diligent, you're going to get the, these bigger payments and that's going to make your, make your month.

00:59:35.86
Mike
Right.

00:59:37.55
Bill
He said, level two, he goes, that's the purgatory part.

00:59:40.15
Mike
Right.

00:59:40.76
Bill
and And I mean, that's where I'm at, you know?

00:59:42.07
Mike
Yeah. Right.

00:59:43.28
Bill
And I'm like, I get it, you know, cause I understand exactly what he's saying, but anyhow. So I don't know.

00:59:47.13
Mike
Yeah, yeah.

00:59:48.35
Bill
Part of me is just so along these lines. i'm like, fuck it. I need to do something else. Cause I don't want to deal with the stress.

00:59:53.40
Mike
Hmm.

00:59:53.49
Bill
um But I also want it. It'd be nice to be able to do something that had meaning this job as zero meeting. And I'm fine with that.

00:59:58.12
Mike
Sure.

00:59:58.80
Bill
I don't, i don't need to, I don't need to change the world, but it would be fine to be, it'd it'd be better to be a little bit lackadaisical in the mindset that I am, but also actually be helping people more.

00:59:59.04
Mike
Hmm.

01:00:06.98
Mike
Yeah.

01:00:08.66
Bill
You know what

01:00:08.87
Mike
Right. Right.

01:00:10.37
Bill
I don't know.

01:00:11.18
Mike
Yeah.

01:00:11.38
Bill
But anyhow, so back to a couple of things here. This one I came across on speaking of Facebook memories, and I wrote this down because I just kind of popped into my head, but um it was a quote that I had posted again, probably this, you know, 13 years ago, whatever it was.

01:00:26.61
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:00:26.96
Bill
It said, you won't realize the distance you've walked until you take a look around and realize how far you've been. Okay. Okay.

01:00:33.23
Mike
Right.

01:00:33.98
Bill
So what it made me think about, and I know i remember not specifically posting it up, I remember why, you know, i was a couple of years sober and, you know, kind of looking like Jesus Christ, you know, like we just did 15 fucking years, you know?

01:00:41.35
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:00:45.52
Mike
Yeah.

01:00:45.78
Bill
Um, when do you think was the, the, when you first got sober and all that started to get settled in, what do you think the first time it was that you realized, um, the progress or when you were able to sit back and like, Jesus Christ, I've, I've made some progress here.

01:00:51.16
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:01:00.00
Mike
Right. um o ah he Right.

01:01:04.15
Bill
Right.

01:01:04.99
Mike
Yeah, it is.

01:01:04.99
Bill
yeah

01:01:05.55
Mike
um Seriously, probably.

01:01:12.64
Mike
i mean, dad probably when we had that apartment, you know, that, yeah, you know, when we were out on our own and and probably wasn't right away when we had it, but, you know, probably, you know, after I had started driving again and, um yeah, you know,

01:01:17.20
Bill
right

01:01:29.74
Mike
came home and looked around and went, well, shit, you know, look at us. ah Right. you know, living on our own, paying our bills, being whatever the fuck we were being.

01:01:41.30
Mike
Yeah. You know, definitely, you know, and then clearly when I moved in that little house over, over by Gordon square. um yeah, that, that was a huge thing. You know, that was, you know, when I was on my own and living in that little house by myself and, you know, out doing yard work and shit like that, it was like, God damn, you know, and that was what, maybe four years sober, somewhere around there, three, three, four, you know?

01:02:05.78
Bill
Yeah. Yeah. Cause you, you were in the, in the upper on Cecilia for what, or not Cecilia on, uh,

01:02:12.85
Mike
ah Bosworth right Baltic something I don't fucking know man yeah yeah it was it was Baltic yes

01:02:15.85
Bill
Baltic.

01:02:19.22
Bill
yeah Baltic, I think Baltic. Does that sound right? Okay. um But yeah, you were there for what, three, four months after after I left?

01:02:27.23
Mike
yeah something like that right yeah yeah yeah yeah and it was yeah you know it's like god damn you know

01:02:28.77
Bill
Yeah, so you got to figure, yeah, easily, yeah three and a half, maybe maybe coming up on four years that you would have been in that house somewhere in that area, right?

01:02:41.09
Mike
My own little house, my own little, I mean, I was renting it, but yeah, you know, and out there taking care of the yard, being all fucking grown up and shit, man. It's, you know, whatever at that point, uh, mid late forties.

01:02:56.17
Mike
Right.

01:02:56.20
Bill
Right.

01:02:58.69
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. Fucking a man. Yeah.

01:03:01.92
Bill
I know.

01:03:02.00
Mike
You know, 11 years ago.

01:03:03.97
Bill
Right. Yeah. And i think probably that the first time that I had a, I don't know, a whiff of something like that, not the, not the full feeling, but when I got that first job at that collection agency, and I know I mentioned it before, but that, that the first time that I had an hour lunch, you know, and I was just able to just sit out, I sat outside I ate my lunch, um you know, for an hour.

01:03:20.38
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:03:24.74
Mike
Right.

01:03:26.35
Bill
Yeah.

01:03:26.90
Mike
Right.

01:03:27.59
Bill
And I'm like, I've got, I mean, I'm just like, I'm by myself, you know, I have a job.

01:03:32.53
Mike
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

01:03:34.75
Bill
I'm actually making like that big money again, but you know, kind of real ish money again, you know?

01:03:37.16
Mike
Sure. Yeah.

01:03:40.21
Bill
So that was that, that was that first thing. But yeah, when we, I remember that, cause the, the first week that we were in, in the house, when you and I moved in together, um i was down by mom's cause I started that job.

01:03:48.66
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:03:50.87
Mike
Yeah.

01:03:50.93
Bill
So I was down by mom's that first week with electricity.

01:03:54.23
Mike
Yeah.

01:03:54.25
Bill
Um,

01:03:55.09
Mike
Sure. Yeah.

01:03:55.67
Bill
But, but I do remember that first night that I slept, um, in my room there.

01:03:55.82
Mike
Yeah.

01:04:01.39
Bill
um that was like, I was like, Jesus Christ, this is kind of fucking cool. You know?

01:04:05.30
Mike
Yeah.

01:04:06.12
Bill
Um, because, you know, I mean, you and I got along really well at the time, but we were living in a little fucking bedroom together, you know, for goddamn year.

01:04:09.47
Mike
sure

01:04:12.29
Mike
yeah yeah eleven months yeah

01:04:16.08
Bill
yeah.

01:04:18.34
Mike
Not that I was counting or anything, but yes, it was 11 months. We were shared a bedroom and a house.

01:04:21.55
Bill
Yeah.

01:04:24.84
Bill
Yeah, in in anyone. just Whatever bedroom you youre you're in right now, if you're in a newer home, it's bigger than the bedroom we were in.

01:04:30.04
Mike
yeah

01:04:31.71
Bill
you know

01:04:31.89
Mike
Oh, God, yeah. Yeah.

01:04:33.33
Bill
What was it? Eight by ten? No, eight me by ten by...

01:04:35.76
Mike
yeah Yeah, yeah, probably.

01:04:38.67
Bill
I'm trying to think here because yeah cause you figure a bed's in there. you know If I laid all the way down, I'm six feet.

01:04:41.55
Mike
Yeah, well, yeah.

01:04:43.45
Bill
It might have been nine.

01:04:45.19
Mike
Yeah.

01:04:45.53
Bill
God, ma no bigger than ten by ten.

01:04:47.58
Mike
Yeah, no, God, no. No, it it definitely wasn't square.

01:04:49.27
Bill
Yeah.

01:04:50.99
Mike
It was rectangular. So, yeah, it was probably 8 by 10.

01:04:52.17
Bill
Yeah.

01:04:54.24
Mike
Yeah. Yep.

01:04:55.66
Bill
Yes, that's I would say that's a that's a really, really good guess. That's educated guess because I'm thinking about how I would be laid out and I'm six feet tall.

01:05:02.34
Mike
Yep.

01:05:03.51
Bill
You know, it's really three, four feet in there.

01:05:04.04
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:05:04.91
Bill
So um but yeah, then the other the other one I remember driving back to when I the first in all these things just start popping into my head as you were talking.

01:05:13.54
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:05:14.27
Bill
um Because once again, I didn't think of when I read this, I'm like, I can't think about this. There's probably too many things. um You know, but when I went back to Wisconsin for the first time, and that was right after my two year anniversary.

01:05:23.34
Mike
Right. Uh-huh.

01:05:27.16
Bill
Yeah. you know, right in that, that timeframe or either right before, right after my two year anniversary. And the same thing being, um, you know, on a trip like that by myself, you know, and I stayed in a hotel and yeah my son was with me and, and whatever, but, um, you know, just, yeah, back in again, back in Wisconsin, you know, and feeling weird, a little uncomfortable, um, you know, but also just a whole fucking lot of freedom, know?

01:05:36.65
Mike
Right. Yeah. Uh-huh.

01:05:48.01
Mike
ahha

01:05:52.08
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:05:54.13
Bill
Like you said, what, 43 years old? that time, 41, 42, 43-ish and all those things.

01:05:56.48
Mike
Yeah.

01:05:57.31
Bill
Yeah, mean, still, we're both in our early to mid-40s at this time.

01:05:59.14
Mike
Yeah, yeah.

01:06:00.18
Bill
These things like, wow, we're a

01:06:02.00
Mike
Yeah, and even older for me.

01:06:04.70
Bill
big boy now. Yeah. but i mean still i mean we're we're both you know in our in our but's early the mid forty s you know at this time and

01:06:11.19
Mike
Right.

01:06:11.71
Bill
you know these these things like wow we're big boy oh

01:06:16.10
Mike
Yeah.

01:06:19.89
Bill
ah it just But I'll tell you what, you know you don't you don't get here without without being there. so yeah it's yeah just it i liked I've always liked, and I know I've i've probably re-shared that um that quote over the years, but I don't know why it hit hit me this time to actually write it down, but I thought, God, that be it might be a good question.

01:06:24.57
Mike
Exactly.

01:06:36.28
Mike
Right.

01:06:39.21
Mike
And of course, it reminded me of our little buddy Vinny.

01:06:39.27
Bill
That's what they ask you.

01:06:42.95
Mike
We used to say in a group, you know, you don't you don't walk 10 miles into the woods, turn around, take two steps and expect to be out of the woods.

01:06:44.95
Bill
Oh, yeah.

01:06:50.28
Bill
Right.

01:06:50.89
Mike
Yeah.

01:06:51.01
Bill
Yeah.

01:06:51.72
Mike
Yeah.

01:06:52.51
Bill
That was, I mean, once again, very visual saying, ah not only very poignant, but but just a visual type of thing.

01:06:55.52
Mike
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

01:06:58.97
Bill
And i speaking of that, you have you heard anything from him or no?

01:07:01.30
Mike
Nah. Nah. Nah. I asked some people that knew him. Shit, this was probably three years ago, maybe. And nah, hadn't heard anything. I know he'd like gotten married and and something and blah, blah. But yeah.

01:07:17.41
Mike
Nah. Nope. He disappeared.

01:07:19.49
Bill
yeah Well, I hope he disappeared and is still doing well because he was, ah I mean, somebody that i I enjoyed the shit out of him.

01:07:23.23
Mike
Right. Right.

01:07:27.29
Bill
I really did.

01:07:27.45
Mike
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:07:27.85
Bill
I know you did too. I know you did too. So, right. Throw our throw our good thoughts out to to the wee. Throw some wee over there, over to him.

01:07:35.79
Mike
Yeah, absolutely. Here, have our Wii.

01:07:37.77
Bill
All right. And have our we have our wee wee for both of us.

01:07:41.12
Mike
Yeah, don't Google that.

01:07:43.07
Bill
That would be throwing our wee wee at them. Here you go, Vin. Here's a wee wee smack smack the face with our wee wee.

01:07:50.86
Mike
yeah don't google that

01:07:53.58
Bill
Yeah. Fuck that. That's going to be part of our search words.

01:07:56.01
Mike
Yes, exactly.

01:07:56.29
Bill
Now I just won't,

01:07:57.09
Mike
Get us back in that piss drawer.

01:07:59.33
Bill
No, I just don't put it in writing. As long as long as we don't put it in writing, we're fine.

01:08:03.05
Mike
Okay.

01:08:03.16
Bill
cause Because like I said, we um i I optimized by mistake with the with the help of your title and my description.

01:08:10.35
Mike
Yep.

01:08:10.86
Bill
um I mistakenly optimized the SEO on that on that episode perfectly. And it still so fucking shows up.

01:08:17.31
Mike
Yes. Sure does. Mature piss.

01:08:20.42
Bill
Yeah, that's us.

01:08:21.95
Mike
Hi.

01:08:23.54
Bill
Hi there. i Wait, are you mature and I'm pissed? Yeah.

01:08:27.14
Mike
Hi, mature and piss in the morning.

01:08:31.28
Bill
We should do piss in drawers, kind of like piss in boots.

01:08:34.42
Mike
Right.

01:08:35.24
Bill
Hey, it's piss in drawers in the morning. Welcome. Hey there.

01:08:37.41
Mike
Yeah, waka waka.

01:08:41.57
Bill
Anyhow. um Okay, back to back to um Alcoholics Anonymous stuff.

01:08:44.69
Mike
Yes, sure.

01:08:45.38
Bill
What do you say? So this came up on this came up on a podcast I was listening to. I'm talking about old school AA guys, you know, like the sit down and shut up guys, the in your face type of guys, that sort of thing.

01:08:52.70
Mike
Yep.

01:08:57.12
Bill
So I was listening to a podcast and the host um actually referred to those individuals as as damaging at times or at those.

01:09:05.76
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:09:06.85
Bill
Okay, wait, let me just finish the sentence.

01:09:08.10
Mike
Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, yeah have sure, go ahead.

01:09:12.02
Bill
damaging at those times. The only end of my sentence was opinions, question mark. And I said, what's your opinion, Mike?

01:09:18.02
Mike
Yep.

01:09:19.14
Bill
I think I already got it, but go ahead. Go ahead.

01:09:20.82
Mike
Yeah, my opinion is fuck you.

01:09:21.20
Bill
Mike.

01:09:25.01
Mike
You pussy. um

01:09:27.04
Bill
ah

01:09:27.49
Mike
ah You know i know, as you were saying, yes, the old school in your face, you know, shut up, sit down and listen. That's me. You know, that's what I've, yeah, that's the role, the mantle I have taken up and and proud

01:09:36.27
Bill
right

01:09:42.71
Mike
to be one of those grumpy old timers, you know, and not grumpy, you know, I'm joyful and I'm happy and I'm not glum and all that shit, but you're new, shut the fuck up, sit down and listen to what we have to say.

01:09:55.18
Mike
Cause you know, I don't want to hear what fuck you have to say.

01:09:55.20
Bill
Right.

01:09:57.25
Mike
I don't want what you have, you know, I don't want to be back there. i no, thank you. you have nothing that I want. So if you want what I have, shut up, sit down watch what I do.

01:10:10.52
Mike
Yes, i'm I'm that guy. So damaging. Fuck you. You know, no it yeah it And from my perspective, it's exactly what I needed. um That's why I am this way to new guys, um because that's what I needed.

01:10:23.05
Bill
Right.

01:10:25.46
Mike
Now, if I'm damaging to someone, well, then maybe they need to go find someone and get a hug somewhere. But it ain't going to be for me.

01:10:34.10
Bill
right

01:10:34.63
Mike
And that's fine. you know um You know, there are people that will hug you. Go find them. I'm not that guy. I never will be. I don't want to be because that's not what I needed. i didn't need somebody to give me a hug. I needed a fucking finger in my chest.

01:10:48.50
Mike
And ah hi, here's your finger.

01:10:53.21
Bill
Yeah, it it was just it was so funny. I was listening to the podcast and I immediately paused it. went into the because i know i've got a moat I've got a note for these podcast items.

01:11:00.18
Mike
Right, right.

01:11:01.29
Bill
I just added it right away. and That's why I wanted to kind of do the setup. but get you

01:11:04.51
Mike
Mm.

01:11:04.85
Bill
I wanted to pull you along. You're like, yeah, I know those guys. I know those guys.

01:11:07.65
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:11:09.49
Bill
Then I'm like... fuck you, you're damaging. You're like, whoa.

01:11:12.19
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:11:13.30
Bill
But to no, i I'm of the same opinion. I agree with you 100% because the the thing of it is, and what, um I don't know what people actually experienced, you know, in this individual, I know how long they've been sober.

01:11:16.99
Mike
Mm.

01:11:25.10
Mike
Mm.

01:11:27.46
Bill
It's less time than us, but they've got some time, you know?

01:11:29.75
Mike
Sure.

01:11:30.45
Bill
um So it's not, there they're not two, three years sober and they're not 30 years sober.

01:11:35.06
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:11:35.17
Bill
um You know, you talk to somebody like Dr. Sarah, for instance, who we had her on and she talks about the women even, you know, 30 some years ago.

01:11:38.62
Mike
Sure.

01:11:42.82
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:11:43.03
Bill
um um My dad, you know, I mean, I think I've told that story with Jack literally pinned him up against the wall by his throat and told him he's going to fucking die if he doesn't get his shit together, you know.

01:11:45.18
Mike
Yeah.

01:11:48.23
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right.

01:11:54.31
Bill
He's going to die and he's going leave his kids and all these sort of things. And i mean, yeah, this was back in 1981. I've never I've never had anyone lay hands on me.

01:12:00.53
Mike
No.

01:12:02.60
Bill
I've never had anyone even raise their voice to me, you know, because I've never done anything to deserve that.

01:12:03.03
Mike
No.

01:12:05.57
Mike
Right.

01:12:08.47
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:12:08.67
Bill
And people aren't fucking assholes. They're just straightforward.

01:12:11.76
Mike
Yeah.

01:12:11.95
Bill
It's like when you walked.

01:12:12.13
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:12:12.99
Bill
I don't know what I was in school. There was a certain etiquette when I walked into school, you know, and if you're fucking around, they're going to tell you to sit down and shut up.

01:12:17.96
Mike
Yeah. Right.

01:12:21.56
Bill
You got to learn.

01:12:21.93
Mike
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

01:12:22.85
Bill
Now, these days, I don't think they might use those. Maybe they don't use those words. I don't know I haven't been in a school in a long time.

01:12:28.64
Mike
Right.

01:12:28.95
Bill
but

01:12:29.39
Mike
Yeah.

01:12:29.55
Bill
um But I think those teachers, um whether it's elementary school, all the way up through, you know, ah some university professor, they they command and they demand respect.

01:12:36.24
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:12:39.74
Bill
You know, they're doing a job, you know.

01:12:39.90
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yes.

01:12:42.35
Bill
um And I think the same thing applies when you walk into an AA meeting. It's so different, you know?

01:12:45.77
Mike
Yeah. Right. The only difference is you know, you're going to fucking die.

01:12:47.85
Bill
So I,

01:12:51.85
Bill
right?

01:12:52.33
Mike
yeah Yeah. As our buddy Danny says, there's no games in these rooms. It's life and death.

01:12:58.15
Bill
Right?

01:12:58.73
Mike
And it is. Yes.

01:12:59.81
Bill
Yep.

01:13:00.01
Mike
Exactly. And, yeah. yeah You know, damaging. and I'm sorry. you didn Shut the fuck up.

01:13:06.74
Bill
yeah I thought the same thing. It like not only made me laugh, but I'm like, ooh, this is going to be a good one. Ooh, this is going to good one.

01:13:12.27
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:13:15.20
Bill
Mike's going to

01:13:16.45
Mike
Yeah, I'm not mad. Annoyed.

01:13:19.42
Bill
be mad.

01:13:19.60
Mike
you're You're damaging me, motherfucker.

01:13:19.70
Bill
No,

01:13:22.14
Mike
You're fucking triggering me, motherfucker. it

01:13:26.71
Bill
I know. I didn't mean bad. i Mike's going to have a strong, strong opinion about this.

01:13:30.19
Mike
yeah Yes, I am.

01:13:30.92
Bill
I do and knew you would.

01:13:31.70
Mike
i am absolutely, yes, it is. Fuck that shit, man.

01:13:34.15
Bill
And I agree. Yeah.

01:13:35.54
Mike
No. I'm not yeah coddling and and, yeah, babying you. and then and What the fuck's that going to get you? Co-signing your bullshit?

01:13:42.77
Bill
Right. Right.

01:13:43.05
Mike
That's going to get you sober? i don't fucking think so. No, not it's not going to get me sober.

01:13:45.80
Bill
right

01:13:47.79
Mike
It didn't. Yeah, no, what got me sober is, no, you don't know what the fuck you're doing. Sit down and shut the fuck up. Okay, thank you, sir. May I have another?

01:13:58.72
Bill
Right. Yeah. I don't know. It's just, uh, and it's, like i said, you know, the, the, the person's got enough time where they're, I don't they've got the same their background like us and stuff like that.

01:14:05.54
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:14:08.98
Bill
It's not, uh, I know there's different types of programs or softer stuff.

01:14:09.23
Mike
Yeah.

01:14:11.69
Mike
Yes.

01:14:12.14
Bill
You know, you were in the the California stuff and,

01:14:14.29
Mike
Yeah.

01:14:15.10
Bill
you know, the getting in touch with their all that sort of things, whatever works for people, works for people.

01:14:17.35
Mike
Yeah.

01:14:18.62
Bill
it just, if it's specific to, you know, like ah if you're an AA person and you're offended by the people that are old school like that, I don't understand it, but they each his own.

01:14:18.98
Mike
Yeah.

01:14:26.21
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:14:28.99
Bill
Right.

01:14:29.28
Mike
Right.

01:14:29.90
Bill
but

01:14:30.38
Mike
Yeah, again, find another meeting, find somebody that's going to hug you and tell you everything's going to be okay.

01:14:30.94
Bill
Yeah. i right

01:14:37.06
Mike
I want a guy to tell me, sit down, shut the fuck up, everything's going to be okay.

01:14:42.53
Bill
I know.

01:14:43.02
Mike
Yeah.

01:14:44.33
Bill
I know.

01:14:44.75
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:14:45.72
Bill
You and I are, you and I definitely on the, we're definitely on the same page with that one.

01:14:49.68
Mike
yes

01:14:51.01
Bill
Okay. I got a couple, got, I got, I got to i got like these couple of articles that I came across. I think there was one more, actually one more sober thing that, oh, you know what? um This one, in it I don't know that you can, um I'm going to give you an out if this is just too hard to to narrow down.

01:15:06.82
Mike
Yeah.

01:15:06.85
Bill
But, you know, when, when you first, again, back to first gate, when you got sober, what do you think the number one thing, um or was there one thing that you think helped to keep you there this time?

01:15:10.77
Mike
No,

01:15:19.10
Bill
um If you could narrow it down, was there one particular thing? And if it's, that's what said, I'm going to give you an out where if you like, don't know anything.

01:15:23.22
Mike
no, no, no, no. I've got it. No, my willingness to do whatever the fuck I needed to do.

01:15:25.98
Bill
Oh, okay.

01:15:30.85
Mike
You know, again, if I didn't understand it and it, you know, it didn't feel right and it didn't feel good and it didn't feel, you know, of course, because I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. Of course, it was going to be difficult. And yeah, but no, my willingness.

01:15:45.89
Mike
I believe I read somewhere willingness is the key. And yeah, no, that's absolutely it. That's an easy one for me. My willingness to do what I had to fucking do, even if I didn't want to, especially if I didn't want to.

01:15:59.77
Bill
Well, that that actually makes me feel better because when I wrote that down, I'm like, God, is this like asking what his favorite step was?

01:16:06.00
Mike
he

01:16:06.44
Bill
You know, so was i I just didn't know. I didn't know if it was too too hard to figure I'm glad you said that.

01:16:10.35
Mike
no

01:16:10.48
Bill
and And you know what? I didn't think about it myself. But when you said willingness, see um it was my stubbornness that kept me there. when i when i I mean, again, inadvertently, um you you know, I mean, having no place to go was the other thing.

01:16:16.97
Mike
Sure.

01:16:22.30
Bill
That was the that was the easy one.

01:16:22.49
Mike
Yeah, that that always helps.

01:16:24.17
Bill
that was was the That was the easy and the most logical answer.

01:16:27.76
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:16:28.06
Bill
But

01:16:28.85
Mike
Sit here or a fucking park bench.

01:16:29.07
Bill
but

01:16:31.42
Mike
Yeah.

01:16:31.51
Bill
but

01:16:32.00
Mike
Yeah.

01:16:32.08
Bill
but I think it was my it was my stubbornness when I'm just like, well, fine, fuck you people. I'm not going to talk. I'm just gonna sit down, cross my mental arms, and you you can talk to me all you want, but I'm not saying a goddamn word. Again, I sat down and shut myself up.

01:16:44.06
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:16:44.69
Bill
So fuck you and your damage.

01:16:45.06
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:16:50.50
Bill
I self-damaged myself.

01:16:52.59
Mike
yeah That's right.

01:16:54.21
Bill
Ah, well, if can't get somebody else to damage it, damage yourself. Hello.

01:16:57.35
Mike
Man, beat you to the punch.

01:16:59.18
Bill
That's why God gave us two hands.

01:17:00.91
Mike
That's right. Yeah.

01:17:02.66
Bill
God.

01:17:05.52
Bill
Okay. So I've got, I've got some fun stuff here. but even know how many of these things I have, but I know I've got a couple of them. um So I came across, this was kind of funny. I had this written down from, ah it doesn't even matter when, um but I think was just with all the traveling. And I, I, I usually stop at a particular truck stop if I, if I can while I'm, while I'm out and about.

01:17:26.19
Mike
hu

01:17:26.28
Bill
um So it just kind of made me think about it with all the traveling you did. Did you have a favorite truck stop, a place that you would rather go?

01:17:33.45
Mike
Um, I mean, like a specific location or um,

01:17:38.43
Bill
No, just, yeah, just a brand of of truck stop or if you could.

01:17:41.78
Mike
um I mean, yeah you know, ah they're all about the same. I mean, they really are. um i mean, i the company I work for, Pilator Flying J is where we get our fuel.

01:17:55.77
Mike
So that's, you know, what I go to pretty much anymore.

01:17:55.77
Bill
Hmm.

01:18:00.50
Mike
all You know, no, I mean, there are, again, being out there, there were certain ones that I liked more than others. Absolutely. um you know, there was, uh, there was, uh, the pen 80 used to go to a lot cause, uh, you know, the salad bar was good. And, uh, there's a, there's a TA down in Atlanta. That's just got a fabulous fucking buffet.

01:18:22.49
Bill
Really?

01:18:22.62
Mike
um yeah, yeah. Like really, really good Southern food.

01:18:28.22
Bill
Right.

01:18:28.33
Mike
Um, so if anytime I could go there and, you know, and there were ones that were awful. There was, uh, Was it down by Atlanta? Yeah, there's a Petro down there. It's a fucking zoo that I would avoid what all at all costs. um But occasionally you have to. ah ah The one in Chicago is fucking awful.

01:18:49.22
Mike
I don't even think that. pretty sure that one isn't independent. Yeah, it's not one of the major ones. The one, the big one in Chicago.

01:19:00.91
Mike
And that's fucking awful. And you got to pay to park there and yeah oh yeah yeah um uh-huh yeah exactly um yeah that's a fucking dump um

01:19:04.10
Bill
Oh, really? Well, I s suppose he has Chicago. Why wouldn't they charge you? Yeah.

01:19:15.85
Mike
yeah but you know um you know i mean they're all ah the the the major brands the pilot flying jade which is the same company um petro and ta a are the same company loves yeah um and loves is their own thing um loves is generally pretty nice

01:19:26.05
Bill
Really? OK.

01:19:32.47
Bill
Right.

01:19:32.79
Mike
You know. Yeah. Why? What's yours?

01:19:35.42
Bill
that loves this and it just it happened it happened by default when um i think the i might have been to one beforehand but when they um specifically over the last few years when they built that one uh on the indiana and ohio border um because there used to be there was a subway there they used to stop at sometimes and then that that whole section cleared out everything cleared out during the pandemic and then there's a um uh

01:19:36.75
Mike
Yeah.

01:19:48.10
Mike
Right.

01:19:51.06
Mike
Yeah. Right.

01:19:55.97
Mike
Yep.

01:19:59.60
Bill
there a flying J over there or pilot? They built the pilot on one side and then the loves on the other.

01:20:04.03
Mike
Yeah.

01:20:05.25
Bill
And when they first got the loves there, I stopped and I'm like, ah this is nice in here.

01:20:08.78
Mike
Yeah.

01:20:09.43
Bill
And then I had the coffee there. Columbia coffee or Colombian coffee is really good. um And then what I found is just doing all this traveling over the last couple of years. First of all, there I find loves all over the place.

01:20:20.53
Mike
Yeah.

01:20:21.02
Bill
And they're therere I started going there because I got good coffee.

01:20:24.62
Mike
Right.

01:20:24.61
Bill
they're They're always clean. I've never been into one that's not been clean.

01:20:26.15
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

01:20:27.75
Bill
um You know, they're clean. They're friendly. um But the the other thing, too, is their gas prices usually are pretty well in line, um you know, at pretty decent prices. And then I signed up for the app recently.

01:20:37.20
Mike
Right.

01:20:39.04
Bill
So when it works, if i if it takes my phone number right, I get $0.05 or $0.10 off a gallon when I

01:20:44.53
Mike
Right.

01:20:45.16
Bill
when I get gas there. So, um but what, that was just a kind of a random thing. And then it was funny this morning, they started reading on the, on the radio show, the morning show, they said the um fuel your road trip with the top 10 gas stations in the U S um and loves his number 10.

01:20:59.50
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:01.83
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:02.51
Bill
um Have you ever heard of all ups or yes way?

01:21:05.89
Mike
Uh-uh. No.

01:21:06.59
Bill
Never have either. That's says New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

01:21:10.59
Mike
Okay.

01:21:10.57
Bill
And I mean, i went I went through all three of those states. never saw one.

01:21:14.32
Mike
Right.

01:21:14.42
Bill
um Where's the other one Oops, there's an ad. Rudders. Ever heard of Rudders?

01:21:19.40
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:20.39
Bill
Okay, so that's number eight. um Maverick.

01:21:24.21
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:25.01
Bill
Heard of that?

01:21:25.92
Mike
I've heard of it.

01:21:26.68
Bill
Okay, yeah, that says based in Utah. Never heard of that. Racetrack.

01:21:29.41
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:29.52
Bill
I think I've heard of a racetrack.

01:21:30.97
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:32.25
Bill
um That's for...

01:21:33.35
Mike
There was actually in PA, a I used to, there was a small truck stop that was actually, the truck stop itself wasn't all that great, but it was like right in the middle of those like huge hills and valley this little valley thing.

01:21:38.49
Bill
Really? Right.

01:21:46.80
Mike
It was, yeah.

01:21:46.83
Bill
really

01:21:48.08
Mike
and And it was a small, not a lot of parking, but it was kind of a nice place to to kick for the night. So yeah, a racetrack.

01:21:54.08
Bill
right

01:21:55.39
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:56.39
Bill
I don't think I've ever even seen one. Maybe have, but maybe. Then they have Quick Trip, spelled Q-U-I-K. I've ran across some of those, actually, in my in my travels. I've been in a couple. They're decent.

01:22:08.17
Mike
Yeah.

01:22:08.59
Bill
um Royal Farms, I don't know if I've ever heard of that.

01:22:11.22
Mike
Yeah, that's ah East Coast.

01:22:11.87
Bill
ah

01:22:12.98
Mike
That's like ah Virginia, Eastern Pennsylvania, stuff like that.

01:22:15.91
Bill
Oh, is it?

01:22:16.81
Mike
Yeah. Uh-huh.

01:22:17.51
Bill
Okay. Hy-Vee, they have Fast Fresh. ive I ran across those when I was in Lake of the Ozarks and stuff like that. Casey's, I've been to those a number of times.

01:22:26.03
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:22:26.30
Bill
Those are usually decent, decent coffee. And this kind of surprised me, but I know this is, that well, not even know. um They said this is why this is why she read it. Quick Trip, Wisconsin Quick Trip is the number one.

01:22:36.50
Mike
Yeah.

01:22:37.72
Bill
They have 800 stores online.

01:22:41.27
Mike
Hmm.

01:22:41.56
Bill
I had no idea there was so many now. 800 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota, and Illinois. i I knew they had a couple of Minnesota and Iowa.

01:22:48.87
Mike
Hmm.

01:22:50.75
Bill
i didn't know about the rest. But, um I mean, of course, I love Quick Trip. you know i mean it's just

01:22:54.98
Mike
Right.

01:22:55.85
Bill
I grew up when around them when when they were just, you know, their little shit stores, you know?

01:23:00.01
Mike
Right.

01:23:00.58
Bill
Um, but now literally you could do, do grocery shopping in there if you'd like, but no, it's just, that was random, you know, from this morning, but I was just curious about the truck stop.

01:23:03.35
Mike
Yeah, right. a

01:23:09.41
Bill
So, okay, here's a, here's one more on here that, uh, actually at least one for sure. I didn't read through this. Okay. Cause I thought this would be fun. Eight phrases narcissists love to use when they're cry, cry at least let me start over Mike.

01:23:28.11
Mike
Stroking out there? What's going on?

01:23:29.98
Bill
apparently eight phrases narcissists love to use when they're quietly craving validation. Okay.

01:23:37.67
Mike
oh All right.

01:23:38.49
Bill
So I didn't read these because um I, I'm a, I think I'm a recovering, recovered yet.

01:23:41.80
Mike
Uh-huh. All right.

01:23:45.00
Mike
All right.

01:23:45.78
Bill
I am a recovering narcissist. I I've admitted, I've admitted that. We don't to go at number one, do we? Hang on here. yeah ah fuck it doesn't It doesn't matter what order they are.

01:23:57.07
Mike
ah

01:23:57.04
Bill
So the first the first one on this list, if I can get back to it now. um I'm the best at what I do.

01:24:03.99
Mike
ah

01:24:06.55
Bill
ah Validation is tricky business, especially blah, blah, blah. That doesn't matter.

01:24:09.90
Mike
aha

01:24:10.03
Bill
The phrase itself, no one appreciates my efforts.

01:24:14.40
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:24:17.58
Bill
ah God, I think I've said both of these before. Not recently, thank God, but

01:24:21.23
Mike
I've never said either of them. Go ahead.

01:24:22.66
Bill
yeah People always take advantage of me. Not always. I've i've felt taken advantage of.

01:24:27.98
Mike
Yeah, I've yeah i've i've probably worked that one a little bit, but yeah, but not in a long time.

01:24:35.25
Bill
plus years maybe.

01:24:36.21
Mike
you

01:24:37.71
Bill
I always end up with the short end of the stick.

01:24:40.28
Mike
Oh, yeah, yeah there's one. There we go.

01:24:42.79
Bill
yeah

01:24:42.98
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:24:44.00
Bill
that's That's a familiar one. Hi, welcome back.

01:24:46.36
Mike
Right, yeah. I need many,

01:24:47.82
Bill
I never get the recognition I deserve.

01:24:53.35
Bill
Um, I don't need anyone's approval.

01:24:56.22
Mike
but I do need few. Mm-hmm.

01:24:58.94
Bill
yeah I don't,

01:24:59.81
Mike
i don't right yeah i don't need many but i do need a few

01:25:04.62
Bill
and I don't, I don't know that I've ever used those exact words, but I'm sure that that was one of my pissy things. Well, fine. I don't need anyone's approval.

01:25:10.52
Mike
Right. Yeah. All

01:25:12.24
Bill
Um, why don't people see things my way?

01:25:18.08
Bill
Uh, I don't care what other others think of me. Okay. So I didn't read this one yet. Obviously any of these before, but let's pause on that one real quick.

01:25:26.14
Mike
right.

01:25:26.84
Bill
I think that could be healthy. yeah

01:25:29.43
Mike
I don't need anyone's approval.

01:25:29.67
Bill
I don't, yeah, I don't care what others think of me.

01:25:32.89
Mike
Oh, I don't care what others think of me.

01:25:34.80
Bill
Right.

01:25:35.14
Mike
yeah Again, most people. No, I don't give a fuck what you think about me.

01:25:37.91
Bill
Right.

01:25:40.02
Mike
But um yeah, but no there are people that I do care what they think about me.

01:25:40.13
Bill
Right.

01:25:44.10
Bill
right

01:25:45.57
Mike
Yeah, absolutely.

01:25:46.24
Bill
Yeah. So it's not a, it's not a 100% statement, but it's easily there's a, we've become comfortable with our, with ourselves.

01:25:49.79
Mike
Yes.

01:25:53.31
Bill
Whereas we could say that about a lot.

01:25:53.85
Mike
Yes.

01:25:55.31
Bill
They're not a lot, there's a percentage of people in this, in this world.

01:25:58.68
Mike
Oh, yeah, 90.

01:26:01.48
Bill
I wasn't even going to go that high, but sure. Let's go 85. Yeah.

01:26:04.02
Mike
Yes. All right. Yes. A very large majority. I don't give a fuck. But yes, there is that small percentage of people that I absolutely care what they think about me.

01:26:16.63
Bill
Right. No, I agree with you. I agree with you. I care what you think about me. So thank you very much.

01:26:20.23
Mike
Well, there you go.

01:26:20.43
Bill
But yeah, okay.

01:26:20.79
Mike
I care about what you think about me. but

01:26:23.66
Bill
God damn it. That was it. Okay. That, no, I just thought that'd be kind of funny because, ah you know, I mean, again, I know that I, and I said recovering with, ah you know, as it's continuous, I am, I am recovering as a, as a narcissist.

01:26:30.75
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

01:26:34.58
Bill
Was that the last one I have? Hang on one second here. um oh okay last last one we got it we got a couple minutes here all right so um if a man uses these okay for for the three ladies out there that listen to us and sit back start taking notes if a man uses these seven phrases in a conversation he hasn't grown up intellectually

01:26:41.65
Mike
Nope.

01:26:48.33
Mike
Aha. Aha. Aha.

01:26:53.82
Mike
ah

01:26:57.01
Mike
ah

01:26:59.55
Bill
ah that's just how i am

01:27:05.74
Bill
Uh, take it or leave it, baby. That's not one of them. I'm just adding to that one. Um, I don't have time.

01:27:14.64
Bill
Well, that could be just true. fuck

01:27:16.22
Mike
Yeah, I fucking ate, man.

01:27:20.30
Mike
No, but again, you know, make time. You know.

01:27:22.85
Bill
Right. Um, number three, I already know that.

01:27:28.09
Mike
so

01:27:28.71
Bill
um

01:27:29.61
Mike
ah Well, yeah but don't say it out loud.

01:27:32.11
Bill
yeah Right. There's a, in under, underneath it, there is a, there is a quote from Socrates. um

01:27:39.19
Mike
ah

01:27:39.65
Bill
The more I know, the more I realize I know nothing. Ooh, thank you.

01:27:42.91
Mike
Sure.

01:27:43.61
Bill
Thank you. Socrates.

01:27:44.21
Mike
Great.

01:27:46.11
Bill
yes Socrates.

01:27:47.71
Mike
Yep. Uh-huh.

01:27:49.33
Bill
It's not my fault.

01:27:51.34
Mike
ah hu

01:27:52.26
Bill
i I would love to use that phrase on a more regular basis, but I know it's not the responsible thing to do, so I don't.

01:27:59.60
Mike
Yeah.

01:27:59.72
Bill
had Oh, um here all here here's a good one.

01:28:00.97
Mike
What?

01:28:02.88
Bill
um I don't care.

01:28:05.32
Mike
Alright. Again, don't say it out loud.

01:28:06.47
Bill
Well, that's straight to the point. You haven't grown up intellectually because you just don't fucking care.

01:28:10.40
Mike
Yes. It's

01:28:12.89
Bill
Right? um Next one. It's too hard. That's what she said. But anyhow, back to it.

01:28:18.08
Mike
yes

01:28:20.74
Bill
ah We haven't grown up you know intellectually, emotionally, ah but it's, yeah, it's too hard. it's It's not too hard.

01:28:27.81
Mike
it's not

01:28:27.78
Bill
um I'm always right. Yeah,

01:28:31.05
Mike
Oh God.

01:28:33.96
Bill
yeah I can see that you've not been grown up. Okay. Oh, here, you know what? This is kind of funny. This is not a recovery-based article, but it says, final thoughts. It's not about progress or it's about progress, not perfection.

01:28:46.22
Bill
The journey towards intellectual maturity is unique for each individual.

01:28:46.30
Mike
Mm.

01:28:50.66
Mike
Uh huh.

01:28:50.79
Bill
It's a process, not a destination, and it's marked by continuous learning and growth. Those seven phrases we've discussed are not definitive markers of a lack of intellectual growth.

01:29:00.27
Mike
since

01:29:01.10
Bill
All right. Progress, not perfection. from a nod From a non-recovery article.

01:29:03.53
Mike
Okay.

01:29:05.23
Bill
i was I was kind of impressed with that.

01:29:05.78
Mike
Yes.

01:29:06.91
Bill
so All right. So I think that's those are the three fun articles that I had. I believe i believe i'm through. ah

01:29:14.39
Mike
Yeah. Are you through yet?

01:29:16.61
Bill
are you That's what was trying to get you to say that.

01:29:18.29
Mike
Nice.

01:29:18.90
Bill
Thank you. Thank you very much. But yeah, i think I think we're good. We're right on the money. where're We're one hour, 29 minutes, and 27 seconds right now. Go.

01:29:28.35
Mike
nice What? Oh.

01:29:32.00
Bill
You're like, what?

01:29:33.17
Mike
What?

01:29:34.58
Bill
yeah

01:29:34.94
Mike
but Hi there. All right.

01:29:37.03
Bill
ha

01:29:37.21
Mike
Well, thank you, everyone, for listening to yet another episode of Sober and Outmature. Always be kind to each other. Be good to each other.

01:29:48.11
Mike
go out and do something nice for somebody else this week. And don't tell anybody you did it. Now, from the bottom of my heart to the depths of my soul, from the beginning of time till the ends of the earth, always and eternally, fuck you.

01:30:10.52
Mike
Now it's time, kids. It's time for you to fuck off. Then keep fucking off. Keep fucking off till you get to a gate with a sign on it saying, you cannot fuck off past here.

01:30:21.68
Mike
Climb over that gate. Dreams. The impossible dream. Keep fucking off forever.

01:30:28.87
Bill
That sounded like the closing from piss and drawers in the morning.

01:30:33.40
Mike
a little bit.

01:30:34.00
Bill
yeah Hey, a little bit of a little bit of a wacky closing. Okay. Last thing here. And I forgot to mention this before, but remember I told you in, uh, when I was in North Carolina, how, how dark it was, you know, in that cabin, you know, up on the Hill, whatever, but there was like a house across the street with some lights and probably I think streetlights down the road.

01:30:42.01
Mike
Yes.

01:30:51.88
Bill
I can't remember now, but it wasn't like it was dark, but not like fucking like you can't see dark.

01:30:56.88
Mike
Yeah.

01:30:57.60
Bill
It's like, you can't fucking see dark around here.

01:31:00.60
Mike
Nice.

01:31:01.14
Bill
And there's one is probably like it's a gravel road off like a main two way highway or two lane highway that you pull into. So probably about a mile back, maybe three quarters of a mile.

01:31:12.16
Bill
A couple of homes. You can see other like cabins and stuff coming back, but I think one or two homes. And then like there's across the street, there must be somebody else that lives down that that area and farther down.

01:31:22.68
Bill
Um, but literally the first time I walked down at night when I was here, I'm like, I shut the door i'm like, Jesus Christ.

01:31:28.24
Mike
Yeah. Alright.

01:31:28.91
Bill
I'm like, I see, I can't, I couldn't see a fucking thing.

01:31:29.02
Mike
Cool. Alright.

01:31:30.96
Bill
You know, it's like I put my cell phone flashlight.

01:31:31.38
Mike
Jack

01:31:33.99
Bill
I'm just looking around. Do I see any fucking eyeballs, anything looking at me, anything, anything, but yeah, it's really fucking dark, but super quiet.

01:31:36.48
Mike
off. Yeah.

01:31:41.29
Mike
right

01:31:41.84
Bill
Love it. Love it. Love it.

01:31:42.73
Mike
cool

01:31:42.79
Bill
Love it. So, All right. But, there oh oh, God, you know, I'll i'll tell you next week. I got to tell you about the the guy in the guy in Branson and then the trail that I went to last weekend.

01:31:47.64
Mike
right

01:31:53.12
Mike
jackoff

01:31:53.50
Bill
But, no, no, this is one of that one of the people in the condo.

01:31:55.35
Mike
yeah

01:31:57.64
Bill
But ah tune in next week, folks. We're going to talk about some guy in Branson and a trail that Bill went down.

01:32:04.10
Mike
That's what we call in the biz a tease.

01:32:07.11
Bill
Whatever. We could be dead by next week.

01:32:08.88
Mike
shit Well, you have to tune in next week and find out.

01:32:10.10
Bill
I really wanted does to hear that story. I'm sorry he's dead, but Jesus, why did he just tell the story?

01:32:20.41
Bill
right, man. I love you, brother.

01:32:21.71
Mike
Love you too.

01:32:23.56
Bill
We'll talk soon, I'm guessing.

01:32:25.00
Mike
Yes, we will.

01:32:26.06
Bill
All righty. Bye.

01:32:27.49
Mike
Bye.