No, I'm from out here and from out here in the country, I'm actually staying with my mom right now for a couple of reasons, but one reason that it's great to be out here right now, that's the middle of nowhere, like, there have been three deaths in this county from Covid and just very low active case count right now, so it's like, that's, that's great, you know, and what I was doing for work there, I'm doing for work now, so, you know, it's as, as, as far as there is work, so, you know, like, so I'm just staying here for now and what's in it?


Oh yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Oh so you were living, they were living or uh the metro, like the actual Oh yeah wow.


I was living in Vancouver Yeah, until about february more, somewhere around there, I came out here, so, but, and you know, I might go back there, I'm kind of thinking about the midwest, like Madison, I have a bunch of friends in the midwest because I lived out there for um I lived in ann arbor michigan for six years and I have a bunch of friends in Madison Wisconsin. Just coincidentally a bunch of friends from college landed there and I have a friend from grad school who is there?


Oh okay.


I have friends in Chicago. So honestly, like, even though I'm from the northwest, like I have more friends and more of a network in the midwest than I do here. So, you know, the climate sucks though. That's, that's one compared to here.


Oh yeah, like go off in Milwaukee Wisconsin there, Wisconsin.


Yeah. What? Oh yeah, the winters man. Yeah, it feels like that. I mean they don't actually last for eight months, but sometimes it feels like it, you know, like we mm hmm.


Yeah, it's about a good six months purple shit.


Yeah. And you get that below zero. You walk outside and your nose hairs freeze, hurts to breathe like Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah. So you don't really Oh, there's no really no real winter where you are Right, There's no winner.


Uh there is here because I'm up at a higher elevation elevation.


Oh, okay.


I'm up on the mountains. Um I'm also a little further east. So yeah, we get winters. Um we get snow.


Yeah.


It doesn't we don't get that like frigid like you get in the midwest, you know like um and and it doesn't really get as cold as it did when I was a kid when I was a kid every year without fail.


Oh right.


We get snow so many wonders. I mean we still get snow every year but we used to always get like feet of snow and you know all the the winter stuff.


We've had a couple of crazy winters, you know, in the past past years.


But um Yeah, I know, but but there is winter, I mean it gets cold enough to snow, it gets cold, you know, it lasts for a while, but it's nothing like you know Chicago or or you know like some place like that and then shorter like the cold part is shorter like that.


Oh. Oh what? He gets bigger snow? Oh, I would like that.


But I mean it'll get down in the twenties during the day, it might get in the teens at night. But you know it's not you don't get below zero almost. That's really rare. That pretty much doesn't happen. So Yeah.


Yeah. You don't even need a park cut right out.


No you need a nice you need a good coat. But yeah, It looks like we're at 225 so And my clock says 4 1425.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Are we? How much time are running at right now? Yeah. Two. Okay. Oh 14 25.


What? Yeah it's I use Lennox so it's it's on the 24 hour clock and I can't figure out how to set it to just AM PM. I don't know that you can set the system time to AM PM because it shows the system the system clock on top.


Yeah. Right. Oh.


So.


Oh I think you can.


Oh yeah.


I just don't remember the this is something that a man who I just don't I haven't used it in a long time.


Yeah, I'd have to look at that problem. Yeah. Uh huh.


Okay. I guess.


Alright.


Yeah.


Uh let you go.


It was nice nice chatting with you.


Yeah, same here.


Mhm.


Yeah take care enjoy the rest of your day frank


Okay. You too. Mhm. Challenge. Mhm payment Vincent.


Yeah. Well first No. What? Yeah. I booked why? Right. Oh. Very small back done. What? Uh huh. Yeah. I think by bye. The Cold War did not related parts of the world. What? Uh huh. All right. That's good. What is this part? Right, filled with all the oh wait, this is coming to a level of get up. Yeah. No problem. Yeah. Okay. What? Yeah. Hi coming back like you know all things that Yeah. Yeah. What's gonna make it? Mhm. Uh huh. Mhm. What about walking? What? That's a good start. Uh huh. Right. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. It was good for the longest time. Yeah. That's right. This is this little johnny you don't want the military but a lot of time. Yeah. Yeah. Stop. I just didn't work. No. So much popular now. This guy. I don't think both. Oh okay. More than four. No. What this report is your time? I have to walk. That's all the news democrats. Okay. Yeah. Uh huh. A smaller place. Yeah. City water or want to find out Ground for one day. So what? There's only nine of them. Look forward. Not there for what? I want someone to talk. How to get out. Arnold back up to the challenge. Yeah. Hi God, I'm just walking from last time outside for elegance. I'm not in the wedding wearing a doctor working in a cross of fear for me. All right outside. I just laughed so by well, broken their back now. It's inside of these things are being I'm talking about 11, 11 3rd and what I've got is a seven. When people write about this right there on a United States, I'm going myself. All your help like this. Go on. Uh huh.


Hi mm me okay, how are you today?


All right. Hello. That make it are you? I'm good. How are you?


Okay. I can't complain. I'm gonna start my timer, that's what I'm doing. Yeah.


Okay?


So how many times have you done the chat?


This will be my 3rd. What about you?


Same third time, the last time I missed it?


And I said, oh my God, so they reschedule it. That's one thing that's good about prolific. If you miss it, they do give you another opportunity. So.


It scares.


So where are you located?


I'm in Georgia, you know where Bonaire is?


Oh, what part? No, I know.


That's out of the middle of the way.


A cluster.


Yeah that's out in the middle of nowhere problem like down south south.


Oh, oh okay.


Waste not the biggest Okay little snowflakes.


My dad, my dad is from Augusta Georgia. Yeah. So that's why when he said Georgia was like, okay because I stayed there for like five months but I couldn't take it.


Oh.


So I left I was in north Carolina Raleigh north Carolina. So I ended up moving back to Raleigh north Carolina.


Mhm. Uh huh.


So that's where I'm at now, but I'm in the, in the process.


Okay.


Um I guess in the next two years I'll be moving to Jacksonville florida.


Oh that's a nice change.


So yeah, trying to go warmer because it's it's cold here.


Mhm.


I'm trying to get away from the cold.


Not that she's Oh really?


I moved from new york to here. So now I'm yeah I'm trying to move from here to to florida make it a little bit more warmer because I'll tell you it's getting colder and I'm so used to not having um coats on to when I get to the point where I have to put on a heavy coat.


Okay. It's time to go. It's the climate change. You know Because when I first came here 10 years ago it was very warm.


Yeah. Uh huh.


I basically felt like I went from fall to spring.


So It's changed a lot. 10 years.


Yeah.


Yeah it's changed a lot. So have you voted yet?


Yeah my absentee ballot was supposed to fill it out with my wife but she was watching her son Just over two weeks old.


Okay. How old is your son? Oh well congratulations little boy.


Thank you. Yeah the little boy oh both boys and girls or for negative.


Okay. I have two grandkids, one is 11 and the other one is nine. So a boy and a girl. The girl is the oldest, yeah she's the oldest.


Mhm Yeah.


Those are my little heart beats but I love them when they're little and they can't talk. They are beautiful if they could stay like that.


No. Mhm Uh huh Mhm Yeah That's my 2nd 1 and boy too.


I had a bunch of them. But no they grow up and you go through the mode. Is that your first? Oh okay. What you have the first time? Okay. How old?


Yeah He's almost 19 months now, 19 months.


How many? Oh that's right.


Yeah that's what people said but wow, I mean there's so much different than the way they behave.


Get it out the way. No I promise you I have my kids a year in they were a year and a half apart.


Mhm.


They fought like crazy as growing up but that's siblings, you know what I'm saying?


This is uh yeah Mhm Yeah uh I'm done.


But they're grown now. That's the good part. So now I'm enjoying the grandchildren. So I mean you know for what it's worth it if you can do it and get it over with. I mean unless you are searching for that girl, uh yeah.


My wife's claims she's done but she, I know she wants a little girl real badly.


Oh, most definitely because you got two troopers, they're going to be following you. Those are daddy boys. So she needs a mommy's daughter.


The yeah, this is just no, Yeah, mm.


She needs a little girl. Me. I had two boys too, but I was like, no, I'm done. That little girl missed out on a second try. Yeah, I was done then after that second boy, I was like, oh no, I can't. But boys are, I say they're easier to to toilet train. Um, I don't know, girls are so they're so prissy. You know, they they they're dainty, you know, so any little thing there crying, you know, but their daddy's little girls, so I don't know if you want to try it because she's gonna end up in your boat to that's that's that would be your heartbeat because she'll be the one that anything she wants, you're going to get her.


Mhm know that, Know this 1st 1 he's he's already had his terrible twos despite not being too so, he's already throwing tantrums and crying about every little thing.


So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm telling you, it's, it's, I love it.


Yeah, Yeah.


It's beautiful. I mean, you know, they have their own little personality, you know what I'm saying?


Mhm mhm.


I mean, I consider every child that comes on this earth a blessing. So enjoy them because let me tell you time.


All good.


Mhm. Before you know it preschool and you'll be like, wait a minute. It was just like yesterday I had them. No time is flying. And I mean before you know what that little two year old, two weeks old, he'll be a year Before you know it because I'm sure the 19 month of time flew, you know, and all he was doing was he was getting out the way for the next one.


Mhm. Mhm I remember in No, I just remember half a year ago, It's never happier yet.


That's what I tell everybody. I told everybody that whenever you have a child already and then the next one comes and they come fast because they say it's an old saying when they do come they start coming like flies.


Mhm Oh wow.


So yeah that's that's the saying. So usually when one come is not too long before there's another one so you know just enjoy them.


Yeah.


That's the only thing I can tell you their blessings. Uh if I could turn it back and do it all over again I would because I had a ball with my boys. You know I mean they were rough, they were rough now as they get older.


Mhm um it's starting to shift.


But yeah I enjoyed them. I really did. So how is the weather there?


Uh no sense trying to be a cooler, No mornings and not get so hot in the afternoons, false simply is Mhm, Mhm, Mhm No.


Yeah. Yeah. Well here here is like it's cool in the morning and then it warms up and maybe about 8:30 starts. You can start filling the shift of the weather. Like this morning when I got up it was very foggy out. So I mean it was like really dense fog so I was like, okay, they're gonna get cold in that hot meeting, you know?


Mhm.


So yeah, I got my little garden, I'm getting ready to come tomorrow. I'm going to start planting in pots because I'm growing stuff.


Yes.


I got some tomatoes they're still producing because of the weather, you know?


Uh huh. Mhm.


I thought I was done, but I saw three tomatoes. I was like, oh I get I got three more tomatoes come in and then I'm growing Okra.


You should, mm, mm.


So those two things I'm trying to salvage, I got me a greenhouse, so getting ready to divvy it up so I don't catch none of that frost. And maybe I could salvage the tomatoes. I said I'd probably cut them open and then put them back in the ground. I mean, you know, back in the dirt, just so it could produce a thicker stem.


Mhm, Mhm. Mhm Yeah, corn requires too much, requires too much, yep.


So yeah, I did pretty good. I grew some lettuce this summer and the gruesome tomatoes, I tried to grow corn, but that didn't work. Yes, corn is hard. Yeah, yeah, it's very hard to grow. So I pulled that out of the ground and left that alone and I got peppers, green peppers, so they're starting up, it's starting to not produce but starting to sprout, grow out. So I said, I'm probably going to get some peppers if I keep them warm enough in the winter time, hopefully I can produce it under them.


We'll see other than that, a normal day for me.


Mhm, mm hmm.


I enjoyed it. I I'm I met my wits and I said, oh my God, my my my chat is 10 o'clock and I'm fighting sleep like crazy.


Decision Up at my energy have one.


I was I was out earlier and I just got in like about A little after eight and I'm tired. I'm like saying, oh my God, I hope I'm gonna make this. So when they ask you about your, the energy level, I'm enthused to do the chat, But my energy, that was like two. So yeah, Okay.


I had to put my son to nap at 7:30 because he didn't take his evening nap. Yeah, and then just fell asleep with them and I woke up, it was like he was only 8 30 so I was like, oh crap, I gotta get ready so I don't fall asleep.


Yes. Stop opinion. Right.


Yeah, lovely.


And, and that's the whole thing. Just making it to that. I figured this would be a good time for me because I'm running around during the daytime. So I figured 10 o'clock will be the best time. Uh, 11 of the chats I had, that was winds constant. So they were our behind me and that chat went well.


Mhm Mhm No, he was Mhm Well he Mhm Mhm Six cents.


And then I had another chat, she was in Ohio and she was a musician on top of it. So I was like, wow. So she says she does a lot of Youtube and I didn't even think to get her name, but you know, I probably come across her, you know? And I'm like, oh yeah, I chatted with her. So yeah, I'm documenting every, every time I try to keep up, I think we're allowed to do it six times. So yeah, this is my third. I was like, well, I'm gonna try to use and utilizes the other three eventually. But yeah, I'm fading out fast, so it's like, oh my God, I'm gonna, I hope I could do this.


Mhm Mhm Thank you.


I hope I can do this because I'm drinking water trying to put water on my face to keep me up. Because I was almost like, yeah, I was like, let me lay down. No, don't lay down that the lay down, that's my worst nightmare. I'll be sleeping that long ago off because I set my alarm to make sure that I don't miss it Because it's uh 10:00.


Mhm Mhm Mhm Mhm My doing, when I get off work, I try to just hammer out whatever shows up before I spent time with the kids.


It comes so quick. And I just did a survey before I did the uh the chat. I was like, oh, it's only 10 minutes and it was 9 46. I was like, oh, let me get this one, but I let the other one go because it was 13 minutes. So do you do a lot of surveys on you? Right, Right, right. I've told a lot of people that because they pay us in euros.


Mhm Mhm Mhm Yeah, mm Yeah, that's a good exchange rate.


Um I've earned 505 dollars and some change in your old, So about $600 I've earned from prolific. And I was like, wow, been with the full, Yeah, I'm on it all the time. I'm retired, so I'm on it all the time when they pop up.


Mhm Mhm marriage Mhm Mhm, mm Oh wow, that's impressive.


I'm usually picky. I usually want to try to get at least a dollar or more. So I've cashed out this week past. I've cast out twice. Because I did, yeah, I did like so many surveys um $42 when it when it comes into us dollars, it's like $42. So I cashed twice. That's the first because normally it's every week I might cash out. But no, for the first time I cashed out twice in one week, I was like, I'm scared of myself. Yeah. Well yeah, they're they're pushing them up. I mean normally it be dragging, you know, a certain time of the day, they just die out.


Mhm Yeah.


But I've come on and it's it's been one or two up at like up till 10 o'clock and I'm like, oh okay, let me get this one too.


Mhm, Mhm Yeah, yeah.


I mean if they're little and there's nothing else to do then yeah, I'll do it. It doesn't matter, you know? So you're gonna do the absentee ballot. I voted already. I went ahead and I did the curbside voting because I could not stand on that line. I was like, I'm not standing, that line was around the block.


Really that long, wow, Mhm Yeah.


What? Yes, it was very long and I ran into one lady who said she came there at 11:00 AM and she got on the bus when I was on the bus with my friend, she got on the bus, it was quarter to five, quarter to six, she was just leaving from the from the voting places. She says I'm tired and I'm hungry. I was like, well, you know, Michelle Obama said to bring a chair and bring a lunch and she wasn't joking, but I think as it that a lot of people are doing the early voting.


Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, Mhm That's press for block.


So The, you know like I don't know if y'all guys are doing the voting now for us is from October 15 to the 31st. So I went ahead and did it. I try to do it the first day, but it was overwhelming. So the third day and I did the voting I was able to go through. It was it took us about three hours in the curve side. So yeah, Yeah. But tonight when I looked, when I passed by It was it was seven, 7 11 and it was three cars left outside of the voting thing. So I know that I said, oh it's it's starting to dwindle down.


Mhm, Mhm, Mhm.


Not as many people are online. You know, I mean you know coming to vocals, they, most of them have voted so hopefully, you know, I don't know we I said whoever wins wins at this point, I'm uh I want trump out, but some people want them in, you know what I'm saying?


Mhm, mm.


So I was like, that's our right to vote for whoever we want to, you know, we're going to get stuck with whoever it is, you know, hopefully it's a good one.


Mhm, mm, Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, wow, Mhm Uh huh Mhm Mhm, Mhm, Mhm Mhm Mhm Mhm Uh huh, yep, Mhm Mhm, Mhm, mm hmm, Mhm Mhm, Mhm Mhm Around Mhm Mhm Mhm Mhm Mhm Right matter.


What? You know, if not, I just say they need to get a lot of people, their money, get the people, their money, because a lot of people are suffering big time and the second wave is getting ready to hit because I got a family in new york and they shut down Jersey, you can only come into new york unless you are only if you are a central worker because a lot of people live in Jersey, they work in the city in new york and they they're the only ones if they're essential, then they can get over. If not they can't come over. I was like, oh, they get ready, shut new york down again. So I was like, the only thing everybody could do, take your vitamins, exercise, do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy, William ass. You know, those are the, the and wash your hands, those are the main things you do, those, you're good, you know, and and take care of the babies more than anything. You know? I see so many people out there, they don't have their babies with masks on, I'm like, oh my God, you know, even though their systems are little, you know, like they're, they're little and their systems are strong, but you don't you don't want to use your child as a guinea pig, you know what I'm saying? Like if they're too small to put on a mask and I say, don't take them, you know what I'm saying? Don't bring them in that environment, you know? But I see so many people come with their little babies and they got on the mask to walk the kid that's walking down the math, but the baby in their arm has no mass or also why? And I mean one of the time don't go in there, you know what I'm saying? But to each his own, but I just feel bad that they, you know, they're not that educated. I say if you go in an enclosed place, you need to have a mass or I don't care who it is, put a mass on it. Even if it's a little baby, I mean they're gonna scramble, but they're probably looking at you like what what you're doing, I mean, but they used to get wrapped up in a blanket anyway. But if you could put that mask on him and they got little ones, if you got to make them yourself make them. But I just look at those people like why y'all coming in here with your babies, You got the the little one with a mass on and they're cute little masses, you know, that they have for them. But I just said the baby need one on too. And I know they're gonna take them off, but you know, it's just we can't bring them in. I just think it's it's really hard right now what we're going through, we were in a situation right now that is I hope it gets better. Uh I promise that uh we will take it more into consideration on how to react to things. But I don't think our generation ever dealt with anything like this. I mean, you know, I was little but it was when they had that scar scars of disease that came in play. But I don't remember nothing, you know, I don't remember having an ass or none of that on asked my mom. She was like no. So I think this time around the that thing that the pandemic, they played it down, they jeopardize the whole lot of families. A lot of people lost their jobs. I'm studying listening to the stimulus thing. I pray that they pass it because we all need help right now. You know they playing Russian roulette with us And they were saying that they if they do issue it is supposed to be bigger than 1200 and do it needs to because if those that got it that the last time it was april like that's that's sad.


Yes, and there are people who we're expecting another check in june and never got it Uh huh Mhm Mhm Mhm, Mhm Yes, Mhm Right, is it good?


I mean I actually am looking at people being put out of their homes and I'm like this they shouldn't do that because if the pandemic is not over, how are you gonna how you gonna make people get out of their homes and they can't even get a job because of the job they have is not opening up on it. There are a lot of businesses are closing up. I mean I'm looking at like over here we have Hardee's that they closed up some of their stores burger king has closed up some of their stores and I'm like the only one day and I was just telling this lady last tonight, I said you know what's so funny out of everybody that is fighting to keep their business open. Look, I don't know what they got in that chick fil a food but the lines are ridiculous, the lines are crazy and uh this lady said, well there mac and cheese is the bomb and I'm like, oh is that what it is?


Uh huh Mhm Mhm Yeah, Mhm Mhm, Mhm I mean, the biggest thing, I mean, the biggest thing is that food prices at grocery stores, I've gone up considerably, especially if you're talking about meat, I mean it's not cheap, like it used to be, it was only like half a year ago Mhm, Mhm, yep, Yeah, you know, Yes, ground beef is crazy, yep, Mhm Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, Mhm, mm hmm.


She was like bro that that mac and cheese is good. I was like okay, but the lines you would think that if somebody is giving away something, the lines are ridiculous and the cops where I'm at, the cops have to be at the other end so the cars could get out because it's so much traffic, those cars can't get out so they have to have the police to stop the traffic so these cars could come out of the chick fil a parking lot. I was like, oh my God, that is ridiculous. I don't know what else that I think they said because their chicken Israel, I want to say that that's what they said, they serve real chicken. I was like okay but still, I don't see why that live. Like people need money with all of these people who, you know that's on this line where they get their money from, you know what I'm saying? Because that line never died down. It got shut down when the pandemic hit real hard. But then once they open back up and they found a way to handle the food without touching and you know, and handing it off to the person, look, they perked right back up. Like they like nothing ever happened. So chick fil a are now Yes, us. No, not at all. I bought four lbs of chicken. I used to really by the Flame wings and it's a £4 bag. I get it in walmart And at the time it was $9, I want to say a little over nine. Almost $10. Not quite 10. Now, that same bag I picked up. I put it back because $13. I'm like, what? Are you crazy? It went from $9 to $13. Crazy. Remember will? Okay. I see. It's like when you go to your, I was spending I live alone. I was spending anywhere from $100 to $150 in my food for the month. I'm spitting and this is no joke. I'm spending about maybe 200 now, Whole 50 more. So I've been trying to do like if I make up mill try to have that milk. I I noticed I'm very funny. I might eat things twice and the third time I do not want it. So I always try to cook like two days of that same thing after that. I know I'm not gonna want it. And then when I do cook I try to cook something that I like. I like beef lo mein. So tonight I got me some blue green, the new rules that I had and I had some soy sauce and I don't know what else I put in that thing. And I had some uh it was like beef stew so I shaved it off and made like strips and I made me some beef lo mein and I made enough to last tomorrow. Now I like that so I might eat that three days, but I only put it for two days because I know me, I'll say, oh no that's not what I want and I'll go and find something out.


Yeah, well, mm Mhm, yep, yeah, mm, Mhm Mhm Yeah, well, the bad news is if trump wins, then we're definitely going to be dropping out of the who?


Even Yeah the hamburgers. That's crazy. I used to eat the bubba hamburgers because I like them. They're really juicy and thick Man. I think when I bought it used to be $9 and that thing is $15 for already made hamburgers. I was like, are you serious? And I asked the guy says this the right price. He was like, yeah, I was like, oh my God. So I had to cut down on that. I couldn't. I mean usually I used to get two packs of those. I know I got one pack of that because I was like, this is crazy. It's almost like I have to start going to BJ's or or Sam's to bunk up to save, you know, to gain either way, one of the two. But yeah, I just I think everything is like going crazy. Hopefully by next year I'm ready for 2020 to be done with. I've done it's been crazy. Okay. Oh yeah, yeah, that's gonna be.


Yeah, Okay mm. That's that's bad news you hear?


Yes, it is. And I mean, I don't know about everybody else, but like they said, you know, they was like, oh did you get your food shots? I don't get flu shots. I don't believe in is allowing them to inject a germ into me to make me sick when I'm building up my immune system for whatever is coming at me.


Mhm.


So I wouldn't want to weaken my immune system even though it will make it stronger, but I wouldn't want to weaken it.


Not during this time, not right now. Maybe they don't want, but I don't take flu shots.


I don't have no intention if they get a corona virus and I'm not taking that. I have no intentions of doing that either. So what's all that being said? All I can tell you is blessings and stay safe because that's where we at And we have done our 25 minutes.


Okay.


Yeah, we're done well.


That was by too quick, mm. All right. Have a good night.


It was good to know with you and have a blessed one and enjoy those Children.


All right. Thank you very much.


Have a good one.


Okay. Thank you.


Oh my God, my room's a mass. Yeah. Okay. Uh huh wound from us do my room's month. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I experience. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Oh yeah, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Uh Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Right. Okay. Okay. It crashed. Mhm. Okay. Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. This time. Okay. Right. Yeah, dead but Mhm. It's Mhm. Uh huh.


Hey, how's it going?


Hey, can you be what's good?


Yeah, I can. Perfect. Mhm.


How are you doing today?


I'm sorry. I'm scrambling with my power cord.


Okay. Okay.


Yeah.


Uh huh.


Yeah. I'm doing all right. I'm hanging in there. Um Uh huh.


That's good. Um Hi, my name is an um what's your name?


My name is lou.


Hello? Okay, nice to meet you lou Yeah.


Nice to meet you too. You said dan, Is that right?


Yeah stan Yeah.


Yeah. Uh What side of the country are you on?


Yeah. Uh Midwest. Midwest.


All right.


Oh yourself, that's carl soccer.


On. I'm on the West Coast. Um Are you are you uh staying home a lot or you getting out and able to work?


All right. Yeah. Oh right, now, so I'm a student um I mean my doctoral program for pharmacy and I'm doing a masters in public health, but I'm on my rotations for just, you know, just pharmacy right now and all the rotations I've been on so far.


Oh. Oh, yeah.


Um Most of them have been just been at home, so we're working at home instead of being in the actual hospitals.


Good.


Yeah.


And that's good. I feel awful for those doctors and nurses and everybody who have to just be in the middle of people who keep saying this is no big deal.


Yeah. And that's the thing, like I feel fortunate that, you know, even as a student, they're not forcing us to be in contact with, just not at risk, but just in general patients in the hospital, you know?


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah.


So yeah, a lot of things have then um just like if we're not doing it at home, we're just in the pharmacy and there's restricting us to just like if you have any questions for the patients, you would call them any recommendations to the provider.


Yeah. Oh yeah.


We would be just calling them instead of, you know, having more that face to face interaction.


That's really good.


That's super fortunate.


Yeah. And like I haven't even been working at the pharmacy, like even when I'm doing this because my dad has diabetes and I'm not sure if, you know, like a lot of people with diabetes are more at risk and other people for just getting the coronavirus so definitely is concerned.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We have that. My wife and I have um her parents and then my parents kind of have some like one has respiratory issues and stuff like that.


And they are kind of like uh deal and we're just sitting here like well we had to tell them, we're like, look, we're not going to see you for a while because they aren't taking it super seriously and Yeah.


I and that's the thing. It's like, like, why isn't serious? It's called pandemic for a reason. It's not called like, like a o is like a small outbreak, you know, or an epidemic pandemic.


Right. Right.


It's like, I like, even if you have like the little health complications, like, there's no, there's no, like, I don't want to sound rude, but there's not a care for this.


Yeah. Yeah, totally.


There's not a treatment like, it's just managing the patient's symptoms of when, like anything that comes up with the coronavirus, you know?


Yeah. Yeah.


So that's why I mean, I don't that's so strange.


Mhm.


Like, why are they serious? You know? It's like, it's real. It's not fake.


Well I have this, I have this theory that I have no academic data to follow up on, but I'm kind of like, I've started to really believe that the people who were like, let's get back to normal, let's do this right now are the ones who are genuinely afraid of like that new.


I know it's always said that way, but a new normal, like they don't want that and so they're kind of in denial of what's actually happening and especially like where we're at, our numbers aren't crazy.


Um but they're worse than they were in March and april by a long shot and things keep getting worse and it seems like that keeps pushing people more and more into like, well, it's no big deal, we're fine.


Yeah.


We haven't got it. Look, there's hardly anybody and it's like, yeah, that's how you prevent it. You don't uh Okay.


Two and like, but no, I agree.


Uh huh.


It's like they're saying. I mean, like, even our own presence saying it is what it is now. Like instead of instead of accepting the new normal, he's just saying it is what it is.


Uh Yeah, yep.


People die like how how tragic is that? You know?


Cool.


And like even like I've been reading on florida how they're like, oh yeah it's been going down, it's going down because no one's getting tested during a hurricane warning.


All right.


Um who's gonna go, you know, drive to get tested during a hurricane morning season?


Right, right.


No one is so that's why cases are going down because there's not just being tested reported But like no one is making common sense and these things and it's I don't I don't get it.


Yeah, yeah, Yeah.


It's like is it that hard just to take care of yourself and others by wearing a mass outside? Apparently it is.


Okay.


Yeah, I don't get it. And I'm even more um you know, of course there's certain news stations I steer clear of just because they're crazy.


Mm I didn't watch the whole thing now.


Um But after, I don't know if you saw that that axios interview with trump it is it that is a part of my language.


Yeah.


It was a shit show and it's awful. Like it's just it was so awful. And then for the hell of it, I saw there was a Fox News video on Youtube about joe biden's uh he can't get through a sentence and I was like okay, I'm going to watch this, it shows like one part where he like stumbles over his words, but the dude used to have a stutter and so that's going to happen every once in a while and then they asked him if he'd take that cognitive test that trump was bragging about, he's like, no, I'm not going to do that.


Right. Yeah.


Why why would I do that?


Mhm.


That's for people who are like they're concerned about like other issues, right?


I'm sure you know that, but they just kept ragging on biden about how he can't get through a sentence, how he doesn't understand anything and I'm like this just projection like, you know that your buddy trump is awful, but let's redirect to biden because we don't like him.


Yeah and that's a no I heard degree.


Uh huh.


Not only the redirecting the whole like concerns for dementia also redirecting like trump's association with like you know like Jeffrey Epstein and stuff. Same thing with Biden, they're trying to redirected towards Biden and his pedophilic tendencies to touch Children in like you know inappropriate location and all this stuff and it's like it's like okay so you're saying trump doing it and his friends doing it's okay but you shouldn't vote for biden because he also does it, that makes no sense.


God. Uh huh Yeah. Right, yep.


And and it's it's very strange how people accepted like that or like how trump you know, is saying oh mask are okay and people now are okay kind of winning mask now, it's like like are you seriously gonna follow a dude who has, well, a political background or someone who has a doctoral background for multiple, multiple decades, you know?


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah.


Right? No 100% agree with you have everything you said. It's I don't understand it. It's laughable in my opinion. But that's that's what we get though.


Yeah, yeah.


Um I think from just having a vast source of the internet, people can read what they want to believe and that's all they're gonna read about.


Mhm. Yeah, yep.


And I feel I feel like they're not gonna I don't want to say the truth, you know? But like actually just brought in the horizon. But that's what I know as a, you know, as as from what I know, but and like even like my dad's like 64 now, like, like I don't get how my dad's more well knowledge and like renews, but the other six year olds, they think it's fake.


Yeah, yeah, same, Yeah, it's frustrating, especially like you said when they have like different, they won't apply the same things to both people um and each time they go, but what about this person doing it?


It's not real. It's I don't, from, from my perspective, I don't understand it, you know? That's it. Yeah. Right. Yeah.


It's like, so does that like you said, does that make it okay? Are you justifying it because my guy did it first? Like what the hell?


Mhm.


Why can't both be a bad thing or can both be a good thing or something? But yeah, just these weird standards that people um aren't applying to trump, I just, it's weird, I just never, I'm not like I haven't been around on this earth like forever, like my late thirties, but this is just weird, like I've never seen anything this weird before and it's just because of a lack of logic and reason and uh yeah, yeah.


Yes. Yeah. No, I completely agree with you and you know like I'm glad that like you actually have that same like realization because I'm like is there other people like me that realized like this is so weird? Like how how can you justify one thing but not accept the other thing? It makes no sense. Or like how can you justify that? The coronavirus is just for the election. It will go away after the election.


Like, like so how can it impact the whole world? But it's just for the United States election. Like this makes no sense at all.


Right.


This makes no sense at all. Like and but like oh when I get it, I know it's real and I should tell everyone but but when I don't have it it's fake.


Yeah, yeah, yep. Right.


It makes no sense.


And like I understand people are saying it's the same thing as I'm not sure if you heard, but like apparently in like the whole mask situation is the same thing as a seatbelt situation.


Yeah.


Apparently in the eighties And 90s people are saying that it's the same thing, but like why should I you know where seat belts, it's not gonna like, is it for me it's for someone else, It's the same thing with mask and I'm like, but there's a difference.


Right. Right. Yeah.


You know, one is a car accident and this is a pandemic where you breathing can kill someone. It's you know, so it's Yeah.


Right. Yeah. You know actually, oh go ahead. Sorry, I actually you can actually take that car thing even further because people go, well I'm not wearing a mask because I don't care if I get sick and it's and the same people would be like, I'm not wearing a seat belt because I don't care if I die when I crash, but it's like the both of those things affect other people and just like a car crash, if you don't wear a seatbelt and you get thrown in your car, loses control, hurt somebody else and people have been ejected out of windshields and been okay and then they lightly tap a car and that person like it killed them, so it it doesn't even make sense.


No, no, it's okay. I was done. Mhm. Yeah.


Oh, and then like, so if we have masks, why do we need social distancing? It's like a car has breaks in a seat belt and an airbag and like all of these things it really is a good comparison and just shows how people are afraid of just change and not knowing other people because they I mean I admit it I've lived in a fairly white bubble my whole life but and I've traveled a decent amount and this might sound dorky but I just really love to watch movies um and T.


What? And thanks.


V. Shows and documentaries and everything because it's like that's something that's like a slice of life from somebody else or this is a story that somebody came up with in their head and they're sharing that with everybody and just Just that and just knowing like people do not, I should say it the other way I don't have to deal with like 90% of the crap a lot of people deal, so I'm fortunate in that regard, but I'm not delusional, that my experiences everybody else's and um we all just have different problems and things that affect us. And I used to work uh like in customer service and like I used to work in a video store and people would come in and get bent out of shape about like a dollar late fee or something like that.


Mhm.


And it was somebody I wish I could remember who said it to me, but somebody said you know that person is not mad about that dollar, there's something else that they're upset about and they want to have control over this one thing just to feel stable and I'm like, oh my god, that makes that makes perfect sense. And so I try to give people a little bit of um cut him some slack and everything, but the ones who were just actively out to care for themselves.


The Karens of the world.


Yes. The karens. That's right.


Oh man.


Yeah. No, I 100% agree with everything you said it. I it's like, you know, there's like, yeah, like, I think the same way, it was like sometimes people don't wear masking like a story and I'm like, okay, is there a reason behind it? But most, you know, definitely the benefit of doubt. But like if there's a reason why you're not wearing a mask, why are you even going to the store in the first place?


Yeah. Oh absolutely. Yeah, no I agree to man, it's nice being smarter and better than other people know, I'm just getting Yeah.


Right. Right. No, it's it's just, I just don't get how like we can rationalize these things out, you know, yet other people have the same information, have access to the same the internet just like we do the same sources of information, but they can't make that connection is in I understand that, you know, America is more of a individualistic community society at the same time.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


Like we America United States was founded based on, you know, unity and community efforts, not individualism. So it's like, it's very, it's i it's and I'm like, look just like you I'm fortunate I'm in a bubble where no, I am surrounded by people who have seen beliefs that me and are more self aware so I can't understand certain things and very I just I just don't understand how people can just justify like that.


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


But and it's just it's just so strange and like I'm like, I don't know like when it comes to politics, it's just like, you know, both sides has bad aspects, but like when you have a president who is not taking a pandemic seriously that just said something about you know, where we are as a nation.


Okay. Mhm.


But that's that's how I perceive it.


No it's true.


It's just and like like are you working like what are you just staying at home?


Yes. Oh I'm sorry, I I thought you were saying like to trump are you working?


Yeah.


And I was like yeah, no um well see and this is another reason why I'm really double fortunate a couple of years ago, I just pretty much crashed on office work and I've been doing it for years and I just crashed and my wife said like well I can support both of us, why don't you write because that's what you want to do?


Uh huh. Yeah.


Um So I did I wrote a novel and I'm editing it right now, so I haven't made a Penny yet.


All right.


Um But I have, I can also say I'd never worked that hard in my life, like it was just daily working on something and I I ended up with this like, 600 page beast of a novel that I'm trying to like hack through and slim down, but um man, so I'm double fortunate.


Mhm.


Um and and I know like not everything works out the way we act, you know, planned for and whatever, but but my wife and I are just trying to be aware of like, where things can go. Maybe maybe her job may or may not be stable, you know, the people at her work don't take this stuff seriously.


Um But she gets to work from home fortunately, which is, which is good, makes both of us relieved. Um But yeah, so that's like I said, I'm really fortunate to be doing what I like to do and hopefully it I make some money someday.


But I just wrote it because it's something I would want to read, I'm like that's how I always feel a watch or read something and I go that person I think that that's meant for me you know and just little things that you can take away from and and um how that stuff affects you and build builds your personality and obviously like storytelling and stuff doesn't make up a whole person.


Yeah. Yeah.


But um I just really like it because it tells me um something about somebody different I guess.


Okay.


So yeah that's a very good question.


What genre is that section?


Uh So it's uh it's fiction uh and it's like adventure, horror comedy. Um And do you know who H. P. Lovecraft is?


That sounds so familiar but Oh yeah.


He's the guy who back in like the 20s and 30s he came up with like Kahului and the neck or not.


Yeah. Okay that's why it sounds when they were Okay.


Yeah. Yeah so I really love dogs. So I made talking dogs and a couple of cats and these people in their little neighborhood like the heroes and there's this giant like other world lead creepy monster thing who is may or may not be indestructible is trying to get dogs so that he can build an army to overtake people and when you know dogs are loyal, so the dogs are like no we're not going to do that.


And so it's like a big there's all kinds of crazy crap in it. I I could take an hour just describing the premise but maybe that's not good.


Yeah.


Um But yeah I just I really like horror, I really like funny horror, adventure is great and then you know there's of course like sad stuff, it has stakes, it's not just goofy all the way through, so um But yeah, I don't know who will read that, but I'm happy that I finished at least, so okay, you know, I'm not um I'm not sure, I've looked at a few Um publishing houses around here and there's one when I was looking for stuff, I actually found the exact genre that I guess I would call my book, which is bizarro fiction, it has um like really over the top, like gore and violence, but you really care about the characters, and I'm like, whoa, perfect.


Yeah. Well that's good though and I guess then after you finished revising and adding it, are you like is it the plan just post it on publish it like independently or like? Uh huh.


And there's um in Portland, there's this um publishing house that does that genre specifically, but their books are generally between like 100 and 200 pages or something like that, they're pretty short, but mine's a epic, crazy thing.


That's part of my thing that I won't cut it down that far if that took off with that publishing house, that'd be great.


I Uh huh.


But I'm pretty sure I'm just going to like self publish online and um I try and market it, I hate that word though. Um try and market it all from home now, where I was kind of thinking about maybe I could go to like comic Cons and get a table and sell it stuff like that, but I think right now it's unfortunately going to be word of mouth I assume, but That step 10 7000 one step 12 Something.


Okay. Yeah.


So Yeah.


Yeah. I'm just curious because I know I've I've read a lot of stuff on how like there's like should you go with publishing companies or should yourself publishing the benefits and eggs on both sides?


Oh yeah, I was just curious and it looks like you know, you've definitely you went like you flogged and stuff so that's good.


Yeah. It's still, you know um knowing very, I think I know one or two people who have actually like published something, but I'm kind of, you know, the good side about the internet is I can go find people who know things are, you know, there's tons of stuff on Youtube about the pros and cons. Um like you said, so yeah, I don't, I don't really know yet. Um, I wish I had a little bit more guidance, but I'll get there I think once it's actually cut down enough and I can have an editor give it a proper read over instead of like my second character, whatever.


Mhm.


So, uh yeah, it's been fun.


It's been weird and I'm I'm very proud of myself for doing it and that doesn't happen very often.


I mean, Hey, I wouldn't be able to write 600 pages of like anything, so that's amazing though.


But you have, you have all those like pharmaceuticals and all that information in your head, right? So Right.


Yes. Way way too much stuff. Yeah.


Yes.


Way too much stuff. But yeah, that's true. And poet, you know, I'm assuming you have a title for this, this uh this novel.


Yeah, yeah.


Right, correct.


It's going to be called The Dogs of Westbury Port and I'm in Oregon. And so I made like a fictional town on the west coast, like a beach town. And even that is like, it's like a little play on a Lovecraft story called The Cats of All Far, and it's this really short story about like, the cats go missing in this town and nobody knows where they went until they show up, but you should look it up if you want the Cats of All Far, and it's probably like a five minute read.


Yeah. Mhm.


Um But so my title was kind of like a little play on that. Yeah, so Oh yeah, and that's part of my novel to as multiple characters are like, pop culture obsessed.


I mean that's I mean, hey, every author has their influences so when the companies are writing so definitely oh my God, such a good show.


So they're dropping references left and right. And I started wondering like, maybe there's too much of that, but I just started watching psych recently and I'm like, is so I started I'm like, look at all the I think I'm gonna be okay in my book because they're constantly dropping references.


Yeah. Uh Dad, I'm okay.


I just watched Tuesday the 17th, which was a lot of fun. It was like the Friday the 13th ounce off.


Do you do you play Spot the pineapple or no?


Oh, few things, right?


Okay.


It's kind of um crap fist bump, there's always a fist bump and I feel like there's a couple of things people say in every episode, like I can't do this right now or something.


What? Yeah, I didn't know that. I know it's always a pineapple in every episode, and like you said the title, it's always a play on on something.


Yeah. Yeah, yeah.


It was it was a good show. Um They have one movie and there's going to be another movie coming up.


Oh, I saw that.


It's coming out this year, Something like that.


Yeah. Yeah.


Right?


Yeah. Yeah, I grew I grew up with it.


Yes, that's awesome.


Very good. Yeah, it's uh for a like a pandemic tv show, It's a good one, It's a perfect one.


I just started season four and I think there's eight seasons, if that's right, but I've been mowing through it and it's been great, it's been a lot of fun. Oh, perfect. Yeah, totally.


So much comedy. Yeah. Yeah.


I watched or I rewatched I guess v for vendetta last night. Um And it's sort of I hadn't watched in a few years and it's sort of shocking how much of that is, like, more realistic than it used to be when I first watched. It's like, oh, man, I hope we never live in a fascist state like this.


Okay. Uh huh.


And then it's like the news is lying about stuff and it's all about control.


Mhm.


There's a virus spread in the world that killed like 100,000 people. Uh There's a civil war in the United States, like it's just nuts.


Yeah.


So, I that ended, I'm like, okay, time for psych made me feel a lot better.


So yes, it does, unfortunately.


Yeah and it's funny how like you know like you said that like it's like we have movies or like references that these things might happen to our society but you know it's just you wouldn't think it happens but apparently does the United States. Yeah, but nice like thanks a good show, the watches here off, especially when there's like nothing new right now because like no production studios are filming or anything.


Right.


Yeah, I haven't been watching anything. Uh huh right there.


I watch too much stuff. Um But it is kind of funny noticing the shows that are obviously being like uh maybe not produced, but they're doing like the post production work on it because a lot of people are using stock footage now, and I feel like and call that stuff out. I'm like, wow, that's generic stock footage. I've seen that one before, so Mhm.


That's funny because yeah, you're right. I think I've noticed in a lot more advertisements so lately because you can't no one is going to be doing that.


Mhm. Right.


Yeah, that's funny. Well that's a good thing to point out. Yeah.


Uh huh.


But all right man. I think we We hit 25 minutes.


Mhm. Yeah, I mean I'll be honest right now, I wish we could talk longer, but I have a project do that I've been protesting on so I actually need to complete that.


Unless there do you want to talk about? Yes. Well, yeah, no worries. Well, I was gonna say if you want to I can give you my email or my facebook thing if you want to shoot me a message sometime or told you though.


Yeah. Oh yeah, I'm in uh facebook would be fine and I really don't I don't use it often, but it's definitely something and definitely I can write it down, yep.


Sure. Sure. So my first name is L. O. U. And uh it's Freetown F.


Yeah. Yeah.


As in frank R. I. T. O. N. People using this video for academic research please just blank out what I said right there. Thank you.


All right.


So yeah.


Um No, I actually will add you after this, but yeah, it's nice, it's definitely is this your second time?


Yeah. Right on uh this is my second time.


First time? Third time talking we're doing this study or? Okay, this is my third time and yeah, it's been pretty great, so I'm not sure if they're doing this on purpose, but like all three of them are more less leaning when it comes to the political spectrum and it's been more tailored towards, you know, no, just similar characteristics.


Oh right on. Yeah. Yeah.


So now if you're doing this the third time I'm assuming, so get someone similar to me or someone even better.


Yeah.


But yeah it's been definitely not talking to you lou.


Yeah. No, you too dan. I appreciate it. Well, good luck on your project and uh well, hopefully chat soon and wow, hopefully I need to knock on.


Yeah. Yeah, no worries. And you good luck in your book. Hopefully I see it. You know, probably maybe on amazon or maybe a new york's best seller. We'll see. Yeah.


There we go. So All right, well, you take care to talk to you soon here.


Okay. Uh yep. Here we go away.


Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Uh huh. Mhm Yeah. Uh huh. Mhm Yeah. Mhm Howdy.


Hello. Yeah sure I just. How's it going? Can you hear me?


Yeah, can you hear me?


Yes I can just wanted having trouble during work earlier.


Uh huh That was me yesterday.


I'm like oh God don't break. Yeah.


I did one of these interviews and I couldn't get audio for like five solid minutes.


Yeah yikes and I don't get it because microphones and webcams they'll work one minute and then literally the next minute they just stop there's no rhyme or reason you're like okay what is different about this?


I was like what is happening? It's so frustrating. Oh I am super glad my kids don't use it for school and I'm super happy about that.


Six last 60 seconds?


Like I've seen so many people real stressed out about doom and all that stuff.


Oh yeah we we have teams for my work and luckily we don't need to video conference very often but we do call through teams a lot especially cause I'm training a new person and it's always a little bit of a roll of the dice.


Okay right.


Like is it gonna work? Probably.


From what do you do?


But um I work in customer service in a billion department for an insurance company.


No that well wow, that sounds horrible and yeah.


So I basically spend all day telling people yes you have to pay your bill. No it's not optional. No I can't change the amount etcetera etcetera. I mean it's better than what I Jill so everything is better than that.


Right.


But yeah I would really enjoy getting out of customer service at some point in the next, I don't know decade would be an improvement.


Yeah. Uh I mean at least you have job security now though like.


What about you? That's true. I do have lots of job security and I can't discount that. I've been employed the entire time despite the pandemic. Um And I get to work from home full time currently so that's awesome.


Mhm. Yeah.


I don't ever want to go back to the office.


Yeah. What theoretically, where are you from?


Although it it'll happen eventually. I'm sure I'm originally from Illinois right now. Live in Iowa.


Right on my, one of my best friends on the salon in Iowa and what the hell is it called?


Yeah wow.


Urban something she does amazing hair products. Like she moved from, I'm from new york and she moved from here to Iowa, I was like of all places why Iowa.


Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah I Iowa for college and I just ended up really liking it.


No idea.


So I went home for a little bit to Illinois but then I was like everything is so much cheaper to move back.


Yeah.


But yeah I can't imagine living somewhere like new york and going to the middle like smack dab in the middle of the country and look at me fair enough.


I mean to be fair though like the new york that we live in was super rural, like it's not new york city, it's definitely like upstate, you know, New york unfortunately is not all awesome. Like most of it is far and the occasional mountain, you know everyone.


Yeah, yeah, yeah, fair enough. I was all farm aside from, I think there's three cities, four I guess.


But for the most part we're all farm, it can be.


Oh it's not the worst or at least it's peaceful.


Yeah. And I mean I live in a fairly populous city, so it's not so bad. I the driving is so you have to drive everywhere basically. Like if I want to go see my family have to drive, it's so boy.


Oh yeah.


But other than so bad and it is kind of central, at least of the things I need, so I can kind of get wherever I need to go, which is nice.


Yeah. It's weird how you like find that no matter where you go like you'll find a spot like okay, this is gonna be my restaurant, this is going to be like the thing that I do all the time.


Yeah. Mm right, mhm Uh huh Right, definitely.


Like this place has palatable coffee. Like you find what you need. I feel like wherever you go, currently that is my house and I would love to not leave it anytime in the near future.


I think that's true. You, I think it's like the human nature to nest or whatever. You just, you're like, okay, I like this feeling from this place. This is my spot. I'm with you there. I mean like I know that a lot of people are taking the most mostly isolation tough, but not me.


I'm like, oh my God, I don't have to leave and people aren't going to be like, man, you have a problem. Yes, this is my dream.


Right. I've trained my whole life for this. Like I have bookshelves, I have video games, like I am okay, you know?


Mhm. Mhm. Right. I'm missing way. I'm like, okay, I have the internet. We had a bad storm not too long ago and then I didn't and then it was kind of painful. But now I have the internet.


Yeah, it's beautiful.


I have my books have been movies and video games. I don't have to interact with humans unless I want to like from it's perfect.


I'm not really mad about it. And I kind of feel bad because you have all those extroverts friends who are like, this is my nightmare, right?


Mhm. Like it's so hard. It's so trouble. And I'm like, oh yeah, that really sucks. I'm sorry. You feel that way. Yeah.


Like I can get whatever food I want to deliver to my house now.


I feel like right now I'm definitely with you there.


Like, this is amazing. I've been waiting for this, you know?


I didn't, I wasn't particularly outside before that, but I mean we went out, you know? But mostly my boyfriend went out, we would just go drive around or we would go out to eat or something.


Yeah.


Like I am perfectly happy driving around and picking up the food and bring it all instead and not having to deal with too many other people.


That one, if you take me to to different spots to pick up food, like we're golden.


Mhm.


That is my ideal date. Pick me up the job, like the java shake from Arby's and like anything else.


Mhm, mm hmm.


We're good. Okay. It's not too bad. My husband's the same way. We don't really like party. You know what I mean? Like we'll go out here and there and like if our friends are going out to the bar will hang out for a little while, but it's not my thing.


Yeah, say I'm the same and my boyfriend, he's fairly extroverted, but he doesn't like big intense things.


I would much rather be home. Yeah.


He'd much rather do, like a few people playing board games at the house or so he was upset for a few things we missed, we missed our friend's birthday because it literally got canceled and we missed her wedding got rescheduled.


Oh, hey.


But like other than that, he's like whatever, he misses having board game days, but like theoretically if we masked up and stuff, it wouldn't be the end of the world.


Right. What do you guys play for? Board games?


Uh Oh God.


No, I'm in because I have quite the collection. Like I'm committed now.


We uh yeah, we have an entire like plastic garage shelf, like the dangerous to organize a graduate of an entire one filled with board games and we've got a little bit of everything. We have stuff you've never even played before because I got him a board game subscription for his birthday slash christmas one year.


Oh, I love that you guys played munchkin at all.


But we got like 4-5 new games a month on just different themes. Like sometimes we're small card games, some of our big board games and so we haven't even played half of them. We actually, we should really go through them and decide what we actually want and what we don't because like it's been over two years, we haven't even touched some of them. They're completely brand new. Uh Yeah, we have a couple of those actually, I used to play those a lot when I was in college I had some friends who had like four versions and every time party we'd break out those uh Mhm.


No, there's that every college, I swear to God, like every single college party I've ever been to.


Yeah mm okay, I'm not quite that dedicated but no we definitely have munchkin.


There's always that group of kids. That's like I have every edition of munchkin ever made and I know all the rules. My heart. Let's go. Yeah, but no, but I'm interested.


Uh Got my favorite is probably a board game called Arabian Nights, have you ever heard of that? Okay, so you have to like games that require a little bit of setup but basically then choose your own adventure story set in like the story of the Arabian Nights, kind of you pick from like one of six characters and you have a specific question trying to accomplish. But then each new place you go, you get kind of like side quests that you can and you you basically you have to choose your action so they give you a table uh and you choose your action from that table and then someone else reads the result of what happens to you. So it's really just, it's really random and I've played it probably 14 or 15 times and I've never had the same story twice. Like I don't even think I've seen someone have my story before. Like it's just it's very a lot of fun.


That's crazy.


It does require a bit of setup though and you have to have at least like four people because you pass the books around so that you can't get a hint of what your result would be.


Right?


But I like choose your own adventure games a lot. And that one's a lot of fun.


I feel like that definitely feels a lot to me like the video games I play, so I would probably love that under hurry.


Mm Yeah, I like choose your adventure video against too.


You know what are the odds you play?


So yeah, it's kind of right up my alley.


Elder scrolls online?


I don't play online, I have played before, but I've never played online. I don't so my boyfriend is much more into video games than I am.


Yeah.


He dominates the station more so than I do.


Yeah, it's super fun.


But I will I I do like owner scrolls though. He bought that one just for fun and I played it and not him. So.


And it's a time killer too. Like you can just get lost and wandering these worlds and like picking flowers, which I do sometimes I'm like really need to like decompress, let's go wander the fields in some fantasy world.


Yeah. Right.


You know what I mean? Like?


Yeah, absolutely not.


Plus it's so hard to fuck good to player board games. Like we've been struggling so hard to find something that For two people but still fun and like challenging.


Mhm mm. Uh So it Target has a target has to choose your own adventure board game that sci fi themed. They borrow a lot from Star Trek and Star Wars like very thinly too.


Oh yeah, come on.


The main characters is a princess or a queen on her home planet and one of the story options, her home planet gets destroyed while she's watching. So like one time you can land your you can land your ship on what you think is a lake or a patch of like mossy land and spoil and it's a big monster so they borrow heavily. But it that one you can do with two people and it's because you just play multiple characters are four characters.


If you don't have four people you just each take two. And so that's a lot of fun.


Right.


It's remember what it's called. I think it's literally called choose your own, choose your adventure and then it has a step.


Looks like we cover those books. Right?


Yes exactly.


I've definitely seen that at Target. We tried to play, We tried to play the Oregon trail with two people recently and it literally played for 10 minutes.


Yeah that was good. Do we also have like a haunted house version? But we didn't like that one as much? Yeah. Right.


Died like 17 times.


Mhm.


I was like this is not even like this game is not awesome at all.


Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


I thought it would be better than computer but it's not.


Yeah. Yeah we we bought the Oregon trail game too. But yeah with only two people it's just very it's too challenging like you have to be you also want to have a chance to win with two people.


Yeah.


There's just I think it's going to be like what one in a million to win with only two like Okay that's cool.


Yeah. Yeah. There's it's not even worth it. Like we um I bought Labyrinth and I really loved that. Labyrinth is a super game. I don't know if you've ever seen it, it's like so you have the board and it's all a bunch of moving squares and you have one square that you have to use to push the other squares out of the way and basically like undo to get to certain cards.


Mhm. And remember? Really? Right okay that sounds good, I like that one out.


It's actually really awesome. It's a good strategy game, It's pretty basic but it's a good time.


Mhm mm My guess is that people liked it.


It's It's like $40 on Amazon now I bought it for like 20 and I don't know why it's so expensive. Now I just recently looked at it to buy for someone else, I was like yeah okay.


They Right.


Yeah it's like that I've been wanting to try ticket to ride because they look awful, they look like they're, there's so many options.


Uh huh. Yeah they deal with girl.


Do they have like a bunch of different like add ons for it too, I think.


Yeah I like games that do the expansions is I like I like building up the world even bigger.


Mhm.


Yeah we do we do you play right Yeah we do you play D.


Why don't you just put me in here? Okay. I was like at this point like you're already there. Yeah.


And D. Ooh that's a good game. Have you ever heard of Expedition?


No.


Okay so order from amazon, I'm not even kidding do it, it is DND but in card form and they have this entire database online of these stories that people just write and submit of storylines you can follow.


Oh, that's literally the best part.


So basically you the cards come and they have all these different characters you can choose. Uh and then you also choose traits and so like there's a plus trait in the minus trait. So that kind of it affects how you do things. But then yeah you like you just go on these virtual stories that are on their free app and you make your decisions just like in DND except you don't have to go through all the creating a character and buying all the items and stuff. So they get much if that part is fun. But this is it's a lot of fun even if you like traditional DND because it's a little bit more fast paced and you can just kind of get right into it and there's and I like the part where people can kind of just write their own stories and put it in and you just follow along with the app then you can play it on your own completely.


Right?


It can be a one person game where you can play it with like eight people.


Oh, I love that. That would be great actually.


We Yeah, we have a board game days with friends and we brought it to one pre pandemic obviously just so they can try it out because the this other couple were playing with their also into Dnd and no joke. We played one round and then we played in the whole rest of day for 14 straight hours because we're having so much.


Yes.


And um some of the creators, they do like multiple part stories, which is a lot of fun and you do items and stuff too, but you get it a little bit more organically, like, you know, as it comes through with the uh with the stories, but no expeditions, a lot of fun.


That right.


And they have an expansion now they added tech stuff uh so that you can like, you can combine magic and tech now, which is a lot of fun. They also added skills. You can you get the opportunity when you level up to either uh like swap out um abilities that your character has or you can get these things called skills I think is what they're called, like gives you a bonus to certain checks because you still have to do roll checks and stuff like that, like you have different cards which like I usually pay an archer and you have different cards that allow you to do things like take a shot for five damage and stuff like that, you have to roll on, you know and pass all of these things and so the skills can help you pass your role checks and stuff.


Right. How crazy is it that in 2020 we can find other adults that play d.


Yeah. Well three.


and D like this easily. I love that.


Yeah, me too. We've been trying to find, we were prepared and trying to find a good group here. We've got a friend who we play with but we keep we keep running into drama filled DND groups and I'm kind of like, dude, we're in our thirties. Can we?


And we're also all playing D and D. Like, are you kidding?


Mm hmm. Can we, can we skip this part? Because like I was able to put up with a certain amount of it in college when I first started, but I'm like, I'm too old for this. Can't we just play the game and move on with our lives and just play the game, wow.


people are crazy man. Like I've just been 31 and I feel like I have younger friends and I just don't want to live that life.


I no, Yeah, what?


It's so hard. Like it's emotionally exhausting. My friends stuff will literally called me and just tell me about her life and I'm like I'm tired. Like what are you doing? I'm tired for you. Like living vicariously through you is exhausting. Like what was yourself I've committed today.


No, I'm definitely with you. I have have some older friends and I have some younger friends but you have the younger friends, they talk about their lives and I'm like, you do all of that. You go through all of that. I'm like why you're a human stop. But I keep telling people, I like getting older. I'm just, I just turned 32 of everyone's like, you're gonna hate being 30 you're going to go through it really bad. I'm like, are you kidding me, thirties awesome. And they're like, well it'll probably hit you at 31 once you realize you're officially out of your twenties, I'm like, Dude, I am a 90 year old woman, I am aging into my personality, this is fine. Like and I am one year closer to being able to yell at kids to get away from my house and dress up like a witch for Halloween and make people think my house is haunted you around.


Yeah, I love that here for it.


Like I'm how much coffee to my goal? Mm Yeah, wow.


I wish more people would like that. My neighborhood sucked for Halloween. Like nobody put up lights like it was so lame. I feel like I remember when I was a kid, it was such a huge deal.


Uh huh Oh.


You'd have people like wandering the neighborhood with baked knives, like scaring the shit out of kids and now it's just so boring world commitment followed up by the two most stressful holidays of the year though.


Mhm. I just it is. And I'm like, what is wrong? Where is the joy you people like, I know we're all getting older, but it isn't part of getting older finding joy in something like, Halloween is the best. It's my it is the only holiday, it's the best holiday because you get candy, you can dress up however you want and it's totally acceptable and it doesn't have the same family pressure that like christmas or thanksgiving. Like Exactly, like you can do it if you want to stay home and do nothing to watch horror movies, you can you want to stay home and do nothing but watch other movies. You can, if you want to go out dressed up as something crazy, you can like it's the happiest holiday.


That's the, you start on such a high note and it just like declines.


Yeah, it's true that that is the danger of Halloween, is that like, if you really get into it like I do then Yeah, it's immediately followed by everyone shoving thanksgiving and christmas down your throat and your like, stop, I just want to ride the Halloween high for just eight or nine more months. That's it. Like word.


I went into Michael's and they had christmas shit like at the beginning of october and I was like, I'm quitting. This is dumb.


It's so dumb.


I don't want this seriously.


I can't stand it. I'm like, okay guys, fine, november 1st break, break out the christmas stuff, whatever, but like come on, you gotta gotta hold off until after Halloween. Let us enjoy october Uh huh.


And I like, I'm in upstate new york. Fall is real here. Like we have actual seasons all year round where like I can actually enjoy fall, Let me have it.


Mhm.


I don't need to know it's gonna suck when it happens and really be shitty.


Mhm Yeah.


It gets to like negative 30 where I live like no exaggeration, negative 30 nothing more.


Yeah, I'm jealous. You guys get actual seasons because for us fall typically last like two weeks and that's it. And then, and it shouldn't be, but it just seems like it gets worse. It like fog gets shorter every single year drives me a little bit bonkers spring to this year. Like we had like two weeks of nice weather after winter and then it wrapped it up to like 80. I'm like, what is happening? No.


I don't want 80 is not for me.


Yeah, I don't want extremely extreme cold. I just want, I want my fallback.


If we could do follow you around, I have googled this literally and northern California is your best bet.


Mhm, mm hmm. Yeah, interesting.


Their temperature is like 57.


Perfect.


That's what I'm saying. Like I could live, Oh so what does he do?


Yeah. What? Right. And I have to try and talk my boyfriend into that. He won't because his parents are in Wisconsin, but that's my ideal situation or I keep trying to convince him we should move to the mediterranean. And he's like, it's not, it's not that hot on the water. Like the water keeps it pretty temperate. Like you would like that weather. Yeah, One of their is 30° so he isn't nobody star.


Oh dear God, my winter double my driveway guy.


Yeah, he likes winter. I'm like, what is wrong with you? No.


Like yeah dude, you don't like winter until you're like, I don't know, I can't imagine a human being that actually enjoys winter because I've lived with it my whole life.


Right. Sure. Mhm. Well. Mm.


Like I'm originally from Buffalo which obviously worst rap for winter mood farther upstate and it's colder and crappy er with less to do.


Mhm. Right. Uh huh.


I'm like, this is not ideal at all.


Very. Uh huh. I think he runs really warm so and he doesn't like being uncomfortable. So I think that's it. But I'm like, that's no excuse. And also you're not as warm as you think you are calm down.


No, you go outside. I just need the lack of like enjoyable activities.


Yes. And yeah.


I don't want to go out. I don't snowmobile. Like I've never even been on a snowmobile Any length of time outside.


Um yeah, like I used to enjoy sledding as a kid and I think sometimes like, okay, I would maybe enjoy that again.


Sopes like a bad plan for me if it's below like 45.


I mean, I just, well, it's like my perfect winter is it stays, You know, above 45 and doesn't really know how and then all of a sudden for late two days it snows a lot that I happen to have off really great point, happen to have off work and then I can go back and then it goes away, it melts and real life.


I know. Yeah, I love them. I kind of love that though. Like that would be ideal though because after christmas happens, I'm like, okay, we can be done now.


Yeah, yeah, exactly.


Like I have that right Dude shoveling out six ft of snow from my driveway is in no way fun literally ever.


Like I see the benefit of a white christmas, I'll concede people that are like, you know, I could even put up with two weeks of snow around christmas, you know, after it for kids who have christmas break they want, you know, so you can play outside or whatever, but then, you know, let's just melt that down. Bring back a little bit of the warmth extends for an in fall. Yeah, probably.


And I hate it. So two weeks it's fine for me.


Yeah. Right. Yeah, No, I can't, we're still in apartments and I mean at least there's, although this department's pretty good, they put out salt for us. Last department only did sand.


Mm Our community literally put out like giant, like those steel barrels full of like sand salt mix just on the corner for people to like grab because it's just so important and they really encourage you like salting the sidewalks and shit.


I don't mean to happen so I didn't really understand their thought process there, but that was a pain, but this one is pretty good, but I don't miss you. Mhm Right. Uh huh. Oh yes. Nice.


So they're like on every corner in like the village I live in so people theoretically will salt, but it's a super small towns, like a ton of kids walk to school so there, that's why they like crazy about it.


But mm hmm. Mhm Well, yeah, I mean that makes sense like, oh God, I remember when I was in college, we were, my campus was on a giant hill, like going up the hill downhill, uphill, downhill all the time.


Of course.


They would only stand exclusively sand. I'm like, what is wrong with you? Salt is not that expensive. Like for the amount of tuition or pain, you can at least salt it like I'm going into a lot of debt.


Mhm. That was no state paid off last year paid off last year.


Dammit salt fall down a giant hill and break something. Yeah. Okay.


Dude, it feels so good.


I've been writing, what was that first?


It feels so good to be finally done, jesus.


I believe that it does. I will probably at this point I feel like I'll never be done. But so I had to stop part the way through because I ran out of money. So it's just kind of been sitting there waiting for me because I wasn't able to get a better job to pay it off easier. So now I'm back in school hoping to finish and then I should theoretically have enough money to pay it off in a timely fashion. But if that just I missed my goal is just to die with it because I can't make, I'm not married and I don't have any Children, can't make someone else pay it.


I don't hate that. Right.


There's a little and so Michael is to get a better, get a good accountant job so I can pay it off and if that doesn't fall through, I'm gonna die with it so that someone else has to waive it.


Uh huh. I kind of love that though.


Mhm.


Mine got paid off because they took my entire tax return.


What, wow.


So yeah, I mean like it hurt at the time, but now that it's gone right the day that had happened, I was like, what do you mean?


No. Yeah, but you know, you feel amazing, you're like, it's not over my head, it's a miracle.


I don't get a tax return this year Like this physically hurts me but like wait okay so now I don't have somebody calling me all the time being like I need all of the money that you possibly make the end.


Uh huh. Uh huh. Oh right. Yeah.


I ended up going to school for philosophy and then becoming a chef. So all of that money I spent intuition was literally garbage right?


Yeah. The money I spent previous to this was worthless because I was a history major, I was going to teach and then Didn't finish and now I've gone two billion in accounting. But accounting has a much less annoying career prospects than teaching so can't complete.


And probably again more stable that war or make it definitely take it.


Yeah, and if I can stay with my current company, they'll keep paying for it right now, they're paying for my degree, they reimburse me as long as I get an A in entirety if I get to be there percent. So theoretically I can finish this whole accounting degree if I can stay with them and not essentially not pay for very much of it. So that works for me. Mhm.


My husband's boss, he works for a dentist, ended up paying for his schooling to like finish dentistry school.


Yeah. Well, mm.


It was awesome. I for that I am here for employers actually doing a thing right?


Yeah, absolutely. Well, and it's such a raw, such a huge draw.


If you're not going to pay me. Oh yeah did we make it donald?


I'm just uh yeah, looks like we we hit 25 exactly. I know they say we should. Yeah, that would really quick. Probably gives me a lot in common, but it's actually been absolutely the 1st 1st I talked to asking questions like he didn't really engage much and I'm like, okay, I'm struggling to find anything we have in common here like, but also we can start something happening and said asking questions luckily I had some ready but I just kept going on my list.


Right? Dude, I've had way more painful conversations with people like that. Yeah Dude I had like this 50 year old Asian guy who barely spoke English from Florida and I was like, I'm dying. I what can we talk about?


What?


Dude? Like I got nothing please.


Right.


You are kind of And he was just in this like weirdly militant room.


Uh huh. And right.


I'm like this is so creepy. I hate every second of this. I'm just going to talk as much as I can and get that money like staring at the clock.


All right. Just going to keep this going, keep us going, come help finish this and get paid position nice tonight.


Right? All right, what was nice talking to you later?


Do you do? Yeah.


Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Hello.


Hi.


Good, how are you?


Not too bad. Oh.


Is it nighttime where you are?


Uh no.


Mhm.


Dinner time White.


Oh, Okay.


It's around 9:45 where I am?


Okay. We're about are you okay?


Um in the east coast of the United States Georgia.


West Coast?


Yes, we're supposed to be talking about, Yeah, I thought it said something about questions.


Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. Um I'm not really sure what, how women together. Uh What?


Uh huh.


Yes impressions.


No, I didn't see any.


Okay.


Um yeah, so I work in with nonprofits, what do you do?


Um Yeah, I'm a medical researcher.


Mhm. Oh, that's interesting, like.


Mm. So what area of um what you and I think you're kind of profit um Kind of charitable cause fucking Yes.


Mhm. It's like for art and dance um for kids, Yeah. Mhm.


Yeah. I used to live in Australia and there was always a lot of commotion about how there's not enough funding for the arts I think about my appreciation or that kind of stuff.


Yeah. Yeah. Same here in the States. How long were you in Australia?


And I grew up in Australia. I'm relatively us actually, but you know.


Okay. Okay. Yeah. So how long have you been to the, in the U. S. Okay. So pretty very recently actually, yeah.


Yeah. Well, yeah.


Is your family still in Australia?


Mhm. Yeah. Everyone back in Australia. I just moved over here for a job.


Mhm.


Mhm. Yeah. Um So how long have you been in the U. S.


Oh, I was born here, so yeah, my whole life, mm hmm.


Okay, yep. Um How long are you? Haven't you been on your current organization?


Mhm. Not too long either about, I only started in january, so it's only been like about five months.


And of course it was interrupted by the whole covid crisis.


Okay.


So are you stable still able to work remotely?


Yes, because I do um biomedical research.


Okay. Mhm.


Some of my aspect is essential for the union.


Uh Yes.


Yeah.


Uh I've been doing remote some remote stuff but it's hard to do a lot of this stuff I would do um Normally so there's just less work ST Atlanta.


How about yourself? Yeah. Uh what's the bu based in, I'm in California.


How about you?


Northern California.


And uh I have a friend who works in um at the shell um power grid for the shell um whatever the shell facility and near san Francisco and his work is also essential.


Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Mhm.


Mhm. The healthy covid situation where you are now.


Um It's okay I mean um thankfully none of my family has gotten sick so that's good.


Yes.


We started um social distancing early just in our family but um I mean you might have heard Georgia is opening up starting to was one of the first states to start opening things up again so but we're not rushing to get out so.


Yes. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


Yeah how about you?


Yeah. Um California is on the opposite end where we were very early with the shelter in place and I think our governor has been very has been very um cautious, proceed with opening, you know, things like that.


Yeah. Mhm.


But actually hospital and we haven't really been inundated with cases because yeah, I think at any one time in my hospital particular we've been had like 10 cases max mm so nothing like new york.


That's good though. Yeah. Oh you work in the hospital? Okay, mm. Okay, that's good.


Um I brought some friends who work at the presbyterian Hospital in new york and it's apparently chaos.


Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah I'm sure it is.


Yeah.


I think people here aren't or most people are trying even if they are sick they're trying to not go to the hospital so so you usually end up getting the really critical cases I've heard.


Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is even if you go to hospital, they're very hesitant to actually test you.


But I know someone who ended up having COVID-19 and He went in and they tested him for like 5:16 before they even resorted to COVID testing.


Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah because they're right, they're looking for other things.


Like are you testing negative for the other flu and stuff?


I heard that too.


Hopefully things get better soon.


Yeah. Yes, hopefully. Mhm.


Um So did you study in the university?


Yes. Um I studied anthropology and then I went back for public policy.


Okay. Nice. Uh Where did you study?


Yes. What? Uh in Houston? An undergrad at least.


Yeah and then in Georgia player, a technical uh Georgia tech.


Uh huh. Yeah.


Is texas and Georgia are very different.


Um yeah it's at least Houston and where I'm from are pretty different because there's actually where I went to undergrad, it's it's basically right downtown and they have um, they have good like public transportation and the university was actually in the medical center, so that was kind of interesting.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


It was like in the part of the city that um a lot of the hospitals were in. Um and there's the weather is pretty different as well.


Yeah.


So I mean what have you liked or what have you noticed that you miss or is different from Australia since you've been here a year?


Mhm. one of the things you mentioned actually public transport uh public transport in California is absolutely terrible.


Hey? Uh huh. That's supposed to be one of the better ones in the country.


Yeah. Yeah.


We just don't value public transport in the United States as much as other countries do.


Really? Yeah. Yeah. Um I found out being a very severe lacking aspect, very hard to get around uh like once I got here I think in the first month or so, I was like I need a car, I just can't live without a car within back in Australia, it was very easy to get around with public transport.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm.


I say for example if a trip will take you 30 minutes by car, it took public transport, it might be like 40, minutes.


Yeah. A trip that would take 20 minutes by car.


Oh yes.


Take it like two hours as many buses.


Are you um is there other the buses where you are using um like a tram rails and stuff? Is there in your bark?


And there's like And the other thing is this train the trains are really bad and it's run by like four or 5 different companies.


Oh yeah, mm hmm. Uh huh.


So like when you go on one you buy a ticket for that one and you can't use the other system.


Yeah. Yeah, yep.


The one thing that like back where are from with one unified system so we just one ticket and then you use the entire network.


Yeah. Yeah that makes more sense. It was it's kind of like that in um I think in a in a few cities in the United States I think D. C. Has a pretty good Um you know 11 card gets you everywhere using the trains and the underground system so.


Mhm mm.


Unfortunately I haven't had much chance of trouble here.


Mhm mm hmm. Mhm mm mm.


Was having to use some troubling. But then covid 19 everything telling him.


Yeah. Yeah there's a lot of good trips I think, I mean there's a lot of good uh if you like spending time in nature, probably a lot of places you could visit in California but now that everyone's on lockdown, I don't know.


Yes. Okay. Yeah. Mhm. Any any word from your workplace when you would be able to return to normalcy?


No not really. It minds like a it's like a small organization so it's even um it's a lot of families come in so they're being cautious okay.


Mhm. Uh huh. Yeah. Yes, there have been you decide to go into that area of non profit.


Um um I mean kind of accidentally actually because I was more interested in uh natural resources and like natural resources policy and but this organization is one that popped up that was really close to where I live and I knew some of the people who um like go to who our clients there.


Okay. Yeah. Mhm, yep. Mhm.


So how did you end up in your field?


Mhm. Mhm. Um So I went to a university in Australia and initially I was going to do medicine, so I went to the university because I got into undergrad and I got a guaranteed place in medicine afterwards.


Yeah mm Yeah so on take me to.


But in my 30 I had a lecture from a fantastic professor who studied, studied muscle stem cell biology and just after the election, I was so fascinated by the hypnotic and he was just such a a charming, he spoke with a lot of passion about his area.


Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Right. The mhm mm mm.


So I had a chat to him afterwards and he said, oh so this work in my the first master of my last year and he was like you if you're interested come come to my lab and the second semester give research trial.


Mhm.


So I did and I loved it.


Yeah.


Um I guess so.


Yeah. Yeah.


Also because like growing up in an asian household, is that pressure to go do medicine? And is that ideas like you should do medicine, cure cancer, cure HIV, whatever else.


Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah exactly.


And like, I think I realized along the way that doctors or physicians aren't, wants to actually find cures for diseases. It, if that's the real reason I wanted to go into that area, then I research and find that for research.


That's really the answer.


Mhm. Yeah.


So when I made that realization, it became pretty clear path um from the pursuit of PhD and then at the end of my PhD year, I was offered a position here at stanford and it's hard to say no to.


Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Mhm. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Can I just say no to that?


Uh, and here I am, I'm doing what's called a postdoctoral fellowship.


Yes.


Some people training for four years.


And how far are you into that?


Our first to, well towards the end of it, three more years.


Okay. Mhm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah that's pretty cool.


Yeah, mm.


Uh in my um the underground I went to there were a lot of people who were you know interested in uh the medical fields. So I have a couple of friends also who are one of them just got his PhD and is now doing he's doing research too but he's still in Houston.


Mhm, mm. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah.


Um I think he was he was studying uh uh because he's he likes like sports stuff so he was studying C.


Mhm. Mhm. Yeah.


T. E. S. Um Or like the traumatic brain injuries.


Yeah. Mhm. Okay.


Oh um and now works in Houston. Another one of my friends actually did go on to become a doctor but she's in um she's in Alabama Birmingham.


Mhm. Right. Yeah. Yeah.


So and it's interesting there because they only have that basically they only have that one hospital system.


Yeah.


So um I think they're pretty busy with everything that's going on.


Um But yeah so do you do do you still do stem cell research?


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.


Mhm.


Um So I specifically look at muscle stem cells. Um I don't know if you know this condition but I looked at one called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but it's a disease that only um predominant only affects boys and it causes wasting of the muscles, a fatal disease.


Uh huh. Mhm. Mhm.


So patients normally has to come to the disease when between mid twenties thirties. So I'm looking at a way to um it's caused by a defect in one specific gene.


I'm looking at a way in which we can take the muscle stem cells from the patient themselves, fix that gene and then put it back into the patient hoping that themselves then eventually replaced the at least enough of the muscle that it becomes functional.


Oh that's pretty cool. Yeah I do like uh it's really medical research and biomedical research is really cool but I was never really a fan of chemistry so I never did it myself.


Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, mm.


But yeah, talk to it with, I talk about it with my friends sometimes, so.


Mhm. Yeah.


Yeah. I just wish like both the us and as well as the Australia would provide more funding biomedical research.


Yeah. Yeah. It's not like the Flash, the flashy type of thing that people usually like to that really takes most of the funding because it doesn't like produce the huge results that I was like, oh look what we did.


You know, his research is that slower and a lot of trial and error.


So yeah.


Yeah. But with the uh circumstances around covid 19 I hope people have more of an appreciation of how important science is to be well being of both the economy as well as to individual people.


Okay. You could only help. Yeah, we could only hope that it does.


Yeah.


But I don't really, I don't know, we'll find out, especially if this is supposed to last until I think now they're saying 20, or something, at least some effects of it and probably longer than that as well.


So.


Okay. Yeah. It's kind of been an interesting year.


It's been so much chaos.


Mhm, mm.


So we started the year with the Iran stuff and then something close to my heart.


Mhm.


Bushfires in Syria.


Oh yes. Yeah.


That that was crazy.


And then now with COVID-19 situation so it's like one after after another.


Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Because yeah, I was just looking at someone who was saying, oh I thought, you know, everyone thought that the brush fires was going to be the, you know the story of the year and then Covid happens.


So it's just a huge disaster, unexpected disasters to multiple in a row this year, so I don't know.


Mhm. Yes. I know some people in Australia who were like heavily affected by bushfires And in a way they, they are a bit upset because like there was a lot of attention on it and like directed efforts to help people overcome that situation because of it's been kind of overshadowed by the COVID-19 situation.


Oh wow. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah.


A lot of these swept under the rug. So now the politicians are really thinking about how to help people um, would come with fires anymore.


Right. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah.


And then the question is only worse because like if you were like just kind of recover from losing their homes, losing the business and then the COVID-19 situation makes it that much harder to recover.


Uh huh. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, if it's compounded, that's yeah, that's terrible.


Mhm. So tell me a bit more about your organization that you work for?


Like what kind of area of arts?


Yeah. Um they do like we do uh theater mostly.


Oh yeah.


So it was basically because it was such a small place, there were a bunch of lessons like you could take and we also worked a lot with home school kids, so kids would come in to take guitar lessons or drum lessons or art classes like visual art and then there are also a bunch of dance classes like um ballet and tap.


Mm.


And also some there were some broadway shows that um that we would put on.


Nice.


And there were also some adult class like those um fitness dance classes for adults as well.


Mm hmm.


But you know the the Children's classes make more money than the adults classes so there's more variety of those.


Yeah. Yeah. Mhm.


Um But yeah I was I would I just started there like I said so it was kind of interesting.


It was it was fun to see all the kids come in um You know and learn learn some new art art programs up until we stopped we stopped coming in.


Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So what kind of age group that is mainly working with?


Well we have um there was there was even we have teenagers so all the way up to high school and then there was also like a couple classes for babies like three and four year olds. That was my favorite there we call it um what is it called?


Oh, a lot of very early.


I think they call it creative movement classes, and but we call it baby ballet, they like come in their little leotards and kind of just bounce around, so that was cute.


Yeah. Yes.


But yeah, so basically Like three year olds to 18 year olds I guess, and then adults can keep coming.


Yeah. So how do you get the little ones to focus and like game, but Yes.


I have no idea, thankfully, I didn't have to do that part, but like I think from talking to the instructor who did like sometimes the baby's just don't don't feel like listening one day, so you're just like try to get them to do something, and a lot of the times you see them or they try to like run out to their parents and the parents have to like go back and go back in, so it's just I guess it's just you have more flexible with them, let them run around more.


Okay. Yes. Mhm. Yes, I can appreciate that because I'm involved in a program here cause scientist Elementary and what we do is we go to a primary school once a month.


Mhm. Yeah.


So we've run experiments for um From Grade one through to six.


Good.


And I find it really hard to keep the little ones engaged and like listen, like we would teach them a lesson of magnets and we were handing out magnificent.


Mhm. Mhm.


They can play with all of them will be like magnets. I I don't, you never gave me any magnets.


Who do you leave with? Less um Less magazine came in with sometimes?


Yeah. Yeah. We, we have a lot to make sure that we don't just lose them all.


That's cool.


Oh yeah.