That is disrespectful.


Mhm. It sucked.


So whoa, okay. Sorry, that just you were there for a month.


Oman.


Yeah.


30, it was 32 days. A little bit over.


Uh huh. That sounds terrible. But you did it, you know, you can do it.


Yeah. I'm gonna do it will be better once.


Hopefully things will be better this summer. And it will go back to fort Knox and you know, I'll be able to actually sleep inside some of the time.


Yeah man.


And apparently at fort Knox they have like actual like you go in there chow hones for like hot food and you don't have to eat your pre packaged bullshit.


Mhm, wow.


All right. So awful.


Yes, is that a good thing?


Well with the benefit was that lost 22 lb bollocks. I mean I had maybe 10 that like to get me down to like healthier and I want past that.


No. Mhm.


So is a little unhealthy then.


Okay. I was saying flashbacks to win. Um my residents were like one of them, his name is Cameron and he was like uh because my nickname is G so he just goes, G I gained £25 and this man was skinny and I was like where he goes? It's muscle and I'm like, okay, because I was wearing because there's there's no meat on your body third.


Mhm. Yeah. Mhm.


Uh huh. He was like, yeah, you know, I was I guess he wasn't like another weight class, which was like a big deal to him. I don't remember why, but he was really hype about it.


Maybe you should take a rest for your stuff.


Mhm I don't know.


Playing. Um That sounds gross.


I just remember. I think he was on I think he was in the Navy branch.


All I see possible.


Mhm. I could be wrong because he was either in the Navy Ranch or the Air Force branch. I don't it was like a room full of six guys. They were all in ROTC and they were they were they were like split between Navy and Air Force. No, I think he was in the Navy because his roommates were in the Air Force because they stole a propeller. I was definitely supposed to report that I didn't, I'm sure that makes a great like icebreaker story isn't All right.


I see that in your dean commission public hunting sign that's actually stuck to my wall. Right. Yeah. So what I was doing was I was illegally trespassing on a an abandoned military installation when I found um one of the bunkers was being used by the pennsylvania Game commission.


Yeah. Mhm Yeah, I'm not judging.


So the first thing that came to mind was I stole your sign right out of there. Mhm.


It's the way I've stolen a great money aside balance.


We had a whole bunch and I got like a fallout shelter one. I've got a whole bunch of like the ones put it down despite and stuff who?


That's amazing. I really want to steal a street sign. I think I really want to try and go steal like the street sign for the house that I grew up. That just like I have that with me forever renew a family. They I don't know if they stole it or if they found it because it was broken. But I like the topical they stole it just because it's much more interesting. But a traffic light they can sit in their basement. And I learned that those things are in fact very heavy.


Mhm jeez they were just they didn't have a chilling in the basement.


No, I tried to lift it and I was like this fella in your car. You would be dead. Right. Mhm. No. And their basement wasn't finished. It's like the only thing done.


Yeah it's not even like it like fits into their theme. It's just like a random cancel your normal thing to do.


It literally looks like a dungeon and then do a number on the floor with big track like Yeah you know they were a little they were a little crazy, they were really funny but they were crazy wow. Oh I'm still thinking about your month long camping extravaganza honey.


Mhm. Great to do it again this summer.


Right. Oh no.


It will be worse. At least when I was last summer when near the opposition forces you gotta let you get to relax a little more and like you get to like actually like sleep through the night every night unless we're attacking someone they had to when like the junior is going to be seniors.


Oh. Oh Mhm mm. Yeah they offer. Mhm.


I don't know what to call them Alice.


Oh Mhm mm.


Like they were like when they went in the barracks, they were like out in the woods and they have to make patrol bases like big circles. Two thirds of them would have to stay at a week at all times. So you do have chefs and you can never sleep may and that's sucking honestly I was down there and I was like, I don't want to be in the army anymore.


Uh huh. Yeah it couldn't be me can it be me? What?


I think I even told my friend that that we drove together. I was like, Steph, I do not want to be in the army.


Yeah.


I want to go.


Yeah that's not funny but it's hilarious.


We was so dead. We're like nothing to do. Like we didn't have phones, we didn't have books or anything or is well they have a set packing list and you couldn't bring anything outside of the packing list.


Wait they did you just not bring books or did they tell you don't bring books?


So like if we had known would have been sleeping outside literally the entire fucking month.


Mhm Oh no wow.


We would have actual tent up because they don't we don't matter. We don't need to like be like and in and stuff. We were just we were Yeah. No, they didn't have to stick with the patent lists. They inspected our gear when we showed up. Um So yeah, so then we ended. It's called a huge it's um it's when you use your poncho and you make like a little like makeshift and it's supposed to be for like Two days math not stretched out to 32. So we're tying all our ponchos together and like made like a giant like dome in the woods that we're trying to sleep under secret ring own stuff.


You know?


Would I do it again? Not willingly.


Uh huh wow okay that's just it's just it's gonna be a big bat yanks for me. Thank you max wow.


Mhm Okay well On that note I don't want to hold you I think we hit the 25 minutes.


Yeah. About 30 now and we it's great to meet you too.


Okay but it was great reading you. It's the way that I'm definitely going to be telling this story like couldn't like which french is insane, But I wish you the best of luck. I hope you never have to do that intense camping again. I wish you luck with your residents and I hope all of them get their butts kicked when they get home for being just disrespectful.


This gas.


I hope you have to you know enjoy the messy of semester. Hopefully you know nobody gets covid and they they this football thing does not go hardly horribly wrong and fuck everything up.


Mhm. Yes.


We can.


Uh huh.


No, I have a good one.


All right. Right. You do.


Yeah, mm. Yeah. Yeah. Right, Honey. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Mhm Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Mhm.


What's up? Can you hear me?


Hold on. There you go. There should be working high good.


Cool. Let me go to the next stage.


I think we're supposed to do that once we're done.


Oh whoops, just stop it there.


Alright, 90 stop right there. How you doing man sign?


I'm doing pretty well. That was yourself. Yeah. Same here where you where you at uh D.


Yeah, I'm in Washington uh state.


C. Or state? I've got some family up there in Seattle it's pretty cool.


Yeah.


I'm not here in Atlanta.


Uh We're actually shutting down again so mhm.


Yes it's a completely different world here is technically but I've been um keeping inside mostly all year myself. Finally trusted. So yeah people just not even believing in general so it's just the whole thing because here I don't think we'll ever shut down again.


No. Yeah, especially like people don't seem to understand the point of a mask, which is it's not to keep, its not to keep you know us safe. It's for people who are sick and in every layer helps. Yeah.


Um city our state. So I've just been and it's cold, there's no reason to be outside.


Right. Oh God. You know it's it's freezing man brain, lots of rain.


Well what's the weather like up there? It's cold here. Oh yeah probably previous.


But I mean lately it hasn't been raining as much has been pretty sunny, but you know, it's fall and it's starting to get cold or the rain's coming And we're hitting degrees of like 30 at night, sometimes into 20, so it's going to get it sitting there.


Mhm mm. Yeah mm. Oh man I hate I hate cold. My gear is always Usually like 70° but right now it's like 40 ISH.


And we don't know what to do really when it dropped below 60 we don't know what to do.


So they gave a little that sir.


Yeah. No. Yeah. Yeah, it's rough.


How long young, how long you been doing, niece?


Mhm mhm. These tests things just a few weeks since I lost my job.


Uh Yeah. Oh man. Because uh everything going on.


Yeah, because, because because we're, We're really close quarters, they tried to keep us with masks on and you know, limiting amount of people so we don't have like 20 people will normally we have like 50.


Mhm. Mhm.


Um But yeah, that's good.


I'm sorry to hear that, but I mean this is at least something.


That's good. That's how shit goes, you know, yep.


Yeah. Yeah, but I mean at least you're safer inside because I know a lot of people, My sister just got it at her job maybe like last week and it's like, you know, I can't even go to work and be safe.


Yeah. Oh no. Yeah. Honestly, I count myself lucky because I actually, before they removed you from the system, I was still getting emails and there was an email that someone had come down with Covid a few days before I left and I wasn't on shift.


Yeah. Mhm. Oh no. Oh man, that is pretty good. Oh, this is another random question. What kind of headphones that rose?


These are hyper X. These are clouds.


Okay. I think I've been um checking those. I just got a PS five and I need some headphones. I don't really know anything about headphones, I've been Mhm.


These, you also come with a headset microphone. I lost the boom part of it normally comes with like a little marshmallow on top, you just plug it in and it's just there.


Mhm. Yeah, I've been seeing a lot of just people talk about those. I've noticed the logo.


Yeah, yeah, they're pretty good, I like I'm comfortable, I've had them for quite a while, so the leather is starting to come off.


Yeah, I was um I had like some earbuds like these, I'm not even looking for anything super fancy or anything, I just need some efficient Because I didn't want to get into paying like $200 for a video game headphones only makes them okay.


Mhm. Yeah, these are when I got them, they were 70. I don't know if the prices change because I know they've released like some bluetooth ones, they've released wireless ones, I don't know what the prices anymore, It's been a while, but no.


Mhm. So that's kind of global?


Yeah, they're good. Yeah, they're good, they're good.


Oh good.


I like him comfortable. Uh mike is still good quality one.


Do they um noise canceling or anything or is just mhm.


Uh Not noise could well, not that I noticed, but then I don't notice a lot of, a lot of noise canceling headphones, it's kind of one of those things you don't really notice until uh but they're they're nice and enclosed, so most background noise is pretty much blocked anyways because they sit pretty tightly on your head.


Mhm mm Do you like podcast or something? You see the whole setup going well, that's pretty cool.


No, no, no, no. Uh, I just enthusiast I guess I, yeah, no, I, I occasionally, I've got a couple of friends who stream and occasionally they like, oh, you know, you want to join us.


Uh I was just in from friends doing it the other day.


But ah, I don't do it myself.


Mhm No make sense.


My internet does not support it, but I've still got this thing, still got the webcam. So yeah, no, you'd be surprised.


I had uh briefly thought about it just because it seems that I see a lot of people doing it, but I just don't know if I would have enough one content or just be interested enough.


There are a lot of people, I know at least a few people who are hardly talk at all, but it's just the atmosphere.


Mhm.


They give up, you know, they're really chill there really comforting, you know, they welcome everybody. They'll say hi to you, You know, they'll answer some questions. But even if you don't talk much, even if you're shy, people will still wash. You'd be surprised.


They live stream or it's like a choose.


Uh, live streamer Youtube. I know there's a lot of people, um, you know, you could make tutorials, you could just make gameplay, there's a lot you can do.


Mhm Oh my dear brother, because I, I do watch people who want Youtube ironically doing stuff and sometimes, I mean if I don't buy a game or something, it's just interesting, you know, watching myself playing it, I was that mhm, mm that's really cool.


People people think of it as like, oh man, it is so hard to get it, but you know, it's just one of those things just got to get your foot in the door and keep going. Mhm. Have you have you watched them do? Mhm. He's a so he's a guy who started Youtube, remember watching this guy when he had like less than 20,000, he started Youtube with just playing guitar on Omega, you know playing guitar on PS four on Black Ops and now he's playing you know, he's got like I don't know like two million subscribers, He's playing among us with dr lupo, you know just you just go and you do your thing, do what you enjoy.


Yeah, I mean it's something I can do inside.


Yeah. Yeah.


That's too many things to try and find glazes.


Yeah I've been thinking about it and I'm like well youtube you know you just got to upload doesn't matter how long it takes you'll get there eventually so.


Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got a friend literally the other day, he just started, well he started some weeks ago when he's telling me he just does like music reviews. We're not even more like reaction videos where he just listening to music alive on the video and just reacting to it, but he said, you know, it's going kind of so, so yeah, like 60 subscribers. Then one time somebody is in the comments like, you know, you should check out this Australian band. So, and so He was like, you know whatever, so he checked him out and apparently they had like this huge fallen, he woke up to like 1200 subscribers and then it went from there and I got like people in Australia, you know, blowing them up in his D.


Yes. Yeah. No.


M. S trying to get them to do for their band stuff fractions.


Yeah no that's the thing it's like you just gotta do it, you don't know, you never know.


Okay. Yeah, that's life. Especially now it's just you know, adapting because it's gonna be a whole lot of.


Yeah especially the whole my mic is having a stroke and I make my camera let me let me see this just uh this on.


Oh yeah.


Hopefully that fixes it a bit. Yeah there we go now.


Oh cool.


I am very bright though.


Uh huh.


It is that better? That's better.


Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's what I've been doing this for uh maybe about a year now, maybe a little over a year. And I've never done one like this. It's usually um it just depends, but this has been a real busy like season.


Yeah it's usually just sit there and you answer questions isn't it?


Usually these comes real sporadically.


Uh huh. I think it's because a lot of people are stuck inside, they're like oh if we can get a lot of data I'm trying it it's uh it's confusing just the system in general you know it's it's something I got to learn.


Oh that makes sense. You are on em too by chance. What uh what's confusing you Zachary? Do you um do you use any scripts or anything?


I've got the Mturk suite for chrome.


Okay, yeah, that's what I had to start off because when I very first started, I had no idea how to understand that. We're right down description, just reading up on Reddit and seeing like you know what other people are doing and Oh yeah, Yes, uh definitely a learning curve to it, but once you, I mean, I still never got to the point people are on their making like, you know, $607 a week or whatever And I mean, you know, I might escape with maybe $100, but that's just sit in the house, I'll check that bridges, depends on how much time to Mhm.


Yeah, yeah, I'm following hits worth taking four and just the overall enter credit. Uh Yeah, yeah, yeah, but yeah. Mhm Yeah. Uh I have noticed lately that some of the links seem to break, so it's like they're trying to link something directly on the entire, excited not send you elsewhere, it just never seems to load, I'm not sure if that's just on em tricks end or if it's, you know, something that they're doing wrong.


Mhm. It's probably on inserting because um I kind of stopped it about a year ago, but that's when stuff like I first started, it was just more and more people getting on and um.


Probably a there's probably a lot of people lately the surface are kind of having a problem.


Mhm. And uh also the people making the hits everything their new as well, so that was a issue that's popping. I was just people not knowing how to work it as far as like upload and it was having problems and you know, people try to make money down here about whatever problems they have, you got a script for this as well?


Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm just sticking with prolific for now, you know, it's it's slower, but it's more reliable. I didn't even know the word scripts for this thing. I just have uh I just I just check it on my email every so on my phone every so often and up on here and do things.


Uh Yeah, I think it's just one uh a funny name, but this one is just um let's you know, every time there's a new one on chrome, it would just literally say like new studies available.


Yeah.


Um Just help me catch a few more, what is the name of it?


Okay. A prolific assistant.


I Oh yeah, okay.


So yeah, it's just like a simple voice, you know, just say like, you know, new studies available well and I'll help you catch it because sometimes I do be a bit slow and these fill up kind of quick too efforts.


Okay. Yeah. I literally, an hour before this started, I checked my studies and I had like 12, yeah 76 1 36 60 48.


Really, wow. I had I think two all day and Well no, I missed one of them, but I think it was 97 total. But I mean that's not bad as well, I mean it's a dollar to do nothing.


Yeah. These are all really short, but I saw one that was similar to this one was giving 20 bucks For a two hour study.


20 bucks, was it like all uh like actual surveyor?


No, it was like it was like something interactive. Like we want you to interact with the system, you know, talk with it.


Mhm.


I think it was like some artificially I think they were wanted people to talk to.


No idea.


Yeah. 20 hours.


It's like it appeared as quickly as it disappeared.


Yeah, those always just And even um I missed when I was like $5 this year.


Yeah. Okay.


I was so sick Because I think I might have been like 30 seconds too slow. It's just sometimes uh where it just will appear, I try to keep it open at all times, but sometimes it just will disappear.


Yeah.


Reported system. Even notices, is there? Let me hear. Everybody can make $5 into whatever.


Oh yeah, here's one uh for 25 240 minutes. That's What is that? three hours? four hours.


Yes. Uh 61 20. That's four hours. Yeah, that's the length of it.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's that's the length, the average completion time is 2:40.


Oh man. I've never done out much before but For $20.


Mhm. Right.


I don't know.


Well what's the how much did that our. Right.


At 6:49 an hour?


I don't even sound good. People like that.


No. Yeah.


But I mean there's nothing else happening. I've been uh just trying to find different ways income luckily get to work at home but it's only part time so you know, still just start flying.


I mean, money is still money, especially during these times you get what you can.


Yeah. Yeah but for you know stuff not turning stuff still expensive, some consistency.


Well, no. Yeah, lately over here they had to enforce rules again. So, you know, 11 thing of water per per person uh They're limiting, you know, paper towel, rolls, everything and it's starting to come down to the point of like, you know, paper is worth more than gold.


Mhm. Oh man. Uh huh. You know you saw how people got about tissue last time so that's definitely gonna happen again if things get well, I mean they're already as bad as it could be so.


You know that you've had a closet right behind this bed here and it's just it's got three things of water, you know, food canned food in case you can't get any.


Mhm.


Yeah.


It makes sense. I've been trying to do the same. Uh Just just in case I don't think it will happen to us, but you never want to be in a position because the first time to shut down it was like, you know, what do you do?


Yeah. Yeah.


And I remember going to the story, things going so weird.


Yeah. The first time we were at our old place and we had something start over. But you know, there were those days where it's like all right, so, we've got gold, potatoes, some eggs. Alright. We're having eggs and potatoes for for dinner, it's like Yeah, you do what? You can Yeah.


Yeah, as long as, I mean it's better doing that than being sick or being, I love seeing some of the stories and it's just pretty bad. And also people working hospitals and I'd much rather just eat potatoes for dinner than being their predicament.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh There we go.


There's just a wild year and a lot of people, you know, I think it's just gonna get back to normal sometime soon.


Mhm. Yeah.


It might, but I just need to see if what happens because we're just too far in.


Great. I think the problem is that people just don't learn. They think like, all right, you know, You know, cases are going down, we're starting to get this underhand. Cool. We can go outside now and then cases spike up again. It's like, okay, well, did you learn your lesson?


Did you learn anything about what just happened?


Mm hmm.


You know?


Yeah. And even like here people were saying that, but cases when they went down, it was still up in like the 40-50,000, it's like, you know, that's not really down, it's just not as bad as it was. And now we're worse than we ever work and look, wow, okay, known for uh Oh good, same china, listen, always have your yeah, they always make you think some exciting is happening.


Yeah, Okay. We got what? 12,000 cases in a day here. Well, I got my phone ringing. Don't You Love? Don't You Love 1 800 Numbers? Yeah.


Mhm Oh man, I'm going through that same thing and it's always just, especially with the voting thing, it's usually just them china subscribe to the voting or whatever.


Especially trying to find a job, you're like, oh, thankfully something called, nope. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm, mm.


It's like, you know, I'm already registered, please leave me alone, I'm already stop texting me and calling me.


Yeah, we did that two weeks ago.


Yeah, we got this um Senate runoff here.


Yeah.


So they just went right back to doing the same thing because we got another election coming up and it's like, man, we got to do this all over for a month, please leave me alone.


Mhm. Yeah, I think here we do everything all at once. So government, mayor senators, I think uh they set it up so that every year like every year you vote at the same time, but it's always around the same time.


Mhm.


So it's just changes.


That's really efficient.


Yeah, it just changes the size of the pamphlet.


Uh huh. But I mean still I'd much rather do that than constantly have to, especially this time it was cold wait to call to be outstanding lines for anything because these lines here get pretty ridiculous.


Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


I think early voting. Uh My cousin went, she's waiting in line like four hours.


He was like, you know, I'm not doing that.


Especially it's especially dangerous now because you know, sure it's cold but with Covid as well, you're also cluttered together.


Mhm. I try to do the absentee too, but that's just uh animal in its own because last time I even send the things so um me and a bunch of other people and it's just you know, I want to send it off and it's like you know, is he going to ever get there and you got to go find the one ballot box, you can drive it off. It's just a weird process.


Yeah, I think our state is probably one of the better ones when it comes to mailing because a lot of people mail them in here.


Mhm. Yeah. I didn't even know that there were states that majority did mail in ballots. I will use news to me.


Our our state has been I think since a couple of years ago our state has been pretty heavy on the mail in just because of the weather and because of traffic and because of lines are like, you know, just let's just try and you know sure it's it's not as fair on paper, but they've actually swapped over to like a like a denser thinner cardboard so it's not paper, it's more cardboard and they're making it out of like recycle materials because of the whole thing.


Mhm. Mhm. Well, that's pretty efficient.


Yeah. And that's also why they swapped over to doing everything like all at the same time, because if you if you can put like seven votes, 17 votes, 12 votes, 11V all on one thing instead of repeatedly making the same paper, it's a lot more efficient.


Yeah, I mean, that's so weird that every state wouldn't, you know, have the same kind of systems in place or just make it easier.


Yeah.


But I mean, we all know why it's so weird. We got these Republican governors and stuff out here that literally just be trying to sabotage things on purpose.


I mean uh did you hear about trump's trump? Un conceding?


Yeah, I'm just lost on what even is happening with that because Yeah.


Yeah. Uh at this point it's just like I I just feel like he's going senile because Yeah.


Yeah, that might be a very real possibility because he honestly is up there in age making it just making it or, and that's another thing like, you know, that's definitely going to make things work on our behalf because they are, they're doing that and we've seen so many times numbers are going to go up.


Well that and also like, you know, they're they're marching out without masks in the cold. It's like what are you guys doing?


That's just how it works. There's no way they don't go up. So y'all wasting everyone's time being stupid.


Mhm. Yeah.


And now we are in like the whatever, 100 thousands of cases every day.


Mhm. It's just getting worse.


Don't even want to know where we can go from here. Because I mean, well, I mean, it just depends.


Hopefully down.


I have no faith in my state. Like I've seen so many wild things because you know, the governor refused to shut down and people just took as a sign that, you know, Well, obviously it's not as bad as people are making it. So let's just go do whatever and people have been doing whatever for like six months now.


Okay. Our governor, he's been going hard. We didn't even make it to Phase two before he told us down again. That's that's like Phase one was like, all right, cool. We can open, we can start opening up some restaurants, we can start putting up some malls, you know? But, you know, make sure we limit how many people are there and Blah Blah. We just barely started dipping our toes into interface to and it's like we're shutting down again.


Uh huh. You know, I mean, it starts with that's honestly just what we need at this point.


I mean, we we tried to have a little freedom and we all abused it and I was just like, you know, so what I'm saying like the proof is there let's just do it.


Okay. Yeah. We saw what happened. We saw what happened to California.


It sucks like no one enjoys being in the house.


Yeah. Yeah.


But if it means like you know everyone staying safe.


If it means it means living then do what you do. Mhm.


But I mean there's a lot of people that aren't even thinking as far as they just stuck in, you know, I want to have fun right now, I just got to do whatever and it's like you know for like the past couple of months, the majority of the place I've banished to the grocery store, I walk to the grocery store every month.


Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm.


I mean like a week just get some exercise in it.


Yeah.


You know, I might go in there and just get a few groceries and even that we kind of scaring me because people on their way to close and etcetera. So I mean I'm like you know if I can't even do the grocery store comfortable no way I'm trying to do anything past this.


But it's a lot of people are just giving people in there all the time. No mass and trying to stand shoulder to shoulder and talking to me and coughing all over the place. Please get I went in there one time and I was just doing getting something and somebody came behind me like reached over my shoulder like from behind me and almost flipped completely and I was like, yo first of all please don't get that close to me.


Mhm. Oh yeah. I remember I went to the store with my uh my mother and there was a guy who refused to wear a mask. Was trying to force his way into the stores like yo I got to get groceries, let me in. This dude eventually snuck his way in and customers dragged him out. That's how, that's how serious people are around here. It's like, you don't, you don't fuck around here.


I appreciate that though because I mean all it takes is one person and I mean you know just other people having that same mindset to where you know I don't have time for this. You know even if it's not about me it's more than just me and let's keep us all safe. You know if it means getting this one it it out of here, you got to do what we gotta do.


Yeah. Yeah. It's it's really a shame people don't like that mindset doesn't spread too far because I've got a friend who lives over in uh, what is it Idaho? Not Idaho Illinois around there.


Mhm. Mhm.


They're getting some people who just, some places just don't bother with mask. And it's like why? You know, we've, we've seen what happens. We've seen the problems that can occur. You know, we've shut down multiple times already. The numbers, the numbers are there, the data is there, the evidence is there.


Uh huh.


We have literally we have video proof of the, of the symptoms of people literally dying and being on machines to live.


Mhm.


And you still refuse to wear a math.


Yeah. Yeah and people, you know people just simply are in denial that anything's going on or is a problem or Yeah, like it's not like I said this, I don't understand why people think anyone is enjoying being inside, like it's not fun for anyone.


It's it's a government lie, man. The government just wants us inside, man. It's like, God, please just shut up and and put on the mask. Mhm.


I'm not doing this out of entertainment.


I like, yeah, sure. They're, they're like, sure hermits, sure introverts. But even then you still get bored.


All right. You still want to go out. You want to go for a walk, you want to go watch a movie or something? Can't I had plans to go watch a top Gun when that came out. Can't anymore.


Oh yeah.


We're shutting down again.


Oh man, I love going to the movies, to this one of my favorite things to do, but I'll never do that again apparently, and that's you.


So me and my friends were gonna go watch, we're gonna sit like, you know, we're gonna grab seats like two seats in between each other. Watch the movie, enjoy it. And now it's like, yeah. Mhm. You know me, me and my dad nearly cried when, when it was delayed the first time because we're huge fans of Tabqa.


Right.


And when we heard that they were making a sequel, it was like, oh Lord, you know, we were already making plans were ready to go out and buy the tickets and then Blade. So make plans were closing down again. So now we're just thinking like, I guess we're going digital.


Uh huh. Yeah, I might uh I think I just get like uh one of those many projectors or something and that's the close as I could get to.


Yeah, good protector. Put up on your wall, lay down in beds.


You have a friend with Jack Reed uh just aim it towards the ceiling so you can lay down in Washington. That was pretty cool. I mean it might be an idea but it's just like I said adapting because I mean we're always about to do this for much longer than we want to and it might be a man.


Yeah, I mean, we're, we're in testing for the for the cure. But testing does not mean that it's anywhere near being done.


Yeah.


This means you're trying to do it means they're trying to get some of the really bad side effects out, you know?


And even if it, yeah, anywhere is done, I like how you gonna get it to people officially in a quick manner.


Sure. Yeah. There's another problem. You know, there's so many cases we got to get out to do you who do you prioritize, do you prioritize the elderly, the kids, the young ones before immuno compromised. Um, and even then about above that, you know, there's, there's the method of production, you know, How difficult is it to replicate difficult? Is it to, you know, create the serum to get what you need for it? People just don't seem to think.


So especially for something that you like a completely new virus that you know, we had a, yeah, we had to take a long time just trying to learn what it was and triggering out like what we're dealing with.


People just don't seem to realize that the logistics of a cure during a pandemic are ridiculous. That's world wide.


And that was the main thing that was upset to me about people because you know, they were getting mad at the scientists for you know being wrong and not knowing. It's like, well they don't know. They literally don't know.


Like the thing is that the reason for that was because china was withholding information from us. You know, they didn't tell us where it came from.


Yeah, definitely.


They didn't tell us how long they've had it. They didn't tell us what they knew. And only when the information actually started getting out by force from people within china trying to spread it. Did they actually tell us which they told us it came from, you know, a bad or we realized it came from a bat? They actually found a mutation of the covid of the, of covid inside of a, what was it like a, like a mouse or something? Or some some some small rodent and they found a version of covid within that that are mutated.


Mm and that's the exact thing we didn't need avenue.


So then we have the problem, then we have the problem of even if we get the cure for our current for our current covid version, it could very well be like the flu and it could mutate and come back eventually.


Um and it's just I don't understand, man, just stay inside. Everyone could just stay inside or go sparingly or you know, I mean at the very worst way man, I don't see how that's a difficult thing to do and I mean it's just in cringing on freedom, but I mean is it I think a lot of people would rather get cold because I mean people even have caught it, you're saying like you know it's not that bad, I've got it and I just was sick or had a runny nose for a week or two and it's like, you know that's not everybody approach.


This let's just people are used to it. You know, when you look at places like china and Japan, they've been wearing masks for decades because of the pollution because of how clustered they are. You know how easy it is to get a sickness when you're so close to a bunch of people, they've been wearing it for years, so they're so used to it over here. We're pretty open. You know, we don't we don't tend to group up get clustered together as often so people just aren't used to it. Mhm. Yeah. I mean would you rather wear a mask and have your freedom of being able to go outside or get covid and be stuck in a bed for a couple weeks? Perfect. Okay. Yeah. No, I I know a couple who got it right. One friend, he just felt he just felt nauseous, felt sick.


Okay.


One friend I went to the hospital and to go home. Machine had a lot of I.


Mm.


V. Fluid going to him. It's it's it's it's different how it affects people. And some people you're wondering are they going to live, are they going to make it through this?


Yeah that's my things like a symptomatic and you know, you don't know what's gonna happen. I don't wanna take any chances.


Uh huh. Yeah.


That's scary enough for me.


Yeah. And you can't you can't know if you're asymptomatic until you get infected.


Yeah, that's too much of it since I heard that I was like that's too much of a risk.


Yeah thank you.


Don't even I want to play with that because I mean it's bad enough as the virus or the virus you can't see or like know about sounds like a nightmare.


And that you don't know if you have it until you're already you know already sick you know?


It really sounds like a zombie movie. That's what I've been thinking from beginning like uh Oh yeah, good, good.


Yeah I made the reference to a couple of friends that it's that you know, I was like you know this could very well end up like the games of division where things just you know where things just shut down and people are you know out here begging for food and we've got to have martial law and people were like it's not going to get that bad dude, get crazy.


Yeah, especially people just keep going on where they are going on.


Mhm.


I don't really I don't see a better alternative than that honestly. But I mean hopefully it won't get that far.


I mean hopefully we don't know getting shit like World War Z.


Hopefully definitely agree on that.


Because if this doesn't it becoming a zombie virus, I'm just I'm jumping I'm doing I am doing it, I'm not dealing with that shit.


You have the time a chance.


Uh I started at what time did you got you got on like 10 no 3 10 04 That's quickly.


Yeah, somewhere in that area. I uh been checking my watch but I never cool because yeah, it definitely said uh you want to go over.


I say we give another five minutes. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Just just because there are either our system or their systems. Yeah.


I don't see I don't want to take the chance. I don't do well taking chances, I mean it's kind of fun depending on what it is, but there's just some risk that are a little too risky and when it comes to Japan, I gamble with you know maybe some money or something, just a friendly bet but yeah yeah yeah.


See there's there's a difference between taking a risk and then just being uh being God, watch the words on my time.


Mhm Yeah mm that's the best word for it, just reckless and I mean this whole year is just put in perspective how selfish people are, you know, I'm kind of picking and choosing you know who do even if we do get out of this, who to associate with because you know I've seen the way people will act or lives on the line so I don't want to hang out with you anymore, you know you could have killed me, goes up to youth.


Being reckless. Mm. Uh Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly.


Mhm I just found I got a friend that had a party over summer that hopefully well luckily I don't even recall and missed, but apparently uh he was positive and had like a giant party and a bunch of people got sick and you know, it wouldn't even no remorse about it or nothing.


And it's Yeah. Mhm.


It was just like oh you know, whatever it was like that's kind of stuff. So I'm not I can't either trust you going forward, I don't want to risk anything.


That's kind of stuff, it's kind of stuff where it's like, you know, cool. I know you, but do I want to risk it? Yeah. No. Mhm.


I don't even Yeah, I get on his doom for work all the time.


Uh Oh dude, I'm getting married. Hell no. Stay home. You know what here better yet? Call me. That's how just don't fucking just don't Yeah, like like if people want to have a party cool, have a zoom party, you know, have a party over Skype over.


This is we could all play Call of Duty together.


Discord over over, you know, Messenger, whatever. Just stay home.


I mean it's not gonna be the same really.


You can play cards against humanity. They've got uh God, what is that? Uh fucking there's there's plenty of games that are free for parties. Uh There's Disney Plus has released a group watch feature. Yeah, yeah, for twitch but you need to own it to be able to watch it and it's kind of weird.


I was uh owning on amazon. I know they got one too, you know amazon prime uh the amazon video, you can do a watch party on their for their movies, but it's Yeah, it's just those movies I'd read, I would like to do it on like something else.


Oh really? Anything.


Not that they don't have a Yeah because I was got a friend of Face Time, you watch movies all the time and we would do that.


Anything Yeah.


But I mean it's much better to have like the actual group watch things where we all got it. I mean it's just people are adapting to you know, we were getting further along to uh we're I guess it'll be comfortable being in the house but it's still you've got to make the best of the situation because I mean what what can we do?


Yeah, I'm not really, honestly, I you could you could go get your mail and get sick.


Mhm. Now I get sick. That's that's what it's all the power got just do whatever. I gotta do this. Well really you can't even control that. But I mean, Yeah.


That's how that's how bad it is.


Mhm. Yeah, people like to go to the store and like come back and wash their groceries off and everything just I mean I get it, I find it a bit excessive because I just don't wanna do that myself. But I get it. I definitely wouldn't knock anybody do anything.


Yeah. Yeah.


You know definitely better safe than sorry Geon even I used to when it first started I was going to the store and masks and gloves and all every time I just stopped by like uh clammy hands, hands start sweating gloves.


Yeah, because of the gloves, your hands can't breathe. So mm I'd like something a respirator.


Oh man it was annoying me so bad. But even when I stopped I was still paranoid like you know what do I touch or do I you know do I trust him touching anything because you know is certain stuff 100 people might come by and touch this whole day and I don't even but you know keep hands advertising, keep the mask on. I might get like a home one of those super filter mass like the uh exterminators and stuff have nah well like a double respirator, like exterminators.


Yeah, it's like you wear it here and it's got like the two filters on the sides.


Yeah, I mean that's super excessive but I mean definitely not going to catch anything.


I think. I think you could get away with getting a painting respirator. I think it's called a particle respirator and just swapping out the filters for something a little bit more dense.


Mhm. Mhm.


The problem is that you're gonna find it's kind of hard to breathe in those.


Yes, why I was wondering on, but I mean it's an option but also I mean I just got to only go to the store still and if I just got to do it for like an hour or so at a time, that would be the worst.


Yeah, You could just get away with the mask.


Yeah, it was successful.


I think we're safe for time if you want to.


Cool.


All right.


Thank you know Shane.


What do we do your partners are at all in case you actually can improve your check and get back to video chat here.


Would you have no idea to get at it are Oh.


Okay. I guess we've just done right.


Oh yeah, cool.


All right. Take care, man. Stay safe.


You have a good one as well later.


You too. Yeah.


please?


No.


Yeah. Hello.


Hey, there we go. It was rejecting Firefox today. Uh huh.


Yeah, I actually accidentally clicked next before I clicked on the link, I was like wait no.


What? Oh I think have you done this before?


Uh huh, mm just a couple of times.


Okay. I did it like a few months ago and my first time I messed up filling out the time or something but I wrote and then they fixed it.


Yeah.


It was all good.


Yeah. All right. Yeah, I did one back in july I think, and that was my very first one. It was it wasn't entirely sure and I was like I've gotten a little more accustomed to it I guess.


Yeah. Yeah, it's a little different. I I spent my first one wondering if it was like going to be a setup of some sort.


Right.


I didn't think they explained it. Coralie that they were looking at natural conversations between this.


Right. Yeah. Just regular interactions and how people mhm, interact with complete strangers, you know, and how natural it can become too just have conversation flow.


Yeah. Yeah. I'd be so curious to know if they were doing this back before Covid Yeah.


Yeah. Right.


Or something similar. Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah, because with the with the past year being all very different, it's definitely likely that our natural perception of each other and and how we interact with each other has likely changed.


Okay. Mhm.


I mean I'm not opposed to getting to know people, but I'm more of an introverted person myself.


Mhm.


So going in just initiating conversation with random strangers, it's not something I typically do. So I know from personal experience that this past year has definitely changed my openness I guess to be like, hey let's let's talk.


Yeah. Yeah.


You know, just some random person because we all need that that interaction eventually.


Yeah. Yeah, that's um mm I kind of feel bad for the people who haven't kind of broken.


Yeah. Mhm. Mhm.


Like I was really shy when I was 20. You know, it would be hard to break out of the show if you just are sitting at home and you can't go out and even see people in person and you don't, mm.


Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I can, it's rough every once in a while to not have that interaction. But I mean, you know, I'm not well off by any means, but like there are still realistically there's still some things I'm probably taking for granted like the fact that we can sit here and have this conversation.


No.


You know, there's many people out there that don't have internet access that can do that.


Right okay.


Or or any of the other conveniences that allow to connect to people.


Yeah. Yeah I was I can't remember the numbers now. I went to look up my income and where I sit in the U. S.


Right?


And it's like I'm a little about 25,000 year so it's like but compared to the rest of the world only I'm like a wealthy person and Mhm.


Oh yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I have less less status now, but my my action i with income, we were when she got her raise, we were hitting the 33 a year bracket which was literally just pushing us into the next tax bracket and like oh great.


Right right before yeah.


You know just above enough where you don't qualify for state aid for like medical and just above where you need to pay for it yourself like that was fun.


Mhm.


Um And even then I didn't think we were doing great, you know, we were still kind of in essence like paycheck to paycheck, putting some aside here or there no retirement fund, nothing, no savings of really any kind.


Yeah.


And yet you look at it and we were we were still well off compared to many other people. And it's it puts things in perspective because when you look at the people that in our country are well off the upper middle class or even the upper class tier of people just like one, what do they do with all that money?


Yeah. Yeah. Excuse me one moment mike you is really interested in the voices but then he likes to play with the webcam wire.


Sure. Mhm. I my ex and I had six cats.


I know all about how cats and pets like to just be like wait what's going on?


Yeah on you have serious wow what did you have?


Especially when it comes to cats, they're like do something to get into something different.


Like a litter of kittens or?


Um When I moved in with my ex while back, she already had three cats that were all of the same litter.


No?


Which in and of itself was interesting because they were three very different personalities and three very different breeds and body types.


Yeah. Oh mm mm.


Yeah. When was your your long haired calico? She was very had white and black and brown and she was very she was the stereotypical like scaredy cat, very timid, very like run and hide when a new person shows up kind of thing. Um The other one was very very light frame. Like to look at her. You think she was under fed malnourished?


Yeah mm.


She was sold any like there were times you could see her ribs but she was eating just as much as the rest of them.


Uh huh.


And she was the the cranky old lady cat, you know?


Yeah.


Black, mostly black with some brown specks here are there. And then the other one was that big orange tabby fat Garfield cat.


Uh huh wow mm.


Uh huh. Like they're all siblings from the same litter and yet all different.


That's funny.


Yeah. And then we ended up picking up uh two kittens from a local shelter. We were just going to go get one for, hey Yeah, separating them from family.


That young was kind of like uh and we were looking at one of them in particular, but then my daughter at the time she was still only, maybe I want to see like a year old maybe less.


Yeah. Oh yeah Yeah.


She was still little. And we were in the separate room there with the litter, you know, closed off from the rest of the shelter and and looking at them.


And uh like they have like the half wall dividing us from glitter.


Mhm. That's right.


So they couldn't be there and rest and everything, you're not like in their space, they want to see you, they'll come into you.


Right.


And so we're standing there and one of the kittens ups up on the half wall and then climbs up over my arm and plops right on my daughter's head. Mike, yep. That's our cat. Like immediately.


It's like, well, that's, I mean, that's it right there, like, what are you gonna do? You know? And then our final cat was, we took a road trip across the country and on our way back home, we were pretty active geo crashers.


Right. Mhm. Right. Sure.


And our goal was if we're going to be traveling through these states, let's try to find one in each state.


Oh wow.


So we took a stop in Idaho.


Well how hard they are Yeah.


Yeah. Some of them are pretty easy, but I don't know.


No.


And some of the more rural areas, they can be really hard because they can be anywhere.


Mhm. Yeah.


See how we took a stop for a quick bathroom break just on the side of the road. We're just like, you know what? Let's go for a little quick walk, stretch our legs spent a little while and let's go find one while we're while we're at it and on the walk and the only one that hears it but a tiny faint meal, it's the faintest, like you guys don't hear that.


Mhm. Question family.


So we walk over, try to like find it as we get close enough, then they can hear it too. And we find it. And sure enough, it's literally a kitten probably couldn't have been more than a week old clinging to the base of a tree. So, I mean, the cat was maybe like an intro to a from the ground, no mama in sight, nearest town in either direction was at least 10 miles.


Oh freaky and no mama in sight Yeah.


Um and so far as we recall, there were no, like more rural houses on the way anywhere, you know, I mean, I've lived decent distance from towns before, so it's possible someone lived nearby, but the things that crossed their mind was towns are far and this one's little, little little, so mama's likely nearby.


No. Right first Yeah mm.


If she's not, why, like, did she did this kid and get out or did she leave it?


Mhm. Oh right. Right. Or bad?


You know, Because I mean, human or animal nature is the week, the disease, you know, in the wild, they get left behind.


Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Oh I wonder. Oh so what a feral what?


So if if she was, you know, the runt of the litter or had a birth defect or anything like that, that the mother sensed like she'd abandoned that, I mean, that's animals.


Yeah.


Um, so we waited all but got the kitten to us, go to our nearest walmart, got it, its own little dishes, got it.


I mean, it's a cat, but we got on a leash, we got it, you know, food, a little litter box.


Not so easy when you're still five days travel from home to have a cap in the van, try to be like, how are how are you going to keep the litter box from being an issue in a confined space?


Oh yeah.


Right?


We still managed it. And surprisingly enough, the cat took to walking on a leash first.


Oh nice.


I've ever seen that most cats you put a leash on them and they just kind of like no just flop over and let you drag them.


Yeah I've got all my you know what I did have one kitten I got to raise and I should have tried the least thing but I didn't think of it I tried it on some adult cats I wouldn't have it.


Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think what helped for that one was that it was still so young, you know that most people don't think about it until the cats old and like older and they're already accustomed to being a typical cat, no leash just free to roam.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What about the car?


So by the time you try they're just like I'm not having it typically.


Does that count like well they go in the car and be okay now if you go out. Yes so with the heat?


Um Yeah, and and there's a part of us that after we brought her home, there's a part of us that wondered um how long she'd actually been out on her own because when we got her home again, she was still a kitten, mind you like really young, we found her, but um she had the strongest urge and habit of trash can.


Mhm. Yeah. Uh huh.


So our media thought was if she had been out there long enough she was surrounding for food and typically in trash cans because stray animals do that.


It is yeah.


Um don't know how easy that would have been at her age being when we when we brought her to the vet, they estimated that she was probably around, I mean it took a couple weeks to get her in, but she was probably around two months old when we brought her in and wait for her.


Oh yes.


Yeah, for like a follow up for based on weight and everything. Um but then a month later after uh regular nutrition and everything, they think that she was actually older than she looked because of possible malnutrition from being out in the wild and everything for who knows how long like no regular food supply.


No mm. Oh Oh you're not gonna get me?


So she's going to be healthy, less full, you know, filled out than the average cat.


Yeah.


So.


Yeah a couple of mama's my neighborhood that are just scrawny and they were kittens at first themselves until I one day I realized they were mamas.


Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Well like I said, that one cat that we have, like, she's bye now probably like 12 years old, but I mean even at eight years old for a cat, like that's that's old.


What? Yeah.


And yet she was still really skinny. So you would think without looking at her for just her size, you'd think that she's still young, you know, when she was, when she was little, you would have a guest that she's only like still a kitten year old, you know?


Mhm.


So it all depends on obviously nourishment and activity.


So you so you made it up to six cats and what was that the upper level you kept?


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


We started with this just 23 and then uh once we had our daughter, I don't know if it was the urge to have a kitten and see them grow up together or what it was, but there was just that urge to have a kitten and and see how the older ones would interact because by that point they were already four years old for the older cats.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah it changes the dynamic I've found.


And uh, oh yeah, absolutely. Like the three already have their own personalities very different from each other. And we got the two and they developed, they kind of absorb some of the other personalities from the first three cats and yet develop their own.


So one was very, very much energetic and playful and the mischievous cat and the other was timid, like the one, but very much in a different sense.


It was, it was like a mirror of the one, but in a different, I don't know how to explain it, but like not quite the same personality.


Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah. I've seen like the personalities are really unique but some of the behaviors seem like the same. Like he was kid, he's only a year he learned to be afraid of the door being knocked on because two of my other cats were feral before I made friends and got them in and they freak out at the sound of the door so he like runs because they do.


Yeah. Right. Yeah. And I mean regardless of how long you have them or how much you try to uh, you know, train them to be okay with certain things, like some of that just never goes away, you know?


Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah.


And a lot of that has to do with how old they are at the time and how long they've had that.


It's just like any person who tries to change bad habits, if you've had that bad habit for 10 years versus 50 years, you know, like 10 years, it's going to be easier to break that habit.


Yeah.


50 years. You might just need to let it be like trying to change a bad habit and break out of it after that long. Might not be the easiest or maybe nearly impossible for for a lot of people.


Yeah tell me about it. I'm 56 this morning I put in my order for our grocery pickup, I've still got a couple of issues so I am really reluctant to go in.


Right.


Okay. And they bring it out to the car which is nice and they don't charge us for currently. Kroger's just letting you do it pick up for free anyhow I ordered because it was on sale two boxes of macaroni and cheese, frozen sculptures.


Right. Right.


It's so good. And I was eating stuff like that when I was 678 but I didn't order hot dogs. I got over that finally.


Right. Yeah.


Yeah, wow.


Like I know there's people that don't like that combination, but I don't know everyone to know what like it's not like, oh my God, amazing flavor. It's not like a top tier dish where it's just like so tasty. But every once in a while, like there's that like, it just hits the spot. I don't know how to explain it.


Yeah. I think it's from my childhood my mom would make just hot dogs cut him throwing the macaroni and cheese. It was probably craft but better than what they have now.


So I'll go to a restaurant and that's not what I want to eat at a restaurant. But no.


But every once in a while your steaks, that would taste good. I typically try to stick to doing that at home and yeah, but everyone's all your slick.


Sure why not? And then like before, you know, you're like, yeah, that was actually kind of good. Like that whole little bit of nostalgia, I guess, you know?


Uh huh. I'd be curious. You mentioned home, where about in the country are you?


Oh, uh, Northern Wisconsin, you.


I'm in Arizona, although I was born in michigan and I spent most of my life in Minnesota.


Mm Yeah.


I was like trying to kind of see if I could pick an accent for you and I'm like I have no argue with this man is using, you know?


Yeah. Everyone like, I was, I was born and raised in upper michigan, the upper peninsula, So more remote than lower machine and moved to northern Wisconsin.


Yeah.


And the funny thing is like, I feel like do kind of have that local accent from back home on occasion, but it's nowhere near as thick as, as a lot of people.


Um, I don't know if I just never picked it up because I'm not hitting 35 soon. So I mean I'm not young anymore by any means, not a kid and uh, a lot of people, especially if you, if you travel like I've been out to California, apparently I have an accent compared to mean, but California, you know, it's very different regional, it's just like going to the south.


Right. Yeah. Oh no. Yes. Yes. Yes.


Like you get some of those people were just like, okay, yeah, you are definitely southern.


Mhm.


Um apparently they must took us a lot for Canadians because we were so close and a lot of that kind of accent comes over that, that you pay for a Canadian like emphasis.


Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I snapped from here. Yeah.


Yeah. And like, I don't know, I don't have it that thick every once in a while, I guess it comes out in certain things, but actually that's exactly where I'm at.


So are you anywhere near a city like all I know of is superior and then way over here like by mountain iron. It just seems like it's all nothing up there but code.


I'm in Superior.


Oh okay.


Yeah. Yeah. Right right across the water from Duluth so not a major city like Minneapolis but like any time I fill out surveys or anything in the ask rural, urban or suburban, I feel more suburban because I mean especially compared to where I grew up that was rural by a long shot.


Well yeah. Oh yeah area.


Um Not farmland in the middle of Kansas, but you know, pretty remote bite and cut off from a lot of the world. Um You know, you know those towns when you're on a road trip, people only stop there because they're on their way through somewhere else. Those gas station pounds that was up except we didn't have anything on the other end.


I I drove yeah.


It was just us.


Yeah. I drove you know, is it highway to that goes along the bottom of the upper P in Linz about us too or I might be off there. But if you go further up north towards the shore in the upper P. And you're heading over towards the Mackinaw bridge, there's dirt roads up there that go through all the nash or the state or national forests go what while?


Yeah. Yeah there's one there's any particular, I can't remember which one it is but yeah there's one that kind of cuts across entire U.


Right.


P.


Yes.


I mean I don't know if it's the same one the whole way but there's main highways across the hallway and one that leads right into uh from Sue ST Marie michigan to Ontario and transitions from a U.


S. Highway like an interstate two.


Yeah.


Uh I can't think of the term but it's not an interstate anymore because it's not the U.


Oh yeah.


S. But it's in Canada like it's a across national borders and continues on and yeah it goes through like national parks and stuff I think.


Yeah. Yeah. I was like just stunned at how remote. I mean if it wasn't for the occasional campground and it being summer I just would have not seen any vehicles.


I did a solo road ship. This my mom lived in Detroit and it's 12 hour drive from Minneapolis to Detroit on the freeways. But I always like to take one way I want to do a circle when?


Right. Yeah. Yeah it's unless you're on a strict schedule like you need to be somewhere at a certain time.


Okay.


It is nice especially on road trips to just kind of take a road trip you know take your time, see this stuff not be in a rush like.


Yeah. Yeah.


Oh I got it you know it's about a 12 hour drive, Let's do it in no more than 14, not like if you don't have to be there, just kind of stopped when you need to see the sights, you know, take a pit stop, do the tourist attractions, even if they're kitschy and cliche, it's still, it's still an experience.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


I mean that's what we did. We, we did have a time limit, but my ex's brother was in California, graduating college.


We went from upper michigan and we decided to do a road trip instead of flying where it's like, okay, we're gonna cut across the entire country and then head up the coast and then cut back. So we hit a fair amount of state and oddly enough, we missed Nevada entirely. Uh, we, we went like we, we planned it that way because we knew we're not gambling, people kids and we knew if we're going to go through Nevada, especially southern, we gotta hit Vegas.


We have, we did, yeah, we um, I'm trying to think of the map in my head, but we went through some parts of, we had municipal after, I know we went through Wisconsin and then we went through a little bit of Iowa and Nebraska.


Yeah. Did you go through Arizona at all or? Oh. Mhm.


And I don't remember us taking any real stops in Nebraska. Pit stops, no attractions or anything.


The Oh yeah.


I know we hit Kansas because we saw the center of the U. S. Uh, geographic center. Um and then we went over to wow, I am blinking on my geography here.


Uh huh. Yeah.


I know we hit, yeah, we went to colorado.


Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking colorado or one of the Yeah.


Yeah, remember colorado because we to save money, we went to K. O. S instead of hotels and even even ko has ended up being moderately expensive, but like a third of the cost of hotels.


Oh yeah. Mhm.


Um And we didn't.


Put it in the summer season when it's Yeah.


Yeah. Oh oh no this was this was fun, this was early spring because he was graduating in May.


Oh that's a little chilly if you count.


Yeah like in California not too bad but for a lot of the other states it was it was chilly.


Yeah. Yeah, that's the way to do it.


Yeah we we started in the beginning of May and we didn't get home until the beginning of june like we were gone an entire month. Yeah but I remember colorado specifically because we didn't know it we didn't look into it enough.


Yeah.


We just booked you know Kay always that were in areas uh middle of the night.


Uh huh.


We're driving up to our campground and we're driving literally up to our campground because it's on the top of the mountain in colorado just outside of Denver.


Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, But mhm.


No no no that was fun. We had a big old conversion van and it was interesting. she didn't care for driving up the mountain, I was pretty okay but I can only imagine driving those big RVs up if you can't, you're nervous giving a conversion van.


Well yeah.


I imagine those big things. Um I still, it's one of the best experiences though because our campground was up there, I get up early hours of the morning for a bathroom break and on my walk back like it's brisk up there because early May and top of the mountain, I remember looking at our GPS saying that it was just under 10,000 ft up, that's pretty high by comparison.


Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Oh yeah.


But no on my on my walk back it was still cold but not like not biting cold, it felt like a welcoming cold temperature.


Oh yeah, I call that like crisp.


It was weird.


Yeah, it's Mhm.


Yeah like those are like that light frost on grass kind of feel like when you first step out in the morning and it doesn't feel harsh cold, but it feels inviting in a way, I don't know how to explain it. Um But yeah, short short walk like it only took me a couple minutes to get back to the campsite, but I was welcomed by the sun coming up over the mountains and it was like, yeah, that was probably the most peaceful experience I've ever had.


What? Oh, that really sure, mm. Mhm I I am alright but I yeah, I've seen like the moon out in the super dark camping area and it's like, wow, you're like, did you, were you attempted to wake your wife up and pull her out of the town?


I was indescribable. It really was. Um But yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I was actually, but I know how quick sunrises can go just like sunsets and just like but it was like and they were already sleeping and I was like, plus I know that she does not like the cold.


Yeah. Oh, uh huh.


She likes, she likes the warm, she's the kind of person that can have it 80 degrees in the house and still be covered under comforters.


Mhm.


So like to wake her up this early just to see that, but it's also kind of bitter cold. She might appreciate it later. But no, like, like she'll be cranky. She's also a morning person.


You're a little like a middle aged kid, you know?


So I was like, no.


Five, 12 maybe I do that too. But yeah, growing up we got Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah. But no, we we went through Arizona because she had friends in, remember if they were in or just outside of phoenix.


Yeah.


So we hit the four corners and then um went through uh phoenix and then what is it?


And uh the Sedona uh yeah.


Um The incident? S down, It's Scottsdale.


Flags, what else is there?


That's down Yeah, like I think we went from the corners down and kind of went to phoenix and then I think Scottsdale's more west, right, right there.


Oh yeah, Scottsdale is right north of phoenix. Yeah, no that's right right there on Buffy. No.


Ok. Yeah, because I think we went through there, I got to say for that area, like not just custom, but in general, like the highway decorations are incredible, like the floral decorations and like, they put so much time and effort into making those beautiful and not land.


Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is some of the road, they have rocks in these spirals and different color rocks and make the yeah, it's different the roads here, the new ones at least they just stay nice for so long and it's different than Minnesota, where you have the blitzkrieg of trucks.


Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was that was definitely a site. It was incredible. Right.


I've seen a chain in our county when I lived in Minnesota, in the front of this long line of trucks was a grinder, pulling up asphalt, putting it up right into a dumps, another, it was putting it into the dump dump trucks and they were lined up empty.


And then if you work your waist back, there was the sweepers, there was everybody in one long line, like a mile long lake pavement at the same time and that's like here.


Yeah. Oh yeah.


Uh They just take I'm all your Yes yes well mhm.


Now I think where I grew up, we, we had two seasons, we had winter and we had construction and I thought that was us and and one of the after like b enough trips over to Minnesota um realized. I think that's a midwestern thing, especially the northern areas because of the cold because we, you don't see it out west very much. I mean I haven't been out east too often, so I don't know how it is there as far as the roads go.


Not yeah that that just threw me, it's like you just used to it and then oh they have different way of living life down here, do construction all year.


But I mean like you get far enough west or south and that's not a thing. Yeah. Yeah.


I had a lot of friends in the different trades including one who helped build 35 W through ST paul, one of the last productions which was like um summer work due time is that many hours as they could get you to work and Right, but that's it I had yeah and the ones who don't set aside money to enjoy their time off.


Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's one downside for sure of this kind of region is if you work in that industry, construction and road work, you might definitely want to consider looking at seasonal work because that is seasonal work. Like you get laid off for the colder, colder months and what you know, what are you gonna do? You know, I know too many people that get laid off because there's no work, everything in that industry shut down because you can't build houses, you can't really work on the road, you can't do that kind of stuff because it's too cold. Yeah. Well yeah, I mean you have to set aside enough money to even try to make ends meet let alone anything extra. You know, it's like I I admire I admire those that can actually make that work.


Yeah, it's easy this. Yeah mm.


That that lifestyle because that's that's rough to not always to know where your income is or if you have any I mean right now we're kind of like that for everybody but it's not we have very little control over it in terms of everything right now when you're talking about like construction work you have the ability essentially to go find other work if if you needed an income.


Well yes. Yeah. Yeah at times other than this very strange year you know I'm super lucky in that I am on disability Social Security currently.


So. Yeah it's. Yeah. Exactly. And it's I don't know how to be, how have you been coping with with all the everything?


And um and that's been it's like this thing, universal basic income, we're a certain amount of money because they don't, they check up on me every so often get my doctor's records, make sure you know I'm not getting better and and that's it, the check shows up, I do anything I want with it, but all the responsibilities on me, so I'm super grateful I have it and I'm like kind of pissed that the government hasn't been helping all the people mm Okay.


Yeah. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Like I'm I'm in in a different kind of boat where for for a while now I've been unemployed but not it has nothing to do with everything going on. It was even prior to that and enough health issues that prevent me from working but not enough confirmed yet. Two allow me disability.


Yeah I heard.


It's that middle ground where it's like is this enough? Can we prove it? And is it enough to give me that or do I have to, is it not and I have to go back to work?


Oh yeah.


But what what can I do with my health?


Yes.


You know, it's it's just very very small and sometimes very stressful gray area of where do I lie?


Yeah it is. Yeah. And I had when I first took sick I had some friends who were like just work, just work, just work, there is nothing wrong, you know your back's not broken in half. And I'm like uh and then I was so grateful. Then it took just six months or so for Social Security to hear my case and they approved it. Now I hear it's just ridiculous long and they do a lot of denials at first, then you have to go to court and I'm like when you're not doing well and you don't have money for an attorney, what the hell?


Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and and a like a court costs alone can be ridiculous. You know? Then you have, I mean there's just so many factors in in costs in stress and everything.


Uh huh.


There's just so much Sure.


They just oh gosh we're over 25. Let me tell you real quick. They did it in Canada. It just closed this week, won the more they gave 7500 bucks up front to 50 individuals who were homeless and had been homeless only six months.


Yeah, wow.


And then they had a control group of 65 people receiving services from the shelters in the county.


Right.


This is over in a Vancouver and here they found it costs about $8100 per person served by the shelters to take care of them over the year.


Yeah. Yeah.


Whereas the $7500 granted the people, all of those people were in housing. They had an average of 1000 bucks saved at the end of that time. And then all these other important measures like their stress they're being were their mental health were way better than this group because they didn't have that worry.


Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. With with all the stimulus that went through, like I didn't qualify for that first round because technically I'm a dependent, even though my age is an adult, like the first round was dependent, 17 and under or college students of a certain age, I'm like, well I'm definitely not under 17 and I'm not a college student.


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


Like I don't qualify. Like uh that little again that little gray area where it's like uh and the possibility of another round coming, they've they've modified some of the criteria that maybe I could be included in this round.


Oh.


And like admittedly I likely won't save it, we'll probably use it for necessities and some for fun things. But even just the knowledge of having that assistance, whether I use it or I blow it on whatever.


Mhm.


Just that knowledge just low dramatically lower stress anxiety and just knowing that they're actually doing something to help me to help everybody that's in need.


Yes.


I mean when they first did that first round, like what they say within four weeks most people that received that money was already gone for, a lot of people have barely covered rent, let alone all the other responsibilities they had.


Yeah. Yeah. Uh huh.


It's like really you think $1200 is going to cut it? I understand budgets. I mean the fact that that bill was what like a little over $3 trillion get it.


Yeah.


It's a lot of money.


But still if you got that money, we're paying their fair share of taxes like amazon for instance who made nothing because everybody put that money right into spending on mostly necessities have been taxed.


What's on? Yeah. Yeah.


You know the people the companies have been taxed. That money would have flowed through the economy right back into the government.


Well that's just that's the same thing I was just thinking is yeah like yeah it might be quite a bit of money you're giving out but and especially in these times whether it be for necessities, hobbies, entertainment, anything like that that is all getting almost immediately pumped back into the economy.


You know I mean if a lot of it's put on necessities for like for bills it helps.


I think it helps the economy somewhat. But when you're talking about buying food and other material goods, you know that that boosts the economy even more than just paying your electric bill, you know?


Yeah. Yeah.


And so why my mind goes, why don't they see that if they want the economy to continue and not be in this recession or depression that we're going through realize that if you can manage to pump enough, you know, like give enough out to people, it's coming right back to you, like within a couple of weeks that that's coming right back into the economy.


Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. If the covid if it takes 68 to 12 months more to get a vaccine or longer, I sure hope that dems win and and consider that man.


I'm like I said I'm doing okay but it's like I'm still right on the edge. If it weren't for the 1200 I got earlier this year, my car wouldn't be working now.


Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's a lot of people that got it that it was more of a cushion like, okay, they could put it away a large portion of people.


Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


It wasn't, it was a matter of medications, hospital visits, you know, car repairs, utilities, like, like are we going to have food this month?


Mhm mm. Uh huh, yep.


Like for a lot of people, that's what it was. And I mean, even if they didn't need multiple 100 for one month worth of necessities, it was 400 that could help stretch it out.


Uh huh.


They wouldn't have to worry for at least a couple months you know?


Mhm.


But even still it wasn't. Oh yeah I just got an extra 1200 bucks like it was something they needed you know it went so far while only so far for a lot of people and it was still appreciate it because where would they be without it?


Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.


You know a lot of people without it would have been homeless or hard to get to work or what have you.


Uh huh. He yeah, you know if Wisconsin got some funds from the federal to help people with rentals then losing their mortgages with yes yes on evictions like.


I don't know. I I think there was a whole put on for mortgage and rental and Yeah I think I don't know about Wisconsin specifically. I want to say it was nationwide but more of a recommendation and not a requirement.


Yeah. Mhm.


And I think it was up to each state government to determine just like when they did the unemployment extension that trump has a thing for an extra 300 it was 400 300 from the government and then 100 from each individual state government to approve or deny that.


Yes. Well yeah Arizona said nope and then we got several $100 million that's largely still sitting not being distributed to people who need rental assistance because we don't have Arizona's very anti spending.


So everybody got 300 extra for unemployment and some would get 400 depending on their government wanted to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is well yeah.


We don't have an agencies and enough employees to figure even figure out how to distribute the money, how to interview people. So it's used.


Yeah. Yeah. Even though it's been months since all that's been distributed to individual uh municipalities.


Um It's like they're still hiccups, you know they're like from the from the stimulus that was approved back in March or april they're still I think that's the last time I checked like last week I think they said they're still like nine million americans that haven't received one that could be eligible.


Mhm. Uh huh mm.


But for various reasons, you know like whether they just don't have, you know, the non filers and and stuff like that and it's like, that's a lot like yeah, there was a huge number of uh qualifying people to receive that, but the fact that there's still this many months later, nine roughly, nine million that haven't gotten it, like, that's it.


No. Right. No. Mhm. Yeah.


I a technical standpoint, I can see why there'd be problems, like not everything, especially on this scale is going to go smoothly.


No. Yeah.


There's going to be problems, there's going to be, you know, hiccups and everything, but but it has also been many months, we're not talking, oh, hey, we passed it in april and it's now july we're talking it's been what, half a year going on, like eight months or whatever.


Mhm. That's it. I kind of wonder if the president I blame too much on him. But it's like I told the CBC seem to put pressure on them not to emphasize masks early on or not to say it spreads by aerosol.


Yeah. Right.


So what's not to say he's looking at the I. R. S. Or whoever and saying don't worry about getting all that money out.


Yeah, there's there's a part of me I don't support or oppose trump one way or the other, like, from my standpoint, uh very at the very first, I was like, oh dear God, like like wow, this country really is, wow.


Mhm. Yeah. Uh huh.


Um but at this point I've kind of come to terms with the fact that it's only been four years.


Mhm. Mhm.


We've already we were already dealing with some problems to begin with, that. Obama was trying to fix from the previous president and now trump's in office, trying to continue fixing like what well Bush problems were while also trying to fix or correct what happened with Obama.


Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.


Like it's only been four years realistically, you can only do so much in that amount of time, especially with all this red tape to go through.


Yeah. Yeah. Uh huh.


Um but there is a I actually talked to people the other day about this, There is part of me that wonders with trump and the election being in what a couple of weeks that we've had no real uh, forward momentum on another round of stimulus for individuals businesses?


Oh. Mhm. Uh huh. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. Uh huh.


What have you done any kind of relief? Um because they've been in talks for that for, well, what's since july they are talked about another round, um no forward momentum.


Yeah. Yeah.


And yet with the election looming, there's a part of me that wonders if in a fashion trump is going to try to strong arm them into getting something passed.


I expected because when he when he momentarily, you know, a few days ago, he may be before the hospital, he said there will be no stimulus.


Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I believe because the democrats in the house passed the bill for like two or something not that long ago, so now the Senate, um, but then the republicans came back with like, uh, they don't want anything over a trillion dollars.


I will not sign any deal. And then a few hours later he changed totally went the other way. Oh yeah. Yeah. Mhm.


Um, So again, like it's a it's a lot closer, but it's still a decent gap.


Yeah.


And then so again, it's it's back and forth. But I think I read that trump proposed one point $6 trillion in limited stimulus, you know, for the individual people and for limited business relief, it's kind of like the middle ground between the two proposals.


Yeah. Yeah. Oh.


Um I don't know if that's going to pass or anything like that because it was proposed by the president himself, not the republicans, not the democrats, not the all that, not Congress.


Oh. Which it does?


Um And I mean, not saying it's the best motive, but if his if he attempts to strong arm them into getting something passed, my thought is because of election that if he can get this past, even if it gets distributed after the election, if something on the table, it might swing votes in his favor because people are like, oh, he's doing something definitely not a great reasoning to get it passed.


Yeah. Oh yeah.


Like selfish who I'm going to win the election, But there's assignment.


Mhm.


It's also like grateful because then it would at least be, it still be help, you know, it's a two sided thing.


Right.


It's like negative, um motive, but positive outcome.


Yeah. I know. And I'm like worried if he waits and if he does lose the election, will he feel like issuing the stimulus afterward? You know, I I think if you Right, well hell january 20th.


Right? Yeah, I'm in the same boat there is that if he doesn't win, then he won't be part of Congress, correct? You won't be involved in still regions on, on those anymore because he won't be right. Okay. Yeah, that's true.


Yeah. Because he'll still be officially president. That's right. Um, because the thing is like, if nothing, if he truly feels the need to help the average american with all this and he's no longer president, would he in effect be willing to fund stimulus with personal income?


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah.


Because I mean obviously he's wealthy, nowhere near that wealthy, I thank. But you know what I mean?


Yeah.


Like he wouldn't have the government money to work with as far as Congress goes, you know, right now, he's not funding it, if it passes, it's the government, you know, And if he still wanted to supply people with money after he's no longer president, he would have to do it out of pocket.


Right. Right. Yeah, I think he should.


I don't think, I think he could be selfless, but I don't know about that much.


That's that's that's a lot of money. Even like unless I had a large sum of money, even I don't think I'd be that selfless because that's I mean, again, the first round they passed was over $3 trillion.


Yes. Uh huh. Yeah.


That's a lot of money.


You'd have to have an enormous I mean Bill Gates isn't that rich, you know? And like that's that says something. Bill Gates is wealthy, you know?


Yeah. What?


So no, that's I don't know, it's all Uh huh Oh yeah, I kind of just like here here here's you right.


Well, you know what, I I want to propose that we all create a go fund me or something and pitching money needs to be a lot just a few million to build a wall and I want to put it all around mar a Lago in florida and president and all of his friends if they lose, if they lose and yeah, because they won't be able to get jobs, you know, all the current heads of the state Department's and stuff, federal level. So um yeah, I'll build a wall to keep them safe in florida. Um Yeah.


Yeah I mean if you if you think about it I don't know what the current U. S. Population is but if if every single person contributed a dollar to a fund that's a that's a substantial amount of money.


Yeah, it's like three I must say 3 30 million. I could be.


Yeah it's pretty high you know I mean admittedly I guess that the bill that passed was three trillion.


By comparison. If every person on the planet contributed a dollar that's still nowhere near three trillion.


Well no.


We're only in what like eight billion.


Yeah, pushing.


Yes but I mean that's still a substantial amount of money to give back to do good you know and help out like it's I don't know I definitely know that if I had a decent amount of money like if I won the lottery like I won't lie I'll spend some of it on myself on fun things.


Yeah. Right. You Yeah.


Get myself set I guess.


Yeah. Mhm. Yeah.


But if I had a billion dollars, I'd probably hold on to maybe like 100 million and then here's the other 900.


Right. Oh, I'm with you.


Like here's for this charity to help the homeless to like I don't need that much money.


You know, I don't play the lottery much, but I don't see the difference between a lotto at five million or 20 or 100 because I'm like just one million or so would have me totally set anything above that.


Yeah.


I would either do something weird and go nuts so I would just give it away, wow.


Yeah. Yeah. The only reason I, I wonder on my own side, two of no willing I would be to give up enough money is because I have this like innate urge to travel to just go places like I, I want to go visit more of this country.


Uh huh. Uh huh. Yes. Oh. Mhm.


I want to go to europe and Asia and all that. Like I want to see the world having nearly unlimited amount of money.


Like, like I mean a billion dollars is a lot.


I mean to put it in perspective, I actually did this out of a lot of fun. If I had a billion dollars and I wanted to spend it in my lifetime.


All of it.


Oh.


Yeah. So here's the thing, a billion dollars over the course of 100 years spending every single day you still have to spend roughly 30 grand every day the door was closed, right?


Mhm. Yeah. Uh huh. My car just trans located through space.


I yeah. You speaking.


No, it's got a big gap but I thought he was too big to get under there anymore since he was.


Yeah, I guess not.


Hi um I'm glad they're on our side.


He's like I want, he's like, I want to be in here. I'm gonna be in here. Cats, man and cats. Mhm. Yeah, no kidding.


Come here honey. Oh man.


It would be roughly, I think I remember correctly, roughly. 30 grand a day every single day for 100 years if you want a billion dollars and that's no no interest accruing over time either.


No mm Good. Right you'd have to really?


Yeah, I mean, admittedly like at the start, okay, here's a car. Cool. You know by a $300,000 house, that's a good chunk of it right there. That's 10 days worth.


Mhm.


But I mean you really do that every single like, okay, I got a car. You're going to I'm going to buy a car a brand new car every single day for 100 years.


Yeah.


I don't, I don't think though, you know like oh 300 grand for a house and that's roughly two weeks worth of, of money. You're going to buy a new house every two weeks. You know what I mean? Like that's so to me a billion is like unlimited Bezos.


I wonder you know uh the guy who owns amazon.


Yeah I just I just opened the browser real quick network and this is in his the company stock whatever. I'm sure he doesn't cash right now.


It's 175 billion. I'm like what?


I'm like obstruction of that. Like less than literally less than 1% would be like a billion dollars would be less than 1% billion dollars is.


Someone did the math and said that he could give away to every employee in the order of tens of thousands of dollars of amazon and still.


Yeah. And still be one of the richest people.


Yeah. Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean when you think of amazon employees like that, that's everybody. You mean talking the warehouse employees, the distributors, you're talking uh the online people, you know like the service text and every like you've got lots of people lots and they're slowly expanding.


Mhm. I forget the exact number. Yeah they said they could give away so many thousands or tens of thousands to each person. And his stock has risen so much this year that it would be totally absorbed within that rise.


That's good. Yeah. That, as I say that it can increase because yeah, I mean as stock prices so does his value. So it is his ability to essentially give back his ex wife got like a ton of money and it's like, like that's alimony.


Oh yeah mm.


Holy crap. Like wow. Like I know alimony can be expensive, but Uh huh. No, thank you.


Uh huh. Oh yeah.


I I'm not kind of money. I'd be I'd be set like especially with his kind of money, I could do all of it, I could travel indefinitely, see the world do the things and still make a difference.


Right right.


Like you have, like I could Yeah.


Well actually traveling the world and making differences as you go could help give people a better impression of America and americans.


Well, and that she was like, like there's I'm a very I'm very much a loner.


Oh.


I'm an introvert which in contrast to me wanting to travel is very, it's so dynamic.


Mhm.


Um look, I've just always had a fascination with other cultures and some of their histories, especially when you compare it to America where what a couple 100 years old countries that are, Oh, like, you know, you look at England and that's centuries old.


You sure? Right. Yeah.


It's like they have so much history.


In the end India Saudi Arabia Iran Mesopotamia where we have evidence going back tens, 10,000 plus years of civilization and they're still living in the same place.


Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like not every aspect of history interests when I was in school, history was whatever, but as I got older, I was like, I don't know if it felt like there's a switch that went off in me as I got older because suddenly I'm just like the past number of years, history itself, it's just fascinating.


Well, yeah.


Like looking at hold far things have come and looking back at, I mean, just everything. You know, we talked about grand scheme of things, the universe as a whole. Like we're were tadpoles, you know, But just, I think just learning in general cultural, you know, I'm open to races religions.


Mm. Yeah. Yeah.


Like I'm not a heavily religious person. I consider myself more agnostic where I don't believe in any one thing, but I think there is something, um, yeah, and, and to the point where like I'm open to all religions.


Yeah. Mhm. I was there when I was your age. Yeah.


So what the one stipulation I have is just don't push yours on me and, and so long as you don't harm others in uh, in service to your religion, you know, that like a lot, especially americans, common misconception is that all Arabs are suicide bombers and it's like that's, that's them, like that's not all of them and it's not even all of their religion, like that's just a certain sect of them.


Yeah. Yeah, mm I'm with well yeah, we got horrible case in Arizona couple of decades ago like after not quite, it was an indian man a C.


Yeah, yeah.


I believe and he had a cloth wrapped muslim and he got shot by someone hate crime here.


The urban. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, they're not all that way, and and even and that's not their religion, their religion isn't to harm people.


Oh right.


Like that's just these people harm people because that's what they wanted to. It's not anything to do with their religion in Islam were, you know, like it's it's it's completely different.


Yeah. It's about a power structure where somebody is violent and they convince others in part through the religion, you know, they create their own fancy.


Okay. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. They use, like, the original religion itself, if you dig deep enough into it, isn't, there is no basis for harming others.


Yeah.


But those particular groups use religion as a vehicle for luring others into doing this.


Right.


And so then there's that immediate connection of this religion, this outcome.


Yeah. It's really sad. You know here we just get people like jim baker being televangelists and hundreds of millions and then just buying jet planes, they're not really killing people except for the extra pollution.


Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.


Right?


There's there's there's variations there, uh, you know, and, and liberties that can be taken into account for various, uh, you know, harmful actions.


Mhm.


But yeah, I mean, so, yeah, those are my only stipulations when it comes to religion is just as long as your religion isn't based in on harming others and you're not forcing it on me. Cool. Like I'm open to learning just learning, not even necessarily practicing just learning religions, cultures.


Yeah, sure.


We're all people.


Hey, if I, I don't know what might be in your area. I for two years now I've been a member of something called a humanist society here in phoenix and it's just people coming together. A lot are atheists, but not all of them. There's people from all religions and walks and we have a center in one of the things we are now doing on zoom is we have these meet ups where we do things like um discuss various aspects of philosophy or different cultures.


Right. Yeah.


They have a book club, they have a philosophy night, we're supposed to be drinking while and then we have something called inquiry minds every other saturday for like three hours, you get like up to three minutes to discuss whatever the topic is.


Uh huh.


And then it rotates around and and I just love these things because it's all about at least my group, it's all about education in really learning stuff and, and not bashing religion, you know, just mm hmm.


Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Being open and just like, like you can have your you can still have your own opinions on it. So if you don't if you still have a negative perception or if it's just not your interest, that's fine. But it's still a matter of just being there and just hearing it at least.


Yeah. Yeah, yeah, if you, if you are interested, if you look up, Minnesota has a lot of programs that are currently online.


And obviously if you are open and willing to learn this stuff, then you're gaining more from it.


It's called just like Minnesota humanists on that meet up dot com.


Okay.


No one I go to is phoenix humanists and we don't know, we have a lot of fun.


Yeah.


What every meetings that interesting like they have intersectional book club, that's about this week, the reading Lolita in Iran, I'm just like, oh, I don't quite know what's going on, but Well, yeah, Yeah.


Yeah. Yeah. I mean like yeah, I can see how certain certain things might appeal to one person over another. You know, like just because you're interested in the group as a whole doesn't mean you're interested in every aspect of it. You know, it's just like your your favorite author or your favorite movie star, whatever. Like just because you like them as a whole doesn't mean you're going to enjoy everything they put out and yeah, like I again as a bit of a loner like meeting new people isn't always easy, but I'm always open to it and obviously then conversation can get going and you can talk about anything and everything forever.


Right, yep, Okay. Oh mm. Yeah.


And that's one thing I love is just that natural progression of conversation.


I mean I could like realistically like those groups highly appealed to me because I could talk about philosophy and psychology and series of on the universe and and just about anything. Like it's more a matter of finding the right people in the right group.


Yeah. Yes, that's that's the thing because sometimes some groups will be a little bit more led by people who want to create change in society. That can be a more activist.


Right.


Some are more about learning, you know, each one is a different and like in the Minnesota one, different leaders have different focuses. I've just been going there because they started doing zooms for everybody.


I'm like okay, show you know, there's maybe 15 maybe more people in your little windows and I just sit there and listen at first, you know and let's make music.