bowling alleys of my youth
Collin is mulching. Brandon has a review. We ponder how bowling works.
What characteristics make up a good bowling alley?
Well lit!
Well spaced seating
Appropriate snacks
Ball selection
Weird video celebrations
Arcade things
Speed-o-meter
Bowling shoes that aren’t too old
Pro shop
Balls that aren’t too beat up
Team building at a bowling alley
How does bowling work
Shiny chemistry
Collin hates leaves
Mulching is wonderful
A Review!!
Murder on the Orient Express - Springfield Little Theatre
Mark Twain Quote of the week: Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Brandon’s Haiku
Whorling down the lain
Violent collision ensues
Slowly returning
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
PROVIDED BY OTTER.AI
SPEAKERS
Collin
Collin 00:04
Music. Welcome to Oh brother, a podcast where we try to figure it all out with your hosts, Brandon and Collin on this week's show, bowling alleys of my youth. Ahoy. Ahoy. Happy Halloween. Happy Halloween. Oh no, oh no, that will date this immediately. Nevermind, nevermind, sorry. No, will the day that it comes out and is posted on the internet. So No, was just trying to figure out how to work into the the opening lyrics of the Nightmare Before Christmas, into our early dialog here. And I kind of ran out of that, right? You, you can try to work it in anytime between now and Christmas. So it's officially the movie of all season, multi seasonal movie, right? So you're good to go anywhere you want. That's the good thing about it. You're good. It's from here. It's the end of the year, any time. Yeah, as so, yeah, how's, what's what's new, exciting? Well, allow me to answer your question with a question. Collin, oh no, weirdly, for the third week in a row. Oh, okay, not expect this to happen. But what I have a hard time with this. What? What characteristics make up a good bowling alley? That's what? Oh, okay, diving into lots of adventures. Um, yeah, right, if it goes, Okay, this is man. This one is hard. My, because my, my frequency to modern bowling alleys, as in bowling alleys, not stuck in the 80s, is very or prior is, is tough. Not that many, because I could tell you what my memories of bowling alleys are, but I don't think that's what this question is, as I mean it could be, I'm going to say no, no, nobody, really, because you said, you said, Good bowling alley and that, well, okay, that's fair. But I mean, it could just be bowling alley, like, I know I'm gonna go with a good bowling alley, all right, and I'm going to say that one of the things that makes a good bowling alley is that is I actually like a well lit bowling alley,
03:04
no
Collin 03:05
rock and bowl for you. I'm hearing no rock. And I think this is probably my push against the bowling alleys of my youth, which were very dark, very like, what is at the other end of this, I don't know, but I'm terrified to go down there and find out it's actually just pin setter boys running around back there. That's why it was so dark, because pretty much scampering, pretty much what I think is was it was actually happening. So I know I that's what. So that's what I would say, that I would I would say, very nice, well lit right now. Well, it is good. Well, it is good. I think you also have to have, like, an appropriate space. The seating has to be appropriately spaced for the lanes, right? Because sometimes, like the tables, because, you know, you have, they always have tables at the end of the lane, right? But then they're sometimes they're set in such a way that they're like, godly close together, right? You're like, hitting elbow with the people behind you, or you can't, like, get up and put your shoes under the thing, right? So, like, yeah, that is a thing that I have encountered before. So I think, like, having the appropriate table spacing. Sometimes I do this by, like, staggering them right, like there's one back further then there's one little closer, what? But whatever, like, there needs to be some adequate spacing, walking around the staging area right to so that everybody can sit at the table and whatever, and not like bump into, like a brand of other strangers nearby, right? I think that's, that's important, right? Yep, yep. I like the well defined. I'm going to say it has to have, it has to have a good, good food, and not just like dogs and popcorn. Learned, like, I think that a good bowling alley these days is going to have a wider selection with, actually, like, edible pizza and, yeah, appropriate snacks, right? Yes, that's fair. You always got to be prepared for snacks. So that's good. Yes, I like that. I think also, right, you have to have, I think the the ball selection also is important, right? I feel like sometimes, right, there's not enough differences in the bowling balls that are available that like, it's hard to find a good one right, because I have right it's hard to find a good bowling ball right when you go in there and you just have to, like, awkwardly, try to pick up all every single bowling ball that you look at, right? Yeah. Now wander around and, like, look for the right one. Now, are you saying like, sizing and bigger position, or are you also thinking about like and like, weight, design and stuff? I know I don't care about that, because I don't understand what any of that means. But like, yeah, I don't care about usually they're color coded. Like, all of these color are one weight. All of these color are another weight. So I don't like it when there's like, a random ball in there that's, like, also purple, but is a different weight than all the other purple balls. That's That's weird, yeah, right. But I they do have, they do need a very good variety of, like, finger hole spacing, right? Yeah. And like, a little bit more variation in finger size is important, right? Because I have, like, a very some of my fingers are very fat, right? I'll be honest. Here's my problem with bowling balls. Have very fat fingers, right? And bowling ball hole drillers think that equals that I need a heavy bowling ball, right? True. I don't really want to bowl with a 14 pound bowling ball all the time. That is not what I need in my life. Right? My arm doesn't like that. Like, my forearms, like, what are you doing? Why are you doing this is not what we do. No, yeah, we don't want this. So, like, if they're, they're just like, you know, because some bowling alleys, like, no, that's it. Like, all the, all the like, 12 pound balls are all the same. Like, all the 14 pound balls are all the same. And that's kind of annoying. It's also annoying to have to, like, go and try to hunt and look for the one that fits best, right? But, but that's better than having zero option with, like, finger space, because some of them sometimes are, they're like, wider apart, or they're narrower apart, or their fingers are closer together, the fingers are more splayed, right? Yeah, thumbs holes or different sizes, right? I think that is more important than uniformity in to just like, compensate for everybody's different hand size. I think that's important bowling alley feature that is overlooked sometimes, at least in my experience with bowling alleys were granted. In the past five years, I have been to two bowling alleys, so a lot of my experience also comes from is very dated from a very long time ago, right? But I think this is important thing to think about. I yeah, I think that's, I think that's very good. I like that very much. I am going to go with they have to have off the wall, crazy video graphics for whenever you do something in the game, right? Where, like, you do the strike, and then you look at the video, yeah, screen, and it like, tumbles and like, there are turkeys and they're like, flying. Like, nothing should make sense as to what is happening to be weird, right? Weird and like, there's no theme, there's no rhyme or reason for what's happening on the screen to celebrate what you just did. But, but it needs to be there that, that I will carry that forward from the bowling alleys of my youth. Of you need, you need those because that that really keeps you in your life. Yes, that's good. No, that's good. Uh, I would also say that it's imp. I think it's a bone. I don't know if this is important, but I think it's a bonus. Ah, if there is also, like, Arcady things happening in bowling Okay, right? Because, because sometimes, you know, you see a little bit diversion, right? Because I've been to some bowling alleys before that just have bowling lanes, right? But I've also been to bowling alleys that have bowling lanes and. Games like arcade style games, okay with tickets and prizes, even sometimes, so that's even more fun. So that way, like there's more variety you can do things, right? Again, I am very biased, because one of my very best bowling memories happened in such an establishment, right? And so I do have a slight bias, because that was so hilarious and fun to do that, that that definitely Jades my judgment a little bit. But I think it is nice that it's there for people, right? I think that's good, yes, because that gives you time, either before all of your friends have arrived, or maybe you are done bowling, but your friends are not, yes, and maybe, maybe the seating arrangement isn't all that great, and you need to get up and go do something else. So it really does help make it more accessible for more people to be involved in the bowling adventures. That's true. That's good, yeah, oh man, ah, gosh Golly. What am I? I? Ooh, okay, this is ridiculous. A reason for why this should exist, or why this is important. I what Bowling Alley was it? I liked when the bowling alley would tell you how fast you threw the ball at all the speedometer, yes, yes, it's one of those weird like it doesn't impact the game at all, like you don't need to throw it fast or whatever. But it's because sometimes you don't want to, like it completely defeats the point of what you're trying to do. And it's not all just about throwing a fast bowling ball. Matter of fact that it actually makes it a lot less accurate and more dangerous in sometimes. Yes, so. But I, I like that. I thought that was a fun, just like, weird little thing to have over there, because that's not a stat that you typically get when you go bowling. And I thought that was kind of fun, nice. That's a good one, right? It's a good one. I think another thing that's important is, uh, like, bowling shoes that aren't too old, right? Because they wear out very quickly. And some bowling alleys, like, they just don't replace them, right? Because some bowling alleys have, like, good shoes, and other bowling alleys just have shoes, right? Yeah, shoes. That is, yeah, they're, they're there, technically, but are they helpful? Maybe not, maybe not so much so, like, I think good, or like, not like, Okay, again, the the bar for bowling shoe is low in my mind, right? Like, need to be relatively decent shoes, not like, completely clapped out, stretched out nonsense, right? Like, that's kind of annoying. But, like, good, just, like, fairly decent bowling shoes, right? Pretty, you know, middle to low bar here. But, like, pretty good shoes would be helpful also, yeah, okay, I have, I have one more. I'm racking my brain for this. That's fair. I think a good bowling alley is going to have a completely unnecessary, little used and obscure pro shop. I think there's like, random stuff on a shelf. You're like, what is that? Yes, yeah, there's no reason for it. Like the mortals don't need this. 99.99999% of the people have no need for this. But I like seeing that stuff to know that there are people out there who really they're trying to maximize, increase their insert thing about maximizing revolves around bowling, and it's there, and there are pro, there are pro level things. And I, I like that. I'm here for that, yeah. Like, the, there's like, Oh, those are, like, actual bowling shoes, yes? Weird. Like, wow, that ball's really shiny. Yeah, there's weird, right, yeah? Or, like, the, the pro balls that have the, they're, like, weighted or whatever, yeah, the weird weighted ones, weird and stuff, yeah, those are, those are kind of crazy, right? Big, exactly. That's good. That's good, that's fair. I had another one in it that just just dropped. My last one too, and it just just disappeared. Oh, but, oh, I think also, like, this is a side note back on the ball. Thing is that none of the balls are, like, too beat up, because sometimes they're just like, super messed up. Oh, sure. How did this happen? Yeah. What is going on in here? Why is this ball had nicks in it? Like, what did they sometimes? Like, I was gonna say sometimes it's not just Nicks. They're like, Trunks taken out of the cheese. This is, this is sharp. Why is this here? Yeah? So, like, just like, the balls are in good, good shape, I think would be good. Yeah? All right, there we go. Yes, yeah. I say this because, turns out, did you visit a bowling alley? I did. Ah, right, uh, the like reason this mysterious thing on my school email that was just like, wear your comfortable clothes. Turns out it was team building at a bowling alley. That's what that was. Oh, okay, definitely not. Definitely didn't see that one coming. No, I on left field. Uh, turns out my principal bowls every Wednesday. Are you serious? I am I learned that I was like, oh, what in the heck. Okay, so we went bowling on Monday for our professional development. That's amazing. Yeah. I mean, it was something, it was a thing. It was a thing that happened. Now, this bowling alley that we went to was firmly ensconced in the era of bowling alley that you were talking about, yeah, right, like it's definitely not the newest. It's definitely not, the flashiest, right? It definitely has that, like, old style bowling alley charm aspect, right? Where, like, the paint, there's like crazy weird bowling graphics on the wall, but they're kind of, like faded a little bit, right? These are perfect, yeah? So, I mean, in, like, the screens definitely, there was definitely wackiness happening. So yeah, that's what we did for our game, but it was kind of weird. Yeah, that that was what we did for we went bowling, right? So, yes, we did visit blank. How'd you know? I mean, not great, because I, like I said, I've visited bowling alley twice in the last five years. One of them was for a child's birthday party, like one of Susan's relatives, children had a birthday party in bowling alley, and we all went bowling that was probably four years ago. Oh, maybe five years ago, maybe three years ago. I don't remember anyway, something, something, while, something and so we, I ended up playing two games there was, like, the first game was like, How does bowling work? What perhaps to happen here. What is going on mechanically? Why is my arm doing that? Like, what? Ow, yeah, and the second game was better. So, I mean, not great, because I've never been a quote. Good bowler. Well, right? Bowling is a thing that we used to do a lot, me and my friends, but I think that's mostly because it was inexpensive and it was just a thing to do, and so we went quite frequently. It never actually took it seriously. It never actually got any better at bowling. They were just there to, like, hang out and like, kill time or stuff. But yeah, never actually improved. Oh, the bowling. So I did about normal, I think, for what I remember bowling before. So not not good, wouldn't call it excellent. But, well, that's, you know, it's something. And are you a better team? Now? Is that right? You're a better I don't know. I guess. Well, the problem is, like, it was a weird thing, because it was like, building team stuff, right? So I wasn't actually allowed to be on the same squad as anybody that actually work with so, so that was a little bit like, awkward and strange. So I mean, I mean maybe, but like, I won't really know, because these other people, yeah, well, actually, never mind. But you know, it was everybody seen most people. I'm not gonna say everybody, because I don't know. Obviously, a lot of people seem to enjoy, have enjoyed it. Oh, I. Yes, well, that's good. No, that's good. Worryingly, oh, they were like, hey, that's fun. I think we should bring the kids here for one of our celebration things. I was like, Oh, well, what if we didn't? I mean, I'd be all right. I wouldn't have to bowl I could just like, stand there and hang out. Oh, they would, the kids would probably like it, so that would be good. But also more bowling alley. So interesting. It was interesting, right? It was very interesting. Yeah, it was. I was not expecting random bowling alley. And again, this one was definitely, it's definitely old bowling alley, right? Like, were the shoes? Great? No, no. Were the like, was it well lit? Mostly, right? Like not. The lights that were working, were working. Well, yeah, they were working. Okay. So it wasn't too bad, right? But it was okay. So, yeah, that was the vague surprise reveal action thing that happened as we went bowling. But yeah, there we go. My my big, exciting event for the week bowling. I mean, um, pretty I haven't been, I have. I try to think while you're going, when was the last time that I legitimately went bowling? And I, I think we had gone with some friends from church one time. Boy, Megan will need to correct me. As soon as she hears this, she will let me know. And she like, was actually this day is actually just a month ago, and blah, blah, probably, I don't know, yeah, I mean, so that we went this time. I went this time. Then I went, like, to that exercise, to that birthday party that was maybe a couple years ago. I don't remember if it was 2021, maybe, I think before that, that's a good question. It may have been like, I don't think I'd been bowling since i i The last time I know I went bowling was like, 2005 very, very spread out, real. I used to go a lot, not like, a lot, but, like, relatively frequently, sure. And then, like, I just once, I moved, like, here to a place where there's no bowling alley, yeah? And, like, no nice, never win anymore. Well, it turns out, well, it's kind of hard. Well, if you don't have one, right, it's real hard. Yeah, go, yeah, because in Springfield there's, like, a bunch, yeah, or they used to be a bunch. I don't know how many There currently are, but they used to be many, and then so we would go to several of them. But then like, and like every we were joking. I was joking with somebody because they were like, Oh, we're gonna go bowling and then we're gonna eat pizza. And I was like, Whoa, it's like every birthday party I went to till I was 10 years old. Wonderful. Everybody's birthday party was at like, three places. It was either the Discovery Zone, right? Big, yeah, dz, people in Springfield, uh, skateboard or a bowling alley. This was the childhood birthday party destination. And I went to many, many birthday parties at bowling alley. And there were many, many pizzas that said bowling. Now, did you Yeah, were the pizzas? Were they delivered there, or did the bowling alley make them okay? So this time the bowling alley made them Okay, so they were fine, right? Right? This is not what I would call high quality pizza. Well, yeah, right. It's definitely bullying out of pizza. I mean, it was good, but, like, because, you know, almost all pizza is good, right? Let's be fair. Let's be real. Here, people argue about pizza way too much. I think, I think we're overthinking this pizza is good, end of story. Done, right? Just, just calm it down. Don't get so bogged down in the semantics here, pizza is good. Stop, right? No. So like it was okay, but it wasn't like, it wasn't like, fantastic pizza. I. Well, probably the dumbbells, you think so, but, like, I don't know how much, obviously, not as good as Casey's. Oh, yeah, clearly, clearly the pinnacle of pizza, Casey's pizza. I know, oh, that was pretty good. Enzo, I mean, it was all right, and it was fun. It was pretty good, pizza, drinks, bowling, literally, childhood birthday party memories flooding back, like had all the pizzas on the bar, on the little thing I was on the racks that were like, you know, the things that are like tables that people can watch on, but on the other side is the bowling ball rack, yes, yeah, okay, okay, can we talk about that? What a, what a wonderful use. It's true. It's a good design, right? Great, great design. Or how do we store these things? And I don't know, like, what came first? Did they have viewing tables and think, oh, we'll put bowling balls there. Or did they have racks of bowling balls and they went, what else can we use these? I don't know, but it's just wonderful. It's one of those dual purpose things. We're like, this is an important marriage, right? It is an important marriage because, because the problem with the bowling bowling alley is, where do you keep all of these bowling balls? Yes, yeah, because you have to have hundreds of these things. Like, how do you store them efficiently, right? If they're a good one, they're going to be everywhere, yeah? Also, right? Like, yeah. So they were there was that thing, right? And again, think that's another good thing about the bullying a good bowling alley is there's like, a a delineation between the bowling area and, like, other area. Yeah, right? Because sometimes when it's like, all the same thing, it's like, crowded and weird and whatever, but like, the bowling ball rack slash table. It's a good dividing zone between like the sitting and the other stuff area and then the bowling zone, right? But anyway, they had the pizzas all set. They had a bunch. They just kept bringing up pizzas and setting them up on the thing. And it was like, Oh, here's the cheese, little sausage. It was literally, like, I was 10 again. It was like, Oh my gosh, nice. Did they? Did they do the the what? The other trick that they used to do in at least grade school, where they would cut the slices additionally, like, in half again, to spread it around through all the little kids. You know? I didn't, I could, I didn't, I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think so, right? I don't think they did that. They were kind of small pizzas anyway. They just made, like, a whole bunch of them, sure. So they weren't, like, uh, real, real big ones, um, so maybe, if they would have been big ones, that might have done that, but they weren't. They weren't set that big, so the pieces were kind of smallish already. So it was deceptive, because you eat like one piece of that pizza, but it's not like a full piece of normal pizza, right? So it was like, what's the conversion rate here? How many of these should I eat for lunch here? Like, what is an acceptable amount of ease, right? Like I don't, let's what's the conversion? What's the surface area equivalency going on here? Gotta bust out the trigonometry. Figure out how much pizza I should be eating. I for a justifiable lunch, right? Well, what, yeah and yeah, then you have to go Yeah. Well, because what am I doing after this? Can I really have that extra one, or do I should? I? Should I not? Right? Yeah, yes, that's true. Then, like, Okay, well, then I'm gonna be doing this, then we'd be going home, and then we're gonna eat later. So I don't wanna eat too much for lunch, because then I'm not ready, right? You have that whole thing going on there. Plus, yeah, so I don't know, but it was pretty good. Well, I'm glad that that worked out for you. Yeah, you did good. Did good. And then the other thing I did on Monday, like, we didn't really have to do much of anything, we so I graded a bunch of stuff, and then I got sidetracked, and I one of my kids had asked me about our volcano thing we're doing, right? Oh, and so we're doing the old, the science side quest of the month currently, well, until tomorrow, I guess, is that we were trying to, quote, save the city from a volcano. Anti corruption, right? Oh, yes, yes, yes, absolutely. And so we were it turns out a 250 mil lab flask makes an excellent volcano, just in case you were wondering,
30:15
sounds amazing.
Collin 30:16
The perfect. So I have some, I, for some reason, have a giant stack of, like, aluminum baking tree. You know, there's like disposable aluminum baking trayvings. That's what we erupted a volcano in, put the flask at one side and put the quote, City at the other side, which are definitely wooden building blocks that I found from seizure, and absolutely, as you do, uh huh. And so we were building things out there, but somebody had asked me, like, what is happening? Why does it do that? So I I wrote the chemical uh equation for what is happening in the baking soda vinegar reaction. Oh, okay. And so I drew that, and then we talked about it in class, right? I drew the big thing. I even drew the molecule diagrams for them, just for fun, just they could see it. I don't actually know or do anything with that information, but I sure was like, this is the chemistry. Look yay. Shiny. Look at that. Look at it. Shiny. Yes. So I did that. Okay, I got very side sidetracked with my chemical equation drawing. That's, yeah, that's the only thing I did really, oh, did they? I'm sorry, did they? Did they save their towns? Did they? Was it successful? They? Almost a lot of them did. Yes, a lot of them did. Um, I was only counting, so, like, I mixed in dish soap with it, yes, right? And so that makes it, like, super foamy, and like crazy, which is awesome. And so we were mostly looking for the foam to be stopped, right? Because eventually, like, water will seep in through, right? But that was, we weren't really judging for that part. We were looking for the initial push to be stopped. And the majority of them were quite successful. There was a few that, there's one that failed quite catastrophically, but, you know, it's fine. It was like so much foam came out the I think they what they did was, one of them, they put their barrier that they made this barrier out of the kit that I gave them, but they, I think they put it too close to the volcano, so when it erupted, it literally went over the top of some of this splashed over and just landed in the zone, like, ah, oh, no, yeah. And because it was and then somebody else put theirs too close also, but because it was so close, the force of all that stuff coming out of the volcano, like, shoved it out of the way, okay, whereas if we put it far enough away, we had some time to lose momentum, and then when it hit it, it kind of stopped. Yeah, right. But this one was so close that the the force of all that liquid and the bubbles coming out like moved their barrier, it's amazing. It was pretty awesome. That's crazy. Yeah, it's pretty good. So, so, yeah, it was, it was pretty good. It was quite successful. I think they enjoyed it, right? Well, the ones I talked to, they said the only bad part is that you can only try it one time. I said, that's true. But, you know, everybody got it done. Everybody tested at least once, and so I think that was pretty good. It is kind of annoying that they can only do it once. But you know, what are you gonna do? And I'm not cutting I'm only cutting out so much cardboard, right? I get tired of doing it, yeah, you gotta. I can only buy so much vinegar, you know, run out real quick, if you just, like, let him do it over and over again, a lot of vinegar, man, I don't, yeah, no, don't, don't, don't. Put yourself through that. It'll be okay, but it's all right. It was good. So quite successful, I think. Okay. So I may just kind of remember, take that stuff. I may just introduce the tomorrow one, like the next month, when I was gonna do it Monday, but since everyone's done, I make tell them what it is now, that way they can be kind of thinking about it and preparing and getting ready. Since this month is a little bit short, because we have Thanksgiving break at the end. So, oh yeah, give them a little bit of extra time maybe, oh my gosh, yeah, I haven't, I haven't even, I mean, I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving and the time coming up for all that. So we're gonna be, I we're gonna be real busy, Yeah, I bet because you're already real busy. So Wow. I mean, of course. Genuinely I have, I mean, I talk about how busy we are a lot, but like, we are, I for this, this week, this, this week alone, like, I don't I, I don't know how we could, like, if we couldn't keep up like this, if we kept growing from this point, like, it's, it's intense, genuinely, so that makes it go. I go. Oh, well, why if it's this bad right now? Like, what is the end of the year going to be? Live from now till January? Is the hop in time right? Exactly, exactly it makes it where it's it's intense and so that we're just having those conversations and looking at our schedule, going like, you know, I sent an email out last week to our stat, to our clients, and was like, hey, just so you know, because we have chronic problems with people just never booking early. They are, they just, oh yeah, they're really refused. They just against it. You refuse. They are just hard against this. And so I have been pumping stuff out. But last week was I got, we got real stern with our language, not like mean or anything, but basically we said, You better book now losers like we are going to be at max capacity. We will not be able to take on. There will be no ability. And by golly gee, we got a lot of people to wake up and go, Oh, right, I need to do that. So which is good, because I want the rest of the year schedule to basically be as rock solid as possible, because that means there's less variation fluctuation for us, that means our team doesn't have to worry about last minute additions or subtractions. It just makes it a lot smoother. And I can say no to all the last minute Louise who are brand new clients, who have never used me before, who are like, Hey, I love this. I love this. This is what happens. Okay, so Thanksgiving is on Thursday. It's on the 28th here's what to happen. I'm getting a call from somebody. It's gonna be a phone call from somebody on the 25th that Monday. It's gonna go like this, Hey, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out of town this weekend, and I was just wanted to see if you guys could take care of my dog. And I'm going to respond with, Oh, you mean the Thanksgiving weekend. And they'll go, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, it's for Yeah, it's over Thanksgiving. I guess they always try and obfuscate the fact that it's over a major holiday, right? Yeah. It's like, where everyone else was also going to be gone? Yeah, you're like, oh, what you mean? You mean, you're you need, you need, you need somebody to walk your dog december 25 what? What could possibly be happening on Tuesday? And they'll say, they'll say, they'll never say Christmas day. They'll just say, I'll need you to walk my dog on Wednesday. And I'll go, you mean Christmas? And they'll go, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all, it's like, I'm not dumb. I know what day of the week. Things happen on like, are you? It's always so my job is a calendar. All I do is stress about days and you're just going to throw out the Wednesday. You mean Christmas. Just say Christmas. Just say, Just say the word, and everybody will know. Everybody already knows, but you're trying to hide things I don't like you. That's not how this works. Oh, so we've been preparing for that and enjoying our our time that we have right now. Noah has been really big into so we do, we do homeschooling, but we do part of a homeschool Co Op, and that's where they take, like, all the fun classes, where it's like, yeah, are, you know, it's a lot of arts and craft. Lillian's taking German and, you know, those kind of classes, not the core classes, yeah, yeah. She's, she's, she's enjoying it quite a lot. Noah is taking a bushcraft and this is, this is okay. So step one, it's about surviving, surviving in the wilderness is it's taught by a local tattoo shop owner, so he's out there. So just imagine what you would think. I'm not going to do a one. Makes a good tattoo shop owner, and what would you expect them to look like? I mean, that's good, because I have literally no idea. As I have zero tattoos. I don't have exactly one of them. He fit all of the profiles that I had lined in my head just like this. Like cool guy. He's really chill and laid back, and he's really he's a lot of fun. He absolutely loves the kids, and he's great with them. So, you know, they're learning how to craft and make things and doing plant ID in the wild and things like that. Lot of fun. Been working on making fires has been the thing that they've been practicing. And so we talked about that in school yesterday because we're reading hatchet, oh my reading club thing. Yes, yes. So we literally talked about that the other day, and we were watching videos. Yes, yeah. So we, we have been we've been doing that, we've been practicing. We've been getting Ken laying and doing the I have a flint striker thing. So we've been working on that, and, you know, making the birds nest. And Noah has also, we've been reading through the Lord of the Rings, and one of the characters that he has really latched on to has been Legolas. And so in alignment with bushcraft, we are also have been making homemade bow and arrows, uh, around our home. Oh, dear. So we are going to war. No, it's fantastic. So we have, he's, he'll go out and he'll find, you know, little sticks and stuff we haven't upgraded to, actually, like finding one of universal thickness and, like, shaving it down, maybe maybe, yeah, maybe just, like, a little bit, yeah, we're just like, oh, look, a twig. Let's put some string on both ends and playing, you know, we can shoot stuff. So we have been, we have been attacking boxes in our backyards. And it's been, it's been good. And I this is the season, this is the time of year. This happens every year. This is we have. This is the week that happens every year where the wind just blows non stop for seven days. Yeah, yeah, just blows non stop for seven days. And after this point, it will pretty much be cold. It's just, I hope that's true. I hope this is true, but it's because I was, I was on our back porch, and I was, like, really frustrated about all of the leaves that are around in my backyard and piled against my house and everywhere. Because we have we're just surrounded by giant sycamores, which are beautiful trees. I love them. I love living in a mature part of the town. My goodness, the leaves, but And so last year we and all years private previous we would just rake the leaves, we put them in, leave that leaf bags, we drive them to the compost center, we dump the bags, and we'd come home. I did. I had 52 lawn like lawn bags filled last year, of leaves night. And I can't like that is soul crushing. There's so many leaves, and I only have one on my property, so I'm like, I'm not doing this again. So this year, as all the leaves are blowing, and what happens is we have a gate that closes on our driveway, and the leaves blow against it, and they'll like, pile up, like three feet high, like a snow drift against a kid Star Gate. And because the wind, this is the, this is the the time of year where the wind blows super strong out of the south. Excuse me, out of the south. Anytime we open our garage, which faces south, we open our garage, all the leaves blow into our garage. And so it's like a race of like, go, go, go, go, try to make sure that leaves don't. But it never works, and it always fails, but it's always fun. So I was watching the leaves pile higher and higher, and the leaf drifts against my house and against my garage and against my gate, and I was like, but I have something different this year. I have a tool at my disposal that I've not had in in years past. Oh, it's not the handrakes. No no handwriting. I didn't, I did not, I, and I did not get a leaf blower because, oh, I think a leaf blowers are pointless and useless and hateful, and I would nothing screams, I hate my neighbors more than a leaf blower. Um, no, yeah, I do, blowing them to a different spot. Like, what are you doing, blowing them down the lane, right? Yeah, exactly. Why? Why for are we doing this? You're not helping anybody. You're just making everyone else life more miserable. No, no. Prior to this, I used what's called a real push mower where, like an old fashioned mower, you push the wheels and the inner drum spins and it's just. Drum of blades. This is fantastic. I love this. It's really great for the I have, I have, I have a quarter posted stamp yard. So it took me no time to mow. It all always very easy, straightforward. However, this year that broke, no, no, of course. So I went and I looked, and real mowers are actually very expensive. Like, they're quite costly for what they actually are. Like, there's, which is weird, there's no, why is this not $11 this should be $11 it's not. It's a big gas conspiracy here. I think this is John Deere. Is conspiring to keep the prices high, Yes, yep, yep, to push you, to get you thinking, like I did, but I didn't go for a gas one. No, I went for an electric mower. Because, again, tiny yard, I could go with a mower half the power that I actually ended up getting that was on sale because I don't, I don't use, I think I've only, I've had this mower since, I know, make and I think I've charged the battery twice, maybe, like, real slow here. That's pretty good, right? But the thing about having a mower now means that I have the power of mulch, and I can in the bag, a bag. I have a bag. Oh, here we go. And I can mulch. And I can catch or or maybe I don't want to bag it, I can just have it fall back down into the line it right, or I can fling it off to the side. But I don't have to go places now I can control all of this. So I had a few places where I actually wanted to just mulch in place. I wanted to mulch the leaves and have them fall back in the yard, because they need more better soil, and I'm trying to do some stuff there. So that's what I did. I raked all those leaves off of my yard. I worked them, I opened up my my gate, and I let them flood in with glee, and I pushed them all over, into the yard and off the driveway, and then magnetically mulch them. And then I did, and I grinned like an insane person, and I mulched them, said, I set my mower to one and dropped it all the way down, and I just block, actually, because the sound of the electric mower, and just mulched around the yard, and there it sat, and there it shall be. And I'm very happy about this. Now, I do have to mention the the trees around me, they're not they don't even look like any leaves have dropped off of them. That's how big these trees are. So I can't just continue to mulch in place like I've done, because I will just have a backyard of leaves and there'll be nothing alive because I'll just bury it under more and more leaves. So I am going to have to bag at some point, but I'm not going to have 52 bags. And that makes me happy. I am, I am so happy that I'm not going to have 52 lawn bags to haul over to the center. And that makes me that's, that's that, you know, with everything else going on, that'll that puts me in a wonderful mood. Oh yeah, that is a lot less, a lot less everything, really, which is always good, right? Like, yeah, I'm glad that you were productive and you got to maniacally mulch your yard. And yes, it was wonderfully shred leaves as Yes. Now I will say I did have to do it. I did have this I was looking towards this weekend. I did this last night because, because late last night we had this big line of storms that were moving through. Yeah, it was great. It actually rained. It actually rocking, yes, but I had all these massive piles of leaves everywhere, and I didn't want them to get wet, because then I was like, because, I mean, I can't mulch them, because then yeah, no mulchy, no mulch so I was mulching the leaves in my yard at 630 last night. But again, it's electric. So It's electric. It was just like loud humming coming from the yeah thing. It was totally fine. It was great and wonderful. That's awesome. And your neighbors didn't yell at you. You weren't keeping them up or distracting for dinner, just going exactly yeah, so mulching is wonderful, is what I'm trying to say. There we go. Very nice. Oh, I forgot to tell them. I forgot to say the other thing that I did. I did two things this week. I know, chalking shocking. I know, right. I have a. Brief review for you of Springfield little Theater's production of Murder on the Orient. Express, nice. We went with some friends last weekend to go watch that. It was pretty good, right? As most things at Springfield Little Theater are, let's be honest, right? It was pretty good. Um, again, kind of weird. Because, like, this a weird one to go watch, because, like, I just definitely know what happens in the whole thing. So, like, yeah, you're not watching it for, like, the intrigue, I guess, although I think there were some people around me who had never seen this before, which was interesting. Oh, or, like, Reddit, right? Somebody at like, intermission was like, Well, who do you think did it? And I was like, I don't know. My friend Agatha told me, but I don't think I should tell you what's going on right now, right? Because, again, it's a pretty good story. The end is a little bit like, little bit like, dude, what Come on? What the heck? But sure, you know, whatever. But it was really good. The sets were, of course, fantastic, right? Because it is like a one room, basically, situation. It's on a train and so, but the sets were really cool. The way that they did a and the way that they had everything, like, laid out, they had, like, they had like two train car sets, right? So they had one that was like the sleeper car, right? And then they also had, like a wall that they would bring down in front of it, so that it was like you were outside the door of the cars. Oh, cool. So it was like you were looking in the in like, three rooms, right? And then there was something else they brought down in front of it that was like, Okay, now they're in the hallway, right for when they have to, like, break in and find, you know stuff, yeah. And then they had, they would just move that one, like, backwards, and there was another, like, the dining car was in like, two pieces that they swooped in from each side and then, like, put in front of it for, like, different scenes in like, the other part of the train. So it was really cool. The way that they were moving the stuff around, right? So they didn't have, not is very minimal sets, but like, the way that they used everything was really cool. And this is the first one that I've seen there. I think that they had, like, mixed media stuff, because they did have a bit of a projector thing going on behind it, which is really cool whenever he is, like, talking about what happened before the spotlight would go on that character and then on the screen behind them. It was like replaying what they said earlier. Ooh, which was really cool, right? Like, whenever he, whenever he, you know, he's like, surmising or talking, he's like, and you, but I remember you said, and then like, pauses and like the it's like the lights are dim and like, like the spot is only on one person, and then on the screen behind the set, it's like a, it's like a, a huge white curtain, like floor to ceiling. So it's really big, right? It's playing like a snippet that they pre recorded of them saying that line, or, like surmising what happened before. So it was really cool, like, instead of them acting it out again, which is always a little bit weird and contrived, into stage play, like the fact that it was like time freeze, like pointing, and then it played above them in black and white. So it was like flashbacking. It was, that was the coolest part of the whole thing, yeah, no. That makes it really unique. Doesn't like that really does? Yeah? Help bring you into what they're doing, yeah? Yeah. It was really cool, just the way that they the way they did that, and the way that they like, kind of used these different I designs to kind of bring story together that way. It was really cool. So it was fun, but I think the one thing that is was slightly bad, not not bad, right? But murder on the Oregon Express is a very accent heavy production, right? And so it's either you don't do any accents or you just really gotta go for it. Yeah, right. So, so the accents were varying degrees of successful, I think, with some of the people right, like you. Horo was not bad, right? It was mostly okay. You know, the the Russian lady, what was her name, the princess, Dragon off or whatever. That was pretty good. Some of the other ones not, not the best, not not the bad, like, again, wasn't bad, you know, it wasn't like a bad thing. Drag a mirror off. That's your name. But, like, it wasn't like bad, but like, the it just wasn't like some of them, like the Miss devenham Lady, like, it was, like, I couldn't really tell what she was going for, right? I know she's supposed to be, like, English or, or what, right? And then the colonel guy, he was going for, like, really, really Scottish, but, like, it didn't quite make it. That's a tough one. That's a hard one to really just go for. Yeah, if you're gonna be, if you're gonna hit me with a Scottish accent, I gotta have it all the time. Yeah, right. Like, I can't just have like, a wee bit of Scottish accent, right? It was all right, but the, you know, so that was okay, mostly it was fine. But there was, I think some of the accent work was just a little bit lacking. Okay, I'm not this sounds like I'm really, like, taking shots at them, right? That is not what I'm doing, right? I'm not doing that because overall it was really good, and that's a really hard thing to do. Accents are hard actions, and it's a hard thing to commit to for, like, a whole stage performance, right? A whole, like, two hours, yeah, that right? It's very difficult to just, like, go for and like, you know, it's really hard to do that, like, the whole time. So it's, it's difficult and it's hard, but I thought it was good, right? That was good. So, you know, other than a couple of the actions, a little bit weird they were, they were fine, so it was really good. And also, apparently, this is the landers theater's 90th year. What? Yes, wow, their 90th year. So that was cool. Yeah, that was just like a little neat, fun aside that they talked about, like, before, they always have the guy come out and talk about stuff beforehand, or whatever, sure, like the stage producer dude or whatever. And so they talked about that, which that was neat. So I fear I'm going to have to return to the Springfield Little Theater. Oh, very soon. Oh because, oh because, they are doing a production of A Christmas Carol. The musical, and I do live with somebody whose favorite story in the whole wide world is A Christmas Carol. So Okay, look forward to my review of we all know where that's going, yeah, so stay tuned. That's coming soon, like I think that's gonna be very good. Yeah, it would give me that a month, and then we'll, uh, we'll hit you with that one. Okay, nice, very nice. Yeah, there we go. So look at that. I did two whole things, many, many things, very exciting. Yes, ah, and if we're, are we done? I did remember my Haiku this time. Uh huh, right? But before Haiku, I think it's important real quick to bring back a Mark Twain quote of the week. Oh, this was okay, right here. Here's the deal. Here it is. This is inspired by, well, it's almost electing time, but here's what I want to say. Here's what Mark Twain has to say about this. Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government when it deserves it, bam, bam, there we go. Yeah, the week, okay, that actually reminds me. I comply. Uh, I we went to a trivia night fundraiser for. A local nonprofit here. And the one of the questions I have never been to a trivia night. I've never done Oh, or at all, there we go, nice. So this was very What did you win? No, we did not. However, however, I will say that you i i don't remember what the question was, but it had to do with some song. Oh, the power of love. Okay, so it's yes. It said, curious thing, yes. It said this was sung by two different people in two different decades. Who were these people? Uh, who were these people? And nobody at a table was like, What even is the song? I was like, and I said, I can see. I said, I can see the music video. And I said, why can I see the music video? And then someone said, Well, who sang it? And I said, I don't know. I think something like Huey Lewis in the news. And someone was like, that doesn't sound right? Like, yeah, that doesn't sound and then my friend, our neighbor across the other way, was, I think, I think Mariah Carey, or did a version of this, or something like that. And I was like, we were like, Why doesn't sound right? Anyway, we didn't answer this one, and we were both right. I Yeah. Huey Lewis, I was totally shocked by this. And then I let the entire team down when they said, Well, I will say they said, What kind of man? What is the what is the scientific name for the mammal that lays eggs? And they said, here are your two bonus points. Give the two animals living examples that. And I went, and I went, Oh, well, it's the platypus and the echidna. And everybody looked at me, and they were like, the what? And I said, the echidna. And they were like, I don't even know what that is. I said, once this is over, I'll show you a picture. And they went, Okay, well, do you know the name of the first one? And I went, actual answer. I said, No, I cannot remember that to save my life right now. And what was so frustrating, it's the monotreme, because in my head, I had marsupial and I had it just never, oh, to be fair, these are all things that I can rapidly answer, like outside of trivia nights. But sometimes in trivia night, you're like, the pressure gets you, and you're just like, yeah, it's the and it's it link, yep. And then the other one that I missed, that I'm really, was really angry that I missed, was in 1919, in Boston. Many people were killed by a 90 foot tall wave of molasses, molasses, molasses. The only word that came to my head was tallow. And I was really angry. Oh, that was Nope. It was molasses. Like they were like, they were like, I was like, as soon as he said it, I was like, right? The great molasses flood. And they were like, the great what, like, this is what happens to me, and trivia is why I don't like going, because the whole team just looks at me right there. They use me, right? So I feel, I feel used. But the last time I went to one, it was like, for some sort of fundraiser thing, and like, they would ask a really weird question, and the whole table would just turn and look at me, and I'd be like, Guys, do you really, yeah, well, Megan had a great poll. She The guy said, Oh my gosh. He it was, like, some goalie's name in for hockey. He said, You know, they always start out, it's a misdirection, right? Where they're like, oh, such and such goalie is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, his. If you rearrange the letters his, his name could spell who's famous, you know, who's famous celebrities, name. Oh, right, and Megan. I look over at Megan, and she's totally like, like, she's in her mind palace. The fingers are actually going, right, that's tick, tick, tick, tick, not but three seconds later, she goes, Dolly Parton. And we were all like, what? Like, just trust me, yeah, she goes, it's Dolly Parton. Put it down, trust me. That's the other part that's annoying about trivid night. Is it you'll like, sometimes, like, the last time we went again, it's several years ago. Like, I would say something, and then some people at my table would be like, Are you sure? How do you know that? Like, yes, it's right. Just put it down. Like, yeah, it's been, like, three rounds building the truck. Just be like, listen, I know what I'm talking about here. Yep, I'm the random person. Okay, I know. I bring this up because the the county, the metropolitan area with county, the counties in the metro of what metro area make up the highest net worth of all of the country, or whatever, something, something like that. Oh, and he had said, he said it. He said, Take this for what you will remember, election day is around the corner. It's Washington, DC, and there was booze across the as as we were all reminded what, wait a minute. I don't, I don't like that. That's not good. That's anyway. So, so Okay, good quote. Good quote. Because, yeah, yeah. Why the listeners, when you're coming listening to this, we are about days away, yes, from Yeah. Anyway, yeah. Yeah, or potential horror, anyway, so Haiku, haiku of the week, whirling down the lane, violent collision ensues, slowly returning. Ah, nice, nice. There we go. Okay, slowly return. Yes, I like this a lot. Okay, I can spell the word whirling. Well, you know, crying, there we go. Miss the H thing. It's, yeah, there's a H in there, whirling, whirling. Oh goodness. This is one of those things I was trying to spell something earlier, and I was, I can't remember what word it was now, but I was like, it spelled it. And I'd be like, no, no, no, that's wrong. And then I went, I don't know how to spell this word at all. I was like, What the heck? Yep, yep. I i I encountered that when I caught when Lillian or Noah will come into the office and go down, how do you spell? And I still have real confident. And then I'm like, Hmm, wait, wait, hold on. Let me write this out real quick. Yeah, there we go. I am a bad speller, right? I can't. Have no idea. So sometimes, like, if I don't know how to spell it, like the first time, like, I don't, I don't know i We, as soon as I were talking about this, like, I'm pretty sure I didn't, or any, like, phonics or anything like that. So I was just like, I can either spell it or I can't. And a lot of times the kids will be like, how do you spell this? And I'm like, I don't grade for spelling, so I don't just go for it like I don't, because I don't, actually, I don't think I know, so just write her down. It's gonna be fine. It'll be fine. I'll be able to figure out, which means it's okay. Just go well that on that positive note, I'm not grading for spelling, which more people should do. Will will end there, and we will do this again next time we depending on how that day goes. Oh, yeah, true. We may see what happens here. Yeah, maybe hiding. Who knows we may be hiding? Oh no, yeah, well on that thought we'll Yeah, okay. Love you. Bye.