Podcast

Sitting down with Jason Lowy

My guest this week is Jason Lowy a life long friend, best man at my wedding, father of two, husband to one of the greatest women I know, and an all-around good guy with all those nice things being said about Jason we spent about an hour or so getting caught up life during the pandemic and what’s basically been going on the last 10 years since my wife and I moved to the East Coast. We had a lot of fun reminiscing and being nostalgic about our younger days pre-spouse and pre-children and also talk about the joys of growing old chilling out and just getting comfortable in our own skin. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Tony Randazzo

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It’s hard to speak your mind these days. voicing your opinion is tough and a climate where you’re either seen as an ultra conservative or a bleeding heart liberal. But what about our perspective? What about the Gen X perspective? Hi, I’m Tony a latchkey kid from the 80s and 90s. Now I’m in my 40s wearing cargo shorts, collecting Star Wars figures and reminiscing about the days before my first cell phone. The Gen X perspective as for us caught somewhere in between boomers and Millennials are we see things a bit differently? I’m tired of staying silent. It’s time to rant, discuss, unload and debate. Join Tony and his guests as they tackle the topics of Pop Culture, Sports, religion, and yes, even politics. If life’s a Rubik’s Cube, we’ve got the experience to tackle it. Welcome to the Gen X perspective with Tony Randazzo. Hey, how’s everybody doing tonight? So before we get started with the interview, check out these two podcasts. These guys were a huge help in getting me started in the podcasting world, and just wanted to give them a shout out. So check them out where you get your podcasts. All right, let’s get started. Do you want to start a podcast or looking to level up your show to a vodcast don’t know where to start. My name is john and I host a podcast called from podcasts to podcast where I help podcasters bring their shows to the next level by giving you tips and tricks on marketing, writing show notes monetization. Which host is the best to use and, of course, the best equipment to use for a podcast. I drop episodes every Friday on all podcast listening platforms. And you can watch the vodcast on YouTube. Just search pod to VOD. I also give away tons of free tools and guides over on the website at BOD squad dot live. Broadcasting is the next evolution of podcasting. So join the squad today and get access to the next step of your show. What is Gen X? What is the silent generation? What do generations have in common? Hi, I’m Trish the dish from the Gen X voice podcast and I invite you to listen to conversations I have with folks from different generations, backgrounds, beliefs and experiences in an attempt to see what connects rather than divides us. Even though Gen X has been called slackers, Karen’s are not mentioned at all. In some cases, we are the bridge generation. So I feel compelled to do my part to destroy ageism by bringing all these voices together. And as a bonus, each guest gets to answer some 80s questions at the end of each show. So download and listen to genix voice today on Apple’s Spotify, Amazon or wherever you listen to podcasts. And let’s see how much we have in common after all. Hey, guys, this is john. And I’m Frank from the basement search you may have heard of us. We started off slow in season one. COVID tried to stop us in season two, but Frank’s too stubborn for that. And now we’re back in season three, doing what we do best coming to you from the basement in Brooklyn, New York, where a general discussion comedy podcast that talks about anything and everything. Video games movies growing up in New York City and being a dad to name a few. We also do a live show every Wednesday night at 9pm Eastern all over social media and run a YouTube channel so don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and ring that bell. We put out some great content on YouTube like let’s play series. We play specific game every week. The podcast is available on all podcasting platforms. You can reach all of our links at streamer links.com slash basement search, come listen to us and feel the search. turned up the volume the volume now from Brooklyn, New York, this is a basic search. So I have a very good guest in the studio with me tonight and not actually in the studio but virtually in the studio with me. This is my arguably one of my lifelong friends Jason Lowery. Also the best man in my wedding etc. And so on and so forth. So everybody, this is Mr. Jason Lally. And without further ado, what’s going on, man? How are you? I really, you’re just gonna sit there quiet. You’re cut out while you cut out. Okay, well, I mean, I’ve had to use that app from you. He Oh, that is not fair at all. I mean, I might have been the one that moved. But you know, phone calls work both ways, man. I’m just saying. Alright, so this is, obviously we’re doing a podcast, we’re video recording it as well, which is kind of fun and weird and neat. But, um, so we’ve, I mean, what, what year was it that you move to Oregon? When did we meet? I mean, so when did you? How long did you date, Julie? I mean, I’m jumping all over the place here. But our timeline is kind of like 92. So I moved to Oregon in October of 93. Okay, and Julie and I started going out. February 15. Okay, 94. And you were on our first day? Well, yeah, I guess I was with and it wasn’t just me. So people are like, that’s kind of weird. But so there was a whole group of us that were very over protective. What we were over protective of all of us. And you were kind of this weird, crazy, California and outsider guy that was taking I was taking our friend on a date. And so we decided to tag along sorta, I mean, we weren’t on the disorder. We were, you know, we’re a couple tables away. It wasn’t Denny’s. It was that other restaurant that was down the street from Denny’s, but basically was the Red Lion. Right. Yeah. The red line and I don’t know. Are they Is it still there? That restaurant? I changed No. Yeah. It’s like, it’s Yeah, it’s a big bear diner is still the Big Bear diner. It was like that before I left. So yeah, that was that was fun. I don’t remember is it was you and Josh, Justin, Judd, and Tracy, and Alicia. And you had Justin sat there, glaring at me. And sharpening your knives. I don’t remember the knife sharpening. But that doesn’t surprise me at all. Wow. Yeah, that was, um, Julie was so pissed off at us that day. But just one of many times that she was so mad at us. So for everybody that’s listening. So Jason and I obviously have known each other since 93. ish. And we were, we were all a pretty tight group of people. So Jason was kind of the kind of core original group of our friends. You were really the last one to kind of join that. Really? I mean, for the most part, yeah, we were kind of the original group. And then there’s been people that have come and gone in and out. And I mean, my wife and I are now on the east coast. So we’ve kind of gone out or at least got married and had girlfriends or boyfriends or, or, or Yeah, or bottles or whiskey or whatever their thing is these days. But yeah, so. So last time, I was in Oregon. Year, your boys were were little boys. I mean little. Let me When was the last time you were here for me as graduation? Yes. So that was her high school graduation. And they must have been It was 10 years ago now. Right? Yeah. 10 or 11. Now? Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. 10. So Harry would have been eight and Jackson Five. So Jackson has no recollection of us. I assume. He probably has no clue. If he saw me walking down the street. He wouldn’t even stop. He would not know who you are. Not at all. That’s just so crazy. And Harrison, I’m you know, he was still a little dude running around at that point. But I mean, I would recognize him walking down the street and stop. I don’t know if he would recognize me. I don’t know that you would know because we were pretty much gone. Gone. Gone by then. Out here acting like first off. Jackson is almost six foot tall. Seriously, and, and has hair down below his shoulders? Oh my gosh. How did he wait a minute. Wait a minute. How did he get six feet tall? Can we talk about that for a second? Because you’re 58757 and Julie’s shorter than both of us? five, eight on a good day. Are we talking about the mailman or what’s going on here? I mean, I was he’s six feet tall. Seriously, where’s that come along and Yeah, really? Where’s that come from? Do we know? Nobody knows? Just know. Random? Extra? Yeah, whatever is nobody in my family has over 510. That is just crazy. Well, from what I understand in here, they’re both doing really well. I mean, Harrison got into you. You have Oh, right. Is that right? Or what? Where did he end up? Oh, I see Oregon State, Oregon State. All right. So unfortunately, with the pandemic, he’s still at home right doing virtual classes right now. Are we hoping to actually go soon tech. He took the semester off, so he’s just working, okay. And is reevaluating what he wants to major in. Oh, dear. While knowing those boys, I’m guessing really high brainy stuff. They got a teacher and a you know, I mean, basically, Julie’s now basically running that newspaper, the bulletin for the most just the back. Yeah. So she’s out Harry was originally going to go into chemical engineering. But now he wants to go into food science. Food Science. What was it like developing? What is food science? What is what is developing new foods, new flavors, new stuff? That’s Yeah. Well, I mean, in the sciences like that. I mean, they can kind of figure I mean, he’s got, I mean, that degree is, what, six, eight years and then what you in that’s usually you go for your PhD and your math, you go for the whole shebang. When you get into that kind of right. He’d probably go for at least a Master’s. God bless him. Well, the kids got good genes. I’ll tell you that. I mean, you and I mean, you and Julie are, are they don’t wear jeans? Well, you know, well, right. Well, they don’t wear dresses, do they? Although it’s okay, nowadays, I got to be kind of careful about what I’m saying. But you know, if I want to wear a dress, it was like, Harrison only wear shorts. Okay, that he got from you. He got that from you. And Jackson only wears sweatpants. Okay, well, so what generation are the kids now? So they’re not? They’re not millennials. Are they? No, they’re Gen Z. They’re z. Okay. I don’t understand Gen Z, which means that we’re old. By the way. I mean, just looking at you. I mean, you get you look like a crazy old man right now, dude. I mean, seriously, well, what is up? I like the beard. It’s actually short right now. Yeah, I grow my beard once a year during hunting season. I’ll admit that right in like October, a grow it from September, I stopped shaving through January, February until I can’t stand it anymore, and then it gets lopped back off, but it’s mine. My beard is greater than yours. So now I catch a bunch of shit. Because everybody thinks that I color my hair when I grow my beard. And because it is, you know, white as Right. Yeah. So my hair is still kind of dark. What’s left of it? Well, yeah, and that’s the longest I think your hair has been since the early 90s. Maybe probably. Dude, you got that crazy hair going on again? Yeah, I did come over. That was kind of your shirt. Registered Trademark there for a while was crazy hair if I remember right. Yeah, I had to play with that and weird hats. Remember, that stupid. Those stupid beanie hat things we were wearing? that were basically underwear on our heads. What the hell are those things called? Yes. Like they were a Buddha, something I don’t remember what they were. But I think I still have my cow. My tie dye one somewhere. But now we were the same thing. But it’s like a sleep. Right? Well, yeah. And everybody wears it as a face mask now. And you know, basically, they took it off their head and put it on their face. So whatever. Things are weird. So how’s Oregon? Yeah. How’s the Oregon these days with the whole pandemic? Are you guys open back up or closed? Or what are people doing out there? You know, we opened and then we close and then they open again. And then we take close. Oh, yeah. So yeah. Well, your governor and my governor are basically on the same correct track of crazy for the most part anyway. So although Oregon has got a little more, a little more crazy in it, the New York does. That’s hard to believe but it does. It’s um, I know. You guys are in the news when they’re more safe than sorry. Is it is so everybody watches the news. Everybody assumes that Portland is burned to the ground, and it’s full of a bunch of these crazy people. And I know better that the news is always super slighted and you don’t know what to believe anymore. I mean, you can still go to Portland and go have lunch and hang out at COVID. That is true. None of that’s true. Wow. Yeah. I was in Portland a month and a half ago. Yeah. And you wouldn’t know that anything was going on? Right? I mean, just whatever. There’s one block, wherever that people are deciding. This is crazy. Literally one Park downtown where there’s still protesters. But other than that, it’s not how the media portrays it, as usual. Yeah. So you cast a lot of like public art that people have put up? Well, and they’ve been doing that all along, though. I mean, like that whole that live art Trump deal that was that was actually in Bend. You know, it was a few years ago, obviously now, but I mean, Oregon has always been progressive that way anyway, with you know, people speaking their mind. I mean, God bless them. That’s kind of what it’s all about. Right. You know, some people 10 fortunately, Portland is still there. But yeah, right. Can you still go get Voodoo Doughnuts can see. So nothing’s changed. It’s still there. Still, everything’s good. It’s now pals books still open. All that still house books is still open. So nothing’s downtown is still downtown. Beautiful. That’s what I like to hear. That’s good stuff. And then bend is just getting bigger from you know, talking to Alicia. And you know, my wife follows the newspaper there or whatever, all the time. She’s constantly coming in telling me what’s going on. But so it’s growing like crazy. And just normal. Bend. Yeah, things happening. When I moved here, it was 25,000. Rand now they’re, they’re not the new census numbers yet. But they think that it’s going to be close to 125. Yeah, that seems about right. Because it was a Yeah, I mean, it was, it was still a small town that was spread out. So it felt like a very small town, depending on where you were, you know, West Side, East Side, downtown, whatever. And that’s kind of with that growth. I mean, it’s just basically filled in all the gaps. I mean, you know, between bend and redmon still open land, or is it pretty much filling up between the two now? It’s still up and it creeps a little bit closer together every year? Well, how’s um, how’s Julie doing? She’s good. She’s been working at home for a year now. She’s been working at home and you’re hanging out at home together with the boys at home. Something like that. Or Julie? Oh, I feel bad for her that she has she tried to kill you in your sleep yet? A couple times. Okay. But I know that you’re, you know, doing the dishes and cleaning up the house and helping with chores and all the stuff that you always do, right? Of course. God bless you. You’re such a good boy. So, you know, it’s been difficult, but yeah, it sucked. The pandemic has been brutal. weed. We were considered a an essential business, because we make booze. And we’re a farm, right? So. So when people were getting laid off a year ago, and we were hiring, trying to hire people for the to work in the vineyard, and then they started offering crazy money for unemployment, and then all my staff quit. Because they were making, like 27 bucks an hour on unemployment, and you couldn’t blame them. I mean, I was pissed, but you can’t blame them, right? It’s like 27 bucks an hour. It’s more than they’re making coming to work. And they can sit home and watch Netflix and play video games or whatever the hell they’re doing in their life. But it was brutal last year. And then we’ve been we didn’t stop until Laurie and I, we decided to go down to Florida for a couple of weeks. We rented a house down there. And that was another one of those really interesting things. Because if you watch the news, you’d assume that everybody was dying of COVID in Florida and the place was imploding and burning down because they had no government restrictions. They had lifted all the COVID stuff. But every restaurant you went in every grocery store, you walked into every retail store, everybody required CDC guidelines, so everybody was still masked and social distancing and do what they’re supposed to be doing. The only thing that was kind of weird down there is they didn’t have limits on like, if you went into a restaurant at six o’clock at night or whatever, it could get packed. But Lori and I just did a bunch of takeout. I mean, you know, we’re in Florida where there’s a restaurant, it was awesome. We hung out by the pool the whole time, you know? Right? That was the first time that we were had had stopped working, you know, in a year. And it has been. But to watch kind of the implosion in New York State, it’s been wild and being tied into the restaurant industry, how many restaurants have closed and how many people are out of work and it’s in our governor was brutal. In he hasn’t lifted anything yet, for the most part, and it’s been really wild to, to kind of go through that and see, I mean, because we know tons of people like you guys that are, everybody’s working from home, everybody stuck in the freakin house. And for that first six months, like you were legitimately freaked out to go anywhere. I mean, you didn’t want to. You weren’t over it yet. But yeah, you didn’t know what to believe to. And it was so freaky and scary. And nobody knew what to believe. And I still don’t think anybody knows what to believe, necessarily, but it’s gotten maybe more normal, which is shitty, that it’s normal. that we’ve been doing it for the new normal. Yeah, normal changes every five years. Just like every cell in your body every seven, right? I remember that example. See, I remember stuff. So you still see Justin and Carrie, you still see the group you still see Alicia and all those crazy people. Or is it more like holidays now? Well, I saw Alicia this morning. I talked to her yesterday. She needed a ride to work as well. Some things never change. So you gave her a ride to work. I did. Awesome. A nice friend. Harry gave her a ride door yesterday. So Alicia hasn’t changed for the most part. She’s still doing Alicia things. And I know that besides, I talked to her pretty often so she’s been going through a rough time. Yeah. Yeah, that’s but that’s kind of par for the course. I mean, she’s she always that always happens. So now like Lexi you guys still see Lexi and, and she’s still dating that same guy. She’s been with for like 10 years that was living in a storage unit. Last time I was living there. I don’t know what. Oh, no, no, no. She and Robbie broke up. Okay. Robbie. Thank you. Yeah, she is in. She’s a Boston right now. She’s out here. Well, out here. She’s close. She’s only like eight hours away. I should call her make her come visit me. All right. She’s just visiting right now. Yeah, she’s just okay. visiting her parents. She still has her house over on the side and still all that stuff. Awesome. 20 years. Good. So I haven’t seen Judd in forever. I heard that he’s crazy. long haired mountain bike guy now. He’s a long haired mountain bike guy. I heard nice. He gotten a road rage issue with some guy and around about took took his axe to the guys. He did not know. Yeah, he did. Oh, he’s gonna be in big trouble, isn’t he? He is in big trouble. Oh, no. Okay, well, so he’s snapped. He’s always had a couple. Yeah, I suppose. Wow. So we see, you know, Justin and Carrie, typically three or four times a year. Really? It’s got well, near life. Right. So yeah, that’s crazy. We haven’t seen him lately. Just because COVID Yeah. Right. I he texted me yesterday. And he’s working again, though. He’s doing massage stuff, I believe. Because he said he had to work and he was had to go give a deep tissue massage to somebody. And I told him I’d buy him a plane ticket if he’d come out and do it for me, but so he’s working. I don’t think he works a lot. Right. But he’s worried but he’s still doing that for a while there he hits he had started his own salon did near his own own deal for a while there didn’t he never really was doing deprivation tanks does or am I thinking? Oh yeah, they had they had the deprivation tank business. Did you go do it? I did once How was it? It was it was you know, interesting. So you float in saltwater with no sound and no light right? Or do you have right now? She’s just you’re floating in water in the dark? Yeah. That’s a duck. That’s just a weird. It’s a little weird. Do you talk to yourself? So Am I always talking about masking? So you got nothing out of it is what you’re telling me? It was just weird and you were wet. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Okay, so they’re not doing it so bad. Okay, business. Four or five years ago, I think three or four years ago. Wow. That’s nuts. And how’s um, how’s your mom doing? She’s still in California. Yeah. She’s still in California. I went and visited her in January. Okay. And I’m going to get here in two weeks. Did you fly or do you drive? I drove in January. Okay. I’m flying in two weeks as a new airline flying from Redmond to Burbank. Oh, perfect. And they had introductory fares. I got a round trip ticket for 60 bucks. You kidding me? Could you imagine how much trouble we got? I would have gotten into if that was like that. Back in the day. We’d be flying down there on a Saturday for freaking burger. I mean, seriously, how much trouble we would have gotten 60 bucks. 60 bucks. Even back then. We could have figured that out. I mean, come on, even by collecting cans back then. That would have been big trouble. So she’s doing well. She’s finally cancer free. of kidney. She had cancer. I did not know that. Yeah, she had a rare blood cancer. Okay. Well, it’s gonna be rare. She’s the one. Yeah. Right. She was on chemo for like, two years. Really? How did they do that for blood cancer. I mean, is it like? I mean, it can’t be it’s not like they can do radiation for that. So well, chemo. Okay, so they can do chemo because that’s through blood. There’s no radiation. It was chills. And King Ivy’s. Whoa. And shots. Well, and you’re still cancer free, because you got the pleasure of doing that. We were young. I mean, you were. You weren’t even in your 40s I was 39. Wow. And you’re still healthy and good. And yada yada, yada. All that good stuff. 12 years. Wow. Congratulations. Yeah, cuz you guys were in that house. I remember that. Now. I remember when you were home and sick of the bastard just moved in to this house. That’s right. Wow, that’s really, really crazy. And your dad, he’s still in Bend still with Sharon. Right. Stone band still Sharon. They got evening on Saturday going to Mexico for three weeks. So they get married ever. Yeah, they got married. maybe one or two years after Julian did and I did. Really? I don’t even while I don’t remember that. But that’s okay. There’s gaps in the memory these days. Because I got married in Hawaii. Okay, I remember that now. Actually. Wow, how time flies. Does he still have that little house on the west side? DK. He kept that as a rental, didn’t he? Did you finally get rid of that thing? Or does he still he’s still down. He still lives on the west side. And then that one that he built? Yeah, the house that he built that tall? cfcc. Yeah, he still has that. Okay, cool. Yeah. Wow. So talk to me about I’m guessing you’re What? What year were you born now? You were born in 77. So that makes you a boomer, right? You’re not a Gen X or you are Linux six. Gen X was six, and 6065. You know, I have a podcast called Gen X perspective. And I couldn’t tell you the fucking dates. Seriously. Gen X is typically 65 to 79. Alright, so your Gen X, sir. So I’m still playing video games. I know these things. But it’s more fun to ask you because we’re on a podcast and we got to at least keep people interested. A little bit, right? Yes, I play video, by the way. Yeah. On your intro to your podcast or the exit to your podcast. And it talks about you beating people at Mario Kart three. I don’t say I say call me for advice. It doesn’t mean it’s gonna be good advice. They asked me if I wanted to keep that in or keep it out when we were recording that and figuring out when I started this I’m like, and I actually thought of you. I’m like, that’s gonna piss Jason off. I’m gonna leave that in because it’s totally ridiculous. Like, cuz that’s the one thing that I don’t I mean, I play video games once a month, where I’m guessing you play them damn near still every other day every day whenever you get a minute kind of deal, right? Yeah. You still play an Xbox guy blow off? Yeah. Drink. Yeah. So you’re probably doing, you’re doing more of the co op stuff where you’re playing with other people, right? I’m fine as much anymore. No, I mean, most of the people I played with really don’t play that often anymore. Okay. Yeah, cuz I never got into that. But a because I sucked compared to you guys. When I would jump on I would get just decimated continually. And then I don’t play enough. So I like to go on and I’m playing you know, playing story mode or playing whatever. And although I guess I can play you can get on those video games you can get on Xbox and still play live, but not play with anybody. You’d be playing against people. Is that right? I don’t even know how it works really anymore. I pay for the goddamn service. But I don’t ever use it. Right story of my life. So you’re still Xbox, right? Because I haven’t gotten the new one yet. Because I can’t find one. But they’re not. You can’t. They’re not available yet. I know that. PS five has been a big issue for people. But I thought you could get the xboxes were easier to find. They go on sale go on sale at Walmart at like noon. And they’re sold out by 1203. Oh, cuz it’s all online and pickup, right? Yeah. Wow. I got one. I got really lucky. And it was target. And it was right place. right time. I was actually in Watertown, where target is in an alert came up on my phone. And I’m like, oh, let me try. I didn’t even think about it might just have heard of the. And I lackadaisically literally put in my information. I had nothing pre stored in it, and hit the buy button. And usually you get kicked out they booted out of your cart. And that had happened and it went through and I started laughing I’m like, Oh crap, I gotta pay for it. Shit. So I went and picked it up 10 minutes later and brought it home. Right. And it was right around Christmas. I think it was right after But yeah, I got lucky enough to get one and it is. The graphics are really out of this world. I mean, I that’s what I noticed because I have a TV over my shoulder here. Rain. Right there. I got it. Yeah, and that’s a 4k TV. And it’s unbelievable how good the damn resolution is and how smooth it is. I mean, it’s frighteningly detailed. And right. It’s really kind of cool. And then I have been reading a lot about the PS five two and apparently that’s really gonna hold its own. And they can be well I mean, everybody’s got their own camp. So either or PS person or I’ll probably do like I did last generation I’ll get my Xbox and then two or three years down the road. I’ll get a PS fi Do you have Do you play both of them? Yeah, I have a ps4 right? You do? Well, I thought about doing that but it gets hard to start hiding that stuff in here. So I won’t get in trouble. I’ll there were exclusives on PlayStation that I wanted to play that I was sure that it made sense. So so I gotta tell you that this my little man cave we’re in right here. I have everything zoomed in pretty good on me because I’m fat and ugly and just headshots better. But I kind of took over the guestroom and I’m gonna see if I can turn this one camera on. I’m gonna put my hand first but I have a GoPro on a cord and I gotta show you around me turn the light on it goes on. And so I took over that my the guest room for the most part let’s see. Okay, so my GoPro Yeah, see that’s on so there’s my there’s the board and so if you go up so all my Star Wars crap look at all my servers for years I could finally got to the point in my life where I could go buy freakin Star Wars figures. Right? I got the Millennium Falcon. Over there, check it out. It’s got Han Solo and Chewbacca. And that cool. I actually got it all out and I don’t you know, I don’t play with the figures because I’m you know, 48 but I could and but so yeah, I took over the whole room. So back there on the back shelf is three shelves of Star Wars crap. And there’s a circa 1980s boombox on the second shelf that Laurie bought me for Christmas, because I needed a boombox and I had to go out buy tapes. And then yeah, so I still have that futon. That futon was in our guest or in that bonus room that we had in the last house we lived in upstairs that nobody ever sat in. I sat sit in that thing more now than we have since we’ve owned it. And, and then because I you know, because I ride mountain bikes and bicycles all the time because I’m in such good shape I have them hung up in here as well art. So I’ve officially taken over the guestroom in its entirety. And in Laurie was it when you bought like a 15 $100 mountain bike with your tax return? Oh, yeah, you’re gonna have to Yeah, right. One of the good, good, good young adult choices that I made in my life. That mountain bike was a I think it was a giant is what it was. And I don’t think it was it was Yeah, it was like $900 or that it was a lot of money. But what else did I I don’t I don’t think I had a car then. I don’t have that you had like a six month old baby. Well, yeah. Do we ever make good choices when we were that? I mean, look, I had my daughter how I was, you know, well, yeah. A little better. Maybe? Depends. But so yeah, so she was I was 21 when Mia was born. And I mean, arguably, I can say that I haven’t been out of work. Except in 2009. When I got laid off before we moved out here to start this business. I hadn’t been laid off. I’d been I work continually and you know, raise the kids. So that was probably the last stupid kid. Well, I mean, yeah, probably the last stupid money stupid money kid thing that I did. Before I was kind of done doing that was that mountain bike? I don’t even know what happened to that bike, which pisses me off because I can’t remember for the life of me. I had it. And I have it my brain that I had it. And then it vanished. And I don’t know what happened to it. And now I got two more, but I know where those are. They’re hanging on the wall there Walmart. Hey, I brought one of them to Florida with me and wrote it. My mouth. Wow, I did I you know, I tried. I’m working on it. And I’m trying to get rid of the ponza it’s sucks. But you know when you’re 20 you live in the Yeah, the COVID freakin 20 million. I am. So I gotta tell you that this lifestyle of living in upstate New York has got the food diversity of prineville. 25 years ago. There’s like two restaurants here in the winter. So I’m not talking about summer but in the winter. There’s a what’s called it’s a diner, basically old diner restaurant. very bland meat, potatoes. And then if you want anything else, you got to drive 25 miles. So food, diversity and then culturally food you go to the grocery store. You can’t unless you want to eat potatoes. No, I mean, there’s some vegetables there too. For the most part in meat. You are kind of out of choices. Unless you drive to Syracuse an hour and a half, two hours away. What are you doing? I had to get my charger. Oh, well. So do you still have a video game room? Do you have a man cave? Or did you lose a man cave? The children’s rooms? It’s the man cave to children turns Okay. Well, we decided that it was more important for the boys to have their own space. Yeah, you think so? My sister’s got five kids. So the first two Christian brought with him. And once actually, he’s been working for me for almost the last year. And he’s gonna he ships off for the Navy in like, two weeks, 14 days. He starts boot. And he’s gone. And then his younger sister. She’s in high school. And then the three little ones are like little just getting out of diapers. Sebastian, he’s the youngest. And then the other two are in middle school. She’s got her damn hands full dude, I’ll tell you what. I had one. And I thought that was crazy. You had to and I thought you were crazy. And she’s got five and guess what? She is crazy. Straight up, dude. There’s just no, I can’t imagine dude. It’s like it was you go in the house. And it’s so loud. And there’s so much happening and they have two dogs on top of it. So two dogs, five kids. And not a one of them knows how to talk at like, normal volume or they do but they’re all competing to talk at the same time. And God forbid if they want your attention because it’s like full blown jumping off the back of the couch. Karate Kid meets freakin wrestling needs screaming all the time, like day and night until they go to bed. I couldn’t do it. I can’t even go over there and visit like I can’t handle it. I’m like my add and my weirdness kicks in and it’s just too much stimulation or something crazy happens. I can’t handle it. Thank God, I don’t have more kids. So we have a dog. Well, we have a dog and two cats. So my wife’s turning into a crazy cat lady. And she got to me. Yeah, she got two cats and, and they hate me. They tolerate me for whatever reason. And then we got the dog, which is we downsized from our last one. We got a border collie now and he’s, he’s still a mama’s boy for sure. But, you know, he goes to work with us every day, which is awesome. The dog has never stayed home in the apartment while him were in the apartment. But still, he’s never stayed home almost his entire life. I mean, I can count probably on one hand, the days that he was left it at home. Every day he gets to go to the farm. And in the summer he gets obviously to run around a lot more but it’s pretty good dog life for sure. So we are Yeah, doing that craziness. I just lost my EarPods both of them are just one of them. Just one Well, those are nice curtains. I can tell you that. You found it. Yes. Oh, so we have two dogs. Yeah. Gurney who is a golden retriever? Yeah. And flash who has a havanese I think you When did you get Gurney? I think it was after we left 2010 it was after you after we left? Because we had Harvey Harvey That’s right. You had Harvey before that? Yeah. So yeah. Wow. Any you guys have always had a kid Julie’s always had a cat today is a cat how many cats? two cats. two cats. We just got another cat actually. Oh, very nice. I suppose. Yeah, the boys wanted a kitten. How long was that cute lasted before you ended up having to do all the work. We got the kitten about a month ago. Okay. She was five months old. So rd litter train. Oh, perfect. So they needed a PE bought one of those self cleaning litter boxes. do they work? Oh works great. Doesn’t really? Yeah, I tried to talk Lori under one of those but we haven’t got any I just change the box. Like every three or four weeks. That long? Seriously? Yeah, and it works. doesn’t stink. does all the work doesn’t smell Wow. Nothing. That’s kind of cool. It doesn’t use like kitty litter uses like this crystal stuff. Oh, cuz that kind of washes that or does something weird, right? I have no idea. Well, so um what is uh, you guys are obviously in that same neighborhood in that house, which is kind of south south. South East southeast. Yeah. And what have you guys remodel? Because I know that Julie can never sit still. So I’m guessing the entire interior and exterior that house has changed in the last 10 years. Let’s see. We redid the floors. We took out all the carpeting put in bamboo. Oh, nice. Cool. Yeah. And you did that? No. Painted, right? Yes. Well, of course. Yeah. You guys had been doing painting long before I left too because there was hired somebody to come in and paint. Really nice. Okay. Painting saw so and then. Over the last like I’d say 2018 to 2019 we’ve been doing the kitchen. Oh, okay. So remember we had that island It was like two tiered Yes. Now at once now it’s all one Oh, just one flat level Island. Yeah. So put in new countertops and new flooring and new stove and all of it. Oh, awesome. So you’ve been busy. Busy busy busy. Now did you make move the stove and put it in the island in the middle? Or did you just kind of Oh, that’s where the sink was now. Yeah, that’s where the sink was. Okay, so this is still there then. Right? Nice. It was a cheap update. It only cost us you know, like five or 6000 Okay, a full update would have been like 25 stupid money right? Well, yeah, to get a new roof and a new furnace that goes along with buying houses. So what’s happened to me in the last 11 years is electrically plumbing ah back tractors. motors, like all the stuff that like Judd could do back then, like I do all that stuff now welders and crap, I mean, I basically fix or can remodel or redo every in anything and have more tools and crap than I ever thought I would own or know how to do, just by nature of owning a business that has lots of machinery, and then tractors and equipment. It’s, it’s been really cool from that standpoint. And, and when I first came back, I was still involved with the construction business, it was kind of winding down, but we were still doing stuff. And like the apartment, we did a full rent on that we just renovated the downstairs, which is kind of a satellite location. For us. It’s more of like a lounge and bar. We’ve remodeled that twice in 10 years now and can go in and do all of it. I still hire out like super awesome, super, like finished finished work on certain things I’ll have somebody else do but yeah, just the ability to know how to like just, you can’t afford to pay somebody, I mean, then to do it anymore. You got to kind of know how to do all that stuff. So you know we have a car, I have a car left I Why does anybody need to own a car lift is really dumb, but I have one because I need it because of tractors and our TVs and it’s just crazy stuff we do all the time. It’s just really wild. from living in Bend and working for somebody else or working for Sage walk working with kids, you know, working in the at risk youth or the youth arena, going from that to what I’m doing is it was such a drastic change. It’s really overwhelming to think back out how kind of where my skill set and mindset back then compared to now and just on just the ability of things you got to do every day. It’s totally different. That doesn’t even take into account. Being a business owner and being involved with a family business, which is just about the stupidest thing any human can do it from a hard level. But yeah, it’s been crazy. So yeah, it’s I kind of lat like last week, I was building this custom spray rig to be able to spray pre emergent for weeds and how I learned how to do any of that stuff. I just like seriously, where did this come from, I guess, crammed in my head. I remodeled a street lamp, that was another one of like, I wanted to do it for fun. So this is when you know you’re old and weird, is I bought a street lamp that was kind of from the turn of the century in Watertown new they had taken out all the old cast iron lamps and lamp posts, and they put in you know, concrete or whatever. And this guy had had it for 25 or 30 years when they got pulled out and I took it and strip like 19 layers of paint off the the light itself and redid all the glass and all the brass inside of it and took it back period, correct and made it look original and repainted the whole thing and welded it and fixed it. And we put it up at my dad’s house and in his driveway. And I sit back and like a How the hell did I ever learned how to do any of that. And be winded, I like to do that. What is happening? You know, I mean, you know, and I was another conversation I had with somebody and I know that you weren’t always a big fan, but you used to participate and play with us, we’d you know, we’d go out and target practice and shoot guns and you can’t do that anymore. Because ammunition is basically $1 around on average, if you can even find it and you haven’t been able to buy it for over a year, two years, four years, whatever it’s been, and you can’t go out and do that anymore. So that fondness kind of went away. And and that’s a whole different crazy subject, but it you know, that we used to, you know, go out and hang out in the woods and you know, break beer bottles on rocks and be stupid kids, although we didn’t do a whole lot of that stupid stuff. But you know, we used to go camping and backpacking. I mean, the last time I still have that picture that you guys all signed when we moved of our last camping trip on the coast. And that was I don’t remember that. I mean, that was well it was pre 2000 it was probably 2009 I’m guessing was that there we were in gold beach. Maybe it had the really cool kind of side house. And we were picking Harry’s down at the edge of the driveway. It’s called beach. It was gold beach. That was a cool place and they’d set up the swimming pool in the driveway. Right? Remember that? That was the last time that we were I think all together wasn’t it? Was that trip? I mean really kind of Brittany link Yeah, time. Do you guys do any of those trips or to do that stuff with people anymore? Do you guys just do more of the family trips and go do whatever we do. I mean we always go once a year with everybody You do? It used to be we would go rent a house now we go camping. Okay it’s a little cheaper we did Julian I didn’t go last year was just like Justin Carey and Alicia cuz of COVID Okay, but the year before Yeah. We were a little cultus Wow. And everybody brought an RV or trailer. Well who the hell wants to sleep in a tent on the ground Dude, seriously, it would take me Jess and Carrie went out and bought an RV it would take me 45 minutes to get off the ground and I do. And I’m gonna say this out loud. I do yoga, and it would still take me 45 minutes to get this fucking broken ass old body up off the floor. Seriously. Oh my god, it would have to be an RV or a camper or some borrowed Steve’s cab over nice. Oh, and knowing Steve Oh, he bought that. Well, he bought the first one when I was still living there. Because he bought that about a new gas truck and had all the bells and whistles on it and he’s upgraded it since my in laws bring their fifth wheel their coach out every year that income last year but they’ve come every year, just like they did in Bend but they come here and they park in my farm. I cut out a big area and we’re actually adding gravel to it this year and I gave them hookups so they can hook up the RV while they’re there and they live out of that thing just like it’s their Taj Mahal Palace but they upgraded from they had a mini Winnie kind of little one when they were coming to bend and now they have one of the big fancy fourslide out monstered RVs that terrify me that that it’s so big how they drive it and get it here but they do every year that you know and they’re excited to come this year. So it’ll be it’ll be interesting. Have them again this year. Yeah, we’re we’re already talking about what we’re going to do for the camping trip this year. Steve got Steve sold his camper. So yeah, so what are you going to do? The rent something? Well, yeah, like the one 800 rv. You better do it now because it’s that was I was talking to, again, we do RV space rentals at the winery. It’s they’re not really space rentals, but we do this thing. It’s called harvest host. So they come they’re allowed to spend like two nights is the kind of the expectation two or three nights they come no hookups. But the expectation is that they buy something from the store or the winery or the wherever they’re staying at these different farms. It’s kind of a cool deal. Right? So this last summer, I was full every day. For three months. Somebody was in my parking lot every night with an RV. Usually two or three RVs took off this whole deal because people thought well the best way to go on vacation during a pandemic is be self sufficient. Makes sense. This summer is slated to be the same way. And I was talking to some one of the guys was a national RV retailer basically and said that stocking inventory last summer it just evaporated it didn’t exist. It all sold everything all back stock. They just they couldn’t build new stuff fast enough. People were buying up RVs like crazy RVs and boats and mountain bikes was another one but boats up here for us that was a huge one too. There was no inventory you couldn’t buy a boat at all anywhere has an inventory of anything. Yeah, our our hot tub broke. Yeah. Which you know, was 25 years old. So yeah, whatever they want went out or whatever. It wasn’t the pump it it’s like oh, you know you watch those cartoons and the big brother drove the car and then they stopped in a fall apart that’s what happened to that that was no so we went out and got a new one. And the soonest we could get one is July July as in February, July’s and coming up for the summer when nobody wants a hot tub. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, time has been crazy. Like some of the places were 1012 months out. Yeah. backordered on parts. That’s been another big thing for us is like, even like the most random thing you wouldn’t even think about that you need so you know, go to the hardware store and like half of the stuffs gone off the shelves even now and but get on online and buying things that we need like, like few fuel filters for one of the tractors and not an it’s not some super specialized thing, but you couldn’t get them. So when they came in, I bought enough so I had enough for a year. So the people everybody starts doing that, then all of a sudden, you can never find anything and definitely part of the problem. But it’s it’s really, you get kind of nervous when it’s just the most average of mundane, everyday things that there’s a bazillion of and now you can’t get it all of a sudden. I mean toilet paper was whatever. But like when you can’t buy a screw or earn a certain nail, because there’s a shortage on them because of whatever it’s like, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s like, seriously, this is getting Jackson. Jackson had some friends spend the night Friday night. They wanted burritos for dinner. So I went to the Mexican store where we always get our tortillas. Because they have like 18 inch tortillas. Sure. They didn’t have any she said she hasn’t had any for six months. Yeah. Can’t get them. You can’t get them. That’s right. Well, you know, you back up the Suez Canal. And then Long Beach harbor gets jammed up. And most of all that stuff out of China, in Europe is sitting in boats or containers, and they don’t have the people that unload them. So that’s part of the problem is the stuff is there. They just can’t get it into the system. Which is crazy. To just think about that alone. But yeah, it’s been some weirds stuff. And that’s what gets me kind of more freaked out than anything is people are spending money like crazy housing market is on fire. people buying new cars, they’re spending money like crazy, but the economics behind it don’t make any sense. Like, now I’m scratching my head saying this just doesn’t. How is this happening this way? We should be in a full blown recession right now. Ask me what my house is worth right now. Depression. Oh, it’s worth over a million bucks. Your house? No, no. Well, I bribe 75. Jesus Christ. So bought it 10 years ago for 280. Yeah. Oh, yes. Do if I were to hold on to my house that I Oh my god, I can’t even tell what my house on the west side. Shit, that thing was worth $1,000,000.15 years ago. And what it’s worth now I can’t even imagine. But that is happening here too. Like, there was a house that was built and it was a bend. I call it a bend house. It’s like the only Craftsman style house here that was brand new build. And it was built probably 10 years ago here. And it’s sold for the first time for 250,000. And I’ve been watching this house randomly. It’s sold for 250 then went on the market again and sold for 250, then it sold for 350 like a year later than there was a gap for a few years. And last year, it sold for half a million dollars and just went on the market five days ago, and sold for over 625,000 it wasn’t even on the market for days. A house that was literally worth 250,000 on a good day, in normal, normal house times. doesn’t make any sense. Some of our real estate. Here’s like the building, you know, it’s a commercial building and a commercial area downtown Historic District. My uncle sold his building, which is roughly the same size for 400,000. And I’m guessing I could turn and sell this thing commercially right now for just shy of a million dollars. I mean, it’s just stupid money. I mean, and I don’t know where people have it or where it’s coming from. But again, it just doesn’t make sense. It’s like how is how is this? It just? I don’t know. I don’t get it. I’m not I understand. It’s a worst thing ever did was sell that house on the west side? Well, who would have known back then? Um, you know, I mean, seriously, even people that were paying attention, I mean, I was what I sold that I was in my 20s I sold the we bought it for 60,000 I think I sold it for 80,000 and then it’s sold for it got a basic renovation. I don’t think it was a full gut or anything in it. We hustled for half a million and that was again like 15 years ago over that. And I think it’s sold after that for even more money and who knows what it would be worth now. A friend of mine that I worked with Sarah Casson. She owns a house at the end of that street. It was kitty corner of the restaurant. That breakfast joint that was there the big one is it’s all there aside. Is it still open was still there. It’s gone now. Wow. It’s a brewery now. Really? I mean, that cafe I mean, they were always busy now whatever. But she’s got a house kitty corner to that and it’s got to be worth stupid money now cuz she bought it back. When she was 20 years old for I think she might have paid 40 grand for it. I mean, nothing. I mean, Alicia was telling me her dad was being crazy last week about his house, walking around and saying he’s a millionaire now because he appraised for just that crappy house on the west side. That was just a basic dog turd is worth over a million dollars. Now. I mean, granted, he renovated Then the place is beautiful, I’m sure from end to end, but wow, it’s just some wooden shingles. I mean, seriously, what the hell is wrong with? It’s like I don’t. Florida house prices were like that they were selling houses to go on the market. And they’d have 60 offers for cash 100,000 over asking all day long. I mean, it just I don’t Yeah, it’s wild. I don’t know. I don’t get it, man. I don’t get it. So I’m waiting. You know, when the kids are gone. I’m selling. Where are you gonna go? Where can you afford? You can’t afford to stay in band. If you sell it ganja. I can downgrade to like a condo or a single level. Two or three bedrooms. Yeah. Well, isn’t the idea. Yeah, yeah. Get get the kids out. And then downgrade to one guestroom and then they can never come back home? Isn’t that how you’re supposed to do that? Yeah, I guess well, so. So me as I went to college, my parents rented my room. That’s right. So my. So it sounds like Mia might actually be moving out here this summer. Her husband boyfriend are talking about it actively and talking to us about it quite a bit. So I’m hopeful that that will happen. It’d be nice to have the grandbaby here. That’ll be fun. So are they gonna move out there permanently? Or just Yes, summer No, move out. Yeah, I mean, because it’s just, you know, she’s such a, just have a whole bunch of friends. And she’s been basically raising him and staying home and she’s ready to not be home because this is his first year he was in school. And she’s ready to just work and get out of the house. And I think she realizes that there’s opportunity for her here with the family business, like she can’t be involved with the family business unless she’s here. And she sees her cousins are all going to reap those benefits and she’s going to be the dumb one living in Bend broke. And I think she thinks that it maybe it makes sense to come out and maybe work in you know, just start living again, instead of just basically being a stay at home mom, which there’s nothing of course wrong with that. And he’s ready to get out. I’ll have four young kids there, you can almost open your own school. That’s right. Well, there you have it, right. So I’m gonna and he is I mean, he’s a he’s a salesman kind of guy. He’s kind of a go getter that way. And that’s he’s always been in sales. And, you know, so he can pretty much work anywhere. And he’s looking for a change as well. So I’m hoping that it works out and that they come I’m not holding my breath. Because, you know, it’s me as mo she’ll get cold feet and be done and not do it. So I you know, and I compared in compared to bend, it’s a little cheaper to live here. Just a little bit. So I’m hoping that that way, they can maybe get a leg up, or at least have a shot at it. Because, yeah, you know, it’s expensive to live anywhere. But it’s definitely they’re having a I mean, they’ve been okay, but it’s not cheap to live in Bend, as you know. Yeah. So you don’t if you don’t own your own home and you’re paying rent, I can’t imagine what like apartment rental prices are in Bend anymore. I’ve got to be in the 1000 plus range for a small little crappy nothing. two bedrooms is about 1400 bucks. God damn. I mean, I remember reading that with with Mitch, that those apartments were fully furnished, fully furnished two bedroom apartments. I don’t think we were paying 600 a month, maybe 650. By 50 or 650 a month for those places. The only thing that we’re missing with regard to MTV. Those were over the you know, the first house, Julie and I rented was 400 a month. But on the west side, wasn’t it? That the Yeah, that kind of in small and narrow. It have you guys had a fire in there. Right. And when we were moving in Yeah, the kitchen. That’s right. Right. There was a box. Right? Remember that now? Oh, my God. Well, you know, she thought about it better. She could have burned up all your comic books in one fell swoop and been done with it to saying, Yeah, but you did it. Yeah. And I regret to have four long boxes. I bet you do. And I regret. Well, I Well, I’m happy that they went to Justin but I regret getting rid of all the comic books that I had at the time. And not that I know what I would do with them now but I kind of miss them and I’m sure they’re long since gone. Although I don’t know what he’s. I don’t think Justin captain. No. Who knows what he did with anything. He still has that big ass basement though. full of stuff, I’m sure now was my big ass basement. It was your big ass basement. And then you guys swapped houses, right? Because they were in your house right? They own that house. And they didn’t like the neighbors didn’t Lana? Right. Is that what it was? Right? They were fighting they were they were renting it. Really? I thought they bought houses or they were living in the house on eighth Street. Yep. Right. Justin’s first house. Right? Yeah. Then they moved over here. Right? they’d only been here for about a year. They didn’t like the neighborhood. That’s right. What you’re right. They were too uppity, too uppity to normal, or whatever, to move people in their business telling him to put the trash cans away and handle it. Which of course, doesn’t settle well with any of us. But yeah, he they weren’t liking that. I remember that now. So they swapped with you, basically. Well, they bought your house from you. And you guys bought that one, which seemed to make more sense at the time, but and they still have it right. Probably the same backyard. Same have they done anything to that house? I mean, I don’t think that they had added a Jacuzzi. Oh, okay. And they always have big plans, but never really do anything. Got it. Okay. Yeah, well, it is what it is, I suppose. You know, it’s a good size house for just the two of that holy well, and with a full basement I mean that. Yeah, I because it’s if it was three bedroom, right, three bedrooms down that hallway or two, three bedroom, three bedrooms. three bedroom, one bath. One and a half. Right. Because the half bath was off the kitchen. Right? On the right side of the house. Right. Yeah. And then there was a bathroom downstairs in the basement. Okay, that’s right. Which was kind of half remodeled sort of by remember right. And then there was a walkout in the basement to go up the stairs into the backyard. And then you had that weird game room that he continued keeping a weird like Dungeons and Dragons room or whatever. In the corner there so I don’t know how to even use it anymore. Carrie uses the to spare bedrooms and Xbox upstairs right he’s probably got she’s probably got our office is one of the bedrooms now cuz she’s gonna be working from Yeah, right. Well, Charlie’s head it was like one was an office the other was like all her belly dancing stuff. Oh, yeah. So is she still valid? No now to damage done in a couple years. right cuz you guys were all hanging out with them Quinn too for a while, right? They were kind of they were hanging out and around and her husband. They still didn’t see him. They were cool people. I didn’t get to know them very well. But yeah, they were seemed like really cool people. And then and you know who I’ve been talking to at least on Facebook lately and kind of paying more attention to his gland all of a sudden, he’s been. I’ve been seen him in my feed all the time now. And it just right. Like, all of a sudden he was gone and kind of doing his own thing. And now he’s kind of just I’m not directly talking to him, but he’s like, I see him on Facebook almost every day, it seems. Yeah, it’s just kind of weird. is on Facebook a lot. I think. I think it’s because his daughter is old enough that she’s actually in school. Okay, right. Because he got married. They had an they had a baby. Oh, that’s crazy. Yeah. And he’s living in Redmond. Is that right? He wasn’t in Bend anymore. If I came buzzy, were that Redmond or Madras? Wow. Her family’s all in Mount Madras. That’s right. Yeah, yeah, no, I remember that’s he went to Madras for the wedding. Wow. Right. I we were gone by then. Yeah, yeah, that was all happen after we left and and so that was kind it’s kind of neat to be seeing him he’s aging very gracefully he’s a very good looking he’s kind of got that GQ old dude luck going on now. Yeah, Always. Always been that guy. I know I am. Sure, man, I’ll tell you why. But oh man, so everything going are you are you just kind of taking a break? Are you looking for a job? Are you gonna stay in the industry and stay a teacher? What are you going to do when you grow up? I guess really decided Yeah, I mean, cuz you did say that I want to teach anymore. I’m kind of burned out. Well, and you’ve been doing like, not mainstream teaching because you’ve always kind of had you know, you were at the youth you’re with the girl school. Right? And then before that you were you had been doing the Youth Challenge stuff, right freakin ever. I know you had something in between there too, but It’s been always alternative education stuff. I mean, would you know, of working with broken people? Yeah. Well, yeah, I can tell you from experience, it’s a kid the joke has always been or has been for a while now that I spent 15 years getting kids sober and I’ll spend the rest of my life getting adults drunk. They’re kind of easier to deal with. And easier to deal with. So it’s a Yeah, it’s interesting. Getting people drunk is way easier than getting kids sober that Yeah, and and nowadays, and I’m gonna this totally makes me sound old. But holy crap. They’re screwed up wicked. Like, it’s it’s really heartbreaking. To see kids. Yeah, what they’re going through anymore nowadays. It’s so it seems so much more screwed up than we were. Yeah. Well, right. So perception changes in age and time Ray, and I still hang out. No, you know, two of the therapists that I work with closely at Sage walk. His mother has a place here in the 1000 Islands. So up until last summer, they I’d seen them we’d had dinner with these guys and seeing them every year since we’ve been here. They come up because they spend a week here on vacation. And so I’ve gotten this kind of stay tied into that world and the people that I knew there, and they’re all still doing the same thing, just but those programs have just modified and changed how they work with kids based on kind of the norm of society. Right? Whatever is acceptable anymore. I actually applied for one out here. It’s called college Excel. Yeah. is there’s a college Excel there now? Yeah. Well, they’re owned by are they independent? Are they owned by another company or bigger healthcare company? Do you know? I have no idea. Oh, well, that would be Oh, yeah. It wouldn’t be too far out of what you have been doing on whatever level so maybe you could call his Pegasus books still downtown? Yeah, it really is still in the same spot. same spot. So I’m by Duncan, really still working in there? Yeah, you could go work there. That’d be your dream job. It might not be in the bills, though. Yeah, he started writing a blog. Okay. Now seven or eight years ago that kind of took off? Really? He got kind of famous in the industry for his blog, in the comic book industry. Yeah. What’s the blog about? What’s he doing? About comic books in a way in comic book store in a small town? Wow. Well, that is I was asking my wife and I were talking about it. Laura and I were talking to Mike, I wonder if it’s still there. You know, I mean, the real estate alone is gotta be worth stupid money. But yeah, that comic book store had been there forever. When I moved to Ben, in 92. And 92. It had been there must have been there. 10 years at that point. Easy. And is it still dark and packed full of stuff? I mean, I remember it just always be in just full I mean, full full, it’s worse, worse. He started doing used books. Okay, so he has books in there and comics? And can you still have your your box, your weekly box or month, whatever it is where you go pick up your comics? Now, I haven’t done one of those in a long time. I found it easier to just collect the graphic novels instead of the individual issues, because it’s all there. Yeah. So I went into a comic book store when I was down in Florida, and I hadn’t been in one in 10 years. And I happened to be this comic bookstore did game night, where you can rent the tables and go play d&d, or whatever. And it was really funny to walk in there and see that unfolding in front of me, where you got, you know, 14 year old nerds hanging out with 50 year old nerds, all with T shirts that are too small, and lots of butt cracks and pizza and soda pop. And it’s like time has stood still in doing that. And I just kind of chuckled and walk through and ended up buying I think two or three graphic novels because I was like, you know, I gotta do something on the drive home because I was thinking Lori was going to drive home and I didn’t want to be on my phone the whole time or whatever. So I bought a couple and and started looking through them and the artwork is absolutely still just so kind of you forget about it. When you’re away from it and coming back and looking at it. It’s like God, damn, I mean, just alone. The the quality of the art is just on spiring and yeah, I was happy to I bought it was I bought Constantine What else did I get something else random I don’t even remember what it was now but it was really cool to just look flipped through and and a few years back Lori got me the The Walking Dead series, the graphic novel the big ones the five series or four series about Yeah, that are like three inches thick each. And I haven’t gotten through all of those and I have them on my shelf in here and Damn, I mean that’s another one that was just really kind of you just can’t you forget, you know? because everything’s on your computer now. Right here I am in technology heaven and Kenner Star Wars toys from 1978 all in the same room. Oh, you know, it’s good to have that stuff. Yeah, indeed. I’m, you know, I could never afford it when I was younger and wanted it and have had the opportunity to we do a flea market every Sunday at the winery. And that gets me in trouble. Because also now now the Junkers know what I like to and they buy it and bring it and expect me to buy it. A couple weeks ago, Harrison was out with his friends. Yeah. And you know, there’s nothing to do or to do in Bend. Everything’s closed. Right? So they would walk around Walmart. Okay. And he calls me and he says, Do you want a those with those big headed? figures? A pop? Yeah. Yeah. I said, Well, who is it? It’s john McClane. He didn’t even ever that was Die Hard. Oh my god. I said sure. So he bought me a john McClane doll and he’s got his gun. His wife beater tank da. Bear fee? Yeah. Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah, those are awesome. Yeah, I didn’t realize that those. Laurie realized it before me. I had no clue how popular they had gotten in how like, I mean, people go crazy collecting super rare ones. And it just like anything. I could go off the freakin deep end. But yeah, I had no idea that that was the thing. I don’t want you know, I’m old. I don’t pay attention closely anymore. I have to. You have to. I have Tom McLean. Yeah. And I Batman. Oh, that makes sense. I’m trying to think I don’t think I Oh, I think she did by me one. I think I have one or two in the other room that haven’t made it in here on a shelf yet. But I’m because I’m kind of out of space. Really. Julie has Wonder Woman and somebody from Game of Thrones. Wow. Yeah, I had no idea that those would become this crazy popular thing. So whatever got to be kind of outdated on something I suppose. So yeah. Wow. Nuts. Well, dude, I gotta go eat dinner. Sorry, dinner. It was good seeing you. You gotta you got to not be afraid to call me. I’m just saying. Just Just not afraid to call you. Did you never do. You never write you never call. You never call me. You never said Did I not text you on your birthday? You did? You did? I’ll give it that. I’ll give you that. I mean, I’d say in this last six months. On my birthday. Yeah. Did you know? My phone? Said Happy birthday on Facebook. Well, so that counts these days. Dude, that is totally legitimate. Happy birthday. Seriously. So I did send you a message. And then how can I forget that Justin’s birthday when that was until he sent me a message? It’s the same fucking day, isn’t it? Yeah. It says what? It’s a Marvel thing. Yeah, it’s a month. Right? The 19th? No, we’re the same day. Yeah, but he’s he’s me. He’s He’s me. Right. Exactly a month different. He’s may night. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Because he’s made Julie’s made. Jackson’s been Alicia’s man. Like, we would always throw one party and we just keep having more may people all right, April, May people. That’s right. It was kind of the start off, isn’t it? Laurie? May? She is may 5. Cinco de Mayo. Yeah, yeah. So she would start we would start off with my birthday, I think was kind of the start of the birthday season. I don’t remember how that worked. But yeah, are they we seem to all be kind of together. So cool. So um, so next time I make you come on the podcast and torture you. We have to pick a topic. So I’m gonna let you think about that. Okay. And we can do that. I want to talk about the fact that of the three new release movies I’ve watched this year. Yeah. One of them was Godzilla. And then auto combat. Which one more Mortal Kombat? That’s not out yet. Is it? The new Mortal Kombat movie comes out on Friday. Oh, God on Friday. That’s right. Yeah. We can definitely do movies in the last two months. I’ve seen movies that I watched 40 years ago. Yeah, yeah, remix. Yes. We can do that. Let’s get we’ll schedule a time. After that comes out. Let’s schedule a time after that comes out. And I’ll make sure I’ll make sure I watch it obviously. And, and we’ll sit down with HBO Yeah, right. I HBO max the same day that it comes out in the theaters now we can watch the shit at home, which I like. Personally, I love that. And we will schedule the time and we’ll sit down and we’ll go We’ll do a movie review on then versus now. So you’re gonna have to watch the old one to just saying. So to download it. Figure out where it is. The Godzilla on I didn’t watch the whole thing. I got distracted. Okay, watch Godzilla vs qinggong. I didn’t watch the whole thing. I got distracted halfway through to like my phone ring or something happened. I gotta go back and watch it again. But it was pretty damn good. I mean, you know, I enjoyed it. Yeah, I mean, I remember watching the original one. I must have been five or six. Saturday afternoon, right. KTLA channel five at La. Southern California shout and they both go off a cliff and you see King Kong swimming away in the ocean and no Godzilla. Right. I’ll have to go watch that again. Because I don’t remember the ending, Really? But yeah, well, let’s do that. I want to do that one with you. Because that sounds like a lot of fun. And it’ll give us an excuse to talk regularly, which I want to start doing with you anyway. So totally. Thank you for coming on in. We got to get you on a laptop. Cuz I’m getting freakin drunk watching you. We got to get you more on something else here. It it wouldn’t matter if I was on a laptop. I’m still be going to be bouncing. I just stopped watching you on the video then. Alright, brother, well have a wonderful evening. And we’ll talk soon and get to. And I would say hey, give out your socials and what you’re doing. But you don’t have a podcast or any socials or anything weird where you want people you don’t know to start stalking you. So if you want to hear me, Jason and Tony’s conversations, then just listen to my damn podcasts. Don’t bother Jason at home. He’s gonna weird like that. So. Alright, brother. I’ll talk to you soon. Have a wonderful evening. All right, you too, buddy. Okay, bye. Bye. Bye. All right, so you just got to listen to me sit and chat with my buddy Jason Laue from the olden days. And you’ll hear more from, from Jason and myself in coming episodes. And thanks for listening. You guys have been a great audience. Peace. Thanks for listening to the Gen X perspective by Tony Randazzo, where we see things a bit differently. Let’s get social. Find us on Facebook by searching Gen X perspective, Twitter, at Gen X underscore podcast and on Instagram at Gen X perspective. You can also find us online at Gen X perspective calm and reach out to Tony directly at Tony at Gen X perspective.com. to maybe you can talk strategy on how to beat Super Mario Brothers three. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Gen X perspective wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening.

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