Library Memories and Star Trek Fandom

Speaker 1 0:24

How are you doing today, ben? Oh, I'm doing great, you know, just a fantastic another day in paradise, sort of day. If you can't tell the sarcasm in my voice.

Speaker 3 0:37

Yeah, that paradise is not quite what it's cracked up to be, is it?

Speaker 1 0:42

Oh, life is never what it's cracked up to be, but that's okay. You just got to deal with what you got to deal with. My friends Make lemonade. Well, look, when life kicks you in the balls, there's two choices either grab them, fall over and cry or you start a reality tv show yeah, uh, yeah, the that is still coming in our dystopian future. For those who don't get the reference, he's talking about All my Balls, which was a comedy show, not a reality show, in the dystopian nightmare documentary of Idiocracy.

Speaker 3 1:23

Yeah, I thought it was a reality show. I didn't realize it was a scripted show. I don't think it's.

Speaker 1 1:30

I don't think there was such thing as script in that universe, but the point was it was meant to be funny, it was, that was their.

Speaker 3 1:36

We mean that universe, that's our universe, yeah, yeah, the way things are going, well, all right, uh, good enough. So I asked, I think, if you'd heard the Under the Lunting show or not. Have you listened to it yet? Let's see, okay.

Speaker 1 2:03

I got 17 minutes in 17? Okay.

Speaker 3 2:05

All right, so you didn't get to the Star Trek conversation yet. No, I did not.

Speaker 1 2:11

All right, I mean y'all put out that we, so you put out the show friday. We're recording this saturday, yeah, and when do you think I would uh have all this inordinate time so that time comes up? Friday afternoon, I mean between Friday and.

Speaker 3 2:26

Saturday. There's like a whole 24-hour period there, uh-huh, so, but anyway, I mean, it's just, I was curious, because normally we don't talk about Star Trek on that show, darren's, you know. I mean like anybody of my age group he's obviously seen Star Trek, but that's not he doesn't rave about it the way that you do. Well, I mean, there are trekkies and then there are not yeah and I I would say I'm probably closer to you, but not quite where you're at as far as my star trek fandom.

Speaker 1 3:10

Okay but you gotta, you gotta understand. For me as a kid it was all things space and sci-fi and um so like, for instance, lost in space I was, I loved, lost in spaceed. The hell out of all the reruns. Have you seen the original? Yeah, that's what I got, that's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 3:35

Oh the doctor, what's his face in that show?

Speaker 1 3:38

It was great, smith, yeah, just the most evil gay dude out there. Yes, exactly, yeah, anyway, I love all things space and, ironically enough, when I watched star wars, I thought it was absolutely retarded as a kid and never got into star wars, even though my cousins were, and you know. Uh, anyway, I just I'm a truckie, I, I like it. I also, like you know, to me, when I'm watching tng and they have the scotty episode and the dyson sphere and I'm like what's the dyson sphere?

Speaker 1 4:14

so I started looking up what dyson spheres are and everything else, and this is you know, at like seven, eight years old, and I start understanding and more and more like and this is pre-internet really being a thing, right. So this is going to I don't know about that pre someone at that age having access probably, yes, yes, yes, so I'm running to, uh, you know, to the library and reading and doing, and it's just just. It's a interesting experience of my life.

Speaker 3 4:52

You know I went to the library.

Speaker 1 4:54

I mean I was on computers, since I could sit at the keyboard, Gene, but you know, when we lived in we didn't get internet access really till 95. 95 was when I got internet access.

Speaker 3 5:10

Yep, 95, 95 was when I got internet access. Yep, um, yeah, well, that's actually. That's only like 6 years after I got it, so it's not that late.

Speaker 1 5:20

Yes, I was also 9 right exactly um.

Speaker 3 5:28

so I went to the library, I think last time, about 8 years ago, and that was probably the first time in 20 years not maybe not 20, but probably 15 and libraries even 8 years ago had vastly changed from what I remember going to libraries as a kid, because they they had hardly any books, they just had a bunch of computers.

Speaker 1 6:00

Uh, I mean, I guess it depends on Austin, what? Okay Well, maybe, um, you know the libraries around here. A great coffee shop? Okay well, maybe you know the libraries around here. Yeah, they have a great coffee shop. Okay, well, the libraries around here I don't have the same experience with, but I also you know, like the University Research Library here, sterling Evans Library, that's, you know, a pretty good library, so I don't know it's open to the public.

Speaker 3 6:35

so yeah, well, I'm sure that there's still libraries that have books, but this one was built probably nine years ago and uh, so I was there about a year after it opened and I was just I. This was not what I would think of. When I think of a library, I think of a place that smells like books, because it's just a giant, uh, fire hazard waiting to happen, um, with shelves and shelves and shelves of paper books. This was a very clear, open space. It honestly you couldn't really tell that it was a library or a fortune 500 company work environment for millennials yeah, a lot of times some of the newer municipalities.

Speaker 1 7:25

Some of the things they're doing is like book sharing between, uh, physical locations, so they will have fewer overall books and they will have the computer system. Oh, this is the book I'm looking for. Oh yeah, we've got that at our other location.

Speaker 3 7:41

It'll be here tomorrow, sort of thing interesting yeah, well, I was just trying to get them to buy my book. Interesting yeah, well, I was just trying to get them to buy my book, but that was about it. Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work like that, buddy. They said they need five people to ask for it and then they buy it well, you should have had five people go around and ask for it?

Speaker 1 8:02

I did exactly. Did they buy one copy? They bought one copy. Exactly, did they buy?

Speaker 3 8:07

one copy. They bought one copy, yep, but I think somewhere I still have a photo of me holding up the book in the library. But here's the other thing. So they get books at a discount from Amazon. So I don't think I made any money on that, which is funny. But anyway, just going down memory lane, wasn't planning on talking about this at all. What do we got going on this week, ben?

Speaker 1 8:41

One thing I will say is if you have your library card, there are several streaming services and things that you can get for free with that. By the way, like there's several different streaming services that if you have a library card and you upload proof of that or link it to your account, you can get it for free. That just sounds like discrimination. Why upload?

Speaker 3 9:09

proof of that or link it to your account. You can get it for free. That just sounds like discrimination. Why you can't expect black people to have library cards, can you?

Speaker 1 9:21

Okay, well, anyway, it's kind of interesting because you remember that libraries in the 90s started having VHS collections and stuff like that that you could go borrow, utilize those and pay a lot of late fees. Yes, well, this is the digital version of that, hmm, Hmm, and I'm sure everyone, especially you know our listeners overseas are very interested in how the US lack of education system works.

Speaker 3 9:54

I'm pretty sure everybody's well aware of the lack of education system in the US, including Americans. Yeah.

Speaker 3 10:02

Yeah Well, and I don't know that we necessarily need to go there. There's a whole lot more to say, but I I did have to post a few times of uh, there's an x. There was a kind of this stuff happens in clumps, like so there'd be one post and then there'd be a whole bunch of related ones and this, this, this was about um, uh, the fact that there's uh, uh Palestinian and uh trans flags being hung in elementary schools, and there's lots of fun. People, rightly, are like schools, schools this shouldn't be there.

Speaker 3 10:52

Why don't you know? I don't understand why my kids are being, uh, you know, uh taught these things that are wrong, and it's like well, why are you giving your kids up into government intaglination camps? To begin with, like it is your choice to send your kids there. You're sending them there, and then you're like, oh, but I don't like it. Okay, well, do something about it yeah, well they're, they're.

Speaker 1 11:26

So, first of all, I abolish all schools, state, local, everything. Have the parents come together and take what they would spend on tax dollars and come together and form pods where they hire a teacher for, let's say, 10 kids and they pay the teacher's salary and there you go, exactly you know. And then you have total control. Like, not everybody has to homeschool, it doesn't have to be like that, but although I think homeschooling is a fantastic option, the way it should go. But you know, absolutely what do I know?

Speaker 3 12:09

well, you, you do know, because you're a product of that well I.

Speaker 1 12:14

I have experienced public school, private school and uh you know, homeschooling. Yeah, I know what my preference is for my kids, but you know, unfortunately men in this country do not have the rights that we should.

Speaker 3 12:29

Oh yeah, well, that's uh, I think that's absolutely true, and we know why. 19th amendment.

Speaker 1 12:39

Uh, I think it goes. I think it goes beyond that. I think just the insidiousness of hold on. What do you mean beyond that? Exactly what I said. Beyond that, what did the beat like?

Speaker 3 12:56

deeper. Yes, okay, so it goes to the 1700s. I think that this entire first of all, letting women vote I that no-transcript it started there, though, I don't know, I don't, I don't think well, do you think that that insidious thing you're talking about was there a hundred years ago?

Speaker 1 13:46

Yeah, I think it was there 6,000 years ago.

Speaker 3 13:52

Yeah, yeah, I disagree. Years ago, yeah, I think it was there 6 000 years ago. Yeah, yeah, I, I disagree. And it's still not there.

Speaker 1 13:56

Incidentally, in about half the countries in the world, uh, the muslims, except when they come over here, then it becomes there.

Speaker 3 14:00

So I don't know well, and that's because here women vote yeah look I'm telling you it's, it's okay it's obviously a fun meme for me to keep saying the 19th right. Everybody knows it's a meme thing. However, I want to not let people off the hook. Like you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't say I want everything to be exactly equal between men and women and then expect women to act the way that, historically, that they've acted when they've depended on men. It's impossible.

Speaker 1 14:41

It needs to be accountability. That's the point, is they don't need to be accountable today. Gene, here's the point is they don't need to be accountable today, gene, here's the thing If you and I get into an argument, what keeps an argument between men civil? Is because ultimately, there's the underlying threat of violence, like, hey, dude, you can take it so far and it's all good natured, we're good, but you go too far and it's getting it up in a fistfight. That is I mean I was going to say respect, but sure.

Speaker 3 15:10

Okay, good, but you go too far and it's getting it up in a fist fight, that is.

Speaker 1 15:11

I mean I was gonna say respect, but sure, okay, that's right there's only so far you can take stuff before that goes to a fist fight between men. I think that. Do you disagree with that statement?

Speaker 3 15:25

I think that's on a purely animalistic level. You're right, that's always the ultimate escalation threat. I just think that the percentage of that where it escalates to that without the use of drugs is exceedingly low. I mean, it's probably like a fraction of a fraction of a fair enough, because, again, that threat is still there.

Speaker 1 15:56

Yeah, because that underlying threat is there. It forces us to keep things civil, sure, yep, okay. Well, now we're living in a world where violence is never the answer. Violence is never the answer. Violence is never the answer right never hit a woman should never hit a woman. She never hit a woman.

Speaker 3 16:11

She never hit a woman yeah, that's incongruent, incidentally, with equality.

Speaker 1 16:15

You realize that, like, if we're truly equal, then hold on, hold on, I'm going somewhere okay, but so now you have a group of men who truly buy in and believe that, and then you have a group of women who there are no consequences for them. There are no legal consequences. There are no physical consequences. There are no consequences whatsoever, I'm going to act however the hell I want. That's a problem for society.

Speaker 3 16:43

Well, it's a problem for men, I don't know. It's a problem for women, okay, and there are more of them than us. So, uh, yeah, this is a problem with democracy too yes, idiots voting. That's why we shouldn't have democracy yeah, so well I mean, at least they don't call them idiots, you know. So well I mean, at least I don't call them idiots, you know Well.

Speaker 1 17:13

anyway, I set up a camera system in my home, so I've got cameras up now.

Speaker 3 17:19

Yeah, yeah yeah, I think that cameras are good. I don't necessarily like loud storage for cameras. If you can just have them going to your own nas, that's probably preferable, but either way I can.

Speaker 1 17:34

I have I can't, not to nas, but to the sync device.

Online Age Verification and Privacy Concerns

Speaker 3 17:40

I can put the uh, the local storage yeah, well, it's whatever, whatever way I mean I've, I have cameras from fact. I probably should check see if they're working. I haven't looked at my footage and probably three or four years, but uh, I originally got cameras from probably about 10 years ago and uh set them up in the house and just run the camera app on the NAS that uh records all the data and blah, blah, blah. Haven't had to use it, but yeah.

Speaker 1 18:18

Well, I I'm very heavily resistant to putting cameras in my house, but you know, sometimes you have a need yeah no, absolutely when.

Speaker 3 18:37

Okay, I was gonna say something and I thought you know we had an adult episode last time. I'm not even gonna go there. I'm not gonna talk about other uses of cameras you don't?

Speaker 1 18:46

that's fine. Uh, that's. That's not my need for sure it's nobody's need trust me.

Speaker 3 18:59

Well, yeah, we get way too many people recording things on cameras right now isn't that true?

Speaker 1 19:06

uh--huh, you know that's something that with the state law. So I did listen to the last not this last week, the week before's episode of Unrelenting and I disagree with where you think the states are going on VPNs and things like that. Especially like the state of texas. I just don't think that that's going to be possible for them to limit and say you have to do an identifier from where they're originating and things like that oh right, right, right.

Speaker 3 19:41

No, I think minnesota was talking about that yeah, well, they.

Speaker 1 19:44

I mean again, they can try, and maybe a country like China or the US could pull it off, but a state government, the way the states are currently organized, please, and not only that. Again, all you're doing it's like gun laws. All you're doing is hurting law abiding citizens because someone who wants to connect to an open proxy that there are innumerable around the internet and then use that to jump into whatever vpn service they want, you're not going to stop them.

Speaker 1 20:20

Well, I just think the whole concept of identifying a physical geographical location by ip address is crazy yeah, so actually some of the goip stuff has gotten ironically better over the years and further restricted free space. Goip on IPv4 has become much more meaningless, whereas IPv6, because of the way IP addresses are being allocated, it's actually way more nuanced. But they also have a lot larger space so they can divvy up bigger blocks and guarantee that these blocks aren't being shared.

Speaker 3 21:16

And da, da, da, da da yeah, no, I, I get all that, but again, it's just based on statistics and allocations. It's not based on actual location, unlike your cell phone, which is grabbing your satellite info. Ipv6 is really I mean no, I'm talking about.

Speaker 1 21:36

IPv4. Okay so it's.

Speaker 3 21:42

I mean, I watched that whole geolocation thing start initially and it was a joke and then they got a lot better. Um, but I've seen some of the guesses that are made when I'm blocking all the cookies and location information and everything, and sometimes it's like a mile away and sometimes it's a whole different city right, but if you're blocking at the, is this IP originating from the state of Texas? Yes, no that's pretty easy to do. It is it is pretty easy to do? Yeah, no, absolutely the case.

Speaker 1 22:19

Now geolocating you down to your house with an IP address. Nah, why even bother with?

Speaker 3 22:26

that, yeah, but also, you know, I could be sitting in Iowa and connecting to my house and they think I'm still at my house. So I I just I think that the law as written doesn't really make sense, even though a lot of the porn companies are complying with it I well, okay.

Speaker 1 23:00

So I think, when you look at the the crackdowns that have happened over the last few years, like Pornhub had to delete I think it was over two thirds of their entire reservoir of videos because they could not prove the age of the actors, right? Yep, that's pretty, you know, and I'm sure there was a lot of legitimate amateur stuff in there. That was fine and they couldn't get contact with people and or it wasn't worth it or whatever.

Speaker 1 23:33

Fine, in fact, that may even be the majority of what they deleted, but I think it is reasonable to say that if we're going to have standards about what constitutes, you know, child endangerment, child porn and who should have access to porn in general. Much less that that a uh. The first step in this you got to be able to prove the age of the people in the videos.

Speaker 3 24:00

That seems to be a reasonable thing and that's been a requirement for that industry for 40 years, yeah, but no, no, it's been.

Speaker 1 24:11

It's no, no, no, no. And this was the big change and this is where this started. The the requirement was for the film's producer, not a distributor, yeah, and that was the whole porn hard argument for a long time is well, we're not producing the videos, we're just distributing them. We don't have to comply with that.

Speaker 3 24:31

And then the law was changed somewhat to comply, because yeah, and then the change is I think it makes sense. But also I get their argument because they're they're an aggregator. They're not even distributor, they're an aggregator. I mean, I guess they're they're an aggregator. They're not even distributor, they're an aggregator. I mean, I guess they're a distributor because some people pay for that stuff. But a lot of these companies, just you know, they're putting stuff up for free and then have ads or links to paid sites or whatever.

Speaker 1 25:04

Yeah, so anyway, what? What it comes down to is, I'm fine with that change. You know, hey, prove the age of the people in the videos that you're putting out there. I'm fine with that.

Speaker 3 25:18

OK that was OK. What? Well? I know I thought you were going to say but and then keep going.

Speaker 1 25:25

And I was taking a breath, sorry, but the issue is with the nanny state. As always in Texas is not immune to this is oh well, we've got to protect the kids. We can't let our kids see this. They need to enforce this. Well, no, at some point it's your job in societies to enforce. And what I would say is, if someone gets on there and is obviously a teenager, you know, like one of the analogies that I've heard pundits use is well. If a 14 year old walked into a porn star, they get kicked out. Use is well. If a 14-year-old walked into a porn star, they'd get kicked out. Yes, because they are obviously that, but if they don't look like they're 14, no, they're not being ID'd to validate their age at that point. Period Not happening, and it shouldn't happen online either. And I just think that there's government overreach and there is parental responsibility and things that we have to accept, and I I'm I'm for one side of the id law, I'm not for the other.

Speaker 3 26:34

I guess is the point I'm making well, and the danger with having customers id'd that I don't think there's anything wrong theoretically in saying access to pornography should only be for adults. However, the danger in the id is that once you id, that id is tied to your history your viewing history which is absolutely being stored and all it's going to take exactly.

Speaker 3 27:11

All it's going to take is, uh uh, somebody to hack into one of these sites, grab that history and then start publishing it, and boy, we're going to have a lot of people losing their jobs well, not even publishing it, just threatening to publish it well yeah, I mean if they want to extort money. But if they shit, I guarantee you people will lose their jobs.

Speaker 1 27:32

Well, not even extort money, but extort behavior oh yeah, that could be possible too, yeah uh, hey, congressman, uh, you know you. You claim to be a christian and everything else, but according to porn hub, man, it's like 90 training for like the lady boys, which is the, you know, the second most popular category, apparently, is what I've been hearing. Yeah, that and interracial. You know it's like yeah okay, yeah, okay, it's uh it.

Speaker 3 28:02

Well, you know what I think. At least that's a move away from something that popped up about five years ago, which I never understood, which is the whole brother, sister, father, mother. Oh, no, that's stuff, but I think it's getting less common. I like, where did this come from? When that first? Because we went from like hot babes on the beach, you know, running into a stranger and doing it to what the hell is this? Who wants incest porn?

Speaker 3 28:55

this makes no sense there's a whole generation of people that never grew up I don't know man, I am just I.

Speaker 1 29:07

I think that there's a lot of, and you know me, I'm not gonna sit here and what's off with the dirty porn out there?

Speaker 3 29:16

That's just disgusting.

Speaker 1 29:18

I'm not going to kink shame or whatever, but there's some interesting stuff out there, to say the least.

Speaker 3 29:26

I am.

Speaker 1 29:30

It's like well, you know what they say about those glass houses not casting the first stone.

Speaker 3 29:36

Yeah, I, I get it. That's why you're not saying anything, that's fine why I'm advising you. I just I mean, I think it technically, I think it coincided I don't know if it was caused by, but it definitely coincided with game of thrones and of course in that show, especially the first season, you've got the whole relationship between the brother and sister yeah, but this is like saying everybody who got in the explosion of bdsm was because of 50 shades of gray must have been that.

Speaker 3 30:08

What else could it possibly be? Well, yeah, I just. Maybe it's a sign of just getting older, as you start looking at porn going. What the hell are these kids into? This is nuts. Back in my day, porn was clean.

Speaker 1 30:29

No, no, it wasn't. That is one thing I'll say. Is you know? Well we didn't have at least I was a kid.

Speaker 3 30:38

I'll tell you that much that you knew of. Yeah, and that's the way I would have preferred to keep it.

Speaker 2 30:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean I'm sure there's nobody gets the fur the furries, get the furries.

Speaker 1 30:57

I guess.

Speaker 3 30:58

I mean, I don't know that they get humans though. It's just, it's the weirdest thing, but we're already bordering on having to label this adult, so let's just not go any deeper in that direction anyway moving on on having to label this as adults.

Speaker 1 31:12

So let's just not go any deeper in that direction.

Election Speculation and Criminal Justice Reform

Speaker 3 31:13

Anyway, moving on, so I've been seeing a lot of stories popping up about the lead that Trump is gaining and Barack Obama's all worried now that he's going to lose his presidency. What's your take on that?

Speaker 1 31:38

I don't want to sound too confident, but you know my entire call when they were removing Biden was we will know whether or not they think they can win this by who they put up, If they put up and I named off a couple of people- if they put up a Gretchen Whitmer. Uh, they put up a, um, Gavin Newsom. If they put up, you know, some of these quote unquote, rising stars and they think they've got a shot, the fact that they put up come Kamala she's a she's a she's, she's, she is a sacrificial candidate and has been from the beginning yeah yeah, I.

Speaker 1 32:17

I just don't. I don't see any way half for her to win outside of just absolute cheating. Yeah, um, I, which is fully possible, but you know that.

Speaker 3 32:28

I just think they're gonna cheat, that's all I. I totally agree with what your sentiment is. I just I, after last election, I just have a hard time seeing them not winning, although I was even advanced the theory that she may be the sacrificial lamb where they're not going to cheat and it's going to be a complete blowout for Trump's, just so they can point the finger and says all those crazy Republicans thought we were cheating and they're insane. See, this proves that we never cheated, ever. And I don't know man, I just I still think that there's an awful lot of people that have Trump derangement syndrome, with which have the attitude of, by any means necessary, which they also share with the group that they support of, uh, hamas yeah, well, what I?

Speaker 3 33:29

I think there are people in this country that have so much hatred from Trump, yeah, that there's almost be willing to pull off a Hamas style attack just to keep him from winning.

Speaker 1 33:43

I think there are enough people in who hate Trump that there will be a baseline vote that will be very hard against Trump period. So I don't know that we're ever going to see a Carter Reagan esque or Carter Mondale esque landslide that that said said um I. You know, I hate to say it, but most black men can't vote, but those who can't are probably not going to want to vote for kamala, hence the barack obama stuff yeah, I've seen a shit ton of videos of black guys that make gaming videos and comic book videos and all kinds of stuff like that.

Speaker 3 34:34

Talk about how democrats are basically like. You know, all pretense is gone, they're. They're like yeah, these guys are literally trying to fuck us over and they've been using us for years and it stops now. So I'm I'm very optimistic on the trump connecting with uh, black men and which should have happened, frankly, many years ago and not necessarily by him. I mean, it's like the idea of voting based on racial differences is crazy. It's stupid. I think it should be based more on sex and men should have always been voting regardless of what color skin they have. Yeah For the better candidate, yeah. But I've seen a lot of videos of a lot more than I had four years ago, for sure of black men online talking about Trump.

Speaker 1 35:47

Well, I don't know man. I mean Trump has been pretty involved in the black community for a long time, doing a lot of good stuff yeah, well, and I well, I know a lot, I don't know what more he could have done from his side.

Speaker 3 36:04

You know, without being oh I don't think most grotesque about what he's doing. Blame I'm black men for not voting better to begin with. That's all.

Speaker 1 36:12

Yeah, but you got to remember most of them can't vote.

Speaker 3 36:15

Oh my God, no, I'm serious.

Speaker 1 36:23

Most black men have not been convicted of a felony. Go check that statistic, it's pretty close. I'm happy to it is not 50% okay a very, very, very large minority have, which is unfortunate and most of it's stupid drug related shit that shouldn't exist anyway. But you know, until we get felons rights restored the way they should be, yeah, yeah, it's.

Speaker 3 36:53

Uh, I think that should have fallen into cruel and unusual punishments for sure. What well, just losing your rights to vote permanently?

Speaker 1 37:04

just because, you were convicted losing your rights permanently.

Speaker 3 37:07

It is 15% of African American. Oh, no, that is not what I have.

Speaker 1 37:11

That's not what.

Speaker 3 37:12

I have at all where do you have alright?

Speaker 1 37:17

you're going to make a claim, back it up according to available data, approximately one third 33% of black men in the United States have a felony conviction. And where are you getting this? Human rights impact? Human?

Speaker 3 37:33

human rights watchcom. Yeah, you can't trust that word. Why? Because their, their business, is basically pointing out at how bad the black people have it in this country okay, well, my again.

Speaker 1 37:49

My entire point is a felony shouldn't stop you from owning guns or voting at all. Yeah, no, we agree on that. Nothing should. Those are fundamental rights. Second of all. The entire point was that there's a disproportionate, and I think you'll agree that drug charges and everything else are disproportionate. Now that could be predilections on what drugs are liked and how easy they are to spot, and everything else versus other things but neither here nor there.

Speaker 1 38:23

I'm not saying that it's necessarily fully racist and saying there are some whole things here. And you know, point is there is a reduction, a reduction whether it's 15, or the evidence that I have here, 33, which magic number I think seems like the right number just because of that. But you know, hey, yep, point is the uh.

Speaker 3 38:47

The incarceration rates of black men has gone down by about 35% in the last decade.

Speaker 1 38:57

Good for them. Now what we need to do is reduce the overall incarceration rate by about 70%.

Speaker 3 39:06

Or more.

Speaker 1 39:07

Yeah, yeah. People do not realize how over-policed and incarcerated we are in this country versus the rest of the world yeah, just because they're used to it.

Speaker 3 39:19

But absolutely, and people have a, I think, a fear based on movies and things of of being in third world countries and getting arrested and then being put away for life. No, that costs money. Most countries don't like spending money on housing prisoners, so the punishment may be more brutal in some countries, but it's not going to be a long-term prison sentence like it is here. Oh, yeah, you know you might lose a hand or something. Going to be a long-term prison sentence like it is here. Okay, you might lose a hand or something.

Speaker 1 39:57

Yeah, that would be a problem. That would be a problem.

Speaker 3 40:01

Well, I think that's historically a pretty good punishment for thieves.

Speaker 1 40:09

Okay, you can think that all you want.

Speaker 3 40:14

If you can't swipe something.

Speaker 1 40:19

If you don't have a hand, can you?

Speaker 3 40:20

they're anyway, okay I just imagine if, uh if, the punishment for, uh, uh, these companies that stole pension funds would be physical.

Speaker 1 40:38

CEO loses his hand, sort of theoretical.

Speaker 3 40:40

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 40:47

Okay, I've been getting a lot of connection requests on LinkedIn from Chinese woman. No UAE men.

Speaker 3 40:58

Oh really yeah, okay, interesting. Well, you did work for that Israeli company.

Speaker 1 41:07

I did work, yes, and I went to the UAE for a totally different American-owned company. Yeah. Yes, it's a company.

White House Press and Political Maneuvering

Speaker 3 41:17

I get it Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Say no more. Anyway somebody described you the other day as a uh uh, one of those uh economic hit men. Why I said, yep, that's been all right. Uh, no, no, no, no, I am, I am not for all kinds of business things and stuff and uh yeah. I I you know, I, I get it, you can't say anything, I get it.

Speaker 1 42:02

Okay, yes, this coming from the guy who spins the way he does and doesn't work, you know, eight months at a time. And I post on that somehow has the resources you have.

Speaker 3 42:16

Uh-huh, uh-huh yeah, I gotta get some work going. It's about time. Um yeah, so that's an interesting thing. Um trying to think what else popped up on my X radar. Um yeah I don't know man, I it. I guess the the changes from last week haven't been huge in terms of stories. We did have the storm hit in florida. Uh, everybody that I follow in florida seems to be okay. I don't know if you've heard much from people on there yeah, it degraded quite a bit before it hit so it.

Speaker 1 43:08

It seems to be okay. It did spawn a lot of tornadoes, causing a lot of damage, but one of the best things to come out of the tornado was the meme about the governor sitting next to Joe saying so. Desantis is sitting next to Joe and saying yes, the hurricane blew through the entire state. And the next pane is Joe saying they should have named it Kamala.

Speaker 3 43:37

Oh boy, how funny would that have been, because I think they picked the names all ahead of time, don't they? Well, it's alphabetical, but yeah Right. So if we were to hit onto a K, you know that would have been a pretty good storm.

Speaker 1 43:51

You know, one of the things that I think is kind of interesting about this is Kamala was raving that, oh, she couldn't get in touch with Governor DeSantis.

Speaker 3 44:01

Yeah, he wouldn't pick up the phone.

Speaker 1 44:04

What the hell. And then Joe comes out. I talked to him. He's fine Doing a good job. We're good like joe is low-key. Just like stabbing her in the back, we got black brandon full, full on right now man fuck you yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 3 44:21

he's wearing trump hats, he's, and there was a somebody else brought this up. I didn't watch TV so I wasn't even aware of it, but apparently during when she had an interview that she was doing on TV with somebody, they interrupted the broadcast, for Joe, for the first time in his presidency, actually went speak at the? Uh, the what do you call it, when the reporters are all there?

Speaker 3 44:53

the uh briefing yeah a daily briefing or whatever went to speak, and of course, they preempt all other programs when that happens, and so they they preempted her being on some show, talking, getting interviewed to have Joe say, and Joe, while that was happening, not only preempted her but said oh, she's been there with me making these decisions. You know, she, she, she'd be a great person to lead the country because she was involved in everything I did and knows about all the decisions that were made, and meanwhile she's trying to distance herself as the hope and change candidate that is going to move things in the right direction. Well, okay, you can't have both, though, like either she's been involved in bad decisions for four years now, or she's not been involved and now she wants her chance to actually make better decisions. So joe is definitely sabotaging her right now oh yeah, she, he's, he's taking her down.

Speaker 1 46:03

But again, I think she was meant to be a sacrificial candidate, so that's fine. The the other thing I'd say is what's she know? What's that?

Speaker 3 46:12

Did anybody tell her?

Speaker 1 46:14

Oh no, and I think she's too self-absorbed to really she thinks she's actually going to win, which she might.

Speaker 3 46:21

You never know. A lot of people hate Trump.

Speaker 1 46:25

Yeah, I think she thinks that she's got a chance here, but regardless, the big news that came out on. Did you see, karine, jean-pierre? Did Jean-Pierre drive my car? Whatever her name, is the lesbian Haitian.

Speaker 3 46:54

White.

Speaker 1 46:54

House chick Says that Haitians don't eat cats, but you know she's a lesbian, so there's that.

Speaker 3 47:00

Oh, oh, that's great yeah.

Speaker 1 47:05

Anyway, she, she literally ran off the stage after peter ducey that's always peter ducey. He's the only guy asked the question yeah, well, and he, he's pretty milquetoast dude, but he's compared to like if milquetoast does that to you.

Speaker 3 47:23

That says something right yeah, I mean he's, he's very polite and everything. It's just he seems to be the only guy that ever asks any interesting questions. Everybody else. You see the question that got her to stomp off.

Speaker 1 47:38

Stomp off? No, I didn't. It was about the fema aid and fema being out of money and asking well, why is fema distributing this money to illegals then? Yeah and oh, that's not true. It's not fema money, is this? Well, no, but that money could be used for this. I had to just leave, wow it was hilarious.

Speaker 3 47:59

It was great yeah yeah, I think the the redhead check that used to do it saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get the hell out of there before it collapsed yeah, I.

Speaker 1 48:10

I will say, the best press secretary in a long time was definitely kaylee well of course she was really good.

Speaker 3 48:16

I mean having and really good looking yeah, yeah, reasonably cute lawyer chick doing press is. That was very good because she had all the answers on the tip of her tongue.

Speaker 1 48:28

I mean that was the amazing part Versus Peppermint Patty having to flip through her binders and saying we'll circle back to that.

Speaker 3 48:36

Yeah, let's circle back, circle back, circle back, exactly so, yeah, she was very good, was very good, um, but I think she was having some issues with her daughter, uh, like getting indoctrinated in school with bad ideas and yeah, and so she had to get out, um, but but yeah, I don't know, man, I just the whole press briefing thing is in a lot of ways just a game, because the press knows the answers before they ask them and the uh, the press secretary, their, their job is to provide the it's, it's PR management, it's the official company line on whatever the topic is.

Speaker 3 49:34

So anything that they say is something that should already be known to the individual press people in that room. Like if there's information they actually get there that they didn't know about, then they're not really like their organization isn't doing a very good job, because that's all. I've never heard anything in any press briefing, regardless of its republican or democrat, that I didn't already know before they said it right, and I guess the the the whole point isn't to break news, it's to hear the administration's response to news well, but I think it's the different version of response.

Speaker 3 50:26

It's not a real raw response, it's a pr response. It's sort of like a potato. Something happened, what you know. There's a disaster happening, yes, and the white house is, uh, supporting efforts to make sure that people are taken care of, like that. That is a throwaway thing. It means nothing. It's just saying, yes, we're good, had us on the back, we're doing what we can. We're not going to give you any details, we're not going to tell you what we're doing or what we're not doing. Reality may be totally different and, in fact, people there are bitching about how nobody's helping and the government's not there. But the official party line is we're doing everything we can and we'll take care of things. What? Who is that for? Like? What benefit is there from providing that kind of answer?

Speaker 3 51:13

none, um I mean, there are idiots out there that buy into it yeah, but like the media can write that without even having the white house say it, because well, right now they're still in the.

Speaker 1 51:30

We have to make it look legitimate. We have to legitimize this. Eventually they will get to the point where. Why are we bothering to legitimize these david people?

Speaker 3 51:40

yeah, yeah and did you see the uh there? I think there was a couple of different clips and there are quotes popping up this week about people on what I would describe as the left, but they, I think, kind of generally presented as centrist, saying that the biggest concern in the United States right now is misinformation, aka freedom of speech. And right. We really have to start cranking down on it, because we can't control the population if they all think different things well, watermelon head carrie was saying uh he was blatantly yeah that you know, if we win this election, we can change the first amendment.

Speaker 1 52:30

Yeah, literally words out of his mouth.

Speaker 3 52:32

Yeah, uh, the fuck, you can the first amendment is an impediment to them being able to do what they want even more than they're already doing yes, and.

Freedom of Speech and Political Concerns

Speaker 1 52:42

But here's the thing and here's what you have to realize. Even if you win the election and you think you can force through a constitutional amendment to change that which I don't think you'd be able to ratify it but let's assume for a second you could I just cannot fathom anyone accepting a actual change. Now, if they mean subversively, we're going to change it in that, you know, we're going to make it so that people don't even realize they don't have their First Amendment rights anymore. Maybe you know, but he seemed to think they could overtly do this, and that, to me, is so delusional and to like this is how you start a war, dude.

Speaker 3 53:36

I think what. What he means is more of the latter than the former, uh, which is, I think they want to interpret freedom of speech as having a cutout for misinformation, like you're free to say anything you want, except for the things that we think are wrong.

Speaker 1 53:56

Yeah, no, and here's the problem with that. The entire point of freedom of speech is for speech you don't like that. You think is dangerous.

Speaker 3 54:05

Yeah, yeah, and and there, um, it's funny because when I was young, historically it was the left that was always hiding behind the shield of freedom of speech and calling for communistic ideas and saying but we have the right to say this. This is fully protected. Us talking and trying to get people to be involved in socialistic things is a protected activity. Well, apparently they've achieved enough of their goals to now where they feel now they can close the door behind them, now that they've walked through it. That's generally how it works, is the uh it's probably not only socialists that this is true with, but it certainly is for socialists is to utilize all the the laws that exist prior to socialism in order to get socialism ingrained into the system. And once you're metaphorically through that door, you shut the door behind you so nobody else can do that. It's the old animal farm kind of approach yeah, some animals are more equal than others.

Speaker 3 55:33

Yeah, yeah and if only more people recognize that, then there'd be less trouble in the world and fewer people would be in prison for felonies right yeah, uh-huh oh man yeah, it's oh man yeah.

Speaker 1 55:48

But, again go ahead.

Speaker 3 55:51

I was just going to say that for people like Kerry, a lifelong career politician, and Heinz Ketchup magnate, I think that they're finally at a point where they don't even fear saying things like that, and that's scary.

Speaker 1 56:15

It is scary that there is a entire group that thinks that they can state that out loud and that it will be accepted and okay, yes, yeah, and hopefully this election will demonstrate to them just how wrong they are.

Speaker 3 56:32

But I'm more pessimistic of the two of us. I'm still very concerned about the possibility that they're going to do what they of the voters coming out of polling places showing for after-vote polling that Trump has got a 30% lead and then overnight, magically cases and cases of absentee ballots show up that are 100% for the other side.

Speaker 1 57:08

Well, I just will remind people of the four boxes of liberty. You know, the four boxes to be used in defense of liberty the soapbox, which is what we're on right now, the ballot box, the jury box and, lastly, the cartridge box. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 57:27

Yep Well and I'm sure you saw just like I did uh from one of the places we buy ammo from. That they said that uh, ammo orders are up 400 oh yeah, sgmo, they're pretty transparent about that yeah, I love that they're publishing that kind of info.

Speaker 1 57:47

That's, that's great well, and he I mean he, he, he will flat out tell you what he's making on a box of ammo and it ain't much um, yeah, I, I really like sgmo, like it's a family-run business, it's, it's good stuff. I, I like it. Um, so anyone who's looking for bulk ammunition in the us, um, I will say that SGMO sometimes doesn't have the best prices, but they're always pretty damn competitive and they're one of the ones I look at and free shipping time on almost everything.

Speaker 3 58:20

Yes, yeah, yeah, I bought a lot of different stuff there and I bought all my uh IWI stuff there.

Speaker 1 58:27

Yeah, and you know they have a lot of different ammo and then sometimes they'll have surplus mags and reloading stuff as well and a couple other things. But it's an interesting company and I certainly have patronized them plenty over the years. They're out of Oklahoma Stillwater.

Speaker 3 58:48

Oh, I didn't know that, so they're not even that far.

Speaker 1 58:51

Yeah, exactly, Stillwater.

Speaker 3 58:53

Oklahoma. For some reason I thought they were in Wyoming. Nope, they are in Oakley Houma. Apparently, there's a big, ginormous fire brewing through Wyoming right now and it's totally not being reported on.

Speaker 1 59:08

I know that there were quite a few fires in colorado earlier this year that affected some of my employees, but no, I watched and I had. I had two employees had to get evacuated from the hurricane, but oh really yeah, they're all right, though, so that's a good thing yeah, like evacuated by car yeah, they were able to get out.

Speaker 1 59:31

Well, one of them was actually in uh, a state working on a uh. Uh, I'll tell you about the contract later. But yeah, and it's like, well, you know, why don't you just extend your stay over the weekend and you work there and, you know, do what you need to do, and then we can uh get you back and you can take a different set of days off?

Speaker 3 59:57

uh, apparently 14 of wyoming has been burned, though well, I mean, that's not saying much 14, it's a pretty big number.

Speaker 1 1:00:09

I mean, there's nothing in Wyoming dude there's cattle in Wyoming what are you talking about? There's not even that many cattle in Wyoming. Dude, wyoming is the outside of Jackson Hole, like if you go to Casper or even Cheyenne.

Speaker 3 1:00:26

Big Horn National Forest. Apparently that's burning okay, the vast majority of Wyoming, cheyenne or any of that Big Horn National Forest apparently that's burning.

Speaker 1 1:00:31

Okay, the vast majority of Wyoming is.

Speaker 3 1:00:34

Yeah, don't make animals die in a fire. That big dude.

Speaker 1 1:00:39

Come on, okay, I don't care.

Country Living and Gun Control Trends

Speaker 3 1:00:42

Nah, I will say that Did you watch Grand Tour, or a year when it was, when it was, oh yeah, yeah, well, okay, I have seen all of top gear I've seen, uh, grand tour. Last episode I saw was maybe six months ago, seven months ago did you watch their finale, which is the last of it? Like they're done no, I think I haven't seen the last episode though okay, you should watch that.

Speaker 1 1:01:18

The way it ended, dude, was a tear. It wasn't quite a tearjerker because I'm not that emotional of a guy, but it was like oh yeah, I sent you an article. Apparently, they've been since seen together and maybe doing something else. I don't know why I think those yeah they're friends as much as anything else, yeah, but you know, I think they play it up, but I think they want it done with Amazon, so we'll see. I think that's why it ended the way it did, but we'll see.

Speaker 3 1:01:48

Interesting.

Speaker 1 1:01:50

Yeah, I'll watch the last episode, although Jeremy Clarkson still has Clarkson's Farm, which is a fantastic show even if you're not into cars.

Speaker 3 1:01:56

It is so good.

Speaker 1 1:01:58

It's hilarious.

Speaker 3 1:02:00

You mean not into farm equipment.

Speaker 1 1:02:03

Well, I mean, a lot of people watch it because of him and yeah, yeah, cars. But I I've introduced people, you know, friends and family that don't know who he is at all. Yeah, I have no clue. And they're like, why would I watch that show? And I'm just like, just watch it. And then they watch it, they think it's hilarious and get into it. Well, it's also very sad, uh, that the uk it's got some bad as it is yeah, but I think the show started off at like the concept started.

Speaker 3 1:02:31

Like here's a guy that knows nothing about farming who bought a farm and let's see what happens. This should be funny.

Speaker 1 1:02:38

Watch the bumbling idiot.

Speaker 3 1:02:39

And it very quickly turns to holy shit does. The city council where he lives sucks and it's basically an anti-government show at this point yes, grow farmer is not a bad anti-government in a big way, yes and he's received a bunch of awards from like farming industries now for bringing you know farming to more people and stuff like that. Uh, I I think his legacy, ironically, may well be more connected to farming than cars I wouldn't surprise me yeah, and caleb turned out to be such a gem.

Speaker 3 1:03:23

Yes, indeed, you know what? What are the odds that a guy that's been working your farm already in the last couple years, anyway for a third party, has the most? I don't know. He's like perfect character for video, he's got the attitude, and he's a guy that's only been to the big city like once before and he didn't like it. Uh, it's. It's like if you were writing a character, you would write something like him and go. Yeah, people aren't gonna believe that. I think we can get away with it.

Speaker 1 1:04:02

No, no, of course not. No, that's we're putting. We better split that into a couple of characters, because there's no way, people course not no, that's we're putting.

Speaker 3 1:04:07

We better split that into a couple of characters, because there's no way people would believe that there's all those traits in one person. Yeah and uh. And in his 20s. In a lot of ways he kind of appears like he's the older guy between him and jeremy. Yeah in a way in attitude, not in physical condition obviously I gotta hang out with you.

Speaker 1 1:04:36

I got what you meant, yeah he's the grumbly old-timer, you know.

Speaker 3 1:04:39

It's like oh, that's not how you do this. Here's what you get off my lawn yeah, um, and jeremy is the, the wacky, crazy, like youngster saying oh, we just need to try more things on the farm, grandpa, then it'll be better. So yeah. Yeah, I like it. I think it's a great show, highly recommend. Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:05:06

So, anyway, it's a good show and I I think there are some sad parts, but it's definitely a show that if you've got a wife or, uh, even kids, it is.

Speaker 3 1:05:17

It's a fun show to watch with them because there's a lot, there's plenty of stuff to keep everybody interested and there's way more animal sex in that show than you would ever see on american television, like clearly the bbc standards for showing animals getting at it are vastly different than what's in the us, you know I never really noticed that gene because I guess I'm not paying that much attention to that, and your obsession with furries lately, uh, should we be?

Speaker 3 1:05:51

worried. No, it's crazy, it's. It's like in the us. I don't think I've seen any shows at all that have like a bull inseminating a cow ever I've never seen that on television.

Speaker 1 1:06:07

Okay, I I think you're wrong, but okay I've never seen it on tv, man.

Speaker 3 1:06:11

Um, maybe on youtube, not on tv. This is a major production on amazon and they've got all kinds of stuff as as jeremy standing there watching it and talking about it as the bull's going at it.

Speaker 1 1:06:26

It's like okay, um, first of all it's, and you said bbc, but it's not, it's an amazon production yeah, okay, fair enough.

Speaker 3 1:06:34

Fair enough, it's a us company, um, but I don't know, man, I mean I guess it's. I just maybe people don't ask for shots like that when they're doing documentaries in the us. They're just like, yeah, let's not show animals, fucking. Yeah, I don't know it jumped out at me as being unusual you got to look at this deal real quick before.

Speaker 1 1:06:57

What's a Beretta? It's a nice Beretta APX-9 for $299.

Speaker 3 1:07:15

Wow, where's that? I sent you the link.

Speaker 1 1:07:19

It is a unissued, unused LEO trade-in for you know, quite a Now anyway nice now yeah, Anyway, nice guy Interesting.

Speaker 3 1:07:35

Um, hmm, yes, have you noticed all the gun sites now asking if you're over 18? Yes, what's up with that?

Speaker 1 1:07:45

Uh, again, some laws passed. They had, they had. It will not be long before you will not be and this is part of my issue with the way that porn sites are being handled because eventually, well, you have to be 18 to be able to look at a gun online. So when are you going to start requiring proof? Okay?

Speaker 3 1:08:11

yeah, yeah, upload your driver's license if you want to look at a again.

Speaker 3 1:08:15

Yeah I, I, it is coming people yeah, and there have to be lines in the sand and I think that gun broker, which was a site that literally started off when amazon banned gun sales, because he used to be guns on amazon way back when. But when they blocked that, the um gun broker popped up and it grew and it got to be the behemoth that is right now, but consistently every year the process of selling a gun through that site became more kind of more and more of a pain in the ass.

Speaker 3 1:08:54

Yeah, and to the point where I think now you have to have an ffl if you, if you want to list a gun on there like it's just an ffl site at this point you don't.

Speaker 1 1:09:07

You don't have to have an ffl, but you have to ship from and to an f.

Speaker 3 1:09:12

Yeah, you've always had lately, but but it I think it's beyond that.

Speaker 1 1:09:17

Well, no, so you've always had to ship to an ffl if you're shipping it, but not necessarily from and you can't ship direct, really and you used to be able to do if you're in the same state and things like that and depending on laws, in-state pickups and things, and post ads where maybe an FFL transfer wasn't necessary. But that is all gone.

Speaker 3 1:09:46

Yeah, well, the last batch that I sold through there was years ago and uh I I've literally only ever sold two guns in my entire life, and that's it.

Speaker 1 1:10:02

I thought you hadn't sold any. I sold two, and you know about the two that I sold and why.

Speaker 3 1:10:08

But oh, okay. The 6.8s to get out of the you didn't want to keep that caliber, so I sold those.

Speaker 1 1:10:15

That's right, and then I bought the Tavor.

Speaker 3 1:10:18

So yeah, so you had sold none when we first talked about it and then you sold the 6.8s after.

Shotgun Discussion and Price Clarification

Speaker 1 1:10:23

Okay, yeah, that's what I thought I sold two 6.8s is what I sold, two AR-15 6.8s because the cartridges I've got enough expensive cartridges as is and I'd rather have for the same price per round or cheaper, I'll do 3.08. So yeah, you have to remember when I built those ARs that was back ar10s were 2500 plus period and so, okay, I don't want to pay 2500 for a crappy ar10, let me do a ar15 in a different caliber. 6.8 was fairly new and quite the rage at the time, so I chose the 6.8 caliber, which I still like, that cartridge. I think it's a good cartridge, but it didn't catch on, not popular and, as a result, expensive and hard to find ammo I'm out Speaking of. I sent you a shotgun and you responded with something very offensive. Whatever, I prefer the Benelli inertia drive.

Speaker 3 1:11:34

I do. I sold my Benelli. It was always with the expectation of upgrading, not just selling it, and I still haven't gotten a replacement Benelli for it. What?

Speaker 1 1:11:44

else is the Beretta that I was looking at and, for those who don't know, I'm looking at a Beretta A400, which is a hunting shotgun, and I'm wanting a new semi-automatic shotgun and the Beretta actually can cycle more loads than the Benelli can.

Speaker 3 1:12:07

Benelli is just fine. It's not the cycling loads I care about, it's the uh, not having a gas operated shotgun. Okay, and I have two other semi-automatic shotguns that I own right now and a pump, but I still want to get my Benelli replaced.

Speaker 1 1:12:36

Well, I'm looking for a new hunting shotgun, so that's what I'm looking at the Beretta.

Speaker 3 1:12:43

And Beretta does have some good guns. I mean, don't get me wrong, they're in the same class of guns, they just have different mechanisms for cycling.

Speaker 1 1:12:53

Yeah, and if you can go find me a Super Black Eagle 3 or newer in the same price point, let me know I'll buy one.

Speaker 3 1:13:03

Well, that price point is the issue. But also like that shotgun that Beretta is. That's their entry-level shotgun.

Speaker 1 1:13:12

They have much nicer shotguns no, that is not their entry-level shotgun, totally is. And this is where gene talks out of his ass um, not at all, dude. Not at at all. The A400 is not an entry-level shotgun. It may be an entry-level semi-auto for them, but it is not an entry-level shotgun.

Speaker 3 1:13:37

The A400 is not. You were looking at the A300.

Speaker 1 1:13:41

Nope, the link I sent you is to the A400 Extreme Plus.

Speaker 3 1:13:47

That's $2,000. Yeah, and right now it's on sale, after a rebate, for 1100. Yeah, okay, that's not right. Something's wrong there, because that gun is a two thousand dollar gun. Let me click on the link, see what. Uh, this is exactly what I'm trying to tell you, dude. They're screwing up here. Okay, so it's fourteen hundred dollars well, and then there's a rebate and beretta has a two hundred dollar rebate. Okay, all right. Uh, yeah, yes, no, it's a twenty two hundred dollar, msrp gun exactly okay.

Shotgun Preferences and Bird Hunting

Speaker 3 1:14:22

No, you're absolutely right, because that's thank you is the eight, four hundred, that is not I thought this was looking at the price. I thought that was a three the price. I thought those 8300, and I'm like eh, 8300, you save up a little more, get the 8400. Yeah, 1400 bucks for an 8400 is a fucking. With a 200 rebate, that's even without the rabbit, rabbit, even without the rabbit, that's a hell of a deal. Thank you, no, no, that's okay. Well, you gotta. You gotta, speak louder than or something it's like I didn't.

Speaker 3 1:14:55

I didn't realize it was the 400 no, you're totally right on that, yeah okay. Yeah, see, I'm perfectly willing to admit when I'm wrong. I'm not one of those people that, like, even when they're wrong, can't can't admit the fact that they're wrong well, and you know this.

Speaker 1 1:15:11

This is the uh. This is the three inch magnum version versus it's not three and a half.

Speaker 1 1:15:18

But you know what? I don't know that I, I don't know that I want a three and a half. I really don't, because a the shells are hard to find. Still, they're expensive. The only good thing I've heard about the three and a half is that because you have more chamber clearance. When you're shooting a three inch shell, it's you're gonna eject everything, no matter what, right, yeah, um, but that's, that's fine either, neither here nor there. So I don't know, man, I, I was, I'm looking at it, I'm very tempted. I, I miss duck hunting and, uh, I want to get back into it and I think I've never done that shotgun I would be up for doing.

Speaker 3 1:16:03

I've never hunted ducks at all. Um, oh my gosh, I'd be up for doing it because I was last night, literally I watched a video. No, no, I uh, but not too far from that. Um, I went to a youtube channel of a buddy of mine up in in dallas or well, he's not even buddies somebody I I used to know and play video games with, but never stayed in touch, and on his video cam channel.

Speaker 3 1:16:37

he's got videos of himself going out duck hunting and I'm like this looks like fun. I need to reconnect with this dude, maybe get an invite. It's funny. He's like a fat bearded chiropractor up in dallas and uh did a lot of video game videos and stuff. I interviewed him for one of my uh podcasts like five years ago and, um, uh, like he just got a very fun personality that fits well with making video game videos. Um, but I, you know, I think he I knew this, I believe, but I, watching the video of him going duck hunting was actually pretty cool.

Speaker 1 1:17:24

I, I, I like duck hunting. It's it's a challenge, it's fun. I like duck hunting. It's a challenge, it's fun. To me, I prefer bird hunting over deer hunting. To be honest with you, and what we ought to do is get you and me and my dad and his buddy Sid, hooked up and what we, what you ought to do, is say, hey, I've heard, I've heard Ben talking about going hunting with Sid. I need to let me know next time he's going, cause I sure would like to go. And I'll tell you this much If you go on like they go to North Texas and do a sandhill crane hunt and stuff like that, I think you would absolutely love that.

Speaker 3 1:18:14

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:18:15

Because the sandhill crane is the ribeye of the sky, my friend.

Speaker 3 1:18:18

Really.

Speaker 1 1:18:18

Amazing. Yes. And it is a lot of fun. It's a pretty easy hunt. Now you start getting into teal wood ducks or mallards, uh down on the coast and stuff like that. You know, uh, it depends on where you're at and how many decoys you got and what you're doing, how well you're calling them in, um, you know, it's just very, very different uh hunts in a lot of ways, and you got to have a great shotgun. You got to be able to lead, I hope you know how to lead.

Speaker 3 1:18:50

Yeah, yeah, I did okay with Trap and Sporting Clays and stuff Not the same. I was when I was living in Minnesota. I was a member of the Horse and Hunt Club up there. Horse and Hump You're humping horses, what horse and hunt?

Speaker 1 1:19:13

you got bestiality on the brain, my friend uh okay, says the guy who is all obsessed about the furries and stuff yeah, well, you keep bringing him up.

Speaker 3 1:19:23

So the horse and hunt club was a large private reserve where they raised waterfall and then, um, you could go and shoot waterfall there, uh, and I I did my uh firearms classes out there, um, cause as a member, it was uh super cheap for me to do it on their range and I shot a lot of clay there. But I never shot any birds Because I do kind of feel like, you know, having like shooting birds that were raised at the site just feels kind of cheaty. It's cheating, yeah. However, they had a restaurant on site and I often ate birds.

Speaker 1 1:20:16

Very tasty.

Speaker 3 1:20:17

Yeah, Because they're. They're fresh and the way that they're they did it too is, if you actually shoot birds there, you just give them the birds that you shot and they will give you uh, yeah, yeah, exactly so and and like you can literally have them, cook it and eat it.

Speaker 1 1:20:41

You know, within a half an hour and duck and sausage gumbo is one of my favorite things, and it's. If anyone's had chicken and sausage gumbo, it's just not the same because the duck is just such a richer meat.

Speaker 3 1:20:54

It's a lot fattier, yeah, yeah and that's actually one of my sausage um, I don't think I may have, but I've had duck uh in the past.

Speaker 1 1:21:05

Uh, quite a bit my issue never had duck sausage, yeah, yeah, I don, you've never had duck sausage, yeah.

Speaker 3 1:21:09

Yeah, I don't think I've had duck sausage.

Speaker 1 1:21:12

Why don't you duck down and get?

Speaker 3 1:21:15

you some. Sorry, that was an old joke that I didn't even think you would fall for, but I got you. Oh my god, do it again. I haven't eaten duck sausage. I don't think I've seen that at the store or what the hell. But I will say my ex-wife absolutely loved duck and she would order it anytime it was available. I was a lot more selective. I'll occasionally order duck, but generally it's a little too fatty of a meat for me well, and.

Speaker 1 1:21:51

But that's the difference between domestic versus wild. Yeah, uh, so wild duck is not. I mean, it's got fat and it's a richer meat, but it's not fatty um, how about goose versus duck? Uh, you have a preference I have never I I've eaten yeah, I've never really eaten a whole lot of goose.

Speaker 3 1:22:18

Um, I'm sorry have you eaten any goose?

Speaker 1 1:22:23

yes, but not a lot. I've eaten wild turkey versus domestic turkey. I've eaten dove. I've eaten pheasant, I've eaten quail. There's nothing to eat there, oh yes, there is, oh my God. You pop the little breast off, you put it with some cream cheese and jalapeno and you wrap it and bake it cream cheese and the jalapeno, and you wrap it and bake it and throw it on the grill and it's delicious yeah, well, as long as somebody else is doing it, I'll eat it, but there's just not much there per bird yeah, yeah, dove same way, but dove's delicious too.

Speaker 1 1:23:00

Uh, just, I've never like when we lived in the can Canadian geese were, just it wasn't sport to shoot them, so I never really shot them, and down here they're rare enough. I didn't hunt them down here and I've had goose.

Speaker 3 1:23:17

I've had different types of crane. They fly over here during the migration don't they?

Shotgun Preferences and Brand Comparison

Speaker 1 1:23:20

Yeah, some Not as much, but anyway I've had goose, but just not very often, so I don't know how to compare it.

Speaker 3 1:23:32

Yeah, had goose, but just not very often, so I don't know how to compare it. Yeah, well, the the big difference, um, not in flavor, but you know in two birds, is that? Uh, guys are vegetarian and ducks are omnivores, so they're made of different material I mean all birds are somewhat insectivorous.

Speaker 1 1:23:49

So yeah, but ducks will eat fish and stuff some ducks. Primarily fish.

Speaker 3 1:23:54

Yes, yeah, so it's a it's a similar looking bird but um raised on different stuff.

Speaker 1 1:24:05

Yeah these are also mean as hell I've only had swan once um have you ever had a goose peck the?

Speaker 3 1:24:11

shit out of you. You know, people say that I've always been super friendly with geese. I've always fed them bread right from the hand. Uh, and in minnesota, on lakes like they're full of geese, you got so much goose, goose shit in the parking lots. It's crazy, but I've, I've always been, uh, I don't know. I I've never had any issues with geese trying to bite me. I've, I've fed them plenty of times.

Speaker 1 1:24:38

I've never gotten bit we had this one neighbor that had uh geese and they were his guard geese. And when I, when I was a kid and man, those geese would come after me and just uh, I had to be ready for them. They'd tear me up.

Speaker 3 1:24:59

Well you should have fed them. They would have been friendly. Okay, I'm just saying you know it's the easiest way to get stuff tonight, bite you just feed it anyway, I think I'm very tempted to pull the trigger on that, beretta pull the trigger.

Speaker 3 1:25:16

I get it. Yeah, I'm. I think that's a great gun. Dude I, it was my mistake. I thought it was the 300. It's the 400. That is a very good gun for sure, although I'm still going to hold out and get my Benelli Ethos at some point when I can afford it ah see, I wouldn't even want the ethos or anything else I'd do.

Speaker 1 1:25:38

I would go with the super black eagle and that'd be fine by me. Well, but I, I want. I want a working gun. That's the difference between you and I is I'm very utilitarian about guns like this. It's not about it being pretty. It's not about anything. It's about can it hold up to me beating the shit out of it in uh, a swamp buggy and then?

Speaker 3 1:26:01

well, I had a cordoba that's the one that I sold, and so I wouldn't want to downgrade to a super black Eagle or anything.

Speaker 1 1:26:11

I don't. Okay, if you want a nice, very pretty, polished gun, sure, but from a function standpoint, from a hunting standpoint, sitting in a duck blind, that's brackish water and everything else, um, why do you want to take that nice of a gun out there?

Speaker 3 1:26:33

oh, I wouldn't no, I'm not saying I want that gun for duck hunting, I just want, want that gun for traps again okay, well, you do, you, I, I, I, I want a functional gun I've got a winchester semi-automatic that would be perfectly capable of duck hunting.

Speaker 1 1:26:55

You say that you say that, um, the winchester actions, the only two actions that seem to be worth a damn, that will actually hold up and cycle, uh, reliably, in the conditions that you end up hunting in for waterfowl, is the vanelli and the beretta really yep what's what?

Speaker 3 1:27:19

what happens to the other ones?

Speaker 1 1:27:22

they fail. Why talk to my dad's buddy sid? All I can tell you is he hunts a shit ton with a shit ton of different people. Yeah, and you know some people. You know live. You know like to hunt. Sid hunts to live. He is that just innate in him. And anyway he he goes around the country, does a lot with a lot of people and he will tell you that the only two shotguns right now worth buying are the beretta and the benelli oh, I yeah, I mean, I think that's a good generic statement in general anyway, no, no, no, I think he's talking about actions and what he's seen recently, including some of the.

Speaker 1 1:28:09

you know, beretta has some of the cheaper models that they've started making. I forget what they're called, but they have a cheaper model. That's Jesus starts with an F but starts with an. F. But anyway, they've had a lot of problems with them, even though they're basically a Beretta 300 knockoff on the action and everything Doesn't really matter yeah. Well, let's go matter. Yeah Well, let's go hunting.

Speaker 3 1:28:51

Yeah, I'm looking on their website. Well, the Benelli one anyway. I think gun prices are up, dude I don't remember Super Black Eagles being over three grand Jesus.

Speaker 1 1:29:04

Christ, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, 2,500.

Speaker 3 1:29:06

That's insane. Yeah, yeah, stickers 3,600. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, $2,500. That's insane. Yeah, yeah, stickers $3,600. Yeah, foul gun Yep. That is nuts. Yeah, they were for sure under $2,000 back when I got mine. I think I paid like $2,600 for it.

Speaker 1 1:29:24

Hell, you can't even hardly get a Benelli Nova for that now.

Speaker 3 1:29:27

Yeah, that's insane. Which is their?

Speaker 1 1:29:29

pump shotgun for those who don't know.

Speaker 3 1:29:31

Mm-hmm. Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. So this is the one that I was looking at is $3,900 now, jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 1:29:41

Yeah, it'll be a while before I get that, which is why I'm looking at the Beretta that's on sale.

Speaker 3 1:29:59

Yeah, that's a great price for bruta, given the uh.

Speaker 1 1:30:01

Yeah, that that is a very good price yeah yeah, I just I do like the, given the choice. I am not a big semi-auto guy never have been and I'm working on it so I love my 870. Uh, that is my go-to pump shotgun 870 wingmaster but. I also have mossberg 500, you know I've always been a winchester fan.

Speaker 3 1:30:33

My my main uh defense gun in the house is a winchester pump so see, I have an 870 police as well that 870.

Speaker 1 1:30:47

Police has you know extended tube and an 18 and a half or whatever. It is barrel on it. Yeah, third barrel long tube.

Speaker 3 1:30:55

Yep, yeah, the. The thing that I didn't like about the remington's is the weight. It's a very heavy gun. Uh, that's. The mossbergely is a very light gun, but the Mossberg has issues with rapid feeding. The Winchester was a very quick gun and it's about midway in weight between the two.

Speaker 1 1:31:19

Yeah, so the reason why I like the 870 so much is because I grew up with it hunting and I just like the feel and the swing of the 870 a lot the Remington. Especially the older models.

Speaker 3 1:31:35

Yeah, okay, the Remington, the Mossberger is basically like Chevy and Ford. Yeah. You're always going to have somebody prefer one over the other, but there's probably a fairly even number of people that prefer each um. So, and I was driving, clearly, the the ram, I was driving the winchester, so I was like, yeah, you guys are nuts.

Speaker 1 1:32:03

This is much better and, ironically, I actually do prefer the the ram truck as well over the other two brands as well yeah, maybe not ironically, I don't know every time I see a dodge on the road, I it's always got somebody stupid driving it, doing something stupid, and I just think to myself fucking dodge drivers.

Speaker 3 1:32:26

But you know, hey there is no, is no Dodge anymore. Right, it's just Ram brand.

Speaker 1 1:32:32

Yeah, I know Well actually what is it the Fiat?

Speaker 3 1:32:38

Yeah, fiat bottom, but the cars, I think, are still like the Dodge Charger, I think that's still a thing, but the truck division is just called Ram yeah, and it's a standalone company, isn't it?

Speaker 1 1:32:54

well, it's still part of fiat. Uh, I thought it was a standalone company. I thought I mean it's a division, whatever. No, no, it's, it's all part of fiat okay, yeah, I mean yeah, because which I like for their reliability it's a good brand.

Speaker 3 1:33:12

I like them. Uh, no, they're. They're. Obviously you're being sarcastic because they're not known for the reliability. Um, but I think they did a very smart thing, which is you remember who owned, uh chrysler before that right, uh mercedes?

Speaker 3 1:33:33

enlightened me okay yeah, so mercedes owned them for about a decade and they put a lot of the design engineering into the uh trucks as well as the cars. Um, but the problem with mercedes is that their tendency was to start tweaking the Dodge products to the point where they were basically just lower end versions of the Mercedes products. My grand Cherokee that I have, which is, uh, at this point, 10 years old, um, it shares quite a few components with the Mercedes M sport, you, and, and why?

Speaker 1 1:34:25

would that be a good thing?

Speaker 3 1:34:27

Seems like a high insurance rate and right Right, it's a good thing because it's a well-designed vehicle on the inside, like not a whole lot of stuff breaks it's. It's the opposite of what you think of a fiat, and when fiat bought them, they, they did not change the interior, that you know, the underpinnings of the vehicles. What they did is they they put a fresh coat of paint on it and they redid the interior in nicer leather. They made it look a lot more nice, which they, I think, do a very good job with. Italians are definitely preferable over the germans when it comes to interior design. Um, so I really like that.

Speaker 1 1:35:14

I like having yes, just not a, you know, mechanical reliability exactly exactly so.

Speaker 3 1:35:19

Having germans make the body and the engine and having the italians make the uh, the soft touchy bits is a good combination. Now in the last decade I think fiats uh had a lot more tweaks and changes and impact that they've done to the engine and the body now. So I don't know if the current generation is quite as problem-free. But you know, I've had mine for a decade. I've had like two recalls that they've done.

Speaker 1 1:35:52

Yeah, but a decade, and how many miles.

Speaker 3 1:35:56

Oh, it's low mileage for sure. I mean, I I don't drive it a whole lot and it was originally a second car, so it it sat in the garage a lot, but, um, I think the worst thing that I had happen on it is the adhesive that was holding the leather on top of the dash melted and so that I don't even know what you call that. What do you call that area of the car that's like on top of the uh dash, the dashboard, like above the dashboard, what do you call it? The?

Speaker 3 1:36:44

headliner I mean not, no, not the head above the dashboard should be the windshield like what's between the windshield and the radio knobs.

Speaker 1 1:36:53

The dashboard.

Speaker 3 1:36:54

It's that flat area. Is that the dashboard?

Speaker 1 1:36:57

The dashboard.

Speaker 3 1:36:58

Okay, okay, so the dashboard is where the glue came off, so that's clearly shoddy engineering. I don't know dude Dashboard. It's not something I use in regular language. I always thought dashboard was the actual thing. You look at, what is that called the dash? Yeah, this is the dash itself.

Speaker 1 1:37:21

Yes, the dashboard, the dashboard hold on the dashboard is the entire front panel there. What you're talking about, where the instrumentation is, is dashboard as well, and it's where the term you know when we think of dashboards and cybersecurity or anything else, that's where that comes from is a series of gauges to give you a heads up information, but the entire thing all the way across. The top of that is called the dashboard.

Speaker 3 1:37:48

Because it was literally a board at one point in time, I'm sorry yeah. So it's the thing above the glove box that stretches from the passenger to the driver. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so that part, like the gluke, popped off, which was crazy. But really, in a decade, no real issues with the car. Okay, it's been a very good performer, knock on wood, but it is a diesel, to be fair, and the diesels tend to run a lot longer.

Speaker 1 1:38:20

Okay, so, speaking of cars, every few months we ask if ben's got a new car yet I don't, I need to I I'm gonna have to at some point, but no, I don't, and I I just don't dude, I do not want the payment. I hear you call me crazy. I like paid off vehicles yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 1:38:46

Well, you could just buy it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you're not like knowing you, you're not going to be buying a hundred thousand dollar f-150 no no, no, no, you know, that makes it a little more realistic. Would you even be looking for a brand new one, or would you get like a couple year old?

Speaker 1 1:39:06

no, I'd get a few years old, yeah, just because of some of the shit that's been added to them.

Casita Travel Trailer Features and Design

Speaker 3 1:39:14

So we'll say it's interesting in the rv space, um, which I still kind of occasionally look at. For a while there I was seriously thinking about like I need to downsize my house and just like travel the country in an r for a year.

Speaker 2 1:39:32

And I still kind of would like to, yeah, I would.

Speaker 3 1:39:36

I would like to do that because, honestly, anything I do is done, ramona, anyway, so it really makes no difference where I'm sitting. Um, but apparently the quality of RV manufacturing went down drastically in the last 10 years, and so RVs that are just over 10 years old are selling for more than RVs that are a year or two old.

Speaker 1 1:40:10

And you look like the casitas or anything, the what, the casitasitas, I don't know what that is what. The casita is a it's. They're made right to outside of dfw and they're a fiberglass shell trailer and so literally it's two pieces. So the there is no roof joints or anything. The top just marries to the bottom. It's. It's essentially like an airstream out of fiberglass huh, no, I've never seen this so they're super light trailer, something you could tow with your uh little sport ute pretty easy.

Speaker 1 1:40:53

And they have them in a whole bunch of different sizes.

Speaker 3 1:40:56

How do you?

Speaker 1 1:40:57

spell that Casita Like Casita Right. C-a yes, casita Travel Trailers C-A-S-I-T-A Casita- Okay. And they have a whole bunch of different sizes and everything else. Okay.

Speaker 3 1:41:19

Yeah, I was looking for actual RVs, but yeah.

Speaker 1 1:41:23

Well, this is an RV. What do you mean?

Speaker 3 1:41:26

I mean like something you drive, not something that hooks on your car, not a trailer.

Speaker 1 1:41:30

Oh, Okay, I mean, I don't get the point in that.

Speaker 3 1:41:39

But that's me well it's. It's just a mobile house right.

Speaker 1 1:41:42

But if you're so you are you going to tow a little car to with? So you, you're, you're towing something, right. So you got a big rv and you're driving that around. Well, you're not going to drive that to the grocery store. So now you have towing something, right. So you've got a big RV and you're driving that around Well, you're not going to drive that to the grocery store. So now you have to have a little car that you've got in tow behind it, so small RV, but yeah.

Speaker 1 1:42:01

Okay, well, regardless. Anyway, I think this is an interesting option as well. And what?

Speaker 3 1:42:14

what I like about the casitas and their design is there's nothing to leak, is the point, and it's kind of an interesting big, just large piece of plexiglass of fiberglass, sorry.

Speaker 1 1:42:25

anyway, they have them in all different shapes and sizes, like they've got the up to 17 foot, and I like their names Liberty, freedom, heritage, independence.

Speaker 3 1:42:38

Spirit.

Speaker 1 1:42:38

Patriot yes.

Speaker 3 1:42:40

So clearly a company that's not anti-America.

Speaker 1 1:42:44

No, and, like I said, they're made here in Texas, but they're super lightweight so you can tow them with just about anything and they've got some neat features. Yeah, Anyway it's something to look at, man, If you look at their dry weight. So their 17-foot deluxe model dry weight is 2,400 pounds. That's super light. Yeah, that is super, super light.

Speaker 3 1:43:12

The starting price is only $ grand for that yeah, yeah, and, and travel trailers are generally way cheaper than rvs yes, exactly it's, uh, it's a huge difference.

Speaker 3 1:43:27

Rvs, you're looking at about 180 and a travel trailer is like 25 35, although I have seen some of these um, off-road travel trailers that's another idea. Those are really cool um, where they have essentially the same wheels on the trailer as I have with my car and they have, um, uh, a high travel suspension, um, so it's like a I can't remember what style it is or what it's called, but it's. It's not leaf springs or normal springs, it's like this kind of one-armed lever thing, but apparently it makes for a very good ride and you can lower it when you're parked so that you don't have to step up like two feet to get into the thing. Those are pretty cool. But predominantly, I was just looking at the RV, and when I say RV, I'm talking about like a, um, you're talking about a motorhome.

Speaker 1 1:44:38

A motorhome, yeah, a c-class or yeah, the, the which I get, but I also put like trailers like this and stuff like that in that.

Speaker 3 1:44:47

So my bad yeah, well, it's the same kind of deal, but I think it would be fun to do like a year-long see all 50 states kind of trip. I don't think I'd want to live in the thing for the rest of my life by any stretch, but I'm pretty sure I could what? Why not? Uh, I I think that you probably do it as okay. I've watched a number of YouTubers that do this full time and roughly once a month. There seems to be a major failure in expense.

Speaker 1 1:45:25

Yeah.

Speaker 3 1:45:25

And that gets old why would that surprise you?

Speaker 3 1:45:27

Well, that gets old. So you know, if the thing's parked in a RV camp somewhere for six months, a lot less chance of stuff breaking. But that's not fun. Fun is literally. One guy I watched, I mean he was literally doing what I was thinking, which is his. His goal was or his rules, I guess, for himself were that he doesn't spend more than three days in any one city and that he never drives more than 50 miles before he stops. Okay, and the reason for that? You're like, wow, that's really short, but you know he's doing it full-time. And the reason for that for him is he he's not interested in seeing highways, he's interested in seeing the cities, the little towns, the locations along the highways, and so he limits the distance that he travels in any one time to essentially be the same as most people would spend in driving to and from work.

Speaker 1 1:46:37

So about, which is fine. Yeah, it's actually an interesting way to do it yeah, I thought so too.

Speaker 3 1:46:43

I hadn't thought of that until I watched this video, and it's like that does kind of get you to see a lot more of the actual country, not just big city to big city, to big city.

Speaker 1 1:46:54

Well, and the variation between small cities to small city is much greater than the variation between big cities.

Speaker 3 1:47:02

Yeah, totally the case.

Speaker 1 1:47:03

Like, as much as I hate to say it, the difference between Dallas and LA or Dallas and New York is a lot less than you would think. Yeah, certainly Especially since COVID dude, I was in downtown Dallas the other. I talked to you about it. I was in downtown Dallas not that long ago and holy crap has COVID just destroyed downtown Dallas, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 3 1:47:31

It's, um, dallas, downtown Dallas in general, uh, compared to what I was used to in Minneapolis and what I'm used to here in Austin was a dead downtown. It was people during the day and a lot of people walking on the sidewalks during lunchtime, but when it got to like seven, eight, 9. Pm, downtown is dead man. There's just a handful of clubs, um, but not much in downtown.

Truck Size Evolution and Brand Preferences

Speaker 1 1:48:02

Well, there was no, there to be clear, there was really no living downtown. Now, if you were just outside of downtown, there are some mid rises and stuff like that, but downtown there there was mid rises and stuff like that, but downtown there there was no. And Houston same way there is no living downtown. Right, yeah, it's all office buildings.

Speaker 3 1:48:23

Yeah, whereas like Minneapolis, um, and certainly Austin, is the case here that, like when the business day ends, downtown starts to come alive and there's just a lot of places that are open at nine, 10, 11, 12, one 2 AM, just all through the late evening, into the night.

Speaker 1 1:48:52

Uh that was just never the case. I think COVID killed all that.

Speaker 3 1:48:57

Yeah, what little of it there was. It killed I mean Austin's too much back to where it was. Well, I'm saying nationwide.

Speaker 1 1:49:02

I think if you were to go to Minneapolis or even Austin.

Speaker 3 1:49:07

Well no, Austin's totally back. There's no difference right now from pre-COVID, there's just as many places Stuff's open just as late and there's tons of people walking around. Okay. And I just did that recently because I had friends from out of town. So of course we had to do that, but I totally think that it probably totally killed off Dallas, because Dallas didn't have much to do with, or didn't have much to begin with, on terms of downtown. There's just a handful of of bars that were open at night there.

Speaker 1 1:49:45

The good news is, the parking was always easy to find uh, not in downtown Dallas, well at night, it is no, no, no, no. The problem with downtown Dallas Well at night, it is no, no, no, no. The problem with downtown Dallas is, if you've got a vehicle like mine, you're stuck on surface lots because most of the garages like.

Speaker 2 1:50:02

Even my truck is too tall for because they're older garages.

Speaker 3 1:50:09

Yeah, that's a good point. Uh, there was a photos I saw maybe a couple years back, of a 1983 f-150 parked next to a current generation f-150. Yeah, yep, uh, it's a different class of truck. Oh, entirely. Yes, yeah, it's like it's. It's sort of more of what you thought the Ranger was was what the 150 size actually used to be.

Speaker 1 1:50:40

Yeah, I mean, if you look at the size comparison over time, it's pretty astonishing, especially when you look at the bed and everything else.

Speaker 3 1:50:53

Well, that's always been eight feet in the past. Right Now they're actually shorter.

Speaker 1 1:50:57

The beds have grown shorter and shorter, but the cabs have extended and extended.

Speaker 3 1:51:02

Yeah, yeah, it's a very drastic difference in truck sizes and I think comfort level has also gotten to car level with trucks now there's really no difference.

Speaker 1 1:51:18

Yeah, for a large extent yeah.

Speaker 3 1:51:20

It used to be that the ride in the truck was. You always expected it to be really crappy.

Speaker 1 1:51:28

You expected a rougher ride, but you know you still have a rougher ride in a in a lot of ways, because if you have a truck that's capable of towing, then that's going to be a thing, but what I would also say is um, our suspension technology has come a long way. Incidentally, here's an Axios article. That was what? No, I'm sending you something.

Speaker 3 1:52:01

Okay, I was going to say, incidentally, the one truck that I actually really like the look of in the Ford lineup is the Maverick, because the Maverick reminds me of the 80s trucks. Yeah, I don't like that. You don't like the look of it or you don't like something else about it.

Speaker 1 1:52:20

I just don't want a compact truck, I want a full-size truck.

Speaker 3 1:52:26

But as far as the look though, I mean, I don't care how big it is, you could size it up. Oh, it looks fine, sure? I just like that look more than the current generation F-150 look Okay, I think the Maverick is more squared off, it's just more of and again, it's just a visual preference, but I kind of I like that kind of 80s truck look.

Speaker 1 1:52:50

Yeah, so the picture, the article I sent sent you. Look at the second picture. It really is uh telling, because they have the back of the cabs lined up so you can see the change in bed length versus the change in cab length as well.

Speaker 3 1:53:06

Like it's really oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think this is literally the article. I remember seeing that was from from a couple of years back, right, yeah, 2000 or 2023. Yeah, exactly, so you look at that and it's like both of those are F-150s. That's insane.

Speaker 1 1:53:25

Yep From the 70s to the 2020s.

Speaker 3 1:53:29

Uh-huh, and the 80s were not all that different from the 70s trucks, visually Shorter beds. You could always get an eight-footer man, it was not. I'd say probably just a slightly more room behind the driver's seat in the 80s trucks room behind the the driver's seat in the 80s trucks, because in the 80s you could still just get regular cabs but they started introducing the, the backwards opening doors on the cabs as well that was really the 90s, but yes I think it started in the 80s, didn't it?

Speaker 3 1:54:10

um, but it was mostly just storage room, like no one would want to sit back there, even though they have drop down seats. Uh, realistically, it just made it a little easier to put things inside the hat, the cab, like you could go grocery shopping in the truck and not have to use the bed for your groceries that way, where, in the past, like in the truck in that image, the 70s truck your groceries are either on the passenger seat or in the bed yes, and if you have a passenger they're in the bed.

Speaker 3 1:54:45

Yes, so no room at all inside the cab for that and the 90s really started with the Xtend cab.

Speaker 1 1:54:52

in the 2000s Really got you the crew cab and all that, so yeah.

Speaker 3 1:54:58

Yeah, yeah, that's a great photo comparison. Yeah, and it's not like people got bigger, I mean people got fatter.

Speaker 1 1:55:11

Well, horizontally. So.

Speaker 3 1:55:13

But it didn't get bigger. Horizontally, you know the other thing is looking at the top view in that article from the top down, the front used to be totally square, which is what I'm talking about. I kind of like more of that square.

Speaker 3 1:55:28

look to the truck and right now it is very rounded on the front yes, the 70s were boxy yes, yeah, and that's where I think the maverick takes that kind of 70s look and then puts it on a modern, small, small truck, I guess, and I think their best model is actually the hybrid. Oh God, no, because you can run down to the grocery store and get 40 miles to the gallon.

Speaker 1 1:56:10

You say that, but the Ford Lightning, f-150 Lightning and the Maverick they have had such a high return rate. If you are interested in one at all, pick it up used because you can get it pretty damn cheap.

Speaker 3 1:56:23

Yeah, are they super cheap.

Speaker 1 1:56:25

I probably wouldn't get it because it's a Ford. They are not very well thought of at all.

Speaker 3 1:56:29

I like the look of it. That's all I'm saying, is visually, I like the look of it. I also like the new Broncos look.

Speaker 1 1:56:36

Oh yeah, I like the Broncos, those are probably the two Ford.

Speaker 3 1:56:40

Visually that I like the most.

Speaker 1 1:56:42

Yeah, and if I wasn't going in? I'm talking the full-size Bronco, not the Sport. Yeah, If I were to get something other than a pickup, I think it would have to be the Bronco. But the Bronco has the towing capacity. You know you can get a big engine in it like that.

Speaker 3 1:57:07

And it's using all the turbos. You can't really get a big engine in Ford's anymore, can you? You can. You can get a V8. Oh really, I thought they were only putting the Turbo 6s in.

Speaker 1 1:57:19

What class vehicle are you talking about?

Speaker 3 1:57:21

Bronco Bronco.

Speaker 1 1:57:24

You can get a V6 for sure without a Turbo. Why?

Speaker 3 1:57:29

would you want one without a Turbo?

Podcast Donation Appreciation and Acknowledgment

Speaker 1 1:57:31

Longevity. You can get a uh in the trucks. You can get, no, you can't. The. The new version of the bronco the latest, the 2025 model only has the inline four eco boostost the 2.7 liter EcoBoost V6 or the 3.0 liter V6 EcoBoost, so they're all EcoBoost now yeah, that's what I thought now you can get a straight engine.

Speaker 3 1:58:05

I didn't know they made a Raptor version of that oh yeah it's like 100 grand yeah, but look at the wheels in that thing. Holy shit, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 1:58:17

Yeah, you can spend a lot of money Huh 92,000.

Speaker 3 1:58:22

Yeah, Like I said a hundred grand. That's cheap. It's 92, man, it's not even a hundred.

Speaker 1 1:58:29

Oh, and on that note yeah, we better we better wrap up here.

Speaker 3 1:58:34

Yeah, all right, sounds good. Hey, quick shout out Thanks to everybody that is still supporting us. And then we took a week long vacation here, but we did Well. We didn't do it last week or week, I don't care if you call it a vacation or not, we didn't put one out.

Speaker 1 1:58:50

Well, that's because we recorded one. You just didn't put it out. No, we had a week break. No, yes, no, we recorded last week, gene?

Speaker 3 1:59:01

yes, I'm not talking about last week, I'm talking about two weeks ago oh well, that was a yeah.

Speaker 1 1:59:06

That was a long time ago, oh my god this month, two weeks ago, wow, okay, last month well, I noticed you didn't put out last week's episode till you know like today.

Speaker 3 1:59:15

So no, I put it out like two days ago, but you may not have noticed it to today. I'll grant you that. But either way, uh, so we'll. We got another one so thanks again, guys, for uh, the uh, hey what. Six people, seven people that are making a monthly contribution towards us. Eight, eight people now, okay, cool, and they're all fairly small, but honestly, you know, we barely ask for any contributions.

Speaker 1 1:59:47

So we certainly appreciate people that are doing it, I will say this Our biggest monthly donor is $10.

Speaker 3 1:59:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And versus like on Unrelenting. We just got a $150 donation that came in. But yeah, I guess people like that show more.

Speaker 1 2:00:07

You also don't have the regular subscribers, though that we do, no, no, definitely. So you know, it kind of all evens out touch and go.

Speaker 3 2:00:15

It's very touch and go, although I I and you'll hear the comment from the guy that donated the, the, the big donation on the last show actually said that uh, uh, he listened to this show as well and he sees that it's my co-hosts that actually do all the real work and I'm just kind of like showing up and drinking some tea and not much more hey, it's glad to be recognized all right. Well, on that note, I'm gonna wrap it up.