transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:39] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the booth. It's been a minute. It is Wednesday, April 22nd. It's 920 a.m. Eastern. And I'm here with my guy, Cody. Sarge, how are you doing?

Speaker 2:
[00:52] Good morning. It is, of course, 820 here Central Time. Shout out to Mr. Jeezy, first and foremost, of course, through all things are possible. Neil, this is an early morning recording for us, brother. I'm glad we're here.

Speaker 1:
[01:05] You know, I'm fresh in the mornings. It's a good one. I was out yesterday. I was just recapping my day. I played up at WingFoot, USGA. He's come out with a new GIN app, not GIN. They were very specific. It is the GIN app. And it looks great. And so, and I know you're going down to the Chevron. So we're working, we're working with some, some timing issues here. What's, what's your, what's your schedule this week? Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[01:28] Getting ready to drive down to Houston. Where of course, it's just raining, major championship week, Houston, Texas, middle of April. Of course, there's going to be rain all week, but I'm excited to get down there, man. Have you spent much time in Houston?

Speaker 1:
[01:43] Almost no time in Houston.

Speaker 2:
[01:45] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[01:46] I've been there, spent like two days in Houston total.

Speaker 2:
[01:49] You know, like your brother who, who claims that he spends, you know, just days and days on end in Houston, but via the airport.

Speaker 1:
[01:55] Five for 30 times a year. No, I don't connect in Houston as often as he does. That's for sure. But listen, we talk in golf already. This is not a golf podcast. This podcast is presented by Roback, though, and spring has kicked into full gear. So is Roback. You know the subtle dog logo. This spring, Roback released their lightweight looper shorts. And I'll tell you, these shorts, they're worth your time. Perfect for those hot, humid days when you're bound to get a little uncomfortable down there. These Roback shorts, they have a stretchy waistband, belt loop, stretch fabric, incredibly lightweight. They're calling them the swamp ass protectors. And I think that's a pretty good place to plant your flag. All I can say is I wish I wore these shorts during the BMW Championship, during the Pro-Am in Baltimore last summer. Cody, I think you saw that picture. I mean, it looks like we had, we just dunked ourselves in a pool, standing with Okshay and Russ Henley. And I'm like, I wish somebody had told me what my shorts look like. I was not wearing the lightweight Looper shorts, but you should as you're getting ready for spring and summer golf. Roback also just released a couple of new polo types. They got the Tailwind Polo. Same fabric as their workout shirts, the long-sleeve and short-sleeve workout shorts that I love. I kind of live in those on the road especially. But it's in a casual polo. I can play golf in it, but it's kind of an everyday activities. Wear it to the office, maybe Friday, work from home kind of fit if you got some calls. The second polo is their Harbor Stretch Sweater Polo. I'm a big supporter of Roback getting into the lifestyle game. Like long-sleeve sweater polo, I love stuff like this really nice fabric kind of sweat-wicking. Obviously, it's stretchy like everything Roback makes. So check out some of their off-course stuff. I'm wearing the Ready Crewneck right now, which is really comfortable. I got a cold snap up here this week. Anyway, if you're looking to rotate in some spring upgrades, head to roback.com. That's rhoback.com. Use code DRAW for 20% off your first order through the end of the week at roback.com. All right, Cody, where are we going today? What are we chopping on today, man?

Speaker 2:
[04:07] Neil, I can't even remember the last time we recorded together. Did a booth.

Speaker 1:
[04:12] I feel like it was January.

Speaker 2:
[04:14] Seems like it.

Speaker 1:
[04:15] Last year. I feel like we did one in January.

Speaker 2:
[04:17] No, no, no. We definitely done one at the beginning of the year. I just don't know. I feel like you're dropping wing foot to start this show, obviously coming up from.

Speaker 1:
[04:26] That was a media day. That was not, you know, at Augusta.

Speaker 2:
[04:30] Also a media day. That was a good one, too.

Speaker 1:
[04:33] Good one, too.

Speaker 2:
[04:35] You kind of a little bit of a sprint here, kid.

Speaker 1:
[04:38] I would say I'm playing great golf, though. Eighty three out at Wingfoot got sloppy. This isn't a golf podcast, though.

Speaker 2:
[04:45] It's not a golf. I just want to I'm identifying just kind of the generational run you're on. You're getting ready to to go hit a couple open Veroda courses, come back with a couple more US open venues. I don't know what to do with you anymore, man.

Speaker 1:
[05:03] Well, I would like to start hitting the, I'm hitting the ball well, but I would like to start chipping and putting a little better so we can, we can give put up a little fight at some of these really difficult golf courses.

Speaker 2:
[05:16] Is there a point, is there a part of you that's like, oh, this is incredible. Obviously, super thankful. I wish these opportunities may became like mid, midsummer, like when you're, when you're in your groove and like you're feeling it, because I know you're, you talk a lot about winter hands or, you know, you're just putting yourself in situations.

Speaker 1:
[05:36] It's this honestly, I walked off like Augusta feeling like I'm hitting the ball, I'm hitting the fairway a lot and it's more like wedge game. So, I'm getting to, like I said on that Augusta part, I'm hitting the shots, Cody. So it would be different if I was off the planet on the tee, you know, and you're just like out of play. That's when it gets frustrating. I can kind of deal with like a little scrapey around the greens, like wing foot, just a lot of easy, easy, easy bogeys, effortless bogeys for you out there. You know, you missed the green chip on to putt, like you didn't, you know, there's not, you're not really, the rough's not up, you're not gonna lose a ball. So I actually don't mind playing a little sloppy. I gotta give myself a little grace. We'll get into the, get into the meat of the season. I got some tournaments coming up in May and June and July. So I'm, I'm not gonna get down on myself just yet.

Speaker 2:
[06:27] For listeners who have no clue, maybe if you're only a listener of the Trap Draw, please over on the No Laying Up Podcast, Neil debriefed his entire round media day, the Monday after, not with Hootie and the Blowfish, but at Augusta National. And you can hear shot by shot, the kid breaking everything down there.

Speaker 1:
[06:45] The other thing I would say is if you are only a TrapDraw listener, please hit the listener line, 833-330-8725. We want to hear from you. Please, please chime in.

Speaker 2:
[06:55] The other thing that I was gonna say is, you know, I don't want to break down your shots. And this isn't even Golf Talk, but we do have a video coming out with you and some youths. So we're going through the review process. And I think there's things that come out via that, via the testing and stations that you went through there, that I think speak exactly to where your driving is at, where your approach game is at, and where your short game is at. So it rings true. And I know that was like a February shoot and we're already in the middle of April. There's not a lot of time to change any of it, but I think you've been pretty consistent the whole time.

Speaker 1:
[07:33] Yeah, I, yeah. That's, I'm looking forward. I actually have not watched the first cut. I was, like I said out yesterday. It's funny to dig into that video, but it's good. We got an outside in path issue, Cody. That's, you know, that's going to lead to some inconsistencies. And then it's, I just need to, just need to put the work in around the greens and, and you know, get comfortable, get, go on offense with my, with my wedge work.

Speaker 2:
[07:58] Okay. So outside of that, I don't want to talk, I don't want to talk any more golf, but I do have a question for you because I haven't, I haven't gone to the masters. I haven't done an Augusta week thing. There's a lot of logistics and everything else that you run that week for, for No Laying Up.

Speaker 1:
[08:16] Sure.

Speaker 2:
[08:17] I think there's like every single year I hear about people with their $30,000 a week rental houses. We're always scrambling, trying to find the right AirBnBs, don't want to spend too much money, but need enough space. Want to make sure that wifi is good, everything else like that. Was this year any different than years past? Have you noticed anything changing, overly commercialized, just a greater Augusta? I'm not even talking about the masters and the property itself.

Speaker 1:
[08:44] Yeah, I've talked about it on the NLU pod, and I think I wrote a little blurb in our newsletter about it. I think they've done a good job at Augusta protecting the on-site, I call it the on-grass experience. Once you're on the grass of the course, there is no activations. It is just as close to how I would see it being, even when I went back in the early 2000s to a practice round. Feels like you're going back in time. But the city of Augusta has turned into one giant marketing activation, starting with the airport with like, I mean, Delta, it's unbelievable. You walk in, all the jetways are wrapped in Augusta themed, they're playing the Augusta theme music, you know, in the jetway, in the airport, it's like, azaleas are inside, and the city is, I can't think of another, I was trying to think about this while I was there. Is there another town or city, I guess, let's say city, that is so identified with one event, but also embraces that event, like, wholeheartedly. Like, everybody, like, there's all these activations, all these houses are rented, you got like, you know, they're putting up, like, massive wedding tents to host, basically house parties throughout the week. You got Dave Grohl doing an acoustic set, like, all kinds of last year's Dave Matthews, you know, it's, they're just in these, like backyard tents at these houses. But it seems like the city does not get up, there's not a lot of pushback from the city. So I was trying to think, like, maybe you could say, like, I don't know.

Speaker 2:
[10:18] Louisville?

Speaker 1:
[10:19] Yeah, like Kentucky Derby or like Bonnaroo in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Yeah, like, I don't know if there's this, it feels like the biggest combination of, like, event and the biggest city that is, like, because you would think when an event gets too big, a lot of times a town would push back, there'd be negative consequences to that of, like, oh, they're, you know, ruining it for the locals or whatever. And this feels like one of the rare examples where no, the locals are like, this is awesome. We love it. You know, like everybody's kind of understanding a little bit with it. For us specifically, we rented the house about 15 minutes from the course. It was really nice this year. It was a listener actually offered to us kind of half. I think they had just bought it. They're doing some work to it. So it had two of the four bedrooms were like set up. So it kind of worked out really well where he was like, you know, it was like gave us a good price. And I think because he knew like, ah, this isn't going to be a good fit for like a marketing agency or a company, but it was perfect for us. So I guess the good news with the Augusta stuff is like the whole town is on board with it. So there's a lot of housing options. Now it's all, you know, it's all priced pretty high. But in both years that I've been, we didn't struggle to find a place. It's just how close can you get, you know, location. And this was a much better location than we had the first year versus like we're planning something for the US. Women's Open in June. And, you know, getting an Airbnb in LA during US. Women's Open slash right around the World Cup time is like, you know, yeah, the town isn't playing ball with the event. You know what I'm saying? It's not like everyone's leaving town and everyone's trying to rent their house. So the I think with the Masters, there's like a real good supply of stuff. And everybody's like, everybody knows what's going on the first week of April, which I think helps the event run really smoothly. But yeah, it's an interesting like societal sociology thing to see a town really embrace an event like that.

Speaker 2:
[12:22] I asked that because I used to spend quite a bit of time in Augusta. Surprisingly, there's a big military base there that people probably drive by. If you go to the Masters and you see the signs for Fort Gordon and everything else like that. But it always blew my mind that like this, such a large influx of cash comes in for one week of the year. Maybe you could say two weeks of the year now with Anwar and them just kind of spreading, that spreads out a little bit. But it's always felt like Augusta itself, wasn't making any actual improvements, I guess you would say from the municipality standpoint. There's tons of other issues and things like that that are going on there. But it's just fascinating to me that you have that much money and then right across the border you have Aiken in a completely different state that always seem to like just kind of be doing their own thing, but also is experiencing this, all the benefits of continued growth and now you see investment via golf courses. Now we can have a conversation about private versus public golf courses and access and everything else like that. But clearly there's a ton of money growth and development going on in Aiken. You never really see that much up front in Augusta. Now I'm going to be there in a couple of years, but that's just kind of always been like, wait a second here, like they make so much money for this week and they talk about how it floats, you know. Some people say they rent their house for that week and it pays their mortgage for a year. Or, you know, I'm sure the city themselves is just making an absolute truckload of cash, but you never really saw the investment that they continued on and how they're improving things in and around the property itself.

Speaker 1:
[14:09] No, I mean, like, aesthetically, like Washington Road doesn't look much better, like to your point, whereas like Aiken has that charm to it and is becoming a hotbed, I think because I mean, we thought about this, you know, we own the birdhouse at Sweeten's Cove, and that's been a really successful rental property for us over the last six years. But the but that's unique. There's not a lot of other housing options around Sweeten's, but we've looked at like Aiken at a place where you can count on once a week, one week a year, like that's going to be a big rental from like a business is really versus we looked at, we looked long ago at a place in Pinehurst where you're like, okay, that's an anchor site. You're going to have like every five, six, seven years, like a big event where you could get that big, you know, corporate rental. But that that's a little more spaced out. So the economics don't look quite as good. I think a lot of these golf courses are, they are able to jack the prices up and, you know, do corporate days and really make, make the money thing work because of those two weeks in April. I mean, the other interesting thing is most of these courses in that area shut down over the summer. So they're only, they're only open nine, you know, six to nine months a year. So, which I've always found interesting. I mean, it is hot as fuck down there in the summer. So I get it. But yeah, I think you're right. And I think that, you know, the fall season has been, I wonder why that is. I wonder if it's just because of the charm over there or if there's different, you know, it's easier to develop or there's more land to develop over there. But now that you mentioned that, I haven't seen any, like, there's some very nice homes in Augusta. When like I was driving back to our rental property, I'm like, oh, these are charming Southern, it's hilly. There's some really nice parts of town. But the urban areas of Augusta, they don't look charming. Washington Road is not charming. You know, most of the city itself, it doesn't look like the money has flowed to that kind of development. It's more like, yeah, the club's just buying up a lot of land for parking and expansion of the club itself.

Speaker 2:
[16:15] Yeah, expansion.

Speaker 1:
[16:16] But I'm not also hearing a bunch of undercurrents, like when you go out to dinner, it's not like the restaurants are like F the club. They're like, no, we're thrilled you're here. So that's what's stuck out to me, but good question.

Speaker 2:
[16:27] Well, their economy is like, it's so baked in and based off that now that they have no choice but to figure it out, to embrace it. I mean, look at it like just the sheer trickle down effects of like a hooters declaring bankruptcy and identifying that that location shot down and think of John Daly and the amount of money that he would make that week. But like that became a destination during the Masters, and how many people, regardless if they're a badge holders or not, would come in because they knew where to find John Daly. So they might not be able to get between those gates over there, but at least they could see somebody here. It's a fascinating thing, and I'm sure there's studies out there and everything that talk about it, but it's also weird trying to pull comps. I'm sure you could look at some music festivals, like you said, they are big that are out there. I don't really know. I think the Kentucky Derby, that's the only one that I could think of just because I'm like, wow, but probably some NASCAR tie-ins here too. Sure, like Talladega.

Speaker 1:
[17:36] Yeah, that's a good comp.

Speaker 2:
[17:40] Although, I don't know if people are renting houses. Seems like it's much more of a RV.

Speaker 1:
[17:44] They're driving their house in.

Speaker 2:
[17:46] Yeah, I don't know. Maybe they're renting out like they're, I don't know.

Speaker 1:
[17:50] Well, there's some RVs in the West. I mean, you got Team Rose rolling up in the rehab RV. You know.

Speaker 2:
[17:57] Man, that's good. Hey, buddy, it's spring. Robak already told us it's spring. You're a new property owner, man. I'm every, you know, we have weekly calls. We catch up all the other time, but we have a weekly one on one. I'm always so fascinated to hear what the weekend projects were. You're always talking about you out there with your chainsaw. You know, I know things are starting to grow in your, your wooded area is starting to get thick. You're trying to control it. What have you been working on, man?

Speaker 1:
[18:27] I'm a little behind right now, but my goal for through the winter, which I may have said on this year pod was I've got a, like a, you know, a fence, like a deer fence around half of my backyard and it's pretty, and it's, you know, like high fence or low fence, high fence. Previous owner put it in. It's really like shout out to her because it's a nice, like what would have cost your boy a lot, but you know, Sonny's fenced in. We like that. And my goal was to, and it's a thick, I live behind my house, like protected wetlands. So it's a start of a, of a brook, a stream that rolls down into the lake, this valley, because I live on the side of the hill. So I'm not supposed to touch it much, right? But you know, you can kind of make sure it's, my goal is I have like, I just want to be able to walk around back here without like having to go through like this gnarly thorny bushes and, and just ticks, dude. I got some like, ticks are a problem. We can get to that in a second. But my goal was to create a walking path around the fence so I could check my fence, mend my fence, make sure my dogs don't get out of my fence. And I can say I can circumnavigate the yard, Cody. I can say that. And that must sound like, oh, like, you know, listen, it was, you know, I'm out there with the string trimmer and I had a couple of trees that had fallen on the fence on the back side of the fence. So I had to, I got the chainsaw, I got the battery powered one, which is perfect for me. I've got three batteries.

Speaker 2:
[19:56] Hold on, are you calling your string, are you a weed eater? Is that what you're talking about?

Speaker 1:
[20:01] Yeah, the string turner, not like a blade. I didn't get the blade edger. I've got the, you know, string weed whacker, which is like, but you know what I did the most work with over the winter, when everything died out was just a pair of clippers, like long clippers. Your boy was out there just by hand.

Speaker 2:
[20:20] Cracking knuckles.

Speaker 1:
[20:21] Yeah, and it was good because it was almost like a walk with the dog, like, so I would go out, you know, at like 830 to 930 and just like, what can I get done in an hour? And I set an alarm and, you know, it's really freaking cold this winter, so I didn't get it quite as much done, but I was able to cut back all the ivy, the thorny bushes, everything that was on the fence, I just attacked and it's made a big difference. Now that things have grown in, I created kind of a fire break, if you will, with the fence like that. And so then, you know, I bought the chainsaw in January. I got the ego one, I committed to the ego product, because you got to, you know, my dad, you know, he's telling me with the batteries, like you got to kind of be a Milwaukee guy or a skill guy.

Speaker 2:
[21:04] And we just got to invest in one, because the batteries don't translate to the other units.

Speaker 1:
[21:09] And so inside, I got a good amount of DeWalt stuff, my dad gave me some old Milwaukee stuff. So I'm a little agnostic there, but outside, I'm like, all right, let's just go with the ego stuff. There's an ace, they have that stuff. So I kind of, from a convenience standpoint, ace and Amazon have a good ego relationship. So I'm like, I'm not gonna lie to you, Cody. I was like, oh man, you hear about chainsaw accidents. So I kind of bought this thing and then I kind of stared at it hanging on the garage wall for a couple of weeks, like today the day we go put the chaps on and get out there. I got the protective headwear, everything. So I got out there. Happy to say I feel very confident with the chainsaw. I'm not cutting out anything that's standing up. I'm not going to let anything fall on me. I fell like a couple of dead drunks. But otherwise, I have a bunch of dead trees like laying in the yard. And I was like, great, I'm going to start chopping these up because then what happens is all the ivy and the vines, they grow over the dead trees. So they create these just like, I don't know.

Speaker 2:
[22:16] Fucking hazard, dude.

Speaker 1:
[22:17] Yeah, like roadblocks basically. I'm like, okay, so let me start chopping these up and then that'll allow me. And it's crazy. The minute you get the dead tree chopped up, the vines just kind of, you chop those up and then they all just kind of like wither. And it's like, oh my God, you just sight lines get better immediately. And so I've been using those logs that I've cut up as a path. Just I'm like, what should I do with these now? Because I don't want to stack them. I've stacked a few, but I'm like using them to outline the path around the fence, you know, to create a path. That way, when naturally it's some of the green is starting to grow up in the paths. Now I have a good indicator of when I get the string trimmer out, I can cut back. This is, you know, and it looks good. You can see from the window. I'm like, all right, there's my path. It's almost inviting of like, you should walk here. Here is where you should walk. Now, I almost, you know what? The next step I've been researching is a wood chipper, which is like, do I don't really need to make some paths? Well, it'd be nice to have some mulch, you know? I don't really want to truck the mulch. And I'm like, I got a ton of shit. It would really help if I could just destroy some of these branches. The branches are bulky, man. I'd love to just throw them in. I was looking up, like, then you get into it's like, well, those can get expensive.

Speaker 2:
[23:32] But I found one that's like, you don't got to buy them, dog.

Speaker 1:
[23:35] I'll say that you can rent one and bring it down. But I'm like, there's a couple that are like, I don't know, in the five hundred to eight hundred dollar range. I'm like, yeah, that might be cheap, though. But that I could park it be like four inch diameter on the branch and I could just start, you know, getting rid of some of this riff raff stuff to create some mulch around around the product. But then I'm like, well, how long do these blades last in there? You know, maintenance is a thing. I will say this, Cody, I'm proud of myself. I've been really good about the chainsaw maintenance. Good oil in the chain, cleaning it out after I use it. Um, I did my first time I used it. Uh, I was cutting one of the logs on the ground and I pushed it down into the dirt. Immediately the blade was dull. Like you can't let those things touch dirt. It's crazy how dirt will fuck up your chainsaw blade. So I, you know, research, I was like, why is this blade already dead? And I was like, okay, so now when before I dig the trees out, I use a shovel. I kind of create a buffer zone below the log. So I'm-

Speaker 2:
[24:39] Did you, did you replace the chain?

Speaker 1:
[24:41] I replaced the chain. I replaced the chain.

Speaker 2:
[24:42] You didn't try to sharpen the chain?

Speaker 1:
[24:44] No, I just, because I was like, the quickest thing, the chain was pretty cheap to buy, I bought like a two pack of replacement chains. And I was like, let me, I was trying to do some troubleshooting to make sure I was like, is the oil clogged? Like what, why is it smoking? You know, it's like, oh, it's like, it's probably a dull chain. So I was like, well, why don't I just replace the chain? I could always go sharpen this chain. Or if I run through the next chain, maybe I'll take all three and go get them sharpened, you know, at the local tool shop. But I went with a chain replacement. This new, this chain I've put on it. Now that I know, like, don't let the chainsaw touch the dirt has not been an issue at all. But I-

Speaker 2:
[25:22] Care of the equipment, dude. I'm proud of you.

Speaker 1:
[25:24] Yeah, yeah. I think I'm taking care of it and I'm learning. I feel like I'm learning how to use the equipment. And I feel like nothing like reps to get you comfortable. And I don't know, man. Two hours will go by real quick when I'm out there chopping shit up. I love it. I really like it. It's a meditative thing for me to just-

Speaker 2:
[25:43] Sweat in too?

Speaker 1:
[25:44] Now, I've got a guy, you know, I got a big lawns on a hill. So I have a lawn. My guy Marlo cuts the grass for me. He was cutting it for the lady before me. And I still I'm going to stick with him because, yeah, I'm just not ready. I don't have a place to put the mower. You know, I don't have a ton of- I got to work on my storage around here. So I'm going to stick with him. I got a dandelion issue, Cody. I think you'd be- you would not be happy with my grass. It's pretty pastury. It's pretty wild, which I'm comfortable with. But, yeah, I got to take care of some of the invasive, non-grass stuff going on out there.

Speaker 2:
[26:20] Well, a lot of that just a little bit of weed control action. And once it starts heating up, like it should choke a lot of it out.

Speaker 1:
[26:27] Like, I like doing the heavy stuff back in the back. I don't really like the, I'm not like a green thumb up here in the, close to the house area. I'm almost like, let me bring in a professional every two weeks to kind of help me with that, which, which puts me at ease.

Speaker 2:
[26:45] As long as he's not taking all your money.

Speaker 1:
[26:46] No, he's not. He's actually, it's very, he's well priced and I feel like that's saving me a lot of time because I'm not an expert on this stuff. So I'm like, hey, this is going to take me a while to get up to speed on. And what gets stressful about the yard care, the lawn care stuff is like, once you get behind, it gets stressful. Like, ah, like even, you know, like one thing that I'm trying to train Sunny to like take dumps in a different, like not in the grass, because it's time consuming to pick up all her like shit. And her pee, like her and Elvis are killing the grass with their pee. So I got some dead spots in the grass. So I'm trying to, you know, coach them up on, hey, let's take this, take this off the ground. Let's go down here, guys.

Speaker 2:
[27:27] You know, but dad, but dad, that's a long, that's a long walk, man. They don't want to do that.

Speaker 1:
[27:33] I know. Well, I'm just trying to now move them over to the side outside of like the window view of like, let's make this the patch over here, guys. But no, I'm, I'm, I'm enjoying the, the spring bloom. I've been good about in just enjoying every day. I try to look out the window and be like that tree, like the change day to day since I got back from Augusta is crazy. Like, oh, that tree is blooming now, you know, and everything's just bright green and yeah, it's, it's good. It's good for my mentals.

Speaker 2:
[28:03] So what I will say is that even though, yes, maybe the price for this wood chipper, which I agree with your property, it would probably would be a good investment. But I will say before you purchase said wood chipper, because you have no clue, like you're looking at it based on price. You don't know what they're actually going to be able to control or do or anything else like that. Go rent one for a weekend, please.

Speaker 1:
[28:29] Get some usage, figure out if I like it.

Speaker 2:
[28:32] You might shock yourself and figure out how much you actually got done. And you realize, well, I don't have to spend this extra, you know, it's not just going to be $500.

Speaker 1:
[28:42] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[28:42] $500, then you're trying to figure out how you're moving this around. Now you got a hitch on the BMW and you're down there trying to back it up. You know, it's going to become...

Speaker 1:
[28:51] This one was much more hand held. It was a smaller one because, yeah, you start researching woodshippers. Those things are freaking massive, like the big boys.

Speaker 2:
[28:59] Even still, you're moving it around in something.

Speaker 1:
[29:02] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[29:05] So rent it first.

Speaker 1:
[29:06] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[29:06] I think you're going to shock yourselves. And if that is truly the case, I'm coming up in a couple months. This can be a good early summer project that I can come out when I'm going to do a full lawn assessment. We're going to get everything dialed. Don't worry.

Speaker 1:
[29:21] Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2:
[29:22] I am proud of you. I am proud of you, though, for cutting down the woods back there.

Speaker 1:
[29:26] Well, it's important to look. I think that what I've learned is like, there's some things that you think you're going to like, and you're like, I don't I thought I was going to like that. I don't like it. I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I'm like, I like working in the yard. That could come out of the city.

Speaker 2:
[29:41] Everybody likes being outside, dude.

Speaker 1:
[29:43] Yeah. But some people don't want to, you know, they don't want to get in the dirt. And some people are like, no, I like cutting the grass. I don't like working in like the thicket, you know. And again, what the the the ticks suck.

Speaker 2:
[29:56] OK, tell me about the ticks.

Speaker 1:
[29:57] The ticks are a problem. I wouldn't say I think HQ for ticks is up on in Connecticut and out on Long Island. But there's a satellite office in my backyard. And, you know, I got to some paracord. The dog's fine. But the dog comes in with like five or six just hanging out on her coat. Like if we go back there, it's stressful because like then, you know, I can't have her can't have these ticks getting on the kids. I can't I can't have this Lyme disease, dog. If you know, I'm religious about checking me. But like this time of year and then when everything dies off in October, November, it's just bad, man. And they're so fucking scary looking. They're these tiny little alien looking things. And they're so hard to kill until they like engorge themselves with blood. I'm sorry to the listener. I know this is gross. But like, you know, they're just like this unstoppable rebel force in my backyard where you're like, man, this thing is a problem. And I, you know, I grew up in Atlanta. Ticks were not really a thing. So I'm kind of just, that's been an eye opening one for me of like, man, if we could just eradicate ticks somehow, that would be so sick. But they seem to be winning that war on us right now.

Speaker 2:
[31:06] It's gotta be some benefits though. Why are ticks, are there any benefits?

Speaker 1:
[31:12] No man, like I think 20% or 30% of them carry lime. You don't know, you know, there's two types, there's like red ticks and black ticks. Like I've done a bunch of research on it, of like what can I do?

Speaker 2:
[31:24] Yeah, their job truly is a food, their food source for birds, lizards, et cetera. And nothing else.

Speaker 1:
[31:32] They just roll in on, one thing I've loved, we have a bunch of-

Speaker 2:
[31:36] Maybe get some chickens.

Speaker 1:
[31:37] I don't have deer back here. So they come, you know, they kind of come in on most of the time.

Speaker 2:
[31:41] Of course, you put up a massive deer fence.

Speaker 1:
[31:43] I didn't put it up. It was already here. I mean, you're brazing it. I see deer. They're outside in like the wildlife corridors between my neighbor's house. But, you know, we got a ton of foxes. Foxes are- put them on the list, Cody. They're so sick. And I've got two or three that hang out around here. I saw one chase one off the other day, like kind of was up in his territory. They're a lot easier to see in the snow. So I saw a ton this winter. But I love watching them hunt because they do this thing where they'll just chill. And then they pounce. They like jump straight up in the air and they dive trying to find these mice, these field mice, which are just all over back here. And I put up a trail cam. My dad got me a trail cam for Christmas. And I've caught- at night, the raccoons are setting off the motion detector. And I've seen a couple of foxes on there. So I might get a couple more. The trail cams are sick, man. I get such a kick out of- cars are like, what are you doing? I'm like sitting over on the side of the house, close to the trail cam. I'm like, I'm looking at my trail cam. Like, I'm turning into my dad. It's great. I'm like, oh, look, raccoons. They were here last night.

Speaker 2:
[32:49] That is sick, dude.

Speaker 1:
[32:51] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[32:51] The other thing that I was thinking of about like your wooded area, have you seen any of these videos where, you know, basically you rent like a hundred goats for a weekend?

Speaker 1:
[33:01] No, but I'm telling more.

Speaker 2:
[33:03] They set up like, you know, the because goats, if you're raising goats, you have to feed them so much.

Speaker 1:
[33:10] And it truly doesn't matter what is the gnarly stuff.

Speaker 2:
[33:12] Everything.

Speaker 1:
[33:13] Yeah, that's how Sylvie's that's why they had goats because the cattle eat the good grass, but the goats eat all the brush and shrubs and all like the harsh 100 percent harsh.

Speaker 2:
[33:23] I think that's what you're I think that might be like step three to your wooded area project is truly just getting like, you know, finding somebody you can find a lot online 50 a farmer with 50 goats like, hey, you get free food for a weekend, bring them out here. They set up, you know, fences, they corral them in, so they're all safe and they just they just go to town, dude.

Speaker 1:
[33:46] Well, like I said at the beginning, my thought like step one, phase one is I it's fun and it's easy. It's almost like rudimentary, but it feels like creating when you create trails. Yeah, like creating walking trails. You can see the progress. You like turn around after an hour. You're like, man, I cut like I blazed that shit, you know, and it's it's very simple. And then you get to spots where like, all right, cool. I have a tree down. I got to cut this like tomorrow. I'm going to bring chainsaw out and I'm going to cut these two trees and keep the path going. And then there's a couple spots where I want to put up in the future, like little walking bridges. And I'm trying to think about how I want to construct those. But like so you can walk above the wetlands because there's some spots where it's just like the ground is always going to be soggy in this 15 to 20 foot range here. Like when you go to a nature park and they have like the elevated like two by four plank bridges, you know, I'm like, man, those would be kind of fun to build out. Like you could probably do that pretty easily. So you start to, yeah, you start to see phase two and phase three. And then on the one side of my yard is real steep. I'm putting in some stone steps because I got a ton of rocks back there and so that's another way to be like, all right, cool. I can get a handle on like, I have almost like a bunch of rocks laying around and I just can dig these into the hill and create some steps. And for me, it's just a really nice way to start the day of just take a walk around the fence. Good for the dog, good for me. And sometimes I'm like, man, is this pointless? It's like, nah, it's not pointless. It's just like kind of fun. You just feel like you're like, all right, I'm getting a handle on this and I'm starting, I'm proud of myself for starting with the simple stuff instead of being like, oh, I'm going to, you know, bite off more than I can chew and build a bridge, a bridge to nowhere right now. It's like, no, no, don't worry about that yet. Like just, just walk through the mud for a while. And then the bridge is phase two.

Speaker 2:
[35:38] It's amazing. It is very therapeutic. When we owned the horse farm in North Carolina, the thing that made me so mad in our wooded areas, that like you'd spend so much work, so much time, effort, energy, getting everything cleared back. And then like we had just some gnarly, what do they call, kudzu vines that grow so fast. And like a week later, I'm like, guys, what the hell? Like what just happened? Like how are we back to normal? And it's crazy, just mother nature, the world truly is just constantly trying to heal itself.

Speaker 1:
[36:15] Yes. I know any open dirt patch, it's like already filled in with, you know, green when I'm looking out the window right now. It's like, all right, but I've got to handle. Know the key, though, is you got to get rid of the thorny bushes.

Speaker 2:
[36:29] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[36:30] All the grass and the vines and stuff, those are pretty easy to clear. It's the bush, these harsh bushes that will just mess up your day.

Speaker 2:
[36:41] Maybe I'll just tell Carson, maybe she needs to buy a mini goat. Maybe that's what you guys need.

Speaker 1:
[36:46] Well, God, I'm sure there's a tax break if we buy some goats.

Speaker 2:
[36:49] You truly turned it into a life-size property.

Speaker 1:
[36:52] Turn it into a farm, right?

Speaker 2:
[36:53] Hell yeah. It's some agricultural credits or something like that.

Speaker 1:
[36:57] I'd have to look into that.

Speaker 2:
[36:58] It might be some bunnies out there. I'm sure the foxes would love to chase down them. All right.

Speaker 1:
[37:03] Well, enough of my dumb yards. I mean, you're the expert. What's going on with your lawn care? I heard you had an accident out there.

Speaker 2:
[37:11] I did have an accident. We're good. I got both hogs up and running. The issue that we had is that we had a very delayed winter where our single snow came a little bit later than normal, and then the temperatures just stayed around 45, which Bermuda never really comes out of dormancy until the ground temperature is at least 55. We had a late jump here. When we finally did, I push it off as long as possible because once I start, I know that what I'm doing is crazy. I have to mow my grass because I keep it super short like three times a week. But again, to me, this is therapeutic. I love it. It's difficult when you work from home, you end up staying in your home unless you're leaving for an appointment or for a kid's activity or something like that. I truly, I felt myself starting to get cabin fever, which is weird for somebody that lives in Texas just because I'm like, you'd go outside and it's not nice. I'm like, I don't need to leave the house. My gym is here. I don't have to leave for anything.

Speaker 1:
[38:26] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[38:26] And I understand that that's definitely like a benefit of being here and something that like not a lot of people have. But like truly, if you don't want to leave, you don't really have to leave.

Speaker 1:
[38:37] There's a lot of pros to working from home, but there are some cons which are worth calling out, which is like, yeah, some days, I'm like, man, I got to do a better job of getting out of my office to eat lunch. Yeah. And so like eating lunch, even an activity that feels like, yeah, going out with clippers and cutting thorn bushes is like, that doesn't sound fun, but it's a reason to keep you outside for an hour to two hours is like, ends up being like, man, that was that was that feels healthy.

Speaker 2:
[39:05] Last year, Neil, I got a new Greensmarr, which is sweet. I got a new Toro Greensmaster 1600, which for people that don't know what that is, if you go to your golf course, the 1600 is not a Greensmarr per se at most golf courses, what they're using, like if you go to high end golf clubs and they happen to like walk, mow their fringes or specifically like their tee boxes. So the 1600 is a 26 inch blade, so it's a lot wider than most actual Greensmarrers. I do have a Greensmarrer as well, John Deere one that I got off Facebook Marketplace, you know, had to meet a guy in an alley somewhere, it's fucking sweet, I love it. And it's got like, you know, it's real system sits like on its own, like single point, so it flexes around as the ground moves and it's fucking sweet dude. I paid like 600 bucks for it, I got a hell of a deal, did a lot of the mechanical work on it myself to get it all tuned up, I love that thing. But my hog, my absolute like go getter is the 1600, the Toro.

Speaker 1:
[40:15] So you have two mowers.

Speaker 2:
[40:17] I have two mowers.

Speaker 1:
[40:18] All right, just two.

Speaker 2:
[40:18] Yeah, I have three mowers.

Speaker 1:
[40:20] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[40:20] I have four mowers. I have four mowers.

Speaker 1:
[40:22] Well, give me the line up, what are the other two for?

Speaker 2:
[40:25] Okay, so I have two Green's Masters and I have two normal rotary mowers, just like anyone else. They're both Toros as well.

Speaker 1:
[40:34] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[40:35] One of them is, one of them is just like your normal, you can go to Lowe's, Home Depot, wherever they sell, you know, normal lawn mowers, that's it. And that's what I do a lot of my like edging around the fence stuff. That's also like the original mower that I had. And I spent way too much money buying it from Lowe's a long time ago before I got super into this whole grassing. It came with me from North Carolina. So it also has like, you know, at the time during COVID, like when people were super into attempting to like lay down extra stripes, you can't really stripe Bermuda, but like add an extra striping kit and everything that I put on this thing. And then I bought another Toro off Facebook Marketplace that truly I paid $50 for it. And it is to beat it up because I got some woods behind me too and we just got nasty vines and everything else. I use it basically like a like a bush hog man. I just go, I don't care what I run over, if it's rocks, if it's stumps, it's grinding through everything. It breaks down a lot. I changed the blade out on it quite a bit just because it's truly just chomping down some gnarly stuff. So I have two of those normal ones and then my two Greensmowers. That's the fleet that I'm working with right now. And then two Weedeaters, I would say, or String Trimmers. I have one String Trimmer, Weedeater, that's normal, you know, change the fucking, the line on it just like everyone else. And then I have another one that I use for all my edging and I have what they call rotary scissors on it. So it's a, you know, I'm fixed, two fixed metal blades that cut and that's what gives you like super clean edges around your sidewalks, driveways, flower beds, things like that. So that's kind of the fleet that I'm working with when it comes to grass. And then I got, you know, sprayers and granule spreaders and you know, a whole bunch of different things. This is my first year that I'm gonna, I'm jumping headfirst into the spraying game. So all my fertilizer, everything else is gonna be applied via the sprayer, which is very intimidating. But it's something new that I'm learning, which I find that it's very exciting too.

Speaker 1:
[42:56] I'm like, I kind of feel like I need to spray the yard. I don't even know, like, you know, I'm not a chemist. That stuff freaks me out. Yeah, I don't know what's safe, what's not. So I might have to, we have to take that offline. I might have, might be asking you what, what my mix should be. For sure.

Speaker 2:
[43:10] And listen, you know, people that are super into the grass game, if you have any pointers or advice, I'm all ears. Hit me up anywhere you want. Because it is, it's scary. And you know, the like, if you mix anything up, you know, if it's too strong, you don't dilute it enough, Neil, like your, your grass is kind of dead for a bit. It's not good. Like you, it clearly, it shows when shit's fucked up. Anyway, you asked me, I had a mix up. So getting all my, you know, getting my fleet ready for, for the year, I was so excited because last year I had a little mix up with the, the Toro, not when I first got it, but like a couple months into mowing. I got way too comfortable and right where my, I've spent a lot of money to sand level my front yard. But there are, there are spots where the grass sits a little bit below my sidewalk. And I have to be really careful. And I'm always really careful because you can't run your reel mower directly into it or else your reel catches the pavement and it messes your blades up, which is not good. Well, I wasn't paying attention last year. I think we had just gotten back from like the women's open or something like that. And I hadn't cut the lawn in, you know, basically a week and a half. So it was way too long. And I was just rushing and I clipped the pavement and I completely, I took a chip out of the reel. I took a chip out of the bed knife. It was not good. And that mower was down, like down hard for, you know, for months. And I finally started doing research and found the company and ordered a replacement bed knife replacement reel and everything. And most of the time, last year, the maintenance on it I had being done by the mechanic at Trinity Forest. So he was super nice. I could take my machines up there, the two greens masters, and he would like, you know, service them, get them all dialed. Well, I hit them up and he's like, dude, we're doing like new, you know, we're investing in new mowers right now. We're doing a swap over like, I'm not going to be able to like get any of your work in for like another month and a half. And I was like, oh, that just ain't going to cut it. So I started digging into YouTube, digging into Reddit and I'm like, I'm going to do this myself, man. And I did. And I installed the new reel. I probably broke the machine down way too far, like way further than I needed to, to actually get it installed.

Speaker 1:
[45:34] The tough feeling when you take it apart and you're like, oh, but I was very smart this way or that way.

Speaker 2:
[45:39] Every step, Neil, I took pictures. Yeah. And then I had everything. You know, I took a bunch of little tupleware containers and I knew like, hey, I had everything labeled and I'm like, all the screws, nuts, washers, all would go into individual things. And I had it all steps because I knew, like that's what I read online is like once you start breaking things down and it was a lot. You got to break a shit ton of stuff down just to get access to take the old reel out. And you got to understand this thing is like perfectly balanced. So if you don't like have it perfectly balanced when you get put back in, if there's any sort of wobble in it, like it ain't working dog. So we got it all put in, everything worked great, you know, installed. And then once you, you know, anytime you're doing real mowing, like you can't just fire it up like any other rotary mower. Like every month you have to do what's called back lapping. And back lapping is sharpening the blade on it because you're cutting the grass so thin and so short that your blades have to be super sharp. And it's basically just you're reverse, you're spinning the reel in reverse and applying a superfined, you know, like sandpaper compound to help improve the actual cut of the reel. And when I was back lapping the new reel, you know, I'm always out there. I usually am wearing like headphones like this. So I'm protecting my ears. I'm always wearing glasses. I'm protecting my eyes, doing my best. And during the spring, my allergies are so bad. Shout out to TC that every single time I do any sort of yardwork, I still have probably, you know, boxes and boxes of masks from fucking COVID that I wear masks too. So I'm wearing a mask because any time I do yardwork in the spring, I have to because my shit just instantly flares up. So I look like a fool. It's fine. But that's what I do to get through this. I'm back lapping. I'm applying compound and I like turned to the side just a little bit in a chunk of metal came out and went right through the side of where my glasses were and got into my eye and scraped the shit out of my cornea. Now, the issue is, is that this was on a Sunday. I can't remember what show it was. I think the last live show, The Layers, was it? No, I think it was After Players. I honestly I want to think that it was like API. I think that's when it was because it was bad.

Speaker 1:
[48:17] That was before Players.

Speaker 2:
[48:18] Well, yeah, you're right.

Speaker 1:
[48:20] Maybe it was like an early Masters preview or something.

Speaker 2:
[48:23] I had, I went to Urgent Care, you know, they went in there like, oh, yeah, your cornea, like had a super chunk out of it, which is awesome. It's going to heal. We just got to get you some antibiotics and everything. But like the metal is still underneath the eyelid there. So they, of course, put me on the table, roll me back, put some numbing thing in my eye and start fishing around in there, which is just crazy.

Speaker 1:
[48:45] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[48:45] And also wild that the doctors can be like, well, if like we can't like fish it out, you know, we can pop the eyeball out and we'll get it out there and then you can put it back in, which is crazy. Just the thought that that is like possible. We didn't have to get that far, but we got it.

Speaker 1:
[49:01] Oh my God.

Speaker 2:
[49:02] The nature of the story, Neil, always wear your protection. I am going to invest in glasses that also cover the sides to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again, which used to be like a complete joke to me. Sure. When I was in the military, famously, I was always a guy, you know, always wear ear probe just because that's where like all of our clums and everything are coming through. But there was times like during daylight missions, like I would always wear, you know, Oakleys that like wrapped around and had like sunglass, you know, dark lenses on them. But like at night, there was times where, because of the change in temperatures and wearing night vision, that my like clear lens that I would wear at night would fog up and I couldn't see my night vision. So for like years, I literally just wore the frames without any lenses on it, because people would come and like check and be like, oh yeah, you're wearing your iPro. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I can't see, I have the frames on, but there would be like nothing there. So I have completely thrown safety to the side before. And I know how bad that is. And now like as you get older, you realize like how important this stuff is. And I'm like, oh my goodness, dude. Like the more things I have to buy, hell yeah, I'm gonna do it.

Speaker 1:
[50:20] No, I'm pretty good with the, I got some good glasses, good gloves. Got the chaps. I feel like I've taken the protection, both from ticks and from just tools. Seriously, I'm not, I am humble enough to be like, dude, I do not want a chainsaw accident. Like that's not something I want on my resume.

Speaker 2:
[50:41] I've told you that story before, right?

Speaker 1:
[50:43] What, no, what's that?

Speaker 2:
[50:45] Oh yeah, I was cutting down, you know, in North Carolina with super tall pines and I was cutting down like a 60 foot pine tree in our front yard.

Speaker 1:
[50:54] What could go wrong?

Speaker 2:
[50:55] And like, I'm very experienced. One thing like growing up at home, like I use the chainsaw a lot. My dad always, you know, taught me very well and was like safety first, it's fine. The woods in Montana are a lot different than the woods in North Carolina, I will say that, and the way the pine trees grow and that they're like so tight together. So I cut down, you know, I fell this tree and we got it down and it like went and was leaning over against this other one. Well, it was leaning over, which is fine. And I went and like, you know, was going to take a chunk out of it like eight feet up so we could get it further down and have it dislodged from this other tree. So it fall down and I made sure all the area around me and everything's fine. What I didn't realize is that further up on that tree that I had already cut down, there was a dead branch. So when I started moving the tree around, that dead branch was loose enough that when I went to start cutting down this like eight foot chunk of it, that dead branch came straight down and hit me on the top of the head, knocked me out cold.

Speaker 1:
[52:04] Oh, God.

Speaker 2:
[52:06] And like luckily the chainsaw went like fell to the side. I can't, I still to this day, I don't know how long I was knocked out for. I was out there by myself because the twins were literally like, I don't know, like four or five weeks old at this point. And Yari's just inside and I'm out in the woods completely alone. And I remember coming inside and she always is like, you know, always will tell the story of like, yeah, you came inside, you're white as a ghost, your eyes are completely bloodshot. And I had like, you know, the mixture of like clear liquid and like little blood coming from my ears because I fucking like I had spinal fluid coming out. It was bad, really, really bad. Horrible concussion. I didn't go to, I didn't go to urgent care because like one of my really good buddies was like my team medic. And I called him and he came over and he's like, yeah, dude, like you're, you got really bad concussion. So, you know, went through that whole episode. And I was on leave as it is, like I, so, you know, followed his instructions and everything was fine. But since then, and I'm always like, when you're talking about the chainsaw, I'm always like, dude, you gotta, you gotta watch out.

Speaker 1:
[53:22] And I feel like I take that shit seriously. Like, that's why I'm not felling anything. I'd call in the tree guys. I've had a guy come over because I got some dead ones that are still upright. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not messing with these. There's enough for me to do on the ground. And it's like, let's, let's, again, phase one, baby. Let's, let's work, let's work in 2D before we go 3D.

Speaker 2:
[53:45] For sure. So the grass, anyway, my grass is dialed, dude. We're deep into growing season. We're at two cuts a week right now. Everything's working out good. I'm gonna tear out, when I get back from Houston this weekend, I'm actually gonna tear out the flower beds in the front. And we're planting some new shrubbage and things like that just because I've had a heck of a time trying to keep and growth, like actually get some growth here in this Texas, you know, just rock. I gotta add some new, not just mulch, but some better soil in there if we want some pretty flowers and shrubbery and shit like that to actually grow. But everything else is looking good. Sticking to my fertilization plan had a great, you know, great winter into spring transitions where I didn't have, like, hardly any weeds or anything come through, all because of the work that I did last fall, making sure that I get all those, you know, everything laid down in time. It was good.

Speaker 1:
[54:44] It sounds like you're growing some food.

Speaker 2:
[54:49] We got some raised beds going on in the back, incredible growth. We got, this is the girls' project, so each one of them have their own bed, and then Yari and I have another one that we are growing what we actually want in there. So got some really good, you know, basil and cilantro is already up, getting ready for first picking coming up. We got cucumbers showing really good signs of life, carrots, some good spring carrots that are getting dangerously close. Tomatoes are looking good, and then the girls have a mixture of sunflowers and all the other little good, really good looking things that I'm excited for them to start blooming here. But it's crazy how quick it grows. And we've gotten so much rain, and there's so much, you know, like, it's like a mix between, like, potting soil and, like, just super high concentrated, like, good cow shit in there that any sort of rain, the flowerbeds just, like, light up with all these mushrooms, and then they die out when, like, the sun comes back around. But it's really cool to see how fast it's coming along.

Speaker 1:
[56:00] And these are, like, wood boxes that you built?

Speaker 2:
[56:03] Correct.

Speaker 1:
[56:04] OK. Any reason you didn't just put it in the ground? Like, is that weed control? Like, what's the thought there?

Speaker 2:
[56:10] Well, no, is that I don't know where I permanently want them to be on the ground yet. And I know, like, you know, anything that I put on the ground is going to kill off where, you know, where I'm growing grass. So not saying that they're necessarily, like, mobile. It's definitely like a two-person lift per box. I can't move them by myself just because they're so heavy. But I don't know. I think I've always said that I wanted a putting green in my backyard.

Speaker 1:
[56:41] Sounds like you got the fleet to make that happen.

Speaker 2:
[56:43] I think we're really close to, like, convincing her that this is a possibility. So I've been, you know, we've been drawing some sketches together of what this potentially could look like. And then I think everything's going to have a permanent home. Her only request is that she wants, like, a new backyard fire pit area, which I'm like, oh, totally. Yeah, yeah. We can put it like, you know, I don't be like the T-box in L shaped green, like a little bunker out there. And like we can put the fire pit like right next to the T-box. We're going to be good to go.

Speaker 1:
[57:12] Oh, yeah. Hell, yeah.

Speaker 2:
[57:14] We got a lot going on. And I just love this time of year, like from Masters basically till US Open when it's not like crazy, ridiculously hot, because it's all the fun stuff of like things starting to grow. You're managing it. You got the grill fired up like it's finally just sweet. And I know you got your new grill set up. But you've had well, it's also what's going on.

Speaker 1:
[57:38] It's also Mother's Day coming up. And I want to talk about Mother's Day. They could they could or could not be brought to you by the NLU Pro Shop. And our Pro Shop team ran a highly scientific focus group on Mother's Day Gifts. The sample size was three humans. The methodology was mostly kind of vibes and anecdotal. But the consensus we heard was, quote, please don't make me pretend to like something again. Based on this outcome, we've come up with a very simple solution for all of you. Go to store.nolayingup.com and click on the ladies collection under the collections tab. So that's in the top right up on the menu bar. There you're going to find some legitimately great gear from Roeback, from Footjoy, some custom stuff. We've got polos, quarter zips, hoodies, outerwear, stuff that actually looks good, fits well, and most importantly, gets worn again by your significant other. We're talking about tasteful athleisure, not golf gear. No weird graphics, no absurd cut choices, no panic purchases that immediately get demoted to the back of the closet, and those can get you sent to the dog house, much like vacuums for birthdays. We don't want to do that again, as we've talked about on this here podcast. This is the gear that says, I put thought into this. Even if all you did was hear this ad and open your phone and execute the order within 90 seconds. As fellow gift givers, we're not here to expose your methods. We're not here to audit your past performance. We're here to stabilize the operation going forward. We're trying to help you avoid a scenario where you find yourself freestyling. You don't want to be doing that for Mother's Day. We don't need you to try to get cute. We don't need you to have to explain why you bought something described online as quote cowboy chic. So just don't do it. Just go to store.nolang. Go to the ladies collection. It's a safe space. Just make sure you get the sizing right. Best of luck to all of you on Mother's Day coming up. I will say, I just put it in order. Got Carson, a row back ready crew. She's been wearing the buck out of it. So some good stuff. I got three sister-in-laws. They all want some of the stuff that's in the current NLU ladies collection. So store.nolangup.com. Cody, you mentioned the grill. So I had my buddy, Evan, he came out with his wife, Sara. They stayed with us over the weekend. It was fantastic to have some guests work. They stayed up here in the vibray. The pullout couch has been great. I'm getting good feedback on the comfort of this here couch slash bed that we have. So I'm thrilled about that. Evan, similar to me, both have some grill insecurities. We're like, ah, man. But I was vulnerable with him. I was like, hey, man, I got burgers, I got sausages, I got some chicken I want to grill. And I was like, I want to do this together. You and I are going to be out on the back deck with the Weber grill. Let's make this happen. Happy to report, cook some fantastic burgers, fantastic hot dogs.

Speaker 2:
[60:29] Well seasoned, hopefully.

Speaker 1:
[60:31] Yeah, well seasoned. I had the Sandhills seasoning from our Nebraska trip. So I was liberal with that on the burgers.

Speaker 2:
[60:39] You have to be.

Speaker 1:
[60:40] You know what? I've realized, man, you don't have to, you just have to create a plan and you got to stick to it. And I've got a good meat thermometer and I've been utilizing it. Where I've always been like, but you just take the temperature. Take the temperature. You get right up around where you want it and then take them off and they're going to kind of continue to cook. But let's get them in that tin foil to cook a little bit longer. And I was able to hit nice medium burgers. I know that's not, a lot of people are listening to this like, what a clown. But like when you're new at grilling, you get antsy, man, on like you flip too much and you like, and so I did a good job. I only flipped once. I had a good sear on both sides of the burger. They just looked appealing. And there's a real satisfaction in that. And doing it with my buddy who also, we were both kind of like high five. We were like, yeah, man. We're like turning into some dads here. This is good stuff. So I'm looking forward to using the grill a little bit more and getting next up is I'm gonna, I think I'm gonna cook some steaks here on Friday. That's, you know, I'm gonna get some good meat. Sometimes I hesitate to buy good meat because I don't want to fuck it up, you know? But I'm gonna go with some thick ass steaks and see what we can do.

Speaker 2:
[61:50] Well, good meat, some of the times can save your fuck ups too.

Speaker 1:
[61:55] I know, but you, like, that's why I'm like, let's just, we've been doing burgers, chicken, you know? But we're gonna go, again, we're going phase two here. We're gonna cook some good meat this weekend.

Speaker 2:
[62:05] Well, I'll unpack this one a little bit. Please. Where do you think your insecurities from this come from? Like, did you guys not grill at home?

Speaker 1:
[62:16] No, we did. I just never really, like, went out with my dad and, like, you know, and he's not his fault, but he's never been like, hey, come out here, son, I want to teach you this. It was more just like, my mom would be like, hey, Steve, put the steaks on. And then I would just, like, not go do it with him.

Speaker 2:
[62:31] And yeah, cool, dad, let me know when dinner's ready.

Speaker 1:
[62:34] And I mean, honestly, some of it is like, I don't have, like, similar to how I was saying, I really like working in the yard. In theory, I would really like to want to cook more. I just don't have that desire. And I think you can work yourself past that and get, but I do know it's a skill that I want to get better at. And so like Tron loves to cook and he loves to use the grill. And so it's just rats, man. And so some of the insecurity comes from, he's really good at it. So whenever we're together as a family, he's the one that's going to be working the grill. And he's been helpful. Like he came up here in the winter and we grilled some stuff together. And so I'm picking it up. But, you know, at 36, I'm like, man, I should be a little farther along than I am. So there's an insecurity there. You know, I'll be invulnerable.

Speaker 2:
[63:20] Come on.

Speaker 1:
[63:20] Oh, for sure.

Speaker 2:
[63:23] It's such like a dad thing. I think for a long time, like when you're single or you're, you know, recently married, freshly married, you're like, oh, yeah, you can get away with a lot.

Speaker 1:
[63:37] I think when it's when you live in a city and don't have a grill, you just don't do it. Right. So that's that's phases of life for me. I just didn't I never really had, you know, I grew up a little bit on my rooftop, but that was like a shitty electric, you know, I wouldn't say I was getting there. Yeah. So I'm happy. No, I'm just saying I'm I feel like we're making progress.

Speaker 2:
[64:01] Right.

Speaker 1:
[64:01] And I love you become less intimidated about like ruining something when you just have like the basic skills. And and this was one of the first instances where it was like I'm cooking for other people that are not Carson. So it's like, OK, a little bit more of a risk there. But I'm also doing it with somebody that's just as uncomfortable around the grill as me.

Speaker 2:
[64:23] Yeah, you're in it together.

Speaker 1:
[64:24] So instead of using my brother as a crutch of like, by the end of the grill session, it's like he's just kind of flip. OK, let's you know, he's his airplane, right? And it's like, no, this is my I got to land this plane. This is my grill. I'm cooking for these people. We're going to have to make this count.

Speaker 2:
[64:39] Are the boys getting into your grilled meats yet?

Speaker 1:
[64:43] No, we chopped up a little little hamburger for Petey, but Wes is, you know, he's not, he's not. Well, of course.

Speaker 2:
[64:50] But Petey, is he, is he eating normal like normal people food or is it still like, eh?

Speaker 1:
[64:58] He's picky though. He's picky, which I don't like, you know, and as he gets older, I'll let him know that. But he loves meatballs. He likes beef, which is good. Doesn't really like chicken that much, which is kind of like, come on, dude, who doesn't like chicken? What's your deal, homie?

Speaker 2:
[65:16] I'm just trying to save you a blueberry. I'm trying to save you. I remember, this might have been our last booth where you were just flabbergasted by this invention that people called the air fryer and you thought that it was kind of a new development.

Speaker 1:
[65:33] Not a new development.

Speaker 2:
[65:35] New development to you, but I remember your mind was blown, which I agree with. Air fryers are sick, but it was just kind of a life changing moment for you as your food prep.

Speaker 1:
[65:46] Well, I think, though, and I have used the air fryer a good amount, it's a nice tool, but similar to just being outside. It's nice to go out in the back deck and like.

Speaker 2:
[65:56] Oh, the two aren't comparable at all.

Speaker 1:
[65:58] There's like, there's a, I don't know, a psychological effect to cooking food outside. I think that is a very healthy thing.

Speaker 2:
[66:06] Shit, that's what you're supposed to do as a man. It's in your DNA, dog.

Speaker 1:
[66:11] I'm excited that I, I'm not as, I'm not picking up like cooking as much as I'd like to, but grilling, I can get down with. Like, I can, I can make that my contribution, along with, of course, being founding member of the Ibot and doing the dishes.

Speaker 2:
[66:27] Of course. As a, I know you talked a lot about this when you lived in the city and your reliance kind of on ordering out food.

Speaker 1:
[66:38] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[66:39] Has that changed since we've been to the country?

Speaker 1:
[66:41] We've gotten a lot better about...

Speaker 2:
[66:43] Do you still have the same amount of options or is it just...

Speaker 1:
[66:45] No, no. But, you know, it's basically we're going to order, I'm going to go pick up Thai food and I'm going to go pick up pizza once a week. So it's kind of like two, two days a week, we're definitely going to, which I think is a good cadence, but the other, I'd say four or five days a week are, we're, you know, cooking chicken, sauce and pepper pasta, grilled chicken on the grill.

Speaker 2:
[67:11] I think I would like to mix it. Grilled chicken is hard, dude.

Speaker 1:
[67:14] It is harder than you think, man. Thighs.

Speaker 2:
[67:18] Okay. Thighs, I feel like you can get away with a lot more. But breasts, I- You're worried about the internal temperature, but also like they get super dry and you're like, oh, man, like you can all you can also like just char the shit out of them if you don't pay pay attention.

Speaker 1:
[67:34] That makes me feel better because I always thought of as a novice griller that chicken was easier and it's not. It's like, no, it's got to have to be more diligent about the chicken. So I and I feel like I've done a pretty good job with it of late. So I'm like, OK, pleasantly surprised that I'm, you know, you want to do it. Chicken breast hack, please.

Speaker 2:
[67:52] Chicken breast hack. Number one is that these chicken titties are too big these days. I think everybody's in agreement of that. Like too much hormones. I agree. But you cannot, if you're going to grill a chicken breast, what I would say is that put it on your cutting board and cut that sucker in half.

Speaker 1:
[68:11] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[68:12] Horizontally, not vertically. Don't chop it into like two, in half. Thin it out. Try to thin it out because number one is going to cut down your overall cooking time. But number two is that it helps it so you can maintain your temperature, your internal temperature a little bit longer just because you're not, you know, some of those...

Speaker 1:
[68:30] Throughout the chicken...

Speaker 2:
[68:31] .inch, inch and a half. And the chicken breast is like, you know, from the thick part all the way down to like the tail. Like it just, it's hard to keep it so it's moist throughout. And I feel like if you, you know, you trim it so it's almost even throughout it helps you go a lot longer. If you're going to barbecue or put barbecue sauce on things, put barbecue sauce in like the last two to three minutes that you're cooking it.

Speaker 1:
[68:55] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[68:55] Don't lather that thing. Don't lather a naked, naked titty up with barbecue sauce, then put it on the hot grill because all those sugars are just going to burn onto it. And that's where you get really burnt, burnt breasts.

Speaker 1:
[69:07] Good. This is great intel. I do seek out, when we go bread, I think thighs are just better. But I do seek out the boneless, skinless, thin chicken breasts. They offer those now at the store. So I'm always looking for those.

Speaker 2:
[69:25] I'm so excited. Neil, you got to keep this up. By the end of the summer, we're going to get you in the smoking game, dog.

Speaker 1:
[69:31] Well, I know. I know that's what's out there for me. Just like growing food is out there. There's always a next level here.

Speaker 2:
[69:38] And so many projects by the end of the year.

Speaker 1:
[69:40] I know, which is like now I'm like, should I go hit golf balls or should I go use chainsaw? Not enough time, brother.

Speaker 2:
[69:48] Oh, you can find time. I think we all can find. I need to find better time. I know that. Hand up on that. I haven't done. I've hit golf balls once since we've returned from a golf trip in January. It's just been not good.

Speaker 1:
[70:02] All right, Cody, hit me. What reading, watching, using, planning, what do you got for me? You don't have to hit every category, but give me something that's top of mind.

Speaker 2:
[70:12] Well, I think we talk a lot about what we're reading, and DJ and I spent a lot of time at Pebble this year doing our live shows, and we were together troubleshooting just a disastrous live show situation, and cars, and he's trying to distract me on things, and we're talking about the book that he was reading at the time, and he was just getting ready to finish Lonesome Dove, and I think we've both read that book multiple, multiple times, and I always forget how good it is. Then when Robert Redford dies, and you're just kind of... There's a lot of Western themes floating around in my head lately. I think a lot of this has to do with the Taylor Schellar effect of living where I live, and you just see things, and he was so excited, and I had so much fun talking to him about Lonesome Dove again, that I picked it back up. So I've been absolutely jamming on Lonesome Dove, which this is going to be the fifth time that I've read this book, and it's a thick, this is a commitment to get through Lonesome Dove. But I also, Larry McNerdy, who's the author, this isn't the only book, Lonesome Dove is a part of the series. So what I did instead of just reading Lonesome Dove, I also pre-ordered the three others. So I am going to crush, this is what's going to get me through the summer. All of the other books and everything else like that. Streets of Laredo, Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon. So they're not all following the exact same story, but you have basically the same, same similar ethos through the mall. So that's what I'm working on right now. We are so deep into, well, actually just finished The Pit.

Speaker 1:
[71:59] Pit rules.

Speaker 2:
[72:00] Have you caught up on this most recently?

Speaker 1:
[72:03] I'm done.

Speaker 2:
[72:04] Yeah, I thought it was great. I spent a lot of-

Speaker 1:
[72:07] Season one was better, of course.

Speaker 2:
[72:08] I agree, but I spent a lot of time thinking through, before season two came out of like, what could they possibly do in season two that's not the same? And then I realized like, oh my goodness, it's just 24 hours or a shift of whatever they want it to be. I like the way that certain characters were developed this year, some more than others. I still, the young white doctor, I don't really care for her, and it seems like she's just always whining. Santos? Yeah, Santos stinks. But I think you need a character like that. And yeah, it's just awesome. I don't know what's going on.

Speaker 1:
[72:45] So I love the pit, but like, Carson struggled to watch it. You know, you get some of these like, like season one, the kid drowning in the pool stuff. You know, some of that shit just hits a little too close to home. For sure. The yeah, it's just like some of some of it. For some reason, I'm like, no, I'm in I'm into it. So I kind of watch some of it alone. But I love the I was a big fan of 24. I just like the concept of like we're we're real time shows of like this is just one day. I also think it can backfire a little farfetched. Like when they're, you know, in 24, when they're on the other side of LA and like five minutes later, it's like that. It probably doesn't work. But I think being in a hospital is good stuff.

Speaker 2:
[73:34] I also think it's fascinating how they they shoot it. Famously, they, you know, when they're filming the pit, the actors are, you know, they don't have like set times or anything when like they're shooting their scenes. Everyone is in that set together and they just have two cameras that are constantly moving around. So it might not be your speaking line, but like you're in the background still doing your charting or whatever else it is. It's just a fascinating way how they're going about the actual like production and direction of of that series.

Speaker 1:
[74:07] Well, I hope, you know, there's no new ideas under the sun these days, like, but I'm such a sucker for a good procedural drama. Yeah, let's not overcomplicate this. I don't really need the sci fi stuff, man. I don't I don't know if I need another Game of Thrones. Like, why don't we do a modern, updated version of Law and Order? Yeah, like, give me some give me something like that. Like, yeah, they're just taking ER and modernizing it like fuck. Yeah, man. Like, that's what I'm looking for. More shit like that.

Speaker 2:
[74:37] I just thought it was weird like last year when, you know, not necessarily Law and Order, but kind of when Suits, like when Suits got put on Netflix and all of a sudden people are like, this show is really awesome. I'm like, yeah, it was awesome.

Speaker 1:
[74:49] Like when it was often when I was in college, when I watched it then, like, it's not new.

Speaker 2:
[74:54] Like, what do we just it's just weird how people's watching.

Speaker 1:
[74:57] Well, what happens with any show, which is why I'm like, yeah, like, give me a reboot of all this stuff is this Suits cast. It gets tired because, you know, it's like, oh, my God, Harvey's going to get fired. Oh, no, he's he's got rehired. You know, it's like they ran out of of storylines. But it's like you could just so it looks like they did that with Suits LA, but I haven't watched that.

Speaker 2:
[75:17] I haven't watched a single episode of it. No.

Speaker 1:
[75:21] Yeah. So I love the pit was signed me up for that. That's one of those I always look forward to. I was at Thursday.

Speaker 2:
[75:28] Yeah, I know. It's sad. It's over. You know, Yari has a ton of shows that she's watching by herself, too. So and I watched.

Speaker 1:
[75:37] Well, I feel guilty saying this, but Carson was on like episode two or three of Love is Blind. I got it's like fentanyl, dude. Yeah, I hate myself, but I was like, I'm not watching this. I'm not watching this. I'm like, all right, what's the next episode? I fucking hated that show, but I watched a bunch of the newest season of Love is Blind. And I hate saying that out loud.

Speaker 2:
[76:02] I'd have to add you to Randy and I's group chat about it.

Speaker 1:
[76:04] I know Randy's deep in the Bravo scene.

Speaker 2:
[76:09] The other thing is that Alone, I finally got around to finishing Alone. I don't know if you finished the new season or not, but.

Speaker 1:
[76:15] I haven't. What channel?

Speaker 2:
[76:19] Yeah, Netflix.

Speaker 1:
[76:19] Netflix? No, I haven't watched the updated one. That's another one where I can sit down and watch like six episodes of Alone in one sitting. So that's a dangerous one for me as well. Talk about like, I don't have enough time. It's like, well, maybe like, let's just not sit down and watch six hours of Alone.

Speaker 2:
[76:35] The last thing outside of like just a lot of things that are completely ridiculous going on in this world. I do want to say there is like, I'm not gonna hand it to them, but Trump daddy signed a new executive order last weekend to like set, basically set aside or directed the FDA to invest $50 million into Ibogaine access research and a clinical trial for Ibogaine to support veterans dealing with PTSD. Which I think is something that in the veteran space, like we've been, we've been desperately asking for, for a long, long time. And there's been like, you know, Rogan's been on this block for a super long time talking about the benefits of it. We've done Stanford Research Trial with veterans in Ibogaine. And then basically for the last two years, any veteran that has, there's basically two companies right now that will take veterans to Mexico to do Ibogaine treatment. And it always has been so silly, the fact that people who served our country, who are like struggling with PTSD have to jump the border to go basically just to Tijuana to get like Ibogaine treatment done. That has shown such like good healing and therapeutic properties that are like resetting people. I know we had KVV on like two years ago when he got back from the retreat that he covered while he was at ESPN. And like it's literally changing people's lives. So that's like the one glimmer of good news that we currently have going for us. And I'm pumped. Now, I was selected to go on an Ibegain retreat. I was going to call it an experience, but it's not an Ibegain retreat. I was supposed to go last fall and this was when they shut down the government. And at the time, the program that I was selected to go under 50% of their funding was coming from the VA. And when they pulled the funding because the government was shut down, they basically stopped all retreats going on. And I got put back into this wild shuffle. And even though we're already in April, four months into this, I still have not been assigned a new retreat date yet. So for me, the fact that we potentially could have access somewhere in the United States and Texas passed a law, a house bill earlier this year, basically saying the same thing that Texas was going to commit $50 million to or $10 million, excuse me, to research and clinical trials within the state is absolutely amazing, not only for people like me, but I hope a bunch of other veterans that are in the same space.

Speaker 1:
[79:24] Any timeline on?

Speaker 2:
[79:27] I don't know, man. No, I still haven't been assigned a new date or anything like that. Going to my classes, part of this is not just the retreat. You have to go and we're in a monthly, I'm assigned to a group that we meet monthly and talk through things and Is that still going on? Very much still going on. And we just haven't been assigned a new retreat time yet. So it's just...

Speaker 1:
[79:50] Yeah, that pissed me off last fall because I was checking in with you on like, are we good? And then like a month before you're like, nope, it got canceled. I'm like, man.

Speaker 2:
[79:58] So we're still there. We're still actively doing it. We're just waiting, literally waiting on times.

Speaker 1:
[80:05] Just to go to T1. I mean, good news on the funding stuff.

Speaker 2:
[80:08] For sure. I'm very excited. Hopefully this doesn't get caught up in some sort of bureaucratic bullshit, which more than likely will. But I think there's enough advocates that want to see this happen. And again, like to a lot of people, like psychedelics, it might seem crazy and you might not completely understand it. But at one point in time, the VA was prescribing 12 different medicines to take. So I don't think like, you know, I wasn't really feeling very good, very in myself, like living day to day, going down that route. So let's let's try. You know, I think we can try something else here. So, you know, Pfizer, yes, and everybody else like, oh, by the way, illegal. Who do you think is completely against the trials and going down this route? Yeah, the pharmaceutical pharmaceutical drug industry. So you think it's because they care about veterans or their well-being or anything else like that? No, it's because they care about their bottom line.

Speaker 1:
[81:07] Well, that's a good update, though. Keep me posted on the on the retreat because I'm very interested to hear about that.

Speaker 2:
[81:14] Potentially. We're going to have, we might have a might have them in the United States, Neil.

Speaker 1:
[81:19] I know it might make it a little easier, which would be great. What were you supposed to go to Jamaica?

Speaker 2:
[81:25] I originally was selected to go to Jamaica.

Speaker 1:
[81:28] Which, listen, it'd be nice to go to Jamaica, too.

Speaker 2:
[81:30] Yeah, it would. Never been there, but, you know, hurt good things. Anyway, what about you? Reading, watching, you know, I've been, I've been, love it.

Speaker 1:
[81:41] My reading habits have been awesome. All this year, last year, two books I want to shout out. One, finished it like a month ago, this book Shadow Divers by Robert Curson. It kind of just, it was one of those where I was looking for, like, man, can I read it like noon? Like I'm looking for an excuse to not just read before bed. This book ruled. It was, it's about, it's, it's about like a subculture in the 90s, the early to mid 90s of deep sea wreck diving on the East Coast. And talk about a subculture of guys that are just addicted to an activity. And this guy, the writing, I love when someone can do like really good nonfiction writing, but almost in scenes. You're like, how did he, like one of the guys is a Vietnam vet. He was like a medic in Vietnam. One of these, the main characters. And he's like this epic wreck diver. And it's, you know, in Vietnam, he was like the medic who would just run through bullets and, you know, like just turn his brain off to danger. And it's like, he found that release with diving. This is before, like, Trimex, you know, it's when they just dove with oxygen. So the bends, all these guys are diving. They're going like 200, 300 feet down. And they're like-

Speaker 2:
[82:56] Which is crazy.

Speaker 1:
[82:57] Then they get Narcosis down there and they freak out. And, you know, just explaining what Narcosis is. Cause I don't have any experience with scuba diving. And so these guys were the first guys because of this wreck they found off the coast of New Jersey. It was a U-boat that they had never been mapped before. And they couldn't figure out what U-boat it is. These guys just become obsessed with figuring out like, is it U-boat 869 or U-boat, you know, 817? And then they're doing all this research at the National Archive. And I just couldn't get enough of the book because of how, cause it goes into all these guys, like one guy turns into like mega alcoholic. He's like the wreck diving. He like ran wreck diving tours across the East Coast. But these guys just get obsessed with it. And there's these rivalries with different boat captains and all this stuff. And it's just an awesome book about like how a hobby can become an obsession. And just the way it's written, it's like, some of it you're like, man, is this really nonfiction? Like this guy's just, but when a nonfiction writer can just, the way that like Eric Larson does where they can take interviews and turn them into like scenes of like, man, I'm like, I feel like I'm down on this boat with these guys. I'm like, did the author go down there? Like what the fuck? This is crazy. So then I get deep into research in the book and apparently there was some backlash to the book from this guy, Gary Gentile, who was another wreck diver. So he writes a book called Shadow Divers Exposed. I haven't read that one, but he's saying like a lot of this stuff is like, it's not true. And so then, you know, you start looking at the message boards and it's, it's just, I love getting into a subculture through, through reading. Almost the way, or a documentary, like the King of Kong. It was kind of like that. I'm like, man, I don't know anything about this, but I am fascinated by how much these guys love wreck diving. Didn't really make me want to try it, but I thought it was very cool.

Speaker 2:
[84:52] Shadow Divers Exposed, the real saga of U869.

Speaker 1:
[84:57] Yeah. So that was, you know, but these guys are going to Germany. They're trying to check in with the old U-boat captains. You know, they're doing, and they ended up solving the mystery of which boat it was, but they couldn't find for like years, they would dive this wreck and they couldn't find anything on board to identify what boat it was. And they had all these theories of like, oh, it's going to be on the machine gun or it's going to be here, it's going to be here. And they just kept like striking out. And so then they get more and more like cavalier with like what parts of the boat, like getting through like a bunch of wires and stuff that could get them all tangled up. And then they're going to run out of oxygen. So they started doing like, you know, they started taking some serious risks and they end up finding some identifying stuff and figuring out what boat it is. But then it goes through all like the history of the Navy and how they track like which U-boats they sunk with depth charges. Because you know, it's not like the boat comes up to the surface. So it's like some of it was kind of like end of World War II. They're trying to close the book on like, well, yeah, let's just say this was U-1817. And it's like, well, no, that one, they said that one, they blew it up off the coast of Morocco. And it's like, no, man, those guys were over on the coast of the US. And so they're doing all this like forensic stuff on old Navy archives and stuff, which is crazy. And then they get some access to classified stuff. Anyway, I highly recommend if you're into like historical nonfiction, it was just like the trifecta of like some World War II history, subculture analysis and just good, just good writing.

Speaker 2:
[86:29] Which ties into your trip that you took a couple years ago to Argentina, where you continue to try to track the rat lines, German activity. So it says two American scuba divers, John Chatterton.

Speaker 1:
[86:41] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[86:42] And Richie Kohler, who discovered the 19 or in 1991, discovered a sunken German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, leading them to a six year obsession quest to identify the wreck and its crew. So the sunken U-boat, they later identified as U 869. They believe sunk in February 1945 with all.

Speaker 1:
[87:05] And he goes into the history of the captain and who was on the boat. So like it's a long way. I couldn't get enough of it, though. And Chatterton is the old Vietnam vet or Vietnam medic. And he's like in the wreck diving community, like everyone's like this, you know, he's like the Ken Griffey Jr. That comes in as like just like, oh man, that guy's got skills. You know, he's, he's going deeper. He's, he's real smooth getting into small compartments, blah, blah, blah. And then the other guy, Richie, they, those two hated each other at first. He was part of this almost like crew, almost like biker gang of wreck divers. And they would wear like vests and they would moon people from their boats and Chatterton didn't like their whole vibe. Like, you know, he thought they were, they were too brash. But then these two end up becoming like best friends. You know, they ended up like joining forces. Cause the Richie's crew, they were all about the spoils. Like, what can I take off this boat? Like what, you know, what dishes can I take off of this steamer? What, you know, basically the artifacts. Whereas Chatterton didn't give a shit about like bringing anything up to the surface. He was more about like the story and identifying the wreck properly. And you know, who was on the boat and all that shit. So it's just, yeah, it's a really good book. Now I'm reading a book now about a character I've never seen in the movie, only just heard his name, but about Lawrence of Arabia. Recommended by TrapDraw alum and listener Jerry Bell, we're trying to basically figure out like going back to like, why is the Middle East so fucked up? And it's basically go back to World War I and draw in just straight lines across the desert on borders and stuff. And TE. Lawrence and the boys dividing up the Hegez region and just Arabia. And the book is called Lawrence in Arabia War Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson. This one, a little denser, writing what just straight history. Not doing a whole lot of narrative, but this guy's, I mean, it's got a lot of depth to it. I'm learning a ton and it's been a good read so far. I feel like basically a part of World War I that due to hardcore history, I feel like I know a good amount of World War I, like Western, Eastern Front, but like not a ton about Gallipoli, what's going on in Egypt and just like the British and the French. Kind of like they got their hands full in Europe, but they're still trying to like, you know, pick off what they can from the Ottomans, you know, the sick man of Europe. And but just like all the different ethnic groups, like the how like Zionism started in this time. And it's very fact-based. It doesn't sometimes you can get read these history books and it's got some narrative, but he doesn't feel like he's trying to paint Lawrence as like a good character. He's just a striking character of history. You know, basically he was just like an intel guy. Basically just gets like deemed a captain in the British army, but he was just like a political animal and really. But what like from about 30 percent of the book, like the thing that the author is really pointing out is he was one of the few Europeans that like loved the learning about Arab culture and being immersed in it. And so he kind of learns the customs and culture. So he's like one of the first Europeans that the Saudi, basically the Saudi tribes, you know, the tribal, like the Europeans were not allowed into the interior, like Medina and Mecca. It was like he got access to go in, like when they were trying to fight the Turks and he becomes like a trusted ally. So anyway, that's where I am in the book. So I would recommend that one too, if you're looking for a history lesson.

Speaker 2:
[90:58] God, that's sweet. Reminds me, when I was in Egypt, one time I took a day off and I decided like do normal tourism stuff. And I took a guided tour that was two parts. The first part of this tour was like from 1900 to 1922 or something like that. And it was told via the Egyptian side. And then like you go through like this big like tour around the city, like all these different historical sites and everything else like that. And this is in Cairo. And then you get back to the starting point and then you do the exact same thing, but from the British perspective. And then you get done. And at the end, they talk together. And it's like supposed to show like unifying and healing and everything else like that. But just like how total opposites they were like telling the story of like their families or whatever lived experience in Cairo. I'm like, holy shit, it was crazy.

Speaker 1:
[91:59] Well, and there's just, you know, the Germans, there's this guy, Kurt Proofer, that was a bad ombre that he's, you know, so you got like Lawrence, TE. Lawrence, and then you got this proofer. And they're all just, you know, it's just like manipulative shit on both sides. And but the thing that sticks out is like the these two guys took like they learned the language, they hang out in the Egyptian neighborhood, you know, they they they kind of embed themselves versus most of the expats in these parts of the world. They have their own neighborhoods and they stay in the hotels and stuff. So it's, I don't know, it's good book so far.

Speaker 2:
[92:34] There are still people, you know, surprisingly, I've run across more people like that out in the real world than like you probably would expect. Like I was expected to find like zero, not necessarily talking about Egypt. But I remember when we were in Syria and we had, we pushed, you know, we're obviously there fighting ISIS. But when we pushed across to the western side of the Euphrates River in northern Syria out to Manbij and then like post, after Manbij started to push out more towards Aleppo, there's all these like, you know, just crazy ruin sites that have been there forever. And we would randomly stumble upon a bunch of Americans and Brits that were out there that were like, what are you guys doing here? Like you're in an active war zone. You're like, we're here studying these, you know, artifacts and like looking at all these historical things. I'm like, no, no, no, like you're like bombs, like suicide by like bombers everywhere. Like, what are you what are you doing here? And they're like, no, no, we're here like we're protected. I'm like, I don't think you're protected. I don't think you should.

Speaker 1:
[93:43] Well, that's part of this book, too, is like a lot like standard oils playing a big role in trying to get like a land grab for mineral rights with the Turks. And their cover is always like they sent these guys in as like, oh, you guys are archaeologists. Yeah, it's like, sure. OK, sure. You know, and like TE. Lawrence is like, they're not archaeology. We know what they're up to. So it's like having that both nation states and the private businesses is like the first time corporations are playing a big role in in geopolitics, you know, all while like it's just carnage on the, you know, eastern and western front. So it's just like a total free for all because everybody's distracted in Europe.

Speaker 2:
[94:25] Yeah, that's it's crazy. History is crazy, man. What we what we societies have done to other societies for I know it's tough. Thousands of years.

Speaker 1:
[94:34] All right. I know you got to get you got to get moving, brother.

Speaker 2:
[94:38] I know.

Speaker 1:
[94:39] Enjoy your time down in Houston this week.

Speaker 2:
[94:43] I am pumped. I'm excited. Hopefully it's not raining the entire weekend. I don't know. I'm pumped for pumped for Memorial Park. Just happy they got it out of the woodlands there.

Speaker 1:
[94:54] And I really enjoyed I listened to the preview on my drive home and traffic yesterday for the for the Chevron. Exactly what I needed. You know, 10, 12 things you need to know before the first major of the year. So we tried people to listen to that. Before I tune in on the weekend for some decent TV windows for the LPGA this week.

Speaker 2:
[95:11] Yeah, for sure. It's getting better. You know, investment. Found people to put a little bit of money behind it. And it's amazing what you can do when you actually hold these networks accountable. What do you got coming up? Anything exciting?

Speaker 1:
[95:22] Yeah, I got a flight Sunday night to England. I'm flying to Heathrow, taking a train up to Liverpool this week, or next week. Be there until Friday. So first big trip since, I guess, since Costa Capo out of the country. So looking forward to hitting the road.

Speaker 2:
[95:42] Excited about that. Very excited to get up to Philly for a couple days in a few weeks, you know, middle and then big big trip the end of May.

Speaker 1:
[95:53] This is, I mean, business is in a good spot, man, where I feel like we're we're got a good plan this year. It's just this is the this is when you got a white knuckle it basically through the US Open for us. So we'll see how it goes.

Speaker 2:
[96:09] We'll see. We'll report back anyway, Neil, appreciate it and appreciate the check out the link in the nest. I'll put in the show description and appreciate Roeback Man presenting sponsor of this year TrapDraw Podcast.

Speaker 1:
[96:21] That's right.

Speaker 2:
[96:22] Anyways, we'll see you next time. Cheers.