I don't think it did. There you go. Nope, we
didn't start a thing. There we go. All right.
Sheesh. All right, man. It was a flurry. Crash
and burn. I didn't realize what the time was.
We were out there having a podcast in the green
room. We're working. We're diligent. We got a
lot of stuff going on. We start at 7. What time
do we start? 5. Oh. Wow. Okay. Yeah, we overshot
a little bit. I thought we started like at quarter
till. I could be wrong. No, we jumped around
with the time a lot. 6 .30, 6 .45. But the goal
was to start a little bit earlier because Jeff
wakes up at like 1 in the morning. Yeah, it's
ridiculous. Which I have to talk really quickly.
All right, well, check it out, guys. It's December
9th, 2025. It's a Dudes Like Us podcast. We have
a producer, Mr. Chuck, behind the helm over there
taking care of business. Dudes Like Us, I am
Sean. I'm Paul. And I am Jeff. We are here to
pump you up. I hate saying that, by the way.
Check us out on Facebook and Instagram, dudeslikeus
-podcast or dudeslikeus -woodcraft. We've got
some cool shit we can make. Sometimes. Whenever
we have time. Whenever we have time for. But
check us out. We're on everything. iTunes, Spotify,
Amazon. It's tons of fun. We enjoy doing it.
God bless it. It's our poker night, and it's
dudes like us. What do we got? We got a jam -packed
show today. We got a ton of stuff. We got a full
board. We'll see if we get to any of it. Yeah,
the board is overflowing with exciting. I'll
tell you what. I'll start with some somber news.
First of all, it started fucking Thursday night.
With the Detroit Lions and your fantasy football
fucking running back, scoring as many points
as he did. I was like, well, there goes my freaking
game. There's no way. Did you have Jameer Gibbs
or something? Gibbs had 29. And I knew I was
off to a good start. Just a commanding lead from
there. Whatever. It was kind of like my chances
of making the playoffs was similar to the Dallas
Cowboys' chances of making the playoffs right
before they slapped a big fat one with whom were
they playing? The Chiefs? The Lions. Oh, that
was the Lions that did that. Duh. That's why
Paul's running back. It was a double whammy for
me. But he's doing really well no matter kind
of who he plays. Yeah, he's good. He's good,
man. You know, he's extremely athletic. I was
tripping out on the way he moves. He reminds
me of a larger Barry Sanders. Right. Yeah, is
he real shifty? Yeah. Dude, he just – He's fast.
He'd stop on a dime. He's fast, too. Yeah. Yeah,
that game was – I expected more out of the Cowboys.
I thought they had a chance of winning, but –
You expected more out of them. Yeah, I did. Well,
their Lions – I didn't think Lions – I wouldn't
say Brown was going to play, but he ended up
playing. Right. And he actually had a decent,
good game. So that was part of it, plus Jameer
Gibbs. And the Cowboys suck nuts. And then my
Bengals, I think their chances are done at this
point as far as playoffs. It was a long shot
to begin with, but you're in a weak division,
and there was a mathematical chance. Correct,
correct. And it was an outstanding game. I love
watching games like that. They were in Buffalo.
It was snowing. Yes, it was tons of snow. Tons
of snow. I love watching games like that. And
I think Buffalo is building a new stadium. Hopefully
it's not a dome. But it was a great game, and
the Bengals had it in the bag. and then Joe Burrow
threw potentially one of the worst interceptions
I've seen, and that pretty much sealed it at
that point. Was that the one where he was really
short? It was really short. I don't even think
it was tipped. So are you for domes? It sounds
like you're against domes, right? Is that because
of the snow? Yeah, I don't like domes at all.
Maybe down here in the heat, but up north where
you get weather. So you're for snow? Oh, yeah,
100%. Those are fun. Those are fun games. Oh,
yeah, like the Buffalo Bills game. And whomever
they play, that was a wonderful game. Yeah, you'll
get it in Green Bay, Chicago, Bills, Cincinnati,
Pittsburgh. Is Baltimore outside? Or do they
have a dome? I think they're outside. I think
they are outside, yeah. I think just Minnesota
has a dome. Yeah, they do. They do, for sure.
The Saints have a dome. Usually they're an Astrodome.
Detroit has a dome. I love that game because
you're sitting there watching the corners, and
the corners are trying to be all careful. When
they're coming up to make a tackle, they're trying
not to fall down. I mean, it's just hilarious.
It changes everything. It does, and I understand
why some areas have domes, like Dallas, like
Phoenix. It's 120 degrees down here. It's miserable.
And the weather doesn't really change much down
here. I love it when it's in the elements and
it's natural grass or it's a torrential downpour
and it's a mud pit out there. Yeah, it's just
great. It's a big old mosh pit. One of the games
was a downpour. This past week? Yeah. I didn't
see it. I mean, they were all soaked. But I loved
it. I remember sometimes watching the Chicago
game. They had so much fog come in. You couldn't
even see the field. I remember that game. So
they were announcing the game, but you could
see the end zone. That's about it. This was years
ago? It was about a decade ago, maybe. Was it
longer than that? Yeah, it was. This huge fog
just rolled through, and you couldn't see anything.
That's hilarious. Yeah, but how about the game
last night? There was nine turnovers. Yeah, Philadelphia.
Actually, the Cowboys still have a chance. If
the Eagles. crapped themselves enough times,
Cowboys still have a chance. So there was four
interceptions and I think five fumbles. It was
nuts. A three -on -one play. Yeah, Jalen Hurts.
Yeah, I saw that. That was awesome. Jalen Hurts
is the first and only person to have two turnovers
in the same play. He threw the interception.
Is that for real? Yes. He threw the interception.
The guy who caught it fumbled it. Jalen Hurts
picked it up, got hit, fumbled it, and the other
team got it. So he had two. Two turnovers. Oh,
my gosh. That's funny. The only one to ever do
that. So, yeah, we're headed into the fantasy
football. Oh, did you like my little dig? Yeah.
I mean, if I made the playoffs, I'd probably
be doing the same thing. And look, I don't want
to give a shit. I know. We don't control any
of it. But I really kind of wanted to at least
make the playoffs kind of extended a little bit.
You never know. You could pick the best team.
I mean, hell. I mean. I thought my team was going
to suck ass this year. You did really well. Yeah,
and it's done well. Anyway, my text for our listeners
is, hey, are we doing a podcast tonight? Because
if not, Jeff and I can probably start planning
our strategy for the playoffs. Knowing full well
that Sean is not in the playoffs. I almost tucked
it back here. I was like, yeah, I'm sending all
my players to Cabo for the week. Oh, man. But
how about the Beavers, man? Dead last. Ouch.
Oh, yeah. He's lucky. Saving grace. Yeah, Jerry's
lucky that we don't do, like, some leagues, if
you're dead last, you have to, like, stand topless
at a major intersection. Oh, yeah. Oh, he'd like
that, though. And wearing, like, a big pink hat
or something crazy, or you have to be on a tricycle,
or they make you do crazy shit in some leagues.
Well, I've come in last before, so I'm glad we
didn't do that. Well, we'd make him perform a
movie with that chick that went to India and
did a movie and got sent to jail, almost prison,
I think she's going to go to. What is the...
What? Some chick does porn? Is this a segue?
Oh, he's talking about Bonnie Blue or whatever
her name is. Yeah, what is that? Is she the one
who screwed a thousand dudes in a day? Yeah.
Well, she went to somewhere. I think it was India
or Indonesia. I think it was. And she, they had
set up. Oh, Bali. It is. Indonesia. Bali, Indonesia.
So they had set up. Camera crews and everything,
and there are a bunch of guys over there. It's
not good, dude. She's going to go to prison.
They're strict. They're really strict over there.
When you go to a different country, you have
to understand their laws, their cultures, their
regulations. You're not in the U .S. anymore.
She's 27 -ish years old. She looks like she's
fucking 40 because she's been rode hard and hung
dry. But she's going to be 27. She'll be 37 before
she gets out. If they do it. I mean, she's in
another world. I mean, they're going to send
her to fucking prison over there. I wonder if
Trump will get her out. Man, I don't think he
should. I agree with that. I don't think she
should either. I mean, she's a degenerate. But
does 10 years, does that equate to what she did?
Well, Americans get arrested all the time in
other countries, right? Yeah. What makes her
special? She screwed a thousand guys. Right.
Is that special? Yeah. Well, I mean, remember
the whole Brittany Griner thing? Well, the whole
Brittany Griner. Yeah, we could trade some arms
dealer for her. Yeah, the most evil man on the
planet for Brittany Griner. Yeah, I remember
reading something about when she screwed those
thousand guys. I think it was in 24 hours. They
said the camera guys had stunk so bad in there.
Oh, God. And the guy was gagging and puking.
Because by the end, it smelled so bad. I mean,
you get like a garden hose and just wash them
off. I mean, it's got to be a cesspool, literally.
Could you imagine the last guy? I can't imagine
the second guy. Oh, I know. Come on. I don't
know, man. I don't know. Well, and then, apparently,
she filmed all this in an Airbnb. She did that
stunt in an Airbnb, and the people that, of course,
own the Airbnb had no idea. Oh. And so they had
to, yeah, there was a cleanup. They had to get
one of those. Hasmat restoration services. Yeah,
the Hasmat companies. They put a big tent over
it or something. Yeah. Well, you have to change
the entire. Like an ET. Well, you have to change
the colors. You'd have to almost like remodel
that because people will recognize that. The
degenerates that watch it. They're like, oh,
I want to stay there. Well, they may want to.
It may be an attraction. Exactly. I want to sleep
in the bed that Bonnie made. A thousand guys
in. Just leave the stench there. So gross. No,
don't leave it the way it is. Just go walk in
there and sniff. Okay. Well, that went south.
Just crotch and jeez. You started it. But you
know what? It was a noble topic because it's
a sign of the times. It's these streamers. It's
these kids that are. Itching to make a life out
of streaming. They're trying to have an easy
life and something that fits in the box for them
as far as what they are capable of doing. Instead
of going to school, instead of doing things that
you're supposed to do in normal life. This is
their go long, make it big opportunity. It may
work for some people, but look, even for those
people that they do get successful, let's say
they do hit it. It's not going to last long.
I mean, there's only a few. And then what? They
have $50 million. They can do what they want.
I was going to say, some of these girls make
a shit ton of money. Yeah, there's some 18 -year
-old who is the top grocer on OnlyFans. I can't
remember what her name is. I'm not talking about
the sexual places. She makes so much money. And
she's not doing sex stuff. I'm talking about
just regular streaming in general. Oh, yeah.
You also have to be careful about foreign laws
and stuff like you guys were saying. Who are
the two guys that went over to... Not Ukraine.
Like the Tate brothers? Andrew Tate. Yes. And
Tristan. What is the deal on that thing? They're
being accused of human trafficking or girls?
Yeah, but so. Was it stunt type stuff like that?
No, not at all. These guys, that was all BS.
Really? Yeah. So Andrew Tate was speaking up
during COVID and they were going after him because
of that. It was bald basically because he was
calling the left out. Pardon? In Romania. Yes,
he was in Romania. Yeah, but they're still going
after him. They have it, but there hasn't been
a single thing that's been filed against him.
He's not been, what is it called? Charged. He
hasn't been charged with anything. Really? It
goes to court and it gets dismissed. You know,
it's all because he was standing up for the United
States citizens and he was standing up against
COVID and he's standing up against this malarkey
bullshit that's going on across the planet. He
was sitting there saying, hey, guess what, guys?
I'm in Sweden right now. You know what I'm doing?
I'm having a good time. I'm going to a coffee
store. I don't have a mask on. And he was filming
it and it was going public. So what about the
girls? Where'd the girls come into play? You're
saying they just fabricated that? Not exactly.
There's a little bit more to the story. He was
recruiting girls of their free will to be camera
girls, right? The cam girls. And he was hosting
the studio where they'd be cam girls and he was
siphoning. rent off of the girls in Romania being
on camera. In other words, he's trying to get
eye candy to his show. He was hosting the OnlyFans
in Romania. So he flew them in and they were
insinuating. And look, the whole thing started
because one of the girls that was there had a
boyfriend. And the boyfriend Called the authorities
saying that he was holding those girls against
their will. Right. And that's where the allegations
come from. Yeah. And when they showed up, the
authorities showed up, they were kind of like,
yeah, there's nothing going on here. There's
nothing going on here. And then all of a sudden,
you know, Andrew was like, I can't believe they're
doing this stuff. And look, Andrew is a guy's
guy. I mean, granted, his tone. I don't agree
with 100 % of what he says. I don't know anything
about him. Does he run a political show? What
is he known for? Well, you can pull it up. He's
kind of brash. He says what he wants. He's a
kickboxer. He's super healthy. But does he have
a show? He used to. I don't know if it's around
anymore. Well, not anymore. He used to be public
a lot on social media. But they've really beaten
him up. I mean, he had a plethora of luxury cars,
and they took them all. And he got most of them
back, but it took a lot of money to do it. And
he was like, I have a private plane. And he says,
it's less expensive for me just to fly from point
A to point B. He's still out there doing stuff.
Yeah, and look, I don't agree with his lifestyle.
I mean, he says a lot of good stuff, meaning
he talks about men being men and women being
women. Everyone's got a place. But at the same
time, he doesn't degradate them. He doesn't put
them down. It's just like men have to stand up.
Stop being a pussy. If someone says something
like that, you need to stand up. No. And you
know you have to have two friends and you have
to have a wife that respects you. And if you
don't, then you need to get rid of her. And he
talks about all kinds of things like that. Pretty
blunt stuff, I guess. It is blunt, hard lessons
that maybe your dad missed out on teaching you.
Yeah. Right. And from that perspective, I kind
of like him. But he is obnoxious. And abrasive.
He's too much because he's kind of conceited.
Yeah. No, he's not kind of. He is conceited.
You know what? That's actually a perfect segue
to one of the things we have on the board, which
is if you could go back and tell your 18 -year
-old self something important. Like stock buys
kind of a thing? That comes up every time. No,
it's not buying Apple stock, because we'd all
say that, or Amazon stock. No, I mean, it's like
character stuff, or confidence stuff, or self
-security stuff, or like... maybe getting a different
degree. I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's kind
of tough because there's all kinds of easy, general
things that you could tell yourself to do. You
know, don't move there, you know, or don't have
four kids. Well, I mean, yeah. Well, yeah, it
would be things that you think about your own
life, right? Your life, you're talking about
your own life, and you say, man, if I could do
something differently, if I didn't do that, if
I didn't make that mistake. What would you tell
your 18 -year -old self? I think a big one for
me is visit the parents more often. Oh, that's
a big one. Because my parents moved 3 ,000 miles
away, and money was tight, and that was my excuse
that I can't afford it. Well, they're gone, and
I wish I would have gone. I could have afforded
it. Yep. Go visit them and go have meaningful
conversations with them. Yeah, and visit more
often. Yeah, that's a big one. And I kick myself
because... I see our boys. They're moving on
with life. You don't see them all the time. You
may miss a holiday. I look back at what I did
to my parents. I moved down here. They didn't
have cell phones. I didn't call them. They didn't
hear from me for months. I didn't go back for
Thanksgiving or Christmas or anything like that.
That's crazy. I kicked myself for doing that.
I would have told myself, don't be a dick. You
know, if you can't afford it, drive up there,
spend the two days or whatever it is, spend some
time with them and come back. And that's a message
for your boys now. I tell my boys, I have no
idea what I'm going to be like in 10 years. Right.
I mean, I could be like Bruce Willis. Any of
us could be like Bruce Willis. Right. So, like,
you know, make time to have meaningful conversations.
Yeah. Then my mom got sick and she passed away
when I was 36. Right. Right. And you always think
you have time. Yeah. When you're in your mid
-30s, you're like, oh, they'll be around. My
mom was sick for a long time, so I knew that
she didn't have long. But money was tight. And
I wish, even if it was just me, not the whole
family, just going out there more to see her.
I don't know. I kind of kick myself. I still
think about that today. Yeah. No, I mean, dude,
if I could have one more conversation with my
mom, because she started tanking, I don't know.
10 years ago, five years ago. I don't know when
it was, but I even have dreams, right? I'll have
a dream where I'm talking to my mom and I'm like,
in my dream, I'm shocked. I'm like, oh my God,
an opportunity to talk to her. How awesome. But
yeah, man, you never know. Let's see. What about
you? What about you, Sean? What would you tell
your 18 -year -old self? I would say love myself
more, appreciate, educate myself more. I'd say...
Love myself before I love other people. I try
to pump the brakes on getting involved with,
I would travel more, I would take care of me
more. Selfish things that you want to do in the
forefront. If you don't have time to be selfish
when you're growing up, you're going to miss
out because you're going to try to do that on
the back end and it's not going to work very
good. It's not conducive for relationships to
be selfish with your time. So travel, just do
the things that you want to do. Take chances.
If you're young, as long as you're taking care
of business, whether it's school or as long as
you have a plan, but have a plan. That's a big
one. My whole life I've operated without a plan.
You know what I mean? I just let the river of
life just kind of sweep me down, right? A diary.
A plan is huge. Don't worry about dating. I tell
my boys that. Have a five -year plan. Have a
10 -year plan. Well, it's also about being flexible.
You can have your plan, and then shit happens,
and that plan is not going to happen. Of course.
So I think flexibility is into that as well.
I mean, you can have this plan on, I want to
be a whatever, a doctor, and then all of a sudden
life changes. Life changes. You're in a car wreck
or whatever the scenario, right? You're like,
oh, I can't go to med school for another three
years because I need to learn how to walk again
or whatever the scenario. Whatever, yeah. And
that changes your perspective on things, and
maybe you want to, be something else. Right.
So, uh, having a plan, I never had a plan. Uh,
I have a plan now. Yeah. Right. Of, uh, retirement.
I've had that for a while, but, uh, I had no
plan on what I wanted to be, what I wanted to
do, where I was going to live or anything. Even
when I went from job to job, it was because I
got laid off and I needed a job and, and go get,
I went and got that job. You know what I mean?
There was never a plan. It was just like reacting
in the moment, reacting in the moment. I think
a lot of people live that way. Of course. I don't
know if it's necessarily bad. Unless when you
reach our age and you feel unfulfilled or you
wish you had made your mark on the world. I had
times of feeling that way when I was stuck at
a corporate job that I was not happy with. I
was like, I'm mid -40s or whatever, however old
I was at the time. I'm like, I've got responsibilities.
I've got a horse payment. I've got kids going
into college. I've got this. Yeah, you couldn't
take a lot of risks. I was like, I can't quit.
I can't start something new that interests me
a little bit more, start at the bottom again.
I have requirements and shit that I'm responsible
for and responsibilities. So I felt stuck. Not
all the time, but when you have these bad stretches
in your job. Oh, yeah. You're just like, fuck,
I don't want to do this anymore. But I have no
choice. Correct. What else am I going to do?
Correct. Well, I finally got to that point, and
I was like, fuck it. I don't need to do it anymore.
Right. Right. So I finally got to that point
where I was like, I don't have to anymore. Right.
So I don't. There you go. And now it's podcast
24 -7. Podcast 24 -7. Yeah, baby. This is going
to be our big break. You know what I would tell
my 18 -year -old self? Do not watch the Oilers.
Don't get sucked into them. Because the Oilers
become the Titans, and they will never go anywhere.
Or the Rockets. Well, the Rockets. No, no, no.
The Rockets won two championships. Would you
say don't invest all that money into the NBA
for 30 years? I don't want to talk about that.
That's a sore subject. I'm not ready yet. It's
too soon. What's that, Chuck? The Titans went
to the Super Bowl in 99 with Steve A. McNair.
2000, yes, they did. Okay, whatever. One yard
short, Kevin Dyson, yes. And we got our revenge
on the, you know, with the Buffalo Bills, with
the Music City Miracle. We've had some fun moments,
but dude, come on. Unbelievable. We need some
success. And right now, I think we're right there.
Like, I think we're, oh, no, we're 2 -13. You're
right there to be the first pick. Well, we may
have blown it. We won our game. Yeah, that was
– was it the defense? We beat the Browns. Yeah,
was it the defense that was so good? It was –
It was a running back or something, right? Yeah,
some – well, yeah. What's his name? Pollard went
nuts. That's right, Pollard. Pollard had two
touchdowns and 160 yards, something crazy. Right.
But what's his name? Sanders, right? Shitter
Sanders? Yeah, he had four touchdowns and almost
400 yards. And Dawson and I were both like, we
cannot be the team that makes him look good.
And we did. He looked good until, you know, he
threw a couple of picks. Right. And then, God,
when they, I didn't know, I didn't know that
his signature move was his whole. Show me the
Rolex. Yeah, show me the Rolex. I guess that's
what it is. Right. And so they picked him off
and the entire defense was in the end zone. all
doing this to the fans. And I was like, what
are they doing? I didn't understand at all, and
I had to ask Dawson. He's like, well, that's
Sanders' signature move. I was like, oh, God,
okay. Kind of like Johnny Manzo. What was he?
The money thing. Anyway. That just means that
you're big enough for them to make fun of you.
Yes. So he should feel good about that. Kind
of. You know, they're making fun of me. They
know my move. Okay, do you remember when they
were talking about him being drafted, and they
said his... A huge problem he's going to have
in the NFL is that he pats the ball. Did you
guys remember that discussion? Yes, sure. Because
as soon as he decides that he's going to throw
to somebody, he pats it. And so defenses, when
he got drafted, different defensive players were
getting on Twitter and saying, can't wait to
play you. I'm going to torch you. That hurt him
in our game. The commentator said, man, he's
got to fix that because linebackers know they
can take the chance. You know what I mean? They
can take the chance to start making their break
because he's patting the ball. He's just right
around patting the ball like this at all times.
Oh, so that they throw off the defense? Yeah,
so they're like, is he going to throw it? That
wouldn't look stupid or anything either, I don't
think. I think that would actually be a smart
idea. Anyway, but I didn't understand it during
the draft. And when they were talking about it
during the game, I was watching. I was like,
oh, that makes total sense now because he's basically,
what do you call it? Telegram. Telegraphing.
Thank you. He's completely telegraphing whether
or not he's willing to make a throw. And why
is he playing and not the Dylan Gabriel? Got
hurt. Yeah. Well, okay. Everybody's hurt on the
Browns. And he's not playing. I mean, I'll tell
you what. He had better numbers and some better
throws than freaking Cam Ward did. Cam Ward had
horrible numbers for that game. Cam Ward was
what pick? Number one pick. What was Shadur?
Like 300? Yeah. I think, was he fifth round?
Fifth round. Damn, that is crazy how far he fell.
Unbelievable. All right, anyway, back to the,
we talked about what you tell our 18 -year -old
self. This kind of leads into the other one.
What makes a man's life meaningful? Because obviously
that's one of the things you want to tell your
eight -year -old self, right? Your nut size.
Okay, I didn't... Just one of them? Like your
testicle size? Or are you talking about like
the... Are you growing acorns or something? Yeah,
just... I didn't see that one coming. Okay. So
that's what makes life meaningful. So basically,
if you're born with small nuts, get that fixed
at an early age. No, meaningful is family for
me. Implants. I'm huge on family. Family. Yep.
Absolutely. It's got to be the number one answer.
Ding! What's the question again? The question
was, what makes a man's life meaningful? What
makes a man's life meaningful? I would say family,
but a legacy. I guess that's enveloped in the
family. Yeah. You know, your legacy. I would
love to have whatever we are doing as men be
remembered. Yeah, reflect. I'd like to be a staple.
Reflect positively. Yes. I'd like to leave a
trail of people be like, you know what, ma 'am?
I really liked what Sean did. He had big nuts.
He sits on them. We talked about that last time.
Everywhere he sits. Dude, he's got big nuts.
Slips right up his ass. Very tight underwear.
I'm sorry I said that, Sean. That's my fault.
This is on me, guys. Sorry, viewers. I think
we're at an age where I think we can reflect
properly on what's meaningful, but What about
these young guys, right? It's all about money,
prestige. I think some of them are lost. Big,
big time paying job. It's all about money. Well,
when we were their age, 22, 24, 25, that's what
we were thinking about. Yeah, it's all about
money. It's all about, I want my first job so
I can get me a nicer apartment, a new car, take
my date out. I want to do things. That was the
focus back then. That was the meaning of life.
And then you start settling down and having the
kids and the family. Yeah, but even then, the
money thing carries on and on. And a bigger house,
bigger car. Yeah, but I think the money thing
is different. I mean, the cost of living has
superseded economics. It superseded the growth
of how much money we're making. I think it's
the cost of houses that's the problem right now.
Just living. Yeah. I mean, the cost of buying
a house and renting. I don't disagree, but it
comes back to what we consider meaningful, what
we consider important, right? I mean, I think
we're just getting caught up in worldly things
and keeping up with the Joneses and needing that
bigger house, which comes with a bigger mortgage.
I mean, when you look back at it, is that meaningful?
No. In other words, what did we sacrifice in
that chase for meaningful things that we thought
was meaningful? What would we sacrifice? You
know what I mean? I don't think I sacrificed
anything because we never had a lot of money.
No. No. You know, we were able to get into this
house because my wife was making bank at IBM.
Right? Right. And then she got let go and then
it got really tight. Right. For a long time.
So, you know, we were never extravagant. We got
the bigger house, yes. But here in Texas, it
was affordable. Yeah. In my opinion. Bigger houses
are... Not an anomaly. This house in LA would
be millions probably. Yeah, but our property
has gone up 25 % in the last five years, ten
years. It's gone crazy. That's ridiculous. It's
come back down in the last couple years, some.
If you get your taxes. A little bit of correction.
I know mine's been corrected, which actually
I'm okay with because I'm not selling right now.
It'll just lower my tax bill. So that's all I'm
concerned with. It goes back to home tax or property
tax is what I'm thinking of. I don't know why
it works like this, but maybe someone can explain
it to me. You buy your house for, let's say,
$100 ,000. Why aren't you taxed on that $100
,000? Because that's unrealized, right? It's
a perceived value that you're being taxed on.
Well, I paid $100 ,000 for it. I should be taxed
on $100 ,000. a perceived 500 now when i sell
my house tax me on the 500 000 or whatever it
is right i think the capital gains uh and i think
if you pay your house off i think your property
taxes should go away you never really own your
house right because if you stop paying those
property taxes they'll take your house i mean
even though you've paid it off but you know the
answer to this right i mean they they're going
to structure the tax that they're going to make
the tax structure beneficial to where they're
always, if everyone does well and the home's
appreciated value, they're going to get as much
money as they possibly can. What are your taxes
on that you're paying on this house right now?
It's ISD, city, community college, and county.
It's not even the state of Texas that sets the
tax rate. It's the ISD that does it. So what
you're doing is you're really buying services
from the city, the county. The community college,
you got a little tax for that, and then for the
ISD especially. It does take money to run that
shit. Your kids went to school here. That's fine,
but it should be on what I pay for my house,
not a perceived value until you sell the house.
Who's to say that I could make whatever the value
of this house is? The home appreciation, though,
doesn't go to the... The state to redistribute
to the ISDs. But my taxes, I don't care where
it goes. My taxes are going up. Taxes are going
up. My taxes are going up. Whoever's giving them
to me, my taxes are going up based off of the
value of my house. Perceived value. Not what
I paid for it. Yeah, and you got to contest it
every year. You got to go there. But the thing
is, is that the valuations, the system's broke.
Period. Oh, you mean how they value the properties,
you mean? Yes. The system's broke. It's all about
getting the taxes. It's frustrating because it's
like the kids nowadays aren't going to be able
to buy a house. Period. It's too expensive. It's
really tough. It's not the same. I think they
will be able to. I think what needs to happen
is I think builders need to stop building big
-ass homes like this. They don't make starter
homes anymore. They don't. I think part of the
problem, at least in Frisco. Because they're
trying to maximize their profit, not in Frisco.
Well, I think part of the problem in Frisco is
the land is too expensive. They have to put a
big house on it to charge a lot of money. Correct.
You can't put a $120 ,000 house on it because
the land was so expensive. But if I was a builder,
I'd be looking out in these suburbs out here
and say, I want to do a suburb of starter homes.
There's a lot of them doing it. Well, there are,
yeah. Trust me on that. But when we moved to
Frisco 20 years ago, it was starter homes, right?
Correct, yeah. Because the land value wasn't
where it's at now. Right. They didn't have to
put a half -million -dollar house on it to try
to recoup some costs and make their profits.
I think our house, when we bought it, was $225
,000. Right. Right. It's ridiculous. I know.
I know. It is absolutely bizarre on how much
that it's valued. It's bizarre. And who the fuck's
going to pay that? A lot of people. Yeah. Hey,
people who can sell their house. Where are these
people coming from? And then leverage that money
into the next house. California, India, China.
Yeah. Or your neighbors who are looking for an
upgrade. Yeah. I mean, there's people in, like
our first house was just down the street. We
paid $110 ,000 for it or something like that.
And now it's going for $400 ,000. Insane. So
they're going to sell that, move into my house
when I sell it. Right. Whatever my house is valued
now, which is more than the four, right? Because
it's a hell of a lot bigger house. Which is what,
$12 .2 million? Yeah, it's an $80 million house
now. Oh, $80 million. Wow. God, man, you've done
really well. You've done well. And if you add
this media room podcast. It's all based on this
podcast. Yeah. Holy cow. The experience. That's
incredible. Wow. Anyway, but you know, so we're
very fortunate we don't have a state income tax,
right? Property tax is a bitch. Right. Property
tax is a bitch. But I mean, the advantage we
have over so many states is huge. I think if
you take the combination of the two, other states
have lower property taxes, but they also have
an income tax. And then we have higher property
taxes, but no income tax. Right. Correct. And
if you kind of average amount, it's the cost
of doing government and all the money they siphon
off of it. Right. Yeah. But another thing just.
to think about, and I was, you know, when we
were looking for our first house and we were
like, we had put, you know, earnest money down
on a lot in Allen. And then we were looking over
in Frisco and we were, and then I started, you
know, you learn stuff, right? I mean, I, my parents
won't tell me anything. I was like, Oh, property
taxes. I was at Frisco ISD. And then I was looking
at the numbers. I was like, this is a whole percentage
point more in Allen. Yeah. And I was like, um,
and I, I started doing the numbers and I was
like, uh, that's an extra, you know, whatever,
extra 300 bucks a month. Right. For the same
house. I was like, we're not doing that. We're
going to Frisco. Right. You know what I mean?
I mean, so, I mean, it all matters. It does.
You know? It does. And I think once the percentage
rates come down throughout the next year, I think
you're going to see the market heat back up because
a percentage point on your mortgage is huge per
year. And if you can now get into this house
and your mortgage is $1 ,800 less a month. it's
going to open it up and the value of our houses
are just going to keep going up at that point.
They stagnated and they've gone back down some.
Not a lot, but I anticipate over the next couple
of years they're going to go back up. Well, right
now what's keeping the market housing market
stalled is that the interest rates. Correct.
Nobody's buying. It's just 7 % or 6 % is just
stalled. I was going to get last time I was talking
about the houses, that's part of it too, is that
there's a campaign, there's something out there,
a group out there, Rothschild or someone, someone's
gobbling up all these houses. No, there's a lot
of corporations doing it. BlackRockZillow is
buying a lot. They just want to lease to you.
What's the other big mutual, Vanguard? They're
another one that's buying a bunch of them. Well,
actually, We might have talked about this, and
I think this is where you're going. They want
to get America out of the model of home ownership,
period. Yeah. They want to go into the rent model.
Yeah. They want to constantly keep us under their
thumb. It's a subscription model. You never own
it. Never own it. So you're going to pay on it
forever. And then die. Yeah. So you never own
it. And the American dream is built on home ownership
and equity, right? The value of our houses have
gone way up, and that allows us to eventually
sell if we want or pass them down to our kids,
and they're going to be able to sell it and make
a shit ton of money. Right. Right. So that's
how you build this wealth. Generational wealth
to some degree. To some degree, right? It's not
really - Not really generational. But it allows,
like when we sell this house, we're going to
be able to pay cash for whatever the smaller
house we get into. Right. And not even have a
mortgage. Right. That's the goal, right? That
should be everyone's goal. Correct. Yeah, this
house we paid off. That's why you get a loan,
and you own it, and then you pay off your loan,
and you know what I mean? Correct. You've got
equity. Yep. This house should be paid off in
about eight years. At that time, we're going
to do the full, Julie will be done teaching and
everything, and then the goal is, like I said,
when we're ready, sell the place, and then go
buy some land, some house on it somewhere. Like
on a volcano rim. It is, yeah. Awesome. What
the fuck else was I going to say? Wow. Damn.
That just completely exited my brain. Yeah. Well,
did you finish your thought about... I mean,
that was your point, though. I mean, that we're
moving to a subscription model. Yeah, basically,
that's what it is. And that's kind of frustrating.
That's what I was alluding to. It's anti -American.
Yeah, it is. And these things are happening,
and it's not just with that. It's across the
board on everything. You know, I'm so sick of
the food and just... Every time we do anything
in our life, it just seems like we get kicked
in the nuts. Yeah. And it's frustrating. We've
got to get the right folks in office to vote
the correct way. And we've got people that just
sandbag. And we've got illegal voting going on.
Yeah. You know, like in Minnesota. Minnesota's
a mess. You know, they've got that Tim Walls
fraud stuff that's going on. I think we talked
about it last week. We did talk about it last
week. He looked the other way. But there's more
to it. I mean, is Ilhan Omar, I mean, why isn't
she held accountable for the fraudulent things
that she did to get her brother into the United
States? I don't know. Well, I mean, obviously,
they're not willing to look at it because Minnesota,
well, no, I mean, that should be a DOJ thing,
right? Is that a federal? But in addition, you
know, Barack Obama. You're very at the state
level, aren't you? Barack Obama dropped 100 ,000
Somalians into the middle of Minnesota. Unbelievable.
And that's how she got voted into office anyways.
It's just like, what are you going to do? A bird
of a feather flock together. And it's just like,
look, when you come to the United States, you
need to assimilate. You are an American. Be an
American. If you want some culture. Make a stew
from your country. Don't instill your own rules.
Well, there's all these cultures. You still have
Chinatown. You'll have Vietnamese town. Yeah,
but those are for restaurants. They have whole
markets. That's what I mean. Your culture, like
around here, we're getting a lot of Indian stuff.
Tons. Right? So we're going to have Little India
here soon. But if they assimilate into the American
way, they could have their, like I said, little
China or Chinatown or whatever. A lot of these
big cities have Chinatown. Yeah, I was going
to say. So San Francisco's got them. New York's
got them. So are they. So there's something different
about their Chinatowns versus little Mogadishu
in Minnesota. Like, what's the difference? Like,
how has Chinatown in New York City? assimilated
and adopted American culture, but little Mogadishu
has not. And I'm not challenging it. I'm simply
asking, is there something different here? Because
that's always happened. Little Italy, I mean,
like you said, birds of a feather flock together,
right? So every group that has come over from
Europe, from Asia, from Africa, whatever, they
seek out their people. The guys that worked for
me in Mexico City said that a lot of Americans
were moving to Mexico City. Yes. And the locals
are upset because they're congregated in a specific
neighborhood in Mexico City, and they are opening
cities. Americanizing it. Yes, they're Americanizing
it. Yep, they're opening up McDonald's and this
and that. And locals were like, get out. Correct.
And I was like, wait a second. That's the same
reaction? you know, a lot of us are having. They're
really mad at the Applebee's moving in. Yeah,
but the difference is I would respect that. Right.
I'd be like, yeah, you know what? You're right.
Right. Instead of demanding. That's an excellent
point. When I read that story, I didn't go. What
a bunch of racist Mexicans. They don't want these
yuppies who can work from anywhere in the world
because they're allowed to work from home, settling
where it's a lot cheaper for them and Americanizing
their country. I didn't judge them for that.
I was like, hey, I get it. There's nothing wrong
with us wanting to preserve the country that
we built on what we built. And if you got a bunch
of immigrants that are coming in, I don't care.
Bring it. Have fun. Live your life. Be successful
and happy. But simulate, simulate. Right. You
know, mesh with everybody. You can't come in
here and start, you know, have the call to prayer
five times a day. Yeah. You can't expect that
to work. And that's a slippery slope, man. Like,
how do you decide what's a simulation and what
isn't, right? Like, it's just tricky. Dude, that
trips me out, man. In some cities where they
have the call to prayer. Dearborn. Yeah, Dearborn,
Michigan. That is bizarre. Yeah. that they allow
that. It's bizarre. It should be outlawed. Speaking
of things being outlawed, did you hear the latest
in Australia about the social media ban for kids
under the age of what? It was at 16 you said,
right? Is it 16? I support that. I do too. I
don't think it's healthy. Social media does nothing
but tear down... Insecure kids. Yeah, if we could
do away with social media, you can't. If we could
do away, I'd be okay with that. I see really,
I mean, I know a lot of people make money off
of it, but I think it's a brain rot and a culture
rot. and a society rot. So Australia has implemented
a world first law effective December 10th, 2025
banning social media for anyone under 16 requiring
platforms like TikTok, Meta, Facebook and Instagram
X, YouTube to block or remove accounts. of Australian
users under the age aiming to protect children
from cyberbullying and harmful other content
through high -tech companies. And some critics
worry about the privacy and driving kids to darker
web corners. That's from the BBC and New York
Times. They're going to find their ways to chat
with each other. And it might be, like you said,
dark stuff. Discord, whatever. You know what?
Maybe not. You know, Charlie Kirk, right before
he died, was writing a book. And one of the things
in the book that he was talking about was putting
your phone down as much as possible. In fact,
he's saying, you know, be in the moment, but,
you know, have a Sabbath day or something. You
can call it what you want. But the idea is that
once you're around, turn it off, put it in a
junk drawer, and you disconnect. But it's so
difficult to. Yeah, think about it. Every time,
and I'm so guilty of this, we'll be watching
Netflix, right? And now all of those damn shows
have commercials. Oh, yeah. Right? And so we
mute the commercial, and the first thing... You
pick up your phones. Instantaneously. Yeah. Immediately
pick up our phones to continue to get... Well,
maybe we do an experiment with ourselves and
say, okay, when we come home from work, put your
phone in a drawer. I usually leave mine in my
office. On this day, don't text each other. Don't
do this. Don't do that. And just put it in there.
And if someone does text you, you'll get to it
right before you get to bed or something like
that. What if we have the walkie -talkies? I
don't mind putting my phone in the office and
shutting the door and having my watch. My watch
isn't as elaborate as yours. So if you get a
911 from your kids, you can see it? Yes. All
right. Let me go take care of it. Yeah. But you
can't. do all your shit yeah there's no social
media shit that you it's just kind of like yeah
okay yeah i'll call them back you know in in
you know i don't know i'm all for it yeah but
but you have to you have to deny the i just got
a text i have to read it dopamine fix because
you know when you hear that bing or that vibrate
i need to go look immediately oh it's it's programmed.
Yeah. So maybe it's something we try over this
next week so we can report on it next week and
say, okay, on next Monday or tomorrow or whatever,
we're putting our phone in the whatever, other
room or whatever, and we're not going to touch
it until we go to bed. I can see it now. I'll
be in my house. No, the doorbell goes off. You
know what's interesting? Paul, what the hell,
man? We haven't heard from you in seven weeks.
So regarding this Australian band. There's key
aspects of this ban. I'm going down this list
here. It says, who does it affect? Obviously,
it affects the kids. Platforms covered. Of course,
all the major social media ones. What does it
do? Tech companies must prevent under -16s from
creating these accounts and removing the existing
ones. Age verification, exemptions, no penalties
for the kids. The law targets the companies.
not the children or the parents. Of course. Yeah,
that's the way to go. You think they'll start
getting fake IDs? Maybe. Right. And then, yeah,
how are they going to know? How is the company
going to know if a kid, how old a kid is? Well,
there's, I mean, I think it's. Now you're talking
about government overreach. To provide the information
about everybody to everybody. Well, I don't know,
because there's websites here that you have to
validate your age, right? Like OnlyFans or Porn.
There's others that you have to, like, there's
companies that will validate your age, right,
for these websites. Grindr. Yeah, Grindr is what
you said? Grindr. Yeah, you give a sperm sample.
Ew. Jesus. Wow. What, they test it and they know
how old you are? I stopped. What is this, fresh?
With fresh, what do you mean? What is not fresh?
Freshly grown, like you had just had sex. Like
freshly waxed? The next batch is only an hour
old. This is only two days old. Jesus. Okay,
yeah, that got weird. All right, sorry. Who bought
a grinder? I brought it up as a way for checking
age. How do you verify age? Not in Grindr. So
they don't verify age on Grindr? They're letting
little kids just go out there? Like I said, there's
companies out there that do it. I think you do
have to give them some personal information.
So how do you do it? I've never run through the
process because I don't join Grindr. I don't
know. Yeah, Jeff. Tell us. When you opened up
your Grindr account. Do it real quick. No, no.
I mean, not necessarily for Grindr. Do it really
quick. But for any social media, how are they
going to do it? How are they going to know for
sure? Because if you're 16, you're technically
still a minor. So does that mean your parent
needs to sign on? It's as good as the information
you type in. So I got to tell you, when - And
you know there's going to be parents that let
their kids on their accounts. When I was on Xbox,
well, I still am on Xbox, but when you're on
Xbox and you set up a family plan with your Xbox,
you have on there who the family members are
and you name them. You don't have to give all
their information. You name them and you give
them an age and their birth date. And that way,
when they log on to their account, their account
- It's restricted based on age. Yeah, but it's
set up by the parents. So you have an authority
that goes in there with a credit card or whatever,
and they're the one that dictate it. So that's
what I'm thinking it could be. So it says up
here, photo ID checks, users upload official
documents, driver's license, passport, stuff
like that, maybe a birth certificate if you don't
have any of those. Facial age estimation. So
they take a selfie, and then AI will scan it
and go, You're five. You're five years old now.
Yeah, what if you're like a really young -looking
dude? Yeah, what if you're 15? Like, Steven had
a full beard at 13. I mean, people constantly
think I'm 17, even now. Wow. What? With those
knees. Knees? You went with the knees first?
Did 17 -year -olds have a lot of gray? Small
junk. And they have generally a lot of teeth.
And it says parental vouching. Parents are part
of the problem. Oh, that is going to be the problem.
Parents are going to cave. Credit card checks.
And they're going to let their kids use their
account. So, you know, credit card. You need
to put in a credit card because I don't know
if companies, like if you get your kid at 15
a credit card, I think there's an age tied to
that, isn't there? Like it's a youth account.
Right. Here's my concern. This is a good idea.
But to really make it bulletproof, they're going
to have to overreach and become big brother like
you would not believe. And they already are.
Yeah, they really are. And they kind of already
are. And so anybody that's headed this direction,
if the United States wants to do something like
this, I see that being a problem. Texas has thought
of this to not allow, I think it was under 16
-year -olds on social media. I know it was mentioned.
that they want to do it. See, to me, this falls
into the category of unintended consequences,
right? I think they're huge pluses. They're not
going to be able to push it through because they
don't have a backbone. Yeah, but to me, it's
not about that. It's about... Is it privacy?
Something, you know? They have good intentions
and unintended consequences are going to make
this a nightmare. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I don't
know. I don't know. I don't know how they're
going to do it. But it's a good idea because
I think we all agree social media is not... It's
not a positive thing. No, it is not. In general.
It's not. Well, I mean, it can be, but it's good
for killing time, but man, I tell you what, it's
killing too much time. We have a limited time
on this planet, and it stinks to know the amount
of time I've spent on these doom scrolls. What
do they call them? Death scrolls? Doom scroll.
Yeah, doom scroll. That works. Yeah, but whatever.
Anyhow, I'm doing better at it. Like I said,
I start to leave my phone in the office, so when
I walk out, it's there. And if I need it, you
know, something. You know what? I don't do it
very often. But when I do, my feed is all about
things that just make me laugh my ass off. And
that's technically not a bad thing. You know
what I mean? If you need an escape from what
you're doing at the moment and something's really,
really funny and you just laugh and laugh and
laugh and laugh, that's not a bad thing. If you're
just mindlessly wasting time for hours and hours,
I get it. You know what I mean? Like I'm watching
funny animal bullshit. Well, that's what a lot
of these kids do. Well, and parents. They'll
just scroll, and it's stupid videos. Right. Right?
But they're funny? That's bad? I don't know.
No, but look, it is funny, but it's... This is
the part that's confusing for me. Is it making
us dumb? Because they're saying, well, it's conducive
to creating a short attention span. Is that accurate?
That's for sure. I agree with that. Is it? Yes.
So, you know, if that's the case, then it's a
drug that we need to enforce. And I would say
it depends on how much you're abusing it, right?
If you're doing one doom scroll a day for, doesn't
it cut you off? Eight hours? Yeah. Eight hours?
Seven and a half. No, but doesn't it cut you
off? No, you have to turn that on. It cuts you
off. You have to turn that on. Oh, okay. So if
you don't turn that on, like Sean was getting
caught with it. So I was like, let's try a time.
Yeah, I could see 20, 30 minutes being like a
– because you're supposed to take 15 -minute
breaks from whatever you're working on. What
did we used to do for those 15 -minute breaks?
Smoke. Would that work? I never smoked. I don't
take breaks. Actually, that's not true. Actually,
you know what I would do? I'd murder people.
I'd get up and I – Oh, you'd play video games?
Oh, yeah, you'd play video games. So I'd get
up. We had to clarify that. I'd get up and I'd
go visit someone. At work. I'd go over and I'd
mention work a little bit, then we'd sit and
visit for 10 minutes. That's what I did. I wouldn't
get on my phone. Or if I had a paperback book,
I'd read it. That's actually probably the best
answer right there. That's good for your brain.
I need to read books. Did you ever finish that
book I gave you? No. Oh, which one? Sandstorm.
You mean the one on the tablet? That was a quick
answer, wasn't it? No. No, the answer is no.
I mean, no. Oh, yeah, you downloaded it, right?
Yeah, I downloaded it. And it's just, I don't
think about it. And now that you reminded me,
I'll make a point to read it tomorrow. All right.
You know, I just forget, honestly. Can I join
this cool kid book club that you guys do? All
it is is we, so look, for those readers out there,
which I am traditionally not, but I love reading
because when I do it, I love it. It's rewarding.
I'm enjoying it. You know, people are like, well,
you know, I've got to go out there and buy the
books, go to the library, pick them up. No, man,
it's even easier than that. You can go to your
public library, like down in Frisco, and you
get set up and you can go to your computer, phone,
tablet, iPad, and you create an account for the
library. And then you go on to your Amazon. Well,
you go into it, you find your book, you check
it out. Yeah. As a Kindle. Yeah, there you go.
It's Kindle. I have a Kindle rotting in my drawer.
There it is right there. Sandstorm. So, I mean,
really, I just check it out, and then it automatically
populates on – well, it doesn't automatically.
You've got to do some stuff, and frankly, I forget
every fucking time. Well, yeah, it takes you
to Amazon, and you click. uh, checkout book or
something like that. Read now. And it loads it
onto your Kindle. Yep. And you have it for like,
you have it for like two, three weeks and you
can read it. And man, I'll tell you what, there
was a time, uh, right now I go to bed at midnight
because I'm, there's a new video game out and
I'm fricking all into it right now. But I mean,
before that, you know, I was just going to bed
about an hour earlier and I'd read the book.
Right. You know, and I sit there and read it,
tears in bed and you could switch the pages from
white to black and then white color letters.
So it's, it's not as bright and you know, it's,
I enjoy it. And the thing about it is your brain
is amazing, you know, because I could pick up,
I go back a couple of pages and then I could,
it's like, you can remember, you get reengaged
in it and you're right exactly where you're at,
where you left off. It's at least, you know.
Right now, I can't. As into it as you were when
you left off. Yes. I hear you. And then I'm addicted
to it, and I start pounding down the pages, and
then I do it for a couple days, and then I kind
of blow it off, and I forget about it. I do need
it. I'm glad you brought that up. I want to do
that. I'm going to sign up for this Frisco library.
Do you have a library card or an ID? No. You
can just go down there. That's what Sean had
to do. Actually, you lost yours. They found it,
right? Yeah, I've got one of the only, I think
you may have one as well, but my ID number has
five digits. Yeah, so does mine. Meaning it's
really old? Yes. We've got it for a very long
time. It's the original. And he was like, that's
only five digits. Something's wrong. What's going
on here? And I was like, that's it. Five digits.
That's funny. But I have to go to the library
to get a card, get an ID. You may be able to
do it online. But they have to validate that
you're a Frisco citizen. I have to do a selfie?
Siemens sample. I would just go down there. I
have to give a sample. Look, I have to give a
sample. He's already given one. I would take
the time to go down there because there is so
much more that is available. At the library.
At the library. You can go to school for free
at the library. There are degrees that you can
get at the library. Seriously. Hey, cool. There
are certifications you can get. Remember what
you were asking. What do my tax money go to?
What's it for? There you go. A dinosaur at the
library. It is a cool dinosaur. We have a badass
library. We do, but you know what really trips
me out? Is it like the animatronic one? Yes.
Or is it like a skeleton? It's a T -Rex, I think.
Is it skeleton, though? Yeah, it's bone. No,
it's got flesh and blood. No. I mean, is it like
animatronic? I don't know. It's very friendly,
actually. Oh, it's like Barney. No, that's Winnie
the Pooh. Wasn't there some sort of... Wasn't
there like a topic where they were saying that
the Tyrannosaurus Rex at one point had feathers?
Yes. It evolved into... Birds are from lizards.
Right. Yes. So, I mean, the... The Jurassic Park
does not have feathers. The Velociraptor doesn't
have feathers. But they're insinuating that it's
similar to a chicken. So I'm like, can you imagine?
Eat that drumstick? Well, no. I can't visualize
a Velociraptor with freaking chicken. With feathers.
That's what I'm trying to say. There's a show
on Apple that talks prehistoric world or something
like that. And they showed a Velociraptor to
the head. quasi wings with feathers yeah i mean
keep in mind we're talking about you know 300
million years of evolution going on here so yeah
depending on what uh mammals i mean what uh fossils
they found uh they kind of are linking them together
and it went from this to that to this and that
and somewhere they got wings and somehow they
got feathers and yeah stegosaurs badass stuff
in there right there triceratops You know what?
The Five Trails Blended Whiskey. This is Paul's
pick. Where did you get this thing? You brought
it back with you. I think Colorado. I'm really
giving this the benefit of the doubt. It has
a lot of history. It says a lot. It comes from
Bardstown. I think they sent it off. And let
me pull something up here. I don't think it's
great. Yeah, I agree with that. There's some
sweetness to it. I know my first draw tastes
like I chewed on a cigarette. Yeah. And intentionally
blended American whiskey, a harmony of aged Colorado
single malt and three bourbons proofed with Rocky
Mountain water. Rocky Mountain water, two row
barley malt. So also. This is the Made Within
Unbroken Spirit. Founded in the unbroken spirit
of Blazing Trails through the collaboration,
Five Trail is a new approach to American whiskey
born in the Centennial State and produced in
Bardstown, Kentucky. Our blend brings together
five incredible ingredients that speak to this
of bourbon in this country with a unique twist.
Well, that's all well and good, but I tell you
what, the finish on this tastes like I've been
smoking. Nice. Well, that's written all nice
and all, but it's all bullshit. That's good marketing
that they just put on there. Okay, so this is
a blend from stuff from Kentucky, from Indiana,
and from Golden, Colorado. Yeah, five -trail
blender from Coors Whiskey Company offers notes
of, I'll tell you about that in a minute. But
remember, it's from the purest. It's a cigarette.
The purest water in America. You've seen the
Coors beers commercial? Yeah, with all the. With
the mountain river. The moose that are pooping
and peeing in it with their little scats. And
they're dying in it and the rot. Oh, I didn't
see all that. So that's all in this bottle? I
taste a little bit of that, actually. It's unfiltered.
This is... Yeah, it's not great. The longer it's
been out, like right now, it's on the tail end
of this. It's starting to get a little sweet.
It's less tobacco -y. Correct. It is less. I
pick up the tobacco on the finish now. When you're
sitting there, you're like... Yeah. Like you've
been smoking a weak cigar or something like that,
that flavor you get in your mouth. That's what
I have right now. It's light. It's very light
cinnamon. Very light. Like apple cinnamon. Very
light. I'm starting to taste it now. It's like...
It's got like... But it's harsh. It's got like
the base of what we would want in a bourbon,
but nothing comes out of it. You know what I
mean? Except cigarette. You know what I mean?
What's the age on this? It seems like it's got,
I don't know, four months. It's a blend, so it's
like four -year, five -year stuff. Oh, yeah,
four -year, four -year, four -year. It's 95 proof.
You asked that earlier. Did it say 13 -year?
5 % of it is, yeah. Right, there you go. So Bardstown
pieced this together. Well, I think... Well,
they blended it, so they had some kind of blender.
Coors hired their distiller, their blender. I
think. They released the iconic Molson Coors
beverage company containing unique flavor. Yeah,
I'm not. Look, this one, it's not even a mixer,
you know, because it's too good to be a mixer,
and it's just god -awful. It's right in between.
Yeah, I don't want to say god -awful because
I feel like a piece of shit doing it, but, you
know. I think a question we should ask every
time is, would we buy this again? That's a no
for me. For $60. $60? That's what it says up
there. That's a no. That's a hard no. I'd say
no. Yeah, I agree. For $60, there's so much more.
Yeah. I don't know if it's... How old is that
story up there? I don't know if it's still...
Maybe it's 55 now or 50, but still. Yeah. Release
date. October 21. So this was in 2022 was when
it was $60. So it may be... I don't think it's
more than that. Now it's $100. I know I say this
every single time, but if you're at a friend's
house and they offer this, you're going to drink
it. Of course. It's not like you're going to
go, dude, this is so bad, I'm not drinking it.
But, oh, it's $80 now? Did I see that right?
Well, look, so that's... $50 now. $50. I mean,
I'm taking more pulls of it. It's just like the
longer it's out... It's not horrible, no. It's
getting sweeter and lighter. I think it's getting
sweeter. Yeah, it's getting sweeter for me. Well,
and I think that's the 10 -year. The 15 or 13.
Yeah, it was something that was 74 % corn. But
I can't get over the finish because - It's rough.
For me, it is. All right. I bet it'd make a good
old -fashioned Manhattan. Maybe that's its angle.
Maybe. I think the sweetness would turn that
frown upside down. Maybe. I didn't know you were
going to say that. All right. I'm going to rate
it. I'm going to go with a 5 .2. I'm at a four.
I'm at a four, two. Really? You really liked
it, Paul. No, five is... I've never been that
low. I've never been that low. And I wouldn't
go fours because four is like you literally push
the bottle away. You can't label that. You can't
express that. You can't dictate how we perceive
a four to be. Oh, yeah, I can. Yeah, I would
say... Yeah, 5 .2 is a harsh rating for me. Yeah,
this is not better than average for me. It is
below average for me. That's why I did a 4. Maybe
4 .5, whatever. Somewhere in there. It's not
better than half of the bourbons we got out there.
Yeah, but I don't perceive 5 to be that. But
you're right. If 5 is the average, because I
think more like 6. You know, 5 .5 to 6? is like
the average kind of thing. Because based on our
ratings, right, we never go lower than, you know
what I mean? Unless it's Eagle Rare or Five Trail.
Right. Well, then it's a 3 -1. You know what
I mean? I mean, we don't do any ones, twos, or
threes. We have not. So when you consider one,
twos, and threes out of the mix, then really
the average is... Yeah, we need to go find one.
If we... Be a unicorn. If we've never reviewed
Hell House, that could be our first one or two.
Right. It could be. It could be. There's some
out there that are going to be there, but we
just haven't come across. I think that one may
be. It might be. It might be. Okay. Well, the
five trails. Not great. Not horrible. Not great.
The Coors Whiskey Company five trails blended
from notes of vanilla, honey, caramel, toasted
oak, which they claim it, malt on the nose with
a palate featuring apple, toffee nuts, bacon
spice. I can taste the bacon spice on there.
Yeah, no, I'm not a huge fan of this. Yeah, yeah.
But I'm glad we sampled it because now I'm going
to know Colorado and Five Trail that it's okay.
Furthermore, I'd be curious to what this would
taste like with an old Manhattan or an old -fashioned.
Right. Because I think that syrup at the end
of it would probably tie it in. Which, by the
way, Shelly bought me that kit, right? Where
you smoke it. Yeah, you smoke it. It's like a
hookah. And I made with Buffalo Trace. I made
it with McKenna. McKenna. And I made it with
one other one. Damn it. Woodford Reserve. And
shockingly different. Yeah, we talked about that
last podcast. And you said the McKenna was actually
the best. McKenna was great. Yeah. I mean, so.
What was that? Pete smoked? No. Is that what
you said? Well, I know the last smoked Old Fashioned.
No, I'm sorry. You said, did you smoke it with
your kit? Yes. The Kenna. The Kenna. Yes. And
you know, you got to consider that too, right?
Because there's cherry and there's maple. Was
it like that one that I got at the event where
we're at where the smoke just, you said you saw
it and it just went. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean.
Yeah, every single time we were doing it, the
smoke was, I mean, Chuck, I guess you weren't
partaking at that time. But yeah, the smoke was,
there was a lot of smoke. I don't know what they
did to mine that one time. And it wasn't horrible.
I mean, they were all great. By the way, I have
your bitters, your orange bitters. Oh, okay.
I need to bring that to you. Where do you have
it? It's in my pantry. It's keistered in its
pants. Yeah, it's sitting up my rectum at the
moment. It's a very large bottle. Really? Yes.
Still in the wrapper. Nice. All right. Well,
we did talk a little bit about the Somalia stuff
and the fraud with Elon Omar. Some big numbers
on that fraud, man. A billion bucks. They're
even saying north of a billion, like maybe closer
to two billion is the latest estimate. And there
was a ton of whistleblowers. Well, I think the
attorney general, I think it's the attorney general
up there, is like a right dab in the middle.
They have emails of him saying he was getting
emails going. What if we get found out in these
whistleblowers, do the, I don't know the exact
phrasing, and his response was, I'll take care
of that if that happens. Something of those regards.
So, you know, once you get the vote of a large
demographic that all votes the same way, you
have corruption. Oh, yeah. Just think about it.
They're going to cater to the Somali guys, and
they're going to be like, okay, I'm going to
turn, they either were in on it. Or they turned
a blind eye because they said, okay, I'm going
to turn a blind eye here, but all of you, all
280 ,000 of you Somalians are going to vote for
me, right? And we got you. Yeah, I heard on the
radio that this is kind of opened the eyes and
the investigation into a lot more fraud around
the country. That a lot of these hospice companies,
the in -home care, you know, these traveling
nurses. EPT, food stamps. Yeah, that. It is rife
with fraud because Medicare pays for it. Dude,
all government programs are just easy pickings.
And they're saying, yeah, the Somalis were big
on this, but the Russian mob is big, I guess,
in the hospice thing. Of course. This other mob
was big in this one. It's not just that, but
it's... It's nationwide. Yep. And all these nefarious
groups are taking advantage of the lackadaisical
eyesight. Yeah, the oversight of these things.
It's lost. Or not even lackadaisical. This is
corruption, guys. So like the food stamps, for
example, I don't even know how much money the
United States citizens pay for food stamps, but
almost half is fraudulent. Almost half. That
does not surprise me. And the half that is fraudulent
are all immigrants. 100%. Well, I don't know
100%, but most of them are immigrants. Right.
You know, they're saying like... You mean illegal.
Illegal immigrants. And they're saying, well,
not just illegal, but the legal ones too. So
they say that the... I'm not making these numbers
up, but it's like Afghanistan. I'm kind of fudging
them. I think they said Afghanistan, there was
like 45 % Afghanistan was... Were fraudulent.
Of them, 45 % was fraudulent. The Mexicans and
the Somalians, there was like 22%. But fraud
is fraud. I don't care if it's 1%. You know what?
Those guys need to be held accountable and kick
them out. Yep. What the hell, man? You can't
do this. And the politicians that are lining
the pockets of these people for votes. Benefited,
yeah. Yep. Got it. You got to charge them. Got
to put them in jail. God bless. All right. Well,
it's the first half of our Dudes Like Us podcast.
It's the second. We're into the second. No, we're
not. It's the middle of the second week of December.
It happened quick, though, man. Yeah. God bless.
Less than 10 days before Christmas, right? No,
no. 14. Two weeks. Yeah, 14 days. Yeah, 14 days.
Good grief, man. And I haven't even started my
Christmas shopping. I'm not doing it. I'm just
going to give him cash. Fuck him. Yeah. Well,
I mean. Fuck them. I don't know. I mean, I may
do some last second stuff. I don't know. We'll
see what happens. All right. Let's talk about
that on the second half. Yes. Because my coworkers
were hammering the commercialization. And I know
we've talked about it, but I want to talk about
that some more. All right. Really? Dude. Thanks,
Chuck. First half. Dudes Like Us. I'm Sean. I'm
Paul. And I'm Jeff.