It's Dan Time. Grab a seat. It's Dan Time. Yeah.
It's Dan Time. Only dance on the line. Only dance
all the time. This is the Dan Time podcast with
your host, Dan McGarrett. Hey folks, welcome
to a brand new episode here of the Dan Time podcast.
It is 2026 and Dan Time has, as you can see,
has not gone away. I haven't been run off by
the big major podcast entities and, um, and figured
out, okay, this, this is just a big pond. I need
to get out of it. I'm still here. Really excited.
We've been trying to do this for some time. Maybe
this time last year my guest today and I were
trying to reconnect and I got to tell you this
is Super exciting for me. I've actually got a
little bit of the nerves going again because
this is one of my favorite guests He needs no
introduction. I'll paint some color as we go
along here to remind you who he is, but First
appeared on episode number eight October of 2023
then a follow -up holiday episode on Christmas
Eve 2023 episode 21. Here we are number 106.
Mr. Dan Gabelka is back. How are you today, Dan?
Hi, I bring greetings from the great green north.
Yes, sir. I don't have a whole lot of snow right
now, but that's OK. And I don't know if you can
see in the background the crutches. Yeah, I'm
coming to you from the disabled list as well.
I heard about this, so about a month ago, before
Christmas, you tore your Achilles, I understand.
Well, you know the saying, no good deed goes
unpunished? Well, my friend and I were delivering
sandwiches and bag lunches to folks who live
in the motels, the drug houses, and the encampments.
And at the one motel, they didn't clean out the
parking lot, and his car got stuck. So I, being
a fool, got out and tried to push his car, and
I tore my Achilles tendon right across. And just
as a bit of advice to people who tear their Achilles
tendons, it didn't hurt that much. Like my foot
is flat, it didn't hurt. Heel was down, didn't
hurt. I got up on the toes and I just feel like
somebody kicked me in the calf. So. And another
bit of advice is I've been doing research on
torn Achilles tendons and there's a real spike
right now and all the doctors said it's due to
the same thing, which is pickleball. Is that
right? Oh, yeah. All these old guys like us think
we can go out and play pickleball. So they're
seeing a lot of those too. So anyway, I'll be
in the boot for about three months and then probably
another three to six months of rehab after that.
So. Well, Dan, when something like this unexpected
happens with you after the well -documented things
that you've been through, how do you handle a
setback like this? Remember my motto, Dan? Make
it work. Make it work, yeah. And you always...
A series of problems come up, you just have to
solve them one at a time. The hardest part for
me is going to be mental because I can't get
out and do those things I enjoy doing. Right.
And so this is going to kind of drive me nuts
just not being able to be active. But we'll get
by. We'll get by. Now, and Dan, we're coming
up on registration here. If anybody listening
is in the Chatham -Kent area, it just so happens
to be. And you've got family members, friends.
between the ages of 8 and 18, special needs,
looking for a fun new activity. You mentioned
to me that you're launching the Challenger soccer
program. Is this the first season? This is our
first season. I told the soccer folks that we
do it on one condition, that we played indoors.
I've had a lot of nervous breakdowns over weather.
I'm never quite open to it. One of the things
I find gratifying that I push is rather than
create our own organization, we've gone to different
sports organization and said, we want you to
incorporate these folks into your organization.
We want you to expand your mandate to include
folks with special needs. I'm not a soccer coach.
So I set it up and I said, you guys supply the
coaches. I'll show you how to set it up. And
originally we thought we'd have to buy a portable
field. I don't know if you've seen them. They're
inflatable fields. And when you know it, about
two months ago, somebody put up a new indoor
sports facility here in Chatham. I'm going to
give them a plug because they deserve it. They
call it the Flexplex. And it's like a big warehouse,
but they have like six volleyball courts, two
indoor soccer facilities, beach volleyball, the
whole thing. And we went to them and said, this
is perfect for us. Five on five size field. And
the guy says, I want to do this because our organization
or our business, and it is a business. We want
to make sure it's open to everyone. that we're
inclusive. And that's why I don't mind giving
them a plug. And here we have a business that's
saying we're going to expand our mandate to include
folks with special needs. That's wonderful. And
that's really something I didn't count on when
we started the baseball. But something has happened
I think is very important. I know we have a couple
of churches around here who have set up programs
for folks with special needs. So even the churches
are saying we have to expand our mandate. To
deal with folks and special needs and that to
me is really really important Dan maybe something
I didn't ask you on the previous episodes the
Challenger baseball players that you've been
involved with over the years and over the decades
really Have you had a chance I'm sure you have
to watch some of them grow and some of these
kids that Maybe had the same inside joke that
they can come back to you with from 10 years
ago 15 years ago and you still laugh and do a
special handshake or something? Well about five
years ago we were playing indoors and this was
Lisa's first game ever and her first at bat and
we used the big rubber balls indoors and she
lined one up the middle and took a right square
off my beak. It has made her summer and every
time I see her now she talks about how she how
she hit the coach in the nose so At the end of
the year, we, we created an award called the
please don't kill the coach award. So every year,
the person who lines it up the middle of the
most, it gets the award for trying to kill the
coach. You know what, Dan, it brings a little
bit of humanity to it. Yeah. You know, I mean,
they're more than just ballplayers. And to me,
they're like, and I may have mentioned this,
like kids that didn't get to have. Right. And.
Some of your viewers would know that because
of genetics, I had a bad heart and it was a wise
but regrettable decision not to have children
of my own because I was afraid of passing along
the genes. I didn't get to have kids and I liken
it to the Field of Dreams movie but in reverse.
He made a field so he could play catch with his
dad. I created a program so I could play catch
with my kids. I didn't get to have. And whenever
I see them out on the street, always hide Coach
Dan as Coach Dan. And after I retired I said
you call me Dan now not gonna work. It's coach
Dan always coach Dan always coach Dan and their
friends who don't play baseball see me as coach
Dan, so Yeah, it's a nice little addition to
my life if you will, it's just as I added to
theirs and The other thing I wanted to mention
my first heart donor was 19. We died There's
Lee and he didn't get to have a legacy you know,
when you were 19, Dan McCarvel, what do we know
him for? Right. So the first time I visited his
mother and I said, you know, Lee didn't get to
have a legacy, but he has my legacy now. And
all those things I do are part of Lee's, directly
part of Lee's legacy. And that's kind of, kind
of how I look at it. And it's been, it made us
losing her son a lot more tolerable if that's
possible, you know, for my donor mom. So. And
in case you haven't caught up to you since my
last testing procedures The doctor looked at
my test results and said we don't know it's gonna
kill you damn. It won't be your heart And for
those who don't listen or I haven't listen I've
had two heart transplants So I don't want to
assume everybody knows that yeah folks if you
haven't heard on the Episode 8 is we're really
going to some detail and then some more episode
21 But yeah, Dan had his first heart transplant
1989 and then a second in 2000. Is that right?
Yeah, and I wrote this down. I think this was
after The brain tumor. Yes, right where before
the brain tumor wasn't in 2020 Okay, and maybe
that's where the doctors or somebody gave you
or had the remark of you're a cockroach Dan We
just can't kill you can't get rid of you. Yes,
right Yeah, when it first my first heart checkup
after my brain tumor My recipient coordinator
says, we just can't get rid of you. You're like
a cockroach. And then when the nuclear war happens,
it's you and the cockroaches to repopulate the
earth. And people have different sayings or pictures
that kind of denote their journey through the
transplant process. And I thought, what a better
for my life than a cockroach. Because no matter
what happens, I just keep coming back. I told
someone when I ruptured my Achilles tendon. God
gave me a superpower and that superpower was
healing. Yeah. I seem to heal real well. So I
have confidence that we'll get through this thing
with my leg. You know, we'll get back to where
we want to be. Well, the torn Achilles aside,
Dan, I wanted to comment from the moment that
we logged on and we've now seen each other for
the first time. And has it really been two years?
Is that something like that? Yeah. You look great.
You really do. Look happy you look healthy. There's
a reason for that. I have a girlfriend. Oh Yeah,
that'll do it I am in a committed monogamous
relationship for one year and a half now and
she lives directly below me in my apartment building
and For Christmas last year. I got a broomstick
with a note on it said not three times on the
ceiling if you want me Nope and But because Brenda
lives one floor below me we see no point in actually
moving in together and Wow, I've been by myself
for 20 years that would be a big adjustment And
she's been by herself for over 30. So I've been
too much my adjustment. So we're we're very happy
Dan. That's it is a perfect arrangement there.
Oh Yeah, I think he says why aren't you getting
married we say why? Just live in the same complex.
Yeah. Oh, yeah she's like i said she's just one
floor directly below me so now the only problem
with the the killies are they by the second floor
and we don't have an elevator but the problem
is the laundry things like laundry trying to
get my laundry down two flights of stairs and
back up yeah but like i said earlier um you take
one problem at a time and how are we going to
make this work how do we fix this And the truth
is, there's no shortage of parents from the General
Challenger or baseball program that are willing
to come over and help me out with stuff and give
me rides if I need it. So the good news, if there
is any, is I hurt my left leg so I can still
drive. Getting out of the car from the apartment
building is the problem. I'll be on crutches
now for probably another couple of months. And
it's kind of nice with our socialized medicine
up here. My physiotherapy is free. So it's on
all that so I can get all the physio I want so
that's a worry. I don't have Yeah, we talked
about that maybe on the first episode that yeah,
if you go back to 1989 and let's just say you
live in Detroit Yes, we're not talking today.
Like would this isn't happening. Oh, no. Oh,
no. Oh, no. Oh, no And back in 89, I don't know
if I mentioned it. They're still considered experimental
that heart transplants and everybody in the And
the operating room that night was paid except
me and the doctor, the surgeon, because he didn't
get paid for doing the heart transplant because
it was still experimental. But what that showed
me was his goal was to keep me alive and he didn't
care about the money. And that loyalty is something
that I really count on and I need. And all of
your listeners who have had organ transplants,
they will tell you communication with your team
is incredibly important. That's really key. And
I've got a good team. And if they don't respond,
I just talk a little louder. Well, I didn't get
this far by taking it easy. Dan, before we get
too far along, I do want to call out a photo
that you shared with me. And you said, hey, let's
merge this into the conversation today. What
is going on here with this? It looks like a potted
plant of some sort that's been furnished into
a decorated tree. We were delivering sandwiches
out to one of the encampments. And it's winter
and there's snow. And I look in the middle of
this encampment and there's this tree that looks
like it does not belong there. It was Charlie
Brown's Christmas tree. Oh, man. As soon as I
saw it, I went Charlie Brown. And Dan, for these
folks, tomorrow is the same as today. And then
tomorrow after that, like, they don't see themselves
as having a future. And every day is pretty much
the same. But you know what, they took time to
stop and celebrate Christmas. And to me, that
showed me these folks who live in the encampments
or the motels or the drug houses or whatever,
they still got a little bit of humanity left.
Yeah. And when we're dealing with them, that's
something that we really try to latch onto is
that little bit of humanity they have left. And
I'm sure you've seen videos on YouTube of folks
who will actually videotape. Folks want to Fentanyl
or whatever and they show them and they kind
of like zombies walking around to be honest with
you But they still have that humanity right and
and there's one young fellow here and he's he's
known for for He covers himself with a blanket
And that's what he is and they got calling him
blanket boy or blanket and one day said no stop.
His name is Jacob Calling him blanket boy or
saying someone has a drug problem or mental health,
it dehumanizes them. And how can I connect with
those people if I can't connect with them on
a human level? And that's really important. Like,
I'm sure where you are, I don't know where you
are exactly right now, you have problems with
folks who are homeless. Oh, yeah. And where are
you at now, Dan? Outside of Pensacola. In Florida.
the church that we go to is is downtown Pensacola
and there's a steady stream of of homeless that
come in and we will serve them coffee some of
them will stay for the service but uh some will
just file out but at the same time we we have
uh they're there yeah yeah we had a young fellow
who's sitting outside our church so we had him
and it took us a couple months to get him to
come into the sanctuary for the service but you
know eventually it worked out Our problem with
the homeless, and this is kind of where my heart
is right now, if you do not start in this generation,
then it's not going to end in this generation.
And I don't know what the answer is, to be honest
with you. Right now, of the people I deal with,
either they have drug problems or they have mental
health problems, or they just can't afford an
apartment. I looked at some statistics. Before
COVID, a one bedroom apartment in Chatham was
600 bucks a month. After COVID, it's 1200 bucks
a month. Yeah. Where do these people go? I feel
like, like you're saying, maybe their problems
get so compounded that, I mean, it's very easy
for someone in the, in the working world that's
got a family and they've got a bunch of problems
and things. Oh, and you think, wow, I'm never
going to get out from under this. But you have
you have to find ways to do it. So you do but
if you're on the streets and you're that far
Down you're that far removed from day -to -day
modern or civilized However, you want to call
it? Yeah, you could you can kind of visualize
where some guys just say well, I just i'll just
stay here i'll be or My goal tomorrow is where's
my drugs going to come from? Yeah, that's the
goal and That's a big problem. I don't know about
where you live, but where I live, you can't force
people into rehab. And COVID really, really made
that problem here a lot worse. And we're not
the only ones. I mean, I understand that, but
at least our city is looking at some long -term
solutions, and I don't know what they are. But
at least we're looking at it, long -term solutions.
And unfortunately, what I found was People didn't
get upset until a homeless person was sitting
in front of their business. Right. Okay. So somebody
did a documentary on that. And I talked to the
documentarians and I said, I'm not worried about
the people in front of your business because
I can see them. It's the ones I can't see. The
ones out in the bush. And the ones who live in
the bush, a lot of them have warrants out on
them. And you can't, you know, they're not coming
up for free mail. And it's probably say just
bills and bills and bills. And they get used
to living like that. Uh, I'm not going to lie
or sugar coat it. Most of the women are traffic.
I can't do anything about that either. You know,
we protect them as best we can, but that's, that's,
that's the hard truth of it too. And while back,
I sent you a link about maybe having my friend
Simon on. He chose not to, but Simon was on a.
four -year scholarship at University of Indiana,
by the way, football scholarship. Wow. And he
was said he was playing in a game, I think against
Washington and everybody's cheering for him.
And one of his buddies says, do you know what,
Simon, everybody in that audience right now wants
to be us. And he said, right now, and this guy's
been on the street. He said, nobody wants to
beat me right now. And that really struck me.
We had a young lady on the hang on guys gotta
clear my throat. Oh, yeah Who passed away with
a drug overdose? And we're a community dinner
and I asked me to say a few words And I'm writing
it up and I realized this might be the only ology
she gets It was You know, I still have a conscience,
you know and sometimes We're dealing with people
there. You just want to say it's too big for
me. It's too big for me, you know. But we plug
along. Certainly when we take the lunches out,
we do it on behalf of our church. The church
ladies make the sandwiches and we take them out
and we offer prayer if they want it. If they
don't, that's fine. And we offer Bibles if they
want it. Fine. If they don't, fine. But what
we found is they know we're coming at one o 'clock
on Thursday afternoon. They have something to
look forward to. That's it. You know what I mean?
And what they lack is hope. When you're hopeless,
you will live at just an existence kind of level.
And I don't know if you're familiar with Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, but they're near the bottom.
So we, I said, we do the best we can and we hope,
I'm telling my friend, I look at what we do as
an act of worship. Because we're there to represent
God Well You hear people especially now I may
have it's been going on for a long time, but
Kind of morph religion into Maybe their their
own bubble and their own people and I mean everyone
is I don't know if everyone's been in and out
of some of these churches where it's It's just
kind of like that that message pertains to us
our our level of affluence But and we're aware
of the people on the margins, but we just don't
we don't go out there Well, I would tell you
one of the reasons it got so bad Five years ago.
Nobody could see them and once they could see
them and now it's a problem and I don't want
to go into politics, but I just the general statement
of mine Some people's faith determines their
politics and some people's politics determines
their faith. And that's just my observation.
People can take it however they want. Well, we
should all take your spirit and your interest
in your fellow man, no matter what their status
is in life. We should all take a page out of
that book. I can tell just talking to you and
hearing you describe these stories, how important
that is to you and your mission here on on this
earth. Yeah. I also realized, Dan, one slip on
the ice again, I hit my head, I'm living in the
tent. And we had our first years of the baseball
program with the children, these two kids were
on their bikes outside the fence laughing at
them. And I said, you like those bikes boys?
And they said, yeah. I said, one slip on that
bike and you're on the other side of the fence.
And then I said, I want you to come in the fence
and meet them, meet the players. That's the important
thing. And whenever we get attention for the
baseball, they want to come out and watch. I
tell the reporter, bring your glove, wear your
shoes, sit on the bench. And a couple of years
ago, the Blue Jays sent a team down, Toronto
Blue Jays. And they said, we're going to do some
activities. And I said, bring your gloves, bring
your shoes, sit on the bench. This is not about
baseball. It's about the people. It's about the
players. They got more insight into the program
by doing that than by running some skills. Besides,
my players don't go to run skills. They go to
play baseball. So they weren't real happy with
that idea either. So anyway, you want to talk
about fantasy football? Yes. And I do want to
put a plug in and you mentioned the Blue Jays.
I was, I've just. Kind of hard for me to pull
for the Dodgers. I am a National League guy being
a Cub fan, but, uh, man, I had to root for the
Jays in that series. That was tough. But at the
same time, I feel like they've got the, um, firepower
or whatever you call it to be right back there
next year. They asked John Schneider about the
team. He says, we've got a bunch of ball players.
Man, they do. You know what I mean? They're not
superstar. Whatever. They're just good, solid
ball players. It was Go ahead. It was refreshing
Dan to see a little bit of small ball being played
in the World Series a little bit of Getting outside
of that analytical group think that all the teams
seem to have of we just We preach the same Strategy
and same in -game situations, you know You're
never gonna see the hit and run and then whoa
all of a sudden you saw Schneider doing some
things not left and right Not not constantly
but just here and there a little slap single
When when flat he could have tried to power it
over the fence. Yeah Well, we got I got to see
the Toronto play the Tigers up at Roger Center
And anyway, it's bottom to the eight Tigers are
up by one Alejandro Kirk is up to bat You know
who i'm talking about. Oh, he was a joy to watch
It's three to two and i'm screaming from the
stands walk him Walk him they pitch to him And
nobody can turn a double into a single like Alejandro
Kirk You don't think that guy's gonna make it
around the bases. Oh, yeah, you say he hits it
off the wall is the single he had a Triple once
this other guy have to call it the cap But you
know, he's somebody you can really root for yeah
You know you can cheer for this guy and you may
not remember this the hockey game Toronto's playing
Carolina and Carolina's two goalies got hurt
So the Zamboni driver went in net for Carolina.
And it was like every beer league goalie said,
I can play in that league. And this guy showed
them they could. And he was a big hero, as you
can imagine. And all of us who aren't real Leaf
fans are going, come on, it's a beer league goalie.
The one game in the World Series, I went to bed
at 11 o 'clock and I woke up about three in the
morning, I said, I gotta check what the final
score was. They were still playing. That's right.
That's right. I think that was uh 15 16 17 innings
the same thing. I had to go to bed about the
13th. Yeah Every game was a good game Yes, gave
it to the pitcher came out of that for toronto.
They didn't know he'd be that good. He was great
Yamamoto the pitcher for the dodgers. I understand
He's a curved spine now from carrying the rest
of the team on his back, but that's that's another
story No, I was The Jays lost. It was disappointing,
but it was a great series. It was good for baseball,
too. You know, every game was close. A lot of
good characters. A lot of excitement. And, Dan,
at the outset of the playoffs, you've got your
Tigers in there, too. So, isn't that right? The
Tigers and the Jays were in the bracket at the
outset. So, what are you thinking if there's
a possible Detroit -Toronto matchup? Well, all
I can say is this. Derek scuba wants 32 million
dollars a year and they're only offering him
19 that should answer your question There's not
talented a team, but they played well and they
come through in the clutch Really fast. I do
want to comment on the NFL playoffs, which commence
this afternoon as we're talking I think we've
got yeah, but that Steelers and is that today?
No, we got the Rams in Carolina this afternoon.
I Love making predictions. I'm just gonna go
out on a limb here. I think the Panthers I've
filled out a bracket today. I've got them advancing
a couple rounds. I think they catch lightning
in a bottle. Same with the 49ers and I also like
Houston on the AFC side, but you have any teams?
I know your Lions are out. Well, they had some
injuries on the interior of the offensive line,
which was their strength. I have a feeling if
they don't do anything stupid like first and
go out the one yard line and throw a pass instead
of running it, Seattle. Yeah. Now that I've got
Pete Carroll really dumb like that. Seattle is
a solid team and I watched them playing San Francisco
that one night and I was a little spectacular,
but they're really solid. So and don't to me
in the playoffs to experience me something. So
the Bills are going to do better. I think then,
but it all comes down to Josh Allen. Yeah. And
I had him in fantasy football and one week he
get six touchdowns the next week. Not so much.
I drafted a couple guys like in every league.
They let me down, to be honest with you. Saquon
Barkley was one. And Justin Jefferson. Can I
rant? Go ahead. All right. In Yahoo private leagues,
the commissioner has the ability to change people's
lineups after the game starts. And two of my
leagues, the league commissioner was changing
his lineup and mine according to how people did.
And I wrote Yahoo and said that's not fair and
and so I think I'm gonna have to abandon Yahoo
and go to another Another platform like it was
really disappointing that happened and they took
away I don't know if you notice it took away
the message boards to they did I'm very upset
about that I'm Dan this is a whole different
topic, but I Just really I like some of the the
memes and the the text messages that people send
funny memes and stuff But I do kind of miss the
old dialogue and just I'm gonna I miss those
days. My first year of playing, there was 10
of us didn't know each other, strangers. And
that year we had 2000 posts. Not one obscenity,
not one putting the other guy down. Everything
was really respectful and it was a joy. Here's
the rule about message boards. Never post when
you're drunk, stoned or angry. And just remember
somewhere down the road, you're going to regret
that you put on there. Yeah, you know forever
Well, once it's on the internet I Did a little
talk at our City Council actually about the challenge
of baseball And they wanted to see the speech
first And they had me cut out a couple of words
that They're offensive words. I wanted to say
them to make a point, but they said don't even
say them. Yeah It's someone called one of our
players a name Actually, I think it was her grandmother.
And I just said, oh, here she's not that. She's
not that. And I wanted to use that word for the
effect. And that word for years and years, people
didn't use it. And now it's starting to come
back. And it bothers me because to me that indicates
as a species we're kind of going backwards. I
think we have a real empathy problem. Yes. Well,
I listened to different podcasts on YouTube,
and some of the Christian podcasts, they think
of empathy as a bad thing. And I'm not buying
that, because empathy is a core of what Jesus
was. And I didn't want to get into the whole
religious thing, but this was a core of what
Jesus was. It was empathy and sympathy. I wish
that was just a set value with every, particularly
every parent. Mm -hmm. I mean one thing with
my kids I try to try to be as conversational
as possible with them Really try to regulate
their screen time really for the most part They
don't have anything handheld right now. I just
don't for me. I'm not into that with the tablets
Now my eight -year -old has a laptop a school
laptop that he uses Yeah, but I want the majority
of their time to be spent hands -free either
outside and able and willing to engage in conversation
and thought and discussion and that sort of thing
because I think if you just if you shove the
technology If you if you make that The focal
point of your your little children's lives at
a very early age They're not gonna have the same
experiences that we had for basically the first
20 or in some cases 40 years of your life before
you had The ability to express yourself on a
device the other thing too Your children and
I were blessed and They had good fathers Okay,
a Lot of those kids today are getting their parents
or what to see on the internet Yeah, and for
a young man for a role model example of what
a man should be like. It's not healthy If someone
is just not healthy, but there was an opening
because fathers kind of got a lot of fathers
kind of Advocated their responsibility there
or maybe they just didn't have it. But I had
a father who was a good role model. And just
from talking to you, I'm guessing that you did
as well. I did. And that really helps. And words
that were degrading or degenerating just were
not allowed, especially racial stuff, were just
not allowed. And I may have mentioned this on
the last podcast, we're all the same race. God
only made one race. And I assure you, in my background,
there's probably an African or do whatever, I'm
from Eastern Europe. So it's very likely. And
I'm no better than anybody else. And I was in
church once and I was grossing about the music
and somebody said, Dan, it's not about you. And
that really stuck with me. It's not, the world
is not about me. And especially in church, you
kind of want to have your way and you kind of
realize you're there for everyone. And I'll give
you an example. My church lost 150 people over
COVID. That's almost half. But the church has
refilled, but a lot of the people that come into
our church now are unchurched people. Really?
We love them. And our pastor did a message last
week on grace. And for most Christians, that's
a pretty basic concept. But he realized for the
newer people that come in who are unchurched,
and so he's talking to them and not... those
of us who know what it is and I commend him for
that because he realizes his first priority has
to be the sheep or yeah the lambs as they say
and we were all really impressed that he would
do that and go right back to the basics and talk
about grace and it's also nice to come to church
and they keep it at uh we don't hear about politics
in my church and that's really because that's
not what I go for you know and that's just my
personal personal thing Yeah, I Obviously think
it should be left at a church. I don't know how
it was 30 years ago or when our parents went
to church that they talked about Yeah You know
if they if they talked about what Jimmy Carter
was doing or what Kennedy was doing if that would
if that was discussed in church or not from the
pulpit Yeah Well here in America Some of stuff
Kennedy did where it wasn't fit to be. No, I'm
not gonna say You know But that's not what I
go to church for Yeah, if he if our pastor ever
tried to get politics, but we have to understand
the difference in Canadian American politics
Our conservative are just a little bit to the
right of center. Yeah And they're a lot closer
in outlook and philosophy It's not a hate hate
gotta run the other guy down as much you can
say they're not way opposite ends and what there's
yeah There's no magnetic way we can meet in the
middle. Yes. Yes. That's really what's happened
here in the states. Well, it's kind of creeping
up here, too. But we just have to be careful.
Remember, and I told someone the other day, I
vote for people. I vote for policy. I do not
vote for adjectives. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Does that make sense? Absolutely. Well, you're
conservative, you have to vote for so -and -so.
Or you're liberal, you have to vote for so -and
-so. No. Policies are only liberal or conservative,
because that's the label we put on them. Right.
If you notice, my wife and I, we are, we obviously
have a lot of the same shared values, but on
political issues, we can, she can be all in for
something and I'm all out, but what she supports
is not really under the standard umbrella of
what it might've been a generation ago. So it's
like there's people that... consider them themselves
conservative but they want pot legalized which
you would have never heard of that oh no 20 years
ago or they think that um uh physician assisted
suicide you know which i don't want to get into
that but like there could be somebody who's on
the right wing of things or there could be someone
on the left wing that's uh opposed to nation
-building exercises in other countries Usually
infrastructure and repairing roads and bridges
is pulls us all together The effects are well
There was a speaker on assisted suicide. It's
all made and They said you get it. They'll consider
you if you have a fatal disease. I said that's
called life Life is a fatal disease Yeah, let's
be honest. Nobody's getting out here So, you
know what you make it The best you can and I
will tell is a personal thing. I have a nephew.
He's in the hospital right now and he's on a
ventilator. He's as heart issues and he lived
a life that was not conducive to having a healthy
heart or that way. And he thought it would never
happen. And this couple of days ago, he came
close to the edge and he had to look over the
edge. And I hope he realizes that once you fall,
there's no getting up. And you can do things
to get yourself closer to that edge faster than
other things. And so if your listeners pray,
his name is Jacob, and I would, we certainly
appreciate the prayer. I say we savor, we savor
prayers. Uncle Dan's trying to keep his nose
out of it a little bit. You know, and the way
it is right now, I think the fewer people that
go up to see him in the hospital or whatever.
the better but i'm just hoping and praying that
jacob has now he's looked over the edge and i
don't i don't like this i don't want this now
i'm gonna switch topics because i saw a picture
and it's gonna make you laugh in wisconsin a
raccoon got into the liquor store i don't know
if you saw this picture you see the picture my
wife told me about this but i haven't seen the
picture and he got into the liquor store And
there he has passed out between the toilet and
the garbage can in the bathroom. And they want
to make him the state animal of Wisconsin. And
that's actually the funniest thing I've ever
seen. Because when he jumped down, I guess he
knocked over a display in it. Well, I think he
had a little bit to drink too. That's why he
passed out at the toilet. Oh, man. I had a youth
we all did oh yeah I was talking to my wife about
that today I mean we uh my wife has never been
a drinker yes which is which was good for me
because I definitely enjoyed a good bourbon and
and all that stuff um in my younger years and
really before I got married so um this was great
to be you know to get into a relationship with
someone who that's not something they really
did regularly, which I, it seems like I chased
that in the past. I'd always have a girlfriend
that liked to have a glass of wine or several.
But just kind of reflecting back and I just,
today we were sitting on the sofa earlier and
I said, I got nothing for it. I remember how
it felt. I remember becoming intoxicated and
yeah, you're having a nice time or whatever.
But I said, it didn't do anything for me. I mean,
maybe, maybe, you know, if, if, if you, if you
can think of something positive, yeah. Where
there's some times on a bar stool with a, with
a ball game on that you're having a really lively
conversation with somebody. Sure. But, but I
can see the clarity in my day -to -day life that
was not there in the past. The past was usually
consumed with, okay, I got to get myself right
today. I got a lot of things I got to accomplish.
I wasn't thinking about that last night and And
then it just seemed like day -to -day living
was a little more daunting. And I got through
it, and I wasn't, I didn't call into work, I
didn't do stuff like that. I did the things I
needed to do, but it wasn't, it was like you're
putting these chains on that you have to. I was
fortunate at my third year of university, a young
lady came into my room, Dan, I want to talk to
you. And she said, sit down. And she said, Dan,
you're not an alcoholic yet. And I was just kind
of like, God sent me a guardian angel. Yeah.
God, someone was concerned enough about me before
it became a real problem to say, I'm worried
about you. And that really helps. And I know
there are people that aren't going to hear it
when you say it, but somebody said that to me.
And it really made a difference in my life because
I realized I was going in a bad direction. And
in 19 late seventies, When you're in a university
dorm and it's all guys Just a little while. Yeah
It's funny the second year was fun when you're
in the first year was fun second year. It's not
fun anymore. Yeah, Dan Go ahead. I'm sure you
remember some times where you the the party was
so much fun and you can you wake up and yet your
head's pounding and you but you can visualize
the night before all the All the characters that
were around all the fun. Everyone was having
but now you're you're waking up and they don't,
I used to make this reference, they don't get,
nobody gets to have that hangover for you. Nobody
gets to tackle the day that's in front of you
for you. And usually nobody's calling to say,
Hey Dan, how are you doing? Can I come by and
bring you some breakfast? How can I help you?
How can I be your friend? Usually for the most
part, those faces of the night, You know might
be good people in certain respects, but those
really are not true friends Like they just really
aren't not that they're bad people, but I went
through a period like that I thought man. I got
a lot of a lot of good people in my life a lot
of They're always ready to party Yeah, but very
very few if I just had to say hey listen I need
somebody to talk to you want to go get some coffee
and just go sit down talk and know that didn't
happen too often But if we're going to a bar
sure I have a thing with churches, people come
and go. And if somebody leaves my church and
they're not my friend anymore, they were never
my friend. And it's the same thing. If all you've
got is you go to the same church, you have to
have more. It's like my donor mom. I said, you
can be my donor mom for so long, but sooner or
later, we have to be just family and not donor
family. Because donor family is not big enough
to carry your relationship. or alcohol is not
going to have to carry a relationship. And let
me just go, someone once said to a lady and said
to Winston Churchill, Mr. Churchill, you're drunk.
And he says, that's true, madam, but you're ugly.
And when I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to be
sober. But sooner or later, and I've talked to
the kids and I tell them any habit you don't
start, you don't have to stop. Yeah. And I guarantee
you, stopping. Or as Mark Twain say, quitting
smoking is easy, I've done it a thousand times.
And just from my work with the homeless, I run
the same people to rehab. And they say it takes
about seven shots at rehab. So if you're out
there and you're teetering on the edge with the
booze or the drugs, rehab is not fun. And one
of my ballplayers had a daughter who was 23.
This chokes me up. Hang on. Someone put fentanyl
in the cocaine. Beautiful, intelligent girl,
and she did not make it. Her mother will never,
ever be over that. Never. Just think about what
you're doing to other people. And it was my nephew
in the hospital. I want to say, look what you're
doing to everybody else in your life. Like I
said, the guy said to me in church, it ain't
about you. Yeah Your life is not just about Dan
McCartland and I've seen your pictures with your
wife and your kids your great family I think
I saw somebody getting baptized Yeah, that yeah,
that was me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah folks listening
Dan and I were Facebook friends Which is great,
you know that? Had a lot of guests on the show
and I really consider everybody that I've connected
with on the day and time podcast to be a friend
I think part of our purpose here on life is to
make friends and be available, to be friendly
and seek those connections. And it's really special
when, I think when Dan and I connected the first
time and then the follow -up episode and we just,
we still email, Dan will see stuff in a ball
game and he'll say, Hey, I was watching, he knows
I like the Ravens and our sports teams. And it's
really great to keep the connection going. I'm
going off track here, but Dan, I also, I mentioned
you and I think it was Voyager or something,
Shout Out Atlanta. Perhaps I had a opportunity
to put my name out there and get a story on the
podcast that's published. And it said, what was
your favorite guest, your favorite episode? And
I mentioned Dan Cabelka. I said, that's it. Hard
stop. Oh yeah. But I don't know where I started
there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you've gotten to see
that side of my family and kind of what I choose
to put out there. Yeah. Because usually if it's
not going to be positive, I don't post it. I
usually just share it. Well, you'll notice on
my Facebook, I don't post political stuff. Yeah.
Oh, and trust me, I have plenty of thoughts and
especially right now this week, some really Yeah,
troubling things happening and did happen but
those who have a certain political view at this
point there's nothing you're gonna say that's
gonna make a difference and We've got the exact
opposite view and there's nothing you can say
it's gonna make a difference. So why say it?
Yeah, I would echo what you said there We all
especially if you feel like you can articulate
your point online and you want to jump in the
comment section of a political post and just
say, well, I got the perfect rebuttal. And you
spend all 30 minutes or so typing something up
and you feel good about it. And some people like
it, maybe 50 people like it. But the only effective
way is that if you do what Dan, what I know you're
out there doing and it just lived your life and
those, you know, the shadows at times, nobody's
watching. There's no camera on you. Nobody's
taking a, It's not a photo op, but you're having
a heart to heart with a person at the ground
level in the margins of life. Or, or yeah, you're
talking to somebody or some, you know, that somebody
has a different opinion than you on politics
and you're out in your community. Have a conversation,
but, um, I would strongly advise people just
don't spend the energy on the online, uh, most
of it's, uh, most of it's. Not true. Anyway,
so really What's the point? I told my wife Natalie
today on I have to mention it. It's just it's
been dominating our news cycle that shooting
in Minnesota Minneapolis and I said honey What
you're seeing on your newsfeed is different than
what I'm seeing on my ass and she'd mentioned
a couple things and I said That's not real. That's
fake. That was that picture. You saw that was
AI uh yes and i said i'm not i'm not trying to
prove i'm not trying to make you feel bad or
whatever but i said good thing you have me to
snuff some of that out there's a lot of people
that see that take it as fact oh a friend of
mine posted something and in the bottom right
of the picture it says nothing in this picture
is real and he posted it as real what i asked
for is discernment yeah There are no shortage
of urban legend snopes things like that that
You know, we can check these things out and I
guess that bothers me that people are posting
things about checking it out You know, well and
if you lean one way or the other politically
you're gonna get sucked in well what happens
to versus say the internet in 2005 or 2010 is
you might read something from a news source and
then you think Well, let me go out to Google
and try to cross reference this. People are not
doing that now. They're not getting off of their
platform. They're really just, they're getting
all their news by scrolling through their chosen
platform and they're not thinking, Oh, wow, that's
a shocking story. Let me, let me, uh, Google
and find some corroborating store that don't
people that are not doing that. Yes. Yeah. I
have a background in communications and I've
worked for a newspaper. So I've, I'm always going
to do that, but. And you don't have to have that
background to have that curiosity, but I think
people just get... Well, it only takes a few
minutes to do your homework, in all honesty.
Is it going to change their minds? I kind of
doubt it, but at least they're showing some discernment.
And the one fellow, I was kind of embarrassed
for him that he printed something or said right
on it, it's fake, and he printed his truth. I
kind of felt sorry for him. He didn't catch it?
I don't know if he wanted to, but that's another
story. Like I said, I will say this about your
president, the cake has been baked. Those who
like him or whatever, there's nothing anybody's
going to say. Those who don't like him, there's
nothing you can say. So why, why have the, I'm
not going to lose a friend over politics. Yeah.
Well, another thing I realized, if you're of
a certain age, you're probably aware that in
the States, if you voted for Joe Biden, 2020
or you voted for Harris in 24 or you voted for
Trump or you voted for going back to the Clinton
and Bush and all that stuff whoever you voted
for and you're all in and you like this person
and you believe in the the agenda and Then some
unflattering news comes out. Maybe it's one story
and you just kind of you're like, no, that's
not true. I don't believe that that's just Whatever,
but when something really major comes along and
it casts your preferred candidate in a negative
light. People have a hard time saying, oh wow,
oh he is lying. Oh, I'm being, oh really? They
have a hard time doing that because now it reflects
on them and they cast that vote and they have
to reconcile that in their mindset. Oh. And so
they get close, I think, to that realization
sometimes, and then they beat it back, because
in order to accept it, they have to accept the
flawed... I have friends who are into Christian
apologetics, and they love to argue and debate.
And I said, for all the arguments that you've
had, and debates that you've won, has anybody
ever come to the faith in Christ over you because
you want to debate? Yeah. Doesn't happen. That's
not about winning a debate. And I heard someone
say, and I love this thing, when you start keeping
score, you've lost. When you start keeping score,
and this is, you start about marriages, but I
think in life too, when you start keeping score,
you've lost. And there's a lot of truth to that.