SoberNotMature - Episode 196 (Where Do You Keep The Knives?)

00:00:01.62
Bill
All right, everyone. Welcome once again to another episode of Sober Not Mature. And I guess I talk too much. That's all.

00:00:10.97
Mike
ah

00:00:11.30
Bill
That's all there is to it. It's okay.

00:00:14.68
Mike
I asked a simple question and started getting like this paragraphs of answers and I was all my God.

00:00:14.75
Bill
It's okay. It's okay.

00:00:21.40
Bill
hey yeah So um so here's here's the funny part. My dad used to say, um I asked you the time, not how the fucking clock was built. That was that was his...

00:00:31.06
Mike
Right. Thank Oh, well, yes, that's perfect.

00:00:34.36
Bill
yeah Okay, but they could...

00:00:37.00
Mike
I'm remembering that one. Okay.

00:00:38.36
Bill
Oh yeah, you could write write that one down because it's a good one because I could easily say to him, okay, hello, hello pot, calling Mr. Kettle over here.

00:00:45.78
Mike
I'm sure.

00:00:46.19
Bill
I'm like...

00:00:46.48
Mike
Right.

00:00:47.54
Bill
Okay, yeah, you think I talk a lot? Jesus Christ, man.

00:00:49.85
Mike
yeah

00:00:50.82
Bill
I seriously, and I know I've said it on here before, um when my dad was alive, you know, things that I miss now, obviously, you know, you're looking back, it was still a fucking pain in the ass.

00:00:57.30
Mike
sure

00:01:00.04
Bill
But um if he if he called me, or I would usually try to plan it, I'm like, because wait the way my schedule was, and I would literally be like, okay, do I have a a full, doesn't matter what it is, do I have a full hour, probably an hour And then I'd have to be like, I'd have to, at the beginning of the phone call, say, you know, I need to get my hair cut this afternoon or I got to go do this.

00:01:00.25
Mike
yeah

00:01:21.69
Mike
he i Right.

00:01:22.04
Bill
i mean, literally, i would I would preempt myself for the hour down the road. um It was fucking tough, you know.

00:01:26.51
Mike
right

00:01:28.16
Bill
But, yeah, all that Mike asked me is, that does he need to bring an Ethernet cable? And I started going into this long fucking story about why I have three now.

00:01:34.95
Mike
then. Right.

00:01:35.33
Bill
And he's like, just yes or no.

00:01:35.72
Mike
Yes.

00:01:39.10
Bill
Mike, no, you did not have to bring an Ethernet cable.

00:01:40.73
Mike
right then he

00:01:43.61
Bill
But yeah, it's just ah then, you know, then he he made a good point. He's like, well, let's let's start the podcast. You can talk on there.

00:01:48.15
Mike
right yes

00:01:49.09
Bill
Because it at least, you know, I mean, and thank you. I guess you you do have to i don't want you don't have to put up with me talking because here's here's the thing. You can talk if you if you want to, brett if you get tired of me.

00:01:59.35
Mike
I could.

00:02:00.63
Bill
You get tired of me talking. Oh, and speaking of that, fuck, last episode, on every goddamn clip I'm doing, it was just all fucking me because, you know, the...

00:02:04.89
Mike
Yes. Yeah. Well, you had a little, you had some things to talk about. Yeah.

00:02:10.39
Bill
Yeah, I i know. and I didn't feel as bad about that. But, I mean, shit, the the entire last, I mean, what we took a break in like 35 minutes and we went for, it's like like almost the last hour was me telling that fucking story, you know?

00:02:22.10
Mike
Yeah.

00:02:22.43
Bill
Which, it is what it is. Just, hey, did i I had a heart attack, just so you know. Yeah. And then i get ah I get a fucking phone call today because it's, what do you figure?

00:02:33.02
Bill
It's a week, two weeks from, well, whatever, week and a half, December 2nd, whatever that is. but um

00:02:38.74
Mike
Yes.

00:02:39.96
Bill
So I see this, ah it's a Lake Regional Hospital, whatever, pop up.

00:02:42.87
Mike
h Right.

00:02:43.00
Bill
And i mean, it's like 45 minutes before I'm done working. Well, maybe a little bit more than that. And I'm like, I answered it. And she's like, oh, you know, just have to ask some questions, you know, your procedure. And I'm like, yeah, it's all, you know I've got it scheduled.

00:02:54.74
Bill
And she's like, ah I just got to go over a couple of things or whatever.

00:02:54.84
Mike
Right.

00:02:57.74
Bill
And I said, how long is this going to take? I'm literally, I'm working right now. She's like, well, it depends on your medical history. Well, I have none. She's like, oh, it shouldn't be that bad. It was a it was a fucking half hour.

00:03:05.46
Mike
a

00:03:07.26
Bill
And finally, like the last five minutes, I'm like, I really have to go.

00:03:07.61
Mike
Wow.

00:03:11.18
Bill
I'm i'm like, I'm like,

00:03:12.18
Mike
Are you related to me?

00:03:14.09
Bill
i'm like I'm like trying to do – well, she's going through this long fucking laundry list. If she would have said it's going to be about a half hour, I would have said I will call you back at 3 when I'm done.

00:03:23.16
Mike
Right.

00:03:24.21
Bill
um But she's like, oh, it won't take that long.

00:03:24.34
Mike
Right.

00:03:25.89
Bill
And I'm thinking, you know, fucking five minutes, you know.

00:03:26.33
Mike
Right. Uh-huh. So is she like related to your father in some way or?

00:03:28.89
Bill
um

00:03:31.58
Bill
Well, in it no, I don't think so. But the the thing is, all the questions were were necessary and legitimate. They're trying to get this stuff all set up for this procedure.

00:03:39.19
Mike
Sure.

00:03:41.10
Bill
but But be fucking honest with me.

00:03:41.11
Mike
Right.

00:03:42.82
Bill
I told her right off the bat, I'm fucking working, you know?

00:03:43.16
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah. I know. So is she. Right.

00:03:47.93
Bill
Yeah, I know. I know. But I could have. I couldve i could have called her back. so

00:03:51.58
Mike
Right.

00:03:52.41
Bill
But, um yeah, speaking of that, i've got we'll get into it later. I've got a few people I want to thank ah for for reaching out, to actually, and Instagram people. um

00:03:59.81
Mike
Cool.

00:04:00.95
Bill
I want to hear – obviously, we want to hear about your thing last weekend. I went up and had lunch with the kids last weekend.

00:04:03.90
Mike
Yeah.

00:04:06.11
Bill
But um i I do want to play. I've got that Norm MacDonald thing I want to play. It's like literally one minute, but it's kind of funny.

00:04:11.00
Mike
Cool.

00:04:11.83
Bill
It's little heart attack. What are you talking about? A heart attack. But I just realized that today, and as this airs, you'll be in it too.

00:04:14.23
Mike
All right.

00:04:19.16
Bill
We are in, we've got a murder number of months under our belt right now. 187.

00:04:24.12
Mike
What now? Who? Oh, yes.

00:04:26.01
Bill
one hundred and eighty seven Yeah.

00:04:26.23
Mike
but Wait. Wait. Yeah. Wow.

00:04:31.54
Bill
So, so we had, we had our murder episode, you know, obviously number of episodes before this is 196, do the math 11 episodes ago.

00:04:31.67
Mike
All right.

00:04:34.74
Mike
Yes. Right. Uh-huh.

00:04:38.75
Bill
um But, but yeah, now for, you know, for the next 30 days, we have a murder number of months under our belt. So,

00:04:44.92
Mike
So, yeah. Well, and shit, we're going to hit 200 before the year's done, aren't we?

00:04:50.39
Bill
um, is it, let's see.

00:04:52.28
Mike
Yeah.

00:04:52.66
Bill
Yeah. One.

00:04:53.14
Mike
Yeah.

00:04:53.22
Bill
Oh yeah.

00:04:53.46
Mike
you said Didn't you say 196?

00:04:53.70
Bill
Well shit. Yeah. We're one. Oh, God.

00:04:55.66
Mike
It's four more episodes.

00:04:55.96
Bill
Yeah, of course.

00:04:56.90
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:04:57.14
Bill
Jesus Christ. I was thinking, i was God, for how so how stupid am I? I'm on medication, though.

00:05:01.40
Mike
i I don't know. Oh, ah you're on drugs.

00:05:02.68
Bill
um ah

00:05:07.18
Bill
It's nothing to do with anything. the I am towards the end of the day, though.

00:05:09.11
Mike
Hmm.

00:05:10.94
Bill
Now I'm i'm fucking tired towards the end of the day.

00:05:13.00
Mike
Hmm.

00:05:13.06
Bill
But I mean, I'm I'm focused on i do some it's been nice enough so I can get outside. But I also have this loop that I can walk down to the basement, whatever. um and mean, I'm literally tracking like like four miles of steps in a day and I'm doing it on purpose.

00:05:20.76
Mike
Hmm.

00:05:25.82
Mike
you

00:05:27.49
Bill
The breaks and in all that different stuff.

00:05:27.67
Mike
Right.

00:05:29.14
Bill
And.

00:05:29.56
Mike
Right.

00:05:29.74
Bill
Um, you know, so like literally by the end of the day, it's not as bad as it was to begin with, but there's certain nights where I lay down and I go to, you know, do my 10 step or whatever. and I'm like, I'm like, oh, God, I wake up like three, four minutes later and I'm still laying on my back.

00:05:39.22
Mike
a

00:05:43.50
Bill
I'm like, I didn't even get halfway through that. i got fucking start over again, you know But um yeah, it's, ah yeah, it's, ah it I don't know. I don't know if, I don't think that, I don't think the medication makes me drowsy. I'm just fucking stupid. But yeah, it's, so it's, it's one.

00:05:58.17
Bill
Thank you. this this Just fucking thank you. Thank you.

00:06:01.68
Mike
You're quite welcome.

00:06:01.81
Bill
you

00:06:03.32
Mike
Yeah.

00:06:03.61
Bill
Just a normal person might not even notice that, but you're like, yeah. What is this?

00:06:07.14
Mike
Yeah.

00:06:07.23
Bill
Yeah. okay Yeah.

00:06:07.98
Mike
Yes.

00:06:09.98
Bill
Fuck you. Just no, no, you know what?

00:06:11.74
Mike
fool

00:06:13.06
Bill
No, going to take that back. Thank you. I just appreciate it because yeah, I am.

00:06:14.39
Mike
a

00:06:15.90
Bill
I just thank you for co-signing the reality, but um yeah, four, four more episodes.

00:06:18.36
Mike
yes

00:06:20.50
Bill
It'll be 200. So what do you want to do for our 200th?

00:06:22.90
Mike
I don't know. Probably same shit we did for the last 199. Right.

00:06:28.18
Bill
yeah I wonder if that's going to be when when jeremys Jeremy's on. on the God, what fucking day is it when he's on the 19th?

00:06:35.50
Mike
Let's take a look here.

00:06:35.83
Bill
So.

00:06:36.38
Mike
So we got one, three. the should be our 200th episode. Okay.

00:06:42.52
Bill
Yeah, okay.

00:06:42.55
Mike
should be our two hundredth episode

00:06:44.95
Bill
Okay. Well, let's let's plan for for not doing anything special. with Hey, that's ah I'm just looking on my calendar.

00:06:48.66
Mike
he

00:06:51.23
Bill
That that is Katie's katie's birthday. my ah Yeah, so Katie is my son's girlfriend.

00:06:53.75
Mike
Ah, right.

00:06:56.18
Bill
So we can celebrate her.

00:06:57.43
Mike
Almost daughter-in-law.

00:06:59.10
Bill
Well, there i dare I wouldn't even get into it.

00:07:02.69
Mike
In-law.

00:07:03.70
Bill
Yeah, did yeah.

00:07:04.02
Mike
a

00:07:05.43
Bill
She, she's, she's not until the girlfriend, you know, three and a half years, but, uh, she's been around a minute and I can't, I can't see her at this point.

00:07:07.90
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:07:13.35
Bill
And this is just my honest opinion. It was kind of like, um, uh, my daughter and and my son-in-law.

00:07:15.29
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:07:18.10
Bill
mean, they were together.

00:07:18.37
Mike
Right.

00:07:19.72
Bill
God, by the time they got married, they were together for nine years, I think.

00:07:22.71
Mike
yeah i was going to say, plus to 10, right.

00:07:24.41
Bill
Yeah. And I made my, I kept, i always told people, I said, they've been together forever. They're doing this on purpose. They're out enjoying themselves. They got their dogs. They're doing all this different stuff. Um, you know, I said something really fucking bad would have to happen for them not to get married.

00:07:33.44
Mike
Sure.

00:07:38.37
Bill
And I would think the same thing with, um, you know, with Derek and Katie, I mean, they're, they're just, they're just really good together.

00:07:38.67
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:07:42.17
Mike
Right.

00:07:43.93
Bill
They're fucking cute as hell.

00:07:44.39
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:07:44.81
Bill
They're really good.

00:07:45.37
Mike
Right.

00:07:45.49
Bill
Um, they're building this thing, you know, this life together, you know, as, as they're, as they're going on right now.

00:07:47.90
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. As, like, normal people do.

00:07:50.97
Bill
And, uh, Yeah, exactly. And yeah, it,

00:07:55.58
Mike
They're not getting married two weeks after they met each other.

00:07:58.90
Bill
Yeah. Not getting married, not, you know, not, not getting, you know, not, not pregnancies that are just, you know, yeah.

00:08:03.93
Mike
Right.

00:08:06.53
Bill
Like that's, that's just what I, what I do. I don't, the I got married twice. Cause you know, at both times, I mean, it's like not that I had to, but um yeah, I mean, you know, twice that, that I wasn't, let me put the, put the quotes up air quotes careful.

00:08:18.96
Bill
Yeah. Each of those, each of those women got, got pregnant.

00:08:19.90
Mike
yeah

00:08:22.24
Bill
So yeah, I, I was as as fertile enough, but yeah. So they're doing things in the right directions, you know, in the right orders and all those sort of things.

00:08:28.47
Mike
Right.

00:08:29.40
Bill
So I know.

00:08:30.07
Mike
ah Again, normal people.

00:08:31.86
Bill
Yeah.

00:08:32.09
Mike
i don't understand them at all.

00:08:32.63
Bill
Yeah. Like, I know it's say like, I, I'm happy that my kids have some of my, my traits, but I'm really happy that they don't have all of my traits. That's for goddamn sure.

00:08:41.17
Mike
Right.

00:08:42.71
Bill
So, all right. Um, what do you think? You got yourself a a reading there? I mean, uh, sort of.

00:08:47.13
Mike
got Sort of

00:08:49.30
Bill
Okay. Like,

00:08:49.66
Mike
Sort of. um Yeah, well, so um the other day, ah this popped up in my feed from a group I'm in, friends of Bill W. and Dr. Bob. um you Actually, I think you're the only person that liked it on Facebook when I shared it.

00:09:03.90
Mike
ah So you know it's coming, but I thought it was kind of cool, and I thought I would share it with our listeners.

00:09:03.99
Bill
but

00:09:13.24
Mike
Yeah, this is um Dr. Bob's last message presented at the first international conference of Alcoholics Anonymous on July 28th, 1950 in someplace called Cleveland, Ohio.

00:09:30.39
Mike
um Yeah, so this was Dr. Bob's final message to us.

00:09:36.28
Bill
And it was in Cleveland, too, huh?

00:09:37.66
Mike
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

00:09:38.12
Bill
I'm sorry.

00:09:38.34
Mike
the

00:09:38.36
Bill
i was I was muted already, but...

00:09:39.90
Mike
Yeah, right. Oh, yeah. um Yeah, the first, I know that, the first international conference was here in Cleveland.

00:09:45.72
Bill
Fuck, I didn't know that.

00:09:46.88
Mike
Yup.

00:09:46.94
Bill
if i If I did... Again, back to... ah Did I tell you... Did I mention I'm stupid? I'm on drugs and I'm stupid.

00:09:52.35
Mike
You're on drugs. It's fine.

00:09:55.46
Bill
they i have I have more blood flow now, which means my brain should...

00:09:58.17
Mike
Are you stoned or stupid?

00:10:00.86
Bill
Yes.

00:10:01.66
Mike
Yes.

00:10:02.17
Bill
Yes. But having more blood flow, my brain should work better too, right? it It's not just that I should be able to walk four miles, but my brain should work better.

00:10:06.71
Mike
Hmm.

00:10:10.13
Bill
is it Isn't that logical?

00:10:10.42
Mike
i to It's logical, but...

00:10:15.87
Bill
It's just running all to my dick now. That's all it is.

00:10:18.74
Mike
Wow.

00:10:18.84
Bill
like i can't I can't think anymore. I'm raging hard at 24 hours a day.

00:10:22.07
Mike
feel little too much information.

00:10:26.14
Bill
All right. Let me mute again.

00:10:28.38
Mike
Please do.

00:10:28.46
Bill
go hey

00:10:31.45
Mike
all right. Anyway, this is Dr. Bob's final message to us um My good friends in AA and of AA, didn't feel i wait, no, I feel I would be very remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to welcome you here to Cleveland, not only to this meeting, but those that have already transpired.

00:10:58.04
Mike
i hope very much that the presence of so many people and the words that you have heard will prove an inspiration to you. Not only to you, but may you be able to impart that inspiration to the boys and girls back home who are not fortunate enough to be able to come.

00:11:14.39
Mike
In other words, we hope that your visit here has been both enjoyable and profitable. I get a big thrill out of looking out over a vast sea of faces like this with a feeling that possibly some small thing that I did a number of years ago played an infinitely small part in making this meeting possible.

00:11:36.76
Mike
I also get quite a thrill when I think that we all had the same problem. We all did the same things. We all get the same results in proportion to our zeal and enthusiasm and stick-to-itiveness.

00:11:54.07
Mike
If you will pardon the injection of a personal note this time, let me say that I've been in bed five of the last seven months and my strength hasn't returned as I would like, so my remarks will be of necessity will be very brief.

00:12:09.69
Mike
But there are two or three things that flashed into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis. One is the simplicity of our program. Let's not louse it up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to the scientific mind, but have very little to do with our actual actual AA work.

00:12:33.66
Mike
Our 12 steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words love and service. We understand what love is, and we understand what service is, so let's bear those two things in mind.

00:12:49.34
Mike
Let us also remember to guard that erring member, the tongue. And if we must use it, let's use it with kindness and consideration and tolerance.

00:13:01.21
Mike
And one more thing. None of us would be here today if somebody hadn't taken the time to explain things to us, to give us a little pat on the back, to take us to a meeting or two, to have done numerous little kind and thoughtful acts in our behalf.

00:13:18.52
Mike
So let us never get the degree of smug complacency so that we're not willing to extend or attempt to that help, which has been so beneficial to us, to our less unfortunate, our less fortunate brothers.

00:13:35.10
Mike
Thank you very much.

00:13:38.52
Bill
I like that. There was a ah lot of good stuff there. She said 1950, huh? So when when did he when did he die?

00:13:42.62
Mike
Yeah.

00:13:44.66
Bill
I don't even remember.

00:13:46.38
Mike
Uh, but, but, but, but but but but but but november nineteen fifty

00:13:50.81
Bill
Oh, okay. And that was what month?

00:13:52.76
Mike
ah what

00:13:55.83
Mike
What?

00:13:55.99
Bill
I said that. What did you say?

00:13:57.85
Mike
I said November 1950. Oh,

00:14:00.50
Bill
No, no, no. But I mean, what month was, was the speech?

00:14:01.72
Mike
oh the July. End of July.

00:14:03.54
Bill
Oh, okay. Okay.

00:14:04.95
Mike
Yeah, so a few months later.

00:14:05.24
Bill
um Yeah. And because I, you know, when he said that about the last five out of the last seven months and that's, I was like, God, he must've, he must've died probably shortly, shortly after that or close to it.

00:14:14.01
Mike
He did. Mm-hmm.

00:14:15.66
Bill
But um yeah, what a, what a nice, what a nice speech. I mean um I wrote down a you know, kind of like a lot of little things, but um like in part, in part inspiration, I think that was like in the opening We all had the same problem.

00:14:20.06
Mike
Yes.

00:14:30.38
Bill
I like that. I know there's more detail than that.

00:14:31.53
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:14:32.86
Bill
But the simplicity of our program and he said don't louse that up. I'd like to go back to that in a minute.

00:14:37.43
Mike
Yes.

00:14:37.90
Bill
But that the next thing that I don't know that I've ever heard of the steps broken down or, as he said, simmered down, I believe um the steps are about love and service.

00:14:38.23
Mike
a

00:14:47.04
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:14:50.09
Bill
Have you ever heard that before?

00:14:52.10
Mike
I mean, not that directly. No.

00:14:55.54
Bill
but I mean, it just that kind of ah that that really stuck out to me because um I mean, I suppose I'd have to I i believe him.

00:14:59.58
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:15:03.58
Mike
Sure.

00:15:04.47
Bill
he He's fucking Dr. Bob. So, I mean, I'm not going to I'm going to be like, no, they don't.

00:15:06.78
Mike
Right. he No, i what the hell are you talking about, old man?

00:15:12.34
Bill
I mean, the service part's easy enough. And I suppose when we when we look at it at all of them and I'm just, you know, kind of in my head, you know, kind of like doing an overview, i would I would have to look at the steps to to pull out the parts and like to really see that sort of thing.

00:15:26.22
Bill
um You know, but the the service part is, that's easy.

00:15:26.49
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:15:29.73
Bill
I mean, that's really easy.

00:15:30.33
Mike
Sure.

00:15:31.65
Bill
But yeah, I just said that that in and of itself, I don't think I've ever heard of that. so you said really not in those words either, huh?

00:15:37.59
Mike
Yeah, not really, you know, broken down that simply, but I mean, it makes perfect sense. I mean, that's really what it is, you know, being more loving and and helping the next person, which we've talked about plenty.

00:15:42.06
Bill
Right.

00:15:47.88
Mike
But yeah, you know, I mean, you really want to distill it down as apparently he did.

00:15:48.25
Bill
Right.

00:15:52.60
Mike
Yeah, that's it, man. You know you break this shit down. It's about love and it's about service, you know, being kinder and helping the next person. And that's, that's it.

00:16:03.22
Bill
and And like shortly after that, he talked about, he said, kindness, consideration and something else. And I, I was listening to you when I completely, again, my back to my stupidness, my my brain went, can you see that?

00:16:14.32
Mike
Hehehehe.

00:16:16.65
Bill
It might've been the sentence or two after that kindness, consideration and.

00:16:17.98
Mike
bo um but but but but but Hang on. Yeah, because it's on my phone. So it's...

00:16:22.46
Bill
Oh, it is. Okay.

00:16:23.26
Mike
Yeah.

00:16:23.70
Bill
I suppose, I suppose.

00:16:23.78
Mike
um Right. Yeah. Because I just pulled up... Like I said, I shared it on Facebook. And then I... So actually, I've shared it on Facebook mostly. So I could find it easily doing this.

00:16:35.35
Bill
right

00:16:35.64
Mike
um but that bla bla but but but but is like the part of very Fitting. Wait. What the hell were talking about? I've lost it. See?

00:16:44.03
Bill
Kindness, consideration, and it was below where it said loves and love and service.

00:16:44.17
Mike
Yeah.

00:16:46.52
Mike
Yeah.

00:16:47.91
Bill
it was shortly after that, probably in the next paragraph.

00:16:49.40
Mike
yeah well he was um Yeah, let us remember to guard our erring that erring member, the tongue. um And if we must use it, let's use it with kindness, consideration, and tolerance.

00:16:55.70
Bill
Yep.

00:17:01.05
Bill
tolerance that was okay yeah that's a that's a big one um and you know the the thing of it is that i you know like that we and we talked about a lot of different things you and i i always go back to what what uncle john uh said to me years ago you know he said what whatever you uh well he said whatever you put down on paper make sure tastes good but Um, you know, the, the same, the same thing would be, you know, whatever comes out of your mouth, you know, make sure that, you know, that tastes good because, you know, his point was, I mean, a lot of times and in life, we're going end up, you know, eating our words.

00:17:02.59
Mike
Yep. Yeah.

00:17:25.56
Mike
right

00:17:32.14
Bill
And, um, you know, if you're, if you do have to talk, I mean, what a, what a great thing.

00:17:32.24
Mike
mm-hmm mm-hmm

00:17:37.27
Bill
This is just breaking shit down. And that we'll go back to that simplicity thing, which I want to talk about. But he broke things down into such literally just basic things. Like, okay, if you're going to talk, if you're going to, yeah, we've got to talk.

00:17:47.45
Mike
is Yeah.

00:17:50.51
Bill
We've got to have opinions or whatever the case is. But let's let's do it with kindness, considerance, considerance.

00:17:53.04
Mike
Right.

00:17:57.94
Bill
Jesus Christ.

00:17:58.18
Mike
Considerance.

00:17:59.03
Bill
Considerance, toleration.

00:18:00.02
Mike
Right. Right.

00:18:03.58
Bill
because

00:18:03.72
Mike
I mean, well, yeah, it basically comes down to you know, what we were told when we were fucking four years old. You know, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

00:18:09.08
Bill
Right.

00:18:11.74
Bill
Right. Yeah.

00:18:12.25
Mike
Yeah, you know, again, i mean, that was that was one of the first lessons I learned in this thing, this program, whatever, you know you know.

00:18:12.34
Bill
It's little. Mm-hmm.

00:18:21.94
Mike
We learned all this shit already. We were taught these things already a long damn time ago. We just chose to ignore them.

00:18:29.14
Bill
Right. Yeah. I mean, i i I saw the movie.

00:18:29.94
Mike
Because, you know, because, sure, Bambi.

00:18:31.25
Bill
I saw the movie Bambi plenty of times. It says it right in there. Yeah, it says that. Thumper says that if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.

00:18:41.76
Mike
All right, then.

00:18:44.15
Bill
But I'm sorry. so Yeah, you were saying, I mean, we've taught that. We got we had to learn years ago.

00:18:47.16
Mike
Yeah, you know, exactly. You know, all these, right, all these basic things that we're supposed to know and supposed to, yeah you know, we were taught a long damn time ago. We just, we figured out that, or we, you know, we figured out that our way was better.

00:19:01.02
Mike
You know, we, we, yes, I don't need to, fuck that shit.

00:19:01.69
Bill
but

00:19:06.81
Mike
You know, I'll say whatever the hell I want because I'm right.

00:19:09.68
Bill
Right. Right.

00:19:10.20
Mike
Yeah. insist Sure I am.

00:19:11.77
Bill
Yeah, and if you don't yeah if you don't if you don't like it, well, fuck you then, you know? Which, I mean, you know, ah part of the time, we're not well, we're not trying to be mean on here.

00:19:14.87
Mike
Right.

00:19:18.14
Bill
I know we've said that before. If you don't like what we're talking about, fuck you then. But, i mean, we're we're trying to talk about, you know, kindness and consideration and tolerance.

00:19:21.62
Mike
Right.

00:19:25.69
Mike
Where?

00:19:26.06
Bill
And, you know, if if that's what you don't like, yeah, truly fuck you then. But, um you know, I mean, that's that's in the in the kindest way.

00:19:29.37
Mike
Yeah, right.

00:19:33.45
Bill
po We're out here we're out of here trying to do good, God damn it, making our little corner of the world a better place.

00:19:36.25
Mike
Yeah.

00:19:37.65
Bill
And if if you...

00:19:37.91
Mike
Yeah, you dumb fuck.

00:19:39.53
Bill
if If you don't like that, and I mean, you collectively, then yeah, go fuck yourself, you know, but

00:19:39.78
Mike
Yeah, right.

00:19:44.15
Mike
yeah right Yeah. Go pound sand someplace. Sure.

00:19:47.55
Bill
go pound something someplace.

00:19:49.79
Mike
Yes.

00:19:50.10
Bill
But, um, but no, I just want to, what a, just again, a great little, little breakdown. And then yeah it said, mentioned something with, um, you know, obviously smug complacency.

00:20:00.39
Bill
And I just wrote down that term cause I liked it.

00:20:02.17
Mike
sure

00:20:03.11
Bill
You know, if you're going be, yeah, because I mean, we're, we're not just complacent.

00:20:03.48
Mike
yes

00:20:06.51
Bill
We do it with, with smugness, you know, and

00:20:08.15
Mike
Oh, of course. Right. You know, I've got this thing down. i fucking, you know, like again, it comes, you know, yeah if you give it away to keep it, you know.

00:20:15.54
Bill
right.

00:20:15.71
Mike
um But yeah, we do. we I can fall into it very easily. well I'm sober.

00:20:20.76
Bill
Right.

00:20:21.68
Mike
I got shit figured out. I'm running a good program. but Right. You know, some, yeah, new guy comes up. and I don't have time to fucking deal with your nonsense. You know, I better fucking find some time to deal with that nonsense because I'm going to be spouting the same nonsense in about a week.

00:20:38.55
Bill
Right. Yeah.

00:20:39.13
Mike
Yeah.

00:20:40.97
Bill
Yeah. And that's why it's, it's still even to this day, you know, cause I, um, not enough. Well, I suppose, you know, on a semi-regular basis, you know, talking with people on Instagram or whatever it is. And, uh, uh, just in general, you know, it comes up, you know, somebody's got, you know, three, four years, they got seven, eight years and, uh, you know, it comes up, you know, yeah, Mike and got 15 and a half.

00:20:56.41
Mike
Right.

00:20:59.44
Bill
It's like, Jesus Christ, 15 and a half. I'm like, hold on.

00:21:03.54
Mike
Right?

00:21:03.62
Bill
I'm like, yeah, I mean, um I'm really fucking proud of it. And I know you are too.

00:21:07.36
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:21:07.70
Bill
And I'd look at it.

00:21:07.86
Mike
Sure.

00:21:08.74
Bill
I look at it every, every fucking day. I look at my sobriety counter and it is, it's for two reasons. It's for, it's for motivation and look at what I did but it's also look at what I had to lose.

00:21:19.50
Bill
You know, um i look at it it in both different ways.

00:21:20.54
Mike
Oh, absolutely.

00:21:22.58
Bill
I guess I worked really hard for this. For the most part, I don't feel like I've worked that hard over the last handful of years because you get in this rhythm, you know?

00:21:32.05
Mike
Right.

00:21:32.26
Bill
But still, I had to do and we had to do work. We have to continue to do work because we we both figured out if we stop tomorrow, it's like ah we're good.

00:21:38.11
Mike
Yeah. Uh-huh.

00:21:42.26
Bill
if if we If we are complacently smug or smugly, smugly, if we are...

00:21:45.66
Mike
Mm-hmm. Complacently smug.

00:21:49.50
Bill
so

00:21:50.06
Mike
Yes.

00:21:51.03
Bill
If we are smug and complacent as of tomorrow and we're like, we got this man.

00:21:53.38
Mike
Yeah. Right.

00:21:56.12
Bill
Fuck it. We're done. We're, we're good. We can, we can do this in a very, very short amount of time.

00:21:57.82
Mike
Right.

00:22:02.23
Bill
Both, both of us, I um I'm convinced. I know both of us have been convinced that we're going be fucked, you know?

00:22:05.94
Mike
Yes.

00:22:07.27
Bill
So,

00:22:07.28
Mike
Yeah.

00:22:08.54
Bill
Okay, yeah, it's 15 years. It's great. You know you meet somebody with 25 years. That's fucking great. But you know's ah you you have that so far.

00:22:13.12
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:22:15.62
Bill
you know You've been given an A on your paper. You can fail this class pretty goddamn quickly if you stop doing the goddamn homework.

00:22:20.03
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:22:21.66
Bill
you know

00:22:21.69
Mike
Right. Yes.

00:22:22.52
Bill
yeah

00:22:23.03
Mike
Yeah. Maintenance.

00:22:24.92
Bill
Wait, what? me Okay, wait.

00:22:26.33
Mike
Hey, God.

00:22:26.96
Bill
who away Wait a second.

00:22:29.40
Mike
hey god

00:22:30.36
Bill
Wait, what is this thing contingent upon? I mean, what do we have to do?

00:22:34.24
Mike
Our spiritual condition. It's contingent on our spiritual condition.

00:22:39.26
Bill
Oh, so so all we have to have is this.

00:22:39.29
Mike
Haven't you read the book?

00:22:41.70
Bill
Okay, so i note to self, just have a spiritual condition. Thank you. Okay, I'm good.

00:22:46.62
Mike
Condition. Yes. ah

00:22:50.15
Bill
I don't have to maintain it. I just need to need a spiritual condition. But no, I mean, seriously, that all of that stuff, ah again, back to the simplicity part. so So he, and I don't remember exactly how that how that was worded, but he was talking about the the simplicity of our program and basically saying, you know, just don't don't anyone fuck with it, right?

00:23:10.53
Mike
Right.

00:23:10.63
Bill
It's kind of what it what it came down to.

00:23:11.42
Mike
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, that's, you know, that's the very famous quote of when ah um when Bill was leaving him in Akron, you know, he said, let's not louse this thing up.

00:23:15.42
Bill
Sorry. Sorry.

00:23:20.22
Bill
Right.

00:23:23.10
Mike
um

00:23:23.22
Bill
Right.

00:23:24.60
Mike
And, yeah, it's scroll, scroll, scroll. God, I hate fucking doing this shit. I should have printed it out. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

00:23:33.11
Bill
Yeah, that's right. You do. You do have a printer. I know that much.

00:23:35.32
Mike
I do have a printer, but, you know,

00:23:37.30
Bill
hey

00:23:37.88
Mike
but but but but but but but but but but but where the hell is it? Supplicity, bro. Yeah, yay there we go. Here's the right paragraph. um Yeah, you know, let's louse this thing up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to the scientific mind, but have very little to do with our actual AA work.

00:23:57.34
Mike
Yes.

00:23:57.37
Bill
Right. Right. And you know what? That that goes back to, um you know, the and we have talked about it. We haven't talked about it in a while. But and again, we've never named it. I know a couple of people have our our sleuthy listeners have figured out, you know, who who we've been talking about, you know, but, you know, people that want to get rid of rid of the word alcoholic and people that want to change up the big buck and all those different things.

00:24:19.85
Bill
And I don't have an issue with that. I think we, I think we've talked about this specifically. If you want to call yourself something different, I mean, there's already that shit going on. And I don't mean that a bad way.

00:24:29.94
Mike
Right.

00:24:30.82
Bill
There's already that going on. There's plenty of, of things that people label themselves. But we don't have to get rid of anything.

00:24:36.15
Mike
Right.

00:24:38.30
Bill
Just call yourself something different.

00:24:38.68
Mike
h

00:24:39.54
Bill
and There's nothing wrong with that. Okay. um

00:24:41.27
Mike
Right.

00:24:42.36
Bill
And when it comes to the big book, um if somebody wants to redo reboot, cause that's the big turn these days, you know, you know, Oh, by side note, real quick.

00:24:49.94
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

00:24:54.04
Bill
I like, I got, up I will reboot the big book. We'll get back to that second. I watched about 15 minutes of the new naked gun movie with like Liam Neeson.

00:25:00.86
Mike
Oh, yeah. Yeah.

00:25:02.87
Bill
um Yeah. Okay.

00:25:05.11
Mike
Yeah.

00:25:05.44
Bill
I'll just leave it at that.

00:25:05.94
Mike
Yes.

00:25:06.10
Bill
Yeah. Yeah. um It didn't have to be redone. Just didn't have to be redone.

00:25:09.85
Mike
Right. Exactly. Yeah. the The trailer was enough.

00:25:11.77
Bill
Yeah.

00:25:12.81
Mike
The trailer was cute and then move on.

00:25:13.50
Bill
Yeah.

00:25:14.73
Mike
You don't need to make the whole fucking movie.

00:25:15.45
Bill
Yeah, it, nope, they they didn't have to they didn't have to try to try try to fuck it up because they they did a really good job of fucking it up. They didn't to try to do it. But um so if anyone wants to write or or change their and and make their version of ah of a big book.

00:25:24.38
Mike
Hehehehe.

00:25:31.16
Mike
Sure. Well, yeah, it's, you know, it's like, you know, different versions of the Bible, right?

00:25:35.99
Bill
Right, right.

00:25:36.08
Mike
You know, yeah, there's the King James and then there's the New American Standard and blah, blah, blah. you want to But, I mean, i don't know. it's it it can lose things in translation and and and like the Bible, you know, you throw extra stuff in there and, you know, Freudian complexes and...

00:25:47.30
Bill
Right. Right.

00:25:54.30
Mike
Yeah, i I don't find it necessary. um You know, if you're having trouble understanding it, maybe you should get a sponsor that ah can explain it to you.

00:26:06.87
Mike
um Yeah, you know, because hopefully they got a sponsor that explained it to them. And if they didn't, then maybe you fucking find another sponsor. um Right. I mean, it's, yes, it's it's written, you know, it's we' getting close to 100 years.

00:26:22.16
Mike
um You know, and the language is a little different and whatever.

00:26:22.58
Bill
Right.

00:26:25.52
Mike
and It can be a little difficult to understand sometimes. But so what? It's fucking hard work sometimes. Yeah.

00:26:33.85
Bill
Yeah, I agree with you wholeheartedly. And that's the that the thing of it is, and that maybe even what I was leading to was that not even just trying to write a new big book, if somebody wants to do their own their own thing, but there there are so many there are so many things right now that I don't care how many people want to you know stand on, you know whatever they want to stand on and say, AA is not for me and it doesn't work and it doesn't do this, but but here's what I do over here.

00:26:44.47
Mike
Right.

00:26:56.08
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:26:58.75
Bill
And then you look at it and you're like,

00:26:59.10
Mike
Right.

00:27:01.40
Bill
you that's That's the 12 steps dressed up in a different fucking outfit.

00:27:02.97
Mike
Yeah. Uh-huh.

00:27:07.42
Bill
Okay?

00:27:07.50
Mike
Right.

00:27:07.86
Bill
And that's fine. I'm not offended by that. I actually want to be like, ha ha.

00:27:11.64
Mike
Right. i want to be smug and complacent.

00:27:13.60
Bill
Ooh. I do. Not complacent. I want to be smug.

00:27:17.60
Mike
Be smug, oh yes.

00:27:19.17
Bill
want to be very, very openly smug.

00:27:21.84
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:27:22.07
Bill
Oh, hey, let me, let's sit down and let's dissect your program, quote unquote.

00:27:27.38
Mike
Right.

00:27:28.43
Bill
And I'm going to find everything that, I'm going to find all the AA hiding in the, hiding in the pages and the literature.

00:27:28.70
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:27:32.78
Mike
Right.

00:27:33.83
Bill
But the thing of it is, it doesn't fucking matter, but

00:27:34.50
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:27:36.76
Bill
You know, the the same deal is that those two guys, you know, in 1935, they put this shit together and they're there's millions, fucking millions of people out there that it works for.

00:27:42.77
Mike
Yep.

00:27:47.45
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:27:48.21
Bill
No, it doesn't work for everyone or it isn't everyone's deal.

00:27:48.55
Mike
Yeah. Sure.

00:27:51.77
Bill
And that's fucking fine. Not everyone, clearly not everyone was Kung Fu fighting.

00:27:53.71
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:27:56.95
Mike
Right.

00:27:58.58
Bill
And clearly not everyone needs to get sober with Alcoholics Anonymous.

00:28:02.62
Mike
Right.

00:28:02.82
Bill
It's fucking fine.

00:28:04.44
Mike
Right.

00:28:04.46
Bill
Okay, but

00:28:04.90
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:28:06.14
Bill
But back to what i what I say before. Leave our shit alone. Okay?

00:28:10.04
Mike
Yeah.

00:28:10.26
Bill
Leave it alone.

00:28:11.20
Mike
Right.

00:28:11.91
Bill
I'm an alcoholic. I think you are too, right, Mike?

00:28:13.91
Mike
I, yes, I am.

00:28:13.99
Bill
You identify?

00:28:15.17
Mike
Mm-mm.

00:28:16.27
Bill
We both identify and we would clearly just openly, we're not embarrassed by It's not a bad word. So we're we're both alcoholics. We use alcoholic synod. We've grown up on it. We live by We like that book that's kind of large and the way that it's all set up.

00:28:29.75
Bill
So don't fuck with it.

00:28:29.89
Mike
Yep.

00:28:31.33
Bill
We we are not fucking with you.

00:28:33.78
Mike
Right.

00:28:34.70
Bill
Don't fuck with us.

00:28:35.67
Mike
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

00:28:38.23
Bill
Please allow us to keep it simple.

00:28:40.25
Mike
Yeah. Louse this fucking thing up, man.

00:28:44.82
Bill
Yeah. if If we want to louse it up, we'll fucking it do it like men. We'll do it our so we do it ourselves.

00:28:48.70
Mike
That's right. you see

00:28:50.78
Bill
We'll need your fucking help to louse anything up. You people.

00:28:54.94
Mike
Clearly.

00:28:56.63
Bill
But yeah, so I i had no, again, if if I did have any idea that that that that conference was held in Cleveland, I don't remember. you know i have no no recollection of that.

00:29:07.63
Bill
But that's that's kind of cool. But I mean, you know again, i mean, Cleveland, we know how how, ah you know, pivotal, pivotal Cleveland was in the whole initial, you know, movement and, and, you know, growth and and all sorts of things.

00:29:14.54
Mike
Mm-hmm. Sure.

00:29:20.92
Mike
Yeah.

00:29:21.63
Bill
And, and again, what a, what a backbone and in the way I can, I guess a backbone alcoholics anonymous that still is to this day.

00:29:28.47
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:29:28.68
Bill
And you know, what the, what good recovery it is there. So, um, I don't know.

00:29:31.93
Mike
Yep.

00:29:32.88
Bill
I mean, it's, uh, it, uh, I, it doesn't surprise me, but I just didn't, I didn't remember.

00:29:39.20
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm 90% sure it was a public hall.

00:29:43.61
Bill
Oh, really?

00:29:44.51
Mike
Downtown, yeah.

00:29:45.56
Bill
Okay. Well, mean, that would that would make sense.

00:29:47.29
Mike
Sure, yeah.

00:29:47.54
Bill
That would make sense.

00:29:48.25
Mike
You know, that was that was the place back then. We didn't have Rocket Arena. Oh,

00:29:56.79
Bill
Yeah, I suppose. when when was the When was the first stadium built down there, do you know?

00:30:01.37
Mike
I mean, the original municipal stadium was built in the 30s.

00:30:07.62
Bill
Oh, was it?

00:30:07.74
Mike
Yeah, so, yeah.

00:30:07.98
Bill
Okay, okay.

00:30:08.70
Mike
I mean, but that was outside.

00:30:10.97
Bill
Yeah, well, that's a yeah it's a good point.

00:30:10.97
Mike
You know, yeah.

00:30:12.29
Bill
well ever yeah there yeah in July in Cleveland could be a little little warm and toasty, so.

00:30:12.30
Mike
Yeah.

00:30:15.83
Mike
Right. Right. Plus, there was probably an Indians game going on, so they couldn't get the they couldn't get the hall.

00:30:22.58
Bill
Right, right. Can't kick out the the Indians for a bunch of bunch of fucking drunks.

00:30:26.07
Mike
nonsense

00:30:27.94
Bill
But no, that's good.

00:30:28.06
Mike
Right.

00:30:29.82
Bill
I'm glad. That was ah that was a nice little change up with that. I mean, yeah, it's ah it was still a reading because like when you're like, yeah, sort of, I'm like, how could you sort of have a reading?

00:30:37.76
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:30:38.34
Bill
But so you had a reading, just not one from a recovery book.

00:30:40.18
Mike
yes

00:30:41.06
Bill
But I'm glad i'm glad you read that because that was ah that was a good one.

00:30:41.30
Mike
right yeah

00:30:44.06
Bill
that was a good thinking one. So anything else on there that that really stood out for you or?

00:30:49.34
Mike
Um, no, you know, just, um, I mean, we kind of covered it in the beginning, but yes, you know, this all boils down to love and service, you know, being, being kinder, being nicer and helping out the next guy on this little one-way trip around here.

00:31:04.12
Bill
Right. Yeah. It just, uh, I don't know. And I, I really, really, really, imagine that kind of like the way that he broke everything down and, uh, yeah, it is just broke everything down.

00:31:14.21
Bill
And, mean, I think, i don't know when it, when it really gets into a granted, it's the the big book and the steps and all those things can be, can be overwhelming to begin with just because it's, uh, I mean, we're, you know, you're so fucking, you know, raw in everything else, just going into this whole goddamn thing, but.

00:31:22.59
Mike
Mm-hmm. Well, yeah. and it's And it's a new way to fucking live, man.

00:31:30.52
Bill
Yeah.

00:31:30.58
Mike
You know, that doesn't happen overnight.

00:31:32.95
Bill
Right. But it is, I mean, even, even at that point, I mean, after after you're around this thing for, you know, even a, even a few months, I mean, it, uh, it's not difficult. Like you said, though, I mean, every once in a while, man, it, you know, these things take some work.

00:31:46.01
Mike
Yes.

00:31:48.24
Bill
Surprisingly enough. Wow. These goddamn things take some work.

00:31:49.33
Mike
Mm-hmm. Hmm.

00:31:50.92
Bill
Hmm. Interesting.

00:31:51.80
Mike
Not just going to hand it to me.

00:31:53.56
Bill
Oh, well, what the fuck? what How, how fun is that? Yeah.

00:31:57.93
Mike
right. Exactly. Right. And how valuable were the things that were handed to us before we started working for them?

00:32:06.55
Bill
Right. Yeah.

00:32:07.06
Mike
Not very.

00:32:07.39
Bill
it Yeah. in In this, although freely given to us, we still have to do the fucking work, you know, so it's yeah it's not just given to us and we get to get to rest on whatever fucking laurels that we have, whatever whatever laurels are, whatever laurels we have.

00:32:11.45
Mike
is Yeah, absolutely.

00:32:20.09
Mike
Right. Right.

00:32:23.02
Bill
We cannot cannot rest on them, damn it.

00:32:25.24
Mike
No, we cannot.

00:32:27.96
Bill
All right. So, um you know what? I would like to hear about your travel weekend last weekend. I want to hear about the whole family thing. Because the one thing that that cracked me up, though, is that you you posted the the the fuck off, I'm full, guys.

00:32:34.90
Mike
Yeah.

00:32:40.96
Bill
So I like that from from from Monty Python, which we can get into it.

00:32:44.25
Mike
Right. Mr.

00:32:44.99
Bill
Because that's how...

00:32:45.55
Mike
Creosote.

00:32:46.65
Bill
yes was say I wouldn't have remembered his name. But would you like a hoifer, a hoifer thin mint? Yeah.

00:32:53.84
Mike
fuck off i'm full yes uh so we uh we went to uh chris's eldest son's house um they had uh he and his husband had just bought it i don't know six months ago something like that um and it's beautiful huge house um yeah just gorgeous um

00:32:56.12
Bill
Uh... ah

00:33:16.60
Mike
And got to meet, you know, ah his husband's side of the family. And all all four of Chris's kids were there. James came up from South Carolina. And Cameron and his family came in from Alaska. And Jess and her boyfriend drove up from Cleveland.

00:33:36.48
Mike
Twinsburg. ah But yeah, you know, it was the first time we've all been together since I think her birthday, like a year plus ago and we all went down to Merrill Beach.

00:33:37.75
Bill
ah

00:33:50.31
Mike
So yeah, well, so, you know, um it's, it's tough wrangling everybody together at one time, but we, we managed to do it and it was lovely.

00:33:50.55
Bill
Oh, yeah, yeah

00:33:59.50
Mike
It was lovely. And yes, oh my God, there's so much fucking food. Yeah.

00:34:03.14
Bill
yeah. Right.

00:34:03.98
Mike
Well, it was it was it was Thanksgiving.

00:34:05.08
Bill
yeah

00:34:09.51
Mike
Donnie's working Thanksgiving Day, and I believe his husband is too, Tyler. And yeah, so it was just like it worked out that this was the weekend that we could all get together and do it, and we did.

00:34:22.12
Mike
and it was lovely, beautiful. We trimmed their tree, I watched. Uh, cause I don't, yeah ohll Jesus Christ.

00:34:29.02
Bill
That was a big tree. That was a big tree too.

00:34:31.06
Mike
Yeah. But 12 or 14 feet. I forget.

00:34:35.54
Bill
I was going to guess 12 just because when you, just the way the picture was taken, I'm like, is there's no way to tell, but you know, so clearly tall ceilings.

00:34:35.70
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. Yes.

00:34:44.26
Bill
Right.

00:34:44.28
Mike
Oh, yeah.

00:34:44.78
Bill
Right.

00:34:45.13
Mike
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it could have been another probably four or five feet tall.

00:34:46.46
Bill
yeah

00:34:52.42
Mike
um Not touch the ceiling. um Yeah.

00:34:55.58
Bill
right

00:34:57.34
Mike
Again, just wonderful. As I pointed out to him, I don't participate in that pagan nonsense. So.

00:35:06.33
Mike
But, yes, it was it was just a ah lovely time. And, yeah, family, you know, good stuff.

00:35:12.59
Bill
Right. And you guys were there. Did you come back on Sunday or were you there till Monday?

00:35:16.89
Mike
Yeah.

00:35:17.68
Bill
Oh, okay.

00:35:17.82
Mike
now we got late Sunday.

00:35:18.52
Bill
Okay.

00:35:20.06
Mike
Yeah.

00:35:20.64
Bill
Gotcha.

00:35:21.71
Mike
Yup, because Chris and I both had to work Monday.

00:35:22.08
Bill
Gotcha.

00:35:24.47
Bill
Right.

00:35:24.50
Mike
So, yup.

00:35:26.23
Bill
Yeah, and I just, I couldn't remember if what what you guys were doing and i I ended up seeing whatever it was.

00:35:26.39
Mike
Yeah.

00:35:31.64
Bill
You know, the weird part is, is I don't, once again, I'm not on Facebook all that often. And every once in a while, I'll i'll see things from, you know, like Kimmy and Brian, when they did they did their trick-or-treat thing with Ollie.

00:35:35.88
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:35:43.86
Mike
Right.

00:35:44.11
Bill
I saw that on like November 3rd or something. And I'm like, what?

00:35:47.39
Mike
Right.

00:35:48.27
Bill
You know, but same deal. I'm just not on there that much. So when, when I saw your, your going home thing, I wasn't paying attention to, to what day you guys went back. But, um, so you're, how was flying and everything? Cause I know that the, obviously the shutdown was done by the time that went.

00:36:01.50
Mike
right

00:36:01.86
Bill
So was your travel. Okay.

00:36:03.32
Mike
Yeah, no, everything was fine. Yeah, I mean, you know well, Donnie works for United, so he gets to look at and to see all that stuff.

00:36:05.46
Bill
Oh, that's good. That's good. Uh,

00:36:10.27
Mike
And yeah, everything was groovy. I think ah there was a small issue with with the airplane. So we were about 15 minutes late later flying out and about 10 minutes late flying back.

00:36:26.18
Mike
And it was just nothing, you know, normal stuff. But, well,

00:36:29.69
Bill
Right.

00:36:30.97
Mike
Well, no, it was fine. You know, Cleveland to Chicago, you're up and down.

00:36:35.83
Bill
Right.

00:36:35.93
Mike
and I think i take the flight back, because we had the wind, it was like 42 minutes or something.

00:36:42.84
Bill
Right.

00:36:43.42
Mike
Yeah.

00:36:43.61
Bill
Well, and that's and that's how when um my my dad used to fly fly us out every once in a while. And I used to do that when when Mom and Larry lived in when they lived in Columbus.

00:36:54.17
Bill
There was an airline, and I think I mentioned this before.

00:36:54.41
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:36:56.33
Bill
It it it used to be called Midwest Express, and then was Midwest Airlines. They had these very small...

00:37:00.32
Mike
Yeah.

00:37:01.88
Bill
they They were just a little bit bigger than like a prop plane would be. I would say probably maybe 25, 30 people, I guess. but But they were jets, you know.

00:37:10.20
Mike
Right.

00:37:11.89
Bill
so And it was nice.

00:37:11.98
Mike
Yeah.

00:37:13.41
Bill
i Leather seats, the whole bit. It was just this this airline that came out of Milwaukee.

00:37:15.50
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:37:17.69
Bill
And I used to be able to fly. it was like $150. I could fly out to, you know, get a runway ticket. Runway. Yeah.

00:37:24.76
Mike
Round way? Yes.

00:37:25.62
Bill
round, get round trip ticket, um, for like 150 bucks.

00:37:27.35
Mike
Yes.

00:37:29.42
Bill
I mean, so it was, it was worth it not driving.

00:37:29.82
Mike
Right. Oh, Sure.

00:37:31.58
Bill
Um, but, and then they were straight through, but years ago when, uh, when my dad used to fly us out, we'd, you know, get on one of these little fucking prop planes in literally, you know, from Milwaukee, like take off on the runway, just get above the lake and in land in, you know, it's like a 15 minute flight to get across the lake.

00:37:47.82
Bill
And then, yeah, same thing, whatever you just said, 40 minutes or whatever it was from,

00:37:50.97
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:37:51.96
Bill
Yeah. From Chicago to Cleveland. But, um, yeah, i mean, it's a, it's an easy flight. The only thing I was, and I forgot to ask you that, or I didn't think about it last weekend, but, uh, where we were talking last week is the, I, I didn't realize, didn't even think about it with that whole shutdown and stuff like that.

00:38:06.48
Bill
I mean, obviously, you know, I mean, air traffic controllers and TSA and all this shit was apparently travel was a fucking mess, you know, for a while, you know, so.

00:38:11.35
Mike
Right.

00:38:14.13
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:38:15.50
Bill
Yeah.

00:38:15.99
Mike
Right. No, it was, I mean, you know, whatever. I, what, 6% of the flights were canceled, you know? So, okay. That means 94% of them weren't.

00:38:26.07
Bill
Oh, that was through the shutdown? That was it?

00:38:27.48
Mike
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:38:28.60
Bill
Oh, okay. I don't know why... And I just...

00:38:30.83
Mike
Cause the, cause the news has to scare you.

00:38:31.12
Bill
I must have just...

00:38:33.78
Mike
That's their job.

00:38:33.78
Bill
Yeah, probably.

00:38:34.69
Mike
Uh

00:38:35.06
Bill
i'm I'm sure that I just heard and I didn't read any of it. I wasn't like even just read headlines.

00:38:38.57
Mike
huh.

00:38:40.06
Bill
I heard it like news stories and probably like and maybe I did.

00:38:42.01
Mike
Sure.

00:38:43.22
Bill
I saw headline clips, but I'm like, I'm flying anywhere. So I don't fucking care.

00:38:47.58
Mike
Right, right.

00:38:49.46
Bill
Yeah, I drive. I don't have to worry about that shit. But well, that's good. I mean, I'm i'm glad. And I mean, yeah, haven't have a plenty, plenty of Yeah.

00:38:58.20
Mike
she Yeah. Oh, yeah. Two turkeys and a ham and everything. Oh, my God. I think I stumbled out of the ah dining room and said, I'm going to have to change my sobriety date.

00:39:13.88
Bill
yeah

00:39:16.60
Mike
Yep.

00:39:17.05
Bill
Yeah, that's ah that's kind of funny, though, but that's good.

00:39:19.00
Mike
I was super stoned on food, man.

00:39:19.61
Bill
um'm ah yeah I'm glad you guys had a good time. I mean, that's always that's always a lot of fun.

00:39:24.82
Mike
Yeah, we did.

00:39:26.16
Bill
And like you say, i it ah it is. it's It's hard. You know, it's hard getting everyone together. And we even think about, you know, this summer, we got this whole side of the family together.

00:39:29.91
Mike
Yeah.

00:39:33.60
Bill
Last time we had that many people together would have been, you know, Kylie's graduation.

00:39:33.72
Mike
Right.

00:39:37.32
Bill
And that was summer of 2019, you know.

00:39:37.87
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

00:39:41.27
Bill
So, um but yeah, and then I i went up to, you know, obviously went up and had had lunch with the kids and ah Katie was busy with her, with her grandma or grandma turned 80.

00:39:47.45
Mike
Cool.

00:39:50.95
Bill
So they were doing that whole thing.

00:39:51.29
Mike
Yeah.

00:39:52.39
Bill
um So I didn't get to see her by the time I got up by, by Derek, he and I hung out at their place for a little bit. And that's speaking of that too, they've got this, they're the condo that they're in they bought an artificial tree and it's probably, um God, I forget what he said.

00:40:06.14
Bill
Now that might be 10, there's might be 10 plus feet. But it's the way the condo is.

00:40:09.53
Mike
Right.

00:40:11.43
Bill
It's lower level and it's got a loft area. So it's this big, huge open area in a living room.

00:40:15.10
Mike
Right.

00:40:15.51
Bill
Yeah, they could have had a probably a 20 foot tree in there.

00:40:18.46
Mike
Exactly.

00:40:19.99
Bill
But they but they bought an artificial one. And Derek's like, he goes, yeah, he goes, we got it.

00:40:22.07
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:24.24
Bill
We got it home. we plugged it all or ah put it all together. And I said, how many pieces? It's three. And then he goes, we just plugged it in and everything lit up.

00:40:29.20
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:31.70
Bill
So basically the way this is now.

00:40:31.98
Mike
Yep.

00:40:34.39
Bill
The lights are built in and the, when you put the, the stems together of these artificial trees, that's like a plug.

00:40:35.72
Mike
Yep.

00:40:39.70
Mike
Yeah. Yeah.

00:40:42.42
Bill
I had no idea. I mean, well, i haven't had a, haven't had a, and well, i had a small artificial tree in the apartment I was in, but I haven't had like, I mean, Dawn and I had one, but that was one where just fit together and then you had to put the fucking lights on.

00:40:43.85
Mike
Yeah.

00:40:53.24
Mike
Right, right.

00:40:53.30
Bill
But yeah, everything's all built in.

00:40:55.22
Mike
Yeah, they're pre-lit.

00:40:55.85
Bill
You just, oh, it's,

00:40:56.22
Mike
Yeah, exactly. Oh, yeah, that's what Donnie and Tyler had. Yeah, that big giant motherfucker.

00:41:00.06
Bill
oh, really?

00:41:00.86
Mike
Yeah, it was pre-lit. They'd like three or four pieces and pop them together and there you go.

00:41:07.00
Bill
Yeah, it was i fucking wonderful. And yeah, Derek was like, is yeah we we put it up already. I'm like, well, why not? He goes, we because we use we just bought it. We got it back. And he's like he goes, rather than having to haul it upstairs and bring it back, I'm like, oh, fuck yeah what does it.

00:41:18.30
Mike
Right.

00:41:18.91
Bill
What does it even matter? but um But yeah, we ended up going up to this, so just this little... where We had this one place picked out. It was this, this like bar restaurant that had looked like it had a really good menu, but I had looked the other day before we were going to go and they're not open.

00:41:30.18
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:41:34.04
Bill
They're only open during the week. They're not open on Saturdays and Sundays, which is fucking weird.

00:41:37.26
Mike
Huh.

00:41:37.96
Bill
And I'm glad I looked cause we would have, you know, all ended up at this fucking restaurant and then had to figure out some other place to go.

00:41:37.98
Mike
Yeah.

00:41:41.40
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:41:43.64
Bill
But we went was just a family, like a family style restaurant. Really nice service. They weren't that busy. Um, but they had like little bits and pieces of fucking everything.

00:41:53.99
Bill
You know, it was kind of like, um, like ah you go to these Greek family restaurants, like we did Menominee falls or any place like that, um, where it had, but it wasn't that, but still, um, the food was good and whatever.

00:41:54.89
Mike
Nice.

00:41:59.63
Mike
Yeah.

00:42:02.71
Mike
Right.

00:42:04.43
Bill
And, uh, and yeah, like I, like I said, you know, sitting there, you know, chit chatting with the kids and tell them they were asking a lot of questions about everything that happened. And, but I, but I did, you know, the same thing I said, I would, I, I told him I'm like, you know, cause Brian right away was asking me a lot of questions and, Um, cause I hadn't talked to him, obviously talked to Kimmy and whatever, but, um, you know, right out of the car when they first got there, he looks at me and kind of like out of the corner of his eyes, like, how are you doing?

00:42:17.47
Mike
Yeah.

00:42:20.41
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

00:42:27.39
Bill
You okay? And I said, yeah. And then, so we started talking and then when we, when we got in and sat down, i'm like, you remember me telling you about this thing? He's like, oh yeah. He goes, I remember. And I said, that was only what a few years ago.

00:42:37.61
Bill
Right. He goes, yeah, absolutely.

00:42:37.94
Mike
Right. Yeah.

00:42:39.17
Bill
And, um, and I said, but the whole point is same thing I said before my, my mindset was I will go in and I'll get this checked if I have a problem, but didn't. figure I was having a problem. Um, but anyhow, like I said, and, uh, you know, i did it cause, um, I don't know I apologize to both the, you know, all of them.

00:42:48.69
Mike
Uh-huh.

00:42:54.69
Bill
I'm like, it didn't, it didn't have to be this way.

00:42:54.94
Mike
this is

00:42:56.73
Bill
It it just didn't, didn't really have to be this way.

00:42:57.17
Mike
Right.

00:42:59.05
Bill
And, um, I'm like, surprisingly, uh, I said, I'm fine. Everything's good. There's no issues.

00:43:04.48
Mike
Nope.

00:43:04.49
Bill
I'm walking my fucking ass off and feeling good. And, and yeah, in a couple of weeks, I'll get the, get the fucking other one cleaned out and I'll be good.

00:43:11.51
Mike
Got a raging burner all the time.

00:43:11.78
Bill
Even. Yeah.

00:43:13.19
Mike
So yeah, you'rere you're fine.

00:43:16.01
Bill
I'm fucking fine. Yeah.

00:43:17.40
Mike
a

00:43:17.57
Bill
I stand up and sit my hands on my hips. I'm like, look, I'm i'm good.

00:43:20.47
Mike
Look at that.

00:43:22.62
Bill
have a new lease on life.

00:43:25.52
Mike
Good. Right. Uh-huh.

00:43:27.45
Bill
But no, it was just, it was really nice. I mean, we just haven't, uh, obviously haven't gotten together in a little bit and, uh, you know, Ollie, Ollie's doing well and, um, yeah, there, uh, I, I don't know.

00:43:33.82
Mike
good

00:43:36.39
Bill
It's just, it was, it was nice. It was, it's, it's always, you know, it's one thing, you know, going up to the Germantown and back, but I mean, I added an extra two hours of driving, um, which again, not a big deal. You know, I mean, Oshkosh is, you know, it's, it was literally an hour away from, you know, from Derek's, uh, from where Derek was from Derek's place.

00:43:53.27
Bill
So, and and we're just kind of hanging out and doing whatever. We didn't rush ourselves through lunch. And when I got back here at, I don't know, it was like 5.30 or quarter to six. And I mean, I left at like 6.30 in the morning because I'm like, you know, you just, like I had plenty of time.

00:44:04.20
Mike
Right.

00:44:07.41
Bill
i gave myself time. I had to stop at the UPS store. I had to obviously go up by Derek and, you know, whatever. And I had plenty of time to kill, but I'm like, ah, fuck it. I get nothing. I was up, I was ready.

00:44:17.79
Bill
And I'm like, I'm just going I'd rather get up there and sit in the goddamn parking lot if I need to. And you know, then hit traffic or or do whatever.

00:44:22.55
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

00:44:24.83
Bill
So yeah it was all good. It was all nice.

00:44:26.59
Mike
Cool.

00:44:26.82
Bill
It's all really nice. So um next weekend, you do not need an Ethernet cord. I just wanted to remind you.

00:44:33.18
Mike
that Wait.

00:44:33.39
Bill
No,

00:44:34.14
Mike
good

00:44:38.01
Mike
Because you already have two or three.

00:44:39.54
Bill
no no, no, no. I just, I'm just, let's just, let's keep it simple. as Remember, remember.

00:44:43.77
Mike
Ah.

00:44:44.76
Bill
remember

00:44:45.88
Mike
Yes.

00:44:46.78
Bill
Let's try not quit, quit trying to louse this up with this longer story thing.

00:44:50.30
Mike
i don't know.

00:44:51.23
Bill
What's wrong with you, man? Jesus Christ.

00:44:53.91
Mike
Right.

00:44:53.98
Bill
I'm just trying to, I'm just over here doing my normal thing, trying to keep it simple and, you know, listen to you fucking running your mouth all the time.

00:44:57.50
Mike
I see. yeah

00:45:02.39
Bill
Ah, fuck. I can't even, nobody believes anything I'm saying.

00:45:05.11
Mike
No, no, no.

00:45:05.87
Bill
Nobody believes it. All right. Well, on on that note, the fact that nobody believes anything I'm saying, what do you, what do you think?

00:45:08.76
Mike
Yep. Yep. Right. I think we should get some words from our sponsors that will change your life.

00:45:26.26
Bill
All right, everyone. Welcome back. Aha. Did you count? I put it at six seconds this time, bitch.

00:45:32.13
Mike
Well, no, I didn't. Mm-hmm.

00:45:34.14
Bill
Well, well, aren't we, aren't we just quick to criticize and not compliment?

00:45:42.07
Bill
But yeah, I just, ah I don't know. It's, it's, it's so fucking stupid. Like I said, last week, it is just cause it flipped over from one thing to the other and blah, blah, blah. It doesn't, doesn't even matter. But um okay.

00:45:52.55
Bill
So I, I just want to, and speaking it of all this and um you know, obviously I don't need to um tell my whole story again. If you want to hear, I i had a heart attack.

00:45:58.71
Mike
Hey. ya

00:46:01.69
Bill
That was a funny thing too. This fucking lady to call me today, she's asking, I'll get all these goddamn questions, take it up all this time. And she's like, she's like so you're coming in again, they're going do this other thing again. I said, yeah, they took her to one side, doing the other. And she's like, well, so they they did tell you that you had a heart attack.

00:46:14.86
Bill
I'm like, yes, they told me.

00:46:16.09
Mike
Yes.

00:46:16.97
Bill
I'm like, I don't, are you asking me, is this part of I didn't ask her this, I'm like, is this part of the questions or you think they didn't just fucking tell me?

00:46:21.63
Mike
Right. Tell you what, we do a podcast. why don't you go fucking listen to it and leave me alone?

00:46:27.67
Bill
Yeah, just like, and she's asking me again, all these questions I already answered with the doctors.

00:46:32.28
Mike
okay

00:46:32.37
Bill
Anyhow, doesn't matter. But um so clearly I said to everyone, you know, I said last weekend, I'm like, I don't need, i don't need anyone. I don't need these fucking thoughts and prayers. i don't need people reaching out to me.

00:46:42.52
Bill
I'm fine.

00:46:42.97
Mike
Right.

00:46:43.12
Bill
Everything's cool. It's not, this wasn't, it wasn't a look at me moment. um You know, all this different stuff. And if you remember, I mean, all I said was just if if you got an issue, same thing as you wrapped up with, if if you feel like you got an issue or it's a family thing, just do yourself and your family a fucking favor and get it checked out.

00:46:57.96
Bill
You know, um don't be dumb like me.

00:46:58.33
Mike
Yep.

00:47:00.63
Mike
you Right.

00:47:01.28
Bill
okay

00:47:01.47
Mike
Right. Right. Mm-hmm.

00:47:02.81
Bill
i was almost a cautionary tale. Now I'm I'm still a tale of sorts, but, you know, I just lived through it. That's all.

00:47:09.78
Mike
right

00:47:10.71
Bill
But so, yeah, on Instagram, um our our buddy Al, and we talked about him before, I think he follows us on both Facebook and Instagram. He just made a comment on one of the episode clip posts, you know, just said, hey, I'm glad you're still around.

00:47:24.87
Bill
And, you know, ah be mind or mind yourself or something like that. So probably like take care of yourself was that term.

00:47:30.17
Mike
Uh-huh. Yeah.

00:47:32.07
Bill
But I said, you know thank you. Truly appreciate it Blah, blah, blah. And these are going to be the order that they are received. No other no other order, okay?

00:47:37.94
Mike
Okay.

00:47:38.58
Bill
And then this other listener of ours and her name is her name is Kim. She's got Kim and Kimberly both in her in her profile thing. And I know that she and I have chatted before because when she said this thing, I'll say in a minute that reminded me of it.

00:47:45.88
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:47:51.20
Bill
But it's been a while since I think that, you know, she came up in a message or whatever it was.

00:47:51.68
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:47:56.33
Bill
But her her her comment of one of the same thing, one of the posts was, I know you said you don't want any anyone's thoughts or prayers, but you're going to get mine.

00:48:07.35
Bill
And she said, that you know, i'm I'm glad you're all right or whatever the case was and blah, blah, blah. And I thanked her. And I said, and I said, well, and I said, on top of that, I said, you know see a female listener.

00:48:12.40
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:48:16.91
Bill
And I said, you know, thank you for listening. She's like, oh, she goes, I've listened. She said, I, she goes, I love the show. I've listened, you know, to all your episodes, probably almost. I've been listening to you guys from the start.

00:48:26.74
Mike
Nice.

00:48:26.75
Bill
That's what was the thing that kind of kicked in. I'm like, oh yeah. I said, you know, again, thank you again, blah, blah, blah. So it was just nice, just nice.

00:48:31.58
Mike
Mm-hmm. Nice.

00:48:32.76
Bill
And then, um, Last but not least, or do we save the best for last? Again, it's in no particular order, but I don't know if this, is i you decided if she's the best or not.

00:48:39.38
Mike
Sure. All

00:48:43.26
Bill
I don't know.

00:48:43.96
Mike
right.

00:48:44.63
Bill
Our friend Shirley.

00:48:46.06
Mike
Aha. hmm.

00:48:48.06
Bill
Yeah, i just fucking with you, Shirley. But um so Shirley does this. so She's like, sent me an email. And she's like, she's like, I read the caption. and she's like, she's like, oh, no. And then this whole like, oh no, Mr. Bill type of thing.

00:49:00.74
Bill
And then she's like, listen the thing and blah, blah, blah.

00:49:00.83
Mike
aha

00:49:02.88
Bill
And she's like, I'm you know i'm glad. Again, everything was fine. I'm glad you're okay. And So I'm glad you can find some humor in it. And I'm like, fuck, I mean, like, you know, I said, that's, it's kind of what we do. But, um but I'm like, you know, what, what else are we going to do?

00:49:12.22
Mike
Right.

00:49:14.57
Bill
You know, I'm like, I mean, it' we're not grim and, you know, whatever type of thing.

00:49:15.25
Mike
Yeah.

00:49:18.17
Bill
But, and then here was the part that I thought was kind of cool. She said that she's like, I've been putting off going to the doctor about a particular thing. And she's like, Based on the fact of what you talked about, whatever, she's like, I'm going to the doctor.

00:49:30.21
Bill
She's like, I'm just going to bite the bullet.

00:49:30.33
Mike
Nice.

00:49:32.01
Bill
I'm going to go to the doctor or something that thing that runs in the family, blah, blah, blah. She's like, I should have a while ago. And I mean, that made me feel good, you know, because again, i mean,

00:49:39.22
Mike
Right.

00:49:41.94
Bill
Just like anything else that we talk about that we don't know. We talk so much fucking nonsense on here. You know, I mean, complete fucking nonsense and about everything, you know, the normal shit that we talk about and then the sobriety shit.

00:49:50.14
Mike
Yes.

00:49:55.07
Bill
And then, you know, we're talking about, well, I, you know, I could have died. fucking around about that.

00:49:59.38
Mike
Yeah, of course.

00:50:00.22
Bill
But, you know, but the, and yeah, of course, I mean, why wouldn't we, right? But um I don't know, the the mindset that we have is like, if if anything that we ever say, just if it resonates with even one person, you know, that's cool.

00:50:04.74
Mike
Right.

00:50:13.24
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yes.

00:50:14.41
Bill
And I was just really happy.

00:50:14.78
Mike
Yes.

00:50:15.73
Bill
And it's not just because, I mean, we we adore Shirley. And I mean, we got to meet her at Founder's Day and she's a wonderful person and, you know, nothing but love for her and just in general.

00:50:20.12
Mike
Right.

00:50:24.45
Bill
But it just, I was i was glad that, Not that I sounds weird. I'm not that anyone would need to take my advice, but if anything like that, you're like, yeah maybe I should check this out too.

00:50:34.62
Bill
I it's all good.

00:50:34.63
Mike
Right.

00:50:36.10
Bill
I think, I think it's, I think it's wonderful.

00:50:38.42
Mike
It is.

00:50:38.51
Bill
So, so I was just happy.

00:50:38.90
Mike
Yes. It's all part of making our little corner of the world little better than it was before.

00:50:44.73
Bill
Yeah, exactly. But then then I'm like, you know, the only three people. So that's anything to me. I'm like, that's a joke. It's a fucking joke.

00:50:51.58
Mike
Right.

00:50:53.82
Bill
I was just, I was, what the fuck?

00:50:53.88
Mike
What the fuck, man?

00:50:56.29
Bill
Where's everyone else? Doesn't anyone else fucking care about me?

00:50:58.81
Mike
Right. Where are my fucking thoughts and prayers, goddammit?

00:51:00.57
Bill
he I told you I didn't want any. Don't you know what that means?

00:51:04.66
Mike
Right.

00:51:06.14
Bill
I want to be coddled.

00:51:07.64
Mike
Yes.

00:51:08.73
Bill
No, I don't.

00:51:08.92
Mike
Gently cup me.

00:51:10.31
Bill
don't.

00:51:12.98
Bill
gently Gently cradle whatever you feel like cradling a mind or me or whatever.

00:51:16.73
Mike
Yes. he

00:51:17.66
Bill
But dont no, I mean, seriously, it's ah um I meant when I said i didn't I didn't need that. But the fact that you know people still reached out, um I want the three of you to know that they did it and you know just it.

00:51:25.02
Mike
easy

00:51:27.86
Bill
It meant the world to me. And thank you. it's ah it was It was wonderful. I appreciate it. It was unnecessary. But truly, truly, truly appreciate it. So so thank you.

00:51:35.91
Mike
Right. Yeah, well, that's the best stuff that's not necessary.

00:51:37.85
Bill
Oh, yeah. and it's not expected. I mean, yeah.

00:51:41.62
Mike
Yes.

00:51:42.02
Bill
If I if i was sitting there being like, oh, if this could have this could have been our podcast episode. Hey, Mike, had a heart attack, man. i almost fucking died. a Dude.

00:51:50.89
Mike
Oh, God. Oh.

00:51:52.70
Bill
ah And then, yeah, you're you're over there going, oh, my God, I'm so sorry.

00:51:53.77
Mike
Yep. Yep.

00:51:57.56
Mike
oh

00:52:00.16
Bill
You're like, no, you're texting me back and forth. Oh, by the way, Derek said, Derek got a kick out of that. He's like, he goes, then Mike's fucking texting you back and forth about getting sponge baths or whatever it was.

00:52:08.58
Mike
yep

00:52:11.01
Mike
Had to, right.

00:52:11.06
Bill
Yeah, no, it was.

00:52:12.37
Mike
Keep, you know, I mean, that was, that's, that's my little, uh, whatever my, uh, my part. Yes.

00:52:18.94
Bill
ah Levity.

00:52:18.99
Mike
You know, trying to keep things exactly, you know, I mean, it's, I know the kids were worried.

00:52:19.35
Bill
Levity.

00:52:23.64
Mike
I know Kathy was worried. You know, Christ, I was worried too, you know, but I, yeah, yeah, but I knew, knew, you know, you were in good hands and blah, blah, blah.

00:52:27.40
Bill
Right.

00:52:32.40
Mike
And Hey, while you're in those hands, don't you get a sponge bath?

00:52:36.15
Bill
Exactly. But in, you know, in the the thing of it is, and, you know, the in I don't know if I mentioned this when think I did. But um first of all, and, you know, and I appreciate that you just said that, too.

00:52:48.03
Bill
And I and I know that that the thing of it is the reason I went to you and I just know that I know how you and I are and I know how you and I react to something.

00:52:52.41
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:52:54.61
Mike
Right.

00:52:55.23
Bill
but I'm not taking anything away from from Kathy or my kids or anything like that.

00:52:56.11
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:52:58.89
Mike
Right. Of course.

00:52:59.76
Bill
Um, you know, just, we've had, you and I have had different experiences that have a different level of, um, we've been forced to deal with certain things on a different level and come to grips with certain things on a different level.

00:53:04.04
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:53:08.34
Mike
Yep.

00:53:10.96
Bill
And, you know, part of it, you know, has kind of hardened things up and callous things up and whatever.

00:53:10.96
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:53:15.32
Bill
And it's, it's all good, you know?

00:53:15.87
Mike
Uh-huh. Yeah, right.

00:53:16.84
Bill
Um, um, but you know, the, but I, I had no doubt that, that you had, you know, care and concern for me. I didn't think that, you know, I get it, you know?

00:53:23.61
Mike
Sure. Yeah.

00:53:26.77
Bill
um

00:53:26.95
Mike
Why is this fucking bothering me?

00:53:28.97
Bill
Can't you...

00:53:29.83
Mike
It's my Saturday or Sunday or whatever the fuck it was.

00:53:30.29
Bill
hec ki

00:53:32.63
Mike
Right. You know it's my day off, man.

00:53:33.17
Bill
can't you

00:53:34.47
Mike
What the fuck? Keep your heart attack yourself, man. Hmm.

00:53:37.40
Bill
Can't you call someone else?

00:53:42.71
Bill
ah But, but, you know, the, the thing of it is, is that, um, I mean, through, through all of that, um, you know, the, I know, i mean, I know that, I know that people care and I know that people were worried and all those sort of things.

00:53:43.26
Mike
ah

00:53:55.30
Mike
Right.

00:53:55.38
Bill
And I appreciate that. But I mean, really what it came down to is that I, and I think I said this, that, um, I, at that moment, I wasn't that, no, I didn't want to die. You know, and I mean, I was fucking scared when they when they wheel you into this, this cold fucking operating room.

00:54:05.13
Mike
Right.

00:54:10.76
Bill
And I mean, but they did. They cover me up. They've worn me all these. It's kind of cool, though. It's all fucking warm blankets. That's really fucking lovely. Yeah. Because it's so, it's just open and it's sterile and it's fucking plain and it's just silver and white, you know, and it's just fucking terrible.

00:54:25.03
Mike
Mm-hmm. Nice.

00:54:28.91
Bill
you know, you're just, it's, it's fucking terrible.

00:54:29.69
Mike
Right.

00:54:31.59
Bill
Um, so nervous as fuck when I went in there and whatever, but, So I didn't want to die, but it wasn't wasn't that. I'm not afraid of death.

00:54:39.48
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:54:39.82
Bill
I'm more of the the fact of what, and I meant that when I said it. I mean, why I didn't need to be in this fucking position, you know?

00:54:42.86
Mike
Yeah.

00:54:45.88
Mike
Right.

00:54:46.44
Bill
And I put myself in this position and I'm affecting other people and that's what bothered me more than anything else, you know?

00:54:50.04
Mike
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:54:52.40
Bill
um And it really did. I mean, that's that that's the honest to fucking God's truth.

00:54:54.39
Mike
Yeah, I know.

00:54:56.66
Bill
I mean, all my other, everything else is in order. I had no regrets laying on that fucking table.

00:55:00.92
Mike
Right.

00:55:00.94
Bill
I had no regrets. Everything's clean. I'm clean with, with the world and with my kids and everyone else, but it just didn't have to be in that position.

00:55:03.40
Mike
Yep.

00:55:05.62
Mike
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

00:55:09.57
Bill
And then, you know, for that, I was, I was that I didn't like, you know, so.

00:55:10.16
Mike
Right.

00:55:12.89
Mike
Yes.

00:55:13.31
Bill
Yeah.

00:55:13.72
Mike
Yeah, well, it's so did you learn anything?

00:55:17.21
Bill
I did. Yeah, that's why i I've got something yeah something scheduled on December 2nd.

00:55:18.07
Mike
Well, there you go. That's all that fucking matters.

00:55:22.87
Mike
Right.

00:55:23.99
Bill
Get that shit taken care of.

00:55:26.04
Mike
Yeah.

00:55:26.11
Bill
so

00:55:26.79
Mike
Roto-Rooter out the other one. Yep.

00:55:28.54
Bill
Exactly. So, all right. So I wrote something down and this was just the other day. Hang on one second. Let me find it real quick.

00:55:36.95
Mike
Oh, you know what? Go ahead and do that. um You're not going to believe what I got in the mail today. i got i got coupons for pot.

00:55:46.94
Bill
What?

00:55:47.80
Mike
Swear to God.

00:55:49.11
Bill
ah

00:55:49.74
Mike
Yup. Fucking dispensary in Michigan, man. It was like, you know, it was, yeah, it was, you know, like the it Arby's fucking coupons. ah i

00:56:00.89
Bill
we've got We've got the weed.

00:56:03.00
Mike
Yes, exactly. Yeah, it was. It was it like a commercial sheet like you would get from Arby's or Subway or, you know, pizza place or whatever. It was, but it was fucking pot, man.

00:56:14.10
Mike
It was, i was like, wow, that's kind of, that's kind of cool.

00:56:18.58
Bill
So did you did you go to, was that like a store where you bought cigarettes from or anything like that?

00:56:22.08
Mike
No, no, no.

00:56:23.38
Bill
Or I mean.

00:56:24.74
Mike
Just, I don't, I'm pretty sure everybody in the neighborhood got them. Yeah, it was, it was that kind of thing. It was like, you know, it was junk mail in the mail. Just this sheet of, yeah, no, it wasn't like it was, you know, to the occupant, resident, whatever.

00:56:34.55
Bill
Oh, okay.

00:56:39.58
Bill
Oh, I got you. I got you.

00:56:40.34
Mike
Yeah, yeah, it wasn't to me personally.

00:56:40.74
Bill
Okay. Okay.

00:56:42.78
Mike
Hey, hey hey we know about you. Want some drugs, dude?

00:56:47.77
Bill
Right. No, i just thought I just thought maybe that you ended up on some some mailing list from from whatever, but okay.

00:56:48.50
Mike
Yes.

00:56:52.71
Mike
No, no, I'm really surprised. Like, you know, I mean, cause you're right there on the border of Michigan as well.

00:56:59.38
Bill
Right.

00:56:59.42
Mike
I mean, I'm yeah, it was, it was, it was dispensary from Michigan. I, I, I know where it's at. Basically it's, you know, the Dixie highway. It's right over the border when you cross over.

00:57:10.14
Mike
um yeah, I was like, wow, that's, uh, that's fucking kind of cool. Yeah.

00:57:17.59
Bill
fucking Fucking pot coupons. it is kind of That's kind of random, though, but I wonder if...

00:57:21.69
Mike
Yeah.

00:57:21.95
Bill
ah I mean, well, not wonder. I guess I know exactly what they're doing. when They're trying to... cause Cleveland... Or no, Ohio is legal now?

00:57:27.81
Mike
Ohio. Yeah, it's legal, but it's like way more expensive than Michigan because Michigan's been doing it for a lot longer.

00:57:31.86
Bill
Oh, is it? Okay.

00:57:33.42
Mike
Yeah, it's like super more expensive here than it is up there. so I mean, yeah, I know, you know, lots of people, they they travel up to Michigan to get their shit.

00:57:42.70
Bill
Right.

00:57:43.22
Mike
Yeah, it's, you know, it's worth it.

00:57:43.76
Bill
Huh.

00:57:45.06
Mike
But, um yeah. Yeah, I can get a fucking half an ounce of really good stuff for $99.

00:57:52.34
Bill
see i wouldn't I wouldn't know if i'm if i'm getting the if I was getting a deal on that or not. I mean, I would have no fucking idea.

00:57:58.50
Mike
Yeah. Right. You know, and they have 40% off on vape pens and oh yeah, it's fucking all it all of it. Gummies and the whole deal.

00:58:08.02
Bill
yeah

00:58:09.10
Mike
Yup. And like the Arby's and the subway and the pizza places, coupons that I get, it went into the circular file cabinet just like all the rest of them do.

00:58:20.09
Bill
Yeah. So that's, ah that is kind of funny. The, uh, and that's the thing that that's a big deal now with the, um, with vapes, with vape pens or vape, you know, vape things, um, is that, I mean, majority of you walk into those, uh, those stores, a ah store, you know, where you get obviously vapes or anything like that.

00:58:27.24
Mike
Mm-hmm. Yeah. is it

00:58:35.38
Mike
Yeah.

00:58:38.70
Bill
It's CBD, it's weed, it's whatever, whatever. And there was only one time and I can't remember where I was, um, But was in the last, probably maybe I was in Arkansas. don't remember. But I walked in and I said, oh, I need, you know, I just, I'm looking for something that's with a certain, it's the amount of juice or puffs or whatever it was.

00:58:54.58
Mike
Right.

00:58:54.95
Bill
And like, oh, I have this. And like, wait a second, are you looking for tobacco? Or I'm like, hey, yeah.

00:58:59.29
Mike
Yeah.

00:58:59.83
Bill
Like, oh yeah, you got to go over here. I'm like, I can't, like, I don't need, I don't need a weed vape, you know?

00:59:04.86
Mike
Right.

00:59:06.46
Bill
But yeah, so I mean, i I'm but almost four weeks off of off of that. Yeah.

00:59:11.19
Mike
Cool.

00:59:11.40
Bill
And did I mention the, the cravings on that when I was last week at all or no?

00:59:11.49
Mike
Uh-uh.

00:59:15.65
Bill
So maybe I was, I was telling the kids that, um, like when, when I quit, when I quit smoking, cause again, two and a half years ago on that, um, and there's still every once in a while where I'll get, um, again, smell it or whatever, not a lot, but every once in a while.

00:59:15.87
Mike
Uh-uh, not really.

00:59:22.51
Mike
Mm-hmm.

00:59:29.89
Bill
And it's usually when I'm traveling, I'll be in a truck stop or something like that, or like a loves or whatever.

00:59:32.79
Mike
Yeah.

00:59:34.05
Bill
And I don't know, I get this, I get this kind of fucking cigarette, you know?

00:59:38.17
Mike
Yeah.

00:59:38.33
Bill
Um, but I haven't, you know, haven't bought cigarettes or anything like that. And then, but this, these cravings or these urges, these little, the, uh, they're weird with this.

00:59:49.05
Bill
It's not an overwhelming thing. Um, but it's a, but they're there and it's, I think they're, it's more mental than it is.

00:59:51.03
Mike
he

00:59:56.19
Bill
Cause I don't feel it, but it's a, it's more of a mental craving. I don't, I don't know if that makes any, any goddamn sense. Um, Um, but it just, it's, it's sometimes it's the, a matter of, um, you know, time of day or when I would do or whatever.

01:00:08.13
Bill
And so, so that's why when, I mean, I want to walk anyhow, but I've been walking on my breaks where I usually go and, you know, vape, uh, a lot of break or do whatever, Same thing in the morning when I was in and Lake of the Ozarks, I would still, you know, when I would usually go outside um either at night before I went to bed or in the morning or whatever, I was just going outside, just standing there, you know, just i'm I'm like outside getting some fresh air, trying to replace my habit with I don't need to be vaping.

01:00:08.88
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:00:15.00
Mike
Right.

01:00:26.72
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:00:28.95
Mike
Right.

01:00:31.69
Mike
Yeah.

01:00:34.10
Bill
I'm just out here, you know, getting some fresh air type of thing.

01:00:35.27
Mike
Yeah.

01:00:37.53
Mike
Right.

01:00:37.88
Bill
But it's, it's fucking weird. I mean, I don't understand it. I mean, I, we've talked about the, the, the cravings and stuff like that with alcohol. And I don't remember it when, you know, when we were, when we were going through that part of it, but this is just fucking weird.

01:00:48.09
Mike
Right.

01:00:49.72
Bill
But here's the thing. And not only did they, well, you know what, they didn't even tell me that much about it. They just said, you know, in in the paperwork, it's like, you shouldn't try to just, you know, slowly quit smoking.

01:01:01.28
Bill
If you do, you just need to fucking quit, you know, in, in all the paperwork, they're like, you know, the cold Turkey type of thing.

01:01:03.38
Mike
Right. Yeah.

01:01:06.36
Bill
You need to quit. And then I looked it all up and and found out a couple of different things. They're like, you know, it's it's simple. I mean, whether it's cigarette smoke or vape or whatever it is, it constricts, you know, your arteries and valves and whatever.

01:01:18.93
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:01:19.32
Bill
And there's a stent in there.

01:01:19.63
Mike
Sure.

01:01:21.91
Mike
Yeah.

01:01:22.30
Bill
And if it constricts it, it can collapse it, you know.

01:01:24.87
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:01:25.10
Bill
um So it's it's not a matter of it's like, oh, maybe I know. Well, of course, but there's always a choice.

01:01:32.18
Mike
Right.

01:01:32.89
Bill
There's always a fucking choice, but I mean, yeah, this isn't even like, like, I probably be okay for a minute or two.

01:01:34.30
Mike
Always.

01:01:38.46
Bill
where It's just the immediate thing. If you take, if you take a hit off a cigarette, you're, that shit's going to constrict that it could literally collapse the valve or the, uh, the stent. And I'm like, I can't fuck around with that.

01:01:46.46
Mike
Right. Mm.

01:01:48.89
Bill
So, yeah, I mean, it's ah ah again, it's not it's not a matter of I'm not, you know, like scratching my chest and, you know, going out of my fucking skin, you know, with goddamn cravings.

01:01:55.41
Mike
Right?

01:01:57.13
Bill
Just been weird if they are more mental, I think, than anything. But I don't know is what it is.

01:02:00.02
Mike
right

01:02:01.41
Bill
So. All right. So um Arby's weed coupons. I like that, though.

01:02:06.23
Mike
Yes. Yeah. I was like, yeah, whatever. you know, I grabbed my mail and couple of things here and there and and the the sheet with the coupons was in there. And and I saw, i saw Monroe, Michigan, right? Which I know. And I'm like, why am I getting fucking coupons from Michigan?

01:02:24.95
Mike
And then I really looked at it and went, whoa, all right. Yeah.

01:02:31.45
Bill
Well, and you know, the the thing of it is, I mean, these companies are not they're not stupid. I mean, that's, you know, I mean, targeted marketing, they know what's going to work, you know, and, you know, in mail mail advertising like that or, you know, marketing in the mail like that, the way at least the way it used to be, i mean, years ago.

01:02:36.44
Mike
Right.

01:02:39.80
Mike
Sure.

01:02:47.95
Bill
you were lucky to get a 10% response out of direct mail. So when you think about it, you know, out out of who knows how many they send out, that that means that even these days, I don't know, is it less now, 5% or 7%?

01:03:01.95
Bill
Let's say it's 5%, that's mind-blowing knowing that that 5% is worth whatever money they're spending, you know?

01:03:03.42
Mike
Right.

01:03:08.56
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

01:03:10.87
Bill
which is Which is crazy. I mean, there's there's money in that business from what I've heard, from what I understand. so All right. um Yeah, this was just from the other day and this is from Keep It Simple.

01:03:23.64
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:03:23.67
Bill
um I will list five ways I will love myself today. Okay, so first of all, yes.

01:03:28.18
Mike
Mm-hmm. I know one way.

01:03:29.82
Bill
Yes, yes, yes. yeah I said, i in parentheses, I'm like, yes, I had filthy thoughts on this too.

01:03:38.27
Mike
Of course. Right. Right.

01:03:39.86
Bill
Okay. Because I mean, literally, I'm like, hey, I thought literally almost those exact same words. I'm like, I got one fucking way I could love myself.

01:03:44.70
Mike
course right

01:03:47.61
Bill
But what I started thinking about, and we and we don't talk about it. We don't use the term you know self-care. you know Obviously, it's not that's not really us. But Um, I mean, is there anything on a serious note?

01:03:54.49
Mike
right

01:03:57.62
Bill
Is there anything you do, whether it's a, on a weekly basis, a daily basis, um, every once in a while, whatever that you specifically do for your own. Again, if we want to use that term for your own self care, not to, not to love yourself.

01:04:10.33
Mike
right

01:04:11.38
Bill
And I'm not asking how many times you masturbate a week, just something outside of that.

01:04:12.06
Mike
o

01:04:16.62
Bill
Is there, is there anything that you do from a self care standpoint?

01:04:17.50
Mike
right i mean but yeah probably you know um shutting everything off and they just you know yeah laying on the couch and then you know leave me the fuck alone Um, right.

01:04:31.86
Bill
Right.

01:04:34.16
Mike
You know, yes, I do. I do at least, well, you know, in my Saturday mornings. Absolutely. That's, that's me time, baby. Um, you know, um, yeah, get up and make a pot of coffee and just lay around and do very, very little.

01:04:42.68
Bill
Right.

01:04:49.39
Mike
Um, that's a deliberate thing that I do pretty much every week. Um, Yeah, and it's important, you know, just sit and relax and enjoy my house and not fucking do anything. um Yeah, you know. um I don't know.

01:05:07.54
Mike
i Yeah. And the rest of it is, is shit I have to do and then shit for other people.

01:05:12.47
Bill
right

01:05:13.22
Mike
And, you know, which I'm i'm glad I get to do. um I'm able to do things for other people. I am. I'm grateful that I am able to do that. um But, you know sometimes it's like, fuck, just leave me alone.

01:05:28.21
Bill
No, I, I, I know I get it 100% that I, you know, same thing. And we talked about that plenty of times, you know, with, you know, like what you said, when you're, when you're driving, you know, sometimes you turn everything off and just sit there in the silence.

01:05:36.86
Mike
Right. Yep.

01:05:39.62
Bill
And, um, I do the same thing. You know, I do a lot of, uh, I, I think I've mentioned before, I listened to far less music than I used to.

01:05:47.07
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right.

01:05:48.21
Bill
Um, I listened to a lot of audio books when I'm, when I'm traveling, And, you know, when I started doing it, I've been doing it for a while now.

01:05:51.38
Mike
Right.

01:05:55.39
Bill
I'd listen to at least because, I mean, Saturdays, I still I'll listen to our our episode.

01:06:02.02
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:06:02.03
Bill
So I always listen to our podcast on usually Saturdays, whether I'm traveling or kicking around or doing whatever. But on Sundays, usually like when I'm when I'm getting ready and sometimes even as I if I have something to do and kick it around, there's at least one.

01:06:17.75
Bill
I'll listen to at least one, if not two sobriety podcasts. And usually it is I'll listen to Sober Friends, know, our buddy, Matt, him and him and Steve, you know, have a decent topic.

01:06:25.24
Mike
Right.

01:06:27.84
Bill
And sometimes that not only hits with me, but also, you know, sometimes gives me an idea there sometimes where I get thoughts for things we talk about.

01:06:36.31
Mike
Right.

01:06:36.40
Bill
And then, you know, once again, the Sober Motivation podcast. And I know I bring that up a lot, but the guy's name is Brad. And, I got to tell you something about that in a minute here, too. But they're recovery stories.

01:06:48.45
Bill
And it's start to finish. You know how they go through more detailed stories than we do with people.

01:06:50.07
Mike
Yeah.

01:06:54.09
Bill
It's a more structured type of thing. But, you know, but I do that.

01:06:55.54
Mike
this is

01:06:57.87
Bill
And that's, I guess that's a form of, I started doing specifically. I'm like, I want to, want to listen to anything else. I want to listen to sobriety shit, you know.

01:07:05.30
Mike
Sure.

01:07:05.96
Bill
Um, but like you said, every once in a while, just, you know, even before now getting out and walking, you know, obviously for trying to stay healthy.

01:07:14.33
Mike
Right.

01:07:14.44
Bill
Um, you know, mean the hiking I do for enjoyment, but the fact that I don't, and I've said it before, mean, I don't, don't listen anything. I don't do whatever.

01:07:21.53
Mike
Yeah.

01:07:21.84
Bill
And it's just, it's a, it's a way to clear my mind. If I'm in a, I'm in a fucked up mood or something like that. I, not that I'll necessarily go for a walk, but Sometimes I'll just sit and I'll read something.

01:07:32.43
Bill
Very rarely do I do that.

01:07:32.79
Mike
Mm hmm.

01:07:34.59
Bill
Sometimes watching TV is kind of a self-care type of thing.

01:07:36.34
Mike
Yeah.

01:07:38.95
Bill
I just want to watch something fucking mindless.

01:07:39.38
Mike
Right. Mm hmm. Yep.

01:07:43.16
Bill
you know Because I don't want to deal with with life and people at the moment. But...

01:07:46.85
Mike
Yeah,

01:07:48.47
Bill
So, so what's funny with this, the, again, the sober motivation podcast, and this was a couple of weeks ago. um I'm listening to this story and the, the, the person he had on is, his name is Ian.

01:07:59.77
Bill
And he's like, this is Ian's story about this and this and years of whatever and blah, blah, blah. So the way that that podcast always starts out, um Brad always, he opens up, you know, welcomes a person and he's like, okay, so how are things for you growing up?

01:08:13.85
Bill
That's, that's his opening line to everyone. So it gives usually people up an opportunity nine times out of 10. It's a three to five minute thing where they just talk about their childhood. You know, what do they think?

01:08:23.69
Mike
Right.

01:08:24.46
Bill
They had a good home, bad home, broken home, whatever the case is, that's what it was. And then they'll get into the high school, then the college. And then what happened after that? They group go through the progression. They go through their full story.

01:08:34.68
Bill
So this whole thing in this guy's talking about his stories and and all this different stuff and I'm listening.

01:08:34.98
Mike
Right.

01:08:40.24
Bill
And then it gets to a point where, um, the guy, the guy's a dad, he's got kids. Um, you know, he's, he's the one now partying with his teenage kids and staying up and, you know, trying to get, so you know, get them to stay up till whatever time on a, on a school night on a Tuesday and doing shots of fireball.

01:08:57.11
Bill
And I, I looked, I'm like, I paused and looked, I'm like, oh, Jesus Christ, that's Ian Fee, the we, you know, the the one when you had the whole cat thing.

01:09:05.74
Mike
Yeah.

01:09:07.29
Bill
um

01:09:07.52
Mike
Yeah.

01:09:08.31
Bill
Yeah, that's our, we had him on. yeah And I didn't, I didn't recognize his voice.

01:09:10.78
Mike
Ah. Yeah.

01:09:13.86
Bill
First of all, he had his, he had um headphones or something on, so his audio was good.

01:09:14.68
Mike
o

01:09:18.54
Bill
He didn't, he didn't have the right audio when we, he recorded with us.

01:09:18.84
Mike
ah

01:09:22.68
Bill
But um we it was probably 35 minutes into the and the hour and whatever, 10 minute episode, um and finally got to the point where he talked about something that we talked about.

01:09:28.21
Mike
Right.

01:09:33.36
Bill
And it was kind of funny because two things, I didn't recognize his voice right away. And there's been other people on there that I've heard on other podcasts before. Um, so I won't necessarily recognize the voice right away, but the thing that was, that was kind of funny was I'm like, that's interesting to me because, um, not that it wasn't, his story wasn't interesting up to that point, but I'm thinking, i don't remember exactly what we talked about.

01:09:42.45
Mike
Right.

01:09:53.50
Mike
Right.

01:09:57.45
Bill
We had a, we had a full flowing conversation for an hour and a half and I, we talked about nothing in that first 30 minutes of what he talked about, you know?

01:10:01.56
Mike
Right.

01:10:06.43
Bill
Um, which was just kind of funny to me. Cause I'm like, I'm like, okay, even though, and Brad does a really nice job of wrapping these stories. If they don't run on, they're not, he, he gets, he keeps it flowing.

01:10:16.63
Bill
I don't know exactly how he does it. I'll be honest with you how he gets, he keeps it flowing like that.

01:10:20.18
Mike
right

01:10:20.31
Bill
Um, but I don't know. just interesting to me. I'm like the same guy and it, it kind of made me feel good. Cause I'm like, we, I know we got a totally different conversation out of him. Um, and I don't know that that's right, wrong, or indifferent.

01:10:30.08
Mike
Right. Yeah.

01:10:32.50
Bill
It's just, it was interesting to me. You what mean? So.

01:10:35.58
Mike
ah Definitely. That's cool.

01:10:36.73
Bill
yeah

01:10:37.06
Mike
Yeah. Well, I mean, that clearly we're, you know, not doing a run of the mill stuff.

01:10:37.69
Bill
Yeah.

01:10:41.96
Mike
Not that the other one is, but it's just, it's different.

01:10:42.97
Bill
correct Right.

01:10:45.24
Mike
You know, it's yeah, we we're, we're doing our thing. They're doing their thing. And that's, that's funny that they you had the same person on and have two, two totally different conversations and angles and, you know, but still talking about sobriety and yeah, that's cool, man.

01:11:01.22
Mike
That is cool.

01:11:01.75
Bill
Yeah, it was. It was. And then, the you know, of course I listened to the rest of it and he, there was bits and pieces of it that, that he had talked about. um And I think areas that we talked about more, um you know, things that he, that he mentioned, you know, we talked about that he didn't say on there and probably vice versa, but yeah, it was just it like, you just said it.

01:11:08.09
Mike
Sure. Mm-hmm.

01:11:16.22
Mike
Sure.

01:11:18.25
Bill
that just I didn't think about it that way. You know? um Yeah. We are not, I like the fact that, yeah, we're not, we're not going to line up with anyone else on, on, that's out there doing that. We can have the same guest and hopefully have a, and probably do have a completely different conversation, which I don't know.

01:11:30.89
Mike
Yeah. Right.

01:11:33.23
Bill
I, I like that. I really like that.

01:11:34.71
Mike
Yeah.

01:11:35.42
Bill
You know, it, it makes me again, that makes sense. that's a feel good thing for me.

01:11:39.38
Mike
Sure.

01:11:39.54
Bill
And I think for us, yeah, it's just out there, out there doing our own, our own fucking thing. Okay. Let's pick one, pick one out of the middle of the pack here.

01:11:50.74
Bill
how about a God grant me, Mike, you want to hear something about God grant me?

01:11:53.97
Mike
Sure, why not?

01:11:55.10
Bill
Okay.

01:11:55.80
Mike
Probably already read it, but, you know, let's do it.

01:11:56.08
Bill
Okay.

01:11:58.72
Bill
Well, this could be from a couple of months ago, but who who knows?

01:12:00.82
Mike
I play probably read it.

01:12:01.68
Bill
Who knows?

01:12:03.06
Mike
Yeah. know

01:12:04.38
Bill
i know. I know. I get i guarantee that you've read it at least, let's see, 12, 13, 14.

01:12:10.20
Mike
13. thirteen yeah Right.

01:12:10.94
Bill
Yeah.

01:12:13.36
Mike
times. Right.

01:12:14.42
Bill
Yeah, exactly. Okay. So the reading talked about what we have thought about within the last 24 hours, making a list, circling things about us and putting a star next to things about other people.

01:12:25.49
Bill
The point was, are we doing enough for others? Okay. And I don't remember if, um if we have taught, I think we've talked about this in a roundabout way. But do you think, um and is that even, I mean, I don't know.

01:12:37.73
Bill
You you know what I'm going to say. Do you think you, you do enough for others? you Do you think you could do more? And I think we've talked about this before, probably.

01:12:43.38
Mike
Well, dan of course I don't, and yes, I could.

01:12:45.37
Bill
a

01:12:45.90
Mike
Yeah,

01:12:47.86
Bill
Yeah, see, this is what I get for just picking out picking out randoms like that because I'm like, yeah, that's that's ah that just a...

01:12:53.14
Mike
yeah of course I don't do enough, and I could do more.

01:12:53.42
Bill
yeah

01:12:57.22
Mike
i probably won't.

01:13:02.74
Mike
Anything else?

01:13:03.00
Bill
yeah well No, was going to say, well yeah wait who who knows? maybe maybe you Maybe you will take a look at it one day. but Maybe, maybe, maybe.

01:13:09.66
Mike
yeah yeah maybe I'll, yeah, maybe I'll do more now, you know, um, I, I, I'd like to think I do enough.

01:13:10.26
Bill
mean

01:13:16.68
Mike
Um, I certainly do a hell of a lot more for others than I did, you know, 16 years ago.

01:13:17.11
Bill
Right.

01:13:22.23
Mike
Um, yeah, I'm, I'm trying, but you know, I, I need that time on my couch to self-love. it

01:13:30.71
Bill
Yeah, really, really. Self love.

01:13:36.32
Mike
Conflicting messages. Wait, self-love and doom for others? Wait, wait. I only have two hands. Wait, I do have two hands.

01:13:42.10
Bill
yes

01:13:43.00
Mike
hey

01:13:45.56
Bill
so I'm self-loving and I'm doing something for you too, come here.

01:13:47.19
Mike
who Yay!

01:13:51.64
Bill
hey

01:13:52.44
Mike
this is

01:13:53.85
Bill
All right. So um this one is from touch tones. I know you didn't read this one because you don't do touch tones.

01:14:00.15
Mike
Not until the first of the year.

01:14:01.91
Bill
Right. Okay. So the reading talked about using work as an escape when we first get sober, um burying yourself at work after sober.

01:14:08.53
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:14:10.84
Bill
Secondly, did you ever do that before you got sober as a way to escape anything else? So kind of a two-part question. And I think that um this, we may have touched on this a little bit, but I mean, both of us needed to go back to work.

01:14:21.52
Bill
I don't know that it was necessarily an escape, but maybe let's look at it two different ways.

01:14:22.30
Mike
Well, yeah.

01:14:24.99
Mike
Oh, Marty wasn't going to let us lay around there.

01:14:26.60
Bill
So first of all, Well, he would have to a certain extent, that and if we couldn't pay him, he'd fucking kick us out on our ass.

01:14:34.87
Mike
Right, exactly.

01:14:35.39
Bill
so

01:14:35.75
Mike
Yeah, well, that's what I said.

01:14:36.22
Bill
So that... that

01:14:37.19
Mike
He would not let us lay around there.

01:14:40.18
Bill
So before, before you got, you got sober, um, do you think that you were doing, I mean, were you, you were just kind of working and doing stuff to just obviously get get what you needed to get.

01:14:43.61
Mike
Yes.

01:14:52.13
Bill
Right.

01:14:52.18
Mike
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

01:14:52.33
Bill
I mean, so you're, you weren't trying to necessarily, you know, escape from anything, you know, by, by going to work or at yeah not any type of, that's, that's, that's what I, that's what I thought.

01:15:01.11
Mike
Well, fuck no, i was escaping by drinking and getting high. sim

01:15:07.46
Bill
so So after after you got sober, though, again, with the with the work and things like that, so do you think that, I mean, was there anything, whether it was work or meetings or reading, anything that you did at that point, listening to radio shows, anything that you think you were doing as in, yeah, either assess, excess or escape or, or i don't know, blanketing feelings.

01:15:11.64
Mike
Yes. Uh-huh.

01:15:25.30
Mike
To excess...

01:15:31.90
Bill
It's a weird way to put it, maybe, but I don't know.

01:15:33.02
Mike
Right. No, I mean, I understand what you're saying. Um, and, um, no, no, not really. I mean, you know, um, you know, doing the fucking work that I had to do, um, pretty much for all of it, you know, the work I had to do to pay Marty his rent, the work I had to do to get my ass sober.

01:15:44.41
Bill
right

01:15:52.81
Mike
Um, yeah. And there was no, it absolutely wasn't any extra cause I'm a lazy fucking alcoholic. I didn't,

01:16:00.57
Bill
Right.

01:16:01.37
Mike
Um, yeah, no. And certainly, um, you know, I mean, I know, you know, people like they, they start working out like crazy and shit like that. And that I go, hell no. Um, no, I was doing what I had to do, what I had to do.

01:16:11.54
Bill
right

01:16:17.58
Mike
Um, and no more, no less that. And, and thankfully you know, right.

01:16:23.29
Bill
right

01:16:24.72
Mike
Yeah, you I didn't, um you know, probably ate too many fucking donuts. But ah clearly, i mean, you see pictures of me when I was about two years sober? a Fat fuck.

01:16:37.59
Mike
ah But other than that, no.

01:16:41.53
Bill
Yeah. And I think the, the only thing that, that crossed my mind and the other reason it crossed my mind is that just the, and I talked about it before that, that first time that, um, you know, I got out of work on, on a Saturday and had nothing to do.

01:16:54.25
Bill
And, you know, mom and Larry were out of town and, um, I just, I didn't have anything to do.

01:16:55.03
Mike
Right.

01:16:58.29
Bill
And I was, I don't know, probably at that time, i don't know, five months, five and a half, maybe six months sober.

01:17:03.93
Mike
Right. is see

01:17:05.26
Bill
And, you know, so I and i just didn't know what to do with myself, you know, and ended up when I got something to eat.

01:17:08.79
Mike
Right.

01:17:10.18
Bill
I went to a store and just kind of fucking walked around and then just went back to the, you know, back to the Keating Center.

01:17:12.62
Mike
Yep.

01:17:15.26
Bill
and That's where we were still living there. Nobody else was there. So i didn't know what else to do. So I fucking took a nap. You know, I literally had no idea what to do. So I was probably, you know, kind of, you know, hiding in, you know, like the and mom and Larry's, you know, just doing work and, you know, giving back.

01:17:29.71
Mike
Yeah.

01:17:32.08
Bill
I mean, granted, you know, doing stuff for them and things that I don't I don't regret, you know, but.

01:17:34.39
Mike
Mm hmm. Mm

01:17:37.79
Bill
you know, these days, given that, given that choice, um, and even when, you know, when mom was still alive, you know, I loved seeing her every weekend, but it was, it was, it was a lot, you know, because, you know, when, when you're working on it and trying to work on, you know, I didn't have that much to do here, but I don't know, you got a couple of things, you get grocery shopping and maybe you want to go do something.

01:17:43.80
Mike
hmm.

01:17:47.80
Mike
all Right.

01:17:53.66
Mike
Mm hmm.

01:17:57.47
Bill
And then, you know, it's like all day, whatever day it was, whether it was, uh, you know, Saturday that we did it, which it usually was, um

01:17:58.33
Mike
Right.

01:18:04.92
Bill
You know, and then spending all day doing, you know, yard work and things around there. And it got to be a lot, you know.

01:18:08.95
Mike
Right. Yeah.

01:18:10.36
Bill
um And I didn't, ah when i when I first got sober, I didn't mind having my entire day occupied because I'm like, I didn't know what the fuck else to do with myself anyhow, you know.

01:18:17.34
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:18:19.93
Mike
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Keeps out of your own head, which is a very dangerous neighborhood to be in.

01:18:24.22
Bill
Yeah, that that it was. Well, you know, who knows that even even to this day, I mean, it it still could be, but I don't know, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe it's ah it's a little bit better in my in my brain, in my head these days than it used to be.

01:18:27.68
Mike
Yeah.

01:18:30.36
Mike
ah

01:18:38.81
Mike
Yes.

01:18:39.32
Bill
But I think maybe a little bit, a little bit.

01:18:40.31
Mike
One would hope. Yeah.

01:18:42.00
Bill
Yeah, exactly. All right, so um this one, for I got one other one. I got something about Patton Oswalt that I want to talk to you or ask you about too.

01:18:50.65
Mike
Cool.

01:18:51.23
Bill
But um this one was just a part of God grant me. It said, said did you ever feel um do you did you ever feel sorry for yourself that you were an alcoholic and that you were dealt this hand in life?

01:19:03.76
Bill
um And I just, that's the only sentence I wrote down. had no other context from the reading or anything like that.

01:19:07.00
Mike
Right.

01:19:08.77
Bill
But did you ever look at that at any point and just figure like, fuck, why me type of thing or no?

01:19:08.95
Mike
Right.

01:19:13.82
Mike
o I mean, i'm I'm sure at some point, you know, um yeah but not really. ah Talk about acceptance, man. It fucking is what it is.

01:19:23.48
Bill
Right.

01:19:24.32
Mike
Yeah. ah Yeah. ah You know, and again, talk about a dangerous neighborhood to be in. um Yeah.

01:19:30.52
Bill
yeah

01:19:31.71
Mike
Poor me. Poor me. Poor me. Poor me another drink. Yeah. Yeah, no. Pity parties, is yeah. that I try to stay out of there as much as possible.

01:19:44.95
Mike
Well, you know, I mean, like I said, yes, I'm sure there were moments where, you know, but, you know, go fucking help somebody else, man. stay So, no, not nothing, not anything major.

01:19:54.03
Bill
Right.

01:20:00.60
Mike
You know, little glimpses probably here and there. And thankfully, you know, was taught well enough to to know that that's a dumb thing to do.

01:20:10.65
Bill
Right.

01:20:11.38
Mike
Yeah.

01:20:11.51
Bill
and And I was having to think about it. I mean, once once I got out to Cleveland and got involved, you know, especially in in groups and listening to Marty, and and I'll just say what i what I remember him saying here in a minute, i I don't think that I ever felt that way.

01:20:20.63
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:20:25.57
Bill
But I know that on you know on the way out and, you know, again, when when I was at detox and how was everyone going to think?

01:20:26.07
Mike
Right.

01:20:31.02
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:20:31.81
Bill
I mean, when was thinking about, you know, Dawn and my parents,

01:20:32.60
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

01:20:35.03
Bill
my son at the time. So obviously Kimmy wasn't in my life. I'm wondering what mom was going to say and know the rest of the family.

01:20:37.88
Mike
Right. Uh-huh.

01:20:40.91
Bill
And you know, how did I fuck?

01:20:41.36
Mike
Uh-huh. Like everybody didn't know already.

01:20:43.83
Bill
Yeah. But what, you know what I mean? But I mean, it's like, okay, now that it's confirmed, you know that's, that's really what it was, you know?

01:20:45.24
Mike
i know. To you.

01:20:51.54
Bill
Yeah, exactly.

01:20:51.80
Mike
i know

01:20:52.30
Bill
But, but you, but you know what I mean? It's just now that I'm, I'm i'm one of, I'm, I'm labeled, you know, now that like what everyone, yeah.

01:20:54.68
Mike
sure

01:20:57.53
Mike
Now that you're outed, you're no longer in the closet.

01:20:59.50
Bill
And you know, I just wasn't, Right. But I mean, not knowing what people were going to think. And I think that, you know, how did I get myself into this mess?

01:21:05.57
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:21:07.18
Bill
Which, you know, I mean, clearly it's years of years of practice and and all that stuff.

01:21:07.74
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

01:21:10.90
Bill
But um once and I remember Marty saying that, you know, realizing that or helping us realize that, you know, yes, alcoholism is is a disease. it's It's this, it's that and all these different things.

01:21:21.21
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:21:22.84
Bill
But I remember him always saying, and I think I've talked about it on here. We brought it up on here when. He used to say that if, you know, all this people out there that that have cancer or these incurable diseases, if if any one of them, you know, if they know if they knew all they had to do was come into this building and, you know, read a book or go to some groups and do whatever it is, they they they'd be breaking down the doors and the walls to get in here.

01:21:32.06
Mike
Right.

01:21:37.69
Mike
hmm.

01:21:40.15
Mike
Yep.

01:21:42.75
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:43.09
Bill
And then, you know, usually that was when he was trying to put us in our place because we were complaining about something.

01:21:46.49
Mike
Yeah.

01:21:47.82
Bill
Yeah.

01:21:47.93
Mike
Sure.

01:21:48.85
Bill
You know, but he's true. I mean, if there was any, if you think about it, if there's any other fucking disease that that you could have, um I mean, why why not this thing, you know?

01:21:55.61
Mike
Mm hmm.

01:21:58.58
Mike
Right.

01:21:58.61
Bill
I mean, you like we joke about, oh, i got to go through some steps, got to read some books, i got to go to meetings, got to be a good person, you know?

01:22:02.39
Mike
Yeah. Yeah, right. Mm-hmm. yeah

01:22:05.88
Bill
And I mean, I don't know. I think about even with, ah you know, I never, I never with this whole, you know, heart thing that I'm, that I'm going through, um never thought to myself like, oh, fuck, how you know what? i It just, it is what it is, you know, but really what I thought about too.

01:22:16.73
Mike
yeah right

01:22:19.44
Bill
And, you know, like we, we talked about mom, you know, quite a bit. I'm like, like, okay, so. Would I rather have, you know, given the choice, you know, what she dealt with because she had all that once once the lungs are damaged, to fucking gone, you know, and what what the surgeon said to me is like, there's damage, but he goes, you just should be able to repair itself, you know, so they go in there and they pop a couple of things in there.

01:22:31.84
Mike
Right.

01:22:37.32
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:22:39.55
Bill
And then, you know, hopefully, i mean, it at least it I think it should, you know, add to my life expectancy.

01:22:43.80
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:22:45.31
Bill
Um, as long as I take care of myself, but the same thing, you know, that this, this whole thing that we've been doing for the last 15 and a half years, that's added to our life expectancy, like 15 years.

01:22:45.44
Mike
Sure.

01:22:54.71
Mike
Yes, it has.

01:22:57.85
Mike
help

01:22:58.49
Bill
and And we, and we've only been sober 15 and a half do the math kids.

01:23:01.85
Mike
Yep, exactly.

01:23:02.74
Bill
Yeah. We, the, the, both, either one of us, both of us would have been dead within six months if we would have kept doing what we were doing. There's not even a fucking doubt.

01:23:08.82
Mike
Yep.

01:23:09.98
Bill
Um, you know, it's the same deal, you know, but, uh, yeah, I don't know.

01:23:11.86
Mike
Yeah. Well, I think, I mean, i think, um you know, um not doing it alone. I mean, you know, looking around and and there's, you know, 50 other guys around you with the exact same fucking problem, the exact same disease, the exact, you know, right.

01:23:17.91
Bill
Right.

01:23:25.48
Mike
Why me? Well, why? But fuck, look at all these other guys. Why them? You know?

01:23:29.72
Bill
Right.

01:23:29.92
Mike
Yeah. It it just, it kind of takes... you know Again, doing it alone versus doing it with you know being packed in and stacked up like cordwood ah with a bunch of people just like you.

01:23:39.39
Bill
Yeah.

01:23:41.73
Mike
um yeah It helps, oddly.

01:23:42.01
Bill
yeah

01:23:45.02
Bill
Right. Yeah. Which is just, I mean, again, none of none of it fucking makes sense. You know, the, the given, you know, giving it away to keep it and doing things and our lives get better.

01:23:49.27
Mike
Right.

01:23:52.19
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:23:53.14
Bill
And then being able to, you know, being, being people like, ah you know, like you and I, that, you know, we do, I mean, you really enjoy your alone time, but I, I, I've come to enjoy it as I, as I've aged, I enjoy, i don't, I, I mind less.

01:24:00.16
Mike
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

01:24:05.69
Bill
I don't have as much of an issue with being and by myself these days as I used to in the past.

01:24:08.02
Mike
right

01:24:09.61
Bill
You know, I've just grown into that, that comfort level, which we've talked about, Um, but yeah, all that stuff.

01:24:09.78
Mike
okay

01:24:14.77
Bill
And then, yeah, but knowing that you could be together with a bunch of people and it, it it does, it actually makes your life better. It's fucking it weird. but

01:24:22.07
Mike
Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, you know, I, I know I talked about it on here, but yeah, you know, that first time I went to Mexico, um, you know, i was, I mean, you know, all inclusive and there's fucking booze everywhere.

01:24:28.63
Bill
Right.

01:24:32.83
Mike
And there was, you know, um, the first time, you know, first couple of days i was getting a little uncomfortable, no reason for it other than my own fucked up shit.

01:24:41.78
Bill
Right.

01:24:43.20
Mike
But, um, Yeah, you know, and then um we were at dinner one night and there was a friend of Bill W's at the next table. And it was just all of a sudden all that shit went away and it never, you know, I went back.

01:24:54.92
Mike
I've been back several times and it was never there again because, you know, um I had, you know, I don' i never know. a couple tables over, there's one of us. You know, i I don't even need the actual confirmation anymore. It just, I know it's there.

01:25:10.59
Bill
Right.

01:25:10.65
Mike
Even if I don't know it's there, I know it's there. So yeah, you know, yeah. Same thing. Same thing. Yeah. There's another one of me. Cool. I'm not alone. Yup.

01:25:20.49
Bill
here's Here's another one of these motherfuckers that within spitting distance of me.

01:25:22.60
Mike
Yup.

01:25:25.44
Mike
Yup.

01:25:27.80
Bill
All right. So when I play this, so I'm going to play this Norm MacDonald thing, the heart attack thing.

01:25:31.70
Mike
yeah

01:25:32.09
Bill
This is literally one minute. And then I've got my speaker hooked up. So I'll put this up to my microphone. I should be able to hear it well. And then, yeah, I want to um bring up something about Patton Oswalt that I heard. So let's see how this this works.

01:25:41.14
Mike
Okay, cool.

01:25:44.54
Bill
Ready? Ready.

01:25:45.34
Mike
Yep.

01:25:46.69
Bill
What's the odds? that a terrorist will attack and kill you. You know almost zero, you know? But what are the odds that you will be attacked and killed by your own heart? That's good.

01:26:01.46
Bill
It's about 100%, you know, I think. People like hearts. They here's a Valentine's ah heart. You go, oh, yeah.

01:26:12.89
Bill
You that guy's got a big heart. I go, you better fucking watch it then, because...

01:26:19.16
Bill
and attack and kill him. I don't know if he knows that. That's what got my dad. His heart attacked and killed him. And he was lying on his bed and, boom, dead on the floor. You know, it was instantly. And my dad, he wasn't expecting He was looking for a fucking Arabs and shit. And his heart attacked and killed him. And he was dead, like, instantaneously.

01:26:40.12
Bill
And sad. We were all sad. Could you hear that all?

01:26:47.00
Mike
Sorry, I'm muted. Yes, I heard it all.

01:26:48.57
Bill
No.

01:26:49.26
Mike
Right?

01:26:50.71
Bill
Well, good.

01:26:50.82
Mike
Uh-huh.

01:26:51.11
Bill
Yeah. It was like one of those things. I'm like, how can I, well, I was going to just put my phone speaker up, but I got this, I've got my little Bose speaker. i'm like, oh I'll just hook it up. I should be able to get better sound with that. So, but yeah, he's just, I remember hearing that or doing the, that standup thing years ago.

01:26:59.66
Mike
Right.

01:27:05.31
Bill
And he's like, yeah, sitting there watching. What are the odds that terrorists is going to kill you? What are the odds?

01:27:09.72
Mike
Right.

01:27:10.17
Bill
Your heart's going to kill you.

01:27:11.70
Mike
hey

01:27:11.85
Bill
It's got to be 100%.

01:27:14.23
Mike
right

01:27:15.89
Bill
All right. So the Patton Oswalt thing. So um this was a month or so, whatever it was.

01:27:17.85
Mike
Yes.

01:27:20.21
Bill
Doesn't matter.

01:27:21.26
Mike
hmm.

01:27:21.27
Bill
um Ted Danson, was on their whatever Ted Danson's podcast, the Woody Harrelson thing is. So um did you know that Patton Oswalt is an atheist?

01:27:26.94
Mike
Uh huh.

01:27:30.04
Mike
Yes.

01:27:30.78
Bill
Okay, so I didn't know that, but it was you it was interesting to me. First of all, because I'm like, well, I got to write this down because i didn't know if you knew. But secondly, he said that he's the kind of atheist that doesn't really need to talk about it much.

01:27:38.40
Mike
hmm.

01:27:43.70
Bill
He said he has no issue with religion.

01:27:43.99
Mike
Right.

01:27:46.06
Bill
He said it's a beautiful concept.

01:27:46.45
Mike
hmm.

01:27:48.02
Bill
And he said that people want to believe that there's a thing in the sky.

01:27:48.61
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:27:52.55
Mike
Yep.

01:27:53.34
Bill
And if they're they're good people and good to other people, that they may end up somewhere good.

01:27:57.01
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:27:58.18
Bill
He's like, what's wrong with that? And I'm like, like wait a second.

01:27:59.51
Mike
Right.

01:28:03.58
Bill
I've heard somebody say that before.

01:28:07.26
Mike
Something similar, yes Yeah.

01:28:08.60
Bill
Yeah. It's, I mean, almost almost exactly is your, that is your, that's your sentiment. And I'm just like, i like that, you know?

01:28:14.62
Mike
Right. Yeah. You know, I mean, right. I, you know, the only reason I know, right. Cause there's atheists out there. They're like, there is no God.

01:28:23.18
Bill
Right.

01:28:25.24
Mike
Right. Yeah. They're they're fucking this is big assholes is fucking Jimmy Swaggart. Um, Um, right. Right.

01:28:35.23
Mike
The only reason I ever bring it up is in the context of this thing, you know, um, you know, yes, the sobriety thing, you know, yes, I'm an atheist and it works.

01:28:39.41
Bill
Right.

01:28:45.78
Bill
Right.

01:28:45.84
Mike
You're right. Cause I mean, a lot of people get freaked out about the God thing and a, it's well, that's, not there is no god thing in a but there is but there isn't it's power greater than yourself just a lot of people a lot of people already believe in god that got the invisible man in the sky um yeah so you know i that's that's why i bring it up but yes i i fucking amen right exactly i love patten he's fucking wonderful

01:29:14.14
Bill
Yeah. No. And I, and I know, I know you do. And that's why it just, uh, I, I enjoy him. I enjoy the fuck out of him too. You know? And, uh, he was on, he was on something.

01:29:21.28
Mike
yeah

01:29:23.08
Bill
He was on some other podcast recently too. And, um, I just, I enjoy listening to him. He's just talking about, Oh yeah.

01:29:27.10
Mike
Yeah, I'm super fucking smart guy, ah you know, good and and and good and, you know, a decent human being and all that great crap.

01:29:30.28
Bill
Yeah.

01:29:35.22
Mike
And yeah, yeah, i great guy.

01:29:38.33
Bill
Right. Yeah, you know, he might have been on, I popped into Howie Mandel. um Howie Mandel, of course, everyone's got one, but he's got a podcast.

01:29:46.44
Mike
Everybody's got a podcast.

01:29:47.32
Bill
He does with his daughter, which it's actually, he's the same deal.

01:29:47.52
Mike
Yep. Mm

01:29:51.20
Bill
it's He's talking to celebrities and blah, blah, blah.

01:29:51.97
Mike
hmm.

01:29:53.12
Bill
He had Marin on there a couple of months ago, which is kind of what what drew me into it or how i how I ended up finding it.

01:29:53.43
Mike
Sure. Uh huh.

01:29:58.96
Bill
But I think that's where he was talking to.

01:29:58.97
Mike
Right.

01:30:00.60
Bill
I think he was talking to Patton. But it's just, first of all, i cracked me open. to you realize You said, yeah, people are worried about the guy. I think you're like, ooh.

01:30:10.60
Bill
That's right.

01:30:11.00
Mike
The Holy Ghost.

01:30:11.16
Bill
yes I know.

01:30:13.09
Mike
Hmm.

01:30:13.94
Bill
hey I know. And I listened to another fucking Joe Rogan podcast because it popped up.

01:30:19.10
Mike
Sorry.

01:30:21.03
Bill
No, it had Adam Carolla was on it.

01:30:21.62
Mike
Ah. Yeah. Yeah.

01:30:24.79
Bill
And I mean, it was fucking what it was wonderful listening to him, you know?

01:30:26.78
Mike
yeah

01:30:27.95
Bill
And the the thing of it is in the same thing. And i I get it now. I understand sort of the appeal. At least I understand his, um ah if you want to call it a format. um

01:30:38.62
Mike
Rogan.

01:30:39.34
Bill
Yeah. So and here's the thing that's fucked up.

01:30:39.93
Mike
Yeah.

01:30:42.33
Bill
when i When I say this and I think about because we have this, and I like this, and he has that.

01:30:47.21
Mike
Yeah.

01:30:48.14
Bill
um

01:30:48.47
Mike
Right.

01:30:49.34
Bill
he does to say He literally does the same thing that we do. Um, just talks about random shit and then pick brings up bits and pieces of whatever the person might be promoting at this point.

01:30:56.63
Mike
see

01:30:58.29
Bill
They talk about just, that's all they do.

01:30:58.69
Mike
Right.

01:31:00.45
Bill
There's nothing fucking special to anything he does in his, um, like I said, like, like we, a commercial will pop in just automatically in our podcast.

01:31:03.64
Mike
Right.

01:31:08.61
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:31:09.27
Bill
He just does the same goddamn thing.

01:31:09.29
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:31:10.48
Bill
He doesn't have any, any like clean lead in or anything like that.

01:31:10.65
Mike
Right.

01:31:13.88
Bill
i mean, yeah, he's got someone to be able to go, um' hey, you know, Jason, can you look this up for me real quick? Or, you know, grab this real quick and just, do you mind doing that?

01:31:19.22
Mike
Sure. Uh-huh.

01:31:21.57
Bill
So he's that he's got people, you know, he's got a studio, like a real building.

01:31:25.18
Mike
Sure.

01:31:26.54
Bill
But I'm like, part of it, I'm just like,

01:31:26.81
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:31:29.50
Bill
He's doing it. Nevermind.

01:31:30.93
Mike
Yeah.

01:31:31.32
Bill
You know what i mean?

01:31:32.47
Mike
I know.

01:31:32.48
Bill
There's, there's, there's, I don't understand the, why, why he's, when I listened to him, it's not a matter of, um I guess part of me, I don't understand why he's so, how he's number one, but I do understand the appeal to him because it's, it's the same thing.

01:31:44.92
Mike
Right. Mm-hmm.

01:31:47.42
Bill
Kind of what I, what, what I mentioned before, you know, that I happen to listen to Ian thing. It's just that he is, he's doing things.

01:31:51.75
Mike
Yeah.

01:31:53.90
Bill
He's not cookie cutter and whatever it is. And it's a random conversation. And if it's somebody interesting, um it can be just, but I mean, it's like two and a half hours, you know?

01:31:57.11
Mike
Right. Yeah.

01:32:02.39
Mike
Yeah, I know.

01:32:02.53
Bill
I mean, I listened to it over a few days with, with Adam Carolla, but I like Adam.

01:32:04.87
Mike
Mm-hmm.

01:32:06.65
Bill
I like Adam Carolla, you know?

01:32:07.13
Mike
Yeah. Oh yeah. I've, I've talked about him on here. Right. You know, I listen, I listened to him for years.

01:32:10.04
Bill
Yeah.

01:32:12.22
Mike
He changed the format of his podcast. So I, I haven't listened to him in a long time, but I mean, it used to be, I mean, it used to be basically, you know, a morning radio show, um, just in podcast form.

01:32:16.31
Bill
Right.

01:32:23.29
Mike
So, you know, I, which I like that's, that's, That's what I like.

01:32:25.79
Bill
Right.

01:32:27.37
Mike
So, um you know, but yeah, he changed it. He, you know, he's more interview. He tried to be more like Howard changed into and, and, you know, and, and Marin and whatever. And I'm like, ah whatever it's fine.

01:32:37.74
Bill
Right. Yeah.

01:32:39.55
Mike
You know, but yes, I like, I, well, I mean, I used to listen to him when he was on love line, you know, a million fucking years ago.

01:32:40.44
Bill
yeah

01:32:44.57
Bill
Yeah, so did I. Yeah.

01:32:45.84
Mike
Right.

01:32:46.13
Bill
Yeah, I did too.

01:32:46.36
Mike
Yeah. He was the best part of that.

01:32:47.13
Bill
Yeah. Right.

01:32:49.11
Mike
Yeah.

01:32:49.50
Bill
Yeah, no doubt. But yeah, I think, like i said, you know, I mean, Patton's, he's a lot of fun. He's a lot of fun to listen to.

01:32:55.26
Mike
Hmm.

01:32:56.06
Bill
But in the same thing, I mean, I don't, if if there's somebody interesting like that that, that, you know, Rogan has on, I'll listen to it. I think going forward, I will.

01:33:03.03
Mike
Right.

01:33:04.66
Bill
But I mean, it's nothing to do with, I'm not a necessarily a fan of Joe Rogan. It just, it's ah it's a different,

01:33:09.02
Mike
Right.

01:33:10.64
Bill
I like the fact, and same reason I like listening to Mark, you know, Mark Barron with versus other people, if they had the same person on, because Mark always got a way different conversation out of, out of the person, which was, you know, it's like, we're just talking about that.

01:33:15.26
Mike
hey Right.

01:33:21.80
Mike
Yup.

01:33:25.32
Bill
that's kind of what, not kind of what that is, what appealed to me. So, right.

01:33:28.26
Mike
Yeah.

01:33:29.91
Bill
So yeah, anyhow, I had, died I knew you liked Patton. I didn't know that you knew he was an atheist, but then again, why wouldn't you, you know, because, because I mean, you, could well, you got, you

01:33:34.57
Mike
Mm-hmm. Right. Why wouldn't he be? Again, he's ah he's a smart, kind person. Why wouldn't he be an atheist?

01:33:43.86
Bill
But what I was going to say, though, with the atheist things, because you guys know all know each other anyhow, right? So I figured, of course you.

01:33:47.93
Mike
Oh, yeah. we We all see each other at the meetings.

01:33:49.15
Bill
At at the meetings.

01:33:50.13
Mike
Right.

01:33:52.90
Bill
Yeah, there's the 12 maybe 13, 14 you. It's got to be 13. There's 13 of you in the group, right?

01:33:55.96
Mike
well

01:33:56.51
Bill
There's 666 people in the atheism group.

01:33:56.82
Mike
Right. yeah i that's Yeah, me, Pat, and Ricky Gervais. We're all there.

01:34:02.59
Bill
there's there's six hundred six hundred and sixty six people in the in the atheism group

01:34:06.46
Mike
and No, no, no, no, no.

01:34:11.03
Bill
I'm just fucking around.

01:34:12.01
Mike
We're not that organized.

01:34:13.50
Bill
Yeah, I know. I know. So, all right. Well, speaking of ah not that organized, but, but you know, we're we're still out here doing our thing. But I think, I don't know. Are we done? Are we done?

01:34:21.88
Mike
I think we're done for this week. Yeah.

01:34:25.08
Bill
All right.

01:34:25.16
Mike
What the hell?

01:34:26.17
Bill
What the hell, man?

01:34:27.03
Mike
Yeah. Well, you made it through another week. So yeah.

01:34:29.88
Bill
I did. I did. I haven't i haven't croaked over yet. And um well I'm all good to go.

01:34:32.70
Mike
Yeah. for Me neither.

01:34:35.46
Bill
that's That's a good thing. Yeah. like Again, I beat you the first one. You don't have to yeah have to race ah to catch up to me on this one.

01:34:40.92
Mike
ah I'm in no hurry for that.

01:34:41.02
Bill
It's okay. he

01:34:43.83
Mike
All right. Well, cool. Thanks everyone for listening to yet another episode of Sober Not Mature. always be kind to each other, be good to each other, go out and do something nice for somebody else this week and don't tell anybody you did it.

01:34:57.91
Mike
Now, from the bottom of my heart, To the depths of my soul from the beginning of time until the ends of the earth. Always and eternally.

01:35:10.78
Mike
Fuck you. Now it's that time, kids. It is that time. Oh boy, is it that time. It's time for you to fuck off. Then keep fucking off. Keep fucking off till you get to a gate with a sign on it saying, You cannot fuck off past here.

01:35:27.38
Mike
Climb over that gate. Dream the impossible dream and keep fucking off forever.

01:35:34.65
Bill
Yeah.

01:35:36.02
Mike
Yeah.

01:35:37.40
Bill
All right. So ah just real quick, an early Christmas idea per all for all the parents, for the kids. Did you hear about the artificial intelligent bear? Intelligence bear?

01:35:44.41
Mike
ah Yeah, I've heard that there's several of them out there. Right. Teddy Ruxpin. Right. For, yeah, the new age Terminator.

01:35:50.62
Bill
Well, yeah, well, there's

01:35:52.20
Mike
for Teddy Ruxpin for the Terminator.

01:35:52.82
Bill
there's a

01:35:55.63
Bill
there's There's some AI-enabled teddy bear that was suspended. that the Obviously, sales of it suspended because it gave advice on the BDSM sex and where to find knives.

01:36:03.93
Mike
Yep. Nice.

01:36:06.94
Bill
And I'm like, okay. So they yeah they yeah said it would take a single sexual topic we introduced in the conversation, run with it. Research said it even discussed more graphic sexual topics in detail.

01:36:20.15
Bill
um It talked about spanking.

01:36:20.30
Mike
Cool.

01:36:22.10
Bill
Yeah.

01:36:22.70
Mike
All right.

01:36:23.22
Bill
And then I guess it was it would it would ask, up you know, like, like hey, yeah where where are your knives?

01:36:33.08
Bill
I heard about on the morning show. And then one of the people, they're like, so why don't they just, you know, turn it over to an adult toy store?

01:36:34.78
Mike
yeah

01:36:42.74
Mike
Right. Well, yeah, you know, hey they drill a little hole in it.

01:36:43.77
Bill
And I'm like, hell, why not, right?

01:36:48.85
Mike
and Yes. Roll.

01:36:52.18
Bill
Well, Mike, what what would they use the hole for if they drilled a hole in it?

01:36:57.94
Mike
who

01:36:58.10
Bill
which if it's It's just sitting there with a surprised look on his face the entire time.

01:37:01.66
Mike
yes roll

01:37:02.30
Bill
Oh! Ha ha ha! Ha

01:37:05.27
Mike
Oh, I wasn't yeah wasn't thinking of the face, but all right.

01:37:08.40
Bill
ha ha!

01:37:09.66
Mike
Yeah, you could drill a hole there too.

01:37:10.08
Bill
Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! yeah Well, he's got to have at least, okay, there's just real quick, you know, you see the meme before where there's there's the HR person and she's like she's like, oh, I've got three openings. And the guy's like, oh, I know. And then they show they show her with kind of like this, you know, this look on like a godlike roll in the eyes look. And then there's there's a new meme that I'm sure it's not new, but I just saw it a couple weeks ago.

01:37:34.61
Bill
It's the same HR person that has an eye patch on. And then she's like, she's like, oh, I have four openings. And then the guy's like, he's like, I know.

01:37:40.58
Mike
ahha

01:37:41.85
Bill
He's like, wait, what? She's like, you heard me. And on that note, I love you, brother.

01:37:48.31
Mike
Yes, i love you too.

01:37:51.10
Bill
i think we'll chat soon. No. Oh, we'll, we will see each other.

01:37:55.19
Mike
We'll see each other in a matter of days.

01:37:56.47
Bill
Holy fuck. Oh my God. Mind blown.

01:37:59.67
Mike
Hey.

01:37:59.99
Bill
then Then we'll have to talk, i guess. Yeah, fuck it.

01:38:02.49
Mike
Yeah, right.

01:38:02.62
Bill
All right. Bye. all right bye

01:38:06.04
Mike
Bye.