Episode 151: Andrzej Strzepek

Welcome to the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, Episode 151! Today we’re talking with Andrzej Strzepek, Equipment Manager at Belmont Country Club in Belmont, MA, a private 18-hole course just outside of Boston. Andrzej shares his journey from mowing lawns for hockey goalie gear to maintaining his high school baseball field, studying turfgrass, and even working for the Boston Red Sox during a World Series run. A turn in the shop with his first toolbox set him on the equipment manager path, and he hasn’t looked back since. We cover everything from shop organization with a paint pen, relief grinding, and turf art, to smoking meat, zamboni mishaps, and flooded backpack blowers - you know, EM stuff!

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Transcript

Trent Manning 0:57

Welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we'll learn tips and tricks. I'm your host, Trent. Manning let's have some this episode are real turf techs on golf course industries Superintendent radio network is presented by Foley county a strong supporter of equipment technicians and golf course maintenance departments everywhere Foley county offers a proven solution for above and below the turf for turf professionals To learn more about Foley company's line of real grinders bed knife grinders and the air to G2 family of products or to find a distributor visit www dot Foley C o.com Foley Ready for play

1:57

Welcome to The Real Turf Text Podcast, episode 1 51. Today we're talking to Andrzej Strzepek, equipment Manager at Belmont Country Club in Belmont, Massachusetts. Belmont Country Club is a private 18 hole course, about 20 minutes outside of Boston. Currently, he's the only tech in the shop, but he's looking for an assistant. He has a mixed bag of Toro and deer equipment. Let's talk to Andrzej.

Trent Manning 2:31

Welcome, andjay to the Real Turf Takes podcast. How you doing today?

Andrzeji Strzepek 2:37

doing good.

Trent Manning 2:38

Yep.

Andrzeji Strzepek 2:38

a busy day, but. Right. Just chat.

Trent Manning 2:42

All right, we're gonna do it. We're gonna, we're gonna chat. I got your name out of the way.

Andrzeji Strzepek 2:47

Yep.

Trent Manning 2:47

guessed to pronounce it Andjay, but I'm it was not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.

Andrzeji Strzepek 2:53

No.

Trent Manning 2:54

Tell us how you got into the turf industry.

Andrzeji Strzepek 2:58

So I pretty much started growing up, just mowing my lawn at our newer house. I was probably like 10. And then all then, like doing the weed, whacking the mowing, trying to do the fertilizing. And then I was moved over to my neighbor's house when I got middle school, high school, mow his yard to make some money for goalie equipment.'cause goalie equipment's pretty expensive and so made a little cash there. And then during high school. I was actually taking care of my high school baseball field after school. So I originally thought I was gonna go to, into sports turf.

Trent Manning 3:32

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 3:33

so then I never went to university. I ended up trying to play junior hockey. So I actually went over to Virginia, worked for. a job. Worked for the Country Club of Fairfax in Fairfax, Virginia, just on the crew. First time, learned to mow green using a real mower. Did that for like three months. Then didn't really work out there for hockey. Moved up back up to Massachusetts driving to Zamboni, got a job driving to Zamboni, living with my aunt and uncle. And then hockey wasn't really working out. Teams there, so my grandfather had a minor heart attack. My parents moved out here, and then I was living with my parents. My mom said, you need to go get a job. So I was a so went to a couple different golf courses. Just walked in saying, Hey, you got, you need openings. It was like in August, 2008 and found, walked into Belmont, said, Hey, who's the super was just rolling in and said, Hey, I need a job. He is like, all right fill up his application and we'll see y'all on Monday.

Trent Manning 4:42

Oh wow. Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 4:43

just started. So I was doing that and playing hockey at the same time. And then, so yeah, I was like, oh, this is cool. I did that for two years, thought I was gonna. To be a superintendent or at least assistant Super. So then I tried to go to university at Colorado State for turf crafts management. Work out for me. University wasn't good. But then I learned, I got an internship with the Red Sox, so I actually worked on the Red Sox ground screw from full-time 20. 11 to 2013.

Trent Manning 5:15

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 5:16

So I was actually there for the super, or not Super Bowl the World Series. So I gotta experience that. So I never got a ring'cause I had another ring I had to buy. But I learned a lot from that. And then I was like, I wanna go back to the golf course. So the golf course took me back from 2013 and I just started on the crew again and I worked my way up to the second assistant. And then all of a sudden the mechanic ended up quitting in 2023, so three years ago, is about, and or was that 2002 22. All right. And then a couple days later, the super was. I,'cause I was the mechanic's assistant in the winter. I do the oil changes and just doing little things that he needed while he was doing reels. And so the super's like, do you want the job? I talked to the wife, I said, I gotta talk to the wife. Next we go up to Lowe's. Get a cobalt toolbox and bring it back in the truck. And he's like, I'm assuming that's a yes. So

Trent Manning 6:18

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 6:19

how I got into the equipment side. So,

Trent Manning 6:21

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 6:22

went and took it and running and now found this group and loving it.

Trent Manning 6:27

That's awesome, man. That's a good story. Yeah. So. Did, had you tinkered on stuff as a young man, or,

Andrzeji Strzepek 6:36

Yeah, I like to take things apart and never knew how to put'em back together, but I

Trent Manning 6:39

Hey, that's how we start, man. That's how all us mechanics start. We tear stuff apart and may or may not get it back together.

Andrzeji Strzepek 6:47

Well, yeah.'cause in high school, like school wasn't really my thing. So there was a tech school kind of combo. You do half day at like high school and then half day at the vo-tech area. And I thought I was gonna do like building and then I checked out the the mechanic side and I just was thinking about playing hockey. So I didn't really think about it. So, and then now I'm looking back like, that would've been cool, but hey,

Trent Manning 7:11

Well, yeah. That's, so what kind of, since you're newer to this side of the industry. What's been one of the biggest challenges? going from, you know, the superintendent track to technician track?

Andrzeji Strzepek 7:30

I just not really understanding engines and I understand how they work and all that, but like trying to diagnose and then I believe everyone says, excuse me, electricity. Like I, you can't see it. So I finally, I got my knockoff power probe though, the Al Altel one.

Trent Manning 7:48

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 7:49

it hasn't come in use yet, but I know it will.

Trent Manning 7:52

Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. So do you think electrical's probably the hardest thing?

Andrzeji Strzepek 7:58

Yeah, because you can't see it.

Trent Manning 8:00

Right. Yeah, it's it can definitely be challenging for sure. But I don't know. I wanna say it's like, a lot of other things that, that you learn like, you know, maybe you struggle with, not you personally, but maybe one struggles with math. But once it clicks, then it clicks, you know, and then, you know, you know, whatever it is you're trying to do.

Andrzeji Strzepek 8:23

because it's definitely re repetitiveness That will help. So you'd see it once and then keep going. Yeah.

Trent Manning 8:29

Yep. Yeah. So what is some of the things you've done to. Further your knowledge on the technical side.

Andrzeji Strzepek 8:40

asking questions, the finding this group, the WhatsApp group,

Trent Manning 8:44

Okay. Yep.

Andrzeji Strzepek 8:46

So anybody that I can Service managers or service techs on the road and then Google and YouTube,

Trent Manning 8:53

yeah. Yep. I mean, that's the way, you know, I don't remember back in the day having to. Like, go to the library, you know, and look through books to try to find what I was looking for. And the internet has definitely changed that.'cause everything's right there at your fingertips, which is amazing and awesome

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:12

very helpful.

Trent Manning 9:13

to have. What's what's your least favorite part of the job?

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:20

Sand.

Trent Manning 9:21

Okay. It is sand. All right.

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:23

It used to be it flipped. It flipped. It used to not be sand. And then I'm like, no, I don't like sand anymore.

Trent Manning 9:30

Okay, well that's all right.

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:32

But we did switch over to Edge max bed knife bed knives for our greens mower. So that's helpful.

Trent Manning 9:38

Okay. So you have found them they last longer.

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:42

Oh

Trent Manning 9:42

yeah, that's I've heard the same thing from a lot of different people and. Toro, I think they do a really good job with their Edge Series reels. And even the reels not wearing as quick do you Relief grind?

Andrzeji Strzepek 9:57

No, I don't have the capability of doing it. I've got, the Bernhard,

Trent Manning 10:01

Yeah. Yeah. That's,

Andrzeji Strzepek 10:03

Angel, master and Express tool. So the super, the, we have a new super. He wants relief, but we'll have to figure it out some way down the line. I still get a good cut though, so, but I understand. I listened to the podcast and my first seven I went to. At the New England show, someone's like You. Relief grind. He asked everybody and I was like, what the heck is that?

Trent Manning 10:26

I, yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 10:27

I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. And I'm like, oh, okay. It helps with wear and heat. And I get all that. If I could, I would.

Trent Manning 10:36

I got an invite from Gary to the New England show this year. Are you coming this year

Andrzeji Strzepek 10:43

Yeah.

Trent Manning 10:43

in 26?

Andrzeji Strzepek 10:45

20. Yeah.

Trent Manning 10:45

Yeah. Awesome. I will we'll definitely meet in person then. As long as nothing happens and no, you know, whatever. But I was up there. I don't remember if it was two years ago or three years ago. Awesome.

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:00

because I just listened to that

Trent Manning 11:02

Okay. All right. Yeah, I mean, it was awesome group and I had such a good time and I drove up there, made a whole trip and experience out of it. It was awesome. Definitely a trip of a lifetime. And I'm gonna blank on his name. Was it Ron? Ron or Rob?

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:21

I can't recall

Trent Manning 11:22

can't remember, but he's the one that told me about the bridge tunnel that goes across the Chesapeake Bay. And so I drove across there. I mean, awesome. Yeah, it was really cool. So, I'm sorry that sand is your least favorite part of the job, but that's part of it comes with

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:39

It is part of

Trent Manning 11:40

right?

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:41

yeah.

Trent Manning 11:42

What's your favorite tool?

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:43

a paint pen or a label maker or them together.

Trent Manning 11:46

Ah yeah. To keep stuff organized. Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:50

So now I just found it kind of goes into ticks and tips and tricks, but writing the PSI on the rim.

Trent Manning 11:56

Yeah. Yep.

Andrzeji Strzepek 11:58

I like, I was like, probably people have probably done it all the time, but I'm like, let's do that. And then labeling your height to cut, so on your machines. Just keeping organized because I'm very unorganized, so

Trent Manning 12:11

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 12:12

Definitely been helpful

Trent Manning 12:14

yeah. I don't, I mean that is, and I don't know where I heard that first. About the, Rob Campbell is his name. I had to look it up. Rob Campbell awesome guy. I've been trying to get him to come on the podcast too. I'll get him on. Maybe we have to do one in person when I come back to New England.

Andrzeji Strzepek 12:31

There you go.

Trent Manning 12:32

yeah. And then. Also at that same show, met Bob Marek and he's at TPC River Highlands.

Andrzeji Strzepek 12:45

Okay.

Trent Manning 12:46

Another really good guy.

Andrzeji Strzepek 12:48

haven't been over there yet.

Trent Manning 12:48

yeah, I don't, there's just so many good people in this industry. Yeah really good. But yeah, label makers, that's definitely one of my favorite tools too. I use it all the time for. You know what? Whatever it is, labeling bins or like you said, height on mowers.

Andrzeji Strzepek 13:06

I'll even take the label maker and just get a little strip and then just blank strip, put it on the mower, and then right on that. With the paint pen and then take, you can take I take break, clean, and then take a break. Clean on a cloth, rub it off. You gotta change your heights and then rewrite it.

Trent Manning 13:24

Oh, okay. Yeah. So you're not, yeah, especially. I know how we do down here in the south and spring and fall we're just, you know, bam. Like we'll be, we go up to about 1 25 on greens height going into winter and then coming outta winter, it's kind of the same thing. We're at 1 25 and then we're one 15 and one 10 and you know, I mean all these 5,000 till we get down. So something like that would be a lot better than and a lot more efficient than making. Labels, you know, that many labels for every hot exchange that we do.

Andrzeji Strzepek 13:58

Toro just put the whiteboard on their new greens mowers. So that's nice.

Trent Manning 14:02

Yeah. That is

Andrzeji Strzepek 14:03

like, so for like the Flex 21, we have Flex 2120s where it doesn't have any whiteboard. And the old mechanic, you take a blue, a strip of blue paint or blue tape, put that down, take some clear packing tape with that on top. You write on that, you can, so you can see the number and then you can still erase it. So it's like a.

Trent Manning 14:21

Oh, okay. That's a good idea too.

Andrzeji Strzepek 14:24

So if you don't have a label maker or just do that. Yeah. Lasts pretty for a good, yeah, for a good long time.

Trent Manning 14:29

Yeah. Yeah. No, that's good. What do you do to relax or find your balance?

Andrzeji Strzepek 14:35

I like to watch YouTube,

Trent Manning 14:36

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 14:37

good.

Trent Manning 14:38

Yeah. Like real turf tax and

Andrzeji Strzepek 14:40

that too. Oh yeah. So how to videos, but, oh yeah. Like, that and hang with the family. Definitely doing that, chilling with them and smoking meats.

Trent Manning 14:52

Oh, all right. Yeah, you're my guy. All right, well, let's talk smoking meats. So what kind of pit do you have?

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:02

I have two. I started with char Griller Offset.

Trent Manning 15:07

Uhhuh. Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:09

So I got a tent and then it went into me getting a tent to do a brisket to then also getting an air mattress. And my wife's like, what are you doing? I'm like, I don't know. Well, this is great. And then once we had the kid, we got a new house, found this Traeger

Trent Manning 15:24

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:25

was Timberline something. I can't remember the number on it, but it retails for like 1200, it got for four 50 on Facebook marketplace.

Trent Manning 15:35

Nice. Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:36

With that.

Trent Manning 15:37

there's some scores. Is that a pate?

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:40

yeah. That's the

Trent Manning 15:40

Okay. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 15:42

Really, it gets good flavor, but smoke flavor. But it's not like sitting by a fire.

Trent Manning 15:47

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I'm sure there's a little trade off there. Do you have a go-to barbecue guru for recipes or anything like that?

Andrzeji Strzepek 16:00

I kinda just throw it together.

Trent Manning 16:02

Just throw it. I, that's cool. I respect that.

Andrzeji Strzepek 16:05

Whenever I cook, it's never the same

Trent Manning 16:06

well, yeah. No I can definitely appreciate that. I would recommend Malcolm Reed and how to barbecue wright.com. And if you Google him and you see a picture of him, you know, he is a really good barbecue cook.'cause he probably weighs 4 50, 500 pounds. He's a big guy. But he's from Mississippi. He done competition barbecue. I think he's got a podcast. He's got a whole store now. I started following him probably 10 years ago and he's got a ton of recipes. He's on YouTube too. Always smoking some stuff. Yeah. But anyway, really good recipes out there. I mean, there's a ton Yeah. Of recipes out there. That was I got into barbecue for I don't, maybe three or four years, you know, smoking and did a few competitions and all that

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:00

Yeah, see, I don't think I could do competitions. I have two, two young ones, so it's gonna be hard,

Trent Manning 17:04

Oh yeah, it'd be hard. Yeah, it'd be hard with that. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. And you get to eat some really good food too.

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:11

Oh,

Trent Manning 17:13

What's been a biggest challenge going to the shop?

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:19

Well, for me, like personally, I've, this is my third year as em, and I've had three supers,

Trent Manning 17:27

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:27

so the different styles has been interesting. First one was relaxed, second one was. Like sort of relax. And then my, our new super, this guy Bryce, great, just been check reels every day. Like I, which now I'm learning that's what you should do. Literally when they go out and come back in, check'em. And I'm, before I was like, okay, now I'm like, oh, this is why people have assistance,

Trent Manning 17:50

yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:50

have a lot of checking and anything goes wrong. You're grinding, you gotta do everything.

Trent Manning 17:57

Yeah. Yeah,

Andrzeji Strzepek 17:59

just the being, having three different supers definitely was challenging.

Trent Manning 18:03

yeah. I could definitely see that, especially because yeah, they all have their different ideas, philosophies, you know, how they want things done and going one to another. Yeah, I could definitely see that. What's one of the strangest things you've seen through.

Andrzeji Strzepek 18:22

It would be a car tire with the hub. And I think the caliper was on it next to one of the greens when I was mowing, either mowing or watering one morning.'cause there's a road that goes by our, and I think there must have been an accident the night before and then. I think they said it was a single car accident, so

Trent Manning 18:43

Oh wow. So

Andrzeji Strzepek 18:44

Call the police like, Hey, you guys want this? And they came by and got it. So,

Trent Manning 18:49

yeah. The whole

Andrzeji Strzepek 18:50

well, I had to find the right town because we're split our TA was split into, there's like Delmont and then there's Lexington, and that's what happened in Lexington. So Lexington cops got us involved. So I was

Trent Manning 19:00

Ah, okay. Yeah. That's

Andrzeji Strzepek 19:02

that. And then another one would be, it wasn't crazy, but. Car driving onto the Prodding Green, the practice putting green lady was getting out and didn't realize it was a neutral, or the thing just glided down like, oh boy.

Trent Manning 19:15

Yep. All kind of crazy stories around golf. For sure. Do you have any mentors in the industry?

Andrzeji Strzepek 19:25

So

Trent Manning 19:25

you out?

Andrzeji Strzepek 19:27

actually the guy who left who quit, this guy Kenny De Silva, he was an assistant at the same course and then became a mechanic. So when he left, he said, yeah, call me anytime you need. So now he's actually down in Florida, but he's a boatload of knowledge. So whenever I need something, he'll usually pick up the phone or call me back later. So

Trent Manning 19:48

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.

Andrzeji Strzepek 19:49

I get everything from him.

Trent Manning 19:50

Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. What would be your dream job or opportunity?

Andrzeji Strzepek 19:57

It would be, I mean it's good now, but Boulder Country Club,'cause I used to live like a five minute bike ride from there. Didn't even realize I could have worked there. But that would be just back home in the mountain with the mountain.'cause it's on the plane. So having the mountains there,

Trent Manning 20:13

huh.

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:14

that would be kind of cool

Trent Manning 20:15

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:15

fa all my family's back there too, so.

Trent Manning 20:18

So did you grow up around there?

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:21

I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. Forgot to say that in the beginning, but yeah.

Trent Manning 20:25

Yeah, I gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. But you got family in Boston now.

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:30

my wife's family, but I have an aunt and local,

Trent Manning 20:34

Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:35

one. She's like 45 minutes from me.

Trent Manning 20:37

Do you have a technician you'd like to work with for a day?

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:40

technician at the country club, Toby. I go butcher his last name with Christan.

Trent Manning 20:47

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 20:47

So I met him when I was a second assistant. I volunteered over at the country club with the US Open. So I mow greens and I wasn't a mechanic at the time, but kind of poking my head in'cause I was, I've always been interested

Trent Manning 21:00

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 21:00

and met him and his guys and then we hit it off and still talk to him now just check in with him. So that's someone who I wanna go work for a little bit.

Trent Manning 21:09

Yeah, that'd be super cool. Where is the country club?

Andrzeji Strzepek 21:12

It's in Brookline, so it's probably 15 minutes outside of Boston.

Trent Manning 21:17

Okay. All right. So not far away. Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 21:20

like 20 minutes from me.

Trent Manning 21:21

Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, I'm sure you call and hook it up especially in the off season or whatever. Hey, let me come hang out for a day or whatever. That'd be cool.

Andrzeji Strzepek 21:32

I'll definitely have to reach out to him for that.

Trent Manning 21:34

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've had that, you know. Lucky enough, you know, doing the podcast and all those things, you get your name out there and people call and they're coming through Atlanta. I'm like, stop by. Yeah. Come on by.

Andrzeji Strzepek 21:46

door

Trent Manning 21:46

I don't. yeah, for sure. I was bummed'cause Gary from Scotland was supposed to come by, come last week and hang out with me for a week from Scotland and it fell through. He had something come up. So yeah, that was a little bit of a bummer, but that would've been super cool. To have something like that going on. What do you know now? You wish you'd known on day one?

Andrzeji Strzepek 22:11

It is okay not to know it all

Trent Manning 22:14

Yes. Yes, it is.

Andrzeji Strzepek 22:16

that you don't have to be running around thinking you know everything when you just try. Try your best.

Trent Manning 22:23

Yep. Yeah, if you can do your best that's good enough. I think that's a really good one that. Even, you know me, I gotta step back sometimes and say it's okay. Not to know it all. I want to know it all, but it's okay to not know it all. And you know, I'm learning something new every day and that's okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 22:44

Yeah. And just asking the super, what they think, and just the communicating. Just communicate with you Super.

Trent Manning 22:51

Yeah. I think that's probably one of the biggest things. And it can be a struggle, you know, depending on. Personalities and those kind of things. Yeah. To communicate. And that's, I mean, one of the, my favorite things that my director of agronomy does is when he comes to me with a problem and say how can we solve this problem? You know, like, this is the problem I'm facing. You know, what piece of equipment can we use, what can we do? You know, all those things, you know, and I mean, as a. Mechanic. I love problem solving anyway, so, you know, it is just fun figuring that out together. And then he's got my buy-in on what we're doing and, you know, we got our goal that we need to accomplish and let's knock this out. You know, it's a whole lot better that way. Then if a person says, you need to do this, you know, I mean, whatever, it's, you know, nobody wants to be told. What to do or how to do something or you know, any of those things.

Andrzeji Strzepek 23:55

Yeah. You wanna work as a team?

Trent Manning 23:56

yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yep. How do you deal with that person? Do you have that person on your crew?

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:04

Not really.

Trent Manning 24:05

Okay, that's good. Congratulations.

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:06

Everyone's, I mean, I can't really think of anybody at the top of my head'cause. No, just kindness. I would say just treat everyone the same.

Trent Manning 24:16

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:17

who was the gentleman that you have?

Trent Manning 24:20

I don't, I have more than one. I

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:23

You have more than one now.

Trent Manning 24:24

More, more, it depends on the day. Depends on the day.

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:27

laughing,

Trent Manning 24:28

Yeah. So, yeah, and he still works with us and he still laughs when he gets stuck or when he damages a piece of equipment. And I do think that's just his, him being nervous is why he laughs. And I didn't know that to start with, so I got really mad when I'm like, there's nothing funny about what you just did.

Andrzeji Strzepek 24:50

I got one guy that I can think of that the back, it's always with backpack blowers. It won't start like, okay, that's it for 10 minutes. It starts.

Trent Manning 25:02

Oh yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 25:02

Like you flooded it, so

Trent Manning 25:04

Right, right, right. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 25:06

you gotta let it sit now, or I was like, that's when I'm just like, I know exactly what's wrong with it. Just give it a break.

Trent Manning 25:12

Do you know Flooded start?

Andrzeji Strzepek 25:15

Do not,

Trent Manning 25:15

so flooded start is. Turn your choke off, you know, op, you know, open it up. So it's getting plenty of air throttle wide open. You know, most of the time you can lock the throttle on a two stroke and start pulling and pull and pull and pull until you finally clear the gas out of there. Normally that will work. That's what I call, and not just me, but people in the industry. They call that a flooded start. And it works. Yeah. And you might have to pull it 7, 8, 10 times something like that to, to clean all the fuel out of there. But yeah, holding the throttle all the way open gets the extra air through there until it finally fires up.

Andrzeji Strzepek 25:58

You learn something new every

Trent Manning 25:59

And that way you don't have to wait 10 minutes.

Andrzeji Strzepek 26:02

All

Trent Manning 26:02

Get him on his way and Yep. Get him out the door.

Andrzeji Strzepek 26:05

All right?

Trent Manning 26:06

Yep. Yeah, I don't remember. Probably can't. Carson or somebody like that taught me that trick. But yeah, I mean there's just all kind of tips and tricks out there. So that sets us up. What kind of tips and tricks you got?

Andrzeji Strzepek 26:20

so the other day. We had alternator go bad on our turf. Go wide, spin 1550 I think it was, and it needs the electricity to run the computer to'cause it was the hydraulic was pulsating to spin the wheels or the spinners. I was like, all right, so we're riding the shop. I'm like, how can I get this thing just to go? So I was like, so I just took a generator, just a little Honda generator B, well buckle that in the seat. Got a battery charger because we don't have a booster pack. So just load back. Plugged that in, hooked it up. They finished the day

Trent Manning 26:58

Awesome man. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 26:59

was able to get always was done. Take the alternator off. I'd actually didn't alternate swat. Swapped the alternator took the bad one to the place.'cause John Deere wanted about a thousand dollars for an alternator.

Trent Manning 27:10

Oh wow.

Andrzeji Strzepek 27:11

we got a shop right near me.$400.

Trent Manning 27:14

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 27:15

Yeah. Just rebuilt this guy rebuilts. All these electrical components. You gotta find your people.

Trent Manning 27:21

Oh yeah, for sure. And I mean, it's unfortunate because a lot of the mom and pop shops that rebuilt starters and alternators are going out of business because it's so cheap to get'em from China. Now, you know, you get a brand new starter or alternator from China for cheaper than they can rebuild it with quality parts and all that kind of stuff. I had a good or we became friends. He owned a starter generator business and or alternator rebuilding it. And I mean, it started, I don't know, he started in the eighties or whatever and he finally sold out probably 2010 or something like that. He owned the property where the building was and all that stuff. And yeah, since then I've been ordering I'm trying to remember the name of the place. They're actually in Milledgeville, Georgia. It's like discount starter alternator.com or something like that. And they get most of their stuff from China, but, you know, and it's cheap and you get what you pay for sometimes. But I mean, it's hard not to spend a hundred bucks on a starter and throw it on and see how long it lasts, you know?

Andrzeji Strzepek 28:36

Versus a thousand dollars.

Trent Manning 28:38

Right, right. Versus a thousand, yeah, I can buy 10 of these. How long is 10 of these gonna last me compared to one from John Deere for a thousand dollars? You know, you probably get quite, quite a bit of life out of it.

Andrzeji Strzepek 28:52

Especially when it's in a top dresser, it gets all that sand in it.

Trent Manning 28:55

yeah, for sure. Yeah. Any other tips and tricks?

Andrzeji Strzepek 28:58

Well, I like Kayla's. I stole Kayla's once

Trent Manning 29:00

Okay. Yeah. I think several people have stole Kayla's and I think Kayla, I mean, hopefully this isn't top secret, but I think she's moving out your way.

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:12

again. She just got the new job.

Trent Manning 29:14

Well, yeah. Where at?

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:16

The one in, is it still in Pennsylvania? Oh crap. I

Trent Manning 29:20

I was thinking she was taking a job. Towards Maine, Massachusetts, or Maine or somewhere out

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:29

All right. I'll

Trent Manning 29:30

From Pennsylvania. Yeah. I hadn't heard

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:32

her on WhatsApp

Trent Manning 29:33

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:34

Was just it would be 2025 this last new England conference that I gotta meet her there.

Trent Manning 29:39

oh, okay. Yeah. Cool.

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:41

So I'll have to reach out.

Trent Manning 29:42

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah, she's my turf sister is what I call her. She's awesome. She usually comes down to the Carolina Show for Ttac, and so we get to catch up there. But she's a special person for sure. I think the world of a little sister or something.

Andrzeji Strzepek 29:58

Yeah.

Trent Manning 29:59

she's a good one.

Andrzeji Strzepek 30:00

That's cool.

Trent Manning 30:01

But yeah, the last time I talked to her, she said something about she was taking a job somewhere out Massachusetts, Maine, somewhere, one of those a states out that way. In the Northeast. So did you wanna talk about turf? What was it?

Andrzeji Strzepek 30:19

Turf. Turf art.

Trent Manning 30:21

Turf art. Okay. Yeah. What is turf art?

Andrzeji Strzepek 30:25

So we all know how you stripe the grass, right? You mow one way, you get a light stripe, you mow the other way, you get a dark stripe. So when I worked for the Red Sox, the guy, Dave Miller was the head director there. So I gotta learn how they do all the logos and in the grass.

Trent Manning 30:42

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 30:43

So I, on the, it was 20 when we did the big BB strong after the bombing they got this big stencil and they marked out. The logo before they were actually measuring it, but this way I was like, okay, that's a lot easier.

Trent Manning 30:57

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 30:58

And then you mark out with a flag or or pins and then you take the stencil off and now you have this, well, first you have, I gotta remember, I do it first. You push the grass one way. You do a whole, like you're blank canvas in a sense. So I like to push it out away from you so you get the light and then you come in when you get. Your design and you just, I take a hose on jet mode and you literally just jet the little areas that you wanna be dark and

Trent Manning 31:30

I

Andrzeji Strzepek 31:30

then you kinda get your logo

Trent Manning 31:32

Huh?

Andrzeji Strzepek 31:32

or design. Yeah. So you can be kind of intricate on the golf courts or doing in the rough is easy. Because you can use water as long as it's not hot and humid and you get any disease. But when it's on the baseball field, they had to use more of like, like floor rollers when you put like those they use like those heavy rollers or they would make their own like, PVC filled concrete rollers so they don't have to use as much water. The player's gonna have all this water on the ground golf, it's just like, it's in the rough, it's whatever. So even that and then brooms and then you can just literally how the grass lays. So then, I can't remember the ER's name, but Eder Doubt. And it was. Magazine, it was online GCM Golf Course Magazine. he did a little art. He saw it on Facebook. I posted in one of the groups and said, Hey, can I do an article about you? I was like, eh, go ahead.

Trent Manning 32:25

Okay. That's super cool.

Andrzeji Strzepek 32:27

written, yeah,

Trent Manning 32:28

I don't, do you know what issue it come out in?

Andrzeji Strzepek 32:32

no, it was like two years ago

Trent Manning 32:34

two years ago. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. No, that is cool. So you could use probably like a paint roller too, or something like

Andrzeji Strzepek 32:42

You can use a paint roller. If you don't get into the detail areas yet

Trent Manning 32:45

yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 32:45

just you shop room works too to push it over. Anything to push the grass the other way

Trent Manning 32:50

yeah. It's

Andrzeji Strzepek 32:50

then you can put your, then you can make a little border when you're done. So

Trent Manning 32:55

when you're doing the. The blank canvas, do you use you know, a roller or squeegee or something like that, or just with the

Andrzeji Strzepek 33:03

I know, I literally just to get the blank, I take our rough mower.

Trent Manning 33:08

Okay. And just mow it all one direction.

Andrzeji Strzepek 33:10

Yeah. So I'll split it. I'll go up and round pretty much to a circle Off to the edge, and then go back to the middle and just go everything, push everything one way and then kind like Zamboni in the way doing that. So you get that blank canvas, so you don't have to do all that by hand, because that'll be a lot.

Trent Manning 33:27

yeah. I got you. So yeah,

Andrzeji Strzepek 33:29

get it cut too. So.

Trent Manning 33:31

for those of us that don't know how to use a Zamboni and we are lucky enough to have a Zamboni operator here. Yeah. How does that work? Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 33:42

In, what's that? A Zamboni?

Trent Manning 33:43

Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I know nothing about a Zamboni. I know it drives across the ice and it looks better when it's done.

Andrzeji Strzepek 33:51

so it's literally, it's got a blade on it. Which they gotta go out sharpen, which I have a story about that. So, and you gotta set the height on it. There's a wheel, the little wheel, if you ever see his, there's a little wheel on it that's bringing the blade up and down, or angling it and up and down. So you're letting me shaving just a little bit of the ice off. And then behind it, you're using warm water with a towel that just towel smooths it out. So you're shaving just a little bit off and putting new water down,

Trent Manning 34:18

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 34:19

and then it freezes, and that's the sim. And then there's some auger. There's an auger that brings it to the middle. That's what that whole back part is that brings it up. And the whole pretty much half is empty. It's just a empty shell that. All the ice that you shave off gets thrown into the hopper.

Trent Manning 34:40

Ah, okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 34:41

Yeah. It's like kinda like a street sweeper.

Trent Manning 34:42

and then does it melt or,

Andrzeji Strzepek 34:45

Yeah. So then they take that, when you see them come off the ice, they dump that into a big pit and then that just melts off and they can recycle it.

Trent Manning 34:53

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. So yeah. Is there any certain pattern you try to go in or

Andrzeji Strzepek 35:00

Oh yeah. Usually literally go, you do your border, you can do usually one or two passes, and then you literally go up the middle and then to your side, back to the middle side.

Trent Manning 35:13

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 35:13

It's just, that's why they call it like when you're doing bunkers and bony style versus just a spin.

Trent Manning 35:18

okay. Yeah, see, I mean, we don't call it Zamboni file down in the south, surely I don't, we don't have a bunker wreck, so we hand rake all our bunkers. So that's something I don't even know about that, but that makes sense. I have, I wanna say, I have heard people say Zamboni style, so Yeah. That's good. So what's your story about Zamboni?

Andrzeji Strzepek 35:40

So someone changed the blade and didn't set the height, kind of just set the blade and then that was my turn to take over. I just went out there. I made one lap around and my hopper was full,

Trent Manning 35:56

Oh wow.

Andrzeji Strzepek 35:57

the owner of the rink had the ice coming up and the rest of the rink wasn't done. So I was like, oh boy.

Trent Manning 36:06

Oh.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:06

I was like, okay, I'll get that later. I guess

Trent Manning 36:09

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:09

really happy about that.

Trent Manning 36:10

Oh, I'm sure. Did you get fired or not? No.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:13

I just blamed blame it. Yeah. Blamed it on the other guy.

Trent Manning 36:16

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:17

Like when you can't find a tool, you blame somebody else and then you find it.

Trent Manning 36:20

Yeah. That's it. Yeah, I looked for, I had a snap-on light with a magnetic base rechargeable. And I put it under, I was working on a prog gate or something, and I had it like up under the cow in the front and. It was missing for, I dunno, like two months. I'm like, where somebody has stole my light? Who took my light? You know? And then I go back like to for whatever reason, to pull the cover off. And I look in there, I'm like, damn, there's my light right there.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:50

it was.

Trent Manning 36:51

It's been there this whole time. I feel bad for accusing people of taking it.

Andrzeji Strzepek 36:56

You've always gotta blame 21st, and then you're like, all

Trent Manning 36:58

Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, it's another funny story it makes me think of is the superintendent I worked with he was talking about the mechanic at this other course he worked at they had GK four, so the Jacobson Green Kings four. Not the, there was a bunch of those sold. Not, maybe not the best of piece of equipment, but anyway, the mechanic was like, where are my nine sixteens wrenches? Somebody took my nine sixteens wrenches. So, and this is, it goes on for a couple days. He's looking for his nine 16 wrenches and the GK four comes in and he has to take the cover off up the steering wheels in the front and he takes the cover off and his 2 9 16 wrenches are still there on the hydraulic hoses where he tightened them up. And then he put the cover over and the cover held the wrenches in there. And he's like, there's your wrenches. Yep. Blaming it on somebody else.

Andrzeji Strzepek 37:53

Forgot what it was. I think it was a 7,200 John Deere

Trent Manning 38:00

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 38:00

I was taking something off. There was two incidents when one was a hammer.'cause I like to tap the, on those QA sevens. Sometimes those don't like to sit, the real doesn't like to sit down. So I get a little tap. Yeah. Left that on there. I was like, where's that hammer? And then the operator was like, just hold on a second. Like, ah, yeah, thanks. I'll take my hammer back. And then also a magnetic. Bolt holder. I left that under one because I was doing something and I did same thing. Stop the like, I know where it is. Stop the operator. Like, yeah, I'll take that. Thanks. And they're

Trent Manning 38:33

Uhhuh. Yeah, I've done,

Andrzeji Strzepek 38:35

you remember where it was,

Trent Manning 38:36

same

Andrzeji Strzepek 38:37

crap, it's being used right now.

Trent Manning 38:38

Right? Right. We use t handles like on the QA five. Cutting units for adjusting the reel to bed knife and yeah, I don't know how many times I've left a t-handle on, or one of our guys have left a t-handle on, and sometimes they'll go out and mow, you know, half the course or whatever come in. It's still on there somehow. I don't know.

Andrzeji Strzepek 38:59

I don't know how they, I don't know how they stay on

Trent Manning 39:02

Yep. No, that's good stuff. Anything else you wanna talk about?

Andrzeji Strzepek 39:08

Yeah. So I actually got involved with. My local chapter for the New England chapter, and I'm writing articles about equipment managers.

Trent Manning 39:19

Oh, awesome.

Andrzeji Strzepek 39:20

yeah. Like my next one's gonna be thinking, oh, hold on. Now I gotta remember what my title will be. Well, first it's called, oh, right now I don't remember the title it's

Trent Manning 39:32

Ah, it's all good.

Andrzeji Strzepek 39:32

it's gonna be thinking on the Fly. To get the job. Oh, no, that's not it. I don't remember, but it's something where you come up with like quick tips on how to fix'em. So I did that. Interviewed, kind of did like you do but in writing, interviewed this guy who was a mobile tech and then just doing, talking about EMS in the industry,

Trent Manning 39:53

That's awesome, man. Yeah. Thanks for doing that. That's super cool. And you're doing that and you're, is. It's the local publication of

Andrzeji Strzepek 40:01

yeah. Just our local newsletter.

Trent Manning 40:03

yeah. No, that's super cool. I think Chris Hyman, he was doing something similar to that in New York. So I mean, it's really great that other people's, you know, taking the lead and spreading the word about what all's happening out there. I mean, it's just, it's really good. It's heartwarming to, you know.

Andrzeji Strzepek 40:24

Yeah.

Trent Manning 40:24

To have the industry come together and promote each other. It's really good stuff.

Andrzeji Strzepek 40:29

Yeah. And then I was talking to our local club car dealer. I was like, do you guys have any trainings for guys? He is like, I don't know. He was like, let's put something together. So it was this winter. I gotta actually gotta reach back out to him. But even just'cause he doesn't sorrys getting that time.

Trent Manning 40:48

yeah. Yep. It's almost better.

Andrzeji Strzepek 40:50

yeah. Really. Yeah, so he is gonna put something together for training and he'll have hosted lunch and stuff. So

Trent Manning 40:56

Oh, so yeah. That's super

Andrzeji Strzepek 40:58

out to your local people, like, especially if you haven't seen anything.

Trent Manning 41:01

Yeah. I know like our Toro distributor here, they do a class each year and then our, the Georgia chapter, we do a equipment manager seminar each year, and there's more and more chapters that are putting on. Equipment manager education. I went over, done one in Alabama earlier this year. Yeah. I've been to, I've been quite a few places. Utah, Nebraska, you know, all these places speaking at these deals and it's awesome. It's.

Andrzeji Strzepek 41:31

Yeah. Our local Toro dealer they, every, they have classes every winter, so. I just did, they did a event track class. They brought the vent track guy down on the 45 hundreds. It was a 42, I don't remember

Trent Manning 41:46

Yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 41:46

And then Jim Ham came down.

Trent Manning 41:49

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 41:50

he, I had missed the real one, but then he did the Procore six 40 eights. So we have like 2006, 2007 Procore 6 48. So I finally learned about the SVQ on it. So it was dropping too fast.

Trent Manning 42:05

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 42:05

said, literally just unplug it and I unplugged it, and now it just drops just enough where it doesn't tear up

Trent Manning 42:12

Really? Ah,

Andrzeji Strzepek 42:14

because the, there's an orifice that you could have put in there, but the old, the, those models didn't have it at the time.

Trent Manning 42:23

okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 42:24

Yeah,

Trent Manning 42:24

Yeah, I don't, Jim is a wealth of knowledge. I mean, yeah, man, if I could retain half, I mean that. Quarter of the information he had is would be overload. And I'm actually gonna have him on again, I'm interviewing him next Monday. So, you know, the first round we all only talked about reels and I kind of wanted to talk about sprayers and I wasn't even thinking about Procore, but yeah. Well, definitely this next one we're gonna talk about sprayers and Procore. And who knows, maybe it'll be two more rounds. You know, there might be a part three you can't tell

Andrzeji Strzepek 43:07

have three or four with him.

Trent Manning 43:09

Yeah, I know.'cause he is just a wealth of knowledge. And it's really great that he does that. I know he came down and spoke. Our Georgia seminar several years ago and, you know, just pay his expenses. He didn't charge any kind of speaker fee or any of that kind of stuff, you know, I mean, he's just a really great guy that loves to give back to the industry.

Andrzeji Strzepek 43:31

And I was able to, I met Hector'cause he came to New England,

Trent Manning 43:35

Okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 43:35

gotta meet him.

Trent Manning 43:36

Awesome.

Andrzeji Strzepek 43:37

I learned,'cause I got the plastic welder that he gotta do. And then I

Trent Manning 43:41

Yep. Yep.

Andrzeji Strzepek 43:42

we had a 8,000 a, the. The John Deere 8,000 a guy backed into the real motor, ripped the harness off the motor where the connects the motor. I was like, oh crap. This is, those are a thousand dollars. So I was like, I a, it was super exhausted'cause I just had a kid at the time, so

Trent Manning 44:05

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Uhhuh.

Andrzeji Strzepek 44:08

And then I ended up just taking it apart. Soldering it and then just res soldering it back together and it works.

Trent Manning 44:16

That's awesome. That's so cool, man.

Andrzeji Strzepek 44:19

meeting. Yeah. Hector, I'm just saying even solder everyone, it's broken. Just fix it if know, because it's gonna break it even more. So if you can fix it, it's cool

Trent Manning 44:30

Well, that's, yeah, that's the way I look at a lot of things is like, okay. Right now, this is unusable. It's broken. No one can use it. So I can spend some time and try to repair it. And if it don't work, I hadn't lost nothing.

Andrzeji Strzepek 44:47

Right.

Trent Manning 44:47

So, I mean, it's worth a try. Right. So I find myself, you know, doing that a lot. And yeah, I mean, just like Hector says, anybody can solder. It's not, you know, it's not that complicated. Takes a little learning, a little practice, you know what I mean? It's like welding. It's just like anything else. None of us knew how to do that as children as a learned skill. Right. and you talked about YouTube a couple times. That is the welding group on YouTube. They love to throw some negative comments my way. Well, I mean, not just my way, but anybody's way, you know, I mean, there's just so many professional welders, I guess, that watch YouTube and I'm not a professional welder, but I can stick some metal together and that's all I need to do. That's I don't need to have it x-rayed or a structural engineer to check off on it, you know, I'm just sticking some

Andrzeji Strzepek 45:44

as it works. Yeah. So I gotta build a gas handle. Holder for our gas tanks.'cause before we just got new gas tanks last year and the installers just literally use a piece of tubing and you're stuck the nozzle in, in the tubing and it was just out in the elements. I literally just take some, what the Ben knives cut them up and then just welded the little handle from YouTube.'cause I saw someone on YouTube do it.

Trent Manning 46:12

Oh, really?

Andrzeji Strzepek 46:12

all right. Yeah.

Trent Manning 46:14

Yeah. Awesome. Very cool.

Andrzeji Strzepek 46:17

Yeah, because what did you see with the gator that I watched that video where it didn't end up being the belt. Oh, I, maybe it was a little bit ago,

Trent Manning 46:28

Oh, on the prog gator

Andrzeji Strzepek 46:29

Yeah, the pro

Trent Manning 46:30

yeah, it wasn't the timing belt. I thought maybe it was the timing belt, but it wouldn't.

Andrzeji Strzepek 46:35

Yeah. So that those like, now I can go back to that and be like, if that ever does happen, we got a prog. So I love that you're doing that.

Trent Manning 46:43

Yeah, I mean it's I don't, the whole YouTube thing has been a lot of fun. I definitely really enjoy it and I mean, I'm super lucky that my director of agronomy supports me in doing it and that kind of stuff. And you know, I mean, obviously I'm getting my work done. But I think it's good for the guys that help me in the shop too.'cause it gives them a better chance of learning what we're doing. And it was a point that my director made the other day, you know, instead of telling a guy, go put this part on, you know, we're diagnosing, like he, they get to see, okay, we're doing a voltage drop test. This is what's causing the problem. This is what we're going to replace. You know, a whole lot better than saying, just go do this, you know, and you don't really learn anything, right? You're just changing a part and you didn't learn anything. So really good learning opportunity. So I wanna pass those learning opportunities along to the YouTube channel, and that's the idea behind it. So anybody listening, if you got ideas, videos you wanna see or whatever, don't hesitate to reach out, send me a text or email or call me or whatever.

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:00

Yeah. Yeah. Who's the gentleman? I literally just. I took my Bernhard angle master and I put that sliding gauge on it.

Trent Manning 48:11

Oh Bob pno.

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:12

yeah. Yeah. Bob,

Trent Manning 48:13

Yeah, Bob Shop.

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:15

somehow that just came across. I was like, all right. I tried to do it with a dial indicator that I think Chris, I Hyman had, and I'm like, I don't know if I how mount this. And then when I saw that, I was like,'cause he said, did you end up doing that on your Foley?

Trent Manning 48:29

Yeah. I got

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:29

Yeah. So I'm telling other guys do it, and then I'm like, how do I mount it to a Bernhard? And I saw that. I was like,

Trent Manning 48:35

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:35

all right, this makes complete sense.

Trent Manning 48:38

I know Bob's pretty slick. I talked to John BSOs last night and, bob come up and we were talking about him. We would both love to go out there and visit him sometime.

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:49

where's he out of?

Trent Manning 48:50

Nova Scotia, like he's an hour Yeah. What east of us?

Andrzeji Strzepek 48:57

Okay.

Trent Manning 48:57

the next time zone is over from Eastern Time. Yeah.'cause. Back when he was on Twitter, he was posting stuff at like 3:00 AM. I'm like, man, when does this guy wake up? He never sleeps because I mean, he'd be posting stuff at 9:00 PM and then he posting stuff at 3:00 AM like, man, this, he's a madman. But yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 49:19

complete different time zone.

Trent Manning 49:20

Yep. He is in a different time zone, but Good dude for sure. And it's great. Yeah. For any of the listeners, if you hadn't checked out his blog, he has Bob Shop. Blog and he puts all kind of really good information on there. And it's I like it because there's not a lot of fluff. He's, you know, he is got some pictures on there and he is like, do it this way and this is it, you know, I mean, just direct and to the point. And that's awesome that he's doing that. You ready to do some rapid fire?

Andrzeji Strzepek 49:55

All right.

Trent Manning 49:56

Let's do it. What's your favorite movie?

Andrzeji Strzepek 49:59

Two Elf and Napoleon. Dynamite.

Trent Manning 50:02

Oh, I love both of those. Yes, both classics. Yeah. Yeah. You gonna eat all your tots? that's my,

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:11

Tina.

Trent Manning 50:12

yeah, that's good. What would be your last meal? I

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:17

Cowboy steak, mashed potatoes and corn of the cob.

Trent Manning 50:22

Awesome. I can't wait. I'm so hungry right now too.

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:25

Oh yeah.

Trent Manning 50:25

It's dinner time. What are you most proud of besides your family?

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:31

dang.

Trent Manning 50:32

Yeah, I know what? Tell me about your family. You said you recently married.

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:37

gonna be nine years, October 1st.

Trent Manning 50:39

All right. Awesome. All

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:41

and yeah, the wife and then a 5-year-old. Well, five and a half. According to her, it's gonna be

Trent Manning 50:45

okay. That's all right. You gotta get that straight.

Andrzeji Strzepek 50:48

one and a half year old.

Trent Manning 50:49

Okay. Awesome, man. I don't. Everybody tells you this. I know. I heard it so many times with my kids. You know, they grow up so fast and I thought, yeah, they're right. They'll grow up fast. But man, it is a blink of the eye because now I got a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old, and I'm not near as cool as I used to be. I mean, they're great kids and I love'em, and they love me and all those things, but they don't wanna hang out with me quite as much. They got better things to do, and I get it. I had better things to do when I was their age,

Andrzeji Strzepek 51:25

Yeah. I gotta play video games the other day with my 5-year-old. It was fun.

Trent Manning 51:28

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Any time like that, man don't take it for granted, for sure.

Andrzeji Strzepek 51:33

So well that, and then I would say my faith.

Trent Manning 51:36

Okay. Yeah. You wanna talk about it a little bit?

Andrzeji Strzepek 51:40

Yeah. Well, yeah. I just grew up in a Christian home and, but just life was hard sometimes and got away from it and like, you're good on mental health, I probably wouldn't be here unless I had it. I had my faith because.

Trent Manning 51:55

awesome, man.

Andrzeji Strzepek 51:57

I've definitely been in times with suicidal thoughts and

Trent Manning 52:00

Okay. Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 52:01

It definitely grounds me and keeps me going,

Trent Manning 52:04

That's awesome man. Keep doing what you're doing for sure. And never, and that's for anybody listening, you know, and whether it's faith or you know, everybody's gotta find their own thing. And you know, faith is a lot of it for a lot of people. And then there's some people that you know, don't agree with that, or, you know, don't believe in it or whatever. There's something for you too. You know, I mean, whether it's faith or whatever it is. So yeah, I won't try not to get up on my soapbox too high, but man, just do it, you know. If you need help just reach out. I know it's easier said than done, but there is somebody out there that will help you. You know, you can gimme a call anytime. I'm not a professional, but I'll talk to you and be a listening ear.

Andrzeji Strzepek 52:51

That's all you

Trent Manning 52:52

Because I mean, I, you know, I've been right there too and I'm still thankful for all the guests we had on the mental health episodes and we need to do more of those. I know. And you know, it is hard to get people to kind come forward and talk about it'cause it's something, you know, that a lot of people don't like to talk about. And I mean, I understand that. So thank you for saying that and I appreciate your faith.

Andrzeji Strzepek 53:18

you think it?

Trent Manning 53:19

Yeah.

Andrzeji Strzepek 53:20

Yeah.

Trent Manning 53:20

Well, until next time thanks for being on. I really appreciate you being here and being a guest. And if I can never do anything in the future, you just let me know. Thanks for being a good part of our WhatsApp group. And for any of the listeners, if you want to be part of that, send me a text or an email and we'll get you in. It keeps growing and you know, I know it's not perfect. I've heard some stuff the other day that might be happening with people screenshotting and sending it to somebody's boss, and I'm like, man, life's too short for that. It is, you know, it is way too short.'Cause I really want it to be a safe place where you could post whatever you wanna post in there and not be judged for it because, you know, we all gotta start somewhere. But if you're interested, reach out and we'll get you in.'cause it is a really good resource, a ton of knowledge in there. And it is amazing how quick you can get a answer on a question, you know, with that much knowledge because. A guy down the street has seen that, had that exact same problem, you know, three months ago or six months or a year, whenever it was. So thank you again, ONJ

Andrzeji Strzepek 54:46

Yeah. Thank you, Trent.

Trent Manning 54:47

yep. We'll talk to you soon.

Andrzeji Strzepek 54:49

Oh, people can find me at STRs 2 5 6 on Instagram.

Trent Manning 54:55

2, 5, 6.

Andrzeji Strzepek 54:56

S-T-R-E-Z 2 5 6 on Instagram. I think I have a Twitter, same handle, but I'm mainly on the Instagrams.

Trent Manning 55:03

I got you. Yeah, nobody's on Twitter anymore. I don't think it's, that's a dying thing and that's okay.

Andrzeji Strzepek 55:10

Yeah. I like tagging you on that too.

Trent Manning 55:12

Okay. Yeah, definitely do it.

Andrzeji Strzepek 55:13

Yeah. But yeah, thank you again.

Trent Manning 55:16

Thank you. thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don't forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you'd like to discuss, or you'd like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at Reel turf techs.