The Sunny Side of Life with Troy Thompson
The Sunny Side of Life with Troy Thompson
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This week at Sunnyside, Troy shares a new development that has sparked a little undue controversy and he's kind of OK with that.
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Hello, friends and neighbors, and welcome to Sunnyside. Well, it took a week off there, and Ben, man, has it been an interesting week? Um, so I've got some things to to talk about. So, first off, I have to say um I'm I've made it to the big time. You believe that? Nah, me either. But so on Wednesday night last week, what happened was is I was uh sitting here in the studio working on some things uh relating to um our beef sales with our our cows that have now gone to uh to the processing uh uh locker. And I'm gonna talk about that in in uh in a little bit here and wrap things up um uh later on with that story. But this um this particular Wednesday night, I was just working on beef orders and uh I'd created a uh kind of a cool little uh a little sh an intake sheet, you know, the cuts that uh every customer wants and making sure that we've got that uh recorded and correctly and having the opportunity to explain that uh to my customers as they order their custom beef from Sunnyside Farms. And so I was really proud of myself. I felt like a government worker again from back in the day uh when I was doing recruiting and uh oh uh armory business uh in the National Guard, making new forms and turning them into PDFs and all that cool stuff. I was really proud of myself for say being able to retain those important uh desktop skills, which uh which I was uh which is what I was doing. I got the logo on. It looks really sweet. Uh and and it's and it's paperwork, right? So it's not my favorite thing. It's also tax season, so I was also doing, uh had been doing stuff, uh getting all that uh those items in order as well. And so um just doing paperwork in the office. And this was later on a Wednesday night, and uh my bride came into the studio and uh she was fired up. She had um, she takes care of a lot of the the business uh in the household. Uh that's what she's that's what she does uh for a living. She's a GM, and so she's the GM here uh at Sunnyside Farms for sure. And and so she was uh telling me that um uh our insurance company uh we have uh different levels of insurance for different things around the the the the Sunnyside farms and studios enterprises and all these different things we've got going on. And she's on the ball when it comes to making sure that we're properly insured. Uh so we're the easiest probably uh customers for our uh friends uh at the insurance agency that we that we that we use, uh and they are our friends. And so um because uh we'll call them up and say, I don't know if we're if we've got enough insurance, which is usually the opposite. So if it were me, I probably would never call. I'd be like, I don't know, we don't let's play the risk a different way. Um but um she she's uh she doesn't think that way. So we have uh an umbrella policy like a lot of people do um that kind of covers all the other insurance policies and if and and then that's what I guess that's why it's called an umbrella. And we've had it for several years, uh, and we've done that um for a variety of reasons. It's just a little uh additional protection uh and cover some of the other things that maybe you know one or two of the other policies don't. And so that being said, uh without being uh an insurance discussion, um she she was very upset because she said that um you know every year we we have to reapply um with our uh umbrella insurance company. And uh and this is never a problem, you know. We've we've never had any claims actually on an umbrella. Uh and so pretty good deal for whoever that company is, I would think. And um I'm not gonna name the name of the company. Uh I don't think that that's um gonna be fair to them. But anyway, she said they dropped us. They dropped us. Uh they dropped our umbrella policy, which I was like, that's weird. And she said, I know. I mean, why do you think that they dropped us? Because she was um not happy with that. It's almost like it's almost like you are um they take it personally, you know, to to not be uh a customer of an insurance company. Uh and so it's like, what did we do wrong so that we can't continue to pay you our premiums every month or whatever we do? And um and yeah, so I guess it's uh it is a little offensive that you're that we would be we would be dropped uh from our umbrella policy. Well, you would think that because again we again we've we've never had a claim uh on our umbrella insurance ever. And so it's just been you know, making money for this particular company. And in the in that's how insurance works. It's a gamble. We're we're betting something is going to happen, uh, and they're betting that things aren't going to happen, and then that's how you establish your premium. It's uh they're bookies, essentially, in in a in the best way possible that uh that you can be uh in the insurance business. And so uh these particular bookies determined that we were too much of a risk, even though we'd never filed a claim. And and is it because of the property that we purchased that I've talked about uh before as we're gonna develop a beautiful pasture uh for the cattle to graze on, and we're really looking forward to developing that. And it has a pond or two on it, you know. Is that part of, you know, is that part of what it is? No, no, it wasn't that, you know, is because there's you know, there will be livestock on it and there will be, you know, fencing, and there will be, you know, obviously the ponds uh that are down there. Now it's gonna be closed to the public, but it will still be, you know, still there. No, no, no, that that wasn't it. I was like, oh well, maybe it's the chicken house I built, which is ridiculous. That's in a gigantic chicken house that's three stories tall. It looks like a Norwegian staved church. Uh it's beautiful and um and uh and and and silly, uh, and and it's not I mean it's like eight and a half feet wide by twenty feet long, and it's got twelve windows in it uh that look like little church windows, and of course you've got you know two additional stories above that that get perpetually smaller and so on and so forth. Is it that? You know, is it is it because I built a unnecessarily large uh and decorative hen house and hen halla, if you will. No, that wasn't it either. I mean, maybe it is the livestock that we've got. I mean, we we do have livestock and we've got them in different different spots, and and uh you know, maybe there's a risk to that. Um but lots of people have livestock, obviously. This is farm country, so uh that would be interesting. No, it wasn't that. I'm like, man, I'm trying to figure out like what did we do that would possibly cause us to have our umbrella policy dropped. And I I couldn't figure it out, and she said she couldn't figure it out either. I'm dragging this out a little bit more for your entertainment. This conversation didn't last that tremendously long that Wednesday night last week in the studio here with uh with my bride. Uh it turns out according according to our insurance agent uh who had to give us the bad news that that we had been dropped by this particular mutual company um was because of my podcast. I mean I was like, what? And and obviously that's what Heidi thought too. He's like, what? What what are you talking about? Well it I thought maybe it had to do with um you know, our Sonic side biographies. Maybe because we bring in um customers and they're usually elderly, they're telling their life stories and recording them, uh, getting them produced here in the studio by me uh so that that can be a treasure that their family can listen to for uh for a long forever if they I mean for as long as they want to. Uh and and we've done that um pretty successfully and and and continue to build on on that business. You've heard me talk about that, I think, before. But you know, you have people coming in and um they're coming up into the studio, and uh, but never had any any issues with that. Uh so I but I didn't know if that increased the risk.
SPEAKER_00Sit still. I said, I can't. Something's tickling me. She thought I was crazy. She said, Well, open your coat. I unbuttoned my coat and opened it up, and there was a mouse.
SPEAKER_04Stories. Everybody has them. The stories of our parents, grandparents, and our friends remind us who they are.
SPEAKER_08That's kinda what I think it is, too, is memories. I re growing up, my dad did a couple my dad was an English teacher.
SPEAKER_04How they got here and what they've learned on the way. What if you could collect as many of your loved ones' stories in a high-quality audio format to keep forever? What if you could share the sound of your loved one's voice, their laughter, and their thoughtful manner with your children? Or when you are simply driving to work.
SPEAKER_08He spent literally three months in North Dakota freezing buckets of ice water to make this awesome ice fort that we never spent time in, but it was amazing. For the moment it was done.
SPEAKER_04Well, you can with a Sunny Side of Life biography. Produced here at Sunnyside Farm Studios. I'll sit down with your loved one for one, two, or several sessions to record their stories.
SPEAKER_02I think my students are going to have good memories of me.
SPEAKER_04You'll receive the full raw recording and edited selection arranged in audio chapters for easy reference, and produced segments you can use for family gatherings, special moments, or any time you just want to hear your loved one's voice.
SPEAKER_08And those are probably my most cherished things.
SPEAKER_04Share it with your family and make it a keepsake. Because that's what stories are keepsakes of the time we had together. Never forget that.com. The email is also in this show's notes. Let me record your loved one's story so you can share the sunny side of their life in their own words for years to come. I actually do kind of remember that now. It wasn't it wasn't the sunny side biographies. It wasn't that. And it's like, okay, well, I mean, I produce this show that you're listening to, and thank you for doing that. And then I produce um Mr. B's Dinner Party, which you know, if you haven't listened to that, it's wildly different from my show. He reviews uh TV shows and movies, and he has stories about um his um times as a teacher. Uh he does a spiritual journey in almost every episode uh um where he talks about his uh struggles with overeating, which has been very helpful to a segment of his listeners who are struggling with the same thing and uh is always very positive. And sometimes he'll read poetry and um you know he'll complain about his pet peeves, and and it's just a it's just a fun hour-long every two weeks on comes out on Wednesdays, Mr. B's dinner party. Um, and it's produced by me. So I produce that.
SPEAKER_01Hi, this is Scott Bertelson. I was a public education instructor at Forest City High School for 3940, who gets counting years, and during that time, I learned a lot about myself and life, as I still am now in my retirement. That's why I am hosting Mr. B's dinner party on this podcast platform, and I hope that you will join me at the dinner table for conversational morsels for the mind. Now you may be wondering what that is. Well, you'll have to tune in to find out. But let me guarantee you, you will leave my dinner table feeling full and feeling satisfied.
SPEAKER_06Join Mr. B's dinner party from Sunnyside Farm Studios every other Wednesday.
SPEAKER_01Hope that you will join me for Mr. B's dinner party on this platform.
SPEAKER_04But he doesn't ever say anything uh offensive. Uh, I don't like all the movies that he reviews. You know, that doesn't have anything to do with it. They're all popular movies. Uh, and so I was like, it couldn't be that. And it wasn't. It wasn't Mr. B's dinner party. And then it and then uh obviously um we do the Waldorf Gridiron Club podcast here from Sunnyside Studios, uh, which has been on for five years. We're in our fifth season now, and that is very limited. That's a much smaller audience, even than what we have uh here uh in the big sunny side of life. The the mothership uh podcast, if you will, which is still, you know, we're nowhere near Joe Rogan's numbers or or anybody uh like that. So trying to figure out, you know, couldn't it be that couldn't be the Waldorf Gridiron Club podcast? I mean, that's just me and uh my co-host Andy Buffington, and and we sit down with coaches from Waldorf football and players from Waldorf football, uh, sometimes administration and and different guests that we have on, and we talk about Waldorf football. We talk about spring ball and we talk about coaching changes and different things like that, and we get to know the players and we find out where they're from, and it's an opportunity for their parents to see them uh when they're on the other side of the country and find out who some of their teammates are and what their coaches are like and and all of that.
SPEAKER_03It's SurTown Warrior Fans Makes No. Hi, I'm Andy Buffington, and I'm Troy Thompson. Join us every Friday for a new episode of the Waldorf Gridiron Club Podcast. Turn over on down. Warrior Ball. Find us on every podcast platform and get to know our warriors. Interception! Warriors! Meet the coaches, join the club, listen, laugh, and love the woo. And that's another warrior. First down. It's the best mall college football experience in America. Every Friday here on the Waldorf Gridiron Club podcast. Touchdown Warriors!
SPEAKER_04So it's not the Waldorf Gridiron Club podcast that was that was causing a problem. But again, we have guests in the studio, we have people coming and going. Um, but that's only, you know, you know, once a week. So how could that be a problem? So it's none of those things. Uh, and then it comes down to the other one that I just started producing this year, the fourth one, uh, is of course uh the you know Sunny Side Bible in a year, which was part of the Sunny Side of Life show um two years ago when we had that you know mixed in. And as I've explained before, I broke it apart, put it in its own special uh podcast, and that's where it will stay. So that way, if you just want to listen to the Bible in a year and you want to hear me read it to you, uh, you can do that on the Sunny s on the Sunny Side uh Bible in a year, which is a great podcast. And it's uh I think what, 10-15 minutes, sometimes a little bit longer than that, sometimes a little bit less, depending on what section of the Bible I'm reading. Uh, and it comes out every single day. Uh, and in the course of a year, you can listen to the entire Bible. If you want. Hello, friends and neighbors. This is Troy Thompson of the Sunny Side of Life. Let's spend this year together reading the Word of God. Just take ten to fifteen minutes a day to join with me in the Sunny Side of Life's Bible in a year experience. It may be just what you need. Lord knows I do. Besides, it's free, it's fast, and it's good for your soul. And you can start anytime. It doesn't take much to get caught up and on pace with us each day. So, whether you've read the Bible entirely already or you're just looking for a way to get it done, take a few moments with me here and let the good book be the sunny side of your life each and every day. And so, uh, and then after after this year, it'll just all be available, and you can listen. If you had the time, you could listen to it all in one week. I said, I don't know if there's that many minutes. It's a lot of minutes to read through the 66 books uh of that version of the Bible that I did. And so, um, yeah, it's all Bible. So if you go to if you go to YouTube um and you follow Sunnyside Farm Studios on YouTube, you'll see that uh the Waldorf Gridiron Club uh episodes are on there, and we do film though every one of those now uh so that people can see the coaches and they can see the players, uh, and so we do that. Um I've filmed some of the episodes here with uh the Sunny Side of Life and Um and we do not film um the Mr. B's dinner party uh or the Bible in a year. So what could it possibly be? So if you go to the YouTube channel, that's Google used to have its own um podcast thing going on, and then it owns YouTube, and so then it just converged its Google podcast all into YouTube for some reason, and so that's where everything is at uh for for for Google. And so on YouTube, if you go to Sunnyside Farm Studios, that channel, and please do make it, you know, be a follower, be you know, be a follow, follow Sunnyside Farm Studios on YouTube, you can see all of those things. But because the di the Sunnyside uh Bible in a year comes out every single day, you're gonna get that placard that's gonna be like most of your videos, which really aren't videos, it's just audio. It shows the placard, and you can listen to it on your TV if you want, if that's how you do this. And so it looks like a lot of Bible reading, and then you'll have the sunny side of life that comes out every week, except last week and occasionally. Sorry about that. And so you, you know, that'll be on there, and most of those are just audio because that's the easy for me, and I'm and I like that. Mr. B's dinner party will be on there, again, all audio, so it's just a placard, and you can listen to it on your TV, and then the Waldorf Gridiron Club, which is gonna have a you know, video. And then occasionally I'll post my own silly videos on there as well. Um, and there's not very many of those. Now, uh in the future, there will be more of those videos on YouTube because as we uh dig in this spring to moving these hens into hen holla, I want to show uh my listeners and uh our our our fans, do we have fans, uh, what we're doing? And you can finally see this hen house. I want to I want to you know I'll make a video of that. I want to document what we're doing at what we're calling Sunnyside Hollow, which is the the land that we purchased that's got the ponds on it as we develop that, and there'll be lots of things that will be, I think, interesting uh for you to watch if you're interested in in some retired army guy trying to make a pasture and place for cattle and uh stocking fish and all this other stuff that we've got going on. So those videos will be on there as part of the Sunnyside Farm Studios um channel on YouTube. So by all means, uh subscribe, you know, click the button, like, whatever. I don't care. Uh all of that stuff. And and so I think I made it pretty clear that I don't care if if um you know if you it's not that I don't want you to you know like what I'm saying or what I'm doing, uh, but I do it uh because it's the way I feel and it's I think it's interesting, and if it is people will listen to it or they'll watch it or they won't, and then life goes on. Uh this is not my you know main income uh by any means. It's it's fun for me to do. And I like it. So that's that's all gonna be developed uh with the Sunnyside Farm Studios, you know, YouTube page. But if you go to YouTube on the Sunnyside Farms um channel, you're gonna see a bunch of Bible in a year placards, and then you'll see, you know, some of the occasionally every so often you'll see the you know when they upload or when they hit each week or every other week, these other these other podcasts that I produce. Okay. Um so apparently this particular mutual insurance agency that's had our umbrella insurance for several years has decided that according to my wife, the ruling is um that it was my podcast, it's the one you're listening to right now, The Sunny Side of Life, um, which is, you know, has always been for the last four years life, liberty, and the pursuits which make us happy. And that's why I'll talk to people and interview them and see what they're what's going on in their life. And uh sometimes I'll just give you my opinion on things. And the last time that I did that was two weeks ago, where I think I was pretty clear that I wasn't really enthusiastic about this thing with Iran, which is a war, even though we didn't declare it. And so I made it also clear in those uh in that particular episode. And I don't know if that was the episode that did it. All of my episodes are automatically transcribed, so you can read the transcription uh of every single episode if you'd rather read it for whatever reason. Uh you certainly can do that, and it's right there in uh the in the Apple podcast, for example. Uh it'll it'll it'll just have the transcript right in there. So I don't know if they just used AI uh to go through my transcripts from just my show or or what. Uh but in that last episode two weeks ago, I had said that, you know, I don't like the Iran war. I think it's a mistake. I I gave the history of of uh you know why we're not good at that, and I also explained that, you know, as a faithful Christian, you know, I understand, you know, where the you know the the other factions in the Middle East are coming from the Sunni, the Shiite, um the Jewish people, uh, all of that. And then also indicated as a Christian that, you know, I also don't believe that those are the true faiths. So uh because how can you be a Christian and say that? Oh, but these are also okay. That's not how religion works. And so that's not how their religions work. That's not how our religion works. Uh, if you're listening to this and you're a Christian. Uh, and and and that's all okay. Nobody should be murdered for that. Um, and so I thought I was pr pretty fair, and I don't think that I'm that controversial. Maybe I am. Um I guess if you say that you can't, you know, that you don't think that, you know, Muhammad was like the the prophet that the the the the Muslims believe that he is. Uh but that's the from the perspective as a Christian. I don't see how that is, you know, really that controversial uh in today's world. I think everybody knows where everybody stands, and and so on and so forth. But apparently because of faith, this is the uh reasons that we were given, uh, because of faith and politics, uh this particular mutual insurance company dropped our umbrella policy on our operations with Sunnyside, all of our different things we got going on. And speaking of politics and faith, this is a great time for me to promote what we're doing this Saturday at Sunnyside Farms. We have an opportunity for you to meet Stacy Besh, who is running for State Senate right here in our district in this part of Iowa. So if you're listening to this and you want to meet a great candidate for the state senate office, she is running in a primary situation that'll be coming up in June. This is a great opportunity for you to do so. If you're local, come on by to Sunnyside Farms. Visit our Facebook page to see uh a little more details, but it'll start at 6 the end of the meal, uh, still start a stump speech at 6 30, and by golly, you'll like what she has to say. If you remember, Stacy was on my show not too long ago, and uh, these are some of the things that she had to say.
SPEAKER_09United States of America, we are number one in the world when it comes to child trafficking and child pornography. I'll take this on and I'll bring awareness throughout everywhere across the state because we realize that if it's that prevalent in the United States, we know Iowa had gonna be up there too, even though we think we're Iowa night. We want to go after demand reduction, and yeah, that's uh there's a big question mark on how do you go after them? We just need to start exposing them. Because our laws for years here in Iowa, we were a class B felony for human trafficking. So that means you could go steal a $2,000 TV, or you can go human trafficking with the same consequences. So you might get two years in jail, maybe, and you might get a $1,500 fine. But when we're talking about a multi-billion dollar industry, $1,500 is not gonna do any good to these people, right? I think God gave me a vision, but also the voice and name recognition, and I always love the curve to buzz, right? God enlarge my territory, protect me, and give me the wisdom. And I think that's exactly what he did.
SPEAKER_06You talk about the five line.
SPEAKER_09Yeah. I never anticipated that I was gonna be an entrepreneur or serial entrepreneur. At one time, I had five businesses fitting into voids that we had that the town of Algona needed it. I live by the PCW paper, and people always wonder what that is. It's the pros and the cons, but most people go with whatever list is longer. I go with the W. And the W is the worst case scenario.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_09And I live by one line. If you can take the worst, then you take the rest. If the house methods done it right, I think it will because that's how I'm gonna look at things when I'm down there as PCW. Okay, what's the worst case scenario? Here's what I tell everybody when I go down there for the four years, if I don't get elected after those four years because I either couldn't be bought or I didn't do my job, then my time is up. You get me down there, I'm gonna work as hard as I can. I'm not gonna be bought. Not gonna be traffic down there. Right. And uh, so if that's the case, yeah, I'm not gonna get traffic.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So come out and meet Stacy Betch, who's running for state senate. Can't wait to see you there on Saturday, March 28th, right here at Sunnyside Farms. We start at 6, and we eat, and we have a great time, talking about faith, life, politics, and the future for Iowa. And I was like, what? And and um so um, yeah, Heidi was quite upset about that. She she was furious uh uh at them, and because look, I don't think that my wife, to be honest with you, I don't think my wife listens to my show um because she was saying, like, you never all you do is read the Bible, and then you you make funny skits, and then you occasionally, you know, interview people. And and I'm like, okay, well, obviously you're not listening to the show like the last one I did. Um, but so so the truth is revealed in several different ways here. And I'm like, well, you know, I mean, I did this last one. I did, I did, I I came down kind of hard on the war. Like I said, I didn't like that. She's like, Yeah, I know. And but I was there at that conversation. I know you didn't, I know you don't like it. And I was like, I know, but she didn't listen to the show. I know she didn't listen to the show. Um, and I was like, Well, I mean, I did say pretty clearly that as a Christian, I believe this, that, and the other thing. And she said, Yeah, but that's just what that, you know, so I know look, I don't think my wife is listening to the show. I thought my number one fan would be listening to my show, but apparently not, and that's fine. Uh, apparently the folks at this particular mutual insurance agency either were listening, and also my wife doesn't think they were actually listening to it, which is in one way kind of hurtful. I feel like, well, why wouldn't they listen to my show? You know, if they are if they're that mad about the things I say about faith or or politics, which again, if you follow me, you know that my politics are are are are pretty straightforward, but that doesn't mean that I'm all on one side or the other. I feel like I know what I believe and I use the uh my faith and and justifications, understanding of what I think are good economics and and and good governance, and uh it comes down libertarian in many ways, uh, or conservative, or I'm a or I maybe I am a right wing uh you know uh libertarian, if that is, if that's a thing. I don't know. Uh but I don't think that I and I try to not be uh visceral, uh unless it's like wicked comedy.
SPEAKER_05Ooh, that tastes weird. Um, honey, is there something wrong with our water? Ever since I visited Sunnyside, the water tastes so weird.
SPEAKER_06Uh uh Does your water taste weird after returning from God's country to the city? Yes, who is that? It's me, the Mulligan man. Who? The Mulligan Man from Mulligan, giving everyone a chance to start over with clean water.
SPEAKER_05What's wrong with my water?
SPEAKER_06Does it have a slightly communal, stale, generally poverty-stricken kind of flavor? Yeah. Uh it's kind of like um Like water from a gulag urinal? Yes. Wait, is that a thing? Do they have urinals? They had buckets. But what is that awful taste in my water? That, comrade, is the distinct flavor of communism. Communism? Yes, well, technically it's the flavor of Marxist chloride, but it has the same effect. You can find it in every urban water supply in America.
SPEAKER_05But I thought it was fluoride.
SPEAKER_06That too.
SPEAKER_05Well, I don't like it. What can I do, Mulligan man? Get rid of that bad socialist taste in my water.
SPEAKER_06You're in luck, you classical liberal. With Mulligan, you can install an iron curtain filter just for this kind of problem. Really? Of course! What better way to remove the red flavor of communism from your centrally planned city water supply than with the innovative machinery of free enterprise?
SPEAKER_05Well, that makes sense. Okay, Mulligan man, I want another chance at the taste of freedom. Let's get that iron curtain filter installed.
SPEAKER_06You betcha, Pilgrim. When things taste a little too calming in your water, you know who to call. Hey, Mulligan man!
SPEAKER_04You know, but even that, Lick, we don't swear on the show. We don't uh I want my grandson and uh future, you know, grandchildren to be able to listen to my shows more than my wife does, apparently, and and understand where I'm coming from and without being offended, and I'm not trying to offend anybody. I have my opinions, as you well know, but I'm not out here trying to hurt people's feelings. And in fact, most of the time I argue that I'm also trying to not hurt people, and that's part of why I didn't like this thing that we're doing in Iran. But I don't know if it was that episode. I my wife doesn't think that they listened to my show either. She thinks that they just looked at the thing on YouTube and saw all the placards, saw all the Bible stuff, and maybe saw some of the titles and maybe, you know, you know, screened through some you know AI reading, looking for keywords and my transcripts from my show or the other shows. I don't know. And they decided, nope, too risky. And we can't figure out what the actual risk is. So I know that there are uh these helpful um math nerds that work in the insurance age, and I say that with all the love that actuaries deserve. They're called actuaries, and they determine the mathematical risk of you name it. Anything can be uh actual, actualized, I don't know if that's a word. Uh they can they can figure out what the risk is, that something is going to happen that you don't want to happen, and then that's how you set your they're the they're the real bookies, they're the numbers guys and gals. And uh so actuaries, apparently in this particular mutual insurance agency, company, I should say, they're not an agency necessarily, but um, they say, Well, we we this this this guy this guy's too risky. And I we don't know for sure w which episode it was, if it was this or or if it's uh we assume that it's this this show, the sunny side of life. And I was sitting in my chair as I'm sitting right now. My wife was standing at the end of uh the the the podcast table where we've got our you know, where we have our guests and everything, and she was telling me all of this, and she was very fired up. We will not be doing business with this particular uh company ever again, which is also how my if you're ever in an argument with my lovely wife, I tell you, uh that's how it ends. Like this will never uh we will never do business with them again. And um, and that's fine because there are many fish in the sea, so we're already uh insured and and we already have an an umbrella comp you know policy now with a different company and life moves on, um, as you would expect that it would, because we don't, you know, particularly need um in my opinion, I don't think we particularly need an umbrella policy, but but uh my wife says we do, and so we've got one with a different company, and it won't ever be with the other company that let us go. And they let us go because of their reasoning is faith and politics. Matters of faith and politics. Now we've requested a letter from this particular company, and we have not yet to receive it. Uh we're looking specifically, we'd we'd love for them to tell us that the reason that we can't give you an umbrella policy is because you talk about faith and you talk about politics, um, which is astounding to me in general. Now, I believe that every business has the right to refuse service. Uh I do, I believe that. And and sometimes that can be controversial, particularly if you you know go back into like civil rights days and things like that. You know, I don't think those are good good things. But I think that businesses, uh independent independently owned businesses, have the right to refuse service. Um I have that right as a as a business person to refuse service to to people that maybe want to do custom business with me, but maybe I don't want to do business with them. I think that that is the right. So this company that um you know that dropped our umbrella coverage, they uh I they have the right to do that. I'm not upset about that at all because there's you know uh many of their competitors would and and we've already found uh one that we're very happy with and we'll move on, etc. etc. But um it's weird to me that that that that occurred. And uh I don't know I don't know I guess I can't figure out the insurance risk to them. Uh I can't figure out what the the actuaries would have said um this is this is too too much of a risk um because uh when you're talking about uh Christian faith, I suppose that would offend some people and uh maybe you know by politics, probably when any time you talk about politics, people do get on one side or the other, and maybe that offends people, but I don't know what the risk is to being offended um at all. And so I don't know if they uh anticipate some sort of property damage or something like that, um, because I would have infuriated somebody or someone uh enough for them I don't know. And so it's it just comes off as very weird, and it makes you kind of go down rabbit holes. Like, are they opposed to my view on Christianity? Like, are they opposed to Christianity? Are they opposed to my views of of other faiths? As I as a Christian, I don't believe that those are the way um to everlasting life. Um, are they opposed by that? Are they are they uh are they upset? Uh I don't I don't I don't know if that's what it is. I mean, maybe it is my politics. Is am I am I too conservative? Am I not conservative enough? Am I am I not towing the line uh with um the the mega folks uh regarding the Iran war and and that's the problem? Or uh is it something I don't know. We just don't know. And my guess is we're not going to know. I don't know if they're even obliged to really tell us. They just said for reasons of politics and faith, um, we've decided to drop you uh from our insurance policies. And uh, like I said, we've already replaced them and life goes on, and uh we'll see, in fact, if we actually do get a letter from this particular mutual insurance company, but I I doubt that we will. Um and so it's uh that's the that's makes me big time. I've been I've been canceled. Literally, uh my mouth has got us canceled, uh at least with one uh insurance company, which was easily replaced by another. But uh amazing. Isn't that amazing? It's kind of exciting. I mean, and so as my wife was, you know, uh revealing that she hadn't listened to my show in a while, um and explaining to me what had happened, uh she's deciding that we have to she's gonna go do other things now. Now I'm aware of it. And I'm there thinking, going like, I I mean, I'm this is great. This is this is a great thing to talk about on my show, which got me cancelled in the first place. So I'm not going to name their name because that's not uh fair to them uh at all, and uh they have the right as a business to do that, and I just think it's weird. And what in the heck is going on where uh you have you you can be you can be canceled, uh in this case, literally canceled, um, as a customer because of your um because of your beliefs. Um I guess that's the future. And so it'll be interesting to see um how this develops uh for other things, not necessarily for us here, um, but for just other things as you look around, maybe it maybe it happens to you. Uh maybe what you say on social media, for example, which I do almost no social media uh because I just find it doesn't get you anywhere anyway. I wr I read a lot of the social media stuff and roll my eyes, probably like you do, but that is beside the point. So maybe your comments on social media, you know, maybe those in the future will that's they're gonna they're gonna search your stuff and they're gonna say, This person is whack-a-doodle, and we're going to drop them from your auto insurance, which is easy to replace with another auto insurance. They're all competing with each other. Um so it's just something that I think we'll be taking a look at and paying attention to. I did talk to some folks uh about this in in the last few days, and apparently this particular company is notorious for doing that. So we don't really know what their stances are on faith or politics. We we have uh no idea. And um and but apparently it doesn't match mine, or if it does match mine, having a podcast and speaking your mind in America is just too much of a risk for the actuaries at this particular and perhaps other uh mutual insurance companies. And so that is the big news there. I don't know what the what that'll mean for the future, but that's that's what happened. And now you know the rest of the story on that particular situation. Oh, it's happening again. Mark your calendars for vinylfest seven, April 4th at the Bowman Fine Art Center in Forest City, Iowa. Go to Bowman FineArtCenter.org or follow the link in the show notes to get your tickets now. They're just 20 bucks in advance, $25 at the door. Again, it's April 4th. It's the 1950s, vinyl Fast Seven. You're gonna love it. And guess what? I'm gonna tell you what the lineup is right now, so you know we've got the Velvet Trio making a comeback with mama said, Sweet nothing's lollipop dedicated to the one Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? And Mr. Sandman. And of course, we've got Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry's gonna be there, my cousin's Sean Thompson, he's an amazing singer, singing Johnny Be Good. You can never tell. Little Queenie, Maybelline, Reeling and Arakin, and no particular place to go. Then there is, of course, an intermission. We go out and have a good time, grab some drinks, and then come into set two with none other than Jerry Lee Lewis. And friends, if you have ever seen Donovan Johnson play the piano, I mean he is Jerry Lee. Not only is Jerry Lee a huge influence on Donovan Johnson, but man, he plays that piano like he is the killer himself with high school confidential, breathless, crazy arms, pink cadillac, great balls of fire, and a whole lot of shaking. And there's more. Guess what? Yours truly is gonna be in this one as well. I return to the stage after being Johnny Cash to come in with six songs you may well know from the king himself. Jailhouse Rock, Love Me Tender, Don't Be Cruel, Teddy Bear, All Shook Up, Hound Dog, and my goodness, a few more songs to wrap up the show that everybody's gonna love. You do not want to miss Final Fest 7 at the Bowman Fine Arts Center, April 4th, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6, $20 in advance. Go to Bowman FineArt Center.org now and get your tickets and see the show. So in the last week, moving on to other things that are uh less controversial as being dropped by your umbrella insurance carrier. Um we're we're uh we've we're we've we've had uh our beef steers now uh in uh for several months, and you've heard me talk about that, and we've um sold them and continue to uh uh get them delivered to where they need to be. The first the first uh load of five steers went to uh the meat locker, um which is you know USDA inspected and all that good stuff, and uh they do a good job, and that's why we chose to work with them. They um they went on um Friday on the 20th. And so I was you know, what we did is uh it's better to we loaded them these five uh the night before. Um and my neighbors have uh many, many, many, many cattle. They're like they're like the real uh you know, cattle people. They've got uh show cattle and um they've got lots of cattle and calves, you know, start to finish the whole thing. Um they sell uh uh commodities, so like they you know go to the market with with their cattle, just you know, sell them by the load that way, whereas I sell uh much, much smaller operation to you, individuals, um, and and that's that's the business that I like to be in. And but they're the experts over this. They've also got all the equipment, and so I like learning from them. Um they're very helpful. Um, they they are actually encouraging uh for a guy like me who started uh this operation at you know 50. And so they're they're just great people, and uh we are you know, we have sons that play on uh the the Waldorf football team together, and uh we just uh we're neighbors and they actually live uh where uh my great-great grandgrandfather, uh the first the first Thompson in the United States, the for our family anyway, T.I., um that's where he lived, and so he had established his farm. So they live actually where um our great-great-grandpa lived and started his farming operation in the eighteen hundreds. So it's the we're you know, they're not they're like a mile as the crow flies away from me. So they have all the equipment. They have instead of buying a um a very expensive trailer or even uh a dilapidated one, I said, Hey, but they've got a trailer, and they certainly do, and they've got all the the things that you need. So they custom hauled for me, and they came down on Thursday night, and we loaded these five steers uh and and got them um and actually moved and then they took them back to their place a mile away. That way the cows don't talk to each other. Hey, I'm in this trailer, what's going on? Where are you? I'm over here where I normally am. Where are you? And that kind of goes back and forth. So they went and talked to the other cows over at the at the at their farm, and um and then in the morning, well, first of all, I have to say the loadout process did not go as smoothly as I was hoping. Uh, if you recall, uh in Iowa, in our part of Iowa, last Sunday we had a an a blizzard. It's a spring blizzard, and I don't know how many inches we got. It was several, and then it was blown. Around and they canceled schools for two days. Our high school had their band out in Chicago for the St. Paddy's Day parade and all of that stuff, and they performed in that and they got stuck in Chicago just because of the weather. They couldn't come back until Tuesday. And so school was canceled Monday and Tuesday. And I was moving snow pretty much from you know Sunday night through Tuesday. And continued to do so even on to Thursday as I was getting set and ready for these cattle to be loaded out. And so it was very difficult. It becomes very muddy because it melts, it comes down uh all at once, and then it sits there, and you're like, well, this is a blizzard. Now we've got you know winter wonderland here, but then it gets up to like 50, 60 degrees, and it just starts melting right away. And most of it's already gone. We had 77, 80 degrees on Saturday, as you recall, if you're around here. And so most of the snow that was here, those many several inches, are mostly gone now, uh, except for a few shady spots uh around. And so uh moving snow and then turning everything into mud and just the muck and just this whole process of uh uh that's farming, I guess. Everybody's laughing at me and saying, Well, welcome to farming. When you when you want to load out your animals, that's you know when the bad weather happens. And it did. I mean the loadout day was fine, but it was just a very muddy deal. And so um uh the young man uh named Shad, and he comes driving in with this really nice big long, I don't even know, maybe 40 foot-long trailer. And uh he's he's and he's with his mom. Now uh Stephanie is her name, and she is uh I don't know if she's five feet tall. I don't know. She's very close to not being five feet tall, um, if if that, and I'd so I don't know her actual actual height, but she's very short in stature, but very feisty. And um they have what, I think, you know, seven, half a dozen, seven kids uh over there on on the ranch uh a mile away. And they're all hard workers and they're all farm kids, and they've all they've seen, they just they nose to the grindstone, good people, uh faithful people, uh good friends. And so it's it's uh Shad and his mom, Stephanie, in this big truck. And I don't think her feet are touching the the floor when she sits in the in this in the passenger seat. And I was waiting for them. I didn't know who was gonna come. I thought it was gonna be uh actually the grandpa. His name is Lynn, and I'll talk about him in a little in a in a minute here. But uh it was it was Shad and Stephanie. So they show up, I explain what we're doing, where we're loading out, and um I uh he it takes a little bit to get in the mud and everything, even though I had put some gravel out, it still was very soft, and so it takes a little bit to get oriented with that trailer, and we get it figured out, and we we we we set move some gates so that we have uh you know a better shoot uh a little further up, and and then um Stephanie's standing behind the gate and she she's not she's not very big. She's like, You want me to hold the this gate? And I'm like, Well, these these steers are like you know 1400 pounds or whatever. It's like no, I don't I don't I'm like well, Shed, why don't you hold the gate and then and then you'll be able to slam the door shut as we load them up. And those so then that doesn't so she's like, Yeah, that's a good idea. So then she hops in to the muck muddy uh mess and helps me move these five uh steers into the trailer, and it went well for a while, and then the last couple did not want to go into the trailer, and uh so but she was just getting after them, you know, and uh I thought that was very uh fun and and interesting because she's just she's just in there getting after the cattle. And uh mud and muck, that doesn't bother any of them. We got them loaded, and it was you know, all in, all set, all done real good. And then uh off they went, took them up to their uh ranch on the hill. And then the next morning I was gonna I went up there at six o'clock in the morning because we had to have them delivered by seven or between seven and seven thirty. Uh and uh this time I'm now I am with with the grandpa because he likes getting up a little bit earlier, apparently. And so Lynn uh is the patriarch over there on the hill. And Lynn lives in a cabin in the woods that they have uh nearby. Uh and so he he's up and ready, and uh I I meet him and we hop in in the truck and and off we go um to take these cattle to their final destination, which in and of itself is you know, for me, uh the first time uh it's it's a little it's not sad, it's just different. It's something that I haven't necessarily experienced uh with the cattle. We obviously uh we had hogs when I was growing up, and I did not feel this way about the pigs at all. Uh but cows are a little bigger, they're a little, you know, a little cuter, they got little haircuts uh and and things like that. But again, remember uh God gives us the animals to care for, to take care of, uh, to uh and then to to to to feed us. And and uh and so I'm I'm I said a little prayer uh for uh my steers in the trailer and bl and uh asked God to bless them and bless the families that uh that benefit from uh their gift and so on and so forth. And I rode up to uh Conger, Minnesota with with Lynn, who had many things to say. Uh it was a it was a constant conversation all the way up there, and he took a different way than I do normally. So my calculations of how long it would take to get to Conger was about 45 minutes, but it was an hour uh 15 uh the way he did it, which is fine. Uh he went uh uh I'd say the longer route, and he also drives a little slower than I do, which is probably good because you know there's animals in the back uh in the trailer. So um it made for a uh 90-minute round trip, uh very enjoyable conversation with uh a guy who has been around and farming his entire life and has uh suffered some some some like everybody suffered some tragedies. He lost his wife uh a couple years ago. He told me all about that situation. Uh she had gotten cancer and uh was only supposed to live for about 18 months and ended up living eight years. Um he himself had cancer and then he stopped going to treatment because he was busy taking care of his his wife who had cancer, and he uh confirmed with me that he was quite sure that he should be the one that died, but uh uh for whatever reason God keeps him around. Uh and all of this was inspired by this conversation. Uh me, a you know, 50-year-old brand new farmer, uh 51, I guess, and then him um being in this for a long time, his whole life as a farmer. And he I just said, you know, we're going to the locker. Like I knew for the last couple of months the day that um would be these cattle, you know, their their last day, the 20th of March and the 30th of March. And God knows that about you and me. Like we're all going to the locker, so to speak, and he knows the date for each and every one of us, and we don't know. The cows don't know. Um before we made it back to um back to uh our respective ranches, um, those five cattle were um already gone uh because they get right to it, and it's very humane uh in that way, and and that's why we chose this particular company, uh, and they do a great job processing. And so uh that's the business. And but for me, it was the first time, you know, to do that. And it wasn't you know apoplectic or sad or anything like that. It was just an odd feeling to have, you know, uh a little bit of something. And so you but but it's hard not to, and I know this would really irritate that you know, no longer um uh that insurance company that we're no longer with. But it's hard not to talk about faith um when you're a farmer. Um because and I'm not a farm, I'm not a I'm not a I grew up on a farm, my brother's a farmer, my parents are farmers, I'm I'm trying to be a little rancher here and doing you know fun little farm things that uh that I enjoy and and and and and like to do um you know for for for this, for you, my listeners, uh and my customers as it goes. But every farmer um I think to some degree uh and probably I don't know what the percentage is, I hope most of the farmers recognize that um their uh business is you know reliant on the weather, which is controlled by God. Uh it is a life and death operation, whether it's plants or animals, and they have a responsibility uh every single day to care for either their fields or their flocks, whatever it happens to be. And when you are in that position, um it does give you a better, in my opinion, uh a better understanding of God Himself, which is probably why in the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, so many stories, references, uh parables are made related to farming. Certainly uh in that time, 2000 years ago and beyond, uh, there was much more an agrarian society than it is today. Most people do not consider where uh their food comes from or where uh you know it's just in the grocery store. That's how it gets, or who makes it, or where, you know, who who are the lives, the hands, the people that are involved in in creating the food that goes on your plate every single day, whether it's at a restaurant or it's at home, hopefully at home and uh you like to cook. But regardless, that's uh that is a farmer. It is egg week, whatever that means, uh, this week. And it's interesting that uh one of my customers is also the radio guy, the local radio guy, and and he uh who's been on the show, Carl, you know Carl. Uh Carl ordered a quarter of beef and and he and then he sends me an email with a with a script because I'll also do uh in the studio, I'll do recordings for radio stations for their liners, which is where you hear like B103. Like, that's me uh for some of those uh radio stations. And it's just a little side business that helps pay for the studio and uh different things, and it doesn't take very long. So he sends me a script and he's like, Well, it's Ag Week. Would you read, you know, the first one? And and it's funny because now it says, Hi, I'm Troy Thompson, a local beef producer. And I'm like, Well, I am, but I mean, come on, I mean, up the hill, that farm and ranch is like they're a way bigger beef producer than I am. Uh, and so uh, but the advantage is I have a I have a studio and a and a background in in production and radio, and so that's why he's like, Here's a farmer, quote unquote, that I can send this script to and he can record it and send it back to me the same day, which I did, and I heard it today on the radio because it's ag week in celebration of ag week, you know. But it gets it's true, the some the food that you eat is coming from a farmer somewhere. Um, and uh well, hopefully it's an American farmer, but you know it's probably not. If you're eating an apple this time of year, you are you know buying an apple from South America, and uh I can talk about maybe why that's not so healthy, um, not because it's from South America, but when you have to ship food that far uh across you know continents, you do have to uh harvest them a little earlier. So the uh lignans that are in the the fruit trees, I don't know if it's if that's the right term, but there's a chemical that the fruit tree produces that, say, for example, makes a an apple sour uh in tart. You don't want to eat it yet. Uh that's a chemical that the plant, the tree, puts into it to keep um predators of that fruit from eating it too soon because the seeds inside are not ready. Then what the tree does is when the seeds are ready, it pulls that chemical back out through the branch, back into the tree, and now it's just a sweet apple that is attractive to predators, human or other animal, and they will eat that, and then the tree is really hoping that they'll eat the whole thing, and then they'll and then they'll seeds include it, and then they'll poop it out, and it'll be fertilized, and then another tree, its offspring will carry on. I don't know if trees hope, but that's the way they're designed. And so this is how it is with really any fruit and and and many and and many other um vegetables for that matter, because they have a defen plants have defense mechanisms which are chemical to assure that they are not eaten by predators until um they're ready to be eaten, and hopefully that predator then carries the seed and does the work for the plant. But if you have to ship it, say two weeks or three weeks to get it from a point in the world to another point in the world that is that far away, however, it gets here by ship or train or uh truck or all the above, uh then those uh products are picked early, earlier than you would expect. And so they so they stay firm and then by they will ripen uh in transit so that you get these nice, for example, apples in the grocery store in March in Iowa, where there are no apple trees. Uh the apple season in this part of the country, in this part of the hemisphere is like, you know, September, late August, September, October, and then so you can store them into the winter, January, February. So it's possible, I suppose, that there could still be some uh ripe apple if they're kept in the right temperature. But more than likely, particularly, you know, in the summer and the spring this time of year, they're coming from the other hemisphere, which is in there, opposite uh seasonal period as as we are right now. And that's fine. Except for the fact that it still has all those chemicals in it because the the the fruit is pulled off the tree before the tree pulls that chemical out of it, and so the tartanus remains, and so uh by the time it does it does ripen so that by the time it gets here it um is is ripe, but it still has all of those uh that particular chemical or chemicals, natural chemicals from the plant still inside the fruit. And some people think that's not healthy um for you to eat, and I kind of you know think that's the case. I was reading a whole lot of books um about uh eight, nine years ago, when it became apparent that uh my father-in-law, uh, who has passed on, uh, was uh you know starting to show the early signs of uh Alzheimer's or dementia, and he had anticipated that this would be the reality. And so uh I just kind of dove into a lot of research and books uh about what we eat and uh the plasticity of the brain and really conversations and tough topics that were uh pretty much outside of my uh scope, but I learned a lot in the process, and that was one of the things that I learned. So what we eat does matter, and where it comes from does matter. And um, but wherever it's coming from, it's coming from a farmer and a producer who is uh trying to provide, you know, uh good food uh for you. And that's what we're trying to do here, and that's what um you know got us all talking about this. We have uh a we have a small tiny farm operation that is um uh in in its first uh set of products that is coming out uh in the next uh couple of weeks uh to our customers, and we're very happy about that. But the conversation that I had with Lynn uh as we drove up to and back from um the the meat locker, you know, was relevant to you know how God um has something in, you know, we've all got a date at the locker, and like I said, he knows when when that date is, and and we do not. And it's death is a part of life. Uh, and so what we do between now and then absolutely matters. It was just a wonderful conversation um with this uh uh faithful man who had seen everything and had lots of funny stories. Uh and maybe I'll get him on the show sometime. That'd be a fun, fun thing to sit down with uh an old farmer or two and and and share stories uh about uh how things have changed, uh how how um our um how our world seems to work and and just all of these things. And they and they love to tell the stories, believe me. Uh and I enjoyed every moment uh of that. And to be honest with you, it did help me assuage any feelings of, you know, uh I don't say remorse or guilt or anything like that, but you feel when you, you know, deliver an animal to the locker. And so I appreciate what those um moments in the truck with Lynn provided for me, and uh really am grateful to uh that particular family, the Woogie family, uh, who has uh just supported uh me in this operation, and will continue to do so as they load out uh the last five uh here next week on Monday uh on the next show for the sunny side of life. Uh newly insured across the board by a different company who apparently can't stand it when I relate things to politics and faith. We are doing the bidding of Israel for Israel. Trump has said so. This is Israel, this is a war for Israel. I have no idea why we would do that. True to everybody the same. Uh to be together and to be thankful for the things that we have, uh, including each other. Um, but I think most importantly, the ability to recognize that uh each one of us in our life, maybe every day, um, has that moment where you can say to our Father in Heaven, Hey Dad, I'm in trouble. I need your help. Gotta do what you can to make everybody happy. Now, as you know, we are not uh monetized. However, uh, you can buy us a coffee. There'll be a little emblem that says you can support the show on whichever platform it is that you are listening to the Sunny Side of Life. And I would be darn honored if you bought me a coffee, so to speak, or I think the emblem I've changed it to a beer, which seems, to be honest, probably more appropriate. So buy me a coffee, buy me a beer, whatever it is, and that helps support the show so we can continue to develop more and more great skits and have uh more and more great conversations just like this. And if you do, great. If you don't, that's just fine too. Just wanted to let you know. Be the sunny side of somebody else's life. Thank you, I appreciate that. Now back to the show. You know, there's the old saying that you're not supposed to talk about in polite company, sex, politics, or religion. And then there's another saying that how in the world can we get to where we are after millennia without those three incredible parts of human existence sex politics and religion. And so I'll continue doing what I'm doing. I'm enjoying it. I hope you are too. Thanks for listening. And um, regardless of uh, I guess what the actuaries might think, I think by the numbers, we're doing a pretty good job. So I've been canceled, but I like it, and it's all right with me because I'm gonna keep on doing what I do, and I hope that you keep on listening to what I'm doing. I appreciate it, and thank you very much. Because we're just gonna keep on being the sunny side of someone else's life.
SPEAKER_10When the shadows fall and doubts begin to creep, remember together we're strong every week. Lift your neighbor up with kindness every day. Let your actions speak the words you want to say.
SPEAKER_04The sunny side of life is a weekly production about our life on the family farmstead here in Iowa, the liberties we prize, and the pursuits which make us happy. None of this is possible, of course, without Christ in our lives. For the Lord God is our stomach and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.
