Terribly Unoblivious

Bathroom Antics, DIY Flamethrowers, and the Quest for Balance

• Brad Child & Dylan Steil • Season 1 • Episode 32

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Have you ever wondered if a teenager's bathroom antics could lead to a slippery disaster, or if homemade flamethrowers were really a thing? In our latest episode of the Terribly Unoblivious Podcast, we kick things off with a lighthearted discussion on the cyclical nature of life's experiences, including the hilarity of a teenager named Phoenix who managed to transform a bathroom into a cologne-slicked hazard zone. From there, we wander into tales of youthful curiosity, recounting how body spray turned into an explosive tool for fun long before TikTok made DIY projects mainstream. 

Join us on this rollicking ride as we tackle the allure of dangerous pastimes and the age-old question of whether podcast seasons are a real thing. We take a detour into the world of surprising historical anecdotes, like a fire investigator moonlighting as an arsonist, and reflect on how these stories shape our narratives today. The episode is sprinkled with humor and caution, creating a nostalgic vibe as we remember youthful mischief and the spread of not-so-great ideas through generations.

Our adventure doesn't stop there. We explore the pursuit of personal growth through physical challenges, from biking across Iowa to balancing family life while seeking epic adventures. With a candid look at the balance between embracing contentment and the desire for new challenges, we share insights on pushing boundaries, finding fulfillment, and the comedic hurdles encountered along the way. Through humor and thoughtful reflection, we capture the essence of resilience, both mental and physical, required to face life's grand and everyday adventures.

Dylan:

This is the Terribly Unoblivious Podcast.

Brad:

Yep.

Dylan:

I said it before and I'll say it again Life moves pretty fast.

Brad:

You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Dylan:

Personal growth and acceptance.

Brad:

I just heard the news today.

Dylan:

Which one Are you going with a?

Brad:

celebrity death?

Dylan:

No, because there's been a lot of celebrity deaths. It seems my life is going to change.

Brad:

Tell me more. I close my eyes and begin to pray. Tears of joy stream down my face.

Dylan:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's prolific. You want to expand on that?

Brad:

Arms wide open.

Dylan:

Where is Scott Stafford right now? I don't know.

Brad:

They're coming back, aren't they? I think they're coming back.

Dylan:

Lou saw them at the Jones County Fair. Are they coming back? What's the what's is Jones Jones County fair?

Brad:

Are they coming?

Dylan:

back what's what's my is Jones Makoketa. He saw them and he said it was epic.

Brad:

Really Mm-hmm. I felt like they were putting something new out.

Dylan:

I don't know if they're creating new material, but apparently they're still playing arms wide open.

Brad:

I mean they've got a. They got a good base know, yeah, kind of like nickel back no no no, no, I mean they've got like the christian bass. Like you can always just roll back in and tap that, hey, we're back we got this album out.

Dylan:

We've got the whitest doves you've ever seen. It's just yeah.

Brad:

They just let it go, eat it up.

Dylan:

What's been going on, man? It's been a while. It's been a minute, yeah, even though what will happen is the podcast we did a long time ago that I still haven't released will probably be like week to week after this. Everybody will be like, oh no, Brad and Dylan were just there. Yeah, and when I say everyone, I mean like five of you.

Brad:

Uh, when oh, it was over the this past weekend. Shane's like when are you guys going to make some more? I'm like we, we made some more. Yeah Well, we're in season, not podcast season.

Dylan:

Sorry, brad and I are in everlasting debate of are there seasons or not seasons? If we're not a crime podcast, yeah.

Brad:

Season 1.2. The 5.

Dylan:

Yeah, we just go do versions.

Brad:

We did. I think we have established over uh the course of this summer, early fall, that doing this is probably better for my mental health. I think it's better for everyone's mental health involved yeah, maybe not shannon's, sure. Why not? It's because I had to leave her with the boys tonight and it didn't seem to be going well.

Dylan:

Is capital punishment too extreme?

Brad:

You just look in the rear view mirror and you see smoke as you drive away. It's going to be fine.

Dylan:

Don't worry about it. It's even better when you leave kindling around the house like didn't do chores, didn't do homework.

Brad:

Oh, speaking of fire, let's talk about it, phoenix.

Dylan:

Are we talking about Billy Joel that you didn fire? Let's talk about it.

Brad:

Phoenix, are we talking about Billy Joel, that you?

Dylan:

didn't start it. Phoenix started it. Okay, so yeah.

Brad:

So very Russian of him. He had a little freedom this weekend and what does freedom mean?

Dylan:

Lack of oversight, Okay, so we need you to give the audience context overview, taste, smell senses he just had a little free time with friends. Okay.

Brad:

And because we had another game, so they had a little unsupervised, you know, spat of time.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Brad:

And and some weird things happened. What is weird? How old is Phoenix Warren?

Dylan:

He's middle-aged for a teenager. No, that's not true. Is he a teenager? He's a teenager. No, that's not true. Is he a teenager? He's a teenager. Okay, so he's a teenager. And it's weird, for a teenager can go um. There's.

Brad:

There's a paradigm so I get home or continuum.

Dylan:

I should say that I can't remember.

Brad:

I can't remember if this was that same day or the day before I get home and go to the bathroom. The bathroom smells like cologne body spray, which is. I cannot imagine being a teacher in middle school with these fucking kids.

Dylan:

Okay, continue.

Brad:

They're potent, like the amount of spray that they use, even after school. This isn't a new phenomenon, no, I know.

Dylan:

But like him and a friend, will like get in my even after school like this isn't a new phenomenon no, I know, but like him and him and a friend will like get in my van after school.

Brad:

I'm like fuck what. What are you guys doing? Are you just? It's a spray? Are you cutting it off and just pouring it on you? Or?

Dylan:

it's too much okay.

Brad:

So I walk in the bathroom it smells like that, not surprising, right. And then I go to the bathroom but I wash my hands. I look up at the mirror. The mirror looks like it is like steamed over, but only on one half. Okay, well, that doesn't make sense. So go to wipe it off. It's super oily. I was like, oh, there's like body spray all over the mirror, like to the point where it's almost dripping. So not an accidental like oops, I missed my armpit, you know, like all over the place, yeah.

Brad:

The floor is super slippery, so like it's all over the floor. Was it pledge? No, it wasn't. That's not funny, that's dangerous. Okay, it's dangerous. Okay, don't do that. Trick people. That's how people get broken tailbones, facts. So there's that. I'm like, okay, who's in here fucking around with this? Because that's not his style, so somebody else was probably messing with it. That's what I thought, uh. And then later that night he's folding paper towels in half as many times as he can. He's got two of them. Okay, where's this going? He's like I got this battery. I was like, okay.

Brad:

He's like I got this aluminum foil and I was like, now I know where it's going and so he takes the, the, the, the paper towels and puts the tinfoil on the positive and negative and then proceeds to drop the battery like six times in a row. I was like this trick is stupid. I'm not watching this anymore. So I got what he was trying to do, but he never accomplished it.

Dylan:

Then we're outside For the audience. Why don't you explain what he was trying to do?

Brad:

He was trying to connect the circuit and then the foil gets hot, I'm assuming, starts. I don't know what it does. Okay, I didn't get to see it. Okay, because he couldn't hold on to it long enough. It didn't really make sense to use using paper towels, though I mean I get it, he was trying to insulate his hands was he trying to make like a homemade, pura, what's that, what's that?

Dylan:

like a like an, an oil diffuser. Is that what that is?

Brad:

I don't know, I have one. Yeah, I have that brand.

Brad:

Here you go fancy so then we're out to save you 65 a month so then we're outside and I notice a big rock, uh, that we have that is around one of the trees, but it's not around the tree, it's in the sidewalk. And then I look down the sidewalk and there's like a couple more big rocks and then there's a lighter, like a stick lighter and a piece of wood that looks black on the end, and then all of these things connect flamethrower. He's playing with fire yeah essentially yeah pyro.

Brad:

And then that night at dinner shannon said something about he was trying to. He was asking about aerosols and and making basically like a flamethrower, yeah, and then the light bulb went off and I was like, are you fucking trying to make a flamethrower in my goddamn bathroom with fucking body spray right now? Is that what happened? Is that how it got all over the mirror because it didn't catch on fire? And he just what happened? No, okay, I see what you're doing here. You got to get a lot smarter Clean up after yourselves.

Dylan:

And go get Aquanet from Walmart Also. Is it still coming a fuchsia pinkish, can I?

Brad:

don't know, but that's what they used to blow up pumpkins with Aquanet.

Dylan:

Aquanet yeah, yeah, potato gun, that's what they they used to blow up pumpkins with.

Brad:

Yeah, yeah, potato gun, you just throw that oh, but they don't even figure this stuff out on their own. He saw tiktoks on it so like china's invading no, just I felt like I knew about sounds like it sounds like china's invading. I felt like I knew about aquanet and blowing up at seven. That's true, because they would, they would go and they would pull the tops off the pumpkins and just fill that thing up and then toss a match as you're running away.

Dylan:

Nope, yeah, I'm not saying I didn't do stupid stuff, I'm just so. Information obviously traveled fast before we had the internet, not saying that it hasn't expedited that process or or made it faster, um, but obviously you got really bad ideas from your neighborhood friends because they heard something from their friends.

Brad:

So it's not like well there's only so many things the internet, the devil there's only so many things to do, though. Right like now. You have an infinite number of ideas that you could try. You just have to stumble across them through what was that really?

Dylan:

what was that? Was that back in like 2006, 2007, the arsonist toolbox like somebody wrote that book, but it was really like a blogger, it was like a blogger website and then they they attributed all these things to that guy that was talking about how to. He never actually got indicted or anything, but he wrote a whole book about how to make bombs and with household objects the arsonist it was on the today show I at one point. I mean probably a lot more news outlets than that. Thanks, matt Lauer.

Brad:

There's a podcast about something similar to that. It was a fire marshal I thought it was hot time Fire investigator, I think the podcast is called Firebug investigator, I think it's. The podcast is called firebug and he seemed to be really good at solving what was starting all of these fires. It was in california in like the 70s, late 70s, early 80s, I think. And spoiler alert yeah, he was setting them. He had a very specific. Was his name ted alert? Yeah, he was setting them. He had a very specific. Was his name ted? It could have been I don't remember, but yeah, he had.

Brad:

He had this thing where he would do like a cigarette and then he would wrap it in I don't know like, say, a book of matches or something right. So he'd walk into a store and he would find these things. That was a specific type of like foam, so like a foam padding or something like that, and they ignited quickly and burned really hot and so he would light it it's not true, actually and then the cigarette acted as a timer and then the thing would go off sitting on the foam and then, yeah, the whole thing would go down. So it's kind of wild.

Dylan:

That's wild. Yeah, chat. Gpt has censored us, so we have no idea. Censored us? Yeah, it won't search the arsonist toolbox for us.

Brad:

Probably a good idea. Probably. Probably because you spelled arsonist wrong.

Dylan:

Yeah, but it can read through that. Oh Also, but it can read through that. Oh Also, that screen's at an angle and I can't see shit from here.

Brad:

That's okay, there is a. I saw another. I just got back on TikTok yesterday.

Dylan:

I've been off for months. I'm not on. I've never been on. It's the same shit Different day. Yeah, it's like, yeah it.

Brad:

It's the same shit Different day yeah. Yeah, it's like yeah it's the same shit I was watching fucking four months ago. It's almost like they know you, yeah, yeah, they got my algorithm down pretty good, yeah.

Brad:

But there is a uh like a like a survival country music, survival guide book and survival that that this kind of reminds me of where it's. Oh, you want to make homemade dynamite, just in case you, you might need it. Oh, there's a lot of other useful things like plants as medicine, things like that. But uh, if I knew the name of it I'd probably my favorite. I just don't tell you.

Dylan:

It's like the hands it's just hands out in like a very beautiful setting, whether it looks like a very exotic um, riverside, mountainside, and then they cook like a very nice looking steak on what appears to be a rock a rock, yes, or some very well seasoned cast iron, or yeah, those are my favorite. Like what? Why? Why the hell are they targeting me on that?

Brad:

I I enjoy the people that lean really hard into the one thing, one specific thing. Yeah, some of them are very popular, like the uh bradley thor that chops wood he's, I don't know that he's very popular. Okay, like liver king no, no, he's like like he's a good looking like kind of built dude, but just normal. Basically, yeah, and I don't know how that all started, but uh, very signature like overall like suspenders, you know, and then it's like he's gotta take him off every time.

Dylan:

Yeah, johnny's getting ready to split wood.

Brad:

Yeah, it's like why you fucking put them on, yeah, in the first place. You know what's happening, because girls like see him take them off, yeah, yeah. So it's kind of like lingerie, yeah, I guess in that sense I.

Dylan:

So during co only fans kind of came, become, became popular during covid. I feel like I I'm not exploded, it exploded during covid and uh, I said if I really wanted to make money I would just get a six-pack and then I would do chores shirtless around the house as a male. Okay, I would just do laundry. Okay, organize the pantry, cook, yeah, maybe, maybe wipe down the baseboards.

Brad:

I thought that account would have gone viral yeah, but you do have to be very people like seeing the same thing for some reason that's what I'm saying.

Dylan:

I feel like a clean um full of the whites.

Brad:

Oh, there is a kid who I don't know. He's an older teenager maybe maybe a little bit older than that.

Brad:

He does a whole thing. How many of blank will hold me while I do a pull up? So he's got a pull up bar and then he's like how many saltine crackers stacked on top of each other will hold me? He goes one, two, three and like he dead weight hangs and then they break and then he just keeps going and then like he'll use laptops. That's the shtick, that's it. That's all he does. I hate this world. I hate this world. I hate this world. Yeah, he probably has hundreds of them.

Dylan:

All right, I'm bored of this conversation we talked about in our own personal conversations off air. You've come to me a couple times the past few weeks and you're like Dylan, I just want to do something hard. First of all, I never say your name no, you're right, I put that part in of all. I never say your name no, you're right, I put that part in. Sorry, I paraphrased incorrectly, but yes.

Brad:

I have said that.

Dylan:

Okay. So what do you want to do? That's hard and define, hard and define. You just want to. You just want a task to go out and tackle. What do you want? What are you? What are you looking to define yourself by?

Brad:

Before I to go out and tackle what do you want? What are you? What are you looking to define yourself by? Before I came here, I saw a video uh, this girl mimicking that she was going to therapy. She's like, ah, I signed up for a triathlon. And therapist is like oh, that's great. Um, when did you decide that? She's like? A couple days ago.

Dylan:

She's like like oh, so have you actually committed?

Brad:

Why did you do that? She's like I just want to see if I can do it. She's like to do what? Like I just want to see if I'm capable. She's like do you do that a lot, like sign up for triathlons? No, like see if you're capable and then the girl's like.

Dylan:

I think we're done for the day. I can't answer that question.

Brad:

I don't want to answer that question. No, we did.

Dylan:

Well, I don't know why. Honestly, what are you missing that this is going to fill a?

Brad:

this is going to fill a hole in your, in your heart. I just like testing boundaries, like you've done a lot of hard shit, though, like some of the, I just like testing my boundaries. I won't.

Dylan:

I won't discuss what we've talked about, what would be hard, until we're ready to, until you're ready to put that out there, but I feel like that's something you've could do and something that you've done similar things to. So why do you think that this, that one, would test your boundaries?

Brad:

I mean my boundaries change, Like they're probably a lot lower than they used to be.

Dylan:

Yeah, but we're talking about you're talking about. You're talking about physicality versus mental fortitude.

Brad:

No, but that's I think that's what I like is the mental part of it. It's like I want to do something that is physically very difficult but accomplishable physically. But I think what you and then I want to see if mentally I can withstand that or not.

Dylan:

So I'm actually going to just kind of spill the beans. Brad wants to started with 100 pounds, 100 miles. That was stupid, okay, and then you went down to maybe we need to start with 50 pounds, 50 miles.

Brad:

I realized quickly how much I actually weigh, how much you weigh and that 100 pounds is probably not a great start. How much?

Dylan:

do you?

Brad:

weigh Like 170.

Dylan:

Yeah, that's a terrible idea, Brad 30-some percent seems much more.

Brad:

30% seems way better than 60%.

Dylan:

But my question becomes and there's I guess it's our shoes.

Brad:

Am I going to wear?

Dylan:

it. It starts in all that too. Yeah, is it? Are you a Hoka guy or are you not? Um, I do have Hoka's there. Yeah, are you trying to go in untrained? Are you trying to go in trained, are you?

Brad:

where's the balance? Like most things in my life, semi. But Where's the balance? Like most things in my life semi, but even semi Semi trained.

Dylan:

It's not. It's a difficult task. I'm not minimizing it but I cut.

Brad:

I think the 50 for 50 would be a bit of a training.

Dylan:

Is there a time? Is there a time domain? Hmm, See, I think you probably should be. I was going to say there has to, because what you've done is just like I'm just going to brute force it through this and not saying there's anything wrong with brute forcing anything through anything, but it's kind of just a but.

Dylan:

The idea was simple. You have the, you're gonna have. You have spite in your body which just says I'm gonna do this no matter what, which is great. But is it really a true test of fortitude because you got it? A true test of fortitude is getting through the demons that are in somebody's body. That says we're going to get past the spite, we're going to get past this and we're really going to test them at their rawest 18 hours. I don't know man, that looks like 16.666 repeating yeah, that's so, you got it.

Dylan:

That was 20 minute miles I don't know, man, what's the elevation? That's a whole other factor. There's no fucking elevation, okay, so you just are.

Dylan:

I'm just saying, yeah, there's not a, there's not a route, so so what I'm saying is you're bored and you want something yeah yeah but all you got to say but you haven't thought it through all the way by, because if you wanted to test yourself, it would really test yourself, and when it when it's testing yourself, it can't and this is something I want to talk to you about it can't be Friday at 7 pm to Sunday at 8 pm, because I don't have any of the responsibilities or things I have to do. It needs to test you personally too and professionally, like okay well, is this going to affect other things?

Brad:

yeah, I mean it could. If I trip and fall and the pack lands on my face yeah, that doesn't count, but it's possible.

Dylan:

Okay, what are you sacrificing in the way? Because you could do that. By the way, you could do either of those if you really wanted to. Right now, it would be miserable but you could do it I don't think I could do the hundred, just if you had a food supply and water and all that unlimited time that's what I'm saying. Unlimited time yeah, that's not unlimited time, though.

Dylan:

Well, hey, nobody got time for that just how do you, how do you put boundaries on yourself to really push it when it's I can't, I'm not, I going to, I can't sit down right now. I have to push past this moment where I don't want to keep moving. I'm not going zero to a hundred.

Brad:

right now, though Should like oh okay. Don't ask, I don't think so.

Dylan:

I'm the peanut gallery, maybe maybe I don't think you should go zero to a hundred overnight but I think you should do something that you have to actually sacrifice for which is okay Three nights a week. I don't get to do this with my family because I need to do this for me.

Brad:

And then I have it.

Dylan:

Then I have a time domain where it's I. If I sit down now, I'm going to lose half a second or 30 seconds now, and that's going to be impossible to make up on the backside, where the margins are so razor thin that you just have to keep moving okay, if you choose to sit down, then that's when you you lost the game so you're talking about a sacrifice leading up to a challenge.

Brad:

I I think that's what that sounded like.

Dylan:

To me a challenge is is both professionally and personal. I don't.

Brad:

I don't want professional challenge.

Dylan:

Okay Then is it really a challenge? Why so, if you split half your life up and if it doesn't affect the other half, you have another safety blanket over there.

Brad:

No, I don't do well when I get back from vacations, which are fun. Yeah, welcome to the club.

Dylan:

Like I'm not sure that I want to dedicate half my life currently to, so are you getting everything out of it you want out of it?

Brad:

to a random challenge. Yeah, I want to go play in the sandbox.

Dylan:

Okay, that's fine it's like I say, yeah, I actually don't want to do hard stuff, I just want to play in the sandbox. I want to play in the sandbox, okay I might want to do hard stuff, but not right now.

Brad:

Okay, that's fair it's uh, I feel like I'm, I'm. I'm at the moment where somebody does their first 5k and they're like, oh, you know what'd be fun next, maybe like half marathon it's, it's a lead into that, like, okay, I did this thing, I thought I could do this thing. I did this thing. Now I know where I'm at. I haven't done anything hard for a long time it sounds like you're raising a family.

Dylan:

That sounds extremely hard and that's. That's not a joke, I'm just. It sounds difficult Like. So how do you go about saying I haven't done anything hard?

Brad:

In a short period of time 24, 48 hours.

Dylan:

I mean, I've seen the way you talk about your. I'm just kidding.

Brad:

I mean I've had some hard times, but it's a great bar, mullen Epic.

Dylan:

No epic adventures, I don't know you miss climbing at all.

Brad:

Yeah, we've actually pushed some boundaries a a little bit as a family, like on vacations, like doing some stuff that is on your own, was it corbin?

Dylan:

was the one that thought you were gonna die of starvation or thirst did he no, I don't know. You were talking to me about the hike in colorado where they were like I am going to die, he, I don't know what dude?

Brad:

yeah, uh, no, we went to south dakota I don't know if they could have been last year. In utah we ran out of water like that's right at the end. Yeah, the one, yeah oh, we got, we got lost for like, yeah, fucking five minutes that's what I'm saying, and he's like ah, we're almost out of water, we don't know where we're at. Like, you guys are the worst. No, actually in south dakota, phoenix was the one that was phoenix.

Dylan:

He was like we can't this.

Brad:

We're not going the right way. We're supposed to be going downhill. We're going back uphill. We're lost. We don't know where we're going. I'm like, fucking, you don't know where you're going. I know exactly where I'm going and then we had a. We had a false end. So we come down this trail and we're coming into a parking lot and we think it's our parking lot, not our. It's not our parking lot, so our parking lot's still like a mile and a half away. So you come up on this thing, yes, and then you realize wait, there's a giant lake by our parking lot and it's shit here. And then corbin comes running down behind us and he's like yay, and then he sees the no us and he's like yay, and then he sees the no lake and he's like we're going to die, we're not going to make it, but that's good for them. So like I want that feeling of like you almost give up and then you keep pushing and you find some new boundaries and I've done that before, I haven't done it for a while and reevaluate.

Dylan:

So you think lugging around 50 pounds for 50 miles is going to do that for?

Brad:

you Maybe, I don't know Okay.

Dylan:

It just seems there's no right or wrong answers here, there's just questions. I wanted something.

Brad:

There is and there is not. I wanted something simplistic, and it questions I wanted something there is and there is not.

Dylan:

I wanted something simplistic and it's I gave you a simplistic option and you just were like I don't like that. I'm not good at bikes.

Brad:

Oh, the Casey's tour no.

Dylan:

It's even easier. It's not easier.

Brad:

How do you even do that? How many Casey's are there?

Dylan:

No, no, no, no, not every Casey's. You caseys are there? No, no, not every casey's you just you pick casey's in a straight line. Iowa at its shortest is 396 miles, that's not very hard a lot. You can do it on a mountain bike.

Brad:

No, no, you need def. Well, I mean, if you want to double the time, sure, I don't have a non-mountain bike, we'll get you a road bike it'll be fun, but think about it every time you get to a casey's, you get breakfast pizza and a twisted tea.

Dylan:

It's gonna be a great time.

Brad:

No, no and then no, no, okay, no I have enough butt problems without casey's pizza, twisted tea and sitting on a bike seat for fucking 396 miles.

Dylan:

That's your problem that is my problem it's a big problem why is it, if we get you a bob that we retrofit to have a port-a-potty bob stroller? Yeah, like yeah, the running stroller that can also be attached to the back of a bike and you just pull me. No, no, no, you'll pull your own shit.

Brad:

No way, dude, it'd be funny. That would be hard for me, that would be hard for me to sit in a stroller while you ride your bike.

Dylan:

Maybe you need to do something hard.

Brad:

Brad, that would be a challenge.

Dylan:

It would be a challenge.

Brad:

Unbeknownst to you. I would just be.

Dylan:

Benounced.

Brad:

Benounced.

Dylan:

So you haven't announced it to me. Benounced.

Brad:

Benounced. It's O-W Benounced. Let's say however I want to. Okay, I would just be doing Mad edibles In the stroller.

Dylan:

I can tell you some stories about that Not about me, but people I know. I would just be Night night, so I guess this brings up a good question. All right, it actually could be a bullshit question, probably is how do you think that your family would feel about the fact that you need to do something hard to feel satisfied in life? How do I think they would feel yeah, like if you it would. They'd be like, oh what, we're not good enough.

Brad:

Why would they think that?

Dylan:

We all know people are super rational and don't think the worst case scenario ever.

Brad:

Uh, if, if that's something that gives me fulfillment.

Dylan:

Yeah, but why aren't you getting fulfillment from them?

Dylan:

I am like who why is there only one type of fulfillment? I agree, I'm just saying where do you find that balance? When, when you're reaching, and when are you content? And this isn't this isn't, this isn't just to you right now, but this is people in general, and I think I'm susceptible to this. Where I don't, I don't take the wins. When I get home, I just okay, we got there, it's behind me, we're moving on, and now I need something greater and wins, enough enough. And when are you reaching? When are you not reaching? You know, how do you? What's the dichotomy there? And how do you understand what is healthy, not healthy.

Brad:

I feel like you're projecting your shit onto me right now.

Dylan:

A hundred percent. That's like saying I'm asking for help. Brad, Quit making me feel like an asshole.

Brad:

That's like saying somebody has a job in an office that they really love and and then they go and work out after work.

Dylan:

No, we're not like that.

Brad:

Well, why do you go work out after work and you're like cause, I like that Well don't you like your job. No, like that too. That's not it, that's not it. Okay, that's what it sounds like, though no, no, no, okay, let me explain it better. But so, so like why don't I have a family?

Dylan:

that no, I'm not, I'm not. It's again, it's not. It's not directed at you, but it is why. Why do you need that thing so bad in your life? Like, how do you describe that to somebody? Why do you need that so much? Cause, as we've already talked about, families are hard. Raising a family, being a loving husband, being a loving father, being a caring coach why?

Brad:

do you need that? For me personally, doing, doing hard things like that gives me like I'm always, constantly looking for perspective and that helps.

Dylan:

So it's a clarifying. It's a clarifying event.

Brad:

Usually I get something out of it. I mean, I don't, I don't always know what that is, but I've done enough of them to know that I will get something out of it. I mean, I don't, I don't always know what that is, but I've done enough of them to know that I I will get something from it. And sometimes what I get is just that I really fucking hated doing that thing, I don't want to do it anymore and the everyday shit that I do is pretty awesome how many times I've gotten off a bike where I'm like I'm never fucking on the bike again.

Brad:

And then you do it again, but sometimes that's good.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Brad:

Just.

Dylan:

I have zero opinion on the matter, by the way. I'm just asking questions. I'm trying to be a better podcast quote.

Brad:

Well, you know what the other thing is that, having been reasonably healthy for a while now, healthy, healthy like gut wise, yeah, not mentally minimized, minimized physically minimized crones yeah, so like I haven't had actual physical pain in my life, so maybe I'm I'm at a point I'm able to tolerate that for some other reasons now.

Dylan:

Yeah, and I guess that's a that's an interesting perspective from you, or somebody who has lived with hereditary or not. Yeah, well, it's hereditary, but also just a chronic, chronic thank you Chronic pain in so many different ways, whether it's gut pain or, um, the I guess that's a little bit mental, but fear that you can't be too far away from a, a safe spot because of, you know, digestive reasons. And now you're in a place where you're like, well, we, we've gotten over that hurdle, where we know we're on the up and up not saying forever, you know that's a whole different thing. But now what can I go accomplish? Because I've missed all those years. You know how many years you were down and out for about five years really hard there, physically. I mean you were still working. You know, obviously you do labor for a living in terms of finishing carpentry, painting, et cetera, cat or furniture making, but you were very limited for, yeah, it's really like making up, it's just the ability.

Dylan:

I have the ability.

Brad:

I've always liked doing it and, yes, there were definitely times where I probably would have taken on some larger adventures, had you know, had that not been the case. Yeah, because at the time, like dehydration, oh, that was a major no-no. Yeah, like anytime it happened, that's always great for me in terms of digestion.

Dylan:

You mean that bottle of Jack you always kept in your. That was not high in calories.

Brad:

It was a reasonably skinny drink, but so, yeah, all of those things kind of played into a role of that, I guess. But it was I don't know. I'm just ready to hop back on that train a little bit I like it, I'm not against it, I'm just asking questions and maybe, I don't know, maybe that would lead into something else.

Brad:

like right now I don't, I'm not running outside of soccer, so I run at soccer and I do sprints and things like that. I don't, I'm not doing distance stuff, but I think I could, given.

Dylan:

What do you miss most physically when you were physically active? To what? What do you miss doing the most? Climbing, Climbing.

Brad:

Yeah, for sure, like it's dynamic, it's problem-solving, it's very mental, it's very positive so I'm gonna.

Dylan:

So there's that. But if you have to think about I want to talk about manual labor, brute force. There's no way around it other than just enduring the suck, and there's multiple versions of that. Um, my example would be heavyweights long distances. You know, farmers carries lunges with weight, um, moving smaller objects over longer distances. Is there anything from a brute force perspective that you really enjoyed, that you missed backpacking backpacking, yeah.

Brad:

Yeah, Um, I Again. That's one of those things where, if I'm healthy, it's pretty fun. If I'm not healthy, seven days with no toilet is sometimes problematic.

Dylan:

It's a different story and there's a level of autonomy there it's, on my back, and where I choose to go, I choose to go.

Brad:

Well, and it's again, why do you like doing that? Well, you get to the best places that way. I mean just hands down.

Dylan:

Went up to Maroon Bells a couple weeks ago and we took the I forget the lake system that is, you know, like 10 miles I think it's 10 miles on the other side of the maroon bells pass or the, the main entrance, and all these people are backpacking out that next day couples, friends, and they just look, they look exhausted, but they look so happy and they look so content and they're like oh have a great afternoon, have a great afternoon, have a great afternoon, and then you see photos of what.

Dylan:

I've not been there yet. I hiked a mile or so in and then we had to get back for other reasons.

Brad:

I want to go there and I want to spend a day or two or three there, because that looks really peaceful and based on all these people's um faces, reactions, quality of life, um qualitative measures I took they all look really good, so that must be a nice place over there well, there's a mileage correlation to that feeling also, so accomplishment like we're talking about yeah, there's accomplishment, there's a sense of work and there is not a specific type of person physically no, it was all that applies to sizes but there is a certain type of person mentally that wants to do that.

Brad:

and it's not a huge undertaking Like we would do day hikes where it's you know four or five miles in one way to to a lake or something, and after mile one, maybe one and a half, that's pretty much just you and then a couple of random people every once in a while, and then you get to the lake and you might see a person or another group of people and then you walk back and it's. It kind of reminds me of that. That stat where it's something after 30, age 30, something I don't remember what the exact age is something like 85 to 90 percent of people will never sprint again. That that's sad, I'm like that's. That's kind of what reminds me of there. There's just this threshold where everyone's like, nah, this is enough scenery, I'll turn around, go back yeah.

Brad:

And yeah, I don't.

Dylan:

Maybe that's the anti-moderation part of me, but exploration is exploration, in a sense of my, of my guy I work for Jamie, his. His son is getting close to being a high schooler. I think he's eighth grade. Seventh grade I don't know, uh, but he has found his independence and they started fires in the bathroom.

Brad:

No, okay.

Dylan:

Different no, no different sense of freedom. But he's out all day and it was like the last half of this summer, out all day texting dad intermittently hey I'm heading here or I'm there, or hey I'm I'm all the way over here, but we're gonna do this and I'm safe and I'm going to dinner. Can I get you know, just checking in, basically, when he needed maybe a little hit to the, to the bank account, or just to make sure that he wasn't too out of our trouble. It resonated with me because I remember when I found my free, like do you remember when you were younger and you went from being I'm in the house and next to my parents all day and I'm doing this too? Oh, I'm my own person Like it.

Brad:

Yeah, but we kind of like I kind of grew up like that, because it was a little more- rural.

Dylan:

I grew up very, very independent as well, but there was a point in high school, middle school, high school for me, where I was just my parents just didn't check in at all.

Brad:

But I mean it was like I'm on my own, I mean at like seven we'd go out, we'd be on the farm and we would just be like we're going to go a couple miles away and walk down the creek, yeah, and we'll be back.

Dylan:

I guess we did that too. Before it gets dark, we did that.

Brad:

But that's all day.

Dylan:

I know.

Brad:

Which. I mean Phoenix does that now, but it's not the same.

Dylan:

It's not the same because they're still within like a little bit they're close and they're.

Brad:

He's got a phone and we still know basically where he's at.

Dylan:

We used to just go disappear and then you just knew you had to be home by sunset yeah, what's that sense of not having anxiety as a parent like I? I have no idea I, I'm right there with you. I can't imagine, because I like we're just.

Brad:

There's just got to be a different sense. And it wasn't that they didn't care, it was just I don't think they, they just didn't have I don't know how else to describe it, other than they didn't have the anxiety that we had.

Brad:

They didn't know, they don't, they don't um not like when I was older, I think my parents did like, as was driving. Yeah, I think there was a sense of that, yeah, but when I was younger, I honestly think it was just like out of sight, out of mind, mm-hmm. It was like, oh yeah, he's with somebody, and then that was it, whatever. And then he comes back.

Dylan:

That sense of freedom though, that sense of adventure, that sense of wandering, it's infectious.

Brad:

And so I think, when you're I did that even in South Dakota. We started out on a hike and it seemed like it wasn't going to go well for everybody, or that it might just have not been a great hike, and I was like, yeah, I just I'm going to keep going. So they turned around and it was one where if I kept going long enough, it would run back into the road and you just pick me up there and it was kind of great. Yeah, I don't know, I've seen some others. There's something on I can't remember if it's Netflix or Amazon or something but there's a guy that does some ridiculous traverse in Alaska on his own. That's, that's too much. I don't want that much adventure. I don't want that much. I don't want that many flies and mosquitoes and I'm not super keen on meeting grizzly bears, but maybe a little bit less than that.

Dylan:

I mean, there's however tell me more.

Brad:

Timeframe is important because this guy was out. I don't know how long that took, but let's say 30 to 60 days. I would be very knowing me, like I know me now. Uh, I probably would do something like that in my twenties. I don't know if I could like mentally recover from that when it was over. Why, I don't know. It's. You get used to A lifestyle, this thing, even if it's the I don't know that one.

Dylan:

Oh what Siri doesn't know that one. How does she not know it? I?

Brad:

don't, hey, don't say quit saying her name. God, so, acting up, I don't like it. Yeah, I, just acting up, I don't like it. Um, yeah, I, just I.

Brad:

I guess you could compare uh that feeling to the sense of, like combat veterans, uh certain ones, when they come back, and it's just like this fucking paranormal life is boring as shit, like you're just used to being at a 10 all the time in survival mode and I don't know if that would be the the main downfall, or for me it would it probably would be more of the like there's way too much stupid shit in our life. Like there's way too much stupid shit in our life, like there was way too much noise that would be hard for me to cancel out after doing something that long. I think that would probably be the hard part, cause I do that in bits and pieces right now anyways, and I think after a month or two of clarity and then coming back.

Dylan:

I've not been checked in for 60 days and this is what the fucking world is. Yeah, yeah.

Brad:

I remember the I think it's Ride the Divide, tour, divide the Tour, divide. So Ride the Divide is the documentary on it and the year they did it.

Dylan:

Canada, Mexico.

Brad:

Yeah, along the Continental Divide, yeah.

Dylan:

Rye has the record for it, does he? Yeah, wow, maybe not, I'd have to look that up. But Rye is an animal. Rye is one of our friend of you know, rye don't you. Yeah, rye is a friend of ours, bike packing champion of. I mean, just a crazy dude that rides his bike everywhere and is just better at it than everyone else, and gone across the country each way west to east, east to west and, uh, north, south to north, just and those people are super interesting to me because of that.

Brad:

That kind of mental state where it's you enjoy it, like do you have to keep chasing, that sense a lot Can you settle into. Like I think the trick is finding something that is equally as interesting, that is somewhat more stable.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Brad:

And that's not for everybody. Some people do just kind of chase. You know that becomes their lifestyle.

Dylan:

And I'm not saying reg bra is hard, but something hard for me on reg bra is not the physicality. My legs aren't going to fail. I know they're going to fail. I can go in untrained at my current state. There are probably states I could get to where I wouldn't be able to do that, and there are probably states I could get to where I wouldn't be able to do that. Um, and I won't be in my you know I won't be able to be at peak performance, but I get bored. I'm on my bike and I'm just bored. Yeah, I'm bored.

Dylan:

That's why even even if I'm riding with some of my best friends or people that I meet and we go to, we're like, oh, we're like, oh, we're on our way to the next party and there's excitement and adrenaline. I'm just like I got 10 miles to be right here sitting on my bike and my legs don't even hurt. But the pain of being bored is more aggressive than the physicality of being in so much pain.

Brad:

That's one of the reasons I never wanted to get into road biking. It's and I've. I love mountain biking. I've.

Dylan:

I've wondered that, like if, if rag bride was actually a race, cause I raced.

Brad:

I've been in races. There's a different element to it.

Dylan:

I think I could get zoned in and be like I don't want anyone to beat me. I think I could probably get zoned in and and do that, but when it's just, I have complete and utter freedom, no matter what I'm doing.

Brad:

Um, it's boring so that that tour divide had two. They followed multiple writers and the one guy that made it and won it that year, uh, his wife was pregnant and like was gonna have a baby real quick, like possibility of having it while he was on the divide, and so he made it down to mexico and, uh, his wife's pregnant, due at any moment, and he's, like you know I'm I think I'm just gonna stay here for a couple of days Just like decompress through the whole thing. So he just completed this epic thing and then you're about to literally go home and have your life just turned upside down all over again in a completely different way.

Dylan:

In a way that brings kind of a needed stability. How can you, how can you not do something like that and have your whole world?

Brad:

not revolve around it. You can't go do something like that, no.

Dylan:

And then you can't just get oh, I'm getting ripped out three hours later and heading home. Yeah, you absolutely need to decompress, uh but yeah, it's.

Brad:

it was an interesting juxtaposition of doing this thing where every single day is you're, yes, you're writing, but it's different, it's different, different, different challenge, challenge and challenge and then, uh, knowing that you're going to go home and it's a different sort of challenge, but it's, it's more like consistent, like you, just you, you know what you're gonna be doing and you got to do it every day, like the consistency has to be there.

Dylan:

I'm going to wake up tomorrow and do 180 miles, whether I like it or not, yeah. And then I'm going to go to bed for five hours and then I'm going to do it again.

Brad:

But then on the flip side of that, and it was a girl and I, I think she ended up finishing, she was gonna quit and some people met her. But she got to this town after doing a massive downhill ride and, um, she just got to the point where she's like you're doing this thing and it's hard and the scenery is beautiful, and it's hard, and the scenery is beautiful, and she's hard and the scenery is beautiful, and she's like it's just fucking, another day of gorgeous scenery and another day of gorgeous scenery. And I, I, I don't know if I want to do it anymore. You know, I it's almost the opposite of road biking, in the sense that, okay, oh, I'm just, this is just a highway in a cornfield.

Dylan:

Hey, you watch your fucking mouth.

Brad:

And for her it was. This is another beautiful meadow, and here's another beautiful mountain scene, and here's a. And it does you start losing a little bit of sense of that. If you've done like a long hike, wow, this is amazing. And then two miles later, this is amazing. Two miles later, amazing, this is amazing. And if you do it long enough and it's hard enough, you start, you start losing a little sense of that I'm guilty of that yeah I.

Dylan:

I don't know if you cannot do that and that I think this goes full circle back to why a time parameter probably has to happen, because I said 18 hours okay, that's fine. I'm not. I'm not asking for exacts right now. I'm giving it to you.

Brad:

I'm just saying 50 pounds, 50 miles, 18 hours. It's's a nice, nice even number.

Dylan:

Okay.

Brad:

That's a solid pace with some breaks. When are we doing this Before it snows?

Dylan:

Okay.

Brad:

Not in the snow.

Dylan:

Okay.

Brad:

Definitely not on the ice.

Dylan:

Okay.

Brad:

That's it, and we will podcast immediately after and decide the next thing 10 hours. No, you're not doing 10 hours.

Dylan:

No, no, no, I'm talking about 10 hours of pipe. I will do a 10 hour break and then we'll podcast. No right after, right after, okay.

Brad:

Come on, I'm not setting this up. It's got to be set up already.

Dylan:

Yeah.

Brad:

Yeah, okay, we just got to. This can be the end. Okay, we just come in drop.

Dylan:

Are we going to go to like Scott County Park? Are we going to do?

Brad:

Ooh, I don't know yet. I don't have the route. Okay, something loops, though Loops are nice.

Dylan:

Loops are really nice.

Brad:

Yeah, there's also a mental challenge to loops, because I hate it gives you the option to stop.

Dylan:

Yeah, I hate loops. Do you know what I always do really well with out and backs? No, I hate out, and bikes too, I don't want I don't want to repeat the scenery, I just want it's different. I just, I just want to be that way oh just a one way. I just want to be one way. I don't like one way I love one way it's because it's new every day.

Brad:

It's a new every second yeah, but there's that means you're getting closer but you're dependent on getting back somehow too possibly and the immortal words of dave chapelle I don't have it queued up, I'm not coming back.

Dylan:

No, we'll say it another time.

Brad:

Oh okay, that's fine. So yeah, it is October 1st as we record this, so before December we're talking 60 days.

Dylan:

We're going to have to complete this within 60 days. Yeah, that sounds terrible. What shoes are you wearing?

Brad:

Oh, I'm not sure the hookahs are nice. Okay, I do enjoy those.

Dylan:

Yeah, trying to think what I did my. Are we doing 50 pounds on a vest or 50 pounds on a?

Brad:

row, don't matter, I'll do backpack. I don. I don't really enjoy the vest. I probably enjoy the vest more than the rock.

Dylan:

Really. The rock just starts to rub the lower back Because it all hangs there, even if you get it up high. No.

Brad:

I'm good with that.

Dylan:

Okay.

Brad:

It's all nice and broken in. I don't have a vest.

Dylan:

Buy one.

Brad:

Yeah, I don't want to do a new one, though. Okay, that seems unreasonable. I I feel like I'm being suffocated when I wear a vest. That's true too. I don't love it. I am going to have an issue with my hands. I gotta start hydrating more. I think, even when I walk. Now I get that. What is that? That build that puffiness? A little bit, yeah, just a little bit. It gets way worse when you have straps digging into your shoulders, probably, yeah, it's not going to help. So after this Portillo's, I'm going to start hydrating.

Dylan:

Love it. Okay, okay, that's 57 minutes 45 seconds about hard things. Great bye, brad bye. You're still here it's over go home go.

People on this episode

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Brad Child

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Dylan Steil

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