Catching Up With The News

Summary 

In this episode of the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience, hosts Reuel Sample and Nikki Baskin discuss various topics affecting their community in Wilmington, including significant issues surrounding the school board, particularly regarding Title IX and gender ideology. They emphasize the importance of civility in discussions, the impact of social media dynamics, and the ongoing changes in corporate DEI policies. The episode also introduces Milo, a crisis response dog for the Wilmington Fire Department. 

Takeaways 

·         Community engagement is essential for addressing local issues. 

·         Title IX discussions are crucial for protecting students' rights. 

·         Civility in discussions is necessary for productive dialogue. 

·         Social media platforms are vulnerable to cyber attacks. 

·         Companies are reframing DEI policies to comply with new regulations. 

·         Crisis response dogs can provide emotional support to first responders. 

·         Community involvement can lead to positive changes. 

·         Open conversations about sensitive topics are vital for understanding.

·          Trust in local media is important for informed citizenship. 

Sound Bites 

·         "We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day." 

·         "We need help to keep our content online." 

·         "Get involved in your community."

Transcript

Reuel Sample: 0:00

Welcome to the Nikki and Reuel podcast experience. I'm Reuel Sample joined as always by my good friend Nikki Bascome. Good morning Nikki, how are you?

Nikki Bascome: 0:10

I'm excited now. You said good friend. That was awesome.

Reuel Sample: 0:13

Thank you. Well, you know, I knew that you needed to pick up on this day after a monsoon has come through the Wilmington area. Uh, we needed rain before. We don't need it now.

Nikki Bascome: 0:25

Oh, no. And it blew the top right off of my greenhouse that we're trying to get ready for spring.

Reuel Sample: 0:33

Yeah. That's right, that's right. Well, you know what? March around here has always been one of those wild months. You just really never know what's going to happen. And we hope that everybody got through it. Okay. Uh, except for Nikki's greenhouse. It sounds like you guys came through just fine.

Nikki Bascome: 0:50

We did, we did. And speaking of March, I hope everyone remembers to go get their corned beef or pull it out of the freezer because Saint Patrick's Day, it's all Irish. The Irish don't discriminate. You're all Irish on Saint Patrick's.

Reuel Sample: 1:10

That's right, that's right.

Nikki Bascome: 1:12

Everybody celebrates.

Reuel Sample: 1:13

Hey, listen, before we get too far, I want to remind people that we here at the new at the Wilmington Conservative. That's who we are. The Wilmington conservative. Uh, we have no gateways to our content. It's all free to read, which means we need help for, uh, to to keep our content online. And one of the ways that we can do that is if you are a business, you can help us with advertising. So you can either advertise on our website or we have the opportunity for three businesses to advertise for four months, four separate podcasts right here on our podcast where we will, uh, play or read or do whatever it takes, uh, right here in the middle of our podcast to get your get your business out. So please give us a call or consider a spot here on the Wilmington Conservative. Just contact us at podcast@theWilmington Conservative.Com. Podcast@theWilmingtonconservative.com. And we would love to talk with you. So Nikki, we do not have a guest this week. We thought it would be interesting just for the two of us to talk about some of the major things that are going on here in Wilmington and the surrounding areas, and take some time just to kind of catch up on everything that's going on.

Nikki Bascome: 2:36

Yeah, I think it's going to be very exciting, and I apologize that we couldn't get the schedules coordinated with a with a guest. Uh, my my kids are in full swing spring sports. And if you're a parent, you know exactly how crazy that can be. And actually we're overlapping. We're overlapping between middle school and and wreck stuff. And it could just it goes crazy and everybody's schedule. And I think it's only going to get worse because spring is almost here.

Reuel Sample: 3:10

I know, I know and well the the big the big harbinger of spring is here is that we changed time schedules this this past Sunday and gone back to Daylight Savings time. And hopefully, hopefully it will be the last time we change clocks. If if Trump and Elon Musk and everybody else, uh, stand firm on this, we're not going to change clock clocks again. And that would be a great, great, great thing. Even though I'm a morning person, I you know what I think? I think this this might be the, the the the year that they get things done. I mean, it's just a simple, uh, but you never know is that the Republicans can, can put forth the, the most common sense straightforward bill in the Democrats will try to block it. So you just you just never know what will happen.

Nikki Bascome: 4:01

But the whole if it would be a good thing or not that that's I haven't really I guess I never really pay attention. You've done something your whole life and you just I mean, it sucks at times, but you, you just keep going. I, I don't, I don't think I ever really paid attention to what would it be like if it wasn't here.

Reuel Sample: 4:23

I should have brought I should have had it up on the screen. But I read a study, I think it was this couple years ago that this, this particular time change, not necessarily the time change that happens in the fall, but this particular time change where we turn the clocks forward. So we basically lose an hour of sleep. These next two weeks are the least productive and most dangerous time in American industry, because it takes about two weeks for our bodies to make that abrupt change, and productivity goes down. If you even church on Sunday. I go to a really great church and it was like, oh, you know, it's just it's just the, the. But we're Presbyterians. We live like er all the time. Oh, it's a good thing for we as Presbyterians, but it was even more Presbyterian than normal. So. Well, one of the things that we've been talking about for the last while is the school board here in New Hanover County. We published a guest guest article over the weekend, uh, about the New Hanover schools and the, the, the platforming of gender ideology. And this is actually gotten quite a lot of views where at over, uh, close to 900 hits on this or I'm sorry, close to 600 hits on this particular one. And it's actually going really wild on Facebook. And one of the responses to this. Well, let's first off, let's talk about the the the article itself. Uh, Chapman has put forward the whole. Yeah. Go ahead, Nikki.

Nikki Bascome: 6:01

Let me point out that on the Facebook part of it, um, we've had three school board members comment on it and talk about this. So I, I think, um, to get them engaged in the conversation as well. I think that was absolutely amazing. And it wasn't just Republican school board members. We've had a Democrat school board member come on the Facebook page of this comment and, and have have something to say. I think that's really amazing, which is one of the things that we wanted to to not just even though we are the Wilmington Conservative, we want to hear everything. We do want that civil discord where you're not mean to each other, you're not calling names, Aims, and you're not digging deep into the mud that we can have these conversations and see where everyone comes from. So. And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk over you. So you can continue.

Reuel Sample: 6:58

No. That's okay. That's that's okay. We're all used to that by now. But the, the one one, one of the big things that is one of the big things that has come out of this is a whole idea that the title nine committee probably needs to go away. And David Perry, who just came on the school board this year, has, uh, is putting forth a motion and we'll see if it actually gets heard or what happened, uh, about dissolving the title nine Standing Board committee. Now, the rest of his, the rest of his motion, uh, may or may not be workable, but the dissolving the title nine standing Board committee. Hey, that's a big thing, Nikki.

Nikki Bascome: 7:45

That is a huge thing. Um, because something that people that don't pay attention to what's going on in the school board, except for some of the sensational, um, media swirling around it, is title nine was brought. This committee was actually brought about because of the sexual abuse cases. Um, and that is something that Judy Justice pointed out just a few weeks ago, you know, hey, hang on, pause. This whole talk about removing this title nine because it was started to protect the children who may be may fall victim to sexual abuse because that that was a huge thing. And there's actually a documentary that's going to be coming out, um, and being raised in New Hanover County schools and something that I haven't talked about a whole lot. Um, I was a victim of sexual abuse, but not within the school district. But I do know, um, back in my back in my time there, there wasn't anything to help me through it. There wasn't anything to protect me. And even when it was leaked out that this was going on there, there wasn't a whole lot of protection. There wasn't a whole lot of support. There was not a whole lot of, um, people that want to believe a 15 or 16 year old, um, so completely removing this, I go back and forth on it, I really do. And, um, but I do feel like there were some nefarious characters that popped in there and brought about some changes that shouldn't have been there, that shouldn't be there. Protecting the children is what we should be doing 100%. Whether that means we have a title nine committee or not. I protect the children.

Reuel Sample: 9:35

Well, one of the outcomes of the title nine and and there are a couple very nefarious cases here in Wilmington, one in particular that the board continues to to wrestle with is that, uh, title nine is is meant to protect women in sports and also to, uh, provide an avenue of investigation into sexual harassment. And one of the outcomes of this title nine Committee is that we now have a title nine director here in the New Hanover County, and we also have a title nine investigation committee that also reports to that director, then also reports to the the superintendent and to the board. So in one area that title nine has fulfilled its, its purpose is that these things have now been taken place. The big question though, is that should the title nine Committee as it presently exists, continue? Because the problem is, is that title nine Committee is no longer really about protecting women. Is that under under its current chair, Timothy Merrick, who is a left wing, very left wing Democrat. It has now all become all about gender. Ideology is all. And he's having actually as part of his last agenda, he wanted to expand title nine. The title nine committee into the various areas that it can talk about. The committee is also made up of members from the community who themselves are very, very left. And so we have a committee, Nikki , that provides an avenue for many unelected voices to get policy into the school board.

Nikki Bascome: 11:22

And there was a conversation that Tim was talking about making it more of an advisory role. Um, which scares me as well, because then there's not as much oversight. Um, you know, at least right now, with it falling under the school board. You're still held accountable by the school board and and their constituents. Us? Yes. Um, so as an advisory, um, I don't know. Um, I, I'm excited to see what happens. I know David is very adamant about getting rid of it. Um, I'm pretty sure Melissa voted to get rid of it before, so I'm thinking that she's still on that same track. I know Josie has had a lot of questions about where, where and when and how did it take this turn, um, from protecting our women in sports and protecting our children that may be involved in sexual assault? Where was that turn and when was it? And actually, I want to know who let that happen. Exactly. I want to I'm sorry, but I want to know who who can you trust and who can you not? Um, I think there's a lot of there's really good. And. Hey, people, if you're on Facebook, go to the Wilmington Conservative, look up this article and look up the conversations that are going on. There are some really good points that are being made. Um. I'm happy. I'm happy. This is going this is going exactly how I felt like it should. Having these conversations, instead of pointing the fingers and yelling at each other and going to school board and yelling at each other. And have you been to a school board meeting? So I have a hard time hearing what's being said on the dais, as is. And you just get these hecklers in the audience and you just cannot hear anything. And I feel like, you know, if I'm there to get valuable information and I can't hear it, then it becomes a waste of my time. Why am I even here when I can go home and I can listen to it on on my laptop? Um. I did promise school board members that I would start making more of a presence, and, um, I'd like to cover it here a little bit more. I think, um, we have a couple of people that have actually reached out and are interested in writing, um, for us doing commentary of what happened, what's going on in the school board. Um, and I think that's a great asset. Great asset.

Reuel Sample: 14:05

We would love that. If somebody wants to give a blow by blow of what happened at the at various school board meetings, I think that would be very, very, very informative.

Nikki Bascome: 14:13

Ii it might be me. It might be me. If you allow me to tell people to shut up. Just, just I mean, you sitting back there going, oh. Every two minutes.

Reuel Sample: 14:27

I'm going to call out people from both sides of the aisle because it probably is not just people on the left, it's probably people on the right too, That.

Nikki Bascome: 14:35

It happens on both sides. It just depends on what the conversation is on the board.

Reuel Sample: 14:39

And I don't care who you are. Is that if we if we claim to live in a civil society, then we have to maintain civility and we have lost that. This is this isn't Parliament. Uh, this is there is a time and place for that kind of discussion. And during now talking about discussion and talking about Tim Merrick. Tim Merrick actually got on our Facebook page and I'm going to call you out, Doctor Merrick, because you are completely and totally wrong in this is that, Tim Merrick writes I find it curious that our conservative board members flip flopped on title nine based on politics and power, rather than protecting our students rights and protecting them from discrimination, harassment, and most importantly, sexual abuse. Doctor Merrick, you are completely and totally out to lunch because you are the one who are advocating for men in women's locker rooms. You are the one who are who is advocating that there is no difference between men and women. You're advocating that the boys can go in and ogle girls while they're changing. I think you are completely and totally duplicitous, sir. Is that Republicans will continue to protect the rights of every student as they go into, into school or into into society. So, Doctor Merrick, you're you know, in today's day and age, people don't like to be called wrong. You're wrong, sir. Completely and totally out to lunch.

Nikki Bascome: 16:13

So, um, here's my my little, um, anecdote here. My daughter, my youngest of four children. Hey, I have four children. People that went through New Hanover County schools. Um, anyway, my youngest of four children, Um, was starting middle school. This is her first year in middle school. And, um, I've shielded her a lot from what's going on and the things that I can't shield her from. We have open and frank conversations about about these things. Um, the one thing I've never shielded my children from is, um, special education, um, autism in particular, because we, we work with an autism nonprofit. Um, but anyway, moving on, the one that, you know, you think about going into middle school and you think about fitting in, you think about, is it going to be hard? Am I going to have friends? Am I going to am I going to lose friends? What happens in the cafeteria? And, you know, I'm trying to explain to her. I was like, you know, the fun part about middle school is in elementary school, everybody lines up and you're quiet in the hall and everyone walks in their perfect little line. And if you get out of line, you're told you. Mhm. Um, but in middle school it's a free for all. The bell rings and it's like whoa.

Reuel Sample: 17:39

That's right. That's right.

Nikki Bascome: 17:41

Everybody's gone. Um, and there may be a teacher on the corner telling you we walk in the hallways or, you know, get to where you're going. Um, but you know what? Her biggest. It was so sad to me. You know what her biggest concern was? Going to the bathroom.

Reuel Sample: 17:59

Oh, interesting.

Nikki Bascome: 17:59

Because, um, so my son is in seventh grade, and he has. So we have a lot of boys that that come around the house and play soccer or basketball or this, that and the other. And, um, she was like, I don't want to go to the bathroom with them. And that was her biggest fear. And, um, to the point that she almost didn't want to go to school because she felt like she was not going to have privacy. Um, and that's a scary time for her. And, of course, you know, I'm like, it's okay, baby girl. I'm going to be right there with you. And I went into the schools with her. Um, because I do substitute. And I wanted to see if some of what was going on, the sensational stuff that everyone likes to talk about. Is it really going on? Um. And just put her mind at ease. And. But how sad. How sad. That. And, you know, in the same token, you know, there's some people that say, you know, how sad that we have to have safety drills where our children are doing drills to pretend like there's an active shooter? I understand that that's that's the day that we're in. Does it make it any less sad or any less hard as a parent? It is. Um, these are trying times to be a parent. If you could just imagine having a conversation.

Reuel Sample: 19:27

You couldn't pay me. You couldn't pay me to go through middle school again. Middle school is tough on. I don't care who you are. It's. It's got to be tough on the parents. It's got to be. It was tough on kids, you know, as, as as.

Nikki Bascome: 19:39

I think about the teachers.

Reuel Sample: 19:40

And the teachers. I tell you, if you are listening to this podcast and you are a middle school teacher, please leave your name in the comments.

Nikki Bascome: 19:50

They won't. They're not going to because much as I wish as much as I wish they would speak up a little bit more, they're still they're still very much afraid, very much afraid for their jobs. Um, but it's, um, it's a trial. Oh, it's.

Speaker4: 20:11

Oh, man. Oh, man.

Nikki Bascome: 20:13

It's totally different. I do not want to hear one person say, well, when I was in school, we did. I was like.

Reuel Sample: 20:21

It's it's you know what? If you're in my generation or in even in the next generation, what they're facing right now is completely just, you know, it's just blown away. It's it's just.

Nikki Bascome: 20:34

If you have not if if you have not come through the school system as a student within the last ten years, if you have not taught in the school system in the last ten years, if you have not walked into a school. I don't want to hear what you have to say I'm kidding. I do want to hear what you have to say, because I, I do I do want to hear it, but I just want to assure people it is not the same. It is not the same. It's hard.

Reuel Sample: 21:05

Well, in other news, yesterday there was a huge a huge I. This actually even affected me yesterday. Uh, that uh yeah it was huge. X had problems yesterday and Elon Musk got on on X and basically said, yes, there is a problem. And uh, there, there we've got a massive cyber attack going on against X, uh, that they do get attacked every day, but they can usually handle it. But what happened yesterday had to be a country sized attack or a huge, huge organized attack. You know, at one point I couldn't get on all my everything went away from me yesterday. Came back up, came back up in a couple hours. But, uh, they're still monitoring it today. Nikki, this is just another great example of, uh, when, uh, when the liberal left or another country doesn't like us talking, they go after the mediums on which we are discussing things.

Nikki Bascome: 22:14

Yeah, well, you know what? You brought it up earlier today when I said I'm logging on and you said, isn't it crazy that what our life has come down to?

Speaker4: 22:25

That's right.

Nikki Bascome: 22:25

I mean, whoever would have thought that a social media platform gets hacked goes down and the whole world stops?

Speaker5: 22:33

It does. You know.

Nikki Bascome: 22:36

I, on the other hand, do not understand X very much. I, I am very rarely on it. And the only time I go on is when someone's like, hey, did you see that? And I was like, no, send me a link I'll try to I'll try to see it. I don't know, I don't. So it did not. I had no clue. I had no clue. So.

Reuel Sample: 22:57

Well X has now become X the world's leading news source. People get a lot of their news from X. Oh yeah they do.

Nikki Bascome: 23:06

I need to be on X.

Reuel Sample: 23:07

You need to be at the Wilmington Conservative is on X. You can find us at uh at our handle is at WilmingtonCons uh, on X.

Nikki Bascome: 23:15

That was Wilmington cons.

Reuel Sample: 23:18

Yeah. Everything else was everything else was. Everything else was taken. So, um. That's. So that's that's where we are. Um.

Nikki Bascome: 23:34

I'm waiting. I'm waiting for the attacks to come down. Look there are the cons.

Reuel Sample: 23:38

There are the cons from Wilmington. What are you going to do? You know, um, but, uh.

Nikki Bascome: 23:48

Laugh at ourselves.

Reuel Sample: 23:49

And laugh.

Nikki Bascome: 23:50

At ourselves. Ourselves? Who can we laugh at?

Reuel Sample: 23:52

But the the bigger issue here is, is that you've got you've got folks who don't like people being able to to speak and speak freely from the right. This would never have happened when it was Twitter and when it was Twitter. It was truly a cesspool of, uh, of liberal ideas. That and the right couldn't, couldn't respond. But now, uh, Elon Musk has turned. All those folks have gone over to Blue Sky, which we will not get on because Blue Sky is having its own issues. Um. Oh it's horrible, it's horrible. The things that we're finding over in Blue Sky is just it's just bad.

Nikki Bascome: 24:30

I never would have thought that you would be more up on social media than me.

Reuel Sample: 24:34

Hey, look, if you were to go into the dictionary and look up hip and chill and.

Nikki Bascome: 24:41

It would not be you.

Reuel Sample: 24:42

No, it wouldn't be me, actually. Uh, so, in other news, uh, Nicki, you and I were talking about this, uh, beforehand as, uh, as we talk about DEI in schools and DEI all around. Is that, uh, the the Trump, uh, the Trump administration is moving has outlawed DEI in terms of title nine and some other areas, and Doge is going through and finding literally trillions of dollars that are dedicated to DEI programing. But one of the things that you mentioned today is, uh, is companies are getting around that. How are they getting around that?

Nikki Bascome: 25:29

They are. Um, so I was just doing a little bit of research today because I was in a meeting last week where someone had said, um, we are not removing our DEI language, our bullet points of what we want to accomplish, our goals through DEI. We're just reframing the message. We're reframing it, and we're we're going to show other people how to reframe their message. Um, so one company who, um, we all know over the last few weeks, there's been a lot of companies that have kind of backed off of their DEI message because of this big push, and they're feeling the heat. And so one of the companies, I think it was yesterday came out, AT&T said that they are coming out with, you know, they're going to start dismantling their DEI. And the first thing that they did was remove their, um, what did they call it, the chief diversity officer. Come to find out, she did not get removed. Her title was changed to vice president of diversity and culture. So that's that's how they're getting around it. Even Victoria's Secret is changing their DEI message to inclusion and belonging. So when when we're talking about, you know, Trump's whole thing was DEI was dangerous, not because of the title DEI, but because of the goals and because of the bullet points that follow Dei. But a lot of these companies are like, you know what? We're just going to that's fine. We'll just reframe it. We're going to do the same thing and just reframe it. Um.

Reuel Sample: 27:15

While we were talking, I went over to my image site and typed in diversity and equity. And this is one of the things that that came up. One of their recommended images is that they are now pushing diversity, equity, inclusion, identity, belonging. There are other images that come up that talk about, um, access. So DEI is now being so that if you're handicapped, you are now, uh, under the, the, the auspices of DEI. And you're right, they are reframing, uh, and, and desperately trying to stay relevant in a, in a day and age where people are tired of this kind of stuff.

Nikki Bascome: 27:59

It just it flies in the face of trying to do the right thing. I. I love all children. I love all people. Um, except for the ones that are mean. But I'll at least give you a chance. Um, and you know what? It's, um. It's telling people that we don't trust that you know how to behave yourself. We don't trust that you know how to be fair. There are. I mean, I was just talking about nefarious people sneaking into title nine. There's nefarious people everywhere. I'm not saying that there wasn't some, you know, there. They always say it's the good Ole boys. And I'm not saying it never was, but just because I'm white does not mean. And just because I'm white and I'm conservative and I'm a Republican does not mean I don't believe in treating people fairly. It doesn't. Um, and I feel like when when they try to reframe things, they're just saying, you know what? We don't care that you can do it on your own. We're still going to tell you how to do it because we know better than you do. And it's just create creates more of a culture of divide in my opinion.

Reuel Sample: 29:27

But you know if you think about it, if, if you're a woman, you should be really insulted on this because it means that on your own you can't do it as a woman. Um, if you're black on your own, you can't do it because.

Nikki Bascome: 29:42

You need me to come save you. Yes, you need me to save you because you can't handle this. You can't do this. I need to fight for you. And what ends up happening is I believe that we need more. We need to get back to the merit based. Because what. What I find out is why try. Why? Why work harder? Why? Why put forth an effort? It it doesn't get me anywhere. It doesn't get me any further than the person next to me. And it doesn't, because we're all going to be in the same place. We're all going to end up at the same level. So why work hard? And and I feel like it takes away from that. And that's where I have it. It's the everybody gets a trophy and I come from early childhood, I am all fine with two, three and four year olds getting trophies. But then we start getting into working hard and you know, you want that chores. Chores at home. I study after study after study after study shows that when you give your children chores at home something they can take pride in their work. They have a better work ethic as an adult, and they also carry themselves to a higher level of fairness, ethics, morals. So, you know, if I have two children in my home and one does their chores, one doesn't, but they both get the same reward, you're not you're taking away from that and it's going to harm them in the long run. I really do believe that. Um, and I'm sure we're going to get all kinds of comments on the bottom of that one. But it's my opinion. It's how I feel.

Reuel Sample: 31:33

Well, you know, we saw that during the at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, who they would pay doctors the same that they would pay a car mechanic. And so why would you go and become a doctor and, and perform this life changing surgery where you're not getting paid anything for that? And so, you know, they would come here where we had free market systems and everything else. So, uh, I think.

Nikki Bascome: 32:01

Can you hear my dog?

Reuel Sample: 32:02

Yes. Your dog is trying so very hard to be good. Oh, good dog. Good dog. Only here on the. Only here on the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience here, ladies and gentlemen. So. Well, you see, now you see, people are thinking that you did that randomly, but that actually was a well crafted and pre-planned uh, segue to our final topic that we want to bring up tonight. We want to bring up and welcome Milo to the Wilmington Fire Department. I just I came across this on ground news today, and I just love this idea. Milo. Look at that. He's a look at the wisdom in that. In that those dogs eyes. Milo is an official crisis response dog. Now, the interesting thing about Milo is, is that he doesn't he doesn't go out to the fires with them. He is there to help the firefighters after they come back. And can you imagine after going out and dealing with a fire all day, loss of property, loss of life, perhaps. And, uh, you know, these firefighters who spend, uh, hours and days on, on call and they're met by this black Labrador? I think this is I think this such is a is a is a is a really it's it's it's, uh, it's a partnership with the paws for People Foundation, as reported by, uh, WWAY TV here in Wilmington. I think this is a great idea. Wilmington, uh, for Wilmington. Nikki.

Nikki Bascome: 33:52

I absolutely love it. And and you know what? You brought up a good point. Our firefighters that are going out and fighting these fires and watching the the losses. But they are also some of our first responders to car accidents, horrific, horrific car accidents and things like that. I mean, the things that they come upon and even when they're not on duty, these are some of the the people that are on the road that if something happens, they're running to it. They're they're the ones that are going to be there no matter what it is. So God love them. They they need a hundred puppies to to love them. I absolutely I absolutely love this. It just it warms that. Well, I love dogs so.

Reuel Sample: 34:45

Nothing happens by accident here on the Nikki and Rule podcast experience.

Nikki Bascome: 34:49

It does, it does. I can't believe you told all my secrets.

Speaker4: 34:54

That I plan.

Nikki Bascome: 34:55

To do that I am actually, I am looking something up right now because I'm pretty sure. See, I'm not going to be able to find it now, but, um, the Azalea Festival has a pet. Now I can't find it. Oh, well. Oh, a pet royalty contest.

Reuel Sample: 35:19

Oh, wow. There we go.

Nikki Bascome: 35:21

And you can pay to have your dog in the Azalea Festival. Pet royalty. And the proceeds go to paws for people.

Speaker4: 35:33

Oh, I like that.

Nikki Bascome: 35:34

Um, we have all kinds of great things going on with our pets in the in the community, so.

Reuel Sample: 35:41

Well, I have a very big dog. His name is Ham. I don't know if he's royalty, but he certainly is a jester. So, uh. Yeah, we'll get him on the show at some point. Well, Nicki, uh, you've got a big weekend week coming up. I've got a big week coming up. We've got a great guest next week. Her name is Joy. She is from The Federalist, uh, The Federalist, uh, online. Great publication. She's going to be talking about the fact that the Trump administration was she's she's pushing for the Trump administration to get away from the American Bar Association in terms of recommendations for court judges. Now, that's a fantastic move. So I'm looking I'm. Yeah. So I'm looking forward to talking with uh, with Joy for the three of us next week. So, uh, Nikki, what do you got going on this week? You've got, uh, you've got, uh, sports, you've got family going on, and you're probably you've got you've got to put a new roof on your greenhouse.

Nikki Bascome: 36:39

We got to put a new roof on the greenhouse. Um, I don't know if anyone knows, but over Christmas break, just a few days before Christmas, my husband had emergency back surgery, which, um, threw us for a loop. We had three days to get ready for Christmas. Three days to get ready for major because it was a major surgery. And if anyone knows my husband, he's like the Energizer bunny. He just never stops. He's just going, going, going. And for the first time in our lives, I had to take care of him. Which? Which is very odd. He's the one that takes care of me. Um, so we're getting attic stairs. We've never had attic stairs. We've always had, like, just the little cutout and the ceiling. And he climbs up in there, and he's so funny because he says that he's never getting attic stairs because it keeps me out of the attic. But anyway, we're having attic stairs because now, I mean, he probably could in a few weeks, lift himself up there and put all the Christmas stuff away that's still sitting in the garage. But as of right now, he can't. So we've got attic stairs going in. What else do we have? Oh. So, um, I'm a master gardener at the Arboretum, and we have our master gardener plant sale coming up in April. Um, Azalea festival coming up in April. And yes, I volunteer with Azalea Festival too. I'm just kind of everywhere right now. Oh, Lord. Um, so lots of things happen in the spring and I encourage everyone get involved in your community, get get involved. And it's fun. It's just put a smile on your face and say hello to your neighbor. And don't ask if they're a Republican or a Democrat. Just be nice.

Reuel Sample: 38:15

Yes, we live in we live in one of the best places on the East Coast here in Wilmington, New Hanover. This is there's so much to do here.

Nikki Bascome: 38:23

And you see my palm trees. All my palm trees.

Reuel Sample: 38:27

Look at that. And that's real. That's that's real.

Nikki Bascome: 38:30

Those are real. Those are real. I'm gonna start. My husband is the palm tree expert. I say expert, but he really isn't. He is, but he isn't. He's an amateur. But he can grow some palm trees like there is nobody's tomorrow. Um, but I'm going to start filming outside.

Reuel Sample: 38:48

That's okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Nikki Bascome: 38:51

You're like, oh, Lord, you know. You're so excited.

Reuel Sample: 38:55

You know, you know what they call people who know those kind of trees? Palm readers.

Nikki Bascome: 39:01

Ha ha ha. I was hoping you would say we're not Yankees.

Reuel Sample: 39:06

Yeah, well, you know, we're not going to go there. Well, on that high note, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Uh, it's been kind of fun going through all the the stuff that we've been talking about. So we we we thank everybody for listening. We thank folks for trusting us at the Wilmington Conservative. And we're going to continue to bring a wide and diverse but conservative viewpoint here to the Wilmington. Wilmington area, including this podcast. So, uh, for all of the folks at the Wilmington Conservative, I'm Reuel Sample.

Nikki Bascome: 39:41

I'm Nikki Bascome.

Reuel Sample: 39:44

We'll see you next week. And thank you for listening.