Drop Zone Got Tapped Out

In this episode, Jen and Dagda navigate the highs and lows of life, from the literal "downswing" of a military parachute jump to the emotional "abacus" of modern stress.

Highlights include:

• Night Jumps: Dagda recounts a harrowing "feet, knees, face" landing in the pitch black and explains the science of oscillating under a chute.
• The Emotional Abacus: Jen gets vulnerable about hitting her breaking point and how small, invisible stresses can lead to a total meltdown.
• Retail Scams: A warning to all service workers about the "Fake Tap Pay" trick and the rise of organized theft rings in Pierce County.
• GWAR & Shock Rock: A deep dive into the theatrical (and disgusting) world of Dagda’s favorite band.
• Neighborhood Gremlins: Why sleep deprivation makes snowmen look like monsters.

From military history to modern-day survival tips, this episode covers the "worst-case scenarios" we all face and how to plan your escape.

#podcast #PNW #GenX #DropZone #GWAR #Snowdays #faketap

Artwork:YIIBajrami

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:03

Welcome to Everyday Life. Thank you for joining our podcast, Conversations Over Coffee. My name is Jen. And I'm Dagda. And we're gonna hit you with the explicit content warning right off the bat. This podcast does include adult situations and adult language from time to time.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I'm an angel. I never fucking cuss.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

Okay. Anyways, you ready to go?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

All right, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Any fucking way.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

Anyway, well, it's not an appropriate way to start the morning. Yeah. What I do with my snowman is my business.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 0:48

Which speaking of, how are you doing today? I'm doing all right. Yeah. Had better days, huh?

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 0:57

Faker. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But speaking of snowman, so uh I came home the other day and I picked my partner up and we decided to go get the magnificent California burritos. And uh and we didn't even want the burritos, we wanted the fucking carne asada fries, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

I have not had tried those yet. I had the carne asada fries burrito. Oh, really? I imagine it's just the same thing wrapped into a burrito shell.

SPEAKER_05 1:26

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Yeah, it was pretty good, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

I know the carne asada cassadilla is delicious. Yes. And the carne asada fries are fantastic. But, anyways, I'm coming down the street, you know, because I always park out back, but to pick my partner up, I'm out front. And I thought there were, I'm telling you, I'm just so tired lately. I'm not sleeping. But anyways, I thought there were two white, and I do mean white gremlins running around my neighbor's yard. And it was two snowmen, but they had like stick arms. And so with the breeze that was going on the other night, it looked like they were flailing a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 2:00

And I'm like, okay, I definitely need to get some freaking sleep around here. But anyways.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, one of my new neighbors, um, they have like a I don't know, like a five-year-old daughter or something. Okay. And I was walking home from Safeway and I'm seeing him out in the yard. He's making a snowman.

SPEAKER_05 2:22

Him or her?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Him. Okay, because you just said five-year-old daughter. Yes. This the father was Oh, okay, I get it. Dad's out making a snowman. And there's a tiny snowman already, and then he's making another one. And he's like, Yeah, she got cold making the snowman, so I put her back inside and she's standing in the window watching. Supervising from distance. That was hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Dad, you didn't wrong. Big fat butt. Make a big fat butt, Dad.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Oh, how cute. Is she up the hill or down the hill from you?

SPEAKER_05 2:53

Up the hill. Oh, neat. Neat. Across the street or same side. Same side. Oh, cool. I didn't know any of those neighbors had moved. So nice.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:01

It's it's so weird because you know, this neighborhood we lived in, I lived in as a kid. And then obviously I rent in this neighborhood as well. And you live in my neighborhood, and it's it's just so weird that it's just like, oh, well, I mean, I guess growing up as a kid was X amount of decades ago. So the old lady who used to live on the corner that was like, you know, 80 when I was a kid, she's probably not still there. If she is, I want her recipe for magic. Just saying.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

You want her immortality?

The Same Age Social dance

SPEAKER_05 3:37

Yes. I want to steal it and make it main. I was having a conversation with somebody who's slightly older than me. And it's really cute. Sometimes it's really cute how weird we get with an age, right? And we'll say things just like, oh, we're basically the same age. Now, some of us, like, you know, we we say it because we're we're having polite conversation.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:03

Which a lot of people don't understand. Okay. But other times we're saying it because we don't want to say, person, you look like you were rode hard, put away wet, and never dried. You don't ever, you don't want you don't want to say those things to like in mixed company. Doesn't matter. Like, we don't need to hurt feelings. Yeah. Um, so, anyways, there was an individual goes, yeah, we're just we're virtually the same age. And I'm like, Yeah. And there was a third person standing there going, No. I'm just like, no, really, I'm gonna be X amount years old in this many uh this much long. I'm gonna be this age. And they're like, You're still a baby, I'm older than you. Motherfucker is nine months older than me. I'm like, shut the front door, jackass, right? I'm like, oh my god. It's it's because in in the shop there was a uh culture club was on. Do you really want to hurt me song was on.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Okay.

Geronimo!

SPEAKER_05 5:02

And I'm doing, you know, I'm doing my thing in the shop. I will throat punch you like tomorrow will never come. Uh but anyway, and I was so I was singing culture club, and this guy told me, he's like, you don't know nothing about the club. I'm like, let me just correct you really quick. So, anyways, but the other individual said how old they were going to be, uh, which is like um I want to say is like two months, two or three months younger than my sibling, one of my siblings. And uh the other person was just like, you're a lot older than that, aren't you? And I'm like, oh God. I'm like, people need to learn how to have polite conversations. So we just we don't talk about age numbers anymore around people in shopping centers and whatnot, because you never know how they're going to viscerally react. Because I swear to God, her bulldog came out and she was like, anyways. Old. I had I had a 32-year-old say, Oh, yep, my back's feeling it today. And I looked over at this rather athletic and slender person and went, the fuck do you know about bad backs? It let wait till your knees start hurting. Jesus. Wait till you wake up in the morning and it literally is Russian roulette. Am I going to be able to stand up or am I just gonna lay here for a while pretending to wake up? Shit.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Yeah, I got to learn about that in my mid-20s, so.

SPEAKER_05 6:39

Well, yeah, but you were also jumping out of airplanes, so it would make sense that your knees might hurt a little bit more than the average person. Yeah. I mean, I think all I have to do is wait for you to be in a moment of bliss, because I know you liked jumping out of airplanes.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

It was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 6:57

And then just take both my fists, one on each leg, and just punch down on your knees, and you'd be like, oh yeah, that was a good landing. And you'd be happy.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

One of my worst landings, I landed feet, knees, face. It was pretty awesome. I had a fucking whole mouthful of sand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:18

Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

I would have gotten knocked out if it wasn't for my helmet, because my helmet hit first. Yeah. And then my face slammed into the ground.

SPEAKER_05 7:26

And I and I don't mean to laugh about it.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

I really don't I mean it would have been hilarious to watch, but it was fucking at night, which is the reason it happened. Um it was pitch black, which is tends to be the case, and I couldn't tell. I knew I was oscillating, but I couldn't tell how bad, how much. I also couldn't tell like what direction I was drifting because it was pitch black. I couldn't see shit.

SPEAKER_05 7:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Um, and so you tend to rock kind of like a pendulum.

SPEAKER_05 7:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Um, that's what you refer to as oscillating, and typically it it tends to be side to side in reference to the way you're facing.

SPEAKER_05 8:12

Yeah, but I have a feeling with you, it's just like more rock steady, back and forth a little aliyah.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

But what ended up happening was I was drifting in the direction that I was oscillating. Yeah. And so when I hit the ground, I was on the downswing of the oscillation. And that momentum just kept going. Yep. And I couldn't tell, so I pulled the slip but in the wrong direction because I couldn't tell. Right. And then um, yeah, I just feet, knees, face.

SPEAKER_05 8:46

Yeah. And you know, there's always gonna be some of them judgy McJudgersons out there going, it's just like walking through your house at night. No, it's really not because your house, your home is a familiar area, yeah. And even if you're going to the same landing site, every jump, I imagine, is one different and at night perceives different because maybe the first time you jumped, you were first in line. And so this was your view.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yeah. Um, I mean, we had like three jump zones that we jumped on all the time. Um, and although one of them technic two of them technically were the same drop zone, it was just depending upon they changed the name based on the direction of travel. Right. Because they were all named after um major airborne operations during World War II.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

And so I don't remember which one is like Nymegan and something else I want to say. And basically that one, if you're traveling one way, it was one, and if you're traveling the other way, it was another. Um, and so as a result, you know, I'd probably jumped on each of those drop zones like 20 times. But not at night. No, no, most of them were at night. Yeah. Because that's the way you have to do it. Oh, okay, yeah, yeah. Because in an actual combat situation, you're a sitting duck.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

You're floating down, you you got like, I don't know, 30 seconds to five minutes, depending upon how small you are. Yeah. And the like weather conditions, because like if it's really hot out, there'll be updrafts coming up from the type of place that we'd be landing on.

SPEAKER_05 10:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

So it'll keep you up there longer.

SPEAKER_05 10:32

Although But again, there's no way, unless you were doing it every day, twice a day, or twice a night, there's no way for you to completely acclimate your body to it, like walking through a house. You can't because I I I really feel like because I've heard a lot of your jump stories, probably not all of them, but I've heard a lot. And then I've heard other military jump stories, and you know, it's really interesting because I've had them tell me I could be at the same landing zone, and it's always different because of where I am in position to relativity to when I jump.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Yeah, when where you are in the it's called a stick, um, in other words, the line of people jumping out at the time. Yeah. Um, that makes a huge difference. Um also, even like the split second between when you're over the drop zone or whatever, and they tell you to jump.

SPEAKER_05 11:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Um, that's hundreds of feet.

SPEAKER_05 11:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Um, so just that can c and then other conditions like wind and stuff like that, if it's raining, it makes a huge fucking difference.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

So yeah. And then also Did you yell anything when you jumped? Um no, I just did the count that you're supposed to do. A long time ago, you were supposed to yell germano. Um, but then they just changed that to counting.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Because it's more accurate getting the because you only have so long to activate your rever your reserve shoot if something goes wrong, especially in a combat jump, because combat jumps are 550 feet off the ground, which basically gives you just enough time that if your shit doesn't deploy to activate your reserve shoot and it'll save you. But if you're off, you're it's not gonna deploy fast enough to keep you from burning in.

SPEAKER_05 12:31

Yeah, I've talked to, I mean, obviously I've talked to other a lot of military personnel. One of them that I talked to was former military personnel, but still had a military move, but he'd become a commercial pilot. And I was just like, oh, I have a friend, you know, and they don't all the, you know, like airborne school and all that. And he was like, Oh yeah. He was just like, and he said, I don't think he said they had counting, they had a phrase they had to say. And he was just like, he goes, which really made me mad because I came up with kamikaze for life, and they told me I couldn't use it. So I do what I needed to do, and when I jump out, I would go kamikaze for life, and I'm just like, dude, you got a death wish. Yeah, you know, and he was a commercial pilot. I was like, dude, you're the reason I don't fly. Honestly, his name was John, and he scared the crap out of me.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Honestly, the National Guard and Reserve pilots were probably the best. And the reason is because they tended to be commercial pilots um in their non-military time, so they actually oftentimes had more flight time.

SPEAKER_05 13:37

Yeah, well, he was in the Air Force for 10 years or 14 years or 15 years or something.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Than the actual Air Force pilots. Um, and so generally speaking, we would have better better uh flight, at least with the reservists and National Guard people that were doing their two-week fucking training thing.

SPEAKER_05 13:57

Yeah. It's it's just very interesting to me how um, you know, just diverse it is out there, the stories. I mean, obviously, everybody has their own story, it's very unique to them. Um, but it's just like there are hardly any similarities except for three things. One, I better do what drill sergeant says. Two, I better do what my commander says, and three, I better not get picked up off base for nothing illegal. Those are the three consistent stories I hear.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Yeah. I mean, yeah. The faster you learn to do what the people above you tell you to do, the easier your time's gonna be, generally speaking. I mean, it it there's always the chance that the your lieutenant or company commander or platoon sergeant or whatever is a dickhead.

SPEAKER_05 14:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Um but generally speaking, the majority of people in the military are just people, right? So the majority of them aren't assholes or fucking morons. Yeah. Even though the military has the the um sort of image of everybody in there's dumb, but that's not the fucking case, generally speaking.

SPEAKER_05 15:10

Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, it's I mean, it takes all kinds to make the world go round, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Even the Marines are pretty smart.

SPEAKER_05 15:18

I I have met one shitty, two shitty ass Marines to compare to about 20 like good ones. And I don't, and I don't mean like one person's better than the other in that aspect. I just meant like personality, like their outlook. Shout out to Dome. Hope you're doing well, man. Um I've I've met two. One, I was a Marine, and I did the right thing, even though I got dishonorably discharged. Okay. I have a cousin who is dishonorably discharged from the army from fighting, but then I met in more recent years a Marine. You know, usually Marines are extremely, extremely clean and organized.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Usually, yeah.

The Chain Of Command

SPEAKER_05 16:04

And this person, I would say, um, if I was his mother, I would be ashamed of the condition of his underwear. Number one. And number two, uh, if I was his commander, I would be ashamed of his organizational skills. Um, but he was do you know who I am? Yeah, this is your name. Do you know my rank? I sure do. I think if I'm reading this right, you're an E4 now. Uh I mean, or the equivalent of an E4 or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

A corporal. Yeah, you'd be an E4. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 16:39

Do you know where I'm going? Uh, yeah. Then you know how important this is. You know we're not taking compressed cans, families, or liquids because it's gonna be in transit for 90 days, right? You're never going to win an argument against a Marine, and a Marine is never gonna win an argument against somebody following the rules. Because all you have to do is the magic words. Okay, we'll stop what we're doing, and we'll get your commander involved so I'm following what he wants. And the attitude change is amazing. But ironic story with that, that apartment that I helped pack out for this Marine ended up being one of my old co-workers' apartment that they were waiting on.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 17:21

She was like super excited. She was like, Oh, I'm so excited. He's moving five days early. But, anyways, I don't want to talk about the military.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

I will say that the majority of the Marines that I knew while I was in the army happened when I was in EOD school. So you can't be stupid and be that in that place.

SPEAKER_05 17:41

No, but you know, stu here's the thing though, you can be just as stupid or uh as just as much of a brainiac as any other person out there. But being smart doesn't make you not an asshole.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Yeah, that's true. It also doesn't necessarily mean that even geniuses are typically not necessarily super um uh successful.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Um and it doesn't mean that you don't make bad decisions.

SPEAKER_05 18:14

Well, and and that's the thing, is is like what do you could everybody's got a different definition of success. I literally judge myself every day. I did not have to call my mommy, hi mommy, hi mommy, hi mommy, for bail money. That is a successful day to me. I did not I did not drive into oncoming traffic. That's a successful day for me. You know, um, it's it's not just the fact of not getting a lot of sleep right now, because there's a multitude of things going on. Yeah, it's also getting adjusted to a multitude of things going on, and it's also dealing with like I I'm not gonna lie, I had a complete emotional meltdown with my partner yesterday morning. And it was horrible. And it and it's just because there's all these extenuating factors. And he pointed out to me, he's just like, if you want to do better by yourself, you have to stop holding the little things in. And it's okay to say something about the little things that are bugging you. It's okay to say, you ain't gotta call me an asshole to get my attention, or you know what? I'm not really, we're not vibing right now. You know, you can say, you know, like, and I thought it was very intelligent of him. You you can say little things to kind of, but if you keep holding and letting these little things literally, it's like an abacus. I'm not even playing. I hope people know what an abacus is. There are some people out there who don't, they've never seen them or heard of them, but it's it's like an abacus. We start it, we start at zero. And every little thing tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:53

And I told my partner, I was just like, here's the thing. First of all, he would have to get acclimated to me being very don't talk to me that way because I don't like that. And that's getting me wrong. He would have to get very used to that because he's pretty much used to me just being silent and going, because I pick my battles. I don't feel like I need to it not everything needs to be a battle to me. Literally, I do so much quick, you know, um, you know, not accession, assessing. I do I assess situations so quickly, and it's just like, is this a hill I want to die on?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:34

It's not. Now, I've come very close to going, is this a reason I want to call mommy for bail money? And I've come very close to going, is this the hill I want to die on? And going, yes, yes, it is, because my moral compass is just like ding, like a 16-year-old boy. It's just up there. I don't have a better way to say it. 18-year-old boy, that's the way I'm supposed to be saying it now. And I get where my partner's coming from, you know, like, so I'm trying to work on that, but I had such an emotional epic breakdown that I had a conversation with some ladies yesterday afternoon. I'm just like, I'm about broken. I am about fucking broken. And it has nothing to do with not feeling support from my close friends like you or whatever. It's about literally in my head the last few months, just dealing with everything with the family stuff, dealing everything with the financial stuff and changes and da-da-da-da. I literally just keep telling myself, suck it up buttercup. Yeah. And like, dude, that's not working for me anymore. It's not working because I was in tears over. I wouldn't say it's nothing. My partner would say it's nothing, but to me it was significant.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

Because I don't just when somebody is like, oh, I think that was a mistake, I don't take it like, okay, let's assess the situation. When I'm at home in my private space, in my sanctuary of nobody's allowed to touch me, nobody's allowed to get at me, nobody's allowed to invade me. I get to breathe. And I hear, oh, I think I made a mistake. I automatically get a little upset. Not like yelling and screaming, but just all the overwhelming amount of stress. I've it brought tears to my eyes. And then it was re and he was reactionary. Because I mean, nobody likes to think they made their partner, no normal person likes to think they made their partner cry um over a mistake or a silly incident. And it's just like you just don't understand. It's just I'm overwhelmed by so much. This was just the last tick in the abacus.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

But now it's reset, so it's not as bad because I'm, you know, I yesterday I it was a shouting match, and it wasn't even like, I don't know, it was weird. It was it was weird because it was a shouting match in the sense that it was just like, I feel like we were like that little kid. No, listen to me, no listen to me, no listen to me. And I looked at my partner, I said, at this point, I'm in a zero-sum game because I can't make you happy and I can't make myself happy. And that's because of all the extenuating circumstances.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:22

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Anyway, one thing that he is very, very good at is saying no to stuff that he isn't interested in or won't accept. Oh, yeah, he's he's fantastic for that. Yeah. You you should learn.

SPEAKER_05 23:36

I know. He uh that it was funny because he was just like, it's not that hard to say no. It it and for me, there's like he's like, I can see it on your face, you're planning your escape. And it's like, first of all, I I always find it humorous when he says that you're you're trying to plan your escape and your backup plans and everything, and you don't realize that you're caught for life and blah, blah, blah. And he doesn't, and I so I had to explain to him, I my cut brain is constantly going. I said, I'm constantly thinking of five options right now. I was just like, and they're not what you think they are. And he's like, oh, you know, he's getting upset. And I'm like, look, my first option is worst case scenario, what could happen? This could happen. And what's gonna be the follow-up from that? This best case scenario, what's gonna happen? And then the other side of the best scenario. Because there's always two worst outcomes in my book. What my observance has been over my lifetime is there's there's worst outcomes, what I would consider the worst outcomes, and what the opposing person in the conversation would consider the worst outcomes. So I try to look at both, and then there's that neutral going, well, it's a zero-sum game. We both have valid points about how we're emotionally um drained from these situations that are going on because I can't move forward and I can't step back until there's some resolution. So it's a zero-sum game. We're both emotionally charged, we're both upset, and we're both exhausted.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:00

And it and it doesn't help that he's on the like the early shift.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:05

And and I've been staying up later, and so it really doesn't help. Like I'm telling you this morning, I swear to God. I think I think that's why he started the washer before he left, which was not balanced. But I think because he was just like, oh my god, what the fuck's wrong with you?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Like, I hate these sheets.

SPEAKER_05 25:26

Brand new organic cotton sheets, and I hate them because my pajamas stick to them, so I can't easily move. But I don't even know if it's that or if I was just so physically fatigued, mentally fatigued. Like, I don't know what it was.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah, it's probably a combination of things.

The Emotional Abacus

SPEAKER_05 25:43

But you know, 4 45 in the morning, what's wrong with you? Like, I sound like a demon, man. This is fucking bullshit. I can't move. It's grabbing my toes. And I because I didn't, well, the first thing out of my mouth, I didn't want to say, well, I don't know. You elbowing me in the ribs nine times last night between 12 and 12 30 when I finally got out of bed. You know, I didn't want to do that. Because, like, it's like I could tell he was so happy and comfortable on those sheets because he was not yielding a quarter inch in that bed. He was he had three quarters of the bed, and that's just how it was. Okay, and uh and I didn't want to wake him up. I did think about elbowing him. Bless you. Man, you missed it. Yesterday I heard somebody sneeze, and I'm like, bless you, from across the store. And they're like, thank you. And then there's just throughout the store, there's an uh an echo effect of laughter, which is great. Anyways, um, so you're not feeling so hot lately. No, but you've been doing uh better with some of your health stuff. Yes. I mean, you do look like you're having a little bit of liver issue, to be honest with you. You're a little bit yellow. Um I'm being honest, your skin's actually yellow. Anyway. Oh my god, do you think it's white or off-white?

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Mother of Pearl.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

It's not. You actually well, maybe I don't know, maybe it's that maybe that's God, what an awful racket shirt you're wearing.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

I mean, I'm sure that isn't helping with my complexion. None of these colors are my sort of colors. But it's your sort of shirt. Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_05 27:38

I asked somebody the other day if they've ever heard of guar. They're like, no, what's that? I'm like, it's a like a band. I'm like, they're one of those bands that like go out and sing and gore, gore, gore, gore, and spew blood. And they're like very, I'm like, they're very theatrical. And they were like, they're shock rock. I could not think of that fucking word to save my life. Yeah. And uh, you know, anyways, and they were just like, ew, who would want to watch a band that spews blood? I'm like, I'm saying. But my best friend's addicted, so it's all good.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

I mean, mostly I just listen to them. Uh occasionally I'll watch one of their music videos or something. Which, you know, there's I used to watch their movies, but that was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_05 28:23

I mean, they have a lot of hilarious videos, but there's just a couple of them where it's like, especially that one. You need a sheep. I don't even want to see the video for meat sandwich. Um, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see the high menstrual fuck my vagina sideways video or whatever it is about her bleeding or whatever. I don't like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

That was that was like a tampon commercial, basically. I don't it wasn't even like a music video, it was just them doing a little skit.

SPEAKER_05 28:55

What was that new one with the hot dogs? And that was like gagged me. Oh, the lot lizard. Yep, no thanks.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

Yeah, that's that rude disgusting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:04

That that like even you who is a guar fan is saying, yeah. And you know, and what's really funny is on the work Facebook page, because we've mentioned guar, because you know, I do love you uh as much as any human can another platonically.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_05 29:26

We're like we're like siblings at this point. Because sometimes it's almost like we're sitting there batting our fingers at each other. No, I gotta poop first. No, I gotta poop first. No, I gotta poop first. I'm not touching you. I didn't, I didn't touch out. I didn't touch out. Um, anyways. Uh so now I get all kinds of guar stuff on the feed, and it's like, oh god. And it's bad enough because it's linked to my personal account. But it was really funny. So today, not today, yesterday when I logged in. Yeah, yesterday morning when I logged in. Uh it was uh it was a a part of the um that hot ones or whatever that eating competition that okay hot takes or whatever it was, where they're sitting there. So it's the part of that one where they're talking about the hot ones versus with ICP. That's what it is. Yeah. And they're ta he and uh the skinnier of the two, because not Blothar, but the other guy that was there. Oh Ball Sack or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, he was just like, oh no, I'd been introduced to you before when you dropkick Fred Durst.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:35

And ICP's like, wait, what? You were there? That's like drunken misbehavior. And so they actually show the clip, and I didn't realize it when we watched it because we were kind of laughing, and I look at people when I talk to them. Um, but they actually showed the clip by him getting choked out by Fred Durst's security team, and you can see the moment it happens because he's like, ah, blow, just done. Oh, like holy crap. So, anyways, but you do look yellow to me, and I'm not judging it based on your shirt. I'm actually looking at the side of your neck, which only has black next to it. So you actually do look a little yellow. So did you go visit the Simpsons over the weekend?

SPEAKER_00 31:16

At least I'm not blue, blah deep I'm blue.

SPEAKER_05 31:20

Yep. What was it that I was? I don't know. Anyways, um, so you you basically have the weekend off. You had the weekend to yourself.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 31:29

No games, no coffee with your special friend, none of that.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

I didn't get it get to hang out with any of my friends this weekend. Yeah. Some of them were like, it's snowed. I'm fucking hiding at home. And I'm like, okay, yeah, that's understandable. Especially the one with the scooter.

SPEAKER_05 31:44

Yeah, I mean, I get it because I had to drive home in the snow the other night, and I'm just like, it wasn't the main streets weren't bad, but it's once I got in the neighborhood, it was three inches of slush.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Yeah.

Worst Case Scenarios

SPEAKER_05 31:59

And it was like, ooh, I could see where people had actually hit cars.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Yeah. I walked to Safeway several times when it was super slushy, and my feet were just completely soaked.

SPEAKER_05 32:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

And I was that's why I wear wool socks all the time.

SPEAKER_05 32:13

Well, and I meant to find my see if my rubber boots were in my trunk, and then I just forgot about it because I was just busy doing other things. But I was just like coming, you know, coming up the alley, we've got a bit of we've got more of a hill on one side than the other. So we got a short hill on one side, which was blocked because the neighbor's bamboo was weighted down by snow, so it was covered over. Yeah, yeah. Like, remember you saw that? Yeah, it was still like that that night. Uh, and then uh just drive over, it's fine. Yeah, no, thanks. So, but the other end was like had a big like it almost was like somebody took a really fat snowman and just started melting them at the other end. So it was like a little bit of an acceleration to get up, but it was like fishy. Zoom zoom. Yeah, my card does not like more than two inches of snow. It really doesn't. Um, but anyways, front wheel drive. It is, but it's still very low to the ground. I have very little clearance. I have like four inch or five inch, like maybe six-inch clearance. I don't know, but it doesn't like it. You never looked at the side of my car to see actually how low it is. It's really low. Oh no, can you go? Can you go? And uh, so then the next day I had to head back out, and as I'm trying to head out, I hear crack, crack, crack, crack. The neighbor across the alley decided they weren't gonna back up again, and they ran over the bamboo. Okay, but the bamboo was still like halfway up, like a Hitler salute or something, right? Well, I'm saying it was annoying. So, anyways, I I go into the far into the alley. It's just easier, right? Go in and out. So I'd noticed uh yesterday when I was out in the alley, I noticed that somebody had actually walked over to their fucking bamboo and chopped that shit down.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Yeah. Yeah, I noticed that the other day when I was walking by. I was like, oh yeah. Yeah, I like some of the bamboo.

SPEAKER_05 34:08

I didn't notice it till yesterday because obviously I'm just like, I'm not gonna pay attention to this shit because I can't go that way. But yeah, anyways, I don't remember what we were talking about. I just thought that was funny. Oh yeah, you didn't get to do anything this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Yep. I mean I did I did play a little bit of Diablo.

SPEAKER_05 34:26

Uh, the new one, Diablo 5.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Diablo 4. Diablo 4. Yeah, they have a thing going on. Actually, I think it might be over now.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

They're going into a new season, and they are um, you can play test basically. It's not play testing, just free better ability to play the um Paladin class that they're releasing. Um it was kind of neat.

SPEAKER_05 34:57

Nice. And then uh how about any of your classwork? How'd that go?

SPEAKER_00 35:01

I didn't do anything. Yeah, I did not sing.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

I'm planning on making lasagna tonight. And we're supposed to have movie night tonight. Because I said to my partner, hey, nobody too just came out on Netflix. Do you want to watch it?

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Ah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:19

And he's just like, I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna stay up super late watching a movie. I'm like, you you get off by five. We can do dinner in a movie.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Yeah, and it'll be like eight or something.

SPEAKER_05 35:33

Yeah, like if he gets home at five, then after a shower, we'll be eating by 5 30. He'll be ready for it by 8. He's fine. Um, so that's the plan for me is nobody. I haven't done anything else. I haven't, I mean, I've kept up on laundry and dishes for the most part, and I need to wash my car because it's fucking filthy. Yeah, that happens when it gets because every road grimy gunkies picked up. I did go and see the progress on mommy's house the other day. Oh yeah. Oh, the not progress. Really? There has been absolutely zero progress other than the painting her and her partner did, or her friend. Don't call him partner.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

Um hasn't it at this point been a year since that shit got started? Yes. So fucking stupid.

A Little Shock Rock

SPEAKER_05 36:23

Yeah, it's been 11 months since the foundation for the add uh the edition was laid. And it's yeah. Anyways, I don't want to get into too much detail about it, but she uh I'm actually getting nervous for her. Yeah, because at this point she's actually been out of the house for um gosh, what four months? I think four months she hasn't been able to live in the house. So she's gotta drive from you know another city in six days a week. So that's more stressful, that's more money. Yeah. And then with a local store closing, yeah, you know, it's like and you know, and in it's just thankfully that local store, the the property owner, has security. Yeah. You know, it seems to be 24-7.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

But in the last few times I've gone past there, because I go past there to go to my physical therapy.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

Um it seemed actually I didn't see a bunch of people there. It was basically just empty. Um yeah. I was surprised that they tore down the gas station. Oh, moved the old gas station that's.

SPEAKER_05 37:35

I wasn't because if there, if you think about it, there's a there's a good probability they could put like an Aldi's or like a Walmart in right there.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:44

Walmart would fit perfectly in there, a mid-sized Walmart. It's got everything you would need for the Walmart groceries, and then the other house goods could be at the other end. But somebody was whispering they think they're gonna tear it down and make it into apartments. And I really hope they don't.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

I mean, yeah, because there isn't I I guess Safeway on 64th isn't that far from there. 72nd. But yeah, sure. Um but still the it's kind of like it's it's a it's not a food desert because there's a bunch of restaurants near there, but still it's kind of like that, it's kind of far for walking.

SPEAKER_05 38:28

I mean, you've got Winco on 72nd one direction by the freeway, and then you've got a safe way the other direction when you're headed to Piallop on 72nd, and so there's there's nothing. I mean, you do have like a a CVS or whatever right there, and they do offer some food items, but truly it is it is so close to being a food desert because there is no actual grocery type store within like a mile, yeah. Any direction, it's like she's Louise, because you know, one direction up the hill, it's like two miles, go down the hill the other way, it's like a mile and a half, and then you go like north and it's like two and a half miles. And if you go south, it's even worse because it's like there's no actual grocery store for 52, or not 52, 30, 40, 50 blocks.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

There's no grocery store for 50 blocks if she goes south, and that's yeah, because the Sarko is like on a hundred and something.

SPEAKER_05 39:33

Yeah, there's a there's a uh yeah, it's it's like it's like super crazy. I don't know what we're doing in our world anymore, and it's just like it's really interesting when they're just like we don't have enough housing for people.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

You know what? That would be a perfect location for Fred Meyer.

SPEAKER_05 39:50

You know, I think it really would be because you know, the Fred Myers they offer a pharmacy, they offer an optometrist, they offer banking, they offer groceries, they offer home goods. Yeah, yeah, and clothing, yeah. Oh, that's right, we got to get rid of fucking thieves first.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:07

Like it, like a lot of people don't understand how these decisions are made. Yeah, and it's just like if you have to, and I know somebody who works for Fred Meyers, and they were like, what's the deal with this particular Fred Meyer? And it is literally when they are spending five thousand dollars a week on security and damage cleanup, that's twenty thousand dollars a month. People do not realize that's almost a quarter of a million dollars a year, and it doesn't even provide but two jobs basically, because their security was just there during their open hours. And that the last like nine months, apparently they had to have the security in the parking lot, which then doubles everything. Yeah. And it's just like, you know, um, I saw an encounter, and I'm gonna say it this way. I saw an encounter between two people. One was a clerk and one was a quote customer. And the clerk's like, you know, I can see that you are trying to steal this clothing. Would you like to take it off and pay for it? Oh, it's mine, it's mine. Mind you, with the price tags hanging off of the sleeve.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

Yeah.

The Fake Tap Pay Retail Scam

SPEAKER_05 41:19

As the customer, quote, customer, is giving the clerk the finger and going, it's mine, it's mine. So I saw that. And it's just like, you're a fucking idiot.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:31

Because there's this thing that they like to do. It's a new trick out there for any of you in retail or customer service of any kind that diesel retail. Here's the trick. I gotta pay. They pull out a credit card or a debit card or whatever. Then they pull out their phone. Oh, I gotta tap pay. Oh, I gotta transfer this money. I have to tap pay. I have to tap pay. I have to tap pay. And they'll move everything out of the way. Oh, get the next person. And then they move closer to the exit door, and then they move the fuck out the door. Yeah. I have seen that happen. I literally cannot express to you how many times I've seen that happen. And it's just like, it's just this new trick. It's a fake tap pay thing they do.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 42:09

Because the system will sit there if they like tap their phone and it'll say waiting for customers. She's and they'll say, or this particular I actually saw it four times in the last week. It's thinking, it's thinking. I'm just gonna step over here out of the way so the other person can put their stuff down. And I'm waiting for the tap pay to go through. So it's it's this new trick they're doing, and it's really fucking annoying. But to wrap up, we need to get rid of the thievery. And and I say that with all due respect. I witnessed a man, and I'm using that term very loosely, and I feel bad about the situation. When you hear what happened, you'll you'll feel bad, but it doesn't make it right. Yeah. There was a man, probably in his mid to late 40s. He looking like a man. He tried to look like a man. Anyways, um, came into a store with a beanie on and a zip-up north face jacket. North Face jackets aren't the cheapest jackets out there, by the way. Oh, and Levi jeans, which are not cheap either. Doesn't matter. Oh, and Nikes. Did I mention he had Nikes on? But those aren't cheap either. Walk into said store, walk over to the bag department and pick up a bag and talking very nicely to everybody. Oh, look what I found for my kid. Isn't this nice? Nice, nice. Goes over to the baby section, the baby area, the children's area. Oh, wow, this is great. This is great. Talking the whole time. Then gets completely quiet for 10 minutes. Next thing you know, this individual is wearing the child's diaper bag backpack on their shoulder, and they're walking out the store. Security guard says to them, You need to pay for that. I did pay for it. This is my shit, bitch. We're getting a Aggressive. We're getting aggressive now. And he's trying to call, he's trying to text somebody as he's walking. Security guard's a little aggressive, in my opinion. Because it's just like you ain't gonna chase after them. You ain't gonna tackle them. What are you gonna do? Annoy him to death? No. This motherfucker turns around and has a very brief conversation with the security guard. So I'm gonna tell Dagda the conversation off mic, and you can listen for his reaction in just a moment. Wow, what the fuck? That's the new thing. And then proceeded to walk down the length of the building and get into a fucking brand new, not even tab licensed dealer, dealer tagged. Lexus SUV. That's what we're up against now. Now, on the one hand, now here's the thing. Yeah, because that's pretty like, you never hear me say that word. You've never in 16 years heard me say that word. But just the fact I cannot express to you what I witnessed and how vulgar it was, and how um just like you know, the smart ass of me is just like, I did not know there was a pay system called this. But like literally, this guy looked at the security lady and was just like, I'm about to punch you in your motherfucking mouth. You're about to make a redacted get violent on your ass. But a brand new Lexus SUV. Are you fucking kidding me? Was this all on camera? Yep. So I'm sure somebody's gonna end up pulling it and putting it on the worldwide webs.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

I would report the shit out of that person.

SPEAKER_05 45:43

Oh, it was reported as it was happening. They were the the uh the security guard was reporting it to their boss as it was happening. And not not only is there security cameras on the buildings, there's there's security cameras in the parking lot.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

I would no trespass the fuck out of that person.

SPEAKER_05 45:58

Here's the kicker there, where it's just like when you see somebody with something very expensive and they're wearing expensive things, first of all, you kind of go, Oh, are you fronting or have you blessed yourself this much? Yeah. It's what they were stealing that broke my heart. Yeah. Diapers. Yeah. And bibs and baby toys. That's what was in the backpack. Well, it was a package of baby wipes, one package of baby wipes, two packages of baby diapers, a package of bibs, and then like some of those plastic, like chewy, like teething rings type stuff, like the teething toys. That's what breaks my heart.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

That person should not have children.

SPEAKER_05 46:35

Well, you know, I would agree with you there wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, but there's a new ring going around the Pierce County area, and it's two different guys that are one is driving like um a 300, a Chrysler 300. You know what those look like?

SPEAKER_00 46:55

No.

SPEAKER_05 46:56

They're very nice cars.

SPEAKER_00 46:57

One's driving a car guy. My uncle would be like, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_05 47:00

Yeah, you can ask Uncle about it. So one guy's driving a white Chrysler 300, and one of them is driving a like older like Toyota Corolla, and it's like a tan color. And what they do is they park behind these businesses and they wait for a text and then they pull up to where they think they're not on camera. But you know, people are fucking stupid. Every business that has cameras generally overlap, especially on that end of the world, right? Yeah. But so there's two of them, and they're literally, I've seen each of them drive through parking lots four or five times and pick up different people each time. So, like, unless thieves are Ubering, it's part of a ring. But warning out there to all them retail workers out there be care, beware of the fake tap pay. You guys have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Later.

SPEAKER_05 47:58

Bye.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Okay, everybody. That's all the time we have for today. So I want to thank you for stopping by to enjoy the conversation. Uh, we're glad you're here, and please share and share again, and share some more. And if you haven't already, subscribe. We'll be having another chat and another cup soon. We'll talk to you then. Look forward to seeing you.