A Conversation With Mark

The Guys are down to three, but Mark showed up and made it four again! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Southwest Franklin County launched earlier this year to help families in crisis in the southwestern school's district boundaries. Then school let out, and requests for help jumped over a thousand percent in a single week. There's no summer lunch program in our area, and families are feeling it. We provide pantry food, household essentials, and grocery gift cards so families can get fresh foods that we can't stock. Right now, gift cards are our biggest need. If you can help, find us on Facebook, Neighbors Helping Neighbors SWFC, or visit Facebook.com forward slash NHN SWFC.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

We're the Grove Guys here in the Grove. We've got a special Grove guy here with us today. We've got Mark. He is one of the newest Grove guys to join the pod. And uh let's learn a little bit about Mark. So first of all, Mark, welcome.

SPEAKER_05 1:05

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 1:07

I'm excited.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

And uh secondly, um I love that music too, by the way. I want to dance, I may hear it on the last time. I may die. He set me up perfectly. I had to do it. Um, but so Mark, what brought you to Grove City and then what was your uh first? I think you have a fun story about your first interaction with meeting us in Grove City.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

Yeah, uh well, Grove City uh we we came to to the Columbus area because my son and his family are down this way, and the grandson was getting older, and we thought, uh, it's time to we've been retired for a few years, and it's time to get involved here in the world. Grove with family, yeah. We looked all around. Uh Grove City seemed like a cool enough place. And uh, there's a lot, there's a lot that we liked. The little small town feel, although it's not really a small town, proximity to a lot of things. Columbus and um yeah, at the time too, uh, you know, housing, we wanted a new house. Well, you couldn't get an old house or used house because they were crazy on the market, whatever, four years ago. And uh so we bought a spec house, ended up buying a spec house, and then then we were in Grove City. Then we're trying to find uh things to do, you know, because we're not from Columbus. So um, you know, I got involved volunteering a little bit at the State House as a tour guide there, and uh we're still looking for something to do. And uh I think it was last. Was it October? Uh No Kings thing going October. I think it was October.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Yeah, about October, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:39

Yeah, so we finally like, you know what, we were we were just disgusted, like a lot of people are, so we were like, let's go check this No Kings thing out. And we did, and you know, we talked to people there, but we really didn't talk to people, but we heard about this whole Grove City progress group. And uh and we started, I don't know, I want to say stalking, but you know, online. You know, oh we all didn't call following, not stalking. Following, yeah. I'm an old guy, so I don't know the terms really, but uh it can be called whatever you want it to be called. So we we knew we knew you guys met every Thursday, and uh like a you know, they always invite everybody come Thursdays happy hour or something kind of thing at the brewery there and uh so we walked in the front not knowing that there was a back room. And we're looking around, there's like hardly anybody there. And uh the servers are what is the hostess. I'm sorry, the hostess like, hey, uh, you know, you want to see? And Jane's like, well, it'll be two of us. I go, no. I I go, is there a group here, the Girl Grove City Progress? Oh, they're in the back room. So we go into the back room. The back in the back.

SPEAKER_07 3:56

We go in the back room.

SPEAKER_05 3:58

And uh Karen, she's I've learned she watches that door who comes in, but uh we walked in and she turns around. Uh can we help you guys? And Jane's like, hey, we're looking for the good guys, and right away, you found them. Everybody's like, He found them. Fine, good. And we did, we found him. So we joined that first uh night, and uh I guess you guys have been stuck with us since because we've become a active part of it.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

It's just a good place to be. I mean the chat, I think you have a very important thing that you can play right now, but we're all a big community. That's right. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

And that is so true.

SPEAKER_06 4:44

That is so very true. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 4:46

Well, and I have to tell my story about Mark now. Okay. So that night that he came in, he sat next to my wife and I. And I kept looking at him like, you know, he looks a lot like my father-in-law. And then he started talking.

SPEAKER_05 5:02

Which is a good thing, I think. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:05

It is, it is, it was. Then he started talking. I'm like, he sounds like my father-in-law.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Is this my father-in-law?

SPEAKER_04 5:11

And then I got my wife's attention, and she was like, No, and I don't. And then the more she heard him talk, she's like, Yeah, kind of. So now Mark is called fake grandpa by my kids because he sounds just like their grandfather. There we go.

SPEAKER_05 5:27

Yeah, that yeah. Your daughter tonight when we came in and like, oh, she just heard my voice and didn't see me. Oh, fake grandpa came to fake grandpa's here. That's right. That was funny.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Oh boy, yeah. Um, but even with the grove even with Grove City, it's just it I feel like all of us have that, you know, that story. Because I know I do, where I just randomly showed up at a Friday morning meeting. Um they have a Friday morning business meeting, and I just randomly showed up. And I when I showed up, I was just I just said, well, my wife told me to come here, she's been following you guys for a while. Um and she has to work, and I'm not working right now, so here I am.

SPEAKER_07 6:12

Here I am.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Um and then right away. Yeah, I sat next to two of the older ladies, and I from like from the jump, it was just like here we are. I just like these are my people, like I get it. And then starting this podcast about you know these three guys, and now Mark, you being the fourth, you know, it's just we just get along instantly, and then there really is that sense of belonging, that sense of like I found my people, you know, to quote Jay and found the good guys.

SPEAKER_05 6:42

I found the people that yeah, with without a doubt, like you know, that's funny you got a button with Steve Community, but it it's so true about that because we were like, we're you know, it's like we're like, hey, do we move? We don't really know anybody. I my son we moved down for. He ended up, he was close by, but he ended up moving, you know, half an hour north, no big deal. But and then the grandson gets old, you know, 16, they're like uh they grandpa, goodbye, grandpa, you know, hi papa, whatever. So we were like, uh, we we were looking for community. Community. Yes, we were looking for. We've got to get good at hitting the button for the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

We're working on it, we're working on it.

SPEAKER_05 7:22

Yeah, so uh, yeah, uh and we did, and it's I mean, it's just it to me, it's like uh you we have the community, and what I like about the group amongst many things that I like, you know, a lot of uh uh same-minded people, but I also like the diversity and the age difference. I like from young to old, and uh I like what everybody brings to the table. Right. Yep. And it's just you know, sitting around the table here is is a pretty good difference between three people, but it everybody's um got their part to fill there, I think. Yeah, right. Actually, that's one of my things. I think that you know, we've lost that whole societal thing of pe elders passing down information to the younger. The village vibe, didn't you? Yeah, right. Like, oh, I already made this mistake, so you might not want to do that, you know.

SPEAKER_04 8:28

I don't know. Yeah, and it's so what I find that's very interesting is it's almost like a church community without the church. Um but we have the church. Right. Well, we we have the churches, yes. Um but um no, but you have the the older people that are trying to make sure that everybody younger is taken care of. And then on the flip side, you have the younger people helping any way they can.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

Um and it's nobody's like, well, what are you gonna do for me? It's just do you need help? Sure. I mean, I remember the one time we went over to a couple's house that needed to move a boulder. I mean, a boulder, come on. And we all showed up. We're like, all right, you got a plan, let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Yep. So Or even like with me, I'm you know, redoing floors, and who shows up first? Mark.

SPEAKER_05 9:22

Grandpa, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Yeah, grandpa shows up with his box of tools and all the all the stuff. I still have my box of tools. And his supervision skills. And his in his supervision skills, yep. And he just shows up.

SPEAKER_05 9:32

I wasn't I was that day I said I wasn't gonna get down on the my knees and you knew better.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Oh, but but he did. But he did. But I did, but he did.

SPEAKER_05 9:40

I know that kind of sounds weird, but yeah, it was flooring.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

It was flooring. We're putting it in floors, don't worry. It's nothing weird.

SPEAKER_05 9:46

He's not the I thought that that's cool because you know, like uh yeah, I I'm always been the handyman guy, but not as a profession, but as doing things, and uh I got all these tools always like, What do you need all those floors? I go, you never know who might need them one time, so it was great. Yep, there we go.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

Yeah, hey, somebody's looking for help. And I grew up with a lawyer, so I you know, I I didn't I didn't learn how to do any of that stuff.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

And and it's funny because my father-in-law came down from Buffalo to help get us started with these floors that we're looking at right now. Right. So, you know, fake grandpa just it's a floor guy too.

SPEAKER_05 10:26

Right. Yeah. But that doesn't always hold true because my son don't know how which end of a wrench to hold either, but but but he is a lawyer, so maybe that's the reverse of that.

SPEAKER_03 10:37

But yeah, I've I've learned. I know, you know, no, it's like you worked on the floors, and then you know, to the even to the pony community, another some other guys that are in the progress group as well came over and helped me help me with the plumbing of the toilet. And like I learned plumbing, and you know, another another group came over and helped me like install all the floors and you know do the entire project. And you know, I learned how to cut flooring. I learned like there's so much that I'm learning, and like I now know how to do so many things around the house.

SPEAKER_04 11:08

But and what's that called, John? That's called community.

SPEAKER_05 11:11

Well, what's interesting about that is I'm I'm a 33-year retired firefighter paramedic, but especially in the earlier days of fire departments when you worked full-time, it was a full-time position, but full wasn't really full-time pay. So most firemen had another and most fightermen came a lot from the trade kind of thing. So man, when you needed something, somebody was a bricklayer, somebody did cement, somebody did flooring, somebody did whatever. So it was so easy. You just it's like what we do here. You just put the word out, and that was the way we did things. You put the word out to your community was the fire community, and people helped you, and they didn't want nobody was like, hey, uh, you know, you just helped them, you didn't spec money or whatever or anything.

SPEAKER_03 11:53

Yeah, the only thing that I will ever give like when you help, it's like I'll just get you pizza. Let's go. Pizza's good. I'll feed you. Excellent.

SPEAKER_05 12:00

The pizza you had that day was really good, I thought. But anyhow, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

Oh, what was that?

SPEAKER_05 12:06

I don't know. It's not it's one not by me, because I would I would have getted it because I don't think I think that's one of the drawbacks of Growth City is I haven't really found that pizza place. Right.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

Which is funny because we've got pizza places everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 12:20

Grandstand, Tammy's.

SPEAKER_04 12:21

I've tried a mobile.

SPEAKER_05 12:23

Like, I don't know, maybe it's like a Cleveland thing. I'm used to a certain type of pizza, but I don't know. Yeah. I haven't found one that really That speaks to you? Yeah, speaks to me.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Fair, fair, fair, fair.

SPEAKER_07 12:35

Yeah.

unknown 12:36

All right.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

Well, maybe we'll help Mark find one that speaks to him, but we'll be right back. How's it going, everybody? Friday, June 19th, uh, 2026. For those of you that don't know, it is Juneteenth. It is an annual observance of when the Union soldiers enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed all the slaves. And unfortunately, it did not reach Texas ears until June 19th, 1865. And so officially on June 19th, 1865, every single person in the United States knew that slavery was ended, that emancipation was a thing. So make sure that you are celebrating in whatever way you feel you need to on Friday, June 19th. For Juneteenth. And an extra added bonus. We had some technical difficulties before, but we now officially have Ron here. So there are four Grove guys down in the room. Ron, welcome in.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Glad to be here. I'm glad the technical difficulty was just me being late. I mean, I you said it, not me.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

I was trying to call previous obligations.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

This is true. This is true. I was watching the future congressman's daughter so they could go on a date. So well, I and and my wife, Lindsay, she was the superstar. I was just there taking a leave her out. I was taking pictures.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Solid solid. Exactly. I was. All right, so Ron has been queued up on what we talked about before, so he's he's caught up to the game. Um but I think what we're gonna talk about now is you know, Mark, um you've experienced a lot of a lot more time being a man than everyone else here.

SPEAKER_05 14:49

And you also're just a leveled up guy.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

That's all I think.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

But and then your job, as you mentioned before, you know, you were a firefighter, and you also got to the level of fire chief, is it right?

SPEAKER_05 15:06

That's correct.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Yes. And so what have you necessarily noticed about your own journey b as being a fire chief and just what you've seen of change with masculinity and just being a man in culture as you've gone through life?

SPEAKER_05 15:22

Yeah, that's an interesting topic because uh, you know, especially like so I came on in like eighty eighty one, nineteen eighty-one, and um definitely a different feel of masculinity in the country than sort of now is, and um and I guess firefighter job was considered that, although I just enjoyed doing what the job was, putting out fires, and you know, I was a paramedic too, and and helping people because that just it's what I ended up doing because it's what I felt I needed to do. Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

And uh so you're a real life superhero saving lives.

SPEAKER_04 16:02

That's that's what I'm hearing. You wouldn't say that, but I would say that. I have been told by his lovely wife that he has saved many lives.

SPEAKER_05 16:10

Yeah, it's it's well all of that. It's a it's a no, like on that whole masculinity thing, because it's like what you know, you guys talk about saving lives, and I don't know if it's a topic for this, but but it's a life topic because when I took the job and I'm working in the job the first couple years, and I'm like, I you don't realize how much or how normal death is to life and how common it is because we see it from our window. But when you're on the fire department, you're in everybody's window there, so you're seeing it, and I'm like, going, I'm like, oh wow, that's you know, you know, all ages, all things, all kinds of things, and uh, you know, some of that stays with you, but but again, that's part of the job. But yeah, so so that whole, you know, life, death, circle of life thing certainly becomes apparent when you when you do that job. And then where does masculinity go into that? So like you're on a terrible, you're on a terrible scene, and uh, you know, you do what you do, and that part comes easy because you're trained to do that. And then, you know, you're leaving, like, say you're leaving in the squad of a you know, it didn't work out, and you're coming back. Now you have to deal with your feelings as the macho man firefighter, but you know, like now I'm leaving, and now where I'm where am I as a as a as a man? And I think one of your episodes you guys talked about, you know, tearing up or crying or whatever, and here I I could tell you over all the years as a fireman after a bad scene, like, yeah, those feelings are definitely there, if not some some tears, you know. So um I guess that's always kind of been there, but then it then again you wait, you know, you wait till you're in the squad just with your buddy, yep. And uh before you show that emotion, because especially early on, you you didn't show that emotion. And right, you know, those of us in the safety forces kind of thing, I guess we we we learn to hide that away from a lot.

SPEAKER_04 18:22

I almost feel like that's a job that you you almost have to hide it because you take a call, the call's over, you could get a call literally the next minute. Yeah, and you can't be dwelling on something, you gotta be moving forward, which probably makes it really tough.

SPEAKER_05 18:41

Well, in reality, that that part didn't so much because, say, you know, there was times we were getting into the ambulance and we're off to the next thing. So that point you could tune it out because you're already like doing your chuckle, your brain's already gone, and you know, you get a little information what it might be, so you're already going through the process in your head. Like, what does this entail? And that's another job where you know, um, you never knew what you got. So it's to me, I I lived on it. I like not knowing, I like just going and figuring it out, but a lot of a lot of people don't know.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yeah, but then you but then you come home to a wife and family and or wife and kids, and you're just right, you know, we've we've talked about the one thing that I would say I don't have that the rest of you do have, and you know Steve included in this, um, you know, the the fatherhood aspect. Because you even have you have a son too. I have a son and a daughter, yeah. Yeah, and so you know, he he saw dad as a you know, as as the fire chief, as the paramedic. But then, you know, we I know the rest of the guys have talked about this, but then was there always a softer side to that, or did he always just see you as the hard exterior dad?

SPEAKER_05 20:07

No, I was um, you know, I came home from the station, I was the dad. You know, I like I left the persona behind because you know, I know you guys all had origin stories and stuff, and you know, I had a I had a great father, but my father was always worked second shift pretty much my whole life. And so he wasn't a big part of my waking life, except on weekends and very blue-collar family. So, you know, he was doing whatever he had to do to get done to fix the house, cut the lawn, whatever. Four boys to take care of, and um so one of the things I really wanted to do when I was become a father was to be the kind of dad that did stuff with their kids. And my job kind of let me do that, but you know, early on in this job, the job didn't pay. You know, we a lot of us firemen work two, three jobs. I've worked four jobs at one time uh altogether. But um, but when I could have the time, I I definitely was the dad, not the not the fireman, especially because I saw what can happen. And you know, I've been on a but I don't even know this one's a hard one to say, but I've been on a scene where you know the let's just say it, you know, the kid actually got electrocuted by the toaster. They didn't find that out afterwards, and I think she was five, didn't make it. We did we couldn't bring her back, and it still hurts. This is a long, long time ago because my son was about the same age. Yeah. And you talk about you know, that whole thing still gets me kind of choked up. But then I had to go back home to my son, and then you're like, Oh my, you know, this could hit. You know, it's it was it was hard and my job can happen to anybody. Yeah. And yeah, yeah. And uh compartmentalize thing. Yes. You know you compartmentalize it and you cherish the good moments um from all that.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

So um I know the times, you know, when I was a corrections officer is that there were things that would happen that scar you, but you've got to, like you said, is that you've got to leave that there and you've got to come home and be dad. And sometimes that seeps in, you know. And I know when I had, you know, gotten assaulted, you know, 13 years ago, that it seeped into everything and all my thoughts that I had, because I would sit in the corner so that I could see all of the doors in my house because I was so nervous that something was going to happen to my family because I couldn't protect myself. How am I going to protect them? Yeah. And, you know. So that's a difficult process. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 22:55

So and so, um I I don't know. It's like, you know, in my time, again, I'm I'm I'm not afraid to say it. I'm 68. So my generation, you know, I'm a 60, 70s kid. You know, I graduated in the 200th uh anniversary. Uh in 17 in 1976. Now we're into 250. Although it's just the anniversary of the signing of Declaration of Independence, not the anniversary of our country for those history. Yep. People, right? Right. Seven and a half year war.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

My my wife would tell you, don't get me started.

SPEAKER_05 23:31

People forget how seven and a half year war that was. But anyhow, um, so that's my era. So, like um that era, I don't know. Um, and I got up on that and I've totally lost my train of thought.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

But what can we learn from that era that you feel like that we could be able to easily society's not talking about or has lost?

SPEAKER_05 23:56

Well, I I think that you know, the era for us as people our age is like it's so different from now, and it's so like you know, yeah, I wasn't where just the the wife, the man and the wife were my wife worked after the kids got a certain age, but you know, um uh but it was that era that the the this the strong male father figure worker figure and the wife was the one that did all the the home stuff home stuff and um you know and that that changed through time and but it was still that that era like firemen were men. I mean, like you didn't, you know, probably halfway through my career we started seeing a female firefighter, you know, like in a big city like Cleveland. I was in a suburb, Brook Park. Um because people know Brook Park, because especially if they're from Ohio, because that's where the Browns are gonna build their new stadium, but anyhow sore subject for the Browns. I think some people are whatever, but uh anyhow, um uh again again. I lost my train of thought, which is much being a 68-year-old thing.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

You were you were talking about starting to see female firefighters.

SPEAKER_05 25:25

So yeah, so like um yeah, you get one or two here and uh at the bigger cities, and uh you know, and you know, female firefighters are still a small, they were more like corrections, yeah. Corrections, small police larger than probably either of our two things. Um and I always thought they'd be it would be very there'd be uh there's people would feel better in certain situations if a female was involved uh as a safety officer or whatever. But um, but that just didn't it just took time and time and time. In fact, I I I do get to say I'm the I'm the chief. When I became chief, I was the first chief in Brooke Park Fire Department to hire a female firefighter. Very progressive, I'm sure. Yeah, there was a lot even then. And okay, I've been retired 12 years, so even then, I think she came on, I'm trying to think about 2012, maybe something like that. But um uh that there were still even some of the guys, oh, and then some of the, you know, even believe it or not, some of the wives, like what you're gonna hire and firemen, you know, uh female and be with mine. Yeah, you know, we had some stations with just two members that brought up all kinds of things. But but I'm gonna say that I didn't hire her because she's female, I hired her because she was the best candidate that came out of that group of people. But it took those years almost to the end of my career, where females in society felt that they were capable of going after a job like that and then you know, getting the job like that. Or they wouldn't even have touched it before. So um that that that's that's a big change.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

But you didn't disregard her because she was female. Oh, absolutely not. And that's a huge thing too.

SPEAKER_05 27:38

Yeah, and I think in those days too, you know, like the the this this woman was she had some nice credentials, so she was really putting in the effort to to get where she wanted to be, you know.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

And um Which is still something that has to happen today is that women have to almost do twice as much or three times, four times as much as their male counterparts in order to be considered for position. Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:01

That that's that's true.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

I see that for sure.

SPEAKER_04 28:04

Um we talked about that with Steve on uh previous episode.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

Right, yeah. Yeah. Well, and just the in the qualification aspect of it too, of just like you know, to what you said, like she out of her out of the group that you looked at, she was just the best candidate. So it's like remove the name, just look at credentials. It doesn't matter, this is the best one. It's like, well, that's the female. Okay, but it's the best one. Right. Like I want the I want the best one for this department because that's what I need right now.

SPEAKER_04 28:33

So well, that's what you want to pay for. You always want to pay for the best.

SPEAKER_03 28:37

Right. Because in a in a fire situation, I'm sure in a fire situation, because you know, I'm unfamiliar, I've never been a firefighter, but I'm sure in that situation you want you want to know the person next to you is gonna be the best at the job that they can do and do the and put their best foot forward.

SPEAKER_05 28:54

And and people get sometimes caught on that whole uh like you know the physicality of a person. You know, you know, we had people on the department that were just brute guys, you know, like you probably had on, you know, in corrections, and they were just buff and brute and uh, you know, and then there's people like me, yeah. I'm only five, six. I I'm you know always in shape, but I'm not a brute, you know. But but it's that's brute strength is one small part of the job, you know. Uh intelligence for sure. And for us, being paramedics was the main part of the job in the community like Brook Park. Um, you know, our our runs at the time were 85% squad runs. So yeah, I you want someone smart, smart and capable. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03 29:49

Well, it's what we were talking about earlier, too. Like everybody's got a place in that. You know, you need, as you mentioned, you need the brute guy, you need the the smaller guy, you need the smart guy, and you know, to what you said, sometimes you need the woman. Sometimes like there are certain, you know, certain things that women are just better at inherently. There's certain things that men are just better at inherently. And I'm once again, not every single woman, not every single man, just big stroke here. Generally speaking. Yeah, broad brush.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

Well, why I also think, you know, there let's face it, there are situations you know that we get into that happen to a female. So a female safety officer might be a better choice. Might be a better choice. Just just the psychological part of it versus you know versus anything else. So um yeah, that's changed that and that that went for the good, um, I think. Uh but other masculine, like the applicant applicant of the fire department of the new recruits, and I was involved even before I was chief. I was involved in the hiring process with the chief prior. And uh as a lieutenant, I had all the almost every position in the department over my time period, but you know, we were involved in hiring, and and who applies for the job now is way different from who applied in in 80 what in 81. And and a lot of that, um, yeah, uh that that change and that whole how masculine or you know, a lot of veterans at first, um, veterans and tradesmen. And then as the charge, the job got more technical, like you used to get hired, and then you went to fire school, and then you went to paramedic school, and it changed well pretty much halfway through my career where they weren't even gonna hire you till you and the city put you through it. You got the job and then you went to the schools. Yeah, then it became you have to be a paramedic, you have to be a firefighter to get hired. So now that meant you had to go to the colleges and the schools, and that just to be a paramedic is like a two-year thing. So you have to be that dedicated, and then that a lot of that took that old fashioned masculine bodybuilding, firefighter brute kind of person out of it because you had to have this mindset of what you really wanted to do. Right.

SPEAKER_04 32:37

It almost changed from masculine or from masculinity to servant. You wanted to be a servant of the community and and help people not just look at me. I I'm I'm the one that can do the job better than anybody. You didn't do it for the glory, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Yeah, and I and I don't I don't know that that's I mean, there's certainly thought to that, but I think it's just it's just the fact it changed the person who Yeah, I'm gonna take this because it's a good paying job, and I get a 10 per 10 percent bone uh uh you know, uh testing. You had to test to get on civil service testing, and veterans always get got, you know, their test score went up 10-20 percent depending on the department, because they were a veteran. So a lot of that earlier on is just like, yeah, it was a good job, and the guys were good guys. It's just it became more like everything else, more of a specialty thing. So you really were weeding it out just because of what it took to get on to begin with. Right, I guess. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 33:47

Which is actually kind of nice that we've we've hit that point that things have become a little more specialized because it's great to have generalists, but a specialist it you really can show that you're the best person for the job.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Definitely.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:05

Right. So anyone got anything else they want to ask or talk about?

unknown 34:16

Awkward silence.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Awkward very just to the point where we don't know, you know. I mean that's the same thing. No, it's that's that's completely fine. That is us. That is the that is the growth guys.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

So yeah. Why don't we take a break and we'll we'll gather ourselves and be right back. I did just get here. Make sure you stay here.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

I'm sure you already said that you made this, but I'll say it for you again. We need to probably say it. I want to dance. Jane Marcus dancing. Never mind. Hey everybody, we wanted to take a moment and put out that the Grove guys are fully supportive and allies of our friends that are in the LGBTQI Plus community. And as this month being June is Pride Month, we want to encourage everyone to figure out what is going on in your community and get out and support our neighbors. And know that if you are a part of that community, that you are our community and that we're here to support you and love you every step of the way.

unknown 35:23

We did it.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

And we're back in. So earlier we kind of touched on this idea of chosen family and the whole. Sorry, I wasn't ready. Community that we've built here.

SPEAKER_04 35:49

Um I had to turn the fader down and I didn't have it back up on any of the buttons. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

That's all I'm gonna say. You're you're you're seeing how it's done here, people. Right.

SPEAKER_04 35:59

So what's in my head right now? Um moving forward.

SPEAKER_03 36:05

Um, but we touched on the idea of you know the the chosen family that we have here, and I really feel like all of us have you know stated that even all before normal Grove guys have mentioned that. Mark mentioned it when he talked originally, and it's just something that I feel like all of us really share that not only have we chosen this community, not only have we chosen this family, but the family and the community has chosen all of us as well. Because I think we all have that story of you know, Ron, you and I like met and then a month later what went on a taco dinner date. That's right. We had our tacos, we had our tacos and talking. Local kids.

SPEAKER_05 36:53

I need to hear that story, but we'll say that.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

Okay, you can hear it right now. Um so basically, Ron's been coming around for about a month, and uh he then I think it was Lindsay and Jess got talking or something. And then Ron brought up we know our wives said that we should get together for you know for dinner and and and hang out. And so we did. We did. We just sat there for like two or three hours. Yeah, he texted me, he was just like, Does Tuesday work? I was like, Tuesday works. All right, let's go for it. It's Taco Tuesday anyway, so we got cheaper tacos. Right. That's right. But yeah, sitting there for yeah, it was at least at least two hours just talking and you know, sharing stories and getting to know each other and you know, getting that sense of you know, once again, here's a here's a dude that's gonna long term mean something, you know.

SPEAKER_02 37:47

Ever since then, you've had to put up with my ass, so that's all I gotta say. Likewise.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

It's a recurring theme.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

Yeah, that's no, I feel I feel like that time though, that that was instrumental in feeling that that connection to to the group in a in a deeper way. Because, you know, yeah, before I was connecting to people that was like-minded, but it wasn't like I was connecting in such a way that I felt like our our paths were crossing and you know, coming together to to be long-term, you know, friends. And you know, and I I would definitely say that that's something that's become now, you know, and I say this all the time about being chosen family. Is that you know, you guys sitting around this table and and you know, others is whenever I have something happen in my life, I'm like, you know, I'm letting you guys know right because I know that you guys are gonna support me, you're going to encourage me, and and likewise, I know when you ever things go on with you guys, you know, you're you're sharing. I know, you know, Mark had shared something, you know, with me that was going on with him yesterday, you know, that he had had made the decision, or not yesterday, but last Thursday, you know, and we had had a a chance to, you know, share and speak and go back and forth on on things. And yeah, and that's oh to this point.

SPEAKER_05 39:05

I never had that opportun opportunity down here to uh yeah, because you mentioned that. Because we're just strangers to the area. And then I just found like getting involved with this group, it's like uh it's so easy to get deeper into a connection.

SPEAKER_04 39:21

Right, Jen and I have said we've never been so busy.

SPEAKER_05 39:24

Yeah. Well, there's that too. Right.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

But it's like we see people multiple times. We have text chats going with multiple people. And it's like we used to just sit at home and just talk to each other. Right.

SPEAKER_05 39:36

I sometimes, I sometimes Steve, like, I'm like, and especially Karen. I'm like, I used to just sit around and do not. I I'm so busy. I kind of like sitting around, but like I really don't. I'm just saying it because it's so cold. Like, there it is, what time is it now on a Tuesday night? Or right, yeah. But it's normally my bedtime, but we're we're here talking around the table, you know.

SPEAKER_03 39:58

Well Mark, you did mention off mic that you did have a good long nap today. So I did too. I did too.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

I tried and I did not. I have I have been up since like six and I didn't have to.

SPEAKER_05 40:11

So the best part about today is like I'm a napper guy. I always been it's like a fireman thing, because you know, like maybe you work the 24 hours, 24 hours. You gotta sleep when you can like sleep when you can, so I learned to do it and I enjoyed it, and I'm like, uh, you know, I have to set my alarm. So I didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 40:29

So that grandpa recliner nap, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:34

I'm more of a like lay down on the couch with a pillow, a couple pillows, because I'm an old guy, I gotta keep the body just in the right position. My wife actually told me today, she's like, you know, you should take a long nap today because you're gonna be up late. I mean, what time is it? It's I don't know. It's 1020. 1020. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:52

I mean, everybody's learning how the sausage is made right now. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

It's all good.

SPEAKER_05 40:57

So uh yeah, that was funny. So she left I I didn't even set an alarm today. So I got an hour and 20.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

Well, I just want to put uh point out that there's a recurring theme with all of us is that we all outdid ourselves in regards to the wives that we married. Oh, that's true. 100% completely.

SPEAKER_05 41:15

I mean, I I I mean that's an ongoing theme with all of us, but but I I gotta say, and I said it to I said it to John the other day, but you know, that last birthday message to his wife was like I he put us all like I I I'm I got months because Jane's birthdays in August. I'm like, how am I gonna even come close to that?

SPEAKER_03 41:35

Yes, I will. No, I won't.

SPEAKER_04 41:36

Oh, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you. Jen's already told me. She's like, Yeah, I've got the perfect picture for Mark being on the podcast. It's him on the inflatable couch with the inflatable aliens next to him from Jess's birthday.

SPEAKER_05 41:46

Yeah, yeah. That was a fun birthday party. It was a good time. And then there's another thing, like I don't know what I would have been doing that Friday night, but we all got out for Justin's birthday. That would that was a fun evening.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

And uh 90s throwdown. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Yeah, you know, you know, I mean, something for me personally is my 40th birthday. I had invited many of the friends that I'd had down in Lebanon and Lindsay and I had gone down there. And not to discredit the two friends that showed up. I don't want to discredit them because they were there for me, but I had invited 15, 20 people to come to my 40th birthday party. And I had two people show up, and it was just disheartening. And this year I had sixteen uh people show up for my birthday party.

SPEAKER_04 42:35

And a future congressman. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

You know, and at an expensive place, mind you. I didn't know how expensive this place was, and but it was nice. Um but that night I was sitting there talking with Lindsay just about how this is the best birthday that I've ever had. I mean, and it it's it's the truth, and it's because I've had you guys and now you have community off then.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

Steve on demand. That's what we've got. Oh, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

But you know, but it it it was it was it was just so heartwarming, you know, that I'm sitting there and just so thankful and appreciative of of everybody and you know, and getting the messages that I that I got. And and you know, when I moved up to Grove City, you know, my background was in the church, and I so I spent a lot of time around people, you know, in the church, yeah, working in corrections, but I was still in the church when I was working in corrections. And when I stepped away from the church five years ago, I I was missing that. And that was a huge part of my life that I was missing. And I I got into a very, very depressed state because I wasn't getting that. And finding that with with you guys has just meant the world to me. And so anybody that's listening, I I highly encourage you that if if you don't have a community, come and join ours.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

Yeah, or go or yeah, find one.

SPEAKER_02 44:16

Yeah, find one. And you know, but I just want to encourage you.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

Mark was saying that coming down here, you know, like being the at-home person and coming down here for your your family, your son, but then just looking around and thinking, I yeah, I know my neighbor, but you know, now you go over and you have dinner with other people in progress, you show up on Thursdays, you you know, come and do a podcast at you know, with a bunch of playing backyard concerts at when Mark did his school of rock performance.

SPEAKER_04 44:47

Yeah, yeah. That's a great story for you to tell you.

SPEAKER_05 44:54

Yeah, so for for me, so my wife and I got involved to school of rock, the adult band program, because our grandson was involved in the program. Anyhow, um it's an adult band thing. We played before that night, we played three other times. And you know, your son come my son because he's here he comes and his wife and the grandson and whatnot. Um, a couple of the neighbors from the neighborhood showed up. But this last time, uh, which was just May, the end of the early part of May, and uh we were involved with already with our community in progress, and uh, you know, they showed up in mass. What did you say, like 16 people or something from Progress Came, uh, listened to us play, which put a little pressure on them, but that's all right. We we got through.

SPEAKER_04 45:47

But you asked for it.

SPEAKER_05 45:48

You didn't ask for it, but even but here's the thing. Here's here's the thing. It it was so fun, and then then like uh Jane's mom's older, my mom's 95. They're they don't live around here, they just want to hear us or whatever. And I'm like, I'll I'll do a FaceTime thing, FaceTime Live or something. And I'm like, I don't know how to do a FaceTime Live, but I know Jen knew how to do a FaceTime live. So I literally get here's my code on my camera, here's the thing here, and he did that for me, which my mom and my mother-in-law just love. So there again is our community, yeah, community, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:28

Right, Steve's gonna be like, take it away, take the button away.

SPEAKER_06 46:31

We're never taking it away.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

I don't know that he can say you should just call Karen and just hunt just community, community.

SPEAKER_04 46:40

But you want me to never be around for anything anymore, right? That's right. Karen can come afterwards. And and to be clear, my wife will help her bury the body.

SPEAKER_05 46:53

Chad?

SPEAKER_03 46:53

Who's Chad?

SPEAKER_05 46:54

We're making so much fun of that, but it it it's so true. It's so true. I mean, that's Steve's thing, it's the first thing he says, and you know, it it shows, it shows.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

And it's it's what they built, and it's what we talked about, and it's one of the main aspects of this podcast. So just like, you know, guys coming together, and you know, because normally it's the you know, the wives have their book clubs and the guys have like their you know, what scotch clubs? But yeah, it's like scotch guy. Okay, hypothetically, but just like we And just so you know, book clubs are not about books. Or about the bars of cigar cigars for the city. Yeah, cigar club, yeah. But book clubs to Chad's point, they're not about books. Um actually I was talking to Jane about that last night, where she wants to start a book club.

SPEAKER_02 47:38

We should do a cigar night now that you've said that. We should, we could.

SPEAKER_03 47:43

I just know that I'm not allowed to kiss the wife after doing a cigar night. Or at least I got a Listerine in like full month.

SPEAKER_04 47:48

I quit smoking in 2007, so I don't want to go anywhere near anything like that. I guess it's all disgusting. Respect that.

SPEAKER_02 47:55

Respect that. I don't I don't smoke cigarettes because I can't, because of my asthma and inhaling, so that's why I like cigars, because I still get a cigar to me is like best smelled when it's not lit.

SPEAKER_03 48:09

For the record, Mark just did the little pencil mustache, little curls.

SPEAKER_05 48:13

I was actually flipping a cigar around like you do when you smell it, but it's he was he was rolling it.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

Roll it, rolling, rolling smells.

SPEAKER_05 48:21

All right, John, you and I will have a cigar. That's right. Who's gonna join us? I could play some music while you smoke.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

There you go. There you are, okay. All right. It's a little good, a little good car. Okay, yeah. All right, I feel it.

SPEAKER_05 48:35

But you're right. This is a cool thing for guys to sit around. And you know, the funny part is, so it's the first time for me tonight, but like, and and we knew Ron was gonna be a little bit late, but we're all just sitting here with our headphones on our we're just talking normally, but we're not nothing to do with uh it's just felt easier to I don't know, maybe that's just oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

See, Jane, it's easy. Special shout out. Well, but just like having you know, having the ability to do this, having you know, and it's like and Ron and I, you know, we were talking about this earlier where there was a week, last week we saw each other like pretty much every single night.

SPEAKER_02 49:15

Six of the seven days.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah, six of the seven days, and it's just like happens more frequently than we'd like. Um but at the same time, I honestly didn't think about it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

We didn't even think about it, I think, until it was like the fifth or sixth day.

SPEAKER_03 49:33

Like it was Yeah, well, it was on Friday, and we're just like, we've seen each other like every day this week, dude.

SPEAKER_04 49:40

I know, and then you throw one or two like kid events in there and you're like, my week's gone.

SPEAKER_05 49:45

Yeah, yeah. But then you got something to do, like on Wednesday. Or fulfilled.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Yeah, or fulfilled, gone or fulfilled.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Yeah, wouldn't it change it? A little bit of both.

SPEAKER_05 49:55

Both, you're right.

SPEAKER_03 49:56

But wouldn't it change it? Wouldn't it change it? No, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 49:58

Nope. Right. And it's like Wednesday, what are we gonna do? Oh, we're gonna go see John do his do to the trivia. As long as it's not raining, right, Jan.

SPEAKER_04 50:06

Right, because we're not doing that inside because that's terrible. I couldn't hear it. Silent trivia is just not good.

SPEAKER_05 50:12

It was silent. It was silent, but it was so noisy. It was noisy.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

It was the loudest silent I've ever been in.

SPEAKER_05 50:18

I know. And I I go just for the again for the community because I I don't really answer any of the trivia questions.

SPEAKER_03 50:28

The history questions will pop up every once in a while.

SPEAKER_04 50:31

That's not the ones we get, though.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Yeah. Mark and I were there for just being warm bodies this past week. Let's establish this. I think most of the warm bodies.

SPEAKER_05 50:40

I don't think that I answered a question at night. That's fine. I think the two somebody had already answered. They were all always wrong. Or there's more like that.

SPEAKER_04 50:53

I like to think that it's not that they were wrong. John just was misinformed about the correct answer.

SPEAKER_05 50:59

It may be that some of that. But again, that's just a fun night. It has nothing to do with, you know, like it's just about a table with friends. But that's just sitting around with friends having a good time.

SPEAKER_04 51:13

And sometimes we make fun of John. True. Like we'll need to pull out the the stones again.

SPEAKER_03 51:18

The stone joke.

SPEAKER_04 51:19

Did you ever figure out what the stones were for?

SPEAKER_03 51:21

Every time you guys like what I do.

SPEAKER_04 51:23

Right. They were behavior stones. So you did pick up on that. I didn't. That's why sometimes you'd get a whole handful, sometimes you'd get a whole bunch taken. You play Dave Matthews, and Karen's like, give me a whole bunch, and you dump them right in.

SPEAKER_05 51:36

Oh, you'll you'll you'll always get dead if you do that. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:40

Right, because apparently that's the genre of the thing.

SPEAKER_05 51:42

And then there was that whole there was that whole thing about the speakers moving around last weekend. I look up and they're in a different thing, and I had to say to Chad, I go, What did that speaker was wasn't it a different way before?

SPEAKER_04 51:54

Yes, it was. Yes, it was. He was trying to make sure the birds could hear.

SPEAKER_06 51:59

Um that that interest, yeah. I thought it was new equipment, Chad's like, no, he's just trying to get like so.

SPEAKER_05 52:05

Here's Chad with all his stuff at this table. He's trying to get the great sound as he can for the room.

SPEAKER_04 52:12

I'm like, okay, I I understand. In the outdoor room right next to the fence.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

And the dog that doesn't stop barking. Oh, she's oh no, that the little dog behind me the whole time going.

SPEAKER_06 52:26

Oh, that one the the bar dog or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 52:29

Keep you on your toes.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

Yeah, I didn't know that. Hopefully.

SPEAKER_04 52:34

Or to bite your toes, whichever.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Probably the latter.

SPEAKER_04 52:42

But it's fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:43

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:44

Well, but that's just it. I mean, it's John thinks we're going to support him. Really, we're just going to hang out with and talk shit about it. Yeah, because we're just supporting him.

SPEAKER_05 52:54

He just walks around. Like, it's a weird job because he walks around from table to table, but he can't tell him anything. Right.

SPEAKER_04 53:02

That would be like I mean, I I say all the time, I'm like, his wife only shows up because she's sleeping with the DJ. Yeah, that could be not that she likes the trivia. She just likes the DJ.

SPEAKER_02 53:15

I was talking about his muscles because I tried to carry something. She's like, no, John's got it.

SPEAKER_03 53:22

I mean, fair.

SPEAKER_02 53:24

But he does.

SPEAKER_03 53:25

Yeah. He's got it. She took a picture of me cleaning windows one time and posted, I think I have a thing for the window cleaner. So you know, like. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:34

That's like my dibs on a drummer t-shirt. Right.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

It's a great t-shirt. Yeah. For the record, Jane plays drums.

SPEAKER_04 53:40

Right. He's really good at it.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

Yeah. It's self self-taught too.

SPEAKER_05 53:47

Uh no, we we've both uh lessons, but a lot of what Jane's a lot of her advancement is self-taught and and uh just a drive for doing it. Which is another thing. You could do those kind of things, guys, later in life. You could, you know, we just started this thing a couple years ago, so it's all good. Just find your thing and do it. Which is like this podcast, I suppose. I found my thing.

SPEAKER_04 54:16

This is the the you're listening to. There'll be a progress band at some point.

SPEAKER_05 54:20

Yeah, I'm I'm looking, I've been pushing for that behind the scenes already.

SPEAKER_03 54:23

So you guys learned rap songs, I'll all come in.

SPEAKER_05 54:27

Well, we maybe just need a rapper and I can play. All right. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 54:31

I can turn a mic off for anybody, it's no problem.

SPEAKER_03 54:32

Yeah, we can uh he's like, I don't want to hear this anymore. Click.

SPEAKER_05 54:37

No, what I found out playing more like guitar. Like there's definitely a genres that I like to listen to. But there's genres that I didn't particularly like but are so fun to play. So I would rap for me. I'd I'd be into playing it for sure.

SPEAKER_07 54:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:53

Well, because it's pretty much just all 70s and 60s, like it's all samples, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 54:59

So but I couldn't do those, but you know, I don't know. I could. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:05

I thought I thought that might get a little bit out of him because I couldn't do it like he might have done. Uh yeah, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 55:11

A hip hop.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

Hey, I just want to do a karaoke progress night. No, boy. No, yeah. No, you can just record us. No, no, that's worse. Hey, listen.

SPEAKER_05 55:22

I get the studio in the basement. I could do the karaoke, so like we could be I could scab in under the I mean that's I'm the one to record it. There we go.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

You know, y'all heard y'all hear it, heard it, Mark invite us over. You heard it.

SPEAKER_05 55:35

That's right. Absolutely. I heard it.

SPEAKER_02 55:39

We'll all show up.

SPEAKER_03 55:41

Uh we're here for the karaoke.

SPEAKER_04 55:43

When Jane hears this, she'll be like, Mark, what did you do? She'll love it. Are you trying to be all good? She'll be love it. She'll love it until we all show up, and then she'll be like, Mark, what did you do? What just happened? That's right. Why? Why did we do this? Yeah, where did you hear that, honey?

SPEAKER_03 55:59

I think some podcasts.

SPEAKER_02 56:00

You can pick whatever decade you want to dress up as, but you have to at least sing one song from the decade you dress up as.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

Yeah, so what decade is I'm gonna do the 1910s, so it's silent.

SPEAKER_05 56:10

What decade is Mario, though? Because that you have that great costume. I mean, that started 80s and 90s.

SPEAKER_04 56:16

Right, but that was more popular. Mario 3, right? Because that was the Super Nintendo. Super No, that would have been Nintendo.

SPEAKER_02 56:23

No, I know I'm saying then you have Super Mario, you know, and all that. I'll have to play that.

SPEAKER_05 56:31

Is that Mario? I can't remember if that was Pac-Man or Mario. No, right.

SPEAKER_04 56:35

No, that's Mario. The best thing I remember when the kids were young, we went to Schmidt's Sausage House and they had a band called Weezing and Squeezing. Okay. It was a tuba and an accordion. Okay. Wheezing and Squeezing. And it was so funny because they would play the Super Mario theme.

SPEAKER_03 56:53

And it was the best thing.

SPEAKER_05 56:56

It was awesome. Weezing and Squeezing. That is a great name, but I was going somewhere different like the I mean it makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 57:03

Tubas wheeze and you know, accordion squeeze. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 57:07

That does make sense when you put it that way. It was great.

SPEAKER_03 57:12

Are they still around?

SPEAKER_04 57:13

I don't know. We uh well when COVID hit like so many places that did live music and stuff. Yeah. It it all stopped and you know, it's slowly coming back. And and of course, now that the kids are older and actually eat real food, I don't want to take them anywhere. They cost too much.

SPEAKER_03 57:30

Fair.

SPEAKER_04 57:31

When they get out of that kids' meal stage, it's not worth taking them anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 57:35

Dude, I'll leave a kid's meal. Let's go. Kids under 12 eat free. I'm under 12.

SPEAKER_04 57:41

Not not not mentally, John. It's real age.

SPEAKER_03 57:45

I could shave my beard. You want to know.

SPEAKER_05 57:49

Yeah, I'm just realizing that now. Um is that part of this? You gotta have a beard to put it?

SPEAKER_03 57:55

No.

SPEAKER_05 57:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 57:57

Because technically Steve doesn't have a beard, he has a goatee.

SPEAKER_05 58:00

Oh, that's facial hair, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 58:03

I mean, you know.

SPEAKER_05 58:04

I could put it on. Give me a week, I can have it.

SPEAKER_03 58:09

I'll hold you to that.

SPEAKER_02 58:11

So we should do it a progress no-shave November or something.

SPEAKER_03 58:16

All right. I already did a yeared, so that's how this all started.

SPEAKER_04 58:21

Actually, that would be really cool because you could do that no-shave November and make donations to the fund to buy Christmas gifts for the families that they support.

SPEAKER_02 58:30

Absolutely. All right. Mark's.

SPEAKER_05 58:40

That's one thing I did learn in this short time with this group that Ched's Chad's the idea guy. You know, he's always throwing that idea out there.

SPEAKER_04 58:49

Don't execute on, but I um yeah, I can definitely throw an idea out there.

SPEAKER_03 58:53

That's why you got your community to help you do it. We've all got our tasks. We've all we've talked about that, you know, circle back. We've all talked about it before.

SPEAKER_04 58:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:00

We all got our roles to play in our different things that we're doing.

SPEAKER_04 59:02

Right. Well, and sometimes, and I I'm really big on this, by throwing an idea out there, it may not be what you want to do, but it may make you rethink what you were thinking to get you on the right path to help you get over that hurdle.

SPEAKER_05 59:17

Yeah, there's a lot of thought in that one.

SPEAKER_04 59:21

I've seen it happen in the corporate world a lot of times.

SPEAKER_05 59:24

That's remember, guys, I'm a I'm a fireman. I put wet stuff on the red stuff in.

SPEAKER_06 59:29

So sometimes you're talking, you're talking beyond me. I put the wet stuff on the red stuff. Yeah, that's basically the job.

SPEAKER_03 59:40

And then help the people out. Yes. Oh boy. All right. Well, that was that was fun. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 59:51

I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Yeah, we will catch you all in the next one. And Mark, thank you. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:04

I feel like I need to just say this out one more time.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:11

What a way to go out.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:12

You're welcome.