Touch Grass & Grab a Cart: This Week's Local Tea

Recorded from the historic Adelphi Hotel, Zac and Noel are spilling Saratoga’s local tea ☕️.

This week: emotional support water bottles, Target’s long-awaited cart upgrade (yes, cup holders), Lincoln Baths updates, and the tree controversy everyone’s talking about.

Plus, Zac debuts a new segment—Opinions—where nothing is off limits.

Local, unfiltered, and a little off track… just how we like it.

Transcript

Noel 0:00

Ooh, I'm Emmy Award-winning journalist Noel McLaren.

Zac 0:03

And I'm local business owner Zac Denham. And this is Off-Track Saratoga Podcast.

Noel 0:08

Sometimes we're on track.

Zac 0:09

Sometimes we go a little off.

Noel 0:12

But it's always worth the listen. Ready?

Zac 0:15

Girl, I've been ready.

Noel 0:17

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Hi, cuties. Today we're coming to you from the always stunning historic Adelphi Hotel. Right now, we are hanging in the cozy library, and you can hang at the Adelphi with some cozy live music every Tuesday night at Morsey's. Be sure to check that out every Tuesday from 6 to 9 at Morrissey's Lounge and Bistro. Do you have problems over

Rebooting Zac

Noel 0:40

there?

Zac 0:40

Hang on. I think I was unplugged, girl. User error. 404 error. Have you tried unplugging Zach and plugging him back in?

Noel 0:49

Um, the version of that is actually your emotional support water bottle.

Zac 0:54

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Emotional Support Water Bottles

Noel 0:55

Let's talk about Zach's emotional support water bottle, which I can make fun of him till I'm blue in the face, but look it.

Zac 1:04

Cheers. Cheers, girl. Listen, listen, yes, I am, I am a big cup girly. When did it happen? I don't know. Um, what was it? You said you saw something somebody posted.

Noel 1:17

If you have seen Zach in the Wild, you've probably seen him with his giant pink water bottle. And I think you said you have multiple giant. I have a couple different things. I have a few. Okay. I also have two pink ones, and I my two are the Stanley brand. Not because I am a brat about my branding. It's just what works for me.

Zac 1:37

Yep.

Noel 1:38

I'm a simple modern girl. Simple modern girl.

Zac 1:40

Simple modern is cool because I forget what the percentage is, but they donate a percentage of their sales back. Um I think it's for clean water initiatives and stuff. So I can get behind that.

Noel 1:54

Okay, yeah. Um, I every time I use my Stanley, however, I am frustrated by the fact that, like, especially if I'm going, my son wrestles, we go to wrestling tournaments, you put him in the bleachers and like somebody's gonna knock him over.

Zac 2:08

Yeah, girl, it never fails. Anytime, I mean, that's a that's the clunk herd around the world.

Noel 2:14

So then my engineer husband is like, why don't you get one that does not leak? And I am like, well, listen, I need a straw because if I don't have a straw with my water bottle, I will not drink it. Um I this for whatever reason helps me drink water faster.

Zac 2:32

I learned that I go through at least three, maybe four of the four refills a day. And um, I was reading

The Most & Least Hydrated Generations

Zac 2:40

an article not too long ago, and it was like, we millennials, right, are the most hydrated generation on record. And it's so funny because it's like as a child, I don't remember ever drinking a cup of water.

Noel 2:55

I think it's because now we're the most hydrated. No, I beg to differ. Jen Alpha is the most hydrated, hydrated generation because if my son forgets his water bottle in the car when he's getting out at the drop-off lane, he is lost. We never got sent to school with water bottles. 100%. No. You you had to make it all the way through to lunch, and when you got to lunch, you either had a carton of milk, if you're from up here, a little Stewie's, or you had the bag. We had the milk. The bag where you had to poke it.

Zac 3:24

We had white milk, chocolate milk, and orange juice. That was it. Those were your options.

Noel 3:28

Not water wasn't an option. How wild did you have?

Zac 3:31

I don't remember. But now I'm having wild flashbacks of standing in the line in the cafeteria, like behind all the kids waiting to go. And then there's like that lawn at where at my elementary school there was a um wall-installed kind of trough with a bunch of like water falling and a bunch of soap, and you like wash your hands, and then you go and God. Yeah, what a trip. What a time. What a time to be alive. But it is one of those things, like at my house as a kid, it was Capri Sun Tang Sunny D. Sonny D for sure. Yeah. But I don't remember. And I wasn't a soda kid.

Noel 4:07

Because I hated soda.

Zac 4:09

Mama always had like a two-liter of uh Dr. Pepper or regular full fat Coke in the house. That's normal. But it wasn't ours. Right. It was hers. And she would have like a sip. Like she would have a cup or a glass, rather, at like nine o'clock, whenever she was going to tuck herself in and read her book until she couldn't hold her eyes open. And like, but as a young person, I don't remember just being like, I'll have a glass of water. And it's like I see all these kids now, and these are very like everybody's out there watering their teeth.

Noel 4:38

Very, very high. That's what I'm saying. It's not us, it's Jen Alpha that's super hydrated.

Zac 4:43

I'm truly making up for it.

Noel 4:45

I am too. Well, so that's where this started is the emotional support water bottle.

Zac 4:49

I literally am everywhere without it.

Noel 4:50

I mean, so the joke is yes, he every every podcast episode we record. Do you have ice in yours?

Zac 4:57

I do.

Noel 4:57

Okay, can you bring it over here every time? This is how I know Zach is arriving in the room. This is what I hear.

Zac 5:05

Zach is here. Zach's here.

Noel 5:07

He's just down the hallway.

Zac 5:09

Listen.

Noel 5:10

Because I usually get a little bit early to start setting up all the equipment, and then Zach comes in with his little jingles, and I'm like, oh, he's arrived. But I saw um, I I thought this was just a daily adventure, but I saw pictures of you out. Well, I don't remember where you were. Maybe you were at Standard Fair, and and I saw you like having a grand old time holding you a water bottle. He's like, listen. So this is a constant thing.

Zac 5:38

It is a constant thing. But I think it could be worse. I think it could be much worse. It's true.

Noel 5:43

You know, it's true.

Zac 5:44

Anyway, I mean I could be huffing on a on an iPad like the kids now. Not you know, well, that's what I call the the electric electric cigarettes. I just like it looks like you're smoking an iPad. Can you just have a cigarette? I'm not going, I'm not going down there.

Noel 5:59

How many soapboxes have you had to have?

Zac 6:00

Oh my God. We had to remove we had to call a moving company to literally get the boxes out of the room. I was determined to stand on something. I'm here to stand on business today.

Noel 6:10

I agree.

The Local Tea: New Target Carts

Noel 6:12

Moving on to the local tea, our fun yap segment.

Zac 6:15

So what are we talking about today?

Noel 6:17

Okay, so the the big story of the day. And if you are a mom, you know, they have new carts at Target at the Saratoga Target. We have had the same old carts at our Target for months now.

Zac 6:34

The church house got an upgrade. Target is church, honey.

Noel 6:39

She went from like an old beat-up lemon, from like an old Toyota to like She got a Cadillac, honey. She's a Cadillac. She is.

Zac 6:51

Yes, right. If you've been to the uh Target uh location in Wilton, uh write in and let us know what's your feedback on the new upgrades uh for the carts. Uh when when Noelle texted me this, it was like, you know, three breaking news. I mean the Target in Wilton has new carts. And I it was it was honestly like saying the Beatles arrived to SPAC. It was that much joy.

Noel 7:21

These are the things that bring me joy. I don't think I'm alone in that though, because I feel like on on local Facebook groups, people are like, oh, this location got new new carts. This one did. But listen, anything that makes your life easier and more convenient and more enjoyable, it's the little things. 100%. Would you like to hear the features of the new model?

Zac 7:41

Absolutely.

Noel 7:42

Okay, so it used to just be that you just had the two sections, the section where you put your child, the little seat, and then the back part where you put your things that you're purchasing. Now we have not one, but two cup holders.

Zac 7:57

Whoa.

Noel 7:58

Two cup holders, so you can shop at your leisure and put your drink down.

Zac 8:03

Oh, I can bring my emotional support cup.

Noel 8:04

You can bring your emotional support cup with you and get a coffee.

Zac 8:07

That's amazing. Yeah. Okay, what else?

Noel 8:10

And then you also have just like a flat tablet area. So whether that's for you checking off your grocery list or for your screaming child who's sitting in front of you.

Zac 8:18

Yeah. Very cool. Uh yeah. I mean, I always kind of wondered why the ones up here didn't have at the very least a cup holder, because my local tar well, my former local target in um Jersey City, we had cup holders, and I thought that was so chic. Well, so what now you're telling me I have two honey two honey, we've arrived.

Noel 8:37

What it used to be. We did have a cup holder, but it was a detachable one that you would have to put in like one of those little side holes.

Speaker 2 8:44

Yeah, yeah.

Noel 8:44

And they they were always breaking, sometimes they fell down, so it was unreliable. And people stole them. So even though we had cup holders, they like they weren't there for I want to say like a year or two, they haven't had cup holders.

Zac 8:59

Well, this is this is a major upgrade. Big deal. Uh, everybody go and enjoy your stroll. Nothing brings me more joy than a Sunday stroll in a Target with zero agenda. But I can't wait to check it out myself. Thanks for the tease.

Noel 9:14

The real review is actually up to Ace when I put him in it, and I'll let you know what his thoughts are because

Ace Reviews the new Target Carts

Noel 9:21

he is the biggest critic. Ace, my four-year-old, who's got so many opinions. Put me in this. Put you in this? Oh, I can push with one hand.

Speaker 2 9:30

I like this cart so much that I'm coming here every day. What do you like about the cart? It has couplers.

Noel 9:38

Is the new seat comfier or less comfy than it is on the old cart?

Speaker 2 9:42

Less comfy. Because the first time that I sit in it, and the second time, it poked my butt.

Noel 9:51

Oh my goodness! Alright, so maybe it's better for smaller butts, you think? Quick pause for a second. If you're a local business owner and you're listening to this podcast right now, there's a good chance your customers are too. Off-Track Saratoga is all about the people, places, and businesses that make this community what it is. And we're looking to partner with a small group of local sponsors who want to reach Saratoga listeners in a real authentic way. Podcast ads work because they're personal. They're read by us, talked about on the show, and heard by people who actually care about what's happening in this town. So if you'd like your business featured on Off-Track Saratoga, send us a message on Instagram or reach out through our page. We'd love to work with you. All right, let's get back to the episode. So, some more local tea. The Lincoln

The Local Tea: Lincoln Bath Upgrades/ Trees

Noel 10:36

Baths getting an upgrade. We've known that for a while, but we're starting to actually huge, huge, huge. We're starting to see some of the progress, like it's actually, you know, happening. I went to the children's museum, and um, you can't go in one side of the entrance because they're redoing the parking lot, which is awesome. Gonna be so much more convenient for moms. For sure. Um, there's going to be, here's some of the project details that they list. Okay. Um, it's mostly interior, the visitor welcome hall with a park gift store, which I think is awesome. Take a little piece of the park with you. Wayfinding and amenity information. Okay, cool. New exhibit space, exploring the history of Saratoga's mineral spring waters, improved park offices and multi-purpose meeting rooms, new HVAC equipment, sprinkler systems, structural upgrades, ED charging stations.

Zac 11:29

Yeah. Yeah.

Noel 11:30

Lots of really cool upgrades. And I mean, to me, when I would go to like the farmer's market there, I always just would think, wow, this space is so underused. I was so excited when at least you know the children's museum moved over there. They've done some beautiful things with that. Um, so I'm just excited like to see where we go from here.

Zac 11:50

I agree. I think having uh another space in town that uh highlights the history of of Saratoga and um, you know, shares what makes town so special uh for locals and visitors alike, I think is always a good thing.

Noel 12:06

Well, and I think that particular location is great too because you get a lot of foot traffic in there from locals and from tourists, right? You get the people who are bringing their kids to the children's museum, you get the walkers who are going through town, who are taking their dogs, who are just going through a stroll down the avenue of the pines, and it leads you straight to there. So you could now pick up a little gift, um, learn a little something. Most of the response that I've seen online has been pretty positive, but something that is stirring a little bit of controversy up or that I saw is a huge tree removal project. Um, there are people that are saying, Oh my gosh, I was stunned. I walked back there, and it's a the Lorax situation. The park and the people who are doing this project have gone online and have said, Well, I mean, we needed to do this, it was a safety issue. And I think they're old and dead trees.

Zac 12:59

Um I don't know if you heard me interrupting you.

Noel 13:01

I did. You and I interrupt each other all the time.

Zac 13:07

I didn't even flinch. Did you hear me speaking over you over you still?

Noel 13:11

Did you notice how I didn't even flinch for even a second? I know, I know. Because I just know that's how but I do the same thing to you. We do that together, and then on top of it, like I said, I have two small children that have absolutely zero restraint. I can do that. None.

Zac 13:25

Yeah, I mean, here's the thing it is a safety issue. Yes, 80 some odd trees were were removed, um, but they were removed to make way for 120 plus trees. And I think people fail to um read the whole um plan. People stop, and um I think it's m I think it's very easy for people to choose outrage or choose to have an opinion about something, right? Um, especially when it can be from a place that's negative.

People only read Headlines, not full articles

Noel 13:55

I think that this is a problem in general with our society right now. We are a headline read-only society. Soundbite society. Soundbite society. And so people just read the first headline, and that's what they're going with. They're not gonna read the whole article. And so, some not great publications or people who are not seasoned at reporting or giving out information, they're gonna give you that gotcha headline to suck you in. It's clickbait. But you know, if you don't read the whole article, it's misleading.

Zac 14:28

Yeah, it's totally misleading. So for all of you who may be listening and are were part of the the damn you, leave my trees alone. You do that very well. Um for those of y'all who might be in that camp, please know like they're adding what they took away plus some. So here's the thing in order to pave the way for the future, sometimes we have to make certain fundamental improvements. And this is what we're sacrificing those old trees, and we're bringing in some new ones, and everybody's gonna be happy.

Noel 15:00

But I also heard that those old trees um were not native anyway. Yeah. I forget what kind they were, but they were not native, and the the new trees that they are planting are gonna be native native trees. So it's actually in the long run bad. I don't know.

Zac 15:12

I think it's gonna be great. And here's the thing everybody always loves to be mad about everybody loves to be mad about something. Let them let children.

Noel 15:19

Why do people want to be bothered with that?

Zac 15:20

Let these people be mad in all the flavors of all the world. People love to choose salty. Let them.

Noel 15:27

I like to choose salty.

Zac 15:29

Listen, honey. Uh I uh as a food person, I do love salt. I don't love a hand, heavy hand on salt. Um, but uh salt is meant to elevate and lift flavors, not be the flavor. Yeah, I I think we should all keep an eye on this uh major renovation, but I think ultimately in the long run, having a community space uh that is ready to usher in a new generation and a new uh wave of people uh in Saratoga Springs, I think that is a very special thing, and I can't wait to see how it un unfolds. To kind of uh give a little callback to a previous episode. I am actively

Zac needs a Hibachi date

Zac 16:12

looking for people to accompany me to hibachi.

Noel 16:16

This was a huge thing that I had no idea people would respond to this so much. People had some big opinions about Zach never going to hibachi. I mean, unreal. So funny. Here's the thing: everybody wants to take your hibachi virginity.

Zac 16:35

Yeah, let's do it, baby.

Noel 16:36

Everybody is fighting.

Zac 16:38

There's uh there's, I mean, honestly, for those of you who really want to do it, write in.

Noel 16:42

Here's what I want to know. And I feel like I need to poll the listener audience for this. Where should Zach's first hibachi experience be? Where should he go first? There's several here in Saratoga.

Zac 16:57

But then I like I hear that there's so many other options a little south of the first.

Noel 17:01

There's some that are a few south of us. Yep. So where should Zach's first experience be and why?

Zac 17:07

Yeah, right in. Um I I definitely want to close the loop on this conversation because it was such a funny, we got such a funny response. Overwhelming, overwhelmingly funny response from this. Yeah. It was ridiculous. Um, what I want to do with you though, Noelle, is I um I want to pitch a a recurring reoccurring segment that I want to call opinions. Okay. Okay, so basically what I want to do

Opinions

Zac 17:33

is I want to throw out topics or uh, you know, anything that you could have a, you know, an opinion on, good, bad. Otherwise, you can keep it as brief as possible. Or as yeah, like I think it'd be fun. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. Okay, so this is a segment we like to call opinions. I'm scared.

Noel 17:56

I'm awake now. Emotional support water bottle. Come here. All right. Cancel culture. I

Opinions: Cancel Culture

Noel 18:04

don't like it. I think it serves a purpose, but I also feel like everybody makes mistakes. And I feel like people deserve a second chance. And I think that maybe like time out culture would be better than cancel culture.

Zac 18:20

I love that.

Noel 18:20

Go sit and time out, think about what you've done, but I think everybody should have a chance to come back and redeem themselves. You know, maybe maybe we don't like trust them or look at them the same way.

Zac 18:34

I think that's super fair.

Noel 18:35

And very doesn't mean we have to be like best friends with this individual who was canceled or who was put in time out, right? But everybody deserves a second chance.

Zac 18:46

Timeout culture over cancel culture, timeout culture over cancel culture. Timeout culture over cancel culture. I like that. I can get behind that. Okay, uh up next, micro bangs.

Noel 18:55

Like

Opinions: Micro Bangs

Noel 18:56

the tiny little bangs. I see, uh no, hate him. Hate him, cancel those because cancel those. I don't have to have a relationship with those ever again because I feel like they look like an accident. Um my husband once gave our four-year-old micro bangs.

Zac 19:14

Okay.

Noel 19:14

It was a very tough year.

Zac 19:15

Down with micro bangs, randomly receiving a FaceTime.

Opinions: Random Facetimes

Noel 19:18

No. Text me first, make sure I'm decent, and we can FaceTime. Uh depends on the person, I think, as well. I think that um my husband can FaceTime me anywhere. I think that um anytime. I think that my best friends can FaceTime me anywhere. Although one of my best friends absolutely never FaceTime her. She hates it. I I think, yeah, no, unless you're like on the short list of my my favorite people on my phone. No.

Zac 19:48

Okay. Being late.

Noel 19:49

I don't like it now that I'm older, but I was frequently tardy as a child. So maybe it's because I've worked very hard on it. No, I hate it.

Zac 20:00

Okay.

Noel 20:01

Respect my time. I don't have a lot of it.

Zac 20:04

Not using your blinker.

Noel 20:05

I mean, it's a stupid

Opinions: Forgetting your Blinker

Noel 20:07

little button on a stalk. Just do it.

Zac 20:09

A button on a stalk?

Noel 20:10

Yeah, not a button on a stalk. It's on a stalk. Just flip that shit down. Have I been married to Rob too long?

Zac 20:17

A stalk? Wait, is that what it's really called? It's called a stalk, right? S-T-A-L-K. Like a stalk of. Let's get him on the line. Yeah, let's get Rob on the line. Let's get Rob on the line. Like a stalk of.

Noel 20:29

But wait, what is it?

Zac 20:31

S T O C K? Let's call the man.

Noel 20:33

S-T-A-L-K.

Zac 20:35

A corn stalk.

Noel 20:36

It's an ear of corn. Yeah, a corn stalk.

Zac 20:38

Or a stalk of um Yeah, let's get Rob on the line.

Noel 20:41

Let's get Rob on the line. Let's phone a friend. Yeah, it's a stalk. You're on the podcast.

Zac 20:47

Hey Rob.

Noel 20:48

Um I I have a question. When you put your blinker on, what's the thing that you use to initiate said blinker to turn it on?

Speaker 20:59

The turn signal stalker.

Zac 21:01

Oh God.

Noel 21:03

I knew it! I got it right!

Zac 21:04

You got it right. I got it right. I had no idea. Had no idea.

Noel 21:08

That's it. How do you feel about people not using their blinkers?

Speaker 21:11

Annoying, but I do it sometimes too.

Zac 21:14

Hey, listen, we love an honest man. You got you, one girl. I love you. I love you too. Okay, bye. Bye, Rob. Oh my God. Rob's Rob's podcast IPU. Oversharing.

Noel 21:29

Love it. I love oversharing. I am a serial oversharer. Um, I feel like when you overshare with somebody, or you uh just wear your heart on your sleeve, or you talk a lot, you're showing that like you're comfortable with me. So to me, it's a sign of I like you. It's like a dog wagging their tail. You're oversharing with me. You trust me with this information.

Zac 21:52

Now, um, part two of Are you supposed to be answering these two, or is this just for me?

Noel 21:55

Nope, this is just for you. All right.

Zac 21:57

Oversharing online, overshare in person.

Noel 22:00

Online, they live forever.

Zac 22:02

Yeah.

Noel 22:02

And so you could be canceled or put in time out for oversharing. Um, I think that sometimes it's like enough's enough. Keep something for you and keep something for your friends. It's it's pick me a little bit if you overshare online. That's what the kids say, right? That's pick me.

Zac 22:20

Pick me.

Noel 22:20

That's what Jenna said, right? It's a bit pick me.

Zac 22:23

Yeah. Um virtue signaling on social media.

Noel 22:27

What the heck is that?

Opinions: Virtue Signaling

Zac 22:29

Um virtue what? Virtue signaling. What is it? Do you want the actual Yeah?

Noel 22:33

I would like the actual definition of virtue signaling.

Zac 22:37

Virtue signaling is the conspicuous, often performative expression of moral values or political opinions, typically on social media, aimed at enhancing one's social standing or appearing to be, quote, a good person.

Noel 22:48

Oh, so you're basically saying those self-righteous person. Oh, now I know your opinion about it.

Zac 22:54

You know.

Noel 22:55

I mean, I feel like, yeah, no, like, show me you're a good person. Don't tell me. That's just not the same as in like online. It's the same in life. Yeah. Your actions say so much more to me.

Zac 23:06

And lastly, kids with cell phones

Opinions: Kids with Cell Phones & Social Media

Zac 23:08

and social media.

Noel 23:09

No. No, no, no, no, no. We have discussed at length about how addicted I have become to my phone. And I still want to do that segment of me getting a flip phone and what that's like for me because I am the first to admit I will just be sitting there for no reason. And it's healthy to have a blank brain, right? I mean, as women, I feel like we struggle to have blank brains, but like to just like sit and take in the birds and touch grass, like the second. Not touch grass. Touch grass.

Zac 23:37

Not touch grass. You touch grass.

Noel 23:39

I touch grass. I like to go for a good hike.

Zac 23:41

Wait, do you know that that's a saying, right? Yeah, I know.

Noel 23:43

I like to actually touch grass.

Zac 23:45

I can't tell you the last time I actually touched grass. And a lot of people, I read often that it's like if you put if your barefoot and grass to the ground is really grounding for you.

Noel 23:53

It is. It's really, really.

Zac 23:56

So I have been in New York City and I'm not taking my shoes off in a public. You know what I mean?

Noel 24:01

Your ass is gonna be in a seat.

Zac 24:03

Let's do it.

Noel 24:03

And your feet are gonna be on the grass. Let's ground a bitch. Ground, grounding. But yeah, so I feel like in those moments where I could be grounding or touching grass, I immediately just, it's like a reflex. I reach for my phone and I hate that about myself. And I'm trying to be better, and I don't want to give this disease to my children. Um, and I feel like being present is just so mentally healthy. And I've said this so often. I feel like each generation has their little battle with something big that's like bad for your generation that they're going to annihilate. And for us, I feel like it was like we had the DARE program, right? Cigarettes are bad. They cause cancer. We're going to get rid of them. So then I feel like Gen Z has tackled alcohol in a sense. They they are more into different things. I think Gen Alpha is going

Gen Alpha will Eliminate Social Media

Noel 24:56

to be like, look at how mentally ill all the generations before us have become.

Zac 25:00

They're gonna put it down.

Noel 25:01

They're gonna put it down and they're gonna be like, nope. And I hope they do. Um, listen, I love social media the way it works. Yeah, we're here on a social platform right now. I love connecting with people, but this is different. This is not like you can put this down. This is like a radio show, right? It's just you choose when you listen. I don't, I don't include TV and podcasting and that's it. That's more like entertainment. I feel like going back to how social media used to be, like when you had to view it on a computer, is so much better. I want my kids to have access to social media, but be able to walk away from it and put it down.

Zac 25:40

Let them be bored. Here's the thing. I

Let Them Be Bored

Zac 25:43

you can say you you know this too. We're children of the 90s. Yeah. Let them be bored. I find, and this is coming from somebody who doesn't have kids, of course. And everybody's probably like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no talking. But you're around enough kids. I'm around enough kids, you know, and it's like let them be bored. It's okay for them to be bored. And I find, you know, just in observing um, you know, parenting now, it's like parents are so desperate to occupy the kids and and and all the, you know, or or are, you know, I have to feel like I'm their friend in a way.

Noel 26:15

And if they're doing nothing, like give them a screen. Yeah. That's where creativity so supposedly is born is being born. With your thoughts. With your thoughts.

Zac 26:25

Be with your thoughts. It's so that we don't want to be like, I think it needs to be there needs to be an organic element to discovery of the world and discovery of the self.

Noel 26:34

They need to touch grass.

unknown 26:35

They gotta touch grass.

Noel 26:36

You know what was actually really promising to me is my son um came home from school yesterday. He got off the bus and it was very Mac. Mac. Um he got off the bus, and Ace is not, you know, he's in preschool still, so he has like a shorter day. But Mac got off his school bus and he had an early practice, an early wrestling practice. Um, and I said, time to get in the car. And he was like, Mom, I just got home. He was like all mad at me. And he wanted to play outside. He wanted free time to just play outside. And I was like, But it stays lighter out earlier, so as soon as you're done with practice, we can get home and you could do that. And then he was fine with it as long as he knows he can have that. But I love that he still has that innocence to do that, and I want to preserve that at all costs. 100% does have an Apple Watch, so I said we've talked about this too, so I can selfishly get in touch with him. Um, and so I can send him outside and retrieve him and say, Hey Mac, time to come home, come back. Yeah. Um, but that's that's it. But like it's yeah, no, I not not a fan, not a fan, and I never thought I'd be that way. I think that a lot of parents um kind of end up getting their kids phones or devices because it's like, well, every other kid does. Yeah. So actually, what do you all think is like the perfect age for that?

Zac 27:56

I mean, I now granted we come from a we come from a different time. Um no, we could we do come from a different time, but I mean, cell phones were a thing whenever I was in high school. And the deal was I could have a phone when I got a car. And when I got my car, I got my phone. And the old and this is back in the day when you know we're doing T9 texting and the whole thing, right? We're talking my little Nokia phone. Um, I could only use it to let my parents know where when I've arrived somewhere, right? And when I was leaving somewhere. Yep, that's that's the purpose. Having that as a point of reference, I guess, to how far we've kind of come in terms of like phone culture and all that stuff. What was great about it is I was able to be still within contact or within reach of my parents at any moment. Yes, but I was not tethered to the device in a way that we have become tethered to the device. And, you know, and I think a lot of it has to come with the fact that the device itself has become so multifaceted. You know, we've talked about this before. Like we, you know, if you wanted to use a computer, you literally had to like carve out time to go to go to the computer, right? And now it's like, oh, everybody has a computer in their pocket.

Noel 29:13

It also I think created. That's the challenge, I think. I think it also created a wave of mystery. None of us are mysterious anymore, right? Like, so I remember being in college and you were on your computer doing your work, and maybe you had your like little aim chat in the corner, and you'd be talking to your friends, you know, and when it was time to get up and go away and go to class or go eat or just leave your dorm, you would put up an away message, like not here right now, whatever, you know. And it was you'd sit there and wait and be like, oh, I wonder when they're coming up, coming up, gonna come back on, or you know, how many messages am I gonna have to do that? How many messages and even like the answering machines

Answering Machines and Voicemails

Noel 29:53

I miss having an answering machine because do you who leaves a voicemail anywhere? Do people leave voicemails or is it?

Zac 30:02

Not if they uh the only people who leave voicemails are people who want some.

Noel 30:06

I was gonna say, because if I let's say I call you and you don't answer, I'm not I'm hanging up before the voice message. I'm just gonna go.

Zac 30:16

Call me when you get a minute.

Noel 30:17

Do you want to hear something funny? Yeah, for sure. Where's my phone? These are all of the voicemails that I have. There's only one person who leaves me voicemails, and it's my mom. And this is ready. Here we go.

Zac 30:29

She's such an icon.

Speaker 30:30

Call me. Call me. It's important. Call me. Important.

unknown 30:36

Well, kind of important.

Speaker 30:39

Wait, please call me peanut.

Noel 30:42

Who is peanut? It's important. It's always important.

Zac 30:45

Yeah, corned beef and cabbage is important. Chicken pop chicken pop.

Noel 30:50

Chicken Popeye, where's the best? Oh, here we go. Then, like, this is my grandmother. There's a trash bag.

Speaker 30:57

This is grandma. We're driving along, and I did send you an email. I didn't know whether you got it or not.

Noel 31:04

She's so forward. She sent me an email. She's 97 years old.

Zac 31:09

Girl, I sent you an email. I'm going to see if you can.

Noel 31:12

This is more my mother ready. Call me. It's just a constant string of please keep those. Sometimes I keep it.

Zac 31:20

Keep every one of them. I don't have one voicemail from my mom, and I wish I did. So keep all of that. That's hilarious.

Noel 31:27

To your comment about save the voicemails. Oh my god. I actually do have um I love that something from my grandmother that I absolutely won't delete. Anyway, so we went off track per usual. Am I supposed to ask your opinion about things maybe next time?

Zac 31:43

Come back with something for you.

Noel 31:44

With opinions for you.

Zac 31:45

Um and then yeah, if any of our listeners out there want my opinion on anything, feel free to write it.

Noel 31:51

I think everybody does.

Zac 31:52

Um yeah. So uh any fun weekend plans uh coming up this week? Any events you're attending?

Noel 31:58

Um, what's going on this weekend? I think we have finally the last wrestling tournament of the season. Okay.

Zac 32:03

How about you? The one thing that I'm looking forward to tonight will be the

Farewell to Overdress to Impress

Zac 32:07

final overdress to impress. When this airs, it'll be we'll be getting ready for our final uh event. Uh this year, what makes this year really special is uh it's kind of a nod to to the the roots, right? Pull anything out of your closet that makes you feel good. Uh get out there and have a fun time. But this year, 100% of our proceeds are going to Wellspring Foundation, which is really great. Yeah. Uh they do great work out there. We partnered with them last year. The the support was really great. Um, and this year we decided let's let's go out with a bang with with the girls and our friends over at Saratoga Living. So um it'll be bittersweet. Um, but we know there's always another party.

Noel 32:46

Yeah, there's gonna be some other party, but this one was a fun one. Um this one, I think, especially I think it began in the middle of COVID, right?

Zac 32:54

So right out of COVID, 2020. Right out of it.

Noel 32:56

It was like the first 2021 step back into normalcy. So that's why I think it's kind of special.

Zac 33:02

Yeah, so I think um I think it's had a good run. I think it's been a really great time. You put on a dress, go twirl with your girlfriends, have a cocktail, have a good time. It's not that deep, but I'm very excited to um send it out with a bang, hang out with all my friends. I'm excited to see what everybody's wearing. I'm gonna wear.

Noel 33:19

I have something on order that I hope arrives in time, and if not, it will be my B option from last year.

Zac 33:25

Hey, well, the A option last year was really good. Thank you. I thought that was a really colorful. I thought that was fierce. It was fun.

Noel 33:31

It was fun, fantastic.

Zac 33:32

Yeah, so I'm looking forward to that. Um, and uh, I'm looking forward to it. It seems like the weather breaking is just around the corner, too. I'm trying not to get too excited. I'm trying to keep myself humble.

Noel 33:43

Should we look at what it's gonna be?

Zac 33:44

Oh god, I'm scared.

Noel 33:45

Okay,

Spring is that you?

Noel 33:46

so um we've got we've got it's see, it's a tease.

Zac 33:50

We've got Oh my god, no.

Noel 33:53

No way!

Zac 33:54

No. And then honey, that makes that that's not believable. They're do that's they're they're they're that's a that's a they're twisting our teeth.

Noel 34:02

So what Zach and I are looking at is we're looking at the forecast for the week that this this episode is airing. The week where April and March meet, and um we kind of start off where it feels springy, like in like the 50s, and then we go just like flirt with the 40s, and then by the end of the week on Friday, we see an 80-degree holy moly. But you know what?

Zac 34:26

I know, no, I'm still I'm still keeping that um at an arm's length because I'm not gonna get allow myself to get excited.

Noel 34:32

I used to say when I worked in news that my um meteorologist buddies, it's the one job where you can consistently be wrong and still keep your job.

Zac 34:41

And still keep your job.

Noel 34:42

Right.

Zac 34:43

Nowhere else. So if there's anything uh going on in and around town that you think we need to be informed on and sharing with the community, please make sure that you write in to us at off-track talk on Instagram.

Noel 34:55

We want to keep the local tea piping hot.

Zac 34:58

Absolutely.

Noel 34:59

And thank you so much to our sponsors at Saratoga Tea and Honey. Be sure to check them out.

Zac 35:02

Be sure to check them out. And until next time, thanks for tuning in to another episode of Off Track Saratoga. Bye! I love the wave. What a nerd. What a couple of nerds.