How to Ruin a Marriage in 60 Days #162

Summary

Bellied Up Podcast Episode Summary

Title: How to Ruin a Marriage in 60 Days #162
Hosts: You Betcha Guy (Myles) & Charlie Berens
Release Date: July 31, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this engaging episode of the Bellied Up podcast, hosts Myles (You Betcha Guy) and Charlie Berens delve into the tumultuous journey of marital breakdowns, blending humor with heartfelt discussions. The episode features live interactions from listeners, including a particularly poignant call from Cody, who shares his experiences with divorce and a personal accident. Additionally, the hosts entertain a creative caller passionate about bladesmithing, offering business advice amidst the laughter and camaraderie typical of the show.

Live Show Reflections

The episode kicks off with Myles and Charlie reflecting on their recent live show at Will’s Northwoods in Chicago. They reminisce about the unique atmosphere of a Wisconsin-themed bar in the heart of Chicago, adorned with Packers memorabilia. Myles humorously critiques a Packers stock certificate displayed on the wall:

Myles [00:49]: "I was shocked to see that someone bought five shares. One of the certificates says they bought five shares. And so that was just five times the amount of wasted money."

Charlie defends the stock’s value with a playful jab:

Charlie [01:07]: "That's an interesting move right there. It's a flex."

They discuss the nuances of Packers stock versus art investment, ultimately agreeing on the limited resale value of the former. The hosts share anecdotes about their live performances, including unexpected moments and the joy of interacting face-to-face with their audience.

Caller Cody’s Heartfelt Story

The highlight of the episode is a heartfelt segment featuring Cody, a caller who bravely shares his ordeal of a recent divorce intertwined with a serious injury. Cody recounts how he “totaled a truck because my brakes went out on the interstate” and how shortly after, his wife cheated on him, leading to their separation.

Cody [13:22]: "Well, like that." Charlie [13:27]: "No, see, I fell off. Well, no, hold on. I got divorced first and then I fell off the roof."

The conversation delves deep into the emotional and logistical challenges Cody faces, including navigating divorce laws in Kentucky, mediating asset division, and coping with personal trauma. Myles and Charlie offer both comedic relief and genuine support, striking a balance that resonates with listeners.

Charlie [21:19]: "You just go with what you think is fair in this situation, but you can end up just paying lawyers any money."

Cody’s discussion about adopting a blind dog adds a touching layer to his story, showcasing resilience and the unexpected positives that emerge from personal hardships.

Cody [30:21]: "But no, he's a pretty nice little dog. He's like 110 pounds, 3 year old, Great Pyrenees, completely blind, born without eyes."

Bladesmithing Caller: High Falls Forge

Another engaging segment features a caller passionate about bladesmithing, sharing his struggles and aspirations. He recounts his childhood obsession with creating knives, leading to familial conflicts and eventual mastery of the craft.

Caller [40:48]: "I've been creating something, you know, and my dad hated it because I was just wrecking everything that he would work hard to buy."

The caller discusses the decline in his business due to physical injury and social media challenges, prompting the hosts to offer practical advice on content creation and marketing strategies to boost his sales.

Charlie [51:57]: "Start focusing on that and, and, and look for the ways they edit it and start trying to copy that."

The dialogue evolves into a brainstorming session where Myles and Charlie encourage the caller to diversify his product line and leverage storytelling through video content to engage potential customers.

Miles [55:14]: "You really should think about the process video because that's what if you just go, hey, look at this knife I made. You should Buy it."

The conversation concludes with lighthearted negotiations about custom knives for the hosts, blending humor with genuine support for the caller’s business endeavors.

Insights and Conclusions

Throughout the episode, Bellied Up strikes a harmonious balance between comedy and meaningful conversation. The hosts emphasize the importance of genuine connection, whether it’s through sharing personal struggles or offering business advice. They highlight the challenges of modern content creation, especially for artisans striving to market their crafts effectively.

Charlie [65:12]: "The product can be subpar. You know, it's unfortunate, but it's the case."

Myles and Charlie reiterate their commitment to supporting their community, encouraging listeners to engage with them and each other. The episode wraps up with a mix of humor and heartfelt goodbyes, leaving listeners both entertained and inspired.

Myles [65:42]: "True. Sucks." Charlie [65:42]: "Yeah. But good luck out there. Keep doing what you love, and just there's the work of it, and then the marketing. Marketing blows."

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Notable Quotes:

• Myles [00:49]: "I was shocked to see that someone bought five shares. One of the certificates says they bought five shares. And so that was just five times the amount of wasted money is."
• Charlie [01:07]: "That's an interesting move right there. It's a flex."
• Cody [13:22]: "Well, like that."
• Charlie [21:19]: "You just go with what you think is fair in this situation, but you can end up just paying lawyers any money."
• Cody [30:21]: "But no, he's a pretty nice little dog. He's like 110 pounds, 3 year old, Great Pyrenees, completely blind, born without eyes."
• Charlie [51:57]: "Start focusing on that and, and, and look for the ways they edit it and start trying to copy that."
• Miles [55:14]: "You really should think about the process video because that's what if you just go, hey, look at this knife I made. You should Buy it."
• Charlie [65:12]: "The product can be subpar. You know, it's unfortunate, but it's the case."

Final Thoughts

Bellied Up Episode #162 masterfully blends humor with real-life struggles, offering listeners both entertainment and valuable insights. Through candid conversations and supportive interactions, Myles and Charlie create a space where comedy meets genuine human experience, exemplifying why their podcast stands out as a unique comedy show.

Transcript

[Miles]

All right, folks, welcome back to another episode of the Bellied up podcast. I'm here with my good buddy Charlie.

[Charlie]

It's a pleasure, Miles, it's an honor, and it's a pleasure to be standing with you here today, the morning after our first.

[Miles]

Bellied up live.

[Charlie]

There we go.

[Miles]

Yes.

[Charlie]

You're a little slow on the uptake there.

[Miles]

I thought we were going to talk about the bar first.

[Charlie]

Oh, yeah.

[Miles]

Looking around at the bar.

[Charlie]

Oh, let's talk about the bar, folks. We are in Chicago. Wills Northwoods. It's a beautiful bar. There are three, four packers owner slips hanging on the. Hanging on the wall over there. 5. And Miles was just. Just tearing into it, which is unfortunate. Miles, why do you have to. Yuck. Someone else's yum.

[Miles]

I was shocked to see that someone bought five shares. One of the certificates says they bought five shares. And so that was just five times the amount of wasted money is.

[Charlie]

Actually, I'll give it to you. That's. That's an interesting move right there. It's a flex. It's a flex.

[Miles]

And Charlie said, you know, Miles, what's the difference between Packer stock and just owning art? You know, you put it on the wall, it's the same thing. And I said, charlie, you can resell art.

[Charlie]

Not all art.

[Miles]

And hold its value.

[Charlie]

Not all art.

[Miles]

It's true.

[Charlie]

I mean, some art you buy and turns out the art sucks and you can't resell it. Now, I bet you at some point.

[Miles]

That'S the same thing with packers stock.

[Charlie]

I bet you that there is a pretty solid resale market for Packer stock. I bet you people are looking to buy some stock on the. On the. You know.

[Miles]

Yeah, but you can't sell your stock, I don't think.

[Cody]

Can you?

[Charlie]

Well, you can sell anything you want, Miles. People sell cocaine.

[Miles]

You could sell the piece of paper. But I don't think you technically can transfer the ownership, right?

[Charlie]

Well, you can never cash in the ownership. It's worthless.

[Miles]

That's what I'm saying, dude.

[Charlie]

Well, no, I don't think we're saying this. I mean, I think we're saying the same thing, but we're not meaning the same thing.

[Miles]

Okay.

[Charlie]

It's worthless on the nor. Well, anyway, this bar's got a lot of other cool stuff.

[Miles]

Well, it's a. It's a Wisconsin bar here in Chicago.

[Charlie]

Right.

[Miles]

It's behind enemy lines.

[Charlie]

Yup. Badger Bar, Packer Bar. I mean, you look around here. Oh, they got some perch up there, but else. Have you ever caught perch that big?

[Miles]

No.

[Charlie]

That's a vintage one. I mean, but back in the day, they used to make the perch bigger. They did. I mean, good Lord, look at those fillets. Holy smokes. God, them are good eaters. Or they could be Lake Michigan perch. I mean, Lake Michigan perch today are that size. You like catching perch, Miles, or you more of a walleye guy?

[Miles]

I try to catch walleye. Do not catch walleye, though.

[Charlie]

Oh, I'll. I'll take you out. We'll get some.

[Miles]

You got to take me out?

[Charlie]

Yeah, take you out.

[Miles]

So, yeah, we're at Will's Northwoods here in Chicago. It's a great spot.

[Charlie]

Really is, man. You, You. You know, to be this bold with the. The Wisconsin, this. To be this bold in Chicago with the Wisconsin, this is something. Some inspiring. You know, it says, say it loud, say it proud. And that's what I like about Wills North Woods. They're saying it very, very loud. Vince Lombardi, just, you know, on the Sports Illustrated cover right there, the super champion, Miles. Super champion. So. Boy, that guy's got his hand right in the guy's crotch right there. Good for him. Good for him. Yeah.

[Miles]

Well, Charlie, how do you think the show went last night?

[Unnamed Caller]

We.

[Miles]

Last night I did the first Bellied up live.

[Charlie]

Yeah, I mean, well, people can probably tell there's a little bit of a slown. The giddy up here because we were. We were pouring it all out on the stage last night, and I. I think it went fantastic. I think it was fun.

[Miles]

We had some laughs.

[Charlie]

We had some laughs.

[Miles]

We had some awkward moments.

[Charlie]

Some awkward moments which were, you know, really good with.

[Miles]

There was someone who potentially found love at our show.

[Charlie]

Yes. Couple people, actually.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Couple people. Yeah. We might have just made a baby last night. Not you and me together?

[Miles]

Well, the one couple was like. The one gal was like 50 something, so I don't think they made a baby.

[Charlie]

You never know, Miles. You never know. Don't question.

[Miles]

You're right. You're right.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Miles]

With modern medicine, you just never know. You never know.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Oh, that's nice. Walleye on the wall, add. Listen, Miles, it was fun. I think that really the people showed up. And that's what makes Bellied up live great. You know, it's when. When you guys come out and you just. You bear it, you let us know what's on your mind. You just. You're willing to come up on stage and just let. Let loose, just be you. And what happens then is just magic. And Miles and I are just facilitating your magic. Right, Miles?

[Miles]

Yeah, I Mean, it was cool to see all the people. You know, you put out a podcast on the Internet, you don't get to see the, like, face to face stuff. So it was nice to do bellied up live and talk to people who listen to the podcast and see him in person.

[Charlie]

It's really cool. Yeah, I mean, you kind of like, I, you know. Yeah. You know, and you hear their voices when they call in, but it's something different when you hear a voice.

[Miles]

We actually did have a caller who had called in. Show up to the show. Came on stage last night too.

[Charlie]

Yeah, she gave me. She gave me a little bit of hell. Yeah. But that's okay. That's okay. People can do that. I'm glad that people feel comfortable giving me hell. But no one ever gives you help.

[Miles]

What other like, comedy show do people come up on stage and just start laying into the people that are.

[Charlie]

Yeah, I like to feel like we have a nice. There's no hierarchy here, you know, it's for sure. If anything, I get, you know, it's.

[Miles]

Like we kind of. You kind of got a talking to. Like, you're in the principal's eye.

[Charlie]

I know.

[Miles]

That gal on stage.

[Charlie]

I know.

[Miles]

And that's. That's just what you're gonna get.

[Charlie]

Yeah. I mean, that could have been an awkward moment, but you know what?

[Miles]

I rolled with it, so it went great. I had a lot of fun. Did you have a lot of fun?

[Charlie]

Oh, man, I. I really did. I was really in it on Charlie.

[Miles]

It wasn't. We did. It wouldn't be a bellied up show without a little. A few mishaps.

[Charlie]

We had some hiccups. We made some wrong moves. I made a few errors in judgments.

[Miles]

I think the funnies. And it wasn't. I. I don't blame you for this. But we. The first show was going. Went great, you know, and then Charlie's like, all right, this is the last, you know, person we do it. And I look up at the clock and we're supposed to go for at least another like 25, 20, 25 minutes.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Miles]

Charlie's like, that's our show. Have a good one, everyone. And I'm just thinking, okay, man.

[Unnamed Caller]

All right.

[Miles]

So we go off stage and the staff is like, uh, what? No one has their checks? So they're just going to be sitting here for like 20 minutes while everyone closes out Miles.

[Charlie]

I knew that. I knew that. Don't you ever go to a Rocks rock star show? You know, and then they finish their set and they're like, that's it. Good night. We love you. And then what happens after the encore? Encore. And I didn't want to leave it to chance, so I knew they didn't have their checks, so they had to bring me back on stage.

[Miles]

Went back on stage? Yeah, I did some.

[Charlie]

Some time. Got me some more stand up. I'm fine with that.

[Miles]

What is funny is I don't think they were cheering for an encore.

[Charlie]

What were they cheering for?

[Miles]

We gave them an encore.

[Charlie]

I don't even think they were cheering, to be honest. I think they were just like, can I leave now? And they're like, no, you don't have your check, Chad. So then I went up there, did some crowd work, did some stand up. It was fun.

[Miles]

It turned out good.

[Charlie]

Turned out good. That's when that gal threw the guy her number. Oh, yeah, yeah. On a napkin. Yeah.

[Miles]

Rob, I think was his name.

[Charlie]

I think Rob and Lindsay. I don't remember.

[Miles]

Kristen.

[Charlie]

Kristen.

[Miles]

I was. Yes.

[Charlie]

We gotta check the tape on that one. But I think that. I feel like that was a good match. I mean, I feel like I could sense some chemistry going on there. You know, there was. There was a love just emanating. You could see it, like sparks flying between the two of them. Like. Like when you accidentally put the thing on the wrong deal when you're trying to jump your car. Oh, you know, you can feel it. Jumper cable. Sparks. By the way, always make sure Red cross Red is positive. Okay. There you go. Yeah.

[Miles]

So it was good. You know, I'll take that as a mishap.

[Charlie]

We'll take the W, Miles. We'll take the W. So we'll watch the game Tag.

[Miles]

So do you think we're gonna do another one, Charlie?

[Charlie]

Absolutely. But I feel like you guys gotta let us know, what city should we come to next? What city? We were just in Chicago. What city should we come to next? Let us know. I think, Miles, we're still gonna do. We're still figuring out the kinks. Iron. Ironing out the. The curtains here. And so do we iron curtains? I've never ironed a curtain in my life. Steam curtains. How the hell do you know? Jared, have you ever steamed a curtain in your life? I don't even own a steamer. I don't even own an iron. Anyway, we're gonna do it.

[Miles]

You gotta get the downy wrinkle spray.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah.

[Miles]

You got that?

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah. Y. Yeah, I don't have that either.

[Miles]

You need to get that.

[Charlie]

No, I.

[Miles]

Don'T mean like you need. I just mean like everyone needs to get the downy wrinkle spray. Dude, I don't understand. Like, it's one. You know how I'm always like, we put a man on the moon, and we can't figure out this. We put a man on the moon, and it's like. Comparable technology is the wrinkle spray. They're the same type of.

[Charlie]

Miles, what do you ever wear? Once a year, I go to a wedding, and my shirt is wrinkly as hell, but I got a suit over it, and I just wait for myself to sweat enough to get wrinkles for that.

[Miles]

It's for all the other clothes that, you know, you put it in the dryer, and then you forget about it for three days. You open the dryer, and everything's wrinkly. You just pop it out, you spray it down with that. You go. And there's no wrinkles.

[Charlie]

Are you getting sponsorship money from that? I'm not, no.

[Miles]

But I would love it. I would love it. It's insane. I don't understand how it works.

[Charlie]

Well, product good. Doesn't need you to.

[Miles]

I know, I know. But you need to try it out.

[Charlie]

I'll steal some of your.

[Miles]

Your team has definitely got wrinkle spray.

[Charlie]

No, I've. I've never unwrinkled a shirt in my life. I mean, I've done that. I've done it a few times. I'll be. But I.

[Miles]

It's way faster than in your hotel room just hanging the shirt up in the bathroom and turning on the shower at full blast heat.

[Charlie]

I. Yeah, well, you and me and wrinkles, we have different opinions. I think wrinkles are part of life. I'm proud of my wrinkles, you know, I burned my wrinkles. Miles, you're acting like I'm getting, like.

[Miles]

I got Botox, you know?

[Charlie]

Did you? It's wild. Sometimes Botox, you know? Like, I feel like no matter what age you get Botox, kind of look like 35 always, you know, I think that's the goal. But, I mean, even sometimes younger people get it, and they look 35, you know, 35 is a good age. I'm 38.

[Miles]

Hunger than you.

[Charlie]

I know, I know.

[Miles]

All right, well, guys, we also.

[Charlie]

Some people get Botox in their butt. Really? I heard it.

[Miles]

Butt, tux, buttocks. It's fun. So at some point, we will release as a podcast the live show.

[Charlie]

I know, Miles, you got a kid. All right, relax. Wait, what? I don't know.

[Miles]

I don't get that one.

[Charlie]

It didn't really make sense. See, guys, sometimes the jokes Work. Sometimes they don't. Look at that walleye. Holy hell. Yes. At some point.

[Miles]

At some point. Usually. Because scheduling wise with Charlie and I, sometimes there's a weak gap in between when we're able to record again and. But we also need an episode, I.

[Charlie]

Like to call this.

[Miles]

In the past we've done best of. And so we might save the live show for a week where Charlie and I, you know, miss each other and we'll throw it in there. All right, so we're looking out for that.

[Charlie]

For it.

[Miles]

You also will get a taste of what the bellied up live show is all about and hopefully see at another one.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Thank you guys for coming out again. That was pretty slick of you. It was real nice. You guys were part of history. Yeah, you were part of our story. Anyway, should we take some call? Let's do it.

[Cody]

What are you guys doing?

[Charlie]

Well, we're bellied up to the bar. Just wanted to chit chat with our buddy Cody because we heard you fell off.

[Cody]

Stupid question.

[Charlie]

No, it wasn't stupid. Cody, come on now. What's going on? We heard you got divorced and fell off a roof.

[Unnamed Caller]

Well, like that.

[Cody]

It sounds real bad, huh?

[Charlie]

Yeah, it kind of does.

[Cody]

No, see, I fell off. Well, no, hold on. I got divorced first and then I fell off the roof.

[Miles]

Oh, talk about insane. Insult to earth injury.

[Charlie]

Yeah, I mean it had you fallen off that roof first, you probably could. Did you want to get divorced?

[Cody]

Yeah, okay. For sure.

[Charlie]

Never mind.

[Miles]

Okay, well, let's dive into the divorce.

[Charlie]

Yeah. What happened, Odie?

[Cody]

Get right into it. So December of 2023, I totaled a truck because my brakes went out on the interstate, you know.

[Charlie]

Your brakes went out on the interstate?

[Miles]

Some bad luck. We should just put you in a bubble.

[Charlie]

Yeah, man.

[Cody]

Honestly, at this point I'm kind of looking into it.

[Charlie]

Was your brake light on?

[Cody]

No. What the hell is a 2015 too? It's not like it was a piece of junk, you know?

[Charlie]

Did she snip them?

[Cody]

Ah, see, that could be. We haven't looked into that yet.

[Unnamed Caller]

Wow.

[Charlie]

All right, well, tell us the story, Cody.

[Cody]

So then a few days after that, okay, she went and slept with somebody she works with. So I didn't find out about that until like three months after that. And then I just kicked her out after that.

[Miles]

Oh.

[Charlie]

Why did it take you three months to figure it out?

[Cody]

Well, I kind of knew something was going on, you know, and then I just got tired of it one day and confronted her about it.

[Charlie]

How'd you know something was going on?

[Cody]

Just not ever home, trying to go out after work all the time, you know?

[Miles]

Oh, so this was like a ongoing relationship? I was right.

[Cody]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Charlie]

Bummer, dude. Sorry. That sucks.

[Cody]

But that's why I agree with Charlie on telling, you know, the people under his. His view on people under, like, 25 getting married, you know?

[Miles]

How old are you?

[Cody]

25.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Brain's not fully formed, my brother. Not.

[Cody]

I know. I figured that out.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Yeah. What are the warning signs people should look out for if you think, you know, your. Your spouse might be cheating on you?

[Cody]

Oh, she was just, like, not ever wanting to be alone with me, you know, or, like, trying to. Trying to be busy constantly. Like, we couldn't just, you know, sit around the house and do nothing. It was. It was always going out with her co workers or going out with her friends doing something else, and I was like, well, I'm just going to stay home because I'm tired of it. So.

[Charlie]

Yeah. And you confronted her. How'd that conversation go?

[Cody]

Not very good.

[Charlie]

Well, what. How did you.

[Miles]

Did she. Did she deny it at first or was she kind of. Yeah, you got me.

[Cody]

Oh, no, denied it all the way until I, like, denied it three or four times when I was like, look, you can't tell me something's not going on. What's happening?

[Charlie]

And what'd she say?

[Cody]

Yeah, she just admitted to it after. After. I kind of was like, you know, cut the.

[Miles]

She was like, okay, is she still with this guy?

[Cody]

So I don't keep tabs on her anymore.

[Charlie]

Good.

[Cody]

My little brother follows her on a few social media accounts, I believe, and I think this is. This is all hearsay. She is part of a throuple now.

[Charlie]

Oh, okay. Okay. A throuple. A real. Are you guys in Utah? Idaho?

[Cody]

No, not Kentucky.

[Charlie]

Kentucky. Yeah, it sounds pretty. Sounds about right. And two. Two gals. One guy, two guys, one gal.

[Cody]

I think. I think it's two gals, one guy.

[Charlie]

Two gals, one guy swinging both ways, you know, it is kind of hot. Yeah.

[Miles]

Sorry. Sorry, but kind of hot.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Cody]

No.

[Charlie]

Are you. Are you now? Let's. Let's say you guys were together, though. Would you be. Would you have been open to another gal in the relationship?

[Cody]

No, probably not.

[Charlie]

Okay. Okay. All right.

[Miles]

And how. That was in the 23, you said. So you. You're. You've been divorced for a couple years now.

[Cody]

No, no, no, no. So here's what's worse is she's drugged this out so long that I'm still not divorced.

[Charlie]

Oh, dude.

[Miles]

Well, it's all right. Annulment. So. And that's been how many years?

[Charlie]

Yeah, I am.

[Cody]

I'm actually meeting with my attorney tomorrow.

[Charlie]

Okay.

[Cody]

To get ready for the mediation that is happening next Wednesday.

[Miles]

Okay. All right, well, you need to. We got to prep him for that.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Listen, first of all, you're meeting with an attorney to get ready for the mediation. Get rid of the media. You got an attorney. Quit wasting more money, you know?

[Miles]

Great advice.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Does she have an attorney, too?

[Cody]

Good advice. Yeah, she's got one.

[Charlie]

Who's the breadwinner? Who's making more money, you or her?

[Cody]

It was me because I was blue collar and, you know, made all the money out of high school, enough to build our. Build a house at 20.

[Charlie]

Oh, damn, dude. For you.

[Cody]

While she was going to college, so, you know, I was kind of paying the bills while she was going to college, and then we.

[Miles]

Sounds like somebody else.

[Charlie]

She sleeps with someone else and she wants half.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Well, what are the divorce laws in Kentucky? Is it a 50. 50 state?

[Cody]

See, I don't know that much.

[Miles]

God damn it. Well, good. He got an attorney. Yeah.

[Charlie]

Start looking into it, you know.

[Miles]

Okay, well, in the mediation, is that where you discuss who gets what, or is that in a different phase? Charlie.

[Charlie]

You get.

[Cody]

Charlie's got experience in this.

[Charlie]

Yeah. You get a mediator if it's, you know, a cordial. Uh, you know, and so that was the road that I.

[Miles]

When do you start discussing who gets what, Charlie, I.

[Charlie]

In this pr. Have you guys started that conversation yet? Cody, you should have probably started it.

[Cody]

Yeah, kind of. Well, really, the only thing we have to, like, necessarily fight over is the house.

[Miles]

Well, that's what you think until she says, hey, I want, you know, your truck. You know, you're not taking the big beer sign in the garage. You know, it's.

[Charlie]

Well, yeah, you basically list off all your assets, and if it's a 50. 50 split. How long were you guys married?

[Cody]

Well, we got married in October, and I totaled the truck in December, so. Two months.

[Charlie]

You were only married two months?

[Cody]

Yes. This is after dating for nine years, dude.

[Charlie]

Okay, first of all, geez Louise, I think. I think if it's less than a year, I don't even think it counts. Sometimes in the eyes of the law, sometimes. No prenup. I'm guessing.

[Unnamed Caller]

No.

[Charlie]

No. Yeah. Oh, my Lord. You didn't know anything was going on before you guys said, I do. No. No red flags. In those nine years, you were. What, you start dating in high school?

[Cody]

Yeah, in high school, sophomore year. High school.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Well.

[Miles]

Anything that you didn't get in the divorce, Charlie, that you wish you would have fought harder for?

[Charlie]

No, I didn't care. It was all trying to give him.

[Miles]

Some advice, you know?

[Charlie]

No, I mean, look, at the end of the day, I feel like your situation is significantly different than mine, so it's not worth comparing apples to oranges here. But I do think you did the right thing to get a lawyer, because I can't tell you I don't know the law in Kentucky, and. But, you know, you just go with what you think think is fair in this situation, but you can end up just paying lawyers any money, so, you know, at some point, you're just going to want to cut your losses. And what does she do now? Does she have a good job?

[Cody]

From what my brother said, she. Well, actually, she works at a liquor store down here now.

[Charlie]

Oh, fuck.

[Cody]

And I think she was a bartending also.

[Charlie]

Okay. All right. So she's hiding all that cash from you for sure? Likely. So that's bad news. Yeah. I would just start getting paid in cash from now on.

[Cody]

You know, Miles brought up the whole truck thing, but I just, you know, put zero down and finance the crap out of it. So if she wants it, she can get half the debt.

[Charlie]

There you go. Yeah. All right. Nice.

[Miles]

Good move to hear that.

[Charlie]

Good move. Yeah.

[Cody]

Love going into debt.

[Miles]

So have you gotten back on the dating wagon or are you just waiting for the divorce to go through? What's your situation on the dating game?

[Cody]

You know, here and there.

[Charlie]

Here and there. Okay. No thruffles for you, though.

[Cody]

No, no thruffles for me.

[Charlie]

Well, right now I think you're in a quadruple, since you're technically still married. Yeah.

[Cody]

Oh, man, I didn't think about it like that.

[Charlie]

Yeah, you're fund. You're. You're the quadruple. You're the quadruplet funding the throuple. Think about that.

[Cody]

Yeah, I see.

[Charlie]

Yeah, there are a lot of mouths to feed in in that new relationship on the other side fence. So best move is to just get out of it as quick as possible and move on. That's it. But you fell off a roof then.

[Cody]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can get back to that.

[Charlie]

Well, unless there's anything else you think we should know about this relationship.

[Cody]

No.

[Charlie]

Okay. Yeah. What's going on with the roof?

[Cody]

Well, so I am an estimator for a roofing company down here, you know, so that involves me getting on four or five roofs a day. Something like that.

[Charlie]

Mm.

[Cody]

I get a call. It's about this house I'm going to is about an hour away from the shop. And I get a call from the homeowner and she says, make sure you bring a tall ladder. Oh, and I said, okay, great. I got a 24 foot ladder on the truck, so no problem. I get down there and I set the 24 foot ladder up against the house. And the top rung of that 24 foot ladder is even with the gutter.

[Charlie]

Oh, no, dude, see, you didn't. Did you just go straight up that thing like it's a fireman?

[Cody]

I was like, well, I'm not gonna drive an hour back to the shop, you know, to get a bigger ladder. She says, well, the last guy just put a ladder on the porch roof and went up from there. I said, well, I've got two ladders, so. Perfect. So I set the 24 foot ladder up onto the first level roof and then a 16 foot ladder on the porch roof to go to the second story. In the business, we call that a double pole.

[Charlie]

Double pole, like that.

[Cody]

I got to the very top of that 16 foot ladder on the top rung, about to step onto the second level roof, and then the bottom of that ladder kicked out.

[Charlie]

Come on. No one was footing your ladder?

[Cody]

No, I'm by myself, you know.

[Charlie]

Yeah, I guess you said that.

[Miles]

So you then fell, hit the first roof, and went all the way to the ground?

[Cody]

Yeah, yeah, that's pretty much how it went.

[Miles]

And, you know, is it kind of one of those things like when you're in public and you kind of like trip and then you try and like, play it off? Like you didn't just trip, did you, like, pop up and like, pretend to, like, look at a tree and be like, yeah, that thing's not going anywhere.

[Cody]

Okay, so the second, like, oh, God.

[Miles]

I was, you know, I'm looking for my tape measure. Did I leave it down here or.

[Cody]

The second I hit the ground, the door flew open and the homeowner came out and he was like, dude, are you okay? And then I shot straight up and I was like, yeah, I think I'm fine. And then I sat. I sat right back down and I was like, wait a minute, maybe I need to run a systems check or something because I'm in a lot of pain right now.

[Charlie]

Oh, no.

[Miles]

So what'd you hurt? What was the damage?

[Cody]

No, no real damage. Didn't break anything. Just. Just bruised the heck out of my right side.

[Charlie]

Oh, dude, you got lucky, man. Good for you.

[Miles]

Don't adjusters and estimators just use Drones.

[Cody]

Now, sometimes they do, but what I figured out is like if the insurance company actually sends someone from like, you know, their own in house employee. Absolutely not. They're not doing that. But a third party, sometimes they'll invest in the drones because they just leave it up to the third party on whether or not they want to walk it or use a drone or whatever. So sometimes they'll buy the drone and then that's. That's ones I like.

[Charlie]

Okay. I'm surprised you're talking about liking third parties given the situation with your ex wife.

[Cody]

Ah, you know, the irony.

[Charlie]

Well, we're glad you're okay, man. Yeah, listen.

[Miles]

So what, What, What'd you learn? You know, it's like it's fine to do something dumb once. What'd you learn about the situation?

[Cody]

Not a lot.

[Charlie]

Okay, well, we're don't double pull unless.

[Cody]

Somebody else is there, you know, putting weight on the ladder. Right, I guess. That's a good one.

[Charlie]

Gotta have someone there to foot your ladder. That's important. Although 16 foot, not that high, you know.

[Cody]

Wait, well, when you're putting 16 on top of an already 16.

[Charlie]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry, I forgot about that. Wait, I'll. Oh, okay, so I misunderstood. You put one ladder up to the roof, I thought then you sat the next ladder on top of the roof.

[Miles]

Yeah, yeah, he's just saying he's like 30 some feet in the air.

[Charlie]

Yeah, right, right, right. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, I'm just. Yeah, okay. But you had a good angle on that ladder. You had plenty of clearance. Yeah, okay.

[Miles]

So did you go back up there and get the job done though?

[Cody]

Oh, no, not at all, actually. Yeah. Actually, what's worse is like I didn't even send her a bid. I was too embarrassed. I was like, we're not gonna do this work. Her abuse.

[Charlie]

I thought he came out.

[Cody]

Well, it's her and her husband. I talked to her on the phone, but her husband opened the door and checked on me and see if I was okay.

[Charlie]

Wow. That could have been a guy footing.

[Miles]

Your ladder, you say? I mean, you could have been. Yeah, you know, you were already injured, so if you would have fallen again. What? You know, you already had the bruises, so why not get your money's worth while you're there, get back on the roof and get the job done, you know?

[Cody]

You know, it was a little repair.

[Charlie]

Hang on a second. Hold on. When did this happen?

[Cody]

When did the. When did I fall off the roof?

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Cody]

I don't know, a month or two ago.

[Charlie]

Okay. Okay. And you got injured, right?

[Cody]

Yeah, slightly.

[Charlie]

Did you call 1-855-NICOlay?

[Cody]

No, I did not. I don't know who that guy is, to be honest with you.

[Charlie]

He said if you get injured, do you own the company?

[Cody]

No, I don't.

[Charlie]

Dude, get some money, brother.

[Cody]

I mean, wait for my company.

[Charlie]

Well, wait, I know, but wait for. It's workerman's comp. They have it. They're not paying their insurance.

[Miles]

I don't care how much you love the company. You are gonn divorce to pay for.

[Charlie]

Yeah. So wait to get the divorce settled and then get a lawyer to figure out the workman's comp for you falling off the ladder. Yeah. Did you go to a hospital after get checked out? Yeah, you can go to a hospital, obviously. Obviously.

[Cody]

Why would I go to a hospital when everything moves just fine, you know.

[Charlie]

I mean, because you want to get that workman's comp, buddy, you know, N.

[Cody]

I'm okay with that.

[Charlie]

All right, fine, whatever. He's a.

[Miles]

He's a company guy.

[Charlie]

He's a company guy. I respect it. I respect it. I'm just trying to help you out here. Fine, you know.

[Cody]

Oh, I got you, you know.

[Charlie]

Well, good. Well, it sounds like everything's going pretty good considering. You know, if you were to say, hey, you're gonna get divorced and fall off a roof, that'd be a. Oof.

[Miles]

But you think you'd be in a worse spot.

[Charlie]

Yeah. You're coming out on top of these two tragedies right now. Although bad things happen in groups of three. Oh, you already had breaks cut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Breaks caught, wife, divorce, fall off roof. You're good.

[Miles]

Yeah, you got like seven years ago.

[Cody]

I'm in a good situation now, you know?

[Charlie]

Yeah, you are, ma'. Am. You are.

[Cody]

What a blind dog.

[Charlie]

Did you. God, you're a good stand up guy, man. You deserve better than that. That cheating gal. Oh, I've got.

[Cody]

I've got better now.

[Charlie]

Good.

[Miles]

You know what, tell us what else is going on in your life. You adopted a blind dog. What else?

[Cody]

I don't really have a lot right now, you know, nothing recent, that is.

[Miles]

Keep saying that to the lawyer when you do the meeting. Yeah, I don't have a lot right now.

[Cody]

Oh, yeah, no, there we go.

[Miles]

Keep talking like that. That's good.

[Cody]

But no, he's. He's a pretty nice little dog. He's. He's like 110 pounds, 3 year old, Great Pyrenees, completely blind, born without eyes.

[Miles]

Without eyes.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Miles]

So is it just like it was really Fun. Is it just fur over where the eyes would be? How does that look?

[Cody]

He's got one that kind of looks like it was sewn shut, you know, Almost.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Cody]

But it wasn't. And then the other one's just kind of. It's kind of gross, but it's kind of open with just, like, a little bit of. A little bit of flesh or something in there, you know, I just don't. I try not to look at that one.

[Charlie]

All right, fair enough.

[Cody]

But it was funny. We took him to the vet for the first time, and me and my girlfriend. Well, I told you I'm in a better situation now. Yeah.

[Miles]

I said, how's the dating game going? And you're like, it's all right.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Cody]

Oh, no, it's great.

[Charlie]

Okay.

[Miles]

When someone asks you what your dating situation is, I think the correct response is, I have a girlfriend now.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Cody]

Oh, well, that's my response then. Let me. Let me go back and fix.

[Miles]

You made it sound like. Yeah. You know, I went to try and meet some people, and I just couldn't do it. You know, That's. What. Is that not how you.

[Charlie]

That's how I heard it.

[Miles]

Okay, so you got a girlfriend that. What does she think of your divorce so far?

[Cody]

Well, so she was friends with both of us before it.

[Miles]

Ah, a little payback. Nice.

[Charlie]

Oh, yeah, There you go. There you go. So. All right, you can. She was friends with. While you were married. Did you have this as your backup plan?

[Cody]

Not at all.

[Charlie]

Okay.

[Cody]

No, no, no, no. That's what we both talk about all the time, is like, if you had told us that we were gonna at some point date in the future, we would have told whoever was saying that to get lost.

[Charlie]

Why? Why?

[Cody]

I don't know. It just wasn't there.

[Miles]

How did you, like, find out that you. How do you go. How do you go from not. Not wanting to date to dating?

[Charlie]

What.

[Miles]

What was the turning point? Like, did she touch your leg and then you're like, holy or what?

[Cody]

No, I don't. No, it's just. Just talking over, you know, mainly talking through the whole, you know.

[Miles]

Oh, and emotions.

[Charlie]

Wow. Emotional connection. Is this gal over 25.

[Cody]

Yes.

[Charlie]

All right, nice. And. But you just weren't attracted to her before?

[Cody]

Yeah, well, I feel like it's a good way. I mean, we were always friends, you know, I didn't want to do anything.

[Charlie]

To script friendship, especially if you're married. Yeah. Okay. And who made the first move?

[Cody]

See, I don't know if there was necessarily a first move. You Know?

[Charlie]

No, I don't know. Someone had. Someone had to do something that turned this from a friendship to a relationship.

[Cody]

So the biggest kind of turning point I remember is she invited me to go to dinner with her parents one night. And then after that we were just kind of like, eh.

[Charlie]

Is that when you kissed her for the first time after you met her parents?

[Cody]

No, it's not.

[Charlie]

When did you kiss her for the first time?

[Cody]

I don't know. Probably a few weeks after that.

[Charlie]

Few weeks. Wow, you guys really played it slow, huh?

[Cody]

Well, yeah, I'm not even divorced yet, Charlie.

[Charlie]

I guess that's true. Well, you're. Your wife's doing threesomes, so. Yeah, you know, you're. You're in the. You're. You're all right in my mind. That's great. So you think you could go the distance with this gal or you not even thinking?

[Cody]

Absolutely.

[Charlie]

Okay, never mind. All right.

[Miles]

All right. Yeah. What do you like about her?

[Cody]

Oh, she's great. She's real. She's super funny.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay.

[Cody]

That's the biggest thing. Let's be honest.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Because at some point, you know, everyone's just gonna, you know, the, the looks fade with time and then you're just left with the personality. So.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Smart.

[Cody]

Animal lover, you know?

[Charlie]

Animal lover. Obviously you guys have a blind dog with one weird looking eye.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Good man. Well, we're happy for you.

[Cody]

She's gorgeous, so.

[Charlie]

She's gorgeous too.

[Miles]

Okay, so you think she's gorgeous and you never were like, wow.

[Charlie]

Yeah, something isn't added up, actually. You just weren't attracted to her at all when you guys weren't together?

[Cody]

No, I mean, it was like I always thought she was like, you know, good looking, but we were friends and, you know, I was married, so.

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.

[Cody]

I'm not gonna do anything.

[Charlie]

No, you're right.

[Miles]

That's right.

[Cody]

We were always friends.

[Unnamed Caller]

We're.

[Miles]

We're fishing for something that's not there, Charlie. Yeah, you know, we're looking for some juicy details that just don't exist.

[Charlie]

Trying to squeeze out the tea, but no. Well, we're happy for you, Cody, and we're glad that you're feeling good. And congratulations, man, life seems to be on a good track.

[Cody]

I. I got a buy, sell trade.

[Charlie]

Great wedding rings.

[Cody]

Yeah. A three bed, two bath, 1200 square foot house built brand new in 2020.

[Charlie]

Really? Really. Okay. Okay. Nice. What's the. What. Where is it at? What city?

[Cody]

What's. It's technically considered Louisville, but if you want to get kind of closer Pinpointed, It's Heritage Creek.

[Charlie]

Heritage Creek. All right. And what. What price are you asking right now?

[Cody]

I don't know. Oh, well, I think that's something.

[Unnamed Caller]

We'll wait.

[Cody]

We'll wait a little bit and see. Just kind of giving the people a preview, you know?

[Charlie]

Okay.

[Miles]

A little teaser.

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Is the house listed at all?

[Cody]

No.

[Unnamed Caller]

No.

[Charlie]

Okay, yeah, yeah, because you probably. You're gonna want to sell the house, right, and then divide whatever money is the house paid off. Did he say it's paid off? Off?

[Cody]

No, it's not paid off.

[Charlie]

All right.

[Miles]

He didn't even pay off his truck. I don't think he paid off the house.

[Charlie]

Yeah, that's true.

[Miles]

Yeah, that's true.

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Well, good. Okay, well, we got it listed. And then, you know, just something to wet the whistle of potential home buyers in the greater Louisville area.

[Cody]

Yes, exactly.

[Charlie]

All right, well, good deal. Cody, man, thank you for calling in.

[Miles]

And feel free in the open house to put up a sign that says, like, this house was featured on bellied up podcast. Yeah. Oh, we'll give you permission to do that.

[Charlie]

Yeah, that's.

[Cody]

That's the best marketing strategy I've ever heard.

[Charlie]

And that extra hit in revenue, that goes to your share, not your ex wife.

[Cody]

Oh, okay. Thank you.

[Charlie]

You bet.

[Cody]

Thank you.

[Charlie]

You bet. All right, brother man, well, we appreciate you calling in.

[Miles]

We can put out a sign out front, says, watch out for this house. Oh, yeah, with an arrow pointing me and you are pointing to the house.

[Charlie]

There you go.

[Miles]

Let's just start.

[Cody]

Maybe say this.

[Charlie]

We should do that.

[Miles]

We don't even.

[Cody]

This house comes with some of Charlie's, you know, brandy.

[Charlie]

There we go. I'll put a little brandy in the top. Yeah, old fashioned brandy. You know I like it. We'll make it happen. Our own realty company, Miles. Starting here with Cody. Well, Cody, tell your wife that, you know, thanks for what she did, because otherwise we wouldn't have met you all right?

[Cody]

You know, I will, Life force. I'll let her know. Right, right. Dead in the middle of the mediation.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Miles]

Oh, by the way, talk to Charlie, Miles. They said thanks.

[Cody]

Yeah, yeah, do that for sure.

[Charlie]

All right, Cody, you be good, my guy.

[Cody]

All right, we'll see you all later.

[Charlie]

See you soon. Bye. Bye. Something's not adding up with that.

[Miles]

I was waiting for you to be like, you know, I also fell off a roof once.

[Charlie]

Just a complete misdirect.

[Miles]

Well, no, I feel like you have fallen off a roof at some point.

[Charlie]

I've fallen off a roof. Yeah.

[Miles]

And how'd that turn out?

[Charlie]

Fine. Landed on my feet on the tall roof. Dude, roofs are tough, man. Like, I've cleaned a lot of gutters in my life and done a lot of gutter repair, if you will. I used to have a landscaping little business and I would do some stupid things and you have some. Those roofs are steep. You know, you really gotta be smart with it. I was never using the heart, you know, the harness you can plug, right? Yeah. Like you put a. You nail in a little block, put a little carabiner on it and it keeps you safe. Yeah, I'm talking about. Never did that. Never even knew that was a thing as a kid, you know? Anyways.

[Miles]

Well, should we take another caller?

[Charlie]

Let's do it. Guys, it's grilling season. We're grilling, we're filling, we're drinking, we're chilling. Buy a grill, which is hot and we got a poker. And let's say you get a little too close to the fire. Burn, baby, burn. Now you're injured and what are your options? Well, you could put some ice on it, but after that, elevate it maybe. I'm not a doctor. Compression, sure. Possibly an ER run, but.

[Miles]

Or just rest it.

[Charlie]

But once you know you're at a safe shore, you call 1855. Nicola, if you got injured, he's the guy to figure out how to make sure you're not paying those ER bills. Give him a call. Ladies and gents, Nicolay Law Wes.

[Miles]

Welcome to the Belly to podcast. You got Miles and Charlie here. I heard your.

[Unnamed Caller]

How are you guys doing?

[Miles]

We're doing good. I heard you're somewhat of a Blade Smith, is that correct?

[Unnamed Caller]

Oh, that's all I do.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Are you happy being a blade guy?

[Unnamed Caller]

I was for the first five years. I gotta say, now it's becoming a job.

[Charlie]

Yeah, I get it. First you love it and then you like it and then it's a job and. But I do have to say Blade Smith is like a better name than John Wick, you know? What's your name? My name's Blake Smith. You know. Right, right. Feel like you got two big like knives like, like, like those machete type things and you just hacking people. We should write that movie Miles Late.

[Unnamed Caller]

Smith, there it is.

[Charlie]

Yeah, sounds like a great only fans name too, you know, so that's not bad. So what got you into the blade game, man? Did you just like pocket knives growing up?

[Unnamed Caller]

Well, no, no, I. Ever since I was about. She's five maybe. I've always loved sharp, pointy Things, and, you know, and I should say sharp, sparkly or shiny pointy things, and I would tear everything apart. I mean, I take, I take handles off of the rakes. I'd, you know, cut up metal out of my dad's bin or whatever, and I'd turn, I make numb chucks with knives on the end. You know, I, I was always creating something, you know, and my dad hated it because I was just wrecking everything that he would work hard to buy. And at about 16, he finally put his foot down. He's like, that's it. No more. You do that, I'm kicking you out. You know, it was, it was a pretty bad obsession for a while there.

[Charlie]

And after he, yeah, he goes to mow the lawn. He's like, where the hell are the lawnmower blades? And you're just out there.

[Unnamed Caller]

That actually did happen. Yeah.

[Charlie]

Really? You took your dad's. Oh, my God. Did you put a handle on the lawnmower blades, like a double machete?

[Unnamed Caller]

I made, I made throwing knives out of it, actually. Yeah, I put, I, I put, I, I put bicycle handlebar grips on them.

[Charlie]

You.

[Unnamed Caller]

Well, I would, I would file them down. No, no, I would, I would file them down and I would use the grinder and the handheld grinder and cut the, cut the chain into shape and I put some wood on them and, you know, for, for the, for the scales. And then I, I was hard enough. I didn't know there was actually things out there to buy to put on the handle. So I made my own. I use bicycle hand grips. And they were really effective. They were really effective until my dad discovered that all the blades on lawnmowers were gone.

[Miles]

You know, if I told the ladies, I don't think my dad would kick me out. Was there something else? Go on. Where you, like, you know, were you inside practicing and you just kept putting holes in the wall or like, what, what, what was that? Doesn't seem like enough.

[Unnamed Caller]

No, that, that did happen as well. You know, I, I, he got mad at me. I was pretty, pretty efficient at throwing knives, and I could stick a knife at 20ft. And he was, I think he was intimidated by it or scared, like maybe I might turn it on him. And being a teenager, yeah.

[Miles]

What he did was lost the household, Charlie. He's like, I'm no longer the alpha dog here and I gotta do something.

[Charlie]

Yep. It's not a physical thing anymore. It's a skills level thing. You got too skilled for your pops, right?

[Unnamed Caller]

And then I got skilled. And then after he Made me quit. You know, they grew up and got a job and became a fabricator. And doing that for a long time, I got. I gained more skills as a welder and all of that. It's like, okay. And then I got hurt, and then my dad died, and I'm like, well, dad, you're dead, so I'm gonna go and make knives. I'm just curious as to what he would think now. He's.

[Charlie]

He's probably proud that you turn this obsession. I mean, look, your dad is seeing you turn these lawnmower blades into knives. He thought you were going to be a serial killer. So the fact that you turned, you became Blade Smith. He's pretty proud of that. You know Blade Smith?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah. You know, I know my brother was too. My. Yeah, my brother was. He was real hesitant on that until I made him a centennial knife because he was in the Coast Guard, and I made him a beautiful knife that celebrated his years in the Coast Guard and his birthday and having, you know, just, you know, being brotherly in that. And after he got that, and then I made him a sword, and then he got really excited, and then he started supporting me more and more, and so it was pretty cool.

[Miles]

That's cool. So is this now your full time gig is smithing blades?

[Unnamed Caller]

It was. I mean, it is, I should say, but sales have been this awful. I don't know. I was making $5 in a month for a long time there. And then all of a sudden, I'm lucky If I make 500.

[Charlie]

When did that.

[Unnamed Caller]

I think the magic wore off.

[Charlie]

When did it turn?

[Unnamed Caller]

Well, I rubbed. I want to say last year. I ruptured two years ago now, I ruptured my Achilles tendon and I had to have surgery that put me down for nine months. And I couldn't walk. I was in a wheelchair. I had a bunch of screws put in my foot and all that. And so it's like the magic wore off after I kind of faded out. And then I came back and everybody's like, yeah. So, you know, and so. And then Facebook really squashes my posts because I make weapons. You know, they don't like knives.

[Miles]

You got to get on X. So I'm doing what I didn't let anything go through.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah. But how do you gain a following?

[Miles]

Well, you start responding to people in the bladesmithing community. You just get in there, you start creating conversations.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay.

[Charlie]

Did you rupture your account with a numb Chuck, by the way?

[Unnamed Caller]

Actually, you want to hear a funny story?

[Charlie]

Yes, that's what we're here for.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay.

[Miles]

Kind of the whole point.

[Unnamed Caller]

So I gained that idea, right?

[Cody]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

I love you guys podcast, by the way.

[Cody]

I really do.

[Unnamed Caller]

I mean, I'm working in shop all day, listening to Joe Rogan, listening to Sasquatch Chronicles, and listening to you guys.

[Charlie]

Nice. So, all right. Pretty cool, Sasquatch.

[Unnamed Caller]

I saw this video. Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. It's something to show the time. But, yeah, I grew up playing this video game. I think it was like Soul Provider Soul something where this ninja was, you know, dueling duel Nim Chucks with blades on the end. And I was like, well, I can make that, you know? So I did. And I took butter knives out of the kitchen drawer and I put some nunchucks together with, you know, bite with chain and wooden dowels and drilled some holes in the bottom of the nunchucks and epoxied these 3 inch long daggers on each end. And I was really proficient with it. Like, I didn't hurt myself at all for the first two weeks. And then I went to slash out a CT and it caught the edge of the nunchuck and sent it into my knee, and it went in about an inch and a half in my knee. And when I pulled it out, blood followed. I mean, it was just like a freaking blood fountain, you know? And, yeah, so after that, I never made them again.

[Miles]

So that was supposed to be your funny story.

[Charlie]

Yeah. That sounds painful. Also, if you get a blade inside you, I don't think you're supposed to drop. You leave it in there.

[Unnamed Caller]

No, you're not. No, I found that out after I went to the doctor. I was like, what was I supposed to do, walk in the ER with a nunchuck hanging out on my knee?

[Charlie]

Yeah, you would have gotten seen quicker. I mean.

[Unnamed Caller]

All right, yeah, yeah.

[Cody]

No, you should.

[Unnamed Caller]

My mom even. I even call my mom. I'm like, mom, I seriously hurt myself. And, you know, I told her what happened. She's like, that's not my problem. Talk to your father.

[Miles]

Yeah, that's a good. That's good.

[Charlie]

Yeah, that sounds like a mom thing to say in that moment.

[Unnamed Caller]

So you think it'll be the dad thing?

[Miles]

All right, so he needs some help promoting his blade business. Charlie. All right, you called into the right place.

[Charlie]

What's your Instagram?

[Unnamed Caller]

High Falls Forge.

[Charlie]

What is it called?

[Unnamed Caller]

High Falls Forge. I'm up by. I was. It is established by Cribbitz up there.

[Charlie]

Oh, nice. Crickets. That's cool.

[Miles]

High Falls Forge.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yep.

[Miles]

I have no service.

[Charlie]

High Falls. Oh, Here we go.

[Miles]

I can't see your screen because you got. Charlie thinks Weston in the CIA.

[Charlie]

Oh.

[Miles]

He needs a screen protector on his phone that you can't see if you're to the side.

[Charlie]

Oh, shut up.

[Miles]

What are you doing on your phone?

[Charlie]

You know, I people when I'm.

[Miles]

Do you have the nuclear codes on your phone that you just can't have anyone see your phone?

[Charlie]

No, but if I'm in an airplane and people. This people will look at what I'm texting. It's weird. Weird. These are some pretty sweet knives.

[Miles]

Yeah, that one's sick.

[Unnamed Caller]

Thank you.

[Charlie]

Dang.

[Unnamed Caller]

Thank you.

[Miles]

You gotta start getting into the house.

[Unnamed Caller]

I made.

[Miles]

You gotta get into the hunting market.

[Unnamed Caller]

Oh, I've tried. Yeah.

[Miles]

And how'd it go?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, I was in a couple of gun. Gun shops and I just made a spear. You guys would see that. I made a video out of that one. I mean, you could literally use it for killing pigs, but yeah, you know, so.

[Miles]

Okay, really?

[Unnamed Caller]

Who.

[Miles]

When you were rocking and rolling, you know, you're at your peak. Who was buying these is like Renaissance fairs guys or what?

[Unnamed Caller]

No, mainly it was just people around Crivets, a lot of them, they were real supportive up there. We moved from there to. To Gillette, but when we were up there, it was really like. I was doing really well for a while there.

[Miles]

I know, but who was buying them? Like, what were their hob hobbies?

[Unnamed Caller]

You need to go like knife collectors. Hunters. I, you know, I sold to a couple volt captains. You know, I sold to a bunch of Russians. They were buying like crazy.

[Charlie]

The Russians, you know?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, I bought, I sold, I sold like 40 or 50 knives to this Russian family and a couple of swords to him. Yeah.

[Charlie]

So you're doing illegal weapons trade with a foreign adversary. That's good.

[Unnamed Caller]

Ye.

[Charlie]

A good market to tap into.

[Miles]

That might have gotten around.

[Charlie]

Yeah, well, you know.

[Unnamed Caller]

Well then Essie's been infiltrated.

[Charlie]

Oh, man.

[Unnamed Caller]

So.

[Charlie]

Do you do the leather work too?

[Unnamed Caller]

I do all of it. I'm. Everything's in house.

[Charlie]

These are beautiful. I think what you should start doing is DIY videos. Like how to make it show the process. Yeah, yeah, Get a, get a GoPro out there and then. And you just gotta like, look for knife videos that you think are cool and start making them that way. Like.

[Miles]

Yeah, cuz I'm not gonna. I don't really care about as much about the end product of a knife as I do. I want to see how it's made.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Start focusing on that and, and, and look for at the ways they edit it and start trying to copy that. You edit your own videos like this spirit. Yeah.

[Miles]

I want to know how you make the spear, man. I need the process. That's what I'm buying into. I want to buy working on a.

[Unnamed Caller]

Video right now on that one.

[Charlie]

Okay, well, you start getting that game going. That's good. And then you know what, you know, how long does. How much does a custom miles. What do you want? You want a spear? You want a knife? What do you want?

[Miles]

I mean, I would love a spear, but I don't know what I'm gonna do with it.

[Charlie]

Pig hunt. He said that?

[Miles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

They're fun to just throw at a tree, man.

[Charlie]

Okay, can you make us a bellied up spear?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, sure.

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah, we want one.

[Miles]

We should buy it though.

[Charlie]

We'll buy. Well, no, we're buying it. That's what I'm saying. I'm supporting them. And then when you send it to us, we'll do a post with our spear and we'll tag you. That can help.

[Unnamed Caller]

That would be awesome. I could make you guys a badass sphere like.

[Miles]

Well, don't spend too much time on our spear, you know.

[Cody]

Right.

[Miles]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

I wanna. I want it to look good though.

[Miles]

I know, but we, we need to get you. We need to get you making videos and selling it, you know?

[Charlie]

Look at the high falls shirt.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

Are you making T shirts too, brother?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, yeah, I went to for the Metallica esque shirts.

[Charlie]

We'll take two T shirts too.

[Unnamed Caller]

Style.

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah. The thing is that I know you think that skeleton holding the sword looks like he's playing a guitar, but it just. It looks like he's playing with his skeleton pecker.

[Unnamed Caller]

You're gonna say it, aren't you?

[Charlie]

I just said it. I mean. Because that's exactly what it looks like. Well, clear the designs with your mom before you print them on a bunch of T shirts, for God's sake. Sake.

[Unnamed Caller]

I think it looks. Well, that was what AI made.

[Charlie]

Oh, for God's sake. Okay.

[Unnamed Caller]

I'm blaming Chad GPT on that.

[Charlie]

Yeah, Stop using that thing. You know? God, they're gonna take over.

[Miles]

So I think also you should get into the like, if there's a famous knife or dagger of some sort in pop culture or movies or shows, you should try and replicate it as a series. Right, right. Like the. I remember what the daggers called in Game of Thrones that they end up killing the Night King with spoilers. Yeah, Just remake that dagger and then people will buy that.

[Charlie]

Yeah, that's smart. That or Thor's hammer. You know, make some of Thor's hammers.

[Miles]

Yes.

[Charlie]

Squid game.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, I know what you're saying.

[Miles]

Yeah, Makes sense.

[Charlie]

Huh? Yeah, those are. Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

Did you see them new knives?

[Miles]

Yeah, those were. Looked sick, dude. They didn't look like toy knives at all. No, but you should make. Yeah, you should make a squid games knife. That was in the show start. I know, but that's what the people try.

[Charlie]

Yeah, yeah, we'll try. And the other thing is simple videos, like how to sharpen a knife. I can't tell you how many people don't know how to sharpen a knife. So just do simple. Like here's how you sharpen a knife. Do think give people skills. That's. That's a big thing. So. Yeah, make right, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

And I've tried to show that I think I make it. I think from my. From my viewpoint, making a life sharp is so second nature to me that I don't even think about it. Like, I can literally shave the arm off your hair or the hair off your arm. I'm off your hair, you know, without even second guessing it. But I think I'm gonna have to dumb it down some. Yeah, yeah, I hear you.

[Miles]

You're too much in the art. You got to get more in the commerce side of it and really think about who you're trying to sell it to and what they want instead of what you want to make. You can still make the stuff you want to make, but if you want to actually make money, you got to make stuff that people want to buy.

[Charlie]

So.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, and that's been my biggest hurdle is not doing what I want and doing what everybody else wants.

[Miles]

Yeah, there you go. We got to it.

[Unnamed Caller]

I've tried. I've tried doing what you've mentioned, and I don't understand it, but nothing is selling nothing. I literally just like put a big old sob story out there on my Facebook page just because I thought people would give a. And they don't.

[Miles]

It turns out that people don't give a about anyone but themselves.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Make filet knives. Make those morel mushroom knives that those little hipsters get. You know, I mean, whatever people are buying, make that, add that into your thing, and then do the things you want to do. It's like two for them, one for you, you know?

[Miles]

So, yeah, the final thing I'll say is you really should think about the process video because that's what if you just go, hey, look at this knife I made. You should Buy it. No one's gonna fucking buy it. But if they watch a three video series of you sculpting and forging this knife, they're gonna be invested in it. They're gonna be like, wow, this guy knows what he's doing. It's got to be a great knife, this and that. They're gonna be more inclined. You're also gonna get more views. And the more views you get it, the better chance you have of someone buying the knife.

[Charlie]

Yeah. So look at all the DIY videos that are doing well and yeah. Borrow their format and put your own creative spin.

[Miles]

Stop thinking of yourself as a bladesmith and start viewing yourself as a content creator. And you'll sell more knives.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay, I will take that route. You know, I mean, that's, that's my biggest thing is like dividing my time between getting the right. The right angle and getting the right bevel, you know, like working the camera. I need a cameraman is what I need.

[Charlie]

No focus, Just set it up yourself. It's a whole new thing of figuring out how to film the work you're doing. It's a big pain in the pecker, I'll tell you that much.

[Unnamed Caller]

It really is.

[Charlie]

Well, it's true. It is. But if you want to sell stuff.

[Unnamed Caller]

I will do it. I will do it.

[Charlie]

If you want to sell stuff, that's what you got to also think about. What are people using knives for? Every single day babies are born, every day, people are still getting circumcisions. Make circumcision knives.

[Unnamed Caller]

That's not right, man.

[Charlie]

Well, I know some people don't believe in circumcisions, but for the ones who do, they need a knife, so.

[Miles]

Oh, yeah, so what? Oh, you're in the knife business. Who's your target market?

[Cody]

Market?

[Miles]

Children's penises actually is the target market.

[Unnamed Caller]

Oh, my God. You said it, not me.

[Miles]

Yeah, Charlie said it, actually.

[Charlie]

Fillet knives, mushroom knives, Little mushroom knives.

[Unnamed Caller]

Filet knives are a. I'm telling you right now, I gave up. I. I made about 40 or 50 filet knives and I never was more stressed in my life because they're so thin.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

And you want to get a good looking bevel. And it is near impossible unless you're. You got a stamping factory where you stamp out the blades and, you know, it's really, really a hard one. But it's something worth doing because the ones that I did make, they sold like before they were even done.

[Charlie]

Well, then there's your deal, dude. So figure it out.

[Miles]

Knives. Yeah, those Were working pretty good, but I stopped just because, you know, the.

[Charlie]

More of them you do, the more you'll want to make them.

[Unnamed Caller]

There's a fine line and stress that I can handle.

[Miles]

All right, well, what's more stressful? Having zero money or making a filet knife? You tell me.

[Unnamed Caller]

Oh, boy. Yeah, I'd rather be broke.

[Charlie]

All right, well, you've made your choice. Circumcision knives it is.

[Unnamed Caller]

All right, I have an idea. I do have an idea for a fully knife, but it won't be as thin and as flexible as the ones you would buy. You know, it's going to be handmade, so it's going to be thicker. But I do have a plan.

[Charlie]

All right.

[Miles]

All right.

[Charlie]

Well, Miles, are we sure that we want a spear? Do we want an ax?

[Miles]

You're thinking more practical?

[Charlie]

I'm thinking, yeah. I mean, I don't know what I'm gonna use a spear for. I'm probably not going to kill a pig anytime soon.

[Miles]

I kind of would like a machete.

[Charlie]

You want machete?

[Miles]

Yeah. All right. I don't know.

[Charlie]

Well, we're gonna share it, so we gotta, you know.

[Miles]

We're gonna have joint custody of the, of the blade.

[Charlie]

Yeah, absolutely. Oh, God, absolutely. You want machete? I'll do it. You can bushwhack with a machete.

[Miles]

That's what I'm saying.

[Charlie]

How much does a machete cost?

[Unnamed Caller]

Oh, depends on the blade length. I usually charge about 350 for a machete.

[Charlie]

All right, let me check with my finance here, see if I can. You finance it. I'm just kidding. No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. No, that's not a bad. That's a good price for a hand.

[Miles]

You know what? Let's just do a surprise. Us?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah.

[Charlie]

You want to do a surprise?

[Miles]

Yeah, you make what you think me and Charlie would want. Surprise.

[Unnamed Caller]

One or two?

[Miles]

Just one's fine. We'll have joint custody.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, I mean, I, I, I think a machete would work for you guys.

[Charlie]

All right, Miles, like, machetes are easy and do that one Miles. Miles will take a machete. I'll take an ax.

[Unnamed Caller]

For real?

[Charlie]

Yeah, we'll do two. How much is an ax?

[Unnamed Caller]

200.

[Charlie]

All right, so sold.

[Miles]

I think I can get it.

[Unnamed Caller]

I've got two available.

[Miles]

At the store for like 200 bucks. I think you gotta up your prices.

[Charlie]

Way less than that. Way less.

[Unnamed Caller]

These I, they were originally 350, but people have been not buying, so I lowered my prices to gain buyers. But that didn't help either, but they're still at 200, so I'm not gonna. You guys.

[Charlie]

Okay.

[Unnamed Caller]

I'll charge you what I charge everybody else.

[Charlie]

Can you. Can you put Bellied up on the axe?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yes. Yes, I can. I actually have two axes available right now.

[Charlie]

Sold. All right. Miles still wants a machete. I'll take one of the axes. If you can just put Bellied up on it somewhere and we'll pay the extra premium.

[Miles]

You just. Do you have a machete for sale?

[Unnamed Caller]

I have one started. I haven't finished it. I've been working on Ulus right now. Now we got nine Ulus I'm working on.

[Charlie]

I don't know what the hell that is.

[Unnamed Caller]

You know what an ulu is?

[Charlie]

No.

[Unnamed Caller]

Ooh. All right. You ever watch, like, Life Below Zero?

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah. And they got the Inuit, the lady of. What's her name. There's. Well, they. They skin seals with them. Okay. That's true. No, the chip and his wife.

[Miles]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Unnamed Caller]

She's always using an ulu. The Inuit lady.

[Miles]

Yeah. Well, I think I'll leave you with this. I think you should stop making new product and just sell the stuff that you got. So spend all your time selling the stuff you got and then to make more stuff later.

[Unnamed Caller]

You're. You're exactly in the right foot in the same frame of mind as I am.

[Cody]

And.

[Unnamed Caller]

But I just keep second guessing that people aren't going to buy it. So I'm like, I better make more. I better make more. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Miles]

You got.

[Unnamed Caller]

I guess it's a panic build.

[Miles]

Just. Just start putting out content.

[Charlie]

Yeah. Anything you build, film it. Focus on filming the stuff you build. You'll make the videos. It'll be great. We're. We're rooting for you here.

[Miles]

We're rooting for it. We appreciate you calling in today. And the folks will go look you up on High Falls Forge. Maybe they got something that you want that they want on your site. Appreciate you calling in today, man.

[Unnamed Caller]

Yeah, I mean, you guys are great. I appreciate you calling me and. Yeah. And. Yeah. Contact me about buying the stuff. We'll. We'll work that out.

[Charlie]

We will. You betcha. Thank you again. And watch for deer out there.

[Unnamed Caller]

Tell your mom said hi.

[Charlie]

All right, we'll do. Bye bye now. It's. It's a tough thing, Miles. It's a tough thing thing. You got a craft that you're good at and then you gotta.

[Miles]

It just. It really does suck in today's world that it's not enough to just be really great at your craft.

[Charlie]

Yeah.

[Miles]

You also have to figure out how to make content.

[Charlie]

Yeah, it does. It's a bummer because you get these artists, you know, they're good at what they do, and we should have told them to go to farmers market.

[Miles]

It's like if you had to tell people starting a business in 2025, it's like, oh, yeah, if I just get really good at what I do, the product will sell itself. And you're like, actually, you just gotta get really good at creating content. Content.

[Charlie]

Yeah. The product can be subpar. You know, it's unfortunate, but it's. It's the case.

[Miles]

True. Sucks.

[Charlie]

Yeah. But good luck out there. Keep doing what you love, and just there's the work of it, and then the marketing. Marketing blows. All right.

[Miles]

All right. Well, that's it for today, Charlie.

[Charlie]

Another great episode. Miles. Fun talking to you. Fun talking to you folks out there. Make sure you tip your bartender and.

[Miles]

We'Ll see in the next one.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay?

[Cody]

Hope you guys have a good one.

[Unnamed Caller]

Goodbye now.

[Charlie]

Toodaloo.