The Midwest Goodbye Is Killing This Business #208

Summary

Bellied Up Podcast Episode #208

"The Midwest Goodbye Is Killing This Business"

Date: July 9, 2026
Hosts: Charlie Berens & Myles "You Betcha Guy" Montplaisir
Location: Zoo on 22, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Bellied Up, Charlie and Myles belly up at the newly-renovated Zoo on 22 bar in Detroit Lakes, MN, reminiscing about small-town bar names and how local history inspires them. They take live calls from Midwesterners with classic problems—like the etiquette of the endless "Midwest Goodbye"—and pitch wild entrepreneurial ideas ranging from memorial concrete to bread businesses. Filled with their trademark Midwest banter, practical solutions hidden in humor, and community storytelling, the episode celebrates local color, ingenuity, and the joys and challenges of small-town life.

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Key Discussion Points & Highlights

The Story of Zoo on 22 (00:06–03:34)

• Bar Evolution:
  The bar journeyed from "Randy’s" to "TJ’s," finally becoming "Zoo on 22."

  • Name-wise, hosts agree the new name "hits" (01:23).

• Origin of the Name:
  Local lore: The sheriff used to call this spot “the zoo on 22” whenever anything was happening there (00:46).

  • Charlie: “When there was something going on at Randy's, they didn’t call it that. They just said, ‘It's over at the zoo on 22.’” (00:56)

• Rundown and Makeover:
  Used to be the “divest of all dive bars;” now fancier but still has character.

• Local ties:
  Myles’s dad did the concrete work for the renovation.

Midwest Bar + Memorials = Business Idea (03:17–07:46)

• Concrete Memorials:
  The hosts brainstorm about integrating people's ashes into concrete foundations as a new way of remembrance.
  • Charlie: "How often are we going to the cemetery? But how often are we going to the bar?" (03:29)
  • Myles: "Mix [ashes] up and make stepping stones at your cabin… let's patent it. Bellied Up exclusive idea!" (07:04)
  • Names pitched: "Memory Stones," "Dead Set," and even a "memory foam" made with remains.
• Ghost Theory:
  “I’d even just take a ghost… it’s extra-value entertainment!” – Charlie (08:06)

Midwest Geography & Small Details (08:51–10:00)

• Landscape Commentary:
  Crossing from North Dakota to Minnesota: “Great North Dakotans were just like, all right, no trees. Draw the line right here.” (08:51)
  • The nature change is instant—"as soon as you cross the border…you get foliage." (09:24)
• Classic Bar Banter:
  Quick detour into caulk vs. cock jokes and viral TikTok content (10:09–10:54).

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Caller #1: Will – The Lone Landscaper Facing Midwest Goodbyes (18:56–51:30)

Will’s Dilemma (21:14–22:37)

• Problem:
  Will is a solo landscaper, but "the Midwest Goodbye" with clients eats up his workday: "They like to sit there and talk to me for a good 25, 30 minutes." (21:58)
  • Will: "My fiancé says I'm just too nice...but even when I say I gotta go, they won't let me off the hook." (22:00)

Advice & Midwest Solutions

• Payment Solutions:
  • Try digital invoicing to cut down face time.
    • Charlie: “Time is money… let’s back it up here.” (23:36)
• Turning Chit-Chat Into Sales:
  • Use talk time to ask for referrals: "Steer into the skid... ask them for referrals at the end." – Myles (25:19)
• Wild Ideas:
  • Hire a "pool boy" or "weed whacker guy" to act as a decoy while Will escapes to next job (26:18–29:19).
    • “Just go on Craigslist and go men seeking men… you’ll get a bunch of good pool boys.” – Myles (30:04)
  • Keep an excuse book to rotate out reasons you can't stay and chat (31:06–32:19):
    “You can't each time say your grandma just passed...but that gives you four weeks.”
• Pre-Emptive Chatting:
  • Try to proactively greet/chat before mowing so clients get their fix but he can use "better get mowing" as a polite exit (30:21–34:09).

Midwest Goodbye Protocol

• Execution:
  Charlie and Myles walk through the layered art of the Midwest goodbye:
  • Deploying “Wellp… I suppose…” and starting up the mower as a subtle physical sign-off (40:04–40:45).
• Notable Quotes:
  • “They’re not just getting you for your lines, my guy. They’re getting you for your gift of gab!” – Charlie (24:37)

Bonus: Filters as Society’s Weak Spot (41:52–44:21)

• Will raises a second tip: change your fridge water filter – “Filters are our Achilles heel as a society.” – Myles (44:17)

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Caller #2: Megan – The Sourdough Side Hustle Stand (55:08–90:01)

Megan’s Situation (57:26–61:04)

• Background:
  Megan’s husband is always wrapped up in motor-related projects, neglecting her one request: build her a roadside farm stand for her new small-town sourdough business.
• Business Highlight:
  Her "Small Town Sourdough" has already pulled in $1,200 of bread sales in two months. (78:26–78:32)

Barter, Bread, & Business Lessons

• Project Prioritization:
  “All I want is a little farm stand for my bread biz—it’s been 2 years!”
• Hosts’ Advice:
  • Use gentle spouse psychology:
    • Threaten to get his father or father-in-law involved (“that will motivate him...dad guilt!”) (68:22).
    • Start doing it herself to instigate his competitive drive: “Nothing is more threatening to his masculinity than you not needing him for this project.” (69:59)
    • Set hard deadlines—"We need this done by next Saturday" (75:01).
  • Charlie: “How’s your husband going to feel about you being the breadwinner?” (88:06)
• Small Business Banter:
  • Megan and Myles riff on forming a small-town-to-big-city bread company partnership. Jokes about Shark Tank, percent ownership, and niche Midwest artisan foods abound (80:56–83:49).
  • Charlie: “I just like being a business cuck in the corner, watching you two make bread. That’s exciting for me!” (84:03)
• Notable Quotes:
  • “I only do sourdough—that's my bread and butter.” – Megan (86:12)
  • “Let’s rise to the occasion.” – Myles, on investing in her biz (81:04)
  • “My due diligence is gonna be tasting the bread.” – Myles (83:07)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The Catholic Church must be the wealthiest entity on Earth. If they just sold all their shit, we could solve every issue in the world.” – Myles (14:01)
• “You need a pool boy.” – Repeated as the go-to solution for avoiding lengthy client goodbyes (29:18)
• “The noise of the mower gives you away and then they start poking their head…” – Myles (35:08)
• “Nothing reveals a person's true character faster than a crowded boat launch on a summer weekend.” – Charlie (52:26)
• “Filters are our Achilles heel as a society.” – Myles (44:17)
• “It's not just the Vatican... there's like a hundred people that could just sell all their [stuff] and we'd solve all the problems.” – Charlie (14:02)
• “I’m just a bread guy, huh?” – Myles, on his bread obsession (80:33)

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Important Timestamps

• Bar Story & Name Discussion: (00:06–03:34)
• Memorial Concrete Business Idea: (03:17–07:46)
• Midwest Landscape Commentary: (08:51–10:00)
• Call 1 – Will, Midwest Goodbye Dilemma: (18:56–51:30)
  • Midwest Goodbye solutions: (25:19–34:09, 39:53–41:01)
  • Filters & appliances: (41:52–44:21)
• Ad Skip
• Call 2 – Megan, Small Town Sourdough: (55:08–90:01)
  • Side-hustle, breadmaking business, farm stand: (57:26–61:04)
  • Business partnership banter: (80:56–89:44)
• Conclusion & Recap: (90:14–92:32)

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Podcast Tone & Vibe

• Signature Bellied Up blend: irreverent, quick-witted, supportive, and deeply Midwestern.
• Wisdom often delivered with sarcasm, never without heart (“Butter is the oldest form of entertainment").
• Hosts enjoy brainstorming absurd and practical solutions in equal measure, always rooting for callers and the “little guy.”

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The “Midwest Goodbye” is both a blessing and a curse for small businesses.
• Lean into your strengths (even when they’re quirks), and don’t be afraid to steer small talk to your advantage.
• Building community connections—whether through a lawn job, a loaf of bread, or a quirky bar—is as Midwest as it gets.
• Never underestimate the creative potential of local ingenuity—even if it starts as a joke about memory foam made from ashes or a roadside bread stand.
• Participating in local culture (and calling into shows like this) keeps both humor and homegrown entrepreneurship alive in the heartland.

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Hosts Sign Off:
“If you’re in Detroit Lakes, swing by the Zoo on 22 and tip your bartender. Oodaloon!” (92:22)

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This summary captures the full, lively spirit and major content beats of the episode, ready for anyone who wants to catch up without missing the best bits.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, folks, welcome to another episode of the Belly Dub podcast. My name is Charlie. We're here in Minnesota today.

[B]

We're in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and we are at the zoo on 22.

[A]

We got a good story about the zoo on 22.

[B]

So a little history. It used to be called Randy's back in the day, and then it got bought by some people. It was Randy's for a while, then they renovated part of it. They changed the name to TJ's. And then over the winter this last year, they redid the whole thing and named it the zoo on 22.

[A]

And the reason is one, we were confused.

[B]

You know, we're like, oh, why would they name it that? I don't see what it is. And once we figured it out, it made a lot of sense, Charlie.

[A]

Quite a bit of sense. So the father of the owner was a sheriff in town, a dispatcher. Same church, different pew. And he. When there was something going on at Randy's back in the day. Back in the day, they didn't call this place Randy's. They just says it's over at the zoo on 22.

[B]

And the sheriff would head over and deal with whatever he needed to. And I like that.

[A]

I like that too.

[B]

It's.

[A]

It's a. It's a place with a great story.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. TJ is. No, no shots to him. But Zoo on 22, that really hits.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And usually, you know, when you name sort of a bar, especially if it's a small town bar like this, you do kind of just keep whatever name it had.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

You know, but in this case, I think it. I think it deserves the name change.

[B]

Yeah, I agree.

[A]

Also, there's a bear on the wall and then there's a longhorn and a bison.

[B]

Bison. The Z.

[A]

Well, that's not how I spell it, Miles. It's not how I spell it.

[B]

Roll herd.

[A]

Roll herd. But yeah, you know what I noticed driving over here, Miles? Oh, no, I stepped on your thought. What were you going to say?

[B]

Oh, no, I was going to say is this used to be like the divest of all dive bars. It's a little bit fancier now, but I think that they did a good job with it.

[A]

They put a wall. They put a fireplace on the wall right over there.

[B]

And you get these garage doors to go up. You got an indoor outdoor situation here in the summer. It's pretty nice. Oh, that's cool.

[A]

Okay. Garage doors are new, so if you're

[B]

in the Detroit Lake area in Minnesota, you got to get over to the zoo on 22.

[A]

Was this a gut job, Miles, or was it a re?

[B]

So that part is still the same over there, but they tore this whole part off.

[A]

Yeah, this looks.

[B]

Dad actually did the concrete for this.

[A]

No, you buried the lead here, Miles.

[B]

He buried it as well.

[A]

He did.

[B]

Underneath all the ground.

[A]

I gotta. I gotta ask your dad. You know, you always hear these stories. I hear Jimmy Hoffa's buried underneath.

[B]

You think my dad's burying guys under the ground?

[A]

I'm. I don't think he is. I think he could.

[B]

He could.

[A]

That's why I always am on my best behavior around your dad, around Bud. Because Bud knows how to get a body. You know, he's. He. His profession is tombstones. If you think about it, you know.

[B]

Yeah, he can make a mean tombstone.

[A]

That's another thing I'm thinking Kenny, that's he's got his freezer full. You know, we only have limited space in this world, green space. And you look at all these cemeteries and you're like, can we just start burying people in foundations? Because how often are you going to. To the cemetery? You know, God bless both my. All my grandparents, both my grandma. Well my grandma sue is still alive, but my grandpa Bob, he's in a Mausole and because they ran out of space in the cemetery mausoleum or whatever. And my nana and my grandpa tg, I mean they are, they're in a standard cemetery. How often are we going to the cemetery? But how often are we going to the bar? You know. And so I think it, you know, might be a nice, nice way to honor them. We go visit them more, you know, and then you get a few people saying, you know, anytime you put up a new bar, you know, you might want to get.

[B]

That's actually a good idea. You know, having an actual cemetery, like bodies buried on the grounds of the bar maybe is a little too much for people. You think? But if you spread people's ass ashes outside.

[A]

Uh huh.

[B]

And then just have a plaque with all the names of the people who are buried here, that I think is maybe something people could handle rather than like burying bodies in the foundation of the place.

[A]

Well, you know, teach their own. Miles, I still think it's a good idea. I'm going to talk to your dad about that. The practicality of it, the legality of it. You know, so when they make like starter homes that all the foundations should

[C]

be filled with dead bodies.

[A]

I mean I've seen you gotta do

[B]

like two foot wide walls. I don't know if we're gonna. I wouldn't fit in an eight inch foundation wall, Charlie.

[A]

Well, you know, six feet deeper than too. Yeah, yeah, that's true. There are some problems, but I'm not saying, you know, you can just have them like, you know, burnt up a bit, you know, like,

[B]

like. So you're looking at me, you're like, yeah, he ain't gonna fit in the 8 inch wall, but if we crisp him up a little bit, he'll shrink. Well, and then we just shuffle like

[A]

you're saying with the ashes, you know, but it's a half baked idea. Hey, Jared's firing on all cylinders today. That's a stupid idea. We already lost half our listeners at this point. Screw it. Miles, you know what I noticed coming from Fargo to here is that I

[B]

wanted to hear your. The rest of your thought though, on the what we're going to do. Oh, so now you're into cremating and just putting them into concrete foundation?

[A]

I mean, basically, you know, we've all used the quick set before. It kind of looks like ashes to a degree. You know, what messes with the structural foundation.

[B]

If we cremate people, we don't have to put them in concrete. And actually it's funny because Ash is part of the concrete mix.

[A]

Yeah, I was just going there. We're like on the same brainwave. So I mean, let's just, you know, you can buy a little starter set. You just get your quick set or, you know, whatever you're using. It's not what you're using for this kind of foundation work, but even a quick set, you know, that, that post, that little footer I just put down, you know, why not have, you know, your loved ones, why not remember them every time you sit on your deck?

[B]

Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

[A]

You know, I mean, you got to look at what's the end result here? What are we trying to.

[B]

I don't mind that. You know, it's like you, you, you get a bag of quick set, you sprinkle the ashes in there.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Mix them up and you make like stepping stones at your cabin.

[A]

It's perfect. It's perfect.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

Let's patent it. This a bellied up exclusive idea. Don't steal it, folks.

[B]

I don't know how we can patent this.

[A]

Well, we can just come up with a name, you know. Oh, memory stones. That's a bad one. That's dead. Dead set.

[B]

Dead set is dead set.

[A]

If I saw some concrete that was called Dead Set, I might you know, that's not going anywhere, you know? Yeah, yeah, I can even. I. I can even. I only have to take that down a foot.

[B]

If we could figure out a way to get the ashes into some, like, spray foam, we could. We could have it be memory foam.

[A]

And you're. Every time you're warm in your attic,

[B]

you're like, you know, spray them in the attic.

[A]

There you go. And then people are worried about ghosts and stuff like that. But if.

[B]

If you.

[A]

That's only if you're ignoring the dead, you know, but if you're acknowledging the dead.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

They don't creep you out, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that would be great. Dude, people talk mad smack about ghosts, but I would like a ghost, man. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't it be cool to do.

[B]

You're that lonely in this life so at this current moment that you're like, fuck, I'll even just take a ghost.

[A]

Well, I'm not take a ghost to

[B]

talk to all day.

[A]

It's extra value entertainment, you know, Imagine doing a podcast podcast with a ghost called the Other side.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, if you could, that would be the most watched podcast of all time.

[A]

Well, I think you could. You just need to hearken the right ghost. I mean, it can't be a boring ghost.

[B]

And how does. How does Charlie Barron's hearken the right ghost?

[A]

I just told you. Memory foam.

[D]

We.

[A]

We built it here, Miles. You just have to bring the ghost in. You know, these are just thoughts. This is now there's no one listening this damn podcast. Son of a gun. You know what I noticed, Dr. Here, from Fargo to Minnesota is the. The great North Dakotans were just like, all right, no trees. Draw the line right here. Seriously, as soon as you cross the line, you. You just. You get foliage. You know, as soon as you cross the line.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, there's a river there that helps break that. That's how it got drawn. It's because the Red river is right there.

[A]

I know that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I just wanted you to say it.

[B]

But you are right. It's like you cross the border and as flat as can be, and there's no trees.

[A]

Yeah. But here. Here I feel like I'm back in Wisconsin. Maybe it's wild. Wild. Well, this is a cool spot, Miles. Thanks for inviting me here. It's nice to come. Hey, you got a little white spot on your shirt. What happened?

[B]

I don't know what that is.

[A]

That looks like a. Is that some baby drill? Let me try to scrape it off.

[B]

No, it's like a glue.

[A]

Oh, that's.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You got glue on that silicone or something?

[A]

Well, silicone.

[B]

Little cock. Yeah, I have a little cock on my shoulder.

[A]

Uh huh. Yeah, that's fine.

[B]

I watched TikTok. This is just dumb, but watch TikTok of a guy went to like Costco or something and he put a couple of tubes of caulk on his. His roof.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And just drove around and filmed people telling him that he had on his roo the most low brow male humor ever.

[A]

That's. No, that's a genius idea is what

[B]

you got some on your car. Like just people just telling them that. Very funny.

[A]

You got two on your card. He did it with two.

[B]

So I don't remember exactly, but yeah. Just know whoever made that video, I laughed pretty hard at that.

[A]

You know, that's an idea that you get jealous of. Like, why didn't we think of that?

[D]

Mm.

[A]

Oh boy. I'm excited to do another podcast with you today, Miles.

[B]

I'm still hung up on your. I'm just thinking of all the ways we could bury the dead.

[A]

Well, I. And you know, it's. What you really want to accomplish is remembering the person. And the more you see that person, their. Whatever it may be, you know, the more you remember them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So out of sight, out of mind.

[B]

I think what we should do is just start a company that tailors the how the dead is remembered based off of who they were. You know what I mean?

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So like, let's say they're really into football. Let's grind them up, let's sprinkle them on. The football field is like, you know, they have the rubber pellets on a turf field.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Makes those.

[B]

Chop them up into little tiny pellets and then sprinkle them and then they're just there forever, you know? Yeah. If a guy. Maybe you, Charlie, you're a big fisherman.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Maybe when you die, they chop you up and your kids. Maybe someday or your nieces and nephews, if you don't have any kids, they use you as bait for fishing.

[A]

Or bait. Or you could be ashed up and then go into a bird feeder.

[B]

Yeah. Birds could eat you.

[A]

Yeah, well, I don't want to.

[B]

But then you get to fly with the birds forever.

[A]

I'm gonna kill every bird that eats me. I'm filled with toxins.

[B]

Yeah. But we'll just microdose them.

[A]

Yeah. So just. I kill multiple birds.

[B]

But here's the thing. You get to decide this yourself. So how would you. First client.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Well, how would you like us to remember you?

[A]

So burn me up. Burn me up. Mix me in with some. Some graphite and make me a fishing pole.

[B]

Okay. There we go. See? Wouldn't that be awesome?

[A]

That'd be great.

[B]

And then we could auction them off. We'll keep one for your family, and then. Why, like, everything will go to charity. Oh, that's nice to go to, like, Birdwatchers Foundation. And we'll auction off, you know, 15 fishing poles that are made of Charlie Barons, and they'll go for at least a couple hundred bucks.

[A]

Kind of cool, man. Yeah, the Catholic Church does a lot of that sort of stuff. There's always. Yeah, there's. There is this one cross that I remember we had at this Catholic church that I was this altar boy at. And the cross had this little thing in the middle of the cross, and in that little thing, it was a piece of splintered wood that they said was from Jesus's cross.

[B]

Exactly what you're talking about. I saw the same thing.

[D]

Who.

[A]

Who had Jesus's cross and then chopped that thing up?

[B]

The Catholic church.

[A]

No. Come on.

[B]

Stuff the Catholic Church has in the basement of the Vatican is insane. I don't think you realize.

[A]

Oh, they got books that they pulled from the Bible.

[B]

They. They have to be the wealthiest entity

[A]

on Earth, and they're still hoarding. You know, how cool would it be to do an estate sale at the Vatican? Like, how exciting would that be?

[B]

I mean, we could solve world hunger with it.

[A]

Probably.

[B]

They probably solve every issue in the world that the Vatican just sold all their shit.

[A]

You think so?

[B]

They won't.

[A]

Well, I mean, not just the Vatican. I mean, there's, like, a hundred people that could just sell all their. And we'd solve all the problems.

[B]

That's true. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it's.

[D]

It's.

[A]

What are we even doing here, Miles? What are we even doing? Let's just go solve the world's problems.

[B]

We did.

[A]

You're right. We already did. We. We fit. We finished the dead set. Dead set, baby. I like that. That's for the foundation and then memory foam for the. For the foaming version. That's cool.

[B]

Jared, how would you. If you were. If. If Charlie and I started this company and you were a client of ours, how would you want to be remembered? Charlie wants to be 15 fishing poles. For me, personally, it would be cool

[A]

if I was, like, an NFL football.

[B]

Oh, you.

[A]

You want to be the pig skin? Yeah. Not a kicking ball, either. I want to be the real ball.

[B]

Yeah, you want to Be thrown a

[A]

kicking ball, like one that they beat up, beat the hell out of.

[B]

There's two different balls in the NFL. There's like the one that they. For regular play, and then there's a ball that the kickers have that are specifically for kicking.

[A]

You know what's crazy?

[B]

They're the same ball, but then the kicker gets like 24 hours.

[A]

Yeah. They rough it up and whatever sleep that I knew. That I knew. Yeah. The kicker just gets to beat the hell out of that ball. That'd be a funny video. What the kicker does for that ball in the 24 hours.

[B]

Take it to dinner. It's just.

[A]

It's.

[B]

Yeah, it's like he takes it to dinner before he starts really going to town on it. It's like. It's like. It's like letting your dog do whatever he wants. You put them down.

[A]

Dude, that's. I can't believe they let you do that. They get to take it home. Literally take it home with them.

[B]

I don't know. I doubt it.

[A]

Pretty much do anything what you want with it. What if they put flubber on it?

[C]

Flubber?

[A]

Yeah. What's flubber? Oh, my God. Oh, like the Robin Williams. Yeah.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I don't know. I haven't thought about that. Well, you should. It's a great film. Great American film.

[B]

You thought about why they don't put

[A]

a flubber on it, but you know what I mean, there's all sorts of things you can. Could do to a football. That's not that. That is why they're kicking these 68 yarders these days. Because they let.

[B]

But also for the NFL. Let them do it because it's a better product for them to put out.

[A]

Well, then why not just let everyone jack themselves up on steroids? Because that'd be pretty.

[B]

That's a legitimate argument online that people are wrestling with. And now there's a new league that's like you can be on any substance you want. Not football, but like they had like a. Do you see that? The. The what?

[A]

Enhanced games.

[B]

Enhanced games where they did Olympics and they don't drug test anyone, so you be on whatever and actually astonishing amount of people who said that they were clean ended up winning.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah, like they showed that, like being enhanced. Like that didn't necessarily. Now you're not also pulling from the cream of the crop.

[A]

Yeah, you're getting like the most people

[B]

who are willing to do.

[A]

Because the. The. The juice that you put in you. I mean, it makes your balls small.

[B]

It makes.

[A]

No, it does it? I mean, why? Who cares at this point? But I guess money, you know, you get those, you get that one guy who's like look smack sing or whatever, like chopping the. Hitting himself in the face, doing the micro breaks or whatever to get those swollen cheekbones.

[B]

Oh, I know about clavicular. What is, what is Ryan always say

[A]

Clavica got frame mug by USC frat boy or something? I don't know what it was.

[B]

Something like that.

[A]

Absolutely. Frame box. Would you ever do that? Would you ever look Max Miles? Like, like let's say you have all the kids you want to have already. I mean, I thought you were with that mustache. How'd you like with being a mustache guy? I don't know.

[B]

I got a video with some firefighters here coming up and I think I might shave it again. Anne's going to hate it. She doesn't know this, by the way.

[A]

So she didn't like it when you did it?

[B]

No, she's glad it's back. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Randa wasn't too thrilled with the clean shave.

[B]

Look, not weird.

[A]

It's weird. I mean, I thought I looked like, you know, like. I don't know, I just. I feel like old facial hair really ties the room together, you know, it's

[B]

like a nice rug.

[A]

It is. It is like a nice rug. You know, it just says I didn't try too hard to be here today. I mean really, the rest of my energy kind of says that, but first glance, you want a little.

[B]

I think with or without the beard? People are feeling that about you, Charlie.

[A]

That I didn't try too hard.

[B]

Yeah, like those pants. Should we do some collars?

[A]

Let's call some people. Well, I am curious what you're up to today.

[C]

What I'm up to today?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, I did an oil change in my truck this morning and I. I picked up a couple leftover bags of mulch that have been old and decayed at a customer's house. I brought them to the dump and. Yeah, now I'm. I'm sitting here in my truck and gotta go mow my parents lawn a little bit. And now I'm talking to you guys.

[A]

Wow, that's a full day. Did you drop the plug in the oil tin?

[C]

Oh, I sure did. Actually, the oil pan spilled all over the driveway and that was quite a. A treat to clean up.

[A]

Yeah. Was it still hot?

[C]

Oh, it was real hot.

[A]

Yeah. That sucks. Did you get out in time?

[C]

Oh, I got out of the way in time, but I got some grass seed that I put down that came in real nice, and I think I just killed everything that I did.

[A]

Oh, that sucks. That sucks. They got to invent. They got to put a chain on that plug, you know?

[C]

Yeah, chain on the plug. And I don't know, I think my oil pan had a hole in it or something and it just got all over the place.

[A]

Oh, it wasn't just you.

[C]

I guess that's partially my fault. I probably should have checked it before I started using it, but, you know.

[A]

Yeah, it's. How'd you get a hole in your oil pan?

[C]

I don't know. It's old. It's probably like 10 years, 15 years old, you know?

[A]

Yeah. So that'll happen.

[B]

So this is a Tuesday when we're recording this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What do you do for work?

[A]

That just described it.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

Man's working all day long.

[B]

Handyman or something?

[C]

No, I'm. I'm. I. Well, I'm a landscaper. So, you know, today I actually got all my jobs. Usually I keep Monday, Tuesday open for, like, project work, and then Wednesday through Friday, I cut grass. So I actually did a job yesterday that I thought was going to take two days, and luckily enough for me, it only took. Took a day. So I was able to catch up on some things that I've been putting off for a couple months.

[B]

Let's go.

[A]

Nice, dude. Nice.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Well, why don't you belly up to the bars with us and tell us what's going on?

[C]

So my reason for calling you guys was I, as I mentioned, I, I, you know, cut grass good majority of the week. I probably have somewhere around like 25, 30 yards that I do, and I do it by myself. So I don't have a crew. People work with me. That kind of moves things along. So oftentimes when I'm done cutting, I get my. My money at the end of each. Each mo from the customer or, you know, they leave it under the doormat, but more often than not, they come out and talk to me to give me my. Either cash or check, however they're paying me. And usually they like to sit there and talk to me for a good 25, 30 minutes.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Being by myself, you know, it's kind of like one of those things where I have to keep moving or else I'm going to be behind and I won't get anything done. So my. My issue is that it kind of. It's like a Midwest goodbye that I get stuck in every house I go to for the most part. So I wanted to get your Guys's advice on what to do and how to handle this. My, my fiance says I'm just too nice and I don't tell people to. That I have to keep going. But she doesn't believe me. But I do. I do tell them, listen, I gotta go. And they don't care. They just sit there and keep happening to me for, for quite, quite a while.

[A]

I believe you will.

[B]

All right, I have a potential solution for you. You ready?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Email invoicing.

[C]

So I do that, but then the problem is I still have to because I'm not big enough to take card or you know, like a automatic payment through.

[A]

Huh.

[C]

Whatever.

[A]

Definitely my ass.

[B]

You or is this an IRS problem?

[A]

This is an IRS issue is what this is.

[C]

Oh, no, I pay, I pay my taxes. My dad's an accountant, so I have to pay my taxes.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

I can't not pay my taxes.

[B]

Well, what do you use? QuickBooks?

[C]

Well, I use Jobber, but it's same difference.

[B]

Yeah, I mean there's a ton of softwares that allow you just to take payment right there on the invoice when it gets sent out.

[C]

Right. But you got to pay for it. That's the problem is it's like an extra, I don't know, a couple hundred bucks a month to do it.

[A]

Well, time is money. Let's, let's back it up here. Let's say you're right. Let's say you're right. Yeah, they're still gonna come out. They're still coming out to chit chats.

[C]

That's the thing. They, even if it's not to get paid, they still, they see my truck pull up, they hear the lawnmower go on. You know, especially if you got a couple houses right next to each other. Yeah, you know, they, they see you, they hear you and they're, they, they usually always come out. Like, even if they're, they're a Venmo or a Zell type of payment because that's fine. Usually some people just do that and I'm like, it's a breeze. But when they're home and they, you know, they are, even if they're not paying, they will just come out and sit and talk to me and they'll ask me questions, be like, oh, what do you think about? They want advice on certain things. And I'm like, I don't have the time for this night. I wish I did, but.

[A]

You don't have time. Not too well, you don't have time not to. You know how many people out there have lawnmowers?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're not. They're not just getting you for your lines, my guy. They're getting you for your. For your gift of the Gap. They like you, Will. This is part of the business.

[C]

And, and, you know, that's what I keep telling myself is like, well, you know, I shouldn't be so, you know, not upset about it, but I don't know what the right word would be for. But, you know, without them, I wouldn't have a business and I wouldn't be, you know, doing what I do. So I do try to give them a good, like five or 10 minutes. You know, I give them some of my time and that, that's fine. I'll do it. But it's when it goes on and on and, you know, it's one of those. One of those things where at a certain point I. I do have to go.

[A]

Sure.

[C]

You know.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Now, one thing, you could steer into the skid here and know that you're doing that and ask them for referrals at the end of it. You know what I mean?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

So use it as a sales technique.

[C]

Yes, I have done that. And luckily those folks that I do have that are, you know, they will do that for me, especially the ones that I first started with when I got started, you know, several years back. They. They're very good with that. They're like, well, this guy's a good guy. He's a nice person. He's. He shows up when he's supposed to or says he's going to. And they have given me referrals, and I, you know, and those folks, I don't mind sitting and talking to, but there's some that are just, you know, they just like to. To. To back and forth, indecisive, can't make up their mind type. People that are that kind of, you know, get under my skin a little bit.

[A]

Okay. Are you at a point where you can hire a closer?

[C]

I thought about that.

[A]

Yup. Yup.

[C]

Is. Problem is it's a little bit. What's the word? You know, a lot of people want to do full time. They want five days a week, and I can probably only really give them like two or three. Yeah. And then usually when you steer into those people that are only for a couple days a week, they're not the most reliable. So that's the issue.

[A]

Thinking about the wrong way, Will, every company has a sales guy, a steaks and wine guy, right?

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Okay. You're gonna find a steaks and wine guy. That can just push a lawnmower. He's gonna go out there and do the trim at the end, all right? So you're out there riding the big hog, all right? You get done with that, roll it right onto the ramp. While you're rolling on the ramp, you got your guy out there, your little push boy, okay? And your push boy, he's a good looking guy. He's. He's got the gift of the gab. He's gonna stay there after a lot.

[B]

Like a pool boy.

[A]

Pool boy, find a Chucky guns, okay? And tell him to wear some skimpy, okay? Unless it's a fella's house, put a flannel on over it, get. Make it respectable. But this guy, he's running interference for you, all right? He sees you're wrapping up, he's out there with the push mower. He sees the guy come up, he stops some more. Hey, Frank, how you doing, man? Gosh, you're looking good. Have you been working out? Let me see those hands.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

How have you been? How's the wife? How's the kids? You know, and he gets them going. Meanwhile, Will, you're out of earshot. You're in the car, you're off to the next job. He then has 45 minutes to talk to him and get new business and then meet you at the next house and the whole process starts over.

[B]

You need a pool boy.

[A]

You need a pool boy.

[C]

That's. That's not a. That's not the worst idea I've heard to be.

[A]

Might be the best idea you've heard.

[C]

It is the best idea I've heard. That's what the only thing I worry about is, is, you know, if they do have their own transportation and their own equipment, is are they going to come, come in under me and take it from me?

[A]

Not if you treat them right. Well, now, if you treat them right and no, you're giving them the lawnmower, right? You. And they got their own car. You can just put the lawnmower in the trunk.

[B]

I mean, he was the weed whacker guy.

[A]

Yeah, well, I was just saying the little lawnmower. If you don't have a weed whacker, you just get that lawnmower over there and do the wheat. You can do the weed whacking with a little lawnmower if you want, but give him a weed whacker. You're right. It's smaller, it's less expensive. You know, he doesn't think he can take your business because he. I mean, but you treat him right, you give him a little cut, little snort, little bed on the action, you know, and he'll be motivated BY that extra 10% of new business he brings in. And, you know, if. If for some of them he's got to stay there an after and, you know, help someone out, you let them do that because. But then the next thing you know, we'll have child support and that might be an issue.

[C]

But yeah, that, that's. That was my thing. So am I supposed to make this guy, like, wear a cutoff tank top or something? For I. I work a lot of older ladies that are like my, my

[A]

clientele, then you, you know, tell. You tell them you do not show up on this job, on this job site with the sleeves on.

[B]

I don't even think you need to spend money on shirt. Just go shirtless.

[A]

Yeah, shirtless is good. But now if you got, you know, some fellas aren't. Aren't necessarily. Well, either way, it's like the models in front of American Eagle with their shirts off. Or like Hollister back in the day. Yes. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly.

[B]

Hollister probably isn't doing that anymore. So you just hire an old Hollister boy.

[A]

That's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Put a Craigslist.

[C]

Okay, that Craigslist is in our marketplace or something like that.

[B]

Yeah, go on Craigslist and go. Men seeking men. And I'm sure you'll get a bunch of good pool boys that you can hire.

[A]

Yeah, this is a genius idea. I mean, the other.

[B]

Yeah, I have another idea.

[A]

Go ahead, Miles, why don't you.

[B]

You could get ahead of it and quite literally. So when you show up to a job, you go up to the front door wanting to give and gab to start one, then they kind of get put on their heels and a little bit like, I don't know if I want it. You're. You're now making me talk to you, and I don't really love that. I want to be the one to initiate it. So they're going to be less likely to sit and chat a bunch. And you always have that built in excuse that, well, I better get mowing the lawn, you know, because you haven't done it already. But if they are talking to you when you've already got it done, then, yeah, turn then there. Think you got all day.

[A]

Turn your defense into offense because they're

[B]

gonna get a little antsy being like, all right, dude, just go mow the lawn.

[A]

Yeah. Another thing Will, is you could have a little book and every Day, you've got a new excuse. Okay, so you can't each time say your grandma just passed and you got to get to the funeral. But that gives you four weeks at least if you get all your grandparents.

[B]

Grandparents. Diarrhea works a lot. Yep.

[A]

You got kids, Will?

[C]

No, no kids.

[A]

But you do know you got three

[B]

of them, maybe five kids, and they're

[A]

all in sports and they're all sick this week, so.

[B]

So there's two more weeks. You got all kids are sick and then the kids. I got to go to the kids game.

[A]

Yep. And they're in a lot of sports. They', baseball, soccer, lacrosse.

[B]

In the winter, they're curling. If you're doing snow removal.

[A]

Yeah. You have very active kids, Will.

[C]

What, what happens if they start asking for pictures of the kids? They want to know. Oh, what's what? You know, do I just kind of.

[A]

You got Google, right?

[B]

Google. Just, just, just take a photo of you, go into AI and just say, I want you to add three kids into this photo.

[A]

There's plenty of pictures of children on Google. Just Google it.

[B]

Yeah, I don't recommend that. I think you should go with AI children. I don't think you should be googling pictures of children. Just.

[A]

You don't need to see pictures. Tell me you don't believe in taking

[B]

pictures, cute pictures of children on Google.

[A]

Tell them you don't believe in taking pictures of your kids because you want to keep their identities private.

[C]

Yeah, that works. I also, you know, if I threw them in AI, it'd probably give them like, you know, six or seven fingers on watching one hand.

[B]

Another excuse. You're like, we're having their excuse right there. This week we're having digit removal surgery. So I gotta head out.

[A]

Which one of those options do you like the most there, Will?

[C]

I, I do. I think, I think the excuse book might be the.

[A]

No Will. Get yourself a pool boy.

[B]

Dude, he was gonna choose the pool boy.

[A]

Yeah, because here's the thing. If you have an excuse every week, you're going to start losing business. They're going to catch on to you.

[C]

Well, sometimes, some weeks, someone, you know, the homeowner's not even there. So then, you know, it's like a mix. Exactly. So it's like a mixed bag of like different people every week are, are the, the culprits, you know what I mean? So, like, I can kind of spread the wealth of the excuses and make sure that I'm not using them all at once. The problem with the pool boy is I just, I don't at the moment. I don't want to pay anybody else to do it.

[A]

No, he's working on Commish.

[C]

Oh. I guess that. That could work.

[A]

Yeah. Pay him five bucks to do the weed. The weed whacker bit. You know, it's only gonna take them 10 minutes. Five bucks for 10 minutes. Pretty good rate, right?

[B]

50 cents a minute, 30 bucks an hour.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, that's. That's lawyer money right there. And then, you know, after that, just Commish.

[B]

All right, well, I do think we glazed over an actually good idea of have the conversation before you mow it.

[A]

What do you think about that idea, Will?

[C]

I don't know. I. Most. More often than not, they don't. They don't want to come to the door until I'm. Until I'm done.

[B]

I know exactly. They, like.

[C]

Yeah, but they, like, hide in the house, like, because I have tried.

[B]

Go knock on the door.

[C]

Oh, I do. I've had times when I've knocked on the door and, you know, you're sitting there knocking. You wait two, three, four, five minutes, and. And no one. No one comes to the door. So you're like, well, I might as well get started. And then you're halfway through the lawn, and they come outside. You got to shut the mower off and. And start talking to them.

[B]

Okay, all right.

[C]

I know, and I know. I know. On your. On. You betcha. You guys had that conversation about how it kind of, you know, pisses you guys off when you have to shut the machine down, you know, so, like, it gets one of those things.

[B]

Do you think that the noise of the mower gives you away out there and then they start poking their head?

[C]

Oh, definitely.

[B]

Okay, well, definitely. I mean, maybe you need to go old school with, like, a school realm. No, like, the one that is just the blades that you watch.

[A]

I'm trying to make. Yeah.

[C]

I used to. I used to work on a golf course, and I have used one of those a couple times.

[B]

You could try a scythe.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I did actually see a video the other day, I think it was on Facebook, of some guy cutting his lawn with a scythe. He's doing it barefoot, too. I was like, that's a good way to lose a. Lose a toe or a foot.

[A]

Siphon with no boots.

[C]

Yeah, no. No boots, no nothing. Just. Just bare feet.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, you are in a big dilemma. I get it. I get it. But you are able to get it all done in those three days for the most part.

[C]

I mean, when you got. Obviously Your rain days. So 1. One of those three days out of the week is generally a lighter day if the weather cooperates. But if it's not, then, you know, Friday is usually the catch up day. So you're. I'm. I'm mowing till like 7, 7:30 at night sometimes.

[A]

Do all these people work from home or they're retired? They're always home.

[C]

You know, some of them do work from home, others are retired. But the ones that don't work from home for whatever reason, it could be one o' clock in the afternoon and they're home from work somehow. And I'm like, how are you home?

[A]

All right.

[C]

I don't understand it.

[A]

Here's the last idea. Will you hire a private investigator for all your clients and this PI is going to map out how their days work and when they're not at home.

[B]

That will determine your.

[A]

Your mowing schedule. Exactly.

[B]

Terrence is on fire.

[A]

I'm just ripping through these. You're gonna. You're gonna be known as the. The ghostscaper because they're gonna come home and it's all gonna be done.

[B]

He's never doing it when I'm here. I. I ran out for groceries and he did it while I was gone.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You're gonna be like the Santa Claus of landscapers.

[C]

There we go.

[A]

They're gonna be like, everyone know.

[B]

But they don't know how you do it.

[A]

They don't. They're like.

[C]

They never see me.

[A]

They never see you.

[B]

Dude. You could be a nighttime mower as well.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

You know how like they remove snow at night?

[A]

Yeah. You know, you can remove snow at night, but you can't cut the grass at night. What's that about?

[B]

I know.

[C]

I have thought of doing that, but it gets to a certain hour of the evening when it. I think it would piss a lot of the.

[A]

Definitely pisses people now he's got more

[B]

people coming out to talk to him.

[A]

It's like the worst.

[B]

Everyone's in their nightgowns. People still doing nightgowns?

[C]

Yeah. I don't know. I. I've seen a few in at least robes once or twice.

[B]

That's hot.

[A]

Yeah. Do you being a single guy. Are you single guy, Will?

[C]

Oh, no, I'm not. I'm. I'm getting married in August.

[A]

Oh, congratulations, man.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

That's wonderful. Yeah. Is she happy about it?

[C]

Oh, she's very happy about it.

[A]

We're both happy.

[B]

Getting married or.

[A]

Yeah, getting married, you know.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I guess that's a

[A]

question you want to check in on that, Miles? I, I know, I know. Good, that's real good.

[B]

Yeah, I like that question.

[A]

Yeah. Right. Right now, have you ever had.

[B]

Are you happy about it?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Me? Oh, yeah, I'm very happy about it. She's a wonderful lady.

[A]

Have you ever had any temptation on the job site?

[C]

Oh, no. Oh, no.

[A]

Okay. Has anyone ever tried to tempt you with a good time?

[C]

Believe it or not, they haven't.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Have you gotten any fishing spots out of these conversations?

[C]

You know, I'm not too much of a fisher, unfortunately.

[A]

Have you gotten any beneficial information from these chit chats here and there?

[C]

I've gotten a couple things, you know, a lot of. I, I don't, you know, I'm, I'm working out, I'm busy all day, so I don't really check my phone and more often than not to give me some good, like, news what's going on in the world that I didn't know was happening? And I'm like, oh, good to know.

[A]

See. Well, you know what, maybe a little person to person contact is, is good for you, you know? Yeah.

[C]

I mean, no, trust me, like, I, I don't mind the, the few minutes chit chat here and there, but when, when I. There's a few people that do like to go on and on about certain things.

[A]

Well, now we gotta, well, we gotta ask, are you, are you doing the standard. Are you following the protocol of the Midwest goodbye on all these? Are you giving them a whelp?

[C]

I suppose I do, I do say, well, I, I'll see you next week, you know, And I kind of start to do that and they're like, oh, yeah. And then they keep going, you know, and I give them at least a couple, well, I suppose I should get going or I'll see you next week.

[A]

And then, you know, and then you got to start your tractor immediately as you're saying it so you can't hear what they're saying next and just start.

[C]

Maybe, maybe that's my mistake because usually when I'm done mowing, I load the mower onto the trailer and then I grab my weed whacker and blower, so maybe I need to leave it in the yard. And then I start it once. I say, well, I'll see you next week. And I start it and start going,

[A]

there you go, there you go.

[C]

That.

[A]

That's it.

[B]

Actually, that's probably.

[A]

Might be the best one. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I really do like the idea of you getting the first time he tries it.

[B]

More won't start.

[C]

Oh, yeah, that. That's. That'd be my luck, too.

[A]

Yeah. Well, will, you know, you sound like a nice guy, and I can see why people want to just keep chatting with you, you know?

[C]

I know. So I have a couple things before I let you guys go. No, I just sold my. My very first mower that I started my business with. I did just sell it. I was planning on. If I hadn't sold it, I was gonna do the buy or the buy sell trade for that.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

But.

[A]

All right.

[C]

That has since gone. Congrats. So I don't have anything at the moment. Thank you.

[A]

What are your other questions?

[C]

So, Miles, I know your. Your office complex or office had a bunch of H vac wos and it primarily came from the air filter, right?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

So I have to say, did you. Have you guys ever noticed that with refrigerators, it's the same problem with the

[B]

water filter that you gotta constantly be changing it?

[C]

If you don't change it, the whole fridge will stop working?

[B]

I haven't experienced that, no. But I'm nervous about it because my fridge here at the lake has got the alerts that I need to change a filter, So I probably got to get that done here soon.

[C]

Yeah. I don't know what the deal is, but I. It's been like three times now.

[B]

Where.

[C]

The first time I didn't know. So it took like, six months to figure out, but the water dispenser and the ice maker, just like in the lights in the fridge, stopped working.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

And wow. I couldn't figure it out. I thought. I thought there was wiring issues with the fridge. I thought there was something behind, you know, inside the fridge that was wrong. And then I don't know. One day I got fed up with it, and I said to my fiance, I said, could you please, on your way home, stop and grab a water filter? And sure. As I put it in the spot where the filter goes, and the whole fridge started working again. It just. I. It was. It was a miracle. I don't know.

[B]

All right, well, now it's no longer change your air filters is just change your filters.

[A]

And those water filters are like 60 bucks I can wear. And they also don't do that much. The ones like those little dinky ones. Those aren't taking shit out of the water, you know? No, yeah, it's.

[C]

That's whatever reason.

[B]

Reverse osmosis. I don't even know why I need a filter.

[A]

Yeah, I put the reverse ozzy in too.

[B]

You have the Countertop one. It's not even close to this.

[A]

I'm talking at my con or my duplex.

[B]

Got it.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Reverse Ozzy.

[A]

Reverse Oz, baby.

[B]

I call it the RO System, but Riaz Row, my ROE system.

[A]

Oh, you gotta get that reverse.

[B]

That's actually a great PSA for the people out there. Change your fridge filters.

[C]

Yeah. If you ever have a problem with. With the water, the ice, or anything like that, just the first thing you should try is your water filter. Because

[B]

we can put a man at the moon on the moon, but filters across the world are buckling humans at the knees.

[C]

Oh, it's terrible.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Filters are our Achilles heel as a society.

[A]

They are.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

But that filter bullshit, too, you know,

[C]

it is

[A]

a tax. Like, we had clean water, then they. They screwed it all up with their PFAs, you know? Now we got to buy filters.

[C]

Well, I can't just drink it. I can't just drink it out of the tap, you know? Like, that's the.

[A]

You can.

[C]

That's the. Well, you can. But sometimes it tastes really bad. Like, I used to live in New York City, and that tap water was unbelievably disgusting. Like, it would. You could smell it coming out of the tap. It was. It was crazy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You don't want to smell your water.

[C]

No. No. That's not a good sign, usually.

[A]

Well, we solved a lot on this. You know what? That can be another way to get out of conversations. Just. Just start getting into every conspiracy theory. Each day it's new conspiracy theory, and you just ramble on and on about it, and then after a while, they'll be saying, welp, I suppose.

[C]

Yeah, they're gonna think I'm crazy. But I guess that's not the worst thing in the world.

[A]

As long as he cuts the grass nice.

[C]

Yeah. That's all that matters, right?

[B]

Just put the grass in the bag.

[A]

Are you a bagger or a mulcher?

[C]

It depends. Sometimes I have a couple lawns that just grow because they. They have irrigation, so they grow like crazy. So I. I'll bag them or I'll. If I don't have the bagger, because it's kind of a pain to put the clippings into the truck and then at the end of the day, unload the heavy tarp and clipping. So either that or I'll just mow it, like, three times and just kind of, you know, chop it up to nothing.

[B]

Yeah. Nice.

[C]

But. Yeah. And, Charlie, one. One thing for you. So, my fiance, she used to live in Florida.

[A]

Sorry.

[C]

And she Worked. Yeah, I know. That's what I said when I, when I first met her and she told me that. I said, I'm so sorry to hear that, but she used to work at a Packers bar and, and, or somewhere.

[A]

Which one?

[C]

Florida. I, I, what city? I wish. I like, I think near Fort Lauderdale area. Ish.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

Over there.

[A]

Okay. Yeah.

[C]

And I, I told her that I

[B]

was like, you know every Packer bar.

[A]

I do a lot of Packer bars in Florida. Specifically.

[B]

I've been, been by Fort Lauderdale.

[A]

I think so.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

All right.

[A]

I don't remember the name.

[B]

What was on the wal.

[A]

There was, there wasn't a lot. At the one I'm thinking of, there was like one Packer sign hanging above the bar.

[B]

The answer is packers stuff. And then you would have got it right no matter what.

[A]

Well, if there was packers stuff, I would have told you exactly what it was. We were at this one outside of Miami. It had a Reggie White autographed jersey. Reggie White autographed jersey. I hadn't seen one of those in a while. And then it had these little plaques of everyone from the 9697 team, the super bowl team had a Wheaties box up there. They had a little shadow box, sort of like an aquarium, a terrainium of all this different packers gear that I wish I remember that name. But that was just north of Miami a ways, I think in Hollywood. But anyways, that's neither here nor there. What was your question? There will be.

[C]

So, so she like, she used to work at one. And yeah, when I told her I was coming on the show, she said I had to ask you if it's just a thing at that particular bar. But she said that the Packer fans that would go in there and eat or drink, they would tip absolutely horribly. And I know that you are, I know you're a big advocate of always tip your bartender. So are they, are they. Oh, no. Bad tippers or is it just that.

[B]

I'll tell you, I heard that about Packer.

[A]

No, it's not.

[B]

Packers hang out with Chuck for a weekend to know that they're all the same.

[A]

No, no, no. I tell you what that is, right. Pick up the tab yesterday.

[B]

I did pick up the tab yesterday.

[A]

Oh, Miles, I picked up some tabs here emotionally too. Listen, Will, what that is, is that's a Florida Packer fan, okay? That's a fixed income Packer fan. I'm retired. I'm a snowbird. I'm not making money anymore. So I'm on a strict budget and they probably went over budget with the boos during the game, so they got a little light on the tipping. That's a fixed budget Snowbird Packer fan.

[B]

Quite the save there, Chuck.

[A]

That's facts.

[C]

Fair enough.

[A]

Florida. The Florida is known for the fixed budget fans. Well, you want. If you want tips in Florida, you got to go to that cocaine money down in Miami. Okay. You know, I mean, those guys will tip you in cash, and you can probably smell that dollar and get a

[C]

little buzz,

[A]

but I think you're dealing with. Yeah, these fixed income. I got my place in Florida. Some. A lot of. I know a guy who's got a trailer down there and, you know, that's how he can make it work financially. And that fella he's not tipping for, I can tell you that. James is his name. Nice guy, but Polish fella.

[B]

Terrible that has anything to do.

[A]

But. But, yeah. So anyways, good guy, though. Good guy. He'll. He'll help you hide a body if you have one, but.

[C]

Well, that's good to know. Yeah.

[B]

But, yeah, hide a body, but he's not picking up the tip.

[C]

He won't tip for shit.

[A]

No, he's more of a manual labor. I mean, some of those guys, they'd help you, you know, bar back a bit just to make up for it, but apparently they're not offering that, so. Sorry. To your girlfriend, but really, it's. It's not a Packers thing. It's not a Wisconsin thing.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

We take tip.

[C]

All right.

[A]

We tip. Well.

[C]

I'll make sure to let her know then.

[A]

Yeah, you do that.

[B]

Well, dude, it was good talking to you. And hopefully you. You got. You took something away from this so you can apply.

[C]

I. I definitely did. And I appreciate you guys. You guys make my, you know, working by myself, if I didn't listen to anything, it'd be just me, myself, and my thoughts.

[B]

So.

[C]

I appreciate everything you guys put out because it sure makes me laugh. Every I hop on a machine or I'm doing something, it gives me some entertainment.

[B]

Let's go, dude.

[A]

Hey, we are happy to be riding with you on your machine, man.

[C]

Hell, yeah.

[B]

All right, well, cheers, man, and congrats on getting married.

[C]

Thank you. You guys have a good one.

[A]

You too. We'll see you soon.

[B]

I totally can see how he gets roped into long conversations. Just a pleasant guy to talk to.

[A]

I mean, he's. He's like, you know, having them in my ear is like melting butter on the stove. Miles. Some comforting about that, you know, That's a comfort thing.

[D]

For you.

[A]

You ever melt butter on the stove just to watch it?

[B]

No, I haven't. It's like, I'm gonna make some eggs, so I melt some butter in a pan.

[A]

Yeah, it's not. It's fun to watch it melt, though, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it is.

[A]

Yeah. It's one of the oldest forms of entertainment. It butter start off with fire and

[B]

then making butter and then melting butter.

[A]

Yeah, Fire was the first Netflix, you know. Well, stars were the first Netflix and then fire entertainment. Just watching.

[B]

All right, well, should we do another car?

[A]

Yeah, let's do it, Miles. You know, Miles, I'll tell you this much. Nothing reveals a person's true character faster than a crowded boat launch on a summer weekend. Everyone's waiting, everyone thinks they're an expert. Somebody forgot the plug. Somebody else is backing up a 90 degree angle. They're about to. They're about to screw the pooch. And when you got trucks and trailers and boats and people all moving around in a tight space, accidents can happen quickly. Especially if you gotta use the potty. What should be the starter?

[B]

Accident.

[A]

I know. That's two accidents waiting to happen.

[B]

Two accidents, one boat.

[A]

Vote 2. And what should be the start of a great lake day can turn into something a lot. Excuse me. Can turn into something a lot more serious. If it does, you know who you call Miles Nicolay? Law. Nicolay law. 1855. Nickel. Miles, I'll tell you what I love.

[B]

What do you love?

[A]

I love these Shady Rays.

[B]

Well, we were just arguing over who gets to wear those.

[A]

These are cool.

[B]

They're like, found out. Those are. Those are Jared's personal Shady Rays.

[A]

They're nice, man. I like. I like the wood paneling.

[B]

I know. And the kind of guys an. An amber tint to it.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Yeah, I'm good in those.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, if I just. I thought that those would be yours, but they're Jared's glasses. And now I want to offer them some money so I can get it off of them.

[A]

Well, you know, I still like your shady rays, too.

[B]

I do, too.

[A]

You know what's actually cool about those shady rays?

[D]

Huh?

[A]

Is I don't know, they just really bring your face together. But you know what's cool?

[B]

They're like a good rug. They really tie the whole face.

[A]

They tie the whole face together, Miles.

[B]

That's what you were gonna say.

[A]

It's almost like now looking at them, I can't decide which ones I like more.

[B]

Me either.

[A]

But that's okay, because right now you have to decide two or more pairs of shady rays.

[B]

Polarized. Polarized for 50% off.

[A]

50% off.

[B]

Ladies and gentlemen, use CO code bellied up on shadyrays.com.

[A]

check it out.

[B]

Have to choose between these two. Yeah, get them both.

[A]

You can get four of them if you want, because that's more than two.

[B]

You can get six.

[A]

You can get. You can get four for the price of two because they're 50% off.

[B]

Right? You could get 24 for the price of 12.

[A]

Miles, you could get 25 for the price of. You could get 50 for the price of 25.

[B]

12 and a half.

[A]

12 and a half. Exactly. It's to. It's like they're giving them away.

[B]

It's like they're giving them away. So, guys, if you need some Shady rays for your summer, you got to go to shadyrays.com. use code bellied up. Hello, Megan, you have Miles and Charlie from the Bellied up podcast. How are you today?

[D]

I'm wonderful. How are you guys? Where you drinking today?

[B]

We are at the zoo on 22 here in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

[D]

Oh, very nice. In the lakes.

[B]

Yeah, we're at the zoo today.

[D]

Wow. Any. Any fun animals? Anything in the wild happening?

[B]

There's a bison on the wall. There's a bear on the wall. There's a longhorn. There's a deer mount.

[A]

There's a. I can't. Is that a. Is that a mallard? Out of my glasses, it's a mallard. Let me just see that real quick.

[B]

There's a fish on the wall over there. I can't see which one it is if I look outside. Yep, that is a mallard flamingo over there.

[A]

Chuck, are those trout?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, those are trout.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

They got trout. Where's the pink flamingo?

[B]

On the. On the tree over there.

[A]

Oh, swingers. Here, baby. Okay.

[B]

That's it.

[D]

Oh, quite the variety.

[B]

Yeah. It's a zoo.

[D]

So I. I suppose.

[B]

Yeah, I suppose. What are you doing today?

[D]

You know, I'm just on a lunch break from work, so figured I'd use. Use that to. To take your call. Cool. Thanks for having me. Well, I work from home. Okay, so. But the company. The company I work for is based out of Fargo, actually.

[B]

Oh, wow. So you ever been to the zoo?

[D]

I. I mean, are we talking the Red River? Are we talking cinco, where we're talking

[B]

the zoo on 22 here in Detroit?

[D]

No, I actually haven't. I'll have to. I'm only. I'm not too far from DL so.

[A]

No, no. Excuse now, we came from Fargo today. Wow.

[D]

Very nice. Yeah, I. I frequent Fargo a lot. I'll be there at the end of the week.

[C]

Oh, cool.

[A]

Are you excited?

[D]

Yeah. I mean, I'm going to Costco, so why wouldn't I be excited?

[A]

Oh, be careful.

[D]

Now I know.

[A]

What's your go to at Costco?

[D]

I mean, what. It's just like, Target. Whatever Costco tells me that I need.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No pilots. Dangerous game to play.

[D]

It really is. That's why we fold the. Fold the second row down in my car. And if we fill her up, that's mission accomplished.

[B]

Okay, I like that. Well, what do you want to talk today? What do you want to talk about today, Megan?

[D]

Well, the voicemail that I left for you guys, my predicament that I am in has been going on, you know, since I got married to my wonderful husband. You know, he's your typical blue collar guy. He likes his projects, but, you know, his projects tend to supersede any projects that I have. So, you know, coming from. I mean, we'll. We'll agree to disagree, but.

[A]

Oh, I'm just joking. Your chain there, Megan. Come on now.

[B]

Hang on. Wall sconce in the living room is not as important as fixing the well.

[D]

That was actually the one thing that we did hire out. Otherwise, my husband pretty much does any type of home.

[B]

The wall sconce or the well.

[D]

Well, we got the, like, the little lights pen. No, I don't even know what they're called. The little lights that you just pop into. You know, you drill a hole in the ceiling, you pop them in there. Whatever those are called.

[B]

The recess lighting.

[D]

Those ones. Yes. So that was probably the only project we did hire out, but, yeah, it

[A]

sounds like I am the ass.

[D]

That's why that was the. My husband has very. Has a very extensive resume on things that he has figured out to do by himself. But electricity is not really smart.

[A]

And you know, electric, if you're not super, that's not the one you want roll the dice with. You know, if you like a house that's not on fire or.

[D]

Or like to live.

[A]

Yes, exactly.

[D]

But I mean, and I'm not even talking house projects for me, but like, he is one where he likes motors and things. So it's. It's snowmobiles, it's dirt bikes.

[A]

Oh, nice.

[D]

All those things that are his projects. Like last summer he took. I think he Frankensteined three different snowmobiles together to make one good one.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Charlie's wet dream.

[D]

I. I know if you may be

[B]

Called into the wrong podcast.

[A]

I mean, I'm kind of like, do you know what kind. Were they all Yamaha.

[C]

It's a.

[D]

It's a late 80s ex enticer. A 250 enticer.

[A]

Okay, that's cool. So is. It's up and running, though.

[D]

Oh, she's running.

[A]

Nice.

[D]

He built it for. For my kids to ride when they get a little bit bigger.

[B]

Well, that's fun.

[A]

That's cool. An old lead sled.

[D]

He will. The next project, you know, that one is like, oh, oh, this will be a project to do. And then it's like, other things get away. And then he continuously reminds me, oh, yeah, I gotta work on that phaser. I gotta get that phaser going.

[A]

I'm like, oh, it's a phaser.

[D]

I see it. Okay, that's the next one.

[A]

I got a phaser.

[D]

Do you?

[A]

Yeah, let's get. Dial your husband in for a second.

[D]

Yeah, well, I mean, that wouldn't work. He's also working, and he can't. He has loud machines that around him, so he can't ever hear his phone, so.

[A]

Sounds like something he'd say to you.

[B]

It's a smart man.

[D]

Yeah, exactly. No, we have. I. I can't even tell you how many snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles that we actually own, if I'm being honest.

[B]

Well, let's play a little game. We'll go. So we'll play a game where you list off projects that you want him to do, and Charlie and I will decide if a snowmobile is more important than that project.

[A]

That's a good game.

[B]

Should we do that?

[D]

So this. We could, but this game isn't going to last very long because there's really one, like, project that I would like him to get done within the next, like, six to 12 months.

[A]

Oh, okay. That's plenty of time.

[B]

Manageable.

[A]

Yeah. What is it?

[D]

I want him to build me, like, a little farm stand because I bake sourdough on the side. So I want to have a little. Little stand. I heard your ears perk up there.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

With bread.

[B]

Oh, my God, I love sourdough bread.

[A]

Yeah. You got a good starter going.

[D]

I do.

[B]

Where did you get it from?

[D]

I got it from a friend.

[B]

Nice.

[D]

That she taught me how to do how to make sourdough, and now I made a little side biz out of it. So. Yeah.

[A]

That's cool. What's the name of your sourdough biz?

[D]

Can you bleep it out? Because I don't want people finding me.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Why not advertise your business?

[B]

But why would you want that?

[D]

I don't know. Because I live in a very, very small town, so, like, if I say it, people are gonna know who I am. I mean, they're like, not to, like, sound super, like, I'm kind of a big deal, but, like, I do live in a very small town.

[A]

What town?

[B]

But. But we're not talking about anything that's gonna ruin your reputation.

[A]

We're trying to advertise your business.

[D]

No, I know. It's. It's called Small Town Sourdough.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That adds up.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. Where do you live? Small town. What do you make? Sourdough. Small Town Sourdough. Next.

[C]

I know.

[D]

Can I be in your next video for that?

[B]

Yeah, sure. So do you want us to bleep it out or not?

[D]

I. It really doesn't matter. I don't care. It'll be fine. It'll just be. If my husband hears this, you'll probably think that I'm shitting on him for wanting saying that he does all these other projects.

[B]

But you know what? This is maybe the reckoning that he needs.

[D]

I mean, maybe for a podcast that he probably won't ever listen to.

[A]

Okay. No offense, Jesus. Hey.

[D]

But I.

[B]

Listen, I was about to help you, and now I think I have a different person to help. I have a different project I want to work on.

[D]

Okay, I'll give you starting to understand

[B]

your husband more and more every minute of this call.

[A]

Well, she listens to us, just not her husband. Miles.

[B]

I know. I'm just kidding.

[A]

I.

[D]

Hey. I am an OG Bellied up. And a OG YBR List.

[B]

Let's go. That is. That's rare to have a.

[D]

And. And I'm a patron.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. And your female.

[D]

Should we even go a little bit further?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Miles, I went to msum.

[B]

Let's go. And a fellow Dragon.

[D]

And the same time, we. We were probably. And at. On campus at the same time.

[B]

What was your major?

[D]

I was a bio major because I was going into physical therapy.

[B]

Did you have to take Science of Cooking?

[D]

No.

[B]

Oh, well, I did, and it was.

[D]

That sounds like it. I mean, I. I never actually graduated from there. I only went there for two years, and then I switched my major about six other times, so I did go there. Yeah, I lived in the beer can my freshman year.

[B]

So let's go. Was that Nelson Hall?

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Yeah, sure was.

[D]

I was on the 10th floor.

[B]

That's the top floor, isn't it?

[D]

There's one floor above.

[B]

Got it.

[D]

I mean, pretty close.

[B]

It was a doll hall guy.

[A]

Can I see that from my hotel? The.

[B]

The beer can? Yeah, maybe.

[A]

Yeah, I think I was just looking at that. Yeah. That's fun. That's cool. So let me ask you this.

[B]

Well, first of all, thanks for all the followings. Do you want. Do you listen to crepes cast?

[D]

I. I did, but, you know, it's not a thing anymore. Evidently on pause.

[A]

Kind of lazy. Thank you though. I appreciate that. So what. What are.

[B]

She's part of the sisterhood of the travel Comments?

[D]

Probably not. I actually don't comment very often, but I've also. I saw your show, Charlie, when you were in Bemidji a couple years ago as well.

[A]

Oh, did. Yeah. Did you. Did you like it?

[D]

I brought my husband.

[A]

Did he like it?

[D]

He did. He's not. He's not one. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

[B]

we can say that.

[A]

He didn't like it.

[D]

He did. That's just not always his thing. So I was trying to get him to branch.

[A]

Humor.

[D]

Just. I. No, not humor. He's very sarcastic like I am, but he is just not one to like, go to things like that.

[C]

Her husband, he's very much.

[D]

No, like, she.

[B]

He hates us so much that. That she wanted to bleep out her small sourdough business. So there's no way he could find out. Her real name's not even Megan.

[D]

No, probably not. But would I ever tell you?

[B]

Oh, yeah, it's. I get it. I get it.

[D]

But no, he's just. He's very much a homebody. He just. He likes to be at home and he likes to work at his father in law's shop and just work on motors and things, so.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Okay, so a couple things. One, this is just for me. Do you have a Patreon name?

[D]

Probably not. It's probably just my name.

[B]

Okay. Damn it.

[D]

No, no, I'm not one of. I don't come up with witty comments like everybody else or funny questions or a funny name like. Like many of the others.

[B]

Like Rocky Bell? Boner. No.

[D]

Jimmy Legs? No, none of those. I'm probably just Megan.

[B]

Okay. All right, secondly. All right, let's get back to brass tacks here. Yeah, get down to brass. Is down or back?

[A]

Back or down?

[B]

Is that down?

[A]

What are those?

[B]

Could be up.

[A]

Can we get up to brass tax here? What are the spectacles on this. On this cart? You want them to make?

[D]

Well, so I haven't. I've been. I've been trying to scour the Internet to find like free plans because I didn't really want to pay for them, but that's not really an option.

[B]

Screenshot.

[D]

Because I. I want to make it as easy for him as possible so that he'll actually do it.

[C]

Because.

[D]

So I found like plans on Etsy that you have to pay for.

[A]

Oh, don't.

[D]

But it has fancy. He doesn't really care where I get it from, as long as. Because it has the materials list, it has what tools you need, it has pictures, it has step by step instructions. It's got the tools you need. Need. Like, what more could he need?

[A]

All of that.

[D]

If you go buy other than three new tools. Because that's what every new project requires is new tools.

[A]

Does he like woodworking or does he more prefer like machinery?

[D]

Definitely machinery. He is not a woodworking guy.

[A]

Oh, well, that's. That's the issue.

[D]

I know. Can I hire you to do it?

[A]

Hire me?

[B]

You see us build that bar.

[D]

I did.

[A]

Is it standing at least that was. Yeah, it's actually. Yeah, we did a terrible job on that. I think that. I don't know.

[B]

I mean, I have a great solution. So you have a father in law who also is handy.

[A]

Would you say her father?

[D]

Yeah, no, in law.

[B]

His. His father.

[A]

Oh, got it.

[D]

My father in law.

[B]

There's a couple routes you could take. One, you tell him. Because this is how it works for me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This is a very motivating thing for me is you just tell him that his father is going to come over and do it and that will not make him very happy. And then he'll just be like, don't, don't do that. I'll just do that.

[A]

True.

[B]

Because his dad's gonna be like, oh, you couldn't do your wife's stand for you, so now I gotta do it.

[A]

Yeah. Get you with that dad guilt or.

[D]

What more likely would happen is they would do it together and then it would still take twice as long because they sit and be like, like, you know, they start working on it. And then one person would say to the other, well, I wouldn't do it that way. And then they just kind of argue back and forth. Because they're both a very good quality. But a very frustrating quality of both of them is that they're very, very meticulous and they're very much perfectionists, which again, in the end product, that's great that you know it's going to get done right, but you know, it's going to take two or three times as long as what you would expect.

[B]

Okay. All right. So that could be an option is what you're saying. But it might take just as long as. What would happen if you said. And you just started buying stuff and just said you were gonna build it yourself.

[D]

If I just took a trailer to Menards, my husband would probably think I went crazy.

[B]

And then what would he do?

[D]

He would probably say, no, no, no, no, I'll get it done.

[A]

Well, you got it.

[D]

But then. But then that's no timeline of when he's gonna get it done.

[B]

Well, then he. So he'll say he'll get it done. Then when he doesn't, you just do that. You keep taking the trailer to Menards until he finally does it.

[D]

Oh, boy. I mean, I. I could do that and just see how far I get down the road before he says, all right, all right, that's enough.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And if not, then you learn some new schools, new skills on how to put together the stand. It's got all the directions, you said.

[A]

Yeah, it's. It's like baking. Woodworking is a lot like baking because,

[B]

you know, if there's something primal about men is they. They want to feel like they're white people, needs them to do stuff. And nothing is more threatening to his masculinity than you not needing him for this project. That's a very motivating thing for men,

[A]

especially in a small town. If word gets around that you built your own sourdough stand because he wouldn't do it or he couldn't, and that's what you start saying.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's change the narrative a little. Charlie. Let's go. Oh, well, my husband didn't know how to do it, so I had to build it.

[A]

I had to.

[B]

He'll start. He'll start changing his tune real quick, probably.

[D]

Yeah. Because I'm going to my first farmer's market this week, so I'm currently prepping bread. And, you know. Yeah, if I start. I start talking about that to the locals. There's a lot of. Lot of ladies in town that, like, sit and gossip, you know, at the cafe.

[A]

Yeah. You get the chit chat at the farmer's market. How big of a stand are you looking to make?

[D]

I mean, it's not large. I think the dimensions were, like 3ft deep, maybe 3 or 4ft wide, and like 6ft tall. I don't know. I could be very wrong. I know it's. I know it's six feet tall. That's all I know. But it is on wheels.

[A]

Caster wheels and what, four by fours?

[D]

I Didn't I told. I haven't bought the plans yet, so I don't know.

[B]

I just told her so far there's caster wheels.

[A]

Yeah, she knows it's preview. Yeah. And how are you going to transport it with the trailer? You're going to have to take it trailer it over there every week anyway. Right?

[D]

I mean I'm not going to bring it to the farmer's market. I'm just going to wheel it like down the street from us because we live right off of a busy county road. So I'm just going to wheel it closer to the county road.

[B]

So you're doing roadside bread sales?

[D]

I'm. Hopefully by next summer, yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Oh, you're not even, you're not even at the farmer's market proper. You're just on the way to the farmer's market.

[D]

Yes. I mean but I'm, I'm gonna do this on like aside from the farmers market, I'm gonna do this like on the weekends because my, I have a full time job still. Like I do this on the side.

[A]

I think you could get that thing done in a weekend.

[D]

I mean if I really apply myself and actually like say hey honey, where are all of these tools that I know that we have but I have no idea where you put.

[A]

No, you go.

[D]

Because that's always the problem too is oh yeah, we normally have tools that home. And then I say, hey, where's the drill? Oh, I don't know. It's probably at my dad's shed because they were doing.

[B]

Tell him you're gonna go buy tools because he won't get them for you. I mean you just, you gotta start playing mental warfare with them, you know, you gotta just start putting them down, you know, like you won't help me. So I'm gonna do it, you know. And then even, you know, don't even do the murmurs to the, to the ladies at the coffee shop about that. He can't do it. Just tell him just like it's okay if you don't know how to do this.

[D]

The thing is, I do know because last, last year he built a big shelf in his, in his dad's shed that they, they actually. So his, my father in law bought a shed a few years ago and that was like a loading dock. So they actually took that like broke it down off of the wall and then jacked it up like eight feet in the air. So now they have a little shelf to put all of their extra parts and all the, all the nice old snowmobiles. And all of the things that we don't ride, you know, kind of in the off season, and then we, you know, SW around type of thing.

[A]

I mean, that's cool. That's.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

That's sweet.

[D]

You would have a heyday in there.

[A]

Yeah, we're a lot of things. Where. What town are you in?

[D]

Well, can you bleep out the town?

[B]

Because Jared, then.

[A]

Jared, are you in Wisconsin?

[D]

Okay, I'll make less. I'll make less work for Jared. I'm. Okay. I'll just say I'm, like, a little over an hour east of Fargo.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[C]

So.

[A]

But, yeah, you're in Detroit Lakes.

[D]

I am not in Detroit Lakes. South of there. There.

[B]

Okay, so you're in Fergus Falls.

[D]

No, closer, but not quite. Okay, I said small. Fergus falls is like 13. That's closer to Fargo.

[B]

Frick. Pelican Rapids.

[D]

You're. I said an hour away. You're getting closer to Fargo.

[B]

That's about an hour from Fargo.

[D]

No, but anyways. But no, it's. You're very, very close.

[B]

Okay. All right, we're circling. That's enough for us.

[D]

Not too far from the Leaf Valley Mercantile, actually.

[B]

Oh, okay. Leaf Valley, population five.

[D]

Yeah, it's. You know, it's probably been a few years since you've been there. They might be up to, like, seven or eight now.

[B]

People having kids. That one family's having kids.

[A]

Kids.

[D]

Yeah. The one family that lives there, probably.

[B]

All right, well, you know what? What. What option do you like the best here?

[A]

We.

[B]

I feel like we've thrown out quite a few.

[D]

You have. You have given quite some great options. I feel like the. Bringing a trailer myself would probably not be the best option because my husband is very, very particular about his truck, so I don't know if he would let me a. Try to hook up a trailer and then. But I do have a vehicle that my car could tow it, so I could just put the hitch on myself.

[A]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Put the.

[D]

You.

[A]

You don't have a hitch on your car yet?

[D]

Well, no, because we have one hitch for. For both of our vehicles.

[A]

Oh, but you have. You have the mount.

[D]

I. Yes, I do.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, we'll get a hitch.

[A]

You know what? No, just take the hitch off his car. Put it on your car. The second you do that, you. You just gotta.

[B]

If he needs. He doesn't realize he did it, and then it's somewhere where he needs a hitch and he doesn't have it, he's gonna.

[D]

Yeah. Hey, I need to go fishing. Where's the hitch? For the boat.

[A]

You're like, oh, I'm. I'm making that thing I asked you to make. And just keep. Just keep chipping away at it. And. And eventually, here's the biggest pain in the ass when you got a project to do is just not having all the stuff. So just slowly go get all the stuff. You know you're gonna have to buy it anyway.

[D]

Well, yeah, I have an expedition, so I don't necessarily need to bring the trailer. I just get a few boards that'll fit in the car and just keep slowly bringing them all home. And then by the time I get everything and be like, okay, now I just need the tools. And then maybe he'll be like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You should probably not be doing. Doing using power tools. So there we go.

[A]

You need a deadline. You need a deadline, too. You just say, like you. You say, I need to get this done by next Saturday.

[B]

Deadline.

[A]

Yeah. How did I say it?

[D]

Like two words.

[B]

You said deadline. Like a deadline.

[A]

You need a deadline.

[B]

Like, you know, you pick up the phone and there's no one. There's no connection. Like, you were saying it like it was a deadline.

[A]

Was I?

[B]

And not a deadline line.

[A]

I feel like we're mincing words over here. You did say a little weird. Did I say weird?

[B]

Everyone here went like this when you said that.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm special. So the thing is, give yourself a dead line. Give yourself a debt. Make up a deadline. Like where I. I already paid. So pay for the placement at the farmer's market. Go big and just say we're losing money by not being there, you know, and then you have to have it by this date.

[D]

True. I mean, I did just do a cheap setup for the farmer's market. Just one of those little outdoor canopy things and a tent chair, so.

[A]

Well, you screwed yourself on that one.

[D]

I know I did, but I. I was under a time crunch. I only have two more days.

[A]

Did you make. Oh, it's in two days.

[D]

Yes. The farmer's market is in two days.

[A]

Okay. Well, now. Yeah, that's. See you.

[B]

So you haven't. You haven't been selling at the farmer's market yet.

[D]

So I've only been taking, like, personal orders so far.

[B]

Okay, here's the last two months. I'd be a little patient on this. You start slinging bread at the farmer's market and you start bringing in some real cash, his tune will change a little bit more.

[D]

I mean, I've already sold, like twelve hundred dollars worth of bread in the last two Months.

[A]

Really?

[B]

That's a lot of bread.

[C]

You are. I.

[D]

When I sell it at $8 a loaf, yeah.

[B]

Holy smokes.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Why. Why didn't you want us to advertise? It's clearly good bread. Can I have some?

[D]

I mean, it's all right. If you find your way over in my vicinity, I would absolutely bring you something.

[B]

You won't even ship me any bread.

[D]

I. I technically can't.

[A]

Well, you know what? She knows where we are.

[B]

Why can't you ship it?

[D]

It's a Minnesota thing.

[B]

You need, like, a commercial kitchen or something like that.

[D]

Yeah, so I. I just have. It's called, like, a cottage food license that I had to get to be able to sell bread to people, like, personally. But, yeah, that's against the rules to

[C]

be able to ship it.

[D]

But, hey, I drive to Fargo, so.

[B]

Well, if I don't. If I don't buy it, you could ship me bread all you want.

[D]

Yeah, if I. If I ship it under the table,

[B]

I suppose, like, we'll do an unboxing of your bread on, you bet your radio. How's that sound? If you send it to me, can I just. And then you can write off those loaves on your taxes.

[D]

Or I could just write off the miles and drive it, because it's probably cheaper to drive it to you than to ship.

[A]

Well, you're going to Fargo anyway, you say.

[D]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[D]

I can make a little sample box. I have four kinds of bread and three kinds of bagels.

[B]

Do you make bagels? Do you make artisan butter as well? Because I'm a sucker for some butter.

[D]

I don't. Because there's weird things about rules about dairy, too.

[A]

Yeah, that's a completely different business, dude. No, I understand making butter.

[B]

Just saying, if you had some exotic butters, I'd like to try them.

[A]

Exotic butters.

[D]

I don't. But, I mean, if I'm going to toot my own. If I'm going to toot my own horn. The bread is so good. You don't really need butter.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

I'll be the judge of that.

[A]

That I'm. I'm.

[B]

I've. I've seriously considered starting, like, a bread channel for myself where you just try breads. Yes, because I love it that much.

[A]

You're just a bread guy, huh?

[B]

I've even. And this could be. This could be maybe a jumping off point. I've even talked about starting my own bread company, and now I can maybe just invest in her business and we can make small town.

[A]

It's already got the name.

[B]

Huge.

[A]

Sounds like a name you would give a breath. Bread company, too.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[D]

I mean, honestly, just like in one of your videos.

[B]

If you want to get a commercial. Commercial kitchen license, let's blow this thing up.

[A]

Okay. Hey, it's. It's.

[D]

My. One oven in my kitchen is not cutting it.

[B]

Let's rise to the occasion. Let's rise to the occasion.

[A]

There you go. Let's meet this out here. So, Muskie Tank. What pitch your.

[B]

I'm fully.

[A]

Yeah, he's in. So what does he need to invest best?

[D]

Flour. That's my biggest expense.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Flour.

[B]

So you just need some capital to put into flour.

[D]

I mean, that's what I buy the most of. I buy, like, 40 pounds of flour a week.

[A]

Let's say Miles gets you a thousand pounds of flour this next year. What percentage of the company does he get?

[D]

Are we on Shark Tank now?

[A]

Musky Tank.

[D]

Oh, sorry. I don't know. Best I could do is probably, like, 8%.

[A]

8%?

[D]

I'm just. I'm just kidding.

[A]

For a thousand pounds?

[D]

I am not a. I am not a barterer. I can't. You can. You can give out any number. And I would probably say. Yeah, I.

[A]

Let me give you one piece of business advice.

[D]

No, I. I would fold like a cheap card table. Like. No, I'm not gonna haggle like that. I'm not a good negotiator whatsoever.

[B]

Well, here's. Here's the thing. I. Jared, have I not talked about maybe doing a bread company at some point?

[A]

Yeah, and what better way, Miles? You can. You can.

[D]

You know, see, you have your in. I would love to provide the bread for your first episode.

[B]

Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I'm talking. Let's. Let's partner on this thing, and let's get in grocery stores and sell it online.

[D]

Do that either.

[A]

Why?

[D]

Because that's part. You can't sell it to other people. Like, I can't sell it to restaurants, to bakeries unless I get an actual commercial license.

[A]

That's where Miles comes in.

[B]

Pay for the commercial license, and we'll partner on this thing.

[D]

Can you get me a kitchen, too?

[C]

And.

[D]

And more than one oven?

[B]

Rent a kitchen. We can rent a kitchen. I'm not gonna buy.

[D]

Here's our handshake over the phone.

[B]

Well, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just. I'm painting a picture. As a potential investor in this business, I need to evaluate on my side if it's something I want to do or not.

[C]

Real question is, I feel like you'd

[D]

have to taste the bread to make sure.

[A]

Yeah. You can't just take a word.

[B]

My due diligence.

[A]

Although she sounds really trustworthy. Dang. Someone just rolled up in an El Camino. That is sexy. Is that an El Camino or is that a. That might be a Dodge Rampage. No, it's an El Camino. Wow, that's hot.

[B]

Sorry about that, Megan.

[A]

God, that's hot.

[B]

Now, we turned off the chive TV in this bar beforehand and it just. I turned just. I couldn't plan. I guess we got to draw the shades. Couldn't plan for an El.

[A]

That's my dream car right there, dude.

[B]

But yeah, no, I mean, this is. This is. I like this a lot.

[A]

I like this too. I like just being a little business cuck over here. I like seeing it happen. You know, I'm just in the bar chair in the corner watching you two make bread. And that's exciting for me.

[D]

You know,

[A]

I don't even need a percentage. I'm just here to watch.

[D]

We could even do a video where I teach you guys how to make it too. That would be fun. Oh, yeah, that would be very entertaining.

[A]

Miles, that's a great idea right there. A video of you learning how to make bread for small town breads.

[B]

Yeah. So what is it? Small town bread Company?

[D]

Small town. No.

[A]

Small town sourdough sbsd.

[B]

We should maybe go small town breadco. But we'll talk about that later. You know, this is classic. Angel investor comes in and wants to change everything. Yeah. Do you.

[A]

Do you find Miles is a control freak? I'll say that. I'll say that.

[B]

Recovering control freak. I'm. I know that. And I'm trying to get better at it.

[A]

Get ready to come to Miles with an idea and he'll go. Okay. So what I'm thinking is we don't do that and we just do this instead.

[B]

But here's the thing. Unlike you, Megan might bring good ideas to the table that I don't have to go. Okay. Instead I go, oh, yeah.

[A]

Okay. All right. I wanted to refurbish one jet ski. Fine.

[B]

I don't even remember that one.

[A]

You don't remember when you had your. Your standing jet ski?

[B]

I still have it.

[A]

Do you?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow.

[D]

Does it. Does it run? My father in law could fix it.

[B]

It does run. I haven't ran it in a few years, so I need some new gas.

[A]

Have you ever tried water skiing behind that Jet Ski?

[B]

It wouldn't. It wouldn't pull anyone. It's. It doesn't have enough juice for that.

[D]

But we'll, we'll do an even trade. I'm gonna offer up my father in law's labor and he'll get the jet ski. Make sure in tip top shape tape. We'll trade off some bread. It'll be perfect.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

[A]

Yeah, it sounds like a great deal.

[D]

Yeah, I'll just, I'll just run that by him really quick as if he doesn't have a whole job.

[B]

Here's the question. Do you know how to make other types of bread other than just sourdough? Are you a one bread?

[D]

I am. I am a one trick pony. I only do the sourdough.

[B]

That's your bread and butter.

[D]

It is. It really is. Or just the bread actually.

[A]

But yeah, we can.

[D]

Yeah, like I said, it is very good. I'm currently having. I have 12 loaves that I'm making today.

[A]

How does your husband feel about you?

[B]

Send over some loaf pics if you can. You'd like to get a peep at your lows.

[A]

Yeah. Miles eats with his eyes.

[D]

I. I can when I bake them tomorrow. They're currently just having a little nap on the counter.

[B]

Can we do a cool little design? Like I seen people like cut it with a razor blade.

[D]

Oh. Like score it and.

[B]

Yeah, we should, we should try.

[D]

I could try to put the YB in there.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

I'm saying we should come up with a signature score. And that could be our whole thing where if you see this at the top of your loaf, you know you got it from small town bread company possibly.

[D]

I mean, I go very simple. I just do the one line and that's it. Because I don't like to. I don't like all the frills.

[A]

Can you brand it?

[D]

I have no idea.

[B]

You definitely can.

[A]

That could be cool. You can brand anything.

[B]

Yeah, humans sure can.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You can brand.

[A]

This wall can brand anything. Anything except water.

[B]

You can't brand water and water.

[A]

That's. No, we've tried. Have you won any awards with your bread?

[D]

Being that I've only been in business for two months.

[B]

No, I like, I like how. I'm talking about investing. Investing in a business that's been around for two months. I mean, I mean, talk about boots on the ground though, in terms of investor.

[D]

But I mean, I have kind of perfected my craft.

[A]

So I think you're gonna win an award soon here. And then the real question is, how's your husband? Gonna feel about you being the breadwinner?

[C]

He.

[D]

He gets to reap the benefits. He gets free bread all the time.

[A]

That's true. He's a bread guy.

[D]

He's a bread guy. I just. I just started making jalapeno cheddar, too. Oh, that one is super good.

[B]

It's just not every day that someone just drops a loaf of bread in your lap like this. Here. Now my head is spinning.

[A]

Yeah, I can see it. He's getting a little antsy over here.

[D]

I know, I know. You're a garlic fan, too. I've wanted to make some garlic parmesan on. You could be my tester.

[B]

Oh, yes, I will. All right. Okay. All right. Well, hey, I'm into this.

[A]

Yeah, let's keep this.

[B]

And I think it is one of those things where all of a sudden, you know, you start making more money with this. Your husband needs to reevaluate his priorities.

[D]

Exactly. He's going to have to add on to the house to have. Make me a bigger kitchen. That's going to be the next project.

[B]

You're going to put a commercial kitchen in the house?

[D]

I'm going to have to at some point because like I said, one oven just takes forever. And baking in the summer is not for the week.

[A]

No,

[D]

it gets pretty toasty.

[A]

It's a sauna.

[D]

It really is.

[B]

Do you have a. You can't. You can't buy it online. I was like, you have a website,

[D]

but I don't have a website.

[B]

This is better. Let's build the demand. Yeah, let's build a demand for the small town. Small town sourdough. I keep wanting to call it small town breadco. Just rolls off the tongue. And then we could do any type of bread, but anyways.

[A]

Well, it's only been around two months, Miles. We'll see where it goes. We'll see where it goes. Yeah, it's all. We're in the ideas phase. Well, Megan, thank you for calling in. We appreciate you.

[D]

Thanks for taking the call, guys. Appreciate all. All the laughs that I get while I'm trying to work.

[A]

Hey, we're here for it. Tell your husband we say hello. Okay.

[D]

Yes, you too. Tell your folks I says hi.

[A]

All right, will do. Bye. Bye now. Well, Miles, you think you're gonna do it?

[B]

I'm. I'm. I'm very excited.

[D]

Are you?

[B]

I mean, just think about the. The journey we can talk about from not even having a roadside stand.

[A]

I know.

[B]

To a billion dollar bread company.

[A]

I do like the idea of we gotta start. Start. You Know, we got like.

[B]

Because I. Because here's the thing. As creators, there's a huge, like, push that everyone's gotta have their own brand or whatever. You know what I mean? You know, like, there's all these fancy creators out there, like, oh, I need my own brandy, you know?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I really like the idea of partnering with fans who have a good story, who genuinely care about the product. Product. And just helping them get the word out. Yeah, I like that as a business model for doing these types of things.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, me too. Me too. I also like a brandy. Baron's Old Fashioned Brandy can be found at any liquor store in Wisconsin. Ladies.

[B]

Wouldn't that be fun if I could then go. And it pairs nicely with a good sourdough loaf, which can be found at any grocery store across Midwest.

[A]

That would be seen. Yeah, but, you know, then you get small town to big city. Small town bread and a big city bread shop.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, we'll have to. We'll navigate that.

[A]

Yeah, you'll. You'll cross that bridge when you get to it.

[B]

We could also do like a, like, pop up instead, you know?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You get some vendors across the Midwest and we just pop them up on roadsides. Kind of like the 20 stakes for 40 bucks, people.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Get a truck that travels around and slings small town sourdough.

[A]

I mean, 20 steaks for 40 bucks. Is that really a thing, Chuck, don't it?

[B]

I'm gonna do a video on it later this year.

[A]

But didn't you already do a video on that? I feel like we talked about it. Yeah, we on this podcast, didn't we?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right, Chuck.

[A]

All right, Miles.

[B]

Another episode of the Bellied up podcast.

[A]

In the tank, baby.

[B]

In the muskie tank.

[A]

In the muskie tank.

[B]

Guys, if you're in Detroit Lake, swing on through the zoo. Tip your bartender. We'll see you in the next one.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Hope you guys have a good one.

[D]

Goodbye now, Oodaloon.