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Bubba On the Lake
#39 David Beaman, Betty Bussey, and Thanksgiving recap
00:56:19
In this episode Bubba catches up with David Beaman, director of space launch system (SLS) He also sits down with his wife Betty to recap Thanksgiving. Thank you for listening and don't forget to like and subscribe.
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- [00:00]
Bubba
This podcast is brought to you in part by Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care, Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank Sunrise Docs, bankers Bounty and Dr. Thomas Dudney. Now back to Bubba on the Lake.
- [00:23]
Hey, it's Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the Lake. Y know, I gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places from Bubba's perspective. This is Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake. Hey Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake. Let's go.
- [00:48]
Well, hello again everybody. I am your semi retired, mostly washed up host, formerly of the Rick and Bubba show and now your host of Bubba on the Lake. Welcome everybody. We hope that you had a, a great Thanksgiving and that you're having a good pre Christmas season already. I know a lot of shopping going on. We're glad to be here with you from the Melayella Studio. Want to remind you, our website is BubbaontheLake.com. you can shoot us a message, an email at bubba@bubbaonthelake.com or you can leave a message on our message line. That's 308 Big Lake. 308-244-5253. Or as I like to say it, 308 Big Lake. Isn't that cool? Well, we got a lot going on. We had a great Thanksgiving. The kids were in. We didn't get to do everything Betty wanted to do. We mostly ate and laid around and watched football. Did not get into the board games that Betty was looking forward to. We'll talk to her about that a little bit later. We got a great show, by the way, David Beaman, who we had on the podcast back in the radio days, we were able to run him down again and he is now the director of NASA's Space Launch System. And that is the apparatus and the, the, the operational part of the Artemis mission, which is going to carry men and women back to the moon and then on to Mars, hopefully. So we're going to catch up with him. They've got a very busy launch schedule the next year and they are planning on putting astronauts around the moon. You know, I guess it was a year or two years ago. They sent the Artemis one up and they, they went around the moon and came back. So they were kind of testing everything and this time they're going to put astronauts on it, four of them. So that'll be exciting. We'll talk to him about that. I get jazzed when I talk about space stuff. Y' all know how I am. Speaking of 308 Big Lake, here is a comment we had on Thanksgiving.
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Karen
Hey, Bubba, it's Karen. I hope you and Miss Betty had a happy Thanksgiving. Just wanted to let you know that I heard your story years ago about the drifting balls and it sounded interesting because of all the crispy parts. So I have been making them that way ever since. We make the big batch like Betty does, and then I get a huge ice cream scooper or cookie scooper or whatever. It's real big, about the size of a billiard ball. It's perfect size. And I just scoop balls and it holds its form and I bake them like that. And. And it's all rounded, crispy dome. But note to everyone who will try that, grease the pan, because otherwise you will have butless balls because when you pull them off the pan, all the rear ends will stick. So that become our joke. Nobody likes but less balls. Hope y' all had a happy Thanksgiving. Bye.
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Bubba
So there you have it, folks. A little tip so that you will not have butless balls for Thanksgiving.
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Yep. Yep, that's. That's what she said.
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Betty and I have had a conversation about this ongoing and I think we're scared to try it for Thanksgiving. But I think what we're going to do is pick a month sometime in the summer and just experiment and we're going to try to make Thanksgiving balls because I do like the crispy part. And I, you know, again this year I found myself going to the corners to get the parts of it that are more crispy than the others. And I thought, you know, if we just had dressing balls, this would be, you know, this would be all we need. So the seeds have been planted and we are going to look at doing some type of Thanksgiving ball. But we're going to try it in the summer and if it works out, then we may move to the.
- [05:11]
Move to the big, big stage, so to speak.
- [05:16]
We were talking about everything that's going on and I wanted to mention to our friends at Russell Lands, they are. They're all in. I mean, they are all in on Christmas.
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They want you to just enjoy Christmas on every level. Like treat your friends and family to an unforgettable meal at Spring House Fanny's or collide your restaurant. If you're not familiar with these. They're all right there off Highway 63, which is just one turn off Highway 280. Easy to get to. You can also grab gourmet goodies and gift cards at Catherine's Market and Brew 63. If you're a late lover. Russell Marine has apparel, gear and accessories that, that you might actually use and that you could give that to somebody. Great gift if you, you know, kind of run out of ideas for everybody. If you're shopping for a dyer or a homeowner, Russell do it centers and building supplies have tools, decor and practical gifts that always hit the mark.
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You know, the, the Russell do it center may not be as big as some of the box stores, but it seems like they have the things that I want. I love going in there. I go by the one in Eclectic a lot if you know where that is. And they just have the things that I need to use. So remember that Russell Lands has all kind of goodies for your Christmas selection. And you're always needing stocking stuffers and all that kind of stuff too. So be sure to check them out for that. And we appreciate them being a sponsor here of Bubba on the Lake. All right, folks, we'll get started. We're going to head back, come back with David Beeman. We're going to try to track Betty down a little later. And this podcast has been delayed just a little bit. I've been having a head cold problem may still sound a little stopped up. Been trying to work around some of that, but we, you know, as the saying goes, the show must go on. So we'll, we'll get through this one way or the other. David Beaman coming up from NASA on the other side of these commercial messages. Thank you for being a part of Bubba on the Lake.
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Commercial Announcer
You're listening to Bubba on the Lake. Hit Me Bad.
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A production of Intergalactic pants and tees.
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Bubba
On the water or off. Experience lake life to the fullest at Russell Lands on Lake Martin. Grab a latte at Bruce 63, linger over lunch at Fannie's or take in a Lake Martin sunset at Kalija Restaurant. Whether you're here for the weekend or you've made your home at the lake Russell Lands is where community and the land come together. To learn more about upcoming events, visit Russelllands.com come see what late life is all about.
- [08:15]
Commercial Announcer
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Yeah. Crisp, refreshing, that hits the spot when it comes to great taste. Coke Zero sugar's always on the scoreboard. Coke Zero sugar. Real Coke, taste zero sugar.
- [09:24]
Bubba
We're back, and we have a very special guest, David Beaman with NASA, who is a big part of the Artemis program. And if you have not seen the headlines lately, we're about to shoot four astronauts around the moon. David, welcome back to Bub on the Lake. How are you doing?
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David Beaman
I'm good, and thank you for having me.
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Bubba
David, catch everybody up a little bit. We had you on a podcast years ago on the radio show, but tell everybody a little bit about what you do for NASA and what you're responsible for.
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David Beaman
Okay. Well, I actually recently just changed jobs. I'm now the program manager for the Space Launch System. Prior to that, I managed the systems engineering and integration for the Space Launch System, which basically meant I was responsible for all the engineering and integration of the rocket. But now I actually managed the whole program.
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Bubba
Well, it's always good to have more put on your plate, isn't?
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David Beaman
Is? And the bottom line was my boss, Mr. Honeycutt, he was the program manager, and he was asked by the agency to manage the mission management team. And so it gave me an opportunity to do his job, and so I willingly accepted it.
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Bubba
So, David, are you. You based out of Huntsville or where. Where do you work out of most of the time? I know you travel a lot.
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David Beaman
Yes, sir. I'm. I'm based out of Huntsville, Marshall Space Flight center in Huntsville. I do spend quite a bit of time down at Kennedy Space center, though.
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Bubba
So you're in charge of the Space Launch System, which is currently carrying the Artemis rocket, which we had a test shot of that back really a little over a year ago now, where it went. And it actually circled the moon and came back, but it didn't have any astronauts on it. But now you're going to do it with four astronauts?
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David Beaman
Yes, sir. See, Artemis. Actually, Artemis 1 happened almost three years ago, if you can believe. It's been that long.
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Bubba
Has it been that long?
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David Beaman
Golly, yes, sir, it has. It was. It was November 16th of 2022 when we launched, but we did. We went to the moon. We went around the moon, we tested out our systems. It was a fantastic mission. It gave us an opportunity to test the Orion space capsule. It gave us A chance to test the performance of the rocket and everything performed really well. And so for the last couple of years we've been getting ready for the Artemis II mission. Right now we are currently scheduled to launch in what is called launch period 17, which will be in early February. And so the goal is to go back to the moon to carry four astronauts to test out our systems with four astronauts there and prove to us that we have a good, consistent performing rocket and get ready to land on the moon in future missions.
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Bubba
So I know the overall plan was for Artemis III to land back on the moon with astronauts. Is that still the plan now and how far out is that? I know there's been some delays with the lander and you know, these kind of things you expect, but where, where are you timeline on all that now?
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David Beaman
Well, you know, actually we're, we're, right now we're waiting on to see where the lander is going to hit. And so right now the current baseline still has a landing on Artemis iii. And what we'll do is we're never going to push the technology. We let the technology push us. And so what we're going to do is continue our development activities with the lander. We'll go through Artemis 2, which is the mission we'll launch in a couple of months from now. In fact, I think we're like 45 days away from rolling out and then we'll launch that mission. We'll evaluate the performance of the rocket, we'll look at the development activities with our partners with SpaceX and Blue Origin, and then we'll make a decision when is the appropriate time to land on the moon.
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Bubba
So basically, if I understand what I have been reading about this is SpaceX actually got the contract to build that lander, but they're running behind and I think they have submitted a different design. Now that might be a little quicker to get done, but NASA has opened that back up, is that correct?
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David Beaman
Well, you know, first thing is that's policy and I don't, I don't really comment on policy. That's, that's something you'd need to ask our acting administrator. But, but you know, we all have different pieces that we're supposed to do. Part of the, the lander portion was both to Blue Origin and SpaceX and they had different timing on that. And so we continue to go down that we partner with them. And, and like I said, when we have a lander and we're ready to go land on the moon, we're going to land. Then we're not going to risk our astronauts until we're ready to go land on the Moon.
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Bubba
Well, and you know that that's very wise. I mean, I don't think anybody wants that. But, you know, it's, it's, it is kind of strange, I guess, that we were able to do that in the 60s, and now we're redesigning with new technologies to do it. You know what? Gosh, it's been. I have to slip my shoe off to figure it out. I mean, it's 40, 50 years ago, and we're having to kind of redesign the wheel again, so to speak.
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David Beaman
Well, and I would say a little bit different. So what I would say is we're planning more challenging missions. We're planning on going and staying an extended amount of time on the Moon. And that's way different than what we actually did in the 60s. Right, right. We went to equatorial orbits. We went to. And so what we're planning on now is going to the South Pole. That's much more challenging. We're planning on staying for an extended amount of time. That is more challenging. So it really depends on what your mission is. You know, what I would tell you is, you know, I go on vacation every year. Right. Sometimes I go for two or three days, and sometimes I go for longer than that. And it really depends on how long you're going to go, where you're going to go, and what you're going to do is what capabilities you have to have in the rocket.
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Bubba
So the South Pole of the Moon is a very interesting place to go, actually. Much more interesting than where we've landed before because they feel like there may be water there, right under the surface.
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David Beaman
Yeah, that's correct. So the resources is why we're going to the South Pole. You know, we've done a lot of research, a lot of development through the years, and so if you're going to go somewhere and you're going to try to use the resources that are there, it needs to be the resources that you need. And so if. And we feel like that there's a significant amount of water located there, and obviously water, hydrogen and oxygen, you can convert those into fuel and oxidizers. And so it's a more challenging place to go, but it also creates more opportunities for us to do science and stay an extended amount of time.
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Bubba
Talking to David Beaman. He is the director now of the Space Launch System, and we're getting ready for Artemis 2 coming up, hopefully in February.
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This is a stepping stone. The Space Launch System is designed with bigger goals in mind, correct?
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David Beaman
It is. It's designed for deep space exploration. And so we have several different versions of it. We have the block one that we're currently flying, and then we will have a higher performing block 1B, which has a new upper stage that we're developing right now called the Exploration Upper stage, or eus. And so the goal is to have an architecture that we can fly payloads to the moon, that we can enable flights into deep space, even going to places like Mars. And so it's designed to be an exploration class rocket.
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Bubba
Well, that's exciting. I mean, going back to the moon is cool, but when you start talking about going to Mars, boy, that's a.
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David Beaman
Whole nother animal, isn't is it takes a long time to get there, obviously a whole lot more energy to get there. And you have to understand that if we're going to send humans there, we have to be really confident that the systems that we're sending them on are going to keep them alive. You know, our goal.
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Number one goal, should be to protect the astronauts at all, you know, all cost. The science is wonderful. The only reason we go to space is because of the science, right. And what it allows us to learn and apply down here on Earth. But the last thing we want to do is have a situation where we endanger the crew.
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Bubba
You know, David, I have to deal with some naysayers from time to time. And they literally drive me up the rocket. My favorite thing is to see somebody on the local news and that video is being shot back through a satellite, back to the TV station. And they're on their telephone and they're telling the reporter that they don't think the money spent on the space program is worth it. And they're also taking pictures so they can post it on the Internet that they were interviewed on tv. That drives me up the wall.
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David Beaman
Yeah, I can understand that, you know, and we get asked questions like, why are we going back to the moon?
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Karen
Right.
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David Beaman
We did that in the 60s. What I can say is, you've been on vacation too. Why are you going on vacation again? Because it's a different experience. It's a different situation. And the biggest thing.
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The moon is still the same as it was back in the 1960s, but we are different. We're very different. And so applying the things that we know to know now to space exploration, we didn't know those things back in the 60s. And so it's a different experience. It's a different opportunity for us to learn more, to test the Limits of what humans capabilities are. And quite honestly, so much technology comes out of the space industry that ends up applying to our daily life. And so, you know, we need to go back and look and we need to look at things like the cell phone that you're talking on. Right. The Internet that you have, all the computers. Yeah, well, your computers. And a lot of people don't realize the amount of medical research that's done in space is unbelievable, especially on the space station. And all of that benefits humanity.
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Bubba
Yeah. There's a matter of fact some of it grown on the space station that we cannot grow on Earth because of the impurities. And that's just amazing to me. It's a program that gives and it moves us forward as a people. I mean, if you look at the big picture.
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You have to have those people who leave the comfort zone of their, their shores and go and explore. That's the only way we have been able to conquer the earth, so to speak. And now we have to do it with the solar system. And it's, it's just amazing. All the things I think benefits that will spin out of this on that too. And I know you probably can't comment on it, but the people that don't think we went to the moon, that's another bunch that drives me crazy that I have to deal with. And they have some of the greatest documentation and stories, but it's all just a bunch of hooey. And would you like to just say it's a bunch of hooey right quick for everybody?
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David Beaman
Well, absolutely, I think it is. And you know, I grew up on the space industry. My dad worked for NASA, the Apollo program. He did a very similar job to what I'm doing now. And so I experienced it as a child. I got to see it. And to me there's no question about it, I've spent a majority of my life dedicated to this country and to the space exploration in general. I could have made a whole lot more money doing something else. Why would I sit around and do something that wasn't real?
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Bubba
Right, right. Yeah. It's just, you know, when you think about somebody keeping a secret, there are no secrets anymore. And you know that this would have been an easy one to.
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And I tell you, the people who would have loved to shine the light on it was the Russians because they lost the race to the moon. If anybody had the ability to say this was a hoax, it was them. And they certainly would have done it if they could have spoiled the show, so to speak. And they didn't do it.
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David Beaman
You're exactly right.
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Bubba
So David, what are we. Talk to us a little bit about the Artemis rocket. I know anytime you have a new design, you're going to have issues getting the kinks worked out. And you had a few of those last time. I know with some sensors in the fuel tanks and all that, you know, you can't just put a float in there. I mean, this is some pretty, this rocket fuel is some pretty corrosive stuff. You can't just stick a float in there and tell how much is in there. Right. I mean, it's some pretty high tech gauges that you have to keep up with.
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David Beaman
Yeah. And of course we were fortunate to have a lot of the pedigree from the space shuttle program and from Apollo. And like you said, the rocket did perform really well. We had a few things and we learned things. They weren't things that challenged our capabilities and they weren't things that challenged how we were ultimately going to keep the astronauts safe. But you know, we need to be a learning organization and ultimately what we're trying to do is give the taxpayer who really takes care of this program the most bang for the buck. And so, you know, we work through those things, we solve the problems that we find and we find new ones and we put mitigations in place so they don't happen in the future. And so, you know, we did, we did have some challenging times in trying to load the rocket and you know, we had some of those challenges back in the space shuttle program too. So, you know, ultimately we, you have to learn the rocket and we were learning the rocket and so we learned the rocket. We were successful in launching Artemis I and our plans are to have that same level of success with Artemis ii.
- [23:55]
Bubba
David, I was fortunate enough. Now I don't have a great track record of coming down to see launches. Okay. I'm king of the scrubs. I'm like one in five. But the one I did see go up Space shuttle was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen with these eyes.
- [24:13]
And if people are interested in coming to see a launch, I'm sure. Where do they go the NASA website to find tickets to go?
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David Beaman
Well, you know, most of the actual on site passes and everything are given through NASA and most of those are already committed for this launch. With that being said, there's a lot of places off of Kennedy Space center in the public realm that people can go down and stay in that area and watch a launch and never have to go on to the Kennedy Space center to see it. So what I would say is you can get information on how our countdown is coming. You can go to NASA websites to see what the current status is. You can search for us on different platforms and it'll give you the latest update information. We're excited about targeting early February. What I can tell you though is we're going to continue to do the test and check out of the rocket over the next month or so before we try to roll out in mid January. And when the rocket's ready, we're going to launch and we're going to take our time and we're going to do it right.
- [25:24]
Bubba
David, I have Ken folks and some other friends. They go down to Cocoa beach and they watch a lot of the launches. And as you said, this thing is such a show, you ain't got to be right up under it to get a good view of it, right?
- [25:38]
David Beaman
No, you can see it from many miles away. It's pretty amazing what we're able to do. And you know, when I watch the other launch vehicles, they're amazing as well. We have different roles, right? And we have divided up and we've partnered with our commercial partners to have different roles. So our rockets are different, they're designed for different things. With that being said, our goal is to come together in a partnership with industry.
- [26:05]
Enable the deep space exploration, which includes going back to the moon over the next several years and then going deeper into space later. So, you know, we want all portions of the space industry to be successful.
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Bubba
Yeah, I think it's great. I mean, you've partnered with these other folks and they're taking care of some of the low Earth orbit things and NASA's doing some of the things that they can only do that they're really good at. And you know, if you're a space fan like myself, this is a great time to be alive.
- [26:38]
David Beaman
It is, it is. It's exciting. You know, I've been blessed to be a part of it. If I wasn't part of it, I'd still enjoy it. You know, to me.
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Demonstrating what we're capable of and then taking that technology and applying it back here on this Earth to make humanity better. I think that's the right thing to do.
- [26:59]
Bubba
Oh, absolutely. And you know, where you're not challenged, you're not discovering, you're not building, you're not stretching the imagination, you're not coming up with new computers and new chips and new material that you need to do this. And all of this stuff has a great spinoff use back here on Earth for us in everyday use. David, thank you for joining us and we're going to try to keep up with you on this. I'd love to get down there and try to see this because I know this rocket is quite spectacular when it takes off.
- [27:33]
David Beaman
Yes, sir. And I appreciate the opportunity. You know, we're blessed to live in a country where we can not only do stuff like this, but we can talk about it in public. It's going to be some pretty exciting things that happen over the next few months getting us ready to launch Artemis ii. I hope I get to see you down there, but I'm looking forward to participating and being playing a role in this launch.
- [27:58]
Bubba
Well, we'll be cheering you on either way. David, thank you for taking time with us. David Beaman, he's the director now. The Space launch system and Artemis 2 scheduled to head out with four astronauts to circle the moon hopefully in February. And we'll keep up and stay in touch, David, on how that's going. Thank you for taking time with us.
- [28:18]
David Beaman
Yes, sir. Thank you.
- [28:19]
Bubba
Thank you. We'll be right back in just a minute.
- [28:23]
Betty Lou
Where's Bubba?
- [28:24]
Commercial Announcer
I'll tell you where.
- [28:26]
David Beaman
He's on the lake.
- [28:29]
Betty Lou
When you need urgent care, Southern Immediate Care is here for you. Illness doesn't follow a 9 to 5.
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Commercial Announcer
Schedule, so we offer support seven days.
- [28:36]
Bubba
A week at convenient locations throughout Birmingham and Northeast Alabama.
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Betty Lou
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Betty Lou
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- [30:07]
Bubba
Well, we're back, folks, and we have a very special guest with us this segment, the lovely Betty Lou. Betty, how are you, dear?
- [30:14]
Betty Lou
I'm doing good.
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Bubba
Well, we have Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, Christmas in the windshield. We had a good Thanksgiving, I thought.
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Betty Lou
Yeah, it was good. I tell you, this time of year has come up on us quickly. It seems like this year even more than usual, I guess. I know it's what all the older people used to say, that it comes around quicker every year, and it sure does.
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Bubba
Well, it does, because I think, you know, just the only way we can sense time is by how long we've been alive. And, you know, when you're 10 years old, a year is only a tenth of your life, so that seems like a long time. But when you're 60, it's come around. It's the 60th, so.
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Betty Lou
Oh, I know.
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Bubba
You know, it makes a big difference.
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Betty Lou
Don't remind me.
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Bubba
But. But we had a good Thanksgiving. But we didn't get to do everything on your list. I know. You wanted to play some board games, and we basically ate and watched TV and slept.
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Betty Lou
Yeah, mop, mop on the board games, wherever sound effect is. But anyway, that'd be a big womp, womp.
- [31:22]
Bubba
Wait a minute. I think I got it.
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There you go.
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Betty Lou
Ate it. Did not play one board game or.
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Bubba
Cards, but we did have some pretty good food. We ate.
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Betty Lou
And that's nothing unusual. Yeah, we always eat good. And I finished my decorating, I guess, two days after Thanksgiving, maybe, I don't know.
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Bubba
You got a jump. And we had a Thanksgiving tree, which was a tree that was not decorated right.
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Betty Lou
It is now.
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Bubba
The Christmas tree now turns into Christmas.
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Betty Lou
That's right. So anyway, well, it was good.
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Bubba
I enjoyed it. You know, there was a lot of good football games on, and we got to watch that.
- [32:05]
Betty Lou
Honey, we watched some football, I tell you.
- [32:07]
Bubba
And, you know, the dressing, it goes pretty quick. I mean, you have it for a day or two after and that's it. Hey, wham, bam, she's gone.
- [32:15]
Betty Lou
I'm pretty much done with dressing. Once I've had it on Thanksgiving, though, I don't, you know, I don't go for it. Well, you know, for leftovers. But, buddy, you and Hunter seem to love, love, love the dressing.
- [32:27]
Bubba
I wish I could eat dressing and giblet gravy once a week. Wouldn't bother me.
- [32:32]
Betty Lou
No, I don't like it that much. I mean, I like it, but I just Know, I don't want it once a week.
- [32:37]
Bubba
Well, we. We've had this discussion over the years about Thanksgiving and about dressing balls, and you heard the phone call from Karen earlier, and me and you had been talking about it, and I think we ought to do this. Why not in the summer? Just. Let's just randomly try it one time.
- [32:55]
Betty Lou
In the summer?
- [32:56]
Bubba
Yeah, just.
- [32:57]
Betty Lou
I don't know about balls of dressing in the summer, you know, I mean, why.
- [33:01]
Bubba
Who says it has to be in November?
- [33:03]
Betty Lou
Because the heat outside. I don't want a dressing ball or whatever. I don't think you know what I mean.
- [33:10]
Bubba
Let's try it and make sure we like it, and then we can roll it out for Thanksgiving.
- [33:15]
Betty Lou
I have a feeling you'll like it because you like dressing. So, I mean, that's not up for debate that you would like it or not. Now. I don't know.
- [33:23]
Bubba
The things I like, I really like, baby.
- [33:25]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Oh, I know. Yep. And I don't know about this butless balls thing that she was talking about or whatever.
- [33:31]
Bubba
Well, you played that you want to grease the pan.
- [33:34]
Betty Lou
Yes. Because apparently you'll wind up with your butless ball.
- [33:39]
Bubba
Yeah. And we don't want that. We've covered that already. But. But you're game to try it, though, right? And then maybe by. By Thanksgiving, we could have dressing balls next year.
- [33:49]
Betty Lou
And you've been wanting to work on your culinary skills, so maybe you should try it. I'll. I'll direct and kind of give you some guidance, and you could put together.
- [33:57]
Bubba
Well, dressing balls, you know, there's only so many skills I think anybody can have at any one time, and I'm. I'm pretty much maxed out right now in the electronic world.
- [34:07]
With all this going on and trying to stay ahead. Oh, my gosh. It's.
- [34:13]
Betty Lou
Well, yeah, my gift is not electronics or techie stuff, but you have a.
- [34:19]
Bubba
Lot of gifts, and I'm very thankful for those.
- [34:21]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. I'd hate to have to list them because the list might come up a little short.
- [34:30]
Some of the gifts that I have, I think, just aren't. You're not able to list them. How about that?
- [34:35]
Bubba
Yeah. You know, the Bible lists spiritual gifts. A lot of them that I have, I think fall under the minor category. You know, it doesn't make.
- [34:46]
Betty Lou
But I'm good on hospitality.
- [34:48]
Bubba
There you go. And, you know, you're always uplifting.
- [34:53]
Betty Lou
Yeah.
- [34:53]
Bubba
You have the gift of encouragement. For the most part.
- [34:56]
Betty Lou
For the most part. Until it turns into, I need some encouragement.
- [34:59]
Bubba
And Then I start until it turns into the gift of scolding.
- [35:03]
Commercial Announcer
Yeah.
- [35:05]
Bubba
Well, you know, I heard somebody say the other day, and this is right, you know, especially with your spouse, you need to compliment them more than you scold them.
- [35:15]
Betty Lou
Well, I think we cover that. Yeah. Pretty good. And we're the most part.
- [35:18]
Bubba
You know, we may be a little out of balance. We'll look at that. But. So Christmas dead ahead. Have you got your shopping done?
- [35:25]
Betty Lou
Somewhat. You still like a little bit? I think I'm.
- [35:29]
Bubba
Well, I know there's one gift under the tree that I wrapped myself.
- [35:33]
Betty Lou
Yeah, I know. Yep. He's a good rapper. Are you.
- [35:35]
Bubba
Are you impressed I can wrap gifts?
- [35:37]
Betty Lou
Yeah, Yeah. I think we all have to give our son a lesson.
- [35:41]
Bubba
Yeah. The last time I saw something he tried to wrap it, it looked like it was just wadded up in a piece of paper.
- [35:48]
Betty Lou
Oh, me? Yeah, it was a Charlie Brown gift for Under a Charlie Brown tree.
- [35:53]
Bubba
Well, my Aunt Bessie taught me when I was little. And, yeah, we used to wrap a lot of gifts, so I got pretty good at it. I'm out of practice till I do one or two and then I get it and I can go, well, here.
- [36:04]
Betty Lou
Comes curly hair dog. I tell you what. And we had the door closed. She just.
- [36:08]
Bubba
I started saying, break it open. How did she open that door?
- [36:11]
Betty Lou
Apparently it wasn't latched all the way. Well, hello, Ruby.
- [36:16]
Bubba
She's missing you. So what. What are our Christmas plans exactly? Do you have that laid out usually?
- [36:23]
Betty Lou
Well, we always do the same thing, pretty much. We'll go to my folks before Christmas and then on Christmas Eve we'll do steaks on the grill usually. And haven't bought those yet, but I will closer to Christmas Eve and usually watch Christmas movies. It's pretty laid back. And then Christmas morning we get up and I'll probably do breakfast casserole or sausage balls or a little bit of both. And we just kind of.
- [36:53]
Bubba
Well, I feel like we. We've. We've already got a pretty good jump on Christmas movies. I mean, we haven't watched a lot of the comedies, but we've hit that Hallmark. What's that other channel? Great American.
- [37:06]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Family or something. Yeah.
- [37:08]
Bubba
Now, we've been hitting that pretty hard every now.
- [37:09]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Oh, yeah, now. Well, it starts in July, so.
- [37:13]
Bubba
Right, right. You get a good start on that.
- [37:16]
Betty Lou
Yeah.
- [37:16]
Bubba
You know, as much as you plan it is. It is funny you were talking about it. It just kind of sneaks up on you, doesn't it? I mean, it really does. It seems like.
- [37:23]
Betty Lou
Yes, it does, but. Yeah, it'll be good. I always enjoy steaks and all that even more than the turkey and dressing. I know you probably don't, but.
- [37:33]
Bubba
Well, no, I do. And I need to be eating a lot of protein to make this knee heal up and, you know, rebuild and, you know, all that stuff. I don't. I'm probably not eating enough protein, really, Truth be known, But.
- [37:45]
Betty Lou
Well, dressing doesn't have a lot of protein in it.
- [37:48]
Bubba
No, I'm not saying it does. I'm not. I'm not even. I'm not even trying to imply that. That's just. Just because we liked it.
- [37:54]
Betty Lou
Yeah. And the burn toast probably doesn't either, that you like. For some reason, he likes burned toast. And that's not because I burn it. He burns it on purpose.
- [38:02]
Bubba
Yeah. I don't know. It's. It's. I'm sure it's some vitamin deficiency or something. I don't know. But I do like it a little.
- [38:08]
Betty Lou
Dark, which is fine with me. Whatever. He can get the toaster out and do that. That doesn't require.
- [38:16]
Bubba
Yeah, I need. I need eggs, probably a little bit more, but I'm just. I'm not up to cooking them.
- [38:22]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Again, your culinary skills. We could.
- [38:24]
Bubba
Well, I do. I wish. I wish I was better at cooking. I really do.
- [38:28]
Betty Lou
These are not hard.
- [38:29]
Bubba
I have scrambled eggs that can cook, and, you know, it's like everything else. You got to get used to it, but.
- [38:35]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Yeah, you do.
- [38:38]
Bubba
So it just hasn't been really in my wheelhouse for the most part.
- [38:42]
Betty Lou
Right. Yeah, well, it used to not be in my wheelhouse, and I just kind of learned it. We ate a lot of hot dogs right after we got married.
- [38:52]
Bubba
And I could cook those. So what. What are you wanting for Christmas, by the way?
- [38:57]
Karen
You.
- [38:58]
Bubba
You haven't really given me a good list.
- [39:00]
Betty Lou
I think I have. Yeah. You've already got something wrapped under the tree. That's a pretty good list.
- [39:04]
Bubba
Well, it may not be for you.
- [39:06]
Betty Lou
I know it is. It's got my name on it. You tried to disguise it? I saw putting a red label on a red package. But I saw my name. I hadn't went over there.
- [39:17]
Bubba
Well, whatever.
- [39:19]
Betty Lou
I don't. I'm not saying everything I want.
- [39:22]
Bubba
You're not going to tell me?
- [39:23]
Betty Lou
Oh, no.
- [39:24]
Bubba
I got to figure it out.
- [39:25]
Betty Lou
No, I'll let you know.
- [39:26]
Bubba
You just won't say it on podcast.
- [39:28]
Betty Lou
Yeah, I mean, I hate to start listing everything. You know what I mean?
- [39:32]
Bubba
Go get it.
- [39:33]
Betty Lou
I mean, world peace, you know, and.
- [39:34]
Bubba
Things like that, sure, everybody wants it. I think we pretty much give up on that one. Yeah, I think it's nice to say it, but, you know, I don't think the reality of it is there.
- [39:45]
Betty Lou
I can't even remember now what I gave you as far as my list. But anyway, I guess you got it. Maybe.
- [39:52]
Bubba
Well, yeah, you'll have.
- [39:53]
Betty Lou
You haven't given me a list either. You always have to go buy your own because it's some crazy wire fed welder or something. Something. I don't know. Or some, you know, microphone this and that or.
- [40:06]
Bubba
Well, at least it's something I use, you know.
- [40:08]
Betty Lou
Yeah, well, I don't know about the wire fed welder. I'm not even sure we still have that or if we ever used it, but.
- [40:14]
Bubba
Well, not as much as I would have liked.
- [40:16]
Betty Lou
Yeah, I don't. I think that you got it.
- [40:18]
Bubba
You got to commit to welding, you know. Yeah.
- [40:21]
Betty Lou
I was about to say you talk about not in your wheelhouse. I don't think I've ever seen you welding.
- [40:25]
Bubba
Well, I did. You know, your dad taught me a little bit. He was a stick welder. But we got some welders in the family. But it's just I don't have that many things now. I used to. That. That break that need welding.
- [40:41]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Yeah. I can't say that I have a lot that breaks that needs welding.
- [40:45]
Bubba
That's, you know, and you really need somebody good at it. When you. You have something broke, you don't want to be practicing on a trailer or something, you know.
- [40:54]
Betty Lou
No, let's do that. Yeah.
- [40:56]
Bubba
But we don't farm as much as we used to, so we don't have as many things breaking and. But I just love this time of year. And I said earlier, you know, I'm trying to live in the minute a little bit more this year.
- [41:11]
And kind of enjoy everything, you know, face value, because we take it for granted. And as we were talking about, you know, a lot of the kin folks that we've had Christmas with have gone on to glory and you know, you don't have them anymore, so you got to enjoy every year you do.
- [41:26]
Betty Lou
Yeah, we had the big bussy Christmas yesterday and it was a somewhat slim crowd, but it was a lot of fun catching up with everybody. The cousins and whatever.
- [41:35]
Bubba
Yeah, it was all. All my cousins and the. The original brothers and sisters have all passed and their spouses. So it's all cousins now. And I have a. I have a luncheon today for some cousins on the other side of the family. So. Yeah, Looking forward to seeing them, but I'm just enjoying it. I'm enjoying it and getting. Spend more time with you and Hunter and hopefully Caitlin will get in here and we'll have a little time with her and.
- [42:02]
Betty Lou
Oh, yeah, she'll come rolling in and.
- [42:04]
Bubba
You know, we have a wood burning fireplace now. It just. I don't know, it just makes it feel a little more Christmassy to me, you know, having that fire.
- [42:13]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Bringing that wood in doesn't feel like Christmas, but other than that. Yeah.
- [42:18]
Bubba
Well, the good news is when the tornado tore the house up, we had plenty.
- [42:21]
Betty Lou
Yes, we did. And a lot of people put those trees down. We've got stacks and stacks. I mean, we may not need wood for, I don't know, five, six years.
- [42:31]
And I'm not real sure that's in my wheelhouse, but it got put in there pretty quick. Was the bringing of the firewood to the stack closer to the house?
- [42:40]
Bubba
Yeah. I couldn't. I couldn't go up the hill and get it with a walker.
- [42:45]
Betty Lou
We should have done that back in June before you started all this knee stuff. And then maybe it would have helped, but. Oh, well.
- [42:55]
Bubba
Well, baby, love you. Thank you for all that you did for the family for Thanksgiving. I know we're going to have a fun Christmas and I'm looking forward to it.
- [43:03]
Betty Lou
Yeah, me too.
- [43:04]
Bubba
We're going to watch some movies and we're going to snuggle and we're going to eat some good food and snuggle some more and.
- [43:11]
Betty Lou
And make hot chocolate and snuggle.
- [43:15]
Oh, my. We sound like elf.
- [43:17]
Bubba
Yeah, I know, I know. The main food group. That's right, your candy corns.
- [43:22]
Betty Lou
You start putting syrup on stuff instead of ketchup. Your syrup is ketchup. I've decided. Oh, my gosh.
- [43:29]
Bubba
You know, I hadn't tried syrup on some of that. It might be better than we think.
- [43:33]
Betty Lou
I don't know about that. That's too sweet.
- [43:35]
Bubba
Good old Mrs. Buttersworth.
- [43:37]
Betty Lou
Yeah. Do they even call that syrup, Mrs. Buttersworth? I don't even know.
- [43:43]
Bubba
I don't know. That was my favorite. And then I'd follow up with Log Cabin if I couldn't find her.
- [43:48]
Betty Lou
Oh, yeah? Yeah. And I messed around and bought some kind of sugar free syrup and brought it in here.
- [43:55]
Bubba
That's. What a waste. I mean, it's just terrible.
- [43:58]
Betty Lou
I thought it was pretty good. It was a little runny, a little.
- [44:01]
Bubba
Thin, but it didn't look like syrup and it didn't taste like syrup.
- [44:05]
Betty Lou
It did look like syrup.
- [44:07]
Bubba
It looked like Something that melted and ran out of the dash in the car.
- [44:10]
Betty Lou
It tasted like a runny.
- [44:12]
Bubba
It tasted like that.
- [44:13]
Betty Lou
It tasted like watery syrup, I guess, is what it tasted like.
- [44:16]
Bubba
It was not good. Anyway, look, I think if you're gonna have syrup, go ahead and get syrup and be done with it. You know, we're learning more and more every day. Like, the sugar in soft drinks are actually better for you than this made up sugar that they've put in the laboratory. Real butter is better for you than all these margarines and you know, all these things that take the place of butter. You know, a lot of that's come out now. You've seen all that, had you?
- [44:43]
Betty Lou
No. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Well, everything in moderation, you know.
- [44:48]
Bubba
Yeah, moderation got a. You know, just. We know we're not going to live forever and so take care of yourself and a little moderation, a little exercise and, you know, pray it up and see what you get out of it.
- [45:04]
Betty Lou
For the best.
- [45:04]
Bubba
Yeah. I mean, you. You'll have some flat tires along the way. We've learned that. We'll just keep. Keep jamming along.
- [45:11]
Betty Lou
Yep.
- [45:13]
Bubba
Well, honey, thank you for joining us here on the podcast and we'll try to keep everybody updated. And I'm really excited about the great dressing ball experiment of 2026.
- [45:25]
Betty Lou
Are you now?
- [45:26]
Bubba
I am.
- [45:26]
Betty Lou
Okay.
- [45:27]
Bubba
I am.
- [45:27]
Betty Lou
Something to look forward to for 2026. The old dressing balls. I mean, we set that bar pretty high, folks.
- [45:37]
Bubba
Listen, if you don't think we don't hit the in depth stories here on Bubba on the lake, you are wrong.
- [45:44]
Commercial Announcer
Okay.
- [45:44]
Betty Lou
Oh, my gosh.
- [45:45]
Bubba
All right, we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back. Thanks, bet. Love you.
- [45:49]
Betty Lou
Love y'.
- [45:49]
Bubba
All. We'll be back in just a minute on Bubba on the lake.
- [45:55]
Karen
One, two, three.
- [45:57]
David Beaman
We'll be right back.
- [46:01]
Commercial Announcer
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Bubba
FDIC on the water or off Experience late life to the fullest at Russell Lands on Lake Martin. If you love the outdoors, then Naturalist Marianne's classroom is where you need to be. She brings the outdoors to you at Russell Crossroads. Or you can see Lake Martin and thousands of acres of undisturbed forest. Taking a guided horseback trail ride through the stables. If you're here for a weekend or you've made your home at the Lake Russell Lands is where community and the land come together. To learn more about upcoming events, visit Russelllands.com come see what Lake life is all about.
- [47:34]
Commercial Announcer
You know one thing I love about Buffalo Wild Wings? You can get wings with any of their 26 sauces and dry rubs for takeout and delivery. That's like bringing an entire B dubs home with you, which you can't do. I tried. I've knocked down so many walls only to then be told to halt construction because I'm not zoned to be a sports bar kind of just looks like a big pergola or something. Because of the lack of walls, at least these 26 sauces and dry rubs are available. To go Buffalo Wild Wings, let's go Sports Bar.
- [48:18]
Bubba
Welcome back everybody. I hope you have enjoyed this podcast. I appreciate David Beaman being with us, I appreciate Betty taking a little time to talk with us, and we hope that you and your family had a great Thanksgiving and that you are planning a big Christmas. You know, if anything, this past year has taught me to live in the present. You always can put off and say, hey, next year and we're going to do this and going to do that, but you just never know. So live in the present. I hope that you can enjoy this Christmas season, enjoy the real meaning of this Christmas season, which will, if you get that in order, it seems like it makes all of your other relationships with your family and friends all that much more richer. So I'm hoping and praying that everyone can enjoy this for what it is and not get caught up in all the other activities around it of buying gifts and all that. And that's fun too. There's nothing wrong with that. But you know, the real reason for the season is a king came off his throne to become a baby and live among us and give us a path back. And I'll tell you, I'm glad he did it because I don't know that many of Us would have taken that on. So we really appreciate that and it is something to be celebrated. Well, we are here in the Melayella studio. I want to remind everybody, our website is bubbaonthelake.com you can shoot me an email bubbaonthelake.com or as you heard at the beginning of the show, 308 Big Lake. Always enjoy those. One other thing, quick notice. I know we have all the championship football going on and being scheduled. If you want to get the very latest on that, you can check out our other podcast, the Tailgate Tailgate Show. I do that with Hunter and Nathan hall and we have a lot of fun doing that podcast and it's really getting down to the nitty gritty now. We have the College Football Playoff going on and a lot of bowl games going on. Speaking of that, our very own Jack State Gamecocks will be going to the Salute to Veterans bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. It'll be down at the Crampton bowl playing our longtime rival, Troy. Now, Troy and Jack State have quite a history. They used to be the Division 2 rivalry, kind of like Auburn Alabama was. And it was a great rivalry. It was good, clean, healthy hate on both sides and it was good for everybody. And then in 2001, as teams started moving up to other divisions, that rivalry went away. And we certainly at Jack State would like to see that resume. It is, it was by far our biggest game of the year. It was our biggest ticket sale when we hosted. And I certainly would like to see a home and home of Troy resume. And this is a first step in that direction. So it's just good for our state, it's good for football and those two schools need to be playing each other every year. So we hope that this will be the first step. But think about this. We've had 25 years or 24 years, I guess that people that don't know this rivalry because they, you know, you could be 24 years old and you've never seen Jack State and Troy play. So this is going to be a big deal. It will be December 16th at 8pm I'm not sure exactly what the TV coverage is on that bowl game, but we'll let you know. But Troy and Jack State will resume that rivalry and that is definitely big news for our university and for the state and for football in general. So great time of year with all that going on, family things and I hope you will take time to enjoy it. And as I said earlier, live in the present and don't let the things that have to be done, get in the way of the things that you want to do and the enjoyment, hopefully, of the season and your family. And I'm trying to do that, too. I'm trying to reconnect with some folks that I haven't seen in a long time, and we're going to try to enjoy that to the max. So thank all of you for being a part of Bubba on the Lake. We thank you for supporting these sponsors that make this podcast possible. And as we like to say, being on the lake is a state of mind, not necessarily a location. So until we sail into port next time, God loves you, so do we. Hang loose and we'll talk to you then.
- [53:06]
Commercial Announcer
You're listening to Bubba on the Lake. Hit Me Bad.
- [53:12]
A production of Intergalactic Pants and Tees.
- [53:15]
Betty Lou
All rights reserved.
- [53:18]
Commercial Announcer
Since 1965, Vice Motors has been Lake Martin area's home for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram sales and service for 60 years. Families have trusted bikes motors in Alexander City for honest deals, friendly service and the best selection around. Our team of certified technicians services most all makes and models. Plus we've got a tire center, parts department and a full collision center to keep you rolling. Bice Motors, your hometown Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, ram, dealer since 1965 in LXCD are online at bicemotors.com buy it at bice.
- [53:46]
Bubba
Bice Motors on the water or off? Experience lake life to the fullest at Russell Lands on Lake Martin. Want to know what's going on around Lake Martin? Check out the calendar of seasonal events that include Fridays on the green, naturalist events, fireworks, concerts, poker runs, boat shows, juried art shows, boat parades, and much more. If you're here for the weekend or if you've made your home at the lake, Russelllands is where community and the land come together. To learn more about upcoming events, visit Russelllance.com come see what Lake life is all about.
- [54:25]
Commercial Announcer
All right, all right. It's a beautiful day for football here at the stadium, and we're just about ready for kickoff. Score 00. And suddenly I'm in the mood for a Coke Zero Sugar. Real Coke taste zero sugar. Now that's a winning combo.
- [54:43]
Yeah. Crisp, refreshing, that hits the spot. Spot. When it comes to great taste, Coke zero sugar is always on the scoreboard. Coke zero sugar. Real Coke taste zero sugar.
- [54:55]
Bubba
I am so happy to announce that Our family dentist, Dr. Thomas Dudney, has joined my podcast as a sponsor. My entire family have been patients of Dr. Dudney and his team for over 20 years. Now. I'm going to be telling you a lot more about all of his services and what he does. But I have to tell you, the veneers that he gave me changed my life. I had no idea how big an impact that would have. You can call him today at 205-663-6545, or visit him at thomasdudney.com and find out more. This podcast is brought to you in part by Koch, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care, Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise Docs, bankers Bounty, and Dr. Thomas Dudney. Hey, it's Bubba. Hey, Bubba, Bubba on the lake Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake yeah, he's got it going on. Gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places From Bubba's perspective. This is Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake hey, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, the lake, let's go.