#4391 Go Tree Frogs!

Summary

Podcast Title: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
Host/Author: TBTL
Episode: #4391 Go Tree Frogs!
Release Date: January 29, 2025

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Introduction and Episode Overview

In episode #4391, titled "Go Tree Frogs!", hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh dive into a diverse array of topics, blending humor with heartfelt conversations. From discussing valuable baseball cards to exploring animal welfare and sharing listener anecdotes, this episode exemplifies the show’s signature blend of wit and camaraderie.

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The Golden Find: An 11-Year-Old’s Priceless Baseball Card

A significant portion of the episode revolves around the intriguing story of an 11-year-old boy from California who discovered a rare Paul Skeens baseball card. Luke introduces the topic with excitement:

Luke Burbank [03:03]: "Hello, good morning and welcome everyone to a Wednesday edition of TBTL, the show that just might be too beautiful to live."

The hosts explore the value and rarity of the card, discussing how major league teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates are responding to its discovery. The card, featuring a patch worn by Skeens during his rookie debut, has captivated fans and collectors alike. Andrew adds depth to the discussion by highlighting Skeens' impressive performance:

Andrew Walsh [04:10]: "Paul Skeens is like the number one overall pick, and he absolutely delivered on the promise."

They further speculate on the motivations behind the Pirates' generous offer of 30 years of season tickets in exchange for the card, pondering the ethical implications and potential strings attached.

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Animal Empathy and Pet Store Encounters

Transitioning from baseball to pets, Andrew shares a personal experience at Petsmart, revealing concerns about animal welfare:

Andrew Walsh [03:43]: "Nothing shakes up the paradigm like Fancy Feast. That's a pull quote."

Their conversation delves into the treatment of small animals like guinea pigs, questioning whether confined environments truly serve the animals’ best interests. Luke muses philosophically:

Luke Burbank [07:29]: "Do guinea pigs have a soul? Is a guinea pig living its best life when it's warm and it's fed and it's given water?"

The hosts express empathy for pets trapped in corporate chains, reflecting on the broader responsibilities of pet ownership and animal care.

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Listener Stories: Mice Gone Wild in Your Car

Listeners contributed their own tales of vehicular misadventures caused by mice, adding a relatable and often humorous layer to the episode. One notable story involves significant damage to a car’s wiring:

Andrew Walsh [58:40]: "They destroyed fabric and seats and caused $5,000 worth of damage, of which I had to make an insurance claim and pay the deductible."

Luke empathizes with the frustration, humorously lamenting his own struggles with car maintenance and the anxiety of dealing with repair shops:

Luke Burbank [65:08]: "I am so overdue on bringing it in because it's all the way down in Portland. I keep having things going on. I keep not feeling like going and spending an entire day at Ron Tom Duncan."

These stories resonate with many listeners who have faced similar issues, highlighting the pervasive nuisance of rodents in everyday life.

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Financial Woes: Navigating 401ks and Retirement Plans

The discussion takes a turn towards personal finance as the hosts and listeners share their challenges with managing retirement accounts and consolidating funds. Andrew describes the cumbersome process of dealing with multiple 401k plans:

Andrew Walsh [66:30]: "We're trying to consolidate all this stuff, and it is a bit of a process. I'm trying to get it all into one kind of big savings plan now."

Luke humorously recounts his own mishaps with financial planning:

Luke Burbank [66:39]: "I cashed my Kuow 401k out to buy a Subaru Outback on eBay."

The conversation underscores the complexities of financial management, especially when juggling multiple accounts and advisors. They discuss the frustrations of dealing with outdated systems that still rely on physical checks and notarizations:

Andrew Walsh [68:12]: "They have to be careful with the money. Right. And also they don't want to give it up."

Both hosts express a mix of frustration and humor in navigating these financial hurdles, offering a candid look into their personal experiences.

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Donor Shoutouts: Appreciating Supporters

True to the podcast’s community-driven spirit, Luke and Andrew take time to acknowledge their dedicated donors from various regions:

Luke Burbank [24:00]: "Thank you, Aaron McNamara of Westmont, Illinois."

These acknowledgments foster a sense of connection and gratitude, reinforcing the supportive backbone that enables the show to thrive.

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Conclusion and Final Musings

As the episode draws to a close, Luke shares personal updates, including his upcoming colonoscopy, blending vulnerability with humor:

Luke Burbank [15:28]: "I am planning on doing the show per usual, possibly from the bathroom here at the Madrona Hill studio."

The hosts wrap up with light-hearted banter, maintaining the episode’s engaging and personable tone:

Luke Burbank [73:36]: "All of that is to say we now have a financial advisor who's been helping us with stuff over the past several years and kind of consolidating."

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Notable Quotes

• Luke Burbank [01:14]: "I don't know what the snowpack is doing right now... it's a helping my mental health as well."

• Andrew Walsh [05:14]: "It's just a sense of paranoia. Literally yesterday, I'm all over the place."

• Luke Burbank [07:05]: "This is a huge amount of probably white male privilege."

• Andrew Walsh [22:23]: "That's not being a wimp."

• Luke Burbank [34:27]: "What a mistake. You take muscle milk."

• Andrew Walsh [46:53]: "You don't believe this diary?"

• Luke Burbank [50:39]: "This passes the smell test to you?"

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Takeaways

Episode #4391 of "TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live" masterfully intertwines lighthearted humor with deeper reflections on topics ranging from sports collectibles and animal welfare to personal financial struggles. Luke and Andrew’s authentic conversations, complemented by listener contributions, create a rich tapestry that is both entertaining and relatable. Notable for its engaging dialogue and insightful observations, this episode serves as a testament to the enduring friendship and shared experiences that define the TBTL community.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Knock, knock.

[Andrew Walsh]

Who's there?

[Listener]

Mike Sniffer pivots.

[Luke Burbank]

Mike Sniffer Pippets who?

[Listener]

Mike Sniffer Pippets who? How many Mike Sniffer Pippets do you know?

[Luke Burbank]

Come on, let me in.

[Listener]

It's cold out here. Jeez. TBTL.

[Luke Burbank]

Ladies and gentlemen, meatloaf cake with mashed sweet potato icing. With only 433 calories, 52 grams of protein, and only 5 carbohydrates.

[Listener]

This is not your mama's podcast.

[Luke Burbank]

This is too beautiful to live.

[Listener]

Are you trying to seduce me?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm trying to seduce you.

[Listener]

You guys are so fun. Just relentlessly fun. I keep thinking, when are they gonna stop being fun?

[Luke Burbank]

And the answer is never.

[Listener]

Hey, lookin here. Why don't we eat us a few thousand bears and you tell me what's buzzing in the big bad city?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome everyone to a Wednesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Listener]

It's a kind of magic.

[Luke Burbank]

My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host.

[Listener]

Bumping them gums, telling them lies.

[Luke Burbank]

Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it's another absolutely gorgeous day.

[Listener]

It's like I'm walking on sunshine.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know what the snowpack is doing right now. I don't know what the sort of environmental implications are of us having this run of weather we're having in the Pacific Northwest west. I'm assuming it's not great. I'm assuming that we will eventually have to karmically pay for this, but man, is it ever helping me get through this end of January. Also, getting to talk to all of you is a helping my mental health as well, because here we are at episode 4391 in a collector series.

[Listener]

Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

An 11 year old kid found this baseball card. As I started to say this out loud, I was reminded of how many times I've promoted this story and we have not gotten to it.

[Listener]

But it's just so frustrating.

[Luke Burbank]

I want to be in Florida getting.

[Listener]

A tan on my back.

[Luke Burbank]

The good news is we waited so long. I don't want to drag Andrew into this. I waited so long to talk about this story that there have actually been updates. There has been movement in the story of the 11 year old kid who found a Paul Skeens baseball card that's worth 30 years of season tickets from the Pittsburgh Pirates. So we'll give you the update on that. We skipped right over the boring initial phase of the news story. And we're going right to the update phase. Speaking of my friend Andrew Walsh, he is the longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. I don't usually do this, but I was recording a little bit of our pre show chat, and this is him getting kind of hyped up for today's episode. The success that you just had in.

[Listener]

Making yourself come back to basics and.

[Luke Burbank]

And continue to be uncommonly consistent, that drives me, you know, so he's uncommonly consistent. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Listener]

Good morning, Luke. I had a. I had a moment of animal empathy of almost Burbankian levels yesterday.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, I'm listening.

[Listener]

Made me think of you. Of course, I don't often go into pet stores because we get our cat food from one of those mail delivery services. I'm not gonna say their name here, only because I'm not 100% sure I love them. It seems like when we get. We get the same brand of cat food from them that we get, you know, that we could buy in the store. But for some reason, our cats are always way more picky about the food we get from this mail service. But Genevieve handles it, and Genevieve's the one who.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it one of those, like, is.

[Listener]

It is a very big name in home delivery, human grade food?

[Luke Burbank]

Is it one of those things where you got to refrigerate it? No, no, no.

[Listener]

It's just. It's basically an online store. You can buy all kinds of different stuff, their pet supplies, all kinds of stuff. It's just a. It's not Amazon, but almost the Amazon of pet supply stores. But anyway, I can imagine. I think everybody knows what I'm talking about. But all of that is to say that's where we usually get our cat food. But I had to stop in there yesterday for some reason I was nearby anyway, and the cats are being picky about the food, food that we're getting from Chewy, so wanted to go in there and pick up some Fancy Feast to see if that might shake up the paradigm a little bit. Nothing shakes up the paradigm like Fancy Feast. That's a pull quote. All of that is to say it was kind of nice walking in there. Like, I rarely go into pet stores, and of course, this is petsmart. This isn't some boutique little place. It's like a giant, cheap. Not Mud Bay. It's not Mud Bay. Although those places are really nice. But anyway, I go in Very friendly people. I mean, there's always a thing when you walk into a store like that and they greet you right away. It's both very nice, but also you note their way of saying, this is our policy of saying, like, we saw you come in. Sort of like, I always feel like when I go into a store like that, especially in Aurora, that people assume that I'm. They're keeping eyes on me because I hustle back to the pet food section and then suddenly I notice an employee has to start like restocking right in the aisle that I was shopping in. And I. For some reason, I always think they think I'm trying to steal. And so they're trying to steal.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it because of the backpack you insist upon bringing?

[Listener]

In this case, I did not have establishments, no backpack, but just a tote bag that I had under my. Under my arm. I think it's just a sense of paranoia. Literally yesterday, I'm all over the place. Literally yesterday evening I was throwing darts and I.

[Luke Burbank]

In the Petco. And they asked you to leave?

[Listener]

And they asked me to leave. No, here at home. And I'm finally getting over the hump a little bit. Like, I've been playing on a level that is so difficult for me. And I've been just.

[Luke Burbank]

With Dartbot.

[Listener]

With Dartbot? Yeah. And that's, you know, this little program I run on my iPad that keeps score and then it sort of randomly generates its own points and I play again against an opponent that way and you can sort of set the level. I've talked about it a lot on this show and I literally. Luke, had the thought yesterday. Now I'm starting to realize this is just me. I'm having some sort of mental issues because I inputted my score and I actually won a leg. And I was like, oh my God, like, I nailed it. I got the 20, followed exactly by the double 20, exactly what I needed. And it felt really good. And I punched it in and I thought for a split second, Dartbot probably thinks I'm lying. Luke, I literally had that thought. I thought, oh, this thing probably thinks I'm lying because I haven't been playing that well lately. And then I just nailed exactly what I needed. I had like three darts and each dart went exactly where it needed.

[Luke Burbank]

This is why you have to videotape every single throw.

[Listener]

Yes, but Luke, a non existent randomized program isn't judging me. But anyway, I think. I think Dartbot thinks I'm lying. I think the people at Petsmart think I'm stealing whatever it's so funny because I have.

[Luke Burbank]

And you know, let's just call it what it is. This is a huge amount of probably white male privilege. But like, I have literally never noted someone following me in a store to make sure that I understand that they understand that I'm there and therefore don't take anything. I'm not saying it hasn't ever happened. It is the furthest thing from my mind when I go into a store.

[Listener]

But you do know that it's like a. Especially for a big chain store like that. Like it is kind of a policy when they greet you at the door. Like, I think that is a bit of a security policy. Right. Like intellectual.

[Luke Burbank]

It probably is. I've never thought of it that way. I'm sure you're right. I'm sure it's. It's. There's probably a whole psychology to it of acknowledging that, you know, the person is in the store. So then the person feels a little bit less. Or they just feel there's an accountability there.

[Listener]

I guess it's very friendly. There's no harm, no foul in that. But like it's.

[Luke Burbank]

It's also, I assume it was training to make the. Make the customer feel like they're welcomed in this. I literally had the opposite read on it. And I'm not saying you're wrong. I think you're right. I think that's probably. Remember David from the basement? He used to work at TJ Maxx.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And he did loss prevention there for a while. And I believe at the. At the time, anyway, I think it's changed. I would guess it has changed. But at the time, the loss prevention tactic was him asking, can I help you with that? As someone would place it in their backpack.

[Listener]

Right. Because he can't be too confrontational.

[Luke Burbank]

Not allowed to accuse anyone of anything or physically stop them. He was just allowed to ask them. I believe David will hear this too. Yes. I think it was. Do you need help with that or something? Can I have security that he was allowed to provide?

[Listener]

Yeah. But anyway, so I'm in the store yesterday and they are very friendly people. In fact, I will say when I was leaving the store, I asked. They're like kind of for some reason, as a. Well, I guess it's just a slow day, maybe mid afternoon and I was leaving and there were two people, like the person who checked me out and then like maybe her manager or something. Two younger people were there and I was just like, do you see any good pets today? Because people always bring their pets in and then they were just like, oh, yeah, it's the best part of the job. Like, somebody brought in their mice in a backpack the other day. That was so fun. I'm like, oh, my God. So anyway, I was like, that's gonna be the best part of the job. I really do like them there.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Harvested them from dashboard of a Mazda Miata.

[Listener]

Ooh. Maybe more on that later in the show, too. I have another voicemail from. From a mouse victim. But okay. All that is to say, when I first walked in, I was, like, I said, sort of beelining it to the cat food, but, like, there was a lizard in a little aquarium and I'm not into lizards.

[Luke Burbank]

Terrarium.

[Listener]

Sorry. No, it was an aquarium that was the problem.

[Luke Burbank]

It's an ex lizard.

[Listener]

Lizard brazzy. Sleeps with the fishes. That was sort of a good joke. That was so.

[Luke Burbank]

I'll go with it.

[Listener]

Joke with Jason. But no, no. Yeah. He was in a terrarium and he was just sort of out, like, sort of basking kind of looking right at me. So I stopped for a second. I'm like, hey, little buddy. Then I was like, are you happy in. And then. And I was like, well, it's pretty. The terrarium is pretty big for your size. And I don't know, I mean, you'd probably rather be outside, but also, it's really cold outside now. You'd rather be in your own habitat, I'm sure. But, you know that it started the thread of feeling like, should you be in there? I was happy to see him at first, but then immediately, a little bit like, how you doing? All but. And then, like, not far from there, there were, I believe, guinea pigs and, you know, like, round, little, fuzzy little guinea pigs. It looks so sad. Like, he didn't look unheal necessarily. Although I was a little bit curious about that. I'm not trying to slander petsmart here. I don't know what's going on with them. I don't know what their policies are on these animals. I'm guessing based on the fact that they're a huge corporate chain, that they're not, like, probably getting the. Earning the best grades when it comes to the animals that are under their care, but that is pure slander on my part. I have no idea what their policies are, but I definitely had a Lukian moment or a Burbankian moment. I don't know what. You prefer a Christiany moment because that's.

[Luke Burbank]

Your middle name moment. Christiany Burbankian moment where I was just.

[Listener]

Looking at that little guy and I would. For a moment I was like, oh, hey, little buddy. Like, I wonder. Then I was like, this is making me too sad. I need to remove myself because I don't think this. I don't think this guinea pig is happy right now.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm sure the listeners have thoughts on this and they'll let us know, but I wonder about that stuff sometimes because. Yeah, I mean, my guess is, my knee jerk reaction is that, like, that guinea pig should not be stuck in that smallish little box. But also, I forget who it was. But somebody once said, like, life is what? Brutish, nasty and short. In other words, like, turn that guinea pig loose here outside the Madrona Hill studio, it's gonna get eaten in about five seconds by one of these giant feral cats or a coyote or something like it. It kind of sucks for them. But also, I wonder if the real world is, in fact better for them. Like, this gets into the questions of, like, the. The something about the soul of a guinea pig. Like, you know what I mean? Like, do guinea pigs have a soul? Do they. Is a guinea pig living its best life when it's warm and it's fed and it's given water and it. No one is. Nothing is trying to kill it. And the downside is you live in a, you know, 12 inch by 36 inch rectangle of, you know, plexiglass. Maybe they like that. I don't know. I just don't. I haven't interviewed enough guinea pigs to know. But, you know, it seems to us to really suck. But maybe they're like, dude, compare this to the tundra. We'll take it. Right?

[Listener]

I mean, I think the truth is they don't have the ability to consider relativism. Right? Like, I mean, that's the funny thing here is, like, they don't know any other. This is like, I feel like we're. I feel like we're like in. We're freshmen in college getting really stoned, trying to talk about the fact that, like, blue looks different to you than it does to me, man. How will we ever know? But, like, I mean, obviously the animals, especially an animal at that level, is not actually thinking about the alternatives because it doesn't know the alternatives. And, like, what is happy, what is sad? But obviously we as human beings know that there are proper ways to care for animals and there are improper ways and there are abusive ways. You know what I mean? So, like, we know, but like, the. The guinea pig isn't considering it on a philosophical level, obviously, but like a.

[Luke Burbank]

A golden Retriever would.

[Listener]

If it had known another life. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

If it had known another. Interesting. So in other words, if you. If I see. I feel like a golden retriever would have a sense that there's something better out there. Like if you took a golden retriever puppy.

[Listener]

Yeah. Maybe.

[Luke Burbank]

And you put it in a terrarium or aquarium, and then let's just say that you. You, you know, increased the size of it little by little so that it wasn't, you know, eventually, like, you know, its physical body wasn't pressing up against the edges of this thing, but it was still limited in its movement. I feel like when you walked into that petcoat. What a demented sort of Schrodinger thing I'm doing here. But I feel like if you walked into that Petco and there was a golden retriever who was 5 years old and it was in a small pen.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Its tail would wag in a way that would indicate there's something better for it.

[Listener]

Yes, yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Even if it had never experienced Theory.

[Listener]

Yeah, I mean, of course.

[Luke Burbank]

So we've decided that guinea pigs don't have that in them.

[Listener]

I mean, it's. Well now, and I don't want to go super dark here, but obviously, you know, like, I know a lot of folks who have, like, rescued dogs or whatever, and you hear about the stories of abuse that they. That they experienced as puppies. And I mean, it's just. I mean, there isn't even a word for how heartbreaking that is and disgusting that is. So obviously there's always a line when an animal knows it's being mistreated in some way. I'm not trying to, like, take all of that out of there, I guess, like, just sort of. And so maybe this has spiraled a little bit out of control. And of course, I mean, the cool thing is our listeners don't have strong opinions about this. No. I find it hard to believe. Animal abuse. There's no way for me to step in this.

[Luke Burbank]

People are showing up at my house telling me, don't use the nectar. The nectar from the package for these hummingbirds because the red dye is bad for them.

[Listener]

Oh, yeah, right. Yeah. Which there might be. There might be some truth, but can you just get.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm sure there is. I'm sorry. I'm letting this. I'm finishing this. This. This round of hummingbird feeder is going to feed these hummingbirds, and they're just going have to deal with red dye number five.

[Listener]

What you're doing, though, is, Aren't you?

[Luke Burbank]

I make my own.

[Listener]

I thought they're going. They're going into surgery. Right. You're putting this red dye in them so that you can sort of like trace their blood.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, it's like a barium. Hey, speaking of which, I've got. It's not really barium, but, you know, I am. I'm finally getting that colonoscopy next week.

[Listener]

Oh, is it actually next week?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Listener]

What day next week? It's a.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a busy, busy week. It's, it's, it's. We got the Chris Hayes thing at Town hall on Tuesday night in Seattle. Please come see us. I know you're going to be there. I know Veeves is going to be there. My parents are going to be there. They're very excited. And then I think it's not the next day, but the following. I'm doing the colonoscopy, Andrew, after we do the show.

[Listener]

So that'd be Thursday.

[Luke Burbank]

Thursday. So Thursday. But I'm planning on doing the show per usual, possibly from the bathroom here at the Madrona Hill studio. I don't know what my baadi is going to be doing, but I thought it would be an entertaining content for me to report to you on Thursday on the show. How the previous night went for me.

[Listener]

I have not gone through this and you've been closer to it than me, so you would know better. But I think at that point you'll just be fasting, so probably by. If you. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Wait, wait, no. Thursday after the show. Oh, yeah. You will be on the toilet, won't you? Because you're going to be.

[Luke Burbank]

I'll be on the toilet starting Wednesday night.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And I think it carries over.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Until pretty close to that. I moved this appointment because I was going to be going down to Salem, Oregon to get it because that was just the, the, the quickest appointment I could get. And they make you do this kind of like intake with a nurse like a week before the procedure. And when I told the nurse, when the nurse looked at my address and then looked at where I was going, she went, that's pretty far. Like she said, you know, you can take the medication, you can start on it a little earlier if you want. She was like, they tell you to do it, you know, X number of hours before the procedure, but you can do it a little earlier. And what she was saying was like, you can just colon blow yourself a little before you get in the car.

[Listener]

So you can dry when you're in there. When you first told me this story off air, I Don't think I quite understood the connection there. But like, not just like, oh, we don't want you to have to drive that far. But it's like, no, you're going to be. Your pants on the way down. Yes, precisely. I just wanted to make sure that everybody got the fine point there.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, she had, there was a pause when I, when she looked at my address. And then she said, you're going to Skyline. And then there was a long pause that was her considering if I should consider myself, you know, maybe wearing adult diapers or something. I'm not even kidding. Like, to get down there safely. And then I, I moved the appointment up here. It's very close to my house now.

[Listener]

And our Ohio listeners need to understand here that you are not planning on going to Skyline Chile before your procedure.

[Luke Burbank]

Skyline would be located. Will be in my toilet. Will not look unlike Skyline Chili. So, so that's, yeah, that's next week. And, and, and again, I, I, I asked them. They were like, how's 9am I was like, doesn't work for me because I need to be broadcasting this experience to my friend Andrew right up until it actually happens.

[Listener]

Wow. So, okay, so Thursday morning you'll wake up. You've, you've already been fasting on Wednesday, you'll have been spending Wednesday night on the old commode. And then by Thursday. Yeah, that'll be interesting. We might have to stop down a lot. Like, no joke, if this.

[Luke Burbank]

I can run a mic into that.

[Listener]

Bathroom, you know, we could stop down.

[Luke Burbank]

You'd rather I didn't?

[Listener]

I'd rather we didn't.

[Luke Burbank]

That was the other thing.

[Listener]

I might have to use that mic at some point. You animal.

[Luke Burbank]

The other thing is, I was one of my plans related to the previous appointment, how far away it was, was to go stay at Becca's the night before, which is much closer to where the, like, she lives in a absolutely lovely apartment that has one bathroom in it. And I just thought, this is not going to, this is not going to preserve the. What. Whatever's left of the mystery of this relationship, it will not be preserved as.

[Listener]

You'Re just flying around the room like a balloon that somebody's let the air out of.

[Luke Burbank]

Precisely. And then going into this bathroom that's, you know, centrally located in the apartment, you know, and, and doing God knows what in there. I was like, this is, I, this needs to be between me and my toto toilet. Between me and my God and my toto toilet.

[Listener]

Would she consider doing a house swap with you? No, because she has to go to work so she can't stay out where you live. Could there have been a scenario I.

[Luke Burbank]

Could have rendered her an Airbnb.

[Listener]

I was going to say, like you could rent yourself or rent yourself an Airbnb in another state just in case it gets really loud. Or you could have rent yourself your own Airbnb near, nearer to Skyline or wherever you're headed.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, no, I will be up here and the plan is I'm going to go through this. I'm going to walk this path alone, which is how I like it, and then do the show on Thursday morning.

[Listener]

One set of truly disgusting footprints. Some of the most.

[Luke Burbank]

There was one set of footprints with toilet paper on them.

[Listener]

You see, see the little tag there coming off the back of the Pacific.

[Luke Burbank]

Surgery in Longview, Washington has that in the bathroom. I will plots.

[Listener]

Sounds like you're be doing a lot of plotting leading up to this.

[Luke Burbank]

And then Becca is going to pick me up from the procedure and drive me back home.

[Listener]

Yeah. Because I was going to say is this one of those things where you must need somebody to pick you up?

[Luke Burbank]

You're not allowed to drive yourself. But I am actually worried about coming out of the. I'm worried about coming out of the general anesthetic, Andrew, because I don't know what I'm going to say. I feel like it's going to be actionable. Well, like legit. That's a. Like this is a life not well lived that I'm concerned about the both my girlfriend and the people in the room. When I am in an absolutely 100% sort of like tableau rasa. Like, does it just mean.

[Listener]

That means blank slate.

[Luke Burbank]

Blank slate. Like when I am just like when I have no filter up when I am. When I am just. When I am on step nine, which step is amends? I don't want to be on that step. I don't want to be on that step without a lot of planning. Like, I literally worried the last time that I was under that I remember anyway, the last time was under a general anesthetic was when I broke my arm playing football in like middle school. And it was such a bad break that they had to put me all the way out to like reset it. And I remember coming out and I had this T shirt that said Philadelphia on it. And I was obsessed with this question of if they had. I think they had to cut the T shirt off or something to get to my arm. And I remember just like coming out of it and my parents were there obviously and I was, like, obsessed with this Philadelphia T shirt that, like, maybe my uncle Chuck had got me or something and just obsessing over it and just saying crazy shit about this T shirt.

[Listener]

Because you were upset about it being cut.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I think I was upset about it being destroyed or something. Anyway, I had done so much less dirt at that point in my life. I had, like, 12 years of dirt under my fingernails. Now I got 48. I don't know what I'm going to admit to, but it's not gonna be good.

[Listener]

When I broke my fingers. This is going back years ago. Yeah. And that was the only time that. That wasn't the only time because I also had some mouth surgery over the past, like, 10 years or so. I think I had that twice where they. They gave me. Where I had them knock me totally out because I'm just a wimp. I can't deal with that.

[Luke Burbank]

That's not being a wimp.

[Listener]

But I remember that the surgery with my hands was the only time where I actually was like. Like fully under and, like, wearing a robe. You know what I mean? And, like, going into, actually an operating room, you know, being kind of wheeled in there and everything. And I. This story many times, I was very nervous about the same thing that you're talking about, too. It was my experience.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you remember? Did Veeves tell you? Was Veeves there?

[Listener]

Well, that's the thing. I think by the time you're seeing. I think by the time you're gonna be seeing your partner, you got most.

[Luke Burbank]

Of the racist stuff out of your system.

[Listener]

I think you've already got it out of your system. Bad takes out of your system sort of paints me in glory. But, like, I do remember, and I think I've told you this before, that I did say to the nurse, all of a sudden, I just realized I'm there. I'm waking up. Genevieve is there. The nurse is there, and I'm sort of like, come. Coming to, you know, whatever that means. I don't know if waking up is the right word. And I just said. Did I say anything weird? She said, oh, no, you just, like, you just apologized a lot. And I was like, oh, God, thank God. I'm still. That's. That's me through and through.

[Luke Burbank]

Still got it.

[Listener]

I. She said you yelled polite car, and that's not right.

[Luke Burbank]

Once I've asked Becca to show up on Friday. The procedure's Thursday. I've asked her to pick me up on Friday when all of the racism is out of my system.

[Listener]

Oh, my God. All Right. Thank you for being a tam.

[Luke Burbank]

All right. Time to thank some donors who are making TBTL possible with their voluntary financial support. Cannot stress how much we appreciate this, folks like Aaron McNamara of Westmont, Illinois.

[Listener]

Thank you, Aaron.

[Luke Burbank]

Westmont. I don't know if I've heard of Westmont, Illinois.

[Listener]

You know, I've been through Eastmont, obviously.

[Luke Burbank]

Northmont.

[Listener]

Northmont. Beautiful, but cold.

[Luke Burbank]

I honestly wouldn't. I would be. I would say Southmont. Hit or miss?

[Listener]

Southmont has gone through sort of kind of a. What's the word I'm looking for? Not a resurrection. That's too Biblical.

[Luke Burbank]

Insurrection.

[Listener]

Well, it did. It went through an insurrection. But then, since then, it's sort of. It's really like, kind of come up in the world.

[Luke Burbank]

So.

[Listener]

Southmore. But a lot of breweries, I hear, haven't been to Westmont yet. A lot of breweries. A lot of. What do you always say? Breweries run by guys wearing leather aprons. Westmont, I haven't been through because they don't let me through there. Because that is the classiest of all the months, they say.

[Luke Burbank]

Sure. And that's, I mean, a known thing. And one of the classiest things about Westmont is that Aaron is there. Thanks, Aaron. Also, Tyler Dratch is in Baltimore, Maryland.

[Listener]

Now, Baltimore, I've not spent enough time in, if any, and it is a city I sincerely, sincerely want to visit. Maybe this will be the year I really want to go see.

[Luke Burbank]

You want to go to an Oriole?

[Listener]

I really want to go to an Orioles game. I hear it's a beautiful park. It's a lovable team.

[Luke Burbank]

Camden Yards. I'm sure it's called the, like, Quicken Loans Yards now or something. Is it still Camden?

[Listener]

Oh, you know, I think it's. I do think it has a brand.

[Luke Burbank]

In front of it, but slayer dot@camden yards.

[Listener]

It's something at Camden Yards now. Yeah. So they've kept Camden but added something, I think. Actually, it says Oriole park at Camden Yards. Look at this.

[Luke Burbank]

Nice.

[Listener]

God don't want to go.

[Luke Burbank]

What a God. Don't get me started with that stat you sent us last night about some offseason even. Get me started.

[Listener]

No. You, me, Tyler, we're going to rock our Orioles caps. Greatest logo in baseball, I think. Absolutely.

[Luke Burbank]

Without a doubt. Thanks, Tyler. Also thanks to Andrew and Maeve Henderson of Ottawa, Ontario.

[Listener]

Nice. Now I cannot root. I cannot root for the Blue Jays. Having said that, I could root for the former.

[Luke Burbank]

You root for the Calgary Cannons?

[Listener]

Yes. What do they play?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, they are they used to be in the Triple A league. So the Calgary Cannons were the Mariners farm team.

[Listener]

Really? This is the first time?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, this is long before there were aqua socks and rainiers and the like. I remember people. I remember people being called up from the Calgary Cannons.

[Listener]

I have never heard of that before. I love that name. You can imagine the logo. There's so much fun there. Can I tell you about one of the greatest disappointments of the past couple of years? I don't know if anybody else is keeping a list of disappointments. I mean, life's been just really, really great lately. But I've heard, you know, I live near North Seattle College. Used to be called North Seattle Community College. I think they dropped the community. But they're still a community college in my heart. And they have. And it's a relatively big. I mean, you know it, right, Luke? Like this relatively big.

[Luke Burbank]

I took a blues guitar class there. Nice, right? As part of continuing education. When I was in high school, I took a blues guitar class at north. Then North Seattle Community College.

[Listener]

And it's such a classic. I think that might. It's very brutalist, by the way. Speaking of brutalism, like that's a. That's like a really classic kind of brutalist, educational, institutional looking building. It's. I really like it. There's some wetlands back there. There's a beautiful bridge that goes over it to get over the highway now. Anyway, I just sort of love that little corner of this, this part of Seattle. And they have two non intrusive, non gaudy digital signs. Just very basic. It'll say like North Seattle College or whatever. Then a little space for a digital sign, you know, readout that you can switch up. And there are two of them at different entrances. And when you pass them, one of the things that it clicks through is just the simple phrase, go tree frogs, exclamation point. So that's how I learned that it's the North Seattle Tree Frogs. And I'm like, that is so cool. Like, I haven't taken any classes there. Genevieve actually has taken some sewing classes there. But like, I would love to rock some cool North Seattle College tree frog merch. And I've gone to their site and there's like nothing. I don't even think they have a team. I don't know why they call themselves the Tree Frogs. But I feel like if you're gonna call yourself the Tree Frogs, create some cool tree frog merch, I would absolutely wear that hat and sort of represent the hood, you know. Like, I think that'd be so cool.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's. I didn't realize they had sports teams there.

[Listener]

I don't think they do. That's why I'm very confused why it's called. But they literally. I mean, it's not an accent on two different signs. And it's been like that for years. It says here, North Seattle College Tree Frogs. Why do they have a mascot if they don't have a. Okay, here you go. You ready for this? I think we've done this on the show before, now that I think about it, because I think I've been to this page. Meet Star the Pacific Tree Frog. North Seattle College proudly presents the new logo for our mascot, Star the Pacific Tree Frog. This is from 2020. The frog lives right on campus and has made this land home. Oh, I see. Because of that wetland behind, there's actually a lot of tree frogs. So maybe they're actually saying, go, tree frogs, please. This is. No, get out of manifestation of biblical levels.

[Luke Burbank]

But anyway, I found. I have found the thing, Andrew, that I will be looking at when I need to fall asleep or when I need to feel comforted. And it is notable. Calgary Cannons. Oh, these are people who played for the Calgary Cannons and then went on to the majors. This is only interesting to me because this is prime childhood baseball obsession for me. I'm talking about Scott Bankhead. I'm talking about Darren Bragg, Andrew. I'm talking about Yvonne Calderon. Now, are you talking about Darnell Coles.

[Listener]

AKA dc Are you remembering these names? Because eventually they made it up to the big.

[Luke Burbank]

These are all. These were all Calgary Cannons who made it to the big league. And they came through the Mariners by definition, because the Calgary Cannons were our AAA team. But these are names that I have. Danny Tartable. These are names that have not occurred in my brain for probably 35 to 40 years. And now I'm looking at them and I'm seeing names like Kevin Millar or Edwin Nunez. And I just, like. I can't explain to you the emotional feeling I'm having seeing these. These names. These are the guys that I was freaking. Matt Sinatra, who later became our bullpen coach. Like, these are the dudes that I was obsessed with at age, like, 12.

[Listener]

When you watch Mariner games, do you ever notice the bullpen security guy? Like, they're. Because when I go to.

[Luke Burbank]

You mean the guy that's what. The guy that's. That's guarding the backs for foul balls or just like a police officer?

[Listener]

Like, actual, like, kind of police. I think he literally. Are those off duty?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, they're off duty police officers who are allowed to wear their uniform.

[Listener]

And there's a guy and I can picture him and I see him on TV sometimes. Well, I see him in person time when I'm at the ballpark because I like to go. We have a. For people who haven't been to t Mobile park, there's a berba.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm just going to keep saying names.

[Listener]

There's an area where you can watch the pitchers warming up. Right. There's great access to the bullpen, essentially. And there's this one guy. This is a little Burbankian too, although it doesn't paint you in the best light. But like I'm somehow like at war with this guy, but only in my mind. I've never seen him do anything bad. But he's always there. He's always the security personnel for the bullpen area. But he's not up with us. He's down in the bullpen and he. He's just. I've just created this narrative about this guy, but he kind of is. He's one of those guys who kind of. He's a bigger guy, but he just kind of like. You know how a certain, like either police officer or security guard can carry themselves in a certain way that's sort of like chest out a little bit, you know, and he just kind of has that. But also he's got like probably one of the sweetest jobs in security. Right. Like if you're at all a baseball fan, you're just meeting and how fun. He's all. Of course he's always on the Mariner side.

[Luke Burbank]

You rarely have to use your weapons. Weapon.

[Listener]

Yes, right, exactly. But I just like there's something about him. It's like he has access to all these players. He probably just thinks he's like the bees knees. And by the way, I have no idea. I've never met this guy and I want to be very clear. I've never seen him do anything that would make me dislike him. You know what I mean? I've never seen him take a. Like a. During batting practice. He's never taken a ball and denied it to a child or anything like this. Or like I just have made up a narrative about this guy and he's always there and sometimes I see him on TV and I'm like, I see you, I see you and I don't know why.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's interesting. We used to have off duty cops that would guard Dick's drive in on late nights on Fridays and Saturdays when I was there. And I believe this was after a University of Washington basketball player tried to grab me through the glass. Oh, yeah, broke the glass of the Dick's Drive in. Maybe it preceded that or predated that, but I remember after that we definitely had off duty cops and same thing I thought was a pretty sweet gig for them, free burgers, they get to wear their uniform. They're getting paid by the, you know, know, by the Spady family or whatever. I mean, Andrew, if I start bringing up names like Lee Guterman, we could be here all day.

[Listener]

Donor. As I said, a donor of the day.

[Luke Burbank]

God, if only Lee Guterman was a donor of the day. I'll have to take. And I take this with, with great joy, Brad Baxendale, who's in Norfolk, Virginia. Boy, what a distribution today.

[Listener]

Oh, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Westmont, Illinois. Baltimore, Maryland. Ottawa, Ontario.

[Listener]

Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. Kind of, kind of representing the Eastern Seaboard. Exactly, we call it that.

[Luke Burbank]

Also Mindy Lum is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I believe. Is this back to back Twin Cities?

[Listener]

Yes, we did have a. Natalie.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Listener]

Minneapolis. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Is this back to back Carnation Washington references? Because that's where Lori Larson is.

[Listener]

Hey, thanks, Lori. Appreciate it.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, beautiful. Carnation Washington. I. Okay. Is Carnation Washington also the place where the Carnation milk empire emanates from or are those unrelated? When I was a kid, I, you know, we had like Carnation. We didn't have it, but I saw commercials for Carnation Instant Breakfast. Do you remember this?

[Listener]

Yes, I do remember. Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you remember the jingle? Yes.

[Listener]

No, I don't. No.

[Luke Burbank]

Carnation Instant Breakfast, you're gonna love it in an instant.

[Listener]

Is that the stuff that you pour into milk and you stir it up and it was almost like a vanilla or a chocolate.

[Luke Burbank]

Now I pay 200 dol on Instagram for something called Huel, which is exactly the same thing.

[Listener]

Really?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, by the way.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

What a mistake. You take muscle milk. It's.

[Listener]

Is it kind of like muscle milk?

[Luke Burbank]

More or less. Probably. It's high protein and it's a kind of a meal replacement. And I thought, well, on days when I don't feel like making a whole thing. By the way, I made some shishito peppers for lunch yesterday.

[Listener]

Oh, wow, what an interesting lunch.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, so good. I bought this bag of shishito peppers at Trader Joe's a couple weeks ago. And I was looking at them and I was like, I was kind of like eating one or two of them raw just on occasion. And then I was like, these are going to Go bad if I don't do something with them. And so I fully blistered them yesterday and then threw some tamari on there and some sesame seeds.

[Listener]

It was delicious. Nice. I did want to say that you. That is where Carnation is from. So it was a national brand. I definitely drank those Carnation drinks and.

[Luke Burbank]

Had like a kid on the label. Right.

[Listener]

That I.

[Luke Burbank]

For the Carnation instant breakfast.

[Listener]

We'll have to look that up. But yeah, that's, that's the connection. You've mentioned that before. I did not remember that.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow. Yeah. I always thought of Carnation as being a kind of a dairy town. And I also thought of, of course as it being where Lori Larson is from. So.

[Listener]

Yes. Thank you.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you so much. Thank you to all of our donors. We couldn't do TBTL without you.

[Listener]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

This is one of those things, Andrew, where you actually have a little more intel than I do on this particular Top Story which I saw last week, which was the story of an 11 year old kid, I believe in California. Right. Who happened to get this extremely valuable baseball card. And I think baseball card is almost kind of misleading because really what it is, it's a patch that the pitcher for the, the rookie of the year, Paul Skeens for the Pittsburgh Pirates. There's some kind of a thing that they do now with these baseball cards where they have these rookies wear a patch on their arm in their major league debut, I believe, and then they take it right off of their arm afterwards and then they put it. It's like a swatch or something. They put it into one of these baseball cards and they don't tell anyone which pack it's in. And these are extremely valuable even for players that are not at the level of Paul Skeens. Paul Skeens is like, like the, you know, sort of the. How would you describe. I mean he's an incredibly, incredibly good pitcher for being a. Or for, you know, it'll be one year after his rookie season. But like he was the number one overall pick, I believe and he absolutely delivered, I think on the promise.

[Listener]

See, I'm very myopic when it comes to the rest of the league. It's stories like these that end up bringing players delight for me. So before the story, I don't think I would have been able to tell you who Paul Skeens was. But you absolutely are right about the, the patch because they kept on like at the beginning of the story they kept describing it's the 2024 Topps Chrome update Rookie Debut. Like, that's how we're talking about baseball cards now, which is a little bit. And when I read Patch there, I thought we were into some sort of weird, like, you know how you can get like if you, if you play a game. I think it started with video games and then like with actual board games. Now even like our Birds game. Like you can get like an extent, an expansion pack. Like we bought the Birds game that has a whole bunch of different in app purchases. Yeah, basically. But then we literally have two other boxes that are like the European bird. So I was like, are we like patching? It was like a computer term to me. Like, are we patching out the. The rookie cards? Like, what are the 20, 24 Topps.

[Luke Burbank]

Chrome update quarter inch to quarter inch.

[Listener]

Debut patch mini to mini RCA xlr? I was like, what are we doing? I didn't realize until I got further in the story that it's literally that patch as you described, that they sort of like wrap it around the baseball card. And then people are just buying these cards now in such a different way than I can relate to. It's more like when you sent me this story, I wasn't familiar with it, but as I was reading, I was like, baseball cards. If I have one take on this, it's baseball cards equals pull tabs. Like, people are treating baseball cards like pull tabs now. Like really high, high card routes. What is that card?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, that's when like it was a thing during the pandemic. I think some of our listeners actually, or at least one of our listeners was into this. You basically open packs of sports cards sort of on like a live stream. Oh, yeah.

[Listener]

On Twitch and YouTube. Yeah, yeah, that stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

And I think that's called card breaking or something.

[Listener]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Luke Burbank]

Breaking open the pack.

[Listener]

Sometimes they're wearing gloves even, and they're opening it so carefully. And it's. And I knew that. I knew things had changed. Remember, like, you and I were to pat ourselves on the back, but you and I were sort of early on the story before we realized what was going on. Because years ago, I think it was right before the pandemic, I told you that I always just sort of buy a sort of like ceremonial, just dumb pack of tops, baseball cards, just a random pack. And I used to get them at the Bartel Drugs that was near my house. I'd be like buying a six pack, be like, okay, I'll take one pack of those baseball cards. Because I was getting excited for the season. And then like one year they just weren't around. And then I actually started seeking them out, do you remember? And I went to a target and the target didn't have it, but then another target had them all like kind of behind glass with a sign that said they were all out. And then that's when you and I started to realize. And then I do believe the news cycle sort of caught up with it after we realized this irl, that the game really changed like almost overnight. I think the pandemic played into it a little bit as far as like people putting their energy into other things. But like almost overnight you could no longer just get a random pack of Topps baseball cards just to like spark a little joy in your afternoon. You would get like, people are just buying boxes of these things, putting on white gloves and hoping that they get a 2024 Topps Chrome update patch XLR.

[Luke Burbank]

Like my father and his father before him.

[Listener]

Exactly. So I at first was a little bit turned off. I'm just like that this is kind.

[Luke Burbank]

Of, this is kind of gross gambling essentially.

[Listener]

Yeah. But this is a really cute story about this 11 year old kid and you're right, he's in LA who found this thing. And it's a pretty adorable story.

[Luke Burbank]

So basically when it was announced that somebody had grabbed the golden ticket, as it were, and this Paul Skeens one is gonna like again of all of these rookie things, like they're all worth a lot. But this is the like primo one because he's, he's phenomenal. And they were trying, the Pittsburgh Pirates were trying to get this patch back from the kid and they offered him if I read right, and this makes no sense because the kid lives in California, so this wouldn't even be useful to him. But they offered him 30 years worth of season tickets behind home plate.

[Listener]

Two tickets behind home plate.

[Luke Burbank]

30 years and a chance to play a softball game on the field. And Paul Skeens girlfriend is her own kind of whole thing. Her name is Livy Dunn. She is a like mega, mega popular influencer who also happens to be a gymnast at lsu. And she offered to let the kid watch a game from her luxury suite and the kid turned all of it down. But then you told me this morning that this is being auctioned off for charity maybe.

[Listener]

Yeah. And I just wonder how much the organizations involved sort of help steer this. I, I'm. It's so interesting. Like I take this the story that sort of ends up having kind of a heartwarming conclusion, by the way. Just to give it sense people a sense of the value of these cards. I guess an Anthony Volp card, like kind of the equivalent in 2023 went for $150,000. So that's, you know, a lot of. I don't know about you, Luke, but that's a lot of money to 11 year old, right? Yeah. And so like, and so, but the team, I think it's the, the team wants to get the card back into Skeen's hands. Right. Like, or do they want it for the team itself or for Paul?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm guessing they were trying to. Well, actually, I don't know. I don't know what their intention because.

[Listener]

I, I thought it, I thought it was like Paul Skeens and his girlfriend want this card for, you know, because it's his patch. Which is also really sort of an interesting, like we didn't grow up with like.

[Luke Burbank]

Right.

[Listener]

Junior trying to get his card back from you. You know what I mean?

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly.

[Listener]

Interesting. Interesting phenomenon.

[Luke Burbank]

That was for me to sell to James DeMuth so I'd have money for the Puyall Fair.

[Listener]

Oh, that's right. Did you. It wasn't a rookie. You didn't have a.

[Luke Burbank]

It was a. Yeah, it was a, it was upper deck. It was an autograph. Upper deck rookie. It was such a valuable.

[Listener]

God. Don't look it up, my dude. Don't look it up. But then I keep on seeing, you know, you mentioned that we had this story on the show sheet for a while and I keep like, I do find it interesting and I don't know if I'm coming down hard on one side or the other, but it's just, it is really fascinating to me how different baseball cards collecting has become. And it seems a little, a little less interesting, but it's cute that this kid, that this kid ends up finding it. And then I looked up an update on the story today and I saw that it says the 1 of 1 debut patch card will be auctioned off for charity. Now I want to make clear. I'm actually reading this from mlb.com so which is, you know, sort of a news source but more of a public relations news source if you, if you look at it that way. But it says that they're going do.

[Luke Burbank]

We know the kid's name? Is that published anywhere?

[Listener]

Oh, that's a good question.

[Luke Burbank]

I just, I'm looking at this tops thing you sent me. The 11 year old collector who pulled the Paul SK one of one debut patch card just shared his journal entries. But I'm, I'M yet to see the kid's name.

[Listener]

That's a good point. Maybe they're protecting the kid's name. I mean, honestly, if I were the parent, I would protect the kid's name. You know what I mean? You probably don't want that out there.

[Luke Burbank]

But also, like, does this mean the kid. Did they strong arm the kid into giving it to charity? Because out of here with that.

[Listener]

Well, I don't know. I mean, who knows what happened in the background. It's just like, it's funny when something like this, like there are many. This sounds like a cute outcome, but I also just wonder about the machinations behind the scene and how much control. But it does say that the charity. I was immediately interested, like, what is the charity? And it sounds like they're gonna. They're going to auction this thing off and it's gonna go to. Originally, the article said the victims of the fires in la. And it's like, oh, wow. And this kid is an LA kid. Like, that's really good that he's doing this. But I mean, I don't know. I guess, I guess full proceeds are going to go to this organization that I believe the MLB helped create called, wait for it, Luke, Louisiana Strong. I don't know how they came up with that. But anyway, I'm not trying to be flip about the obvious tragedy and all the loss there. It's just sometimes I just get a little bit cynical about what is LA Strong, where is that money actually going? It sounds like LA Strong was originally created by mlb. They were auctioning off like Dodgers and Angels, like gear and raising money. And that goes directly to the American Red Cross and the LA Fire Department Foundation. So I don't. The Red Cross, I guess that that goes to the actual victims and then the Fire Department Foundation. I think those foundations, by the way, are private organizations that, you know, advocate on behalf of firefighters, which is a good thing. But I feel like it's a little misleading to say all the profits are going to victims of the fires. I'm not exactly sure and I don't know kind of of what, you know, if the kid gets anything out of this at all. I'm sure a lot of attention and a lot of. I'm sure people are giving him all kinds of merch of his favorite team. I don't even know who he roots for. I'm assuming the Dodgers. And then I don't know if they're gonna be good this year. They only spent a gajillion dollars that.

[Luke Burbank]

They have to pay off $1.45 billion. 32 million. While the Mariners were spending 33 million.

[Listener]

They're the smart. They're just like, oh, the world is ending. Let's just promise all this money to people that will never have. World is burning anyway. Probably poor choice of words on my part there. But anyway, now they're also sharing supposedly. And this is where I'm such an a hole. The actual handwritten journal.

[Luke Burbank]

You don't believe this diary? I'm, I'm. I just read it while we were talking.

[Listener]

Yeah, I've scanned it. What do you.

[Luke Burbank]

My pants, Andrew. They're across the room. They've been charmed right off of me.

[Listener]

Good. Okay. So this, this passes the smell test to you?

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, well, I, I mean, I don't know. I mean it is. It all almost seems too good to be true. Like first of all, this 11 year old kid is keeping a diary.

[Listener]

Well, that's sort of the thing. And it's written, that's handwritten in pencil and it's interesting and it's very sweet. I only scanned it as well somebody. Yeah, you read it. I think the very last line. I got to the very last line and I was like, would a kid right now. But anyway. Or well, not what a kid write that. I truly believe this kid wrote this. But I'm just wondering if somebody said, hey, why don't you write down your story? This is what I think. I think somebody said to the kid, why don't you document this, write down this story. And then he. So in this three page little handwritten essay, which is so, so cute. And I truly believe he wrote it. I think they knew. Why don't you write this down and then we can take photos of it and then we can share it. I think somebody encouraged him to write this, that it wasn't just like Dear Diary and you know, like just some random Wednesday. I'm going to. I'm going, going to update this story because he sort of tells the entire story in past tense.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's a. I think you're onto something because I just don't know what 11 year olds are keeping like diaries. Certainly like 11 year old boys. It just seems a little. I didn't. At age 11, maybe, maybe it's a thing. But this, it's also. It's so flipping charming. So here, I'll just read this. It was November 13, 2024 and TOPS had released released 2024 Chrome update. It was $200, which was a lot, but considering the players and rookies, it Was fair. I started begging my mom for it for Christmas. Parenthetically, dad was at work and my mom was leaving. Soon me and my mom left for school and I knew people would raise the prices. So I went into full beg mode. My mom said she'd get it. Parenthetically, victory. But her work was so big busy, she forgot to get it. When my parents got home, I was super sad. But they said the prices would drop at Black Friday. Fast forward to Black Friday. All caps. The prices did not drop.

[Listener]

The price.

[Luke Burbank]

Infinite Rage.

[Listener]

Infinite rage.

[Luke Burbank]

All caps. The prices did not drop. Hyphen. Infinite rage. One sec. So, and now the box was like 350. They said I would have to get something else. I said okay. But they could tell I was sad. Very, very, very sad. When I was at school, they found a hobby box for. I don't know what that is for $320. By the way, if you know a kid wrote this because he's got the dollar sign in the wrong place. I did that like a month ago. Andrew.

[Listener]

I guess that sort of makes sense. $320, right?

[Luke Burbank]

Unless I am very, very careful with it, I am prone to doing this very same same thing. They found a hobby box for 320, which is still a ton. But since they are awesome, they got the box. They told me when I got home from school and I was so excited. Four Ds and two exclamation points. Fast forward to Christmas. First, I woke up at like 4am and woke my brother. Whoops. We waited till 6:30am and we woke up our parents. The first present we opened was the hobby box and my brother got a big leg Lego. I opened three packs and got some cool cards. Then we passed around some more presents. I opened two more packs and on the second pack, I got the Paul Skin's redemption card. I quote. I quote, hey, Dad, I pulled the Paul Skin's redemption card. End quote. He was like, quote, no, you didn't. End quote. Then I showed him the card.

[Listener]

I do want to point out change of pen here. Now suddenly, like, you ran out of that pencil. And I mean, I'm not going for anything there other than this is what it was like when we were writing with pen and paper, you know? Right. That pen probably got pencil got too small. Whatever. You can tell he's got a different writing instrument here. It's all very cute.

[Luke Burbank]

Me, my brother and my dad were like, omg for exclamation points. Parenthetically, my mom was very excited too, but she never collected cards. So she didn't know what it meant. Then my brain pooped and I started bouncing all over the place and my dad was, let's go. And I was so excited. But first we went to one of our grandparents house and hung out with them and our uncles and aunties. I am 11 years old, so pulling this card is a dream come true.

[Listener]

Okay, so that is absolutely charming is what has you. The whole thing is super charming. And I regret almost saying that I'm dubious about the origins of this. I do believe that this kid wrote this. But. But like I said, the reason I don't think this was just something he was writing for his own diary as it's being presented to us. And I just am always dubious of when things are this big and adults are involved, especially in the social media age. Like so much stuff is bullshit. Like I'm sure they knew this would be a sensation if we took a photo of this and put it online. Like, write out your story. I don't think if the kid were just keeping a daily journal as this is being presented to us, he would end it by saying his age. Like, I am 11 years old. So this is. So pulling this card is a dream come true. Yeah. This is an essay that he wrote to tell the world about his experience, which is fine, but just. Yes, just tell us that.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Don't describe it as a journal, describe it as a. As an essay. You're right. That's that. You're exactly right. Yeah. Because no 11 year old kid would write, I am 11 years old. So this is a big deal if.

[Listener]

This is a journal that you're keeping every day. Like you don't have to. You're not stating your age every day or whatever, you know, like you're just writing it to yourself.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you think that the Pittsburgh Pirates were actually legitimately trying to offer him this? Because the money on this, you know, two tickets behind home plate for 30. I mean, honestly, they should have taken it and just resold them, you know? You know the irony of this?

[Listener]

You mean the family should have taken the tickets and resold them? Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a proud history of making deals into the future that will cost them handsomely, including their contract with Bobby Bonilla, which they famously deferred. I think Bobby Bonilla only recently stopped getting a million dollars a year from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Have they learned nothing?

[Listener]

Don't people wish everybody a happy Bobby boat in the day?

[Luke Burbank]

Like in 25 years? Think about two. Like, what if this. What if the Pirates and I wish this for Them because I love the Pittsburgh Pirates. I love the city of Pittsburgh. But what if the Pittsburgh Pirates, you know, become like a juggernaut? Two tickets behind home plate. Season tickets. That's a. You know, I don't know what that costs. I'm guessing it's in the $20,000 range.

[Listener]

Wait, bonillas, Mets, by the way, not Pirates, Right?

[Luke Burbank]

It was never the Pirates.

[Listener]

All I'm seeing here.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, my entire theory is falling apart.

[Listener]

Bonin Day is July 1, the day that the New York Mets pay for.

[Luke Burbank]

So the Pirates have learned nothing from the Mets.

[Listener]

That's what you meant to say?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, because Bobby. The reason is because Bobby Bonilla was a Pittsburgh Pirate for many years back in the day. But yeah, you're totally right. The. The lame contract, I guess, is with the Mets. But I think of Bobby Bonilla is forever a Pirate. Pirate for me, because when I used to get Sports Illustrated as a kid, which I. I subscribed to without my parents approving it, because I wanted a football phone and I wanted a humorous sports video starring Jonathan Winters, and I wanted half off the COVID price. And I got all of those things. Andrew. But there was a cover, famously, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I think it was. Now, I know I've been wrong about this with the LeBron James thing, so I'm probably wrong about this, too. But I think it was like the. The Pittsburgh Pirates had a general manager named Sid Thrift, and he was very famous for getting really good players, but not overpaying. And at one time, the Pirates had Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke. And I want to say they were all on the COVID of Sports Illustrated, and it said thrift Shop.

[Listener]

That's pretty good.

[Luke Burbank]

Is my. Is my. Again, I've been. I've been loud wrong about this before, but the Pittsburgh Pirates were weirdly on my radar when I was a kid. But anyway, all that, apparently he still.

[Listener]

Will continue to get that is Bobby Bonilla Day. And it will be through 2035, by the way. So more years.

[Luke Burbank]

But. But back to the question for the pirates. Like, honestly, 30 years of season tickets behind home plate is. I wonder what the street value of that is.

[Listener]

Well, they could also put strings attached, though. That's the thing. Like, my cynicism around this is not about the kid. It's just about Major League Baseball. Like, just the way that they.

[Luke Burbank]

Why would you be cynical about Major League Baseball?

[Listener]

Yeah, right. I mean, just the way they operate is. It's like there were stories about people. Like, wasn't it One of Shohei's, a significant home run ball of his was caught by a woman and like they in the stadium and I don't think, I don't know if this was at home in LA or not, but like wherever it might have even been when he was still an angel, it doesn't really matter but whatever stadium she was at, they sort of like it was described as like. She described it as like they sort of separated her from her husband and like sort of like took her in a room, room by herself and really tried to get the ball back and like tried to get her to like in the moment take all these deals and like prom, you know, saying, you know, just like sounds like cop behavior frankly. Like just like I just don't trust these organizations. So when, you know, when they say we'll give you these two tickets, I'll bet you there's a no sale clause or something around that I could be wrong. I don't know if it matters to.

[Luke Burbank]

Them but like no sale clause meaning.

[Listener]

Couldn'T you see them saying, hey, you're going to sign this contract, we're going to get this card back. You're going to get this 30 year deal of these two seats.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, you can't resell them.

[Listener]

Transfer the tickets because first of all you could transfer it to some bozos who are going to be on TV right behind home plate. Like I'll bet you there's a lot of control over whatever they were offering this kid.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I hadn't even thought of that. But you're probably right, that, that there, it wouldn't just be because otherwise, I mean, yeah, you could resell those I think for like a lot of money. Like you talked about that other card being worth $150,000. I think it'd be arguable that seats behind home plate for 30 seasons would be more than $150,000 in value.

[Listener]

Yeah, yeah. So anyway, no offense Libby.

[Luke Burbank]

Done. No offense Libby Done. I know that you're a very popular influencer, but I promise, who doesn't care about watching a game with you? An 11 year old from LA, right?

[Listener]

Yeah. Unless they have like those little hot dog things in the suite. That would be pretty cool.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, exactly. Like he would just be like, the kid would be like, do you guys have Minecraft?

[Listener]

Yeah, right, right. Anyway, so anyway, I am glad it's going to charity. So it sounds like they're going to do this, but again through fan graphics as you go to la. Strong.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I mean good for this kid for doing this. That's very generous of him. I would not have gone for this when I was his age.

[Listener]

I mean, he's living in la, so he's seeing. He's seeing the destruction so close. You know what I mean? It must be. No, I mean.

[Luke Burbank]

And again, good on him. Yeah, it's. That's an amazingly generous thing to do as a little kid. I. I don't think I would have that kind of. I don't think I have that kind of generosity now. And I don't think I would have had it at age 11. I would have been like.

[Listener]

I mean, I've been like, okay, I'll sell it for like, $300,000 and give half of it to Jerry. Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly.

[Listener]

Here I go once again with the email. Every week, I hope that it's from a female. Oh, man. It's not from a female.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, that V mail regarding Jacques and Gus. Gus.

[Listener]

Yes, that's right. Again, don't have to set the whole thing up, but we were talking, and now apparently we're in a trend of talking about mice getting into cars. Either the engine block area or the filter area. Sometimes they can even crawl through and end up in your glove compartment, I've heard, and they can cause incredible damage. We played a voicemail from listener. I want to say, absolutely yesterday or the day before, but I'm not great with remembering things about, like, her car, like getting $2,000 worth of damage because a mouse or mice chewed on the wiring and all the wiring. So I have not heard this entire voicemail. I usually vet these things. I've only heard the beginning of this story before you dialed up today. And so I'm interested in hearing how it ends.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hi, Luke and Andrew. Are we telling stories about mice getting into cars? Cars? I wanted to share one about the summer of 2022 when I could not get my car out of Park. I YouTubed it, grabbed the screwdriver, opened up the middle console, figured out how to get my car in a drive and take it to the dealership where they assessed it and told me that it was the battery, even though I told them it was a solenoid. So they said, hit that with a stick a couple days to get some parts. I would have to leave the car that there over the weekend. So over the weekend, some nice got into the car. So they called me Monday while it was on the dealership lot, called me Monday and said, oh, it appears as if some rodents have been living in your car. And I said, not before it got there. They destroyed Fabric and seats and caused $5,000 worth of damage, of which I had to make an insurance claim and pay the deductible. This went on for about six weeks because they ordered the wrong parts to fix the mouse damage. And after all of this, they told me, remember, it was a battery. And they felt like the ABS control module was draining the battery. After all of that, they changed that out and said, oh, we can't get your car out of park. So we've decided that it's the solenoid. So it's going to be another month. So that entire summer I did not have my car. And it really made me mad. But, yeah, so that was a time that my car had $5,000 worth of mouth damage. I would not recommend it. Have a great day.

[Listener]

Oh, my. Yeah. That is holy smoking. I am mad on your behalf. Dear listener.

[Luke Burbank]

The solenoid that was, I believe, once Camaro Kev was having trouble getting his Camaro started, and a guy came over to him in the, like, shucks lot and said something to the effect of, oh, it's your solenoid. You got to hit it with a stick. Which I think would like the solenoid. My dad was always talking about solenoids when I was a kid. Did you grow up with a lot of solenoid talk? No.

[Listener]

I remember that story about Kamaro Kev. I think I've heard of us. You know, I think as a kid I maybe would have identified that as a car part, but I don't even really know what it does. But your story there makes me think about the vibe of doing a minor car repair in the parking lot of the car.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Listener]

I live kind of by an O'Reilly's Auto Parts. And so I'm trying to think, like, I had to roll in there because weirdly, our license plate. I don't know what happened. I was going over a lot of bumps or something because our license plate screws just sort of like rattled out or something like that. So I think I had to go, there is that one. And then, oh, often wind wipers, I'll be. One time I was changing those in a different O'Reilly's and I was having a hell of a time with it on my old Scion I couldn't get. And then like an employee who is showing up to work got out of his car, saw me struggling with changing my wiper blades, and he came over and helped me do it.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, there's this know how buddy.

[Listener]

That is Napa know how.

[Luke Burbank]

They. They have it right on the sign, we will change your wipers for you.

[Listener]

Oh, really?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, the one in my town.

[Listener]

Oh, really? Yeah. So anyway, I just think that that sort of a. It's. It can sort of be a depressing feeling, but it's sort of a universal feeling of making, like, kind of minor repairs on your car because you just went into the shop to buy whatever you need and then you're gonna like me. Right now we have a warning on our car, and I don't know if I can get pulled over for this, but we have a warning on our car that I've never gotten before, which is check your license plate light bulb. Apparently our license plate light bulb can.

[Luke Burbank]

Get pulled over for that.

[Listener]

Yeah, I better be careful with that. I mean. I mean, they're fake plates anyway. I stole them off of some old car.

[Luke Burbank]

Honestly, the less light, the better.

[Listener]

Exactly. So anyway, that's just sort of a vibe, as you were describing, that story of the dude coming over and saying, you gotta whack that with a stick.

[Luke Burbank]

Get that with a stick.

[Listener]

It is sort of a strange, scrappy community of those of us who are making my pairs.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, I was never capable of doing those kinds of fixes, but I would definitely, you know, with my dad. Well, there was a place, Action Auto Parts on Aurora, that was next to what used to be the Chubby and Tubby. And we'd go up to Action Auto Parts and get stuff for my car, and my dad would help me, you know, put it on or fix it or whatever. But now, of course, my car is a 20, 21 or something, and it's just a. Basically a computer drive. I couldn't fix old cars, but I certainly couldn't fix this car. But now the new problem, Andrew, is I own the car, right? I am the owner of the car. Like, I had it on a lease, and then when the lease came due, I just bought it. Because at the time was that weird moment where there was, like, equity in a car. Do you remember hearing about that? Like, you know, everybody says, like, oh, buying a new car is like the worst purchase you can make. You drive it off the lot, loses half its value. Like, there was a moment during the pandemic because of, like, it was like, chips or something.

[Listener]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

There was like, if you had a car, it was going up in value, which is like a totally insane thing. Somehow I had equity in my Mazda CX5. But now the problem is I have been. I am so overdue on bringing it in for service. You know, a little thing comes on that says it's time for your, like, you know, 45,000 mile checkup or whatever. I've prepaid for this, by the way. Like, I prepaid the. The. Whatever, you know, the. The service on it for, I don't know, a few more years. Because there's something about, like, having to just pay $500 when you bring it in that just, like, crushes my soul. So I'd rather just pay, like $5,000 in advance but never have to pay it when I take it in, which is a dumb idea because I could crash the car, could drive off a cliff or something, and then all that would be wasted money. But anyway, that's what I did. But I AM now, like 3,000 miles late on bringing it in because it's. It's all the way down in Portland. I keep having things going on. I keep not feeling like going and spending an entire day at Ron Tom Duncan. And now I feel like they're gonna yell at me when I bring it in because I'm so overdue on the service, even though I own the car.

[Listener]

They're not gonna yell at you, but I know that.

[Luke Burbank]

No, they're nice. They're so nice. They're not gonna yell at me, but I. I literally am like, I'm in so much trouble right now. Yeah, that's my. You have to come every time I start my car, I'm like, dude, I'm in so much trouble.

[Listener]

Like, okay, I. You're gonna go and be like, so I just woke up from a coma and I wasn't able to drive.

[Luke Burbank]

See this beard?

[Listener]

I wasn't able to bring it in. And then somebody was using my car while I was out of it.

[Luke Burbank]

Which. Would you like to have the tires rotated, Mr. Van Winkle?

[Listener]

So there, you're covered. But you're right, this idea of, well, here I'll give you another example right now of being yelled at by people who essentially work for us, who are not going to yell at us, but being afraid of it. So I've had I don't know how many jobs in public radio and then even some temporary jobs. When I first moved out to. Out to Washington, I was doing work for KoW, which is tied into the university. So even though I was just like, making an hour hourly wage there, I was still somehow putting some money into some sort of public retirement plan for me. And so my point is, I'm trying to tell this story, not make it sound like I've just got, like, tons of money all over the place. But I Have little bits of retirement savings with all these different plans. Right. Whether it was a TIA Cref over here and a good old TIA Cref Prudential over here, I don't know what they are. But people who are running the various 401ks or whatever that I was, I was plugged into 401ks. That's not right. What is the public radio? What is the. The nonprofit version?

[Luke Burbank]

Roth, maybe?

[Listener]

Well, that's different.

[Luke Burbank]

But anyway, it's not a 401k.

[Listener]

Maybe it is, but anyway, I thought 401ks were for profits. And there's another one for 501c3. Anyway, I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

I cashed all of those. I cashed mine out to buy. Speaking of cars, I. No, literally, I cashed my Kuow 401k out to buy Subaru Outback on ebay.

[Listener]

Oh, right. And what, what age were you again? I was probably.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I was probably like 20, 23, 24.

[Listener]

Yeah. So probably.

[Luke Burbank]

And it showed up from Stormville, New York, and one day later, the engine blew up.

[Listener]

Oh my God, I remember that story. Anyway, I'm getting lost in the details of this. All of that is to say we now have a financial advisor who's been helping us with stuff over the past several years and kind of consolidating. And we're finally to the point where we're now like talking about, let's consolidate this stuff, you know, and so it's a very complic. Especially when you've had money sitting with one company for a really long time, they don't want to give up that money. You know what I mean? Like, so there are various hoops you have to go through, and we're trying to kind of get it all into one kind of big savings plan now. And so my job has been to. Because I'm such a baby with my financial advisor on the phone calling some of these places and saying, I'm Andrew and I'm here with my financial advisor. Like, let's go through the process, process of freeing up this money. And in the year of our Lord 2025, they're still writing checks for some pretty large sums of money. Isn't that weird? Yes. And we're going to mail you this check. I'm like, you're going to mail it to me? I mean, why would we not just do digital transfers of this stuff? And I was successfully. Because if nothing else, I'm not great with money. But I'm tidy. I don't like loose ends. I like clean cuts. Right. And so this I've always felt like, oh, again, my time at Cairo Radio, I've been dragging around, like, just a couple of years of a whatever for one Deseret. Deseret, you know, retirement plan.

[Luke Burbank]

And so international.

[Listener]

We're trying to consolidate all this stuff. And it is a bit of a process. I did one of them successfully. I was able to do it all online. You have to get the stuff notarized, but you now have online notaries. I don't know if you've messed around in the online notary world, Luke. It's pretty surreal. You're, like, immediately zooming with some stranger who's. Oh, shit. No.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, I've done lots of DocuSign, but never with, like, a person live serving it.

[Listener]

Yeah, it's interesting. But anyway, um, there was one that about. I'm going to say about six months ago, me and our finance financial advisor, John, who reminded me somewhat recently that I outed him for sending us emails when we were first working together. He was sending emails using, like, a silly font. Do you remember this? He was sending emails using, like, Comic Sans, I think maybe just like casual Comic Sans in our. In our communication. And I talked about that on tbtl. But he was getting to know me. So he listened to TBT and he heard me complaining about the font he used in his emails. And he's changed that. He's like, that was actually really good advice. I kind of didn't realize how I was coming off in my email.

[Luke Burbank]

This is when we were at apm.

[Listener]

This was. Yeah, I was living in like, two apartments ago or whatever. So this is like probably five years. Five or more years ago now. Like, it was one of those moments, like, I heard you talking about me on the show. I am changing my font. He's such a good guy. I don't think you'll hear this buried way deep in a Wednesday, Wednesday episode of tbt. But all that is to say, he and I got on the phone with, I think Prudential or something. We went through this whole half hour process of talking to some customer service person there who then put us to another customer service and made us, like, say, you know, like, kind of give all of the proper passwords and free up this money and hear what the process is going to be. And all I needed to do was go online and do this. Then they were going to send me a check. And then I was supposed to mail that check to my financial advisor. But first get it notarized. But I could drive up to someplace in Linwood, where Prudential has an office or something like that, and they have notaries there. And it just wasn't all a digital transfer. So I dragged my feet on it a little bit. And then about three months after that phone call, I got a note from Prudential or whatever the bank in this particular case is that said this has expired. Like, you're out of time on this. There was a time and you. They have to be careful with the money. Right. And also they don't want to give it up. So all of of that, everything we did on this phone call to free up this money, I didn't follow up with what it would take to get.

[Luke Burbank]

Because you didn't want to drive the check to Linwood.

[Listener]

It was just like the whole thing.

[Luke Burbank]

Gave you a bad feeling.

[Listener]

It didn't give me a bad feeling. It actually kind of gave me a good feeling of getting it done. But it was right before the holidays and things just got like, really busy.

[Luke Burbank]

Did you not trust yourself driving past Goldies with the check?

[Listener]

Yes, that's exactly what it was. Actually. Goldie's wasn't the problem. It was when I got to the Aurora Borealis, your favorite, your erstwhile Drift.

[Luke Burbank]

On in Rest in power.

[Listener]

You've never been in there since it was the Aurora?

[Luke Burbank]

No, I've never been in there since it stopped being the Drift on it. Not out of any particular. You know. Yeah, I don't know. Principle. It's just if it's not a casino.

[Listener]

Yeah. Oh, I missed me with that.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I thought, oh, I don't know.

[Listener]

Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I thought it was still a card room, but anyway, it doesn't matter. All of that is to say I just didn't get it done. It was just like a lot of ins and outs. And it wasn't like I had a bad feeling. It was just me being lazy. And all of that is to say today, in about three and a half hours, we have a meeting on the books with John to follow up on all of this stuff and then get the ball rolling on some more of these transfers. And I have this pit in my stomach. I've got to tell him I didn't do that. I didn't do any of it. And we're back at square zero on this thing where I now got to get back on the phone. I'm not going to do it with him this time, but I got to get back on the phone and just start the entire process over again. And I am dreading Having this conversation. And he is, by the way, the sweetest guy in the world. This is my money. I can do whatever I want with it. You know what I mean? Like, he doesn't need JG Wentworth. He's not gonna be.

[Luke Burbank]

It's my money and I want it now.

[Listener]

That's how I start and end every meeting with him. No. Like, I know I'm not in trouble. I'm just embarrassed and frustrated and annoyed and I don't wanna. And like, I'm just so lean. That's how I feel about this stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

Taking this car to Ron Tonkin. And every single day I put more miles on this car between me and the 45 mile check in that we were supposed to do. And they're very nice to me, but. And they have free coffee, which is not terrible, but I just. I'm. It's like classically that thing where the longer it goes on, the. The more embarrassed I'm about it, the less I want to bring it in.

[Listener]

Exactly. Now, the good news is Genevieve has had. It's a very, very busy time for Genevieve right now in the communications office because the current president is retiring and they're getting ready to and, you know, hire a new president and that'll be a huge. So anyway, Genevieve's work is about as busy and hectic as it could possibly be right now. And so she had something pop up on her calendar that may prevent us from having this meeting this afternoon, which.

[Luke Burbank]

Buys me a couple of jams, which.

[Listener]

Gets me out of a non existent jam. But when she said that, she's like, oh, I wish. She's like, I just don't know if I can make this meeting. I'm like, call, send the email. Cancel the meeting. And we can't put you through this, Genevieve. We can't.

[Luke Burbank]

My sweet baby, I will not allow you to feel this anxiety about this.

[Listener]

Genevieve, I don't want you to stress as your partner.

[Luke Burbank]

Listen, I have an obvious plan. You take my car into Ron Tonkin and I will take that check up to Linwood and double it.

[Listener]

I'm trusting you with that check as you drive up north. Sure, you know, fine. You can do that, but you can only take the five. I'm not letting you take Aurora.

[Luke Burbank]

Dangers of, right? Exactly. I cannot be trusted on Aurora Avenue with a check for thousands of dollars has historically not ended well for me. So. All right, all right. Well, listen, I think. I think that's going to wrap things up for today's episode of the show, but I've got some amazing news. We are going to be right back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. So please do join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Wednesday, take care of yourselves, and please remember, my parents just pulled up in their new Prius. Yes, I am. I wasn't expecting them right now, but I was like, who? Who goes there? It's Walton Seuss. Anyway, we'll see you all tomorrow. In the meantime, have a great Wednesday, and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Listener]

And good luck to all. Power out.