#4465 Suite Talker

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live - Episode #4465 "Suite Talker"

Release Date: May 13, 2025

In Episode #4465 titled "Suite Talker," hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh dive deep into a variety of engaging topics, blending personal anecdotes with current events. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussions, enriched with notable quotes and corresponding timestamps.

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1. Newark Airport Air Traffic Control Crisis

The episode opens with a pressing discussion about the severe staffing and technological issues plaguing Newark Airport's air traffic control system. Andrew elaborates on a recent incident where both radio communication and radar systems failed for 90 seconds, highlighting the immense danger posed by such outages.

• Andrew Walsh [03:50]: "Well, for the first thing that happened that made the news, I think it was like last week was you had all of the radio communication and radar screens go out for all of the air traffic controllers at Newark."

The hosts delve into the complexities of staffing air traffic controllers, the high cost of living in the New York area limiting recruitment, and the logistical challenges of relocating operations to Philadelphia. Andrew expresses his personal anxiety about flying out of Newark amid these uncertainties.

• Andrew Walsh [08:34]: "Seattle, Steritor doing most of it."

2. Personal Anxieties and Flying Experiences

Luke shares his own apprehensions about flying, particularly referencing the infamous Boeing 737 Max issues and recounting a personal flight where multiple emergency landings heightened his nervousness.

• Luke Burbank [10:28]: "I must have been in Arizona and I caught a bit of this news coverage, and then I got on a plane the next day and it was one of those planes."

Andrew relates by discussing a troubling experience aboard a flight from Las Vegas to New York, where unfamiliar chime patterns and unexpected turbulence led him to fear an impending crisis.

• Andrew Walsh [14:42]: "You were getting yourself ready for the interview?"

3. Shared Airplane Dreams

The conversation takes a whimsical turn as both hosts reveal recurring dreams about airplane anomalies, interpreting them as manifestations of underlying anxieties.

• Andrew Walsh [19:21]: "It's like being on a roller coaster."

• Luke Burbank [19:23]: "Do you ever have that?"

They explore the commonality and possible meanings behind these dreams, connecting them to their real-life concerns about flight safety.

4. Hotel Stay Challenges in New York City

Luke narrates his ordeal staying at a supposedly all-suite hotel in Manhattan, which turned out to be cramped and subpar. Andrew listens empathetically, offering insights into maintaining composure and adapting to less-than-ideal circumstances.

• Luke Burbank [27:42]: "I have two fairly sizable suitcases with me because I've been traveling for, I don't know, eight or nine days now."

• Andrew Walsh [31:38]: "There is somewhere for you to sit comfortably. That's not next to the bed."

Through this segment, Luke emphasizes personal growth by finding positivity in adverse situations, demonstrating resilience and adaptability.

5. Acknowledgment of Dazzling Donors

Transitioning to a more heartfelt segment, the hosts express gratitude towards their donors, sharing personal messages and stories that highlight the supportive community behind TBTL.

• Andrew Walsh [48:37]: "Joe says thanks, y' all for another year. It's been a challenging one."

They honor Joe McIntyre of Atlanta, Georgia, and Jennifer Oak, an artist and supporter, intertwining personal narratives with appreciation.

• Andrew Walsh [56:05]: "I'm constantly amazed at the artistic talents of our listeners."

6. Junior Sluggers Little League Baseball Update

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to updating listeners on the Junior Sluggers, a Little League baseball team supported by TBTL. Andrew provides a comprehensive report on recent games, emphasizing teamwork, resilience, and sportsmanship.

• Andrew Walsh [62:32]: "Little league baseball is more than just a game of athletic skill. It's also a medium for teaching life lessons."

He recounts games against teams like the Hollywood Rose City Titans and the Dominators, detailing pivotal moments and the lessons learned from each match.

• Andrew Walsh [68:50]: "We can't dwell on what happened in the past. The only thing we can control is what happens next."

The hosts highlight key players and memorable plays, celebrating the team's growth and perseverance despite challenges.

7. Closing Remarks and Future Plans

As the episode concludes, Luke shares personal updates about his upcoming travel plans and an impending medical procedure, demonstrating the hosts' transparency and friendship.

• Luke Burbank [82:16]: "I am not going to be doing the show on Thursday. I think we're going to try to maybe pre-tape or work around that in some way because that's when my actual colonoscopy is."

Andrew echoes support, showcasing the camaraderie between the hosts.

• Andrew Walsh [86:07]: "Let us. Let's start. Because you... support us."

They wrap up by encouraging listeners to continue supporting the show and teasing future episodes filled with more stories and updates.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andrew Walsh [07:05]: "Cost of living. They were not able to get enough people to move to the New York area to be air traffic controllers because it was too expensive to live there."

• Luke Burbank [29:50]: "But maybe that's just the aging process. Who knows?"

• Andrew Walsh [55:18]: "We're doing this right now."

• Andrew Walsh [62:32]: "This is a medium for teaching life lessons."

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This episode of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live offers a rich tapestry of personal experiences, current events, and community engagement. Luke and Andrew's candid discussions on aviation safety, travel woes, and youth sports provide listeners with relatable content, all while fostering a sense of community through donor acknowledgments and team support.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, Oscar.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah? When you get a loan, you don't have to use it for exactly what you say you're gonna, right? Yes, you do. No, but I mean, once the bank gives you the money, it is your money. You can use it for whatever you want, right? No, Kevin, that would be fraud. Let's say that you tell the bank that you're gonna open up an ice cream store, but instead you buy an ice cream cart. Technically, you're still selling ice cream. I know you have gambling debts. Gambling debts. What? Promise me you will not take out a small business loan and use that.

[Luke Burbank]

Money to pay off your bookie.

[Andrew Walsh]

What's a bookie? I don't even know what you're talking about. You are weird. You are a really weird dude.

[Luke Burbank]

TBTL.

[Andrew Walsh]

Look, I get it.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm not always fun to be around.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can be loud and abrasive.

[Luke Burbank]

My breath.

[Andrew Walsh]

The doctors say I have incurable stink tongue. I really dug the way you use fantasy. Current events and cooking and a kind of tapestry of storytelling. Lady Gaga says she's addicted to it and is not harmless.

[Luke Burbank]

Did you ever think that maybe there's.

[Andrew Walsh]

More to life than being really, really, really, really, really, really ridiculously good looking?

[Luke Burbank]

So I'm nervous, but I'm excited at the same time. So I'm just gonna start talking about what I like and hope I get some replies.

[Andrew Walsh]

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

[Luke Burbank]

Isn't that for techno geeks with spreadsheets?

[Andrew Walsh]

My name's Luke Burbank. I am your host. Hello. L R OO Coming to you once again from New York City, New York's hottest club is Crease. That's right. Final day here in New York before I get to head back to the comfortable confines of home. But glad to be bringing you episode 4465 in a collector series before we rush out to Newark Airport, which let the fun begin. I don't usually get nervous for flights, but if there's an airport to be flying in or out of, that leaves me a little nervous. It might be Newark Airport right now. We'll probably talk about that a little bit today. Also, we will bring you the update on the TBTL Junior Sluggers. I mean, I figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn't in sport. The Little League team that we, and really you, all the listeners and donors are supporting there in the Parkside Little League of East Portland and this hotel that I'm in for My final day is, it's, it's got some problems, but I'm trying to just take it as a learning experience. I feel like I might actually be growing as a person now that I'm 49. It's time for me to finally start enjoying some personal growth. So I'm trying to do that. Oh, and I'm trying to introduce the longest running cobra of the show. At least that's according to my records. The title that this guy has.

[Luke Burbank]

Are you sure? Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

He is Andrew Walsh and he is joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Luke Burbank]

Good morning. I'm looking at the latest out of Newark here. I, I was unfamiliar with this story. I think you told me about this off air. You're like, oh, yeah, I'm flying out of Newark. That's going to be a real scene. That's like, oh, I haven't been following that. I know that, like, nationally speaking, we've had issues like kind of staffing air traffic controllers. That's at the heart of what's going on in Newark right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's a few things. One is, yes, a staffing issue. So I didn't realize this until I started kind of looking into this story a bit, but. Well, for the first thing that happened that made the news, I think it was like last week was you had all of the radio communication and radar screens go out for all of the air traffic controllers at Newark.

[Luke Burbank]

And is that New York is bad thing? Yeah, that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's not optimal. It's one of the things that they list as not optimal or according to one of the articles I wrote, I believe they said absolute worst case scenario.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, okay. That's bad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, because, and this, this lasted for what doesn't sound like a lot of time, but it was 90 seconds. But if you think about the number of planes that are in the airspace of not just Newark, but you've got LaGuardia, you've got JFK, this, the whole kind of, you know, sort of greater New York area. In 90 seconds, those planes could get really, really, really off track, really, really fast and fly into each other. So this was, this was hugely dangerous and hugely a problem. And, and so that's a, that's a technology issue. And part of the problem is that they, I, this also, I did not know, but it's kind of interesting. So if you, if you're gonna become an air traffic controller, you know, you, you study, you learn how to do this. You take, you know, know, you, you go to the, there's some you know, institute some facility somewhere that you basically learn air traffic controlling. And then they might send you out to like maybe Fargo, North Dakota or another place that's kind of relatively low stress. And you do a couple of years at a, at an airport that's, that's not going to be, you know, super high pressure. And then you might move up to a kind of a mid sized city. So for instance, they don't have enough people to staff Newark. But even if once you get to Newark, let's say that you've now done your time, you've gotten through all these cities. By the way, there's something that's kind of top gun and cool ass about.

[Luke Burbank]

That to me, about the kind of going through the ranks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, the air traffic controllers. I mean, there was a movie, I think with Billy Bob Thornton that was called like Pushing Tin, which I believe I saw in a theater, which that's not about golf.

[Luke Burbank]

I always.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's Tin cup with Kevin Costner.

[Luke Burbank]

That's exactly, exactly what I was thinking of.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're absolutely in a theater.

[Luke Burbank]

I always get those confused.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe I saw Pushing Tin in a theater, which again is just like every time I think of a movie because I think that's like the slang for like air traffic control. You're pushing Tim.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I. Am I learning this for the first time or did we already have this conversation and I just had totally forgotten it? But I definitely always confused them. If, I mean, you could have put me on a lie detector and you asked me pushing 10, I would have been like, it's the golf movie. Pushing tin must be some golf term.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that's. Yeah, it's the air traffic control. But they're like, they're like, you know, they're, they're badass air traffic controllers, but they've got problems, you know, but then they've gotta, like, then when things really get hairy, they come through or whatever. That's, you know, the general plot of that. That being said, I do think it's actually kind of boss that the air traffic controllers, it is really a, you know, it's a lifestyle. It's a, it's a time commitment. It's like you're gonna work your way up through the miners. You're gonna start out an A ball.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Then you're going to get up, you know, to triple A. Then you're going to. But so the challenge with that system is that even when you get to Newark, so you're, now you're, you know, you're you're cleared for takeoff, as it were, you spend a year in Newark just training on the Newark system.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, before they actually give you, like the actual live job, before they turn.

[Andrew Walsh]

They give you your own console or whatever it is and put you out there. So even if, like tomorrow they wanted to because they need more staff, it's something like. I forget. I think it's like the FAA recommendation was like 60 full time air traffic controllers in Newark. And I think they're at like 30 or something. Oh, my God, they're way too few. And they can't just add people because they've got to get the people there and then run them through the system and then add them. And then they got this other problem, Andrew, which is cost of living. They were not able to get enough people to move to the New York area to be air traffic controllers because it was too expensive to live there. So they came up with the bright idea to move a lot of the operation to Philadelphia because it turns out that you have the people that are up in that tower that are pushing the tin, but then you got a lot of other people that are in a different facility like 20 miles away that are also pushing the tin. They're just looking at computer screens. They're not in the sky, but they're doing the same job.

[Luke Burbank]

Like the review booth during a game it could be being played.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. Seattle, Steritor doing most of it.

[Luke Burbank]

But they go to New York to check the place.

[Andrew Walsh]

Precisely. And so those people, apparently it was decided that that facility could move somewhere with that. If they move that facility to somewhere outside of Philadelphia with a lower cost of living, there would be more people that would want to come be air traffic controllers at Newark. Except actually in Philadelphia, the greater Philadelphia area. But here's the problem. They continue to run the communication line, the whatever it is, from Newark to somewhere on Long island, where it used to be, to down to Philadelphia. So they added like a pit stop in the information. And that's led to some problems. Theoretically it should be instantaneous, but it's kind of not. And when the system starts to go down, it drags the whole thing down. They're getting some glitches, they're getting some latency, something you and I know about from doing this job. So you've got a kind of intersection of the technical problems, the fact that the actual physical infrastructure has got some problems. And then you got there's not enough people doing it. And when I heard that there are not enough people at Newark really any time to be Running the amount of planes that they're running in and out, I got a unique. I had a unique feeling, Andrew, which was fear.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I already had my ticket booked through Newark, so. Fingers crossed.

[Luke Burbank]

That reminds me. And I talked about it in great detail at the time, or maybe not at the time, but at some point on the show, I told you about the time that I, you know, I don't. I don't think I describe myself as a nervous flyer, but maybe I am. I don't know. I'm more nervous than you, probably. Like, I'm always kind of very aware that we're in the sky. I. Not like a white knuckler or whatever, but I, you know, when all of that news was going on about the 737 Max. 737 Max. That doesn't sound right coming out of my mouth. What's the big Boeing plane that was having all of the issues, I forget which. I don't know the numbers.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was called the Max, though it might have been 737. Well, they don't make it easy by naming them. Almost kind of this all the same thing.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, but so, you know, that what I'm talking about, I mean, the news cycle was it two years ago, maybe, where the, you know, what should have been a door could have been a door flew off, a panel flew off. I mean, just like we were hearing horror stories. And I believe it was on whatever trip I was on. I had heard the story the day before about a plane, another Boeing plane, making an emergency landing. And everybody was okay, but it was like it was a real emergency landing somewhere. And like, people were, you know, going out the slide and all of that. And they were interviewing some of the folks who are on the plane on the local news. I think I must have been in Arizona and I caught a bit of this news coverage, and then I got on a plane the next day and it was one of those planes, and.

[Andrew Walsh]

Then maybe it's 787. Is that possible?

[Luke Burbank]

That sounds better. 737 is a smaller plane, an older plane. So I think I was definitely wrong about that. Yeah, maybe that's the max 787. I don't. I don't know. Everything sounds wrong to me right now. But all that is to say, I just remember really having the fear when they did something that was not. It's not unusual for veteran flyers, but I haven't lived through it a heck of a lot, which was they had to take a second pass at the Runway, but they did it During a time where I kept hearing the landing gears grinding up, it was just making that noise. And it seemed like I was making the noise way longer. Yeah. And it sounded like it kept going up and down and up and down. It basically sounded like when I have a vacuum cleaner or something that doesn't work. And I just kind of keep trying. I just keep pushing the button over and over. And I just kind of developed this whole thing in my head because, I mean, the fear was not totally misguided. Like, there was just so much news. I mean, I know that it's still a very small percentage of flights that are affected by any kind of defects in a plane. It's just minuscule, relatively speaking. But either way, here I am, quasi nervous flyer on this flight, on this exact plane that's having all these problems, and they say we need to take another pass at the Runway. And I'm hearing this grinding sound that is not stopping. Like, they just keep trying. And I eventually kind of develop this whole scenario where, oh, I'm going to be. If I survive this, I will be kind of interviewed after this sort of.

[Andrew Walsh]

You were getting yourself ready for the interview?

[Luke Burbank]

Weirdly, I was. I was combing my mustache. I weirdly wasn't scared of dying, but I was like, I just have a feeling that we're going to have some sort of event. Like, we did not, by the way. The second pass was fine, but it was the only time that I think I felt like, well, there maybe there was another time, too when we landed so hard that everybody, like, kind of jumped out of their seats and everybody sort of screamed. I don't know what was going on with that. That was years ago. But those are the only two times I remember being, like, legit. Like, I'm not nervous here. I'm kind of scared.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I. Well, I had a weird thing happen when I was flying out here, actually. I mean, it's. The thing itself wasn't. My reaction was kind of weird. And I don't know if maybe it's because I just still had visions of Newark, sugar plum crashes dancing in my head. But, like, it was. I had sort of. The flight was from Las Vegas to New York. I was not on. I was on American. I was not on Alaska. I've been also flying on American a lot lately, Andrew, which is, you know, it's part of the one World alliance, but it ain't Alaska for me. So it's. I've had to really, really check my ego at the door because I am not. I'm not any kind of a big timer with them, but I had sort of dozed off a little bit, and then I was awoken by a series of dings over the overhead that I've never heard that pattern before, like, this tells you how much I travel and how kind of just like, used to the rhythms of being on an airplane I am. I know what the chime sounds like when a flight attendant at one end of the plane wants the flight attendant at the other end of the plane to pick up the phone or the chime. That's going to happen before the captain is going to make an announcement, and then there's going to be another chime. When the flight attendant comes on and kind of read, it reiterates what the captain just said. I know what all these sound like. I heard one that sounded more like a distressed chime. Like, it felt like it was like four or five chimes in a row. And then the plane started really rollicking.

[Luke Burbank]

That. That janky doorbell sound. Like, when you went to the drive.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was like three chimes and then just went, that ain't good.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm sorry to cut you off, but you heard these alarming sounds, or at least it's somewhat alarming to you. And then the plane actually then physically did something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Not anything too crazy. It just hit some turbulence, and who knows what that. What that chime pattern was. But because it was out of the norm, because it was not a pattern that I just recognized, and I was also kind of, like, still half asleep. It was like, weird chime sound and then turbulence. And I just thought, like, oh, is this. Are we about to be in a situation here? Like, is that. Is that the captain telling the flight attendants that this is a dangerous situation? And, you know, again, it was the. It was the timing of everything. Of course, it was fine. We got here fine. But the Newark thing, I will be honest with you. I'm at the age now, Andrew, and I don't want to be dark or seem glib. I don't know how I would really respond what my emotional state would be if I was on an airplane. And I really realized it was actually going to, you know, not stay in the sky. My first thought would probably be, I think this is a dream. Because I have dreams about that sometimes, and then I wake up.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I don't. That's interesting.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Like. And so I've. I've had plenty of dreams about being on a plane and, like, the wing falls off or something, and I'm always like, oh, this is really happening. And then I wake up, I was like, oh, that didn't really happen. So I think if it were to happen in real life, my first thought would be like, nice try, brain. Nice try, dreamscape. But I also think that, like, it would obviously be quite. It'd be quite terrifying and terrible. But what I can tell you is at this point in my life, when I'm on a plane and it starts to do something funky, I'm less filled with terror and more filled with, like, a resignation. Like, I'm not ready to be done on this planet. I like being here, but I'm. There would have been a time where, I don't know, I just. I feel like I do kind of get the thought sometimes. I've had a really good run. I've had a very blessed life. Again, I hope to be here for a long time. But I'm. I don't know how to put it other than to say I've got a 5% more resignation in my mind around these things than I used to. Maybe that's just the aging process. Who knows? But I think the bigger fear for me is that I'm going to be at Newark airport all night trying to.

[Luke Burbank]

Get my flight out. Yeah, that's because that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it's the inconvenience I'm more afraid of than death is what I'm trying to say here. Because they've. Because one of the things is, when you don't have enough air traffic control folks to safely traffic the planes, you're supposed to reduce the sort of not capacity, but you're supposed to reduce the. Just the traffic. And one of the things is, this is a very political battle. Right. Like you. What you should be doing is greatly restricting the flights in and out of Newark. But that's a very unpopular decision politically, both with the airlines, obviously, and with the various people who will be called, you know, to account for why one of the nation's busiest airports is not functioning. So there's a lot of pressure to just kind of conveniently ignore the rules. And so I don't know which is going to win out when I try to fly out. From a safety standpoint, I'm hoping that the rules went out from, I want to get home. I'm really ready to sleep in my own bed perspective. I'm hoping that the political pressure wins out if we take off relatively on time.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, you said something that I found very interesting there, and that was airplane dream. Because that gives me an open door to talk about my airplane dreams. Oh, hell, yes, it does. In fact, I summoned it. You did?

[Andrew Walsh]

I shouldn't have said airplane dream three times.

[Luke Burbank]

You look like a dreamcatcher came to life. It's the Dream Court.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're doing the Night Court one.

[Luke Burbank]

That's one. This isn't me talking specifically about a dream that I had recently, so that I think that's good news for everybody. Just generally speaking. I've mentioned on the show many, many times that the main theme of my dreams are travel related. It's either the last day in an Airbnb with where I have staying with a bunch of people, or the last day in a hotel room and I'm going to be traveling. A big part of these dreams is, like, kind about getting to an airport. Sometimes I'm on a flight, sometimes I'm in other, you know, conveyances. But my airplane dreams, when I tend to have dreams that I'm actually on a flight. Luke, I'd be interested if this ever happens to you. I just had this one the other night, and I asked Veeves about it. She thought it was goofy. Sometimes I'll be dreaming that I'm on a flight, and then I kind of look out the window and I realize, oh, we're just driving really fast along the ground in an airplane. Or we're flying, like, low, low. Like power, power line low. Like, shorty got low. Just. What's with the boots and the fur?

[Andrew Walsh]

Great question. Let's go viral again.

[Luke Burbank]

Go viral on that. But, like, I. I have these dreams where the pilot is just, like, I don't know, choosing or has to for some reason, basically just skim along the ground. Do you ever have that?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, but it's not on the ground. But it's about the height of, like, the power line.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, I have that one more often than actually on the ground.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have that. I used to have that dream a lot where the plane takes off, but we never get higher than the power line. So we're just kind of cruising along and it's kind of scary because I keep thinking we need more altitude, but we're somehow still making it. But it's just a very weird experience because, yeah, we're flying like a hundred feet off the ground instead of 30,000ft.

[Luke Burbank]

Apparently, this is a common one. Why does my dream. What does my dream mean of low flying plane over a city? Because you and I had just described our dreams in a way that I. It sounds like we're kind of having a very similar dream. It did not occur to me that this was a kind of one that a lot of people have. And I love, I love asking the Internet what a dream means because it always just gives back some sort of. Pablo, that always means the same thing. Often symbolizes feeling restricted or facing challenges and achieving your goals or aspirations. That's what you always say. And this is. We don't have to get back into that, that wonderful hot talk that the listeners turn to us for about whether every dream is some anxiety, is some sort of anxiety. I feel like I also sometimes just have pleasant dreams, but this one definitely I could tie to some sort of anxiety.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm sure it feels like it's anxiety. At the very least it's anxiety adjacent because what we can agree is it's not the normal way an airplane flight.

[Luke Burbank]

Should know that we can definitely agree.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I, it's like, and I think my memory of it, it's almost like being on a roller coaster. So.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

My feeling, it's not. You're not flying through an urban environment. In my version of it, you're actually out in the country. But what you're trying to do is get over the next like rolling hill. And every time we approach the next like, you know, hill or not, not even a mountain, not a full on mountain, but just imagine like, like a hilly rural environment and we're flying, we're almost like paralleling a country highway or country road. It's me looking ahead and thinking we're not going to be able to get over this next hill. Like we're too low for this. And then we sort of do. The pilot kind of just pulls us straight up, but we just continue on and it's very unsettling because it's not what we're used to. Therefore I, I would agree that this one is probably, yeah. Anxiety related. It's interesting that you and I have both had the same dream on that too because I don't, I don't think we've discussed that before.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I, and that's a very, I don't know if I look at us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Look at us finding 4465 times. Yeah, here we are.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know that mine is all. I think sometimes it is as you describe it, sometimes a more rural landscape. I think sometimes it is more urban and sometimes the pilot will pull up way up and then come way back down. Sometimes a real loop de loop or whatever. And sometimes what is going on with this pilot. But yeah, that's. It sounds like we have all the same little detailed hallmarks of this particular dream which I again, like I've always heard, I've never had a tooth falling out dream. People talk about that one. I've never had to show up somewhere in public naked dream. I have had the school dream back in school, back in college or whatever. So I know that there are some dreams that are like, you know, like very, very common. I had no idea until this very moment that this was like. You and I are basically having the same dreams.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. That is because I feel like we process our anxiety externally differently, like we have different and we have different things that trigger that, you know, and stuff. But it's funny that we're wishing on the same anxiety dream regarding low flying aircraft. Now I also have a travel related dream, Andrew, which is that I dream that when I go on to the concur website for CBS and I pick a hotel here in New York City, I'm going to pick, I'm going to make the right choice. And this is something, I wouldn't say it causes me anxiety, but it's something that I take very seriously because this is the basic process when I'm going anywhere. But it's the stakes I would say are higher in a place like New York City. For me, the consequences can be more dire one way or the other. So we go into this, you know, travel tool that we have for CBS and I can look at a whole variety of hotels that are CBS approved. Really, they're Paramount approved. And they are listed, you know, in terms of what the cost is. And some of them will be within the guidelines of what we're allowed to spend. And some will not be within the guidelines. Some no. Have guidelines. And it is really crazy because sometimes you'll log in and they'll be like a really nice hotel that's like $200 a night, which is fine. And sometimes you'll log in and that same hotel will be $4,000 a night. And it just has to do with, I guess, what's going on in New York. Whatever kind of kooky, dynamic pricing relationship Paramount has with these different companies, it is, it is a real kind of crapshoot every time you log in. And some again, sometimes it's really, it's really great because you log in and you just see, oh, these are hotels that I would like to stay at. They're nice hotels, they're maybe conveniently located, whatever. And then other times, just for reasons that are never clear, it's like nothing is. Sometimes I'll be like emailing the supervisors and going, I don't know what you want me to do here? Like, I'm not trying to spend $800 a night of your money, but there's no. There are no hotels that are not that amount of money, you know. And so when I logged in for this stay, it was kind of one of those deals. Almost everything was way too expensive, like the places that I will sometimes stay. And so then I had a decision. There was a hotel that was. Looked very close to Central park, like maybe even kind of on the park. And it had kind of a fancy name, and it seemed like it could be kind of sort of nice, kind of posh, or there was a Fairfield Inn, which is part of the Bonvoy family. You and I have stayed at a Fairfield Inn. You and I stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Brooklyn when we did TBTL out there. Oh, yeah, that was a nice Fairfield Inn, by the way. That was newly constructed. That was decent.

[Luke Burbank]

Wasn't. Was that newly constructed or was that newly rehabbed? I had the feeling that was an old building because of the way the bathroom and everything was very tiny. Do you think it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's a function of New York City hotel rooms. Now, maybe I can't speak to the exact. What I remember was. I remember being relatively pleasantly surprised with that hotel we stayed in. We were staying there because we were on APM's dime and there's no way they were gonna put us up, you know, in anything fancy. But when I'm on CBS's diamond, if I can. If I can, you know, sort of arrange it, I'd like to be somewhere that's kind of nice or whatever. But here was my thought I could stay in this mystery hotel, which might just a thing that happens a lot of times in New York City is something will look pretty nice on the Internet. And then you get there and you're like, whoa, this is. This is not as advertised. And there's no city I've been to in the world, and I haven't been to all of the major cities, but there's no city I've been to in the world where they will try to get away with more bullshit than the hotels in New York City. Again, there are very posh, beautiful places. Mostly I haven't been to those places. There somewhere in this city, there are, you know, penthouse suites that have the height of opulence. I'm never staying in those kinds of places. But what I have experienced more often is a hotel that you just get there and you. You get in the elevator, which can hold roughly one person at A time, and you get in the room and you're like, what is going on? So I decided to try something that I've never done before, which was stay at this Fairfield Inn that I'm at. Because my logic was when I'm staying at a Marriott property, I've got Bonvoy. I got Bonvoy going for me. So even if it's not the nicest hotel and Fairfield Inns, again, I think they're relative. They're like kind of the budget brand of the Marriott properties. You know, I thought, okay, but I will be treated like royalty there. I'm, you know, not to brag. I'm Platinum Elite. I should be able to get a late checkout if I want. If there's a chance to upgrade to a better room, they'll probably give me some bottles of water. I. I was like, what I should try to do is go in lounge.

[Luke Burbank]

You probably don't have the lounge in a Fairfield.

[Andrew Walsh]

They don't have the lounge. Oh, I asked. There's no M lounge here. That's more of an autograph selection perk. I'm learning. When I asked the guy when I was checking in, do you have a lounge? He looked at me with such confusion. And I said, oh. I go, some Marriotts have that. And he goes, yeah, not here. We're pretty compact. That was the word he used was compact. Which I thought was. That should have told me something. So my thought was, why don't I be. Why don't I be king of Turd Mountain instead of being a plebe at a maybe possibly fancier place, but where, you know, me throwing around Bonvoy Platinum Elite means nothing to them, but it really was one of those moments. And this is where I think you, you and I are a bit different. Despite our shared anxiety dreams about low flying aircraft, I think you have just. I admire this about you. You, I think, are so much less precious about, like, this hotel stuff like you. I'm just telling you this, Andrew. This room I'm in, you'd be so fine with it. And there's nothing deeply wrong with it. It's just not exactly the way I like things. And I think you just tend to be better at going, yeah, you know what? It's clean, it's safe, it's fine. I'll be okay here. I have to have everything just so. So that some sort of fantasy version of my life can be existing at all moments, which is a really annoying way for. To go through life, particularly if there are people with me like Say my girlfriend and I'm changing hotel room six times. But I, So when I'm looking at this fork in the road and I'm going fancier looking hotel, which could just be a total illusion or kind of dingier looking hotel, where I know they're going to treat me right because I have status. And so I thought, let's do an experiment, let's do this hotel. And it was a. I picked the wrong road. Let me just tell you, I picked the wrong road. When I, when I was checking in, the guy was very nice and everything, but I, I asked, well, am I eligible for any kind of upgrade? And he goes, well, all of the rooms here are suites, so there's no difference in the rooms. And I thought, well, that's not bad, I'll take a suite. Now, I don't know what you picture when you picture a hotel room suite.

[Luke Burbank]

Can I tell you. I'll tell you that picture.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, it doesn't mean that it necessarily has to be fancy, but it means that it has accommodations. The idea of a suite is you're going to be staying there. You potentially, it could be the type of place where you have a longer stay. So it's going to have, I'm going to get, I mean, if you're staying on one of these suites that is like in a place has a lot of space, like the suburbs or something, you might even have a little like the loungey area with a, with a little couch, potentially, you know what I mean? In a tv, whatever. I've been in some suites that are obviously way bigger than others. But I would guess that you're in New York. I know, I see where this story is going. Space is definitely at a premium. But you would guess that the kitchenette is like some sort of way of heating up a burrito. To me, that's the lowest bar. And I don't eat microwave burritos. I don't make this very clear. But when I think what I see, like these microwaves in a hotel room, I'm like, that's the bottom. That's the lowest bar you have to clear to be a suite. You need to be able to heat up a burrito in a microwave and have a mini fridge.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think, could New York City heat up a burrito so hot that it was technically a suite? I. When I think of a suite. And by the way, this just happened to me, the exact example you're talking about happened to me when I was staying in Pomona. I was staying in Pomona, California at A Marriott there. What I was a very mid level Marriott, but it was attached to the county fairgrounds because when we were filming the band war and same thing I said, well, what are those kind of room layouts? And the, the very helpful front desk person said, well, it's an all suites hotel, so they're all the same. And it was exactly that. It was not fancy. Like it was definitely. The room was very much from the 90s. Like it was ready for kind of an upgrade in the kind of decor and the carpet and stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

Stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you know what it had. And this is what I think of as a suite. There is somewhere for you to sit comfortably. That's not next to the bed.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah. That's kind of what I was getting at with like, I remember Veeves and I in like, you know, some suburb in Iowa on our last road trip. It like, it had this pretty even spacious area where I sat down and like kind of watched a football.

[Andrew Walsh]

A little couch, there's a coffee table.

[Luke Burbank]

There's.

[Andrew Walsh]

There's like you, you. There is somewhere for you to be existing in the hotel room that is not just sitting on the bed. That's to me what makes something a suite. And when this guy. And that's exactly what I had at the. Whatever it was in Pomona and it was kind of nice. I don't even know if I used it. I just liked knowing it was there like, because I mean I was there for all of 12 hours, but still. So when this guy goes, it's all sweets. I go, oh, well, that's kind of promising. And again, I know it's going to be scaled down. Honey, I shrunk the hotel room. I know it's going to be New York City style, but I thought, well, that's kind of helpful because I'm going to be recording TBTL in here with you. I'm working on a lot of. I'm writing the CBS piece about the Jordans. Like, like I'm going to need to work from the hotel room pretty extensively and it would be nice if there was like a little, just even a comfy chair to sit in while I'm trying to do this. Andrew, when I tell you when I opened the door to this hotel room, I immediately became aware of the fact that that person who told me it's an all suites hotel has never seen a hotel suite because this is the smallest hotel room I think I've ever been in in my time staying in hotel rooms maybe years ago. And I've blocked it out. What I have to tell you, Andrew, is. It is actually unsafe because I have two fairly sizable suitcases with me because I've been traveling for, I don't know, eight or nine days now, and there is not anywhere to put these suitcases. So they are on the floor. Blocking one is on the. What would we call it? The passenger side of the bed. The side of the bed where someone else would be sleeping if this wasn't just me. So on my side of the bed, I have a little bit of room to get out and walk around a tiny bit. On the other side of the bed, one of my suitcases is down. So if I were to, like, wake up in the middle of the night and it was dark and I was confused, I could very easily trip on that one. Or, Andrew, I could trip on the other suitcase, which is just in front of the bathroom door, because it's the only other place with enough square footage on the ground for me to place down and open my suitcase. Forget one of those, you know, like. What do you even call it? Like, the. The little stand that you put your suitcase on. They do not have that. That is not offered as part of this suite, nor would there be an area in the room large enough to place the suitcase on one of those things and open it up so as to have easy access to stuff. Stuff. It is amazingly tight quarters in here. But this is where, as my old therapist would have said, this is where maybe my growing edge is. Because what happened when I checked in was I was like, oh, hell no. And I also knew that we were going to be filming in Brooklyn. This is. I'm in Manhattan right now, but I knew we're going to be filming in Brooklyn. And I knew what I could do is I could bail on this situation. I could do one night here, and then I could rebook somewhere in Brooklyn and presumably maybe find a. Like a slightly bougier place, because it's, you know, not the. Brooklyn's cheap, but it's not Manhattan and, like, pack up my whole thing and go out there. And I was so far down the road of doing this in my mind, because I was just like, I got in here. It didn't give me the feeling, nor the rest of the hotel, which is very dingy. You know, carpets need love and everything. It's like. It's a. It's definitely like this. This hotel, to me is like one step up from a hostel. It's like. Like you're traveling through New York, and the last time you came through, you were doing hostels but now you maybe are working, and you're like. You're kind of. You're stepping up in the world. And when I got in this room and I was, like, super tired and just tired of traveling and wishing I was home and wishing there was somewhere to put my suitcase down and maybe noticed a stain on the bedspread that wasn't. Do we feel better or worse about a white bedspread, Andrew? Because I kind of give them credit. Like, you're really like. Like, you're. You're sort of raising the bar right, for your house.

[Luke Burbank]

You're putting it out there, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

You're putting it out there. Yeah, you're putting it out there. You are not. You know, it's not some kind of weird floral print that hides issues. Like, you are. You're making a strong statement. But then the problem is, in this case, if you're not able to quite live up to those ideals. Like, I noticed a couple of smudges that I was a little bit, like, so. So I. I got pretty far down the road of, like, all right, I'm going to. I'm like, I'm gonna cancel the next. The second night of the stay, and I'm gonna, like, go on. I'm gonna find it in, like, a bougie place in Brooklyn. I'm a rebook. And then I just thought, hold on, Burbs. What if. What if we just took a minute, did a little breathing, figured out the positives of this hotel room, which is. By the way, it is in a good neighborhood with lots of stuff that, you know. I was talking about the coffee shop on yesterday's show. That's an easy walk. There's lots of nice little restaurants. I actually really enjoy this view of the kind of quad, the student area of John Jay College. It's got this beautiful. It's on a roof, actually, but there's these grass lawns, and people are out there kicking the soccer ball around and just kind of, like, enjoying the sunshine. Like, it's a very kind of bucolic sort of view. I'm close to Central park for going on runs. I just thought, like, what if instead of trying to change everything else about my environment, I just changed my feeling about my environment? And so I hatched a plan, which was I. I basically created one suitcase that just had stuff that's going back home with me, I. E. Dirty laundry, clothes I'm not going to need to wear for CBS or for flying home. And I just put that away, and I put everything else I needed into A different. Into the other suitcase so it could be open. So I created a little more floor space. I, like, kind of tidied up. Part of it was I had, like, when I got in the first night, I had gone to a little, like, halal truck and gotten my little falafel thing. I like the room just felt kind of also just kind of cramped and messy to me. So I, like, cleaned everything up. Like, I set it up as best as I could, and lo and behold, it's fine. It's not. It's not the greatest. There is a chair. I'm sitting in it right now. It's not comfortable at all, but there is a chair. So I'm not doing the podcast from the bed right now, which is kind of a relief for everyone, probably. Like, all that is to say, I'm not asking for any awards, but I am saying that this was, for me a good experience of having something not be ideal and realizing that something could be not ideal, but it could still be okay. And I am. I am very glad I didn't move hotels, because the hassle associated with that would have been so much worse than just then. Just kind of like dealing with something that's, you know, not 10 out of 10. Okay. Some things can be 5 out of 10, and that can be okay. And, you know, so I. I stand before you, Andrew, a changed person who has. Who's realized that. That I can survive things being mildly uncomfortable and be okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, you know, what's relatable here is I'm with you, obviously, and we know this from traveling together, that my standards on. On hotel stays even, you know, putting aside the, The. The extreme examples of me booking some. Some weird places in Australia that we probably wouldn't have survived had we stayed there. Like, I'm not as picky about that. Although the older I get or maybe the experiences I have, that. That does change a little bit. Like, I remember at the end of. I. I don't remember ever having such an. Emotionally, I'm trying to think of the right word here. I was so bummed and so emotionally, like, I don't know, almost like rot in the hotel that I stayed in after we left Denver. So if you'll recall, you and John flew to Denver for our TBT L A thon, I think three years ago now. I drove because I had all this equipment, and then there was all the. You know, we don't have to rehash all of it, but I rented by far the wrong car. I rented, like, the smallest car that they had in the lot. Because I like small cars, didn't remember that I was going to be driving on a road trip through the mountains in this tiny little whatever it was. Do you even remember? We joked about it so long.

[Andrew Walsh]

A Kia Rango.

[Luke Burbank]

It wasn't a yard Kia Polanco. You got me a Kia on the way back because we swapped it out. That was a whole other thing. And then. But I was really looking forward to the road trip aspect of it. I'd never taken a road trip by myself before. We were done with the TBT L A thon. So, like, that's a huge, like, moment of relief. We had done a live. You know, we did that quiz night. We met everybody. It was fun, but it's just, like, this intense week of work that caps off an intense couple of months of planning and worrying and thinking about technology. And we're doing those live streams and all, you know, all this stuff, you know, I carry that shit around with me, right? And then I get in the Kia that you were able to swap out my tiny little toy car for, and I really liked the feel of the Kia. And I'm like, okay, this is it now. It's time for me just have the road trip on the way home. Now, this is much closer to pandemic times, if you'll recall, because I ended up being so sick the day after that meetup. So when I get in the car, I'm feeling not so great. But then, like, an hour or two into my road trip, I get really sick. I get a COVID test. I believe it was the first time I ever took a COVID test because I never had even contracted anything that felt like a cold or a flu before this. And this would be near the end of the whole Covid.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't you drop me off at the airport?

[Luke Burbank]

I dropped you off at the airport.

[Andrew Walsh]

We went to that stereo place to drop off some of the rental gear.

[Luke Burbank]

We had to drop off our rental gear that we used for the quiz night. I dropped you off at the airport. Then I'm like, okay, this is it. It's Andy Times. Whatever music I want. Podcasts, like, whatever road, pressure by myself, pressures off, like, it's me. But then I'm starting to feel more and more under the weather. Then I'm like, oh, my God. I know I have Covid. It turns out I did not. I took a test in this hotel room, but I felt I was driving through parts of the country where they wouldn't have cared whether or not I had Covid. Or whether or not I was wearing a mask, But I still felt like, deeply, deeply. I. For some reason, I didn't have a mask or something. I went. I just remember feeling so guilty going in and getting coffee from someplace before I had taken my COVID test. Boy, I'm really turning this into a. Into a yarn. I'm sorry. All of that is to say I'm under the. Like, I was really looking forward to this every. All the hard parts behind me. I'm going to drive home. I'm going to stay in a hotel room by myself mid trip, like, all this stuff. But then I'm under the weather. I'm getting really sick. Turns out it's not Covid. I'm just really sick. Rock hits my windshield of this rented car. I don't know what my coverage policy is. And I'm just watching this huge crack go across the windshield. This happens in the first, like, kind of couple hours of the trip. So I'm just watching this crack. And then I get to this. Now, I knew I was staying in, like, kind of a very rural, almost like, you know, bend in the road, off of the highway kind of place, wherever I stopped. But it was like the end of the pandemic. And it was a place that you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Booked this hotel over the Internet because you had kind of estimated where you were going to land, or were you just looking for something on the side of the road?

[Luke Burbank]

You know, Luke, that's a really good point. That probably just bogs the story more, now that I think about it. But I think what I was doing was I was really telling myself, don't overthink it too much. I think I booked it maybe, like, I think I was booking things the day before or maybe the morning of. I think I was getting in the car, looking at some maps on my phone and saying, this is the right place. And so I chose a place that used to be. You want to talk about suites? I think it was a place that at one point, even though I can't remember the name of the town, listeners probably remember this better than I do, but it was a place that, like, it was, like, it looked like it was an actual place that families might have gone at one point, like, as an actual destination, Even though it was in the middle of nowhere. It was a. It was like all these little buildings all arranged sort of in this spoke, kind of a wheel and spoke sort of formation with some. Something in the middle of it, like a. Like a nice little park area to hang out or a fountain or something. I can't remember what it was, but it was desolate and bombed out and 30 or 40 years past, whatever. Whatever it's heyday was supposed to be, it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Was it in.

[Luke Burbank]

So we. Now that I. Now that I think about it, yes. I remember like. Like I get into. Especially when I'm traveling by myself, I get into. I probably got like a six pack of beer or something. And so, like, I get obsessed with ice. I, like, will fill up maybe a sink or ice, but the ice machine, the only one that worked was like all the way across the wheel. And so I kept making these trips. I was like, I got nothing else to do. And I was so depressed. Luke. I remember calling Genevieve and just. And, oh, my TV didn't work. And somebody came. And then it was like one of those things where, you know, you're looking behind the TV and you're like, I shouldn't be looking back here. There's just grossness.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, not in that hotel.

[Luke Burbank]

Then somebody came from the front desk, some. Oh, that's right. Some young woman who was on like, literally her 25th hour or something, or like getting close to 24 hours of being on the clock. Like, I remember her telling me about it and she's coming and trying to help me fix my tv. And I'm just like. I remember being on the phone with Genevieve and just being like, I didn't think there was a hotel that I could be in that would bum me out. It's a road trip. I have low standards. Like, I can just like tough it out. Like, as long as it's not camping, you know what I mean? As long as I'm not on the floor, I'm fine. And this one flipping broke me, man. This broke me. And I remember just being like, I just want out of here so badly. And I just remember being overwhelmed by that feeling. So I was just trying to, like, kind of relate a little bit to these feelings you have.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm sure that that was, as you've already kind of laid out, multifactor SAD authentication, which was you had. You were excited about the pressure, being off from the thaw being all done. You had this whole idea of how it was going to be to be road tripping and then you get a crack in the windshield. So now your brain's just chewing on that problem. Your brain that's already operating from behind a veil of sickness, because probably what happened was your body somehow instinctively knew, knew that you couldn't get sick during the thaw and we needed you too much. So it just held off until the second that it could release. It's the sickness. And then. So you've got that kind of like the crack in the windshield, feeling physically poorly, and then just that disappointment of like having a thing you're looking forward to, which is just feeling a certain kind of way, and a big wave of relief and just kind of like, you know, having your beers in the hotel room and this kind of beautiful night for yourself and then having that not come together and then the hotel just being so gross. Like the. The difference between expectations and reality there is just so vast.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I could see it really just doing a number on you.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And I was just carrying around all the stress then of the crack and like that. I just remember. And it was again, that post Covid time, or just like kind of like end. Let's say, like end. Gasps of like, when I say Covid, you know, I just mean sort of like the phenomenon of all the cultural stuff that went along with it of like staffing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like that person being on hour 25 is probably not unrelated.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, exactly. And it just felt like a ghost town. It was so. And it really was like where I stayed. This little area was definitely like the, you know, a really desperate part of America. You know what I mean? Like, if there was anything there, it was like a general dollar store and a really sad McDonald's or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm trying to remember part of America that's been really hollowed out by.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, capitalism. It was just really, really rough.

[Andrew Walsh]

Listen, if you ever. If you ever are wondering, you can always run these things past me because I can probably tell you right away the next town over where they've got a Hampton Inn. That'll do you just fine. Yeah, I speak hotel generally. Although, listen, I'm the guy who started today by saying I kind of made the wrong call with this, so maybe you shouldn't trust me on this.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I think your choices are limited, too. I mean, the New York prices are just ridiculous. Now I'm clicking around. I want to see if I can find this place. Then again, if it's. Well, it's probably best not. Not to name the place I'm describing.

[Andrew Walsh]

If we're about to read the dazzling donors and one of them is from this particular town.

[Luke Burbank]

It's their hotel.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's their hotel. That would be. That would be incredible. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready? Ready.

[Luke Burbank]

Ready?

[Andrew Walsh]

Go. Everybody rattle dazzle.

[Luke Burbank]

Luke, I'm sorry to belabor this, but I did find my old receipt from that Denver trip, and it turns out I was staying at the Judy Bruce Hotel and Suites in Mukilteo, Washington. So I think we're on safe ground as far as thanking our donor. What? What's wrong?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well. Well, I mean, the first donor I'm gonna thank is Joe McIntyre of Atlanta, Georgia.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't mess up my joke like that.

[Andrew Walsh]

You just mess up or improve it. It. What that's called is foreshadowing. Yeah. Thankfully. Here's the thing, Andrew. I thought. See, that was one of those times I didn't realize you were winding me up. And I was like, I'm genuinely curious. Like, maybe offline later if you find the place. I'm kind of, like, really curious. What kind of family fun center this thing used to be or something.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, you got to find it. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let's do this. Let us. Let's start. Because you. You. You did a little foreshadowing for who one of our dazzling donors is today. Let's just. I'll start with the. The other name on the list, just because I'm hilarious. But just to remind folks, these. These are the dazzling donors. These folks are donating a dazzling amount of dough. It's how TBTL exists as a business we mentioned. See, part of probably a little part of why you probably booked into a place that was very modestly priced when we worked for. Because we worked for APM and you were. You were considering, you know, I don't know, just the. Of kind of corporate culture there and trying to not, you know, get us in trouble or get us on their radar. I'm glad you have that instinct, Andrew, because we now have less money than we used to. We have less money than APM did, but we have enough money to keep doing the show, thanks to folks like Joe McIntyre of Atlanta, Georgia. Joe says thanks, y' all for another year. It's been a challenging one. A series of family deaths and three executorship coincided with us living in half a house during a remodel. Well, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

[Luke Burbank]

Right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, that's a lot. I'm sorry. My public service announcement is that we should all ask the people who ask us to give the end of their lives and the distribution of their stuff to have specific conversations about what they want. These are lousy conversations to start, but it's rewarding to have guidance beyond the legal strictures of wills and medical directives. I feel deeply honored in these relationships to be asked and was glad to serve. But sometimes I mistakenly treated not asking like and okay, this is a word I don't know if I'm familiar with and I'm familiar with a lot of words, Andrew, like an apotropaic talisman. Are you familiar with that word? Do you ever do that in Hearthstone?

[Luke Burbank]

No.

[Andrew Walsh]

You ever work up to the apotrophaic talisman?

[Luke Burbank]

Let's see. It's supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck. I did that wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

Apotropaic talisman. Talisman. Your wife's new name is talisman Talisman. With my mother in law, I had several months of quality time to ask, joke and tell stories. In my experience you rarely get that time. So I'm making sure to ask ahead with the people in my life. TBTL is the best money I spend. I'm incredibly lucky to be able to give Joe. We're very lucky to have you in the family and to get your support and I'm really, really sorry about, about the year that you and your loved ones had. That sounds really, really tough, but. And I think this is kind of in Joe's message that's also a pretty big honor that people think of you as a person who they can trust with executing or executive in their estate and making a lot of these hard decisions or doing these things that are very, very much the unfun part of life. But you're right, the important part of life and you know, know the kind of thing that. Here's what I know as a person who has not yet drawn up their will. Everyone I know who loses someone who did not have a will. And I know this isn't exactly to Joe's point, but it's kind of in the neighborhood. Everyone I know who loses someone who did not have a will says, golly, I wish they would have had a will and had this. Some spelled out what their wishes were. And everyone I know who loses someone who has taken the time to do that is, is immensely grateful. And what I would like people to think about me when I'm gone, I would like them to feel immensely grateful for me. So why would I not do a thing that has been established to make people feel immensely grateful?

[Luke Burbank]

And this is maybe a little bit off, this is maybe a little bit off of the message, but it reminds me a little bit too of like, isn't it called. Did we talk about this on the show Swedish Death Cleaning? I know we talked about it. Oh, I've heard of it, yeah. Spotless quite a bit. And it's this idea of preparing for. Kind of preparing your family or loved ones or whoever is going to be around after you're gone by doing them the favor of getting rid of a lot of junk and not having to have people go through all of your stuff and make really, really tough decisions during a time of their life, which is really, really tough because you're not there. And even considering that from a digital as. I'm literally somewhat distracted here because I'm going through. I found a hard drive with all my old, old files and I'm on TBT Lithon 2022 looking for receipts. I found a receipt from a different hotel, which was actually a nice hotel on the way there. But I can't find the receipt for this weird hotel I stayed in. But, you know, we knew the name.

[Andrew Walsh]

I thought it was the Judy Bruce.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, that's right. Sorry, yeah, stick to the bit, Walsh. But anyway, commit to the bit, to the bit. So anyway, yeah, that's just another thing. And again, I think that maybe is getting a little bit far afield, maybe, of what Joe is saying here, but it's something that really stuck with me. Me.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I mean, I do think it's. Again, it's not. It's not the brightest, sunniest topic, but it's also the kind of thing that. That just really will make things go a lot better for folks who are going to be, like you said, already dealing with a lot of grief. And so, again, as somebody, my, my. You know, I used to joke on the show that all I want when I pass is for the world to stop rotating and everyone to crawl into the grave with me. The good news is I've come off of that a little bit. I want everyone to continue living and thriving and having a great life, and this place is going to be just fine without me. But I also would like people to remember me somewhat fondly. I would like people, if they think of me, to be like, oh, yeah, we're glad that guy was around. Or my family members would be like, yeah, we were happy with that guy existing. And there's some stuff that I know that I could do that would. That would really make their lives a lot better, you know, Know. And so it. It's like if you are someone who has got some narcissistic tendencies like I do, maybe we channel those into really doing some reputational management from the other side, if you will. So, anyway, thank you, Joe, very much for your support. We appreciate you, maestro. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready, ready, go everybody. Well, look at this. It's Bill Pollock in Kingston, Ontario.

[Luke Burbank]

It really won't let my joke survive. Just keep, just keep going.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, of course. It's Judy Bruce and Muckle Tio Washington. Hi, Judy. Judy says I'm not one to want to be in the limelight, even as a dazzling donor. Therefore, I'll tell you about my TBTL daddy, my extraordinary daughter, Jennifer Oak. She is the proprietor, resident artist and instructure and at Stilig Studio located in Snohomish, Washington. She's a founding member of the Snohomish art community and an extremely talented process focused abstract artist. Please check Jennifer out at. It's Jo, A K art J O A K art dot com. I'm doing this right now. I'm getting some eyes on this, waiting for the. Oh, wow.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is really, really cool stuff too. I'm constantly amazed at the. Although I don't actually, I don't know if we've established. Well, no, we have. If Jennifer is the person who turned her onto the show, then that means Jennifer is also a listener.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I recognize Jennifer's name as well. Long time, I think, donor and contributor to the show in her own right. And this is a beautiful website.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. I'm constantly impressed by the. The artistic talents of our listeners. Quick question. Does anyone remember the giant automated washer woman on Aurora Avenue just before you entered the Battery Street Tunnel going southbound? She was on the roof of a commercial laundry and was scrubbing clothes against a washboard. She sticks in my mind because when she bent down while scrubbing away, her skirt lifted up in the back and you saw her bloomers. That's the only appropriate description. It's a crazy fond memory. I love TBTL and the community surrounding it. Well, Judy, I feel like I could. I think I'm. That's one of those things. I can't picture that in my mind. But I'm also wondering if now that now that Judy has put that out there, I feel like I can kind of picture it, but I don't know if it's meant. If I'm being mandelaed live on air right now.

[Luke Burbank]

Remind me where the Battery Street Tunnel is. For some reason I was picturing that little tunnel off of Aurora, but that's not what we're talking about here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the thing is, I don't think. I don't know if the bat. If they even call it the Battery Street Tunnel anymore.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

It used to be. Maybe it's still called that, but now what's. So, okay, when. When. When you were driving down Aurora back in the day, there was this pretty small little tunnel called the Battery Street Tunnel. Right as you got to kind of the area that's below and near the Space Needle. So that was where that elephant car wash was.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, that was where there.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, there was. That was all. And now that's much more robust because it basically leads into that crazy long tunnel that goes under every.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tunnel project. So that used to just be an extremely. Well, with the Battery Street Tunnel. You'd go through it and then you'd get let out on the. On the viaduct. So that was how that used to work. But there was so much stuff down there. There was the elephant car wash. I feel like I can kind of picture this thing that Judy's describing, except I don't know if I ever saw it now or just my brain is inventing something. Was it on top of what then became the school of visual concepts, which is where our friend Larry Asher was?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, right. That's right there too. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Although I think they even moved. So they used to be in one building that was right off of the Battery Street Tunnel. And I think they're now in a different place, which is where you and I came and shared our eminent wisdom with them. It's all kind of. It's all kind of rolled together in my mind in one thing that might be real or might be a fever dream.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, my problem here is I have.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're googling washerwoman bloomers.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I'm still. I'm still looking for the. For the receipt from my hotel is driving me bananas because I'm so meticulous with this stuff. And I have a 2022 TBT folder that has some receipts in there. I think the problem is this. Maybe. Maybe those are only the ones I had to scan in. So maybe if I go to my email from 2022, this would been summer.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of 20 kind of place that was able to send you a folio via email form.

[Luke Burbank]

It's the only. Listen, here are our options here. You're the one who. By the way, I was laughing earlier because you brought up concur, which was just like you always make that joke, like, long drag on the cigarette. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Like, that's how I felt when you said that, because I was like, God concur was such a part of such a big part of my life around this time of year as we were, like, planning these trips and then, like, filing all of our expenses with apm. And we don't have to deal with that anymore. But what I need to do is hack into my old. Because I see here, Luke, remember our old friend. And this is exactly how the dazzling donor message is supposed to go. Thank you, Judy. But do you remember our old friend Rachel, who used to help us out with our concur stuff at American Public Media? She was great, right? And I see that I have one of my. As usual. Like, I got a question here. Can you help me with this thing? And I've taken a screen cap cap of my TB Telethon 13 colon Denver expense reports. I had a question about something and I can see the play a receipt from the corner ramen place where John and I had lunch one day. The Shake Shack that he took me to. And the very last item is something that says content production, colon lodging. And that might be it. But Luke, it's literally cut off, off halfway through the line. So, like, I. If this is the receipt I'm looking for and it's just a screen cap, I literally trimmed this by a centimeter. That would have answered my question right now. It is driving me bonkers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, this is what I love about this stuff. And I mean this, whether it's an audio issue like you were fixing last week or something like this. And I hope you take this in the spirit it's intended. You're sort of like a Roomba. I can push the button on you and leave the house. And I know that when I come back hours later, you will have gotten to a solution.

[Luke Burbank]

Or I will still be just banging my head up against the wall.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or you will have eaten half of a throw rug and will be stopped with an error message. Nobody's like, or I know I'll have.

[Luke Burbank]

Dragged dog shit all over the apartment.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, just like I know that you shall not rest until you have solved this mystery. And what I look very forward to is getting an email from you later today where it's like, figured it out because I just know this about you. When it's anything like this that's kind of like gonna stick in your craw, you will get to an answer. And I am actually very curious about what that answer is.

[Luke Burbank]

I am in June of 2022 here and my emails that are you thought about emailing Rachel? I don't know if Rachel Rachel is there anymore, but to answer your question, yes, I did think about emailing Rachel and then I thought about how inappropriate that would be.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, let's give you a little Junior Sluggers update here as we kind of get towards the end of the season, Andrew, if you can believe that.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think this coming Saturday might be the final game.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

And, yeah, I'm going to be there.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, nice. Good.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't want. I don't want the kids to feel any extra pressure, but yeah, we're going to be there for that. I would be remiss if we went through a whole season. I didn't get to any of those games. So we're in the home stretch here. And we got an update from coach Ben, of course, as we established yesterday one time. Elvis vow renewer Coach Ben checking in and you can tell, feeling kind of popish, feeling kind of in a popey kind of mood because Benjamin says, forgive me, Luke and Andrew, for I have sinned. It's been one week and two games since my last TBTL Junior Sluggers report. I know that you're on a tight schedule today, Andrew, so I don't want to belabor this, but have you seen the clip of the actual Pope at a Chicago White Sox game in the World Series? Have you seen this passing clip?

[Luke Burbank]

No, I haven't.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is unbelievable. It is just like they were. It was the World Series and it was the White Sox against, I want to say, maybe the Diamondbacks or something. No, those are both AL teams, right? Are they. No, the time backs right now. I don't know. It's the White Sox against some other team. It's the World Series. And. And they're just showing the fans, the White Sox fans at, I guess, Wrigley. And one of them they show is just the Pope, but he's not the Pope then just a guy who likes the White Sox who's, you know, obviously pretty high up in the whole Catholicism deal. But he looks so deeply normal at this game. Like, that's the thing. We've never had a Pope from America or from Chicago. So they've always seemed kind of like space aliens to me. Me, because they just come from a totally different milieu. Like they were doing whatever. Maybe some of them were going to soccer matches in their home country and they were being equally normal. But there's something about this guy who grew up in Chicago just at a Cubs game, and he's not dressed in anything. He's wearing like a flannel shirt or something. He just looks so. So not like a person that I was going to say is going to become The Pope. You know, I just. I don't know. I sent it to Chris Hayes. I go, I know you're a Cubs guy, but this is amazing. Goes. Yeah, it's totally, totally insane.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. No, I have not seen that. I mean, I know that there was a lot of misreporting at first. Like, there was all this. There was all this talk. Like, I remember the Cubs tried to take credit. Yeah. Well, did they order the fans? Like, I don't know what happened. All I heard was like, we have a Cubs fan as the. As the new Pope. And what I heard quickly changed to, oh, no, that was misreporting. They called his brother, and it was a white.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. What I had heard was that they posted something on the Wrigley Field sign. Oh, that was like, the Pope is a Cubs fan or something, like. And so. And then that was very quickly disputed by his brother and then confirmed by, like, actual photos. I mean, actual video evidence of. Of the Pope again before he was the Pope, just like at the White Sox game. And it's also crazy that, like, whatever. Fox Sports. Whatever the. Whoever had the World Series that year, I think it's typically a Fox thing. Just happened. Of all the people they could just pass in the stands, is the guy that becomes the Pope.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. That is bananas. It reminds me a little bit of how. Remember that. I think we've talked about this on the show before, but, like, somebody was acquitted of murder because taping that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Curb your enthusiasm. That's a wild documentary. Yeah. Would recommend. I don't know if it's still on Netflix, but there's. There's a doc about a guy who was wrongfully convicted of a crime. Time. And was in jail. Sentenced like convicted. Sentenced, like, game over. And was able to finally get justice because he had randomly walked into the background of a shot on Curb youb Enthusiasm, which he was not supposed to be in. There was someone stopping the actual fans at the Dodger game from going to their seats. And there was basically an inattentive intern who failed to stop this guy from walking into the shot. And because his attorney was able to locate that raw footage. Footage, he's not doing Life.

[Luke Burbank]

That is so bananas. I remember that episode, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Justice system.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, right. I remember that episode very well, by the way. I believe it's the first time that Larry David tries pot. I believe.

[Andrew Walsh]

Doesn't he pick up a woman of the night in order to, like. Yeah. Get somewhere faster in the carpooling.

[Luke Burbank]

I was in the carpooling.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And so. But she Also, I think she might help him end up scoring pot for. For his dad.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Glaucoma or something. So I think after that, I don't know if it's the same episode or just part of the same plot line. And maybe this was the next episode. I believe after the game, at some point he comes home and blazes up with his dad, which is. His dad is really funny on that show. That's a famous actor, I think, too. Right. But now I'm really taking away from the junior sluggers. Don't do drugs.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, and I also know, Andrew, we've got about three to four minutes left on the clock for you today before you turn into a pumpkin in so much like actual major league baseball, which is trying to speed up the games. Yeah, I'm going to try to speed up the sluggers report today.

[Luke Burbank]

Good.

[Andrew Walsh]

And get through this somewhat expeditiously. Here's what coach Ben says. Little league baseball is more than just a game of athletic skill. It's also a medium for teaching life lessons. As a coach, I derive larger meaning and learning opportunities from the situations we experience on the field. It's kind of like the PSAs at the end of the old school GI Joe and Transformers cartoon tunes articulating an explicit on the nose moral lesson. Just in case you missed it from the game narrative. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle. This is the part where I always yell bazooka. That'd be like the two kids doing something they're not supposed to do. Bazooka from GI Joe would show up. Yeah, they would yell bazooka. All right, here we go. These are three lessons that we've been exploring deeply this season. This is from coach. Been involving our little sluggers. All that matters is the next pitch. That's item number one. We can't dwell on what happened in the past. The only thing we can control is what happens next. Life lesson slash baseball thing number two. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone goes through tough times on the field. It's important to push through those struggles and keep grinding. Life lesson slash baseball thing number three. We can compete with any team in the league.

[Luke Burbank]

League.

[Andrew Walsh]

Remember like that time when we were regularly in the top five of the iTunes podcast, competing with the Joe Rogans of the world. Andrew, remember those days?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, we walked so Joe Rogan could run.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. Although that's more. It's not how you finish, it's how you start. We started in the top five iTunes. And now we're here. Let's see. There is no picture. Let's see. We should. We shouldn't be intimidated by other teams, regardless of their record. There's no pitcher that we can't hit if we focus on swinging at strikes. There's no batter that we can't get out if we trust each other to make plays. And I am proud to report that your TBTL Junior Sluggers have taken these lessons to heart. Over the past week, I've seen this team repeatedly operationalize each of those concepts. That's really why you get into this, Andrew, is to watch the young minds operational.

[Luke Burbank]

That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Let's see here. We. The results have been some of the most fun and the most competitive baseball we've played all year. Okay. On Wednesday, we took on the Hollywood Rose City Titans, a team that smoked us on our last matchup to the score of 3 to 12. To quote junior slugger Arie, they cooked us that day, bro. I didn't know these kids were of the age where they could talk about being cooked. Are they talking about being locked in? These kids are. They're growing up right, right before our very eyes. Talking about locking in and cooking things, bro. The Sluggers came into the game with a swagger, showing no fear of the mighty Titans. After giving up two runs in the top of the first, they immediately tied it up in the bottom of the inning with Nico Armani and Atlas drawing walks and Arie and Baxter notching RBI hits. Every game has its one bad inning and for the Sluggers, it was the second inning. Bryson struggled to find the strike zone and the Titans took advantage, knocking in five run runs. Look like we'd get those runs back in the bottom half of the frame as the sluggers loaded the bases with no outs. But a string of base running errors literally ran us out of the inning. One slugger was caught stealing home after a bad jump. I love that these kids are trying to steal home. If you don't have Robinson on the back of your jersey and a Jackie in front of it, I don't know if we want to be trying this.

[Luke Burbank]

I know that Cal a few times has like just even recently, Cal Riley has sort of tagged up and he.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tagged up with with surprising alacrity the other game and I love that was.

[Luke Burbank]

Recently, but I swear he stole home last season. I could be wrong about that, but I swear he did or at least.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tried to make them make the throw.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, right.

[Andrew Walsh]

So again, you're right. I do I do like that this slugger is. Is playing aggressively. Another on second base thought the inning was over and trotted back to the dugout, only to be taken tagged for the actual third out. That's a mental error. But Coach Ben says, mental error aside, this player likely might have made it back to the base if I hadn't yelled, go back. There's only two outs loud enough for the defense to notice, so I see what happened. This junior slugger started walking off the base. But it sounds like everyone on the field, both offense and defense, was moderately confused about the number of outs. And it was Coach Ben who made the critical error of voicing that and then alerting the Titans that they could go tag out our player.

[Luke Burbank]

You don't open your mouth until you know the score.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you, Ricky Roma. And also, there's no. There's no telling the other team the number of outs in baseball. Tom Hanks. Famous Tom Hanks line. But everyone makes mistakes, even Coach Ben. And many teams might have folded after such a horrid inning. But not the junior sluggers. After trading runs in the third, the sluggers came roaring back in the fourth. Fourth walks by Ollie and Fox set the stage. That sounds like definitely the makings of a Disney movie. Ollie and Fox set the stage for RBI hits by Tommy, AKA T Bone, Micah and Wilder. By the time we were done, the sluggers had pulled within two runs and the score was 8 to 10. In the fifth inning, Saul came to the mound and quickly loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter. But Saul knew what to do. Focus on the next pitch. And that next pitch and just about every pitch thereafter were beauty. Saul proceeded to strike out three batters in a row, the best hitters in the Titans lineup. That sounds like some Munoz to me. Sorry, I just swore during the.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, don't do that part of the show.

[Andrew Walsh]

That might have children listening to it. That's classic Munoz, though. When you have nasty out pitches the way Saul does, you come in, you load the bases, and then just, you know, you strike out three guys like it's nothing.

[Luke Burbank]

It also reminds me of an interview that I just heard. I think maybe even today or over the weekend. It must have been over the weekend.

[Andrew Walsh]

I.

[Luke Burbank]

A quick snippet of Logan Evans, who's a, you know, a rookie pitcher who had to come up. Yeah. And he's pitched a few games now, I believe, for the Mariners. And in this little interview, he was talking about how in his last appearance, and this is actually really relevant, and I'm not trying to set up a joke here. One of my famous jokes. He was saying that, like he had learned from his previous outing that like he had made a mistake and it kind of got in his head essentially, and then that messed up the rest of his day. Right. But he's like, once you learn that, it's like, no, no. You just got to. It sounds so cliche, but I think you need to, when you're in that, you know, the mental side of a sport like that. He said, like, I just needed to just remember, remind myself to focus on the next pitch. And I did that and I followed through with it and like, I didn't let the one mistake turn into more mistakes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I mean, it sounds trite, but. But it's. Again, probably. It's probably said a lot because it's totally true. And I'm glad to hear the Junior Sluggers are learning this as well.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. Me too.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right. Unfortunately, the game didn't have the fairy tale ending that we had hoped for and that you might expect from this write up. The Sluggers couldn't close the two run gap in the final at bat, but even in the loss, we kept up with one of the better teams we faced all year. So for those keeping score at home, the junior sluggers entered the weekend at 1 9, a record that does not reflect the quality of our recent play or the spirit of the team. It wasn't until Saturday that everything fully clicked and the Sluggers emerged into their true form. We were going up against the best team in the Parkside Little League, the Dominators. I don't think you should be allowed to name your team the Dominators at this level, don't you think?

[Luke Burbank]

From the Titans to the Dominators.

[Andrew Walsh]

The esprit de corps of the league to let a team name themselves the Dominators.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, it feels like they're trying to. Trying to.

[Andrew Walsh]

It feels like I told you last week, it sounds like these are kids that might already be shaving.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't like it one bit. We went up against the Dominators and our offense. Oh, let's see here. Sorry again. It was a squad that soundly beat us in our first meeting. This time we came ready to play. Bryson put us in good position by pitching two amazing innings. Bending but never breaking. He struck out four and recorded two. Ground ball out while only giving up two runs on the offense. The Sluggers were firing on all cylinders. The bottom of the first seven of our first eight runners got on base and Yarrow. I think that's that the free coffee kid Yarrow topped it off with a bloop 2 run RBI into left. We picked up where we left off in the second inning with five walks, a double by Airy and seeing a seeing eye single by Armani at the end of two, we were up nine to two. Now the Dominators rally, scoring five runs in the third, but the sluggers remained in control of the game. In the fourth, we tacked on a safety run with our when our speedster Armani stole home on a passed ball. In true Armani style, he didn't slide. Instead, he hopped over the catcher's outstretched leg, landing on the plate and then immediately turned and sprinted into the dugout. Getting into the fifth and final inning, your TBTL sluggers were were up 10 to 7 and Baxter came to the mound for the save. Like Jose Mesa circa 1996. Nice Jose Mesa reference or for you longtime Mariners fans, Jose Mesa circa 2020 or circa 2000 rather, because I was like Jose Mesa. He was a Cleveland. He was a Cleveland previous name, but also wasn't he a Mariner? I think he played on both teams.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I didn't know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like Jose Mesa, Baxter decided to add some drama at the end of the game. He walked the first hitter, and thank God he wasn't like a Bobby Ayala because that usually ended poorly for the Mariners. He walked another batter. Now we had the bases loaded, one out and the go ahead run at the plate. That's when Baxter turned on his beast mode and we decided he was done monkeying around. With a determined scowl on his face and an arm powered by pure grit and double bubble gum, he proceeded to punch out the next two bad matters in dominating form. On his final pitch, he pumped his fist in the air in a move that could only be described as Papel Bond esque. I do like that Coach Ben is willing to pull from all different teams. I believe Jonathan Papelbahn, a Boston Red Sox, right? Famously.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I don't know that that's or.

[Andrew Walsh]

Most well known for being a Boston Red Sox. He's probably been somewhere else too. Final score, Andrew. And this is important. Dominator 7.

[Luke Burbank]

Your TBTL junior slot sluggers 10. Who dominates the Dominators?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I'm talking about. Yes, you're gonna name your team the Dominators. You better get ready for hell. That's from the TBTL junior Sluggers. In one fell swoop, we have doubled our number of wins for at least one more game. My job as coach is secure with the wind at our back. We're ready for the next challenge. On Monday evening, we take on our final Hollywood Rose City team of the regular season, the Pit Viper Vipers. Also.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, my goodness gracious.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't. Come on Hollywood Rose City parents. I mean, I think we need to. I think we need to step in here. We need to. We need to talk about some of these team names. We take on the. So that's already happened, by the way, the Pit Vipers. And for the first time all season, the Sluggers have come to believe what I've known all season, which is that we can beat any team that we play. Coach. Coach. Ben out. So it sounds like the best regular season mark we can get to is also. I don't know what happened on Monday's game. So let's just go. Let's go with the positive. They won, which would bring us to three and nine. And then they could win on Saturday, this coming Saturday, which I. I understand to be the final game. Game. And that could bring them to 4 and 9. Is 4 and 9 enough to get into the playoffs?

[Luke Burbank]

That's a new playoff system. That is the question. They expanded the playoffs is my understanding. So let's hope.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or do they just let everybody into the playoffs, which I'm also fine with. I think considering best case scenario, we're 4 and 9.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. So what game are you going to? You're going to Saturday's game, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Okay. So I'm looking forward to hearing your report.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, and as if we summoned him. Andrew, I just received an email from coach Ben. It's the Parkside Little League Carnival. This is a group email. This has nothing to do about the results of Monday's game.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

But it sounds like there's all kinds of fun things happening beyond just the game on Saturday there at Sacramento Field. So, you know, if you're. If someone's in the Portland area looking to watch some serious baseball, the Parkside Little League will be having their carnival at Sacramento Field. And I'll definitely be there taking in the game and trying to keep a low profile profile. You know, I always. Yeah, I worry about being there as one of the team owners that it's going to. I just don't want to Jerry Jones it. Even though you kind of do want to Jerry Jones it.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, you don't want to be like the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates who paid a visit during a game. I think this was even like. Because they just fired their manager. I think over the, over the weekend or maybe last Week. And, and. But even before that happened, the owner was walking through the crowd and everybody that he passed just started chanting, sell the team. Sell the team. So I'm hoping that the Junior Sluggers fans do not chant that at you when you're at the game.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I mean, here's the thing. We're willing to spend whatever we need to to put a winning product on the field. That's what separates us from like the Mariners ownership.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. I'm willing to even do the deferred payment system.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll get a. I'll put a Bonilla contract in there.

[Luke Burbank]

Sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

I've got no problem playing paying Armani until 2045. We have to backload it. So he's still getting checks years later. That's fine. I want a winner now.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Well, anyway, go Junior Sluggers. And thank you, Coach Ben, for the update.

[Luke Burbank]

Another great. Update it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Okay. And another great show. I. When I tell you, Andrew, that I am so excited to be talking to you tomorrow because I will be talking to you from the Madrona Hill studio perched high above the mighty Columbia, Lord Willen and the flights out of Newark are running. I will. I'll be back home tomorrow. So excited for that.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I will be. Let me just take a look here. Well, I have started fasting by that point. Let's see, Wednesday. Wednesday I start. I think I won't have started fasting. I think I'm supposed to start fasting at 2pm okay. On Wednesday. So the show will be over and.

[Andrew Walsh]

Then I have a little gas in the tank.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, speaking of gas, I start drinking the colon blow at 4pm That'll be after. And then. And I think that you and I are. I think it's okay to be honest about this. I am not going to be doing the show on Thursday. I think we're going to try to maybe pre tape or work around that in some way because that's when my actual cold colonoscopy is. So we'll sort of.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, we are going to. We're going to tape two episodes on. On Wednesday, right? No, on Thursday.

[Luke Burbank]

We're going to tape two episodes tomorrow on Wednesday and then I'm taking off all of Thursday for the colonoscopy and I may skip the news this week.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are you having. If I can ask. I mean, I can ask you about this tomorrow, too. Are you. What time is the procedure schedule scheduled on Thursday?

[Luke Burbank]

Let's see here. We're supposed to get there, I think, at one o' clock on Thursday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oof okay. It's a lot of. That's a lot of Thursday where you have to be not eating and.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Chewing gum and everything. Like you know, so hopefully you make it because like that's. I was, I feel like mine. Well actually mine was also at like noon. I think I did TBT all that morning.

[Luke Burbank]

You did because you wanted to kind of talk about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I also don't post the show which is its whole like hours long process.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And the fast, now we know what it's like and we know it's not that. That big of a deal. So we don't need you to also do that.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And the fasting thing is like that's prorated too. Right. Like I think either way it's. It's always marked from about. I think it's 24 hours. Right. So I don't have to start fasting until later on Wednesday than I would have if you know what I mean. I would have to start fasting earlier if the procedure was earlier on Thursday.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can eat more eggs until later on Wednesday night.

[Luke Burbank]

50 eggs, my boy. Hey, I gotta give you a quick update on something and this is go in there. It's not.

[Andrew Walsh]

I want you to go in there.

[Luke Burbank]

Thursday morning with 50 eggs in my pockets for afterwards. I just want to tell you the irony of something. So I'm really confused why I don't have digital receipts of every hotel I stayed in. But for this Denver road trip I stayed Luke at four hotels. Two on the way there, two on the way back because I wanted to chop up the. I didn't want to get too tired at the wheel. And so I think I was doing eight hours of driving and then stopping. I found two receipts for the way there. There doesn't help us. And I found by remapping the route from Denver to Seattle, I found that I had put a little star on one of the places where I stayed. I now have tracked down three Luke of the four hotels I stayed in. And I am still at a loss of this last one that almost broke me. I can't find it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it.

[Luke Burbank]

And I feel like maybe I dreamt.

[Andrew Walsh]

The whole thing that I was gonna say is this like some shining esque kind of situation where you found yourself staying in a very. You were in a hallucinating state where like this. Maybe this old decrepit 30 year old family fun park with a non working TV and an ice maker across the wagon wheel from you was just some sort of delusion.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe we don't have any.

[Andrew Walsh]

We can't find any real evidence of it other than your memory.

[Luke Burbank]

It was spooky. I do remember it feeling very spooky. Now I'm looking at an area. Now I'm looking at a place called Legrand. That sounds familiar to me, but it looks. Well, it looks way too built up than what I remember. But sometimes you look at a map and you're like, oh, this looks like a place that has a lot more going on until you show up there. So I will tell you if I end up finding this or not.

[Andrew Walsh]

I trust you. Will I. I know that the sun won't go down before I've heard. Well, I'm three hours ahead of you, so it might go down.

[Luke Burbank]

It might go down, but I have.

[Andrew Walsh]

A feeling I'm going to hear back from you on this and. And you're going to. You're going to have figured out what it was.

[Luke Burbank]

I might. I might. I might have just figured it out. I'll let you know. I'll figure this out. I am so distracted by this. And it's not doing anybody any good, that's for dang sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, well, listen, good luck with your continue food modifications. And I want to thank everybody for listening today. That's going to do it for today's episode, but we're going to be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio, so please do join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Tuesday. Take care of yourselves, and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Luke Burbank]

And good luck to all. Power out.