#4757 Burt So Good

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live

Episode #4757: "Bert So Good" – June 25, 2026

Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh

---

Episode Overview

This Thursday episode is emblematic TBTL: playful, meandering, and packed with the pop culture tangents, spirited impressions, and hyper-specific personal anecdotes listeners love. Luke and Andrew kick things off with Michael Caine impressions, but soon find themselves reviewing the notorious Burt Reynolds audiobook of Moby Dick, relitigating Burt’s filmography, and reflecting on their own neighborly and automotive misadventures. There’s the Blursday (birthday shout-out) segment, as well as quintessential TBTL bits on awkward texts, airplane PA announcements, car repair woes, and the ongoing saga of Luke’s complicated neighbor relationships.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

---

1. Michael Caine Impressions & Burt Reynolds Reads Moby Dick

[00:00–07:30]

• The show opens with the two hosts trading Michael Caine impressions and affectionate ribbing.
• Luke and Andrew discuss an audio clip sent by listener Marissa: Burt Reynolds narrating Moby Dick.
  • Both find the performance confusing: Reynolds’ fluctuating accents (sometimes Irish?), unexpected chipper energy as Ishmael, and the fact that he seems to lose interest in the accent within each chapter.
  • Luke references John Hodgman’s own Maine-accented Moby Dick readings, noting the contrast.

Notable quote:
"She was only 16 years old."
—Luke, as Michael Caine, [00:42]

"Ishmael feels a little more chipper than I was expecting, I'll tell you that much."
—Andrew, on Burt Reynolds’ performance, [06:08]

---

2. ’80s/’90s Movie Tangent & Burt Reynolds’ Career

[07:30–18:56]

• The conversation spirals into a survey of Burt Reynolds' career:
  • From sitcom Evening Shade, Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas to Boogie Nights.
  • Discussion of Dom DeLuise collaborations, misremembered titles, and Reynolds’ “initial descent” in showbiz.
  • The hosts also compare Reynolds’ resurgence in Boogie Nights to John Travolta’s in Pulp Fiction.

Notable moment:
Luke shares childhood confusion about the racy-sounding, but tame, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ([13:17–14:42]).

---

3. John Travolta at Cannes—Berets, Directing, & Flying His Own Plane

[18:10–23:59]

• The hosts dissect John Travolta’s recent appearance at Cannes, notably his director cosplay in beret and glasses, and his arrival piloting his own plane (sometimes a 747).
• Discussion covers Travolta’s career ups-and-downs, his humbleness at Cannes, and his family tragedies.

Notable quote:
“Travolta is an interesting one because he had obviously, so, so much fame at different times and then, yes, was considered, quote unquote, washed up… and then came back with Pulp Fiction.”
—Luke [22:39]

---

4. Car Repair Mayhem: Andrew’s VW in Trouble

[24:14–35:09]

• Andrew updates on his broken car:
  • Diagnosis: Bad fuel injector, initial $3800 repair quote from the dealership, then a $2300 revised estimate for a partial fix.
  • Andrew explores alternative, non-dealership garages and reflects on the luxury/anxiety dichotomy of adult car ownership.
  • Luke reminisces about his own history with car disasters and the difference between dealership repairs and growing up with a self-reliant, fix-it dad.

Notable quotes:
“I don't think I've ever even been in the neighborhood of right about what's been broken on a car.”
—Luke, [29:22]

“30% of my anxiety from age 17 to 27 was, is the car gonna start? And if it isn’t…is this a repair that I literally do not have the finances for? It’s very stressful.”
—Luke, [35:09]

---

5. Aurora Avenue Nostalgia

[42:36–48:25]

• Tangent on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue, its classic round car dealership building, and roadside Americana—a “Route 66 of the Northwest.”
• Pining for historical preservation, fancifully imagining a TBTL HQ in the round glass showroom.

---

6. Quick Hits: Subway Hot Takes

[49:03–57:12]

• Luke’s “Subway Takes” (as in, contrarian opinions):
  1. Giving the middle finger in group photos is unoriginal.
  2. Airplane PA announcements are intolerable and mostly unnecessary (“unless the announcement is we’ve lost all our engines and the plane is going down…”).
• They riff on the increasing prevalence of credit-card pitches over airline loudspeakers.
• Bonus: Memories of cringing at their own youthful public gestures.

Notable quote:
“There is no useful information [over airplane PA] that is being transmitted that people do not already know.”
—Luke, [54:32]

---

7. Neighbor Drama: Luke and the Case of the Over-Precise Complaint

[63:15–99:01]

• Luke recounts email/text run-ins with a particular neighbor, whose communications are consistently curt, procedural, and often complaints:
  • Offense taken to a stray lamp beam, repeated pressure to mow the hill for “fire danger,” and a brusque “leave the dog behind” instruction regarding property access.
• Andrew and Luke analyze the subtext of the exchanges, with Andrew encouraging recognition of tone and validating Luke’s frustrations.
• Recurrent theme: Navigating adult neighbor relationships with a blend of assertiveness and peacemaking to avoid escalation into “pitched battles.”

Memorable lines:

• “I think I have a growing sense that one of my neighbors is kind of, is kind of on my last nerve…” —Luke, [64:55]
• “If that's the level of discourse that he's offering you, I think it’s fine—just be like, ‘thumbs up’ and you got a gas can in your backyard? Thumbs up, read, understood.” —Andrew, [88:56]
• “He thinks he’s the mayor of the hill and he’s not.” —Andrew, [84:59]

---

8. Blursdays: Listener Birthday Shoutouts

[101:07–116:44]

• Birthday wishes to a passel of listeners and their loved ones, featuring tangents about TBTL in Belarus, Pokémon, municipal fireworks, and dogs.
• Andrew affectionately calls out the “sweeties” and “Jaybirds” among their audience.

---

9. Neighborly Anecdote Swap: Puppy-Wild & Honest Neighbors

[109:30–115:48]

• Andrew shares a recent near-mishap: his dog Lucy playfully scratches a (very understanding) neighbor, Diane, who’s on blood thinners. He makes amends by delivering an “Operation Game” dog toy and a treat—only to be told, “Didn’t like the cookie, though.” Andrew reflects on the grace of honest, low-impact neighborly communication.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's almost dreamlike. It's kind of like, I know where this is going, and I want to stop it, but I can't.” —Andrew, on their recurring confusion between monkey/trucker films, [12:21]
• “You're about to become a man.” —Andrew, on childhood anticipation of ‘racy’ movies, [14:39]
• "It's like a rut that I can't get out of." —Andrew, [12:21]

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – Michael Caine impressions & show open
• 05:04 – Listener Marissa’s audio: Burt Reynolds reads Moby Dick
• 13:17 – Luke’s memory of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• 18:10–23:59 – John Travolta’s Cannes adventure
• 24:14 – Andrew’s car repair saga begins
• 49:03 – Luke’s “hot take” on flipping off the camera in photos
• 55:23 – Airplane PA grievances
• 63:15 – Discussion of fireworks, pets, and the evolution of neighbor complaints
• 101:07 – Blursday segment (birthday wishes)
• 109:30 – Andrew’s story about apologizing to neighbors for Lucy’s overexuberance

---

Signature TBTL Tone:

Relaxed, self-deprecating storytelling marked by honest (sometimes trivial but always human) accounts of anxiety, nostalgia, awkwardness, and friendship. Intellectual digressions are as welcome as dumb jokes, and listener interaction is celebrated—wryly, conversationally, and always with a wink.

---

Summary

This episode exemplifies the TBTL ethos: two friends riffing from Michael Caine to municipal fireworks, crossing the full emotional range from car problems and awkward neighborly boundaries to lighthearted Blursday warmth. The ever-present themes of nostalgia, anxiety, and the desire for harmonious connection thread their way through digressions great and small. As always, for TBTL, “there’s a right way to rock, and a wrong way to roll”—and a thousand ways for two radio guys to fill nearly two hours with the beautiful, goofy stuff of daily life.

Transcript

[Andrew]

Over the years, Michael's voice has come down several. Ok, let me finish. And all of the cigars and the brandy. Don't let me finish. Can now be heard. I've not finished. Right, so Michael Caine's voice. Now, in the Batman movies and in Harry Brown. I can't go fast because Michael Caine talks very, very slowly. Right?

[Luke]

This is how Michael Caine speaks. Michael Caine speaks to his nose like that. He gets very, very specific.

[Andrew]

When he gets loudly, it gets very loud indeed. It gets very specific. It's not quite nasal enough the way you're doing it, all right?

[Luke]

You're not doing it the way he speaks. You're not doing it with the kind of. And you don't do the broken voice. But he gets very emotional. But it gets very emotional indeed. She was only 16 years old.

[Andrew]

She was only 6d. You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off.

[Luke]

That's Michael Caine, tbtm.

[Andrew]

Now, if you haven't heard of these young men, then you must be the

[Luke]

wrong age because they're rock and roll specialists.

[Andrew]

No one enjoys James Bond more than I do. They're all great movies. There has not been a James Bond movie. That's not a 10 out of 10. You proud of that?

[Luke]

You proud of that sentence you just said?

[Andrew]

Yo. You said we was gonna be dancing. You said we was gonna be partying. You said we was gonna be doing what we do.

[Luke]

Everyone says great things about you. The posture, the haircut, the tiny feet.

[Andrew]

It's amazing.

[Luke]

They hold you up, but they do. Ah, they do

[Andrew]

all right.

[Luke]

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

[Andrew]

Oh.

[Luke]

And the adventure begins again. My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. Things first. I love my job. Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it's a gray day. It is. Apparently it's the part of the week where temperatures are going to start dropping. The rain is going to be coming out here in the next day or two, unfortunately, but so far, still dry. We're trying an experiment with the poodles today. We are leaving them outside. They are tethered and I can see them. We're having class outside today for Gigi and dj, partially because I think they need some more outside time. They were being salty on the morning walk today. They were getting into it with other dogs that were. That were, like, behind some fences and just barking at each other, like, very aggressively. I think they were like, maybe had sense There was a cat hiding somewhere. They were just being unruly. They were being ungovernable today. So I'm leaving them outside for. Oh, DJ actually somehow managed to pull on her little collar so that the clip that she was attached to the tether earlier in the morning, she bent the little ring so that she escaped. We had a jailbreak earlier. It's been an active morning around here. Thank God. Now I can focus on episode 4757 in a collector series instead of all that let the fun begin mayhem associated with the prediction poodles today. I've had some spicy hot takes that I've been trying to deploy on the show for days, if not weeks. Opinions vary and I'll attempt to deploy them once again today. Or I won't, who knows? Also, if you're playing wordle on hard

[Andrew]

mode, oh, shit, things are hard.

[Luke]

Maybe it's not as hard as you thought, at least according to the New York Times. I don't know a lot about that, but thankfully somebody else who works on the show does and we're going to be talking to him in a moment. I'll mention it's Thursday, AKA blurs day, so. So we'll do the blurs day messages. And then speaking of that guy, he's sort of like, I consider him the godfather of Wordle, who is my daddy and what does he do? He's also the longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew]

Good morning, Luke. Thanks for the reminder of the blurs days. I'm going to get these into shape right now during the show. We're going to get them prepared. Prepared. We're gonna hope that people signed their messages so that I don't get in trouble for referring to them as their email address. All right, Luke, listen, I told you before the show that I have a little audio gift for you, but that might be stealing a certain amount of valor from our listeners. Specifically listener Marissa, who sent this to me via text message yesterday. She sent a link, I believe, I believe without a comment. I wasn't sure what I was clicking on, let me put it that way, and I clicked on it. And you're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to just click on links Marissa sends you because you don't know what she' getting up to or whether or not it's a phishing scam or what. But I did it and this is what I heard as soon as we stopped this music over here. This is what I heard when I clicked on the link. Phoenix Books presents Moby Dick Written by Herman Melville. This performance by Burt Reynolds is copyright 2014 Phoenix Books. It has been digitally remastered from the original 1996 Dove audio sound recording. Call me Ishmael.

[Luke]

Some years ago, never mind how long precisely, having little or no money in my purse and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. Whenever it's damp, drizzly November in my soul, whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses and bringing up the

[Andrew]

rear of every funeral I meet, well, then I account it high time to

[Luke]

get to sea as soon as I can.

[Andrew]

If they but knew it.

[Luke]

Almost all men in their degree, sometime or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me there

[Andrew]

now is your I know that the

[Luke]

reason, like a combination of Fergie and

[Andrew]

Jesus, I know the reason I'm playing this for you today is because you were talking on the show yesterday that you had heard that it was a interesting performance by one Burt Reynolds. But I couldn't remember why it was humorous. I thought he just wasn't up to the task. As a book reader. I didn't realize or I didn't remember or I didn't put it all together, that he was going into a full character that I don't. I've never read Moby Dick because, you know me, I don't know how to read. But Ishmael feels a little more chipper than I was expecting, I'll tell you that much.

[Luke]

I'd say more Irish, which I don't know. I don't know if that's maybe the backstory of that character. I've also not read Moby Dick. The closest I've gotten to it is speaking of people who are kind of turning it into a book on tape. John Hodgman, friend of the show, has this. He has a newsletter, a substack called A Secret Society. And one of the things he does on that is he reads a chapter of Moby Dick in his best Maine accent.

[Andrew]

Oh, okay.

[Luke]

And that is awesome. Whereas what Burt Reynolds is doing there is, to me, a little confusing and distracting. So the most Moby Dick I've read is listening to John Hodgman narrate a few chapters of it. But so I don't know the backstory. I don't know if Ishmael actually, like, came over from County Cork, but, like, it's a. You know, this is set in the. In the Northeast of America.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Luke]

If I understand Right. And it seems like an interesting choice. And also, so I had heard about this by listening to John Lovett of Pod Save America interviewing David Sedaris. And what John Lovett's critique of this was was that Burt Reynolds apparently starts out very committed to the accent, as we just heard there.

[Andrew]

Yes.

[Luke]

But then kind of would lose interest towards the end of the chapter.

[Andrew]

I remember you saying that.

[Luke]

What I'd really like to hear. And I don't want to give Marissa even more, and thank you, by the way, Marissa, for that. But what I really like to hear is the end of one of the chapters, because I believe that's when, if the description that I've heard is correct, that's when we start to have, like, Cannonball Run era. Burt Reynolds maybe sort of work his way back into. Or maybe Evening Shade. Wait, is that a Burt. No, that's not Burt Reynolds. That's Gerald McCraney.

[Andrew]

I don't think I know what Evening Shade is.

[Luke]

Evening Shade was a. Was that Delta Burke? Evening Shade. What was the. Oh, no, that's Burt Reynolds. Evening Shake.

[Andrew]

This is. This is a movie or TV show.

[Luke]

It's a. Let's see. It's a TV show.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

Former professional football player Woodrow Wood Newton retired. You feel like this whole week. Andrew, it's me reading synopsis of things to you. This is like at least the third time this week where I'm just reading you the synopsis of something that we vaguely remember our earlier lives.

[Andrew]

And speaking of, this is what got us on this type of thing. Yesterday all started. You said vaguely remembered. I misattributed the movie that I was trying to reference. At the beginning of yesterday's show, we played a clip of tape in our intro package of Diane Wiese saying, don't. Don't speak. Don't speak. And I attributed that to the movie the Purple Rose of Cairo, which got us on the whole.

[Luke]

Danny Yellow.

[Andrew]

Exactly. But our friend Phyllis Fletcher pointed out that is not the Purple Rose of Cairo. That is Bullets Over Broadway. I was speaking of Wood or Woody.

[Luke]

They're sitting on the park bench.

[Andrew]

Oh, are they on the park bench in that scene?

[Luke]

Yes, they're sitting on a park bench. I.

[Andrew]

That's why they actually, they might. I think maybe they keep coming back to her doing that to him, because I can picture them, I think, on a boulevard, too, with her doing that. I could be wrong. I've already lost all credibility in the space. But yeah, not Purple Rose. They're both Woody Allen films. I'm guessing from around the same period, if that gives me any.

[Luke]

I loved Bullets Over Broadway, I think. Isn't it, like, somehow it's got a direct. It's.

[Andrew]

It's.

[Luke]

This rich gangster wants to put on a Broadway show and have his very, I think, untalented wife in it.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

And. And that's the thing, too. Like, I don't think Diane Weiss is the. She can't be the untalented wife. But anyway, I. I really liked that movie when it came out. I think I might have even seen it in a theater. But that's. Now, I was wrong. I said it was Madeline. I said it was Madeline Kahn, which makes no sense. But I don't think I've ever even seen Purple Rose of Cairo.

[Andrew]

And also, by the way, Bullets over Broadway, 1994. Purple Rose of Cairo, 1985. So not even really the same period as I said. But I'm faced with this, Dan. How many times can I be surprised by this Danny Aiello shot that they're using on Google for him?

[Luke]

Well, it shocked me this morning, Andrew, when I went to check what episode number that we're on. Oh, by the way, former. Just to close the loop on this, former professional football player Woodrow Wood Newton retires to his hometown of Evening Shade, Arkansas, and settles into a new job as coach of a high school football team with a long losing streak. So that was Burt Reynolds sitcom, first episode, 1990.

[Andrew]

Okay, 1990. That's why I was looking up. I was curious about that. Yeah. So he's the height of his powers are the mid to late 80s. Is this correct?

[Luke]

Well, let's think.

[Andrew]

What is.

[Luke]

Okay, because I think this is kind of. I'm seeing this Evening Shade as Burt Reynolds is kind of cashing in.

[Andrew]

He's coming back. He's on the. Even his character is in, like, the kind of Not Last chapter, beginning his

[Luke]

initial descent, as I like to say, on the show a lot. But what is peak. Burt Reynolds Reynolds. What is his like. So I always cite the Cannonball Run movies. What are the. We mentioned Deliverance the other day. What is. What did he do? Am I forgetting something? Am I forgetting a major TV piece?

[Andrew]

Was he BJ and the Bear?

[Luke]

No, he was the Bear.

[Andrew]

I think this. This always comes up, and I always mess this up. Was that him? And I don't even know if that was a TV show or a movie. No, he has nothing to do with that at all. But why do I. I'm so sorry. I'm just putting us in this. In this loop. But isn't he dry? BJ and the bear is a guy driving a truck with a monkey. Right. Isn't that. Doesn't Burt Reynolds have a monkey friend?

[Luke]

Maybe. Well, are you thinking of Every which way but loose? Which is. Which is Clint Eastwood in an orangutan.

[Andrew]

This is where we always go. I think at times, I do think of that.

[Luke]

Do you believe that, Bert? You just said this is where we always go. You trying to name a show with a guy and a monkey or a movie and me saying every which way but loose, and this being not the first time it's come up, but in fact, where we always go.

[Andrew]

Yes. And it's like a rut that I can't get out of. And it's almost like a. It's almost dreamlike. It's kind of like, I know where this is going, and I want to stop it, but I can't. I can't stop myself. You're right. When I type in Burt Reynolds ape, I just get every which way but loose, which he is not in anyway. So I don't know, you know, what

[Luke]

else he was in, though, and how he. And how he became a very.

[Andrew]

Smokey the Bandit, I think, is what I was thinking of.

[Luke]

Oh, I think I said Cannonball Run, which again, is not even. It's Smokey in the Bandit. I said Cannonball Run, which is incorrect.

[Andrew]

Is he not. Was he in both Run. Let me see. I thought he was in both because I thought him. And I thought him and Dom DeLuise were both in, that maybe they were.

[Luke]

Here was the movie that Burt Reynolds was in that really attached him kind of to my sort of view of the world, which he was in with Dolly Parton, a movie called the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

Which I think maybe was actually like a Broadway musical they decided to make a movie about or something. I remember I had a vague notion at age. Whenever that came out, I had a vague notion that whore was a bad word or was something that was very like, you know, sort of a very sexual term. And I remember thinking, like, how are they even allowed to make that the name of a movie?

[Andrew]

I still kind of think that when you say it.

[Luke]

1982, okay? So I'm. I'm six years old, and, I mean, I probably didn't see it. I certainly didn't see it in a theater. I think I saw it. In fact, I know exactly where I saw it. I had those friends, these kids that were roughly my Age that. I think it's an aikido studio now, Andrew. At 77th and Aurora. Oh, yeah, on the north side of 77th. But it was a. It was an appliance store. And so they sold laserdisc players and TVs and washers and dryers. And so they had some amount of laserdiscs around. And I remember these kids that I hung out with, they were fairly unsupervised, and somehow they had the laserdisc for the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And I was like, so I'm gonna guess it's maybe I'm 10 years old at this point. And I just thought, like, we're about to watch straight up extreme, extreme pornography.

[Andrew]

You're about to become a man.

[Luke]

And it turns out it is very campy, very silly. There is almost no nudity. I think there might be the briefest, very, very, very briefest moment of nudity that would not even get you in trouble on a European beach. Like, it's just. It's actually. It's like the name made my childhood brain think that this was. You know, again, I can't believe they can call this movie this. They can sell this movie. They can rent it. It's. Children can hold the laserdisc. And then I remember watching it and being kind of let down that it was. I bet you anything if I was a little older, I might even enjoy it more because, oh, by the way, Dom DeLuise also invest little Horror House with Burt Reynolds.

[Andrew]

With. With Burt Reynolds. And they are in Cannonball Run, by the way. I can confirm that when you look at their. When you look at his kind of greatest hits, you got Smoking the Bandit, the Longest Yard.

[Luke]

Oh, yeah, that was a big one. That's about a prison football team, maybe.

[Andrew]

I think it says a sadistic Warren asks a former pro quarterback. Boy, not unlike. Did I say Warren? I meant Warren.

[Luke]

You said Warren because I was trying to figure out if he was in jail or not. And the warden thing was.

[Andrew]

A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison to put together a team of inmates to take on and get pummeled by the guards. Now, this is the second time he plays a former football player. Right. Because you didn't Evening Shade get us on this.

[Luke]

Yeah. So this would be the. I think the first time, the longest yard.

[Andrew]

Well, and the second time in my. In my personal narrative, in Andrew time. Yes, the second time.

[Luke]

But that seemed to be that. Well, you know, because he. I think he was a real football star in real Life, I think. I think he was a college football player. Was. Was the actual.

[Andrew]

Right. What? You know, Burt Reynolds.

[Luke]

Burt Reynolds, by the way.

[Andrew]

And also Deliverance, which we talked about yesterday in our weird meandering overlap.

[Luke]

In that one, too.

[Andrew]

Yes. I believe he plays a current retiring football captain. No, I don't think so.

[Luke]

Oh, okay. That's why they're on that boat trip.

[Andrew]

That's right. He just wants to. He wants to take some me time for himself. Then, of course, this list lists Boogie Nights, which is kind of the resurgence of him. That's 1997, you know. But that. That's not unlike Travolta in Pulp Fiction. That is like a kind of a breakout return, if that makes any sense. Like, it's notable, which is.

[Luke]

Right, so you're. Wait, so you're saying it's. To you, Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights is the different. And that was, of course, Paul Thomas Anderson. But do you think that was different for him than John Travolta getting cast in Pulp Fiction?

[Andrew]

No, I feel like it's a very similar thing in that both of these guys had their heyday in the 80s or 70s or whatever, and then not like they had totally retired or anything or left in disgrace, but just kind of their careers just sort of, you know, got quiet for a while. I'm sure they were both working, but we weren't paying attention. And then suddenly, two very, very, I would say, pretty popular movies, but also kind of critically acclaimed movies have these guys come back in roles that you're just like, oh, wow, this guy's got some acting chops.

[Luke]

Totally. And it was both, in both cases, these, like, kind of young directors, young auteurs, who kind of decided, let's do. I don't. Yeah, a reclamation project would be overstating it, but kind of like, let's do a little, like, reputational repair on these guys by putting them in kind of what are seen as more interesting, highbrow movies. Speaking of Travolta, have you. Did you see what he was doing at Cannes, the Cannes Film Festival recently?

[Andrew]

Tell me, because I knew he was really excited. He got a. He got an award. He got a lifetime achievement award and was, like, really humbled by it. Right.

[Luke]

That part I don't know about. What I know about is that I think he directed a film. I think the story is that he. Or maybe he's playing a director. He had a film at Cannes where either. God, I'm short on details. Oh, by the way, Bestseller, Whorehouse in Texas was an off Broadway show. Which makes so much sense because it's like, it's campy, it's over the top, it's seemingly racy, but it's actually at its core, kind of just a sort of, you know, silly musical camp. He was either in a movie or directed a movie where he's. He's. He's a director. He showed. Let me just tell you what did. He showed up at Cannes wearing a beret and glasses.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah, I saw that outfit. That was something.

[Luke]

And that was all he was wearing at every event, in every interview. And he said it was because that's how the great directors used to dress.

[Andrew]

Oh, I didn't know that. I never got the explanation. That photo of him is incredible. And he also is like his hair, like there's something. I'm reaching back have a lot of

[Luke]

hair on his head anymore, but he wears a lot of hair pieces in.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

Filming and stuff, I think.

[Andrew]

Okay. Because I thought that that photo also had like something that looked very fake to me. Like either a lot of hair dye or something. But maybe I missed.

[Luke]

Well, no, because he. Yeah, because he grew a little like almost like a Van Dyke goatee. But it's dyed very.

[Andrew]

That's what I remember. Or not.

[Luke]

Not even a Van Dyke. It's like a. What I would call a chin strap. It's like kind of like that sort of beard that gives you a kind of a more defined jawline. Although, to be honest with you, he looks quite fit anyway. But it's a weird looking piece of facial hair dyed really brown.

[Andrew]

I got eyes on it again. Yeah, that's what I was looking at. It's that beard that I was like, oh, wow, that's interesting. It almost looks like it's drawn on with grease pencil in a certain way. But, you know, now that you're reminding me that he directed in a new film, maybe I was wrong about saying he was honored with a lifetime achievement. All I know is I think maybe his new film was, I think maybe roundly praised at the festival or something. Either way, I know he got some sort of accolades that he seemed in whatever. Passing little clips. I was reading about this, and so maybe my whole story falls apart. He seemed like he was legitimately, like, legitimately honored. As in, like, yes, I know I'm a Hollywood movie star, but do I really have the respect of the film elite and the fact that either through some sort of acknowledgement of his career or of his new film, and he was really humbly blown away by the reception, which really, if anything, I'M saying is accurate. Warms my heart.

[Luke]

There is a photo because, you know, the other thing about John Travolta is famously, he can fly his own plane and he doesn't just like, you know, fly like a. Your standard, you know, like small private, you know, jet, 10 person passenger. He in his collection has like, I think a couple of 747s that he like pilot. Do you know this about John Travolta?

[Andrew]

The pilot thing sort of rang a bell or at least it fits with

[Luke]

what I do on flies like his own 747. And what's incredible is in this People magazine article about his beret, which just to give you the kind of update on that, he said the old school directors wore berets and the glasses. And I thought that's what I'm going to do. Big day, big night in Cannes. Stay tuned. He captioned an Instagram video as he arrived piloting his own plane to the premiere of Propeller One Way Night Coach on Friday along with his daughter who stars as a flight attendant in the film. There is a picture of John Travolta flying his plane in the beret and it's really, it's really something else.

[Andrew]

Now this plane that you're looking at, this is a.

[Luke]

Did you say this might be a more normal sized plane? Also has. I'm only looking in the cockpit of this plane and I'm not a plane expert. But what I can tell you is that he does. I've seen interviews with him where he takes the interviewer out in his like full on, like commercial airliner sized airplane that he likes to fly around. But him, if him piloting his own plane to France with the beret on and the beard, it's just so silly.

[Andrew]

That is great, but it kind of, from what I'm hearing, little whiffs of this, he sounds like he's acting kind of childlike in a way that I sort of appreciate. You know, not, not necessarily big on himself or, or flying in like, he thinks he's like gonna own the place. I like Joel Otto, Calgary Flames.

[Luke]

I mean, I mean, Travolta is. Travolta is an interesting one because he had obviously, like so, so much fame at different times and then yes, was considered, quote unquote, washed up. And then, you know, came back with, with Pulp Fiction and then did a lot of work, you know, after that, was in a lot of different, you know, movies and stuff. And like is famously very much a Scientologist. He also lost his wife to cancer, which must have Been. And a son to cancer or not to cancer. Excuse me. He lost a son. I believe that they had a child who was. Had some developmental disabilities who lived into adulthood but passed away. Like, the guy's really kind of been through it. Also, there were allegations. There were some weird allegations from, like, massage providers saying that, you know, he was maybe being in. I mean, there's been a lot around the guy I don't have. I just haven't spent a lot of time, I guess, thinking pro or con John Travolta in my life. But what I would say is if he is. If he's, you know, humbly delighted by, you know, his honors he's getting. Or just his film career. I know his daughter, I think, is in the film, too. So that was, I think, a big deal for him to, you know, get to share that moment with her. So. And again, I believe. I believe, anyway, if I have the whole family structure, right. That that would maybe be a kid that he had with his late wife, Kelly Preston. So, anyway, I'm glad to hear that, you know, John Travolta is enjoying Khan.

[Andrew]

Yes.

[Luke]

In his weirdo get up.

[Andrew]

I mean, so much better than. Again, if I'm reading this. If I'm reading this correctly, it's so much better than being self serious. Right. Or taking yourself too seriously. That's the kind of thing that just sets my teeth on edge.

[Luke]

Yes, absolutely.

[Andrew]

Hey, do you. I don't have to make a big deal of this, but just to close the loop on one thing, you know, we talked a lot about my adventure of getting my car to the garage yesterday. Limping it along. And we were hoping that maybe the problem with the car, which was kind of shuddering and seeming like it kind of wanted to choke out during acceleration and stuff like that. We were hoping that maybe it was the result of some mistake that the garage had made that the dealership service center had made the previous Friday when they were changing our oil. But I guess it was not their fault. It was apparently a coincidence. And they quoted us nearly $4,000 to get this thing fixed.

[Luke]

Excuse you.

[Andrew]

Apparently, the dipstick went down way into the engine.

[Luke]

Yeah, I pushed it right on through the engine.

[Andrew]

I don't know what apparently. Apparently one of. So I don't know anything about cars. So caveat. There are car experts. This is gonna drive you a little bit batty at first. You're gonna be like, oh, I know what he's talking about. And then I'm gonna start getting things wrong, and you're gonna be mad you're gonna throw your phone, I don't wanna hear about it. But apparently the fuel injector for one of the cylinders is bad. But there are four cylinders, I believe. And so they recommend replacing them all. They say like labor, you probably have

[Luke]

to take the head off anyway.

[Andrew]

It'll all be kind of open. Well, I talked to some other people who said it's not actually in a super inaccessible fix anyway as far as that's concerned. But the dealership definitely put it to us this way. They said, you know, like we don't charge for the labor of, of replacing the extra three. That would basically be the same as one or all four or whatever. So we're like, okay, well then can you quote us what it would be with. With just replacing the one. And they're like, we don't recommend doing that, but we can give you a quote on that. And it was significantly less. It was $4. It was 4. No, no, it was still, you know, it's still like real money. It was still 20, almost about $2300. So going from, going from about 38 down to 23. So I was, I was exaggerating a little bit on the 4K, but you know, so anyway from going down from about 3, $800 to $2,300 if I just get the one repaired. But now like I've been. We don't drive this car a lot. It's a low mileage car, as I mentioned to you, which I was talking to our buddy Hauser, who knows from cars and car repair and he said that that could sort perfect. He said, because he's a J dog. It took me a second. He said, actually it sort of could make sense because you don't drive it all that much. Like maybe the gasoline could be. Or the fuel could be gunking up a little bit, which makes sense. But it's not like, you know, it's a low mileage car, but it's not a low mileage car where it sits totally idle for months on end and then we take it on a long trip, you know what I mean? It's like we drive it, you know, a few times a week here and there for a couple of miles or something. So it gets, we take it out for its walks or whatever. But yeah, anyway, so now what we're doing is Hauser recommended a garage that is a, you know, the non dealership garage in the area that he really, really loves. I've left them a couple of voicemails and I'm not not heard back at all, which makes me think that maybe they're just too busy to get back. And then Genevieve is getting a quote now from another garage that is nearby. So we're about to find out for the first time the difference between dealership prices and other garage prices. But this other garage said we won't even do just one. Like, it's like a lay's potato chip. They. They. You can't have just one. Or whatever they used to say. Like, they say, we will only replace all four. And we're waiting to hear back what that core quote is. What my. My hope is the quote from the garage that will only replace all four is maybe more in line with the. The quote from the dealership to replace one. I don't know if that's asking too much, but I just. I don't know. I'm in a bit of a bind. But it was the first time I've ever been like, well, I told the dealership we'll think about it. And then I just never got back with them. And our little car is just over there in Ballard right now, just hanging out with the other V dubs, just sick and coughing into a handkerchief.

[Luke]

How long do you have use of Kevin and Anita's car for?

[Andrew]

Well, they're the sweetest people in the world. They're out of town for a few more days, so we're in pretty good shape. I'm assuming that we will pull the trigger on one of these solutions by the end of day today, and maybe work can be done tomorrow. So we should have the car in plenty of time. We're going to give it back to him this weekend. But also got a note from Anita that said, hey, listen, I'm also going to be working from home a lot when we're back home, and so just keep the car as long as you need it, basically. So. That's really, really sweet. Yeah.

[Luke]

Yeah, that's. That's really interesting because, yeah, you. I mean, you don't drive the car a ton, but also, like you said, it's not parked in a barn somewhere.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Luke]

Weeds growing around it like.

[Andrew]

Like bumblebee.

[Luke]

Seems like actually it probably gets about the ideal amount of usage, like not a ton of wear and tear, but also it gets used every few days, presumably.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Luke]

And, yeah, that's a. That's. I am a little proud that. Because I know nothing about cars, but when you describe what it was doing, I think I may have even used the word that sounds like a fuel injection problem. And I know that's not the moral of the story, but like, I don't think I've ever been even in the neighborhood of right. About what's been broken on a car.

[Andrew]

But the idea of it kind of shaking because if you got four things that are powering this thing and one of them isn't working right, then it's just gonna. Everything's gonna be off balance.

[Luke]

Yeah. Maybe it's kind of misfiring a little bit because again now this is where I'm always like, I'm about maybe 5% right on something and then I try to reach for being 10% right and then I, I go the other direction. But you know, I'm guessing that that has something to do with where the fuel is, is, is missed. You know, it's sort of sprayed into the little combustion chamber where it's lit by the spark plug. It blows up and that drives it. And if one of those things isn't firing right. Yeah. You're going to have. This thing is going to be. And when you press the gas, it's going to all be sort of out of whack. That's. Yeah, that's too bad. Also, yes, dealerships are always going to be more expensive. I remember growing up and. Well, first of all, when I was growing up, you know, my dad, not one of our vehicles ever saw the inside of a repair bay of any kind of professional nature. My dad fixed all of our cars all the time, including I think swapping engines out and all kinds of stuff.

[Andrew]

Well, I can't remember if I already said this to you yesterday and my apologies if I did. Maybe I said this to Genevieve, but here was my thought on this. So the quote is obviously the, the estimate is way higher than we were expecting for either of whatever we choose. But I was wondering, remember how I described you the snack tray that they had with all kinds of snacks in it. They had some goldfish cookies and they had this whole thing of free like little soccer shaped stress balls you can squeeze.

[Luke]

They should give those to you right before they tell you it's $3,800.

[Andrew]

Yeah, right. Well, I'm just wondering like how many of those they had free leather belts

[Luke]

to bite down on when they tell you how much, how much the fix is.

[Andrew]

Why does that sign on the wal say thank you, daddy? Can I have another?

[Luke]

I was wondering I was going more civil war.

[Andrew]

I know. Strop biting down on the strop thing. And then I took it too far. My apologies. Somewhere the worst little whorehouse feel a little randy day. Could that be our show title or is that too much? See, I'm so prudish. I still don't want to name that our show title. I don't.

[Luke]

You know, and I'm sorry if I said that word.

[Andrew]

No, no. I mean, it's the name of a movie. Like you say, it's a campy old thing. I am with you.

[Luke]

It's a little on the line though.

[Andrew]

I'm like, when you like. I actually think the Worst Little House in Texas is a great show title. But I've had like. I don't know if I can say that. It's 2026 and it's. Let's not.

[Luke]

Listen, you know what? Here's why I would say let's not. I would say let's not. As we're about to roll into Valley City, Ohio for a week and we've got. Maybe we're making some new friends. Maybe that's a family friendly event and we're getting a few more eyes on the show until it rolls back three weeks and they see we're talking about whore homes.

[Andrew]

Let's make this whorehouse a. Anyway, so, yeah, I'm trying to figure out how many goldfish and little mini cookies I need to eat to offset the cost of going to the dealership as opposed to one of these garages.

[Luke]

Yeah, that's a really good idea. You just post up there.

[Andrew]

7am to 7pm I'm leaving the shop. My pants look like jodhpur because I got so many stress balls tucked in.

[Luke]

I'm saying you just literally post up in the waiting area. Just absolutely. Just spend all day eating those snacks.

[Andrew]

Is it a.

[Luke]

Until they. Either they kick you out or they reduce the price of the repair or

[Andrew]

they put up a little sign that says snacks now 50 cents or just anything to get me to stop doing that. Who's the cartoon character that just like basically unhinges his jaw and just can pour things right down his gullet? I feel like that's a. Is that a Scooby Doo type of situation?

[Luke]

I don't think. I think the thing about Scooby Doo is for being. For being, you know, a show about ghosts and zombies and scary things. It was all very. I also had a semi talking dog, so I guess that would be where you can't say it's rooted in reality.

[Andrew]

I don't know. Right.

[Luke]

But Scoob also, I do. I don't know if he ever unhinged his job. Maybe he did to put a salami, like a big sandwich in.

[Andrew]

Maybe I think a Splooch the turtle. I don't know.

[Luke]

That's definitely who you're thinking of. So I mean, the thing, the thing about having your car repaired at the dealership is it's always, I mean, generally speaking, I think it's going to be a higher quality of work. It's going to be guaranteed they're going to do it right, they're going to have the right parts, probably be able to do it on a relatively quick turnaround time. It's just, you're just like, let me put it this way. The last three cars I've had, I've only ever just had them. I've never. Knock wood. I've never had any major stuff like this happen. So mostly it's been maintenance, but I've always just had the dealership deal with it, even though it's a little more expensive. But I think that's one of those reactions again to my, my childhood and my, and my, you know, my 20s of always having cars that were breaking down, of like always watching my dad fix our broken down cars, of trying to find someone to help me fix a thing on a car. Like, like never even taking it to like a serve, you know, any kind of a garage because that was just so expensive, let alone the dealership. So, so now I'm kind of like, now I think I've. The pendulum has swung the other way for me, which is just like, if it's broken, they tell me how much it is to fix it and I get it fixed. And like, I don't know, there's something about having a car that is broken and knowing that the, what you need to do to fix it is an amount of money you might not have. Now I know you and Genevieve have the money to do this, but it's like that goes to a very like, I don't want to say young place for me, but it was a, it was like, feels like between having a kid at 17 and driving cars that were always breaking down and having no money, I would swear like 30% of my anxiety.

[Andrew]

Yes.

[Luke]

From age 17 to 27 was, is the car gonna start? And if it isn't, or if it's making a weird noise or if it's doing something weird. Is this a repair that I literally do not have the finances for? It's very stressful.

[Andrew]

Or am I gonna get where I need to go? How long is my trip? What kind of roads am I on? Am I going on the highway? Where will I break down? I broke down so many times in my little 1986 Dodge Caravan when I was in high school and college. And you just kind of rolled with it. And I'm absolutely with you, Luke. I consider the dealership thing. This is the only time we had bought a used car from a dealership one time. But this is the first new car we ever bought, and I think it's the first time we've ever, like, returned to the dealership and just kept our care under one roof. And again, it's because it hasn't needed a lot of work. Because it was new at first. It was just the easiest path to go. And there is something. It's like a luxury to me. Like, it is like, I know I could probably save money by shopping around and going to this garage or that garage, but there's something that's kind of nice about them sending you emails every now and then and saying, hey, we're still keeping an eye on your car, and it looks like you're about in need for this. And of course, it's a marketing thing, and you can choose that or not. But, like, I don't know. They sent me a little video of the underneath of my car yesterday while they were giving it the old inspection before they actually looked at the thing. And, like, did that do me any good at all? No. But it did sort of feel like this little service that is like, totally. Hello? What was that?

[Luke]

Sorry about that.

[Andrew]

Oh, that was not a thing that I didn't get. That was just.

[Luke]

No, no, that was not a drop. That was just. The Internet started playing a sound effect.

[Andrew]

Okay. But anyway, yeah, it definitely feels like a luxury and a little bit of a treat yourself thing by staying with the dealership and a little bit of adulthood again, as I'm. As I'm 49 and I don't have to sweat every little repair. It just felt like a little kind of treat. But this may be breaking that. And I think Genevieve. And you know that Genevieve is really keeping an eye on the bottom line. She's just kind of like, yeah, I don't think that we're dealership people anymore. At least with this car that's going on 10 years old, I would say there's a 50.

[Luke]

50 chance that you're going to come outside and she'll have the thing up on blocks.

[Andrew]

Yes. Right.

[Luke]

She'll have YouTube going on on her phone. And we'll have half of the, you know, crankshaft removed.

[Andrew]

Right. And for some reason, camshaft. Crankshaft. I'm not sure the. What do they call the full. Full chain warranty. No. What is Drive, drive, drive, chain drive.

[Luke]

Drive train.

[Andrew]

Drive train. Right. That's what I want to do when I grew up. Drive train.

[Luke]

I actually might, you know, the thing is, I might stop. I could stop taking my car to the dealership now for maintenance because I just got past all of the, like, the, The.

[Andrew]

The.

[Luke]

Basically I prepaid all of the maintenance on it for I think, like five years or something. And I just. Because I le. I was leasing this car, and then when my lease was up, I just. I just took the option to like, sort of buy it, you know, to just. Just continue to. But instead of leasing it, I now own the car and which I'm still making payments on it. But anyway, it's like I'm buying the car, I guess. And as part of that, I had, like, I don't know, five years of maintenance, which I kind of like. I don't even know if that's a good deal or not, but I just like. They fold it into the payment, and then you never even, like, they just never charge you anything. You just bring it in. They do all this stuff. I mean, I did have new tires put on it and stuff like that, but just as far as, like, regular maintenance goes, they just cover it. And this last time I took it in, it was literally the final. I think it was my last free maintenance or something. So from here on out, it's like.

[Andrew]

I don't know what it is.

[Luke]

200 bucks for an oil change. Something that's like, again, way more expensive than if I took it to Jiffy Lube.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Luke]

And so. And also my. I live up here in Southern Washington, and I bought the car in Portland because I lived there at the time. So it's a little bit of a schlep. So I may actually become a. I may find a local place here and start taking it to them. But again, what I like. What I like about going to the dealership is I feel like nobody there unless you're like, over on the sales side of things. Things. I feel like the pressure is lower to, like, get things that don't need to be fixed fixed, because it's hard to explain. People think of car dealerships as high pressure situations, and they certainly are if you're looking to buy a car. But my experience with taking my car in for maintenance at the couple of different dealerships that I've bought cars from the last few times, I feel like you go in there, there's somebody really nice sitting at a computer. They're friendly. They, like, know everything about Your car, because that's where you bought the car from. And they're like, it's coming up on this and this. I don't know. I mean, you could probably get away with not doing this or whatever. And, like, it doesn't. Like, I think this. This is actually really what I was meaning to say is, like, I think because I grew up in a family where, like, my dad just fixed all of the cars and never took the car in anywhere, I have an amazingly high level of suspicion about people, like, about, like, an auto repair place, that you don't really know the people. It's just like. It's like Jim's Auto Repair. And you go in there and you don't really know what Jim's motives are. And you don't really know if what you're being quoted or told is actually the thing or if it's just. If it's the upsell of the thing. Like, and I'm not even accusing this hypothetical Jim of doing this. I'm just saying it's like. Like, it's like the back. The hairs on the back of my neck are just, like, up the whole time.

[Andrew]

It's like, can I trust this person or not?

[Luke]

And I.

[Andrew]

And you've probably had some bad experiences, as have I. You know, like when we broke down on the GW Bridge and stuff.

[Luke]

And I. Yeah. And again, not even knowing, like, I remember, like, not even knowing if I've had a bad experience. I bought this Subaru Outback off of ebay. I've told this story many times. I had ridden in someone's Subaru Outback at some point. Subaru Outback, I think legacy. And I just thought it was so nice and so, like, luxurious. It had leather seats, and it just felt comfy. And I was like, this is an amazing car. And I got in my mind that I really wanted to buy one. But of course, I didn't really have the money or the credit or the whatever to go to, like, a normal dealership. And maybe I even could have. You know what I mean? This is like, my brain was so malformed around a lot of normal adult behaviors because I grew up so poor and with so like, we just never did you. It would never. You'd never go to a car dealership and say, let me look at some cars. Let's run my credit. Let's see what I qualify for. Like, that was just never how cars were acquired. And in my family, it was like, you met some guy in a parking lot and you brought the 500. You're willing to pay him and that kind of a thing. So where do I turn? I turn to ebay, where I find this Subaru Outback Legacy in Stormville, New York. And it's, you know, maybe the retail on it at a car lot would be 10,000, and maybe I get it for 7,500, but then I've got to pay a thousand dollars to truck it across the country. I didn't have the money. I cashed out my first KUOW 401k to get the money to buy this Outback. It gets trucked all the way out to Seattle. I get it off the truck. I drive it. I'm actually driving it to be Bellevue, I think maybe at a Microsoft gig or something. This is day two of me owning it. And it starts doing exactly what you're describing. It starts bucking. It's an automatic. Starts bucking when I'm driving it on. On 520. And I limp it into a Midas muffler place, which is, again, not even. Like, that's not a place I'm bringing my car for a major. Like, a major auto repair. Like, that just seems like where you go to get your oil changed or something, or maybe your muffler, as in the name.

[Andrew]

But I'm with you, though. Like, that's, you know, do a few. You assume they can do a few things, but also you're like, well, I know nothing about this, but those people are wearing overalls, and they can. At least. It's a good place to begin right now.

[Luke]

It's like getting your family Thanksgiving dinner from Chipotle. They sell this thing, but it's kind of not where you go for this.

[Andrew]

It is poultry. Yes.

[Luke]

Massive engine overall. So I limp it in. And this is the Midas on Rainier Avenue, right by that bowling alley that we used to like to go to. And then for me to occasionally fight the manager at.

[Andrew]

And then become best friends with the manager.

[Luke]

And this guy goes, the guy who runs the Midas or whatever is like, yeah, it's, you know, same thing. He's like, the engine is blown. It's $3,000. This, like, $7,000 car I bought on eBay. I drive for 1.5 days before the engine blows.

[Andrew]

Oh, my God.

[Luke]

And it's like, I mean, this is exactly why you don't buy a car on ebay and have it shipped across the country. And, I mean, I was to tell you that I was devastated in this moment, Andrew. I mean, that was like, I now have this car that doesn't operate that I'm out $7,000 on and I don't really have the $3,000 to fix it. I mean, I really don't. Like, I cashed out a 401k to get this car and I, I like emailed the guy because this dude was like selling cars on ebay. He kind of had like a little almost like online auto lot going. You know, he had different, he had different vehicles for sale. And I don't even think, I don't even know if I was threatening or if I started with, you know, a sort of more pleasant approach, but I just basically said, look, this car blew up when I got it and like, you gotta pay for this. And insanely he said yes. And I remember sending him the bill and he refunded me the amount of money.

[Andrew]

It might have been his online reputation if he had more cars to sell. You know, I think it was, I

[Luke]

think in a bizarre way that ended up actually saving me because if it was a regular, if it was just like an Aurora Avenue kind of slightly crummy used car lot that like sold me a lemon, what am I going to stand out in front of them with a sign?

[Andrew]

You know what, by the way, I want your take on something. It didn't occur to me to have you weigh in on this, but you would know this. Well, because you know the part of Aurora that I live on and near and traverse and you know that it's always fascinated me as a business, but I guess it's just a used car lot right on the corner of Aurora, the eastern corner of Aurora and 130, 35th. Though this would have been for you where the Kmart used to be, right? What is now the exact.

[Luke]

I know exactly what you're talking, but

[Andrew]

you know the car dealership, that's a big, the building is a big round building. It's physically just a big round.

[Luke]

Like that's been there my entire, that was there my entire life. That big round glass thing with cars parked in.

[Andrew]

Kind of interesting, right? And I was, I was, I was trying taking a left hand turn on Aurora, kind of sitting right next to that building yesterday, which is to my left. And I had realized like, oh yeah, they've kind of closed up shop and have like maybe six months ago or something. Maybe I'm exaggerating on the timeline there, but the past several months I think it's been sitting empty, but it hasn't gone to seed. They kind of have put some plastic over those giant windows that you're talking about there Are no cars visible. But I'm sitting there thinking, boy, what a fascinating building. And whoever decided to build this. Sometimes I think back to before Aurora became what it is today, which is known for crime and some seediness and stuff around that area. It was like a version of the Route 66. It was this idea of, oh, the, you know, the automobile is. And these highways and byways are bringing the country together. And so Aurora was kind of part of that with like hotels along the way and probably a lot of cool neon and whatever. And this was probably one of those buildings that harkens back to that time. And now I'm sitting there looking at it, I'm like, well, if nobody buys it to sell cars, could they raise this building? Because it's kind of cool.

[Luke]

I hope they don't. Yeah, yeah. My whole childhood growing up, if you were driving up or down Aurora at that thing, you'd look, you know, that was that big round glass kind of auto showroom was cool. I mean, because the. The history of. Of Aurora Avenue, of course, is that it was there long before I5. It was. It was Highway 99 and it was the one way through Seattle. So you had all of those motels just thriving in the. I don't. I don't know the exact error. I don't know when i5 was completed. But yeah, then the story on it was Once they put i5 in, all of a sudden 99 really slid down the list of sort of like relevance. And a lot of those. A lot of those motels kind of fell into disrepair and this. But yeah, there was a. I want to say, I don't know, go, go 1950s or whatever kind of where you had a lot of cool stuff along Aurora because again, it was how you got through town. So I sure hope they don't tear that down.

[Andrew]

Me too, man. I mean, you don't thon is coming up. I mean, is there any chance we relocate TBTL HQ to the big round building on the corner of Aurora and 130th?

[Luke]

That would be much like doing the show from Liverpool Elementary School in Valley City, Ohio. That would be for me, other than moving it down, other than us taking over that Aikido building where I once saw the best little whorehouse in Texas,

[Andrew]

or the chocolate building where your dad

[Luke]

signed Chocolaty, which used to be signworks. That any. Any. If we start broadcasting from Aurora Avenue, it's gonna be a pretty big nostalgia hit for me. I wouldn't rule it out.

[Andrew]

Well, I've gotten us pretty Close I've gotten. You have to. You have to get us to the finish line. But I've gotten us pretty close to broadcasting from Aurora.

[Luke]

Is that car toys still across the street?

[Andrew]

Car toys a better way to go? I believe it is. I believe it is.

[Luke]

I used to take my. The couple of times that I actually, like, did some kind of a stereo upgrade. I think I went to that little car toys on Aurora there, too. So a lot of good memories from. From that part of North Seattle and a lot of bad ones because that is Kitty corner from the Burger King where I peed my pants.

[Andrew]

Hello, and welcome to Top Stor.

[Luke]

All right, just quickly so we can clear this off the list. I don't know. A week or two ago, we got on the subject of that Subway Takes show. I think because the guy who hosts it has a new show and he's been doing a lot of press, and I was just kind of seeing him in the media. I was talking about him a little bit. But then you asked me what my Subway take was, and I couldn't remember one. And then I made a joke about bread and tearing the bread out. And then that joke was continually made for another few days. And then the other day, I remembered, like, two things that I think. I don't. I don't think they would even work on subway takes because I don't have them fleshed out enough. But I just thought I would throw these on you.

[Andrew]

My two.

[Luke]

Two of my Subway takes. Two of my hot takes. One is, I think that when someone is taking a photo of either just you as a person or maybe a group of people, when someone's kind of just taking a picture, like, hey, everybody, look over here. Or like, whatever. When someone's taking a picture, I think the least interesting thing you can do do is give a middle finger to the camera. I think it's one of the most boring. It's. It's. It's so. It's. To me, it's the height of irony because it's obviously offered as an edgy. As an edgy move, as a, like, get out of my face move, or as a, like a I'm over this move, or as a, like, it's just. And yet there's nothing less edgy or less interesting. It's such a. I would rather you absent yourself from the photograph. I would rather you just say no to don't take a picture of me. Or you. Let's say it's a group photo, and you just, like, maybe you just go stand slightly outside the frame. I think flipping off the camera is the boringest thing you can possibly do in a photo.

[Andrew]

I actually, I would agree with you, except I would change the adjective. I would say cringiest. Maybe not what. Maybe that's, you know, this topic is somewhat come up on the show before and by the way, I think that something happened where there was a time people did that. I don't know if that was like a rock and roll thing in the 80s or maybe like a, you know, a Gen X thing in the 90s. I feel like it went away for a long time, but then kind of had a resurgence a few years ago where people were kind of. And maybe when. So you agree with that? I don't have any data on that, but I will repeat a story and I'll try to keep it short, but it. One of my cringiest moments are not. I can't list them all. Like, I can't even rank them. But. But one of the things that when I think about, like, I just wince at my behavior is I was taking a trip with a bunch of friends. It was me and Genevieve and some of our close friends from New Hampshire. We were going down to North Carolina, I believe somebody's family had a house there and we were going to take it over. And I had never really traveled with friends before. It was fun. My memory, a storm actually ended up kind of rolling in. And it was one of those things where it was a trip where we had a lot of fun. But also, you know how it's kind of bonding sometimes when you have to give up one of your days of vacation just to all stay inside and figure out how to cook everything in the house because a big, you know, like hurricane level storm is rolling in off the coast. It was just like so many, like happy memories of that trip. One of the people who we were going with, and it might even been her family's place, is a fantastic photographer, a photojournalist who I knew and really looked up to. I mean, she was probably my age, but she was just such a role model for me in the photography world because she was doing it as a professional. I was a hobbyist. And she's so good. She goes on to win a Pulitzer Prize, in fact. And she was a very, very close friend of mine at the time. And she has the. I always loved how she could just take the best photo sometimes just from her hip even because her camera was like an extension of herself. And she took this photo of all of us. We had some travel issues because the planes weren't running on time and we missed our connecting flight and all this stuff. And there's this photo of us all running through the airport. And she's not in it because she took it.

[Luke]

She had the wherewithal.

[Andrew]

She runs ahead of us and just kind of spins around. She's kind of got her. Came at her. At her hip or whatever and kind of fires. Fires off the shot. And it is such an amazing photo. And I don't know where this came from, but I flicked off the camera and I remember seeing it, you know, it's digital, so I saw it immediately. And just being like, what did I do? What did I do? What did I do? Now I've never even seen that photo since. I don't know if she circulated it. This is, you know, Facebook was around is pretty new. Yeah, Facebook was around was pretty new at this time or whatever. But, like, I still think about that photo. I'm not in touch with this friend anymore, which also sort of breaks my heart and I blame myself for that. But it's like after you flipped her off. Yeah, exactly. And I just ruined, like this amazing photo by a friend of mine who's like my favorite photographer in the world. And here I am in one of her photos and I'm flipping off the camera. I think I said flick before. I can never remember.

[Luke]

Well, I can't ever decide if I think. I guess I'm going with flipped. Because you think about flipping it open.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke]

But certainly we used to say flicked off too, when I was a kid. I think those are interchangeable.

[Andrew]

You flick boogers, you flip birds.

[Luke]

I can definitely identify, though, with just impulsively doing something like that. It's not even your personality. Certainly you as I know you at this point and have known you now very well for many years, my friend. That's so not your energy. But I also can identify with that just like, just in the moment for no reason that can be explained later. Just doing something impulsive like that and then being like, ah, man. Yeah, my second hot take, which I've also. Which I've. I've talked about on the show before, but it was. It was brought back to my mind recently for some reason, which is unless the announcement is we've lost all of our engines and the plane is going down, I do not think there's any reason for there to be any announcements over the PA of the airplane. There is no useful information that is being transmitted that people do not already know. Now, I do think if you're in the exit row. The, you know, the flight attendants should come up to you as they do now and kind of check in. Is everybody comfortable opening that door if we need to. Here's the instructions of how to do it. I do. I have. And now granted, I obviously fly a lot, so I'm pretty, I'm pretty aware of the, of the spiel, but I do not think there's anything that they're saying to you. Because here's the thing, it is so loud because I think of. Because probably FAA regulation and the concern that if there is like, first of all, everyone has headphones on now. People are talking, they're distracted. So there's. I think that there is some minimal minimum decibel level that like legally the announcements have to be at so people can hear it. And also, if it's an emergency, it's so loud, it is like you can't sleep through it. If you're listening to something on the headphones, you have to pause what you're listening to. And it is. First of all, so much of it is now Advertisement so much of it is now about your signing up for the credit card program.

[Andrew]

I was going to joke, I was gonna jump in and say, Luke, this is where I disagree with you. Because if they don't spend at least 10 minutes yelling in my ear when I'm not allowed to go anywhere about the atmospher rewards card, where else am I going to get that information? It is so annoying, noxious. You're not allowed to leave. Seat belt light is on. And now we're going to blast this at high decibel just so that we can sell you something when you're already on a, on an airplane that you feel like you've probably already been ripped off seven times just getting into that seat.

[Luke]

Exactly. And I do feel like the amount of Spawn Con now, the amount of getting on the microphone and sort of trying to get us to somehow spend more money on this or get this credit card or whatever, it feels to me like it's creeping into more and more of what happens when they crack that microphone. The other part, that's tough. And again, on the one hand, I understand this because I have the show off demon. I think the reason this came up in my mind again the other day is because I think we had a flight attendant who was the person sort of deputized to operate the announcements. Right. And she was very clearly a person who just liked being on the microphone and said everything because there's the stuff that they are reading. There's obviously the script and that has to do with the safety procedures and things like that. And that is what it is. But there were so many other things where you could just tell that this person enjoyed much in the way that I have enjoyed hosting radio shows in my life and enjoy doing this show with you. And here I am talking into a microphone right now. Sort of like you could just every once in a while you get either a pilot or a kind of head flight attendant who just likes being on the mic. And when I, when, when I identify that as the scenario at the beginning of a flight, I know I'm in for a long, long journey.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Luke]

Because it's not just, again, it's not just the federally sort of like mandated announcements that has to happen, which I would argue we, you know, we know. You know what, they're not announcing anymore. Did they just stop doing this? In the case in the event of a water landing, your, your seat cushion will act as a flotation.

[Andrew]

They don't say that.

[Luke]

That's not part of the spiel anymore.

[Andrew]

Really. I didn't notice that. It just slowly, quietly backed into the hedges like homework.

[Luke]

They just got rid of that. I don't know if that's in the safety. Like if it's on the safety card. And maybe that they now feel like you can just say look at the safety card for your. Also. It's possible, Andrew, that I've just completely left.

[Andrew]

Yes. You might just be zoned.

[Luke]

I've zoned out so hard.

[Andrew]

I'd be interested. I feel like we would have heard about.

[Luke]

Because I mean, I doubt you'll remember this because you'll have a lot on your mind. But let's listen for flying to Ohio.

[Andrew]

Yeah, let's all hear.

[Luke]

I'm curious because I feel like. And also we're flying over land mostly, so that might also impact it. Maybe it has to do with if we're flying, if we're going to spend a significant amount of time over water or not. I feel like that has really gotten low keyed of late, if not erased altogether. But I guess I would just say I try to put myself in the mind of a person who's never been on an airplane before. So. And I'm an adult, so like say I'm 25, I'm on my first airplane flight. Of the things that they're saying over the loudspeaker. How many of those things are actually important for me to know? And I would say very, very little. Very, very, almost none of that content is that important.

[Andrew]

To me mean I'm with you. I mean, I do. Again, with the caveat that they legally have to say some stuff. Fine. Okay. I'm not going to argue that. I'm not arguing that with you, But I'm trying to think of anything else that I want. Oh, okay. I know. End of the flight, I need to know, especially if it's one of those things where the flight was delayed and I'm one of the people who's making a connecting flight, any pertinent, important information about where that connecting flight is or if I need to find my bags. If there are people in the back of the plane who need to deboard first because they need to make their connecting flight, I will be the first to stand up and salute them from my seat and let them off the plane. So we need to know that. That's the only thing I can think of.

[Luke]

Totally. I think that's a reasonable use of the PA system. I've even had. I've been on early morning flights or at least one that I can remember where it was, like, it was either an early morning flight or any. I feel like that, like, very early, or it might have been like a red eye. It was something where the person in charge of the PA system said, I know it's really early and a lot of you are trying to catch up on sleep. So we're gonna keep the announcements to a minimum. And when I tell you, of course, that I was just, like, I was in love with that person immediately. And guess what? They barely cracked the microphone the whole flight. And everybody was able to get kind of some restful sleep. And, like, that was when I learned that we don't need to hear hardly nearly as much as we're hearing right now.

[Andrew]

Like, I thought they made that announcement in the middle of a long silence. Like, just every, like, 10 minutes. Just a reminder, we're not going to be interrupting you. We're going to be low key.

[Luke]

Hey, just so you know, the last 10 minutes you weren't hearing us talk. That was because we're letting you sleep. No, it was like they just, they. They literally said, we know that a lot of people are trying to sleep, so we're going to keep the announcements to a minimum. Them. And it was like, it was amazing. It was beautiful. And what it told me was 90% of what we're hearing over the PA system is not federally mandated or specified. And we could get it down to 10%. I would just like us to get down to only the 10% that we absolutely have to do. And I think we'll all just. We'll all enjoy the flight a little bit more. I also just realized yesterday I was walking the dogs around the lake and somebody drove by in a loud car. And, like, you were talking about a bunch of guys tarps off chanting, USA and how that was like that. Just that emotional reaction you have. My emotional reaction to loud noises is truly. It's unhinged. Like, it makes me. It fills me with a level of anger that it feels so personal to me, those noise intrusions and things like that. So, like, when. When I'm trapped in my seat and I'm seat belted in because I have to be, and then that speaker is right on top of me, and then this person is just talking and talking, talking, and then you think they're done. Yeah, and then they're talking and talking and talking. It's. It's like, it makes me. And I'll admit it makes me irrationally upset. Like, my reaction to it is more. I feel more upset about that than I should. So some of this is me, in fairness.

[Andrew]

Well, I don't have that reaction to a lot of things the way you do, like the loud cars, allowed motorcycles stuff. But it does bother me. I mean, the whole you were trapping you and go. I mean, I feel like the longest thing they do now is the credit card commercial. And I don't think that's just a perceived thing. That feels like they're just talking and talking and they keep going on and on and on. And it's so loud. Like, I sit there and I fume because it's so intrusive. It is so intrusive. Even with your headphones on, it's intrusive and you're completely trapped. So I'm with you on that. Absolutely. I have a question for you about your loud noise stuff, by the way. First of all, do you think it's getting worse? And if so, okay. I had a feeling that was the answer to that. So has your feeling about fireworks changed as well? Because you and I. I know that probably a lot. I would guess that the majority of our listeners are more on the side of, like, I'm over with fireworks, they disturb my dog. We don't need them. And they're just noisy and intrusive. And I have a lot of friends who feel that way too. I don't argue the point with them. That is a totally valid point. But I just still like them. Like, I just. If they're going off, I get excited. There's something in me. Has that changed for you? Because I know you used to love it. Used to do a little roundup of fireworks yourself, right? And go blow those babies off.

[Luke]

Yeah. You know, here's where I'm at with fireworks. Like, I told you that the first night that DJ and Gigi were here, there was some kind of a loud, like, you know, firework that went off, and DJ just kind of like, calmly and slightly meekly walked into the bedroom and just, like, stood next to me. And of course, that made me feel very sad for her and a lot of empathy for her. And so in that case, like, I guess here's what I think. I don't really like. I don't think I like fireworks in tight. In fairly tightly, or, like, I don't like fireworks in neighborhoods anymore. I think, like, I don't think that the neighborhood is the place to set off your fireworks. I don't know if you can go somewhere that's away from all of that. You know, what I do still really like are, like, municipal fireworks. So from my house, because we're looking out on the mighty Columbia, I can look down the river. There's a big fireworks show that goes off down in the town, and I can actually see it from here. And I remember, like, I don't know if it was last year or a couple of years ago, we had some people out here. And I just remember sitting out on the deck at night and watching the big city fireworks going off over the river. And that is really fun. That I really still like. And I feel like if you can, you know, or like the Gasworks. Do they still do the Gasworks park fireworks down there?

[Andrew]

You know, I know that the company that used to sponsor all the time pulled out, like, 10 years ago. Then other people kind of filled in the gaps. And so I don't know where it is right now. I want to say yes. I don't know if they ended up skipping any years. Clearly, during the pandemic, I'm sure they went away. Maybe, or maybe they did it remotely and gave everybody a show from their homes. But my guess is in some version, it's still going on.

[Luke]

I. I think what I like are municipal fireworks because it's a controlled environment. People can get together. I like people getting together, you know, and sitting on, you know, on that hill at Gasworks park and watching the fireworks and oohing and ahhing. I also think it gives people with sensitive pets a chance to maybe take their sensitive pets somewhere else that night, which, again, I know, puts the onus I know this is a very fraught topic for our listeners, so please don't come at me. I'm sure someone's gonna say, oh, I used to live near the fireworks in Seattle, and I don't have the ability to take my cat somewhere. So I. I understand all of that, but, like, what I. What I'm kind of less of a fan now of is just somebody, like, I would never light off fireworks here at my house anymore, because even though I live kind of out in the middle of nowhere, I also have neighbors, you know, like 100ft in either direction, and they've got pets, and I wouldn't want to stress their pets out about this. Actually, Andrew gets me into a topic that I've been debating if I want to bring up or not. I think there is a. I think I have a growing sense that one of my neighbors is kind of. Is kind of on my last nerve, and I'm trying to really. I'm trying to really stay. It's not. My buddy Bob with the starter fluid.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it's not starter fluid, and so I don't want to start. Okay, but you've mentioned some other neighbors as well, including one. One who you just mentioned very favorably the other day with her dog. I don't know. Whatever. I don't want to put you on the spot, but go ahead. Oh, gay.

[Luke]

I love gay.

[Andrew]

Okay, so it's not gay. I didn't want. I didn't want to put you on the spot of, like, eliminate process of elimination and then you out this person. So you go ahead.

[Luke]

It's not that hard to. It's. Let's just say for people that have listened to the show a lot and have heard me mention the various neighbors, it's not. It's not super hard to figure out who's who. But, like, I have this. I have a neighbor who's. Who's pretty, like, kind of by the. By the numbers and by the book and, you know, has in years past, when I wasn't living up here, you know, called and left a message on the. On the voicemail line about my. About the hill and about this tansy and stuff like that. And we kind of got through that. You know, I came up to the place, I pulled out the tansy. I had the hill mode, or as it's called, brush hogged. But by the way, that cost like a thousand dollars to do that. Right, Right. And I don't legally have to do that. I just, you know, it is. I guess, technically, you know, you. You could Say that it's. There's more fuel. Like, I. You know, I have. I'm on. Like. I think it's maybe like, two acres or, like, a little under two acres and. But most of the property is this kind of rolling hill that has very tall grass on it and then some trees down at the bottom of it. And. Well, if you want to know, really where this all started, Andrew. And this is why I'm sort of like. I'm hesitant to bring it up, but also, who cares? I noticed that this one particular neighbor, like, it seems like he only reaches out to me when he's, like, trying to, like, tell me to do something or ask me to do something, like,

[Andrew]

keep an eye on your hose.

[Luke]

That's the other neighbor. And he was trying to be helpful.

[Andrew]

Oh, really? That's the other neighbor. I pictured it being this fellow. Okay.

[Luke]

No, that's the other neighbor. And he just thought that I was trying to fill up my little stock tank pool and that my hose has gone crazy.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke]

So that was totally meant from a place of, like. Let me give you an example. This other neighbor who literally, the first time that we ever interacted was, please mow your hill, and you have illegal tansy growing.

[Andrew]

And again, I was the one who fielded that first phone call because it was left on the. He must have Googled you. And the. Somehow the first thing he saw was the TBTL voicemail line, which. That's an interesting move. I had to send that to you.

[Luke]

Good SEO for. On our part.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Luke]

So. And that was years and years ago. Again, I came up. I remedied the situation. We hung out a little bit. Again, these are people that have a no Kings sign. Like, I'm down with them being my neighbors, and I'm down with them in the world. Generally speaking, we have what is. Are essentially minimal interactions. They're not negative. They're not positive. There's the occasional wave. And again, I think, generally speaking, I kind of like them. But what I feel like, over time is somehow it's developed to this thing where this guy only reaches out when. So the basement of my house is kind of still very much in flux. It's, like, unfinished. It's just full of, like, tools and stuff. It's very disorganized. And the lighting in there is kind of lousy. So I have this, like. Like this lamp in there, which is one of those things that's kind of a big, flat circle that's on top of a metal pole that you can kind of move the circle around, I literally just put.

[Andrew]

Okay, it's adjustable. I was picturing one of the stick lamps of the 90s that you and I will sometimes.

[Luke]

It's essentially that, except the top is different, but it's basically that. And it's not even like, it's not meant for the basement. I was literally like, I don't know where it was. It was somewhere else in the house. And I was like, I'm gonna throw this out. Wait, I'll use it in the basement. Because I can never see anything in there because it's not lit very well. So that was down there. I guess I turned it on to do something. And then. And the basement door, which doesn't shut very well because it's all swollen from water intrusion. I guess the basement door blew open. And that torch lamp, or whatever you want to call it, lamp was still on. And because of how the top rotates, that circle, I guess was pointed in the direction of their house. So if you can imagine this, it's like from their house, they look over towards my place, under my deck, there's this basement door that opens. And then way in the interior of the basement is this light.

[Andrew]

Light.

[Luke]

And I forget where I was. I had no idea this was going on. But I get an email from him or a text from him saying, this is like, can you please turn that light off? It's shining directly into our house. And I'm like, okay, I can. But, like, I would be shocked if that light was really actually impacting you that much. It's like, again, I don't even understand, like, the sort of, like, photo whatever. The photo optics of it, the light movement of it, the whatever you want to call it, like. Like, I don't know how that was bothering you, but I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry.

[Andrew]

Cause it's not a spotlight, right? I will admit this is on me that I kind of can't quite picture the kind of lamp this is at the top. But just to be very clear, it's not a super focused light that you would be using for work purposes or anything like that. That would be considered a spotlight that is misdirected. Like, I have some security lights on the outside of my garage that I actually am cognizant that if I aim it. And we used to have an ugly one on the front of the house when we bought this place. And I knew that it bo our neighbor across the street. And that was totally reasonable to me, but this is not reasonable.

[Luke]

I don't Think. I mean, yes. This is not a spotlight. It's not a security light. It's literally like a lamp you would have in your living room. And again, it's like a torch lamp, except the top of it instead of being that thing that we're picturing.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Why? Kind of that point to the screen.

[Luke]

It's like a flat disc.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

That is the. It's a flat disc. That's all the lamp. It's all the illumination. And you can move it around.

[Andrew]

Okay. Oh, okay. Yeah, I can sort of picture that. Yeah, I know what you mean.

[Luke]

It's on a swivel. So the light itself is on a swivel. And again, it's just little things like that, like. And I turned it off immediately. Also, I'm glad that I learned I was wasting energy down there. Like, I don't want to leave it on, but I also feel like I can't imagine this was really that upsetting, but it's like, okay, fine. And I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. And I run down and turn it off, you know, and then it's like, when's the next time that they. He reaches out? It's like, it's, you know. Oh, I. You know, I saw him, and he had a big. Like a big brace on his arm. Like, he'd maybe had a surgery or something. And I texted him, hey, it looks like you had a. Maybe an arm surgery. Everything all right? You good? You need help with anything? Everything all right? And his response is just, Yep. I was like, okay, well, I thought that was neighborly of me to inquire. And then. And then I said, oh, hey, by the way, just so you know. Oh, you know what it was? I was. I wanted to hire. He had some guys working at his house, and those were the guys that I wanted to hire someone to do some weed whacking around here. So I texted him, hey, do you. Could I get the number of the people working on your house? And he just sends me the number. And then I said, by the way, I'm going to try to get my hill brush hogged when I can find someone to do it or something. This response is. Glad to hear it. And I'm just like, you're giving me nothing here, bro.

[Andrew]

That may be a text thing, though. He's not. I'm guessing that he's not sending you other texts that are super verbose as well. Like, he might just be. That might just be his style of texting.

[Luke]

I think it's also his Style of talking. A serious guy who's just from an older generation than I'm from. He's not nearly as verbose as me, but I think you're right. I think some of it is just texting energy.

[Andrew]

It's not that he's necessarily irritated, it's just that he's a person who doesn't see the need to waste extra words. I mean, it sounds like a very New Englandy thing to me, having lived here in a while, dude.

[Luke]

And it like, he's this, like, he's like, you know, he's older than me, but he's just like, like a big guy still. He's like 6, probably like 6, 4. Very upright posture. Like, like, I think maybe former military. I think airline pilot. Like just kind of like a imposing dude who's.

[Andrew]

Wears a beret glasses. Wears a beret glasses.

[Luke]

He flies his own plane.

[Andrew]

Yes. Okay. Yeah, no, I. You know what? I'm starting to picture this guy.

[Luke]

But so then, so then yesterday I had the guys come out and they did the weed whacking project that I. That I was hiring them for. And I don't know if this is what sort of like, inspired him or not, but then, like, I just get a message from him. So I've already told him I'm going to try to get this big hill of mine that's all this tall grass. I'm going to try to get this thing, you know, dealt with.

[Andrew]

You volunteered this too? He wasn't writing you about it.

[Luke]

I volunteered that a while ago. And he said, glad to hear something. But he then says, he goes, and I would actually like you to interpret this message because I think I'm kind of being. I think I'm being sensitive because I didn't get more. I didn't get the response I wanted about the arm surgery. So I think I'm kind of being overly sensitive.

[Andrew]

It's like everything is now sort of being tinted or colored because of the collection.

[Luke]

I feel like I'm trying to be Mr. Nice Guy. And then I feel like, you know, the responses are very curt. And then the responses are often it feels like him telling me that I need to do something. You know what I mean? Here's what he said yesterday. Apologies if you think I'm overly sensitive about fire dates, but your neighbor. Oh, this is the other thing. He doesn't like. He doesn't like the guy who lives on the other side of me.

[Andrew]

Oh God, now you're literally in the middle of them. Wait a second though.

[Luke]

Literally in the middle of these two,

[Andrew]

this text message is interesting because I said, oh, maybe he's just the type of guy who is not verbose. This is starting pretty verbose. I mean, it's starting with a dependent clause, like, what are we doing here? So this guy does sometimes lay it on. Okay.

[Luke]

Yeah, yeah. And that's why as I'm reading it here, I'm kind of questioning, I'm interrogating my own feelings about this because I think I got my feelings. I felt a little rejected like five messages ago. And I think it's just been simmering. I think I've just been kind of, oh, oh, here's the other thing.

[Andrew]

Here we go.

[Luke]

So I was. My friend, Spring was over and I was telling her about this old road that runs at the base of my property. And my neighbor's property used to be the. It was called Old Military Road. It was the only way you could get from Portland to Seattle. The only way to get down to that road area. I can't get to it from my property. There's a very steep drop off. So I have to text my neighbor and ask him, is it okay if I cut through the. Your. Your driveway to go down and walk around on this road now, by the way, he showed me this road.

[Andrew]

Yeah, he maintains it sort of, right?

[Luke]

Yeah, he maintains it. Like, yeah. So I was like. And. And you know, I was like. So on whatever day it was the other day after we floated the river, I texted him and I said, said, hey, can I walk down to that road? Would it be okay if I go down your driveway to show my friend that road down there? And this was his response, okay, but leave the dog behind.

[Andrew]

Really interesting.

[Luke]

Like, okay, but don't. He also doesn't realize that there's two poodles.

[Andrew]

But this is interesting, but leave the dog behind. That's that. I don't like that. And also because. Have you guys had any conversations about these dogs? Has he met the dogs in person or this is just like, oh, oh, I'm just doing my neighborly stuff and I see you have a dog. I've never said anything about the dog. I've never petted that dog. But just leave the dog behind. I don't like that.

[Luke]

I've never texted you about the dog. We've had no interactions. Okay, but leave the dog behind.

[Andrew]

Okay. And knowing that he also sends texts that begin with apologies if I seem overly sensitive.

[Luke]

Apologies is I messed up the timeline here. So I think that the text that has me in my feelings about this was, okay, but leave the dog behind, which was on Tuesday.

[Andrew]

But my point is, I now know that he is a man who has the ability and at sometimes the inclination to text something that can be softened a little bit and is aware of tone. And so knowing that about him, knowing that he's capable of that, makes me hate this leave the dog behind even more. Because he could have said, no problem, but if you don't mind, I don't really like dogs down there because xyz. You know what I mean? And I think that this is a tone thing, you and I. I mean, I feel like going back to the first time I was on this show with you, we talked about how you and I are very sensitive to tone.

[Luke]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

And I will say I don't like this tone.

[Luke]

Yeah, me neither. Because, like, it's such a non. It's such a non imposition on him. I. I feel like I'm. I'm highly respectful. Like, I would never, ever walk down his driveway down to this spot without asking him. And I've been down. I've taken a handful of people down there to kind of check it out and stuff. And I always text him and say, is it okay if I cut through your driveway? And so I try to be really, really, like, again, respectful about that stuff. And he's got read receipts because he's from a different generation. And so it was like when I said, hey, it would be okay if I went down and showed my friend the road and cut through your driveway. It's like, I can see that it's red. And then like 10 minutes go by, and it's like a pretty much a yes or no answer. It's like, pretty straightforward. And then it's like the three dots are going, and that's when, okay, but leave the dog behind comes down. Which also, I was mad because I wanted to take the dogs down there because they would enjoy it. Like, it would be a nice walk for them. And so I was like. And you know. But you know what I said to it? I said, okay, gotcha. And that's what I did. Didn't take the dog down. Just walked down there, looked around a little bit, came back. But that was kind of living in the back of my head. That was, I think, the one that set me off. And then yesterday, that's when I get apologies if you think I'm overly sensitive about fire danger, but your neighbor lights fireworks soon, and you've got a gas can in the hot sun. So my neighbor. So in other words, the guy who lives on the other side of me,

[Andrew]

whose name he should presumably know.

[Luke]

They know each other. They lived here long before I did. Like. And what I've gotten from the other neighbor, from Bob, who I like, is that, oh, by the way, here's how Bob rolls. The other day, I just get this kind of picture, and Bob's like, hey, have you ever wondered what your house looks like from the river? So he was down on the river with somebody, and he took a picture of the house. He was like, hey, here's what it looks like. I was like, oh, cool. Thanks, man. That's how he rolls. He's, like, down on one knee, spraying starting fluid into my gas. You know, my lawnmower. I don't know if he regularly does fireworks or whatever, but my other neighbor now, it's like. Your neighbor.

[Andrew]

Yeah, exactly.

[Luke]

Not the guy that we both know the name of.

[Andrew]

Exactly. It's like when your parent says, I'm like, well, your sister got into the cookie jar or whatever. My sister? That's your daughter.

[Luke]

Just call her by her name. Exactly. Like, I don't really. I don't like the energy of this text.

[Andrew]

I don't like this energy at all.

[Luke]

Your neighbor lights fireworks soon, and you've got a gas can in the hot sun. There's no fire hydrant up here. Prevention is our only protection. And it's like, okay, let's. Well, first of all, my guy, the grass is still green. Like, you know what I mean? It's not. The grass is green up here. We are not in the mode where all of the grass is dried out and dead. If you. There's a smoky. Is it Smokey the Bear or Smokey Bear?

[Andrew]

That's come up before, too.

[Luke]

Is it Smokey Bandit or Smokey and the Bandit?

[Andrew]

I think it's Cannonball.

[Luke]

Burt Reynolds is the one who said, only you can prevent.

[Andrew]

The fact that I said cannonball means I can't. I can't finish that joke. All right, go ahead.

[Luke]

It's. It's like there's a Smokey Bear fire watch sign at the base of the hill. Like, when you roll into the neighborhood, there's literally like Smokey the Bear. And it's one of those things that has an arrow.

[Andrew]

I remember seeing that. Yeah, like the fire danger from, like,

[Luke]

what the fire danger is. It's. Right now it's at moderate because everything is still green and wet. The trees are green, the grass is still green. It's, you know, transitioning. But. But we are far from the driest dog days of July and August. When we might have an actual tinder box on our hands. And so it's like. Now, here's the thing too, that I find a little bit interesting about this is like he is applying pressure on me to do something that cost me $1,000 and is kind of like. I mean, what I could say is, do you want to pay for half of it can?

[Andrew]

You know, you're so worried about it. I apologize for this, but at first when you said you have a gas can or whatever in your yard, I thought that he was being allegorical. But then as you continue to tell the story, I thought, literally, because you now have a gas powered mower, he meant you are literally. You literally have a gas can in your backyard that you've been neglecting. And he was concerned about that. No, he is just using colorful language to say, like, take care of these weeds again. Again, it's a fire hazard. He's not actually concerned about an actual gas can.

[Luke]

No, there is an actual gas can, but it's in the basement.

[Andrew]

Okay. Yeah, yeah, I thought, because I was like, oh, whatever. I. I understood what you were saying, and then I talked myself out of it and now I understand he is talking about, oh, well, then, okay, do you know. Okay, before you tell me what your response was, this is what I think your response should have been. That's it.

[Luke]

Yes. Leave him unread. I should just turn. Read your seats only for him.

[Andrew]

Did you respond at all?

[Luke]

I did respond.

[Andrew]

I would have not responded. I would have just been like, I'm done with you.

[Luke]

Well, see, that's the thing, though. This guy is my neighbor and, like, I'm gonna have him as a neighbor for presumably a long time. And it's one of those things where I don't. He's not. It's right up on the line of. I mean, this is a person who is. Who has, you know, again, generally leaves me alone. Is not like. Is sort of like. He's not like anywhere near the worst neighbor that I could have. And so I don't want to inflame, so to speak, inflame the situation. I don't. My tendency when I feel criticized is towards being like, I will end you. This is where you're effing with the wrong mother effer comes from. And so, believe you me, I have played through a bunch of scenarios where I'm like, well, I mean, would you like to pay for. Would you like to pay the thousand dollars to have this hill mode? Or would you like to mow it for me? Or like, hey, this is my property and legally I don't have to do shit. Like I've.

[Andrew]

But. And I don't recommend that. Yeah, no, I don't recommend that. I don't think that that is it. But I also don't think that you owe him a response or I don't think you owe him a response more than like a thumbs up reaction to his message. Like, okay, thumbs up.

[Luke]

I said, yeah, I'm working on it. Finding someone to brush hog that hill is more challenging than you might think, which is totally true. The guy that, Remember the guy Jerry that I used to call? He's not picking up this year. I think he has. I don't know if he's still in the business. He has a voicemail line and it is full. So we're having trouble locating Jerry. And then he. My neighbor said, Leo, that's the guy that's been doing the weed whacking. Leo has a mower you might ask him about. He said it can handle steep slopes. And that's where things are at right now. Now, here's the thing that's underlying all of this, or as part of all this, is that it's probably not the worst idea for me to get the hill mode. That's the thing. He's. I feel. I feel both very resistant to doing it because of my neighbor telling me to.

[Andrew]

Yep.

[Luke]

Because again, it's like I'm not out here telling him anything that he needs to do that costs him $1,000.

[Andrew]

No, he got the upper hand. You're the new neighbor. He came in right away with this alpha move about. About the tansy. And now he thinks you're his little boy and he's the one who's calling the shots. He thinks he's the mayor of the hill and he's not.

[Luke]

And the thing is, though, also, it's probably not the worst idea because I also, I spend time thinking about, well, what would I do if a fire started ripping up this hill? Cause it is at the end of the day. And come the drier months of July and August, it really is a big giant fuel load, as they would say. It's a big hill of long, dry grass that if something got into it, you know, could be. Could be a problem. And so again, I'm. I'm. I'm both. I'm both peeved that I feel like I'm being lectured to and I'm being more or less told to do something that, again, I don't legally have any responsibility to do. But also, it's probably not a bad idea. So I'm really in the middle. And I also want to be. I want to be kind of like, I want to kind of let him know that I'm not going to. I'm not going to take his bullshit. But I also don't want to escalate things for kind of for no reason. Because generally speaking, I think just. I'm just. I'm just better off, you know, I'm better off being on good terms with my neighbors as much as I can be, you know, there's no reason for me to escalate this. Although, again, a lot of me was wanted to be like. Like, hey, buddy, why don't you worry about your property and I'll worry about mine? Like, that's kind of what I want to do. But I also just. There's just no need for me to make things more tense than they need to be.

[Andrew]

No, I don't think you should make things more tense. But I just also, I guess, huh? I'm just sort of getting some echoes of a relationship I'm in, say, a business relationship that I'm in right now where I was, like, sort of letting somebody guide me for a while, and now I'm done with that. I'm like, no, no, no, I'm paying you. And I think I'm going to stop just assuming that everything you say is the way things are going to go. And, like, I don't. But it's also in my best interest to keep the relationship, you know, friendly, you know, in the same way it is for you. So I am not suggesting that you say, hey, listen here, bub. I don't think you should ever start a text message to any of your neighbors and say, listen here, bub. But I also worry about you letting him in on the negotiating of the problem at this point. Like, maybe it's good. Maybe Steve or Jerry or whoever it is who's got the weed eater also has a mower on a hill. Maybe that's information you could use. But I think my hackles are up a little bit in this conversation. But, like, I also think it's totally acceptable, especially for a guy who sometimes texts things, leave the dog, or Yup, I think it's totally fine and totally acceptable, by the way, way, if you were to text me tomorrow morning. Actually, don't do this tomorrow morning because we have a guest on. But if you were to text me, let's say, this morning, and you said, hey, I got to cut something for CBS. I need an extra 15 minutes to dial up. Do you know what I think is a completely acceptable response for me? A thumbs up from me to you on that message. That is modern communication. That is saying, I got this. I have nothing to say on the matter. That's totally fine. It's fine. I got it. It also could mean I'm waiting around on your ass again. It doesn't in this hypothetical, by the way. But, like, you know. You know me well enough and just, like, got it. Like, red, Red. That's it. That's all you need. And so with him, I'm just sort of like, I am maybe now more worked up than you about this because I didn't like that dog comment. And again, I want to be very clear. His property. If he's saying, I don't want dogs on my property, there's a completely. There could be a completely reasonable explanation for that or. Or unreasonable. But he could at least just say, this is why I kind of have a thing with dog. It could literally be, if you don't mind, leave no dogs, please. Because I have. You know what I mean? But it was said so rudely, I think. And if that's the. If that's the level of discourse that he's offering you, I think it's fine. Just be like, thumbs up and you got a gas can in your backyard. Thumbs up, red. Understood.

[Luke]

He's trying to. Yeah, exactly. And you're right, too, because. Because when he was. Yeah, he is trying to get me to fast track this project. In other words, not only does he want me to spend $1,000 to get this hill mowed, which is a third of what I think Volkswagen repair is going for these days. Not only does he want me to do it, but he wants me to try to get it done before next week because he thinks that my neighbor is going to be shooting off fireworks and that's going to, you know, make this hill. So. In other words. But what I mean by that is he now needs something from me because he can't legally make me do this. So that's where he comes in with the apologies. If I'm being a lot about this. You know what I mean? Although even the way he phrases that, he doesn't say apologies if I'm paranoid about the hill. He says apologies if you think I'm overly sensitive about the paranoid. Apologies if you have a thought about me.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I'm sorry if I offend. I'm sorry if you were offended by what I said.

[Luke]

Not like. Not like, I'm sorry that this Is something I get a little worked up about or something. I'm not sorry that I'm sorry.

[Andrew]

You know, has he brought anything to the relationship? I mean, he showed you the road, but that was a little self interest because he. He is proud of it. He lets you have access to the old logging road, which is. That's. That's kind of cool. But aside from that, like, has he helped you start your lawnmower, like Bob or whatever his name is?

[Luke]

No, but I've never asked him for anything. You know where. I think. You know where. I think things took a little bit long ago, things branched off from. We're gonna be like, kind of friendly neighbors who wave at each other and I don't know, have, like, are sort of on a friendly basis. Was after we walked to the road, and so I came up here, explained what the tansy was. We talked about the hill. He took me for a tour of the property, showed me the road, and we really. We kind of hit it off. And then after that, I think he invited me over one time, maybe a couple of times to like, have a beer with him and his wife. And I think I had some scheduling conflict. I think I was either out of town or I had something going on. And so basically, like, he. I think he invited me over a time or two, and I couldn't do it. And I think after that, and he's never invited me over again. I think. I think he just felt like, okay, well, that was my attempt at being social or being friendly. And that's not. You know, I wonder if he almost felt a little rejected after that. And so after that, like. And, you know, one time he. He did text me. He said something like, hey, you're, you know, you're doing some cool projects over there. Keep at it. You're, you know, so it's. It's not like all of our. All of our texts have been.

[Andrew]

So he does occasionally just text you something nice and neighborly. I appreciate that.

[Luke]

Was like that years ago.

[Andrew]

I will say, like, the very first time you knew this person existed or the very first interaction was. Was him Googling you and finding. And I'm not. And again, we have it on our website, the phone number. But for somebody who doesn't even know what a TBTL is, and I'm making maybe some assumptions about his digital literacy or whatever, but the fact that he spent some amount of time trying to figure out, okay, well, my neighbor's name is this. If I Google him, I find this. And then I go to this page the contact and about page boy, that sure is a tiny Yaris his co host, is standing next to in that one photo. Oh, here's the phone number below.

[Luke]

Is Yaris tiny or is the co

[Andrew]

host exactly the answer? It is both. It is both. And that's the very first interaction. Is that voicemail, which we've played, I believe, on the show before, which I consider to be fair game. I think we even say in the outgoing message, like, if you're leaving a voicemail, here it is, ready for air. But that is the bet. Like, he's a neighbor. Couldn't you maybe leave a note on the door and just say, hey, I'm your new neighbor, welcome to town. Hey, I did have something I wanted to talk to you about regarding kind of a fire hazard back here. Could we chat about it? Here's my number. So that seems to be like a more reasonable thing. If I had something to take up with my neighbor or a new neighbor who moved in, I don't think I'd start by finding out the neighbor's name, Googling them, and then leaving a voicemail on their podcast's voicemail line.

[Luke]

Yeah, how about, can I get an email for this guy Luke? I'm his neighbor.

[Andrew]

Or something like that, right?

[Luke]

Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, part of. I'm just so petty.

[Andrew]

I am the. You shouldn't have brought this up. I'm spreading.

[Luke]

Your neighbor shoots off fireworks works. I really wanted to be like, do you know that no one around here likes you? I don't even know if that's true. I just wanted him to think that

[Andrew]

I think about saying that to my across the street neighbor all the time.

[Luke]

Like, well, that's actually kind of true. And that.

[Andrew]

Well, except, I don't know, like, because people do stand and talk to him all the time, but he's a time thief. He's a conversation bandit. You know, he'll just, like, he'll steal. Actually, I'm. I'm the conversation bandit. I got a little conversation bandit.

[Luke]

Maybe that's the show.

[Andrew]

I got a little cape and a little mask and I go around forcing people to have conversations with me. But that is what he's like. He's somebody who will trap you and not read at all. Any kind of urgency on your part. You could be holding 10 grocery bags and have a dog nipping at your

[Luke]

heels, melting ice cream.

[Andrew]

And he's telling you about the long version of a story that the short version is also too long. So anyway, I didn't like that. Calling the voicemail Line thing as an introduction.

[Luke]

Yeah. And I think when I was kind of spinning out a little bit about it and again, feeling like I wanted to just like. Because for some reason, I guess I feel weirdly protective of my other neighbor because my other neighbor and I like our friendship, if you would call it that, has kind of been growing. Like, you know, he and I chat in the yard a couple times a week. And like, you know, he was at that fund. I told you. He was at that fundraiser thing that I was emceeing and like, like, oh,

[Andrew]

I don't know that I, I. If you said that, I think I didn't remember it or connected or whatever. That's interesting. The one that was for vets.

[Luke]

No, that was a. It was the one that was for unhoused people down in town in Longview.

[Andrew]

Oh, I'd forgotten.

[Luke]

Both of these things involved people that are, like, struggling with housing instability.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Luke]

So, yeah, so as. As my kind of like, you know, casual friendship with my one neighbor is growing, I've got this other guy on the other side of me where I feel like our relationship is slightly deteriorating. And he's being like, your neighbor. And I'm like, my neighbor has a name.

[Andrew]

That's right. Yeah.

[Luke]

I literally wanted to. I even asked. I even asked the neighbor that I like. I was like, hey, what's the deal with, you know, what's the deal with the other guy? And he goes, I don't know, man. He goes, like, my sister was house sitting for me, and I think her dog ran over to their yard and they yelled at her dog, and there was like, words or something.

[Andrew]

You know, he didn't. And he's got a dog thing, which

[Luke]

is crazy because they have dogs. Oh, they have. Have two very yappy chihuahuas.

[Andrew]

Maybe that's the thing. Maybe dogs set his dogs off.

[Luke]

I think dogs set his dogs off.

[Andrew]

Again, that's reasonable. It's his property. If he says, yeah, come on by, but don't bring your dog, that's fine. But I think tone is important.

[Luke]

Yes, I think tone matters. And you're right. When he wants something from me expedited, like he wants me to get the Hill Mode before the 4th of July, he's able to break out the apologies if basically, apologies if you think I'm being too much on this. But that's his attempt at diplomacy, but with a goal in mind, which is. The goal is for me. But again, at the end of all of it, it's also probably not the worst idea. So that's where and it's also not.

[Andrew]

And also I'm all worked up. But also none of this is really bad Neighbors. In fact, it's funny you said that because of, maybe because of that documentary series on HBO called Neighbors about toxic relationships. And then you kind of got into that and now you're being, you mentioned being served all, all these clips on, on TikTok that people just be. Yeah. And you know what? Like in a certain way let that serve as a good reminder. And for me, as somebody who's unfortunately pouring gas on this guy, I'm over

[Luke]

here like gas can in that.

[Andrew]

Exactly. I'm, I'm, you know, I feel like I'm throwing few on the fire here of your relationship and maybe I need to back off a bit because, okay, I'm getting a little upset, I'm getting a little defensive on your behalf. But you're right that in the grand scheme of things like this is nothing, this is little tonal things and you guys are all doing fine out there.

[Luke]

I want to keep things on the right side. I want to keep things on the positive because anytime you have a neighbor and you get into some sort of pitched battle with them, I mean, it can be life ruining. And there's like, there's so many people that have dealt with versions of this that are just like I would give anything to just have a normal or a non relationship with this person as opposed to him. I don't know, phoning the county to find out if my deck is exactly 100% up to code everything like that. He could be a giant pain as anybody could be to any of their neighbors. You could be annoying to people, as annoying as you want to be. And right now things are basically fine. I don't see any reason to push it into the negative other than my petty hurt feelings and not liking feeling like I'm being told what to do or judged as a 50 year old homeowner who's I think also by the way, a pretty good neighbor. Like, that's the thing. I don't like. I don't have any wild parties out here. I don't like. I don't know, I don't block the driveway. I don't like. I feel like I'm, I'm sat here podcasting, like quietly podcasting in this studio and then mostly watching the Mariners disappoint me inside on my television, occasionally sitting in the hot tub. Like I feel like I'm a pretty low impact neighbor. I don't. Whatever the things are that neighbors do, that gets on people's nerves. I feel like I do none of that. I don't play loud music. Just like, I'm just a very. Like, again, I'm a very. I'm gone half the time. So I feel like I'm an exemplary neighbor and I kind of want credit for that. So when I'm only getting feedback that's telling me I'm doing it wrong, it kind of sets my. Whatever on edge. But at the end of all of it, I think it's better to kind of. I think it's better to keep things on the peaceful side of town.

[Andrew]

Absolutely. And also, like, keep it. I think about this sometimes too. Like, I think about how I act around my neighbors. And obviously I've run into some little tensions here and there with various neighbors, but I also think about, like, oh, but all of my neighbors are. None of them are playing loud music like you say. You know, there's like a neighbor kind of across the street who. I think they have band practice night once every couple of weeks, whatever. And I can kind of hear the. The sound of them probably in a basement or something, like kind of wafting up. And it's kind of loud, but it's not that big of a deal. But aside from that, like, I don't have, like, what if. What if this guy moved or, you know, whatever, and then somebody who was a motorcycle enthusiast moved in next door to you? Luke, like, think about it from that perspective too. Like, you're pretty lucky with the kind of. The noise and the upkeep and everything around.

[Luke]

Well, and not to mention the fact that they have a no King sign is so heartening to me. I mean, because I think, God, if they moved out and some like, super Maga dude moved in or somebody, maybe it's, you know, a group of like, I don't know, some bunch of guys in their 20s, somebody buys the house, but then they rent it out and just like a bunch of dudes in their twenties who are always just like playing music super loud and like, like you said, working on their motorcycles outside or want to park a bunch of non running cars everywhere. Like, there's. I'm very lucky that out here in the county where I am, where it is real hit and miss with the kind of neighbors you get. All of the neighbors are fine. People take care of their yards. People are. It's. It's. I'm very lucky in that way. And so I'm. I'm trying to kind of. I'm trying to keep. Keep my eyes on that prize as well. There's a right way to rock. Get a wrong way to roll. You can just listen to your song. Just remember that life is number one. You can be having so much fun.

[Andrew]

Just remember that life is much fun.

[Luke]

You can be nothing but one.

[Andrew]

All right. Alright Luke, let's get into some blurs days here. Quick reminder, if anybody would like to wish themselves or somebody else a happy birthday, you just email me. AndrewBtl.net is the email address and put blurs day in the subject line. All right, let's start off today, Luke, if you'll allow it. From our friend Larry. Larry says.

[Luke]

Is it our pal Larry?

[Andrew]

Actually it certainly is. He even put his last name in there. But I just tend to erase last names from these. I don't know why. This is a policy I set up when we started doing these. I take out last names. It's more folksy this way. I consider myself sort of the modern day Garrison Keeler, but only in the creepy ways.

[Luke]

That's kind of what I assumed.

[Andrew]

Got a limerick here I'd like you to put eyes on. Larry sends blursday salutations to Morgan, a future dad, Larry's future son in law. Yes, those two things are out of order. Oh well, no shame. Future air cooled German car co restorer and present day good human being, loyal partner and smoked meat aficionado. All right, happy blursay, Morgan and congratulations. And also, what's this about you working on German cars? Yes.

[Luke]

What do you know about fuel injection?

[Andrew]

Now it says it's an air cooled. Oh, is that from your farrago car horn?

[Luke]

This is the. Let's see, I've got this too if you need this.

[Andrew]

Wait, is it. Is it called farrago? If you need to get your.

[Luke]

Need to get your train fixed.

[Andrew]

I like that. Like I said, when I grow up I want to drive train. Is it called farrago? No, Frago is a travel. What is the travel. What's the travel curve? There was a guy who was like kind of a guy in his Trivago. Trivago, that's what I was. Trivago. Remember? The spokesperson was sort of like a. Yeah, he had zaddy energy. Bye, John. We liked your movie. This is fun. What if.

[Luke]

Why are they not telling me about the flotation devices?

[Andrew]

Listen, new idea for the podcast. I think it speaks to our strengths, especially mine. You play sound effects and I improvise a scene around the sound effects. How does that sound? Okay, okay, okay. Here we go. Mom, stop making those eggs. No, you don't oprah no you don't, Oprah. Anyway, I'm having too much fun. Too much fun. Anyway, happy Blurs Day, Morgan. Again, congrats, Arlen says. I'd like to offer my help. My heartfelt Blurs day wishes to KM that's my what? Who recently turned the big six five. She worked at UW Medical center for over 25 years as an RN on the swing shift. She has earned her retirement and is enjoying it fully. We now have fun traveling, hosting family and friends, going to Botanical Gardens, meeting up at the local taphouse, and working on our Whidbey island cabin. Ah, love it, Arlen. I think Arlen also had some broken bones recently, right from that bike fall. I don't think I'm confusing my blursdayers. I hope you're healing up well, Arlen. And happy blursday to KM Sheilan, Ithaca says, Happy Blurs day. Oh, Luke, you know what I just thought of as I was swelling? This music. That song we played yesterday, the mood lighting theme got us pulled off of YouTube in Belarus. I took a screen cap. I almost said it to you.

[Luke]

Amazing.

[Andrew]

But it's always Belarus, Sheila, Ithaca says. Oh, I heard that place is gorgeous. Happy birthday to Cindy in Aurora. Today it's your golden Blurs day. Hey, hey, hey. Love that. I hope you have a great day of good wine, sunny skies and warm Seneca Lake water. I miss you and hope we can connect this summer. I'm pretty much wide open. Happy birthday, friendo. I love that kind of message too. Like, hey, just let me know. I'm pretty much wide open. What does your schedule look like? Maybe we'll hear from Cindy. She'll send a message to Sheila that I got to read next week and kind of figuring out our calendar and where we're going to get them together at Lake Seneca. Ethan says, wishing a very happy Blurs day to my daughter, Natalie. Yes, you bring such joy to our lives. The past year has been so much fun, from watching you nail your serves in volleyball to your blossoming love of all things Pokemon. I can't believe you're 8 years old. Happy blursday, Natalie. I don't want to go into detail here because I don't want to be a bummer about Natalie if she's playing Pokemon Go. But I'll just ask you, did you see that article about the information that has been gathered from Pokemon Go and what its applications have been in the real world?

[Luke]

Oh boy, oh boy.

[Andrew]

Are they.

[Luke]

So it's like, are they. Is it all being shared with Securitas? Or something or.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I mean not Securitas Palantir using it. It's Palantir esque, I would say. Do you know that gets back to the plot of. You know, we talk about duplication investigation on the show a lot from the movie Toys. That was the plot of Toys. Basically it's like this. It's this wacky toy company that Robin Williams father ran. But when he dies, Robin Williams becomes in charge but he shares responsibility with some other like co owners or somebody who has some sort of like authority over the toy company and they want to make the toys as little weapons so that they can invade other countries using toys. It's about the intersection of childhood glee and the military industrial complex. Coming up. Coming up on kow, a story about the intersection of childhood glee and the military industrial complex. Alan in green. Nope, this is Allie. That was a typo on my part. Sorry about that. Ally. Ally in Greenville says Jamie's blurs day. It's our friend Jamie. Happy blurs to one of my heroes, Jamie N. She's the best. She most certainly is the best.

[Luke]

Yes. We love her.

[Andrew]

Yes, absolutely. Happy happy blurs day, Jamie. Hope things are going well there down in Columbia.

[Luke]

Hope the sunstroke Sunstroke house.

[Andrew]

Yeah. Hope the docket is full. Cheryl in Corvallis and family want to wish a very happy golden blurs day to Julian who is turning 15 years old today.

[Luke]

Are you kidding me?

[Andrew]

That is golden blursday. I believe these.

[Luke]

These young people are growing up.

[Andrew]

It's like time marches onward. There are so many reasons for us to be proud of you. Your spirit, funny, a caring friend and have a really great heart. I love that we can share interests like collecting Pokemon and playing Fortnite together. You're an awesome young man and we love you so much. Jaybird. Happy birthday.

[Luke]

Andrew. I don't know if you've heard about the Pokemon stuff.

[Andrew]

Do not be ruining. Why would you even bring that up? I really have a problem. I just have this problem. Thoughts pop into my head and I can't not say them even though I know it's not the appropriate time to say them. I just want to know if you had read the article. It's interesting.

[Luke]

Listen, the thing about this job, Andrew, is for us to do this five days a week all year round. We have to just go with the things that come into our brain people. Almost always when I describe what the show is to people like, oh, it's a podcast to do with my buddy used to be a radio show. We do it five Days a week, they go, what do you talk about? How do you fill up those hours? And I go, I don't know. We just do. Somehow. It's like the job requires us to have almost no filter, to have almost no, like, sort of like control over what we talk about. That is how you can do this as much as we do it. But then the downside of it is we also have no control over what we're talking about.

[Andrew]

Having said that, in the middle of Blur's days, can I tell you a story that honestly, in some ways could have been like a leading the show neighbor sort of drama story that I'm going to tell a very abbreviated version of. And we can come back if you want to explore other aspects of this. We have the rest of our lives to do it. But let me tell you the most abbreviated version. There are some neighbors down the street from us who I've known sort of casually. They have a dog named Bruno. This is a couple that's, you know, a bit older than me.

[Luke]

I'm going to say Bruno the bastard hound.

[Andrew]

No, that's Edna May. Like, how could you possibly confuse Bruno and Edma? Come on. No, this is a little. I don't think I've ever brought these folks up on the show before, but I like them. Like I say, kind of an older couple at least than me. Right. And they walk Bruno around. And we have not had a lot of interactions, but since Lucy came home, we've had a lot more interactions. And like, they were excited to meet Lucy and so they, you know, like, Bruno has met Lucy. They don't like, go on puppy dates or anything like that. But it's like this one of many kind of new neighborly relationships that I have now that I really enjoy and cherish that. Cherish is a word I use to describe my relationship with Frank and Diane. But I really do like them. And they live a few doors down and they always kind of go around the neighborhood and kind of check in on people. They know where all the dogs are and everything. And I really enjoy them. Lucy has this thing around dogs. When she meets a new dog, she's actually really great with them. And she sort of reads the room and follows their energy, sort of. But once Lucy knows a dog, she considers that dog to be her friend. And that's where we get into some puppy energy level issues. And the other day I heard Lucy, she was in the front yard and she started barking. She was on a lead and I'm like, what's she barking at? That's not like her. And I go out there, and I see that Bruno and Diane are kind of outside of our house, just kind of. She's taking Bruno for a walk. And so I'm like, oh, they'll say a quick hello. I put Lucy on a leash, take her outside the gate. And Lucy is just like, too much energy. She wants to jump on Bruno, and I'm holding her back, and there's just kind of like. And it's not. It's not. Not aggressive, but it's too much energy, and it's puppy energy. And she's a lot bigger than Bruno. And so I'm just trying to hold her back. And I'm kind of apologizing. I'm like, I'm sorry. She's not usually like this. I think she just likes Bruno now and really wants to play. And it was just Lucy was sort of being a turd in the punch bowl of neighborliness a little bit there with her enthusiasm. But Diane, who knows dogs and has never made me feel bad for any of Lucy's behavior, does kind of, like, go to calm Lucy down a little bit. And Lucy has really sharp nails. We've taken her to. You know, we get her nails cut every few weeks or a couple of weeks or something now. But she is puppy fingernails, right? And she got Diane, and Diane has kind of frail skin, and she's on blood thinners, and so she got Diane. And Diane's like, ooh, ooh, yeah. And Diane is very nice, and she. She's like, oh, no, no, it's my fault. I know better. I've been around dogs. I shouldn't have done that. But she's bleeding, and I'm feeling terrible. I'm like, do you want it? She. She lives a few doors down. Like, do you just want to go home and take care of that, or can I get you anything? She's like, no, no, I'm fine. And then I'm still sort of awkwardly talking about Lucy and her behavior while this woman is bleeding a little bit. And then I realize, oh, my God, I can see blood coming through her white shirt on her. It's on her forearm. I don't know if I said that. I'm sort of indicating that. And again, Diane is being so super chill. She's being, well, super chill, but also saying things like, this is a bad one.

[Luke]

You know what I mean?

[Andrew]

Like, kind of being a little bit frank, but also being very sweet and saying, this is my fault. I know dogs, and I know that she had that energy and I shouldn't have been near, but I'm like, okay, get out of here. Go take care of yourself. I'm just now remembering why I brought this up. So, anyway, that was a week ago or something like that, right? And I have felt so, so terrible about it. And I've been meaning to go to the pet store, maybe find some gifts for Bruno, their dog, and give him a little gift basket or something to apologize. And I finally got around to doing that the other day, and I found what I thought was a good little gift. I wanted a dog toy that was so somewhat thematic, and I couldn't find. And he almost gave up. And then right at the checkout of the PetSmart I was in. Is it PetSmart? There was a chew toy of the little character from the Operation Game. You know, the guy's who's got a thermometer in his mouth. He's got bandages or whatever. And it's not a squeaker. It's more of a. Like, it's a soft toy that makes a crunchy sound or whatever. So I'm like, oh, this is a good gift. I'll put this in the gift bag with them. And then one of these little, like, cookies, one of these frosted dog cookies that look like. Like a shape of a donut or something like that. I found a little. Went next door, got a card in the shape of a dog, wrote a note from Lucy to Diane apologizing, walked it over to them and gave it to him. And Diane really appreciated it and reiterated that everything was all good with us yesterday. These neighbors are walking by my house, and I apologize again. And Diane and Frank are both there with Bruno. And I don't know. I don't know if Lucy. What Lucy's doing. I think she's being relatively calm. But this is where all of this starts about being too frank and not being able to keep things inside. They're starting to walk away. And then Diane says, oh, by the way, Bruno loves that toy that you gave him. Oh, my God, it's so cute. And he loves it. He won't stop playing with it. I'm like, oh, that's so great. Then her husband Frank says, didn't like the cookie, though. Won't eat the cookie. I was just kind of like. I'm like, oh, oh, I'm sorry. And then he just goes on to say, well, he's a picky eater. Doesn't like this. And I just sort of shift the conversation to, like, well, what is Bruno like? And what is Bruno not like? But I loved that he said that it was such an unnecessary thing to say and could be considered like, almost like rude. Like, oh yeah, our dog didn't like that gift you got him. But I know that he didn't mean anything, but he was just like a thought came into his head and he spat it out of his mouth. And that's what I do all the time. And I loved being in a position to give somebody else grace for saying something like that in a situation. It felt like it gave me cover. So for so many dumb, unnecessary. Not that Frank was dumb, but, you know, I mean for so many unnecessary things that I've said in my life, I loved that Frank said, yeah, hated the cookie. That's the end of my story.

[Luke]

It would have been funny if Frank was like, yeah, I didn't like that cookie.

[Andrew]

Bruno loved it. I thought it tasted like.

[Luke]

Yeah, it was gross. I took one bite, said, no, thank you. But the dog was really into it.

[Andrew]

The dog was into it. But I've really been enjoying playing with that doll. All right, last one. Thanks for putting up with that. Marty says by the way, that's going to. I think that little story I threw in there is going to get us to the two hour mark, so.

[Luke]

Oh my God.

[Andrew]

Marty says happy birthday to my wife Jewels in Eugene. Eugene. She's a huge fan of the show and has even stalked. Met Luke on a couple occasions when he was in Eugene doing Livewire. She has been a 10 for so long, I can't remember when she hasn't listened to the show every day. And as such I too have become a big fan. So happy birthday, sweetie sweet. Love to you and I'm sorry. Let me read this again. So happy birthday, sweetie. Happy birthday, sweetie sweetie.

[Luke]

I see.

[Andrew]

Happy birthday, sweetie sweet. Love you to the stars and back, sweetie sweet. All right, Happy Blurs day, everybody. Happy birthday to Jewels and everybody on the list.

[Luke]

Do we almost get to two hours today? I'm not keeping track of these things.

[Andrew]

Well, I could be off a little bit but I am coming in at right now at about 1:59:30.

[Luke]

Luke, we're 1:5930. Is that we need to do. Well, I guess we're going to run a little music so that can be a little bit of music.

[Andrew]

I'll get that going here also. I have to. I have to protect this file. We're recording because for some reason there's no backup to. My backup died on me. It's not accepting and see we can just. Oh, we're going to go to three hours. It's not accepting. It's plugged in, but it's on battery power and the batteries died at some point during the show. So if I don't save this quickly and carefully, there's going to be. We're going to go from two hours to no show.

[Luke]

Okay, well, let's try to. Let's try to preserve as much of the show as we can today because, well, we got to come back here tomorrow and do this whole thing all over again. So let's call this good for today's episode. But. But yeah, hopefully we'll see you all tomorrow for the big Friday wrap up. Oh, yeah, we got a special guest.

[Andrew]

That's right by frog expert.

[Luke]

A listener who is also a frog expert is going to jump on the line and give us info and advice.

[Andrew]

Jump on the line?

[Luke]

Oh, I didn't even think.

[Andrew]

You're a professional. Look it up in the book.

[Luke]

So we'll see you all then. In the meantime, thank you for listening. Have a great Thursday day, everybody. Take care of yourselves. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew]

And good luck to all. Power out.