#4766 Don't Put Old Boats On New Trailers

Summary

TBTL Episode #4766: Don’t Put Old Boats On New Trailers (July 8, 2026)

Episode Overview This episode is a classic TBTL blend of personal storytelling, lighthearted banter, and introspection. Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh dig into recent home and “pool” projects, the anxieties of having a friend visit, the unexpected arrival of a free boat, and the emotional rollercoaster of revisiting their own podcast episodes. Listeners also get a bonus: hilarious, meandering asides about car repair, surprise fees, and the enduring comfort that the TBTL community offers its creators. The episode is rich with vulnerability, comedic asides, and a strong sense of camaraderie.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pets and Podcasting (04:00–06:14)

• Andrew experiments with having Lucy, his dog, in the “studio” as a new pod-listener, following years of being “neg’d” by his cat.

  “One skill that I am learning is I’ve learned how to play fetch and podcast at the same time. But don’t worry, I’m not the one fetching the ball. I’m the one throwing the ball.” — Andrew (05:45)

• Lucy’s maturation marks a shift in Andrew’s household, adding a sense of calm and companionship during recording.

2. The Hosts on Listening to Their Own Show (06:43–11:00)

• Luke and Andrew admit they rarely listen to TBTL unless curiosity, insecurity, or the need for a sleep aid strikes.
• Luke describes the experience:

  “Sometimes I’ll kind of think, I wonder what this show sounds like to people … and then I’ll listen to it, a little bit of it. And honestly probably just fall asleep listening to it. I have the experience that many listeners do. It’s a really good sleep aid. Really knocks me right out.” — Luke (07:23)

• They both bashfully discuss the tendency to overthink past episodes—either cringing at self-perceived failures or being surprised by the show’s consistent “fine-ness.”
• Notable moment: Andrew recounts his initial anxiety upon joining as co-host in 2012, especially when seeing negative feedback online, and how re-listening sometimes calmed him (10:48).

3. The Saga of the Backyard Stock Tank “Pool” (12:06–29:38)

• Luke gives a detailed, humorous account of his struggle to convert a livestock stock tank into a home soaking pool.
  • Issues cutting holes in the tank for a filter due to mis-measurement and discovering that reality doesn't match influencer videos.
  • Dependence on advice from his father, Walt, and neighbor Bob, and grappling with his own lack of resilience and persistent self-doubt when facing setbacks.
  • Creative problem solving with swim caps and silicone to ensure watertight seals.
  • The sense of triumph when the filter works and his “pool” is up and running.

“When I tell you the satisfaction I had … I would put this stock tank … pretty close to my excitement about having that swimming pool in Bellingham. It was irrational exuberance.” — Luke (27:20)

• Andrew empathizes, reassuring Luke that influencer perfection is illusory and that DIY frustrations are universal.

4. Insecurity About Hosting Friends and Home Comparison (31:35–36:52)

• Transitioning to the “Top Story” Sounder, Luke opens up about his anxiety over having a successful friend (who owns a stunning historic Portland home) visit, and his fear that his own home improvements won’t measure up to expectations.

"I'm really struggling ... I'm fighting my own insecurity about the fact that this guy has a tremendous amount of … capital, if you will. ... I'm just worried he's going to come over and be, like, in his mind, 'Oh, this is what Becca’s been talking about for the last two years.'" — Luke (33:46)

• Luke expresses self-annoyance at his own insecurity, acknowledging that it’s irrational but persistent.

5. Boat Anxiety and Accumulation (36:52–43:05)

• The “delivery” causing Luke anxiety turns out to be a boat—a gift from the aforementioned friend.
• Luke details the history of his old, decaying wooden Norseman boat, and discusses plans for selling the motor/trailer and dealing with the hassle of storing and using boats.

“Half of this show is me telling stories about my disastrous sea voyages.” — Luke (37:09)

• Andrew jokes about boat owner clichés and suggests possible show titles like “Running Out of BLEEP Money” and “Don’t Put Old Boats on New Trailers.” (38:28)

6. Logistics, Guilt, and Practicalities of Boating (43:05–45:19)

• Luke describes the process of retrieving, launching, and storing the gifted boat, contemplating the practical challenges of transporting it without a proper tow vehicle.

7. Car Repair Rants & Modern Fee Frustrations (45:19–55:22)

• Andrew shares a story about surprise dealership fees and the ubiquity of “slunk” (junk) fees in car repair.

“... I’m just standing out there, I’m holding the paperwork. I’m like, huh, that was more expensive than I thought … but I just think there’s just a lot of lying going on.” — Andrew (51:37)

• Discussion of inattentiveness to bills in restaurants and how easy it is to get overcharged without noticing:

“I’m not detail oriented, and I just … I’m not the kind of person who reads the bill at the restaurant.” — Luke (53:38)

• Luke’s $100 breakfast anecdote highlights how outrageous prices can finally get TBTL's hosts to pay attention.

8. Listener Voicemails & 80s TV Nostalgia (56:00–61:22)

• Email/voicemail segment includes a delightful message from frequent caller Maggie about the TV show Moonlighting and its theme song, with a brief singing interlude and reflections on what ages well (“Oh, boy, does it not hold up. Dear Lord, it had no nothing…” — Maggie, 56:49).
• A heartfelt discussion about Moonstruck (another 80s gem), and a tangent on non-saccharine romance films—plus Andrew’s aversion to montage scenes.

9. Musicals, Nostalgia, and The Nature of Love (61:22–63:53)

• The pair sing the praises of Fiddler on the Roof, discussing its emotional resonance, musical numbers, and the enduring value of watching together with loved ones.
• Luke: “If you get me young enough ... I guess if you get me at age 7 or something, and Becca also grew up watching these same movies, so we will just sometimes be driving down the road just singing deep cuts from Fiddler on the Roof.” (62:31)

10. Nice Listener Feedback and Podcasting Purpose (64:03–66:07)

• Andrew reads a timely text from a mutual friend who returned to TBTL after a long hiatus and found it “still the show and still funny and so great," which bolsters the hosts’ spirits and links back to their earlier anxiety about the product they create.
• Luke: “When this guy comes over to give me a free boat and he looks around … I’ll say, yeah, but guess what? People who sometimes haven’t listened to TBTL for 1600 episodes are happy it’s still happening.” (65:18)
• The episode wraps with the familiar sign-off: “No mountain too tall—good luck to all!”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On podcast self-doubt vs. reality:
  “There’s so much more to this show than just my bullshit ... I mean, I would talk about it at the time, though ... Then I would go back home and I'd be like, oh, this isn't so bad. This wasn't so bad at all.” — Andrew (09:39/10:48)
• On DIY struggles:
  “Why is it that I can’t just do something as effectively as the 22-year-old gal on YouTube who’s just like, this took her like an hour of her life and now everything’s working great?” — Luke (18:24)
• On troubleshooting as reality:
  “Ninety-nine percent of people who do a project like this are learning how to do it on the fly as well … Everything you’re describing is way more reality based than the influencers who make it seem super easy.” — Andrew (22:57)
• On insecurity about home presentation:
  “I’m mad that I would even have that feeling, because who cares? ... Most people don’t think that way. And second of all, why would I be so insecure about something like this?” — Luke (34:03)
• On universal TBTL anxieties:
  “This lives completely in my own head. And I've already said multiple times, I know that. And yet I can't stop my own head from being this terrible place where it's living. And I don't like that either.” — Luke (65:42)
• Maggie on Moonlighting (voicemail):
  “I did try to watch it as an adult recently, and oh boy, does it not hold up. Dear Lord, it had no nothing … but, man, did I love it in the 80s.” — Maggie (56:49)
• On breakfast sticker shock:
  “When they handed it to me, I literally was just going to sign it because I was just like, they sent me the bill. And then I was like, I said to Becca, I go, it’s $100 for that breakfast. She goes, what?” — Luke (54:31)
• Listener feedback putting things in perspective:
  “I just love that show opening chat can still last 58 minutes. And that you still say, I don't have a Doug on this flight, which is a phrase I still use.” — Andrew, reading listener text (64:12)

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Pets and Podcasting: 04:00–06:14
• Host Reflections on Listening to Own Show: 06:43–11:00
• Stock Tank Pool Project Story: 12:06–29:38
• Anxiety About Hosting Friends / House Comparison: 31:35–36:52
• The Boat Delivery / Old vs. New Boats: 36:52–43:05
• Car Repair Surprises and Modern Fees: 45:19–55:22
• Listener Voicemails on Moonlighting: 56:00–58:23
• Discussion on Moonstruck and Montages: 58:24–61:22
• Musicals and Nostalgia: 61:22–63:53
• Listener Feedback and Closing Thoughts: 64:03–66:07

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Tone and Style

The episode showcases Luke and Andrew’s trademark blend of self-deprecation, earnestness, and comic digressions. There’s an underlying warmth that values vulnerability, genuine friendship, and the absurdities of everyday life. Listeners are drawn in by candid, personal stories that reflect both the anxieties of adulthood (DIY failures, home comparison, financial worries) and the joys of simple accomplishments and shared community.

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Summary:
This episode is a microcosm of what TBTL does best—turning the mundane, the vulnerable, and the laughably human into engaging radio. Longtime “tens” and casual listeners alike will find plenty to relate to, both in the show’s reassurance that “the podcast is fine” and in its message that sometimes “you don’t need a swimming pool—maybe you just need a stock tank.” And, as always, no mountain too tall. Good luck to all.

Transcript

[Various NPR Hosts]

Okay. From npr news in washington, I'm dave mattingly. And I'm jax beer.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm nora raum.

[Various NPR Hosts]

I'm liking you.

[Maggie from the Middle Shelf]

From

[Various NPR Hosts]

larry. From npr news, I'm jeanine hirsch. Damn.

[Luke Burbank]

It isn't it.

[Various NPR Hosts]

Isn't it jeanine herbst. I'm jeanine herbst. I'm in for larry mantle. That's a good one. I'm ari shapiro. I'm windsor johnston. I'm mary louise hirsch.

[Luke Burbank]

No, it's mary louise kelly.

[Various NPR Hosts]

I'm mary louise kelly. This is marketplace. Ari colvin. That sounds like it should be one. I'm rachel martin. Maureen mckinney. On the BBC news out. Is that jack spear? This is marketplace with sabre ben ashore. And I'm kyrizdahl. Once you say one, then I can't. That. That's the only one here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Various NPR Hosts]

On all things considered. I'm elsa jay. And I'm david barncaccio. It's weekend edition. I'm aisha roscoe.

[Luke Burbank]

Love.

[Various NPR Hosts]

Ayesha roscoe. Ari shapiro.

[Andrew Walsh]

Steve inski.

[Various NPR Hosts]

This is weekend edition. I'm scott horsley. I'm lakshmi singh. I'm lakshmi singh. I'm scott simon. Zayn martinez. And I'm windsor johnston. And I'm still dave mattingly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Gbtl. Hey, you either get it or you don't. And I don't. But I am so excited to be a part of it.

[Luke Burbank]

It's romantic and it's full of these sort of situations which turns out to be that's very interesting, very scary at times, but also a lot of romance

[Andrew Walsh]

and really well made. Can I blow your mind right now? Chris is laughing because he knows where

[Luke Burbank]

I'm going with this. It's nothing like when your lips contact a skinless strawberry.

[Andrew Walsh]

You understand that the strawberry was created to be love.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't even know what that means.

[Andrew Walsh]

No one knows what it means, but it's provocative.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Wednesday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. The words mean nothing. My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's got ribs like he just does.

[Luke Burbank]

Coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio perched high above the mighty Columbia, where it's kind of a cloudy but I realized muggy day here. I feel warm and I'm levitating. On this Wednesday, I'm halfway through giant container of sliced watermelon to try to regulate my body temperature and put me in the exact right physical and mental space to present to all of you episode 4766 in a collector series. Let the fun begin. Counting it down. Just a couple more days before we head to Valley city, Ohio for TBT. Elephant 17 Jumping for joy, where we will be there as part of the Valley City Frog Jump Festival. In the meantime, though, we've got some food news to talk about on the show today. Welcome to Food News today. Apparently, Pizza Hut is tired of getting out Pizza Ed and they're gonna try to do something about it. They are going to. Well, we'll tell you in a moment. Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the pizza. I don't want to hide the pickle on you, but you're gonna just have to listen to hear what Pizza Hut is doing. Also, seven Eleven, you know that paragon of incredible design and branding, seven Eleven is very mad that Nike is, they say, ripping them off for some of their shoes. How dare you. We'll talk about what's going on there and we'll talk to this guy. He's always got a story on a Wednesday morning. He's the longest running cobra of the

[Andrew Walsh]

show from my point of view.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a beautiful story. I love your story. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning, Luke. After years of being neg'd by my cat, who apparently loves me to death but does not love me as a podcaster and leaves the room every time I crack a microphone, we're trying it out with another pet. We got Lucy down here today. She's been chewing on ice cubes and chewing on some bone here that our friend Katie gave her as a gift this weekend. And she looks pretty blissed out and is enjoying herself.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a big step. Lucy has never audited the podcast before, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

No. You know, I was thinking about this. It's kind of hard to explain, but I feel like literally in the past, I, I don't know, five days or so, Lucy has gone, has made some major strides in going from being a puppy to our dog, which I didn't. I don't know if that really makes sense, but like, there was just one when she was a brand new puppy. As I talked about a lot on the show, she had to be, like, kind of constantly watched and constantly cared for. And, you know, if you turned your back on her, she might be peeing somewhere or she might be, you know, rummaging through a garbage can and getting into stuff she doesn't isn't supposed to get to. She's a relatively well behaved dog. We haven't had any, like, major. Like, a major disaster or anything about her chewing anything that she shouldn't be chewing that's been super valuable or anything. I hear horror stories about that. She's been pretty good, but she was still a puppy. And now, I don't know, this weekend, I told you, I was working out in the yard for almost, like, four days straight, and, like, just had her with me at all times. It was just kind of like, wherever I went, she would go. And now the basement is, like, a place where she can be. And we could trust her not to treat the basement like the outdoors, AKA a toilet, if you know what I mean. And so yesterday, Genevieve and I had to record a couple of episodes of after these messages because I'm gone next week. And so that was a long time. We're just like, let's just see what happens. Let's just let her down here. And she was very chill. She was very chill for the first episode. A little rambunctious. One skill that I am learning is I've learned how to play fetch and podcast the same time. But don't worry, I'm not the one fetching the ball. I'm the one throwing the ball. But, yeah, and then today, I'm just like, why don't you just come down here with me? Chew on your little bone, Listen to one. Listen to the. Hate to say it, but the best side of the TBTL podcast. Sorry, Luke, they're both good, but, you know, Lucy prefers my side, and that's what we're doing. We're just chilling.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, she hasn't had the option. Really?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I mean, honestly, I think it's unfair of you to make that judgment when she has not been presented with, you know, my side of the podcast.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, she does hear me editing the podcast, which means she hears me editing out.

[Luke Burbank]

She hears cutting out the parts where I'm talking.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, not where you're talking, but your best parts. I just want to make sure that you're never putting your best foot forward. So you have.

[Luke Burbank]

You.

[Andrew Walsh]

You don't listen to tbtl, do you? You don't know what I'm leaving.

[Luke Burbank]

No, not a fan.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's not really for me. I. Sometimes to go to sleep. Do you ever listen to it just to go to sleep.

[Luke Burbank]

I've told you this before, and it's just kind of embarrassing. But the times when I am most apt to listen to the show, which might be. I mean, honestly, maybe two times in a year, it'll be. Maybe I'VE had a few small beers and I get in some kind of a weird feeling where it's sort of like the thing we were referring to the other day of like, if somebody starts following you on Instagram.

[Various NPR Hosts]

Yep.

[Luke Burbank]

You might go look at your own Instagram to try to get a sense of what that person's experience is. Is becoming a follower of yours on Instagram. Sometimes I'll kind of think, I wonder what this show sounds like to people.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yep, yep, I get that.

[Luke Burbank]

And then I'll listen to it, a little bit of it. And honestly probably just fall asleep listening to it. I have the experience that many listeners do. It's. It's a really good sleep aid. Really knocks me right out.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what we hear. Yeah, that. So those are the occasions for me too. Again, it's very, very rare, but it would be like, maybe if I realize somebody, you know, a friend of mine from IRL or something is tuning in. I might be curious. Oh, what did we sound like on any particular day or the other time I'll find myself doing it is it'll usually be like two days after I've told some sort of major stem winder. You know, I don't mean my usual just hog in the mic bs. I just mean like editing me out, showing up for your dog. No, but you know what I mean. Like, I'm trying to think of a good example. Like, I haven't had one in a while, maybe, thankfully. But like, remember that one show where I had, speaking of dogs, the kind of dog sitting adventure that did not go very well and it was very dramatic, at least in my interpretation of events. And so that ended up just being like an hour of me just telling you a singular story, sort of. Sometimes it'll be like, I'll do that. And then that night I'll think, oh, yeah, God, I wonder how that came out. And then I don't touch it. But then maybe like two nights later I'll be like, probably wasn't that bad. Right. And then I just listen to the beginning of it and then you hear the drops at the beginning and you're like, there's so much more to this show than just my bullshit. So I don't know why I said BS before. The show is getting bluer as. As I go on in front of your. I know.

[Luke Burbank]

Young dog whose virginal ears have never heard such things as the BS word.

[Andrew Walsh]

See? And you're keeping it. Oh, I'm gonna cut that out. But I appreciate you keeping it clean for her. But anyway, Then I'll do that. And then you remember, like, oh, it's more than just the one flub. I said here, like, yesterday I flubbed. Remember, I made several mistakes. I believe I referred to the January 5th riots. That will live with me forever. I mean, it's just. It was just a small flub. But again, I don't believe I'm going around referring to the 912 attacks or anything. It's just sort of. And so that'll live with me. But then I got to remember, wait, there is, like, 90 minutes of other things around that, you know, and so it's like.

[Luke Burbank]

So generally when you. When you go back and listen, it's kind of calm.

[Andrew Walsh]

It.

[Luke Burbank]

Usually you. You leave that experience feeling a little bit less bad about whatever thing was kind of stressing you out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Usually now. And again, I'm not talking about the flubs, like, yesterday. I'm talking more about, like, if I told a long story. I'm like, I don't know, man. But if I get, like, real rat, a tat tatty, and I, you know, I'm in the middle of a story, and I'm not even paying attention to which words I'm using anymore. I go back, I'm like, okay, that. That wasn't too bad. I will be honest with you. That is. The majority of the time, I feel better. There are times where I'm like, oh, I wonder. I should listen to TL and I put it on. I'm just like, oh, God. And then I'm just like, I gotta turn this off. I'm annoying myself. Why am I doing this to myself in my off time? You know, for me, it would be

[Luke Burbank]

maybe more the opposite, where it's like, there's something where I was like, man, I really. I nailed that. Like, when I said that, that was so funny, or that interaction, or, like, I'm thinking something was maybe a piece of tape or something was really good. And then I'll go back and listen. I'll be like, that was kind of fine. I'm going back to pat myself on the back. And then I realized, that's all right. And you're going back because you've been beating yourself up and you're like, well, it's fine. It turns out we meet in the middle. Yes, fine.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, guess what? The podcast is fine. I mean, I'm making it sound like this is. Well, no, I mean, we set this up. I think it's pretty rare that I go back and listen, but it was much more when I was brand new on the show. This is taking me back to, like, what was it, 2012 when I started working with you, like, in your studio in Mount Baker? You know, I show up there either after our shift at Cairo or before my night shift to Cairo, depending on the era. But when I was brand new, I mean, you know, I was sitting there. I was a listener of tbtl. I almost said fan. I was a listener of TBTL leading up to that, you know, it was a big deal to be on the show, especially in sort of like a regular role like that. And, you know, Jen was gone. A lot of listeners were like, we miss Jen. We don't love this dude. Which is totally fine. And there was just, like, a lot going on. You know, I was on Facebook at the time, and so I was seeing the feedback, and there's a lot going on. And I would leave the Mount Baker studio feeling really bad. Like, bad bad. Well, you know, I mean, I would talk about it at the time, though, too, I think. And then I would go back home and I'd be like, oh, this isn't so bad. This wasn't so bad at all. So I did sort of learn early on in my TBTL thing that if I'm feeling bad, go back and listen. It's probably not that bad sometimes. Like I say every now and then, you're like, oh, shit.

[Luke Burbank]

If this podcasting thing doesn't work out, I think I may have a future Andrew in spa and pool technology, because I pulled something off over the last couple of days that I was very proud of, which is, you know, that, like, maybe. I guess it was maybe last summer, I bought one of those big stock tanks. It's like that big metal round thing that if you have livestock, you fill it up with water and they come drink out of it in the, like, you know, pasture or whatever. But it's become kind of in style for people to kind of trick them out and turn them into little, like, I guess you could say, soaking tubs or something. I mean, you couldn't call it a swimming pool. You can't swim in it, but you can sit in it. And it does cool you down, I'll tell you, on a hot summer day. Because, you know, they're probably, I don't know, three, maybe. Maybe three feet tall, three and a half feet tall. So I bought one of those, and it was actually pretty fun. Me and my parents were sitting in it on some really hot days. The problem is you fill it with clean water, and then, like, literally after one day, the water is Getting kind of. It's not that it's brackish, it's not turning green. It's just that there's so much particulate in the air. You know, cottonwood and just like dust and dirt and things and dead bugs and like, pretty soon it's just kind of like the water is really gross. And so I'd noticed that some people I saw online had put a, like a pool filter on these things. You know, you can hook up a full filter, which kind of moves the water around and sucks it into this one tube. And then the kind of filter that I bought is a sand filter. It's got this kind of egg shaped thing that's full of this particular kind of silica. That, by the way, does not come with the filter.

[Andrew Walsh]

I learned the sand does not come,

[Luke Burbank]

which is probably is not included.

[Maggie from the Middle Shelf]

Good.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because there'd be a lot of. There'd be a lot of shipping cost for something.

[Luke Burbank]

That sand is heavy. Yeah, it's incredibly heavy, actually. I didn't expect that. So I had to go get the sand. You fill it up and. And then, you know, the idea is it sort of filters the pool and keeps it kind of clean. Now I started off, I was gonna cut these holes and I was trying to figure out. For some reason, I wasn't actually, I wasn't home when I was doing this. Maybe I was at Home Depot getting something else. And I realized, oh, I want to try to do this project. So I need to buy a hole saw. I need to buy. Not a hole saw, but, you know, like that round kind of.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, like a blade. It's not a drill bit. It's not like the big round drill bit that you put.

[Luke Burbank]

It is actually, interestingly enough, it is. It's. It's a big round circle and it has a drill bit in the middle of it. If you can. If you can imagine that. And that goes onto your drill and. Yes. You know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So I think what happened, I didn't. I didn't have the measurements on me. I hadn't measured it and gone to Home Depot to buy this. But while I was there, I was like, I should just get that. So I go onto Amazon, which is where I bought the filter, and I'm looking up the specs on it, and it says inch and a half, you know, like tubes or pipes. I'm okay. So I get this little hole saw thing, whatever you want to call it, whole blade. That is an inch and a half. And then I get home, and then I figure out where I want to put these holes, and I drill through the side of the stock tank, and there's no going back from that. And then I go get the pipes, the little things, and I realize they're way too big for this. Like, it technically might be an inch and a half, but the actual. For whatever reason, the actual. To push this thing through, because you push it through from one side, and then you tighten it down on the other side, it kind of clamps it together kind of, you know, along the wall of the. Of the stock tank, it's more like three inches. The. It needs a much larger opening. And I don't know how I got confused, but. So I go. And then I buy a larger kind of saw blade that's now like, two and a half inches. And I think, okay, I'll just kind of, like, push this in, and I'll just. I'll widen these holes. You can't do that, because you need. When you're doing this initially, the. The. The. The drill bit is drilling into the metal, and then it's gripping, and it's pulling the wider saw blade along with it. So if there's. If that. If that drill bit is just going

[Andrew Walsh]

into the void, it's got nothing to grip on.

[Luke Burbank]

It's got nothing to grip. So I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Because this is, like, way too hard to try to snip this with tin snips or file it out, because it needs to be, like, twice as big as it is. So, of course, I have to call Walt. Like, I'm 10 years old, and. And he's like, well, what you probably got to do is, like, clamp a board to the side of the stock

[Andrew Walsh]

tank, Give the bit something to grab

[Luke Burbank]

on, something to deal with, and then you drill into that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Look at Walt.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm telling you, that guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

And he.

[Luke Burbank]

And he says this thing very casually. He's like. Like, he's done this a million times. Like, he's, you know, he's been, you know, whatever, cutting into sheet metal on stock tanks for his whole life. He goes, another thing is, you don't want it. Like, don't jam. Like, don't use a bunch of force. You almost want to kind of let the. The saw blade almost kind of just wear down the metal.

[Various NPR Hosts]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

For. I don't know. I was like, okay, whatever, dude. And then when I started doing this, that was exactly right, because if I would push it down too hard, it would just kind of lock up. It kind of. For some reason, it wouldn't cut properly.

[Andrew Walsh]

It would be.

[Luke Burbank]

I'd have to almost be feathering it and kind of just letting it barely touch the metal. I don't have to do with the metal heating up, but even down to just, like, don't press on it too hard. He was right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So. So I'm trying to. I got this wood clamped on there. I got my headphones, and I'm listening to Robbie Hoffman being interviewed on the New York Times interview show now. Big floppy hat on.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm surprised that you're listening to headphones during. Like, I listen to headphones during, you know, all kinds of, like, tedious tasks. Once you get into it, you know, mowing the lawn, like, that's fine. But, like, a project like this, you have one little task that you're doing that is kind of like, you got to get it right. You know what I mean? You can. If you mess it up, your whole thing is sort of messed up. I'm surprised that you're not like, your ear buds out, like, full, focused attention on this task.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, sometimes I do that for some reason. I also. I just put my headphones in, and I'm wandering around the yard. I'm going down the basement to get stuff. I end up at the stock tank. But it was kind of. Of like, I was just. That was just what was going on. Of course, I did stop listening because Bob came over, and I was like, please do not look at me in my shame as I try to, like, fix this thing that I've already screwed up. And I've talked about this plenty of times on the show, but it's like, I mean, we've done so much remodeling here at my house, but that's always been under the watchful eye of Walt Burbank. And also it's been Walt Burbank doing it. Like, there's very few things that I just, like, tackle as a project by myself, and it goes okay. And a thing that was kind of frustrating me about this was, well, I'll get to that part of the story in a moment. But it's like, I just feel embarrassed about my. I don't know, construction skills, remodeling skills, modification skills. I just seem to always do everything a little bit wrong. Like this. I somehow cut the hole too small, and now it's really hard to figure out how to expand the hole. Like, nothing ever just kind of goes. And what it was also was I've watched a bunch of videos of people doing this to their stock tank pools, and they are generally, like, 22 year old women who are very conventionally cute, who are like, have like painted their stock tank like some kind of pink and, you know, blue stripes and it's all cute. And they're like, hey, I put, and I put a filter in and it's all. And it like provides them with. Absolutely. There are no challenges to it. They just like drill into the thing and then they hook it up and then it's working and it's this cute little scene in their backyard and I'm like, I'm 50 years old. Why is it that I. Why is it that I can't just do something as, as effectively as the 22 year old gal on YouTube who's just like, this took her like an hour of her life and now everything's working great.

[Andrew Walsh]

Real question, and I don't know if this is like obvious or whatever, but like, my assumption is, especially for these like influencer videos, this isn't their first. Are they, do you get the impression that they're filming it their very first time trying it? Are they trying to like kind of make it seem like this is the first time I've tried this and it's coming out perfectly or they know what they're doing. Like anybody who makes like a how

[Luke Burbank]

to video, well, unless they have like a bunch of stock tanks lined up, like, these aren't stock tank influencers, if that makes any sense. It's just somebody at their house who's like, hey, I set this up and I'm going to show you how I did it. So I do think that, I think in this case, the couple of them that I watched, my sense was these people were just doing it for the first time and they just had measured properly what they needed to do instead of being at Home Depot, not having the information, trying to get it off of Amazon, you know, getting the information wrong. Bob is now walking over. I'm wrestling with this like hole saw and this wood and I'm trying to like cut through it and it's kind of not going great. It's like the drill is heating up. The drill is like a $250 drill. The stock tank was $200. It's like if I ruin a 250 drill.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, you can burn the motor out on those things.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. So I'm just like. And then Bob's coming over like, I'm like, please, sir, do not, please do not observe me in this time of shame. So then I'm explaining to him, I'm like, yeah, I cut the holes too small. The first time. And then it's really hard to recut them because there's nothing for the drill bit to grab. He's like, oh, yeah, yeah, it'll happen. And, you know, so he's just kind of watching me for a while and I'm kind of working away on it. And eventually I actually managed to expand the hole to the size it needs to be. But because I just managed to always do things slightly wrong. What this now means, initially when I had cut. When I had cut the holes, I had specifically put them at a certain level of the stock tank because I wanted to make sure that they did not ever find themselves those holes below the water line. I did not want to make them too high up on the walls of the tank. Whereas if there was evaporation in the summertime and the pump is running and then there's no water because the. You know, so I wanted them to be low enough that they would never be. They would. The water line would never drop beneath where they are. And that was all fine and good when it was an inch and a half hole. But now, because I've made them a 3 inch hole, it has moved one of the holes into this weird. This is very hard to explain, but when they make these stock tanks, you know, they roll these things out, this metal and there are these different kind of like contours to it and like a. A kind of a. I don't know what you would call it, but like basically almost like pleat sort of something. Yes, exactly. Exactly. There's basically like a pleat that now I'm. The hole is going into the pleat, which means when I'm trying to cinch down the fitting for the whole thing, it's not just going against a flat surface. Yeah. It's now going against a surface where the lower part of the circle of this. Of this vent thing that I'm screwing in is now hanging out in space. It's now hanging out over a divot.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. It's not flush. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And it's just like. And I'm just like, why, why does everything. Why does everything have to be so hard? Why do I have to make everything. Why I have to do everything wrong? So I'm talking to Bob.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, and again, I should just save this for the end. But like, I can hear your anguish here. But like, this is all so universal. The feeling of frustration that you're feeling is real. But also, I hope that at least, you know, and it sounds like we're going somewhere with this. But like, also Everything you're describing is way more reality based than the influencers who make it seem super easy, you know, I mean like 99% of people who do a project like this are learning how to do it on the fly as well and hit that moment where they're like, ah, shit, I f this up. You know what I mean? And like. Anyway, but, but continue, because I can.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you're. I think you're right. I think it's. It would be good for me to remember that. I also think I just am very. What's the opposite of resilient? I am really non resilient around stuff like this. I was telling you there was something else the other day, that it was such a small thing, but it was. Oh, it was the lawnmower. It was, you know, it was that lawnmower that my friends Spring and Scott gave me that, you know, after the first time I used it, didn't want to start up. And I just was gonna, well, I guess I gotta go to Home Depot and get a new one. And then involved me just getting some starting fluid from my neighbor Bob and starting it up. And it was like, even something as small as that, it's just like I'm just so easily sort of like dispirited by any kind of a hiccup in a project. And even when my dad's working on stuff, what I'm not really clocking is that he's always hitting bumps in the road. There's always a thing that is like, oh, this doesn't work the way we thought it was going to work, or I got to do this different. Like that just comes with the territory. But when it happens to me, I think it just ties into some sort of deep like insecurity around this stuff and feeling of kind of inadequacy. And so, yes, this is happening to people all the time. I'm just especially bad at rolling with it. So. So I'm just like, I can't believe that after all this, I've now ruined this in some way. I've made this so that it's not like it's not. There's going to be water dripping out of it. But Bob was like, you know, if you get a little like inner tube or some kind of rubber, you could probably put it under that part of the clamp and you could kind of tighten it down. I'm like, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was thinking, I was thinking putty or something. I was thinking like some sort of water silicone. Yeah, like something like that.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I. I'LL tell you, I did that too. I really went to town with the silicone. But. But yeah, so then I went my base. I'm looking around, I find a swim cap that I. That I wore. Actually, I don't even think I wore it. I think it was a souvenir swim cap from the South Beach Rowing Club, which was when I did that cold water swim in San Francisco. I got a swim cap from them. So I'm like, oh, this is like an inner tube. So I, I sort of carefully, I cut up a little section of this, of this rubber, you know, whatever you want to call it, kind of swim cap thing. And I kind of make it into this little square and I get a bunch of silicone and I basically kind of silicone it into this one area. And then I tighten this thing down and I do all the silicone around it too. I mean, I go really nuts with that. So it's very, very, hopefully watertight. I go to the other one. There's. It has its own little problems, different than the other one. But I figure it out, like, I've got to really tighten this nut down so that I can put this other kind of piece on it that doesn't want to go on. And again, I hit this point where I'm like, well, this is never going to work. And then I just kind of like, problem solved. It worked on a little bit more. Kind of got it to work. I hook up the. The tubes. And then this was another thing. I really wanted to fill the stock tank to see if these things were going to hold. But I went online and they said, you need to let silicone dry for 24 hours.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. That's the waiting. Hardest part.

[Luke Burbank]

It was because I just wanted to know how screwed this thing was. But I was like, don't burbs. Do not do that. Just let it just. Just go do something else. Leave it alone for 24 hours to let. Give it the best chance of success. And so yesterday, it had been 24 hours. Went out there, started the water running in the morning. It takes a long time to fill up this big tank. And by afternoon, the water line had moved above where the vents were. And it was the moment of truth. And I went around to the back of the stock tank where the hose is coming out, and there was nary a leak.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. Either of them.

[Luke Burbank]

And then even more satisfying, I plugged in the pump and I turned it on and it shot to life and immediately started circulating the water. I think it's like a little More pump than you need for this stock tank, which is kind of what I wanted. It just starts circular aerating. It comes with this kind of like, aerating nozzle. So it's just like. It's kind of a nice water feature. Kind of this nice bubbling sound. It's putting these air bubbles into the water. It's doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It's circulating the water. It's coming. You know, it's being pulled out. And it was. The water was sparkling blue. And as the Mariners were absolutely crapping the bed in extra innings by pitching to a guy they had no business pitching to, I just walked outside and just stared at my crystal blue, beautiful stock tank pool, which is going to be now clean all summer. And I can lounge in it and I can sit in it. And when I tell you the satisfaction I had. You know, my old house in Bellingham, of course, I was always talking about how it had a swimming pool. That was one of the main appeals of that house to me. And that was a pretty nice, in ground, like, big 1950s swimming pool. And I loved that thing. It was my very favorite thing about living there, pretty much. And I would float in it in the summer almost every day. I liked looking at it. It was a very grand feature of the home. I would put this stock tank. I would put the satisfaction that I had watching this water circulate in the stock tank pretty close to my excitement about having that swimming pool in Bellingham. It was irrational exuberance. The feeling that when all of this crap that I was setting up and breaking and almost making it non functional, but somehow figuring out how to make it work when it all worked and I just saw that water circulating. I tell you what, I felt so good.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's great. Yeah. And because. And also, you didn't build that pool in Bellingham. It was beautiful. But you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if you had that sense of accomplishment around it at all.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I mean, I just like. I guess also what it is is a lesson for me. And I don't always need so much because, like, sitting in this little converted livestock water tank, sitting in it on a hot summer day is very satisfying. Like, it. It feels really good. And it's.

[Andrew Walsh]

It.

[Luke Burbank]

It's not quite as nice as having a swimming pool with a diving board and all that stuff, but it's. It's like. It's like 80% of the enjoyment, and it's so much less of the hassle and expense and all those things. Like Maybe that's a lesson for me too, that sometimes I think I. I need a swimming pool and maybe I just need a stock tank. Like that might be enough.

[Andrew Walsh]

That could be like. That could be like a.

[Luke Burbank]

That's my motivational.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Or kind of a guiding principle of your life going forward. Now, I hesitate to ask this because I could really mess up the show by. By sending you on a different story or a story you no longer want to talk about. But I'm just curious. I've actually been curious since yesterday's show. Remember how we had a conversation. I'm telling way too much here, but anyway, remember how we had a conversation, like at the one hour mark of yesterday's show about whether or not you should hit the top story Sounder? I was like, absolutely, you should hit. We haven't gotten the top stories because I thought the thing you had written on the show sheet as like sort of top of show chat was the World cup, but that was actually supposed to be a top story. You had something else on your mind at the beginning of yesterday's show. And I will read directly from the show notes if that is not a violation of your privacy. Here. It said, Luke is getting ready for this.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a hippo violation for some reason.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a hippo violation because it involves hippos. It says Luke is getting ready for a delivery that has him fighting some feelings. And I'm curious if. Was it to this filter that you were waiting on, or is this a totally different thing and you no longer want to talk about it?

[Luke Burbank]

And I've been going back and forth. I've been going back and forth on. On. If I want to talk about.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I really did it. I really did it. I put you on the spot. You want me to cut this out?

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, no minutes of beepington. Generally speaking, yes. Just three minutes of Buster Blue thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then at the end you just say, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

[Luke Burbank]

I've been going back and forth about talking about this for a couple of reasons, but usually when we kind of don't want to talk about something, that's usually the indication that it's. There's something kind of compelling there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because I know I do want to take you off the spot. Like, if you want to, we can totally. Okay, yeah. You don't have to talk about anything you don't want.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it's kind of usually. No, I think it's kind of interesting. But let me do this just for, you know, for for the. For the Sonic idea of the show, make this the Top story.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

So there's two things here that I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about, and one of them. The first thing is it just kind of feels almost like it's related to. It's like one neighborhood over from what I was just talking about with the pool, about how I'm kind of insecure about my ability to sort of do home projects and things like that. And so I'm wondering if this is just more of Luke kind of bemoaning his emotional and mental state. But. But I have a friend coming over later today, a friend of mine, and he is really a super sweet guy, and he and his wife have become really good friends, Becca and I. But they live in an unbelievably beautiful home in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, which is kind of like Queen Anne or maybe Madison Park. Like a really lovely historic neighborhood with old, historic homes. And they just have a beautiful home that they've. You know, after they bought it, they remodeled it. They live in the kind of house that Becca and I have taken an Uber to their house for a party before. And the Uber driver has said, my goodness, what a home. He's somebody who's been very, very successful in business, in his life. And they were supposed to come over. We went out on their boat in the summertime in the Columbia, on the mighty Columbia. In fact, we parked on this little beach that I'm actually looking at right now from the Madrona Hill studio. We had a lovely afternoon, and we were supposed to come back to the house and have some dinner, and it just. The day got away from us. It was kind of late, and we ended up skipping it. And I'll tell you, honestly, I was very relieved because I am very. I'm fighting my own insecurity about the fact that this guy has a tremendous amount of sort of capital, if you will. But also, you know, they both. They drive incredibly normal cars. They are careful with what they spend money on. They've donated to livewire when it was, you know, really kind of financially in a pinch like these. These people are so incredibly understated about things and are not opulent at all or they don't flaunt things. But I'm really struggling with the fact that, like, I know Becca's been saying, oh, Luke's been fixing this house up, and it's been this big conversation, and I'm, like, really battling this feeling of not wanting to. Of feeling Kind of like wanting to downplay the house or wanting to, like. I don't know. I'm just worried he's going to come over and be, like, in his mind, oh, this is what Becca's been talking about for the last two years. And I'm also mad that I would even have that feeling, because who cares? First of all, most people don't think that way. And second of all, why would I be so insecure about something like this? So that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

And thirdly, your place is beautiful. Like, imagine bringing him to my place.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's not true. Your place is awesome.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I mean, I love my place, too, but, like, you know, I'm broadcasting from a musty basement, you know?

[Luke Burbank]

Like, the reason here's the only reason that I'm having these feelings about this is because all that. All that this guy and his wife have been hearing for, like, the last two years is Luke has been working on remodeling this, you know, dream home or something. And I think that kind of gives slightly the wrong impression. It is a really nice house now. It's lovely. I really love being here, but it's like, I just get insecure about somebody, particularly somebody who has themselves an incredible home, kind of. I don't know what he's expecting, but whatever it is, I'm. I'm. I'm nervous about him having an expectation that will not be met. And then I'm mad at myself that I care about that kind of stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

And there's no chance that they would be hearing this conversation. Or is this another level?

[Luke Burbank]

That's part of why I was considering not talking.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's why we can still edit it all out. We can roll back. We can roll. We can roll. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm so sorry, everyone. Although you can't even hear me apologizing, because this is also BLEEP Luke.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have to do well in the TV telephone, because I'm running out of BLEEP money. Do you have any idea how expensive this is?

[Luke Burbank]

The swear jar. All of our income is going into the swear jar right now. You know, I would say. Here's the thing. I would say this to these folks face, because this is about me. This is about my own weird insecurity. And by the way, there's lots of people that I would bring out to this place, and I would be so proud of this place. You know, it's not that I don't love this house. I really do. It's that there's a handful of people that I know that have Just been much more successful financially in life than I have. And in those moments, it's very challenging for me to not feel insecure about that, which, again, is a really weird thing coming for me because I've had a lucky life and I get to do a lot of fun stuff, and that just shouldn't be a factor in my mind. And the fact that it is. I really don't like that for myself. And the fact that I've been thinking for weeks about when he's going to come by and how's it going to look. I've just been obsessing over it in a way that, again, really makes me feel kind of embarrassed. Now, here's the other part of the story, Andrew, that I didn't. The second reason I didn't want to get into this. Maybe this is even more important or this is even more something that the listeners will just. Absolutely. Ready, Everybody get your phone. Make sure your otter case is on it, and get ready to throw it. What my friend is bringing up to my house today, Andrew, is a boat that he's giving me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, this will be. So. Wait a second. I forgot. I saw a photo of your house recently, or you sent me something and I saw a boat in the background. I was like, oh, Luke already has a boat. I forgot that you still have a boat. So now you're gonna be a double boat owner. It's good for the brand.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm back to being a double boat owner as of this afternoon. And I know the listeners are like, dude, what are you doing? Half of this show is me telling stories about my disastrous sea voyages.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what they say, though? And this is a very true idiom. The happiest days of a boat owner's life is the day he buys a boat and the day his friend gives him a boat. That's what they say.

[Luke Burbank]

They also say that the boats. It's emotionally healthier for the boats to

[Andrew Walsh]

have two of them, and it's better for them both to be on land.

[Luke Burbank]

Want to be the only boat in a family. It's kind of actually not great for their mental stuff. The boat that I have is a. It's an old. The one that's up on a trailer, like, you know, in my kind of driveway area is an old 1950s wood boat from Bellingham called a Norseman. It's called. It's a runabout. And it's. I love it so much. It's a great boat. It's. It's wood, though. And over the years, it's Just kind of decayed to a point where it's not really savable. The motor is.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Oh, I didn't know.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, somebody could save it, but just not me. It's like I would have to, like, take it somewhere, and they'd have to pretty much just rebuild most of it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, so. So what has been. Let's just leave the old. The. The new boat. Don't you have a biblical saying about putting old boats in new casks or something? But don't put.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't put old boats on new trailers

[Andrew Walsh]

because Jesus said, can I put a little marker here as a possible showdown? Because right now I just have running out of BLEEP money as a show title. Listen, I do question about it. So I didn't realize that was the state of this boat. I. And you say you just gave. You said the style of this boat, but it's a Chris craft as well, right? Isn't it?

[Luke Burbank]

No, the one that I crashed and the one that we went out on and went to the Savage Moose, and that's a Chris craft.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I thought they both were. And this was just the different styles. Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

So what is called a Norseman?

[Andrew Walsh]

This was the Norseman. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

A small company in Bellingham back in the day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, so this thing. What has been your.

[Luke Burbank]

Your.

[Andrew Walsh]

What has been your thoughts on the boat that's on the trailer? Before this new boat even came into the picture, I didn't realize that it was pretty much beyond use. I thought you were just waiting for the right time to maybe put it in the water again. Have you been thinking? Well, I guess I gotta, like, kind of face the music and eventually dismantle it. Are you hoping someday maybe the right person will take it and get it in working condition, or have you not gotten that far?

[Luke Burbank]

I think my plan was to try to sell the motor and the trailer because those things are both in really good shape and they're worth a little something. Maybe. Maybe just sell the whole thing to someone and say, you're really buying this for the motor and for the trailer. You can do whatever you want with the boat.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Which, again, kind of bums me out because I really love the boat, but it's just. It's just really, really hard to take unless you have, like a. A covered, like, kind of airtight place to keep the boat all winter when it's not out on the water. It's just the. The elements really get to it, I've learned. And so that's just been sitting. I've just been dragging my feet on what to do with it. And then my friend over the winter said, hey, you know what? I'm getting a new boat and would you like my old boat? In fact, the boat that we went out on the Columbia in and beached on the little island in front of my house. And I, you know, it was kind of an offer I couldn't refuse because, you know, it's a, it's a ski boat and it's in good shape. And you know, I'm sure he could sell it to someone for some amount of money or donate it to Boats for Kids or something. But he, he, you know, said, you probably get some use out of this. And it worked really well when we took it out on the Columbia and I kind of couldn't. I also have weirdly like this house. The guy before me must have had like RVs or something because there's like an ample amount of parking area. Like I could, I could have like a, you know, a smallish wedding out here and there'd be parking for like 30 people. So I sort of have the room if I, you know, to store it until, you know, I'm ready to put it in the water or whatever. So I kind of couldn't turn it down. But low key part of the whole thing has been I've been slightly embarrassed about him coming out to see my house. But anyway, today is the day we're going to meet him.

[Andrew Walsh]

So that's the delivery. The delivery is the boat. The delivery is the boat.

[Luke Burbank]

It starts with, we're going to meet at the marina down in town. We're going to take the boat back out. He's going to show me any little kind of quirks about it. I think starting it. There's a little bit of a trick to that. He's just going to kind of give me the, give me the rundown on how to do everything and then we're gonna pull it back out of the water. Because the marina is booked. You cannot rent a space to kind of leave your boat this time of the summer. So the boat's gonna go back up on the trailer, it's gonna get towed up here. We're gonna put it next to the existing boat and then, and then we'll see what happens. I'm gonna try to get it back down into the water a couple of times this summer in August, just to

[Andrew Walsh]

like, you just drive it down to the marina. You park your car and trailer somewhere, truck and trailer somewhere, and then you take it out, then you put it back on the trailer at the end of the day. But then as long term plan, maybe in the off season you'll be able to book yourself a slip in this marina.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I'm going to wait till it's a little bit less busy and see if I can. What I would like to do in the summertime is rent a slip or they don't really do. And when I lived in Port Townsend, what I did with my other boat, well, this one, the one that's on the trailer, is you could do something called linear dock space. And that just means you don't really have a dedicated spot, but you can just tie your boat up wherever there's room. And, and, and so you don't take your boat out of the water. They don't do that at this marina. So I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do. But the dream scenario would be figure out a way to have the boat in the water for the summertime, go down there, use it and then take it out in the winter. It's also, this is fiberglass, it's a ski boat, it's not wood. It's not nearly as precious and it's not falling apart all the time. Although even those kinds of boats do take a lot of maintenance. Still, all boats take maintenance. But I was like I said I was hesitant to talk about it because I can only imagine listeners going, is this guy getting back into the boat game? What the hell? And then also again, my, my insecurity about my insecurity. Like I hate that I care about something like that. I really wish I could turn that part of my brain off, but I can't and I'm mad about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is not a wrap up question, but out of curiosity, just how far away is the marina? I'm just sort of trying to get a sense of like, like once your boat is there, will it be just like a five, ten minute drive down to the marina?

[Luke Burbank]

Five minute drive.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's great.

[Luke Burbank]

It's super close. I mean that's the thing that's part of why I kind of couldn't turn it down. Because if I get a slip at the marina and it's the summertime and it's five minutes from here and you know, me and whoever's visiting or whatever go want to jump in the boat and kind of just do a little lap on the river, I mean it's sort of ideal. Like it's really, really, it's, it really would be kind of a cool scene. There's you know, a few Things that have to happen before that. I also don't have a hitch. Like, I don't think my car. I have a Mazda. I don't think it. I don't. Maybe I could get some kind of aftermarket package put on where it have a tow hitch, but I don't even know what its towing capacity is. So that's the other thing. I may have to, like, either buy another truck or either just rent a truck when I want to take it down to the marina, you know, so there are some, there are some unknowns.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, you know who's taking notes right now? Is it Mike o', Brien, who is your insurance person who actually listens to the show? I think they're learning right now that you are getting a boat. Right. Time to update that policy or what?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm. You know what? I hadn't even thought about that. Thanks a lot, Andrew. Bleep that out.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, this is a hard, hard left here. But you were talking about maybe potentially having to get like a hitch on your car. You don't know what the tow capacity is.

[Luke Burbank]

Kevin o'.

[Andrew Walsh]

Brien. Kevin. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't hear any of that. I don't have.

[Luke Burbank]

I have no boats. There's zero boats up here.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was getting that wrong.

[Luke Burbank]

Did I tell you? Did I tell you that? Sorry. Really quick and then we can get onto what you were saying that I was. Something was going on with my insurance and that I was getting. I was getting insurance quote for something. It wasn't from Kevin, by the way. It was for something else. And they said, well, you do have, you have a crash on your record. And I was like, a crash on my record. And they were giving me the, the, the, the kind of rough sort of dates or the rough time span. I was like, I was not involved in any crash. I was so confused. It was the boat crash.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was just a vehicle crash.

[Luke Burbank]

You didn't realize it was because, because I claim, you know, I mean, I did crash the boat and it was totaled and I did make an insurance claim, but I didn't realize that that's sort of a moving violation. Like, like I was. It was some auto insurance thing and it was like, oh, yeah, I did crash a boat. Yeah, you know what that is?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's. That's true.

[Luke Burbank]

I crashed a boat.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just felt like you suddenly, suddenly you felt proud. You're like, oh, well, that was the boat. Oh, yeah, I crashed a helicopter.

[Luke Burbank]

That should only. Yeah, you know what? If you crash a helicopter, that should affect Your airborne insurance rates. If you crash a boat, that should affect your waterborne insurance rates. If you crash your car, that's your land borne insurance rates. I should not be held accountable for my land borne insurance because of my waterborne activities.

[Andrew Walsh]

As far as I can argument there. All right, what I was going to say is stupid and hacking doesn't really go anywhere, but it is something I hear in commercials all the time now when I'm listening to the radio and I don't know if it's for all car commercials or a specific car commercial, but they say negotiable doc fee may be applied. And I just, every time I hear that, I'm just like, all right, I'm going to negotiate out of that. Like that's one of the first thing I say when I walk into the dealership. If I ever. Just like you just said, it's negotiable.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

How about we start by taking that line item right out of there?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, 100% I am. I'm negotiating. Yeah. Why did you tell me it was negotiable?

[Andrew Walsh]

Why would you say that? Hey. Hey. Flimsily mandated doc feed. That reminds me, by the way. And I know like I really complaining about whatever financial realities or that's how they get you is just like such an old man and so tedious thing to do. But here we go. Remember I took our car in to get it fixed and we took it to the, to the dealership. This is what, two weeks ago or something. And like the car was, it was the fuel injector on one of the pistons and it was a really expensive fix and the dealership quoted us a lot of money to get it fixed and they said you have to replace all four of these things or whatever. And so we ended up finding another garage nearby to take it to, which I absolutely love, by the way. Shoot. I'll try to shout them out later. This cool. Like literally less than half a mile away, like three blocks away from the dealership is this garage that is just so cool. I talked to the people at the front desk for like probably a half hour dropping it off and taking it. Just like BSing with them and stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

Just really one of those people, like Ballard places that specializes in like European cars or whatever.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do think it might focus on European slash German cars because we have a vw. So I will try, I'm not going to try to look up who it was right now, but I will try to give them a shout out because I really did appreciate the service in any way. But the dealership thing kind of, you know, you know, they, they quoted us. What? They quoted us and we left. But we had to sign a paper up front saying no matter what, we're going to have to pay a certain amount of money just for the. What's word I'm looking for. I want to say analysis of the car, but you know, they look at the car, they figure out what's wrong with it, like the estimate. Well, but no matter what, whether we had them do the repair or not, we were going to have to Pay, I think $225 for the diagnostics. Diagnostics, that's the word I'm looking, looking for. Thank you. Just to figure out like, well, what's going on with this car. Right. And so we sign that and then we get the estimate. They say, okay, this is what the problem is. This is what the estimate is. And we decide, okay, we're not going to go with you. And then so I go to pay that to go to pick up our car. And then I got to pay the diagnostic fee, which is fair. They did work to figure it out. Right. But it was quoted as 225. And then I, you know, I signed the paper and it's like 275 or something like that, or maybe more, maybe closer to 300. I'm like, okay. And so I just glanced down at it and some of it is tax. And that's, you know, that is what it is. I'm not complaining about tax here. What I'm complaining about is just an extra $25 fee that is never explained. So they tell us it's gonna be a 225 diagnostic charge or whatever. And of course you'll pay taxes on that. But then when you go to pay it, it's just like another line Item that says $25 fee and it doesn't say what the fee is for. And this is life in these United States these days. It's kind of, I'm sure the thing I signed said something like fees may apply, right? Or whatever. Like I'm sure that legally they're totally

[Luke Burbank]

fine on that non negotiable document.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. But like, what was this fee? And I feel like you're just seeing more and more industries just doing this. And like I think of a fee as like, you know, and I know that this is a bad example because it was so abused. It's like the use case of abusing fees. But you look at like Ticketmaster or something like that. But a lot of the fees were this idea of, well, like, we're one. We're the people you're dealing with from the consumer side. But we have to work with both the artists and the venues. And everybody's kind of got their own fees. Like, there might be fees involved in transactions or even like a debit card fee. Like, oh, I got a ATM fee, or I'm using my credit card at a soup restaurant, and they're going to add a fee because the bank is charging them a fee. And it's kind of like, okay, I understand that. That is a fee. That is something that's like. That's something extra that is being tacked on. But I just took it to the dealership. There was no third party involved. They just said, it's going to cost you 225. But then when I go to pay, it's actually 250, because there's a $25 fee without any breakdown of it. And it's kind of like, that's just $250. No, because I was already outside. So I took the paperwork, I signed it. I didn't really think much about it. And then I'm standing outside, and the only reason I even looked at it was because I was waiting for about two minutes for the person to drive my car around so I could take it away. I wouldn't have been rifling through the papers anyway. But I'm just standing out there, I'm holding the paperwork. I'm like, huh, that was more expensive than I thought. And again, I'm not outraged by this. I'm not writing to the company. They've hit me up several times about, like, take our poll. How was your service? And I'm kind of like, take our survey. You know? And I'm like, I don't feel like getting involved with it. It's $25 again. It's just part of living in the United States these days. But, like, it is bullshit, right? And I'm sorry again, Lucy, about the language, but, like, it is like, just say it's 250. Like, I was going to pay it anyway. Don't call it 225. And then just add a $25 fee. What is the fee?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, let me ask you this. Doesn't the diagnostic then get folded into the overall cost? Anyway, I always thought it was like,

[Andrew Walsh]

well, it would if we had them do it, but.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, that was the dealership. That was the dealership. Not the place where you hacked.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, I really liked the place. They were really cool. They seemed like, really straight shooters. And again, it was 25 bucks. And if they just said, hey, it's a 25, 250 diagnosis fee or whatever, we would have paid it. We wouldn't have blanched at it, or we would have blanched and paid it anyway. Like, everything costs money. But I don't know, I just think there's just a lot of just, like, lying going on. Like, I mean, there's not. Like, it wasn't because you held it overnight or anything like that. It would have said doc fee, you

[Luke Burbank]

know, I mean, is it too late now to call them over? $25. When I was. When I went back to Home Depot? Because what I left out about the story of the stock tank was not only did I cut the hole too small the first time, I was trying to cut it the second time with Also not a large enough blade. It was larger, but not quite big enough. And it was having all these problems. I hadn't yet gotten to the solution of the, you know, putting the piece of wood up to kind of brace it or whatever.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So now I have these two, and they're like, I don't know, 25 bucks a piece of these two round, you know, hole saw thingies that are kind of jacked up now from being used. And really, it was my own dang fault, but I just thought, I don't know, I'll just bring them back to the Home Depot and just say, like, these were too small and they didn't work for me. And I'll tell you, that that lady refunded the money so quickly. Really, like, zero questions asked. I was like, I'm really glad I brought these back in.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you didn't take back the one that were. You used all three of them, but you just kept the one right size keeps being.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, no, no, I'm not the one that was the. Ultimately, the one that worked. I'm not taking that back first. You know, I was amazed that they. I would have taken store credit. I would have taken. If they would have just given me maybe the leg bone from one of those giant skeletons that they're already starting to put out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, like, I was shocked. But, you know, the. When it comes to these slunk fees and things like that, I really need to be on the lookout because I am the kind of person that is. I'm not detail oriented, and I. I just. I'm not the kind of person who reads the bill at the restaurant. You know, when I get that. When I get the check, I just Kind of figure. Well, that's what it cost. And in fact. Oh, you know what? When we were in Chicago, Becca and I were in Chicago after the last. Wait, wait for Bill Curtis. And we went to get breakfast on like Saturday or. Yeah, Saturday before we left. And we, we got breakfast and it was a nice place in Chicago kind of right there along by Millennium park. And. And we were eating breakfast and it's yummy and stuff. And then time to get the check. And the check comes in, it's a hundred dollars. And I'm like. My first thought was just like, wow, breakfast is expensive these days. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And if you get that at a dinner, you know, whatever, like there's. There might be a beer or cocktail involved or. So this is breakfast.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank. Because it was breakfast, no alcohol was consumed. And so that had me going, a hundred dollars just seems like a lot. But I. When they handed to me, I literally was just going to sign it because I was just like, they, they signed. They sent me the bill. And then I was like, I said to Becca, I go, it's $100 for that breakfast. She goes, what? And then we looked down. It was like I had gotten like eggs and potatoes and she had gotten, you know, I don't know, French toast or something. And I had a Diet Coke and she had a coffee. It was like, like, there's no way that's a hundred dollars. And I, I asked the person to come over and she was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry that we mixed up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, interesting.

[Luke Burbank]

She had charged us for someone else, but it was my card and my name, but they charged me for someone else's thing. And thank God it was a hundred dollars because you know what, if it had been $70.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You wouldn't have thought there's some kind of range where I would have just been like, damn, things are expensive these days. Luckily, it was so, so outrageous that I actually thought to ask. But, like, I'm probably getting slunk feed left and right and not even realizing it because I'm not paying enough attention to the fine print.

[Andrew Walsh]

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

[Luke Burbank]

We didn't get to the top stories because I was too busy delving into my insecurities. But maybe we'll get to those stories tomorrow. In the meantime, do we have any emails or vmails of note today?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I got a couple here. I was going through the voicemail line, got a Good one. Regarding Goldfish. I'll save that one. I got another one here from our friend Maggie from the middle shelf. And Maggie is a frequent caller of the TBTL voicemail line. And I never know exactly where she's going to be going with her voicemails. And I'll be honest with you, this one, at one point, as I was listening to it, I think I had to leave the room for a second, and I came back, and I know she's singing at one point during this. So let's just go on a journey with Maggie here regarding the TV show Moonlighting, which we were talking about the other day, and whether or not we feel like it would hold up in this day and age.

[Maggie from the Middle Shelf]

Hello, business boys doing the business. This is Maggie from the middle self. When you guys are talking about Moonlighting. Oh. Oh, my God. That's show. I loved that show. And I did try to watch it as an adult recently, and, oh, boy, does it not hold up. Dear Lord, it had no nothing. I really liked their chemistry, and I loved Cybill shepherd and her silky blouses and her wiggly, jiggly body, and I loved their chemistry back in the. Back in the day. But the whole. The show does not hold up. Oh, and the Altero. Altero. Okay, you guys are trying to figure out where the moonlighting comes in. It comes in the end. You know, it's like sunset by night. You know, he's doing all that stuff. It goes on forever. But at the very end of the song, he says, moonlighting. Strangers who just met on the way who just met on the way. And that's Moonlighting. That's the only time he even says moonlighting. Also, coincidentally, I just watched Moonstruck for the first time in my life, and I really liked that movie. But anyway, yeah, yeah, Moonlighting. Stupid as honestly, but, man, did I love it in the 80s. Oh, okay. Well, power out there.

[Andrew Walsh]

There you go.

[Luke Burbank]

Boy, what a journey.

[Andrew Walsh]

You go on journeys with Maggie sometimes. Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

Moonstruck is by all accounts, a fabulous film.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, it's one of my favorites.

[Luke Burbank]

Nicholas Cage, Cher.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, absolutely good. To me, it's almost a flawless movie, except for one major flaw in it, which is, like, there's some montage. I am not a fan of, like, montage scenes. Who did. Who's Kamira? Kev's favorite director? He did Scarface and Brian De Palma. Brian De Palma. Like, I feel like Brian De Palma movies always have some sort of, like, lacy interlude of a montage or something. And there's something that is sort of Akin to that in Moonlighting, which is for the record, or Moonstruck. I'll always get it wrong. It would be amazing if Brian De Palma directed Moonstruck, but there's like some scene where Cher is gonn go out on a date with Nick Cage and she's kind of like. She has this like pampering herself montage or like getting ready for the date and, you know, maybe trying on clothes or maybe even shopping, I'm not sure. And it just seems like such. I don't know why I'm focusing on this because it's literally like three minutes or less out of a movie that is otherwise in. In my opinion, infallible. But like, I. It just bums me out because I love that movie so much. And then you're just like, oh God, here comes the montage. But maybe that's part of movies from that era. You just got to take the good with the bad. Boy, do I recommend Moonstone?

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I don't think I've ever seen it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, I don't want to over. I don't want to overplay it, but I think it's a really nice movie.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I mean, I. It was a little. I was a little young when it came out, but I remember, well, 87. I guess I would have been nine. No, that's not how that works. I would have been 11. But I remember a lot of people really liking the movie and it was sort of big in the pop culture. I feel like, you know, you'd see clips of it or, I don't know, just it was a movie that was on my radar even though I had not seen it. And then, you know, I grew up and never thought to go back to it. But I bet you I would really like it. I like movies from that era. I'm a big one. Harry Met Sally. I know this isn't a rom com, per se.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, it kind of is. It is. I would put it probably as a rom com.

[Luke Burbank]

I really like movies from this period of time in American cinema. So.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, and it's really nicely shot. It gives you. It's. I know I've said this to you before, but it kind of scratches some of the. Like that, that New York itch that maybe a Woody Allen film would have only doesn't have the toxic of it being a Woody Allen film. And it's not like. It's not like it's that kind of humor or anything, but it just kind of get, you know, old brownstones and New York City and beautiful Old. Old money, sort of. It's just. And Olympia Dukakis is in it. I don't know if that was one of the people that you listed as well. And she's just really incredible. Like, it's. It really is like, it's heartwarming without being saccharine. I think that's the thing, and that's what I think I like out of a movie like that. Like, it does give you feels, but it doesn't feel manipulative. And it seems like it's pretty well grounded.

[Luke Burbank]

And it's directed by Norman Jewison, who directed Fiddler on the Roof, one of my very faves.

[Andrew Walsh]

True.

[Luke Burbank]

You ever seen Fiddler on the Roof?

[Andrew Walsh]

No. No. Like, no.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know if, like, that's something that, at age 49, if you watched it, if it would be particularly meaningful to you. But, like, I grew up watching that movie. I mean, it's a musical, but I just, like, love it so much. There's a bunch of like. Like the Sound of Music, the Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, there might be another one, too. I'm forgetting that are, like, these musicals that I just absolutely love, but only because I was subjected to them as a young kid. Like, if I watched it now for the first time, I'd be like, why do they keep start. Why are they singing? Yeah, I don't like when people. And I have generally no patience for new musicals. I don't really not into Broadway musicals, but I. If you get me young enough, I guess if you get me at age 7 or something, you know, like. And Becca also grew up watching these same movies, so we will just. Sometimes we'll be driving down the road just singing deep cuts from Fiddler on the Roof. Oh, well, okay. Well, okay. If I were a rich man is. That's the. Like, that's the above the. You know, that's the number one on the call sheet. If I were a rich man

[Andrew Walsh]

all

[Luke Burbank]

day long I'd bidi biddy bum if I were a wealthy man. Okay. But then you get down to, like, sunrise, sunset. You get down to do you love me? Which is a song. Tevye and his wife, they're in bed. He's asking, like, do you love me? She doesn't want to admit that she loves him. She says, For 25 years I've washed your clothes, made your meals Da da da da 25 years, my bed is his. If that's not love, what is? And she just basically is like, they're going around and around of her not Wanting to admit she loves him, but saying, I did all these things that show you that I love you. And. And, yeah, Beck and I can do that entire number together.

[Andrew Walsh]

Love that. I also love the message of that, by the way, that love being an action. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, it's a really. And also, I don't. I'm not. I haven't done the actual sort of historical side by side, but it's an interesting kind of historical piece about the, like, Russian pogroms and the treatment of. Of Jews in Russia in this era, which I guess would have been maybe like the 1910s, 20s in Russia or whatever. So, yeah, I'm a big fan of that, but only because I was subjected to it when I had no other entertainment options. If you gave it to me now, I would be like, nah, this is boring.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I. Let's get out of here. If I can make that call. But I want to share something with you that I just.

[Luke Burbank]

I've got to quickly tear down and rebuild my house, so it's more impressive.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's right.

[Luke Burbank]

I had two hours to do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just got a text message from somebody that you and I both know and somebody who is a friend and somebody who we worked with at Cairo Radio. But I'm. Because this was a private text to me. It's just nice. By the way, it's private text to me. I'm not going to share their name, but you and I started the show talking a bit about our insecurities regarding the show and how we feel about it and sometimes having to go back and listen to calm ourselves down or what have you. This is a friend who just wrote, just texted me out of the blue just now, moments ago. Hey. So I took about a 1600 episode break from TBTL and every other podcast for the past six years, but I just listened to yesterday's episode and I'm overjoyed. I'm so happy that the show is still the show and still funny and so great. And I just love that show. Opening chat can still last 58 minutes. And that you still say, I don't have a Doug on this flight, which is a phrase I still use. Fantastic. Anyway, I gotta say, that is just such a nice thing to hear from somebody to, out of the blue, just sort of check in on that especially. I just thought it was a nice end cap for it to coincidentally come through at this very moment, given how we kind of started the show talking about our jangly nerves regarding what we're putting out there every day.

[Maggie from the Middle Shelf]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

And you Know what? When this guy comes over to give me a free boat and he looks around and thinks this is not the palace that I was imagining, I'll say, yeah, but guess what? But people who sometimes haven't listened to TBTL for 1600 episodes are happy it's still happening.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. I can print this out.

[Luke Burbank]

Can't take that away from me.

[Andrew Walsh]

As if, like, this person doesn't know you well enough. As if this person hasn't heard you downplay it every time. Probably Becca says something nice. As if, like, this person.

[Luke Burbank]

I literally pulled Becca aside and I was like, can you please down. Can you please stop? Can you please stop building something up to be something that I'm worried it's not going to be? You know? So, yeah, this lives completely in my own head. And I've already said multiple times, I know that. And yet I can't stop my own head from being this terrible place where it's living. And I don't like that either.

[Andrew Walsh]

So what are you gonna do? Let's try this.

[Luke Burbank]

But I'll have a full update tomorrow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I'm excited to hear about. I mean, certainly an update as to how the boat gets delivered. And it sounds like you're gonna be on the water for a little bit, testing it out, kicking the tires. And by the way, if the boat has. Has tires, that's a problem. Don't accept it.

[Luke Burbank]

Or it means it's one of those, like, you know, kind of Omaha beach amphibious dudes. You know, I could storm Rainier, Oregon with it.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. You may need to.

[Luke Burbank]

Huh. All right, thanks for listening, everybody. We are going to be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. So please do tune in for that. Whether you've been listening on the daily or if it's been 1600 episodes, our door is always open. Open, except when it's closed. Thanks for listening.

[Andrew Walsh]

If it's closed, you can open it.

[Luke Burbank]

Please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good luck to all.

[Luke Burbank]

My door is always open, except when it's closed.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you can open it when it's closed.

[Luke Burbank]

Power out.