Steve's Bucket List - SAS CLASSIC

Summary

The Steve Austin Show – "Steve's Bucket List – SAS CLASSIC"

Date: May 14, 2026
Guest: Curtis Stimson (Curtis Clock)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging, hands-on episode of The Steve Austin Show, Steve Austin invites his friend and master neon clock craftsman Curtis Stimson into the spotlight. Live from Curtis' garage in Burbank, Steve pursues a major bucket list item—learning how to make classic American neon clocks from scratch. Over strong coffee and colorful banter, Steve and Curtis journey through neon tube bending, clock mechanics, and the quirks of collecting, highlighting the challenges and joys of mastering a craft. The episode brims with nostalgia, stories from the road, and plenty of takeaway wisdom for anyone bitten by the clockmaking or hot-rodding bug.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Steve’s Collector Roots and Meeting Curtis

• Steve reminisces about growing up in Texas, his family’s antique hunts, and a lifelong passion for Coca-Cola memorabilia, gas signs, and neon clocks.
• How Steve met Curtis:
  • Through artist Rick Maverick—Curtis was known for his homemade neon signs and clock repairs.
  • Their shared interests in hot rods, motorcycles, antiques, and hobbies sparked a lasting friendship.
• Steve explains his new hobby:
  • After wrestling and outdoor ventures, Steve wanted an indoor, hands-on pastime—making neon clocks topped the list.
  • “I want a hobby that I can go in my barn or my workshop and just do by myself.” (06:00)

2. Curtis’s Background: Plumber, Hot Rodder, Neon Artist

• Curtis grew up in Burbank, California (05:40), into cars and building hot rods before transitioning to full-time clockmaking.
• Favorite hot rod: 426 Hemi Mopars (06:03).
• Pivot to clockmaking: After years of failing to find neon clocks in antique stores, Curtis decided to learn the craft himself by buying, dismantling, and repairing vintage models (06:38).
• The learning curve:
  • “Learning to bend neon is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” – Curtis (07:39)
  • Private six-week neon class cost Curtis $4,000; mastering glass bending took “weeks and weeks”—persistence is key.

3. Understanding Neon Clock Construction

• Anatomy of a Neon Clock (10:23 – 10:50)
  • Base/can, bezel, glass, lid, and face (minute, hour, second hands).
• Clock mechanics:
  • The synchronized motor and gearset regulate accurate hand movement (11:19 – 11:57).
  • U.S. motors are 60 Hz; using the wrong frequency (e.g., 50 Hz from Europe) will ruin the timing (11:57).
• Clock durability and neon tubing:
  • Neon tubes last up to 50 years before losing vacuum (12:40).
  • Most clocks run 24/7; comparable to century-old signs found in LA (20:54 – 21:18).

4. Technical Dive: Neon Gas, Bending, and Fabrication

• Neon tube specs:
  • Most common diameters: 10mm, 12mm (13:23).
  • Price: 0.9L bottle of neon gas is ~$20 and can fill about 100 tubes (15:31).
• Argon vs. Neon:
  • Neon is strictly red; argon (with phosphor) creates other colors (15:13).
• Fabrication:
  • Cans/spinning: A Glendale shop custom-spins clock bodies to spec (15:59).
  • Assembly is robust; Curtis uses heavy-duty cords and updated solid-state transformers for safety (16:24, 17:03).
• Glass bending:
  • The hardest step—“most people give up when they take a class” (09:16).

5. Steve’s First Lesson: Practice, Bloody Fingers & Burned Thumbs

• Assembly: Steve helps on a yellow-and-black "Bumblebee Beehive" clock—assembly straightforward, neon bending daunting (25:30 – 27:44).
• Neon bending trial:
  • Steve: “I ruined three damn tubes... cut on my forefinger, a cut on my thumb, a cauterized spot where I burned the crap out of my thumb.” (27:44)
  • Curtis: “You’re not supposed to touch the hot part of the glass, Steve.” (27:44)
  • Tools: ribbon burner, crossfire, hand torch; use templates for 13-inch clock circles.
• Glass bending involves: Heating the tube, shaping it to a template, turning up ends for electrodes, sterilizing (“bombarding”) at 15,000 volts, then filling with gas (29:00 – 33:07).
• Quote: “The apprenticeship is 10 years to do neon bending. So it’s very hard. Takes a lot of skill and lots and lots and lots of practice... Do not give up.” – Curtis (31:33 – 32:23)

6. Business Insights and Personal Stories

• Curtis makes about half a clock a day (21:38).
• Average price: $450–$500, but varies by model and commission (19:06).
• Motivation: “I do this because I’m selfish. I only do this because I love neon clocks.” (22:26)
• Notable Projects: Custom clocks for Bob’s Big Boy (19:42), the USS Arizona Club (23:36), and Steve’s own Broken Skull Ranch.
• Ordering & Sharing:
  • Contact via curtisclock.com
  • Steve promotes Curtis’s craftsmanship and stresses his clocks’ quality and longevity.

7. Personal Journeys & Side Stories

• Curtis’s service in Vietnam—two years in transportation, “it was a job” (23:12).
• RV Adventures:
  • Curtis bought an RV thinking it had a V10, realized it was a V8, and the dealer swapped it for a new model when corrected (36:51 – 38:42).
  • Frequent swap meets in Pomona; RV trips to Joshua Tree to deliver restored clocks (39:00–39:11).
• Friendship and learning:
  • Steve commits to returning for more lessons; plans to use pre-bent tubes to build confidence before attempting his own circles and letters (40:43 – 41:06).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bending Neon Tubes
  • “I’m 200 pounds and I bent my weight in glass before I could do anything.” – Curtis (09:16)
  • “Most people give up when they take a class. They give up. They go, this is too hard. I can’t do it. You have got to stick with it.” – Curtis (09:16)
  • “The apprenticeship is 10 years to do neon bending... Don’t give up.” – Curtis (31:33)
• On Learning and Mentorship
  • “I ruined three damn tubes... cut on my forefinger, a cut on my thumb, a cauterized spot where I burned the crap out of my thumb.” – Steve (27:44)
  • “If you do that circle 14,000 more times, I guarantee it’ll be perfect.” – Curtis (35:01)
• On Clocks’ Longevity
  • “You can have a neon clock going for 50 years, no problem.” – Curtis (12:40)
  • “They found the neon sign had been burning inside the wall for almost 100 years.” – Curtis (20:54)
• On Craftsmanship Motivation
  • “I only do this because I love neon clocks... I’m trying to redupe every clock I ever remember.” – Curtis (22:26)
  • “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop... This is a way for me to kill time by making time.” – Steve (end)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:06 | Steve introduces the bucket list theme and Curtis | | 05:07 | Curtis’s background and journey to making clocks | | 07:27 | Neon clock construction, neon tube bending and learning challenges | | 10:23 | Anatomy of a neon clock; assembling components | | 12:30 | Neon tube durability and clock longevity | | 13:23 | Glass tube sizing and gas-filling process | | 15:31 | Cost of neon gas; customizing clock bases (cans) | | 19:06 | Pricing and notable custom clock stories | | 20:54 | Story of the 100-year-old neon sign at Clifton’s Cafeteria | | 21:38 | Production rate and client orders | | 22:26 | What motivates Curtis (“selfish love of neon clocks”) | | 23:12 | Curtis’s Vietnam service | | 25:30 | Steve’s lesson: assembling and (attempting) bending neon tubes | | 27:44 | Steve injuries himself learning neon bending | | 31:33 | Bending mastery, 10-year apprenticeship, challenges | | 35:01 | Importance of repetition to mastering circles | | 36:51 | Curtis’s RV adventure—being swapped a brand new coach | | 40:43 | Steve’s plan to start with pre-bent tubes, keep learning | | 41:22 | Curtis’s contact info; how to order |

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Conclusion & Takeaways

This episode artfully blends humor, humility, and hands-on exploration—inviting listeners into the rarely-shared world of neon clockmaking. Steve’s candid failures (and injuries) underscore how tough true craftsmanship can be. Curtis’s depth of knowledge—a mix of old-school ingenuity and problem-solving—offers inspiration for any aspiring hobbyist or craftsman.

The key message is one of persistence: whether you're bending neon, restoring hot rods, or conquering a personal bucket list, mastery comes only through “weeks and weeks and weeks” of practice, and sometimes 14,000 tries to make a perfect circle.

Final Word:
“Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop... This is a way for me to kill time by making time. And that’s how I’m looking at it.” – Steve Austin (approx. 62:00)

Transcript

[Steve Austin]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Curtis Stimson]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Steve Austin]

Was she brave?

[Curtis Stimson]

She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required. Did she have to fight a dragon? Nope. She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Steve Austin]

Was it scary?

[Curtis Stimson]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Steve Austin]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Curtis Stimson]

It did, actually.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, good story.

[Curtis Stimson]

Car buying you'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. The following Program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California, by way of the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin Show.

[Steve Austin]

Give me a Hell. Hell yeah.

[Curtis Stimson]

Now here's Steve Austin.

[Steve Austin]

All right, everybody, here we go with rolling sound. It's 9:15 Los Angeles time. This is officially the earliest podcast I've ever done. I'm on about my fourth cup of coffee, so bear with me as I tell you guys a quick story. The name of this podcast is called Bucket List. Because there's a few things in my life that I've been wanting to accomplish, and I'm finally going to start one of those things today. You're going to hear my guest. His name is Curtis Stimson. Who is Curtis Stimson, you ask? I'm about to let you know. Give you a little story real quick. Going way back in the day when I was growing up in South Texas, my mother and father used to go out antique collecting. And my mom was real big into Coca Cola memorabilia. And so that when I left school and got into the wrestling business and moved over to Atlanta, I would drive around in all the old back roads and look for old Coca Cola signs, either in people's yards or fine antique shops and stuff like that. And to this day, I still, I still collect Coca Cola memorabilia. And I've shifted into oil and gas signs. The old porcelain, the enamel signs for you guys that follow me on Instagram. You saw me at Roy Reed's Gas Bash a couple of weeks ago out there antiquing, so it's something that I still do. And then somewhere along the way, when WCW fired me and I moved back to Texas. I got into collecting neon clocks. Old pearl beer. Neon clocks. You hear me talk about that on the podcast all the time. Shiner beer, Lone Star beer. I met a guy in Burbank named Rick Maverick. Now Rick Maverick was doing some artwork for me at the time and I would go over to his house and lives in Burbank. And I remember going over to Rick's house one time and Rick is the creator and the maker of Starling Gear jewelry. You can go to his [e-mail] he makes badass high end stuff. So anyway, I go over to Rick's house one time and he's got this really cool atomic bomb neon sign. It says atomic bar. And I told him, I said, dude, I said, where did you get that neon sign? He goes, oh man. My friend Curtis lives right down the road. He makes them. He works on clocks and does stuff like that. He goes, you gotta meet him. I said, yeah, I gotta meet him. Next time I come down, we gotta go check this guy out. So anyway, Rick brings me over here to Curtis's house where I'm at right now. I owe everybody beer. So anyway, I meet Curtis and we start shooting the breeze. And it turns out we got a lot of things in common. First of all, he makes and repairs neon clocks. I love clocks. He builds old hot rods, cars, trucks. He's into RVing. He trades a lot of stuff. He'll find motorcycles and scooters and stuff, fix them up, trade them. And so we just had a lot in common. Turns out I would actually buy a KLR 650 Kawasaki from him, keep that motorcycle for about a year, year and a half. I only put about 50 miles on it and ultimately traded it back to Curtis for a couple of neon clots and a little bit of cash. So anyway, what I'm here doing at Curtis house today is crossing something off my bucket list. I was talking to my wife the other day and I said, you know what? I said I need a hobby that I can do that I don't have to go outside. And if I'm going to go ride my four wheeler or my Kawasaki mule or go shoot guns or go do anything in the outdoors. I've got to go somewhere to do that. I want a hobby that I can go in my barn or my workshop and just do by myself. And because I watched Curtis make so many neon clocks, I decided I would call Curtis and give him a call. And I said, hey man, Curtis, would you teach me how to make neon clocks? He goes, well, hell yeah Steve, I'd be glad to. So we're here today and I'm gonna bring my guest and today Curtis Dempson. Curt, jump on your microphone right there and jump on in here. Good morning Curtis. How are you?

[Curtis Stimson]

Morning Steve. Fine.

[Steve Austin]

Alright. I'm on about my fifth cup of coffee. I stopped over at the Bob's Big Boy to get breakfast. I don't want to come over here too early. I got in that LA traffic and was able to get over here in record time. Dude. Tell me a little bit about your website is curtis clock.com and man, I've gotten about. Shoot. I probably brought five or six clocks from you. I think my clock total is about 10. You've been based out of here in Burbank. You grew up in Burbank, California, Right?

[Curtis Stimson]

Right, right here. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

Dude. You grew up what Hot rodding. Been into cars, Trucks?

[Curtis Stimson]

Oh yeah, all that stuff. Just making anything I can make but.

[Steve Austin]

And, but before you started making clocks full time, were you in a construction business?

[Curtis Stimson]

I was in the construction originally. Plumber. Yeah. And then I built hot rods and been doing all kinds of different stuff.

[Steve Austin]

What's your favorite hot rod you ever built?

[Curtis Stimson]

What you go to the car Mopar 26 Hemi.

[Steve Austin]

You had a 426 Hemi?

[Curtis Stimson]

Several of them.

[Steve Austin]

What car was that in?

[Curtis Stimson]

Yeah, I had several cars.

[Steve Austin]

But what Was your favorite one? 65 was a 426 Hemi. As cantankerous as everybody said it would be. We know that was a horsepower monster but for some reason and I've never had one myself, but they were a little finicky as far as dependability. Yes or no?

[Curtis Stimson]

Yeah, they're a little touchy. But once you get them all ironed out, there's nothing like it. They're great. Fantastic motor.

[Steve Austin]

So when did you retire or get out of the plumbing business and start making clocks full time?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, I didn't actually start making them right away. I mean I looked around. Every time I'd go into an antique store I'd say do you have a neon clock? And typical response was every time. No, we don't have a neon clock. We don't have. We don't have one. We had one but it sold and I could never ever find a neon clock. So when I finally did find a neon clock, I would buy it, take it apart, see what it was made of and repair it and sell it and look for another one. And this happened for years until I just couldn't find any more. I looked everywhere. So I figured you know what? This is not rocket science. I can make this clock. It's not a big deal. So I had the can spun and learn from the old builders how these things went together and just started remaking them.

[Steve Austin]

Now which were the old builders that gave you the 411 or the education? Because everything that I've read about neon is very tricky to work with. Whether it's the gas part or the bending of the glass tubes. What's the deal in working with neon?

[Curtis Stimson]

That's the tricky part. My whole life I heard, oh, you can't learn neon, it's too hard. And tell me that I gotta learn neon now. I mean. So sure enough, I went to find out how to do it and couldn't find anyone. There are no schools, there's nothing. I ended up hiring a private artist in town here and took a course, a six week course that costs $4,000 to learn how to do neon. And I can tell you, after doing a lot of things my whole life, welding, fabricating sheet metal work, learning to bend neon is the hardest thing I've ever done. It is hard working with molten glass. It's hard, but it's rewarding.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, but tell me about. Okay, so I've watched you bend some tubes here. You gave me a little bit of a display the other day. How long did it take you just to bend all the glass tubes and the letters? Because I'm not looking to achieve that. I just want to be able to build a circle of neon and light up a clock. How tough was it for you to learn how to pick up that part of it? Because you're an absolute master. And if you people are listening, go to curtisclock.com and you can put in an order from Curtis, because this guy builds the coolest, baddest commercial grade American made stuff that will last a lifetime. It's badass. Curtisclock.com and on Instagram. Curtis clock on Instagram. But how tough was it and how long did it take you to perfect the letter making aspect of this art?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, let's put it this way, Steve, I'm 200 pounds and I bent my weight in glass before I could do anything. I mean, it took weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks before I could even make a halfway decent looking circle. It was horrible. And it's just, you have to be persistent. You have to do it again and again and again and again and, and unfortunately the problem is most people give up when they take a class. They give up. They go, this is too hard. I can't do it. You have got to stick with it. That's number one.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, I'm gonna stick with it because I've gone out on my podcast and I'm making the commitment right now. Where will we start? Because. Explain. We're looking at this silver clock right here on the wall. And as you guys listen to this podcast, I'll post a bunch of pictures on my Twitter account, steveaustinbsr, and along with my instag Steve Austin, BSR and Curtis clock on Instagram, so you can see what we're talking about. But if we're looking at that silver clock right there, we've got. Would you call that the base or the can?

[Curtis Stimson]

That is the can. That is the can. That's what your neon tube sets on. And your bezel sits on top of that. Your bezel is what holds the glass in.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Curtis Stimson]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

So bezel case or case bezel glass case bezel glass.

[Curtis Stimson]

And the back is called the lid.

[Steve Austin]

The lid. And so then the face is called the face. The face. Got the minute hand, hour hand, second hand.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

So where will I start with this process? Are we just going to get a can? Because. Okay, tell me about the motor aspect. Because I'm guessing my take on the motor is you get this motor, and it has been programmed to spin at a certain amount of time. Your second hand is going to make one revolution every 60 seconds. Then it's going to also move your minute and your hour hand accordingly. Is that motor spinning three different things to hook all those hands to?

[Curtis Stimson]

That's right. It's called a gear set. The motor is hooked onto what you call gear set, which turns the hands at a different rate.

[Steve Austin]

And this is basically the clock doesn't really know what time it is. But by the way, it's been programmed. That's the way it keeps time.

[Curtis Stimson]

That's right.

[Steve Austin]

And it's just like getting a watch that's not very accurate. That mechanism is like the watch I'm wearing right now. I won't name the brand of it, but this thing always runs three minutes slow. So basically, you're hoping that all your motors are spinning at the right time. Every clock that I've gotten from you keeps immaculate time. What brand is the motor or where do you just get these things from?

[Curtis Stimson]

It's a synchronon motor. It's made in Indiana. The same company that made motors for these clocks originally, back in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. All the electrical requirements in the United States are 60 Hz. So these motors are 60 Hz Europe, they have 50 Hz motors. So you have to be careful not to get the wrong motor in the wrong country or it won't ever keep time. But the United states are all 60 hertz, and that's about it. It'll keep perfect time with those requirements.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, now how long. What's the durability of these things? I mean, because you built these things to last, and most neon clocks are on 24, 7, 365 forever.

[Curtis Stimson]

A neon tube will dissipate for 50 years before it loses vacuum. So whether a neon tube is lit or not, it will wear out at the same rate by losing vacuum in the tube. But it's years and years and years and years before that happens. So typically, you can have a neon clock going for 50 years, no problem.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, now check this out. In front of us, we have some circles of neon tubing that you've bent. And this will be the outline of the clock. It will light up the outside edges and maybe the whole entire clock. So once you've bent this glass tube, how big is that in diameter? Half inch diameter?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, there's 12 millimeters usually most common. 12 millimeter, 12 millimeter and 10 millimeter.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, now you started off with a straight piece of glass. You built this into a circle, right? And then you've got two electrodes on an electrode on each end where it starts and finishes, Right? So here's my question. You've bent the tube, right? You put the electrodes on there. How do you charge that with neon gas? And how do you keep the gas from escaping before you cap it off?

[Curtis Stimson]

Right over here, this is the pumping station. This is where it gets. It gets bombarded and filled with the gas, and then it's ready to go.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, but how do you cap it off? I mean, where do you plug this? Okay, there it is. I'm looking at this little glass thing. It's got a sharp end on it. So you stick the tube on the end of that. How do you keep the gas from escaping to plug up the other side?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, you seal it with the flame. Okay, Seal it so it seals itself and it's sealed inside after everything's loaded in the tube, right. You seal it with a flame and it seals itself.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, Neon is a gas.

[Curtis Stimson]

Neon's inert gas. Neon.

[Steve Austin]

Now, how does one go about purchasing neon glass? Can I just go to some home depot and say, hey, I want some neon gas?

[Curtis Stimson]

No, but you can go to a neon shop or a supply sign. Supply shop. And buy them in liters. And they're in glass tubes.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. You've got a neon 0.9 liter. And then you have argon. What's the difference between argon and neon? Is argon for your heater thing with

[Curtis Stimson]

the bend, Argon goes in any tube that's not red. Argon goes into all your colored tubes,

[Steve Austin]

but it's considered neon.

[Curtis Stimson]

No, neon is neon. Neon is always red. When you see brake lights of a car, that's neon gas.

[Steve Austin]

Okay.

[Curtis Stimson]

Anything other color is phosphor in the tube that's lit by argon, but commonly

[Steve Austin]

referred to as neon. I mean, because you could say.

[Curtis Stimson]

So people do it all the time, right?

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, because no one says, hey, that's a neat argon cloth. Right?

[Curtis Stimson]

Right, right.

[Steve Austin]

So how much does a 0.9 liter of neon cost?

[Curtis Stimson]

About 20 bucks. And that can fill, that little jar flask can fill about a hundred tubes.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. So then you have a place to the cans. When you first got into business, who would make your cans? That would be. If you're looking at a round clock. I'm talking about the basis part of the clock where you screw in the motor, put all your bolts in your, your bezel, put all together. How did you find someone to make all the pieces of the clock so that you could assemble them?

[Curtis Stimson]

I have a metal spinner in Glendale, California that does all my cans for me. And I can take an old clock over there and say, duplicate this. And he will spin 100 or 200 of them. Whatever quantity I want to have spun, he can make it exactly. And the clock comes back to me, raw metal, and it's ready to be powder coated, certain color, whatever specific color somebody wants.

[Steve Austin]

One of the things I like about your Glocks is you come out with the heavy duty cords, which will last forever. I'm someone that doesn't like working with electricity. Is this going to be pretty simplified once we get into the inside of this thing and I start tying into that motor? Is this going to be something, Curtis, Just like the insurance commercial. So easy a caveman could do it. Because first of all, I know the neon thing is going to be a challenge for me. But just as far as the assembly process, you build these things like a tank. This is quality craftsmanship and you have mastered this. So do you think you're going to be able to help me build or learn how to build a friggin neon clock?

[Curtis Stimson]

No problem, Steve. No problem. It'll be very, very simple. We got it all down and it should be very, very easy to do. We've got the latest technology with these transformers. Now they have solid state circuitry built in protectors that if there's any fluctuation in the electricity, they'll automatically shut off. There's no problem of fire or somebody getting electrocuted. It's a piece of cake. Like you said, the hardest thing about this whole process is you learning how to bend the neon tube.

[Steve Austin]

But again, if I got to go to the pre bent ones, which I can buy, then I'm willing to go down that route. But I want to learn because it's lucky that I know you because I got a chance to learn from a master who I happen to be friends with. After this, maybe we won't be friends because I won't be worth a damn at bending neon tubes. But I do want to try to learn the nuts and bolts of it. During the time that you've been building these neon clocks, have you ever had someone that you came in here and mentored?

[Curtis Stimson]

No, actually, you know, it's funny because everybody that's ever commented on it I said, you're welcome to try. Here's my neon station. I'm all set up. Would you like to give it a try? And I haven't had any takers yet. Nobody seems to want to get their feet wet with bending neon.

[Steve Austin]

So hey, with all the stuff that you've got on your website and sometimes, you know, like back in the day, I'd ride out to. Or we'd meet in Pomona at the swap meet out there and you'd take your camper, one of the ones that you traded the master of Will and Dill and Curtis Dempson and you'd set up. You sell a lot of your neon clocks. And we'd ride around there and look at all the signs, see if we could find anything out of all the stuff that you do from one end of the spectrum, just being a basic clock, all the way up to the top end of the spectrum, which I'm looking at that one clock which reminds me of an old attentionaire. That thing is incredible. I'll send a picture of that out. What is the general average price of a Curtis clock? Just average. Because you can go high and low on these things. What would you say?

[Curtis Stimson]

I'd say about 450, maybe $500 or something like that.

[Steve Austin]

And I paid that several times on of the things that I've gotten from you. And if you're looking for a badass clock, and especially if you've got a business man, go to curtisclock.com and check this guy out, because dude, when I walk into. I just got finished eating. I got in traffic earlier today, Curtis, because I didn't want to get caught up in traffic. So I wanted to kill some time before I came over here. And I stopped over at the Big Boy right over there on Burbank off of Pass Avenue. And sure enough, there was a Curtis clock in there that was a basic model. What would something like that go for?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, I did that for Bob's Big Boy because I had an old photograph of Bob Wyand in his pantry in glendale in about 1930 something. And I looked hard in the background and sure enough, it was a Brubaker clock that I recognized. And I said, you know, I gotta find one of those someday. I'm gonna restore it and I'm gonna give it to Bob. So that's what I did.

[Steve Austin]

Hey man, there's a clock I got down at my ranch. It's a double sided square clock. It's like an old factory or warehouse clock that would hang in the middle of a gigantic factory. And so there's a face on each end of it. And I'll put a picture of that on my Instagram account as well. Where did you find that old clock at?

[Curtis Stimson]

You know, I don't remember. I think I found that on ebay or something. It was a double sided square clock. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

But from about the 30s or 40s, I would say.

[Curtis Stimson]

30s. Yeah, 30s. It was a glow dial clock. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

And so that's hanging up in my ranch, down at the Broken Skull Ranch. And nothing's on 24 7. I got all my security cameras. I'll turn that thing on, get on. I'll log on to my web cameras and I'll check at that clock. That thing will basically last forever, right?

[Curtis Stimson]

Basically, yes. Yes. As long as the vacuum doesn't leak out of the glass tube, it'll last forever. They've got a neon sign they found in a building down in la, at Clifton's Cafeteria that had been burning for. They tore the wall down, they remodeled it and they found the neon sign had been burning inside the wall for almost 100 years.

[Steve Austin]

Are you kidding me? What did I do with it?

[Curtis Stimson]

It's still there. Yeah, Got it. They've got it.

[Steve Austin]

What did it say?

[Curtis Stimson]

It's just a. It's just a tube or something. Some part of a letter or something, I think.

[Steve Austin]

How many? This is just you working out of your garage. And you got the perfect setup out here. How many clocks you make every single week?

[Curtis Stimson]

I make I figured I make about a half a clock a day is my production rate, right?

[Steve Austin]

And what about special orders? How do people, they just email you or just get on your website and contact you? Because here's the thing, we're in his garage. He's got all these for all these tubes hanging clocks are all over the walls. And then he's got this old school thing that you would see like at a diner from many years ago. It's a circle that spins like they would put your ticket on if you ever been to like a Waffle House or something like that. It's a menu wheel. Most of you cats that listen to show might be too young to remember what a menu wheel looks like. So he's got about six or seven clock orders here. How does someone contact you to order a clock?

[Curtis Stimson]

My number's on the website. It's everywhere now.

[Steve Austin]

Do you do this just because you wanted something to do?

[Curtis Stimson]

I do this because I'm selfish. I only do this because I love neon clocks. I just do this for me. I gotta say, I just. I don't know, somehow, some way, I don't understand why when I was a kid back in the 50s, a mom would come up with station wagon, Lotus hall kids in it. And we go down to the local double feature matinee, watch a monster movie or a western. And every time my eyes would gravitate towards that clock over the exit sign. And there was always a neon clock in that theater. And I always end up looking at that clock. So I'm thinking 50 years later, this is how it's manifested itself in me, these clocks. I'm trying to re duke every clock I ever remember.

[Steve Austin]

So did you go to college, Curtis?

[Curtis Stimson]

No, I didn't.

[Steve Austin]

But you were in Vietnam.

[Curtis Stimson]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

How long did you serve over there?

[Curtis Stimson]

Two years.

[Steve Austin]

What was your division or special?

[Curtis Stimson]

I was in transportation.

[Steve Austin]

Dude. How was that?

[Curtis Stimson]

It was a job. I didn't really ask any questions. I just did it. I was lucky. Everything went fine. No problem.

[Steve Austin]

No problems when you came back?

[Curtis Stimson]

No, no, I was okay. It was. It was all right.

[Steve Austin]

You just built a. What's it. Where's the USS Arizona Club?

[Curtis Stimson]

Oh, right.

[Steve Austin]

Pearl harbor right behind you.

[Curtis Stimson]

Pearl harbor, you said.

[Steve Austin]

That one got you a little misty eyed.

[Curtis Stimson]

Those are some brave guys back in the day, those ships.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah. If you go on Curtis's Instagram account, Curtis clock. You'll hear his. I don't want to say it on the air, but you can put the phrase, they mess with the wrong effing navy.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

So a Badass clock. Was this a commission clock or did you build this for the hell I

[Curtis Stimson]

just did it for? The heck of it. Yeah.

[Steve Austin]

Well, hey, man, let's shut off the podcast right now and we'll do some stuff with. With the clocks. Put me through the paces. Give me some four one, one and see where we start from. And then we'll turn on the recorder again and come back and wrap up the great.

[Curtis Stimson]

You bet.

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[Curtis Stimson]

The Steve Austin Show. The Steve Austin Show.

[Steve Austin]

All right, part two of the Bucket List podcast. I'm over here with Curtis Stimpson of Curtis Clocks. Curtis, we just got finished putting together an entire clock. You had already had the neon tube made. You had all the pieces put together. You showed me where to put all the screws, the holes, how to put the glass on. And we put together an incredible clock, and it was yellow and black. So you're gonna call this bumblebee the Bumblebee Beehive. So you gonna put this thing on ebay or what?

[Curtis Stimson]

Probably, sure.

[Steve Austin]

All right. So people look for it on ebay. It'll be the first clock that I actually took part in. And I won't say took part in, because I basically watched and observed. I still got my arm in a sling, rotator cuff surgery. It's been hard for me to do anything. But anyway, it was awesome watching you put that clock together and light it up. And so it gives me an idea of I got a long ways to go. The assembly thing, I think I can get. I know I'm gonna be here a few more weeks learning this stuff, but, dude, talk about, we put that clock together, then we went over to the big boy and had lunch. Then we came back and we started bending neon tubes. Now, Curtis, these neon tubes, we were Starting with were how long?

[Curtis Stimson]

Three feet.

[Steve Austin]

So three feet neon tubes.

[Curtis Stimson]

And they're, they're 12 millimeter diameter round.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. So anyway, Curtis has these different flamethrowers here. What's this one called?

[Curtis Stimson]

It's the ribbon burner.

[Steve Austin]

It's a ribbon burner. What's this thing over here?

[Curtis Stimson]

That's a crossfire.

[Steve Austin]

And then what's the other? Alola.

[Curtis Stimson]

That's the hand towards hand torch.

[Steve Austin]

A hand torch. So anyway, basically he has a template laid out here on his work table and it says 13 inches across it because a lot of the neon circles that he makes are for 13 inch clocks. least that's the size of neon that goes to fit a particular clock. So he goes about heating up a three foot neon tube and he bends a couple of them and gives me a little bit of 411 how to do this. And he hands me a tube and says, go for it. So I went for it about. I ruined three damn tubes. I've got a cut on my forefinger, a cut on my thumb. I got a cauterized spot where I burned the crap out of my thumb. Curtis, how would you sum up my neon bending skills? Please be very brutally honest.

[Curtis Stimson]

You're not supposed to touch the hot part of the glass. Steve. That's a.

[Steve Austin]

No, no, man. I'll tell you what, the way this thing is laid out here, he's working with an apparatus here that's probably about 18 inch flame. It comes out of this thing. And so you grab the glass tube at each end and you kind of start spinning it around. And Curtis likes to hold his tube about a half inch above the source of heat as he continues to rotate this. Now I was a little bit of a disadvantage, Curtis. I'm not going to blame it on the fact that my arms in a sling, but I didn't have full range of motion, so that didn't help me anymore. And the trick about it is heating up his tube at a point to which it can start being bent. And then he has this template that she lays down on his work table. And you start working it around that circle to create the perfect circle for the neon tube. And then so once you get what half of it bent, Curtis, you kind of just let it hang up because it's going to take you what, three heating processes for a pro like yourself to complete the circle, right. And then the thing that got me was when you turn the ends up to put the electrodes in it and then you got to charge it. And we used, we made the Color blue. So instead of helium, we used argon and then just a trace of mercury.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right. Okay.

[Steve Austin]

Why do we use the argon and the mercury to create blue?

[Curtis Stimson]

It brightens up the argon. It makes it brilliant, brilliant blue.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, you're explaining mercury when you got a neon tube. There's nothing in there. You have filaments on each end. And if you've ever seen, you've never seen inside of a neon clock, there's wires that go in there. But then when you look at the tube, it's clear. So how is this thing burning? What's the difference between this? Because I can touch this and it's not hot. Compared to a regular light bulb, the

[Curtis Stimson]

gas inside the tube is acting as the filament. Instead of a metal filament like tungsten carbide, it's gas. It's argon. It's an inert gas. Inert gas in the atmosphere.

[Steve Austin]

Okay, well, tell me about what we did before. Because after you made this 13 inch circle, you turned the ends up, you basically welded on, you melted two ends of glass so that the electrodes could stick out. And then we went through a process of which you hooked to a machine and you were basically sterilizing the inside of that tube.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right. It's called bombarding.

[Steve Austin]

What's called what?

[Curtis Stimson]

To bombard.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. What is that process?

[Curtis Stimson]

You sterilize the inside of the tube so it's absolutely pure and clean. So the element will. The filament will burn.

[Steve Austin]

Okay. And then you hooked it up. And that's another thing. You keep melting this glass and attaching it to more glass to suck all the air out of it.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

And then fill it back with the argon.

[Curtis Stimson]

That's correct. That's correct.

[Steve Austin]

And so on a 13 millimeter tube, you want to go in about what, 12 or 11 psi, right?

[Curtis Stimson]

It's on a 12 millimeter, it's 11. And on a 10 millimeter, it's 13.

[Steve Austin]

Well, see, man, I tell you what, here's the thing about it. When we put that first clock together, when the first circle was already made, and I saw you hook everything up and you put in the motor, right? And then the transformer.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

And the transformer is so you can turn the neon on and off, but the clock will always be going correct. So you always keep your time, but you can turn the neon off. So that looks simple enough. And it's a complex process, don't get me wrong. It's going to take me a while to memorize it. But, dude, when we came over to the neon. You talk about humbling. Like I said, I got two cuts on my fingers. I got to burn the crap out of my thumb. How long did it take you to master this? Because the circle is one thing. Turning the electrodes up is a whole different thing. But then when you look at some of the clocks that you've created with doing the lettering, how long did it take you to get, first of all, good, and then consider yourself a master?

[Curtis Stimson]

I don't consider myself really that good. I keep working. It's a work in progress. It's just a work in progress. Some days I come out here and I can't bend anything. And I try and try, and other days it's fine. Everything works fine. The gas pressure, your flame pressure regulation depends upon whether you can maybe do work well or not. There's a lot of elements, a lot of things to factor in when bending neon. So it's a work in progress. That's all I can say. The apprenticeship is 10 years to do neon bending. So it's very hard. Takes a lot of skill and lots and lots and lots of practice. And the best thing I can say for somebody learning. Do not give up. Don't give up. You want to give up, but don't keep doing it, and you'll do fine.

[Steve Austin]

So the fact that I cut two fingers, burned one. I'm right where I should be. I've got a long ways to go. This is not gonna be an overnight thing. One of the things you were talking about, because you're. You're a handyman. You know how to weld. What all do you do? You weld, you plumb, fabricate, fabricate, build.

[Curtis Stimson]

I don't know anything.

[Steve Austin]

But you said basically, you can do it all. And so you can do all that stuff. If you really want to challenge yourself, try to work with neon.

[Curtis Stimson]

Yeah, I thought neon was a piece of cake. I said, I gotta try this since I want to be able to do, you know, everything well. And it's the hardest thing I've ever done. It's hard. It's just hard to learn. Takes time.

[Steve Austin]

One of the things that we did as far as sterilizing the tubes, you had to hook us to a transformer. And how many volts were you hitting that with?

[Curtis Stimson]

15,000 volts.

[Steve Austin]

And so you're saying the most dangerous thing about working with neon is electrocuting yourself. But that's hard to do if you have the proper setup, Right? So when you go to buy all this equipment, and how much equipment would you say if you added up equipment in dollars.

[Curtis Stimson]

You can set it set up with the neon pumping station for about $10,000.

[Steve Austin]

And that's not include. I mean, dude, you got about I don't know how many drills you have with different attachments on it. And so that's not including all the hardware you have, all the cans that you have and that stuff you've got acquired over the years.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right.

[Steve Austin]

But dude, there's so much stuff going on here. This is going to be a little bit harder than I thought to get involved.

[Curtis Stimson]

It's a labor of love.

[Steve Austin]

I love it. I'm going to do it.

[Curtis Stimson]

Really a labor of love.

[Steve Austin]

The 15,000 volt transformer, dude, do you just go to the store and they'll sell you one? I mean you don't have to have a license for none of this stuff.

[Curtis Stimson]

No neon shop, industrial shop can set you up with that stuff. They have put a package together for you. Depending upon what your criteria, what you need for what you're pumping, they can put all this stuff together.

[Steve Austin]

And again, I might have asked this in early part of the podcast, but after burning myself, cutting myself, eating a chicken fried steak over at Big Boys, I forgot who took you under their wing and taught you this. Or did you just buy this equipment and start doing it yourself?

[Curtis Stimson]

There's an artist in Los Angeles named Michael Fleckner and he's a great neon artist. He taught me. I went to school in the school to learn.

[Steve Austin]

So how long were you in that school?

[Curtis Stimson]

Six week class.

[Steve Austin]

And I mean the dude. And that's kind of like when I got in the wrestling business, it was just like a couple of month course and then it's on the job training. You get the technical stuff or get the knowledge or here's how you do it. But then, man, it's just like being in the ring. Every time it's rep, rep, rep. The more you do it, the better you're gonna be.

[Curtis Stimson]

Same thing.

[Steve Austin]

But the way I was making that first damn circle, I should have kept it. I threw it in the trash, man. I'd burn through a lot of glass.

[Curtis Stimson]

If you do that circle 14,000 more times, I guarantee it'll be perfect.

[Steve Austin]

Hey, talk about what you're inspired to create because man, I see a lot of this stuff. Macintosh stereo amplifiers, the USS Arizona clock which is on your Instagram account. Curtis clock. You got to check that out. You just made the Spartan trailer coaches. I like the double face glow dial up there hanging from your ceiling. When you get up and all of a sudden you come out here to your garage. How do you say, I'm gonna make this today? Or it's because you've got orders coming in saying, well, so and so wants this made. What dictates what you do?

[Curtis Stimson]

Well, sometimes I have orders that I have to fill, but other times when I just may get creative and have an idea and want to do it, that's just kind of whatever comes to my mind.

[Steve Austin]

You ever thought about a global expansion? Bringing. Bringing people in here, trying to blow Curtis clocks up or.

[Curtis Stimson]

I don't know. I think I'm pretty happy where I'm at. I don't have to punch a clock, so I'm. I'm happy.

[Steve Austin]

Hey, man, you and I both like the rv, and you got it. You got to share this. This RV story with our. With our listeners out there. We won't mention the dealer's name, but me and Curtis are both fanatics about rv. And Curtis had traded out of his rv, one of the ones that I almost spot, and he decided, man, he's gonna get back in the RV game. So he had located one with relatively low miles on it, and he expected it to have the Triton V10 Ford motor, which is a motor that I have in my rv, and so does my brother, and that's a great powertrain for an rv. So you get to the dealership, take it over, curse. Because you go home with the rv, and all of a sudden, you drive it home, and you're thinking, man, this thing ought to have a little bit more punch to it than it does. And then what happened?

[Curtis Stimson]

So, to my dismay, I looked up in the book and found out it was a V8, and I was just devastated. I couldn't believe it. So we contacted them the next morning and drove the coach back.

[Steve Austin]

And did you send me a text, though? You were livid, because pretty much, it was almost standard operating procedure for all these coaches to have the Triton V10. And all of a sudden, you've got the V8 and you're a gearhead. So, like, you were mad as a hornet.

[Curtis Stimson]

All the salesmen said, they're all. They're all V10s. All of them. They're all V10s.

[Steve Austin]

They just assumed they were right. Dude, if you're gonna pull anything like you are, or put one of your bikes on the back or your scooter on the front, you want the V10, right?

[Curtis Stimson]

And on the way home, I noticed. I said, this isn't pulling like my other 4v10s I've owned. Something's wrong. So I looked it up and sure enough, it was a V8. So I contacted them, went back the next morning. My wife and I went back and apparently they said that they were wrong. They were sorry. They were wrong. None of the salesmen there knew it was a V8. They said they really thought it was a V10. So they made it up to us. So they gave me a brand new coach. Now this is the used coach I bought. I took it back and they gave us a brand new one with zero miles on it. That was great, dude.

[Steve Austin]

You got to give my guy, give them respect for at least honored. Hey, man, everybody assumed it was a V10. It wasn't. You bought it under that, guys, or you would not have bought a V8. And the fact that they traded you out like they did speaks to what kind of dealer they are. Because when you sign the papers, a lot of times it's like, hey, that's on you. If you didn't notice that, then that's your mistake, not ours.

[Curtis Stimson]

That's right. That's right. They honored it.

[Steve Austin]

Yeah, but that same dealership that you were dealing with, I've done business with as well. So the fact that they back up their word makes me think that I'll go back and still continue to trade with.

[Curtis Stimson]

Sure.

[Steve Austin]

Are you guys going to make your maiden trip in the RV tomorrow morning?

[Curtis Stimson]

We're going to Joshua Tree.

[Steve Austin]

What's out there in Joshua Tree?

[Curtis Stimson]

I always hear Joshua trees. I don't know. It's desert beautiful.

[Steve Austin]

Is that where they do?

[Curtis Stimson]

We've got some friends up there that actually bought a clock for me and I repaired it it and I'm bringing it back to it.

[Steve Austin]

Right. So is that where they do Burning Man?

[Curtis Stimson]

I don't think so. I don't.

[Steve Austin]

I'm not sure. Crazy for me.

[Curtis Stimson]

I'm not sure. I don't know.

[Steve Austin]

When you going back out to. When are you going back out to Pomona to go back to the trade show?

[Curtis Stimson]

Pomona is probably about four weeks.

[Steve Austin]

You don't take the clocks out there.

[Curtis Stimson]

Yes.

[Steve Austin]

You're going to take our bumblebee clock.

[Curtis Stimson]

I'll probably have it sold by then. I'm sure I will.

[Steve Austin]

Hey, man, check it out. I'm talking with Curtis Stimson. We might be doing a part two in a couple of weeks out of this show to see if my skills get any better. It was very interesting hanging around Curtis. Every time I've come over here, he's got something on his wall that catches my eye because I absolutely love antiques and I Love clocks. And now that I'm trying to get into learning how to make a clock, Curtis, I think what I'm going to do is start off with a couple of tubes that have already been pre made so I don't have to make the tube myself and just work on the assembly process. And if you can get me squared away on the assembly process of using pre bent tubes, I think that'll speed up my curve. And then I can come in here while you're doing something else and work on my glass bending skills until I can build a proper circle and then learn to insert the electrodes on there. Because it is something that I want to master. Because a long time ago, a couple years ago, I had a badass new old stock pearl sand and I broke that thing bigger than Dallas. It was brand new, but old. And I was thinking, you friggin idiot, who do you know that's gonna fix this? And so I brought it to you and you were able to fix it. So I want to be able to, whether I have someone make my tubes for me at least I want to be able to possess the skill set.

[Curtis Stimson]

Right? Right, sure.

[Steve Austin]

So that's what that's, that's, that's my goals and that's my intention. And because I am committing, you will see me building clocks. I don't know Curtis, with the nuts and bolts of it. If we did the basics like you did today, assembling the Bumblebee clock, I think in a couple more visits, you know, on that end, just watching you, I think I can be up and running.

[Curtis Stimson]

Yeah, we can do that.

[Steve Austin]

I mean I'm not gonna be building anything fancy. Probably nothing with any lettering on it, just the basic clock.

[Curtis Stimson]

Sure.

[Steve Austin]

And that's pretty much what I want to do. I just need something to occupy my time and happens to be building clocks, no pun intended. But it's something I enjoy today.

[Curtis Stimson]

Great.

[Steve Austin]

Hey man. Curtis, are you on Twitter?

[Curtis Stimson]

No, I'm not.

[Steve Austin]

But you are on Instagram and your handle is Curtis Clock. Curtis Clock without the S. Right. And Your website is curtis clock.com.

[Curtis Stimson]

right.

[Steve Austin]

Hey man, if you want to check out all Curtis stuff, check out those two sites. If you want to order something, call the man and he'll build it for you. If you want a badass American made, custom made, real deal, heavy duty clock that's customized for you or for your business that will last the rest of your life, this is the guy to come to. He's the guy that builds all my stuff. He built my broken skull ranch clock. He built my El Segundo Broken Skull IPA clock. He's a master at his trade and he's a fair man. Curtis, I appreciate you taking the patience and time to spend with me today. I hope you guys enjoyed the podcast because this is a part of my life. It's something I'm very passionate about. I like to share things with you guys that I love to do and I want to make clocks. So I came to the man and he helped me out and I'll be coming back in the next few weeks. So Curtis might not be on the show, but you're going to hear me talk about how my skills are coming together. Because just like I tell you to commit to the DDP yoga program, I am committing to making a fine American clock. Maybe not up to Curtis's grade, but that's what I'm going to do. And that's the bottom line because I said so. Curtis, it's time for me to jump in my wagon over there and ride off into the sunset and brave Los Angeles traffic with one arm.

[Curtis Stimson]

Thank you, Steve.

[Steve Austin]

Good talking to you.

[Curtis Stimson]

Thank you.

[Steve Austin]

Alright, man. My thanks again to Curt Stimson, to Curtis Clocks. It was good to hang out with you, Curtis, and we got a long ways to go before I know how to make a neon clock. I tell you, that's one thing for sure. I'm going back next Friday for round two of my clock making lessons with Curt Clocks out there in Burbank. And man, my injuries are healing up. My thumb burn spot is healing up, my two cuts are healing up. I'll tell you what, next time you look at a neon clock, next time you see a neon sign hanging in a window, someone had to bend those glass tubes into those letters. And it is a lot tougher than it looks. Dude, here's the thing. I'm just trying to make a neon circle out of glass. I'm not trying to make any letters. I know that's probably way beyond my capabilities and maybe I'll change my mind after doing that for a couple of years, but right now the task at hand is just making a circle. I wish I would have had a video camera there to capture, you know, when you lay that glass on the table and you're trying to bend it around that template to form that circle and then you form the circle and then you cut off the ends and then you basically weld or melt another piece of glass with the electrodes on it onto that. So you can then put your argon or neon in it to charge the thing is a very intensive process and I hope that we were able to at least describe to some degree of what's actually going on because it's a lot tougher than it looks. But I'm going to keep doing this. It is on my bucket list and it's one of the things that I'm actually passionate about. So that's why I'm going to stick with it. And I told Curtis, I don't care if Curtis wears gloves or not, next time I go in there, I'm going to wear my motorcycle gloves because the fingertips on my right finger where I had my right shoulder surgery, I still don't have all the feeling back in those fingertips yet. And so that might have curtailed a little bit of my abilities. Now that left hand is the one I screwed up so much and I got all the feeling in that one. So I don't know, I just think I need to wear a pair of gloves for safety reasons. A global icon and a national treasure cannot lose his fingers due to a burn accident trying to make a a neon clock. I tell you what folks, you know what I'm doing right now? I am sitting in a hotel, I guess it's the Renaissance Hotel out here in Indian Wells, California, kind of by Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, whatever. You people that know LA a little bit, about 120 miles outside of LA. And we got up this morning and we drove out here. We're only here for about a day and a half. It's the National Kawasaki Dealers Meeting or something like that. I'm here on behalf of Kawasaki Motorsports, of which I am a brand ambassador, looking forward to seeing a lot of stuff tomorrow and hanging out with everybody. And right now my wife, I can see her through the window right here. She's laying out there by the swimming pool soaking up some rays of sunshine. And as soon as I get done with this podcast and sending it to Stacy over there in the 90210, I'm going to take my ass out there and I'm just going to have on a sleeveless dry fit shirt and my camouflage shorts and some sandals. I don't think I'm ready to bust off my shirt yet with my arm in a sling. And as pasty white as I am, I haven't really been in too much sunlight since I've had my shoulder surgery because I stayed basically indoors. And I tell you what, I'm so damn lily white I might need to put some hundred block just to go out there and have one margarita with my Wife before I get ready to do this Kawasaki function. But we were driving out here today on Ten on i10 west and we got into traffic and there was a dude driving right beside us. And it was kind of like in one of those square shaped SUVs. And this dude was straight up texting the whole time he was driving. I mean he was looking down. You know how some people kind of look up and they'll look down while they text or some people kind of do that kayfabe texting. You know where they got their eyes up and they keep looking down? Right there by the center console. This dude straight up had his phone in his lap and wasn't looking up at all. And we're like, man, look at this friggin idiot, look at him. And it's pissing us off because it's so unsafe. Luckily we're in the lane beside him and we're thinking, oh man, there's always a cop up here over on the side of the road watching for people who text on the phone while they're driving or who. People who have a phone in their hands. Because Los Angeles is a hands free city or California is a hands free state. You cannot have a phone in your hand while you're driving. You can have your headset on, you can have bluetooth on. But these people that are texting, they're starting to pull these people over. So we're thinking, oh man, this dude's going to get drilled. Because we know where this cop always sits over here on his motorcycle on the right hand side of the road. And sure enough, the dude was texting bigger than Dallas, it was rolling straight down the boulevard. And I'll be damned if there was a cop right there on his motorcycle, right where we expected him to be. And guess what? He didn't see the guy in the car texting because he was on his cell phone texting himself. Sitting on patrol, man, we were going to yell at the cops, roll our windows down and say hey man, the dude's texting right here. We was going to narc on him and the cop was texting too. And I said what? Forget about it. We were driving out here and it's about 120 miles out here and there is. I can't tell you how many people that I passed or that passed me and was just straight up texting. That's one of the biggest things that chaps my ass out of all that I do right now. Anything are these pedestrians. I don't want to beat a dead horse because you've heard me rant about this so much. People just standing at that damn light and when that stoplight says, okay, pedestrian go and they just walk right out there with their cell phone and not looking for any cars. People, you're supposed to look for cars both ways. I don't care if that light tells you to go. Head on a swivel. Remember, you heard it from me here. Head on a swivel when you're crossing the damn street. Texting. Can nobody live without a damn telephone anymore? What I would like to see happen, you got to have your GPS stuff. I love how you can use Google Maps and your Siri can tell you how to get to your destination. But as far as texting goes, they ought to invent a damn chip that shuts off the texting abilities of the telephone if you're going over 10 miles an hour. Because you got no business texting. Editing, because texting is the new drunk driving. And it's just, it's just so damn unsafe. It's unbelievable. And I'm always worried that someone's going to rear end me or just pull over my lane because they got their head down in a lap and they ain't looking at the road and it just chaps my ass. So anyway, let me get off that rant. Hey, I got an email to [e-mail] and Ruth, I guess she's a nurse, she was saying, hey Steve, I appreciate you doing the checkups on your shoulder because anyway, she's in the medical field so she asked if I keep doing the check ins about my shoulder. Okay, here's a check in about my shoulder. Shoulder is feeling solid, feels pretty good. I'm able now when I take it out of the sling just to shower. I'm not supposed to have it out of the sling yet, but now it carries pretty good at my side. I always keep it bent like I'm supposed to, but it's feeling a lot more solid. That rear delt area is still a little bit tender, but everything feels like it's coming together real nicely. I do believe on the 24th I start range of motion exercises. It'll be very passive because of the stuff that they did in there, but right now the shoulder is feeling pretty solid. You know, when you first. Any of you people who've been cut on, you know, when you first get out there, man, you just. Everything is very ginger. You're being very careful. I'm still being very careful. Here's the thing about it. Ever since I Got my surgery. I wear flip flops around the house as my house shoes and I don't recommend them because you can trip in flip flops very easily and if you take a bump, you're going to mess up your surgery. But nonetheless, I'm doing that. But then to go out for tonight's Kawasaki function, I'll put some tennis shoes on and my wife will have to tie my damn shoes for me because I can't reach down there to tie my shoe yet because I can't bend my arm to make it work like that. So I use those pull on sandal things with the straps on the back of the heels when I go out in public. So, you know, a lot of people don't dig them. But my toes aren't exposed. You could actually. These are legal. Y' all know how I feel about people wearing flip flops on the airplane because I don't want to see them. It's okay for girls because it's just that, you know, women always wear sandals. But when guys wear flip flops or just go barefooted on an airplane that really don't like that. So these kind of things are by keen. Those sandals that you put on your toes are covered up and they got that strap on the back so you can't trip in them. So anyway, that's what I've been wearing since I got out of surgery is only those kind of shoes because I can kick my foot up on a chair and pull a strap up over my heel and just alternate feet. And that's my footwear that I've been wearing for the last couple weeks. So I'm looking forward. When I get the range of motion exercises going, I get the OK where I can start being able to bend down and tie my own damn tennis shoes. And I need to take my big sorry ass up into the gym. Man, I tell you what, I went down to El Segundo Brewing Company yesterday in El Segundo, California and seeing a lot of people down there coming in there, shoot. We had some people come in from Japan the other day just to try Broken Skull ipa and they loved it. Got a chance to go down there and hang out with the gang and shoot the breeze. We just bottled a brand new batch of Broken Skull ipa and man, that stuff was good. I came out here today for this Kawasaki meeting and I packed up plenty of broken skull IPAs in my little Yeti cooler that Ted Fowler 361 gave us for Christmas last year. So thanks, Teddy. The Yeti cooler is working out Great. And we are putting it to use with the best beer in the United States of America. My beer. What else do I got going on? I know I had one other tip I was going to tell you guys. Now I remember what I was going to tell you guys. And not a tip. I was going to remember to tell you that the Mike o' Hearn interview that you were going to hear for this podcast has been moved to this Thursday. We changed it because we started getting into a couple of four letter words. So I figured the conversation would best flow if I moved that podcast to Thursday. So you people that were expecting to hear Mike o', Hearn, one of the most popular fitness models, hell of a bodybuilder, powerlifter man, forever been on more covers of damn near. Well, I think he's in second place to Arnold. That podcast with Titan Mike O'Hearn is coming up this Thursday. Coming up this Thursday. And speaking of Thursdays, coming up next Thursday, I am talking to Arianne Andrews here on the Steve Austin Show. Cameron from wwe. Man, I tell you what, I'm looking forward to talking to her. We go way back to 2011 to tough enough. As you will remember, we've been keeping in touch every time I see her at the WWE shows. And so I'm looking forward to talking to Arian Andrews coming up this coming Thursday. We'll record that and then we'll probably play it the next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to seeing her and talking about her days in wwe. It's going to be a fun conversation. But anyway, folks, I always give you guys something to watch. I'll tell you a video or something to watch. And I got a real interesting video for you today because it has to do with me. It has to do with my broken skull Steve Austin knife that we came out with with cold steel knives. And if you get on YouTube, just type in cold steel broken skull. Must buy this dude here, tnp, whatever his name is, he reviews the broken skull knife and gives this knife a five star review. This guy doesn't even know who I am and I don't know who he is. So the fact that he doesn't know who I am and even if he did know who I was, the guy tells everything like it is straight up. He knows knives, he knows guns, and he goes on to break down and go over the whole broken skull knife. And like I told you guys, I told you this was a badass knife from the get go. This guy confirms everything. The video is 10 minutes and 53 seconds long. It's had over 35,000 views so far. And the reason I'd like you to check it out is because I told you when I put my name on that damn knife, I knew it was a badass knife. Nope. You know what? It's up to 47,000 views right now. So if you get on YouTube, type in cold Steel, Broken Skull must buy and the review for the Broken Skull knife will come up. Listen to what this guy has to say and all you self proclaimed knife experts. Everybody's got their own kind of knife that they like, but this guy lays it down and he calls a spade a spade. Check that out. No matter whether you buy one or not, I just wanted. It doesn't matter if you buy one or not. I'm not giving this as a sales pitch. But just so you know that this is a first class, badass, high quality blade from Steve Austin from the Broken Skull from Cold Steel knives. There it is. The proof is in that review. This guy knows what he's talking about and he tells it like it is. That's my video of the week, man. All the things that are Steve Austin, whether it's that knife, the T shirt designs and stuff like that, it's all at broken skull ranch.com if you want to order Broken Skull IPA from El Segundo Brewing Company you can find it in California at Whole Foods and total wine. InsideTheCellar.com is a link on Broken Skull Ranch.com you can click on that and you can have Broken Skull IPA shipped to your house wherever you live. We go to about 35 of the states here in the United States of America. I just saw a couple of guys in Australia had bought some, a couple of guys in Japan had gotten some. I don't know how they got it there, but they did and they're drinking it worldwide. So anyway, check out anything that you need to know that is Steve Austin related will be on broken skull ranch.com hey folks, here's the chance where I get a chance to thank you guys for all the word of mouth advertising you guys are doing on the show. Because if it wasn't for you guys, you know I ain't got no advertising budget. So due to the fact that you guys are always talking about the show, man, I got people listening like over in London, England, over in Bangkok, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong. They listen to the show in New York City. Of course that's just a hop, skip and a jump away. But they also listen to it in Rome, Barcelona, Dublin, Bahrain, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam, Prague. Hey, they digging the Steve Austin show over in Moscow. Because people are spreading the word. They digging in Beijing, Taipei, Cancun, Warsaw, Mexico. Of course they listen to it. Los Angeles. Hell, that's my hometown now when I'm not in Texas. And you guys keep spreading the word and talking about it. So they digging it in Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest. Of course they dig it in Frisco. They got it down there in South Beach, Miami, Orlando, Sydney, Australia, Lisbon, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen, Zurich, Edinburgh, Cape Town. Nice. Sao Paulo. Of course they listen to the show over in D.C. chicago. They got it overseas. Sweden. Over in Stockholm, Boston, Krakow. Why? Because you guys been spreading the word. Word is on the street. They dig it in Helsinki, Birmingham, Glasgow, Hamburg, Montreal, Mumbai. Of course they got it down there in San Diego. That's crap. Brew capital of the world. I fish, go down to San Diego and talk to some of those people down there because they keep helping, spreading the word. They listen to this show over in Grenada. Atlanta, Houston, Botslavia, Oxford. I think I mispronounced that city. San Jose, Luxembourg City, Nuremberg, Naples, Cambridge, Seattle. Monaco. They listen to the show in Monaco. Why? Because the people are talking about the show. They listen to it in Heidelberg, Bath, Dijon. Hey, pass the great Poupon, Genova, Dresden, Nottingham. They listen to the show everywhere. Aberdeen. Why? Because people are spreading the word. If one of you people spread the word, Turkey. Spreading the word, they wouldn't know about the show. But because everybody's talking about it, this show is being heard around the globe. So I've got to say thank you very much for spreading the word about the Steve Austin show. Because y' all know we running this thing on a shoestring budget. We ain't got no advertising budget. You think Norm comes up to me and says, hey, Steve, I want to spend $3 million advertising your show this year? No, it don't happen like that. It happens from real folks like you that listen to the show, put the word on the street, help a brother out, say, hey, man, you ever heard of Steve Austin show? Oh, you haven't? Well, here's how you download it. You can go to itunes and get it for free, or you can go to podcast1.com and get it for free. It's a digital download. You can listen to it on your smartphone, on your smart tablet, on your computer, or you can listen to it on your damn TV these days with Apple TV and Netflix and all that other stuff. Thank you guys for supporting the show again. Today's show, my bucket list I'm going to learn how to build a God dang neon clock if it's the last thing I do. I will stick with this. And one of these days I'm going to be making my own damn clocks just like Curtis clocks does. I won't be as good as him. I'll never achieve that type of perfection. But I'm going to be making the basic clock and giving myself something to do. Idle hands are the Devil's worship. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And I guess this is a way for me to kill time by making time. And that's how I'm looking at it. Hey man, I appreciate you guys supporting the podcast and I appreciate you guys for supporting my sponsors and I will thank them right now. Big ups DDP yoga and the DDP Yoga now app. Big ups to Weebly go to weebly.com Austin to get started on your website today. To Dollar Shave Club go to dollarshaveclub.com Steve buy a tube of Dr. Carver shave butter and get an executive razor for free. And the Scotts Roundup. And of course big thank you to Amazon. They've been supporting this podcast since day one. Folks. Use my Amazon links whenever you're doing any online shopping and Amazon will kick back a couple of bucks to the podcast. It does not cost you anything extra. There's no hidden fees or charges. You can buy whatever you plan on buying to help with the podcast process. And you can find my Amazon links by going to podcast1.com click the killer Deals button at the top right corner of the page and then hitting the Steve Austin show button. Bookmark it. You can find it in one little click. Amazon links for usa, UK and Canada. Appreciate the support. Coming up on Thursday, Titan Mike O Hearn hey folks, keep listening 60 second AP news headlines coming up next. Until then, my name is Steve Austin. I fixed Take my white ass out there and get some sun and I will catch your ass down the road.

[Curtis Stimson]

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[Steve Austin]

At first I didn't think it was real. I woke up to this blinding light and I was transported to another place. Pluto tv. Then I heard a voice. Come with me if you want to live. There were thousands of movies and shows and they were all free. The truth isn't it's just so Beautiful on Pluto TV.

[Curtis Stimson]

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[Steve Austin]

the 100 and the X Files may cause excitement, loss of sleep and sudden belief in extraterrestrials. No credit cards or alien encounters necessary. Pluto TV stream now pay Never.