445: Coffee with Mom—They Had Their Way with My Right Hip

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe

Episode: 445: Coffee with Mom—They Had Their Way with My Right Hip
Release Date: July 29, 2025

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Introduction

In episode 445 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, titled "Coffee with Mom—They Had Their Way with My Right Hip," host Mike Rowe engages in a candid and humorous conversation with his mother, Peggy Rowe, and friend, Chuck. The episode delves into a variety of topics ranging from technology and aging to the emotional impact of music and personal health stories. Through their light-hearted banter, listeners gain insight into family dynamics, personal anecdotes, and reflections on life’s unexpected moments.

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Technology and Aging

The conversation opens with a playful discussion about Peggy's aging computer and Mike's frustrations with his fading smartphone:

• Mike Rowe [03:18]: "You would be hard pressed to find a greater proponent of the old adage, if you don't fix it than yours truly."

• Peggy Rowe [05:21]: "I really am attached to my Computer. I would hate to see it go."

Mike humorously critiques phones with American flags that are partially assembled abroad, emphasizing his preference for domestically made products:

• Mike Rowe [16:30]: "...but maybe not your cell phone. The thing is, your battery life fades, right? A little more and more with every passing week, day, month, whatever."

The trio also touches on the challenges older generations face with new technology, highlighting Peggy's struggles in assisting her father with his outdated Acer computer.

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Music and Emotional Impact

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the emotional resonance of music, particularly Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings":

• Mike Rowe [13:19]: "It was so beautiful. I stopped my ruck. I was out for a walk this morning, Chuck, and... it just made me two things. It made me sit on the curb and listen and cry a little."

Peggy shares her appreciation for a choral rendition of the piece, underscoring its ability to evoke deep emotions without eliciting sadness:

• Peggy Rowe [14:54]: "It transports you to every horrible scene you see on the news. You see children dying in Ukraine."

The discussion highlights how music can serve as both a comfort and a conduit for processing complex emotions.

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Health and Personal Stories

Mike and Peggy discuss Peggy's experience with physical therapy, offering a blend of humor and vulnerability:

• Peggy Rowe [23:05]: "I have to lie on my side and reposition my clothes and then they do it on the skin and they massage and it really feels good. And they use warm... and massage and provide me with the treatment I need."

The conversation takes a humorous turn as Peggy describes the intimate nature of her hip treatment:

• Peggy Rowe [24:34]: "It's really interesting... there's a therapist who... he's... I won't tell you his name, but he's Dirk Diggler."

Chuck shares a relatable acupuncture story that intertwines with the group’s humor:

• Chuck [27:42]: "And then both my arm and my leg went up in the air, up and down involuntarily, and I couldn't stop it."

These anecdotes provide listeners with an authentic glimpse into the challenges and levity found in personal health journeys.

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Veterans and Personal Histories

The episode touches on the poignant stories of elderly veterans residing in assisted living facilities:

• Peggy Rowe [21:58]: "We have a fairly new resident here. He's been here three months. He is 105. He moved into this facility at the age of 105... He was on Omaha beach at D Day."

Peggy recounts her attempts to connect with the veteran for her upcoming book, highlighting the emotional complexities of hearing war stories:

• Peggy Rowe [33:43]: "I called him up and I was really nice and I told him that I was a neighbor and I said that I've written some books and it strikes me that you have a wonderful story..."

Mike reflects on his experiences with other elderly veterans, emphasizing the significance of their stories and the delicate balance between eliciting and respecting their wishes:

• Mike Rowe [41:40]: "These men spend their lives with all of this bottled up inside, and they never talk about it. And on the other hand, once they start talking about it, we're so desperate to tell their stories..."

This segment underscores the enduring impact of historical events on personal lives and the importance of preserving these narratives.

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Family and Relationships

Throughout the episode, the interplay between Mike, Peggy, and Chuck showcases the warmth and humor inherent in family relationships:

• Peggy Rowe [43:04]: "Do you remember when your grandfather retired from the county... Had we been all grown up, just bursting out in a song in a restaurant, we probably would have been beaten to death."

Their reminiscing about past experiences, including their early days in a barbershop quartet, adds depth to their familial bond and shared history:

• Mike Rowe [53:20]: "We sang everything we knew at this nursing home all the time. And for an encore, we sang Nearer My God, to Thee..."

The blend of nostalgia and humor paints a vivid picture of their collective journey, reinforcing the episode’s heartfelt undertones.

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Conclusion

Episode 445 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe masterfully intertwines humor, personal anecdotes, and heartfelt reflections. Through conversations about technology challenges, the emotional power of music, personal health stories, and the enduring legacy of veterans, Mike, Peggy, and Chuck offer listeners a rich tapestry of relatable and engaging content. The episode not only entertains but also prompts deeper contemplations on family, history, and the human experience.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Rowe [16:30]: "...before you Upgrade. And with PureTalk, you don't have to do that." (Note: This is part of an advertisement and has been excluded from the summary as per guidelines.)

• Peggy Rowe [21:58]: "He's a veteran. He was on Omaha beach at D Day."

• Mike Rowe [13:19]: "It was so beautiful... it just made me sit on the curb and listen and cry a little."

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Note: Advertisements, promotional content, and non-essential sections have been omitted to maintain focus on the core discussions and narratives of the episode.

Transcript

[Mike Rowe]

A cup of coffee with my. With my mom.

[Peggy Rowe]

It's like you've never done this before. Right?

[Chuck]

That was a maniacal laugh.

[Peggy Rowe]

I thought so.

[Mike Rowe]

Is there any other kind? Really?

[Chuck]

Yeah, I think there are a lot of different kinds.

[Mike Rowe]

If you were an alien here on the planet trying to make sense of the species, and you heard a laugh, any laugh, any kind of laugh from any person in any circumstance, you would conclude they were having some kind of failure. Right?

[Chuck]

I mean, I mean, you don't think aliens have a sense of humor? You don't think they have that, that same sort of thing?

[Mike Rowe]

Legal ones? Sure.

[Peggy Rowe]

Okay. You can't leave that.

[Chuck]

He's got an eye roll.

[Peggy Rowe]

You cannot leave.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm sure illegal aliens have a sense of humor as well. I've just never seen them laughing at anything and I'm surrounded by them.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, I guess they don't have much to laugh at these days.

[Mike Rowe]

I think it depends on the state. Out here in California, you know, I don't like the way this is starting at all.

[Peggy Rowe]

So here we all are, ready to start the podcast.

[Mike Rowe]

Do do do do do do do do do do. You would be hard pressed to find a greater proponent of the old adage, if don't fix it than yours truly. I'm all for hanging on to your appliances to the bitter end, but maybe not your cell phone. The thing is, your battery life fades, right? A little more and more with every passing week, day, month, whatever. The processors can't keep up. You know, you drop it into the toilet here and there and wipe it off. And it's just. That's the universe telling you, don't wait for the thing to completely crap the bed because before you Upgrade. And with PureTalk, you don't have to do that. In fact, they'll send you a free Samsung Galaxy A36 with a $35 qualifying plan. This is my cell phone company. I switched to these guys nearly a year ago. I'm so happy with them. It's a great company to be in business with. They actually give a damn about our vets. They've been generous with America's warrior partnership and with my own foundation. And now you can get a free Samsung phone with scratch resistant gorilla glass and a battery that'll last all day long on America's most dependable 5G network. Honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't do it. Make the switch. You can do it in as little as 10 [e-mail] ro that's where you go to get your free Samsung phone. Today, that's PureTalk.com RO to switch to my wireless company. It's America's wireless company, a company that actually stands for something. PureTalk. Hi, Mom.

[Peggy Rowe]

Hi, Mike. How you doing, hun?

[Mike Rowe]

I'm fine. You look lovely today.

[Peggy Rowe]

I put my little necklace on and.

[Mike Rowe]

That's nice, Chuck. I see you went with sort of a luau kind of thing.

[Chuck]

Yeah, yeah, man. I'm just. I'm getting ready for, you know, my pseudo vacation in a few days.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, you're going back east, right? You're doing the thing we first discussed, the news we initially broke on this podcast regarding your ass and pellets.

[Chuck]

Yes, thanks for bringing it up. Yeah, there'll be. There'll be more of that. The lady who puts me in. The lady who puts them in me will be there as well.

[Mike Rowe]

Yes.

[Chuck]

And then I'm gonna spend my vacation at the beach with a sore butt.

[Mike Rowe]

Just so people understand, maybe there's some new listeners and they've got an image in their mind and it's not really accurate. So just very briefly, just explain to people what the pellets, your ass and this trip all signify.

[Chuck]

Well, I am taking testosterone therapy, a hormone therapy which is basically just. They jam testosterone pellets under my skin, in my buttocks, and they slowly dissolve and provide me with the tea that I need to lift heavy objects and curse at people while I drive here.

[Mike Rowe]

In LA and remain vigorous and engaged and vital and all things.

[Chuck]

Yes. Yeah, I think we've said enough.

[Mike Rowe]

Good. I think so too. The sound in the background, it's my mother's computer, which obviously is on its last legs. We're minutes away from an explosion. Mom, I wish you well in the aftermath.

[Peggy Rowe]

Do you want me to get some more ice? I have ice pads under it so that it's not hot. Doesn't feel hot.

[Chuck]

If those aren't working, that's. I don't think more is going to make it out. Well, it sounds like it's.

[Mike Rowe]

I think she's backing away from it.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, you said it might explode.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, that's not bad. Yeah, keep going. Mom, get in the other room. How old is that thing?

[Peggy Rowe]

You know what? It's because it's backing away from the microphone.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, you already knew that.

[Chuck]

That actually helps.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, that's. That's much better. How old is your computer?

[Peggy Rowe]

It's about five years old, maybe. Maybe four.

[Chuck]

So that means seven. Usually people misjudge by two years.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, really?

[Chuck]

That's a well known fact.

[Peggy Rowe]

I really am attached to my Computer. I would hate to see it go well.

[Mike Rowe]

I mean, people. It happens all the time, you know?

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, I know, but, you know, there is a bit of a learning curve for a new computer, and some of your apps don't work right away. You. Something has to be done to them.

[Chuck]

Well, you don't have to get rid of this computer just because you get a new one. You could use the new computer strictly for coffees with Mom.

[Peggy Rowe]

Wow.

[Chuck]

But I'll bet you're gonna want to use it all the time, because it'll be better.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, please. If you're gonna sell that to my dad, please have some sort of recording device going so we can get his reaction to the notion of a dedicated computer that's used once a month. I just want to see his head slowly, you know, explode, like the very computer we're talking about.

[Peggy Rowe]

I would love to replace his computer. It is a dinosaur. He's had it for years. I won't say the brand because they might be your sponsor.

[Mike Rowe]

Why? No, we don't have any computer sponsors.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh. It's called an Acer. And I'm sure it was very nice when it was new, but it's kind of old, and dad really doesn't know his way around it, and I can't help him because I don't understand it either.

[Mike Rowe]

An Acer? What the. What is an Acer? Have you even heard of that, Chuck?

[Chuck]

Well, yeah, it's 1 higher than a kinger and 2 higher than a queener. At least at my poker game.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah, a C, E, R. And it's a big one.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm sure. I'm sure. I mean, you're on a Mac. I'm on a Mac. Chuck, are you on a Mac?

[Chuck]

Yes, sir.

[Peggy Rowe]

I know. And I tell him he should be on a Mac. And when I got this new computer, I wanted to give him my old Mac because, you know, they can talk to each other and it talks to my phone. But, you know, when you're 92, it's hard to learn something old. I mean, something new.

[Chuck]

You know, it's probably hard to learn either.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, I said 92 and really. And just went to old. But really, it's difficult to learn something new. It means reading pamphlets and stuff.

[Mike Rowe]

It's the worst. It's the absolute worst.

[Peggy Rowe]

It really is. Oh, before I forget, the other day I went on your website and I heard you sing the national anthem, and it was really so nice. You know, that's one of my pet peeves, hearing people stylize the national anthem. And you Hardly recognize. Seems like almost a sacrilege.

[Mike Rowe]

You know, I wasn't looking for, like, easy likes or, you know, cheap praise, but, wow, the response to that. So many people are so similarly annoyed with the way the Star Spangled Banner has become just totally performative. When I, you know, once upon a time, I remember going to baseball games with Nana and you. And, I mean, everybody around us was singing it. It used to be participatory. Yep. And somehow or another, it's become totally performative to the point where even if you wanted to sing along, I mean, it's. It's challenging enough. The song is rangy as hell, and it's hard for people, especially when nobody around you is singing, to be the only one standing there singing. But the performers don't encourage participation at all. It just struck me as a shame. So. Yeah. Thank you, Mom.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah. And the reason I went on to see it, I had forgotten I had been really busy, and we were having dinner with friends, and both of them, and they both happened to be former barbershop participants they had seen, and one of them said, oh, I was so happy to hear Mike say that people need to know how to sing the national anthem and how not to sing it.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you tell me that somebody was in Denver at, like, the international barbershop event?

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

They played it.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes. Kepi, she loves barbershop. I mean, she's been a sweet adeliner her whole adult life. She has traveled to all of the performances. She's gone to Hawaii. She's gone. Oh, she's traveled internationally. She just loves it. She said that. So what she does is she subscribes to something so that she's able to stream on all of the competitions.

[Chuck]

Oh, right, yeah.

[Peggy Rowe]

And she went to one virtually out in Denver, and she said, oh, and they. They played Mike. And she loved it because she.

[Mike Rowe]

They played me singing the national anthem from the lake house where I just was.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, I didn't see it, but she just said, singing the national anthems. Is that where you filmed it, at the lake house? Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah.

[Peggy Rowe]

And you did that on the 4th of July?

[Mike Rowe]

I did, yeah. Yeah. Actually, I think I did it the day before. I was up there around Tahoe. Fallen Leaf Lake is the place where we go. Yeah. I wanted to post something, and I just thought, well, why not? You know, I wonder if I can do it in under a minute. And as it turns out, yeah, you could.

[Peggy Rowe]

And it didn't seem rushed. It didn't feel rushed. I remember years ago, Rosie o' Donnell came Oh, Lord. Where was she? Was she in Baltimore? She was at a ball game and she did the national anthem and at the end of it, remember what she did?

[Mike Rowe]

She like gave it the finger, like flipped off the crowd.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, she grabbed her crotch.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, that's right. Yeah.

[Chuck]

I think you're conflating Rosie o' Donnell with Roseanne Barr. Roseanne Barr is the one who did that. She spit and she grabbed her crotch. She thought she was just pretending to be a base because they do that a lot.

[Peggy Rowe]

Who's Rosie o'? Donnell?

[Chuck]

Rosie o' DONNELL used to be on the View and now she lives in Ireland because Trump is president. But she still weighs in on everything Trump does, so it's not helping.

[Mike Rowe]

And she's a well known crotch grabber.

[Peggy Rowe]

And I'm sorry about that. Rosie o'. Donnell, I hope you're not listening to this. It was Rosie.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, I'm sure she is. I'm sure Rosie o' Donnell hangs on every word of the way I heard it.

[Peggy Rowe]

She might. You'd be surprised who listens when she's.

[Mike Rowe]

Not spitting and grabbing herself. She's hanging on to.

[Chuck]

No, again, you're conflating Rosie o' DONNELL with Roseanne Barr.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't think I am.

[Chuck]

I see what you did there.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm living in a world where more than one Roseanne has the ability to grab their crotch and spit.

[Chuck]

You know, I wonder if Rosie's name is Roseanne.

[Mike Rowe]

What do you think?

[Peggy Rowe]

Hmm.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't know. But I know at o' Donnell it does make sense she would go back to Ireland. Anybody who's that disaffected, you know, would go back, I would think, to their homeland. Where would you go, Mom?

[Chuck]

I'm pretty sure she was born in America.

[Mike Rowe]

I guess she was, too. But o' Donnell is pretty Irish, you have to admit.

[Chuck]

Sounds it.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah, I think so. And I wanted to thank you for sending me that link. Just before we went on, I had time to listen to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strangers.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, the link. Oh, man.

[Peggy Rowe]

But it wasn't. It was a choral group, strictly vocal. There was no accompaniment.

[Mike Rowe]

It was so beautiful. I stopped my ruck. I was out for a walk this morning, Chuck, and, you know, just do him scrolling as you do. And I came across a recording, a recent recording of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings or Agnes, Agnes Day.

[Peggy Rowe]

I think it was originally called Agnus Day Day.

[Chuck]

Can you hum a few bars so we could recognize it?

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, so slow and so.

[Mike Rowe]

Remember the end of Platoon when.

[Chuck]

Oh, yes.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, okay.

[Chuck]

So he's got his arms in the air.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, right. That's Barbara. So the first time I heard Adagio for Strings, I was in the opera, so it would have been like 1984. And I went over to somebody's brownstone not far from the Lyric, and four members of the orchestra were there, which is a little party, but they came armed, you know, two violins, cello. It was a classic string quartet. And they played that in this brownstone. And it was so simple and beautiful, and it made me weep. I wasn't sad at all.

[Peggy Rowe]

Exactly. It will bring tears.

[Mike Rowe]

It's so amazing when music does that. I mean, some songs, you cry because they make you so sad. You just can't believe it. But this doesn't make you sad. It just somehow coaxes the moisture out of your eyeballs.

[Peggy Rowe]

It transports you to every horrible scene you see on the news. You see children dying in Ukraine. I mean, it does. It takes you to those sad, dark places. It does me, maybe. Not you.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, not entirely. It is part of it. Obviously, it's evocative of calamity, but it's also just so beautiful. It's just so beautiful. And years later, I heard it live in D.C. the National Orchestra played it. I just thought, gosh, it just can't get any better than that. And then I went down a rabbit hole years ago on Spotify, just listening to different versions of it. But this morning, I stumbled across a young choral group who did this in a cathedral somewhere. And you know what? We'll put the link in the notes just so people can listen to this. It's that good. And it just made me two things. It made me sit on the curb and listen and cry a little. And then I sent you a link, and then I totally forgot about it. Isn't this a crazy world? You can be just absolutely thunderstruck when you're out for a ruck. You send your dear old mother a link, and then you just. It was an hour ago and I've already forgotten about it.

[Peggy Rowe]

It's too busy, Mike.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, that's true.

[Peggy Rowe]

You're always multitasking, which is a good thing.

[Mike Rowe]

I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure I have worn every type of work boot available in this country over the course of 350 dirty jobs. I've tried them all. And you know which ones I hate? I hate the ones that have an American flag on them and a tag, usually on the other side of the flag. That explains. The boots were assembled in the United States from materials sourced from Vietnam or Pakistan or someplace else. I just find that unforgivably deceptive. Doesn't go on at the Truman Boot Company. They've been making their boots in Eugene, Oregon. Every square inch of them, every stitch, every rivet, every eye hole, all done in this country. And it shows. They're amazing boots. I've had a pair now for about seven months. I love them, and I'm super excited to tell you they're leaning hard into their new line of work boots. And these things also look great, but they're virtually indestructible. They are comfortable as all get out, and they are 100% made in this country. Go to trumanboot.com and just see what they're up to. You're going to love them. But the work boots in particular, I think are going to be huge. Truman boot.com save 15% when you use promo code Mike. And you're going to want to save 15%. They're not the cheapest work boots you can get, but they just might be the best. Truman Boot promo code Mike. You know what I just did? Speak. I just wrote a commercial for Pure Talk, and the title is called Multitasking. And it starts, these guys are basically letting me do virtually anything I want. It's the greatest commercial relationship. And I told the story the time I dropped my phone in the toilet at the airport, picked it up and wiped it off and just kind of went up, got on my flight. What else can you do? And so they've got this new phone that they're introducing, whatever. And. And I just thought, oh, yeah, that's a good reminder that maybe it's time for people to upgrade their phone. Because I googled number of people who drop their phone in toilet every year. And the estimates or between 19 and 25% of all Americans do this every year. Millions and millions of people are in the can not focused on the job at hand, and the phone gets away from them. It totally happens. Sometimes it falls out of their pocket, you know, when they're, you know, arranging things.

[Peggy Rowe]

Their back pocket. Yeah, I can see how that would happen. I mean, I don't think that would ever happen to me, but I might lose my AirPods in the toilet.

[Chuck]

Have they ever fallen out of your ears?

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes, they do from time to time. And so I try not to walk around with them in. I mean, I'll sit while I'm exercising and use it, or seated or in bed. I do it, but I don't walk around normally.

[Chuck]

You may not have the correct little Rubber parts?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, they come in different sizes.

[Chuck]

You could maybe get a bigger one that would fit.

[Peggy Rowe]

I don't have any rubber parts.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah.

[Chuck]

Oh, you got the old school ones.

[Mike Rowe]

Are those Acers? Do you have the Acer?

[Chuck]

Those look like bee Sirs. Those are beezers.

[Peggy Rowe]

I feel like I'm playing adagio for strings while we do this because they're dying. My computer's dying.

[Mike Rowe]

You know what I saw yesterday? I was on my walk yesterday and a woman was walking toward me and she was on the phone and she had a dog with her and her earbud fell out and she went to grab it and sort of caught it, but it bounced in her hand. And then she reached with her other hand and then basically she starts juggling this thing and she's running toward it and every time she goes to grab it, she just knocks it up in the air. And this goes on for like five steps. And then she eventually just trips and falls on her face in the air.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, no.

[Mike Rowe]

I mean, I know it's not. Talk about adagio for straight. That should have been the soundtrack for it. It all happened very quick, but I'm sure slow motion just.

[Chuck]

I would have gone with the Benny Hill theme.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, too on the nose. That's called Yakety sax.

[Chuck]

Yes, that's right.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yakety. Yackity. Well, your father's not here at home right now because there is a new club formed and it's the Veterans Club. They've never really had such a thing before, a veterans club. So this is their first meeting at 2:00 today.

[Mike Rowe]

They're everywhere. They're called the VFW and they've been around for many years.

[Peggy Rowe]

This is right here at the home for some people maybe who can't go out. And I hope he can hear some of what's said. Maybe he'll sit in a place where, you know, he's close enough that he can hear it. But I'm going to tell you something you won't believe. We have a fairly new resident here. He's been here three months. He is 105. He moved into this facility at the age of 105.

[Mike Rowe]

Wow.

[Peggy Rowe]

And let me tell you, he's a veteran. He was on Omaha beach at D Day.

[Chuck]

No way.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah. Really amazing. And when I heard about it, I was down in physical therapy and there's no gossiping there. But this was such an interesting story. That young man told me that he was taking care of somebody who was 105.

[Mike Rowe]

What kind of therapy were you in? The midst of when this is happening.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, I'm having a problem with a little bit of bursitis in my right hip and a little bit of lower right back pain, maybe in the sacrum. But anyway, so they're going to fix me up. They're really good. I had bursitis when we first moved here, and after about 10 or 12 treatments, it went away. I don't know. It might have gone away anyway, but.

[Mike Rowe]

So you're getting a massage basically, while you're gossiping about this old man.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, Mike, it's more than a massage. I mean, it's a really good massage.

[Mike Rowe]

This is still a family show, Mom. So I don't want to hear any happy endings at the beginning here. Oh, dear.

[Peggy Rowe]

I mean, they have to do it right on the skin. And so I have to lie on my side and reposition my clothes and. And then they do it on the skin and they massage and it really feels good. And they use. They use warm. It's not oil, but it's a kind of a thin cream. And it. Their hands just glide over. It's really. I look forward to it. The first part of the treatment, it's an hour. The first part of the treatment is work. And I have to do all these exercises, leg raises and bridges, and there are names for everything. I can't remember what they are. And then after that's all over, and then I get up and get on the new step, and I, you know, I'll use the bands and a ball, all those PT toys. And then comes the good part. I get to lie down and they have their way with my right hip. And it feels pretty good. So after that, listen to this. What is this? Tmi.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm hanging on every word. Believe me, the audience, those remaining are riveted.

[Peggy Rowe]

Mean to create a visual for you. Don't do that. Don't go there. All right.

[Mike Rowe]

And then you're face down and your pants. Left side.

[Peggy Rowe]

I'm on my left side, yes. And my pants are lowered, but there's a towel there and there's a curtain that goes around so nobody else can see me because there are other people walking around. So this is the really interesting.

[Mike Rowe]

And who is this therapist?

[Peggy Rowe]

I won't tell you his name, but he's Dirk Diggler. Actually, three of Dirk Digglers. Three of them have done this for me. One, two, three, four. Actually, counting yesterday, but I've had maybe 10. Yesterday was my 10th treatment. But anyway, okay. And then comes this part. There are three. Have you ever had an EKG where they stick those leads on you? Probably not.

[Chuck]

Yeah, I've had it.

[Mike Rowe]

No, not yet. Chuck has one every morning. Every morning.

[Chuck]

That's a good thing, rain or shine.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, anyway, they stick these big round. Oh, there's a good name for them, but I don't know. It leads anyway. They're connected to electrical wires. Electrical wire. And so I've got three of them all around my hip, and they're all stuck there. And then they put cold pack over that. Okay. So I'm sitting up at this point.

[Mike Rowe]

Point. Uhhuh.

[Peggy Rowe]

And then they turn on the machine, and it tingles. It's like. In a good way. Well, I do that for, like 15 minutes. That timer always goes off too soon. It is so nice. And they hand me my phone so that I can listen to Adagio for.

[Mike Rowe]

Strings or dropping the.

[Peggy Rowe]

Or something a little more provocative.

[Chuck]

I've experienced that before, Peg. I had a cyst in my wrist years ago, and someone suggested acupuncture. And I didn't have a lot of money at that time, and so I went to a school, an acupuncture school, to let the students work on me. And of course, they have a teacher who's there the whole time. And they stuck all these needles around in my wrist, my arm, and then in my thigh and my calf, down my leg, and they had it dialed. And they said, you know, turned the dial and said, you know, can you feel that? And I said, no, no, I don't feel that. Can you feel that? No, no, no. And they were like, you know, and they're all looking around. Can you feel that? Can you feel that? You know, just kept going, no, no. And then all of a sudden, like, all of a sudden it just went boom. And both my arm and my leg went up in the air, up and down involuntarily, and I couldn't stand. Stop it. And they freaked out. The students were kind of going, like, what? You know, what's going on? And they would start talking. There was a guy who was standing next to me, and these two guys are fighting. Everybody's Asian but me. And they're speaking in a foreign language. And I go to the guy next to me, I go, what are they saying? And he goes, I don't know. I don't speak Korean.

[Mike Rowe]

And then, anyway, what happened?

[Chuck]

The instructor came back in and, you know, and they just pulled the cord, and then it just, you know, and then I was like, what's his name in Skin Deep? Ritter. John Ritter in that scene. And you know, where he's got the electrolysis and he's shaken.

[Mike Rowe]

That was funny. That was a Blake Edwards movie.

[Chuck]

Good one.

[Mike Rowe]

Skin Deeper, Skin Tight. Yeah, something like that.

[Chuck]

I think it was Skin Deep. Yeah, very funny. Great performance.

[Peggy Rowe]

Sounds like you were electrocuted. Sort of. Just to the point of almost.

[Chuck]

I couldn't feel it. They kept turning it up and up and up and. I don't know, I don't think it was working until it got to 11 and then.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, this might be a stretch, but it reminds me of the first time I saw the accujack being used. It's a mechanism in artificial insemination at this place called the Circle X Ranch.

[Chuck]

I was hoping that's not what it was about.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh.

[Peggy Rowe]

Accurate. You talking.

[Mike Rowe]

I swear, it's. I tell the story sometimes, you know, when people hire me to go give speeches and stuff. You gotta loosen them up with a story. And I don't know if I've told you this, Mom. I'm sure you've heard it. The one with.

[Peggy Rowe]

I remember the show.

[Mike Rowe]

On Sucker Command One where I. Yeah, it was a giant Brahmin bull, and they run that probe into his butt. It's like a foot and a half long. It looks like a deck of cards. About the size. It's basically a battery that's attached to the back of this probe. And the leads come out of that and they go into a device in this thing I call the Tackle box from Amsterdam because it's full of lube and all kinds of other suspension suspicious devices. Anyway, this cowboy, you get situated underneath the bull with a Styrofoam cup. And he turns that first knob and a little bit of electricity goes through that accujack and stimulates the prostate. And that bull presents himself and it's stunning. And then the second knob, of course, increases the jolt. And that's when. Yeah, you know, if you're me, you're just down there with that Styrofoam cup getting yelled at by a cowboy. Don't spill it, Mike. That's white gold, boy.

[Peggy Rowe]

I'm sure Peter loved that episode. I bet you got a lot of complaints.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, my God. That file never left my boss's desk. We called it the aaa. It was the army of Angry Acronyms. And PETA was near the top. PETA, hsus, osha, the epa. Even got a letter from the FBI once. Every acronym was offended by Dirty Jobs at some point in time. Anyway, I'm sorry, Mom. You were half naked lying down in a. Or in a sitting position, and some guy with very smooth, slick hands is rubbing your hip and your. And your buttocks, right?

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, no, we've gotten past that. I was wiped off. That was the third 15 minutes wiped off. And then the last 15 minutes. Well, you know, there's that creamy oily stuff that they use and they wipe it off with a towel so that the leads will stick, the electrode things. And so I felt it sooner than you did so that I could say, oh, I feel that you can turn it. But the thing is, if you stop too soon, you don't feel anything. It tapers off. So that you have to have a little bit of. You have to notice a little bit. Otherwise it doesn't.

[Mike Rowe]

Premature voltage, I believe they call that.

[Chuck]

I don't believe they do. Yeah, I don't believe that for a minute.

[Peggy Rowe]

I don't know.

[Mike Rowe]

Dumb. On May 8, back in 1965, an organization was formed in this country that would go on to become what I believe is the most important youth organization in the world. They started with just 200 members and today SkillsUSA has record membership of more than 444,000 career and technical education students and teachers nationwide. I'm talking to you today because I want to help them get to a million by 2030. If you're not familiar with SkillsUSA, for crying out loud, go to SkillsUSA and poke around. I talk a lot on this podcast about what happened when we took shop class out of high school. The short version is nothing good. Well, this is the remedy to that incredibly boneheaded decision made all those years ago. No organization has done more to reinvigorate enthusiasm for the skilled trades than SkillsUSA. I just spoke at their national competition and their leadership conference. It was in Atlanta. It was epic. The way it always is. They're 60 years old this year and I am doing what I can to help spread the word about the impact they're having on closing America's skills gap. If you are at all interested, even if you're not Interested, go to skillsusa.org mike and poke around. Then you'll become interested and then hopefully you'll get involved. This is a trades movement that matters. Help start a chapter at your school. Partner, volunteer at SkillsUSA. There are a lot of ways you can get involved. It's a truly worthwhile organization that is absolutely worth your time. Skillsusa.org Mike I'm talking SkillsUS, Skills, US, SkillsUSA.

[Peggy Rowe]

But anyway, I was talking about that old 105 year guy.

[Mike Rowe]

Yes, you're gossiping with your gigolo down there in pt.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, he mentioned him, but he didn't. He said, I can't give you any.

[Chuck]

Names, but, but he's 105. So that kind of rounded it down to maybe two people at most.

[Peggy Rowe]

I ask a lot of questions. He was telling me what he loves about his job. First of all, he loves the fact that he never has to take anything home with him, like patients or whatever, and it has never affected his family life. And the second thing he loves about it is talking with the patients, the clients, the residents. He said they are so interesting and they have so many good stories. And that's when he told me about this elderly man. Well, of course, I mean, my curiosity was piqued. So I found out what the man's name was and I called him because I'm doing another book. There's so many stories here, good stories. So I'm doing another book and I thought, wouldn't this be a nice story, you know, this 105 year old veteran who was shot in the neck and still has shrapnel. It's a good story. So I called him up and I was really nice and I told him that I was a neighbor and I said that I've written some books and it strikes me that you have a wonderful story and I think it would be a story that people here would love, you know, would love for me to tell if you would share it with me. I said, how would you feel about that? And he said no, unequivocally, no. He said, I've done this so many times. I've had television interviews, you know, all kinds of people have been curious about my experiences. I've been back to Normandy nine times. He said, I've been on all kinds of shows. And he said, I'm just tired of talking about it, tell you the truth. And I said, well, I could come to your apartment and, or we could meet in the cafe and talk over a cup of coffee and it would be easy. He said, no, no, I've just gotten too old for this now, you know, it's too much, it's too, too hard. So I thanked him for talking with me and I said, I am your neighbor. I, I hope to meet you when we're out and about sometime. So next time I went down to pt, there's this elderly man sitting and talking with one of the therapists. His back is to me and she's asking him about, I don't know if it was his previous, his first visit or not, but you know, they like to get your background physically what you've been through and so forth. And I heard him say, well, I was shot through the neck and I have some shrapnel. And I knew right away who he was because he, you know, he looked old from behind. So then they came out to get me. So then I walked in and I stopped walking because I could still hear him talking. So what he had said to me was, anything you want to know about me, you can find on the Internet. All of those interviews that I've done were televised, and they're all out there. So, sure, I can get that part. But I would love to sit down with him and get his personal story.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you go online, though?

[Peggy Rowe]

I did. I went online and I read everything there was to read about him, but there's not a lot of personal stuff. I would like to know why he's here and what his family thought about what he did. And did he share all of the horrors of that day with his family previously? Because the other story I did about Chick in my other book was so well received, people loved it. And the fact that when I interviewed him and he shared everything with me, his wife was sitting feet away in another room, But I could see her. She was drinking coffee and listening. And when I left that day, she said, peggy. And Chick was in his 90s. She said, all these years, he has never, ever told me those stories that he just shared with you. And she hugged me and she said, thank you. I'm glad to know that. I thought, isn't that amazing? All the years they'd lived together and he had sons and a daughter, never shared those stories with his children or his wife. I'm just wondering if this fella is similarly, you know, disposed that he. But now, of course, he has shared it.

[Mike Rowe]

That's the thing that. I mean, that's why I'm chuckling. It's so odd. Like, I'm doing this thing with my friend. Angela Roberts, runs US Money Reserve, and she's very, very interested in veterans. In fact, they did this whole. This series of coins commemorating famous World War II battles and separate and apart from our relationship. She asked me last year if I would present a set of these coins to a guy named Charles Byrd, who she had read about. He was about to turn 100 years old, and he was one of the guys who went to fight in the Second World War and left high school to do it. They were that young. And so he went and he fought and did his time and came home and went to work in the coal mines and did that for 40 or 50 years, never finished high school. And so he winds up going back to get his diploma and he graduates with his great granddaughter. Or his granddaughter, I don't remember which.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, what a nice story.

[Mike Rowe]

So my friend Angela sees this and says we should just go give him these coins that we make and sell, just, you know, just to say thanks. We don't need to make a big deal of it. And I was like, well, actually, I think we do need to make a deal of it. I think we should bring cameras, and I think we should get to know him, and I think I should present him with these coins, you know, and thank him on your behalf. And. And so we did that and we shared the video and everybody loved it. I did it with another guy. What was his name? Chuck Saros. George Saros.

[Chuck]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. And he was at normandy, and he's 101 now. And so, you know, hearing this story about a reluctant 105 year old, it's just so, like, I never think about it. I think about it in both ways. On the one hand, these men spend their lives with all of this bottled up inside, and they never talk about it. And on the other hand, once they start talking about it, we're so desperate to tell their stories, and we assume that they're just standing by, eager to have their stories told. Maybe they're not. You know, I mean, who knows? Who's to really say? And so you've got a guy who's 105 living there. He's your neighbor. He was at Omaha Beach. That's the first wave. That was.

[Peggy Rowe]

He was in the second wave. Okay, so in one of these interviews, I heard him say that 5,700 and some people were killed. Just hard to imagine. I would like to know how that experience has impacted the rest of his life. I mean, I know that's a very broad question, and there are so many different aspects, so many different ways to go with it, but I wonder if he's had any ptsd. I'm sure it probably wasn't a. I.

[Mike Rowe]

Wonder if he's outlived his family.

[Peggy Rowe]

Exactly. Because if he's 105, his children could be 85.

[Mike Rowe]

You just never think about that.

[Peggy Rowe]

I could be his daughter.

[Mike Rowe]

You probably are.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, there's a nice angle. Here's an angle.

[Mike Rowe]

So what's the plan? You've already embarked on what sounds like an eavesdropping campaign. Do you think it'll progress to full on stalker as you. As you attempt? Well, he was big for your Next big book.

[Peggy Rowe]

He was gracious enough to take my name and my phone number. Or he said he was taking it. Maybe he didn't really write it down. If I had it to do over again, I would use another approach. I would just be neighborly, you know, and I would just be his neighbor here.

[Mike Rowe]

Did it occur to you to say so? You're familiar with Dirty Jobs? You watch a lot of TV there.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, you know what? And I thought, I'm not above using Mike. So I said to him, have you watched much tv?

[Chuck]

Good start.

[Peggy Rowe]

And he said, no, I like sports. If I watch anything, it's sports. So much for Dirty Jobs. You didn't do many sporty things on there.

[Mike Rowe]

No, I did sing the national anthem at a minor league ball game.

[Peggy Rowe]

You did?

[Mike Rowe]

Took batting practice. Yeah. With those guys.

[Peggy Rowe]

You did it well. Yeah. And you slid head first into base.

[Mike Rowe]

In the second base. I did. And that hurts. Boy. They don't really. You know, you just see, you grow up watching grown men slide in baseball. You think, oh, yeah, look at that. Yeah. I mean, there's a point where you get. Where you just shouldn't be throwing yourself headfirst into the dirt. It's very violent.

[Peggy Rowe]

Exactly. And we were out there that night. I worried about you. I also worried about you singing the national anthem acapella. But you did well.

[Mike Rowe]

Thanks.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

What is that noise?

[Mike Rowe]

That's the computer going into its final death rattle.

[Chuck]

It sounds. What's happening?

[Peggy Rowe]

There's a machine outside.

[Chuck]

Just a noise machine.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, no. They're probably sweeping up the grass or sucking up leaves. My windows are all closed.

[Chuck]

Okay. Just curious.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, I guess they just stopped.

[Mike Rowe]

No, no worries.

[Peggy Rowe]

Sorry.

[Mike Rowe]

Chuck hears everything.

[Peggy Rowe]

I don't know about that, but I hear a lot. But there are a lot of. A lot of old people here. I have a friend who's 101. I'm sorry about that.

[Mike Rowe]

Why? She's 101.

[Peggy Rowe]

She's 101 and her name is Madeline. And she is the cutest thing you ever saw. Sharp. I mean, mentally. She is 20. She is just so sharp. Well, I met her the other day. She was out for her daily walk, which and is very ambitious. She goes through all the neighborhoods. 101. In fact, I did a post about her. I happened to be sitting across from an elevator talking with another friend when she came by. And we always, always talk when I see her. After a minute or two, she said, oh, well, I have to go because she has a significant other. She said, and he worries about me when I'M out by myself. He's worried I'm going to get picked up. And I said, and rightly so. And then she said, he's only 96. I'm a cougar, she said. I said, madeline, are you living in sin? And she said, oh, Peggy, I don't think I would remember how.

[Mike Rowe]

You should find. There's an old song, gosh, I wonder when it was written. It was probably written 100 years ago called Paddle and Madeline Home.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, yeah, I know that. Oh, she likes that song. She said that's her claim to fame.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, yeah. First I drift with the tide Then pull for the shore. I hug her and kiss her and paddle some more. Then I keep paddling Madeline home until I find a spot where we're alone. Oh, she never says no. So I kiss her and go, Paddle and Madeline Sweet, sweet Madeline Paddlin Madeline Home, Padelin Madeline. And it's so sing songy. But when you really think about it, this is just a metaphor for a slut really going out and getting her ashes hauled. I mean, really, so many of those nice old songs.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, she did say, I never say no. So that's what makes you think that.

[Mike Rowe]

She never says nos. So. So I kiss her and go, paddle and Madeline. Like, what does Paddle and Madeline mean? Like, I mean literally, like, I guess you're in a canoe and you're just paddling her home. But it doesn't take a filthy mind to just take it one click further and realize you're just. It's just the oldest story in the world.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, you want to hear? Going right to the naughty place. Dad and I were finishing brunch on Sunday morning and this elderly man walks past our table and stops at the table in front of us where there are three women sitting. And he said, how would you ladies like to see my walking stick? Well, I couldn't see him at the minute, at the moment. And I thought, that has to be the most clever pickup line ever. How would you like to see my. Well, apparently they said yes. And he did have one.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm sure he did.

[Peggy Rowe]

So he said he had one. He had carved it himself. He makes walking sticks and sells them at the bazaar. At the Christmas bazaar.

[Mike Rowe]

Nothing says Christmas like a hand carved walking style stick.

[Peggy Rowe]

And it was all. What do you call that? Like twirled.

[Mike Rowe]

Twirled and nodded. Corkshrewed.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes. And it was very attractive. But you hear a lot of stuff here.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm just thinking that panel. I can't get over that. I'm just thinking since you invoke kepy and barbershop and the old songs. It's amazing, Chuck. The stuff we used to sing that would have gotten us immediately canceled today.

[Peggy Rowe]

Hey, guess what chorus of the Chesapeake was here two weeks ago?

[Chuck]

No way.

[Peggy Rowe]

Sang on a Sunday afternoon. Kevin King directed. And remember back in the day when there were like a hundred of you? Yeah, there were 19.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, wow.

[Peggy Rowe]

Just 19. And there were a couple who looked like maybe they were in their 60s. And everybody else looked like everybody else here at home. They were all elderly. But you know what? They sounded okay. There were a couple of places where, and I'm no expert, I could hear wasn't quite right. But for the most part, they sounded pretty good. Kevin worked so hard to get the best out of those guys. And really, they sang with feeling. It's a good thing. And the audience loved them.

[Chuck]

Well, Kevin had the best teacher.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, he did.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes, I know he did.

[Chuck]

We sang with that chorus back in the 70s and 80s, I guess, or.

[Mike Rowe]

We went there early.

[Chuck]

80S.

[Mike Rowe]

79, 78. 79, 80. Yeah, longer than that, actually.

[Peggy Rowe]

That's where Mike learned to drink beer. Afterwards, they all went out to a bar somewhere and.

[Chuck]

Yeah, Johnny, that's where I learned to drink coffee, because that was the only thing they had to drink at the rehearsals was, you know, a big pot of coffee, like no water, nothing.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah, keep every. Keep you awake.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. I think there are probably still some younger men in there. I just think they can't come out for sing outs like that. You know, it was always like the chorus would do those events year round, and very few, I didn't participate in most of them because I either had a job or was busy or. Or whatever, but it's an important thing there. I know this is an obvious thing to say, but when a chorus comes in, when a magic act comes in, a piano player comes in, dancers come in. I mean, that's a big deal. I would think for the residents it is.

[Peggy Rowe]

It's the Sunday entertainment. We have concerts on Sundays. They're screened. They don't allow just anybody to come just because they think they can. You know, old people are easy. Old people are not easy. They've been around, they've seen a lot. And as desperate that as some of them are to be entertained, they are discriminating. We've had some excellent entertainment. Actually. A lot of people would like to come here who are not worthy.

[Mike Rowe]

You mean in terms of their talent of performance?

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I'll tell you, man, Chuck, I don't know if this is on your mind at the moment. But just to bring all of these elements together. One of the very first times we ever sang in public in a barber shop quartet, back when we called ourselves the Clipper Four.

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Was in a nursing home. Do you remember where it was?

[Chuck]

No, I don't. I don't remember where it was.

[Peggy Rowe]

Wait a minute. Who were you? The four of you?

[Mike Rowe]

It was me, Chuck, Mike and Bobby.

[Peggy Rowe]

You and Chuck?

[Chuck]

Mike Price. Bob Kaufman.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, before you. Yeah, before you change shoes.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. We were called the Clipper Four. I think it might have been like Stella Maris or Stella Maris.

[Peggy Rowe]

I forgot that. I don't even remember that. The Clipper 4.

[Chuck]

We picked the Clipper 4. You know, we started singing and then all the older barbershoppers were like, you know, there was a Clipper 4 back in, you know, 07 or whatever. So we changed our name. Yeah. We had no idea.

[Mike Rowe]

Semi formal F O U R M A L. Because they were terribly clever.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes, I know.

[Mike Rowe]

It's a rough picture. It's a bad picture.

[Peggy Rowe]

I have your picture.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, you put in one of your books, too. I'm wearing a powder blue tuxedo like.

[Chuck]

I bought those second hand online or actually not online. Out of a catalog for.

[Peggy Rowe]

And tennis shoes. Makes you wonder who wore them.

[Mike Rowe]

We just thought anybody anywhere would be delighted to hear us under any circumstances because we were young and just full of confidence and we wore red V neck sweaters and black trousers and we got a gig in a nursing home for like $20. And we were standing there singing everything we knew. Does your mother know you're out? Cecilia? Does she know that I'm about to steal you? I don't even. You might have sung Madeline. Madeline Home.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, my God. I thought you were gonna say feel ya. So tell me this. Were you any good?

[Mike Rowe]

In hindsight? No, I doubt it. We thought we sounded pretty great.

[Chuck]

We did come in fifth in the first competition we were in. We won Novice Quartet.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we did.

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

So.

[Peggy Rowe]

So you were better than you remember.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, but we. Yes. No, actually, I remember as being tremendous. And I know we weren't.

[Chuck]

We were not.

[Mike Rowe]

That we were not, but we were just too young to understand that we were being given a lot of grace by people because we were young. Had we been all grown up, just bursting out in a song in a restaurant, we probably would have been beaten to death. And deservedly so. But we were young, so it was like, oh. Like, oh, we hear somebody is having an anniversary, so of course we would just walk over and say, Perhaps you would like to hear us sing when your old wedding ring was new. And so we would. And they would clap, but I think mostly because they were, you know, awkward, and it was weird, and maybe some people found it delightful. I don't know. All I know is we sang everything we knew at this nursing home all the time. And in the front row, they had wheeled a guy in early on, and he was just as old as a person could be. And he was sleeping. It was difficult to know. He wasn't moving. His eyes were closed. There were machines next to him, and there were tubes coming out of the machines and vanishing under his gown. Right. So he's connected to things and fluids are draining and so forth, and, I mean, he's just in a heck of a state, and he's about. He's probably four feet in front of us, and we're on a little stage and we're singing to this room full of old people. And we sang everything we knew. And so for an encore, we sang the song that the course of the Chesapeake closed every meeting with, which was Nearer My God, to Thee. And it didn't occur to us until we got about.

[Peggy Rowe]

A bit on the nose, you might say, we're in heaven's.

[Mike Rowe]

Waiting room singing near My God to thee and looking out at these faces and they're looking up at us. And it was so clear in my mind that we. Yeah, I mean, we just never should have begun that song. But it got so un. Believably tragic. I think in the second verse, it's a solo and. And Chuck is singing. Right. That was you, though. Like a wanderer, the sun gone down. And the three of us are behind him just oohing our different parts. Hearts. And I swear to God, Mom. Right in the middle of a. Right at the end of a phrase.

[Chuck]

Yeah, during. During a breath, it was. I think it was, oh, my God, Nearer, My God to thee.

[Mike Rowe]

Right. And then.

[Chuck]

And then we would put our hands on each other's shoulders and then sing.

[Mike Rowe]

And then come in.

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. I mean, really sweet. In that pause, the old man with the tubes that had been wheeled in in front of us exploded. And there was really no other. I mean, technically, it was a sneeze.

[Chuck]

It was something like this. He was like this.

[Mike Rowe]

And he just went. Yeah.

[Chuck]

And you tell the rest.

[Mike Rowe]

His ass came out of the chair. I mean, he's a violent, violent sneeze. And at that point, we had thought he may have been dead the whole time. We didn't know. It was a weekend at Bernie's moment. But the old man erupts and out of his. I don't know if it was out of his mouth or out of his nose.

[Chuck]

Oh, no, it had to be his mouth. It was. It was big.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, it was something about the size of an oyster, like, with its own circulatory system. Came flying out of that old man and smacked right into the ground, right at Chuck's feet and rolled a little.

[Chuck]

Bit before it stopped.

[Mike Rowe]

And I got my hand on Mike's shoulder and we're. Look at this thing. It looked like this thing, an alien that popped out of the guy's belly and then just took off running. It just defied imagination, everything about it. It was so stunning to hear him explode and then to see this. This thing that looked like an organ to fly out of his mouth. And then, of course, he immediately goes right back into whatever.

[Chuck]

To comatose.

[Mike Rowe]

Right. He's out, you know? And so now we have about six bars left to sing very quietly. And when you're trying to go ooh, ooh, ooh, and all you're doing is smiling, you can't even really make a. A human sound.

[Chuck]

It was more like.

[Mike Rowe]

Support Chuck. So we're, like, in a semicircle behind him, and Chuck is just out there, like, doing this solo in front of all these people with something that could be an organ lying at his feet with his three best buddies behind him, laughing as they're trying to sing. And we finally get to amen, and it's just, ah. Then we just wave and ran off the stage. I don't know if we got our 20 bucks, but, my God.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, it sounds like they were worth every dollar. You know what? You have to remember that when you say nursing home, there are different divisions, different levels. Independent living is where we live, and they are people who are up and about and pretty healthy.

[Chuck]

This guy was not independent. For sure, he wasn't.

[Peggy Rowe]

And then there's assisted living, and then there's the care center where they do everything for you, and then there's memory care. So you were probably good enough for.

[Mike Rowe]

Somewhere between memory care, assisted living, and assisted living. Yeah, we.

[Chuck]

And comatose.

[Mike Rowe]

We were not quite. I don't think that was the independent crowd.

[Peggy Rowe]

No, no, I don't think so. Because there are expectations from the independent crowd. Oh, my. That was a funny story. I'm sorry it wasn't recorded. I would like to have seen that.

[Mike Rowe]

What? I wouldn't pay not quite to see that.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, yeah. Well, it's not quite the same.

[Mike Rowe]

It really Is something that.

[Peggy Rowe]

No, I would like to.

[Mike Rowe]

Man. Maybe the AI will have a way to figure out how to take your memory and turn it into a. You know.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, that's scary. I don't know if I want to do that.

[Chuck]

I would like to see that. And I would like to see when we performed at the. At the Lyric Theater in Baltimore to see if we were any good at all.

[Peggy Rowe]

I was there.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, good.

[Peggy Rowe]

You were. Well, of course I was a little bit.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Peggy Rowe]

I can't be objective. A little bit biased.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Peggy Rowe]

But I thought you guys really did a nice job and the audience loved you. Of course, they were probably all family members of the chorus in the audience. Well, listen, do you remember when your grandfather retired from the county? Now, for years he was an electrical contractor in business for himself. And then after he retired, Baltimore county hired him to be an inspector. An electrical inspector. So I don't know how many years, maybe 10 years, he worked for them. People loved him. And when he retired, this big group got together and had a dinner and party over at, I think it was Papa's Restaurant.

[Mike Rowe]

Quick sidebar, Mom. Just so people understand why everybody loved Pop so much. I mean, there were a lot of reasons. He couldn't have had an enemy. Everybody loved him. But during that 10 year period, Chuck, he inspected all of the rides on the midway for any carnival in Maryland, including the state fair.

[Chuck]

Right. I remember.

[Mike Rowe]

You know, he was uncorruptible, unbribable. But it didn't stop the carnies from giving him large stacks of tickets. Free tickets to maybe for the rides. Yeah. And so we had free tickets for the rides on any carnival midway. And that was like, in the early days of, like.

[Chuck]

Right.

[Mike Rowe]

What's a perk? That's a perk. If you're that guy's grandson, that's a perk.

[Peggy Rowe]

And isn't it a shame that all of our children were afraid to go on rides?

[Mike Rowe]

Bumper cars were great.

[Peggy Rowe]

The only ride, the only thing you took advantage of was bumper cars. They loved the bumper cars.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah. The day it was called, they wanted.

[Peggy Rowe]

To just stay on. I don't think they had a roller coaster at the festival there, did they?

[Mike Rowe]

No. Yeah, they totally had a roller coaster.

[Peggy Rowe]

That was the name of the. The business that provided the rides was digging.

[Chuck]

You were telling a story about your dad's retirement, right?

[Peggy Rowe]

Yes. And so it was at Papa's, and he didn't know it, but I had arranged ahead of time for you guys to come over after dinner and entertain. And you sang. I do remember that some really nice music and he really did enjoy it.

[Mike Rowe]

There's a picture floating around the Internet somewhere of that. Well, it's somebody. It's in one of your books and somebody.

[Peggy Rowe]

Oh, yeah. Oh, I probably have it.

[Mike Rowe]

I guess just scanned it and put it on the Internet, but. Yeah, you can find that out there.

[Peggy Rowe]

Yeah. You weren't dressed up. I mean, you had your street clothes on, as I recall, and. But they loved you. Yeah, you were.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, there you go. And nobody exploded in front of us. So it was a big night for us. Got out with no casualties.

[Peggy Rowe]

I think dad gave you $10 when you said we were not extravagant people. And you looked at it and you said, that's all right, dad. We're okay.

[Mike Rowe]

This one's 250 a piece. 2.50 a piece. Yeah.

[Peggy Rowe]

This is on the head.

[Chuck]

You could have. In those days. Yeah, you could have gotten a hamburger.

[Peggy Rowe]

You could have gotten a hamburger or a milkshake.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, you know.

[Peggy Rowe]

And you turned it down.

[Mike Rowe]

We couldn't be bought.

[Peggy Rowe]

No, you couldn't be bought. I can't believe. Look, it's. We've been on here over an hour.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Yeah. We should probably let you go. I know. You got it. You know, you're impossible to get a hold of anymore.

[Peggy Rowe]

I know. I'm always at a meal or getting ready for the meal or on my way to the meal.

[Mike Rowe]

I can't believe you guys don't weigh 400 pounds. All you do is eat over there. It's just a movable feast.

[Peggy Rowe]

Well, we go to dinner at 4 o'. Clock. We eat at 4 o'. Clock. And I'll tell you why. We sleep later than we used to. So we eat brunch and then we eat dinner. We only eat two meals a day. That's why we don't weigh 400 pounds.

[Mike Rowe]

But they're three hours apiece.

[Peggy Rowe]

I know. Because evenings are busy. There are a lot of activities going on in the evenings. There are games, you know, shuffleboard and pool and all kinds of card games and table games. That's the main event.

[Mike Rowe]

You know, I just. I mean, it's just. I'm just saying in passing, from my perspective, it's very strange to be at this point in life and getting grief from you my whole life for never calling or not calling enough. Because you. You always used to. I'd call you at home and you were always there. And now I call you and you can never. You just never pick up. You know, you're just always, always in the middle of something.

[Peggy Rowe]

Because I turn my phone off when I go into the dining room. And you know, if you're playing cards or another game, Rummy Cube or Pinocchio or whatever, it's rude to have a conversation. I could say, hi, Mike, I'll call you back later. That's why texting is good, to set up a call time. I'm going to call you at 3:30, Mom.

[Mike Rowe]

Chuck, jot that down. Text in advance if you want to talk to my mother.

[Peggy Rowe]

But listen, who's talking? Like the times I've called you or.

[Mike Rowe]

Drop my data note on his Acer. Right on.

[Peggy Rowe]

He's not faithful about opening it. I think he probably would be a little more responsive on another computer.

[Mike Rowe]

All right, well, good luck with your next masseuse massage, whatever's going to be happening and all the electronic being run into your hip.

[Peggy Rowe]

Okay? Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Excellent.

[Peggy Rowe]

Tomorrow.

[Mike Rowe]

Chuck, wake up, buddy.

[Chuck]

I'm awake, man. I'm just waiting for you to say goodbye, that's all.

[Mike Rowe]

All right. Goodbye. If you're done, please subscribe. Leave some stars, ideally five. Five Lousy little.

[Chuck]

Star.

[Mike Rowe]

The Way I.

[Chuck]

Heard it is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.

[D]

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