Unhinged Christian
Welcome to Unhinged Christian Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories and perspectives that challenge conventional religious thought. Join me, Caleb Parker, your host and fellow seeker, as we embark on a journey to explore spirituality, faith, and humanity from a refreshingly open-minded perspective.
In each episode, I sit down with guests from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. From artists to activists, scientists to philosophers, we engage in candid conversations that transcend the boundaries of traditional Christian discourse. Together, we unravel the complexities of belief, doubt, and the human experience in the context of modern society.
Whether you identify as a devout believer, a skeptic, or something in between, Unhinged Christian offers a space for exploration and discovery. No topic is off-limits as we challenge assumptions, confront taboos, and embrace the richness of our shared humanity.
Join us as we navigate the intersections of faith, doubt, and everything in between. Tune in to Unhinged Christian and open your mind to a new dimension of spiritual inquiry.
Unhinged Christian
022: Let's Talk Real Estate Trends and Intentional Connections. With Jesse Martin
What if your hometown could become the next Austin, Texas? Join us for an engaging conversation with Jesse Martin as he shares his unique journey in real estate, beginning right after high school under his father's guidance. With Grand Rapids experiencing unprecedented growth, we compare its trajectory to Austin and delve into the cultural and culinary marvels that make each city special. Discover the surprising origins of the wet burrito and the dynamics of today's bustling housing market.
Navigating relationships and lifestyle changes can be a complex endeavor. We share personal anecdotes on transitioning from soda to LaCroix, interpreting religious texts, and the childhood stories that shape our adult lives, including the influence of sports icons like Michael Phelps on our eating habits. Delving deeper into dating within a Christian context, we discuss the significance of intentional relationships and offer creative date ideas, from zoo visits to pickleball matches, that foster genuine connections.
From the nostalgic sound of pickleball to reminiscing about classic GameCube games, this episode offers a rich tapestry of topics. We tackle the future of electric vehicles, ponder the state of Michigan’s real estate, and reflect on the intricate balance between state rights and federal authority. With insights on poetry, history, and personal hygiene, our discussion wraps up with reflections on relocation, fitness struggles, and the importance of clear, direct communication in building meaningful relationships. Tune in for a thoughtful and entertaining journey through the myriad aspects of life and human connection.
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All right, welcome everybody. We have guest Jesse Martin on. Since it's your first time, I always have Well. Secondly, your first solo one, because I do have that one where we discussed politics.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Last year with Lawrence, that whole crazy thing. But since it's your first solo one, just let everybody know who you are and what you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm. Can you hear me okay, on your side? Mm-hmm do? Yeah, so I'm. Uh, can you hear me okay on your side? Yeah, so, uh, I'm Jesse. I've lived in Grand Rapids my whole entire life. Um, I have a lot of different hobbies and different things I like to do. Um, I've been doing real estate since I was 18 years old, um, and just jumped right into that after high school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what made you want to go into real estate?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my dad did it and he was always my soccer coach in middle school and all that. So I always wanted to do that for my kids too. I think that was the main point of it all. You know, it's just a family business type thing. Family business, but then also being there for my kids one day, whenever I can be the coach of their soccer team or whatever team it is.
Speaker 1:Oh, because you have a lot more free time when you do real estate. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Has it been more difficult with the housing market these days, or is that just propaganda? Is it really not as bad as they say?
Speaker 2:I mean the amount of houses I go over asking is bizarre. I would say Like probably 10%, 20% over asking most houses.
Speaker 1:Over asking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, over like what they're asking for price. It goes over top of that probably 10% at least, and that's a lot, that's a good amount I mean we're talking about 20, 30 grand over asking.
Speaker 1:Oh, is there a reason? Is it just because the more money that's thrown at them, they're like okay, those are the people that we want to sell to?
Speaker 2:That and we just have a really big gap in the market right now where we have way more people looking for housing than there is houses. So you're getting like 30, 40 offers on one house, so 40 different people that want to buy that one house. And there's not 40 houses that want to buy that one house. And there's not 40 houses, there's only maybe four or five. So that's the tricky part. It's just really low inventory. So with everything you know, let's say, if there's only five of a certain shirt that came out and everybody wants that shirt, that shirt's going to go for a lot of money, right, yeah, well, shirt's going to go for a lot of money.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah. Well, what happened to all the houses Just not being built? Well, grand Rapids is growing a lot, that's right. Is it just a Grand Rapids thing, do you think?
Speaker 2:Not entirely, but Grand Rapids is definitely growing. What we're seeing in Grand Rapids is probably where austin was five years ago, so we're coming to new austin we're not as big as austin, but the numbers wise is what we're seeing, you know, and different businesses are coming to grand rapids. Is what we're seeing the growth. Yeah, yeah, that's maybe exciting it's super exciting, is it yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, um, what makes austin so special is what I is, where I'm going. I know joe rogan's podcast is there now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's cool you know, there's a reason why joe rogan went there, though, too right, yeah um, you know, he could have gone probably anywhere he wanted in the whole entire world.
Speaker 2:He went to austin. Um, I actually have one of my friends from high school, or kind of my childhood friend, who left in high school and went to Austin. It's just, it's a very weird place. I've been there a couple of times and it's, it's weird, you know. It's almost like, if you can, have you been to like Portland at all? Have you heard things about Portland, oregon?
Speaker 1:I've heard a lot about Portland and then I also used to watch Portlandia.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, so you understand kind of the culture there and different things like that, right, yes, okay, a little weird, they want to keep it weird too. Well, austin has that same thing, but the difference is there's also cowboy hats, so it's a bunch of hippies with cowboy hats. Basically is what I would say austin is it's a good balanced mix. It's a good balanced mix, but it's also like just this weird pot of people.
Speaker 1:I go well, like the way joe rogan describes it is. It's a blue city in a red state.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah so there's like that Austin created the breakfast burrito, so that's part of like the Tex-Mex culture there too.
Speaker 1:What makes a breakfast burrito a breakfast burrito?
Speaker 2:Eggs, probably right Eggs, maybe some other things in it, but mostly eggs I didn't know that they created it.
Speaker 1:I thought it was just a thing that kind of popped up out of nowhere no, yeah, they created that.
Speaker 2:And then grand rapids is actually known for the wet burrito really yeah, grand rapids created the wet burrito. That's why the was it. East beltline has created the wet burrito. That's why the was it east beltline place, beltline bar. Yeah, the beltline bar. They created the wet burrito.
Speaker 1:That's why they're kind of a big deal for some people oh okay, that makes sense, because the people that go there, that I know maybe it's just a generational thing, say that place is terrible it is like I've been there probably twice and there's a reason why I love mexican food. I've only been there twice, that's yeah, but I hear it's not real mexican food oh yeah, I mean if they created something that's a new mexican dish it's not real mexican food. You know, I still miss taco loco I do too.
Speaker 2:I have like fond memories there where, like, I went to granville high school, so it was just around the corner and um, there's times where I'll be at a high school football game and it'd be so lame like everybody there's being just the worst and I'll be like I'm just gonna leave here and go get tacos yeah so it'd be like eight o'clock at night.
Speaker 2:I would just grab a couple friends and go and get tacos and just enjoy the night and yeah, I mean, that's all you could ask for. I'll. Uh, my own restaurant that was made out of a like a burger king yeah or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just remember, because I didn't start going there until I was hanging out with you guys. So, just a few years ago was the first time I'd ever go there. Do you know why they closed? I?
Speaker 2:do? We actually tried to help them find a different spot, like real estate wise. So there it was a bad business. Um, practice, basically, is what happened. They had a chance to release it or, like get a new lease on it, because they didn't own the building, they leased it out and, um, when they got that new, they never basically read that email or did anything about it.
Speaker 1:When they got a new lease, like they were going to go somewhere else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like commercial leases at least to my knowledge, as kind of residential is like. They're like five-year, ten-year leases. Yeah. So they had that building probably for a good ten years. Didn't think about when the lease was going to have to be renewed. Oh, that's okay. And they just never renewed it. So then they sold it to a gas station, whoever owned the property.
Speaker 1:And now they're gone forever.
Speaker 2:It's gone Although they're okay so I actually this is really interesting the people that worked there, they work at this new place. That's exactly like it.
Speaker 1:Really yeah. Where is this new?
Speaker 2:place Byron Center and 56th Street called New Mexico, like the same guys.
Speaker 1:Wait, is it called little Mexico by by Manali's? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that was them. For lunch. They have that same situation where you can pick everything you'd want on it and basically like a subway for Mexican food. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'll have to check it out, cause that place was bomb.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is good. That's like my new Sunday spot, you know, Sunday after church.
Speaker 1:Are you still going to res on Sundays?
Speaker 2:I am, you know, I go with my family, I just sit with them. Gotcha, yeah, it's been good, um it helps. So like obviously, like Um it helps, so like obviously my brother-in-law he is, uh, you know, he works there as a pastor.
Speaker 1:That's right, james, yeah.
Speaker 2:So has some ties there. Um, and I don't know, um, I think church, a good part of it, is community. Yeah. And, like I have, you know, all my friends or family friends go there. So we'll go there and we'll see like 20 different people that we know. So you know, I think that's a big part of it too is just seeing those people again.
Speaker 1:I'm starting to get into a little bit more of the community at the new church that I'm going to, but it's difficult.
Speaker 2:What church are you going to?
Speaker 1:I go to a small Baptist one in Byron Center. Okay, yep, right on, the, it's on 76 in Byron Center.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah and it's. I don't know, I'd get the numbers wrong. I'd probably say there's only 50 people, but there's way more than 50. It's probably realistically maybe 200 to 300.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, so it's small. Like same size as youth group. Back in the day, would you say, or more than that.
Speaker 1:Youth group back in the day.
Speaker 2:Like our young adults that we were co-leaders on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe a little more than that. Okay, yeah. Yeah, just, and there's only one service too oh nice so that's everybody that goes there. Yeah, um, but the reason why I like going there now is because it's more expository preaching where it's. He just like you'll go to a chapter in the bible and he'll just read that. And you'll go to a chapter in the Bible and he'll just read that and that'll be the sermon. He doesn't just read it, he goes through it and what it.
Speaker 2:I know what you mean though.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I like that preaching better too. Yeah. What I've. This is so hard to talk about Whenever I have like quarrels with anything, with religion, right, and I mentioned this to my parents too. They don't understand that part of it quarrels like yeah, like if someone does the opposite of that, where they mention, like, just like a sentence of the bible, yeah, and then they have a whole thing of how it goes into their, like political views and da da, da, da, da da dada.
Speaker 2:And you're like did they really mean that by what you said? And I'll mention that to my parents. They're like well, everybody has their own interpretations of it. I'm like this is true, that can be so, but should you be teaching it then?
Speaker 1:It's true and also, for me, the most part I think most verses is like there's one meaning behind it. That's not. When we get into the, everybody has their own interpretation. They can get a little muddy. Because when jesus says you'll have abundant life, if somebody takes that as, oh, you're going to be really, really rich If you follow me, to me, that's like it can happen. You can become rich. Yes, but I don't think that's what he means. I think he just means by following him, you have abundant life, you're going to have eternal life. Basically is what he's saying. But I think if we get the wrong interpretation, we can go down.
Speaker 2:Like things that we want as humans. Yeah. The whole hair grow, kenneth.
Speaker 1:Copeland thing where he's like telling them to put it on there.
Speaker 2:Hair grow.
Speaker 1:If you ever watch the video, there's like one guy who just like looks at the camera and he's just like why am I here? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because he's bald too right, yeah so he's doing it, and then he almost sees himself in the camera and he's like this is dumb it seems like every time there's like some culty church like that, there's always one person who's just like what am I doing here?
Speaker 2:yeah. Yeah, it's kind of funny. They got invited or something and they're like this is not my jam but anyway, with my parents too, it's the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with the quarrels, like I don't think church should really be political. No, ever no. Even if it does sometimes align more with our beliefs, I still think that it brings us back to the roman times, when they thought that jesus was going to come and overthrow the government, and that's not really what he came to do yeah, I get he's not a government official.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do think you know that you should. Whenever you vote right, you should be thinking of your morals. Yeah. And definitely that goes with what it says. You know, for me at least, what it says in the Bible is kind of what I see or get my morals from. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's the hard part, where it's like I, I, I get it. My more issue is like the opposite of that, like how they were teaching at what you're talking about, where, then, the way that they could interpret it, based off of the one verse that they did, could be hundreds of different ways. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and it's, it's just like, um, it's just a little weird, because you're like, okay, if they can do this, then what if they changed their mind on what they believe? Maybe I believe in what they believe right now, but what happens if they change their mind? Are they going to then change what these verses mean to them and teach it? Because then we're just basically following their footsteps of what they think is best for every person. Right. Not saying that's what they do, but it's something that could happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure I'm bad it's what they do, but it's something that could happen. Yeah, I'm sure I bet it happens today. Yeah when it can get kind of muddy out there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Take a nice drink.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what is?
Speaker 1:that this is Bellevue. It's Aldi brand LaCroix.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I know everybody hates on LaCroix. I get it, but for me it's just cheap.
Speaker 2:And it's like nothing you know on your body, at least in my mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as far as I know, it's zero calories and there's not weird chemicals in there. But how do they get the flavor? That's a. That's a question you know who knows diluted lemon juice? You know something like that they just put lemon juice in a bunch of water and mix around and or there's always the joke where they put the lemon next to the can because there's, because there's no, there's no real flavor, no, but it, can I?
Speaker 2:I drank la croix for a while. Um, I really like the lime one for la croix lime is good, but you can't. You can't go in between la croix and pop. You just can't do that. You just have to commit to LaCroix. That's when it tastes best. If you're going from like Sprite then to LaCroix. You're probably going to be like this LaCroix tastes gross.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because the pop is so sweet.
Speaker 2:and then oh, just overly flavored.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then when you go to LaCroix, it's pretty much the opposite yeah and so, yeah, I get that. That's good advice actually. I think the people that hate LaCroix are the ones that are trying to, because it's always people who are trying to quit drinking soda. Yeah. And so they start drinking that they're like, oh, this is terrible, so I'm going to go have a Coke.
Speaker 2:And they're like but I got to quit, so they go back to the LaCroix. Oh, this is terrible. It's a never-ending cycle. You just have to commit to it and then drink a whole case, and then I bet you're going to buy another case after that, and another case, and another case.
Speaker 1:Yeah just drink one case without going back to the Coke.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yeah, but Coke is good, coke is good, Coke is good. I mean, I'm a fat boy at heart, so it's really hard because, like having Mexican food and then having like one of those glass-bottled Cokes, it just feels right, it just feels like that's its place in my mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a fat boy at heart too. It's hard for me to.
Speaker 2:That's crazy, because I didn't know you when I've seen pictures of you beforehand. You know, um, it's not like you're a crazy fat, but I was. I was thick yeah, you're a thick boy, you know, like your neck and head was like the same yeah, yeah, that's the same way to describe it so. But like seeing that, but like obviously I didn't meet you like that so yeah, it's just like what you were like that yeah, it all started back in.
Speaker 1:When I was 21 was when I started really getting into working out, okay, but I also worked at Jets, oh and that O's Carbland. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was working at UPS too, and I was like I'm going to start working out and I'm going to try to just gain weight, because I thought that if you worked out you could eat whatever you want, because I remember seeing a video of Michael Phelps saying this is what I eat for breakfast, and it was this huge breakfast, but he's also burning way more calories than the average person yeah. Because he's an Olympic swimmer, he has to.
Speaker 2:Well yeah, your genes are part of it too. That's true, you have like Olympic genes Not saying that like every person that is at that level just has killer genes and they don't have to work as hard as everybody else. Not what I'm saying, but nice covering the tracks but yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1:But like you know.
Speaker 2:At the same time, you know, you probably have something in you that's helping you out a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I saw that he was eating that much, so I thought that I could do the same thing basically. So I would. That he was eating that much, so I thought that I could do the same thing, basically. So I would eat a jet's slice the ones that you get for lunch, those big old slices. I would have at least three of those a day on top of everything else I was eating, and each piece is 500 calories, so there's 1500 already there, and then I would also be taking mass gainer and everything else I was eating in between that's crazy, dude I remember being 200 pounds at one point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it was harder to move yeah but I was really big, like I had. I was like stocky, stocky fat, yeah, like what do they call it in the Arthur show. It was husky when Arthur was getting husky because, they didn't want to use fat.
Speaker 2:That was like the beginning of PC political correctness Are you talking about, like the?
Speaker 1:Arthur Reed, the aardvark. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Speaker 2:Are you talking about like the kids show?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Mr Ratburn. Yes, yeah. I remember there was an episode where he couldn't fit into these pants, and so they came up with the word husky. So that's what I was husky.
Speaker 2:I like the word husky. It's kind of funny. Husky's good Chubby bunny, I like that too.
Speaker 1:Chubby bunny.
Speaker 2:You're feeling a little chubby bunny today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm going to start using that one Chubby bunny today. Yeah, I'm going to start using that one. Chubby bunny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it was a chubby bunny, chubby husky, you name it yeah.
Speaker 2:I like good nicknames like that. You know, was it my fiancee when she plays like pickleball with me and we go and play pickleball quite a bit now, just a nice little hobby, um, but she never bends her knees to like, uh, like hit a ball you know, yeah, she just like bends over from her waist.
Speaker 2:So then I call her no knee mcgee, just because I feel like that's hilarious. Um, probably not the nicest nickname now I'm thinking about it, but it is hilarious. I'm like oh, there goes noni mcgee going and trying to hit the ball again. She'll get really mad at you.
Speaker 1:No, no, she's gonna say she is.
Speaker 2:She did say yes to the jess so she did surprisingly you excited I am. It's. It's a different step. Um, I didn't know Um she's. She's a very interesting person in my mind. She's a fun person, um, which helps a lot. You know um, I don't really ever get bored talking to her or being around her. You know like obviously you've been in relationships. Yeah.
Speaker 2:There was a point in time where you hit a relationship at least for me in the past, where you almost know what they're going to say before they say it, so you almost do them just like, set them up. Well, they're just gonna talk about their day and how it was terrible, and yada, yada, yada. And you, you never, like you get that call and you already know exactly what they're gonna say and you almost start to tune them out, just because you're like, oh I've, I've heard this all before yeah, it's groundhog day it's terrible.
Speaker 2:I don't like doing that, I don't like being that guy, but it's just the fact of the matter that it does happen yeah and um I. She's like the first person I met where I don't really get that way, where even now even now whoa.
Speaker 1:Is that one of the things that made you know that she was the one?
Speaker 2:I don't know if there was like a moment where I knew she was the one she made it through the three-date rule. That was huge.
Speaker 1:Which is Wait? Were you still doing the thing where you drive around in the car and try to make it?
Speaker 2:Yep, that's the three-day rule. I'll mention it to them. So I did this thing where, whenever I want a date, just because previous relationships weren't that great, you know, and I'm like yeah how?
Speaker 2:how can you know? I wouldn't know this until like three years down the road, when it felt like it was too late at that point to do anything about it, because they're committed to this relationship in some regard and I'm like how can I weed these people out? That sounds terrible. But like, how can I make sure people out? That sounds terrible. But like how can I make sure that I'm not going to get myself in the same situation that I seem to always be getting? Myself into yeah.
Speaker 2:You know where it's like I, you know, she didn't act like this three months ago, but now she's acting crazy. And or like I, you know. And then there's fights, fights, fights, fights, fights. And maybe we pull it back together and we're together for two years and then it's over. Or maybe we just fight, fight, fight, fight, fight and then it's over. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Or we don't talk to each other that great. So the three-date rule is the first date I would bring these girls on a drive, and the nice thing about the drive is it can be as long or as short as you would want it to be. Obviously, you can't go forever, you know. So, Right, it's still a date, you know you can't just like kidnap that person, but I would, you know, we, I would uh, you know, we go get food. You know, maybe get like, uh, we like go get cupcakes or something after the food. You know, have a good time. Yeah, and I think for me also, being an introvert, it would really help me, because when I'm driving I'm not thinking exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:You know it makes it loosens up a little bit. You can just kind of say cause you're not staring at them trying to figure out what to say, you're focusing on one thing, so you can kind of let these little funny things out exactly that's what I've noticed when I pick them up yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'll just be uh, driving and let's say it's terrible. We're fighting first time ever, me and this girl. We're already fighting. I can just turn around anytime and just be like. This isn't working. I'm dropping you off at your house that's happened before, where you're already fighting.
Speaker 1:In the first day car ride I've had that happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we like that's wild. Yeah, or she'll just be nagging about like something like right off the bat with her day and I'm just you know, it's not necessary. Like like, oh well, she's a nigger, that's it. But like, the things that she was nagging about was obviously like her fault. But she said, like you know, let's just play a thing yeah. But you don't want to deal with that this isn't going to work out, so I just you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you don't want to deal with that negativity right off the bat. Like there's got to be a little bit of a mask for the first date. I think Yep, when you're a little bit more uppity.
Speaker 2:Yep, and that's why we have date number two, because date number two will cancel any of that out and that's trial by fire. So there's a drive and that's trial by fire. So there's a drive and there's trial by fire. Trial by fire is you go to the busiest restaurant, most annoying restaurant that you know could have good food. That that's not a necessity on this date, but good food's always good. Yeah, um, but you want to pick the worst seat on the place. You want to do all that and just see how they react in a chaotic environment, because that will happen in a relationship. You know there's going to be times where it's not going to be easy to have a fun time, but can this person still enjoy our time together? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, that's a fun date. Just to see how they do Like. Um, I would bring them to Taco Corporal. You know, one of the places on 28th Street.
Speaker 1:I think I've gone there. Is that where you order it and then they bring it out to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you have to pay in that line, yeah, yeah, so I would pick the seat that the line always bumps into. So then there's a constant like person right next to us that it would just a random person, would be just like talking to someone else right in front of us. So then it's always loud. It's always loud in there. It's always loud. It's so super annoying, you know, and it's good food, yeah, but it's it's gonna be a little chaotic and, um, that's just good to see how they do in those environments, because if it is a salon that you know, let's say they're putting on a look, a phase of it. That's when that starts to crack, you know if they're starting to crack.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if it's a bad time, you know, or like it's not easy to have a good time in a situation like that, you know, at least you can kind of see it at that moment in time. I don't know if this sounds bad, like I wasn't mean to these ladies, but like I think it's just good to.
Speaker 1:Well, when you're talking about spending forever with someone, you want to make sure that they're worthy of your time. Yeah, and why not get that out of the way in the beginning?
Speaker 2:Yeah right, I just think it was a smart way to start dating. You know, it's like you know. Obviously I'm going to show the best qualities of myself. I'm going to try to be as real with these people of who I am as possible. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't know if they're going to do that. I don't think I'm a bad guy. If they're going to do that, I don't think I'm a bad guy. You know I'm not the greatest guy, I'm not a bad guy. You know I try to be, as you know, genuine with people, as I can be, and you know open doors for everybody that I can. But like I don't really know these people that you know you would go on those dates with. You know Not truly.
Speaker 1:You have to vet people. Yeah, this isn't. I mean. There's a difference between you grew up in a christian home, right? Yeah, so I think in most christian homes we're taught that dating should be a little more intentional, yeah, versus just going out and trying to have fun and having fun doesn't work?
Speaker 2:I don't think so.
Speaker 1:No no, it doesn't, because I definitely veered off the path for a time where I was like, well, I'm not going to follow intentionality, I'm just going to go out and go on as many dates as you can, right. Yeah, and just you know, let's just get drinks and see where the night takes us, and obviously it it goes is echo where you think, yeah, this is rated e for everyone, so it goes where you thought it would go.
Speaker 1:But yeah um so I think when you're more intentional, trying to get that and actually know the person versus oh, she's just hot and I hope this goes to something else sex, but yeah, and then also like for caring about the person.
Speaker 2:yeah, like for me, like maybe this is not a good thing to do, definitely in today's society, but if I start going on dates with the person, I'm gonna start to care about them a little bit. Maybe, you know, who knows, it might happen. So if it's someone that even I think, oh, this is just for fun, like I can't control, if I just start caring for someone and then what happens?
Speaker 2:Now I care for someone that maybe I don't agree with on certain areas that are kind of key I would imagine to agree with when you're in a relationship like a long-term relationship with right, yeah obviously you guys can talk those things out, but if it goes to like a moral level of things that you would like to, basically how your kids would like to be raised, or different things like that, and you can't agree on that, where do you go from there? Yeah, yeah I agree.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you want to be a lot more intentional and I think putting them in it just sounds weird, putting them in certain situations, but just by fire yeah, feel them out, trial by, just get that done with right away.
Speaker 2:you know, and you know the main part is like, like when you're doing these, helps it also, like for me at least, it allowed me to see how that process went before I committed myself to like fully into, like that relationship. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because I was. I was way in the waters, first beforehand you just kind of none you know, just see how it went um. So, and then the last one was just have a fun date number three is yeah, fun day go on a fun date. See how it is like in the opposite environment of that. Go somewhere where you know she's gonna have a good time, you know um any suggestions zoos. You know something extra one different things like that. It could be just something that you have as a hobby the zoo does sound fun.
Speaker 1:Back to pickleball that seems to have blown up it's everywhere.
Speaker 2:I think Grand Rapids is like in the number, it's like in the top 10 for like most like active sport, like most like people playing it.
Speaker 1:I wonder, why Is it? Because it's a little bit easier, because it's not as hard as tennis, because it's not as hard as tennis?
Speaker 2:No, it's not as hard as tennis, but it's fun.
Speaker 1:It is fun. Yeah. I mean, I just didn't think everybody else was going to think, oh, this is super fun, but it's like a mix between ping pong and tennis, right? Is that how you would describe it? Like it's like a big ping pong table, but you're actually able to go I would.
Speaker 1:I would say it's tennis for old people yeah, yeah it's funny because in byron center now when I hear it, because I can hear it from where I work at the park it sounds like horses like because there's so many people playing at the same time. It just sounds like their hooves on and then like hitting the ball.
Speaker 2:It makes that weird popping noise.
Speaker 1:Yeah at least. Maybe it's the angle or something and the echo that make it sound like that. It might not sound like that everywhere, yeah, but I always think there's. I'm like man, what is going on over there? Oh yeah, it's pickleball yeah we should play sometime.
Speaker 2:I'm going tonight.
Speaker 1:Oh, is that what's the? Is that the six 30? Thing?
Speaker 2:No, I had to show a house at six 30. Um, it's a really cool house. I did the open house there. Um, it's like a mid century house, so it was like built in 1954.
Speaker 1:Was that the one that you just had? A?
Speaker 2:video on yes, yeah, yeah, I'm showing that one again. Um, it was owned by the same person since it was built right, yeah so the whole house is like stepping into, like the 1950s. Nothing has changed, like nothing they still have like a table record player. You know, with the built-in speakers and all that, they really did nothing to the house Like carpet on the walls.
Speaker 1:Really yeah. Is that a good look, or is it gross?
Speaker 2:It's kind of cool. It's weird you can't do that nowadays, because it would just never work for the house. Yeah. But for that age of a house, you could tell that based off the style of the house. It just worked.
Speaker 1:And they took good care of it too.
Speaker 2:They took good care of it, but the lady died who owned the house. So over time you can see that certain things started being let go of you know, yeah, she just can't take care of it.
Speaker 1:And then not exact address, but what town is it located in?
Speaker 2:it's in granville oh yeah, it's like five minutes away from here, so yeah, it's pretty sweet. Um, yeah, it's on a pond too, so kind of cool. It's definitely different. I did the open house there and there was like over like 200 people that showed up for it. This is the busiest open house I ever did. So the first 15 minutes there was probably closer to 50 people inside that house and I was texting people being like I need backup. I can't do this by myself because I'm in charge of those 50 people. I'm supposed to be doing certain things around the open house. It was chaos.
Speaker 1:Does it come with furniture?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Most houses don't. Yeah, I know, I just didn't know if, since the lady passed away, I didn't know if there was just going to be furniture left in there.
Speaker 2:I kind of hope that they have no idea what they're going to do with their record player. I'd be kind of interested in that.
Speaker 1:Does it still work?
Speaker 2:I would imagine so there's still records in it. Ooh, yeah. There's like hymns, records.
Speaker 1:It's like old hymns wait, you say record table, is that the thing that you like? Flip through and then it just plays them, like they had at restaurants or no, I'm talking about like that plays vinyls. Okay yeah, oh, so you can. Just it's one of those ones. You just take it directly off and put it another on. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's a whole table.
Speaker 2:because of the year of the house, it sounded like it could be what it is today, which is like a suitcase.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, back then everything had to be huge.
Speaker 2:Had to be huge, so it's a table. It's like this size.
Speaker 1:That'd be funny if they had an old computer in there.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:That was just. You know. I remember how that used to have to be huge.
Speaker 2:Well, at that house actually they have a spot for a TV and it's like it goes back like two yards because of like how big the back would have had to been for it.
Speaker 1:I wonder if they still sell TVs like that.
Speaker 2:I don't know, Can you imagine if they still work?
Speaker 1:you know you can just like completely dedicate yourself to like the 1970s that's right, because everything is hdmi now and those ones used to be like the yellow, red and white plug-in I forgot what each one was, but there was video and was. The two of them were audio.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's crazy yeah, yeah, yeah, red and white were. The red was right, white was left and then yellow was the video yeah, I remember when I play old gamecube or playstation that's oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, gamecube, that was my childhood dude like tony hawk. Different things like that.
Speaker 1:My game was always 1080 avalanche, which was a snowboarding game, only for game cube?
Speaker 2:did they have them like mario characters in that game?
Speaker 1:not the one that I played.
Speaker 2:I don't know if there was a remastered one where they did that there there was at least a snowboarding game where Mario would be on a snowboard. Dude, that was a game. I remember playing that when I was a kid. That was a good time.
Speaker 1:Mario Kart Double Dash was a great was one of the best Mario Karts in my opinion.
Speaker 2:Mario Golf was on that system too. That was a good one.
Speaker 1:Golf and video games never did it for me.
Speaker 2:I love them.
Speaker 1:Well, you also play golf in real life and I don't, so maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe, yeah, but I could just never get in Wii Golf couldn't get into it, yeah, but the best GameCube game was Sonic Adventure 2.
Speaker 2:I never got into the Sonic games.
Speaker 1:I didn't either, but this game was different. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It was one of those ones that was just like. I feel like the MVP of my childhood was probably Redbox, though Redbox when they had video games and movies that you could rent out. This was like pre-Netflix. Well, Netflix was around, but it was like they'd mail you DVDs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember when Netflix would mail your DVDs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it was like before that well, not before that part, but before they started streaming it. Yeah, redbox would do games too. That was the jam. You could rent out a game for a week, play it when you were a kid, beat it and return it.
Speaker 1:Could you beat them in a week?
Speaker 2:I had a lot of free time on my hands as a kid, yeah yeah, I would say I would have. I know there would be like Sonic games. There's probably like four hours of like game time to beat the game.
Speaker 1:you know, yeah, yeah can you imagine if netflix did video games today? Just you on the streaming thing, you just get it and you can play it they kind of do do they? I haven't had netflix in a while, so I don't know what it's got going on.
Speaker 2:So netflix has like apps where you can like play, like mobile games on it, yeah, and then they also have like um, like different shows where you can pick out like how it goes, so you choose how the story goes. So there's like a Bears Grills one. It's called like you Versus the Wild and you pick. There's like he either goes across this river or through the water or he swings across a vine, across the river.
Speaker 2:And you get to make that decision and one will go terribly wrong and he dies right. And then the other one he'll like survive and it's obviously like acted out, but um so he's got to act out every scene different scene yeah that is hilarious it's, it's a. It's actually kind of fun. It's super cheesy, but yeah, well, I feel like that'd be part of the appeal. Yeah.
Speaker 1:If they tried to make it cool, I think it would ruin it. But I bet they'd purposely kind of make it a little bit more cheesy, just because, I don't know, it just adds a little bit more of a humorous aspect to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it'd be like dropping vaccines off to this village in the middle of nowhere. And that's what you're doing, how you're going there. It's like you're just in a helicopter. Why didn't the helicopter go three more miles this way, where the village is, and just drop them all for you?
Speaker 1:Plot Plot armor, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Gotta add stuff for the plot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess so, but that's where my mind goes at least.
Speaker 1:Well, you can't do that with your mind, otherwise you're going to ruin every movie.
Speaker 2:I don't know Most movies nowadays, for sure, yeah, they're terribly written, yeah.
Speaker 2:Not fun anymore. I like movies that like it gives you so much anxiety because you know the person is making the wrong decision over and over and over again and then he just blows up in their face at the end. You know some movies like Good Will Hunting, where he keeps on making the bad decision. He has this amazing gift of knowledge, yeah, and then he just keeps on blowing it. Just blows it with the girl knowledge yeah, and then he just keeps on blowing it just like blows it with a girl that was like the girl of his dreams, super, like awesome girl that gets along with all his friends and makes them all laugh, and then he just like throws her into a wall and like starts like yelling at her.
Speaker 1:You know it's like dude I feel like it's more realistic though maybe not necessarily the throwing her at the wall and yelling at her. But the constantly messing up part of life, oh yeah, until you finally get it or you finally don't. Some people never get it. They just keep running through the same circles and it just never gets better for them.
Speaker 2:Can you imagine someone else watching you in third person? They're like dude. Why do you keep on doing these dumb things?
Speaker 1:In some way or another they do, if they're watching on YouTube.
Speaker 2:This is true If you are on YouTube, if they're watching me somewhere else.
Speaker 1:I'd be a bit creeped out. That would be funny if somebody was texting me like dude, why do you keep doing this? Like, how do you know that?
Speaker 2:And it's like oh Well, I'm kind of watching you from a drone like three feet above your head. No.
Speaker 1:Constantly in the house watching you while you sleep, you really should sleep on your back instead of. That would be the creepiest one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, but I think about that type of stuff a lot too. That's weird.
Speaker 1:Really, you ever feel like in a Truman Show, you ever? Thought about that, like if that could be possible for you yeah, I think anybody who's seen that movie has thought that, yeah, could I be in some weird simulation. Am I gonna hit the wall at the lake?
Speaker 2:because I've never swam that far out in lake michigan, so technically I don't know yeah, and if you go on a plane, how do you know that you're not just in a tube where it's green screens around it? So you think you're in the air, but you're actually just on the ground?
Speaker 1:Sometimes flying is unbelievable.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:Because I just got back from Memorial Day we went to New Hampshire, hiked Mount Shakorowa and I flew there with my sister. I knew we went above the clouds, but at one point we were so high above even the clouds I was like what on earth?
Speaker 2:Yeah, everything's white.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just felt surreal to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is weird. It's weird that we created that too.
Speaker 1:Planes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then we were like this is all a really good idea. We should send hundreds of thousands of people up each day into the sky and then just hope that everything goes how we think it's gonna go and then if some weird politician does something wrong or somebody's a whistleblower, one of those fights is just gonna disappear that's a crazy thing. That guy who died because he's like trying to the boeing guy?
Speaker 1:yeah, well, no, he just felt so bad after whistleblowing that he killed him. Yeah, he's like.
Speaker 2:I know I have an obligation to all these people, but I'm just feeling really sad today. So all this obligation I have to people's safety, I'm just going to you know.
Speaker 1:That's what really happened. Yeah, but that is really weird weird realistically that he did that and then all of a sudden he had suicidal thoughts yeah, there's a lot of weird things.
Speaker 2:yeah, um, there's a guy who like created a engine out of like water, like where it would run on water, and then he like said, like his last words were they poisoned me. And then he died. And then everybody's like oh, that was super weird. Well, I guess we'll just keep on using these gas engines, you know.
Speaker 1:That is crazy. It's weird that money is just that powerful to some people. Because if we, obviously if we started using water for engines, the petroleum industry is done and a lot of money is going elsewhere too for all those people?
Speaker 2:What do you think about the whole electric car thing?
Speaker 1:What do I think about, like the whole electric cars thing. What do I think about it as in, like, do I want it to happen or yeah, no, first of all, I mean I I can't prove it, but I don't think that we have the grid for that. Yeah, electric. If we went all electric, do you have to take that?
Speaker 2:no, I'm good, okay no, um, do you hear about like china with the tariffs that are going on right now? I don't know how much you follow up on that. No, I don't know. So biden just did a hundred percent tariff on china. The reason why he did it is because they released a new car that's electric. But guess how much? The price of it is? How much $9,000, brand new. Of course he put one on for that.
Speaker 2:I think I saw it. It's pretty cool. He had to, because if he didn't, ford, tesla, all these companies, american-made companies are all gone. Well, all those companies. American-made companies are all gone.
Speaker 1:Well, all those companies are going to screw us over anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, but they'd be gone. And the thing is because they have all the minerals there in China that they're mining, which we don't mine here in America. They're mining those there, so all their cars. They don't have to pay any taxes on those mining there. So that's a different part, because all those different minerals that they need they already have them. So that's why they're able to make cars so cheap there.
Speaker 1:Well, I wish I could have one For $9,000 grand. A brand new car.
Speaker 2:I would do it yeah, which I mean a brand new car here, right 30 grand yeah like minimum, yeah, um, even with that tariff 100 percent, would that make it 18?
Speaker 1:yeah because it would double it technically right. Yeah, yeah, that's still not terrible, no, no, that's pretty dang good. The only thing I have against electric motors is, first of all, right now, it takes a long time for them to charge.
Speaker 2:I don't understand why they don't have it where they have like a system, where it's like a gas station, right yeah. And they have it where it just pops out the battery but you can only do that with a certain key that's at those stations Pops out the battery, puts in a new one, bam, you're back on the road.
Speaker 1:And then, or even the ones that are being used. It just charges those ones while they're sitting in there. Yeah, yeah like you get a special key when you get an electric and the ones that are being used just charges those ones while they're sitting in there. Yeah, yeah, like you get a special key when you get an electric car? Yeah, and then that's a good idea.
Speaker 2:Well, there's like a way that you could charge it at home, but if you're like on a trip, there's spots for you to stop at. That would just pop in a new battery for you. Yeah, and it's just like a service that you would have to pay for or have have to pay for, or have solar panels. Well then the car would look lame. It would look lame, yeah, or really cool.
Speaker 1:It just matters on how they could form those panels, yeah, and if you could have enough for them to power it up because, I feel like you'd need to quite a bit to keep it running. The other problem is are they as strong as gas engines right now?
Speaker 2:They have more torque.
Speaker 1:Do they?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:That's why they can go to 0-100 most times faster than Because the Teslas can do that, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just doesn't sound the same.
Speaker 2:That's one thing. My biggest thing is like manual cars, like your stick shift that you used to have. Those are gone already, like Porsche is. They were like said this is our last stick shift car.
Speaker 1:It really stinks, cause I just like them, cause they're fun.
Speaker 2:They are fun, yeah, so like horses.
Speaker 1:Those are gone.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, so like horses those are gone right. Yeah. Like horses used to be everywhere. They're gone. Manual cars are gone, automatic cars are next. They're going to be gone, and it's just going to be a car that drives you around. It'll be really great for most people, but it's not going to be fun.
Speaker 1:No, and I don't know if I would trust a car to drive me around. No, I know that people get in accidents too, but technology fails because it is made by imperfect people. There's things in there that can mess up. I was just driving my the work van the other day and I bumped into something, because normally when you're backing up it beeps if you're even 10 feet away from something, but if there's dust on the sensor or something, it's not beeping. So I'm just backing up because I thought I was good. Then, all of a sudden it's like, and I'm like, wait, what happened?
Speaker 2:Well, I show houses in the northern part of Michigan and there'll be like areas where it says that there's a street there, but then like, let's say, there's erosion, that happened. It's like a dirt road and the road has just gone off into the lake nearby. I've seen that happen Really. Yeah, that's crazy, so would it just you know, michael. Scott into the water. Would that actually happen? It probably could happen. I guess, if it has cameras and it sees it, it could just stop you. But that's, I don't know if I would want that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just don't like having something else be in control. Yeah, just like I do get a little bit of anxiety getting on a plane because it's like I'm not piloting it, my life is in someone else's hands and even though planes are generally safe, it's still that it's not me flying the plane. Obviously I don't have a license. So that guy is going to be better anyway, but I'm just saying it's not me controlling, controlling it. So it kind of freaks me out a little bit. Yeah, how far north do you go to sell houses.
Speaker 2:I go like up to an hour and a half away from grand rapids nice yeah so you don't make it quite to traverse city no, I don't make it to traverseverse City, but I've shown houses by Ludington before. Ooh yeah, like Reed City, that's a nice area.
Speaker 1:Reed City is right off 131 too, isn't it, mm-hmm?
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, so that makes it nice, yeah. Or like Kalamazoo, muskegon, those areas too, muskegon's terrible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is yeah.
Speaker 2:The state park is really nice it is, but I just don't think it's recovered from like 2007. Like the crash, the housing crash.
Speaker 1:Was that what it?
Speaker 2:was yeah, it just hasn't recovered. Neither has Detroit. Yeah, you can buy a house in Muskegon for like $65,000 and it would be like a decent house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but is it worth it?
Speaker 2:I mean it matters Obviously, like if your family's around there and you have a good paying job, sure, but like I don't know, I go to Muskegon, and I get sad, like I guess I don't know it is a bit.
Speaker 1:It is pretty run down. Yeah, a lot of it. Really. The only thing that's nice when I go there is the state park, the beach Either PJ Hoffmaster, which I think is kind of by, and there's also Muskegon State Park, because there's a cool place where you can either take a left or a right. Left is to the pavilion, right is a different way. If you go right you can kind of park on the side of the road and there's this beach over there.
Speaker 2:that's a lot more secluded. A lot of investors, though, have been putting money into Muskegon.
Speaker 1:So A lot of investors, though have been putting money into Muskegon, so I wonder what it's going to be like in 10 years. Yeah, because it has potential to be a really nice place. It's right by the water.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it has plenty of hospitals in that area too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it has potential. They're just going to do that with Rogers City too.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you've ever been there. It's on the northeast side of michigan, so it's on like huron. No, I don't. I don't go over to the east side too much. I only go there if, like, I have to go to like a concert in detroit I drive to detroit often for my main job, the welding job.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, and that's pretty sad too, detroit yeah. Yeah. Unless you're downtown, it's completely run down, just garbage in the streets.
Speaker 2:Well, it seems like people just go to downtown Detroit, too, to go to those types of venues. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's mostly why.
Speaker 2:It's like a ghost town city. It's like a skeleton almost in my mind, like you'll go there for like an event and there will be only people there for that event outside. Yeah. That's just weird.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, and then like everything surrounding it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Everybody lives in the communities like a half an hour away from Detroit.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, it's pretty scarce. That chair is squeaky. It is yeah, I know I want to get some gaming chairs for in here. Yeah. Because I feel like that'd be really comfortable if you could have armrests and I think it's good to have people a little uncomfortable. Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think being uncomfortable is a good thing sometimes.
Speaker 1:So keep the squeaky chairs. What your suggestion is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, keep people a little uncomfortable. If you give people that couch they have behind you, they're going to not be attuned to the conversation, they're going to just slowly sit back into it and disappear.
Speaker 1:Being a little uncomfortable is good, so do you plan on doing real estate for the rest of your life? Yes. Yeah, so it's something you enjoy, I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it changes so much. You know I go through crazy houses all the time, so there's plenty of stories and everything's like that.
Speaker 3:No, day is like the same, you know. So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it keeps it nice for that reason. And then I get to have other hobbies too, like I, I write poems, I, um, I like to go mountain biking and um, just do other things you know that's something.
Speaker 1:What? How is that? Do you still write poems on?
Speaker 2:Instagram. No, I stopped that Um. I stopped that because a lot of my poems are fairly dark. I don't know. I feel kind of bad for having those public. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yes and no, but I mean they're not. Maybe I haven't experienced the ones that you're talking about that are really dark, but I don't think they'd be so dark that it's like bothering people. And if they don't want to see it. They can just.
Speaker 2:This is true, but I don't know, maybe I'm a little bit into my own head. I just wrote a poem, right, and it's about you know, like the French went to Russia, right? Yeah. And most of them died from the winter. I wrote a poem as a soldier in those times and it's called Outlast and it's basically him trying to outlast the next person because they were eating each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe stay off the internet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so they were eating each other. Yeah, maybe stay off the internet. Yeah, so they were eating each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in your poem or in reality, in real life, they were eating each other. Okay.
Speaker 2:And in my poem I wrote it based off of that. Yeah, so it's based off of true yeah, so it's like they were waiting for the other person to die, so then they could eat that person to stay alive yeah so the poem is called outlast, outlast, because they're trying to outlast the next person who is bound to die before them that is.
Speaker 1:That is very dark, but I also feel like there would be an audience for it yeah because it is realistic. Yeah, if you were coming up with that out of your head, I would be I mean, I did, I mean yeah, you did, but you also got the idea. Yeah, I'm saying, if you came up with that idea on your own, I would yeah, that would be concerning well, that's the thing like, but people wouldn't know that like that was history.
Speaker 1:That's true, and stephen king is still out there, so you would. Or stephen king, whatever, however you say his name. He writes all those crazy, scary, whacked out books.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nobody ever questions him I think they do his uncle kane when he did it most of those books yeah, but he's not.
Speaker 1:Is he like outed by society? No, I mean like he's glorified, yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I I like like edgar allen poe, you know I I really love his poems and that's why, just because it's such raw emotion, even it's something that's like like why is he talking about this? This is something that you shouldn't be talking about, or acting kind of crazy. Did people think he was crazy, but then he was friends with people that were presidents.
Speaker 1:I should read his books, his poems.
Speaker 2:He has a lot of interesting ones, ones I'm trying to pull up this uh poem real quick see if I can I think the raven is in this.
Speaker 1:Oh, look at that. I went right to it nevermore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I use, I love that poem a lot. There's a part that he says dream dreams that no man should be dreaming, or something like that. Yeah, um, oh, it's just, it's just like the insanity with it some people are like man his poems are so dark it's crazy.
Speaker 1:But also you can use this. That's the raven.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, let me see if I can find.
Speaker 1:People are always talking about how dark his poems are, but then, when you read some of the Psalms by David, yeah. Those are pretty dark too.
Speaker 2:Well it's supposed to be raw emotions on my mind. That's how I see it at least yeah, and people don't like that it's kind of like a turnoff, for whatever reason doubting, dreaming dreams. No more mortals ever dared to be dream or ever dare to dream before. I don't know, that's just such a like, an interesting thing yeah what got me into poetry is when I was a kid, right, yeah, like in elementary, I thought I was stupid, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, you can just leave that there yeah, I thought I was stupid, so I would go on to the internet and look up quotes of people, famous people, different poems, different things like that, so then I could memorize what they said, to then sound smart I feel like it's a good idea though. Yeah, it was a smart idea, yeah you know, and I, I was just like gosh, yeah, because I felt like I sound stupid. So I was like all right, well, did you like?
Speaker 1:before the quoting, did you?
Speaker 2:I mean I was in like special education classes so like for like math. I had really tough time with math growing up yeah yeah. So there, like there was a reason, you know, I felt like, uh, you know, I wasn't just being like on myself, like you're stupid, right, with no of it, like I had pretty good proof that I was stupid. So, um, yeah, so yeah, that's something I worked on. Um, and just memorize poems um, different parts of movies, different speeches from, like, presidents, different things like that, just trying to sound smarter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then how did that Bring you to writing your own poems?
Speaker 2:Well, with that, I was reading a lot of poems and memorizing things. There's a poem that I really like, called my Darling Sarah, by Shane Koshian, and he has these things where he says she has a throat like a vase. She sings her words into bloom, she gosh, she sh. Shrums my heart into tune, um, with eyes of recycled and blue, and every once in a while I'll catch her staring and it's interesting because he's talking about him or her trying to make him a new thing. You know, try to fix him in a way yeah that's what the recycle bin blue is, you know, um.
Speaker 2:But yeah, there's like a lot of cool things like that, um, where you can kind of see what they're trying to say yeah it's kind of like you know a little head of meanings yeah, they are interesting because they're also usually.
Speaker 1:They're usually a little bit shorter. Some of them are long. The raven is a bit longer, but I just started reading walt whitman. If you know who that is, he's like an american poet from the mid-1850s.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I've been trying to copy is like older poems use Use different language in a way. Let me read this one. If I was able to outlast the rest, like a mold on spoiled fruit, I'm cautious that death will catch me too. The king will live from this Russian devil's winter chill, but I crawl into my heart and for into the hardened foreign snow to escape the wind on which I feel. Death follows our fleet, consuming those who consider this winter to be our defeat. I eat their flesh like death itself.
Speaker 2:To survive as a soldier, you must give up on your morals. Morals are for home and full bellies. You must kill that part of you. The best way to make it home is to have no home at all. I am no longer French. I am no longer a man. I'm a product of death. Other soldiers, thinned out bodies, are keeping me from getting eaten by friends and family. I've caught them peering lately. I feel their breath wetting my skin as I sleep. I am certain I will be consumed before the cold changes the temperature of my meat and I don't blame them. These men are no longer my brothers. Familiar church bells ring through the tire brigade of our reduced forces.
Speaker 2:The king who left long ago, hoping to soften the blow of the tragedy that kept their sons from coming home. My heart beats, but I also was left abandoned in that snow, like blackened flesh that engulfs the edges of my limbs. I have amputated the parts of me that believed in God, the parts of me that hoped for a better day to outlast the parade of death that consumes the warmth you thought you knew. You must lose what you thought you already lost. You had to come back home, or you had to come back to the home you used to know and crave. The cruel snow that you left wondering for the rest of your rotting life what the heck was I able to outlast the rest, or how the heck I could outlast the rest.
Speaker 1:And that was.
Speaker 2:You wrote that yeah, I wrote that wow, that's really good, well written yeah, yeah outlast the mold. I like that part yeah, I like the um. You have to give up on your morals. Morals are for home in full bellies. It's just such an interesting thing of like when you're hungry at least when I'm hungry, I'm like I get hangry right, I'm a different person. I don't like who I am when I'm hungry, you know so it's just like what will you do when you get into that state, like who knows, until you're in it?
Speaker 1:now yeah, what made you want to take that story and write a poem about it?
Speaker 2:I watched the movie Napoleon. Short answer to that.
Speaker 1:With Joaquin Phoenix.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, terrible movie Don't watch it. I heard it was terrible. It was terrible. But that whole scene of him trying to make up for it, because hundreds of thousands of people died during that walk back, he basically had, like he rode on a horse. No one else had horses, so he would ride on horses there. So he could basically explain like, hey, it wasn't that bad, we actually won. We made it to Moscow, but we had to come back and that's why he basically got like he stopped being king after that yeah yeah it was on the, the walk back, where they were dying, and oh yeah, the winner eating
Speaker 2:there's like one day there that was like negative, like 50 degrees, and like they don't really have nothing back in those days, like no, like really good coats, like wool coats for everybody maybe, unless you were russian right, because russians survived it somehow, didn't they yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, they're used to it too yeah, dude, that's crazy, because I sometimes listen to this podcast called Real Dictators and one of them is Stalin's story. Yeah, and he was robbing a train, so he got exiled to Siberia. Yeah, and he walked 50-something miles in Siberia in the bitter cold with no gloves and no boots or something like that. Like it was something that we would die if we wore it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But he was fine. Then he realized he couldn't make it, so he had to turn back to sepia and go back, and then he somehow escaped again. But yeah, just the thought of how they can survive that much cold is just crazy to me yeah well, like, can you imagine?
Speaker 2:like also like the frostbite that you would get. You just had to live with that for the rest of your life if you didn't die yeah yeah, and then, like also back in those days, like bathing was like looked against, like if you bathed you were dirty. Is that weird?
Speaker 1:like that's, like that's definitely weird because Because when they would bathe right yeah.
Speaker 2:They would bathe in a certain pond and everybody would bathe in that pond. Well then, all those diseases stay in that pond. So people would go to that pond and bathe. They would just be putting on everybody else's filth. Ugh. Yeah, his filth, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:so then it was like if, if you bathe most times, it was like like once every four months type deal yeah, that's really gross that's where, like that term, like don't throw the baby out with the bath water, it's because the whole family would have to wash and it would start off with the husband, wife, kids going from oldest to youngest. So by the time that the baby went into the water it was like black, so you wouldn't be able to see the baby in there. Hence, don't throw the baby away with the bath.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, People are gross dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is gross. I wonder. Well, I was gonna say I wonder if your body would eventually start cleaning itself if you didn't take a shower or bath.
Speaker 2:But obviously if the water is getting dirtier, then that's not the case can you imagine like, if I don't take like a shower every day, I feel gross.
Speaker 1:I can go one day without doing it. Yeah, but I think that's because I weld, so any day I weld I have to shower, so if there's a day where I don't weld, it's like that's a clean day for me. Yeah. For me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but, yeah, so yeah, but I can't imagine getting to the two-day mark yeah, your hair starts feeling different. Yeah, yeah, no way that's how it was in new hampshire, though I went two days I guess, like on vacations, I my yeah it's, but there was also a hot tub, so I kind of considered that a little bit of a.
Speaker 2:I would say so Right, yeah. Yeah, it's kind of gross thinking of a hot tub that way, but but we're doing that situation and it was with my entire family.
Speaker 1:Oh so it was four. Four out of my five siblings went with this and then there was four, four kids of their kids total that went, and then my mom and dad. So there's a lot of us, so I wasn't going to wait in line and take a shower too much.
Speaker 2:I sold a house in your parents' neighborhood last week.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So I was like telling him, like, oh, oh, I know the people that live right over there.
Speaker 1:they're really nice yeah was it on the same street too?
Speaker 2:it's on the street like so your parents house right the the street, and then there's like the backyards of those two people and there's another, another street. Yeah. So it's on that other street. Gotcha, it's like a dead-end road.
Speaker 1:Oh yep Nice. Yeah. Was it a new couple with a small child? No. Because that's all that moves into Byron Center is new couples pretty much that's all that moves into Byron Center is new couples pretty much.
Speaker 2:I mean they're probably married for like two years, so newer.
Speaker 1:But they don't have a kid. Eli just got a house. He did, yeah, oh, him and Kaylin are now homeowners.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure they bought Kaylin's parents' house. Oh really, yeah, I want to move out of michigan. Why that's just such a why? Uh, I just like I. I want to live in arizona for a little bit.
Speaker 2:I think it's a mistake, I would would say so. Why, I don't know. Because like okay, they have like natural springs, right? Mm-hmm. No beaches.
Speaker 1:If you wanted to go to the beach.
Speaker 2:It's like a day journey there just to get to the beach.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't need a beach you don't need a beach, but it's a nice thing to have. It is a nice thing and I don't not saying I'm going to live there forever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it would just be cool to do there for a year yeah, but like if you're in arizona, right yeah like you're also at the thing about like, um, like it's gonna be hot, very hot there most of the year. So if you want to be outside, most people that like live there. At least in my mind, how I see it, it's like there's like people that seem like they're surviving there and there's people that have pools, and if you don't have a pool, you're surviving. You're surviving there. So get a place with the pool at least visit you.
Speaker 2:That's my, that's my thing also. I want you to stay here. So just don't move, man.
Speaker 1:Don't do it yeah, but I'm just thinking, because my buddy, john, just moved to the up, okay, and that's another place that I would like to move. That's, that's a, that's that's a mistake, yeah, I would say that's another place that I would like to move.
Speaker 2:That's that's a that's. That's a mistake. Yeah, I would say that's a mistake why is that? Um, there's just nothing around.
Speaker 1:There's just nothing around yeah, but are you a city person?
Speaker 2:no, I'm not a city. I grew up in like a, like a neighborhood. So, um, I would say maybe, um, but like, can you imagine the idea of like okay, you get home from work, right, yeah, you want, you want some food. When you get home from work, you get to your house, no food right okay well, maybe I should just be lazy and order food.
Speaker 2:You can't do that unless there's like a pizza place nearby, like, uh, you know a place nearby? Um, that's not an option. You have to go to the grocery store. And now the grocery store based off of where you live and obviously there's there's like towns there it just matters where you're at in the UP, but the grocery store could be 45 minutes away.
Speaker 1:I said UP, not Alaska.
Speaker 2:No, this is UP, though I know it's not that bad, though I know realtors that are there and they have to cover the whole UP just to like make an income. Oh, you know. Because there's just not a ton of houses.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but if I could find something that I like a welding job there, which I'm sure I could, or logging, yeah, and I wouldn't need there's a okay. First of all, there's always a pizza place in most towns. This is true pizza keeps people alive but I also don't think that I would move somewhere where there's nobody. I'd probably be around marquette or escanaba, yeah but the winners do.
Speaker 1:The winners there are brutal I'm really trying to keep you here but I know, because my other place would be new hampshire and the winners there are brutal too. This is true, yeah, but I see the thing is is I love the mountains?
Speaker 1:yeah, I know, the white mountains aren't super yeah it's nothing to brag about, although ethan scutter did say that there are some of the harder ones. Because they're just straight up, they're not as much switchbacks. So because they're just straight up, they're not as much switchbacks, so you're just going straight up these mountains and they're pretty high. You can see a ways when you're up there.
Speaker 2:It's still fun places I would like to think about moving to right. Yeah, one would be tennessee tennessee is a good one. Smoky mountains smoky mountains, those are great you know, plenty of trails, plenty of waterfalls, everywhere too there so that's really great. And just weird people, but cool people at the same time good mix unless you get to appalachia.
Speaker 1:Weird.
Speaker 2:But yeah, continue maine means beautiful dude when we were visiting like up is like it's like a sliver of maine it's like the olive garden of maine dude when we were on this new hampshire trip.
Speaker 1:since I flew with my sister, we had more time because we flew into boston and and we went to Kittery Maine, badger Island and had lobster there. I'll never forget it.
Speaker 2:Got to go to Acadia.
Speaker 1:I want to go there too. National Park.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really cool. There's a hike called Beehive and there it's like the same as New Hampshire when it comes to mountains and there's like ladders, like steel ladders that had to be like nailed into the actual mountain and that's how you hike there, Like that hike is just you literally climbing a ladder, going up like an edge, so cool. And then there's old like boat, old like sailboats everywhere, old lobster boats on a whole bay there. So you're watching the sunset because it's on that side of you know.
Speaker 1:Well, it's on the east side of the state, isn't it? Yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you have that, but then you still get nice golden skies.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. It doesn't necessarily need to be over the water for it to be a good sunset.
Speaker 2:I guess you're right. Yeah, it is on the east side, but you'd have the sunrise. That's lame.
Speaker 1:Is it? I don't know. I've never seen one on the ocean. It might be cool yeah.
Speaker 2:I know, but you have to wake up so early.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm an early morning riser.
Speaker 2:It's way easier to stay up you know later than wake up earlier. I love waking up early I've been trying to wake up. I've been waking up at the same time every day ever since I started this job and I've been trying to switch it up to 6 am how have you been doing with the weight loss thing exercising? Bad. I did good for like a week, but then I got sick. This is my week after I was sick.
Speaker 1:Sickness has always killed me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like my sinuses were just filled, so then I had a terrible headache. Yep.
Speaker 2:I'd get super dizzy and also I could barely hear anybody. So that was just a killer. So I didn't work out last week, which I also felt bad. I don't know, when I work out, I feel like a different person, and I don't know if I like that person necessarily, but it's definitely different. Also, I don't know I get that person necessarily, but it's definitely different. How so, I don't know, I get more anxious about things, you know, and I get a little bit more irritated, like irritable on certain things.
Speaker 1:I do too. I think it's the raise in testosterone. I think so Not as much anxious, but the irritable.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But then for me it's like I just have to go and lift more and push myself to get rid of that aggression Cause I've realized that I naturally have a lot of aggression, especially nowadays, I think because I'm not like chubby bunny. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think when you burn that fat, your testosterone does raise a little bit. I, that's bro science, I don't know. Burn that fat, your testosterone does raise a little bit. That's bro science. I don't know if that's real. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but lately there has that aggression, so it's like I have to go and work out even more to get rid of it. Yeah, it's kind of weird, but yeah, I feel that. But Lawrence and I have been walking on Saturday mornings. If you ever want to come with us, I'll be down for it. I think we usually go out at like 7 am. I know that's early.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, that's good.
Speaker 1:And then we just talk and walk, talk and walk.
Speaker 2:Lawrence is a really cool guy.
Speaker 1:I know he's been on here. I think I have three full episodes with him now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's interesting.
Speaker 1:He's wicked smart, I know. Yeah, it's hard. Can't debate him on anything I've given up.
Speaker 2:No, I'll be debating him in my head for like days afterwards.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, and I can make some good points, then I'll make some day.
Speaker 2:yeah, then I'll be like hmm, and then I come up with something to say, but it's like, oh wait, that conversation was like three days ago. Yeah. Or like a month ago. It's like oh well.
Speaker 1:I also like him because he does challenge me in a lot of my beliefs, a lot too. Not necessarily change my mind or make me believe what he believes, but he at least is able to challenge me, I think that's important, I think.
Speaker 2:that's why I like to debate his ideas in my head too, because that's that challenge too.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's really easy to debate in my head. Yeah, because he can't respond Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd love to call him two days later and just give him my response and just see what he comes up with next yeah, and he always has an answer. He does right away.
Speaker 1:I don't know how I want to get to that point where I can just, you know, like ben shapiro, level debate even if he's wrong, he at least says something. Yeah, and it's quick and it at least will sound good.
Speaker 1:But me it's like ben shapiro sounds good because he's quick yeah, right, it's such a, it's such a fast, confident answer yeah but then sometimes you really start to listen to him and it's like, uh, I don't know if he's right well, listen to him like I'm 0.5 speed you told me sounds drunk, he sounds drunk, he sounds drunk. Yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 2:Even the words he uses. You're like oh all right, it's a weird way to explain it.
Speaker 1:But I feel like in most of my interactions my mouth is faster than my mind. I want to do the opposite, where my mind is quicker, where you can actually think and then say something, but it takes me forever to think of anything to say. I want to be quick-witted.
Speaker 2:I think it's just practice the more you talk about a certain subject. He's been doing debate for a long time and podcasting has helped.
Speaker 1:I've noticed I'm way better at conversations, even with random people at a boardwalk, subs place or whatever. I'll sit there and talk and actually be able to have a conversation, rather than just like how was your day good and then have it be done. I can actually carry on a conversation.
Speaker 2:So here's a not to change the subject, but I'm going to change the subject a little bit. I've been telling my friends, you know, now that I'm engaged, I said, hey guys, definitely the ones that I've been playing around, you know playing the game when it comes to the dating game. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I Playing the game. When it comes to the dating game, yeah, Like, hey guys, it's time to get serious here, Because if you want to like raise kids together, got to get on it, Got to start making that moves. Is that a bad thing to say what you said and does?
Speaker 1:that sell them on it.
Speaker 2:I don't know. It's just a fun thing for me to say it's like, dude, our kids need to be friends, so get moving on it.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to say, especially because I just don't think that dating around is really a good thing. No, just for mental health, yeah.
Speaker 2:I say it more of a silly thing thing, but it's kind of well, I figured you were like joking around with it so yeah, especially if it's a joke, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think I can be a little bit humorous. Might make them think a little bit, might be something they laugh at during the time, but then say when they're at home they think about it. Maybe he's right.
Speaker 2:I don't care about that, I just like to poke at people. I love playing devil's advocate too a lot of times, like if I'm mad about something, I want to debate someone on any topic. It doesn't matter what point I have to take on the issue. I feel like I can kind of argue both sides on whatever issue.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's always a good thing to be, yeah, like I'll tell, like Lydia, I'm like all right, just pick any debate, let's talk it over, and like we'll have ones where it'll be like really like be really fun. It's kind of like. It's like like South really fun. It's kind of like South versus North Civil War who? Was right, that's a hard one to like debate. Argue for the South.
Speaker 1:Is that where you're going? No, no, I'm not saying I'm with them or without them.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying like trying to debate each side, even if you don't care about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. What side do you usually take?
Speaker 2:What side do I normally take in that debate? Yeah Well, I let Lydia always pick first in those types of instances. I like it, it's a fun game for me. But I don't know if she likes it. But what I say? If it is that debate where I am, the South, I say well, first thing, I don't agree with the whole slavery side of it, but the state rights part, I get that. I get why you'd fight over that.
Speaker 1:They were fighting for state rights. Yeah, like each state to have its individual.
Speaker 2:Rights to make their own laws.
Speaker 1:Don't we have that now or no?
Speaker 2:Partly, but we have a lot of the federal government that makes big decisions for each state, Like, for instance, like um, like medical wise. It's because of John F Kennedy. He didn't like how his sister was treated.
Speaker 1:She had a lobotomy done. Yep, they were just talking about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he didn't like how that was done, so he switched over for it to be a federally done issue, not on a state level, but a federal issue, and basically that's what they wanted to do with slavery. That's why Because they didn't want it to be a speech choice like it was before then that's why there was the North and the South is because the kind of North side of the country was all in, agree and say it was morally wrong, yeah, and they wanted the whole country to make that decision then, and the only way they could do that is by making it a federal thing. Um, so I don't agree with that part, but the idea of everything being more on the state level, yeah I agree with yeah, but I think that's just for me, because I I think smaller government is a better government in my mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for a lot of reasons. Yeah, just more checks and balances. Yep, yeah, yeah, yeah and um, yeah, and like how like people act in boston is different from how people act in California. It's a different culture. Yeah, it's like we can't treat those people the same. You know, these people never have winters, these people like it's gray there every day. Boston. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's gray, they have terrible winters. They're all angry. They're all angry, but they're together, like Boston, strong is a thing and all that. They're together. They're a unit because they have to survive through it.
Speaker 1:I think New England in general is kind of like that. Yeah, because when I was in Maine it's like the waitresses were a little bit rude where we were, and then the people just the F word is every other word for them, but it's normal for them. But yeah, it's all like stuck together and where they're at it's not technically rude, it's just who they are.
Speaker 2:It's more of like a brotherly love type thing. Yeah, they love each other, but they're going to be mean to each other at the same time. Like the opposite of California, because I feel like in there some people not everybody, but some people it will be a situation where maybe they're nice to you, but then maybe they have bad intentions in the end, or they might be a different person when you're not around. Yeah, yeah. It's around.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's true, yeah, so I'd rather have someone be mean to me, like to my face, but then care about me Behind your back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the way to be. Anyway, I got to go to the bathroom and you have to.
Speaker 2:I got to go on an appointment, so we can just wrap this up.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's a perfect time to end it. Thanks, you have to. I got to go on an appointment, so we can just wrap this up so yeah, it's perfect time to end it, thanks, everyone for listening and have a blessed week. See ya Bye, oh sweet dude.