April 18 Mystery Box
Yes. Hello. Hello.
Speaker 2:Oh, good. Do you hear me?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:All is good. You got
Speaker 1:your acoustic bass out there.
Speaker 2:Got my
Speaker 1:acoustic bass. Pretty instrument.
Speaker 2:It's an awesome one. I'm a big big big fan of it. Don't play it as often as I'd like to. Ain't that always the way of it? We never find time for our hobby Girl.
Speaker 1:And you wanna come be the producer today, Poppy? Jack is asleep on our bed. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. Sounds about like
Speaker 1:he's not gonna be able to work today.
Speaker 2:That's how it works.
Speaker 1:I had a dream last night. One of my dreams that I have where I was furious at you, and then I wake up and I'm still furious because Mhmm. I have to I have to think if it was a dream or if it actually happened. Yep. I wonder what that is because I have those dreams a couple of times a year.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I
Speaker 1:mean, screaming, rage, furious, like, would never ever happen in real life. It never has happened in real life.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there are those who would say what you wanted to happen in real life. Nope. But you so you're actually realizing in your dream what you would want. Nope.
Speaker 1:I don't
Speaker 2:know if that's true. Who could know, but, do you ever remember what it is that I did?
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah. I always remember my dreams. All my dreams.
Speaker 2:No. No. No. But what I why you were so angry?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I always remember the plot of my dream.
Speaker 2:Okay. Little side track here. So what else? A dream in color typically?
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yeah. I think so.
Speaker 2:Okay. Other senses? Do you ever have smells or sounds?
Speaker 1:No. But I feel experience pain in my dreams.
Speaker 2:Okay. But no smell, sound, or taste? No. Touch or anything like that? Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, that
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah. If I'm getting attacked by wolves or snakes or something
Speaker 2:You have feeling.
Speaker 1:Terror. Well, I'm not sure if it's actual pain or if I'm so afraid of my dreams that I think I'm in pain, but it's probably just fear. Right. Base primal fear.
Speaker 2:But you wake up before you're torn apart by wolves.
Speaker 1:No. No. I usually wake up while I'm being torn apart by wolves or being, repeatedly bitten in the same place in my arm over and over again by horrible snakes, giant snakes.
Speaker 2:Grits.
Speaker 1:I have terrible nightmares.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That is bad.
Speaker 1:Well, you know that.
Speaker 2:I do know it's some yeah. I tend to
Speaker 1:be Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Rather, well, I'm I wonder if it's sometimes, if you have spicy food right before you go to bed.
Speaker 1:No. It's not that. Sometimes. Maybe.
Speaker 2:Since sometimes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you wake me up when you're having a dream, which is clearly a nightmare, but I don't think you remember in the morning that you've had a bad dream. And I'm always wondering if it's the right thing to do to let you have the dream or if I should wake you up out of it. But since you usually don't remember that you've dreamt, I usually just let you go.
Speaker 2:I there's some conventional wisdom one way or the other about that. Right? Whether you're supposed to, awaken, you know, sleepwalkers or I don't know. If people are having 2 things in the movies
Speaker 1:that never ever happened in real life. I mean, good movies this happens. So I wonder why screenwriters do this. One is people splashing their face with cold water when they're trying to calm down. No one in real life has ever done that or does that.
Speaker 1:And the other is somebody jerking out of bed, sitting sitting upright after a nightmare Alright. Gasping for air. That never happens
Speaker 2:in
Speaker 1:your life. Why do they do that, Michael?
Speaker 2:It must or some people.
Speaker 1:Never. Never. Why? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, the best is the the dream within the dream. Right? So you oh, yeah. I mean, you could do this in horror movies all the time.
Speaker 2:Right? But, yeah, that that, I don't know what those I mean, they're obviously dramatized, excessively dramatized versions of, you know, this is what it means to dream or whatever. And, you know, I think we cut some slack just with the, you know, conceits of the screen. You know, we know that whatever. Most people probably don't, I don't know, sleep on their back with the lighting just right and the pillows, you know, so that they sit both upright and the, quilter exactly as they as the prods department left them.
Speaker 2:I mean, everybody else just, like, you know, sleeping, in their smelly underwear or something anyway. But, yeah, it's you have to represent these things on screen in a tidy format. Mhmm. Apnea. I don't know if folks they show people sleeping, in movies where they like have apnea or their sleep masks.
Speaker 2:Is everybody using sleep masks or not? You know, Phillips has their big lawsuit with sleep masks.
Speaker 1:What's the lawsuit?
Speaker 2:Oh, and people are breathing toxic, whatever. But,
Speaker 1:you mean an apnea sleep mask?
Speaker 2:Yeah. They do apnea sleep mask, but then, something's deteriorating within, the so the respiration filled. I think people are breathing in some of that. It is the I think that's essentially what the suit's about. I don't know how truthful it is, but that's what's that's what folks are saying.
Speaker 1:Because we have 5 pets, we have 5 vacuum cleaners. Yeah. We have 2 of the little handheld battery operated vacuum cleaners. We have the Miele Beast. We have the beast Bissell, like, really loud floor cleaner.
Speaker 2:Carpet cleaner, though.
Speaker 1:Then we have a cute little just kinda dust buster cleaner. Oh, and then we also have 2, fabric cleaners, like handheld Bissell fabric cleaners. Cleaners. Mhmm. The Phillips electric powered like, electric plugged into the wall vacuum cleaner has all of this promise, all of these attachments.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it has no after using it, like, 2 times, it has no suction power, and I can't figure out why. Nothing's blocked. I've looked at everything. It can't be broken.
Speaker 1:There's gotta be a switch or something that I haven't switched on or switched off, but I'm I'm so curious as to why this thing isn't working. I'm thinking about pulling it apart.
Speaker 2:Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, I can look at it too if you think it's something obvious. But, yeah, it might just not be a very good design.
Speaker 1:But it was really expensive.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, Phillips Phillips
Speaker 1:does not make good products.
Speaker 2:Products here are expensive.
Speaker 1:It's consumer consumer products from Phillips are so sorry, Phillips, but so shitty. Just go make your MRI machines and just
Speaker 2:cut just
Speaker 1:cut off the consumer business.
Speaker 2:Focus mostly on the medtech and, you know, taking HP's, share the medtech. Mhmm. And I think baby products. I think Philips makes a lot on their baby products. You can always
Speaker 1:But anyway, there's a lawsuit because people are inhaling toxic fumes? I
Speaker 2:think that's that's one of the things that they're talking about. Yeah. Mhmm. I'm sure it's not every version of the mask but, you know, probably some of their manufacturing partners, you know, whatever, put in a dodgy filter or something that that sort of thing. No.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean, it's so I I obviously don't know much about these issues, but I'm not
Speaker 1:afraid to talk.
Speaker 2:The wrong your elbow with Eric. Oh, sorry. Sorry. I'm just saying that, I obviously don't know much about sleep apnea, but it it it does seem strange to me that there's, you know, so many treatments and suggestions about sleep apnea and there are some, I think, for a lot of folks often, American folks
Speaker 1:Maybe they're the least
Speaker 2:little bit
Speaker 1:of a
Speaker 2:of a particular, size and or age. Yes. Some of these but I mean our our tissues do soften up. Right? Like our uvulas are dangling at this age anyway.
Speaker 2:So, you know, even if we have good airflow, these all these things are gonna be vibrating and oscillating in a way that they didn't used to.
Speaker 1:Yeah. About 10 years ago, I noticed that I could how do you describe this without it just sounding gross?
Speaker 2:No. Go ahead. Do it that version.
Speaker 1:Like, if you push the tip of your tongue down on the side of your cheek
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Like, let's say you've got something stuck down there. Yep. I I can I can go the extent that my tongue will reach and barely hit the side of my cheek, which didn't used to happen because my my cheeks are sagging? Oh. Jowly.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I know. Yep. Cavern
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. All this all this stuff starts to go south. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And more likely the tongues, fishing around for, these types because with, you know, age and gum recession, then it's more likely that, things are cut between the teeth.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I get my toothbrush down in there just to kinda Mhmm. You know? Oh, gosh. Yep.
Speaker 1:Not pleasant. Alright. So as our listener knows excuse me.
Speaker 2:To suit me.
Speaker 1:Last year, I had my 4 pillars of health, which I achieved. This year, I'm building on that with, trying to build, my strength training, which has been very difficult. Once you lose muscle mass, it's really hard to get it back, I'm discovering. And working on my posture, which is also very hard, very painful, It's hard, you know, when you're young and you work out, you get sore muscles and that hurts, but just the the actual act of exercising Yep. Is painful in a way where you just feel the tendons are either contracting or just stretching out.
Speaker 1:You just feel like you're on the brink of injury at all times. Yeah. But I'm working on it. And it because the other thing that I'll be working on in the next couple of years is building up my skills. So the theme is, do I want to be helped or do I want to be able to help and I want to be a helper?
Speaker 1:So, as an example, over the past weekend, I organized a carpentry class for beginners, for women only.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And so there were 5 of us in the American Women's Club of Amsterdam who did this weekend long carpentry class. It is really hard and very exciting to even just have the most basic of skills and know that there is a whole world beyond that, of skills that you could acquire over a lifetime. And, of course, the gear, the tools are just, mesmerizing. And, man, you could just those the handheld tools, like Sure. You know, the €1500, like, domino slat cutter.
Speaker 1:So it only does one thing. It cuts holes Yep. In the side of the wood to put a domino in, which is a version of a biscuit or dowel, all these terms that I'm learning, or the router or the thing that, like, smooths off your cut. Oh, that is so satisfying. It just smooths it off so perfectly.
Speaker 1:And the skill of, like, just having these tools in your hand and learning that it isn't so much always about lining up sight lines, but the feel, like, feeling that the tool is in the right position and then letting the tool do all the work and then just guiding it. So, for example, I had I was using the the jigsaw
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:A handheld jigsaw to cut a piece of wood at a diagonal, and I was kind of going off of the line. And so I was trying to move the jigsaw back into position, which, of course, it won't do Mhmm. Mhmm. Thinking you could kind of do that like you could with a piece of fabric underneath the sewing machine, or you can guide the fabric, but you can't do that with jigsaw and wood. So it's all about feel and just it and then it's and the other thing that's great about carpentry, our teacher was telling us there's a solution every problem.
Speaker 1:So if you mess up, there's probably several ways you can correct the mistake. Nothing is fatal. It isn't like pottery, for example, where at any point along the many many steps and processes, you could break or destroy your piece. In carpentry, you probably can fix or resuscitate something. Yep.
Speaker 1:And she was showing us, because I was kind of the worst one in the class, which I'm proud to say, you know, because I have that's why I'm there. You know, things that are visual or are difficult for me because I'm not a visual person. And, so there was a moment where we realized that my dominoes weren't lining up with the little domino divots that I'd cut. And so all she did was just hack off a piece of the domino so that it fit. So there was a little gap in there, but it kinda didn't matter because you're still gluing it together anyway.
Speaker 1:That sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Right. Right. Because it's still so, basically, you have a little gap then.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Just a little one.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But it's still, doing what it's supposed to do in terms of joining 2 pieces of wood together. Yeah. Yeah. And mostly
Speaker 1:I found a real parallel there in business. Because in business, when you're running a startup, you come and you come into contact with problems all the time. And in business, I do take pride in the fact that I think I'm pretty good at coming up with solutions very quickly that maybe other people wouldn't have thought of. Not so much with carpentry, but maybe I'll get there. It isn't as natural in carpentry, but when I learned from the masters Right.
Speaker 1:It helps you just think about things in a different way. Loved it. And, also, the tools are very intimidating. And, it's very different to watch somebody show you how to do it, and then you put your hands on the tools. You're like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:You're gonna turn on this power tool, but it's mostly you're combating your imagination. Just imagining you slicing your face off or severing your finger, It's actually kinda hard to do that. You'd really have to misuse the tool in quite a drastic way to get your finger in position where you would slice it off with the jigsaw, you know. But it's so gross and it's so painful that you're to think about it.
Speaker 2:You're like, woah.
Speaker 1:Right. But it was really fun. And again, also working with women, it's just so nice because everybody just gives everyone else all there's no ego. Everybody no one's trying to front or show off. We all know that we're just abject beginners.
Speaker 1:We give every give give each other as much time as we need. Everyone was so patient with each other. Yep. It's just so nice, you know.
Speaker 2:No. It sounds like fun. I'd, you know Yeah. Wish that yeah. That I'd would have preferred to have, you know, more some formal training, with, yeah.
Speaker 2:I I should probably have made time for things like, you know, wood shop or metal shop or even auto shop in, like, high school. But, you know, it's it's whatever. You think it's more important to take Latin class or something. It's like, alright.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That was a giant waste
Speaker 2:of time.
Speaker 1:2 years ago.
Speaker 2:Think that you're supposed to do or whatever.
Speaker 1:Oh, because everyone's a lawyer.
Speaker 2:A doctor or a lawyer. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But the thing is, like, those Latin roots in words are also the same, same, roots of words that we use in everyday English anyway. So it's like, oh, I could figure that out just from the words I use anyway. I don't have to know that Agricola is the root word for agriculture because agriculture is the word I use anyway. Yep. So if there's some medical term that has the word agro in it, I know it has something to do with growing plants.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So I'm so annoyed that I took 2 years of Latin. I think everybody should take a woodworking or basic electrician or wiring class because one of the women in our group, had taken a shop class when she was in high school, and she was really good with and comfortable and calm with all the tools. I'm like, Marcy, you're either of a natural talent or you're totally shark in us. She's like, no. I took a shop class.
Speaker 1:I I remember some of this stuff. You know?
Speaker 2:No. I I think it's good for people to have some, experience with that that sort of thing. But also I just want to go back to so you're talking about, you know, your sort of learning style and how visual you might be. You had plans that you were following in in this project. And so is that actually written out on a piece of paper like, Ikea instructions or something?
Speaker 2:Or I'm just wondering basically if you were to look at something say on a computer, you know, like 2 d representation versus actually getting your hands on something. Does that help to understand once you see how things are operating in the three dimensions? Does that help you with the visual?
Speaker 1:No. Nothing helps me.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And so our instructor had precut all of the pieces for us as we made a spice rack. And so the sort of shelves in the spice rack, like, the front of the shelves had a little angle in it, and then the sides of the, the sides of the spice rack were cut in angle because the top shelves were narrower than the ones at the bottom and at the bottom there's a drawer, and so she was showing us, like, as you're putting these together, put a little triangle on the side of the of the shelves to remember, like, which way is up or, you know, things that you would see in directions anyway. Like, put a little a on this plank and then another little a on the plank it's gonna go into just to kind of orient yourself. And I was writing notes all over my planks. Like, this is the top.
Speaker 1:This is the bottom. This is the back and the front. And even with that, I'm just doing what you see me do a million times, just staring at the plank, not being able to figure out how it's oriented. It just I don't see it. And it was so sweet because all the other in the group would just take my plank out of my hand as I'm just staring with it and just turn it around.
Speaker 1:Oh, right. Right. Right. Okay. So this way, I just don't know if I'm ever gonna be overcome that.
Speaker 1:And that's that's sort of, like, my rain man thing I'm looking forward to is I'm gonna get to drive as slow as I want when I'm building something. I can just sit there and I can I was was so careful to do my measuring correctly, and I still measured everything, the worst of everyone? And just well, you're not supposed to measure. You're supposed to mark. Like, don't measure mark.
Speaker 1:That's what she told us. So line up your marks perfectly with these awesome little tools that, like, these little handheld tools where you just roll it out of the plank and it has a little nail in it and, like, puts a little divot. And then she showed us how to do the divots to, like, balance out where the center is without measuring. So cool. So satisfying.
Speaker 1:But just to, get some scrap wood and just work on those super basic, like, 101 skills over and over and over again until just just don't think I'm a natural at this sort of thing.
Speaker 2:And so when you see it, when somebody helps you, you know, put the planks in the right position then is there a light bulb moment? Like, are you much more certain once you see it in the correct orientation or even then it's like, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah. It makes sense. But then if they were to pull it apart and say, okay. Now you do it, I'd be like, oh. Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I just don't see it, which is fine. I mean, if I ever make something, any good carpenter is gonna look at it and be like, who what hack job was that amateur? I'll be like, oh, totally me. And I'll be I'll own it.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm never gonna be great at it, but I will be able to drill something.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:I I'll I'll have the information. I'll know, for example, you should always do your drill holes first and not just drill a screw directly into something without the drill holes first, and I know why. Now maybe I won't measure my drill holes perfectly and they'll all there won't ever be a straight line, but I'll know the technique. That part I'll I'll retain.
Speaker 2:Oh, you just cheat and get self driving screws.
Speaker 1:Sure. She loves to cheat. She's like, well, she's a professional. She she needs to do things as fast as possible. Right.
Speaker 1:And also she said that she started out as with the hand tools because you need to know that craft. You need to know how to do things with hand tools, which is also really cool and satisfying. But if you're, you know, you're building a piece for a customer, you obviously it Right.
Speaker 2:Would
Speaker 1:take 5 times or 10 times as long with the hand tools
Speaker 2:than Yeah.
Speaker 1:With her power tools. But I just love everything about this story. It it this started, like, 30 or 50 or 60 years ago or something. Just women who wanted to take carpentry classes and were told they couldn't. So they started their own Stichting, which is like the Ticlofen Foundation, and got somebody to teach them.
Speaker 1:And they've just kept this, like, social housing studio forever for decades. And now these women are kinda getting older, and they don't wanna do this anymore. So they passed it out of this younger group of all women carpenters and just gave them all the tools. I just love this. This I'm gonna get Kai on the podcast to tell this story.
Speaker 1:This is this is the perfect story of women building their own culture in their own way and their own time, that this mantra that I'm spreading out throughout the world. And the tools are the the stationary monstrous tools that are that kind of army green color. She said they're older, but they work. But I'm like, you know what? I bet those tools, as old as they are, are still gonna outlast any new version that you would buy today that does the same thing.
Speaker 1:And, I just, I just loved everything about it. But, yeah, you know me. Like, I don't like passing the time. I don't like games. I don't like activities.
Speaker 1:I if I do have free time, I want it to be something that's productive. And so in the time that I do have, when we're not working on the business, you know, I'm doing my carpentry. I'm learning my swimming technique, and then the next two things I wanna do are CPR and then maybe some basic self defense.
Speaker 2:I didn't teach CPR or it it might have changed since
Speaker 1:but then I went to college.
Speaker 2:But And
Speaker 1:this is the other thing, listeners, that's so annoying about Michael is I came home with this weekend of this new knowledge, and he already knows so much more about carpentry than I'll ever know because Michael just knows kind of a lot about everything and and retains the knowledge and he has his skills, and it's just annoying living with somebody that's, like, so competent.
Speaker 2:I do not know much about that stuff at all. I enjoy watching Norm Abram and I'll watch, you know, New Yankee Workshop. Mhmm. And I have acquired some tools over the year. We don't have a jigsaw.
Speaker 2:I've never particularly found a need for a jigsaw, but it's it's certainly a good thing to have. So so we will go to jigsaw.
Speaker 1:And a pillar pillar drill. We're getting a pillar drill too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like a drill press, I think.
Speaker 1:Well, we call it a pillar drill in my circle.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I'm carpenters. So we'll be calling it a pillar drill.
Speaker 2:Okay. Mhmm. Yeah. Well I think yeah. Stuff like that is is is certainly helpful.
Speaker 2:You know, it's great to have the workshop, all kitted out, but, you know, there is kind of, a chicken and egg thing there as well. Like, you want, to do these projects and then sometimes, you know, you need the tools, but then other times you just like I'm not sure exactly what I need this tool for. But, I'll figure out what to do with it after I get it. I mean that that's certainly what a pillar drill would be to me right now. I don't know why I would need it, but it's it's great to have.
Speaker 2:I mean, especially if it's not, so large. I don't know if it's like a freestanding one that you're talking about. Probably not. No. It's it would, like, sit on a bench or something Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And could possibly be put away
Speaker 1:even. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Although it's probably a huge cast iron monstrosity, which
Speaker 1:is awesome. It's pretty huge, but she said as big as it is, it's not that expensive. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I think, depending on the kind we're talking about too, you can, you know, you can angle your work service in those too. So, you know, one of the nice things about the. You know, the simplest sort of sort of drill presses that you know, that you're always getting it plum or square. You know your drill whereas if you're just using hand drill you will be off at some angle unless you're using a drill block or something like that.
Speaker 1:And it's so much more. Yeah. It's so much faster. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know you can do I don't know if you guys played with this stuff at all. Like, I don't have, you know, those like multi angle drill guides. You can do that kind of thing too where they have those sorts of, I don't know what they're called. They're like pocket screws, maybe something like that. You know, you can, join wood with these essentially hidden screws.
Speaker 2:So so you're drilling in at an angle. Mhmm. So there's all kinds of clever things you can do.
Speaker 1:So clever. And she even just has this. This is something that I think I would use. It's just this kind of thick block of wood, and you can sort of lock a piece that you wanna cut with a jigsaw in place by just, fencing it fencing it in with other pieces of scrap wood. Yep.
Speaker 1:Drilling the scrap wood down into the plank so it's holding it into place, and then just take taking everything off. So the plank has just, like, tons of drill holes in it everywhere. And then when it's getting kinda crappy, just, like, throw it away and get another one. So that that's really again, like, how do I need to put this thing in a position to fix it. So how can I do that?
Speaker 1:Many, many different options. You don't have to have some big expensive, like, what's that thing called? The winch what's the thing that you torque it in it? The big
Speaker 2:To cut or to drill or
Speaker 1:something in a place. That's the big
Speaker 2:Oh oh, just like a vice.
Speaker 1:A vice. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. But no. But it's great to have one of those especially if you have it, you know, attached, to the the work surface, you know, to right there on your your workbench. Super cool.
Speaker 1:And the the workbenches that they had, they just made them themselves. Just scrap wood, you know, just Door
Speaker 2:desk idea. Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I was asking her, like, how do you how do you make the design? Because she had templates that we would use, and then you take the raw wood and you cut it, like, in the shape of the template. And the template's just particle board or anything. She said you can you draw it 11 to 1 ratio. So take a giant piece of paper
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And draw it out, and then use that to make your template and then take the template and use that to make the wood. Right. Just set up.
Speaker 2:As you were comparing it to, your sewing kits. Yeah. Or or like
Speaker 1:the paper that we would use if you're, you know, taking notes in a meeting
Speaker 2:or something. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, that's on a easel kind of situation. So
Speaker 2:No and those, if you just start to look around for all different kinds of jigs that you can get for table saws, you know that kind of stuff. And and yeah, and just a homemade jigs you do for these things. Yeah. But once you put it together then, you know, you can whatever it is that you're, doing may be working with strange angles or something like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Do it once, with the jig and then then you're good to go. Mhmm. So anywheat. I think
Speaker 1:I have just just even after the workshop, I have just enough information now that if I was able if I was to look at an instructional video on YouTube, I could follow it. Now when I would try and copy it in real life, I'm gonna make a million mistakes and cut everything backwards, like, 10 times in a row, but I would understand the basics of what was happening that I was watching. Mhmm. God, I'm so bad at that visual stuff. Like, even, you know, we had a guest over yesterday, so I was just making a little cake.
Speaker 1:And I saw this little thing on Instagram that shows you how you can flip the cake pan over, take the parchment, cut it into a square.
Speaker 2:It's like making snow
Speaker 1:you know, making snow you know, like, paper snowflakes and then Oh, yeah. Cut it cut the square around the side of
Speaker 2:the,
Speaker 1:the pan. For the powder to shake the dusting. Well, no. Make the circle. Make, like, a pure circle as opposed to, like, tracing the circle.
Speaker 1:And so I followed it and then I opened up my piece of paper and I cut a hole in the middle of the paper, which was still square. I did it exactly backwards rather than cutting the paper in a piece of a circle. I just I just don't know why why I can't see these things clearly, but and then knots. I've been practicing my knots.
Speaker 2:Knots are cool.
Speaker 1:Knots are easier for me to follow for some reason. But
Speaker 2:I think it might be that hands on. You look at the picture of the knot that you're supposed to do in the book and maybe it makes sense but then once you actually get it in your hands and start to see how things are working in 3 space, you know, like now I get it,
Speaker 1:you know. I think I think knots are just
Speaker 2:And now I could do it blind,
Speaker 1:you know.
Speaker 2:So you
Speaker 1:can Yeah. Yeah. So that's my new, my new habit is I wanna learn, like, 5 knots. And as I'm having a conference call or a Zoom call, I'll just be, like, doing my knots.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 1:So knots, carpentry, CPR, swimming technique, and basic self defense.
Speaker 2:Cool.
Speaker 1:I think that's enough. I don't think I wanna get into electrical or wiring because there's just no room for error there. If you make a mistake, you've shocked yourself. I'm really scared of electricity.
Speaker 2:Well, you're into building codes and regulations electrical, you know, there's what you might or might not be able to do lawfully in order to be up to code or in line with your insurance company versus building a piece of furniture. Like well that that's not regulated. I can do whatever I want with that or whatever.
Speaker 1:And then the basics with music. So just learning, you know, just getting the basics back in the muscle memory of the piano, and then if you could teach me a couple of chords on my electric guitar. Because, you know, I've got so much free time. But it's nice to just have these things to turn to.
Speaker 2:Well, and your brain operates differently too, I think, when you're doing music or
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Whatever. We've we've power tools. And then in
Speaker 1:the garden, we're gonna dig up all the grass and we're gonna plant wildflowers. So that'll be nice.
Speaker 2:Put perennials.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Make sure to And we're gonna do a solar powered pond. I mean, this is like a day project, you
Speaker 2:know. You say that, but I doubt if it'll be done by and I'm not criticizing you. I I won't I I will probably commit to being able to help you with these things. And then for whatever reason, I might bow up. But no.
Speaker 2:We we could be realistic about what kind of things, I know. I would love to have the the floating, greenhouse.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. That's Greenhouse a big project.
Speaker 2:Relatively easy to do. But I mean, you can have the solar powered pump if you just wanna draw the water up from the, The lake.
Speaker 1:You know, polar water. Is brackish. That's good. We could no. We could get a desalination project.
Speaker 1:Little mini projects that we can scale. That'd be fun.
Speaker 2:Desalination takes a lot of power though, don't or or something to push through the filter. Yeah. I guess you can just do elbow grease.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, if we wanna make lots of fresh water. So this is like zombie apocalypse stuff though. Right? I mean, you really are
Speaker 1:Well, we're headed towards the zombie we're climate apocalypse. So I just wanna I don't know. I just wanna have skills. I wanna have skills and knowledge.
Speaker 2:Skills and knowledge.
Speaker 1:I don't wanna be the person standing there panicking not knowing what to do. I don't wanna be that person.
Speaker 2:Right. I assume that you can get a CPR for certification, was just like 1 or 2 classes, I would think.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's something.
Speaker 2:But also
Speaker 1:Saturday thing to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Exactly. Mhmm. With your carpentry cost, is there another class in could you can you build on what you've done too? Does she offer those same sorts
Speaker 1:of She would. This was fairly customized. And so I think if she wanted to continue to do workshops with us, we could do that. It's pretty expensive though. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:I think I'd rather just
Speaker 2:Yeah. But you get a spice rack. What's the price of a custom made spice rack?
Speaker 1:I know. Well, a lot less than what we paid for the workshop, but
Speaker 2:Depends what your woods are.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And what's your favorite? Course, I was already thinking, like, oh, we could put a pool in and we could all go in on buying these tools together.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:But the tools are pretty expensive. And I'm like, you know, I bet people don't wanna share their tools that much. You know? Somebody else breaks the tool then who pays for it?
Speaker 2:Right. Right.
Speaker 1:I would rather just buy the tools and then welcome the girls over to use the tools whenever they want it. They don't have to kick in. Yep. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. I'm wondering and sort of just middle class, you know, general bourgeois to how many power tools are going on use on a daily or weekly basis? I don't know. I mean, you gotta have your, you know, full, craftsman supply.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But I
Speaker 2:The one
Speaker 1:thing I don't
Speaker 2:suspect most people
Speaker 1:don't like about the power tools is how loud they are. They're very loud and it's a very violent noise, you know.
Speaker 2:Do you have any ear plugs?
Speaker 1:Yeah. But still, I don't like putting that noise out into the world. Yep. I don't want the birds to have to listen listen to it. Yep.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Did you use, in ear plugs or headphones? They use they call them ear protectors. Yep. So they're just headphones. Yep.
Speaker 2:But
Speaker 1:you have to. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep. And your specs, you had some gogs.
Speaker 1:I I didn't wear the gogs because the gogs make your vision kinda wonky, so my glasses were enough.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:But I was thinking, like, the first thing that I'd wanna make is my workshop itself, the tool shed. Mhmm. And then make the benches that go in it and the thing where the vice is gonna go. And one of our neighbors is a professional, very high level, very high end builder, like house housing builder. And I asked him if I could have all of his scraps to practice with, and he said yes.
Speaker 1:And he said he could help me, but he's never he's pretty busy. But Cool. You
Speaker 2:know. No. But if he gets scraps, that's something. Mhmm. Gotta have something to play with.
Speaker 1:Circle economy, baby.
Speaker 2:Circle Yep. And then also just
Speaker 1:learning about the different types of wood, like soft woods, like pine or hard woods, like cherry. Mhmm. But I was pretty sore after that weekend, and my muscles were sore. So, again, that's, like, the best workout is, you know, that weekend, and my muscles were sore. So again, that's like the best workout is having something to show for your for your physical effort.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yeah. Yep. Just from kind of controlling the power tools and
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yep. Now I can sit
Speaker 1:up. Good. And also I think because you're sort of tensed up anyway because you don't have your flow because you're terrified of the equipment. And
Speaker 2:Yeah. You probably clenching your jaw a lot.
Speaker 1:No. I did that anyway. Alright. I've done all the talking. What's up with you?
Speaker 2:Nothing. I had nothing see.
Speaker 1:You got nothing
Speaker 2:to say? I don't usually. I mean, I always got something to say but
Speaker 1:it's pointless so
Speaker 2:I don't bother. No. Yeah. What's up with the whale? Well, spring is sort of coming.
Speaker 1:Spring is coming. One of the things that we were talking about, because we haven't done one of these in a while, is, well of course, Mr. Morris. Have we
Speaker 2:not had that
Speaker 1:since No.
Speaker 2:Have we not been on the cast?
Speaker 1:We haven't.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So we listened several times in a row, even though it's like a 4 hour podcast, to Lex's podcast with 2 people, academics
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:On the pro Palestinian side and 2 on the pro Israeli side. And I think a new celebrity emerged from this podcast. Finkelstein? Is that a Norm. Norm.
Speaker 1:Norm
Speaker 2:Finkelstein. Finkelstein. Finkelstein. I'm not sure. But yeah.
Speaker 2:No. He said On
Speaker 1:the low Palestinian side who was hilarious
Speaker 2:to listen to. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So we had to go through a couple of days of talking in Norm Finkelstein voice, and I think we've gotten through it.
Speaker 2:Mostly. I've gotten used to it. It'll a little burst might come on now and again. But
Speaker 1:Yeah. But we were thinking we were gonna do a whole episode at Norm Finkelstein voice, but I think it was best that we didn't do that. But one of the things that this theme that seems to keep recurring is people who are discussing this issue are comparing it to Europeans landing in the new world and the genocide of native American indigenous people. Yep. I don't know if that is as accurate a comparison as something that I have been thinking about, which I haven't heard anybody talk about is Texas and the southern border.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Because Texas used to belong to Mexico.
Speaker 2:Well, Texas wanted it to belong to itself.
Speaker 1:Texas wanted to be its own country and maybe even was for a little while. And now there are tens of thousands of people encroaching the border who could possibly take claim to that land in the same way that the Palestinians take claim to that to their geography and they all want back in. I think that that's a closer analogy.
Speaker 2:We have to be careful with any of these.
Speaker 1:We have to be extremely careful. I think it's a more useful analogy.
Speaker 2:Well, but I mean, there is the issue. Like, the whole idea of, you know, nation states and how we draw lines on this globe assuming that people think it's globe, some don't. But, how we wanna do that, you know, this this all stuff is it's arbitrary. I don't mean that in a negative sense particularly, but you know, we're making up these rules, as we go, which is fine. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Assuming that there's no way of approaching this stuff that is has goes beyond just what people decide to conceive into existence then fine. There isn't a right or wrong way of doing this stuff, but we're making it up as we go. But it's just based upon a collective, agreement about what borders are and who lives where and who's entitled to what and whether a particular group of individuals, you know, constitutes a people for purposes of self determination. And these are complicated issues. And as soon as you bring in any history, that's going to complicate it even more because then all of a sudden it becomes, well, it didn't used to be this, and now it's this.
Speaker 2:And how did it go from becoming what it was to what it is now? And for many people, some of those answers always this, I don't know what the always this, I don't know what the start point is supposed to be and when you're supposed to say this is when we're comparing everything bad or good that happens has to be done from this point onward. And, you know, we're just resetting the slate. And therefore, if from that point in time, party a has agreed party b more so than party b as party a, then you say, you know, this party is do this and this other party has overstepped what's permissible blah blah blah. But who can agree about what the right point in time is to begin this analysis?
Speaker 1:Mister Botachian.
Speaker 2:Words have meaning, mister Banjo Kazooie.
Speaker 1:Your diarrhea of the mouth of this endless stream of stupidity is causing my insides to roil and dissolve into actual diarrhea in my pants.
Speaker 2:On page 37, your imbecility. No. He's, what can we say about Norm? If one were sympathetic to norm's position, which I would by and large consider myself, he was nevertheless, in my view, entirely unpersuasive. He was schooled by any reasonable analysis by a fella calling himself Destiny.
Speaker 2:That tells you all you need to know about, n Finkelstein's debate techniques. Now we could just say, well, you know, debate meaningless, you know, meaningless point scoring, blah blah blah. What we're really talking about is right and wrong or, you know, maybe even good and evil and that's entirely separate issues about whether someone can make their points persuasively. Anyway, I I don't know anything about didn't know anything about Destiny, prior to this. But regardless of the source of his information and how long he's been aware of some of this information, I I don't see how anybody could listen to or watch what happened there and think that he didn't come out on top of this granted, expert in these issues insofar as he's been occupying his mind with these, ideas for a long time.
Speaker 2:Finkelstein is that but nevertheless, I think he made a fool of himself.
Speaker 1:All hail Finkelstein.
Speaker 2:He's very entertaining. I hope he gets a reality show out of it.
Speaker 1:That destiny guy, I just wish he'd get a haircut because he talked so unbelievably fast.
Speaker 2:He does.
Speaker 1:Like amazon.comlevelfast. Finkelstein prided himself in the slow drip.
Speaker 2:Because of how meaningful words are. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yet the guy to his right, I forget his name.
Speaker 2:Rabani, I think.
Speaker 1:Rabani.
Speaker 2:Yep. I believe.
Speaker 1:There's a difference between speaking slowly and speaking with authority. So Rabani was so commanding. He was always calm. I wish I could be calm like that. I try so hard.
Speaker 1:I I just think that is so cool. People who can just no drama Obama stay calm through the whole thing. He spoke deliberately. He was incredibly compelling. He had, you know, I just way more academic authority than Finkelstein to his left.
Speaker 2:Yes. Despite not being a capital a academic.
Speaker 1:And he didn't have to explain his own personality. Women do that a lot too, which I wish we all need to stop doing that. Like, always apologizing for, oh, I well, I just sorry that I'm taking up too much time or that I, you know, I talk really slowly because, you know, but Puklestein was doing that too.
Speaker 2:It's a Schumer sketch about that, isn't it? Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, sorry. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:But yeah, he was he was quite the caricature.
Speaker 2:He he was and again, you know, maybe this is style over substance or form or something like that. But I personally am much more drawn to, you know, Rubani's style. I I would tend to find that, more persuasive. It doesn't bother me when people talk quickly, particularly, there are those who probably do it in more of a kind of con man, where there are actually just, you know, bombarding you and there might not be much there, but there are people who can very quickly formulate their thoughts and we'll put them together into meaningful sentences very very quickly. And when that happens, that's fine.
Speaker 2:It's as long as they're actually saying something. And, destiny was making points, I think. Again, I'm setting aside whether I am tend to be more sympathetic to the points that he's arguing. Very funny. Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's an
Speaker 1:art to it and you can see other very funny. Yeah. There's an art to it and you can see other comics imitating his style. Like, I pick up on it. I think Tim Dillon Right.
Speaker 1:Does that a little bit.
Speaker 2:Oh, interesting.
Speaker 1:Versus
Speaker 2:like a Mitch Hedberg, which is much more relaxed. Or Steven
Speaker 1:Wright, who's practically Wow. To toes. Yeah. Yeah. In my brain, when I start to pick up the pace, I think it comes from a sense of insecurity.
Speaker 1:Like, if I don't make my point as quickly as possible, I'm gonna lose these people's attention. I've got 30 seconds left, and I shouldn't do that because it's counterintuitive. If you are you can draw people's attention in by speaking a little bit more slowly and with authority and not getting so riled up all the time. Like, riled up can inspire people, but I I'm I'm trying to be more well, a little bit more like like you.
Speaker 2:Be more like Robotni.
Speaker 1:Well, you're more like Robotni.
Speaker 2:I don't
Speaker 1:know. When Mix talks, people listen.
Speaker 2:I don't know about that. It's probably, yeah.
Speaker 1:Unless it's me and Meeks is talking about role playing games and no one's listening.
Speaker 2:I I don't do it consciously but, maybe there is something about, it's like the old Edward James almost type, the Miami Vice sort of thing where you actually draw the audience in like you speak quietly and deliberately. Literally get people lean in to hear what you're saying, you know, because it seems to have such, import versus just being in kind of loud broadcast mode. There is, I suppose, a bit of a pressure there because I don't necessarily think that still waters run deep. And even though I might not say a lot of things, it certainly doesn't mean that when I open my gob, there is profound wisdom that's gonna, leak out of it.
Speaker 1:No. I just realized that we we have different, I wouldn't say areas of expertise, but in terms of communication, different talent. So if you're asked to explain something verbally, it's almost performative and it's very natural. And I'm sure you don't even realize that you're doing it, but you are at your best when you have to explain something verbally. You're just so calm, so articulate, so clear.
Speaker 1:And when I'm asked to explain something verbally, it's just a mess. However, if I have to explain something in the written word, I'm much more comfortable with that where I think you're, like, questioning Yep. Every single thing. It takes you much, much longer. You're questioning everything that you've written, before you hit send button or whatever.
Speaker 1:And in that area, I think I'm a bit more attuned to the skill.
Speaker 2:Definitely. I'm
Speaker 1:So you're more verbal and I'm more written.
Speaker 2:Well, I
Speaker 1:right. Communication strengths.
Speaker 2:I would definitely agree that I'm less effective at written communication. I don't necessarily think I'm good at verbal communication.
Speaker 1:You're very good at verbal communication. But know, not that I'm thinking about it, if we're if we have to write something super important and I'm asking you to look over my shoulder even in written, even though I think it's more painful for you. You even in the written word, you're you have this gift of clarity that maybe I don't have. Because usually your suggestions, I always take them. Like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:That is a better way to say that. But the better way to say it, it just takes you so long to get there. So
Speaker 2:I think partly
Speaker 1:But I would never have gotten there even though I'm a very fast writer. So I don't know what that means.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's partly just kind of editing process, versus, you know, how much spontaneity and there's part of me that says the most truth for whatever that might amount to is probably in spontaneity. I mean, the more that we deliberate over each and every word, it's a kind of an inauthentic veneer that we're putting on that. Maybe, But it could also just be seen as a more refined, you know, a polishing of the the basic thoughts are there. Then just how do I, you know, try and represent them, as best as possible. Also, I think I tend to maybe look at the meta a bit more, like saying, okay, but if you choose this word, then might that person not think this?
Speaker 2:And what about this one? Isn't this a little I I will often choose the wishy washy version. Like just you know be clear and and direct like yeah, but maybe I want a little ambiguity in in what I'm saying that kind of constructive, ambiguity. I would rather not commit myself to this particular position. I would like something that could be read this way or that way maybe might be helpful to have that little fork, for down the road.
Speaker 1:That's just the lawyer in you. You withhold and I'm like, let's put it all out there and get on with it.
Speaker 2:I will have a tendency to withhold. Yes. But that's partly possession. It's also because I don't necessarily want to burden other people with knowledge that I don't think they need to know or is helpful for them to know at that moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That and that's a that's valuable and that's something I've learned from you as well.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know if it's true. I mean
Speaker 1:Not a big deal.
Speaker 2:It is something. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Good talking to you.
Speaker 1:Morris. Mister cello violinist the piano.
