Jess makes his triumphant return after an amazing Puerto Rico vacation where he spent days laying by the pool eating taking naps and exploring the islands and he worked until 745 PM then drove an hour to make it to the podcast recording because he is a true champion
The crew dives into Puerto Rico real estate opportunities where Jess discovered you can live in downtown San Juan for just a thousand bucks a month in a two story apartment or buy one and rent the bottom to a business while living upstairs which is perfect for anyone with a remote work job
Christmas food traditions take center stage as the guys share their favorites with Jess revealing his massive cookie baking operation that went through 28 sticks of butter 10 pounds of sugar 8 pounds of brown sugar and 15 pounds of flour plus making 550 Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate almond bark to give out to everyone
Colton shares his family tradition of chicken fried venison backstrap with his mom's signature dark gravy that she makes from all the cooking drippings and it is tenderized and breaded perfectly with just the right amount of salt making it his mom's most iconic meal
Ross talks about his aunt's roast beef and Yorkshire pudding which is a traditional English meal that she only makes once a year on Christmas day because it is more difficult to prepare than you would think but it means Christmas to him since Yorkshire pudding is like a thick pita that is sweet and buttery like a crepe
The conversation touches on Starlink being an option for remote work in places like Belize where Colton tried to record from Cory and Larry's place but the WiFi was too shoddy though apparently that has been fixed now so maybe they can actually work from there
Ross drops essential washing machine maintenance knowledge about spraying bleach on the gasket and leaving it to dry which eliminates mold and bacteria plus using special fresh tablets that dissolve pet hair every two weeks so it can flush out of the filters instead of building up with bacteria
The crew discusses how harsh chemicals can eat hair without messing up clothes and Jess explains that lye is basically what super drain cleaner is made of since it eats anything organic which is why it works so well on clogs
Jess delivers an incredibly detailed hot water heater repair tutorial explaining that most tanks have two heating elements and you can check the wattage on the side sticker then turn off the 220 power drain the tank through the garden hose connection at the bottom and flip the pressure release valve to speed up draining
The hot water heater lesson continues with Jess explaining how to identify broken heating elements that have breaks in them which means the circuit is no longer complete so only one tank heats or nothing heats at all and you can replace these for just 18 to 30 dollars instead of paying hundreds for a plumber
Jess shares his multiple trips to Home Depot saga trying to fix a leaking 1970s shutoff valve that was soldered in and discovering it works just like a water hose spigot with a nut under the handle that tightens a rubber gasket around the shaft which he was able to clean up and tighten instead of replacing
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The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.