Living The Dragon's Dream

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We're never done as ever laughing and sharing our
stories.
Clever, we'll take you back.
It's like whatever.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by and
about Gen X.
I'm Nicole and this is my BFF,heather Hola, so let's see
what's new nothing okay, zerothings okay, we're, you're yep,
we're still honoring that yep.

(00:52):
Um, all right, so this wassomething that I did not mention
to you before we started,because I wanted.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
I asked her.
Look, I asked her what shewanted to talk about before and
she was like nothing that youneed to know about beforehand.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, and actually when I heard this news I almost
texted her and then I said, no,save it for the podcast.
Uh-oh, and you don't havePhilly news, so I don't know
that you know this Uh-oh Comingthis Friday, the day this
episode comes out, crozierChester Hospital closes.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
I did know that.
I almost told you that when wewere talking about what we were
talking about earlier.
I almost told you that, yeah, Iheard when I was at my aunt's
house for Easter.
Okay, they were talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yep, so one of the hospitals in that, whatever
group, yeah, closed down lastfriday and then I thought it was
weird because they're like thebiggest burn unit and they are
also like.
Some people are like 39 milesaway from the closest they are
now or something crazy that'slike the worst part of the world

(02:04):
too yeah, like a lot of chesteris like downtown baghdad maybe
not.
My personal biggest concern iswhat am I supposed to say when I
drive through that area?

Speaker 3 (02:16):
now, because I mean, you can say it, but but what if
they tear it down?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
because for the past 30 plus years, every single time
time I go to Philly, I have topoint out to whoever's in the
car with me that's where Heatherwas born.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
That's our thing.
Whenever we would go past it, Iwould have to tell her that's
where I was born Yep and now Iin kind tell everyone I don't
know that I'm with I.
I don't know and I'm with.
I can't imagine that they'regoing to, I would think, another
hospital.
I don't know, because there's alot of abandoned hospitals.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I think they would demolition it it's pretty old.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Well, I was born there, and my mom and dad were
born there.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, so yeah, and it just looks like a big cinder
block.
Yes, it does.
It is all concrete, it allconcrete.
It's just crazy because Ithought they were like the
biggest burn unit and like theyhad like I don't know it had
been.

(03:15):
I mean, I listened to phillynews, um, and it's for at least
the past year it's been in thenews that and they kept trying
and trying to get bailouts orother options and it just didn't
happen.
That's crazy, I know, and itwas sad.
They were talking to some ofthe staff on the last day and
they were like oh, it is closed.
Closed now well, this was theone that closed this friday, uh,
which is its sister hospital orwhatever.

(03:35):
Um, but yeah, the guy was likewe're like a family here, like
I've worked here 30 years nowit's just gone, and up there
like why are you closinghospitals before you have a
replacement?
Well, I mean they're, I meaneven.
Besides, how bad chester is thecity's right there?

(03:57):
Yeah so I mean a lot of people.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
There's a, a lot of hospitals in Philadelphia, that
is true.
So I guess that's probably whatthey're thinking.
Plus, wilmington has a couple.
I mean that is kind of in themiddle of both, I don't know.
Christiana has a.
Did you hear about the BobEvans in Rehoboth?

(04:21):
Nope, they just came in themiddle of the day and shut the
whole place down, closed it.
Evans did they closed it.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
People were eating and they just locked the door
and sent everybody out.
What, yeah, did the gm of thatrestaurant do to bob evans?
To upset him, bob?

Speaker 3 (04:38):
evans is closing a bunch of their locations and
they didn't want this was thestory that was their locations
and they didn't want this wasthe story that was floated
around.
They didn't want the staff toknow and not show up, and not
show up and not have the last.
But it was the middle of theday.
Why do it in the middle of theday?
Why wouldn't you do it whenthey closed?
Dramatic effect I got, I got.

(04:58):
Apparently they came in, lockedthe doors and kicked everybody
out.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
People were in the middle of eating.
That's so ironic becauseyesterday I went and had dinner
with my friend Amy and she wastelling me she had went into Bob
Evans the night before to getdinner.
She was craving sausage, gravyand biscuits.
She went at like 5.30, 6o'clock on a Saturday night and

(05:23):
she said there were literallyfive people in there.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
I think it's a dying chain.
Well, most of the chains haveall died.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, which is for the better because, well, there
are new chains, but smallbusiness too.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
I have an issue with one of the chains that's down
our way, that opens theserestaurants under completely
different names and it's allexactly the same restaurant.
It's so dell, I'll just say it.
It's so dull, so dull, so dull.
What, oh?
They have like fast food.
No no uh, thompson's island,matt's fish camp oh yeah,

(06:02):
they're all the same but Ishouldn't say all the names, but
they're all.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
There's probably like 10 of them in rehoboth, I know
exactly what you're talkingabout because my daughter worked
for one of those 10 restaurants.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
They throw them up and they put a different slap, a
different name on it.
It's basically the same menu atevery single one of them, and
then it makes it look like it'sa small business and I went to
one of them once.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
That's a big name and no, so I'm gonna be at the
beach and get seafood.
I'm not going to one of those.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
There's three of these groups, restaurant groups
down there that own pretty muchall of the restaurants down
there.
It's, it's, it's one of thethree of them that has it's not
small business.
No but they then?
That's what they do they throwthem up and they throw a
different name on it and peoplethink they aren't going to a
chain as a matter of fact, oneof them.

(06:56):
They closed it, put a new nameon it and opened it back up
didn't even shampoo the carpet,no, it was closed maybe three
weeks, four weeks, long enoughfor them to put a new sign up,
yeah, and it's a new concept,but that's it's.
It's what they do down thereand I think it's that's terrible

(07:18):
.
It is terrible and here's why Ithink it is terrible also
because those chains, like a bobevans or something, or outback
I know specifically are owned bya proprietor, so there's a
single person that owns that orwho started with one yeah,
restaurant yes so yes,technically it is a chain, but

(07:40):
one person owns that, as opposedto these groups, that the whole
group owns it, right?
So there's like 10 owners.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
And none of them probably know anything about
restaurants.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, so here's the thing about that one,
Specifically one I mentioned.
He was a chef and he opened thefirst one down where I live.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I think that's the one I was talking about, that I
went to yes.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
He opened it to.
He was a former addict.
Well, I guess he was an addict.
He opened it and he employedaddicts and people who had just
gotten out of prison.
So and they had to signpaperwork that as long as they
stayed clean, they had jobs.

(08:30):
So he in the beginning, yes washad good intentions.
Yes, he was a chef and and thenit just started and then money
did what money does.
And then he ended up dying inColombia in a motorcycle
accident.
I remember that, or so they say, I remember that I know who

(08:55):
you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
And yeah, I thought.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, anyway, and now it's owned by the group and
they just have thrown up.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
I mean, and where I live there's one, two, three,
four, four of them in like twomiles I'm just gonna stick with
the shout out to purple parrot,because that is just my favorite
and I know that one isindependently owned yeah I hope.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
I don't know for sure , because they just sold oh,
they did sell I don't know whothey sold it to.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
I thought they sold to a couple, but that doesn't
mean anything.
It could be a couple in thegroup.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
It could be a couple of groups I don't know, but I do
like the purple pear.
Yes.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Anyway, I digress.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Their food is amazing .

Speaker 3 (09:48):
As a former small business restaurant owner, it is
very fucking frustrating, yes,that these places open and
everybody is like, oh, supportlocal businesses.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Well, that's exactly what happened to your restaurant
in Bethany.
All those it's probably thosegroups you're talking about that
came in and did that.
Um, or was that that might havebeen the start of that, because
all those restaurants were kindof the same.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Next door was one of the uh, one of the other groups.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
It was like the one on the end of the other side of
the street.
Yeah, I feel like kind of thesame feels.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
Mm-hmm, yep, mm-hmm, yeah, anyway, fuck them, yeah,
fuck them all.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, anyway, a couple other things.
Have you ever seen Madonna andGuy Ritchie's son, rocco Ritchie
?
I have not recently.
He's a beautiful man, I have nodoubt.
Yeah, so beautiful man, I haveno doubt, yeah, so yeah, Guy
Ritchie is my favorite directorof all time and Madonna's one of

(10:50):
your favorite probably yourfavorite pop star of all time
I've seen her several times.
Yes, but yeah, they have a sonnamed Rocco, and I hadn't even
really thought about it and hepopped up on my feed one day, I
don't know why, and I was like,oh okay, he's a very perfect
combination of the two of them.
Yeah, yeah, you have to lookhim up, I will.

(11:13):
And then one last thing todaythat cracked me up at work.
So I'm a counselor, so I have acaseload and I do case notes
and case management, blah, blah,blah.
So, anyway, I was closing out acase today, so I had to go back
through all the old notes as Iwas closing the case out and
like do a summary on it.

(11:34):
Anyway, it was a case note fromMarch 16th 2020.
Wow, so like a week less thanprobably four or five days after
the world shut down right um,and I had written in the case
note that I had spoken to herthis, this client, and we talked

(11:56):
about x, y and z and we bothdecided we would just um reach
out to each other soon, as soonas everything gets back to
normal.
That's like wow.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
If we only knew.
I know it's funny because Iplay catch up on.
I like I'll find a new podcastand then I'll catch up on it and
it'll start.
You'll start getting into likedecember of 2019, in january of
2020, and they're like, oh well,in the summer we're gonna do
this and oh, in the summer we'regonna.

(12:30):
I'm like, no, you're not.
You're not doing any of that.
You're not gonna do any of that.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
I know it's so funny.
It's like time.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
It's like time traveling to go to this it
really is.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
It feels like from march 2020 until 2022 just
didn't exist.
Yeah, like in my mind I'm like.
When I think back into recenthistory, I'm like was I wearing
a mask or wasn't I like?

Speaker 3 (12:56):
and that's how I judge around when it happened
that whole time is a blur to mebecause I had just started at
the post office.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
And it was I traveled to Disney that summer.
Yeah.
I think it was that summer, orwas it the following summer,
when it was still pretty rampant, but I don't remember.
When they opened, my momdecided we were going so Smart
and my niece and nephew weregoing, so I wanted to go and be

(13:25):
with them and I came home andpromptly got covid I never got
covid.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
I've had it four times, never had it it.
So I actually probably did haveit at some point and I just
thought it was probably.
Well, you would know it's badI'm, but I'm always having covid
, like I'm always tired I'malways coughing.
It's called depression, yes.
Smoking yes to both.

(13:51):
So I live with covid.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, symptoms, that's fine no, that's fair,
that's fair.
Um, yeah, anytime I travel, Iget covid um every time since
COVID came around.
But anyway, yeah, so I thinkthat catches up.
Oh, I did watch.
Did you ever watch RighteousGemstones?

Speaker 3 (14:14):
No.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
Season four just wrapped up.
The last episode was Sundaynight and we just watched it.
I fucking love that show somuch.
It's so stupid.
Like my husband didn't likethis season.
When it ended he said I'm soglad that's over.
Like it was so dumb, it wasstupid, it didn't make any sense

(14:40):
and I'm like, yeah, it's notsupposed to I mean it really,
really like the storyline didspiral out of control this
season.
But the characters are so funny,like that goggins guy, william
goggins, or he's in it.
He's um uncle baby billy andhe's in white lotus.
Did you watch white lotus?
no god damn it, I don't, I don't, I know I.

(15:03):
It's okay, I was just hopingyou knew him from somewhere,
because I found out today he'sonly two years older than me and
he looks really old.
And I was like wait a minute,because I saw something.
Oh, it was his senior yearbookpicture popped up on my Facebook
feed and it said his namesenior picture, class of 1989.

(15:25):
And I was like wait a minute,hold on.
So I had to Google what year hewas born and I was like wait.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
I do that all the time because now famous people
are our age, like not just ourage, but like everybody is our
age, and I forget that I'm myage until somebody points it out
to me.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yes, agreed, I mean, I get really sick of all the
redundant memes, but the onethat says that Gen X was born at
the age of 30 and at the age of50 is still 30.
It's accurate.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
It's funny.
Well, when we get into the sub,into today's thing, oh, oh yeah
, we're gonna learn today whyheather's so fucked up.
Yeah today is gonna be allabout heather, so let's fuck
around and find out about vanlife oh my gosh, you guys have
no idea what you're in for, okay.
So here's the thing we were vanpeople, so you know how it's

(16:28):
popular today to be in thesenice fancy vans, and we had just
a van.
With a two by four frame bed.
And no seats in the back and nowindows.
No windows in the back.
Oh, it did have two in the veryback because it had curtains.

Speaker 2 (16:45):
Did they open?
No, so you rode around in theback no matter what.
The weather was.
All right, I'm jumping ahead,go ahead.
Yeah, my fault.

Speaker 3 (16:54):
Like really hot, you mean.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Because there was probably no air conditioning.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
In your cage?
I don't know.
Yeah, you, you definitelydidn't have air conditioning, so
the cage was a different car, Ipromise you, you didn't have
air conditioning.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
The cage was a Vega oh.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, a Suzanne.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Vega A Vega station wagon and they flipped over.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
Let me get a suit.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
Oh, what I'll just.
I was going to try to sing itout of key, but I'm lucky I even
got close to being in key, soI'm just going to drop it.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Stop right there.
All right, my sources were mybrain motorcitiesorg at
classicaamericancom Nice and Igot to send my dad a lot of
stuff and he was so sad.
Oh, because the reason I'mdoing this now is my dad's
birthday was the other day, soyeah, how old is he?
I don't know.

(17:49):
He was born in 51.
You do that math 74.
, 74.
My dad is 74.
Wow, that's really old.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Isn't that weird to think about.
He doesn't look.
74.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
No, he does not.
He doesn't look 74.
No, he does not.
He does not act 74.
He definitely does not.
So, yeah, let's find out why Iam a weirdo.
Since the 70s, van life has beenan enduring symbol of freedom,
adventure and nonconformity.
What began as a rebelliousmovement among free spirits
evolved into a widely acceptedlifestyle embraced by a diverse

(18:24):
range of individuals, fromhippies and wanderers to digital
entrepreneurs and minimalisttravelers.
The essence of van life hasremained the same escaping
societal constraints to explorethe open road.
However, the way peopleexperience this lifestyle has
changed drastically.
Yes, and I see these new vansand I'm like.

(18:46):
I'm like wow, yeah, wouldn'tthat have been cool?
Yeah, no, I didn't have any ofthat.
Um, in the 70s, van life wasdriven by countercultural ideals
and a rejection of conventionalliving.
See, when I was doing this andI was re and I was putting this
all together, I was like okay,so when I was like a teenager,

(19:06):
maybe even older, I might evenbeen in my 20s when I was like,
realized that the majority ofpeople did not have this
lifestyle that I lived likelived in a stationary house that
had that didn't travel like allthe time like I, just it was
like neighborhood friends Ididn't travel like all the time
Like I, just it was likeneighborhood friends I didn't

(19:27):
and like Did you?
have a bicycle.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
Probably not, I did.

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Did you?
I did have a bicycle.
Oh, because the house, okay theone house we lived in, had a
really long driveway and I fellin it all the time.
I fell on my bike all the timeand one time this is terrible I
on my bike all the time, and onetime I have.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
This is terrible.
I'm gonna today.
I am ratting my parents out oneverything.
I love it.
God, they don't wait to seethem again.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
Thank god, neither one of them listen.
They're getting ratted out.
Well, your mom will just deny itall um, so I had, I had, we had
this long driveway and I wouldride my bike in the driveway and
I fell all the time and my dadwould sing.
I don't know how many of youhave been to Disney as many

(20:14):
times as I've been to Disney,but in the Country Bear Jamboree
the one sings puddles of bloodon the floor.
Every time I would fall, my dadwould sing it.
It super loud puddles of bloodin the driveway and that is one
reason why I'm weird.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
yeah you definitely get your weirdness from your dad
my mom is like the most normalone of all super normal, yeah,
yeah I don't know about superwell no, compared to the rest of
us.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah .
We're weird.
The vans were decorated withshag carpets, hand-painted
murals and cozy interiorsdesigned for long-term travel.
Today van life exists in aworld influenced by social media
, sustainability and remote work, where modern vans are equipped

(21:04):
with solar panels, wi-fi andbrand sponsorships.
We did not have any of that,the cultural context of the 70s.
The 70s was a time of culturalrevolution.
The Vietnam War, civil rights,the environmental activism led
young people to seek alternativeways of living.
Many rejected traditionalcareers and suburban lifestyles

(21:26):
in favor of exploration andself-discovery yeah, that's what
your parents said van lifeembodied this desire for freedom
, allowing individuals to travelwherever they please without
being tied to rent or mortgagesthe wrong.
So I will die on this hill.
My mother will not, but I knowthat on her deathbed she is

(21:49):
going to say Deathbed confession.
Yes, she is going to say Ithink Okay, so we did van life
until I was five.
We got my sister when I wasfive and she was ruined.
Everything, ruined everything.
My dad got his brother bought arestaurant, so we we all moved
as a group down to where we livenow, at least you stayed

(22:10):
together as a unit through allof this that's true, and um,
although you did lose yoursister once, what do you mean?

Speaker 2 (22:18):
didn't your mom lose your sister?

Speaker 3 (22:19):
oh my, mom lost my sister many times.
Oh okay, yeah, she was alwaysmissing, but we we lost her once
in Vermont.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for likehalf a day, maybe even the whole
day, I don't know, but we lostmy sister a lot.
But we stopped because A Istarted going to kindergarten
and apparently I was repeatingthings in kindergarten that I

(22:40):
should not have been repeating.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
You probably went to kindergarten reeking of
something you should not havebeen reeking.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
So when we did the van, I was the only child.
There was no other children.
Everybody had dogs.
So basically I was raised as atiny adult with dogs.
You were a puppy?

Speaker 2 (22:59):
I was a puppy yeah, um.
I mogligli.
I mean, that really is awesomethough.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
It's just so crazy to me when I talk about it and
it's just so matter of like,just because all my parents,
friends, did like.
That's all the people we knew.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
that's that's I I know I'm not gonna say this
correctly, but when we weretalking about this before this
with my husband, um, and he wasjust like so shocked by
everything, everything you said,I was like sounds right, it's
just.
I like it doesn't shock me thatI mean, obviously I know some

(23:37):
of these things about.
I'm learning a lot too, thoughlike I don't know all the
details and ins and outs of allthis.
But yeah, it just, I totallysee you doing that.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
It was just a group of hippies and we just all
traveled as a group and we wentto I'll talk about those later
Vanans they called them Vanans.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
Did you go?

Speaker 3 (23:59):
to concerts.
Well, that's the thing.
These Vanans had concerts atthem, okay.
So like local talent, yeah, andprobably big names too.
I don't know.
Here's the okay.
So we're going to also wrap myparents out again.
Okay, so we're going to alsowrap my parents out again,
because I was the only child.
They would just put me in thevan and then go like I would

(24:23):
fall asleep in the van and thenthey would go and do whatever.
It is that they would do sothey probably did see conflict.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
You've always been very chill.
You weren't going anywhere.

Speaker 3 (24:32):
I was a chill kid.
You're a chill adult.
I think that it's because I washigh all the time.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
And you were raised by a pack of dogs.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
And I was raised by a pack of dogs, two in particular
.
Anyway, the rise of custom vansBecause this is really what I
want to get into Vans became anextension of personal identity.
The 70s saw an explosion ofcreativity and vehicle
customization.
Drivers transformed their vansinto mobile homes featuring shag
carpets and velvet coveredseats, wood paneling and

(25:06):
built-in beds, mini fridges andcassette decks, murals depicting
fantasy scenes or psychedelicartwork and transportation.
Interest in vans was driven bythe younger generation.
Some vans of the era offeredpinstriping with colorful,
rainbow-colored graphics.
Others reflected pop culture,including the movie Star Wars,

(25:26):
one of the highest grossingfilms.
If you look up the Star Warsvan, it is pretty cool and I
probably saw it at some point.
Popular models included theVolkswagen buswagen bus, the
dodds tradesman and the chevyg20 vehicles that were sturdy
enough for cross-countryadventure while offering space
for customization.
So ours was a, because I asked,I asked my dad was a 71 gmc c10

(25:51):
and it was called dragon'sdream and it had a dragon on the
side so cool and it haddragon's dream painted across
the front.
So in my mom and dad's van clubthere was a guy that did all of
the artwork and he still worksas an artist today.
Um, he did some murals for mymom and dad in the restaurant.

(26:12):
They had a really cool mural.
Um, the restaurant wasdownstairs and the bar was
upstairs and was the upper deckand it was, um, it was kind of
grim reaper I don't think it wasthe actual grim reaper, but he
was grim reaper-esque and heheld a lantern up and so as you
walked up the steps, the lanternwould like shine up and it
would be like crossing the riversticks.

(26:34):
Is that where your obsession?

Speaker 2 (26:36):
with the grim reaper came.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
My dad is obsessed with the grim reaper.
Oh yeah, his bike has the grimreaper painted on it oh, aren't
y'all cute with their love ofthe grim reaper it's a weird
thing to be anyway.
Um, so my dad's best friendalso had.
He had the Chevy C10, which,okay, here's the thing my dad
loves.

(26:57):
A GMC my dad only boughtbecause they make trucks, just
trucks.
It's exactly the same thing asa Chevy, but he won't buy a
Chevy truck because GMC makestrucks, just trucks.
So it was exactly the same van,but one had a Chevy logo and one
of the gmc logo on it but hehad the chevy c10 and his was

(27:18):
named wildfire and his didn'thave anything on the side but it
did have wildfire on the on theback doors and then the front
of it said had a stallion yeah,that was pretty yeah, um, they
were best friends like that.
They met.
My dad at the time was workingin factories as an electrician

(27:41):
and he met I don't remember whathis, his bff did, but it wasn't
electric work.
Um, anyway, they met and fellin love and they're actually.
He is coming down next week toto stay with my mom and dad yeah
they are still in love um totesadore we did everything with

(28:02):
him and his ex-wife now, um,literally everything.
Here's the saddest part of ofthat.
So his best friend had childrenthat wouldn't talk to him, so
the only picture he had in hiswallet was me and I had the
biggest crush on him.
I was gonna get married to himand I was gonna buy my dress at

(28:24):
kmart oh and he was.
He was my joey, like that was,and I did everything with him
everywhere and he, he looks likebr Springsteen actually oh gosh
.
Like a 70s Bruce Springsteen.
Yeah.
Oh my, he's very Italian, thoughWhen's the last time you saw

(28:44):
him.
A couple weeks ago.
He comes down all the time now.
Oh, because his wife died, ohokay, yeah, after.
But that's good, you still getto see him.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
yeah, I see him all the time um, does he make your
dad be nice to you?

Speaker 3 (28:57):
yes oh so they would also, um, I get to that.
Um, okay, this one might be along one, because I got a lot to
say about this?
I'm here for it okay, um, so,yeah, so the the inside of our

(29:18):
van.
I don't really remember theinside of his friend's van too
much, probably because I wasn'tin there very much, but ours had
um shag carpet, um and furceiling and sides and um gray,
um the van was gray and it haddrag was it like rabbit fur?

(29:38):
it was really long.
No, it was like shag.
It was like super long.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
No, it was like faux that yeah, weird long stringy
the polyester fur, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you
uh-huh, that was on the walls.

Speaker 3 (29:54):
And then he had built cabinets in there that held
like snacks and stuff and ourfood.
We didn't have a fridge, Idon't know, because we didn't
have any electric in it.
We didn't have electric in it.
And then the back.
There was no seats.
There was two seats up front,that was the only seats they
were captain chair and then therest of the van had a queen-size

(30:19):
bed built up in the back andthey had like storage underneath
of it, I think.
And then me and the dog slepton the floor and they slept in
the bed and the the bed had fur,but it was shorter fur.
It was like, um, like like afaux fur, like a black, like if
you got a leather jacket from,oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that was on

(30:40):
the bed and fancy and then theinside had like twinkle lights.
Yeah, that built in.
They were built.
I love that.
So the dog and I slept on thefloor, um, and the dog went
every like it was the four of usthat went every.
The dog went everywhere with us.

(31:03):
The dog was part of the like.
My parent if you can know myparents they are the dog is part
of the family.
Oh yeah, um, like, my dad stilltalks about this dog too like
I'm pretty sure he still talksabout all your dogs.
Yeah, he, yeah yeah, so van lifein the 70s wasn't just about

(31:24):
travel.
It was deeply intertwined withmusic culture.
Rock festivals like woodstockand the rise of bands touring in
vans contributed to the nomadiclifestyle.
Road trips became musicaljourneys, with cassette tapes
providing soundtracks to thescenic drive.
So trips became musicaljourneys, with cassette tapes
providing soundtracks to thescenic drive.
So my dad's favorite band ispink floyd.
Okay they don't think I knewthat, yeah, they have seen pink.
I almost was gonna do pinkfloyd this week, but then I was

(31:46):
like, no, I'd rather do vanic um, we listened to the eagles a
lot.
We listened to steve millerband fly like an eagle Eagle was
my favorite because there was apart that I always said was the
shoot and buy part.
So this was the music I grew upon.
And I actually saw Steve Millera couple years ago Last year,

(32:10):
the year before and it wasfucking amazing.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Really, oh yeah, still yeah, oh yeah, yeah,
they're one of my favorites andit was fucking amazing, really.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Oh yeah, still yeah, oh yeah, yeah, they're one of my
favorites.
Yeah, he was.
It was amazing, um, I saw it.
I'm not a huge classic rock fan, but that's what I, but I never
really.
I don't think my dad likes ledzeppelin, because I don't
remember ever listening to ledzeppelin, um, or the stones.
We didn't really listen to thestones, but it was pink floyd
all the time, every day, and wehad a huge cassette deck in
there and it blared music allthe time because it got stolen

(32:39):
and all his tapes got stolen andI was so upset because the
steve miller tape was in thereand I was so upset because the
shooting by song was gone.
Oh no, so if you listen to umfly like an eagle, you'll know
which part is the shoot in myheart um remember when traumas
were simple yeah my cassettetape's gone my favorite one.

(33:03):
So anyway, back, my, my dad andhis best friend worked in
factories and then they wouldget late.
One of them was um, there's acasino there now in philadelphia
, it was all in philadelphia, itwas in philadelphia and was
domino sugar you just told methis, like a year ago, and this
blew my mind yeah, and my dadworked at the.

Speaker 2 (33:22):
That's the sugar factory that's right on the
water, right in philly and theymade it into a casino yeah, and
I've been to that casino yeah,um, they haven't.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
Him and his bff have not gone why I don't know why I
think I've asked him Becausethey went to Atlantic City all
the time.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
And he's like I don't .

Speaker 2 (33:42):
They don't want to.
Does he not gamble anymore, oh?

Speaker 3 (33:45):
come on, actually, he hasn't been to Atlantic City in
a while.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Yeah, I don't gamble anywhere near as much as I used
to Like.
It's just it as it used to like.
It's just it's because it'severywhere now I think it is and
you literally never win.
Yeah, like back in the day youcould go in with 20 bucks and
play for a little while anywayand get half hour hour because
everything was five freakingdollars now every table minimum
is like 10, 15, so it's not evenworth it

Speaker 3 (34:09):
yep, um.
So they've not been to that,but they worked at um.
So they would work at factoriesand then they would get laid
off and then we would go onthese journeys all over the east
coast.
We never left the east coast.
We always did from philadelphia, from somewhere in pennsylvania
, down to florida.
We would go um.

(34:30):
Most of the time it was westvirgin, because West Virginia
would have these giant van endsthat I will talk about in a
minute, but that's where theywould do music.
I imagine they had music.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, there's lots of wide open space in West
Virginia, so you could probablybe on somebody's property and
have a whole weekend.
Nobody even knew you were there.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
So they would have like these big groups would get
to get all the different vanclubs would get together and
they would have like.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
My dad was big into playing frisbee and he would do
frisbee competitions all thetime.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
And what a dork I know.
Did he hacky sack too?
No, I've never seen my dad witha hacky sack.
Um, so yeah that's.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
They would have like bonfires at night and their
music was playing all the time,so I don't remember if it was
live music or just peopleplaying a lot of music yeah,
it's hard to tell, yeah and itwas basically just a bunch of
hippies yeah, I'm sure therewere a lot of musicians showing
up and maybe hanging out andthey probably sold stuff to each

(35:30):
other, and you know like theirwares or whatever, not just acid
but you get all high and youjust fucking jam out and here's
the thing about that.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
Um, so I know I they had.
My parents had to have droppedacid when they were on these
things?

Speaker 2 (35:47):
what was the name of his van dragon's dream?

Speaker 3 (35:49):
okay, so I know his favorite band, I know, but they
had to have been dropping acidwhen they had me All the time
Like all the time.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
All the time, I promise you.
That's why the dogs wereraising you.

Speaker 3 (36:05):
And then I think about all this stuff as an adult
now, because I know whathappened to these things and I
understand now and I think backand I'm like they don't.
Literally no one gave a shitabout me.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
Well, and I think back and I'm like, literally no
one gave a shit about me.
Well, they did, but they knewyou were fine.
I don't think it's necessarilya bad thing.

Speaker 3 (36:22):
It was a fucking field out in the middle of West
Virginia.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
Yeah, but are all of your memories amazing?
Yes, right, so what?

Speaker 3 (36:33):
So it wasn't conventional.
I just think it's funny.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
I mean, so many people will be mortified and
horrified and want to like throwyour parents in prison and
throw away the key.
But you had an amazingchildhood, my.
I grew up in the church, livingin one house, perfect
attendance in school on a roll.
In my childhood fucking suck.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
So true, yeah, it's just.
It's again.
It's just one of those thingswhere it's like it was my
experience for so long and itjust I can't fathom that other
people did not do this like thisis not the way other people
lived.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
It's like my uh first marriage.
Well, everyone's not thismiserable, just me okay and
that's just that's kind of it.
It's like yeah very few people,and especially that young like,
yes, you don't know anythingoutside that.
No, I at least was seeing otherthings, and be like I was

(37:29):
literally not around otherchildren.

Speaker 3 (37:31):
There was a girl that was very short that I could not
, and then my mom and dad loveto tell this story.
I don't think she was a littleperson, but she was like in
between little person and likeshe was like five foot tops.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
I mean, there are people that are like four.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
Yeah, she was like that's my yeah, and I kept
telling my mom and dad that Icould not understand why that
little girl didn't want to playwith me.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
Because she was tripping balls and my mom was
like a little girl.

Speaker 3 (37:59):
So everybody in that group, they all I was known and
this is another thing that'sreally weird because my dad, um,
has reunited with this bandclub and like once a month or so
, once every couple months, theyall get together up in
Newcastle and they all have abeer and whatever.
That is the cutest thing.
Yeah, um, there is a whole lotof people in this world that

(38:23):
went on these that only know meas Rugrat because that was what
everyone called me, that's whatmy dad called me, that's what.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
So there is a whole oh my god, I bet you were filthy
all the time I was.

Speaker 3 (38:36):
Where did you bathe?
Well, they had.
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
I guess they just hosed me off because I know
earlier when we were talking, Iwas like, did you go to the
bathroom outside?
And you were like yeah, and I'mlike right, that's cool.
I've gone to the bathroomoutside plenty of times.
I actually enjoy it, butwhere'd you bathe?
Like?

Speaker 3 (38:53):
you didn't have plumbing and we didn't stay in
campgrounds.
Right, it must have been likemaybe truck stops or we go to
campgrounds.
I have no idea.
I don't remember bathing at all.
There's pictures of me brushingmy teeth the little brush thing
, squeegee thing, you clean yourwindshield?
Maybe I don't know I'd have toask you down when you got gas
because I know when we went todisney they were so excited

(39:14):
because the disney campgroundshad showers and their their
bathrooms were super nice, likethey still are.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
Um, their campground is super nice oh, it better be
what they charge, not right?

Speaker 3 (39:25):
um, so I don't know about bathing.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
I'm sure we did somewhere I would say ask your
mom, but she'll be like you tooka shower every day.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
Because they hosed me off.
It was probably what it was.
Well, yeah, because I doremember a story, so we must
have stayed.
These Vanans, I don't think,were in campgrounds, so they
might be separate, but we didstay in campgrounds, like when
we would go to Florida and stuff.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
We'd spend time and back in the day campgrounds had
solid like areas, bath houses.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah because she tells the one
story of how she'd take me.
And we had gotten a shower andI was headed back to the vans
and I said I screamed to dad andjoe hey dad, I just got clean,
I'm all clean and then I trippedand fell into a puddle, head

(40:18):
first and was drenched in puddlewater you probably felt a lot
better after that, and then mymom and dad thought that was
hilarious of course the storythey tell oh yeah, you were
running and you fell.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
We had just cleaned you.
I bet she didn't take you backand read I.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
She would have probably had to, because they
probably didn't want me in thevan being gross.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
This dirty kid in the van the dog was already dirty.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Yeah, because I'm sure they were so clean.
Well, they didn't.
Where were they bathing?
Exactly that's what I'm talkingabout.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
Because now these vans have full bathrooms.
We didn't.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
Yeah, I mean, you didn't even have bottled water
back then.
No, it's not like you couldpour some in a rag and wipe
yourself down.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Well, they probably would get jugs Probably.
I don't know, I don't rememberthat much.
You should ask your dad or Joey.
Maybe I will when I see him,don't ask your mom.
He's coming this week Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
All right, ask him.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
And he's staying the weekend because they have a car
show or something, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
Dorky old hippie stuff.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
So van life fostered a strong sense of community,
where I was rug rat, wheretravelers met on the road,
shared tips on repairs andformed lasting friendships.
Like I said, this was 45 yearslater.
They still have ones.
That really is awesome, theirband club was called the
Midnight Riders and my mom stillhas a t-shirt somewhere of it.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Yeah, that's so cool.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
There's also a picture of me at Shenandoah and
on the back of you can only seethe front of the shirt.
It's me and my mom at theShenandoah sign and the back of
the shirt had Midnight Riders.
But the front of the shirt hadmy name written across it and I
always joke with my mom thatthey had to do that so that they
knew what my name was.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
You know what?
That very possibly is true,because they did have you name,
your sister.
They didn't have a name for mysister and now and you named her
.
So somebody random probablynamed you and they kept
forgetting well, no, my dadwanted.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
My dad wanted to name me snow storm mcgee and my mom
said no my mom wanted to name memichelle after my grandfather
and my dad said no, and I don'tknow where Heather came from.
But here it is.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
Yeah, yeah, I remember that Michelle thing now
because that ties intosomething else weird about it
which hasn't happened to me inyears.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Really, but we'll talk about that another time.
Okay, so the first van club,Associated Vans, was formed in
Southern California in 1966 andhundreds would follow.
As the culture developed.
It spread to towns and citiesacross North America.
The teen generation who lovedhot rods and muscle cars but
couldn't afford to play, foundtheir four-wheel kicks in vans.

(43:09):
It offered transport withbenefits.
The van could be a lair, aboudoir, a wet bar and a hot rod
.
With benefits, the van could bea lair, a boudoir, a wet bar
and a hot rod.
In 1973, it was a pivotal year,with the oil crisis effectively
ending the muscle car era.
The van was poised to step intothe vacuum created by recession
.
A double nickel speed limitwhich I thought I had to put the

(43:30):
double nickel in there becauseI thought that was funny.

Speaker 2 (43:33):
I never heard it called that.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
And a societal shift in free living, free loving and
good times.
The motoring press caught thevibe.
Hot rod magazine editor terrycook joined forces with colorado
van club and created the firstnational van event at tiger run.
Colorado cb radio added to themix, creating a community on
wheels who could communicate inan age before mobile phones and

(43:56):
Internet.
So here's what I wanted to sayabout that.
We had a CB.
I know everything you can wantand I know all the lingo.
I know my dad's name wasKeebler because my dad likes
cookies.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
Yes, he does.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
And I don't remember what Joe's was.
I'd have to really think aboutit.
I should have asked my dad, butthat's how they all everybody
communicated.
So my dad would get on the seat.
If I was being bad, my dadwould get on the CB and be like
we're, she's bad like this, isit?
And then everybody in therewould be like, oh, rug, rat,

(44:30):
don't.
So you'd hear it all.
And then one time we got towherever we were going and joe
went and we pulled over and joewent and got a chair and pulled
the chair out and opened it upand said let the beatings
commence.
Oh no, and then I got.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
I got spanked yes, cbs were the shit man, my, uh,
my dad.
When my parents got divorced,my dad remarried my janet um and
they are still together 40 someyears later, um, but anyway, um
, her parents lived it seemedvery country in felton, but it

(45:12):
was really only half a mile fromroute 13 right the main road
that goes through um, and mystepbrother had a cb, or
probably my pop-up had a cb, and, uh, my stepbrother would get
it and we would play and wewould go outside, like at night,
while everybody else was insidegetting hammered on whiskeys

(45:33):
and ginger um and we would talk.
You know, we'd just get on there, we'd pick up on a voice and
we'd talk and they would know itwas little kids and they would
entertain us and stuff.
But and it wasn't always veryclear and it would last a hot
minute as they were driving by,really.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
But it was so cool I had.
My first car was a 1982 LincolnContinental and it had a CB in
it Because it was the height ofthe car.
Yeah, I used it I don'tremember that.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
I mean, I only rode in that car very little.
You got the Cavalier veryshortly after.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
I met you Because you went to UD and that thing would
have never made it no.
But here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
It would have taken up two parking spots it.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
No, but here's the thing.
So when it would have taken uptwo parking spots, yeah, my dad
bought um a cb.
After when we had a cb, we hada cb forever and then he had one
and he would make my sisterbecause when my sister was a
teenager obviously she got awaywith a lot more than I did um,
and anyway they would.
My uncle had a condo in floridaand my sister and her friends

(46:39):
would go down every year Iremember that and he would make
her take the cb.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
So that, so we know, I know, I know I remember that,
because didn't they used to talkto truckers on the way down?

Speaker 3 (46:52):
my dad would tell them talk to truckers so, and he
would tell yes, I do remember,I know how to draft.
I know how to talk to truckersand they would let, so the
truckers would keep an eye onthem my yep, yep.
I remember that there was acouple of times where they would
say you know because that mydad told them.
But before you go to get gas,find out on the cb radio, on the

(47:14):
cb, what's a good gas stationblah blah where's it safe.
And they would talk to thetruckers and the truckers would
be like I got you, little ladies, I see you coming so would they
be like?

Speaker 2 (47:24):
my dad made me bring my cb in the cb can you?
That is so cool, because thatis total honor system.
Shit like your dad would haveno way of knowing if they no
drove them somewhere andmurdered them no, so so just be
a kind human was and then theywould be like I have daughters
because it feels like everybodyin the 70s was a serial killer

(47:45):
so it's good to know there wereactually good people, yeah well,
this was the 90s.
So oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, well, yeah, but social
media still wasn't a big thing,so it was still pretty easy to
get away with it.
Near the end of the yeah,cameras near the end of the
serial killing era?

Speaker 3 (48:03):
yeah, because it, but they could have.
I mean, they could have diedpeople were so easy back yeah I
mean and, but yeah yeah, theywould radio and say you know?
and truckers would be like whatare you in?
And she had a sunburn at thetime, yep.
And they would say you know thelittle blue sunbird, and where,
where, what mile marker are you?
And they would say and thenanother trucker would come on

(48:25):
and be like I'm at that milemarker, I see you, hop behind me
, and they would draft that,because you have to let a
trucker know that you'redrafting.
They have to know you're backthere.
And if they know that you'reback there, then they will tell
you whatever.
I see you back there, blah,blah.
And then they will tell youwhatever's coming up in the road
, so that you don't slam intothe back because in order to

(48:47):
draft, you have to get likeright up on yeah, yeah, yeah so
if they know you're there,they'll tell you that when
they're what's happening up onthe road and they will also tell
you where the smokies are sothat means there were a lot of
really good people.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Yes, because that's a predator's dream.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
So yes, I mean there were some fact that killed
people.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
Yes, no, no no, no, I'm just saying whoever your
sister encountered oh, yeah,just on her trips to florida,
like that just goes to show thatthere are a lot more good
people than bad.
We just hear a lot more aboutthe bad, the bad, yeah, just
want to make that point, sorry.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
So yeah, that's why we had cbs, and I know all the
lingo of cbs and um yeah, wewere obnoxious, we didn't know
the real lingo we knew what wesaw in the movies so smoky and
the bandit?
Yes right, they actually calledthem bears, that's why it's
smoky.
Oh, they would say, there's abear in the woods.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
Oh yeah, yep, you're so smart, I know You're so smart
, I know.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
I lived it.
Yay, the Vanquish was in well,so they called it.
They called them the boogie vanWas the coolest van of all.
No one can.
They called them the boogie vanwas the coolest van of all.
No one can say exactly when theboogie van was born.
It was sometime after the bigthree introduced their range of
small business vans in the 60s,socal surfers started to upgrade

(50:07):
their old station wagons andjalopies.
The vans met their needs,providing transport, a place to
store their boards and a den tosleep in before the next set of
waves.
As young men came home fromvietnam, many found returning to
society difficult.
A van and the open road gavethem the space they needed.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
So my dad was a surfer I was gonna say, yes, it
all makes sense.
My dad was a big surfer.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
One of his friends had a hearse that was his surf
wagon.
That was always your dream yeah, I know, so the hearse, because
it has the wheels.
That was good for you.
Taking your and flower flowervans is the same basically the
same as a as a hearse.
But yes, that's why my dad wasa was a surfer yep, yep um

(50:53):
flared arches, bubble windows,which our van had um above a
window, wide wheels and sidepipes were essential elements.
So I was telling you this storybecause, my uncle van had side
pipes and I was told I don'tknow 456 000 times do not put
your leg down when you get out.

(51:14):
But I was tiny, I was a littleperson.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
Was there a step or you just had to clear?
No, you had to clear it.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
You had to like leap out.
Okay, then no one cared aboutpoor little Heather and her
little tiny legs.
I just was told do not lay yourleg on that.
They could have given you aboard to put up and walk down.
They could have done literallyanything.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Anyway, held your hand as you jumped out.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
I did put my leg down on him.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
Yes, of course you did.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
I burnt my leg and I didn't want to get in trouble.
By no means were my parentsabusive.
No, I say that they beat me,they did spank me.
I did get I did.
I was spanked, but not veryoften because I was a good kid.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
You just didn't want to be a bother.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
No.
So I burnt my leg and I didn'ttell anybody because I didn't
want to get in trouble and mymom could not figure out why.
I was cranky all day and I wasrunning up ahead of them.
We were in a park and I wasgoing to swing and this was
several several hours later,like hours later.
I was running up ahead of themto swing and my mom was like

(52:19):
holy shit, what is that?
And she came up to me and I hadburnt the entire back of my leg
and it was all bubbled.
You poor thing.
And I had a scar.
I had to go to the doctor everyday and they had to pull the
skin off of it every day.
Was that painful?
Yeah, because they didn't giveyou painkillers or anything.
They just peel it off.
Bite on the stick.
Here's some whiskey, heather,do this shot first.

(52:48):
So yeah, and then they wouldput cream on it and then they
would wrap it and then theywould send me on my way.
But I didn't tell anybody andmy mom was like, oh my god, they
didn't take me to the emergencyroom.
They waited till the next dayto take me to a doctor because
they were probably high as kites, so another.
I didn't tell you this, so wewent to um like if we show up
there like this they're gonnatake child protectors so one
time we were in a um, a park or,or we were camping somewhere

(53:13):
and we, while they, set up campor did whatever it is they did?
they would send me and the dogsout to go get get away from us,
basically so, because we justspent all this time in a van
together.
So the dog and I went andsomehow rustled up a wasp nest
and we came back and we had bothbeen stung in the eye and my

(53:38):
mom was like, oh fuck.

Speaker 2 (53:40):
So it's not funny.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
You get stung in the eye, but I picture you and the
dog my mom and dad took, went,came, found a ranger and was
like what are we supposed to do?
Um, about the dog?
Because the dog, yes, I, thelook she just gave me, yes oh,

(54:02):
my god the dog has her eye hasbeen stung.
Where can we take her?
Where's a vet or whatever.
And the, the ranger, was likethe kid also has been stung.
And they were like yeah yourdad, she'll be fine.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Your dad was like yeah, yeah, yeah, but the dog
more importantly, has a swolleneye.

Speaker 3 (54:23):
The kid has a matching one, but she'll be fine
because she's done this before.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Yeah, she's fine, she can express how she feels the
dog can't, so we need to knowwhat to do about that.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
Yeah, yeah, so I just wrote about I told you all the
our van and what it looked likeit did have panel the cabinets
um did like wood paneling.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
Yeah, the cabinets, I was picturing them white.

Speaker 3 (54:50):
I was going way too modern yeah, no wait, no white
paneling, no, it was all woodpaneling.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
I was actually picturing like press board with
white no, no, full-on woodpaneling.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
I was actually picturing like press board with
white, no full-on wood paneling.
Uh, so we talked about thebucket seats, the cb muscle car
engines.
I don't know that we had.
I'm sure we did because my dadloves yeah that kind of shit.
So I don't know pop top sunwhen we did have a sunroof um.
Exterior sunlight.
Oh, so you did get a little air.

(55:23):
Spoilers, hood scoops we didn'thave any of that.
Sound systems were crucial.
Tv was an option, not it.
It was not.
I never knew anybody that had aTV until like the 80s.
That's ridiculous.
The van was a blank canvas ofsheet steel waiting for whatever

(55:45):
your imagination or walletcould afford.
So we're going to also.
I have pictures of the van thatI lived in that Nicole's going
to put up on the socials and ifyou don't do the socials, I'll
show you people at work.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Oh shoot, I did forget to do it at the beginning
.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
That's okay, we can do it at the end Great review.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
All the socials, yeah , okay that's because I didn't
use the right script because, Ican't find, I don't have a
script I like, oh yeah, I likegoing commando when you do it
she's raw dog in this episode Iam an entire industry sprung up
to service the customizationscene, from accessories to paint

(56:22):
and interior design.

Speaker 3 (56:26):
Jaring of Indiana was one of the earliest companies
to offer a range of custom vanbuilds, frequently changing its
model lineup.
Its Zodiac series featureddifferent interior combinations,
from basic lined and carpetedmodels to a full party pad.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Was it based on the Zodiacs?

Speaker 3 (56:42):
Probably.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
Like marches, will be blue with fish Probably.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
Yes, talented painters were in high demand.
Sharon Roberts of.

Speaker 2 (56:52):
Efti Boke.
Luckily you had a talentedpainter.
Travel with you.
Yes, and can I say his firstname, because it cracks me up?
Yes, the artist's name wasArtie, artie, artie, artie,
artie.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
Artist Artie.
Maybe that's not his real name,probably not.
Maybe that's what my dad did.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
Maybe that's just all what they called Artie.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
So they?
I don't know he did the artist.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
He still calls him Artie because he went with them
all and he them all and he saidalready was there, and this was
there, and that was there andyour dad's name probably isn't
really dave, it's not actually.

Speaker 3 (57:30):
Sharon roberts of ontario was known as lady.
She was highly regarded for hercustom artwork.
She could charge two grand amural in the 70s.
God damn I know.
Imagine what that is now.
She was balling.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
Yeah, so was arty probably yeah, yeah, yeah
although he probably did a lot,I'll pay you.

Speaker 3 (57:49):
I'll gladly pay you tuesday for hamburger today sure
clubs stretched all over northamerica, van fests, um.
So the ones that I asked my dadabout was expo in fisherville,
virginia, and burnt chimney,virginia, and he said there was
a holiday weekend one, but hedidn't know where it was um.
And then I do remember one timethey did like a um at one of

(58:13):
them and I don't know what, butthey would pull boats in the mud
behind vans and they would like, yeah, that was the thing that
they did pull boats in the mud,like, like a like a mud hopping,
like the vans would drive inthe mud and pull a boat behind
it and somebody in the snow.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Yes, like if it was right here.
Okay, okay, yeah, that soundsamazing.

Speaker 3 (58:37):
yeah, I do remember this.
Like like, almost like, um, italmost like oh, what the fuck
are those trucks called Like themonster truck?
It was like a monster truckshow Minus the monster trucks.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
Oh man, that sounds like fun.

Speaker 3 (58:55):
Corporations, from Coke to Yamaha, commissioned
custom vans to promote theirwares Late to the party.
The manufacturers of the vansfinally made their own special
editions for 76.
Ford launched the cruising vanbased on its new body, on frame,
econoline.
It came with a captain's chairs, a stripe package, porthole
windows and choice of wheels.

(59:15):
Chevy tardily provided thechevy van sport as its mild but
good-looking custom van.
It was Dodge that went all increating a mini-industry segment
.
To cater for the craze, youcould buy its YH3 code, dodge
Street Van, based on the DodgeTradesman.
This purchased vehicle camewith enrollment into Dodge's own

(59:35):
club, the Van Clan.
Dodge was astute enough to knowmost people would buy a used
tradesman and accessorize it.
They had the covered.
They had that covered with aspecific street van kit.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
You could add to it by purchasing custom parts, be
it's mopar, direct connectcatalog, offering all the
accessories aftermarketcompanies were producing, but
with dodge branding I love thatyou are and you got to
experience like the real vanlife yes, Like oh gee, because
right now you're talking 76 andall these vans, and that's where

(01:00:10):
corporate America comes in andjust fucks it up for everybody,
because they make it tooexpensive and you know it's too
fancy and that's not what it wasabout for you, and it's really
neat that you got to experiencethat.

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
It's just it is, and I got to go to a lot of places.

Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
And your parents are like trendsetters, you know,
like so weird, isn't it?
But they were definitely 100hundred percent in that they.

Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Yeah, I mean we.
It was a I know one otherperson my age that did it in a
different part of the country.

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
No, here, here, did they know?
No, your parents, because theywere little but she did.
She only did it like every now,and then Like her dad had a van
and they did van like travel,vanning and he had a custom van
so they did like hardcore roadtrip kind of thing yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
Okay, whereas we lived the whole lifestyle.
You literally lived in the vanmy dad was the president for a
while of our van club.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
I love that because my dad was the mayor of felton
for a long time and I feel likeit's pretty equal and I'm really
proud of him for that we had inbetween being homeless, because
I, I'm, I'm sorry, I will, Idon't care what they say.

Speaker 3 (01:01:38):
We had no home, we lived in a van that's what, um.
That's the deathbed confessionshe will say yes, we were
homeless.
He'll be like I knew it, I knewit, but we stay.
So we lived in this one place.
Um, that was in the summer.
It was a jewish day camp and mydad was the groundskeeper

(01:02:00):
there's a great too much nothere's a great picture of me at
the day because I let me go tothe day camp of me and a bunch
of no, no, of little new yorkjewish kids were they in like
dark shorts, white buttondown-downs no it wasn't Hasidic

(01:02:21):
Jews no no, I don't necessarilymean Hasidic, I just mean they
were dressed proper they weren'tdressed like they were at camp,
no, and you were a puppy, yes.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
So, yes, they probably didn't know what the
fuck to make of you, right?

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
they told that story for like five years, but also
explain like a lot of my likeconfusion over religion, because
, because they probably did, Imean they I'm yeah yeah yeah, my
grandfather, both grandfathersof mine were catholic strict.
Well, they weren't they bothgot excommunicated because they

(01:02:55):
didn't marry catholic women.
Oh and my, my mom's father wasital Catholic and his mother
didn't even go to their wedding.
She did go to my mom and dad'sbecause she said it wasn't my
mom's fault that she wasn'tCatholic.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Your dad's.

Speaker 3 (01:03:11):
Irish right, irish Catholic no, we don't have any
Irish in it.
Scottish and British ScottishCatholic Sure, I don't know.
They're Catholic.
My grandfather was Catholic.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Your mom's Italian though.

Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
By her maiden name.
Yes and well, your dad'sScottish by his last name and
British.

Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
There's more British.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
You just hear Irish Catholic, so I guess that's.
But your dad's not Catholic,right no?

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
His dad was, but his dad was excommunicated from the
church because he married Satan.
Yes, okay, and she was notCatholic, so and my mom's
Satan's, not Catholic.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
No, I thought I read that somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
My mom's mother also was not Catholic, but my mom's
father asked for last ritesbefore he died, even though he
had been excommunicated from thechurch, and my uncle had to um
threatened to sue the churchuntil they came and gave my
grandfather last right go unclebill yes and my uncle bill was
atheist and what was grandmamethodist?

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
what nationality?

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
a little american, yeah, okay all right, my
grandfather was full cap full, Iam italian yes, yeah, yes I
knew that his parents came but Idon't think I ever knew what
your grandma was.
But actually my, mygrandmother's line is all
harrington um felton, yeah, thiswhole area right here.
No, they were, they were.

(01:04:39):
Even I found they theirmarriage because they were
married in newcastle.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
We might be related.
We might be seriously yeah,because her whole family.
It's not even funny I.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
I saw far back, as far back as pre-civil war.
They were in the harrington.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
Um yeah, I mean seriously, like it's crazy, like
you go back in my family tree.
No, no, no, no, no, not myfamily tree.
It's not blood, nothingbiological, but there's just a
whole lot of it's.
It's very confusing.
Yes.
I don't need to get started.
But, yeah, I really I'm, I'mgoing to find out, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
I bet we are.
We could be, because my mom'sside was all from this area.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
I did not know that.
I thought you were all.

Speaker 3 (01:05:30):
Philly.
They got married in Newark Yep.
Okay, we're getting way offtrack and this is a long episode
already yes it is.
What was I talking about beforewith the vans?
I don't know.

(01:05:50):
Um, yeah, so we traveled.
Oh, the jewish day camp, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we had these giant partiesbecause my dad was the um
president of the van club sothey would have van club
meetings, but really they werejust big parties with kegs and a
lot of pot, probably.
And, um, I was the again theonly kid.
This is why I was always 30,because I had to be the adult,

(01:06:12):
because everybody was fucked upand so did you say it was a
jewish day camp or an overnightcamp.

Speaker 2 (01:06:18):
It was a jewish day camp so because everybody left
at the end of the day yeah,staff everything.
And then your dad pulled outthe megaphone, yes, and was like
, hey, you guys yes, and it wason a pond came in.

Speaker 3 (01:06:32):
Yeah, it was on a pond, because I had a really big
, that's so fucking cool.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
No wonder your dad was president, because he had
the best house.

Speaker 3 (01:06:41):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, and it was a.
Really it was a big, pretty bighouse.
That's so cool, from what Iremember.
And then all winter long therewas nobody there.
You should write a movie aboutthis.
So we lived there for like ayear, maybe even two, and he
took care of the grounds and yougot to sleep in the house.

(01:07:05):
Yes, I did sleep in the house,not outside in the run.
The dog slept also in the house, so my, we had misty, and my
dad's best friend, joe, hadmidnight.
They were brother and sister yesmidnight bit several children
but would have moved the earthfor me.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
And those kids probably deserved it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:25):
One of them did Fuck those kids.

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:28):
But yeah, so we had Misty in Midnight and Misty died
very prematurely.
She was only five when she died, which now makes me I thought
we didn't get Misty until shewas until I was like two, but we
were five.
I was five when she died, sothey must have got her at the
same time as they got me, areyou guys from the same?
Litter no, she was only three,maybe.

(01:07:49):
No, she was only three, I liedshe was three, I was five, same
mother.
Yeah, okay, okay.
So so the dog, it was the dogsand me, and that's why I always
say I was always a small adult,because I was around adults all

(01:08:09):
the time there was no other kidsI didn't know how to interact
with the children I was feral,for reals feral and to this day
she doesn't know how to interactwith people.
Oh, no, I don't, especially notpeople my own age.

Speaker 2 (01:08:22):
She's better with children.

Speaker 3 (01:08:23):
now I don't know if I'm better with children.
They like you.
Some of them.
So, yeah, I was always justabove my own age because I was
always around adults.
Yeah, you mimicked yourenvironment.

(01:08:44):
One of the reasons we did haveto stop doing the van ins and
going on a, we had my sister um,she came and she was not good.
Um, and also, I startedkindergarten because I guess
they had to put me in school.

Speaker 2 (01:08:59):
Um, I'm surprised they really thought about that.
I wonder if they hadn't gottenpregnant with your sister, if
they would have settled down andput you in school, or if they
would have been like wehomeschool her, Although you
still would have learned,because if they would have
bought you books you'd have beenlike all right, and you would
have read them.
I did all my own learning, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09:17):
They gave me a set of encyclopedias.
You probably would have beenbetter off not going to school.
That's true.
They gave me a set ofencyclopedias and I read the
whole set.
So the other reason is becauseI was repeating things in
kindergarten that I was notsupposed to be.
And they were calling my momand dad a lot about things.

Speaker 2 (01:09:38):
And your dad was like would she just shut the fuck up
?

Speaker 3 (01:09:43):
there's also pictures there's a lovely picture of me.
Um, I'm not gonna put.
I'm not.
I I have.
I'm sending some pictures tonicole so she can put them up.
Yes, um, I'm not gonna sendthis one because, a I don't know
where it is and b she doesn'twant to incriminate her parents
no, um, it's me and my joeystanding next to a keg and he

(01:10:06):
has a cup of beer in his handand I don't.
But I have my hand up the sameway as him and I used to scream
it's party time yeah that'sbecause of what.
That's what happened.
It was party time, so so Iwould yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:21):
I got that fun kid party life when I was a kid with
my dad and my stepmom becausethey had.
Everybody was wasting on aFriday night and we were all
watching Dallas and Falcon crestand the drunker they got, the
more half drinks they got leftsitting around.
We just walked around, drankwhatever was sitting around.
Yeah, I didn't like beer.

(01:10:42):
Well, this was whiskey andseven.

Speaker 3 (01:10:44):
My dad drank seven and seven.

Speaker 2 (01:10:46):
It's sweet.

Speaker 3 (01:10:47):
For a kid it's not bad.
Well, my parents weren't bigdrinkers?

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
No, no, no, no, still aren't Never were.

Speaker 3 (01:10:54):
They don't drink, they smoke pot but they like the
ganja.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:11:02):
And I guess probably dropped a lot of acid, a million
percent drop, I know a lot ofacid.
Like stop saying probably likeyou're in denial I'm not in
denial.

Speaker 3 (01:11:08):
I just it just kind of dawned on me in the middle
dragon's dream.

Speaker 2 (01:11:13):
I mean, I always figured like I was cracking up
as you were talking about things, because I'm thinking this and
I'm like I'll just save it, butthe whole time I'm like they
were tripping balls the entiretime when I was in my 20s and I
was dropping acid.

Speaker 3 (01:11:25):
Of course it dawned on me that they probably had
dropped acid.

Speaker 2 (01:11:28):
But the going through this now I'm thinking, holy
shit, they probably dropped alot of all the time I only
remember, maybe not, when theywere driving like if yeah, who
fucking knows, I mean, maybe itwas dirt roads and miles of
nothing back then.

Speaker 3 (01:11:43):
So they'd have been fine.
Yeah, it was just down.

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
13 knowing your dad, he probably drove 95, I think 95
was just being built.

Speaker 3 (01:11:52):
So we did.
We did 13 down.
That's insane.
To florida, that's mind-blowing.
Yeah, parts of it were probablydirt maybe I mean seriously,
and anywhere you ever was, westvirginia was definitely yeah,
okay, we spent a lot of time inwest virginia and then, and we,
um, we did a lot of disneyvacation.
We did go to disney.

Speaker 2 (01:12:11):
Yes, orlando would have been paved, but probably a
lot of florida was not we wentto sarasota, did you?

Speaker 3 (01:12:17):
sleep on the beach a lot no, we didn't really go to
the beach that much.
When did your dad surf?
Well, florida doesn't havegreat waves.
We would come here because mymom and my dad's parents had two
beach houses in Fenwick and wewould come and stay there.

(01:12:37):
Right, so he would.
Probably he would my mom, haslike a ton of video of him
surfing.
Yeah, it's the most boringvideo ever, my mom.
All you can hear is my momfangirling over my dad, oh,
that's so adorable as he surfs.

Speaker 2 (01:12:53):
I love your parents.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
Yeah, so yeah, that is how I lived.
That is probably what is wrongwith me.
Are we done Almost Just?
The decline of van life was inthe 80s and 90s because of RVs,
corporate America.

Speaker 1 (01:13:15):
When something becomes so mainstream that
corporations are in the act.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
You can guess.
The fashion or culture hasreached its zenith.
Slowly the van craze subsidedin line with the new decade and
new societal perspective.
By the mid-80s, the easy times,a good living vibe was under
attack, with a shift inattitudes.
After years of the, the economywas taking off, the sharp edges
of shoulder pads and corporatebusiness swept away bell bottoms

(01:13:38):
and shag carpets.
Individualism and carefreeliving were supplanted by easy
money and a property boom.
New car tastes were evident inburgeoning foreign imports from
Japan and Germany, and it wasthe birth of the minivan which,
by the way, my dad had a minivanin 1985.
My dad sold his van in 81, 82.

Speaker 2 (01:14:01):
I bet he kicks himself all the time.

Speaker 3 (01:14:03):
For that it was probably like 82.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
Although he probably needed it.
83.
By the house, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
Yeah, they were buying the house and he sold his
van.
He did buy a minivan in 1985.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
I'm surprised.

Speaker 3 (01:14:16):
He doesn't blame me for that, I'm sure he does.
Okay, so he has a minivan.
It still has his 1985 minivan.
Um, he also has three vans athis house.
Currently, none of two of themdo not have windows.
His 85 van did not have windowsand when we were traveling um

(01:14:39):
then in the minivan, my sisterand I, because it didn't have
windows in the sides or the back, we would draw pictures before
we left and we would tape themto the wall.

Speaker 2 (01:14:47):
All right Now, that's sad.

Speaker 3 (01:14:51):
And we got really good at looking out the front
windows.

Speaker 2 (01:14:54):
Although that's an amazing way of making you use
your imagination, we had toreally use our imagination.
Your parents were so clever.
Yeah, your imagination.
We had to really use ourimagination.

Speaker 3 (01:15:02):
Your parents were so clever.
Yeah, um the 80s and 90s, rvculture expanded, offering more
comfortable but less adventadventurous versions of van life
.
Road travel became morecommercialized and families
chose larger recreationalvehicles over diy van
conversions.
And we were also on the covernot the cover, but we were in an
ad for winnebago as I told you,if you listen to the um space
shuttle episode the space Idon't remember what that's

(01:15:25):
called, what we named that one.
I don't ever listen to theseafter I'm done editing.
I couldn't even tell you whathappened I have a confession to
make.
I haven't listened to one inmonths, I know usually you would
tell me when you listen to it.
I know so that and that's, andnow it weirds me out to listen

(01:15:47):
to it I know I don't like it.
Yeah, I don't like it.
So now the van life isn't in,is in fact back um, but it's
certainly not what it was now itisn't, and I was being a big
get off my lawn girl when wewere talking about this earlier.

Speaker 2 (01:16:03):
Um, it's still very cool, like I feel like the early
20s dream is to road trip yesand I mean it's just the world
they live in.
I think the way that yourparents did it is so much cooler
and so much more fun and somuch more memorable.

Speaker 3 (01:16:26):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:16:27):
Especially without social media.
Yes, because so many people aretoo focused on getting the right
picture and making the videoand getting paid and blah, blah,
blah, but it is still a dream.
And blah, blah, blah, but it isstill a dream.
And I can relate because when I, early on in my first marriage,
I worked for a corporaterestaurant in Christiana and it

(01:16:56):
was close to the university, soI worked with a lot of students
from the university, but at thispoint I'm an old married hag,
even though I was the same ageas them.
But anyway, this one girl wasat the end of the school year.
She had a little hatchback car,it wasn't old but it wasn't
real nice, and she had a dog.

(01:17:18):
And she loaded up her littlecar and took her dog and was
doing a cross-country trip forthe summer.
And I was like, oh, like thatwas my dream and instead I got
an old ball and chain, but butit's oh, I feel like it's always
been a dream and to me, evennow, like I'm not a big fan of

(01:17:40):
flying but I love a road trip,like even the birthday trip I
took with my recently.
I'm going to leave it at thatthe road down, you know, on the
way down, shortly into the ride,we see a sign for Acetate
Island and we're like, hey,let's go, and we just pull in
and there happened to bepregnant ponies on the side,

(01:18:00):
wild on the side of the road,you know, and it was.
I haven't been there in foreverand it was such a nice
diversion and that's notsomething you can do when you're
flying or taking a train oranything like that.
A couple of years ago, me, myhusband and my nephew were like
we should take a road trip forThanksgiving, and so I went
online and looked Niagara Fallsdirt ass cheap on Thanksgiving

(01:18:22):
because you're pressing yourluck.
But we got lucky.
It was cold and windy, but nosnow or anything serious like
that, and we got a room for like100 bucks a night.
So between the three of us wesplit three nights and we went.
There was a casino right acrossthe street.
We walked over and saw thefalls.
We, you know, right across thestreet.
We walked over and saw thefalls.

(01:18:42):
We, you know, we wanted to go.
Oh, and it was funny too,because that was as we were
driving up, a car crashed on oneof the bridges coming into.

Speaker 3 (01:18:51):
Yeah, I remember that the United States, Because I
was like holy shit, because youwere up there.

Speaker 2 (01:18:56):
Yep, I remember that and my sister-in-law is a very
high stress, very high anxiety,and she's like turn around, go
home.
We're like, fuck it, we're fine.
We're like halfway on the wayup and we're kind of watching
the news and they don't know ifit's terrorism or what's
happened.
Turns out it was a rich kid inhis daddy's expensive car
driving way too fast and crashedinto the toll booth.

(01:19:16):
It was nothing.
But the first day or two wewere up there it was totally
shut down, police presenceeverywhere.
Like it was kind of cool thatwe went up and saw it.
But that was so much fun.
And you know, on the way upyou're just.
I have a picture hanging in myliving room of an old.
We were just driving up ahighway I don't even know where
because I'm terrible atdirections, but off in this

(01:19:37):
field.
It was so crazy.
There's like a very smallabandoned amusement park and
there's a Ferris wheel and Itook a picture of that Ferris
wheel.
It was like sunset behind it,it was gorgeous and it's those
little things that you get outof road trips.
So that's why that life is soappealing.

(01:19:59):
It's really sad that corporateAmerica comes in and fucks it up
, because of course you're goingto take the tiny house on
wheels over what you lived in.
Sure.

Speaker 3 (01:20:16):
While your experience , though, is so much more raw
and real.
I feel like my dad is a biker,yes, and he goes to Sturgis and
all the bike rallies, and one ofthe reasons he does still have
a van is because he does stillgo sleep in his van.
His van is not one of these newvans.

Speaker 2 (01:20:33):
He's an old man.

Speaker 3 (01:20:35):
He still has the plywood floor in the back of his
van and he still goes and hestill sleeps in the van it's in
his soul it's who he is, it is,it's, it's just, I don't know
it's.
It's crazy to think.
And now that we've gone through,like when I was writing all

(01:20:56):
this and looking it all up and Iwas like, well, I'm mostly,
mostly gonna just talk about mypersonal experience, because I
feel like that's what peoplecare about, and um, but then as
we're so rad as as we're goingthrough it, and then I'm talking
about it to like, not justbecause I'm talking to all of
you and I know I'm looking atNicole, but you know, and I know

(01:21:17):
she knows all of this, butstill it's like I don't know,
it's just it's so surreal, Ithink, for me to think that that
was my life, like just that wasyour entire toddler years.
Because there's a show there wasa documentary on I want to say

(01:21:40):
it was netflix or one of them,and it was called vanning
vanning and I watched it and Imade my mom and dad watch it and
it just brought back so muchand there's no kids in any of
those pictures in any of thatvideo either, but one of the
ones, one of the rallies that wewere or vanning's that is in it
that we were at oh yeah, that'sso cool.

(01:22:01):
I want to say it was the burntchimney.
I don't know, it's just we'regoing like going back through it
and I don't.
I guess, thinking about it, andmost people didn't, didn't,
didn't do that, so well,seriously, honestly, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
I know I say it every week, but that was amazing.
This is probably my favoriteepisode ever.
Yeah, that was so cool, so cool.
I loved it.
Now y'all know what's wrongwith me.
Why I am the way I am Now.
Y'all know why she's so awesome.
Don't you wish you could be her.

Speaker 3 (01:22:39):
Well, it's why I'm so laid back.
Probably it's why I'm so laidback.
Probably it's why I'm so Likewhatever.

Speaker 2 (01:22:45):
Yeah.
I'll never forget.
Someone in our lives told youonce you were accommodating to a
fault and it infuriated youwhen it was said Do you remember
what I'm talking about?
Uh-uh.
When it was said, do youremember what I'm talking about?
We were in Florida with ourlast life together and they

(01:23:08):
wanted to know where you went togo out to dinner and you said
you didn't care.
And you were told you'reaccommodating to a fault and I
remember you being so irateBecause it's not.
It was meant to be a criticism.
Yes, and it's really at yourcore who you are.
Yes, and that's why, like youreally truly don't care, like

(01:23:32):
whatever, yes, like you're apretty basic eater yes, pretty
basic.

Speaker 3 (01:23:39):
I'm.
You're a five-year-old you'repretty basic.
I don't want to say basic,that's, I don't know, it's
totally true, but and then and alot of that comes from um- like
if you don't want to dosomething, you're going to be
like no, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2 (01:23:54):
Yeah, so it's not like you're a pushover.
Yeah, but if you're in asituation you've chosen to be in
that situation, I don't want tosay you've chosen to be in that
situation.
I don't want to say younecessarily want to be in that
situation, but you have chosento be there, so you are going to
play along.
Then you're going toaccommodate, like it's just not
worth, like you're not going tobe, like, oh, I have celiac
disease I can't eat yeah no, andthat time because everything

(01:24:17):
comes on a bun everything,everything and you're stuck with
it and so wish you don't eat it.

Speaker 3 (01:24:23):
They shoot your story because I don't know what.
I also think that um a lot ofmy independence and my enjoying
my aloneness yeah, um whichapparently spent a lot of time.
I mean, apparently that makesit very difficult for other
people in relationships with metoo.

Speaker 2 (01:24:44):
Yeah, I mean, I've grown accustomed to it, but god
damn, when we met at ud youdrove me fucking nuts, because I
would be like hype and ready tofucking go on a saturday and
I'd call you and you'd be likeno.
And I'd be like come on on,blah, blah, blah, nope, nope,
and I'd hang up, call you back,nope.
And then I'd call and you'd bedrunk and the Beastie Boys were

(01:25:06):
there and it was all fuckingover at that point but you know
whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:25:10):
Well, I enjoyed the Beastie Boys when I got drunk.

Speaker 2 (01:25:15):
Oh vodka.

Speaker 3 (01:25:18):
That's why I don't drink now.
I don't drink now.
So, yeah, I think a lot of myindependence and my wanting to
be alone.
Also, I have to.
When I sleep, I like to sleepin a corner.
I like my bed pushed up againstthe wall.

Speaker 2 (01:25:37):
I mean your bed's perfect where you live now.

Speaker 3 (01:25:39):
And I like it closed in and I think that probably
comes from.

Speaker 2 (01:25:47):
Yeah, you always have had that.
Yeah, I have slept in a vanbecause when I was seven months
pregnant, sleeping in your bed,yeah, yeah, I was right up
against the wall.
Yeah, I had to sleep againstthe wall because you had to get
up and go to work.
Yeah, she worked, don't I madeher work?

Speaker 3 (01:26:01):
I mean kind of we worked together quite a few
times.
Yeah, yeah, of course she wasmy bartender, yeah, anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:26:12):
So now that explains a lot about who I am and um now
you all know me a little bitbetter, I think now you all know
why she's the better half ofthis episode.
Even my fucking nephew said sobecause he started listening and
he's only listened to threeepisodes and he will text me and
be like, oh my God, like that'sso cool.
A buddy plays video games withmy husband, so they say things

(01:26:34):
on the headset that I can't hear.
And the other day I invited himover because I was like you
need to come over and I'll buyyou pizza and I just really want
to hear you tell me how greatmy podcast is, because I haven't
seen you face to face.
And so he comes over and then Ifind out that he thinks Heather
is really funny.

(01:26:55):
So he does still have favoritenephew status because he
actually listens, and I'm prettysure he's the only person in my
life who listens to it.
Please, heather has people wholove her.
Shout out to the post office.

Speaker 3 (01:27:11):
They are religious.

Speaker 2 (01:27:12):
I know I love them.
Thank you and shout out to GenX watch and free nights and
weekends.
We love you guys.
Thank you so much.
I love the camaraderie thatwe've kind of built together and
how we share each other's shitand just try to promote each
other and boost each other upand hopefully one day one of us
makes it don't forget weekendspodcast comes out on fridays,

(01:27:35):
and hearts of glass is the bookout now by Pat Green.
If you're looking for it, it'sGen X Watch on the socials.
Socials yes.

Speaker 3 (01:27:48):
Also on socials.
You should check us out,because we're on all of them at
LikeWhateverPod, If you want to.
We're on TikTok all the socials, blah, blah, blah.
I lost my place.
If I could, real quick.
If you're on Facebookok all thesocials, blah, blah, blah.
I lost my place.

Speaker 2 (01:28:01):
Oh, here it is, if you yeah, if I could real quick,
if you're on facebook, if youcould just go on and like us or
follow us like.
It is like pulling teeth to getfollowers on facebook.
Yes, and I work my ass off onthe socials she does I have
slacked in the past week or two,I admit, but I'm gonna get back
on it.
But seriously, like othersocials, boom, everybody follows
you back facebook.

(01:28:23):
So if you're on the facebook,get on it, yeah, although I do
post a lot and I'm obnoxious.
But you could follow us andthen just not see my posts.

Speaker 3 (01:28:30):
That's fine, just just follow us if you want to
talk about your van life, if youare another child and you
remember any of this and oh mygod.
I would love to hear otherstories about this send us an
email to like whatever pod atgmailcom, or don't like whatever

(01:28:51):
whatever bye.

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