What Keeps The Veteran Community Together When Time Pulls It Apart?: Inside One VFW's Mission of Modernizing For The Next Generation

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
War is a paradox that has the power to bring
nations together, to inspireheroism and sacrifice, and to
forge bonds of camaraderie thatwill span a lifetime.
But it also has the power totear families apart, to shatter
communities, and to leave scarsthat will never fully yield.
And for those who have served,the transition back to civilian

(00:25):
life can be one of the greatestchallenges they will ever face.
This is the typical life ofmilitary veterans, a world that
is both familiar and foreign tomost of us.
It is a world that is shaped byunique experiences, values, and
traditions of the military, andby the sacrifices and struggles
of those who have served.
But it's also a world that isconstantly changing as new

(00:47):
generations of veterans confrontnew challenges and new
opportunities.
Thank you for joining us at SoupSandwich.
Dig your foxhole, heat up yourMRE, and spend some time with
us.
This podcast is designed solelyfor entertainment and
occasionally informationalpurposes only, and is to be
regarded strictly as satirecomprising of veterans that

(01:08):
delves into their thoughts andexperiences in combat as well as
their perspectives on variousaspects of daily life that may
be unsettling for certainlisteners.
This podcast is not suitable forindividuals under the age of
eighteen, and the viewsarticulated in this podcast may
not necessarily align with thoseof the national VFW or VFW
Department of Michigan or VFWHost 3033.

SPEAKER_02 (02:01):
Life member of Post 3033, and I'm the state director
for the writers' groups for theDepartment of Michigan.

SPEAKER_08 (02:08):
Bill Payne, life member, post thirty
thirty-three, past districtcommander, past post commander.
That's all I got.

SPEAKER_09 (02:18):
Red Wings fan.
House committee chairman.

SPEAKER_08 (02:20):
House committee chairman.

SPEAKER_09 (02:21):
Yeah, yeah.
The wearer of many hats.

SPEAKER_12 (02:27):
Uh Roy Thomas, Post 3033 life member, uh, post
quartermaster.

unknown (02:33):
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_09 (02:34):
United States Marine.
United States Marine.
Jarheads.
And I'm Brian Holbrook.
Welcome back.
I am the founder of thiswonderful podcast.
Life member of Post3033.
And Navy Corpsman, Navy veteran.
Go Navy.

(02:55):
Alright, let's get this thing.
Hey.
Let's see.
How do I?
You know, I probably should havefigured this out before I
started.

SPEAKER_03 (03:05):
Flip the camera around the other way.

SPEAKER_09 (03:08):
It's a better view if we do it out of this camera.
Squeeze that.

unknown (03:16):
There we go.

SPEAKER_07 (03:20):
Always a goal.
This is the hard part.
And it works not that hard.
That's what she said.

SPEAKER_09 (03:31):
That's what she said.

unknown (03:32):
Oh.

SPEAKER_09 (03:33):
You can sit down.
I'm just gonna make sure theview is right.
Sorry guys, we had to do it theuh the old-fashioned way.
Down.
Down like so.

SPEAKER_06 (03:46):
Spin the whole stand, right?
There you go now.
That's all right.
There we go.

SPEAKER_09 (04:06):
I don't know why that's doing that.

SPEAKER_11 (04:19):
Is it too high?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 (04:29):
That's kind of cock eyed.
That's good.

SPEAKER_09 (04:41):
Alright, there you go.
Wanna move it back a little bitjust to get a wider view?
That's good.

SPEAKER_02 (04:50):
We need wide views around here.

SPEAKER_09 (04:52):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
Alright.
We got brown.
Hey.
That's wide loads.
Or heavy loads.
Heavy loads.
Heavy wide loads.

SPEAKER_09 (05:03):
Alright.
Alright.
I'm going to uh monitor on thisas well.
So what are we talking about,guys?
I don't really have anything, tobe honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 (05:18):
I thought we were gonna get how to sell a house.
That was the last episode.
I thought no, we got how to getloans for houses.
So we're gonna do how to whatare we talking about, man?

SPEAKER_09 (05:33):
So we're gonna do how to.

SPEAKER_02 (05:36):
Why is it doing this?
It'd be actually cool to put thecamera up there so it's like
yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (05:43):
Alright.
Oh, and Jerry said it looksokay.
Thanks, Jerry.
Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_10 (05:47):
Is that Pressman?

SPEAKER_09 (05:49):
So huh?
Pressman?
Oh shit.
Jerry Fountain.
Yeah, Pressman.
Sorry.
Awesome.
Glad to see he's listening in.
I don't I don't know his lastname.
I knew him by Pressman.
Anyway.
Yeah.
So, um vote for Pedro.

SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Yeah, April's always uh VFW post-level uh elections.
We elect the commander, seniorvice, junior vice, secretary,
quartermaster, which Roy alreadydid the five-year quartermaster
thing that we do, so he's therefor the he's got four more years

(06:34):
left.
Yeah.
So I'm struck.
And then uh some housecommittees and suckered him into
the job.
He's doing just fine.
I'm stuck.
You're stuck forever.
Okay, my the only way you'regetting out of it is if you
transfer.
Think about it.

SPEAKER_09 (06:51):
Yeah, that's not pretty well, but your fat ass
head, I can't you can't see mein the camera.

SPEAKER_02 (07:00):
Just saying.
Do the people really need to seeyou though?

SPEAKER_09 (07:03):
Yeah.
I have a face for radio.
I'll admit it, I'm just saying.
So anyway, yeah, post-elections,I think.
I don't know, I think that's themost exciting part every year.
I mean, we do a lot of good shitaround the year, but I think the

(07:24):
start of a new year is alwayskind of exciting to see what you
know what's gonna happen andoutside of the norm, of course.

SPEAKER_02 (07:32):
I don't think there's any real surprises.
We'll really the only race Ireally know of is would be the
commander.
That's true.
Is it uh it's just Shem?
Just Shem right now, but I meanif anybody else gets nominated,
then I mean that's really thebig the big one.

SPEAKER_05 (07:54):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (07:55):
Kind of really, really matters.
Yep.
And you know, when you get a newget a new commander in there,
you know, we went 10 passed,right?
I already stepped up, that pulsewent in a different direction
because he just has differentleadership, and if it changes
this year and goes with Shem orgoes with whoever, you know,
there's gonna be another changein direction.

(08:15):
Yep.
See how that goes too.
You know, so I mean that's it'sthat's always the exciting part
for me.

SPEAKER_09 (08:20):
I mean, and we have obviously we have a shared
mission and vision as a V as theVFW, right?
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, being able to putyour own like personal spin on
things and and all that is iswhat I was talking about.
Is everybody's got their theirway of doing stuff, so anyway.

SPEAKER_02 (08:43):
So that's exciting.
Some of it's about unity, youknow, not only in the post
between post membership, butalso the auxiliary membership,
too, you know.
I mean, you've got to have theirpresident and our post commander
have to be able to work togetherto accomplish goals together,
right?
Because it is a shared house,right?
I mean, we'll use that as thebest, right?

(09:03):
Our side of the wall, their sideof the wall.
But we have to be able to dothings together.
Yeah.
And um, you know, you can't haveone side hating the other side.

SPEAKER_09 (09:13):
Right.
You know, we gotta coexist.
We gotta coexist because here'sthe other thing.
Without us, there is noauxiliary.
But without us supporting eachother, there's no us.
Right, there's no boss.
So, you know.
And then the other thing is, youknow, our our auxiliary is
fantastic.
Um on many occasions, and Ithink almost an annual event.

(09:36):
Doesn't the national presidentof the auxiliary come and
usually have dinner with us?

SPEAKER_02 (09:41):
So I think she's been here two out of three
years.
The last she's been here twicein the last three years.

SPEAKER_09 (09:46):
Yeah, so our auxiliary is on the map enough
to attract the attention oftheir national president.

SPEAKER_02 (09:53):
Yeah, so yeah, so when their national comes in,
she might spend four or fivedays, right?
Six days in Michigan, and each,you know, maybe only two, maybe
sometimes three nights, she'llpick, you know, some of the top
posts, auxiliary posts, and anddo a dinner.
You know, so I mean that'sthey're not gonna do it every
single night.

(10:14):
They're only gonna be able toget one a night if they did, but
so they're only around for, youknow, five, six, seven days, so
they're gonna they're gonna picktop three or four.
So when you start talking,there's two hundred and you kind
of just saw the number, twohundred and forty-four posts or
something like that in theDepartment of Michigan.
So, you know, if you're one ofthree, or maybe one of four

(10:36):
selected, I mean that's youthat's that's like the top half
percent that their nationalpresident wants to come sit at.
And our our post is nothingspecial, it's not like it's some
grand Taj Mahal post.
I mean it's wood panel sightingfrom the 70s and garbage
everywhere.
I mean, it's it's a classic VFW,you know what I mean?
It's not that go down to DeWittand look at those, or you go up

(10:58):
the Cherry Land up in TravisCity, look at that one.
I mean, they're beautiful.

SPEAKER_09 (11:01):
Yeah, that's you know, that's something that I'd
like to do is is to to go aroundand visit some of these other
posts because there are someawesome posts.
Well, there are.
Um you should get out andtraveling this year.
Yeah, it's just you know, one ofthose things, easier said than
done.
So not really.

(11:21):
Roll it up on the Saturday.
I mean that too, I guess, but itcosts you a tank of gas.
What would you say you guys havebeen around a lot riding bikes
and whatnot?
Like in your opinion.

SPEAKER_08 (11:35):
I have Billy don't ride, I don't ride much anymore.

SPEAKER_09 (11:38):
Gotcha.
So, well, even in your pastexperience, what uh here in the
state, what's what do you thinkis the best, most impressive,
visually impressive post you'veseen here in in Michigan?

SPEAKER_08 (11:55):
Charlie City'd be one of them.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (11:58):
That's tough because they've all got you know their
own unique thing.
So is it like overall the citythey're in, plus the post?
Is it strictly just the post?

SPEAKER_09 (12:08):
Is it just just the money's around it?
I mean, I would say just thepost.

SPEAKER_08 (12:12):
I mean, not to not to make it about the bells and
the whistles and all of that,but just you know, I have to
side with Charlie on thatbecause there's a lot of things
you have to take intoconsideration because there's
like placement of the post.
Because like the Traverse Citypost, there's not a lot right
within the post.

SPEAKER_02 (12:33):
But you're in Traverse City, and if you want
to go to the beach, you'reyou're a 15-minute drive.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
I mean, it's like on the it's onlike the south end of Traverse
City by Great Wolf Lodge.
Right.
But you go over the HollandPost.
The Holland Post is is a nicepost too.
It's a little older.
They've been painting and doingsome stuff inside.
It's huge.
Got a basement, I mean, got abeautiful basement downstairs

(12:56):
where uh Rincorps League andstuff does their stuff.
They've got a room down there.
They have two bars, they havelike a weekend bar and a weekday
bar.
You know, I mean it's really,really pretty post, and it's
it's in freaking Holland, youknow, just outside, literally
just a stone throw outside ofdowntown.
Right.
Which is beautiful downtown.
So they you know that they gotthat going for them.
But uh, you know, Bruce Postdown in St.

(13:17):
Clair Shores, that's an awesomepost.
I think it's like three stories.
Massive.
It's right on Lake Michigan.
Back parking lot.
You can s they actually ownLakefront.
On whatever I don't know if it'sI don't know if that's actually
Lake Michigan or the river.
It must be St.
Claire or Lake St.
Clair.
Yeah, something like that.
They're literally right there.
They host weddings out there allthe time.

(13:38):
People that want to get marriedin front of the water.
Post is huge.
But it's not as nice as TravisCity's post.
That's a little bit older insideand stuff like that.
But so you know, they all theyall have their good good
qualities and bad qualities, soit's tough to tell.
But for around here, you know,Midland.
Midland's got a nice littlepost.

SPEAKER_09 (13:57):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (13:57):
Because we're updated inside, it's nice.

SPEAKER_08 (13:59):
And I think that brings the ball the malt the bar
area is small in Midland.
Yeah, it's yeah, it's not much.
Yeah, right.
It is, but canteen area justtiny.

SPEAKER_09 (14:11):
And that brings up another topic because I feel
like you know, most of theposts, not just in Michigan, but
probably nationwide, they're allolder.
And I think when I've had manyconversations on social media

(14:31):
with you know different people.
Um the younger generation seemsto be there's a curb appeal.
There's a certain curb appeal.
It's you know, it's gotta meetthat that curb appeal before
they're even interested.
Same same concept with nowadays,like marketing and and owning a
business.

(14:51):
You have to have an onlinepresence and it has to look
decent.
Like if you don't, they're notgonna trust you.
They don't even they don't eventouch you in today's
technological same concept.
So if we're trying to get theyounger generations of veterans
in, what are your thoughts?
But well, but let me ask you aquestion, right?

SPEAKER_02 (15:11):
You you roll up to a mom and pop restaurant and it's
dingy and it's dirty and it'soutdated on the front, right?
Are you walking through thedoor?
Probably not, because you'regonna think the kitchen is dirty
and grungy and not updated, andyou're gonna just eat and dinner
there or lunch there, probablynot.
Right, you know, so I I I agree.

(15:34):
I think you know, when youngermembers, right, they they look
at a post.
Ours has zero windows, right?
Doesn't look very inviting, itlooks like a square box.

unknown (15:44):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (15:45):
Sit on the side of the road.
You know, now if it had windowsand had stuff, you know, it
would actually look not like alittle mini prison or a strip
club, because I always think itlooks like a strip club.
I mean, you ever drive by astrip club with windows?
No, you don't.
Right?
So, but that's what it alwaysreminded me of because they
boarded those things up when theplace got broken into in 1974.

(16:06):
You know, so it's always justkind of been that way.
But you know, I I I agree.
I think you gotta have curbappeal because if you want to be
a member somewhere, you want totake pride in ownership of that
building, you know, as you do asmembers.
So I don't know.
It's it's it's a tough sell withyounger members, anyways.

SPEAKER_12 (16:23):
But I think for the younger members though, it's
still I mean they're stilllooking for you know, generally
when they go out to the bars,they're looking for that social
scene, you know, that thatinteraction, whether you know,
they're trying to find, youknow, a fling for the night or

(16:44):
or whatever.

SPEAKER_08 (16:45):
Yeah, they're looking for pussies.

SPEAKER_12 (16:46):
You know, they're they're on the prowl, man, and
you're you don't get that at apost.
You know, it's it's all of us,and you know, the women that are
in there are generally marriedor with somebody, and at the
same time, most likely they'reslightly you know older.
So I mean you're not gonna getyou know a 22-year-old kid in

(17:08):
there, right um, unless you knowhe's with one of us and we're
drawing him in there orwhatever.
They're just at that age,they're looking for a whole
different crowd.
You know, we don't have loudmusic and disco lights and you
know, club atmosphere wherewe're you know generally quiet,
right?
Sit down and have a few weirdsand chit-chat atmosphere.

SPEAKER_02 (17:32):
I don't know.
Have you ever been to our postat 2 a.m.?
No, they get pretty rowdy inthere, buddy.
No, because what we're the we'reone of the only posts that I
know of that stays open till 2a.m.
Most close at 10.
And they're ushering you out thedoor.
Ours are like, you got four ormore?

(17:52):
We roll till two, yeah?
You know, which is the way itshould be.
You know, I mean that's postsare there to serve the veterans
in their community.
Right?
And if your doors are closed,regardless if it's noon, 4 p.m.,
6 p.m., or 10 p.m., right?
Your doors are closed, you'renot serving veterans.
You're not open for veterans tohave a place to go, to be around

(18:15):
comrades.
So, you know.
But you're right, though,they're they're the old
geriatric gin joint, right?
They're not what the young kidswant to go to.
No.
Right.

SPEAKER_12 (18:29):
No, but I think I think another another factor is
too, though, is you know,especially if they weren't
brought up in military familiesfor an understanding, that very
means, you know, these youngpeople understand you know what
the PFW Hall or the AmericanLegion or, you know, these
places really are.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (18:54):
Got my pop out of the way.
There it is.

SPEAKER_09 (19:02):
Well, the sound of freedom.

SPEAKER_02 (19:04):
So this is where the marketing comes in, right?
And I think we all have to do abetter job at it.
Everywhere.
Is that we have to let peopleknow, and this isn't, you know,
you're not gonna hear warstories from grandpa.
And that's what you know, I wasthat's what I was afraid of when

(19:24):
I first walked to the door is Iwas thinking it was gonna be a
bunch of old guys sitting aroundplaying Euchre.
I feel that's the stigma.
Or spades that is the stigma.

SPEAKER_12 (19:31):
I feel that's the stigma of these places, is it's
all the older veterans that wantnothing to do with it, you know.

SPEAKER_09 (19:36):
Yeah, but it's not.
You gotta remember that you knowthe VFW is an organization that
rolls with the times, you know,whether you want to or not, you
still are gonna roll with thetimes, right?
Nobody can escape time.
So as wars continue to be foughtand members and veterans
continue to get out of theservice, here we go.

(19:59):
So the next and largest um byfar population of veterans at
this point is the post-9-11generation because it's a
20-year-long war, literally agenerational war.

SPEAKER_02 (20:12):
So, and I think it's those people that need to we're
starting to see, we're startingto see some of the younger ones.
We are, which would be like mein their mid-40s, just some of
the younger ones in their late20s, AJ Boyle and those kind of
guys that are starting to comearound.

(20:33):
But it's tough when you havelittle kids and families.
And nowadays, you know, we wetalked about this before on
podcasts where there's 24-7-365sports for kids.
Used to never be that way.
You know, you used to havebaseball in the summer.
You maybe had like an all-starteam that traveled around
locally and played, you know,the cities near near you, and

(20:55):
that was about it, and maybe acouple tournaments, and then you
were into football, and then youwere right, but you could play
baseball all year round now.
I mean, now they're blowing upthese big domes for soccer all
winter long, you know, so youcould play soccer.

SPEAKER_09 (21:12):
My my nephew and my sister, you know, they he's on a
lacrosse team, kind of like anall-star team, travels all the
way down to Indiana.
Because lacrosse is not big inMichigan, though.
Big in Michigan, and so yougotta travel for it.
And they're driving hours on theroad, spending money at hotel
rooms, doing these tournamentsand everything else.
And it's great, it gets them outthere, but you know, yeah, like

(21:36):
you're like you said, it wasnever like that back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 (21:39):
It was you know well, hockey.
Hockey, same thing.
I mean, I got a neighbor, uh,Noah, and Noah Perrin.
Um, you'll you'll see himplaying big time collegiate
hockey.
He's on the Big B team.
They they're all over the place.
I mean, his mom basically worksremote because she's always at a

(21:59):
rank somewhere.
I mean, it's Georgia, it'sTexas, it's Pennsylvania, it's
Iowa, traveling with this team,you know, and he's senior in
high school, basically doingonline schooling because he's
gone all the damn time with thisteam.
So it's it's crazy.
We we we never had that, and Ithink that's that's what's
making it difficult for theseyounger members to come in.

(22:22):
It's not that they don't want tocome in, but they've got the
young kids at home, so they haveto do the dad thing, and they've
got to be at all the games andall the practices and all the
stuff.
So they just don't have time tocome in.
It's not that they don't wantit, I think generally they
probably do want it because theymiss it.
You know, they they missbullshitting with the brothers

(22:42):
and the sisters, right?

SPEAKER_12 (22:44):
I think the other thing is they're they're
getting, you know, just startedin their careers.
Yeah.
So they're fully involved theretoo.
Right.
Family career.

SPEAKER_02 (22:55):
Well, and then one of the other things that we are
terrible at, absolutelyhorrendous at.
The second fresh meat walkedthrough the door.
I got a job for you to do.
I got a job you need to do.
Oh, you should be on the housecommittee.
Oh, you should ought to be thequartermaster.
Oh, you should be a trustee.
Oh, you should be right?
And then and then they then theyhalf-assed do it for about six

(23:18):
months or a year, and then theydisappear.
Because they know if they walkback through the door again,
what's gonna happen?
Hey, I got a job for you to do.
Yeah, we're absolutely fuckinghorrendous at doing that to
people.
We wonder why they don't comeback.
We don't see people again,right?
They're just gone.
We run them off because thesecond they walk through the
door, we're on them.

(23:39):
It's terrible.
Terrible.

SPEAKER_09 (23:41):
All right, it's just something that we gotta get used
to trying not to do.
But, you know, it comes from agood place, though.
It's a it's a bad practice, butit comes from a good place
because us on the inside knowhow awesome the post is.
Those of us who have seen theevents that we do and the money

(24:01):
that we donate to where wedonate, and just all the good,
all the good shit that we do.
But that requires administrativesupport, right?
And anyway, so that just kind ofgoes into it.

SPEAKER_02 (24:13):
Yeah, but I mean uh but on on the other end though,
there's nothing wrong withletting someone get their feet
wet and get acclimated to thepost.

SPEAKER_10 (24:20):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
It's just being a damn post member.
Get them to come in andvolunteer cooking, or come in
and volunteer for the Easterevent or the Halloween event or
something.
Come in and help at bike night,right?
So they can still be involved,but you don't got to freaking
put them in a role ofquartermaster or treasurer or
something that they're gonna beregulated to having to do.
Let them let them come in andjust enjoy the post.

(24:41):
And if they have the time todonate, let them come in and
help with events.

SPEAKER_12 (24:46):
Let them decide their life if they got the
weight on their shoulders tobring it to you.
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (24:52):
So they can see the so they can still be.
Well No, I didn't.
Yeah, you did.
No, I didn't.
Yeah, you did.
You literally turned on aposition to take the
quartermaster visit.
I was at the meeting.
You literally resigned from oneto take the other one.

SPEAKER_12 (25:06):
All right.
So let's let's re- I did.
Okay, so there you go.
Let's rewind.
There you go.
As I was junior vice, I gotcalled out to the back TV bar by
Arnie and Shem, and they'relike, hey, we heard, you know,
that you wanted or that you wereinterested in being a
quartermaster.
And I'm like, well, I don't knowwhere you heard this from

(25:26):
because I never expressed thatonce.
And then they they just keptpressuring me.
They're like, well, are youinterested?
And I'm like, and then that'swhy I'm like, listen, you were
already stepped down, the postis in a dire need, we had our
30-day ordeal, and I was like,you know, if somebody's gonna
step up, I'll step up and fillthe void.
It's not that I wanted thisposition.

(25:47):
Somehow I got shoveled down upand six.
So then yeah, I stepped down andhe goes, I come out there and
they were pressuring me.
Somebody threw my name into thatbucket and I had no idea.

SPEAKER_09 (26:01):
Isn't that funny how it works though?

SPEAKER_02 (26:03):
So once again, this is the reason why I like new
guys coming out.
New old guys cover, old newguys.

SPEAKER_09 (26:10):
I would I would like to use your own words against
you.
It was the last podcast episodewhere you said that I handed you
the keys to a Ferrari.
Oh yeah.
So I did I made it much lesspainful.
So you gotta go see the doctortomorrow because you're gonna
hurt your shoulder, pat yourselfon the back.
Yeah, I know.
I gotta I'm trying to stretch itout so it doesn't hurt as much.

(26:30):
You know, just like this.
No.
But fucking Tim did that shit tome too, man.
Like, and I'll never forget thefirst district meeting I ever
went to.
He uh I can't remember who wasspeaking at the podium at the
time, but he had taken a seatand it I think they were given
like a membership update orsomething, and they had said

(26:51):
something about you know thisexact, you know, just handing
somebody a position or uh andthen the words that he used was
um uh screwing you with thequartermaster's position, and I
see Tim back behind them likegiggling and laughing, and I'm
sitting there like thismotherfucker just did this shit

(27:13):
to me two weeks ago, and he'sback there laughing about it.

SPEAKER_02 (27:17):
I'm like you know, it I actually honest to God,
especially at our pulse, believethe quartermaster is the most
important position.
It is the most importantposition.

SPEAKER_09 (27:26):
Without them, money goes nowhere.
Without them, that pulse goesnowhere, right?

SPEAKER_02 (27:31):
So, you know, that that is the most important
position.

SPEAKER_09 (27:36):
If and you would you would think that the commander
is the most important positionbecause they are quote unquote
the uh elected leader of it, butyou know the they still own
anything without what themembership wants, right?
Right, so but I'm just saying intitle only, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (27:54):
I mean but well boy, we're glad you uh you decided to
step up, volunteer for it.
And once again, hopefully yourfive years go smooth.

SPEAKER_12 (28:12):
One down, yeah.
No, I I you know now now thatI've been in here and and you
know, I I have a routine set,like it's pretty good, you know.
It'll get easier.
Learning as I go, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (28:23):
The hardest part is keep probably keeping track of
all the writers' group crap.
I was I was I was looking atthat table the other night
going, holy shit after lastmeeting, yeah.
Envelopes and envelopes andenvelopes right after the
officers' events meeting.
It's like, oh my god, they hadabout 24 envelopes from all the
different events and crap they'ddone.

(28:43):
Holy shit.

SPEAKER_12 (28:44):
Yeah, well after our last post meeting last month
when when you uh told Trent heneeds to spend some money.
Yeah, man, we just went off thehook.

SPEAKER_09 (28:57):
The worst thing you can do at a meeting is tell us
to spend money because we willknow.

SPEAKER_12 (29:00):
Volunteer this, pay for this, electrical, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (29:04):
But those are all the things that the post had to
spend it on, anyways, right?
He had to get electrical donebecause we can't we have to have
it done in order to get Keno in.
Yep.
Right?
So that so we have to pay for itregardless, so we're not gonna
get it.
But we we need to get it so manypay that.
Is that on the agenda?

SPEAKER_12 (29:21):
Uh yeah, Shem was just talking about last night.
He's trying to he was actuallysaid he was gonna talk to Cappy,
meaning Cappy did the electricalfor the back kitchen.
Back kitchen.
Um he was gonna talk to Cappyabout it and see if he was
interested, but if not, he wasgonna flex about himself.

SPEAKER_09 (29:37):
Gotcha, cool.
It'd be nice to have that.

SPEAKER_02 (29:39):
It'll be just uh I thought we already spent this or
we already okayed the sevenhundred to get the kino in
there.
We did, but we gotta have thatelectrical.
Oh, so now we just have now wejust have to get the electrical
pay for the electrical. 'Causewe have to have it updated
before though we even come inand do it.
Oh, gotcha.
Yeah, because it's gotta be anzone breaker and a bunch of
different shit, right?
Yeah.
So Right.

SPEAKER_09 (29:58):
And it's uh, you know We don't have the space to
plug it in.
We have to modernize becausewe've got uh you know power
strips plugged into powerstrips, and none of them are up
to code.
And you know, so it's just likeso.

SPEAKER_12 (30:10):
On that note, here soon, uh we have a insurance
inspection.
What what?

SPEAKER_02 (30:20):
Yeah, how much insurance company comes through
and they evaluate the buildingand the contents and that kind
of stuff, and they tell you thisis what we think your building's
worth if you have to tear itdown, rebuild it.
Right?
So they do it, they do it inthis building every year.

SPEAKER_12 (30:34):
So I got a letter in the mail.
Well, the post got a letter inthe mail, and it was addressed
to the quartermaster, but it wasquartermaster Richard Clipper.
So I wrote on it, you know, nolonger, and I was just gonna
stick it back in the mailbox,but then um I think I was
actually talking to Coleman atthe time.

(30:57):
Because Coleman was wanting tosee um the financial, you know,
report how how how we get ithere.
Um so I was in there showing himand then I I got that and I
showed him.
And he actually said, go down tothe place, don't just put it in
the mailbox.
I'm like, alright.
So I went down there yesterdayand uh, you know, addressed him

(31:19):
and and told them and they'relike, well, you can open it.
We made, you know, we made thechange to account.
Um then they went through andthey updated it because they
still you know had Tim on thereand um Clipper's email and phone
number and everything.
So we got all that updated, butuh in that envelope was um a
request from the insurancecompany, our insurance West

(31:41):
Bend, that uh uh they need to doan annual inspection.
So uh they got my phone numberand everything, and they said,
you know, I'll hear or I'll geta call from the lady at some
point.
So I mean I would assume withinthis week I'll hear from her.
I haven't heard from her yet,but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (32:00):
Well anyway, they'll they'll figure it out, they'll
get it taken care of.
But yeah, I think um I thinkmodernizing is going to help us
support the uh the computer thatneeds to come in and all this
other stuff, and um we'll we'llget that figured out.

SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
But well, when I I want to reiterate or make sure
this was very clear.
When I said he needs to spendmoney, that doesn't mean
frivolously spend money.
Yeah, no, I that means when weneed the electrical upgrade, we
spend that.
If we need to buy the kino, wepay for that.
We don't just go out and justbuy shit just to spend money
because we're gonna maybe startgetting into the lean times
again here, real quick, right?

(32:40):
We need to make sure we got asmuch stockpiled as we can.
Right.
We are nerf season skills.
Right, because we're gonna havetwo, three skinny months.
Yeah, now we gotta float throughthe summer, right?
So we can't just be out therespend, spend, spend.

SPEAKER_09 (32:52):
Hopefully, hopefully we have some summer events.
We've got bike night, we've gotsome golf outings, we've got oh,
speaking of golf outings, isthere gonna be another golf
outing?
Oh no, I haven't heard yet.
Okay.
Well, anyway, um we'll we'llfigure that out.
So hopefully, but here's theother thing.
We one thing we didn't do lastyear, and by we I mean the

(33:16):
writers group, they didn't doany kind of fundraisers or
anything.
Because I know they fundraiseduring the I'm gonna call it
school year.
I know a school has nothing todo with the post, but it follows
the weather, right?
So that's why I just call it theschool year.
So roughly Labor Day to MemorialDay, you know, and that's also

(33:36):
when Dart leagues are, andthat's also, but anyway.
Um I I think that's when they domost of their fundraising, but
during the summer, nothing.
Everybody's enjoying theweather, which is great.
I understand that.
But shit, man.
You know, so and and I knowTrey, I think he was already

(33:58):
already talking about maybedoing poker runs once a month
and and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 (34:03):
And so we'll be lucky on a poker run if we made
500 bucks.
So 500 bucks is 500 bucks.
How much but they make$18,000doing all their other
fundraisers for six months,right?
So, you know, do you really wantto spend all the time and hassle

(34:24):
to make 500 bucks when you canturn around and make 18,000 in
six months?
Or whatever, whatever the numberis.
I mean, I know it's prettypretty astronomical.
Man, they might even be touching20 grand.
I'll bet you.
You know, you'd probably knowbest.
I mean, we heard the lastreport, they were up over 12.
Uh-huh.
And you think of how manythousands and thousands and

(34:46):
thousands they had spent beforethat.
Right?
So they make a shit ton ofmoney.
They spend a lot of money, theygive a lot to the post.
That's what they're there for.
You know, I mean, I know it'sall kind of one kiddie, but
still at the end of the day.
Right.
You know, and I don't.
That's that's a lot of manhours, a lot of volunteer time

(35:06):
coming in there twice a week fortwo, three hours to man the
kitchen on those nights, too.
Now you want to try to have themdo more?

SPEAKER_09 (35:14):
Probably could, but you know, they're I'm not I'm
not trying to, you know, crackthe whip like a slave driver or
anything.
I get you.

SPEAKER_02 (35:22):
I th I I think the honor guard is actually the one
that we really need to lean onbecause if that's going to be a
joint venture between the Legionand our post, those guys should
go out and try to raise somemoney.
Split it.
You know, or whatever.

SPEAKER_09 (35:36):
But and then, you know, I I I guess the point I'm
trying to make isn't the factthat you know, fundraising
versus no fundraising, it's justfundraising to well, I guess it
is fundraising to nofundraising.
It's it's it's everything tonothing.
And you're like, well shit.
I mean, even even a littlesomething.

(35:58):
You know, like I said, 500 bucksis 500 bucks.
Well, and you know, it doesn'thave to be this big, huge grand
poo-bah of a thing.
Right, I understand.
You know, but again, like Isaid, bike night is.

SPEAKER_02 (36:10):
We're not doing gun raffles.

SPEAKER_12 (36:13):
I started, I mean two, three games into the
football season, I startedsquares.
I was sitting down with anotherveteran and he brought it up,
and we started.
I remember we sat right therewith Randy Gilray that night, us
three.
And um, you know, we're like,well, let's give it a shot.
And uh It became a huge thing.

(36:34):
It became a huge thing for us.
And then, you know, halfwaythrough the season, Trey jumped
on and ended up, you know, Treyended up being the funnel guy,
you know, for other money, andthen uh I think playoff game,
um, we filled a board like that,and Trey's like, well, I'm
starting another one.
So we started another one, andthen that folded.

(36:54):
So we did one for the post, andhe took the other one, you know,
straight to the writers group,but that took off like crazy.
That was a huge moneymaker forus, you know, during football
season was these footballsquares.
You know, and mind you, likeours were high, it was 10 bucks
a square.
Um, you know, and then halfpayout and half back to the

(37:14):
post.
You know, and I know Randy, hegave he's like, well, you know,
a lot of people when they playthose, you know, they want they
want full kickback.
And I'm like, yeah, well, a lotof them are for a VFW post
dedicated veterans.
Like, this is what this isabout.

SPEAKER_03 (37:27):
Right.

SPEAKER_12 (37:28):
And we never we never had anybody bad an eye,
you know, 10 bucks a square.
You know.
So good.
Yeah, that I mean that thatturned out.
I know I talked to Trey a littlebit, um, you know, for March
Madness here.
Um, and it just it nevermaterialized, you know, trying
to put together a bracket fit,bracket pool.
A brick bracket pool, you know,for the March Madness.

(37:51):
We just we never got to it.
So, you know, maybe next year wecan we can be on top of it.
But and it's gambling.
People love gambling.

SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
Well, that's why we're trying to put kino in the
post because I can tell you, andI I don't know what the payouts
are for those, but it'll youthey have regular kino, they got
cash bob, you can do yourlottery tickets, they got fast
cash, which is basically like uhyou know a scratch off, but it's
instant, so it just prints yourticket and then you you know you
go down through the things andfind right a bunch of different

(38:19):
things.
So I mean I it pretty much everyevery place like a post VFW will
have Kino, you know.

SPEAKER_09 (38:26):
So and and the off chance that somebody hits, you
know, we do get a commission offof that.

SPEAKER_02 (38:31):
So yeah, so I mean it's really no different than
when we do pull tabs, right?
You know, which is actually oneof the things I'd like to see
the writers group try to findand maybe purchase is a bigger
pull tab machine.
So rather than just having fouroptions, might be able to get
six or eight, you know, like anewer one that you know, because

(38:52):
people like playing it.
I mean they play it all thetime.
So I think if they had moreoptions, I might play more.

SPEAKER_09 (38:57):
Got a got a couple comments here, real quick.
Tab said uh we were going backto us talking about curb appeal,
talking about military flags outfront and maybe a banner.
And then she also says that wepulled in, you know, some good
donations from the Darttournament for Tim last weekend.
So and we did.
Um, and that's I guess that'swhat we were saying is now that

(39:18):
the Dart leagues and stuff areover, during the summer we don't
really have that option.

SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
Well, we do because Jason Lucha, I believe, still
does a weekly summer tournamenttournament out of the Eagles.
So should we all?
I think he called it.
I think he called it luck of thedraw.
Something like that, becausethat's that's your partner.
I I'm not on Facebook anymore,so I'd have to have Sean Beal or

(39:45):
something like that try to findit and look into it.

SPEAKER_09 (39:47):
Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 (39:47):
That's got it.
But he does it all summer long.

SPEAKER_09 (39:51):
Right.
Kelly says Keno.
Yeah so we're we're in processwith that.
My question is um actuallyapplying for that license and
getting it all in process andand all that.
Some of that some of that stuffis weird, like based on who
holds the license and like allthat stuff.

SPEAKER_02 (40:11):
So well it'd be Terry, because he's the
charitable games guy.

SPEAKER_09 (40:14):
Yeah, but he's stepping down.
If we can get keynote, he toldme he's done.
So why?
He doesn't want to deal with it.

SPEAKER_10 (40:23):
So the computer.

SPEAKER_09 (40:25):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (40:29):
Well, I think and I love Terry, but I think even
keeping up is becoming more andmore of a struggle.
Yeah.
You know, I'm in there, he comesin, you know, seven mornings
like when I'm in there, andthere's times where he just sits
at that computer and it's likehe can't get his numbers to line
up and match, and then all of asudden he'll just go like that.

SPEAKER_09 (40:50):
Yeah, well, I've helped him with that, and that
freaking form that they make himuse is something else.
They need to, but anyway, Idoesn't matter.
Point is is he was saying, youknow, it's just one more thing
to, you know, he's head of ourmaintenance, he's head of
charitable games.
If we if we do keyno andwhatnot, he's gonna have to be

(41:13):
part of that.
I we just what I I asked him theother day, I said if we get if
we get this machine, we do thewhole thing.
He's like, Are you gonna dothat?
And he said, No.

SPEAKER_02 (41:22):
So, what I can tell you is if you get the Kino
machine, when you get your pulltabs, you go to the machine and
you type in the box number, andit activates every single one of
those pull tabs.
Okay?
So that if somebody steals abox, they can't just rip it off
and bring them in because theyyou when you scan them, it tells

(41:45):
you if it's activated or not,right?
And then it prints out a slip,either you win or you lose.
So that computer system takescare of everything.
He won't have to log in thatpaperwork.
No, this is no, this is theactual keynote machine.
You scan the tickets, all thosepull tabs have like a barcode.
When you scan it, it tells youif it's a winner or loser.

(42:08):
And it prints out a slip andthen it records it in the
computer.
So all that paperwork he'sfilling out for winners and
losers and numbers and this,that, you don't have to do any
of that.
He types in that you know, boxone, two, three, four, five has
been loaded in the machine.
It it takes every one of thoseand basically activates them.
So then that way they'll scan.

(42:29):
So that that way they know thatit's been sold.
So they scan it, and then thecomputer will take care of all
that paperwork he's doing.
I bet you don't have to do noneof it.
The computer system will do itall.
Yep, because it it knows winnerloser.
So like we're crossing crap offand writing all this stuff down,
you won't have to do any of it.
Right.

(42:50):
Yep.
I almost guarantee you.
Because there's no way that aplace like the Green Spot or
anywhere else has 24 pull tabmachines, they're back in the
back, writing down every littlething every week.
There ain't no fucking way.
No way.
It's all done through theirkeynote machine, I bet.

SPEAKER_12 (43:09):
I was talking to somebody a while ago and they
were saying like the pull tabmachines at like they prefer
playing on like the VFWs, VFWhalls, and like Eagles and
whatnot because they're like abetter regulated, like a better
odd pull tab than you go to likethe green spot or something.

SPEAKER_02 (43:29):
Nope, we buy them all through the state lottery.
They buy them from the sameplace we buy them from.
Yep, they're all the same.
The only option that you reallyget is what kind of game it is,
right?
Like triple cherries and fivestars and lucky charms and
whatever else, right?
That's like the only thing youcan really select is the
denomination and then thewhatever the little symbols are,

(43:50):
right?
The American flag one orwhatever.
That's pretty much it.
But we all buy them from thesame place.
Okay.
So maybe they're just playinggames that because I I would
maybe imagine there might begames that have better odds.
Sure.
But maybe not.
Because it's supposed to have Ithink they're all supposed to
have the same profit return fordoing it, but I I don't know.

(44:13):
Because we have to buy thoseboxes.
Right.
So if each one of those boxescost us a thousand dollars,
right?
But there's only eight hundreddollars in winners in that box,
that means we made two hundreddollars by buying that box,
right?
Or whatever.
Whatever it is.

SPEAKER_12 (44:29):
Well, the box don't cost that much.

SPEAKER_02 (44:30):
Well, I'm just what I'm saying is I don't know what
the I'm just using it as anexample, right?

SPEAKER_12 (44:35):
Like when I buy boxes for Terry, it's only like
$136 a box.

SPEAKER_02 (44:41):
Okay, so then so then the rate of return is
better than.
Right.
Right, but I'm just saying, sothey're always supposed to have
some profit for the person withthe machine for the electric and
all the work that goes into it.
But yeah.
I don't I don't know how muchthe So that must mean there's a
lot more losers in there thanwinners.

(45:02):
Always the always the case.

SPEAKER_12 (45:03):
Yeah, they're only I mean, as I write these checks
for Terry when he needs, youknow, new boxes.
Uh, you know, because I got I Iwrite the checks out of the
Cherry Boy Games checkbook andthey're like 136 bucks a box.
Yeah, ballpark.

SPEAKER_10 (45:18):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_09 (45:20):
So you remember.
And that's how it works.
I mean, you buy the box and youknow it's essentially, if I
remember correctly, you buy thebox for whatever it costs, say
it's like a hundred bucks orwhatever, and you know the money

(45:43):
that you s that you collect inyour machine based on the losers
is what you keep.
And then, you know, it's roughlylike a 60-40 split or a 50-50
split, losers over winners, andall of the winners total up to
you know X amount, whatever.
So, you know, but yeah, anyway.

SPEAKER_02 (46:09):
So yeah, Keno, I agree with Kelly.
Keno is gonna be big.
Yeah, it's gonna be huge.
And Claire put it in, and Claireswears by it, you know.
Well we we swore by the dartmachines they've got five up
there now.
They started with one, went totwo, like then from like two to
five.
So I mean they they came downhere and and and understood how

(46:33):
that they can help that post outwith those dart leaks, right?
And they've incorporated thatand it's doing well, and that
they love their kino machine,does them well, so we know it's
gonna do us well.
We just have to get ourelectrical done and then get
them in there and figure out howto do it.
We've got to get our poop in agroup, made so and time's time's

(46:53):
sticking.
I hate hate putting thefootball.
You know, we do that all toooften at our post.
We've been talking about we'vebeen talking about kino for six
months.
We longer than that.

SPEAKER_12 (47:06):
Right.
Because he brought it all up.

SPEAKER_02 (47:10):
So I heard we are still kicking a football on our
own.
Yep.
And then complaining we're notmaking it.

SPEAKER_09 (47:16):
Well, and and that was the other thing.
I wanted to have this approvedjust like we did at the last
meeting last year.
Just because you approvedsomething doesn't mean you
actually have to spend it rightthen.
You know, and that's the point Itried to make last year, and it
just it didn't get it got voteddown.
I was like, all right, cool,whatever.

SPEAKER_02 (47:31):
Well, what we need to do is just we just need to
vote on a pass, say we're gonnaspend a thousand dollars on
electrical upgrades.
Not not to exceed a thousanddollars.
We get a quote in for 740 bucks,get it done.
It's already been approved up toa thousand here, 740, start
tomorrow.
Get it done.

SPEAKER_12 (47:47):
We've we've already it's already been approved for
like 700 bucks, right?
Oh, I thought that was just forthe for the electrical.
Oh, that was enough.

SPEAKER_09 (47:54):
I thought that was the key.
We approved the whole kit andcomputer.
It's already been approved up to1300.
It's just getting it going,yeah.
Up for the license and themachines and the installation
and the electrical upgrade.

SPEAKER_02 (48:05):
So if we already got a quote for the electrical,
who's doing it?
That's what we're trying to findout.
That's what Shem's working onright now.
Well, then how do we get a quotefor it?

SPEAKER_12 (48:13):
Because we went through Cappy and his back when
he was QM and he got it allapproved, he already had
everything laid out before hebrought it to the post.
He's like, I have a quote here.
It was like six, seven hundred.

SPEAKER_09 (48:26):
So it was six hundred bucks.
Yeah.
So he was Mr.
Electric or something?
No, he was with uh Cappy's guy.
Cappy's guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (48:33):
Yeah, I don't know.
Down St.
Louis, I think.
I remember you had it all laidout when you brought it to the
and then it got approved.
It just hasn't been done yet.
And I don't think it gotapproved, though.
That was the thing.
Um 99 within the last twomeetings.
I'm 99% sure it got approved.
What?

SPEAKER_09 (48:52):
Oh, no, yeah.
Like I thought you were talkingabout last year.
No.
I was like, no, I didn't getapproved last year, otherwise it
would have been done already.

SPEAKER_05 (48:59):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (48:59):
No.

SPEAKER_12 (48:59):
Um no, because I will admit when I first took
over, I wanted to table it justbecause we were dire in our
finances.
Yeah, we can't do any of thisright now.
We have to.

SPEAKER_09 (49:10):
And part of that was my fault because I was sick and
tired of paying bills forcertain people who wanted to
take advantage of our post.
And, you know, I don't want tothrow out names, but uh, you
know, there were I'm gonna saycontractors, quote unquote, that
were charging us monthly rentalfees on some equipment that was

(49:35):
ten years outside of you knowefficiency and just being
upgraded, and it was it was wayoutside of, and we were still
just sitting there paying amonthly fee, and it was me being
quartermaster for a year saying,Why the hell are we paying for
this?
And it's equipment that was fromyou know a decade ago, and so it

(49:58):
saved us money because less uhyou know consumables were being
used for it, less you know,issues with the actual
machinery.
Anyway, but did we did we needto do that all right away?
No, probably not, but you know,it is what it is.
Yes, yeah, we all we all fuckup, all right.

(50:22):
So no, it was Charlie that wasgiving me the shit about it.

SPEAKER_02 (50:25):
So it's well, you know, it was like, you know,
okay.
Last last summer was was tough,right?
And then it was like, you know,we gotta figure out how to do
something to cut costs in thesummertime.
I said, Yeah, well, we need todo stop spending money in the
spring.
Yeah.
Right?
What do you mean?
I said, well, we bought$5,000water softener, we bought a
$3,000 ice machine.

(50:46):
That's eight grand.
Yeah.
A grand.
A grand could have got us amonth and a half or two months.
Well, pretty, pretty, prettysafe.
We survived that summer off$7,500, so yeah.
That's what I'm saying, right?
So we'd have been in good shapecoming into the fall.
Right.
But those are purchases thatneeded to be made.
Do they need to be made likethat?
No, probably not.

(51:07):
But if you live and you learn,you know, once you're around the
block for a while, you know howsummers go.
Because everybody's outsideenjoying the weather.
They're not stuck in a bar.
No, they're camping, they're atthe leech, lake, houses.
I mean, they're gone.

SPEAKER_09 (51:22):
And they're motorcycles?
Yeah, motorcycles.
Um, Kelly says, Why don't wesell some of the extra items
laying around outside?
What are you talking about,Kelly?
She might be talking about thegrills and stuff out back, I'm
assuming.
You're talking about the grilland the smoker and stuff that's
out back?

(51:43):
Old tables.

SPEAKER_02 (51:46):
Well, I should talk about it.
What's that?

SPEAKER_12 (51:50):
I I know Shim and I were talking about those smokers
and stuff.
We plan on trying to do like acouple big barbecues.

SPEAKER_02 (51:55):
Which so Dusty, Dusty and Pat Gillis gave us
like a how that thing is likeeight foot long, that grill.
How back?
That smoker.
That was Terry's son made that.
Well, maybe we're talking abouttwo different ones.
I know the Gillis has donatedone a couple years ago.
It does like a hundred fuckinghot dogs on that thing.

SPEAKER_12 (52:16):
We we we've used it before.
You mean the gas grill?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (52:20):
Are you talking about uh barbecue, whatever kind
of like how Knights of Columbusdoes their breakfasts and you
know, we do fish people do fishfries.
Are you talking about somethingup in the parking lot?

SPEAKER_12 (52:33):
And is that what you're saying?
Uh possibly.
I mean Shem and I were justbriefly talking.
Even if it's just I mean, youknow, something for our post
members or whatever, but we gotall that stuff out there.
Shem likes barbecue, I like thebarbecue.
You can throw some together.

SPEAKER_02 (52:49):
So I know, like, I think they use that big barbecue
grill that the Gillises gave uhwhen they make all the hot dogs
and stuff for Memorial Dayparade afterwards.
When everybody's done with theparade, they come back to the
post.
Right.
I'm sure that's when they usethat.

SPEAKER_05 (53:03):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (53:04):
But I don't think it gets used really any other time.
I mean, we used to do fish frieswhen uh Joe and uh Melody were
around.

SPEAKER_12 (53:15):
So I was approached.
So we had some suspiciousactivity on our Gordon's cards,
so I went there, um talked tothe managers, they couldn't
figure it out, ended up settingme up um higher, and it got all
figured out, um but I ended upworking through with uh our post

(53:39):
has an actual sales rep.
And uh he was telling me yearsago, like we used to have a
truck come and deliver food, butwe don't do as much anymore, so
they they don't have that.
But he was saying, like, youknow, he's still our our our our
sales rep and stuff, and he wasasking, um, you know, why don't

(54:00):
we do fish fries?
He's like, fish fries are huge.
He's like, you make a lot ofmoney.
He's like, I can tell you rightdown, you know, to the pennies
of what you need, what you cansell.
He's like, I have it all laidout.
He's like, I do, you know,several other like posting, you
know, churches and stuff that dofish fries.
He's like, I can tell you whatkind of fish to sell, this,
this, and this.
He's like, you just gotta wantto put it on.

(54:21):
And he's like, we can get youall set up and taken care of.
And it was just coming intoLent, and he's like, now's the
time to rock and roll.
Or whatever.
And I was like, well, I got Igotta talk to the post first,
but um I talked to a few peopleand I brought up to what the
ladies' auxiliary.
I think I was in there as I'vebeen helping with.
You sent the ladies' auxiliaryor the auxiliary.

(54:41):
Um, but I was talking to themwhen I was in there helping with
a burger night, and it it allresolved back to the same thing
as volunteers.
You know, to run a fish ridelike that, you need quite a few
people to help.

SPEAKER_02 (54:54):
So that was always the problem when you get help.
It's it's hard to do a dinnerevery single week, you know,
because it ends up being thesame six or eight people.

unknown (55:04):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (55:04):
You try to rotate through, but schedules never
match up.

SPEAKER_05 (55:07):
Right.

SPEAKER_09 (55:07):
You know, or and then the other thing is tough,
especially during Lent, youknow.
Competition.
There's competition, sure.
Every other church and whatnot'sgot a fish fry going on, and you
know, and competition.
And everybody's got, I thinkeverybody's got uh, you know,
good causes that they do thosethings for.

SPEAKER_02 (55:28):
I think doing like a big barbecue would go over good
like chicken court chickenquarters and dogs and shit like
that.
I think that would be big.
Just one big, one big blast itout there.

SPEAKER_12 (55:44):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Get a bunch of macaroni salads,pasta salads, between ten and
two.

SPEAKER_02 (55:49):
And then I mean, and and don't incorporate that with
the tiki bash.
Do it separate so that we havetwo events.
Sure.
Just have one big backyardbarbecue and then have the tiki
bar bash or whatever.
Yeah.
So then that way you got two bigevents.
Yeah, nobody's gonna want to tryto consolidate it into one, but
right.

(56:09):
I think if you have two, thenyou're bringing people there
twice rather than once.

SPEAKER_09 (56:14):
I I I would like that.
I would like uh barbecue orwhatnot.

SPEAKER_02 (56:18):
Yeah, we can tell you like a good barbecue.

SPEAKER_09 (56:22):
Yeah, right here.

SPEAKER_12 (56:24):
We all know you like a good sausage.

SPEAKER_09 (56:26):
You can you can call me fat bastard.
I'm skinny now.

SPEAKER_02 (56:32):
Er.
Skinny err.
What are you weighing nowadays?
215.
There you go.
Right on my side right now byme.
I like it.
Use a big one.
You're like 270 back.

SPEAKER_09 (56:44):
274.
There you go.
See?
I need to I need to lose someweight.
I'm at 250.
I know it don't look like it,but I promise I'm at 250.
So I like to get down to about200.
I'm 206.
And barbecue chicken is notgonna help me with that goal.
Oh, chicken actually will.

SPEAKER_02 (57:02):
Chicken's good for you.

SPEAKER_09 (57:02):
Yeah.
Eat me some of that chicken.

unknown (57:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (57:08):
Anyway, but back to what you were saying.
I'd like to see a huge asscooker taking up the parking
spot in the in the parking lotthere at the post.
Do road some roadside, you know,get that thing smoking, let that
smoke go across the road, getattention, have somebody out
there spinning signs, you know.

(57:28):
Maybe Roy out there flashing,you know.

SPEAKER_12 (57:31):
Would this have to be a coordinated event with the
auxiliary though?
Because they have they have thefood license.
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (57:37):
It would be it would be it would be post-auxiliary
event, yes.
Yeah.
Well, you didn't catch the flashjoke, did you?

SPEAKER_02 (57:47):
They pay for the they pay for the they pay for
the food license, but the foodlicense is for the property,
right?
Well, yeah.
Yeah, it's just like we have theliquid.

SPEAKER_09 (57:54):
But we do need to, I think we do need to get more
post members, serve safecertified, and all this other
stuff just to cover us.
And it's it's not a huge deal toget it done.

SPEAKER_02 (58:06):
Well, we just need more post volunteers.
Yeah, period.
And I think you only gotta haveone serve safe person.
I don't think everybody's gottabe it.
That's true.
That's true.
So you just gotta have onethere.
Yeah.
I'm pretty sure that's Vicky,right?

SPEAKER_12 (58:23):
I'm pretty sure it's Vicky.

SPEAKER_02 (58:24):
I bet you a lot of Denise.
I bet you a lot of the girlshave it, actually.

SPEAKER_12 (58:28):
They're all they're all certified, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (58:29):
So then that way it doesn't matter who's working
with them.
If there's only one of them showup, then they're always kind of
covered.
Yeah.
So which makes sense.

SPEAKER_09 (58:38):
Yeah.
But I think uh even includingwith the uh with the canteen, I
think a whole bunch of postmembers.
If we're freaking working at thepost as a bartender or not, I
think a whole bunch of us shouldbe um certified for what what's

(59:00):
it called?
TAM.
TAMS.
Yeah.
Well, so that I think you Ithink everybody has to do that.
If you're an employee, yes.
But I'm saying if even if you'renot an employee, I think you
still gotta be certified to doit.
You should be you should becertified.

SPEAKER_07 (59:17):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (59:17):
And I think that's that's a liquor license rule.
Right.
Right.
If you're dealing with money,you've got to be damn certified,
regardless if you're a volunteeror not.

SPEAKER_07 (59:27):
Right.

SPEAKER_09 (59:29):
So um, and I think it just opens us up, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (59:34):
Well, and then it was always the bonding question
too, right?
Bonding too.
Because all the bar staff isbonded, so now you have
volunteers in there working.
They're gonna need to be bonded.
Right.
They're touching post funds,right?

SPEAKER_09 (59:49):
Kelly says yes, one needs to be in compliance for
temperature and food safetypractices.
Yep, I thought it was just onefor food, which is odd because
it's well, and I'm just sayingincreasing.
Are numbers just foravailability?
Like, God forbid, somebody's carbreaks down that day and that
morning and they can't come.
Like, just the more the merrier.

(01:00:10):
And it's just not a huge deal toget tip certified or food surf
saves certified.
What's it cost like 35 bucks?
Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:18):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:00:18):
So you know.
So I think it's it's not a hugedeal to get it done and just get
a bunch of people.
Um I think you gotta redo thatevery year.
Yeah, it's an annual thing.
I don't know about tips forbeing bartender.
I think there's a I think thereis a renewal something or other.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:39):
But is it good for a couple years?
Or or what?
I don't know.
I mean, as it was like yearyears ago when I was president
of the writers group, we tookeverybody that wanted to, and I
think we had like 25 to 30people in the writers group that
got first aid CPR.
So your first aid was good fortwo years, your CPR is only good
for one year.

(01:01:00):
And now we have we haven't doneit again in three or four years.
So everybody's stuff is lapsedunless like here at work we do
it.
Um I just put we put all of ourforeman through it two weeks
ago.
Over here at the home builders,they all went down and because I
gotta have one one guy on thejob has to be first aid CPR, so

(01:01:21):
they go through that every year.

SPEAKER_09 (01:01:23):
I um but I used to be uh CPR first aid instructor.
Um Red Cross certified me when Iwas deployed.
Um I'd love to I'd love to startteaching class again.
I'd like to, I think that wouldbe a really cool post event.
Once a month I do a CPR class.

SPEAKER_12 (01:01:43):
Yeah, you love CPR, don't you, Navy boy?

SPEAKER_09 (01:01:45):
I love that.
I love that mouth to mouth.
You could be the dummy.
Mouth the peckers, you look youlike.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:51):
Mouth the pecker.
Um I think it costs us like$65 aperson, too.
It does.
We did that.
I mean, it wasn't we spent athousand bucks.
But think about that.

SPEAKER_09 (01:02:01):
If I do if I do it's valuable, it's valuable.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:04):
Well it was because literally, like we we did that,
and then four months later,because we did it in the fall
when it was slow, right?
And everybody's looking forsomething to do, you know.
I mean, it was crappy weatherand all that, and then literally
four months later, Tim got inhis accident, we ended up using
it that day, staying in theditch, you know, and we had
bikes at all the trauma kits andfirst aid kits, and I mean

(01:02:26):
everybody was, you know, so Imean it it's something that we
should be redoing again.
Um I was actually gonna talk toTrey about it, get get but it's
kind of late.

SPEAKER_09 (01:02:35):
Here's here's the thing, and I'm just gonna throw
it out right now.
I'm willing to go back and getcertified, but it costs money.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:40):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:02:40):
So if I can get the riders group and maybe one other
person willing to go and getcertified with me, you can get
two instructors at the posts.
We can certify the entire ridersgroup, and then once a month, we
can do just offer it out to thepublic and say, hey, we'll sit
here and we'll certifyeverybody, you know, class of

(01:03:02):
ten people, find out what itcosts to get certified.
I'll figure it out, I'll work onthat and see what I can figure
out.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:08):
Because if you know, that's something that the riders
group could pay for, becausethey're not gonna have to pay to
take the class.
So if we're gonna spend five,six hundred dollars anyways, or
a thousand dollars to puteverybody through the class, if
we could get an instructor, paypay for the instructor to do it,
yeah.
Then what's the difference?

SPEAKER_12 (01:03:25):
Yeah, then you can then if we wanted to every three
months you can have refreshersor whatever instead of once, you
know, a year.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:33):
Keep everybody fresh and well, like I say, you put it
out to the public and you canstart charging the 65 bucks or
whatever.
Right.
But I know you gotta buy all thedummies and you gotta buy them
and it's not cheap.
Right.

SPEAKER_09 (01:03:43):
I was looking at opening a company, opening an
LLC, and doing just doing that.
You know, EpiPen certificationsand CPR and AED and all the
other stuff.
And uh the American Red Crosscharged at the time charged
roughly twelve hundred dollarsfor an instructor pack, included
so many dummies and so many handpamphlet handouts and like the

(01:04:06):
whole thing.

SPEAKER_06 (01:04:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:04:08):
Um I mean that'd be a good initial investment.
Like I say, I mean, I think itwas like 65.
We did 20-something people.

SPEAKER_05 (01:04:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:04:15):
And then for us, we could do it and just put it up
to the other posts.
Yeah.
Hey, anybody want, you know,should be certified?
Here you go.
We're offering it, you know.
So I think that'd be cool.
I'll I'll Google it.
I'll poke around and see, andbut you will like poking.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:34):
We bet you will.
You'll poke around on thedummies.
Uh-huh.
Yep.

SPEAKER_09 (01:04:37):
Poke, poke, poke.
So.
He just opens the door.
So gay.
I am not.
These assholes start it everysingle time.
You're the one that said it.
You're the one that took it thatway.
Well, well.
Well, you're the one thatfucking.

(01:04:59):
No.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
You're in the Navy.
The Marines started.

SPEAKER_12 (01:05:04):
When you leave the door wide open, you bet your ass
coming through.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:09):
Bastards.
The problem is when he opens thedoor, he comes out ass first.
That's the problem.
May I ask?
Fucking arrow.
I wish Trick was here, don'tyou?
No.
Because we'd be picking out himrather picking.
Like trying to get your ass uphere.

(01:05:29):
I can't take it.

SPEAKER_09 (01:05:32):
I can take it.
I'm used to you guys.
We bet you can take it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:36):
We bet you can take it.
We've been taking it for a longtime.
We've been taking it since I wasa semen recruit.

SPEAKER_09 (01:05:43):
Holy shit, McKenzie's watching.
Hi, McKenzie.
And for the record, I was BLScertified.
Thank you.
Nerd.
That's what I was talking about.
These idiots don't know whatthey're talking about, so I had
to I had to break it down forthem.
BLS.
Basic life support.
Uh Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:09):
Jesus Christ.
Hey! He's like, Jesus Christ.
You rather fuck.
Not my fault.
These guys started it.
Why are you looking at himlicking your lips?
That's what I want to know.
I just seen that.

SPEAKER_12 (01:06:23):
He's like, uh Phillies over there salving.
Yes.

SPEAKER_08 (01:06:28):
He heard Brent should take it.
I'm jealous of all hishomosexual activity.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:33):
Uh sounds gay, count me in.

SPEAKER_10 (01:06:40):
Around you guys.

SPEAKER_12 (01:06:49):
So Billy, as a previous commander, how many
dinners have you been to orinvited to as a previous post
and or district commander?

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:04):
You mean as of lately?
I'd say in your career.
In your career?

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:11):
Damn.
As well, your after career as asVFW.

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:15):
You don't get invited to many after.

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:19):
Only while you're current?

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:20):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:21):
Well, aren't they?
I mean they and currentcommander dinners?

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:25):
They have some, I mean, that are previous
previous.

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:29):
I know our post is looking to put together
Margaret's working on one rightnow.
FYI.
It's past and currentcommanders.

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:37):
Well, I'll probably get them ready to that one.

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:39):
Well, sure.
I'm just saying, have you beenany before?

SPEAKER_06 (01:07:46):
A couple.

SPEAKER_12 (01:07:47):
Okay.
Like local or elsewhere?
Local.
Okay.

SPEAKER_08 (01:07:52):
Because I had a I mean I was here for a little
while and then it'd be somethingthat would be hosted by our post
only, usually.

SPEAKER_12 (01:08:01):
Okay.
I've never seen one myself.

SPEAKER_08 (01:08:04):
Usually another post.
Usually another post wouldn'tinvite me to their post as a
past district commander.

SPEAKER_12 (01:08:11):
Well, as a district commander.

SPEAKER_08 (01:08:13):
Not a past district commander.

SPEAKER_12 (01:08:17):
I could see as like a past post commander, but as a
district commander over severalposts, like you know, I think
you'd myself personally, I thinkyou'd be eligible if any post
invited you that were in thatdistrict.
For what?
What are we talking about?
That's just my two sense of howI think it should work,
obviously.
If it doesn't, cool.

(01:08:37):
Pass you know, pass and presentcommander dinners.

SPEAKER_08 (01:08:41):
They usually only invite the per the present.

SPEAKER_02 (01:08:49):
But you're talking at our post, right?
Sure.

SPEAKER_12 (01:08:53):
Well, I was talking at our post, but then I just
threw my other two cents outthere as a as a previous
district commander.
You know, and I feel you know,any post within that district
that had a commander dinner, heshould be eligible.

(01:09:17):
That's just how I feel with you.

SPEAKER_08 (01:09:19):
Usually it doesn't happen that way.
Sure.
Usually it's more ruled down toyour post.
Okay.
But our post has got moredistrict past district
commanders in it.
Than any other post in the inthe district.

SPEAKER_09 (01:09:36):
This popcorn's really salty.
Did you do something to this?

SPEAKER_08 (01:09:41):
Okay.
Terry Coon.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:46):
Mm-hmm.
Uh Jeff Hansum earlier said thesame thing.
Okay.
Uh me.
I emptied my coffee cup in it.
There you go.
Extra salt.
Ralphie.

SPEAKER_11 (01:10:00):
Okay.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:02):
Terry and Cinseal.
Tim Ardeby.
Dick Fish.
Them are the ones I could thinkof right off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_12 (01:10:14):
Yeah, I mean that's a handful for the past what, 25
years?
Yeah, that long.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:20):
I mean, that's not saying if we did it more than
once.

SPEAKER_12 (01:10:22):
Sure.
And that's I mean that's a solidgroup of guys, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:26):
Well, a few of them are a little sketched, but well,
I'm not saying I'm not sayingthey didn't do it more than
once.
Guilty conscience?

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:35):
Yeah.
No, yeah.
Well, I mean, you look at whenyou look at Tim.
Tim was Tim was command a coupletimes.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:42):
I was twice.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:43):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:45):
I know Cohen was more than once.
I'm sure Terry was too.

SPEAKER_12 (01:10:49):
Yeah, I'm sure Terry was too.

SPEAKER_08 (01:10:51):
I think Terry was twice.
Yeah.
Now is there is there a cat?
Terry's got a white hat.
Nope.
Nope.

SPEAKER_02 (01:11:00):
So the the way it even supposed to work at our
post, you start out as junior.
Next year you you automaticallybump.
Next month you ought, or nextyear you automatically bump to
commander, and then you'resupposed to recycle through the
chairs.
So if you wanted to run forcommander again, you should
actually be running for juniorand then work your way up the

(01:11:20):
chairs again, right?
Not just stay at the top for Xamount of years.
X amount of years, right?
You're supposed to cycle backthrough.
And the reason for that is thenthat way, as people are getting
experience, the rotationsconstantly getting new
leadership, and people are usedto doing the job and understand
doing the job, so that if you dohave an incident like with Tim.

(01:11:41):
Right.
You know, but unfortunately atsome of the smaller posts, it
you just don't have enoughpeople, and it just goes back
and forth, usually between acouple, like Claire, between
John Waddington and Bill Scott.
They'll go, one will becommander this year, the other
one will be the quartermaster.
And then nobody wants to run foranything, so those two will just

(01:12:02):
switch.
And Bill will be the you knowquartermaster and John will be
the commander, and then that'llswitch.
They just they've been doingthat for years.

SPEAKER_08 (01:12:10):
I think this year it's switching though.
I think they've got someyounger.
Do they?
I think they got some youngerkids coming in.
Good, because they had, I mean,they were just constantly.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:20):
They were at our thing on Saturday, I think.
Uh John wasn't, but Bill Scott,Bill and Deb came in for the
Dart tournament.
Yeah, but there were some otherpeople there from Clark.

SPEAKER_08 (01:12:29):
Yeah, which I don't know if they're just Dart
players or they're just I thinkthey were the ones talking about
being running for stuff?
Yeah.
Well good.

SPEAKER_12 (01:12:37):
Yeah, when I praying on the young, you know, the the
new blood, when I was in the UPand I joined the Military Order
of the Heart chapter there.
And that second year, I mean,they shot me right up the
ladder, and you know, I wascommander of the other chapter
there, and then, you know, Iwent on to uh, you know, the

(01:12:59):
department level.
And I served there, you know,for many years until we um I was
I was not a departmentcommander, I was department
inspector, still commander ofour post and so on, but until I
move back down here.

SPEAKER_02 (01:13:12):
But yeah, it's good stuff.
I mean, those are the thingsthat you need people to be able
to do it.
And if you're smart enough,yeah, you you accelerate through
the ranks pretty quickly, butyou you do what you want to do.
You don't have to do some someof it always sounds like it's
gonna be cool to do because it'snice to see.
That's what I like when you knowI always sit at our meetings and

(01:13:33):
I talk about people going tothese conventions and
conferences and stuff like that.
And I give points for the writergroup presidents and vice
presidents if they attend thesethings, right?
So if each one of them shows upthroughout the year to one, they
don't have to come to the sameone.

(01:13:53):
If one comes to convention, theother one goes to fall
conference, and they haveanother member come.
So the P and the VP will getcredit if they each go to
separate ones or together,doesn't matter.
And then if they have anothermember that comes to one, they
get they get additional pointsfor the honor award that I give
for all the writers' groups.

(01:14:14):
And the sole purpose of that isI want these guys to come to
those to actually see how thingsrun at the high level because
you know these things getbrought down to us, so raise
money for this and donate forthat and volunteer here, and you
know, we got to get this beinvolved in these things.
People have no idea what theyreally are, right?
Then you go down to theseconferences and conventions and

(01:14:36):
you start to meet other peoplefrom different posts or
districts or whatever, and youend up seeing them again, and
they're your buddies, and thenyou have a couple beers upstairs
in the hospitality room, andthen you you know what I mean,
you start building thoseconnections and those
friendships, and it's superimportant.
Yeah, because we're not justMount Pleasant, we're 244
throughout the state.
So when you go to another postor they come to our post, you

(01:14:57):
we're all one team, right?
We should all feel welcome, justlike we'd want to be at their
post.
So when you start meeting thesepeople and you actually start
seeing what kind of what goes onat an upper level, it really
makes you understand why we dothings at our post and why
they're important that we dothem.
Rather than a lot of the guyswill be like, oh, geez, they
just want another 50 bucks.
Oh, geez, they just want ourmoney.
Well, they don't understandbecause they don't go down there

(01:15:18):
and listen to the reports andtalk about the kids at Camp
Trotter in the National Home,right?
This is oh, we just gotta sendmore money to the national home.
Oh, we just gotta do uh bitchingand complaining rather than
going down there and hearing thegood shit that they actually do
at those places for veterans andthe kids, you know.
So I mean it it it's it'simportant.
But and I was really proud thatuh AJ came down to midwinter.

(01:15:42):
So he came down there and satthrough the meeting with me.

SPEAKER_12 (01:15:45):
Well, I was supposed to ride with them, but my whole
house got sick.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15:48):
Yeah, yeah, which is all good.

SPEAKER_12 (01:15:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15:50):
Looks like we got a wintery.
Wintery mix coming.
Yeah, it's a grocery store.

SPEAKER_12 (01:15:59):
Yeah, we're supposed to get uh another bad round
tomorrow.
Like they're saying it's worsethan what comes through Sunday
night.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:07):
Yeah, I know uh Memorial Day parade's coming up,
so we'll get through elections.
Memorial Day coming up, and thenwe've got uh the end of May, we
got the VFW convention.
That's we're gonna elect all thedepartment leadership.

SPEAKER_12 (01:16:23):
And then Is that back is that back in Kalamazoo?

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:25):
Yeah, it's back down in Kalamazoo.
Yeah, so they're gonna be doingthe fall conference, they'll be
up here.
Um I guess they just signed thecontract, so I'm not really a
hundred percent sure on if it'sthis fall or it's next fall.
But they've signed like a Idon't know, it's two, three year
contract with Comfort Inn, SouthEnd of town.

(01:16:46):
So fall conference will be uphere, which will be nice.

SPEAKER_12 (01:16:49):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 (01:16:49):
It's kind of more center of the state because the
guys from the UP, they're like,yeah, it was 16 hours for them
to come down and go all the waydown to Kalamazoo.
16 hours.

SPEAKER_12 (01:17:01):
Yeah, that that was always a rip.
Like I'd have to come fromCalumet down to like Battle
Creek, you know, when they havedown there and gosh, yeah.
It's a lot of driving.
Yeah.
I mean, mind you, if you don'tmind driving, you you get paid
mileage, but still, well, that'sa rip.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:18):
You did because you were a department level, right?
Well, sure.
Right.
So like I have a stipend that Iget to use for hotels and travel
too, but you know, I mean, ifyou're the post commander or
you're a regular member and theyalways complain that not very
many people are showing up.
Well, yeah, because guys inTravis City or Alpina or Glenny
or Oscota or wherever, they'renot gonna drive six hours.

(01:17:38):
Right.
You know, to get down to thesethings because you put them at
the bottom of the state, putthem in the middle of the state,
make the people out of Detroitdrive two and a half, and make
the people from Traverse Cityand UP drive, you know, three to
four.
You know, at least then you'regonna get more people probably
coming.

unknown (01:17:53):
Right.

SPEAKER_05 (01:17:53):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:17:56):
So, you know, but uh yeah, and then we got district
first Sunday.
Yeah.
I think it's first Sunday ofMay.
We got the district uhelections.

SPEAKER_08 (01:18:10):
You're runner?
Me?
Yeah.
No.
I thought you were running forjunior party.
No.
It's a rumor I heard.
But it's not a district.
Are you?

SPEAKER_09 (01:18:22):
Don't look at me.
You're running forquartermaster.

SPEAKER_12 (01:18:24):
Are you running for quartermaster of the district?

SPEAKER_09 (01:18:27):
I got vetoed by mama, huh?
Well, no.
I actually haven't really givenhim more thought, to be honest.
So is Colin gonna rerun?
I have no idea.
Sorry, I'm missing.
Um I don't know if she cares allthat much.

(01:18:50):
I don't think she would, but Idon't know.

SPEAKER_08 (01:18:54):
I'll just go back to what Ray said when he was here
last time.
At district level, it's not thatmuch.
No.

SPEAKER_07 (01:19:01):
Right.

SPEAKER_08 (01:19:02):
It's less than at the post by far.
I mean, you gotta go to thedistrict meetings.
That's four.
And then you'll have to go to adistrict uh training.
Training.
And then you'll have to do thedistrict quarterly uh budget

(01:19:24):
planning meeting.
Am I right?
That's all uh I should think of.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:29):
I don't know.
I don't know.
I've never been commander, so Idon't know what the budget
meeting is, but I'd have to I'dhave to give it some thought.

SPEAKER_09 (01:19:38):
I don't know.
I just don't know how many potsI want my hand in.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:43):
Like what what are the pots you got your hands in?

SPEAKER_09 (01:19:48):
I just want to be a boy's pants.

SPEAKER_02 (01:19:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 (01:19:53):
Just his pants, usually.
I said a boy's pants, not aman's pants.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you heard the story aboutBrent, right?

SPEAKER_05 (01:20:02):
No.

SPEAKER_02 (01:20:03):
Him and him and his him and a pastor drive down the
road.
They get pulled over by thecops.
Police officer come up to thewindow and says, hey, looking
for two pedophiles.
Brent looks over at the pastorand looks at the cop and says,
Yep, we'll do it.
Sick bastard.

SPEAKER_09 (01:20:23):
We know what kind of that is not where I saw that
going.
You got me.

SPEAKER_02 (01:20:33):
We're talking about hands-down pants.
Oh no, honey pots.
How many, how many, how manyhoney pots?
We know it's no honey pots.

SPEAKER_09 (01:20:42):
Oh fuck.
How do I do this to myself?
I'm not coming anymore if Trey'snot here.
Yeah, see?

SPEAKER_02 (01:20:53):
Trey's scared to come here.
He he uses the kids, he uses thewife, he uses all the excuses.
He's probably sitting at thepost right now.

SPEAKER_09 (01:21:01):
Probably.
Do we know anybody at the post?

SPEAKER_02 (01:21:05):
Oh, yeah.
All you gotta do is pick up thephone and call.
Yeah, most of them those guysare there.
That's what I'm saying.
That's what I guarantee.
They're probably sitting at thepost right now.
Somebody should call and say.
Oh, Billy's gonna call.
Why are you getting so muchfeedback?
What's going on?

SPEAKER_09 (01:21:20):
I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:21:20):
Is the headphones right there?
Is that the problem?
Do you need to move them?

SPEAKER_09 (01:21:24):
No.
I just turned them all down.

SPEAKER_02 (01:21:28):
So, anyways.
Yeah.
He's too scared to come outhere.

SPEAKER_09 (01:21:37):
No, okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:21:38):
Oh.

SPEAKER_09 (01:21:39):
Hold on.
If they are telling to get theirasses down here.

SPEAKER_10 (01:21:49):
They're probably listening, so they're telling
the bartier to run out of here.

SPEAKER_02 (01:21:57):
Oh, it's Tuesday.
Plus is closed.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:01):
Oh, that's true.
Speaking of that, why was itopen three Tuesdays ago?

SPEAKER_08 (01:22:08):
Because bingo was closed.
Bingo was canceled.

SPEAKER_02 (01:22:12):
Alright.
Yeah, then so bingo's canceled,then they did a bar or uh house
committee meeting.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:20):
Oh, that's right.
We were I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:22:21):
When they did the changeover from Mert to Trish.
Okay.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:24):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:22:25):
That was Tuesdays and that was two two Tuesdays
ago.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:29):
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:22:30):
From uh Memorial Day, it'll be open on Tuesdays
because outdoor tiki bar will beopen.
Alright.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:36):
Because I was just going through deposits and
normally, you know, the theTuesday bag is just the zippers
open and nothing in there, and Igrabbed a hold of it and I'm
like, why is there something inhere?
There shouldn't be.

SPEAKER_08 (01:22:49):
I need to bring that up tomorrow.
We gotta reopen the house.

SPEAKER_12 (01:22:55):
We gotta vote on it.
Oh, yeah.
We also need to talk aboutSundays.
You could put it in the bylaws.

SPEAKER_09 (01:23:00):
What about Sundays?
Sundays are hurting us.
Between Memorial Day and LaborDay.
They're not hurting us, really.

SPEAKER_08 (01:23:08):
If you think about it, it's not really hurting us
because the bar we're paying fora bartender, but we're not
paying her out of the Sundaywages.
We're paying her out of theweekly wages.

SPEAKER_12 (01:23:18):
There's no Sunday or weekly anymore.
It's it's I mean at this pointnow it's the same rate all the
way across.
It's$8 an hour in tips.

SPEAKER_08 (01:23:27):
Yeah, but we're not paying her, we're not paying
them out of Sunday's till wages.
We're paying them out of theweekly wages.
Well what it's coming down to.

unknown (01:23:39):
Sure.

SPEAKER_08 (01:23:39):
You see what I'm saying?
No.
We're not paying them on theside.
We're not paying them out ofwhat we make on Sunday.
We're paying them out of what wemake on a week.
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:23:49):
So all he's saying, Bill Billy, okay, says you made
$1,000 all week.
And you spent$500 on labor.

SPEAKER_06 (01:23:57):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:23:58):
Right.
Now if we took Sunday away,rather than only making$500,
right?
You're going to make$600 becausenow you only are paying labor
$400.

SPEAKER_08 (01:24:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:24:08):
That's what he's saying.
So we'd make more money byhaving Sundays closed.

SPEAKER_12 (01:24:12):
For the past couple months, we haven't made any more
than$100 on a Sunday.

SPEAKER_02 (01:24:16):
Right, but what was our labor cost for a Sunday?
Well, they're at least eighttimes six.

SPEAKER_12 (01:24:23):
They're at least they're five, six hours.
I mean, generally they get toclose down early on a Sunday
unless their football seasonthere was a game there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:24:28):
So 50, 60 bucks.
Right.
So we're still made 40.
Maybe.
I mean, I'm just putting it upthere.
Right.
I'm not.

SPEAKER_12 (01:24:37):
Well, and I know I can count a couple.
Like I like I was telling youthe other night, it was uh
within the last month.
We didn't make any.
It was zero.
And we paid a bartender.
Like we had a zero, zero intake.

SPEAKER_08 (01:24:50):
Zero till day.
I know the pool team's coming inon Sunday.
I know there's at least four ofus, three or four of us that
come in and play pool on Sunday.
We might not be drinking, butsure.
We're at least coming in thepolls.

SPEAKER_12 (01:25:06):
Right.
But I mean at that point, youguys don't need a bartender
there.
You can call one of us up, weopen it up and let you in.
If you're not drinking, I canget in by myself.
Right.
I'm just looking at as afinancial standpoint.
Like if we're not, especiallycoming through the summer, you
know, where we get a little bittighter on finances, if we're

(01:25:27):
not completely clearing on aSundays, I understand having,
you know, we need the post openfor, you know, members, but man,
well then at some point.

SPEAKER_08 (01:25:35):
Then we're gonna get into the thing with the biker
group, because if they go on aride on a Sunday and then want
to come back to the post andhave a drink.

unknown (01:25:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:25:43):
Usually always we usually always start in that at
the post.
Typically.
Typically.

SPEAKER_12 (01:25:48):
I mean, I'm not gonna say it's always a short
way, but I was just saying weneed to have a talk because at a
financial standpoint, likeSundays are well that's
something we'll bring up at thefloor level then.
Sure.
I mean Sundays are not good forus.

SPEAKER_02 (01:26:02):
Well, bring it up at the House Committee and let the
House Committee vote on arecommendation, and then I can
go to the floor of the post.
Right?

SPEAKER_12 (01:26:08):
Just my two cents as a QM.
I mean, Sundays are rough, butSundays have always been rough,
though.

SPEAKER_08 (01:26:15):
Yes.
Unless it's football season.

SPEAKER_02 (01:26:17):
Right.
Well, then you just limit thehours.
You close at six.
Sure.
Yeah, soon to six.
And if there's not more thanfour in there drinking, then
shut down.
Shut down.

SPEAKER_08 (01:26:27):
Isn't it six now?

SPEAKER_02 (01:26:28):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_12 (01:26:31):
Oh.
Okay.
I'm pretty sure it's only sixnow.
Yeah, then do noon to four.
Unless you have to do noon tofour.
You know, unless you have X Montin there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:26:40):
If you get four or more.
Four or more, then you stay openuntil six.

SPEAKER_08 (01:26:45):
Like last Sunday we did good because there was a
dark team and two dark teams inthere.

SPEAKER_12 (01:26:51):
Yeah.
Yeah, but the Sunday before thatwe made like 20 bucks.

unknown (01:26:55):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (01:26:56):
And paid out.
Paid out.
Yeah.
50.
So I get it.

SPEAKER_09 (01:27:04):
But so outside of that.
What else?
What else?
I got nothing, man.
Wow.
This has been uh half the amountof time that we normally spout
our bullshit.
Yeah.
Which is a lot to say becauseyou guys are full of it.

(01:27:27):
Only for you, buddy.

SPEAKER_08 (01:27:29):
You're usually full of it.
No, I am not.
Full of semen.

SPEAKER_02 (01:27:43):
Can always count on Billy to bring up the rear.
He's in the back with the gear,don't think you sir.
Well, I'm gonna have my barleypops and did your chest hair
just grow a little bit.

SPEAKER_09 (01:27:57):
Mm-hmm.
What'd you just drink?
Moonshot.
I'm on fire right now.
Are you fucking insane?

SPEAKER_05 (01:28:05):
No.

SPEAKER_02 (01:28:07):
Should have worn me up.
Little white lightning.
Do it.
No.
Do a second.
I told you I'm not doing it.

SPEAKER_09 (01:28:14):
Come on.
It's from the Bahamas.
Thought you were a man, Charlie.
Bahamian.

SPEAKER_02 (01:28:19):
Definitely not.
Definitely not.

SPEAKER_09 (01:28:21):
How about you?
Basically offer.
Strictly.
Alright, how about this one?
This one's only 40-proof andit's watermelon.
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:28:31):
Have it?

SPEAKER_09 (01:28:32):
Let me know how it is.
You do it.
That's okay.
That one I need for you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:28:37):
I don't do peer pressure, but thanks.
I appreciate the offer.
You know.
Brent does whatever he can.
Usually drop to his knees.
Yeah.
You need to pray.

SPEAKER_08 (01:28:54):
Whether it be his knees or on all fours.
Usually drop to something.

SPEAKER_09 (01:29:02):
I don't know what makes me want to put up with you
guys all the time.

SPEAKER_02 (01:29:06):
You have no other friends.
That's the problem.

unknown (01:29:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:29:10):
And I and I use the term friends loosely, like a
butthole.
Very loosely.
Yeah, pretty much.
It's okay.
Man.
I've been called worse bybetter.

SPEAKER_09 (01:29:35):
Alright.
Well, I'm out.
I'm out.
What?

SPEAKER_02 (01:29:42):
I'm good too.
Like I'm nothing else.

SPEAKER_12 (01:29:44):
I think that's that's a solid end.

SPEAKER_02 (01:29:45):
This will be a wrap.

SPEAKER_12 (01:29:46):
We're kind of dead ending here anyway.
We're kind of deadheading, youknow.

SPEAKER_02 (01:29:50):
Well normally we talk some politics and stuff,
but we don't have our defenderhere.
Yep.
So maybe in the next coupleweeks we'll have something more
exciting.
Maybe he'll just do a phonenumber.
Call him.
Call him.
Alright, we're gonna stand byfor a second.

SPEAKER_09 (01:30:06):
We're gonna see if we can get stand by or stand by.
He made himself sound like hewas busy, so I don't know.
Of course he did.
He's always busy.
There's a guy.

unknown (01:30:16):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:30:20):
Joe's not here.
I think him and Joe are boningright now.

SPEAKER_02 (01:30:23):
There might be.
Joe definitely is because he'stalking POS systems and stuff.
Like he's using his IT.
He was installing a new one orwhatever for him today.
Yeah.
He's been doing it.
I guess he had to get on withtech, some tech guy to try to
get things set up or something.
I I don't know.
Yeah, something he was remotingit from the house and talking to

(01:30:47):
somebody.
I don't think it's a call.

SPEAKER_12 (01:30:48):
Well, I had to call Joe today.
Because he set up an account onthe computer for me in the
office.

SPEAKER_06 (01:30:56):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (01:30:57):
Because before I used to have to call Arnie or
I'd call Merc, you know, becauseI didn't have access to that
computer, so I had to get on,you know, somebody's account.
So I told Joe, I'm like, send mean account.

SPEAKER_08 (01:31:11):
Hey.
We need you.
We need you.
We're running out of things totalk about.
So we need the debater of alldebaters.

SPEAKER_04 (01:31:26):
How much time do you guys got?

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:28):
We got another hour and a half to two hours.

SPEAKER_04 (01:31:32):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:34):
Are you on your way?

SPEAKER_04 (01:31:36):
I'm gonna be on my way, yes.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:37):
Where are you coming from?

SPEAKER_04 (01:31:39):
From the house, baseline.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:40):
Okay.
We'll see you here in the middle1520.

unknown (01:31:43):
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:43):
We'll let an electric truck make it.

SPEAKER_12 (01:31:45):
You might want to bring Canada.

SPEAKER_02 (01:31:46):
You can you can you can plug it in when you get here
and make it a generator?
Go Canada.
Yes.
Oh, Brandon's like, thank thelow.
Thank the lord of elm start toget down.

(01:32:07):
Well, it wouldn't have been hisfirst time.
Definitely not his first time onthe street.
So why would he think the Lordywould get out of his knees?
Because Trey's coming.

SPEAKER_12 (01:32:15):
I just watched a documentary that just come out.
It's on Amazon Prime.
It's Levinsworth.
Leavenworth.

SPEAKER_08 (01:32:21):
Leavenworth?

SPEAKER_12 (01:32:22):
It's a documentary on Clint Lawrence.
The army lieutenant who gotcharged with murder for killing
Iraqis in Afghanistan in 2013.
12.
What's wrong with that?
Are you aware of that?

SPEAKER_10 (01:32:36):
No.
A huge breaking my rule.
What's your rule?
I've only break like one.

SPEAKER_12 (01:32:45):
No, he was army a week in the middle.
He was army lieutenant.
Whoa.
Um breaking a rule.
He started out enlisted.
And then did uh army green togreen to grad or green to gold.
Um then he became a firstlieutenant.
Lame ones out there.
And uh oh they do, yeah.

(01:33:07):
Got attached to I watch it,82nd.
Check this out.

SPEAKER_08 (01:33:11):
And uh they went to Afghanistan chickens chickens.
Sure.

SPEAKER_12 (01:33:18):
These are the CPUs.
They went to Afghanistan.
This was 2000.
Um he was initially with uhheadquarters, like logistics or
or whatever.
Yeah, I don't know.
And then when the line squad uhinfantry company, when their
lieutenant went down with uh itwas uh like an IED injury, they

(01:33:43):
brought him in.
Well, he was only there for like48 hours.
And they got sent out on amission.
And supposedly, you know, Iraqisor not Iraqis, Afghanis on
motorcycles were like a no-go.
Like they were immediately bombmakers or whatever.

(01:34:04):
And as he went out and they werepatrolling, and they saw these
Afghanis on a motorcycle comingtoward him, and he had a gun
truck open up and you know, killhim.
Well, like his platoon sergeantstuff and the rest of the
platoon, they all went againsthim.

(01:34:26):
They said it was a differentstory.
They were like, no, that's nothow it happened, and it was his
story, and he got charged withmurder and sentenced to 20 years
in 11th year.
Really?
And then in I think 2019.
Was it 2019?
The end of Trump.
Was this was this a seal?

(01:34:46):
No, the army um infantryofficer.
Oh.
Quint Lorraine.
Um Trump ended up pardoned.

SPEAKER_08 (01:35:00):
Really?

SPEAKER_12 (01:35:00):
But he did like six and a half years or something in
in Levinsburg.

SPEAKER_09 (01:35:04):
You know, this is this is always a thing.
I mean And wait a minute.
He pardoned him, but his unitwent against him?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (01:35:13):
Yeah, like all of his all of his you know,
infantry guys.
And they think that thereobviously there's a lot of
moving parts here, but just acouple months prior in
Afghanistan was I think it wasRobert Bales.
Uh, he snuck out and killed like16 Afghanis in a village.

(01:35:34):
Yeah.
You know, the night, one night,like he went out and he just
murdered them all on his own.
Yep.
So a lot was leading into that,and they were thinking when this
happened, it was essentiallythey just being Lawrence was the
new guy there, he was only therefor 48 hours.
The army just trying to covertheir ass.

(01:35:56):
They're like, here, take him,charge for murder, like, throw
shit under a rug and move on.
Yeah.
So a lot of it he feels that hewas just a scapegoat for the
army to you know move on and getpast.
No.
Yeah.
Never would have thought thatwould have happened.
Quite a I mean, it's quite adocumentary.
It's very interesting.

(01:36:17):
It's on Netflix?
It's on Prime.
Amazon Prime.
It's good.
It's Leavenworth.

SPEAKER_02 (01:36:23):
So I watch sports, I watchdocumentaries.

SPEAKER_12 (01:36:28):
Same here.

SPEAKER_02 (01:36:28):
Or like mini-series, shit like that.

SPEAKER_12 (01:36:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:36:31):
I don't eat uh I barely listen to music in my
truck when I'm driving.
Like if I gotta go to Saginaw orgo wherever to go to a meeting
on a job site or something.
I got podcasts on.

SPEAKER_05 (01:36:40):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:36:42):
So, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna listen to a
story.
I want which I know music tellsa story, but you know.
Watch it.

SPEAKER_12 (01:36:54):

SPEAKER_02 (01:36:55):
That that's the shit that I I learned, right?
Find someone else's experience.
And all too often I think thathappens where somebody in the
military, especially in a combatzone, it's easier to have them
thrown under the bus.
And I think all too often ifthere's bad intel on something,

(01:37:18):
and you go in and do anoperation or whatever, and even
though it goes okay, but it'snot the correct person or people
or whatever, then it falls backon, you know, they're they're
gonna bury the bad intelligence.
Right.

unknown (01:37:35):
Right?

SPEAKER_02 (01:37:35):
Because they're not gonna go after the intelligence
officer that gave you the badintel or whatever, right?
The S1s are not gonna go afterthem.
They're gonna throw the boots onthe ground under the bus as
going in and killing a bunch ofcivilians and kids or whatever,
you know, because they ambushedthe wrong convoy or something,
you know.

SPEAKER_12 (01:37:51):
Well, and when you start getting the company
commanders and battalioncommanders and regimental
commanders, and you know, you goup that up that ladder, at that
point, it's all you know,smoking mirrors for them to
cover tracks and not get a blackeye in their career.
Yeah.
So yeah, they're looking for aquick scapegoat so they can just
quickly move on and well theygot 20, 25 years in.

SPEAKER_02 (01:38:12):
Getting ready for getting ready for a pension.
Last thing they want is that allthat to be leave the command.
I know it's easy to throw thecorporal, the sergeant, the
snap, the sergeant, the gunny,or whoever under the bus.
Absolutely.
It's shitty.
Well, but but right, it happens.
Right.
I think I think it happens alltoo often.
Right.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm notsaying, right, you know, you go

(01:38:34):
out there and you commit a crimelike mass murder in a small
village or something like that.
That's that's absolutelyuncalled for.
And that shouldn't be coveredup.

SPEAKER_05 (01:38:43):
No.

SPEAKER_02 (01:38:44):
But it does because we don't want in the way the
world works since the Gulf Warwith CNN live, live during the
Iraq war.
Now everybody carries around acamera, right?
So everything is being recorded,so berry, bury, bury.
You know, because you know, usedto be able to Vietnam, they
could go in there and wipe avillage out.

(01:39:05):
Nobody really ever knows who didit.
Well, nowadays, that that shit'son Facebook or Twitter or X or
whatever, right?
Like within minutes.

SPEAKER_12 (01:39:14):
So there were several references.
There's no way you can hide it.
In this documentary, there areseveral references back to
Vietnam, like the My Laimassacre.
Yeah.
You know, and how they againthey shuffled down to this one
lieutenant and um just quickscapegoats.
Yep.
So yeah.
Very, very, very interestingdocumentary.

SPEAKER_02 (01:39:36):
Speaking of scapegoat, we should be here in
a minute.

SPEAKER_09 (01:39:38):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (01:39:39):
And just because we said goat, don't get all horny.

SPEAKER_09 (01:39:42):
Yeah.
I didn't go to a ridecraft gameunderstanding you guys did.

SPEAKER_02 (01:39:46):
I know.
We took all the goats off andput them on the ships so that
you guys weren't lonely.
Yeah, like no shark, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't remember seeing anygoats.

SPEAKER_08 (01:40:02):
And then the navy's a mascot.

SPEAKER_10 (01:40:04):
I actually pretty sure.
It's a sheep or something likethat.
It's a sheep or something likethat.
Oh, it's a goat.
It's a goat.
Is it a goat?
A ram, I think.
Ram and goat.
It's a fucking goat.

SPEAKER_02 (01:40:23):
It's a fucking goat.
Hey, we got a pretty cool onebulldog.
We got a jackass.

SPEAKER_12 (01:40:32):
Dude, that was some of the worst clone in boot camp,
though.

SPEAKER_02 (01:40:35):
Bunch of fucking donkeys.

SPEAKER_12 (01:40:37):
Bulldog clone in boot camp?
That you get at the PS.

SPEAKER_02 (01:40:41):
Bulldog clone.
Bulldog clone?
Cologne.
No.

SPEAKER_12 (01:40:45):
Oh, wait a minute.
Or the aftershave or whatever?
Yeah, when you got to go to thePX.

SPEAKER_02 (01:40:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And they force you to buy it.
They force you to buy all kindsof shit.
They did.
That you don't even need.
No.
It's like we got the store.
With a lot of inventory.
Here's the list of shit you'rebuying.
If you're making like$80 afucking month.
Oh shit.

SPEAKER_12 (01:41:09):
And then you come back and they do a fucking
mountain shibachi andeverything's fucking mixed in
one.

SPEAKER_02 (01:41:13):
So it's all fucked up.

SPEAKER_08 (01:41:18):
Dude, we were under fucking martial law when I was
in boot camp.
We couldn't buy fucking dick.
Why?
Because we had we had eight guysgo to um what did we call it?
Charlie's Chicken Farm.
Which is what?
Like a restaurant?

(01:41:39):
Like a Bravo?

SPEAKER_02 (01:41:40):
Like a whorehouse?

SPEAKER_08 (01:41:41):
No, it was like a fucking jail.

SPEAKER_02 (01:41:43):
Oh.

SPEAKER_08 (01:41:44):
For fucking profiteering.
They had well you probably.
And boot camp?
Fuck yeah.
They were buying fucking candybars and fucking selling them
for like two or three dollars apiece.

SPEAKER_02 (01:41:58):
Well they are like they're like two or three
dollars a piece.

SPEAKER_08 (01:42:01):
Not when I was fucking in boot camp, they
weren't.
I went to boot camp in 1985.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42:08):
And they got hit.

SPEAKER_08 (01:42:11):
No, we didn't.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42:13):
That's what he said.

SPEAKER_08 (01:42:14):
They only certain people got to go to boot or the
PX, like the platoon leaders andthe squad leader.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42:21):
That's what I okay.

SPEAKER_08 (01:42:22):
So they'd go and buy them, and they'd bring them back
and they'd fucking sell them.
But they were going back, theywere buying them mass
quantities.
And they were profiteering onthis shit.
They were racketeering.
How many did you buy?

SPEAKER_09 (01:42:39):
None.
I mean, that thing that they doduring when you guys go out to
the field.
Somebody always buys two, three,four rolls of dip.

SPEAKER_08 (01:42:51):
Not chew.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42:52):
Not what I did.
Yeah.
But that was when I was that waswhen I was on the fleet.

SPEAKER_11 (01:42:56):
When you were fleeting the club.

SPEAKER_02 (01:42:57):
Yeah, you went out, you you went out to the field
for like a week.
You bought like four rolls ofchew.
One roll for you, and the otherthree.
You waited for about day three,day four, and everybody else
just grabbed a couple cans, andthen you break out your pad.
Ten dollar can.
Right?
Sign.
Can, sign, can, sign.

SPEAKER_08 (01:43:20):
Like a boot camp.
Boot camp, we couldn't chew.
We could have cigarettes, but wecouldn't have we couldn't have
anything to light them with.
We couldn't have matches orlighters.
We get any of that.
The drill sergeant would throw alit cigarette out the fucking
window, and we'd all have tofucking hot box of cigarettes.

(01:43:40):
To fucking light our cigarettes.
Imagine that.

SPEAKER_09 (01:43:43):
Huh?
I remember we same thing.
We weren't allowed to have anykind of shit.
No, I think nobody has.

SPEAKER_12 (01:43:50):
We even thought about that in their fucking
point you to the quarter deck.

SPEAKER_09 (01:43:52):
Oh, you think about a smoking boy?
Get up here.
We had one drawer that we wereable to padlock, and you know,
nobody was allowed into itexcept for us.
Except once a week, it would getsearched by, you know, our RTs.
Um and there was this one dude,I'll never forget.

(01:44:17):
He had been taking peanut butterpackets from the galley and been
throwing it in his in his thing,and been eating that shit at
night.
He forgot that he left one inthere.
Oh.
And yeah, he got railed on thatone.

(01:44:37):
Never failed.
I thought it was fuckinghilarious.

SPEAKER_12 (01:44:40):
What the fuck is this?
What the fuck is this, Brad Pa?

SPEAKER_02 (01:44:44):
I think whatever you were going.
A jelly donut?
Yeah, that's what I was thinkingtoo.

SPEAKER_09 (01:44:51):
We had another dude that was addicted to McDonald's.
He went through fuckingwithdrawals.
Our chief came in, freaking bagof McDonald's and a McFlurry,
sat it on the middle of thetable, and called him out.
Had a big McMill in there.

SPEAKER_12 (01:45:07):
We didn't have fucking time to think about
anything at boot camp.
No.
We didn't have time to thinkabout food or cravings or
anything like that.

SPEAKER_09 (01:45:14):
But we had called that guy out and was like, you
better eat this.
So as soon as he took his firstbite, we all dropped and we sat
there and we fucking worked out.
Oh it was horrible.

SPEAKER_08 (01:45:25):
We had a guy get cocaine sent to the city.
What?
Jesus.
It was from his mother.
Yeah.
The package came from hismother.
But but we don't know who itcame from, but got cocaine in
the mail and boot camp.

SPEAKER_02 (01:45:39):
Worst thing I ever did was we went up to Pendleton
for field one week.
That's in range.
So we had we went up there forour uh it's like maintenance
week.
I can't remember what theycalled it.
Like you worked the chow hall,you clean the belly, you mow the
grass, maintenance week orwhatever, then we had rifle week
after that, and then we um hadthe crucible.

(01:46:00):
Yep.
Uh field week with the crucibleat the end.
So up there, like I was, I mean,I was like 130 fucking pounds,
man.
Right.
So figured out they gave acouple guys, said double rap for
double rations, uh, thestarches.
I was right.

(01:46:20):
So I took my name tag, flippedit over, stamped it with our
stamper for like the back of ourclothes, and did DBL R A T,
stamped it so I could just flipmy tag back and forth, so we'd
be walking in line, because wehad we didn't have name tapes.
No, right?
So you just had this little redtag because I was first

(01:46:42):
battalion.
So I'd flip it over and it wouldsay double rat when I was
walking through the line.
So they give me double portions,I'd flip it back over.
All the other time.
So I I because you're starvingup there, dude.
You're you're you you you neverstop moving.
No, you never stop fuckingmoving.
And the thing is doing all kindsof shit.

SPEAKER_12 (01:47:00):
It's crazy.
So you were more of a benefitwhen you actually got to use
that double rat.
My problem is you know, as soonas that guidance sits down, your
time is clicking.
Oh, yeah.
Well, here I am, Thomas.
I'm one some of the you know,last in line.
By the time I sat down, I'm justshoveling as fast as I can.

(01:47:21):
By the time, you know, that fiveminutes or whatever ran out, I
never got to finish anything.

SPEAKER_02 (01:47:25):
So I don't know.

SPEAKER_12 (01:47:26):
Even as a double rat.

SPEAKER_02 (01:47:27):
So we had we had you know four squads.
And we were back then, you weredoing all these weird marches
where you kind of intermingleand you sidestep and you spin
around and you're doing allkinds of weird shit, getting in
line.
So depending on if you were liketoward the front of line or you
got the fourth in line, right?
By squad, then it goes byheight.
So all the tall guys used tostand in the front and it would

(01:47:47):
go all the way back to theshorter guys.
I was midway for height, so I'dhave been about middle of the
squad, right?
So just depending on the order.
Yeah, there was there were sometimes, yeah.
You literally got about threeminutes to eat.

SPEAKER_12 (01:48:01):
Yeah.
I mean, you're just shovelingdown and we still still eat that
fast to this day.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 (01:48:06):
No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_12 (01:48:08):
I still catch myself when I sit down.
I'm just I don't I don't lookup, I just look at my plate and
I'm just shoveling until it'sdone, and then I'll look up like
it kills my gut.

SPEAKER_08 (01:48:17):
Just sticks.
I fucking hated them dings.

SPEAKER_04 (01:48:22):
What's going on?
She's only here.
I've come to bring wisdom andinsight.
Do we get your chassis belt?

SPEAKER_08 (01:48:32):
Oh hated them fucking dings.
You might need seats taken.

SPEAKER_03 (01:48:35):
You know what?
Seats taken.
I'm gonna sit right here.

SPEAKER_04 (01:48:38):
Can't sit here and Charlie because making me
nervous.
I know it's gonna be me and youdoing most of the arguing.

SPEAKER_03 (01:48:45):
Arguing.

SPEAKER_08 (01:48:46):
Yeah, Brent is glad that you read it because he's
fucking tired of being thefucking boy.

SPEAKER_12 (01:48:51):
Yeah, Brent's tired of being the fucking whipping
boy.
He won't train here.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:48:55):
But it's you're still gonna be the whipping boy.
No, not now.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:01):
Yes, yes, you are.
Why is Brent the whipping boy?

SPEAKER_09 (01:49:05):
That's what I'm asking.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:07):
Well, what are we talking about?
What have we talked about?
Sorry, I'm late.
We're talking about boot campright now.
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:49:14):
And how Billy used to be able to go out and have
smoke breaks.

SPEAKER_08 (01:49:16):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:20):
Brent and used to get to eat McDonald's.
What fucking year did you go in?

SPEAKER_08 (01:49:23):
No.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:24):
Oh, 85.

SPEAKER_08 (01:49:26):
Yeah, but we couldn't have lighters or
matches.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:31):
How the fuck do you light your cigarette?

SPEAKER_08 (01:49:33):
Joe Start would throw a lit cigarette out the
window.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:36):
Fucking insane.

SPEAKER_08 (01:49:37):
And we'd have to fucking use a lit cigarette to
fucking light all ourcigarettes.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:41):
Fucking 1985.
Jesus.

SPEAKER_09 (01:49:44):
That's what I said.
I remember third grade.
I just want to point out thefact that I wasn't even born
yet.
I was eight.
Just throwing that out there.
I was three.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:49:55):
Um.

SPEAKER_04 (01:49:58):
Are we talking about the state of the world today or
what?
No, we're talking about theworld.

SPEAKER_02 (01:50:04):
We haven't had any politics talks.

SPEAKER_04 (01:50:07):
Are you ready for this?

SPEAKER_12 (01:50:08):
But I'll try.

SPEAKER_04 (01:50:09):
Because this concerns service members.
Does it?
Yeah.
The signal group chat.

SPEAKER_09 (01:50:16):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_04 (01:50:16):
You guys are aware of this, right?
No.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:50:19):
I'm aware of it, but I never read into it.
The something about somereporter being accidentally
added to the chat, butsupposedly no classified
material was shared.
Fuck it.
That's what I heard.
That's all I okay.

SPEAKER_04 (01:50:36):
Was classified.
Was classified informationshared?

SPEAKER_02 (01:50:40):
There was not really op orders, but there was
operational information shared,yes.

SPEAKER_04 (01:50:48):
Time on target.
What the target is.
When, where, blah, blah, blah.
All of these things that aredefinitely classified.
And our Secretary of Defense,the uh former uh Sunday news Fox
News host.

(01:51:08):
Um who else was on there?
JD Vance was on there, the vicepresident, um the Tulsi Gabbard,
Mike Walls, uh, and a few otherpeople.
The fucking Secretary ofTreasury, why that fucking
person was even on there.
First of all, they should havenever been talking about this

(01:51:32):
kind of stuff on Signal.
Right?
Can we agree on that?

SPEAKER_02 (01:51:36):
Yeah, I don't I don't I don't know the
background of Signal.

SPEAKER_04 (01:51:39):
Signal is it's like WhatsApp or fucking Facebook
Messenger.
Okay, it's not a secure thing,you know?

SPEAKER_02 (01:51:46):
Okay.
I I I don't know what's in theroom either.
So that's that's why I'm askingthe question.
I heard about it, I read alittle bit about it, but I
didn't dive into what signalsounded like it was some sort of
a government type messagingsystem.
You can download it right now,but just okay.
So oh, so it's like a legit app.

SPEAKER_04 (01:52:04):
Yeah, it's a it's an app.
Oh and um they for whateverreason they think it's secure,
it's not secure.
Um one of the people that wereon the group chat while they
were talking about time ontarget, weapon systems that
they're gonna be using, all thisshit.
One of the people that was onthat group chat was in the

(01:52:28):
Kremlin.
In Russia, in the Kremlin.
Do you think that they weren'tmonitoring his phone the second
he landed in Russia?
Hell yeah, they were.
They had that information.
I can guarantee you that.
Russia had that information.
I'm sure they don't give a shitabout the Houthis in Yemen.
Right?

SPEAKER_12 (01:52:47):
Yeah, because that's what it was about.
It's bombing bombing the Houthisand shit, right?

SPEAKER_04 (01:52:51):
Yeah.
Um and first of all, theyshouldn't have been on Signal
talking about this.
Secondly, they added ajournalist to the group chat.
Yeah, that's uh it it was onaccident.

SPEAKER_12 (01:53:06):
There shouldn't be a fucking journalist with the.
I think it was on accident.
No.

SPEAKER_04 (01:53:09):
Anyways.
I think it was on accident.
It was Mike Walls that did it.

SPEAKER_09 (01:53:15):
Since we're talking politics and you know how touchy
I get about it, I got groundnews pulled up.
They're not a sponsor, but ifyou want to sponsor us, please
do.
Um I just send your check.
Tell them where to send theircheck to.
Oh, just comment, just comment,you know.

(01:53:37):
I'll give you my anyway.
I'll give you my Venmo.
Venmo.
Um, and if you don't know aboutground news, it is a news site
that compares left-leaningversus right-leaning news
sources, and then they kind ofaggregate that data and they
figure out where it's at.
So you can just type in a topicand search it.

(01:53:59):
Well, I just searched signal, itjust came up.
Bias distribution is listed as52% center, which is good,
right?
Yeah, I mean it's not notleaning heavily one way or the
other.
It leans 29% leans left, 18%leans right, the rest is 52%

(01:54:20):
center.
And then it shows you thisinfographic.
Just the reporting on that, andthen it shows you the
infographic of who's leaningwhere and all of that.

SPEAKER_12 (01:54:31):
So yeah, I think I I would concur though that any you
know, Oxec or mission planningor anything shouldn't be on a
fucking social media platform.
No.
Yeah, so what do you mean right?

SPEAKER_08 (01:54:48):
Didn't your boy Geraldo Herrera?

SPEAKER_04 (01:54:50):
Geraldo Rivera.

SPEAKER_08 (01:54:52):
Yeah.
Didn't he get in trouble forthat during Iraq?
The first one where he leakedout.

SPEAKER_04 (01:55:00):
He leaked out some fucking you're talking about
Desert Storm.
Yeah, Desert Storm.
Fuck man.
I was like 13 when thathappened.
Um if he did do it, uh kickedout of the country or something.
I do remember something likethat.
Yep.

SPEAKER_09 (01:55:16):
Oh, here's a good one.
Military Times.
You guys know Marine CorpsTimes, Navy Times, Army Times.
Yeah.
Here's the thing though.
Military Times has been listedas very high factuality.
It is center, and it states,their headline, quote, obviously
classified, end quote.

(01:55:37):
Experts say Hegseth chat leaksinvited danger.

SPEAKER_08 (01:55:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:55:43):
So which is actually kind of interesting.
I I mean I like militar uhmilitary times, Navy Times, so I
should actually try and findthat.

SPEAKER_12 (01:55:51):
Yeah, Haraldo Rivera was expelled from Iraq for
broadcasting details aboutfuture U.S.
troop movements in the country.

SPEAKER_05 (01:55:59):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That's your boy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_12 (01:56:01):
So how did he even know about it?
I don't know.
Haraldo Rivera?
He was Fox News.

SPEAKER_05 (01:56:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:56:08):
How did he even know about it?

SPEAKER_04 (01:56:11):
He was there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:56:12):
Well, I know, but he should know where they're
they're going before they'regoing.
Right.

SPEAKER_12 (01:56:17):
I mean, when you get it when you get into true
movement and those, you know,mission planning orders, like do
you guys remember as ajournalist in any of that?

SPEAKER_04 (01:56:24):
Yeah, yeah.
Well they know that shit beforewe do.
Well, do you do you rememberbeing overseas and talking to
your loved ones back home andlike, oh well, you know, you
there's certain shit you justdidn't say.
Yeah, yeah.
Just don't say.
I'm not over unsecure lines.
Uh, you know, and they're shit.

SPEAKER_12 (01:56:45):
We only got a call from the SAP phone.
You barely fucking hear anythingfrom that.

SPEAKER_04 (01:56:50):
So uh the Trump administration's uh um way of if
they had been like, hey, wefucked up, that story would have
been dead right then and there,right?
But they double down on it.
They don't you know they doubleddown on it.

(01:57:11):
They first they were lied, theylied about it.

SPEAKER_12 (01:57:14):
Oh yeah, it's not.
But that's a classic move ofevery fucking administration.
They'll never straight up admit.

SPEAKER_04 (01:57:19):
Well they try and fucking beat the Russian But I
mean this was egregious.
For sure.
Very egregious.
For sure.
And then the lying was veryegregious as well.
Um Congress had Tulsi Gabbardand though the the the head of
the CIA was in that group chatand was naming the CIA operative

(01:57:40):
in Yemen by name.
Uh that fucking CIA operativecould never work again.
That is a because the the thereporter did not reveal that
guy's name.
He still has not revealed theperson's name, but this guy
who's in the Kremlin for surewas having his phone tapped.

(01:58:03):
And they for sure have this CIAoperative's name.
So his career is over.
I mean in that regard, anyways.
Uh, I'm sure they'll move him tohave him do something else, but
god damn.

SPEAKER_08 (01:58:14):
His life's probably over.
Well, depending on what he'sdone.

SPEAKER_12 (01:58:18):
They'll probably move him to work at the Soring
New Casino.
Be a pit boss.
So uh security.

SPEAKER_04 (01:58:25):
Yeah, the the Trump administration uh first lied.
It wasn't Trump himself.
Trump was like, I don't knownothing about that.
What are you talking about?
Um Pete Haig Seth, well,initially he started lying about
it, and then the reporter um putthe text messages out.

(01:58:47):
You know, he I think he blackedout like that guy's name and
stuff, but everything he saidright there on the on the in the
in the messages.

SPEAKER_02 (01:58:56):
So what are they gonna do about it?

SPEAKER_04 (01:58:57):
Nothing, yeah, nothing, nothing like Mike Walls
was the one that put the guy inthe group chat, right?
And I don't know what MikeWalls' position is in the
government, but he's you know,he's one of Trump's cabinet
members.
He's uh let's see, Mike Walls.

SPEAKER_09 (01:59:20):
He is while you're looking that up, I'm just kind
of going around the Navy times.

SPEAKER_04 (01:59:29):
National Security Advisor.
No NSA.
Okay.

SPEAKER_09 (01:59:34):
So I just want to say something real quick.
Joe Harris, believed to be theoldest surviving World War II
paratrooper, has died.

SPEAKER_04 (01:59:43):
That's crazy.
Hopefully I'll be that.
Oldest paratrooper.

SPEAKER_09 (01:59:50):
You know a ranger?
Any rangers, paratroopers,anything like that?
So you know anybody?
Do you know any rangers orparatroopers or yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:59:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (01:59:59):
I mean Paratroopers.
Is it hard to be a rangeranymore?
Paratrooper is just somebodythat jumps out of airplanes.
I thought that was like a rangerops brand.
It's an elite school.
It is schooling.

SPEAKER_04 (02:00:11):
Rangers fall up under special operations.
Okay.
They do.

SPEAKER_02 (02:00:16):
So when you look at the pecking order of special
ops, you got rangers, then yougot Marine Corps Infantry, and
then you got Disney.

SPEAKER_04 (02:00:28):
Well you guys got your own special ops, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 (02:00:30):
Yes, well, two of them then.
Yeah, so we have uh Recon,Reconnaissance Marines, and then
we got Marsock.
Uh or not Marsocks turned intouh the Raiders.

SPEAKER_12 (02:00:43):
Well they're the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 (02:00:44):
Well Italian is, but they're Marsok.
Well, right, but they used to beMarsok originally and then they
renamed them.
So Raiders.
Which is still Marsok, but it'sjust renamed.

SPEAKER_09 (02:00:55):
Oh.
I've been completely ignoringJoe.
Um Joe.
Totally on accident, Joe.
Uh is this Joe Gates?

SPEAKER_02 (02:01:03):
Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 (02:01:03):
He should be here.
Should be here.
He's working for you apparently.

SPEAKER_09 (02:01:08):
So thanks, Joe.
Oh, sorry.
He he's been making comments,and I was completely on a
different window.
My bad, Joe.
He said something about uh,let's see, comparing what they
uh comparing it to what Killerydid.
Um classified information.

(02:01:31):
We had a guy get grilled forleaving a damn SKL out in the
open at NTC.
I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_04 (02:01:42):
Yeah, me either.
Let's see.

SPEAKER_02 (02:01:47):
Probably some well, he was in communications or
something, right?
So probably was some sort ofcommunicator.
So something, I don't know.

SPEAKER_12 (02:01:55):
The buddy I served with, he ended up, you know, he
stayed in in oh what do you calllike 25 years, but he ended up
as a first sergeant in Marsock.
And then he picked up SergeantMajor, he went to San Antonio,
he was in charge of therecruiting command down there,
and then he got a request to bebrought back to Marsock, and he

(02:02:15):
was Sergeant Major of Mars.
Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_04 (02:02:21):
I um SKL is a simple key loader, it's a secure
cryptographic device used in forsafe distribution and storage of
communications.
Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 (02:02:36):
Well, this as soon as it was Joe, it's gotta be
gotta be something withcommunications.
Ridiculously important, I'msure.
So it's like leaving the Enigmamachine laying out.
Whoops.

SPEAKER_04 (02:02:51):
Yeah.
Well, if if that had been any ofus that leaked that kind of
information, if found out, wewould be fried.
Fried.

SPEAKER_12 (02:03:00):
Well, and and you can go back to that double
standard officer unenlisted.

SPEAKER_04 (02:03:05):
Yeah.
And then you're talking aboutfrom officer to Echelon's above.
Yeah.
Way above.

SPEAKER_12 (02:03:13):
I mean, we go back to the county level when the
sheriff left his pistol inShepherd Elementary Gym.

SPEAKER_02 (02:03:19):
Absolutely nothing happened to him.
Now, if I would have left myhandgun, you know, then he'd
become unlock locker.
He'd become sheriff.
Unlock locker.
Because he wasn't even thesheriff.
And leave the handgun in afucking school unsecured.

SPEAKER_12 (02:03:32):
And a student phoned it the next morning and turned
it in.
Holy fuck.
Thankfully the student turned itin.

SPEAKER_02 (02:03:37):
Do you think he quit his job?
Nope.
He wrote an apology letter andnothing else happened.
Right, but if that was him or meor you, shit, we'd been in
prison for fucking five years.

SPEAKER_12 (02:03:47):
Yeah, for less than a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 (02:03:48):
Especially now because of the new and just have
it on a property.

SPEAKER_09 (02:03:51):
Because you're not allowed to have it on property.
But cops can.
Especially now because of thenew gun control laws in the
state now.
Because apparently they're doingthis whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04:00):
You still can't just because you're a cop doesn't
mean you can leave themunsecured.
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (02:04:03):
Well, yeah, I know.
Yeah, that.
But he can't carry it on schoolproperty.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:04:07):
As a police officer.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04:09):
But yeah.
Just write an apology letter andeverything.
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (02:04:16):
Well, I mean he's not still the sheriff, right?

SPEAKER_08 (02:04:19):
Yes, he is.
He is the sheriff now.
He wasn't elected.
He wasn't the sheriff then, Idon't think.
Okay, he was.
Wasn't he?
He just got in.

SPEAKER_12 (02:04:27):
I thought he got elected after the other.
Because he was previously thedeputy and shepherd.
Oh, he was Bella County, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:04:32):
Oh, okay.
Is he um I thought IsabellaCounty police was kind of like
no more.

SPEAKER_02 (02:04:40):
So the the County Sheriff's Department, no, still.
So there's only like there's thesheriff, the under sheriff, and
like maybe one or two otherdeputies, and that's like it.
And then it's the correctionalstaff at the jail.
Which is still under control ofthe sheriff.

SPEAKER_12 (02:04:56):
Which if I'm not mistaken, like each county has
to have a sheriff deputy.
Or like the jailer.

SPEAKER_02 (02:05:04):
Well, yeah, so they have got the CEOs, right?
So they're all.
I don't know if they're they'reconsidered deputies.
I don't think so.
They're corrections officers.
Yeah.
But I think there's like uh twoor three deputies that maybe
like work the desk or somethingat the jail.
And then him and theundersheriff, the sheriff and

(02:05:25):
under sheriff.
That's like it.
They had to get they had to letgo like 25 other deputies when
the millage didn't pass.
Which I don't know why thosepositions were run off the
millage to begin with.
Right.
Like the Raw Patrol?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:05:41):
They got doged.

SPEAKER_02 (02:05:44):
Yeah, because people were tired of paying for that
shit.
You know, and it sucks.

SPEAKER_12 (02:05:49):
But yeah, people got tired of, you know, these city
commissioners mismanaged moneyand kept trying to raise, you
know, taxes.
Well, but more millages, moremillages, more millages.

SPEAKER_02 (02:05:58):
So this is what we're saying.
This is what we're saying.
The sheriff gets a budget.

SPEAKER_10 (02:06:03):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (02:06:03):
Right?
So you can't tell me in MacostaCounty or Clare County every
year in Midland County, pass aspecial millage to have police
officers.
They don't.
It's just in the budget to havethese officers.
So is your budget so small inIsabella County that you can't
have but five or six officers?

(02:06:25):
That's it?
In order to have 15 or 20 toactually out driving around.
Like I don't understand for theshit.
Don't have a special millage.
Well, but what they did was theyhad to have used the money
somewhere else to pay for allthe officers.
Right?
And there's, oh, you know, well,if we want to keep the community
safe, we need to have thismillage.
Wait a minute, where's all theregular budget money at?

(02:06:47):
Right.
Why is there not that alreadythere?
Well, because when it comes topublic safety, the county
commissioners probably slashedthe sheriff's department budget,
use the fucking money on somestupid shit, and then said,
well, but people want theircommunity safe, so they'll just
pay extra for it.
Well, no, not anymore.
People hold on to it.
It ain't fucking happening.

SPEAKER_03 (02:07:07):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (02:07:07):
Well so do you think it's going to make a slow
comeback?
I think the county well.
The guys that left, I don'texpect them to trust the county
to they'll never come back.

SPEAKER_02 (02:07:17):
No.
No.
No, that'll be a void.
A lot of them.
It'll be 10 years before we getthem back.

SPEAKER_12 (02:07:22):
It happened, or something like Macosta 10 years
ago or something, and they'restill not.

SPEAKER_04 (02:07:29):
Well, it's not like we don't believe fucking city
cops, state cops.

SPEAKER_02 (02:07:32):
Well, that's the thing.
Central cops.
That's the thing.
If you notice, there's stateboys everywhere now.
They have to.
They have to now, but they neverwere before.
Yeah.
No, because they've shifted tothey've shifted one or two out
of each other freaking postaround here and brought them all
to this post.

SPEAKER_03 (02:07:48):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (02:07:49):
And here's the thing that pisses me off.
And and none of us understandbecause we don't understand the
implications of jurisdiction,but why can't Central's cops
they're fucking certified?
So just because theirjurisdiction is the campus,
don't mean shit in my opinion.
So they if you need a policeofficer, so they fucking they

(02:08:11):
all were.

SPEAKER_02 (02:08:11):
So the city and tribal and oh, and especially
tribal.

SPEAKER_09 (02:08:17):
Because the north side of town, we're all on the
fucking reservation.

SPEAKER_02 (02:08:20):
They were all deputized.
So that if there was a big massevent, right, somewhere, they
they were allowed to leavecampus to go to it.
But CMU pays for those officers,not the county.
Right.
So CM, so that'd be like, youknow, Delta College going, well,
we're all colleges, we're gonnahave Brett come work for us for

(02:08:41):
a couple days.
Mid's gonna be like, uh, no,he's our employee.
Right?
So CMU doesn't want to pay youas a CMU cop to go out and
fucking patrol fucking DenverTownship up by Rosebush.
No.
You're paid by us, you're on ourcampus, right?
Same thing with the city.
City doesn't want their fuckingcops out roaming the

(02:09:02):
countryside.
No, they want them in the city.
So if something happens, they'rehere, right?

SPEAKER_09 (02:09:05):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (02:09:05):
So that's that's the reason why.
So, but if there's a mass eventor something where they need,
like a shooter, and they need tohave more cops right there right
now, they're able to leave to godo that stuff.
Yeah, but then they're when it'sdone, right?
They're it's not their scene,they leave and go go back to
their normal jurisdictionalareas.
But yeah, they were alldeputized for that purpose, but

(02:09:28):
it's not their responsibility togo patrol Rosebush or Shepherd
or whatever else, like countywas.

SPEAKER_04 (02:09:34):
Or Wayman, yeah, yeah, or Blanchard, or
Blanchard.
Can you imagine it's about thecounties from Blanchard all the
way out to Loomis?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (02:09:42):
It's so so that road patrol is basically like from
what I understood, there waslike four police officers that
were on patrol, right?
Within the county.
So there was one in thenortheast, northwest, you know,
so they were positioned around,and that was kind of the area
they patrolled.
So if there was a domesticviolence or a shooting or car
accident or something, they hadsomeone in that area kind of

(02:10:03):
close, you know, but you know,you had two or three shifts of
that, so that's 12 people, youknow, at a minimum, plus the
people that were off, you know,on their days off or whatever.
So I mean, yeah, they neededthey they go like 20, 25
officers.

SPEAKER_04 (02:10:17):
So you know what happens now when people get
arrested?
Isabella County Jail, right?

SPEAKER_02 (02:10:24):
Which is so that's what I'm trying to tell you, is
right now you have employed,you'd have the sheriff, the
under-sheriff, and I believeit's like two or three other
deputies, sheriff deputies, andthen you have all the jail
staff, which are the correctionsofficers.
So the sheriff is in charge ofthe county jail.
So the jail is the jail.

(02:10:46):
That's a separate budget fromthe officers that are driving
around, right?
Doing stuff.
So the jail's still fullystaffed, and that's no different
than it was when it wasdowntown.

SPEAKER_04 (02:10:56):
It's out in the new facility now, so that has did
they build that new facility?

SPEAKER_02 (02:11:00):
Yeah, yeah, they moved in, they moved into it.

SPEAKER_09 (02:11:03):
There's 190 inmates over there really a couple three
weeks ago.

SPEAKER_04 (02:11:07):
190.

SPEAKER_09 (02:11:08):
Well, so some of them not all of them are ours.
I didn't know the inmates werein Macoma or Acosta County and a
bunch of other counties pay usto house their inmates.

SPEAKER_12 (02:11:18):
Yeah, we get a bunch shipped up from Detroit and all
that too.
They pay us to hold theirinmates.

SPEAKER_02 (02:11:23):
Yeah, they they opened the facility about three
weeks ago or so.

SPEAKER_12 (02:11:26):
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (02:11:26):
And Detroit, in one of their prisons or jails down
there, they're doing a remodel.
So what they'll do is they'lltake, you know, they've already
moved a bunch of inmates out,and then they'll move inmates
around within the jail, and thenthey'll bring some back, and
then they ship others out.
And some of them have come here,right?
Because we get paid$185 a day orwhatever it is to house their

(02:11:47):
inmates.
So when they're shut a floordown, they move those inmates
out of that spot over here, andthen they take the inmates that
were there and they move theminto the new part that's done.

SPEAKER_09 (02:11:59):
So, yeah, so we they've they've kind of adopted
a like an M doc like kind ofapproach.
Not every county has its ownjail.
They've gotta gone regional.
I know I know Kent County did.
Kent County covers Ottawa, youknow, freaking Alleghen.

(02:12:19):
Everybody goes downtown GrandRapids to the Kent County jail.

SPEAKER_02 (02:12:24):
I thought each each county, I think, has got a jail.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (02:12:28):
Maybe I'll Google it.
Let's see.

SPEAKER_02 (02:12:29):
Yeah, pretty sure they all gotta have one.

SPEAKER_04 (02:12:33):
Maybe not.
How big is it though?

SPEAKER_02 (02:12:35):
What's that?

SPEAKER_04 (02:12:36):
They're jails.
Each jail, you know.
How big is say Ottawa County?
Yeah.
Or Allegheny County.

SPEAKER_08 (02:12:42):
Are you looking for future housing area?

SPEAKER_04 (02:12:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (02:12:45):
No, but they do not.
Uh, in lieu of providing a jail,as required in section 16, each
county may contract with othercounties for the use of such
counties' jails.
There you go.
So they do not have to have one.
Gotcha.

SPEAKER_04 (02:13:03):
Seems like it'd get pretty packed.
Kent County's probably prettybusy.

SPEAKER_09 (02:13:07):
It's it's they've got thousands of inmates.
Kent County out.

SPEAKER_04 (02:13:13):
Grand Rabbit, Grant Rabbit's big business locking
people up.

SPEAKER_02 (02:13:18):
Well, that's why a lot of your prisons.
We're all innocent, too.

SPEAKER_12 (02:13:20):
Yeah, that's why a lot of prisons went to um uh
privatized.

SPEAKER_04 (02:13:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (02:13:26):
A lot of your prisons across the country are
privatized.

SPEAKER_04 (02:13:28):
Well, here's here's the thing.
And I've I've I have figured outthis uh this uh immigration
problem, right?
Getting rid of all the cheaplabor.
I figured it out.
I don't want to say it because Idon't want to give you guys
you're out, but I'm gonna sayit.

(02:13:51):
And you know, they're roundingup all these uh migrant workers
and whatnot and shipping themoff.
Uh so why don't you replacethose migrant workers with
prison workforce?

SPEAKER_09 (02:14:05):
They do it, they do do that in some parts of the
country, but yeah, uh theold-fashioned chain gangs, you
damn right put them to work.
So I actually just read anarticle about the H2A, which is
I still think we should open upthose visas so they can who
fucking cares?
Like, whatever.
That's a whole different thing.
That really does get intopolitics.
But the chain gang is a is agood solution.

SPEAKER_02 (02:14:27):
When you bring migrant workers in for seasonal
work, I didn't know, but thefarmer has to pay it's about two
thousand dollars, nineteenhundred or something dollars for
the application fee for eachworker to bring them in.

SPEAKER_04 (02:14:41):
Two thousand dollars?
Yep.

SPEAKER_02 (02:14:43):
It's nineteen, it's like nineteen hundred and
eighty-two or nineteen hundredand eighty-five dollars just for
the application processing shit.
Each person?
Each person.
Then they have to pay for theirflights to fly in, and or if
they get them like a bus ticket,they gotta pay for that.
They gotta pay if they do bus,then they have to pay their
hotels, they have to pay alltheir food, they have to pay

(02:15:05):
everything.
Then when they get them to thefarm, they gotta house them,
which has to be inspected tomake sure it's livable, and they
have to feed them every day.
And they pay them, they gottapay them like almost 18 bucks an
hour.
Damn, so yep, so now migrantworkers?
Yeah, so now they're makingfucking bank here in comparison.
And they have to and they haveto take them to a laundry

(02:15:28):
facility if they don't have itat their own, at the house they
live in.
They have to bust them or drivethem once a week to a laundry
facility and to a grocery store.
So that's backdoor renders here.
So basically the farmers aregoing, look, this is getting so
damn expensive that we we can'tdo it anymore.

(02:15:51):
Imagine so damn expensive, andthe reason why those workers are
getting removed from the countrybecause they've overstayed their
visas, right?
They came here to work on a farmand they just they're supposed
to leave in September and theyjust never did.

SPEAKER_04 (02:16:01):
A lot of them uh they they actually do just they
don't even come out of visa,they just hop to the border and
then come go to Alabama and gowork strawberries.

SPEAKER_02 (02:16:12):
But I'm talking about the ones that came here
legally, right?
Right.
Well, the visas, how much thefarmers actually have to pay to
get one person.

SPEAKER_04 (02:16:19):
That's that's a lot.
Why would they I wouldn't evendo that?
Well, that's more than$18 anhour, right?
But they're once you add allthat shit together, well yeah,
but they're the ones trying todo it the legal way, right?

SPEAKER_02 (02:16:31):
Right, and have the people here so they don't get
deported, they don't get introuble.
But the problem is is they justtake off at the end of the end
of the season, and now thefarmers are like, well, they're
fucking gone.
What do you want me to do?
And then they get rounded up.

SPEAKER_04 (02:16:44):
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (02:16:45):
Now it's different.
You're talking about the borderjumpers, that's totally
different.
Well, that's I thought we solvedthat with the wall.
So now that so border bordercrossing.
Border crossings are down like82% since Trump took over.
What say the illegal bordercrossings are down like 82%

(02:17:05):
since Trump's taken over.

SPEAKER_04 (02:17:07):
Are we sure about that?
Google it.
I mean, I believe you.
I believe you.
Um why the fuck would you go?

SPEAKER_09 (02:17:14):
Are you raping a barn, broy?

SPEAKER_04 (02:17:16):
Um but listen, you get those prisoners out there
doing farm work.
That's it.

SPEAKER_02 (02:17:26):
I would agree if if if the prisoner wants to do it,
they should be forced to do itif they want to do it to make
money.

SPEAKER_04 (02:17:34):
Right, yeah, you still gotta pay the prisoner
like his big steal.

SPEAKER_02 (02:17:37):
Yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_04 (02:17:38):
A dollar, two dollars an hour.

SPEAKER_02 (02:17:40):
Well, I yeah, I mean, I think most of them are
making, yeah, look, somethinglike a dollar a day, actually.
No, it's an hour.

SPEAKER_04 (02:17:46):
Is it an hour?
Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 (02:17:47):
And that's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 (02:17:51):
Speak about it under the kitchen a little bit.
In 2020, right around the timethat Biden took over, it was at
about I would I'd roughly callthat, it's not labeled at this
level, but I know what it was in2020.
I'd roughly called it about25,000, roughly maybe a day.

(02:18:14):
Um apprehensions.
What else are we talking about?
We're talking about legal bordercrossings.
Well, I'm talking aboutapprehensions.
This is just apprehensions,okay.
And then here, I'll just show itto you.
2020, when Biden took over, lookwhat it did.

(02:18:37):
Yeah.
It went up and down, up anddown, up and down, up and down.
Finally, when Trump took over,freaking plunged.
It went right back down.

SPEAKER_04 (02:18:46):
Yeah, because they know he's not fucking around.
They know he's not fuckingaround.
Well, and I I agree thatsomething needs to be done.
And most Democrats, I think,agree that something needs to be
done about illegal immigration.

(02:19:07):
Um what is done about it?
I think the cruelty that's umthat's everybody from Bill
Clinton to fucking uh HillaryClinton, Barack Obama, Bush,

(02:19:28):
everybody said gotta getillegals out of the country.

SPEAKER_02 (02:19:34):
They've all said it.

SPEAKER_04 (02:19:35):
Well, yeah, yeah.
They usually call Obama thedeporter in chief because he
deported so many people.

SPEAKER_12 (02:19:41):
We go back to you know the Clinton era, though.

SPEAKER_09 (02:19:43):
I mean, everybody's you know Democrats are hard line
against illegal immigration.

SPEAKER_12 (02:19:48):
Everybody's up in arms right now, you know, over
this essentially this doge, thisgovernment efficiency and laying
off everybody.
I kind of like Clinton did itback, he was like one of the
first ones to start it.

SPEAKER_02 (02:20:02):
He laid off like 75,000.

SPEAKER_12 (02:20:05):
Yeah.
He's the one that started thiswhole government efficiency and
shutting down all these programsand all that.
It needs to be done.

SPEAKER_09 (02:20:12):
I think it's done.
And Obama continued it withsequestration.

SPEAKER_04 (02:20:18):
Oh, I do remember that.
I remember that word, yeah.
Yep, I do remember that's a bigword.
It is.
Obama was doing thatsequestration.
Um, but uh, you know, they wereI think a little smarter about
it instead of firing all thefucking nuclear scientists that
they needed, sure, which is whatthey did, and then said, Oh
shit, we fired a bunch ofnuclear scientists, let's get

(02:20:41):
them back.
And they were they had to go andget those nuclear scientists
back.
People working on the uh birdflu uh pandemic, they fired a
bunch of those people.
They realized, oh shit, we needthose people, get them back.
So I think it needs to be done.
I just think it needs to be donea little bit more intelligently.

SPEAKER_12 (02:21:02):
Well, and there's this constant tug of war
between, you know,administrations.
Pull them one way to this wayand pull them one way to that
way.

SPEAKER_10 (02:21:12):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:21:15):
And Brent's not in here, so we can talk about it.
You know, because outfits all wewant.

SPEAKER_12 (02:21:19):
Because you go and you look, you know, all these
people getting laid off fromtheir jobs and stuff.
Well, we can go right back toyou know the Biden
administration and COVID whenthey told everybody, well,
sorry, tough, you're laid off.

unknown (02:21:31):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 (02:21:31):
It's no different than now.

SPEAKER_04 (02:21:33):
Do they lay them off or do they tell them go work
from home?

SPEAKER_12 (02:21:36):
Oh, they had a bunch off.
They had a bunch work from home.

SPEAKER_02 (02:21:40):
They tell you my guys can't work from home.
People working at McDonald'scan't work from home.
But they laid them, they laidthem off.
People at stores couldn't workfrom home.

SPEAKER_04 (02:21:49):
Nope.

SPEAKER_02 (02:21:50):
You know?
I mean, fuck, it was it was dumbenough.
Well, you go to Home Depot andthey closed the paint fucking
section down so you couldn't goget paint.
Really?
Yeah.
Because people were like, well,I'm gonna be home for a month
and a half, I might as wellrepaint the house.
So everybody was going to thefucking Home Depot and shit.
Buying paint, buying shit to docrafts and stuff.

SPEAKER_05 (02:22:11):
Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 (02:22:11):
They literally like, nope, you can't do that.
They roped it all off, youweren't allowed to go buy it.

SPEAKER_04 (02:22:16):
What the fuck?
Swear to God.
I believe you.
Uh but you know as dumb as thatis.
The thing about the thing aboutCOVID and what happened was it
was all the newness of it,right?
Nobody knew.
Nobody knew.
The scientists didn't know.
The doctors didn't know what howbad this could or would get.

(02:22:37):
Um, and in my opinion, they werejust doing the best they fucking
could.
You know, with with theinformation that they had.

SPEAKER_02 (02:22:45):
So then why did Fauci get a pardon?

SPEAKER_04 (02:22:47):
Um, why did everybody else get a pardon?
They all got a pardon.
Fauci got a pardon becausebecause they knew that Trump was
gonna maliciously prosecutethem.

SPEAKER_02 (02:23:00):
For what?
If they didn't do anythingwrong.

SPEAKER_04 (02:23:02):
I see, here's my thing.
I would have I would have nottaken that pardon either.
I've been like, come after me.
Let's see where this goes.

SPEAKER_12 (02:23:09):
Pardon is essentially an omission of
guilt.

SPEAKER_04 (02:23:11):
Yeah, you're right.
Right.
So all the January 6th ridersare guilty.
Guilty.
Guilty.

SPEAKER_02 (02:23:20):
Guilty as charged.
What are we talking about?
Then all then all the Bidenfamily.
No, you have fucking pardons.

SPEAKER_09 (02:23:29):
You fucking fucking dog.

SPEAKER_02 (02:23:31):
I like I like the fact that that they're that
fucking robot signer in theoffice going to town.

unknown (02:23:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (02:23:40):
What is the story about that?
Oh, come on.
I bet you no more signed all1,500 of those fucking pardons
for the January 6th writers?

SPEAKER_02 (02:23:50):
No, he hand signed them.
He signed probably one for allof them.
Guarantee you he did.

SPEAKER_04 (02:23:58):
Good luck arguing that in court.

SPEAKER_02 (02:24:00):
Did you fucking what?
If you the if the presidentdoesn't actually sign it?

SPEAKER_04 (02:24:05):
The robo sign?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (02:24:07):
I bet you.
Bet you they'll get overturned.

SPEAKER_04 (02:24:10):
How much you want to bet?
$100.
100 bucks.

SPEAKER_02 (02:24:16):
I'll see you in about a year and a half.
Alright.

SPEAKER_04 (02:24:18):
100 bucks.
And it's on video too.
I want my$100.

SPEAKER_09 (02:24:23):
I think it's gonna get overturned too.

SPEAKER_02 (02:24:28):
Okay, so it's not like that means anybody could
have signed those pardons.

SPEAKER_09 (02:24:33):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (02:24:34):
If an auto signer is doing it, I can I can make a
pardon up right now, throw itthrough the auto signer.
Yeah, president signed it.

SPEAKER_04 (02:24:45):
It's not gonna get overturned.
I can because the the presidentthey auto signed so much shit.
They do.
They auto signed so much shitthat it's just another thing
that they're auto-signing.
Trump auto signs shit.
There was something he autosigned.

SPEAKER_02 (02:25:01):
Um I don't know if you ever seen the interviews
where he's got the fucking stackof shit and he's sitting there.

SPEAKER_04 (02:25:05):
I've seen that, yeah.
I've seen it, but I've alsoheard him talking about um I
didn't actually sign that.
God damn it, what was that?
Um there was something.
But I can't remember.

SPEAKER_09 (02:25:23):
I like the thing they also said in in Trump's
first month in office, while hesat there in front of cameras
and people and signed all thosefreaking things, he took money.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}What Keeps The Veteran Community Together When Time Pulls It Apart?: Inside One VFW's Mission of Modernizing For The Next Generation

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

The Joe Rogan Experience

Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics

All Episodes

What Keeps The Veteran Community Together When Time Pulls It Apart?: Inside One VFW's Mission of Modernizing For The Next Generation

Stuff You Should Know