The OuterBelt's Podcast
The OuterBelt's Podcast
From Slippery Starts to Highway Heartfelt Tales
What happens when a frosty morning turns your routine into a comedy of errors? Picture a frozen truck door, broken handles, and a slippery fall that covers one brave soul in hot beverages. Amidst laughter and chaos, discover how teamwork and perseverance turn a potential disaster into a memorable adventure, proving that a shared chuckle can make even the iciest of situations a bit warmer.
In a world where regulations can often seem as unpredictable as winter weather, we break down the nitty-gritty of random drug testing policies in the trucking industry. Unmasking the complexities behind Department of Transportation mandates, we discuss the financial pressures on drivers, particularly owner-operators. Learn how companies like FedEx and Panther ease these burdens and the intriguing e-commerce loopholes allowing companies like Teemu and Shein to bypass certain regulations, sparking conversations about product safety and the economy.
As we journey through the highways, rest areas, and welcome centers, a rich tapestry of personal stories and observations unfolds. From the inclusive upgrades in Ohio to Louisiana’s rest area closures, we reflect on how these changes impact our travels. Nostalgic tales of summer camps and park adventures bring a touch of warmth, while discussions about regional quirks and community connections offer a snapshot of the evolving landscape. Join us as we wrap up by inviting you to connect with Hyfield Trucking and share your own stories, because the road is always more enjoyable when traveled together.
Email us: theouterbeltpodcast@gmail.com
Website: www.hyfieldtrucking.com
Interested in joining our team? Email us at info.hysg@gmail.com we have open trucks! You must be part of a team. No solo drivers.
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Okay, so give us a 30-second version. Your wonderful trip to Medina.
Speaker 2:I get to the yard.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:The truck's frozen shut Will not open.
Speaker 1:What does that mean?
Speaker 2:Like you can't get the door open Will not open at all the side box door. It's frozen shut. I ended up breaking the handle because I pulled on it so hard.
Speaker 1:Did you add the Trello? No?
Speaker 3:I remembered it, but I forgot to add the Trello.
Speaker 1:Well, let's hope nobody's killing you.
Speaker 3:I have those locks, the latches and locks. I can take care of it.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, I was going to say let's hope no one from Friday hears that.
Speaker 2:Okay, go ahead. Fast forward a few hours Finally.
Speaker 4:A few hours.
Speaker 2:Well, I called you first at 520. You called me at 5.30,. Yeah, and so finally the truck is. Vince comes down, he gets the truck open for me. What time is this? Another set of keys 7.30-ish yeah.
Speaker 1:A few hours, a couple hours.
Speaker 3:He texted me at 6.30. Oh, okay, so an hour. And I saw that and I responded back and we were going back and forth and I told him that I'd get it taken care of. And I told him that we would, I'd get it taken care of and I was going to take the truck. Since he was already there. I thought he was there a lot longer. And I got there and as I'm driving I'm thinking, nope, I can't, because I got stuff to do with mail. We got to get rescue trucks. So I called Jerry back and I said sorry, but I can't take it. Would you?
Speaker 3:I need you to come back and take the truck but at that point I had the spare keys in the green van yeah so I was able to open the door for him and get the keys, get the truck started, hopefully get it warmed up a little bit Okay.
Speaker 2:So I was back home at this point, so all I had to do was just slip on my shoes, grab my stuff so I grabbed another cup of coffee, my tea, my book bag slip my shoes on, go out the door, drive all the way back over there. I'm rushing to the truck because he's like yeah, it's already running, it's already warming up, You're ready to go. And yeah, as I walk, towards the truck.
Speaker 4:I step on ice and both feet go out and I land on my back.
Speaker 2:Coffee and tea go Literally. I look up and coffee and tea is raining down on me.
Speaker 1:Which probably felt good being on hold it's raining no.
Speaker 3:By the time we got to. Now we're in three seasons.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was ice. It came down to snow, came down to snow.
Speaker 2:So then all I could think about was Well, the truck's gotta get there. I'm already late, because normally I'm showing up At 8 am and here it is Like 7.30 and I'm just getting on the road, and so I just take off to my Dana Madonna with coffee and tea all over me.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:But we got it done.
Speaker 1:Well, if you don't know people back at home, they do not plow our yard. It's one of the things that's very frustrating and but but they don't. But it's usually, it's not too bad.
Speaker 3:This is ice at that point, so we've driven on so much.
Speaker 1:Most years. It's not that bad. It's just ice at that point Because we've driven on it so much Most years it's not that bad.
Speaker 4:We don't get this weather like this.
Speaker 1:This has been a very abnormal winter that we've had so far, and so right now it is literally a giant sheet of ice. I was actually in the Jeep today and I went to make a big circle to come pick you up and it got a little squirrely and we're going slow, so it caught traction. We're good again. But there's a giant skating rink, like if you are in Columbus and have ice skates on you. Yeah, stop by the yard, it's an option, and it's thick.
Speaker 4:It ain't like a little sheet of ice.
Speaker 3:It is.
Speaker 1:It's two or three inches of ice.
Speaker 3:No, it's not super smooth, it's not. Come out and have fun, yeah.
Speaker 4:Toe pick, toe pick.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'll get the video camera set up and I can have fun.
Speaker 1:Well, it's supposed to warm up.
Speaker 6:There's no insurance for you if you get hurt here in the next five to seven days. Next Wednesday, I told Don it did not feel good.
Speaker 2:I'm still hurting today. However, had there been a camera rolling, everybody would be laughing at this point, because it was like a cartoon both feet at the same time.
Speaker 6:And the liquid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh man.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, Jerry.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, Jerry, I did that as a kid I used to wear cowboy boots to church. I did. I was in middle school, so way too old for this. But I was running around the church chasing one of my friends and they had that really nice industrial linoleum floor and they had it polished nice and pretty because it's a church and I just stepped wrong and both feet flew up.
Speaker 1:I flew up in the air. I tell you, I flew up three feet in the air Like higher than I was. I was nine foot in the air and I slammed down on my and it took the breath out of me. It was and I know like, oh, that's such a. And then it hit my head too, my head was killing me.
Speaker 4:The rest of the day too, Did you lay there a hot moment.
Speaker 2:Oh, I laid there a hot moment, yeah.
Speaker 6:That's also not safe. That's when you do that body evaluation of like. The 360 point check, yeah, like what's going to move and what's not going to move when I start getting myself back.
Speaker 1:I mean you had to be thinking like am I about to call Vince to come pick me up?
Speaker 4:Did you at least have your phone still on your person.
Speaker 2:It was in my pocket.
Speaker 4:That's good, not your back pocket.
Speaker 2:I actually have phone detection turned off.
Speaker 6:Not anymore, boy, there's that.
Speaker 1:Go figure, it's that thing where you realize, oh, I'm getting old, you have to turn fall detection on.
Speaker 2:I tell my mom all the time make sure you keep that on. I need to do it.
Speaker 4:I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad you're okay, minus a couple bumps and bruises.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sorry you're okay. I'm glad you're okay. I mean minus a couple bumps and bruises.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm sorry you're sore. I hate that for you.
Speaker 1:Hey, everybody, Welcome to the Outer Belt Podcast. I am Patrick and you all are my friends.
Speaker 6:Chili Buttermilk Eric Zucchini bread and Jerry, and I'm Patrick Eric Zucchini bread and Jerry, and I'm.
Speaker 1:Patrick Again for the second time.
Speaker 4:In case you forgot already. In case you forgot it's a big group. I thought we were doing like ring around the roses in a chorus.
Speaker 1:We might have pocket full of hoses. What is it called In like a pocket full of hoses? Or row, row, row your boat Around I.
Speaker 4:Or row row, row your boat Around I thought we were going to do it like an around.
Speaker 1:No, gently down the stream. Yeah, maryland, maryland, not Maryland.
Speaker 4:Maryland okay.
Speaker 1:I don't know what's going on, oh my gosh, I really don't, but we got to get to it, right to it. Vince, you got the first article up. The DOT has said some stuff about drug testing.
Speaker 3:Yeah so the is keeping the required drug testing limit for carriers at 50% of the fleet for the year. Now what's that mean? I don't know it means that carriers are required to perform random drug screens on at least 50% of the fleet. Now, it doesn't mean that 50% of the people will get drug screening. Drug screening, it just means if you have 100 drivers in your fleet, you have to perform 50, at least 50, drug screens.
Speaker 4:So one person could get all 50, in theory even if it's random.
Speaker 5:You say 50 randoms 50 randoms.
Speaker 3:So 50% of your fleet has to be drug tested. Wow, and then there's another limit for drug and alcohol. I'm sorry, alcohol testing remains at 10% of your fleet. Okay that, actually it went to that number of 50%.
Speaker 1:I think it was 2020. 2020.
Speaker 3:And so it remains there. So the way the rules are changed they're required to increase the random drug test rate from 25 to 50% following any calendar year during which the reported positive drug test rate is equal to or greater than 1%. That was a rule that was laid out back in 2001 in the FMCSA final rule entitled Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing. So that's how they come up with this number. It's not just random, it's based on historical positives and that's where they go to the 50%.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And to put that in perspective in 2016, the positive drug usage was 0.7%, it was 0.8% and then 2018 was the year we hit 1%. Of course, by the time they already got that, they were already at 19%, so they just rolled out in 2020. I remember when this happened, man, it was like drug tests started happening like crazy all of a sudden and the number of people that would get repeat drug tests went through the roof.
Speaker 1:I've been one of those. So the way these random drug tests happen, I'm sure a lot of people go like oh yeah, I'm sure it's random.
Speaker 3:No it really is.
Speaker 1:So the big, large companies have a software system that has all the drivers in there and it randomly pulls out, depending on the size of the carrier someone like FedEx, I think it's five or ten names a day that they get and they have to go get those people drug tested right.
Speaker 1:The other companies that aren't necessarily large enough to have that ridiculously expensive software system, that are smaller, they'll join what's called a consortium and so this consortium handles the drug testing and everything for the fleet Right. So like, if we don't do drug testing, it's not our business model. The carriers handle that. But if we were to do it, our fleet is small enough that we would not be paying to do this ourselves. We would hire a consortium, join the consortium and then the consortium would actually send us the names, and so we'd wake up in the morning to an email that said hey, we need you to pluck this driver and this driver and get them drug tested, and once we did that they would then tell they would probably ask us honestly for their information and then the consortium would actually reach out contact and make it happen, which is nice because it keeps us clean.
Speaker 2:We're completely out of it.
Speaker 1:There's no way we could falsify anything.
Speaker 3:The consortium then takes care of all the paperwork, the backside paperwork as well. It's not just that expensive software package, but it's handling all the bureaucracy of the paperwork. The consortium takes care of all that Basically. No, it's not going into a literal hat, but all the names are jumbled up and the computer picks one or two or whatever it is.
Speaker 1:It's like we were talking last week about that 200-disc.
Speaker 5:CD changer.
Speaker 1:If you set it to random, it would just randomly pull a song from each one every now and then You'd get a song from the same disc back-to-back, or maybe three or four plays later to get it again. It's the same thing. It's just a random generator that pops them out. So, yeah, it stinks. I'll tell you what I like is our trucks are pretty much running under an owner-operator model. Right, where the drivers own their own business and they lease the truck. Right, they cover the price of the, or they cover the burden or the cost of the drug test. They cover the burden of the cost of the drug test. So getting it pulled for a drug test two or three times in a, year sucks because you're paying for that.
Speaker 1:But what I love that FedEx and Panther do is if you get pulled so many times, which I think it's three Does that sound right, jerry?
Speaker 2:I think it's three, it's the last, I heard Three or four.
Speaker 1:It's either three or four. Once you get pulled that many times, they don't charge you anymore. If you did get the unlucky hat where you got pulled five times in one year and trust me that happens your last two are on the house.
Speaker 6:At least they, I know right, not when you're driving.
Speaker 1:Not when you're driving, because 10% of people get pulled in for that as well, but it also explains why we have so many drug testing charges and very few drug and alcohol, and they do split it up, so every once in a while you'll get called in for an alcohol. But, it's kind of rare. It's usually just a drug test.
Speaker 2:Does the article say the number of people that test positive for alcohol?
Speaker 1:It doesn't. It's really concerned mostly about the drug policy. I think you know, when it comes to alcohol and you're being impaired, especially driving a vehicle that size, it's pretty easy to catch them in a DUI. So I think they're kind of allowing that process to happen. The vice versa of that if you're on speed or something like that and you're driving, you may be doing fine but you're still putting yourself and your truck and everybody at risk.
Speaker 1:So that's really going to show up on a random drug test because an officer can come up to your truck and you can be high as a kite Not high as a kite, but like on speed or something like that, which, let's be real, truck drivers most of it's speed or weed, that's kind of the two that it ends up being. If you're on speed, you're probably going to talk to the officer, just fine. There's probably not going to be anything you do that'll be wrong. You'll be able to walk the line just fine and all that stuff. So the line just fine and all that stuff. So it does really make drug testing part of it. That shows that stuff. Of course, when they do it, a lot of times they catch those people in wrecks too, like a lot of bad wrecks. Then they'll go and find it oh, this guy's full of. Why is the word escape me?
Speaker 6:Methamphetamines.
Speaker 3:Methamphetamines thank you.
Speaker 1:Heron Well, not really Heron, because that slows you down. It's hard to drive a truck when you can't keep your eyes open. Really, that's what I hear.
Speaker 4:I remember my stepdad was a trucker and he often I don't remember this, I was young, but yellow jackets seemed to be the thing that truckers took back then and I think that was an upper.
Speaker 1:Yeah, probably, Of course they were doing paper logs at the time.
Speaker 2:So I mean, that was a whole thing, but that was legal. Yellow jackets were Well, okay, hold on that was over-the-counter version because I used to take them. Yeah, but there was.
Speaker 1:I don't think his were yeah. I was going to say there were yellow jackets they sold that were cute, and there were yellow jackets that were not Just like. Mary Jane, it's a delicious candy.
Speaker 3:Delicious candy.
Speaker 1:Delicious candy, but I think we also know that you can have another kind of Mary Jane, that is. Yeah, rick James sang about her. He did Way to bring it back. I remember there was a guy that I was hearing a story he was talking about. He was an older gentleman. He was talking about running cross-country solo.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:He would get his load in California and they would give him bilveting. They'd give him five toothpicks and the toothpicks were soaked. Start his first log, start heading out. When he got tired, he'd drink his coffee. When he got tired again, he'd drink more coffee. When he got tired again, he'd drink more coffee. When he got tired again, he'd take his first toothpick and stick it in his mouth, underneath his tongue, and just drive and drive and drive and make it one shot Cross-country Wow.
Speaker 1:Things were so different back then, that's the kind of stuff that drug and alcohol testing prevents.
Speaker 5:Asterix. We do not endorse the use of any methamphetamines or illegal substances.
Speaker 1:That is correct. That is a very quick way to getting booted out of a truck, losing your career and getting arrested, and nowadays, especially with the clearinghouse it's really bad you pop for a positive on that and you have to go through all these steps. The carriers are required by law to turn you into the clearinghouse and actually I don't think the carriers even do it. I believe it's the drug testing facilities that do you.
Speaker 4:Once that happens, it's over and it's like you can't leave a place either until you give a sample correct so if you for some reason can't provide a sample or can't do it in a timely fashion, and then that runs out, or all of those, those are all reasons for them to report you and it shows that you failed. So don't ever leave.
Speaker 2:Don't ever refuse, don't refuse. You have one hour to get there once you're called.
Speaker 4:But they do give you a certain amount of time, like if you didn't drink enough water. Most clinics give you, like, another hour once you actually arrive, to make a production of something.
Speaker 1:It's an hour to check in.
Speaker 4:To get there and check in? Yeah.
Speaker 1:So once you've checked in, then it's a clinic's leisure. I mean, I think we've all been there. Well, maybe you'll have you check in within your hour and then you sit four hours. Because they have people Because, Because they're so backed up to get you in, Because a lot of those places drug testing places, but also labs there'll be other people going in to get just blood work drawn and stuff. There's other places that are more urgent care-ish.
Speaker 1:And so they're literally handling emergencies, and your drug test comes in second Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave.
Speaker 4:Have your food Ubered in. Have your coffee Ubered in.
Speaker 3:Whatever?
Speaker 4:you need Uber.
Speaker 6:Eats, it usually smells like coffee.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 4:Don't leave until you provide a sample.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, it's a you know, and even if it's like, well, I'm over this, okay, still do your drug test.
Speaker 2:Still do your drug test, yeah.
Speaker 5:Don't close Unless you're like I'm over this job. Well, that's what I'm saying. Not even that, though.
Speaker 4:No, because that goes on your clearinghouse and you won't be able to get another trucking shop and other carriers are required to query the clearinghouse before they hire you, so in four years.
Speaker 1:when you go and show up and you're like, or when you're like, all right, you know what? I do want to go back in there on the road. Life's changed, things are different, and it's. Let me do it again. Boy, you go there and they pull you up in the clearinghouse. It's game over. Now you've got to find a SAP which is like a secondary.
Speaker 4:You've done these courses and stuff to be able to drive.
Speaker 1:It's like a diversion class Exactly, yeah, exactly. And so they make you. You've got to find a carrier that will accept it, which neither one of our carriers do. It's very difficult. It's very, very difficult. Go ahead and get that drug test done, even if it's like I'm done after this. I think of people that had wrecks. I know some people that have had accidents before and they were required to go get a drug test and didn't want to go do it and had to be talked into it, and one person in particular I'm thinking of didn't go at all and it's like don't do that.
Speaker 3:If you are clean, go and get your drug test done.
Speaker 1:If you're not clean, go and get your drug test done, Because then at least you have ways to take those courses do the remediation.
Speaker 4:The clock starts ticking.
Speaker 1:Yes, the clock starts ticking. You have ways to get that cleaned up. It doesn't ruin your career. Now, if you're not clean, please quit doing whatever you're doing. That's not a good way to run a truck. There's nothing out there that's worth it. Caffeine, very true. And sleep, caffeine and sleep. Yeah, that's the way to go. We have a situation brewing in the east.
Speaker 4:Snow Cold.
Speaker 1:Timu.
Speaker 5:Beer.
Speaker 4:Beer Brewing.
Speaker 1:Timu and Sheen. I'm not sure if you heard Is it Sheen or Sheen? It's Sheen, sheen. Okay, I don't know if you've heard of these companies. They're small, very tiny companies out of China I'm sorry China and they are growing like crazy. And the reason they are growing is because a few years ago they put a law in that said small value items coming from who put the law in.
Speaker 1:America. The US government put a law in saying that small value parcels and merchandise coming from any country into America if it's under $800, it was lower than that, but it got bumped to $800, then they are exempt from duty and tax payments, so they can come in the country free, like you don't have to pay tax or anything on it. And by doing this, um, they inadvertently opened up the world to more e-commerce coming into the country. And the reason they did this was there were so many packages coming into the country and the uh customs department of customs cfp, whatever it is uh, they were so in the they weren't able to check as much as they needed to check. They were having a lot of issues that they went ahead and said, all right, well, all these massive amounts of small value packages, just let them in the country.
Speaker 1:We'll focus on the big stuff. Right, like, who cares about a little tiny package? We want to stop people from smuggling in rolls royces full of coke, things like that. That was their goal. That's what they did. And then, you see, I think originally probably the first big one after they did this was um wish and, uh, alibaba. Like they really grew quickly I remember wish.
Speaker 4:Is wish not still a thing? I?
Speaker 1:don't know if Wish is still a thing.
Speaker 4:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Teemu is now in huh. I don't use any of them.
Speaker 4:I don't either.
Speaker 1:So it's hard for me to say. I don't say that as like a pat myself on the back. I don't use them, I just never.
Speaker 3:Have.
Speaker 1:I've never been to Bloomingdale's. I'm not opposed to it, I just never have so same thing with these Right. So these companies realized hey, there's a huge market in America. We can fly this cargo into America, we don't have to pay taxes or duties on it, and by doing so, keeping all the parcels small. So if you order $1,000 from Timu, that would be like a container, but if you did, they could break it down into small boxes and send them individually and they're all under that $800 mark.
Speaker 1:And so they're able to skip a lot of this jurisdiction and all this hoopla. So eventually, the American government has called up to what's happening. The American government has called up to what's happening. 61% of all merchandise coming from this discount program that they put in is coming from China. Everybody else is pretty much doing it right, and they only send little stuff here every now and then, but China is by far the one taking the most advantage of this loophole. What they are proposing is to take China off the list of places that they can do this.
Speaker 4:That's going to hurt Timu.
Speaker 1:It's going to force Timu to build a warehouse in America and Xi'an to build a warehouse in America, so they can ship it over on a container ship and then break it apart here in America and parcel it out Wow. So that is currently in process to be discussed. They're going through all the discussion processes. It's got to go through several hearings you know all that stuff before it can actually happen?
Speaker 4:Do people really need all that stuff?
Speaker 1:Well, that's part of what they're saying. Why do we need all of them? Well, for one, it's cheap. That's helpful to a lot of families. But they're saying they're saying that a lot of we need all of them. Well, for one, it's cheap, that's helpful to a lot of families.
Speaker 1:But they are saying because of this they're there. There's nothing enforcing, um, all these items coming from china to be the us standards of safety. So there's kids toys coming with lead paint, there's, uh, fabrics that'll make you break out as soon as you put them on. There's's like some serious health concerns there with it. There's also just they feel like there's the abuse of the legal loophole, right. And then also, I mean it's no secret, the new administration just came into office and they want to tariff China and this is a way that they are getting their goods in the country tariff-free.
Speaker 3:Right. The interesting thing, though, is that the changes were made under the Biden administration just last week, but they think it's going to be a lot worse. It could be worse under Trump because of the tariff threats. Interesting fact, a stat that I found here was they call these de minimis shipments.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:In 2015, there were 134 million per year. In 2024, that number jumped to more than a billion pieces.
Speaker 6:Wow, that's crazy. Was it Timu or Sheen where somebody was getting scorpions? Wasn't somebody sending scorpions in the packaging?
Speaker 1:Oh yes, yes, I did see that. I saw that on. Yeah, I don't remember which one it was, but yes.
Speaker 6:I thought it was one of the two Like live scorpions Were coming in the packages, yeah, Were they ordering scorpions, or they just showed up on accident? They just happened to be in the package when the people would get them. It can happen.
Speaker 1:I remember when they were reactivating all those A380s. So back in the middle of the height of the pandemic, all these airlines parked all these huge planes, a380s the largest airplane in the world as far as passengers are concerned and so they were parking all these planes in the desert. We have no use for them, people aren't flying. What's the point of having them? Lufthansa said we're not going to fly them anymore. Air France quit flying them. Well, actually, that's not true. Air France quit a couple years earlier. But British Airways parked them, said we're going to fly them again, but they parked them. Qantas parked their entire fleet of these giant airplanes. No one's flying flying. We don't need them. They're very expensive to fly, you have to have a lot of people to fill them up and so they parked them in the desert.
Speaker 1:So when we got out of the pandemic and the world exploded, then everybody wanted to go, travel and do things. They started taking these planes back. Lathonsa completely changed their mind on it, which blew everybody away. Nobody saw that coming and they started putting these things back in the air. Well, to do that Back in the air Well, to do that they have to go through a big check. You know they have to go through and check everything. Make sure it's airworthy.
Speaker 3:It's airworthy exactly.
Speaker 1:And you know what they started finding in the planes Scorpions, snakes, ooh snakes.
Speaker 5:Snakes on a plane Snakes on a plane, I'm sure there are quite a few maintenance technicians going through these planes.
Speaker 2:Every inch.
Speaker 3:And after a couple of days saying I'm sick of these snakes on this plane Hollywood is on to something.
Speaker 5:Yeah, they were. They were A little too soon, they were a little premature.
Speaker 1:But no, so it doesn't surprise me, like I've heard of people just ordering stuff across America, getting packages that have dead roaches and things like that in there, which just freaked me out Makes you wonder about the environment where they came from.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, it's not intentional.
Speaker 5:It's just standard procedure.
Speaker 4:I have no desire to order from Timu Now sheen on the other hand, there's things from sheen, but then I'm afraid to do sheen, so I'll go to Amazon and try to do the similar, similar type thing that I might want talking about clothing and you pay.
Speaker 1:You pay 10 times more on amazon so it's 12.
Speaker 5:So it's 12 dollars, right but I just and have it here tomorrow.
Speaker 4:I'm excited sheen. You have to do your, your measurements, you have to. Okay, I'm a size, but I have to go eight times larger.
Speaker 1:That makes your confidence level tank. It's just not worth it, which is opposite of what American clothes companies are actually making the clothes bigger.
Speaker 4:Yes, I like that.
Speaker 1:Like a size 36 jeans is a size 40 day.
Speaker 6:There were actually multiple reports of scorpions found in sheen packages, so it was sheen Nice, yes, and they identified them as Chinese scorpions.
Speaker 5:Maybe I like the scorpion pet. Yeah, maybe my aquarium terranium started.
Speaker 3:You just don't want to open the package and have it surprise you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and remember, remember people. Baby scorpions are more dangerous than mama scorpion, Same with snakes. If you run across a snake in the wild and it bites you pray. It's a senior adult. The adults know how to control their venom, so they're only going to put enough venom in you to immobilize you. Kids, don't they just?
Speaker 3:go for it and end up killing.
Speaker 5:you Sounds so familiar.
Speaker 4:What I mean it's just in general right.
Speaker 6:Kids try to kill you too. Kids don't have as much control usually.
Speaker 1:Oh so the last thing I was going to say about the situation is Ti Mu and Xin. Ti Mu and Xin and the Chinese being blocked off from this. Again, it's still in debate, so it may not even happen, but it is something they're talking about.
Speaker 4:All these people are trying to get their orders in right now.
Speaker 1:It is something they're talking about and, with the administration we have, it wouldn't surprise me if it does get pushed through.
Speaker 1:But it wouldn't surprise me if it does get pushed through. But we've talked about before how they're building a huge city in Mexico where they're building all this Chinese stuff so that it can be shipped across the country and it's from Mexico, it's not from China. So that's still going on. But the Mexican government last month so we are talking December they changed their trade rules on apparel, effectively ending border skipping strategy. So what it means is what these companies are doing we're sending from China to Mexico. Mexico is taking them off the truck or off the airplane and then shipping them into the country, into US, and saying this is from Mexico, it's not from China. And Mexico just did a ended their rules or changed their rules, saying that when it comes to apparel, you can't do that anymore. So they will not. It's not going to be a place for Timu or Sheen to go like oh, we'll just move our stuff to, we'll add one stop and get it over there. They're not allowing it.
Speaker 5:You don't want to get caught in the middle of that.
Speaker 1:Exactly, I think the Mexican over at Salt was happening. They saw Trump back in office and they're like no, we're good, we don't need that. You want to bring your people here and you want to build your plants and you want to contribute to Mexican tax dollars? Sure, but you're not using us as a front to get your products into the country. Yeah, wow. So that was interesting that they did make that change. They did also talk about the fact that the average shipment is $54 in value and that the CBP, which is the border agents and the customs agents, they are already severely understaffed. So if this does go forth, how are they going to handle the influx of packages, already being extremely understaffed? So it's interesting. I'm anxious to see what happens. And then, how does you know Timu and Sheen? Do they just disappear?
Speaker 4:Has anybody in this room bought from either one?
Speaker 1:Negative.
Speaker 5:No.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, I haven't, but I have a lot of friends that have. So, in fairness, I know people that have and they've had great success with it. So the lead times take forever, you know when you order.
Speaker 3:it takes a long time to get to you, but then when they get it.
Speaker 1:I've heard that it's good quality. Eric and I have on as y'all know, we travel a lot, so we've been on several cruises where people we've seen sheen, uh, and we've seen and we talked to people who are like, yeah, we got this bathing suits from timu, we ordered them, you know, three, four months ago and, uh, this cruise is the first time you know wearing them or whatever. So it's like it's out there and some of it doesn't look bad. It's just they're finding ways to circumvent american safety standards.
Speaker 1:That's where I'm like I don't want to buy something, put it on and find out that I now have a permanent scar on my body for the rest of my life, or whatever, or materials that's extremely flammable, so you get kind of close to heat or catch on fire. That kind of stuff makes me nervous. I certainly wouldn't buy a child toy from there.
Speaker 4:No.
Speaker 1:And it's not saying that they're all bad. Some are great. The problem is you have no way to vet the good ones from the bad ones.
Speaker 4:Makes sense.
Speaker 5:So one time I'm proud to say I have my Amazon.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 5:My US Amazon. And Amazon has a standard to withhold and it's safer.
Speaker 1:And they're very strict. If you ever talk to someone who does business with Amazon, they will tell you Amazon is super strict and very difficult to work with, which makes it a good thing.
Speaker 5:I've ordered some stuff from there that were extremely like homemade stuff and they were just marketing with Amazon to get their stuff out. The wreath I had for Day of the Dead that was homemade, so I don't. Amazon also does home.
Speaker 4:They do small sellers Consignment, yeah so it's not just manufactured stuff that just pump it out deliver it.
Speaker 5:Pump it out, deliver it. This is also people at their houses who are making homegrown stuff and delivering it.
Speaker 3:Amazon will actually highlight minority-owned, women-owned businesses as well as crafts and things of that nature that aren't mass-produced but are smaller productions. So they'll actually work with those folks.
Speaker 4:I like Etsy. I use Etsy a lot.
Speaker 1:I was just about to say I don't think it's all noble. I do think they see the success of Etsy and say hey, we want in on some of that that's fine. That's the beauty of I'm a capitalist. It's the beauty of capitalism If you see something that's working well, then sort it, or say it and then sort it Exactly.
Speaker 5:And if it's good, try to get in on it.
Speaker 1:Try to get in on it.
Speaker 4:I've ordered quite a bit off of Etsy. Actually, over the years I've done the peacock feathers for my birthday outfit. For the peacocks I've done last year and last year, the year I wore my camo outfit.
Speaker 4:I did the tattoos Lady was so helpful because I wanted specific stick-on tattoos, not just the ones you use water washcloth. What else have I done? I've done a custom mug for a Christmas present. Lots of stuff. I've used it quite a bit, oh yeah, and people are always so personable. But that's more like a local mom-pop business, though I think behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, and I've done the same thing through Etsy, but also through Amazon. We did a big Ditas Martes thing for the mentor retreat, which you all may have seen the videos from last year about, and we did an altar, which is where you celebrate those that have passed before you.
Speaker 5:It's not like a commemorative altar.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's so funny. When I first said we're going to do this, I had a couple people be like we're not worshiping Satan, are we? And I'm like no, it's nothing like that.
Speaker 5:Literally, we had some people thought it was witchcraft, Not Satan.
Speaker 3:Beelzebub.
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:It's all about just keeping the memory If you've seen Coco the movie you know about, but it's about just keeping the memory of your past relatives that have passed on.
Speaker 1:So I picture my mom went up there, my grandpa, things like that, people that I want to remember and it's very sweet. But I ordered some stuff from that from Amazon and when I got it, the sugar skull was handmade in Mexico and a couple of other things were local to Mexico and handcrafted and that was really cool to get. I was not expecting that. I was expecting, honestly, some. They said what they said and I'm like, yeah, it's going to be Chinese stuff and it wasn't. It was really handcrafted stuff.
Speaker 4:You're thinking Halloween or the Spirit Store? Yes, that's exactly what I said Spirit Store stuff.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. It'll be interesting to see if these things go through what happens. Interesting Absolutely, Vince. You had another article you want to share with us real quick that. I've read it like three times and I think I understand, but I'm still a little confused exactly what it means, and I thought you could walk us through it. It sounds like a great thing, but I'm still a little confused.
Speaker 3:Is this the article about the new rest area? It is.
Speaker 4:Where Ohio is doing a lot to revamp their rest areas. It's a long drive between Indianapolis and home.
Speaker 1:They're doing a lot to do every rest area all at once.
Speaker 3:So you are screwed if you need one right now.
Speaker 4:Don't drink coffee or water through the state of Ohio, but they did just reopen one on I-71 between Columbus and Cincinnati.
Speaker 3:That's been closed for quite some time.
Speaker 1:That's right off the bridge, the gorge.
Speaker 4:I think so. Yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 3:I think it is. It's the northbound rest area. You said Cincinnati. It's between Columbus and Cincinnati.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's before the gorge right there on the right-hand side, and then after that you get on the bridge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Department of Disabilities, an organization called Changing Spaces Ohio, created this first installment in a rest area with a universal changing station. So what this looks like to me is that they, instead of having a changing station inside of the men's restroom and the women's restroom For babies For babies changing babies yeah, it looks like they have actually created a special dedicated room with a changing station, so you have a little privacy and you're not changing baby out in the middle of the room.
Speaker 6:I thought that sounded like it was more than just babies. I may have said that. It was for developmental adults that maybe need a little more extra privacy.
Speaker 4:Oh, I thought that was always what the middle restroom that goes either way goes, and it had a changing table. Well, the family restroom, the family restroom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this one does improve travel for adults with developmental disabilities as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Is this for families who have loved ones who can't use the restroom on their own, or something Like you know there's adults that have diapers because they can't control their facilities, or whatever that this is a place for them to be able to clean that up and help them? Because I never thought about before reading this article honestly, is it making me a bad person? I don't know. I never thought about that, like I've known, there's people that like can't control for whatever reason.
Speaker 3:Some people it's surgery.
Speaker 1:I've heard of people, women who have had pregnancies and during the pregnancy they do the. Is it a pesiotomy and sometimes after that there's a condition that can happen with controlling. And so certainly that's a thing. I've also known people that have really low-functioning autism or Down syndrome or things like that.
Speaker 4:How about celterly?
Speaker 1:who might need it, sure, sure. So I've known about that, but I've never thought to myself how do you take a drive-in?
Speaker 3:There's a quote in this article from the Columbus Dispatch from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. He says this is a private family restroom that provides a clean, safe area for people with disabilities and medical conditions and their caregivers to tend to their needs. Nice it's really nice we're being all inclusive here. It's really nice we're being all inclusive here.
Speaker 4:So I wonder if it's bigger, maybe has some bench seating. I would hope so, because I know the family bathrooms don't necessarily have it, it's just really a toilet sink and the changing table.
Speaker 3:Right but.
Speaker 4:I could see more of a where you can get somebody in, maybe actually sit them almost like a love shower, without maybe the shower, you know, a bench Well and I know I've had been in bathrooms facilities where they do have that.
Speaker 6:It's like the toilet is kind of curtained off and they have a shower thing in case you are either of a size or a incapability that you cannot wipe or clean yourself. Well that you can use that.
Speaker 4:So like a jumbo bidet Kind of yeah.
Speaker 3:So this initiative also. They've installed universal charging stations in 136 different locations in 42 Ohio counties, including libraries, zoos, fairgrounds and community centers, and they're looking to install more stations in public spaces. This is the first one in a rest area at this point.
Speaker 4:Nice, that's very cool. Yeah, it is. Wow, so they're encouraging people to get out.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 4:So you don't have to time things like we only have an hour.
Speaker 3:Right, we got to get out and come back, right away, get out and come back right away. Yeah, you have somewhere you know you can go and have these facilities available to you.
Speaker 4:Because you might be a while Outside the Nice. Nice, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I think so too. It's crazy. It's one of those things that, like, I've never really thought about. Again, like I said, it's just never come across my privy. But now that I hear it I'm like oh yeah, we should have had these a long time ago.
Speaker 4:This isn't the reason that they're revamping them, right though.
Speaker 1:Well, can we say revamp's a strong word, they Prevamp's a strong word. They've torn them to the ground. Yeah, they're rebuilding them, but this I think it was just time.
Speaker 4:I think it was time.
Speaker 1:It was definitely time.
Speaker 4:And if you're going to do it, what are?
Speaker 3:extras we can add. What can we do to improve them, not just tearing them down and rebuilding them?
Speaker 4:I did think it was odd that it.
Speaker 3:Brick but tearing them down and rebuilding them, because we want to make changes to too.
Speaker 4:It's like all of Ohio's All of them.
Speaker 1:They've all been torn down. It's crazy Kind of like you ever see them when they're.
Speaker 4:They kind of alternate them.
Speaker 1:I thought they used to. I thought so too. Or have one crew that just does one, then goes next, does it, then goes next. I remember thinking years ago when I was traveling down the road and they were doing road construction, and you know what it is. You're like on a single lane on the interstate for miles and nothing's being done. And then, finally, you get up to the road construction. They're doing it there and it's like why don't you just, if you're going to rebuild it in little sections?
Speaker 1:adjust the cones accordingly Like why do we have to shut the whole thing down? You?
Speaker 6:have to get the equipment that does this, so you get all the grading done Then you get rid of that equipment. Then you get the equipment that comes in that smooths it all out and flattens it all in, and whatever the process is, what's the old joke?
Speaker 1:There was the construction crew and they were going through and one guy was digging up holes and the guy behind him was was filling them back in and they were like hey, what's going on? What are you all digging these holes and filling them in? He's like, yeah, the guy that plants the trees, he's off today.
Speaker 4:That's good, that's awesome, that's good.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so every time they do a project like this, they take everything out all at once. I'm like cool, that means when it's done, everything will be done really fast.
Speaker 4:Sure.
Speaker 1:At the same time, it's super inconvenient for those people.
Speaker 4:The one east on 70, I wonder if that one's I mean, that's a pretty new one. Anyway, past Lubs there's a really huge one where you have to loop-de-loo and loop-de-loo back out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I haven't been out east that way in a long time.
Speaker 4:It's been a hot moment. I think the first one north?
Speaker 1:Is that one in Ohio, or is that one in Indiana?
Speaker 4:No, no, no, East East East.
Speaker 5:East East.
Speaker 3:East.
Speaker 1:East Fancy one. It's been a while, it's been a couple years for me, yeah.
Speaker 4:I know, yeah, so anyways, that one was a newer one anyway, compared to, I think, everything that we've passed, I think the first one north on 71, is that first one still open?
Speaker 3:I think no.
Speaker 1:I think that's the one that just reopened.
Speaker 3:I'm looking at Jerry, because no, it's the one that just reopened south, in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4:I couldn't tell you I don't ever pay attention.
Speaker 3:There's two going north to Medina.
Speaker 1:There are North and then on the way back there's just one. Can we say how much I appreciate they have them. Because, in Louisiana. Our governor went through and sold all of them.
Speaker 5:Even at the state lines. They closed their introductory rest areas to Louisiana.
Speaker 3:I remember coming into Louisiana, going westbound and stopping right at the one on the border, the Welcome Center there.
Speaker 1:The.
Speaker 3:Welcome Center. Yep, and there's the building and the restrooms are behind the building. Correct? Yeah, and I had to pee, but before I could go to the restrooms I had to give the lady my zip code. Yes, I'm like, I just got to pee, I just need your zip code.
Speaker 1:Bless your heart. Yeah, bless your heart.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had to give her my zip code and it took forever for her to understand what I was saying. I remember years ago.
Speaker 4:You're like I'm just going to go right here, Clean up on aisle four.
Speaker 1:So the last time I drove to Louisiana, which it's been a couple years, the welcome centers were still open, but all the rest areas were gone. I mean several of the rest areas are like.
Speaker 5:So what's the difference?
Speaker 1:Shopping centers. Now what?
Speaker 5:Rest areas and.
Speaker 1:So the rest area, like I'm trying to think On I-12, when you're heading between Hammond, louisiana and Slidell or the state line with Mississippi, there was one about halfway through there, outside of Madisonville. It's a shopping center. So on either side where the rest area used to be, on both sides, they had a rest area on each side. They now are roads that are like exits to go straight into the shopping center and on either side where the rest area used to be, on both sides, they'd rest on each side.
Speaker 4:They now are roads that they're like exits to go straight into the shopping center. It's crazy. There's a few roads I hate, and I-12 is one of them.
Speaker 1:There's nothing, it's just a desolate stretch of dark nothingness when you're the night driver. When I grew up, there were.
Speaker 5:That's what's so crazy about it, I think what I was trying to get at the difference between a welcome center and a rest area. Welcome centers are at the state line, which Louisa is keeping most of those, but the rest areas which are in the middle of the state. They were kind of getting rid of those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they pretty much got rid of all the only one I know, so at the state line.
Speaker 5:You'll have a welcome center where you can use restroom.
Speaker 1:And you get some brochures about the state and find learn about the state but going through the state, no bathroom, I think the difference is, I think the welcome centers are paid for by the uh, the secretary of state truism, yes, uh, and then the rest areas are paid for by the department of transportation and those are what got scrapped, even the one rest area I know that's still open, or I think is still open, which is on 49,. Once you go north of Lafayette there's a rest area outside of Opelousas. I believe it's actually attached to a state park and I think the state park keeps it going.
Speaker 3:It's on a huge lake, so I think that's why it's still going.
Speaker 5:That makes sense.
Speaker 1:Anything with DOT. There was a while there where Louisiana was in a really bad deficit. We needed money desperately, and so the governor, Bobby Jindal, went in there and he sold off all the jails, privatized all the jails. Privatized a lot of stuff, sold off a bunch of this excess property, rest areas, you know non-critical places, shut down a bunch of hospitals.
Speaker 6:Wow.
Speaker 1:Yes, did it work? It got Louisiana back to being on the right side of the budget, but it severely hurt the impact of the people in the state. Sure, so, like I don't know, that's a tough one, because if the state loses too much money it's going to have, you know, problems, and we all know driving through Louisiana the roads are crap.
Speaker 4:So they needed to figure something out. Nice thing about Louisiana, though you can do it in just like a few hours.
Speaker 1:So one welcome center to the next state's welcome center, so hopefully you can hold your bladder. And what's great is like Texas Welcome.
Speaker 5:Center is this nice, modern, beautiful place. It's a whole ranch. You expect to see cows and horses in the back.
Speaker 1:But remember it's half. It's like the left side's ranch, the right side's swamp.
Speaker 4:We're talking an I-10 though right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the right side is Swamp, Yep, and they have that trail. You can go walk through the Swampland. It's really really nice. And then you go to the other side of the state, which is Mississippi. You walk in theirs. Theirs is set up like an old antebellum house, and I don't mean that in the racist way, I mean like in the architectural sense it's an old antebellum house. It's beautiful on the inside. They got all the antique furniture. The floor is brick. Is it brick? I think it's a brick floor. It's really really nice and it's like. Then you go to Louisiana and they've got the stainless steel urinals that the Angola State Penitentiary built.
Speaker 1:No, the prisoners made them.
Speaker 6:With no seats With no seats. Angola has it With seats built in so.
Speaker 3:Angola.
Speaker 6:With no seats.
Speaker 1:Angola has Well seats built in.
Speaker 6:Okay, it's just a bowl. Yeah, angola is the People who don't have to sit down as often is the maximum security prison in Louisiana.
Speaker 1:It's you know it's a bad place, but they do. They do have a lot of manufacturing and a lot of jobs there. People work and one of them is to make that stuff.
Speaker 4:You get your hover skills or your squat skills in. It's just so embarrassing.
Speaker 1:As someone from Louisiana you're like welcome to Louisiana, the prison state. It's just not a good look.
Speaker 3:I think to Eric's point, though in some states a welcome center and a rest area, there's no difference. In other states the welcome center is welcoming, they have lots of brochures and someone staffing it to give you information on the state and that kind of thing. But other states it's just like, yeah, we're just a rest area.
Speaker 6:They just have extra brochures sitting out yeah exactly.
Speaker 4:Well, I think the one on the way back from Medina, just before you come into Columbus. It's just, it's got two buildings. One is the concessions, the Vindi machines.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:And then the other one is the rest area. But even that's, that's rather nice, you know just.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Because you get snacks. If you need snacks, sure.
Speaker 1:Alabama's outside of Tuscaloosa when you're going up 59, I think it is. Is it 59 or 20? 20. Is that 20, 59?
Speaker 3:It might be 20, 59. I think it's at Combo Interstate. I think it is at that point.
Speaker 1:Their rest area is really nice. The only thing that stinks about it is that it's uphill every direction, Like they built the building on the top of a hill. I do remember that one, and built all the parking around it, so you're going uphill no matter what, but then, once you, get in there. It's pleasant and they have people staffing it.
Speaker 1:But the best thing about the Mississippi Welcome Center let me finish Mississippi Welcome Center as a kid had fresh community coffee. So when you walked in there and they still do, they still have that when you walk in there just the smell of wonderful-tasting coffee just fills the air. And they also had a Coke, sprite, diet Coke and Root Beer soda fountain, a four-tap soda fountain. And so as a kid, you'd walk in there and I'd be able to get my Coke.
Speaker 3:Nice and then drink my little.
Speaker 1:Coke as I walk around the little place.
Speaker 3:You know the rest areas in Florida. You can go in and get Coke too.
Speaker 1:It's well. Yeah, do they still do orange juice? No, when I went to Florida years, ago.
Speaker 3:I've never seen orange juice in Florida, just vending machines In the rest areas in Florida. No, that's right.
Speaker 1:The Welcome Center. I remember going to the Welcome Center as a kid. No, Going to Pensacola, you go to the Welcome Center and they would have orange juice. Do you remember that, Jerry? You went to, okay, yeah.
Speaker 4:So in Oregon I thought it was the coolest thing that if you pulled into a rest area they had booths or a trailer, very small trailer, but they had like VFW typically it was VFW Veterans, foreign War. Sometimes they'd have Cub Scoutsouts, other little entities like that, uh, but they'd be serving the coffee and the goods and it would be on donation and I've never seen that in any other state in the three years we traveled oregon like like not just one rest area, like at least on the i-5 corridor.
Speaker 3:They had an entity.
Speaker 4:Most of it, I think, was VFW.
Speaker 3:It was a lot of volunteer organizations that were doing it for strictly donations.
Speaker 4:But they would have maybe donuts if you got there early enough and if it wasn't that maybe they might have and their vending machines were still there. But you had the opportunity and it was nothing to rip you off. You know, most of it might have been donations. Sometimes it might say 50 cents for a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3:I don't recall ever seeing a price for it.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Donations welcome, but never seeing a price for it, maybe that's what it was, but I've never and we did all 48 states. Yeah, I've never seen any other states do that and I thought it was the coolest thing.
Speaker 3:When I went north on I-5 with my purse trainer out of Oregon, out of Central Point Oregon, and we got to our first rest area and he mentioned it was night so they weren't there. But he mentioned this is where you can get your coffee for a donation, if you want, or free. I'm like what All I knew was California rest areas. You know you might go in there and get a free shiv and they'll ask you for a donation for the shiving they just gave you, but you know, it blew me away.
Speaker 1:Or a donation to not get the shiv.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, no, you got the shiv and they took a donation out of your pocket, typically these were probably, like I would say, 4.
Speaker 4:Might be pretty early, but like 5, 6am in the morning until 10, 11 in the morning. So, they were doing the morning shift, but just the. It was really just a cool thing that I thought that you know that the Department of Transportation was permitting or allowing or in conjunction with place, you know, groups to make money.
Speaker 3:I wasn't going to mention this earlier because I don't have all my facts straight on this. The one reason you don't see fast food restaurants or coffee shops in rest areas is because it's illegal the Department of Transportation, when they fund rest areas on interstates, that you cannot have commerce there at the same time. Now the reason you see restaurants on I-80 or going through tollways is because they are private tollways, and it's a different story.
Speaker 3:But rest areas cannot legally have—they have vending machines, but they can't have commerce in a rest area on an interstate. Well, tollways don't take federal money. That's the point. That's how they fund, besides the tolls. So it's a different story.
Speaker 4:Nice.
Speaker 1:I think I just see a perfect SNL skit or something. They got the guys out there in the trailer VFW save the homeless, take care of our war veterans, get your coffee 50 cents. And someone just walking by them and the guy in the VFW trailer just staring at him. He goes over to the big coffee vending machine.
Speaker 4:Yes, swipes his credit card Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the cup, drops out, Fills it up, and then he takes it, puts the lid on and just walks by drinking the coffee.
Speaker 4:And they're just like it would have been very cheap, and I think they did things like tea, but they had all the goodies to go with it, you know.
Speaker 5:Lipton Possibly Speaking of you know what would be great? Girl Scout cookies. They'd sell a lot, they would.
Speaker 3:but again not allowed, I think some of them did do like the.
Speaker 4:Do you remember the generic big bags of, like the chocolate ones with the filling or the vanilla ones? They came in, they were kind of flowery-looking sandwich cookies. You probably got them at the Dollar Tree.
Speaker 1:No, you had them at Vacation Bible School as a kid.
Speaker 4:Yes, just for the little flowery ones, they weren't an Oreo.
Speaker 3:My favorite were the cream cheese and strawberry ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah Again.
Speaker 6:Catholic, I didn't have vacation Bible school. I didn't get those.
Speaker 3:Heathen didn't have vacation Bible school.
Speaker 1:Okay, I also had it at the Breck camp when I went to Breck camp which is Baton Rouge, and so the park system. It was Breck I don't know what Baton Rouge Educational and Calis Breck I don't know what Baton Rouge Educational and Cal State I have no idea what Breck State is for me, or they have us as sticks.
Speaker 4:The wait for sticks.
Speaker 1:It is so funny that it's like Baton Rouge and Louisiana. You know it's such a, it's a state. I love Louisiana, but politically it's a nightmare and there's a lot of issues in louisiana still, and we sit back and we go, at least for a lot. At least we're not mississippi, um, but that's really all we can do. Uh, but they do have um.
Speaker 1:Baton rouge has one of the best park systems in the nation and they have one of the best library systems in the nation it's like seriously how in the world do we end up with this, like people come in from all across the country to study our parks and library system and it's like how yes, we have the best parks and we have the best libraries. We have a failing education system For Gulf Coast.
Speaker 5:South Louisiana.
Speaker 1:We have libraries and we have parks. It's the craziest thing.
Speaker 4:You can read your books in the park, I guess, but literacy is at the all-time low, wow.
Speaker 1:We've got some things to work on.
Speaker 4:Great stories tonight, y'all.
Speaker 1:It's been a lot of fun. You know the past week's been cold, you think.
Speaker 4:It's on the cooler side, Vince. How cold has it been? What was the coldest you've seen this week?
Speaker 3:Windchill.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 3:Negative 12. Oof.
Speaker 4:What about heat wave Two? It was two yesterday morning. Saturday was 39. Saturday.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 5:Saturday yeah, Saturday.
Speaker 4:We don't work, but we were out and about and it felt like a heat wave.
Speaker 1:You want your weekends warm, it's true.
Speaker 3:You do want your weekends warm, when you can have your free time. Yeah, when you're staying in the house.
Speaker 1:When you're staying in the house watching TV with a fire going. You want it to be warm outside.
Speaker 4:I was asked if I wanted to go on a motorcycle ride Really.
Speaker 3:Had it not been raining, I might have considered it. Oh, if it had not been raining, I wouldn't have offered. That was an offer that was made strictly because I knew it wasn't going to happen.
Speaker 1:You, never ask questions unless you know the answers right, Exactly. That's hysterical Now. I woke up in Fort Wayne the other day and it was freaking two degrees outside, I think. I posted online. I was like who can beat this? And no one could. I felt pretty good about that Not going to lie. Although I'm pretty sure Jerry would have had he taken a picture when he first got to the yard. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:This is very Louisiana-like. Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Breck in parentheses. Wait, say it again. Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. In parentheses, breck.
Speaker 1:So what does it stand for?
Speaker 5:I'm looking it up right now and I'm like this is bad publicity. I don't even know what the hell you stand for.
Speaker 3:Don's fired Breckorg. This is what Don sent me. Don't fire him. He sent me the information, he sent me their official website Breckorg, and there is nothing here that says anything. That's the only thing I found that has what looks to be an acronym it's Baton Rouge, something, something.
Speaker 3:Economical community Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Something, something. Economical community Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. And just so you guys know who are in Louisiana right now, all the Breck facilities are closed due to inclement weather yes, they are.
Speaker 5:The whole Cajun country is closed.
Speaker 3:But this is what I'm seeing here. It's all closed. If you're going to go to New Orleans, you're going to go to anything in New Orleans.
Speaker 5:Put it off for two, three days, yeah.
Speaker 1:But, let's think about this for a second. You know what Breck had growing up. They had three things, three things that I love. They had the hamburger. Do you remember the hamburger? You crawl up the middle into the two buns. Oh, yeah, yeah, and then have like a jail cell around it, and then you would crawl through the gel cell and then get up on top.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:And then sit up there and throw things at people yes, until you ran out of things to throw.
Speaker 3:And then you'd get back in the gel cell. And then you'd get back in the gel cell, because you're a little dorky and if you went, to some of them Highfalutin.
Speaker 1:They also had that slide. Do you remember the slide? It was a curvy slide and it was made up of pieces of stainless steel. Ooh, that had the little ridge every couple of feet, and so when you went down it was like and in the summertime in South Louisiana where it gets to be about 110 degrees that would be like 180. Yeah, and you would just go down it and cry, oh, and be like it hurts so bad, and then you would go back and Do it again, do it again.
Speaker 6:Yeah, you mastered that skill of like, if you had shorts on, of holding your legs up.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I can do this like a champ, that's all. That's all Feet in the air going down a slide.
Speaker 4:Did you ever burn the rivets in the back of your leg? I've done that before.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes, oh. The worst part was once you actually got you go through the slide. Then it comes out to that little flat part and that's where you stop and then it's like, ah, fire. Then you jump out. Yeah, it's fun times. I miss those days. And number three thing Bre Breck had that I love, and still love to this day, is that they had Breck Summer Camp so you could go and they did it all year long. You picked when you started, when you ended. It was week-long deals. Some kids went for the entire summer, but my family loved me so we only went for a week or two. The summer camp was you go to the park in the morning and they had activities and things. If the weather was inclement, we watched movies, uh, and then we would do inside sports like basketball or um, dodgeball things, you know whatever, kickball, things like that. And then, uh, during the day, at some point you would take a field trip every single day. And, as a kid, what's your favorite thing in the world to do?
Speaker 4:field trip field trip.
Speaker 3:You just live for field trips.
Speaker 1:So sometimes the field trip was to the park up off of I want to say Foster, but I could be wrong which was a swimming pool. And so you would go swimming, and then sometimes it was to the bowling alley and sometimes it was to the movie theater, and sometimes it was to when else did we go, angola?
Speaker 5:No, never, they didn't take you there for a show and tell no, they didn't do a scare.
Speaker 3:No, nothing like that, I think we did Putt-Putt once, okay. Did you ever do Go on the Dark Putt-Putt?
Speaker 1:We did the Celebration Station which was the Putt-Putt and the Go-Karts. Okay, included in your. I was going to say fair, I've been cruising a lot In your brick. No in your weekly.
Speaker 3:Camp dues Camp dues.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I would usually go. During the times when I would go, I would usually go two weeks in a row. I remember there was one year that a friend of mine went one week and then I went, or like he went with me one week and then I went, but I went two weeks anyways and it was great. It was a really cool summer program.
Speaker 1:I really really enjoyed it. It was one of the few things I can say as a kid that I liked, but yeah, that was the three things I loved from break. Now is when I got older City Park, nine-hole golf course. I played golf in high school and so for an hour and a half every day got to jump on a bus in the middle of school, go to City Park and play golf Wow. So this is a weird thing.
Speaker 5:Coming from my small hometown, we weren't used to this sort of program, so that might be a good thing for people to leave a comment about If they grew up in a town that provided this kind of children's social activities events, I'm sure LA. County had stuff like that LA County did have stuff like that.
Speaker 3:yes, so I lived across the street from a public park across the street. I was on a street that didn't dead end.
Speaker 4:Caddy Corner.
Speaker 3:Caddy Corner and I was two houses down from the corner across the main street, there was a county park Helen Keller Park is the name of it. They had a pool, I see, and they had a rec center, basically. So during the summer we were sent off to swim lessons every day. Until you got to the point where you were done with all the swim lessons, you were on the swim team.
Speaker 3:And when swim team season was over. You did rescue swim lessons, where they taught you to jump in the pool fully clothed, take your clothes off and tie your pants off as a flotation device. That kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:People wonder why you're my lifeguard. Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3:And then they also had the free lunch program at the park in the rec center and you could play caroms and that kind of stuff. Play what Caroms, little boards, they were probably two feet by two feet.
Speaker 4:Anybody know what those are? Nope, there were wooden boards Leave your comments.
Speaker 3:They had. It was like doing a maze Because they had pieces on the board itself.
Speaker 6:And you used a little pull stick. No, you used a little pull itself and you used the little pull stick. No, you used the little pull stick.
Speaker 3:And you shot your little chip through the maze and it caromed off the corners. We called them caroms.
Speaker 4:Wow, I need to see a picture.
Speaker 5:I need a visual yeah.
Speaker 3:So we didn't have. I'll text Don and see what he can do for me. We didn't have field trips because we had everything there in the park. You know basketball courts. I played baseball there when I was a kid. You know all the fun stuff that a park would have.
Speaker 1:I get that. Yeah, I was going to say. The one thing that just came to mind is it was actually at Breck, at summer camp, where I learned to play one of my favorite card games of all times Golf Spades.
Speaker 4:Oh fun.
Speaker 3:Well you are the.
Speaker 1:Nope, nope. A trade that would, or a skill that would, benefit me for more years than I ever thought. That might be the most beneficial thing I learned growing up From Breck, from most beneficial thing I learned growing up From Breck, from Breck.
Speaker 4:I had the outdoors.
Speaker 1:We didn't have that. It was hot. If I lived up in pretty weather I might would have too.
Speaker 4:I had horses. That's completely different. We'd go on horse rides.
Speaker 1:We didn't have horses. Horses, that's rich people's stuff.
Speaker 5:He lived in Baton Rouge. He didn't have Cajun country.
Speaker 1:In South Louisiana.
Speaker 5:If you had a horse, you were rich Basically.
Speaker 1:We were definitely far from that, eric's, like I'd love to defend this right now, but he's kind of spot on. Jerry the people you knew with horses, rich or not rich.
Speaker 2:I didn't see no horses. Okay, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:I remember Garth Brooks had a song wild horses keep dragging me away and I'm like horses. My sister, she was a Mel, who you work with every day, vince.
Speaker 3:What a pleasure to work with her too.
Speaker 1:Yes, she was a wrangler for the Girl Scouts of America in South Louisiana and that was how I knew horses was, because she did that during college. Like outside of that, horses it's crazy, isn't that weird, how it's just, yeah, but alligators all the time you.
Speaker 4:No, I didn't wrangle alligators. Why not? I don't?
Speaker 1:wrangle them. You just observe, no, no observing. We're not crocodile hunting Crikey no.
Speaker 4:No there's no alligators. How many? Swamps are there in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, we have ponds. I don't know about swamps.
Speaker 1:That's hysterical. That's hysterical.
Speaker 3:So I've described caramel a little weirdly. It actually was like a table and you had, like you played it like pool, but it was just flat chips and I say chips like small poker chip kind of things, okay, and you shot another chip into it to try and get into the corner. I'll send a picture over to Jerry so he can put it up here and you guys can all see what I'm talking about.
Speaker 4:So kind of like the ice shuffling game. Why can't I think of what that's?
Speaker 3:called the ice shuffling.
Speaker 4:With the discs on the ice, oh my gosh Ice hockey no with the big.
Speaker 3:Oh, kind of like no.
Speaker 4:Why can't I think of what that's called?
Speaker 1:They play in the Olympics. They do, yes, curfling.
Speaker 3:Curling, but on a board no no More, like I wouldn't call it curling.
Speaker 6:There's no maze in curling.
Speaker 3:I would say it's more like the maze I'm not finding here.
Speaker 6:Oh, I see, I wouldn't say it was like curling.
Speaker 3:I'd say it's like billiards pool, except you had the little, tiny little chips. Okay, you were shooting the chips across the table.
Speaker 4:All right.
Speaker 3:Well, after hours we need to. Sounds fascinating. So, um hey, you asked. You asked what my programs are like at the county parks. I did it's true, that sounds very competitive too.
Speaker 4:If you want to get into it, you can talk about the programs at the county jail too.
Speaker 1:I don't have anything there for you. I'm sorry I don't either. Just thought I'd throw it out there. Yeah, well, I appreciate it. Well, it's been wonderful hanging out with you all and chatting with you all tonight. We appreciate you all hanging out and listening to us. Jerry, is there anything we're forgetting?
Speaker 2:Make sure you hit that thumbs up button, hit the subscribe button. It really does help us out with the algorithm. And if you'd like to find out more about Highfield and all that we do over here, check us out at highfieldtruckingcom and chat with us over there, monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. Anyone recruiting they'd be happy to answer your questions. You can also give us a call at 833-493-4353, option 1, or 833-HIGHFIELD, and you can also reach out to us at theouterbellpodcast at gmailcom. That's theouterbellpodcast at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:That's right, and if you have any comments on today's show, if you wanted to talk what we got right, we got wrong, anything that happened in your childhood, growing up with your park system, or anything, by all means drop us a line. You can shoot us an email. You can comment. If you're watching us on YouTube, leave us a review on one of your favorite streaming services that you listen to us on. All that stuff helps. We really do appreciate it.
Speaker 4:Plan your Ohio trip. Accordingly for bathroom stuff.
Speaker 1:Yes, and until we see you next time, stay safe and make good decisions.
Speaker 3:Don't leave money on the table.
Speaker 4:And keep those wells of.
Speaker 5:Tarnum Bye, until next time. Bye, bye, bye, bye.
Speaker 4:Bye, we'll be you next time.