The Fremont Podcast
The only podcast dedicated to telling the stories of the people and places of Fremont, CA. The diversity and integration of people and cultures of Fremont truly makes it a special place. This podcast explores these stories.
The Fremont Podcast
Episode 129: People use to stand in the town square and read Dickens aloud to the crowds that would gather.
A patchwork of interviews over a weekend. Regular folk in the tape, regular folk in the audience.
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Haller's Pharmacy is here to help. They have been in our community for decades.
Founder: Ricky B.
Intro and outro voice-overs made by Gary Williams.
Editor: Andrew Cavette.
Scheduling and pre-interviews by the amazing virtual assistant that you ought to hire, seriously, she's great: your.virtual.ace
This is a Muggins Media Podcast.
Coming to you straight from California. This is Earth. I'm Gary Williams and I'm the editor scheduling and making interviews by Sarah S. You should subscribe to our YouTube channel Alright, so how's everyone?
Speaker 4:feeling today. I take all the back roads, you know, try not to get on the freeway too much.
Speaker 5:Just out for a little ride in the morning. What do you see when you take the back roads?
Speaker 4:Just a lot of beautiful scenery.
Speaker 5:Anything specific, just everything. The trees.
Speaker 4:You know the road, the fresh air. You know the road, the fresh air. I just enjoy the freedom riding one of these things Beautiful, crisp, sunny morning. Nothing like unwinding and blowing away all the stress that builds up all week. So that's what I do on the weekends. It's my hobby. What do you do during the week?
Speaker 4:I'm a carpenter Do you specialize in anything Homes, houses, framing houses. Yeah, basically I can build the whole thing. I've been doing it for 43 years Kind of semi-retired now, I don't you know, at my age slow down a little bit, but I'm still building things.
Speaker 5:You've been working for 40 years, roughly 43. 43. Exactly, yeah. What's different about building a house now than say, maybe 30 years?
Speaker 4:ago.
Speaker 5:The cost yeah.
Speaker 4:It's unbelievable what a piece of wood costs now. Well, it's like everything but wood tripled it probably, I'd say, in the last five or six years. Lumber's tripled in price. Everything sheetrock, lumber, you name it, roofing, you know it's just cost your fortune to build anything now. It cost your fortune to build a fence, just a redwood fence you know.
Speaker 5:Have you ever built outside of California? Have you ever had on the ground experience building in another state?
Speaker 4:No, no, I haven't. I've been here my whole life. Don't travel either, don't really care to, except on the motorcycle. Yeah, but I mean I don't do. I don't like go to like Europe, or you know places like that, you know which a lot of people like to go. I've been on a cruise. That's about the extent of leaving the state. I went on a 10-day cruise to Mexico about 15 years ago and I'm good I've done it.
Speaker 5:You came in from Dublin. You're here now in Fremont. What's the plan for the rest of the day? Now that you've parked?
Speaker 4:I'm just sitting here stretching my legs, having something to drink and some peanuts had a tamale from inside the store there and just cruising back. Be back in Dublin in about 40 minutes Awesome, I'll leave you to it.
Speaker 5:Thank you for your time, sir. I appreciate it. Have a great day.
Speaker 3:Thanks.
Speaker 5:How hard is it, the scalpel?
Speaker 6:Yeah.
Speaker 5:It's pretty hard. Yeah, it looks it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's a little physical. Got to stay in the gym every day, got to go do the other muscles that you forgot about. But yeah, it's a heavy job. It's all labor. It's about 75% of it is labor. You know what I mean and that's what I tell a lot of guys. So it's really hard to get help. You know, if you're in the business, I did 20 years in the union. I worked for the union before and then I kind of branched away and I did my own, opened my own company.
Speaker 1:Nobody notices the scaffold. You know. You see this building go up but nobody knows this temporary platform that sat outside. It's almost like a chain or whatever you want to, you know a ladder, whatever you want to call it, but nobody's ever noticed it and we've always wanted to bring it like, make it more like you know, like you know, like you think of an iron worker, right, and you'd be like iron workers, you know, and they're cool and they got this big old hand and stuff, and we've always tried to do that with this because this is just, it is dismissive people, just like scaffold. What is that? I would like you to get up there and try it. You know what I mean. I'll just let you know.
Speaker 5:It's just I'll do it if you let me it's very you know, just it moves.
Speaker 1:So you know, you got to know your uh, your lumbar system's got to work pretty good. You know, and just you know, make sure that everything's good, because you're the you're the one putting it together. You're not the guy actually working on it, right? So when you get to that level, there's nothing there, right? So you're gonna have to grab it and put it together, and that's where this part you're by making it safe for others exactly.
Speaker 5:You got to be on it when it's not safe, and then you gotta, while it's not safe, you gotta make it safe you gotta make it completely safe.
Speaker 1:That's what our job is. Our job is basically uh, but you don't safety you don't.
Speaker 5:You don't get to make it safe from the ground. You got to get up on something.
Speaker 1:Oh no, you're gonna have to get up there and get safe. Yeah, yeah, we're gonna have to go up and the higher you go, the more safe you're gonna have to make. Make it, you know what I mean. And then it's like, right here, we were going to put the net and you get like a debris you know for debris and we cover it up. So you know, out of sight, out of mind kind of thing, because it is, you know, an ugly view, but it is what it is. But it's going to make this place nice.
Speaker 5:Hey, how many people stop you and ask you what you're doing today? Six zillion.
Speaker 1:A few, but a few more, like mad, while I was blocking the road. Oh, that's a lot of people. We're almost going to be done, I got another two men coming in. Really, yeah, we're all going to get it done. We're just going to get it secured. Okay, okay, it's going to be it done. We're going to get it secured, okay.
Speaker 7:Sure, yeah, it's going to be done today. Oh, it's a circle. It's a circle. Can you see a circle A?
Speaker 1:circle A. Circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle A circle, oh, for sure.
Speaker 5:That is a dead end. That is a dead end. Yeah, yeah, that's good. Okay, all the fun stuff is that way.
Speaker 6:We came all the way from, oh, which side Close to Clorid Lakes actually? Oh, from Clorid Lakes.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and how long did it take you to get here? Five minutes.
Speaker 6:I think a little more than five minutes.
Speaker 7:Five miles.
Speaker 6:Five miles yeah, five miles. 20 minutes yeah 20 minutes.
Speaker 5:Awesome. What do you guys besides biking? What do you guys do on the weekends?
Speaker 6:We usually go for a walk around Quarry Lakes. We have a dog, so we take him around. Other than that, I think the weekends are spent in chores at home, so this is a welcome change.
Speaker 5:You live in Fremont over by Coral Lake you said yes we live near Brookwell. What do you guys like to do when you're not going to school and you're not headed to work Either in the evenings or on the weekends, when you're not doing chores, we like going out to restaurants sometimes. Do you have a favorite?
Speaker 11:Olive Garden, but we don't go there often because it's really expensive.
Speaker 5:Any places that you enjoy.
Speaker 6:We like Indian places. I think that's why the kids don't like us, because we keep taking them to a lot of Indian eat-outs. What restaurants do you like? There is a new one called Rameshwaram Cafe. We like that, and this Friday actually, we went to this. Downtown Fremont there are a bunch of food trucks and this happens to be a new Indian food truck as well.
Speaker 11:We like that there's also Chatbavan.
Speaker 6:Yeah, Chatbavan too.
Speaker 5:What did you see on the way here that caught your interest?
Speaker 11:What, what did you see on the way here that caught your interest A lot of?
Speaker 5:squirrels, a lot of squirrels. Mallard ducks and the water seemed very clear here at this part of town as opposed to closer to.
Speaker 9:Brookwell, so it was actually enjoyable to see this part of Alameda Creek.
Speaker 8:I just like seeing people out and about and enjoying themselves and enjoying good food and company. I mean it just Is this not normal? Well, until these two restaurants opened, I didn't really, you know, you'd see like a couple of people here or whatever, Like we would bring our dim sum over here. I love joyful dim sum, but maybe an occasional person or you know a party or two from that Japanese place.
Speaker 8:But I've never seen it this, you know, with this much energy and this many people as I have in the last couple of weeks, since both the tea place and the Tasty Hut opened, yeah, yeah. So it's just nice, I don't know. I mean, it's just got a good energy to it. I've always liked this outdoor space and felt like it was underutilized. To begin with, I'm going to try Almost 20 tables out here, yeah.
Speaker 5:This is kind of unusual for this neighborhood because classically because classically they did the neighborhood here has a tendency to fight against. You know restaurants and a nightlife right and it's lunchtime, so it's not a nightlife.
Speaker 8:But true, true, well, and I think that that's what also, you know, makes me happy. It's just you can tell there's a need for it, obviously. I mean, even though it may seem, you know, there's been maybe pushback, right, in some ways, there clearly is a need. I feel like I see people, definitely local. These are local people here, right, this is not just people driving down mission boulevard oh, I think I'll stop and eat here. These are people utilizing the shopping center for other purposes, maybe to go to the tutoring place or the Kung Fu test prep.
Speaker 5:And there's like a lot of bicycle parking for the kids, for anybody.
Speaker 8:Right, it's very accessible and it also feels very safe because there's a lot of. I mean, it's a small parking lot and it's tucked away and it's not like you have to worry about you know dealing with cars and traffic do you get this vibe anywhere else in?
Speaker 8:fremont to this level. No, I've always. I said I've always really liked this space. I've always felt, even especially during covid right, where you were seeking places to eat outside, but maybe in aisles a little bit, but no more. This would be it, I would think Did you want to go get yourself a straw?
Speaker 5:It's interesting that when, now that people are here, a lot of the things that work for pedestrians are getting utilized, Like this alleyway is a lovely, clean alleyway and just nobody ever used it ever. Because why? And now people use it all the time as a safe, clean, pleasant alleyway that gets you from one side of the building to the other without having to drive.
Speaker 8:No, that's a good point. I mean, I didn't even really notice it, I kind of knew it was there, but I forgot, but it was cool to see people just walking there right now, just exploring, looking around. I mean there's. The shopping center has always had some potential and I'm just glad to see it. Oh, food is here.
Speaker 5:I have been saying sorry to bother so much. It just came out sorry to bother. I literally said sorry to bother. I mean I know what a sorry is, not know how to debauch. How long does it take to clean up after each farmer's market? Like, how long are you guys here after it's done?
Speaker 2:Usually an hour to an hour and a half. Try to be an hour.
Speaker 5:What's the hardest part about the breakdown?
Speaker 11:You know, for me I've had market this market, for example takes a much longer close down. I think one of the reasons for that is because some of the vendors want to stay. They want to get those last minute sales. They kind of take their time, wait for those last minute shoppers to get those last minute sales. I kind of take their time, wait for those last minute shoppers to yeah, to make their last minute sales. But I have markets that are especially um an afternoon. It'll be like closing at seven.
Speaker 11:It gets dark later in the evenings nowadays and so people I've the quickest. I've had everyone go and leave and the market is clean 45 minutes, yeah, and if people, if it's the weather is bad or it's dark, people can clean up really quickly and it makes it a lot easier. But here people really take their time. They don't have markets tomorrow, so they're trying to get rid of the produce that was picked this morning or last night before it goes bad in a few days. Trying to get rid of the produce that was picked this morning or last night before it goes bad in a few days. So this market is unique in that sense versus other markets might take 30 to 40 pounds. What's your favorite photo? Any photo. What's your?
Speaker 8:favorite photo.
Speaker 1:Do you like the photo? Yes, I like the photo.
Speaker 5:So you don't get to pitch your candidate, okay, without telling me who you're working for. Tell me why each of you wanted to spend your time doing this.
Speaker 2:I came out doing this for this candidate because I want to be more civically engaged and I want to be able to help out members in the community by advocating for a candidate that I think is someone who is very community-oriented, for a candidate that I think is someone who is very community oriented. And because of that, I, as a youth, as a member of the youth, I want to just make sure that I exercise my right as a citizen of the United States. And by doing this, by walking out, by talking to people, I'm not only building my own personal portfolio, I'm also just being someone in the community that I live in.
Speaker 7:I just wanted to come out here to connect with my community and talk to others and see what they think of what needs to be improved upon or what they think is going good and what they really wanna see in the future with their community. And being able to connect with everybody is really helpful in learning on how to be an advocate for yourself and as well as people that you surround yourself with, and I think that's really important. So that's why we're here today.
Speaker 5:What research did you do before you picked this candidate, without telling me who it is? But what research did you do that said oh, that's that one.
Speaker 12:Absolutely so. I looked on his own website, obviously, but I'm not going to take sources just from the candidate himself, so I looked at his opponents. I looked at unbiased news sources as well. I really wanted to get an overall, like well-rounded feel for what he actually does.
Speaker 12:So now, as an informed I'm not a voter yet, but as an informed volunteer, I know his policies that I like, his policies that I don't like and his policies that I'm neutral on, and I feel that that makes me a really good volunteer and a really good member of the community as well, because I am able to speak up for the change that I want to see.
Speaker 12:And if I see a policy of his that I don't like, I can go directly to him. I can talk about it, we can have a discussion, I can see where he's coming from, he can see where I'm coming from, and so, yeah, that's what I want approachable. They're ready for change and, in addition to your original question, I really want the youth to know that they have a voice. I feel like it's a really common misconception that if you're a youth, you don't really have a say in anything, and I want people to know that they do have a voice. The youth can make a difference in local politics and nationwide politics as well, but specific to local politics, I really want the youth to know that they have a voice and they can speak up and they can create change in their own communities.
Speaker 5:If it were not an election year, and this that you are doing is not an option. What would you be doing on a Saturday? To help your community, if anything? Or would you just be having a nice time on a Saturday?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I'm actually currently here entering and I think it's like really important for students to get involved, even in their city, when it's not election year. So I mean it's getting involved with city council and volunteering in different places. I think volunteering is especially important, especially like at your local library or places that maybe are not necessarily community centers, but you can turn into community centers and I think that's incredibly important for students and like you have to be involved in like government and local government and seeing who you can kind of participate with, who you can learn from, who you can speak to and share your voice, even if it's necessarily not an election year, I think it's still impactful later on.
Speaker 5:Thank you all for your time. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4:Have a good day.
Speaker 5:That is correct. This is why we can't record in the Ardenwood neighborhoods.
Speaker 7:This is not my equipment.
Speaker 5:It hurts my ears. The Good morning Good. How are you Good? We see you here all the time. I was just curious, like, how long does it take you to set up in the morning?
Speaker 10:Like 45 minutes, yeah, yeah, everything. Then the oven is going to take like 90 minutes to get it warmed up for being ready for making pizza and the dough is going to be ready in like five minutes. The pizza is going to be ready in five minutes after the oven is at 500 degrees.
Speaker 5:What time do you wake up and get out here?
Speaker 10:Like 5.30. Where did you get the oven? It's custom made. My wife and me designed it and and somebody else did it for us. Oh, that's great. Yeah, everything that's awesome. Good luck today.
Speaker 5:Oh, thank you, Appreciate it. Thank you, have a good one. Yeah, you too. There is a little section of sidewalk that I always have to go past that's by these trees that let off the worst sticky sap and it basically makes this section of sidewalk like impassable unless you want to have sticky shoes for the rest of the day, and it's all clean.
Speaker 9:How are you, charlie, andrew? It's always a pleasure, sir. Yeah, yeah, how's it going I like that man.
Speaker 5:Thanks. How are you today? What are you up to today?
Speaker 9:I'm up to just relaxing today. I worked on the weekends, weekdays. Today's my day off. Been here 57 years, mom and dad been here since the 40s, and I got six sisters, nine brothers.
Speaker 5:Tell me something that's changed, not from the beginning to the end, but like in the last 10 years.
Speaker 9:Bars, bars. There used to be a lot of bars, a lot of bars, because Mr Clay was down there so they used to build the bricks down in Shillings Park so they had the factory down there. So the guys would come up and tear up the bars and then go home Because my dad used to bounce from there. Come Derby Club, nautilus Club. Keep going on this way. Hit all these bars up. Now, devil's Workshop. I work for Devil's Workshop. I maintain the area in the back there, all the studios back there and all the storages. You're on your day off. Yeah, you're sitting here, but what else do you do to relax? Oh, where should you relax? I? Good question, I. I build bikes.
Speaker 9:Oh cool, yeah, what kind of bikes. Anything I build, whatever you want, it's great. Everybody gives me bikes. They're like can you rebuild this? I'm like, yeah. They're like, well, sure, take it. I'm like, really. They're like, yeah, take it. I'm like, cool, I rebuild it. And I'm like you sure? They're like, dude, I want it out of my garage, I want it out of my more.
Speaker 5:That's awesome. Have you been to the bike shop? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 9:Nicole, nicole, nicole, am I going to be on the?
Speaker 5:You will be on the Fremont podcast. Cool yeah, right on, bro. Thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 9:Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you. Hey, come see me anytime, man, I'll let you know the info. Awesome, you catch me awesome hey, thanks man, later man see ya. Thank you.
Speaker 3:This is a Muggins Media Podcast.