Just Two Good Old Boys

048 Just Two Good Old Boys

• Gene Naftulyev • Season 2023 • Episode 48

Share episode

Send us a text

Support the show

Check out Gene's other podcasts -
podcast.sirgene.com and unrelenting.show
Read Ben's blog and see product links at namedben.com
If you have comments drop at
Email: gene@sirgene.com Or dude@namedben.com
or on
X.com: @sirgeneTX @dudenamedbenTX
Can't donate? sub to Gene's GAMING youtube channel (even if you never watch!) Sub Here
Weekend Gaming Livestream atlasrandgaming onTwitch
StarCitizen referral code STAR-YJD6-DKF2
Get EMP protection for your car using our code sirgene

Ben:

Alright, alright, alright.

Gene:

Howdy Ben,

Ben:

Howdy, Gene. How are you?

Gene:

I'm great. How are you?

Ben:

I'm alright. I am getting ready to go to the Northwest tomorrow morning.

Gene:

Ooh, that sounds fun.

Ben:

Yeah, my flight leaves at the asscrack of dawn and I am so I'm going to Houston tonight so I'm closer to the airport. I leave at 5. 20 in the morning.

Gene:

Now, why would you book a flight at 5 20 instead of booking it? As the last flight out tonight? Oh why don't you

Ben:

One, I don't have to be there till Tuesday, so Monday is a travel day

Gene:

a flight for noon on Monday?

Ben:

because I need X amount of flights to reach X status that I want, and this trip will give me the last four legs that I need for the next status.

Gene:

And this is only a flight was at five eight. I just, I don't know. I mean, other people obviously do it. Don't mind it. I just feel miserable when I do a flight that's before 10 AM.

Ben:

Yeah you know it. Yes and no. So this was the only way I could get the layovers that I wanted and needed and not have a very tight connection, which certain airports I choose not to do tight connections because that ends up biting me. And the advantage is I'll be on a plane. I'll be in first class. I got upgraded and I'll be on a plane that has international seating. So I'll have a lay flat seat, which for that first leg. So

Gene:

Okay. That's

Ben:

a four hour flight that I can actually sleep on.

Gene:

That's all right.

Ben:

So anyway, but yeah, I'm, I'm leaving early, early Monday morning and I'll

Gene:

conference you're going to, or what's the pretend occasion?

Ben:

indication. No, it's a, it's a partner meeting. We're meeting with one of the largest generation operators in North America. That's a business partner of ours. And, going to be talking to them about next year and what we want to do for the program and continue.

Gene:

Got it. So sales call. All right.

Ben:

Kind of, I mean, we don't sell actually to them because they're a generation operator. So we actually jointly sell to their clients that are the generation. Owners. So the people who actually own the power plants, but this company represents about 550 power plants between North America and the UK.

Gene:

So a Chinese firm got it.

Ben:

No, no, no. They are, they are American. They are 100 percent American. Yep.

Gene:

thought China was buying all that shit up.

Ben:

Again, this is a generation operator, not a generation owner. They just run the power plants. They don't own them

Gene:

it. Got it. Okay.

Ben:

and they're based in Seattle. So I'll be up there.

Gene:

You're going to be back before we next record.

Ben:

I will be back Thursday.

Gene:

Okay. Cook times. I hear

Ben:

the last trip of the

Gene:

warmer than Texas right now.

Ben:

Oh, hell no. It's gonna be like 29 overnight when I

Gene:

Really?

Ben:

Yeah. It's they've got a cold spell coming through, which is not normal for Seattle, by the way.

Gene:

Not at all. No Hmm.

Ben:

So I, I've, I've got a, I, I've already packed my thermals and heavy coat and all that.

Gene:

Yeah, I'm trying to think I have been there when it's snowing. So I guess I've been there when it's below freezing, but Yeah, it's

Ben:

it's rare in Seattle. Seattle is, normally Seattle gets cold, but it's normally a very damp cold. That's what people have to realize is that, you know, it's in the 40s and high 30s a lot during the winter, but that's about it. And it's rainy and cold.

Gene:

Yeah, it is miserable

Ben:

Yeah. Seattle during the winter is a miserable city in my mind. I'm not a big fan. Now there's some really cool hiking around there. There's a lot of cool kayaking, lots of stuff. If you, if anyone's interested in hiking Mount Rainier, there's. Thousands of trails on Mount Rainier that are just phenomenal. And there's some surrounding peaks that have phenomenal views of Mount Rainier that are great to hike. And then if you go out on the Olympic Peninsula, I love the Olympic Peninsula.

Gene:

what I was going to just mention is that, cause that's where I've spent most of my time

Ben:

yeah. And the Olympic Peninsula is the farthest Northern rainforest in the world. sO it's a really kind of neat thing. And if you go out to La Push, which is way out on the tip, it is the furthest West point in the continental United States. And there's a couple of really cool beach hikes there that are just phenomenal.

Gene:

Yep. I've done those.

Ben:

So, yeah,

Gene:

Yeah. There's great photography opportunities out there. Lots of birdwatching opportunities

Ben:

And good fishing. I've fished out of La Push. It's a really neat area.

Gene:

done that. I've bought fish from the little Indian reservation out there.

Ben:

Yeah, I've gone fishing out of La Pushe and it's, it's really cool. It's a good place to go fishing. That and my two favorite places to go fishing in the Northwest are La Pushe and Depot Bay, Oregon. Depot Bay, Oregon's pretty damn cool.

Gene:

Where is that?

Ben:

it's just down on the coast of Oregon, obviously, but what's kind of neat about it is

Gene:

down the coast?

Ben:

You'd have to look at a map, dude. It's been a while since I've been there. But what's kind of cool is it's just this hole in the rock and inside that hole is a bay and literally the boats coming in and out of the bay have to time it with the waves to go in and out.

Gene:

Hmm. Cool. Yeah, I've done, I've got some good photos from the Oregon coast when I used to work up there. That's it's very pretty and it's actually not that far from Portland, which is kind of neat because it's a lot longer drive from Seattle to the coast than it is from Portland.

Ben:

Yeah, so if you're looking at a map Literally it is kind of right in the middle of Oregon,

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

so it's right in the middle between you. If you're looking between Portland and Eugene and then out to the out to the coast, it's dead in the middle. It's almost it's almost level with Salem. It's a little below Salem. If you draw a line.

Gene:

You know, those places have such a weird culture because you've got the sort of outdoorsy, self sufficient mentality combined with the ultra fucking liberal, crazy ass socialist mentality.

Ben:

No. So yes and no. So Western Oregon on the coast is some, some like that. But really, if you go east of I 5 on in Oregon. You know, Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington are extremely conservative to the point where they want to separate off and be different states.

Gene:

So, how is that a no? I literally just said that, and you're like, no?

Ben:

I said yes and no.

Gene:

Okay there's no no there, it's just yes. Because you've got the two mentalities. The liberals, there are more of them than the, the You know, the other guys whatever category you want to put them in, because they tend to set the rules in those States. And that's why those States have got awful gun laws and amongst other laws as well, but yet, you know, pot is readily available at every ice cream shop.

Ben:

You ought to look at the pictures of Depot Bay that I just sent you the link to.

Gene:

I will check that out.

Ben:

Yeah, the, I will say Washington State has the best pot laws of any place that I've been personally.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

You walk into the dispensaries and the cameras are on the counter, not on you. They've got ATMs there. They readily accept cash, no driver's license, no nothing. Whereas Colorado and a lot of other places want your driver's license, which you know, I, they want it to enter the dispensary. So I won't even do that. I I've never purchased pot from a dispensary. I haven't purchased pot since I was in college, but that's neither here nor there. I still like to go and look at what the What the laws are and see how it is, but

Gene:

hmm. Is that what we're going to call it? at laws? Looking at laws? Is that what you want to

Ben:

yeah, yeah, I, I, I, that's just not my thing, man. I, I like booze. I don't, I'm not a, I, I, the drugs I like are sugar, caffeine and nicotine and

Gene:

So the worst ones possible,

Ben:

Yeah, those are the ones that I like personally.

Gene:

Yeah. I've been to a few dispensaries out there in Port Angeles, actually.

Ben:

This is Washington

Gene:

yeah, that's where I did my,

Ben:

on the Olympic peninsula.

Gene:

to determine just how much effect

Ben:

Oh, you and Mimi, huh?

Gene:

about me and Mimi, what,

Ben:

I don't know. I can just see you and her doing the conducting the experiment.

Gene:

no, no, I was not doing the experiment with Mimi, but, um, but it was I was there this number of years back. I think I've told the story like three or four times on different podcasts, but I had noticed previously from being been given edibles by some friends. That they didn't do jack shit and or they are absolutely bare like I noticed something but it wasn't either good or bad it was just like the same kind of feeling you'd have if you just you know stayed up too late and so I was up there for either my mom's or my dad's birthday and my sister and my niece were up there and my niece is definitely a pot consumer. And so she wanted to go to the dispensary and I said, all right, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go there with you. And so I decided I'm going to do a scientific experiment to determine whether I have, any sensitivity at all, THC, because it definitely have less sensitivity. And so I bought a whole bunch of edibles, uh, at the highest, uh, concentration level. And then each day I doubled the dose. So I started off with like just one and then next day I did two, next day I did four. And I did manage to get to a point. whEre I definitely felt like, I think the same thing that most people feel, but it was at a ridiculously high dose. I Honestly don't remember how many micrograms these things were, but they were the most potent edibles they sold. And I think by the time I could feel something, it was like eight edibles at once. We're

Ben:

on the milligrams, but yeah.

Gene:

Yeah, that's why I said I can't remember what they were at this fight. I actually probably if I went back into a year old episode of Unrelenting, I Actually said what all those numbers were. I just don't remember them anymore. Mm

Ben:

So here's a Boston globe article from 2021 about some people can't get high from eating marijuana and marijuana and scientists aren't sure why.

Gene:

yEah, I think it's just a sensitivity thing because, um, it's not just THC, also, uh, Novocaine doesn't work on me.

Ben:

So what you're saying is you're a lizard and don't have the same neuro receptors as everybody else.

Gene:

Yeah, they have to use horse tranquilizers. So, they're, like, I can

Ben:

hey, Gene. I think that's a weight.

Gene:

no, it's not a weight thing, um, because my, my amount of blood is not greatly different than yours.

Ben:

You're, actually, it has to be.

Gene:

No, it's not. It's just the size of the fat cells. They're, they're taking up more space between.

Ben:

No, for every pound of fat, you add hundreds of miles of veins and the volume of blood has to increa

Gene:

not true. Oh, no, no, it's not how fat cells work, dude. Fat cells are one of the few cells that can actually grow to about 30 times their size.

Ben:

Right,

Gene:

no other cells in the body can do that. You, you only need contact at one point per cell to be able to receive blood. Fat

Ben:

blood volume.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

What's your weight?

Gene:

Let's just say sufficient.

Ben:

Okay,

Gene:

That's what I say in my

Ben:

I'll say I'm 200 pounds, adult male.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

So I should have 60, let's call it 7 7 liters of blood.

Gene:

Okay.

Ben:

Alright.

Gene:

Why, why don't you do, why don't you do,

Ben:

And I'll do 300, adult male.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

And that's 10 liters of blood.

Gene:

Yeah, that's inaccurate.

Ben:

Okay. This is, Okay.

Gene:

No, it is. And I, I mean, again, I can tell you why, because the missing factor in that calculation is the, the BMI, the percentage of body fat that is on those bodies, because certainly a 300 pounds, six foot eight. Person would have 10 liters of blood compared to a five foot nine person with seven liters of blood at 200 pounds. So yeah, if you just have a larger size human with the same characteristics, that would be true. But this is shit I did research into many years ago and fat cells are very different than other cells in your body. They, they need a

Ben:

of weight we put on is five miles of blood vessels according to the Mayo

Gene:

That's incorrect.

Ben:

This is the Mayo Clinic.

Gene:

That's an article written by an intern and it happens to be incorrect.

Ben:

okay,

Gene:

Anyway!

Ben:

We're getting pedantic.

Gene:

point being, yeah, I know that's half the fun point being that there, there are a number of different chemicals that have a lesser effect on me. Cyanide is another one.

Ben:

Yeah, I think that's just something you've done to make sure you don't get

Gene:

I just like eating apples. That's all.

Ben:

offed. I like apples too, but I'm not immune to cyanide.

Gene:

Mm hmm. What do you do? Do you put them in a blender? Coal? There you go.

Ben:

I don't. That's what I'm

Gene:

I know, but that's what I'm saying is that you, you would have a better

Ben:

Immune response. Yes, I

Gene:

if you did. gaRlic, do you eat a garlic whole?

Ben:

I, I mean,

Gene:

eat a clove of garlic a day?

Ben:

I don't now I,

Gene:

you eat a lemon a day?

Ben:

no,

Gene:

Okay.

Ben:

I, I will tell you this on garlic. I did go through and did a thing where when I was a kid, we did pickled garlic a lot. And that's, that's I love pickled garlic, dude, it's

Gene:

I don't think I've ever had pickled

Ben:

Oh my god. It's right up there with pickled asparagus and pickled okra as just being delicious.

Gene:

I mean, I like most pickled things. I love kimchi.

Ben:

Would love good pickled garlic. It is. You should try it.

Gene:

I should. I should pickle some. Because I eat garlic all the time.

Ben:

Yeah, you should order some pickled garlic and try it and then you can do your own or you can just do your own.

Gene:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. I mean, I could probably order some just to see. What it's supposed to taste and then make my own. I used to actually pickle stuff and I remember years ago when I first moved to Austin, uh, I would give Adam Curry and his wife like a pickle, jar of pickles every week. We'd meet up at the used to meet up at the farmer's market in downtown Austin, um, on, I think it was Sunday, Saturdays? No, probably would have been Saturdays, not Sundays. And so it was kind of a regular get together for us. And then I would give him a jar of pickles when we met up.

Ben:

I Love pickles. I love a lot of pickled things. I remember making pickles as a kid and we used to, we, we grew a lot of our own stuff. So we would pickle tons of different things, not just cucumbers, but peppers and you know, like I said, okra or asparagus or garlic. And we would just do all these. Different types of pickles. And I, I loved it. I, I, today, you know, even when I'm like doing a brisket or something, I'll make sure and have some peppers and some cucumbers and some onions, and I'll do a quick pickle to go with the barbecue and stuff like that. And yeah, I love it. I know. Right.

Gene:

Yeah, that's good, good, good stuff. I think in general, the pickled vegetables not only are a great way to preserve things, but they're just so good for you because of all the bacteria in there.

Ben:

Especially if you're not doing a hard pickle, if you're doing a quick pickle, that's you know, that isn't canned, that is something that has to be refrigerated. Yes, it will definitely have to be, how do I, how do I put it it'll have to be refrigerated and it will be,

Gene:

Fermented.

Ben:

yeah, exactly. Which by the way one of my uncles they were, we were talking stories about stuff you know, Thanksgiving, we're, we're post Thanksgiving today. And he was telling me about how he made kimchi and put it in this stainless steel. Crock pot to make kimchi and was letting it firm it and everything. The pot may have been stainless and everything, and that was great. But the bolts and the nuts on the on the handle inside the pot were not, and it just dissolved.

Gene:

Yep.

Ben:

It's amazing how potent kimchi can be.

Gene:

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Oh, it's such good stuff. I

Ben:

or no, it wouldn't come to you as sauerkraut, but they were making sauerkraut.

Gene:

close,

Ben:

So yeah, same, same fermented cabbage. Sorry.

Gene:

fermented cabbage. Dude, I've got four, four cans of sauerkraut in my fridge right now.

Ben:

Oh, I love good sauerkraut,

Gene:

It's so good,

Ben:

but in this is if you,

Gene:

I want it cold, sometimes I want it hot.

Ben:

This is one thing I'll say for people who haven't had actual real sauerkraut, the kind of stuff you get to put on a hot dog is not real sauerkraut. That's vinegar added. It's not the good stuff. It's

Gene:

I get mine from Germany.

Ben:

The German sauerkraut was astonishingly different.

Gene:

Mm hmm, yeah. It's good stuff.

Ben:

looks like I'll be going back to the middle East in February.

Gene:

Mm hmm. Oh that's convenient.

Ben:

Not really.

Gene:

You get your miles early in the year,

Ben:

I'm still not looking forward to it, but it looks like I'm going to be going back to looks like I'm going to be going back to Qatar and UAE and maybe Saudi this time

Gene:

Oh that'll be nice.

Ben:

we'll see,

Gene:

Yeah. That's,

Ben:

I may actually plan a trip to Israel on the trip, since I'll be in the area and just to get a second passport with the

Gene:

yeah, exactly. I think that's a wise move on your part.

Ben:

Yeah. So for those who don't know, you can get two passports and there are a couple of different ways to do it. So, yeah, it's a good thing to have.

Gene:

Absolutely. sO you went hunting

Ben:

I did. I spent most of the week in a deer stand, huh?

Gene:

and it didn't do very well. I didn't see any deer photos.

Ben:

You know, my dad has been busy and he hasn't been maintaining the feeders and things like that, and I haven't, this is the first time I've, I've gone this year. So, you know, between the two of us, we saw a couple of deer nothing worth taking, and we killed some hogs and you know, I could've killed you a couple rabbits, but I didn't.

Gene:

Yeah, I, I would not use a natural grown rabbits to feed my snake.

Ben:

Why?

Gene:

Because there's bacteria and parasites and shit in

Ben:

Yeah, but you freeze them.

Gene:

Yeah, you think that kills their little larvas and eggs and things? Eh, I don't know man.

Ben:

Yes. I absolutely

Gene:

if you thaw something, and I do this on a regular basis, and you just let it sit in room temperature for about a day, You find that it's all kinds of bacteria starts multiplying and growing because you can smell it.

Ben:

Okay. Anyway, whatever the point is, they were I saw quite a few cottontails out there that I could have gotten for you. But anyway,

Gene:

You know, they are hard to catch. I

Ben:

You don't catch them.

Gene:

mean you you're gonna shoot it Why I sure as hell don't want lead in my snake

Ben:

It wouldn't, Oh God.

Gene:

Jesus Christ Yeah, I get I get rabbits from a breeder that breeds them for shows. I get show rabbits Okay, the there are Super clean you can't even smell that there's rabbits there. I was shocked. I went to pick up

Ben:

stink, by the way,

Gene:

They totally stink. This is the amazing part. So I went to pick up my rabbits, which I do about twice a year to my distributor guy, and he's real close to where you were hunting, ironically, or closer anyway, it was like an hour away. Yeah. And so I ended up chit chatting with,

Ben:

where I was hunting was further than my parents, but yeah,

Gene:

oh, okay.

Ben:

I was literally on the border of Louisiana and Texas.

Gene:

Hmm. Okay. So you were almost in a gator country out there.

Ben:

No, I wasn't gator country. Literally the property that I have that I was hunting on is on the Sabine river.

Gene:

Oh, wow.

Ben:

So literally the border between Texas and Louisiana,

Gene:

Yeah. Holy shit. That's awesome.

Ben:

Like one of the deer stands sits right on

Gene:

probably why there's no deer there, because the gators ate them all.

Ben:

There are plenty of gays in that in that area, but I don't think that was the problem

Gene:

I like gators. They're cool animals.

Ben:

Yeah, they're they're too easy to hunt though.

Gene:

I don't mean to, I mean, I'm not a fan of what they taste like.

Ben:

God gator can be delicious

Gene:

I just think that, no, I don't mean they're bad. I just think there are more tasty things than gator.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

But I, I have petted a bunch of them and they're really cool animals. I like them. I think it'd be fun to have one.

Ben:

Mm hmm.

Gene:

They're very primitive. They're older than dinosaurs.

Ben:

Yes. They're nothing but a big dumb lizard.

Gene:

Not, not really, but they're they are very interesting, very

Ben:

on. Tell, tell me how gators are intelligent.

Gene:

They actually have really good memories. They, they can learn words much like a dog. I'll send you, I'll send you some links. There's a guy that's been training gators for a long time, and He does videos demonstrating their intelligence.

Ben:

Mm

Gene:

Yeah, they're, they're a lot,

Ben:

They're like 90 percent amygdala, dude.

Gene:

You know, so are most people. So what does that tell

Ben:

Yeah. After COVID, I don't disagree with that. Very

Gene:

The thing people don't realize is how old most of them are that you see, because they grow pretty damn slowly. And so when you see, when you see a gator, that's six feet long, like tall as a person, that gator is already like 45 years old.

Ben:

I mean, I think they grow faster than that initially and then they slow down, but yeah,

Gene:

Yeah, though, the giant ones you see that are, you know, like 10 feet long plus those suckers are pushing a hundred years old. So it's, it's a it is a neat animal. But they're, I mean, the biggest thing is just, they have a very, very strong food response. That's why they don't make a good pet. It's because you have to be, for them to not be constantly giving you a food response, you have to feed them a lot, and if you feed them a lot, they get fat, if they get fat, then they die.

Ben:

yeah. So, in the, the alligator Mississippius, which is the kind we have here in Texas, grows about a foot, a foot per year for the first four to six years, and then slows way down

Gene:

Yeah, that's awfully fast, I haven't seen them growing that

Ben:

well, a foot. For the first four to six years. So that means let's say four years. So that's a four foot alligator.

Gene:

only four years old. Yeah.

Ben:

then to get the six feet would be probably around 10 years old.

Gene:

Okay. Alright. Alright, so

Ben:

then to get to 15 feet so, alligator at 15 feet is an average of over 50 years old.

Gene:

So I said about double those numbers, but it's still a lot more than people think it is, is that was my only point. You know, that's actually true of this, like my snake. I got him when he was three feet long and he probably got to six feet within a couple of years. And then he got to 10 feet, probably the next four years. So definitely slowed down the rate of growth and he's about 18 feet long right now. But yeah, they do grow faster initially for sure. But little, little Crocs are so damn cute though. Little chirpy guys. You know, make a little chirpy noise.

Ben:

Yeah, the, the alligators are really interesting when they're young and little because you can manage them. But after they get up to a few feet, they get, you know, especially males get very aggressive.

Gene:

There's a video that I post pretty regularly on our channel. I post videos from, I should say. Social called urban rescue ranch, which is a guy that used to live in Austin, now he lives in Waco and he's got a much bigger place in Waco now. But he you know, he houses his animals, but he was one of these, like everybody's known somebody like this, somebody who can't help themselves, but to take in every animal that has something wrong with them. So, you know, like a bird that, that you see by the side of the road, like you have to stop your car and go look at that bird and always got a broken wing or something. I got to take him down to the animal hospital and fix it.

Ben:

no,

Gene:

I'm not one of those

Ben:

up the bird, ring its neck and throw it out for the buzzard. Thank you very

Gene:

Yeah. Yeah. Or just not notice the bird if you're me, but it's, it's there, there's a certain type of person. That's what this dude is. He's a definite younger millennial type. So the videos are all shot in about five second increments. And then a bunch of those make up a single video, but but his ranch has gotten to be pretty damn cool. I have to say, I guess he's got some good donations coming in from people and revenue from the videos for sure. But he's got He's got a couple of ostriches that he brought in when they were little babies that had splayed feet and so they were gonna just kill him and he took him in and now these things are fully grown, or close to fully grown. They're about six, six and a half feet. They'll get a little taller. buT they literally let them like, you know, hold them by the neck and kiss their heads, which most ostriches will not let you do.

Ben:

And you, I mean, ostriches can be very mean that they will beat you up if you are not worried, if you're not walking, if you're not paying attention, you know, they will kick you. They will pack they're basically like a big goose. Anyone who's been around a goose, you know, the way gooses, geese, geese, geese are assertive and,

Gene:

Mm hmm. And, and he's got a couple kangaroos and one of them is, the male is constantly trying to fight with him, which is hilarious. And he's got he's got some other real tights. He's got not, not emus. What are they I don't know. He's got a lot of interesting animals, so there's not just like boring animals, but he has four capybaras capybaras are really interesting critters.

Ben:

Never been around them.

Gene:

they're giant rats, basically. Their relatives, those there, but they, they're, they're very similar to dodo's in that they don't have a natural flight response.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

Like they don't really run away. And so you will watch, if you watch videos of Capybara, as you'll see birds standing on their backs, you'll see other animals climbing on top of them to get a better perch to look around. Like they just don't,

Ben:

They're

Gene:

know, they're, well, I mean, you could say they're dumb, but they're not really afraid of shit. So, and they can definitely do some damage if they want it to. Their teeth are like beaver teeth. tHey're, they're about an inch each.

Ben:

So my, my son, when we were at grandma and grandpa's this week and my son, my grandma, my mom gave him a vest and she said, you know, this is a hunting vest for you just to try and make it interesting for him. And he immediately said, daddy, I want to go hunting with you. I want to go hunting. I want to go hunting. So we walked around my parents property. And they've got a decent amount of property and we were looking, he wanted me to take my gun in case we, so, cause he wanted to try and kill a deer with me, which isn't going to happen doing what we were doing, but whatever. And anyway, we were walking around the ponds and we saw some beavers and stuff and he wanted me to shoot it, but I didn't have a good shot. Otherwise I would have. It's amazing how the beavers plug up the overflows and

Gene:

Oh yeah.

Ben:

It, they are pests, man, and anyway, we saw some turtles and some

Gene:

They're great for biodiversity.

Ben:

no, they're pests.

Gene:

Mm. Yeah. I like beavers. Cool critters. The the ponds they make are used by tons of different wildlife.

Ben:

Yeah, but if you have a pond, and they are plugging up the overflow and causing you issues, that's a bigger issue.

Gene:

yoU just have to manage it.

Ben:

Yeah, by killing the beavers.

Gene:

No, you don't manage it by killing the beavers.

Ben:

absolutely manage it

Gene:

No, you get a, you get a backhoe, you clear it up and then let them do their work again.

Ben:

Not when they're plugging the pipe and the overflow.

Gene:

Oh, they're plugging the pipe. Oh, that's not good.

Ben:

exactly, and then it's a pain in the rear to, okay

Gene:

Mm-Hmm. They, yeah. It is, it is a totally interesting learned, be or not learned. It's a like genetic behavior for them.

Ben:

mm

Gene:

you watch videos.

Ben:

If they hear water flowing, they have to plug it.

Gene:

Yeah. Yeah. If you watch little baby beavers, like with no adults to teach them anything, they'll literally start doing the same thing. They'll start grabbing shit and dragging it to where they hear the water sound. It is hilarious.

Ben:

Yeah. And if you ever look at a beaver stick, my dad has a collection of these where it's cause they, they don't eat the wood, they eat the

Gene:

Right.

Ben:

And what they'll do is a beaver stick, they will chew off a chunk of wood and then they will sit there and they will clean off every bit of bark off of that.

Gene:

hmm.

Ben:

And then they'll discard the stick. And they, they're really neat to have because they're just these cleaned off stick and they've got the little teeth marks on them and they make really cool walking sticks is what he's done with them. And I, I, I really wish my dad would set up an Etsy page for some of the shit he does, because you know, he could take those beaver sticks and make them into a walking stick, like he's done for several people and sell that My dad made a my son's really into sharks and has been since he was a little kid since ever since we took him to an aquarium. He's just love sharks. So instead of making him a rocking horse, he made him a rocking shark

Gene:

Oh, cool.

Ben:

Out of wood and everything. I mean, just beautiful, beautiful stuff. And I, I, he's made cribs for people and bassinets. And also my dad,

Gene:

the shark.

Ben:

I'm sorry.

Gene:

Your kid's jumping the shark.

Ben:

Exactly. Anyway, my dad could seriously, that could be his retirement, easily, just making shit and selling it on Etsy. I wish he would do that.

Gene:

Oh, he is retired, isn't he?

Ben:

No, God no.

Gene:

No,

Ben:

my parents both work their ass off, dude, still, every day.

Gene:

Oh, I didn't realize that. I thought for some reason that they were retired.

Ben:

No, they will never truly retire. My mom,

Gene:

that's kind of what I meant is I thought they were just doing stuff because they don't want to

Ben:

no, no, no, they absolutely, they make money to survive still.

Gene:

Okay.

Ben:

Now, could they not make money and change their lifestyle and be okay? Probably. But yeah, they, they, they are not retirement people. I mean, my mom is 78.

Gene:

Yeah, it's probably a good time to retire.

Ben:

Yeah, she's, she's not.

Gene:

Yeah. It sounds like you had a fun Thanksgiving.

Ben:

Oh yeah. It was great. You know, even though I didn't see anything, I got to tell you, have you ever sat in a deer stand?

Gene:

Yeah. Lots of times. Not in Texas though. Only in

Ben:

pre dawn,

Gene:

yeah.

Ben:

okay, my favorite part of that is in the morning, my favorite time to sit in deer stand is in the morning, even though you got to get up really early to do it, going out there before dawn and hearing the, and I get there really early before any daylight, pitch black, get in the stand, sit there, and then just hearing the forest wake up around me, I, I love that, man.

Gene:

Now, did you hunt when you lived up north too?

Ben:

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Gene:

Yeah. Yeah. So I think it's a little different up there though, because it

Ben:

you don't sit in a stand up there. You're stalking.

Gene:

oh okay, where you were in Minnesota, you sit in the stand, but, uh, not only is it pitch dark, but it's also 20 below. And so you're, you're making your way. Through snow, uh, to the stand, cause it may be fall for some states, but it's fucking winter up north.

Ben:

Yeah. And, you know, it's different in every spot. And you know, in Texas, you have Bush to deal with the, you know, the undergrowth that you do not have up there. Every state has its own challenges for sure.

Gene:

Place was always hunting there was a buddy of mine that had a, his grandma had a I don't even know what to call them, but it was basically like a back 40 but it was on the government program where they pay you not to farm.

Ben:

yeAh, it's shit.

Gene:

You know

Ben:

Crop rotation. Yeah.

Gene:

And so, so basically there. You, you've got land that is just there to be a kind of a natural prairie, but with more food growing it for the critters to eat. So they're a lot more likely to come over there. And that was great because the grass is only about three feet tall. So if they're sleeping on the ground, you can't see them, but as soon as they stand up, you can see them immediately. And and you can literally see the whole 40 acres. It was great.

Ben:

Yeah, there, there's a, there's a shorthand for that, that's, I forget what that land is called, but it's crop, it just may be something,

Gene:

or some shit.

Ben:

I don't remember, but

Gene:

I don't know, but it's a weirdest thing when the government pays you not to farm

Ben:

The, the entire idea is that you're giving the, the specific acreage a rest and not utilizing chemical fertilizers the entire time. And, and realistically, actually that came out of the depression and there's a lot of stupid stuff that we do like that, that is just

Gene:

like daylight savings time.

Ben:

Yeah Daylight Savings Time has an interesting history coming out of World War II, and, you know, they thought it was going to reduce power consumption for the war effort and things

Gene:

existed before world war two though.

Ben:

The idea, but it actually being put into practice, I believe, was World War II.

Gene:

Oh, okay. Really interesting.

Ben:

Yeah, you could get rid of Daylight Savings Time and it would not hurt my feelings.

Gene:

No. And I, if anything, I would just say permanently move it to the daylight savings time and leave it there because you got more, um, you know, more daylight in the evenings to enjoy, which is especially useful here in the South. Because the further South you go, the earlier the sunsets.

Ben:

You've got that backwards.

Gene:

no, no, no, because

Ben:

Oh, you're talking about like during the summer. Yes, you do not get well,

Gene:

yeah, you don't get as much sunlight

Ben:

you don't get the swing as much the difference between winter and summer is less than north, you know, in up north where I lived in Idaho and at the peak of summer during the summer

Gene:

Yeah, it's like sunset is 9 45 p. m.

Ben:

nine, nine, something at night. And then daylight is at four or something. Yeah. But, but, you know, in Seattle, I already checked the, so right now, sunrise is at six 59 sunset is at five 24 where I'm at. And in Seattle it'll be sunrise at eight and sunset at four.

Gene:

Four. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's, you are kind of going there during the shortest days of the year.

Ben:

No shit. And, oh my god, just don't get me started. I don't know

Gene:

You're only there a

Ben:

this for the summer.

Gene:

You're only there a week.

Ben:

I'm not even there a week, I'm, I'm literally Tuesday I've got meetings, Wednesday I've got meetings, and Thursday I'm flying home.

Gene:

So apparently Benjamin Franklin was a big proponent of daylight

Ben:

Yes, he was one of the first ones to push it.

Gene:

Probably after he got hit by lightning. Ha

Ben:

that never happened.

Gene:

ha,

Ben:

So, I I am putting together some, I'm changing up some of my travel stuff. I'm putting together an IFAC for my carry on.

Gene:

Mhm.

Ben:

And I'm including medical shears in that IFAC.

Gene:

Yep, you mentioned that.

Ben:

Yeah, I did, was unaware that you could fly with up to a four inch pair of scissors. And that's from fulcrum to tip.

Gene:

Yeah. That's good, that's full size, isn't it?

Ben:

Yeah,

Gene:

That's what I thought, yeah.

Ben:

yeah. So,

Gene:

just can't have a shared point in them. Yeah,

Ben:

So, medical shears work. Mhm. Mhm.

Gene:

totally. So for a long time I was trying to convince my buddy that has a CNC machine to do a set of emergency knives. And he just, I don't know, he always refused to do it. I think he was afraid of the potential lawsuits or something, but I always wanted something like this. So if you make. If you have a material that's really hard and you score it properly, then when you break along that score, you will get a slightly jaggedy, extremely sharp edge. And so my theory was to basically create a belt buckle that one could disassemble if one needed to,

Ben:

Mhm.

Gene:

but it's for otherwise you know, it's basically a belt buckle with an interesting design

Ben:

Right. It's not a, it's not, it's, it's like some of those pre scored cards that have lock picks that you can

Gene:

Yeah. Or some pre scored cards that resemble Sears that apparently get you prison time. So maybe it's a good idea. He didn't make it

Ben:

that, that has to get overturned, dude.

Gene:

so retarded.

Ben:

I mean, it's a, if nothing else, it's a First Amendment issue. Because he did not make a seer. First of all, it was not functional. They couldn't get it done. Even their own.

Gene:

It's Sear artwork.

Ben:

It that, that's the thing is it was just a design and and it was a lightning, lightning link was what the design was. And again, you have the right to publish designs. You have the right to do it. That, that, that really, I, I hope Matt gets enough money to take that to Supreme Court and challenge that.

Gene:

Yeah, I

Ben:

It needs to, it's gonna take years. He's gonna be in jail for decades probably,

Gene:

Yeah. It, which is again, insane that a government agency that should not exist. Has that much authority.

Ben:

That's sad. And it's really sad what's

Gene:

you watch the video, speaking of government agencies, did you watch the video of the new president, uh, the, the first libertarian president down in I keep thinking Brazil, it's Argentina,

Ben:

It's Argentina,

Gene:

Yeah, so he's got he had a video where he's basically got the current cabinets

Ben:

Yep.

Gene:

on the on a board

Ben:

Yep. And tearing it off.

Gene:

Yeah, and then and one by one he reads off the cabinet name and he's like gone gone

Ben:

Well, and he keeps yelling Mm-Hmm.

Gene:

Not for those but yeah, it's it was pretty damn funny I mean this guy is gonna be if nothing else hilarious to watch but I think if he

Ben:

his dogs are clones.

Gene:

Really

Ben:

Yes. His, he has four dogs that were apparently

Gene:

same dog

Ben:

Yeah. And cloned from a previous dog.

Gene:

Wow, that's pretty cool. I like that.

Ben:

I, I guess it's kind of weird.

Gene:

Yeah, but he's an interesting character. I, I, from what I've seen, I like,

Ben:

yeah. Me too.

Gene:

and I think we're going to see a few folks moving down there as expats from the, the current administration here in the U. S.

Ben:

And why from the current administration?

Gene:

I should say during the current administration. I don't know. I like if Trump gets I don't know how many people are going to be leaving here, but, but certainly given where the U S is today, I think there'd be some folks that have been already looking for a place to jump ship too. And now they're going to be more prone to look at Argentina

Ben:

Yeah. I, I don't disagree.

Gene:

deals with Argentina right now because their economy sucks

Ben:

Yes, exactly. And it again, so if you can work remotely, I like if, if, if I didn't have, if I were a single individual without kids. Given my work status and everything else, the way I work right now, I would be in Latin America living because I can be in the same time zone and I can be wherever the hell I want and the amount of money I'm making would go so

Gene:

Oh, yeah. The other country that I've

Ben:

I don't know why you live in Austin. Why the hell are you

Gene:

I have no idea why I live in Austin. That's a good point, man. I really, you know, if I, it's inertia mostly, I think I, what I need to do is sell off all the crap that I have. That I don't use, don't need, that could

Ben:

Let me know and I'll come pick through. And you know, before, let me put it to you this way. I'll help you set it up for doing an estate sale as long as I get first dibs.

Gene:

I know the kind of shit you'd want, and it's usually not the shit that I want to sell. It's this, it's usually that stuff's going with. But yeah, you'd be like, So, let's see, your watch, Your your rifles,

Ben:

put me in there when you die, you know, and I'll go through stuff, you know,

Gene:

Yeah, I'm sure you will. Yeah, there'll be not much left after. But I have a full garage of stuff that was worth something at some point, and it's probably still is to the right person. For example when I cleaned out my photo studio that I had, I have probably 20 light stands

Ben:

Oh, damn.

Gene:

that are sitting in my garage right now.

Ben:

Yeah. You should, Hey, you know, can I, can I make a recommendation?

Gene:

We can always make a recommendation.

Ben:

So there are these companies, uh, that will come in and do auctions. They will come in and categorize stuff, everything and do the auctions for a state sales.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

And they just charge a percentage of the sale and anything that's left over of what you want to get rid of. They will go donate and stuff like that.

Gene:

That's an idea. Because honestly, I

Ben:

frankly, what I'm saying is this is probably the only way you're going to do that is to come in, have them categorize it, choose what they're selling, what they're not, you know, and let them go through and they'll do an online auction. It's all online. People aren't coming to the house or anything, and they will online do it, sell it. And you get I think it's 50 percent of the proceeds is what they take. I mean, it's pretty expensive, but it's. It, my parents have, my parents are hoarders in a lot of ways because of when they grew up and everything. And it's definitely something I've looked at is, okay, when something happens, I do not want to be the one to go through this,

Gene:

right, right, right, exactly. Yeah. And realistically, I don't have any kind of sentimental, sentimental attachment to just about anything. I mean, there may be one or two boxes in the garage that I would want to just leave as is, but for the most part, there's, it's just stuff that had a purpose. Like I have a stand up or what do you call it? Yes. Like a the table that, you know, moves up and down

Ben:

a standing desk.

Gene:

desk. I have one of those from the Podcast studio back when I used to have one of those. I've got variety of things. I've got a bunch of extra microphones. I've, I've got a shit ton of,

Ben:

do you have?

Gene:

I've got an RE320 and I've got a couple other brands.

Ben:

Why do you have an extra re320?

Gene:

I had four of them. I sold two of them.

Ben:

Yeah, you should still sell it That's a 300 mic, dude.

Gene:

Yeah, I know. I, I know, I know, but you know, it's not losing value.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

So anyway, the point is, yes, that that's step one is to get rid of shit I don't need. Step two is to find a nice house for my pet snakes, uh, that, you know, I can trust and then if I can do those two things, then I could pretty much live anywhere.

Ben:

hmm. I mean you could take your snakes with you

Gene:

Not likely. Most places have prohibitions on exotic pets like that.

Ben:

yeah, Texas is one of the states that you can I meant in Texas, but yes

Gene:

Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, I could move in Texas pretty easily. Yeah,

Ben:

Yeah, Texas has a lot of exotic animals. We are very liberal about that.

Gene:

We've gotten worse though. You know, since I got my snake, you now need to actually have an exotic pet permit to have one of these.

Ben:

That's I don't believe a state thing I think that's a county and

Gene:

No, no, no, it's a state thing. I looked into it, but it was passed right after I got mine. So I'm grandfathered in, um, and they don't deny these permits. They just want the record of who has exotic pets. But yeah, they, they started doing that about what? 12 years ago, 13 years ago.

Ben:

interesting,

Gene:

Yeah. And the only way I found out, cause I watched a video of somebody else who said they were applying for this. And I was like, what the hell is that? I never had to do that. And sure enough, checked online and I was like, oh yeah, this came about after I got my big snake. I can't really move to any other state with the snake.

Ben:

Florida

Gene:

Definitely not Florida. Florida is one of the worst regulated

Ben:

Now they used to not be, but that's part of the reason why they went that way is because the Anaconda is taking over the Everglades.

Gene:

Yeah I, I think it's the Burmese mostly

Ben:

I'm joking, dude. That's a joke.

Gene:

anacondas would work very well there, but most people don't get anacondas because they're just not that interesting and not that pretty

Ben:

And they're effing huge.

Gene:

Yeah, they're pretty big. They could get to a big size and they need water. Like you can't have an anaconda that doesn't have access to water. So they're not nearly as popular, but there's also, um, you know, I mean, there's other snakes that are big other than the, like a Burmese for one, which. Burmese look quite pretty. You can get a lot of very pretty versions of them morphs, but, um, I, I like the one that I've got more cause it's not as fat as a Burmese. The Burmese tend to get fatter, but not as long where the reticulated pythons get longer, but not as fat because the reticulated pythons will actually climb trees. The Burmese can't climb a tree. It's more of a land snake when they're younger. They can, but not when they get to be 300 pounds. Yeah,

Ben:

You'd have to find a tree that'd support them.

Gene:

yeah, yeah, yeah, but it is amazing when I watched the video of a retic hunting it was fricking amazing. He's climbing a tree at probably about, uh, like a foot a second

Ben:

Mm

Gene:

and chasing the monkey up a tree and then making it fall off the tree and break its leg and then climbs down and eats it.

Ben:

hmm. You know, Gene, you know, I think part of the reason why I am, have the aversion to snakes that I have is growing up in the South where we have a lot of poisonous snakes.

Gene:

Yeah.

Ben:

especially growing up in the part of Texas

Gene:

As an Australian is laughing at you. Yes, go ahead.

Ben:

Okay. I mean, the, you know, the, the copperheads and water moccasins where I grew up are very, very plentiful. So, you know, it, it, they may not be as lethal, but there are plenty of them, dude.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

And so I just grew up

Gene:

I've seen plenty of round snakes here too.

Ben:

not where I was, but yeah, you've got plenty of rattlesnakes

Gene:

In the high

Ben:

and. And anyway, the you know, growing up, I remember an aversion to snakes because of the danger there. And, you know, I used to walk up and down sloughs as a kid with my 10 22 shooting at snakes all day.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

And it was funny when we moved to Idaho one of the old timers up there trying to scare us off and he's you know, we got snakes and it's just

Gene:

hmm.

Ben:

no, no, dude, you do not have snakes in comparison. so well,

Gene:

It's generally the further North you go, the less you got to worry about snakes.

Ben:

I mean, you've got big timber rattlers and stuff like that up there, but they're just very different and not something a rattlesnake is not rattlesnakes can be dangerous, but they will warn you. And they are, I would rather come up against the rattlesnake any day than a copperhead or a water moccasin.

Gene:

Yeah. Water McKessons are the one I would be the most afraid of.

Ben:

they're very aggressive. They're very venomous. The good thing about water moccasins is they stink. You will smell them before you see them. But the thing to remember, especially in the spring is there's most likely more than one of them. If you see one, there's more than one because they're in the spring, especially they're coming out of there they ball up in the winter. So there are communal snake in the winter and they will literally get together and ball up. And then, you know, like most snakes, in the winter, when it gets cold here, they estivate.

Gene:

Yep. Yeah, it's a the copperheads are a lot prettier too.

Ben:

Copperheads are a pretty snake, but man, I just don't want one. So, you sent me a video of a vape that is a major hit piece.

Gene:

yeah. Yeah. Big time. So

Ben:

What do you think of that?

Gene:

I think that was put out by, by the RNC.

Ben:

Yeah, but what do you think of the actual content?

Gene:

I think that the only thing, the content and then to let people know what the content is, basically a side by side. Of Barack Obama and Vivek saying the exact same words

Ben:

not exact, but close

Gene:

implication being that they're both basically the same guy. Yeah, they're controlled by the same people. Honestly, it's, it's hard to say something negative because what, what Obama was saying in that clip all sounds good. And it's kind of like, okay, so if what Obama says sounds good and he didn't do. And Vivek is saying the same thing and presumably is going to do, then what's the problem? But I, I it's, it's an obvious video directed at a certain segment of the conservative voter who is

Ben:

will have an aversion to the,

Gene:

little racist

Ben:

I don't think it's about race. I mean,

Gene:

it is.

Ben:

I Am not a racist, but it definitely gets my attention when I see Vivek, who I very much like saying similar things, but at the same time, I don't think that I, I, I think it's out of context and manipulated enough that it's not a real problem.

Gene:

I think it, I think it absolutely did the job it was intended to do, because I've, I've seen people on noted in the social that represent the target audience for this video saying exactly that it's yeah, that guy, you can't trust him. He's totally controlled by the, you know, the same team as Obama

Ben:

I mean, he very well may be,

Gene:

and, and then

Ben:

there, there's a strong possibility that the vague is the controlled opposition in a lot of ways. Cause he's saying so many good things. That said, I, man, I I'll take a risk on him for my money. It's him, Trump or RFK that there's no one else.

Gene:

yeah, and I, I like RFK. In the sense that he's going to steal votes from the Democrats. I sure as hell wouldn't vote for him, but

Ben:

I would vote for him in the primary just to screw with Biden, but he's not in the primary anymore.

Gene:

not in the primary anymore, which is so fucked up. But I've also heard I mean, it's weird. There's still people that like my buddy last night that I met up with haven't seen for half a year. They used to live out here in Austin. Now he lives out in San Diego. He's one of the very few people moving in the wrong direction, but But he's libertarian, you know, he's not a socialist or anything, but, but he was like, man, I, he's, this is him telling me it's amazing how they've managed to put DeSantis out of the way and then to prop up Trump and then ensure that there's going to be a loss. I'm like, yeah, I know that's, that's essentially what's going on is where we've got somebody manipulating things to make sure that the Trump is the nominee because they know that that means the election goes to the Democrats.

Ben:

I don't know that I believe that.

Gene:

Okay, but it's, it's a Trump is absolutely a higher risk candidate. Now you can say no matter what, there'll be more votes

Ben:

risk, higher reward, sure.

Gene:

I don't know that he's a higher reward. I think he'll be very entertaining again, but again, I just point people at his first term,

Ben:

yeah,

Gene:

look at all the shit he didn't

Ben:

why he's a higher reward, because I think he will go in for a vengeance and tear the sumbitch down.

Gene:

If he didn't do it the first time, he's not going to do it the second time.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

then the main thing my buddy brought up, which I totally agree with is the thing that makes you really think twice about voting for Trump is he did not pardon Assange. And he did not pardon Snowden and he had a perfect opportunity and a lot of people waiting for him to do that. And if he thought he was already going to win the second term anyway, there's zero risk in doing that for him. And yet he listened to the people that were surrounding him, which were absolutely the wrong people. And he brought those people in to surround them. There were more people that, that were in the Trump administration that everybody said, why, why is this person there? Why do you have to associate with them? And these are the people that ended up controlling Trump the entirety of the time. So he was, I think one of the least effective presidents we've ever had. He was tied up in office in tied up between the impeachment trial and having bad decisions as a result of bringing in the wrong people.

Ben:

yeah, and let me tell you why you're

Gene:

that he did that were good, but it's few and far between. The guy is

Ben:

I'll tell you why you're wrong.

Gene:

All right,

Ben:

you why you're wrong.

Gene:

go ahead.

Ben:

The deregulation agenda he put in just by having his administration for any, the executive order he signed to say that any new regulation that was to be written by any agency had to have at least two removed was the most rapid deregulation that we have seen in history. His administration did more to cut bureau bureaucratic bullshit. Just by that one executive order than anyone else and there are things like that that he did

Gene:

I think that sounds good, but it's just not true. Do you know how many agencies were removed?

Ben:

No agencies, but quite a few rules.

Gene:

Right. So quite a few rules. How many?

Ben:

Oh god. I ever I this you gonna make me Google that

Gene:

Yeah, I'm going to make you Google it and see how all number it is. Because the reality is there's a lot of things that sound good on the surface, but in reality achieved nothing or very little. And I, the one biggest thing that Trump I think did was the Normalizing relations with Israel, which is now, of course, down the toilet, no fault of his, but like that was, that was very good. Not having any new war started was obviously very good, but there was just an awful lot of like unsuccessful, or what would be a better phrase is like non starters with Trump things that sounded good before they were attempted. And then they just didn't go anywhere. So I think what we learned during his administration is that either the guy just trust blindly, or he's really bad at judging people into who makes up his cabinet, who he works with, who to listen to when it comes to decision making. And just let himself be controlled by the swamp in quotes, just like every previous president, even though he came in there. Under the premise of draining the swamp.

Ben:

Mmm, I don't necessarily agree. All right, so let's compare shall we

Gene:

Let's which

Ben:

so total new regulations from George H. W. Bush or George G. W. was 6, 999. Obama was 6, 793. Trump was 4, 310, which only 1, 000 were significant. However,

Gene:

because the two previous presidents represented two terms each, and this is just his first term was over half of

Ben:

term. This is first term only. These are, this is from the Cato Institute. This is comparing first terms of Obama, Bush, and

Gene:

that's better than so

Ben:

hold on, hold on. And the regulations cut by Trump was over double that. So in his first term, he had a net negative regulatory impact according to the Cato Institute. Which is a good thing.

Gene:

Yeah, no, that is a good

Ben:

Again, I, dude, every politician has their problems. I would, you know what, I would love to say let's go, let's try Vivek, let's run Vivek, let's see what he can do. I like his term, he's got fresh legs, let's see what he can run with. That said, it's not going to be Vivek, it's going to be Trump. I think that there's no way in hell Biden wins. So we've got to ask

Gene:

not going to run. I think

Ben:

okay, who, Newsom?

Gene:

Newsom is going to be our next president. So you can, you could start, look at this date and then what's, what's our podcast today? Is this 26th of November? Yes. 1126. I'm going to make a projection for the president. I think it's going to be Newsom by a slight margin.

Ben:

You know what? If Newsome wins Argentina is going to start looking better and better. And I'm not saying I'm going to, I'm not saying I'm going to move because I do have family that I have to worry about, but I will

Gene:

Yeah, you can, you can get a new family down there.

Ben:

Christ.

Gene:

you know, they got some hot ladies down there.

Ben:

No offense, but Hispanic women do not age well. Jesus.

Gene:

who says you have to keep them? I mean,

Ben:

Jean, it's herjeanspeaks. com.

Gene:

there's nothing wrong with having X's anyway. The, the reason I voted for Trump twice was because a versus the competition, like a stick is better. But that aside, Trump represented the bull in the China shop, the guy that was going to wreck havoc and. Do unpredictable things, which is exactly what I want to happen in the government. I want the government to work as inefficiently as possible because the less the government does, the better it is for the people that are actually in that country, the best government is the most ineffective government.

Ben:

Yeah

Gene:

And this is why I also like when the government's shut down, that's like the best option is when it's completely shut down.

Ben:

Let's just say it. That government that governs least governs best.

Gene:

Yeah, absolutely. And and so I was hoping

Ben:

Hey Gene, we've got a problem. My Motu's going static y on us.

Gene:

Oh, we're not, I'm not hearing anything. You want me to pause it and then

Ben:

I am. yEah, it's gonna take a reboot.

Gene:

it's not the NSA going down in here? It's the multi.

Ben:

Let's pause it, and let me re

Gene:

All right. Ben's back. The NSA has cleared you. Now you're, you're allowed to say things like theoretically the government that governs least governs best

Ben:

No, the government that governs least governs best, and I have never Been involved with the NSA in any way, shape, or form, dude.

Gene:

that's not what they say, but anyway. So, speaking of government governing lease. So my, my point was that. I think Trump represented a certain thing, I think he would be a really fun guy to go have drinks with, not that I drink anymore.

Ben:

He doesn't drink.

Gene:

Perfect. The two of us not drinking would be ideal. And,

Ben:

go have some cheeseburgers.

Gene:

we could have cheeseburgers. Hey, why don't we get Bill Clinton there too, get a cheeseburger. He likes cheeseburgers.

Ben:

I think that I think what Bill Clinton likes is a little different than the type of cheeseburger,

Gene:

I'm pretty sure he likes both kinds.

Ben:

a prediction. I

Gene:

But I think Vivek would be an infinitely more effective president. Way, way, way, way, way more effective than Trump in a second term.

Ben:

Vivek's going to end up as VP.

Gene:

Yeah. And I hope that him ending up as a VP of a losing candidate doesn't. Preclude him from running again next time.

Ben:

And why would it?

Gene:

I mean, some people just kind of burn out after they've had a unsuccessful run.

Ben:

Okay. I just don't think that'll be the be the issue

Gene:

Yeah. Um, yeah, because I do want to see him or somebody like him. I don't mean I'm I'm not tied to Vivec either. It's just having somebody that is mentally acute and has a. Has really a good understanding of modern society business as well. I mean, that's a huge, that's one thing Trump theoretically has as well, which I was certainly hoping for is somebody coming in with a business background rather than the politics background is refreshing.

Ben:

That's

Gene:

I just wish Trump did more. That's all. I just I'd like to find things that aren't some esoteric piece of knowledge you have to find. fRom the Cato Institute to point to the one thing Trump did well. I'd love for there to have

Ben:

esoteric knowledge. That's.

Gene:

of things that we can point to that are obvious to everybody that Trump did.

Ben:

I think there are lots of things that Trump did well.

Gene:

I just don't think there's that many men.

Ben:

Judges.

Gene:

So not well to Supreme court judges that came in during Trump appointment, two of those are not actually conservatives. They're religious conservatives. They don't hold the values of somebody like me. They hold the values. Of the a Roman Catholic.

Ben:

I'm not suggesting that I'm talking about the lower court judges that he did fairly well and at least appointed some decent ones. So there's that. Let's see. What else did he do? The Abraham Accords, I think

Gene:

Yeah, that, that one's I think indisputable. That's probably his top upon accomplishment. Unfortunately, it's irrelevant to this point.

Ben:

I don't think so. Why do you think it's irrelevant?

Gene:

Given what's going on in Israel, I think it's pretty irrelevant. I think we're gonna, we're going to end up with a war with Iran. Maybe even before the year's over.

Ben:

We'll see.

Gene:

And if the U. S. doesn't start it,

Ben:

a run.

Gene:

yeah, if the U. S. doesn't, no.

Ben:

Oh God. Go ahead.

Gene:

if the U. S. doesn't start it, I think Israel will. And then it'll just be everybody else reacting. Speaking of Israel, or you want to keep talking about Trump?

Ben:

Either one.

Gene:

So I found it interesting to see that Israel is making some threats at Putin now, uh, which is I don't know. I can't tell if it's a power move or desperation, but they're essentially saying that if you don't help us push Iran, then you're in a way responsible for what happens later. And you're not going to like it because you're going to start seeing Islamist troops on the southern borders of Russia. So it's a, it's a it was in the Russian article that. Dealt with you know, I think the title of the article was literally Israel threatens Putin or something like that, And so I was talking about this last night and I, I think that. If we're in a very delicate balance here, and this is where I can't really blame the bipartisan support for Israel too much, even though I'd like to, because the U S has no business in any other foreign wars, but here's the thing.

Ben:

where, what foreign wars do we have business in? I'm sorry, what?

Gene:

None. We have no business in any foreign

Ben:

you were saying that there was one that we

Gene:

No, no, no, no, no. We have no, but,

Ben:

no.

Gene:

but here's the issue. And so you, you gotta look at it from a political what's good for the U S standpoint. If Israel feels like the U. S. has abandoned it and is not is not going to actively be working with Israel at a time when Israel feels like they are at war, then there's nothing holding back Israel from doing whatever is necessary, and they've said as much. And,

Ben:

Israel is not a good ally. I don't know why everyone's worried about

Gene:

Let me finish the

Ben:

Let Israel go do what the hell they want to

Gene:

Let me finish the thought what Israel is going to do in that scenario is nuke Iran

Ben:

Okay. Bye. Why?

Gene:

is nuked The blame will go on the u. s. Because the u. s. Has been involved in meddling in the Middle East more than anybody else and

Ben:

We're, we're pulling out. We're no longer there. You know, Israel has nukes. Don't provoke them. And if they do

Gene:

Yeah, and had we done that five years ago or even two years ago. I'd be sitting here not in my head going Yep, exactly However, we didn't. And so anything that happens now with Israel, uh, you're going to have an escalation against the United States. Now Europe to some extent, but they don't have to worry about as much because this is for, for the other side, for the the Middle East, this is a holy war. This is a continuation of the Crusades and they will perceive an attack on Iran, especially a nuclear attack, which is what Israel would do. As a, this is the time that every Muslim carries out their orders.

Ben:

And what are their orders?

Gene:

a Holy war. You're either a Muslim or you're dead.

Ben:

oKay.

Gene:

So we could easily see the start of a world war three, not between Russia and the U S which is what everyone's been thinking it's going to be. Or China and the U S but a war between Islam and the rest of the world.

Ben:

Okay,

Gene:

And they will win.

Ben:

mean you say that but

Gene:

I say that because they have the population. And they have the right attitude, which the West does not. The West has, which gender are you? Islam does not have that. So, if people are prepared to convert, then I say that may be the best option.

Ben:

Mm hmm.

Gene:

If you're not prepared to convert, then maybe you ought to help Israel.

Ben:

No, I don't think that's the case

Gene:

wE'll see. We'll see what ends up happening. But, I think that this, this very easily could turn is very explosive. The U. S. doesn't get to do nothing and then not be responsible for 40 years of supplying weapons to Israel from the Middle Eastern standpoint, from the Muslim standpoint. Whatever Israel does is the U. S.'s fault.

Ben:

We'll see.

Gene:

From their standpoint, the U. S. built Israel.

Ben:

Okay?

Gene:

is just the little brother of the U. S. And if they can't control their little brother,

Ben:

little Satan. That's

Gene:

they're gonna be

Ben:

we've always been told.

Gene:

I Think that the potential is pretty big here. And the thing that will trigger Israel using nukes Is a realization that the U S is not sticking to their agreements. And that was always the agreement ever since the late sixties. I think it was 1969 that Israel will not use nukes as long as the United States protects it. Now, I think it was a bad deal for Israel. I think Israel should have used nukes in 1971. And then the entire Middle East geography would be very different. And Israel would be about four times the size.

Ben:

I don't know that that's a a good thing,

Gene:

No, it's good for Israel is what I'm saying from their standpoint, they got screwed in this deal.

Ben:

okay.

Gene:

So it's a, it was good for the U S to prevent Israel from using nukes is what I'm saying, like the U S managed to have much better control of the middle list as a result of that. tHey didn't want to have to fight another war. 35 years after fighting World War ii,

Ben:

Well, or we could have just not been Zionists and gone that way too, but, you know, hey.

Gene:

what does that mean?

Ben:

I'm, I, I am not a Zionist. I don't believe that Israel should have been created in the way that it was I think it has caused more problems longterm. I think that the idea of David Ben Gurion was not necessarily a great one and you know, whatever it, it's not any of my business. I don't really care. I just don't know that a religious theocracy nation of giving Jews their own nation is necessarily needed. You know, Baptists don't have their own nation. Catholics don't have Catholics kind of do. The Vatican, I guess. You know, one little teeny thing that's even smaller than Israel. But I don't think that really needs to exist. I believe in multiculturalism in the normal sense of the word from, you know, the founding of the United States, not this salad bowl mentality that we've come into today. So yeah, I, had I been around in the 1940s, I would have not been a Zionist. I don't know that I would have been an anti Zionist, but I just don't think it's necessarily needed.

Gene:

Yeah, I, I think that there's certainly some arguments to be made that things were simpler before that happened, but I think immediately in the aftermath of World War ii,

Ben:

Oh yeah, I, I get

Gene:

be hard pressed

Ben:

why it

Gene:

to argue against it.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

Because it would, it you would, you would be called a Nazi, not in the current sense of everyone's a Nazi. But in the, let's look at your family tree, buddy, because there's gotta be something here that you're not wanting to get out.

Ben:

No, thanks. None of my family's, you know,

Gene:

No, I know, but I'm saying that's the attitude that,

Ben:

in me. Thank

Gene:

that's the attitude that would have been there.

Ben:

Yeah, I know, I know what David Ben Gurion and they, they went through and did. I gotcha.

Gene:

and, and the other thing that

Ben:

Follow the short man.

Gene:

that people forget is the migration to Israel really started in the 1800s. The Zionist movement started in the 1800s. It was not something that came about after World War II.

Ben:

Oh, I, yes. And, and, and here's the thing. I think the, Israel, the Jews going back to Israel, not a bad thing. I just don't think that Great Britain needed to, I don't think it needed to create a new nation. I think had the British maintained control over what was then known as Palestine we'd be better off. I think,

Gene:

But it was never known as Palestine. It was a Palestinian mandate.

Ben:

okay, there, there are many people who would argue different sides of that. I'm, I'm,

Gene:

I'm looking historically here. Not culturally.

Ben:

The last the last government to exercise control over the area was the uk and I think had the UK maintained control, we'd be in a better position today.

Gene:

Yeah, maybe I mean, it's I

Ben:

You know, these chants, these stupid people chanting from the river to the sea Palestine will be free. Let's go back in history and tell me the last time Palestine was a self-governed entity. Oh, the Jews controlled it.

Gene:

Never

Ben:

No, no, no, no, it was under Jewish rule, but it was never a free Arab state that was self contained and run. It was been the Ottoman Empire dominated the the German, the, the British, the Romans. I mean, you just go back and back and back and back.

Gene:

Byzantine Empire. Yeah, it was always a territory. It was never a state

Ben:

except under

Gene:

Except under yeah under Jewish control. Exactly. When was Judea and the surrounding

Ben:

Yeah. And then the Romans came and, you know, destroyed the temple and. You know, Christ was born and

Gene:

Yeah, but it wasn't called Palestine

Ben:

and people didn't pay attention and then they ended up in exile and, you know, and, and then wrote the Talmud for some reason, it's crazy.

Gene:

Yeah, very crazy.

Ben:

I,

Gene:

So, historically, you can make the arguments for it, but I, I, I'm not a huge fan of the historical arguments because if we really want to stick to that, then none of us should be living in the United States

Ben:

I,

Gene:

historically it's not our land. So historically, what, what we should be looking at is who has the might, right? Or who had the might then and who has the might now. And guess what? It gets to be their land because in the end politically correct shit aside, might does make right and who can hold land gets to hold the land. So with that in mind, I think that it is typical Jewish bullshit socialism and weakness that led to the

Ben:

is a very socialist nation.

Gene:

Yeah, absolutely. That's why I'm saying is this is, this has always been the problem for me with Israel is the socialist sort of mentality of the people that live there. It's gotten less socialist from the 1950s onwards, but it's still extremely socialist. And and that's, that is ultimately the problem there that I see is they're indecisive, they should have never made a deal with the United States. They should have used the nuke. And we would be looking at a very different Middle East right now. And you gotta agree with me, like nuking Iran and a few other places in 1970 would have been way less risky than doing it today.

Ben:

I mean, quite frankly, had had the U. S. continue to use nukes when MacArthur wanted to use them on the peninsula, the Korean peninsula, we could have totally rewritten history,

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

I think we could have been far less likely to see the proliferation that we did. And I think I think the expansion of the USSR would have been done entirely differently. But you know, Woodrow Wilson or not Woodrow Wilson. Oh shit. What was his name? Not Woodrow. The other crappy one who was the guy who dropped nukes, the guy who dropped nukes

Gene:

Oh, Eisenhower?

Ben:

after Roosevelt.

Gene:

Oh, oh, sorry.

Ben:

I'm blanking. Vice president, Roosevelt died, and he became president, and he's the one who dropped the bomb. I can see a picture of him in my mind, but I

Gene:

He had glasses.

Ben:

Yes. Oh my god. Truman, there we go. Had Truman dropped nukes on Korea, A, the entire Korean peninsula would look like South Korea, and B, the Chinese would not be the way they are now. Things would have

Gene:

I actually, I don't think it would look like Korea at all because it, the reason it looks like South Korea looks like South Korea today is because of U. S. in being in there. I think if we dropped the bombs, I don't think we would have been in there.

Ben:

Okay.

Gene:

I mean, wouldn't that, the whole point of dropping a bomb would be so we don't have to have a presence there for the next 40 years? Mm hmm.

Ben:

Yeah.

Gene:

So I think it would've been a lot more of an agrarian society than it's today

Ben:

No, I think they'd still be the manufacturing base that they would have been,

Gene:

without the us.

Ben:

The U S still would have had a trading relationship and it would have been very different. I, I think Vietnam would have gone drastically differently. I don't think the Viet Cong would have gone in the way they did had the North Koreans been absolutely beat back. Which again, people often look at history and see Vietnam as the U. S.'s screw up. But blame the French on that one, please. Right? The French deserve all the blame for Vietnam.

Gene:

Mm-Hmm.

Ben:

Although I will say the, the Asian country that is getting the most investment right now and that is industrializing the fastest, Vietnam.

Gene:

they, I

Ben:

All the new, all the construction that was slated for China is now happening in Vietnam.

Gene:

Mm.

Ben:

Like anything that is not CCP investment. Any foreign investment is going into Vietnam right now. That's where that money is going. Their power grid is struggling to keep up. They're building out an industrial base faster than any other country has in history. It is astonishing.

Gene:

Interesting. I know some of my friends that have that work with the DOD been traveling to Japan lately, and I'm, I'm don't know for what purposes, but I do know that that's become a more frequent trip.

Ben:

Yeah Japan and Let's just say the Marines are getting different weaponry and changing things out quite a bit. I would not want to be a Marine stationed in Japan right now.

Gene:

Yeah, probably not. Um, or anywhere around that area. Yeah, I don't know.

Ben:

By the way has in, in the books, have have nukes gone off yet in the books where you're at?

Gene:

Thank you, Mr. Spoiler. No.

Ben:

Oh, okay. Oops. Yeah, we got a note about that, by the way, that people wanted the book talk, but no spoilers. I'm sorry. That's not going to

Gene:

yeah. Yeah. You know, you're, you're definitely Mr. Spoiler

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah. I'll just spoil this in the 2nd series and Charlie's Requiem. You find out the backstory of what happened and why.

Gene:

that's good. I'm looking forward to that. So have you started reading book 12 yet? It

Ben:

No, I'm still on Charlie's I'm going through Charlie's I'm going to finish that and then go back to the main

Gene:

Oh, you're not going to immediately read it. Okay.

Ben:

I might, I've, I've still got some bits of Charlie's I'm on book three of Charlie's Requiem, which is, what's

Gene:

How many is that? Six books.

Ben:

It's yeah, I don't remember, but I'm on retribution and I'm almost done with it. So after I finished retribution, I may go back to the main series. But I, I think I'll finish out Charlie's and then go

Gene:

I think these books are keeping that voice actor busy.

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah. And these are basically all he's ever done, but he's good. He's good.

Gene:

is very, I'm surprised he hasn't done anything else. Honestly. Cause he's got, he what was he doing before that he's got such a good voice for

Ben:

I don't know, but I'm glad they're keeping him. I hate, you know, I go back and forth. So I have the audible and I have the Kindle because I go back and forth and I love that because of the whisper sync. If you haven't ever used that, you know, you put a bookmark in audible, it puts a bookmark in Kindle and you can go back and forth. It's fantastic. eSpecially when you're traveling, you know, because when I'm driving, I'm listening when I'm flying, I might be reading. Anyway yeah. I don't know what he was doing, but I, I hate when they change voice actors, mid series that bugs the crap out of me.

Gene:

Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you on that. That's a good point. But yeah, I'm, I'm just gonna keep barreling right along until I get to book 12 and finish that up. But it, it, it's a

Ben:

Yeah. And then you should definitely start Charlie's Requiem.

Gene:

I will, I will. I'll start going in that. I mean, I bought him, I might as well. This year, I was I think I mentioned this on Unrelenting, the other podcasts I do, Unrelenting. show, that typical year I'll read no more than 12 books because that's all I ever buy for credits. And thanks to you getting me hooked on this, I'm now at 20 credits for this year.

Ben:

Yeah. I know. I, I, I've spent a lot more on Audible credits and, and Kindle than because of the series and you're not the only one. Like I have three other people who are just all in on this.

Gene:

And I've got a couple of people that I started got into starting to read this. So yeah, it's, it's definitely spreading.

Ben:

Yeah, I mean, it's a good series and it's very politically aligned with us. And you know, I think if you're listening to this podcast, likely you. So,

Gene:

Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. I wish we were getting some kickback from recommending the books, but, and if you wanna start in the first book, it's by a American Angry American and it's a going home series. Yep.

Ben:

So let me tell you about let's, let's talk guns real quick

Gene:

Mm-Hmm.

Ben:

we wrap up here. So. One of my cousins, her, her husband brought a very nice suppressed AR 10 platform that was fantastic that he was hunting with, but he, he is not he's kind of new to guns, new to hunting and they, they were sitting in one of the deer stands and they saw a little deer come out and they were going to try and take it and he came up and went, click. And I was in a different stand and by the time I got home, there's a round lodged in the barrel and the chamber and couldn't, anyway,

Gene:

Ooh.

Ben:

I take this thing apart and there wasn't even a primer strike on the casing that was stuck in the barrel.

Gene:

Really? Mm-Hmm.

Ben:

So I started taking it apart and whoever set this suppressor up and set the gas block up. It was so freaking over gas and so much crap coming back and he had never really lubricated it and I just pulled the bolt out the extractor was frozen. The bolt was not moving because it was just so carboned crusted

Gene:

my God.

Ben:

Anyway, cleaned it up, knocked the casing out of there, got it cleaned up, put everything back together, cycle it, and just. Runs like a top great, but like three shots and I'm like coughing because there's so much gas coming back. It was so over gas it's not even funny and So pro tip turn your gas block down till your gun will not cycle and then turn it back up Like

Gene:

I, I don't know that I would put a suppressor on a direct impingement. I would only do that with a a short stroke or

Ben:

Yeah, a lot of people do. A lot of people run it, but if you're running, first of all, if you're, this is a, this is a multi NFA item gun that he has, which

Gene:

Oh, it's a short barrel as well.

Ben:

Yeah, yeah.

Gene:

Jesus.

Ben:

So, here's the thing. 308 is not designed for short barrels. So, you're getting, part of the reason why that carbon built up so much is because not all the powder's burned. So you're, you're causing lots of issues here. If you're going to run a suppressor on that kind of weapon, it needs to be what's called a flow through can. So you're not getting as much back pressure and you better adjust your gas block and none of that was what was happening. So again, he, he, he bought all this cool stuff and did everything right. Right. But, and he's real into it. Not into it enough to, you know, little old poor boy here had to go, you know, disassemble the gun and field strip it and fix it and

Gene:

Who are you calling? A poor boy. I know. That's you. Quit lying to people.

Ben:

just a poor boy,

Gene:

Uhhuh.

Ben:

Bohemian Rhapsody. Anyway, so yeah, that was a fun thing.

Gene:

Yeah.

Ben:

I had to educate some people.

Gene:

Ed Mcca. That's always fun. I enjoy Ed Mcca. Mm-Hmm.

Ben:

Anyway, you should have seen the amount of carbon. So, you know, on a AR platform, you've got the gas key on top of the bulk carrier. I had to take some, and I never use aerosol gun oils. I don't like them. I usually use like frog lube is one of the ones I use a lot just cause it's, yeah, I like it, but I keep some aerosol cans for cleaning out certain things. And there are certain scenarios where that's just what you have to have. Anyway, I put the aerosol tube in there and sprayed into the gas key. You should have seen, oh my god, dude. I'm, it.

Gene:

How much shooting has he done with this gun?

Ben:

oNly I, I would say probably under a thousand rounds, but he probably has never cleaned it and it was, and here's the thing, had he lubricated the gun, had he had the gun lubed at all, he probably would not have had this malfunction.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

I probably didn't have to clean it as much as I did. I probably could have just squirted some lube in there and it'd been fine. If I'm taking apart the gun and going through, I'm going to go ahead and clean it and make sure everything's fully functional.

Gene:

know, technically, I don't think you're allowed to disassemble his gun. bEcause your name is not on the certificate.

Ben:

What do you mean?

Gene:

You can't be in the possession of a firearm that is registered like that.

Ben:

I wasn't in possession. He was there with possession.

Gene:

Okay. That's why I'm saying technically.

Ben:

Yeah, I didn't fire the gun.

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

He fired the gun. He owns the gun. He was in possession. It never left his possession. I was just helping him with the mechanics of his gun.

Gene:

Yes, you were just guiding him in what to do.

Ben:

Yeah, sure. Anyway.

Gene:

Anyway so he, has he been into guns for a while or is this

Ben:

No, this is a very new thing. Yeah,

Gene:

and he goes all in

Ben:

Yeah, I mean,

Gene:

barrel

Ben:

this is a guy who makes a very good living and you know, his whiskey room is like probably 20, 30 K worth of whiskey in it that he just went and bought because he got into it. So he's one of those guys. He's the very opposite of me.

Gene:

Yes, I was gonna say, so he's got, so he's got my watch.

Ben:

Yeah, I tiptoe into things and you know, go that way. He's like dives all in, which I did get my watch by the way.

Gene:

yes you did so congratulations you and you got the original watch we talked about

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah. And by the time I'm done with it, it'll be a 700 and something dollar watch, but that's okay.

Gene:

Yeah, that's right

Ben:

It'll still be half the price of the, of yours.

Gene:

now I've got a

Ben:

percent of the functionality.

Gene:

I've got a the Silicon band on mine. You're going with a leather band

Ben:

I have the Silicon band right now, but I'm going to go with a nylon band

Gene:

nylon band. Okay. I couldn't remember who's leather and nylon They do make it pretty pretty simple to swap out

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah.

Gene:

it's a even a better mechanism than the Apple watch I think

Ben:

So for those who are interested I got the Garmin instinct, two X solar tactical Which has the advantage of a very long battery life. I

Gene:

I think it's the longest battery life of all Garmin watches right now.

Ben:

correct. I mean, it's what they call their infinite watch depending on your usage and how much are outside. So which is a major feature for me. Also, I wanted, I didn't want a touch screen. I didn't want something that was super interactive because I wanted. Basic smart work watch features without it being too much. And I still wanted the ballistic calculations and, you know, all the sensors and everything, and this was the one that gave me that. So it worked out.

Gene:

Yeah, that's good. So I'm going to be curious. I mean, not for the podcast, but I, I'm sure I'm, I'm personally, I'm curious to find out like what you're seeing as far as your blood oxygen content and your sleep patterns and all that good stuff. It's always fun to look at. If for someone who's never analyzed that stuff to see where you are.

Ben:

yeah, I made a mistake because I put it on battery save mode during sleep hours last night, and I didn't realize that would kill my sleep tracking. So I will have to adjust that.

Gene:

configurable

Ben:

Yeah, yeah, I, I,

Gene:

goes into battery save mode, but my battery save mode is set up to include tracking the, some of the stuff.

Ben:

yeah,

Gene:

just, it's a worst quality battery save basically.

Ben:

yeah, yeah, I, I understand that, but I didn't, I didn't at the time, so, I'm, I'm learning, I'm still jacking around with it,

Gene:

Oh yeah. It's it's

Ben:

is telling me to move right now, by the way, because I've been sitting

Gene:

cause you've been sitting too long. Yeah. Yeah. That was one of the first things I turned off. I don't need my watch telling me to move.

Ben:

so it was off on this one by default, and I just turned it back on,

Gene:

Oh, really? Cause mine was on by default and I had to turn it off.

Ben:

so here, here's an interesting thing, I still have not fully charged this watch.

Gene:

Yeah.

Ben:

Came out of the box with about a 50 percent or so charge. And right now, based off of me jacking with it constantly, constantly, and. You know, playing with the flashlight, playing with all the settings and all that.

Gene:

built in.

Ben:

Yeah. All doing all the different things adding watch faces apps, you know, just, Oh, I got this yesterday evening. So going through and really playing with it quite a bit. I have 24 days of battery life as we sit right now. And then it's overcast. I haven't been outside everything. You know, this is, this is going to be great for

Gene:

Which my watch with my regular set of features it will run for about 20 days, um,

Ben:

But this is on half, half or less of a battery.

Gene:

That's my point is if I barely use it, it'll run for 20. If I use it heavily, it'll run for 10, which is still infinitely better than the Apple watch.

Ben:

Yes. Which is, which is, was my big complaint about smartwatches previously. And that's why this battery life thing was so important to me personally,

Gene:

And you can run your watch infinitely with still quite a few features turned on. The only way that I can run my watch infinitely is with literally everything turned off except for basic time. So if I only have, if I only literally can use it as a watch, then it will run forever, but that means it's doing no measurements. No GPS, no flashlight, no calculations of any kind, just purely a watch. So yours definitely is much improved in terms of its ability to utilize sunlight.

Ben:

And it doesn't have a color display. It's, you know, it, it, it is, it is purposefully more basic.

Gene:

Right. Which is fine if that's, you know, not a, for what you're using it for. Yeah, it's and there's some stuff that I, I honestly, I do wish that the Garmin had that like the Apple watch does, but none of it has to do with sensors. It's just more of. Apple is just really good at UI. That's what it comes down to.

Ben:

Well, whatever.

Gene:

Did you buy anything on the black Friday sale other than the watch? Because obviously we just came through black Friday.

Ben:

yeah, actually quite a bit believe it or not. sO, and this is, I don't know when this is going to go out, but, I never buy anything from Harbor Freight, but I went and Harbor Freight had ammo cans on sale. They had brand new metal ammo cans, good quality ammo cans for 10 a piece. They had small plastic, decent quality, small plastic ones for 3 a piece. I bought a ton of ammo, cans.

Gene:

Damn.

Ben:

Also, I got a new anchor, 30 watt of portable foldable charger on sale that's gonna go in a go Bagg. Also a stream light big flashlight that was on sale for half off. So normally$170 light for 60 or 74. And yeah. And that,

Gene:

That's funny. You actually bought some of the same shit I did, but different brands and stuff.

Ben:

So, yeah.

Gene:

up a new solar panel foldable one as well. I think it was 71 and then

Ben:

This is small for portability

Gene:

yeah, this is we got one, it's for the backpack basically. aNd then I

Ben:

mine is,

Gene:

a, what, so is mine,

Ben:

yours is bigger.

Gene:

yeah, but it's for the back. It's like you tie it to the back of the backpack basically.

Ben:

Yeah. And mine can too, but it's smaller. So send me the link to yours. I'd like to do a size comparison.

Gene:

It, it's you know, you know what they say, it's not the size, the motion of the ocean.

Ben:

You know, only guys with a little dick say that.

Gene:

yeah I guess they would, wouldn't they? Anyway. The and then I got a flashlight, but I didn't get a regular flashlight. I got a infrared flashlight

Ben:

Cool.

Gene:

and it's weird. I'm, I don't know how it works, honestly, because what it projects, like looking at it through an infrared night vision thingy, it, it's. It draws lines. It's bizarre. So instead of just having a round, you know, beam, like you would in a normal flashlight and like I do on my ultraviolet flashlight, this thing has, it, it's almost like it draws lines. It almost looked like a U S flag.

Ben:

You should take a

Gene:

you seen that

Ben:

I just sent you. Yes. It's an, it's because it's an LED. So what you're seeing there in, in that is the refresh rate of the LED. Because that every LED has a flicker rate.

Gene:

saying.

Ben:

And what you're doing is you're looking at it through your digital night vision, right?

Gene:

Yeah.

Ben:

your ATN,

Gene:

Yeah.

Ben:

so that's the scan rate of that digital night vision. It would happen. It's just like looking at our LED light through a camera. You're going to see the scan rate of that based off the flicker of the LED.

Gene:

Oh, I see what you're saying. Okay. So the whole thing is lit up, but it's. Because of the, it's the on and off of the, okay, okay, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. Yeah. Cause the the, it's not a, it doesn't grab the whole frame at once. It's drawing basically line line at a time. So what ends up looking is a fucking us flag, which is hilarious.

Ben:

Did you see the light? I just sent you.

Gene:

I did.

Ben:

That's going to be a Christmas present for somebody.

Gene:

I always used to I appreciate that. I always used to

Ben:

It wasn't for you, buddy.

Gene:

I always used to have back in the olden days, one of those cop flashlights. That has D cell batteries in it

Ben:

Yeah. Yeah.

Gene:

right by the side of my car seat.

Ben:

got one sitting around a Maglite is

Gene:

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A mag lights with D cells. Cause they say they made C and D ones, but I always had it by the side of my seat so that I could use it as a club as well as a light. If anybody stuck their hand into my car,

Ben:

Yeah. I know many many security guard who did the exact same thing.

Gene:

I'm sure they got thrown away at some point along with dead

Ben:

Oh, I still have them. Yeah. In fact, Maglite still makes one that's like that, that uses an led and is fairly bright and runs off D cell batteries and will

Gene:

to last forever!

Ben:

ever. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.

Gene:

D cell batteries for something with

Ben:

It's not super, super bright. It's not like the one I just sent you, right? It's because they can't have high draw because of the battery. But the cool thing is you can have a couple hundred lumen light that will last forever, and it's a great light to have around the house.

Gene:

That's cool.

Ben:

It's not a backpack light. It's not a survival light. It's not a lot of things, but it's very useful.

Gene:

Mm hmm. Oh, that's

Ben:

I,

Gene:

Okay, so a question then for you. So if, if you explain why I'm seeing little dashes using this flashlight, how come the built in illuminator just illuminates It's just a whole area without any dashes. You

Ben:

They're probably synced.

Gene:

syncing that? Really?

Ben:

Yes.

Gene:

Hmm. That seems like a lot of work.

Ben:

Not really. Because as long as they're pulsing at the same refresh rate, it doesn't really matter.

Gene:

Yeah. Interesting. Either way, it's it was interesting to see that be the case. Yeah.

Ben:

I Want to say thank you to whoever I don't, I obviously don't have stats or anything on this, but whoever used the Amazon affiliate links, there were four of them out there.

Gene:

I told you people use that shit.

Ben:

it. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, one of the guys was wondering on no agenda social about, Hey, you know, does it cost more or whatever? I don't think it does because what, what we get off of it is teeny, like the four items that were ordered is like six bucks to us, but it's something. So thank you.

Gene:

Yeah, it's absolutely a free to the user kind of thing. It doesn't add anything to you, and it's basically what Amazon would have spent on advertising instead of going to that, they're giving it to us.

Ben:

Now we had about 60 clicks on the links by the way. So that's a actually pretty decent engagement.

Gene:

that's quite a bit. Yeah.

Ben:

Not a great conversion rate, but decent people

Gene:

It's probably a very typical conversion rate. I think that's That's

Ben:

Regardless, I just want to thank everyone for clicking and looking and doing

Gene:

Absolutely. Do you want to let me ask you a question? No, we might as well do it on

Ben:

real, real quick, I'm thinking of setting up. I don't know if I want to do Linktree or just throw up a Squarespace site or something for putting stuff up there. What do you think?

Gene:

I think that's a good idea.

Ben:

Do you think I ought to do Linktree and make it easy or actually do a

Gene:

either or whatever. I mean, link trees, super easy.

Ben:

Yeah,

Gene:

So you could do a link tree really

Ben:

if there's enough engagement, then maybe we'll do a website later.

Gene:

So what I was going to ask is, do you think we should. Because we've never asked for any donations or money or anything. Do you think we should start doing that in January?

Ben:

I don't think so. I don't think we've got enough of listener base to do that. I think if people want to support us, they know they can. I think we have some ways to do it. I think we've got a few people who are doing it and I'm really appreciative of that. But really what I'd like to see people do is push and. Share the podcast and get some more people listening,

Gene:

Okay. That sounds good. I, I will, so let's keep not asking for money, but, um, here's what I would say. Anybody, yeah, I'm going to hit him in the mouth. Anybody that sends in a 50 or larger single donation, um, I'm happy to ship them a three pack of the ponchos for free.

Ben:

I'm happy to send you a

Gene:

You know, I still have to pay for those. So yeah.

Ben:

know. I, I, I appreciate that, Jean. I appreciate it.

Gene:

Yeah. Cause I, I'd sooner just reward people that want to make a donation to the podcast, then to just be promoting, to try and get people to buy it off Amazon. Cause honestly, here's the thing, Amazon gets the majority of the profit.

Ben:

Mm-Hmm.

Gene:

So all I'm doing is helping support Amazon by trying to push people to buy them on Amazon. So at this point, I'm like, fuck it. If somebody wants to support the podcast. Then I can reward people and bypass Amazon.

Ben:

Yeah. Now, speaking of bypassing Amazon, the Garmin website actually has this watch cheaper than what I paid for it, so I'm gonna have to

Gene:

return it and get it from them.

Ben:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The but right now the watch is on sale for 350 bucks.

Gene:

Really? That's really cheap.

Ben:

yeah, but then to do everything that I wanted to do, you've got to buy about 300 worth of Natalons, so.

Gene:

All right.

Ben:

Just saying

Gene:

Some people may not need all the add ons.

Ben:

no. And you know, if you're not shooting long range or, you know, if you're not shooting over 850 meters, then you can get away with a hundred dollars worth of add ons.

Gene:

Is that where the distinction is?

Ben:

So the, the applied ballistic app the biggest differentiator there, there are some other features and things that are nice, but the biggest thing that I really care about is being able to solve ballistic calculations over 850 meters. So, and I think one of the things I'm going to be. Doing is getting a different range finder can automatically tie in and stuff like that. Cause that, that's just too useful to me. And before people are like, Oh, what are you doing at that? And I I've killed deer at 750 yards in East Texas, sitting on a pipeline. So just saying.

Gene:

Yeah, Ben's a good shot. I said you're a good shot.

Ben:

I mean, hitting a deer or man sized target at that range isn't that hard?

Gene:

I don't, most people should not attempt that unless they've got plenty of practice of doing that with targets.

Ben:

And yes, and

Gene:

to graze the thing, you know,

Ben:

no, no, no. And here's the, here's the thing. This pipeline that I'm shooting down has trees to either side of it. You know, it's very heavily wooded, so there is no crosswind. It's a straight shot. All I'm doing is correcting for drop. And it's a pipeline that I have shot. Animals at 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, and I've shot one out at 750 and that was using my Remington 300 Ultra Magnum

Gene:

Mm hmm.

Ben:

with a very heavy projectile that I have shot a ton. I've shot this gun past 1000 yards multiple times. I built this gun to do that and. You know, I hitting a 10 inch target a thousand yards with that gun is something I know I'm capable of doing. So if taking that animal at that range was very doable for me. But it's not something you should run out and attempt if you've never done any of the above.

Gene:

No. The furthest I ever shot a deer was about 210. And with the 308, very comfortable doing that.

Ben:

Yeah, see in Idaho where I was first exposed to big game hunting the getting a shot Under 300 yards is pretty rare, right? Cause you're stalking and it's big wide open spaces and, you know, here in, in Texas, shit, most of them, most of your shots are under a hundred yards. Most of them are under 50, you know, cause you're sitting in a deer stand in a very, very tight area. In fact, one of my cousins, he uses a 45 70 as a deer rifle,

Gene:

Mm.

Ben:

you know,

Gene:

Wow.

Ben:

is not a long range gun, dude.

Gene:

Is that of a

Ben:

Lever gun.

Gene:

yeah, that's what I was gonna say.

Ben:

Yeah, he's got a 45 so new lever gun and it's a neat gun. I like it I like the cartridge, but it's expensive

Gene:

Mm-Hmm.

Ben:

range gun

Gene:

I watched a video, somebody was bitching about that'cause they were the first time they ever shot that gun and they bought the ammo, like ammo and I guess it's not cheap ammo. And they're like, this thing has, this thing has less recoil. Then a I can't remember what they were comparing it to, but something that's not a very big gun. And, and the, the, the ammo is like a buck twenty five per round. This is bullshit. This is not a good cartridge. iT's a very old cartridge.

Ben:

And it totally depends on your philosophy of use and what you're doing.

Gene:

Mm hmm. Mm

Ben:

uh, speaking of, Lucky Gunner, speaking of ammo, Lucky Gunner has had some hellacious sales.

Gene:

I don't think I've ever gotten to that side.

Ben:

So the three sites you should check for ammo at this point right now is Ammo Man, SG Ammo, and Lucky Gunner. But Lucky Gunner had NATO 9 mil, so kind of in between a plus B load and regular load, right? NATO 9 mil, 124 grain Winchester, thousand rounds for 26 cents a round.

Gene:

It's pretty good.

Ben:

Yeah, I, I bought some and my parents bought some, we kind of did them. Oh, and they had South Korean Glock mags, 30, 33 round Glock mags, surplus Glock mags, never issued for 14 a piece.

Gene:

That's super cheap.

Ben:

Oh yeah, I bought some.

Gene:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nine

Ben:

So that was, that was the other Black Friday purchases.

Gene:

Okay, cool. No, that's very cool.

Ben:

Guns and ammo, ammo and

Gene:

and ammo we gotta fill out the bingo card, you know.

Ben:

Yeah,

Gene:

talk about the topics people expect us to talk about.

Ben:

yeah, that's more Darren, which, Oh, I sent him a an upgrade that he should consider. So next time you talk to him, make sure you looked at it. Yeah. One of my favorite aftermarket parts websites, Mcarbo has a new SIG P320 trigger.

Gene:

Was he on a 320?

Ben:

Yeah, that M17 that he has is a 320. Same gun I have.

Gene:

didn't know he had one.

Ben:

Yeah, he's got the same, one of the same pistols I have. And

Gene:

I don't actually listen to him when we're doing the show. I don't know if that comes across or not.

Ben:

Jesus Christ.

Gene:

We're both kind of doing our own thing while we're recording, you know.

Ben:

Anyway the really cool thing about this is A, it's a more adjustable trigger. And it, it literally stops at 90 degrees. And it has way close. Anyway, it's a, it's a

Gene:

he wouldn't like it. Hmm.

Ben:

and one of the cool things is you can adjust the trigger without disassembly. It's got an adjustment screw that is accessible from the outside versus having to take the fire control group apart. So you can adjust the trigger. In the gun, which is phenomenal.

Gene:

Oh, really? That's very cool. Yeah.

Ben:

Yeah. I mean, you found that on, so that's a feature that you can see on some rifles and stuff like that, but usually not on a pistol and it's a really cool aftermarket trigger. So, and that I do not have affiliate links, but anyone who is looking for aftermarket parts for certain guns in carbo is a pretty cool site. They also occasionally auction off their R and D guns. So you can get some guns fairly inexpensively sometimes that are pretty good quality. So yeah my mom this last week was able to get a a firearm fairly inexpensive.

Gene:

Okay. tHat is, okay, this didn't work. I just tried to send you a,

Ben:

Yeah. That didn't link. Didn't

Gene:

no, I wonder why,

Ben:

Yeah. Check out this app from the Garmin IQ connect store, but there was no link.

Gene:

no actual link. Yeah. Cause I just, I was looking through the store and

Ben:

What was the

Gene:

it does seem to cut it off. It's a watch face, but it's for, it would work on your watch. So I thought

Ben:

I have multiple different watch faces that I'm playing with. There's a couple that I like right now. I'm just using one of the default ones

Gene:

let's see if I can do it this way.

Ben:

Anyway.

Gene:

all right. It sounds good. So instead of sitting here looking at what to email you next, let's wrap up the show. So we'll see you kids a week from now and hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Ben:

Yes, sir. Gene have a good one, man.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Dude Named Ben

Co-host
Head Shot

Sir Gene

Co-host

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Unrelenting Artwork

Unrelenting

Gene Naftulyev & Darren O'Neill