EP. 330 — Young Guy With A Positive Attitude

Chris [00:00:04] Hello to everybody who flies out of their own backyard. It’s Beautiful/ Anonymous. One hour. One phone call. No names. No holds barred. Hi, everybody. Chris Gethard here. Welcome to another episode of Beautiful/ Anonymous. I hope you’re doing well. And hey, if you’re in the UK, if you’re in Scotland, I’m there. By the time you have heard this, I have landed in Edinburgh. I’m doing my new show, A Father in the Sun. That’s my stand up show. Later this month, we’re doing four Beautiful/ Anonymous tapings. Ticket sales for all of those are at ChrisGeth.com. And hey, if you’re coming through the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I can’t tell you how much I’d love to meet you. Come say hi. Do it up. Keep the plugs short and sweet. I got to uh I got to let you know about this week’s episode. Man. It’s a fun one. This dude made me feel really… Good. You’re just going to agree right away. The energy on this one is good. This dude has quality, positive energy. Okay? He and I both were getting off surgery experiences. He’s got a dog that is going to melt your heart. You can hear about that. From peloton bikes to real estate to getting married, to why his wife is cool… To how he’s always been a hustler. Just everything about this one. Positive, refreshing call from a young guy with a good attitude. Now, if that does get you amped up, I don’t know what will. Enjoy this one. 

Voicemail Robot [00:01:57] Thank you for calling Beautiful/ Anonymous. A beeping noise will indicate when you are on the show with the host. 

Caller [00:02:05] Hey there. How’s it going? 

Chris [00:02:08] It’s all right. It’s all right. I had a hernia surgery on Monday, so I’m bouncing back. You can hear it in my voice. I’m not at full strength. 

Caller [00:02:18] Oof, that’s, that’s brutal. I also recently had surgery, so I totally understand. 

Chris [00:02:25] What kind of surgery did you get? 

Caller [00:02:28] So it was supposed to just be a carpal tunnel release on my right wrist, but ended up ballooning up and turned into more of a compartment syndrome overhaul. So went from supposed to be like a two inch scar to now it’s about a ten inch scar running up my right wrist. So. 

Chris [00:02:47] What? 

Caller [00:02:47] Turned out pretty gnarly. But yeah, it went from probably back to work the next day to four weeks of self-administered I.V. antibiotics. So. Been quite the go, but… 

Chris [00:03:03] Ooh, and is that the type of thing that you think you’re going to wake up with the two inch scar and then when you wake up, they go, So some stuff happened while you were under? Or was that worked out before you went under? 

Caller [00:03:12] Thankfully, when I when I went in, my surgeon was like, what happened? And nothing really happened between when I thought I was going in and when I went in. So she drew it on me and I knew about it. But I told my wife when I woke up, she asked and I showed her about how big and she was like, Oh, okay. Then we go to the checkup appointment. They take off the bandages and she’s like, It’s really that big? It’s like, I’m not lying to you.  

Chris [00:03:35] Wow. Sorry that you dealt with that that sounds- that sounds worse than what I’m dealing with. For sure.

Caller [00:03:44] Yeah. I mean, a hernia is no joke. Are you? How many days post-op? 

Chris [00:03:50] Three. We’re talking on a Thursday. I had this surgery on a Monday. 

Caller [00:03:55] Oof. No rest for the wicked.  

Chris [00:03:58] No. And then, like an idiot, I went and did standup shows last night in the city. I was like, I can probably still do the shows. Shouldn’t have done the shows, turns out. I shouldn’t have done the shows. 

Caller [00:04:09] Shouldn’t have done them. But hey, hopefully good shows? 

Chris [00:04:14] I would say they were like solid B’s. 

Caller [00:04:18] That’s pretty good for a day after- couple days after surgery. 

Chris [00:04:22] I know. I wasn’t throwing the high heat, but, you know, the curve ball still had a little movement on it. It was that type of thing. But yeah, I probably didn’t need to do those shows, but that’s okay. I’m excited for the opportunity. Anyway, I’m an idiot. I’m an idiot. And I like. I like I like that I still get to do shows, so I don’t want to cancel the shows. 

Caller [00:04:46] Absolutely. After this today, you have a full day or you getting some rest and recovery? Or you’re just on it all day?

Chris [00:04:53] Look who you’re talking to. You talk to the hardest working. You’re talking to the hardest working nobody in show business. Yeah no, I have a I have a few things lined up today, but nothing, nothing heavy. All stuff from home. It’s all good. It’s all good. 

Caller [00:05:11] Absolutely. Yeah so on top of that, not only am I recovering from surgery, but then now we’re about three weeks out from my dog losing a leg. So left, right and center, sounds like across the board though. 

Chris [00:05:26] Oh no. How’d your dog lose a leg? 

Caller [00:05:29] So he was running out in the woods. We we’re down visiting family, chasing deer, doing dog stuff and came back limping, unfortunately. He’s not a young dog. He’s about eight years old. But yeah, came back. We monitored it for a couple of days. Thought I should probably take him in, see what’s going on and unfortunately it came back that he had bone cancer so that uh not ideal. But luckily we did catch it super soon so it’s pretty drastic but they amputated his whole leg and then now he’s- He did one session of chemo and he has three more, and then hopefully he’s good to go. 

Chris [00:06:09] Wow. And how does the dog react when it wakes up and it’s down a leg? Is it? Does a dog just get back to business? 

Caller [00:06:15] So initially very panicked. 

Chris [00:06:18] Panicked. Okay. 

Caller [00:06:20] Well, but but but then, I feel like people are kind of down and out for a little while, rightfully so. But by I mean, by day two or three, he’s up and movin, going up and down stairs, going to the bathroom by himself. So recovery, I mean, compared to if a person lost a leg, I feel like he’s back running around ASAP. 

Chris [00:06:41] Wow. And, hey, have you and I spoken before? 

Caller [00:06:44] We’ve never spoken before. 

Chris [00:06:47] You sound very familiar to me. 

Caller [00:06:51] Absolutely. I’ve definitely called many times, but I think I’ve been listening since Ron Paul’s baby. So it’s been a while. 

Chris [00:06:59] Nice. Thanks for sticking with it. 

Caller [00:06:59] Been through, I think many, many drives, many left, right and center. But we’re here now. 

Chris [00:07:06] Good. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what I’m here for. So what do you want to talk about today? 

Caller [00:07:13] Yeah, I mean, so kind of obviously, so everything I just told you about has been the last eight weeks, so it’s been kind of a turmoil. Yeah, rough time across the board. But, you know, for some reason, life seems to still be going well, which with everything going on, I feel like it wouldn’t be. But then lately I’ve had a couple of breaks where maybe it doesn’t feel necessarily deserved. We had some major layoffs at my company and I felt like I made the cut over quite a few more senior people or people who maybe from my perspective, were performing better. But, you know, I think it’s one of those things as a life throws at you what you can take. So I’ve been taking a beating there for a while and thinking uh, I need a little break on that one. But yeah, so things are, things are going well, but still like keeps going. 

Chris [00:08:06] I like that. I like hearing that keeps going. I mean, so is it you feel good that you made the cut or you feel a- how you feeling? You feel like… that’s a good thing to keep your job ultimately, right? 

Caller [00:08:19] Yeah, absolutely. But kind of at my company I, I’m in my mid twenties I guess now and majority of my coworkers are closer to 35, 40. I have a couple of dogs running around, they have kids and families. And so I mean on that front, not that my things aren’t as important as their things, everyone needs to eat, but kind of one of those how’s. But, you know, better to have a job and wonder how then just be out of luck.

Chris [00:08:53] Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Okay. Okay. And was it the job that caused the carpal tunnel that then caused the ten inch scar? 

Caller [00:09:03] We don’t really know what caused the carpal tunnel. Like I said, I’m so I’m 25, so I really shouldn’t be having- and otherwise very healthy, so I shouldn’t really be having anything like that going on. It was kind of a mystery. My surgeon was was very confused about what all went on and then kind of how it started. But it seems to be getting better now. Back kind of back at it, doign all the activities. But it’s it’s hard to say what caused it. I mean, prior to prior to doing desk work, I was out and about. I used to work for Peloton and delivered bikes for them, which was definitely an experience. Got to see see a lot of humanity there. Very similar to to the line of work you’re in. 

Chris [00:09:44] How does delivering Peloton bikes expose you to humanity? 

Caller [00:09:49] So I mean, it was prime pandemic. And we’re going into 90 different houses across the major metro area I live in every day. So I kind of see in- see how people really live. I worked in real estate, so I’m in houses a lot, but I’m kind of in fake houses. People stage ’em, they’re all cleaned up. It’s it’s not really how people live. Whereas someone ordered a Peloton six months ago, forgot it was coming today. They got the call. They’re still excited about it, but shoot, where’s this thing going? And all of a sudden you’re walking into the middle of someone’s day. 

Chris [00:10:22] I like that. I like that. And you’re getting this vision of who they are. And the only thing you know about them is that they’re looking to get a little healthier. 

Caller [00:10:34] Yeah. Or even just someone they knew thought they’d like one. I mean, we definitely walked into some awkward scenarios where the husband surprised the wife and the wife was maybe not so keen on getting a peloton, but. 

Chris [00:10:46] Oh, like felt insulted. Yeah, that’s not great when your significant other buys you workout equipment, right? That might send the wrong message. 

Caller [00:10:53] Yeah. I mean, I mean. 

Chris [00:10:54] Here’s something I was thinking you could use. 

Caller [00:10:57] And pretty expensive. One time she was like, no, you have the wrong house, you have the wrong house. And I’m like, pretty sure. And the husband’s like, No, I think you should just let him come in. And she’s like, Dude, we can not afford this. And we’re just standing there with this bike, like so do you want it inside? We can take it back right now, I guess. Like it’s not really our spot to day.  

Chris [00:11:17] Yeah, I like Peloton. They’ve advertised on the show, but that is, they’re not cheap. Not a cheap item. I don’t think they claim that. So that’s pretty uh to hear that some people show up and go, Oh, wait, hold on. You did what? You panic bought this. It’s thousands of dollars. Stephen, Stephen! How are we going to pay- how are we going to pay for the preschool now? Stephen? That’s some panic moments right there. 

Caller [00:11:46] Precisely. Yeah. I mean, that’s the they’ve come down a little bit, but still more definitely more expensive than my first car. So like, I mean, that kind of shows you people live in- go for it. 

Chris [00:11:59] I was just going- I think we were about to say the same thing of like, you must be seeing some, you must be going in some mansions with them Pelotons. 

Caller [00:12:05] Yeah. We, uh, we delivered to one I delivered to at least one billionaire I know of. And yeah, I should have known I guess, but yeah, around here, he’s pretty, pretty famous. But he, we pull up to the gate of this compound. Give him a call. I’m like, I we’re here. He’s like, Oh, you’re in front of that house? Back to the road, take a left, open the gate, and he rolls up on just rides a bike up to this building. Building’s bigger than my whole home. Opens it up. He has every single piece of workout equipment you could ever imagine. And he was just getting this Peloton because he heard there’s a long wait time and he rides every day and didn’t want to wait if it broke. Luckily they don’t break. So I don’t know what he was worried about, but now he has… 

Chris [00:12:49] So you were delivering his back up Peloton. He just wanted a backup. 

Caller [00:12:52] Yeah. 

Chris [00:12:56] Let’s pause there. Back up Peloton. Some people got a real good life out there. You could have a back up Peloton just in case. Well, listen, I’m sure you’re all sensing that I’m about to make some some jokes. We get to those jokes and a lot more discussion when we get back. Thanks to all of our advertisers. Now let’s finish the phone call. So you were delivering his back up Peloton. He just wanted a backup. 

Caller [00:13:27] Yeah. 

Chris [00:13:28] Damn. And he had, like, a sick home gym that was bigger than your house?

Caller [00:13:33] Oh, absolutely. Probably four cars across, two cars deep, all like gym floor. Pretty much, I mean, we deliver to quite a few workout rooms, as you could guess. But he had every piece of equipment you could imagine, like the reflex testers, the high jump, couple different treadmills, all the different weight racks. He had one of the gyms that was probably the best one I’ve ever seen for “home gyms”. 

Chris [00:13:58] Billionaires. These billionaires. You need all that shit and I- we we can’t even get health insurance out here? 

Caller [00:14:05] Yeah, you’re telling me. He’s is obviously one that didn’t leave a tip, but it’s okay. 

Chris [00:14:09] I’m sure. I was going to ask. You get the back up Peloton, you can’t even give you can’t even give the hard working class gents who dropped that thing off a little extra Christmas money on the way out the door? That’s the whole problem. That’s the whole problem. 

Caller [00:14:26] Yeah, he had a whole drink fridge and not even a drink. But he was a cool guy. But kinda one of those. 

Chris [00:14:33] Cool. That’s good that he was a cool guy. But he, you know, hoarding wealth in the form of your compound, and all your backup workout equipment. How about you get- how about, hey, how about you get one less space age futuristic workout machine and your employees get one extra day of paid leave? That’s my that’s my thought anyway, anyway. Anyway. 

Caller [00:14:59] Fair enough. 

Chris [00:15:02] I’m hanging. This one is pretty loose. I’m really I’m letting my feelings fly because I tell you why. I’m in a lot of physical pain, and I think there might still be some painkillers in my system. 

Caller [00:15:11] Yeah absolutely, yeah. 

Chris [00:15:12] So I’m letting my opinions fly on this one. 

Caller [00:15:15] They did they dope you up pretty good? I know for mine they, uh, they said they really try to stay away from opiates, opiates pretty heavily. So they hit me with some other stuff pretty strong, but none on that. 

Chris [00:15:27] I’ll tell you what, they gave me Oxycodone. They didn’t we didn’t even have a conversation about it. I probably would have told them I’d prefer to avoid it based on my past history and stuff that I’ve seen with friends. But they gave it to me. I was still anesthesia’d up. I just had a memory come back. I the first pill she gave me I dropped. And there was this nurse. She was not happy with me cause I get the sense that if you lose an oxy in that area, you got to find it. And she was not pleased. But I dropped it. What can I say? I was all I was I was just coming out of the anesthesia. But yeah, I took the they gave me the oxycodone. I tell you what. That’s- we all know that stuff’s very dangerous. Anybody listening I think, to the show knows that I am not someone who responds well to substances. I tell you, my dad picked me up from the surgery. He was like, You should try to push through without that stuff if you can. Like, use it while you have to. My wife, she was out of town or else she would have picked me up. She called me. Let’s just really think hard about this- I’m like, everyone in my life. I hear you. You can trust me. I’m going to take this stuff as needed and then I’m going to flush it down the toilet. And I took I took it right after the surgery, took it to fall asleep at 5 a.m. because I was getting all these weird pains in my shoulder. And then I looked those up and that’s a thing after hernia surgery. And then I took one early the next day. And then you want to you want to hear you wanna hear story? 

Caller [00:16:52] Of course. 

Chris [00:16:55] So listen to this. And I’ve already told Hallie that I got to talk about this. So we’re on our couch. This Tuesday night. I had the surgery Monday. And she asked me, is there anything you need? And now if you’ve been through a hernia surgery or you’ve been with someone who has, everyone is just going to know this is the reality. I go, Well, I need an ice pack. They told me that I got to put an ice pack on my balls. I’m feeling like it’s necessary. She’s like, You got to put an ice pack on your balls? I go, Yeah. Like like the hernia’s alongside your groin. And they said, You’re going to get a lot of swelling. It’s going to spread into your testicles. So you got to ice down the area. I go, and I’m feeling it bad. And Hallie goes and gets me the ice pack and comes back and she just- and I love my wife to death. I’m not throwing her under the bus. She’s taking care of me. But she had a brain fart and like, let’s say if I had asked her, hey, maybe you could grab me a bag of chips or something, what would you do? You toss that bag of chips to the person and it would land in their lap. She tossed the ice pack and it landed in my lap, like right in the drop zone. In the drop zone of exactly where you wouldn’t want to be hit post-surgery. And I mean, like I like it went white. I was instantly crying and screa- she was rubbing my back. She’s going, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m going, it’s okay. But I just need some space right now. It’s okay. I really need some space right now. You just got to give me some space right now. It’s okay. It’s okay. I know you didn’t remember. But I was in so much pain, I finally said, it’s not going away. You got to- you got to go get me- Get me the opiates. So it went from her calling me to be like, Hey, we should probably be really careful with this to me being like, Please get me the opiates. And then today she’s already- and I told her, I said, We got to start joking about this. She felt so guilty yesterday. And then this morning she saw me getting out of the shower and I was like leaning against the doorway, trying to get my bearings. She goes, Is anything you need from me? I go, No, I’m good. She goes, You sure you don’t want me to just like, maybe like bounce an ice pack off your nuts? And I was like, oh I love you so much. I love you so much. 

Caller [00:19:01] Yeah. It’s a it’s a humbling thing to go through surgery and have a partner have to- and I’m a pretty independent person, so having my dominant hand go down, I feel like probably similar to a hernia surgery, you’re very much reliant on that person. And, you know, I mean, initially after I couldn’t drive, they gave me nerve blocks, so my whole right arm was completely numb. It’s really- you can’t- you think you could do a lot of your left hand, but it’s the little things like try and put on deodorant or having to wrap your arms up before you get in the shower. Little things. But I think at the end it definitely brings you closer if it’s the right person. 

Chris [00:19:37] That’s a humbling moment when you have to turn to your significant other and say, Any chance you could put deodorant on me? That’s a very intimate moment too, though. 

Caller [00:19:46] Yeah, I had a similar experience to your ice pack incident though. My wife was helping me with it and I think she just didn’t realize how how gingerly, I guess, you need to do it. But she about sawed off my arm with that deodorant. Similar situation. I gave her a hard time for it, but she felt bad the day off but we’re after it now. 

Chris [00:20:06] Yeah. Yeah. There’s a question that Anita just put. We have a shared document. I want to be clear. This question is coming from Anita, not me. Our producer, Anita Flores. You lost your dominant arm, huh? 

Caller [00:20:25] I did. Yeah, it was my my right arm. So the… 

Chris [00:20:30] You see where she’s going with this? 

Caller [00:20:30] Pardon? 

Chris [00:20:33] You see where she’s going with this? 

Caller [00:20:35] Yeah. Hey, lefty’s fine, too.

Chris [00:20:41] There you go. There you go. Spoken like a true like a true guy. Left. I’ll get it done lefty. I get it done. 

Caller [00:20:50] Across the board. I mean, it’s one of those things I feel like the wife is helpful but at a certain point in time she has to go back to work. Life moves on, and it’s just me sitting at home all day. 

Chris [00:21:04] Hey, man, listen, everybody’s been there. It’s a healthy thing when done, when done in moderation. But spoken like a- and you said you’re 25, right? 

Caller [00:21:17] Yeah. Absolutely.

Chris [00:21:19] So you’re still young enough to just get it? Yeah. To just like get it done. You still. I mean, you’re past that- right? You’re still in touch with that. Every every guy listening can vouch for you and I. If you grew up a guy, when you go through your teenage years, you explore yourself. You figure it out. And having your non-dominant hand, you’ll find a way. You figured that out when you were, like, 15. 

Caller [00:21:47] Life finds a way.  

Chris [00:21:50] Life finds a way. Now 25 and married. That’s very young. 

Caller [00:21:54] Yeah. For for my family it’s, um, it’s kind of middle of the pack. My older brother got married a couple of days after 21. I managed to wait off until I was almost 23, but still, still pretty quick. Yeah. 

Chris [00:22:09] Did you guys grew up religious? 

Caller [00:22:11] Um. Yes, definitely. Yeah. I grew up I grew up in in the Midwest in a pretty religious family. The classic church on Wednesday, church on Sunday. Not Catholic, but non-denominational. So we got a little breathing room on that, but no, all the classics. We weren’t allowed to read Harry Potter. We weren’t allowed to play Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokemon. And it was yeah, they were definitely pretty locked down. But it’s funny, years later, a couple of years back, my mom’s like reading  Harry Potter, she’s like, Did you guys ever read this? This book is so good. Like, No! You guys didn’t let us! So we missed the boat. What do you mean, did you read this book? But yeah we did grow up religious. 

Chris [00:22:47] I think that’s on the more intense end that you can’t play Pokemon or read Harry Potter. That’s pretty that’s pretty intense. 

Caller [00:22:54] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I was able to. 

Chris [00:22:56] Church twice a week? 

Caller [00:22:58] Oh, yeah. At least. 

Chris [00:23:01] I didn’t know Pokemon was Satanic in any way. 

Caller [00:23:05] Yeah, it was kind of one of those early 2000 things within the church. I don’t. I think nowadays they’ve eased off it. But I was able to collect a little stash of Pokemon cards from all my little friends. They wanted to obviously play. They’re like, Yeah, take a couple of cards, take a couple. And when my parents found them they made me tear them up right in front of them. And I was like, I can just give them back to who gave them to me. They’re like, no. These are of the devil. You have to tear ’em up. It’s like pretty extreme. 

Chris [00:23:29] Of the devil. Your friends must’ve been pissed. 

Caller [00:23:36] So they’ve all known my parents. 

Chris [00:23:39] Okay. Okay, so that’s a thing. So that’s a thing. 

Caller [00:23:48] Absolutely. But I mean, I think growing growing up and getting older, you kind of you just learn, you know, I think there definitely was a lot of getting me out of trouble, but there definitely also is an equal amount of brainwashing and then not necessarily free thought. But you have to pick and choose. 

Chris [00:24:06] Right. That balance of… I mean, you sound like you have wound up remarkably well-adjusted and in touch with it. But to hear that balance of like it was good to stay out of trouble. There was also some brainwashing. You hear that, you go, oh, there’s- I sit here, I go… There’s got to be a way to get all that good without the feeling of brainwashing. There’s got to be. I’d like to think that would be the case. But who knows? Hello? Uh oh. We either lost the call or we’re in some real contemplative- 

Caller [00:24:49] No, no, no. My face hit mute.  

Chris [00:24:52] Your face it mute, classic, classic trope. That hasn’t happened on the show in a while. That hasn’t happened in a long time since somebody’s face hit mute. That used to happen a lot more. 

Caller [00:25:03] Yeah, it’s- you think phones have come a long way, but the more forward you go, the more backwards you go. 

Chris [00:25:09] Look at that. Classic face muting. Intense moment. And so starting to go down this intense road of of religion and brainwashing and then yeah, good time for a face mute right there. Take a deep breath. I don’t think it was a- I don’t think it was a face mute. I think you said, I want to back out of this one. I’m gonna fake a face mute right here.  

Caller [00:25:32] Okay, fair enough. I don’t know. I think that left, right hand question told you I’m not backing out of much, but to each their own.  

Chris [00:25:38] Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. You’ve already proven that you are, you’re willing to go there. You’re willing to go there. 

Caller [00:25:46] Yeah. It’s, it’s definitely interesting getting married younger. It’s- a lot of people think about it differently, but I dunno, it’s kind of one of the things I feel like when you find the one, why drag our feet? It’s not, uh, any more expensive or cheaper to be married than single. And if that’s the one, that’s the one. 

Chris [00:26:04] And hey, if I, if I had met Hallie when I was 25 and married her… I think we got married I was 34. I go, oh, that would have been nine more years of being married to the most special person. I would have loved it. So if you feel that confidence, that’s a beautiful thing. 

Caller [00:26:24] Yeah, absolutely. 

Chris [00:26:26] So you’ve been married, what, two years? 

Caller [00:26:27] Yeah. So I got my timeline wrong. We’ve been engaged for a long- we were engaged for a long time.  We’re coming up on a year of marriage now. So in August, it’ll be an official year. 

Chris [00:26:42] Congrats. That’s August what? 

Caller [00:26:43] But we got engaged early pandemic. August 15th. 

Chris [00:26:47] Oh nice. August 30th here. 

Caller [00:26:49] Very nice. It’s a good little time. The summer, get out and about. Everyone can come through.

Chris [00:26:54] Yeah, good time for a wedding. 

Caller [00:26:56] Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And my wife’s a badass. She uh she flies planes. 

Chris [00:27:01] How so? 

Caller [00:27:02] She’s a pilot. 

Chris [00:27:04] Your wife’s a pilot? 

Caller [00:27:05] Yeah. 

Chris [00:27:05] A commercial pilot. Or does it for fun? 

Caller [00:27:07] So she’s she’s on her way to become a- she technically is a commercial pilot, which just means you can get paid for it. If you hear those dogs, let me know. They’re barking a lot. 

Chris [00:27:13] That’s okay. Everybody loves dogs. Everybody- people- you think people are going to mad- are going to be mad that they get to hear your adorable three legged dog who’s fighting through adversity in life and keeping positive? Everybody lives hearing that three legged dog. They were probably mad they hadn’t heard it yet. 

Caller [00:27:30] Yeah, yeah. But she so she currently is a flight instructor. So she works for a school and teaches people how to fly a plane, just a little two seater Cessna. And so she’s building hours doing that. And then once she gets to 1500 hours then she has the qualifications to get her air transport license and go fly for the commercial airliners. 

Chris [00:27:55] And I hear there’s lots of jobs in that right now. I hear they’re having trouble finding people to staff all the flights. I don’t know if it’s just flight attendants or pilots, but I know that I’ve had flights delayed because, you know, pilots and crews can only work so many hours before they have to take like federally mandated breaks. And I’ve heard that you keep running into these delays because there’s not enough crews to replenish so the crews have to hit the brakes and it causes flight delays because there’s not there’s not extra crews to take over. 

Caller [00:28:28] Yeah. And I think at the beginning of the pandemic, when everything started to slow down, a lot of airlines either did layoffs from the bottom or other ones like Southwest did from the top. So if you’re within five years of retirement, they’d give you $1,000,000 to go away. Like, take your retirement now. We don’t want to fire people. Just go away. And so that was great when flight volume was down. But now as you get back into people, you know, traveling much more and I think over the 4th of July, we had our busiest travel weekend since 2019. So most people going through TSA PreCheck or a check mark. So they’re just they cut the workforce and then they haven’t grown them back yet to, you know, accommodate the demand. 

Chris [00:29:11] And you can’t turn around to those people and go, hey, any chance you want to come back to this work that takes you away from your family and makes you sit in a little booth and be responsible for hundreds of lives at a time? Would you like to get back to that? And then people turn around and go, Well, you know, I think what I’d rather do is spend the million dollars you gave me two years ago. I think I’d rather kick back and just do that. I’d rather kick my feet up, pay off all my debt, pay off my mortgage, and still have some money left over to travel the world. See things. 

Caller [00:29:45] Precisely. But, yes, I mean, it’s and she’s a woman, obviously, in aviation. So that makes up less than 6% of of all commercial pilots. So it’s pretty cool that she’s, you know, working through it and will be, you know, one of a very, very small class. There’s some people I tell them she’s in aviation and they’re like, oh nice. She’s a flight attendant? I’m like, get the fuck outta here. She’s a pilot.  

Chris [00:30:10] I like that. You’re all defending her, dropping the F bomb on her behalf, citing facts and figures. You know the statistics. Now it is a, I would have to imagine- I get the sense that if you’re a pilot on those commercial airlines, it’s good job, good money. It is going to mean she’s going to be gone for stretches. 

Caller [00:30:34] Yes. So her dad is a commercial pilot right now and it’s really not as bad as I think people think about it in their mind. His kind of typical schedule, he goes to work Monday. He comes home Thursday. So, yes, for those days, he’s completely gone. And you, you know, call when you’re way. But then come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, zero work obligations at all. So it’s kind of a balance where I think it’s one of the few profession where you can actually spend the money you make. Whereas if you’re a lawyer and you’re not billing hours, you’re probably not going to be a lawyer for too long. But kind of because of the mandate mandated flight time, it allows them to actually get time with their families. Like when the kids are growing they will be at every soccer game, every sporting event. And so while while you’re gone, you’re really gone. It allows you to be fully there when you’re there. Which I feel like a lot of people miss. 

Chris [00:31:25] That’s awesome. I have a little bit of- the comedian thing, you know, I travel a lot on the weekends and it can cause some stress. It can cause some stress because I’m gone for a lot. But the difference is that pilots also get stuff like pensions and health insurance and all that stuff. So to have a job where all that stuff’s locked in and you also get like mandated time off and a lot of breathing room with your family, sounds pretty rad. Sounds like you two are headed towards a nice, happy life. 

Caller [00:31:50] We’ll see. We’re working on it. See if things can stay together for a little while longer with the- feels like we’re falling apart over here. My arm, the dog’s leg. But it’s going well. 

Chris [00:32:00] Let’s pause there. Caller’s doing well, all things considered. You know what? I’m doing well too, all things considered. Everybody take a deep breath. Think about the good things just for a second. Give yourself that. Listen to some ads, and then we’ll finish the phone call. Thanks to all of our advertisers. Now let’s finish the phone call. 

Caller [00:32:25] My arm, the dog’s leg. But it’s going well.  

Chris [00:32:30] Yeah. As long as. As long as members of your household can maintain functioning limbs, I think you’ve got a good future. Is that arm going to bounce back? Before I make too many more jokes about it, you bouncing back to full functionality? 

Caller [00:32:46] Yeah, right now, so we’re done with we’re all done the PT now. It’s uh it’s I’d say it’s at 95% of where where like it completely works, it should be. So it’s I can only get better knowing that right now. 

Chris [00:33:00] Yeah. Okay. And what’s your long term plans? Your wife is going to be a pilot. What are you headed towards? 

Caller [00:33:06] Yeah. So. So right now I work in real estate, which is definitely another kind of, you know, interesting market to be in, in the current place and time. But I mean, I really do enjoy selling real estate. It’s the company I work for, it’s nice where we’re full employees of them and still are able to earn commission. So it’s definitely a lot more balanced than a typical real estate agent where, you know, it’s feast or famine. So like maybe similar to a comedian. At least early on. And then, so yeah so I really like selling real estate. I think that that’s the plan long term. It allows flexibility for for me to be around while she’s gone. And then also, ultimately, at the end of the day, people are always going to need houses, whether the market goes up or down or left or right. At the end of the day, someone needs to help you get into a home. So thankfully or hopefully that’s what I’m aiming for.  

Chris [00:33:54] Now, look, I’m in Jersey. I’m still in the New York metro area. So I know this is a very specific real estate market. And when things heat up, they tend to heat up a lot around here and they kind of heat up in extreme. But I get the sense that it’s all over. If you’re breaking into the real estate market as a young realtor, the past few years have been a good time to do it. Sounds like there’s been a blitz on housing. 

Caller [00:34:16] Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, that’s kind of where, where life is funny, where everything medically is kind of going wrong. I was able to disclose almost $5 million worth of properties while all of that was going on. So it was a strange juxtaposition to have to, you know, be like wanna be bumming or think, you know, kinda feel down, but then on the flipside. 

Chris [00:34:37] Whoa, wait, did you say you get a commission? 

Caller [00:34:39] Oh, yeah- no, not a huge commission, but definitely a commission. 

Chris [00:34:44] I got to ask, was the commission? It’s anonymous. I can- you don’t have to say. People get weird about money, but I’ll ask. 

Caller [00:34:49] Yeah so I get 50% of 3%. 

Chris [00:34:54] 50. Isn’t that just 1.5%? 

Caller [00:34:59] Um you tell me. 

Chris [00:35:00] You trying to trick me right now? 

Caller [00:35:01] Well, I mean, I guess that’s the easy way. The number is not always 50 for the agent split, so a company takes in 3% of the sale price, and then that’s divided up internally. So that I get half. 

Chris [00:35:14] So when you pull in 5 million worth of deals, what’s the ballpark on the commissions on that? 

Caller [00:35:20] I can tell you right now. Let me look. Uh like 75?

Chris [00:35:26] 75k while you’re like laid up with a busted arm, and then you get you got a salary on top of that. 

Caller [00:35:33] A small salary. 

Chris [00:35:35] Whew! you got benefits? 

Caller [00:35:39] Yeah. I mean, thankfully, without- whew, if you really want get going talking about the medical industry, thank lord for my benefits. I my surgery would have been 35k. Thankfully it was only about two thousand. 

Chris [00:35:54] 35. That’s a drop in the bucket to you. That’s a weekend of sales, baby. That’s one condo complex. I’m glad to hear that you have good insurance. I’m glad to hear you have good insurance that reduced that ludicrous price. Ludicrous price. 

Caller [00:36:14] Yeah, there’s days I feel like that and then there’s other days where it doesn’t all go your way, but hopefully more good than bad. 

Chris [00:36:21] Of course. Yeah. And I mean, look, real estate’s a volatile market and it’s been good to- I’ve been hearing all these stories lately about people are showing up, cash offers, waiving the home inspection. When I hear about people waiving the home inspection, I’ve now, you know, I purchased a co-op in New York and I purchased a home in Jersey. So I’m not the most experienced person in the world, but I go, I’m sitting here going, don’t waive your home inspection. Don’t waive your home inspection. Are you nuts? You could find out so many things. You can find out you got black mold and radon and there’s so many expensive things you could find out. You can’t waive the home inspection. People are acting a little crazy right now. I mean, it’s benefiting you. 

Caller [00:37:02] Yeah. I’m in a similar- I never advise my clients to skip the home inspection. We we will maybe do limited where it’s major components, roof, H-vac system, things like that. You know if black mold comes back we’re able to get out of it, get all our money back. But yeah, it’s, we’re definitely starting to see a shift. The the Federal Reserve is doing us no no favors with hiking rates so much, but it seems like it’s got to be done across the board. 

Chris [00:37:29] Well, look, I mean, I love that this call is literally just post-surgery chitchat for both of us, like positive, pleasant chitchat. But those rates hit, those rates at historic lows. Like I refinanced shortly after buying because they hit historic lows. So they gotta I mean, they gotta swing back at some point. But yeah, I mean, the that huge boom is is a little bit over, right? 

Caller [00:37:53] Yeah. So I mean, we were seeing in the past months, at least in my market, it wasn’t uncommon to see offers come in six figures over the asking price. Which yes it’s to say- 

Chris [00:38:02] 600 grand over the asking? Somebody’s asking for 250, people are offering 350? 

Caller [00:38:08] Not at that price point. More so like someone’s asking 750, someone’s coming in between 850 and nine. But the thing is, all that amount over the 750 is cash. Which is absurd. 

Chris [00:38:20] Yeah. 

Caller [00:38:22] But yeah, we’re we’re seeing it start to normalize now where, where you can actually pay list price. But with those, with those houses going so much over asking, you think, yes, when I can lock one down, it’s great for me, but it makes it hard to be an expert. People are like, how much should I pay for this house? And it’s like, well, how much you want? Say it’s listed for 750. It’s not gonna sell for 750, so it truly comes down to as much as you feel comfortable spending without feeling like you lost it if we don’t get it. It’s hard to say you’re an expert and have that be your line. But at the same point, that’s the reality of the market. Or that was at the time. Now I can actually advise people better. 

Chris [00:39:03] When it’s that volatile and unpredictable, right, the best you can do is go, all I can tell you is like, you know, you hear stories, you know, we remain friends with our realtor. I’ve mentioned him on the show because he has the greatest name of all time, Xander Oldendorp. And I’ve run into him and he’s been like, Do you talk about me on your show? I’m like, Yeah. He’s like, People have told me, I’m like, Cool. You have the greatest name I’ve ever heard. Your name is Xander Oldendorp. How can I not mention that? Great guy though. Like really good chill guy. And he would tell us stories. He’s like, Yeah, it was hitting a point where and I’m sure you saw too, where it’s like you’d have the first open house and 15 people would make appointments and nine would make bids and four of them would be cash and they’d all be above. And it’s like, there’s no way for you to be an expert in that situation, because that is that’s totally unpredictable, right? Nobody’s holding that against you. 

Caller [00:39:50] Yeah. My my, uh, our most competitive offer we put in, we were, I think, one of 75, which at that point, it’s literally just a lottery. You’re not going to be able to tell me the differences between 75 offers. 

Chris [00:40:03] Yeah. Yeah, that’s crazy, man. That’s crazy. Now, here’s an interesting thing. You’re 25, so that’s solid. That’s Gen Z. Yeah? 

Caller [00:40:12] I tow line of millennial. I remember dial up. I remember having to, you know, get off the computer so mom can make a call. Cassette tapes. Kind of right on the edge. I have an older brother so that pulls me down, but it I think technically Gen Z would would be what other people would say. 

Chris [00:40:29] So yeah, it’s funny because I’m kind of like the very tail end of Gen X, but a lot of the millennial stuff I really lock in with. You’re kind of that next step. You’re like tail end of millennial, beginning of Gen Z. Everything you read about your generation is that, that it’s become you know, you’re reading all these very alarming facts and figures that a lot of people of your generation aren’t saving money, aren’t- and not due to irresponsibility of their own; because because people are living much more check to check. It’s harder to get benefit packages. It’s harder to get pensions. Union jobs are going- all this stuff- and home ownership as well, starting to feel a lot of people who are starting to say like, no, I’m kind of assuming I’m going to rent my whole life because I’ll never get the down payment together. Is it weird for you to be the in this generation where that’s a major talking point and yet you’re selling real estate? 

Caller [00:41:21] Yeah, I mean, it’s very odd to come home from a closing to the house that I rent. 

Chris [00:41:27] Right. 

Caller [00:41:28] But it’s kind of one of those things that it is bummer. I mean, for me it’s a bummer that I’m just a little bit too young. I feel like if I was just a little bit older in 2008, I could have drastically changed where at least my family’s outcome is going to be. But it definitely is strange kind of dealing with people buying and selling houses, and I’m kind of looking at my peers and some of them have been able to put something together for, you know, a condo or something like that. But I mean, in the city I live in, the the lowest priced thing on the market right now is probably 300, and it’s for not something you want to live in for 300, whereas I feel like growing up that was a very much a starter home. You could get a two bedroom, three bath, a little yard. And so yeah, I mean, it’s interesting, but at the same time, I don’t think there’s- I don’t feel guilt or anything like that because I don’t perpetuate the prices. I’m just thankful that I can take advantage of it in some way. 

Chris [00:42:25] Yeah. Hey, I got to tell you something. We’re 40 minutes in. You’ve been listening since the beginning. And I can tell- you said you’ve been listening to this since Ron Paul’s Baby, because this is a truly directionless, unplanned call like the old days. But I got to tell you something. I’m sitting here. I’ve had a recent surgery. You’ve had a recent surgery. There’s people getting killed by guns everywhere. The Supreme Court is, like, no one’s happy with the Supreme Court. There’s ongoing testimonies in Congress about insurrection. There’s all these reasons that the world is falling apart. And I just got to thank you. You are just like pleasant and positive. And we’re talking about aviation and real estate and surgery recovery and dogs. And man, I needed that both being that it’s three days out from a surgery and also just to have an hour of my life where I’m not kind of just thinking about the larger state of the world and kind of being vaguely unsettled, if not outright panicked. So thank you for that. 

Caller [00:43:31] Absolutely. It’s uh there’s a lot- I heard someone recently say there’s a lot of bad out there, but there’s a lot of good in here. So it’s very easy and also important to stay stay involved in what’s going on. But at the same point in time… today it’s sunny, it’s 70, I got some pups running around and, you know, I’m employed, I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. Feel like as far as everything goes, we’ve got it pretty good compared to the masses. And I mean with with everything going on in the Supreme Court, I mean, thankfully, I have the privilege of being a white male, but it does kind of come with, what do you have to do with that privilege? But some of that I think does come down to, you know, staying positive. And if we all just get down in the dirt, nothing’s going to change. 

Chris [00:44:18] Yeah, it. It is. It’s like, uh, I think it is nice to say, like, there’s a lot of privilege here. I recognize that I do have the breathing room to take an hour and go, it’s, it’s 70 and it’s sunny. Not everybody can necessarily slow down and feel that. Um, I understand that I’m privileged to do so. But yeah, it is nice to walk around in the sun, have some chit chat for a while. Where does your positivity come from? Where does this positivity come from? 

Caller [00:44:50] It’s hard to say. You know, I definitely always I think I’ve always been a positive person. It’s and to me, it really comes down to- I know people say this a lot, but I truly think you can do anything. My my favorite thing is maybe trying to shoot a shot or do something dumb and someone’s like, that’s impossible. I will now sit here until this goes in. So, I mean, leven something like growing up mad at my dad because I couldn’t find the edger, he’s like, we’ll just do it with scissors. Like, okay. He’s like, oh no, no, don’t do this with scissors. I did the whole thing with scissors. Come on, now. 

Chris [00:45:24] You edged your entire lawn with scissors? 

Caller [00:45:26] Oh, yeah. There’s a way. You just got to- there’s a way. 

Chris [00:45:30] Because normally- you’re talking about edge- because I actually am working on a joke, probably the best joke in my set right now is about how much I love edging my lawn. Tells you a lot about where my life is at. You’re talking about edging a lawn, which you usually do with power tools. You did an entire lawn with scissors? 

Caller [00:45:47] I was a very stubborn child, but I think stubborn and positive are just half a degree off. 

Chris [00:45:54] Stubborn and positive are half a degree off. Whew. I like that. I got to hang on to that one. If I can remember that during my moments of frustration, stubborn and positive are half a degree off. I love that. That’s me on my best day. 

Caller [00:46:13] And it all goes back and forth over the course of a day. Not always. You’re definitely getting the positive now but I’m sure my wife would say there’s some stubborn moments as well. 

Chris [00:46:25] Yeah. Just last night, my wife was asking me how I’m doing and she was like, because I told her, I said, you know, I want to get healthy after the surgery. I want to use this as a point to like kind of get back in shape physically and then also emotionally. She said, I didn’t realize you were feeling it emotionally. She said, how are you feeling lately? I said, if I’m being totally honest? Kind of like a chubby failure. That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. But now I’m sitting here going, stubborn and positive are half a degree off. I like that. I needed to hear that today. So just last night, I was like, I’m feeling feeling bloated and like I got no momentum. I gotta turn that around. Turn that around. 

Caller [00:47:11] Turn it around. Yeah, absolutely. I mean that and then I’m not sure how you probably like it. A different one I heard a long time ago is pity parties aren’t lit. And that’s that’s a fact. Sometimes you need to have your little pity party, but it’s not lit. Move on. Keep it. Keep it going. 

Chris [00:47:29] Yeah. I mean, I’m too old to use the word lit, but I agree witht he sentiment. 

Caller [00:47:34] Fair enough. 

Chris [00:47:35] I am. I am a 42 year old man. So if I tried to say that one back, it would sound really sad. Yeah, but there’s, you know, there’s also something to be said for… Problems are real. You’re allowed to feel the effects of them. People go through rough patches and you’re allowed to just get down. I think I fall into something sometimes where I sit here and I beat myself up unnecessarily. And then I take a step back. I look at the big at the broad view. I go, Man, it’s a shame that it’s a shame that I’m, I’m not embracing the broader positives. But there’s also something to be said for, if you’re having a bad day, you’re allowed to have a bad day too. Pity parties aren’t lit, so to speak, but also feel your feelings. Don’t, don’t, don’t feel ashamed of them. But certainly don’t let them uh don’t let them dominate you and your worldview. Right? Figure out how to wrangle them and bend them back where you need them to go. That’s where I’m at. 

Caller [00:48:29] Yeah, that’s a good, good perspective to have, for sure. 

Chris [00:48:33] Have you ever seen somebody show up at a an open house with a suitcase full of cash? Does that really happen? 

Caller [00:48:39] You can’t buy a house for cash unfortunately. 

Chris [00:48:42] You can’t? 

Caller [00:48:42] You can pay cash, but you can not bring dollar bills. You can bring a cashier’s check or a wire. It’s so sad. I had a client who sold his house cash-

Chris [00:48:52] Oh, so when they say pay cash-

Caller [00:48:55] Yeah. 

Chris [00:48:57] When people say cash, pay cash, they don’t mean like there’s people with duffel bags full of hundred dollar bills, like like Scarface style Miami coke dealers. They mean, hey, if you want to sell me this house, I can have my bank wire you the money today. That’s what cash means. 

Caller [00:49:12] Yeah. It means no one has to ver- no one has to approve me paying you this. I have access to the money. It’s sitting in my account. So yeah. 

Chris [00:49:19] Right. You don’t need a letter from a mortgage company vouching for me. We don’t need to jump through those hoops. I can get you on the phone with my banker today, and you can have $700,000 for this house. I have $700,000 to give you. That’s what that means. 

Caller [00:49:36] Yeah. I wish you could show  up with duffel bags. That would make my job a lot cooler to be like carrying bags in, throw ’em on the table, open them up, take one for myself. Yeah, that’d be awesome.  

Chris [00:49:47] What was it like the first time you’re present when somebody starts throwing around cash transaction? I can wire you the money today. Are you just like, this person’s an intimidating baller or are you able to just roll with that? 

Caller [00:49:59] I mean, there’s definitely some imposter syndrome that goes with am I an expert enough to work with these people? My biggest client right now is looking for the top end of their budget is 3.5 million. So that is definitely one where a huge signing and then kind of, I don’t know, I’m very easygoing, but every time I meet with him, I feel like you got to gussy up a little bit just because of the price point. But at the end of the day, I don’t think they care. 

Chris [00:50:26] So you’re sitting here going through listings, going like, I think I found an estate that might serve you and your family for the next few generations. We’re talking about this level of commitment to property. 

Caller [00:50:36] Yeah. 

Chris [00:50:36] 3.5 million dollars. 

Caller [00:50:38] Yeah. Probably the best one where were my my interest crossed where we toured one that had an airstrip in the backyard so you could fly in and fly out of your own house. You had a airplane hangar attached to the back of the garage so you could drive in and park your cars in the front-

Chris [00:50:53] What are you talking about? What?! 

Caller [00:50:55] Yeah. They’re all over. It’s called an air park. Just a small municipal strip. It’s crazy. 

Chris [00:51:03] So you can straight up just own a plane and just be like, Hey, you want to go out? You think we should just go get a lobster roll up in Cape Cod? And then walk into your backyard and just fly there? 

Caller [00:51:16] Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Chris [00:51:21] Oh there’s gonna be a revolution in this country any day now. 

Caller [00:51:26] The crazy- the airplane part of it is very expensive. But that house is giant. But I’ve seen houses in those communities as low as like 600,000, which is still a lot of money but is more reasonable. 

Chris [00:51:39] Yeah. Yeah. And look, I mean, I’m not going to lie, full disclosure, like I bought a fancy house, but I’m in the weirdest situation because I had a TV show for three years, so I took all that money, bought the house, and now I got no money. So that’s where I’m at. I was like able to afford a nice house and now I’m by far the least financially stable person within miles of this neighborhood. That’s where I at. That that stress. But that’s okay. My son, my son’s growing up in a way that’s that’s going to be nicer than how I grew up. And that’s that’s the goal. 

Caller [00:52:15] Now, would you say you’re you’re pretty intentional about certain things in particular that maybe you were brought up in that you’re now not bringing him up? 

Chris [00:52:23] That’s a great question. I mean, that’s kind of like a never ending thought process, right? I mean, yeah, I think there’s a few things that I think about, right? It’s like I go back and forth because I grew up in a neighborhood that was… It’s hard to explain. I mean, it’s like it was a middle class neighborhood, probably lower middle class. My family was pretty stable by the standards of a lower middle class neighborhood, but it had some real tough parts. My parents both grew up in the neighborhood and there was this toughness. And there was- I walk away with it going, I think a lot of my resilience and a lot of my ability to advocate for myself, a lot of my ability to go like, no, I have a good idea, I’m going to go make it happen, has served me well in like an unpredictable career. So I sit here and I go, Man, that toughness really served me well. How do I give Cal that sense of like self advocating, that sense of drawing some lines in the sand for what you’re willing to compromise on without, you know, without him having to get, like, physically beaten up by bullies in a church parking lot, if I’m just being frank. You know? Or like, you know, like actually brutalized. Like there was certain standards. And I certainly think it was different even with our age gap. Like, I think you guys probably watch movies about the eighties and probably are like, Wait, was that shit- people really talked like that? People really treated each other like that? And you’re like, Well, it was the movie version of it, but yeah, like it was dark, you know? So I struggle a lot with that of like, I want my son to have that toughness, that resiliency, that strength. I don’t want that to be tied up in this sense of kind of like macho ism or like this very you know, it’s I feel like the adjective toxic has- it takes on a lot of different meanings these days, but I think it certainly applies here. I think about that a lot of like, how do I give him all that- how do how do I give them that strength without all the bullshit that comes along with the tough guy side of it? That that’s a big thing. And I’ll say, like moving out to the woods, moving out to a place that’s a little sleepy or a little quieter where there’s just less people, I feel like does give him an upper hand on that a little bit in the sense of growing up in a place where there’s just like everybody knows everybody. But I think now I’m living in a neighborhood- and I’m telling you, it’s so weird, I grew up in a neighborhood where it was not uncommon for kids from other neighborhoods to wander over and just fight us. That was just a thing. Oh, these kids from two neighborhoods over were bored and they showed up and there was a fight. Like that, that was not, that’s not an exaggeration that that could happen for literally no reason growing up. Just somebody got bored so there was a fight. And now I’m living in a place that’s like sleepy and spread out where it’s like, no, there’s not- there’s not another neighborhood nearby where like, hooligan kids could just show up if they get bored and want to hit my son. Like, that’s one of the benefits of kind of coming out to a sleepy area where we, you know, spent a little money on our house. And then, I mean, you tell me, you’re the expert in the field, like a house is a thing you spend your money on when you make money, right? Like that’s the smart play they say. So. 

Caller [00:55:54] Absolutely. I mean, everyone talks about inflation and everything rising, but the thing that kind of everything more or less bounces off of is the housing market. When when everything was down, the market was down. And when everything is up, now the market’s been up. And if you take any three year chunk, the market’s gone up. Even if you take ’07, ’08, ’09. Dip and then back up. I mean, it’s not gonna go down. 

Chris [00:56:20] My brother in law is an incredibly smart person. I remember he once said to me, like, you’re spending, you know, because our house was a reach for us. And he’s like, think of your house as just like the most reliable, safe savings account you could ever put your money in. He’s like, Just think of it that way, too. And I was like, You’re really smart. I’m gonna listen to you.

Caller [00:56:39] Absolutely. Yeah. I’m kind of thinking about it. I don’t have any kids yet, but we’re we’re getting to the point where we’re thinking about it and kind of similar among the want to be tough but don’t want him to get beat up, I feel like me and my brother were very much so kind of hustlers or always there’s a there’s dollars everywhere. A lot of that came from growing up. We really didn’t have a lot. We as long as I’ve had a cell phone, I paid for my cell phone. There’s I mean, there was a point growing up where I had to tell the folks, hey, you can have us make our own dinner, but we need food around here to make. So, I mean, we we grew up pretty poor, but I think it made us- we- me and my brother never went without because there is money out there. I mean, I wanted to go to camp in the fourth grade, couldn’t afford it. So my grandma taught me how to make these little yarn balls, sold them on my classmates, made the couple hundred bucks and sent myself to camp. You know? So I’m trying to figure out a way. 

Chris [00:57:32] You paid for your own camp as a fourth grader? 

Caller [00:57:35] Yeah, well, they had already booked a different camp for me, so if I wanted to go to that one, I had to figure out a way to make it happen. 

Chris [00:57:43] Wow. 

Caller [00:57:44] But I’m trying to figure out way to have my kids have a similar mentality without making them grow up poor. 

Chris [00:57:52] Right. Right. Like, how do you how do you take the point of stability that it sounds like you’ve landed at? That’s for both of us, right? How do you take- when you fight through it and get to a point of stability, how do you pass it on without other people having to go through the instability that taught you it? That’s a really tough question. It’s a really tough question. Instability teaches you where your hustle is and where your grit is and where your determination and your fight are. But you don’t want to see someone you love go through that instability. You don’t want to see your potential theoretical kids selling yarn balls someday. You just want to see if you can pass it on. But you also go, how would I have ever learned? And I think my parents did understand the value of what they were teaching me because they grew up in the same place. 

Caller [00:58:46] Mm hmm. 

Chris [00:58:48] These are these are the tough questions. 

Caller [00:58:53] There’s no right answer. We’re not going to see a good answer. 

Chris [00:58:58] And when you are, you’re making money now. You say you always got the hustle. You’re making this commission. And you got the salary. Your wife’s heading towards commercial pilot. When you’re looking at houses, are you sitting here going, here’s the mistakes everybody’s making. Here’s the things I’m looking for or not looking for. What are the things people are overvaluing and undervaluing when they’re out there thinking about how to set up their home lives? 

Caller [00:59:21] Yeah. I mean, there’s there’s not really any one answer. Just just like everyone values different things. You want a little bit of a sleepier house in a nicer area, probably a little bit of land around you. So for you, you probably wanted something like that with decent schools around or at least access to good schools. For us, with our dogs, we value the yard and having having space for them to run around. But in my opinion, it’s kind of all boats rise with the tide. So if what you want is a one bedroom, one bathroom condo, that’s going to appreciate same as if you want the big house and you want to have all the bells and whistles. So seldom do I look at a and think, Oh, they’re making a huge mistake on this. I think any time that someone can afford and can reasonably get into a new property, if it meets the needs of their life, it’s a good decision for them. 

Chris [01:00:08] Hmm hmm. Mmm hmm. I needed this convo today. Who knew we would have real estate chitchat? I’m glad your dog’s doing all right. 

Caller [01:00:20] Yeah. Little tripod. I have him plus two others. So we call ’em 11 legs. 

Chris [01:00:26] You got an 11 leg household right there. 

Caller [01:00:30] Yeah. They run amuck though. He’s doing great. Thankfully, dogs don’t lose their- they have fur, not hair, so they don’t lose anything during chemo. So he should be looking pretty good throughout. 

Chris [01:00:41] Oh, I had no idea. Ever been a dog owner myself. 

Caller [01:00:46] And any desire? I know you don’t really like dogs. You more of a cat person?

Chris [01:00:52] Yeah. But look, we’re growing up in the woods with an only child. The boy is going to need a dog at some point. Right? 

Caller [01:01:03] If you had a good dog, do you have any idea of breeds of dogs you’d want? Or would you want a mutt?

Chris [01:01:08] We’ve gone back and forth. I want a dog- see, this is where I’m crazy, though. I want to get a dog that’s like an intimidating, bad ass that my son can have as, like his animal animal companion so that if anybody ever messes with him, the dog will help protect him. My wife has pointed out to me that this might tie into some of my distrust issues and mental instability in relation to my feelings about my own childhood, which tie directly into what I was just telling you about with this obsession with toughness and self-protection and stuff. So probably just get like a mutt. 

Caller [01:01:41] Yeah. So I have one dog that looks very fierce. The one that lost his leg. He’s a German Shepherd Malamute wolf hybrid. 

Chris [01:01:48] Wolf?! 

Caller [01:01:48] So he’s a big old boy. On his hind legs over six feet tall. Just he’s not that heavy, shy of 100 pounds. And the other two are Australian shepherds. Those are dogs that would actually protect me far more than the wolf dog every would. He definitely- wolves are non-confrontational. So they’d probably just run away. But the little pack dogs, the little herding breeds, they go crazy. 

Chris [01:02:09] They’re kind of like OCD, right? They want it their way. 

Caller [01:02:13] Yeah. I mean, it’s just like with anything if you can train them right. And so we have a one and a half year old and a six month old. And I mean, they’re there with the program. My wife keeps them on a pretty strict regiment. So, you know, you open the door, they sit. The wait. We let them out. They sit. They wait for food. They walk all around off leash without being that dog that runs up to someone else. They actually stay next to you and do all that. So if you teach them what they want, they’ll give you what you want. 

Chris [01:02:44] We’re 10 seconds from the end. I have to say, I have greatly enjoyed chit chatting with you, and I feel like people are going to be weirdly obsessed with the level of chit chat we took it to. 

Caller [01:02:56] Absolutely. Thank you for your time and best of luck recovering. And maybe one day I’ll see you when you come to my town. 

Chris [01:03:02] Listen, best of luck to you as well. I hope that arm gets that final 5% back. I hope that dog has a bunch more happy years. Hope you and your wife have many more happy years. I hope she’s flying all over the place soon to her heart’s content. I hope that you keep out there hustling and grinding and it brings you joy and you don’t feel bound to it. And I hope that should you choose to get another generation going, that you can pass on all of the positivity you’ve learned without the hardship that made you have to learn how to get there yourself. I mean, all these things very sincerely. 

Caller [01:03:33] Absolutely. Thank you for your time. 

Chris [01:03:39] Caller, sincerely, thanks. And I mean it. I wish you a long and happy life with a fully functioning arm and a happy three legged dog. What else can you say besides that? This show is produced by Anita Flores, engineered by Ryan Connor. Our theme song is by ShellShag. Go to ChrisGeth.com if you want to know more about me, including my upcoming live tour dates. Wherever you’re listening, there’s a button that says subscribe or favorite or follow. When you hit that button it helps the show so much, so please consider doing so. If you want our latest merch, it’s at podswag.com. There’s mugs, shirts, posters and a lot more. If you want ad free episodes of Beautiful/ Anonymous as well as a ton of other shows, you want to sign up at Stitcher Premium. You can use the promo code “stories” for a one month free trial at Stitcher dot com slash premium.