Latest / Literally, the Worst Podcast / 1: Private Equity and Hot Dog Fingers

Transcript

1: Private Equity and Hot Dog Fingers · Literally, the Worst Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: We're here.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's literally the worst.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_03: The podcast where we talk about things that are literally the worst.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Anna.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Lauren.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thankfully not the worst.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's true.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: We are not the worst.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure there are many worse Laurens than you.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: That might be worth looking up.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's a big thing.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: We probably could do an episode on people that are worse than us with our name.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Already won't be a good one.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: That would be interesting.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_03: There we go.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like our mediocre men idea.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Mediocre white men.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: It could be mediocre white Anna's mediocre white laurens.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so just a note on mediocre white men, and then we can talk about what we're actually here to talk about.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: But I did not realize that Napoleon kinda sucked at winning wars until I was watching the Count of Monte Cristo on PBS.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: My show was useful for many things.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: It was.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: It was very useful for many things.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: One of them being that I now understand the history of Napoleon Bonaparte and France much better and the fact that he couldn't actually hold France.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: I did not know that.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I thought he was some superhero warlord.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think he was until he hit France, and the French were just like Nabro.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: No thanks.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: See you later.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Short King Short King was not a king for very long.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: He just flicked him away.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: So well he wasn't really a king, I guess, because then the real king came back, but anyway.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: King like.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: King like.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Also, fictional television series based on a fictional book.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: So possibly fact check needed.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: But perspective might be a little skewed or a little biased.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Potentially.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Potentially.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what Alexander Dumas' perspective on Napoleon Bonaparte was, but it did seem to get his main male character in a lot of trouble.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm just gonna leave it at that.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the timing what what was the timing of that?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: 1700s?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: 1700s or 1800s?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: I guess we could read what there's no way to know.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: We could Google it, but there's plenty else to Google probably in this episode.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: We have the internet.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: We have the internet.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: I just started re-watching Outlander and so all of the stuff with Scotland and England and then France, and I'm trying to wrap my head around how that overlays.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think Napoleon was a big factor there.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because it was before the US.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: So 1740s?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: 1730s?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Something like that?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think Napoleon might have been after that.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: That that feels right.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't know why.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Just gut feeling.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway, I could rabbit trail, but I'm not going to.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: Because we are here to talk about what has private equity ruined lately.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: Woo! I mean, aww.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because private equity is literally the worst.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's literally the worst.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: But okay, so as much as you and I complain about private equity, which we do frequently and vehemently, I figured we should probably start by defining what is private equity.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: That feels right.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe maybe address like where does it come, like what is it, where does it come from?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: Who who is private equity?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: And why, why do we even care about this?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's reasonable because it's a term that we use a lot.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I work for a company owned by private equity.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I just know I'm like, they're a company with a lot of money that invests in other companies and then is all about turning a profit.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's my level of understanding.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So please add, correct, adjust.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: I have historically worked for private equity, and I do not work for private equity anymore.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I also work currently for a publicly traded company, so I'll disclose that.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I have worked for publicly traded companies in the past.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: So all that said, um, okay, private equity.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: The literal definition is that private equity is money that owns a company that cannot be bought on a public stock market.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the private equity itself cannot be bought on the stock market.
• 5:02
  unknown: Correct.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like the original company, the OGs.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: The OGs.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: So that would let's say that Lauren, you own a company.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: You have a business, and I go to you and say, I would like to invest in your business.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: And you're like, cool, but I'm not doing stock grants right now, or and I'm not traded on the Dow Jones as an example.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: You would have to come up with an agreement that basically grants me some kind of holding in your company that is privately agreed to, which then gives me private equity in your company slash business.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: There it is.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: So that is the definition of private equity.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: That means that tons of companies are technically private equity owned.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think what we can get into a little bit is what makes priv private equity, quote unquote, in this c context so insidious.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: So like where's the money coming from?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: I guess is a way to kind of talk about it.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: Follow the money.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Where is it?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: What is it happening?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: So there's a bunch of different sources of private equity, and there's not really from the curse, like when I say research, let's be clear that this was maybe 30 minutes on a random Tuesday.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: Trying to look some things up.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: And or I asked Claude.
• 6:39
  unknown: Okay.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's fair.
• 6:41
  unknown: Yeah.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: Taking it with a grain of salt.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: I get that.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: Take it with a grain of salt.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_03: You could fact check this.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: People probably will.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_03: For our two listeners, if you fact check us, just keep in mind, like, it's a Saturday.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: We're recording, we're doing this as a passion project.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Because ranting in the car is not enough anymore.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: So just we had to go somewhere with our rants.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you feel so moved, uh you can email me for now.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:11
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: We'll set up some kind of.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably a no, but we'll figure out a way.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Also, I keep looking at the zoom camera.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like eye contact with it.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm that's weird.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have a habit of that in the meetings.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Hello.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hello.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll figure out a way for you to there's any grievous mistakes.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: You can complain.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh in your car right now to the podcast.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's what this podcast is, is complaining.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: So you can just complain along with us.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: You can complain at us and just, you know, send bad vibes our way, I guess.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Just not in the reviews.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Just don't leave the complaints for comments or uh emails.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: So pension funds.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: Are a source of private equity.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: That money has to go somewhere and be invested somehow.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so pension funds by privately held companies.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: So that's one source.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I j would just love for you to take a guess at another source, and I'll tell you if it's correct or not.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: Just any source.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Of like money that private equity groups use to fund other stuff?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Or like where's the money come from to have a private equity investment?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our taxes?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank God.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: That was going to be a table flip.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: I guess it de I guess it depends.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: So there are private equity holdings in sovereign wealth funds.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: So if so if the United States of America has a sovereign wealth fund, it is possible that your tax dollars are going to own parts of companies.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well that's disheartening.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Where else?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, corporations?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: Other corporations like investing into if you have like a asset manager or a fund of funds or like corporate money being funneled that way.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: Although it's not like the corporation is the originating source necessarily, but it might get like trickled down to that.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Got it.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: Billionaires.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Billionaires, definitely.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um the one thing that a lot of people don't realize is that university endowment funds and foundations are often a huge source of pub private equity.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: What?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: And yes, because their portfolios are so large that they don't want to single-handedly invest in the stock market.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: So gosh.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um I didn't realize.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've not thought much about university endowment funds, but I didn't think that's where all that money went.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that went back into like funding projects on like on the university campus or like funding the sometimes.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, but that makes sense because like we we didn't get any endowment money in our research labs from the university.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was all like government grants.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, correct.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Which is garbage.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of times the endowment is not tapped.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: So that money just sits there and grows.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: So one great source, if you want to really understand how endowments work, Malcolm Gladwell, to his credit, I actually think this is real is like a great piece of research, did a series of I think three episodes on this on his show, podcast show, a couple years ago.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: So is that the revisionist history one?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: And he talks about like how endowments grow, how they actually get used, etc.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, if you are donating to especially a Ivy League university or a state-funded college that has an endowment, odds are your money is not being used for what you think it's being used for, unless you have put in specifically that it must go to specific research projects or specific uh labs or laboratories or professors departments.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: So um families and individuals, so billionaires, billionaires and high wealth millionaires.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um a lot of private equity comes from those sources.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then, yeah, so a lot of private equity money out there is used to buy up businesses and change their operating model so that they become more and more profitable while they grow revenue over time with some kind of target date to then turn them over and sell them.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oftentimes those sales either happen to publicly owned companies and publicly traded companies, or they are then bought by another private equity company and that cycle just keeps going.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: So, what might be fun today is to talk about what has private equity ruined lately.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, I like this approach because when we first started talking about private equity, I had no idea how far their reach went and like all of the different things they got into.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like the it's kind of like the tentacles of like the Stranger Things monster.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like everywhere.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Ugh.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I do think we should do that, even though I'm gonna be really sad and probably angry, but let's bring it on, because I know they've ruined uh all kinds of industries that my family touches and my friends are involved in, so why not?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Why not more?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, why not more?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: And feel free to add to your add your own.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: I think um, so a few things, and I have some personal anecdotes in here too.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think I first started noticing private equity as a thing when our veterinarian's office got bought by VCA.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: So we had had the same vet for years since we moved to Tennessee in 2014, and we had taken all of our dogs there for years, and then all of a sudden, like the vet that we had seen for years wasn't available anymore, and her husband that used to work the front desk wasn't working the front desk anymore, and I was like, This is weird, what is happening?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then the like actual doctors started to rotate all the time, and I was like, This is weird, this is weird, uh, we could never see the same doctor twice, and that was in and of itself super weird, and so sure enough, we'll started looking into it.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: VCA animal hospitals are largely funded by private equity, which goes in, buys up your local, local and locally owned animal hospital, and tries to get it to turn a larger and larger profit.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: The way that they do this is by consolidating paperwork and systems, and then also getting veterinarians to work for cheaper and the staff to work for cheaper, which is kind of a bummer.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: So your pets get worse and worse care.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but if you see VCA on an animal hospital near you, uh in my research up until last year, if they were owned by private equity, maybe that has changed.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I very much doubt it.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: So if you've noticed a care difference in your pet care at your veterinarian, it could be that you might want to look into it.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and that's a relatively recent phenomenon that probably started right before COVID.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: I can't remember when VCA became a thing, but yeah.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: That I mean, even the system, like there's there's it feels so it feels like private equity could be using their powers for good.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Which like the greater good, not just let's make this business more profitable so that we can sell it and line our pockets even more and just have more money and more money.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, yeah, some of these places could use some help with their systems and processes.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'd I think about the vet that I've been going to for, I don't know, the last decade.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: They've seen both my pets, and their marketing, their follow-up was terrible.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I I almost miss the annual, the the shots, remembering to schedule their annuals, all of that.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think for a while I was getting a postcard, and that was it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the last couple of years, I've noticed there's a lot more marketing following up, like, hey, we haven't seen you in a while, or hey, you're overdue for this.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's something they updated on their own, but I don't think so, because I've seen similar changes in staffing, like the doctors are always rotating, and the hours are different now, too.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it just yeah, so it's gone pretty downhill.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, you could be like doing things for the better with the systems and processes and making them more efficient in general, but it's not for that because it's it's all about the profit and then increasing, yeah.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Increasing money in the door.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about care or yeah, employee experience.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_03: That makes sense.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: And that happens in the public sector too.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: That isn't just a private equity phenomenon, but the there's a couple stories that I'll share today that where I'm like, yeah, it's definitely not about the client experience or the customer experience.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, another recent one that kind of surprised me, to be honest, was uh our CPA.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: So our CPA this year, yeah, our CPA this year that we'd worked with forever.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, this one.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, no, no, not the new one.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, that doesn't feel like that.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, no, not the new one.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: The one from three months ago.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um CPA earlier this year, we went to file our taxes, and I noticed there was a new name on the signature, which was weird.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: They also had to delay our filing twice and filed an extension for the first time ever.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: We've been working with this guy for over a decade.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, I was like, that's weird.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then your situation this year changed dramatically either, right?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like your tax situation, it was pretty similar to year before.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Every year for the last since 2019.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so notice that there was a new name in the signature, I looked it up, and it was Doran Mayhew, which is private equity funded CPA firm, I guess you could say, that's national.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: So our local CPA that went from being just a guy with an office and a handful of employees went from that to a nationally syndicated thing.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: And um software was completely different.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if it was better or worse, to be honest, but the service was definitely worse.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and in looking at it, it's like, okay, yeah, all of this is funded by private equity.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_03: So he got bought out.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: He's still the CPA, which I find interesting.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: And that's the other thing that's been interesting about these buyouts of these local businesses, is that often the buyout happens and the owner still has to stick around and work for the company that's bought them out.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: So you might still see them, but they are no longer the person kind of running the show or the person doing most of the work behind the scenes.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: So that has always been something that I found really interesting too.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's why you like might see the original vet that you worked with every once in a while, or can still work with them uh if you pre-arrange it, but you know, they're not the person actually doing the hands-on stuff anymore.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: So then, like, is it still is it still worth it then, like shopping local?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's because is it really local?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're you're helping the owner, you're helping that, but like they're no longer the one that holds all of the value of the organization, they're just getting a paycheck.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think the consumer has to do more homework.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: Where if you see, yeah, where it's like, if you see the label on the building has changed, you might look up the new name and just ask, like, oh, okay, is this private equity or publicly traded, or did they get bought out?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: And it might be even something that you just ask, where it's like, did this did you recently get acquired?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: Did you recently sell?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and if the answer is yes, and they're willing to share more, you might ask, or you might just decide no, it's not worth dealing with, and then you might move on and try something else.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there are still locally owned and run CPA businesses out there.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_03: Our vet now is locally owned and operated, and you know, we see the same two vets all the time.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um, how long that lasts, I don't know.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: But that is something that you kind of have to look for now versus you know, a decade or two decades ago, you could just kind of take it at face value that that was going to be true no matter where you were or what you did.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that shopping local was really very local.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: You weren't supporting some massive corporation, you were supporting this little mom and pop business, but now that's not I mean that's Probably a great marketing strategy for them too is to not necessarily come in and change the name on the front.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's still the value of, oh, shop local.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing's changed about it.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that makes sense.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm like, I need to double check my vet and see if something has changed in the last couple years or if they just got better at marketing.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: And it could be, oh, we just got better tools or we just got better whatever.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um or we we had to optimize because we were losing ground to you know the bigger, bigger vet corporations.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um another one that a lot of people don't know is that Toys Are Us, the reason it ultimately went out of business was because private equity bought it and sold it for parts.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so the retail business didn't make it because it wasn't super profitable.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so instead of trying to make it profitable, they were like, we'll just shut it down and then, you know, write it off as a loss, which is another private equity strategy.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: Is like we can buy this business over here and write that off as a loss, which will offset our gains in this other area.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: And so your portfolio looks more balanced or looks like you made less than maybe you did in another area.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's another strategy that private equity companies use is to essentially tank a company as a sacrifice for the tax gods, so that when the tax gods uh come knocking, they can basically say, Well, we don't owe anything because this one over here tanked even though we made a billion dollars over here.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yikes.
• 23:49
  unknown: Okay.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: I think one thing to kinda keep in mind too with all of this is like they know not everything is gonna be a winner.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so they sort of expect you know, a couple duds, and if one in ten is a hit, like that's great.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so they can write the rest off as losses and keep moving with the one that was a hit, because the one that was a hit will offset everything else.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: Everything.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh okay.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean, if all you care about is making money, then it's a great strategy.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're smart in what they're doing.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: It just sucks for everybody downhill.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because yeah, selling off for parts is that's horrendous when you watch that happen.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: They just like keep carving stuff off, and I watched that happen to uh my dad's the insurance company that my dad worked for over the decades because he's been there, he was there like 30 years or something.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Can't remember how long.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it was a long time, and they just kept getting bought and bought.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: But we can come back to that if we need to.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: But they would just like get rid of different lines of business over time.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: And sell off everything that isn't profitable, maximize what is profitable, yep.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: Sell everything else off as at a loss.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: And privately traded or privately held companies and publicly held companies both use that strategy.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think what's particularly insidious in private equity is that they know they're running it.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Oftentimes, you know, it's like, well, we know we're gonna sell this off for parts.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like we know that we're gonna like buy this up, and this this might not make it, but this other one will.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_03: And it's okay that like we're gonna run this thing that people rely on or this service that people need.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, which sucks.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: And they are involved in, I think, pretty much the the scary part to me is that private equity is involved in every industry that you can possibly think of.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: So insurance, healthcare, uh, the housing market.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I mean, you name it, they're in it.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: Laundromats.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: Disgusting.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, bowling.
• 26:27
  unknown: Bowling.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: We'll put it in the show notes, but yeah, bowling.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: So there's a company that is private equity backed that is buying up local bowling alleys and basically turning them into entertainment centers, but this is where like your local professional bowler tends to practice or hang out, and so but the attitude is, and I think the guy literally says this in the interview is like, well, nobody nobody takes bowling that seriously, so does it even matter if we really like mess mess this up for people?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: The arrogance is just oh that's infuriating.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: No, it doesn't matter.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it doesn't matter to you, but like But it does matter to some people.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: And if they run two with it, doesn't mean everybody else doesn't like it.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're if there's two bullying alleys in a city or town, small town, um, and you have one that's private equity owned, and you have one that's locally owned, and the one that's locally owned can't run anymore.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_03: Because the private equity backed one runs them out of business.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, exactly.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_03: Then you inevitably end up in a place where you run out of choice, which is also kind of the goal, is like private equity wants you to not have choice.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: So all that to say do your homework.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Because they're kind of like the worst of the worst of capitalism.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean capitalism in and of itself is kind of the worst, but well, yeah.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: If there was a sub worst.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, I'm not the worst, I'm the sub worst.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: If capitalism punches you in the nose, then private equity comes through and throat punches you.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: Subwurst also sounds like a German sandwich.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like we'll take a six-inch subwurst.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I want a subwurst.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, phew.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what's on there.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_03: Sauerkraut?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: Probably sauerkraut and mustard.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: And a little extra worst, please.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_03: A little extra worst.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the subwurst.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Daddy dogs should pick that up.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, they totally should.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do they have different things?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: Do they have worst?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_03: Or do they just have hot dogs?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, they do they do bratwurst, I thought.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Here, let's let's this one I will Google.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't know that?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: No, I didn't know that.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's why.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, to be honest, they're gluten-free.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_03: They're gluten-free buns suck.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't eat them.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_03: But I would potentially go there for a bratwurst.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_03: Because like eating a hot dog without a bun is just kind of weird.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's just something about like eating a dog.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: And how are you gonna eat it?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like, are you gonna Yeah, you just kind of grab it by the end and you like dip it in ketchup and you just go for it.
• 29:45
  unknown: Right?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_03: Please don't do that.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna be near you.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's when that happens.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, it's kind of weird.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like, or do you cut it with a fork?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like, also weird.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's a hot dog.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_03: You shouldn't have to cut it with a fork.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's like that Seinfeld episode where everybody was cutting their Snickers with a knife and fork.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you're not gonna cut your oh yeah, it's a whole it's a whole thread.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Elevated posh people were eating their cookies or their Snickers with a knife and fork.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: George Costanza at the end, somebody says something about it.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, How do you eat it?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: With your hands?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I must be wrong because all it is saying every one of these is daddy dog or or corndog.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no bratwurst.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that was a special offering.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: I wonder okay.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like if they did like a special catering offering when I had it before.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's depressing.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe it is a catering thing.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: But they do have it with that the New York daddy dog is topped with kraut and spicy mustard.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that must be where the kraut thing came to mind.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: That actually sounds good though.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: But again, well, and okay, if it's got like stuff on top of it, I feel like eating it with a fork is fine.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's more acceptable, yeah.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: Because it's like a it's like a salad on top of a hot dog.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like trying to eat like a chicken Caesar salad, but we just haven't chopped up the chicken and you're just sh like shoveling it.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: So then you just have to cut the hot dog with a fork.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_03: Because otherwise you just have a whole hot dog.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: What are you gonna do?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: Where's it gonna go, guys?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_03: Cut her.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: Just I don't know.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know about that.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so next time we get dinner, hot dogs.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_03: Hot dogs, yeah.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I've been craving.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: How much does a pack of hot dogs cost right now?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: Probably like eight dollars?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: Something, ten dollars?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Is it that bad?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so when I was doing Instacart the other night, because I'm preparing to be poor and destitute, uh I bought hot dogs for a human.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: Oh and I think it was about six to seven dollars for a like beef franc brand hot dog.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't bought hot dogs.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: A dollar a piece?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: That I'm like for a tube of meat.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_03: That is questionable origin.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, these weren't even the like fancy.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: I promise you this is not weird beef hot dog.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like I promise you this is just like I put some ground chuck in a meat tube hot dog, right?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_03: Like this was uh not bottom of the barrel, like not the cheapest hot dog you can buy.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_03: But near.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: But also still a hot dog.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, not a Hebrew national.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: One step down from a Hebrew national.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm like, if it's kosher, you know it can't be too weird.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_03: Hmm.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well Yeah, I'm probably still not gonna buy hot dogs anytime soon, but I do know.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I won't.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: I just had the office image of Dwight reading through the medical list of issues.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hot dog fingers.
• 33:27
  unknown: I guess.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, I'm not oh god, like sticking a hot dog on every finger and then like no.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh everything everywhere all at once.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_03: That scene.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, how do you do anything in life with those hands?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Nope.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think you do.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: You just don't.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then they're trying to do stuff and they can't because their fingers don't work, because they're floppy little hot dogs.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, this is weird.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: They just kind of paw their way through life.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh nope.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_03: That movie was something else.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Have you heard of the new thing?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh tangent.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: Totally t changing topics.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_03: Have you heard of the new trend called do you have girl grip or not?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_03: Question mark?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: What the hell does that mean?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so it's basically you have something in one hand, so your whole hand is taken up with that thing.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: In the video I saw, it was a girl holding her cat.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_03: So the cat is like fully occupying said hand.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: So she's got like her cat like tucked into one arm with her hand holding the cat.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_03: Cat's just chillin' in that hand.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: Then you have to figure out how to pick up and hold all your other stuff with your remaining hand.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_03: So she had like her purse, which she like put over one shoulder with her one hand, which I was like, yes, totally checks out, makes sense.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_03: Then she had like a hair clip, so she put that in her mouth and then used her mouth to open it and clipped it to her arm, which I was like, also I had totally something I would do.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: Resourceful, yep.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: And then she had like a sudoku book and a bunch of other little stuff.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: So she like stacked everything on top of her sudoku book.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_03: And that was how she like carried everything.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so like as a tray.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, as a tray.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that's girl grip.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you can like fit everything into your like if you can carry everything unconventionally, then you have girl grip.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so that was like walking up to these little recording pods.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, here, put the adapter in my elbow pit.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how I carried it.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, okay.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's girl grip.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you pass, you have girl grip.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's where I'm like, I use my laptop as a tray to carry things all the time.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Always.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: Why why wouldn't I?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because you have to.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_03: How are you gonna carry things?
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: This is why I'm like, do dudes not do this?
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think they must not.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: I think you're right.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: I So I don't know, I'm not around that many dudes anymore, but like out here I don't see like when I see the guys packing up, they're not like well, also they're not schlepping 60 bags either, like I am.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: That is true.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I don't see too many guys doing that.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: But also they have pockets that are much more functional than a lot of our pockets, which I think is part of it.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: Wonder.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, how much of that is because here we go, how much of that is because the burden has always fallen to women to like think through everything, all of the mental labor, make sure everything is prepared for, and then we carry it all.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's like that viral clip of the mime at SeaWorld, who's like he hands like the baby in the backpack to the dad because the mom's got the stroller, the backpack, another baby, and he like stops them and is like, here, dad, take something.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um literally anything.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then that's like, I didn't even notice that something was happening.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's a whole other thing.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I'm like, how much of it is the expectation that women are like prepared for everything, and so then they just carry it all.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, or is it like we just want some of the different things?
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think about like I don't want my chopstick.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm carrying three bags here, not because I'm thinking about anybody else but myself.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just me, and it's because I want.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: What if I want this one notebook instead of this other or this other pen instead of the one I'm using now, which I really wish I would have brought in here.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: What if I want a book?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't fit in my pocket, like I don't want to stuff all that in my pocket.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that I don't know.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and then I I just wonder too, I'm like, okay, but what like what do you do if you just don't have that thing?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: Does that just mean that we're like extra neurospicy?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: Because I see people I see people walking around all the time without stuff.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean that are women.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, how?
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_03: Where?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_03: Where's your stuff?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like, I've got one of those smaller it's not a clutch, it could be a clutch, but it's like a clutch on a long strap.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: And when I have an event or something where I don't want to bring my tote, because like just space-wise, it doesn't make sense, I can fit everything into that.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: But even then, the amount of not anymore, but initially it's like, okay, well, what is actually gonna make the cut and go into the bag?
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because we've got the wallet, we've got the phone, we got the keys, and that already has taken up a decent amount of space, plus chapstick, plus, you know, all all of the anti-anxiety and nausea meds, the whole concoction that I'm carrying with me, which like most venues, they have to be like in the med bottle in case you get searched and they're like making sure you're not bringing anything actually fun in.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's like, what if I'm wearing lip gloss?
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Or I sweat like crazy, and so I'm constantly like oily and sweaty.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: So what if I have some sort of correction or like oil absorbing sheets or just freaking paper towels because I'm drenched in sweat?
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's happened too.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: I guess handkerchiefs would do that thing.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: Microfiber towel that I bring everywhere with me.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: My camping towel.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Why not?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's my concert towel, it's my dinner towel.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_03: You just I just need this towel.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_03: I just I need this towel.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: I need you to let me bring this towel in with me.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_03: Don't ask, don't, nope.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's just it's for me.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's I'm not using it for harm.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nope.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: I promise not to like spin it and whip anybody with it.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: It could double as that though.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you needed protection.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: Self-defense.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_03: Self-defense.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's a good towel snap.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_03: They'll never see it coming.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_03: Just like watch you just whip the knife right out of their hands.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: That I will definitely, you know, I don't freeze in work meetings, so why would I freeze, you know, when I'm being assaulted potentially?
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's how that's gonna go about.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: Sarcasm, I freeze in work meetings all the time under threat.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: What?
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when turd bags are being turd bags.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like my brain's just like, take offline.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, although I don't know.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: When I think back on other situations in my life, I'm like, no, I might actually do okay with the towel snap.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: That might actually be an effective thing.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: My my problem is I've never actually been able to get a good snap.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I would just be sitting there trying.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's like it's like when you can't let get a match to light and you're just sitting there.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: So you're really panning them.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a light breeze.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: They're just like, what are you what what?
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: What are you doing?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Are you trying to distract me?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna pull a rabbit out of your purse or something?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm trying to harm you.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: Whoopsh.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: Whoopsh, whoopsh.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to get you.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, these guys are bringing in paintings.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh hoo.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, what's that?
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_03: So easily interesting.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: So for those of you that are not watching, well, even if you are watching because you couldn't see it.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: Since we're just sitting in the house.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe off the reflection of my glasses.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: Lovely gray boxes.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh some dudes just walked by with some canvases.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: And earlier they walked by with some canvas stands.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I missed that part.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe they're doing a little art show upstairs.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: That'd be fun.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's a cool idea.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Or they might be doing photographs.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: Although it's pretty dark.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_01: Up there, right?
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they have windows in the conference rooms, I think.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's fun though.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: I like the art show up there.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_03: That could be fun.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's a cool idea.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: Good to know.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: Good to know.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so I feel like we peppered everybody with here's all the terrible things happening.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I feel like we should be like, there are some good things happening too, I guess.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe sort of Okay, that's good.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: So probably we should wrap this up so it's not just like, well, everything sucks.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_03: Everything's terrible.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_03: There's nothing you can do about it because people have way more money and power than you.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, bye! Bye, thanks for listening.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_03: So good here.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: We love it.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be amazing.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just send you off on your day with this.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's probably fair.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's probably a fair thing to do.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, like a what is good in your life right now?
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: Did you have something else in mind?
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe a what is good.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_03: I I have a thing.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_03: You do?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: Let's hear it.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_03: I have a thing.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_03: So there's an ice cream place that.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: That has this amazing.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna look this up later, and they're probably gonna be private equity owned, and then I'm gonna hate myself.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: But oh no, we've gotta find this out now.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: But carry on.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so Nashville, Tennessee.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_03: There's this place called Cone Sept.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: C-O-N-E dot C-E-P-T.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh they have the best milkshake I think I've ever had in my life.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_03: And it has it's just like ice cream and blueberries.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: That's it.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's got ice cream, and I don't know what makes it that good, actually.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_03: Because like it's just frozen blueberries and a milkshake.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_03: But the blueberries are somehow really good.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like they're not sad, you know.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_03: When you get a sad blueberry and you're like, oh, this like makes my whole body sad.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like, why am I even eating this?
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are these sour pebbles?
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's like, oh, this is so depressing.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: No, this is like a good blueberry.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_03: So you get a good, squishy, delightful blueberry, and they don't blend all of them in.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_03: So you at the bottom of the milkshake, you get like these nice, large, juicy, delicious blueberries that are super sweet.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's insane.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then you like get blueberry flavor in the rest of the milkshake, too.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_03: But it's really good.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's really good.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's really good.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_03: That sounds incredible.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: It's pretty yeah, it's pretty tasty, not gonna lie.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yum.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: So that's the thing.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have the right website.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's your what's good though.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I guess let me see if I can find it and you can talk about your what's good.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say, because I pulled up their site, but there websites don't usually say like we're private equity owned.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but let's see here.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: What's the website that you go and look up all of the stuff on like different tech companies?
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: Never mind.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's not that important.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: We don't do thoughts.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: We don't do thoughts.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_01: We don't do thoughts in the moment.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, don't worry about it.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_03: Began as a way to many design projects do sounds like a wing and prayer thinking, but like, where who owns you?
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_03: Who are you?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or East Nashville residence.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so probably not private equity.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, probably not yet.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: Although I'm like with East Nashville, I'm like, do you work for private equity?
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: You might.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_03: You might work for private equity.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: With if you can afford if you've bought a house in East Nashville in the last few years.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_03: Have you bought a house in Nashville since 2022?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_03: Pretty much.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_03: You are private equity.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_03: You yourself are the problem.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_03: You are the private equity.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: Man.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, uh something good for me.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I uh when we were in our uh hearing from like prepper people more, some of those newsletters that we were following, and the prepper people were like, get ready because it's gonna be hell.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it might, I mean, groceries are up 30% in that time, and the chance they're gonna continue to rise, or at least it's not gonna change in the next year or two.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_03: Splash they are predicting famine, so yeah.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, great.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like in the US regions?
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, well, no, the more global part.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_03: But like yeah, global famine.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, because fertilizer.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway, yeah.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_03: This is supposed to be our not depressing.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is the not depressing part.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I panic bought some things in Costco, as we've talked about.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh one of my panic purchases was the Ness Cafe Instant Coffee, the Blonde Roast.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it because I love coffee.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_03: I just have to know how big was the canister slash container, slash containers.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, two containers.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_01: They were probably like, if you squashed my water bottle down to about here, so it's 30 ounces.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_01: Probably solid 30 ounces.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: 20 30 ounces of instant coffee.
• 48:45
  unknown: Okay, okay.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's not bad, but like I I brew ground coffee at home.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't really use instant coffee unless like I'm camping, which has not been very frequent in the last four years.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not I'm not really sure why I went for the instant coffee instead of just like more bags of beans.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe you just thought we were never gonna have coffee again.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was just like, I need it in every form.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: Every form.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_01: But this form is great because I have one of those little frother sticks.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, I've been getting more intentional because the crema coffee soda, to everyone, all two of you listening, I have probably told you a million times how delicious it is.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so bad guys.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: The I'll be so I'm just like, nope, I have anticipatory grief about when it goes away.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that just makes me, I'm like, live in the moment, enjoy it more now.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: But the point of this is I've been trying to find different ways to use the uh the what's it called?
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: Instant coffee.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um perimenopause on the list.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's the worst, literally the worst.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I found this recipe for French toast iced latte.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm probably very behind because I think it was a trend like a year or so ago.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just catching it now, which I'm like, eh, whatever.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm 42.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: Nope, 41, not 42 yet.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: 41, it's fine.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be behind on the trends, it's fine.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_01: But it is a couple teaspoons of that instant coffee, teaspoon of brown sugar, about the same of maple syrup, and then a little bit of hot water in that.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oops, and then you use the frother.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, but the key is a dash of cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and then you use the frother to froth it up, fill it up with ice once it's nice and poofy, and then I top it with oat milk, and it is oh I've tried a lot of the homemade lattes before, and I'm just like, oh, this just is bad.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't hit.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is so heavenly, and I usually don't like cinnamon and coffee because it blunts some of the bitterness.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_01: But the combo in this is perfect.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_03: So highly recommend.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: I might have to go I'll find the Instagram for it and we can put it in the show.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: Nest Cafe.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's so good.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I have like I remember my grandma drinking Nescafe, and it just Oh yeah.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that stuff's been around forever.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's another level now.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's like all I drank in Turkey in 2009, and it was glorious then because it was all we had, but man, it was so good.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_03: So good.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_03: 2009 That sounds amazing.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's I highly recommend it.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm gonna have to get some.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can borrow some of mine.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_00: Go get any.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about any.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll I'll give you a container of it.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be fine.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_03: I appreciate that.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_03: You can have some of my beans.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thanks.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: They're great for baking.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like as the pie weights.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's always a good thing too.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: For all those pies you bake, you know.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_01: I bake in all of your spare time.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_03: So many pies.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_03: You don't even know how many pies I bake.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: How should we sign off?
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_03: We could just end.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_03: Be like, that's it, we're done.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_01: So long, sucker.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_01: Private equity is literally the worst.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's literally the worst.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_00: Even though they're paying me.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: Please don't stop paying me until I get a chance to get out.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_03: Don't stop paying me until I have some replacement income.
• 52:54
  unknown: Thank you.
• 52:55
  unknown: Okay.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, literally the worst.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we can use our research to decide if we want to support them or not.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_03: We'll link to some resources in the notes.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_03: I like it.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_03: Alright.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_03: Alright.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_03: Talk to you later.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_03: Bye.