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Farewell 2023 · Dad Needs To Talk

• 0:03
  What's up y'all, and welcome back to Daddy's to Talk.
• 0:07
  I'm your host Robert, and today, today it is New Year's Eve.
• 0:12
  So that means it is time to close out the year by looking
• 0:16
  back and reflecting on this past year for me as both Daddy's To
• 0:23
  Talk and just me as Robert. So before I get into all that,
• 0:28
  as always if this is your first time here then welcome, but if
• 0:32
  you're a returning listener and or watcher then welcome back.
• 0:36
  Y'all know here at Danny's to talk it's all about fatherhood
• 0:39
  and family manga, anime and video games.
• 0:44
  So the year is wrapping up. It is currently 10:42 PM on New
• 0:52
  Year's Eve here in Texas. And man, it it has been, it has
• 1:01
  been a year to say the least and so I have done this every year
• 1:10
  since I've been doing the podcast.
• 1:11
  So this be my third year, my third time during the Reflection
• 1:15
  episode. And like I say previously, I
• 1:20
  want to try to do these every year.
• 1:23
  If possible, just as any other kind of like.
• 1:27
  Benchmark of like, hey, here's where I am at this point in time
• 1:32
  in life, both with the podcast, but just life and family in
• 1:35
  general. For both.
• 1:37
  Myself and for my kids or just anybody else that might be
• 1:40
  curious as to, hey, what was Robert up to in 2023 or 21 or
• 1:46
  whatever the catch may be. So yeah, so you know, I, I'll
• 1:52
  say overall this year was an interesting one in many ways and
• 2:03
  turn this freaking there a lot of I don't need it for this.
• 2:07
  Oh, but yeah, so that that this was just like a very interesting
• 2:12
  year overall to where there were some things.
• 2:20
  Out of my control that. Happened, but then there were
• 2:24
  some things that. Were close within my grasp that
• 2:28
  I let slip, you know, got a little bit too comfortable or
• 2:32
  kind of jumped the gun too early before things were fully set.
• 2:38
  And then it kind of snowballed and put me and my family in
• 2:41
  certain situations and stuff that as a person with, you know,
• 2:47
  married with five kids and stuff, whatever, you know, I've
• 2:51
  kind of, you know, kind of lived.
• 2:54
  Too close on the edge for this year.
• 3:00
  So that is definitely like a big no no.
• 3:04
  That I definitely want to get better at and stuff, especially
• 3:10
  because it's like there's too many, there's too many.
• 3:14
  Factors that can change or be taken away in a heartbeat, that
• 3:21
  could drastically shift stuff, whatever.
• 3:23
  Because you know, wow, I do in some sense realize when I kind
• 3:32
  of know when I'm like, man, I'm having a tough time with this or
• 3:35
  that or whatever. I do always remember where I
• 3:40
  came from growing up and then even just in the modern day
• 3:44
  setting where I travel to and from from.
• 3:49
  Especially like on my daily commute stuff to work, I see a
• 3:53
  lot of people in a lot of situations to where even small
• 3:56
  stuff where you know, I see people walking with their
• 4:02
  groceries from the grocery store and I remember growing up we
• 4:06
  didn't have a car and so anytime me by myself or me and my mom
• 4:12
  had to go grocery shopping or whatever and just picture hey,
• 4:15
  normal grocery shopping. But having to walk across town
• 4:20
  with a bunch of bags and stuff, whatever, of course, you know we
• 4:23
  did have you know, family, friends and family and stuff
• 4:26
  every now and then. You know, they would give us a
• 4:27
  ride and stuff. But as far as like the normal,
• 4:31
  it was depending upon my 2. Feet, You know, like I remember,
• 4:37
  I need to know, here's the list and go get this, this, this and
• 4:39
  this. OK, walk to the store and get in
• 4:42
  and come back. So I'm like, OK, I don't have to
• 4:43
  do that no more. You know, I'm fortunate enough
• 4:45
  to not just have one vehicle, but I have two vehicles and
• 4:48
  stuff. And often times, you know, when
• 4:54
  I'm driving through or sitting at a light and I see homeless
• 4:59
  people and different things like that, I do always wonder, like
• 5:06
  what was the turning point or what was the situation that led
• 5:11
  them to being in that position? And sometimes I fear that if I
• 5:19
  fly too close to the sun with some of the situations and
• 5:21
  stuff, I'd be in. If it's like, yo, hey, you know,
• 5:28
  you playing with fire, you playing a little bit too close
• 5:30
  to the edge, Robert, that could be you or your family, whatever,
• 5:34
  you know, on the street and stuff, whatever.
• 5:36
  And so that is some stuff I definitely try to take note of
• 5:40
  and remember as I go through my day-to-day doing what I do and
• 5:44
  stuff. So, but, but yeah, so that
• 5:47
  that's definitely some stuff I want to get better at what that
• 5:50
  I was saying. And this is something I kind of
• 5:53
  got to mention a little bit last year because they had just
• 5:56
  started, but we got to do a lot of traveling this year and I got
• 6:04
  to say shout. Out to my oldest son for
• 6:08
  excelling and what he does in sports because that is the
• 6:11
  catalyst. For us traveling and stuff.
• 6:14
  And now my wife got to go on a little bit more trips than me
• 6:20
  and then my son took a trip by himself with the team and stuff.
• 6:24
  So but you know, especially when like if it comes down to like,
• 6:28
  OK, only one of us can go, I'll, you know, let my wife go and
• 6:34
  stuff, whatever. And then I just hold the floor
• 6:36
  down here at the house and stuff.
• 6:38
  So, but so. Last year last December we went
• 6:42
  to Phoenix, AZ and since then this year let's see we went to
• 6:51
  we went to Memphis TN what's we went to Wichita KS and and just
• 6:58
  to keep get right up to speed anybody that's new here
• 7:00
  whatever. So if you're new here, I'm
• 7:07
  married. I'm a father of five.
• 7:09
  Three boys, ages 1511 and six, and then twin girls ages 14 and
• 7:17
  my oldest three kids all do sports.
• 7:20
  They all now do basketball along with my daughters, mainly my
• 7:25
  oldest daughter. She mainly does try, but she's
• 7:28
  transitioned this year into basketball, which I'll talk
• 7:30
  about in a second. But they've all been doing those
• 7:33
  sports for about 8 years now. So they started when they were
• 7:36
  like four or five, basically from four to six years old is
• 7:40
  when they started. And like I said, now they're 14
• 7:42
  and 15. So we've been doing the sports
• 7:45
  thing for a long time. If you're interested in more
• 7:46
  conversations of that, I have. I think this was like from like
• 7:52
  when I very first started podcasting.
• 7:53
  So it's only available audio only, but it's called raising
• 8:01
  child athletes, so look up that. And I plan on doing an updated
• 8:05
  version of that now, now that my kids are in middle school, about
• 8:07
  the transition to high. School but any who so so yeah so
• 8:11
  my kids have been doing this for a long time and they all compete
• 8:13
  at a very high level both in track and basketball.
• 8:17
  And so towards the end of last year, my son, basically he, he's
• 8:23
  excelled to a point and playing with teams at a point to where
• 8:26
  now, like we've always of course traveled across DFW and.
• 8:32
  Done some stuff within the state of Texas, but now we've started
• 8:36
  doing stuff nationwide. So like I said, last December we
• 8:40
  went to Phoenix, AZ and then across this year we went to
• 8:44
  Memphis, TN, Wichita, KS, did some stuff elsewhere in Texas.
• 8:50
  I think, I think, I think my wife, I think they went out to
• 8:52
  Houston. One time.
• 8:55
  My wife and him went to Vegas, Las Vegas and then my son went
• 9:01
  to Ohio by himself with the team.
• 9:04
  So and that is just the stuff that we were financially able to
• 9:08
  pull off because the team I think they still you know they
• 9:13
  went to California and I think maybe.
• 9:16
  Florida and some other stuff, whatever.
• 9:18
  So but we can only manage so much but by us.
• 9:23
  But still just the fact that like I've got to go to States
• 9:26
  and places and stuff that I've never been before and that he is
• 9:31
  also getting these experiences as a early teen and stuff as
• 9:35
  well as very dope. But so yeah, so that that was
• 9:39
  definitely 1 positive of the year.
• 9:44
  Finally got my wife another car after when I when I did this
• 9:48
  last year. Whatever my wife's car had got
• 9:51
  hit the day after Christmas last year and so.
• 9:56
  We spent the better part of this year dealing with lawyers and
• 9:59
  stuff because we filed A lawsuit with it and that of course led
• 10:03
  to us going, it was what, 50 days before we even got a rental
• 10:10
  and then another 50 days of them doing repairs on the cars before
• 10:15
  we got the car back and stuff. So and then they just finally
• 10:19
  settled it or whatever. And then even that we're still
• 10:22
  waiting for the payout on that and we're about to go into 2024.
• 10:26
  So yeah, it just kind of just showed me that they, yeah, they
• 10:34
  like any of this like legal stuff with payouts and lawsuits
• 10:38
  and stuff, whatever can take a long time and it definitely
• 10:41
  sucks. I definitely don't want to be in
• 10:43
  this situation any more than I have to be.
• 10:46
  So but but yeah so so yeah. So we spent most of the year
• 10:50
  dealing with the. Fault of that situation.
• 10:53
  My car my my SUV is starting to kick the bucket.
• 11:00
  Like I'm literally stretching it as far as I can and hopefully
• 11:06
  within the next couple of weeks I can either get it fixed or
• 11:10
  more than likely probably get it traded in and upgraded and
• 11:16
  stuff. So just because it's like and
• 11:19
  and it sucks because because my wife's car.
• 11:23
  Would have been. I would have made the last
• 11:25
  payment either late November. Or early December this year at
• 11:29
  the latest. So right now as me as of me
• 11:32
  recording her car would have been paid off.
• 11:34
  But unfortunately like I said after after the the wreck thing
• 11:37
  last year and then it had like some more issues and stuff in
• 11:42
  the summer, it was kind of like OK, do we want to keep dumping
• 11:45
  money into it or trade it in and ended up trading it in.
• 11:49
  But unfortunately traded it in after we spent 1000 plus dollars
• 11:55
  on doing some repairs and stuff on it only for it to fail again
• 11:59
  and we started trading in. So that sucked.
• 12:02
  And so like I said here we are with my vehicle now and so
• 12:06
  hopefully you know before January is over I'll be in a
• 12:11
  better driving situation and stuff as well.
• 12:14
  So because with all the traveling and stuff we do, I
• 12:18
  need. Good, reliable transportation.
• 12:22
  Which is why, even though my vehicle would have been paid
• 12:26
  off, I think early 2025, I think I'm like, whatever, I'd rather
• 12:32
  just keep paying a car note for now and have something newer.
• 12:36
  And it's because it's a, it's a 2015 vehicle is what I got.
• 12:40
  So in my wife's car, I got her. I upgraded her from a or was it?
• 12:46
  It was a 2016 Kia Forte so now she has a 2020 Mitsubishi
• 12:51
  Mirage. So and I I'll be love driving a
• 12:54
  little corner. I drive it because I'll be
• 12:57
  zooming down the highway. But but anyway, but yeah, so
• 13:04
  things have been kind of just all over the place and stuff, so
• 13:08
  but hey, I'm here on New Year's Eve, less, like less than a week
• 13:17
  away from my 34th birthday on January 6th.
• 13:22
  So you know it is what it is. One thing, one lesson that I
• 13:30
  learned this year that I definitely need to take more
• 13:33
  heart to is more me time. As fast as running by my door.
• 13:45
  More me time, more Robert Time, because I kind of saw myself
• 13:52
  stretched to the finer points of my limits, to where I I.
• 14:00
  Kind of see like OK, hey, if if I have to push myself to certain
• 14:05
  lengths or whatever to get stuff done or whatever, I can.
• 14:08
  But me pushing myself to those limits and those boundaries
• 14:12
  constantly, nonstop for days, weeks, months on the end is not
• 14:17
  good for me. And so I need to do more for.
• 14:22
  Myself as I kind of just been like like really like reflecting
• 14:28
  on that and stuff so and it's like thinking back on like the
• 14:31
  last. 10 years of my. Life and it's like it's it's
• 14:35
  been a lot of. A lot of personal wasted time as
• 14:39
  far as like, I admittedly don't really have little to no adult
• 14:47
  friendships and what I mean by that.
• 14:49
  Is like like I've never really since I left college, which has
• 14:56
  been over a decade ago, about to be 12 years ago now.
• 15:03
  I don't have those constant connections where that's where
• 15:07
  I've never really experienced a thing with my wife's well, hey,
• 15:10
  going out with the boys or whatever.
• 15:12
  I've never, I've never had that experience whatever.
• 15:15
  And oh hey I'm a go link up with so and so or hey, I'm gonna go
• 15:19
  over to so and so I have to hang out whatever.
• 15:21
  Never done that or whatever. And so I definitely need to make
• 15:27
  a change of that. Even even with my friends, the
• 15:32
  close friends that I do have that are, you know, like in East
• 15:35
  Texas and stuff. I can make the two hour drive
• 15:42
  down there, even if it's just like a a day trip and I'm not
• 15:45
  spending the night just for a day trip.
• 15:46
  Hey, get up a Saturday morning, drive down, hang out and drive
• 15:52
  back at night or whatever. That is something that I want to
• 15:56
  do more conscious effort of. Because, like I said, like
• 15:59
  we're. We're all getting older.
• 16:01
  We're all having more kids and stuff and getting tied up into
• 16:05
  more family obligations and stuff.
• 16:07
  So but still got to do better about that stuff because that is
• 16:13
  something that I that I found myself over time self
• 16:19
  consciously, which is why, why I'm glad I kind of caught it,
• 16:22
  but kind of self consciously. I don't know if Genesis is a
• 16:28
  type of word or whatever, but my wife goes out with her friends
• 16:32
  and stuff. Not not all the time like every
• 16:34
  week or whatever, but way more than I do whatever, because I
• 16:39
  even like for Halloween. They she has some friends
• 16:42
  instead of flying to town and stuff, whatever.
• 16:43
  And they all booked a hotel or Airbnb.
• 16:48
  They had like a a girl's Halloween weekend or whatever.
• 16:52
  And stuff. So and it was like that is like
• 16:54
  super dope and stuff, so and. You know, she'll go hang out
• 16:57
  with her sister and some close friends and stuff.
• 16:59
  Just, you know, hey, going out for the night, going to the bar
• 17:02
  or whatever, Hanging out with my friends.
• 17:04
  My sister did it to death. Cool.
• 17:06
  I need to do that. And even if it's not going out
• 17:13
  to do stuff with a friend or whatever, something that I kind
• 17:18
  of had to remind myself of to eat, to just have that personal
• 17:24
  piece is. Indulging in more movie goings.
• 17:32
  And so I looked back on my on my Fandango account and I've gone
• 17:35
  to see surprisingly 18 movies this year with a handful of
• 17:42
  those bandwidth. My wife and kids like me, and my
• 17:44
  wife went and saw Creed 3. Me and my oldest son saw
• 17:48
  Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Me and my youngest, my middle
• 17:51
  son, We saw the across, the spider verse and the Ninja
• 17:56
  Turtles, me and Mayhem. And then me and my daughters saw
• 18:01
  Little Mermaid Live Action and Barbie so.
• 18:04
  I've got to do some stuff with them, whatever.
• 18:05
  But the rest have been movies for me, or just just Robert Gore
• 18:11
  by himself. Heck, even today I want to saw
• 18:14
  poor things. Which was a very, very
• 18:17
  interesting movie, and there's so many movies coming out to
• 18:22
  where. I also this is something I'm
• 18:26
  trying to also break my brain on as well because since I've
• 18:29
  become a podcaster and content creator or whatever, it's like
• 18:33
  sometimes when I'm. Watching something or reading
• 18:36
  something or playing a game, whatever, that content creator
• 18:40
  type of part of my brain starts kicking in or whatever.
• 18:43
  It's like, oh, this would be a good clip to have or oh, I need
• 18:46
  to screenshot that. Or oh, I need to remember this
• 18:48
  so I can talk about it and it's like, no, I need to just.
• 18:52
  Just enjoy stuff. Just experience stuff for the
• 18:54
  sake of experiencing it. And then if it leads to me
• 18:57
  wanting to do a podcast or something else about it or
• 19:02
  whatever, so be it. But I do want to just escape
• 19:08
  more, and going to the movies is my little few hours of escape
• 19:18
  from whatever chaos and craziness I might have going on
• 19:21
  in my personal life with my family, kids, work schedules,
• 19:26
  sport schedules, all the traveling and stuff, whatever.
• 19:30
  If we're just three hours on a day, I can go give me some, give
• 19:36
  me a little snack or something, whatever, Pick a movie and just
• 19:41
  go phone on silent or whatever and just me in the screen for a
• 19:47
  few hours. And then hey, my mind is clear.
• 19:52
  I'm mainly just focusing on what I'm experiencing and life's
• 20:01
  worries can't wait for me to. Get out the theater and get in
• 20:05
  my car and check my phone. So that's definitely something
• 20:09
  like. So I want to do more of and so.
• 20:16
  That's something I'm going to do, you know, like say, even if
• 20:18
  it's, you know, it could just be even just like a regular work
• 20:22
  day or whatever. As long as I just communicate
• 20:25
  there like, hey, I'm going to go see a movie on this day or
• 20:27
  whatever. And OK, cool, you know, because
• 20:30
  I know, especially like most of my kids are old enough now to
• 20:32
  where I don't need to be babysitting or hand holding
• 20:35
  everything. You know, like, hey.
• 20:38
  Get dinner or whatever ready or in the house and stuff whatever,
• 20:42
  and they can take care of the rest.
• 20:45
  And so that is what I want to try to do more of towards.
• 20:48
  Like hey, OK, I've had a crazy day and I just need to
• 20:52
  decompress whatever. Oh, what movies are playing?
• 20:55
  Huh? This looks interesting and just
• 20:57
  go watch it for the sake of just watching it and just clear my
• 21:01
  mind for a couple of hours and especially because I see enough
• 21:06
  movies to where it pays for itself in some instances.
• 21:12
  To where it's like I get enough points.
• 21:15
  Where I get a $5 coupon, which depending on when I go next,
• 21:19
  might pay for the whole ticket, or at least majority of it.
• 21:22
  Especially if I go watch a matinee on the weekend or during
• 21:25
  the holiday week like this. Whatever.
• 21:28
  I can go during the day or whatever, or in the morning
• 21:31
  sometimes. Catch an early showing that's,
• 21:35
  you know, $6 or whatever. Use my $5 coupon or whatever.
• 21:40
  And then every now and then, 'cause I keep it right now,
• 21:43
  they're doing like double rewards points.
• 21:45
  So I saw a movie today. Heck, I might go see one
• 21:49
  tomorrow on New Year's, whatever and get those extra points,
• 21:52
  whatever. And then just continue being
• 21:55
  like like so like little. Stuff like that.
• 21:57
  And then also going to like the local comic book store or Barnes
• 22:03
  and Nobles books-a-million Half Price books, all that stuff,
• 22:07
  whatever. That's something that I
• 22:08
  realized. Now granted, I also stopped
• 22:10
  going to those places out of self restraint to stop myself
• 22:14
  from buying so much because I definitely did better than I did
• 22:21
  Spring 2022 when I went bananas buying like whole sets of manga
• 22:28
  like I bought. What is this like?
• 22:32
  I bought all 12 volumes of No Guns Life and every volume of
• 22:37
  multiple series, whatever are the volumes of sweat and soap
• 22:40
  and which is what, 11 volumes. So it's like I did that for a
• 22:47
  lot of series where I bought like double digits worth of
• 22:50
  volumes per series, and a lot of them.
• 22:53
  Here we are about to be 2024. I still haven't finished
• 22:57
  sweating, so I still haven't touched No Guns Life.
• 23:00
  But I've bought more stuff. And so I was like, that's one
• 23:03
  reason why I stopped going at a certain point because OK, this
• 23:07
  is becoming a problem. And then it's like I find myself
• 23:12
  throughout the year sometimes like, man, I'm in a financial
• 23:14
  bind and it's like, oh, you got thousands of dollars just
• 23:19
  sitting on your shelf behind you, whatever, when you probably
• 23:23
  could have just kept that money in your pocket until way later
• 23:28
  when you actually know you're going to commit to reading this
• 23:31
  stuff. We're diving into it or
• 23:32
  whatever. So, so, so that's kind of one
• 23:34
  reason why I've why I slowed down and initially whatever, but
• 23:40
  I've slowly been going back in or whatever and just having that
• 23:45
  self-control, which I am freaking 33, about to be 34.
• 23:49
  I got to have that financial self-control to be able to go
• 23:52
  into a place, browse around for an hour just to get out the
• 23:56
  house for a little bit. It's OK just to browse, take
• 23:59
  notes. Oh yeah, that looks interesting.
• 24:02
  Oh, OK, cool. There's more volumes of this.
• 24:03
  All right. This is something I've never
• 24:05
  even heard of or whatever, and just keep track of that because
• 24:08
  I have like a little long list of my phone of different series
• 24:12
  I want to get to whatever, but between going to the movies and
• 24:15
  then doing stuff like that, those are my little ways of.
• 24:21
  Escape and. Finding some me time so but yeah
• 24:24
  so that that's definitely some stuff I want to do better about
• 24:30
  as we head into the next year and stuff going forward now.
• 24:36
  In regards to the podcast and all this stuff, whatever.
• 24:40
  Overall this was a pretty solid year for the podcast and for the
• 24:46
  YouTube channel and stuff. Let me see.
• 24:49
  Actually let me pause this real quick, see if I can find the
• 24:54
  information. OK, so for the YouTube.
• 24:58
  So I got 80 new subscribers and I think maybe about 8384 now cuz
• 25:03
  I've gotten a few more cents since I got this e-mail from
• 25:06
  YouTube a few weeks ago. So currently as of today I'm
• 25:10
  sitting at 345 subscribers on the YouTube channel which is
• 25:15
  pretty cool. And then for the podcast on on
• 25:20
  the audio side, to date I'm sitting at 17,574 all time
• 25:29
  listens, which is very dope. So I'm trying to sign this
• 25:37
  YouTube rap or this Spotify raps thing which I thought I had
• 25:42
  pulled up. Let's see, let's see.
• 25:48
  So this year 22222, I released about 50 episodes, which I guess
• 25:59
  the probably rounded up's about 60 because I've done more.
• 26:02
  And even in just this month of December, yeah, my podcast was
• 26:10
  top 10 for 32 people. Top five for 20 people and let
• 26:17
  me see and then number one for three people.
• 26:20
  So shout out to everybody out to this listening.
• 26:24
  I greatly appreciate all of y'all that.
• 26:29
  Stick with me. Whether you're new here and you
• 26:32
  just found me or you've been rocking with me for a while, it
• 26:35
  is, it is greatly appreciated. For real.
• 26:39
  Oh, but yeah, so positive notes on that front with the podcast
• 26:45
  and stuff. And I've kind of also like kind
• 26:48
  of been you know, just thinking that like, OK, you know what?
• 26:52
  Do what I can with what I have. So I discovered this year that.
• 27:00
  For whatever reason, I never really felt like the true crooks
• 27:03
  of the problem. Whatever.
• 27:05
  But my laptop is has problems best.
• 27:10
  I think it's me trying to multitask too much to where
• 27:13
  whenever I would have a guest on, have them streaming in while
• 27:18
  recording through OBS everything, it was slowing down
• 27:22
  and checking and stuff and that's why this year y'all saw
• 27:26
  way fewer. Guests and collaborations and
• 27:30
  stuff. Because because I I didn't even
• 27:32
  once that happened or whatever, I stopped inviting people on and
• 27:36
  then I didn't even bother going on to other people's podcasts
• 27:40
  and stuff, whatever, just for fear of me dropping or
• 27:43
  disconnecting and stuff, whatever.
• 27:45
  So which sucks, because I had some really amazing things lined
• 27:50
  up, some amazing discussions and stuff because there's certain
• 27:52
  series. Y'all probably like man, why
• 27:54
  didn't Robert talk about this? Whatever.
• 27:56
  It was like, well, because. That I was supposed to be
• 27:58
  coinciding with a discussion with specific people and stuff,
• 28:01
  whatever. But I also have to just take a
• 28:05
  stride of like, you know what? Do what I can for now.
• 28:09
  And so I would just continue doing what I'm doing right now
• 28:13
  or just with the solo episodes and stuff.
• 28:15
  And then and just know on the side and in the background I'm
• 28:19
  making my plans. I have my list going of people I
• 28:23
  want to have on and the specific topics we want to talk about.
• 28:27
  And I know that whenever the day comes and I'm able to have those
• 28:30
  guests on again and have those conversations, that the podcast
• 28:36
  is going to skyrocket because. I I've gotten to meet so many
• 28:46
  amazing people over the course of me doing this podcast.
• 28:50
  And there's Even so many amazing people that I've known, that
• 28:53
  I've grew up with from back home, that I've met in college
• 28:56
  and stuff that have gone on to do some amazing things that I
• 29:00
  want to have them on, to have those discussions with them on
• 29:04
  those experiences and stuff. So but that will happen when it
• 29:10
  happens. But for the time being, I also
• 29:14
  know that I can provide some informative topics of discussion
• 29:21
  myself just based off of my own experiences in life and also how
• 29:29
  I might view stuff just as me as an individual.
• 29:33
  But a lot of times I also look at certain situations or certain
• 29:37
  shows, books, whatever, differently because of my
• 29:42
  connection as a father or as a. Husband or as a, you know,
• 29:47
  youngest of three kids, whatever the kids may be or whatever.
• 29:51
  There's many unique conversations that I can have,
• 29:55
  and so I want to continue to do that.
• 29:58
  And so I I want to make a honest attempt at a steady, consistent
• 30:07
  release. Because I was building towards
• 30:10
  this 'cause I had, during the summer, watched a whole bunch of
• 30:14
  shows and record a whole bunch of stuff, and I was sitting on
• 30:18
  four times when life got busy or I got burnt out.
• 30:23
  It's like, you know what? I can just pull this episode out
• 30:26
  of the vault because it's timeless, put it out and you
• 30:30
  know, that'll be something that's still coming out
• 30:33
  consistently, whatever. But I can rest or handle life,
• 30:37
  business, or whatever case may be or whatever.
• 30:38
  So now I pretty much got all those episodes out for the most
• 30:43
  part, and I want to try that now.
• 30:47
  New Year, clean slate. Because like I said, I have some
• 30:53
  very dope conversations I want to have and even some topics I
• 30:57
  want to revisit. Like I said, the raising child
• 31:02
  athletes. Because it's been 2 years since
• 31:04
  I've done that episode and we've experienced a lot as a family,
• 31:09
  my kids with the. Sports stuff, whatever that I
• 31:12
  want to pass that knowledge on to other people and stuff.
• 31:17
  So because one thing I'll say and and I'm and I'm glad that my
• 31:24
  kids are kind of starting to understand what I was saying
• 31:28
  with this to where I was like take advantage of the
• 31:32
  opportunity that you have. Because there's a lot of awesome
• 31:39
  people out there that do a lot of awesome things, not just
• 31:41
  sports wise but just life in general.
• 31:43
  But a lot of them never had the opportunity or the tools or the
• 31:49
  support system to get them into places for them to shine.
• 31:57
  Or for them to try to, you know, make a move happen or whatever.
• 32:01
  And so, you know, cuz like, cuz like example.
• 32:05
  I like the old guy, work with their work, whatever he talk
• 32:08
  about all the time. Whenever I have conversations
• 32:10
  about the stuff I'm doing, my kids, whatever, he talk about
• 32:12
  all the time. How?
• 32:13
  Because of how he grew up with both of his parents being deaf.
• 32:17
  He was the youngest of like six or seven kids, even though he
• 32:21
  was a good athlete and stuff, whatever.
• 32:23
  Like he never got that opportunity.
• 32:25
  His parents never let him do sports.
• 32:28
  Whatever, even when the coaches came to his.
• 32:30
  Parents was like hey, why don't you let him play whatever.
• 32:33
  And the dad just simply just like no and like wildlife
• 32:36
  because I said no simple as that.
• 32:39
  And so me and my wife strive to put our kids in the best
• 32:47
  positions possible. And so one thing I want to say,
• 32:53
  shout out to my older son. He has really stepped up as a
• 33:00
  person and as a leader, especially this year since he's
• 33:05
  gone to 8th grade. So he did football for the first
• 33:08
  time this year. And I think that the toughness
• 33:12
  he gained, he gained not only physical toughness, but I think
• 33:15
  also mental toughness from doing this one season of football.
• 33:20
  And when he finished, he said he's done, he's don't want to do
• 33:23
  football no more whatever. But I can already see the shift
• 33:26
  in how he maneuvers, how he thinks and even going back into
• 33:32
  the summer or whatever a bit, he is doing what he can to also try
• 33:39
  to open up the door for his friends and stuff.
• 33:41
  Because let me pause real quick, where's my mouse?
• 33:49
  So my son has been coached by so many amazing people and coaches
• 33:53
  over the years that have gone off to, you know do their own
• 33:56
  thing or whatever to where we still keep in contact with those
• 33:59
  coaches. And so sometimes out the blue
• 34:01
  during the summertime winter break, whatever they might be
• 34:04
  like, hey, we there's a tournament going on here this
• 34:09
  weekend or whatever and I'm putting together A-Team.
• 34:11
  Can Jay come play? Whatever.
• 34:14
  Oh yeah, sure. If he's.
• 34:15
  If he had anything else that he's obligated to do, whatever,
• 34:17
  sure. Well, the coach was like, hey, I
• 34:21
  also need at least like a couple other kids, whatever.
• 34:23
  Do you know any people? And so my son invited a couple
• 34:29
  of his friends from school that he plays on, on the team at
• 34:32
  school or whatever. But the thing that we always
• 34:34
  tell him, of course, is like, hey, anybody that you invite on
• 34:38
  the stuff, whatever, they also have to have some level of
• 34:41
  commitment as well because it's like, OK.
• 34:43
  Hey, we're telling the coach that we have somebody, whatever.
• 34:46
  Well, we need them to be committed the whole weekend.
• 34:49
  But in him doing that, he is also.
• 34:54
  Opening up the view of some of his friends and teammates
• 34:57
  because a lot of them don't know about the AAU stuff and this
• 35:01
  high level of sports and stuff that goes on outside of school.
• 35:06
  And so that was an awesome situation where they play
• 35:10
  together they went they won the championship at that tournament
• 35:13
  that weekend and then even a couple weeks ago whatever or
• 35:18
  over the over like the last month or whatever.
• 35:20
  We had some amazing situations to where it's kind of one of
• 35:23
  those things of like hey, remember certain people whatever
• 35:28
  and you know, leave a good impression and stuff because you
• 35:31
  never know who you're going to encounter again over the years.
• 35:35
  So we had three situations back-to-back to back to where
• 35:38
  first of all, his childhood best friend he had from like pre-K,
• 35:44
  kindergarten or whatever he got to reunite with and play against
• 35:49
  in a game a few weeks back, Whatever.
• 35:53
  And because last year they didn't get a chance to meet
• 35:56
  because the boy had got hurt and football right before basketball
• 36:00
  season started. So when the two schools put
• 36:02
  against each other, he was out on injury or whatever.
• 36:05
  And so they got to do it this year, whatever.
• 36:07
  Then the following week, he got to once again reunite with a old
• 36:14
  teammate from the very first team he played on at the local
• 36:18
  YMCA or whatever. He got to cause 'cause cause
• 36:21
  'cause I was at the game, whatever, watching.
• 36:24
  And then when I saw the other kid come on, come on the corner,
• 36:26
  whatever he has, he has a very memorable face.
• 36:29
  And so when I saw his face, I was like, is that who I think it
• 36:31
  is? As I scroll through old
• 36:34
  pictures, had to go back eight years, I found the picture of my
• 36:38
  son and this teammate when they were like 7 years old or
• 36:43
  whatever. And so I got a chance to talk
• 36:46
  with the dad. And so that happened.
• 36:48
  And then after that, my son's kind of kind of like one of his
• 36:56
  like, like true original coaches outside of the once he got past
• 36:59
  the YMCA stuff, whatever. That coach's son is a junior in
• 37:05
  high school now. They were playing against
• 37:08
  Jermaine O'Neill, former NBA player, his team and his son
• 37:12
  Jermaine O'Neill junior and A tournament.
• 37:14
  So I mean my wife took my oldest son and one of his friends was
• 37:18
  with him from his back, from his school basketball team.
• 37:21
  And so his friend got to experience this whole other side
• 37:26
  of things to where he will my son to his special training
• 37:30
  stuff that he does. And then got to go to a high
• 37:34
  level basketball or high school basketball game and meet and
• 37:38
  take pictures with the former NBA player and get some words of
• 37:40
  wisdom and stuff too. So him, so my son, realizing the
• 37:46
  situation he's in and try to bring or at least introduce some
• 37:51
  of his friends and teammates and stuff to this other side of the
• 37:54
  side of the world, so to speak. Whatever.
• 37:59
  So yeah. So they knew, like I said that
• 38:02
  that was a long tangent, whatever.
• 38:03
  But like I said, just super proud of him for stepping out,
• 38:07
  being a leader and that stuff and just having that confidence
• 38:13
  to persevere and go forward. And same thing with both of my
• 38:18
  daughters, having that confidence to continue to strive
• 38:25
  to do better and be better and so, so yeah, so we're in the,
• 38:30
  the the thick of things with them as the days go by.
• 38:37
  I want to give Vash involved. It's a type of sports thing,
• 38:40
  whatever. But I'm also like, man, I'm not
• 38:42
  in a super rush either 'cause I'm like, like I said like we've
• 38:45
  been doing this with the order 3 for 8 going on nine years now.
• 38:49
  And then it's like OK now having to start from scratch again with
• 38:53
  somebody on top of keeping going with the order three as we're
• 38:57
  about to transition to high school stuff.
• 38:59
  So so that's going to be a whole other another level of things.
• 39:03
  So but we'll we'll get to stuff as we get to them.
• 39:06
  But but yeah, so with with the podcast.
• 39:09
  Stuff like I was saying. I want to make a honest shot and
• 39:15
  see, OK, hey, if I can have some type of consistency and I'm not
• 39:21
  going to try to aim to do every single week.
• 39:24
  But it's like, hey, if I can do at least every other week.
• 39:27
  Because between all the stuff I watch, read, video games I'm
• 39:33
  playing and just life that I am living, there will be things for
• 39:38
  me to talk about. There are plenty of past
• 39:41
  experiences across my life. I can do topics on their there
• 39:45
  are specific viewpoints, whatever was you know what, just
• 39:51
  just you know for a little bit of a peek behind the curtain.
• 39:55
  Since I'm kind of a just talking whatever, just kind of want to
• 40:00
  throw this out there. Just like some stuff that is on
• 40:01
  my mind as far as potential things I want to do a fun one.
• 40:13
  Or a fun conversation I've been planning to have and I've been
• 40:16
  waiting for a while for the for the timing to line up on this.
• 40:21
  Whatever. So sometime in February prior
• 40:23
  towards the end. It will be the 10 year
• 40:25
  anniversary since I got. Fired from GameStop and in turn
• 40:31
  started my IT career. So that's the story coming in
• 40:36
  February 2020. Four, but I've been sitting on
• 40:38
  that one for a while. 'Cause as as every every
• 40:41
  February of every year I think about that and then when I
• 40:44
  looked at the calendar, I'm like, man, 2024 will be the 10
• 40:48
  year anniversary of that event happening.
• 40:51
  Something like that would be perfect.
• 40:52
  So I'm like, I got that at that episode planned during a
• 40:57
  conversation about being a stepfather cause been a step dad
• 41:01
  for many years before me and my wife had our own son together
• 41:06
  resident another family topic of just letting your kids try
• 41:13
  different things. Let me see that.
• 41:20
  That's like a few topics and then I have.
• 41:24
  A whole host of series that I want to get to like.
• 41:32
  Like, I still have never watched Vox Machina.
• 41:36
  I haven't watched the Wednesday Netflix series.
• 41:41
  Let me see. I've never, I've never seen
• 41:44
  stuff like The Matrix, Interstellar, the Ghost in the
• 41:47
  Shell anime. I want to read the Claremore
• 41:51
  manga. I want to read Maggie.
• 41:56
  Like there, there's there's so many things I can and want to
• 41:59
  get into. There's even some series I
• 42:02
  haven't watched in a long time. Like I haven't seen Book of Eli
• 42:06
  since that came out of 2010. I would like to revisit Full
• 42:09
  Middle, Alchemist Brotherhood. Haven't watched that since 2010,
• 42:13
  really. And just a lot of stuff like
• 42:16
  that or whatever. There's a lot of gaps in my
• 42:19
  nerdy history I want to fill in, and so I want to make sure I'm
• 42:25
  balancing, not just always chasing the new thing, new
• 42:28
  thing, new thing, new thing. But you know, picking out a few
• 42:31
  new things, reading some stuff and the the most attention
• 42:38
  grabbing will get their own individual reviews and stuff.
• 42:42
  Otherwise it will be put into just part of the normal Pockets
• 42:47
  episode. When I talk about what I'm
• 42:49
  watching, reading, playing, whatever.
• 42:50
  Because I don't. I can't realistically do an
• 42:56
  episode for every single thing or whatever, so but that's why
• 43:04
  and and sometimes I forget that is why I set up my podcast
• 43:06
  stretch of the way it. Is where the normal a normal
• 43:11
  podcast episode. It is talking about life talk
• 43:16
  and then any any in in a random combination order of what I'm
• 43:22
  watching, what I'm reading and what I'm playing.
• 43:25
  And so the stuff that's not the criminal crop to get us on
• 43:29
  episode, we'll just get talked about in turn with some other
• 43:34
  stuff, whatever. And that's kind of how I want to
• 43:36
  do things where I was like, OK, hey, I might watch and
• 43:39
  experience something and I might not necessarily necessarily want
• 43:42
  to do a dedicated episode to just that show or movie or
• 43:46
  whatever, but it might drum up a topic of discussion I want to do
• 43:51
  for for something. So, so yeah, so just a lot of
• 43:56
  ideas and stuff. I just wanted you to throw out
• 43:58
  there to y'all, just to let y'all know like like where I'm
• 44:00
  kind of at thinking podcast wise going forward.
• 44:05
  And Speaking of which, to me, just going back to the basics
• 44:11
  and just remembering or embracing just being a
• 44:16
  podcaster. I don't have to have a bunch of
• 44:20
  stuff up on the screen all the time for video and stuff.
• 44:23
  Especially with the technical issue I'm dealing with to where
• 44:26
  sometimes if I'm trying to multi task too much it causes
• 44:29
  problems, whatever. So hey, it is cool if I'm able
• 44:33
  to get something on the screen, cool.
• 44:35
  If not, that is not my aim, that is not my goal.
• 44:39
  I am not a YouTube per SE to where I'm trying to do all these
• 44:44
  fancy cuts and edits and stuff. Whatever.
• 44:47
  I am just here to talk about my experiences, to talk about the
• 44:52
  things I'm enjoying and what I liked about them too.
• 44:55
  Y'all I'm not, I'm not necessarily here for the fancy
• 45:01
  side of things. I am just here to talk.
• 45:04
  If you want to listen, cool, you know, just put me on the
• 45:07
  background while you're doing work around the house or
• 45:10
  whatever the case may be. So but, but yeah, so that that's
• 45:13
  something I'm trying to come back to my basics of like hey,
• 45:17
  it is OK to just talk. I don't have to multitask, I
• 45:23
  don't have to have videos. I have to do try to do clever
• 45:25
  edits and gifts and all those other stuff.
• 45:27
  Whatever is like, no, it is OK to just talk and to just be a
• 45:33
  podcaster. And so yes, like, so that is
• 45:37
  just. Some of the lessons I've learned
• 45:40
  this year and just some of the notes I'm trying to take going
• 45:46
  forward into next year to where, like I said, trying to go back
• 45:53
  to some series that are already done and watching Reading,
• 45:56
  playing. Oh, Speaking of which, playing,
• 46:00
  playing video games is something I want to do more consistently
• 46:05
  as well. Because along with going to the
• 46:08
  Bookstore or going to the movies, playing video games is
• 46:13
  also a form of escape and leisure.
• 46:17
  And I need to make time for myself to do that, even if it's
• 46:20
  just 30 minutes before bed or hour or so, once everybody else
• 46:24
  is in bed or tucked away or whatever.
• 46:27
  Hey, take some time for myself and that that is.
• 46:31
  Why? For one, I invested in getting
• 46:35
  myself a new controller that is for me only because of course,
• 46:39
  you know with Vash getting older and you know, now we're able to
• 46:42
  do co-ops and stuff, whatever. It's kind of like a perfect
• 46:45
  double combination to where like you know he's, he just turned 6
• 46:51
  now and ever. But of course the ages 345, he'd
• 46:55
  been using my controllers whatever and they're all grimy
• 46:57
  and stuff because he loves snacking and using the
• 47:00
  controller stuff whatever. So he was like, you know what?
• 47:02
  You can have my original controller.
• 47:05
  Perfect timing this this limited edition spider Man one came out,
• 47:09
  which I'm still sad about, which I'm a hunt down someday.
• 47:14
  I'm so sad that last year I missed the freaking God of War,
• 47:16
  Ragnarok one because it was blue, had wolves on the touch
• 47:21
  pad, which that's my favorite animal.
• 47:23
  Blue is my favorite color and it was God of War, one of my
• 47:27
  favorite series. But hey, someday I'm going to
• 47:29
  hunt down that controller and get it.
• 47:30
  But I got that as a treat for myself, and I keep it put up
• 47:34
  when I'm not here. But something else I want to
• 47:37
  invest in for myself in gaming is I want to get my hands on a
• 47:42
  PlayStation portal for me. And this kind of ties back into
• 47:49
  something else I had to remind myself of this year, which is
• 47:54
  enjoy stuff for. Me.
• 47:58
  Don't care what nobody else thinks about a game or a show or
• 48:01
  movie, whatever. Go in for me.
• 48:05
  Which is why I do my best, when possible to if it's something
• 48:10
  that I'm already interested in or whatever, I do my best to try
• 48:14
  not to listen to my podcast talking about it or watching the
• 48:17
  reviews or impressions and stuff, whatever.
• 48:19
  Because I don't want my stuff to get twist and turned a certain
• 48:24
  way or whatever, which I've done in the past where I'm like, I
• 48:28
  wasn't going to go see that, but I heard somebody talking about
• 48:30
  it and I changed my mind. I was like, no, go see it.
• 48:32
  Go play it for yourself. Oh, because that kind of
• 48:36
  happened earlier this earlier this year with like like
• 48:40
  Hogwarts legacy and all the drama and stuff surrounding that
• 48:43
  or whatever. And it's like, hey, at the end
• 48:47
  of the day it is up to me to decide what I want to watch,
• 48:52
  read, play and do. And so that goes with the
• 48:57
  PlayStation Portal to where the confusion, the the confusing
• 49:01
  thing is like every time I see somebody just post a picture of
• 49:05
  being like, hey, I'm playing the pleasure portal, hey, I'm having
• 49:09
  fun, or just, hey, chilling with the pleasure portal, dozens of
• 49:14
  comments. Like it's a waste of money, the
• 49:17
  backbone's better, blah blah blah blah.
• 49:19
  Hey, you know, this is a lie. You got to be in your house and
• 49:22
  it's just like all these uninformed comments and stuff or
• 49:27
  just people just heading to, hey, it's like, hey, nobody is
• 49:30
  forcing you to buy this device. Like.
• 49:34
  If you enjoy the backbone, cool. This is literally just another
• 49:39
  option. That's all it is.
• 49:41
  It's another option. And so for me and how I
• 49:46
  maneuver, how my life is, it seems like it'll be a good
• 49:49
  device for me. Which is why I want to get one
• 49:53
  for myself and make my own judgment call and then at some
• 49:57
  point report back to y'all my thoughts on how it does or
• 50:02
  doesn't work for. Me and my situation so, but I
• 50:06
  want to get a device like that just to kind of like to
• 50:10
  hopefully give me more flexibility in my gaming and
• 50:14
  stuff to be able to play more games away from the TV and
• 50:17
  stuff. Because a lot of times Vash has
• 50:20
  my TV tied up or whatever. Which Speaking of which, that's
• 50:26
  going to be a a topic I got to make a note of because something
• 50:29
  that something else I did this year.
• 50:33
  Oh, no, pro. Is that I finally locked down my
• 50:46
  PS5 account from him. Because you know, originally,
• 50:51
  you know, hey, I don't mind you know, he just get on play
• 50:54
  whatever games and stuff I have access to whatever.
• 50:57
  But earlier this summer. Now, I don't know why.
• 51:03
  This is something he's always done, but he loves restarting
• 51:09
  games for some reason. He just loves just like going to
• 51:11
  new game, starting over. So most of the times he's done
• 51:16
  that, I'll be like whatever, I've already been done with the
• 51:18
  game or what. I guess, maybe whatever.
• 51:20
  Though it hurt my heart with Tony Ken because I was super
• 51:24
  deep in that game. And I remember last year I had
• 51:29
  ran to the store. I might have even ran to get
• 51:32
  pizza for dinner for everybody. I was like, you know what?
• 51:34
  The pizza and I put in an order for the pizza.
• 51:37
  Get the notification is ready. All right, y'all first, go get
• 51:40
  the pizza. Whatever.
• 51:40
  Hey, Vash, play play for daddy while I'm gone or whatever.
• 51:43
  And like I said, he would have been four, about to be 5 at this
• 51:47
  point or whatever, because this was like early fall last or
• 51:51
  whatever. So I go get the pizza, got the
• 51:54
  drinks. We're about to have some good
• 51:55
  time. Whatever.
• 51:56
  Chill. Come back.
• 51:59
  Oh, OK. That's just planned through the
• 52:00
  beginning of the game. Interesting and whatever.
• 52:01
  OK, get that in control or whatever.
• 52:04
  I close out or whatever, go to the main menu and it only has
• 52:08
  what he's been playing from the beginning.
• 52:10
  Again. He completely wiped my file.
• 52:11
  I was like I hadn't touched that game again until recently.
• 52:14
  I came over to the PlayStation Plus.
• 52:17
  I'm going to try it again. But the final Stinger was this
• 52:21
  summer, so a lot of y'all know I've mentioned that Rayman
• 52:26
  Legends is a game very near and dear to me that came out of
• 52:30
  2013. I've been playing in some form
• 52:32
  or fashion for over a decade, so that's probably my most precious
• 52:37
  save file I have right now. Well, one too many times he
• 52:42
  started over, but I've always been able to find the backup in
• 52:46
  my cloud backup, bring it back down or whatever and save it.
• 52:50
  But the last time he did this, whatever it was the last time.
• 52:54
  So I put a password protecting my PlayStation account because
• 53:01
  I'm like, no, no, I can't lose this file or whatever.
• 53:06
  And so now I created his own account.
• 53:09
  It's offline or whatever, but he can play most of the stuff,
• 53:13
  whatever he wants to play on his own account or whatever.
• 53:16
  If he wants to restart save files or whatever, he can do
• 53:19
  that. It won't mess up my stuff.
• 53:20
  And so, yeah, so that that's something I had to change this
• 53:23
  year and so going forward. I'll have a better represented
• 53:29
  account of, at least for my PlayStation video games and
• 53:33
  stuff, whatever, because that's mainly where I play at.
• 53:36
  My Switch stuff is all over the place because Vash plays on the
• 53:39
  Switch a lot too, and so he probably plays under my account
• 53:42
  so that those stats and stuff are off the charts.
• 53:44
  And then my Xbox stuff, whatever.
• 53:46
  It's kind of whatever because. I barely play on that or
• 53:49
  whatever so but so so because since because PlayStation does
• 53:55
  the PlayStation wrapped thing as well and so it's kind of
• 53:58
  interesting looking over the games and stuff this year and so
• 54:02
  like I said this was something kind of interesting I want to do
• 54:05
  with this episode of my end of year rapper for whatever every
• 54:08
  year as I was kind of reflecting on like say my podcast stats,
• 54:11
  YouTube stats and some video games stats and stuff as well
• 54:14
  too so so this year so my top five games I played this year
• 54:19
  were Hogwarts Legacy at 50 hours.
• 54:23
  Rayman Legends is kind of iffy because that's when Vash was
• 54:26
  still on my account, but it's 50 hours on that.
• 54:30
  Star Wars Jedi Survivor is #4 at 42 hours.
• 54:34
  See if Stars is #3 at 46 hours, and then Spider Man 2 is #5 at
• 54:39
  33 hours. So I thought that was pretty
• 54:41
  dope. Getting getting that breakdown
• 54:45
  of all those games and stuff and how, you know the top stuff I
• 54:50
  played and I love how they did like the like the games you play
• 54:55
  the most each month. Sort of like King of Bridge of
• 54:58
  Spirits in January. High Gross Legacy for February
• 55:01
  and March didn't do much in April.
• 55:04
  May was Jedi Survivor. June, July.
• 55:08
  August didn't really play much stuff.
• 55:11
  September Sea of Stars, October Spider Man, November Coach to
• 55:16
  the Lamb And then haven't really played much in December but.
• 55:21
  But yeah, so so yeah, so like today that that's going to be a
• 55:25
  topic of discussion too, of like, hey, protecting your
• 55:28
  gaming stuff from your kids. That's that.
• 55:31
  I just had to add that to my list of future topics and stuff,
• 55:35
  whatever I want to do at some point.
• 55:37
  But but yeah, so definitely more game time for Robert in 2024 and
• 55:44
  stuff, so because. Because, yeah, like.
• 55:46
  Like I said, like, like. I've found myself stressed out
• 55:51
  and struggling a lot this year because at the beginning of the
• 55:55
  year, whatever was probably some of the worst of it because my
• 56:00
  wife was still working at the school she's working in the in
• 56:03
  the after school Cara thing, whatever.
• 56:07
  So her schedule was like 2 to 6, which is kind of when the bulk
• 56:11
  of all of our kids stuff was going on.
• 56:13
  So like, OK, you know, picking up whoever need to be picked up
• 56:17
  from school on top of my 3 oldest kids having multiple
• 56:24
  practices in different locations a lot of times.
• 56:28
  So it'd be a lot of like, hey, getting off of work a little bit
• 56:30
  early to get the young ones from school and then the big ones,
• 56:37
  finishing up practices or whatever.
• 56:38
  Then OK, who else practice were OK, take you here 20 minutes
• 56:43
  away to practice, come back to take somebody else somewhere
• 56:46
  else. And then that's why I get the
• 56:47
  second one done. Got to go back to pick up the
• 56:50
  first one I dropped off. And then doing something else,
• 56:54
  whatever. And then dinner and bath time
• 56:58
  and homework, all that stuff, whatever.
• 57:01
  And then going to sleep and repeating over and over and over
• 57:03
  for months killed me, literally, which is why my wife doesn't do
• 57:08
  that job anymore. But yeah, so just just like I
• 57:13
  said, I got to find more time and peace for myself, which is
• 57:19
  why I'm very excited for for going to watch Dune Part 2 when
• 57:24
  that comes out earlier in the year.
• 57:25
  Because because that was a movie that truly made me think about
• 57:34
  that peaceful time. Because I did a podcast episode
• 57:37
  called Peace in Dune because. I saw that in IMAX and I was
• 57:42
  sitting right in the middle. Of The Row and IMAX, just
• 57:48
  everything else around me was just tuned out and it was just
• 57:51
  the sights and sounds of this movie.
• 57:54
  And I remember having that same experience with Parasite, 'cause
• 57:59
  I mentioned before. That was one of the last movies
• 58:02
  I saw before the COVID Lockdown early 2020.
• 58:06
  And I'll never forget I saw it early on a Sunday morning and I
• 58:11
  think I was maybe the only person in the theater.
• 58:14
  That day. So, so, so.
• 58:17
  Just me and the movie. Literally.
• 58:21
  It happened again with Oppenheimer this summer.
• 58:24
  Just. Saw that in IMAX.
• 58:27
  Totally zoned in on that movie, even a little bit today when I
• 58:31
  saw poor things because I think there was a total of four people
• 58:37
  in the theater. And stuff.
• 58:40
  So and I saw that like midday on a Sunday, so, so yeah.
• 58:43
  So like I said, just excited for movie experiences like that.
• 58:47
  And then like I said, like some late night gaming sessions and
• 58:50
  stuff myself. So and of course still looking
• 58:53
  for the big thing in the future to move into a bigger and better
• 58:58
  place with more space because. I think.
• 59:00
  I think that's kind of like the other thing to.
• 59:04
  Which is why. I need to get out more to
• 59:07
  movies, going to see books, even just going for a drive and just
• 59:10
  getting out more because I'm in such a small space with so many
• 59:15
  people so. I have more people in my home
• 59:19
  day-to-day than I do in my office at work on a normal
• 59:23
  day-to-day because like the average day at work, there's
• 59:26
  maybe less than 10 people in the whole building because most of
• 59:35
  the people work remote. So I started the job three years
• 59:37
  ago, but when I started it was after COVID, so everybody was
• 59:41
  already at the building and so on the average day it's me and
• 59:45
  two other guys that are there every day.
• 59:49
  The mailman is there every day and at least one security guard.
• 59:52
  So that's five people that are there every single day and.
• 59:57
  Then a few other days of the week or whatever we have a
• 59:59
  couple ladies to do, like our billing and stuff or our.
• 1:00:05
  Equipment orders that I work with and stuff, whatever they
• 1:00:07
  are both there a couple days each throughout the week and
• 1:00:11
  then maybe a couple times of the month everybody will come in
• 1:00:14
  office, all the managers and higher ups and everything for
• 1:00:18
  big meetings and stuff, whatever.
• 1:00:20
  But those are getting fewer or far between because it used to
• 1:00:22
  be every Tuesday and then it was like every other week.
• 1:00:25
  And now maybe once a month we might see them if we're.
• 1:00:29
  Lucky, but but yeah, so yeah, that.
• 1:00:34
  That's why I got to find more pockets of personal comfort for
• 1:00:39
  myself. But, but yeah, but All in all
• 1:00:43
  this year was OK Like I said, learned a lot of hard lessons
• 1:00:50
  that definitely could have been prevented and stuff.
• 1:00:53
  But all I can do is make a note what I'm doing now of those
• 1:00:58
  lessons learned and move forward.
• 1:01:03
  It is a new year, new day, new slate.
• 1:01:06
  And of course, not just waiting for a new year per SE, whatever,
• 1:01:09
  but, you know, just a new opportunity to suggest, do
• 1:01:15
  better, to strive for better and stuff and so and also make sure
• 1:01:19
  I'm taking more control of the things that I can control and
• 1:01:25
  then. The things that are out of my
• 1:01:26
  control, whatever it is, what it is, move around and navigate and
• 1:01:30
  stuff. But.
• 1:01:32
  Put myself in the best position with the things that are in my
• 1:01:35
  control. It's something that I definitely
• 1:01:37
  need to do better about, so but yeah, so I think that's it.
• 1:01:45
  If you're interested in my thoughts on more in depth
• 1:01:52
  thoughts of my favorite games of this year, my favorite movies
• 1:01:55
  and TV shows, or my favorite anime and manga, I just released
• 1:02:00
  episodes for that stuff over the last few days, so go check that
• 1:02:05
  out for my thoughts and reflection on the year for those
• 1:02:08
  individual categories and stuff and.
• 1:02:10
  So, so yeah, so that's it. It is 11:45 PM, so 15 minutes
• 1:02:20
  till till we bring in the New Year.
• 1:02:24
  And so as I get ready to close this out, I just want to once
• 1:02:27
  again. Thank everybody that is watching
• 1:02:31
  and or listening to this for your continued support in
• 1:02:36
  whatever way you're doing it. Like I said, if if you're just
• 1:02:39
  downloading it audio wise I appreciate you.
• 1:02:42
  If you're watching it on YouTube, I appreciate you if you
• 1:02:45
  subscribed. If you're one of the mysterious
• 1:02:48
  people that that that supported me for a couple months on
• 1:02:53
  Spotify cuz there's there's like a paid thing where you can
• 1:02:59
  subscribe or pay or donate so to speak whatever to a podcast,
• 1:03:03
  whatever. 1/2 of the people did that for a few months or this or
• 1:03:08
  whatever. That was a very pleasant
• 1:03:09
  surprise and greatly appreciate it.
• 1:03:11
  I don't know where y'all came from but I'm thankful for y'all.
• 1:03:16
  I'm always appreciative of the homie Matt B, who still
• 1:03:22
  continues to support my Patreon page, which I've mentioned
• 1:03:26
  before. I just have that page up for
• 1:03:29
  just if anybody wants to toss me a few bucks to just support
• 1:03:34
  everything that I'm doing. But I'm not doing any extra
• 1:03:37
  bonus episodes and stuff, whatever, just because like.
• 1:03:41
  My life is so crazy busy and hectic as is, and the amount of
• 1:03:46
  content I put out on a normal basis is already a lot because
• 1:03:50
  honestly, I put out more stuff than.
• 1:03:57
  The average person, I would say. And so I don't want to, you
• 1:04:02
  know, do anything. I always get, you know, special
• 1:04:05
  access to this and that or maybe someday or whatever.
• 1:04:07
  But for now, I just enjoy talking about the things I want
• 1:04:10
  to talk about and if you want to donate money through.
• 1:04:13
  Patreon. Or through the coffee thing, or
• 1:04:16
  coffee, whatever it's called. Or the Spotify subscription
• 1:04:21
  thing. I greatly appreciate it.
• 1:04:23
  Whatever. But.
• 1:04:24
  At the end of the day. Jess Y'all being here and y'all
• 1:04:28
  listening and watching means the world to me.
• 1:04:31
  I appreciate those y'all that take time to subscribe and style
• 1:04:35
  for it to leave a review on the different services or to leave a
• 1:04:39
  comment on. One of my videos and say hey,
• 1:04:42
  even reach out and message me on Twitter or Instagram or Tiktok
• 1:04:46
  or whatever, hit me up. I love talking with y'all and I
• 1:04:50
  love getting a response to somebody being like hey, thank
• 1:04:55
  you for putting this on my radar or hey, I never even heard of
• 1:04:57
  this game, this movie, this show, this manga, this anime.
• 1:05:01
  That is why I do what I do. And to also connect with you
• 1:05:06
  know, of course people for the for the all this fun stuff that
• 1:05:09
  we enjoy. But also shout out to the
• 1:05:11
  parents that I connect with as well to where people are like
• 1:05:15
  hey, I'm glad to find another parent, glad to find another
• 1:05:17
  dad, hey, I just became a mom. Hey, I just became a dad.
• 1:05:22
  Whatever the case may be, whatever, I love all those
• 1:05:24
  conversations and I hope to have more of those going forward.
• 1:05:29
  So, so yeah, so man, 2023 is really about to be over and it's
• 1:05:37
  like, I'll tell my wife I said, if nothing else, I hope to end
• 1:05:44
  when I'm back here next year. I hope that I'm ending 2020.
• 1:05:48
  Four on a more. Higher positive note than these
• 1:05:54
  last like three years because honestly, it has just been a
• 1:05:58
  gauntlet of things. Because because even though.
• 1:06:03
  So I started the podcast in 2021, but just the end of 2020.
• 1:06:07
  Was brutal because my sister passed away, my wife's
• 1:06:11
  grandfather passed away, had some medical stuff with Vash
• 1:06:15
  happened and then my mom passed away in January.
• 1:06:18
  So I was like, that was a tough. This time of year then and then,
• 1:06:24
  I don't even remember what the situation was in 20 at the end
• 1:06:27
  of 2021. I know it was something, I just
• 1:06:31
  don't remember what exactly it was.
• 1:06:36
  But, but yeah, so. Something going on then and then
• 1:06:39
  last year my. Wife, car, been in an accident
• 1:06:43
  and stuff and dealing with all that stuff and now this year.
• 1:06:49
  I'm dealing with some car stuff and we got some other family
• 1:06:52
  stuff going on, so I. Was like man.
• 1:06:55
  I just want to add 2024 at least with a more positive slope or
• 1:07:00
  whatever, so but I know I'm just running at this point.
• 1:07:05
  It's getting late. I'm ready to just shut my brain
• 1:07:08
  off and just relax and enjoy these next couple more days off
• 1:07:14
  before I go back to work. And.
• 1:07:17
  A little bit more peace, because right now I'm only down to two
• 1:07:19
  kids in the house, my oldest son and my youngest son, the middle
• 1:07:24
  son. He's gone with his grandma for
• 1:07:27
  the whole Christmas break or whatever, so he's been gone for
• 1:07:30
  a couple weeks already. He won't be back until school
• 1:07:32
  starts in a couple more weeks. And then my daughters, they're
• 1:07:36
  out of state with with their biological dad and stuff,
• 1:07:40
  whatever for the rest of this next week or whatever.
• 1:07:43
  So yes, I adapt to just two kids and stuff and so yeah, but thank
• 1:07:51
  y'all so much for listening and or watching.
• 1:07:55
  That's going to do it for this episode, and that's going to do
• 1:07:57
  it for 2020. Three and I got to end this off.
• 1:08:03
  As I always say, treat yourself to some nice read some manga,
• 1:08:09
  watch some anime TV and movies, play some video games, and live
• 1:08:15
  your best life. And with that I am out.
• 1:08:18
  Thank y'all so much for an awesome year.
• 1:08:22
  And I look forward to many more awesome years with y'all.
• 1:08:28
  I love y'all so much. I super appreciate y'all and
• 1:08:31
  I'll catch. Y'all next year in 2024.
• 1:08:35
  Peace.