Latest / On Deathcare / Open-Air Pyres, Floral Delivery Brawls, and the Funeral Women Lead Report

Transcript

Open-Air Pyres, Floral Delivery Brawls, and the Funeral Women Lead Report · On Deathcare

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I am Tony Russo from On Deathcare,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: and this is The Rest, your weekly rundown of news from around funeral service.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Tons of stuff to get to this week.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, not tons of stuff.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of like...
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be right back.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is because of them that I have both the courage and the motivation to get
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: as much done as I'm getting done.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you very much for your support.
• 0:54
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• 0:57
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• 1:02
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• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: you'll have the option to subscribe from anywhere from $0 per month to more
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then $0 per month.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: The subscription is the most important part.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: The subscription is a huge part of the support.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you can lend material support on top of that,
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: of course, it would be welcome and gratefully received.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that's all of that.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And let's get into it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: So as you know, it is Monday.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is actually Monday afternoon as I'm recording this.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And earlier today, I spoke with a funeral director named Dan Simmons.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's S-Y-M-O-N-D-S.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's the owner of the Simmons Family Funeral Chapels in Illinois.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Elgin and Carrie at the very least.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: He just renamed the two businesses he bought.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I was talking to him because...
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: of some of the things that I wrote,
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: that I wrote, that I read in the reporting of his latest acquisition.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: So he bought a former competitor, friend,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: a former,
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: other person who did funerals in the region,
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: in the area,
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: and he In the article,
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: it talked a little bit about some of the consolidation that was going along.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the reasons that the person who sold to him did sell to him was
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: because he didn't just want to sell his funeral home.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: He wanted to sell his funeral home and his funeral business and also know
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: that they were going to be open six months from now,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: which is not something that people can kind of count on a lot of times when
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: When they sell to a corporate entity,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: and especially in this situation, which is why I think it is particular.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: I reported last week or the week before,
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: a couple weeks ago,
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote a story on Connecting Directors about Park Lawn buying one of
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: the first funeral homes that Robert Waltrip bought in his house.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they bought it and they closed it because it was too small
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: and there were other ones closer that were doing a better job or not doing
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: a better job necessarily, but more effective, more efficient, I guess.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that Mr.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Simmons and I talked about because There's still no funeral home in that community.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the people from the community will still die
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: and they will still be buried someplace,
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: probably at a park lawn institute that's not in their hometown.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not what Simmons wanted and it wasn't what his partner wanted
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: before he bought the business.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted to keep the business in the town.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that was important to both of them.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And That,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: is the attitude that might be different among independent funeral home owners.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them, certainly smaller ones.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the new funeral home does about 80 cases a year.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Mr. Simmons said he did 150 or something like that.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: So these are not massive, massive businesses.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But that's also the point.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: They want to be...
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that there's any funeral director.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think there are many funeral directors who are doing it and don't want
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: to serve families.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know that a lot of times,
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: especially with the corporately owned,
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: the larger consolidator types,
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: there's this Not unearned notion about quotas and making sure you hit the numbers.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that is important for any business that's a business.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: But when your business is a vocation, that's a different story.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And doing what you want to do is more important than being able
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: to run a massive profit margin.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: He likes being in the handshake.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: He lives, Mr. Simmons lives in his funeral home.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: The gentleman he made the deal with actually still lives in the funeral home,
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: and that's just where he's going to live until he decides he doesn't want
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: to anymore.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he just has to answer the door if people knock, but otherwise he's mostly retired.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And this idea of serving families is what I was getting at.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't exclusive to independent funeral homes,
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: but the notion of serving a specific community and the notion
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: of continuing your family's service to the community is something that really is,
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think, exclusive to small and independent homes.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Funeral homes because that's what they're doing it for.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're still independent,
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: if you own one or two funeral homes, it's not like you're buying a Learjet.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing this for a reason that's outside of your ability to generate cash flow.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes...
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: You pay that price.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know I talked to Dan about it.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I'll bring that out in the story.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: The story probably won't be out for another week, though.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Some years he's like, wow, that was close.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And some years he's like, boy,
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad I have a lot of savings because now I'm going to have to dump it all in to,
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: you know, not dump it all in, but, you know, I'm going to have to tap the savings.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: But that's the The privilege of doing what you want and the price
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: of doing what you want is this very thing.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So congratulations to him on his new acquisition.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's acquisition.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's not new.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's about two years old.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll have a link to the story in there.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: The naming is what brought it up in the news this week.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: They renamed them all.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what it's in the news about.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to give you a little bit of a backstory because I think that's a conversation.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I would really like to have more of them,
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: this idea of what do you do,
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: what's the trade-off,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: and how much are you willing to trade off when you eventually do have to make
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: the choice about selling your business for one reason or another.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, link to that in the show notes.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: In this week's Australia,
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: or I'm going to call it the Australasia section because it's going to include
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: that whole area.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: This one happens to be about Australia, though.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: New South Wales took its next step to becoming the first state in Australia
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: to introduce terramation for people to choose as an option.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: The bill,
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: which was introduced by independent MPs,
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: For Sydney,
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Alex Greenwich and was supported by the New South Wales government has achieved
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: the first step by passing unanimously through the lower house.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: If it passes all the way,
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: it'll become New South Wales become the first state or territory in Australia
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: to open to to have termination, which is very cool.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And this was actually posted on Mr.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Greenwich's Facebook page with a lot of,
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: you know, Pro-Taramacian
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: language in quotes from him.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So there'll be a link to the Facebook post in the show notes.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: But it's really interesting.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually working on another story about Australasian funeral directors.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I'm interested in is they haven't had I'm sorry,
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: they have a high cremation rate, but they didn't have a run-up in cremation rate.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: They have been cremation forward for long enough.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: That has always been part of their process.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd like to talk to them about how they make things go
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: with such high cremation rates as their starting point.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, link to this Facebook post in the show notes.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: There is some death doula news that I'd like to share.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I did a better job at covering the death doula space.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: I've been up to my neck recently,
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: so hopefully I'll get back to it in 2027 after we get this next quarter out from
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: under us.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: But Cleveland State University on October 28th will be holding
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: a conference called Labor Out Conference,
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: and the theme is Where Healthcare Meets Death Care.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it is bringing in a bunch of death doulas to speak with nurses and vice versa.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: So death doulas,
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: local death doulas and nurses are going to be working together to talk about hospice
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: and what happens during the death process and I mean, it's a death.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: To help the hospital staff maybe be better guides or better facilitators about the process.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: From both, it is unfortunate.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: There are no funeral directors.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: But this is about getting to hospice and the dying process.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a link to the story, which was on cleveland.com.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And...
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It talks about the different people who will be speaking.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're in the area and interested in going,
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: there's still time to go, which is why I wanted to put it in here.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, there's a link to it in the show notes.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And something of like a news of the weird,
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to read the written story to you because it's hard to make sense of
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: on my own.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: A disagreement over funeral floral arrangements escalated recently
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: in Miami-Dade establishment, resulting in battery charges for one individual.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: The incident began when a delivery person died.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Attempted to drop off flowers at a local funeral home,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: but was informed by an older attendee
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: that arrangements were no longer being accepted for this particular funeral.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And what followed was an argument.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then the guy who is delivering the flowers started making monkey gestures at
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: the attendees, at the attendance, the funeral attendants.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then hit the hit the old man who was keeping him from delivering the flowers.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the second victim came in and was able to get him in a headlock.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where I'm going to go a little bit off script because it could have ended there.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: But the guy who got put in the headlock actually went to the police
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: and said he'd been assaulted at this funeral home.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then they pulled up the tape and they saw him punching the old man and brought him to jail.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping that there's more details that come out with this story
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: because this seems like if you're just delivering the flowers,
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: maybe he,
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: maybe he was going to lose his job because he stopped off someplace or something.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have no idea why someone would punch one of their customers for not accepting
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: the thing that they ordered.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a link to this kooky, kooky story in the show notes.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if this is exactly a correction.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was wrong.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to pretend that I'm not wrong,
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: but I also don't know if I'm changing my mind on this story or not.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So the town of Lexington has been back and forth over whether to build
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: a specialized crematory for us.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Members of its growing South Asian community who have particular religious needs
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: when being cremated.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: These are Hindus.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: These are Sikhs and Buddhists,
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: other members of the South Asian religions who have kind of like more of a room for
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: a witness cremation and a longer cremation.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And during my coverage, I wasn't.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: I thought the town was trying to prevent them from doing it themselves.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: What the town was doing was saying,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: we don't want to pay for this because it won't be profitable.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm, you know, of the opinion, I'll remain of the opinion that not all goods are profitable.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I still think they should have built it.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like they're definitely not going to.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: The vote was 4-2 against building this specialized crematory,
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: which they said would cost $400,000 a year to run,
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: not including capital costs and maintenance, and would only...
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Produce at the most $150,000 a year in revenue.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those numbers are their numbers.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: You guys know more about what it costs to run a cremator than I do, so I will leave that to you.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I will put a link to this final story in the show notes that straightens out some of the...
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was wrong to say that the Sikhs were trying to build their own...
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, crematorium were being prevented.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's really important that I bring it up because I was just,
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't kind of wrong,
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: and I'll put notes on the previous,
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: uh, commentary, but for now link to this story in the show notes.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of specialized cremation, um,
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: in the San Luis Valley in, uh,
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Crestone,
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Colorado,
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: there is an open air funeral pyre that's the only legal one in America,
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: according to this story.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the story is really like a nice long feature story
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: about why they do what they do and how they do what they do.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: But mostly it's volunteer people for the Crestone End of Life Project.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it allows people to come and participate in an open air cremation as
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: an alternative to conventional funeral industry practices.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I just I thought it was a cool story and I thought I'd share it with you
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: so you guys could read it, too.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a link to it in the show notes.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've been speculating a lot about what's going on at Carriage and what's going on
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: at Park Lawn and SCI as far as acquisitions.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I keep saying acquisitions today.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: As far as acquisitions, I'm working on an acclimation story.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was just typing it before I started talking.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably why.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, the carriage services announced that they are maintaining their dividend.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: So once again,
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: 11.25 cents per share as per usual,
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: which means that they did something right or at least didn't do something so wrong
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: that it dinged their...
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: So they will probably have their earnings call in early November.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think everybody that first week,
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: last week in October,
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: first two weeks of November are when the earnings calls are going
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: to start coming out.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them have already been announced.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I'll be covering them and I'll shoot you my updates as they become available.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: So this is kind of breaking news.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: As I'm recording this,
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was notified I got an email,
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: a press release from a funeral women lead that included their 2026 State of Women
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: in Funeral Service Pulse Survey Report.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's the first of its kind.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's a young organization and there's a ton of stuff in it.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to get to dig into it in any kind of meaningful way
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: before I'm done recording this.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully I will be able to talk to some people and have something really
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: in depth for you the next time I talk.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: But until then,
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: some of the highlights I wanted to share with you,
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: 73% of women feel emotionally depleted at least sometimes,
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: but 75% report they are likely or very likely to remain in the field for at least
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: the next year.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: The burnout ratio is...
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: 36% from compensation, 30% from staffing and schedules.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I remember I talked to a human resources person once.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, when people say it's about the money...
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the first thing we go to.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is a transactional world.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know,
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: if you're having a hard time,
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: the first thing you go to is,
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not getting paid enough to do this because that's how we value our workers.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the way it is.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's interesting to see that, you know...
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Nearly, you know,
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: 40% think of compensation because a lot of times,
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: as I said,
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: compensation is code for dissatisfaction in little tiny ways that are difficult
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: to explain.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, 64% of women lack a mentor and 49% would like to have a sponsor.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Although those numbers are the way they are,
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: only 14% already do have a mentor or sponsor who can talk to them about their way up
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: and forward and career choices that they make.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: 39% of respondents said that they feel a high or a very high sense
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: of workplace influence,
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: even though almost 20%, 18.2% say they are actively seeking it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So some generational influences.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Gen Z reports the lowest sense of voice.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Only 4% feel like they have enough influence and the highest sense of emotional depletion.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Millennials carry the heaviest burnout squeeze,
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: 45% say they have mid-career depletion,
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: and prioritize financial relief, 44% cite Kay as the top lever.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Generation X and baby boomers are generally more stable,
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: but vocal about seeking respect, inclusion in decisions, and recognition.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: There is so much more.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: I will link to the report.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's a pictorial report and then there's a data report.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Both are available from Funeral Women Lead.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very exciting development.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I'll dig into it more for next week.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: But for now, if you want to spend the next week digging into it on your own, I do not blame you.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, link in the show notes.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that'll do it for this time.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: The rest has been an On Deathcare production.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was written, edited, videoed, all the things by me, Tony Russo.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm having an absolute blast doing it.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to thank you as always for taking the time to join me,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: for sticking with this all the way through.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I know your attention is important and I know it's highly sought after.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And thanks so much for spending it on me.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to spend more on me, you can subscribe to On Deathcare.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you go to ondeathcare.com,
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: as I said in the beginning,
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: you can subscribe for anything from zero dollars per month to more
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: than zero dollars per month.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: I really like the work I'm doing there.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: I really feel like it's important and I appreciate it.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: All of the support, monetary or moral support, I can use all the help I can get.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: I will be off next week.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'll be away this coming weekend, October 23rd-ish, whatever the next weekend is.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be away.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to the mountains of Maryland while you guys are,
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: many of you are at the NFDA conference.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take this weekend to just kind of shake our heads together and Get used to the week.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not going to be able to have anything out for you on Tuesday of next week.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: But then I will be back after that as we plunge into the final quarter of 2025.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Six.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: The final quarter of 2026. Who'd have thunk it?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much, guys.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great weekend.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to end the FDA, please be safe.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Please have a good time.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I will check in with you next time.